Have I mentioned I love the ocean?!

The view on the way home.  This is the spot called the Purdy Spit.  There’s a tiny little town by my house called Purdy and when I’m heading home, I have to drive on the Spit (piece of land connecting two other pieces of land with water on either side).  The view from the Spit is awesome though.  People park on the side and throw parties down on the beach.  We’ve flown kites and gone looking for shells down there as well.  There’s lots of driftwood too.  The beach is on the other side of the bushes…you have to walk down this rocky area to get to it.  But when the tide is in, there’s hardly any beach at all!  When the tide is out, though, the beach goes out quite a ways and forms little islands.  It’s pretty cool to walk out where the water usually is :)

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's.......

Construction.  Construction, construction, construction!  That’s all there is downtown anymore!  My work building is being worked on, we’ve got a new building going in next door, this one is where an old church used to be across the street from my bus stop.  Seattle is one huge construction site – that’s all it is!  These cranes scare me, too.  They’ve fallen over before.  Could you imagine if that happened with you in/on/near it?!

Lots of Updating!

Pictures coming tomorrow (I hope).  My vacation is over and I've got a bunch to share from being away!  They will be back-dated :)

Almost, but not quite....

I almost wish I was catholic so I could go to this school or send my kids there.  I see this church from the freeway in Tacoma every day on my way to/from work and I just love it!  This is the type of architecture I love to stare at.  I don’t know much about it though.  I don’t even know how to get to it!

I think I'm going to move into a tent so I can live here forever

I went hiking with my best friend, Annalisa, to Shi Shi Beach on the western Olympic Peninsula coast.  It was so gorgeous!  We had quite an adventure though – it’s a 4 hour drive from my house to begin with.  Then we were driving down to the beach and found out the directions my GPS was taking us was down a forest service road – not a road you should really be driving on.  So once we got turned back onto the main road, we found where we were supposed to hike.  It was a 2 mile hike down, then we walked along the beach, rock climbed a small rock formation (where I got this shot from) and then hiked back to the car 2 miles.  Then headed home.  It was a fun (but exhausting) day!  I love hiking and being in nature so much.

*snore*

Back home.  How tired do I look?  I wish I had a better picture of me from that day.

Wait a tick...

Last day in Orlando, so we visited the Ripley’s Believe it or Not museum/building.  It was pretty cool!  The whole outside of the building was tilted and there was a tilted room inside, but otherwise, it was a bunch of random artifacts.  There were shrunken heads and stuffed animals and European dolls and stuff.  Just a bunch of random things!  Artwork made out of random materials.  It was pretty cool.

This looks familiar...

Each night, it stormed.  It was the weirdest thing!  Super hot during the day, then around 5pm or so, the clouds would roll in and storm.  It only rained the first night we were there.  The rest of the time, it was just lightning storms (which was scary, but cool).  They kept shutting down the rides though.  This is taken from our hotel room.

I want my letter, dang it!!!

Hogwarts.  Beautiful.  The ride is awesome – though I actually enjoyed the line more than the ride itself.  The line starts outside and winds through the greenhouse, which then goes into the castle.  You walk in and see Dumbledore’s staircase.  You go around it and head into the Headmaster’s office, with Dumbledore standing up on the second floor of his office talking to you.  Then you go into the hall and there’s a bunch of talking and moving portraits.  Then you go to an outer room with more talking portraits.  Then a classroom where Ron, Hermione and Harry talk to you from a staircase.  I think it was the Defense Against the Dark Arts section.  When Ron does a spell, the first time we went through the lights flickered and there was a loud crash and flash like lightening.  The second time we went through, it started to snow in the room, which was WAY cooler!  So then you go through another hall and you’re to the ride which takes you through books 1-4, pretty much.  It’s got some scary parts.  Parts where you’re upside down, sideways, etc.  It jostles you a bit.  But it was fun and great to experience!

Coincidentally, this picture was taken on the 1 year anniversary of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter being open.  There were no celebrations :(  They suck!

