a day out

My oldest friend Liza has come to visit. Yesterday was her birthday so we went down town to do touristy things. I snapped a few photos while we were out.

2009

2009 is going out the same way it came in…like a kick in the crotch. I wanted to do a cool photo montage of the past year, but what should have been easy has turned into a Herculean task. So instead you get a generic recap… Moved to Washington Snowiest winter in WA in 15 years Saw the Space Needle Lost my health insurance Lost my job Start looking for job Watched the Mariners play baseball inside Will it ever stop raining Abe and Christy got engaged Went to El Paso to visit family Went to Denver to visit friends Got engaged Got to see the Blue Angles Ate some salmon that didn’t make me gag Still no job Tracy came to visit It stopped raining…driest summer in WA in 60 years Hottest summer on record in WA Got to sail on a Naval Destroyer My sister and niece came to visit and we… Drove Forks and… Saw Depeche Mode My mom and aunt came to visit Job…nope Jenn came to visit Got to play with Jenn’s fancy cameras Saw orcas in the wild Saw the Broncos play the Seahawks Got my own fancy camera Developed an iPhone addiction Went to Colorado for Jeff and Nicole’s wedding Eloped while we where there Met Elena in person It started raining again Got health insurance Still haven’t found a job Ran out of money Changed my last name Spent my first holidays away from family Found out Husband is deploying 3 months earlier Saw Avatar Drove to Oregon Saw where Goonies was filmed Had a warm sunny day at the beach in December Went to Tillamook and ate cheese and ice cream Still unemployed and living in Washington I am not sad to see the year end and am optimistic that next year will be better. But in the mean time I would just like to say that 2009 can suck it.

under da sea

More like things from the sea in an aquarium. Husband and I went to the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium a few weeks ago. It was the first time I had been to a zoo that did not have giraffes, lions, hippos, zebras, and rhinos. There was also a serious lack of monkeys…I mean come on who doesn’t love monkeys? They do however have some pretty cool aquariums including a large shark tank. I am just getting around to editing what I shot and am rather fond of these jellyfish and anemone.

thnxgving

The meal has been eaten and the leftovers are stored away. I am sitting here with a glass of wine watching the Broncos play the Giants. It has been a nice relaxing day of cooking and watching football. Just me and Husband. This is my first Thanksgiving spent away from family. It has me feeling a little sad and a little guilty. Now that all three of us kids live out of state my mom was alone today. When I spoke to her today she told she is okay and I should not feel guilty…but I can’t help it. We were also invited to Husband’s brother house with the rest of his family. We so wanted to go but flights from Seattle to Dallas were ridiculously expensive. Again the guilty feeling creeps in. I have grown so used to having a house full of people and I am really missing that this year. It felt weird to cook the traditional Thanksgiving dinner for just the two of us. I guess it would have been even weirder not to. I made our favorite things and did it the way my mom would. If I can’t be with her at least I can carry on her traditions. Tomorrow we will cook up the leftovers with a Mexican twist to carry on Husband’s family traditions. It has been a trying year for Husband and I. We have a lot to be thankful for. You know…a roof over our heads, food in our bellies, clothes on our backs, and all that jazz. Mostly I am thankful that we have had each other to lean on these last 12 months. Our relationship has been one of the only things that we have not had to worry about. It is good to know that even if we have nothing else that we will always have each other. It makes all the crap that life throws at us a little more bearable. Okay…I am done being sentimental and am going to go have some pie. Mmmmmmmmm pie!

blustery

I used to really like that word. It is a word that Winnie the Pooh would use if he were to write a weather report. Now it is a word I heard everyday from the King5 weatherman. In the true sense of the word most days are blustery up here. Wind and rain are big news this time of year. The blustery weather is wreaking havoc on old trees and old power lines. City crews are working around the clock to cut down the old trees and sure up the 65 year old poles that hold up the power lines. It is a good thing because a little gust of wind seems to send both toppling over onto houses. If a little bit of rain causes so much damage…I am terrified of what happens in the event of snow. The city has a small fleet of snow plows and they have been practicing plowing and snow removal. From what I saw on the news “practicing” equals driving around at night in the plow trucks. I am confident that all that practice will pay off when and if we get another storm like last year (wink wink). I am hoping we do get some snow though. While looking for something under the bed in spare bedroom I found my snow boots. They looked lonely and sad. Had we still been in Colorado I would have already had two big snowstorms to stomp around in. Who knows…maybe I will get to wear them.

