Seattle

Scott and I went to Seattle to celebrate our 1st Anniversary! I have been planning and saving up for this trip ALL year.

I bought this months ago, read it in my spare time, and it was our Bible during the trip. (This is Washington in the background)

We broke up the drive up and spent the first night in Boise at the Hampton Inn.  We got a stellar deal.

The hotel's free gigantic hot breakfast was Scott's favorite.

All the state lines are rivers so it was impossible to get out of the car and take a picture on a bridge without being a road hazard. 

On Saturday, August 8, we celebrated 1 year of marriage and went out to dinner/shopping in Federal Way. I love marriage! And I love Scott! 

These are our incredible hosts and friends! So grateful to Mike and Connie Biggs for making our Washington trip perfect!

 Mike and Connie took us on a tour around the outskirts of Seattle on Sunday. This is Lake Wilderness.

Washington's WEED is wild blackberries. (Lucky them!) Scott enjoyed snacking on them. 

The Green River gorge

Snoqualmie Falls!

Monday we began our tour of Seattle!! Because the Space Needle is iconic, it was cool to see for the first time, but I expected it to be a little more grand. (It was when we went up the next day!)

The International Fountain puts ALL Utah splash pads to shame! Seriously the most remarkable fountain I have EVER seen. It was so fun to watch the kids play. People will literally sit for hours just staring at it.

We decided that the CityPass would be best for our Seattle wanderlust plans. It's good for 9 days and gets you: 2 trips up the Space Needle, 1 trip to the Aquarium, 1 trip to the Pacific Science Center with a show (or you can choose the Chihuly Gardens), 1 trip to the EMP museum (or you can choose the Zoo), and 1 Harbor tour....plus a bunch of coupons and discounts. We did ALL of it!!

Scott riding a weighted bike at the Pacific Science Center. What a daredevil! ;)

Michael Jackson Laser show at the Science Center...because MJ!!!

I am pretty sure the Butterfly exhibit was Scott's favorite. We have, like 100 pictures and slo-mo videos.

Believe it or not, Scott is actually standing straight (with a TINY lean) in this picture! It was a slanted optical illusion hallway.

The guitar art piece at the entrance to the EMP Museum. Two musicians at a music museum? YES PLEASE!

There were so many booths and things to do in the sound area, and it was so crowded we could hardly get to everything! If you plan to go to the EMP museum, get there early in the day so you have time to do everything and you aren't fighting the mid-day crowd.

There's even a stage where you can sign up to perform: band-style, in front of an audience! We didn't have time for that, but we did get to be Macklemore for a minute. #boss

Hou-DINI!!! Yes, that's me + a real Jawa. The EMP museum has a huge science fiction section.

After we left the EMP museum, we added our stickers to the sticker pole. Since we didn't get a chance to contribute to the gum wall, this had to suffice. 

Tuesday morning we waited in an eternal line to choose our two times to go up to the Space Needle. If you want to include the Space Needle in your trip, get in line VERY early in the morning!

You can download the Space Needle app while waiting in line, and when you get to certain "hot spots," 3D Space Needles appear! It's really fun and makes others look at you funny when you're laughing and pointing at the ground and they don't see what you're seeing. 

You can also add your name to this fancy touch screen wall (see us?) and share pictures from Social Media. It's the coolest thing!

Then we rode the monorail down to Pike Pier market. You could spend a whole day there.

Washingtonians report an uncharacteristically warm summer this year, and that Tuesday was no exception. It felt like San Diego on the Pier!

We had so much fun at the aquarium! It looks really small, but they had so many exhibits!

A picture of a super cool sea otter, posing for the camera. 

While waiting for our Argosy Harbor tour, we got ice cream cones. Scott wanted both of them.

The Harbor Tour was definitely my favorite of all the things we did in Seattle.

 Where else can you get a view of Seattle from this angle??

 It was great to sit and relax for an hour after walking around all day.

