Seattle Scoutin'

I went to Seattle again this past weekend. I saw some sweet fares for $123 roundtrip to Seattle from Salt Lake City, so I just did it! I texted, called, emailed and facebooked my friend Mike to see if I could come visit him again. And he said I could!! So I bought the ticket on a whim and planned my trip.

Well, it ended up being a scouting trip... checking things out as a possible move-to location! So I talked to an HR person at Microsoft, which is where Mike works, and looked at some apartment complexes... and got a lot of good work done! Learned that I don't want to work on one side of Lake Washington and live on the other... so that seals the deal for me.... East Side it is for everything...living, working, playing. So that really helped me to narrow it down. Now just to find a job..... anyone know anyone in HR in the Kirkland, Redmond, Bellevue, maybe Bothell areas?

Mike also treated me to a jaunt around Snowqualmie Falls and some skiing at Steven's Pass...... okay not treating me in the traditional way - where he pays for me.... more like obliged me by taking me there (on top of all the driving around we did on Friday to check out places to live). The skiing was pretty good. Better than I expected.... if I move there I might just actually get my first ever season pass. But you have to understand... when growing up in Boise, the season pass was too expensive and I wouldn't get the worth out of it. Here in Utah, I have 8 resorts all within an hour's drive of my house - why ball and chain myself to one resort when the 7 others might have gotten the better snowfall? But! In the Seattle area, it sounds like Steven's Pass is the best and closest resort so..... season pass here I come!!

Bottom line: It felt really natural to be there. Not like I was on vacation. Everything felt really good too... the job hunt, the apartment hunt, everything. Nothing freaked me out. It just felt like home.....

Celebrating the Beginning of the Last of my Twenties

Well, this year is it. The big 29. And I celebrated it in style!

Friday night my roommate and I enjoyed some hot chocolate in my special occasion mugs (see the previous post).

Saturday, some friends and I went cross-country skiing and it was my first time! My roommate treated me to it.... lessons, rentals, trail pass... all for a sweet deal on Ladie's Day at the Sundance Nordic Center. I had another sweet girlfriend take me to dinner at the delectable Pizzeria 712. Heavenly Father treated me to a tender mercy where I received a special prompting and witness from the Holy Ghost.

And then Sunday night. Oh my. My sweet girlfriend, Ashlee and roommate, Jen, threw me a party. So many people came! I've decided I don't like being the reason for the party because that means I have to talk to everyone.... at first I rebelled and purposely sat myself behind the kitchen table and in between people so I couldn't get out and therefore didn't have to talk to everyone. But then I started feeling guilty about it since people were coming to the party to see me. So that was selfish of me.... so I rectified it and started greeting and hugging everyone. I didn't get to spend the amount of time with everyone that I would have liked... which I like to spend quality time with my friends and I couldn't at this party! Hence the reason why I don't care for parties where there are a ton of people and not enough time to talk to everyone thoroughly.

Mundane Monday - My Special Occasion Mugs

When I did my study abroad to London in the fall of 2000 (by the way, best experience of my college years ever), we toured the Wedgwood china factory. And ever since then I have been dreaming of buying my own Wedgwood china someday. After toured the factory, we went over to the reject china shop near by. Reject china shops are awesome! Something will become a reject china piece because it has a black speck on the bottom and then you can buy it for loads less. Some girls were smart and bought their whole sets of china and had them shipped home. I now wish I would have been that smart. But I wasn't. What's done is done. But! I did buy two blue, Wedgwood Everyday mugs with their matching saucers and a delicate little Wild Strawberries teacup and saucer for my sister Robyn.

I still have the blue mugs and saucers today and I only get them out for special occasions.... like for a little hot chocolate with my roommate to celebrate my birthday a little early. And then the hopeless romantic in me looks forward to sharing a hot chocolate in these mugs and sharing a blanket, next to a roaring fire, with the man of my dreams. Sigh. Someday. Until then... a good girlfriend will have to do.

