A Puerto Vallarta Proposal!

On Friday morning, Cory woke me up at 6am and told me to pack my bags because he was taking me somewhere warm. It took a little convincing, but once he pulled out my half-packed suitcase I realized it wasn't just a mean joke - its been rainy and crappy in Seattle for months now - and we really were going somewhere with sunshine.

The realization

Turns out he planned a surprise trip to Puerto Vallarta!

Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico

After getting to our hotel and soaking up the last few hours of sun, we called it a night. Cory had our first full day all planned out. We took a taxi about 40 minutes south of town to Boca de Tomatlan. From there we were going to take a water taxi to Quimixto - or so we thought. 

 

Waiting for the water taxi

Due to a language barrier, a lack of communication, and how things are done in Mexico in general, the water taxi driver didn't stop at Quimixto and we didn't realize it until we stopped at the furthest beach - Yelapa - and everyone got off. So much for local public transit.

After a brief argument and the demand that we pay again if we wanted to go back to the correct beach (even though the taxi was going back anyway), we decided to stay put. Our waiter, who interjected to help us communicate with the water taxi driver, assured us that it was "no problemo" and Yelapa was better than Quimixto anyway.

Cory's perspective from Yelapa

I didn't realize that Cory had planned to take me on an hour-long hike into a remote waterfall at Quimixto and propose there. He didn't want to tip me off, and the waiter had told us there were waterfalls we could hike to in Yelapa too, so Cory decided to roll with it.

The wrong waterfall

Unfortunately, the waterfall in Yelapa - although very nice - was just at the end of town. There was a restaurant overlooking the area, a few different groups of people around, and a bathroom in sight just up the hill. Not what Cory had in mind when he formulated the plan to propose at a remote waterfall. He decided to wait.

View from our balcony

We enjoyed the rest of the afternoon at the beach and made our way back to the hotel. I cleaned up and got ready for dinner, then went to sit on our balcony and read. Cory knew he had to propose today for the sake of his nerves. He wanted to relax and enjoy the rest of the trip, so he decided a pre-sunset proposal on our balcony overlooking the ocean would do.

I think he made a good choice.

Pre-engagement photo

He brought a bottle of wine that we had been saving for a special occasion and opened it up while we were enjoying the view. Then he started telling me all the nice things that boys say to you before they propose, got down on one knee, fumbled around a second or two for the ring, and asked me to marry him. I said, "Of course!"

The moment - I'm glad I had just showered!

The ring!

Cory must have blacked out the entire proposal because once his heart stopped racing he had to make sure that a) he got down on one knee (I had to assure him that he did) and b) that I said "yes". When I told him that I said "of course" he made me confirm with an actual "yes" so there was no possibility for confusion.

We went to dinner at the hotel to celebrate and came back to the room. It was a fairly early night since we had to get up early to scuba dive the next morning. 

I realized just before we went to bed that we hadn't taken a post-engagement photo, so I set up the self-timer and snapped one in our room. We had to document this momentous event!

Post-engagement photo

The End

Stay tuned to find out more about our trip, including scuba diving, zip lining (aka canopy tour), and a pirate dinner adventure.

Pre-scuba diving

Flying through the trees!

Arrrrgh!

Operation: Ocean Shores

Last week Cory had to stay overnight at the Quinault Beach Resort and Casino in Ocean Shores, WA for work. Since Ocean Shores is about 130 miles and a little over 2 and a half hours from Seattle, he stays here when he's calling on doctors in this territory.

Quinault Beach Resort

I won't start comparing Washington beaches to the Southern California beaches that I'm used to because it'll just take us down a bad road. However, this hotel is right on the beach and since it happened to be the first nice day in about 3 months, I decided to put on my adventure hat and drive down after work to meet Cory. This meant I would have to leave at 6:30am to be back in Seattle in time for work the next day, but I figured, "what the hell, it'll be fun."

And it was!

The drive was beautiful (and sunny) and when I got there, although it was cold, Cory and I pretended to run on the beach by using the resort's indoor gym that looks out onto the ocean.

Approximate view from my elliptical machine

After trying to find dinner at 8pm both at our hotel and in town - and realizing everything was already closed - we settled for a beer and some bar food at the hotel "lounge".

All in all it was a quick and fun trip that reminded me that I need to keep a little spontaneity and flexibility in my life, even though it's not always the most sensible or convenient thing to do. It adds a little variety and a lot more fun!

Curling Fun

Who has ever heard of anyone curling (other than in the Winter Olympics of course)? I haven't. I only think about it every 4 years. At least until now...

