Sushi, Wine tasting & Maroon 5

I had talked about not having sushi for a long while with Tim so I figured it was time to get some. So, I got a group of us to go on Sunday for lunch to Blue Fin Sushi in Northgate for the all you can eat buffet. I'm so glad that I ran that morning, because I ate way too much sushi. It was good stuff! Let's just say I got my money's worth. :)

After sushi, we went to the grand opening of the Sheridan Vineyard tasting room in Woodinville. There we tasted a couple of their wines along with the soon to be released reserve wines; 05 Reserve Cabernet and Reserve Syrah. They were both pretty good, but I'm not the best wine connoisseur. To me, after a while they all kind of taste the same. :P


After the Sheridan tasting room, we decided we would hit another tasting room. Next up was Guardian Cellars. It was really nice when we got there as it wasn't very crowded and there was a nice comfy couch that we sat on. There we tasted their wines, munched on crackers & cheese while watching the Seahawk game on the flat screen tv they had. It was great. I believe we got there middle of 3rd quarter, and when we finally got up to leave, the game had already finished. :P I also discovered some yummy pita crackers with some sort of garlic seasoning that I will get at Costco on our next trip.

We did end up getting a bottle of wine, their 2006 Chalk Line. It's a blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Malbec, 17% Syrah, 11% Merlot from Stilwater Creek, Conner Lee, and Wahluke Slope vineyards. It was very good when I tasted it there. I just hope that it tastes as good as I thought when we open it up later.


Our last tasting that afternoon was at the Jones spelled backwards Estate winery. There we tasted 4 more wines, then called it quits for wine. We also came up with the name for our drinking club. By consensus, we came up with "Cheers!" :)


Next up for the evening was Maroon 5. The concert was was at the White River Amphitheatre in Auburn and they were the main act. Opening were Augustana and Counting Crows. It was really cool to see all of them sing live. I was really happy when Counting Crows came out and their first song was "Long December". It's one of my fav songs of theirs. Maroon 5 was also awesome. They sang my favorite "Sunday Morning" so I was happy. Also, at the end was a special surprise as Brandi Carlile came out and sang her song "The Story". It was a great last song. In all it was a great day. Long but fun. :)

Maggiano's

Tonight we met up with some friends for dinner at Maggiano's. It's an Italian restaurant in Bellevue. It was really good to see our friends Sherry, Tony, and Lora since we didn't get a chance to really talk with them at the wedding. It was really nice to catch up.

Tim and I had never been to Maggianos. The food was yummy. As I am typing I feel so stuffed. :) I had the chicken parmesan and Tim had the gnocchi. Good stuff! It was funny because, towards the end of dinner, our waiter came out with a plate of cookies with a candle. He thought it was one of our birthdays (Our friends had brought gifts to bring to my sister in Oregon, and some gifts that they were unable to bring at the wedding). :P Anyway, it was pretty funny, so we considered it a celebration of our wedding. The waiter smiled and agreed. :) Below is a pic that Lora took with her iphone of our dessert (the candle blurred the dessert).

Flowers and Nike Sportband

Today when Tim got home, he rang the doorbell instead of using his key. I kinda wondered what was up, when I opened the door he had flowers in his hand. I was like wow. He's so sweet. :) Here are the flowers.
I really like the red sunflower.

The day after our wedding Tim also got me a present. He got me the Nike+ Sportband. It's a device that one uses while running to track your distance, time, pace, and calories burned during a run. Below is a pic of the sportband.


Yesterday was my first day trying it out. I really like the look of the sportband. It's a pretty cool looking band. The way it works is there is a sensor that I put on my shoe (I don't have the Nike shoes, so I had to buy a pouch where it attaches to my shoelace of my shoe). The sensor then sends out a signal with every step I take. The concept is really cool. However, when I tried it out yesterday, it was a bit off with the readings. I ran 3 miles but the sensor had me at 3.77 miles. I did the same route again today, but forgot to calibrate it. I finally fixed the calibration so hopefully the next time I run the route it will be more accurate. If the calibration works, I think the sportband is an awesome device.

Shriner Peak Hike

With a great weather forecast for Sunday, we headed out on a hike by Mt. Rainier with some friends.


About halfway up the trail to the peak, we came across a black bear not too far off the trail eating berries.






We had never seen a bear in the wild before, so it was really cool to see one in person. It was especially good that the bear seemed to mind it's own business. ;) Here's a zoomed pic of the bear.


