Life Lately: August 2025

The dog days of Summer are officially upon us. We’ve been having hot weather for the last few weeks and while I am not one to wish away a season, I am ready for cooler temps and sweaters. August was a month spent with lots of friends from different areas of our life and I have loved connecting with people so much. Especially my dad’s close friends who I was worried I would lose touch with following his death in April. I can’t quite believe August has come and gone so quickly or as Taylor Swift would say it slipped away into a moment in time. Here is what we got up to this month!

Our friends’ annual block party BBQ

Every Summer, we get an invite to our friends Calvin and Vicki’s house for their annual neighborhood block party BBQ. We prepared some delicious dishes to share with everyone and tried some wine and beer that our friend Calvin had made. He has become a talented home brewer! We had a wonderful time catching up with friends and meeting new people. Can’t wait for next year’s BBQ!

South Lake Union Block Party & night out in Seattle

On August 8th, we decided to head into the city and pickup our friend and go check out the South Lake Union block party. We made it in time to see the last half of the last set of the event. A local cover band called Prom Date Mixtape was performing all the nostalgic 80’s hits. Once that was over we headed up to North Seattle to continue our hangout and sing some karaoke to finish the night!

Trip to the Oregon Coast

Jake and I haven’t been on a vacation together since Spring of 2024 so we hit the road for a few days away at the Oregon Coast! Our first stop was Astoria where we fulfilled a childhood dream of mine when we went and saw The Goonies house! It was so fun to be there and we took a few snaps before heading more into Astoria for a bite to eat for dinner.

We stayed in Seaside that evening and then headed south to Cannon Beach the next morning. It was a wet one and we headed up to a lookout in Ecola State Park. The wind was blowing the rain sideways and we got soaked! And we couldn’t see the view very well because there was a thick layer of fog all around us but it was fun to check out none the less.

After we left Cannon Beach, we headed to Tillamook, OR. Our first stop was the Tillamook Creamery where we did the self-guided cheese tour and left with some free cheese samples! It was super busy, so we decided to leave and head to the Tillamook Air Museum in this old hangar that housed blimps during WWII. There were a bunch of vintage planes and model recreations of various locations from WWII, and an exhibit on women’s roles in the war effort. That evening we drove down to Lincoln City to stay the night.

The next day, we made our way further South towards Newport. We stopped at a crab shack to get some delicious food before making our way even further South to the Oregon Dunes. I have never been to the dunes and it was such a beautiful and cool thing to see. We went for a short hike and climbed a dune (no easy task IYKYK) and we could see the ocean from where we were standing! That evening we drove back up and stayed overnight in Newport, OR.

The next morning, we explored a small part of Newport. We went for a walk on the beach and then had some yummy breakfast. Then we hit the road to head home. We made a pit stop in McMinnville, OR, to go to the Evergreen Aviation Museum to see the Spruce Goose. A massive amphibious wooden plane designed and built by Howard Hughes that only flew once in 1947 for about 30 seconds at an altitude of 25 feet. The museum had a bunch of vintage planes, and then we walked over to another check out their space exhibit as well.

It was a lot of driving but it felt really good to get away for some time together before the end of Summer!

Swimming at Shadow Lake

My dad’s friend Margie invited us over to go swimming at Shadow Lake one of the super hot days we’ve had this month. It was a fun afternoon catching up and chatting!

Yard Sale at Dad’s

My brother and I have started going through all of our dad’s possessions, and we decided to have a yard sale to try and re-home a bunch of the stuff that was in his shed. We picked the hottest day of the month to do it, and unfortunately, the stream of customers petered off pretty quickly. But we did sell a few things, and we will likely have an estate sale at some point to try and re-home some more of his stuff.

Birthday BBQ at our neighbors

After the yard sale, Jake and I were invited to our neighbors’ house for a BBQ to celebrate their birthdays. We’ve met several of their other friends at different times and it was nice to see people again.

Birthday BBQ at our friend’s in Olympia

Our friends down in Olympia also had a joint birthday BBQ celebration that we attended at the end of the month. Their house is in such a beautiful forested setting, and it’s always so nice catching up!

Spreading my dad’s ashes at our huckleberry spot in the mountains

The day this post goes live, we are heading up to the mountains with my dad’s friend, Lance, to pick huckleberries and spread some of his ashes at the huckleberry spot. It is the perfect spot to spread my dad’s ashes; he loved the mountains his whole life, and the huckleberry spot was special to him as well because he spread some of his twin brother’s ashes up there after he died many years ago. I can’t think of a better place for him, and I know it is what he wanted.

In the Garden…

The garden is going crazy as it always does this time of year. It has been such a great tomato year in particular. I am so happy I decided to grow some larger varieties this year. We have so many tomatoes for sauce and to roast for tomato soup in the upcoming Fall and Winter months. Here is what is coming out of the garden and the flowers that are blooming at the moment:

Oxhart Tomatoes
Beefsteak Tomatoes
San Marzano Tomatoes
Italian Roma Tomatoes
Sungold Tomatoes
Sweet Cherry Tomatoes
Green Bell Peppers
Sweet Banana Peppers
Jalapenos
Anaheim Chillies
Black Beauty Zucchini
Green and Purple Bush Beans
Leeks
Basil
Oregano
Tarragon
Mint
Thyme

The pumpkins are on their way, and I will likely be harvesting them toward the end of September! I also have sweet potatoes in grow bags that aren’t ready yet, and there are still carrots in the ground. I had all the intentions of starting Fall seeds, and I did, but we went on vacation, and they got too leggy. I am still going to throw in some lettuce, kale, carrots, and radish seed,s but I think the cauliflower and Broccoli are going to have to wait until Spring.

Blooming: