WA -> OK -> TN

In November, I offered to fly into Oklahoma to travel with Lisa and the girls up to Tennessee. I wasn't sure if she'd take me up on my offer, but the next week, I had a ticket flying me to Lawton, OK....

Yesterday, I left for the airport at 9am with Dad. Security was a breeze. I didn't have to take off my shoes or remove my laptop from my backpack. Medal detectors instead of the full body scanners. It was fast, although I felt remarkably like one of the mice mindlessly running the course to get to the end...

Anyway, the first flight was fine. I watched a movie and actually chatted with the guy next to me. We were both interested in leadership, so it was an easy conversation. Ahem, introvert... and breaking boxes! :-D :-P

The second flight from Dallas/Fort Worth was delayed, changed gates three times and had me exhausted. They had overbooked, so they wouldn't assign seats until AFTER people had volunteered to fly out the following morning... Finally got to Oklahoma, the tiniest airport I'd ever seen. Family was waiting, so hung out and then slept. 

6am. Wake up and pack the 4Runner. 7:30, Lisa started driving. 9:00 I took over driving. Drive. Drive. Drive. Hours later, at noon-ish, we stopped to gas up and grab food. My day? Something like this: 

Driving. Baby screaming. Baby sleeping. Continuing to drive. Getting sleepy. Baby screaming... Repeat. For 11 hours. 

Pulling up to the Tennessee house at 7pm, I felt relief. We were home. We were home safely. Home. I'm so content to be here. 

What states did we travel through? Up through Oklahoma, through Missouri, took literally a ridiculous 5-7 minute drive through Illinois to get to Kentucky. Then over and town to Tennessee... 

From the picture below, we started out on this weird, 2 lane highway. It was getting dark and there was a lot of fog. It seemed not super well traveled, although I had two semis in front of me. Then all of a sudden we turned this sharp corner and went over this massive, pretty narrow bridge. In the fog, it felt a little queasy in my opinion... The Mississippi River and that took us up onto that little bit of land between that river and the Ohio River. Second bridge and we were into Kentucky. What a crazy bit to the drive. 

Washington in December

45 days. Almost 6 and a half weeks. That's how long I was home. My calendar went from very little scheduled to meeting up over 33 times with friends and out of town family... How crazy is that. Along with that came CAP work, grocery shopping, holiday baking, appointments, even getting sick.

Highlights? (in chronological order)

Taking some desperately needed self-care/me time. Fort Casey with paints. It was lovely.

Photo shoot with this girl. Working through things together and growing. Constantly growing. Eating good foods and drinking good coffee. :-D

Derping around with old CAP cadets and siblings...  

Exploring Fort Flagler. Drift wood talks, ferry rides, dark corridors... 

Seeing my Little Fuji Family again. 

Going to the Seattle Aquarium with the Jamieson Family. Driving around Seattle, being with Mr. and Mrs. J as they saw Pike Place for the first time... 

Going to Leavenworth with Nick and Jane. It felt like a true escape. 

Anyway, this break may have had it's rough moments, but overall, I'm thankful for the time I got to spend here in Washington. 

New Year's Day

Well, New Year's Day could have been better, yet it also could have been worse. In our family, New Year's Day is celebrated with gifts and family time, food and more food. Much like other people's Christmas traditions.

I was up first. I usually am. Not just because of the gifts waiting in the living room. The gifts this year were simplified, but still, I was excited. I poured a lot of time and energy into researching awesome gifts for the family. Nope, I have a hard time sleeping past 8:30... Anyway, I enjoy the sweet morning time before everyone gets up. But yesterday was different. A note sat waiting on the kitchen counter. No greeting or closing. Cold. A note saying she would be gone for a few days. Tears from me. Angry, hurting tears. 

She wasn't going to try being with the family. It was frustrating and selfish. Logistically, the pressure of making dinner now fell completely on me to oversee and cook instead of just cooking and sharing the responsibility for the meal. The responsibility to give the gifts to people and to explain gifts also fell to me.

After a good cry and talking to Rose, we turned the day around. We gave gifts, we cooked and played. We still are a family, no matter what. We made an AMAZING meal. We had fun and didn't let what's going of affect our day.

Rose and I drove the Little Fuji Family to the airport that night, but it wasn't a sad goodbye, I see them again in six days. 

48 Hours

I've been home for around 48 hours. Busy hours.

