escape to Seattle

Hooray for Spring! January and February end up being pretty hard months for Matt and I. (maybe the rest of the world too?) Between finances, the Holidays being over, the weather, oi! It gets a lil Dark Farm over here. So at the jump of Spring Break, Matt and I dropped off the boys at their grandparents and tried not to speed away too fast.

Seattle was the obvious choice for a weekend away. We left half our hearts in this city and were aching to visit. Two days downtown, eating our way through the city and two days at our dear friends guest house. It was the perfect trip.

The sunshine came out for us as it usually does. Not sure if the years we spent in the city were out of character, but we have no problem with Seattle weather. (having a WAY harder time with Idaho weather)

Salted Caramel and Thai Tea ice cream at Molly Moon's

Brunching with friends Ty and Rhiannon after date night with Hillary and Alfred. These friends really rolled out the red carpet for us. Rhiannon and Hillary also cooked up the most delicious spring supper for Matt and I's visit. All the while catching up and pouring drinks and welcoming a meercat into their home ;) I have missed these girls! (and Matt his fight nights in the Warbox)

As this girl!! Matt met up with a friend for a few hours while Linds and I toured her hip neighborhood and thrifted through Fremont.

She took basically the most amazing photos of me ever. (you know how you never like a photo of yourself? this was the complete opposite, brought out my narcisism in a big way ;) also, this one)

 Dan and Ellen treated us to dinner out at Brookyn's Oyster Bar. Amazing food, especially the Northwest Bouillabaisse. And this girl even tried a couple of those raw oysters! When in Rome...

 We grabbed breakfast at Homegrown before lunch at Buddha Ruksa. (some beach power walks in between) No pictures at Homegrown but it was delightful and the pictures of the Crispy Garlic Chicken may not seem like much but there is a reason it is called "Crack Chicken."

 Hard to drive home, but in the best way. And... we came home to Idaho rain.

Halloween

 Eventful Halloween for the Archuletas. A trunk or treat, painted pumpkins from Grandma Ellen, and our lovely 90 year old neighbor spoiling the boys with treats. For the big night we were lumberjacks, a dice (die?), a Jet from West Side Story, chef Gordan Ramsey, and Pete's Dragon. Here's the photo dump to prove it.

Now this is the story all about how My life got flipped, turned upside down...

 A photo dump to explain away the move. Or start to anyway. It started with the urge to repaint the interior of our house. I had wanted to for over a year but, such is life. When we jumped in with 5 gallons of 'Ancient Stone' as recommended by the Rehab Addict, it looked just about one million times better. No joke.

It was actually around May when I felt like maybe our time in Seattle was over. Matt had a couple ideas to make the work stress and schedule better but nothing panned out. So in July, I really started in thinking about what was next. Our lifestyle was not sustainable, the cost of living in Seattle has been a battle. Returning to Idaho made the most sense but there was uncertainty about employment for Matt. I became obsessed with making the jump back but Matt was not convinced. Then came a phone call with a job offer for a job he had not even applied for. We took it as all doors were now open. The housing market was booming, most of our extended family are in Idaho, and Matt's mom recently remarried and moved out of her home leaving an convenient transition for Matt and I. (no having to rent or buy from Washington) I am skipping over a lot here but you get the idea. The timing was so quick that we hardly had time to wonder about the future.

We celebrated this guy turning 12, with style.

 Sharing our most favorite Toulouse Petit with the boys. You should have seen the look on the waitress' face, convinced we were wasting our money. And then her face when they all licked their plates clean.

The monorail! Aden had this on his wish list since Christmas. 

 Such a fun day doing all the touristy things about the city. Love this family of mine. Blessed by how they navigate the city with ease.

 Finally visited Coleman Pool, on my list for 2 years!

 Wined and dined by the best girlfriends.

 Cleaned everything manically. Fridges are GROSS. This is the after, so pretty I had to capture it.

 Wine at the skatepark.

Goodbyes with friends.

 Football in the park. Seattle summer is GLORIOUS.

 And my lil' sis is 30! Fun night at Barrio followed by Molly Moon's.

 Spotless. The house looked awesome, as long as there was not anyone actually trying to do any living there.

 Digging out buried treasures to keep this little one occupied while I cleaned.

All the can't miss Seattle spots, like Meander's, we tried to hit up one more time.

Most days we looked a lot like this.

Delridge Days! It is just nuts the opportunities that existed just a few minutes from our home. This was a free skate lesson with live competitions all day long. Took our mind off from all the packing.

The plan was to arrive in Idaho in time to start the Nampa school year then return on Labor Day Weekend to pack up all our things. (And thank God! Our house sold that first week we were gone!)

I told Matt I wanted to hit the road by 9am and by golly, it just worked out.

Forgive the rushed post but I had to start somewhere.