Living the Life...in Poulsbo

So, Luke and I have been back from our year-long overseas adventure for about two and a half months. After making one complete circle around the globe, we landed in one of the most improbable places -- Poulsbo, WA.

Poulsbo is a sweet little town and while just a short ferry ride away from the hustle and bustle of Seattle, it might as well be half a world away. And if Poulsbo feels like it's half a world away from Seattle then it might as well be on another planet in comparison to Taiwan.

While Taiwan was loud, busy, crazy and always an adventure, Poulsbo is quaint, quiet and tranquil. Whereas everyday in Taiwan was full of unfamiliar sights, sounds and smells, Poulsbo is comfortably routine. And while our Europe travels brought new and unexpected experiences everyday, in Poulsbo we have settled into a quiet, mostly predictable life. While we miss our overseas adventures we have also been thankful for the stability and proximity of family and friends in our new life here.

Maybe you are asking, "Why Poulsbo?"

Luke's grandma lives in Arizona but has a house in Poulsbo which she asked us if we would want to live in and take care of for her. A whole house, rent-free? Sure! Plus, as mentioned before, Poulsbo is close enough to Seattle that it's not too much of a struggle to get there if we want to see friends or have a day or evening in the city. And we have the added bonus of living closer to Luke's parents than we ever have before.

Not sure how we would adjust to our quieter life, we decided in the beginning that we would try to have friends over often for weekends and try and explore the Olympic Penninsula just as we had gone about exploring and seeing Taiwan.

The good thing about Poulsbo is that not only is the town itself charming and beautiful, but there are also tons of your typical Pacific Northwest scenery practically right in our backyard.

One of the first weekends we were there, we had some friends come over for Seattle and stay for the weekend. On the first day we decided to strike out and do some sight-seeing. It was October and the trees were changing into their vivid hues of red, orange and yellow. All of these trees were surrounded by the dark green of the pine trees with the mountains and water for a backdrop.

We decided to take a turn-off that wound up the side of a mountain. Lazily, we drove to the top (hey, the road just kept on going!) where we found two older women and a dog bragging shamelessly (kidding!) that they had walked up the trail on the other side.
After this, we continued our drive and took a walk next to a river.
And then we saw...elk!
A few weekends later, some more friends came for a weekend (with their puppy!) and we decided to head out to the beach at Point-No-Point (yes, that's the real name) in the sub-freezing degree weather. Suffice it to say, we didn't stay long but still managed to have a nice sunny walk with Albus, the super-Corgi in the arctic air.
And last of all, here are some pictures from Poulsbo. We see the mountains from our front yard and the harbor is always really pretty and full of boats. The downtown is a single Norwegian-themed (!) street, abounding with Viking paraphernalia!
We have also discovered Sluy's, a bakery famous for its giant cinnamon rolls overflowing with cream-cheesy goodness. We have made it a goal in life to try every one of the pastries there. A noble achievement, I think!

And last but not least...we have discovered Rock Band!! Here is a picture from our recent Ugly Sweater Christmas Party.
Other than all the things aforementioned, Luke has been finishing his masters and we have been applying for work. I recently accepted a position at the Bread of Life Mission, a nonprofit that works with Seattle's homeless population. So, while our schedules may be filling up soon and will leave less time for exploring and pastry-tasting, we are still focused on exploring and experiencing the world around us.