nutmeg

is everyone else out there as busy as i am? or was... don't get me wrong i love christmas, i really do. but it is so overwhelming. the tree, the gifts, the post office, travel plans, etc. these are all things that i do not recall dealing with (much), until after college. as an adult, they are taxing.

ideal scenario #1
christmas gifts would be bought and wrapped by early december to avoid the hectic mess of the mall and to avoid nail biting at the post office

actual scenario #1
it is december 22nd and i'm not totally done. i've accepted the fact that 1 or 2 gifts will be given after the holidays - it's a bonus to get a gift after christmas, right?

ideal scenario #2
christmas cards would be mailed to the nearest and dearest, letting them know i'm thinking of them

actual scenario #2
that's funny, christmas cards. trust me friends and family, i still love you, even though you didn't get a card in the mail. trust me.

ideal scenario #3
the post office would be open until 7 (or maybe 8), mailing packages to family was never easier

actual scenario #3
i can't use the post office, m-f because it closes before i can get to it. mailing packages must be done on a saturday, or involve driving to work and doing it during lunch
    * i did mail a box on a saturday, which involved doing all shopping for the box from 11-2, rushing like mad home from the mall and wrapping all gifts and getting it to the post office before it closed at 3.
     * i also drove to work to mail a package. this involved running (and falling in the mud), illegally parking (there was a line to park), and waiting in line for 30 minutes .
     * jury is out on which situation was better

ideal scenario #4
we would be celebrating the christmas holiday with aaron's fabulous family in wisconsin. i couldn't have asked for a better boyfriends family. they are the bees knees.

actual scenario #4
 we procrastinated so long that flying to wisconsin became ridiculously expensive ($500-600). we will be staying home during the holidays (the hidden bonus here is that we will not have to deal with airports). we will have a skyped video christmas (thank you technology)

ideal scenario #5
i will celebrate christmas by drinking some wine (or eggnog, or buttered rum) by a beautiful christmas tree.

actual scenario #5
i will celebrate christmas by drinking some wine (or eggnog, or buttered rum) by a beautiful christmas tree.

thankfully, i'm at a place where i can begin to relax a bit and enjoy the spirit of the holidays. incidentally, if you are really in the true spirit of christmas, and feel like donating to others, whose biggest concern doesn't involve the hours of the post office, consider donating to kiva.

have a wonderful holiday season everyone!

hoot n' holler

to celebrate our nine year anniversary, aaron and i headed to the mountains. we rented the most delightful little cabin in winthrop, wa. winthrop, it turns out, is quite the distance from seattle. it took us about 5 hours to get there, but we sang all the way which kept us in amused. how could one not be in good spirits when you are singing to such varied artists as jessica simpson, jerry reed, and the bee-gees (mix 101.5 the wech).

i haven't spent much time in eastern washington. the topography there is really breathtaking. it reminded me of scenery from a 1960's western.  the foothills were covered in brush (and later in the trip, snow). i was surprised at how different it was from western washington.

the cabin was awesome it was so quaint and cozy, much better than the pics on the website would indicate. the name of the cabin is the hoot n' holler. seriously. does it get better than that? that name kept us entertained the entire weekend. anyway, the cabin itself was pretty small, maybe the size of our entire living room. but that didn't matter at all, in fact, that added to its charm. it had a cute little wood stove with an endless supply of firewood, one of the most comfortable beds i have ever slept on, and a modern fully equipped kitchen. i want to live there. permanently.

  
we also went for a little snowshoe trek on saturday. actually, there wasn't enough snow for the snowshoes, but we went for a hike in the snow. it was beautiful, but pretty cold, and foggy. it started snowing when we breaked for lunch, and then we decided to call it a day. there was no point continuing our journey to the top, because it was too foggy to get any good views. we high tailed it back to the hoot n' holler to celebrate in style...champagne and home-made chili. classy, no?

