Lake Chelan

August 15 - August 19 Best Weekend EVER!

We rented an awesome house near Wapato for a long weekend with our friends. The house was gorgeous and we had a blast! The weather was perfect for hanging out in the water (in the 90s) while refreshing yourself with some ice cold beverages!

Our friends Austin and Rachel have wonderful parents that let us use their boat. Kelly amazed us all with his crazy wakeboarding moves while the rest of us just chilled out on the boat or floated around in floaties.

We had some pretty intense volleyball games at the park against each other and others who dared to join in. I was reminded once again how much I suck at volleyball and Lowell and the guys were pretty hardcore pretending they were in volleyball scene of the movie Top Gun.

After all that sun, we spent the evenings having dance parties in the living room!

Or playing mean game of flipcup and/or beer pong. One of those things that felt good at the time... but not the next morning... :-) 

Wish it could have lasted longer! Until next year, Chelan! 

Olympic Peninsula Trip

Lowell and I spent part of our July 4th weekend on the peninsula doing some camping and hiking. We drove out and camped in the Hoh River Rainforest. It was gorgeous and really well-maintained. There are rangers everywhere who are thrilled to tell you all about the rainforest ecosystem. 

The Hoh River is glacier-fed and FREEZING cold. We could barely stand to have our feet in the water for more than 30 seconds! We met many backpackers along the way carrying cramp-ons and ice picks who were on their way to climb Mount Olympus.

There's our favorite tree-hugger! That is a giant blue spruce tree that Lowell is hugging. There are tons of these in the rainforest. Also plentiful is good old moss! (see below)

The next day we headed out to Sul Duc Valley to do a short hike to see Sol Duc Falls. It was gorgeous and a really easy hike. I think this was Lowell's favorite highlight of the trip.

On our way home, we stopped to BBQ some veggie burgers at Lake Crescent (east beach park.) I think this was my favorite highlight of the trip because the water felt amazing! This lake has to be one of the most beautiful lakes in all of Washington. It is so clean and sandy and a good swimming temperature. You can walk out for maybe 100 feet or more from the shore because it is so shallow. 

Of course, this post would not be complete without me admitting this one: I made Lowell stop in Forks, WA so I could get my picture taken next to Bella's truck from the oh-so-popular Twilight book series. I needed my vampire fix and how cool is it that these books put a little town like Forks on the map? They even have stores now in Forks completely dedicated to selling Twilight memorabilia (because everyone needs a Twilight lunchbox and thermos.)

My vampire teeth

Oh, Edward... if only you were real...

For Your Viewing Pleasure

Lulu is famous! She is on You Tube so that everyone can enjoy a little Lulu and Powpow action:

Lulu and Powpow

Lulu Playing

Lulu's Brush

Engagement Photos!

For our engagement photos, Lowell and I started at Pike Place Market. It was a cool place to take photos and also the site of our very first date! About 5 years ago, Lowell took me to a restaurant down by post alley to wine and dine me. Actually, he couldn't wine me because I wasn't 21 at the time... Sadly, the restaurant is no longer there, but I will always have the memory!

Then then moved down to Alki Beach in West Seattle for some more laid-back casual shots. After 2 1/2 hours of taking photos, Lowell and I started to get tremor-smiles. We were SO ready to be done. 

The photographer took about 500 photos in total! Most of them were not keepers... it's funny how a photographer can suggest awkward poses and you do them without question. I'll be keeping very close keep of the images so that no one can blackmail me later in life!

The Proposal

Since I started this blog after Lowell and I became engaged, I would like to catch everyone up on the juicy details of our lives leading up to now. 

Lowell proposed to me 2 days after Christmas. He definitely had me disappointed when Christmas came and went without a ring. My family came up and spent the holidays at our house that year. I figured with all the family around, Lowell would pop the question soon. After Christmas, and with no ring, I decided it was going to be a while still.

Which is why I had no idea what was going on when he woke me up at 5 in the morning 2 days after Christmas. He asked me if I wanted coffee. At 5 am? Hell no! I'm sleeping! I told him "no" and he went back downstairs. Then his alarm went off 15 minutes later. I started to get annoyed when I had to wake up yet again to turn off his alarm. I need my beauty sleep, ya know? When he came back in the room about 20 minutes later, I had a little bit of an attitude. He put a piece of paper on my pillow and said "whenever you are ready to get up, I have another Christmas present for you". I got up right away after that! 

The piece of paper was a map of a ski resort. We had been planning to take a couple days to go skiing at Stevens Pass that Monday. I kept looking at the map to see if it was a map of the ski park at Stevens. Maybe he bought our lift tickets early and was giving them to me? But, I did not recognize any of the names of things on the map. That's when I started to get butterflies and brushed my teeth before I walked downstairs. I walked out of the bedroom and found a red rose on the banister. There was also another piece of paper. This paper was a print out from the internet of a spa and lodge that again I did not recognize. I walked down the stairs to find he had taped up pictures of skiers and mountains and snow all over the wall heading downstairs. I found more roses and turned the corner to walk into the kitchen. And there he was, on one knee, with a big shiny ring in a box. It was perfect! 

Lowell not only proposed that morning, but also told me we were going on a trip the next day tothe Grand Teton mountains in WY for a weekend of skiing and relaxing! I was completely surprised! I never imagined in my life that I would be this spoiled. There is no topping that!

Here are some pictures from our "Engagement-Moon" in Wyoming:

Town Square in Jackson, WY

Town Square in Jackson, WY

The first day there, we were all suited up to hit the slopes but there was a huge avalanche and they shut down the entire Teton ski park. We went on a sleigh tour of the National Elk Refuge instead. It was stunningly beautiful and stunningly cold!

We skied the next day, all day. I am a beginner skier so I found the runs to be particularly difficult. The base of the ski resort starts at an elevation of 8,000 feet with the summits at almost 10,000 feet. That is some steep skiing! I took a (very expensive) lesson which really helped.

Ouch!

The ski park has this huge tram that takes good skiers like Lowell up to the summit where you can see for miles and miles. It also makes for a long run down the mountain!

Stopping for lunch

Last picture at the lodge! Goodbye Tetons!

Lulu

Lulu is officially 1-year-old as of last month! We got her almost a year ago from a breeder in SW Washington. After about 3 months of begging Lowell for a Cavalier he finally couldn't take me emailing pictures of puppies to him at work anymore. He caved! Look how little she used to be? I chose the name Lulu after that cartoon character "Little Lulu" from the 1950s, and also because I liked the name Luna-it's a Harry Potter thing... (Okay, maybe I also really liked athletic clothing store Lulu Lemon too.)

Powpow looked enormous in comparison to her when she was just a little puppy. To this day, he outweighs her by 3 lbs. Lulu only weighs about 10 lbs and is very small for her breed. She perfers to be called "petite" rather than a "runt" :-) I think she takes after my grandma who is only 4'10" and shrinking! Or maybe after her auntie Emi? 

Lowell loves Lulu even though she is a mama's girl through and through. He's been training her to hate the Oregon Ducks even though rooting for the Huskies came naturally to Lulu. Go Dawgs!

She is the such a sweet puppy! She enjoys belly-rubs, begging for cheese, and chasing pine cones. She dislikes pooping in the rain, being brushed, and going to the dog park. Lulu prefers to have playdates with her favorite dog friends Hawk, Sammy, Buster, Mia, Teddy, Harley, Willis and Tilly rather than play at the dog park.

Lulu and Hawk

Lulu and Buster