sunny

With the vibrant colored fall leaves and the plethora of spring flowers one is tricked into thinking there are four seasons here. But it is exactly that...A TRICK! There are three beautiful months known as summer and nine long, dreary, wet months known as rain. And right on cue with the time change it appears that my Seasonal Affective Disorder has kicked in. WOOHOO! The last week or so I have been out of sorts and a little hard to be around. Stressed out, depressed, and short tempered is not a good mix. Lucky for me husband is very patient and is not yet to the point of wanting to smother me in my sleep. Last spring he bought me this little Swarovski Crystal bear as a little bit of sunshine on rainy days. A little bit on “sunshine” is exactly what I could use right now.

more than yellow

I was reading my friend Rachel’s blog this morning and she mentions in one of her posts that autumn is one of her favorite seasons. She now lives in Colorado where fall looks mostly like this. In Colorado it is not so much fall colors as fall color. Yellow…and a whole lot of it. Now don’t get me wrong…I love the falls in Colorado. Seeing a grove of aspen trees turn gold against a backdrop of evergreens is a beautiful sight. Rachel was born and raised in Seattle and is used to a few more autumnal colors and after spending my first fall season in the Pacific Northwest I can understand why she longs for a little more. The colors up here are breath taking. You have your yellow but there are also reds, oranges, purples, and pink (yes pink). So I grabbed my camera and took a little walk around the neighborhood and snapped a few photos of the changing leaves. Rachel I know it is not the same as being here to see them yourself but I hope you enjoy the colors!

old

There is a little boy that lives across the way from us named Antonio. Fiancé has taken to calling him Scooter Dude because every time we see him he is zipping around on one of those razor scooters. Whenever I see him outside I will wave or say hi and in return he ignores me. Now when he sees Fiancé, well that is a different story. Antonio will wave back or give Fiancé that head nod that says “hey what’s up”. They also have this little call and answer whistle game they play (it is cute and annoying all at the came time). I don’t get why this kid will not give me the time of day. When I pointed out the difference in which Antonio responds to us Fiancé says it is because he and Antonio are both Latino and Latinos stick together. Whatever. So the other day I went out to run some errands. Antonio is outside playing with a couple of his little friends and when he sees me walking to my truck he gets all excited and I hear him say “Hey guys you might get to meet my friend I was telling you about”. I smile because I know he is talking about Fiancé. One of his friends asks where he is and Antonio says “I dunno he is usually with that lady” to which the friend asks “Oh...so is that your friend’s mom?” Uhhhhhh…WHAT?!?! I know they are a bunch of six year olds but I could not help but be offended that they thought I was old enough to be Fiancé’s mom. I mean I am a year and a half younger than he is. So I sat there for a second feeling sorry for myself because a couple of little kids basically just called me old. Then I come to the realization that his little friends probably have no idea that Fiancé is an adult. I bet they think that he is Antonio’s age and it is not so far a stretch for me to be the mom of a six year old…or at least that is what I am telling myself.

a whale of a fish story

My friend Jenn from Denver has been staying with us for the last couple of days. We have been all over the place taking photos. Yesterday we drove up to Edmonds to take the ferry across the sound to Kingston. One of her friends had told her about a lighthouse not too far from there at Point No Point. So we arrive at the lighthouse and decide to kind of scope things out before we pull out all the gear. We take a little walk on the beach and don't do much scoping...but Jenn found a handful of cool shells and I found a lot of sea glass. as we turn to head back for gear my phone rings. While in the process up answering my phone I look up and see 4 dark grey tales slip back into the water about 20 feet from the shore. At first because they are so close I think dolphins and then they pop back up with black and white heads. ORCAS! So instead of saying hello to my mom who has just called me I yell "WHALES! THERE ARE WHALES! WHALES!!!!! CALL ME BACK!" Two adult females and 2 calves. And it figures that all of the cameras are in my truck. So we rush to take a few shots with our phones and both got a lovely shot of them submerging that really doesn't show anything. We asked a few other people who did have cameras if they got any good shots; but in the excitement what they captured was a what looked like fins and with a hint of black and white. There were fishermen that had waded out about 10 feet from shore in hopes of catching salmon. The whales popped up about 10 feet from the end of one guy's pole and he nearly had a heart attack. Another told us that in 20 years of fishing that spot he had never seen anything like that. I would have to say that that was the coolest things I have ever seen. As much as I hate living up here I will venture to say it was worth the move just to see those whales. Now we have to get Roman to see some whales so that we can move away from here already.