After the tour, we went to Ivar's on the Pier and ate some fresh seafood.

Here, there is a sign actually ENCOURAGING you to feed the seagulls! I think we spent a half hour doing so.

Our last stop downtown was one of the most important for me. The Seattle Library. 11 stories of pure joy.

The bathrooms were a little weird, though. Glad I'm not tall...

Finally, we rode the monorail back into City Center. Scott took a really cool timelapse video of the monorail ride.

The top of the Space Needle at dusk is stunning! It was a great end to our Seattle city tour.

A couple days later we went to Bellevue to do a session at the Seattle temple! It was the only time I saw rain in Washington, and it was just a brief morning shower.

It was finally time to drive back to Utah.  We had planned to make the whole trip in one day, armed with plenty of road trip snacks. Unfortunately, we ran into this in Oregon.

So we had one more night of adventure in Baker City, Oregon!  We were grateful that they reopened the roads in time for us to head out the next morning. We had a wonderful vacation, and of course we are also happy to be back home!

Being 25

What is it like to be 25?

Well, it's only been a few hours, so I actually have no idea, but I'm sure it's not too different from being 24.

First, you're now a perfect square. Something that only happens when you're also 2, 4, 8, 16, 36, 49, etc. (Trivia tip--this is one of the reasons why Scott and I each chose 16 for our favorite number. Precious.)

Second, you are a quarter of a century. If nothing else, that just makes you SOUND official. Like you can finally be taken seriously.

Third, you are at a transitory period in your life. Kudos to you if you have a stable job, home, and family....But most of you are probably still painting your canvas, and you are far from knowing your subject. This has been unsettling. But it has also been a source of childlike joy. You feel almost like you're 7 again, deciding you want to be an astronaut, a bestselling author, and famous basketball star all at once (only slightly less dramatic career choices). You may feel jaded about the education you've completed, wondering why it doesn't pay as well as you had planned. (Maybe you SHOULD have studied astrophysics so you could be halfway to the moon now, instead of a $10.50/hour job.)

Fourth, you begin to think a lot of existential questions, like "Where did I come from?" "Where did I go?" "Where did I come from, Cotton-Eyed Joe?" haha I crack myself UP.
No–there really are lots of existential questions plaguing your mind. But I can't think of any right now. Maybe you can give some examples in the comments.

Fifth, you may have experienced a slight shift in how fitness affects your body. I'm not saying you it's all downhill from here, just that you might have to adjust your workout regime. Example:

My days of running AS FAST AS I CAN may be over....

Sixth, you probably have an established hairdo that doesn't change too much. (I will give you a nickel if you catch me on a day when my hair is NOT in a ponytail/bun. On my hair's honor.) 

Seventh, when you visit your mom and didn't bring pajamas, you don't care too much that this is all she has for you to wear:

Eighth, you still haven't used algebra. 

wanelo.com 

Ninth, you get picky about the music you listen to/purchase. Katy Perry candy pop and all those weird Alt-Rock albums from your high school angst years don't make the cut anymore. 

Tenth, You're either more confident in your political views than before, or even more confused. (Or a little bit of both.)

Eleventh, #Wanderlust. Forget the 7 Wonders of the World, I'd just love to see a different state license plate cut me off on the freeway sometime soon. 

Twelfth, you probably own less stuff than you ever have or ever will the rest of your life after moving a billion times. (Possibly related: you also know that not all roommates are created equally.)

Thirteenth, this:

Fourteenth, sleep is a glorious, GLORIOUS thing.  And so are earplugs. 

Fifteenth, sometimes days are like this:

And sometimes, they are like this:

Sixteenth, you think you know all there is to know about being a good driver. And that you are one.

I have to stop the list here because 16 is my favorite number, and I can't think of 25 things about being 25. So to all who have already turned 25, how did I do? 

Here's to another trip around the sun! 

And there's no one I'd rather do it with than my partner-in-crime-pajamas husband.