I really am going to get better at updating this blog.  I’ve been neglecting it for months and I always have the best of intentions of updating it, but at the end of a long workday, I can barely keep my eyes open long enough to put on my pajamas, let alone string together words. We’re getting situated and settled in here and I’m so in love with Washington state that it’s ridiculous.  It’s busy and crazy and so congested here in the Seattle metro area, but it’s also so beautiful and vibrant. Seattle even has this spicy smell that I love… I can’t tell if it’s the combination of salt water, mountain air, and ethnic cooking or what it is, really, but I love taking a deep lungful of it when I step outside in the morning or as I’m getting off the commuter train at King Street Station. I look up at the tall buildings and listen to the sounds of traffic and people and life and I just soak it all up, unable to stop myself from smiling.

The drivers out here leave a lot to be desired.  The fact that our car insurance doubled when we moved here was my first clue that there was a problem, and all it takes is one trip down I-5 to confirm that people are freakin’ nuts out here when it comes to driving.  For further proof, I just have to look at my Mustang.  The car was shipped from Indiana and was on a truck for three weeks.  When it was finally delivered, I was so happy that I took it out for a spin when I got home from work.  As we turned onto our street to come back home, we were rear-ended by a girl who was texing and driving.  Awesome.  So the Mustang ended up with a new bumper (which is fine because the bumper was the one part of the car that we hadn’t finished the body work on yet) and now she’s shiny and pretty once again.

And then there’s Mt. Rainier… We live south of Seattle and Rainier is only about 50 miles away as the crow flies, which means that we’re blessed with these breathtaking views of it when we’re going to get groceries or just driving around.  Either Tim or I will yell “There it is! There it is!” and then we both about break our necks twisting to see it, not that we’d ever miss it.  Sometimes it looms over the horizon, snow-covered peaks and crevices shimmering in the sunlight.  Other times, it’s barely visible due to haze and clouds, but even a tiny glimpse of it fills me with awe. It’s so large and beautiful that it just sucks the breath from my lungs and brings tears to my eyes.  And then there are the peaks of the Cascades that we can see from our house, those tall, spiky-topped trees beckoning me to come and explore. There is so much untamed wilderness out here.  It’s beautiful and feels like we’ve moved to a wild, reckless part of the country, even though we’re in a major metro area.  I’m filled with a sense of adventure.

 

The lapping waters of Puget Sound call to me, inviting me to come escape. I watch the sailboats bobbing out on the water and I’m desperate to join them. I can promise this: sailing lessons are in my future.

Also, we get really exciting opportunities where I work because of the amazing company that we are, like last week when George Takei came to talk on campus. It’s sometimes hard to break away from meetings and conference calls to attend the cooler, lighter stuff, but I made time for this one and I’m so glad I did.  George was so entertaining and charming, and that laugh of his is just the best.  These little brushes with celebrity that happen right on campus are incredible.

And can we talk about the food trucks out here?  Oh my goodness!!!  My current addiction is “Indian tacos” made of a smoky, delicious pulled pork and cabbage on frybread from Off the Rez.  (The chicken version is pretty great, too!)

The truck is at South Lake Union every Wednesday and I will eat there at every opportunity.

In short, I love Washington. Love, love, love Washington! Life feels drastically different than it did in Indianapolis, but am I homesick at all? HA! No way. I feel like I’ve been looking for the right place to put down some roots for most of my life and, finally, I can say that I’m home. For good.

In other news… so we drove our HHR out to Washington, which I wrote about in my previous entry.  A few weeks ago, we took the car into the dealership to have some recall work done and ended up coming home six hours later with a brand new car!  We had zero intention of trading it in when we went in, but both of us weren’t happy and hadn’t been happy with it for a while, and they made it quite attractive for us to buy a new one, so now we’re the happy owners of a 2014 Chevrolet Cruze that has so many bells and whistles that I fully expect it to hand me a cup of toasty warm pumpkin spice coffee when I climb inside it.  (It hasn’t done that yet, but I’m convinced it’s just because I haven’t found the right button!)  It’s a beautiful car, and it’s going to last us for a long time.  I only drive my Mustang 2 miles a day to the park and ride lot and back.  I use a bus, then a train, then a company shuttle to get to work each day.

Also, the LDS General Conference is this weekend.  No, I’m still not LDS, but I’ve been looking forward to this weekend since the last conference.  It was a year ago that I watched the conference for the first time, even though I had no idea why I was watching, being that I’m a former-Roman-Catholic-practicing-United-Methodist. I just felt called to view it that weekend, and I’ll never forget Elder Holland’s talk that brought me to tears. After that I explored the LDS Church and even rejected it but, since then, I have been called back, over and over again. Can you un-reject something? Because if you can, that’s what I did. I’m looking forward to conference tomorrow because I always get so much from it – inspiration, a reminder that there’s more to this life, my fair share of chills from the beauty of it all and, of course, a few tears. (I’m a Henry B. Eyring fangirl, by the way!)

Happy weekend to all that read this!