           

it was a wonderful way to celebrate nine wonderful years. (sappy music fade out)

singing, the flu, thanksgiving

sanjoy turned 30 on november 21st. to celebrate, the gang had some pre-party drinks at dante's followed by a few hours at seattle's best karaoke. i can not begin to describe the time that was had (mostly because i drank like a 19 year old). suffice it to say that a good time was had by all (disregarding the morning after).

the celebrating probably weakend my immune system because the very next evening i had a fever. it struck really suddenly...i felt fine one minute, and the next, sitting on the couch hurt. fever, body aches, and a hacking cough was about the extent of it. by tuesday, i had spread the love to aaron. we spent the next 5 days in the house together. we were cooped up so long that really odd things were becoming hysterical to me (i even youtubed bert & ernie clips).

because of said flu, we were confined to our house for thanksgiving. i made french onion soup, mashed potatos, and cranberry sauce. later in the evening our friend, lora, came by with a large bag of thanksgiving leftovers. this cheered me considerably, and was very "in the spirit of the holidays".

jeepers creepers

remember how I got lasik back in august? I would you like to meet my doctor, michael mockovak. yes, the doctor who just 2 1/2 months ago zapped my eyes, was just arrested for trying to hire a russian hitman to kill his partner at clearly lasik. apparently, he was trying to make these arrangements in august, which was when I was his patient. creepy, huh?

in other, less crazy news, i've been busy updating my genealogy blogs herbst (paternal, paternal line), botz (paternal, maternal), ross (maternal paternal), and lang (maternal, maternal). i've been trying to include photos, and historical documents to make it more interesting to read. if you are related to me, or just want to humor me...go check them out.

knit-wise, i've been trying to use up scraps of yarn by knitting these mitered squares that will hopefully be turned into a blanket someday. i've done 4 this week and am pretty tired of it and I think that's my limit. i'm going to try to find a cute cowl to knit using only 123 yeards of dk weight yarn. so far, i think cat bordhi's, moebius is the winner.

adavis

the fabulous anna davis graced us with her presence this weekend. it was a sneak attack...i was totally clueless that she was arriving. normally, i am not a fan of surprises, but rarely are they this good. she arrived friday evening and left  this morning - but we packed a lot in to her 3 night stay.

highlights of the anna davis weekend

1. saturday we braved the early hour and cold temperatures and waited in line for a couple of hours for the goodwill glitter sale. there were several great purchases: a faux fur coat  for aaron, a scarlett o'hara dress for me, a barbie dress and a mistress dress for anna, and a sweet suit for brendan, and a pretty dress for rachel.
2. made brunch family style at brendan's house
3. gorged ourselves on indian food
4. played shuffle board at the twilight
5. slept in on sunday, then had a run around greenlake
6. taco truck lunch followed by a game of settlers
7. we tried to recreate the pushups shown in this video 
8. drinks at the pi

exhausting, yes, but oh-so-worth it.

random wednesday

1. happy veteran's day to all of our wonderful service men and women. our world is a better place because of you and i can't thank you enough.
2. i've started a knit night at a local pub every monday with rachel. this makes me happy. we were the recipients of many stares from men as they approached the bathroom.
3. lately i've really been into crossword puzzles. i have a new york times book that i've been working in and occasionally have the usa today crossword up on the computer. i'm not sure how this has started, but it's good for your brain, right?
4. i've also been slowly getting back into genealogy. i'm trying not to become too obsessed with it because that is how i burn myself out. 

• last week i ordered my great-grandfather's death certificate, my grandmother's birth certificate,   and my grandparents marriage certificate. it is all i can do to contain my excitement when i get home to see if they arrived yet.

• someone answered my photo request on findagrave.com and took a picture of my great-great-great grandparents tombstone (thomas ross and mary ann mccormick)

• i've also set up 4 new blogs to be genealogy related (one for each grandparent's surname/family)

• yes, this is me taking it slow
  

congratulations, larry

october 3, 2009 my little brother, larry, got married. lorenz basil herbst who:

when we were children stuck the wheels to his remote car into my hair and pressed go

played hamsters with me in the dryer

when he was 3 tried to break down the door on an amusement park ride (the hellevator) because it was scaring me

would sit for hours at the table with a mouth full of food that he wouldn't swallow

wouldn't play house with me, but would play "kevin and mom"

threw a baseball clear across the field yelling like crazy for me to move - and it hit me in the temple anyway.

