Steph and I in Anacortes

This weekend, with my friend Stephanie, I went camping at Washington Park in Anacortes, Washington. For anyone seeking a beautiful day picnic over the waters of the Puget Sound this is a great spot. An 8 mile road winds around cliffs and opens up into places to stop and have a nap, shoot some pictures or eat lunch. There are also a few places that you may climb down the cliff to the shore below. The weather was beautiful and the water was calm. Truly a picture perfect setting.

The camping was nice too- really nice. It was the first time, in a long time, that my friend Stephanie and I could just be together. We were able to catch up on a lot of things. Some of our interaction was silly- like taking a bunch of pictures of ourselves and pretending our hotdogs were attacking us. Then there was the serious, God, future goals, family, our significant others, the Bible. And there were the other things, like both of us forgetting our pillows (Thanks Mom for bringing us pillows on your way to B-ham). The best thing about the trip though, was that we just were. We didn’t have any schedule and spent most of our time relaxing and being together.

One more thing:

Stephanie is beautiful, fun, funny and loving. She is also a great story teller (which I absolutely adore). Of course she’s not perfect (who is?)- but one thing I have learned from her after watching her and knowing her for the last 6 + years is that she never settles. This may have lead to discontentment from time to time, but the best thing about this is that she is always, always trying to learn more, understand more, and become wiser. She reads books, she tries new things, she travels, she meets new people, she asks questions, she is willing to examine the bad inside of herself and change herself to be a better person. She is willing to take risks and is not afraid to say no. She believes that God is good, and believes in other people too, believes in their ability to be everything they can or are meant to be and because of that I’m honored- truly honored to be her friend.

Stephanie, you are a blessing in my life - thanks for caring and thanks for always looking ahead- for me this is refreshing, encouraging, challenging and marvelous. I’m so glad we were able to get away this weekend.