hello people here I am in the midst of buying faucets, sinks, and toilets. I bought this lovely black toilet for the powder room, now I can't wait to find some dramatic, outlandish vanity top, sink, faucet, and wallpaper to completely out fit my boudoir bathroom. Actually I'm not sure I want the "boudoir" look yet- but definitely am going for dramatic and outlandish! The powder room is my clean slate for creative expression, and I plan to abuse it. Will send pics upon completion. I found this cool wallpaper that has bare frames all over it so you can colour or paint them and put photos or whatever you want inside the frames. kinda hard to explain, let me see if I can attach the link here for you to view...this is ridiculously long...

http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/urban/catalog/productdetail.jsp?id=19448885&pushId=A_FURN_WALL&popId=A_DECORATE&navCount=297&navAction=push&itemCount=80&itemdescription=true&parentid=A_FURN_WALL&startValue=1&sortProperties=+subCategoryPosition,+product.marketingPriority

What do you think??? I am thinking it can be an ongoing work of art.

So I recently met this girl who sings. I met her online through the Microsoft network and she is keen to start a small group. She has lots of experience and seems that our musical interests are similar. We had dinner a couple of weeks ago and haven't spoken since. We didn't really connect so I haven't followed up & neither has she, but now I'm thinking more like "beggars can't be choosers", so maybe I should call. It is kinda weird to not be singing AT ALL for the last 8 months or so. My creative world is a desert. Hence the powder room focus.

I am (supposed to be) studying for my personal training certification exam. I keep saying today I'll start and then, well, I can't seem to do it. Yuck yuck yuck is all I can think. I do not want to sit and study at all, but I do want to work so I am in a quandry. I suppose if I go ahead and book in for an exam date then that will make me commit to some sort of study schedule so i can see it through.

One thing I AM going to do is start taking photos of all the ridiculous parking jobs I see around here. NO ONE CAN PARK, wait until you see it, I am not kidding. Admittedly the parking spaces are HUGE here, so I guess people figure there's a large margin for error. But that is no excuse to PARK DIAGONALLY across the space or to pull up halfway with the back half of the car sticking out in the road.

must go and pick up Amelie from school! She is having her friend Fran come over to play today. Fran's family just moved here from Sydney of all things! They only live across the road, what a coincidence. It is a pleasure knowing a fellow Aussie, it is reassuring to share that common ground with at least someone here. I miss you guys! Last night I was listening to Coco's lUnch cd and I got so emotional, missing choir and the Agents and my aussie life! Emotional but full of good memories that I hold close. xxoo be well, I will post some recent photos of our trip to Naples.

HEllo and a Merry new Year to all! Yes, it would seem I have been rather defunct lately as I realise my last post was in October. Alas, nothing incredibly funny has happened apart from listening to my stepfather's laugh for a week at Christmas.

We moved into our new house on Nov 13th. For some reason Chad had it in his mind that this would mean we would FINALLY feel settled and all would be well. The reality was much different- suddenly we were living amidst boxes and brown paper, miscellaneous packaging. Unpacking items and repeatedly asking ourselves "why the heck did we keep this?" or more pointedly: "WHAT IS THIS?".

When we received word that Chad's dad Lou and his partner Nancy were visiting us in 2 weeks for Thanksgiving, we went into overdrive to try and give our house some sense of order before their arrival. That impetus was a blessing since it forced us to unpack and organise rather quickly. Lou is a genius builder/engineer/handyman and so went about giving Chad a crash course in house maintainance, which I quietly watched with glee. So armed with his new knowledge, Chad went about successfully changing light fixtures around the house AND you should see his cordless drill skills! Most impressive. Now he wants to buy an electric screwdriver which is beyond me as to why they would even make such an item but apparently they are very handy soooo whatever. We seem to end up at Home Depot about 3 times a week buying various screws because apparently every job needs it's own kind of screw. I am dubious, but what do I know? Whenever we have a household job, Chad gets out the drill and I stand around nearby and hold the screws and/or other bits and pieces until I am needed. Then I go and knit.

