February so far

It looks like I've been behind on posts. February has been a busy month so far. We've been working on keeping the house prepared for visitors, I've been studying for my certification exams, and we spend our spare time together to explore the Pacific Northwest.

We explored Whidbey Island recently. Whidbey Island is just across the bay from Mukilteo, the town in which we live. It was a bit of a rainy and dreary day, but we still had a great time!

It was a bit windy on the ferry ride over to Whidbey Island.

Chris at the beach on Whidbey

If you come to the Pacific Northwest, you'll notice totem poles around the area due to the influence of Native Americans.

Downtown Langley on Whidbey Island

We also went skiing again. We went with friends on Valentine's Day. It was Boeing night, so we were able to buy lift tickets for only $13/person, as opposed to $40/person. Skiing is always tiring, but it's always a rush of excitement too. I went down a black for the first time in 10 years. It wasn't a hard one by any means, but I'm getting over my fear when it comes to skiing!

Katrina, Derek, Me, and Chris

My family came to visit last Tuesday and are stayed for about a week. Mimi, Aunt Jan, and Sandra came to visit. Mimi and Sandra are still here. Sandra is a cousin on my dad's side of the family. She is who we lived with when we first moved to Huntsville and were waiting on our house to close. We actually lived in Sheffield, AL for a little over a month.

Only my aunt had ever been to Seattle, so it was my job to be the tour guide. On Tuesday, when everyone got in, we took it easy and didn't do much of anything except eat. On Wednesday, we woke up and planned on doing indoor tours and activities due to the weather, but it was such a clear day, so I decided that we needed to go to the Space Needle.

My aunt and I did go to my favorite coffee shop in Fremont, Peet's Coffee & Tea, and we saw this sign...

Every morning we went to the Red Cup Cafe here in Mukilteo for breakfast. This is the view from the windows in the cafe. This picture doesn't even do it justice!

Me, Sandra, Mimi, and Jan after breakfast

Space Needle

View of Seattle taken from the Space Needle

Cheesy photo they took and e-mailed to us

View of the water from the Space Needle

Mimi, Sandra, Aunt Jan, and Me on the Space Needle

After visiting the Space Needle, we went to Pike's Place Market to grab lunch. We stopped at Beecher's and had a sandwich and a cup of mac and cheese. I love cheese, so naturally this is one of my favorite places.

On Thursday, I caught a stomach virus from Mimi, so I was understandably miserable and laid in bed all day, when I wasn't being "sick." I ended up going to the doctor that night due to the severity of the sickness and to make it end. I felt so much better on Friday and was able to be half of a tour guide.