Christmas 2008

After all our snow, the weather has finally warmed up a little. There was A LOT of rain around Christmas. A lot of rain on top of weeks' worth of snow and ice is a dangerous combination. The saturation can cause very heavy conditions on flat roofs and gutters. Several roofs in the area collapsed. Well on the Friday night after Christmas Robb and I woke up to a crash. We rushed to the living room and couldn't find anything. The family room looked fine too. So we went back to bed. Well the next morning Robb discovered the source of the noise. Right outside our bedroom window our gutter fell off the roof. I'm just thankful our roof didn't fall in, that would have really sucked. This just caused an inconvenience for the landlord who had to fix the thing. It's really interesting to live in a house, but only rent right now. We can see what types of things go wrong with houses, but don't have to deal with fixing them ourselves. It will prepare us for the future when we're finally ready to buy a house. We will have a better idea of what to expect in terms of house maintenance and repairs!

We initially weren't going to get a Christmas tree this year so that we could save a little money. But I just love Christmas so much and love decorating the tree. So we got a short tree this year. It was great little tree though. And I got to put up all my favorite Christmas ornaments. Most of our ornaments are from special places and mean something to us. I love my traditional and beautiful German ornaments. I bought most of them while I was in high school in Germany because I knew I'd want them on my own tree one day! And I love my ballet ornament because it reminds me of my dancing days. And Robb and I always try to buy ornaments when we visit fun places. We love pulling the ornaments out each year and reminiscing about the time we bought the ornament and what we were doing on that trip! So I'm very glad that we decided to get a tree this year and we got to do that again. It really is one of my favorite parts of Christmas. I think that's why I like decorating the tree so much. It's about the memories.

For me, Christmas Eve is more of the traditional family time and nice sit-down dinner. My Mom always made prime rib. While her prime rib is pretty good, I'm not generally a fan of prime rib. But I do like beef. So this year I looked on the Internet for the perfect beef recipe that was not a prime rib, but worthy of Christmas Eve dinner. I found an amazing recipe for Garlic Herb Crusted Beef Tenderloin. It sounded amazing, had great reviews, and didn't sound too difficult to create. Robb ordered the beef from Metropolitan Market (New York aged strip loin) and we got an incredible 5 pound piece of meat. That's right. 5 pounds. 2 people.

I can cook, but I've never made a true piece of meat before. Robb is the main cook in our family. But I really wanted to make this dinner on my own. However, I didn't want to screw up such an expensive piece of meat either. So while I consider the meat prepared and cooked by me, I did make sure that Robb supervised so I didn't screw it up. And success was obtained. It came out perfectly. I could not have asked for a tastier Christmas dinner. (Along with the tenderloin, we had roasted potatoes, fried corn, and garlic-lemon spinach...all made from scratch by me!) I was telling my friend Michelle about how proud I was of cooking this 5 pound piece of beef. And even though she's vegan, she recognized and pointed out to me that I should be proud because there's something special about being able to prepare a real expensive and large piece of meat on your own for an important meal. It's kind of a rite of passage to becoming an independent, adult woman. (At least in my mind it is.) So the beef was a success and I think it will become a Christmas Eve tradition in our house!

Christmas Day was a quiet affair at our house this year. We actually took showers in the morning and changed into clean PJs so we could hang out comfortably all day.We spent the day watching our favorite Christmas movies all day (I think we made it through 7) and talking to our families on the phone. Robb's family always had Christmas dinner on Christmas day, so even after the amazing food we had the night before, he made a ham on Christmas day. Even though it was raining that day, the rain was mixed with snow at some points, and there was still plenty of snow on the ground from our snow storms over the past two weeks. So we definitely had a white Christmas, which was nice!

Snow and Snow and More Snow...

One of the reasons we decided to move to Washington is because there are seasons. We missed having a fall, winter, spring, and summer. In Florida it's mostly summer with a few cool days thrown in there. The neat thing about Puget Sound is that while you get the seasons, the winter is somewhat mild. You might expect trace amounts of snow, but it's not like you're in Minnesota. I actually have a colleague who works in Spokane, WA and he told me that he moved away from the Seattle area, to the eastern side of the state, because he wanted real seasons with real snow in the winter and real heat in the summer. So I moved here for the seasons. He moved away because Puget Sound wasn't season-y enough!