I really do. I have recently taken up the indoor sport after reading "The Friday Night Knitting Club" which for some reason I found inspiring. Currently I am obsessed with dishcloths and am making some in the shape of hearts. They are very cute. And eco-friendly. But I digress...

We had a loooovely wintry Christmas with my mom and stepdad here for a week's visit. We decorated our house with lights and bought a 10 ft tree. Actually it was 9 1/2 but 10 ft. sounds way more impressive. It was big! It just fit in our living room. I loved it. I admired it every day, several times a day, just sitting and looking at it. We were hoping for snow but that didn't come until a few days after Christmas. We went to this town called Leavenworth about a 2 hr. drive northeast of here. Basically it was a gold-mining town and when the gold dried up, the residents of the town made a last ditch effort to save it by turning it into a traditional Bavarian village in the mountains. And they did an amazing job. Everything looks quintessential eastern European, at least to your average American it does. As I am enjoying my schnitzel, sauerkraut, pickled cabbage and potato salad, I could swear I'm in...well, Bavaria! Or Vienna or somewhere like that. It was pretty cool.

This weekend we are going skiing for our first time since moving back. And this means that I am going to attempt to teach Amelie how to ski. This is really something I'd prefer to outsource, but I figure it's also a great way to create some lasting family memories, especially if it goes well. AMelie is not exactly Miss Adventure, so I don't know how she'll take to it. Especially riding a rope tow and a chair lift! It can be a bit scary for a little kid. But If she doesn't, she'll be spending a lot of time sitting in the lodge! Chad and I are keen skier/snowboarders and we're looking forward to regular ski trips.

And while we're on the subject of skiing, We are going to Aspen next week for 4 days to see my cousin Ray. Then we are going to Naples, FL for 8 days in Feb to get a much-needed dose of sunshine! Desperate for sun. We actually bought a light box last week- or a "happy box" as I call it. It's a plug-in box that gives you rays like the sun (not the kind that tan) and you're supposed to sit in front of it for 20-30 mins a day for therapeutic benefits such as feeling normal! The dark and grey can get to you here. I'm not doing too badly with it, but Chad is finding it hard and he uses the happy box every morning. It does help.

oK, I"ll be going now. I'll try to post some photos here too. Hope you all had a Merry Christmas and you received my Christmas card. Think of all my Aussie friends so often and miss you guys! Miss singing with you Agents and Lollies!

LOTS OF LOVE & BIG HUGS

OUR FIRST HOME

well, we have bought our first home! I will post photos later once I take some decent ones. The whole process was basically going back and forth with the owners to agree on a price. Or should I say, our real estate agent went back and forth on our behalf. The whole process is sooooo much more civilised here than in Australia, where you are under the pump and on show at an auction! IT's kinda weird really. And because the market is so slow here, you don't have any competition with other potential buyers. So it's very stress-free really. Just how we like it!

So now we are getting quotes for having the kitchen updated. We looked into refacing the cabinets, and after ruling that out due to cost we are going to re-paint the old oak cabinets in the hopes that they come up good. There is also some crazy vaudeville show lighting in the kitchen which needs replacing. And we're putting in quartz countertops. We are beginning to learn that you can spend a freakin FORTUNE in the kitchen! It's crazy. And since we also have a master bathroom to do we really have to limit our budget, so we're only doing what we deem to be the necessities.

So we are closing on the home on Nov 5th, and we hope to be in the house before Thanksgiving (late Nov) if all goes to plan! WE WOULD LOVE VISITORS if ever you are over this way of course.

We have recently joined an International Supper Club! This is actually the brainchild of our friends Julie & Nick, who we knew in Australia. Actually Chad worked with Julie at Microsoft in Melbourne and they just moved over here last year. Julie is from Seattle but her husband Nick is from Melbourne. Sooooo when they arrived here last year they found it very difficult to rekindle old friendships and/or make new ones. So they decided to play hosts on a regular basis and hold social events at their home, especially since they weren't getting many invites to anyone else's!. They started the supper club with 2 other couples who also enjoy international food and wine. The group gathers 6x per year to share food and wine from a designated region of the world. Last week was our first supper club (theme: Thai) and while the food and drink were great, mostly we are grateful for the opportunity to meet some new people and enjoy good conversation and of course learn more about all-things-Seattle.

