saturday adventures

This Saturday wasn't a really lazy one. We biked awhile... (12.5 miles total according to Google Pedometer)

Passing a not-too-shabby waterfall (you can tell when I've just said "SMILE!" can't you?)

And on our route back, we found a pretty hidden little place with a stream and several waterfalls. Up here by these little pools it was actually warm enough to swim. For Carson to swim, that is. I sat down in the water but it didn't get further up than the bottom of my tank top. Coooold!

Yay helmets!

Later in the day, we drove up to Raven's Roost, where there are a bunch of cell phone/ radio towers and incredible views - here's Mount Rainier

And here's us with Rainier - it didn't work out so well, but those peaks are back there, I promise!

And since we hadn't had enough adventure, Carson climbed up and into one of the buildings. I obviously wasn't tall enough to make it up there but I helped by giving him a boost.

And then he threw some snowballs at me... it's strange to be in flip flops and jeans in the snow - stranger to be in shorts, tank top and chacos in the snow. (Thank goodness for the jacket Carson had stashed in the back of the car for me)

Making Lemonade.

So sometimes life gives you... lemons. 

They say to make lemonade. But few of us want to. 

My lemon was going to the doctor. I've had this obnoxious sand in my ear for exactly one month and it's caused some pain and hearing issues with my left ear. So after days of sticking olive oil and garlic in there, Carson made the executive decision that I needed to go to the doctor. 

I don't like doctors. 

But I went. 

And they washed the sand out (as much as they could - it's been there for awhile so it's kinda wanting to stick around in there). And they washed it again. And again. And again. I was there for awhile. 

The lemonade hadn't happened at this part. 

But then the doctor came back in to talk about it and check it out. As she was writing the prescription, she asked why I had sand in my ear. I told her about Mexico. She told me about her trip to Cancun, then asked if I knew Spanish. 

"Nope. I took Russian in high school" I said. "Russian?! I love Russian!" and she proceeded to tell me about her niece and nephew in law who are in Ukraine. And her trips to Belarus. And her trips to Russia. And her faith in Jesus.

So there I was, sitting in a walk-in clinic, chatting with the doctor about life, missions, and the Gospel. Sweet fellowship in the oddest place. 

As we got up to walk out (I think we talked for nearly 45 minutes), she said, "You know, I think the sand in your ear was actually just to get you in here. Today." 

Me too. 

It was a lemonade kind of day after all. At the doctor, of all places. 

the details

Maybe you're getting tired of looking at house pictures, or maybe you're thrilled to see more. Either way, here are some freshly uploaded ones for you to feast your eyes upon! We'll just pretend you've come to visit the Bays and we're showing you around. It's really the next best thing. Lucky you :)

Our front door. The door and the front of the house are finally painted! The sides are getting worked on this week. 

Our fridge. It's pretty small, but then again, we don't need that much stuff in there! I love adding pictures of friends and family. On the bottom half is a picture that Ella, our three year old neighbor, colored for us. She's precious, by the way.

Our message board. One of two, as a matter of fact. We got one from a garage sale pre-marriage, and this was a wedding gift. Great for reminding ourselves of things to do. And the kind friend that gave this to us found pictures from our wedding week!

I love this jar. Nick, an old friend of Carson's, made it for us as a wedding gift. He put a copper plate on the bottom with his name and our names. Such a neat gift to have. I almost can't believe we're using it for spoons and cooking utensils, but then again, this way we get to see it everyday!

The ceramic Croc cell phone holder. It's sitting proudly on our kitchen windowsill. This particular item was not welcomed by me, but Carson spotted it at a garage sale for 25 cents and had to buy it. I'm working on loving this.

These tiny vases were a gift from Danita. I really like the mix of happy colors. When I took this picture, they were on a windowsill but today, they got moved to the kitchen table.

I rarely use cookie cutters, so now that I have some, I'm going to have to find a good recipe for cut-out cookies! I filled this small ceramic mixing bowl with all the cutters we got as, you guessed it, wedding gifts!

We have this neat wooden bowl, and I couldn't find a place to put it, since we have all functional, not any decorative, spaces. So I rolled up all the kitchen towels we have and now it's pretty and functional!

This last picture isn't of the kitchen, but I forgot to include the bookcase on my earlier posts. This is but a small part of our book collection... the others are boxed up or in SC.

one month!

It's been ONE month! It seems way longer because a lot has happened and a lot shorter because wow, thirty days went SO quickly! Most of the time, it doesn't feel like we're truly married but it's been a wonderful month and we've really loved being Mr. and Mrs. Bay.