So most people who live in Puget Sound are not used to great amounts of snow. The area completely shuts down for an inch of snow: people do not know how to drive in it and there are not enough resources to plow and de-ice the roads. Now imagine 12 inches of snow. And imagine that snow and ice continually falls on the area for two weeks. We've got major freak-outs going on here. Everyone loved it at first. It's exciting for the kids to play in gobs of snow. Everyone got an excuse to take a day off work. The ski resorts were finally able to open. (Picture of the front of my house is after the first snowfall. The picture of my backyard is after the most recent snowfall.)




But now, people are sick of it. They're tired of being snow-bound. They're tired of being stranded at the airport. Christmas shopping has been frantic in the few hours between snow storms. I'm tired of having to drive to work in this. (Because, of course working for the state means that no snow days are declared. If I can't make it to work I am not allowed to work from home. And if I can't make it to work I have to use up one of my earned vacation days. I only gave up one day so far. Otherwise, I've been going to work. I leave a little later and come home a little early to avoid the icy roads in the dark, but I am NOT giving up my vacation time for this!) I'm a fairly good driver in the snow. I did learn to drive in Germany after all. But, there's not much you can do when there's a foot of snow on the street and you try to get to work and your little Honda Civic gets stuck in between the driveway and the street and neighbors have to dig you out (because you waited too late to buy a shovel and then every store within a 30 mile radius was out of them). There's not much you can do when your place of employment won't shut down, but won't plow the parking lot, so your little Honda Civic gets stuck (AGAIN, ON THE SAME DAY AS THE ABOVE INCIDENT) trying to park. There's not much you can do when your street is a slight incline and the city hasn't plowed it once in the two weeks since this has started, and when you turn down it you slide right past your driveway and your yard and have to beep your horn so teenage boys get out of the way. So yeah, I don't mind driving in the snow. But I do wish I had 4 wheel drive every once in awhile.

So we've got lots of snow. It's absolutely gorgeous. And I love having a white Christmas. It's great to have Christmas music playing, your tree lit, cookies baking, and snow falling. And we're supposed to get MORE tonight. But I think everyone is very anxious for it to get back to the typical Seattle winter rains. This is definitely a Christmas to remember...


The progression of snow over two weeks...

Christmas Celebration in Bellevue

Last week we braved the below freezing weather and went to see Disney World reincarnated in Bellevue, WA. Bellevue is an upscale city east of Seattle with a great mall and downtown area. We first went to the Bellevue Botanical Gardens to see the 'Garden d'Lights.' Apparently a few years ago Bellevue wanted a way to attract visitors to the Gardens in the winter time; they started to drape the gardens in Christmas lights. Over the years this morphed into creating elaborate displays of fake blooms, trees, and scenes using colorful lights. The lights were really quite incredible.

After the 'Garden d'Lights' we headed to downtown Bellevue. I wanted to see the nightly performance on 'Snowflake Lane.' There is a main street in Bellevue that is right next to a huge mall and tons of restaurants. During Christmas time this street is re-christened 'Snowflake Lane.' Christmas music is pumped out through loud-speakers and snowflakes are projected onto the sides of buildings. At 7:00 'Snowflake Lane' becomes even more of an extravaganza. Live toy soldiers lined the streets and handed out lollipops. People dressed as ice princesses, polar bears, and penguins were dancing in the streets. And a toy soldier drum corps marched their way through the crowds and then performed along with the Christmas music. The performance was capped off with fake snow falling. The crowds of families and kids were truly intense. It was a great little performance and such an interesting ploy to get families to come to the Bellevue Square mall for their Christmas shopping!

The night truly felt like the time we went to Disney's MGM studios in December a couple of years ago. Kids hopped up on excitement and sugar? Check! People dressed in costumes and dancing? Check! Outrageous displays of Christmas lights? Check! Fake snow falling? Check! All commercialism aside though, it was a nice way for Robb and I to feel festive and get in the Christmas mood!

Florida in November

I decided it was time to head back to Florida for a visit. I hadn't been there since I moved almost 1.5 years ago, and it was time to see the family again. Additionally, I knew that it would be a perfect time to throw my sister a bridal shower. Because grocery stores are busy the week of Thanksgiving, Robb couldn't take any time off, so I headed to the Sunshine State on my own for a week.

I only had to take three days of vacation and I managed to arrive in Florida on a Saturday and not leave until the Sunday after Thanksgiving. It was a nice visit with great weather - mostly in the 70s. I saw the various grandparents and relatives. I had a huge Thanksgiving dinner at my grandfather's house. I spent some good time with my parents (I hadn't seen my Mom since May and my Dad since LAST Thanksgiving!) I got to eat at my favorite beach restaurant, Frenchy's Rockaways, twice! I got to sit out on the beach for a little bit. And we went to the local park to see an alligator.