Thanksgiving morning:
4am wake up. Dressed and on the road by 4:30. Lisa woke the girls up and we all went down to the airport. Dropped off by bag. Hugged Elsa and told her I loved her. Kissed Elena's soft chubby cheeks. Hugged Samuel and Lisa. Lisa keeps telling me how much she's going to miss me. It's only six weeks.

Breezed through security. Stood in line for coffee for more time than I spent at security. Watched the sunrise from the airport windows. Boarded the plane and slept or watched movies. Finally landed. Between the ten minutes to deice the place in Nashville and waiting for other planes to get to our gate, I was going antsy. I wanted to be home. To see the family I hadn't seen for three months.

Back of the plane, so within the last 20 people to get off the plane. Slowest set of three opening doors one after another while leaving the secure part of the airport. I could see Dad and the doors took like 4 seconds each to open. Long traffic ridden drive home, but it was good to catch up with Dad.

The chaos of entering a house with seven adults of teenagers compared to my other home, quiet with just two adults and two babies. There were literally times where I couldn't keep up with the conversations because it was bouncing around so much. The process of finishing dinner, taking a family picture and catching up with people was fun. Dishes by hand until the kitchen was clean. Succeeded in counting calories during Thanksgiving dinner. Skype call with my Little Fuji Family. This was followed by three really dumb movies before I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer.

Welcome allergies. Cats, dogs, mold... Puffy, itchy eyes, runny nose, trouble breathing. It's going to be a hard transition in that sense. But I'll get used to it.

Friday was minor shopping for necessities that I didn't bring back from Tennessee, watching ridiculously dumb movies, catching up with the Rothenbergers and some gift shopping online....

The past 48 ish hours have been way busier than a couple weeks in Tennessee, but it's a good busy.

An Impulse Buy

Miss Lucielle's is one of the best shopping places. The little booths are filled with fun antiques, handmade things and everything in between. I always have fun looking around there. Last weekend, I perused the isles in search for not a whole lot, enjoying the Christmas music playing and the spicy smell of cinnamon from a couple of the different booths. Also, one of the booths had fun hats. I love hats...

After finding two books, Rumpelstiltskin (for those of you who don't know, I love fairy tales) and a book on things to do. I headed out. Even though it was just after four, the sun was pretty much all the way set. I headed back into down and went to Dress Barn. Originally, I had planned to take a look at the sale rack and call it good, but I got seriously sidetracked when I saw a floor length floral skirt. It was beautiful.

In early January, my siblings and I have a "formal" event to go to and I stressed about finding a dress last year, so when I saw this skirt, I thought it was perfect! I tried it, the size too big and the size smaller. Anyway, a lot of debating with myself and asking opinions from other people, I decided to buy the skirt (online to get the right size) and I'll show Ev and Jane to get an official opinion. I'm super excited to see if it's as pretty as I remember it being!

I'll post pictures when I get it! So look for another blog post!

Recharge

Old Navy Items returned. Window shopping complete. My style in progress. Chocolate acquired. What next? Coffee.

I rarely drink coffee. When I do, it's sweet coffee. I have yet to appreciate black coffee or the daily cup that so many people enjoy. Getsome Coffee here in Tennessee is a comfortable place, classical music playing not too loudly, cozy lighting, beautiful smells. That in combination with relatively inexpensive coffee and different flavored coffees make it a true treat. Black Forest mocha, dark, chocolaty with a hint of raspberry and topped with whipped cream.

Today, I appreciated Getsome's lack of free internet. It made for no distractions and for a truly enjoyable hour writing a letter I've been meaning to write for a few weeks now. After writing until my hand hurt (it's a long letter), I indulged in the first little bit of Wives and Daughter....

I got home just as the rest of my Little Fuji Family headed out to door to do some errands. That's when the coffee kicked in. Within 17 minutes, I had done all the dishes (a day's worth), cleaned the counters and stove and tidied the living room. Energy much?

Anyway, ending the day with pulling together all the pictures I've ever taken (that are edited) of Elsa and Elena (so 4 years worth) so I can give the originals to Samuel and Lisa. Today was a true recharge and I feel ready for another week.

Grumpy, Cranky and Naughty

 I woke up tired, body hurting and no energy. Elena woke up just before eight and so I brought her to my bed and she just lay there smiling at me. How could I be grumpy? She cooed, giggled and wiggled on the bed until it was time to get up.

We made the 20-ish minute drive into town to pick up some things, but mostly chocolate and Ibuprofen. Elena slept the entire way there and Elsa kept up a good string of conversation, mostly talking about "your friend, the other Gracie". Elsa loves wandering around stores and what store is better then Target to do that in?

