Day Trip to Mt. Rainier

After living here since June 2008, we finally took the day and went to visit "The Mountain".  It is breathtakingly beautiful and awesome!  Talk about feeling small!  It was about a 2 hour drive to get to the entrance to the park and then from there we made several stops along the way until we reached Paradise.  (Picture above is from Paradise)

I think I might be considered an indoor/outdoor girl after today.  I hiked!  It was a paved trail, but still...it was in an upward direction...on a mountain...so it totally counts...right!?  And...there were no tears involved!  

Side Story:  Flashback to 2007...pre wedding...pre Mark realizing I am an indoor girl/princess...He thought it would be a lovely idea to take me on a short hike to see a waterfall in Auburn.  About half way there, he turned around to see tears streaming out from under my oversized sunglasses.  Upon asking what was wrong...I answered, with a quiver in my voice "I didn't wear my hiking shoes..."  I'm sure he thought I wasn't the most emotionally stable one.  Anyway...I was wearing silver, ballet flats.  Not ideal for a hike to a waterfall!  Today was the first attempt at any type of activity that mildly resembled hiking.  We try to avoid activities that cause me to cry...Today was a success!  I even hiked to 2 waterfalls...

Back to today...We brought little Dixie along for the fun, but sadly pups aren't allowed out of parking lots, so she had to stay in the car on the hikes.  

I'm pretty sure this is the first snowball I have seen in July!

I even tasted water from the stream...totally outdoorsy.  I'm pretty sure I could survive for a few days off the fresh stream water...if I ever were to get lost.  

This tree started growing in 1203...I think... Obviously it isn't growing anymore, but that is one HUGE tree!

And one last picture of us with the massive mountain. 

In case you were wondering...all of the pictures that both of us are in were taken with my camera on my handy gorilla pod!  No need to ask random strangers to take our pic!  

Dixie Speaks

For your viewing pleasure!  Please ignore my high pitch voice...Thank you!

Grace & Kate

I had the pleasure of taking pictures of my sweet neighbors girls tonight.  They were so full of energy and so cute!  I really wanted to get out and practice shooting, because I have been reading so much lately about exposure, lighting....etc.  Here are a few of the pics.  What do you think?

Our Story

Coming Soon

77 in 777

In 777 days I will be 30!  I was inspired by others who have done a 101 in 1001 days list.  Basically, you come up with 101 things you would like to do...they don't have to be significant...just things...like goals or trips or things you would like to do for others.  So, when I calculated 1001 days out it just didn't seem like anything interesting...so, I changed it to a list of 77 things I want to accomplish in 777 days, which is when I turn the big 3-0!  I'll post the list on the side add a tab to the top of my blog and I will cross them off as I complete them.  If you feel so inclined...you should make a list too!  :)

I'm Learning

Before

After

I have been reading tons about photography lately....I'm really trying to improve.  I'm focusing on exposure, composition and post processing.  Also, I'm shooting in full manual mode now, which is huge for me!  I forced Mark to be my subject today, so I could practice with lighting and exposure.  The picture was taken at about 4 PM in a mostly shaded area of our backyard.  I need a lot more practice and I think I overprocessed his eyes a little.  So...if anyone even reads this blog or knows anything about photography, feel free to critique my attempt of making a photo look good...it helps that I think my trusty subject is quite handsome!  

Blog-Over

Hope you like the new look of my blog!  I did love the old layout, but I was getting a little tired of it....so, I gave it a little blog-over!  I think I like it so far.  :)

Love/Hate

Instead of tending to this...

Or this...

(Note on the above picture:  This is our closet floor!  I found mold in our old laundry basket...LOVELY!...and tossed it out with last weeks trash.  I have yet to replace it! )

I am baking these...

