Stubby Fingers

Moving in Together

2007-09-30T17:58:00.000-07:00

This is it! I'm signing off here at stubbyfingers.blogspot.com, Ryan is signing off over at cascadian.wordpress.com, and we're moving in together over at mallady.wordpress.com! Our joint blog will (hopefully) have more frequent updates than our individual blogs did and will be more fun too. See you there!

Published!

2007-09-05T09:56:00.000-07:00

One of my photos was published in the September 2007 edition of Seattle Metropolitan on page 167!

Now Kelly's famous too!

Pictures on the Walls

2007-08-19T20:59:00.001-07:00

After living in this apartment for nearly 10 months, we decided it was high time we took our pictures out of the closet and hung them on the wall. We hung 8 pictures in all and I have to say it does spice thing up around here!

Books, Books, Books!

2007-08-19T14:04:00.000-07:00

Ryan and I spent some time this morning cataloging all the books on our shelves. Ever wonder what books we own? You don't have to wonder anymore--I posted the complete lists online!

Books I Own

Books Ryan Owns

Plus: the complete list of every book I've ever read since the middle of 6th grade!

Announcing our Engagement!

2007-07-31T07:43:00.000-07:00

On the Summer Solstice, in the fjords of Norway, beneath the Bøyabreen glacier, on the edge of the Brevatnet lake, Ryan asked me to marry him and I said yes. We haven't set a date yet, but we're aiming for April. Hooray!

This weekend I got...

2007-07-08T19:50:00.000-07:00

1) A cold
2) A new computer!

I bought the whole set up--computer, monitor, 3-in-1 printer, and all the accessories from Best Buy today for $600. Now there's nothing holding me back from posting those Iceland pictures!

Too bad I don't have a comfy chair to go with my new set up...

Happy 4th of July!

2007-07-05T18:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Ryan and I decided to go down to Gasworks Park to see the fireworks show on Lake Union. We arrived at 11am for a show that started at 10pm. We spread out our picnic blanket and camped out with our cooler and books for a day in the sun. By the time the fireworks started there wasn't a square foot available in the park to squeeze another body into, but we had a great view of a great show! Pictures here.

It was fun and now that we've done it we never have to do it again! ;-)

Back to the real world

2007-07-03T09:41:00.000-07:00

We had a great time in Norway and Iceland! Now we're back in the real world of laundry and work. No pictures to show you yet, but I'll leave you with a few teasers from Iceland...

Lambs by the side of the road on Fáskrúðsfjörður, in the East Fjords of Iceland

A boat ride through Jökulsárlón, a glacial lagoon at the foot of Vatnajökull, the largest non-polar glacier in the world

Gullfoss, one of Iceland's many breathtaking waterfalls

Disneyland!

2007-06-10T15:04:00.000-07:00

Ryan and I went to Disneyland last weekend with Mom, Dad, and Kelly. What a blast! Pictures are posted here.

I'm famous, too!

2007-05-29T19:30:00.000-07:00

Ryan's picture of me looking out at Mt. Rainier from Mailbox Peak has been published on the front page of the Washington State Tourism website. If you click on that picture in their website, you find that his picture of me is the main photo on the site's Washington's Great Outdoors page. Congratulations, Ryan!

Maui Complete

2007-05-26T22:15:00.000-07:00

I've finished posting all of my Maui pictures!

The whole set can be found here.

Now I'm ready for Iceland!

No more plastic!

2007-05-26T17:09:00.000-07:00

On May 14th we came home and found this:

The plastic that had wrapped our apartment building all winter had finally been taken down. Hooray! Now the scaffolding is down and we have the use of our back patio, too.

Inspired by the sunshine we decided to go out yesterday afternoon for a picnic dinner at Green Lake. It was a gorgeous day for people watching, photography, and discussions of quantum weirdness. Pictures here and here.

Flaming Geyser

2007-05-21T13:18:00.000-07:00

Dad and Grampa came to Seattle for a brief visit last week. On my day off we went for a drive out to Flaming Geyser State Park to enjoy the sunshine and a picnic on the banks of the Green River. Pictures here!

The Herbfarm

2007-05-13T12:00:00.000-07:00

Ryan took me out to dinner last night at The Herbfarm in Woodinville. What an adventure! Check out the pictures here.

Speaking of adventure, did you see our pictures of kayaking Lake Union?

Black rocks, blue water

2007-04-25T15:25:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not, pictures from our fourth day at Maui are up already! On this day we visited LaParouse Bay and hiked out to the Aquarium where I did some snorkeling--gorgeous! Then we spent some time on Big Beach before heading back to our hotel for another beautiful sunset. Enjoy!

Lucky girl!

2007-04-24T12:35:00.000-07:00

I'm such a lucky girl to have so many visitors recently!

First Mom and Dad came to see me. We went to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival...

...rode the elevator to the top of the Columbia Center Tower...

...visited Sculpture Park...

...and went skydiving on Whidbey Island.

Then George came to visit me, too! Here we are swinging in the Capulas at Sculpture Park.

All about sun

2007-04-23T19:19:00.000-07:00

Have you noticed? Pictures of our third day in Maui have been posted for quite a while now, I just never blogged about it. This day we got up early to drive to the summit of Haleakala to watch the sunrise. Then we shed our hats, gloves, and ski jackets and donned our swimsuits and sunblock for a walk on Kahekili Beach outside our hotel, topped off by a sunset from our back porch.

Road to Hana

2007-03-28T20:49:00.000-07:00

On our second day in Maui we decided to drive the Hana Highway. I had a lot of fun driving the winding road and we saw all sorts of amazing waterfalls, greenery, and beaches. Pictures are here!

Back on the Mainland

2007-03-23T17:32:00.000-07:00

We've arrived safely home after our trip to Maui! We had a lot of fun and saw many beautiful things. Of course we took a few pictures while we were there and we're getting ready to share them with you. Already I've posted pictures from the first day of our trip. We arrived in Ka'anapali and checked out our cool condo then went out to dinner in Lahaina. You can find those pictures here!

Spring forth

2007-03-13T17:00:00.001-07:00

I know it's been a while since I've posted here, but there's not too much going on that the moment to tell you about. Pretty soon, yes, but not yet! The plastic is still up around our building and we just had to move all our furniture again so they can fix our walls. We're keeping busy working and living and planning.

