Life in Washington!: 2013

Hello esteemed and faithful blog viewers. As usual I must apologize for the lack of any posts in the last few months, but as you will read below, life has been CRAZY busy. Between work and life I haven't been able to sit back and reflect on the past few months and everything we've done and places we been to. This past week was the last thing on the string of to do's and it would appear that the future (at least for a few weeks) is clear of plans.

The pictures give an idea of all the places we been to, but to recap the summer:
Places Visited:

Southern California (twice)
Illinois (twice)
Northern Wisconsin
Iowa
Nebraska (by way of Colorado)
British Columbia

Trips:

Three weddings
Three bachelor parties
Two work trips
200 mile bike trip to BC
Kayak trip to San Juan Islands
Puget Sound Salmon Fishing
Lake Chelan boating

All of this was packed into approx 3 months. Oh. Almost forgot to mention, in the midst of all of this we moved. It was almost comical how busy we were this summer.
I suppose I should start in chronicalogical order if I have a chance at filling you all in.
It seems I left off after our San Juan kayaking trip.
About two weeks after this trip I headed to Northern Wisconsin for a friend's bachelor party. What a trip! Approximately 20 of us rented a MANSION on a lake and spent a few days acting like we were 19 years old again. At some point during the trip I realized how far we have come in the last few years- from living in certified dump of a house in college to staying at a $1.5 million house... The trip was really great for me because I don't get to see everyone that often (living so far away and all). So, for everyone to get together for this trip was really awesome. I am also proud to say that we left the house in better shape than we left it- seriously! Hooray for becoming mature adults (or something like that). Great trip.
Let's see.... scrolling though the pics of the summer I just realized how much time we spent on the water. Personally, I can't think of a better place. We had two day trips out on the water. The first was a trip to Lake Chelan, where we rented a boat and spent the day on the lake. For those who have never heard of Lake Chelan, it's one of the deepest lakes in the US. It's also HUGE. Something like 60 miles long and ridiculously scenic. Like Grand Canyon scenic. We rented a boat from a guy named "Sharky" (seriously) and cruised out a long ways up the lake and found a fantastic little cove and parked it for the day. Had great weather and an even better time.
Our second boat trip was spent out on the Puget Sound fishing for salmon. That. was. awesome. I forget the total fish count, but most everyone caught about 3 salmon each. We walked away that day with 30 or 40 pounds of fresh fish filets. We ate two fish that night and had the rest of it smoked. So delicious! We are hoping to get out on the Sound again for another round of fishing come spring time. Please see victory photos below.
Non boating trips and activities included several weddings! Cory and Sara got married in Alliance, Nebraska where we celebrated properly. Good fun times in Nebraska. Also went to Mark and Rachel's wedding in Chicago. That was a wild trip- the way the flights and scheduling worked out we were in Chicago for approx 24 hours. Worth it.
As for non boating adventures, Jenny and I got a wild hair last winter and decided to sign up for a 2 day 200 mile bike ride from Seattle to Vancouver, BC. Seemed like a great idea at the time. Fast forward several months... a busy summer didn't leave a whole lot of time to properly train for the ride. Fast forward even further to race morning.... I'll admit it- I was nervous. I had never ridden more than 45 miles at one time, so to double that and do it two days in a row.... I questioned my ability. It turns out the ride was GREAT! Really fun adventure and VERY organized. 200 miles (and two very sore butts) later we arrived in Vancouver to celebrate the ride. We are planning on doing the ride again next year. I made a quick time lapse video of the ride: https://vimeo.com/72794340 (turn up the volume).
At this point, I need to mention what I was working on this summer at work. I believe I mentioned a huge project hit the area and that most of the work was done at the time I made my last post. Well, that was a silly thought from a naive first year engineer. I coudn't have been more wrong. The work was not almost done. haha. Looking back, I feel the work had hardly even begun. The remainder of the summer was spent working incredibly long hours with major deadlines and pressure from upper management and all that jazz. It was a massive undertaking and the most comprehensive project anyone on the team had ever done. As with most things, I tend to get thrown right into the thick of it. I am beyond happy to report that the project is turned in and life can resume it's normal pace (which still seems chaotic at times). That's quite enough about work.
So at this point in the blog you are probably thinking "wow, they were busy this summer". Which is true. The comical part was the fact that amidst all of these activities... we moved. As we all know, moving involves more than just actually moving your stuff from point A to point B. Jenny had to find and interview for a job, we had to find a place to live, figure out all the logistics, and then finally.... move.
I don't recall the exact timing, but I want to say that within hours of us getting home from our bike adventure we were packing up our belongings, and a few days later loading up the truck. Hilarious. I am happy to report we are fully moved into an awesome place in Leavenworth, WA (about two hours east of Seattle). Leavenworth is much more our speed- the town has about 2000 residents, a river running through town, several ski resorts a short drive away, and a country pace, which I am loving. Oh, and mountains. Lots of mountains. Jenny was able to get a job at a hospital about 20 miles from Leavenworth and I am lucky enough to work from home now.
I don't know when we got so lucky, but there are times I need to pinch myself to make sure this is not one big dream. To put into perspective, a year and a half ago I was living with my parents, making $9/hr working on the line at a medical waste bucket factory, with not even enough money to visit downtown Chicago for a night. And now, I am sitting here in my home office, in a little mountain town in the country, with a great job (and a really good cup of coffee in hand). Don't get me wrong, Seattle was a great experience and tons of fun, but it's a much different setting than where we are at now. So far, Leavenworth is proving to be exactly what we were looking for and the fact that we live here now is still almost... unreal.
Prior to the news of Jenny landing a residency in Seattle, I never imagined myself living there. And reflecting back on my drive out West, when I didn't have a job lined up, or hardly enough money to one month's rent.... I couldn't imagine a better outcome and ride that has brought me here.
I am happy to report life is grand on all fronts. Thanks for reading and enjoy photos.