Elsa decided to be a *bit* of a stinker once we got back. She wasn't excited about picking up her toys and ended up fake crying, pouting and running away when I called her. It happened multiple times over multiple things all morning. I think I handled it well, I was firm, got down to her level and made her look me in the eye as I corrected her. Every time she eventually apologized and gave me a hug. I've been expecting this, I've been here for a month, so a little push back was bound to happen soon.

I got to catch up with my oldest sister today, which was awesome. She's so busy that I rarely get to see her on Skype, so it was nice to have a one on one conversation with her. And to see her face, once we got the Facebook video call to work!

I guess I was truly exhausted because I spent the nap reading and watching dumb home decorating videos on Youtube. Elena decided not to take a full length nap and was consequently quite cranky until she fell asleep again about an hour later on the floor in the bonus room upstairs. I ended up napping at the same time on the couch... So that was my day. It was still a good day, even with the little hiccups of attitudes from all three of us.

Saturday Deals

I almost named this post Saturdeals, but that was just toooooooooo bad. So, what can I say, except you're welcome...

Slept in. Woke up refreshed. Ate leftover cheesecake and yogurt for breakfast, because why not. Also, Chris' Outrageous Cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory is hands down the best over-the-top cheesecake ever.

The weather is one of my favorites, overcast, slightly warm with a breeze. There's a storm rolling in, so I'm excited. Hopefully it means thunder. Oh, and ridiculous amounts of rain. Northwest girl here, am I right? Anyway, I spent the afternoon running errands and leisurely walking through the mall. I rarely do the mall, if I do, it's always super fast. This time, I had several things I was looking for and willing to pay (kinda) for.

Top of the list? Plaid shirts. Because last season I tried a traditional buffalo plaid on and then decided not to buy it. I regretted it literally all year. Plus, they were 40% off, so that's a pretty decent deal in my books.

I got a beautiful green shirt for $2.25 at a thrift store here. It's going to be a sweet addition to my wardrobe. I have been so into the color green, that I usually just skip that color while shopping, otherwise I will buy EVERYTHING that color.

It was a nice, relaxing afternoon, a change of pace from the usual days around here and nice to get some of the things off my list that have been on there for ages. The day ended with delicious salmon, card games with the Little Fuji Family and a couple episodes of Chuck.

Buggy News

I couldn't help but laugh. The reason the car broke down was hilarious. Basically, a gigantic bug flew in the exhaust intake, it was so big that it blocked the intake. This apparently made the battery short out, or something like that... I don't know if I repeated that all correctly, that's what Lisa told me after talking to Samuel today. So basically I didn't have a car for the weekend, waited 5+ hours for a tow truck and spent the majority of my day trying to get home. Because of a bug...

Speaking of bugs. There was (yes, was) this horrible fly that would get in your face, land on you a second after your brushed it away or land on your food and wouldn't be shooed away. On my second attempt with a magazine, I killed the fly dead. Elsa seemed a little concerned, but no more fly. \

Oh, and the mosquitoes here are huge and nasty.

That's all for Bug News!

The Broken Car

Today did not go as expected. Lisa and the girls left for out of town this morning and I was super excited for the weekend off- my first weekend in a month. I had plans, plans to see nature, tour an old battlefield, to get ingredients to cook with and do some shopping I needed to do....

By 11:45, I had already driven a good 45 minutes out into the middle of nowhere. Saw Fort Donelson and now, as I drove down the National Park road, the car decided to stop running properly. Within three minutes a gentleman pulled over to make sure I was safe, checked my oil and made sure I had cell reception. There was nothing else he could do. About ten minutes later, he came back. Yes, guys, came back. He told me there was a museum about a mile away. I got there with hazards on and coasting into a spot. Barely. 

From there, I called people, Dad, a mechanic friend, Samuel and Lisa. I went Back and forth with Samuel trying to figure out what was wrong with the car. I was on the landline and running back and forth between the car and the phone.

Samuel arranged for a tow truck to come get me. While I waited, I went and toured The Homeplace, an 1850s historic farm. It was truly like traveling back in time. Once I finished touring the farm, I returned to the gift shop where I bought gift shop snacks (cause that's all I could do) and sat down by the door to wait. And waited. And waited. Three hours passed. The lady in charge kindly gave me the internet password, which she wasn't supposed to do. It was awesome to get to text Samuel about stuff and get updates on where the tow truck was.  

