The last Kentucky trip EVER

Making me a drink for the first and last time in their garage bar.

So I think I didn't make a big enough deal about it yet, but John is moving to California!! He got a great job and he's moving to California! We're going to be on the same coast!! Every visit to see him is going to be a vacation!!!! Honestly, I was anxious about it at first that it was not Washington, but it's grown on me so much more and now I can honestly say that I can't wait!! He accepted the offer earlier this month and will be in California within a month from now. I had already booked this past trip to Kentucky, so John stayed an extra week at his old work to accommodate this trip, but that meant this was my last trip to Kentucky ever!!! Woohoo!!  I have nothing against Kentucky. It's really a beautiful state, but it's become a symbol of $400 plane tickets and nothing to do... Really, I was never going to move there and John wasn't really planning on staying there permanently, so there was no future for us there, so this move has been a ticking time bomb waiting to explode.

Anyway, here are pictures from my last trip to Kentucky. EVER! That feels so good to say. Actually, John asked me if I'd come back in May for a wedding... but I'm thinking no.

This is at John's coworker's apartment's pool. He actually brought John the pool key when he heard I was coming to town.

John and I at a scenic viewpoint on the way to Virginia.

Picking John up from work. He didn't take any time off  while I was there, so I had a lot of time to pass by myself. I was planning to just study for the NCLEX, but then John was so thoughtful, he bought me Sims 4 so I wouldn't get bored. [insert heart eyes emoji here]

We drove to Cincinnati one day to go to the Gap Clearance Store (uhhhh omg we spent so much money. I love gap, but I don't like gap outlet, but this store is the most beautiful thing that was ever birthed from the 2) and then waited 40 minutes for Eli's BBQ. It was BOMB. We ate until we got so sleepy that it was dangerous to drive home.

We ate at Ramsey's for the last time for a quadruple celebration- my last meal in KY, John leaving Lexington, Seahawks win in overtime and the 49ers loss this week. I think people usually get their own plates, but we made it family style, and it was so much better that way. We actually weren't sure if we should go out to eat or make dinner, but one of John's roommates got really angry and was slamming doors after the girl he was watching the game with left before the game ended and the Seahawks won. It was scary at the time, but now it's funny. 

Anyway, that's all. It's over. No more Kentucky! It's not even bittersweet, it's just exciting :)

Hiding away...

I've been hiding away... in Kentucky... for the last time... because John got a job in southern California!! I am beyond excited. He's moving next month to start a DREAM job and I'm just out here bumming around until school starts next week.

Anyway, we spent last weekend in Virginia to see all my cousins and to visit my grandma who just had her second knee replacement surgery. We stayed at my cousin's apartment at the University of Virginia, and my cousins from Virginia Tech and Virginia Commonwealth drove over to hang out. John wore his tank tops and pastel shorts which he got crap from all my cousins for because he fit in with the frat bros. His tank top with a pocket on the chest was apparently a 'frocket' and there were a lot of young gentlemens type clothing stores. The UVA students also use 1st years, 2nd years, 3rd years, 4th years instead of freshmen, sophomores, etc; and they call school campus instead of grounds. Apparently UVA has a reputation for being snooty because Thomas Jefferson used to live there, or as my older cousin put it, they all "have sticks up their *****".

We went to the farmers market in Charlottesville and I stepped toe-deep in a muddy puddle so I was really uncomfortable, but the food made up for it. We also went to a progressive.... I'd never heard of one before, but it's where you go from certain apartments to the next and get a different drink and at the end everyone is just plastered and at one place. The police came because of FOUR noise complaints. UVA has a weird little subculture. The best part of the trip was playing Bananagrams for hours. Seriously, I love Bananagrams. John and I have been playing words with friends so I was seriously kicking butt, but I realized how much John doesn't like it... because he is just getting his butt kicked all day long.

John learned what the term NoVa meant (north Virginia) which is where actual civilization is, so he started designating everywhere we went in terms of geographical location. SoVa (south VA), WoVa (west VA)... The trip was so fun. Seeing John at my uncle's house was so weird in a good way. I visited at house at least once every other summer growing up, so it's just an environment that is so ingrained in my childhood. I'm not used to seeing John there, but it was nice. I can't think of better adjectives to describe how I felt except weird and nice, but it is a mixture of both those feelings.

Anyway, here are some fun pictures from the weekend.

This is what happened when we told John to go outside and play...

We went to this really cool brewery that we had to drive 30 minutes into the mountains for. It was beautiful and they had games that we sucked at. Nam and John challenged these 2 blondes and got their butts kicked.

We visited my grandparents at my aunt and uncle's. My grandma seemed like she was doing really well for only a couple weeks post-surgery. My grandpa was really caring and got her ice for her leg. The only thing he needed her to do was to fold the laundry... because he literally did not know how. I don't think he's ever folder a shirt in his life!! My grandma, on the other hand, folds neater than a machine. I kid you not. 

But really, they are the cutest little grandparents ever. I know everyone says that about their grandparents, but no, mine are the cutest. My grandma has been sleeping on a hospital bed (which is a single) that is currently in the study, so my grandpa sleeps on a cot next to her instead of upstairs in their room. Seventy plus years, and still not a single night apart. Besides when my grandma was hospitalized for the surgery.

