Project 365

A few coworkers and I have decided to participate in Project 365. This means that I will take a photo a day for the next year, beginning today, October 1st! I'll post these photos to this blog at least once a week. Some weeks will have themes, others will not.

As some of you know, my memory is, well, not so great...and these photos will for sure serve me well years down the road when I can't remember the little details in life.

Wish me luck!

Just chillin'

After a long and busy week at work, Tyler and I met up with our friend Garin at the Bellevue Rock Bottom. There is never a dull moment when Garin is around, so we had a great time catching up with him! Great food and their Rocktoberfest brew completed the evening quite nicely :)

After sleeping in on Saturday, Tyler and I headed down to Auburn to house and petsit for my parents who headed off to a wedding. Buttercup was very happy to sleep on my lap and beg for attention...



Brewster...well, he just missed his mom...



Tyler enjoyed some football...



While Brewster woke up long enough to soak up the attention...



The Seattle rains have returned, which is a nice reminder of the fact that fall is here. That's all for now :)

Becca's first day of school

Just as a proud mom would do, I took a picture of Becca's first day of school as we headed out the door yesterday morning. For those of you who haven't heard, Becca is my new part-time roomie at the carriage house here in Ballard. She began the Diagnostic Ultrasound program at SU and now she will re-learn what the life of a student is like...

a birthday weekend!

This weekend has been a combo weekend of rest and fun :) as I attempt to survive my second cold of the season (yuck!). After resting on Thursday and Friday, I enjoyed a belated birthday evening on the town courtesy of the Brewers: dinner at Rosita's (yum) and fun times at the Little Red Hen. (I of course had to show off my fancy red cowgirl boots!) Yay for the non-country music lovers who came out to enjoy the evening with me.

Yesterday began with a yummy Original Pancake House breakfast, thanks to Myles for recommending the sourdough flapjacks :) Tyler and I returned to my house to rest up and watch "When Harry Met Sally"...what a classic! Later in the day, we rode the ferry to Bremerton to celebrate Abby and Jake Marten's bday! It was nice to relax with their family and friends!

Today promises to be full of football and R & R here at the Hauck house. To make me feel productive while watching football, I am tackling the project of organizing our family photos. It is always fun to see baby pictures.

More details and photos to come...

Weekend Fun

The weekend adventures began on Saturday with a trip up to Anacortes for whale watching. I must admit that I never expected this to be such an amazing experience! Fisch, you were “oh-so-right” that this would be an unforgettable experience, I am glad we could celebrate your birthday in high style. Here are some fun group photos of 1) the Marten family, 2) Karlie and Jordan, 3) Tyler and I, and 4) the birthday girl, Fisch:

We were on the boat for about six hours. From Anacortes, we sailed toward the San Juans and saw a not-so-traveled path toward the whales. On the way, we saw many small islands (there are 70 islands in the San Juans)…

Two bald eagles and their nest…


A fat seal…


Pretty scenery…



The Burrows Island lighthouse was an unexpected but pleasant surprise.



And, last but not least, orcas...

I must admit that I was rather unsuccessful in my attempts to photograph the whales. By the time I focused my camera on one spot, they either swam to another, were back underwater, or I was so mesmerized that I couldn’t take the picture quick enough. I promise you though, we saw plenty orcas! All in all, I would say we saw about 20 members of the “J-pod”, and each glimpse was more and more incredible. Once we arrived to the “hot-spot” where several pods of whales were, our boat was surrounded to one side with orcas. They were beautiful, especially the baby one! We saw all kinds of action: breaching, a cartwheel, spyhopping, tailslapping, etc. So many “oooohs” and “aaaahhhs”! If any of you in search of something new and fun to experience, I strongly recommend Island Adventures!

After our whale watching fun, we tried out the Rockfish Grill / Anacortes Brewery. Pretty good stuff, their Honey Ale was quite a nice was to end a fun day!


After a long and restful sleep, Tyler and I headed down to Auburn to stop in and see my parents and of course, all of the animals. We were greeted by the baby rooster who was on top of the fence post practicing his ‘cock-a-doodle-dooh’ (I am sure there is a technical term for it). Too bad our roosters never caught on to the fact that they are only supposed to make noise in the mornings! Of course, the dogs and cats were excited to see us! Susie homemaker had some tasty zucchini bread and watermelon to fill our bellies, and Dad was on his way out to work, but was able to catch some football in the meantime. Despite the persistent rain, Tyler and I then made our way to the Puyallup fair for a few hours.


We saw the draft horses…


A gigantic pumpkin…


And a few other things along the way. Fun times!


Becca starts school at SU next week so she spent the night with me to attend orientation today. It will be nice to have my sister so close! I will be sure to keep her on track with her studies and perhaps some day, she’ll reach my level of nerd-i-ness!

That’s all for now!

Happy Friday!

My day began frantically when my carpoolers called me to say, "aren't you joining us today?" Oops! I forgot to re-set my alarm, I think the dose of Nyquil may have contributed to my daze as I successfully fought off a bit of a cold. Despite the sudden awakening, it has shaped up to be a good day. This week has re-energized my spirits as the new and continuing students trickle onto campus. I must say that this is one of the main reasons why I love working in higher education! My friend Emily and I were reminiscing about how much SU has changed since we were freshmen. There wasn't even a Starbucks across the street, imagine that?!



So, this weekend...two fun adventures (and possibly more) await me...whale watching tomorrow and the Puyallup fair on Sunday. I'll be sure to update you soon, for now...I must get back to work.



I will close with a picture of my recent graduation for those who haven't already seen it! "Yay!"

Inspiration...

Hello to all...

Every day, I am inspired to do new things. Today, it happens that I am inspired to blog. Why, you ask? It seems to me that it is a way to share the fun adventures in life with those that I care about. I must say that the Eddy blog has been a major source of inspiration!

Speaking of the Eddy family, last weekend I was able to visit them in Spokane. Tyler and I enjoyed their company, and a few sights of the city. Here is a shot of us at the Spokane Clock Tower with Kevin as photographer and tour guide. It was great to see how much Noah has grown in the short time since I last saw him. The boy is adorable, entertaining, and most definitely blessed with amazing parents and family. All in all, it was a fun trip...always nice to take time to catch up with good friends.

After a weekend of visiting, today's retreat for work was a nice beginning to what will be a long week. The Office of the Registrar holds annual retreat to kick off the school year and this year's location was North Seattle Community College. I always find it interesting (and inspiring) to visit other campuses and connect with colleagues. Retreats are a nice way to refocus your energy toward the key projects and to connect on a deeper level, so I enjoyed myself. I even gave a talk with Andrew (Boss-Man) on workstyles, adapted from Alice Rowe's work WorkStyles: So That's Why You Drive Me Crazy! Entertaining, and productive...a nice conversation to have with coworkers.

To end my very first post on a cheesy note, I hope that all of you find inspiration to try something new, soon...