Seattle Summer 2009: Day 2

My mom had asked me what I wanted to do on this trip, and I told her I wanted to visit Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

So we hopped on a ferry and away we went. To Sidney actually (which was also a main city on Vancouver Island), and then the bus to Victoria.

How cute? Waiting in the terminal.

Fake smile.

On the way over, we looked for whales (damn whales were not cooperative) and played cards. Casino to be exact. I don't know if it's my mother's luck or skill that has her winning like 99% of the time. My dad and I were evenly matched, I'd say.

Ferry's Name - Chelan

Outside searching for whales.

But all we saw was water.

The weather was a little cooler (70s), but with a nice coat I was fine. We got to Canada a bit later. Yeah!

It's official.

And took a bus to Victoria. We saw a lot of Canada that day.

Victoria was beautiful - there were flowers everywhere. Such a nice place to walk around and spend the afternoon.

Hydrangeas

Port.

Ended up going to lunch at the top of this place - was very good. And had sand volleyball courts. If they weren't too busy, my dad and I would have played.

Hmm.

Got nachos.

Then we walked around and explored. We were good at that. Ended up finding some interesting shops (tea!) and Victoria landmarks.

Totem Pole

Whose nose was bigger. Ha.

Murchies Tea Shop

And then we went back. I was very proud of us because we had navigate the scary bus system (not really scary, but we were in a big city). And we got dropped off in a different location that we left at. Yikes. We were fine though!

And look at what greeted us on the way home.

Mount Baker.

After a simple dinner, we went to my parent's favorite place to watch the sunset (at like 9:45 pm, mind you).

I believe I took quite a nice picture.

Seattle Summer 2009: Day 1

Flew to Seattle two weeks ago to see if it was true what they've been saying - that it's actually very beautiful and the weather is nice.

And even though I always seem to experience rain or ice or snow, this time was good. Great even. Though it was a shock to my system (come on, Florida summers anyone?), I got used to the perfect weather and strong sunshine.

Got in Wednesday night and after a quick stop at Dru's apartment, we drove up to my folks. (Well not Dru, she had to work. Boo.)

The next morning (we were having a 'relaxing' day) after I slept in, we took a ride to walk around Washington Park. If you remember, last time I was there it was snowing. There was a vast difference!

Happy Walkers!

And along the walkway were banana slugs. Fantastic.

Gross.

I think Jake would try to eat one. It does look like a banana. Except it's slimy and has little antennae.

Cricket searching for bunnies * unsuccessfully, I might add

We walked those 2.x miles. Yikes. Talk about exercise.

The we went to the Market and rewarded ourselves.

$8.00
Need I say more.

Red Hot and B**m

For the Fourth of July this year, we celebrated twice.

On Friday, we went up to Altamonte Springs for their Red, Hot, and B**m Fireworks Spectacular. We ended up going out to dinner before hand (it was h.o.t.) to this restaurant in the mall called the Elephant Bar. It was good.

And the beer was cold.

We should have brought Jake, but were afraid of him maybe freaking out. He wouldn't have - fireworks don't seem to bother him at all. Oh well! We found a spot and waited for the magic to begin. Love the fireworks. Wish I could get a pretty picture of one sometime.

Fireworks!!

***

On Saturday night, we went over to the In-Laws. Goestov, my BIL, was making poikie (which is a South African stew in a special ceramic bowl) and we smoked some ribs. By me, I mean Darin.

Darin and Al



Ribs. Drool.

Somehow forgot my camera (blasphemy) and didn't get to take pictures of the Orlando fireworks. We ended up going to Lake Eola and just sitting around the water - very simple and not too crowded (compared to Chicago's Taste).

Good memories!

Sneak Peak

Sorry there haven't been many posts lately. I've been busy.

Will work on them this weekend - expect a lot next week!

***

Saw these:

Banana Slug

Saw this fantastic piece of nature:

Mt. Baker

This magical creature:

Cricky

These great people:

Mutter and Vater

Many more adventures to come - including the Fourth of July celebrations.

