Life on a beautiful new course...

It's been a while, so here are a few updates from months gone by... 

For Christmas, Logan and I gifted his parents their very own cob oven! Due to the beautiful trees growing in the patio area where they wanted us to build it, we opted to make a "mini" lightweight oven (really it's just a little smaller than standard, but it does weigh quite a bit less). Although we haven't tried it, we built it to be moved if necessary.  The oven is built on a perlite insulated wooden box, which is sitting on top of a wooden table. The insulation for the oven is clay coated perlite. It has a clay plaster exterior and we have plans to add another layer of a colored plaster this summer... maybe an earthy orangish... Logan's parents built the roof structure and attached the tiles that we had brought them from Mexico to the wooden box. This summer, we will surely be experiencing some tasty pizzas from this festive new oven!

A movable mini earthen oven provides plenty of heat and space to cook delicious small pizzas

After the holidays, Logan and I decided to move to the Olympic Peninsula in western Washington. Lucky for us, our dear friends that we visit often were nearly finished building a cozy cottage on their property and were happy to have us start renting it and work on finishing touches. We couldn't ask for a better place to live, better neighbors, or (surprisingly) better weather! We have been enjoying every minute of living in this gorgeous new place.

We absolutely LOVE living in this beautiful little cottage in the rain shadow of Washington's majestic Olympic Mountains.

Here is a shot of our fantastic kitchen. If you want to see more of the inside, email me for additional photos.

Although our hiking adventures have slowed this winter, we did get a chance to visit the western part of the Peninsula when a good friend came to visit in March. We spent three days hiking along Rialto Beach, down a trail in the Hoh Rainforest among the big moss covered trees, and to see the site where the Elwha Dam was removed.

Friends on the beach find the most amazing toys :) Imagine that tree when it was alive!

The Pacific Ocean is full of life, power, and wonder... what a presence to behold.

The enchanted forest of the Hoh. These are the small newer trees :)

Further into the forest, we met the impressive grandmother trees.

Water rushes down the mountain as the rain continues on and on...

Elk herds roam freely all over this area. They make lovely music too!

The Elwha River rages again!

It's beautiful to see the Elwha reclaiming its natural course. 

Oh yeah, one more thing...

We're getting MARRIED!

no date set - sometime in the next couple of months at the courthouse...

I am planning some ways to have our friends participate though, so stay tuned and email me if you want more info.