The Oregon Coast

Another weekend down, another whirlwind for Joe and I. We actually spent more time in the car (about 15 hours thanks to horrendous traffic) than we did sleeping this past weekend. Friday we drove from Issaquah to PDX for my cousin's wedding, then out to Seaside the same evening for a fishing trip. We got in about 2am and had to be up by 5am to catch a boat that Bert Brundige so generously chartered for some sturgeon fishing on the Columbia River. I decided to forgo fishing (I prefer sleep, skipping the seasickness, and spending the day on the beach) and everyone else headed out bright and early. They returned in the afternoon and we ate a delicious feast, played some cards, watched an amazing sunset, and had a raging bonfire on the beach. The next morning we had to take off bright and early to meet my dad and family in PDX for a Father's Day breakfast (love you Daddy!) before heading back home to Issaquah. A lot of driving, but also a lot of fun, and worth every minute to see our family and friends. As usual, here are the pics: (all taken in manual mode, focus and settings since my camera is being stupid and is now in the shop- thank goodness I know how to do this now :)

Fishing: what everyone else was doing while I enjoyed my day of solitude at the beach

Our home for the weekend- Bert, you are amazing!

The happy couple: Mo (freezing) and Blair (always pumped for a photo op)

And you wonder why I married this man :)

Oh Mo, how I love you :)

Pretty sunset

Cool bird formation on the horizon

The boys going to work for our bonfire, which later got ridiculously huge and out of control. Two words for ya: diesel fuel.

The benefit to waking up at 4:48am and not being able to go back to sleep: an impromptu sunrise photo session on the beach

Pretty reflection on the low tide

Playing with white balance is my new favorite trick. (This is almost the exact same picture as above, just slightly zoomed out and a different white balance setting.) Your preference on the white balance? I can't decide!

I love clouds in pictures

Cutest little Asian kid trying to dig up some clams... look at his camo shorts with rainboots- too cute!

Playing with the white balance and exposure settings again. I think the dark exposure adds some drama in this pic

Like a kid in a candy store...

Joe had one of the "coolest experiences" of his life on Wednesday this week. For those of you who may not know him very well, he is REALLY into airplanes and jets. He talks to me (or anyone else who will listen) about them constantly, even though I have no idea what he's talking about. In addition, one of his best buddies, Justin Davis, is in the Air Force and tells Joe about his adventures all of the time.

So a couple of weeks ago when the Seahawks went down to Ft. Lewis to train with the soldiers Joe was super pumped. However, he was somewhat disappointed when he came home because his day was predominantly spent speaking to elementary school kids. He admitted it was important and a good thing to do, but part of him was sad he didn't get to spend the day checking out man-sized toys (AKA fighter jets). In comes the silver lining... some of the officers at Ft. Lewis felt bad that some of the guys like Joe didn't get a play day at the fort, so they offered for them to come back for a personal flight and tour. Talk about a dream come true for someone like Joe. Here are some pics from his big day...

Joe's ride for the day- a refueling tanker for the US Air Force (same thing that Justin does in Qatar)

Um, they're really, really big

Can't they just use auto-pilot?

The view from Joe's plan- an F-15 fighter jet flying by, no big deal

What's cooler than one F-15 on your flank? Two

Flying just above an F-15

The bottom of the tankers have windows, so you can see out (pretty sweet)

The probe on the left needs to be hooked up to the gas tank on the F-15... (Joe said it is really hard to connect, and the pilots are cussing the whole time trying to line it up)

They did it!

A zoomed in shot

June 16th, what?!?!

Seriously, how is it June 16th already!?! Time is going by sooo fast, I can't believe it. Well, once again I don't feel like writing a novel so here is a brief summary of things we've been up to lately and I'll let the pics do most of the talking...

1. Merissa/Brandon's Couples Wedding Shower
2. Night out on the town with our Seattle friends (yay to mini-camp being over!)
3. Craig Terrill concerts (awesome, btw)
4. Lake Chelan, WA= beautiful
5. Hiking (weird, I know)
6. Mini-camp/end of spring training for Joe
7. Me completing my first photo class (just for fun, I will post pics for this later)
8. G'ma Jane's 80th bday party
9. Having Justin in town to visit us for a couple of days
10. Beautiful family walks (Joe, Jack, and I) at sunset around our neighborhood... the weather has been great and it's made for some amazing sunsets!

*Even with all of these fun things, we've missed out on some events we wish we could've gone to (Jessie/Luke's couples baby shower, Jessie (Nelson's) dance recital, fundraiser at Qwest in Seattle, etc.) Life is super busy, but in a good way. Only one more week until I am on summer break (yeah, I still get those!) and then this blog will most likely be even busier! Until then...

