Another Year Older

So, when you turn a year older, you look at where you have been and then where you are going from here. I know that I am approaching 40 but sometimes I feel like I am still 30 and life is still full of possibilities. I guess I am not a traditional 37 year old...and in many ways I feel like I am catching up to what I am supposed to be at this age. But...I still feel like a life done any other way wouldn't make me as happy as I am now. Embrace life...live life to its fullest. Don't worry about what you SHOULD be doing, but instead think of the things you ARE doing. Are you living life by your standards? Or someone elses? Are you concerned with how other people look at you? Or are you most concerned about your view of yourself? I think my age is finally catching up to me. But inside, I am still the same rebellious teens and twenty year old that I often have to talk out of things.

Many Happy Returns of the DAY!

Bellevue, WA

So, today, Sunday July 29th, Terri and I headed to the Art Festival in Bellevue where Terri's boss had some pottery at the show....and Terri and I worked at the booth for the first part of the morning. http://www.bellevuearts.org/fair/index.html There was lots of great art and artists. I purchase a couple pieces of jewelry. Then, we walked around the mall which was HUGE!! And found a cute little Italian place to eat. Maggiano's Little Italy 10455 Northeast 8th Street Bellevue, WA 98004 with some awesome cream of mushroom soup, Caesar salad and pizza!! And a very good wine choice! Then Terri and I split a strawberry kabob covered in milk and white chocolate. Then...it was time to head to the train station. I got a call that said the train had been canceled, and I would be catching a bus. So, we got to the station about 4pm...and I think the bus left about 5pm and I was back in Spokane by 10:30ish!! Now, I have to get ready for the week. My birthday, mom comes, and work of course. On the weight front...I am waffling between a weight loss of 19 and 20 lbs...I will definitely be weighing in on Saturday...but hopefully all will be well.

Fremont - Seattle WA

So...Friday night July 27th I stayed awake so I could catch a 2:15am train Saturday morning to Seattle to visit Terri. Well, I arrived about 1:45am to find out that the train was delayed until 4:45am...and I don't think the train left until after 5am. And YES, I did stay awake that whole time. Needless to say I was rather TIRED once I got on the train and I slept for most of the way. I woke up around Everett, WA and looked at the scenery. It was gorgeous. The train went along the water and you could see the Olympic Pennisula! Then...we were in the city. Terri and Zach picked me up. I think we got there about 1pm or so. Terri and I went back to the apartment, which is SOOOO cute! And I showered and got ready to hike around Terri's neighborhood, lots of cute shops and things to see! http://www.gonorthwest.com/Washington/seattle/Fremont/Fremont.htm

Then, we met Zach at another AWESOME McMenamins restaurant http://www.mcmenamins.com/index.php?loc=14&category=Location%20Homepage

And headed to Ballard to the Seafood Festival http://www.seafoodfest.org/2007/index.shtml
It was YUMMY, although a lot of food was gone as we got there kind of late. Zach had some bbq salmon, apparently the specialty, and Terri and I shared a shrimp melt, which was ooey gooey liscious!!

Then, we rented Premonition, and I fell right to sleep, was the movie good, I have NO idea!

HARRY POTTER 5 was AWESOME!

Okay, so Tim and I went to see Harry Potter today, it was SOOOOO good. I don't want to give away anything, but obviously things weren't in the movie that were in the book and some liberties were taken to make a very long book fit into 2 hours and 18 minutes...but I think it was good none the less. My concern lies with some of the plot points that are foreshadowing things to come or explanations...but I guess if you didn't read the book it would be confusing and too long to sit through some of those. I had to go out and buy a second copy of the Half Blood Prince as mine is in storage somewhere and I will be reading it to prepare for the book coming out on Friday.

In other news....I am going to play with my new camera today, so hopefully I will have pictures to share next weekend.

And in diet news, I am down 18 lbs now!! I am excited and can't wait for another 18 lbs to come off!!

It is HOT

So, here I am in Washington, thinking that it will be hot and dry this summer, but I wasn't prepared for 102 or 104, these are the highs the last couple of days, UGH. Granted, it is a DRY heat...at least that is what everyone tells me, okay, it is still HOT. This week was all about getting back into the groove after being on vacation. Back to dieting religiously, back to work, and apparently Tim is headed to Italy on Monday. I am so proud of him...and yet, jealous and sad that I can't go too. He flew to Seattle to get his passport on Thursday, which was also our wedding anniversary...5 years!! My how time flies. In other news...an apartment in our complex burnt last night (about 3am or so) the fire crews were still out there at 6am this morning. Send all kinds of positive thoughts to the families. No one died, but I think maybe a few pets did, which is also sad. Tim and I are headed out to dinner tonight and to Harry Potter tomorrow. Keep Cool!!

Return from Iowa DAY FOUR

So, after a great night's sleep and a HOT shower....we had breakfast and headed out. We left Butte about 10am and got home a little after 2:30pm. The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful except for the sad sight we saw right before we hit Coeur D'Alene, ID. Looks like there was a death on the highway and the car was packed for a vacation...it was a sobering sight, please be careful to all of my readers!!

As we merged into the single lane, several cars decided to get ready for it, but a few people decided they would like to cut ahead....the driver behind me noticed this and pulled his car into the left lane so they couldn't pass, I was excited!! Then the van behind him arranged it so the person trying to rush ahead couldn't get in the right lane until 5 or 6 cars behind him...it was great!! More people should do this to those idiots who can't merge when they are told and make it suck for the rest of us who are merging as we should. Kudos to the silver car and maroon van from Washington State!!

Tim is napping and I am going to veg....groceries need purchased and we need to clean up...but it is hot and we have NO energy.

