Chris and Shaina 6 years of marriage

We have added another year to our love story… it still blows me away that we have already been married for six years. I love that all of my memories these last few years have included Chris. I wouldn’t have it any other way. We are best friends and have so much fun just being together.

This weekend we are up in Summerland, BC Canada. My dad put us up in the Waterfront Resort again…the same he got for us a couple nights on our honeymoon. And its just perfect timing because its is the District Convention in Penticton this weekend, so all of my Canadian family is here. Tonight they had a special steak dinner for us to celebrate. It felt so good to be surrounded by family and friends on this special day.

We woke up early, exchanged cards and started in on our yearly tradition of saying “Happy Anniversary” to each other way more times than is normal for any other couple. Hehe. We had a great day at the convention. Then my cousin Whitney of Whitney Lane Photography did a mini anniversary photoshoot for us on the dock of the lake. It was so fun being in front of her camera together. So glad her and Kel were able to come over for the weekend too. And then we had a special dessert treat to end the evening.

It has been a weekend and anniversary to remember. I can’t wait to spend the next year and the rest of my life with this guy. Being married to Chris means beginning and ending each day with someone I love. It means knowing there is someone who understands and who’s always there for me. I’m really grateful for the life we share…I’m really grateful for him.

Our Island Getaway…

But not the kind you’re thinking of.  

A couple weeks ago we went out to Whidbey Island off the coast of Washington State to spend a couple days with Chris’ grandparents and his parents (who are stranded over there because of the bad forest fires and the smoke hovering over eastern Washington). It’s a nice easy drive through some of the prettiest parts of the state. And my favorite place to stop and take pictures is at Deception Pass bridge that links the mainland to Whidbey Island.

We got to go to my favorite Chinese food place and have the honey walnut prawns that I’ve been thinking about since we had them last time, which was 4 years ago! They’re pretty amazing. And memorable, apparently. We also got to eat at Anthony’s, which is a seafood restaurant serving it fresh from the ocean that you sit beside. Funny thing though, the best thing we ate there was the onion rings. Not that the seafood wasn’t good. Their clam chowder rivals the east coast chowder I had last summer. Chris’ grandparents always feed us good when we go to see them.

We also were able to meet up with some of our friends that live on the island. A couple that used to live here and a friend of mine that I made at girls camp in 2011. We went out for frozen yogurt with Alan and Tonya and had coffee with Ariel and her new husband, Richard. I’m glad that we were able to see them too. It made for a very full and fun trip.

It really was a lovely weekend.

When was the last time you got away?
Where is your favorite place to go to visit?
What type of food do you like to try while you’re on a trip?

Project Three Hundred and Sixty Five

Its been a glorious week full of hot summer days, good food, new friends (one named Ichabod), pretty flowers and great deals!!  (See on my receipt:  I saved $72.50!  dude).

We are leaving this evening for our vacation!!  First we'll be flying to Halifax Nova Scotia in Canada for my friend Katie's wedding.  I'm taking the pictures on her special day and I'm so looking forward to it.  After the wedding then we're heading down to the Boston area for the next week.  Husband is from there, so he's going to show me around and introduce me to all his friends.

While we're gone I've got some pretty posts planned with pictures from my mother-in-law's garden and a quote for each day.  It will be a fun way to pass the time.  And then when we get back I'm sure to have lots of pictures and stories to share.

Be back soon!

girl's camp 2011

i have been editing pictures and compiling the stories i want to tell all about this trip for awhile now, and today im finally going to share!!  (for my post about what i hoped this trip would be, just for positive comparison, click HERE)

first a little bit of back story... 
i was invited by my friend Lisa to go with her to girl's camp this year.  Girls Camp started many years ago by a lovely woman and a couple of her friends who rented a cabin at Camp David on Lake Crescent.  they made it a tradition and each year more and more friends wanted to come.  Now she rents out the entire camp for a week and over 80 women come together to enjoy time away, crafts and friendship.  i was soooo excited to be invited along this year. 

we started our 9 hour road trip to get to camp early that morning and crossed the Puget Sound by ferry from Seattle.  I adore ferry rides.  and luckily it was a gorgeous day...

it is gorgeous in the Olympic Peninsula.  heavy moss covers everything and the trees are so tall and majestic.  we had a little bit of snow coming in on the first day.  and we saw some friendly animals.  here is the main lodge, our cabin (fit all 11 of us in our group) and the lake...

i think i split my days pretty evenly between sleeping in our cabin and visiting up at the main lodge.  i took soooo many naps!  and man did it feel good.  its neat to do what you want to do all day and feel no guilt.  i read a lot of my books i brought (including the 2011 Year Book!) and took so many pictures. 

