Easter celebrations and the western side of WA.

I know its a little belated but...I hope everyone had a wonderful and blessed Easter!
I have been enjoying my new job. I basically see 2-4 patients a day and I am only "working" out on the road for about 3-5 hours a day. I have a lot of flexibility because I can make my schedule as I want it. However, when I get home the craziness begins. I have to write all the notes for the patients I saw that day... call doctors offices and get orders.... email all the members of the team to let them know the patients progress... let the schedulers know if there are any changes that need to be made to my schedule... call the patients I will be seeing the next day and schedule their appts... coordinate with my PT Assistance regarding the patients she saw that day.....etc. The list goes on and on. By the time I have done all that its late and I am tired of typing. So I say all that to say, today is the first time I have actually been willing and able to sit and write for pleasure rather then work (and that's only cause I plan to finish all my notes tomorrow.)

The rest of this entry is going to be in reverse chronological order, so be prepared :)

Easter Sunday
Jess and I went to church in the morning and then came home colored eggs, had a lamb and quiche lunch, watched a movie and then proceeded to destroy all our hard work and made deviled eggs. :) They didn't stay Easter eggs for very long. Lucky was much more interested in the deviled eggs then the Easter eggs.

 Easter Eve: Saturday
Saturday was the most beautiful day I have seen since I have been here. It was a sunny, warm 68 degrees and everyone was out and about! Jess and I had a perfect day! First, we visited Snoqualmie falls which was beautiful, and then went to a local winery (there are a ton in this area.) We did a tour and wine tasting. The tour was one of the most interesting I have ever been on. The guide was a retired high-school teacher and he was very animated. He went into all kinds of detail about the wine making process. All the way from how the weather effects the fruit, to the "toasting" of the inside of the oak barrels and how that brings out more red color. Then, he taught us the proper way to assess and taste the wines.

After the tour we spent a few hours out on the lawn of the winery reading in the sunshine. A bunch of people come there with blankets, buy some wine from the store and enjoy the day with a glass and a book. I just finished the book I was reading called "Firefly Lane". It was a good book about friendship. Dawn sent it to me while I was in Maine, but for one reason or another, I had not had a chance to read it till I got out here. Little did I know that the whole book was set in Seattle! It was kinda crazy how every time Jess and I would visit some place new I would read the book that night and the characters in the book would go to that same place. I mean EVERY time. From the popular, Pikes Place Market, to the not so desirable location of Pioneer square where the homeless people hang out. It was weird! But, I loved being able to visualize exactly where they were and what the author was describing. After one of the characters moved to Bainbridge Island (which we'll get to), they went out for a nice dinner on Alki beach... and segue...

The weekend before last we spent a lot of time west of Seattle. (We live east of the city.) There is a beautiful area called Alki beach which has a ton of cute restaurants and shops right on the water. We walked around a bit even though it was quite cold, but we warmed up by sitting near the fire pit at one of the local Mexican restaurants where we had dinner.

Also that weekend, we took the ferry over to Bainbridge Island.

It was amazing seeing the contrast of the big city on one side of the ferry and the island with trees on the other side.
After wandering the book stores and knick-knack shops on the island we headed back to the mainland and went to the University of Washington. Better known to the locals as "U dub." U dub's claim to fame is the plaza of cherry trees which bloom at this time of year. Thankfully, we made it there before all the blossoms had fallen off.

There are some pretty amazing places around here, and I have only seen the tip of the iceberg so far! :)