Sequoia National Park

After a few days on the beach, Jeremy and I met up with some friends of his and spent a few days camping and exploring Sequoia National Park. The trees which give the park its name are literally thousands of years old! They stretch hundreds of feet into the air and can be 20-30 feet in diameter. Amazing!

Laguna Beach

This morning we drove approximately 4.5 hours from Vegas to San Clemente, CA. After arriving at Jeremy's friends' house we spent some time shopping at IKEA and Trader Joe's. Then we drove back via the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway). It was beautiful! Below are a few pictures of Laguna Beach...



Jeremy has a collection of pictures showing his feet throughout his travels. I thought these would add another dimension...

Vegas

An average of 105-110 degrees on the strip made for some extremely long walks in the last few days... Luckily you can get from one end to the other by walking inside casinos and get air conditioning for almost half of the 2 mile stretch! We gambled a bit, but lost less than $25 between the two of us. We spent the majority of our time at the pool, walking, and eating good food.
A few of Jeremy's pics...

Relishing in the last few days of summer...

With only fourteen days of summer left, Jeremy and I have been enjoying our new home. Relaxing the days away and getting in some walks in the few dry hours each day. It is definitely rainy season (maybe even monsoon season) here in the San Juans. I almost couldn't make it home from school on Thursday due to water pouring onto the road, bringing mud and rocks with it. Luckily they've been doing a pretty good job of cleaning it up. That is until today, when Jeremy bent a rim by hitting a very large rock. It's very hard to see them coming up when you're behind a UPS truck! Luckily it's only a few hundred dollars to replace the rim and there was no apparent damage to any other part of the car. Jeremy had the tire changed within 15 minutes and we weren't even late for his meeting at school!

We have decided to head out on a road trip tomorrow morning. Our first stop is Vegas for three days; then the west coast to rest on a beach for three days. Finally, we'll wrap it all up in Sequoia National Park camping with some friends. After that it's officially time to head back to school.

Pictures of our trip coming soon!

Bath time...

The robe grandma bought me...

And of course the slippers!

After a few days with Jeremy back in St. Louis, I'm back in Evansville for one last week. Mom had to head back to work, so now its just me with the new family. But while mom was still here, we managed to get out and find THE dress. It was great to have both my mom and sister there with me (and Riley too, of course!) to shop for my wedding dress. I felt amazing in it!

So far we have set the date and place (June 27, 2009 in Edwardsville). We have someone to marry us, and I have my dress. I'd like to think that's a good start for eleven months out, but I'm sure the details will start piling. Even though I'm sure it will be stressful at times, I AM SO EXCITED!

Hope everyone's having a great summer! Below is my newest portrait of Riley. Enjoy!