Long Beach Birthdays

Blake's Grampa Dahl has a cabin in Long Beach, Wa. He is adorable in how much be loves that cabin, and loves to share it with those that love it too.

We happen to be people that love this little beach cabin, and make a point to go at least once a year, on my birthday. We've also gone other times of the year. I've posted about this before, here.

I love the beach because it is so relaxing. We have our little routine: puzzles, cooking dinner each night, ice cream, Saturday market (when in season), shopping for a new item to add to the cabin, coffee at Adelaide's Books after we pick out our newest cookbook, breakfast at an old 'mom and pop' joint, breakfast at the Cottage Bakery, a walk on the boardwalk or beach at sunset, and more ice cream. Not always in that order.

For my birthday this year we did all those things, but also added to the agenda. We were pleasantly joined by our friends, Jason and Whitney Saura. We added a hike to the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse, and a hike through the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center... and maybe a few other things I'm blanking on.

This year the cookbook we chose was  Leslie Mackie's Macrina Bakery and Cafe Cookbook: Favorite Breads, Pastries, Sweets and Savories. It has been fantastic! Everything I've made from it so far is delicious. Eventually, I'd like to use her sourdough starter recipe, but I'll need to wait until we'll be home long enough to actually feed it regularly.

Out to breakfast

Our Story

This is the "Our Story" page from our wedding website.

We first met at the county fair in 1995, Blake was 13 and Jillian was 12. That is when our crushes started but it sure didn’t end there. As we grew up we were always in each other’s lives but Blake was just a cute red-headed friend of Jillian’s brother that teased her whenever he was around and Jillian was the cute blond-haired, blue-eyed little sister.

After high school we found ourselves at home during summers and college breaks. Blake spent a lot of time at Jillian’s parents' house and often we found ourselves as the only ones awake after a movie. We developed more of a friendship during our college years but continued on our separate paths.

After college Blake started his engineering career in Kennewick and Jillian started grad school at WSU in Spokane. This is when the love story starts picking up...

Jillian’s Version:
Blake would call from time to time, but just to check in on me. Blake missed my birthday in 2006 and promised to make it up to me by coming to Spokane and taking me out to dinner (he hadn't missed my birthday since I started doing birthday barbecues). When he visited that weekend I saw a side of him that I’d never seen before. I’d always had a crush on him because of his charm and well... he’s so handsome! However, this weekend visit made me realize that he was a really sweet, nice guy. He was usually such a joker, rarely to be taken seriously. In all those years I’d never really seen his serious side. My family had always joked about us dating but for the first time I could actually see it.

Blake’s Version:
Jill was that girl that I’d always liked but never thought I’d really get to date. I had thought about what it would mean to try to date her over the years, but hadn’t ever been able to take that leap and risk my friendship with her brother or lose my connection with her family. She was the unattainable blue-eyed girl on a pedestal and at the time it was safest to keep her there.

Jillian Continued:
Blake’s serious side had impressed me in Spokane but for reasons unknown to me, he was distant after that. After I graduated and moved to Seattle, Blake started to call and check in on me from time to time. At first it was about once a month... then every couple of weeks... then every week... and then several times a week. I had given up hope of something happening with him long ago but after all of this "checking in" I started to wonder. Through our conversations I’d begun to see that Blake had matured quite a bit since he graduated and he continued to impress me with his character and sweetness.

Blake Continued:
The time came when I realized that if I didn’t want to lose Jill, I’d better try to make a move. It might be too late, but I needed to find out. So I called... and called... and called... I offered to help carry heavy items or move things in my big truck.. and I called some more. Eventually, Jill started to see that I was serious this time and started to let me in, little by little.

Jillian:
As Blake called and we talked, I developed a deeper respect for him. I realized that he was a man of character and integrity; in his career, with his family and with his friends. The closer we got, the more I understood how well he balanced me out and complemented me in a way that I didn’t know was possible. Our history and close families are just icing on the cake... wedding cake!

Blake:
I got up the nerve to ask her on a real date, I got up the nerve to kiss her, and eventually... I happily asked her to marry me.

Jillian:
I said yes :)

Start back at the beginning here

The New Year Begins with A Look Back...

What a whirlwind! It has felt like non-stop travel since the week before Thanksgiving. We had some wonderful times with our families and friends, but it is nice to know that we will stay home this weekend!

It started with a trip to Seattle for a bachelorette party, then to Bainbridge Island for Thanksgiving, then we had Blake's mom and step dad over for the weekend, then we headed to Portland for a holiday party, then to Boise for the weekend, then to Kelso for Christmas, then to Seattle for Whitney and Jason's wedding on New Years Eve, and then back to Idaho for Jed's 30th Birthday. Whew!

Here are some pictures from our visits:
(Warning.. there are a lot of them!)

November 21st, a surprise Bachelorette Party for Whitney:

Whit and Me


The girls~

Somehow I didn't get any pictures of Thanksgiving... very strange!

I also didn't get pictures of Blake's mom and step-dad visiting...

Portland Dec. 11th, Holiday Bar Crawl

Blake's Uncle David.. or "cousin" as we call him when the ladies are around ;)

Off to Boise December 18-20th. Friday night we went to Pair with Macey

and Saturday night we made 'gingerbread' houses with everyone.

This is our gingerbread townhouse:

Christmas was CRAZY.. here are a few pictures at only a few of the houses we stopped at:

First it was Blake's parents' house for Christmas morning,

then to Blake's grandparents house where I was initiated into the family with this stocking :)

Then waiting waiting for Jared to get home from work to have Christmas at my parent's house.. which brought us to Dec. 26th

Our new AeroGarden salad kit :)

Next we're back to Seattle for Whitney and Jason's Wedding. It was beautiful!! We had so much fun! New Years Eve 2009:

The happy couple :)

The dress that barely fit!

