Settlin In

Well we made it!! We are back to the US and moved to Seattle. It's weird to be back in the states after so long where everyone speaks English and I know what is going on all of the time haha. It's good to be home! Also, it's weird because we just moved here so it doesn't feel like home at all yet. This month was spent getting settled in and adjusted to our new apartment and our new city. I can't really believe yet that this is my city now, and I live here now. We had about two weeks to move our stuff before Rusty and I started work. We landed on May 27 at 7:00 P.M. and got a rental car and drove to Lynwood where we stayed in our last hotel after almost 5 weeks. The next morning Rusty went to the storage unit to meet the movers and I went and picked up our apartment keys. That day was spent moving boxes into the storage unit and into the apartment with the movers, and beginning to unload some things. After a few days all of the boxes were emptied but we were really having a hard time finding a place for everything. While this apartment is bigger than our last apartments in our house, they each were two bedrooms so we are struggling to find enough storage. We also went out and bought some adult purchases like a TV, TV stand, and a couch. What? I feel so old! We haven't had a working TV since we were married. Buying furniture really makes me feel like I am growing up.

Speaking of that... man has that been a struggle, this whole growing up thing! I feel like a lot of things have happened recently that have made me a little stressed out about not being a kid anymore. We sold our house, graduated from school, bought furniture, are planning for the future, moved to a new city, and Rusty started a real job. I was kind of surprised, but after about the third day after our trip this feeling started creeping up in my stomach that was just plain worry about the responsibilities of being an adult and me measuring up to that, or even wanting that. These feelings have really made me kind of go through a mid-life crisis if that's what you call it. I wondered if I had done everything I wanted to do before settling down, working and having a family; and of course I haven't. There are still tons of things that I want to do! But after a couple of weeks thinking about this and talking with Rusty a lot I have made lots of progress. See, the thing is that I was trying to cram everything into the first  20 years of my life because I felt like after we started real life we wouldn't have time to be spontaneous, go on trips, and play anymore. But I realized that this is not only impossible, it's not healthy. It's not fun. And, it's not true. My life won't end because we have entered this new stage of life! It will definitely change; better in some and different in others. But I have to stop being scared and instead of viewing this as a big part of my life closing, another part opening. President Uchtdorf said, "There are no true endings, only everlasting beginnings." This talk has helped to bring me a lot of peace about this worry and difficulty that I am feeling in moving onto the next stage; that it is normal! But it doesn't have to be so nerve-racking. Step forward with faith and things will work out. Elder Holland's devotional Remember Lot's Wife has really helped me with this.

We have done some fun things to help us adjust to our new life here in Seattle this month of June. We both had about two weeks to move in and arrange things before we started work, which was really nice. During this time period my parents went to Vancouver, British Columbia for a business meeting of my dad's. We drove up for the day to meet them! This was my first time in Canada since I was too little to remember, and Rusty's first time ever visiting. Dad skipped all of his meetings and we went out and played. It was so great to spend time with them because we hadn't seen them since graduation! It was kind of fun to be back in another country after we had spent a month seeing so many different ones. This one didn't feel all that different, but you could notice it in the accents and names of streets and cities. We went to my parents' hotel and then set off to go to the Capilano Suspension Bridge. It stretches across a gorge that is 450 ft wide and the bridge is 230 feet above the river. Because it is a suspension bridge, as you walk on it you can feel the sway in the bridge which can be slightly alarming. :) There was a woman when we were there that would scream with terror every time she looked over the side of the bridge. We tried not to laugh too hard and then followed after her.

Walking across the bridge really was interesting and beautiful, but we got to do many more things in the park that we didn't know of! We had a tour guide walk us through the park and show us a lot of the totem poles and explain why they mattered. Then we did the treetop walk, which was essentially a lot of treehouses connected with little wooden suspension bridges. It was really cool to be up there walking around like that in the forest.

  

 

After that we walked on the Cliff Walk, which is a little side walk that sticks out from the side of the cliffs. Some parts of this have clear bottoms so you can look straight down! This part made me feel more uneasy than the Suspension Bridge!

 

After exploring around here we went back to the hotel to meet with some of my Dad's work people. They were all going out to dinner and invited Rusty and I to go, and for free! So we decided to all go, and it was way better than I thought. They took us to this really classy seafood place that a bunch of famous people like to frequent (Zac Effron, Katie Holmes, Schwarzenegger... you name it) and where the meals cost anywhere from $40-$150. The menu is created new every day based on what they caught that morning, so it is all incredibly fresh. They ordered us some appetizers to share with the table that was full of crab legs, tuna steaks, raw oysters, clams, mussels, and scallops. I could have just eaten these things and gone home completely happy (except for the oysters... I tried one and it was just absolutely terrible.) but then we got to order! I got salmon, scallops, and shrimp and it was absolutely heaven. I couldn't believe how delicious it all was. And for dessert, I got a lemon blueberry cheesecake. Easily the best cheesecake I have ever had in my life. I plan on getting more in the future (even though it involves leaving the country. Who cares?). We were too excited about the appetizers to get a picture, but we did snap a quick one of the entree and dessert.

The next day, my parents came down to Seattle to spend a few days with us! We spent a day downtown showing my parents around. We visited Pike's Market and ate giant donuts on National Donut Day, went to Gasworks Park and flew a kite on Kite Hill, and then took my parents out for dinner at The Crab Pot!

Also, our sweet hubbys bought us fresh flowers!

Delicious crab, mussels, clams, corn, and potatoes. YUM!

The next day we went to Snoqualmie Falls, played in Issaquah (including a picnic at a park), and had GIANT root beer floats at XXX.

Towards the end of the month we went camping up in the North Cascades, the "American Alps". It was so much fun to escape and take our first camping trip of the year. We hiked around Diabolo Lake which was absolutely beautiful! The color of the water was an unreal turquoise. We also drove the North Cascades Highway  (Route 20) and saw the Liberty Bell Mountain and Mount Triumph. We ended up in this little town called Winthrop that seemed like it was such in the 1800s. I love any town with a theme that ties it together, so it's no surprise that I feel in love with this town! We ate homemade, delicious ice cream from Sheri's and looked around at the General Store.

 

 

On our drive home on Sunday we saw a road called Mt. Baker. We decided to go ahead and drive on this and see if it took us to the actual Mt. Baker, which it did! I had no idea we were that close to it, but we drive out and looked around a little. I want feeling very well so we didn't hike around, but it really is beautiful. I can't believe how many of these volcanoes we have. From my house I can see both Mt. Baker and Mt. Rainier, and we also have Mt. St. Helen's, Mt. Adams, and Glacier Peak. Holy.

The last thing we did in June was go hiking at Lord Hill Park or in Snohomish. Snohomish is where I go when I feel cramped or when I miss being surrounded by fields growing up. And the downtown is so little and cute! It's the antique capital of the west. Anyways, this park has beautiful hiking and it was so great to get out and see it! We are still adjusting to life in Seattle so seeing all of the slugs and snails was still odd haha. It is crazy to me that we don't have to go very far and then be completely encompassed in a forest, so full that I would never have thought you could reach that, especially so close to the city. This area is definitely green and rich!

Giant slugs! Ewwww

These houses have to be built up so high because this is a flood plain!