Tag Archives: Family

Has it really been a year?

Zihuatanejo, Mexico

Zihuatanejo, Mexico

Yep, we rolled into Washington on May 17th last year. Very hard to believe that a year has already passed since our adventure on the road ended. We reminisce often about places we have been, people we met and all of the memories that filled our amazing two-year journey.

May has been an awesome month. It started with a birthday celebration for me on Cinco de Mayo. Had a great dinner out at one of my faves, Purple Café in Bellevue with Mike, my brother and Mom. It has been a long time since we have celebrated as a family, so that really meant a lot to me! We followed that up with Mother’s Day at Emerald Downs. Not quite the Kentucky Derby, but a fun day at the track and again time spent together with family celebrating Mom!

Jeff, Mom, Mike & I at Purple Cafe

Jeff, Mom, Mike & I at Purple Cafe

On May 10, we flew to Zihuatanejo, Mexico for a week with our good friends, Bruce & Vickie. They invited us to their timeshare at Club Intrawest, and what a spectacular place! It was pretty toasty and humid, but oh so relaxing. A lot of time was spent in the pool just chillaxing. The boys had a banner day of fishing and caught a 9-foot marlin and 7-foot sailfish. The captain claimed the fish as his own to sell at the fish market, but did give them a few pounds, which they prepared multiple ways over the course of a few days. We walked on the beach, did a mescal tasting (grody), swam with the dolphins, met some great people, ate good food and basically just enjoyed a week of doing a whole lot of nothing. As usual, a week went by way too fast, but what a great week it was!

The Big Catch!

The Big Catch!  Bruce, new friend John and Mike

Mike's new friends

Mike and his new amigos

Bruce & Vickie at our ocean villa

Bruce & Vickie at our ocean villa

Dinner on the beach

Dinner on the beach.  Nothing better than toes in the sand!

Great view from dinner

Great view from dinner – Bruce & Mike

Private Beach at our Ocean Villa

Private Beach at our Ocean Villa

The night before we left on vacation, we found out that we got a house to rent that we were really excited about.   It is in Newport Hills in Bellevue, close to where our old house used to be.   We move in July 2 and can’t wait. We are ready to leave townhouse living and have a house with a bit more space. Beyond excited!

Mike’s job at Bath Planet is going well and drum roll please…I start a new job on June 1. It has been a long 4 months of job search, so I am ready to get back in the world of employment. I will be an account manager for Virtuoso – looking forward to being back in the travel industry!

This past weekend, we celebrated my cousin Chris and his upcoming wedding in Fiji. There was a sendoff party in Woodinville on Saturday, then we spent the day at my Aunt & Uncle’s house in Poulsbo on Sunday. My dad and his wife Jane flew up from Tucson.

Dad, Jane, me, Jeff & Mike

Dad, Jane, me, Jeff & Mike

Mike & I with my Aunt Linda and Uncle Steve

Mike & I with my Aunt Linda and Uncle Steve – amazing view from their house

We are heading over to Wenatchee for Memorial Day Weekend to be with our great friends, Marc & Shelly. They are the ones who lost their home in the wildfire last year and they have rebuilt and moved in last week. It is unbelievable that they are back in their home less than a year from this tragic event. This is the best news!  May 30 is our 17-year anniversary, so cheers to us 🙂 . Looking forward to a great summer ahead. We are finally starting to feel like “re-entry” is over and we are back in the groove!

Cruisin’ – 1/23/14 – 2/1/14

Happy Cruisers!

Happy Cruisers!

We headed north from the Keys and picked my mom up at the Ft. Lauderdale airport. It had been since Thanksgiving so it was so great to see her! She had wanted to come visit us somewhere in Florida and somehow we landed on a cruise. We stayed in a hotel for the first night, then headed to Port Everglades in the morning to board Ruby Princess for our 9-day Caribbean Cruise. It was the perfect chance for her to relax and get some much-needed vitamin D and for us to spend time together.

Mike & I in Ft. Lauderdale before picking mom up

Mike & I in Ft. Lauderdale before picking mom up

Bon Voyage!

Bon Voyage!

Sailaway Sunset

Sailaway Sunset

We did a whole lot of nothing! The itinerary only had 3 ports (Cozumel, Grand Turk and Princess Cays) so we had ample days at sea, which we liked. A lot of pool time! A few highlights were Bingo (mom won!), nightly wine before dinner, hanging out at Jack’s Shack in Grand Turk, Tequila tasting in Cozumel, getting our steps in everyday, talking up the Seahawks every chance we got and our final lunch on the beach in Ft. Lauderdale before dropping mom back off at the airport.

After Tequila tasting : )

After Tequila tasting : )

Seahawks poncho!

Seahawks poncho!

Mom's cocktail in Cozumel

Mom’s cocktail in Cozumel

Princess Cays

Princess Cays

Mom & Mike pre-dinner

Mom & Mike pre-dinner

When Mike orders 'nothing' for dessert in Crown Grill

When Mike orders ‘nothing’ for dessert in Crown Grill

At Jack's Shack in Grand Turk

At Jack’s Shack in Grand Turk

Boarding in Grand Turk - Crown Princess was in port at same time

Boarding in Grand Turk – Crown Princess was in port at same time

Selfy on our balcony

Selfy on our balcony

Very hard to say goodbye after such a wonderful time together, but it really was a great vacation. Mike & I headed back down to Key Largo to retrieve the MoHo and get set-up and ready for S U P E R B O W L!!!!! We did come back to find something wrong with our fridge. All the food had to be dumped and we are using coolers until we can get a repairman out on Monday. Maybe I am loosening up, because really this isn’t even fazing me….progress!

This was our door on the cruise

This was our door on the cruise

On the Road Again

We had a great two weeks at home in Seattle and Bellevue. The days were jam-packed! Spent time with friends and family, took care of a bunch of business and appointments, switched out the washer/dryer for a wine fridge, reorganized the MoHo and took care of the much needed hydraulic jacks issue we have been having (well kind of…the saga actually continues, but don’t get me started). We also purchased kayaks, which we have been dreaming about for the last 3 months – woo hoo!

 

Our new purchase!  Heading out of town.

Our new purchase! Heading out of town.

We pulled out on Wed. the 11th and what a weird feeling that we won’t be back for at least a year (longer, if you ask Mike). So, we are actually doing this! It felt great to get back out on the road and back into our routine and new normal. Our first destination was the Oregon Coast where we are now (Astoria, Seaside, Cannon Beach, Lincoln City & Newport). We will post a more detailed entry when we get on the road again to California. Just wanted to let you all know that we will miss you, but looking forward to seeing some of you along the way and keeping in touch. We are so excited for the rest of this great adventure and feel so fortunate we are able to do this. Thank you everyone for your support!