Netty's August fun

Well, I have spent August doing one of two things...packing or going places. 

HAH and I spent the weekend of 8/17 doing some local Seattle attractions.   For example, I have lived here my whole life and had never done the Seattle Underground Tour!  That was a lot of fun, and it helped that we had a great guide. 

Next up was a ride up to the observation deck of the Smith Tower.  That was a great view...to see a 360 degree view of the SoDo district and such.  We had lunch appetizers at Pacific Place and roamed around there and Pike Place Market for a bit before we checked into our hotel.  We had an outfit change and headed back to the market for dinner at Matt's at The Market.  That was a tasty experience - so glad we tried something new.  Bonus was having a window seat to look out over the sound and the market sign. 

Sunday we were up and adam to head to Freak-mont for a view of the Troll, a little breakfast and a walk through the Sunday Market there.  While there HAH made my day and helped me find the JP Patches statue!

Besides the fantastic weather for our weekend, that was a major hi-light for me! 

Next escape found JAZ and I taking a road trip to the Okanogan Valley's Lake Osoyoos to stay a couple days with one of her co-workers and his wife at their lake house.  It was such a great time from beginning to end.  Mr. & Mrs. Mendy are the hostesses with the mostesses! We arrived Wednesday evening.  That night we checked the weather report and decided to use Thursday as our chillaxing day.  After a breakfast first for me, scrambled eggs with shrimp from dinner (so glad I tried it), we didn't leave the house the whole day.  The four of us laid out in the sun, read books/magazines, floated out on the water and took a trip in the boat to take in the sights around the lake.  Dinner was grilled-smoked salmon and grilled vegetables.  Another first for me - grilled broccoli!  I generally prefer the stems of the broccoli, not the trees...but it was yummy!  Friday we crossed the Canadian boarder and spent the day wine tasting up and down the valley. 

Lake Osoyoos

JRR, JAZ, Mrs. & Mr. Mendy

Hidden Church grape cluster

I ended up bringing home seven bottles of wine - and I am not even a big wine drinker!  JAZ and I reluctantly left the Mendy's Relaxation Station on Saturday morning with an invitation to return next summer.  Can't wait!

M comes home this Monday!  Then it's balls to the walls with him packing up his garage and me finishing up in my closet and the rest of the little things, i.e emptying  couple junk drawers, the linens etc.  Still waiting on the contractor to complete the to-do list - the back-up guy will be here tomorrow to get started on the mudding and taping.  Hopefully we can make some serious progress so we can get the Valley of Maples house on the market ASAP. 

Movin' and Groovin' our way to the 406

Big news from the Valley of Maples!  If you haven't heard thru the grapevine or been of Eff-book yet....M and I are going to be moving to the 406!  Hopefully before the end of the year.  All depends on the selling of the Valley of Maples house.

 

Believe me when I say this, buying a house was NOT on the to-do list when we went back there for a little week of vacation last month.  With that being said, we had been driving around the Bitterroot for the last couple years looking at For Sale signs and checking things out for a house that would meet our list of must-have's: ranch style, acreage and a shop.  To make a complicated story short, we found our agent via a happy accident on the web and she steered us to THE house by way of a fellow co-worker's listing.  Needless to say, we fell in love! Even more in love when we crunched the numbers and talked to the bank and found that this could be a reality.  We looked at the house on a Wednesday, made an offer Thursday morning and signed the counter offer Thursday afternoon and started the ball rolling.

We came home to the Valley of Maples and had some decisions to make...do we rent or sell.  Let's sell.  Selling kinda scared us since we knew we had the bar as our LAST room we needed to do something with.  It was the last room in the house in the original condition from when M bought it 18 yrs ago. Picture wood paneling, nasty carpet, and a bar with a countertop that was reminiscent of the old Wendy's restaurant i.e. old newspaper ads.  Not to mention the bar had become our catch-all room...if company was coming that's where stuff was put and forgotten.  =)  So Galvin (realtor) and Phat Carl (contractor) came over and gave it a once over.  All in all - each gave some great feedback for our to-do list before it's listed.  In fact, Galvin was the smart one that told us to change the bar into a family room.  M and I had been killing ourselves thinking we had to keep it as a bar and if so, then what type of  cupboards and top were we going to use etc, etc.  Insert forehead slap here - why didn't we think of that oh-so-many years ago?

