blarg. agu.

it's that time of year again. agu. a conference in san francisco, that aaron (and most of my friends) goes to every year for about a week. usually it isn't too bad. this year, however, i do not have a job (or friends) to keep me occupied. so it's 11 days of hanging solo.

it actually hasn't been as bad as i thought it would be. i, of course, drafted a to-do list that has been keeping me fairly occupied the entire time. there has also been plenty of knitting and genealogy as well (i have now traced aaron's family back to the 1700's). but i'm definitely ready for him to come back. as soon as i get motivated i'll add some before/after pictures to wech and barbs go south for some of the projects that have been taking up my time.

also, there are the best facebook quotes from my friends during agu. my friend, rachel, overheard someone say "sometimes i think she likes magnetite a little too much". isn't that cute? i love scientists.

last, but not least, happy birthday to my mamma (dec 16) and dad (dec 19). my dad is the person i inherited my love of history and therefore genealogy. my mother is the reason my fingers are dry and cracked now (who do you think i learned scrubbing the floor on my hands and knees from?) but she is also the reason my house is sparkling clean. i couldn't have asked for better parents. i wish them both the happiest of birthdays!

yay! for aaron coming home in 2 days!

10 years

i can't believe it's been ten years since aaron and i started dating. in a way it seems just like yesterday, but it also seems like it has been forever (in a good way). since we did such a job of celebrating last year (hoot and holler), the pressure was on for this year. we usually don't try to outdo ourselves, but we both wanted to be able to remember what we did for ten years. we decided to rent a cabin, cottage, or chalet. we relentlessly googled various versions of this to try to find something. but no. this was really confusing, because as gorgeous as new zealand is, the should have tons of these to rent. we were confused.

after a bit, we discovered that what we were looking for is called a bach (pronounced "batch"). ah ha! there are tons of them. this is the one we decided on te nikau cottage. it's a cute cottage that was perfect for a romantic celebration.

not too many pictures exist from the weekend, but there are a few...

after cooking breakfast in this kitchen

 i peeked out the window and saw two sheep that had wandered into our front lawn

cute, right? also, practically in our backyard was a wonderful nature reserve. late afternoon we decided to check it out. we bushwhacked through a thick jungley forest and reached the parata walking track in the hemi matenga memorial park. it was a gorgeous hike that climbed to beautiful views

of course, the usuals were also involved in the celebration...champagne, pizza, scrabble, etc. it was a terrific way to celebrate ten years of "us".

the rewards of running

i just got back from a run. actually, it was more of a walk/run. but i worked up a huge sweat and that was the main goal. we live close to a place called tinakori hill that has numerous walking trails all around. i went on one called the ridgeline trail today and here are some of the rewards:

i might have to keep at this running thing.

i am mocking you

aaron and i were talking last night and came to an interesting deduction. it all started when we were recalling the first time i met our friend, andy. andy instantly got my jokes and laughed at all appropriate times, which may not seem like much, but it is. especially since he just met me. most people don't understand my humor right away. i can be quite sarcastic at times, however, peoples first impression of me is one of sincerity and earnestness. so they misunderstand my sarcasm as sincerity and leave thinking i'm super nice. aaron however, has the exact opposite happen to him. his first impression usually leaves one thinking he is super sarcastic, so even if he says sometime sincere, people will mistake it for mockery. the truth of the matter is that both of us are much more middle ground than we appear. interesting, no?

after our discussion, we skyped andy and had a fun conversation. it was 11pm for us and we were drinking wine. it was 11am for him and he was at work. he is (i think) the only friend of ours that is exactly 12 hours apart from us, which makes for convenient skype dates.

knitting pics to come soon. promise. also check out wech and barbs go south for some pics of our new place in wellington.

curry peanut noodles

i love cooking. love it. but, the chore i hate most in the world is making lunches m-f. i'm not sure why this is, but because i dislike it so much it usually ends up being a pretty crappy sandwich. however, lately i decided to cook something on sunday that i could pack as lunches for the rest of the week. it has been fabulous not having to make sandwiches, and getting something tasty for lunch. my friend, jenni, posted a great recipe on her site for pesto polenta lasagna that i made last night. to repay the favor i thought i would post a recipe as well.

curry peanut noodles

ingredients

12 oz spaghetti

2/3 c crunchy peanut butter

1-2 t red curry paste

2 tsp rice wine vinegar

juice of 1 lime

1/3 c cilantro

2 scallions

1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and cut into thin strips

1 large carrot, coarsely grated

red pepper flakes, for serving

1. bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the spaghetti per package instructions. reserve about 1/2 cup of cooking water

2. mix the peanut butter, curry paste, vinegar, and lime juice in a small pot over medium heat. heat until the peanut butter starts to melt. stir in the 1/2 cup of pasta water to create a sauce.

