Sure - why not!

It's a beautiful sunny day and now that I'm working almost full time (and then some!) I have a list a mile long of things to do..............................but I'm finally sitting down with my latte and I thought - why not shock them all and do a random blog post?

I have such mixed feelings about this ol' blog.  It's seen me through some really fun times, some really rough times and some really boring times.  I don't want to delete - but I just don't have time to be a faithful blogger.  As I type I am comfortable and loving the feeling of posting a blog - just like the old days, and I do miss it.

So today - a couple pics and we'll call it good.

Our family - LOVE! (that's Nathan's girlfriend Miranda)

My mom - an amazing lady - especially for being 82!!

Spent New years eve at the cabin with the BFF's  - it was FREEZING loading up to go home!!

2012 was full of fun and memories. As we enter a new year, I have learned, that no matter what God brings our way it is to make us better - NOT our lives better.  He is faithful - ALWAYS - and in that I will rest.

2013 Blessings to you all - and maybe, just maybe I will blog again soon - if anyone is still out there!  I do have some awesome new recipes I've found! :)

Soooooooooooooooo - how about twice a week?!? 

A Weekend away...................

Friday afternoon the Captain and I packed up the boat - left the children (and the dog) and headed out on the high seas!

First stop, Anacortes. I've never spent any time here  - only driving through to head to the Ferry.  It is an adorable town with lots of "junkin" stores, fun retail shops, great restaurants, and the best part of all...........THEY HAVE A SCRAPBOOKING STORE!!  A "for real" scrapbooking store. Not a big chain store..........a cute, privately owned classy scrapbooking store!! The owners are Teresa and Linda and the store is "Forget Me Not". Click HERE to go to their Facebook page.  And if you're craving a genuine scrapbooking store - go visit them!!

My Captain patiently waited on benches whilst I whittled away time in this fabulous store.  When I got back - this is how I found him - I couldn't resist!

We ate at the Rockfish Grill  Friday night- which was wonderful, and rode our bikes around town on Saturday.

 Saturday about one we packed up and headed to Friday Harbor.  We went to our favorite restaurant for dinner there - "Downriggers".  I was craving my ALL TIME FAVORITE salad there.  I was so bummed I forgot my camera.  I actually got the recipe for this salad from a friend who use to live there.  So I will be trying this recipe soon and will let you know - "Chicken Gorgonzola Salad w/Barbeque-Balsamic Dressing".

Sunday the sun was out and it was hard to head home...............but having the friends over for an Appie evening made it OK. :)

Busy....................

Yes - again - no blogging!  At least I am consistently inconsistent :)

Lots of shrimping and boating trips.................

 One Saturday Nathan and Miranda came out to Eliza Island with us.  Is this an adorable shot or what?!?! I am again amazed at the miracles God gave us 2 years ago (and continues to give us)  when Nathan was in a motorcycle accident. As I see my son strong and healthy once again - I am in awe of God - the ultimate healder!

Going back out on the boat tomorrow and Saturday.  Heading to Boise next week for Spencer's Grad.

Love that boy!!

Boating in the rain................

So this last weekend we had a boating trip to Sucia Island planned. Dan and Marla, Jeff and Kathi, and Randy and I. Crabbing (not at each other), eating, resting, kayaking, etc - just plain fun.

Well, the plans started to fall apart when one of the older members ;-o of our group blew his Achilles tendon, had surgery and had his leg put in a cast............................(NO weight bearing)
So we decided that 4 of us would go out Friday evening and pick up the other 2 Sat. morning for the day, or the evening if the ol' guy was up to it ;-), Then the weather forecast started to fall apart! Things weren't looking good for our trip at all.

The 4 of us did head out Friday evening, set our crab pots and anchored in Fossil Bay for the night..............................Dinnertime...................By about 10AM this lady had had it with the rain!! Water was starting to leak through the top and the sides and I was tired of "puddle" duty. I don't mind boating in the rain, if I can stay dry. But when the clouds were sitting on top of us, things were socked, in and there was no sign of reprieve, I was done. We headed home about 4pm and decided to have our dinner at home on the dry, covered patio.

Dan grilled up his specialty slider burgers.................................Kathi had made an awesome pasta salad with shrimp, and Jeff made us crab cakes with the fresh crab. A delightful (and dry) evening!
So ----------------we are going to try again this weekend. The forecast looks awesome, and barring any one of us old folks getting hurt in the next few days, it looks like a go!! I'll keep you posted!

By the sea, by the sea, the beautiful sea.

So our new Friday night tradition is to meet at the docks, dump the boat in and head out for some hunting and providing :-).
The first week, we came back with 5, boiled them up at 10pm and sat on the patio and ate them ALL!!

The next week we came home with 11, boiled them up and put them on the freezer.

Stay tuned for this weeks crab count! Kind of like Deadliest Catch without the cursing, spitting and smoking :-)!!

Nothing like an evening of relaxing and fun with friends!

Happy Birthday Marla!

Today is Marla's Birthday..................................
So yesterday to celebrate we packed up and headed out to Sucia Island for the afternoon.
The water was smooth as glass - coming and going - an absolute rarity!

Lots of laughing, snacking, relaxing, etc.........................................

Saying farewell to Echo Bay.....................
The Captain even let Marla drive on the way home!
Happy Birthday Marla, you are a blessing to me and I am proud to call you friend/sister!

Finally!

We had planned to take Brandon and Alex out to the islands on Saturday if the weather cooperated - and it DID!! Alex is from Alabama, so we wanted to show him one of the gems of the Pacific NW - Sucia Island, and the San Juans.

