We moved into the new house!

. . . and then I dropped off the face of the Earth for awhile.

But I'm starting to pull myself back up, and I may even finish unpacking boxes before Christmas gets here! (or at least all but the handful tucked away in closets, which totally don't count)

It really shouldn't have surprised me, but the move-in was crazy! We've got so much stuff, even after getting rid of a bunch of things before we moved out. The moving team we had was great, and unpacking was part of the service, but once we made it through the kitchen, china, and Sam's room, I told them to leave everything else in boxes! Unpacking is easy, putting finding places to put everything is the hard part. I'd much rather have a bunch of things in boxes that needed to be sorted through than to have the stuff strewn about all over the place. Not that we didn't (don't) still have things strewn about anyway, but it kept things to a manageable level.

Then a few days after we moved, Sam and I headed to Texas! It was a wonderful trip with Oma, Grandpa and Aunt Elle, so good to get back to familiar and beloved faces and places after all the new and strange. Mr. Sam continued to be excellent at airplane travel, and Giggy flew back to Seattle with us! She got to spend plenty of time with Sam and it gave me some breathing room to unpack a bit more.

More updates to come, but for now I really wanted to get something posted so I can get back into the swing of blogging!

Housing update

We've sold the house in Texas! *happy dance* It's a huge weight off our minds, and it didn't take nearly as long as we'd feared. It was a wonderful house, and it provided a haven for many cherished memories.
We celebrated the sale of the house the same way we celebrated buying it :-) Margaritas and texmex! Ok, maybe not actually texmex, more New Mexico/Southwest style, but extremely tasty with excellent margaritas. The place is called Cactus, a small local chain with one location nestled at the base of Jonathan's office building and three others scattered elsewhere in the Seattle area. I suspect we'll be visiting them fairly frequently.

After a full month in the apartment, we're all desparate to get back into a house. Unfortunately, we've been having a hard time finding a place--two not-small dogs make the whole thing more complicated. At one point we had a good place picked out, and our rental application was submitted and accepted. But then, as we were waiting for the lease paperwork, they came back and said "sorry, someone else put in an application after you, and they don't have dogs. Have a nice life!" That was not fun.

But now we officially have a house! Did the walkthrough yesterday and got all the details, which were really impressive. It's very tech-friendly with lots of nifty gadgets built in, I think Jonathan will have lots of fun with them.

Gotta admit, at first I was a little . . . unenthusiastic about this house. It's not in our first (or even second) choice of locations, and because we were running out of options and time, we didn't spend very long thinking about it--just moved ahead. (I think I literally spent 10 minutes walking through; we had dogs in the van that day.) So I didn't have time to fall in love with it like I had with several other houses over the course of our search, but the size and price were right, it was available and willing to accept the dogs.

Then yesterday when we did the walkthrough, I did have time to fall in love. The neighborhood is full of giant trees, several little windy roads and a couple of parks within walking distance. We're in a small culdesac, set back out of the way, and the fall colors were stunning. The house itself just got better and better the longer we were there--skylights, beautiful light and window fixtures, huge sink in the upstairs laundry room, on and on.

Now I'm really excited, ready to be out of the city, into our house, and get all our stuff back! Movers come Tuesday, and I'll try to get some good pictures ^_^

Cougar Mountain Zoo

Last weekend we made another escape from the city, out to Issaquah and the Cougar Mountain Zoo. So far Issaquah is our favorite Seattle suburb--full of trees, right on the slopes of two small mountains that are also large wilderness parks, with a charming downtown reminiscient of a ski town. It was our first choice for a house, but the rental market has dried up and we had to look elsewhere. Oh well, we can still visit!

Cougar Mountain Zoo is a small private zoo in Issaquah. Private means that its a little pricey, as zoos go, but well maintained and clean. The scenery is beautiful, and the best part is that you can really get up close and personal with the animals.

The zoo mascot was waiting to greet us as soon as we got in (apologies for all the phone pictures, I keep forgetting the big camera!)

What a handsome pair!

How up close and personal? Well, outside all the tiger areas there are big signs that warn "you are in a spray zone!" so look out for tiger butts.