3. toss the spaghetti with the peanut sauce, scallions, cucumber, carrot, and cilantro. serve with extra cilantro and red pepper flakes, if desired.

this dish is terrific hot or cold. enjoy!

as a side note, the following conversation just happened in our household:
me: why is your shirt on the floor?
aaron: i put it there.
me: oh, and i thought there wouldn't be a good reason.
aaron: rest assured, there is.

productivity thy name is barbie

i have been ultra productive today. i love days like this, where you get lots done that was floating around in the back of your mind and you didn't realize how busy your mind was until it isn't busy anymore.

besides normal stuff like making breakfast, lunch, and laundry, i've also applied for a part-time library job, rigged up the shower curtain so it doesn't billow in on the person showering (extra weight on the bottom), painted the hideous bedside table we had (white), and finished knitting the sweater from hell. (i still have to seam and sew up the sides, so it isn't completely done, but the knitting is complete).

hopefully, i'll also get a painting hung in the living room today as well.

i honestly can't believe it is already mid-november. the weather here isn't helping. it's simply gorgeous outside most days. mid-sixties, sunshine, slight breeze. and then i see the christmas things in the store, and it really jars my senses. i can't imagine having a christmas tree in the middle of summer, but in a few weeks i will. bonus, have you ever heard of christmas crackers? me either. but they are everywhere here.

b is back

sorry for the long gap in posting. moving internationally will do that to you. the thought of trying to remember everything that has happened in the last 2 months and posting about it is a bit overwhelming, so i'm going to do a really quick update:

1. we got a 1996 toyota rav 4 (maroon), named her bonnie. she is a sweet ride
2. after much house searching, we finally found a home. we moved in october 12. our landlord is a 23 year old famous rugby player who lives next door. (so cliche, i know)
3. our new house requires a lot of tlc. while aaron is at work, i am usually found sanding, painting, or cleaning something around here. but it is coming together quite nicely
4. fun fact: i can stand in our bay window. also, i can lie down and still have 2 feet of extra space
5. cooking requires conversion from cups, etc. to grams. i am learning. it's a process
6. i'm getting a sewing machine in the near future and am really excited about it.
7. i've appled for numerous jobs now, and am hoping that i at least get an interview with one or two. the one i really want to get is a library assistant position at the national library of new zealand. that sounds mighty important, right?

i think that about gets you up to date. hopefully, we can start taking pictures of our place soon. i realize that for before and after pictures to work, you need before pictures. but i didn't want to take any pictures of this place before, so you will probably just get a lot of afters. then you will all want to visit. which will be fine with me. ;)

the knitting must continue

so while posting up in a local bar/cafe here in wellington, i noticed a sign for a local knit night that occurs wednesdays, fortnightly (every 2 weeks). i decided that it would be a good thing to jump right into this making friends bit and decided to go to the next one.

however, when the day arrived it was a bit more daunting. would they like me? would i like them? would any of them be my age? suddenly i didn't want to go. aaron gently told me i sounded like a 5 year old on her first day of kindergarten (true). i sucked it up. i went.

it was definitely not like my usual knit night. there was about 10-15 women ranging in age from late 20's to late 70's. i felt a bit out of place. not because i was new, but more because of my knitting style. i was knitting a wool sock in the round on 4 metal dpns. most of the other knitters were knitting on bamboo or plastic straight needles and using acrylic. oh, rachel, how i missed you.

the women were all really nice and made me feel quite welcome. i might have even made a new friend. she seemed to be about my age and lives in my area. she offered me her name and number in case i wanted to go grab a tea or coffee sometime, which made me really happy.

at the end of the night, everyone put a few coins into a tin, and then you drew numbered balls (the same amount as the amount of coins you donated) and the winner of the raffle got the coins. it was odd, but fun. i was definitely enjoyed the experience and hope to go to the next one as well.

word up! wellington style

yes, dear friends we have finally made it to wellington! we got our visas on friday (the 10th), our plane tickets on sunday (the 12th), and left on wednesday (the 15th). phew! the three plans rides were actually really great. we both slept through them, and arrived in wellington on friday, september 13 at 9:30 am relatively well rested.

we have settled into our temporary accommodations quite nicely. a professor who is teaching in korea is subletting his house to us until we find a place to live. it is a nice house, but it feels a bit foreign. many of the houses are not heated. we have to portable heaters that we drag into the room we would like to heat. it was annoying at first, but now it is almost cozy.

the first week we spent a large portion of time walking and busing all over the city to view potential places to live. this place is WINDY and HILLY, to the extreme. it is almost comical. fortunately, we found a car on trademe and within a weeks' time we were the proud owners of a 1996 toyota rav4. the car is a godsend. it is so much easier to do everything now. a few odd notes about cars here:

• car insurance is not compulsory. however, it is cheap. for us to both be fully covered it is $400 (NZD) a year.
• the car itself was amazingly cheap as well. it was only about $2800 (US) dollars and it is in good shape
• it is so much easier to do things like buy a car here. we electronically placed the money in the sellers bank (they give you their bank numbers here!) and went to her house to pick up the car. from there we drop to the post office, where we paid them $9 and the car is now registered to us.

a few other odd notes in general:

