Obsession

Brandon and I have a new obsession. We are addicted to the game Twirl on Facebook. We play this game almost every day together. The game is simple. They give you six letters and you need to create three, four, five, and six letter words out of those letters. To qualify for the next round you must get the six letter word before the two minute timer runs out. It doesn't sound like much but it is so addicting! If you want to give Twirl a whirl you can go to either mine or Brandon's facebook page. If you look at our mini feed you will see that we probably played Twirl today. Just click on the link and have fun. But watch out...it's addicting!

General Conference

I've been meaning to make this post for over a week now. This was my first General Conference away from Utah and it was a little different than most. In my family, General Conference is like another holiday...almost as big as Christmas or Thanksgiving. Our tradition is to have a huge breakfast of crepes, breakfast casserole, fruit, and juice....ALL YOU CAN EAT (and believe me we all eat a little too much)!! We eat as we watch Music and the Spoken Word and then watch conference all together as a family. This year Brandon and I were in Seattle but of course we tried to keep the traditional alive. I made crepes and we watched Conference with just the two of us. Thankfully we were able to see it from home and did not have to go to a Stake Center. It wasn't the same without everyone there but I absolutely loved Conference. I was able to listen to the talks instead of reading them later (kids can be very distracting on conference day.) My favorite talk was Elder Wirthlin's--his are always my favorite. I love hearing all of the apostles and our prophet speak. They always seem to know exactly what I need to hear or think about. Here is a link to the conference talks if you missed any of it.

Also a side note from my previous post about the electric can open. I fixed it...well sort of. It wasn't really broken. The day after I posted I tried to use the toaster and it wasn't working either. The electric can opener and toaster are plugged into the same outlet. I just pushed the reset button and voila they both worked. Silly me!!!

A good thing to have...just in case

Tuesday night I was making dinner for Brandon. I was even testing out a new recipe for spaghetti. In this recipe there are a lot of canned goods--stewed tomatoes, tomatoe sauce, etc. We got an awesome electric can opener for our wedding in June and have been using it without any problems ever since. I was using the can opener and successfully opened everything I needed except for one important ingredient. Before I could open the 2 cans of tomate sauce our electric can opener broke. I don't know what happened. I thought I was using the can opener correctly but apparently not because when I placed the can under the cutter nothing happened. At first I thought I didn't have it in the right place because you know how picky they are and how the can has to be exactly in the right spot to work. But nothing happened, it wouldn't even make a sound like it was trying to open it. Brandon, my own personal in house fix it guy, even tried to get it operational but couldn't. Here's where the important lesson comes in: Always have a manual can opener as a backup just in case your electric one brakes. I know, I know! We really should have one. What would we do if there was an emergency and had to live off our 'food storage.' But we just haven't gotten around to buying one yet. So Brandon carefully stabbed the cans with a pocket knife and I spent some time trying to shake out all the contents from a tiny puncture site. The spaghetti turned out great and it is so delicious. (Thanks Lindsey) But this little incident just goes to show you that everyone needs a manual can opener hidden somewhere in their kitchen drawers...just in case.

A Two Man Tent

We finally went camping! Brandon and I have been talking about going camping ever since we got married but there always seemed to be some excuse: I am working this weekend, or we are going up to Salt Lake that weekend, or we better do that before we move and this is the weekend to do it. But we finally did it and it was a blast. We went to Twin Harbor State Park along the coast. When we arrived at the park we went straight to the beaches. We walked along the beautiful sand beach for miles and became professional beachcombers. I think we collected over 2 dozen whole sanddollars.

The best part of the trip was our tent. As you can imagine we do not have a lot of camping gear but believe me if Brandon has anything to say about it we will be collecting camping stuff over our entire life. We did have one vital piece of equipment: a two man tent. Brandon bought this tent for a boys only campout he went on with all his guy friends the summer before we got married. They called it Man-richment or Man Games 2007. Now you can only imagine the exciting activities they had planned to prove their manhood: fishing, shooting guns, playing King of the Raft in the freezing cold lake, 4-wheeling, throwing large logs, seeing who could lift the heaviest rock above their head...all of which they did with their shirts off to be more manly. I wish I could have been a fly on the wall during that campout; I think I would understand boys a lot better. The two of us barely fit inside this tent. But it was a cold misty night by the water and we were grateful for our little home away from home.

