Break

Well Joe and I have had a nice relaxing break over here in Seattle. I'm headed back to Spokane tomorrow. Had some nice visits with family, a lot of good food and spent a lot of time with friends. Working the next three nights... but when Joe gets home with the computer in a few days I'll try to put up some pictures!!

Hope everyone is enjoying the holidays and getting a break!!

Late Night Riddle

Two minus one equals one. Plus one equals two. Minus one equals one, for a total of three.
What is it?

Back Home

Joe and I had a nice trip to Seattle this weekend! We got to see his family, Matt and Jenn and a lot of other friends that still live on the west side. I got my new phone the "my touch" from Joe's cousin finally, so I am no longer stuck in the stone age amidst all these people with cool phones. I'm hoping the calendar part will work out well - it sinks up with gmail calendar and the hope is I will stop forgetting things and make it easier to keep track of my crazy work schedule! We went to a couple of our favorite restaurants - Dicks, Taste of India, Tubs Gourmet Subs, and the French Bakery in Eastlake! Yummy! I also had a really fun time hanging out and scrapbooking with Jenn at her condo.
Back on home front, our new "couch" showed up today. Its really more of a futon though. Joe got it all assembled while I was sleeping, so I think we will test it out tonight and watch a movie before I go to work! I got "late-started" tonight, so I don't have to go to work until 2300! Super excited about that!! I'll have to put up some pictures in the next week or so. The house is finally starting to come together and not feel like a big empty box ;)
I'm also really excited for Thanksgiving - only 2 days away! Tomorrow, Rachel and I are going to make some pies and apparently our cousins are coming to help out as well. We're planning on a pecan, apple and 2 pumpkins - scaling down from the 13 or 15 pies we made last year! That was a little much! Then in the evening, we're going out to my Grandma's to marinade the turkey and get the rolls started! ... can't wait!!
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone!!

Little things

Since I'm stuck working night shift, I'm trying to appreciate the small perks of being up all night.
1. Waffles at 1am - just like the ones you get in Whistler hotels for breakfast!
2. Little extra cash
3. Pretty cool group of nurses
4. I'm sure there's a few more out there...

Winter

Yesterday at our house we had a few huge fluffy flakes coming down! Its pretty exciting... but nothing stuck. We still have Thanksgiving this fall but other than that the leaves our down (and raked and in the yard bin) so it would be ok if it snowed all little bit! I like all the white sparkly stuff on the ground plus it makes it not so dark in the evenings and good for snowball fights and such.
I've got today off and then work for 4 more nights starting Saturday! I'm looking forward to my first Friday night off in forever. In the way of other news, we might go to Seattle soon for a visit, we got some new barstools for our kitchen, dining room area and still have lots of unfinished projects around the house :) Have a nice weekend everyone!!

Pecan Pie

"I LIKE PIE!!!" - Jonny C.

Quick Updates...

Believe it or not it was actually snowing here this morning, it didn't stick, but it was actually snowing. And its still October. We've officially moved into our place and had a few people over. And getting really close to being done unpacking. Miss Phoebe has joined us now that the smell of the refinished floor is almost gone. Rachel came over yesterday and we made a pumpkin pie out of real pumpkin, super super yummy! Here's a couple pictures.


Front of the house


Backyard w/ my bro doing yardwork


First picture up on the fridge


Rachel w/ our pumpkin pie


Box of chocolates for my birthday!


A hole-in-the-wall Korean place we found in town.

Moving Day

We finally get to move in today! Pictures later...

Trip to Seattle

Seattle has the best French bakeries I've ever been to... and, yes, I do miss them.
We had lunch at the Ikon grill last time we were in town, pretty good food. Then we wandered down to Pike Place Market where Le Panier is, if you enjoy French pastries, and haven't been I highly recommend it.

A lemon tart of sorts - yummy!


The girls and I at Ikon Grill


We also went to Joe's downhill bike race in Tacoma, I had quite the excitement shuttling him up to the top. It was a steep, narrow road with people coming and going both ways. But I'm still in one piece!

Joe at the top before the race


Racing


Almost to the finish line

Spokane County Fair

Despite all the news about the fair this year I had a really good time, looked at all the animals, watched little kids ride sheep, ate a giant and wonderful elephant ear, saw the weird hypnotist guy, etc, etc.