We are still hiking nearly every weekend. There are so many areas to explore here and we absolutely love getting out in nature & its beauty. Now that autumn is in full swing the colours are truly spectacular here. So vibrant, some almost fluorescent if you can believe.

So Halloween is coming up next week and we are (well, me and Amelie) pretty excited about an American Halloween this year! Amelie is dressing up as an angel (nothing scary for her!) and she managed to enlist my mom to make her costume. I have already informed Chad that we are spending next Saturday night at home watching horror movies, which he is not thrilled about because of the nightmares I will have afterwards and he doesn't want to be disturbed while he's sleeping. It is weird that I want to do this sort of thing, but I just want to get in the spirit of the occasion. I had forgotten what a big deal Halloween is here. They have all kinds of haunted houses and parties you can go to here in Seattle. There are huge stores dedicated only to Halloween. It's over the top. And it's fun! There is a haunted house here that I really want to go to- it's supposed to be amazing- but Amelie is too little so we'll have to wait a few years.

That is all I can write right now. I told Chad he HAS to write a blog entry about all the crazy coffee orders he listens to while standing in line at the coffee shop every morning. It is truly ridiculous, wait til you hear it....

I will post photos soon! I hope someone is reading this! Please post a comment so I know you are...

LOVE
me

it's raining....

Hello people. I have recently had an eye-opening experience at my local grocery store which I will share with you. Firstly, grocery stores here have sprinkler systems installed in their fruit and vegetable departments. These sprinklers are timed to spray water all the produce at regular intervals- I suppose to keep everything looking "fresh" like it's just come off the farm. Can you tell I live in the rain capital of the universe???!! Aussies will be APPALLED by this
produce-sprinkler-policy. And while I do find it ridiculously water-wasteful, the most annoying part is that all my vegetables are wet when they go in the cart, hence all my groceries get wet when they go in the bags. And what about when you are in the middle of reaching for a bunch of carrots and you get doused all up and down your sleeve?! How bout a warning signal or something???
So I am in the Red Apple (my local grocery) shopping in the fruit and veg section, minding my own business when I hear a roll of thunder. That's right people- A ROLL OF THUNDER IN THE FRUIT AND VEG DEPARTMENT . Then I hear another one- no, it's not my imagination, there is thunder in the produce department. And just as I am trying to figure all of this out- the sprinklers come on! AHA! So there's the warning signal- thunder rolls before the "rain storm" . Whatever dude.

I should also mention that we have made an offer on a house! We are in the throes of negotiation with the sellers and hopefully we can come to an agreed price so we can finally have a home of our own. We are very excited! Well, I'm very excited, Chad is being more objective about the whole thing, which I figure is a good balance. So it is a 3 bedrooms/2.5 bath, one-story home on almost an acre of land which backs up to a greenbelt of pine tree forest with a creek running through it. It is in a beautiful neighbourhood and a great school that Amelie can walk to. It needs a bit of updating- mainly the kitchen and also the master bath which is crazy as it is now. The owners put in 2 master baths - a "his" and "hers"- so we want to knock out the wall between them and build one big master bath. The bones of the home are excellent so we feel we can realise it's potential.

We went to Home Depot to check out all the options for countertops, appliances, flooring, and all things DIY. Another weird thing here is that when you go to Home Depot (which is like Bunings), there are always a bunch of Mexicans hanging out somewhere in the parking lot. ALWAYS. So I finally find out what they're doing there: hoping to get work. They hang out and wait for someone who needs some work done on their house to come along and hire them for cheap labour and pay them cash so they can keep staying in the country illegally. I guess someone must hire them, but it's not going to be me. Pay your taxes like everyone else, amigos.

That's all for now! Miss you all in Oz! xoxo

amelie's first day of school

kayak trip

I have been distracted lately as we have had an influx of visitors recently. It is amazing to be able to see so many old friends now that we are all on the same continent again. Amelie is loving school and her 2 teachers (a job-sharing thing) are absolutely lovely so of course that gives Chad and I much peace of mind. I have also enrolled her in gymnastics and Mandarin lessons. And before you say " what a wanker", I will tell you that she was learning Mandarin at Elsternwick Primary and was really taking to it so I thought maybe it would be nice if she could continue it over here. so there.

