birthday full o' bouncing fun

Happy 3rd birthday, Oscar!

Thomas!

Bouncing!

Yes, there are kids in there.

Whee!

Bouncing with the birthday boy!

still here living life

Mike and I are still here.  We have just been living life.  Mike has been busy with a huge project at work that keeps him working at all hours of the the day, night and weekend.  I've been spending time with friends, cheering on the Sounders and gardening (we will wait and see how successful I am at that)!

Something else that will be keeping me busy in the next few months is the Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure.  We are about 4 months away from this year's walk and I am in super fundraising mode!  Here we are last weekend at our first 3-Day yard sale.  We have another one coming up this Saturday in Shoreline.  Nollie and I will be starting our training walks very soon....guess I really need to get the store to buy some new shoes!  And check out the sweet 3-Day icon I put on the blog.  It will take you directly to Susan G. Komen where you can make a donation!

5 years

Mike and I celebrated our 5th anniversary in Hawaii on the island of Oahu.  We stayed on Waikiki Beach for 2 nights and then spent the rest of our vacation in a condo on the North Shore.  We drank lots of Mai Tais during this trip to Hawaii.  The best one was at the Royal Hawaiian on Waikiki Beach.  Mike and I did not stay there, we just pretended we did.

Highlights of our trip included: lots of Mai Tais, climbing Diamond Head, dinner at Nobu where Mike was very adventurous and let the chef choose his sushi, swimming with sea turtles right outside of our condo, Dole Plantation, Banzai Skatepark for Mike and Ehukai (The Banzai Pipeline) Beach right across the street for me, shave ice at Matsumoto's, Ali'i tour at Tropical Farms, the cute little town of Hale'iwa, and the quiet North Shore beaches.  

 

The Sounders just won the US Open Cup.

We went to the US Open Cup final last night at Qwest - Sounders vs. Columbus Crew.  

Sounders won 2-1.  

 The Sounders are back to back US Open Cup champions! 

Spass platz!

We spent the weekend in Leavenworth with Jen and Daren for Oktoberfest.  The weather couldn't have been more perfect - 75 degrees and sunny.  Remeber last year it was below freezing during Oktoberfest?!?  Many liters of good German beer were consumed, lots of bratwurst were eaten, and we danced like crazy fools.  It was a lot of fun!  Jen and I even made it on stage during the S-Bahn show where we sang Sweet Caroline!  So good!  So good!  So good!

60 miles...

Day 3 - on the Burke Gilman near Fremont

... and I walked every single step of it (amazingly blister free)!  My goal was to walk the whole thing and I did it!  I'm really proud of Jen!  She hung in there with her blisters and sore knee and walked every step with me.  I could see that there were times when she was thinking of flagging down a van to take her to the pit stop, but I would just turn around, give her a thumbs up and say "It's only 3 more miles until the next pit stop and then just 3 more miles after that until lunch!  You can do it."  She'd smile back and trudge on.

Jen and I at one mile to go

The 3-Day was an amazing experience!  I was trying to describe the weekend last night to Mike and I couldn't find the right words.  I think it's something that you have to experience yourself.  I was amazed at all the support we received along the route.  Friends, family, volunteers and strangers were out there everyday, rain or shine, to cheer us on.  There were church groups with tables of cookies, kids giving us hugs, cars honking, music blasting, people in crazy costumes, signs, balloon arches, front yards decorated in pink ribbons, groups handing out Gatorade....and there were people who stood out there and simply said "Thanks for walking."  It was overwhelming.  The 3 days where not only physically demanding, but they were very emotional too.   

Mike and Nollie showing their support at the Green Lake pit stop

Closing ceremony - raising our shoes in a sign of support to the survivors as they march in

I just want to thank everyone again for their support and donations!  Your support allowed me to spend the past 3 days with 2,300 other women and men who all feel very strongly that we need a world without breast cancer.  The Seattle 3-Day raised $6 million that will go towards funding breast cancer research.  Thanks again!  We are 3 days closer to the end of breast cancer!

Day 2

Walked 21.7 miles.
44.2 total miles done.
Sunny and 73 degrees.
Amazing cheering sections all along the route.
Pink balloon arches, dogs in tu-tus, cookies and candy galore.
I'm amazed at the outpouring of support we receive everywhere we walk.
Camp dance party was rockin'.