told mom when i had caught the living room rug on fire, then promptly found me hiding under the bed and sang "you are in soooooo much trouble"

would only play barbies with me if he could be the car that talked and flew

threatened to blackmail me when he saw i had wrote in my diary that i thought bill clinton would be a good president

drew me a large snoopy as a birthday card (i still have it)

after i "bumped" another car in the parking lot, held my hand when i told my mom and also told her not to yell at me because i was really scared

i always admired for being only himself and never compromising (even when it would have been easier)

thank you, larry, for being a terrific brother. i loved every single second (almost) growing up with you. congratulations on your wedding; thanks for giving me a new sister. i'm really happy for you both.

autumn camp trip 2009

the last camping trip of every year is always my favorite. this is for several reasons:

1. not many bugs
2. the colors are starting to change, which everything twenty times more gorgeous
3. wild blueberries are plentiful
4. you do not need to fight the hordes of people for a nice location

for the last four years, we have been going to yellow aster butte for our fall camp trip. i love it there. it is my favorite spot in all of washington. there are tons of tarns all over so almost any camp spot you pick comes with its own little lake, and the views are phenomenal. this year was probably my favorite trip up there (so far). the best part was star gazing (it was so nice just to see them!) and talking late into night. a close second was the two handfuls of blueberries that i stirred into my morning oatmeal.

our camp site view

descending down the next morning

september visitors

sorry about the lack of blogging lately. i've been really busy at work, and then when i come home the last thing i want to do is be on the computer. i'm sure you understand how it goes...

a few weeks ago we were lucky enough to have the new mr. & mrs. wech (justin and angie) stay at our humble abode for a long weekend. we didn't really do too much. but that was part of the fun of it, just lounging, talking, and being together. there was wine tasting (girls only), beer tasting (all), basketball (boys), a walk around Greenlake (girls), a visit to alkai beach (all), and a lot of talking.

one of my favorite parts of our visit was that angie and i traded skill sets. she taught me crochet (i'm amazed at her paticence), while i taught her knitting. how fun! how little-house-on-the-prairie of us!

i really wish we could live in the same city at some point (or state). but maybe the fact that we live so far apart, is part of what makes it so much fun to see each other. it's a rare, fun, celebratory event.

i miss them already. *sigh

amazing vision

yesterday i was the day i got lasik. i'm not going to lie, i was really scared. but everyone at clearly lasik was really warm and understanding. i didn't have to wait long before my name was called and aaron and i went into the back room and discussed payment. they really tried to work for me to get it as cheap as they could. they even gave me the "teacher's discount" (because i work at a university), which saved me $500. then she went over all of the medicated drops i need to put in my eye. it's pretty intense. i have 3 kinds of drops that go in at different intervals. i have a running tally on the white erase board that helps me keep track. i then chewed up my valium and waited in the "relaxation suite". i probably waited there for about 30 minutes, while the valium took effect. the butterflies definitely went away, and i started to get drowsy. then my name was called

i laid down and numbing drops were applied to my eyes. there were two nurses in the "operational suite" with me and they were really good about counting things down for me and using reassuring words. my left eye was taped down and the began on my right eye. the doctor had to talk to me a bit to get me to relax a bit more. there was a lot of pressure that went to black, then i could blurrily see the laser. i looked into the light and there as a lot of clicking, then the smell of burnt hair. this would have scared me, but the nurses prepped me so i knew to expect it. once the laser quit clicking the doctor replaced my corneal flap. then the same routine with the left eye.

once i was done the doctor quickly looked at my eyes through a magnifying machine to make sure things looked alright (he had to remove a rogue eyelash). then i was sent along my merry way. by this time the valium had me in it's grip and i don't remember a whole lot. aaron got me home safely and i slept for 6 straight hours. when i woke up, i could see. no joke. it was amazing.

this morning i went to my first post-opt appointment and my vision tested out at 20/20. perfect! and it looked like both of my eyes are healing wonderfully. my aftercare is essentially eye drops constantly for a week, no eye make up for a week, no swimming for two weeks, and no rubbing my eyes. i also get to sleep with goggles for the next week so i won't accidentally rub them in my sleep.

