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

Twins (don't) Win...

The Twins are here!!

We went Friday night and had a glorious time with our favorite team in town. We bought left field bleacher seats, but per usual, Luke insisted that we move down and sit in seats that are NOT our own. Now, I'm all for better viewing, but it makes my stomach turn at the thought of getting caught by A.) the rightful people that actually bought tickets for the seats or maybe worse B.) the people in turquoise polo shirts that guard the sections like hawks, just looking to swoop in on seat stealers like us. After one failed attempt to walk down the aisle without the section guard looking in which I froze and wouldn't move (and then got a scolding from Luke), we took another stab at it. However, the lady guarding the section saw us from ACROSS about 10 rows and walked all the way over to our seats to check our (incorrect) tickets.

This is how the conversation went (mind you, I had my head down the whole time):

Lady: Can I see your tickets?
Luke: (Rummaging in his pockets) Sure, where's my ticket? I know it's here somewhere. (And he is definitely trying to charm her the entire time). Oh, here it is! Row 187 right?
Lady: No. Nice try. It's up THERE (points to highest row in the stadium).

Busted. Then we began our shameful walk back up the stairs. My fears had been realized.

As we walked out of the section, some random guy had been watching the whole scenario play out. He grabbed our attention when we got up to the top of the stairs and told us to try two sections over, where the guy wasn't checking tickets. "Why do you think it's so full?" he said.

And so we did. And we didn't get checked. And here was our view. Phew!

Blue Angels

It's a bird! It's a plane! Wait - it really is a plane - the BLUE ANGELS! (Sorry, I couldn't resist.)

Last weekend was SeaFair in Seattle - which is a basically a big old festival packed with lots of boat races and air shows. Lake Washington is usually full with boaters and everyone comes out to watch the festivities. Luke was very excited about going, so we made our way to the I-90 bridge, which they closed for the Blue Angels show. It was awesome!

Waiting for the show to start!

Here's a video from the show. Pardon my shaky hands and Luke's head at the end. Whoops :)

We were sweaty, that's for sure. But we had fun!

They are so incredible. It's really amazing how they can fly that close and stay in formation without even touching.

Summer in Full Swing

Until about a week or so ago - summer has been quite the tease. But we have FINALLY encountered some warmer temps and lots of much needed sunshine. Here are a few photos from the last couple of weeks!

Some of our friends got married last weekend and had the reception at this beautiful golf club, Newcastle, in Bellevue. You could see the city, the sound and the mountains in the background. It was lovely!

There's nothing like a mountain sunset...

Earlier this month both Luke and I went to a bachelor bachelorette party in Lake Chelan for the same couple that got married. Neither of us had ever been, so we had a lot of fun. The weather was HOT and it was a great getaway for both of us. Apparently, Lake Chelan is one of the deepest lakes in the US. Who knew?

One of the views from the house that we stayed at. It was way up on top of a hill, so we had an amazing view of the lake.

For the bachelorette party we went wine tasting one afternoon at a bunch of different vineyards in the area. Here's my friend Elise and me!

Hope to see you soon, Lake Chelan!