More pictures from our new home!

1. Gasworks Park, Wallingford-->only in Seattle would the folks recycle an old gas plant into a park, and a PLAYGROUND!
2. The view of Lake Union from Gasworks Park.
3. Our very own neighborhood biker bar!
4. Its a Polaroid camera acting as a soapbox car! (Fremont Soap Box Race)
5. Posing with one of the sleeker models. (Fremont Soap Box Race)
6. The Washington Arboretum....
7. Ohohhhh-->pretty! (Washington Arboretum)
8. Downtown Seattle from across Lake Union (on a rare clear day!)

...The pictures really don't justify just how beautiful it is here. But I will continue to try:)
P.S. I started my new job this past week!

I have not been able to write consistently since I came back from Finland-more than a year ago-reminding me of the diaries that my mom use to give us every year for Christmas.

Every year, my mom gave her kids a new diary to write in and every year, we would start out the new year with the belief that this year we would be faithful to it. By March, the diary was long forgotten. For me, the reason I stopped writing was because I felt so whiny recounting the details of my life. I was told that you should never read what you have written because you will become too self conscious of yourself, thereby voiding the whole therapeutic experience of writing. Well I did it anyway. And so I never was able to faithfully keep a diary.

My mom and I chatted a bit today and she reminded me again that I had not updated this blog in several months. Hearing that I realized something about writing in diaries/blogs/journals/etc. I did not have to be about my inner turmoil (boring!) but like an Annie New Service (ANS for short). If no one appreciates this blog but my mom, that would be OK.

So here it goes another try!

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The view of the Olympic Range and the Ballard Canal from our apartment in Fremont (the so called Center of the Universe)

Well, its official. I am quitting my job and moving out of NYC. Rick and I have decided that this town just isn't for us. If you know me, you know that after college I was never quite happy with the city...maybe it was the commuting on the subways, or the constant noise (probably both)...either way I have had my fill of New York City. I cannot wait to leave! There are sad things about leaving though...I will be leaving a wonderfully full filling job and many close friendships. Every time I am around my friends these days, I get very sad and almost think about staying. But I think my friends want me to stay sane so...I will go!

So where are we headed? That was a question that we thought through and through many times. For me, I have really come to understand in the last month or so that I really wanted to be somewhere that was going to be beautiful and accessible-meaning that we could do a lot of outdoor activities. We had heard a lot of good things about Portland, Oregon and thought that it might be worth a look. The big negative against going to Portland was that we did not know anyone there. After much conversation, we decided that we are going to try and move to Seattle...a city that is far far away from New York and feels like it too! Its green and lush and everyone is so laid back. And contrary to popular belief, Seattle is not the rainiest (in terms of actual accumulation) city in the US. It does however rain the most often:) But I don't mind. I lived in Ireland for six months and loved every second of the rain there...I think that Seattle has a very similar climate to the Ireland coast where I studied abroad. That is just fine to me! The idea of being there, and being able to be surrounded by water and Mt. Rainer...ah that just fills me to the brim with excitement. Woot!

In other news, I went to visit Meghan in Montana. The trip there was an ordeal (in that it took forever) but it was so great to see Meghan in as close to her element as I have ever seen her. Her friends and her life there suit her to the tee. I am so jealous that she is constantly surrounded by all those lovely mountains...that she can go hiking or to the hot springs or camping...that's where I felt my kinship with the land of my birth. I really felt connected, that I belonged there. At one point, Meghan and I went to Georgetown Lake. I knew (and not because I had been told but because I actually remembered) that I had been there before. It was a really odd sensation. I grew up so far away from all of this but there was a part of me that still remembered and really loved being where my parents and siblings and I had spent a lot of time twenty years ago. Ahh...good times!

Above are some pictures from my trip to The Big Sky State.
1. Meghan climbs Waterworks Hill in Missoula.
2. Don't worry Mom, we won't be anywhere never bears;) ...on the hike to Holland Falls.
3. The view from Holland Falls.
4. Meghan and I pause on the (treacherous) trail to some hot springs.
5. Georgetown Lake
6. The Historic Willa movie theatre in downtown Missoula.

No pictures again, sorry guys! Has anyone else noticed that I end up doing the exact opposite of what I say I am going to do with this blog? Oh well. Makes it more interesting for you the reader.

This weekend Rick and I went to DC to visit with the folks and to celebrate Easter. While we were there, I went to a book store and bought three new books-I cannot remember the last time I bought new books. Call me spoiled, but I had gotten used to Meghan just handing me a book to read. Now that that is not so easy anymore, I have been trying to collect my own books. On this trip I bought The Road by Cormac McCarthy, Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert, and Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott. In my current state of mind, I really am interested in reading non-fiction, especially if it concerns the author's journey through something difficult and vague-meaning there is no instruction manual for what you are going through.

The Anne Lamott book was a recommendation from Meghan (who actually told me to read the book sometime last year...well I am a little slow). I cannot put it down! Its so amazing and just right for me. Its like when I started going to the "Miracle Mass" in Finley where every Sunday I left feeling as though I had just had a conversation with God about my life. My roommates and I often joked afterwards that Father O'Malley was listening at our door during the week, getting his ideas for his sermon from our lives. While Anne Lamott's life is not a mirror image of mine, I do feel a very strong connection to her journey towards accepting faith and all that comes with it. She writes with such honesty about how hard it is to feel faith, to give up her power to someone/something else, to be led. When I am reading her book, I feel such relief and whats more, I feel a burden being lifted from me-this is how it felt to go to those "Miracle Masses".

I feel like I am speeding through this book and soon it will be over. This makes me really sad. I both love and hate that feeling, when you are reading something really wonderful and because of that you just cannot put the book down. I have this image of me forty years in the future, carrying this ragged and worn book around with me where ever I go...it would be like my version of the Bible, underlined, highlighted and ready whenever I need to refer back to it in a crisis:)

Good recommendation Meghan!

So a couple of months ago a friend invited us to this "meetup" where everyone was playing boggle. Even though I did not really like playing boggle (probably because I sucked at it;) I thought the premise of getting people together who enjoyed the same activities was brillant. I went online (www.meetup.com-now one of my favorite links) to see what other kinds of meetups were going on in the city and discovered (yay!!) a post-collegiate women's lacrosse team. I cannot tell you how exciting this was for me. Long story short (well ok, its already been a longish story), I have started playing lacrosse again! Hooray:) I am really out of shape but I just don't give a hoot.

In other news, Rick and I bought a Nintendo Wii! Wee!!
I am going to DC for my mom's birthday and Easter this weekend.

My birthday and our subsequent trip to California (in no particular order)

From top to bottom:
1. Celebratin' my birthday with my honey!
2. The Ladies!
3. From the Pacific Coast Highway-somewhere between Santa Barbara and Santa Monica.
4. Tigger and me!
5. I cannot tell you how happy we were to finally make it to that beach.
6. Rick enjoys his first In-n-Out of the trip...many more to come.

In no particular order...here are some of my favorite snapshots from the last six months.

From top to bottom:

1. Megan and I in Missoula, MT (isn't that neckless beautiful? hehe)

2. Megan is an excellent artist!

3. My dear sweet Lucy.

4. My first trip to Wrigely-I might become a Cubbies fan just because of this park.

More to come...

Changing the format of this blog yet again. My life at this point feels too complicated to put down in words...Maybe visual aids will bring more light into what my life is like here in NYC. Hope you all enjoy the new incarnation!