Pacific Northwesterness

This weekend I went to Washington to see two of my dear friends get married. (Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Chris Teitzel!!) Their wedding (in Gig Harbor) was picture perfect. In true Shahbaz style (Phil -pictured- was the officiant and did a stellar job at marrying those two) Chris and Kelly faced the guests as the ceremony took place in front of a beautiful waterfall. Their wedding was truly a celebration of their love for one another and love for Christ, and it was a pleasure to share that day with them. Not to mention, it was one seriously sweet party dancing the night away and visiting with APU friends!! The girls and I got 1.5 hours of sleep last night, woke up to pack our bags and head to SeaTac airport. Thank goodness I was able to spend the rest of today sleeping!

On Friday Laura, Jess, Hannah and I spent the day in Seattle. (This is my "Happy to be in Seattle" picture.) I had high hopes as everyone told me that if I loved Portland, I'd love Seattle more. That's saying a lot because Portland was love at first sight that didn't disappoint. In Seattle's defense, I've seen far more of Portland. I wish I would have had the opportunity to spend more time bummin around downtown and checked out the outskirts of the city. We mainly stayed around Pike Place. (The first Starbucks was pretty cool, but it pretty much tasted just like every other Starbucks and definitely didn't have a restroom...) I enjoyed Pike Place a lot, but I found it slightly ironic that a place that prides itself so much on being all about localism is overcrowded with tourists. But it was delightful. I often found myself thinking, I could do this. I could live in a little apartment downtown and bring fresh produce and flowers home from the market at the end of the day... So we walked around til they closed up shop and went and watched the sunset over the water slash behind a building, much to the chagrin of Jess. We were spoiled by amazing weather this weekend. I wonder if I'd feel the same way about the city had it been nonstop raining. Probably not. And at the end of the day, I'd say Seattle makes my list of cities I could live in, but Portland still has my vote for favorite pacific northwest spot.

Well folks, two weeks to go before the big move. Have I started packing? Negative. Thank goodness my mom is on it! Uncle and cousin arrive Friday and then it's pretty much nonstop until we leave!! Yikes!

Peace.