One Year.

Today marks one year. One year of adventure, hard work, travel, and home ownership. One year of fun, food, and learning. Happy one year anniversary to the guy who is the perfect balance of work and play, the calm to my crazy, and the ultimate handyman.

Oh, AND - Happy Birthday, to this same guy who agreed to share his wedding day with his birthday. For the rest of his life.

Mount Rainier and Seattle Trip Part 1

So, after this post you won't hear me bragging on how cool the northwest is, at least for a while. The third and final week of training for work was two weeks ago. Back in the spring, we decided that September would be a good month for Jacob to fly out and meet me at the end of my work week so that we could explore Mount Rainier and Seattle for a few days. 

Warning - this post is a total mix of iphone and "real camera" pictures.

Jacob flew in Friday evening and we started out the trip right - beers at the local brewpub in Tacoma.

Followed by a stroll through downtown.

Saturday morning we woke up early to fog and drizzle but decided we would make the trip to Mount Rainier National Park anyways. Good thing we did, because the weather was out of this world. 75 degrees and blue skies. It was breath taking.

We hiked a 5 mile loop that took us up to the snow fields at the base of Mount Rainier. We could just barely see a few hikers close to the summit of the mountain while we were hiking. It was super cool.

After hiking 1700 feet of elevation over 5 miles in just over two hours, we were tired. We drove around the park and hopped out of the car when the scenery was ripe for pictures.

Sunday, we packed up, dropped our rental car back at the airport, and took the train into downtown Seattle. Apparently there was a Seahawks game that day?

To be continued...

Blackberry Gin and Tonics

Hello! Sorry for the period of absence from the blog. I was in the great state of Washington for the third and final week of work related training last week, and Jacob flew out over the weekend so we could spend some time exploring Mount Rainier National Park and Seattle together. We had an absolute blast.

While no gin and tonics were consumed on our trip, we did eat and drink some fabulous things. I can't wait to tell you all about them in my full recap very soon!

Let me just say, I was very skeptical of gin before I first tried it. I had heard so many people talk about their deep hatred for the liquor and so I stayed away from it. But then, one day, Jacob talked me into taking a sip of his gin and tonic. YUM! So refreshing, light, crisp, piney (in a good way, I promise), and slightly sweet. It's now my go-to "fancy" drink. This past week I decided to switch up the normal gin and tonic by adding a few frozen blackberries to my drink. It was fabulous. If you are over the age of 21 and not pregnant, I highly recommend you try this.

 This creation is just a slight twist on the classic gin and tonic. Frozen blackberries were the only "non traditional" ingredient.

Fresh black berries would work just fine too.

The gin to tonic ratio I usually stick to is 1/3 gin to 2/3 tonic, poured over ice.

A squeezed lime wedge is very necessary, in my mind.

Enjoy!