It's Only Fair

The other morning Dan was in the bathroom getting ready for the day while I was still in bed sleeping.


The next thing I knew he was at the door saying, "Good-bye. I love you."I called out, "I love you too."


From the bathroom I hear, "Honey I haven't left yet."


I thought it was odd that he was leaving without saying prayers together or kissing me good-bye since he always does that, except in my dream that morning.

September Seattle Trip #2

Greetings from the slacker blogger. Lately it seems that someone’s (not exactly sure whose but someone’s) expectations of my life have gotten in the way of my expectations of my life. Thankfully everything seems to be slowly returning to normal so maybe I’ll be able to do a better job of getting things caught up in the blogging world. Here's hoping.

So, a couple weeks after this trip it was necessary to return to Seattle for a quick, overnighter. I contacted Kara and she was thrilled to have me stay again, especially so soon. And I was just as thrilled. So I put Dan on a plane to Phoenix for a week of trainings for work, went to work myself for a couple hours (I'll be doing a general update and talk more about this then), and when that was finished I was began driving off into the sunset.

Thankfully the sunset was gorgeous. So beautiful I just had to stop at a rest stop just west of Yakima and snap a few pictures (which don't really do it justice of course).

You can't see it because of the cloud cover but when we drove through this time we could clearly see Mt. Adams and Mt. Hood on each side of us from this same spot.

I arrived at Kara's and we visited late into the night. Poor Dan had fallen completely asleep in his hotel room waiting for me to call him for our scripture reading and nightly prayers. Quick reading and prayers for us that night.

The next morning I had a few minutes to kill and chose to do so here...

 This was just the parking lot!!! Complete with....

This....

...felt forever away.

I had only 10 minutes to wander through the store. Though I can do lots of damage with only 10 minutes in IKEA, I didn't spend any $$$ but did find a headboard/footboard I loved as well as a couch, both of which were on SALE!!!! Neither of which have been, nor will be, purchased anytime soon. :'(

After IKEA I headed into downtown Seattle. I had directions (thank you Google Maps!) and finally made it only a little turned around and few minutes late (thank you Google Maps!).

When the appointment, which brought me to Seattle in the first place, was completed, I wanted to meander to (can you meander in a car???).... 

Ultimately for a stop here...

While trying to find my way to Pike Place Market I was driving down a street I looked up to see...

  

Since I was going to be only a few minutes, I thought I'd look for a parking spot on the street. After only a couple trips around the block I parked by this...

I fed the meter with all my change which gave me 20 minutes to trek the round trip from the Seattle Art Museum to Pike Place Market. I booked it as fast as my little legs could go! As I was briskly walking I kept crossing my fingers that Le Painer had short lines. Well.....

SUCCESS!!!!!!

(My mouth is watering right now just thinking about the yummies I bought.)

For good or bad I purchased two pastries one for the drive home and one for the next day. I also learned, for good or bad, that they ship...no orders placed just yet but you never know....maybe it could be a fun treat to send to Amanda or Sid...or me...

With pastries in hand and after taking a picture for a couple women, one or two of my own, and buying a few postcards, I raced back to the car hoping the meter-maid (or whatever they are called) wasn't anywhere near. By my calculations it was a race between me and a ticket. However, when I got there I saw....

Time to spare, are you KIDDING ME?!?!?! Those 5 extra minutes would have been so well used shopping/taking pictures/eating/shopping/walking/shopping...if only I had known!

Despite the parking "issue" it was another beautiful, clear, sunny, and warm day in Seattle. The only bummer was the construction in the middle of Pike Market:

At least they were smart enough NOT to have this going on two weeks earlier.

While getting back into my car a duck drove by. Someday I want to take a tour in/on one of these.

The drive home was beautiful as well. I took a few shots of the gorgeous scenery trying to capture the last of the summer colors and warmth before rain, snow, and cold settle in...

I stopped for dinner and discovered this...

Such a super yummy salad! I had to take a picture so that I could try and recreate it at home (which I haven't done yet!). It was absolutely delicious. Amazingly enough here's where I bought it....

Definitely a quick trip but I managed to pack in some fun after business was taken care of and still made it home with time to spare before heading off to the Relief Society Evening Activity.

Thanks again Kara!!! So sad trip #3 has been so long in coming. The offer is open for whenever you want to come over to our side of the mountain.

Irons in the Fire

Lately I've been turning this...

into this...

...and eventually into this.

Also, turning this...

...into this...

...or this... 

...or even this...

...and eventually into this...

...causing my living room to often look like this.

All to help this.

Don't Knock It Till You Try It.

This is how we enjoyed General Conference this year:

We watched it via the wonders of the internet in April; however, we huddled close to our laptop to watch. This year I had the epiphany to use the monitor and external speakers to make our viewing more pleasurable. Since we'd invited a neighbor to join us, I figured it wouldn't be appropriate for the three of us to cuddle up close around the laptop again this year. So long as we don't have tv, this might be how we roll Conference Weekend.

September Seattle Trip #1

We decided to head to Seattle for Labor Day Weekend to see the city and to visit my dear friend, Kara. She and I were roommates forever ago and have managed to stay close despite spending majority of our friendship in different time zones (including three years while she lived in Tokyo, Japan!). I had to work Saturday morning for a couple hours so after I was done we headed off to the west for our weekend get-a-way.

It was a beautiful drive...

The hops were ready for harvesting.

The fields were green and evenly planted.

We passed several semi trucks with loads of crates. Some had labels letting us know they were full of Washington apples.

On Sunday we joined Kara at her new ward and found out she's in a different ward by one street. I thought that only happened in Utah and Idaho?!?!

Monday we headed into downtown Seattle...

Our destination:

(A different way to keep track of which level you are parked on.) 

  

Thankfully the first part of the day was not super busy with people, eventually it was obvious that others had the same idea for Labor Day we did and we headed back to the car when the crowds became too much and we'd seen and purchased all we planned.

While there we rode the pig (who Dan later found out is named "Rachel"), bought some spices, admired the items for sale, shopped for souvenirs, listened to street musicians, admired the flowers in the market and along the tops of the buildings, tried not to spit on the windshields of cars driving below us, watched cheese be made, waved at the crabs, and admired some unique light fixtures. Sadly we were unable to watch the famous flying fish since they were closed for the holiday. :'(

  

  

One of the required stops while at Pike's Place Market was for French pastries. We made our way there and Kara was thrilled when she began seeing the store's bags in shopper's hands because that meant they were open! We stood in line with the instructions that we were to order something. There was no waiting in line then saying, "I don't really want anything." Kara was not standing for that!

 

Since she'd bragged about their chocolate filled croissants, I tried one. It was fabulous!!!! When I got home I kept hoping there'd be another trip in the near future to Seattle so I could go get more of the delicious chocolatines! Dan ordered a piece of rhubarb tart and said it was yummy too. Guess we'll be adding LePanier to our list of must stops whenever we are in Seattle.

 

As vacations usually are, it was much too short of a trip. We look forward to another drive "over the mountain" to visit Kara and see the sights of Seattle. Hopefully in the very near future and even with some sense of regularity.



Only Don't Be Frightened!

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