30 Years and Lovin' It!

Today is a special occasion at our house -- Luke's 30th birthday! Though he's no longer a 20-something, Luke is the most "young-at-heart" person I know. Every day with Luke is an adventure, and  I'm so grateful that God blessed me with such an amazing husband, friend, and partner in life. Here's to the greatest man I know!

Summer Snapshots

We had a spectacular summer in the Pacific Northwest this year. It was warm and sunny almost every day. Now that the warmer temps have vanished and we're enduring our fair share of morning rain showers, I find myself longing for my sunny afternoons sitting on the deck. Here are some summer snapshots that I haven't gotten the chance to share with you yet...

Our first tomato! We purchased a sad little tomato plant at Costco in the beginning of the summer and thought we would do our best to revive it. Our deck gets tons of afternoon sun and heats up really nicely, so it turned out to be the perfect place to grow tomatoes and basil this year. This was our first red tomato! We ate them as they ripened, but when the big harvest came in early September, we made our own tomato sauce from scratch. Yum :)

A green friend. This is from a hike Luke and I went on in late August. There were tons of little frogs along the river we were hiking near. So, Luke (being the animal whisperer that he is) picked up this little guy.

Fresh peach pie. Luke's mom taught me how to make pies last time she visited, so this was my first time making the crust all by myself. It was a success, and pretty delicious, too!

Now that summer is gone, it's time to pull out the cozy sweaters and grab myself a pumpkin spice latte to sip on while I watch the leaves fall...

Expedition Free Willy

Well, here I am again, a month late on my blog posts! 

The second weekend in August we went to Orcas Island in the San Juan Islands with our friends Amanda and Travis. They had never been there, so we were excited for them to experience the beauty of island life. One of the main reasons (besides a fun weekend trip!) we went to Orcas Island was to go whale watching. I've been whale watching in Hawaii and Argentina, where I saw humpback whales. But I've never seen an orca whale in the wild, so I was really excited. Whale season runs from about May through September in the Washington area, so we went during the prime time to spot some whales.

We left on Friday after work and were able to catch the early ferry over to Orcas without any trouble. We also caught an amazing sunset along the way!

DISCLAIMER: Most of these lovely pictures were taken by Amanda and Travis. Thanks, guys!

Once we got to the island, we stopped at a local pub and restaurant for some dinner. Lucky for us, we stumbled upon some incredibly entertaining karaoke talent while we were there. They serenaded us to the tunes of "Benny and the Jets" and "Hey Jude," which we continued to sing for the rest of the weekend. 

On Saturday after we grabbed some breakfast, we headed down to the ferry dock where we caught our whale watching boat. It was a beautiful, clear day, perfect for taking lots of pictures.

The Orcas Island ferry dock

Hello, Mt. Baker!

We passed by a sailing regata on our way out to find the whales

And, low and behold, we found them!

Swim, Willy swim!

When they poke their heads out of the water like this, it's called a spy hop.

Super whale watchers...

We also saw some sea lions sunbathing along the way.

Educating Amanda and Travis on the many types of sea life in the Pacific Northwest.

Amanda and Travis keeping warm on our boat ride!

Later that day, we enjoyed the sunny weather and went out for Mexican food. 

Cheers!

On Sunday, we had grand plans of going to the best breakfast joint on Orcas and exploring Mt. Constitution. However, when we got to the breakfast restaurant, we asked some locals about the ferry schedule to get back to Anacortes, and they told us that if we didn't get in the ferry line NOW, we might not make it off the island. So, we skipped breakfast and went straight to the ferry line at 11 a.m. Luckily, we made the 5:45 ferry, but that left us waiting for most of the day. 

And to commemorate or afternoon of waiting in the ferry line, Luke purchased this shirt:

Waiting.. and waiting... and waiting...

We were able to park our car, so we got some food, explored the beach, and played cards. So, it wasn't the afternoon we had planned, but still turned out to be a pretty great day. It was a great weekend and we were so glad to spend it with the Flanders!

Read All About It!

I know you've all been aching for some more magazine articles to read, right? Well, you're in luck! Here are some links to some of my July and August articles:

Incubating Startups (Minnesota Business, July 2013)

Polo and Pageantry (Minnesota Business, July 2013)

Cool Drinks for the Summer (St. Louis Park Magazine, July 2013)

Review: Plymouth Mini Burgers (Plymouth Magazine, July 2013)

Neighborhood Business (Minnesota Business, August 2013)

Next Stop: Transportation (Minnesota Business, August 2013)

St. Louis Park's most refreshing treats (St. Louis Park Magazine, August 2013)

Plymouth Ice Cream Guide (Plymouth Magazine, August 2013)

Amish Country or Bust!

This past weekend we flew to Pennsylvania to celebrate one of Luke's best friend's -- Noel's -- wedding. Noel and Luke have known each other since they were kids growing up in Southern Minnesota. They were in their band together, lived together, moved to Seattle together, and have stayed close friends since. Noel has spent the last couple of years working with an organization called Youth with a Mission (YWAM). And that's where he met his now wife, Renee. She is the sweetest girl ever, and I couldn't imagine a more perfect match for either of them. 

They got married in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, which is about a 1.5 hour drive west of Philadelphia. And let me just say this, it was a beautiful place to get married. For example, this was the view from my seat at the wedding...

It was also an extra fun trip because we were able to spend a lot of time with some of Luke's other best friends -- and former band-mates -- Travis and Ricky.

Luke and Trav modeling their suspenders before the wedding.

Luke, Ricky, and Travis

You always need to get a picture when you dress up :)

Noel waiting for his bride!

It's official, they're hitched!

First dance. We love you guys!

Noel's best man was his dad, Zane. He gave the sweetest speech. It's so fun to see them together because they have almost identical mannerisms and phrases. Like father, like son!

And, of course, the boys had endless amounts of fun in the photo booth at the reception...

The day after the wedding, they had a barbecue before heading off to their honeymoon. Luckily, we got a great photo of the boys before we headed out. It was so fun to see them all together, and amazing to see how even though time passes, nothing seems to change between them. 

After the barbecue, Luke and I, Travis, Ricky, and his wife, Brooke, headed to Philadelphia. First stop was a baseball game at Citizens Bank Park!

It was an awesome field!

Ricky and Brooke enjoying the game.

Later that night we got some food and walked around the city. Here's Travis deciding whether or not to cross the road, I believe...

We had most of the day Sunday to keep exploring the city. Luke had one thing on his mind: Philly cheesesteaks. So, we walked the two miles from our hotel to get supposedly, the best Philly cheesesteak in the city. 

Luke loved it. And Travis doused his in an unsuspecting bath of hot sauce, which kind of ruined the whole experience for him as tears started welling up in his eyes.

And then we headed home on our 6-hour flight back to Seattle. It was an amazing weekend and fun was had by all. Thanks for letting us be a part of your big day, Noel and Renee. We love you!