We made good use of M's last two weeks at home by demo-ing the bar and taking down and packing up the office, then packing up his closet and having him take down anything that required the use of a power tool, since he does not trust me with them.  When he left on Monday, all I had left was to pack up this kitchen, my closet, and the master bathroom.  Not bad for having a little over a month until our expected closing date of mid-September. 

We are very excited to start this next chapter in our journey!  We'll have an extra bedroom in the new house, so if your find yourselves rolling thru Missoula, give us a shout-out!  We would love to have you come by and visit.

Aloha Friends!

Wow!  Well let's start the post with a re-cap of CDA's FANTASTIC 4-Oh! Birthday Bash in Hawaii why don't we....

5/28...CD, JD, Stephus and I were on the same flight to start the party.  That was a lot of fun at 9 a.m. in the morning.  I am sure the seatmates surrounding us had no idea what they were in for for the 6 hour flight.  I was just ecstatic that one of the e-books I had pre-ordered became available for download prior to the flight - so that kept me entertained.

Landed in Honolulu around Noon and promptly located a taxi to take us to the Park Shore Hotel in Waikiki.  Once checked in we were on the hunt for lunch and to wait for the Rents and the RT Baders' arrival later that evening.  The McBusta's had already been there since the Friday before, staying with JoseB's family.  We made arrangements to have them come get us Wednesday morning so he could proudly play tour guide of his home town of Waimanalo.  It was a fun day spent in the sun and surf, and some sights of the island. 

McChicks in Hawaii



 I was sharing a room with the Rent's, since I was solo for this trip.  So in saying that, because I am such an early riser, I laced on my walking shoes and was able to get in some early morning walks each morning we were there.  That made me feel good.  CDA's bday was Thursday and I woke to a text @ 5 a.m. asking if I wanted to catch the 5:50a sunrise with the birthday girl. Sure!  So met she and JD at Sbux and proceeded with the sunrise watching....only to be thwarted by the low lying clouds that morning.  From there we let the birthday festivities begin...complete with meeting up with sending JD, RTM, RTB and BAB to a ukulele factory and the rest of us to hang out for some rays by the pool before we met up with Stephus, Molly and Woo for lunch.  From there I headed to get a massage and they found a gun range.  CAM came with me to the Spa, but played WWF and wrote our her postcards while she waiting for me since she was not booked for any services.  It was nice to hang out with her.  We even managed to navigate the bus and made our way back to the hotel w/o any issues.


view from of Diamond Head from the Diamond Head Suite at the Park Shore

The group event gathering for the birthday girl on Thursday consisted of an arranged five course - private party dinner at Azure Restaurant in the Royal Hawaiian.  In all we had a party of 17 for this occasion.  The company was great and the food was delicious.  From there it was early to bed for those of us that had to be a the bus stop to catch the 6:15a shuttle for our island tour.

5/31  JD's bday and he was one of the one's on the island tour with us.  He and I made a joke that we were each other's stand in spouses for the day for the photo opportunities.  Our tour consisted of stops at Pearl Harbor, The Dole Plantation, then up and over to ride along the North Shore and have lunch, a stop at the Blow Hole, Hanama Bay and a quick stop on the south side of Diamond Head and then dropped of at our hotel, and that was at 5pm! 

Stand-in Spouses for the day - JR & JD

The whole day was a ton of fun and we had such a great group on our bus.  Not to mention our tour guide....so knowledgeable with the history and legends of Hawaiian folklore.  He was Awesome!  We celebrated JD's bday at one of his favorite restaurants, Chili's!  They are no longer franchised in WA, so when CD and I found one on our walk to locate an ATM, she KNEW that would make his day. 

6/1...The last full day there before heading home on Sunday, we made a trip to Leonard's for Malasada's,

and then I was able to catch up with a former FMCC co-worker of mine for lunch at Duke's.  Beckster and I hadn't seen each other in person since '98...but we had managed to stay connected via Eff Book.  She and her hubby and two fur babies are stationed there for maybe a year or two before he is able to retire and then she wants to head back East. 

So that is the Hawaii re-cap...without going into too much blow-by-blow detail...  =)

June has just been me applying for jobs and getting back into the gym with Trainer Karen.  Since I was nowhere NEAR where I wanted to be for the trip to the 808 (via the # on the scale), I figured it was time to re-dedicate myself.  I had no excuses now since finishing school and all.  This has been my first week with her, and my body is already reminding me why I missed working out! 

