Coronado

Last weekend Andrew and I joined my parents on a trip to Coronado to visit Mark. It was a long weekend with a lot of driving but it was completely worth it! Mark graduated on Friday morning and to celebrate we went skydiving in the afternoon!

Marissa and I before we jumped

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All smiles! It was amazing!!! 

Mark wanted to make sure we had the Tac Air Ops sign in the picture :)

We spent Saturday afternoon at the beach on Coronado.

We got a little sunburnt on the trip but it was so nice to have warm weather and spend time with family. 

Gardening

It seems like Andrew and I are getting a little stir crazy. It might be from summer starting and we are getting anxious for our trips to Oregon or it might be from living in the city for too long and we aren't city people. Either way, we are a little crazy; I mean, we are attempting to start a garden in our kitchen.

Last week Jana asked me what I do for fun in SF. Well, Jana, Andrew and I look at plants and flowers and talk about which ones we could grow when we have property. Then we think, why couldn't we grow them now? We have amazing windows and our current plants thrive here. So we end up buying seeds, potting soil, and a couple pots to (hopefully) grow our lettuce, spinach, and tomatoes once they sprout. Yes, we are going to attempt growing tomatoes indoors. 

A few days after we planted the seedings I saw a pineapple plant when I was shopping. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to grow a pineapple. I love pineapple. So... I walked home with a crazy looking pineapple plant and ignored the double-takes that people passing me did. Once I was asked what it was and I had to explain but I didn't care, I'm going to have pineapple!

Strawberry Days

The wonderful organic farm that we receive our farm share boxes from, Eatwell Farm, invited its members out for a strawberry picking day yesterday. So of course we went for the all you can eat berries in the field and the chance to personally see the farm. The weather was great, 92 degrees! After living in the foggy city for nine months now being in the hot sun with a light breeze was fantastic! 

One of the strawberry fields

Andrew and I picked two flats of strawberries in about an hour and took a tour of the small farm. 

Rhubarb!

There is a pet turkey that lives with the chickens.

Since Eatwell Farm is about 10 miles from Vacaville we were able to see the Carpenters! We had a wonderful visit and were even able to hold their new kittens! For us animal deprived city dwellers, getting to pet two adorable kittens was amazing. Btw, their names are Bruce and Pip.

I have the best sister in the world (and soon to be brother-in-law). She knew that I loved this dresser that my cousin Tamara, owner of A Perfect Treasure, made so Laura and Sheldon bought it for me (and Andrew) as a late wedding gift. It's beautiful! I had no idea until Tamara took me into her showroom and pointed to a sign on it that said "to Rachel and Andrew". I absolutely love it! Now I have 3 of her pieces :)

Andrew and I both had today off so we started working on the delicious strawberries.    

We cut and vacuum packed the berries after setting some aside for a cobbler Andrew wanted to make.

It was delicious! There's really nothing better than organic fruit.

Some of the strawberries in the freezer. We need a bigger freezer! 

I love getting out of the city especially to see family or to do something fun- like berry picking! It really helps break up the monotony of everyday life. :)

Routines until Spring

Over the past couple of months Andrew and I have been set in daily routines. Work, school, church, sleep. Don't get me wrong, we are really enjoying life in San Francisco, I just haven't felt the need to blog about our boring daily lives. We have done a few new things, we started a class at church called "Fundamentals of Church Life" and so far we are really enjoying it. I've also discovered the Farmer's Market here. IT'S AMAZING. But mostly I think that I've been waiting for our families to visit us. My parents and sister stayed with us last Friday night through Tuesday morning. At the moment they're visiting my brother, Mark, in Coronado and Laura is learning how to surf in the warm So Cal ocean. 

Saturday while Andrew was in class, I took the family on an adventure to the Farmer's Market, making a donut stop for my dad and sister along the way. We took the bus across town to the Ferry Building and enjoyed Blue Bottle coffee while we walked around all the booths. I absolutely love coffee from Blue Bottle and I go there every time I have a free Saturday off from work (which isn't very often but that might be a good thing).

At the Ferry Building that hosts the Farmer's Market there is a little shop that sells mushrooms. When I saw it I was reminded of Dan and Sarah's love of mushrooms (and Andrew's comical hatred of them) :) 

Laura wanted to see where I work so I took them downtown to see my store. I don't think they were prepared for the amount of walking we did :) 

After church on Sunday we went out to lunch then went to the Sutro Baths. 

We walked around at Land's End and enjoyed the view.

Monday we adventured to China Town. 

The "I've never been to China Town"-ers infront of the gate.

The streets of China Town.

We found a chicken hat which I made Andrew put on for a picture. 

 The weather cooperated and was great for their visit. 

Laura was happy to receive some coffee that I've been saving over the weeks. 

We get to see them again Sunday night as they head back up to Oregon. 

We are excited to see Dan and Sarah in a couple weeks! 3 months is too long to go between family visits :)

Half Moon Bay

Andrew and I went on an overnight trip to Half Moon Bay for our 6 month anniversary. We thought it would be fun to get out of the city for a night and breathe fresh air :) 

I got off work on Saturday afternoon so Andrew picked me up and we started our drive south, only 25 miles! We were able to see the sunset from the harbor and have dinner at a great restaurant called Flavor.

We saw a couple pelicans while we walked the docks looking at boats.

Andrew called these campers "Crabbing Bums." They had the whole setup going! 

 Sunday morning we grabbed coffee at a coffee shop next to our hotel then drove down the road a little ways so we could walk on the coastal trail. 

The trail took us through the stunning Ritz-Carlton and it's golf course.

We had brunch, which was fantastic, at Miramar Beach Restaurant, then went back to the coastal trail to explore more.

We walked through a tree tunnel and along the cliff.

The view was incredible! 

In the afternoon we walked through downtown which was a couple miles from the harbor and our hotel. We enjoyed going into the little shops but I'm glad we went in January because during the summer the little town would be crowded with tourists. It's a neat little town and the northern area has more of an "Oregon-Coastal-Town-Feel" that we really enjoyed! We defiantly want to go back :)

In the evening we had dinner at an Italian restaurant and walked the out on the pier in Pillar Point Harbor. We saw the pelican again along with another beautiful sunset! 

It was so great to spend a night away and relax! We spent most of the day walking and enjoying the sunshine. I can't believe that it has already been six months since we got married. Time has flown by!