As for the less dangerous animals, you can buy various animal treats all over the place in order to tempt them closer, and even though we didn't have food most of the time, the animals seemed to expect it. We stopped by the alpacas as another family was feeding them and Sam thought they were hilarious! He laughed and laughed, until the alpacas decided they didn't appreciate us getting a free show and started making sounds that sent us running. (We know just enough about alpacas to keep our distance if it sounds like they're going to spit)  

This crane was disappointed in his search for treats, but didn't mind a quick photoshoot.

The mule deer agreed to pose in exchange for kibble, which Sam gladly handed over. Sam thought that was pretty cool, but not as funny as the alpacas!

 This is the button you push for the animals to come, right?

Watching the cougars :-)

The Journey by Kathryn Lasky

This second book in the children's series Guardians of Ga'Hoole expands both the world of the owls and the reach of the plot. It's starting to feel like Redwall meets Harry Potter, although aimed at a slightly younger age. (Not 100% sure about that, Redwall and Ga'Hoole both have fighting and blood, but so far it seems a little tamer in the owl's world.) Still a fun read, excellent kid lit!

Review also posted on Goodreads

REI Convert

The last time I was in need of outdoors gear, I headed for the big Bass Pro Shop in Grapevine. If Bass Pro is the mecca of the hunting/fishing/good 'ol boy outdoorsy life, REI is the equivalent for the sporty/hippie crowd. There's an interesting dichotomy between the two, a difference in philosophy and approach to nature. I'm more philosophically aligned with the Bass Pro side of things, but since I neither hunt nor fish, REI works just as well!

I knew Sam would be needing rain boots before we were ready to take advantage of the winter weather, and Google informed me that there's an REI near our apartment so I pointed us in that direction. It's really quite close, only about an 8 minute walk past heavy downtown traffic, stores and road construction. Then we turn a corner and find a lovely forested oasis, complete with waterfall and mountain bike testing trail.

A helpful sign explained that this was"the first corporately sustained urban forest in Seattle"

Turns out this is their flagship location! I knew that REI was famous for its indoor climbing walls, but in addition to a large one, this place also has the aforementioned forest and bike trail, a US Ranger Station, indoor children's play area, cafeteria, and who knows what else. I even met another Texas mom! (Yay for Aggie shirts!) They'd also recently relocated to the area for Amazon. Unfortunately I didn't manage to get her name because I'm horribly awkward and scatterbrained. I'm really regretting that because she had a little boy not much older than Sam and it would have been great to compare notes.

By the time we got to children's footwear it was almost lunch and nap time, so Sam wasn't in a mood to linger or particularly interested in trying on shoes (by which I mean he screamed every time we approached his feet). In his defense, Mommy made the mistake of exploring the store and letting him play *before* we tried on shoes. >_< The lady who helped us in the shoe department was still very helpful and sold me a pair of boots (to be tried on at home) and a membership. 

So now I have another good destination to take advantage of while we're downtown! On the way out, I snapped a picture of the view:

Not bad for downtown!

Missing Texas

During the last few weeks before the move, I was keeping mental tabs on what I'd miss after we moved. By a huge margin, numbers one and two on the list are our amazing family and friends, but a few of the others (in no particular order) are:

