Stir-fried Strawberry

"I hope your heart won't have to hurt anymore, because it's really not that sad from here."

2009-01-20T07:29:00.000-08:00

-Memory Vague

Yesterday was yet another successful day off. Charlie, Brandi, Dillon and I hiked out to Blacksand Basin. It was almost 40 degrees outside which felt wayyyy too warm. We were all sweating like crazy, to the point where Charlie and Dillon finally just took their shirts off. Other than the uncomfortable heat, it was a very nice day to be outside.

"If you were a storm, this is how you would feel."

2009-01-18T17:50:00.000-08:00

-Girlyman

Brandi and I had the same day off today, so we decided to walk out to the Geyser Basin. Once we got out there, it was so nice that we decided to walk all the way to Biscuit Basin. The way back was pretty tough, seeing as how we couldn't find the trail. But we made it! Yay for us.

"I felt like crying to your half-asleep heart, no reason really, sometimes I just fall apart."

2009-01-15T18:36:00.000-08:00

-Catie Curtis

On my last day off, my friend Dillon had the day off as well. We were both in the mood to get out and see the park, so we went on the 8 hour Canyon Tour. It was very cold, especially at the end of the day when we were hit by a storm. But it was absolutely beautiful. It's amazing how different this park is in the winter compared to the summer. It's a whole different world.

Here is a video that I made of the pretty day that we had. Enjoy!

"She has decided to pretend to fall asleep. Not because she is tired. Because she needs to think."

2009-01-04T14:51:00.000-08:00

I had today off and I decided to go for a walk around the Geyser Basin. It was soooo pretty. I can't wait for my next day off.

I started out at Old Faithful and walked along the boardwalk.

I had never seen Castle Geyser erupt before, but I got to see it today! It was beyond amazing. At one point there was so much steam around me that I couldn't even see where I was.

After the eruption was over, I walked for another hour. I wanted to stay out way longer, but my face was starting to freeze. Shucks.

"Say there is no truth. Say there are only scraps that we feebly try to sew together."

2008-10-10T12:19:00.000-07:00

-Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood.

Winter in Yellowstone has officially begun.

"Endings are my weakness and I hate them and mistrust anybody who knows when they occur."

2008-06-14T07:57:00.000-07:00

-A Complicated Kindness

Incase I haven't made this clear, the weather here at Yellowstone is seriously bipolar. You can wake up to clear blue skies, and two hours later it might be pouring down rain. And two hours later it might be snowing. So whenever there is a clear sky that looks like it might stick around for more than two minutes, I always try to take advantage of it. Last night I went out and walked on some of the trails around Old Faithful. When I got out there, there was a big pack of bison all headed towards Old Faithful. They literally surrounded it, and I got out my camera thinking that it was as perfect as a photo opportunity can get. Then, right as I was about to take a picture, Old Faithful went off! The bison continued to calmly snack on the grass, and I once again was overwhelmed with how happy I am to be here.

"We like companionship, but we can't stand to be around people for very long. So we go get ourselves lost, come back for awhile, then get out again."

2008-06-08T07:04:00.001-07:00

-John Krakauer

Max, Terry and I had the same day off last week, so we decided to do something fun. Employees can go on any of the tours for free as long as there is room available. We showed up for the Firehole Basin Tour and there were exactly 3 seats left. Yay! By the end of the tour it was very, very, very cold, but we didn't mind. Well, maybe I minded a little bit when I couldn't really feel my hands anymore, but I guess that's what I get for leaving my gloves in my room. Lesson learned!

The tour bus-car thing had a roof that you could take off, which was really cool because then we could take pictures as we were moving. We eventually had to put the top on after awhile because it started to rain, but for the first hour we got to ride around with no roof.

We stopped at a rest area so people could use the restroom. Max and I took the opportunity to run down to a nearby clearing and it was sooooo pretty. I would've been happy staying there all day, but unfortunately we only had ten minutes to wander around. Oh well.

We spent the rest of the tour looking at various geysers and waterfalls. You know, the usual stuff you see when you're living on a volcano.

"I feel myself bracing, feel my need to gather everything up so I can finally lay it down."

2008-05-31T17:26:00.000-07:00

-The Mermaid Chair

Vicki and I both had the day off today. We left our room at 7 AM to go have breakfast at the Inn, and then we spent 3 hours walking around the park. Today was one of the most beautiful days that I have seen since I have been here, and it was a great day to take pictures. Enjoy!

And last but not least, look! This rock was sticking its tongue out at me! Amazing!

"I know you'll be calling me soon, and if I don't answer I'm calling the moon."

2008-05-21T06:06:00.000-07:00

-Dar Williams

A couple of days ago, I went on the Full Moon Hike. It was a really pretty hike, and it was really fun because almost everyone from the Housekeeping department was there. The hike started at 9:30 PM and went until a little after 11 PM. It was a beautiful hike, but I couldn't really get any of the prettiness on film because it was so dark. However, I did get lots of fun people-pictures. Enjoy.

"Deep behind my face is a safer place, but old gears are hitched tight to the gate."

2008-05-19T11:26:00.000-07:00

-The Indigo Girls

Last Saturday was the Opening Party at the Employee Pub. The pub has been open for a couple of weeks now, but this was the official "Yay the pub is here" party, so everyone went.

Here is a picture of some of my peeps on the way to the pub. Left to right: John, Harley, Terry, Max and Vicki.

Here is Max and John, and then a picture of Max and I.

Classic pool shot:

Here is Patricia and Vicki. Vicki is my roommate, and Patricia is her daughter.

And last but not least, here I am with Vicki. I'm not sure why it looks like I was about to pour my beer on her, but whatever.

"It's not as if I don't like you, it just makes me sad whenever I see it."

2008-05-16T21:01:00.000-07:00

-Tire Swing

Magenta (my computer) has been going through some tough times. She has been battling a very serious eating disorder. Luckily, Mom sent me some really good computer food that Magenta couldn't resist. So now she is eating again, and I can go back to uploading pictures. Yay.

Here are some pictures that I took at the Employee Pub. This first one is of Terry showing off his pool skills.

Here is one of Jakob, looking... um... cool.

And this is John!

And I'll throw this picture in because I'm in it, and I guess you all might want to see a picture of me every now and then.

Last week when I had my day off, I walked around with Jakob & Terry and saw lots of pretty things like this:

And last but not least, here are some pictures that I took last night. The first one is the view from the porch of the building that I live in. The others are pictures of the walk from my building to the pub.

"The wind is making speeches, and the rain sounds like a round of applause."

2008-05-02T14:35:00.000-07:00

-Time

We had an "All Park Meeting" the other day so we could all be instructed on how to not die at Yellowstone. Afterwards, I walked outside and decided that it was the perfect time to take some pretty pictures. So I went inside and grabbed my camera and walked around for awhile.

Here are some pictures of the lodge that I work at. The building that I live in is one building over, but I don't have those pictures yet. Oh! And in the last of these lodge pictures, please note how clear the sidewalk is of snow! I shoveled that sidewalk! Well, me and 3 of the guys. Still though, I was proud.

Here is the path that leads away from the lodge:

And here is a picture of our Post Office. It hasn't opened yet, but it is supposed to in the next week.

We also have a General Store that is extremely cute:

And last but not least, I walked to Old Faithful again. The great thing about a place like Yellowstone is that every day, everything looks different from day to day.

It's kind of hard to tell the ground from the sky, isn't it?

Update!!!

2008-04-29T17:07:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, remember me? Sorry that it has been awhile. Anyways, I'm living/working at Yellowstone now. Here are some pics. There! "Update" is now over.

2008-02-01T20:12:00.000-08:00

"I like songs about drifters, books about the same, they both seem to make me feel a little less insane."

2008-01-31T17:55:00.000-08:00

-Modest Mouse

8 minutes left of my shift at the theatre. Random blog, here I come!

Yesterday I was making myself dinner and I was thinking about how fun it would be to have my own cooking show. Right as I was thinking that, I cracked the egg and missed the bowl. Turns out that it's pretty hard to clean an egg off of a counter. Just a little tip from me to you.

There is a new Limited Addition Twix bar out, with Java flavor. I saw it and thought "That's either going to be awful, or great." Turns out that it's GREAT. So I went back to the gas station by my apartment, (the only place that I can find them), and bought 12. (Don't judge me). The gas station guy, who doesn't speak much english, looked at me and said with disgust "Too many candies." Whatever. I bought them anyways.

The LOST premiere is tonight!!! But I don't get to watch it until tomorrow night. Sad.

I have lots more to say. But my shift at the theatre is now over. Thank you. You are all beautiful, beautiful people.

