Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Lets just get this one over with...

I have so many pictures I want to post from our weeks of travel, but I figure I will just get this Twilight one out of the way. Let me just start by saying that Forks is a colossal dump. Most of it looked like this (only add a lot more crap scattered around the front lawn):

But nevertheless, we were very happy to pull into our hotel after a very long day hiking in the pouring rain (photos to come...let me tell you, Olympic National Park is insanely awesome, even in the rain). Our first stop was lunch at a very classy pizza joint. They surprisingly had the best breaksticks I have ever had in my life. Rosemary breadsticks actually. Dreamy.

Take a look at the special Twilight menu. While I was happy (and slightly horrified) to be romping through Twi land, I just could not bring myself to order the "bella-sagna" or "edbread." Just couldn't do it.

We had a spectacular stop at the Forks visitors center. They have made more than the most of transforming their dumpy town into the Forks we all know and love.

You guys! This is Bella's truck!!

And for the raging deal of only $40 per person you can take a 3 hour tour on this short bus to see everything Twilight in Forks and La Push. Only $40! What a steal. OR...you could do what we did and see it all in about 20 minutes for free. Its up to you really.

Tyler could barely contain his excitement. And I mean BARELY. He was about to meet all my best buddies....

I am super tight with Jacob and Bella and Edward...and all the Cullens. See? Super tight.

The highlight of Tyler's trip was when he was forced into Dr. Cullen's lab jacket, handed a clip board and asked to check Bella's heart. It was also the highlight of my trip.

After hanging with the stars, we went and checked out Bella's house. Does anyone remember it being blue? Or has it had a face lift? It actually looks nothing like the house in the movie. Especially if you could see the street it is on. Definitely not the same street.

Every single store and restaurant had something about Twilight sparkling in the window or hanging from the doors. It was a little pathetic and a little awesome.

This is the super awesome store where I got my super awesome Twilight sweatpants. Dazzled by Twilight is the hippest store in Forks. And for a mere $69 plus tax you could buy a Twilight hoodie. And I would say that 99% of visitors did just that. I was the 1% that just could not cough up that much for an Edward face on my back.

So all joking aside - the very best moment of the Twilight party was pulling into our hotel after dinner and parking next to this minivan:

We were seriously really sad about missing all of the festivities for Bella's birthday. They wrapped up hours before we rolled into town. I wanted to see all those crazy fans so badly. So when we got to park next to a mom twihard? I was very very happy. I kept saying to Tyler "This is a joke right? This must be one of those tour cars right?" He assured me it was not. This is a true twihard vehicle. Awesome.After our evening in Forks, we said goodbye to the vampires and moved on to the werewolf portion of our trip. On to La Push.

The Quileute reservation in La Push made Forks look like Hollywood. It was really sad actually. So I didn't even bother taking pictures of that. But I did love the stunning beaches. La Push gets two thumbs up for its super beautiful hiking and coast line.

Tyler loved wading through the tide pools. He found some pretty awesome starfish and other creatures.

On the way out of town we stopped by Jacob's place, but he was not home. Bummer.

While the whole trip really was a lot of fun, the best part was just getting to spend some quality time with Edward.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Thinking way too much while driving...

While at church last night with my awesome young women I was thinking about what a big responsibility it is to "lead" youth. They are incredible young women and I have a part to play, no matter how small, in their future. I want to be an influence for good, and an example that they can follow. It has made me very conscience of my actions and words and even my thoughts. And as I was driving home mulling this over, the face of my wonderful husband popped into my head and I thought "I should tell them to marry someone stinking brilliant like Tyler" {that is a direct quote from my mind, just so you know}. I feel so very blessed and lucky to be married to Tyler. To say I am proud of him doesn't really do him justice. I honestly think he is the most brilliant, talented, focused man alive {not to mention smokin hot}. He has worked like a crazy person these last few months to prepare for his first round of dental boards and yesterday we got his results. Not only did he pass, but he dominated. Not that I am surprised, but I just continue to drip with totally biased pride. As I continued my drive home last night I kept thinking about my young women, and my husband and I thought about how I was never the girl who dreamed about her wedding and being married. I wanted to get married, eventually, but not until I did a million things and was much much older. Well obviously that didn't exactly go according to plan. And I am so grateful. I am so grateful that I have a loving Father in Heaven that has a hand in my life, and helps to steer me in the right direction. Tyler, and marriage, is the greatest blessing in my life. Plus, did I mention that he is smokin hot?
Tyler in his baseball gear. One of my favorite looks he sports.

So congratulations to my most brilliant husband! I can't wait to see all the incredible things he does in his life. They will be great in number.