Last Year - July 2008

The Fourth of July has been my favorite holiday for awhile now. I think mainly because of the fun traditions my family has made and the wonderful memories we have shared together and with friends.

I remember the year in high school where we were almost flooded out of Chicago afraid that lightning was going to strike the post near us. Or the year of hiding under trees.

Every year, we would get as many people as we could to drive to Chicago and set up camp. We'd eat and eat and eat. And it was marvelous.

Now my folks are in Seattle celebrating with newly acquired neighbors, Dru's in Seattle with her friends, Margie and Bob are in Pawleys, KC's in Canada, Julie and Justin are in Chicago (probably not at the Taste), Melissa and Kyle in San Diego with their family, and Darin and I with our (my new) family.

We are all celebrating separately.

And that's perfectly fine. We will make some new traditions. Have our own good times.

But I will always remember last year and the fantastic day we had. It will probably be one of the last Taste of Chicago's we go to (but not the last if I can help it.)

Also, I'll remember the trip we made down to St. Louis to meet some relatives and show Darin the city.

Though I'd share some fun pictures from last year:

Sears Tower, obviously



Enjoying my favorite food: chocolate covered banana
Del, Justin, Julie, and Sarah



The group! Notice we were cold.

In St. Louis:

At Amighettis.
Mom, Maggie, Uncle Jinx, Dad, and Darin



With Grandma at our Engagement Party #1
(She died a couple of months ago)



At the Anheiser Busch Plant.



At Aunt Betty's 80th Birthday Celebration
(She died this past Christmas)



Enjoying some Ted Drewes:
Carrie, Mom, Darin, Dad, Uncle Jinx, Meghan, Molly, Maggie, Max, Amos, and me



With Uncle Paul
(He died at Thanksgiving time)

Hope to make just as many memories this year as the previous.

And it all makes me wonder, where will we be next year?

Pssssh

It Happens.

I don't normally just go off and blog about nothing in particular, but I'm in a nothing in particular mood.

I love when you're driving down the road heading off to work and a great song comes on the radio and puts you in a good mood.

This happened to me this morning - and the song was "It Happens" by Sugarland.

Love. It.

My favorite lyrics:

Ain't no rhyme or reason
No complicated meaning
Ain't no need to over think it
Let go laughing
Life don't go quite like you planned it
We try so hard to understand
Irrefutable, indisputable
The fact is
Psssh
It happens

Ahh, happy days!

It Happens Sugarland Escape Together World Tour 2009

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To be generous

My friend Maria decided to celebrate her birthday by donating to a charity as well as blogging about being generous. As a chance for her to donate to my 'charity' - the Ronald McDonald House - I have to in turn write a post about what giving means to me.

So what does giving mean to me?

I think for me giving and being generous makes your soul shine. Whether you believe in God or not, you can be generous to those around you, making you a better person. You can be kind to others in need - whether you are in a good mood or grumpy. You can smile at a stranger and listen to someone who needs to vent. You can do a lot by doing little.

I decided to start volunteering for a purely selfish cause. I admit it. I needed something to do to take my mind away from the job I didn't enjoy and the fulfillment I wasn't getting. It was plain and simple. Little did I know that my life would change because of the wonderful people I met, and the smiles and sincere thanks for just being myself. I came to realize that I was getting so much more from volunteering than I ever imagined. I would say the people (managers, guests, other volunteers) at the RMH were generous to me; allowing me to be generous in turn. And teaching me to give a part of myself each week.

So week after week, month after month, and year after year I have become more generous because of the RMH. I have shared this experience with Darin, my family, and even my coworkers. I will always be in awe of this amazing organization and hope to have the RMH be a large part of my future (hopefully we'll move to a big city so I can latch on to another house outside of Orlando). I have learned to put my troubles aside and to try to be happy in my situation.

And that, my friends, was what giving means to me.