Friday, August 31, 2007

And I'm back in the game...

First news first....

I GOT MYSELF A JOB!!
*pat* *pat* on the back for me.

I was at the point where I was beginning to think my life would consist of interviews and more interviews, followed by more interviews, but no paycheck. Thankfully though, my prayers have been answered and I apparently wooed everyone over at the Ad Agency I will be working for. I'm really excited for this new endeavor, and while I don't start for 3 more weeks, that gives me ample time to find an apartment downtown and just relax.

Second in news today....playing a little catch up since my last blog...Last weekend we enjoyed a church camping trip at Lincoln Rock State Park near Wenatchee, about two hours east of Seattle. And on the way back home we acquired some yummy just-picked peaches and pears, along with a couple bottles of wine from a local winery. yum yum.

I've really kicked up my running mileage the past two weeks since I have a couple of fall/winter races on my mind (to be officially blogged about later). Mostly some 4 milers, but I even did a hilly 5 miles during the 'heat wave' that came through this week. And by 'heat wave', I mean 85 degrees. I think my tolerance for unbearable Kansas heat has left of my system because those 5 miles were a struggle at my normal pace, I had to slow down and just enjoy the evening. And I threw in a 6 miler with speed intervals, just to spice things up a bit.

And tomorrow I get to go sailing around the Puget Sound on a 39 ft sloop, sure to be the highlight of my weekend.

Have a great Labor Day weekend, y'all!!

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Tour de Seattle

Whew!!! i've finally had time to sit down and recap where i've been for the past week. i got two new tires on my car, was able to pick it up in time to meet my parents at the airport and set out on a fun-filled week with them. i feel like the time passed so quickly, but i was able to show them so many things that i love about seattle. We did the obvious: Space Needle, Pike Place Market, ride the ferry to Bainbridge Island, etc. But I was glad that being a semi-resident, I was able to take them places most tourists don't get to go.

We enjoyed a picnic at Gas Works Park, where my dad was able to watch all the seaplanes take off and land. The Todd gave them a tour of the Microsoft campus, and we spent several hours at the ship locks and salmon ladders, which was really quite interesting. We walked a lot and took the bus as much as possible, except for Friday when we were headed to the Museum of Flight.

This is where my plans changed....much to my surprise and total obliviousness, my brother and sister-in-law flew into Seattle for the weekend. I was totally surprised and confused, but I finally got ahold of things and we picked them up and headed out for another round of Seattle sightseeing. We went back to Pike Place, rode the ferry, and Todd met us out for dinner and we all went up the Space Needle that evening. It was really great having my entire family here, even though at times there were six of us piled in my car and I had to deviate from my planned schedules.














Saturday we ventured out to Snoqualmie Falls where us kids did a small hike and then took a tour of Columbia Winery.













The weather turned rainy so we enjoyed an evening at the hotel with wine and Scrabble fun. I wish they could've stayed longer, but I'm glad we were able to spend time together and I could show them around the area. And it was nice, having their familiar faces, because every once in a while I do get a little homesick.

Consequently, I took a week off from running since I was playing chauffeur and did an ample amount of walking. But it was enjoyable to get back out for a 4 mile run yesterday. I think I'll do a short run along the Lake Sammamish trail this evening.

Monday, August 13, 2007

Weekend Getaway

It's not like I needed a vacation from a job, but I welcomed the vacation from searching for a job. Friday morning we headed to Idaho to spend the weekend at Todd's parent's new house in the Post Falls/Lake Coeur d' Alene area, about 4 hours east of here, just across the Washington border. After 3 hours of driving, we decided to take a pitstop at the Latah Creek winery in Spokane Valley for a free wine tasting.....and then we left there with 3 bottles of fruity goodness. (note: I did most of the tasting since I was just the passenger)

Saturday morning I was able to get in a 3 mile run down by the river, but after the previous night's delicious, yet very garlicky Greek dinner, my stomach just didn't have the gusto to do much more than that. We all drove about 45 minutes north to the quaint little town of Sandpoint, ID where they were having an arts festival along Lake Pond Oreille. I never knew Idaho was such a vacation destination, but after spending some time at their mountain lakes, it's easy to see why.














Who would ever guess this is in Idaho?!?