Return from Iowa DAY THREE

So, when you wake up from a night at a hotel, what is the first thing you want to do? Shower right? Will a cold shower do? What is a shower worth to you? For me, it is the reason I stay in a hotel and I am not camping. I figure if I am paying 100+ per night then I am entitled to a hot shower. So, Tim takes a shower and it is TEPID, by the time I get one there is just COLD water. This is a convention center sized hotel...If I wake up and shower at 8am, should I just expect that the water is cold? Spearfish Holiday Inn believes that the shower was worth 15.00 which is what they credited us for our trouble. Is this acceptable? Well, we had spent 2 nights on the way to Iowa and two nights on the way back so far all in either Holiday Inn or Holiday Inn Express hotels...there was a man in front of us in line to sit down for breakfast....he got mad because it took them 5 minutes to tell him they would be right with him...and I will bet he didn't get a hot shower either. So...something to think about when you are traveling. I am not one to complain...but if you are paying 100+ per night...I feel that it is a GIVEN you are getting a hot shower in the AM, and that is just the way I feel. Now, all of our other stays were great...but let's just say that when we made a decision about where to stay for our last night...it wasn't a Holiday Inn...we chose Best Western in Butte, MT, and it was HUGE, had convention rooms and I got a hot bath that night AND a hot shower the next morning...the place was nearly sold out...and I STILL got a hot shower...something to consider on your next trip.

Anyway, back to the return trip....We got up and headed out to Devil's Tower WY, it was a pretty drive and Devil's Tower was amazing. Saw prairie dogs and lots of people, it was HOT, so there wasn't a lot of hiking, and I felt a little clammy, could have been the sponge bath I had that morning. Anyway Tim started looking at the map and thought maybe we could take a scenic detour on the way home...seeing those mountains to the south of us made us want to go up in them...so we decided to take a small detour...up into the mountains...in true Tim form, we underestimated the time....but we got to go 9370 ft, saw snow, saw a moose and her calf, had to come down the side of the mountain in low gear....10% plus grade hills and once on the bottom, the storm of the century was brewing and lightening and wind and rain were going like mad around us. We managed to avoid a large blue infatable pool blowing right at us, I managed to keep us on the road...and it was INCREDIBLE. Tim tried to get a picture of the LARGE bolts of lightening coming down...and after 20 shots, got one!! It was GREAT!! Well, this small detour was more than a couple hours and got us to Butte, MT just outrunning another storm close to 10pm...we picniced on the mountain, so we ate at Perkins once we arrived. It was good. And, we slept well.

Return from Iowa DAY TWO

We got started fairly early the next day...we went through the BADLANDS, which looked different than it had when Mom and I went through....and then we headed to Mt Rushmore. On the way we stopped at Bear Country USA http://www.bearcountryusa.com/ to drive through and see some bears...there were also some wolves, bison, bighorn sheep, and other animals. Once we left the auto tour we went to see the baby animals....bears, bobcats, river otters, etc...it was really cool! Mom and I had wanted to stop there but it wasn't open when we went through. Then we headed to Mt Rushmore. There were TONS of people there and it was REALLY hot...but I am so glad we got to see it. We stopped to see the Story of the man who carved it in Keystone, SD http://www.rushmoreborglum.com/borglum_story.htm which was really neat...then we headed to see the national monument. It was incredible...and we learned about the Hall of Records created behind Lincoln's head which was designed to preserve items...we didn't know about that. Then, we took a scenic drive to Deadwood, I wanted to show Tim where it was and what it was like, we want to return there sometime! Then we drove to Spearfish, SD to spend the night so we could head out first thing in the morning for Devil's Tower WY.

Returning from Iowa Day One

I am going to post a series of my return from Iowa...I want to plug a couple things we did...and say that this was a really fun trip. I got to see my aunts and uncles, all of them...and most of my cousins, which was fun. We arrived in Iowa on July 2nd about lunchtime. We took about 2 days and a few hours to arrive. We left Spokane Saturday morning June 30th and drove on I-90 to I-15 and headed south to Park City, UT, where we spent the night...then headed West on I-80 through UT, WY and then NE. We spent the second night in Grand Island, NE and finished the 3 or 4 hours the next morning to Exira. We arrived as the last of the group. It was nice and shockingly cool for July when we arrived. So, we hung out outdoors for a change and it was great. Tuesday, we ran errands and did some visiting...and then Wednesday was the 4th...so it was a day of parades, food, games, etc. We walked to and from the parade site, watching 1/2 the parade with the Hays clan and the other with the Littlefields. Then we walked back to get our food and head to Atlantic to eat with the Hays clan at Grandma's residence. Lots of good food and talking. We headed back to Grandma Littlefields for some r and r and the clay shoot...everyone tried it out, we nearly convinced Mom to try it as well. Then Terri and I walked to Exira to ride some rides with Freedom and Anna....we both nearly got sick on the Octopus....and I had a hard time recovering...so Jason gave us a ride back to the farm....where we joined a volleyball game in progress (Ted's set up). Then it got dark and it was time for fireworks...which were awesome again this year. Then, we built a fire and had marshmellows and leftovers around the fire. The next day it was belgian waffles and bacon for breakfast and then people started heading out. Terri, Zach, Tim and I left before 11am and had a lamb burger in Omaha at the M's Pub http://www.mspubomaha.com/

If you are EVER in Omaha, NE, you NEED to go to the Old Market area and eat here, tons of GREAT food http://www.omahaoldmarket.com/ Lots of great shops and lots to see and do!!

THEN we headed to SD. We arrived in Mitchell, SD to have some frozen custard at Culver's and go to Cabella's http://www.cabelas.com/home.jsp;jsessionid=UDVYBVY0QSMR4CWQNWTCCNIK0BW0CIWE?_requestid=59368

We slept just past the Missouri river for the night and then headed on to The Badlands.