• things here are either really cheap or really expensive. for instance the car was really cheap. the eyeshadow that i usually purchase in the US for $5 is now $25 here. (when aaron goes to agu this year, he will be coming back with a suitcase of cosmetics)
• the area we are staying at currently (karori) is making me feel a bit uncomfortable. there are children, babies, and pregnant women EVERYWHERE. it is crazy. at first it was cute, but the more and more of them you see it becomes kind of weird. (please note i have nothing against babies, children, or pregnant women. i just find it odd that they have all congregated here)

i have a bit more...but i'll save it for another time as this is getting long and i hope to get a few things done today. hearts!

a bit about anxiety

perhaps getting wisdom teeth taken out, travels to honduras, a road trip to wisconsin, and moving to another country was a bit much to undertake in a few months. it ended up getting to me. i began to experience panic attacks and anxiety that eventually led to depression. it sucked. i didn't have any interest in anything. i didn't want to do anything. i cried for no apparent reason. i have always been a happy person. i didn't understand how this could happen to me. but it did. it can happen to anyone. i reached out to a few friends who i know had also experienced this. i also used carelink (a service provided by my former employer). i got 5 free sessions with a therapist. all of this helped tremendously.

apparently, it isn't unusual for people to experience this during times of tremendous change. my doctor prescribed me zoloft to be used for the short term of 6 months (enough time for me to adjust to things "down-under"). previously i would have been skeptical of taking prescription drugs to alter my mood, but truly experiencing these feelings has changed my perspective. i feel much more in charge of my emotions.

i guess, i just wanted this blog to be a short public service memo. if you are feeling anxious or depressed, please reach out to someone. it helps, and things will get better. even if it doesn't seem like it. and thanks to all of the people who have helped me through this. i am doing much much better now.

honduras

sorry for the lack of posting recently. i will attempt to bring you up to date, starting with our recent adventures in honduras.

late on july 29th, we started our adventure. we flew from seattle to atlanta and then to tegucigalpa, the capital city of honduras. to be quiet honest, teguicigalpa is not a tourist mecca for a reason. it was hot and dirty, which would have been ok, had their been something to do or see. but we were jet lagged anyway, so we found a quaint place to stay, hotel macarthur

 hotel macarthur

we posted up there, and enjoyed our first taste local cuisine. the food was really good, very similar to mexican food, but it had it's own unique flair. my personal favorite, was something called a baleada. it consists of a wheat tortilla folded in half and spread with mashed beans, a crumbled white cheese, and cream. after a small meal and a few beers we wandered into a local grocery store, la colonia, to stock up on a few snacks for the next few days.

the next day we went to the bus station to purchase a ticket to our next destination, copan ruinas. we arrived early (around 9) to get a good start on the day, but the next available tickets were for the 1pm bus. since the bus station was in a somewhat shady section of comayaguela, we decided it was best to stay inside to pass the time. we waited for 4 hours for the bus to arrive, pretty boring...but it was made worse when the 1pm bus arrived 2 hours late at 3pm. the bus itself was actually really nice, there was air conditioning, snacks, and a tv with a english close captioned nicholas cage movie. when we finally arrived in copan ruinas, it was 10pm and we quickly found a motel and called it a night. 

the next day we down-graded our hotel option to save a bit of money. we went with hotel patty, which although bare-bones, it was clean and acceptable.

hotel patty

our main objective while in copan was to just relax a bit and to eventually visit the world famous ancient mayan ruins located about a mile from town. our favorite breakfast spot was the  via via cafe which served amazing honduran food and we could lounge on their balcony and people watch. afterwords we explored the town a bit. the town itself is a pretty, sleepy, colonial village. and because we came during the down season, there wasn't many tourists either. the streets were made of uneven stones and were dotted with palm trees. the buildings were white adobe with red tile roofs. for such a small town, there was a plethora of motor taxis offering their services at every opportunity.

motor taxi

after some relaxing and exploring of the town, we finally ventured to the ruins themselves. they are from the mayan civilization and date back to the 5th to 9th century. it is hard to actually describe them without showing pictures (hopefully, aaron will post all of our honduran pictures on his website soon). needless to say the ruins were breathtaking. i love visiting sites like this and envisioning ancient cultures living their normal lives. 

after copan our plan was to take a bus to la cieba, and from their a ferry to the island of rotaan. spontaneously, we booked a rafting tour in the jungles near la cieba and decided to go rafting and spend the night there, then take the ferry the next day to the island. our plans went awry. we awoke early so that we could catch our bus out of copan and to la cieba. however, aaron had a fever and a bad case of...well, travelers diarrhea. he was a sick boy, but he rallied and we ended up catching our bus on time and arriving at the eco jungle lodge where we were to raft the following day. however, the rafting was not to be, as aaron was still to sick the next day to do much, let alone white water raft. we packed things up and decided to head to take the ferry and get to the island, where we could just relax, and hopefully aaron could recoup. 

