Christmas Lights

Sorry if you read the Sips etc blog and have already heard about this, but it was too cute!

This last weekend Adam's parents got us all tickets to go to the Botanic Gardens to see Christmas lights! So we had dinner first at what's become one of my favorite places for Mexican, Tocabe, (It's seriously delicious with it's Navajo tacos--i'm getting hungry just typing this) and then headed for a Light Extravaganza.

It was cold, but the lights were so fun. Probably my favorite part was watching Burke run up to each tree and say "And look at these lights, guys! Look at this one! And this one!..." And he'd put those goofy glasses up to his face and look at each tree. My goodness, adorable.

Christmas becomes just a bit more magical with little kids around.

Free Chick-Fil-a? Please and Thank you.

Have you ever heard of the thing Chick-fil-a does when they open a new location? Almost always they do a 24-hour camp out for 100 people and then give them free (FREE!) meals for a year. (52 meal tickets to be exact).

Well I had always heard about this, but have never been able to do one, until now.

This last Wednesday, they opened one right near us!

So Kirst, Adam, my Adam, and I all decided to do it.

(Adam and Kirstin have done several before, so they knew all the tricks to be prepared to camp out in 20 degrees--thank goodness.)

Unfortunately, I didn't get picked to stay for the campout and free 52 meals

(they do a raffle to pick 100 people from those who showed up before 6 am).

But Adam did! (YAY!)

It kind of turned out to be just fine.

Even though we only got 52 meals instead of 104,

I stayed through the day with them, ate 3 chick-fil-a meals for free,

and then kissed him goodnight and went home to sleep in a bed.

Not a bad deal, huh?

Sometimes life is out of the ordinary.

This is our tree this year.

Yes, it's the same size as the one I had in my dormroom.

Yes, it's blue.

Yes, it has a purple glitter star topper.

And yes, those are lemons on the tree.

Because when life is a bit out of the ordinary, it's ok for your tree to be that way too.

Kelly from the Office...

...Has a book and I really want to read it.

Terrible

I know I've been terrible about blogging on here. I saw that I only posted ONCE in October. And I should say it's not for lack of time. It's for lack of ideas...

I guess I can just update you as if we were talking on the phone...

1. I start my job at Crate and Barrel this week. Tomorrow actually. I am waiting to hear back about my dream job this week, so Crate and Barrel might fall by the wayside if I get the dream job and CB won't let me work on weekends only, we'll see. (I should probably be more careful about posting this kind of thing on the internet, but let's be honest, I don't have that many faithful readers).

2. Our house rented, did I tell you this? She was supposed to move in November 1. We haven't heard anything yet, but I guess those are the best renters, the quiet ones.

3. We just got back to Kirstin and Adam's from house sitting for Mark and Carla. It's fun living so close to downtown, and having cable, and good beer (as Adam would say). Little luxuries. Stetson loved having a partner in crime (though, as you can see from my last post, he does most of the crime). But it's good to be back with K and A and the kiddos.

4. I just painted my nails gray. It was a birthday present from Jordan. I like them, and Adam even randomly commented that he did too. (this rarely happens when it comes to nail color)

5. H&M opens here soon! This Friday actually. Adam is doing drywall for some of K and A's friends here in Denver, so I'm hoping to sneak away to check out the new place.

6. Just joined a gym. Mark and Carla got me a membership for my birthday (so exciting!). I've decided if I were single, I would join a gym to meet people. There and church would be my two main avenues. There are lots of good looking people at gyms. But since I'm married, I just avoid eye contact now.


so, now can you see why I haven't been blogging? Kind of boring, huh?

Goofy Guy

Sorry that I mostly only blog about Stetson these days, but I couldn't resist.

We're house sitting right now for Adam's parents.

They have a black lab, Koda. Koda and Stetson get along pretty well, but there are a number of times that I peek out the window to the backyard and see Koda (obviously exhausted by Stetson) just sitting there watching my crazy weasel prance around the yard still looking for things to do.

This is what that weasel was up to today.

Never a dull moment with that guy.

Sick of Goodbyes

I'm sick of goodbyes. I hate them. Why can't we just all live in the same place, and as we make new friends, they just stay there too. I guess that's why Heaven will be so great, right? I hope anyway...

