My 24th Birthday!

Gretchen and I decided to share a birthday party this year and it was a blast! We went to Owen Beach at Point Defiance and had a picnic with the majority of our family. Delicious chicken from KFC, salad, fruit, birthday cake, etc. Lots of running around, playing frisbee, playing with the dogs and visiting. I loved it! Then for my actual birthday, my wonderful husband took me out to dinner at the Ram. It was wonderful not having to cook on my birthday! I felt spoiled! It was a great day!

Home

Well, Zach and I have decided to start house hunting. Our lease is up in November, so we are hoping to find something by then. We are looking for something a little closer to Zach's work, in Issaquah, since I will be working from home for the most part and don't mind traveling once in a while for meetings. We are really excited about this new step in our lives and know that if we are meant to buy a house now, then God will lead us to the right one.

Acts of Love

My loving husband wanted to show me how much he loves me...so he brought these home! :) He said he wanted to get me flowers but he didn't like any of the ones they were selling. He knows how much I love pop-tarts, but we hardly ever buy them. I truly feel loved!

Hawaii Trip

At the authentic Hawaiian luau. The food was delicious!

The beach one block from our condo in Waikiki.

After walking almost a block in the pouring rain, taking a ride from a total stranger, and eating breakfast at Ken's house of pancakes.

What an amazing view!
A river flowing through an old lava tube in Hilo.
Akaka Falls
Zach's new hat. People were mistaking him for a tour guide!
Beautiful
Thousands of years ago lava flowed through this valley and coated the trunks of trees in lava. The trees no longer exist but lava stands in their place.
In Kaumana Caves, an old lava tube, next to a rock that was split in half. You can see the inside of the rock cooled bright red from the lava.
Zach watching for sea turtles.
Walking through the lava fields towards the viewing point to watch lava enter the ocean.
Lava fields

Watching the lava enter the ocean. It glows red at night!

Waiting to go skydiving!
There is the plane we jumped from.
All suited up. We had so much fun!
Standing on the Bowman submarine.

On the Missouri battleship.
Amazing views. We loved all the palm trees.
Beautiful flowers everywhere!
We had a pineapple split at the Dole plantation. It was as tall as our large drink!
Watching the show after the Luau.
Having fun!

Tahitian dancers at the Polynesian Cultural Center.
On top of Diamond Head.
On the Catamaran.
We ate dinner at Bubba Gump's! Delicious!
Before our Luau.
He climbed a palm tree to pick a coconut! Just amazing how he did it!

Zach and I took a trip to Hawaii to celebrate our first anniversary. We were there for eight days and had a blast! We stayed in Waikiki, Oahu and took a one day trip to the big island for a volcano tour around Hilo. We went skydiving, snorkeling, hiking up Diamond Head, watched lava enter the ocean, shopping, swimming, and much more! We went to a Luau and performance at the Polynesian Cultural Center, ate an enormous pineapple split at the Dole Plantation, attempted to make fire, learned the Tahitian fast-hip-moving dance, walked almost a mile in a down-pour, visited Pearl Harbor, ate lunch on a catamaran and watched humpback whales. It was a jam-packed vacation but it was so much fun! I hope you enjoy the photos and videos! The first video is during the day when the lava was flowing into the ocean. That is as close as they allow anyone to go, due to the gases produced by the lava, they are very toxic. The second video is in the evening, sorry for how dark it is. You can see how the steam glows red at night and you can even see some of the lava. The last video is taken from the top of Diamond Head. Diamond head is a dormant volcano that is located in Honolulu, Oahu. We hiked 1.4 miles to the top, and that included over 260 stairs that we had to climb at the end of the hike.

First Anniversary - April 5, 2009

Our Free Cake! MMMmmm Good!
Beautiful tulips!
After making dinner.
Out at Red Lobster, their biscuits are sooo good!



Our view of the Green River.
The beautiful trees that line the path along the river.


Well, Zach and I celebrated our first year as husband and wife. We made a weekend out of it. On Friday the 3rd, I made a big dinner of ribs, Zach's favorite, and salad, fruit and much more. We also received our free anniversary cake from Celebrity Cake Studio, it took us forever to eat it all. On Saturday the 4th, we spent the day with Zach's parents to celebrate our anniversary and Eugene's birthday. Then on Sunday the 5th, we went to church and then out for an early dinner at Red Lobster. It was delicious! After lunch we went for a very nice walk along the Green River next to where we live. It was a very relaxing weekend and so nice just to spend time with each other. We look forward to many more years and adventures together. We are also celebrating our first year by taking a trip to Hawaii. We leave on April 23rd and will return on April 30th. I will post pictures as soon as I can.

GQ Cover

Well, my handsome husband finally made the cover of GQ!

Okay, so that wasn't actually Zach on the original cover. His friends at work had a little too much fun with photoshop. :) It sure looks like the real thing though!