hurray! this is so totally worth it. never was there any pain...i know a few friends who have been thinking about getting this done. feel free to ask me any/all questions. i would love to help you!

clearly anxious

yesterday i had my free consultation at clearly lasik in renton. i was feeling pretty anxious, but the staff there quickly made me feel at ease. they ran a series of tests on my eyes measuring all sorts of things from pupil dilation size, to cornea thickness, and the stability of my prescription. as it turns out...i'm a strong candidate for lasik! i'm not going to lie, there was a small part of me that wanted to not be a candidate. that way i could not go through with it, but at least i could say i tried.

i've already scheduled the lasik for next thursday, august 27th at 9:30 am. i figured the sooner i could get an appointment, the better. less chance of chickening out. i'm of course nervous, anxious, scared, but for the most part i'm really excited. my doctor has 50,000 lasik surgeries under his belt, so he's been through this a few times. also, 95% of people are happy with their lasik results. i keep repeating these statistics through my head. send calming, positive vibes my way, please.

hurricane andy

andy visited seattle this weekend. we knew he was probably coming sometime in august, but last thursday he let us know that he was coming on friday. the last few days have been a whirlwind of fun, laughs, and well, andy.

saturday was full of the normal (well, normal for us) saturday things. bocce, brunch, beer, and a bbq at the weekly home. an exciting hightlight was that i went with my friend, theresa to get her nose pierced. it appeared to be less painful than i had imagined it would be. i'm glad i went with her because i would be interested in getting it done sometime. i think the tiny diamond studs are very pretty.

sunday we went for an 8 mile hike to blanca lake. i'm not going to lie, the first 3 miles the beauty was lost on me. the trail gains 3,000 feet of elevation in just under 3 miles. this, to me, is significant. i also learned that my definition of the word "slow" is different from others (note to self: work on cardio so you aren't so pathetic). after all the climbing, i did finally appreciate the setting. the lake was an amazing bluish-green aqua color. really, stunning. probably one of the prettiest lakes i'd ever seen.

monday it was difficult to move. it has been awhile since i've been this sore. i wasn't alone though, andy was sore, too. spry aaron was left unscathed. it's tuesday and i'm still sore. this is probably good for me. i believe it is called "character building".

a change would do you good

i've been doing some thinking lately. i've come to the conclusion, that it is really easy for me to fall into a rut. this probably isn't a newsflash. i frequently do the same thing over and over because its easy. and easy is comfortable. not that there is anything wrong with that, but lately i think i should try doing a few things that i've thought about and have just procrastinated.

first on the list is looking into lasik. i've thought about getting lasik many times, but obviously have never gone through with it. at first it was too expensive for me. and now that i can afford it, i've just never gotten around to it. there are so many places here to do it, it's a lot of research. to be quiet honest, it's kinda scary and quiet easy to not call. but today i took the plunge. i made an appointment for a free consultation.

you know what? it's exciting! comfort and easy definitely have their place, but so does risk and adventure. i need to remember that.

myers-briggs

i'm a sucker for personality tests, and the myers-briggs is the mother of all personality tests. i've taken it numerous times online, and even attended a detailed workshop on it as a communication training for work. here is a quick run down what the letters stand for:

introversion vs. extroversion (where you get your energy)
sensing vs. intuition (literal, concrete vs. abstract)
thinking vs. feeling (logic, rational vs. values, feelings)
judging vs. perceiving (neat, orderly, established vs. flexible, spontaneous)

humanmetrics has a great online myers-briggs test you can take for free. the personality page is another great source for more in-depth personality profile descriptions. without fail, i am always an isfj. aaron took it once and he was an entp, which you will notice is the complete opposite of me. huh. weird. what are you?

isjf
the nurturer

you have a strong need to belong, and you very loyal. a good listener, you excel at helping others in practical ways. in your spare time, you enjoy engaging your senses through art, cooking, and music. you find it easy to be devoted to one person... a partner who you do special things for.

in love, you express your emotions through actions. taking care of someone is how you love them. and you do it well!

at work, you do well in a structured environment. you complete tasks well and on time. you would make a good interior designer, chef, or child psychologist.