Captain Randy - Happy to be out in the boat again! (Pardon the cheezy grin!)
Our friend Katie came along for the day - she always adds great conversation and lots of laughter!! :-)
Leaving the Marina.....................
Nothing like a campfire overlooking the ocean! Perfect day!
We had lunch, the guys kayaked, we snacked, laughed, visited, had some great conversation, and enjoyed God's beautiful creation! It always amazes me that God cared enough for us to give us beautiful places to enjoy - to HIM be the glory for the gorgeous place we live!
On the way back, Randy had Alex captain the boat. He loves having people try out the captains chair and showing them the ropes!

Back to reality - and weather not suitable for boating! This week's forecast is NOT looking stellar, so I guess I have Saturday's memories to live off of! Brandon is back at college and our household is down to 3 and quiet again - I already miss him!

A day in the sunshine!

Yesterday afternoon we headed out to Eliza Island with Dan and Marla. The weather was gorgeous and it was so relaxing. Marla took it upon herself to take a couple pics with my camera........

This is Dan and Randy, sitting on the new deck Randy is building. Notice the telescope - it is positioned on Marla and I down on our blanket - cute huh?!?!
I think Marla took this picture as I was telling her I felt a headache coming on..................

About 5pm is when I felt a headache coming on.......................by 6:30 I realized it had to be a migraine!! I've only had a migraine once before, about 18 years ago, so this one totally took me by surprise.

By 8:15 I was home in bed in the fetal position! YUK!! That was horrible. To all of you who get migraines - I have such sympathy - no I guess empathy for you!

Today I woke up without a migraine, but feeling like I've been drug through a hedge backwards! My friend told me today that she calls this feeling a "migraine hangover" - I agree!

I had to take my bar test this morning at Woods ( of all mornings!) and I passed. It's great relief to have this crossed off my list!!!

I also tried a new drink at Woods for the first time today and it is definitely my new FAVORITE!! I'll share what it is in my next post! (gotta have something to bring you back!):-)

Where in the world is Randy...................?

Now before you go getting all upset - I DO know where Randy is!

One of his friends from ski patrol hired him to build a new deck and other repairs at his island cabin. Of course when he asked Randy if he wanted to do the job, he wasn't hesitant at all - imagine that :-0!

He goes out a few days at a time, ties our boat up to a buoy in the harbor and takes the dinghy into shore.


Now - I want you to guess which island he is on (if you know, you can't make a "guess").

Here is the cabin (it faces North).
Here are a couple clues.................
- this island has no ferry service
- it is only about 30 minutes off B'ham (and not it's not Lummi Island)
- several Lynden people have cabins there

Good luck guessing!

A boating/crabfeast day , minus the boat.....

On Saturday the PLAN was to spend the day hosting guests on Sucia Island crabbing and serving them a fabulous meal on china!!

The problem is - the wind didn't care about out plans!! At 5:30AM Captain Randy and I made the difficult decision to cancel the boating part of the trip and just host the dinner at our home at 5pm ( which means, instead of being on the island for the day, I was at home weeding and cleaning :-{

This was a dinner/crabbing day that we had donated to the LC auction. The same 3 couples (very fun couples, I might add :-), won it again this year. We were so looking forward to taking them out to the island, but the plan is to take them crabbing later yet this summer, so we can get the boating/crabbing part of the day in!!

They started with appetizers outside.................

Our fabulous, faithful, friends (that's FFF's and BFF's), Jeff and Kathi, and Dan and Marla, ran the kitchen and Chef Jeff was the "boss" for the night. Kathi came up with the table setting and it turned out gorgeous, of course! We got so busy I didn't get pictures of any food but salad and I only got a couple pics of the kitchen crew, and they were dark.

You know Kathi, we even had fabulous, theme appropriate menus!!

Here are the couples seated at the dinner table.......

Marla made a tasty and beautiful chop salad.........................

After dinner, the group moved out to patio for creme' brulee and coffee and then to the firepit to sit and relax (and digest!!). They asked us to join them, so of course, we did!


Such a fun night, and such a great group of friends!!

Enjoying the islands

This weekend for the 4th my mom had her annual picnic. Mom and Dad started this tradition years ago and the whole family looks forward to eating and blowing up things together!! The guys kind of have an unspoken tradition for having the coolest thing to light off!

My brother Dave and his wife and daughter came up from Oregon and stayed with us, so we took them out to Friday Harbor on Friday evening and met up with Alan and Claudia for dinner at Downriggers - our favorite restaurant. If you ever make it out to Friday harbor you have to go have the "Chicken Gorgonzola Salad" and the Onion Rings. The salad, has chicken (obviously!) honey roasted pecans, tomatoes, lettuce, pasta, onions, gorgonzola cheese, and the best balsamic/barbeque dressing you've ever had. I've tried to replicate it to no avail :-(!

I don't have many pictures from the 4th as my camera was acting up! I can't afford to replace it right now - especially since it's time to upgrade next time!!

Here are Dave and Sue enjoying the ride out, with Mt. Baker in the background...............

Here are Randy, Dave, Sue, Claudia and Alan as we wait for our dinner reservation........

As we were waiting the ferry came in...................beautiful evening..............

We had a great weekend - and was that weather gorgeous or what?!?! Hope you enjoyed yours. Now - back to normal - whatever that looks like!

More Shrimping..........................

This weekend we went out shrimping with Jeff and Kathi. The boys went out earlier in the day on Friday, and then picked Kathi and I up at Sandy Point about 8pm - just in time to see a gorgeous sunset!!

We arrived in Echo Bay at Sucia Island and tied up to the last buoy available, just in time to see the BIG YELLOW moon come up! What an evening for the senses!! The water was glass smooth too!

Got up early Saturday morning and started setting the pots.



The Jansens were not cooperating with picture taking for the blog - trust me - none of us were beautiful!!

A feast for a King!! (and Queen)

Good times......................................................