Happy New Year 2010!

And last but not least... back to Idaho for Jed's Birthday Jan. 9th! The first of us to turn 30!

Such a cute family!

Aunt and niece, a special bond!

The party girls :)

The person I want at every party :)

We've had so much fun celebrating with our friends and family!

Our First Christmas

Well, it wasn't looking much like Christmas around here... until today. After much thought, we decided to get a Christmas tree. I pulled out the Christmas box and realized that the only decorations I had were a few candles and tree decorations. If we were going to feel any Christmas spirit it would take a tree, with the glow of the lights and the smell of the needles. Now we're in business.

Our "Peace" artwork from PB, it was a lot bigger than we thought it would be!

The tree adds some nice warmth to the room :)

I guess it's my year to put on the topper. When we were kids we really argued over it. Mostly because it meant that we got lifted up by dad and that was cool (cooler than a step ladder!).

Okay, so these are in reverse order...

Aww :)

Bridal Pictures

My cousin Macey, photographer extraordinaire, offered to take some bridal portraits for me. She also wanted to practice a few photography things like sun flares and some aloof shots. 

So I put that fantastic dress back on, did my hair and makeup and out we went. I thought I'd love having my dress on again, and it was fun to wear it, but really I felt kind of silly. All-in-all it was fantastically fun and we got some great shots. Here are a few:

It got to be so windy that we had to call it a day.. but yes, I really got in that river with my dress on. So COLD!

Married!

Our honeymoon was just wonderful and was a great way to start off our marriage. We were totally relaxed and had a wonderful time. Blake has been an amazing husband!

*sigh*

Well, we made it through the wedding, which means we made it through two moves and quite a bit of stress! Blake moved into our place in June and I moved my stuff over in July. However, I stayed with my parents during until the wedding, so the unpacking really only started when we got back from our honeymoon. It was a lot of work combining our lives and all those fabulous wedding gifts (Thanks everyone!) but here we are, the place is starting to feel like home and I'm just about ready to go back to work!

"God's Country"

It is no small secret that I am not thrilled about my future move to Tri-Cities. I love the West-side and all that is rainy and green. I don't really enjoy the blistering heat and prefer cloudy skies over skin cancer causing sun. Vitamin D-vitamin schmee.

Jared, my older brother, so kindly helped me move out of my old apartment and caravaned with me to Kennewick. He was there with me while I sadly packed up and lamented, pouted shamefully and constantly really, about having to move to the Tri-Cities. He would say over and over how he just didn't understand why I was sad. After all, I was moving to 'God's country', they grow things there, the earth is fertile, they have more sunny days and wide-open skies! Seriously, he reminded me of this hourly and tried to impress upon me just how lucky I was, after all, it was God's country!
I maintained that it was the desert and nothing good was in the desert (except Blake, but I'd rather him not be there either).

So Jared stayed for a week to hang out with Blake and to use our super high speed Internet. He had helped me unload my stuff into 'our' apartment. Blake had been 'living' there for a month now with his bedroom furniture, scant dishes, his TV and two camping chairs. I was providing most of the furniture and really didn't want any of his bachelor furniture to make it over the threshold! I went to live at my parents' until the wedding.

Apparently, during Jared's stay there was a pretty major wind storm because after Jared came home from his week in 'God's country' he gave me a hug and expressed deep sympathies that I had to move to such an awful deserted land. He said that the wind blew so hard dirt seeped into every crack around every door and every window. The wind/dirt sandblasted the writing off of an unopened case of soda in his truck bed and destroyed our barbecue. He reported with quite a bit of enthusiasm how horrible it was and that this place indeed was not 'God's country' but a dry, nasty, sand blower, of a desert.

Now if only this 'win' would somehow make it better to live there! At least he tried to be positive.. I guess ;)

Farewell Old Friend

It's time to move. It's silly I know, but I will miss this place. I know I'm moving on to better things: marriage, my first home with Blake, etc., but it's the end of this chapter and that still makes me sad. I just want to capture all that this place really meant for me. 

This was the first place I lived alone, and I have loved living alone! I've lived here longer than any of the other 11 places I've lived since I moved away to college. I moved in with a bed, dresser, desk and hand-me-down couch. I painted, decorated and furnished this place from top to bottom. This place represents my successful independence. This is where I really grew into my own life and style. This is where I really started cooking. The joy of every type of food and ingredient within minutes. Selection and variety at my fingertips.This place is what I'll think of when I remember my 20's. The convenience of Bellevue and Seattle in 20 minutes or less (when the M's weren't playing). Meeting friends for coffee, happy hour, dinner or drinks. Walking to the grocery store. Tuesday night dinners with Whitney. Ups and downs shared over food. Learning what it really means to be an SLP. This place is where I come at the end of a long day and melt into bed. This is where I cried with friends and laughed with friends. But more importantly:

This is where I lived while falling in love with Blake. I was painting the accent wall in the living room when he called to check on me late one night and for the first time I had expected him to call. I was putting together my bedroom when I realized he'd called every night that week...he must either be bored or there's something serious going on here. It was the weekend I felt helpless because a heavy piece of furniture had been delivered to the concierge and I had no way to get it into my apartment.. there he came to the rescue, visiting in his big truck.

This is where Blake proposed.

This is where he first said 'I love you'.
(Yes in that order)

I'm sure I'll look back and see that what I'm leaving behind is nothing compared to what I'm moving towards. But for now, it still stings to see this place be packed up and painted over.. all that hard work. That classic, old hardwood floor.. open and empty. My cousin was kind enough to photograph it before I started packing and moving. This is how I'll chose to remember it. Warm and full of life.