The main reason we chose this hike is the views you get of Rainier. I figure any hike with a lookout probably has good views. :)

DMV, deck, & Bday Celebration for Patricia

I woke up early this morning to go to the DMV to get my license changed to Sharon Regala Hanks. I couldn't believe the line at the DMV this morning in Bothell. I wanted to get there before it opened at 8:30am. When I got there around 8:15, there was already a line from the entrance that curved to the back of the building. Crazy! Anyway, it's now official on my license. :) I've still got to go to Social Security on Monday but after that and my passport (the major documents) I'll be set.

Later that morning, both Mom and Dad came over. Tim and Dad stained the deck while mom and I observed. They did a great job. :)



After the deck, we did some errands and found our way to Southcenter Mall for Patricia's birthday celebration at Red Robin.

Below is the wonderful cake Amabelle made. I thought it was really cool how she decorated it. Very professional looking. She did an awesome job!



It was nice to see Tyler too. He's so cute!



Here's the birthday girl and family. Happy 16th Birthday Patricia!!

Back home

I haven't had time until now to update the blog. We are back in Seattle. Below is a pic of Mt. Rainier from the plane ride. We got back on Friday afternoon. It felt good to be back home.



Ever since we got home things have been pretty busy. We started moving Tim's things into my place on Saturday so there has been a lot of organizing and cleaning going on. It's nice to have him move in. :)

My sister and Nathan came to visit over the weekend as well so it was really good seeing them. Trevor has grown. Here is a pic of me with him. He's so cute.



On Sunday, the family went over to Amabelle and Kajon's place for brunch. It was so yummy! There were waffles with blueberries and strawberries, scrambled eggs, bacon, and even some steak. Good stuff! Thanks Kajon and Amabelle! Afterwards, we went to Ikea where Tim and I got a dresser and two side tables along with some other stuff for the house. It was really cool, because we saved on tax with my sister there. Thanks Ate! :)

After Ikea we went to Mom and Dad's place for dinner where we had seafood pasta. I ate way to much that day, so much good food! It was great to hang out with the whole family. Below is a cute pic of Trevor right before we left. We won't get to see him again until October. Hopefully my sister will put more videos of him online, so we can have updates.



Monday, it was back to work. It was hard to go back, but it was good to see everyone again. So back to the normal routine of work. Lately we are still organizing the house so that is taking up a lot of our time.

Bye Bye Aruba

Today was our last day in Aruba. It actually seemed like a perfect day to leave because we woke up to rain. Lots and lots of it. We encountered lots of flooding on the roads, so we decided to skip out on lunch at a nearby beach to get to the airport sooner. We were told to get to the airport 3 hours before our flight since US customs is done in Aruba rather than Charlotte. With that in mind we decided to be safe and just head to the airport.

The rain lasted all morning and into early afternoon but by the time our flight departed Aruba at 4:40pm the gray skies were gone and the sun was back out.

Below is a pic of our arrival in Charlotte, NC. 

Aruba has been an amazing honeymoon and I'll miss the sun and beaches, but the memories will always be there. :)  Can't wait to get back home tomorrow.

Our last full day in Aruba

We started the day off at the highest point in Aruba, Mount Jamanota.

We drove through Arikok National Park. Here's a picture of Tim at one of the beaches of Dos Playas.

We thought we'd check out one of the caves, but it was closed. Here's Tim in front of it.

Then we went to Casibari Rock, interesting rock formations near our apartment.

And back to the beach for one last time. The waves were higher than the usual calm water we had all last week. Here's a pic of a wave hitting me. :P

Last, we ate dinner at Marandi's. It's a great place for a last dinner. The food was yummy, as usual. :)

Market, Beaches, Bridges, & Ruins

This morning, we went to town to check out the local market vendors.

We had lunch on a balcony overlooking town and I enjoyed the Banana Bye-Bye.

After the market and lunch, we went to the beaches for the afternoon, so that we'd be close to water to cool off from the mid-day heat. When it had cooled off in the early evening, we went to see one of the rock formations on the island called Natural Bridges. Here's Tim on one of the bridges.

The other bridge had actually fallen down into the ocean. :P

While there, we walked along the rocks near the ocean.

And we came across some ruins that looked pretty cool just before sunset.

For dinner, we had the local BBQ again ("Brasas and Lenas"), which is very yummy. :)

Back to Arashi

Another beautiful day here in Aruba. After spending the last two days at Manchebo Beach, we decided to go back to Arashi. It's more secluded, has very clear water for snorkeling, and the shallow area extends really far from the beach, so it is great for just relaxing in the water. Here's me snorkeling.

A view from in the water.

Sunset again. :)



Afterwards, we had dinner at Madame Jeanette's, a cool place with an outdoor setting giving a Caribbean feel to it and also really good food.