My 32nd birthday was celebrated in various places in Oregon.  It sounds funny, but those commercials encouraging people to explore The 7 Wonders of Oregon inspired me to do jus that! So, my husband did some planning  and we narrowed down where in Oregon we were gonna stay – and we ended up in Mt Hood & The Columbia River Gorge area.

Day 1

 After we nearly hiked 3miles we realized the path didn’t seem so clear anymore. We were hopeful that the path would show back up again, and then decided to throw  in the towel  and head back to the car.  Once doing so we noticed a sign saying that the bridge was down and we could not cross the river to get to the waterfalls we were attempting to hike to.  Opps! Ha.  It just made the next hike even more rewarding

Made a pit stop at the local bar for food…and then it was on to location no.2 Tamanawas Falls

Day 2 : Painted Hills

After spending some time in the hills, we grabbed some food in town and headed back to enjoy a fire in our cabin.

Day 3 : Bday gifts and more sightseeing awaits Smith Rock

Tumalo Falls

Day 4 :Home

The drive home-  Just as beautiful as the drive here.  We did make a pit stop in Portland, which was a nice addition before going home.   All in all, my birthday celebration was filled with love, adventure, excitement, joy, fresh air, new discoveries, and new memories with my wee little family.  Felt very blessed!

This trip has been on my bucket list for some time now, and I am very happy that my wee-little family and I got to do this.  Unfortunately, the first few days were beyond foggy and rainy, but we were rewarded towards the end of our trip.  Either way, we made the best of it, explored, and drove on the edge of the world!  Relive the adventure with me by checking this post out

Some of the areas we explored (especially with the way the weather was) reminded us of Iceland.  It was such a nice and familiar feeling- I could of spent hours here!

Meyers Creek Beach

Committing to a week long road trip with pets in the car, rain or shine, we had to stop to let the little guys play.  Sand dunes ended up being our go to pit stops.  What was amazing about the dunes this time of year was that no one was around.  We had the beaches to ourselves.  And the pups loved it, just as much as we did!

The redwoods have such an incredible spiritual feeling when you just stop and look up.  Soak it all in.  These trees are remarkable!  Could of spent days there. As the sun started to set we headed to a nearby cabin in the redwoods to rest.  It was so charming and incredible to wake up amongst the largest of trees.

Avenue of the Giants

As we slowly approached Cali the weather improved- allowing more time to be outside and explore the area.  This made us decide to add more time on to our journey just drive through San Fran to see Big Sur.  So, that is just what we did.

So, we watched the sun set over the bridge then drove a bit further on the coast and found a sweet little cabin for the night.  Turned on the fire, had some wine and pizza and slept the night away till the morning . Big Sur blew our minds.  We only had a day to see the ‘edge of the world’ before heading back to San Fran (where we had a hotel reserved for two nights) but it was so worth the extra driving.  We just look forward to returning with more time on our hands next time. Time to turn around….

We saw this really amazing cafe/gallery place on the drive along Big Sur and decided it would be the perfect place to stop and grab food and coffee before driving back to the city.  As we waited for our food, we enjoyed the views and some ice cream.  It was the perfect rest stop.
San Francisco! Because we didn’t have more time in San Fran, we made sure to jam pack our days with adventure.  The weather was perfect and the city was alive!
No shock that we would be on the hunt to find ourselves some good coffee on our stay…

And we did at Blue Bottle!

Last night exploring! Then the morning came. We had to pack up the car, check-out at the hotel, grab food & coffee, and start our long drive home.  BUT we made one last stop.

The Beach!  (and a nude one at that)

then we said goodbye

It was a weekend jammed packed with great food, long walks, and sight seeing.  Here are some images from our weekend adventures.

 I love you, Joelly!  Happy Anniversary.

Suspended Bridge

I love living in an area where we can take day trips like these.  It allows you to escape from your daily routine and open your eyes to the beauty around you.  And this state clearly doesn’t lack that.  Every week we have managed to see something new and get out of the city to see some nature.

Soon Joel will be starting his new job, and I hope to be getting more work here soon as well…so we have been doing our best to take advantage of our open schedules and new surroundings.

As the sun started to set we hiked back to the car and said goodbye to this beautiful site! 

This is a short blog posting, but I had to share how peaceful this scenery was with all of you.

Today is a typical rainy day in Seattle, and I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to catch up and try to share some images from my recent journey.

In the past two weeks my husband and I have sold our condo, packed up our home, grabbed our animals and drove nearly 2,000 miles through some of the most beautiful scenery.  Along the way I made sure to photograph the Badlands and the different terrain we encountered to get here.  Once we arrived to our new neighborhood, West Seattle, we immediately started to explore!  That exploration also lead us to Portland, Oregon and the Olympic National Park/Forest.  It has been a good two weeks.  Hope you enjoy what I have seen thus far

 My first introduction to Prairie DOGS!