Tomorrow we walk Seattle!

Day 1

22.5 miles done.
Rained this morning.
There are firefighters walking in full gear.
Got mail at camp post office. Thanks Grams!
Showered in a semi truck.
Sleeping in a pink tent.
No blisters yet.
Joints ache.
Otherwise doing good.
Could really use a beer right now.

Doing it all again tomorrow!

TEAM TRACY cheering stations

One of our TEAM TRACY supporters has arranged for our own private TEAM TRACY cheering stations!  If you are in the area, please stop by on any day and cheer on all the walkers. Look for the pink TEAM TRACY signs.

Day 1:
Timeframe: 7:30am – 9:30am
Dairy Queen
17831 131st Ave NE
Woodinville, WA 98072

Day 2:
Colby Ave between Wall and 32nd St, Everett
Timeframe: 10:30am – 2:30pm

Day 3:
Western and Denny in Seattle
Timeframe: 12:00pm – 4:00pm
This cheering station is only 1/2 mile from Memorial Stadium (Seattle Center) where closing ceremonies is being held at 4:30 PM.

It's the final countdown!

I can't believe it is almost here.  Next weekend I'll be walking in the 3-Day!  I'm going to spend the next few days getting any last minute items (Band-Aids!  Ibuprofen!) that I may need and going on some of my last training walks with my training partner, Nollie.  Last night we had our final TEAM TRACY meeting before the walk where we got some exciting news from Tracy.  Our team finally broke our fund raising goal of $40,000!  We are in the top 10 fund raising teams in the Seattle area!  And Tracy has been chosen to be one of the 8 women on stage in the Survivor's Circle during the opening and closing ceremonies!

Thanks again to everyone who has donated and given their support!  I can't thank you all enough.  This is such a great cause and I'm happy that I've been able to help get the word out.  I'm hoping to reach my fund raising goal soon.  I'm at the $2,250 mark - only $50 to go!  If you haven't donated yet and would like to, there is still time!  Check out my 3-Day web page.  And if any of you in the Seattle area want to come and cheer the walkers on, here is the spectator info.  I would love to see some familiar faces at the cheering stations, at Green Lake Sunday morning, or at closing ceremonies!

on the sound

Mike and I took the kayaks to out on the Sound yesterday.  We put in at Shilshole Marina, then tooled around in there checking out the boats.  We saw a baby sea lion on the breakwater!  He was really cute just hanging out on the rocks.  Then we paddled around by Golden Gardens.  It was a great day to be out on the water.

3-day update

We had our first TEAM TRACY meeting a couple of weeks ago and it has really inspired me to start training and ramp up my fund raising.  A huge thanks to those of you who have already donated!  I still need more donations to reach my pledge goal of $2300.  Check out my 3-Day personal web page if you want to help.  Only 3 months to go!

I also wanted to let you all know that the West Seattle Herald featured a story about Tracy.  Check it out!  It's easy to see why so many of us are walking with her in September!

maiden voyage

Mike and I took our new kayaks to Green Lake for their maiden voyage on July 4th.  It was a lot of fun paddling around and getting a feel for our boats.  Mike's boat is red and mine is the pretty blue one.  No one tipped over so it was a successful trip!

Happy 6th Birthday Nollie!

I've Got a Fever...

And the only thing that can cure it is more fish-eye.









Congratulations, Rachel and Ben.

holy cow!

 

We went to the Cubs/Mariners game on Wednesday night with Mandy and Dave.  It was not such a good game for the Cubs - they lost 8-1.  Even though we lost, the game was so much fun!  There are so many Cubs fans here in Seattle!  The series wasn't a total wash - the Cubs beat the Mariners Thursday afternoon in 13 innings.  Now the Mariners are in Milwaukee playing the Brew Crew!

Monthly Post

Over the last month:


Been trying to figure out which turntable to get. Thanks to Dave for him lending me vinyl, his record player, and his analog ear for demos; sorry the turntables we demo'd smoked yours. Listening to Harvest on CD and vinyl, it was immediately apparent a record player was necessary. Bought some select titles I knew I'd want to get for the last demo, but now I have records and no player. Dave is having fun record-sitting for me, though.


