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| Pilchuck 2011 |
By: Rachel Crossen
It would be impossible to contain all of the amazing moments I have had with Kelly this past year into a blog post, but I will do my best to share some of the highlights. Hopefully this is just a brief synopsis about both of us...so people that don't know us as well will get the scoop.
A Little Background
Kel and I both attended PLU and played sports, enjoyed our variety of studies and traveled abroad. Kelly had an immensely successful career as a football player and was a leader on and off of the field-- he is an all-round great guy, I get to do some bragging because not everyone has had time or the opportunity to meet him. Through college we were good buddies, and part of the same group of tight knit friends. Birthdays, "Friend Thanksgivings", Super Bowl parties are some of fun times we'll remember with our shared crew of PLU-buds. I will do some bragging about myself and share that I loved to plan a lot of these activities and events with my girlfriends, which included a lot of cooking, kegs, party hats and most importantly organizing something for everything to do together-- & we will continue to do so as we all transition into our more grownup, big kid lives. During college I worked and volunteered in the community, studied in the international honors program, traveled abroad in India and graduated from PLU's School of Education. .
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| Tacoma 4th of July 2011 |
Kelly lives in Tacoma, WA with his cute corgi dog. He works in sales for his family's business, Totten Tubes. It's a steel tubing business that is located out of the Los Angeles area in CA. He loves what he does more and more everyday I think in part because of the people he gets to work with. I frequently find myself being kept up to date with how all of the great folks he works with are doing, I also get some major doses of knowledge about the fascinating steel tubing industry. I have been teaching since graduation in 2008, I have also coached high school volleyball, and have spent time working in a nonprofit that supports the academic success of students in foster care. I am now hoping to be back in Tacoma with a new teaching contract, keep your fingers crossed!
Lucky Us
Kelly taught me how to snowboard this year. I loved it. We frequented the summit for evening adventures, getting caught in some great powder with Liz one night, we were lucky to have our neighbor's beautiful ski cabin to seek shelter in! I think I have taught Kel some skills in the kitchen, or maybe he's just working on his repertoire as a taste-tester. Some of the kitchen adventures; cooking tamales, canning asparagus, homemade carrot cake, granola, and of course tater tot casserole.
We love to travel, and had the opportunity to explore Belize and part of Guatemala with just our backpacks, hiking shoes and swimsuits. We were able to road trip the CA coast, ate crab and clam chowder in San Francisco, experienced the beautiful trees in Stanley Park in Vancouver, B.C., skiied, swam, sailed and met the family at Big Bass Lake, volunteered at the Ronald McDonald House in Seattle, dined in the we're-too-cool spots in Portland, OR, shucked oysters on Chuckanut Drive, biked/camped the San Juan Islands, escaped from Jetty Island in Everett, and have hiked to the top of Mt.Pilchuck to bask in the fading sun on the old fire lookout in the North Cascades.
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| You Betta Belize It! |
To say the least we are very, very blessed with the opportunities we have had to grow together this year.
Family and Friends
We are thankful to have been welcomed into the families we have been able to visit with; mine in Minnesota, and Kelly's immediate family in Arcadia, and look forward to connecting with everyone else in the near future. The love, support and encouragement from our community of friends has been so awesome. Won't ever be able to say enough about our great friends and how much they mean to us.
Looking forward, Kelly and I are excited to plan a wedding and will be preparing for this next step in our life together through reflection, conversation, and some good ol' hard work.
Thanks for reading, love you all!
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