Daydreaming

I can't wait to live right around the corner from Lake Sammamish in WA.

How much fun to pack a picnic, load up the pups, go for a boat ride and soak up some sun...

Ahhh....like I said...daydreaming :)

My Old KY Home

Yesterday was a long day but we're glad to have made it back home safe and sound. Brian and I were so excited to see our dogs. We missed them so much while we were gone :( We landed in Louisville, KY a little before 7:00 pm, made a stop at Skyline Chili ( I promise I started my new diet today!) and then got on the road. We got home around 9:00, after picking Carson up from my mom's place, and started catching on all of our TV shows that we missed while we were out of town. Priorities right?!?!?

We were not tired at all because of the time change. As soon as we got used to Seattle's time difference it was time to hop on a plane and come back home. Haha....the lack of sleep is just now starting to hit. I'm pretty lucky...I don't have a full day of work today. I just had to go in and teach for a bit this morning but poor Brian still has over 3 hours left. Hope he's hanging in there!! I'm sure we'll be exhausted by tonight.

Well....we already miss the Emerald City and we can't wait to go back! I think it's time for a nap before hitting my "to-do" list.

Pics from Yesterday's Adventure

Brian captured this amazing shot...that's the Kingston ferry in the background.

My handsome hubby :)

What beautiful views!!

Walking down to the beach.

Hanging out by the boats

Hidden Gems

Brian and I started our day yesterday by doing some shopping at Pike Place Market and grabbing a quick breakfast at a local bagel shop. We decided we wanted to go more north of Seattle and explore some of those areas...Lynnwood, Shoreline, Woodinville, but our favorite place that we stumbled upon was the small city of Edmonds. It was such a quaint town but it was absolutely gorgeous. We found the port and walked along the dock and dreamed about one day having a boat to take out to all the lakes. As we kept walking along we realized that we were on the verge of a beach so we decided to go check it out. And I'm so glad we did....it was amazing!! The water, the sand, the views....I could keep going but my words do not give it justice. We wanted to stay longer but the wind got to me and my ears started hurting so I had to head back to the car!

Brian and I spent the next hour or so just driving and we found some great wineries and other local gems along the way. However we found ourselves back in Redmond. We grabbed a great lunch and then walked around the Town Center Shops ( and I didn't buy anything....how is that possible?!?!?)!!

To top off our incredible day we experienced our first Seattle rain :) Pictures to come soon....we haven't loaded them on our computer yet!!

We started our day off yesterday by making a trip to one of our favorites spots in Downtown Seattle....Top Pot Doughnuts. They have got some of the best doughnuts EVER!! They've been featured several times on the Food Network Channel and the Travel Channel so of course we just had to try it the last time we were here. Two doughnuts, a cup of coffee and a sugar high later we headed to pick up our rental car so we could start exploring some areas outside of downtown. We went to Bellevue, Redmond and Issaquah. We loved, loved, LOVED Redmond and Issaquah. Both are cute cities with a lot to do but have that more suburban feel which Brian and I both really love. We checked some places we could possibly live, grabbed a quick lunch then drove out to visit some friends, Jim and Carla, (who happened to be our wedding photographers as well!) and go out for dinner and drinks. They gave us a little tour of downtown Issaquah and Brian and I fell in love with the area. It is absolutely gorgeous and I'm pretty sure driving over the lake and having the mountains surround you will never get old!

I was so tired by the time we got back to the hotel and I totally crashed so there was no blogging for me! Here's some pics we took yesterday....enjoy :)

Enjoying a walk along the Burke-Gilman Trail...beautiful!

Mmmmm...Top Pot doughnuts!

Before heading out for the day

The Seattle Public Library....the first thing I'm doing when we move here is becoming a member!

Sunset over Pike Place Market

Leaving on a Jet Plane!

Whew...it has been a whirlwind of a day so far and in a way...it's just begun! Brian and I have had a looooooong day. We were up much later than we had originally planned on being. I'll blame it on "still packing" but I think we were just too excited to sleep. Remember, when you were a kid, how you would get on Christmas Eve???? Wondering what Santa is going leave for you and what surprises you'll receive the next morning....well, that's how excited we were last night. However, when my alarm went off just a few hours later (3:45 am!!) I was totally regretting all that excitement. We quickly got ready, loaded up the car and headed up the road to Louisville, KY to catch our first flight. Of course we stopped and got McDonald's along the way! I'm pretty sure those calories don't count when you're traveling ;) We were extremely blessed to have everything go so smoothly....no long lines at the airport, smooth flights, etc,...

