On My Way Home.....

I had such a great time in Seattle, and of course, hated to leave.  Lucie Lu and I were so spoiled staying at Judi's...in fact, Lucie thought my bed was HER bed!  One morning I got out of the shower and found her sitting pretty as a princess on MY pillow....and here's the proof:

One of the best things about being home was just hanging out with my family and being there to attend family functions.  It was my cousin Lisa's daughter's birthday while I was there, so we had a big family party at my Uncle Ray and Auntie's

se!  It was SO much fun!  Uncle Ray grilled enough meat to feed all of Seattle and it was fun to just sit and relax with "the fam".  

The grill of the master....

  

Brooke & MacKenzie (the birthday girl!)

Devin and Caleb

Who knew my sister was the Dog Whisperer AND the baby whisperer??? 

The thing I really had to look forward to was the three hour drive from Seattle to Richland, WA to visit my sister Jill and her family in their new town!  Jill's husband, TJ, got a job in Hanford, WA (close to Richland), so they packed up and left Idaho Falls and moved to Eastern Washington.....  This is actually really funny, as growing up in Seattle we kind of always made fun of Eastern Washington, as it is known to be very "small town"....but now, that's what Jill's family is used to, so they are loving it there!  It actually has a very similar feel to Idaho Falls, which made the move pretty easy for them.

After two days in Richland, I packed up the car with my dog, my nephew and my "stuff" and finally headed home to Centerville.  Yes, I was lucky enough to not only have Lucie in the car for the drive home, but I was able to take Caleb with me as well!  He needed a ride to Brigham City, UT where he caught a shuttle bus to Idaho Falls so he could attend scout camp with his old buddies in Idaho Falls!  He was a good "Lucie Sitter" and I was happy to have the company for the long drive home....

Although it was good to finally get home, I could have stayed in Seattle for another three months and been happy as a clam!  :-)  Man, I love that place!  

SEATTLE!!!

Well, of course I couldn't wait to get home to Seattle!  Now, don't get me wrong...I LOVED San Diego, my mom's farm, and Seaside.....however, if you know me at all, you know that my home and heart will always be in Seattle!  It's where I grew up and where my family and friends are and the place where I feel comfort and love..... (Yeah, it was cloudy on the day I took the above pictures....so what?  It's SEATTLE!!!!)

When I go to Seattle, I always stay with my friend Judi.  She has an awesome basement that is ALL MINE when I come to visit!  I have a bed, a big, BIG screen TV, a bathroom and kitchen all to myself!  Yeah, I'm one lucky gal!  And the best part is, Judi LOVES it when I come to stay!  She does the famous Microsoft "work from home" thing when I'm there, which basically translates into her answering emails in the morning and then SHOPPING the rest of the day

 Gotta love that Microsoft gig!  Judi recently adopted her two nieces, so staying at her house these days is a little different than it was a few years ago.....it's funny to go to her house and see toys all over the place and kids car seats in her car!  Anyway, I love Judi and really appreciate unconditional love and friendship! 

As soon as I arrived in Seattle, I already had a schedule of appointments....lunch, dinner, shopping, visiting, etc.  It was a BLAST!  I LOVED knowing I was going to be in town for two full weeks and that I had plenty of time to do all the things I love and see all the people I love!  It was the best feeling EVER, as usually I'm only in town for a week or so and it's just never, ever enough time.  As it turns out, two weeks still wasn't enough.  There were still many people I wanted to see and things I wanted to do....oh well, there's always next summer!

I was able to help my good friend Brenda celebrate her birthday, which was so much fun!

She and I have been friends since 7th grade, so we have quite a history!  There were some other friends at her birthday as well.....Candi, who I've known since 4th grade and Mickey who I met in 6th grade!  It was so fun to go to dinner and enjoy everyone's company......it's things like that that I really hate missing out on being so far away.

Before I knew it, it was July 4th!  What a fun day that was!  My sister and her family came over from Eastern Washington and my mom came up from the farm, so we were able to spend the holiday together!  My friend Brenda (in the picture with me above....the other picture is of Mickey and Candi) has a beautiful home on a private lake and she had a super-dooper fun 4th of July party!  Jill's kids had a blast (as did everyone else's)!!!  Check out the pictures below to get an idea of how much fun we had!

So,

 obviously Brenda knows how to throw a party! 

 She is an amazing hostess and loves to have 

people over.....as my sister said "I'm really glad 

you have such great friends......"  

And I must admit....I am too!!   I am hoping she makes it an annual event!!! 

My time in Seattle was SO much fun!  I was so happy that I could participate in these fun activities, and I was even happier when I realized that it was only July 4th!  I have another 10 days to spend in Seattle!  WOO-HOO!!!

So yes, there is more to come.....

Leaving Modesto......

Okay, so first of all I must apologize for not keeping up with my blog.  I have received a few complaints that I don't update it regularly......which really surprised me, as I was shocked to know that people actually read it!  Anyway, where did I leave off????  Oh yes, MODESTO!