Briana's bridal shower was lovely, if I do say so myself. I'd been thinking about it and planning for months. It was a vegan dessert-themed shower, with a cupcake focus (Bri is a vegan who has become quite the cupcake-baker). Pink and yellow were the colors. I was told by the bride to not have stupid games. I think I managed that. We played the board game "Dirty Minds" and had a cupcake decorating contest. Briana picked the winner of the cupcake contest, see if you can figure out what it is.... I also had everyone write marriage advice for Briana and I'll be putting those thoughts in a scrapbook with pictures of the day. I think the day was a success. The bride had a good time and she cleaned up on the presents. And most importantly, everything was vegan and tasted delicious. I think it surprised some people that vegan desserts could be so good.

The other exciting part of the week was completing my first 10K! I convinced my Dad to run the Turkey Trot with me on Thanksgiving morning. We'd been training for it for a few months (since I completed my 8K in July). My goal was to finish it feeling good, not walk, and stay at 11 minute miles or less. My goals were met beyond my expectations! First, I ran the entire 6.2 miles. I'd been training for this, but had always stopped at 6 miles. So this was the first time I went the full distance. I also finished the race in 1 hour, 5 minutes, 1 second. That's an average of 10:27 miles. That's an incredible time for me and much faster than I thought it would be. My Dad finished in about 56 minutes, which was pretty good for him too. Although we didn't run "together" it was nice to know we were doing it together. And I really like making my parents proud. They're pretty excited about staying in shape and exercising, so it's fun to feel like I'm a part of that now. A year ago I could barely imagine running a 5K, now I've just completed a 10K. That sounds crazy! And, by the way, I've lost 17 pounds since this running/eating right thing started last March. I have to figure out what my next race will be. It's important for me to have a goal so that there's something to work towards.

Now I'm back in Washington and back at work. (This was the first vacation I've taken since starting work, it was weird to come back.) It's gotten pretty cold this week, the highs are projected to only be in the 40s. So it's time to start bundling up more. But you know, while those sunny Florida days were a nice break, I love wearing my sweaters and scarfs. So I'm back home to enjoy the cold, the fireplace, and the flannel sheets. I get to see the fat squirrels do anything to get extra food before hibernation. And as I decorate for Christmas, it's nice to feel a nip in the air. And if I start to get sick of the rain, I know that I'll see sunny days again when I go to Florida in March for Briana's wedding!

Habitude

I've been having blog withdrawals. My computer has been acting up and has been unmanageable. Unfortunately we just got a diagnosis for an unfixable computer. I'm hoping that we can manage to get my files and photos off of my machine. Robb is able to get it to turn on and work every once in awhile. So now I have to start using his (well, now our) computer. So, on to my first blog posting on a different computer....

In early November I finally cashed in my March birthday present from Robb. I went to the Habitude day spa in Ballard for a morning of pampering. It was my first spa experience and it was heavenly. I arrived mid-morning and was shown the locker room. It's really inadequate to call it a locker room. It's more like a quiet oasis with a place to put your clothes. I put on a luxurious robe and flip-flops and went to a private room for and hour-long facial. After the facial I moved on to another room for my massage. The full-body massage included a hot scalp treatment. My hair was brushed, oils added, scalp massaged. Then I moved on to the hot sauna and enjoyed a smoothie. Finally I headed back to the locker room and took an incredible shower. I got home mid-afternoon and just hung out on the couch the rest of the day so I could ensure my zen wasn't interrupted. It was an awesome experience. I can't believe I've gone 25 years without having a massage or facial before. Unfortunately, it will probably be another 25 years before we can afford sending me to the spa again. Man I wish I was rich....

The Zoo, U-District, and Capitol Hill

The actual weekend of Robb's birthday we had a Seattle extravaganza. On Saturday we headed first to Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo. It was a very nice zoo with some interesting exhibits. I thought it was strange that there was such a large area with farm animals. I guess city folk see farm animals as a little exotic. Robb was also excited to go into the aviary and feed the birds. We like the gorillas, the bears, and the various aviaries the best.

After the zoo, we headed to the University District. The U-District is where the University of Washington is based and is a hip, cool, young area. The first place we had to find was Cinema Books. Robb is a movie fanatic (we have well over 500 DVDs, not including TV shows), so we had to check out this bookstore that he had read about. This store was amazing. Every book that had ever been written about movies, movie-making, movie stars, directors, etc. could be found in this cute store. The store was literally filled to the brim and overflowing with books (first picture) We spent quite a bit of time in there and then headed to a video store that Robb had read about. Scarecrow Video (second picture) turned out to be the biggest video rental store in the Northwest. We walked around a bit and looked at the different genres and niche movies and imagined what it would be like to actually live in Seattle and have that type of coolness available to us on a daily basis.

