. bellingham/seattle spring break getaway .

Mom, Melissa, and I got away for a few days at the beginning of our Spring Break week. We headed up to Bellingham on Saturday to visit Melissa’s college roommate, Jennifer Zaremba. She showed us a great time around Bellingham, shopping, great food, and seeing the sights. She and Melissa wanted to take these pictures with the Bellingham sign!

She hosted us in her cute house looking over the water. Thanks Jenn!

On our way back toward Seattle, we detoured through Marysville to see the flowers in bloom. The tulip fields weren’t in bloom yet, but we got to see some striking daffodil fields. We all said for not even liking daffodils, it was beautiful!

We stopped to shop a little bit at the Seattle Premium Outlets and then found our hotel where we’d stay for the rest of our time in Seattle.

On Monday, we did some shopping around our hotel: Ulta and Nordstrom Rack. We’d spied a Blue C Sushi the night before and were excited to try out conveyor belt sushi!

I’m not a fancy sushi connoisseur, but this wasn’t the best sushi I’ve ever had. It was a fun experience to just pick out what we wanted off the conveyor belt. Fun concept.

Each color plate was a different price…

And, our favorite: California Roll.

From there, we went to our favorite little stamp store in Greenlake – A Muse. It’s a must stop whenever we have the chance. Then we went on a little Seattle tourist adventure. Melissa wanted to see the Fremont troll, so we put the address into our iPhone map and went on our way (thank goodness for the iPhone maps – we used the heck out of it!).

This troll was crazy huge! It’s holding a Volkswagen Bug in it’s hand!

Melissa got to check an item off her bucket list!

The next stop on our tourist adventure was Gasworks Park…

Melissa wanted to take her picture jumping in Gasworks park! Check!

It was raining and kinda foggy looking at the Seattle skyline!

Our next destination was a quilt shop in Ballard that I’d found online. On our way there, we passed a group of statues that we’d seen last year on the Ride the Ducks tour. Melissa got a picture with them (of course! ).

The quilt shop: The Quilting Loft: was a successful find! It was a cute shop with lots of current fabric lines, patterns, kits, and samples. It was a little overwhelming! I got a fat quarter bundle and a pattern. I would definitely like to go back there next time we’re in town!

And bonus – there was a cute boutique right next door, so Melissa was happy too! (and pretty happy about her first Starbucks birthday cake pop!)

We went to see “Black Swan” that night at a $3 theater….and wasted our $3. I can appreciate the acting and see why Natalie Portman won the Oscar for Best Actress, but the movie as a whole was not our style at all. Way to pick them, Mom!

Tuesday morning, we a little earlier start and headed straight for Pike Place Market.

First stop: the Flagship Starbucks, of course!

We walked through the Market, found a delicious doughnut, and found the golden pig:

I showed Mom & Melissa where the Gum Wall was and left our mark!

So gross, but so intriguing!

We headed straight for the flagship Nordstrom from there. Melissa and I had been planning to buy TOMS shoes there and it was a great day to buy them! TOMS was sponsoring a day of no shoes in honor of those that don’t have shoes. There was a walk around Nordstrom that was just finishing up while Mom & Melissa were trying theirs on.

Melissa found some black sparkly ones and Mom got gray.

We went downstairs to the men’s section so I could get mine (embarrassing!) – I got gray and red. I couldn’t decide!!

We went to lunch at the Nordstrom Café and had delicious salads. We’d never eaten there, but had heard how good it was…and it was great! We shopped around Nordstrom and each left with some fun finds!

We headed to U Village from there to stop at Sephora, Anthropologie, Victoria’s Secret, Brighton, and H & M.

Melissa stopped for a photo op with her new black and white houndstooth wellies.

We got pedicures that evening – so nice after shopping all day! – and picked up pizza to take back to our hotel. Perfect ending to a great day!

The next morning, we loaded up and headed to the UW Medical Center for Mom’s appointments. She had a CT scan and then met with her surgeon, Dr. Mokadam, for him to explain the results of the scan. Two years after her emergency surgery, everything still looks great! We are grateful that her doctors take such great care of her and stay on top of everything.

We began our trek home – a little later than we’d expected because we had to wait for Dr. Mokadam to get out of the OR. Melissa had wanted to go to The Cheesecake Factory in Bellevue, but I didn’t want to get home so late….well, jokes on me because we were stopped on Snoqualmie Pass for over 2 hours for avalanche control. We could’ve definitely had lunch in that time! Even after waiting all that time, it was slow going the rest of the way. Bummer!

Look how much snow there was! We drove through rain, sleet, snow, and sun…yuck!

Next year, I totally want to go somewhere with warmer weather – no rain, NO SNOW!

