Picture Rewind: Seattle

Pictures that didn't make it into my previous post...

Neat buildings and features around town. I didn't realize Seattle had steep streets like San Francisco. My picture a few below doesn't give the slope justice, but hopefully this garage-like door does. You can see where a level door would sit compared to the road I was standing on.

Clara wore her swim suit, I mean super suit, every day. There wasn't a pool in our hotel.

One thing that really fascinated me was the ground. Most of the sidewalks and walkways were made of material other than concrete and there was a big diversity from street to street. If it was concrete, it was usually stamped concrete. My favorite was the old school red brick by The Market.

Attempting to capture the steepness of the streets leading to the water

These are for Angela. One of her complaints about Mesa is there is a Bed Bath and Beyond and Walgreen's on every corner. I found one (don't tell her it was just one) of each on corners in Seattle.

The original Starbucks logo.

Even their manholes are "cool".

And another sign that totally reminded me of Angela...

For Rachel... Just in case you wanted to know what Bella sees when Edward runs fast (sorry, I couldn't resist including this one).

The Market

Our view was much better when observed in undies.

My last look at the pretty tree-lined streets.

Picture Rewind: Jen

Train Park This picture makes me dizzy, but it's kind of cool.

I have probably 50 pictures of these two and I'm not sure I have one where they are both looking.

Sugar Bowl: Best overpriced ice cream and shakes

Beka and Danny's: Our genius children (I asked who knew how many "3" was and this is what I got)

Clara was born in December, Braden and Landon in January and Cache in February. Good thing Clara likes boys.

Roni's Sealing: The best thing about Roni is she's really happy like this all the time. I ne'er have seen this girl and not wanted to hug her. Her pretty dress and awesome bouquet made her just that much spunkier.

It was hot! The Whipples had paper fans and ice cold water bottles, which made it a little more bearable.

The Reception. Whenever I go to receptions, it makes me want to have another one, with Jason of course. I just love a good party.

Um, cute (good thing I got the cake topper because I didn't get a good one of the bride and groom at the reception).Proof that Jason did attend... he took Clara to my mom's around 8:30pm so a.) he could watch the game, b.) Clara could go to sleep and c.) I could visit with my friends (in that order too).

Sparklers are always cool at receptions.

Since Jason abandoned me, the Trevors were subjected to my picture taking. I really didn't want to hold that frame alone...

Have I mentioned I love my high school friends? Maybe someday all of us will get together again.

Foster gave me a ride home after the reception and said Jason owed him since he took me off his hands. And at the reception he asked about my mom and informed me my mom was his favorite thing about being my friend. See, don't I have the best friends ever? :)

Concluding the Week

I've been trying to go to bed earlier, which means I am blogging less. How sad. It takes a lot of willpower for me to look at my lonely computer at night, look at the ever-ticking clock, look at my computer, look at the clock and just go to sleep. I haven't felt very tired all week, which is a big change from my norm, but it feels good. Anyway, so here's what I have to report from this week...


Cousin Carol: My dad's cousin Carol and daughter Samantha were in town last week from Cleveland. We partied at my Aunt and Uncle's on Friday night, my parent's on Sunday and then again at Organ Stop Pizza on Tuesday night. I've only met Carol and Sam one other time, but somehow it's so easy to visit with family since there is that tie, like it or not.

Father's Day: I was proud of myself for waking up early enough to make Jason breakfast (man breakfast) in bed (yes, before our 8:30am church). We even almost made it to church on time. After church, I didn't complain a peep that Jason started his nap at Noon. We are not really gift people in our family. To me, acts of service mean a whole lot more than gifts. Unless a gift has a lot of meaning, to me it's a waste of money. This year I did video cards for Jason and the grandpas from Clara. Hilarious? Yes. Clara sure does love her dad. I sure love mine too.

Funeral: Our Relief Society President's husband passed away and his funeral was Thursday. I know that although we don't always know why things happen, I do know that there is a plan for each one of us. I find much comfort knowing his family has the same knowledge. Also, the wife is amazing. She spoke and talked about how grateful they were that he lived for 9 years after getting sick and how blessed they were for being able to care for their husband and father. If there is one person that is the epitome of enduring well and being positive, it's her. I hate death, but really kind of like funerals (minus the fact that I cry too much). I was asking myself why I enjoy them and concluded it must have something to do with the fact that I believe death is one of two times that heaven and earth are so very near each other. The other, a birth. The veil is so thin and the Spirit is so strong. Then I started thinking that a birth, is such a joyful occasion. Death, usually isn't. Well at least for those of us on earth anyway. For those in Heaven, it's just the opposite. Right?