• The sky. It's a subtle thing, one I didn't really notice until we moved back to Texas from two years in Baltimore, but the sky in Texas is so much bigger!! Maybe it's the lack of trees, the expansive pastures, or lack of topological features, but driving from place to place the beauty of the sky and drama of all kinds of weather is palpably present.  
• Whataburger. One of their big billboards right now says "Texas is a Whataburger state, lucky you!" During our last few weeks in Texas, I kept mentally changing it to "Texas is a Whataburger state, you lucky bastards!"
• Freebirds. We probably ate at this College Station burrito haven at least once a week all through my college years, and our fellow graduates have made it easy for the brand to establish new locations all over Texas. Sadly, they have yet to reach the Pacific Northwest. (Decent facimilies exist, but it's never quite the same) 
• Plentiful, delicious TexMex. I know they'll have some mexican restaurants up north, but I'm expecting a huge drop in both quantity and quality. Luckily TexMex is my cooking forte, and there's always the wonderful Homesick Texan for new recipes and inspiration. As soon as we're settled I'm planning to order an entire crate of Mateo's salsa, a Frisco brand which has quickly become a staple for us. Jonathan will eat it on almost anything and even Sam is a fan.
• Country music. I'm not a huge country fan; back home I'd generally flip through the country station as often as alt rock, classical or pop. But if our time in Baltimore is any guide, my radio time is going to be pretty much all country from here on out. It just sounds like home!
• Streets with names. Less a Texas thing than a Seattle thing; 95% of the rental houses we've browsed through are on numbered streets. The addresses are horrible mouthfuls, like 65583 SE 127th St. Just try saying that out loud! Oh, and heaven forbid you leave out the SE qualifier on Google maps, who knows where you'll end up. I miss street names that stick in the mind, like Teel, Grayhawk, El Dorado, Cattle Drive Ln (a real street!), or Shiny Peacock Feather Dr (possibly not a real street). They don't have to make sense, that's half the fun.
• The heat? This gets a question mark because it's extremely qualified. I'm mostly looking forward to having outdoor activities in the summer, but every now and then that soul-melting Texas heat comes in handy. Like when you're having a nice dinner out with family and between the restaurant's AC and the after-dinner chill, you're almost shivering by the end of the meal. Then you walk outside and bingo! Not cold anymore :-) Also applies to long days in over-air conditioned schools and office buildings.

Any other Texas expats want to add to the list?

A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter Miller

Also posted on Goodreads:

I absolutely loved this post-apocalyptic novel, which is apparently a classic that I'd never heard of. The book's got it all: apocalypses, Catholic monks, re-developing civilizations, religion vs science, religion working with science (even better!), and multiple characters with more than one head. I feel slightly cheated that I wasted time reading drivel like The Road while Canticle was waiting to be discovered.

Although Miller writes with plenty of dry humour, it's a dark story and a heavy, occasionally plodding read. The theme of cyclic history is both amusing and haunting when it's not being terribly depressing. The characters come and go without too much fuss (I half suspect this is done on purpose, a statement of the monk's light grasp on this world and focus on the world to come).

I found it satisfying that Miller commits the secular heresy of suggesting that the Catholic Church would not only outlive modern science and the fall of civilization, but would protect and foster their redevelopment. When the "Christians/Catholics hate science" narrative is still way too strongly preached in many areas, it's refreshing to hear it so beautifully refuted.

Quick note: I usually link my blog posts to Facebook, but since the review's cross-posted on Goodreads and (I'm pretty sure) shared on Facebook, nobody wants multiple newsfeed items every time I finish a book.

Peanut Butter-illas

I plan to include cooking posts on this blog, but with a tiny and pre-furnished kitchen I'm in minimallist mode for dinners. Thought this might be worth a post, although I'm not going to glorify it by actually calling it a recipe. I take no credit/blame for the idea, Jonathan came up with it at some point and we supplemented with a quick internet check to see if it was a workable culinary experiment or doomed for messy failure:

Peanut butter-illas! Exactly what they sound like, slap some peanut butter on a tortilla, fold and apply to frying pan, dip in jam. Allrecipes recommended using butter in the pan, but I think it added more grease and mess than extra flavor.

It was a fun varation on our standard pb&j! I'd like to try some variations next time--maybe use whole wheat tortillas and add sliced banannas or apples to the mix.

The two jams are wild blueberry and lingonberry, which we picked up on our trip to Ikea last week. Both are very tasty. I'd never had lingonberries before; they have a bitter bite that reminds me of cranberries.

Aquarium Trip

We went to the Seattle Aquarium last week and it was a huge hit! Sam enjoyed the fishtank at the Children's Museum (also awesome), but when he saw the full wall of fish at the Aquarium entrance, he was absolutely entranced. "Fishies! Fishies! FISHIES!" For awhile I was afraid we wouldn't get any farther into the exhibits, because he was about ready to camp out all day. Every few minutes he'd run back and drag me to the glass, just to be sure I wasn't missing anything ^_^ He kept trying to count the fish, but his grasp of counting isn't quite ready for anything that wiggly.