Last week was the last week with Jord and Drew and their three girls until... Christmas 2012...which is still even just a maybe anyway. But, we had a good time getting them ready to go and just spending time together.

Adam "fishing" with Keadryn, Burke and Sayla

All the cousins. From Left to Right: Evie, Sayla, Piper, Burke, Easton, Keadryn

There's a saying that goes like this:

"How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard."

I'd have to agree. And with all the "goodbye-ing I seem to do, I must be the luckiest girl in the world.

Month Catch up

September was known as Wedding Tour 2011. Two of my very best friends got married. Aren't they beautiful?

Brooke (bride #1), me, Kate

Liz (bride #2), me. (You can tell I was totally crying here).

Add one of Adam's best friends also getting married in September, and the name deemed for this month makes sense. But all the weddings were beautiful and we love the spouses of each one too! I'm so happy for them and thankful too.

Since getting back to Denver, life has still seemed crazy. Funny how someone who has no kids and no job still can feel like life is so busy. I have no excuses. But here is what I've been up to:

1. I turned 26-One of my best birthdays to date. It started in Philadelphia with a family surprise party, then in add in some birthday month/eve texts from my fellow October birthday-er (my dad), and sprinkle in Adam's family presents and treats all weekend long, drizzled with some friends presents and cards, and topped with a trip to the mountains and mini shopping spree from the Mr. and you get one happy birthday sundae. And sundaes are some of my favorite things. Does that paint the picture for you?

2. We are still trying to rent our house. It's amazing how time consuming/thought consuming that can be. Especially when you live 15ish hours away.

3. I am still looking for a job. I'm avoiding insurance still, and politely declined the glorified Cutco Knives sales position I was offered by a company masking itself as a marketing company. (this little fake out used by lots of companies is starting to make me crazy!) But this is what takes up the majority of my time.

4. We launched our sips blog and have been busy making drinks and blogging about them. And also doing research to make sure we make it as good as possible. (click our logo below to go check it out).

5. We spend lots of time with Kirstin, Adam, and the kiddos. Seriously, it's been fun (which we're taking full advantage of since these situations never go this way for people).

6. We joined a small group with our church, and are still trying to make friends.

So that's pretty much everything in a nutshell. Glad to be back though.

Peeping Stetson

While we're living with Kirstin and Adam, Stets stays outside most of the day except for bedtime. For most dogs, no big deal, but it's a bit rough sometimes for Mr. Social. (Don't start feeling badly for him though... he has PLENTY to do out there, and LOVES having lots of grass to lay in and lots of hiding places for his bones. And he occasionally enjoys some fresh produce from the garden--sneaky dog). But sometimes he finds where we are in the house and stands outside the window whining or just looking at us. It's not uncommon to look out the window well in the basement to see this lurker peering inside...

what a funny dog.

Denver Living

Last night Adam and I were given tickets to the Rockies vs Diamondbacks game. We had a great time, despite the fact that it rained the.entire.time. Like that Grove City constant mist-rain, some of you know what I'm talking about. But seriously, who couldn't enjoy a baseball game with a guy like this and nachos like these?? And it helps when there's a big rally at the bottom of the 8th that makes a losing game turn into one where you leave just before the last out because the likelihood of the other team coming back is so small.

We're definitely enjoying Denver, and their "Big League" sports:).

Cutest Shopping Partner EVER

So what happens when you're not working anymore? You get to take your nephew on little "special days" with you. Lucky Burke, this "special day" we had was him coming wedding shoe shopping with me. But man, what a trooper. We went to 5 stores: Ross, Famous Footwear, Payless, Target, and Nordstrom Rack! And he even said cute things like "look Trish, I think these are the shoes for you". Now imagine that said with a little voice of a 3 year old... melts your heart, right? I'll apologize for making him come shoe shopping with me when he's older... but for now, I'll take full advantage. Don't worry, in case you were starting to feel badly for him, we did get a treat from Target's cafe...a "bwue slushy". Love this guy.

Back to School Cool

As I mentioned in the last post, I get pretty siked around back to school, even when I don't have a reason to. BUT now I have a reason, his name is Adam, and tomorrow is his first day.

Today, he did his back to school shopping. I, of course, invited myself along. I also learned a couple of things...
1. Adam and I have very different taste in pens.
2. Pens have a size.
3. It's a good thing for our bank account that Adam is the one going back to school, not me.