We then made a quick stop to see Devils Tower!  Seriously amazing.

Then we made it to our new CITY! And we were welcomed to blue skies and 70degree weather. 

It didn’t take us long to get curious about our surrounding areas and do some nature-sh*t.  So, we took a day trip to Oregon and photographed some beautiful waterfalls and then stumbled into Portland to meet up with our friend Steven (Megabolt) and grab a bite to eat before heading back to Seattle.  After getting a few days in of exploring and nature seeing we spent the next few days focused on dropping off resumes and doing some ‘work’.  In between waiting for phone calls we took ferries and checked out different neighborhoods in the city.   We even brought Leland on the Ferry to Bainbridge Island for the day

Thus far, we have found that each neighborhood we venture into has such a unique and different feel then the next.  It reminds me a lot like how Chicago feels, which creates some familiarity for me.  But here are some photo’s taken here and there throughout our surrounding areas

Then another adventure began….a drive to the Olympic National Park.

And that is the start of a new beginning on the West Coast.  More to come…as more adventures are to be made

And let me tell you… the way Thirty welcomed me was pretty special.  I will start with saying that my Mom (being that she lives far away)  did something unique and special for me this year that I would highly recommend you to do for someone you love, because it was wonderful!  She sent me box in the mail that was full of gifts that were wrapped and numbered 1 through 30.  It worked out that my birthday happens to be in a month where there are 30 days so I had a gift to open every day of April for my 30th birthday.  It made me feel so special and it was so thoughtful of my Mom. 

So, if that didn’t make me feel special enough – the morning of my birthday as my husband and I did our traditional coffee run I hopped into my car to find a beautiful letterpress birthday card, chocolate covered strawberries (one of my favorite desserts), a cupcake and some beautiful flowers!

Then it was off to Chicago to start the adventures!

Upon our friends recommendation we tried Karyn’s on Green which was an amazing all vegan restaurant.  I was blown away by how delicious their brunch was and would highly recommend it to others to try.   Next we decided to visit the Willis Tower and enjoy the city from the inside since it was chilly out and there was rain in the forecast.  I was bummed at first that our outside plans were ruined but it ended up being perfect! We witnessed the storm pass right through as we temporarily were in the clouds.  It was really neat.  When I lived in Chicago I had ventured up the Hancock building before but had never visited the ‘Sears’ or Willis Tower before, so it was a nice first.

The Skydeck is pretty fantastic. After all the sightseeing my  ‘BIG’ gift from Joelly was soon approaching as we got back in the car and drove a little further and ended at Medieval Times! I had no idea what I was in store for.  As we entered the Castle to begin our night Back in Time I noticed two of my friends in the lobby waiting for me…it was such a nice surprise.  Since Joelly picked the Birthday Package for me we had all the perks – from getting our group photo taken (dressed up I must add), a slice of cake, and VIP seating.  It was a night to remember It was a swell birthday.  

This past weekend marked the 2yr anniversary of my Father-in-law’s death.  Wow, I don’t write the word ‘death’ often, and now I know why.  Knowing that it would be a rough day my husband and I thought it would be helpful to meet his family in Door County and visit ‘the bluff‘ where Jeff’s ashes were spread.  It is a lot easier to battle hard days like these when everyone is together.

It ended up being a short trip to Door County but a lovely one.  We visited the bluff twice, once at night where the night sky blew us away with thousands of stars!  Un-fortuenly, I did not have my camera with me to capture the clusters of pure sparkle in the sky, but made sure to document the next day at the bluff and the icy waters before heading back to the city.

In Jeff’s style, we made sure to smile and have a good day after all

We had a hard time getting a little motivated the next day after such an emotionally exhausting, yet amazing weekend so we decided to enjoy the wintery snow day in Milwaukee by Lake Michigan.  Days like these are seriously my favorite.  Hope you enjoy

The following Saturday we ventured to Tomahawk to go on our traditional family sleigh ride… Here are a few images of our adventures from that day.

Having kids around always makes things more exciting and joyful.

When visiting the site you can find a number of my photograph’s  in the ‘popular’ section.   Or you can search ‘apimaging’ to find my images that are featured for sale.

The image I am most excited about is being featured in Urban Outfitter’s Print Shop Series. You should order one! http://t.co/hXG0ZRe

This is what it looks like when you order this print through Urban Outfitters!

If you would like to own any of these images visit Society6 and order away. Hope you enjoy them… by chance you purchase something I would love to see photo’s of my image on your iphone, laptop, or on your wall.  Send them my way I would like to share them on here.

Thank you for all your support!

We then ventured to the lake to find some people kitesurfing! Oh- and this is the house we viewed today was super cute