Home

I've lived in Utah for 7 years now & while I love it here, it has never felt like home to me. I think J & I will eventually find a place to settle & that place will feel like home to us. But for now, whenever I drive back to Montana, the place where I was born & raised up...that is where I feel like home.

We drove there last weekend, Cody & I. And we very much enjoyed ourselves! I wanted to document the entire trip in photos, but I got caught up with enjoying myself so much, I forgot my camera most of the time. Thank goodness my dad was there to remind me, here are just a few...

Grandma was canning beets on Friday, so Dad picked them out of his garden...while I snuck into our neighbors raspberry patch & helped myself...I'm kidding. Dave is always generous with his raspberries. There was no sneaking...just eating. Here I am! Cutting the beets in the wrong direction, according to grandma. Oh well. I'm not eating them. Cleaning intermission. That juice is bright red & it drips all over the place.After all the beets were put into jars, we boiled them & then the fun part... waiting for the lids to "pop!" so you know they sealed. They sure are pretty. I'm glad J likes beets because I was given two jars to bring home.This is where we walked the dogs twice a day. Lucky! I wish we had a place like this to let Cody run free in Utah. As well as a nice freshwater brook to have a drink & cool your belly. :)I could do without the dead things that Cody brought back to me on every single walk!, tail wagging with joy. But dogs will be dogs.Oh yes, this will always feel like home to me. Every time we go home, I always drop by The Little Bear ice cream shop in Thompson Falls & have the best huckleberry ice cream in the world. Seriously, it is the best. I went twice on this trip. And, us girls...me, Mom & Deanna, made our rounds to the awesome local thrift stores. I have done some thrifting since I got home too & I will delight you with all my finds next time.

Until then...

Take care everyone, Melissa

A Fun Weekend and Other Stuff

First a couple of updates:

This is our 100th post! I wish I could give $100 to the first 100 readers who respond to this, but I know you get so much joy out of reading our blog you wouldn't be able to accept it on principle. ;) So, I will just say happy 100th post everybody!

Also, David and I are on our 30th mile of our 50 Mile Challenge! David has recovered enough from his stint in the hospital that we were able to walk two miles together the other night.

OK, on to the fun of last weekend. David is getting to know me pretty well, so he set up the perfect day trip for the one year anniversary of our first official date. He is obviously quite the romantic to remember such things. He knows I like to explore new places and holes in the wall, so off he drove me to Wenatchee and Leavenworth. I've been to both, but never had time at either one. He found perfect spots to explore!

The main place in Wenatchee was Ohme Gardens. Beautiful! Walking paths everywhere, flowers, views, a wishing well, waterfalls...

I saw some Indian Moccasins there! They are the little yellow flowers in the front that look like tiny slippers.

This is one of my favorite picks and I wish you could see all the little waterfalls flowing over the rocks behind us.

Next we headed into Leavenworth which is a little Bavarian town in the mountains. Everything is cute! Even the 76 Station and McDonalds have their logos painted in a fancy Bavarian style. There are leiderhosen everywhere and fudge! Oh I love the fudge! They had a band playing polka in the main park and the smell of German Sausage wafting through the streets.

The next day when people asked me where we went and I told them Wenatchee, they chuckled because it isn't a real tourist destination. This is why I started out saying David is getting to know me so well because for me it doesn't matter what town we go to, it's the exploration and new experiences I love.