I just can't get enough

Nineteen years ago when I was 14 I saw Depeche Mode for the first time with my sister at Red Rocks. Last week we took my 13 year old niece to see Depeche Mode here in Seattle. I have seen close to a hundred different bands live and have seen some really good shows. I am going to have to say that this was one of my favorites because I got to see it through the eyes of my niece and it was like taking a step back in time. Very cool.

another boat, salmon, and blue angels

NOTE: This post was originally written on Aug 6th. I had spent an hour uploading photos, writing witty content, and cursing because I could not get the photos to space evenly. After much ado I got everything lined up to my liking and clicked publish. Instead of publishing the post that I had worked so hard on, blogger deleted 99.9% of my post and only the title appeared online. F*#@, F*#@, F*#@!!!!!! So after a bit of a cooling down period and 4 day visit from my sister and a 2 day visit from my mom and auntie I have decided to give it another go. (keeping my fingers crossed) Ever since we moved up here Fiance has been talking about going to be the Blue Angels at Seafair. Fiance will find any reason to see them perform and once flew us down to Dallas for that very reason. In the weeks leading up to Seafair he talked about it more and more and had staked out the location we would be watching them from. It would be crowded but would be good for viewing the show. The week before his birthday I was looking it to whale watching tours and was on the Argosy website and saw that they had a Blue Angels lunch cruise. Taking a boat ride to the middle of Lake Washington to watch the show seemed like a no brainer. So on Saturday we drove up to Kirkland to hop on the boat. We were shown to a nice table near the windows where we ordered a few mojitos and settled in for the 3 hour tour (no Gilligan jokes please). We set sail, sipped our cool drinks in the air conditioned cabin, and watched the speed boat racing to the middle of the lake to find a good viewing spot. Then it was time for lunch which consisted of several types of salads, three cheese ravioli, a chicken marsala-esque dish, and salmon. Yes…that is salmon on my plate. Anyone that knows me knows I am not a fan of salmon. That is usually something I keep to myself; because when you tell someone you don’t like salmon they look at you like you just said “I don’t like getting massages” or “I kick puppies”. I have tried to like salmon. I have had it grilled, smoked, poached, baked, and in sushi (I don’t mind it so much in sushi anymore). Every time Fiance orders it he puts a little on my plate in hopes that maybe just maybe I will like it this time. Nope…too fishy. So as I stood there hovering over the large plate of salmon fillets I decided that I would try it again for the last time. If I did not like it this go around I was done. I took the smallest piece I could find and returned to the table. Fiance was surprised to see that salmon on my plate and held his breath as I took that first bite. This time I did not hate it. Turns out in order for me to like salmon it has to be over cooked and flavorless. But I look at it this way…Fiance ate his steak well done when we met and after 3 years I have him eating it medium rare. So maybe in a few years I will be able to eat a properly cooked piece of salmon. Baby steps. After lunch we went up to the third deck to wait for the show to start. We were surrounded by hundreds of speed boats filled with bathing suit clad, sunburned drunk people. As always the performance started with Fat Albert. We did not get to see the jet -assisted takeoff (JATO) this time, but it was cool to see the C-130T Hercules. Then came the main attraction. (low altitude fly by...temprarily lost partial hearing in left ear from the roar of the engines) I think I got some pretty good shots considering I was standing on a rocking boat after having 4 heavily poured mojitos and a corona. The show lasted about 45 minutes and as soon as it ended all the speed boats turned and raced back to their docks. We returned to our table and had dessert on our way back to the dock. It was a good way to spend the afternoon. I know Fiance is already looking forward to seeing the Blue Angels again soon.