breakfast and dinner each day was provided by the woman who organized the whole thing.  each cabin had a meal they were to prepare.  we made baked potatoes, chili and broccoli for our meal.  it was fun to work together in a huge kitchen and do dishes with the professional washer.  oh the small joys! 

one morning after breakfast our group decided to go hiking up to a waterfall.  the hike was amazing!  i could barely put down my camera.  we had fun visiting and playing along the way. 

one night in the lodge there was karaoke...i was ALL OVER THAT as you can imagine.  its my favorite.  saturday night there were skits and jokes and throughout the day people offered classes on things like watercolor painting and jewelry making for just a donation to cover the cost of materials.  lots of people brought scrapbooking and other crafts.  lisa's mother-in-law brought fleece for all the kids and made those knot together fleece blankets one day.  super fun!

then on sunday we went to the meeting in Forks.  it was interesting to bombard this tiny little Kingdom Hall with all sisters, but we were warmly welcomed.  after the meeting we drove out to LaPush and went to the beach.  It was super windy that day which made for some cool waves and fun pictures. 

and as i had hoped, i made a few new friends...one in particular named Ariel.  we're a few years apart in age, but we had a lot in common and had a lot of fun hanging out together.  we watched movies on her laptop, shared music and stories of our lives.  she lives on Whidbey Island (where chris' grandparents live) so hopefully we'll be able to meet up again soon.  on our last morning there we went down to the lake to take some pictures together.  things got silly really quick!

this was truly one of the best trips i've ever had, and one of my favorite memories.  there was a shift inside of me that came from having a chance to breath, contemplate and share things with people outside my "bubble" if you will.  but it was so hard being away from Husband.  this was the longest we'd ever been apart and i had no cell reception at Camp David.  so the night before i left we each wrote letters to each other to open while i was away...one for each night.  what chris wrote was so sweet and touching and meant so much to me.  helped me get through the time apart.  i will treasure those letters forever. 

so that was my trip!!  i was so exhausted after the long drive home, but i wouldn't trade the experience for anything.  sorry its taken me so long to share, but i wanted to do it just right.  it needed time to percolate, if you will. 

we are home

we arrived home last night at almost exaclty mid-night.  the remnants of a long trip are now scattered across the living room floor... and all over my arms, in the form of mosquito bites.
i wish that i could say "this vacation was exactly what we needed.  the most refreshing trip we've ever taken and now we feel all rested and stress-free and ready to attack life with a renewed vigor"

but i can't say that.
because it is far from the truth.

i return home with a heavy heart and a deep pain in my gut.  i have a hard time letting go of things that i know are beyond my control, but i feel like i caused.  i am more stressed out now then when we left.  wondering the proper way to proceed, or whether or not i should take any action at all. i have learned that people aren't always who they seem, that people who say they are christians don't always act christian, and that a lot can change in 2 years. 
i cried a lot this week.

but honestly, not for all bad reasons.
the convention was a complete blessing that made me cry too.  i am planning on sharing some of my favorite points from it in a future blog post.  and it was so nice to see old friends and people that i knew growing up.  i got to introduce my husband to friends for the first time.  and i learned that there are many out there reading my blog that i didn't know about (this is your shout-out Ida!!  thanks for reading and for saying hello).
we did enjoy the driving part of our trip.  which was about 14 hours both ways.  :P  spencer came with us and he did sooo good in the car.  slept a lot and entertained himself in the back seat.  im proud of him.  our little family loves road trips.

and we celebrated our anniversary on our trip.  we told each other "happy anniversary" more times than humanly possible, and told each other again and again of our love for the other.  we talked about how we felt 3 years ago and how we feel now.  and how in love we still are.

i try to focus on the good things... even though, honestly, i need another vacation to recover emotionally from our vacation!!  chris and i have decided next time we need a getaway... we're really going to GET AWAY!  go somewhere no one knows us and relax.  a cruise maybe??

so now its back to our lives here.  and i am so happy to be home.  in my own bed, in my own house, in my own little town.

and just because i can't post without at least one picture... here is one of spencer that chris took.  he is getting to be such a great photographer!! 

taking a break...

im going to take a little blogging break for a few days.  its been a really rough week and i need some space and time to get my head around things.  isn't it so true that just when you think things are calming down and you're feeling good it all comes crashing down around you??

so here i am.... post crash.

but there are things to look forward to.  chris and i are leaving wednesday for our little road trip / vacation / anniversary getaway.  we're heading up to prince george, bc canada.  its going to be a 14 hour drive.  and we're taking our puppy.  and we are sooo excited.  i promise to take lots of pictures and maybe share a few. ;)

i think this trip is exactly what i need right now.
im eager to get on the road.
be back soon....

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