The tow truck got there at 5:30, half hour after the museum was closed. Two ladies stuck around until the driver got there and then she made sure that I was okay before leaving. Wallace, the tow truck driver had the thickest southern/hick accent I have ever heard. Between the windows being down, the diesel truck and his accent, it made for interesting conversations on the hour long drive to the base. 

By 7pm, We had reached the gate to get on base. He pulled to the side so we could get passes, but he had a pistol on his belt. Long story short, civilians aren't allowed to bring weapons on base. Basically, his company called another company to get another tow truck out to my location. So Wallace dropped the car and left. Half and hour later, the next tow truck got there. Isaac got right on loading the Escape and I went in for a pass.

The hassle of getting a pass was crazy. Since I didn't have the insurance card, the options were to email it (which I don't get with no wifi) or have the company fax it over. Another long story, exhausted me had to go ask the driver to show the MP the insurance card that Samuel texted him. By the time that came around, the MP gave me a passenger pass and let us on. 

Dropped the car off and called a cab. Another minor bucket list item checked off. Rode in a taxi. By 8:30 I was home. 8 hours of waiting for people or driving, I was finally home. 

Was I angry about how the day had messed with my plans? No, not really. I was shockingly calm although a little annoyed and disappointed, but I didn't let it affect my day. I was surprised by how kind people out here are. I had more than five or six people check in with me. Samuel mentioned it being "the worst day ever", but it wasn't, I was able to enjoy the little things, embrace the problem, pray and be thankful for kind people. 

Even though the day was hard and kept getting worse, my attitude was positive and to me, that another little victory. Oh, and I socialized with so many strangers today...An introvert nightmare. Anyway, congrats if you made it to the end and so sorry this post is so long! 

Drive Time

Over the past 48 hours, I have driven 18+ hours. From Tennessee to Michigan and back down. That's a new record for me. Before this weekend the most I had driven in one go was 5 hours. Now I've done 9!

The Indiana skies were beautiful. Michigan stars were twinkling, sometimes even in the faintest colors of red and green. Kentucky's deciduous trees met the water at the river's edge. All four states were kissed with the touch of autumn.

For the past four years, I've traveled up to Michigan with my little Fuji family. It has always been within the first couple weeks of me living in Tennessee. By the time we're on our way back to Tennessee, I am super excited to be home. And that's when this place feels like home again.

Michigan Travels

Today is a travel day. A whirl wind trip from Tennessee to Michigan for a wedding. Over the course 3 days we will spend around 20 hours in the car. Just Lisa, me and two little ones. We may or may not be a little crazy.

Today is also the first day of fall. The weather in Tennessee, however? Yesterday was 90 degrees with 70% humidity. We're not entering fall in the way I'm used to with boots, sweaters and scarves on crisp cold days. But autumn has a way of showing itself, even in the heat. The some of the leaves are changing color, they are starting to fall with little gusts of wind. I am stoked to be driving up through four states and seeing the beginnings of fall all around different states.

September Summer

The last few weeks have been the hardest weeks of my entire life. Even while I've felt a lot of anger, sadness and stress lately, I was shown I have the best support system in my friends and a closeness with the Lord that I've never had. All the problems have also drawn us kids together and shown me that I wouldn't want any other family besides mine. So even though this time is painfully hard, it has helped me grow and face my fears. Amid the hardness of this page of my life there is sweetness I never expected.

A way I cope and think is to drive, so there have been a few days where I went out with no destination. I drove country roads, found new places and favorite places. I painted, walked beaches, took pictures and was thankful... I was determined to enjoy these last summer days. There is nothing like driving country roads with the windows down breathing in the warm ripe blackberries or the ocean. I am still in awe of the world God gave us to live in. I'm cherishing every day, even the hard ones, they are part of my story.

Cascade Falcon XXII

Cascade Falcon has now been over for almost two weeks. So now I can actually think about it and not feel exhausted. ;-) So here's my experience.

I went into CFXXII dreadfully unprepared. I didn't have the uniform pieces I wanted, I had holes in my shoes.  I had an injured ankle.... Anyway, my attitude was a *little* less enthusiastic about going. I griped to Evelyn and she told me that I signed up for it, that I needed to find something good about going. So I thought and this is what I came out with:

1. I go to support my siblings. It was Jane's first time on Cadre and she did great!
2. I go so the parents of Arlington's cadets know there is someone reliable who their cadet can talk to if there is a problem. Or for parents to text for information.
3. I go to take Arlington Composite Squadron exclusive pictures. It's been nearly two weeks and NO official pictures have come out.
4. Learn something new.