All because of The Pioneer Woman!  She made me do it!  You see...I have a love/hate relationship with this one pioneer woman.  Mark thinks she is my "ho"mance....I think we are soul sistas...separated at birth!  Seriously...this woman is an expert at all things I love...photography, cooking, baking, entertaining, decorating...and homeschooling(that one...I'm not really interested in).  If you like any of the above mentioned topics, I highly recommend taking a jaunt over to her site...and check out the recipe for cinnamon rolls.  I look at the recipe often, but have yet to print it or try it.  It makes 50 rolls of yum, and I can pretty much guarantee that I would ingest all 50 of them if left alone in the kitchen with all of their deliciousness.  So, I'm waiting for something special to make them for.  

So, I have been sick all weekend with something that started as allergies and then moved on to become a nasty cold...as in I didn't want to do anything other than sleep!  I didn't even want to eat...so, now that my appetite is back, I took my daily trip over to Pioneer Woman's blog...and this is what I found...Heaven Bites!  I had to rename them, because they were that AH-MAZING!  So, if you too, would like to do something other than what you should be doing...you should make these little sugar dumplings....you will not be disappointed!  Or...come over and have some of the ones I made....my hips and thighs will thank you!  Off to fold laundry!

Round and Round

Daisy knows lots of cute tricks, but this dog can SPIN!  

Birthday Weekend of Fun

Our weekend started Friday night with a trip to Fuji Japanese Steakhouse for Mark's birthday dinner.  It was very yummy and a great start to a very enjoyable weekend!  On Saturday morning, we slept in a bit...ate breakfast and then went down to the beach in Steilacoom for a picnic!

It was an absolutely gorgeous day!  

I got the chance to have a little bit of fun and practice with my camera.  

Saturday evening we had the pleasure of welcoming B Co. and most of HHC home from Iraq!  It never gets old!!!  They will all be home very soon!  

Sunday, we took advantage of the beautiful weather and a 1/2 off coupon and went to lunch on the waterfront at Duke's.  There is not much better than sitting on the patio...eating good seafood...watching the sailboats go by with the love of your life!  Hopefully Mark enjoyed his little birthday weekend!  

Happy Birthday To My Husband!!!!!

Today is Mark's 2nd Anniversary to his 29th Birthday!  We started out the morning with some birthday blueberry pancakes...this was his choice over a birthday cake!... over even banana pudding!  I have made banana pudding twice in the past three weeks, so I guess it wouldn't have been all that special.  Now he is off to work for some briefing and I am just going to get caught up on laundry and dance stuff.  We really celebrated his birthday this weekend...a post on that to come....Happy Birthday to the best husband in the world!  I love you so much!!!!!!

What's your view?

This is mine...

This is why I love summers in WA.  If only all my friends and family would come see me....then you too, could see this!  :)

Summer made it to WA

No, I did not buy that tiny fan specifically for Dixie, but it did work out nicely for that purpose.  Yesterday, when I went to the PX, Mark asked me to pick up a fan for his office...because as you all know, there is no A/C in WA.  Some other soldiers on the fan aisle convinced me that I should buy the high velocity fan that you see in this picture.  They said it would be great for an office because of the high power and it would put out great amounts of wind.  Upon getting home, I then had to convince Mark that this fan was going to be perfect for cooling his office, but when we plugged it in....there was no high velocity and not much wind.  Now, it is the dog's personal fan.  I'm sure she appreciates it.  :)  

A Dog's Life

Our first week with Little Dixie has been great!  She is definitely keeping us entertained and provides lots of love.  She loves to get every one of her toys out and also collects any stray socks.  Please notice the obnoxious amount of hair in the pictures above!  Due to her overgrown coat, she had her first trip to the groomer on Friday and was the BEST dog the groomer had ever seen!  She loved her and just were in awe of how well behaved she was!  

And now...we can see her pretty eyes!

Here is how Dixie spends her days...

Chewing...mostly bones...sometimes socks and sometimes her toys.

Sleeping...

Eating...

Breaking into the blocked off hallway...

Sniffing the wind...

Licking Mark's Toes...

And Running around!

Happy 4th of July!