how you see yourself: competent, dependable, and detail oriented

when other people don't get you, they see you as: boring, dominant, and stuck in a rut

a biking we will go

actually biking we went. saturday aaron and i biked with a couple of friends from our house to the redhook brewery. this bike ride has been attempted before with disastrous results that involved tears (me) and one of our companions flipping over the handlebars of his borrowed bike (hi, justin). this time the ride went much smoother. we left our house around around mid-afternoon and rode the 20 miles to the brewery. of course while we were there we took the dollar brewery tour and stayed a bit longer for dinner (we needed the energy). the ride back home was a bit more of a chore. we tried to break it up a bit by going bowling partway through. towards the last few miles we broke out into song, which included such hits as "you've lost that lovin' feeling"and "un-break my heart". classics. we arrived home exhausted at 10:45 pm. it was a fun trip, and not nearly as hard as i thought it would be. i'm glad i tried it again.

h is for heatwave

seattle is baking. it is expected to be in the 90's all this week. cooling down, finally, on saturday with a high of 84. we are not used to such heat. without an air conditioner most of the time spent indoors involves being still, not touching anyone, and skimpy (if any) clothing. i'm thinking about buying a fan to make it more tolerable. the worst part is that turning on the oven can result in the indoor temprature to soring to 85. therefore, no cooking until it cools down. tonight will be a crusty baguette, with an herb and garlic cheese, topped with tomatoes, basil, and balsamic vinegar/olive oil.

even though it has been so hot, we are still spending time outdoors (summer only comes once a year, right?) we even rented a row boat on saturday and paddled around union bay. it was a nice workout with lots of sweat, but fun. sunday was a birthday bbq (i've lost count of the number of bbqs i've been to this summer, but all with both good food and company). i hope wherever you are...you are staying cool.

etsy

i usually do not like to advertise for companies. i figure if the service/product is good enough it should speak for itself. however, i'm going to make an exception because i'm just so enamored with this one. etsy.com is a website that provides a way for people to buy and sell vintage and handmade items online. items sold range from homemade cookies to candles, to knitting & sewing, to jewelry, to statues, to photography. almost anything you can think of. even if the recession has you down and you really can't buy anything, it is fun to browse and see just how unique many of the items are.

for the longest time i've been wanting a tree necklace. don't ask why, it's a little complicated and probably wouldn't make sense. but i've wanted one. a specific one that was in my head, but i hadn't seen anything like it in the stores, or even looking online. until recently. i came across a beautiful one on etsy. it was exactly like the one i had imagined. and what made it better is that it was handmade by megan leigh designs. it arrived yesterday in a beautiful ribbon wrapped box with a hand written note by the designer. it wasn't mass produced in some factory in asia.

do you have a gift giving occasion coming up? give etsy a look. a bonus is that because you are buying directly from the producer the price is usually very reasonable.

wingardium leviosa

the werst household had a fabulous weekend. saturday was a wee bit sad, as we had to say goodbye to our friends the morgans. they will be moving this week to tennessee. there was a fun picnic at volunteer park where tons of friends came to play games and wish them well. tennessee is seriously lucking out on this one. it is the begining of many our friends leaving. a sad fact, over the next year many more will be earning their phd's and leaving. soon it will be us.

to cheer ourselves up we went to see harry potter and the half-blood prince. I was wowed over, and aaron thought "it was good, not great". it really made me glad to not be 16 again. i wouldn't mind being a wizard though. interestingly, i believe this was the first time in two years i had been to a movie theater.

sunday i got some "barbie time" in the morning. i think i require more alone time than most. i recharged with some knitting and breakfast at tiffany's. then had a fun-filled afternoon that involved crab rangoon, beer, pool, pizza, and bocci in the park. does it get much better than that?

bargain betty

what is it about a deal that makes me feel so seriously clever? after work today, i made a little detour downtown to see if i could find any jeans on sale. i got two pairs of jeans that actually fit for $30 (originally, these two items would have cost $90). to celebrate i proceeded to buy the $4.50 body spray, grass, by gap. self indulgent, i know, but i love gap fragrances. they are so fresh and clean.

