And the Friends Keep Comin'...

Luke and I are so lucky. Not only do we have an amazing community of friends out here in Seattle already - but they just seem to keep coming!

One of my very best friends, Amanda, and her husband Travis recently moved out to Seattle for a new adventure. I've known Amanda since high school and feel blessed that we have gotten to share so many different experiences and seasons of life together since then. 

Here's a snapshot of the day we spent with them a couple of weekends ago (yes, Amanda, I sniped this from your blog!). We did one of our favorite hikes - Lake 22. It was pretty foggy at the top, but as we sat and ate lunch, the fog started to clear around us and all of a sudden the beautiful mountain lake emerged in front of us. It was awesome.

We are so glad to have such great friends here. We are lucky, indeed.

Fun with the Parents

I've been meaning to post about my parents' visit for a while now - since they were here at the end of September! We had a great time hanging out and doing Seattle stuff.

We made sure that they got to soak up some of the major Seattle attractions:

1. THEO Chocolate. We took a tour of this local eco-friendly chocolate factory - and enjoyed lots of samples along the way.
2. Dick's burgers. This local drive-up burger place is a staple in Seattle. Though I cannot attest to the burgers, everyone who tries them has good things to say!
3. Kerry Park. This is probably the most famous view of Seattle. You can see the sound, the city, the Space Needle and on a clear day, Mt. Ranier in the background.
4. Parson's Garden. I took my parents to the garden where Luke proposed to me. Love that place :)
5. The Ballard Locks. This is where the boats transfer between the fresh water of Lake Union and the salt water of the Puget Sound. It's pretty amazing to see them transfer some gigantic boats between the two water levels. 

And of course, we made it to Pike's Place Market. It was a sunny, beautiful afternoon and we had a great time seeing the sights and gawking at the beautiful flowers there. Even though I've been there a dozen times or more - it never gets old.

So glad my parents were able to come visit and see our life here!

Welcome, Fall...

Fall has arrived here in the Northwest. We have soaked up every last bit of sunshine that we could and are now trying to fully embrace the next few months of drizzle. Last weekend we spent our Sunday hiking and then made a stop at the pumpkin patch.

Here are some pictures from our climb up Mt. Pilchuck. It was absolutely perfect weather and completely clear once we got to the top.

Are we there yet?

View from the top

After our hike, we went to Bob's Pumpkin Patch in Snohomish for a snack and more fall fun! We did the corn maze - finishing in a mere 45 minutes, with the help of a map. And we picked out a pumpkin to bring home.

Hope you are enjoying the Fall weather too!

More business!

Here's my latest piece for the October issue of Minnesota Business Magazine - enjoy!

(flip to page 21 to find my article)