Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest I feel most alive surrounded by trees and breathing in the fresh mountain air.
When I am not working you will most likely find me spending time outdoors, volunteering with my church and exploring this beautiful planet with my family.
This is my place to share my passion for life and to encourage you to take time to find the extraordinary in your life.
Today, I am honored to be guest posting over on Marie LeBaron's wonderful craft blog; Make and Takes. I share my pattern for a quick and easy crochet baby blanket. Depending on how fast you crochet, this blanket can easily be completed in a couple hours or days.
These blankets are the combination of my two favorite things: being crafty and finding a way to honor my son's short life.
Usually come mid February I start itching for Spring. I like to day dream of all the warm places I would like to visit and start planning something fun for mid April or May. For any of you like minded individuals looking to escape the cold may I suggest four places:
Last weekend we drove up to Mukilteo and then took the ferry over to Whidbey Island. As fun as it is to travel by ferry we hardly do it enough. Our final destination was Coupeville, WA. Coupeville is one of the oldest communities in the state of Washington and best known for their delicious Penn Cove mussels.
If you are in need of a last minute gift idea for Valetine's Day may I suggest one of the following...
Football has never been an important part of my life. No one I was close to ever played and I do not have the patience to sit in front of the television for hours on end. Frankly, the idea of grown men tackling each other kind of creeps me out. But when the Seahawks continued to play well and eventually made it to the Super Bowl Seattle came down with a serious case of Hawk fever. It all started with the 12th man, the notion that the enthusiasm and noise of the fans have a direct effect on the ability of Seahawks to win. New terms were coined like Hawkitecture, 12th man signs were put up all over the city, there was a run on Skittles and people around town seemingly appeared happier.
The first weekend in February, we planned a trip to Sleeping Lady Resort in Leavenworth, WA. Although we typically visit Leavenworth multiple times a year, visiting in the Winter was a new experience for us. We have enjoyed staying at Sleeping Lady Resort a couple of times before, so we knew what level of service, gourmet food and tranquility we could expect. As the date drew closer I realized it coincided with Super Bowl weekend. Between the Super Bowl and it being the off season we had a feeling we might have the place to ourselves.
I recently read of a new trend on the rise; hiring a photographer while on vacation. Although my initial reaction was how absurdly extravagant, the more I got to thinking about it the more delighted I became at the very idea of it. If ever there was someone passionate about good photos it would be me. So before you envision your own personal paparazzi creepily following you around consider the notion of no more bad selfies. More importantly every person you care about actually being able to be in the photographs. Even though vacations for me are about eating too much and sleeping too little, I might actually reconsider and book a photographer for our next European adventure.
As we donned our aprons and gathered around the table it was fairly evident everyone had come in pairs: friends, husbands, coworkers. Quickly I sent a frantic message to my husband which read, "Everyone is in pairs, next time I am NOT coming alone". Although my initial reaction was to feel unsure and awkward, the evening ended up being one of the greatest nights I have ever spent in the company of total strangers.
At the beginning of class we went around the table to introduce ourselves and explain why we were there. The truth of the matter was several months ago I had signed up for a tamale class, but due to some unforeseen circumstances I had to cancel. Since the tamale class was not being offered again for awhile I decided to reschedule for the Savory Pie Ninja class. I like pie, my husband likes meat, so a savory pie class seemed like the perfect idea. Any class with the word "ninja" in it also caught my eye.
I challenge you to find a man more happy, content and fun to be around than my husband. He is everything I am not; funny, easy to get along with, makes friends easily, often is the life of the party and is good in groups. Socially, I like to be his wing woman. As his other half, I like to bask in his kindness and good heart.
If there is anything I have learned since loosing our son it is how important celebrating the moment is. I am so glad we had a big party to announce we were pregnant and then later hosted a gender reveal party. Those parties, although seemingly small things are some of my fondest memories of being pregnant. Had we not shared our joys with others, it would have been a missed opportunity.