Emeline turned 1. There was a barbecue.

Went back to Holden for work, twice. Had some moments with my knee both times. Not sure it's ever coming back 100%. May just need to start buying those gallon jugs of ibuprofen.

Started shopping for sea kayaks. They are expensive.

May was bike to work month, which motivated me to get back to bike commuting. Rode everyday, except when I went to Holden.

Finally, bought a mitre saw, which makes things much much easier.


This snowboard rack project was put off since February, but was done the first day I tried the mitre saw.

Back to researching kayaks and turntables.

Guns and Knives

Well had I known Sarah posted yesterday, I wouldn't have dragged my ass up to the computer room (no longer known as the "receipt room" due my cleaning efforts over the past couple weekends) on this gray Sunday morning for a post, but I'm here now.

Got to talking to a guy at work this week about guns and knives. Apparently we both like Benchmade knives (and so do my groomsmen, right?). <---That just happened and is not intended to be any sort of emoticon. Don't you hate emoticons? I should qualify that with one exception: the emoticon m|w sent me a while back. It was an animated smiley face character that waves at you, but it was kind of small so you lean in to see what it was doing. Then, POW, it sticks its hand out at you flipping you the bird and filling most of you computer screen.

Anyway this guy knows a lot about knives and recommended the Spyderco Triangle Sharpmaker. This thing is awesome. I've tried many times over the years to sharpen dull blades on numerous knives but could never get anywhere close to even factory sharp. Now I have too many bald spots on my arm from testing my recently sharpened blades by shaving a patch on my arm. I have received no endorsements for this advertisement, I'm just trying to spread the knoweledge about a great way to sharpen you knives, if you need one.

On to guns. Somehow the conversation moved to guns; a conversation to which I can contribute little. I only own a Beeman P3, which I'd been meaning to shoot for awhile in the basement but had put off for my elaborate scheme to build a shooting range in the crawl space using old curtain rods. He reminded you have to shoot it to keep the seals in good condition. So I went home and did just that.



Well now it's back to listening to different speaker cables. You may think you're bored now, but just wait until after a post on speaker cables. Like Sarah said yesterday, it hasn't been too exciting around here lately. Still rehabbing the knee; then we'll get back to pretty pictures.

I love beer.

Wow.  It has been a long time since I last posted.  Sorry for leaving you to only the postings of Mike, though he is not doing much better than I am at keeping you all informed on our doings.  My absence is mostly due to nothing exciting happening or when something does happen not having a camera around to take pictures.  But mostly, we have just been living life.

I have recently visited two brewery/brew pubs with my friend Jen.  We stopped at the Issaquah Brewhouse (acquired by Rogue in 2000) on our way to a stamping class.  I had the Contraband IPA and the Double Mocha Porter. 

Last night we went to Two Beers Brewing Co. in SODO for happy hour after work.  I had the Echo IPA and the SODO Brown.  I like the fact that this place is hard to find, that you feel like they are brewing in a storage unit, that they are really small with good beers and that they serve SODO Pizza.  I brought a growler of the brown home for the weekend (and for Mike to try since he missed out on happy hour).  Jen and I both agreed that we will be back for happy hour again!

Almost 2 Months...

Since my last post. Pathetic.

To catch you up. My knee is still screwed up. So the answer to my question is yes.

Our stereo started making some annoying high pitch noises. We also rearranged the living room and the towers of power (as Steve calls them) had to go. I knew this day was coming, and I brought it up a while ago on my own.

Luckily, after listening to some stuff at Magnolia/Best Buy I went down to Resolution Audio Video in Ballard (check these guys out if you can), a high-end store I went into once to pass the time while Sarah shopped. I assumed I could never get into high-end audio, even when "you want, I buy" was on the table. However, I talked to Larry, the owner, and he's taken good care of us ever since.

Our new system is 2 channel analog only at 122W down from 7.1 Dolby Digital THX whatever the hell at 770W and 2 bookshelf speakers down from the towers of power, a center, 4 bookshelf speakers, and a subwoofer. For music, which is about 90% of it for us, the new puny system absolutely smokes the old one in every way. Didn't know what we were missing before, but it was a lot.

Oh, and someone called Nollie old at the dog park yesterday.