I have volunteered to come into AMelie's school classroom every week to help with reading. I also, much to Chad's amusement, volunteered to help out with their computer lab once a month. Not sure how helpful I'll be, but I figure how technical can 6 year olds get on the computer? Surely I'll be able to teach them....well......how to clear your "deleted items" folder or something else that's very useful to know.

This past weekend we went on a one day kayak trip in the San Juan Islands. The goal was to be able to see some orcas, since this is where they come to hang out and feed for the summer and into early autumn. Well, I am up at 5:30am praying to the orca gods and then we drive 1 1/2 hrs northwest to Anacortes where we board the ferry and an hour-long ride to Friday Harbour where we will meet the kayak crew. It is a very foggy and rainy morning as we roll up our pants and slide our kayaks into the water. The San Juan Islands are one of the most popular weekend trips for Seattlites. They are rugged and mostly wild, forest-covered islands located just southeast of Vancouver Island. As we paddle we are greeted repeatedly by harbour seal pups which keep popping their heads out of the water every 200 feet or so. They are sooo cute! They like to check us out before bobbing back under the surface. We also see lots of porpoises, but NO ORCAS! Grrrrrrr..... I temper my disappointment with an overly enthusiastic paddling stroke which, in order to follow proper paddling instruction and much to his irritation, Chad must mimic at the rear of the boat.

Meanwhile Amelie is sitting in the middle of the kayak doing nothing. Which means being bored. Which means whining. Which is annoying and which is cutting into any possibility of having a Zen experience out here on the water. So I try to create my own inner Zen quietly up the front, which involves ignoring whining child, while I paddle through the fog. Amelie's whining becomes background noise. And after a half hour or so of practising this, I notice that she has actually stopped and is being extremely quiet. So I turn around and all I can see is a blob of a figure sitting in the middle of the kayak wearing a bright blue kayak skirt over a red lifejacket with the polkadotted arms of her parka and a patch of brown hair poking out. And I realise she has fallen sound asleep. And she (seriously) looks like the guy in the wheelchair from "A Weekend At Bernie's"- I am not kidding. I am howling with laughter over this thought. It almost makes up for not seeing any orcas.

Pumpkin spice nonfat latte

Hello folks
Today I went to my first PTA meeting. This stands for Parent Teacher Association and it's job is to oversee all events- be it social, educational, or fundraising- for the your child's school. I figure that my involvement is a good use of my spare time as it enables me to have more insight into the different programmes & opportunities at Amelie's school; and it is also an opportunity to meet other parents at the school and maybe make a few FRIENDS which would be nice.

So the first meeting is at STARBUCKS of course, it seems this is where everyone meets for anything. Truth be told I think I have been in a Starbucks once since moving here, which is an anomaly given that Seattle is the birthplace of this coffee giant and they are, quite literally, everywhere you look. Way more than McDonald's or KFC, to stress the point.

Well, I am not really a coffee drinker, but since I am here I may as well try something new. Now here is something I have come to understand, and it is the plain truth. The reason people like all those fancy syrupy sugary coffee drinks is because the coffee at Starbucks is so bad that you can't possibly order a simple latte and expect to enjoy drinking it. So I am studying the menu and I see "pumpkin spice latte" up there on the board. Now, a lot of you know how I feel about pumpkin pie and this is the image I'm getting when I see those words up there. So I have to try it of course. And because I thought that it would probably be so sweet that I couldn't possibly drink the full fat version, I order it "nonfat". "Would you like whipped cream with that?" UHHHHH, no. And I feel myself get a little twinge of excitement over ordering this crazy pumpkin spice latte and I can't wait to experience the yummy pumpkin-y, nutmeg-y, cinnamon-y flavour.

Except that it is freeeaaaakin diiiisssgussstiiiiiinng! There is no hint, no remote resemblance to pumpkin pie, or even "pumpkin spice" for that matter. I am very disappointed. AFter the meeting I go straight home and comfort myself with a mug of hot, sweet, milky tea. And that is all I have to report for today.