I Can Now Rent A Car!

Today I officially turned one quarter of a century old. While that in itself is noteworthy, I was discussing with a friend awhile back how birthdays now don't bring with them the milestones that they used to. You know, the magical numbers of 8, 12, 16, 18, and 21. Then, I realized that there is something extra special about this year - I get to rent a car on my own now! What a milestone! :)

It's been a wonderful day, and I'm so grateful for all of the birthday wishes that everyone sent my way - thank you so much to all!

Being that my birthday is on a Tuesday this year, we went out to dinner together this evening and I took a nap. I know - exciting huh? My co-workers also spoiled me with all sorts of birthday treats. It was a GREAT birthday! However, there is more to the story. First, for anyone who doesn't know, I married the most amazing man ever (I AM biased). He surprises me with so many wonderful things, treats me like a queen each and every day, and takes me on awesome vacations! This past weekend, his birthday present to me was a trip to the Oregon coast. We had such a wonderful time!

We left Friday morning and travelled to Cannon Beach - we took Highway 101 (the Pacific Coast Highway) for a good chunk of the journey, so we took our time sightseeing on the way down. Cannon Beach is gorgeous - most of the buildings are designed to have a similar look to them - more of a wood look, and it definitely added to the feel of the place. Although it's a pretty good-sized town, it definitely has the feel of a sleepy little beach town. We stayed at The Courtyard hotel (complete with fireplace and balcony) that was less than a 5-minute walk from the beach. It was raining on Friday, but that didn't stop us from taking a jaunt down to the beach right before dusk. Saturday we headed down to Tillamook to visit the famous cheese factory. It was great fun to tour the facilities, taste some cheese, and finish it all off with the best mint chocolate chip ice-cream I've ever had! I even took a picture by a statue of a cow (for those who don't know, I grew up in a small town on a small farm, so it was amusing to me to take this picture).

After returning from Tillamook, we headed to the beach again where our friends Travis & Katie from Portland met us. It was a beautiful day out (the sun was even out) and we got some great pictures of a gorgeous sunset. I even found a mostly whole sand dollar. We were kind-of weirded out by what we think were jelly-fish that the tide had left behind. After the beach, we enjoyed a nice steak dinner before our friends had to return home.
After leaving our hotel Sunday morning, we took one last trip down to the beach. The timing was perfect because the tide was still pretty low, so we were able to walk out to Haystack Rock and check out the tide pools. Very cool!

It was wonderful to get away, and awesome to be so close to the beach. I love the ocean, and there's something amazing about the wide-open expanse of it. We don't get that here - the Puget Sound is much more calm than the open ocean, and it never gets old to see!
Finally, when we returned home, I found a package at my door from my family - they sent me a gift card to Bath & Body Works, and my sister sent me a Cadbury Egg! Yay! They know me well!
It's been an amazing past few days! Thank you to all who made it so wonderful, especially to my sweetheart who always makes me so happy!

Enjoy the pictures...




Travis, Katie, me and Adam in front of Haystack Rock.
A jellyfish???

Nummy mint chocolate-chip ice-cream!

One of the many views along the highway