Everyone loves a lazy river...

We made it back safe and sound from Mexico - though we did spend a lot of time contemplating how we could end up getting "stuck" there for another week or so :) We had a great time exploring Puerto Vallarta, lying in the sun and relaxing as much as possible. And luckily, we only had one travel mishap, which is good for us!

Thanks to my parents' timeshare, we were able to stay at another fabulous resort. Our room was huge and even included our own private plunge pool on the balcony. Luke was a fan!

And even though we didn't have a beach view, we couldn't complain. It was perfect!

Possibly the best thing about this place was the lazy river at the pool! Luke and I spent many hours floating around aimlessly...

Well, maybe Luke spent a little more time floating :)

The beach was also beautiful. Cheers!

We also spent a day out on the ocean and boated to a small town called Yalapas that you can only get to by boat. Now, here's where the travel mishap comes in ;) We realized as we were leaving to go to our boat trip one morning, that Luke had left his credit card in the ATM at the hotel the day before. We ran to the ATM, but of course it wasn't there. We talked to concierge and they said that it most likely got sucked up by the machine, but it could have been taken also. So, Luke got on the phone with the bank right away, while I called the boat company to say we would be there shortly. However, the not-so-friendly lady at the boat company said that no, they would NOT wait for us and that if we could get there in six minutes, that we would still make the boat. So, we made a split decision to drop everything and catch that boat! I ran through the hotel, stole someone else's taxi (whoops!) and we rushed to the boat. After running in frantically like a crazy woman on vacation (with my ever-so-calm husband trailing behind), the same lady I spoke with on the phone told us that the boat had already left. And then I almost started to cry. Luckily, Luke was thinking clearly and asked if there was any way we could catch the boat. She made a call and rushed us out the door, where we got on another boat that took us to the port in Puerto Vallarta, where we would meet our boat, which would be stopping to pick up more passengers. Phew! We made it! And I'm so glad we did, because we had a fabulous day of boating, snorkeling, kayaking and enjoying Yalapas.

(And not to worry - Luke was able to get in touch with the bank later that afternoon. There were no charges to his account and they were able to cancel the card.)

Walking through Yalapas

Beach this way!

On our last full day, we signed up for a canopy tour. If you're not familiar, it's basically a tour riding zip lines through the jungle. It was amazing and we loved every minute of it. It felt like we were flying!

After zip-lining, we had some brunch at the restaurant there. We tried chilaquiles, which are a traditional Mexican breakfast. They take tortillas, drench them in a type of salsa, then bake them and serve it with beans.

It was delicious!

However, the ride back to our hotel was just as eventful as flying through the jungle. The guy brought us home in a pickup with a big open air trailer with seats on the back. Don't worry, it was very safe :)

We will miss you Mexico -- until next time!

Food Coma (Totally Worth it...)

Last month we went to Icon Grill downtown to celebrate my new job. I had been wanting to go here ever since we arrived - not for dinner or anything - but for the SUNDAE. So, in an effort to entice all of you out-of-towners to pay us a visit (I have no shame, because it's THAT good!), here is a picture of what you too, could experience.

Don't mind the fact that I look like I'm about to pass out from sundae-eating bliss. And don't worry - I did not tackle this alone. Luke was there with spoon in hand!

(And yes, that's a homemade waffle bowl filled with delicious ice cream, smothered in homemade hot fudge poured from a homemade waffle cone, and covered with candied almonds, mini M&Ms, cookie crumbles and whipped cream. Not. Even. Joking.)

Still here!

Here's what's been going on with the Hills the last few weeks!

1. I got a JOB! I'm working for a company called Allyis, they manage Microsoft's biggest website and I am writing/editing content for the website as well as doing some marketing strategy and website updating. I think that it's a great gig for now and will really expand my digital capabilities.

2. Luke got in a car accident :( He is FINE - but it was a mess. He was in a five-car accident driving home from work last Saturday night on I-5. He was the only car that didn't hit another car, and the only one that was able to drive away from the accident. (Praise God!). However, we are now in the process of dealing with insurance and getting the car fixed, which is not fun.

3. We are going to Mexico next week! We are taking our yearly trip to Mexico, this time trying out Puerto Vallarta. We cannot WAIT!