My pictures didn't turn out so great, boo!

Eventually I lured him away with the promise of more fishies, and we found the tide pool/shoreline exhibit. This tank had a wave generator and every 15 sec or so a big wave would go through. The waves surprised him, every time one went by he would yell "hey!" I hope it didn't bother any of the other guests; I thought it was hilarious.


Then we moved on to the hands-on pools, where you could touch starfish, sea cucumbers, sea urchins and I don't even know what else. Sam was mostly interested in the water ("splash splash!"). We didn't hang around too long, but I did find a star fish for him to touch. Dunno how impressed he was though, since it neither glittered nor wiggled.

He also really liked the jellyfish exhibit, but just like the hands-on pools, I suspect he found the media more interesting than the inhabitants. It was a big transparent ring with jellyfish rotating through and a color-changing backlight on one end. He plastered himself to the light and informed me of all the color changes.



We wandered around for a bit after that but were starting to run out of steam. Sam liked the otters, especially once I pointed out that they were kind of like our puppies if Millie could swim. Hopefully that doesn't lead to confusion down the line.

The problem with going to the Seattle Aquarium via public transportation is that our bus dropped us off waaay up on Pike Place (in front of the Market) and we had to trek down a looong stairway to get to the aquarium. It was doable first thing in the morning and going down, but I wasn't about to attempt it going back up afterwards. That meant a long, roundabout bus ride with a (level) walk to catch our original bus back home. And guess what happened on the first bus?

Yeah, sleepy baby did not wake up through several blocks of being juggled through the city, onto bus #2 and all the way back to the apartment. He's a heavy boy! 'Course, it's his mommy's fault for not leaving sooner or bringing a stroller, but wheeew it made for a long haul back. Totally worth it to see him at the aquarium though!

Downtown living

As far as I'm concerned, big cities are terrifying. Alien planets, foreign soil; too many people in too little space, too much misery and crime in the bad sections and too much money and high fashion in the good ones. Growing up we made a general progress from suburb to small town to middle-of-nowhere and I loved it. Soooo, now we're smack dab in the middle of downtown Seattle for a few weeks and I'm resolved to enjoy the experience instead of just surviving.

Pre-move thinking went something like this: Lots of people enjoy living in the downtown areas of big cities, gotta be worth a try, maybe we'll really like it! It was a sound theory, with several promising points. For one thing, Jonathan's commute is only about 10 minutes of walking, and there's a good bus system for Sam and mommy to use when exploring the city.

But my first impression, after a long day of travel and stress, was less than positive. Mentally and physically exhausted, I puttered around our new apartment home, frustrated at what felt like every turn. Why would anyone choose to live like this?! How do people raise children in this building?!

After a night of sleep though, I had to recant my ill-tempered musings. For one thing, this is the view I get with my morning coffee:

On the other side of the table, Jonathan also approves of his view:

It's not like I can fault Amazon's relocation arrangements--it's a fairly new, generously-sized two bedroom apartment--as much as I complain, we're not exactly (nowhere near!) slumming it here.

So, on our first morning in Seattle, fortified by sleep and a little relaxation, we started our first weekend of bravely facing big city culture shock!

I'm totally lying; we turned tail and ran for the suburbs. In our defense, we needed to stock our new apartment with a bunch of odds and ends, which required the car's hauling capacity and big box stores like Target and Ikea with plenty of parking. But yeah, other than walking the dogs I didn't venture outside my comfort zone much for the first couple of days.

Now that we've had a few days though, we're finding plenty of other good things about our temporary abode. Jonathan is enjoying his walks to and from the office (not to mention the new job!), and after a couple of nights Sam adjusted wonderfully to his new sleeping arrangements. St. James Cathedral isn't too far, and mass on Sunday was beautiful. I took Sam to the Children's Museum yesterday, and he had a blast--we'll be going back for more! (and posting pictures)

The weather our first few days here has been a dream--highs in the mid-70s or high 60s, with the autumn chill and color changes just starting up. We've only had one and a half cloudy days so far, but those were almost better than the sunny ones! (This is the only area where I feel sympathy with vampires--full sun is highly overrated. But ask me again after a few years up here and we'll see if that holds)

On the whole, we're still putting a lot of effort into finding a good rental house out in the scenic suburbs, but I'm glad we have this opportunity to experience Seattle up close and personal.

