Ramblings from a coffee addicted, takes herself too seriously, literary buff.
A quick trip to Seattle resulted in lots of fun adventures to celebrate my little sis’s 13th birthday.
Enjoying the Gingerbread House display downtown.
The Teddy Bear Room at the Fairmont
Making our own gingerbread houses
Birthday Breakfast…Mom’s not in the picture since she’s taking it but thanks to her we had a phenomenal feast.
Happy Birthday Sweetheart!
This past weekend Bryan ran with the Twisted Blisters in the “Mother of all Relays”, Hood to Coast. It was an awesome experience for all of us. For me it meant a cozy beach hangout in Manzanita, time with Grandma E, and lots of R&R. For Bryan it meant a big accomplishment, lots of perseverance, a chance to bond with eleven other men, and the bug to do it all over again next year. 
We spent a short weekend with the Deckers in Long Beach and had so much fun! That frying pan was actually used back in the early 1900s. And notice that Levi and I are posed with the Long Beach Police Station right behind us. We’re the real troublemakers in the group.
After Kai’s wedding we visited Pearl Harbor. This is a view of the flag on the USS Arizona.
Some of the bridal party with the bride.
Visiting the Dole Plantation
Bryan snorkeling in Waimea Bay
This Thanksgiving we went to the San Juan Islands (for those of you who don’t know, they’re up just south of Vancouver Canada) and enjoyed a very relaxing couple of days. And we met Mona. Who apparently really liked me. She liked me enough to gum my entire arm while I was petting her. So now I have been sucked on by a camel, on an island in the Pacific Northwest.
These past few weeks have been delightful. Labor day weekend was filled with seeing good friends, celebrating new life with a soon-to-be Mom, eating delicious carnival-style food with my nephews, and taking a trip to see my sister. This past weekend Grandma E came down for a visit and we all ended up enjoying the Chinese gardens and then eating our hearts out. Oh the food! I think we waddled around for days afterward after the lavish amounts of food we consumed on Saturday. Below are a few pictures to celebrate the last couple of weeks…
Last Saturday night, after Avery’s wedding, my sister Hannah and I headed to Billings MT. Hannah goes to school there and since I haven’t been to visit yet and she was driving by herself, I decided to join her for the trip. We knew ahead of time that Daylight Savings was going to mess with our schedule but what we didn’t remember is the change from Pacific to Mountain time.
After navigating two passes in the dark, fog, and slush we arrived in Missoula. (BTW, I want to go back and visit Missoula again. It has such a cute downtown area.) We had planned on meeting up with a friend of Hannah’s but the two time changes meant that it was midnight when we rolled into town. I, for one, was exhausted and couldn’t wait to crawl into a hotel bed somewhere and zonk out for the next eight hours. I had forgotten how time consuming and high energy weddings can be.
Here’s where the story gets interesting and funny. We tried a Holiday Express first and they wanted a whopping $109 for one night with military discount!! What’s up with that? So we headed a little further down the road and settled for the Days Inn which wasn’t as posh but certainly looked clean and tidy. We pay for our room, lug our gear up to the second story, and try our room card in the door. It took a few tries but the door finally opened on a man and woman who jerked upright in bed as light from the hallway poured into the room. Hannah and I stopped cold in the doorway as the man yelled, “This room is occupied!” Needless to say, we practically flew back downstairs.
me: I think you gave us the wrong room. There’s a couple in 201 and we just woke them up.
lady behind the desk: Now how can that be?
janitor: Well did you ask them to split the bill with you? Maybe they wouldn’t mind sharing. (he’s chuckling by the way)
lady behind the desk: this has been one hell of a night and I just came on shift (at about this point I lost any and all sympathy and feelings of goodwill toward her)
Hannah and I were given the card to 202 at which point we crept back up the stairs and tried to get into the room as fast as possible, fearing that Mr. Woken-up next door might come out in his boxers and give us a piece of his mind. We decided to deadbolt our door on the off chance that the lady behind the desk’s night got worse.
