Seahawks vs. REDSKINS!

One of Kenny's dreams has always been to see his beloved Redskins play, so low and behold, the Redskins came into town (well, Seattle) to play the Seahawks. We got some tickets and skipped church (sorry God and mom) and headed to Seattle on Sunday morning. Luckily, the sun was shining and the clouds were gone. We had nosebleed seats, but they were awesome. First of all, the BEST quad workout I have ever had. Second of all, we could SEE Mt. Ranier! Thirdly, we could see the game pretty well.
Here are some pictures to show you our fun!this is the behind view from our seats - downtown Seattle!

The Redskins won!

the job...

so the first week was great fun with a little lecture, a little learning how to take notes, a little critical reading, and a little puppet show. I had a blast getting into the classroom and getting to even grade papers! I give my first test this Wednesday. I am hoping that they do okay on it since I don't know how fast they can move. I was talking to my co-worker/friend, and we have discovered that these students don't have very high expectations for themselves. Well they are lucky they get to have me as a teacher because I have high expectations and expect them to meet them! We shall see how it goes!

Hope everyone is gearing up for Thanksgiving! Thanks for all the support and well wishes on the teaching job!

Someone is employed...

Back to the grind. My vacation is officially over - THANK GOODNESS! I have been itching to teach and itching to get into a classroom. Itching to the point where my arm almost went raw. Just kidding :) Then a friend of mine who works at a Christian High School here learned of an opening at their school for a history position. It has been over a month since I had heard about the position and spoken to the director of the school. They wanted to make an end of the quarter switcheroo, so I had to wait. So to make a long story short, because who really needs the sordid details, I was offered the job today and to help with the Algebra and Algebra 2 classes. So I will be teaching World History three days a week and Algebra and Algebra 2 on Fridays. Yeah for getting to teach! (Even if I only have 6 students in my world history class!)

a traditional night in the Pacific Northwest...

(This photo is courtesy of Momma B and her trip to the Cascade Mts.)

So when Kenny announced that we would start our married lives in a small town of Washington state, I was less than pleased. Aren't those Washingtonians just a bunch of crunchy, granola people who wear sandal like shoes all the time (like my dad) and love on their trees a great deal? Well the truth is many are very crunchy, granola - but in a good way! There are lots of co-ops here that people join and get fresh, organic produce when it is in season. There are many organically filled cows and just down the road here, I could buy my own organic cow and have the freshest beef alive...

Now I had to start with that so you understand where we live. It is quaint; there are many farms; there are many people who dress casual at all times.

So last night we met up with some friends for a lovely dinner at one of our favorite restaurants in a town 45 minutes away called La Connor. This is also where the annual tulip festival resides. The restaurant is called Seeds and everything on the menu is organic and delicious. It even says in the menu that the cows you are about to eat are grass-fed cows. Now granted I ate a veggie burger, but everything there is delicious and nutritious (sort of) but at least organic - which is so pacific northwest.THEN Kenny and I raced back to the town Anacortes which is on the island north of our island to see a youth group kid of ours play at a local venue. THIS is where the night gets interesting...

We showed up to what is called the DOS or Department of Safety in Anacortes. See this special spot at www.departmentofsafety.com. It used to be a fire station, but now is the kind of place where Phoebe from Friends would gladly reside/play Smelly Cat every night. So we arrive, see our student, go sit in the "venue" which is filled with old couches which have lots of cuddly teenagers on them. We are obviously over-dressed in our leather jackets, dock marten's and lack of facial hair. Plus, we are not wearing sandals with socks or a beat up old beanie. Nonetheless, we are there to see our friend, so we stay. After the second act, I look at Kenny and say, "I don't know how much more of this I can take." These are the crunchy, granola to the tenth degree, and I am WAY out of my comfort zone. Then, this man in front of us who has had on his little backpack the whole time stands up...this is special so wait for it....

He is wearing a knitted sweater with BELUGA WHALES ON IT! this was the most special part of the evening next to the guy who got up and rapped about tea and that it comes from leaves, and then proceeded to tell us not to be bored because that would make him sad. It was special. VERY special. And only because of Kenny did I stay to see our student. She was awesome. She has a gorgeous voice and is 16 and had the guts to play solo in front of about 40 people - songs she had written! Listen to her here.

(This is not the whale sweater as it was too dark to take pictures, but imagine EVEN MORE whales on this sweater and there you have it!)

So to sum it up, it was an interesting and special experience, but eye-opening and great to hear the talents of such a wonderfully talented and kind young person. Phoebe Buffay would have loved it...

happy anniversary! (1.75 months late)

After missing our first anniversary together, Kenny and I decided we would go to the one fancy place in Oak Harbor for dinner to celebrate! We headed over to Fraser's Gourmet Hideaway which neither of us had been to yet. I forgot my camera even after I was reminded... woops. I do need to get better at that, but I "borrowed" these from the website.

Here is the outside of the restaurant...

We had a lovely bottle of wine from Oregon and a delicious tomato and mozzarella appetizer (my mouth waters just thinking about it....) THEN our main meals came. Kenny got a Kobe steak topped with crab with mashed potatoes and asparagus. His lips are smacking just thinking about it. I got a YUMMY seafood assortment including mussels in a broth that was FABULOUS. The shrimp in it were literally the size of my fist. HUGE!

THEN, because it was a special occassion and our pants were still fitting okay, we got a slice of white chocolate cheesecake with a raspberry sauce on the side. I could have eaten the entire cheesecake. It was heaven! And the sauce, oh the sauce, I would have licked it off the plate had we not been in a nice restaurant where everyone could have seen me.

The most "special" parts of the evening were the head chef who had a curled up mustache! (as seen below) AND the little hostess who would make rounds to different tables and serenade that table. The people behind us got to enjoy "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes" from Cinderella. We left before getting serenaded.... DARN;)

So to say the least, it was a fabulous evening and dinner! Thank you to all who were there on September 15, 2007 and who have loved and supported us through this year. We are looking forward to another exciting year together!

BOOOOO - tastic!!

We had a great Halloween week during which we carved our pumpkins. Since last year was my first year ever carving a pumpkin, I was sure that this year I would be a pro. Well maybe not a pro, but at least faster and better at it! So here are our works of art all lit up on Halloween night! Mine is the one on top - it is supposed to be scary pumpkins. Kenny's is the one on the bottom and obviously a spider.

After much deliberation over what to be for Halloween for Kenny's squadron party (I thought we should be Barbie and Ken), we decided to be Greek. So off to Wal-Mart we went in search of sheets, a little ivy, and other accessories. To say the least, NEVER go to Wal-Mart on Halloween. Talk about nutty! So finally my three years of Latin and Pompeii Day paid off, and here were the results...

And compliments of our lovely friends, the Saxtons, a picture of the happy two-some at the Halloween party.

Hope you all had a Happy Halloween! And got to eat lots of candy!