Kirkland, Redmond, Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond, Bellevue

Day Bajillion minus a trillion equals about right about now. 

Christmas season has finally come; I wait for it all year. This year it seemed late to come despite American Thanksgiving having a Christmassy feel to it, despite getting a tree, despite lights all along the lane to my aunt's house. I've turned on the radio in the car and have only been disappointed by the "Christmas" songs playing and quickly pushed the button of silence instead. It was only this morning, when it really started to feel like Christmas. 

Yesterday they talked of snow. The optimists in the office were sure it would happen; snow is in the forecast! Oh yeah, I know northwest snow...it's called rain...cold rain. So sure was I that it wouldn't be a snow day, I didn't thoroughly read Kinderings "Inclement Weather Policy" nor bring the "To do on Friday" sticky note home from my desk with it's cute little boxes for me to check off. I also didn't bring the attendance sheet that I knew I would measure carefully with my billing statement before turning it in. 

I woke up early, into the freezing house, threw on a hoodie and two blankets and sat down for God time. When I opened my Mars Hill app to see the prayer of the day (40 days of prayer), I realized that my weather icon showed that it was snowing in Kirkland. Only then did i think to look out the window...and there it was, snow...about 1/2 and inch. It looked like more on the car roof but that's always deceiving now isn't it? 

Ooh ooh, getting mildly excited. Check the school board website....late start woot!! I only have to be at work at 11am. Gonna go right back to that cozy bed with my morning-hater hubby and get warm again. 

Excitement won over snuggles...a little while later I was up to read more emails, particularly the one that read "They just changed it, schools are closed, snow day!!". I love Seattle...Bellevue in particular. Whatever official guy decided that 1/2 an inch of melting snow was a safety hazard, I applaud your common sense. 

Yay!

So here I am, late in the day on the snow day. I did work most of the day. But it started to feel Christmassy. Pair that with a harp concert tonight and my parents and bro stopping by on their way south, I'm a happy camper. 

So, here's a list of things that have happened in the last eternity since i took any time to write on this blog:

1. Got a job as an SLP in Early Intervention (0-3) at Kindering

2. Celebrated American Thanksgiving by going to Suncadia (a resort 1.5 hours east of Kirkland) with Bryan and April (Sis-in-law)

3. Delivered gifts every day of December to Bryan's mom Gloria up until her 60th birthday on the 13th

4. Celebrated St. Nick's day in Vancouver with the relatives and came away with cookies and a cool spoon ring from my cousin Leah.

5. Donated blood for the first time

6. Watched lighted carol ships at Meydenbauer bay

7. Joined Mars Hill and started volunteering in kids ministry and community group

8. Got treated to a 9 course local ingredient dinner at the Herb Farm for Gloria's birthday that truly was the most expensive meal I will ever eat...and it was delicious. We fed their potbellied pigs inbetween courses and were serenaded by the Old Dickens Carolers (4 part harmony carols, beautiful!)

As well as cookies, lots of thrift store shopping, tons of Christmas gift shopping, and a few get togethers with new and old friends. 

It's been a great December so far. Love!

Day...oh dear...who is counting anymore?

I should be counting, but I'm afraid with the public-ness of a blog and my job search over the past couple weeks, I didn't really want to be writing much. So I believe today, November 22nd, is Day 77 but really the story of the past two weeks spans about Day 59 til now. 

The Job Search:
Well, I sent my resume off to various staffing agencies listed on Indeed in order to work in the schools. Various places contacted me with this or that part time position in Bellevue or nearby but none came up with much. 
Then I saw a position at a private clinic just south of Redmond that looked perfect. I was called in for an interview the next week. Then, at about the same time as the interview, I applied to an Early Intervention agency in Bellevue as well. Well after a week and a half, I was offered Job 1, praise the Lord! But it was a new type of job for me, new age group, new setting, new everything, and a very small clinic where I would be the primary therapist delivering intervention along with the boss who handled some therapy and all the insurance billing and everything else.  Then Job 2 called me up for a phone interview while I was debating about Job 1. After a phone interview, in-person interview and observation in the preschool, they offered me the position as well. 
The crazy thing was, I was just super anxious about the whole situation; for some reason I was just stressing out the wazoo about Job 1. 
Job 1: More money, later workdays (til 6:30pm), different population, largely independent intervention, small clinic
Job 2: Less money, more vacation, Early Intervention in a setting similar to CFA, lots of colleagues, team-based approach. 