House Hunt Update

So for anyone wondering, (haha...) we're in the process (turns out it is a very long and signing intensive process) of buying a house. We're pretty excited about it and should be able to move in mid-October. I can't wait to have my own space again and look forward to a good nights sleep when my mattress comes over from Seattle!
In other news... we bought a fridge today. I feel like a real adult now :)

Kittens

My friend Anne-Marie got a new cat recently, its about 3 months old and still super cute! It's not quite a "kitten" any more but more like a really tiny cat!
I'm hoping to get a kitty at some point but we'll see how that goes... we have a bird and some allergies to contend with!

Her cat is about this size (but this is just a random cute kitty picture)

Since I'm on the cat subject, http://icanhascheezburger.com is a really funny site if you like "lol cats" :)

Take Me Out to the Ball Game...

Joe and I got tickets to a Spokane Indians Baseball game from my grandparents! It was the first time I've ever been to a baseball game before, believe it or not. It was pretty fun being there in person, watching everyone and stuffing ourselves silly! Between the two of us we had a chili dog, german sausage, giant pretzel, cotton candy, a beer and a hot chocolate. Needless to say, a couple TUMs were in order when we got home.

Baby Shower

Went to a baby shower on Friday for a friend of mine out in Airway Heights! So far it has been a packed weekend.
Took a trip out to Greenbluff with Anne-Marie to get some peaches. Took another friend home from the hospital. Went to afore mentioned baby shower. Got dinner with a friend from Seattle. Went house hunting this morning.
...and then took a nice long nap :)

Work, Work, Work

...and no play :(
This weekend should be fun though!!

Peach Blueberry Cobbler Goodness

Baking adventure of the evening.... Fresh peaches from Greenbluff (picked by my sister), fresh blueberries, hint of lemon and a streusel topping. Can't get much better! Recipe from Barefoot Contessa Cookbook.

New Room

A few pictures of our new room... what can be fit into 80 square feet!


Miss Phoebe


Our bed/bird cage


Computer Desk


Closet full of stuff


All my favorite stuff - baking supplies, laptop, perfume, etc.

Shout Out

After months and months of deliberation and waiting for job openings... we've finally made the leap and moved to the other side the mountains. So far it's been a very bittersweet change. It's wonderful to be home and moving forward with plans for Joe finishing school. But it ended up being harder to leave Seattle than I thought, which shouldn't be that surprising. Among other things, I left my best friend - and I can only look forward to visiting a lot!! Now the challenge is to carve out room for everything in 80 square feet. I'll put up some pictures after we squish everything into place.

Hey Jenn! I miss you!

Sunrise

Sunrise is so pretty, even on foggy days, the air gets this hazy pinkish purple glow that is amazing. It's like watching the earth come back to life in the morning. And on the clear days, watching the sun come up with the mountains in the background - now that is a real treat!
So that's one good thing about night shift. Stopping by Le Fournil on the way home for croissants should also be on the top of the list somewhere!

Heat Wave

Apparently it got up to 106 degrees here in Seattle yesterday! Luckily I missed out on that, since I was up in the ICU working a 12. But when I got home at 10PM it was still 93 degrees in our apartment! Stay hydrated everyone!

Rodeo

Off to Eastern Washington today for a busy weekend! A wedding in Pullman on Saturday and catch up with some friends. I'm really excited for the rodeo on Sunday up in Springdale! Should be fun!

4th of July

Went to see the fireworks yesterday evening... for a 'smaller' budget they were still pretty good. We ended up at this very small park by Eastlake on the edge of the dock. It was pretty fun, hilarious watching this group in front of us pretending to be French on their little homemade raft. Also, went to San Juan Island on Friday and rode little mopeds around the island - it was really fun! Pictures to come later :)

Childhood

Digging through my closet this afternoon, I found my old ammo box stuffed full of "junk" from when I was a kid. Some of it really needs to be thrown out, so I decided to take a picture of all of it before it gets tossed.



This was an old doll of my mom's that she gave me, its only 2 inches tall.