Work: Work has finally slowed down and it's been fantastic. I have realized I can feel sane, keep my house relatively in order and make dinner the nights I don't work when I only work two days a week at my client and a few hours at night from home. Much, much more manageable.


Swimming: We swam on Thursday at my mom's. I lasted about 30 minutes in the pool then got out to soak up the warm sun because I was a little chilly. I thought, Hmm, we didn't pick a very warm day to swim. The next day I heard it was 113*. I'm certain my blood is way too thin.

Now I'm really behind on uploading pictures... Ah well, the record keeping part is finished and I need some rest (going to sleep at 3am last night was not a good idea but well worth my visit with Karen).

Luck

I'm a pretty lucky person. Not so much because of the luck that would make others jealous, but the luck that makes you laugh at life. I am constantly being overcharged, undercharged, not charged, double charged, etc. on purchases. Why even in Seattle, we ate breakfast at the hotel twice and charged it to our room. At check out, they only showed us having one meal. I questioned it and the girl said they can't do anything about it if the restaurant didn't get them the information. I asked a few more times because while I love a free meal, I'd rather have a clear conscience. It's not always good, mind you. Oft times my luck is more like when both our freezers went out in the same month or getting sued when you can't pay your bills to begin with. One very awkward moment was when I bought four pair of sunglasses from Ross. I only needed one, but didn't have time to decide which pair I wanted, so I bought them all. When I went to return the unwanted ones, I realized I hadn't been charged for a pair. I explained this to the cashier who just looked back and forth from me, to the sunglasses that weren't on my receipt. It was obvious she assumed I'd stolen them and my conscience got the best of me. You know, stuff that just kind of makes you laugh.


My last string of luck, however, was rather unique. Last week, as I was checking out at Costco, I was approached by the people with the hand scanner trying to convince me I needed to upgrade my membership because I spend too much money there. We started talking and they said, "When you renew your membership next month..." I stopped them because I had just renewed when I was in here last. They told me they had no record of it and that since I wasn't even up for renewal until July it shouldn't have popped up yet. I knew I'd paid my renewal because I remember my conversation with the cashier (I even told him it seemed to come faster than a year) and I remember my conversation with Jason convincing him I hadn't really spend that much money at Costco because part of it was the renewal.


So I went home and that night, during a bout of insomnia at 3am, I found my receipt. Sure enough, the renewal was there. Oh, but it was for someone else's membership number. Awesome. I renewed someone else's membership two months before mine was due. The cashier couldn't get my card to scan and had keyed in my number and missed one little digit. I get human error, but I was shocked to find out there is no check in the system to make sure the number he entered matches my name. I got it all straightened out, got my money back and had a whole crew of people at Costco bewildered that something like that could and did happen. They shouldn't worry about it too much... it's just me.

The Nitty Gritty Details

Wednesday: The day we fly to Seattle
Observations: Angela would really enjoy Seattle.
Realizations: Jason and I have even more opposite views of money than I originally thought. Our flight was overbooked. They were offering a $425 voucher to take a flight 3.5 hours later and Jason wouldn't do it. They had two so that would have been $850 in vouchers to fly anywhere on US Airways just to hang out for a few extra hours. How did I lose that battle?
Fact: This was Clara's 3rd time flying, Jason's 5th and my 15th, 20th, somewhere in there.
Favorite: Quality one-on-one time with my cousin Rob. That's not easy when I don't think we've ever lived in the same state for an extended period of time.
Least favorite: Clara being exhausted and acting accordingly.
The details for posterity: Suzanne took us to the airport and off we flew to Seattle. Clara fell asleep on the light rail as we rode from the airport to our hotel Downtown and she continued to sleep as I carried her for quite a ways. We stayed at the Red Lion on 5th Ave and Pike. Without knowing much about downtown, I don't think we could have picked a better location. It was ideal. The price for the local hostile was more ideal than this one, but Jason vetoed that suggestion. We got all checked in, got something to eat, then just relaxed for a bit in our room. Oh, and Clara took pictures to document our room.
For dinner, we met my cousin Rob at a restaurant across the street from our hotel. I loved visiting with him and after dinner, we walked around downtown for a while and he pointed out a few things, told us a little history and made a few dining recommendations. Then we sat in the hotel lobby and visited for another little while... Clara fell asleep on me again, poor little goose.

