Hiking Point Defiance

My husband had the day off on Friday so we took a nice long hike/walk in the beautiful Washingtonian woods. We had visited Point Defiance Zoon and Aquarium Park in the past, but on Friday we got to finally explore the gorgeous Point Defiance Park. 700 acres of water, wildlife and old growth forests (including huge sequoias!). They also have several beautiful gardens, as well as recreational fields and boat rentals in the marina (excited to go back and try those!). It was absolutely lovely. And I hauled my camera the entire way.

We started with a nice picnic lunch and then headed onto a trek through the woods...

 Apparently if you follow a specific trail you can hike the park in about 5 miles/2 hours. However, we only sort of followed the trail and made lots of our own, so overall we had something like a 7 mile hike which took us 4 hours. And it was glorious! I'm so very glad to have someone to explore miles of woods with me!

 

And that's all my phone has to say about that:

Saturday we spent the day with my husband's public speaking class.

The kind professor is also a local pastor, and he brought the class out of their classroom and to his church to use the mic in a big space. Then he had us all to his beautiful home and fed us. Not like the usual hot dog cook out- an entire Salmon! I brought cookies.

 

Customary never-ending fascination with boxes which all cats possess.

 

Knitting a blanket.

I've crocheted many, but knitting is much slower going for a project this big. Been at it for months and only 45 squares in. By fall I WILL have a nice Queen sized stripey blanket. I love how it looks so far!

 

This mama's boy has to get himself into everything I do. He is such a good helper.

 

Been learning to drive stick on my new (used) car. Finally, we are a two vehicle family!

Husband bought it from a friend relocating to Japan.

 It's a Teal 1996 Nissan 200sx. (haven't gotten pictures, but this one here is what it looks like)

 I tried to learn driving standard at age 17 and failed but I'm happy to say with my husbands help I'm doing much better this time around and there has been minimal stalling.

Also, my previous driving experience has been my family Suburban, my Durango, and my husband's Dodge Ram. A little car is a new thing to me. 40 mpg is nice though!!

 

Tip: don't make the same mistake we did. You don't need both a cat and a paper shredder.

 Most cats are willing to help with shredding (not being serious, but he sure is a good shredder)

 

Been dehydrating fruits in my oven (post to come).

I think they are super delicious. JoJo does not.

 

Meal planning: it is a good thing. But we are pretty routine people. Tacos on Tuesday, Breakfast for Dinner on Wednesday and Fishes on Fridays. Only have to get extra creative on Monday and Thursday. It works for us. (and yes, we do eat on the weekend, but I don't try and plan it.)

Somehow the Word of God always seems to make more sense and impact me more when I am outside.
Ive been talking walks in the lovely weather (praying as I go- something my friend Jeri taught me)down to a pond on base and doing my study (this one from my church!) there.
I always take notes and doodle when I read the Bible. It just works for me.

seriously wish I could sleep in a literal ball like this.

out for a spring time walk. Finally some sunshine around here! Weather in the 60's!
 (anyone know what type of tree this is? blossoms were all...fluffy and pompom-y...not a cherry tree?)

Not sure how it got there but a section of our garden area by the front door is FULL of mint (because mint will do that. it takes over everything). Brought some inside and been making tea!
 

Blinds are super ugly, but a nice sunset peaking through makes them a little bit better.

 

 

**Wanna apologize if these posts are super random, but they are more for the benefit of my folks back home than anything else. Hope they aren't annoying you too much. Just try and tolerate me and my excessive cat photos, please.

Armed Forces Night for Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field

This past weekend my husband and I went to our first baseball game together. We went to see the Seattle Mariners play the Texas Rangers at Seattle's Safeco Field. They were doing a night to honor the Armed Forces and their families and JoJo and I thought it would be a good idea to check it out.

Now I cannot say I'm much of a baseball fan. At all. But my husband likes baseball (and by marriage, as well as birth, my allegiances lie with the Red Sox). I've been to baseball games before but only the Red Sox and only at Fenway Park with my dad and uncle. Here's a flash back to the 90's for you:

JoJo and I don't usually do too much on Saturdays, so it was nice to get out and have a little adventure. It was a typical Washingtonian rainy evening, but we bundled up and enjoyed it quite a bit! And of course, we brought Kidder Matthews along.

As part of our adventure we took a bus (as parking is silly priced and trying to park a giant truck in the city is also pretty silly). Washington has a relatively nice and clean bus system. The ride there was lovely. The way back it was the drunk crowd so that was a little less fun.

Safeco is relatively new (1999) so it is a pretty neat and modern ball field. We were so thankful for that roof with all the rain!

At the field we were sure to eat some nasty ball park food just to complete the experience. Nachos for me!

The Rangers ended up winning but...I don't so much care, honestly. It was nice to go and my husband was glad to check out the field for the future Red Sox games he will be seeing with our dads when the come out in July.

All in all, it was a great way to spend a Saturday night with my husband! Yay baseball!

And that's all my phone has to say about that...

Weekend phone dump. This week according to my phone:

 new art project for my kitchen. detailed post coming soon.

 finally feeling springy! Been high fifties, dress wearing weather all week!

 testing out the new Sig Sauer .40 and the target we (he) built

 

look! sugar peas in the making!

 

 Cicero. He knows what's up.

"Mama? What are you doing out there!?"-window watch cat

 

I never wanted a flower garden. I swore I wouldn't have one.

And then my house came with flowers. Dang it.

 

This is what a flailing cat who doesn't like a collar and ID tag

(required for on-base pets) looks like. He bites the plastic tag. Wild thing.

 

Making husband's early morning breakfasts in advance!

 Heat up in oven for 5 minutes and good to go!

 

A spring-time kity cat hat for a 5 year old little girl who is friends

with my littlest sister. The friend was recently diagnosed with cancer

and is undergoing chemo. Please pray.

 

"Bugggg-eerrrr-aaaa!"

 

Hope everyone enjoys their weekend! A happiest Easter to all!