First Quarter

Well, The Goodlaffs have officially lived in Seattle for three months--that's a quarter of the year! It's been a crazy, crazy time, but I think that we've finally begun settling in to our new home and new life in the Emerald City.

I've decided to commemorate our three monthiversary with some notable highs and lows:

High:  We now live in a place where things are open past 6 PM and we have an abundance of choices in everything from restaurants to grocery stores. 
 Living in a city means we have options.  There's an Indian restaurant down the street that stays open until 3AM.  I can't say I've ever wanted Indian food at 3AM (I didn't really discover it until after college), but if I did, Seattle's got me covered.  If we feel like Greek food, we have it.  Pizza? Right down the street. Teriyaki, Tempura, or Thai? Check, check, check.  It's a lovely little Mecca of choice. 

Low: We now live in a place with traffic and city drivers.
Confession: I hate traffic.  Traffic in Northern California consisted of letting another driver go at a stop sign intersection or being stopped while school children boarded a bus on a country road. Traffic in Seattle is cutthroat, and the drivers here (while not as bad as drivers in L.A.) are--forgive my language--assholes.  Luckily, my commute has very little traffic--a few long stoplights and a some 18-wheelers to pass--but what I have discovered is that most of these city drivers are flat-out crazy.  A few days ago we sat on a bridge for an hour and a half because of construction--I was ready to kill someone by the time we finally got out of it (and I wasn't the one driving). City drivers are selfish, mean, and stupid.  Check back with me in another few months: I'm learning to be a shark.  And to swear.  Colorfully.

High: We have places to go and things to do!
A few weeks ago, we saw West Side Story in Downtown Seattle.  One week after that, we took a road trip to Portland to see the Mythbusters: Behind The Myths Tour. Every week I get notifications in my email about a cool show or band coming to town.  There are hundreds of options for our entertainment and exploration--so exciting!

Low: We get lost--a lot.
A new city is fun, but the problem is about 99% of the time, we have no idea how to get to where we are wanting to go.  Our GPS unit and Google Maps have become our new best friends. Even with instructions, we get lost or end up getting detoured through the ghetto.  What I miss the most is knowing the back roads, the ways around, and the shortcuts from here to there. I know the getting lost helps us learn those things, but after making the same loop seven times and still not being able to turn, while the GPS is yelling "recalculating" can get a little old.  And I'm not the best navigator, even with the help of the GPS. Oops.

High: We've learnt a lot about ourselves. 
Let's face it: moving sucks.  Being jobless sucks.  But going through that with Mr. Goodlaff has been illuminating.  We've done a lot of soul-searching and come out the better for it. We're making life plans and working toward common goals. I guess we're real grown-ups now.

Low: We miss our family and friends.
I won't lie.  I'm a little homesick sometimes.  I miss my parents and Mr. Goodlaff's family.  I'm bummed that we have to watch our nieces and nephews grow up via Facebook.  I really wish I had a few friends to call up and hang out with.  We are lucky to have one of Mr. Goodlaff's cousins and his sister here to connect with, but we left a lot of people behind when we moved, and chatting over Skype just isn't the same. Was it the right decision for us to come here?  Absolutely. But I really miss girl time with Mama Goodlaff.  And I miss having friends.  We have no friends.  Being of a shy, somewhat unsocial nature doesn't help us in that respect either (so, if you live in Seattle, give me a holler--I'm normal, I swear).

All in all, it's been a great start here in Seattle.  We are starting to acclimate to the weather--we knew there would be rain, but it's really freaking cold here sometimes. We have favorite restaurants and stores, have our preferred routes to locations, and are learning our way around.  Life is settling down.  And life is good.

I can't wait to see what the next few months bring!