On the way back to Seattle on Sunday afternoon, we stopped in Spokane to walk around the riverfront area and took a gondola ride above the waterfalls.


























It's looking to be a very busy week, I have a couple interviews and my parents are flying into Seattle for a 5 day visit. I'm super excited to show them around. But just my luck, my tire has severe damage and i have to take it into the shop tomorrow, manage to find my way downtown on the bus in time for my interview and hopefully meet up with my parents sans car. I'm exhausted just thinking about it. Good night.

Thursday, August 09, 2007

Into the woods

Last night (wednesday) we joined a group of our friends for an outdoor showing of Back to the Future at Marymoor Park in Redmond. We got there early to grab some lawn space and played some bocce ball and bingo. I even packed a picnic dinner for us :)














Thankfully, someone brought extra sleeping bags, because once it got dark, the temperatures dropped to the low 50s. But even with a chilly nose and my coffee all gone, it was lots of fun watching the movie out in the wide open with a crowd of people.













Today I decided to have my first experience with some Pacific Northwest trail running. Being a newbie, I didn't want to go to some forest deep in the woods unprepared, so I headed to the next best place....Bridle Trails State Park.














Bridle Trails is a 482 acre forested park located within the city of Redmond with more than 28 miles of trails for running and horseback riding. I figured, even if I did get lost, I'm pretty sure I could find my way to a busy street. But once I was wound my way deep amongst the tall fir trees, I could have easily been out in the forest miles away from civilization.


















I ran a 3.5 mile loop with a few steep hills, then decided that I enjoyed it so much, I picked a 1.6 mile designated loop and galloped on. This just might be my new favorite Seattle running spot. It was so peaceful and since it was during the late afternoon, I only came across 2 people and their dog, 1 scientist picking some mushrooms, and 1 lady on a horse. Which means there was only one negative to running here: make sure you watch out for horse manure.

We're headed off to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho for the weekend to visit Todd's parents so that should be lots of fun!

Tuesday, August 07, 2007

Faces in Odd Places

I took advantage of the cool weather and went for a longer run yesterday afternoon. I headed north along Lake Sammamish for about 4 miles, then turned around and headed back.


I wasn't quite to 8 miles, so I kept going, when I ran past this outdoor art gallery:








It's Fence Art by Jim, and while there is plenty of nature and large lake houses to look at while running on this trail, these artworks add a nice, unexpected surprise.

Monday, August 06, 2007

my movie review

I skipped my Saturday morning longer run as we joined the throng of other Bourne fans and saw Bourne Ultimatum instead. (I'm not really training for anything right now anyways, and this movie was top priority of the day)

Although I really liked the 2nd installment, Bourne Supremacy, I think this 3rd one might be my favorite. In fact, we're thinking of going to see it again this week. If you haven't seen it yet, you're missing out. And Even if you haven't seen the first two movies, the action scenes and smartness of the movie keep you on the edge of your seat.

It's a cloudy, cool 63 degree day here, perfect for a run and far different than the hothot humid summers I'm used to back in Kansas. I'm a big fan of this fall-ish weather.

Friday, August 03, 2007

Purple Dinner

Last night was the inaugural Thursday Night Dinner Club.
ok, so I just came up with that name myself and haven't verified it with the other members. Todd met Ryan at Microsoft and over the past year whenever I came out to visit, I got to know Ryan and his wife Aubrey better. I really like them and it's helped make my transition to Seattle much easier having them around.
Anyway, this week's restaurant of choice was Purple Cafe & Wine Bar.

Purple has 3 locations in the Seattle area: Downtown Seattle, Woodinville, and Kirkland. We chose the Kirkland location, which had a nice patio outside to enjoy the cool evening.

Ryan perused the wine book and selected a bottle of Troken Riesling and baked brie appetizer to share. I need to figure out how to make it at home, because it was oh, so delicious, as was my blackened salmon sandwich with mango chutney. Purple has an extensive wine selection, and you can get cheese and wine flights too. The downtown location has a tasting bar, to sample multiple appetizers for cheaper prices, which i'd like to check out sometime.

I'm on the lookout now for next week's dinner location. It's probably going to be a more casual (ie: cheaper) dining spot.

I'm super excited for this weekend though, because do you know what movie comes out? I think we're planning on going to see it tomorrow. Matt Damon is a stud.