Update on Bluebee's resolutions...

The one about him being less snoopy? Not going very well. Not going well at all.

Conquered.

The moon came out halfway through the day. Click to enlarge.

See the lodge down there? That's how high up we were. Sweet!

Remember a few weeks ago when I was so freaked out on a slope at Stevens that I literally sat down and slid down on my butt? Well, yesterday, I not only conquered that hill, but also managed to take down its big brother a few times! Each week I get more confident with my skiing and it's such an awesome feeling. The beautiful weather we've been having has not hurt my mood either!

Heading into February, we are going to take a couple of weeks off from the skis. We head to Whistler (in British Columbia) over President's Day weekend with Nathan and Scott (who will be visiting from NYC). It will be three nights and two mountains worth of amazing trails. =)

Finally, a new project.

I finally finished a project! I haven't been creating much of anything lately with skiing and job hunting taking up most of our time. But, I was able to create a book full of our favorite photos of 2006. It's quite thick and so fun to look at. We did a lot of swell things and had a lot of great visitors last year. So, this little recap is pretty cool. For my crafty friends:
View some sample pages from project

The noms are out.

http://www.oscars.org/79academyawards/noms.html

I'm rooting for an "An Inconvenient Truth" in the best documentary category. More people definitely need to be exposed it...

Holy cow, the Colts... WIN!!!!!!!

The Colts have pulled it out. We are sore-throated, mentally exhausted, and living in a surreal haze of disbelief. Seriously, that was one of the best games... ever!!! Up next: the Super Bowl!!!! Go Horse!!!

We are nervous.

We have our little weiners, a Colts jersey, hat, mug, and beer koozie. How could they possibly lose?

Go Colts!!!

It is a high.

Last week's Crystal adventure... Crystal is a foothill of Rainier.

Yesterday at Snoqualmie...

Dan Savage has written a funny and spot-on article about living amongst mountains... and how we get such a high from skiing or snowboarding on them.

Although he seems to think that skiing might not be as exciting as snowboarding, this Indiana girl is addicted to such a degree that I found myself thinking "I love winter!" last week. In the midwest, winter felt neverending and pointless. Here, winter has a purpose--a thrilling, challenging purpose that keeps me surprising myself.

NYE Resolutions: Part 2

Following up on my resolutions since it's now been over a week after I originally posted them (view here):

Increase my income.
Done! After two round of interviews, I have landed a new job as the Design & Publications Specialist at the YWCA. My job duties will include a little print design, a little web design, and a little photography. And it turns out that the salary for a nonprofit job in Seattle is more than that of a corporate ad agency job in Indy. Wahoo!

Lose 10 pounds.
No progress yet, but a trip to the doctor this week determined that I am at a good weight for my height. Still, I feel icky and need a serious workout. We have found a swell gym, but just haven't gotten there yet. We are, however, going skiing today... ;)

Do more good.
Partially accomplished. My new job will (hopefully) come with a fair amount of contribution to the community, but I still plan to volunteer (or at least donate more) this year. For those who are wondering, the YWCA is not a gym. Here is their mission:

The mission of the YWCA of Seattle · King County · Snohomish County is to advance the quality of life for women of all ages, races, and faiths, and their families. In support of this mission, the YWCA provides services to meet critical needs, promote self-sufficiency, reduce violence, and achieve equal opportunities for all people.

We believe that, working together, we can create a community where:
All women and families have a safe, stable place to live. All adults have the opportunity to earn a livable wage and achieve self-sufficiency. All children and youth can develop the skills they need to succeed in life. All people can live in dignity—free from violence, racism and discrimination.

Figure out where we want to live.
Sorta figured out. It looks like we will continue to stay in Seattle for now. The economy is fairly stable here, the recreational activities are abundant, and it's a swell place overall. We wish the housing market wasn't so competitive as that will be our next hurdle. Stay tuned as that fun begins next week!

Bitter Valentine.

So, as a takeoff on one of my new stamp designs, I created a little shop of pro-, sassy-, and anti-valentine goodies. Not sure if anything will sell, but since it's free to do, I created the designs out of boredom one day... maybe some Cafe Press users will find 'em and dig 'em.

http://www.cafepress.com/bittercandy

Stamps.

