I'm happy to report that fall has most definitely arrived! While we had one suspiciously summery day this week, I think (hope!) we've left our days of 80+ temperatures behind for the year. The trees in our apartment complex are some of the first to turn a vibrant gold and lose their leaves every fall and I've started to see them as an indicator that fall has arrived. Soon they'll be bare, but for these few weeks, on sunny afternoons their color reminds me a little of my beloved alpine larches.
Read moreLife: Week 38
This week was a wonderful reminder of why fall is my favorite season! The cool, rainy weather has been so refreshing after so many months of summer heat. The chilly mornings do make it harder to get out of bed in the morning, especially with a cuddly cat who'd like nothing more than for me to stay in bed all day, but I sleep so much better now that its cool, and steaming mug of my favorite chai tea usually helps ease my unwilling transition from a cozy bed to the work day!
Read moreLife: Week 37
After two weeks in the perpetual summer of Hawaii, I was more than happy to come home to fall in Seattle. We've even had our first real rainstorm! Most of the week, I was busy catching up on work, but I really got to enjoy fall over the weekend. Saturday morning, Andy and I were up early to drive over the pass and meet a friend for some elderberry picking! It used to be an annual fall tradition with my family, but I hadn't been in several years. It turned out to be the perfect way to welcome fall. We lucked out and found brought home a great haul so we'll have enough elderberry juice for at least a few years. After we'd filled all the bags we brought, we stopped by a fruit stand outside Wenatchee to pick up some late summer produce. Before heading home, we also made a stop for lunch at our favorite barbeque place in the state. We ended the week with a lazy rainy Sunday at home - the perfect way to recover from a stressful week of catching up at work!
Read moreLife: Week 36
We spent our second week in Hawaii roaming the island, starting with a drive from Kona to a tiny studio cottage in Pahoa. After driving all day, we spent the afternoon reading on the small patio and enjoying our new jungle setting. We split our two days on the west side of Hawaii between a visit to our favorite snorkeling spot from our last trip to Hawaii and a long day in Volcanoes National Park. Both were just as good as we remembered from our last trip to Hawaii, especially the National Park, since Kilauea was much more active than the last time we visited in 2012. Another change from our last visit to Hawaii - the Saddle Road is now much safer, so you can drive a rental car on it without invalidating insurance, so we took that route through a lunar landscape back to Kona. With our last few days on the island, we visited one last beach and had lunch at Kona Brewing for a second time. We ended the trip perfectly with drinks and a free Ledward Kaapana concert at Don's Mai Tai bar. I always love visiting Hawaii, but I was very happy to come home to some clouds and cooler fall weather!
Read moreLife: Week 35
What to say about week one of our two week vacation in Hawaii? We visited a few old favorite places, tried several new ones, and even stumbled across a Harry Potter marathon to watch over breakfast every morning for Labor Day weekend! I'll have plenty more to share about this trip soon - once I get through the hundreds of photos I took - but for now, I'll let some of the photos from my phone do the talking!
Read more