Happy Anniversary!

A couple of weeks back, October 5th to be exact my wonderful husband and I celebrated our second wedding anniversary. Since our last anniversary which we spent in Europe taking our dream vacation we have moved across the country, started new jobs and I've gone back to school to accomplish a dream of becoming a child birth professional. I feel very blessed to have done so much in this short span of our marriage and it makes me so excited for what I can only imagine is to come in the next year. I think it's safe to say we love each other even more now than we did on our wedding day and we both truly feel like we married our best friend. I personally think it's extremely important to celebrate every anniversary with something special so this year we took a long weekend trip to the coast of Washington and stayed in a beautiful hotel on the beach. Great dinners, fine wine, horseback riding on the beach and most importantly fun quality time together. O.k. I know this is a sappy post but I just wanted to share :)

Now that summer is coming to an end I thought I should post a few randoms pics of the latest events. We had a very busy summer exploring our new environment and doing everything from showing our friends Anna and Jevon our new surrounding when they came to visit during their west coast road trip, camping on the coast (a personal highlight for us both) exploring all the metropolitan things the city has to offer and even made it back "home " to Colorado to see two of our best friends get married. Most recently my sister was able to come out for a weekend visit which was short but so much fun. We went to Oktoberfest in the Fremont district of Seattle which is where we are considering moving to and she LOVED it so hopefully she'll be back many more times. Now that fall is slowly is creeping up on us it's time to get back in the groove of things and put some serious time into my studying and find some new recipes to cook this winter as I have a feeling we'll be spending a lot of rainy days indoors.......anyone that has some great soups, muffin, casserole, or pie recipes please send them my way!

Camping in Washington

We ventured on our first WA. camping trip this last weekend and had an absolute blast! Funny thing is part of the time we felt like we were back in the Colorado mountains but then you see the volcanic mountains around us and realize we are actually someplace VERY different. We missed our camping buddies Haley and Tyler so so so much but paid tribute to them via campfire fajitas and Gin and tonics :) we have a few more trips planned for this summer up by the Olympic Peninsula and looking forward to it.

A few pics from our lakeside campsite and Mt. Raineer below..

The Folks Visit Washington

My parents came out for a long weekend over 4th of July and it was jammed packed with fun! They have a lot of friends from when they lived out here 20+ years ago and they are true blue friends, you know the kind, you don't see them for ten years or more at a time and when you get together it's like no time has passed at all. I personally love that they are all still here because I feel like I have four extra sets of surrogate moms and dads. Since the first week we moved out here I found this restaurant down at pier 52 called Elliotts that has a progressive oyster on the half shell happy hour and I've been awaiting my dad's visit since March so that we could take them there as I had a feeling he would love it......feeling was dead on by the way! We spent about 2 hours sweating in the Seattle sun and I think we ate at least 4 dozen oysters plus some ahi avocado deliciousness and of course lots of wine and I do believe dad was impressed. Headed to Pikes Street Market after that and I think they loved seeing that whole scene again. On the 4th we went out on my uncles boat with about 12 other people for a relaxed sun filled 4th on the water. For all my Finegan family members that read this you all know that we love Ray with all our hearts but if you've ever been on the boat with him you know there always has to be some sort of adventure. We started the day about 45 minutes late which we all knew would happen so really we were right on time, and then came the leaving of the dock...now let me preface this by saying Ray is a top notch captain and if you were in a dangerous situation you would probably actually want him piloting the boat.