Anyway, his bag is packed (his pens and pencils are in their alloted slots, thanks to me) and off he goes tomorrow at 6:45. If I'm lucky, I'll get a picture of him for you, standing by his car!

Resolutions

I have always felt like New Years Resolutions naturally show themselves for me around "back to school" time of year more so than on January 1. Pairing that with a change in almost everything in our life, I can't help but take a step back and examine things. "What things do I do well? What things can I improve on? What are realistic goals to set for myself? What things do I want to take time to do?"

Today at church, we sang a song that I thought really was right in line with the examining and evaluating. The words are pretty heavy, but the tune was a bit lighter. Anyway, I thought it was good enough to pass along. It's called Lead Us Back by Dustin Nimmo.

Falling down upon our knees,

Sharing now in common shame,

We have sought security,

Not the cross that bears Your name.

Fences guard our hearts and homes--

Comfort sings a siren tune.

We're a valley of dry bones;

Lead us back to life in You.

Lord we fall upon our knees,

We have shunned the weak and poor,

Worshipped beauty, courted kings

And all the things our gold affords,

Prayed for those we'd like to know--

Favor sings a siren tune.

We've become a talent show;

Lead us back to life in You.

You have caused the blind to see,

We have blinded him again,

With our man-made law and creeds--

Eager, ready to condemn.

Now, we plead before Your throne--

Power sings a siren tune.

We've been throwing heavy stones;

Lead us back to life in You.

We've become a talent show,

Lead us back to life in You.

We've been throwing heavy stones,

Lead us back to life in You.

This last week

(So something weird is going on with our computer with our pictures, but I figured it'd be better to post this than nothing... sorry).

So these are a couple pics of our last week. The first one makes me laugh. It's us, outside Cheyenne, WY... Adam isn't thrilled to be taking this pic. The second one is just so you get a little taste of what my drive was like. Pretty much for all 20 hours of it. My brother, Tom, when he was like 4, used to get really upset that we might be running out of land because living in West Chester, PA at the time, it just kept getting more and more built up. I sent him a picture of us driving through WY and assured him, plenty.of.open.land. Poor guy, probably will never live that one down.

Anyway, our week went something like this:

Last Wednesday, we realized there's no way we'd make it out of CDA on time, so we left a day later than planned...

5:30AM Thursday morning, we hit the road. Made it to Sheridan, WY, stayed the night, slept in a bit, and then headed out again. We made it to Denver around 7PM on Friday.

Saturday morning, we woke up early, went off to the Ludwig Family Reunion in Kremmling, CO. We had a great time, then headed home and got back Sunday super exhausted. Watched 2 movies, and some Jersey Shore and then headed to bed. Monday, went to Adam's school and got him set up.

Tuesday, I had an interview with Farmers Insurance and then we went to IKEA.

And since Tuesday is today, that should catch you all up to speed :)

Ludwig Family Vacation-Oregon Coast Edition

The moral of this story is that I need to start taking pictures with a real camera. Sorry for the blurriness (though in my defense, I think the salt air made the lens a bit foggy--that's possible, right?)

The crabbing beach

Burkey-man

The boys crabbing (which we had for dinner one night. Yes, even me).

Just the pretty (very cold) Pacific Ocean

Samples at the Tillamook Cheese Factory. Yum.

Uncle Adj and Sayla

A little outlet shopping with Keadryn.

Oh, did you ask if those were sunglasses that fold down 3 times to fit in small places? Yes, yes they are.

Us in Portland. Side-hugging. (we need tans).

We did lots of crabbing, Tillamook Cheese Factory, Rogue Brewery tour and lunch, birthdays, anniversaries, the aquarium, games, walks, kites, diet cokes, coconut iced coffees, candy, food and drink competitions, and shopping. We had a great time.

Now, it's back to reality, a very busy reality at that. 1 week of work left. Signing rental contracts for our house,selling more things, donating lots, seeing our friends and still hanging out with Adam's family, buying a trailer, and packing, packing, and more packing.

Lean Pockets get an A in packaging

True Confessions: I like Hot Pockets. Even worse, I'll settle for a Lean Pocket. I am not proud of this.

