Olympia Weekend

I was able to get away last weekend to Olympia to visit some friends & family. I went over to visit my college roomie, Abby, and stayed with her Saturday night. Unfortunately, she was feeling sick most of the weekend but we still had a great time. We got to hike in Tolmie State Park, eat a delicious lunch at Panera, and just catch up which was the most fun.


I also got to see my family. My aunt & uncle ended up only being about 5 minutes away from Abby's new house but my GPS wasn't so smart about where anyone lived so I ended driving around almost an hour trying to navigate from their house to Abby's. I was very frustrated. Time to update the maps.

My cousin & his family live nearby so I headed to their house as well. I visited with him and his wife as well as their adorable 1 1/2 year old Jordan. She was just a cutie and so outgoing while I was there. Her favorite activity was carrying my purse around - although most of the time she just dragged it. Too heavy for her, especially since she would grunt when she tried to pick it up.Saturday evening I got to catch up with another college friend Natessa which was just great fun. We met in downtown Olympia for some delicious desert at a place called The Bearded Lady. Most of their stuff was vegan and gluten free and YUMMY! We probably could have tried everything on the menu if we would have had the money!
Overall it was a nice weekend to get away although I was sad Chris couldn't join me. Soon enough. Next up, a trip over to Bellevue and Snohomish to celebrate our anniversary and a 50th anniversary of Chris' aunt & uncle. But I promise I will blog before that since it is a week away.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Columbia Kayak Adventures

Two weeks ago we had the opportunity to go kayaking with some people from work and their friends. There were 12 people all together including our 2 guides from a company called Columbia Kayak Adventures here in the Tri-Cities. We found out that one of the owners actually lives just right down the street from us! We have been tempted to "borrow" his kayaks several times on our drive by his house. :)

We had a great time. We explored the Yakima River Delta - where the Yakima River joins up with the Columbia. Right now there has been so much snow melt that the Columbia is very high and swift so kayaking the delta was much better especially since we had some first time kayakers in our group.

It was a great day. Beautiful weather - hot! We saw lots of wildlife - a deer, pelicans, herons, osprey, and plenty of gulls. Since the water was higher we were able to go through some passageways that are usually marsh. At one point, I thought we might see a swamp creature or alligator swim by - it felt like we were in the bayou.

Overall it was wonderful and our 3 hours went by so fast. I can't wait until we can go out again and hopefully soon we'll go out on our own kayaks. Just another thing to save money for!

Back in the Saddle

Chris semi-fixed our laptop. Well his work's laptop that we are borrowing. Boy I can't wait for the day when our new macbook comes in. I really can't wait to start editing and printing photos again. We are currently looking for deals and hoping to order soon.

In the meantime it is great to be able to get online and read blogs again without using Chris' work tablet. It was so hard to type on that thing but it got the job done.

I am so anxious to start working on my photography again. I am hoping to open up at etsy shop by the end of this year. It seems to have been delayed for so long (originally I wanted to have it open by January but then the computer broke) but I feel like the time is now right. We need some extra money around here and I love taking pictures so hopefully others will love those pictures too.

If this wasn't the most random post then I don't know what is! I will have some more solid posts coming this week - and hopefully pictures too!!

Summer B B Q!

I found another picture to share. We inherited my grandma's BBQ this summer and it has been great. It is so nice to not have to heat up the house for a great dinner. So far, we've had chicken, asparagus, zucchini, corn on the cob, we'll try steaks tomorrow and grilled pizza this weekend.

What are you grilling this summer?

Independence Day

• My God! How little do my countrymen know what precious blessings they are in possession of, and which no other people on earth enjoy! ~Thomas Jefferson

Be Back Soon

Sorry for the lack of blogging lately. We have not ordered our new Macbook yet and the Acer we are borrowing from Chris' office is on the fritz. So that means internet on my phone or Chris' work tablet. Neither are easy to type on and I can't upload pictures. :(
We (I) am looking forward to a 3 day holiday weekend! Chris only has Sunday off so I am planning on some yardwork and hanging out with friends. We are having an outdoor church service and BBQ Sunday and will hopefully go see fireworks on Monday. Ground fireworks are legal in Richland and our neighbors have already started......Monday could be interesting. We also just got a BBQ so we will definitely be using that this weekend.
Happy Independence Day everyone!