Birthday Trip!

Mike surprised me with a birthday trip this weekend. I was completely surprised as it was the weekend before my actual birthday. He did good. He didn't tell me where we were going just to pack a bag.

He first took me to Mount St. Helens. This place is seriously unreal. We camped the first night. I don't love camping as much as Mike and was a little surprised he took me camping. After exploring the beautiful place, I was so happy to be there. It is kinda crazy that this whole area had been covered by volcanic ash about 30 years ago.

In front of Mount St. Helen. We even hiked around a few paths :)

On Friday, Mike surprised me again by making our next stop Portland. I was so happy to be back in the city. I am definitely a city girl. It was especially awesome to be back in Portland since my marathon. We didn't get to explore as much as we would have liked so it was lovely to go back. Mike first took me to the batting cages. It was a blast! I hit the slow softball one and was surprised at how well I did. I am hoping when we move we will be able to join a co-ed softball team 

The ice cream place we went to is called Salt and Straw. They have the craziest combinations of flavors. We ordered: Strawberry with Cilantro Lime Cheesecake, Birthday Cake and Blackberries, Freckled Woodblock Chocolate, & Chocolate with Gooey Brownies. They were all divine. After ice cream we walked around the area (Richmond) and enjoyed the neighborhood. It is the new hip neighborhood of Portland with so many fun restaurants and cool homes.

Mike fulfilled one of my dreams on Saturday: sensory deprivation tank. I went here and I cannot say enough good things about them. They are so wonderful for first time floaters. It was definitely a unique experience and I hope to go back again.

One of our favorite things is tea. We found one of the top tea shops in Portland and went. It was so much fun because they had so many different teas to choose from. We ended up going with a strawberry green tea that was delicious. Wish we could go back. 

Enjoying tea on the balcony on the perfect summer morning. 

I also really enjoy arcades. (Sometimes I think I am a five year old trapped in a 23 year old body). He surprised me with a stop at this really unique arcade. All of the games are super old and only cost 25 cents. We of course sucked at them all but it was fun to play together. We were definitely not dressed well enough to play there though. Many of the other players were dressed in costumes and matching team t-shirts. It was fun to be around an environment that I had not much knowledge about. Many people there seemed so passionate about gaming. It was really cool.

We hate to admit it, but we fell into the tourist trap of Voodoo doughnuts. As we were walking back from the arcade, we saw voodoo doughnut. We had heard about them but didn't plan on making a stop as we both don't really like doughnuts. The line was about 5 minutes long so we decided to get a few. 

Best decision ever. The doughnuts were amazing. My favorite was the Dirt, an Oreo doughnut. It was out of this world good. I really enjoy Oreos but never thought of combing the two. Mike loved his Portland Cream doughnut. 

We ended our trip with a bike tour around Portland and pizza. Of course it had to pour on us during the ride. Here I am after being rained on.

Thanks for the best birthday trip. I like exploring new cities with you babe. Have a great trip in San Francisco. Wish I was there!

Boston

Our first two days in Boston have been amazing. Friday was perfect, weather wise. The sun was out and it wasn't too cold. Friday afternoon Mike had the interview. We took (my first time) the subway to Cambridge from our friends apartment. They live in the most beautiful church that was converted into an apartment building. Their windows are all stained glass. We have had so much fun getting to spend time with them. Mike felt like he did ok on the interview. He can be a bit of a perfectionist so I bet it went better than he thinks. I must admit, I've fallen head over heals for Boston. It has so much history and is completely beautiful. I really hope that everything works out and we are able to move here. Mike loved all the people he met at the interview. He felt he would be able to become good friends with a lot of them. Now that Mike has come here, he wants it even more. I've never heard him so passionate about something. Isn't it the best to find your niche? 

Today has been a lot colder. It has been snowing almost all day. The last few hours have also been extemely windy so it makes it hard to go outside. Neither of us have ever really had to live in snow (except mikes time at the academy) and we are at surprised at how much we like it. I'm sure that will change when it's march and still snow on the ground. Today we celebrated our anniversary. The first date mike took me on was valentines day. We celebrated today since yesterday was quite busy. He took me to chipotle, the place we had our first date and spoiled me with a night at the Intercontinental hotel. It's pretty fancy. I feel like a lucky lady! 

We spent the day exploring Boston with our friends. It was pretty wonderful (and cold). I really like Stephine, our friend we are staying with. We spent a lot of the day laughing. We saw Paul Revere's house, the old north church, Faneuil hall, and ate at mike's pastry. We ate our first Boston cream pie--- amazing!!!! I didn't know what I was missing out on. 

San Francisco

lombard street

brother and dad

golden gate bridge

my family 

We had such a great time in San Francisco. The weather was perfect. We got to walk around everywhere. Eat good food and be with my family. They even waited in an hour line to eat at the Hollywood Cafe (#1 restaurant in San Fran). Luckily my little brother likes to eat as much as I do, and agreed with the wait. 

I love being with my family. 

Back to reality

Mike and I are in the car headed back to Washington. We had such an amazing time at home with our families. I love being with them. I also love that they live in the same city. It's so nice to be able to spend the holiday with both parents. Mike's family even waited the two days after Christmas to open gifts with us. I can't even imagine how they did this. I woke Mike up at 6AM to open ours. Which is an improvement from my usually 4AM awakenings.
We did so many fun things while we were home. From parties, board games, San Francisco, hanging out with friends, and spending way too much time in the car, I must say it was one of the best trips yet!

