Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Exploring Fort Warden
Spent Saturday at Fort Warden with friends. Great trip, lovely sunshine (thank you, thank you, thank you) and beautiful location to hang out and play!
Road trippin' it on the 101, lovely views:
This was Addy from the moment she hit the beach!
And here is Little 15 minutes after we left. It was so cute.
Friday, June 11, 2010
Exploring
Last weekend we were up in Seattle for Scott's work. I got Saturday to hang out on my own. Have I mentioned how much I love to wander all alone sometimes. I guess its probably part of being an only child or something, but I love alone time.
So, instead of rushing right out for shopping (don't worry I did get to the shopping thing) I wandered and explored as part of my explore Washington campaign.
And then the shopping started. This is one of my favorite stores ever. I love when I get to visit.
Saturday night before dinner we had a drink at the bar. Coconut Mojito. Yum.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Gas is Good
This weekend at the grocery store I saw a bag of the big campfire marshmallows. I could not resist them. I really couldn't. So, I brought them home with some graham crackers and chocolate. Tonight we threw out campfire tradition, turned on our gas range and roasted marshmallows inside. The smores were better then I expected indoors.
Gas is good for something! :)
Wednesday, June 09, 2010
Every other summer becomes chaotic as I jump into another round of bargaining at work. I can safely say that this year will be no exception and actually due to many other factors, it will probably be one of the craziest ever! :)
Here is how today went:
Up early to get Addy up a little early so I can help her wake up, get dressed and see her before I leave. Out the door to carpool with my girl Courtney by 7:20am. Starbucks on the run. Bargaining all day long. During breaks and caucuses on the phone and e-mail working proposals, issues, etc. Wrap at 6:00. Home to let dogs out, while cleaning up e-mail. Back in the car to go get Addy from parents house, making work calls on the way. Get home at 8:00pm realize I gotta go back in to work. Put Addy to bed and head back out. Home for the night at 9:30pm.
Needless to say sometimes I am tired. But I am so lucky to love what I do, work with great people and get exciting opportunities to challenge myself.
To add icing on the cake this year I was one of the winners of the Governor's Leadership Award. I still can't believe it. I was so incredibly excited and nervous!! I've never won anything like this before . . . me? That is crazy!?!
Last Friday Scott and I got to go to the Governor's Mansion with the Secretary of the Department for a luncheon. I was soooooooo nervous. At one point I actually told someone that I wanted to get hit by a car, not enough to be seriously injured, but just injured enough to get out of going. Seemed like a plausible excuse. :)
Of course once I got there I had fun. We had a wonderful lunch, met the Governor and got pictures in the fancy mansion. I even knew a couple of the other honorees and their families. All of our executives were there and Paula was so gracious in helping me to feel comfortable.
I was totally intimidated. They took a ton of pictures . . . yuck. I should get to see them at some point, cringe. There was actually a schedule we were given ahead of time reagrding all the different pictures. And when the Governor arrived it was very official with a countdown for her arrival. We could here the staff announcing to one another "and the Governor will arrive in 4 minutes, in 3 minutes, etc." Needless to say this is very different from my every day life. :)
Scott and I got a picture in the mansion dining room:
Department of Transportation Secretary, Paula Hammond and I (it was so nice that she took time from her busy schedule to come and spend time with us):
We tried to do an artful arrangement (the tea cup has the state seal on it, we ate off china that all had the seal on it!):
Can you see the lovely red and yellow velvety rose? So beautiful! And here is my beautifully wrapped package. I didn't want to open it. I have to remember this simple wrapping that looks so fancy for a gift in the future. ( I would give anything to be able to tie a bow that nice.)
I can't say enough about the impressive award winners we met at the lunch. They've kept us safe by creating new ways of capturing drunk drivers, saved millions of dollars with innovations, and even protected our coast from oil spills with heavy regulations and monitoring. It was really humbling to see all the amazing state employees out there working so hard for the citizens of Washington. And I can now say that during my explore Washington year, I even got to explore the Governor's mansion. :)
Here is how today went:
Up early to get Addy up a little early so I can help her wake up, get dressed and see her before I leave. Out the door to carpool with my girl Courtney by 7:20am. Starbucks on the run. Bargaining all day long. During breaks and caucuses on the phone and e-mail working proposals, issues, etc. Wrap at 6:00. Home to let dogs out, while cleaning up e-mail. Back in the car to go get Addy from parents house, making work calls on the way. Get home at 8:00pm realize I gotta go back in to work. Put Addy to bed and head back out. Home for the night at 9:30pm.
Needless to say sometimes I am tired. But I am so lucky to love what I do, work with great people and get exciting opportunities to challenge myself.
To add icing on the cake this year I was one of the winners of the Governor's Leadership Award. I still can't believe it. I was so incredibly excited and nervous!! I've never won anything like this before . . . me? That is crazy!?!