the ferry was an adventure. aaron was sick. i was worried about aaron being sick. there were screaming children. and then we boarded the ferry. the ferry itself was pretty pleasant. there was nice seating and it wasn't uncomfortable...until we started moving. the water was extremely choppy and the boat went violently up and down with the waves. along with our tickets we were given dramamine to help with the sea sickness. i do not know what i would have done with out that pill. the crew was amazing at keeping the boat clean as they passed out sea sick bags to all who were in need and their were  numerous people in need.

we finally arrived on the island and hired a taxi to take us to our hotel. we settled on the posada arco iris were we lavished in a clean, beautiful, air-conditioned room. there were hard wood floors, a balcony with a hammock, a mini-fridge, and plenty of light and mirrors. exactly what we needed after a rough few days. aaron finally decided after 2 full days of sickness to take his prescribed medicine and when he awoke the next morning was doing much better. i, however, had just started my bout with travelers diarrhea. i rushed into town and bought us some food and water and then came back to the hotel were we both had a rest day. we played cards, talked, and enjoyed each other's company while we both got better. i took my prescription medicine much faster, after watching aaron's ordeal and we were both on the mend the next day.

once it was clear we were both getting better we rented a scooter and explored a bit more of the island. it was a lot of fun to zip about and feel the breeze. it was incredibly hot and muggy on the island and any sort of breeze was amazingly refreshing.

aaron wanted to snorkel while on the island. i had tried my hand at snorkeling before in jamaica, and didn't have much luck (i was terrified of the jellyfish, and ended up vomiting sea water). i bravely tried again, and i'm so glad i did. it was nothing short of spectacular. the reef was a short swim out from the shore. there were starfish, sea fans, a sting ray, a sea turtle, a fish of about every shape, size, and color imaginable. and no jellyfish to speak of.

a fun side note, is that aaron and i made quiet the friend of a local bartender. everynight we would return to the same place for dinner, eagle rays. it was a nice restaraunt, at the end of a dock. each time we came back the bartender, mark, would open up more and more to us. he was quiet jovial and continuously drinking. he began giving us free drinks, showing us pictures of his kids, and introducing us to his girlfriend and sister. he was quiet the fan of ryan adams and played his ryan adams cd every night. when other customers complained he would rotate with a country cd. i'm not too sure why mark liked us so much...we would constantly see him give pretty rude and questionable service to other tourists, but we egged him on to tell us stories about other tourists and about his life. on our last night, he told us our whole meal and all the drinks were on him. he was incredibly generous, so we made sure to sneak in a equally generousness tip.

the day before we left we flew out of rotaan, back to tegucigalpa, where we stayed at the hotel macarthur again. the next morning we began our journey back home. we made it back around 1am to seattle. i was thankful that i had taken the following day off work as well to recoup. before this adventure i wouldn't have had the slightest clue what honduras had to offer, but it was well worth a visit. 

i'll try to post some more pictures soon!

aaron wech, phd

i am happy and proud to announce that on monday, july 19th aaron successfully defended and earned his phd in earth and space science (seismology, specifically). he gave a 45 minute talk followed by a short q & a by the audience, then he was grilled by his selection committee for another hour. he is mighty humble about it, but i am not. i'm pretty close to stopping strangers in the streets just to tell them about my awesomely smart boyfriend. i know he gives the impression that he plays a lot harder than he works, but this is proof that he puts in a lot of hours "doing science" as well. its a side of him that is sometimes hidden.  to celebrate his adviser held a nice bbq at his house. it was nice to be able to finally meet some of the faculty that i hear so much about and to see a few much loved, but rarely seen faces. 

congratulations, aaron. i love you and i am awfully proud.

wise?

job interviews, visas, honduras, moving to new zealand? i clearly do not have enough on my plate. i have therefore decided that now is a good time to have my wisdom teeth removed. about 7 years ago, they were growing in and somewhat painful. i went to the dentist who told me i needed to have them removed immediately. according to the dentist, my mouth did not have enough space to accommodate them and that they would be painful until i did so. i was frightened so i did the most logical thing - i didn't go back. as it turns out, i did have enough space in my mouth, and all four have grown in straight and perfect.

i began going to a dentist again when we came to seattle. she has always gently suggested that i have them removed as well. apparently, my gum line is a bit receded on all four so there are pockets around the tooth (think like a loose turtleneck). it isn't a problem, but in the future it could get infected, which would be a bigger problem, and it is easier to heal the younger you are. since i will only have dental insurance for a few more months, i decided to go for it.

i have a consultation on july 8th and am scheduled for extraction on the 12th. to ease my fears, feel free to send me any positive stories relating your personal experience (please, please, please do not tell me any horror stories...i'm frightened enough).

barbie and aaron take a trip

when you travel with aaron the possibilities are endless and a bit daunting. basically, you could spin a global and pick a place, and it wouldn't be weird. he usually picks the destination for our adventures and i happily follow along. understandably, he wanted me to have more of an input for our next trip. sometime after aaron defends his phd in july, and before we move to new zealand in september, we are planning a nice 2 week "holiday". i'm greatly looking forward to this, but as i mentioned earlier, planning international travel is a bit overwhelming (such is the theme lately, i suppose).

