luxe chandelier

We’re back from Washington State! Seriously why does time have to go so fast when we’re on vacation?!

We got off to a late start on Saturday morning. We originally wanted to leave at 4AM to get on the road and avoid the Holiday traffic. Of course we both slept through the alarm so we were finally on the road at 7AM and began our 14 hour drive to Boise, Idaho.

We passed the Hoover Dam. It was a gorgeous day! Luckily for us there was no traffic going into Nevada but there was bad traffic for those going to Arizona. As much as we wanted to pull over and take pictures like everyone else, we kept going and took some pictures from the car.

My in-laws told us where to stop for gas since we were pretty much driving in the middle of nowhere for hours. There was nothing to look at except for the “fake water” at the end of the road that we all can’t seem to reach to. I’m sure Tyler also enjoyed all my “what if” questions about life. Other than that Tyler had music playing in the SUV while I turned my hearing aid off and listened to music with my cochlear implant and iPhone. It worked out just perfect since I like listening to the same song over and over until I get sick of it then move on to another song. I think Tyler would have jumped out of the car willingly if he had to listen to the same song over and over for 14 hours!

The best part of the drive was having the sunroof open! I adjusted my seat so the sun was directed at my face and tried getting some more color. I didn’t care if I was in the most uncomfortable position just to get some lovin’ from the sun!

On Sunday, we only had 7 hours left of driving from Boise to Portland. We finally arrived our neighbor’s house to return their BMW SUV…even though we didn’t want to! I would have definitely loved to keep it! Now ever since driving that SUV, I see it everywhere now. It’s like a sign that I need to get one…. only if I won the lottery ticket.

We headed up to Seattle on Monday morning.

I wasn’t sure if I remembered how to get around but I managed to remember how to get to my old house that I grew up in.

The basketball hoop that my parents got me for Christmas one year is still there. The yard is definitely in bad shape! They have a huge garage and backyard to use…and they decide to store their toys and hammock in the front by the door!? I really wanted to go inside or at least peek through some windows but Tyler would have not let me do that even if I tried! Good memories…I often find myself having dreams of the old house.

We headed over to my aunt & uncle’s house. They moved to a new house a few years ago and it was the first time I saw their house. We got a tour of the house and their huge backyard. I absolutely love their house and my aunt did a fabulous job at decorating it! My grandma stayed overnight so she could spend time with us too. My cousins, from another aunt, came over for dinner too (and my cousin’s husband too). We had so much fun catching up and had yummy ribs for dinner. My uncle kept feeding Tyler and my cousin more ribs!!

Trying to set up self-timer on my camera….and FAIL!

Now there’s the family!
(Me, Tyler, cousin Shane, cousin Dana, Matt, Uncle Don, Aunt Lee, & Grandma)

Good times even trying to drink M&M’s out of a wine glass… maybe my uncle was already drunk on M&M’s!

Tuesday morning before heading over to my other Grandma’s condo… we visited my Grandpa’s grave. I remembered where it was but not exactly. We spent a good 20 minutes trying to find it until we called Grandma and finally found it. The world stopped for a second then it became really windy. Tears rolled down my face as I remembered him and hoped that it was him trying to say hello through the wind. I can’t believe it’s been 14 years since he passed away of cancer. He was such a great man and will never be forgotten!

My grandma is gorgeous!! Can you believe she’s 86 years old?! I asked her if she was seeing anyone. She blushed as she told me that there are a few guys from church and the pancake house who flirts with her. I love her attitude and outlook on life. She’s so happy and content. She showed us some old pictures of the old days. There was a beautiful picture of her dressed up in a yellow dress walking off the cruise with my Grandpa…almost looking like Audrey Hepburn. I hope I can look as good as her when I’m 86 years old!

(First picture: with Tyler’s mom. Second picture: with Tyler’s grandma)

The rest of the week was spent with Tyler’s family in Vancouver near Portland. We played a lot of board games with the family. Being surrounded by family constantly makes me want to have a big family some day. Tyler has 3 brothers and it was fun to always be hanging out with one or all of them. I wish we lived closer to them. We need to convince them all to move to Arizona!

It was a wonderful vacation even though it rained 90% of the time we were there. We came home Sunday night when it was 109 degrees and our house was like a sauna at 95 degrees. We have been busy trying to get back to our lives with work, my side business, projects around the house, and read blogs! My Google Reader count is out of control!! I’m going to tackle that this week…oh yes!

We’re going on vacation!!! Tomorrow morning we’ll be driving our neighbor’s car to Portland in Oregon. They have a vacation home here and wants their car back in Portland so they offered to pay us to drive their car. I’m afraid we’re going to not get out of the car at all when we get there. How am I supposed to return to my crappy car after driving a nice BMW SUV?!

My dream is to drive up the Pacific Coast Highway but it’s not the fastest way to Washington so we’ll be going up through Salt Lake City & Boise. A family friend of ours who babysat me when I was a baby and means a lot to our family happens to live in Boise. We’ll be stopping there overnight Saturday after driving 14 hours. We’ll visit for a little bit Sunday morning before hitting the road to Portland.

Monday through Wednesday we’ll rent a car and drive up to Seattle. My family on my mom’s side is getting together for a picnic because we’re in town. I’m so anxious since I haven’t seen my aunt and uncle’s new house and most of them since our wedding. We’ll be staying with them then go to my paternal grandma’s condo by the beach and stay with her. Wednesday is devoted to seeing old friends before going back to Vancouver near Portland where my in-laws live and stay with them for the rest of the week.

I’m anxious and overwhelmed with all the people we’ll be seeing all in 1 week with limited time. I’ll be tweeting and will try to blog. Thanks to the WordPress plug-in on my iPhone! I can’t even imagine how out of control my Google Reader is going to get this upcoming week…it makes me nervous!

P.S. I’ve never had a guest post on my blog before so I’ve asked a good friend of mine, Haley, to do one. She’s an awesome writer so look out for that soon!

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Sedona was beautiful like always!  As somebody once said, ”God created the Grand Canyon, but He lives in Sedona”.  In the morning before we left, I checked to see what the weather was like in Sedona on my iPhone and it read 43 degrees!  Insane… but that didn’t stop me from leaving the house with flip-flops on.  Stupid decision I made since I was already cold the minute we arrived.

We managed to stay warm by going in and out of the cute little shops.  I’m impressed with how Sedona is very eco-friendly and green!  They even had recycling machines next to trash cans around town.

We had a lot of fun with the in-laws…which included a celebration for the guys getting new wedding (temporary) rings.  I guess it runs in the family that they lose their rings!  Now the ladies can stop eyeballing them. Just kidding…kind of!

On our way home we stopped and hiked a little bit to get close to the rocks. What a beautiful view and definitely worth the hike with flip-flops on and in the rain!  Now I’m looking forward to our next mini-trip to Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington in June for my brother-in-law’s wedding.