It's Oh-So-Quiet...

It's been quiet around here lately.  I apologize for that.

They say that life is what happens while you're busy making other plans.  I don't know who the proverbial "they" are, but "they" are right. 

In a nutshell, the Goodlaffs have had a lot going on.  I didn't blog about it, but at the end of March, we took the first step towards becoming homeowners by attending a first-time homebuyers class. Three days later, we were pre-approved; two days after that we were meeting with a realtor. We began a house hunt and found one we liked.  We made an offer and it got accepted.

The day we found out that we bought a house, I was diagnosed with a blood clot in my leg.  In a few weeks, I will be getting rechecked to make sure it's gone, and then we will set about finding out what caused it.  I've been resting and healing, and I haven't been able to eat much in the way of green leafy vegetables, as it interferes with the blood thinning medication I've been taking. It's funny, but the minute the doctor told me that I couldn't eat spinach, all I wanted to do was sit down and eat a big old spinach salad.  And I'm not even that big of a fan of spinach!

Since then, it's been a whirl of doctor's appointments and weekends at The Home Depot. We've learned how to use a lawnmower, hacked back the wilderness that was our backyard (see below!), installed a mailbox, had the electrical completely updated, and, in the course of appliance shopping, learned the hierarchy of refrigerator brands. 

Yard before:

 

Yard after:

 



We move in less than two weeks.

We've started packing; the house is a disaster, with alternating towers of empty and full boxes clinging to the walls for support. The first of what I'm sure will be several trips to Goodwill happened today, and even though we took four trash bags full of linens and clothes, two paper bags full of books (yes, I got rid of some books. Be proud.) and various other sundry, a lamp, and a filing cabinet, the house still feels as full as it did before. 

All of this means that I've been neglectful of this blog, and you, the five people who read it. 

As soon as the dust has somewhat settled, I promise I'll be back. But for now, wish us luck with our move.  We are going to need it!

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!

Boarding the Crazy Train

Last week, I got an email from my friend LK (formerly Bridesmaid Sunrise), proposing a trip to Vancouver in August.

To run a half-marathon. 

I must be crazy.  No, wait, I know I'm crazy.

Because I agreed to do it.

Let's set aside for a second the fact that I'm not even remotely close to being the marathon-running type. I am about as far away from a runner as you can get. And my Bucket List has never included a marathon, half or otherwise.

But I was intrigued.  I decided to give the idea a second thought.  Then a third thought.  And then I gave it some serious consideration.  And I spent the better part of an afternoon pondering whether I should do this.

After that I did research. What's the appropriate amount of time needed to prepare to run a half-marathon? Let's be real: I'm overweight and massively out of shape. If a pack of ravenous wolves was chasing me and I had to run a mile right now, I wouldn't be able to do it--I'd be wolf bait.  But what I found as I googled and read, and googled some more, was that it had been done before, and it was most definitely possible.

I'm under no illusions that this will be an easy undertaking, but it's something that I really want to try. Remember how I decreed that 2012 would be the year of "Progress?"  I totally think this counts.

Postcards from Seattle: Snowmageddon

Mr. Goodlaff and I were told that Seattle completely shuts down in the snow, but this week, we got to see the chaos for ourselves.  My work was closed on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday because of completely un-navigable streets and nasty weather.

 First a snow storm, then an ice storm, then a freeze.  Not good. Now it's raining and they are worried about flooding.  Good thing we live on the fourth floor...

Here's what I've been seeing for the past few days:

Hopefully you're staying safe where you are!

The Cold of Death

It was pretty quiet around here last week.  I apologize.  For almost two weeks now I have been dealing with the cold of death, and until Wednesday, I didn't have the energy to move, let alone blog.  My throat was killing me, I had Mr. Goodlaff buy out the entire cold section at the drugstore, and I went through about four boxes of Kleenex. I haven't even been working at my current job for a month, and had to call in sick for two days.  It was not good.  Luckily, I no longer sound like a 70 year-old smoker, and I'm down to only a few tissues a day. I feel almost human!

I made a few discoveries while I was sick, and I thought I'd share, in case any of you happen to catch the cold of death too.

After going through an entire box of regular Kleenex, I finally caved and sent Mr. Goodlaff to the store to get those awful tissues with the aloe in them.  My nose was so raw that I just couldn't take it anymore. What he came back with was this:

Source

They have aloe and all that, but the best part of these tissues is that they are cool to the touch. It's kind of creepy--they are cold when you touch them. But they are so soothing, so awesome.  A total lifesaver.  It's a small box--only 50 tissues--and it's a bit spendy, but worth every damn penny.  I highly recommend them.

My second discovery was more of a referral than a find of my own. Turns out Sister Goodlaff was also suffering with a cold of death, and she found a recipe for a miracle drink on Pinterest. It's called Dr. R's Cold Remedy, and the recipe comes from Le Man and Wife. 

It's not much to look at, but the combination of lemon, honey, coriander, ginger, cloves, and cinnamon sticks is actually really tasty.  It can be a little strong and a little strange at first, but after three nights of drinking this, I felt way better.  Maybe I was just healing on my own, you say?  Nah. I prefer to put stock in this little gem.  Head on over to Le Man and Wife for the recipe!

If any more colds of death strike this winter, I will be ready!

Postcards from Seattle

Sometimes I have to pinch myself because I can't believe we actually live here in Seattle.  Civilization!  Shopping!  Stores and restaurants open past 6 PM! Scenery!

