Washington

It had been almost a year and a half since I had been home to Washington, and I was really beginning to miss it. Isaac and I toyed around with the idea of taking a weekend and driving up, but the drive is really long and payed time-off hours are in short supply; in the end it just wasn't worth it. When my Dad offered to fly me up as a mother's day/birthday gift for my mom, I couldn't refuse. The timing couldn't be more perfect-what with school just being over, no current job, a long wait period to take my test, and mother's day just around the corner. It seemed that all the pieces just fell together---right into my lap. I felt bad leaving Isaac home for a week to work while I went to play with my family, but he insisted that I go, and Laura and Michelle assured me that they would take care of him. So away I went.

In short, the week was incredible. The moment that Seattle came into view from the airplane, I couldn't stop smiling.

The view leaving Salt Lake and Flying into Seattle

I have lived in Washington most of my life, but coming back home, I am once again reminded just how beautiful it is. I love the big evergreens, the moss, the rocky beaches, the billboard free highways, and the ocean.

My week started out with running a 5K with my dad as a fundraiser for Nathan's class. It was fun, and it felt nice to run at sea level for a change, although I still held my dad back from his usual pace.

Look Carefully and you can see me at the starting line

My brothers were still in school, so I didn't get to see them as much as I would have liked, but luckily, it was the end of soccer season, so I was able to watch several of their play-off games. Nathan is a Freshman and Jordan is a senior, but they both made varsity, so they got to play on the same team together. They had a great season, but ended up losing in their first state game. I loved watching their games though and had a really good time cheering them on, taking photos with my mom, and trying to find them on the field by searching for their bright blue and bright red cleats.

With just my mom and I home during the day, we were able to spend a lot of time together just doing whatever we felt like. We cooked, scrapbooked, took the dogs on walks, talked, read, shopped, and of course took a lot of photos. One of my favorite days was a stop in Seattle on the way to a soccer game. We ate clam chowder and fish and chips along the water-front, being sure to give away a good portion of our fries to the hungry seagulls. We walked through Pike Place market sampling good food, and enjoying the music, and browsed through some great antique shops.

My mom's birthday and mother's day are only days apart, and not unexpectedly, we decided to buy her flowers as a gift. My mom wanted to stop at a nursery to buy roses for her rose garden, so we took the opportunity to to find her flowers to plant in her pots. This nursery, however, was the prettiest nursery that I have ever seen. I was almost convinced to give up my nursing profession to work there. I was in love--however the photos don't do it justice.

At nights when the boys were home, I would try to help them with their homework, beat Nathan in ping-pong, and play with the animals. I miss having animals around, something that Isaac can't quite understand. I also helped out in the yard, sat in the hot-tub, and maybe did a little bit of studying myself. One night my dad tried to teach me how to ride the boys dirt bike. It was fun, and I did alright, but I was terrified to shift out of first gear. I also tried my hand at road biking for the first time. My dad and I rode about 10 miles around the Island together. It was incredibly beautiful, and my dad and I talked about how cool it is to be able to ride through farmland, up hills, through the trees, and along the beach all in one area, while seeing relatively few cars. One day I would like to own a road bike. It is really good exercise and I liked the feeling of going fast (at least faster than my mountain bike)

On my mom's Birthday, she decided that she wanted to go on a hike. So we loaded up the dog, some water, and our cameras and headed off towards deception pass state park. The hike was short, but beautiful, and we spent the rest of our day sitting out on the beach practicing taking pictures and enjoying the sunshine. I was so lucky to have good, sunny weather the entire week that I was there--a rare occurrence that we had to take advantage of. There are so many reasons that I love my mom and I really appreciated all the time that I got to spend with her. She is such a great example to me of what a mother should and can be, and is honestly one of my best friends. It was a great week and I while I missed Isaac and was so excited to be home to see him, I can't wait to go back to Washington to see my family again (this time with Isaac) in June.