Yesterday I forgot my lunch so on my lunch break trip to Target, I snagged some Lean Pockets (actually the ones pictured above to be exact). I forgot how much I like these guys! Later, Liz and I had a little pow wow about how we enjoy these (sorry for outing you Liz). It's kind of embarrassing, so I told her I wouldn't share this openly unless directly asked "do you like Hot Pockets?".

Listen, I will say that I can appreciate Jim Gaffigan's take on the situation (hilarious actually). In fact, I also realize that most of America shares his sentiments. But not me. I love these little bread pockets of cheesy goodness.

But I digress. The real purpose of this blog, surprisingly, is not to share another quirk about myself--especially since I just told Liz yesterday I would only confess this at gunpoint. The purpose, is to give credit where credit is due.

Lets talk about Hot Pocket's packaging for a second. It has progressed so much since I was in middle school (probably the last time I remember eating them). Seriously, easiest-frozen-lunch ever. Here's why: remember how you used to put it into that special sleeve and microwave then put on a plate and the cheesy goodness oozed out everywhere... NO LONGER. Now, you still use that special sleeve, but afterwards, you can fold one end into the other, creating a little pouch. ANDDDD there's more. That little pouch has perferated edges so as you eat your treat, just tear away the pouch so it gets smaller as your treat gets smaller! GENIUS

In school we learned a lot about the importance of packaging from a marketing standpoint. And this tells me that the Hot Pocket brand is concerned about making things convenient for me--time effective and dish free. If Dr. Powell was grading them, I'm sure they'd get an A in packaging.

Kudos Hot Pockets. Job well done.

And incase you dont hear from me for a while, its because I'll be vacationing on the Oregon Coast. Go ahead, you can be jealous.

I think Sandra and I would be friends....

The Proposal was on TV tonight. I love that movie. This scene makes me laugh every time.

....I think Sandra and I would be friends in real life.

Our 12 Step Moving Program.

Step 1: Apply to school for engineering, and get accepted. check.
Step 2: Find a temporary home. check. Thanks Kirstin and Adam.
Step 3: Decide to sell or rent home. check. renting it is.
Step 4: Have a moving sale/sell almost all you own. check. We are currently living out of boxes (literally, I took moving boxes to create makeshift dressers) and sitting on what we haven't sold yet (a recliner, a desk chair, and an end table in between, possibly photos to come).
Step 5: Find renters and seal the deal. almost check. We just need to finalize the contract, have a signing party, and pray pray pray it's a good decision.
Step 6: Tell work you're leaving. check.
Step 7: Buy a trailer, load the trailer. pending.
Step 8: Use up all remaining PTO. check (on Saturday). We're rendezvousing with the rest of the Ludwig fam on the Oregon Coast.
Step 9: Pack. Pack. Pack. the start of a check. Still LOTS to pack and donate.
Step 10: Have a "See Ya Later" party so we can have all our friends in one place one more time(code for a convincing everyone we love here to come to Denver too party). pending.
Step 11: Caravan road trip to Denver. pending.
Step 12: Get settled, find a permanent place to live, FIND A JOB. all still pending.

we're getting there....

No more secrets...

Well blogging world, we have an announcement.....

We're moving to Denver!

In just under a month.

You have no idea how good it feels to get that off my chest:) Now I can tell you what's really been going on with us...

Ironman 2011

Remember I told you I'd blog about Ironman? Better late than never.....

One of my favorite things about Coeur d'Alene is Ironman. Every June, our little city of Coeur d'Alene hosts an Ironman Triathalon. (incase you didn't know, this race is a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and polished off with a marathon--- you know, NBD...) Gosh, every year I'm so amazed by it all. I think I even say the same lines "I can't imagine doing this", "it's crazy how much you have to train", "I can't imagine working out for like 8 hours straight (and that's the pros)"... etc., etc., etc.

Anyway, it's really incredible and inspiring, and each year we head down to be in total awe of them/be in total confusion that someone would pay $600 to do this to themselves. But, it's pretty cool.

Work made me miss my pool party...

Work perpetually interrupts my beach plans. Every week, Monday through Friday (except for my every other Wednesday half-day) I try to make plans to go to the beach, and then I remember "shoot, I have to work that day, I can't make it to my beach party, I'll have to reschedule". Anyone else have this problem?

