(Once a month is better than never, right?)

The exciting event of the past week was Ryan's parents visiting. They're nice folks, and it was a pleasure to show them around town. I might mean "show them around" a little loosely, seeing as I was exploring Olympia right along with them. We found out that the Boston Harbor Marina is adorable and should be lots of fun this summer. (We saw a seal in the water!) We found a couple parks that we hadn't known were so wonderful. We spent a day in Seattle, exploring Chinatown and the arboretum, which gave us ideas for trees to plant here at home. (Including the beautiful Birch Bark Cherry-- just look at it!)

Notably, we had a birthday celebration dinner for Ryan on Friday at our house, and no less than 14 people attended. It was a very full table! We had tons of salads and breads (ah, potlucks), along with a delicious butternut squash soup, two pies, a cake, five vases of flowers, and a balloon animal extravaganza. It turns out that two of our guests-- one of whom is Ryan's dad-- were experienced balloon animal makers, and one of them brought balloons and a pump. The inflatable fun lasted late into the night. I made a giraffe and a fishing rod, both of my own design.

Ryan's actual birthday isn't until the 24th, so if you missed out on the party you're not too late to send a "happy birthday" his way. We just wanted to get the celebration in while his parents were in town.

Contrary to the warning I received before moving to the Pacific Northwest in the middle of winter, the weather has been surprisingly pleasant. The sun is shining right now, in fact. We usually have sunny moments here and there, even if the day as a whole is gray. I'd rather have spotty showers than the weather I evidently left behind in Virginia-- yet another snow day today, I hear! I can definitely feel spring around the corner: the camellias and forsythias are blooming, the daffodils are up, and the days are getting longer. I've been inspired to work on the garden and landscaping over the past couple weeks: flagstone pavers for our front walk, pruning back the overgrown shrubs in the front yard, and tackling the blackberry canes that took over portions of our yard during the years of neglect before we bought the property.

Another thing that has surprised me during this transition is how I'm turning out to be a decent cook. Who knew? Ryan's mom even asked me for a couple recipes from dinners at our place. As you might have heard, Ryan has an inner ear condition that he can regulate to a certain degree by keeping his sodium intake low. As a result, we can't eat out too much, or even use many prepared ingredients, which means that I've been getting lots of practice cooking from scratch. It seems to be paying off. I'm not master chef, but I can make a quiche from the ground up and can put together a dessert mid-dinner. I think these are good signs. I feel like I'm preparing for having an abundance our own home-grown ingredients-- I'd better know what to do with all that zucchini once it starts coming in!