Spring Break

This spring break was as expected, wild and crazy. To start it off, I spent a couple of days working, hanging out in a rainy Seattle. Everyone's dream, really.

Henry was doing a lot of work as well, but we decided we would take one day and go to the  happenin' town of Tacoma. For those of you who don't know, Tacoma's a pretty exciting destination, if by pretty exciting you mean the armpit of Washington and by destination you mean a 20 minute drive. To give you an idea of the excitement that goes on here, if only we had come a couple weeks later we could have seen Rammstein play at the Tacoma Dome.

Pictured: Tacoma Dome. Not Pictured: The aroma from Tacoma.

Tacoma does have some redeeming qualities, however. Most notably, it is home to the Museum of Glass. It includes a lot of work by Dale Chihuly, a pretty famous local glass blower who does incredible work. Henry and I were really looking forward to seeing it.

Of course, being so close to Seattle, we didn't get much break in the weather. Our day of exploration was cold and rainy.

Cold and rained on is our natural state.

We set off on our adventure only to discover that the Museum of Glass is closed on Tuesdays, the day we choose. Boo. Strike one, Tacoma.

We were able, however, to walk through an outdoor glass tunnel leading up to the museum, featuring Chihuly's work. It was gorgeous.

A tease for what we couldn't see in the museum.

Glass from the tunnel.

So pretty.

More blown glass artwork featured outside near the tunnel.

After suffering this disappointment, we decided to go for the third best thing, the Washington State Historical Museum (second choice was the zoo and aquarium, but it was raining so hard we didn't think an outdoor adventure would be much fun). This time we made sure to call the museum to make sure they were open. The voice recording for the museum assured us that they were open on Tuesdays. So we went, paid for parking, and walked up to the museum. Closed. Strike two, Tacoma.

By this time the rain had abated enough that we thought we could be outside and not be completely miserable. So we went to the zoo and aquarium, which we really enjoyed. They had a pretty cool fish tank, and some peacocks that roamed free (those kinda weirded us out though). The penguins were cute, but I think we were both impressed the most by the walruses. That is one large, ugly animal. They were fascinating.

After heading back to Seattle for some more work, the next leg of my spring break extraordinaire was to head home to Nebraska. This is always a welcome break. I hung out with family, ate well, and played some games. I even took in some bowling with my mom and dad.

On her way to 300...

The main reason for the trip was to celebrate my grandparents' 65th wedding anniversary. This is an amazing accomplishment and it was so nice to see the entire family. It was a lovely time at home.

Congrats!

My New Residence: The Current Look

Finally - here are some pics from how it looks for now...

Living room

Before (before paint, blinds, and storage)

After (with Liz Lemon)

I don't have a name for this corner of the living area, so I'm taking suggestions.

Before

After

Dining area (this isn't all that accurate  - although dining happens here, it is probably better described as the office)

Dining Room

Kitchen, with only minimal changes so far.

Before

After (and still in progress)

I think my favorite change to the kitchen is all the photos of new babies of friends and family on my fridge.

My New Residence: Project Indecision

Some of these pictures are quite old already, but I haven't gotten around to posting them yet. As documented here, my house wasn't painted exactly as I would have desired when I moved in (think blue). The first order of business after simply putting all my junk away, was to change all the walls and create a home that didn't constantly make me feel like I was living in a high school band uniform. I wasn't sure how bad this process would be, but it turned out to be pretty okay, probably because I had some great help. My parents were instrumental in transforming it and deserve much of the credit for helping me paint. As evidenced by the pictures below, I found it incredibly difficult to pick paint colors. I had no idea there were that many shades of beige, or that I could care so much about how they differed (or weren't different, if you asked my dad).

20 shades of beige to find the right one...

Of course, once I picked a color for the living room, I still had to pick one for the bathroom. These choices were all over the place. I really wanted a nice gray, but they all looked too concrete/prison-ish, so I ended up with a random and unplanned green instead. It's not my favorite, but it's way better than the old color and does the job for now.

I think I had this pattern on a shirt in the 80's

Hard as it was for me to pick colors, my parents had the really difficult job actually helping put it on the wall.

Good-bye, blue!

I also took advantage of having a master electrician for the weekend, and changed out the amazingly bad pendant that cast a weird yellow glow on everything. Although this was consistent with the blue/gold theme the previous owner had going on, it was not working for me.

Goodbye, yellow glow!

And what is any home improvement without something from Ikea?

Assembling the blürg table.

The bedroom wasn't tackled in the same weekend as the rest of the house, but was a summer project. Not surprisingly, I was no more efficient at picking colors here than for the other rooms. Once again, this room could have gone in multiple directions, from poop brown to cotton candy pink (I told my friend she could pick any color and I would give it serious consideration on my wall. Serious consideration for cotton candy pink did not last long). One of these colors was chosen, so keep that in mind when making fun of the colors in the comments...

After all this painting, I am very tickled with how it looks now. "After" pictures to come.