Meanwhile, Spring is thinking about coming to Seattle. We had a few sunny days and things are just starting to bloom. The other day I took a walk from our place to Downtown to take some photos. Not bad, eh? Ok, ok, I cheated and took the bus a little way... Here's the result.

Have you used your cushioned undies this year?

2007-02-10T18:21:00.000-08:00

I was lucky enough to have the day off from work on a nice, not rainy day so I took my bike out for the first time this year. I started from our apartment, went east on surface streets until I picked up the Burke-Gilman and followed that around Lake Washington to Marymoor Park in Redmond. From there I went south on West Lake Sammamish Parkway to the I-90 trail, which I took across Mercer Island to Lake Washington Boulevard. I crossed the Montlake Bridge and took the Burke-Gilman back to Ballard then went up 8th to home. The total? Fifty-seven miles and a lot of fun! Pictures are here!

Hurtling down mountains...

2007-02-03T19:12:00.000-08:00

I'm home from a day of snowboarding with friends at Snoqualmie Pass. The weather was good, the snow wasn't too bad, and we all had a great time. I'll let you know when I think of a part of me that doesn't hurt! Pictures of the day are posted here.

Birthday time!

2007-01-08T16:41:00.000-08:00

Happy birthday to me! Yesterday we celebrated my birthday by Ryan taking me out to dinner at Ray's Boathouse and making me a confetti cake with espresso frosting--yum yum! Then I opened lots of presents--thanks everybody! Pictures are here.

On the list of things that make me sad

2006-12-28T09:15:00.000-08:00

I discovered last night that my car had been broken into and my radio stolen. The thieves smashed in the little triangular window on my rear passenger door to get in. Unfortunately, I've been experimenting with a car-free lifestyle and have walked or taken the bus (or gotten Ryan to drive me) everywhere for the past three weeks. I don't know when in that time frame this happened, but it was long enough ago for the dome light that was on from the door they left ajar to run my battery completely dead. This was done in my supposedly secure apartment complex garage.

Merry Christmas!

2006-12-21T17:27:00.000-08:00

We had a great time down in Sacramento! Pictures are posted here!

Wanna see our new apartment?

2006-12-07T18:08:00.000-08:00

Pictures are posted of our move--have a look!

Moved!

2006-12-03T08:50:00.000-08:00

Our moving went off without a hitch! We now have two apartments worth of stuff in one apartment, but we'll sort that out later. I've taken pictures, but we won't have internet access at home for several days yet so I'll post those later too. In the meantime, I tested out the oven last night baking a birthday cake--it works! Happy birthday, Ryan!

Marathon in the Snow

2006-11-26T11:12:00.000-08:00

Seattle's first snow of the season happened to fall on the same day as Seattle's Marathon. Due to the fact that I would probably have died if I tried it combined with the fact that all my running gear is packed, I didn't run this year's Seattle Marathon. I still went downtown to cheer on the runners and snap a few pictures.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2006-11-23T12:20:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving from the crew in Seattle!

My Wish List

2006-11-07T10:43:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I'm a little worried that I'm getting nothing for Christmas this year because nobody has asked me for my wish list yet--guess I need to be proactive! Here it is:

Cycling gear:

Cycling jacket such as this, this, or this. Must be brightly colored--yellow is good!

Cycling saddle pack such as this.

Front and rear bike lights such as these. I don't plan to be out after dark or before light, but there isn't all that much daylight around here this time of year and I'd like to be prepared.

Bicycle repair kit such as this one. Would like to be able to change a tire or put my chain back on in a pinch...or at least have the tools available for somebody else to do it for me ;-) Should be small enough to fit into my saddle pack (see above).

Running gear:

New running shoes! Or perhaps just a gift card to Road Runner Sports.

SmartWool running (or adrenaline) socks in mini-crew, micro, or micro-crew such as these. Any color.

Other apparel:

Scrubs hat (womens--need room for my hair) such as this.

Clothes in general. Preferably things I can wear to work on non-scrubs days.

Reading material:

The Sagas of Icelanders by Robert Kellogg

Njal's Saga translated by Robert Cook

Subscription to Every Day with Rachael Ray magazine. Replete with recipes even I can manage.

Other entertainment:

Quiddler

Fun board games that can be played by two people.

Gift cards:

Can't go wrong with gift cards to Half Price Books, REI, Starbucks, or Eddie Bauer.

Game Night

2006-10-30T04:41:00.000-08:00

Moroccan Stuffed Pork Chops

2006-10-25T17:55:00.000-07:00

A few nights ago I cooked something I thought was very yummy, so I thought I'd share the recipe, which I got straight from Everyday with Rachael Ray.

Serves: 4
Prep Time: 7 mins (according to Rachael--it took me significantly longer...but that's me)
Cook Time: 40 mins

Ingredients:
1/4 cup pine nuts
3 tbsp unsalted butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 cups small pieces cornbread
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup dried currants or raisins (I used raisins, where do you find currants at QFC?)
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
4 1-inch-thick bone-in pork chops (8 oz. each) (can swap for skinless, boneless chicken breasts)
Salt and pepper

Directions:
1. In a medium skillet, toast the pine nuts over medium heat for 3 minutes; transfer to a medium bowl. Add 1 tablespoon butter and the onion to the pan and cook, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes; add to the pine nuts. Stir in the cornbread pieces, chicken broth, currants, and cinnamon until combined.
2. Slice each pork chop in half horizontally, up to the bone (this is the part that took most of my prep time). Spread the chops open and season with salt and pepper. Form the stuffing into 4 patties. Place 1 patty inside each pork chop and close the meat around the stuffing.
3. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in the skillet over medium heat. Add the chops, cover and cook for 5 minutes on each side. Transfer to plate, cover loosely with foil and let stand for 5 minutes.

Yum, yum!

Dripping, beautiful

2006-10-19T21:11:00.000-07:00

I went for a walk this morning in my adopted (or is that adoptive?) city with my camera in tow on a quest for fall color. The results.