however, i am greatly pleased to announce that i found a location that has all of the following:

1. cheap flight (we obtained 2 tickets for around $1000)
2. cheap living (think $30 a day for hotel, food, etc.)
3. doesn't require a visa (i'm done with visas for awhile)
4. has caribbean beaches
5. colonial villages
6. mayan ruins
7. national parks for hikes (cloud forests, too)
8. good food, think mixture of  african, spanish, and indigenous

give up? it's honduras. and we are going there in august. i'm thrilled. we haven't traveled internationally together since vietnam, and that has been my favorite vacation so far.

june 21, high 61, are you kidding me?

life seems to be flying by at a break neck speed. i can barely keep up. people are frequently telling me how excited i must be about moving to new zealand. the truth is, i have mostly forgot. sure, i am doing all of the things i need to do to get there (finger printing, paper work, medical work, interviews, etc.), but i don't usually think about the fact that soon my everyday life will be in a different country.  sometimes, when i am stressed out by all of the chores involved, it helps to look at apartments on trademe. envisioning my life there with aaron, once things are settled is peaceful.

we are getting much closer to sending our paperwork off to the embassy. my medical test have come back and i'm happy to report i am in perfect health. now we need our fingerprints to return from the fbi, so we can assure nz i am not a criminal.

i did have an interview about 2 weeks ago for an office administrator position at the university. as each day passes, i am less hopeful about my chances. but it was a good experience that will help me in the long run.

yes, technically the first day of summer was yesterday.  it doesn't feel like it. it has reached 75 yet this year in seattle. this last weekened, i was happiest when aaron and i pretend it was a winter. we stayed inside and played board games, watched avatar, and had beer cheddar soup and wine. it was no outdoor adventure, but it was nice nonetheless.

oh, and happy blogiversary to myself...who knew i would still be updating this blog one year later?

kansas and new zealand update

oh where to start...last weekend aaron and i went back kansas. our mission was two fold.

1. 10 year high school reunion

2. see my family one last time before we head off for new zealand

going back to kansas brings up a weird combination of emotions in me (happy/sad/reminiscent/longing).  but, all in all, it was a great trip. seeing faces from high school (14 out of 36) was wonderful. i don't have much in common with many of my classmates anymore, but it was great to catch up and see where they are in life. everyone seems to be happy, which is terrific. my family is also doing well. nothing too new on the family front. my nephew is already 1 1/2 years already...so big. so cute. i have to say saying goodbye for me this time was a bit harder. bonus, we got to experience an awesome thunderstorm (i miss them so).

new zealand folks are pretty picky about who they let into their great country , i applaud them on having such high standards. in order to obtain a work visa, yesterday we had to be fingerprinted at the police station. we have to send our prints to the fbi to obtain our police record. no one wants to let in common criminals. also, there is a 20 page medical report we need to fill out...we will need to obtain blood and urine tests, chest x-rays, and a full physical. nz does not want people in poor health either. on a cheery note...i have a phone interview next week for an office administration job. i am so very excited at the possibility. it sounds like a perfect match for my interests and skill set, so i am keeping my fingers crossed. wish me luck!

yesterday was also my first visit to a dermatologist. i have always had bad skin (since i was a teen, anyway). it has been so frustrating to buy all of the over-the-counter products to no avail. i have never been to a dermatologist, because it always seemed kinda vain...but it became apparent that i am now 28 and i am clearly not outgrowing this. i decided i was worth it. she prescribed me retin-a and a benzoyl peroxide wash. i'm looking forward to possibly having clearer skin soon, even though i know the retin-a will make my skin a nightmare for the first few weeks.

kansas bound

the first week after we decided to move to wellington, everything seemed really blissful and exciting. last week it was replaced by anxiety and nerves. this week i seemed to have rebounded back into a state of normal. normal is nice. hopefully i will continue along this path for awhile.

accomplished:

• my passport has been renewed, and is in the process of being sent back to me.
• i've applied for 3 jobs (1 response, sadly a no)

to accomplish:

• once my passport arrives, send it back to get my work visa
• apply for more jobs

in other, no moving news...aaron and i will be going back to kansas this weekend. it will be our 10 year high school reunion and i'm definitely excited to see everyone.  we were both in a class of 35 kids. it's weird to think that these people were a part of my everyday life for at least 4 years (many of them 12) and that i haven't seen them for 10 years. also, i'll get a heaping dose of family time, which will be nice. plus, who doesn't love the adventure of traveling to western kansas. it's only a 21/2 hour flight, and a 5 hour drive away!

farewell, seattle

 seattle

well, after five years in this wonderful city, the time has come for us to leave. aaron received a post-doc opportunity in wellington, new zealand and after some careful consideration we decided to accept. he starts his new job, october 1st, so we will probably be leaving around mid-september. it will definitely be bittersweet to leave. all of our friends are here, and we have grown so accustom to the pacific northwest and all it has to offer. also, being so far from our families will present some challenges. but it is new zealand. and it is also for only two years.it is an amazing opportunity.

