It Was Great Until It Wasn't

We had friends come into town last week to celebrate my birthday.  It was great!.... until it wasn't.  I'll first cover the great parts!  :)

We had two friends arrive on Tuesday.  Which was when I made my birthday cake (yes I made my own cake... I like to make cake).  It was a raspberry lemon cake, though mostly just tasted like biting into a lemon!  I think next time I'll go with a less "lemony" cake.

Wednesday was my birthday and it was 12-12-12!  Our friend who lives in Abu Dhabi flew in that day and we had some local friends come over as well.  We had a lot of food and drinks, such as hot dogs, mac & cheese, chips, punch, soda, etc...

Thursday and Friday were spent checking out various sites in Seattle.  We did Pike Place and a lot of the food around there, the Fremont Troll, Fremont Brewery (for those who could have beer), Seattle Art Museum, and the Seattle Underworld Tour.

Our friend from Abu Dhabi left on Friday.  The rest of us headed to Vancouver, Canada for a day trip on Saturday.  We had a tasty lunch at a cafe there and then headed to Tellus Science World. 

Science World was pretty neat, though very much more for kids.  We had a lot of fun doing puzzles and brain teasers though!  We ran out of time there and had to leave before seeing all of the exhibits.

Upon leaving Science World was when things got... not so great...  We discovered that we had been robbed.  Both purses that were in the trunk were taken, my friend's laptop, a cell phone, and a couple other items were stolen.  Unfortunately, 3 of the 4 of us also had our passports in the purses...  It was a horrible evening, but we eventually gave up hunting for dumped items and figured out how to get back into the USA.  There are a lot worse things that could have happened... but it still sucked!  The next day our friends left to go back to NM.  Like I said, it was great... until it wasn't.  :)

Eventful Weekend

We had a busy and fun weekend!  Friday we had a bunch of people over to celebrate our new house!  We made red and green enchiladas, beans, and rice.  Saturday we went to a LEGO's expo (called BrickCon).  It was definitely interesting, especially thinking about the time and money spent making all of the exhibits.  We had some fun walking around and eating at Seattle Center while we were over there.  That night we were going to go to the Everett Sausage Festival, but we ended up going Sunday instead.  I was just too tired.

Here are some pictures from Saturday:

Sunday was pretty fun.  Carlos and I did a lot of looking for Halloween costume stuff, and then hung out for quite a while at the sausage festival.  We heard one local band that we really liked, but mostly we enjoyed a lot of edible treats!

Seafair and Deception Pass

This month has been full of recreation: game nights, hiking, a new book club, and the Seafair.

The Seafair was basically a big air and water show with lots of people and lots of booths selling stuff.  I didn't manage to get any photos of the planes but here is an image from the hydroplane race.

Last Saturday we went to Deception Pass, and like most places around here, it was beautiful!

July 2012

I really really keep wanting to get back to blogging more often (at least once a week), but if I'm not going to do that, I may as well update when I do think of it.  I last updated about June; I will now summarize July 2012.

We spent the 4th of July here in WA.  It was cold.  That's my first recollection, haha.  We did have fun though.  We had a friend invite us over for an all day affair complete with day time fireworks, a cookout, and an incredible evening firework show.

On the 5th we headed to NM!  We spent the weekend in Albuquerque for a family reunion.  Then Carlos went back to WA and I headed down the state to spend over a week with my parents and sister.  My brother also drove down to visit.  We did a lot of things:  cookouts, camping, bingo, played wii, etc.  I got to see my parents' and sister's new houses.  It was a very nice visit.

Carlos and I at the reunion at the zoo.

 On our way to NM we got some great news.  The offer we made on a house was accepted!  So since I've gotten back to WA we have been working through the process of purchasing the house.  We've fit in some fun times as well such as volleyball at the beach!

June 2012

After that sunny weekend in May we still haven't had too much sun.  Supposedly with June was supposed to come mostly sunny days and temperatures in the low 70's.  We've been lucky if it gets to the high 60's.  I don't mind that though.  It's more comfortable than the 100 degree temperatures I'd be getting in NM.