boat trip

A few weeks ago Fiance told me that he had submitted an application for us to take a ride on a Navy destroyer. If selected we would get to take a 3-5 hour cruise that would take place during Fleet Week which is the kick off of Seafair weekend and is a pretty big deal up here. Much to Fiance's excitement we were selected and would be riding on the USS Momsen. History Lesson I: The USS Momsen is the twenty-sixth destroyer of the Arleigh Burke class and is named for Vice Admiral Charles B. Momsen. The USS Momsen's keel was laid on 16 November 2001 and was launched on 19 July 2003. The Momsen was commissioned on 28 August 2004. As of 2009, the Momsen is serving in the Pacific Fleet, home ported in NAVSTA Everett, Washington, and assigned to Destroyer Squadron 9. The construction of the Momsen from initial steel cutting to sea trials, was documented in the Discovery Channel television special Destroyer: Forged in Steel. The destroyers were not referenced by name, but their numbers were visible on their prows. So for the past week we have been experiencing record breaking heat for these parts. On the day of our little cruise temps were to reach an all time high of 102. When I say all time high I mean hottest day on record for Seattle. EVER. And even though we were going to be standing on a mammoth steal deck; I could not imagine a better place to be than out on the water of Elliot Bay in the Puget Sound. (Actually any place was better than our A/C free apt which has been a toasty 95 degrees inside until about midnight where it dropped to 85. All of you that told me that you don't need A/C up here can suck it! LIARS!!!) So after a lot (A LOT!) of hurry up and wait we boarded the ship and were under way. One knows that these vessels are huge but you don't really get a sense of it until you get up close and personal. The coolest part of the cruise (other than the breeze) was that the ship was about 85% open for you to wander around and explorer. The first time we went below deck it was a little confusing with all the stairs and hallways that lead to locked doors. After a bit you get the lay of the ship and how to make your way around. (last picture I got before crushing the LCD screen on my camera) Lunch was also served on our boat trip. I was thinking it was going to be a simple box lunch. But when the Navy has a BBQ they go all out. As we stood in the very long lunch line we saw people walking away with heaping plates of cheese burgers, bbq chicken, hot dogs, potato salad, chips, and rice crispy treats. I was starving and for every plate that went by my mouth watered a little bit more. Every now and again the Master Chief would come and grab a group of about 10 passengers behind us and take them down to the galley to help move the back of the line along. He did this until the 50 or so people behind us were gone and Fiance and I made up the back of the line. About 5 minutes later he came back and asked if if we would like to follow him and have lunch in the Wardroom. Fiance's eyes just about popped out of his head. History Lesson II: The wardroom is the mess-cabin of naval commissioned officers above the rank of sub-lieutenant. The term the wardroom is also used to refer to those individuals with the right to occupy that wardroom, meaning "the officers of the wardroom". Since 1948, ward-rooms have been used by warrant officers as well as commissioned officers. It provides a place of recreation as well as being a dining room. Usually, a galley or scullery adjoins the wardroom. Service is provided by stewards. Wardrooms have rules governing etiquette. Traditionally considered taboo are three topics: politics, religion, and sex (earlier guidebooks referred to the latter as ladies). On large ships in peacetime, talking about professional business is frowned upon. It is also considered inappropriate to perform work or to meet with subordinates in a wardroom. So instead of eating our lunches off of a paper plate on our laps on the flight deck we ate out lunches seated at a table eating our made to order lunch off of china in the air conditioned wardroom with the officers. (Sailors Manning the Rails) History Lesson III: Manning the rail is a method of saluting or rendering honors used by naval vessels. The custom evolved from that of manning the yards, which dates from the days of sail. On sailing ships, men stood evenly spaced on all the yards (the spars holding the sails) and gave three cheers to honor distinguished persons. Today the crew are stationed along the rails and superstructure of a ship when honors are rendered. The United States Navy prescribes manning the rail as a possible honor to render to the President of the United States and for rulers of foreign nations. A similar but less formal ceremony is to have the crew "at quarters" when the ship is entering or leaving port. Manning the rail is also the traditional way to honor the USS Arizona Memorial when it is passed by U.S. ships. The only down fall was when I smashed the LCD screen on my camera while coming down a steep ladder. It still takes photos, you just can't see what it is your are taking a photo of. Good times! Over all we had a great time out on the water. the crew was extremely accommodating to the 200 extra people they had aboard for the work day. Now I think Fiance needs to work on getting us on an aircraft carrier...Tiger Cruise anyone?

