The fourth

This 4th was weird but luckily I had Lindsay's family to spend time with. My Parents were camping and my dad was in Eastern Washington. I worked until 4pm and it was really nice out! People have been complaining about the weather a lot but it's actually been quite beautiful. I don't understand, you live in Washington... 9 times out of 10 it's going to be raining. But all in all, we BBQ'd at Lindsay's parents and walked down to Ruston Way waterfront down in Tacoma to watch the view. Pretty amazing. Every year it's always nice out. Thanks Washington :)

Khloe, not the kardashian.

Khloe, my dad's cat. She's a munchkin and she is literally psychotic. I am obsessed with her and I don't even like cats. She does 4 foot high flips and sleeps in plastic grocery bags, she attacks everything and she's such a spazz. I am in love. Also, did I mention she is only 8 inches long?

What the hell!

Okay, I've been on plenty on hikes in the mountains, I've been on day long hikes in 100 degree weather and I've been on 5 mile long steep hill hikes.... but never in my life did I think I could accomplish and hate the hike that we decided to trek onto last Friday. My roommates and I decided to head up around 9am. We decided to go up to Green water in Enumclaw, Washington. It's about 45 minutes from our house. The girls said the hike was 14 miles, so I was thinking just a 14 mile loop.... Boy was I wrong.
When we started the hike the weather was overcast and probably about 60 degrees, we were in really good spirits and laughing and talking. We ate lunch by the river and kept hiking on up to the lake. I don't know if it was because we were taking our time and were distracted, but suddenly it was almost 3 o'clock and we weren't even finished with the first 7 miles yet. When we got to the uphill part of the hike... I was already out of breath, out of water and ready to quit. Naturally I complained and told the girls to walk ahead, (i'm faster then the both of them anyway) (; ... and I ended up catching up with them about a mile ahead. We finally got to the lake after 4 hours, and the sun was going down on our side of the mountain... so we took some pictures, ate some trail mix and headed back. About a mile into the hike back, I was so damn sore. My knees were buckling, my toes were sliding into the front of my shoes, my hip was popping, my neck hurt from my back pack and I felt dehydrated. The hike was rocky, and muddy and there was never any flat terrain so it was constant tripping and scraping our feet. After a couple miles, we all were walking about 50 feet away from each other in silence, panting and sighing... each mile felt longer and longer. We were more and more delirious as the hike continued. All we could talk about at the end was how we wanted to get the hell out of there and get something to eat, go home and cry! We literally walked for what felt was forever, and by the end we were running out of there. Lindsay was limping, Lacey was walking slower and I was losing hope... FINALLY, we spotted some other hikers ahead of us who were so pleased to see there cars, so we knew we were there! It was over! I don't think I would ever do that hike again, once was enough. I am also not in the best shape of my life, and have a terrible diet. But, apparently we did great, because all of the people we saw that day were completely shocked we did the full 14 miles in one day. At least we did that much.

Seattle Pride

It's probably super weird to people looking in from the outside seeing all of my pictures from Seattle Pride Festival. If you have never been to a "gay pride" parade or festival, you need to go to one ASAP! Even if you aren't a supporter, it can be GREAT people watching and there are really great people there! And NO! not everyone is gay!Also, it probably looks really cliche with the rainbows and balloons but that's just the parade for you.

Because I work with Macy's, Lindsay and I got to walk in the parade with Macy's. It was our second year actually walking in the parade, which was special as a couple. More Tacoma Macy's people walked this year so I was surrounded by friends and even my roommate Lacey decided to walk and show her spirit.  We enjoyed the crowds and the people, and the weather was surprisingly PERFECT! Thanks Washington.

Graduate!

My cousin Chris graduated from Oregon State University this week! So awesome!

CONGRATS CHRIS!

Maritime Festival

 Every town has a parade, right? Gig Harbor has a traditional "Maritime Parade" every year and I have only missed ONE in 12 years. Every year we get our chairs and go down to the north side of the parade route and pitch our area and walk over to "Kelly's" for breakfast then watch the 5k and then the parade. Afterward, there is a festival where you can eat and check out booths and watch concerts.