The Early Days~

I have our oldest daughter to blame for this post!  :-)  I was visiting this week on Grandson Mason's 14th birthday!  We were talking about how quickly the kids are growing up.  Courtney asked if next time they visit, I could pull out the old photo albums to show the kids how things were when their mother was their age.  Cassidy will be 12 in Oct.!  I seldom write about the past, or personal stuff - but those albums reminded me of how far we've come~

10/81 Grand Tetons, WY

When Butch & I found each other - lives changed.  He was happy & I was happiest I'd been since the girls were born.  That happiness was so big & wide - that it colored our world!  We decided to make a clean break & leave Colorado for Butch's home state of Washington.  He promised us both mountains & an ocean!  (The girls & I had never seen an Ocean!)  The above photo was taken on our drive out.  (Courtney was 12, Jentry 4)

July 82, Wallace Falls~

By the time we arrived, our funds were running out & we both were desperate for work!  Butch found a job as maintenance on a large apartment property, I found one working for Gloria Marshall Figure Salon, both in Lynnwood.  Luckily - an apartment came with Butch's position.  We were poor, but we had a roof over our heads, food on the table & it didn't cost anything but gas money to go out & enjoy the incredible state that we now called home!

October 82, LaPush, WA

We were oh so lucky in so many ways...  We both worked with some great people - who became life-long friends.  By October of 82, we married - to the great relief of our families :-)  Mom came out for the wedding & we had to take her to the coast!  She's in the red hat :-)

July, 83 The 59 Bel Air - a gift from Butch's grandparents :-)

We left our jobs to move to Bremerton, we both had job offers with a substantial increase in income - but they didn't pan out.  We loved living on the peninsula & were lucky enough to rent a cute little house from a couple who - we scared at first, when they found us tearing apart the kitchen.  Soon though, they realized that it was in fact - an improvement!  :-)  Guy & Mary Ann are to this day some of our favorite people!  Soon - word that we were again "In the market" for a building to manage had traveled & we were offered a property in Bellevue.

February 84, at Bellepark East  (I'd made the "Holly Hobby" dress for Courtney - now it fit Jentry!)

Finally - we had our very own multi-family building to manage!  We took the ball & ran with it, never looking back!  We gained a reputation for turning around the most difficult properties & from that point on - worked at buildings that were owned by the management company that employed us.

Thanksgiving 89 - Harbor Point

A few years went by, we moved up from small properties to larger ones.  Butch left to work in commercial construction.  I continued my education & began managing a large condominium portfolio that included buildings in Mercer Island & Bellevue.  We purchased our own house in Marysville, to use as a rental - eventually turning the gains we made there into the purchase of the Homestead.

We'd written a list of goals, early on in our marriage.  The day we moved to the country, the top goal was crossed off that list.  Now, 34 years later, our two daughters have blessed us with five wonderful grand-kids, who are too busy to come as often as we'd like!   The world, has indeed, moved on~

P.S. I took all the photos with a tripod & the camera's timer :-)