Well this week, I was supposed to have my half day on Wednesday (today) and made actual legitimate plans for a pool party with some other sun lovers. Unfortunately my half-day every other Wednesday got switched around this week, which makes most other things in my life more convenient, except that I missed my pool party:(

To compensate for my loss, I went to the park for lunch (pictured below) instead of running my usual winter time errands which usually find me at Target. Actually this is a much more common occurrence now that it's summer time, Shelly and Sara can attest to that. Although, today I did not pack a tube top like I sometimes try to do to avoid any possibility of nasty tan lines...

Stetson's rough day...

Let me explain:

Sunday morning Adam and I woke up super early to get ready to go see the start of Ironman (more on that later). I let Stetson out while I got ready, as is our usual routine. I open the door moments before we leave to see him covered in a burnt red color. He got into some clay that the previous owners of the house had left behind the shed. Darn it! So after a bit, we washed it all off him. Only moments later we opened the door again to see him looking like this:

what a punk! We had a good laugh behind the door first, but then he got in trouble.

And then after another couple hours, we came home and his eye was super red and puffy (I'll spare you the details) and we ended up having to take him to the vet. 10 minutes and $70.00 later, we got some ointment and all was ok again.

Needless to say, Sunday was a rough day for him....and for us.

HP Marathon?

So what happens when your husband is away for another weekend, and the weather is still terr.i.bleeeee (meanin high 50s-low 60s and gray. gray. gray. rain. and more gray) ?? You decide to join the rest of society and watch Harry Potter. Since I've never seen the movies before, any of them, I decided it was a good weekend for this. Now, I will know why my nephew has a onesie that says "Future Gryffindor", or what the heck Keje and Jord are talking about when they say "Expelliarmus" and get into what I used to think looked like a Karate stance. I dont necessarily have to do it with them, but at least I won't be clueless.

I'm on the fourth movie, and when Adam comes home, we'll watch the rest of them since he hasn't seen beyond number four either. I mean at least now I know what all the hype is about, right?

a pat on my own back...

I like setting goals for myself, but I dont always achieve them. Like most people I'm sure, I get lazy, distracted, unmotived, blah, blah, blah...

but about 3 months ago I was fed up with my gym. There was never any parking, I often had to wait for a changing room (this is even including a bathroom stall), which was then usually followed by waiting for a machine (which usually translated to standing there wondering why someone who was leisurely walking on a treadmill needed a 5 minute cool down). Top that with a $40.00 per month fee because I obviously needed to have the Gold Membership, and it was becoming a recipe for a grumpy Tricia around 6:30 PM, 3-4 days a week.

So, I thought to myself "I should suck it up and learn to run".

Here's why:
1. you can do it anywhere, no gym necessary.
2. you only really need sneakers as equipment--though I'd argue I need music too, but fortunately I already had the capabilities for that.
3. running is a total body workout, and I'm a lazy exerciser. If I could run, then hopefully I wouldn't have to do any other kind of workout.
4. I'd save myself $40.00 per month, if I could do it outside.

A while back, Jordan posted on her old blog about Couch to 5k. I thought this was the perfect thing to teach me to run. I downloaded the free app on my phone, and away I went.

As of yesterday (finally! It def. took me more than the 9 weeks the program suggests. :\ ) I did it! Well, I ran for 30 minutes. Now I have to see if my 30 minutes are approximately 3 miles, but who cares. I ran for 30 minutes straight!!!
(I know that's not really a big deal to most people, but any one that knows me knows how HUGE this is for me because I HATE running. Every time it came up in Philadelphia--which was surprisingly often--a new family member would say "seriously? you're running??? you hate running...". I think this made Adam realize how serious I was when I said I hated running).

I still dislike running. that will probably never change. BUT having it be free, and the only workout where you can do it really 3 times a week for 30 minutes and still feel good about yourself, are enough to make it worth it.

I'm in love...

...with the fact that starbucks finally got coconut syrup. yu-um.

one of my favorite scenes.

I know you can barely see him, but this is what see almost every day when I pull up to our house. It's one of my favorite scenes.

Spring Cleaning

This weekend was gorgeous. *sigh* . Just the weather North Idaho has been craving: warm, cloudless, perfect. It felt like the perfect time for some "Spring cleaning". I seriously spent most all of Saturday cleaning. (Although you already can't tell).