Granite Curling Club - Seattle, WA

Apparently curling is quite popular in the Seattle area. I guess that's not a surprise since we're so close to Canada, but I still find it hard to believe that it's popular enough to have a curling club that's been around for 50 years.

According to our curling instructor, the Granite Curling Club is the only dedicated curling facility in the U.S. "this side of North Dakota" - potentially my favorite statistic ever.

Cory throwing the stone

Nick and Cory - Ready to sweep!

A group of us were invited to tag along on a birthday party for a friend of a friend since they needed 30 people to rent out the whole place. We had 6 people and one instructor to a lane.

After learning the basics from our Donald Sutherland look-a-like instructor (ironically named Don), we split up and played a very serious match. Don was very pleased with our athleticism, new-found curling skills, and competitive natures. I only fell over while sweeping once, but I think that's what cost my team the game. Blue lost to red - 6 to 5. Although you do normally play to 8....

I'm a natural!

Meet Ace

My friend Delinda got a Betta fish and named him Gary.  While deciding on a name, she also decided that her fish must be gay. She thought Gary was a great name for a gay Betta fish, but couldn't put her finger on why. The best part of the story is that a few short days later the water in Gary's tank turned pink from one of his plants. Coincidence? You be the judge.

I promptly decided that Gary needed a cohort in Seattle, in case he ever came to visit. So - without further ado - please say hello to the newest member of the Smith/Legg family:

Ace the Betta

Ace, his water conditioner, food, and Tiki man (the most expensive item at approx. $5) all came home on Wednesday night.

I don't think Ace is gay though

I've already learned a few things from Ace:

1. He can fit inside the Tiki man's mouth, which seems very small.
   
2. He likes to hide between the Tiki man and the side of the jar.
   
3. I don't think Pounce cares about him, just the water in his bowl. Or, Pounce is lulling me into a false sense of security.
   
4. Most Importantly, I learned that Cory will call my bluff when I tell him that I really, really want a fish. I forgot I had made this declaration. Then, after dinner with some friends, he drove me to the pet store and said something to the effect of, "Ok, go get your fish." Obviously I couldn't back down. Now we have Ace and I love him.

Babies Galore

The babies have arrived. Our Pregnancy Party back in January was the precursor to the baby parties we will be having now. Unfortunately Cory and I missed the "baby open house" that one of our friends had last Sunday, so we have only met 2 out of 3 babies.

Baby #1: Gage Jameson Whitney. Cory has no problem with babies, but isn't particularly interested in holding other people's babies just for the fun of it. Here he is enduring:

Cory and Baby Gage - only one of them is happy

Baby #2: Aspen Lyn Moore. Aspen is pretty much the cutest baby ever and easily has the best hair. She already has a punk rock mohawk. Baby Aspen was stuck in the hospital for a week due to an infection, but she's home now and happy as a clam...as long as it's not feeding time.

Aspen's 2nd day out of the womb

Home Opener Blues: Mariners Blow

The Mariners 2011 Home Opener started off promising. We saw a bit of sun, found a bar near the stadium that serves $3 tall boys before the game (The Hawk's Nest Bar & Grill), and had a group of 12 friends together to watch the game. As the roof retracted I was really getting into the spirit.

Seattle Mariners 2011 Home Opener

By the top of the 3rd (I think, it's too depressing to verify) the game was over. The Cleveland Indians were winning 12-0. Instead of watching the rest of the game, I ventured down to the beer garden to check out the new set-up.

The fences that separate the fans from the bull pen have been removed, so you can stand the new area called The 'Pen and watch the game unobstructed. This is great in theory, but it can't be that long before some drunk fan throws a beer on an opposing (or potentially our own) pitcher while he's warming up. Maybe they're betting that throwing an $8 stadium beer just isn't worth it to an angry fan.

Balcony above the Safeco beer garden

Maybe the best (read: worst) change of all is the addition of La Creperie to the beer garden/'Pen area. I mean, crepes are great and all, but it's bad enough Safeco serves the Ichiroll - a sushi roll. Are Seattleites really eating crepes at a baseball game?

La Creperie image from HipsterInMyLatte.com

Ichiroll image from TravelingFeast.net

Clown Car

Question: How do you fit 7 adults, 7 pieces of luggage, 6 ski/snowboard bags, and 1 cooler in a Chevy Traverse for a one hour trip?

No, we're not squeezing together for the picture...

Answer: You pack them in like sardines. You pack them in so tightly that it's difficult to get a good picture of the ordeal. Note: The three people piled into the two seats in the front of the car are not depicted.

After a few minutes of fighting off a claustrophobia-induced anxiety attack (I was in the middle of the back row - no window and no door close at hand), I was ready to ride!

My view for 1 hour