The Story of England

2006-10-08T20:06:00.000-07:00

September 19: We had breakfast at Starbucks then walked down to the bus stop and took the bus to the airport. We flew Air Canada, which is completely at the opposite end of the airport from the bus stop, but we had plenty of time. We flew from Seattle to Vancouver where we had to go through customs and security again. Our gate wasn't listed on our boarding pass so we followed signs for "international flights" in terminal D. We made it through security there and found a monitor displaying the fact that our flight was leaving from D43...except there was no such gate. We asked an employee for directions and he told us that gate D43 is actually in the C terminal (makes sense, right?)...which we couldn't get to without going through security again. Apparently our gate was in a little area quarantined for flights to England. Security for getting into the England section of the airport was much more stringent--I was thoroughly patted down before being allowed through. We had plenty of time while waiting for our flight here to have lunch in the terminal.

September 20: The flight itself was uneventful and 9 or so hours later we touched down at Heathrow. We made it through customs and caught the Heathrow Express to Paddington Station where we transferred to another train that took us to Bath. At the train station in Bath we bought a map of the city and made our way on foot with our luggage to our B&B, Elgin Villa, on Marlborough Lane. The hostess, Anna, showed us to our room. We were exhausted by this time, but it was only late afternoon so we felt it was too early to go to bed just yet. Instead we took our map and wandered around the city for a few hours. We saw the Royal Crescent, a 30-home building built in the 1700's in the shape of a crescent overlooking the Royal Victoria Park, walked a little way down the River Avon, crossed the Pulteney Bridge, played a bit in a stone-path-in-the-grass maze in the Beazer Gardens, and then made our way back through the city to our B&B, stopping to eat dinner at an Indian Restaurant along the way.

The Royal Crescent

September 21: We woke up fairly early this morning and went downstairs to have breakfast. At the table this morning was another couple from Oakland, CA. They gave us pointers on how to drive in England. Besides the obvious, driving on the left side of the road with the steering wheel on the right side of the car, there are other hazards. For starters, the line that divides your lane from the lane of oncoming traffic is not yellow, it's white just like all the other lines. It can make it a little difficult at first to tell which lanes are ok for you to drive in. Plus, lanes are often very narrow and there are often vehicles parked in them requiring you to drive in the lane of the oncoming traffic (and them to drive in yours) making things even more confusing! So pointer number one from the Californians: drive carefully. After breakfast we walked a couple of miles over to the rental car place to pick up our car. We expected something tiny and funny-looking, but instead we somehow got a free upgrade and ended up in a black convertible Saab. Nice! We took off on our way out of the city and Ryan did a great job driving. A few bumps into the curb on the left, but overall not bad. I quickly discovered, though, that navigating in England isn't as easy at it seems either. For starters: street signs--where are they? Never actually on a sign post where you can see them. Sometimes they are plastered on the walls of buildings on street corners and often they aren't there at all. And secondly: maps! The maps I was working from enjoyed listing the names of streets I wanted to be on but not labeling streets I didn't want to be on, so if I missed a street I was looking for (which probably didn't have a street sign anyway) I would never be able to find myself on the map again. And finally, the average length of a street before it changes names: two blocks. Thankfully, Ryan was very patient with me.

We took off with the top down towards Avebury and the stone circles there. This is similar to Stonehenge but the boulders are much less uniform and much more spread out. That's as far as we ever drove with the top down on our convertible. After that the weather never really cooperated enough that we wanted to put it down, plus the wind just put dirt in my eyes anyway. We stopped in the town of Marlborough for a lunch of sandwiches at the Armadillo Cafe. The girl behind the counter there was from Alabama and she said it was nice to hear a familiar accent. Next we went to Salisbury to see the Salisbury Cathedral. This cathedral, built around 800 years ago has the tallest spire in Britain. It's a very beautiful cathedral where we also saw an original copy of the Magna Carta. We drove by Stonehenge on the way back to Bath but the gates were already closed for the night. It's very close to the road, though, so we pulled over on a little side street and took pictures of Stonehenge over the chainlink fence. It was too late for restaurants to be open by the time we got back to Bath so we stopped by a Sainsbury's supermarket to pick up a few things to munch on back in our room. We learned that you can't buy a big bag of chips in England. No, you buy a big bag that has a bunch of little bags inside--packets of crisps. I also bought a bottle of "squash," thinking after reading the label that it was just fruit juice. After tasting it prompted me to read the label more carefully, I discovered that squash is actually fruit juice concentrate that must be diluted four to one!

Stones of Avebury

The west end of the Salisbury Cathedral

Taking pictures of Stonehenge over the fence

September 22: Today we had breakfast with a couple from Kent, WA, then got in the car and drove to Portsmouth. There's an historic dockyard in Portsmouth where they have several old ships on display. One of them is the first metal-hulled ship in history, the HMS Warrior. And another--our purpose for visiting Portsmouth--is the HMS Victory, the ship captained by Lord Horatio Nelson during the Battle of Trafalgar. We bought tickets to go on a tour of the Victory, but it happened to be a big field trip day and we had to wait several hours until our tour time. So we went to a restaurant and were introduced to English "traditional" fish and chips. They like to deep fry the whole fish--skin, bones, and all. I wasn't impressed. I was also introduced to "brown sauce" here. We saw it all over England but never quite figured out what we were meant to put it on. It consisted of vinegar, molasses, dates, and some other stuff...and I have to say it didn't do much for me either. By the time we finished lunch it was fairly well pouring outside. We browsed through some gift shops until it was time for our tour. The tour of the Victory was led by a man from India who joined the Royal Naval when he was 13. The ship itself is no longer seaworthy and a lot of the insides were just plastic props (although they looked real) but it was still very interesting. The tourguide told lots of interesting stories and told us a lot of interesting facts. We also got to see the place where Lord Nelson actually died. After the tour the rain had stopped. We got in the car and drove to Corfe Castle. Unfortunately, traffic on the M4 caused us to get there after the gates were closed for the night, but this still may have been my favorite part of the trip. The town of Corfe Castle is tiny and just about the cutest thing ever. The castle itself is in ruins, blown up several hundred years ago. There's a big hill near the castle that we climbed to the top of so we could look down over the town and the castle and the surrounding country side. The sun was setting and the sky was still heavy with tired out rain clouds. It was absolutely gorgeous. Having learned our lesson from the night before about getting to Bath after all the restaurants had closed, we decided to have dinner right there in Corfe Castle. We went to a pub called The Greyhound ("the most photographed pub in England"). I had a steak baguette with chili jam. I quite enjoyed that chili jam. We drove back to Bath that night through dark, windy, narrow roads, completely exhausted by the time we got there.