Whidbey Island

While we were still living the good life of unemployement, Brandon and I took a day trip up to Whidbey Island. I guess Whidbey Island is the largest island in the continental US (50 miles in length). The early explorers thought it was another peninsula in the Sound which is why it is called Deception Pass. The only way to drive onto the island is over one bridge otherwise you take a ferry. We spent the day hiking around Deception Pass State Park and ate lunch along the beach.

We then drove down to Fort Casey to explore and watched the sunset on the beach. It was gorgeous! I have fallen in love with the sunsets here. Brandon always would tell me how Washington sunsets couldn't be beat. I think he might be right.

The Replacement of Little Red

This was a difficult night for me; as evidenced by the frown on my face. The car pictured here was my first car. I purchased "Little Red" after being without wheels for a semester after my mission. I decided that buying a car would help my dating life and just make life a little easier. This hot, little Corolla was quite the chick magnet. Karen couldn't resist the car but shortly after getting married she (we) decided that we should replace Little Red. Karen told me that she wants me driving a safer car to work in Seattle but I really think she just wanted me to drive something a little less flashy.
In moving to Redmond we left Little Red with my cousin Chris in hopes that we would find a good car prior to starting work. Shortly after moving here I received a call from Chris letting me know that Little Red's clutch had gone out. I knew it was going but didn't know how close it was to going out. (Sorry about the dead car Chris.) Karen is very glad now that we decided not to bring Little Red up here. However, we are not sure exactly what to do with the car now. We are trying to sell it at a really good price if anyone is interested in an '89 Corolla.

We found a car! After many days of looking at cars and many test drives we found a car that will work at a decent price. I am currently in the process of naming the car. I will unveil the name sometime in the future. Our new car is a 2002 Acura 3.2 TL-S. Karen felt like this would be the perfect car to provide a safe commute and reduce the chick magnet appeal that Little Red previously provided. We have owned the car for almost two weeks now and we are really enjoying it. Thanks for the new car Karen!

Our New Life

We made it safely to Washington and are finally starting to get settled! Here is what we have been up to since we left Provo:

August 13th was my last day at work in Provo. I was fine all day but when I walked off the floor I started to cry. I am really going to miss all the people I met and experiences I had. It was the perfect job for me right at that point in my life and the best place to work in all Provo. Thanks to all my CPCU friends who have made the last 2 years so much fun! The next several days were spent packing, cleaning, and moving everything. Tuesday morning we started the 2 day/900 mile drive to Redmond Washington; Brandon in a 16 foot Budge truck and me in my little Mazda 3 following behind. Our first stop was Idaho Falls to meet up with Tyler, Chelsie, and Debby. We had lunch and met little Hadley Jane for the first time. Debby was so nice to drive my car up to Spokane while I rode in the truck with Brandon. That night Brandon got really sick with a sore throat but we were able to get up the next morning and drive both the truck and car over to Redmond to check into our apartment and make sure everything was alright. We are so grateful for the help from Jim and Debby, Rich and Debbie, and Tommy in moving all of our stuff up 3 flights of stairs in the pouring rain. THANK YOU--we couldn't have done it without you!!

The next several weeks were full of one of my least favorite activities--shopping. The only furniture we brought with us was the bedroom set we found a great deal on back in Utah. There was no place to sit down in our apartment except two old camp chairs Brandon and I have had since before we started dating. So over the first week we were able furnish our entire apartment. To be honest I was a little worried about finding furniture that both of us would like and agree on but to my surprise we always feel in love with the same things. I am quite impressed/surprised with Brandon's homemaking skills...he has a good eye for home decor and is even talking about finding draperies for our windows (I honestly didn't even think of that). Oh how I love my husband and the new things I learn about him everyday! Jim and Debby were so helpful that first week. I think Debby washed every dish we owned by hand and helped organize the kitchen. Thank you guys!

Our couch (Brandon's favorite purchase because now he as a place to sit to watch Sports Center. It is microfiber and super comfy.) and our Coffee table/ottomanChina cabinet (my favorite purchase!)Kitchen table and chairs (It is counter high and has a leaf that will expand the table to a square to sit 8 people)

We bought our couch at Macy's on sale. It was actually one we saw in Utah that we liked but we were unsure whether or not it would fit. So to be on the safe side we waited until we were here to make some measurements. Finding a kitchen table was our biggest challenge. Everywhere we looked tables cost over $2000 and we didn't even like them. One morning we were on our way to take the moving truck back when we got off the freeway and saw one of those dancing billboard people on the side of the road advertising a retirement sale at a furniture store around the corner. We decided it wouldn't hurt to go look around before we took the truck back. We walked into the store, saw the table and chairs, china cabinet, and ottoman and within 10 minutes had paid and were headed to their warehouse to pick everything up. Thank goodness we didn't take the truck back! That afternoon we had all our new furniture in our house. It is so nice to have our own stuff and now I can say that I am grateful for those crazy dancing billboard people on the side of the road.