The Move

Made it to Seattle! It was a little crazy at times, but we're safely installed in our temporary apartment. The first stage of the move was pretty easy, the moving crew swept in and boxed anything that stood still for too long then loaded it up in an impressively short time. I only had to beg for reposession of one forgotten item (dog medicine), and it turned up in the first reopened box, yay!

We spent our last night before the move in a hotel near the airport; I can highly recommend the Euless La Quinta hotel for all your dog-friendly hotel needs. Then it was up at 3 am to head to the airport! That was the tricky part, luckily my dad was there to help, not only the day before to help with errands and getting to the hotel, but then again at 4 am to get us to the airport. Thank you Dad! Between six checked bags, carryons, two dogs and their crates, and (not at all least) The Sam, we had our hands full.

 The flight was actually the most relaxing part of the day! We got Sam strapped into his carseat (which I'm very glad Jonathan was willing to lug through thr airport) and he just took everything in and read his book until we could turn on the electronics. Then he was absolutely thrilled to have 3.5 hours of uninterrupted iPad time, and I took a nap.

Just a little bit like his daddy :-p

Once we landed, things were not so relaxing. We managed to pile all our stuff and the dogs in a corner of the airport, and I waited with an somewhat bored Sam and two nervous puppies while Jonathan picked up a rental truck. (Interesting note: in Texas, it's cheaper to rent a minivan, but in Seattle, cheaper to rent a crew-cab pickup--yay supply and demand) I can't even imagine how strange we looked, but luckily (I guess) we were noticeable enough for a porter to come over and offer his help with the loading process.

Once we were all loaded, the hard part was over! Sam fell asleep almost immediately, and we took turns walking the dogs and waiting with Sam until check-in time at the apartment.

Crunch Time

Two more days! The movers start tomorrow, and Thursday morning (early morning!) we'll be getting on the plane. It still feels a little unreal, but suspect that won't last much longer--things are about to get very real indeed.

We had an open house this weekend with several interested parties, so fingers are crossed for maybe hearing about an offer! That would be wonderful. You know it's bad when my non-Catholic husband suggests that I get a St. Joseph statue to plant in the yard :-)

Last week we actually had a rainy day, so we took the opportunity for a quick picnic! This may sound counterintuitive unless you've lived through a Texas summer, but it was wonderful--a short walk through the woods and light rain to covered picnic tables. Sam splashed in a few puddles, explored, and enjoyed being allowed outside after 9 am!

Trip to the Park

Well, our move dates have been set; we're officially less than two weeks out from the big date! Gotta spend the next few weeks getting ready and spending as much time as possible with family and friends :-)

I'm playing catch-up with the Sam pics, here's some from a trip to the park a couple of weeks back.

Climbing up the mountain! I was really impressed (and scared!) the first few times he did this, but he's a real pro at it!

Made it to the top! Complete with dramatic lense flare (or bad lighting, one of the two).

He always gets excited about slides, but then gets nervous about the actual letting go and sliding down part.

Going up is much less scary. "This is how it's supposed to work, right?"

"Okay Mom, that was fun but now it's time to go!"

Smoothie Adventures

So, in an episode of truly awful timing, I had my wisdom teeth removed last week, the day before our house was officially listed on the market. o.0 Luckily we survived the weekend (thank you Oma and Grandpa!) and now everything is coasting back to normal, except that I'm supposed to be on a liquid or semi-liquid diet for the next week and a half.

Guess what I made for lunch yesterday? Would you believe a chocolate avocado smoothie?

I have yet to master the art of taking pretty pictures of food, so I stole this one from here

It was an idea I'd seen bouncing around Pinterest and Facebook, and I decided to finally give it a try! Final verdict: much tastier than expected, but not to be mistaken for the non-healthy variety. A great way to get nutrients that aren't easily available in pudding, jello, or cream of chicken soup.

