Fun times with Krista!

My cousin, Krista, came to town! She's a second-cousin from Montana, and we've gotten to hang out a few times this year! She and her husband were in town for a few days, and it was SO fun to see them!

Krista came to meet me at June's while Jed went to the construction conference he was here to attend. She and I got to fulfill a 15-year dream of mine! Ever since I was in Everett/Mukilteo as a teenager, I’ve wanted to go on the Boeing Tour. As you most likely know, Boeing is the largest airplane manufacturer in the world: 80% of all airplanes are Boeing. There is a huge factory in Everett, which is actually in the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest building in the world, by volume. They offer a tour and it's something I've always wanted to do. Krista was up for it as well! We got to see them working on a 777, and also the new 787 Dreamliner plane. I can't wait to fly on the new Dreamliner someday -it looks like a great plane! Very traveler-friendly. It was a great tour, and I highly recommend it if you're ever in the area. I also got to design my own plane in the attached museum, and the computer told me it was "outstanding"! Maybe I missed my calling?

After the Boeing Tour, Krista and I headed to Snohomish for lunch. It was such a cute town and there were more shops to see! She and I had a great lunch and a lot of fun wandering around the town.


After that, we went back to pick up her car, and then headed into Seattle to meet Jed. We ate a great dinner at Ivar's on Pier 54, and then wandered the boardwalk a bit before each heading back home.

Thanks, Krista and Jed, for the fun day! When should we meet up again?!

Deception Pass

Happy Sunday! I worked the last three nights (including a 13-hour shift last night because of Daylight Savings!) and am off tonight before working the next three, so I wanted to get back to posting about my last few days off.

After my time at Mount Rainier with Tim, and then in Marysville with friends, I got to stay with June and Joel for a few days. June and I had fun on Monday checking out the Everett Mall and then the cute town of Snohomish with all sorts of great antique shops and other specialty stores. We also picked out a pumpkin, fall squash and corn, and really good apple cider!

On Tuesday, she and I headed north of Everett to Deception Pass. It's a bridge that connects the mainland to Whidbey Island, and is quite beautiful. I had been there 10 years ago, and got some great pictures that were lost. I've always wanted to go back, and knew that I would make it a priority while I was living here. We stopped at Deception Pass State Park (in a few different places) and I got to replace those pictures I had lost long ago!

After our time there, we continued driving south on Whidbey Island, had some lunch, took the ferry back to Mukilteo, and drove around Everett a bit. I got to see some of the BEAUTIFUL homes that Joel, Nate, and Kent have built. I wish I could live in one of their homes someday! That night after dinner I looked at a couple of Joel's current project plans. He asked my advice on a few things, so we'll see if he choose to go with those suggestions or not. Amazing to think something I said might end up in someone's home someday!

Thanks, June and Joel, for taking such good care of me while I'm here, and for letting me crash at your house for a few days! I am very blessed!

Marysville

After my great day at Mount Rainier on Saturday, and dropping Tim off back in Seattle, I headed even farther north. I got to hang out with my friends Beth and Traci! Their husbands were gone at a Men's Retreat, so we had a fun sleepover at Beth's, together with all their kids. It was SO nice to just hang out in a home with people I knew, that knew me as well! I guess I had been feeling a little lonely last week, and craved interaction with people that weren't strangers, and hanging out with them really helped. So, even though Beth and I didn't know each other all that well, and Traci and I hadn't seen each other in a while, because we had a lot of similar connections and they are just SO FUN, we had a great time together! They probably didn't even realize how important it was for me, except they read my blog faithfully and will get to see this post! Thanks, girls!

That night after the kids went to bed, we hung out in the hottub for a while to chat and relax. It was wonderful! So calming! Then the next morning we had a delicious brunch that tasted sooooooo good. Cooking for one isn't so fun, therefore getting a great meal like that is a treat! Then, the kids got to enjoy some time in the hottub. Check it out:
They're such good kids, and had a great time playing together!


My favorite line from the weekend was when 6-year-old Camden looked over Traci's shoulder on the computer and asked "is that Pottery Barn?" We all burst out laughing, thinking "what six-year-old knows what Pottery Barn is?"

Traci had already left to take her kids to a birthday party, but Beth and I, along with Beth's sister, got to enjoy some time at a nearby outlet mall. Here we are after our fun time shopping:


Thanks, Traci and Beth and kids, for the GREAT time together! Thanks for letting me just hang out and relax, and for making me feel at home! You are a blessing!

