Family, Food and Fun

Good evening!
I hope everyone had a great week, we sure did! We had our first visitors here in Seattle - my sister Maggie and my Dad each came for separate work visits, oddly enough during the same week. Since Trav had last week off before starting work tomorrow, he joined Maggie on Tuesday for some exciting grocery store visits around town! They also took some time to walk around The Market and enjoy a few other local spots while I was at work. After work we took Mags to our favorite spot, Rocco's, for delicious pizza and then a walk on the waterfront at sunset. 

Wednesday night we were guinea pigs for Maggie and her coworkers to test the "Amazon Fresh" delivery service here in Seattle. Although it was a tight squeeze with eight people in our TINY apartment, they were a really fun group and we enjoyed spending some time with all of them (the free groceries didn't hurt either)! 

Thursday night my Daddy-O came over to see our place and then we had some dinner at Cutters with a gorgeous view over Elliott Bay. Friday Trav and Jimbo hit the road and explored the Olympic Peninsula while I was at work (again, I was missing all the fun). Once they got home we took a drive over to West Seattle and had dinner at Salty's. The food was AMAZING. Salty's is famous around Seattle for their seafood and their phenomenal view of the Seattle Skyline on the water. Since I'm not much of a seafood fan, I found a delicious filet on the menu instead. Although I might have been the only person in the entire place eating beef, it was worth it. Wow was it a tasty steak! However, I did take the opportunity to try some coconut shrimp, Copper River Salmon and even a crab cake. I figure if I am going to live in Seattle, I have to at least try some seafood now and then. 

It was so wonderful to see family - now that we have been here a month I have to admit I was starting to get a little bit homesick. Mostly because we have such wonderful friends and family, it would be impossible not to miss them at some point. It felt great to see some familiar faces and share our new city with some folks we love : ) After Mags and Jimbo left we spent the weekend exploring a little more. 

We took a trip out to Snoqualmie Falls, about 45 min outside Seattle. Although it is more of a tourist attraction than a hike, the gorgeous waterfall is worth the trip. There is a quaint little lodge at the top of the falls that we will have to go stay at someday. It looks so peaceful and I can imagine waking up next to the falls would be extraordinary. We walked around the mile long trail and took advantage of a few great photo spots. Here are a few shots: 

After a busy week we had a nice time relaxing at home and cooking  a few good meals. Saturday night I cooked some fresh pasta from The Market - so delicious! What a difference fresh ingredients make. Travis even got in on the culinary adventure, grilling up some steaks and asparagus tonight. Yum! 

What a delicious way to end another great week! Trav starts work tomorrow at Mortenson Construction, I couldn't be prouder of him! We are both so excited to see where this next chapter leads us in our careers and our personal lives. Have a wonderful week, miss you all, sending our love!

Cheers!

KP

Discovering Wallace Falls

Good Evening,
Happy Mother's day to all the moms out there - a special shoutout to the two best moms around, Nancy Engstrom and Cheryl Biersdorf! We love you both so much and we wish we could have been together today to celebrate how wonderful you are. Please know that we are sending you love from afar! 

This week was pretty routine, I am settling into the new job and Travis has continued exploring the neighborhood since he doesn't start work until the 19th. Saturday we became official Washington residents with a visit to the DMV for our new licenses. Yes, I know...how exciting! Don't worry, the DMV was not the highlight of our weekend, we took a great hike to Wallace Falls. It was about a 90 minute drive Northeast of the city through several small towns. 

After the rookie mistakes we made last week with our hike at Deception Pass, we made sure we were much better prepared this week. With some new hiking boots, camelback water resevoirs and a few snacks, we set out on our first real challenging hike. We chose the trail to the "Lower Falls" since it was only about 2 miles - we figured we'd ease into it. We were very glad we had good hiking boots and the right gear this time since the incline was quite challenging at times. The scenery was GORGEOUS. We were surrounded by moss covered trees, flowing rivers and beautiful waterfalls. The reward came once we reached the top of the trail and saw the falls. Check out a few photos below, although they don't do it justice!

We hope to take another hike next weekend and keep exploring, we look forward to it all week! We are very excited to have some visitors coming this week - my dad and my sister Maggie will each be in town for a work visit (different days) so we will have the pleasure of spending some time with them and will enjoy a meal or two together. We can't wait to see some familiar faces! 

Cheers!
KP

Sunny Skies and Good Fortune

Hello!
We are winding down on this Sunday evening after a wonderful week full of good news and good times! The weather in Seattle over the last week was nearly perfect! It was between 75 and 85 degrees with abundant sunshine almost every day last week. It felt like Seattle was giving us a warm welcome after our first week full of grey, cloudy skies. 

In addition to sunny skies, it was a week full of good things. I had a great first week at zulily in my new job. We also successfully closed on the sale of our house back in Minnesota. As if that wasn't enough good news, Travis was offered a wonderful job with Mortenson Construction in their Puget Sound office in Kirkland, WA. He will be an Integrated Construction Coordinator and starts work on May 19. We are so blessed to have had such a positive start to our new life here in Seattle. This last week was real proof that everything happens for a reason and we made the right decision when we took this leap of faith. 