On New Year's Eve, Mr. Goodlaff and I hung around the house until about 11:30, then went to find a hill in West Seattle with a great view of the Space Needle. We were very successful:

The fireworks started at midnight, and though I'm sure they were awesome in person, they were just as beautiful from far away (maybe even better--we had no crowds!).



Second best New Year's Eve, ever.

When we were apartment hunting, the property manager told us we'd have a partial view of the Puget Sound from our unit, but with all of the leaves off of the tree in front of our apartment, we pretty much have a full-on Sound view until Spring.

Visibility wise, some days are better than others, but yesterday was stellar:

I get to look at that every day.  Amazing! 

Resolutions

I have a tendency to over-do it on resolutions.  When I make them, I make a lot of them (what can I say?  I'm ambitious like that).  However, my follow through on resolutions is not anywhere equal to my enthusiasm for making them.  A few weeks in--a few months in at best--I abandon my best intentions and then resolve to do better the next year. 

This year, I'm not making any one resolution; I'm not even making multiple resolutions.  Given past precedent, my resolutions are only made to be broken. Instead, I'm going to follow Halsey of Spunky Junky's lead, and let one word set the tone for the entire year:

I know it's a little vague, but isn't that kind of the point? A lot of things can be filed under "progress"--that's the beauty of this method. As long as I'm moving forward, making progress, I'll be able to count the year a success. (The lazy girl's way around a resolution?)

What am I planning on making progress in? Lots of things!

I'm going to get more organized.  My closet and my crafting supplies are woefully unkempt.  It would be nice to be able to find things when I really need them, cutting down on multiple craft supply purchases. 

I'm hoping to make progress through my bookshelves.  At last count, I had more than 25 unread books waiting for their turn to shine.  I'm a book hoarder--it's a sickness. 

I'm a bit of a schizophrenic crafter.  I've never been one for settling down into one medium and perfecting my skills.  I knit, I sew, I can scrapbook and stamp, I make jewelry, and I'm game for anything that involves a glue gun.  The variety keeps me on my toes, but it also means that I have ADD when it comes to projects.  I'm in the middle of something when--ooh, shiny!--something new comes along, and before I know it, I have about four different projects in production.  Progress on this front will be when I complete one project before starting another, or when I start doing the projects I've purchased supplies for before getting distracted by the next big crafty thing.

The other thing I'm looking for progress on? Well, it's not very original.  Everyone and their mother vows to lose weight at the beginning of the year. It lacks creativity, but yeah, Mr. Goodlaff and I want to make progress towards being healthier.  I'm not going to train for a marathon, and we probably won't stop cooking recipes that we know are bad for us (give up cheese and bread? yeah right!), but we're going to make some smarter choices for the sake of our health.

Lofty goals, but definitely worth it.

So, here we go.  2012 is all about progress!

A Year in Review

One word to describe 2011?  How about "insane"?


My husband and I got married.

We went on a mini-moon. 

Our second niece was born.

We went on our Mediterranean Honeymoon.

We packed up everything and moved to Seattle.

And that, in a nutshell was my year. We are still settling in to our new digs (and me into my new job) in Seattle, but I'm so excited for all the new adventures that 2012 will bring!

Happy New Year!

An Update

I haven't been a very active blogger lately, and I can promise you that it's not for lack of activity here on my end.  I have actually been very busy crafting for Christmas.  Of course, the problem with Christmas crafting is that I can't share the outcomes until after the presents have been opened.  I've been gluing, knitting, and sewing up a storm--you'll just have to wait until after Christmas to see the results of my hard work!

On a more personal note, it's been a crazy few months.  Mr. Goodlaff and I moved to Seattle from California at the beginning of November.  We agreed that he would work and I would look for jobs once we got here, without either of us really knowing what that really entailed. I can honestly say that neither of us expected the process to be this hard.

After a few weeks of settling in, I began the arduous task of job hunting.  I submitted applications all over the place, not really sure of what I wanted to do or where to start looking.  For weeks I filled my days with job hunting, crafting, and TV reruns.  During week one, I was having fun.  After that I jumped on the self-pity bandwagon and took the long ride to feeling-like-a-loser-ville. I've always assumed that I could never be a housewife because the silence and the lack of stimulus and activity would make me stir-crazy. I have now verified this to be, in fact, the truth.  I felt crazy, and I felt my self-confidence slipping away.

In between the applying and the searching (and the not hearing back), I was pretty lost.  I learned cable channels because of The OC and Grey's Anatomy reruns on SoapNet and Lifetime.  I did a lot of crafts.   Mostly, though, I felt useless. Before my little couch stay-cation, I never realized how much being able to contribute to our household meant to me, and how much of my self-confidence and self-worth was based on my having a job.  Though I told myself it was that I couldn't buy shoes on my own terms with my own money, I realized it was actually my independent streak at the root of all my problems.  Being so completely dependent on someone else--even my husband--was discomforting. Did we do the right thing, I wondered? Was this good timing, or should we have waited?

In the spirit of making lemons out of lemonade, I can tell you that it's been hard, but a good learning experience. These past few months have taught me a lot about myself, and the mister and I have definitely grown up a little bit.
Luckily for me, a few weeks ago an opportunity to work in my previous field came about; I applied, interviewed, and after a few tense days of waiting, found out that I got the job.  I started on Monday, and so far, so good. Getting back into the swing of things has been a little difficult, but all in all, I am really glad to be out in the world amongst people and once again earning my keep. Social interaction is priceless.

Christmas is only a few days away and the family presents have shipped out to their new homes.  Packages are arriving on our doorstep daily, and the Goodlaffs have begun making plans for a lazy Christmas Day. After the presents are opened, I promise to show you all of my projects--I'm pretty proud of them!