But part of my "spring cleaning" involved making us go through all of our clothes and get rid of what we don't wear--and by all I mean down to our underwear and socks.Poor Adam. I usually take several sorting sessions to do this, so it's a constant event in my life, but my dear husband is a bit more lax about it. So on Saturday when I had the chance to nail him down, I definitely took advantage.But he was a good sport, and we have at least one black trash bag full of his clothes heading to the second hand store in hopes of making a few extra bucks.

But it's worth mentioning the difficulty he had when we stumbled across his old Subway polo. The conversation went something like this:

Me: "how about this subway polo"

Adam: [long pause]..... "I guess you can give it away.... [more pausing]...but, it even says sandwich artist on it...I don't even think they make those anymore..."

as a compromise, I suggested I take his picture in it and then send it onto it's next new journey. (He was pretty pumped that he was conveniently wearing black shorts, which I guess made it his actual uniform. )

Isn't he the cutest sandwich artist? Subway really lost a gem the day this guy left.

...it's funny the things that we hang on to sometimes. and I'm totally guilty of it too.

Legacy

I'm finally getting around to writing about our trip to Philadelphia. In a nutshell, it was fantastic. While we didn't quite get to see everyone we would have wanted (which is always the case), we got to spend some really great time with people that mean the world to us, friends and family alike.

Adam headed up to Canada to go fishing with "the guys". It's a trip that has been going on for over 20 years with a lot of the boys in my family. Each year there are a few "competitors" added, and a few that can't make it, but the tradition continues nonetheless.

I however, headed to the shore to meet up with "the girls". All of the girls on my dad's side of the family met up at the shore for a girls weekend. I can't begin to tell you how fun it is to go to a place that is like your home away from home, and share the time with other people who love it the way you do. After the shore trip, I got to spend some QT with my bff and other HS bffs, and topped it off when Adam got home by having lunch with my grandparents, and dinner with my brother, his wife, and their sweet dog Samson. whew!

Like I said, great (and busy) trip.

But after I got home, I started thinking a lot about traditions, legacy, and heritage. Our family thrives on traditions. (Hence the 20 year fishing trip to the same lodge in Canada, and the start of an annual Palmer girls weekend in OCNJ a place that has been visited by our family for years and years). We have a family heritage that has been founded on loving each other and loving the Lord. AND all of this comes from the legacies that were left from my great grandparents, and are still being created by my sweet grandparents. It's such a treasure to have a family history so grounded in Christ.

A treasure that I am so thankful for!

I'm thankful for grandparents who love each of us the same.

who invested in each of our lives.

for aunts and uncles who live out their faith in front of us.

for parents who are always supportive.

for brothers who tell me their proud of me.

for my husbands leadership.

for my husband's family who cherishes the same things.

that our kids will one day be born into this gift too.

The 2nd Annual Palmer Girls OCNJ trip

Nan and her girls

The Palmers: Bob, Jim, Karen, Allen, Jim and Nancy

Those sweet grandparents I mentioned above, at their 60th Anniversary party.

It just all makes me wonder what kind of Legacy I'm creating...

Lucky Girl

So my husband just got back on Tuesday from being out of town for 2 weeks! It's amazing how different 2 weeks alone as a girlfriend is from 2 weeks alone as a wife. Living a married couple's life as a single is weird. When I was just a girlfriend, I lived with friends/family and had a bunch of other single friends always ready to do something. Now as a wife, we have a dog, and mostly married friends who are harder to hang out with when your other half isn't there. Anyway... we made it through (we being Stetson and me) and did manage to have some fun in the process. But the 2 weeks alone wasn't the lucky part.

I'm sure mom's understand this feeling much more than I even do (so Carla you'll like this too), but nothing makes you prouder/more thankful then getting several people making special points to send you messages telling you how great it was to spend time with your husband. I mean I had 3 separate people tell me this! And I get to hang out with him all the time! So that my friends, is what makes me so lucky:).See, doesn't he just scream "I'm a good time!" ?

Lists.

Have I talked about my love of list making on here yet? Well, doesn't matter cause I'm going to anyway...

I love lists. I make them all the time. My purse if full of little post it notes. Things to do at lunch, things to buy at the store, things I want to look up online, blog topics, baby names I like, things to tell Adam later (his personal favorite....). I love them! Posted above you'll see the list I made of things I want to do this weekend. As you can see, I'll be quite a busy girl.

