Pacific City

Ahhhh Pacific City, you are my favorite place on the west coast. Perhaps it helps that I have many great memories from my young adult years at this place (and those of you who share those memories know what I'm talking about) but it really is a spectacular place! The sand dunes at Cape Kiwanda are amazing and provide such excellent views! Its also a favorite location for the local surfers and we watched several catching some great waves on this beautiful September afternoon.

Here we are about ready to ascend the dunes!

3/4 way up! Beautiful views!

Looking South:

Looking North:

Enjoying the view from the tippy top!

The Return of the Knitter

I think its been well over a year since my last adventure in knitting. Over the past couple weeks I decided its about time I get back into it and what better project to begin with than my very own BFF's pattern for the Lemon Curd Slouch--except mine is in red. Almost done!!

Ocean Living

Our friend Erin recommended this adorable beach rental community for our stay this week and we have been loving it! Totally affordable and we have a whole house to ourselves within walking distance of the beach. How great is that?? So for the week, this is home sweet home--I think we could both get used to this!

The ocean has been very tempestuous this week! We both enjoy watching the waves crashing in, but I think Chris could spend hours watching it! He loves it.

This is our "beach access." So far it's only been "ocean access" every time we've gone down. Being that its not hot outside, we're pretty content to just sit and watch--or at least I am. I know there's a part of my husband that just wants to dive right in.

"Mightier than the thunders of many waters, mightier than the waves of the sea, the LORD on high is mighty!" Psalm 93:4 (ESV)

Foodies

Remember those clams from earlier? Well my cook of a husband turned them into a nice little spaghetti alle vongole. I think in Italian that means yummy clam dinner. He was happy. I had mine with chicken.

We also worked together to make some fresh salsa and guacamole this afternoon. Ben, I used the limes we picked at your house. Thanks!!

The place we are staying has its own kitchen and we are loving being able to go out for some meals and cook our own as well. Any recommendations for while we are here?

Oregon Coast

My husband's home!

He was gone doing training about 3 weeks out of the last month and is only home for 2 weeks before he heads out on his next deployment so in the meantime that means VACATION for us! He has a whole week of leave so we made our way down to the coast yesterday to enjoy some much needed time off together. You all (might) know that I'm pretty loyal to all things Washington, but when it comes to the West Coast I must say Oregon takes the cake!!

Plus beach vacations are good for us because they mean Chris can enjoy eating more seafood which is his favorite while I continue to enjoy my steaks. Here he is picking out some fresh clams and crab for (his) dinner.

What are you up to this week? Any off season vacations planned for you?

Putting Away Past Sins

My Husband was given an opportunity to preach in our church a few weeks back and if you ask me, he did a great job!

Here is the link if you have an opportunity to listen to him or any of the other sermons from this series on Colossians.

http://christourredeemer.net/resources/

California

I don't think you could pay me to live in Southern California, but visiting is always great. With lots of family in the area, there is still a big draw for me to head down as often as I can--especially with two cutie nephews to visit now!

Chris is doing some training in Las Vegas for 2 weeks at the moment so kinda last minute we realized that this would be a good weekend for me to go visit. It was almost non-stop go go go with little sleep but well worth it to celebrate...

Adam turning 2 years old!

And meeting baby Amos for the first time! He was born in April but this was the first time this Aunty got to go meet him. What a sweetie!

Also got to celebrate a big weekend with my brother, Ben and his fiance as they found a cozy little home to rent for when they are married and bought a new car.

Grandma got to come too and I know she was a huge help in taking care of her precious grandkids and doing some extra projects for Karen so everything could come together for the big 2 year old's train party. I only decorated one of these cars on the train cake so the rest of the credit has to go to Karen and Mama.

However, I will take credit for these rainbow jell-o cups that I spent a couple days filling up--waiting between each layer.

And what's a busy birthday weekend without throwing in a move too! On Monday we helped Karen and Brian move into their new home--a big step up from their little home they've been renting for the last 6 years. Somehow that place got a lot smaller with the addition of two little boys. It was fun to see their beautiful new home and start the unpacking process with them. They even have their own pool! There was no time for a swim while I was there so hopefully another trip where we can all relax and swim will be in order for next time. Probably doubtful though since it looks like the next trip will be wedding time!

And I'm not sure how we fit this in too but I'm so glad we did. My dear California friends made sure we squeezed in a dinner while I were there. Its been 7 years since we all began our adventure at Master's together but despite distance over these years, they have remained faithful and wonderful friends. So good to catch up with you girls!! Next time I think we're due for another Disneyland trip!

And before I sign off, I have to add that the thing that always makes me laugh in So-Cal is the telephone and light poles that are made to look like palm trees like this one:

(photo source)