In August, we hiked Multnomah Falls. It is in Oregon and about 45 minutes from where we live. It was such a pretty hike! The first and largest waterfall is right off the highway, you can even see it as you are driving by. We stopped there for a bit and then headed up the trail. The trail was easy and had a beautiful view of the forest. I still can't get over how green it is here!!! I have never seen so many different shades of green before! We hiked for about 2 hours and saw a few more pretty waterfalls. Then we headed to Portland and got lunch from the food trucks. We got gigantic gyros and baklava from a Greek truck.



Another weekend we went to Pine State Biscuits (Nate hadn't been there yet). I am in love with that place, it is just the best! I got fresh apple cider and biscuits and gravy and Nate got the Reggie sandwich, fried chicken, bacon, cheese, and gravy between a biscuit. I'm going to get that one next time, I don't even like fried chicken but I tried some of Nate's sandwich and it was delicious!


After breakfast, we went to the Portland Temple for the first time. It was so beautiful and reminded me a little of the San Diego temple. I love how it is made completely of marble.

Since we have moved, we've been trying to do something new each weekend, either going camping, hiking, or going somewhere new. On our first camping trip (in August) we went to a place called Lake Wynoochee. It was our first time ever going camping together! The site was about 2 hours from our house so we left about an hour after Nate got back from work and got there around 7. Nate made a fire and we set up the tent (well mostly Nate did that, I'm glad he always knows how to do everything!) and then we cooked chicken and vegetable kabobs on a grill over the fire. Then we had Reeses amores, delicious! I discovered those about a year ago and they are my favorite, luckily Nate loves them now too! (You just use a Reeses instead of chocolate and it is sooo good!) After that we went to sleep and both woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of rain. We were both freezing and couldn't fall back asleep. We didn't bring any blankets, just sleeping bags. It was our first time camping anywhere cold and rainy so we didn't really prepare too well. We finally got back to sleep for a couple of hours. It was still raining pretty hard when we woke up.(That weekend there was a huge, unexpected rainstorm, that usually never happens in August.) We still wanted to enjoy our camping trip, so we bundled up and cooked breakfast burritos, putting the camper stove in the back of the car. Then we decided to do a little hike around part of the lake. It was still raining so hard, so we got completely soaked, but the little hike was so pretty! We saw about 8 different kinds of mushrooms (later we found out a lot of them are edible), and tons of pretty ferns and trees. The lake was so gorgeous and is the most beautiful turquoise color! After our hike we changed into dry clothes and packed everything up. We had been wanting to stay another night, but the storm was supposed to get much worse. (After this trip, we learned to bring lots of blankets and more changes/layers of clothes!)

Our only camping picture that we took. Waiting in the tent, hoping for the rain to stop!


After packing up, we drove to Seattle. We went to Pike Place Market and had fun looking at everything. We got some delicious chowder and sourdough bread that tasted amazing to our freezing bodies! We were pretty soaked because we hadn't brought an umbrella. The market was so fun to see. There were a ton of huge fish, and we saw the workers wrapping them up and throwing them. There were so many people selling the most gorgeous flower arrangements. We tried to go to the first Starbucks, right across the street, to get salted caramel hot chocolate, but the line was sooo long and we didn't want to get even more soaked. By this time the wind was blowing so hard and the rain was really coming down!



Nate has 2 friends from college that are married and live in Olympia, so we headed over to see them. We visited with them and their 3 boys and ended up spending the night at their house and then headed back home in the morning. Overall it was a really fun trip. Even though it was so stormy and rainy, we still loved camping and seeing some new places and had a lot of fun!

I was having beach withdrawals, so we decided to go to the beach for a weekend! Luckily it is only about 1 1/2 hours away, not too bad. We went on a Saturday and it ended up being the perfect day, nice and sunny and not too cold!!

The beach here is really pretty because the ocean is right in front of you, and behind you there are hundreds of gigantic pine trees! There were actually some people surfing there, the waves were small but still looked fun! If I had a board I would have been out there!! (We actually came back to this beach a few weeks later to surf, but I'll post about that later!)