3 months from today, I will be living and working here:

2008-01-24T15:13:00.000-08:00

(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Year In Review

2007-12-30T17:08:00.000-08:00

"Take your time, it won't be long before you drag your feet to slow the circle down."

2007-12-01T00:10:00.001-08:00

-Joni Mitchell

Today was my last day working on the Waterfront. The reason for that, for those of you not In The Know, is that the shop closed on November 25th. We've been working hard this last week trying to get everything packed up. Today, Tom and I took down all of the letters and signs off the sides of the shop. It was lots of work, but we were successful.

And just like that, another chapter comes to a close.

"I have come here not to find answers, but to find a way to live in a world without any."

2007-11-12T23:00:00.000-08:00

-The Mermaid Chair

I'm really tired and I'm not in the mood to write much, but I have all of these pictures that I keep meaning to post. So I'm going to do that now. It is very exciting.

Jacob came to visit a few weeks ago! It was a very fun visit. We spent most of our time watching Gilmore Girls, but we also hung out downtown and spent a day at the park. Good times.

On the day that Jacob left, he had to leave on the early train. Here is our good-bye picture. Note my puffy sleepy-eyes.

I had so much fun at the park with Jacob that I took Scotty to the park that same weekend. We only had a couple of hours to spend there, but we still had fun.

Halloween kind of came and went without much notice on my part. I wasn't in the mood to do anything and either was Stef. So we hung out at the apartment and watched the Great Pumpkin. And we tried on the costumes that she had, seeing as how it was Halloween and everything.

Kai and I went to the park a week(ish) ago. We were there until it got dark, and it was a BEAUTIFUL day. By the time it began to get dark, the sky was actually purple. It's not that I don't like the city, but it always feels so good to get away from all of the Seattle craziness.

Yay. Update completed.

"As she stared into the fogs and mists, she wondered how she would ever know when the day and night were of equal length."

2007-11-06T15:40:00.000-08:00

-The Mists of Avalon

Which Firefly-Path Fairy are you?
created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Druid Fairy

Your heart belongs to nature. Your green satin hides you in the brush. You influence plants to grow, and you have a special connection to animals.

Druid Fairy

60%

Ethereal Priestess Fairy

48%

Twilight Mistress Fairy

48%

Raven Fairy

48%

Goddess of the Golden Dawn

46%

Snow Fairy

42%

Rose Thorn Fairy

33%

Autumn Fairy

29%

Pixie

23%

"I'm really trying to shine here, I'm really trying, your changing clothes and closing windows on me all the time."

2007-10-19T19:24:00.000-07:00

-The National

The wind in Seattle has been pretty crazy for the last 48 hours. When I got home last night, the power was out in my entire building! It was pretty cool, I love having no power. I used the light from my cell phone to find my candles and then I sat in my room and enjoyed the scent of the candles mixed with the sound of the rain. Good times.

"It's always winter when he goes..."

2007-10-16T16:04:00.000-07:00

-Tracy Grammer

Wow, I haven't updated this thing in abagillion years.

Hmmm, what have I been doing lately? I was really, really sick all of last week. I think it might have been a version of the flu. I had to take a few days off of work, and I spent the majority of my time laying in bed and watching Northern Exposure. I was very sick, but even more than that, I was completely exhausted. I'm feeling way better now, just pretty tired, so I've been doing my darndest to get enough sleep and all that.

I've been trying to figure out what I want to do when my lease is up at the end of March. I don't have any reason to stay in Seattle. Of course I have made some friends here that I will miss, but at this point I have friends that I will miss all over the freakin world, so that's just something that I'm going to have to get used to. I've been thinking that I want to go back to Oregon, in which case I could still come back and visit my Seattle peeps whenever. I have had several moments lately where it hits me that I'll miss Seattle more than I origionally thought I would. But like I said, I just don't have any real reason to stay here.

There is one non-Oregon idea that I've been toying with, and that would involve going to work at a National Park. I've always wanted to, and what better time than the present? My main obstacle is that I need to find a place that has a piano that I would be able to play during my off-time. My employment would be for a five month period, and there is no way I would even think of going that long without a piano.

In other news, Katie was in Seattle for the weekend! I was still a bit sick, but it was still mucho fun-o. Especially Sunday, when we spent the entire day eating Party Pizzas, drinking wine, and watching Northern Exposure.

There. I updated my blog. Yay for me.

"Have a seat while I take to the sky"

2007-08-25T20:20:00.001-07:00

-Tori Amos

Do I win the award for the world's most blogger? I probably do.

I really don't have alot to report. I've been spending lots and lots and lots of time playing piano lately, so I've been a bit isolated from the world. I had today off and work didn't call and ask me to come in and it has been a much needed relaxing day. I slept for ELEVEN HOURS (!!!) then did cross-stitch, then practiced off and on for five hours. Yay.

This was a very exciting blog entry. I bet that entries like this make you sad that I don't blog more, huh?

To conclude this very insightful blog, here is a picture that has no relation to anything that I just wrote. Enjoy!

"Waking before you I've got a fever and a childish wish for snow, seems like a long long time since I've spun you to this borrowed radio..."

2007-08-02T10:18:00.000-07:00

-Iron and Wine

Last night was very random and very fun. I got off of work at 5 and checked my voicemail and I had a message from Meagan saying that she was in Seattle for the night, staying at a Hotel by the airport! I didn't even go home first to get a change of clothes, I just hopped on the bus (no I didn't really hop, it's just an expression) and I spent the night hanging out with Meagan-face! And I also went into a Casino for my first time ever. I didn't gamble, I just ate food, but still, I think that is worth mentioning.

Last weekend I went to Portland and spent Saturday and Sunday with Dad, Karen, the Zachlet, and Simon. We went to a Pink Martini concert at the Oregon Zoo. The group was amazing, and it was lots of fun.

I was a little disappointed that I didn't get to spend more time with Simon, but he was right in the middle of the last Harry Potter book and pretty much kept to himself.

I got my hair chopped off yesterday. I might go shorter eventually, but for now this will do. I thought that I wanted long hair again but it was starting to drive me insane. So now it is gone.

That concludes this official e-news update.

"I followed suit and laid out on my back (imagine that), a million hours left to think of you and think of that."

2007-07-27T21:19:00.000-07:00

-Tegan & Sara

Sorry that I haven't been updating lately. Actually that's not true, I don't actually feel that Sorry about it, but it just sounds nice to say sometimes.

I read the Harry Potter book. I won't spoil anything for the weirdos that have yet to read it, but I was very satisfied with the last book. The movie is going to be amazing.

I'm in love with the new Tegan & Sara CD, along with abagillion other CDs. I'm totally on a "discover new music" kick, and it is rocking my world.

I would love to write more, (maybe not "love" to write more, but maybe I would "like" to write a little more), but my brain is lacking any form of real activity right now. So here is a picture:

"Turn me on over with a sorrowful tune, tear me apart from the smoky old room, and hold me in the sweet air..."

2007-07-07T08:38:00.000-07:00

-Kate Power & Steve Einhorn

I'm in Portland right now, at Tom & Sonya's place. David is visiting from Arizona, so Kai and I came down for yet another SOU Music Reunion. I hadn't seen David for over three years, so of course I had to make the trip down here. We got here last night and we all stayed up until 2 AM being goofy and ridiculous. Except for Sonya. She went to be kind of early, which is understandable seeing as how her baby is due in three weeks and therefore she is a wee bit tired. Today we don't have any specific plans but I'm pretty sure that we're going to go down to the Saturday Market at some point.

Now I'm drinking coffee and listening to Kate Power on my ipod and waiting for all of these sleepy-heads to wake up. I've been up since 7 and I forgot my book in Seattle (insert deep, dramatic sigh here), so I figured that this would be a good time to blog, because Rebecca-noodle-nose just sent me the 4th of July pictures! The 4th was a fun day. We went to David's house and it was really mellow, which was exactly what I needed. *Tink*

"We've been a help and a hindrance to each other. I guess it's always that way, the good and the bad all mixed up."

2007-07-02T19:08:00.000-07:00

-The Song of the Lark

This picture is from a few days ago. It was my first day off in a month, (with the exception of the two days that I was in Portland), and Stef and I celebrated by walking to Capitol Hill for breakfast. Then we wandered around downtown for awhile and eventually walked back home. It wasn't until we got home that I realized that my skin was itchy and burny. I looked in the mirror and saw that my chest and face were very, very red. Sigh. Luckily I had some lotion with aloe and that stuff really does the trick. Now I actually look tan, as opposed to Red. So I guess what I'm saying is yay for aloe. Or something.