Thursday: The day we are 100% tourist

Observations: There is an incredible variety of people in Seattle; even more diverse than ASU's campus (which is pretty diverse)

Realizations: I'm not into science fiction and although I love history and learning, I really only love it if it's a subject that fascinates me (rock music, not such a subject).

Fact: Seattle is the farthest North I've ever been

Favorite: The aquarium, specifically the octopus

Least favorite: Clara's tired/sick-induced tantrum

The details for posterity: Clara woke up in the middle of the night due to a coughing spell. I finally calmed her down, but her disrupted and lack of sleep was very apparent this morning. We had breakfast and then certain events left me declaring we were not leaving our hotel room until Clara had a nap. That's not what I planned on doing our first morning, but I knew it would be awful taking Clara into public with how tired she was. So at 10:30am, we all fell asleep for a much needed two hour nap. We took the monorail to the Seattle Center and went to the Space Needle.

Then we went over to the Experience Music ProjectScience Fiction Museum (EMPSFM). It was interesting, but most of the pictures I took were for my BIL Clint. It definitely wasn't kid-friendly. Jason enjoyed it much more than I.

After we went to the Seattle Aquarium, which I loved. We even made it for the octopus feeding where we learned a bit about these crazy creatures. Clara liked the fish but was really hoping to see some sharks. The sharks we did see were the size of fish so it's not what she was expecting. Overall, she enjoyed it. In fact, she was disappointed the following day when she realized we weren't going back there.

We stopped at the Market for dinner on our way back and didn't pick a very good restaurant. Oh well, we lived. The rest of our evening was simple: walking, cookies, bed.

Friday: The day I almost cry

Observations: Lots of people smoke in Seattle. Everywhere stinks like smoke. Almost every elevator I got on stunk. One time Clara said, "That guy's smoking. He must not know it's bad for him and that it will turn his insides black and his outsides yellow." (I've tried to explain, but I think it's difficult for a three year old to grasp the concept of addiction).

Realizations: My dream vacation might not involve Jason... not because I don't like him but because the things we enjoy doing are very different.

Fact: We walked a billion miles today

Favorite: The Butterfly Exhibit at the Science Center.

Least favorite: Watching Shrek 3D. I almost vomited at the cost and then almost vomited again after eating a pretzel and cheese at the theater for dinner.

The details for posterity: Our first and main destination was the Pacific Science Center ("PSC"). We almost tried to squeeze the Science Center into two hours the day before. When we did go, we spent nearly four hours there and it probably would've been longer if the Mister wasn't with us. They had a ton of exhibits, some of my favorites were the tides in the Puget Sound, the mirrors, a tide pool where you can touch creatures, the music station in the tot area, the butterfly exhibit and the naked mole rat display.

We watched a presentation on combustion that was pretty fascinating and got to watch Hubble 3D in the IMAX.

I admit, I got a little teary-eyed during the movie. I guess I have never taken a minute to be thankful for the sacrifices astronauts make when they go into space to do things that will enhance our understanding of space. Even more so, seeing images from space and learning about how vast it is, always makes me think of our Creator. It is amazing and science explains a lot. I am not a scientist, but I do know some of the answers to their unanswered questions: GOD. After the movie, we went up to some more exhibits. I attempted to take a picture of Clara. The camera flashed, it beeped and then went dead. My lens didn't close and normally if the battery dies, it will shut off properly then not turn on again. This time, it was totally dead, lens open. And that's when I almost cried. I love my camera, I love taking pictures and of all times to crap out, in the middle of our first big family vacation? Luckily we had our cell phones, so the memories are not dead and luckily it turned out it was just the battery and after a short charge, it was good as new. Wewsh. After our pit stop to the hotel to charge the battery, we went to Ivar's for the best clam chowder (I don't like clam chowder unless it's real and fresh like this was). Then we went on a little cruise of the harbor. Clara was exhausted and fell asleep on me yet again.