Now let me remind you that just backing the huge 30 foot boat out of the marina is a site to see in itself and I've never seen Ray have a problem doing this and he didn't have a problem backing the boat out on the 4th either.....however with that many people on the boat and all the excitement we somehow failed to realize that one of the ropes was tied to a prop underneath the boat. All of a sudden all the engines die and alarms start sounding, we are diagonal between two sailboats headed straight for the dock with a boat that will easily send it crashing into the ocean while the old hagred chain smoking marina manager is yelling for us to watch out for the dock because we are about to hit it. Really? because the alarms and dead engines gave us no clue this was about to happen lady. Anyway we somehow row ourselves over to a sailboat that luckily has no owners on it and while half of us hold on to the sailboat ropes we realize that someone needs to dive in and cut the rope. There is one guy on the boat that dives all the time and says he's willing to go in which I think is a great Idea. Then I turn around to see none other than my dad who has no idea how cold the water is or exactly where the rope is caught stripping down to his swim trunks beating his chest ready to jump in. Now I know my dad is in incredible shape and he's done way more dangerous stuff than this throughout his life but in all the serenity that makes up my personality (yeah right) I start to freak out and worry just a little bit. Either way he's going in and my worrying makes no difference so I just go to the other side of the boat and ignore his gasping for air as he realizes just how cold the water is and try to think good thoughts. Like I said I knew he could do it deep down inside and after 20 minutes of him diving practically blind to the middle of the underneath of the boat with a knife he gets the rope cut and is the HERO of the 4th of July. Anytime he needed any sort of cocktail the rest of the day one of us lovely ladies of leisure was happy to fetch that for him. I am so happy my parents came out and I am so lucky to have such a great relationship with them both. I cried when I picked them up at the airport because I was so happy to see them and cried the whole way home from the airport after dropping them off. I know not everyone truly enjoys days on end with the parents, and even better my husband feels the same way about them, but I can honestly say I can't wait for the next time we all get together!! All in all probably the best 4th I've ever had and definitely the best fireworks show I've ever seen. Although when you have the Seattle skyline behind you and the lake in front of you while grilling lamb chops on a massive boat you would be a giant ass to complain!

Assaulted at Costco

Yep, That's right there was a chick fight in the Costco parking lot. JJ and I had been enjoying a perfectly lovely laid back Sunday and decided to head by Costco on our way home to grab a few items for the week ahead, seems harmless enough right?....WRONG! Costco on Sunday is like the day after Thanksgiving at the mall where we live and we knew parking would be an issue but that was fine we were in no rush. So we pull into the first parking lot (yes that's right there are three parking lots) and start to follow the maze of cars driving around the one idiot that's parked in the middle of the lane with the windows rolled down and obviously not planning on moving. That's fine, like I said lazy, no rush Sunday is the attitude we had. As we are getting ready to leave that parking lot since there is no parking we see a nice Costco employee flagging us down to take the employee of the month parking spot since she was not working that day which happens to be front door parking. Sweet we thought, how nice is this guy and what a convenient spot. We pull in, JJ get's out first and as I'm getting out I see this enraged frizzy half blond half hot pink 40 something year old woman come barrelling at my husband. She starts yelling "what the hell are you doing? we've been waiting for this spot for half an hour" Yep, you guessed it the woman in the car that had been parked 8 spots down in the middle of the lane is screaming at us. JJ as you all know is very calm and laid back by nature and he's looking at her like "what are you talking about?" The nice Costco employee informs her that he flagged us down to take this spot and she was in no way sitting there with blinker on waiting for it. At this point she's telling us "your messed up man, I mean geez" I tell her that we did not see her and that we had every right to take this spot. I'm then informed that she has a dog in the car and they've been waiting for this shady spot.....keep in mind we live in a state covered in trees and there are about 100 shady spots for her to take, maybe not front door but definitely shaded. I then tell her that it's our spot fair and square, that it's not my fault she has a dog with her and maybe in the future she should leave her dog at home in the shaded back yard or house when it's hot outside and she needs to run errands....This comment did not sit well with her. From here the crazy frizzy hair got about twice it's normal size, kind of like a cats tail when they get scared and she starts literally yelling at me about how I'm messed up and my karma will come back to bite me in the ass. I told JJ to let her have the spot as she's obviously a nut job and would probably key my car or slash my tires, she asks me if "I want throw down" right here in the parking lot? I tell her once again she's a crazy dog person and we drive away. In all my vast maturity I may have given her the one finger wave as we pulled away but JJ and I were both literally shaking at this point. The whole thing was so weird and so unexpected.

As far as karma goes we pulled into the next parking lot and got an even better spot...I like to think her "karma" can suck on that for a while :) Now that I look back on it the whole thing is pretty funny but after working in property management my patience for those kind of people is pretty much gone! The only real down side to this whole thing is we were so blown away by what happened that we forgot to get chicken, bread and I accidentally got dark chocolate m&ms instead of regular (by the way why does all the classic candy now have 10 variations on flavor?) and had to make two Costco trips this week...the second one being much less eventful. Anyway I hope none of you can relate to this story although Haley, I feel like you know exactly the kind of person I'm talking about as we shared our property management office. Thanks for letting me vent and remember always look both ways before taking a prime spot at Costco on a Sunday!

