Tiptoe through the Tulips

Spring has sprung in Seattle!  This will inevitably bring both rain and sunshine as we inch ourselves ever closer to the region's most coveted season, Summer.  Lucky for us, this last weekend was full of the latter; beautiful sunshine, with almost shorts-worthy temperatures.  This made for a gorgeous day at the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival on Saturday, with my lovely ladies in tow.

This is the second time I've made the almost 60 mile journey north to the tulip fields and I have one tip for those who are going this year or plan to go in future years:  leave early in the day and be prepared for traffic!  We left mid-afternoon after a really nice brunch together, but paid for it sitting in traffic for what felt like an eternity.  We eventually got to the tulip fields around 6pm and the sun was just beginning to go down.  The good news is that it made for some unique photos and  we barely hit traffic going back to Seattle when we finally hit the road at 8pm. All in all, it was worth it to spend the day with my pretty ladies enjoying rows and rows of pretty flowers.

 

 

Is it just me, or does this song immediately pop into your head too?

Busy times.. Happy Holidays

I have NOT been a very good blogger lately.  Alas, life has been time consuming.  My last post went up at the end of September and A LOT has been going on since then.  Here are the Top 5 highlights from the last 2 months:

#1  - We bought a house and moved in!

After several months of searching and frustration, we were blessed to find our first house! We closed and got the keys on October 16th and spent the rest of the month packing, moving and saying goodbye to our little townhouse in Fremont.   Steve and I spent 6 years in that place and made a lot of memories there. It was sad to leave, but exciting to start the next chapter in our lives.

Our new house is in North Seattle and we love it!  Big yard, more space and it's all ours.  It'll take some time to get settled in, but it already feels like home.

Home Sweet Home!

# 2 - Happy Halloween and Annie's first Trick-or-Treaters!

I was SO excited to finally live in a neighborhood that would allow little goblins to knock on my door and ask for candy! Every time the door rang, I squealed with joy and Molly freaked out, and I'm sure the neighbors thought a bunch of freaks had moved in next door.  We also hit up an annual Halloween party with friends that was a blast, as it always is.

I'm ready for you trick or treaters!

Becky the Killer "B" ha ha :)

My hubby is such an ape sometimes.

#3 - Molly turned 1

Our sweet Molly celebrated her first birthday on November 23rd. She got lots of cuddles, played fetch for hours and got a special mega bone, which she ate in a day in a half.

Fetch!!

#4 - The Huskies go 8-4 and are headed to the Fight Hunger Bowl on December 27!

Every Saturday you'd find the Johnson's either down tailgating in Padelford or posted up somewhere to watch an away game.  The highlight of our tailgate season was the Oregon vs. Washington game in early October when ESPN Gameday came to film at the UW campus.  This was by far the earliest tailgate of my career, but well worth it to carry our sign up to Red Square and be a part of a really fun and energized crowd.  Unfortunately, the Dawgs lost that day.   They went on to win every home game after that, including the Apple Cup over Thanksgiving weekend.  It was a good season Dawgs, and I look forward to a win over BYU on the 27th!

Yes, we had a gallows with a roasted duck. Don't be so sensitive.

Apple Cup!

#5 - Getting ready for the Holidays!

And now Christmas is just one week away!  Wow, time flies. We've got the lights up on the house, our Christmas tree is decorated and I've been through 2 batches of eggnog so far.  I still have a bit of shopping to do and a few more loose ends to tie up, but I think I'm ready!  This will be the first Christmas I've hosted with my family and Steve's at our new house and I couldn't be more excited.

So... here is wishing you and yours a most joyous holiday season and a very happy New Year!

More regular blogging to commence in 2014, I promise.

It's the most wonderful time of the year....

No, it's not Christmas time my friends (though that would certainly be my second favorite time of year).  It's Football season!!!!

The NFL has been in pre-season for a few weeks now, and tonight Steve and I are going to the last Seahawks pre-season game against the Raiders.  Go HAWKS!  But let's face it, our first love is Husky Football and the real excitement comes this Saturday with the highly-anticipated UW home opener against Boise State at the newly remodeled Husky Stadium. Check it out, the new stadium looks amazing! 

The Seattle Times posted a great article recently that shows how the stadium has changed over the years since it was built in 1920, and lays out all the cool new features from the most recent remodel: New, Improved Husky Stadium Ready to Shine.

Sadly, Steve and I are going to be missing the inaugural game to attend the wedding of some very close friends.  Disappointed to say the least, but this wedding is also guaranteed to be epic! We'll be back on September 21st to kick our tailgates into high gear and lose our voices screaming for our boys!  Who's HOUSE?!?!  DAWGS HOUSE!!!! 

Here is the 2013 Husky Schedule so you'll know where to find us each Saturday this fall:

Let the good times roll!

 

 

Port Angeles

This weekend we ventured west to Port Angeles, Washington for Steve's cousin's wedding at the Johnson family farm.  Port Angeles sits on the northern edge of the Olympic Peninsula along the shore of the Strait of Juan de Fuca.  The views from our waterfront hotel room were amazing.

Molly sat by the window for a long time and took in the sights and sounds.  The next morning I woke up a little before 7am and Steve and Molly (the early risers) were already out watching the sunrise and playing in the low tides.

I enjoyed a cup of coffee and the beautiful scenery from the comfort of our balcony. 

They came back sandy and wet, and in need of a bath and some cuddles before check out time. The ocean water is pretty cold, isn't it Molly?

Time Flies!

And so the saying goes.... time flies when you're having fun ......and this summer has been a fun one!  It's been awhile since I posted, so here's a quick update on what we've been doing in this summer sunshine.....

I went to a really cool event at The Paramount Theatre - the AbsolutX party.  Free food and drinks, music, art, games and an awesome performance from Grimes.

Chasity and I drove up to Snohomish to attend a Murder Mystery dinner. The theme was Totally 80's, Totally Murder... TOTALLY FUN!

We've played A LOT of softball. Our team, the Slummit, made it to the final four of our league playoffs only to be ousted in the semi-finals by the Unicorn. This is the first time in 6 years that I've played with the team that we haven't made it to the championship game. It was a total bummer, but the other team sponsored by our bar, the Summit, won it all and brought the trophy back to our bar.  Congrats Summit Blue!



We've gone a few road trips and took Molly camping for the first time. We camped at Money Creek Campground in Skykomish, Washington. Molly thought we moved to the woods and was in hog heaven... or more appropriately, dog heaven.

  

And we had a ladies night out at Safeco field to see the Mariners beat the Cubs in extra innings.  Beers, broads and baseball... doesn't get much better than that.

  

But the highlight of our summer thus far has been our decision to officially start house hunting! It's been tough so far, but I just know we'll find the perfect house for our little Johnson family!

That's all for now.. gotta get out and enjoy that sunshine!!