Jumping Off Waterfalls! + other fun (3 year anniversary, too)

This has been a really fun & exciting summer.  We finally feel like we are 'home'.  Our friends are great, we hang out with them often, we love our new place and both have new, great jobs. (Zak just started a new job for the school, he'll be working part-time doing A/V set up.  He's really excited about it, and it'll be a good fit with our schedules!) 

We have had a lot of fun adventures this summer and made a lot of good memories.  A few weeks ago Bryan & Chad got engaged and we had fun celebrating the love they share.  We are all really excited and happy for them.  The day after the party we went hiking with them and Kandace up in Elk River, about an hour/hour and a half away.  It was seriously beautiful and amazing to be in the forests.  We hiked for an hour or so and then sat and ate lunch with a beautiful vista of one of the three waterfalls in the park area.  We saw some people swimming in the lower falls area, but couldn't figure out how to get there; it was really steep and no clear path.  We then decided to go back to the first waterfall and try to get to that to swim in.  The hike back was definitely more taxing, a lot of hiking uphill and plus it was still really hot out.  But we made it to the upper falls and quickly got in the water.

Kandace & Bryan leading the way

 

Chad & Zak have a fun bromance

Zak talking about the cabin he wanted to build there

 

hiking hiking hiking

upper falls, where we swam

 

middle falls

lower falls, wish we could've figured out how to get down there, but oh well

beautiful vista

you can't really tell, but it was super steep and we foraged a crazy (dangerous) path down to the falls

excited to go swimming!

where we went swimming, we climbed up to the top area

 The water was a lot warmer than we had expected, but it felt glorious.  The current from the falls was pretty strong, but there were plenty of rocks and ledges to hang onto.  I was having fun just swimming around but then the boys decided to climb up the falls.  The next thing I know I was nervously climbing up some rocks, but luckily the guys helped and made me feel safe and got me to the top of the falls, where there was a little pool to relax in.  But that wasn't enough, because then they decided to go over the small falls in that area and go into the next pool, where there was a place to jump off.  Zak did it, without us really knowing, but thankfully he didn't get hurt at all.  He even convinced me to jump off the top of the waterfall.  I was fine until I got to the top of the rocks and had to position myself to jump, but man once I did, it was so awesome!  It was so much fun and I was really proud of myself for doing something new and a bit scary.  I felt like a warrior woman for conquering the waterfall. 

We had a great time in the woods with our friends.  We are planning on going back sometime soon and hopefully camping overnight.  And I definitely want to try jumping off that waterfall again!

On Tuesday the 7th, Zak and I celebrated our third wedding anniversary.  Man, the time has been flying!  It's hard to believe it's already been three years.  Since it was on a Tuesday, we both decided to work and just go to dinner after.  It was actually to spend a quite evening at home, and not be somewhere else dealing with a hotel, etc.  We went to Sangria, a Peruvian inspired place.  It's really good; we've been a few times before and every time we have been there, our food has been great.  Zak had a chicken dish with rice, onions, and some other things--it was really yummy.  I had two appetizers: crab cakes and a crunchy spinach salad, both were excellent.  It was a nice evening.

Zak starts school on Monday, he has a bit of a weird schedule but he is planning on going to the gym or doing homework in his free time.  We are hoping to go camping sometime soon.  Tonight is the Lentil Fest in Pullman, which we are going to with Chad & Bryan.  We haven't been before, but it's apparently really fun and a big deal, so it should be a good time.