Deception Pass

Since Ryan did so well on his recent tests, he didn’t need to take one of his big finals, which are always scheduled on Mondays. Most of his weekends are ruined since he has to study for an upcoming test. We took advantage of his free weekend by reserving a campsite at Deception Pass. I picked the campsite that looked the most beautiful; it had a view of the water & tall trees all around it. Fortunately, the picture on the website was very accurate. (See below.) Isn't is beautiful?

We had a great time camping and hiking and just being together in such a beautiful place!

ARVO Conference

Ryan went to the annual conference of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) to present his summer research on artifical corneas. He had a poster outlining the basics and he stood by it to answer questions during the "poster session." He felt honored and intimidated to be sandwiched between some ophthalmology greats.

And since he was in Florida, he made time to enjoy the beach before heading home!

My New Do

With the help of Ryan, I highlighted my hair, and surprisingly, it turned out well! I had just gotten it cut short 2 days earlier and my hair looked really dark after the longer, blonder parts were cut off. Now it looks like my real color again! Too bad I have to help it look natural since I am hardly ever out in the sun . . . or else the sun is hardly out!

My Birthday!

I had a great birthday celebrating
with my friends at work and also
my good friend, Ryan. At work, we
had a fancy strawberry shortcake
(my favorite!) and my desk was
elaborately decorated with streamers
and beautiful flowers. Many patients
wished me a happy birthday since it
was really obvious that it was my
birthday!

After work, I picked Ryan up from school and we headed off to a secret dinner
location that he had reservations for. Turns out we were going to India, “A
Taste of India” at least. We had a fantastic meal and really nice servers. They
brought us some unknown, delicious appetizer "on the house." And after our
tasty meal of coconut curry for me and something too spicy and lamb for Ryan,
we ordered some good rice pudding for dessert.


And since a candle wouldn’t stick in the pudding,
they brought out a baklava with a candle in it for
me to blow out. Ryan even sang the birthday song
to me!


Also, thanks to
The Parents for
a great birthday
package full of
presents! Ryan
even got "birthday"
presents! Thanks
Mom & Dad!

I Made a Rug!

When I was home for Christmas, I was admiring the rag rugs my aunt had around her house. She made them of course, so she showed me how. After several months of slowly working away at my rug, I finally finished! Well, I did finish it once before but thought it looked bad so I undid several rows and refinished it. Now I think it looks great and I am proud to have it beneath my kitchen sink where it is beautifully useful! Thanks Auntie Karen!

UW's Blossoms

Posted on UW's website: "It is a signature moment in the life of the University of Washington campus when the cherry trees on the Quad bloom - signaling the end of winter and the beginning of spring." It really is so beautiful!

Washington's Capitol

Ryan & I explored the Washington State Capitol building in Olympia a few weeks ago. We saw the "galleries" where the House of Representatives and the Senate meet. We also enjoyed a resonating concert performed by a visiting high school choir in the rotunda. That place has amazing acoustics! We even hung out with the illustrious George Washington himself, well a large bust of him. Apparently it is good luck to rub his nose!

Clam Digging

This was an awesome, adventurous experience! Ryan and I got up at 4:30am, well, that’s when our alarms went off, and we drove out to Ocean Shores to go clam digging! The digging part was pretty cool, once we watched other people to figure out how to locate the clams in the sand. Ryan called me “Seagull Eye Debi” because I learned how to identify the tell-tale brown spots or moving sand over the clam holes. He started getting the hang of it at the end. He was a much better digger than I was. The only clam I almost got was the one I chopped the foot off of. It was kind of sad since we were using shovels, which meant that we cracked the shells of most of the clams we got. Other people were using this cool device which we call a “clam gun.” It was a much better digging tool since you put it right over a clam hole and pushed down to grab a big tube of sand. Most people would pull up a tube full of sand and a clam . . . and they didn’t crack the shell or cut off the foot. Ryan and I learned a lot from our first clam digging experience and really enjoyed it. Next time, we want a clam gun and those long, rubber leg-covering things though.

Here's Mr. Clam Digger himself!

There were people digging clams all along the coastline as far as you could see in both directions. In spite of the 34 degree weather and the hail, it was practically as busy as the beaches back home in San Diego!

Look how happy I am to be freezing and soaked and to have to clean and cook all those slimy things we are digging out of the ground!

A Trip Downtown

I took a day off of work so Ryan and I could spend a day being tourists in our own city during his Spring Break.

First off, we opened up our umbrellas (like usual) and waited at the bus stop for a bus to whisk us downtown.


Next, we went to the Seattle Aquarium where we gingerly touched some star fish, sea slugs, and even fish. Pretty tame fish really. We also saw many other cool creatures including some of our favorite animals ever, otters!


After the aquarium, Ryan was really hungry for fish oddly enough, so we had fish and chips before heading off to Pike's Place Market. I can never get over how amazing their produce looks at all those little stands. It's like a bunch of vegetable rainbows everywhere you look!

Our New Steps

One of Ryan's self-assigned projects for Spring Break was to figure out how to create some steps leading down from by our back gate. He worked with our nice neighbors to put together the fine steps you see below! Way to go Working Man!

A Wicked-Fun Trip to Portland

Ryan & I kicked off Spring Break with a trip down to Portland to see the musical Wicked, thanks to some awesome Ross relatives. The cast was incredibly talented, the play was absolutely amazing, and because we saw it, we "have been changed for good!" We wish everyone could go see it!

Prior to the show, we had fun times with our nieces reading books and hanging out with a metal elephant.

On our way home, we saw this sign pointing the way to "Rush Road." What a great name for a road!

Mosaic Magic

Here it is Dad! My first mosaic project: a stepping stone. I was trying to make it look like an aquarium. I really like it and had so much fun making it! It is currently residing outside in the walkway up to our house.