The garden was a wild success- a flower from the garden

The garden!

Begin Wisconsin Bachelor Party

Preparations for the trip. Only the essentials.

We rented a lake mansion.

and had a real good time.

Hey Wisconsin, you're alright with me.

The lake and dock

We were certainly living the High Life.

Standard happenings.

We had a bad time.

Just kidding!

Good picture, Rees!

Wisconsin does not get the credit it deserves.

Rented a boat on Lake Chelan.

Found a little cove and parked it for the day.

Had a good time.

Early morning Salmon fishing on Puget Sound

Sara with the first fish of the day.

Rachel with her catch

and Cory with his

Jenny with her monster fish!

Luke with his catch

Me with my catch

Good time fishing

Jenny drove the boat!

Begin 200 mile bike ride to Vancouver

Mandatory Pre-Ride photo

This is how we actually felt before the race.

Made it to Canada!

Woot!

Celebrate (still had like 60 miles to go)!

Finish line beers!

View from our Vancouver Hotel post race.

Moved to Leavenworth- this is our backyard happy hour spot.

A rare photo of me and Jenny dressed up.

Congrats to Cory and Sara!

Fritos. Part of any well balanced hike.

Part of the way up to Colchuck Lake. About 15 miles from our house in Leavenworth.

Colchuck lake

The water was amazing!

A cloudless Seattle day. Hooray summer.