My portfolio is expanding! Shown above are my four new stamp designs developed for this year's Valentine collection at Impress. I love seeing them on the store shelves, love when people like them, and can't wait to properly use them. =) Here are links to check a few of them out:

Chandelier
Candy Hearts
Locket Heart

Amazing Race All-Stars.

Sweet! The cast was revealed today:
http://www.cbs.com/primetime/amazing_race11/

But, damn, the Barbies are back!!!

More of the white stuff.

So, we got a ton of snow again last night. Why is this weird? It shouldn't snow here!!! That is one of the main reasons we moved to the area. So, it's a cruel joke of sorts.

Anyhow, the first photo shows our street. The second photo shows the little man hanging out in the round-about at the end of the street. Too cute! =)

Playoffs.

Woohoo! The Colts move on to round three. One step closer to the Super Bowl... =)

Soccer.

I played the first game with my new indoor soccer team this week! I had played for ten years until my junior year in high school, but since then I haven't played since I was half my current age...yikes. It was great to be back at it, but I realized how terribly out of shape I really am by getting exhausted after 5 minutes of running. My next goal is to improve my conditioning enough that I can contribute more to the team.

In more soccer news, David Beckham is coming to America!

Thunder snow.

Sometimes, I am extremely thankful that we are from the Midwest. Today was one of those days. We had a bit of thunder snow last night and most of the city's residents have freaked out as a result. Schools were closed before kids were even in bed last night (who has ever heard of that?!) and this morning's commute was sort of... comedic.

We headed out of our neighborhood around 8:30 am, immediately noticing that the roads were lightly covered with ice. As we turned the corner to head down the hill, we witnessed a scene that was somewhat post-apocalyptic. Total chaos. Several cars had just pulled over into the shoulder, owners sitting inside scratching their heads. A few 4WDs were spinning their tires on who-knows-what. S just glided past them all and we both ended up at work in record time.

On my return home this afternoon, I saw another laughable sight--a buffoon driving in front of me with his back windshield completely obscured by snow. Now, come on. This is supposed to be one of the most highly educated cities in the entire nation. It's not that hard to figure out how to remove snow.

Here's the best part about this situation: from what I can tell, we accumulated an inch or so. Nothing major. If one little inch of snow (every now and then) could guarantee less traffic and an easier commute in this city, I say BRING IT!

So, today I am thankful that we are from the Midwest. We know how to deal with driving in snow.

PS: It was a gorgeous day, too! Check out this photo of the Olympics today. They were so crisp!

NYE Resolutions.

So, inspired by my buddy gmutt, I've decided to do a little roundup on my NYE resolutions. Supposedly, most of America kicks them to the curb after the first week of January. Not me! I'm full steam ahead. Here are some things I plan to accomplish (hopefully soon!):

Increase my income.
In the works. I've just had a second interview for a nonprofit position that seems very promising. I should know by Friday if my career (and income) will be back on track for 2007.

Lose 10 pounds.
This one is on hold until next week. Waiting to find out if the (potential) new job will come with gym benefits.

Do more good.
Partially complete, but a neverending battle, methinks. There are too many sad things going on in the world that I have no control over. So, I plan to give more to charity (already completed a fair amount of that back in December!) and volunteer. Must get to work on that.

Figure out where we want to live.
This is the toughest one. If the new job comes to fruition, I guess that will help answer some questions. The resolution will then shift into figuring out where to live in Seattle because I have to get out of this rental!

Wahoo!

Bloc Party Announce North American Tour
Coming back to make up for that Panic! at the Disco fiasco back in December... Seattle is on the list again. Wa wa wee wa! =)

Also, here is an interesting article from yesterday's Guardian regarding the upcoming release of their new album (out 2.6.07).

EDIT: New video to boot...

Holiday recap.

Shawn bonded with Bane during our quick stay in Chicago.


The animals were really into Christmas Eve with Shawn's family.


Shawn borrowed Eric's blue guitar (and wore blue Colts gear) for our annual sing-along.


Aubree experienced her first Christmas (but slept most of the way through it).


We received a lot of really fun gifts (most of mine were cupcake-related!).


I was able to take some new portraits of our sweet niece. Shawn bottle-fed her, too!


Only 356 more days!

Bluebee's New Year resolutions.

1. Be less snoopy.
2. Barf less. (I've cleaned up six in the past week!)
3. Try to be quiet during human sleeping hours.

Our fingers are crossed that he can pull them off this year!

Photos from the holidays coming soon...