3 Day Weekend

Wow, how I love having three days off in a row. This should be a law for everyone to enjoy.
I started my new job last Monday so it's been quite a wonderful and busy week. The weekend has been great too - Andrew and I took it easy on Friday night and had dinner out then came home to watch a movie. That was our TV time together for the week except for the hour that we always devote to Project Runway on Wednesdays! We drove to Tacoma on Sat. to partake in the festive Tiki Bar Party at Kristen and Slade's house. Last night we headed west 8 blocks to Joe and Heather's for some good food and conversation around the fire. We are in the final countdown of the wedding so we are crossing off all of our to-do's as we go :) We created the programs this weekend and did a BUNCH of shopping, writing, etc. and have 3 vendor meetings this week too. Did other bride-to-be's have crazy wedding dreams while sleeping too? Last night I dreamt that the rehearsal dinner was in someone's basement apartment with dim/blinking lights, no windows, frozen pizzas, and I drove everyone through my old neighborhood (HV) to get there. I have been having dreams similar to this for some time now but during my awake hours I seem to be pretty calm about it all....

A Niece Is Born!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Congratulations to Corey and Catherine on their new baby daughter, Madelyn Nyawera Anderson, 7 lbs, 14oz., 21 1/4 inches born today at 2:23PM!!!!! I am still awaiting pictures via computer of my new niece! I love her so much already and am very thankful that she and mom are happy and healthy!!! Thinking of you back home and cannot wait until I can hold little Maddy!!!

Happy Birthday Skipper!!

Happy Birthday to my hubby-t0-be!! You are so fine.
We had a great night of happy hour and dinner. One of Andrew's bday wishes was to try to actually be in bed by 10:30 so I am trying to make that happen tonight. Of course we had to make time for the giant cookie eating contest first. Happy 33rd!

A Two Rainbow Kind of Day

Today we took a mini road trip to Birch Bay State Park
http://www.parks.wa.gov/parkpage.asp?selectedpark=Birch+Bay
to attend a post-wedding bbq for one of Andrew's friends that he has known since 4th grade.
We could see Canada eh from where we were and had a great time despite the rain!
We made a pit stop on the way home to have a beer at Jeff and Erin's Olympic-themed gathering.
This was one of those perfect Saturdays where you wake up and get coffee and the house is clean and the time slows down just right and good friends are near to laugh with. And then two rainbows fall over Seattle after a quick down pour and we make a wish and give thanks for it all!

Got it!!!

I have an announcement....I got the CRC II job at Fred Hutchinson! I accepted my offer on Monday and will begin the new job on 8/25. I am very excited to start the new challenge and feel that a whole new world of opportunities has just opened up for me. I want to say thanks to Andrew for always keeping me positive through my 'hopeless' spell when I had not heard back from them in weeks and weeks...and weeks!!
I finally got my gig on Lake Union!

One More Thing...

Since my mom left yesterday, I am extra eager to have the rest of my family in Seattle!! Is it less than 50 days now?!

Summer BBQs Rule

Thanks to our friends for making our Sunday evening so great!!

Big News!!

My dear mother made it to Seattle over the weekend and we had a SUPER time with her here!! It's been over 20 years since she has flown and it was her first toe dip in Pacific waters so we were so happy and proud that she could be here to explore the west with us! THANKS for all your love and support MOM!!!

At the top of the Space Needle

Mom and me

The toe dip!

Welcome Summer

Race for the Cure Day in Seattle: http://www.seattleraceforthecure.org/

Round Two

Today was my second interview at Fred Hutch. I met with one of the main doctors that I would be working with. Even in the short hour that I was with her, I was fascinated to learn all about the various breast cancer studies and was so drawn in by all she had to say. A third interview is in the works for me so I am feeling happy and hopeful :)

We are so lucky to have such a great doggie daycare mom. She greeted me with a bouquet of peonies today - what a wonderful treat after my interview!!

Can you tell I'm a dog person?

Happy Solstice To You

http://www.earthsky.org/

KOOB

We were defeated by two true Midwesterners in a game of Koob tonight. Thanks to Heather and Joe for having us over!
Here's the link to learn more about the game:
http://www.getkoob.com/whatskoob.html

Doesn't that look like Brandon in the picture? Hee hee.

BP

Congrats to our friend Shawn who graduated with her MSW from the UW this week! What a fun celebration we all had at the BP last night!

Outside Time

Kellar spent a few minutes outside yesterday. He was not a huge fan but we gave it a try. I can't tell if he wants to chase something or if he's scared in this pic. He's not as lucky as his cousin Tazzy who always sends us photos of his fun outside adventures in Pickwick.

I Love Weekends

Can I just say that I love weekends? Thanks to Ed and Kristen for hosting a great BBQ last night. I had a great time and am so happy for all the great things happening for you two!
Today I am taking inside house patrol and Andrew is taking the outside - we should have this place cleaned in no time!
Later this evening, we are heading to a graduation party so it should be a great day.
Hugs!