The HMS Victory

Corfe Castle

September 23: Today we slept in and caught the late breakfast. We ate with a couple from Cambridge, the girl was originally from South Africa. Our hostess caught Ryan eyeing the Marmite (yeast extract you spread on toast), so we resolved to give it a try the next day. At 10am we caught the free 2-hour walking tour of Bath. Our group contained tourists from England, Canada, France, and Germany--very diverse. The tour started at the Bath Abbey, continued to the guild hall, up the Grand Parade to the Pulteney Bridge, across town to the Royal Crescent, back to the Circus, and ended at the Roman Baths. A very interesting tour. We had lunch at Sally Lunn's ("the oldest house in Bath!") where they serve Sally Lunn Buns (same recipe for 400 years), which we had been told earlier by a coworker that we just had to try. We also had to try the clotted cream. So we ordered Sally Lunn buns with strawberry jam, cinnamon, and clotted cream plus a pot of English tea. Clotted cream, it turns out, is just sweat butter. Everything here was good, but nothing spectacular. After lunch we headed back to the Roman Baths for the audio tour there. It was much longer than I expected, involving a fairly nice museum inside. After the baths we went for a short walk down Great Pulteney Street then back to our room briefly and then out to dinner at a Nepalese restaurant on the Pulteney Bridge. When we got there, we were told we needed reservations, so we ended up having dinner at an Italian restaurant istead. Good food, bad service.

Jane Austen enthusiasts in costume outside Bath Abbey

The Roman Baths in Bath

September 24: Nature day. First, though, breakfast. All by ourselves in the dining room this morning, we braved the Marmite spread on a piece of toast. Edible, but why? I'll stick to jam, thanks. Next we drove out to the Cheddar Gorge. Pretty, and probably impressive by English standards, but not overly impressive as gorges go. We didn't stop in the town of Cheddar because we had other things we wanted to see. We headed down the M5 to Dartmoor National Park. In the northern part of the park are a lot of fields and the roads are very narrow and lined with hedgerows. So narrow that often the branches from the hedges were scraping our car on both sides. The roads were small and often unmarked and my map wasn't very detailed so we may have gotten a little lost a few times. We found the trailhead to the Fingle Bridge and hiked along the River Teign for a little way, but we never came to the bridge. Not knowing how far away it actually was and the rain starting to come down fairly heavily we turned around before we got there. We looked for a castle and another stone circle, but after driving down tiny little roads between tall hedgerows and not being able to see out, we gave up on those and headed for the open moors, which, of course, were beautiful. We saw lots of free range cattle and sheep and stopped in the middle of a herd of wild ponies. We saw an ancient clapper bridge and drove across a bridge only slightly more than 7 feet wide. We stopped in a village called Widecombe-in-the-Moore where, at 5:45, there wasn't a single restaurant, pub, or cafe open to serve dinner (and wouldn't be until 7) but they had a beautiful church and graveyard there where we took pictures. Last thing we stopped on the moors to see was Hound Tor, a fairly large rock formation. We climbed to the top for a view all over Dartmoor. For dinner we went to a nearby town called Bovey-Tracey to a place called The Thatched Roof Inn where I had my first jacket potato. Turns out it's just a baked potato with stuff on it, but this one was pretty good.

Road through the hedgerows in Dartmoor

Hound Tor

September 25: The last morning in Bath we had breakfast with another American couple and then drove the car back to the rental place, and walked to the train station, stopping by the post office to mail postcards on the way. We rode the train from Bath to Paddingto Station in London where we bought our 7-day tube passes, called Oyster Cards, and took the tube to our hotel, which was handily only a block from the tube station. We checked in to our hotel, where I was referred to for the first time as "the ma'am." We got to our room and rested a while, then looked through the yellow pages for a launderette to do our laundry. We had to find one listed in the yellow pages that happened to be on a street that was also listed on our map so that we could find it. We finally managed to find one, took the tube and spent some time in the launderette reading our books and doing our laundry with the help of a very friendly launderette attendant. We dropped our clean clothes back at our room and then went out to dinner at an Indian restaurant on Tottenham Court Road, which was probably the best meal I had in England.

Paddington Station

September 26: This was our first full day in London and our most packed sight-seeing day. We had breakfast at Starbucks (just to see if they are the same in London as they are in Seattle--they are, other than slightly different pastry selections and the fact that we were the only customers there not in suits) and then took the tube down to the Jubilee Gardens and the London Eye. The London Eye is a giant ferris wheel, or viewing wheel, on the bank of the Thames, which is the largest viewing wheel in the world at the moment (although it won't have that honor for too much longer) and makes one revolution every 30 minutes. We walked up the Thames to the Westminster Bridge and crossed to the other side to see Big Ben and the outside of the Parliament Building. We crossed the street and went inside Westminster Abbey and took an audio tour. It was pretty amazing--totally packed with tombs and statues and memorials. I expected the tombs of the kings and queens and other royal people, but there were lots of other people there too. Charles Darwin and Isaac Newton are buried there, for example. And I didn't know about Poets' Corner, where famous authors (Shakespeare, Dickens, Kipling...), actors, (Olivier...) and composers (Handel...) are buried. This is also the place where coronations are performed. We saw the coronation throne and I was impressed by its unimpressiveness. It's just a big wooden arm chair, made in about 1300, and covered in carved graffiti from choir boys who were allowed to play in it during the 18th and 19th centuries. We had lunch in a nearby pub and then walked through St. James Park to Buckingham Palace and the Queens Gardens and the Victoria Memorial. We took lots of pictures here and then walked up the Mall past the Duke of York's Column, through the Horse Guards Parade, and into Trafalgar Square. I enjoyed Trafalgar square, busy but pretty. We went into the National Gallery, a free art museum, for the one remaining hour that it was open that evening. Wouldn't it be awesome to have a museum like that near home! By this time the sun was beginning to set and we thought it would be the perfect time to ride the London Eye. We walked back across the Golden Jubilee Bridge and joined the long, long queue to buy tickets to ride the Eye. By the time we made it through the queue, the sun had set. It was still a beautiful ride, but we couldn't take any pictures in the low light in a moving carriage, although we sure tried. We ate a picnic dinner on a park bench on the bank of the Thames then walked back to Trafalgar Square to see it at night before catching the tube back to our hotel.