saturday ramblings

aaron is driving up the pacific coast this weekend (jealous sigh). so what is a girl to do? basically all the things she has been procrastinating for days, and in some instances, weeks. so far today i've exercised (using my favorite workout dvd), cleaned the house, got my hair cut/colored, and now i'm painting my toenails, doing some laundry, knitting, and roasting some beets. pretty exciting, huh? i really know how to live it up when the boy is gone...i've loved every bit of it, minus the house cleaning.

on the agenda for tomorrow, bike ride to buffalo exchange to maybe splurge on some clothes, give myself a manicure, followed by some more knitting, and watch a movie or two. of the following, which do you recommend? the apartment, manhattan, or bridget jones' diary?

i do love the occasional solo weekend to get things done...but i'll be looking forward to his return.

pass me my nephew, please

my little brother, larry, is getting married october 3rd. this makes me happy. i also really like his future wife, tawny. this makes me even happier. the fact that i will get to see them both - not to mention the most-adorable-nephew-in-the-world, kainen, makes me positively joyous!

today we bought two round-trip plane tickets from seattle to denver for the low price of $278! isn't that ridiculously cheap? i nearly fell off my chair when aaron showed me the deal he found. we will still need to rent a car to drive from denver to bogue, but i'm not too worried about that. what i am worried about? how much nephew spoiling i can fit into 5 days?

independence day

i hope everyone had a great 4th of july! to celebrate aaron and i had dinner with some friends and then walked to campus where we viewed the spectacular fireworks on top of the atg building. it was great to be able to watch the show without fighting the swarms of people (50,000!) that usually gather at gasworks to take part in the event.

try, try again

in a previous post aaron and i tried to backpack to peek-a-boo lake. we were thwarted by too much snow and an impending thunderstorm, remember? well, we tried it again last friday and success was ours. we left seattle semi-early (7:20 ish) and began the 3 mile hike at 9:30 or so. the trail did get lost under the snow again, but our expert boy-scout was able to find the way regardless. the alpine lake was beautiful, the views breathtaking, and the bugs annoying. my favorite part was probably the campfire. i love campfires, you can't beat them for cozy. we left camp without breakfast the next morning, due to the abundance of mosquitoes. after hiking a bit to a less buggy area, we enjoyed some jerky and trail mix while taking in this view. nice, right?

gary and mary come to town

my apologies in advance for the super long post, but this trip needs documentation. last weekend my parents paid me a visit. this is no small feat. they drove 1700 miles in a truck for three days with two dogs. they must love me.

weekend recap
friday
i got off work a bit early and drove straight to their motel room. hugs ensued and we spent most of the evening talking and cooking. is it normal for people to tailgate at motels? growing up this was quiet common, and it's almost hard to remember a time when we were at a motel and didn't tailgate. this night in particular was my dad's hot chicken, which i hadn't had for years. amazing.

saturday
we got up nice and early (for me) and decided to take a bus downtown. this plan was almost foiled, as we quickly learned that most buses downtown had been re-routed due to the rock n' roll marathon. fortunately, my parents were amazingly patient throughout the bus ordeal. our first stop was the space needle. i was surprised when my mom mentioned that she really wanted to go up in it because she is afraid of heights. i was equally surprised that my dad didn't want to go. he was a good sport and waited outside while my mom and i took in the views up top. our next stop was the world spice merchants, where my dad bought a few foreign spices and chatted up the clerk. we followed that up with a quick run through pike place market, where morel mushrooms and scallops were purchased. exhausted, we boarded a bus back to my house. there we met some "characters"- identical twins (men) with snakeskin jackets, pointy shoes, long blond curly hair, and both very talkative. my dad couldn't turn his gaze away, and joined their conversation. the evening ended with tailgating at the motel...this time steaks from america's best steak.

sunday
sunday was unoffically "beer day". we began the day with a delicious breakfast at the blue star cafe and then walked to bottleworks (an imported beer store). many questions were asked and, amazingly, no beer was bought. our next stop was bob's homebrew supply...where my dad was in homebrew heaven and my mom and i were in the yarn store across the street. the grand finale came with the tour of redhook. if you are a local to the area and haven't been there...shame on you! for only $1 you get your own 5 oz redhook glass and 4-5 refills. oh, and you get to learn about beer. neat. we rounded out the day with scallops with morel cream sauce and some feisty games of cribbage.