I solemnly swear I am up to no good

One of the coolest signs ever.  This is the Hogs Head sign in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Florida.  The Hogs Head was an extension of the Three Broomsticks restaurant – but you could order alcohol inside.  We didn’t get anything from there.  We were hoping they had fire whiskey, but they didn’t :(  I was hoping they’d have a beer mug or something as well!  Again, no such luck.  Apparently JKR wouldn’t approve Universal to make shot glasses.  Which is a bummer.  I wanted one so bad!

I wonder what the weather's like in Alaska?

Today is trip day!  This is the airplane we got on to go from rainy Seattle to sunny Orlando, Florida!  We are spending 6 days in Orlando to visit Universal Studios.  No kids – just some much needed adult time.  YAY!

I promise I'm almost not driving while taking this picture

The clouds looked so cool today!  I see some blue sky up ahead.  I wish if it were always going to be cloudy here that it would be cool clouds like these – but no…it’s usually just grey.  This is driving on I-5 leaving Seattle heading south (toward my home).

Where my paychecks are earned

And this is the building I work in.  There’s another building to the right of where this picture was taken which is the main building.  That’s where the newsroom is and stuff.  So all of advertising and circulation and stuff is in this building.  It’s a lot of fun :)  I’m on the 2^nd floor of this building (which is actually the 6^th floor because the other floors are on the back side of the building).

How in the heck do they do it?

I love double-decker buses!  They just recently started running here in Seattle.  It reminds me of London.  I’ve never ridden one, but I wish I had!  Unfortunately, no double-decker buses run on the route I need to go on to go to/from work :(  Some people have all the luck!

Woops

I've been taking pictures, but I haven't had a chance to upload them all week.  I'll back-date them all tonight :)

Fooooooooooooooooooooooood

Ahhhhh, Krispy Kreme Doughnuts!  These things are A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!!  We were driving from our house to my mom's this weekend so we stopped in Tacoma to get a dozen doughnuts.  These are my husband's favorites.  They are the best doughnuts around, if you ask me!  They're famous for their original glazed ones.  They're so airy and light, but covered in a complete sugar glaze.  You feel instantly guilty for eating all that sugar, but end up going back for another one anyway.  :)

Twilight in Tacoma

This is the Tacoma Narrows Bridge.  The original Narrows Bridge is actually in the ocean underneath this one I'm driving across.  It was built in July 1940 but collapsed in November 1940.  The one I'm driving across was built in 1950.  The bridge on the left side is the new Narrows Bridge.  They finished building that one in 2007 and it has been a god-send!  There's a toll when you go across that side though (toward Tacoma).  The direction I'm driving in is toward Gig Harbor, which is where I live :)  So yeah, I have to pay a toll every time I cross the bridge to go to work.  It's not much - I think I pay about $60 a month (about 41 Euro).

Seattle's Famous Landmark?

I decided it was time for me to post the Space Needle.  I walked down to the Federal Courthouse with my buddy, Phil, and I took this picture for you.  This is also the corner I get Starbucks coffee at whenever I get coffee in the morning.  It's 1 bus stop earlier than I usually get off...so it's easy for me to get off early and just get the coffee on my way in.  Pretty regularly, there's photographers on this corner who take photos of the space needle from this spot.  It's a nice shot, isn't it?

Awwww Cuteness

I wasn't originally planning on posting any pictures of my kids here.  I try to limit where I post pictures of them, but I figured you can hardly see them anyway.  I wish I had taken pictures of something else this day, but this was seriously my day.  We laid around all day, watched tv, and played games inside.  Not much else went on!  Sorry it's so boring.  But there you have it :)

Who says we're flying rats?!

I don't know what my fascination with pigeons is, but I love them!  Not like...I want to have one as a pet or anything.  But I love watching them.  I love walking by them in Seattle.  These were actually taken in Tacoma, which is where I catch my bus in to work.  It's about 30 miles south of Seattle.  I love the beautiful colors around the male's neck!  The only problem is, they are MESSY.  Yuck.