I Warned You Earlier!

I think I gave fair warning earlier, that with me living in such close proximity to Mount Rainier, you were bound to see lots more pictures. I'm making good on that promise!

Since I'm only awake for sunrise when I've been working the night shift, I've been watching for a good sunrise picture of the mountain. One day last week, the way the sun was peaking through the clouds was pretty amazing. Well, by the time I got to my favorite picture-taking spot, the mountain was covered a little, but here's what I saw:
Now that it's on the computer, I can see it doesn't look as good as it does in person, but you can just use your imagination a little!

Then, the next morning, it was perfectly clear out! Sometime I'd like to drive a little farther and see what it looks like with the sun directly behind it in the morning, but this particular morning I was too tired and needed to just get home to bed.


This past Saturday I had the great joy of seeing my cousin, Tim! He was in town for a few days before flying to Norway, and we got to spend a good part of the day together. I drove up to Seattle to pick him up, then we decided to drive back and head to Mount Rainier because of the PERFECT day outside. I'm so glad we went!!

This picture shows where we pull up to the Visitor's Center at Paradise. It was funny for me to see ALL the cars, because that other day I was there during the snowfall, there were literally only three other cars in the parking lot. On Saturday, it was full and overflowing to the road! I guess weather really does make a difference for people! It was also interesting to me that during the snowfall, since I couldn't actually see any of the mountain, I thought it was somewhere else! I thought it was out what I consider the 'front' of the visitors center, when in reality it's in back!


You can see all the glaciers at the top, and if you look real close at some of the tiny black dots, you might be able to see that those are, in fact, people hiking up to the top. We were able to see different groups hiking when we looked through the telescope at the visitors center.


Tim and I, standing on snow. It was a refreshingly cool day.


I love all the different shades of blue that are created by the depth in this picture. Just ignore all the cars! I wish I had a better tele-photo lens....


You might recognize this waterfall from my first visit. It was really fun to see it without the huge snowflakes that were falling!


Tim looking out over the waterfall.


We saw a whole bunch of trees that only grow branches on one small side of the tree. Can anyone explain this to me? Is it just the wind, or some other phenomena?


We stopped at a "viewpoint" spot on the way back out of the park. It was so great to have a nice, clear day to see the mountain in all its glory with the bright blue sky behind it.

This was a perfect day at the park! Thanks, Tim, for the fun! I can't wait to check out your blog and see all sorts of pictures of the great things you'll see in Norway!

Update

Hi everyone in blog-land! Yes, I'm still alive and well... enjoying a few days up north, in fact! I'm at June and Joel's house, and have been having a great time. I have some good pictures to show you, but they're on my computer, and I'm not able to get online with it here, so I can use June and Joel's computer, but don't have my pictures on it, and forgot my flash drive.... Don't worry, you'll get to see them soon, I hope!

In these last few days "off", I've gotten to see my cousin Tim, Mount Rainier (up close and in person, on a clear day!), my friends Traci and Beth, June and Joel, other cousins Kent and Scott and their wives, Snohomish (cute shops!), Deception Pass, Mukilteo and Everett. Tomorrow's a full day as well, so by the time I get to Puyallup tomorrow night to work on Thursday, I should have a ton of pictures to post!

I'm still so thankful I've gotten to do as much as I have, but looking at that list, I think "no wonder I'm tired!"

Gig Harbor

Today I got to spend some time with red-headed little boys! My cousin Brent and his family live just outside of Gig Harbor, which is not too far away from Puyallup. Brent is actually my second-cousin, but in our family we're all just cousins. I got to know Brent and Sarah a little better at the family reunion in July, along with their boys J and T. What a great family!

Sarah and I have been looking forward to spending some time together while I'm in the area, and today was our first chance. On my way to their home, I got to see a pretty clear picture of the mountain, so of course I had to stop and take a picture:

I think it's so interesting to see just that one cloud hanging out at the top of the mountain. I bet it looked really amazing at the National Park today!

I got to spend some fun time chatting with Sarah and J, while T finished up his nap. Once he woke up, we all went into Gig Harbor for a little while. I hadn't ever been there before (only driven by) so it was fun to see this quaint little sea-side town! I definitely want to go back again and wander in and out of all the little shops. It looked like some great antique stores were around!
I also wish I knew someone with a sailboat! The sailboats were a little bigger here than the ones I've gotten to use on Pickeral Lake!