I just felt so much more peace about Job 2. And I realized, I'm living in a new country, a new city, going to a new church, living in a new place, trying to make new friends, looking for a new job...and I just want as little 'new' about my job as possible until I settle in and feel confident enough to branch out. Although Job 1 may be a dream job, for me it's a dream job for in a few more years. 

Plus, in Vancouver, my colleagues at CFA became some really good friends of mine. I think my 'social butterfly' side, needs to have more people in the workplace and the opportunity to build friendships while I'm still "Friendless in Seattle" :P (Well not quite, there's a few). Plus, this new job isn't exactly like CFA. We do get the 'just speech and language' kids, as opposed to just the complicated kiddos. And there seems to be opportunity to move around and learn new things in various teams as opportunities arise. 

In the end, God showed me which one to pick just by giving me peace in one direction over the other. He knows that I don't like change and I'm adjusting to everything here and that I'm just nicer to be around when I'm not stressed out. 

So there you have it; I'll be starting a new job soon! 

Day 56 & 57: Vantage, WA

(1, 2 skip a few)

Saturday November 9th dawned bright and early, and we beat Mr. Sun to it. Bryan's highschool track buddy Jacob, his girlfriend and her coworker, met up at our house and we zipped off in the Subaru to Vantage WA. Just over the mountains, 2 hours each, the rainy wet coast turns into a desert. Near where Creation Fest is held at The Gorge, is an awesome area called Frenchman's Coulee which is an incredible climbing area. 

I was debating going because I'd been coughing and sick for almost a week but I was feeling a bit better and decided to go. 

We got there around 9am and started off at The Feathers with a warmup 5'4 and 5'6. I haven't climbed in ages so I thought I'd be super nervous, but a 5'6 is so easy that I even cleaned up at the top and remembered pretty well how to clip in, untie myself, reset the anchor into the chains and lower down. It was so fun in fact, that I then tried at 5'8. With a few rest breaks, I made it to the top of that one too, so that was fun. 

The rest of the day I belayed Bryan on the sunshine wall and watched Anna's coworker Karin float up the basalt pillars. Bryan and Jacob did well too. 

All in all a beautiful day and powered by Top Pot doughnuts (thanks Anna) so what could be better? 

Day 52: Lost all over Kirkland/Redmond

Today was not my favorite day. 

Woke up still sick, coughy coughy, ick. Went to work with Bry so I could have the car. Then visited 5 stores in an attempt to find bean sprouts for a Vietnamese dish I was attempting to make tonight (Lemongrass pork bowls). Finally found them. In the process I followed my GPS to Costco's office, not Costco, and accidentally got onto I-405 South at about 10:30am. You'd think rush hour would be over...not so much. At least I was getting off at the next exit, but still! It's 1030 people, aren't you at work yet?! I eventually did make it to Costco where a plethora of delightful goods met my eye: Hunter boots, Frye boots (!!), soft and cozy thermals, gaiters, driving gloves, balaclavas, snowshoes, kids toys, kids books...ah!! 

But have no fear! My Dutch sensibilities did not allow me the ability to actually buy any of these wares.

3 hours after dropping off Bry, I made it back, and collapsed on the couch. You know when you're sick, any exertion results in achey tiredness? Even though you've basically done nothing?  Yup. To the couch for me. Jordy slept nearby...he's not cuddly these days though. 

The rest of the day passed uneventfully, but guess what happened at dinner?
Bryan bbqed the pork, I cut veggies nice and thin, rice vermicelli cooked to perfection, salad looking pretty with starfruit slices...we ate, we enjoyed, and then I realized,

AFTER ALL THAT DRIVING AT 5 GROCERY STORES I FORGOT TO SERVE IT WITH BEAN SPROUTS!!!!  

Sigh.

Days 43-51: Mostly Kirkland, WA

As you can tell by my lack of posting, the past week has been, well...uneventful pretty much. I think I left you in Langley but who wants to read about me driving back to Kirkland and doing the various things that make up a day such as 

Getting up after Bryan's done his shower
Making a fire, making his lunch, eating breaky, reading the Bible
Bye to Bryan, Hi to God-time and prayer
Diddle around, clean up
Go for a run (ugh, why does 2.5 miles seem so long even though it's so gorgeous out?!
Apply for jobs, figure out EI, think about dinner, eat lunch 
Waste time on the computer, skype with people, play with Jordy, etc. 

It's been a blessing to know that God has my future job and timing and everything under control. I'm getting a bit of cabin fever, but I'm also at peace. 

