Well, once again I've failed at blogging. I've been on so many adventures the last two weeks and really want to share them! So, buckle up. 

|weekend getaway to lake chelan|

My dad competed in the chelan man triathlon again this year and I planned to show up when he crossed the finish line to suprise him. I'm definitely not the sneakiest girl around, so I half expected the secret to spill well before I actually showed up, but it all worked out! Took my dad a solid 10 seconds of staring at me to realize that I was there. After which I got a wonderfully sweaty hug and walked him to the lake so he could jump in. My dad's so cool. (Hi dad!)

Erin came with me! She's now met all of my imediate family. And basically all we do is take selfies, so we did a lot of that. Also paddleboarding and swimming and sleeping. 

My dad and I went scuba diving instructor-less for the first time! Can't say the water and wildlife was as wonderful as Hawaii, but treasure hunting along the bottom of lake chelan was awesome. Again, I have an awesome dad. 

We went wine tasting. Another example of what a bad example I am for Erin. Oops. 

How adorable are they? One thing my mom said that weekend when I was talking with her and Erin about my parents group of friends that were also in chelan with us was my mom was happy to have me around and seeing all the relationships because they are awesome examples of couples that love The Lord and love their spouse. Love that. 

Selfies outside the vineyard. Turn down for what?

More beer and food. Delish. 

|day trip to the mariners game|

Last week we had an Claro company outing to the mariners game. It was SO much fun and that's mostly because very attractive men play baseball and also because I got one of those fruit kabobs with chocolate dipped strawberries and it was better than anything I could have ever imagined. So mostly because of the fruit. After the game, we moved closer to the field to talk to one of the other teams players that Brett knew from some place or another. We got kicked out of the stadium seating area by a security guy who the three of us could have EASILY taken, but we just ninja'd our way up the stairs, through the food court area, and back down to the field after we lost the security guy. Once we found tr baseball player we were in the free, cause we definitely looked super important. Anyway, fun times. I'll miss this crew. 

|weekend trip to the dalles|

The following weekend, Erin and I road tripped to the Dalles for a friend of mine's wedding. So, just to make sure you're on the same page, Erin has now met all of my imediate family and now the majority of my friends. And she still doesn't think I'm crazy, so huzzah. 

Check out that reception venue!! Yes!!

More sunset pics. My bad. 

Erin and I spent all weekend pretending to be a part of the wedding party. They accepted us as one of their own. Mission accomplished. 

Also, crazy biggest wedding party ever. But was totally necessary to pull off the whole weekend. Was definitely a huge event.

Erin really wanted a real picture of the two of us - not just a selfie. We made it happen. 

Also, the Dalles is like 100x smaller than I expected. So, after the wedding, members of the wedding party went out in search of a bar or other location where we could hang out and celebrate. Turns out small town bars close crazy early, so the only real option was to grab some beers at Walmart (which is open 24/7 believe it or not) and hang out in a park. Might sound lame, but it was awesome. 

|my last day in tacoma|

We went by stadium high school. It's famous for some movie and apparently it was imperative that I see the place before leaving Tacona. 

Legendary Shake Shake Shake. It was delicious!!

I got to take some BEAUTIFUL shots of my boss and his wifey. Serious, they turned out great. I'll do a full blog post about them one of these days because they're just so amazing. 

I said goodbye to my perfected inventory and production process as well as my pizza place and the two other interns that made this whole experience so life-changing. Seriously, my passions, goals and desires have been forever impacted by the experiences I've had this summer. I can't thank the people or Claro enough. 

Tata for now. 

 

 We took a midafternoon dip in the sound last week! This heat wave in Tacoma has been hotter than hades and we needed to do something, ANYTHING to cool off! Jumping into the freezing cold salt water among the jellyfish did the trick.

 

We got our hands on a pair of tickets to a Rainiers game last week, too. Not just tickets - these were v.i.p. tickets. read: free beer, peanuts, ac cool box seats. We were pretty dang lucky. I swear I've never attended as many sports games as I'm going to attend this summer alone. Seattle is some sort of athetics hub. I'm not complainin.

 

On saturday, erin and I went out in search of some body of water to swim in. We weren't all that successful, since "beaches" in seattle tends to mean "rocky shore with waters filled with mud, green stuff that wraps around your legs and scary crab things". So, we waded in, took some photos, and played with the wildlife. Wasn't the day we were expecting, but it was a wonderful adventure all on it's own.

 

WHALE mural. That's really all.

 

Our plans that night got put on hold once we realized that the place we were going to go didn't open for another hour. So began our walk around downtown as the sun set. It was magical and stunning and perfect. And we saw the bridge lift for a sailboat and then go back down, so that was neat.