Last Friday Scott and I got to go to the Governor's Mansion with the Secretary of the Department for a luncheon. I was soooooooo nervous. At one point I actually told someone that I wanted to get hit by a car, not enough to be seriously injured, but just injured enough to get out of going. Seemed like a plausible excuse. :)
Of course once I got there I had fun. We had a wonderful lunch, met the Governor and got pictures in the fancy mansion. I even knew a couple of the other honorees and their families. All of our executives were there and Paula was so gracious in helping me to feel comfortable.
I was totally intimidated. They took a ton of pictures . . . yuck. I should get to see them at some point, cringe. There was actually a schedule we were given ahead of time reagrding all the different pictures. And when the Governor arrived it was very official with a countdown for her arrival. We could here the staff announcing to one another "and the Governor will arrive in 4 minutes, in 3 minutes, etc." Needless to say this is very different from my every day life. :)
Scott and I got a picture in the mansion dining room:
Department of Transportation Secretary, Paula Hammond and I (it was so nice that she took time from her busy schedule to come and spend time with us):
We tried to do an artful arrangement (the tea cup has the state seal on it, we ate off china that all had the seal on it!):
Can you see the lovely red and yellow velvety rose? So beautiful! And here is my beautifully wrapped package. I didn't want to open it. I have to remember this simple wrapping that looks so fancy for a gift in the future. ( I would give anything to be able to tie a bow that nice.)
I can't say enough about the impressive award winners we met at the lunch. They've kept us safe by creating new ways of capturing drunk drivers, saved millions of dollars with innovations, and even protected our coast from oil spills with heavy regulations and monitoring. It was really humbling to see all the amazing state employees out there working so hard for the citizens of Washington. And I can now say that during my explore Washington year, I even got to explore the Governor's mansion. :)
Sunday, June 06, 2010
More Addy Art
The skillful use of scissors and tape. It speaks to you. The stickers add a certain depth and mystery to the piece. The pink lines are so raw, exposed. As if the artist is speaking right to you.
Art by Addy.
She is so random
I wouldn't be a true fan if I didn't blog about it once in a while right? And I know what you are thinking: Twilight, SATC, So You Think You Can Dance . . . which one am I actually going to blog about now?
Nope. As most of you know I am nothing if not loyal.
(And don't laugh at this photo, I had to take it like ten times to get a decent enough picture that you could kind of see my magazine.)
Yup. Its the 100 Greatest Characters in my EW magazine. Before I go any further - I really appreciate EW. I don't know all the editors but I want to be friends because they do a good job - 99% of the time I agree with them. Once in a while (like Homer Simpson being the #1 Greatest Character) they are terribly wrong. But most of the time they are oh so right.
Can you see the upper left corner - do you know who that is? That is the #2 Greatest Character - Buffy Summers.
A couple days ago I was talking about Buffy like I do (great for quotes) and someone asked me, " what is with you and Buffy the Vampire Slayer?" . I promised I would explain it at some point.
Sigh. I am not sure I can explain it fully. It was a coming of age show when I was coming of age and regardless of the vampires, demons, etc. Buffy was a hero for the everyperson. A misfit kickass girl that didn't ask to be a hero - but did her best. Like all of us, everyday. She wasn't popular, rich, or stylish. She struggled with her place in the world, like we all do. She wanted to be normal. She wanted to be free. She did what was asked of her. She failed once in a while. She kicked some butt. She had friends that were loyal forever and in their way made her better and she did the same for them. She felt pain and survived. She met the fight. Sometimes she ran. She was relatable in even the most silly story line moments.
So, that is my story . . . the story of my favorite character. Congratulations Buffy. And thank you.
Who is your favorite character?
Nope. As most of you know I am nothing if not loyal.
(And don't laugh at this photo, I had to take it like ten times to get a decent enough picture that you could kind of see my magazine.)
Yup. Its the 100 Greatest Characters in my EW magazine. Before I go any further - I really appreciate EW. I don't know all the editors but I want to be friends because they do a good job - 99% of the time I agree with them. Once in a while (like Homer Simpson being the #1 Greatest Character) they are terribly wrong. But most of the time they are oh so right.
Can you see the upper left corner - do you know who that is? That is the #2 Greatest Character - Buffy Summers.
A couple days ago I was talking about Buffy like I do (great for quotes) and someone asked me, " what is with you and Buffy the Vampire Slayer?" . I promised I would explain it at some point.
Sigh. I am not sure I can explain it fully. It was a coming of age show when I was coming of age and regardless of the vampires, demons, etc. Buffy was a hero for the everyperson. A misfit kickass girl that didn't ask to be a hero - but did her best. Like all of us, everyday. She wasn't popular, rich, or stylish. She struggled with her place in the world, like we all do. She wanted to be normal. She wanted to be free. She did what was asked of her. She failed once in a while. She kicked some butt. She had friends that were loyal forever and in their way made her better and she did the same for them. She felt pain and survived. She met the fight. Sometimes she ran. She was relatable in even the most silly story line moments.
So, that is my story . . . the story of my favorite character. Congratulations Buffy. And thank you.
Who is your favorite character?
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