We then walked around the U-district, popped into a few more book stores and music stores, and then went to the Neptune movie theater. This landmark theater is a one-screen, revitalized, gorgeous movie theater that tends to play independent films. We saw the documentary Religulous (which was very funny and very good) because we've been wanting to see this Bill Maher film, but of course they don't tend to show that type of movie in the suburbs. The movie ended around 9:30 and we still hadn't eaten dinner so we started walking the streets to find out what was still open. We decided to try a bar/restaurant called Flowers. You could tell that the restaurant used to be a flower shop and they kept the sign from decades ago. It was a really nice, mellow atmosphere with phenomenal food and great prices.

After a very long day of the zoo and the U-district, we finally headed home, only to get up the next morning and drive right back to Seattle. On Sunday we went downtown and walked around Pike Place Market for awhile. We got our favorite Pike Place Chowder for lunch and stopped at a used DVD store. Then we walked from downtown all the way up to the Capitol Hill District. This neighborhood is another one that we hadn't visited before. It's a very eclectic neighborhood and is known as the gay district. It had a neat little main drag and there is probably a lot of the neighborhood that we didn't get to see.

We finished the day with buying our favorite cheesecake down in Pike Place Market and stopping in a coffee shop for cappuccino and wine! We finally made it to the Seattle zoo and to two new neighborhoods for us! All in all, a good birthday weekend for Robb (and I didn't mind it either!)

Kayaking in Skagit Bay

Robb turned 29 this month. (Don't tell him I told you. He doesn't like that. It means he's even closer to 30. He's been worried about being 30 for like 7 years.) So this was the last birthday in his 20s and I wanted to make it extra special. I was trying to figure out what we could do and I thought I need to take him kayaking. All he's talked about since moving here (well actually he was anticipating this the day we decided to move to Washington) is going kayaking. And we've been here for a year and while I got to go kayaking with my Mom, Robb had never been. So I started looking up kayaking day trips close by. I found one that was scheduled for only a week before his birthday and it even included birding. For those of you that don't know, Robb has become quite the bird enthusiast. We have a book on Washington birds and several bird feeders in our yard. So this kayaking/birding trip looked perfect for Robb's birthday celebration!

So I only told Robb that I had a surprise for him and he needed to take that day off. The night before the trip I presented him with a waterproof camera and a synthetic quick-drying shirt to get prepared. He was very excited to go kayaking and we couldn't wait for the next day!

We got up early on Kayaking Day and drove north of Seattle to LaConner, Washington. This was the cutest little coastal town! It's definitly a tourist destination (in the spring the town is surrounded by tulips), but it still felt like a real town with its own local personality. After the kayking we were able to walk around town and pop into a few local shops. We'd like to go back one day around tulip time and also try some of the restaurants. (And notice the salmon shaped bridge that was in town -- super cute!)

We met for the kayaking trip under the Rainbow Bridge. (That's us in front of the Rainbow Bridge which was actually just orange.) It was a small group, 6 people total including our guide. The weather was cool in the upper 50s, but it was sunny and we had dressed appropriately.

The bad parts of the trip: There were not very many birds and the guide didn't seem interested in stopping to look at the birds we did spot. Additionally, while the guide was nice, he didn't seem interested in teaching us how to kayak or even basic safety skills. We often would be behind the rest of the group (or get stuck on a rock) and our guide never looked back to see if his group was with him.

The good parts of the trip: We stopped at an island for lunch and to wait for the tide and we got to explore. There was some type of predator on that island because we found interesting feather/bird remains. While kayaking we saw a few bald eagles flying overhead. We saw some herons and kingfishers (a type of bird for you non-bird-savvy types.) We spotted a raccoon along the edge of an island (aren't they supposed to be nocturnal?). And we saw tons of sea lions swimming in the water. It was fun to spot a sea lion's head bobbing along. We also kayaked along LaConner. It was fun to kayak along town and wave to people and go under footbridges and see town from a different perspective.

And Robb and I had a good time kayaking. He loved the sport as much as he imagined he would. We worked fairly well together as a team. And it was great, as always, to get out and try something new, do it together, and experience Washington in an athletic way.

Of course, kayaks cost like $3000. So I am now taking donations so that you can feel that you're part of the Robb and Katherine Kayak Washington team! We'll make up t-shirts to send to contributors.