We explored a little and found a ton of sea anemones and a starfish! After relaxing at the beach for a few hours, we drove through the little town nearby and got some pizza and apple cider donuts, so good!



Just getting some beauty sleep..(:

I'm trying to catch this blog up so this post is about a lot of random things from when we first moved.

Nate had his first day of teaching! I insisted on taking a picture (: He is doing such a great job teaching and doesn't even seem stressed!! I'm sure the kids love him, he does such a good job of planning fun labs and activities for them to do! He is such a hard worker and the best husband! I am so thankful for him every day!


After being in Vancouver for a couple of weeks, we flew to AZ for my little sister, Brittany's, wedding. She got married almost exactly a month after us! I flew home a few days before Nate to be there for her bridal shower. It was so much fun to see everyone!!

We went out to lunch for Ally's birthday. At Cheesecake Factory of course! We always go there for birthdays because we all love it. We have so many pictures at this exact spot!

Some pictures from the wedding weekend!

It was so fun to spend time with my little nieces and nephews! Jenna stayed at my parents house a few months ago while Melis and Sam went to Scotland. My mom had given her tortillas during her visit and she loved eating them. When Melissa and Sam got to our house, at about 10pm Jenna was sooo tired but she kept crying, big tortilla, big tortilla!!!

Loving wearing Melissa's heels.

Ethan in his football gear.

Playing in the fish pond, my dad got some goldfish so they were trying to catch them.




It was so much fun being with all of my sisters for my wedding and then again for Britt's wedding. We are all so close and my sisters are all my very best friends. I love that we all have the same sense of humor, are all the same size so we can share clothes, love eating at all of the same places, and most of all that I can call and talk to my sisters anytime at all! They are always there for me and I love them so much!


These are some pictures my cousin, Rachael took, she took the pictures for our wedding too and is an amazing photographer!


Kade was doing this pose in almost every picture..!

Cute, little Jenna, trying to go under the wedding dress (:


We had so much fun spending time with everyone! Brittany was such a beautiful bride!!

After we had been in our apartment for a few days, Derek and Nicole (Nate's dad and sister) drove up in my car, which was jammed full of the rest of our stuff! Derek only got to stay a night because of work but Nicole got to stay a few days! Nate had to start training for work, so Nicole and I explored Portland. We found a lot of amazing places to eat! I love living by Portland, there is so much to do there, and more importantly, every place I have eaten there has been sooo good!

The first day Nicole and I went to Voodoo Donuts. There was a line out the door, but it was worth the wait! We got a dozen donuts: maple bacon, chocolate peanut butter oreo, grape lavender, and mexican hot chocolate were some of the kinds we got! Then we walked around downtown and saw Chinatown. It was fun looking in the little shops and people watching! There are a ton of very interesting people around Portland! We got lunch on Alder street, it is lined with tons of food trucks and they are all so delicious and so cheap! We tried dumplings, chicken and rice (I think it was called dim sum), and baklava. Everything was sooo good!



The next day went to the International Rose Test Garden. Nate and I had gone there when we visited a few months earlier when he had his job interview and it was fun to go again. The garden has hundreds of different kinds of roses. They smell so good and I love all of the colors. We found an amazing place to eat, Pine State Biscuits. They have the BEST biscuits and gravy, biscuit sandwiches, apple cider, and jam ever. My mouth waters just thinking about it! There was a cute little bakery across the street that we got some sweets at afterwards.



On one of the afternoons, we went on a hike with Nate in Forest Park, near Portland. Everything was so green, mossy, and beautiful! We spent most of the time looking for wild blackberries!

It was so much fun getting to spend some time with Nicole, I am so glad I have such sweet and fun in laws!!! We can't wait to have some more visitors!!!

This was the final day of our road trip. We were loving the drive up the coast, but were excited to see our new apartment and start getting everything set up!

In our first little home/apartment!


We went for a walk around the area. There is a really pretty running/bike path near our apartment that goes through a little forest area with a creek. It is so pretty and so nice how close it is to us.


The first meal I made for us as a married couple! Honey Lime Enchiladas- they don't look that appetizing from the picture but they are really good! We didn't get a table for a couple of weeks, so we would just eat standing up or sit on some packing bins!