So I apologize for the hiatus this blog has taken over the past few weeks. Frankly, while there have been things going on, pictures weren't involved or I simply didn't get around to writing about it. I'm here now though and I even have some pictures to go along with my stories. Yay!! :-)

To begin things, I am so proud of my hubby, who has PASSED all of his written exams! He is now focused on oral board preparation and should be taking that "exam" in about a month. The powers-that-be haven't confirmed a date yet, but when we know, you will know. Hopefully, he will be fully certified and on the waterfront in a month's time. I can't believe two years of intense training (especially the last 9 months) are almost done! Wasn't it, like, yesterday when this all started???

Next up, we took a little jaunt up to Bainb.rid.ge Is.land for Mem.oria.l Day. I didn't take any pictures, but we shopped a bit and drove around to explore the island. I have said it before, and I'll say it again...I love it up there. So cute and quaint. Plus, the little shops and boutiques are fun to look in, especially when you find things that you've never seen before. Case in point: Ban.anagrams and Wa.sgij.

Banana.grams is a scra.bble-like game, but each player creates their own puzzle independently. It's very fun and so far we've already got T's family addicted. :-) Was.gij is actually a puzzle in reverse. Get it? Wasgij = Jigsaw. You have to assemble the puzzle from the perspective of one of the characters on the box. We worked on it for a few evenings and just put the last piece in last night. This is the box cover and then the completed puzzle:



In general, we've started all of our regular late spring/summer traditions. This is really my favorite time of the year! We've been to a Mari.ner's game (which they won!), had a few picnics and have been to a couple drive-ins. The movies have been incredibly crowded and I couldn't be happier, because it means they're gaining popularity and won't disappear any time soon. Unfortunately, I usually end up watching the second movie by myself because T falls asleep. I guess that's what happens when you usually go to bed around the same time the first movie starts!


At the Mar.iner's game!



Finally, with the weather being so nice, T and I decided it was time to finally bite the bullet and buy patio furniture. We have been looking for a long time and we kept finding things we liked, but that were WAY too big. We have such a small space to work with that all we were looking for was a glider or loveseat. Well, after finding a style we liked at K.mart, we ordered the glider online last week! It FINALLY came yesterday and I had the pleasure of putting it together in the 90 degree heat. I'm including some pictures below so you can admire it as much as I do! :-)


Unassembled in the dining room area.


Halfway there!


All done and on the patio!

Sorry for the hiatus, I'll take more pictures and try and post more often!

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Cougars and Bears and VAMPIRES(!?)...Oh my!

On Sunday, Tim and I ventured to the Oly.mpic Peninsula and the Olym.pic Nation.al Forest. I should explain that the Hoo.d Canal Brid.ge is closing this weekend. Unfortunately, it will out of service for at least six weeks, if not longer. While I was at work the day before, it seemed like every time I turned around there was another customer from "the other side." I figure it was just calling me. With the weather on our side, our lunches packed, and a few maps printed from the internet, we journeyed to (dum, dum, dum) THE T.WILIGHT ZO.NE. (kind of)



We decided to first drive to Port Ange.les and journey into the Oly.mpic N.ationa.l For.est. I had randomly picked Hurr.icane R.idge from the city's website of places to see, because it seemed like a pretty easy journey and we could take an easy hike at the top, if it suited our fancy. As we made the 5,000+ foot climb, the temperature steadily dropped and we started looking at more snow than greenery. But good lord, the top of the ridge was BREATHTAKING. I think it's safe to say that we will be going back at some point, if just to go sledding. :-)





We stopped a few times on the way back down, which was very steep, to take a few more pictures and enjoy the warmer weather!






After finishing up at the Ridge, we took 101 westward. I admit, I did just finish the Twili.ght books, so going to Forks seemed like a good idea. As we drove into Forks, I immediately knew this was going to be an interesting drive-by visit. The first thing we saw was a sign at the Fo.rks Mo.tel that said "Edwa.rd Cul.len did not sleep here." We also saw signs advertising for blood drives, which I thought was pretty funny considering, and two stores dedicated solely to the saga. The fun didn't end there, because driving into La Pus.h, we were warned that "Vamp.ires are not Welcome." Now, I have done a lot of embarrassing things for pictures including, but not limited to stalking celebrities and asking random strangers to watch an impromptu talent show, but for some reason, I could NOT take pictures of anything in these two areas. There were however tourists lingering around the high school, taking pictures of the "sights."






