This is what greeted us yesterday afternoon. It is actually snow, but it looks like rain and sounds like hail! It was so strange and only lasted about 10 minutes, but you can see the accumulation already on the ground at the point when the video was taken. It was incredibly noisy but really cool. It ended up melting over the course of the afternoon, but it was fun while it lasted :)
So, a couple weeks ago, I posted about how nice and springy it looked outside. Today, that is NOT the case! Wednesday night it started snowing and we woke up Thursday morning to a dusting of snow on the ground. Of course, that all melted, but periodically throughout the day it would spit again for a while. Then, today, it was snowing almost from the time I got up and now it looks like this outside:
This is me after about a 30 second walk to the mailbox...
Can I just make it clear how ABSURD this weather is?? We got snow on Christmas Day and that was it!! Now, we're 3 days away from April and we're in a snow advisory?? Completely insane. Not that I'm complaining...I love the snow and think it's gorgeous. I just find it highly strange at the moment :) But, being the good kitty-mommy that I am, I had to let Allie out to play in it for a bit...here's a snippit of her adventure.
I have to admit, though, this weather is certainly making me long for the tropical breezes that I'm going to experience in a little over a month! Yay for vacations!!
This weekend was GREAT! Saturday morning, Tyler took me to Salish Lodge and Spa for a belated Valentine's Day breakfast. 
It was the first time we'd been up there, and it was totally worth the drive (only about 45 minutes from home). We started the morning eating breakfast in the dining room. I had the "Railroad Avenue" which included 3 eggs, bacon, sausage, ham, herbed shoestring potatoes, and a buttermilk biscuit. 
Tyler ordered the "Northwest Omelet" which had ham, red and green peppers, onions, and cheese and had a side of the shoestring potatoes and a buttermilk biscuit. If ever you go there, ORDER THE SHOESTRING POTATOES!! They were absolutely delicious.
I also ordered a "simple" cup of coffee which came with a basket of different condiments that included sugar, cream, chocolate shavings, and vanilla-infused whipped cream. Very good!!
Once we finished breakfast, we went to look at Snoqualmie Falls. There was an upper observation deck where most people were. It had a great view: 
It was beautiful. This was the view from the bottom:
The hike was only about 1 mile round-trip, but going back up, we actually got quite a workout! All in all, it was a lovely way to spend a Saturday. 
That evening, we had our 2nd Fellowship 6 dinner. The theme this time around was Italian Feast and boy, was it! We started off with Minestrone soup and breadsticks, then had Salmon-stuffed Manicotti and Caesar salad, and Strawberry Tiramasu for dessert! We had a GREAT time once again. We played Phase 10 until almost midnight and laughed so much my abs hurt on the ride home! It was a wonderful time of fun and fellowship.
Sunday, of course, brought church, which we've already established I look forward to each week. Tyler and I also ended up taking a nap to make up for the late night on Saturday. All in all, we had a WONDERFUL weekend with just the right amount of activity and relaxation.
Tyler and I started running last Monday and I'm wondering if you all can give me some advice...I started getting shin splints on our last run, and they haven't gone away yet (it's been 2 days). Just curious as to whether I should keep running through the pain, or back off and let my legs heal? I've read many differing opinions online from reputable sources. I've been told to do anything from keep going as hard I have been (which isn't THAT hard) to stopping any sort of activity until the pain is completely gone. Just curious as to whether or not any of you have dealt with this and what you've done about it. Thanks!
I realize the phrase that follows is "gonna get married" which is not applicable, but the idea is: I love to go to church and look forward to it each week! Tyler and I actually weren't really sold on the church when we initially started going, but we jumped in and started right away going to the Young Marrieds group (which has since been re-named Married's Ministry due to many couples staying past their "young" years). What a joy it has been getting to know these godly men and women and being able to, once again, walk into church and see familiar faces. We have been incredibly blessed not only by the preaching and teaching from the pastors, but also from the friendships formed. They have definitely gotten us (or at least ME!) through the lonely times! Moving away from our families was the hardest thing I've ever had to do, and for a while it was fine to just have Tyler and no one else. After a few months, though, I started aching for girlfriends that I could talk to and go out for lunch with and just be able to say "Hey, I KNOW her!!" Christ's Church has provided the avenue to fulfil that wish (well, God, through the church anyway ). I have seriously been immersed in friendship and am constantly being asked and asking people to do things. It has been wonderful. I am so thankful for these women and I just wanted the world to know it! :)
A couple of my friends up here are gluten-intolerant and thus cannot eat wheat products. It has mystified me as to how they manage to eat ANYTHING, let alone make it taste good! Well, I got to find out today, as one said friend had a baby last week, and I signed up to take her a meal. I decided to make the same thing for our dinner because why make two different meals if you don't have to... I did the research online to find GF recipes and went shopping. I felt pretty good about my choices (meatloaf, twice-baked potatoes, green beans, and peanut butter cookies). It was actually easier than I thought it might be, because if you pay attention to the labels of foods, some say "gluten-free" and most do not. But, I also found out that you have to be careful because even if the ingredients don't contain wheat exactly, there are code words you still have to look for that mean wheat. So, after carefully looking everything over, and still possibly not quite succeeding with the meatloaf (which Erin knew about-don't worry), I was excited to see how Tyler reacted (I didn't tell him until afterwards that everything was GF) and how the food would taste. The potatoes I really didn't have to worry about because I've made those for us to eat before. The meatloaf was pretty good actually. It used grated parmesan cheese instead of bread crumbs and everything else was already gluten-free. It was a little on the salty side, but good. The most surprising thing was the cookies! I would never have known they weren't regular cookies if I'd just picked one up somewhere. There was no strange aftertaste like I've heard there can be and they were nice and chewy and soft! I got them at Trader Joe's in the frozen section, if any of you are interested in trying them. They also had a brownie mix that looked tempting...I guess if I ever develop Celiac's disease, I'll at least have desserts I know I'll like! :) Through the whole experience, though, I really learned how HARD it is to find foods that are GF. Even if you find ingredients that are okay to eat, figuring out what to do with them is no easy task. That is not to say, however, that I regret my journey into GF-land. I completely enjoyed making the meal for Erin and her family and would do it again without hestitation. Let's just say that my hat is off to all those of you who have to deal with this on a daily basis!!