In any case, TODAY, November 5th, is not only one of my best friend's anniversaries (Holla to Jenna Lee Falk!) but it is also a day where I had an interview at a private clinic in Redmond. I woke up with no voice (ack! not good for a speech path to be forcing her voice through an interview) but I babied it all day while prepping and it felt decent by 3pm. 

Note to self: when prepping for interviews, don't bother with facts, focus on answering case-based questions instead.

Well I didn't think of my note to self above until after the interview. 
It went pretty well I think; some of my answers were not very polished, especially to "What do you do when the mom bringing in the kid doesn't speak English and the child is a nonverbal 3 year old" ..."and we don't use interpreters"...ok, well there goes a case history for starters. 

In any case, it's in God's hands and we'll see what happens after this. I haven't really heard back from some of the staffing agencies I've applied to so right now this is my only lead. It also starts in January...soo that would be another 2 months of not working, yikes! I could then get a nanny job or something to fill the time. 

Love to the readers who care about my now-boring post-awesome-road-trip life!!

PS. Including my cheat on the last week, I'm past the halfway point of this blog! It's been fun.

Day 42: Vancouver, Langley, Abbotsford, BC

Saturday, Panther playoff day!
I used to play flag football for a cool team called the Panthers. 
It was super fun. 
So I watched them play in the finals today. What a great weekend to come up! All those girls and their respective men and coaches are so great. They played like champs and team 1.0 just lost the final. 2nd overall but 1st in coolness and overall awesomeness in my books. 

Post-playoffs, off to Langley to see my dear friends Jennifer Jacobson and Rika Nel plus others who happened to be up. We had dinner at the Fort Pub, headed off to a haunted corn maze in Abby, got chased by creepers with "chainsaws" (when I finally had been chased enough times to look at who was chasing me, I think they had leafblowers, but man those guys could sprint!!), won the acronym from letters hidden around the maze (Hog Handler...weirdest answer ever), ate our suckers that we got for winning, went to the petting zoo, slid down the crazy slides, went to Timmy Ho's, chatted with Jenny and Riks and Kraakmos and new friends, went back to Jen's in Walnut Grove and had a sleepover in her cozy big bed. 

(I've never really liked sleeping with people next to me or near me; I always gravitated away from everyone during sleepovers as a kid. Breathing people keep me up I guess and it took MONTHS (like 6) after we got married to get used to sleeping with Bryan in my bed (the little children pitter pattering and crying above our heads on the 5'6" ceilings/their floor also may have contributed). Jen, however, was my roommate (small rooms) at TWU for 3 years, and is thus an exception to the rule. Plus, she always has a really comfy mattress, pillows and blankets.)

Day 41: Burnaby, Vancouver, Richmond

Friday, woot woot. 
I managed to change my follow up eye appointment to this Friday for a number of reasons, the main one being that my mom was teaching a writing seminar in Chilliwack so I would see her!

I parked at my old free parking spot (the road near 29th Avenue skytrain station), took the skytrain and used up a FareSaver that had been begging to be used, went to my eye appt. at Coal Harbour Eye Center. The verdict is that my vision is not perfect, but is close (20/25 or 20/30). Come back in 3 months and it should be perfect they said. 
You've seen lots of people's eyes improve more from 3-6 months post surgery I asked?
Yes for sure they answered. 
Oh phewf. I want my 20/20 money's worth. (Actually, already worth it...PRK=the bomb diggety. Camping and hiking contact free was amaaazing!)

Mom and I planned to meet in Van for dinner so I diddled around Metrotown, had sushi lunch with Su, mmmm, and then realized there's no way my mom will feel comfortable driving into Vancouver at rush hour. So I left for Richmond, stuck in a little bit of tunnel traffic. Then realized, my poor mother will be stuck in CRAZY tunnel traffic trying to come North. 

So dinner was postponed. She sat there like a champ for 1.25 hours waiting to get through. I relaxed at the farm, picked Gem's hooves and brushed her, entreated everyone to please call the farrier and get her hooves done, and then Mom and I went to Old Spag Factory. I love my mom. She's the best. 

I won't really mention my sleep tonight because there really wasn't much...something about a terrible mattress...I really can't wait to sleep in my own bed once we take it out of Bryan's parent's garage. Someday.

Day 40: Kirkland, WA to Richmond, Abbotsford and Burnaby, BC

Day 40 = October 24th, just to keep current. 

Woke up, made Bryan's lunch, ate breaky, ta da!
Packed a suitcase, loaded up cousin Carrie's car with grandma's stuff, cousin Sarah's boots, my stuff, and a massive rug and liner for Uncle Maurice that came on the UPS truck right when we were ready to go. I managed to slide it through the trunk and between the front seats. It fit with about an inch to spare. 