The London Eye in front of the Parliament Building and Big Ben

St. James Park Lake and Buckingham Palace

Trafalgar Square

September 27: The next morning we got up and took the tube to Victoria Station where we got a takeaway breakfast and caught a train to the seaside city of Eastbourne. Unfortunately, at Victoria Station we had our misadventure. There was an incident involving an ATM machine that was out of cash, and Ryan's credit card was lost. By the way, does anybody know the British term for "lost and found?" I asked the man at the information desk where the lost and found was and he had no idea what I was talking about. Do they not use the term in England? Is there no such thing in England? Or was it just my heavy American accent that made me unintelligible? I don't know, but we never found the lost and found and Ryan's credit card was definitely lost. We took the train to Eastbourne where we spent our first bit of time there trying to cancel the credit card. But making international calls on a pay phone to a company that makes you listen to long menus and puts you on hold quickly depleted our supply of coins and we ended up leaving the task until later. We walked through the town to the pebbly Eastbourne beaches and put our hands in the surprisingly warm water of the English Channel. We walked west along the seafront until we got to the South Downs Way, a trail that led us through the grassy hills to Beachy Head. Beachy Head was amazing. Huge white cliffs and a little lighthouse that were absolutely gorgeous. Well worth the hike. We walked back into town where we had sandwiches at the first shop we came to, then back along the seafront to the train station and back to London. At Victoria Station we bought a takeaway dinner and took it on the tube to Hyde Park where we picnicked by the Serpentine Lake. It was starting to get late and we were tired from the day's hike, so we decided to just see one thing in Hyde Park before heading back to our hotel. I wanted to see Speaker's Corner, which I had often read about, but nothing was happening there and there was nothing to see. We went back to our hotel room and Ryan successfully cancelled his credit card--misadventure over.

Beachy Head

September 28: We decided to go see the Changing of the Guard ceremony at Buckingham Palace. We wanted to get a good view so we got a takeaway breakfast from a place called Pret a Manger and took it on the tube over to the steps of the Victoria Memorial as our guidebook suggested. This was a great spot for watching the guards and bands march in and out, but we couldn't see much of anything that happened inside the gates. My recommendation, if you're going to watch the changing of the guard and you're going to get there early, is get yourself a spot right along the fence on the left side of the gate. It seems like the most action was there. The Changing of the Guard ceremony as I understand it is as follow: The barracks are down the street to the south of the palace so first the fresh guard comes marching in from the left accompanied by their band. The guards are actually guarding St. James Palace which is off to the north so next the weary guard comes marching in from the right accompanied by their band. They meet up inside the palace gates of Buckingham Palace and do a lot of yelling and waving their guns about. Then the fresh guard marches out to get on with the guarding at St. James Palace. Meanwhile the weary guard and the spectators are serenaded by a few choice selections from the weary guards' band. That done, the weary guard and their band march out to the left, followed by the fresh guard's band that marches out to the right. Phew! (Ok, the band played four songs in the middle of this whole procedure. Bonus points if you can guess what they are. Think real hard...it's in a British palace, very ceremonial and dignified... Give up? The answers: "Dance with Me" by Orleans, "Fernando" by ABBA, "Jesus Christ, Superstar," and "Don't Cry for Me Argentina.") After the ceremony, we walked down the Mall to Leicester Square where I bought tickets at the TKTS half-price tickets booth to that night's performance of Les Misérables. Then we caught the tube over to the Tower of London where we were taken on a tour by one of the Yeoman Warders. Coming from a place where things 150 years old are ancient history, it's pretty amazing to go through a place that has nearly 1000 years of history and legend. After going on the tour we were free to explore as we pleased. The White Tower now houses a museum with an interesting display of armory. Also in the Tower of London is the Jewel House where the Crown Jewels are currently being held. We got to see those and I was more impressed by those than I thought I'd be. We grabbed sandwiches from a nearby shop and ate dinner in a little city park before heading back to our hotel room to change clothes. We went and saw Les Misérables at the Queen's Theatre on Shaftbury Avenue in the West End. I enjoyed this more than I expected to. I was especially impressed by the guy who played Jean Valjean, John Owen-Jones, and especially by his rendition of "Bring Him Home," during which his character prays to God on the eve of battle to let his adopted daughter's love survive the battle. (I discovered a recording of him singing this song is available here.)

Changing of the Guard

The White Tower in the Tower of London

September 29: We had breakfast this morning at an Italian coffee shop called Café Nero and then walked to the British Museum, a free museum of history. Again--to have a museum like this near my home! Much to be impressed by in the British Museum, but my favorite parts were the Great Court with its interesting architecture and totally cool ceiling, the Egypt Room filled with artifacts from Ancient Egypt--thousands of years old and not behind glass but right there for you to touch if you dare to reach out your hand--and finally, the Reading Room. Ever since watching Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" as a kid and seeing the Beast's magnificent library, I've dreamed of having a library like that. The British Museum's Reading Room is like the Beast's library. Of the parts of the museum we saw, these were my favorites, but we by far didn't see the entire museum. We left and ate lunch at a restaurant called Eat. I tried the hot minty lamb pie, which actually wasn't too bad. We took the tube over to St. Paul's Cathedral, which is where Prince Charles and Princess Di were married, where the song "Feed the Birds" takes place in Mary Poppins, and where Vice Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson was buried. We climbed the stairs to the Whispering Gallery at the base of the inner dome with a view inside the cathedral, then to the Stone Gallery at the base of the outer dome with a view overlooking the city, and finally up to the Golden Gallery outside on the top of the outer dome where we stayed until rain drove us in. We spent a little time in Paternoster Square and then took the tube to Leicester Square where, in another study of comparative culture, we bought tickets to see the movie "Children of Men" at the Odeon theater there. There were still about 45 minutes until showtime, though, so we went bookshopping at some used book shops on Charing Cross Road (because I had read 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff and wanted to see the shop), where I bought a copy of Victor Hugo's Les Misérables, which I haven't quite finsihed--I still have about 1150 pages to go. Back to the theater, it only had one very large screen but you could choose to buy tickets in any of three differently priced areas. There was assigned seating in leopard-print seats. The movie was set partially in London and it was interesting to see things in the movie that we had just seen in real life. By the way, the movie is nothing like the book. The names are the same, but the story is completely different. Anyway, after the movie we had dinner at a restaurant on Charing Cross Road called Garfunkel's and then headed back to our hotel.

