Cleaning it up

I'm changing things around on the blog. So all the pics that used to be along the edge will be here now, so i don't lose them forever.




tea with Mr. Darcy!


stained glass
get it????


pretty

soldier in Bath
The Strand


too close?

women rock!

ferry tales
posers


cannon beach?
we've been told

elvis and c share ice cream

karaoke

where W.B. Yeates is buried

Isaac's HORRIBLE HOSTEL... but soooo pretty

Cashel Castle

Paddywagon Day1

Puzzels the giraffe in Philly

casey's graduation

yummy salad

crazy family

My 2 cents

Ok, so you might have figured it out, I don’t really like to blog. Wait, that’s not true, I mean I love going back and reading them and I love having the blog, but there are always so many other things to do. However, here we are in the car heading home and I am just sitting here and I want to write down how much fun I am having before I forget it, so here I am…C.

I loved the San Juan Islands, it was such a relaxing time and it was so fun, we didn’t really explore all that much, in fact a good portion of our time was spent laying on a blanket with a good book and an amazing view. Like I said before, I loved it.

Seattle…WOW!!! Of course I’ve been there before, but I’ve never gone to U Dub and done the canoes…I must say “CASEY AND DANITA”S WILDLIFE ADVENTURE” (*said in a very loud voice and a terrible Australian accent*) was the highlight of Seattle. However I must say the present I bought for myself at Pikes Market was tres fabu!



It was nice to stay at Aunt Debi’s in a real bed, on the other hand if we weren’t sharing the back-of-the-van-bed it is about the most comfy bed you could lay in !

Now, the real highlight of the entire trip in my opinion…D and C’S PORT ANGELES/FORKS/LA PUSH ADVENTURE!!! (*said in a loud voice and a bad Australian accent*) Like I told D, in my head I know its not real, if only the rest of me knew…seeing the places, going to the places, eating at the places where our favorite series is set, it is not only breath taking, but makes it more real. When we were at the school I could just imagine Jacob riding up on his motorcycle to steal Bella away, or when we were driving to La Push, I was guessing at where exactly the treaty line was and then imagining Edward sitting in his Volvo…waiting.

It was cool to talk to some of the people in Forks, to see what they thought of the “twilight ordeal,” I thought it could be irritating at times, but they loved us! I was amazed at how right SM was about Forks as well its just this Podunk town, kinda cool, but nothing. We need to start a store…D will probably talk about that later…

And now we are going home  I’m definitely not ready, but I guess all good vacations have to end…on a side note all bad vacations have to end too…back to work, back to life, back to institute with brother Farmer….oops, I didn’t do my mission prep homework …it was a grand vacation with plenty of AMAZING ADVENTURES (*said in a loud voice and a bad Australian accent*)…plus now I have some Ideas for a weekend get-away :D

Until Next time, this is C on the GRAND ADVENTURES OF MY LIFE! (*said in a loud voice and a bad Australian accent*)

TWILIGHT CRAZIES!!!!!!!!! yes... i mean us

So this is the part when we really shouldn’t admit how insane we are. It would be smarter not to even write this down, that way there is no documentation of our insanity. Alas, I will throw reason to the wind and embrace the crazy that I am. A movie quote comes to mind… “Honey, you need to be smarter about showing your crazy side.”

On our way to the San Juan’s, C said “We should go to Forks!!!” So the seed was sown and the decision pretty much made to take the scenic route home. The really scenic route. I finished reading Eclipse again a few days ago, so Twilight was on the brain. After leaving Seattle, we headed toward Port Angeles. If you have never been on the Olympic Penninsula – plan to do it. It is breathtaking. We kept pulling over to take pictures that don’t do justice to what our eyes beheld. The Olympic National Park is HUGE and beautiful.


We made it to Port Angeles around 2:30pm and planned dinner and a movie. We drove around trying to find an Italian place so we could have – what else? MUSHROOM RAVIOLI!!! We saw a place called Michael’s Divine Dining and decided to splurge. They had pasta on the menu and it looked great. We decided it was a yes and walked across the street to check movie times. As we got to the other side, what did we find??? BELLA ITALIA!!!


It was like a sign from heaven. Michael’s was out and Bella was in! They didn’t open until 4pm so we had some time to kill in town. The closest we found to a gory movie was The Incredible Hulk at 5:15pm. We had passed a bookstore on the way and headed there because we love bookstores. We got distracted a couple of times on the way… once at a bead store where the owner showed us how to wrap a sari.



We walked into the restaurant and what did we see but this cute table…



We knew we were in the right place. The only thing… no mushroom ravioli on the menu. BUT my smoked salmon ravioli was delish. And C had a mushroom tortellini in pesto sauce. A mushroom may have found its way into my ravioli…




I enjoyed the movie more than I thought I would. And I loved Mr. Stark at the end!!




We made our way into Forks pretty late, but we were able to find the high school.



We headed to La Push to find a camping site. Unfortunately we didn’t, but we camped at Mora Beach pretty close to La Push.




