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.
On a warm Summer evening, a group of us Seattle bloggers descended on Farewell Paperie's studio to learn the art of letterpress and to try our hand at making our own set of stationery. I have long since been a fan of letterpress and I loveFarewell Paperie's inventive take on finding just the perfect thing to say in a card.
Now that we are well into Summer I start to think of all the things I still want to do. No matter how long Summer is, it always seems like there is more to do than time to do. A few things I still want to do this Summer are as follows:
Granite Mountain is one of our favorite Summer hikes for its sweeping views, glorious wildflowers and challenging terrain. Granite Mountain is 8.6 miles roundtrip with 3800 feet elevation gain putting you at around 5600 feet at the top. I realized taking a hike like this while 25 weeks pregnant might seem like a crazy idea to some of you. The fact is, staying in shape particularly while being pregnant is very important to me. I know I am lugging a lot of extra weight up the mountain, but it makes reaching the top feel even more triumphant. We decided to take this hike on a ninety degree day and even though we started out early in the morning the heat started to feel really oppressive on the way up. Once you pass the first two miles the trail is fairly exposed the rest of the way up.
In the past, we have taken an Argosy Lakes Cruise and a Harbor Cruise, so this time we thought it would be fun to take anArgosy Locks Cruise. The Locks Cruise is a unique tour in the fact that you take off from one place and end up in another, rather than going roundtrip from one point. With the Locks Cruise you start off at Pier 56 and then eventually dock Lake Union to be shuttled back to Pier 56 by bus. In between you cruise along the Puget Sound while you pass Magnolia and Discovery Park. Then you enter Shilshole Bay, pass through the Hiram Chittenden Locks, go up the Lake Washington Ship Canal, pass by Gasworks Park and then arrive at your final destination, Lake Union.
Typically after we have spent a couple of days camping on the beach we head straight to Port Angeles for lunch. After lunch we take the short scenic drive up to Hurricane Ridge for wildflower viewing and wildlife spotting. We can usually count on at minimum seeing several deer, maybe a bear and sometimes a marmot or two. We are always saddened when we see a large crowd of people surrounding an animal and worst yet when they try to feed them a Cheeto or two.
Growing up in Seattle, float planes have always been an integral part of the city. Since Seattle is surrounded by several bodies of water, floatplanes are constantly both seen and heard flying overhead and landing in the water. Every time I'm kayaking out on Lake Union I am able to witness half a dozen planes taking off or landing. This week I was given the fantastic opportunity to go on a scenic flight with Kenmore Air and see my city from a bird's eye perspective.
Between the fantastic weather we have been experiencing this Summer and enjoying a slew of fun activities this Summer is turning out to be just plain awesome. I know we are only less than a month into Summer, but here are some of the highlights so far.
Before our little one starts to express an opinion in the clothing department, I am going to enjoy to the fullest extent dressing him in whatever suits my fancy. Here are some of the outfits I have put together for our little one. Much like my own wardrobe I am drawn to bright, happy colors for our little guy.
For our gender reveal party I wanted to make something new. I have a bad habit of thinking it is a brilliant idea to try something new the morning of a party and then serve it to all my friends and family without hesitation. I suppose my cooking style is best described as fearless, but I know deep down inside if something doesn't turn out I can always make an old standby. I saw this recipe of S'mores Cookies from Downtown Cookies Co. and automatically deemed it the perfect treat to make. Once the guests arrived at the party it was obvious to see the "smookies" were a grand success and might even eventually make their way in as an old standby.
A highlight of our Summer is spending a long weekend camping on the Washington coast. It is rural, rugged and teaming with both sea and wildlife. Many an afternoon may be spent watching bald eagles fly overhead or exploring tide pools. Summer is such a fantastic time to live in Washington state that we try to limit all our out of state travel during those precious several months of Summer. In the Summer there is nowhere we would rather be than hiking familiar trails and camping amongst the starry clear skies.
When I was a teenager I enjoyed constantly being surrounded by my friends. As I have gotten older I have discovered the wonderful regenerative feeling which comes from spending quality time alone. Whether it be a hike, a run or shopping I have come to appreciate and understand the benefits of investing in quality time with myself. This time alone allows me the ability to think, reflect and most importantly learn to be comfortable in my own skin.
If I kept a list of all things I would like to buy a sailboat would pretty much top any list I could create. When the temperature rises around here, there is no place I would rather be than on the water. Over the past couple of years we have made it an annual tradition to go sailing with Let's Go Sailing at the start of every Summer. It is a fun, convenient, inexpensive and easy way to get out on the Puget Sound. They offer both day and sunset cruises and are unique in that they allow you to bring your own food and drink aboard for your enjoyment.
Last week the world lost a good woman. My grandmother, Elizabeth Jean, after living a long and vibrant life passed away in her sleep. Upon hearing of her passing so many memories flooded my mind. As the only grandchildren on my mother's side, we were given the rare opportunity to be spoiled, visited, and loved like crazy. My grandparents made the effort to be present for almost every milestone in my life and when they could not be they would phone to see how it was or went. We always knew we were top priority in their lives. As I grew older and got married I was delighted when my grandparents came to love my husband as dearly too.
I wanted to make our Gender Reveal party special without going over the top on budget or time, so decided to focus my attention on a few key elements to make the event fun and memorable for guest and ourselves alike.
This year, on the Summer solstice we were in Utah celebrating the wedding of Cameron's cousin. I can think of no better way to kick start Summer then by attending an outdoor wedding reception. The evening was a quintessential Summer soiree, including warm weather, a festive atmosphere and relaxed environment. A color palette of whites and green dotted the backyard where there was enough food and entertainment to keep even the most discerning guest happy.
Almost two years to the date we held a gender reveal for when we were pregnant with our first child, Asher. My parents at the time only had granddaughters, so the announcement of the first grandson was really a reason to celebrate. As simple and last minute as the party was it has remained one of our favorite parties we have ever hosted.
With Summer in full swing I have been itching to get out and go hiking on a more regular basis. As our schedule has settled down and my baby bump continues to grow larger, we plan to spend the majority of the next several months in Seattle. For those of you who are itching to do a little Summer hiking here are a few of my all time favorite places to go hiking:
This Spring we had the opportunity to visit the wonderful city of Amsterdam. I instantly feel in love with its charm, like something out of a fairytale. I enjoyed taking a boat through it many waterways, walking over its many bridges, looking out as a pedestrian for its many bicycles and photographing its unique buildings. One of the things I really loved about Amsterdam was it fantastic shopping.
Time has flown by, we have not been home very many weekends these past few months. We just returned from a whirlwind trip to Utah this past weekend. At the last minute, we decided to drive there for Cameron's cousin's wedding. Despite our lack of planning or time we decided we would just make it work. The weather was gorgeous, the wedding was flawless and it left me wanting to get married all over again.
