love facebook

Just this month, four of my anti myspace/facebook friends have joined the world of Facebook, you shall remain anonomous but I am very proud of you. Yay! Brings me much excitement to connect in a new way. Interesting that the SU spectator would publish this article this week stating that users 25 years of age and older are the fastest growing facebook demographic.

out and about

It was one of those weekends when I just wanted to get out of the house. It began with a delicious outing with Garin and Tyler to Cactus (the best green enchiladas and margaritas)! To cap off our Friday evening, we watched a recording of Wednesday's American Idol (yes, I am addicted...and proud of Tyler for watching it). Saturday, in need of some fresh air, we walked the trail loop that is just down the road from our house. We've attempted it before, but in the days when I wasn't so appreciative of mother nature and gave up after the first steep hill. Anyway, all in all it was about a 35 minute 'hike' through the woods on a steep trail loop. Well worth it, especially since it meant getting exercise away from the boring treadmill and it was just a short walk away. By the way, the Fitness and Wellness Challenge starts tomorrow. Here are a few pictures. I am sure it would be much prettier in the fall.




After some house chores and a nap, we headed out for bowling and Italian food. Fun stuff, even though our bowling 'skills' were less than brilliant.



Today, we played tourist and visited the Seattle Aquarium. Definitely not as cool as the Vancouver Aquarium visit we had last year. I did really enjoy the sea otters though (hard to capture on camera), and the jumbo tank complete with scuba diver at the entrance.






It was an absolutely beautiful day in the Pacific Northwest with plenty of sunshine. Great to be on the waterfront.


Next stop: the Pike Place Market for some fresh flowers to display on our new front entry table:

Then, we met up with my friend from grad school, Jessica, her husband Mike and their daughter Nayeli at the Ballard Farmers Market. It was great to see them, I should've taken pictures of Nayeli, but I was too distracted I guess. You might remember them from the tres de mayo party last year!
Now, after an episode of Extreme Makeover Home Edition and finishing this blog, I am off to rest.

Googling God

Mike Hayes, author of Googling God and editor of bustedhalo.com, came to Seattle U to speak at an Alumni Magis event last week. Fisch and I enjoyed the talk, even though it meant staying up past our bedtimes :) He left me (and I am sure others in attendance) with something to ponder: If I could do anything, what would it be? He encouraged us to not think about a specific profession (in other words, don't think...I would be a writer; think more in terms of characteristics of the profession or what your environment would be like). For me, I thought of being surrounded by people in an uplifting and empowering enviroment. Happiness, hope, engaging conversations, well organized and inspiring events...I am sure I could come up with a job that matches those characteristics, can you help me find it? ;)

Happy Birthday Karlie!

We celebrated Karlie's birthday in high style, first at Barrio, a new place on capitol hill and then at Lola for a fabulous dinner.
Karlie and her sister Lindsay...

 

Fisch and I...

 

Karlie and Jordan...

 

And a toast to the birthday girl :)

 

Smashed potatoes, lamb kebobs, wine and pita, yummmm!



Their greek donuts were amazing!



Jordan K, Lindsay, Karlie, Jordan G., Brandy & Pedro...


Karlie has a purse now! Check it out, super cute!


And here we are crammed into the backseat. As you can see, Alfred is wondering what the heck we are doing up there! He's so cute...and so are we...too bad Fisch almost fell out of the car...twice! Sorry Fisch!

D1

To celebrate our return to Division 1, Seattle U played Loyola Marymount at the Key Arena on New Years Day. And celebrate we did, with a victory: 49-39! It was super fun to see such a large crowd and a diverse group of folks. This is probably old news to some people, sorry I didn't get this post out sooner. More photos can be seen here! Recap is here!








Here's a nice family photo taken after the game!

moments

I am back to work tomorrow, so I thought I would share a few random photos and moments from the last week or so. I love my new scarf from Ed and Cynthia



Ed made us a delicious turkey dinner last week, I am still dreaming about how tasty the rice was!!!


Dad took us to Southern Kitchen in Tacoma, excellent home cooking or soul food as I like to think of it. Fried okra, fried chicken, beef brisket, sweet potato fries, corn, red beans and rice, corn bread, catfish, black eyed peas, and homemade fresh sqeezed lemonade. Here is Tyler's mango lemonade, yes, it was served in a mason jar! You'll never leave this place hungry.



We travelled south to Roy WA not once but twice to look at two properties for mom and dad's next home. Both were beautiful new homes, one on 20 acres and the other on 35 acres. The beautiful gate at the entrance from the main road made Becca and I think it was meant to be because the initials were L & R (Laura and Rebecca, or Levi & Rebecca). We'll see how it all pans out, it was fun to look at them and imagine :) Or should I call it...dream!







That's all for now :)

*Happy New Year!*

Happy 2009 to all! We enjoyed a superb buffet dinner at the Muckleshoot Casino after mass on New Years Eve. An added bonus: party hats :) We came home to ring in the new year together, complete with candy cigars and confetti! I hope that 2009 brings many blessings to you and yours.

Games

Uncle Ed and Aunt Cynthia rode the train up from California to visit us this week. We played a ton of games and cards (poker, uno, stacko, yahtzee) during their stay...I even had the patience for poker. Lots of laughs, for sure!