So, we left Modesto and hopped in the car and drove north.  For a really, really, really, long time, we drove north.  After many hours of driving, a couple stops for gas and a lunch stop at Taco Bell, we finally ended up in Brush Prairie, WA!!!  Home of my lovely parents, Barb and Dick Pflueger!  My mom and Dick have a really great farm house on about 10 acres of land.  My mom has three black cows that she loves, and has domesticated them to the point that they come when she calls or whistles for them.  It's kind of pathetic really.  Anyway, I'm not going to spend any time focusing on the cows, as they aren't going to be around much longer.  All I can say is "Beef.  It's what's for dinner."  

So, the next morning we said "good-bye" to Heather, my trusted road trip companion (she took the train up to Seattle to visit a college friend...) and mom and I headed to the farmers market in Beaverton, OR.  It was a lot of fun to hang out with my mom and see her enjoy looking at all of the different plants and vegetables.  She grew up on a farm and really enjoys plants and gardening.  For some reason I did not inherit even one of those genes.  I don't even like getting any sort of dirt under my fingernails.  Anyway, we had a good time looking at all of the things from the farms.  

My favorite story from this experience happened at one of the organic plant booths.  This man was looking at all of the different varieties of pumpkin plants, and his wife and two little boys were standing a few feet away waiting patiently for him to choose.  The woman who owned the booth finally came up to him and asked him if he needed any help.  Here was his response:  "Yes, I need to grow the biggest pumpkin possible because my 4 year old son HAS to win the biggest pumpkin contest at school.  The only thing he has talked about for the past year is winning the pumpkin contest.  It's all he wants in life!".  This man was 100% serious.  THIS WAS NOT A JOKE!  The woman seemed to take his request seriously (I, on the other hand, was cracking up!), and the woman's response was, "Well, you can choose any pumpkin start you'd like, but the only thing I can really tell you is 'compost, compost, compost'!!!"  Again, I was laughing, as this answer was SOOOO typical for someone from Oregon!  They take their compost very seriously as well!  Anyway,  it was a fun day at the market!  

I spent about 4 days with my mom and Dick and it was so nice to not feel rushed and hang out with my mom on her turf!  I know she really enjoyed having me meet her friends at church and visiting some of her relatives.  I have, of course, been to her house many times, however it's usually only for a day or two and then I head up to Seattle, so this was a nice treat to just see what her life on the farm is all about!  

She has such a beautiful flower garden and this year they also planted a HUGE vegetable and fruit garden.  She has rows and rows of everything from radishes to raspberries, beans to blueberries and everything in between!  She could feed 100 people with all the produce from that garden....and she probably will!  She is such a generous person....when I asked her what they were going to do with all of the food, her response was "there are lots of people in our ward at church who can definitely use it.....".  She is a good lady, that mom of mine!

After spending some time at the farm, we all packed up our beach gear and headed to 

on the Oregon Coast.  In Seaside, we met up with my sister Jill and her kids (Brooke who is 13, Caleb 12 and Jacob 5 months), as well as my Uncle Ray and Auntie Lonita from Seattle.   My aunt and uncle also brought along my cousin Lisa (who is my exact same age) and her two daughters (Jessica, 16 & MacKenzie, 14).  It was a complete party!  We had SOOOOO much fun!  We rode the bumper cars, played Skee Ball, ate corn dogs, watched Lisa capsize her paddle boat, walked our dogs along the beach and decided that none of the kids will ever be able to get their driver's license after watching them maneuver their surrey though traffic.  I think the best part was building a fire on the beach and making s'mores!  That could have actually been the highlight of the

entire summer!  It just doesn't get any better than that!  S'mores on the beach with your extended family....oh, and my niece Brooke singing "The Lip Gloss Song"....good times!  (here are some of the lyrics "They say my lip gloss be cool, my lip gloss be poppin, I'm standin at my locker, and all the boys keep stoppin.......My lip gloss is poppin'.....it's poppin'......yeah poppin'"......yeah, check out the link.  It's pretty hilarious (and also PG-13).....

Another funny thing at Seaside was the horse staying at my aunt and uncle's hotel!  Yes, 

horse!  Our family stayed at a timeshare property right on the beach and it was brand new and really gorgeous!  We loved it!  My aunt and uncle and their family stayed about 10 minutes down

the boardwalk, also on the beach, but at a hotel that accepted "pets".  

Well, we had no clue that "pets" included horses!  Chloe' the miniature horse was the talk of Seaside!  She was potty trained to go on a "pad" and most of the time she stayed on the patio, or she was tethered to the patio railing and would eat the grass on the other side of the patio.  So, I'm sure you're wondering how Chloe' traveled to Seaside....well, in the back of her owners Honda Passport, of course.  No trailer 

for Chloe'....she was pretty much the size of a large dog.....like a Great Dane.  

Chloe' was quite the Seaside Celebrity and at one point she was eating outside her hotel room and drawing quite a crowd.  A guy out on his balcony about 3 floors above saw all of the people gathering to watch the miniature horse eat her breakfast and I think he was feeling a little left out of the hoopla.....so he decided to have some fun and yelled down to the crowd "You think that's impressive?  We have an ELEPHANT up here on the third floor!!!"  Yeah, everyone's a comedian....I hope he keeps his day job!

So, after our few days at Seaside, it was time to head back to the farm.  I stayed at mom's one more night, then it was time to head to my favorite place on the planet.....(no, not Harrod's......it's my SECOND favorite place on the planet.....).  I'm sure you all know where I go next.....and I promise not to make you wait another month to find out what fun I had there on my road trip of the west coast!