Okay, so it ended up being 224 days.....

I admit it - I'm a Myspace junkie and I've totally neglected this blog. That's if I even have time to log onto Myspace anymore...... It's the same old story, though ;-) Working too much..... sleeping when I'm not working..... Unpacking boxes and painting our new house. Oh yeah, we bought our first home!!!

I'm having the time of my life in this home. Erik and I were just discussing that we finally feel home. It's our home. It's already brought us closer and we've learned a few new things about each other. Like how I'm not the best painter in the world, but that's a whole other story ;-) Anways, it's been such a blast moving into our own place and settling in. It's roomy, warm and I have an enormous bathtub!

Anyways, dinner won't cook itself so I'm outta here. I wonder how long it'll be before I write again........

78 Days

Is that really how long it's been since I've last posted something??? Really???

I guess it's time then! Life has obviously been moving at a rapid pace w/o a lot of time for blogging, mainly because of the start of spring and my new job. I'm enjoying learning new things and being a part of something unique, but I'll admit, I have no desire to sit down and think some more when I get home in the evening ;-) I'll write more about my new job later......

In other news........

It's almost hydroplane racing season!!! Our first race is in Moses Lake on the 28th and 29th. So very stoked to get Powerful JuJu back in the water, complete with upgrades and repairs. Oh! And a newly modified trailer that is safe for driving through Kittatas!! (that's for those of you who know - thanks for the memories on the side of I90, but hopefully we won't be repeating history). I'll be posting many many photos of cool racing fun this summer, and hopefully maybe even some video clips with sound, thanks to Erik's new video camera!

Next order of business is Saucy's Pizza. Saucy's is a pizza and sandwich restaurant on south Whidbey Island. Go there. Take the ferry from Mukilteo. Eat tons of pizza and drink a few beers. Why? Because it's the best damn pizza or pulled pork sandwich you'll ever have!!! Especially because it's now owned by the Hadlocks!! That's right...... Erik's parents bought it and Jeff, Erik's dad is not only one of the owners, but head chef as well, and lemme tell ya, I could eat his cooking forever. So, check it out!!

And lastly, just because I feel like letting the world know...... I'm good. I'm really, really good. No, my life isn't perfect. In fact, it's far from it. But I am so blessed to have what I have. A unique but loving family that always surprise me, a loyal and remarkable boyfriend that keeps me laughing, friends that lookout for me and never confuse my silence for anything other than what it is, a boss who is willing to take the time to teach me things I may not necessarily get the chance to learn otherwise, a car to drive (even though it's on loan) and my health. I have all that I need to be loved and happy...... to have less stress and do the things I want to do in this world, I need more money, but that'll come. Right now, I am so very satisfied with who I am and who I know I will become.

Had enough introspective, self-awareness talk? Me too!!

I had forgotten how great it feels to "talk" to the anonymous world. It won't be 78 days before the next time I ramble on and on ;-)

INTERVIEW TIME!

There is a fantastic opportunity just waiting for me..... I have an interview today with a really great, very sucessfull company in Fife. It's funny, it's right down the street from BMW Northwest, which is where Erik works ;-) Anyways, there's a plan already in place for this position to advance in July, it comes with a great salary, full benefits and this place even has an HR Department! (unlike my last job).

I'm super duper excited for this interivew. A little nervous too, just because I really have to put myself out there and hope they like me.

So, wish me luck!

Off I go!

Winter is here!

It's funny.....I blog less now that I'm unemployed ;-)

Life has just been busy. Good, but busy. The wind storm threw off my schedule a few days, so I'm playing catch up (thus, why I just finished my Christmas shopping today!). On my way right now over to my dad's, where my family and Erik are celebrating our Christmas. My dad is joining Jeff and Mary down in Oregon with her folks and Erik and I will be with his family on Christmas Eve. Holiday plans are usually difficult to coordinate, but this year it has gone quite smoothly!

And.... we're going to attempt to drive up in the mountains this weekend to go play in the snow! We were going to go on my birthday last Sunday, but the wind storm kinda shifted our plans. I can't wait to throw a snowball at Erik ;-)

I can't even say how much I'm looking for the new year to get here. After the holidays, I can really start looking for a place to live in Tacoma (oh yeah, I'm moving Jan 31st!) and I can also begin interviewing like crazy for a job. I CAN'T WAIT to start working again. I mean, sure, sleeping in is great, but I'm bored and ready to start taking in more $$$.