A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to attend the first communal dinner and cooking class at Aran Goyoaga's studio space. I had long anticipated this evening when I signed up for the class last year. But when the day of the actual event came around I woke up with a head cold. Determined to attend despite feeling under the weather I showed up promptly at four, to watch, learn and be immersed in Aran's presence. Aran possesses the unique combination of skill, humility and the ability to engage herself with a broad audience.
The colors of the beach are like a freshly painted watercolor. Subtle, moody and intoxicating all at once. When I am at the beach I am reminded of its many textures and patterns. The way the tide forms ridges in the sand as it retreats or how the clumps of grass grow on the bluff. There is a certain amount of freedom felt at the beach. Maybe it is the endless stretch of sea before my eyes or the fluidity of a bird's flight. When I am at the beach I get the sense my life is boundless.
How often do we focus on the negative things in our life? The people who irritate us, the parts of ourselves which need improvement or the circumstances which we cannot change. Are we as quick to rattle off the things we love about our spouse as we are to complain about the things they do which bother us? What if we used all this wasted energy to focus on the things we like or which bring us joy in this life instead.
One day a few weeks ago, I was feeling particularly frustrated. There are many situations in my life which are completely beyond my control and at times it is easy to feel powerless. Rather than let this get the best of me I decided to walk around the house and photograph all the tiny little things which I either appreciate about this house or which bring me joy.
What do you do to turn your bad attitude around or how do you prevent your mood from turning sour in the first place?
With the buzz of the Super Bowl in the air, a lot has been mentioned about the 12th man in Seattle. There are signs, flags, and posters adorning windows, cars, houses and even the Space Needle. I have a couple of girl friends who are avid football fans, so in ode to them I thought it would be fun to honor the 12th woman.
Valentine's Day is the perfect excuse to show the important people in your life you are thinking about them. Here is a round up of some perfect ideas for the hostess with the mostest in your life.
When I was young I dated a man who told me how he wanted to be so in love with his wife that they would call each other during the day just to say "I love you". Being young, and fiercely independent I remember thinking this was just about one of the most ridiculous things I had ever heard. Needless to say, shortly thereafter we broke up.
Many years later, I am happy to say I cherish being part of a marriage like that. My husband has shown me the enduring power of love and made me a better woman. Sure we have our ups and downs, but there is no one else I would rather be holding hands with on this journey through life. He has a smile which lights up a room and is more devoted than any man I have ever known. Happy birthday my love! I think you are the best, but most importantly the best for me.
Although Bora Bora is beautiful, it is a journey to get there. From Tahiti or Moorea it is an additional one hour flight to Bora Bora. If you are lucky enough to have good weather during your flight, you can enjoy seeing all the different islands from above. If not, hold on and prepare yourself for a bumpy ride.
f you are anything like me then one day you suddenly realized you have acquired a large clear vase collection. As much as I enjoy seeing the stems in a minimal vase, in the Winter I crave texture. I happened to have a ball of thick, cream yarn lying around and decided it would be fun to wrap it around the vase. It was easy enough to do, I simply made a loop around the vase and tied the ends together. Then I wrapped and wrapped the yarn around the vase until it was to my liking. It was such an easy, little to no cost change to items I already had lying around.
Over the long weekend we went on a mini vacation to Long Beach, WA. Although we typically think of the beach as a warm weather destination, the idea of long walks on the beach and storm watching without crowds sounded ideal. We stayed at the Adrift Hotel, which is the perfect blend between minimalist, modern and environmentally friendly. One of our favorite parts of the Adrift Hotel aside from the location were the beach cruisers they allow guests to check out for no additional charge. In Long Beach, we spent countless hours riding our bikes along the Discovery Trail stopping often to soak in all the swoon worthy scenery, visited lighthouses and poked around town.
Once you are married, it is easy to fall into the habit of either calling everything you ever do a date or never going on dates. Although we are not perfect at making this a constant priority, I like to think we make it a concerted effort to go on a frequent amount of dates.
Valentine's Day is the perfect excuse to show the important people in your life you are thinking about them. Here is a round up of some perfect ideas for the little one in your life.