Drove with Grandma to Richmond; beautiful day for a drive. Didn't have to pay duty on the rug ($1000) booyah!
Stayed briefly, left at about 230pm to go to Abbotsford. 
Listened to Auntie Joanne to take 0 Ave because it is relaxing. 
It is relaxing, so relaxing in fact that I ended up way past where I wanted to be in Abby. 
Got very lost without data on my phone or a GPS, oy, way too dependent. 
Stopped at a gas station, got directions to Raelene's. 
Got close and stopped at another gas station to get directions to a grocery store. 
Directed back the way I came, ugh. 
Finally found a crummy little grocery store and got Oreos, sherbet and mango popsicles...thought I'd try a variety in case any appealed to my sickie pregnant friend for dessert. 

Yay, finally arrived at Raelenes, dessert in tow, feeling less relaxed by now.(2 hours from Richmond to Abbotsford, whaaa?! I've been driving for about 5 hours today now)

Had a lovely time with my dear friend and her lovely kiddo and her very sweet hubby. 

Dun dun dun, time to drive to Burnaby to stay with my lovely coworker Su. 
So, I'm driving down the highway thinking "oh wow, my night vision is so much better after laser eye surgery, the halos are gone and I feel safe driving at night, oh lucky me...etc."
Then something flashed in the sky.
What was that? ...I stare at the sky. 
A HUGE blue flash lights up the sky. 
What on earth?
I drive cautiously around the corner where I see brake lights going on in an uncoordinated fashion, some people pulling off right, some left, I slow down. 
And then I drive by a car that used to be going the other direction but is now near the inside lane, facing sideways, window totally smashed in, and the people are still in there. 
I couldn't see them as I drove by but I knew it just happened (they hit a power pole), I saw that many cars had already pulled to the side and stopped, and given my very pathetic level of medical prowess, I didn't want to be in the way.
Shaken and slightly guilty for driving by a car with potentially dead or dying people in it, and also for avoiding the crazy traffic nightmare sure to follow behind me, I prayed my way to my dear friend Su's. 

After a brief chat with Su who was suffering from a migraine, I headed downstairs to her cozy guestroom, on the way stopping to goof off with her two youngest kiddos watching iCarly on Netflix. Pillow fights and acrobatics on couches ensued between them which was very amusing.

And then I curled up in my cozy bed after 5+ hours of driving and many miles put on the car. Thank goodness for cheap American gas. And lovely friends of course. And God's protection on the road.

Did I mention I got free corn and pumpkins from grandma's farm? Gotta love free produce. Good night!

Day 38 & 39: Kirkland, WA

I went running with my Aunty Nelly. Just 2.5 miles or so she said. I can do that, I thought. 
She didn't mention that she runs really fast...or maybe I just typically run really slowly. Maybe, what I consider "going for a run" is actually "going for a jog" or even "going for a jog at the pace of a walk." Am I a granny runner? Am I a prancerciser? Ok. Definitely not the latter. Ew yuck.

Back to the run. Aunty Nelly has a great route: a quick walk through the neighborhood and down the hill, pick up the pace and run through Juanita Park, over the boardwalk, through the Michael's parking lot to the other park, around the concrete walkway over the lake, sharp right along the path, back across the walkway, aaaand walk home. 
I didn't know about the walk home part or I would have made it...I think...but I saw my grandma walking and that was a good excuse to ix nay the running and start walking, blaming it on a stitch in my side. 

Moral of the story: 
1. Hiking gives you muscles, not cardiovascular fitness.
2. Aunties who can swim 86 laps of a pool a few times a week no big deal, are flippin fit. (When I did a sprint triathlon a few years ago or more, I almost got disqualified because I'm such a terrible swimmer that my time for the 800 meters was almost too slow to count, what is that like 16 laps? Or maybe 32 depending on the pool size.)
3. I am not as fit as I think and better whoop myself into shape while I have time.

Other aspects of the days included applying for jobs, looking up jobs, stoking the fire, chopping kindling (cut myself with the axe, but it was too embarrassing to tell anyone)...and missing my hubby. I had him every day all day for 6 weeks! Back to reality.

Day 37: Kirkland, WA & Lynnwood, WA

Ah, the cozy bed, delicious dinner and hospitality of my Aunty Nelly's house. Grandma has been visiting Kirkland after the wedding so she was here, knitting a vest at a tremendous pace while watching the Hallmark Channel. 