we are both really excited and spend copious amounts of time google earthing our new home (we have yet to find an ugly, or even mediocre picture from this country). we also surf trade me (think craigslist, new zealand style) for ideas as to what our new home will look like. i have also started to annoy aaron to no end with my use of "mate" and a weird new cockney accent that probably has very little to do with the actual new zealand accent.

of course, along with all the excitement, comes some stress. renewing my passport, work visas, finding a new job, etc. but i'm surprising myself as to how well i'm taking it (at least so far).

wellington

fred

this weekend was filled with some of my favorite things. yoga. coffee. rain, honest to goodness rain, not just mist. knitting books. wine. brunch with friends. a john wayne movie. and i got sweet, sweet plant. meet fred.

fred is a snake plant, or mother-in-laws tongue. i got him at swanson's nursery. i'm really exicted about him. he is supposed to be impossible to kill. we'll see. i'm hoping to start cultivating a green thumb. i would like to someday have a vegetable garden, but i'm working towards this goal slowly. the last plant i got was 4 years ago, with no research invested. after it became apparent that it was going to die, aaron decided to spray paint it copper and call it art.

someone once thought we got it at ikea. which is probably the best compliment one could hope to get from a spray painted, dead tree. i hope fred has a longer, happier life.

seattle with teens

we had kids last weekend. or, rather, we had kids come to visit us.

meet micah. meet rebekah. cute, right? micah is aaron's brother. rebekah is his sweet girlfriend. it was a bit akward at first, neither of us have spent much time with micah since he was about 10, but it was fun getting to know him again.

things to do in seattle with people under 21:

mingle among the tulips at skagit valley

drive to deception pass on whidbey island

here cute couples exist in the wild

you can take a nap

or pretend to be a bear cub

 (the possibilities are quiet endless, really)

other fun things we did include some hiking in the de leo wall park (cougar mountain). i love this park because it is so close to seattle, and there are so many miles of trails. plus it is all low altitude, so you can hike even in the winter, without running into snow. perfect!

it was also fun to expand their culinary palate. we took them out for thai and ethiopian food; and might have started bekah on a serious thai tea addiction. also, are you aware of how much teenage boys eat? crazy.

socks, oh my!

i am a knitter. i mostly knit hats and scarfs, but have also knit a sundry of other items including, washcloths, fingerless mitts, beer cozies, and even a sweater (no photos, yet). all of this is well and good, but the item that i most want to make is socks.

i've knit one pair of socks before and it wasn't my favorite item. the needles were oh-so-tiny as was the yarn (very fiddly) . and after thousands of stitches, you have, um, one sock. you have to do it all over again! and this time, it needs to match the previous sock exactly. that being said, they really are one of my most comfortable pair of socks. every time i wear them my feet are happy.

i fantasize about being a sock knitter. i think logically it is the most perfect item to knit.

• it travels anywhere
• everyone needs/wants/wears socks
• you can knit in the summer and still wear the result
• $15 could give you a completed project
• can you imagine having this drawer full of hand knit socks? yea, me either.

what to do? i am thinking about purchasing sock innovation: knitting techniques and patterns for one-of-a-kind socks. perhaps seeing those beautiful patterns will make the task at hand less daunting? or maybe more inspired?

a rather long but boring update

no new news, so you will have to make do with somewhat boring news from the many facets of my life....oh, yes, sit down for this.

i have been knitting a semi-boring stripped scarf for the last few weeks. yes, weeks. i don't know why scarfs take me so much longer than any other item. it was an attempt to use some last bits of yarn that i wouldn't normally have any use for color-wise. what i am mostly proud of is that i have succeeded in making the stripes totally random. this required a pep talk from aaron, and i found myself opening (and closing) microsoft exel, in an attempt to create a pattern. once it is finished i have one or two other ideas in mind for using up some spare skeins...then maybe i'll have earned some sparkly new yarn (actually, decidedly un-sparkly).

last week i had two separate people get in touch with me concerning genealogy. i have four separate genealogy blogs, one for each grandparent line. i post on these sporadically, when the mood hits. occasionally someone will contact me on the blogs, which leads to several emails. this is a great way to meet distant relation. it was exciting to share information with both people. i discovered my great-great-great grandfather was a drunkard that committed suicide by drinking rat poisoning after a night of drinking and beating his wife. less than charming. but validated by the August 21, 1884 edition of the st. paul daily globe.

my sweet parents bought me another subscription to a food magazine. in addition to the everyday with rachael ray mag, i am now the proud subscriber to the foodnetwork magazine. i really like my monthly fill of food porn, however, they are starting to pile up. i've noticed that i keep every issue because i might some-day-in-the-future i might want to this syndrome. i now have a binder and i'm methodically going through every past issue and tearing out anything i might want to make someday and then filing it in the appropriate filed section (breakfast, pasta, vegetarian, poutry, etc.) and recycling the rest. hopefully this will clear up a bit of space and lead to me actually making the recipes.