we were, of course, all sad to say good-bye but it won't be long until i see them again. my brother is getting married in early october...hello, bogue!

bumps

for those of you who do not live in washington, we, like most universities across the nation, have been besieged with budget cuts and layoffs. for the last few months i have been really worried about keeping my job. i do not handle stress well, which is a drastic understatement. i silently freaked out about this for months. the good news? i didn't lose my job. for which i feel immensely grateful. the bad part? one of my great friends/co-worker did. actually she wasn't laid off, she was "bumped", which means that someone else was laid off and that person had more seniority than my friend. he/she was given the option of going on unemployment or taking my friends job. they made a hard choice. to make a gross understatement, this is a tough situation for all involved.

i feel horrible that i, not even for one small second, considered that it could happen to someone else. a friend, even. how self evolved is that? and though it doesn't make much sense, i also feel guilty that it wasn't me.

the next post will be more cheery. promise.

a visit from rachael

rachael graced us with her presence this weekend! it's hard to believe we have lived out here for 4 years and rachael had never visited us until now. out of all of aaron's siblings, rachael is the one i know the least, so it was fun to finally have some one-on-one time to hang out with her.

we started off right, but grabbing some happy hour appetizers and drinks at nijo's sushi bar & grill downtown on thursday. that sustained us until we made our way back home. we popped open some champagne and had a toast rachael. then went straight to work making mushroom bisque with focaccia.

i had to work on friday, so i didn't get much rachael time during the day. after work, aaron and i showed her the rose garden that close to our house. it's really amazingly beautiful. we don't go there as often as we should (it's practically in our back yard, we don't have an excuse). each time i do go i always vow to come back more often. the rest of the night was spent with a lot of laughter. we started game night with monopoly and taboo, which quickly morphed into charades.

saturday we celebrated the solstice by attending the fremont solstice parade (see prior post). both rachael and aaron had never seen this parade before so it was fun watching two newbies. aaron knew what to expect, but rachael was definately in for a shock. this isn't your typical "welcome summer" parade. i loved watching all the little kids get so excited by all of the wacky costumes and excitement. children's enthusiasm is contagious. afterwards, we went back home for a quick lunch and a nap. then went outside to a nearby park to play frisbee.

sunday we did the whole downtown-seattle experience. we toured the public library (which sounds lame, but seattle has the coolest public library ever, which rachael can now atest to). we window shopped. we went to pike place market. this, while it might sound fun, is actually obligatory, because if greg finds out any of his children are coming to seattle to visit us he insists on them transporting a huge box of crab back to wisconsin for him. it is delightful for aaron and i to watch our guest(s) lug around a 40lb box of crab, but surprisingly, they aren't that into it. good thing everyone loves greg.

we drove rachael back to the airport on sunday night. hopefully it won't take her 4 more years to visit us again!

happy solstice

saturday we went celebrated the solstice by going to the annual fremont solstice parade. what better way to welcome summer than naked bicyclists, stilt people, happy children, and bizarre costumes? it was made even more fun by watching a non-seattle dweller (aaron's sister, rachael) enjoy the seattle flamboyantness that i sometimes take for granted. my favorite part? the naked bicyclists, for sure.

shrug

for those non-knitters who read my blog (yes, i'm pretty sure that's all three of my readers) feel free to skip this post. go ahead, move along. you will not be missing much. i'm currently making this shrug that i found in fitted knits: 25 projects for the fashionable knitter (thank you seattle public library). my version is going to be a navy color on the sleeves and a light gray on the ribbed border. i like projects like this for numerous reasons:

1. i will not have to wait until november to wear it
   
2. i can complete this project in a relatively short period of time
3. versitility. i'll (hopefully) be able to wear it with numerous tanks/camis
4. fewer balls of yarn bought = more money in my pocket

so far, i've completed the sleeves and the back. i've only got the gray ribbed border left. this was a really great introduction to raglan sleeves. i understand the concept much better now, and it was very easy to knit.