Anyways! Gotta run! Stuffed Mushrooms won't make themselves :-)

Have a Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Stranded for a few days

Snow is probably one of my most favorite things in the whole wide world. I love the way it looks falling out of the sky...... I love how it makes our yards white playgrounds and our ski resorts crowded. But when I got stuck down in Federal Way for 3 days while I5 was covered in ice, I wasn't liking the pre-winter storm so much. Don't get me wrong, I loved hanging out with Erik for a few days and just relaxing, but after a while, sitting in a cold apartment without the internet can get a little old ;-) So it feels good to be back home with my heating blanket, my computer and my fridge. The storm was fun to watch from inside and on the news and I'm glad I didn't really have to be anywhere at all this week.

But I do have places to be this weekend, so I'm glad it's cleared up a little!!! Tomorrow we're getting up really early to go to the last Pro Rally Race of the year in Shelton. And although rally races are really fun in the rain and mud, I'm glad it's not supposed to rain.... since later than afternoon, we're heading to to the Sheraton in Tacoma to get ready for the BMW Christmas party!! AND! I'm wearing a cocktail dress!! For those who know me pretty well, wearing a dress is not a common thing (I think it's actually been since Homecoming my junior year in highschool since I've worn a cocktail dress). But the black dress I found is fabulous and I'm excited to have fun tomorrow night ;-)

Gobble Gobble!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! My cousin Mindy and her husband Wayne are throwing the party at their place in Bellingham and the whole fam is going to be there. I'm pretty excited to see some family I don't get to see very often. Erik and I are headed up there tomorrow afternoon!

And so it starts..... Turkey day is here, we're starting next Saturday going to one last Rally Race in Shelton and ending the same evening with the formal BMW Christmas party. My brother's birthday, my 25th birthday, Christmas and New Years. All in the next 39 days.

But I love it ;-)

Discovery

While flipping through channels, I ran across the movie The Village. I remember it being strange and creepy, but intriguing, so I settled in to watch. It still had its moments of bad acting and weird storyline twists, yet this time, I found myself listening more to the music than anything else. I ended up looking up the soundtrack on Rhapsody and when I found it, I found a mesmerizing song......It's called "The Gravel Road".

There's a sense of urgency to it that I can't explain. I stirs up all sorts of stuff in me...... tenderness, hope, conflict, faith, introspect, panic, resolution

Even now, days later, I can't stop listening to it. I can lose myself in this song. I feel empowered by it. I feel it's an expression of what I've been feeling since I lost my mom. The musical interpretation of my heart.

Amazing how one song can move so deeply.

2 Hours

My commute this morning was from Federal Way to Kirkland
Distance: 31.58 Miles
Average Travel Time: 37 minutes
TODAY'S TRAVEL TIME: 2 HOURS

Let's do some comparisons, just for kicks.

Kirkland to Olympia: 69.21 Miles
Travel Time: 1 Hour, 15 Minutes
Kirkland to Bellingham 86.7 Miles
Travel Time: 1 hour, 32 Minutes
Kirkland to Ellensburg: 107.31 Miles
Travel Time: 1 Hour, 45 Minutes

That's why I'm moving down to the south end.....I'm apartment and job hunting as we speak!!

Oh, and I'll have some recent photos to post later today. It feels like it's been a while ;-)

The Change-Up

Shifting. Tweaking. Turning. Improving. Adjusting. That's what life is doing right now.... Just when I think I'm headed on one direction, life turns on its heel and charges in the opposite direction, paying no attention to how I feel about it. Not saying it's all bad, just saying that it's scary at times. I was expecting a fast ball and I got a breaking ball, low and inside.

I lost my job at UBuildIt. And no, I won't go into details.......it's nobody's business. But in my humble opinion, it was partly my fault and partly circumstance. I am UBuildIt's, what, 8th casuality this year? My boss and I were discussing my promotion and raise on Monday and by that Wednesday I was packing up my desk. The only thing that truly stresses me out is the money and I stressed about money when I had a job, so I'm chosing to have a sense of humor and know that if I hold onto the nice severance package I walked out of there with, I'll be alright. I'm always alright :-) And in all actuality, I am turning a job loss into an opportunity to make some big changes......