Jessica and I are doing a pretty good job at staying in touch via e-mail, so at least we are somewhat able to know the main details of each other's lives. It's still hard though. I really miss our talks and our random text messaging and randomly getting mix CDs in the mail every few weeks. But I'm trying to be grateful that we can at least e-mail. I was remembering when I was in Michigan and had to go 3 months without a cell phone or the internet, with the exception of 25 minutes once every two weeks. That wasn't fun. So at least we can write to each other more often than that.

(I'd like to say as a side note that I feel like all my sentences are poorly structured right now but I'm too tired to fix them. Just FYI).

Let's see, what else... Ummm.... Ummmmmmmmm... I like having Stefani as a roommate. We don't have a TV and we have two pianos and it's all around a nice environment to come home to. Gina came over last week and the three of us drank wine and played piano. Good times.

I think maybe that is all I have to say. I just wanted to actually write something instead of posting lots of pictures. Mission accomplished.

But just for kicks, here is one more picture for your viewing pleasure:

"I hoped not to involve anyone in this, especially strangers, but I don't seem to know what to do next. Where to look. Where to wait."

2007-06-28T17:23:00.000-07:00

-Joyce Carol Oates

I'm alive, in case anyone was worried.

I've been very, very, very, very busy.

This picture makes me miss the Sandy River lots and lots.

This is the most exciting blog entry in the history of the world.

2007-05-31T17:19:00.000-07:00

As some of you may know, Kat moved out a week or so ago and Stefani will not be moving here until June15th, so I have had the place to myself. But now, I have a new addition to my apartment!

He came to me on Tuesday when I was home sick. My front door had been propped open due to the fact that I had set off my smoke alarm. But that is an entirely different story that has nothing to do with my new roomate.

After the smoke had cleared and it was safe for me to shut my door, I sat down to practice piano. Then I heard buzzing and was aware of a small bug swirling around my head. I thought that it was a bee at first, but it turned out that it was just a very big fly.

I thought to myself, "Whatever, ignore it, it's just a fly."

But it kept buzzing. And it wasn't even buzzing in key with the Chopin Waltz that I was playing. Soooooo inconsiderate.

So I opened my front door again and tried to get it out, but it seemed to be fixated on staying near my windows, even though they have screens that it can't get out of. I tried to swat him towards the door, but everytime I did, he would just buzz angrily at me and fly towards my face in an aggressive manner. (It was during this time that I decided it was a boy, because, well... yeah.)

I was a bit frusterated, mainly because I had totally been in my Piano Zone, which is pretty much the happiest place that I can be, and this fly wouldn't leave me alone! I couldn't figure out why he wouldn't just listen to me and go out the front door. This is when I started to get a little angry and I actually started arguing with him. You probably are thinking "How can you argue with a bug that can't even talk?" My answer to that is "YOU didn't hear him buzzing!!!"

I thought maybe if I gave him a name, he would be more respectful of my request for him to leave. So I named him George (he totally looked like a George) and continued to ask him to see himself out. But noooo, he kept hovering around my window! My neighbors were probably confused when they heard me saying loudly "Oh yeah, that's GREAT. Stay at the window that you have been at for 20 minutes. Yeah, FABULOUS."

At this point, I crossed over to the dark side. (I should probably mention that 30ish minutes had gone by at this point). I decided that George was going to have to die. As he was crawling along the side of the window and was right at the spot where the window hits the wall, I slammed the window shut as hard as I could. I heard a loud, agitated buzz, and then silence. I stood there and let an entire minute go by... silence. I felt a little bit of guilt, but for the most part, I was just glad that the buzzing had stopped.

I sat down and continued to play piano. Then, three minutes later...

George came flying back out! The window wasn't even open again! He should've been forever smooshed between the wall and the window! He came back to life AND gained the ability to go through walls. Incredible!

So once again, I opened the front door, and kept asking George to leave, and George just kept buzzing and flying in circles, laughing at me with a menacing look in his eye.

Finally, he flew into Kat's old room. And I shut the door.

So now George has his own room, and I have mine. We're giving eachother our space, and I think we're going to be fine.

"Step one you say We need to talk, he walks you say Sit down it's just a talk, he smiles politely back at you, you stare politely right on through..."

2007-05-27T17:11:00.000-07:00

-The Fray

I went to the Pooky-Palace last night and watched movies with Rebecca-feather-face. I've been kind of sick and really tired, so it was nice to just sit and relax and be mellow. Scotty got home around 11 PM and the three of us re-watched the LOST finale. I can't believe that we have to wait until February to find out what is going to happen next! It is sooo not fair. This morning we went to the Folklife Festival at the Seattle Center. It was fun and I got to see Misty River perform, which made me happy. But as I said, I'm a tad bit sick right now, so around 3 PM I got hit by a wave of exhaustion and decided to go home. It was a nice afternoon, and now I'm going to eat chicken soup and try to convince my body that it is time to get better.

"You risk tears if you let yourself be tamed."

2007-05-20T15:54:00.000-07:00

-The Little Prince

Melissa's 21st birthday was last night, so Rayana, Rochelle and I met up with her and went to several bars in Belltown and Capital Hill. It had been a very long time since the four of us were together, so that made me happy. It was lots of fun.

(Left to Right: Melissa, Rochelle, Rayana, meee)

Emily came over this afternoon and we watched Wonder Boys and did cross-stitch. Kat moved out yesterday and there won't be any furniture in my apartment for a month, so I put a bunch of blankets on the floor and made a cozy place to sit. Martha Stewart would be jealous.

I'm sitting in my room right now. My window is open and it is raining and I'm listening to a mix CD that I got from Jessica in the mail yesterday. I have so many mix tapes and CDs that Jessica has made for me, and I always love them. The CD that I got yesterday is probably the last CD that I will get from Jessica for a couple of years. She left this morning for a two-year job with the Peace Core. I'm excited for her because she has been wanting to do this since I became friends with her six years ago, but I am also feeling sad. Jessica is always the person that I call to to talk to about nothing and everything. For the first time in six years, I don't have the luxury of knowing that no matter what is going on, my Jessica is only a phone call away. The reality of it still hasn't completely set in, but in the last 48 hours it has been hitting me in waves. She was texting me, but she didn't call, probably because it would've been too hard to really say good-bye.

Part of me wants time to hurry and heal this, to make this sad feeling go away. Then again, I kind of want to hold on to it, I want to keep missing her so I don't forget one of the best friends that I have ever had, so I don't forget how much we love each other. Time can heal things, but time can also lose things. Time can be scary.

I already miss her, so much.

"I was reading a book, suggestions on what to believe, but I read somewhere that you've got to beware, you can't believe anything you read..."

2007-05-13T20:03:00.000-07:00

-Jack Johnson

First off, duh, HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!

Not alot to report. I've been a very busy poodle, seeing as how I have two jobs now and am working up to six days a week! I get to work with Rebecca-noodle-nose at my second job, and that is splenderific.

Speaking of Rebecca-feather-face, her birthday was on Friday! Naturally, we hung out. And naturally, I have pictures. Enjoy.

"He was just a fox like a hundred thousand others. But I've made him my friend, and now he is the only fox in all the world."

2007-05-06T07:50:00.008-07:00

-The Little Prince
As most of you know, my family lost our precious Ernie-poodle-face last week. It was the right time, and it seems to have happened in the most peaceful way possible. However, it is still sad.

From the beginning of Junior high until the morning I left for college, Ernie and I would eat breakfast together. I would always tear off a piece of food for him and set it aside, and he would sit and stare at me while I ate, and then when I was done I would give him the piece of food that I had saved for him. Then I went to college. I remember the first meal that I ate in the dorms. When I was done, I had a little piece of food set off to the side. I had saved food for Ernie without even meaning to, because I was so used to my little friend being there to eat breakfast with me.

Another "before school ritual" that Ernie and I had was every morning before Mom would get in the shower, she would open my door a crack and Ernie would jump up on my bed. I'd sleepily wake up and lift my blanket just a little, and he'd burrow under the blanket and curl up and go to sleep. I'm guessing that he liked the heat under there. Unless I got up to get something, in which case I'd come back and the silly dog would still be partly under the covers, but he would have his head on my pillow! In which case I would get another pillow from the living room, so I wouldn't disturb Ernie's beauty sleep.

I'm not sure why out of all the Ernie-stories that I could tell, those two are the ones that came to mind. I can't seem to find the words to express how much I miss my little dog.

"I waited for him to sniff me out, anxious to know if here, on the other side, I would still be the little girl he had slept beside. I did not have to wait long: he was so happy to see me, he knocked me down."
-The Lovely Bones

"One thing never changed: the brilliant charge of their infrequent couplings, darkened by the sense of time flying, never enough time, never enough."