life has been going exceedingly my way lately. i hope it is for you as well :)

bob the cat

our upstairs neighbors have a lovely cat named bob. he isn't really "ours", but he is the best kind of pet. we let him in and feed him/play with him/love him when we want, and then let him out when we all have our fill of each other. it is perfect, much like what i envision being a grandparent is like. i hadn't seen bob in a long time, so in inquired to my neighbors as to his whereabouts...he died. he had died a few weeks ago. how sad.

r.i.p. bob, i will miss you.

in other, more light-hearted news...saturday the weather was beautiful, so aaron and i finally discovered the greenlake pitch & putt course. it is a lovely 9 hole golf course, but miniature. the furthest hole is 115 yards, perfect for those of us who haven't golfed since that one time in 9th grade p.e class. this spring weather has been terrific lately, mid-50's to 60's.  i'm already starting to fantasize about all of the spring/summer things we get to start doing soon. bbq at golden gardens, anyone? soon.

how big of a dork are you?

nbc debuted a new show on march 5th (last friday), that i'm pretty excited about, who do you think you are? basically the show documents seven celebrities as they trek across the globe discovering their ancestry. as a twenty-something who has been doing genealogy for the last 15 years (see genealogy blogs on right), i'm thrilled that this has the potential to expose genealogy to a much younger generation. i loved watching the joy on sarah jessica parker's face as she learned about her ancestors. it's too hard to describe this emotion, but it was clearly written all over her face. the only downfall of the show is that all of the research has been done before hand. all sjp had to do was walk into the library, and a professional genealogist happened to have all of the answers for her. part of the fun of genealogy, for me anyway, is the hunt of finding the documents that answer your questions. realistically though, it probably doesn't make for good tv. i'll continue to tune in each week.

in other exciting genealogy news, do you know the 2010 census is coming up? my inner dork is doing a happy dance. i fantasize about my ancestors seeing me on the census (in 72 years), just as i have done with my ancestors. i'm well aware of how delusional this makes me sound.

ess grad student retreat

every year the ess grad students (earth and space science), get together at friday harbor in the san juan islands for a healthy dose of island living, beer, and camaraderie. it's usually in february and it is usually pouring rain with 25 mph wind. this year it was sunny, gorgeous, and 55 degrees. in short, it was perfect.

aaron and i brought our bikes to the island and went on a short bike ride (about 12 miles) to the winery on the island. the sun was on our backs and the views were incredible (you'll have to take my word, because we forgot the camera). about 9 miles into our ride, we were a bit sleepy, so we pulled off the road at egg lake and took a nap on the dock. we woke up a short time later and continued our journey to the san juan vineyards. we pulled up some chairs on the porch and had a few leisurely glasses of wine in the bright sunshine.

  (green dot = dorms, blue dot = egg lake, red dot = winery)

that night was a late night involving lots of hard cider, games, a cozy fire, and lots of conversation and laughs. scientists are a fun group.

sunday we left the island and headed to bellevue, where we said goodbye to our friends wes and jenni thelen. wes has received his phd in ess and accepted a job in vancouver, wa. it is time to face facts...our friends are quickly earning their phds and leaving for new adventures. soon it will be our turn. this will be bittersweet. i adore seattle and all of our friends here, but it will be exciting to start anew somewhere else. it's fun to think about where we will be and what our life will be like in a few years.

phonies

reasons why yesterday was a good day:

1. kind of a secret, but i can tell you in a week or so
2. i got to work on our statistics spreadsheet at work. this pleased me so much that i worked straight through my breaks and didn't realize what time it was until 4:50.
3. h2ocean piercing aftercare spray arrived in the mail. now i will not need to get up 20 minutes early to soak my nose in a sea salt solution before i head to work.
4. i got to chat with aaron online for 20 minutes. he is having lots of fun in nepal and india. he is safe and happy.
5. i finished knitting the second sleeve on my owls sweater and attached both sleeves to the body. it is starting to look like an honest-to-goodness sweater at this point.

one not-so-good thing was that i found out that j. d. salinger died on wednesday. he was without question my favorite author. i have all four of his books and have photocopied every single short story he had ever published (aside from "an ocean full of bowling balls" which can only be read with supervision at princeton library). i still have a few fan letters i penned to him as well (unsent). catcher in the rye is his most well known work, but it wasn't my favorite. my favorite is franny and zooey. actually, any of his stories pertaining to the glass family. it drives me crazy to think that there are possibly dozens of unpublished glass stories gathering dust in some new england attic. frustrating. i hope he was able to achieve some form of peace and happiness in his last years. selfishly, i hope that some of his unpublished later works will be made available to the public before i loose my eyesight to old age.

a sparkle in my nose

way back when i was in high school i bought a magnetic diamond nose stud. i loved the look of them, but knew i would never be able to get one because:

1) i am a big wuss face. i have been told by various people that my pain tolerance is below normal
2) my father would kill me

in college, i told aaron that i would love to go to the tattoo shop to just look at the jewelry. i thought maybe it would help me get some nerve up...it ended with me having a panic attack. bad idea.

