Destin, FL - June 2009

Luke and I had the opportunity to spend some time out in Destin, Florida in June. Luke had a couple of trade shows to do for work, and we thought it would be fun if I tagged along. It was a great trip, with lots of time at the beach, lots of good food, and an overall relaxing week!

The water was so beautiful and green!

We found these great goggles and a blow-up raft (our refugee cruiser) at the store, and they were so much fun! Luke was looking for seashells for me (but had a hard time finding any that weren't inhabited).

Floatin' on the raft Working on a tan

Perfectly blue-green waters
Lookin' good, shades :)



Swimming!!
(Check out the guy with the "Jesus shoes" in the background)
The Hilton (not where we stayed...where we worked, but got free beach access)



Yes, I did coordinate so that my swimsuit would match the water...


We're so hot!!






So bright...can't see...
Luke relaxin' in the room
Sunset
Front row seats

It was so breathtaking, the way the water reflected the setting sun.




This guy hitched a ride on the antenna of the Starship Enterprise (our massive minivan).



Golf course at our resort
Working hard, or hardly working?

View of the pool at night

The bathroom, where I ate my GF tuna sandwiches so Luke wouldn't wake up from the smell :P
Our room
The resorts all had these speed limit signs with random numbers like 12 and 23....very weird.

Our favorite place to eat - Another Broken Egg Cafe
Baytowne Village

Baytowne Wharf

Amazingly white sand

Our favorite shop!



The only good thing about Alabama was that we drove past the Blue Cross headquarters, and I got to make rude gestures at them for all the grief they've been giving me at work lately!
So sad...time to go home
We had such a great trip!

Oregon 2009

We went out to Oregon at the beginning of the month to celebrate my little brother graduating. We got to spend some great time with family and at the Oregon Coast. Ate lots of great food too (will post about that on my food blog later). It was a great trip!

We went and saw the movie "Up" with my dad. We both really liked it! These are our 3-D glasses from the show.

Portland is known as the City of Roses, and of course we had to partake! The next few photos are from the Rose Gardens. It smelled so good and all the roses were breathtakingly beautiful! We hit it at the perfect time.


Couldn't resist spying on this little guy while he worked.

I WANT this rosebush in my yard! The roses were gigantic, and they smelled simply divine! This one reminds me of a silky dress.


It was a bright, beautiful, sunny day...which is why we look like we're scowling.


Luke and me



Dad and me


View of the city


Here we are right before heading to the graduation. We could not stop laughing! Which was fun...but doesn't make for the most flattering photos :)

Family hug!

My brother with Mom and his girlfriend

Right after the reeeeeeally long graduation ceremony



Luke and I got to spend some time at Cannon Beach. We were trying to get a sunset in, but the clouds weren't cooperating. It was still really beautiful and fun! Not to mention the great food :)



We got to see the end results of the annual sand castle competition. There were some awesome formations! We decided to take a few pics, but couldn't resist adding ourselves to the scenery.



Luke:1
Gulliver:0

Luke making his "thug life" face...


Me with some really scary looking dwarves


We decided it would be fun to have pictures of us touching the Pacific ocean one weekend and the Atlantic the next (we were in FL the week after). The water was too cold to swim in, but we did our best...and then it attacked Luke.




Haystack Rock




It was a fun trip, w/ lots of laughs, and it was great to catch up w/ the family.

Florida pics coming soon :)