4. Luke's parents came to visit and we all went to Salem to see Luke's sister and family. It was a great time and so nice to all be together. We got to see Claire (our niece) get dedicated at church - in which when the pastor put his hand on her to pray, she turned her shoulder away and politely said, "no!" (her new favorite word). We loved spending time with the whole family!

5. We converted to Washington license plates. Though we were sad to see the Minnesota plates go, these are pretty cool. We are still loving Seattle -- spending time with friends, exploring our neighborhood and seeing the mountains on the way to work each day is the best :)

We love and miss all of you who aren't here in Seattle - come visit anytime! 

Our Little Home

I've been meaning to put up some pictures of our new place, and here they are! We're still putting some finishing touches on the place, but you'll get the idea.

Here's the kitchen. We are loving how big and open it is! That's the entryway to the right, and there is a giant closet next to it that houses our washer and dryer and a lot of storage.

We bought this new dining table with extendable leaves. It works great for the space and gives us quite a bit of seating.

The kitchen/dining area is open to the living room. I am still trying to figure out what to put on the mantel above the "fireplace." I say "fireplace" because it's electric and doesn't really do the idea of a real fireplace justice. But it's still nice to look at :)

We also purchased a new couch for the space. It's very comfortable and we really like it. I'm in the process of finding/making some new throw pillow covers to give it some color.

We've also remedied the lighting situation a bit and got a new lamp for the far side of the couch that arcs and hangs over the corner a bit. The couch literally takes up almost that entire wall area, so we don't have much room for lamps on either side. But it works for us!

I'll try to get some more photos up as we finish projects...

V-Day Recap

So, I know I already posted on Valentines Day, but I just wanted to share a few pictures from our evening out. First, we exchanged homemade cards with each other to kick of the celebration. Can you tell who made each one?

Luke is VERY resourceful, as you can see from his highlighter masterpiece.
I loved it :)

And, I received some beautiful flowers!

And then we went to a yummy dinner across the street at an Italian cafe we've been meaning to try. Luke had fresh snapper and I had asparagus ravioli. It was delicious! (Judging by the photo, Luke agrees.) We hope you all had a great time celebrating the day of love, too!

Must Be Love

Happy Valentines Day, everyone!

Tonight, Luke and I are celebrating with dinner at the Italian restaurant across the street. But, I thought I'd take a trip back down memory lane with my one and only valentine :)

Our first road trip together...

I can never keep a straight face... especially compared to Luke.

Then we got married :)

And here we are, more than five years since we first met and I love him even more!

Happy Valentines Day Luke!!

Road Trip: Part II

Now, for the second part of our epic road trip!

After leaving Chicago, we headed to the homeland where we stayed a night with my parents in the cities and a night with Luke's parents in Wells. It was great to say one last goodbye, and load up on snacks, of course :) We hit the road early on Tuesday morning for our riveting ride through South Dakota. The one funny thing about South Dakota is that our friend Patrick's family owns Wall Drug. So, we made it a destination! 

I mean really, how many Wall Drug signs are there?

That night we made it all the way to Billings. The next day we took to the road again and made it to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho by early afternoon. 

Gotta love those mountains!

We spent some time exploring the town and treated ourselves to a nice dinner. It was funny because that was our first stop where we could really tell we were back in the Pacific Northwest by looking at all the people... and all the vegetarian restaurants!

A view of the lake...

Somebody's happy to be out of the car :)

Luke riding a moose!

Me and a very dirty Jeep! 

On Thursday, we headed for Seattle! 

 Even Eastern Washington can be pretty...

And there is nothing like coming through the Snoqualmie Mountain pass after hours of Eastern Washington. 

All in all, our trip was fabulous. We had great weather and made really good time. 

We are getting better at the whole road trip thing, I would say :)

After getting here, catching up with friends and apartment hunting like it was our job, we signed a lease and moved in to our place five (yes, FIVE) days later. And thanks to our amazing friends (Elise, Travis, Chris, and Nick) we had the whole truck unloaded and everything moved into our new apartment in an hour. It was awesome!!

The boys figuring out how to unload the motorcycle...

All of our stuff on the sidewalk in front of our building.

Now, we are pretty much all settled in and have even hosted a Superbowl Party! We still have some final decorating touches to do, but we are LOVING our new apartment and the location. We always talk about how our new neighborhood feels a lot like our old neighborhood in Chicago--with possibly even MORE restaurants within walking distance. Is that possible?!?

I'll get some apartment pictures up here soon!