I often say that nature is my holy place. When I’m stressed or sad about something, the easiest place for me to get centered, think, and pray is outside. I love going to the mountains because being surrounded by towering peaks and spiking evergreens is truly a religious experience. Now that I live on the peninsula, it’s a lot easier to make it to the water than it is the mountains. Fresh air tinged with salt and seaweed, loud-mouthed seagulls, and crashing waves are medicine for me. Not the kind I can swallow, but definitely the kind I can feel.
Washington
Before and after – the evolution of our property
We bought our cute little cottage-like house in Port Orchard, Washington last October. Her insides were perfect and needed no updating, but the outside was in desperate need of some love. Seven months later, the work is 95% complete and I am so happy with the outcome. I’m more in love with my cute little quarter-acre of solitude than ever. So – some before and afters shots below!
Back from my hiatus – and as a homeowner!
We are officially homeowners for the first time in our lives, and after almost ten years of marriage! We closed on our lovely little house in Port Orchard, Washington on 10/27, took possession the next day, and moved in Thursday.
Our new town! When we’re standing in our driveway, we can hear the seals barking down on the waterfront (of Sinclair Inlet, which is part of Puget Sound), which is about a 1/2 mile away.
The war I can’t win
I’m at war.
Wait, no…
I’m being pursued… by the Indominus rex, while running in heels, while trying to talk on the phone, while carrying a dozen eggs.
I’m exhausted. I’m trapped. I try evasive maneuvers, but my enemy is stronger, smarter, far more powerful. Continue reading
My favorite food on the planet
I’ve been a salmon addict ever since I first started coming to Seattle for training and would eat at restaurants where I would get perfectly seared salmon filets. I relished the flavors – wood/fire smoke, lemon, that crunchy bite from the caramelization – bursting on my tongue. It was worlds away from the canned salmon patties I ate while growing up back in Indiana. Now that I live here in the Pacific Northwest, where fresh fish is in abundance, I’ve become absolutely addicted to Steelhead Trout. (And no canned salmon will ever get within 20 feet of my lips again!)
Mt. Rainier National Park – aka How we spent our Saturday morning
Living in a place where the earth and the sky meet in the form of snow covered peaks has humbled me these past nine months. It’s impossible not to feel like you’re just one speck of dust on this grand earth when standing in a grove where the trees are as tall as skyscrapers. Continue reading
Washington sights – Gold Creek Pond
Welcome to one of my new favorite places, Gold Creek Pond. Elevation 3000 feet and nearby to Snoqualmie Pass, which is one of the few ways to get to and from Seattle over the Cascade range. One of the most beautiful places I’ve seen since we moved to Washington! (more pictures under the cut)
I love Washington! Yay! New car! Yay! General Conference weekend! Yay! (Major update)
I really am going to get better at updating this blog. I’ve been neglecting it for months and I always have the best of intentions of updating it, but at the end of a long workday, I can barely keep my eyes open long enough to put on my pajamas, let alone string together words. We’re getting situated and settled in here and I’m so in love with Washington state that it’s ridiculous. Continue reading
Life on Wild Hare Farm 
