7 Random things about Tysha

So, my friend Auburn tagged me to share 7 random things about myself. Here goes...

1 Yesterday, I officially quit my graduate program in clinical psychology. I was so far into it (5 months into my clinical internship) that it became the hardest decision I have ever chosen to make thus far. Luckily pretty much everything I studied or experienced in the field of child and family therapy, as well as my 10 years of experience working with kids and their parents as a nanny and counselor, helped me to see with clarity the wisdom and inspiration within "A Proclamation to the World: The Family." I have decided I don't want to be lured into being the woman our society and culture indicates I should be. I don't want to be the "superwoman" type who can "do it all." I want to be me and in being me live my core values. Living out my most essential values doesn't include a Master's Degree as a qualification. It simply requires the desire and willingness to sacrifice to become the most awesome person, wife, and mother (sister, daughter, friend, neighbor, etc.) that I can be! And that goal in and of itself is more than a full time job! I'm working on it!

2 My family was sealed in the Hawaii Temple when I was 14 years old. I have been back to Hawaii 5 times since then and I will always have a special place in my heart for islands!

3 I served a mission in the Canary Islands. I didn't know where they were until I went there. The Canary Islands are divided into 2 Spanish Provinces and are located some 40 miles off the coast of Western Sahara and Morocco, Africa. I like to say that I am an "AmeriCanarian." After my Spanish kicked in and my skin got a nice glow going, they truly believed I was one of them! So sometimes I just pretended I was! I even got to ride a camel on my day off.

4 I am an absolutely, positively Happy Camper! I LOVE the OUTDOORS, whether hiking, camping, backpacking, or just grazing for an afternoon at a local park. I can't get enough! Especially when I'm with my best friend - who just happens to be my husband!

5 I am a Hippie at Heart. At least that's what my mom says...and she knows me very well.

6 I love being a housewife on fridays. I have fridays off from work, so I do things like run errands, do chores around the house, make appointments, meet friends for lunch or walks or hikes, and play some good old Bob Marley (I also LOVE BOB!) while experimenting with various Hummus recipes (I also LOVE HUMMUS!). And sometimes our 4 year old neighbor comes running through the door after preschool (I also LOVE KIDS!) and I show him all about how cool Pacman is (I also LOVE PACMAN!). He thinks playstation is better, but I beg to differ!

7 I go crazy for Vegetables and I love exotic food. Yep, maybe it is because I was basically a vegetarian for the first 20 years of my life (I had a bad realization while hunting with my grandfather as a seven-year-old and seeing a deer hanging from a tree: meat is dead animals!) I don't think there's one vegetable I won't do a flip over. I especially enjoy them in diverse dishes such as Thai, Indian, and Ethiopian.

My turn to tag? Hmm...I tag Minna, Jane, & Tia.

Sasquatch Music Festival

We headed to The Gorge for Memorial Day Weekend and had a fabulous time camping and eating S'mores. It seems that this weekend is a great commencement to summer, hiking & camping season and we could hardly get enough!



We drove with hundreds of other people going out of town on Friday evening and set up our camping site for the weekend near The Gorge to enjoy a day of outdoor music and sunshine at the Sasquatch Festival.



There we found many people like ourselves -- animalistic-like people who are CRAZED about good music!




We rotated stages to listen to our top picks of the 30+ bands who were playing that day. The backdrop to this amphitheatre is quite breathtaking, it's almost like sitting in front of a gigantic landscape painting, and feeling like somehow you're IN it!



AND of course Tysha got to see her Beastie Boys. Other bands we really enjoyed were Grizzly Bear, the Arcade Fire, Ozomatli & Citizen Cope. It's ALWAYS fun to dance with the hippies. Jacob's highlight was seeing the astonishing Icelandic musician, Bjork, and WOW did she know how to put on a show!



Sunday we had a mellow day and went to visit a few places around Ellensburg, where Tysha lived until she was ten years old. Monday, we started the day off right -- in a Canoe!



In the afternoon we drove up to the Alpine Lakes Wilderness for a hike. The forest service road was closed, and we guessed maybe it was because of mud or snow...but what we found was a picture of the power Mother Nature possesses. This past winter we had some serious rain and wind storms and part of the result is that this particular road was completely wiped out. We hiked through the new canyon to the other side where the road still existed and continued on for our hike.



Jacob found these cool-looking plants along the trail.



And Tysha couldn't help but find something pretty, too, poking out of the snow.


Yeah for long weekends and great weather and rockin' bands! We are ready for S'more this summer! Bring it on!

Date Night: Scrabble + Bubble Tea

Hey, hey whose this cute girl playing scrabble with me?!

Sometimes for date night we like to wander down to the U-district and pretend we're college kids. We walk down The Ave., and slip into a Bubble Tea cafe-of-sorts, and play games. Our favorite is Scrabble. Fun times!

explore // Sayulita, Mexico

Here are just a couple of pictures from our amazing honeymoon excursion to Sayulita, Mexico a quaint little surfing village North of Puerto Vallarta. We spent an entire week relaxing in the sunshine and even caught some waves. The food was excellent and if any of you are looking for a fun place to go we definitely recommend Playa Escondida.

http://www.playa-escondida.com/

The Beginning...

We were married on January 12, 2007 in the Seattle LDS Temple. It was a long-awaited, perfect day,   a day we will never forget. We have been having fun and enjoying our life together ever since, and to chronicle the events of our new life together, we have decided to start a blog. We hope you enjoy reading!