A visit to Bellingham

Saturday didn't go as planned. Mike got pretty sick so we stayed in and I took care of him. Although he isn't 100 percent, he is feeling much better. After his two weeks in SERE, they warned him that it will take a week or two to get back to normal. He lost about 15 pounds. Of course, I have been helping him put the weight back on with all the baking I have been doing. 

On Sunday, I totally messed up with my church times (forgot it was stake conference, guess I am scattered from moving). Since we had completely missed church, we made the drive up to Bellingham. We walked around their downtown and Fair-haven for a few hours. It was such a nice afternoon. I loved holding his hand and checking out all of the shops. It really is a fun little town. We will defiantly be making our way up there again in the future. 

And then we came home and I made pizza. Double crust and cheese, just the way Mike likes. 

Mike gets home today!

I am so happy. He returns to me today. These last few hours are going to be rough for me (I've never been good at waiting). We already have an action pack Saturday planned. We are going to drive up and check out the city of Bellingham. I have heard so many great things about this place. I checked out some pictures and it looks quite beautiful. 

I am really excited because now that Mike is back, we have lots of fun activities planned. Although, I have been to Seattle many times, I have never lived in Washington. There are so many awesome places within driving range. Here is a list so far,

• Victoria, British Columbia
• Portland, Oregon
• Vancouver, British Columbia
• Many many hiking trips- enchantment lake, central alpine lakes
• Mount Baker
• Trying out as many Seattle restaurants as I can

On another note, I found my favorite gum at old navy while running errands last night. Think I might have found my new favorite store ;) It might only last for 5 seconds, but those 5 seconds are wonderful.

Hiking the Y

I am a runner. I run almost everyday. So when I found out that we would be staying the day in Provo, I wanted to make sure we hiked the Y. It is a pretty easy and short hike.
But, I barely made it to the top. I couldn't believe it. I was not used to the elevation. To make matters even worse, there is a man nick-named Grandpa Y who run right past me. I guess he runs the mountain almost daily and is in his 60s or 70s. I was a little embarrassed, as I was huffing and puffing, he ran past me.
It was defiantly worth my discomfort. The view was beautiful.
After all my travels, I have caught the cold. I haven't been sick in over two years so I think it is my body's way of telling me to slow down (and stop eating out so much). We are defiantly ready to move into our new place and start cooking. I love to cook. For my birthday this year, Mike got me a crock-pot. Can't wait to make some amazing fall soups/stews in it.

Nashville

These are the last of our Nashville pictures. Most of them were taking by our Iphones and edited by instagram (jennamichelle90). We had the best time. Thank you husband for yet another fabulous weekend. I am so excited because as I write this, I am with Mike again. The best part is, I will be spending the next ten days with him. Ten whole days! I could not be more excited. I'm off to soak up every minute with this adorable man.

Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park

I am so in love with Nashville. I could live there. Driving around down town is beautiful, a lot of the buildings are so unique and grand. The capitol building took 14 years to build and is built with limestone. The weather that day was perfect so Mike and I just sat on a bench a enjoyed the view for a while. This little earth is constantly moving and it was fun to watch the little kids come up and play with it. Man, I can't wait to have some of my own. I love how easily assumed children are. They see the beauty in everything they do. I hope that I can always keep my child-like views of life. To find joy in everything I do.

Pancake Pantry

I took Mike to Pancake Pantry. He doesn't really enjoy pancakes and did not want to go. I had gone to the pantry last time I went to Nashville and was completely impressed. The chocolate chip pancakes are among the best pancakes I have ever tasted. I forced him to go and he was so glad he went. He loved it.
It's funny to me that I now love breakfast. I used to have to focus myself to eat it (since it is the most important meal of the day). Since getting married, my husband has made me breakfast most Saturday mornings. It usually is waffles, which I also LOVE. Now, I can not get enough of breakfast, thank you Mike!

Ice-Cream

I got to Nashville late Friday night. We headed straight to dinner. I was pretty hungry after a day of flying. Husband picked a restaurant called Pei Wei. One of his favorite places is P.F. Changs so once he saw it, he had to go. Love does not describe how he felt about this restaurant. He wanted to go back every other meal we had in Nashville. Mike doesn't typically eat a lot but he ate his whole plate, half of mine, and an egg roll. It always make me smile to see this man happy. He is so easy to please.

Since one of my favorite things is ice-cream, I made Mike drive me across town to Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream. I am so glad that I did, it was beyond delicious. The restaurant was decorated so cutely.  I love the marble tabletops. I always order chocolate, since it is my favorite, which was good. Mike ordered the strawberry flavor and it was the best strawberry ice-cream I have ever tasted. If I ever get to go back to Nashville, I will be ordering the strawberry flavor at Jeni's. They also have an ice-cream cookbook. As good as my ice-cream was, my favorite part of the day was getting to go back to hotel and cuddle with Mike. He is one good cuddle-bug.

Nashville love

Hey husband! I'm having so much fun with you in Nashville. I love you