We literally just checked into our hotel room and we're getting ready to freshen up and head out for a date with our favorite city....Seattle! I'll be blogging throughout our weekend trip so Brian and I can share what we're up to for our family and friends. Here's some random pics:

Getting ready to land....you can see the Space Needle right in the middle!

Apparently I was just overcome with extreme excitement :)

Long morning but happy!!

Hoping for Seattle!

I have lived in Lexington, KY for my entire life. My family is here as well as my friends and my work. I've got deep Kentucky roots and I'm a southern girl at heart but I knew that there was a big chance that a move was in the near future, when I married Brian. When Brian first told me, that in order for him to do a neuroradiology fellowship, we would have to leave the state, he was worried about taking me away from my hometown but I was very excited about the opportunities that other cities had to offer. I'll never forget when Brian came home from work a few months ago and asked how I felt about Seattle,WA. I don't remember exactly what I said but I wasn't really thrilled about the idea. We had already visited Charleston, SC and I had fallen in love with the area....and like I said, I'm a southern girl! Plus, one of my close friends lives there and I was being totally selfish about that.

After some more thought, and listening to Brian speak so highly about the University of Washington program, I decided that I needed to be more open minded about this potential place to live. After all....after we visited we probably wouldn't like it and not really consider it. Haha....joke was on me!!

Brian had an interview at UW a couple of weeks ago and we decided to make a week long trip out of it....and I'm so glad we did. We flew out of Lexington bright and early, at 6:00 am. We changed planes in Detroit and then we were Seattle bound! After a 3 1/2 hour flight we had made it. We immediately went to our hotel ( which is one of the cutest places!) and found out that we had been upgraded to a bigger room. Hey, we weren't going to argue that! We stayed at Hotel Vintage Park on 5th Avenue and it is right in the middle of downtown Seattle. We were in walking distance to just about everything.

We got up to the room, dropped our bags and started our journey! First stop....Pike Place Market. I've seen this place a dozen times in pictures and movies but it was so cool to be there and experience the hustle and bustle firsthand.

It was so much fun to walk through and see all of the seafood, fresh fruit and veggies, crafts and most impressively all of the fresh bouquets of flowers. We ate at a fantastic restaurant for brunch. Etta's made such an impression that we went back later that week for lunch. We spent our first few days walking around downtown and exploring new stores and restaurants....and drinking A LOT of coffee! Haha!

Later that week, we rented a car so we could drive around some surrounding cities. We found some beautiful scenery along the way. We stumbled upon several lakes throughout the area.

After a few days of being on a caffeine high and eating ridiculously good food it was time for Brian to get serious and go to his interview for the UW neuroradiology fellowship position. The drive to UW was absolutely beautiful and the campus is a picture of perfection. Everyone was so friendly and we ended up spending more time, than we had expected, because one of the fellows took so much of his time talking to us about the program and Seattle. We were very thankful that Brian's interview went well...I'm so proud of him!!

The rest of our trip was spent going shopping, taking an Underground Tour of Seattle (which was so cool!!), drinking coffee, taking a ferry ride to Bainbridge Island (gorgeous!), walking through more beautiful neighborhoods, drinking coffee, going to the top of the Space Needle, visiting the Seattle Aquarium and finally... drinking more coffee!! I think I'm still having jitters from all the caffeine I consumed.

On our last day, we found ourselves a little sad about leaving Seattle. I know that sounds cheesy but there's just something about it that feels like home to us. There's so much to do there. We love being outdoors and this is a perfect place to hike, cycle, kayak, camp, ski, the list could go on and on. It is full of the arts and has a wonderful dance and performance community. We are anxious to get back out there soon and hopefully maybe move!!

This trip was so much more than I expected it to be. We had a great time and Brian is relieved his interview is over with. Of course...now we play the waiting game. We won't find anything out until later this spring. Ooooohhhhh the anticipation!! Haha. There's more pictures below from our trip.

Enjoy!

The above picture is of the public library in downtown Seattle. AMAZING!!! It is huge....11 stories tall and one of the neatest buildings that I have ever seen. This picture does not do it justice! If we move, one of the first things on my list is to go sign up for my membership there :)