2012 | Santo, RMI

^ my island home!

I realized that I have a LOT of pictures from the Marshall Islands that are amazing, and I never posted / shared with anyone.  Living in the RMI was an amazing experience that I want to celebrate so while I am in S. America I wanted to share some of these pictures!

These I just took when I was hanging out in the dock one day. The dock was a great place to hang out because- obviously with no electricity- there was no AC on the island (except in the police station, but I wasn't hanging out there)! The dock got a nice breeze, sometimes, and was a real hub of activity, with kids playing, the barge coming/ going to the army base. It was basically the place to be. My students LOVED having their pictures taken, and were totally fearless jumping off the dock. Also tied to the dock was a shark (smallish, in all fairness) that had been caught and was tied up (with a hook in it's mouth I think) till it was later eaten. 

june 2015 | cheyann + Dad's birthdays

Last weekend a lot of family came into town : so much to celebrate! Cheyann's Bithday, Dad's Birthday + Fathers Day! So, we BBQed, went to the Saturday Market (the Vancouver Saturday Marker is great, btw), and the had even more friends over Saturday night for a big birthday celebration complete with a fire :) it was really nice. Actually, it was kind of perfect.

I can't wait to do it again (but hopefully we won't wait an entire year, no reason to wait for three reasons to celebrate!!). Love my fam!! :) 

june 2015 | kim's wedding, part two

Here are some more pictures from Kim's wedding that I thought were adorable :

I can't wait to see the real photobooth ones, too! 

June 2015 | shooting with Dad

My Dad has always been into gun safety & shooting, and usually goes to shoot trap about once a week. So when my friend Elaine mentioned that shooting a gun (she never had shot one before) was on her "to do list" I knew the perfect person to introduce her :)
Last Thursday the three of us went to the Portland Gun Club. It was really cute, and everyone was so nice and helpful. There were also a lot of women (I don't know why I was surprised by that, obviously women would enjoy the sport too) and a few adorable dogs, who were totally not phased by the loud noises.
The weather was perfect, and we had a great time! Elaine is a great shot actually and we want to go again! Thanks for taking us Dad! Love you!!

PS It's hard to see, but if you look closely you can spot my Dad's mustache!!

feburary 2015 | seaside beach trip

Every year, there is a women's trip for all the ladies at my school. I've never gone before, but this year my friend Erin convinced me that it would be sooooo fun to go with her. We signed up in September, and went in February.

 We got into town super late, but managed to go out that night.

The next morning I slept in / took a walk on the beach and listened to podcasts and then met up with some people for breakfast.

 the weather was (clearly) PERFECT.

I was pretty insistent that I wanted to hike, so Erin and I went out to this place (I don't even know where) and hiked around a little bit. My goal was to hire Saddleback Mtn, but it was kind of a drive to it, so we ended up not going for it.

This was pretty, anyway :)

 That night we went out for dinner and played this super addictive game that was recommended by a student.

 Sunday morning, one last beach walk before we headed back to town...

It was a super short,  but really great weekend. I don't know why I don't go to the beach more, really.

June 2015 | Kim's wedding at the Balch Hotel in Dufur, OR

Last weekend my friend Kim got married!!! It was at the Blach Hotel in Dufur, Oregon - a place that I have been to before and love. It's just a great cute little town, and the hotel is adorable. A perfect venue for a wedding! There are 18 hotel rooms too, so that some guests can stay - some of our friends got rooms, but Patty, my Mom & I just drove out and back for the wedding (about an hour and a half each way). 

The weather was perfect and the wedding was so beautiful! At the end of the night we lit lanterns and let them go into the sky - I almost burned down the alfalfa field, but crisis averted when I was able to stomp the fire out. :) YAY K & K! I am so happy for them both. 

^ loved the koozies!

These were my only pictures, but I may do another post with some other friends pictures which were really cute. And there is a great video of me totally uninterested in the bouquet toss I want to try and get my hands on!