Panoramic Way of Life

I think panoramic pictures can be pretty cool shots, and I got to where I liked taking them during my travels in the PNW. And because I'm missing it a little right now, I thought I would share them with y'all! Enjoy!

// Rattlesnake Ledge, WA

// Snoqualmie Falls, WA

// Snow Lake, WA

// Mount Pilchuck, WA- unfortunately it was very foggy on this hike

// The Gorge Amphitheater, WA- not a hike, but too pretty not to include

// Stanley Park, Vancouver, British Columbia

// Mount Constitution, Orcas Island, WA

// Blanca Lake, WA

I'm Officially an Aunt!

Last Wednesday, my little sister had her precious bundle of joy! Everything went smoothly, and both baby and mama are doing great! I'm finally an aunt, and it has to be the best feeling in the world (aside from being a mother but I'll wait a longggg time for that one)! I can't get enough of his sweet little face and luckily, I'm home for a couple weeks and get to enjoy him! Our sweet boy is perfect in every way!

HUNTER FORD HOLLY

August 19, 2015 at 2:23pm

8 lbs 2 oz

21.25 inches

Cici meeting her grandson for the first time.

Papaw admiring his new grandson.

Mommy and daddy loving on Mr. Hunter

Hunter loves his carseat!

Heading home from the hospital.

Abby and Hunter got to come home from the hospital on Friday and are getting adjusted at home. So far he loves eating and sleeping and snuggling with his Aunt April, of course! 

"I Got Everything I Need, and Nothing that I Don't"

If you ever get the chance to visit Washington, I highly recommend going to a concert or music festival at The Gorge Amphitheater. Just picture: listening to fantastic music alongside the Columbia River gorge, the edge of the Cascade Mountain range in the background with the sun setting creating a rainbow of colors in the sky. When you cross the ridge to see this amazing view, it is so breathtaking! It's obviously more beautiful than my words can describe, so I'll just show you instead. 

I got the chance to go to the Zac Brown Band concert here earlier this summer. Let me just say, they put on an amazing show! I'm definitely no music connoisseur, but I do tend to judge a concert based on how much a band sounds like their music you hear every day. ZBB did not disappoint the slightest bit! They were also very entertaining along with sounding excellent! 

The thing to do at the Gorge, is camp. Especially during a music festival. Considering it's about 3 hours from Seattle, with not too much in between, it just makes more sense to stay for the night. Which is exactly what we did. I must tell you though, when I say camp, it's just "car camping." (Who knew there was a difference between camping and car camping?) So basically you park in a field next to thousands of other people and set up a tent behind your car. We were fully prepared with tents and a grill and lots of food and beer, because those are obviously the essentials. It's a fun time, hanging out with tons of other people from all over the place. 

The whole trip was even better because one of my best friends from college was in Seattle to visit! Add in our two friends from college that already live in Seattle and one of their friends from college, it was like a mini UTA reunion/Texas in Seattle weekend! The weekend felt a little college-like in itself, with the day drinking, playing flip cup, beer pong and corn hole, and going to some cool concert. But then we realized we're kind of old and can't stay up until the early hours of the morning (unlike the rowdy group next to us that kept us up until then anyway). Excuse me, when did that happen?! 

The weekend and concert were simply amazing. I would love to go back there right this minute! We are already planning to make this trip an annual event from now on, possibly with one of the many music festivals instead of just a day concert. Who wants to join??

Fourth of July Chelanigans

I promised you updates on the adventures I had in Seattle, and I'm not one to disappoint so here they are! I know it was a while ago at this point, but let's start with July 4th weekend in Chelan, WA. It was by far one of the best holiday weekends I've ever had!

A group of friends that I met in Seattle rented a lake house and boat for the weekend at Lake Chelan in central Washington. Let me tell you, it was so gorgeous there! I loved the fact that I could be hanging out on the lake and looking off into the mountains nearby. Also, I'm not used to having such clear blue lakes; we just don't have those in Texas. But this one was perfect! A little chilly since it's snow runoff from the mountains, but in the 90 degree heat it was exactly what we wanted!

We split up into groups and had a friendly competition for the best/most patriotic meal for dinners all weekend. Not to brag or anything (okay, I'm bragging) but we won by a long shot! Do you see this spread?! We had everything from pulled pork sliders and baked beans to red, white and blue desserts and jello shots! And it tasted delicious! How much more patriotic can you get?

Most of the girls on the trip were other travel nurses I met while in Seattle. And there were four of us from Texas! FOUR! That's a lot considering none of us knew each other before going to Seattle, and you know us and that Texas pride- we bonded immediately! All of these girls will definitely be people I'll keep in touch with long after leaving Seattle! I love that travel nursing gives you such a sense of community everywhere you go.

The only downfall to the whole weekend was the lack of (good) fireworks! Since most of Washington is in a major drought, they opted for a smaller firework show instead. But who can be mad when you're with good friends and have this for a view?

Back in Texas!

Well hello! Glad you found your way back. If you happened to notice a few difficulties getting here, that's because apparently I am not a tech savvy as I once thought. (If you have no idea what I'm talking about then you can disregard all this.) I was trying to make some small changes, and somehow deleted or changed or messed up in who knows what way this little space! Luckily I was able to bring it all back, but had to create a new URL, hence my old blog looking like I deleted it. Again, I don't even know what I did to it. But the good news, I'm still here and sticking around!

Now that that's out of the way, on to the good stuff! I'm back in Texas! I was so sad to leave Seattle; it's hard to belief that I've already lived there for 4 months. It flew by so quickly! Seattle has definitely been added to my list of favorite cities and I'm already contemplating a trip back! So in the mean time, I'll be melting spending my time in Texas for a while until I decide where to go next. (Seriously, how did I live in this heat for the last 25 years?! It's miserable.) My plans while I'm here will include but are not limited to:

// Eating all the queso and Chickfila and Whataburger and BBQ that I can handle, while not gaining a million pounds. Ha!

// Making sugar cookies. Oh how I've missed doing that!

// Updating all you wonderful people on my summer in Seattle.

// Snuggling with my furbaby. He hasn't left my side since I got home!

// Laying in the pool. Why Seattle is severely lacking in pools in beyond me.

// Catching up with friends and family.

// Learning to use my new DSLR camera.

// And most importantly, waiting not-so-patiently for my nephew to arrive! I've been doing my best to try all the little myths that make someone go into labor, but nothing is working! I guess I'll just continue to wait, until my hairs turn grey. Or until Tuesday when my sister gets induced. Either way, it's too long! I'm ready for baby snuggles!

Don't worry, I'll post plenty of pictures for all to see!