My grandpa waving bye. That is how you judge a good host- they see you out.

Also, I've joined a new family. And Chase says he wants to be a Seahawk.

Yoga Stand Up Paddleboarding

Kathie being a total diva adjusting her sunglasses during class

A couple months ago before summer, Kathie asked me if I wanted to do yoga SUP because there was an awesome deal on amazon local for 3 classes. Ambitious and naive enough to think that I was actually not going to be too lazy to go, I agreed. We were excited to go, but summer somehow slipped quickly past us and last week we realized our deal was about to expire! So, being too economical to just forget about the $39 we had already spent, we carved out some time in our schedules to go.

So far, we have gone twice with 2 different teachers. I liked the smaller class with the calming female teacher, but Kathie liked the bigger class with the male teacher who was into doing more extreme poses on the paddleboard (2 people fell off their boards during his class- 0 fell off in the other class). It was no surprise Kathie liked his class better because Kathie is extreme. My favorite part was paddling out to where we anchored ourselves and paddling back. The yoga part in between was ok, but I don't think yoga is really my thing in the first place. I don't think I'll ever feel the need to buy a deal and force myself to go again. We were pretty lazy before each class- complaining and saying how we didn't want to go, but the cheap Asian inside would not let us stay home and let that money go to waste. But we had fun each time! But for some reason, I feel like before our 3rd and final class, we will still be dreading going to still. Anyway, here are some pictures of Kathie on the water.

Tied up on our paddleboards like cattle

My favorite part- paddling

Kathie befriending the waterfowl

A Very GoPro Wedding

OoooOooOoooOOOooooo... Fish eye

For John's birthday, I bought him a GoPro for all his adventure-documenting needs. We felt like how our parents must feel when they're learning how to use facebook or install a printer onto their computer, because it was so frustrating getting the little thing to work. My patience wore thin much quicker than John's so he ended up figuring it out so he wore it on his chest for the wedding!

Since Kim didn't have a videographer, it was great because John was able to record speeches and thank yous and the ceremony. Also, lots of funny conversations, and people pointing at John's chest. GoPro rules. Other than being slightly dizzying from all the shaking, the video quality is excellent (make sure to watch it in HD!), and the sound is clear. John left the GoPro with me so I will have to figure out how to use this thing myself so I can record my own adventures! Before the ceremony, John set the camera to snap a picture every 30 seconds so there are so pretty cool candid ones. The rest of the day was caught on video, and with my amateur video editing skills, we made a little wedding video! Enjoy! And congratulations to Kim and Andy!

My stout little dad

This is Howard, the photographer. I feel like he needs to be recognized, because he worked so hard and is nice, and wasn't even in 1 wedding photo.

This photo wasn't taken on the GoPro, but this is what John looked like with the chest strap on! So Ironman-esk.

And lastly, the little wedding video pieced together by me! I'm pretty proud of myself. Eventually, I'll make a video with sound from the day because there are some pretty funny conversations out there.

Virginians in Washington

Wedding Crashers

My sister got married the other weekend so I have been so busy hosting family and scurrying around to get things done, but it is all finally winding down. The wedding was beautiful (pictures to come later), and we all boozed and danced, and got through the day, even having fun while doing it! It was so nice to have family here and to have people around all the time to get together and eat. Why don't we just all move to one corner of the United States? And why not that one corner be the Pacific Northwest, because it's the best corner? Sigh... Honestly, I don't think I even had to do any convincing, the city did it for me! But anyway, now they're all gone and I miss the company. It's bittersweet really- on the one hand, I am so excited to get back to my summer nothing, but I'm also really sad all my family is gone! I think when we were younger, we didn't really appreciate each other enough, but now the age difference doesn't feel as significant and we can just all get along!

We piled up to 8 people at my apartment so we had people sleep essentially everywhere except the closets, but it was so fun! We ate and drank and played a lot of Taboo and Heads Up!. One night at dinner with all the parents, we actually got some of the parents to play and it was a hoot. We teamed together to act out a really good centipede, with everyone holding onto the waist of the person in front of them. I basically forgot all responsibilities for a week, until alas, they slowly started leaving and we were so tired from having fun that the remaining pulled out all our laptops and had nightly computer lab hour so we could actually get some work done.

Anyway, here is a haphazard collection of photos from the past 2 weeks! We did so much more than this, but no joke, I was having so much fun, I forgot to take pictures!

Enjoying Essential Baking Company sandwiches the morning after the wedding. Oh, didn't you know? It's tradition for the bride to sit outside on the cement and eat a sandwich on the ground the morning after her wedding.

Ballin' out at Din Tai Fung. When we asked for straws, the waitress said, "Curly or straight?". Ummm, is that a rhetorical question?

Out in Belltown at 2 am on a Monday night. WHO ARE WE.

John invited his friends to go paddleboarding with us and together we made a giant Asian paddleboard gang.

Siblings sharing a tiny slice of coconut cake.