Here's the recipe I used, I've also seen variations that include bananas and/or peanut butter:

1 ripe avocado

3 Tbs cocoa powder

1/4 cup plain yogurt

2-3 Tbs Honey

1 cup milk (more or less, depending on desired consistency)

Next time I think I'll try making it with Nutella!



Undercover Baby

Sam found a neat trick to distract Mommy and Daddy from naptime!

Now you see him . . .

Now you don't! Nope, no babies here. Sam must have escaped, you should go look for him! Just make sure to leave the door open behind you.

Are they gone yet?

Oh hai! 

Weekend Update

So busy! We'll see if I can actually post regularly for a bit :-p

This weekend we had our first house showing, with all of 30 minutes warning >_< that was an adventure! Thankfully, Oma and Grandpa were there to help or else we never could have gotten ready in time.

Last weekend Jonathan and I took our house-hunting trip to Seattle. It was actually more of a neighborhood-hunting trip, since the rental market turns over so quickly, but we got a good feel for where we'd like to look for a place.

We also did some tourism stuff, and Joanthan had fun with an app that makes nifty panoramics :-p Here's one from the top of the Space Needle: (link has a viewer for the pic)

The Amazon offices are slightly right of the middle in this shot, a very nice location!



The weather was amazing, although is did get warm in the middle of the day, all the way up to the mid-80s! (oh no!) The scenery all over was beautiful, trees and water everywhere. Should be fun to explore ^_^



Cuteness Update!

A short post in which Sam displays several newfound skills:





Drinking from a real cup with only minor spillage.





Wearing Mommy's flip-flops





Making faces at the camera! He didn't blink, that's the face he was making.





Grabbing up to 6 bean bags at once (and still making squinty grins at the camera!)

The Horror of House Staging

We've started meeting with realtors on selling the house, and the part that's really starting to scare me is staging the house for showing. My housekeeping is erratic at best and the absolutely-clutter-free-look-like-a-model-house standard of staging simply boggles my mind. No longer can I shove random clutter into the closets and cabinets: potential buyers will be inspecting the closets and cabinets. The ideal is to make ourselves disappear, no baby, no dogs, no human inhabitants >o< Time to panic?

The Book Cull

I was so good this week! Went through the wrenching process of deciding which books we’ll be keeping through the move and which we’ll donate/sell before we leave. I hate getting rid of books, but found this time around that I was willing to let go of more than usual. Old manga series that rank low on the nostalgia list went into the discard pile, as did the more recent Star Wars novels, which were pretty bad anyway. The obscure Asimov paperback was hard to let go, but chances of reading it are low, and the ease of picking it up in an e-book collection is high. Same rule applied for several cookbooks that always looked fun but never actually got used (thank you, internet!)

When I took them to the library our policy of not keeping empty cardboard boxes around came back to bite me, no usable boxes to carry this mini-library! So I packed them all into the largest and sturdiest gift bags I’d saved from Sam's first birthday and dropped them off for the bewildered volunteers at the library. Must have made an interesting morning, looking inside adorable Noah’s Ark or Toy Story themed gift bags to discover programming and engineering textbooks, video game guides, scifi/fantasy paperbacks and shojo manga. >o<

The Toddler Bed

Young Master Samwise has been able to climb out of his crib for over a month now, but luckily he’s lazy well behaved enough to stay put as long as mommy gets there in a reasonable timeframe. Buuuut, the situation couldn’t go on forever, and I finally managed to track down the toddler rail for his crib. (and that’s a looong boring tale) Now that everything is figured out and Jonathan installed it, the bed looks great and works great!

He was perfect his first night in the toddler bed, but when nap time came around he discovered that once mommy leaves, it can be playtime! I couldn’t get him to stay put, even by reading him stories. Since he was playing quietly, I closed the door and kept the monitor close while I worked, and after about an hour and a half I didn’t hear any more movement. Held my breath and forced myself to wait for another ten minutes, and look what I found!

I am so proud of my big boy!