We tried to explore the Market more, but everyone was packing up. We dropped our stuff at the hotel and walked to the movie theater. Jason and Clara really wanted to see Shrek 3 in 3D. I really didn't want to spend vacation time doing something that could be done in Arizona, not to mention the cost. Holy smokes! I lost and after I let go of the price tag, we enjoyed our second 3D movie of the day.

Saturday: The day we rent a car

Observations: The diversity in landscape of our earth is marvelous.

Realizations: I would rather go hiking in the forest than drive to the top of a mountain just to see it closer.

Facts: We drove 330 miles, going from Seattle to Enumclaw (south of Seattle) to Mt. Rainier to Enumclaw to Arlington (North of Seattle) and back to Seattle.

Favorite: Visiting with Jason's Uncle Bobby, Connie's oldest brother, and his wife Gena.

Least Favorite: Not going on a hike to enjoy the dense and lush forest at the foot of Mt. Rainier

The Details for Posterity: I really wanted to see the Market and some lady told us they open early "at 5 or 5:30am". So I woke up at 6am, snuck out of the hotel room and walked down to the Market alone. The only people even starting to set up for the day were the fish, flowers and produce folk. I hung out for an hour or so, enjoyed my brisk walk in the crisp, cool morning air and then picked up some produce and pastries for breakfast. We ate in our room, got ready and walked to the car rental location. We then drove up down to Enumclaw, where Jason's aunt and uncle live.

We had a short visit and then his uncle rode up to Mt. Rainier with us. Clara called him "Brampa" and he spoiled her. But, they both enjoyed it, so what am I do to? We drove around a lot. It was beautiful and there was still TONS of snow up there. Mountains are amazing.

After that adventure, we headed to Arlington to visit a friend of Jason's from childhood, Keenan, and his wife Nicole. They barbecued for us and then Clara played with their three kids. Their two boys have a lot of energy and imagination like Clara so they had a grand time. By the time we arrived back to Seattle, it was after 11:15pm.

Sunday: The day we ride a public bus... and fly back to Arizona

Observations: Public transportation is pretty handy (at least in a city like Seattle)

Realizations: I think we need to start a revolution - more male persons need to be involved in music related callings in the LDS church.

Facts: Today was the first time Jason, Clara and I had ever stepped foot on a public bus. Perhaps I should've been more like a sister of mine and ditched school to ride the bus downtown...

Favorite: Not having any difficulty getting to church (public transportation can be intimidating to someone who has no experience with it).

Least Favorite: Coming back to reality.

The Details for Posterity: Clara slept well in the hotel room (thank you black out drapes!), arising each morning around 7:15 or 7:30am. Of course she chooses the morning we actually had to be somewhere at a certain time to sleep in until 8:30am. Regardless, we got ready, quickly mapped our bus route and headed out, arriving, by bus, at the church just a few minutes late. I love attending church. I contemplated several good excuses why we didn't need to hop a bus just to attend church. But the minute I walked in, I was completely satisfied with the time and money we spent getting there. The congregation was a stark contrast to our Ward here in Arizona, but the spirit, the music, the messages and the sacrament were in complete harmony with our usual religious feast on Sunday. A few things I noted: the congregation was small but they sure did sing. Most of the wards I have attended here in Arizona don't have that. I enjoyed the male choir conductor with his green jacket/blazer and coordinating green striped shirt (who had an incredible voice that I could hear all the way in the back row). Then there was a men's quartet that sang the special musical number and when I dropped Clara off at primary, I noted a man was the primary chorister. All of this left me wondering, since when did it become "not cool" in the southwest for those of the male gender to have and share vocal talents? Hence my suggested revolution above. I really enjoy men's singing. Anyway, Sunday School was unique, lots of interesting thoughts, and then we had to catch a bus back to our hotel to make sure we had enough time to pack up.
The light rail has a direct and quick route from the airport to near our hotel, but Sunday it was under construction. Fortunately they had a free shuttle taking people to the first open light rail station. Clara fell asleep, again, on the light rail. I carried her for quite some time after we got off (it's quite a walk from the airport terminals to the light rail station) and then she slept on my lap, in Jason's and didn't wake up until we went through security. Poor little goose was exhausted. When she was awake, she insisted on rolling her own bag.

Our plane ride home seemed quicker and Clara was a tiny bit more mellow. What a fascinating area Seattle is.

My mom picked us up and now we are home. Safe and sound.