justin & angie wech

may 30, 2009 two of my favorite people got married.

thwarted

yesterday we had been invited to go on a 18 mile bike ride with friends, two different bbqs, and a birthday party. that's a lot of socializing. you know what we did? we went backpacking instead. well, we tried to.

we set our sites on peek-a-book lake near darrington, wa. it was to be a short hike in (3 miles) and then we would set up camp and just relax. it was about 70 degrees, bright and sunny, really beautiful. amongst the normal camping ammenities we also brought wine, cards, and knitting. how could we go wrong?

well, approximately 2 miles in we lost the trail under the snow, which wasn't the most awful thing in the world. we had a printed map of the area, and aaron also had his compass. as we began hiking off the beaten path to find our way we began to hear thunder. the sky was becoming darker and then a few bright flashes of lightening. we knew our plans had been thwarted. i took a few pictures before departed to the car.


we did end up going to a friends bbq that night. it was much more fun than being stuck in a tent during a thunderstorm.

biking adventure

once upon a time there was a young lady. on this particular day she was riding her bike home from work on the burke gilman trail. the sun was out. there was a slight breeze. it was a beautiful day. suddenly she felt a slight sting on her right boob. she thought nothing of it, there was a biker ahead of her and his bike probably hit a small pebble up. no big deal. suddenly there was another sting...and some crawling. with horror she gazed down her shirt and noticed a bee had flown into her bra. chaos ensued as she tried to free the bee from her bra and stay on the trail while not hitting or flashing nearby pedestrians. do not worry, the young heroine escaped with only two bee stings, while giving quiet a few people a nice story to share.

hair woes

it took me a long time to like my hair. once i hit puberty it went from stick straight to unruly curls in a nanosecond. it took me approximately 6 years (no joke) to figure out how to adequately style it. but now i love it. i go through long and short phases and love to switch up the color slightly. currently, it's about 5 inches below my shoulders and probably the longest that is has ever been in my adult life. it looks ok, but i feel like i'm being smothered by it. i really want to get it cut soon...but getting my hair is becoming quite complicated...

1. m-f is out because there is no way i can make it to my hair salon (Babalouise) with time for a cut & color before they close due to work
2. donna (my stylist) doesn't work on sundays
3. the next 2 saturdays we will have company and the saturday after that is the 4th of july

this puts me into mid-july. sad. but if this is my biggest complaint, i think i can survive. in the mean time, who has an opinion regarding my new color...

copper?

auburn?

dark brown?

brought to you by the letter b

technically, summer hasn't started yet. but it feels like it has. in the last few days we have enjoyed beautiful mid-70s sunshine, bike rides, boccie, beer, & billiards (and though it has nothing to do with summer, we also baked brownies). i found myself less inclined to watch tv, and more inclined to be outdoors - even if it's just to sit on the swing in the backyard and talk. it feels good.

june has been (and will continue to be) a very busy month. rachael will be visiting next week, my parents the weekend after that, and aaron also has field work to do. normally fitting so many things in one month is overwhelming, but the incredible weather and longer days has made me less cranky. i'm happy. hooray june!

snoqualmie falls

last weekend aaron and i went to snoqualmie falls. initially we had intended on going for a 8-10 mile hike in the cascades, but i woke up not feeling so hot. we slept in much later, which was just what the doctor ordered. when we got up at 11 i was feeling much better and up for a small adventure. after living here 4 years we still hadn't been to see the falls. which is surprising, considering that they are only about 30 miles away. so we packed a nice little picnic lunch and off we went. below are some highlights.

really? again?

i have been contemplating starting a blog for awhile now. i get so much enjoyment out of reading so many myself, that i felt that i should contribute as well. i've been hesitant for many reasons.

i do not feel like i have the time. i realize the time excuse is just that, an excuse. i have no children. a normal m-f 8-5 job. if i don't have time now, i'll never have time. and that's ridiculus. some of my favorite blogs come from people who are much, much busier than i.

i do not think my life would make for a very interesting blog. (note: this still rings true.)

i have started others and they are long abandoned.

i will try again. onward.