theres a party in the usa.

disclaimer: the title of this post has absolutely nothing to do with the content of it, i just had no name for it. awesome.

location: seattle washington

miles driven: a little over 5,000

pictures taken: 4,000

states visited: 3

countries visited: 2- soon to be 3 (including the US of course)

nights slept in a hotel:2

nights slept in a car: whos counting? :)

nights slept in a camp ground: 1

other: whos counting that either?

these are our current road trip statistics. we have been thoroughly enjoying our time the past few months. we have both been able to see so many things that we have always wanted to see and i discovered that my dream of living in oregon was right on the button. it is beautiful and now that ive actually been there i am more determined to live there.

life is going by quickly. its amazing that you can be the busiest you've been in your life or you can be the laziest you've been in your life and no matter what, time rushes by. this coming week means the end of our semester of fun. after we spend some time here in seattle and head up to canada for a day or two (just to say we went from mexico to canada) then we will start our journey home.

im excited to see family, sleep in a real bed, and eat something other than peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and soup. im not excited to stop being so care free, stop seeing amazing things and spending all day everyday with the most wonderful person in the world-sam.

things have changed a bit, and we are no longer heading to dc for the summer. instead sam will be selling in salt lake. im feeling a little bitter-sweet about this. i was so excited to head back east again and live with my beautiful cousin addie and with an amazing friend jaylyn, but it will be so wonderful to be so close to home and be able to do all of the awesome family summer things that we have missed out on for 2 years! we will gain memories that will always be treasured!

life changes really quickly. ive learned that more than ever in the past week. im learning that i cant take small things for granted and that i need to be living my life for my Savior. i guess just a few things im currently beginning to understand....

with those things said here is what we have been up to.

northern california was beautiful. seriously amazing. i LOVED the rolling green hills. it made me feel like i was in ireland and that i should be running through the fields with sheep and picking flowers. a little weird? but still amazing!
calla lilies are everywhere! these are my favorite flowers so i was in heaven!
its true... HAPPY COWS DO COME FROM CALIFORNIA! i will never doubt again!
see dont you just want to be little bo peep here?
we have been able to see so many lighthouses along our way too. all of them are so beautiful to me. like i said i would kill to live in one.
we had to get a highway 1 road sign in.
to be honest, i just think this picture of sam is so incredibly cute. this trip has made me realize that i might just be the luckiest girl ever. i know all of us women think that, so you just keep thinking that about yours and ill just keep thinking that about mine! :)

i guess we arent a very educated couple.. we thought you could find pearls in muscles too, so we gathered a bunch... after opening a few we realized we were wrong. sorry PETA!
just another beautiful place.
this is on top of one of the light houses


sam is a sweet talker. he talked this lady into letting us up in the light house for free... he says it was just out of the kindness of her heart, but im telling you hes sweet!
sam is also a ninja
this is how we cook most of our meals. we bought a small backpacking stove and it has worked perfectly. this morning sam was cooking eggs.
we went to the drive thru tree in the redwoods. this wasnt it...
this was.
our car was too big to fit so we just posed in front of it like we could
paul bunyan
a coast guard museum that was actually pretty cool.
the hughes house. supposedly its the oldest home in oregon, but after going to a few more towns with homes older... ive determined they are lying. none the less its beautiful
another lighthouse.

for church last sunday we had to drive inland to find a meeting house. the night before we were driving through the ridiculously cute small town and came across and antique shop. the owner was so nice and so incredible. we became fast friends with her and ronald mcdonald.
i just love the moss you find EVERYWHERE!
we pretended like we went to the sea lion caves. but we didnt. we had seen sea lions already and didnt want to fork out the cash. so we put sailor hats on instead.
lots of cool bridges everywhere.
and lighthouses.

and wood. that is ANOTHER thing i loved about oregon. there is wood washed up on shore EVERYWHERE. really cool if you ask me.
of course we had to stop and get some squeeky cheese. it was/is delish.


sea side/ft. stevens/astoria- that stretch. have probably been my favorite places. so quaint and inviting and beautiful. i love it there. i think it calls for a family vacation... or a friend one. anybody interested?
in fort stevens there is a cool old ship wreck. we enjoyed climbing and this is where the nice "local" left us a sand dollar. again so awesome.


my heel click into the sun!
eewwwwe....


this bridge crosses the columbia river. washington and oregon are divided by it.
here is portland. such a cool city with a unique flare. i loved it! so many thrift stores and junk yards and antique stores. this city calls for a girls week! again anyone interested?

at the japanese gardens. again we didnt actually go inside just look at all the beauty surrounding it.
and the portland temple! so awesome. just what we needed!
sams mission president lives in washington. we were lucky enough to spend a few days with them. WOW. they are truly VALIANT servants of the Lord. their lives are dedicated to Him and to missionary work. they truly are examples to live up to!
they took us to long beach- the longest beach in the world for a day. we ate lots, talked lots, and learned a ton!

like i said we are now in seattle with decker and abigail. we are enjoying being here and the sun (was) shining but it is seattle right?

my guess is that by the next time i update this we will be home! i hope life is treating you all very well!

we are blessed and very lucky.

all my love,

x0x0