2007-04-27T19:42:00.000-07:00

-Brokeback Mountain

I went back to Ashland last weekend for the first time in almost two years. It was a very quick visit due to my schedule and I wasn't even there for 48 hours, but it was better than nothing. I got to see Nancy, Liz, Stef, Meagan, Alex, Robbie, and Jacob. On Monday morning I had to say good-bye to Jessica because she is leaving for a 2 year job with the Peace Core. That was sad, but at least we had one last day of fun together. Then Jacob and I drove back to Seattle, stopping at Mommy's house for yummy food and a nice relaxing night. That is where I had to say good-bye to my little tiny poodle-face, and that was very very very sad.

Jacob left this morning. I wish that I hadn't had to work every day that he was here, but once again, it was better than nothing.

Anyways, here are some pictures. Enjoy.

"We didn't discuss it. To discuss it would be to say that it was real, and no one wanted to say that it was real, no one wanted that at all."

2007-04-17T19:11:00.000-07:00

-Without You

Dad, Karen and the Zachlet came up last weekend on a whim. I'm too tired to write about it, but that's okay because I can just post pictures and then I'll feel like I'm updating. Yay.

"Feeling it dying away all day, much worse than the straining against the leash, another gorgeous thing that should not have happened, gone again."

2007-04-09T20:15:00.003-07:00

-The Beautiful

Scotty came over yesterday and we watched movies and ate junk food and talked and it was really nice to have a lazy day with my bro-wo. We started out by watching Newsies and followed it up with Brokeback Mountain. It took us awhile to decide between Brokeback Mountain and Fight Club, a debate that I'm sure many have been faced with before, right?

That was such a pathetic excuse for an update, but hey, it's better than nothing. Hmph.

"Didn't you mean to ever say good-bye to me? Did you mean to just - quit me?"

2007-03-27T19:33:00.000-07:00

-Alexander's Bridge

I said there would be more pictures, and I meant it. Here are the pictures that Liz took from her and Jessica's trip up here. Enjoy.

These next two pictures are from work yesterday. Tom was a little stressed, and I was on the verge of a breakdown. Work has been a little "off" lately. I won't go into why because it's all just a wee bit too ridiculous to write about, but yeah, due to the "off-ness" of work paired with the fact that I'm hormonal lead me to almost cross that line to insanity. But instead of having a breakdown, I took an "I Love Seattle" tank top and changed it to say "I Love Mariah Carey."

I'd explain why, but the truth is, I really don't know. Welcome to my life.

"Look up at the sky. Ask yourself, 'Has the sheep eaten the flower or not?' And you'll see how everything changes."

2007-03-19T19:11:00.000-07:00

-The Little Prince

This weekend was so great. Liz and Jessica came up to spend the weekend in Seattle. I hadn't seen Jessica in a long time, and I hadn't seen Liz in almost 2 years!!! We attempted to go out a couple of times because we felt like we were supposed to, but we ended up spending most of the weekend sitting and talking about all sorts of things. Amber-face even came up on Sunday, so the four of us got to spend a day together. Good times.

There will be more pictures later, but here is a picture from the little park downtown with the man-made waterfall, and then there are some pictures from the dance party that I had in the kitchen with Liz. Enjoy.

"I like songs about drifters, books about the same, they both seem to make me feel a little less insane..."

2007-03-07T20:40:00.000-08:00

-Modest Mouse

I was in Milwaukie for a few days. I don't usually get three days off in a row, so I figured I should use them to my advantage. I spent alot of time with Mommy-face. We even went to Barnes & Noble and found her book on the shelf! It was very exciting. I got to see my Amber too. We went to a little park by the Columbia River and sat and talked for a long time. It was nice.

"It's the time you waste on your rose that makes your rose so important."

2007-02-25T20:03:00.000-08:00

-The Little Prince

Today was really fun, although nothing went how it was supposed to. If I had been with anyone but Scotty and Rebecca, it may have been a bummer of a day. But seeing as how the three of us can find oodles of joy in just about anything, it was all okay. We were supposed to go to a friend's house to learn how to use swords. (No, I'm not kidding, welcome to the world of having fun pagan friends)! I woke up this morning feeling not so good. I went to bed last night feeling absolutely drained of any form of life, slept for almost 10 hours, and woke up feeling just as tired. Sigh. I actually almost cancelled on the pookies, but I never see them and I knew that I should probably get out of bed at some point. So I headed downtown and took the bus to Everett. Scotty and Rebecca picked me up and we were on our way. We drove, then drove some more, then we drove a little more, then we realized we were lost. Well, not so much lost as that we were given directions that didn't actually work. There we were in Renton, all dressed up (not really) and nowhere to go.
We were a little dissapointed that we couldn't find our friend, but it wasn't so bad because we DID find another friend!!! Ladies and gentlemen, meet our new friend, Clayton!

The time came to say good-bye to Clayton. It was very sad, but it had to be done. Then we got back in the car and went to A&W and ate yummy food and had lots of fun.
Then we went to Frye's Electronic Store, which I guess is a really big deal in the world of electronic stores.
Last but not least, we stopped by a little coffee stand to refresh ourselves. Then we headed home. It was a really fun day, whether you believe me or not!

Finally!

2007-02-12T11:42:00.000-08:00

"You may not see it when it's sticking to your skin, but we're better off for all that we let in."

2007-02-05T13:14:00.000-08:00

-The Indigo Girls

Nick got the day off yesterday so we could go to the Pookie-Palace to watch the Super Bowl. It was a very fun, mellow day. And that makes me happy.

And now, for one of the best pictures that I have ever taken:
He is pretty. :)

"I know you love to turn this little blue girl upside down..."

2007-01-29T13:09:00.001-08:00

-Tori Amos

I haven't forgotten about my blog, I promise! I have been very bad about remembering to bring my camera with me when I go anywhere, so I haven't had many pictures to post.

I went to Scotty & Rebecca's last night. We ate junk food and watched movies and had a grand old time. Scotty got me a pen-holder (but I think it's a trophy) attached to a plaque that says "STEVE SCHANBACK: BEST WISHES FROM YOUR DISTRICT"
It makes me very happy, AND it makes a great bobby-pin holder trophy. Yay.

"Failing to fetch me at first keep encouraged, missing me one place search another, I stop somewhere waiting for you."

2007-01-14T16:32:00.000-08:00

-Walt Whitman

"Words like 'Lost and Found' and 'Don't Look Down' and Someone Save Temptation'..."

2007-01-03T08:30:00.000-08:00

-Iron and Wine, The Trapeze Swinger

Wow, it has been quite some time since I did an update. Things are good, I've just been very busy and very tired and I'm fighting off a nasty cold that is going around at work. It has been a busy month. Stefani visited, I had Christmas with Mommy-face, Katie & John were here for the New Year's festivities, Jacob is in town for a few days, I've been hanging out with Nick as much as I can which is a challenge since we have conflicting work schedules, blah blah blah.

But yes, things are good and I'm glad that 2006 is over. It was a little much for me.

Here are the pictures I promised. Enjoy!

And now, for the best picture ever taken in the history of the world:

Happy New Year!!!

2007-01-01T13:49:00.000-08:00

Hi everybody! I'm alive! I promise! I've been very busy and a very bad blogger. I have lots of pictures to post and I promise to do so in the next couple of days. Until then, here is one to hold you over.
Yay! I got through 2006! It's a miracle!!!

"I've got some friends, some that I hardly know, but we've had some times I wouldn't trade for the world..."

2006-12-14T20:20:00.000-08:00

-Rise Against

Seattle is very very stormy today! I was at work with Rayana, Tate and Carol, and it was raining so hard outside that the rain was overflowing on to the sidewalk! When cars would drive through the puddles, they would make waves that were taller than me! I was very excited about this. Then we started having power surges, so we closed the store an hour early. I heart the rain.

!!!HAPPY BIRTHDAY SISTER-FACE!!!

2006-12-14T06:44:00.000-08:00

Happy birthday to the best sister-face in the whole world. Katie and I are so different and so alike all at once and it is so nice to know that no matter what I do or where I go, at the end of the day, I have a sister that loves me and will always be there for me. I'm so proud of everything that she has done with her life, and I am so excited to see what she does next.

Sisturrrr... I love you!

"Her voice whispers softly 'Go real slow'..."

