Seattle trip

Richard and I took a day trip to Seattle to celebrate our 2 year anniversary. The past two years have gone by fast, I can't believe we've been in Washington for almost 2 years now too! Instead of giving each other gifts for our anniversary's, we like to travel or experience something new together. Last year we went to the Oregon coast and we decided to go see Seattle this year. It turned out to be a rainy day in Seattle (what's new) but we still had a lot of fun seeing the city. It reminded us of a mix between San Francisco and Portland.



We drove past the space needle, it actually wasn't that tall but still neat to see.

After we stopped by the Bellevue mall (where I got my birthday present from Richard, a new Vera Bradley purse!) we were about to go across Mercer island to go to downtown Seattle and found that the freeways were all blocked off. There happened to be a Blue Angels show going on along the lake so we parked and watched for a little bit. It was unexpected but really cool and really loud!

Once we got downtown, we parked and walked through Pike Place market and along the water then got seafood for dinner. It was a fun day!

Creation Fest 2010

For our youth group trip this summer we went the the Creation Fest NW in Enumclaw, WA. It's this huge 5 day event where thousands of people come and camp out in the surrounding area and during the day and at night go listen to Christian speakers and bands. It was awesome! Some of the bigger names there were Switchfoot, David Crowder, Newsboys, Skillet and so much more.

Although the music was so great, I really enjoyed listening to the speakers each morning talk about their faith and where their walk with Jesus has led them. It was pretty cool. If you ever have the chance to go to Creation NW or Creation NE, GO! Check out the website here.



Here's our campsite. We had about 10 boys, 10 girls and 6 adults. I thought sleeping in a tent for 4 nights would be difficult, but it wasn't that bad (thanks to my air mattress :))

This picture pretty much sums up the trip... grass, Mt. Ranier, Honey Buckets, sun and band t-shirts.

Our first home!

As you know, Richard and I have been in the process of purchasing our first home for a while now. The idea started in January this year and we began the search right away knowing we needed a signed agreement by April to qualify for the tax credit. Well after the looong period of waiting and wondering, we bought our first home!! and we still ended up qualifying for the tax credit!

Our new home was actually one of the first ones we looked at on our first day of looking. We really liked it right away, even with the fixing-up it needed, it just felt like us. So we made our offer back in the beginning of February believe-it-or-not! This house was a "short" sale, which definitely means it's not a short process.

There were a lot of obstacles we had to overcome in order for this to happen, and all of them ended up working out (minus still needing to get our apartment rented out). Needless to say, Richard and I were so happy once we finally closed and had the keys in our hands! We are very thankful to God for making this happen and all of the friends and family that have been here for us and are still helping us each day.

Here's our house! This was before the new roof and the mowed lawn. I will post some 'after' pictures once we get settled.

Our beautiful neighborhood with such friendly neighbors. The location was one of the top priorities on our list.

This is the living room/kitchen/hallway BEFORE we painted, got new floors and baseboards.

The entry and dining room with bay windows. We did keep the tile and the red walls.

Here was our backyard before we hired somebody with a special machine to mow it down!

This is Richard in his painting outfit :) we had to paint the walls, and all of the vaulted ceilings because the previous owner was so dirty! That was quite the process...

Here is our living room the night after we moved in. You can see the beautiful wood laminate floors that Richard and a few other guys put in. I'm so proud of Richard for all the work he has been putting in to our new home and it looks amazing!

More pictures to come!

Arizona Trip

Last week, Richard and I traveled to Arizona to visit our family and friends. It was so great to hang out with everyone and just relax in the sunshine! We both came back to Washington with tan lines!!

My brothers are getting so tall, and so old! Jonny's going to be a senior next year and Jesse's going to be driving soon! I can't believe how fast time flies. I miss being there to watch them grow up and they are always on my mind.

We also got to see our new little nephew, Micah, and our sweet niece, Sophia. We miss them (and Marcie and Jared) a whole bunch. Sophia grows so much in between each of our visits and she is getting so smart.

Micah is so cute! and he already has a nice Arizona tan : )

Sophia asleep on her Uncle ChiChi : ) I miss her already.

While we were there, we drove down to Tucson to see my cousin Alex and her husband Danny. They are very close friends of ours and are moving to Denver in July. It was also a very bittersweet visit because we don't know when we'll see each other next... but we are so excited for the journey ahead of them. We also got to see our friends Jane and Colter while we were in Tucson.

I always like to take an updated family picture of my family every time we visit, it's neat to see how much everyone changes. Joey just didn't make this one : (

I found myself taking a lot of pictures of the Arizona scenery. Many people don't realize how amazingly beautiful Arizona is with its mountains along the horizon, bright blue skies and colorful sunsets. It's a different beauty than in the northwest but a beauty all in its own, and I miss it.

Today

It was a beautiful day on the Washington border today. We went to Portland and ate at a restaurant on the Willamette River, walked around, got some coffee (one of my favorite things to do), I got some new shoes at Target, and now we're relaxing at home on the couch. A great day off for the Doe's.


Richard is speaking at the main service at First Church tomorrow and Sunday, if you aren't able to make it, it should be on the website soon afterward : )

Girls night

Last weekend Richard was out of town so my friend Sarah and I decided to have a 'Girls Night' for the high schoolers in our youth group. It was a lot of fun and consisted of Disney movies, games and LOTS of food : ) There was definitely requests for more girls nights to come.

New nephew!

Richard and I have a new nephew! Micah James Doe was born yesterday at 12:57pm. He was 7lbs 8oz and 20.5". We were sad that we couldn't be there in person to see him and the rest of the family, but we're thankful for Skype! We will be in sunny Arizona in less than a month : )