 

MOST AMAZING DUELING PIANO BAR I'VE EVER BEEN TO! Pianos, Drums, Guitar, Singing, dancing on tables - what a high energy place. I'm serious about having dueling pianos at my wedding. or at least reception. or at least that's date option numero uno for date night for ever and ever with the lucky guy. Because I could laugh and sing along and eye flirt with the piano guys all night long.

 

ANOTHER sporting event on Sunday. This time a sounders game, which means soccer. Being that I don't know how soccer works, it was basically just enjoy the view and drink some beer time for me. But the energy in the stadium was insane. 10/10 would do again (if i got another free ticket...)

 

 More adventuring around because, ya know, it's just too dang hot to sit in the manor or offices all day. Also, who knew Tacoma was so pretty?!

 

Finally signed up for the half marathon in October! I set a pretty steady pace in my race back in June, so I'm just looking to either match it or improve a little. But mostly have fun! Yay, healthy! Also this is during octoberfest so... party on.

Like usual, I'm playing catch up with my blog. So here are some photos that wrap up the last 6 days of my life with some words to go along with 'em. Maybe I'll get better at this blogging thing one day. Maybe. 

We spent the 4th of July as guests at Jeff Bethke's lake house. Although cloudy, I did manage to jump in the water and swim around for a bit. The night included jet skis, pulled pork sandwiches, DELICIOUS mud pie, and a firework show right across the lake. We had lovely front row seats to the whole thing. (Also, in the picture, mt rainier is just to the right behind Jeff and the trees.)

Before the big show across the lake, some kids were lighting fireworks on the dock we were sitting on. It was a great show, until one firework fell over and started shooting at all of us sitting on the dock 20 feet away. Luckily no one was hit, but it did make everyone a bit twitchy all night that another close encounter was soon to follow. 

Made it to the ice cream social downtown for a couple scoops of their local ice cream in freshly pressed waffle cones. The interns and I met with a girl from Mars hill who was adorably sweet and passed on plenty of recommendations of places/things/food to eat before our summer runs out. 

Inside the Parkway Tavern! A friend of mine in the area recommended it and it quickly became one of my favorite bars in the area. Super friendly bar staff and kind, talkative customers - it's the community back home I miss. Love love love it. 

After the tavern, we walked down to the Harmon tap room. GREAT beer - all brewed right there. I enjoyed a glass of the Point Defiance and scrolled through twitter and Instagram while the other two interns talked about their time working at some place called mckalisters and some passion conference they've both been too. Just remember - the third wheel is necessary for a tricycle, right?

BEST CRAIGSLIST WIN EVER!! I claimed 4 free tickets to the comedy show Sunday night featuring Geoff Keith, comedian extraordinaire. Erin and I met up with a friend of mine and we enjoyed the show from the VIP front row table. So much fun!!

Of course, our weekly bachelorette viewing party at the boss-mans home. Nick sucks. 

$0.56 pancake day at IHOP!! Of course that means all work is put on hold and we hit up the closest location. 

Wednesday Benj came in to shoot some more product shots in preparation for our nordstroms launch this fall. Brett asked if I would be interested in helping him out, to which I responded "hell ya!"  I originally was going to just help him stage the product and he'd shoot, but it quickly turned into me staging the product for 30 seconds, at which point Benj would just click the shutter button. After finishing one product shot, Benj rightly assumed I could click the button on my own and left me to the task. So, I GOT TO SHOOT WITH BENJ'S CAMERA!! Seriously, this summer is the best. 

After work, the interns and I hit up Red Hot, a local hot dog and beer location. I got a Belgium pale ale and a hot dog with spicy mustard, BBQ sauce, hot sauce, and coleslaw. It was delicious, but if I'm being completely honest, somewhat underwhelming. Probably won't be going back. 

Thanks a lot to the conversations I've been having with my brother down at the cru summer project in Lake Tahoe, I've been much more diligent this summer with my disciplines. Reading the book on the Mormon religion is interesting and leads me to search out passages in the bible. I've been finding so many hidden gems this way and gaining so much confidence in what I believe. 

And, well, that's been the past few days. Looking forward, this Friday is free slurpie day at 7-11, so that's exciting. This weekend is the sounders game the vandals will be reppin at, so I'm stoked to go and see some of my Moscow family. I was originally going to try and make a trip down to Lake Tahoe this weekend, but I just really don't think it's in the cards. It's for the best - Steven's doing amazing down there and I'd hate to break his focus. Maybe I'll get a phone call in with him at some point. 

Till next post!