So I adjusted my attitude. I was going to be positive, give leadership advice when needed, supply snacks to cadre members, not cause drama and have fun.

I got there and learned that instead of 1 flight of girls, I would have a squadron (2 flight- 24 people) to take care of. I had 1 hour to get 24 girls through the shower (we had 3 showers).... That's like 2 minute showers.

I have girls who cried, wanted to give up, who were homesick and in pain... I also had girls who inspired, who thrived under the leadership environment, who took initiative and who pushed themselves. I had girls who wouldn't shut up and girls who wouldn't talk.

I got pictures every day and it took me two days to completely edit them. I still haven't gotten them to parents like planned.

It was so worth it. I talked again to Evelyn yesterday and some things I got from the experience were: 1. I don't have to spend time with other senior members. The majority of the time, I was alone, watching my cadets.
2. I don't have to be friends with everyone. There were people there who I didn't get along well with. He just didn't treat me well and I had no energy to deal with that.
3. Always look into someone's eyes to ask they if they're okay. The answer will be different.
4. Never baby someone's injury. Have a suck-it-up mentality. If they're in serious pain, you'll know.
5. Thank people for helping or teaching you something.
6. Making eye contact and verbally greeting people are both just signs of a good person.

7. No matter how tired you are, standing outside and watching the sunset, even for just a couple minutes is always worth it. I recharged almost every night this way. It was a couple minutes to think over the day, pray and see something beautiful.

8. Always have a notebook with you. The one I chose was too small, so I didn't use it and regretted it a little.
9. Thank the people who serve you food. I know this one from experience....
10. Take time to write in year books, you never know what will make someone's day. I found out that I was the only one to write in one of the girl's book last year and it meant a lot to her.
11. Always be observing what going on in your surroundings.
12. Have a few stress relieving things to occupy the minds of students and cadre. One of my cadre members right before a stressful inspection had her girls playing Rock, Paper, Scissors. It was great.

I learned so much more, but these are the ones that came to mind first. Check out my pictures on Facebook!

Jane-O

My littlest sister... She's no longer little. Well, kinda. Even a nine year age difference can't keep us from being close. I love going on errands with Jane, reading fairy tales together, tickling her, even though she says she isn't ticklish, playing Ninja, playing Jeep Beep and Slug Bug on drives and cooking together.

We had a blast taking pictures at Jennings Park and she was amazingly patient as I figured out the proper camera settings for all this light and sunshine we now have. Now some facts about this girly...

This girl enjoys fruit of any kind, pudding (especially lately) and if you ask her if she wants anything she will ALWAYS say pizza. Garlic chicken in particular and yes, she can make a mean pizza. 

The sarcasm as I told her to cross her legs and not sit like a dude... ;-) What a crazy kid. 

Jane loves the color blue (it used to be green) and if allowed, will try on EVERY possible dress at Value Village. She loves her orange/red pants and borrowing this leather jacket from one of the many sisters. 

Jane loves playing the piano, singing with Ev, any kind of animal, dancing and hanging out with her friends (and mine... She's in the process of stealing my two closest friends). 

Her normal face.... Naw, just kidding, she made a couple goofy faces when I told her to switch up her look... Guess she needs more practice modeling. ;-)

Who can resist a rooster sculpture? And there wasn't a sign saying not to climb on it!! 

Anyway, thankful for the baby of the family. She's one cool kid.

Solo Adventure

Yesterday, I drove. No true destination. GPS-less. Spontaneous. For those who do not know me well, that is a rarity. I am a planner. I plan routes based on left hand turns and not taking the same road a lot. But not yesterday. I was in need of peace, a time to recharge my introverted side after a social weekend. I was in need of finding nature and painting inspirations.

Through forests, up hills, with sun in my eyes and windows rolled down, I drove. I fell in love with the mountains, the leaf-less trees mixed with evergreens, the lakes and rives, even the pot-hole filled roads. I enjoyed the challenge of not getting lost, of trying new roads and finding new places.

While in Tennessee, I would purposely leave the house in search of nature, since it was so different from here and yesterday I realized that I need to keep doing that. There is so much of Washington that I can explore.

I can't wait for the roadside stands to open up, until the tulips and daffodils bloom and when watching the sunset doesn't freeze me completely. 

I highly recommend adventuring. Both solo AND with friends. It was such a refreshing time. A thoughtful time. A quiet time... It's what we all need sometimes. 