We closed out our week with a lovely day trip on Saturday thanks to some great ideas from our very own personal expert trip advisor - Jimbo Engstrom. We began our day with a GORGEOUS hike at Deception Pass, north of Seattle. Words and photos cannot do this place justice, it is truly mystical and beautiful. As you will see below, we had quite a time tromping through the woods together. We even made friends with a slug!

Once we left Deception Pass we took the Washington Ferry over to Port Townsend. We walked around this cute little fishing town and stopped for lunch at a malt shop. Our next stop was a short drive south. We ended our day at Bainbridge Island with a coffee and treat at a local bakery. From there we were able to take another ferry right back downtown. Living downtown has many perks, one of them being very convenient access to the ferry system. 

This lovely day was a glimpse into how many amazing trails, treks and adventures are right outside our door in this wonderful place. We got our first glimpse at the beauty of the Pacific Northwest that I've always loved and have been dying to share with Travis. We also discovered that if we want to make hiking a hobby, we need to invest in some gear. I don't think my running shoes and skinny jeans got me any points with the locals on the trail. Next time we'll look like real, legit hikers! 

We miss you all and hope everything is going well!
Cheers!
KP

A few photos from the week:

The Bridge at Deception Pass

The handsome photographer

Sort of Selfie

I found bigfoot while I was in the forest, he was cuter than I expected

Overlooking the beach

Trav captured this great shot of the bridge from underneath

 Enchanted forest

Mr. Slug

There were some very large trees!

There's just something about the ferries, I love watching them on the water

Small lighthouse at Port Townsend

Beautiful Views

Hello!

Last week was full of discoveries and adventures! We are getting more settled into our apartment and continue to explore our neighborhood each day. One of the best things about our new lifestyle is that we can walk almost anywhere in downtown Seattle! We have been trying to walk anywhere within two miles to avoid driving when we don't have to (especially since we only have one car now). I can walk to work everyday which is amazing! Travis has a few leads he is exploring for a job opportunities and we are hoping to hear something in the next week or two. I started work yesterday at zulily and so far it's been great! It will be nice to get into more of a routine here during the week and also start really exploring on the weekends! 

Here are a few highlights from the last week:

We had brunch this weekend in West Seattle with a former co-worker of mine from Target who also relocated to Seattle last year. She let us tag along with her and her adorable little boy (and cute pup) for a nice walk along Lincoln Park. It was quite windy but the scenery was beautiful! 

After a week of slight cloudiness we were so excited to finally see Mt. Rainier clearly from the city. Travis took this great shot today, what a view just across the street from our apartment!

Although we walk by Pike's Market almost every day, this still hasn't gotten old! I love the vibrant people and shops at the market and it's so fun to have fresh, delicious groceries right outside our front door.

After a long, steep and sweaty hike a few miles up the street to Queen Anne Hill we stopped at Kerry Park. It was  a very small park but the view more than made up for it! Sweeping views of the city, Elliott Bay and the mountains.

 We made the drive around Lake Union to Gasworks Park. This is a very unique park with lots of great trails picnic spots and historic scenery. There were over a dozen people flying kites on the hill which was also a great site to see! 

 One more shot from Gasworks Park, this one facing Lake Union with Downtown Seattle in the background (if you can stand to look away from the hunk in the foreground of the photo)

We are missing friends and family but certainly not the Minnesota weather! 
Cheers!
KP

WE MADE IT!

WE MADE IT TO SEATTLE! It was a long two day road trip with a slow start out of Minneapolis due to the eight inches of snow that fell just before we left.  The first three hours were filled with constant meowing/howling while our two cats tried desperately to escape from their carrier. The icy roads didn't help since they were making the drive very noisy. Once we hit North Dakota it was smooth sailing (and boring, flat scenery).

After a sixteen hour day we settled into our hotel in Bozeman, MT. I wish I could say a good night's rest was had by all, but I spent the entire night laying on the floor awake with the cats as they meowed their way around the room. Thanks to some ear plugs Travis was able to get some sleep though! 

The second and final day of driving was about 11 hours and had fantastic scenery through the mountains. Our favorite town to pass through was Coeur D'Alene, Idaho. What a gorgeous place, pops right out of the mountains overlooking a beautiful lake.

After several sleepless nights in our new apartment (thanks to an air mattress and our noisy neighbors upstairs) we were very excited to see the movers on Monday with all of our furniture! We've unpacked most of our things and are starting to feel more at home in our tiny apartment. We have LOVED exploring our new neighborhood each day, trying new restaurants and shops, as well as buying fresh food from Pike Place Market. 

Although saying goodbye to friends and family was even harder than expected, we are so excited to be here. Now that we are getting settled in our guest room is officially open for visitors! We hope to see lots of friends and family out here soon! 

Here's a few photos from our first week! feel free to follow me on Instagram too!
KP