Engagement: Part One

THE RING

So let's go over the most important thing to some. The Ring. Here it is in all its glory. I think it is a total of 1.5 karats (spelling?) It was very hard to take a good shot! It is the ring I kept going back to over the last 7 months. I love it! Apparently he had had it for a month and I kept ruining his plans. He will tell his own story shortly for this blog. Also on the day he picked it up from being cleaned I was with him. Who knew?! We happened to be walking in Northgate Mall and I wanted to go to Bath & Body Works as some of my favorite stuff was being discontinued. So as we were walking I noticed the jewelry store where the ring I had been wanting was at, and I think I said "Oh look" and he said they are out of stock there. So I didn't even bother going over there if I couldn't try it on. Technically they were out of stock because he had bought it earlier that month from this particular store. So I go to my store and he said "I'm going to head over to Macy's to look at clothes." And I was like, okay. He said he would meet me back where I was. Well like 2.2 minutes later there he was back in my store with a Macy's bag and he said "I just had to go get your 4.0 gift real quick (At the end of every quarter Jim gets me gifts if I get a 4.0, this summer I almost didn't get a 4.0 and he said "let's just get you a finishing the quarter gift then." He's awesome like that). Needless to say he had gone over to the jewelry store picked up the ring from being cleaned and went to Macy's to have the counter girls wrap up the ring and put it in a Macy's bag to look like he had gotten something for me from Macy's. He was so worried I would walk to the jewelry store and try on other rings (I tend to do that) that he hurried back over to where I was.

Walking my first half marathon

So this week I started training for walking my first half marathon. It's not very hard and I've always liked walking so I'm letting you all know in case 1. you want to join me or 2. you want to give me words of encouragement! I have 12 weeks of training. Here it is below:

http://www.halhigdon.com/halfmarathon/walk.htm

It's simple and it's daily which I like. I'm way excited. :)

Ferry to Poulsbo

Jim and I took a nice ferry ride to Poulsbo and Bainbridge Island on a gorgeous Friday. It was his first ferry ride ever, however he did live on a ship in the Marines for about 9 months. Not the same says I. We enjoyed the beach, yummy cinnamon rolls, and a nice game of Dominos at a local cafe. It was a nice relaxing day! Here are lots of pics!

Salmon Spawning

Last year while my good friend Scott and Carren were visiting for the UW vs. BYU game we had the chance to go to the fish ladder and see the salmon spawn. It was incredible with fish flying about every half a second or so. I became obsessed with each jump and splash the salmon made. It just made me happy until it was pointed out to me that they were on their way to die, at which I was sad but still happy. And i vaguely remember learning about that in first grade. So yesterday Jim and I went down for a Sunday stroll to watch the salmon jump and jump they did! Jim could care less about the salmon only about my reactions. Because with each salmon that jumped I would yell out and point. I was like a kid at the candy store. However, in my defense there was someone else just as excited as me oohhing and aweing at these fine specimen, however it was just an 8-year-old girl. So what! So here are some pictures of me freaking out. Jim was trying to get an "authentic" pictures but mostly they were me pointing. :) IF YOU HAVE CHILDREN I DEMAND YOU TAKE THEM! I cannot wait to take my own children there! They will love it!






And in case you didn't know-Salmon and steelhead hatch and partially grow up in rivers and streams. Then they journey to sea where they spend most of their adult lives. Near the end of their life cycle, the few that have survived journey back from the sea to spawn in the streams where they were hatched years before. Between hatching and spawning, the returning fish must survive many hazards. In the end, less than one egg in 1,000 survive to spawn as an adult.