10 Things I Like About Seattle

1. French Bakery in Eastlake
2. Trader Joe's
3. Seattle Skyline on the way to work
4. Clear days (when you can actually SEE the mountains)
5. Walks around Greenlake
6. New discovery - Alki Beach
7. Some great hole in the wall restraunts - Paseo's, Tubs, Rubys
8. Pike Place Market
9. People watching anywhere - the crowd is more diverse here
10. But most of all - the great friends I have here!

Alki Beach (and a little shout out)

Last Sunday, we went out to Alki Beach with our good friends Matt and Jenn. A favorite of theirs, but I'd never been. It was quite the interesting experience, almost a mini-California if you will. There's an imported white sand beach, we saw a sand volleyball tournament going on and watched one of the games, kind of has the "boardwalk" feel to it, along with all the interesting people watching involved. We walked from Salty's down the beach to the Bamboo Bar and Grill and ended up having an early dinner! ... and of coarse couldn't pass up the ice cream stand on the way back! Among other sites, a man with a trained parrot, a mini-statue of liberty, beautiful Olympic Mountains and a clear blue sky!


Seattle Skyline from Alki Beach


Me at the mini-Statue of Liberty (apparently there's a bunch of these across the US)



Can't beat ice cream on a hot sunny day :)


Matt had a HUGE burger


The guy with the trained parrot


Mt Rainier was out too!


Matt and Jenn

... and here's a little shout out to my friend Ellen! Hope you're having fun day @work :)

Leaves

So the first leaves are starting to sprout. A few tiny little plants with 2 leaves each - coming from the mason jar... the rest are still just dirt.

Mini Garden

Seeds - Marigold seeds are "harvested" from last years plants


All planted and watered


This morning I planted some basil seeds, forget-me-nots and marigolds in a mini attempt to bring the outside in since we have no porch, deck, or yard. I'm trying an extra thing of marigolds in a mason jar too. I'm not sure if it will work, but I thought it would be cool if you could see the roots growing! Joe is a little skeptical since there is no drain hole in the bottom, we'll see what happens. If anything grows, I'll put up some more pics ;)

Pyramid Peak

Memorial Day Camping Trip: Camped out at Lake Crescent for three nights. Lots of sun and no rain! Saturday we went on a minimally grueling hike to the top of Pyramid Peak. There was a washed out area that was a little trechorous - not for the faint of heart like myself. All in all a very fun trip!

The 80's

What could be better than 80's hits at 0230 in the morning - besides sleeping... and don't say the come back of 80's style cause thats just not cool.

Trifle

My latest baking adventure was making a trifle, after acquiring a trifle bowl at Le Walmarche for a mere $7. I decided to make everything from scratch and it ended up being a lot more work than I originally intended. And it didn't look quite as good as the picture in the recipe book. But it still tasted pretty good, none left over to take home!
A trifle is a traditional English desert. The one I made had a layer of orange pound cake, then raspberry jam, fresh raspberries, then orange cream (kind of like custard) - repeat that a couple times and add some whip cream on top! Yum! The production was somewhat of a comedy of errors due to my useless oven which burned the cake but would not cook the orange cream - go figure. So the moral of the story, is not to make any complicated deserts unless you have an oven worth its salt.
With that said... I can't wait to move!!

Yippee!!

Off 4 hours early today!! Getting any early start on the weekend... planning to make a triffle tomorrow. But no meat included in this one :) Have a good weekend everyone!

Dot

Trip to the Farm!

I finally went to visit Hanni and her farm this morning! I haven't been out since the winter, before they got all their new animals. It was really fun to see (in person) all her animals and all the hard work that she and Chris have been doing out there! I have to confess... my absolute favorite is Dot the baby goat, he's so cute and cuddly! and he has the cool rectangular pupils that goats have. I also got to see the chickens that lay blue eggs, but no eggs yet!

Beasley Burn

So the big bike race was this last weekend in Ephrata. Josh, Matt and Joe all competed. They all finished, and no injuries - and only 1 broken bike! Not too bad.
Besides that, we had a ton of fun... some of my favorites!
- DK's almond roca polar swirl - yummy!
- Playing taboo, clue and pictionary in the evening.
- Joe getting me hazelnut lattes in the morning :)
- Pedicures with Jenn and Ellen
- Drive home on highway 2 with Jenn and Matt including a stop at the Craft Warehouse in
Wenatchee and Alpine Burgers in Startup, WA.

Now for some pictures!