This is the view from our balcony. We live right next door to the Genie Lift Factory and there are a million semi trucks that go by every day...it gets a little noisy. On really clear days we can see Mt Baker.

With being a little more settled we decided to have fun and see the sites. Our friend Nate was in town for a job interview so we were able to go around to the sites with him. One night we went and saw the Freemont Troll. This is a large statue of an ugly 'thing' under the Freemont Bridge. I guess it is pretty famous...but I have never heard of it before. We then went and saw the downtown Seattle skyline from a park. It really is a beautiful city and I love how it is right on the water.

One morning we went to Pike's market downtown. This was the day before the big BYU vs. U of Washington game so the entire market was swarming with cougar fans. It is amazing how we stand out like a sore thumb wherever we go. We even ran into President Samuleson a couple times. Pike's market is so much fun to walk around. It definitely smells like fish everywhere you turn. We saw the famous fish throwers and I was able to have my first taste of the fresh seafood at a market grill. It was the best clam chowder I have ever tasted. After wandering around the market for some time we then went down to Waterfront park and walked watched the boats in the Sound. Brandon even pointed out his office building. See if you can guess which one it is in this picture.

That evening we went to the Puyallup Fair with Brandon's parents. They were over in Olympia for some business meetings and were planning on going to the BYU game with us the next day. I think I have only been to the Utah State Fair once in my life and it was to look at some art work my sister Suzy had on display. On the long slow drive down to Puyallup I asked Brandon what people do at fairs. He said you walk around the vendor booths, eat food, and look at animals. And that is exactly what we did for the entire evening. After that discription I surprisingly had a lot of fun.
This is the only picture I took that the Fair. We look pretty good huh?

Saturday was the BYU football game. The kickoff was at 12 noon so we left our apartment around 10:30 thinking we would have plenty of time to get to there, park, find our seats and maybe even meet up with a few friends from Provo who were at the game. Boy were we wrong...the 520 turned out to be a parking lot and we didn't park the car until kickoff. After our 2 mile trek from our car, we finally got into the stadium half way through the first quarter. It was a close game but the Cougars came out on top with an amazing play to block the extra point in the final seconds to win the game by 1 point. Walking to our car we got some lip from the Husky fans. I just keep thinking, "We definitely aren't in Utah anymore!" There was so much swearing and drinking and comments about our church being made I was a little surprised.

One night we drove up to see the Snoqualmie Falls. (Sorry no pictures...they just wouldn't turn out in the dark!) They are a 300 foot waterfall just a few miles away from our house. There are a couple hikes around the falls that we will have to go back and try out sometime soon. We then headed off on our most random adventure yet. Whenever we drive to and from Spokane to our apartment we drive the back roads through North Bend, Fall City, and Snoqualmie. Along the road there is a giant log under a pavillion. We have been so curious as to what it is and why it is so important that they built a little enclosing around it. It turns out that it is not important at all. It is just a giant log about 10 feet in diameter that everyone carves their names on. Even though it has no signifiance we took our pictures by it and can now tell all our friends and family that we have been to the giant log in Snoqualmie!
The weather has continued to be absolutely beautiful this week so we went to Safeco Stadium and watched a Mariners game. We bought tickets from some guy off the street for really cheap. Our seats were amazing right behind home plate. Honestly baseball is a little boring for me but I absolutely loved the atmosphere inside the stadium. I can't believe how many people were at the game on a Wednesday afternoon....shouldn't they all be at work somewhere? The Mariners beat the Rangers 8-7. After the game we went for a walk to Pioneer Park.
We have also been able to go the Seattle Temple in Bellevue a couple times. They are doing some construction work on the Angel Moroni which is why there is that beautiful scaffolding all around the spire.

Other big news is that I am official a Washingtonian (Brandon says that is what they call themselves). I now have a Washington state drivers license and Washington plates for my car. Crazy! But I think I will still claim being a Utahn...that's some much easier to say than Washingtonian.
Other big new is that we bought a car yesterday. It is an Acura 3.2 TL-S and Brandon loves it. I told him he will have to make a post about it.

So that is pretty much what we have been up to since we left Utah. Brandon doesn't start his job until October 1st and I don't go back until Sept 22nd. I'm sure we will have lots more adventures to report on before we settle down and get back to our normal boring working lives.