May

May has been a great month. My birthday, lots of sunshine, OKC Thunder wins, etc. And more fun to come. Patrick and I are flying home for his little sister's wedding and then driving back to Alaska! We are super excited to spend time with friends and family, celebrate Jen and Mike, and take a different tour of the US.

We watch most of the Thunder games here, at Alice's Champagne Palace.

It is haircut month, apparently. I cut Patrick's long luscious locks, I got a haircut, and so did Gus!

The cute salon I go to in Homer.

Gus came to work with me to show off his haircut.

 We celebrated my birthday early because I would be working in Kenai on the actual day. Turns out, we celebrated twice because Patrick drove to Kenai and surprised me with these gorgeous flowers.

 Finn's Pizza is one of our very favorite restaurants and it just opened this month. It is on the Homer Spit (a skinny 5 mile piece of land that juts out into the bay) and there are lots of fun restaurants and businesses that are open only during the summer.

Driving out to the Spit.

I have a lapdog.

Finn's!

Always time for the beach.

Fresh produce from Washington!

Who doesn't love a little Ghostface on vinyl?

Dinner Party

 This year my birthday falls in the middle of the week and I will be out of town, so we decided to have a few friends over to celebrate a little early. One thing I miss the most here is good Thai and Indian food, so Patrick cooked a feast of red and green curry, pad thai and spring rolls. 

The food was totally delicious and we finished off the meal with Patrick's Blueberry Crisp-my fave.

Our friend, Justin, who helped Patrick cook dinner.

One of my dearest friends, Jill.

Another one of my dearest friends, Jenny. She is expecting a baby in September!

 A few weeks ago, I showed Patrick a photo of this necklace and asked if he could make one. He told me there was no way he could make that and kept asking if I wanted the one on the website. I of course did not want the one on the website; I wanted one made by him. Anyways, it was no big deal and I forgot about it. On Sunday night he gave me an envelope and inside were TWO beautiful heart necklaces that he made with his very own hands. The big one is made out of red heart wood and the small one made of iron wood. They are so beautiful and perfectly smooth. By far one of the sweetest and most special gifts I have ever received.

Weekend Fun

The days continue to get longer-we are gaining about 5 minutes of daylight each day. Lately it has started to feel like summer. And the snow is already melting! Last year the snow at our house didn't totally melt until July. We had a busy weekend planned, so Friday night we decided to spend an evening at home. Patrick chopped some wood (one of his favorite activities) and built us a fire (another one of his favorite activities).

 We made a pizza and drank some wine and enjoyed the late evening sunshine.

 My favorite company in the whole world.

 After dinner and the fire we decided to get really crazy with our Friday night...we took a walk to our mailbox. We live on Strawberry Ridge, and pass by the sign on the way to get the mail.

 This is what our mailboxes look like, in case you were wondering.

 The light and sunsets have been gorgeous lately.

 Saturday morning egg and cheese waffles! (Literally, waffles made out of eggs and cheese)

 We spent the afternoon at a Bluegrass Festival at Alice's Champagne Palace.

On Sunday we wished all of our favorite mothers a happy mother's day and prepared for a dinner party for my birthday...photos coming soon. 

Mother's Day in Denver

I headed to Denver a couple of weeks ago for work, and last weekend my mom flew up and met me there. We had such a fun weekend celebrating (an early) Mother's Day and my birthday. 

9 to 5 the musical. I grew up loving this movie and the musical was hilarious.

The only thing that would have made it better is if Dolly Parton had been there in person.

We loved our hotel!

My beautiful and amazing mother. <3

Denver Art Museum

Larimer Square

Rockies vs. Pirates

Dinner at Panzano-so good!

 My mom gave me the photos below as an early birthday gift. I love it so much, but it was really special because my parents recently found some old photographs in my late grandmother's collection that none of us had ever seen. Will be cherishing this for a very long time!

 Love you Mom!!!

The Final Result

This is the toolbox that Patrick has been working so hard on in his woodworking class.

As you can see, it is gorgeous. But what is most remarkable to me is that it is all pieced together, with no nails or screws. Patrick has become quite the craftsman when it comes to chiseling and cutting perfect dovetail joints.

 I also love the different types of wood used and the inlay. Most of the wood is maple and red oak, and the inlay is red heart wood.