Sunday

Most Sundays are leisurely in our household. Yesterday was far from quiet. It could be categorized as chaotic. It started at 6:45. I had to admit I turned off my alarm and laid in bed for a moment wondering why in the world I had to get up this early.

By 8:00am, I was ready for the day, backpack multiple changes of clothes in hand. Said goodbye to Dad, who is out of state for the next few days and headed for Granite Falls and the Mountain Loop Highway. Starting in January, I'll be cooking for weekend activities there, so I needed to scope out the "kitchen"- it is barely qualified to be a proper kitchen... -_- Kinda disgusting and old. It should be an adventure.

From there, around 10:45am, I headed to Canyon Hills Community Church, barely making it to the 11:30am service with Gracie and Nick. I changed my shoes and shirt in the car at random stoplights as well as fixing my hair. I rather enjoyed the service and wish it was a closer church. We talked for about forty minutes after the service while waiting for the traffic to die down.

Gracie invited us to hang out at her house until dancing started, an offer Nick and I quickly accepted. Once dancing started, I learned the bare, bare basics of the dance that was taught before we ditched and went to find alpacas (which turned out to be llamas) and ended up wandering through the woods. many ferns and branches were thrown at each other...

Volleyball was right after the dance, and we headed that way to catch a game before dark. It was sad cause it was the last game I'll get to play this year since I'm leaving next Saturday. Nick, Gracie and I, after much thought (and little brains) ended up in the Target parking lot, towering candy corn and talking.

It is days like yesterday that make me happy and appreciate the little things in life.

The Art of Procrastination

Procrastination. Something everyone does despite how much they try. Some of the more experienced procrastinators use getting a cup of tea, using the bathroom or having conversations with family as ways of getting around the said work. Others use the procrastinated subject as incentive to get everything else completed - it is amazing how much fun dishes, grocery shopping or finances can be in comparison to that dreaded task. Others just blatantly do whatever else, leaving the task until the VERY last second.

The last week I have been building my resume in order to get a job. It was a very challenging experience overall, mostly because I have very little as far as actual paying jobs because I've done SO MUCH volunteer work. Anyway, it's the end of the "work" week and it is finally complete. Next step? Start applying to jobs in the local area.

Anyway, in procrastinating this week I:

-Did the week's worth of grocery shopping, which was also the first one of the new year, so it involved a LOT of restocking... Blah.... And I always "forget" to bring someone, so it takes me a while.

-Drove Ev to school 2 different days.

-Did random errands for Mother, including mailing a bunch of packages

-Cooked more meals and baked stuff too...

-That being said, the thing I did most to procrastinate was paint/write.

One of my favorite verses - and one that I need to practice more.

The moon was super bright the last two nights that it shone in my bedroom window. Which was my inspiration for this one. 

My bedroom temperature averages around 41 degrees. I sleep with 7-8 blankets including two down blankets, so I stay nice and toasty while I'm sleeping, but any additional time I spend out there is always freezing. But that is where my desk is and where I get privacy, so I brave the cold to paint. Hot chocolate always helps! 

So this is my art of procrastination...

Adventure of the Gracies

We decided to celebrate our Friendiversary. We did some talking and we decided we've been really good friends for six years. We've known each other for a lot longer than that, but were never friends.

This morning, Gracie came over and we headed out on an epic adventure to Whidbey Island. Our first stop was at Rosario Beach. It is now my favorite spot. It was gorgeous. Although really cold, so be warned. Also, don't dress like Gracie and leave your warm jackets at home...

Gracie had never gotten out of Deception Pass, so after the leisurely drive out and the recon missions to several parks and beaches, we got to the Deception Pass Bridge and walked most of the way across.

The drive continued to Langley where we stopped for lunch and coffee. I got an amazing London Fog (one of my favorites). We shopped around the town, which has some rather cute shops. Our favorite shop was called Music for the Eyes. It was a great store with a collection of cool rugs, gorgeous jewelry and beads from all over the world (mostly Middle East and Asia).

We drove further still and found a random beach where the lighting was great so we stopped for pictures/photoshoot/to admire the view, but mostly for pictures. ;-)

We stopped off at an art gallery on the way back home as well as to try on formal dresses as Ross. It was super fun and both of us didn't want the day to end.

In addition to all that, I saw mountains for the first time since I've been home, we ate amazing chocolates, drove through slush, hail, snow-ish and rain, had many conversations and drove over 200 miles. It was a lovely day and I'm so thankful to have this girl in my life!