Hooray for long weekends!

Labor Day weekend has been spectacular thus far. Preston, Addie, and I just got back from two nights in my uncle's cabin outside of Lyons, CO. Their darling green cabin is tucked away in the mountains with a river running right outside the backyard. I was dazzled by the lovely flowers in the yard and a hummingbird feeder buzzing with the little birds. We went on two nice hikes and Addie passed much of the time playing with Cody, a little pup a little over a year old. 

I'm exhausted from good time spent with family, hiking, eating delicious food, and reading, and am so glad to have tomorrow off work so that I may get some extra sleep and recuperate!

Addie getting some pets and a rest pre-hike

Theo, my uncle's golden doodle

View from the top 

Colorado is lovely

Cody the cutie! Addie's playmate for the weekend.

A glimpse at the lovely backyard

Head shake

Hummingbird friend

Medical School Begins!

Yesterday marked the beginning of Preston's medical school career. He was gone 7 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. and man, that is a long time! It's looking like that will become the norm, so I am going to need to learn how to adapt.

As part of the orientation, the medical school invited families to come to a day of information about what to expect during the next four years. At the end, they had a panel of medical school student wives speak about their experiences, and they sort of made me panic. I realize this is going to be challenging, but I'm not sure I wholly know what to expect. 

I'm hoping one of my job prospects will work out soon so that I don't go insane, but for now I'm looking forward to tomorrow when I travel to San Diego for my cousin's wedding! Onwards to four days of sun, beach, and family.

Hello, again

A week-long California vacation plus a week without Internet equals no good opportunity to blog. Oops! 

A week after the big move, I spent a week in California with my parents while Preston ventured off to Yellowstone to hike and have bro time. It was wonderful to see family and friends, relax by the pool, and visit my favorite restaurants and spots in my hometown. Below are a couple pictures from my trip:

A chicken tamale, apple juice, and a latte are my staple selections from the Davis Farmer's Market. I'm telling you - there is nothing else in the world like these tamales! I had one every Saturday for brunch growing up. 

A view of the market signs.

Favorite coffee stand

My mom and I made Eggs Benedict for Father's Day breakfast! Complete with side of bacon. 

As mentioned before, I flew back from California to Denver to find the Internet in my apartment was no longer functioning. Now, I am back from my little Internet hiatus and am marveling at all I accomplished sans Internet for one week: I interviewed at two companies, read a book, spent time with friends, BBQed, bicycled, swam, and explored Denver. I'm so happy to have the Internet back on, but I have to say that going without the world wide web is entirely feasible and tests my ability to entertain myself without Netflix, Facebook, Pinterest, and reading blogs. 

Tomorrow I'm looking forward to an interview and then to enjoying the weekend. Pictures of Denver adventures soon to come!

Washington Coast

This past weekend I went camping with friends on the Washington coast. It rained. The entire. Time. Basically non-stop rain. Luckily, our friends are very outdoorsy and knew what to do! A tarp structure was set up above the picnic table and with extra room to fit some chairs. 

After a morning of not-so-successful clamming in the pouring rain and howling wind, we nestled together under the tarp contraption and passed the time playing games and drinking delicious beer. 

Saturday night we cooked up what clams we had procured and made a delicious stew. Bonus of sticking it out in the rain: our camp neighbors called it quits and gifted us about 10lbs of steak complete with a grill to put over our campfire. Huzzah! We ate like kings and queens.

Good beer, good food, and rain. This pretty much sums up the weekend. Below are some of the photos I took on our last day camping. We had a small break from the rain and hiked out to a lighthouse and fantastic views. I hope your weekends were sufficiently drier but equally fun!

Portland weekend

This past weekend, I road tripped down to Portland with Preston and our friend Caitlin to visit our favorite Portland locals (see my dear friend Kelsey's blog, Ladies in Navy!). The weekend was filled with good food, great beer and cocktails, and so much laughter. 

Kelsey is a master at photography, and she gave me a hands-on lesson with my new DSLR (I recently purchased a Canon Rebel t3i and am having so much fun experimenting!). Below is a very small collection of my photography experiments and evidence of weekend well spent in a lovely place with even more lovely people. 

Blossom at Pittock Mansion

Frisbee in the park

Spring is everywhere! 

I am looking forward to the end of this week when Preston and I will be flying to Denver to find a place to live. It will be so exciting to have this important detail figured out and to catch a glimpse of what my new city looks like in the spring. 

Here is to warmer days and to new adventures! 

Arizona weekend

 I am just back from a lovely weekend in Arizona visiting Preston's family. His sister just had a baby, so we couldn't help but make a trip to meet him!

Phoenix and Tucson provided a much needed escape from the wet and cold. We had gorgeous days with weather in the high 70s. I loved seeing the big blue sky and dramatic desert landscape. Preston told me this is the greenest time of year in Arizona, and I loved seeing the bright desert blooms. Colors seem so much more vibrant in that desolate landscape, and each new type of flower caught me by surprise.

Above are some photos from the trip. I just got a Cannon Rebel and took my first photos with it on this vacation. I'm still learning, but had fun playing around in the sun!