After the drive-thru, we headed to the beach. I knew, from looking at the map we picked up at the park visitor center, that the only beach we didn't have to hike to in La P.ush was First Be.ach. I was glad that we did that because it was also beautiful. I am usually partial to the Ore.gon coast, but I was inspired enough that Tim and I might try our hand at hiking to the other two beaches in the area. Speaking of, we did actually try to get to Third Bea.ch, but without knowing how long the trail was with no end in sight and an 2+ hour drive back home, we both decided to try again another day.
The picture of Tim and what looks like a mound of dirt, is actually an uprooted tree and everything it decided to take with it, that we found on our hike.







After all our adventures, we headed back to Po.rt Ang.eles and ate dinner. We happened to see the ferry coming in from Vi.ctoria B.C. and got lost finding our way back to 101. All in all, it was very fun and relaxing day! We can't wait for the bridge to open up again, revisit these destination, and head to the most Northwestern point, Cape Flat.tery and Nea.h Bay. Maybe that time, I'll have more courage to actually take pictures in the TWIL.IGHT zon.e!

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Flowers are abloomin'

Last week Tim had been studying like crazy for the past few months, so after he finished his final written test last Thursday, we decided to bust outta Brem.erton!

To reward Tim for all of his hard work, I decided to get him a new pair of shoes. Well...two pairs of shoes. :-) I think I can confidently say that he has one of the nicest collections of sneakers this side of the puget sound! (Remember, we're west of Seattle!) We followed our pretty much all day excursion at Ald.er.wood mall by having dinner at La Hac.ienda (my favorite!) and an NCCB concert. I thought my parents did a GREAT job!

On Saturday we met Tim's family for a day of Tulips in the Sk.agit Valley. We had heard that they hadn't bloomed yet, but decided to brave it anyway. Well, I don't know where those people got that idea, but there were PLENTY of tulips. Obviously, not every flower was out, but there were more than enough to fill an afternoon!


This was at the first field that we visited.


At Rooz.enga.ard farm


It matched my shirt!


At Tulip Town

Tim's parent accompanied us back to Brem.erton after our day in the fields so they could leave bright and early the next morning for Ho.quiam. This led to some fun on Sunday. I do love having a Realtor in the family. Remember the dream home...



Well, we got to tour it! And no, we did not put down an offer! :-) While we still LOVE the outside, the view, the colors, and the general lay-out, there are enough things we didn't love to still call it our dream home. Although, it has provided us with a lot inspiration for the future when we do build our DREAM home! :-)
Here's the link to the builder's website for the house. The gallery has some pictures of the master bathroom, which is my favorite room in the house.

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When the weather gets nice...

...we go outside!!

We have quickly watched our temperature gauge go from 40 degrees to 70 degrees and have definitely taken advantage of the beautiful weather!

On Saturday I got off work at 5:00 and thankfully Tim decided to come home around the same time. He surprised me though by picking up our favorite picnic food and whisking me off to Ill.ahee state park for dinner. Since picnics are one of my favorite things when the weather gets nice and warm, I was very happy! :-)




This is just the beach section of the park, we had to drive a while through the park to get down to it.

Following our picnic we decided to explore Bremerton a bit. We've kind of been doing that a lot lately, just getting lost discovering our new surroundings. We have found some really cute houses and neighborhoods, but nothing compared to finding our DREAM HOUSE. As we were heading home, we decided to check out this little area off the main drag of West Bre.merton and we found a house that closely fits (atleast on the outside) what Tim and I both dream of building for ourselves one day.


Too bad this little beauty runs for close to $1,000,000! But it does have 150' of waterfront and a STUNNING view of the olympic mountains, so I guess the price makes a little sense.

