Pacific Coast Roadtrip

I mentioned some time ago that my roommates and I took a week long camping/hiking trip along the Pacific Coast. Well, now I'm here to recap that! (One day I'll learn to blog in real time!) Once our assignments ended in Seattle, we all took some time to go home to see family. We met back up a week in advance to start our new assignment in Portland. Since the two cities are only about three hours apart, we decided to make a big loop and check out the coast instead of just driving straight down.

We started in Seattle and headed west to the Olympic National Park, on to the Washington coast, down the Oregon coast, across to Central Oregon, then back north to Portland. In typical Pacific Northwest fashion, we encountered mostly grey, foggy, and rainy days but we didn't let that interrupt out plans. We camped and hiked and explored to our hearts' content. Disclaimer: we did cheat one night and stay in a hotel. We were desperate for a bed, shower, and real food (hellooo, pizza!). Plus, it was the first night of TGIT so it was a win/win!

Dungeness Spit// Olympic National Park

Mt. Olympus// Olympic National Park

Sol Duc Falls// Olympic National Park

Second Beach// La Push, WA

Aren't my roommates adorable?

Giant Cedar Trees// Olympic National Park

Salmon Cascades// Olympic National Park

Columbia River// Astoria, OR

Ecola State Park// Cannon Beach, OR

Haystack Rock// Cannon Beach, OR

Devil's Punchbowl// Otter Rock, OR

Seal Rock, OR

Cape Perpetua// Florence, OR

Thor's Well// Florence, OR

Crater Lake National Park

Lots of fires while camping to keep up from freezing at night!

After being in the Pacific Northwest for the last five months, I knew it was a gorgeous place. This trip definitely lived up to the expectations, rain and all. There is so much more in Oregon I was to see and do, but I'm not a big snow person and so many of those places are already snowy! I'll just have to come back next year.

Home Sweet Texas

My trip to Texas last week went exceptionally well! It was packed full and busy, but I managed to get some great quality time with many loved ones, right in time for the start of the holidays. Unfortunately I had to come back to Portland to work on Thanksgiving so I didn't get to celebrate with my family, but seeing them was great!

Even the wedding I attended was wonderful! All the anxiety I had was for nothing (as part of me knew it would be) and I got to catch up with some friends I haven't seen in a long time. 

I also got to go bridesmaid dress shopping for my friend's wedding in April. 

Most importantly while I was home, was the amount of time I got to spend of my mom, sister, and baby nephew! It's amazing how much Hunter has grown in the two months I've been gone. He has such a little personality and is usually smiling and laughing! Almost every morning, my sister would wake me up by putting Hunter in the bed with me and we would snuggle basically all day. He probably got pretty spoiled in the five days I was there, but that's what aunts are for, right??

He loves his Aunt Sister! 

(PS- that's what Abby has named me, since she just calls me sister)

I can't forget about my other love bug at home, Oliver! He was happy to see me this time; I'm guessing he hadn't forgotten me yet!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving yesterday!

Small Town, USA

I'm taking a mini vacation home to Texas tomorrow. You would think I would be thrilled by this, but that's not exactly true this time. Part of me is thrilled, because this means I get some much needed family time. I've had a really hard time being away from them these last couple months, so I'm thankful I planned ahead and took a week off to go home.

The other part to this trip is going to a friend's wedding, which means I'll be going to back to my hometown of Carthage. As I'm writing this, I can't even remember the last time I was there since neither of my parents live there now. (I guess my dad kind of does, but we never go "into town" while I'm at his house.) It has to have been at least three years, if not longer. Anyway, Carthage is your typical small town in Texas: very conservative, everyone knows things about you before you do, and most people put on a show to make it seem like they're living a great life. Sounds exciting, right?

Another typical small town theme is the idea of success, if you will. You go to college, get a job, get married, have kids, and live happily ever after. Sure, that's what most people do regardless of where they are from, but that timeline seems to be magnified when you're from a small town (and frequently skips directly to the marriage and babies part). So many of the people I'll see this weekend will think no differently than this. You're expected to be living this way. (Have I mentioned how small-minded this town is?) I used to think this way too, and then I got out of that small town and realized there is more to life!

I obviously have not followed this pattern, thankfully, but I'm dreading the thousands of questions I'll get that will be solely based on who I'm dating (or not) and when I'll be getting married. "You're mom will want grandbabies," they'll say. I'm basically the only one of my hometown friends that isn't settled down yet. They certainly won't approve of me being 26 and so very single, off galavanting around different cities for a few months at time.

But I chose this life, and I love this life! 

I don't why I'm so anxious about this coming weekend. They're opinions of how I live my life don't matter in the grand scheme of things. I know I'm the only one putting pressure on myself, but something about being there drives me crazy! So I've got a great dress, I'll put a smile on my face, and I'll enjoy an evening of seeing my old friend get wifed up!