Big Brother!

Since I did not get around to a post yesterday, I have to mention something huge. HAPPY BIRTHDAY (6/13) to one of my favorite brothers! Thanks for all you do for me Case!!

The Big 33!!!

Sun's Out

There is no doubt that this town is a bit happier tonight. It has been cloudy and raining for many days in a row and everyone was beginning to wonder when the sun would shine. Well just in time for those people who work the day shift, the sun came out around 4pm today. When I picked Hamps up from daycare, I think Carol thought I had gone to happy hour since I was so happy. Come to think of it, she asks us that pretty often. I wonder what that means.
I'm off for dinner at Cactus -- we can eat outside in the sun there!!

Just Another Manic Monday

wish it was Sunday, whoa whoa! What a great day as always! I discovered the Paper Zone in SoDo after work today and it really starting turning the creative wheels in my head. As we are starting to design the wedding invitations, this store was the perfect discovery for all that we will need. Score!
Then I went to visit Alyce. For those who don't know, I volunteer thru a great Seattle organization called Elderfriends Northwest.

http://www.elderfriends.org/aboutus.php

My match is a wonderful 84 year-old woman who likes to sit on her porch and talk. We have been matched since the end of last year and have not been able to take a trip in the car since her hip replacement last fall. She was so proud to tell me tonight that she quit smoking so that was great news!!
A quick stop at Target and Home Depot after the visit and I was home to have dinner with Andrew. I love that Top Chef inspires his culinary skills and he is so open to cooking new things.

Check out the Seattle weather right now: it's supposed to snow in the mountains tonight!
http://www.wunderground.com/US/WA/Seattle.html

Week In Review

Life is splendid, although I have not blogged in over a week. I am not a person of excuses, but if I had to give a reason it would be time and the fact that my PC got a virus and it's been out of commission for a few days. So tonight I type using our new HP laptop that I am loving so far!!
Hooray! And I am jamming out to the Juno soundtrack that my brother sent me yesterday - I love brothers!
So I would like to re-cap the week for some record keeping --
It's been great!! Way last weekend began with a group HH at EBB. Yum and the perfect way to end the week. The night before I had gotten evaluated for my headaches. I finally caved and made an appt. since they were becoming unbearable and literally lasting for whole days at a time. We determined that it may be from my teeth grinding and jaw clenching but I also took some Imitrex samples since the regular meds don't seem to work. The first one I took amazingly made me not have a headache for almost 3 days in a row which was a record for probably the last 4 months so I was thrilled. And I also bought an attractive mouthguard to trial for a month. So let's hope it works!
B and A hosted a great birthday BBQ on Sat too! Thanks Ashley for helping me dress shop that morning!

Andrew and I found and met with our photographer last week and ended the night at the Pike Brewery to test the waters before our rehearsal dinner. I did my usual Red Cross Wednesday night and Thursday we met with our DJ and also the videographer, Ken, who is a Turpin family friend. We were able to catch a bit of a karaoke show witht them too. Lots more wedding happenings this week too.
I had a job interview at Fred Hutch on Friday!!!! - I will tell you more about it depending on what I hear this week (I am VERY happy about it but don't want to get my hopes up). I think that morning went well and it would be a huge goal come true for me to get my foot in the door there. My passion is oncology and transplant and this job would focus on breast cancer research with several opportunities to do transplant and other leukemia work. It is a level higher than where I am now and a wonderful career move in general. The biggest stressor was that my Dell crashed and that was the only location of my resume, etc. that I needed that morning. Andrew to the rescue....he managed to open and print everything that I needed. I am sooooooooo lucky to have him! He had rescued me the night before too - I was on a new bus on my way to volunteer and realized that I was in a completely different neighborhood of town. Once again, Andrew came to the rescue and got me to my appointment via car on time. Today we cruised up to OH to visit the Turpins and had a great afternoon with them.Big days of this week: Happy 30th to Stace (June 5th!) and Chels (June 8th!) - Miss and love you both!!! Welcome to the 30s!!
Restaurants of the week: Pike Place and the neighborhood Tacqueria.
I am off to explore more of the Google world and listen to the list that Pandora music will now create for me...

Root Beer Float Night (Well, every night seems to be lately!!)

I was lucky to be able to leave work around 1 today which meant I could get a bunch of errands done much earlier too. So with this extra time, I hit the mall, Chipotle for lunch, Target, groceries, the florist, and Michael's. I rely heavily on lists these days, so it always feels great to have a bunch of check marks at the end of the day!! I have all my hotels priced out and did some more wedding stuff with Andrew too, but that involved mostly singing and dancing to some potential reception songs. Ah, what fun!
I love a nice walk after dinner too of course, especially on nights like this one, where the sun is going down and I can still be warm in my flip flops.
Milestone of the day: Receiving and paying our first mortgage bill.
I am about to go make a root beer float (the current house favorite), clean out my huge purse, do a few more online searches, and check out a magazine before bed. It's already the middle of the week again?!

