Life in Washington!: Crazy Great

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.