The amazing Reading Room in the British Museum

West entrance of St. Paul's Cathedral

September 30: We got up early, checked out of our hotel and took the tube to Paddington Station. Last ride on the tube, we certainly got our money's worth out of those Oyster Cards. At Paddington Station we caught the Heathrow Express to Heathrow. We ate breakfast in the terminal then spent our remaining pounds at the Borders book store there. The plane took us to Vancouver where it took us quite some time to get through customs--at least it felt that way since we were tired, and then we caught one more plane to Seattle, the bus to downtown, a walk home, and bed.

Pictures of England

2006-10-06T23:15:00.000-07:00

We finally have our pictures from our trip to England posted and labeled!

All of mine are posted in a set here where you can find links to subsets breaking the pictures up by days.

Ryan has his posted in two sets: pictures taken while we were based in Bath and pictures taken while we were based in London.

Enjoy!

England

2006-10-01T09:45:00.000-07:00

We're back! Ryan and I arrived safely back in Seattle last night after a successful and fun-filled trip to England. We're busily cleaning and recovering today, but you can count on seeing your fill of pictures soon!

Lake Melakwa

2006-09-12T11:36:00.000-07:00

After a rainy Saturday to clear away the haze from the air, Ryan and I headed out on Sunday for a hike in Snoqualmie Pass to Lake Melakwa. Pictures are here and here.

Maple Pass

2006-09-07T21:07:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Ryan and I decided to go for a hike in the North Cascades. We headed for a loop hike recommended by a co-worker: Maple Pass. It was beautiful, but probably would've been moreso earlier in the season when the water was still running in the creeks and the flowers were still in the bloom. Also, there was a big wildfire burning not too far away, the smoke from which was hazing up our views! Great hike overall, though. Pictures are here and here.

No more beach

2006-08-29T21:38:00.000-07:00

I played my last game of beach volleyball for the season tonight. We didn't make it to the playoffs this time, but we had an interesting time. You can see from the pictures why this is the last game: it's getting dark earlier! These pictures were taken before my match started--we played in some wind and some sprinkles and by the time we were done it was fairly well dark.

Cascade Pass and the Sahale Arm

2006-08-21T20:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Ryan and I and two other guys from work went for a hike to Cascade Pass. We hiked probably 2/3 of the way up the Sahale Arm, just a bit further than Dad and I went last summer. It was absolutely gorgeous! Pictures are here and here.

The lucky one

2006-08-15T20:00:00.000-07:00

How lucky am I? I got to spend four days in the great outdoors with my three favorite boys! We backpacked the Wonderland Trail in Mt. Rainier National Park between Mowich Lake and White River Campground. I had a great time and now you can see pictures from the trip here and here.

Final Installment

2006-08-12T17:38:00.000-07:00

Finally, the rest of my pictures from my trip to California are posted: my trip to Walnut Creek to see Wei, Theresa, and Wana, friends from undergrad; my trip through San Francisco to go to Petaluma with Grampa and my parents; my trip to Stockton to see pharmacy school friends, Kaity and Grace; my trip to Turlock to see Monkey; and a few other pictures in between: all right here!

Day 6

2006-08-04T22:44:00.000-07:00

On the sixth day Dad and I climbed all the way to the top of the Castle Crags Dome before driving the rest of the way home to Orangevale. Pictures are here!

Day 5

2006-08-04T13:10:00.000-07:00

On the morning of the fifth day we did a little spelunking in Sentinel Cave and Merrill Ice Cave before heading out to Castle Crags by way of Medicine Lake. Pictures of the day are here.

Day 4

2006-08-04T09:00:00.000-07:00

On the fourth day we drove to Crater Lake, which was absolutely gorgeous. We spent a while driving around its perimeter taking photos. Then we crossed the border into California, stopping for the night at Lava Beds National Monument. Pictures are here!

Day 3

2006-08-01T03:07:00.000-07:00

On the third day of our trip we hiked half of the Ten Falls Loop (taking us past nine falls), before heading towards Crater Lake and stopping for the night in Chemult, Oregon. Pictures from this day are posted here!

Day 2

2006-07-29T03:09:00.000-07:00

On the second day of our trip we started at Mt. St. Helens and then drove south to Silver Falls State Park in Oregon. Pictures from that day are posted here.

Day 1

2006-07-26T06:32:00.000-07:00

I recently went on a camping trip from Seattle to Sacramento hitting some cool sights along the way. I took a million pictures so it may take me a while to get them posted but pictures from day one--from Seattle to Mt. St. Helens--are posted here.

A test run

2006-07-23T21:20:00.000-07:00

I'm back from California (pictures from that trip still pending) and after two short days of work Ryan and I went on a backpacking trip to test out our gear and our stamina--one of these two things was fine... Pictures are here and here!

I <3 O'vale!

2006-07-16T16:29:00.000-07:00

Temps are in the triple digits and I'm loving it! Hooray for summer!

Parents on Alki

2006-07-07T22:41:00.000-07:00

Mom and Dad arrived in Seattle yesterday. After work today I took them over to Alki Beach for fish and chips--yum! Now we're off on an adventure to California. See you in a week or two!

Happy Anniversary!

2006-07-03T11:47:00.000-07:00

Kelly and Michelle celebrated their 5th anniversary by spending the weekend at the Salish Lodge at Snoqualmie Falls. Sunday evening they treated Ryan and me to an incredible 6-course dinner at the lodge. Thanks guys and happy anniversary!

