a welcome change

It's October. It's time to get cozy. I love that I get to start bundling up and wear boots and scarves. Oh how I love scarves. I love that I get to start wearing slippers and drink hot chocolate. I love having something baking in the oven while I'm curled up on the couch reading as my husband watches football. I love extra blankets, popcorn and old movies...cozy cozy cozy.

I have started decorating for the new season. And by decorating I mean adding a few Fall accents here and there. I am not the kind of person who will go outside, chop down some branches, collect some pine cones and fashion together a center piece. I tend to be over-the-top about a a lot of things....elaborate, artsy, nature decorations are not one of them. The most important additions will be the far-to-many perfect amount of new candles that all smell like Thanksgiving and make me feel very cozy. Are you sensing a theme?

This weekend I did pick up a few things to Fall-ify our home a bit more.

Our weekend also included a trip to Barnes and Noble. As a couple of literary nerds, we find ourselves there quite often. I could live in Barnes and Noble. There is nothing like a brand new book to stick your nose into.

This also has the makings of more cozy.

fun on the farm

Trevor and I didn't make it to the fair this year. I really wanted to go. I have the best memories of my family and I going to the fair when I was younger..OK high school and college too. I'm a sucker for tradition and any place that will deep fry a candy bar.
Luckily, I have a wonderful Aunt who has her very own mini farm and who will make me fair scones with homemade jam. She and my Uncle had us over to play on the farm. My cute and sporty Grandma came too.

All the goats loved me. Or they loved the carrots I was holding. Either way, I felt very popular.























Trevor made a new friend.

I wanted to take this little one home with us. I hear urban goats are all the rage.

I ♡ DC

From the moment we landed at Reagan National Airport until the moment we boarded our plane to leave, we took full advantage of our time in our Nation's Capital. My blisters had blisters from all the walking and running around. Our motto was: "we'll sleep when we're dead." And by the end of the trip we actually were dead. And it was absolutely wonderful. Neither of us expected to love DC so much. Nowhere else can you experience the power of the Holocaust Museum or witness the magnitude of the Constitution and Declaration of Independence, go for a run passing monument after monument or see things like Lincoln's top hat and the very first American flag. We were constantly reflecting on the thousands of lives lost giving us our freedom as we toured Gettysburg and Arlington Cemetery. Our country's history spills out all over the buildings and landscape. As two lovers of history we were kids in a candy store. And these kids ate a lot of candy and loved every minute of it.

The Lincoln Memorial. Our favorite.

World War 2 Memorial. we are proud of our Grandpas. 

The White House and the lovely rusty barrier keeping me out.

Thomas Jefferson's home in Monticello. 

Gettysburg. 

Ford's Theatre.

On a balcony of the Capital right above the spot the President takes the oath of office. 

Inside our magnificent Capital.

Arlington Cemetery. Overwhelming. Amazing.

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Changing of the guard.

National Cathedral.

Supreme Court.

Library of Congress.

Smithsonian. Natural History.

The one place Trevor HAD to eat at in DC. Ben's Chili Bowl. 

We loved the fun shops and quaint brick houses in the neighborhoods of Georgetown.




















Our generous hosts. Bob and Sue.

Proud to be American.
and proud owner of a brand new camera thanks to my amazing husband.

our first anniversary

My one-year-husband and I just got back from spending an amazing week in Washington DC. There will be much more to come on DC, but I want to give you some time to mentally prepare yourselves for the overwhelming amount of pictures I will be posting.
It is a bit out of order, but here is how we spent our first anniversary:
We drove north of Seattle to a quaint little Bed & Breakfast in La Conner, WA. Just think Anne of Green Gables and an explosion of pastels and ceramic bunnies and you will have a pretty good visual. But as a small-town-girl at heart, I was loving it. And the Wild Iris Inn didn't win awards for best northwest B&B for nothing! The rooms were very luxurious and the breakfast was incredible. We had such a fun and relaxing time (which was much needed after gallivanting all over the East Coast). I almost felt like I was on my honeymoon again...minus the rainy weather and lack of anyone under the age of 70. But it was perfect.

We found these giants in our room when we arrived. I finagled the recipe from the owner before we left.

We had dinner at this delicious little bistro.

The Rainbow Bridge.

As I look back over this past year I am amazed by how much we have both grown into our roles as husband and wife. Marriage definitely takes work and is challenging at times. It is getting excited about his fantasy football team. It is comforting her while she cries for no apparent reason. It is grilling him a piece of chicken whenever we have fish for dinner. It is paying all the bills so she doesn't have to worry about it. It is smelling his dirty clothes to see if they can pass as "clean". It is trusting each other completely and putting each other's needs first.
It is joy.
It is fun.
It is the best thing we have ever done.

one year ago today...

a hike and a prayer

Henryk Goldszmit was a Polish-Jewish pediatrician and children's author who ran an orphanage in Warsaw, Poland during World War II. When Germany invaded Warsaw, Henryk's orphanage was forced into the ghetto. Although Henryk had many opportunities to seek sanctuary for himself, he refused to leave the children behind. He used to recite little prayers to give them hope and comfort. This is my favorite:

"Thank you merciful Lord for having arranged to provide flowers with fragrance, glow worms with their glow and to make the stars in the sky sparkle."

Trevor and I hiked Mt. Si this weekend and it was so refreshing to get out of the city and be completely surrounded by God's beautiful creation. It amazes me to think of all that God has provided simply for our enjoyment.

Thank you Lord for mountains to climb, breathtaking views to see and a husband to enjoy it all with.

Also, I think this proves that I can be outdoorsy.

irrational fears

This past weekend Trevor and his friends left their women folk at home for some quality guy time. They stayed in a cabin up in Snoqualmie. They hiked, went rafting, golfed, played games and most importantly, had their fantasy football draft.

It was the first time, since we have been married, that we have spent a night apart. I wasn't prepared for how his lack of presence at night would affect me. 

I do not like it.

I tossed.

I turned.

I slept with the bathroom light on.

I was completely paranoid that a murderer or worse, a spider, would break in and I wouldn't be able to get a hold of him because he didn't have cell phone service!

Not to mention what could be happening to him....

impalement.

loss of limbs.

you know normal stuff that could happen while playing a game of Risk.

By night two I was doing a little better...but I'm happy my husband is home.