a summer evening

the weather in northern california can be

just as disappointing as the summer weather in seattle.

so when we had a beautiful and sunny day 

at the house

with friends

celebrating a birthday,

i couldn't help but take a couple shots of the good times. . .
it would be overwhelming
if life was always this fantastic...

-e

the best chocolate chip cookies. . . ever

my friend sarah and i made chocolate chip cookies the other day.

they are

in my opinion,

the greatest chocolate chip cookies ever.

and this little freshly bathed monster would agree. . . 

-e

good morning sunshine

steven and i moved out of our seattle apartment on may 29th.

since then

we have been staying with gracious friends and family,

on whatever extra space they have.

and it's been wonderful so far. 

we got to spend extra time with friends before we said goodbye in seattle.

we've had lovely meals made for us.

and we feel extremely blessed to have all of these wonderful people in our lives.

but this morning,

for the first time in almost a month,

we woke up in our own place!

for the next several weeks

before we leave for japan,

we get to house sit up in the woods of humboldt.

it's really not a bad place to wake up...

-e

view from the master bedroom. fog covering everything down the hill. the pacific ocean in the distance. redwoods trees surrounding us! 

sorry for the poor quality. my phone camera was all i could find this morning. . . 

unexpected vacation

while in humboldt

i'll be going back to work for the jitter bean.

they're such a great company that

instead of making me come straight to work on monday,

they've pretty much given me the week off.

so thank you JB.

for letting my today look like this...

-e

HUmCo

we made it safely to humboldt.

our first day was a complete success.

highlights included:

playing with our friends adorable daughter in the hammock,

watching chickens grow,

eating one of my sisters delicious meals,

and catching a wild bird....

-e

the last...

thursday was our last day in seattle.

needless to say there were a lot of "lasts" that day and the night before.

some of them make me a bit sad to think they are the "last" for a long time.

others i could live without ever seeing again

....

-e

 the last time i'll drive by the fremont troll on my way to yoga

you will be missed.

the last time i'll go to hot yoga with andrea

walked into this building for the last time on thursday

the last time i'll be able to make myself a starbucks latte

the last time i'll stare at these two screens all day...

my last typhoid pill!!

last time i take pippa on an after work walk

stop looking at me like that...

my last seattle parking pass

scratch that

i only have one memory of scratch tickets.

my uncle bought me one at my grandparents 50th wedding anniversary.

he bought one for each of the cousins.

i was the only one to win

and i won $5! 

which can buy you anything when you're 12.

then he took the scratch ticket from me and i never saw the cash.

it's probably kept me from ever wanting to buy another one.

every evening this week we've said goodbye to friends in seattle.

on monday night we walked to the classiest mini mart in lower queen anne with our favorite law student friends.

our mission: pick up some extra classy wine.

it must have been the adrenalin and excitement of our trip building up.

we just couldn't resist buying a scratch ticket...

...we lost.

-e

 

laugh

i'm curious.

who said?

"i have a great idea! let's create a cocktail napkin,

with a kitty

mixed with audrey hepburn from breakfast at tiffany's"

and then someone else said

"yea! that's a great idea"

....

oh,

and then someone else bought it....

-e

 ladies and gentlemen... kitty hepburn.

last weekend in seattle

we said goodbye to lots of family and friends this weekend.

there was a family BBQ

beer and laughter with friends

wedding prep madness

and a beautiful union with two of our favorite people vowing to love eachother forever.

not a bad way to leave the city...

-e

 it wasn't too hard saying goodbye to these gems... they'll be visiting us in cali!

 wedding prep madness. these two ladies were great to work with.

 we're truly going to miss you two. have fun in the bahamas...

most recent "couch surfing" location. our old neighborhood. thanks for the comfy bed kari! and the view...

t-minus {2 months}

in exactly two months

on august 8th 2012

we will board a plane in San Francisco 

bound for Tokyo...

so how am i celebrating this special moment?

starting my typhoid vaccine!

it's a silly process of taking a series of four pills every 48 hours.

you must have an empty stomach (haven't eaten for 2 hours and won't eat for another hour). 

have lot's of water but it cannot be warm.

not easy for some one (me) who eats constantly throughout the day...

and i have a tiny bladder. 

so i've been going to the bathroom every half hour...

-e

 my schedule. so i wouldn't forget...

 the process.

 and finally @ 9:20... a treat!

floating down the river

we may be departing on a big adventure very soon

but that doesn't mean we've let life get boring around here.

this weekend i went rafting down the skykomish river.

steven planned the outing for his brother's birthday

so the raft included his two brothers and his father

(sadly steven get 8 stitches in his hand two days before the trip so he wasn't able to join).

our guide was our good friend brian 

who has also been letting us sleep in his extra bedroom!

it was a high river day meaning the water was strong and fast.

brian kept us in the boat and laughing the whole time.

although steven wasn't able to float down with us

he was able to snap a couple shots of us heading down the big class V rapid

and his cute puppy companion!

the waves from steven's nook on shore

Brian setting us up perfectly for the next drop

getting lost...

our friends adorable puppy Pippa

-e

our "plan"

 

wondering what our "plan" is for this crazy adventure?

a bit small and very homemade

but

you get the point...

we begin our adventure in Tokyo, Japan.

Japan was at the top of both our must see lists so we knew we had to go there.

since it's (by FAR) the most expensive of our desitnations,

we decided to visit first

from there the trip is very loosly planned,

but here is a general overview

fly into Phuket Thailand and explore Ko Phi Phi and Krabi

get ourselves over to Ko Pha Ngan

then head up to Bangkok!  

from there we can get into Myanmar (labeled as Burma on this map) 

and explore as much as we can for 800 very crisp and brand new United States Dollars (the most you can bring into this country)

we'll head back into Thailand as there are only a couple cities where you can get in/out of Myanmar

after we've exhausted out tourist visa in Thailand we'll head over to Nepal.

then fly home through New Delhi...

any suggestions for additional must visit destinations while we're in the area? 

-e

i can hardly believe it.

in less than two weeks steven and i will officially begin our adventure.

the first six weeks will be in california... not in asia....

but it's still an adventure.

we're looking forward to best friends, family, weddings, chickens, and a glorious view of the ocean every night (weather permitting).

i can't wait to try out some of these lovely salads and make this sangria.

it's going to be a tasty summer!

if it's similar to last time (2010)- it'll look a little like this...

 photos taken by my talented sister Naomi Powell