last august, my friend theresa, wanted to get her nose pierced and i went with her. she was a champ, and i was stunned that watching the actual process made the whole procedure seem much less scary. i think i might have alarmed her with all of the questions i asked afterward.

last friday, theresa accompanied me to slave to the needle, where adam gave me a small diamond stud in my left nostril. i was a little shaky, but was relieved to find that it didn't hurt much at all, there was only a little pinch when he was attaching the jewelry. t was an awesome person to bring along as she kept talking to me and adam the whole time, providing distraction from the actual process. i love the result, it is so pretty! (although the sea salt soaks may be my undoing). i have always heard that tattoos and piercings could be addictive and i never understood why until now, there was definitely tremendous rush associated with it.

we celebrated afterwards with crepes and wine at the crepe cafe. and then more wine and a private viewing of when harry met sally. i hope to surprise aaron when he returns from india in a few weeks. after the last experience 5 years, when he escorted me out of a tattoo shop crying, i'm sure it will surprise him that i garnered enough courage. oh, and my father is still not pleased, but he took the news with much much less yelling than i thought. he might be mellowing...

if nose piercings aren't your thing, and you think i might have ruined my nose forever. relax, i've discovered that many people don't even notice (maybe that's because in seattle, where it's really common). i don't think it jumps right out at you, it's pretty subtle as far as piercings go.

do you fondue? i do too

our swiss friend, sanjoy, hosted the 3rd annual fondue gathering last friday. everyone loves the fondue party, dare i say that it is our most anticipated winter gathering. aaron and i had some problems getting there...we started off on our bikes, but before i could completely leave our driveway i had already fallen off my bike and tumbled to the ground (no, there was no alcohol involved). once i had recuperated, we biked about 15 blocks before i got a flat tire. we walked our bikes back home and drove. the rocky trip was worth it though. there is something magical about friends, wine, and swiss cheese dip.

saturday we gathered at theresa's to watch the cardinals v. saints game. the game itself was pretty lame (cardinals lost), but it was a great excuse to eat chili, cornbread, and apple crisp. we also discovered for the love of ray j. it has the honor of being the best worst show ever to watch. i'm holding out hope that these people are all paid actors pretending to be contestants on a reality show, and not actual real people .

sunday was pretty laid back. we had some brunch with friends at hattie's hat in ballard, took a short nap (because brunch can be exhausting, you know?), and then played some pool at the buckaroo.

we were both pretty excited to go snowshoeing on monday. however, the route that i picked from the book, there was absolutely no snow. sad. we made the best of things and did an pleasant (but short) hike to the big four ice caves. it was nice to just get out of the city, breath the fresh air, and get a bit of exercise. when we got back home, it was so nice (60 degrees!) out that we went to the park with our favorite swiss man, to toss the frisbee and play the first round of boccie of 2010.

oh, yes. 2010 is great indeed.

3 unique social situations in 1 amazing day.

after a mid-afternoon visit to nintendo, aaron and i paid my boss/good friend, mary and her boyfriend, kevin a visit. we called a 5-10 minutes before we arrived, just to make sure they would be there. of course, in those 10 minutes i'm sure they were scrambling, because when we arrived the house was spotless, wine was getting ready to be poured, and there was a fire crackling in the fire place. mary has a "special drink" that she has been dying for me to try. her special concoction involves wine, concentrated pomegranate crystal light, and a dash of diet 7-up. it was delicious, and i thought it tasted surprisingly like sangria. there was lots of funny dialect and even a few rounds of poker before we had to bid them farewell for our next hot date.

hot date number 2 involved jeanne and ron. they were representing kansas in the american farm bureau 91st annual national meeting. on our way back from mary and kevins, we swung by their downtown hotel (the sheraton, how fancy!) and whisked them off to ivars salmon house. they both wanted to try some food that they couldn't get in kansas, but we wanted it to be friend for picky eaters (a.k.a. ron). seafood was a great choice. it was nice to see them, but before too long we had to hug it out, and join some friends for the last venture of the evening.

our friend, adam, turned 29 so to celebrate we hit the zoo. no, not that zoo, this zoo (if you were true followers of this blog, you would expect that). there was a few beers, and a lot of merriment. also, have you heard of snooker? yet, another fascinating game that i am horrible at (fun, nonetheless).

so there you have it, 3 very very different social situations, with 3 groups of very very different people, and lots and lots of fun.

2010 = awesome

the holidays are over and things are settling down to normal again. sometimes, i forget how much i like normal.

to welcome in the new year, aaron and i played scrabble and had drank merlot. which was pretty low-key, but perfect. this is the first year that i can remember that i wasn't sad on new years eve. usually, i'm very sentimental about the last year, and feel bad that we have to move on to the next year already.

2009, don't let the door hit your ass on the way out.

i have decided that 2010 is where it's at... and so far i am right.

i'm excited to finally be knitting a project just for me again. i'm working on the owls sweater by katie davis. isn't it too cute? it's my first sweater, so i don't have unrealistic expectations. however, i'm trying it on as i go, and it fits like a dream. it has been a pretty fast knit too, i started it on new years day and am about halfway done.