A few pictures from the evening are posted here.

Camping

2006-06-30T15:35:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Ryan and I went on our first camping trip! We spent one night in Palouse Falls State Park in Southeastern Washington. A quick trip, but we had fun!

It took me a while but I've finally posted some pictures of the trip here. Ryan's pictures, which were posted promptly, are here.

Recent excursions

2006-06-21T06:54:00.000-07:00

Sunday after work Ryan and I took a short hike up to Twin Falls (pictures here).

Then Monday, our day off, we drove down to Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge (pictures here and here).

To say nothing of the dog

2006-06-16T18:32:00.000-07:00

Yesterday afternoon Ryan, Liezel, and I rented a canoe and paddled around the Washington Park Aboretum under the 520 bridge. What fun! Pictures are here

We are the champions!

2006-06-11T21:05:00.000-07:00

My volleyball team won the A-league championship match tonight and we got these nifty sweatshirts:

Next up: summer league co-ed 4's on Alki Beach!

Fifty-two

2006-06-11T15:46:00.000-07:00

We did it! Pictures are posted here.

Mailbox Peak revisited

2006-06-09T08:20:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday I wasn't working so I decided to go for a hike. I picked Mailbox Peak even though I've been there before...two miles straight up (it took me three hours) followed by two miles straight down (it took me two hours). This time I made use of my trekking poles--they definitely helped! Unfortunately, the only view I had was of the inside of clouds. Pictures are posted here.

Snoqualmie River

2006-05-31T20:33:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning the meteorologist on CNN said something along the lines of, "It's warm and sunny throughout the entire country this Memorial Day Weekend...except the Pacific Northwest...but hey, we can't all be happy!" Yes, it rained all weekend (Seattleite: "This isn't rain, this is water from the sky!"), but after two days of indoor activities I took advantage of Monday's relative dryness and went for a hike. I stayed at low elevation to avoid the snow and tested out my new gear: backpack (very comfy!); trekking poles (um, didn't last long before I decided they were annoying--I'll have to give those a try another day). I ended up walking 6-7 miles up the Middle Fork Snoqualmie River before turning around and heading back. Pictures are posted here!

Mine, all mine!

2006-05-30T16:18:00.000-07:00

Luxury parking
(Mouseover fun!)

Showing off

2006-05-15T12:41:00.000-07:00

This weekend Dad and Grampa came to visit me so I spent Saturday showing off my state, and Sunday showing off my city!

A very pleasant weekend

2006-05-07T21:03:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Ryan and I bought ourselves a brand new backpacking tent!

Look familiar??

Today it was windy and sprinkly with an occasional smattering of sunshine, so we decided to go on a tour of some parks on the East Side. (Some pictures here.)

Definitely a relaxing and pleasant weekend!

The last leg...

2006-05-03T21:22:00.000-07:00

Today after work I biked from Mercer Island to Lake Sammamish State Park and back. (Pictures here.) I know I can get from Lake Sammamish State Park to Marymoor Park. I know I can get from Marymoor Park to Gas Works Park. I know I can get form Gas Works Park to my place. I know I can get from my place to Mercer Island. And now I know I can get from Mercer Island to Lake Sammamish State Park. Do you see where I'm headed with this? What are you doing for Memorial Day?

Lake Sammamish State Park

Seattle as seen from West Mercer Island Park

The trail's open!

2006-04-30T20:09:00.000-07:00

It wasn't sunny today, but it wasn't raining either so Ryan and I took our bikes down to check out the new East Lake Sammamish bike trail. It goes from Lake Sammamish State Park in Issaquah to Marymoor Park in Redmond. What we didn't know before we started was the whole trail is gravel--made things tough for those on road bikes! Here's a picture of Ryan and I at Marymoor Park. More pictures here.

A beautiful day in the neighborhood

2006-04-25T15:47:00.000-07:00

Downtown Seattle as seen from Cal Anderson Park on Capital Hill today.

I had the day off from work today so I went for a long walk to do errands and enjoy the sunshine. First stop was the Velo Bike Shop to get my bike fixed. Turns out it just had a bad link in its chain, easy to fix! I went out and bought myself a pair of bike shorts from REI to celebrate. :-D

Tulip Festival

2006-04-17T01:04:00.000-07:00

Ryan and I went to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival this weekend! Pictures are posted here and here.

Monterey

2006-04-13T23:22:00.000-07:00

I flew down to Sacramento, met up with Mom and Dad, and spent four nights in Monterey while attending a pharmacy conference. Pictures are posted here!

Whidbey Island Half Marathon

2006-04-13T23:17:00.000-07:00

In case you hadn't noticed, I've posted some of the professional photos of Ryan and I running here.

Coupeville

2006-04-02T20:49:00.000-07:00

This weekend Ryan and I and a few other people from work went out to Whidbey Island to run a half marathon between Oak Harbor and Coupeville. This was fairly easily the prettiest race course I've ever run. We didn't set any records, but Ryan and I did ok for the first run of the season. I'll keep you updated when results and photos are available. In the meantime: Coupeville!

And there are a couple more pictures of Coupeville on the night before the race here

Not for indoor use

2006-03-30T19:54:00.000-08:00

Guess where I went this evening! Well, I had to take advantage of the 20% off sale, didn't I? (It ends Apr 2--have you been to REI yet this month?) I listened to schpiels from four different REI associates of varying opinions and knowledgability about backpacking stoves and I finally settled on:

Snow Peak! Uses multi-fuel canisters, has an automatic starter, and fits in the palm of your hand. Seems cool to me. Can't wait to put it to the test!

News! (To me anyway!)

2006-03-28T11:15:00.000-08:00

1) A bubble tea shop that has decent bubble tea has opened up close to home! Finally! Too bad it's so expensive: $3.82 for a tall bubble tea with tapioca pearls. (The only thing I miss about LA is their 99¢ bubble tea.) My waistline and my pocketbook are telling me this is going to have to be a treat and not a regular occurrence ;-)

2) Marco! The pool in my apartment building is uncovered! Not that I've ever felt warm enough to go swimming. Or that I have the slightest inkling where my swimsuit might be...

The Seattle Central Library as seen this morning across the courthouse lawn.