My First Piano Recital in a Long Time

Well. I did it. I played in my piano teacher's recital. And ... I did all right. I made some mistakes, as you can tell in the video, but my goal was to charge through the song and not get too upset about making mistakes. I had some awesome pseudo-family members there: Jana, Jen and Jed. I was a little embarrased by the recital so I didn't tell Jen and Jed about it until the night before and Jana the morning of. I didn't want them to come unless they didn't have anything better to do.... because I wasn't sure how I would do.

Jen brought her sweet, awesome camera and Jed brought his camera that can take video. So Jed took the video of me and Jen took a ton of pictures! I only uploaded these few because I look so serious in the close ups. I played Come Back to Sorrento by de Curtis.

New Years in Cali

I spent my New Years with my sister, Joni, and her family. It was wonderful. She laughed and said she sends her guests home better than they come... and with me... that was true. I had a terrible cold when I showed up. She drugged me up, stocked me with kleenex, filled me up with a root beer float and sent me to bed.... all well before midnight on New Year's Eve.

The very next morning we headed to their family cabin and enjoyed some snow shoeing, sledding and skiing. Their cabin is wonderful. So fun! We had a bit of a geyser in the bathroom when we turned the water on, but we got it figured out... we just couldn't turn the water on to the toilet... so that meant using buckets to fill the tank so we could flush the toilet. Needless to say we had a rule... close your eyes if you are a squeamish... "If it's yellow let it mellow, if it's brown flush it down." Ha!

Crazy Californians! They have a Nazi Chain Control on I-80. Well, first you should know that their cabin is near Truckee, California.... in between I-80... a little heaven between the highway. We had to drive up I-80 to get to Boreal Ski Resort to go skiing. Every crazy car was stopped in the right lane of the freeway putting chains on their car.... what?! The freeway was only wet. And then I saw it. Yup. The Chain Control .... they literally stood in the middle of the freeway and watched every car to make sure they either had 4WD or else chains on. The worst the road got? You ask.... slush. Yup. Slush. Crazy Californian Nazi Chain Control.

Oh and my 11-year-old nephew? He loves to lounge around the cabin in his long underwear! Ha! Funny little pal.

It was a fabulous vacation. Visiting Joni and Adam and their family always is. :)

Christmas

In our family, Christmas Eve is the big, formal event. We have a ham dinner, a white elephant gift exchange, some games and then the traditional opening of one gift from Grandma. And then there is the traditional "feel my guns" moment that I am subjected to by my brother-in-law every time I am in town. Oh boy. This year I obliged him .... and had my nephew take a picture of it promising to put it on my blog! Ha! Take that Doug. :)

We played an M&M game and it was a riot! As soon as you roll doubles with the dice, you want to scoop M&Ms from the bowl into your cup as fast as possible to get as many as possible until someone else rolls doubles and then it is their turn. And you have to scoop the M&Ms with a knife. My mom was a hoot!

Christmas Day is spent at my sister Jill's house, eating finger foods, getting tours of her kids' Christmas loot and watching movies. This is the year I introduced Jill to North & South.

And then, here are the pictures of my mom's reaction to receiving the Halford & Brooks' Family Album. I think it is safe to say she loved it. :)

Life List Achievement: Make a Family History Book to Share

Well, I did it! I completed another life list item. I made a family history book to share with all my family! There are nearly 800 photos in this family photo album and it has five generations in it! Many years ago, my Uncle Rob put this original family album together and gave it to my Grandma Bertha. When she passed away she gave it to my Uncle Doyle. I've had very little contact with him over the years since I left for college and began working ... that is until May of 2007. He allowed my sister and I to scan all of the photos in this album and since then I've been working on cropping those pictures and labeling them. And then over the last few months I've put all those photos into a book and had it published. In all, I ordered 12 copies of it - for my mom, aunt, sisters and cousins. It is amazing! I've really come to know my ancestors and extended family that are in this album (or at least to the extent that you can get to know someone via photo). It's been an amazing experience. Enjoy the photos and the video of the book.

If you are related to me via the Halfords or Brooks' then let me know and I'll send you a link to website where you can purchase your own family album!

P.S. Don't mention this to my mom yet... she's getting it for Christmas this year and she doesn't know about it. :)
P.P.S. I made the book using the Booksmart program via www.blurb.com