First Adventure: Steilacoom

Since we have been in Washington I have wanted to see the water, so Michael and I decided to take a trip to Steilacoom, a small town on the Puget Sound. Michael's brother and sister-in-law were stationed at Ft. Lewis in the early 90s and told us it was a cool city to see. Also we found out that the town was only 15 minutes away from us, so that was even better. The town was originally founded in 1854, so I figured it would have some neat history. We had lunch at a local restaurant and explored the beach....although not for too long because I wore very inappropriate shoes and got pebbles in them with every step I took. All in all it was a nice trip and it was cool that we are only a short drive from the ocean. Don't you think Michael's picture needs to be in GQ? Haha. (Also, I apologize that Michael and I only have one pose...sometimes I have a phobia of asking people to take our picture).

Lauren

EVERYTHING IS COMING TOGETHER......

So, since I last wrote we have gotten all our furniture, internet, and I've found a job!! It seems like everything is coming together. The apartment is starting to look more livable. Michael has been working a lot which has allowed me time to do some shopping. Dangerous I know.... I was in a weird mood and bought a very colorful mirror for our mantle. Everything was very white so I thought I needed to liven things up. Michael's favorite color is black, so I think it's taken him some time to get to use to the color, but he likes it now. Well to be honest I already had it out of the box and on the mantle, so I guess he didn't have that much of a choice, ha. Here are some pictures of the apartment.

Now the job kind of fell into my lap. I'm thinking that God is definitely looking out for me! The company that owns our apartment was looking for a leasing agent, so they asked me to interview with them. I interviewed this past Monday and they called and offered me a job that day. I start next Tuesday. I thought that I could still look and see what other jobs are out there, but in the meantime I have job security and something to keep me occupied. It worked our pretty well!

I'm excited that today is Friday. Michael and I still have stuff to unpack and organize, but we are also planning a trip to either Seattle or Mt. Rainer. I'm excited to see both! I'm also glad that we finally have cable and internet! It's funny how disconnected you feel when you don't have either. Thanks to everyone for your comments! I'm not sure how exciting these posts will be, but it makes feel connected to home to have you reading along. (Thanks Leanne for breaking down and reading the blog.....one step closer to facebook, haha). Talk to you soon!!

Lauren

The Big Move!

I was never sure how I felt about blogging, but decided it might be a good idea while I'm in Washington. Thanks to Ashley from Great Grabbie Designs, I can start my blogging experience off with a cute blog header. She designed Laura Frickman's blog header first, so that's how I found her. Check out Laura's blog, Loving Life As A Wife. Laura and I went to lunch one day and she got me started on this idea. I agreed that it would be a good idea to keep in touch with my family and friends. So, here it goes.....

As all of you know, I decided to move to Ft. Lewis, Washington to be with my amazing, wonderful boyfriend Michael (he's sitting right next to me sorry, ha). I realized that it would be hard being away from all my family and friends, but also felt it was the right thing to do for Michael and I. So, on October 9th, 2008 we began the 35 hour drive to Washington. Personally I felt that if our relationship could handle 35 hours in one vehicle filled with ALL my clothes than we could handle anything. Suprisingly we both made it out alive despite a snow storm in Montana, unpaved roads in the middle of nowhere, and my horrible driving. We even got to drive through the Badlands which were pretty neat.

So, now I sit in Lacey, Washington our new home. I must say that it is a beautiful state with all the green trees and Mount Rainer in the backdrop . We even can glimpse the top of it from our apartment balcony on a clear day...although those might be numbered. We moved into our apartment on Friday and even though we have no furniture it's much better than staying in hotels. I have all my clothes and shoes in one place for one....kind of kidding. The furniture comes Wednesday and we get cable and Internet on Friday. We have been stalking the local Panera and Starbucks to steal their Wi-Fi. Michael has one sweatshirt until his boxes come Wednesday and he's been wearing it frequently since it's cold here (we wash it of course). Unfortunately it's a bright blue UK sweatshirt, so our goal of being inconspicuous hasn't worked out too well, haha.

That's about it on the updates from Washington. So far things are going well and the people here have been very nice. We will get to explore more this week and I will have pictures of our apartment once we get all the furniture. Be back soon!

Lauren