Golly what a day

2006-03-22T16:48:00.000-08:00

Ah, sometimes its nice to escape for a few hours. This morning I hiked up to Lake Talapus and Lake Olallie. It was snowy, but I had on enough layers that I was never cold. It was enough to make a girl want to try snowshoeing, though!

More pictures from today's hike are posted here.

The Rides of March

2006-03-15T20:54:00.000-08:00

I went for a 37-mile bike ride today on the Burke-Gilman/Sammamish River Trail. I started at Matthews Beach and rode out to Marymoor Park and back. Fun! But whew, I'm tired! I've posted pictures here.

Welcome to Victoria

2006-03-06T21:23:00.000-08:00

More pictures here!
And now pictures from Ryan here!

View from Seward Park

2006-02-20T09:04:00.000-08:00

Out of the box

2006-02-17T17:53:00.000-08:00

Anybody want to come over and walk around on clean carpet?

Lake Serene

2006-02-12T20:53:00.000-08:00

I hiked up to Lake Serene again today. I hiked up there last July. Quite a difference between July and February! More pictures of today's trip here.

Wanna go ride bikes?

2006-02-11T20:50:00.000-08:00

Ryan and I went on a 20-mile (per Herman) bike ride today from Judkins Park to Newcastle and back. Weeee! A few more pictures here.

The moon noom ehT

2006-02-10T19:05:00.000-08:00

Boulder River Pictures

2006-02-10T06:06:00.000-08:00

Finally, pictures from my Boulder River hike are posted here!

Poo Poo Point

2006-02-04T14:28:00.000-08:00

I hiked up to Poo Poo Point this morning with Ryan and Kevin. It was rainy and windy, but really not too bad. Can't say too much for the view from the top today, though:

Waterfalls

2006-02-02T20:39:00.000-08:00

My attempt to use Paint Shop Pro to stitch photos together:

Boulder River Trail

2006-02-01T18:42:00.000-08:00

I am thankful for rain gear. I am thankful for all five layers I decided to put on this morning. I am thankful for waterproof socks. I am thankful there are thorns in my nose (and not in my eye). I am thankful for a nice, warm shower at the end of day!

A day on the beach

2006-01-26T14:38:00.000-08:00

Hard to beat this on a work day

2006-01-24T13:03:00.000-08:00

A book, a latté, a park bench, and some sunshine--what more can a girl ask for before work?

Downtown Sound

2006-01-20T18:31:00.000-08:00

Fish in Sunny Seattle

2006-01-17T15:45:00.000-08:00

I've walked by here dozens of times before and somehow managed to not notice these scary little guys until today.

Ok, so the title should really be "Fish and Sea Mammals in Sunny Seattle." I sat on a bench here bundled in my jacket and read a chapter of my book. I looked up at one point and realized I was the only one there who wasn't wearing a T-shirt or a tank top. Guess I still have a way to go before I can be a true Seattleite.

And of course here's one of my favorite views from one of my favorite places, Pier 66. No mountain today, but who's complaining--there's sun!

Herman has software

2006-01-08T15:11:00.000-08:00

I finally installed the software for my workout buddy, Herman. It's pretty cool--it shows a map of everywhere I run as well as graphs of my pace, speed, elevation or heartrate (choose two). Here's a screenshot showing yesterday's run to Fred Meyer in Ballard via the waterfront, Discovery Park, and the locks. Neat, eh? The GPS has trouble finding satellites downtown, but it seemed to pick up just fine by the time I made it down to the waterfront.

Here comes the rain

2006-01-03T13:02:00.000-08:00

Herman is relentless!

2005-12-31T10:39:00.000-08:00

I took my new training buddy, Herman, for our first workout today. The good thing about Herman is that he's always ready to go for a run--he never thinks it's too cold or wants to go for hot chocolate instead. But he sure does crack that whip!

"Speed up! Go faster!" he tells me. I tried to explain that it's been a week and several potlucks and batches of fudge since my last run so he should give me a break, but he'd have none of it. He just rubs it in: "Your heart rate's a little fast, don't you think?"

Yeah, well, who's ahead in the end? In your face, Herman!

Merry Christmas from the family!

2005-12-25T22:07:00.000-08:00

It works!

2005-12-24T15:32:00.000-08:00

Pies!

2005-12-21T20:46:00.000-08:00

De Leo Wall

2005-12-18T12:13:00.000-08:00

It's Sunday morning and I have the day off. My Christmas shopping is done and the sun is shining brightly. The apartment's dirty (but it can wait), so what to do? How about a hike? Hmmm..need to be home early this afternoon...how about a walk in the park? Sounds like a fine idea!

I decided to go up to De Leo Wall, a.k.a. a large hill in Newcastle with one rather steep side to it. The weather was cold and clear so I had a good time taking pictures of ice and frost:

The view from De Leo Wall is pretty obstructed by trees, but nice all the same:

Unfortunately, it was incredibly windy! I was being showered the whole way by tree debris, some of it alarmingly large. I watched one whole tree blow over about 50 yards up the trail behind me. Here I am posing with the largest branch that actually hit me, luckily on the bounce:

One week 'til Christmas!

2005-12-17T21:35:00.000-08:00

Christmas at the Market

The mountain is out! Victor Steinbrueck Park

Waning gibbous over Queen Anne, Kerry Park

December is for...

2005-12-15T18:12:00.000-08:00

Playing Scrabble...

Learning to ice skate...

Mt. Si

2005-12-11T12:42:00.000-08:00

I hiked up Mt. Si yesterday with Ryan, Kevin, and Matt. There was plenty of snow and ice on the trail (yes, I have a lovely bruise on my butt), but it was such a beautiful day! More pictures here.

Marathon Photos

2005-12-06T11:50:00.000-08:00

Pictures from the Seattle Marathon are available here. See? I really did do it! :-D

Carkeek Park

2005-12-05T19:49:00.000-08:00

Carkeek Park this morning...wait is the sun setting already?? Ack, winter!

Like snow off a duck's back

2005-12-01T13:58:00.000-08:00

Yes, it was snowing this morning at Green Lake!

And it was starting to stick on my way home

And it's still coming down! Hello, December!