Camping on Orcas Island

We packed up our stuff Thursday night and headed to Orcas Friday right after I got off work, to catch the ferry. We had a great site right on the lake in Moran State Park and enjoyed relaxing by the campfire, toasting marshmallows, hiking, and checking out the island.







View from Mt. Constitution

Three day respite in Tucson

Got to spend a lovely three days with the sisters Finnerty, Kate & Mary, in Tucson last week. I had a free ticket down there and really enjoyed having time with the girls, laying by the pool soaking up the sun and reading my book. Mentally preparing myself for the last 9 month push of Bill's crazy work/school/clinical schedule, which will be stressful. We can do this!

More Memorial Day Wknd

Sunday brought a visit from some old friends that Bill went to school w/ in Baltimore. Sonia & Sean are a blast to hang out with, always cracking us up. We had a nice picnic w/ a view of the space needle and dinner @ the Five Spot. Next time we see them I hope it's for their wedding in San Francisco!....

Romance was in the air...

Had a busy Memorial Day weekend... though didn't get very many good pics! Bill & I celebrated seven years of wedded bliss :) though we've really been together almost 12 years. Crazy. Especially when I think how old we were when we started dating .... had only gotten driver's licenses three years earlier, voted in our first election one year earlier and weren't legally allowed in a bar. Basically, we were young! We had a great day of hiking up at Cougar Mtn. with Addie (no pics), then he surprised me with a great dinner/night out in Seattle. I'm ready for an even better seven years to come.

Sat. we got to celebrate with some friends who had just gotten engaged. Teddy, one of Bill's good buddies at work, proposed to his girlfriend Jesi at El Gaucho at the table where they had their first date, while friends & family waited in a private room to suprise her. He really did a great job pulling it all together. Congratulations Teddy & Jesi!

Boring Update & Thoughts on Calvanism!

Wow, has it really been almost a month since my last post? Sheesh I guess my life has been pretty boring as of late. I honestly can't think of anything exciting to report... the weeks have gone by quickly just keeping up with the daily routine of life.

My church blog recently posted an article on Calvanism ("so hot right now") which was really interesting. Just as the post describes, it's attractive and appealing to me because I like to have the easy, black & white answers sometimes but disturbing, because on the other hand, there are some grey areas where there has to be room for discussion and the realization that there are mysteries of faith we may never understand in this life. I have a lot of thinking, studying and room for spiritual growth left in this life, and while I try to be open to learning and listening to other people's experiences and world views, I do think there has to be a line in the sand at some point, where you determine what truth is or whether you even believe in absolute truth. I do believe there is absolute truth in some matters, such as the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the son of God. I don't believe that all religions lead to salvation or absolute truth. To me, that makes Jesus out to be a liar, and even if you're not a Christian, believing that all religions are inherently good, lead to God, are all the same, etc. just waters down the integrity of the beliefs or tenants of each religion, so why would anyone want to follow them anyway?

Ok, off the soapbox for now. Here's a fun little theology quiz. I am apparently a 50/50 split between Roman Catholic and Evangelical/Weslyean theological worldviews. About as random as it gets!

Happy St. Paddy's Day!

I'm probably only about 1/8 Irish but I like to celebrate St. Patrick's Day in some way, shape or form every year. This year we were celebrating our friend Jarod's birthday so it was a good excuse to drink Guiness, listen to some bagpipes and enjoy this awesome Guiness cake!

Birthday Soiree

After three years in this house we finally decided to clean it up and have some friends over. I didn't do a big 3-0 party so made up for it with the 3-1. We had a great time and were blessed with seeing lots of good friends and having some good food. The chocolate peanutbutter cake was the hit of the night. It's a good thing there were so many people to eat it because you only need about an eighth of an inch size slice, it's so rich.