Here are a few pictures of May 22, 2010:

On the way to the wedding... We took all our pictures beforehand so we took this while waiting before the ceremony.

Our bridal party:

Groomsmen: Anthony, Tyson, Scott, Trent 

Bridesmaids: Becca, Jillian, Brooke, Morgan, Emily

Flowergirls: Annabelle, Grace, Emma

Waiting out the rain... to take more pictures!

Ceremony

Up the aisle - love that Dad and I are making the same face

The kiss

Cutting the cake (we were SO clueless...)

First dance "The Way You Look Tonight" (Michael Buble)

Father-Daughter/ Mother-Son dance "What a Wonderful World" (Louis Armstrong)

photo credits:
Whoever had my camera (Justin Holmes/Various bridesmaids); Jillian Kipe; Josh Brant

Life Pictures

I walked back outside to my Bible Study I was doing outside to find... Ivy... joyously waiting my return. "Our dogs" have come to be fun to have around.

Notice the bottom left corner. While we're glad not to be pet owners, we do share with the dogs that come to our door. In the bowls is leftover roast beef. They weren't sharing so Carson made each dog her own bowl. 

We went hiking last Sunday! Carson found this huge dandelion-like thing. It was as big as my hand!

More of what it looks like here; on the same hike.

So Carson's mom made a book contrasting our wedding and Trent and Erin's... this page was just too perfect NOT to take such a shot. Shannon and Danita (mom) behind the pages. 

Um, yep, this is where we spend our Wednesday evenings... Naches Laundry. Joy. 

 It's strange to be in a place where we can see snow - in JUNE! This was taken (on a mountain pass - don't think it snows at night here or anything) on the way back from Olympia. There was a bank of snow taller than Carson! By the way, I was wearing flip flops... it was chilly!

So that's just a bit more of how life is going for the Bay Family.  Enjoy!

A New Blog

Well, we're married now! Since my name has changed, I changed blogs also. I'm not deleting this one, but my primary blogging will be done here:

carsonandlindsaybay.blogspot.com

our little house

Naches and our surrounding area: 

This is pretty much what it looks like. A totally different kind of "beautiful" than the coastal lowcountry beauty I'm used to, or even mountainy, like I've lived in more lately. This is "high desert".

The "downtown" of Naches. Makes Beaufort look huge :)

Us! In front of our house, which is currently in the process of being painted... hence the really old and worn look. 

First thing you walk into - the kitchen! I didn't put away the clean dishes before taking this picture. Oops!

Our little table

Our bedroom. This is the clean side. The other side has bookshelves and all our clothes folded and stacked up. It's organized but looks super messy. Maybe one day we'll share a picture of it. 

The bathroom - the most storage in the whole house so we keep everything that won't fit anywhere else in here. It works, but I guess it is a bit strange to keep duffel bags in your bathroom. Oh - that's a hot water heater right there by the door... also doubles as a place to put clothes and things for after a shower. 

Dad asked yesterday if I wanted a dog. I told him that we have two. But they aren't ours; they just hang out in front of our house. They belong to our next-door neighbor and landlord, Kathryn. This is Ivy and Sage. They happen to love us (and I'm sure it has NOTHING to do with the fact that they got samples of dinner the other night).

There ya go! Our house and a little bit of our surrounding area. 

so, we're married...

We are MARRIED.

I don't think it's set in yet, as we keep looking at each other over dinner and saying "Wow, we're married" with bewilderment. It will one of these days; maybe when we argue over whose turn it is to lock the front door at night or maybe when I finally get down to the Social Security office to change my last name (I know... I know...).

It's hard to believe that only two and a half weeks ago we got married - so much has happened - the wedding, the honeymoon in Mexico, the visit back to Beaufort, the moving in to our new place in Naches, and the two receptions in Washington. It's been crazy - like a really long vacation :)

Anyway, we are now Mr. and Mrs. Bay, residing in the bustling metropolis of Naches... okay, maybe not so much, as Carson informed me this morning that its population is a whopping seven hundred. They make small towns REALLY small out here, apparently :)

I forgot my camera cord when I drove into Yakima (the nearest actual city) so I can't post the pictures of our darling little house in town. It's very small, but we're there and it's great and I'm so glad. I wish every one of you could come out to see where we live. It reminds me of a cute town in a movie. I absolutely love it.

Can't wait to share more, next time I get internet (I'm hanging out in a Starbucks to get internet, soaking in the coffee smell and the jazz being played over the loudspeakers).

much love,

mrs. bay :)