Body Mind and Soul

I am a terrible "blogger" I just realized it's been over a month since my last post. As usual we have been exploring and growing in our new home. Summer arrived early (sorry CO. we sent you all our rain) and we have been soaking up the summer fun, hence the no blog post for so long. JJ has joined the kayaking and softball team through the university and loving every second of it while I've found a dance studio that I can't wait to start taking classes at.....this Monday will be my first! We've found our favorite beach and it's amazing, sandy beaches looking out to the ocean surrounded by the Olympic Mountain Range and our favorite mountain bike/hiking trail all located within 10-20 minutes of our house and yes, to everyone in my family I actually enjoy hiking now that I'm old enough to appreciate the peacefulness of the great outdoors.

We have started to make some friends and that is so awesome! I really connected with the daughter of my moms best friend that lives out here and we like to think the second generation is going to be just as much fun as our moms were. Our dads are both chiropractors and we both got our start in the health care industry in their offices and coincidentally our long term goal is to both be doulas or midwifes. I love love love how forward thinking everyone is out here when it comes to the care of our body mind and soul and we are soaking up every second of it. Personally I have been a regular at the chiropractor as always but I've also been getting acupuncture and recently some bio-energetic feedback work done. I really don't know a whole lot about the bio-energetic feedback yet as I've only had it done once but basically it measures the weak energy points in your body and feeds positively charged ions back into you to help balance you out as a whole. I know it sounds a little crazy but I felt like a new person after having it done. JJ has just done the Chiropractic care so far but he's dying to try the acupuncture and feedback as soon as he has time. I think that overall we are just discovering how much we really feel ourselves out here and are just trying to embrace it as much as possible. I'll post some pics of the summer so far below and I'll try to be better about blogging in the next couple weeks as we have my parents coming out next week and then a few camping trips and concerts coming up in July that I'm sure will produce great pictures! Sending our love to all our friends and family and wait to see some of you in August!

JJ's joining in for this post!!

So it's been a few weeks since my last post and there's been a lot going on. I started my new job at a VERY busy chiropractic office which really was only like a new job for the first two days and then it was like riding a bike as I got right back into the groove of things. I really like the doctors and I love love love the free chiropractic care. We see about 350 patients a week and my sole job is to basically keep both doctors on task, make sure patients are up to date on their care, present all the Report of Findings and care plans as well as make sure I keep 67 people a day in the right room!! It gets a little crazy and in all honesty it really does not challenge me but it's a fun working environment and it's nice to be bringing home a paycheck once again. I'm only working part time and trying to get my butt done with school which is a little challenging right now since I've decided to transfer my training to a school out here rather than doing it all online. For those of you who don't know I am in the process of becoming a Labor Doula and childbirth educator!! I feel so passionately about being that true advocate for women and putting the truth out there for anyone who wants to be empowered by our amazing bodies!! As JJ and I are sitting on our patio enjoying the beautiful weather and "blogging" I just found out that I have the opportunity to take a workshop with Penni Simkin herself!! For those of you who are not doulas of course this means nothing to you but lets just say she's basically the lady that started the whole natural childbirth movement and she's a Seattle local!! I think I'll be doing this in September and then right after that I can start attending births!! That's life for the last couple weeks in a nutshell and I have so much more to share but more blog posts to come later. Now it's JJ's turn......

Hi all!
work has been kicking my butt!! but I've been learning a lot and loving my view. I look right at the space needle and Lake Union so I feel so fortunate. I've been learning a lot about web development and I can't wait to apply my new found skills to Jessica and I's website hopefully debuting summer 2010!! She will inform you all as this becomes our reality but lets just say she has BIG plans for us and I'm so proud of her for having such an entrepreneurial mindset. I can't wait until we're making our own money and no longer working for the man. I'm loving Seattle and being able to finally be a local at pikes place market while watching all the tourists flash their cameras at the sight of all that fresh fish. The coffee sources are not bad either.

From both of us: So JJ and I decided today while enjoying the waterfront watching all the boats go by that we would much rather RENT a house and BUY a boat! Our plan is to purchase a used ski boat within the next year and a half. The water actually does get warm enough to swim in where we live and we just crave being on the water as much as possible. Had some amazing coffee today.....NOT FROM STARBUCKS! true Seattle people do not drink Starbucks or own an umbrella. You go to the local spots and own a Gore-Tex jacket instead. Anyway we had something called an Aztec mocha which was great coffee blended with cloves, cinnamon, cayenne and chocolate YUMMMO!! Now we're enjoying some three buck chuck wine from trader Jo's and a Skinny Bitch...(we love you mom). Sun's going down it's about nine o'clock and we need to still reheat our Indian food from last night. Love to you all and get your asses out here to come visit while its so nice and warm :)

Tulips and Mom

So my mom was just out here for her first visit to Seattle! The first day I took her to Pike Street Market and in true mom form she let out a small shriek and jumped back when the men started throwing the fish at the counter where I was buying oysters. For any of you that have never been to Pikes Street it's basically the best outdoor all organic local everything farmers market you could possibly imagine.

