Saturday, December 28, 2024

Ocean Shores Getaway with James

James and I had an amazing time on our getaway to Ocean Shores. This is the first opportunity we have had to spend several days together and it was wonderful to dig into some big conversations and envision the future we want to build together.

We were unable to leave Seattle on Christmas night as planned since he needed to spend the night at home with his oldest daughter. This was a last minute change, that we had to talk through and navigate together. After discussing it, we made sure he could be with his daughter that night and we resolved to make the best of it - spending Christmas evening together than then leaving first thing the next day for our trip so that we could arrive by 8:00 AM and really feel like we had spent the entire day there

The house in Oyhut, "Don't Worry Beach Happy," was super cute, with Christmas decorations up, and it was just the right size for the two of us. After storms and heavy rain all morning, it cleared up and we drove onto the beach and walked around. I found peanut shells in my rain boots - a hazard of keeping them in the garage (darn squirrels) and James had quite a moment of calling all the Seagulls to him using the peanuts. It was wild. It was windy on the beach, but sunny and beautiful and we felt lucky to have an opening in the weather. We followed that with lunch at the Mexican restaurant in town. We spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening at home: talking, hot tubbing, watching football, playing Cards Against Humanity, etc. We are a very good match in every area we've encountered so far. We went out for a simple dinner that night before enjoying a cozy night by the fire. The next morning we had a nice breakfast at home before packing up and heading out to the beach again. This time it was a mild and gray morning. We still felt incredibly fortunate to be able to be on the ocean stretching our legs and enjoying the unique scenery. We talked about a ton of stuff on the drive home. I feel like I can share anything with him and it will be accepted. We started talking about what our future could look like and travel plans for the summer. I am so happy to be at the beginning of exploring this relationship with James. He is kind, thoughtful, and complimentary - he builds me up and knows how to make the best of any situation. I feel so fortunate to be dating someone with his character and mindset.















We've had some other really great dates together this past month and I'm including pictures of a couple here in order to capture them! We explored the new Seattle waterfront park and had a yummy lunch at Portage Bay Cafe. We went and saw the incredible display of lights at Tulalip Casino.










Christmas!

I left Sun Valley the morning of Christmas Eve. I was treated to my first ever upgrade to First Class on the coolest UW Husky airplane around. Go Dawgs!

That afternoon my mom and I went to see ACT Theater’s Christmas Carol to help us get into the holiday spirit. I spent Christmas Eve with James and it was so nice to be together on that special night. Also his kitties are so cute and cuddly.

On Christmas I was able to visit with my dad. He really enjoyed the Christmas card sent to him by his step-sister Tracy. I gave him an encyclopedia-type book of famous western artwork. I hope he is able to enjoy it. On Christmas afternoon, I was able to have a short Christmas visit with the kids even though it wasn't on the official schedule, so that was a wonderful and unexpected surprise. Finally, James and I wrapped up Christmas night with a cozy dinner together in front of the fire.













Tuesday, December 24, 2024

Sun Valley Getaway - Day Three

 Sun Valley - Day Three. Last full day here was an epic day on the mountain. I set two PRs: I clocked in at 52mph on Lower Broadway and I skied 53,600’ vertical! Honestly it feels incredible to know my body can still do this. No lines, mild temperatures, and giant groomers helped make this possible. Also - I think I have my ski legs back - they weren’t even screaming at me afterwards!

Ryan wasn’t up for another big day skiing, so I hit this one solo. I started a new audiobook and cruised the mountain, stopping for a delicious curry bowl at Seattle Lodge. There was a giant bank of clouds hanging around mid-mountain and it stuck around all day. It was gorgeous above the clouds, but difficult to ski through them with very low visibility. But you just have to take what the mountain gives when you are a skier… so I made the best of it and had a great day.
After skiing, I headed to The Gold Mine, a thrift shop with incredible ski and mountain town finds. I ended up scoring a couple great items and wish I’d had time to really search for more. Ryan and I met up for dinner at the Village Station near the SV Lodge. It was a great atmosphere and we even had a visit from the Christmas Carolers who were serenading the village. I also got a glimpse of the Sun Valley horses and sleighs and they are enormous! I slept well after all pushing myself all day and I’m so glad I made it out to Sun Valley!