In the first week of June my parents came to visit.  It was a nice visit and we fit in plenty of fun stuff.  Some of the things we did were a food tour in Seattle, a whale watching tour, hiking, and a red enchilada night!

My dad at a lighthouse park.

My mom on the hike.

Fun things we've done since then include a Washington Brewer's Fest and a Pro Wakeboard Tour.  Soon to come will be a trip back to NM.  I'm looking forward to being back there.  Not looking forward to the heat, but looking forward to being able to wear dresses and shorts.  :)

New "Friends" and a Hike

This past weekend was a ton of fun.  My husband met a couple of guys in a class he was taking and we got together with them and another couple on Friday night.  We were all new to town and looking to make new friends.  It feel kind of weird making new friends... In a way it's kind of like dating again... haha.

Saturday was uneventful, but Sunday was awesome!  I had been reading about the wonderful fall colors at Mount Rainier, so we decided to go for a hike over there.  It ended up being about a 3 hour drive from our home, and well worth it.  It was gorgeous!  The weather was awesome!  The hike was incredible!  We did a hike that was about 5 miles round trip, but it took us about 4 hours, which apparently is the average hike time for that route.  Anyways... I loved it!  I look forward to going back in the summer!  (Tire chains are required starting Nov. 1., for the only road that is open, most of the roads are closed Nov. 1-June 1)

After the hike we met up with the same people we hung out with Friday night for some chicken wings.  It feels weird to say, "we met up with some friends"... at what point does someone really become your friend...?  I still feel like I don't really know them, but I guess they're the closest things we have to friends here at this point.  :)  So... I suppose "friends" they are!

It Has Ended

Well... yesterday was my last day at my job.  I don't think I've realized it just yet.  I've had some wonderful, stressful, fun, depressing, exciting, enlightening, and fulfilling times at that job.  I am so grateful to have had it and to have been a part of the office family.  A wonderful first "professional" job!!

In other news, I started a 365 Day Photo project.  You can read about it at 365project.org, and you can view my photos here.

Busy Long Weekends

The past two weekends have been quite busy, busy with fun stuff though.  Last weekend we went camping & fishing in the Gila.  We spent three nights out there, it was wonderful.

This past weekend we went to Albuquerque to visit family and friends. Friday evening we went to a 60th birthday party that was themed 50s/60s.

After the 50s/60s party, Carlos' uncle took us out on the town with his limousine!  We invited a few friends, and stopped for a drink!

Saturday we went to a Botanical Park & Aquarium in the early afternoon, and that evening we went to some roller derby bouts (my friend was on two of the teams).

Yesterday we went to Sky City (the Acoma Pueblo).  Acoma Pueblo is the oldest continually inhabited city in the United States.  It has been inhabited since 900 A.D, and is located high in a plateau. After we spent some time there, we returned the Albuquerque, and Carlos' uncle had a pizza party for us!  Lots of family came over for home made pizza, including my brother and sister-in-law.  I have more pictures of that, but I'll have to post them later (they're on Carlos' camera).

Camping

Last weekend we went camping at Lake Roberts!  My husband and I drove up early Saturday morning and left Sunday afternoon.  We met my parents and sister there, who arrived on Friday. It was nice and cool out, but windier than we would have liked.  Of course we had a lot of delicious camp food.  And we spent a good deal of time fishing.  I caught a fish! 

Actually it took three of us to catch that one fish.  At some point my line and my husband's line became tangled.  As I was reeling in the fish my line broke!  I thought I lost the fish, since it dropped back into the water.  However, my line was so tangled with my husband's that my husband was able to reel in the fish.  Once the fish was above the deck it somehow got off of the hook.  My dad managed to grab it with his hands just before it would have dropped back into the water.

The fish was delicious!  We are planning on going camping at least a couple more times this year!

Camping

Well we had a fun weekend camping. My parents, sister, Carlos and his mom all went, as well as two dogs: Sheba & Lola. We had a bit more rain than we had hoped for, but everything went really well. We had some great food and good times. In the evenings we were surrounded by skunks, which made for some excitement. Carlos, Liz, and I walked around Lake Roberts and had the pleasure of witnessing a snake eat a frog. The wildlife in the area was plentiful, which we really enjoyed.