The next day, I finished working at 4:00 and had to almost force Tim to come home from studying because it was nearing 80 degrees! We've wanted to spice up our porch area for a while and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to do some "gardening." I surprised Tim and drove him to Low.e's, where we picked out some planter boxes and flowers to decorate our outside living space.


I couldn't really take pictures while we were doing the planting because my hands were covered in dirt, but this is the final product of our hard work!


Tim did a great job of sweeping off our porch after we finished!

I sincerely hope that our weather continues to involve more SUN!

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All dressed up with nowhere to go...

Today was the first Sunday I haven't had to work, so Tim and I decided we would spend the whole day together. We were going to finally try out another church and follow that with a drive to Poulsbo to explore and a trip to central market for some Chinese ingredients for tonight's dinner.

We actually got up on time and I made some DELICIOUS cinnamon rolls for breakfast!



Well, I went to brush my teeth before we left and I decided to finally look outside to see what kind of coat I should wear and...



And this is what I saw. No joke. So I casually say to Tim, "Hey, look out the window" (it's actually like "OH MY GOODNESS, LOOK OUT THE WINDOW!")



And this is what the outside temperature gauge said...



In case you can't read it, it says about 39 degrees. The Nat.ional We.ather Ser.vice says it supposed to stay this way until mid-afternoon, but by then we should also be experiencing severe wind. Awesome.

So now instead of celebrating the lenten season at church and exploring our surroundings, we're at home.

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7 months and counting!

Today is our 7 "month-iversary" and we both had to work! But I thought I would do a quick picture update of some of the things that we've done or celebrated in our first half+ year of marriage. (And please excuse the horrible formatting. I'm still new at this!)

To start things out, we went on our first solo vacation..our honeymoon!


Following that, I moved in to our condo in B-town, Tim headed back to work, and I started looking for a job. Before we knew it, it was Halloween. Of course we had to carve pumpkins...


We also spent an evening with our friends J&B at the Haunted Kit.sap Fairgrounds.

Tim's birthday IMMEDIATELY followed and we celebrated with dinner and presents!


FINALLY, it was time for the holiday season. We kicked off the celebrations by finding the most AMAZING christmas tree farm in the world. Because we don't have a truck, we coerced our friend J to take us and he was in awe of the view from the farm, so he asked for a picture of it with him in it! :-) We also loved being able to pick the theme for our tree and buy all new ornaments to really make it our own.


After celebrating an early christmas with my family, we spent christmas eve/day and the following week with Tim's family. I don't remember having such a "white christmas!" We literally spent the entire holiday playing in the snow, but at their house and at Big White in Can.ada.



New Year's was spent eating ice cream and drinking sparkling cider. We spent a day in Seattle with our friends S&J and then ventured out to Ocean Shores to visit them. It was cold and rainy...typical Ocean Shores weather! :-)

I finally found a job mid-January selling wedding, bridesmaids, and formal dresses in Silver.dale. Tim's getting deep into his studying and enjoys the fact that I work weekends so that he doesn't have to feel guilty about going into work.

Well, I think that's a pretty thorough update! I hope everyone has a GREAT week!

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Cars...

So you may know that this past december we were in a car accident in Bremerton. It's a pretty crazy intersection, and we're not really sure what happened, but we do know that the end result was a bit of a headache. After finally getting the car to a repair shop, we waited nearly two months for our ::awesome:: insurance to do their job. (And by awesome, I mean we're actively researching new insurance companies!)



Initially, they told us this wasn't totaled. That was because they were trying to price the car WAAAAY beyond it's actual value. Luckily, their resistance turned into our rewards! We waited it out, I called them nearly every day, and today we're the proud owners of a beautiful 2009 Nissan Rogue. (I would post a picture of ours, but (a) we haven't taken a picture yet and (b) it's dirty and that just won't do for the internet!)



The salesman who sold us the Rogue literally lives a few buildings away and the dealership is maybe 2 miles from our house. We hadn't had good experiences the few times we had been to this dealership before, but after going to Puyallup to look at the Rogue there, we felt educated enough to fight back if we needed to.

Anywho, I thought I would start with something more recent and then maybe later post some pictures and tales from our first seven months as husband and wife!

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