The happy couple :)

Joe and Justin playing on a playground near our house (growing up is overrated)

A lovely afternoon in the park- reading for us and water fun for Jack!

Jack drying off from his water adventures

Hiking Twin Falls with my newest hiking buddy, Danielle

Lake Chelan at night

Hiking Chelan Summit (a real b***h of a hike!) with Colton and Stacey

I've been doing a lot of THIS lately for my photo class, but I love it!

Just an average sunset around our house these last couple of weeks...

Our favorite walking spot near our house... pretty flowers for us, and a lake to swim in for Jack!

Just because they're pretty...

Our trip to Kauai seems like forever ago, and I never got to blog much about it since we were without the internet for so long. I don't really feel like writing right now, but I DO feel like posting some pics (weird, I know). So here ya go...

Our first sunset in Kauai

Sooo pretty!

Now THIS is a great way to watch a sunset :)

I love the shadows here

On to sunset #2 (my favorite of the trip)

I love the way the sun illuminates the edges of the clouds

And the ship sails into the horizon...

Our last sunset of the trip

The weather was boo boo this day, but I thought the clouds made for a dramatic effect

It's beary scary out here!

About a month ago, Joe and I packed up all of our stuff and moved (again). This time the move was just across town, from Newcastle to Issaquah. Similar to the rest of the world, we are trying to save some money and decided to downsize from the rental house (AKA "the castle") to a nice little condo. So far we really like our new place. There is a dog park nearby, tons of walking trails, and the views of downtown Seattle and Bellevue, along with Lake Sammamish, are amazing. Did I mention awesome hiking starts about 5 minutes away just east on I-90? It should be a great summer for hiking with the awesome weather we're having lately.

OH, there is one more thing I should mention. BEARS live in our neighborhood. Really. I'm talking full-grown black bears, roaming around the neighborhood. I went running early on Sunday morning, and before I could get a half-mile from our new home I saw a black bear wandering across the street. I presume he (or she) was looking for some snacks, but I saw him on his was out back into the green space he came from. Pretty cool way to start off the day! Here are some pics from the move...

Goodbye kitchen I love :(

I am not usually one to brag, but Joe and I are probably the most efficient packers you have ever met. It's sickening, really.

Even Jack is tired of moving, and he doesn't do sh*t!

Our home for the next 6 months: 1981 24th Ave. NE #102, Issaquah, WA 98029

Keeping the tradition alive

Every year on Memorial Day weekend, Joe and I go camping with some of our good buddies from college. And every year on Memorial Day weekend, we get rained on. Sometimes it is off/on showers, sometimes it is coupled with thunder and lightning, and sometimes it is a straight downpour. But regardless of how it comes down, one thing we can count on is for it to rain. So THIS year, Joe and I thought to outsmart the Memorial Day Rain gods and reserve a house in warm, dry, beautiful Bend. OF COURSE, this year the weather decided to be beautiful and we could've had our first dry Memorial Day camping trip ever. Figures.

So what did our weekend entail? Here is a brief summary of the highlights... Sunshine. Catch Phrase. NBA playoffs. Scrambling up volcanic rocks. Pizza. Beer. Hiking. Frisbee in the park. Card games. Jenga. Tumalo Falls. Bacon. Old Mill District. Happy Hour. Pictures. Jack escaping the fenced back yard (twice). Good friends and good times. Oh, and the longest drive EVER from Bend to Issaquah (8 hours). Here are some pics as well:

A pit stop in Grass Valley, OR (population 171). Never heard of it? Me neither, and I lived the first 24 years of my life in Oregon.

The grass is very green in Grass Valley (go figure)

Last groceries for 67 miles! Where the heck are we?!?

We attempted to hike Mt. Bachelor, but were slightly deterred by the snow. At least we got some pretty views of the Sisters Mountains and some sledding in!

Colton getting ready for some human sledding action

Jack loving the action

Joe joining in on the fun

My exploration buddies

Joe and Colton, with Mt. Bachelor and Sparks Lake in the background

The king of the world

Joe and I, way up high

Colton thought it was really fun to roll huge rocks down the cliffs

Heading back to the car

The group at Tumalo Falls

I heart Oregon

Jessie being a trooper after she sank up to her waist in snow wearing flip flops and jean shorts!

Making up for lost time with one of my besties

Joe was AWFUL at Jenga. Seriously. He lost the first 2 games (out of 3) and Caleb was lovin' every minute of it.