2006-12-08T20:23:00.000-08:00

-Christine Kane

Yesterday was a very fun and crazy day. I arrived at work in the morning and was happy to see that Melissa and Rayana were working as well. The three of us had fun being silly all day. Nick stopped by on his break and hung out for awhile, and Suzy showed up for the last part of the day. Good times.
Finally it was closing time, and Suzy, Melissa, Rayana and I piled into Suzy's car and headed to the shop's annual Christmas party. And gees, the word "party" feels like an understatement! Tammy and Andy (the owners) booked the upstairs of this really fancy restaurant/bar/bistro downtown and we had never ending food and NEVER-ending drinks. If my glass reached the half-empty stage I would have a bartender behind me in seconds, asking what drink I wanted next. We were all verrrry intoxicated, and there were 32 of us there, and we're a wacky group as it is, and this pretty much pushed us all over the top. It was tons of crazy, silly fun.
After a few hours, the party started dying down and people gradually started leaving. I was talking to Nick when Alex came up and asked us if we wanted to join him and some others at a nearby bar. So Nick and I went with Alex, Anna, Charlette and Charlette's boyfriend and drank more. Charlette really wanted to make sure we were taken care of I guess, because she bought all of us enough drinks to float a sailboat. We were there until the bar closed. All in all, a really fun night.

"He says he's got a healing machine and it glows in the dark..."

2006-12-03T14:22:00.000-08:00

-Tori Amos

It's been a very hectic week. I've been working alot and trying to hang out with people and trying to sleep every now and then.

Yesterday at work, Nick, Tom, Melissa and I were all working at the same time. Whenever the four of us are all working together, very strange things happen. We make eachother wayyyyy to hyper. It didn't help that the owners aren't there on the weekends so we didn't have any supervisors to worry about. We played a question/answer game, we made a little house out of raisins and toothpicks, we made some handpuppets, you know, the usual work stuff.

Anyways, they are three of the coolest peeps that I have met since I've lived in Seattle, so I thought it was about time that I get some pictures. So here they are for your viewing pleasure: Tom is in blue, Nick is in black, and Melissa is the one that isn't a boy. But you probably could've figured that out on your own. These are kind of silly pictures, but it was a silly day, so whatevuh.
(In the above picture, note the Andes Mountains in the background. We were very proud of our ability to make the scenery so realistic).
And I saved this picture for last because it is just so gosh darn special:
I don't know why Tom's expression in that picture makes me soooo happy, but it really really does.

That's all for now. I know that wasn't much of an update, but you know, update schmupdate.

"Sorry I couldn't get there, maybe you could show me how to let my guard down..."

2006-11-26T17:27:00.000-08:00

-Jen Wood

My oh my, it has been a very hectic past few days.

On Thursday, (aka Thanksgiving), I headed over to Ben & Kai's place around noon. Ruby, Tom and Sonya all came to town for Thanksgiving, and we hadn't all been together for years. I was sooo excited. Ruby was already there when I showed up, and we talked and talked and then Sonya and Tom came and we talked and talked more, and then Scotty and Rebecca arrived, then a few other peeps, and it was lots and lots of fun. We drank lots of drinks and ate lots of food. I ended up staying for the night. Ben, Kai, Sonya, Tom, Ruby and I stayed up until about 3 AM. We were tired, but there was so much for us to catch up on and sleep seemed like a very silly idea.

The next morning I woke up at 7 AM and took the bus downtown . I worked until 5:15 and then Tom, Sonya, Ruby, Kai and I were going to go meet at Gina's bar and surprise her. (Ben was at work). The night didn't go quite how we planned it, since we discovered that Gina is on vacation for the week, but we still had lots of fun. It was happy hour, so the drinks were super cheap AND there was a $1.95 food menu! "Happy" hour indeed!
We stayed until Happy Hour was over, then we headed back to Kai's place. We had a very fun time on the bus, although I'm sure that the other passengers were very happy when we finally got off.
We spent the rest of the evening drinking happy drinks and being absolutely ridiculous and I seriously laughed so much that I was starting to lose my voice. Good, good, good times with great, great, great friends.
We stayed up for a long long time. I knew that I had to work the next morning, but I also knew that Sonya, Tom, and Ruby were leaving the next day and I wanted to get in as much time with them as I could. I ended up sleeping at Ben & Kai's and only getting a few hours of sleep (again), but I didn't mind, because we had so much fun.

The next morning I went to work and somehow made it through my 8 hour shift even though I was ready to collapse. I was planning on going home at 5:15 to visit my magical bed, but Nick, (one of my coworkers), asked if I wanted to go out for a drink, so I ended up doing that instead. The concept of time got away from us and we ended up spending a little less than 5 hours at the bar. I got home pretty late, and once again only got a few hours of sleep. Oh well.

This morning I got up early and headed down to the Seattle Center. Scotty-face ran in the marathon today, and I went to be a part of his cheering section. He was running with two of his friends, so Rebecca and I joined the other two members of the cheering section and spent the morning driving around to different check-points so we could cheer and clap and take pictures. We ended up at the finish line about 4 hours later. Scotty's time was very good and I am a very proud sister.
I stayed around for awhile afterwards and then came home. It was a very fun way to spend the morning, and the check-points allowed us to see some very pretty parts of Seattle.

When I woke up this morning, I had a voice-message and a text-message from Scotland saying that he was in Seattle but that he had to leave today. I left him a message saying that I would be at the marathon. When I got home afterwards, he called and said that he wanted to come by and see me on his way out of town. (He had to be back in Ptown by 7 PM). He called around 3:30 and said that he was outside of my apartment building. I went down to let him in, and saw that it was snowing!!! When I opened the door, he came in and gave me a big, long hug. Then he said "Well, this was fun, see you later!" And then he left. It makes me very happy that I have a friend that will go out of his way just to give me a hug.

Wow. This was a long blog. Congrats if you read the whole thing.

"How pale is the sky that brings forth the rain, as the changing of seasons prepares me again..."

2006-11-21T07:06:00.000-08:00

-Get Me Through December

"In the moments of our life that come and go so fast you could never hold them, I try to hold on anyway."

2006-11-12T22:24:00.000-08:00

-Still Waters

Okay, so I just spent two minutes staring at the empty screen trying to think of a good intro for this blog, and then I started nodding off, and that was when I decided to accept the fact that I don't have an intro, or really anything to say at all, and that's just how it is going to be. Hmph.

Now, for an important e-news update.

2006-11-08T20:41:00.000-08:00

I can fit almost all of my hair into a ponytail now.
It is very exciting.

"Another turning point,a fork stuck in the road, time grabs you by the wrist directs you where to go, so make the best of this test and don't ask why"

2006-11-04T21:05:00.000-08:00

-Green Day, Good Riddance

I talked to Mommy today and she had just got back from a Memorial for a friend of the family that recently passed away. His name was Chris, and he was a sweet, happy man that I have known for most of my life. I went to school with one of his sons, he was a good friend of my mom's, and he gave my sister her first job. He was diagnosed with cancer not too long ago, and it hit him pretty fast. The doctors had origionally told him that he only had two months to live, but he managed to prove them wrong and stay with us for a bit longer.

The last time that I saw him was at Lora's wedding in September. He came up to me to say Hi, and I honestly didn't recognize him at all. He literally was skin and bones. Luckily he was with his wife, so I put it together and realized it was him. He was so happy to see me, and he was smiling and he asked me if my mom was going to be there and I said yes and he looked so happy. That is my last memory of him, out in the woods, watching Lora get married. His wife told me later that day that he had just recently decided to stop his treatments, so I wasn't terribly shocked today when I found out that he died.

Still though, it's sad.

I feel like this whole year has been one thing after another and that I'm supposed to be learning something right now and that it should be clear to me what that is, but instead I just feel cloudy.

"Never jump into a pile of leaves with a wet sucker."

2006-10-31T23:47:00.000-08:00

-The Great Pumpkin

Work was soooo slow today. I don't seen I've ever seen the store have so few customers. But it was fun, because my coworkers are insane and crazy and that always makes for some good times. I should've taken pictures of everybody, but I was too lazy. So I only got a few pictures. I was a salt-shaker. I know, lots of girls use Halloween as a time to get all primped up in cute sexy costumes, but no sir, not me. I'm a salt-shaker kind of gal. Plus, the costume was so huge on me that it kind of felt like I was wearing a blanket all day. And I like blankets.
I went to Ben and Kai's after work and ate yummy food and watched The Great Pumpkin. Once again, I was too lazy to use my camera. So there are no Ben and Kai pictures. Sorries.

I've been up since 2:30 AM. I had madcrazy insomnia last night. I remembered hearing that warm milk helps people sleep, but I was afraid that I would make it too hot, so I drank a glass of cold milk instead, which ended up making me feel sick to my stomach, which only contributed to the fact that I couldn't sleep.

Speaking of sleep... good night.

"Isn't life a funny climb... you try and try, you do your best to understand, just do the best you can."