Bry and I had a lazy day, but I did make an apple crispt to keep grandma happy and because apple crisp is delicious. The day topped off with dinner at his parents--delicious roast, veggies, sparkling apple cider, and apple pie crumble. We showed them the (short version!) photos of our trip and had nice chats before going back to Kirkland (kind of weird feeling for Bry to say "well we better get going" and leave his family home). 

It's weird to live here and not just be visiting. I'm not sure if I'm used to it yet. 

PS. I almost hate Halloween; seriously, bloody corpses rising out of lawns is too much for me. I like pumpkins, pumpkin spice lattes (half sweet), fall-colored leaves, cozy scarves, boots, thick socks, wood fireplaces, apple pie, etc. but these bloody ghouly nasties on every corner is yucky, it's just yucky guys. Ew. 

Day 36: Ontario, Oregon to Kirkland, WA

Well folks, not much to say about today except that it was a long and beautiful drive through beautiful countryside with perfect weather. The closer we got to the west coast, the nicer the fall colors became...until we got past Ellensburg.

"Is that smoke in the distance?" Bry asked. "Is there a fire?" I questioned. Oh wait...that is a cloud. A very low cloud. An unending west coast cloud.

And into it we drove. For only the second time on the trip (the first was a few hours of pelting rain when we drove into San Fran) we were under a cloud, no sun to be seen. After 5 weeks of sunny vacationing, it was a bit sad. 

PS. Anyone ever play the Farming Game? (board game of awesomeness). Well I found Toppenish Tom and Wapato Willie on the drive...couldn't find Satus Sam though :P 

PPS. How flippin' Halloweeny is Seattle?!! Spiders EVERYWHERE! Fog EVERYWHERE! Misty chill, orange leaves, pumpkins, my word! It was like we drove into a different season in half an hour. 

PPPS. (last one, sorry!) Wow Halloween decorations are getting creepy; poor kids, I'm getting nightmares myself! 

Day 35: Arches National Park to Ontario, Oregon

The last fun day of our trip dawned. Camp was slowly packed up, oatmeal eaten, sticky oatmeal bowls cleaned. and off we went. Just before Arches, Ben and clan went to Moab instead to find Kim some kind of baby-safe medication as she was feeling awful. Bry and I went ahead and hiked one of the longer hikes (just a mile each way) to Landscape Arch. Then we met up with them and did the shorter hikes to Tunnel and Pine Tree Arches. 

By this time it was already past noon surprisingly and we needed to hit the road fairly early. We did a couple other little trips, one to Sand Dune Arch (such a cool spot for families; so much sand for the kids to play in and rocks to climb). Our final stop was the viewpoint for Delicate Arch, the famous free standing Utah-license-plate arch. We could see it quite well in the distance but next time we'll do the hike up to it. 

It was crazy how busy this park is even mid October. The parking lots were totally full and we could see the people swarming up at Delicate Arch. I can't imagine this place in June or September, probably chaos. 

Kim by this point, couldn't wait to get home and to a doctor and we both had 16 hours of driving ahead of us to get home. Micah really wanted to hike to the upper viewpoint so Bry and I made lunch, we all prayed together, and then we headed out. They planned to leave after Ben and Micah did the final viewpoint hike. 

It was a long afternoon of driving but through gorgeous country. Utah was breathtaking; I could live there I think! Bry had begun to feel his throat tickling, which discouraged us from driving through the night. He really wanted to be healthy by Wednesday for starting his new job. Regrettably, we hadn't planned anywhere to stay for the night so we ended up at a Motel 6 in Ontario, Oregon, just past Boise. 

Day 34: Canyonlands National Park

Camping right inbetween Canyonlands and Arches was super convenient and we decided to head to Canyonlands today (Friday Oct 25) and Arches for most of the day Saturday. 
The day dawned crisp as can be at Horsethief campground, but sickie Kim, having a hard time sleeping, had made a fire by the time the rest of us woke up. Poor Nathanael woke up screaming. His eyes were glued shut and face covered in crusties from a sick night sleep. It took a lot of wipes and loving from daddy Ben to help him feel better. Even so, he sat like a cold little lump in a camp chair, not his perky cheerful self.

There were a few key sites in Canyonlands. First to the crater (meteorite or ancient salt lake?), then to Whale Rock, and finally to a lookout where the 4x4 road goes down into the canyon itself and around the White Rim Road. It was nice to have a relaxed, moseying pace to our hiking instead of trying to get to the farthest places possible. Kids have that effect :)