To the Salish Lodge we go!

For a little late anniversary getaway, Luke and I went to the Salish Lodge in Snoqualmie to celebrate. It's a beautiful resort and spa that I've been wanting to go to ever since we moved back. It's just far enough outside the city that you feel like you're away, but still only a 30-minute drive or so. We spent the afternoon exploring Snoqualmie falls and walking into town. And then we had the most amazing dinner at the restaurant at the lodge. It was delicious!

Exploring the falls!

Luke found some old trains on our walk. And in true Luke fashion, he climbed over the fence and into the train cars... However, as many of you know, he does have some experience in the area of climbing on trains he's not supposed to. (And riding them, for that matter.)

The river that goes into the falls

The falls! In the spring they are even bigger, supposedly. That's the Salish Lodge in the corner.

The next morning, we woke up and went to breakfast. I had been anticipating this breakfast for quite some time, as it's supposed to be amazing. We both went for it and ordered the four-course country breakfast. Look at this menu and you'll see what a task we had undertaken:

Unfortunately, we came nowhere NEAR finishing all of this. We slowed down significantly around course #3. But it was all so delicious - I doubt we will ever have a better breakfast!

This is Luke's full face as he takes on course #4. 

It was a great 24-hour getaway and I am just so thankful for my wonderful husband!

We love visitors!

Last week we had Luke's parents in town for a visit. To celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary, they road-tripped out to the West Coast, all the way from Wells, Minnesota. Luke's sister, brother-in-law and our niece, Claire, also made it to Seattle for some family time. It was great to all be together and we couldn't have asked for better weather to enjoy while they were here.

The first night they were here we went to Ivar's Salmon House for dinner on Lake Union. It was a beautiful night, so we sat on the deck overlooking Lake Union. Then we went to watch the sunset at Golden Gardens!

 Steve and Lisa enjoying the view!

Gotta love those mountains.

On Friday night, we went to the Bell Street Diner for dinner downtown on the pier. This is actually the restaurant that Luke and I went to the night that we got engaged (before he proposed). Again, another beautiful night sky - so we couldn't resist the photo opp!

That's Luke's game face. I have no game face to speak of...

And somehow, this is the only picture I have of Claire from the weekend. We are sorely lacking in the area of kid toys at our house - so Luke shared with her. However, the air soft guns weren't quite age appropriate. But she did take a liking to this container of ear plugs he gave her!

Thanks for visiting everyone - we were so glad that you came!!

Love from the Homeland

Hello everyone! Sorry it's been awhile since my last post. But, we've been busy traveling to Minnesota and then hosting Luke's family here in Seattle. But things are finally back to normal, so I have a chance to sit down and post :)

We had a great time at home as we always do. It was so fun to see people and enjoy those hot summer days that we've been missing so much here in the Pacific Northwest. We hadn't been home since we passed through on our road trip out to Seattle in January, so it was a much needed visit.

We actually flew out to Minnesota on our FOURTH (yes, that's right) wedding anniversary! We had a romantic meal at the airport, so that was nice. And my mom even got us cupcakes from the bakery where we got our wedding cake for dessert that night.

We were also able to make a trip to Noerenberg Gardens where we got married. For those of you who were at the wedding, it was just as hot the day we visited and I started having flashbacks of Luke sweating while we were standing there during the ceremony. I remember thinking: "Is he crying or are those beads of sweat dripping down his face?"

Four years!!

Other than that, we got to see lots of friends and family, which was so good. Luke got to go fishing and we even made it to a friend's wedding. All in all, I'd say it was a pretty perfect trip :)

Until next time, Minnesota!

Down to Business

Here's my September feature article for Minnesota Business Magazine. Loved writing this one - enjoy! (FYI - it's on pg. 30 in the digital edition)

The Business of Education