2006-10-31T08:25:00.000-08:00

-Kate Powers and Steve Einhorn

For those of you who don't know, today is the Celtic New Year, and for the first time, I really am feeling it in my blood. It has been a long, hard year for me and for many of the people in my life. Hopefully these tough times will pass, but until they do, I'm doing my best to send out good energy and love to all of you. Life's twists and turns are always unexpected, but hopefully they will make us stronger and remind us of how lucky we all are to have eachother. Much love, and Good Samhain to all.

When the mountain touches the valley,
all the clouds are taught to fly
as our souls will leave this land
most peacefully
Though our minds be filled with questions,
in our hearts we'll understand
when the river meets the sea.

Like a flower that has blossomed
in the dry and barren sand,
We are born and born again
most gracefully,
Thus the winds of time will take us
with a sure and steady hand
When the river meets the sea.

Like a baby when it is sleeping
in its loving mother's arms,
what a newborn baby dreams
is a mystery
But his life will find a purpose
and in time he'll understand
When the river meets the sea.
-John Denver
(That song goes out to my Mom. Love you, mommy-face)

"True, it may seem like a stretch, but it's thoughts like this that ease my troubled head when you're away, when I am missing you to death..."

2006-10-24T20:21:00.000-07:00

-Iron and Wine

"Just like that, life comes in. And things begin to change."

2006-10-24T06:34:00.000-07:00

-Sex and the City

At 3 AM yesterday morning, (the 23rd), Amber started having contractions. I got off of work early today and met Amber, Adam, and Amber's mom at the hospital. Also there was Alyson, who is Amber's Doula. I met up with them in the cafeteria, and then the five of us walked around the hospital, because Amber said that it felt good to walk. Her contractions were coming quite often, but they were mild compared to what came later.
Then we went back to the Delivery Wing, and I waited in the lobby with Adam and his mom while they moved Amber to her own room. Then we all went in Amber's room and waited for Nacho.
Amber FINALLY gave birth, right around 4:45 AM this morning. For those of you who did the math, you'll realize that meant that this went on for OVER 25 hours. To hold up Amber's back when she pushed and to be able to watch this baby be born... it was amazing. I'm not even going to try to write about it, because any words that I have to write will just diminish the experience.

Welcome.

"I heard a song on the radio just yesterday, the same one you always asked me to play, and when the song was over I wished they'd play it again..."

2006-10-22T03:25:00.000-07:00

-Garth Brooks, Every Now and Then

I'm pretty much always taking pictures in my head and wishing that I had my camera with me. So today, I took alot of pictures. Well I guess technically that was yesterday, since it is going to be 4 AM soon. Whatever.

I slept for 10 hours last night. not sure why, because I didn't know I was that tired. But yeah... I woke up and listened to Celtic music and did cross-stitch and thought about lots of stuff.
Then I walked to work. I pass alot of walls on my way that have graffiti on them, and most of them don't really catch my eye, but these two always do:
And look, here is my old home:
And here is the few pictures I took while I was walking through the International District. Normally I would've taken more, but I stopped at a produce stand to buy an apple, and then my hands were too sticky to use my camera, and it took me a while to find a water fountain. Sorry.
Here are my train tracks that I love so much:
And here is a picture that I took of a little cafe that has a man-made waterfall. Normally that would annoy me, but as a Seattle gal, I'll take whatever waterfalls I can get.
And here is Pioneer Square:

And here is the Waterfront:
And here is the city at night:And oh yeah... happy birthday to me.

"Curse at the wind storms that October brings..."

2006-10-18T23:17:00.000-07:00

-Barenaked Ladies

Nacho should be making his appearance any day now, so we're all just waiting and waiting. Amber picked me up at work today and we went and got Chinese food at a place in the International District that we used to go to all the time when we were living together. We did it just like we used to, we both went in and decided on an order, then Amber waited in the car so it didn't get towed, and I sat on the bench and waited for them to bring out our food. It made me feel a bit nastalgic, which I try not to let happen, because these days that can be dangerous, but seriously, sometimes I really miss this time of my life:
After we got our food, we headed back to my place and chatted with Kat, and then Rebecca arrived shortly after. We all ate the yummy food, and Rebecca brought presents for Amber and Nacho.

The four of us watched The Great Pumpkin and America's Next Top Model and LOST. Then Kat went to sleep and Rebecca and Amber and I talked about some very, um, interesting things. The mood got very strange, and then Amber was saying how much she wishes Nacho would decide that he is ready to come out, and then Rebecca tried to help Amber. Um... I have a picture of Rebecca trying to help.
I knew I shouldn't have included that plastic knife in her fudge... oh well. Live and learn.

"Without warning I feel this brewing in my head, it's like a storm, I feel this restlessness, I think of you and stormy weather..."

2006-10-15T20:08:00.000-07:00

-Kate and Steve

Dad and the Zachlet were in town today, because dad was teaching a class at Shoreline. So I left my place this morning to go meet Scotty and Zachary at the Seattle Center. I was a little late, due to my intolerance of the human race. Long story short, I was on the bus to the Seattle Center, and the guys on the bus were annoying me so much that I decided to get off the bus early and walk eight blocks. They weren't speaking about me or to me, but they were drunk, and it was noon, and that was enough to make me get off the bus, even though it was pouring down rain outside. I was soaked by the time I got to the Seattle Center, but I didn't care. It actually felt really good to walk in the rain. I met up with Scott and Zach and we sat around the food court for awhile.
Zach didn't have a coat with him, so we waited until it stopped raining and then the three of us walked downtown. I love this weather. It's rainy and cloudy and the air smells so good. It was a great day to be walking around.
We eventually ended up down at the Public Market and went to a cute little ice cream/fudge/coffee shop. We sat there for about an hour, killing time and being silly. (oh, and ps, my fudge is better than their fudge. Is it bad for me to say that? Oh well, I said it anyways).
After that, we wandered around the market. Scott and Zach had lots of fun with an old game that they found, even though it didn't officially work... but they had fun anyways, and that's what matters.
Next, we headed down to the waterfront and went to Starbucks. Dad was scheduled to be meeting with us soon to have dinner at The Red Robin, and since Starbucks is part of the same building, we figured that would be a practical place to meet. So we went to Starbucks, and we waited.
And waited...
And waited...
And waited...
And waited...
And waited...

And then, you'll never guess what happened next... Dad finally showed up!
Then the four of us went to Red Robin and met up with Rebecca-noodle-noggin-nose and we ate lots of yummy food.
After dinner we all walked out to the parking lot together so Zach could get his stuff out of Rebecca's car. Then we all said our good-byes, and Dad and Zachary headed back home.
All in all, a fun day, even though I was only going on four hours of sleep, since I woke up six times through out the night last night. Tomorrow I'm going to hang out with Emily, and then I'm going to go hang out with Gina-face.

And on a very random note, this painting rocks my world:

"There are your fog people and your sun people, he said. I said I wasn't sure which kind I was. He nodded. Fog'll do that to you, he said."

2006-10-13T09:57:00.001-07:00

-Brian Andreas

"As painful as this time had been, in some ways I had never felt more engaged with my life, more receptive to and appreciative of the people around me, or more exposed to the complexities and depths of my own emotional core. Life had suddenly become incontestably immediate to me, necassary and vital, and that was something for which I was profoundly grateful."
-Anthony Rapp

"For once I want to be the car crash, not always just the traffic jam, hit me hard enough to wake me..."

2006-10-08T21:41:00.000-07:00

-Snow Patrol

I'm in Milwaukie right now. Mom left for the hospital this morning to go see Gammie, and I came to be the poodle-nurse until Tuesday. Right now Bill and I are drinking wine and watching Everwood.

The train ride this morning was relaxing. Then Mom picked me up at the station and brought me here to the house, and then Bill and I spent alot of time trying to teach Mom how to use a cell phone. It was a very odd chain events that I really can't explain, but there was dancing involved. You really had to be there. Oh, and Bill also developed a theory today that suggested that Ernie chews his feet in an attempt to stop communism. Seriously.
Honestly, I'm not in the mood to blog. I just thought I should give some sort of update.

I would like to state, for the official record, that my mom is amazing, and by far the strongest person that I have ever known. Just FYI.

2006-09-30T18:12:00.000-07:00

In a couple of hours, Scotty is going to come pick me up and we will be on our way to Milwaukie. In the morning we will be going to the hospital in Bend. I've been waiting for all of this to hit me, because it really hadn't yet. Then I woke up this morning to the smell of the rain coming through my window and suddenly, I was feeling it, so much that I was almost late for work because I spent an hour just sitting on my bed and staring out my window. Hopefully it will help her to see us, even if it only helps a little.