Next Wednesday is Anniversary #9...and I was informed that my honey has made overnight reservations and that I am to pack a bag and make reservations to board the babies.  DONE!  I am so surprised he has had time to do this from AK since he has been working his tail off up there.  I did the math and this last trip up will have been 56 days!  However, it was necessary to do this long one to get him back on the right schedule for when the holiday months come up.  Since he was up there for Thanksgiving last year, he will be home for it this year.  The only problem this year is he will miss the first Griz game of the season, AGAIN!  because is falls on the Saturday of Labor Day wknd and he is not schedule to be home until that Monday. (insert pouty lip here).  The day after said anniversary is graduation!  That is going to be a very exciting day for me for sure.  Then I invited a couple friends to The Spot that Saturday for a very informal gathering to celebrate.  Should be fun.

MER will be home for July and the month is already filling up...trip to the 406 and then the 208 from there for some fishing on the Clear Water River with the EL Wildey's.  My MT sista,  her son and Trucker Joe are coming over to play tourists for a couple days....then we will be getting ready to pack MER back up tot he 907. 

Mahalo!

May I help you?

Oh my....I have fallen down on the job in keeping up with posts.

First off...the big news....

Ta Da!!!!  I did it! And I managed to stick to my personal goal of graduating with honors!  My last day of school was March 28, and the graduation ceremony will be held in June. 

M came home on April 1st...no joke!  So we decided to take a couple days and head back to the 406 to check in on the folks and detour home via Idaho to steel head fish on the Clear water.  Thankfully Mandy Jo was able to stay with the babies.  She was a big help, especially being able to stay an extra day at the last minute b/c SOMEONE wanted to cast for one more day. 

While we were away I was contacted by the Catering Events Manager at RTC asking if I wanted to come work with her for a while.  I actually did my on-campus internship with her back in the fall quarter.  She is a lot of fun to work with, and we have very similar work styles.  Since I already had the basics down, she went to bat for me to be brought on to cover her office while she took a medical leave in May.  So I filled out the paperwork to be put into the RTC system as a Substitute Admin.  Which means I am in a pool of people that would be called on to see if they are available should an admin assistant call in to take vacation and someone was needed to cover for her.  For now, though, I was working with CN from April to just this last Friday.  I would've stayed til the end of the month; however, I had plane tickets to HAWAII  for CD's big 4-Oh!

But let's finish April...before M left to head back to the 907, he had an opportunity to follow his Valley Rugby Boys to Boise for a couple games.  That left the weekend open for Cowgirl and I to head up to the Vancouver, BC Expo.  That was a lot of fun.  Vegas had nothing on some of the attendees at these functions, costumes and all.  Out sole purpose was to meet with actor Sean Patrick Flanery.  He is hilarious and we have been following him on Twitter.  He shares his pearls of wisdom, thoughts and opinions.

We had great weather and a great time.  We definitely need to do that again!

M left at the end of the April, and I continued on with my working with CN at good 'ol RTC.  Let me tell you, that woman has needed an assistant long before I sought her out for my internship.  It's no wonder there are some nights she is staying until 6-7 o'clock at night.  There is so much to do, know, and keep on top of for the Catering side of things.  Her office is NOT one that can sit idle for any length of time, especially in regards to email and voice mails.

So, closing up on May's activities.  I just bought my cap, grown and honor cord for June 27th.  I spent the weekend packing for Hawaii, and getting the house ready for HAH to spend the week dog-sitting here.  I thought I was going to get off easy, but 5 days before I am to leave, I had to take Maggie May to the vet to have a toenail removed.  Add to that, I am told Stella has Giardia for the second time.  AWESOME!  Well, at least I can take care of that medication part before I leave.  My problem with Maggie is trying to keep her mellow.  If you have met my Maggie, you would know that that is easier said than done.  When we had her fixed at 6 months and picked her up from the vet, they said, "Wow, we even gave her some medication to mellow her out, but she just doesn't do that, does she?"  NOPE!  They had to remove the whole nail, leaving the pink meat of the quick exposed.  Ewwww....looks painful.  But you can't leave her in the Cone-of-Shame un-supervised, so they say.  I had to for two days until I could get my hands on one of the inflatable donut collars.  Only to find out that it is not effective for her because she is so long-legged, she can still reach her exposed toe to lick it. 