We spent the next couple of days eating lots of seafood and searching for the best martini which I do believe we found. On Saturday we headed up to Mt. Vernon where my aunt and uncle live for a girls lunch and a tour of the tulip festival. The coolest part about this day was that my Aunt Joanelle had invited one of my moms best friends Peach, whom she has not seen for almost twenty years. It was so great, they just picked up right where they left off and it was like no time had passed at all. "nanny peach" as I grew up knowing her was in the room the day I was born and it was so cool because somehow her and I had this instant connection even though I barely know her. I miss my mom more than anyone and I feel like now I have a piece of her out here with me. They are just two VERY cool ladies and such great moms. It was a great day, although I don't know how driving around looking at literally hundreds of acres of tulips in every color you could imagine while stopping for wine and cheese tastings could ever be considered anything other than fantastic. I know my mom had a great visit and I think it made us living so far away o.k. now that she sees where we live and how much we love it out here. Don't get me wrong we both still sobbed a little at the airport but we are already planning our next get together, I'm thinking fourth of July on the boat......

A couple of pics below from the fabulous weekend.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter Everyone!!

This was our first official holiday away from home and I have to say I probably missed my family more today than I have the entire time we've been out here. Don't get me wrong I don't consider eating dungeness crab benedict with amazing bloody mary's on the water a bad day but I did miss the huge family get together at my uncles and all the craziness that ensues with a family our size. I did not however miss doing dishes for 27 people once the meal is all over!!!......Good luck ladies in my family, how do the men always get out of that one? On a side note I have to laugh a little at the fact that we are already turning into "Seattleites" we decided when we got back from brunch we wanted coffee and there's a place right across the street by the grocery store so we could just make a quick 5 minute walk over to grab everything. The funny part about this is that it's been a complete downpour all day and the thought of walking to the store in that did not bother us one bit, it's just become a part of what we do. Anyway hope everyone had a great Easter and we love and miss you all!! above is a pic from our roof and then a few from our area outside our building and the cherry blossom trees out front.

Alright friends and family I finally gave in!!

So I love looking at friends blogs and decided especially now that we live so far away to give in to the peer pressure and join the blogging world. For all of you that I've lost contact with since our Fairview days I'll give you the abbreviated update, here goes: About six years ago I met JJ during our " I can't believe our livers survived that" summer and told everyone I was going to marry him two months into the relationship. I think they all thought I was just hitting the jungle juice to hard but as it turns out we were meant to be. We got married in October 2007 and since then have been experiencing the ups and downs of this roller coaster called life......I have to say for us we've been very blessed and it's been mostly good times for us. We took our dream vacation for our first anniversary to France and Italy where we went to Paris, Nice and Tuscany for a little over two weeks and as cheesy as it sounds it really was a life changing experience. While we were there we decided that we shouldn't be so afraid to move out of our comfort zone of Colorado and of course at the time said "lets move to Europe and make wine and olive oil and sell it at local farmers markets" While that sounds fantastic we thought we should start smaller and maybe just live in a different state and see how that went, but you know how it goes you get home and get back in the daily grind and sort of forget about making that actually happen. Then in December of 08 life through us an unexpected curve ball. The day JJ went back to work after the holiday break he found that the company was laying off 15% of the employees and being the new guy he was one of the unlucky few. We had planned and already paid for a ski vacation for the following weekend and while trying to enjoy ourselves but feeling that new found stress I said to JJ half joking we should just pick up and move to Seattle. We always talked about doing that but it never seemed like the right time, anyway turns out the lay off was a blessing in disguise which we said the whole time and in March of this year JJ flew to Seattle on a whim to check out the job market and was offered a position at The University of Washington!!! We just moved here about three weeks ago and while we miss our friends and family back home we are LOVING the Great Northwest. So there you have it, this will probably be the longest post I ever have but that's what I've been up to for the last however many years!