Why do I love list making? Oh, thought you might ask that. Let me tell you in a list:

1. it keeps my mind from running in circles trying to remember everything I want to remember (most of which is totally unimportant). In fact, most of the time, I don't even look at it later because writing it down already helps me remember.

2. it is the closest I can come to actually doing the things on the list. I'm impatient. When I think of something I want to do/buy/say (sadly this is a category), but I can't do it immediately, I write it down. It's as if I am saying to myself: "don't worry self, you've promised to do it later. It'll happen, cause it's on your list".

Anyone else compulsively making lists?

Props to my 17 year old self...

I was in middle school when I started wearing make-up. Unless you count the roll on glitter claire's sold that smelled like CK1 and you rolled onto your eyelids, cheeks, and even lips, I'd actually pinpoint 7th and 8th grade as when I really had my "coming out". If you saw me walking down the hall, I would have looked something like:

+

(No seriously.... I remember rockin gold lipstick-not even gloss-like it was no one's business). And on some days, though not pictured, I could be seen wearing a burnt deep brown color. Not sure what's better/worse. Of course, it didn't help that my best friend walking next to me looked something like this:

+

***these are not actual photos and were chosen just as an illustration of color***

Get the picture? Bad. Bad. Bad.

Anyone else rock the dark lips or white eyeliner with silver shadow? Tell us we're not alone.

Looking back now, Liz and I make quite a bit of fun of ourselves. We realize now it was terrrrible judgement on our part. But we were only 13-14 year olds, you'd think someone would have said something, right? Wrong. In fact, one time I asked my dad "why did you let me go out like that??" He said "I knew you'd figure it out". The chuckle that followed also added "and it was hilarious..."

Anyway... All this to say that recently I purchased a lip gloss that I swore by when I was 17--seriously the only kind I bought for a while. It was definitely a risk, considering my past cosmetic judgement calls, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that my skills had vastly improved between 13 and 17. In fact, the 17 year old pick, still works for the 25 version of me.

Kudos to you, Tricia at 17!

Liz, do you have pictures of us back then? they'd be the perfect addition here..

Easter in Seattle

You might want to sit down and put your feet up... this is kind of a long blog with lots of pictures.

This year for Easter we used our trial time share (a trial time share that totally made us into suckers, but that's for another post) and decided to go to Seattle for a long weekend. Here's what we did:

This was our car ride: long. gross feeling. traffic filled. and buggy.

Unfortunately this picture ended up being mostly of the sun and the top of this lovely red 4 door sedan. But in the middle of the picture, that little red brick building (not so little in real life), that was our hotel. The Camlin. It was right down town, we walked everywhere, it was perfect.

Our friends Boxy and Hannah took us on a day trip to Deception Pass and Fort Casey (not pictured). It was beautiful. And apparently featured in several car commercials lately?

It helps to have friends Dad's who are famous. Kate's Dad, Joel Skinner, is the bench coach for the A's and got us some sweet seats for the Mariners vs. Oakland game. The perfect night for a baseball game in Seattle. (Mariners got crushed incase you wondered).

Probably the most "touristy" thing we did--a recommendation from my Dad. He said he went on this Underground tour when he was in Seattle years ago. He said we HAD to go. We did. It was cool. Basically you go under the sidewalks and see where the city first was--before the big fire in 1889 and it was all rebuilt above sea level (hence all the super steep hills--which my butt now thanks you for). Crazy to see old store fronts, etc.

Easter Morning we went to Mars Hill Church. Except it wasn't at Mars Hill Church, but at the Seahawks Stadium. 17,000 people. Insane.

Adam had 2 things on his "must do in Seattle" list:

1. Get Seafood.

As you can see he did. And all that seafood dumped on our table...was gone by the end of our meal. Yup. GONE.

2. Good Beer
We wanted to go to Red Hook, but didn't have enough time to make the trip. But we went to the Elysian Brewery and I'm pretty sure by the end Adam had tried every beer. Dont worry though, most of them were in sample sizes... and we were there for about 4 hours...so no one was making fools of themselves.

Needless to say we had a great trip. And there was a certain little Stetson-babe who was quite excited to welcome us home. (sorry for the darkness of the photo).