We also had some little boys along that had fun watching the boats, and the kayakers who were just coming in. I think they could've watched and watched and watched...

On our walk along the water, we got to see something pretty unusual. There was a family of four deer right in town! They were eating the flower beds of a house that was right along the main road, with lots of cars going by. We were pretty sure they'd end up getting hurt, but as far as we saw, they stayed off the road. You can see all four in this picture, the buck, doe, and two babies. Pretty cool!

Here are mom and boys on our walk:

Thanks to Brent and Sarah, J and T, for the fun day and for sharing your beautiful home with me!

Pike Place Market

I finally got to Pike Place Market! This is one of my favorite places in Seattle, a place I always make sure to visit while I'm in town. It's hard to believe it took me 3 1/2 weeks to get there! I met up with June (my mom's cousin) and we walked around, saw the fish-throwers, looked at all the great little shops, and had Fish and Chips at the restaurant that's in "Sleepless in Seattle". It's the restaurant I usually try to eat in (if I'm not going to Ivar's on the waterfront) because it's good food, and I like Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan! It's the place where Tom Hanks and Rob Reiner sat and discussed Tom's love life. While walking around, I also decided to buy two watercolor prints that I REALLY enjoy, a slab of salmon to cook up at home, and a BEAUTIFUL bouquet of flowers that only cost $5.00! I love farmer's markets, and especially all the great colors from the fruit/veggie stands, and the flower stands.


This is a picture that's often turned into a postcard, but usually when there's more flowers out at that particular stand.


On my way home, I got to see an ENTIRE rainbow, but in the short time it took to whip out my camera, a cloud covered part of it. I also realized that it became a double-rainbow, but couldn't get a good picture of that. Thanks, God, for keeping your promise to us all these years!!

Q Cafe

Tonight I went to the Q Cafe in Seattle. It's a coffee shop sponsored by Quest Church in the north Seattle area.

I was there to see my cousin, Scott, as he painted for the audience while a concert was going on. You can learn more about his experiential art at the link on the side, Scott's Transpire Project. It was pretty amazing to see these two canvasses that started out basically blank, and ended up being some amazing pictures. I enjoy looking at art, but there's something really incredible about watching it unfold.

The evening started out with a FUN surprise! My friend, Dave, was there to start out the evening with a short concert of some great songs that he's written. He and I went to high school together (we were both in student council!) but then had the chance to hang out even more when he, Scott and Allen did a few things for Youth Ministries when I worked there. They're a great group of guys, and it was really fun to reconnect tonight. Dave's a high school history teacher in the area, and a very talented musician. I've had a link on the side to a website that he (admittedly) hasn't updated in a few years, but he said tonight that he's on myspace, so I'm going to look for that.



Thanks for your friendship, and the fun evening!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

It's my mom's birthday today. Let's all wish her a Happy Birthday!! Here are a few pictures I've found in my computer. She's usually the one behind the camera, so it can be hard to find a picture of her! I've gotten kicked offline 4 times while trying to post this, so I'm just going to go with what I have, instead of finding any different pictures. I wish I had my old photo albums here, along with a scanner, and then we could really have some fun!

I love you, Mom. Thanks for loving me and the rest of our family! Enjoy the photo montage!

Meeting her grandson for the first time:


With Julie at a Mother/Daughter Tea:


With a few of her cousins that were able to make it to Jamie and Krista's wedding:


With my cousin, Heather, on a trip to Oklahoma:


Proof that my mom danced the Chicken Dance at Jamie and Krista's wedding!:


My mom and I have attended the Inspiration Point Bible Camp quilt retreat together since 2001. It was really hard to know we'd miss it this year!


Walking around at IPBC during a break at the retreat:


Dad and Mom at my Fergus house for Christmas:


Her only "Bear Story" during all our time in Montana this summer:


With Penny and I at Flathead Lake this summer:


Have a great birthday, Mom!!

Beach Video

Here's a video I shot on my last morning at the ocean. I had tried a few others, but, well.... I need some work on my directing skills. My shoes had gotten pretty soaked the day before in the rain, so while they dried okay overnight, I didn't want to repeat walking around in wet feet! [This video shows when I'm previewing it, but not once I actually publish it. Any suggestions?]