Hi there everyone! Summer is in full swing here in the Pacific Northwest. I am not supposed to tell anyone this, but the summer's in Seattle are unbelievably nice. 70-80 degrees. Sunny. Everyday from the start of July to end of September. This year we even had a few really dry weeks in June, which is not typical, but we welcome the sun when we get it.
Enough about the weather.
A major cause for applause: The residency is OVER! Jenny and Rachel (as well and me and Luke) survived!!! (see: THIS )
That residency took everyone on a crazy, year long ride, but the beast has been slayed and we are all better off for having endured it. Of course, no hard work goes unrewarded. Jenny made a smooth transition from working 60+ hour weeks to daily yoga, bike rides, beach trips, and sleeping in. Unfortunately, I do not have the luxury of a summer break. Actually, quite the opposite. A major project hit the area and the radio engineers around here have been spinning like hamsters on wheels for a few months. The end of the major to-do's are almost done, so the light at the end of the tunnel is growing brighter by the day. Again, no hard work should go unrewarded..... so I've been sneaking in some vacations :-)
To name a few, I attended a several bachelor parties this summer thus far. The first was Cory's where we camped out up in Leavenworth, WA and then I took the party whitewater rafting down the Wenatchee River. (Click here for a timelapse of the trip- pics taken every 30 seconds). We zipped back to Seattle for a night of partying downtown to complete the bachelor weekend.
The next party was for Mason and the event was held in Orange County, California so I flew down there and met up with a bunch of friends. We had a great time camping on the beach, surfing, fishing, volleyballin', getting sunburned, and generally being idiots. It was grand.
Mason's bachelor party was quickly followed by the wedding in Iowa City, Iowa, which I had the honor of standing in. I didn't even recognize myself in the mirror with a tux on! It was great to spend some time in my old stomping grounds- even got to see some friends which I hadn't seen in years. Jenny even made it to the ceremony and reception, which only added to the great group of people that made it to the event. Great party, great people.
Last trip (so far!) of the summer was a great trip up to the San Juan Islands in Washington. Jenny and I were able to get away for 4 days of sea kayaking in the islands. We did a whale watching sea kayaking tour the first day. We didn't see whales close up, but we had a really fun group of people and a great guide so it was still fun. We spent the next three days on a self guided sea kayaking trip. We paddled to our kayak accessible only campsite and set up camp for a few days. We couldn't have asked for a better set up- we had the whole place to ourselves with Mount Baker towering in full view to the east. We paddled among bald eagles, harbor seals, hummingbirds, and lots of fish. We had a layover day there so we got to take our sweet time doing everything and nothing at all (such luxury not afforded living and working in The City). There are few things I love more than taking an extraordinarily long time drinking coffee and looking at mountains. I would encourage anyone and everyone to visit the San Juans Islands. We met people from all over the country and world who had to travel a long ways to get there and all we had to do was a 2 hour drive and one hour ferry ride. We are pretty spoiled here in Seattle.
The last bit of news I have for everyone is exciting! We are moving! To the mountains! Jenny landed a job in Wenatchee, WA so we are moving to Leavenworth, WA !! It's a little ski town tucked on the east side of the Cascade Mountains. I am beyond excited to move back to the mountains. It's been fun living in the city, but I'll trade traffic for scenery any day. I got approval to work from home full time so I'm going to set up shop at our new place. I have a pretty sweet deal.
So yea. It's been a great summer so far and all signs are pointing for the fun to continue. Thanks for
reading and enjoy the pics!
Oh, one last thing: click here for a timelapse video of me making a MacPac- pics every 30 seconds.

A float during the Solstice Festival in Freemont. Not pictured: the army of painted naked people riding bikes. Freemont is known for being "weird".

A fantastic family band during the Solstice Festival. The fiddler sang! They played this (which is a raft guide favorite). Excellent parenting, Sir!

Artisan market at Solstice Fest.

Just 3 nebraskans and some weird Australian guy. If I knew anything about hashtags I'd probably think of something funny to put here. #hashtag.

Dinner done right. (Leavenworth, WA)

Trying to figure out this long exposure stuff on the camera.

Bachelor Party campfire vision

Start montage of Mason's bachelor party- Kevin and I were the first to arrive.

Now to Mason's bachelor party (in Orange County)

Mason's b-party crew with our keepers (and dinner!)

This is an accurate summary of our day spent surfing. I'm on the left and Rees is on the right- those are his legs. (Hold shift and click picture to zoom in and laugh). Surfing is hard.