Lost in the Rush

I thought I would have so much time.
Thought I would be bored, lazy, well-read, relaxed and rested.
Thought that I would wonder what to do with myself.

Here I am at the other side of my relaxing summer months wondering what in the world happened.
I had little time.
I was never close to bored, or well-read or well-rested. Possibly I was relaxed and maybe even a wee bit lazy once or twice.
I did not ever want for something to do with myself.

Instead I: laughed. sighed. talked. and talked. smiled. visited. caught up. read. not well-read, but read. splashed. lounged. ate. cooked. planned. packed. unpacked. repacked. drove. flew. biked. hiked. sang.

Danielle's Visit

I drank lots of delicious, local, only-in-Seattle coffee, recommended by our lovely guide Garrett,


ate a ridiculous amount of Belly Flops, Lauren and Danielle helped,


shopped with Naomi, almost cried when she left,


saw the sights (literally a hop, skip and a jump from Lauren's digs),



and remembered how much I miss her.

Bummin Around Bend

We spent the last weekend in Bend, OR visiting my cousin Brady. We miss him terribly so it was a lot of fun to go down and spend the weekend in his town and have him show us some of his favorite spots. We ate amazing food, drank local wine and beer selections, and got a taste of the hippy lifestyle. Brady rides his bike everywhere and I can see why! This town is so biker friendly and seriously it seemed like we didn't go a minute the whole weekend without spotting someone biking, kayaking, running, walking along their merry way.

Brady is Dominic's hero. It was obvious to see how much he loved spending time with him this weekend.
















My Aunt Christine never fails to liven the night up, this time, her costume of choice was an inflatable witch. She disappeared for a few minutes and returned in this. What a hoot!

On our way home mom and I stopped to see the Crooked River crossing. We laughed on the way down about it and vowed to actually pull the car over and explore it on our way home. Over the years we have crossed it many times on driving too or from California. It is the strangest thing, you are just driving along, unassuming landscape surrounding, and suddenly the earth drops out from underneath you.

Big Thunder

Dad was excited to have fellow riders on his favorite ride. When he and Mom go to the park together he has to ride it alone.

Dad's favorite ride is Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. He insists on keeping his hands up during the entire ride. This picture makes me smile because this was my first "roller coaster" and I will always hold close to the memory of Dad and I riding it with our hands up for the whole ride!

Andrew Better Watch Out

Andrew is starting with his first wife.... that will probably be enough to do him in!
Did I say wife?! That must mean that I'm going to be a wife!!! Strange.

Happily Ever After

My parents are still in love. Our whole trip to Florida my parents were holding hands, seriously, the whole time. Andrew kept teasing me about how in love my parents are and just imagine...
I acted like it bugged me, grossed me out, etc, but in all reality, I think it is so awesome that my parents still like each other, enjoy spending time together and still like to hold hands! So many couples don't make it that far. Andrew and I are so lucky to each have a set of parents that have set an amazing example of what marriage looks like. When we sit down to plan our wedding, and more importantly for married life, we are so blessed to have two hand holding, in love, compromising, patient and genuine married couples to serve as examples to us.

** Andrew and I went back and forth joking whether Dad was holding Mom's hand as a loving gesture or as a sort of leash, if you will. Mom gets really excited when she gets in a Disney park and will, without shame, leave us all in the dust. (You MUST keep up!!!)

Taste of the South

I had to take Andrew to Cracker Barrel. It was one of my favorite places to eat when I lived in Florida because it had fun breakfast fare. When we sat down to order Andrew looked over the menu and order some country breakfast deal with eggs, ham, hashbrown casserole, grits (grits? what are grits?) and biscuits. He actually had the choice between grits and fried apples, he swears the I told him to order the grits. It really went more like this, the darling waitress asked, "Fried apples? or Grits?" Andrew turns to me with a look on his face that said, "What the hell are grits and why the hell did you bring me here?" He chose the grits. mmmmm grits. I like grits. Turns out, Andrew, does not.

The hashbrown casserole didn't go over well either. Why is there crap in my hashbrowns? I ordered hashbrowns and I got hashbrowns and cheese and onions and crap all mixed together?!?? Babe, you ordered hashbrown CASSEROLE. Try it, you'll love it.