The Case of the Missing Tent

Last week, our tent went missing from our backyard. It seemed strange that someone would steal a tent from our super safe neighborhood at 10 am in the morning.....

Taylor bought this tent for me our first Christmas together. We had only been dating 3 months, and it was a gift that won my heart over! He set it up in his tiny apartment room and we sat in it and listened to a c.d. that he had personally recorded for me. From that moment on, we used that tent on every backpacking trip we took together. We loved that tent. It was simple to set up, and pretty lightweight. And then it went missing.

We made every effort to get that tent back. We filed a police report. We walked up and down our alley looking for that tent. We went on a few "Operation Find Our Tent" runs to see if someone had sneakily put it up in their backyard at night. We missed our little tent.

And then, lo and behold, while typing away on my NCY blogpost I heard a knock on the door. "Who could it be?" I wondered aloud to my cat. None other than a neighbor, who reads the police report section of the paper because SHE'S AWESOME, and found out that we were the couple missing the tent. Apparently, since Taylor didn't stake it down when he aired it out the day after our trip, it blew WAY up the street. She figured she would find out who it belonged to sooner or later.

Case closed!

New York City: I LOVE YOU, I LOVE YOU, I LOVE YOU!!!

It's been over a month since our trip, but I've been busy and haven't had time to post. So here it is, just a wee bit late.

After Boston we took a quick bus ride to NYC for four of the greatest days of my life. Now, my opinion may be biased because I was a tourist during the most wonderful part of the summer, but I do believe that NYC is the greatest city in the world. Taylor mocks me for saying this, but I stand my ground because that city is awesome and it has something to offer everyone! I loved that there were people everywhere, all the time; I loved that I felt extremely safe; I loved that the city was so light at night; I loved the pace, the culture, the architecture, the mood. Loved it all.

During our super short stay we ended up spending most of our time between Lower and Midtown Manhattan, and since we had City Passes we ended up doing A LOT of activities to get our money's worth. Our hotel was one block away from Central Park and about 10 blocks away from Times Square, so we walked EVERYWHERE! We spent time Rockefeller Center, Radio City Music Hall, and NBC studios (where we tried really hard for two days in a row to get standby tickets to Jimmy Fallon but sadly failed). We took a boat tour around Manhattan, went on a walking tour of the Financial District, and spent a moving morning at Ground Zero. We saw Phantom of the Opera, rode bikes around Central Park, toured the Brooklyn Bridge, and hit up some museums and 5th avenue. And we visited lots of other places along the way. We crammed it in- and were completely exhausted every night when we fell asleep and then again when we woke up in the morning, but it was worth it. New York is amazing, and we didn't waste a single second!

I will go back- that's a promise!

Central Park

From the top of the Empire State Building

Taylor was in heaven with all the photo opportunities.

Before Phantom. P.S. This was my favorite part of the trip!

Times Square at about 7:30 in the morning

Manhattan from the Brooklyn Promenade

Pardon the blurry photo- apparently I took it in night mode:) Taylor celebrated his 30th birthday in the city. We partied all day long!

Tatoosh Wilderness

We spent the last few days backpacking in the Tatoosh Wilderness with our friends Matt and Chelsea Metsker. It was a burley hike in- 3 and 1/2 hours of uphill hiking (overall elevation gain of 3500 feet) with heavy packs on, but the views at the top of the ridge were SPECTACULAR, and our camp spot at the lakes was pretty sweet too! And, as icing on the cake, we didn't see a single bear or cougar!

Here we are smiling. That's because we are oblivious to the pain we are going to be feeling in about four hours.....

This was my first trip backpacking through flowering alpine meadows along a ridge. Washington- I LOVE YOU IN THE SUMMER!

Because even when she had to use the facilities Chelsea still looked like a cover girl for an R.E.I catalog.

Our campsite, with Ranier on the horizon.

Taylor and I suck at taking jump shots...but we do an awesome pee dance.

If you look really hard you can see our green tent at the bottom of the snow. This is the very same tent that was stolen at 10 am from our backyard the next day. Seriously, how do you make a clean getaway when you're lugging a fully set up tent down the alley?!

The famous short cut: Why hike 2 miles around the ridge when you can glacade down the ravine?!

And Then There Were Six...

Jess is getting married in four weeks! Who knew that when we became friends five years ago we would someday become friends-in-law for life?! I'm so excited! Taylor and his roommates from college will celebrate their eleventh year of friendship this September, and through the years they have met and married incredible Godly, funny, caring, crazy, ambitious, smart, and talented women. And soon, we add one more to the mix!

We celebrated Jess and her soon to be marriage with an mini-bachelorette party complete with with yummy food at The Melting Pot, champagne, presents, and of course, lots of girly talk. I CAN'T WAIT for the wedding!

I LOVE PRODUCTIVITY!

Last week was a super productive week. I am proud. I love everything that's super and I REALLY love everything productive, so you can imagine how I feel about a SUPER PRODUCTIVE week! Among the typical household chores Taylor helped me scrub and seal all the floor grout in our bathroom and kitchen. I also washed the insides and outsides of all three cars, baked 3 loaves of banana bread, cooked 6 meals for the freezer, made 30 batches of spaghetti sauce, sanded down five pieces of furniture, painted/stained five pieces of furniture among other odds and ends, and pruned the plants in our yard. Like I said, SUPER PRODUCTIVE!

Armed and ready to scrub!

Picture this before it was painted as a really ugly brown color...

Our $10 bedside tables

A finished dresser, knobs and all, with matching frames. I love spray paint.

Our distressed headboard. This was Taylor's project, and I LOVE it!

Three more painted dressers. Ahhh, a cohesive room!

The Terps are Having a Baby!

My friend Holly and I threw the Terps a couples shower. We planned for a mostly outside event. It, of course, rained all afternoon. Holly, at the last minute, fabulously hosted 30 guests inside. Good job Holly!

I've never been to a baby shower with men before. I have to admit, it was pretty fun. Highlights from this couples shower-

• Lots of good food and a pony keg from Boundary Bay. Have to say, I've never been to a shower that served beer before, let alone from a pony keg.
• Ryan trying to guess the uses of the gifts that Abby was opening. I have to side with Ryan- dishwasher bottle wash crates DO look like storage containers for baby wipes...
• Spontaneous clapping started by all the men in the room after all the gifts were opened...obviously THEY'VE never been to a shower before.
• A bottle race game with two lactose intolerant contestants. And Holly to the rescue, "Why don't you just fill it with beer?!"
• Chelsea removing Andi's stitches in the dining room.
• After partying at Boulevard with Spaceband.

Terps- We love you guys and are so excited to meet Kyah Mae. We are SO lucky to call you our friends and look forward to supporting you as parents. One more month to go!!!!

Proud parents to be.

Stitches removal. Go Chelsea!

Sorry Holly, I had to immortalize you and the rollers:)