The Art of Cuddling

Why have two dog beds when you only need one? Any chance he gets, Porter will leave his own bed behind and try to fit into the remainder of Hampton's. I am proud that I have taught them to cuddle so well.

Never a Case of the Mondays

Today began with a relaxed meal at one of my favorite local breakfast stops, Endolyne Joe's. It's just a couple of miles from home and they have delightful Caramel Apple French Toast. I had to give in to my craving! Usually I would spend more time in that area as it's right by Lincoln park but there were still a few things on my to-do list that had to get done.

The late afternoon was spent on Mike's deck for a bbq overlooking the water. It turned out to be a beautiful day despite the cold and rain that was happening as I lounged around in my pj's earlier this morning. On the dog walk tonight I noticed again that our new neighborhood has been so peaceful lately. I love it here and what a great weekend!

Sunday Funday

And here is Barty in action from the BBQ today. Thanks for hosting a great afternoon! Somehow the cupboard is now stuffed with a ton of Hershey's products too! Mmmm!

Can I just say that this hubby-to-be is the best? He does it all and then some. It would not be a weekend without a little yard work, right? Even Portie pitched in to keep him company.

Yahtzee Addiction!!

I guess those endless hours of Yahtzee paid off for Andrew. It's hard to tell here, but the score is 680! He will challenge anyone to a match! This has to be a world record...I am thinking about calling those Guinness Book folks!

Ode To Shorty

So the longer I live here, the more I realize that I really like the NW Tribal Art that is everywhere in this city. In discovering this, I also realized that I love the work of Richard Shorty. I bought my first Hummingbird piece and have it up in the living room. Let the collection begin. Hummingbirds represent love and luck so I thought it would be perfect as a new blessing in our new home. I bought a new feeder for Andrew's weekly surprise last week too - the old one cracked and leaked all over. It's so fun when they visit the yard now!

Step two of my collection will be the Hummingbird and the Butterfly.

I walked down to the market the other day in search of this, but they do not sell it at that location. Well, at least I was able to get some mini donuts while I was there. Yum!

Good Times of The Week

Garlic pepper shrimp skewers at our BBQ, make-up with Alyce on Monday, Andrew's garden, finding a local florist for the wedding, Beth celebrated 30 years, new sleigh bed (even though we had to completely swap our room with the guest room due to some spacing issues :)!!), pedicure, frozen snickers, exploring the neighborhood with the boys, Spiros, Friday happy hour at Pyramid, dinner at a new WS restaurant where our wedding musician now works, the wedding checklists, honey lattes over good conversation in the morning, Case is in his new house, weekend fun!
Hey I gotta start somewhere on catching you up on things!

Some Big Updates To Get You Caught Up!

Here's Andrew and I in front of our new house! We love it and are really happy to have a place to call our own!! I wish I would have counted how many times I have been to Target since we moved in on April 27th :) The dogs seem to love it too...
Porter is pretty chill as he waits for Andrew to get home from a Home Depot run. What a handsome dog!
And here's Hamps being Hamps....cute as can be if you ask me!

Paging Dr. Kremer!!!! A HUGE congrats to the greatest doctor I know on her graduation from medical school last weekend. She will go on to do one year in Fargo and continue her residency at Stanford!!! And she is also my maid of honor! I'm so lucky!!
Another HUGE congrats to dear Abby for graduating from PA school in Iowa on Friday!! I am raising a glass to you from here!! Hooray!

Oooh and some more wonderful news that I am proud to share....our dear friends Shawn and Jill Deitering recently announced that they are expecting Baby Deitering at the end of the year. They are a big part of my life so I am SOOO happy for them and hope to be the favorite aunt!! Thanks to Jill for letting me share the big news!

And since some of you are wondering, I thought I would throw in a little wedding update. Plans are moving right along and the big day is coming soon!! A special thanks to our wedding party for saying YES: Marn, Dan, Jill, Brian, Beth, Brandon, Joe, Rob, Case, Cor, and Col! And to Ed Fedele for wanting to be our officiant - how special! You can also check out the wedding website -- I hope to get the lodging booked this week!! I keep saying that but I am trying to get the absolute best deals for downtown Seattle. It's been really fun to plan so far but I keep thinking I am going to forget something!

So keep the good news coming! There is even more to share so I will get it all posted as this moves along! I could probably do this all day! Off to a BBQ! Happy Memorial Weekend - Hugs!

I'm Bloggin'!!!

Well here goes day one of my very own blog.... I figured why not join in so I have a way to capture all of my days!! My goal is to try to document some highlights of each day and let everyone know how we are doing in Seattle!
How exciting!
To get started, here are a few big things that are going on in life right now.....
friends, family, the animals, the new house, planning the wedding, and enjoying every moment!
I am one VERY HAPPY and GRATEFUL PERSON!
Hugs, ErBear