Seattle Aquarium

Feeling like we just needed a break from another evening spent at home working, Henry and I recently visited the Seattle Aquarium.

Just another Friday night down at the docks...

The biggest factor in choosing the acquarium was the birth of a brand new sea otter, born only hours before we saw him. Staff could not tell if it was a boy or girl because it was so covered in fur. Apparently, all that fur is needed to keep the pup afloat and dry if it goes in the water. It was very cute, but didn't do anything more than get licked on it's mom's belly while we were watching. I hope all that fur protected it from the snowmageddon about to pummel it.

Laugh it up, fur ball!

I really appreciated the exhibit that allowed you touch sea stars, anemone, and other weirdly growing sea life.

As excited as a school kid.

I am always struck by how ugly some fish are. I guess it doesn't matter at the bottom of the ocean. Topping the list of ugly fish were sea horses and a lone, lazy octopus.

The most handsome fish in the sea.

I am glad I now have first hand knowledge of the aquarium for giving recommendations to all future visitors.

Sunset on the Sound

Christmas - Part II

Finally - as advertised, Christmas Part II comes to fulfillment. In honor of Henry's first trip to Nebraska, we gave him the full experience. This included, of course, a tour of a hog farm.

Dressing sharp to meet the piggies!

Although skeptical at first sniff, Henry was easily won over.

Baby pigs are so cute!!!

Trying to refrain from taking one home.

Dinner was served following our tour, but we had to try to get the pig smell off of us first. The solution: trampoline jumping. I have no idea how effective this actually is, but I can think of worse things they could have made us do.

Dinner included toy and joke filled crackers.  Winner of the night:

     "What did one snowman say to the other snowman?"
     "Do you smell carrots?"

Action shot!

As always, no visitor to Beatrice escapes the clutches of the Homestead National Monument. Who knew that Washington too, was partially settled by homesteaders? (Everyone who lives in Beatrice, probably...)

Washington!

Early adopters of wind power.

We also had to document the mangle, as we feel the current Wikipedia page inadequately captures the effort people put in to ironing their clothes. This is especially salient when compared to how little effort I will put in to ironing.

The infamous mangle!

Christmas - Part I

Given my previous history of setting up a multi-part series and then failing to deliver, I titled this post with some trepidation. However, I feel I cannot fully describe my joyous winter break in only one blog entry, and must proceed in this manner. This is your warning, I cannot be held responsible for dashed hopes.

Christmas break was such a lovely reprieve after a hectic school quarter. I brought some final assignments with me to finish grading and may not have started packing until 11:30 pm the night before my morning flight, but all was forgotten as soon as I got back to the farm. As always, the fun started before I even left the airport.

Why I am always excited to come home...

Seattle has softened me, and I was worried that I was going to find Nebraska cold, snowy, and unpleasant, so I was very excited that it was sunny and warm for almost all of my stay. It was even warm enough to enjoy the outdoors, although not without some "home clothes", or layers that only get worn when on the farm.

In the battle of young versus old, youth prevailed!

Spending time with the family was great, and I was quite shocked to realize that it had been an entire year since I had been home and seen any of the cousins. Of course, within 10 minutes the mocking stories about high school shenanigans began and I questioned whether it had only been a year since I heard it last.

Getting ready to pass the food.

In the end, it's never enough time to fully catch up for a year.

I think these are the more distant cousins...

During the 10 days I was home, I filled up on semmel, zweiback, valentinos, runza, pork loins, flincent, eggnog, and klups. So yummy.

Henry also made his first visit to the farm, and first to Nebraska in general, checking another state off his list. More to come in part ii. Maybe.

Survivor

Half-Marathon

Last Sunday, the weekend of Thanksgiving, I ran my first half-marathon. Because of school demands, I hadn't been able to train at a level I would have liked, so I was kinda nervous going into it. The day was typical Seattle: gray and rainy. But I was very grateful that it was only drizzling and not pouring. Yes, that's a reason to celebrate in this city.

Mile 1 and 13 were pretty exciting - everything else in between kinda blurred together. I ate my first gu, which I was scared would taste horrible but was in fact quite tasty. Rest assured, I also took advantage of the gummi bears (mile 4) and krispy kremes (mile 11) being handed out along the course, so I was well fueled.

I loved all the supporters lining the course. Some of my favorite signs include "Chuck Norris never ran a marathon" and "go, stranger, go!". I felt very encouraged.

And then, before you even realize you've been running over 2 hours straight, the finish line!

Rounding the last corner!

Don't be fooled by the runner's clothes....the real evidence is in those lining the course. Umbrellas, hoods, and winter coats were definitely called for.

I was really excited to get a "space blanket" upon completion. I think I look more exhausted than victorious. I was ready to eat and then nap....which I promptly did.

Champion!...er....Finisher!

 In the end it was a lot fun and I never would have done it without some peer pressure support.

I'm still wearing that medal...