weekend on the island

Ahhh, this weekend was just what we needed. We escaped to Friday Harbor in the San Juan Islands on Saturday. It feels like it was more than just two days as we just had a really good time. The more I visit all of these small towns, I realize I am a small town girl for sure. The city is great but my heart always feels so calm and happy in small towns. We always talk about where we want to buy our vacation property...I am thinking one of the San Juan Islands would be perfect.

I know they cater to tourists a little bit but they also just have the small town charm. We went to the farmer's market which was clearly full of locals and had so much fun (and incredible food). I think that was my favorite part. Because the weather was gorgeous, there were clearly a lot of tourists in town which made the locals even easier to spot. It was so fun to listen to them talk at stores like everyone knew everyone ("oh, you're here for a wedding? Whose?"), to see them all reunite at restaurants, to hear the waiters take orders for 'the usual' at every single place we went. I lovelovelove it. I suppose growing up in a small town- a small state, really- has a lot to do with it. Being in the city is so weird after living that life for about 24 years...even my grad school was in a tiny town.

Anyway, the sweetness of Population: 1900 made it even better. The hotel we stayed at was adorable and we were upgraded to a room with a comfy king-size bed. There was nothing fancy about our hotel, it was an earthy remodeled place with all the usuals plus awesome beach cruiser bikes. We took the bikes out right after we visited the farmer's market Friday and kept them for quite a few hours. We took a 6 mile ride around town, circling through open fields, beautiful views of the ocean and adorable cottage-style homes. It was hot out but the sweat dripping down our backs was so so welcomed as we know months and months of rain and clouds are just around the corner at home. We visited all the local shops: used bookstores, clothing, trinkets, antiques, jewelry...and then stopped for some ice cream to cool off. We were pretty tired after waking up early for our ferry ride so we returned to our room for a quick nap. We must have been much cozier than we'd anticipated because our little nap was rather long. We awoke refreshed and had some time to kill before our massages. Since we'd had an early lunch at the farmer's market (incredible brick oven pizza with an amazing crunchy-chewy crust), we rode our bikes to a little restaurant for happy hour where we had the best gorgonzola potato wedges with bbq sauce and roasted garlic, bbq wings and cocktails for $14 total. We relaxed there, rode the bikes some more and then went to our couples massages. Nathan said it was the best massage he's ever had which was well worth it. Mine was great too, she was a little more gentle than I like but I always say, I have never had a BAD massage.

It was pretty adorable that our massage ended with the massage therapists lifting each of our hands and putting them together and then walking out of the room, leaving us lying side by side, eyes closed, completely relaxed and holding hands. It made me smile pretty big. We left to clean up and then went to dinner at an Italian restaurant on the water. The bread was awesome, pasta and salads were delish, wine went down easily and we ended with a triple-layer chocolate cake. We stayed there for a leisurely couple of hours, watching the sun set on the water and just laughing, talking and people watching. We had talked about going bowling but were so relaxed from our massages we decided to just go back to the hotel. We sat in the hut tub for a while and then retired to our big bed and slept wonderfully.

Nathan had planned to meet a friend Sunday afternoon to watch football and we only had a couple ferries to choose from so we decided to have breakfast and head out. We also wanted to make a quick stop at the outlet mall. Breakfast was yummy and we finished with time to sit by the water until our ferry came. After leaving the island, Nathan's friend called to say he couldn't make it...so we actually could have stayed longer and kayaked or hiked..but that's okay. We stopped at one outlet mall just to go to Lululemon but found it was a total joke with the discounts being about 10% off the normal store. We went to our usual outlet mall though and found Nathan's store (there is a store that fits him perfectly, no matter what he puts on) was 50% everything so we did much better there.

Annnd now we're back. We are already talking about our next trip (we were thinking next weekend but maybe we should wait?) and are feeling 10 times better than we were before we left. Clearly this was a much needed thing and clearly we will be doing it again and again. Nathan's mom gifted me The Best Places to Kiss in the Northwest last year and there are some great weekend trips in it that we hope to work our way through.

back to school

Well, my summer vacation officially ended yesterday and school has resumed. I didn't realize how much I loved my summer break until it was over...Of course I am very happy to be back at work though and it didn't take long for me to be extremely busy with kids who need school supplies, clothes, shoes, sports fees paid, medical care, etc. etc. It's going to be a busy year and I am trying to find a way to have enough money and funding sources to support all these kids. I don't want to have to turn anyone away this year and so far I have had great luck finding donations...but there are definitely some who slip through the cracks.

Today I met a student who is part of a family of 7, struggling to make ends meet after his dad was laid off. We went through a list of stuff he might need and then started talking about sports. He told me he is playing football so I asked if he has everything he needs to play. He said he really needs a new pair of cleats so I asked what he is using right now. He told me he went through the gym's lost and found and found 2 different shoes, 1 velcro size 13 and one lace-up size 14...and has been wearing them all year. If that doesn't make your heart hurt, I don't know what does. He was very sweet about everything, said he would make do with what he had but I could just tell he was holding back as he told me about giving up his summer in order to work to support his family...I made a few calls around, hoping to find some sort of help. I wanted to get him some socks (it was the one thing he told me he really needed) and some new cleats. The right size. Amazingly, the football booster club president called me back and said, while they don't get many requests like this, she would be happy to help. Tomorrow is the first football game of the season and she will be delivering a brand new pair of football cleats, both size 14, to my office before the game. I am so excited to give them to him.

I don't know if the booster club is paying for these cleats or if the president herself is doing it. So often I make these calls to organizations who might be able to help only to find that the person who answers just feels so strongly about helping that they will pay for it out of their personal bank accounts.

The truth is, I would absolutely positively love to be the one writing checks to buy these things, shopping for new shoes and kitchen towels for my families...and honestly, I can't say I haven't already done it in my years of working in this type of work...but, while we are fortunate to never go without, my bank account is sadly not big enough to meet the needs of every student who walks through my door and I am often desperately seeking help from outside organizations for any support they can give me. It breaks my heart to turn away anyone who is hungry, cold, tired, sick or hurting so my goal this year is to never have to say no. It's a lofty one because so many community agencies are as just as tapped out for resources as their clients are...but I'm going to try. This is why I do the work I do (to help others) and I hope I can be the person families can turn to in their most desperate times of need.

Sad stories aside, I have had lots of students from last year stop by already to say hi and it has been so fun to see their growth and maturity in just a few short months of summer. I'm so proud of the resilient kids who walk through our doors every day and I can't wait to celebrate each little victory as they continue on their paths. Somedays are harder than others but I really think I am lucky to get to do what I do.