One more picture to share....

This is my birthday wisteria.  I can't remember what birthday # I received it, but I do know that I had both babies at the time.  After winterizing it for one winter, we brought it back out and planted it in the front yard by a wrought iron panel we erected for it.  Last year I only had one small blooming cluster, so this year I was super excited to see this out my from window. 

That's all the news for now....so excited to be headed to Hawaii for CD's 4-Oh! bday celebration.  It's going to be so much fun!  Signing off - I have to tear the house apart to look for my camera...

In the final stretch

February just got away from me....so I am going to MARCH forward...

I am in my final month of school!  I can't believe it!  That's part of the reason Feb got away from me.  I was working at an internship in downtown Seattle on Mon/Wed/Fri and a math class on campus Tues and Thurs.  I was taking the bus into Seattle for my internship...which required me to catch the 5:48 a.m. bus out of Maple Valley.  I must say though, thank goodness for Cowgirl and HAH.  Cowgirl helped me navigate the transit when I first started out.  Then HAH and I were able to carpool to work for the week her brother took off. (he is her regular carpool buddy).  My last day in Seattle was last Wednesday.  It was such a great experience overall.  I told M I was glad I was only there part time, I looked at the experience as one that was helping me ease back into the work world, not to mention back into an office atmosphere again.

M was home for three weeks in Feb.  It was nice to have him here, and I kept his honey-do list full.

Babies are good.  Although we did learn why Stella had been limping lately.  She has bad arthritis in her knees.  The good news is, we can go the glucosamine (sp?) and anti-inflammatory route for a while until we can afford the $1500 surgery.  Even with that, we were told we would have to keep her quiet for up to three months after the surgery.  The bad news was I should have secured Pet Insurance when I was checking them out, as now she has a pre-existing condition and we're screwed!  Dang it, Dang it, Dang it!!!!

My baby peanut

That is all the news from us my friends.  When I am not finishing up my internship hours, or in school, I am doing the job search thing.  Keep your fingers crossed.  I would appreciate all the good job hunting vibes you can send my way!

XOXO ~ J

Merry New Year All-a-body!!!!

Picturing a Wonderful start to 2013!

 

Wrapping up December

Where do I even begin to start to recap the last 2 1/2 months?  I apologize for that peeps. 

This quarter has been fun.  I must say, for as much as I was complaining about my summer quarter class schedule (being on campus from 8a - 5:30p) - I am soooo glad I did!  Doing that allowed me to concentrate on my Psychology class this quarter.  Then left my last general education class, math, for my last quarter.  My on-campus internship has been a blast with the catering department.  There is so much that goes on behind the scenes there at Renton Technical College with the on and off-campus catering events and such.  I don't think a lot of students are aware of that aspect.  I wasn't until now. 

M came home for the month of October.  Just in time to spend most of the month over in Forks for fishing.  Unfortunately, with the extremely dry summer we had this last year, that made the salmon run three weeks BEHIND our annual Roberts' Sibling Weekend.  The only one who caught anything was EW.  However, it still was an enjoyable weekend with everyone!  We already have our eye on a new rental location for 2013.  The other news for October....I received a 98 on my mid-term for Psychology!  I was one of four individuals that got over 95 and one of 10 who overall got over 90%.  I have really enjoyed this instructor, and have encouraged another one of my classmates to take his class next quarter.

I sent M back up to Dutch for November and pounded out the school work and incorporated morning workouts into the routine with my classmate KC.  She too, lives here in the Valley of Maples.  KC started a quarter after I did and will be finished at the end of June.  Turkey day was spent up in Coupeville with the G's.  Even got to see my long lost cousin AJG III.  Yummy stuff....especially the stuffing! 

M followed a boat down from Dutch and was here in Sea-town this last week, but left today for CAT school in Peoria this week.  He will be home Friday, and I will be out of school until 1/2/13.  Oh my goodness!  I will be able to spend time with my DH?  That will be the best Christmas present this year!  Added to that, we will be spending Christmas week in the 406.  Which will be long overdue - since we did not get over for either big holiday last year.  And I have to brag...but can't post pics just yet, but I did really well on gifts this year!  Stay tuned!  (wink, wink)

Signing off, have to feed the babies and head off to the 'Rents for Sunday dinner.