This brings us to Thursday the 26th of June. We slept in. I like sleeping… not sure if I would make a good vampire. Our neighbors were leaving to backpack through the Olympic Beaches and unloaded their perishables on us, including one organic green pepper, 5 bananas and 2 bricks of cheese. I made some Sunday Pasta for breakfast… YUM! I digress. I think I also like food too much to be a vampire. We found our way past




Until we got to First Beach – although there was no sign. It is a gorgeous rocky beach. C and I loaded our pockets with beautiful colored rocks. There were also about eleventy billion perfect skipping stones. We were there for a couple of hours before the rain forced us onward… TO FORKS!!!







It’s hard not to feel a it foolish stopping for these pics, but then you realize that there are others right behind you taking the same pics too. We didn’t stop at Subway for the Twilight Sandwich, or Sully’s Drive-In for the Bella Burger, but we couldn’t resist going by the hospital


The VERY enthusiastic woman at the Chamber was so helpful. She welcomed us each with our own “Twilight Package”, with maps and even a ziplock of sand from first beach. We got our pic taken for their website, and welcomed back for Stephenie Meyer Day in September.



So, we have made the trek to Forks and La Push. I even have an apple magnet to prove it.

Seattle!!! Tues -- D

All went perfectly on Seattle Day! We woke up early, got to the ferry early and ate our yummy cereal on board. C taught me how to play German Speed. She won. Then we napped until we got into Anacortes Port. It was a GORGEOUS day. Our drive was nice and we made it to the University of Washington about 10am. I wanted C to experience one of the coolest things I’ve ever done in Seattle. We rented a canoe!!!

“C and D’s WILDLIFE ADVENTURE” started with a sighting of a cute duck family.

The Neeter Skeeter Beater Bites were annoying little buggers that got all over us. We saw three turtles and some bigger ducks that may or may not have been geese.



And last but not least --- BALD EAGLES!!!! Really. There were 4 of them circling in the blue sky above us.

After a couple hours, and a delicious snack of watermelon, we needed to be done. It was hot and our arms were tired.


So we returned the canoe and headed to IVARS for yummy fish and chips on the waterfront, followed by soft serve ice cream for dessert.


Pike’s Market was soooooooo crowded. People kept running into us when we moved too slow or took too much time in front of the various booths. The salmon at $21 per pound would have been our dinner, but it was a bit out of our budget. So sad. Aunt Debi was gracious enough to offer the “Rebo Hostel” as accommodations for the evening. We took her a couple of bouquets in appreciation. One had some beautiful peonies and sweet william and the other of fresh cilantro. I have to admit that I was hoping she would make her yummy salsa. And she did. We finished the day watching Enchanted. C went to bed before the movie ended and I went to bed immediately after. It was a long and wonderfully exhausting day.

Oh yeah? Well I am having... fun... too

Or not. Well, I have now turned green with envy at all the wonderful things that my sisters are doing without me. Not that I begrudge them their trip, not at all, I just wish that I could have gone. It is kind of lonely being all the way out here. Next semester, C and I had better go on some awesome trips! And D better get her butt up here to go on some with us.

So, life in Rexburg. Not a whole lot to tell. I have met what seems like thousands of people in the last three months. I met a LOT of cute guys who are afraid of marriage, dating, commitment and fat girls, though not necessarily in that order. It's not bad, though. I am learning, which is something I have long wanted to do... and I may be coming slowly to the realization that I am not as stupid as I feel. One can only hope.

I don't get out much, I did go to Montana, and decided that I could happily live in a car on the side of the highway if it meant that I got to look at those mountains all day. I also went to Beaver Dick Park (yes, that is its real name, and no one seems to know why) for the first time and quickly got my fill of mosquitos. Literally, I was breathing them in. I am sure that I ingested quite a few, but I have blocked that particular detail of memory. I think. I went to the sand dunes, and realized just how stupid show-off-y guys with dune bikes are when they feel like being so.

I need a vacation.

C Falls -- Sunday -- D

Sunday we planned to go to Friday Harbour to go to church. We missed the ferry. It was lame.
We went to the library (free wi-fi) and got a number from the church website for the meeting place on Orcas. We heard from them at about noon. Church was at 8:45. Oh, and church was at the library... ugh! Needless to say, we missed our church meetings that day. Improvising, we went to this beautiful spot on the waterfront and brought our blankets and conference Ensign. We each chose a talk and read it out loud. It was pretty cold, so we covered up with the blanket and ended up sleeping. For HOURS! It was crazy. We slept and slept and slept, and then we slept some more. We finally got up when I had to eat. I had a vision of a chocolate old fashioned doughnut with chocolate glaze and the cute ball sprinkles.



We really needed to get the blood pumping, so we hiked to Cascade Falls. It was only 3 miles round trip. C just couldn't resist and went IN the falls. It was freezing, and I think it affected her judgement, because on the hike back she told me about the day after the alien invasion when some humans will live peaceably with the aliens who wear clothes made of thyrinomine which looks a lot like silver. About 20 minutes later, C falls... I only felt a little bad for laughing, 'cause she was ok. Just a bit scraped up. She likes her war wounds. Get it? C Falls... Cascade Falls... C falls... ha!





We were gearing up for a rousing game of cribbage after dinner, but we fell asleep. At like 8pm. Seriously, after sleeping all day, we went to bed early and didn't get up until about 10am on Monday. And they say that you can't "catch up" on your sleep.