Please send good energy and thoughts to Gammie.

"In some way we could never explain on our opposite sides of the Inbetween, we were born to keep eachother company."

2006-09-23T23:55:00.000-07:00

-The Lovely Bones

I got to spend quality time with Amber-nose today. I had lots of cleaning to do, so she came over and laid on my bed and talked to me while I cleaned my room. It was nice to be able to have some time to just talk and be mellow. Every time I see Amber I feel like I haven't seen her in years. Maybe it's because when I lived with her I got used to seeing her every day... but yeah, it was nice to have her here. Then we headed to her place so we could get a movie to watch. She showed me some of the clothes that she got at her baby shower for Nacho. Soooo little and so cute! I can't believe that I was ever that small.
Then we went to the grocery store to get stuff so we could make nachos while we watched the movie. We stopped to look at the gigantic apples that they have been selling lately. Those apples scare me. They're too big. I'm afraid of them.
Then we came back to my place and ate nachos and watched the movie. Then Amber left right as I was getting hit by a wave of tiredness.

I'm so tired, but I can't fall asleep. So i'm blogging instead.

Hmph.

"I'm getting married, bitches!!"

2006-09-17T01:03:00.000-07:00

-Lora, about every five minutes on the day before her wedding.

Lora's wedding was absolutely perfect, and I had a great time. She picked me up on Friday afternoon, and we headed to Camp Colton for the rehearsal dinner. Mr.Spencer was driving in front of us, and Mrs.Spencer and Joe (her older brother) were driving behind us. We got to the camp right as Mike (the groom) and his peeps were arriving. Two of the guys in Mike's party were guys that were in my High School class, and I had not seen or talked to either of them since high school. They seem pretty much the same, and it was fun to hang out with them. We all lounged around for a bit, and then went to the chapel for the rehearsal, which went pretty smoothly. Then we, (the wedding party and family) had a campfire and ate hot dogs and chicken and marshmallows. Mmmmmm. Then Mr. & Mrs. Spencer left and the rest of us headed back to the cabins. It was a trip to hang out with Alex and Joe again and to find that after abagillion years of not seeing eachother, they are still just like the brothers that I never had. After about an hour, the boys (aka the Groom's party) came to our cabin and we all stayed up all night chatting and playing cards and being stupid. Good times.
The next morning, we woke up fairly early and had coffee and muffins that Mrs.Spencer had brought the night before. The picture-taking wasn't until 2:30, so we spent lots of time wandering around the woods and hanging around the cabins. The hair-gals came to our cabin at 10 AM to do hair, and then they stayed and had fun with us.
We had been told upon arrival that the owner had a dog that ran freely around the camp, and that the dog's name was Bailey and that he would probably be visiting us. But he failed to mention what kind of dog Bailey is, and I was sooooo happy to meet him! I told Lora that if Bailey wasn't a good sign, then I didn't know what was!
The photographers showed up at 2:30, so we all went down to the chapel where the picture-taking began. It ended up taking a couple of hours, but I didn't mind because Lora looked so beautiful and Mike is such a great guy and I was just standing off to the side and beaming because I'm so happy for both of them. The photographers were from a company that is run by a family that I grew up with, which just added to the feeling that I was being re-united with the community that raised me. The energy between everyone was very positive, and everything went very smoothly. I was watching the Spencer's and thinking about how it seems like just yesterday that Lora and I were eating pickles and watching Troop Beverly Hills and making Alex eat mud and having Joe make fun of us. Awwww... memories.
By the time the photographer was done, people were arriving at the chapel. The bridesmaids, Lora, and Mrs.Spencer gathered in the "Bridal Haven" (which was a very very tiny little cabin across from the chapel) and we did all of the last minute touch-ups. I started to get shaky and a wee-bit teary, because I think that is when it finally hit me that little Lora is getting Married! She looked amazing, and she knew it. I don't think Lora let two minutes go by without saying to whoever was in the room "Who is the best looking person here?... ME!" (I heart Lora).
I went outside to wait for Mom. She arrived about ten minutes before the wedding began. I wanted to give her a bit of a warning. This wedding is filled with people who had an active part in my entire family's past, so it was kind of like a reunion of sorts. The man who was origionally the manager of the photography studio that did the pictures for the wedding is a good friend of the family and also gave Katie her first job. He was diagnosed with cancer last year, and the treatment has drastically changed his physical appearance. He must've lost at least 100 pounds. When he came up to me to say hi, I honestly didn't even know who he was at first. But he was with his wife, so I figured it out quickly enough to where I don't think he noticed. I met mom outside just to warn her to expect him to say hi, and to expect to be shocked at how he looked. It made me a little teary as I told her that, but I held it together, for Lora's sake.

Then mom went to the chapel and I went back to the Bridal Haven until the lady in charge came and got us, and we all went up to the chapel. We got inside the chapel and went into a little side room right inside the main doors.
Then it was time for the wedding to start, so everybody except for Lora had to go out into the hall. I told her that I loved her and then saw that she was crying. It was happy crying, but oh gees... at that point I was seriously getting worried about how I was supposed to get through the ceremony without kleenex! As I was walking down the isle I had to focus on not letting my teary eyes get the best of me, and I did well. Then came Lora and Mr.Spencer, and Mr.Spencer had tears in his eyes, as did Lora, and I still managed to hold myself together, thank goodness. Everything went very smoothly. Then gosh darnit, the vows began and Mike started crying and Lora started crying, and I'm pretty sure that the entire wedding party was crying!
The ceremony ran smoothly and wasn't too long and all in all I don't think it could've gone any better. I met up with Mom outside afterwards, and we went to the reception for a couple of hours and had yummy food and sat at a table with some members of our old extended-scout-family. It was really nice. We stayed for the toast and to see Lora and Mike do the first dance, and then to see Lora and Mr.Spencer do the father/daughter dance, and then we took off. It was a perfect evening, and it was everything that Lora's wedding needed to be and more. I'm so happy that I got to be a part of it.

"I chose to feel it and you couldn't choose"

2006-09-10T22:22:00.000-07:00

-Stars

I don't have the energy to write, so here are some pictures from the day. Enjoy.

"I've been trying to nod my head but it's like I've got a broken neck..."

2006-09-03T23:06:00.000-07:00

-Rilo Kiley

Allow me to state for the record that I have been a very very busy poodle. I still haven't had
time to unpack my things! And I have lived here for a month! Geesh. This last week has been pretty crazy. I am the only baker at the store now, since Rochelle leaves for Europe in the morning, so I am going to be having alot more responsibility then I did before, but it's all good because I love love love baking and now that I'm the only baker, I'll get to do it twice as much! Mondays are going to be really hard this month, because I volunteer in the mornings and then go straight to work until 9:45 PM. But I requested it that way, so now I'll have two full days off.

I went to hear Ben's band play the other night. He got us in for free, and our drinks were free too. Mei and Brian, two peeps from the SOU music department were in town. I was never really close with them, but it was still fun to see them and to hang out for a bit. I ended up crashing at Ben and Kai's place that night, since we were out until a little after 3 AM. It was a fun night, and really great to see Ben play. It had been a long time.
This morning I hung out with Amber for a bit, which was nice. Then I came home and practiced for a couple of hours, then went to the U-district and met up with Scotty and Rebecca to eat at Johnny Rockets. For some reason, Love Shack was playing on a loop, and I have come to the conclusion that it had a very strange effect on Scotty, Rebecca, and I. (Because, you know, we're usually sooo normal).
After we finished dancing and singing, we went to Starbucks to meet with our Seattle Grey School friends. Kai joined us because she is interested in joining the school. I had a really really great time sitting and talking with everybody. And Kai seemed to enjoy herself even more than I thought she would, which made me really happy. We were there for a few hours, and it was great fun. If tomorrow wasn't going to be a 13 hour day, I would've wanted to stay all night!
Yayyy. My blog is updated, and now I can go to bed. Good night.

Talk of poems, prayers and promises, and things that we believe in, how sweet it is to love someone, how right it is to care..."

2006-08-26T08:50:00.000-07:00

-John Denver

Here we go foks, hot off the press, in random order, 100 things that make me happy.

1. ERNIE
2. Playing piano
3. Train Rides
4. Getting packages
5. My digital Camera
6. Seattle
7. Keeping strong friendships with my friends that are far away
8. Performing
9. Surprising myself
10. Living in the same city as my brother for the first time in 8 years.