I'm going to finally finish college! I have a direction, a school, a degree and a new career in mind. More on that later though. My goal is to start winter quater in January, but we'll see how the timing of finding part-time work, financial aid and a new place to live, all right around the the holidays. Ooooo, nice segway!

I think I'm moving to the south end to be closer to Erik!!! We've always said that if we had the chance to eliminate the 40 mile, 1 way commute inbetween us, we should. I'll be in Kirkland through the end of the year and then I'll probably live in Federal Way. I've already started apartment shopping.......We're going to wait on living together for now, which feels right to both of us. Man, we'd be happy not to sit in rush hour traffic for 2 hours just to have dinner together.

So I come back to my original point. Life changes in a moment. And I'm just choosing to be as ready as I can for curve balls........ and the homeruns.

So I really don't believe in daily horoscopes, but....

I still look at it from time to time. Today, my horoscope didn't predict anything or tell me big money was in the stars for me.....

But it did remind me to appeciate the good in my life, as well as the bad. Here's what it said:

"Not all of the important changes in your life need to be dramatic, Hollywood-like moment of revelation. Having a major turning point or epiphany is nice, but it can be overrated. You don't need to make a splash to make a change. True growth happens slowly...... so slowly that sometimes (like now) you might not even be aware of it. Look around today - did you realize that right now, you're in one of the biggests transitional periods of your life? Let it unfold and enjoy it."

What hit me was "True growth happens slowly". I can't even count how many times I've tried to make a major lifestyle change (exercise more, clean more often, get more sleeping, etc) and failed, because I expected my life to change quickly.

I needed a reminder that even though I don't have it all figured out, I have time.

Time to evolve. Time to get it right. Time to become my authentic self.

I don't have forever, but I do have time.

;-)

Brand Spankin' New

Ever since I moved out of my parent's home, I've had a "hand-me-down" or used TV. The last one was an old Zenith....... one of the heavy ones encased in wood that weighed more than a 5th grader. Well that tv and I started to have issues when it wouldn't turn on the first try. Or the second. Or the fifteenth. Most of the time, by the eighteenth try it would come on like normal, with a great picture and sound and everything. But after months of battling, it was time.

I looked on Craig's list for a used tv, but decided that I would get what I paid for and I wanted something worth while.

So I put my big girl panties on, went to Fred Meyer and purchased my first ever, brand new tv! It was a little more than I wanted to spend, but decided that was okay, since I'm going to have this tv for years to come. It's a 27'' Sylvania Digital Flat Screen, TV/DVD/VCR Combo....... and I love it :-)

The archaic Zenith went BYE BYE in the dumpster and my new TV is fabulous!

Yes I know, I may seem overly excited over a TV. I guess I'm just easily amused, what can I say?

:=)

Go Hawks!

It's finally football season!

Lions are goin' down on Sunday..... I can just feel it. Seahawks by 2 TD's.

:-)


(BOOYAH!!! Okay, so it wasn't the prettiest game ever, but it's a win people!)

Fall...... it's coming

I just need to say that I'm so excited for Fall. I love the Summer sunshine and the nights that last forever..... it's just that I love foggy mornings, the cool breeze and having a cup of soup for breakfast. I enjoy snuggling up under heavy blankets with the window wide open letting the chilly air in.

Life will also slow down in the coming weeks....... I may finally be able to spend a whole weekend at my own home! Maybe even sleep in past 8am :-) I'm am so grateful for the things I have been able to do this summer. Erik and I have gone on a dozen camping trips, seen parts of Washington we didn't even know existed, vacationed in Mexico and were there to see my brother get married, raced hydroplanes, floated down a river, gone to his 10 year high school reunion, gone to a few rally races, sailed around the San Juans in a huge sailboat w/ my family..... I wouldn't have traded a moment of it.

It's just that Fall gives me time. Time to think...... time to do......time to see old friends..... time to just be.

"Humor is just another defense against the universe"
- Mel Brooks


Without the people in my life that make me laugh both with them and at myself, I think I would have lost my marb les a long time ago. You people rock.

:-)

Oh The Possibilities

Big things are happening, people. BIG things :-) It's just too soon to spout any details yet......we all know deals have a way of falling through.

But! If things work out, life could be changing in so many good ways :-) I promise that I'll say more when we have more assurance under my belt. Don't mean to tease, I'm just so excited that I had to let y'all know.

Prayers are always welcome...... pray for wide open doors, open-minded loan officers and willing partners.

Thank you!