Road trip!

We spent our first night in our farmhouse - finally! Due to various nannying jobs, we were unable to stay there even though almost all of our stuff was moved in last week. It is wonderful! Waking up to the sunrise over the wide expanse of farmland and Mt. Rainier clear as can be to the south... it is a seriously amazing and peaceful sight. Here is a picture that Matt took of the first sunrise:

We are now in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho to watch my brother play football. Actually, we are watching his team play football, not him. Poor Andy pulled a muscle in his back this last week that he literally can't run. He can't even walk very fast. We have a history of back problems in this family (my mom, me and even Lizzie) so it doesn't surprise me. However, we decided to make the trip here anyway to watch the game and see Coeur D'Alene! The Spartans won this week - it was a fun and exciting game to watch.

Matt and I truly love road trips together. We've driven the 13 hour drive between Seattle and Utah over seven times since we've been married, as well as many trips from Salt Lake to St. George and Vegas, and from Utah to California. We have so much fun listening to books, music, talking and eating junk food. A lot of McFlurrys, beef jerky, oreos and gatorade....

Can't have a road trip without beef jerky!

Anyway when we made the drive here yesterday, we decided to listen to some TED talks and then discuss them. It was so fun! We listened to some amazing stories and then talked about them for hours. It made the five hour drive go by so fast! If you are looking for some short, interesting talks to listen to, here are the ones we chose yesterday:

A talk on a young woman's experience of hearing voices and how she's lived a healthy life with them: here.

A talk about our schooling system and how it kills the instinctive creativity each of us is born with: here.

A talk by a man who was on the plane that crashed into the Hudson River in 2009 and how he changed his life after that: here.

I love TED talks. I've especially started to watch and listen to them after I graduated from college - I have this aching desire in my heart to never stop learning. I want to keep that desire alive because I know that it will serve me well for the rest of my life. Especially as I start grad school on Tuesday! Yay!!

'Till next time :)

On football and farmhouses...

We love football. 

I like it mainly because of my spoiled, nearly-undefeated high school football experience at Skyline High School here in Sammamish. Watching the game is fun for me and gives me wonderful, nostalgic feelings. Also, I love watching my brother Andy play. 

Andy is #32

Matt is on a whole different level. He was a superstar high school football player in his hometown of Lompoc, CA - although he won't be the one to tell you that. He was recruited to play for the BYU football team and stayed there for two years before he decided that he didn't want to spend all his time in college playing football. Smart kid. But also a really cool, athletic kid. Anyways, any warm and fuzzy nostalgia I get from watching football is blown out of the water by how happy football makes Matt. Especially when we get to watch my brother!

So, last night Skyline High School played in the UW stadium against Bellevue High. Skyline lost (pretty miserably) but it was still a fun game. Andy got a lot of playing time and we are so proud of him!! As I am currently typing this, the Seahawks game is front and center in our living room. GO HAWKS!

Okay, now on to farmhouses. As I mentioned in my first post, we are moving into a farmhouse in Redmond, WA. Below are some pics of the house... before and after the elbow grease!!

Before pics:

After some work:

I will post more of the inside now that we have everything moved in after I can get back again this week. Matt and Andy have gone crazy with weedwackers, machetes and lawnmowers in the yard. Painting was by far my favorite part because it made the inside feel much more homey. 

The fun thing about this house is that it's brought out all of the "horror" stories of people's first homes as poor married kids. It's been humbling and hilarious hearing stories that make us so grateful for all that we have! Till next time :)