Denver Bound

Boyfriend and I are headed back to Denver on Thursday for a long weekend. My mother is happy that we will be there for mother's day, but is not so happy that we aren't staying with her the whole time. I am really excited to get together with some girlfriends that I have not seen in years. It should be a fun trip. UPDATE: It is supposed to be warm and sunny all weekend in Denver. We will be leaving this is Seattle:

Headed down to cool ol' El Paso

Weather is Seattle...cold, wet, and shitty Weather in El Paso...sunny, warm, and did I mention sunny? Boyfriend and I are leaving the dreariness of Seattle for the warm sunny goodness that is El Paso Texas. YEAH!!!

Space Needle March 2009

This month has been a bit hectic. We made it into the city several times, but I never had the opportunity to take any photos. I drew a nice little picture instead. :)

Real photo next month...something good...I promise.

get a job

So this is what, my third post for the month? I would have written more, but I was not sure that anyone would want to read about me feeling sorry for myself. Since moving up here March has been the hardest month for me so far. I found out two weeks ago that my contract work would be coming to an end leaving me unemployed. UNEMPLOYED. I have never been unemployed. I have always ended a job on a Friday and a new job the following Monday. I am trying to play the cool customer about the not having a job situation, while inside I am a fucking mess. Boyfriend saw the cracks and has witnessed me break. He is sweet and tries to reassure me that everything is going to work out. That may be, but in my head I don't quite believe it. I am freaked out. The thing I don't get is how the cost of living up here is so much more than it was in Colorado yet most jobs up here do not reflect that in the pay. I have looked into several jobs that start at half of what I am making now. I don't know how people are making ends meet. I have had several friends tell me to take advantage of this time to find out what it is I really want to do. At this point I just want to be able to pay my bills. But if you hear of any photographer cowgirl jobs send them my way...I would like to apply.

Space Needle February 2009

I am soooo phoning this in this month. This is one of several photos I snapped earlier in the month. I was not completely inspired by any of them and figured I would pop back into the city over the next few weeks for a second go round. But time is sneaky and slips away easily. I promise to offer something better next month.

sunday drivers everyday

Things having been going fairly in the 5 weeks we have been up here. I do have one complaint though. It is not about the weather as one might think. It is not that there are no Super Targets up here (which chaps my hide but I am okay with it because there is Ikea). It is not that I don't have a job, any friends, or money. It is the way people drive here. Dear Washington State drivers...you suck!!! As I have mentioned before no one is in a hurry to get anywhere. Today on the way back from lunch with Boyfriend I was almost driven (literally) into a homicidal rage by all the people just cruising around at 35mph in a 50mph zone. IN THE FAST LANE!!! That is my lane...if you are not going fast stay out of it. Boyfriend had warned me about the slowness before I got up here, but I was not prepared for this. I want to put up bill boards all over the state that say ..."the gas pedal is the long skinny one on the right, you depress it to make the car go fast." And God forbid you get behind anyone who has to make a turn. That process goes like this...driving along, the car in front of you comes almost to a complete stop, then turns on their blinker and proceeds to turn left right/left. Ummmmm...thanks for the warning jerkass. Maybe it would be a good idea to know where you are going before you leave the house. To think that I thought driving amongst Californians and Texans in Colorado was bad.

out for a drive

The sun came out for a few hours this afternoon so we decided to take a drive. We stopped in Silverdale to stretch our legs and walk down by the water. I can't wait until it feels like Washington is our home and we aren't just tourists.

the differrence a few miles can make

We were in Bellevue on Monday afternoon. It was gorgeous...the sun was out and it was warm. Then we drive the few miles south and return home to this... It was foggy like this for about 4 days. It was a spooky Stephen King "The Mist" kind of fog. At times visibility was down to less than 200 feet...and let me tell you that makes for fun driving. In the end I will take fog over freezing rain.