11. Walking
12. Backrubs (more specifically, SHOULDER-rubs)
13. Watching LOST with people who haven't seen it and watching their minds spin
14. Singing
15. Michigan rainstorms
16. The scent of walking by a laundromat when it is raining
17. Talking to Nancy, even if it can only be through the phone
18. Candles
19. Apple Cider
20. Having a big brother that is totally there for me even though he has seen me be the most moody little sister in the history of the world

21. Seeing my little brother loving to play music
22. Finding acoustic versions of songs that I love
23. Having random adventures and experiences that remind me that life is unpredictable
24. Learning a new piece of music
25. Camping
25. Baking
26. Writing in my journal
27. Opening a box of new crayons
28. Seeing my mom finally be able to fulfill her dream of finishing grad school, and doing it like a rockstar
29. Party Pizzas
30. Getting mix tapes/CDs from friends

31. Finding a new song and having it be perfect for what i'm going through
32. Artwork by Melissa Harris
33. Movies that make me reflect and help me process
34. Being able to look back on bad situations and find the good that came out of them
35. Bookstores
36. Coffee shops
37. Buying new sheet music
38. Big soft blankets
39. Sleeping in
40. Meeting a random person that you have a mind altering conversation with, and then never seeing them again

41. Scrapbooks
42. Watching the "La Vi Bohem" scene in Rent
43. Sunsets
44. Song lyrics that remind you that there are people out there who have been through exactly what you have, so it can't be all that bad
45. The Columbia River Gorge
46. Knowing that I can always go back to Milwaukie or Ashland if I start to feel like i'm forgetting who I am
47. Cross-stitch
48. Throwing things away
49. The way that when my mom makes me something, it tastes better than if anyone else would've made it
50. The nifty little escalator for the carts at Target

51. Having a long list of quirky jobs
52. The smell of Christmas trees
53. The last two pages of "The Great Gatsby"
54. Buying a new CD and listening to it the whole way through and discovering that every song is great
55. Fun coworkers
56. Renewing friendships that were thought to be lost forever
57. The smell of the air in the morning
58. Being able to feel bittersweet, instead of just feeling bitter
59. People who I can be sarcastic with, without worrying that they won't know I'm just being sarcastic
60. The live version of "Darkness on the Edge of Town" by Bruce Springsteen that I found on vinyl

61. Almost Famous
62. My tattoos
63. Reading a book that makes you think about life in a way that you never have before
64. Being able to see my sister
65. The quilt that Jessica and Amber made for me
66. Having moments of clarity where something or someone makes me remember that everything WILL be okay
67. Going to shows
68. Rivers
69. Swimming under waterfalls
70. Waking up in the woods to nothing but the sound of nature doing its thing

71. Tank tops
72. Friends that grow to be part of your extended family
73. Chocolate
74. Wine
75. Artwork by Wassily Kandinsky
76. Finding quotes that give me chills and then sending them to Daun because I know she'll love them as much I do
77. Mexican Food
78. Peanut Butter
79. Funny moments that I can replay in my head and that never fail to make me laugh
80. Relationships that can't be defined

81. Relationships that can be defined
82. Lazy days
83. Learning how to reach out for help instead of holding it in
84. T-shirts with sarcastic sayings that make non-witty people uncomfortable.
85. Vodka-tonics with cherries instead of limes
86. Telling Aly anything in the world and knowing that she'll completely understand what and why I'm doing what I'm doing
87. Listening to Joni Mitchell with Jessica
88. Having Ben and Kai living in the same state as me
89. Blogging
90. Shari's

91. Laughing with Rebecca
92. Nail Polish
93. Bracelets
94. The way that I forget to water Ashlee Simpson (my plant) until she gets droopy, yet she always comes back to life!
95. "The Trapeze Swinger" by Iron and Wine, and how every lyric in that song is absolutely perfect
96. Getting a new haircut
97. Coming home and collapsing on the couch after a long day
98. Lugsy and Sugar
99. Hugs
100. YOU :)

Okay, I really think everybody should go do this. It made me feel happy.

"in a bullet proof vest with the windows all closed, I'll be doing my best and I'll see you soon..."

2006-08-21T20:36:00.000-07:00

-Coldplay

My throat has been really sore, but I don't think I'm getting sick. I think I have officially come to the conclusion that I have a dairy intolerance. I didn't start noticing my throat problems until I got to SOU, and my voice was always scratchy and my throat always hurt. Since I worked at the library five days a week for four years, Nancy took note of it and started asking me why it always hurt, and I never figured it out. But looking back, I'm realizing that I had a cheese sandwhich almost every day in college! (Protein that is easy to carry in my backpack). And now I've been noticing that as soon as I have anything that is dairy-ish, I feel like I'm coming down with something. I suppose it could be a coincidence, but I'm becoming more and more sure that it is dairy related.

Anyways, I didn't just tell that oh-so-exciting story for no reason. I told it because my throat is sore, and that made me want Top Ramen when I got back from volunteering today. The broth just sounded really good. So I started boiling some Ramen and then went over to the piano to play as the noodles boiled. I started working on the Chopin Etude that I'm trying to learn, and I guess I was a little too focused. Because I suddenly noticed a not-nice odor in the apartment, and I also noticed that there was a decent amount of smoke filling the room.

Yep, I burned the Top Ramen. Then I opened all the windows, but as I was doing so, the smoke alarm went off. Sigh.
Don't worry folks. Everything is under control.

What, you don't believe me?

Whatevuh.

I'm going to go make vegetable soup now. Wish me luck.

"Sorrow drips into your heart through a pinhole, just like a faucet that leaks and there is comfort in the sound..."

2006-08-16T23:20:00.000-07:00

-Deathcab for Cutie

Hi all. I don't really have much to say in the "update" department. Still really busy, still not unpacked, la la la. Kat got back to into town last weekend and it is great to have her here. It is also great to have her Gilmore Girls DVDs! I've been going nonstop all day and then crashing at night. It's weird, because I'm sleeping better than I have in weeks, but it's making me more tired during the day. Go figure.

Amber came over last night and I felt like I hadn't seen her in years, since last time we saw eachother was on moving day and we were both too tired and busy to say more than a few words at a time. We spent the night melted into the couch eating party pizzas, watching Gilmore Girls and talking. And at one point I put my hand on her stomach and Nacho started kicking like crazy! I'm pretty sure him and I were having a party. It was lovely.

"You'll be with me like a handprint on my heart..."

2006-08-09T20:59:00.000-07:00

-For Good

I've been really busy lately. It is quite fascinating to me, how I feel like I don't have a life, yet I never seem to have a spare minute of free time. Weird. Anyways, I'm too tired to recall dates and times of anything right now, but here are some tidbits for the sake of this blog not feeling neglected.

I'm full time at work now, and I've been doing some overtime to make sure we have enough fudge to last the week. I don't mind the overtime at all, since I love baking. It may be one of the most theraputic skills that I have ever learned. There was a bit of a crisis the other day. I had made 26 trays of fudge, (yep, and each tray is 6 pounds, and that is just enough to last the weekend), and I was putting the last tray in the cooling cupboard and (cue dramatic music) all the trays collapsed. IT WAS AWFUL. None of the fudge had cooled yet, so it all ran together, and I managed to save alot of it, but I ended up having to make a whole new batch of chocolate fudge in order to repair all that had been injured. It was very frusterating, because everything had been going so well. Sigh.

Today at work, I made strawberry cheesecake fudge. It is a new recipe, and it was only the second time that I had ever made it, so I'm still messing with it trying to get the strawberry part to taste right. Every time I added new ingredients, I had to taste it to see if it was where I wanted it to be, and it took a long time. I know you are all thinking that I should shut up and not complain about being paid to eat fudge, but trust me, when you eat it because you have to, not because you want to, it is a very different experience. Don't get me wrong, I love the fudge and I eat it almost daily, but during this "time of the month" (are you all following me) my body rebels against me very easily and I get the worst cramps in the history of the world. If I'm careful about what I eat and drink, then I can usually stop that from happening. But I had to eat lots of fudge today to get the freakin strawberry flavor right, and my body did not like that at all. By the time I was standing at the bus stop after work, I had shooting pains going all through my body. Seriously, from my shins to my neck, pain pain pain. Ugh. I guess I can't have my fudge and eat it too.

Kai came over the other day and we spent the whole day in my apartment watching Sex and the City and consuming the leftover birthday supplies from Kai's party. It was really fun. I like my new place, but it doesn't feel like home yet, because I still haven't had time to finish unpacking. I've made a little bit of headway, but I still have a long ways to go.

I talked to Nancy today, which is always splenderific.

I played piano for an hour when I got home from work and my new neighbors don't seem to mind it, which is nice.

I have a huge bruise on my thigh from where I walked into a pole on my way to the bus stop. I rule.

I feel like I had alot more to say, but now I can't remember any of it. Sorry.