We had such a wonderful time exploring new sights and experiencing old familiar favorites…and with great company, who could ask for more?!

. frances and louise .

We had a big family dinner last night at Doug & Vicky’s because Jon, Lisa, Frances, & Louise are here! We haven’t seen Jon, Lisa, and Frances since August when they were here and it was the first time we got to meet Louise (she was born in December).

Louise Virginia Rein

Frances Lind Rein

They are both so sweet! Frances is talking a little bit (she’ll be 2 in a month), so it was fun hearing her say different things. She was intrigued with Grandma Marcial’s hair and kept asking “What’s that?”

I got some snuggle time in Louise. She is such a good baby and just looked at everyone with her big blue eyes!

Mom bought a book, toy, and puzzle for Frances, so she had fun putting the puzzle together with her.

and commented, “She sits just like I used to!”

It was fun to be together as a family – something we haven’t gotten to do much lately! Jon’s parents and Lisa’s mom came from Spokane, so it was a nice surprise to see them! I was a school counselor intern for Jon’s mom before I even knew Jon! She really influenced my perception of what a school counselor should be and taught me so much about being effective in that role. I didn’t get to spend as much time interning with her as I would’ve liked, but I learned so much from her. She holds a special place in my heart!

It was also the 2-year anniversary of Mom’s emergency surgery, so it was nice to celebrate with everyone!

. a finished project! .

A few weeks ago, I made a goal to finish some quilt tops that needed to be quilted before I worked on anything else. I quilted 3 quilts and a table runner since then! I have one more to go. I am slowly working on binding them – so as I get done, I’ll share pictures with you!

Here’s my first completed project…it’s a table runner from Camille’s book. I can’t remember the name of the pattern. I like how it turned out – although I think it’s a little big for a table runner. It could be a wall hanging or even a baby quilt!

I sewed the binding on this the other night while Mom and I watched "The Kennedy's" mini-series.

Pattern: (by Camille)
Fabric: Hunky Dory by Urban Chiks
Quilted by: Marcie

. ode to Whitworth .

My college days are behind me, but my heart is still with Whitworth! I am proud of my alma mater, I loved the time I got to spend there, and the community that I’m apart of. I get excited when I hear about someone going to Whitworth, even just to visit! I love filling out recommendation forms for my students applying to Whitworth. I also love that some of my family members and my closest friends are Whitworthians too!

I stumbled upon this the other day…it’s a parody of a Ke$ha song with Whitworth lyrics. It’s pretty darn accurate and oh-so-funny. I can’t figure out how to add the mp3 link so you can hear it. Here’s the website link (http://www.reverbnation.com/artist/song_details/7785763) – over on the right you can “play” the song. If you’re a Whitworthian, do it – it’ll make you smile!

Wake up in the morning in the Lilac City
Got my classes, I’m out the door, I’m off to Core 350
Before I leave, brush my teeth in the bathroom of Mac
But I don’t stay for the night because cohab’s whack

I’m talking
Diving for falling cones, cones
Dropping food in Sodex-ho
Boys senior year pro-pose, pose
Oh yeah I’m wearin’ my North Face fleece-ee
Camelbaks and Young Life tees
Tryin’ to play ultimate fris…bee…

Whitworth
Best on earth
BJ, Boppell, East, what up tonight?
Heart and mind
See you all at Prime Time
B-Rob’s
Off the job
But the party don’t stop, no
Oh oh oh oh

Whitworth
Best on earth
Freshman triple to a dorm, so tight
Card is swiped
For the food at Late Night
Mock Rock
Dorms are locked
Past eleven o’clock, yo
Oh oh oh oh

Best chocolate milk in the world
Who needs money for beer?
I’m spending Tuesday at Hosanna
Ev’ry night of the year
And now the dudes are lining up
Cause they Woo like a player
But we kick ‘em to the curb
Unless they tweet like Beck Taylor

I’m talking bout
Ev’rybody sleeps in bunks
Boys on the ball team dunk
Drop your classes if you’re going to flunk flunk
N-now I’m telling my RA about bout
How my roommate kicked me out out
Noise was way too loud loud
No no not allowed

Whitworth
Best on Earth
Drinking coffee in the Hub at night
Sipping wine
(Sacramental, that’s fine)
Thieves mock
Cause we’re shocked
All our bikes are unlocked, yo

Whitworth
Best on Earth
Want turn my papers in on time
Get denied
Because Blackboard’s offline
Sweet talk
Hello walk
Christian flirting nonstop, yo

(Financial Aid)

You bill me tons
These great amounts
My interest rounds to the top fee

Bill me for junk
Like caps and gowns
Just a B.A., no Ph.D.

You bill me tons
These great amounts
My interest rounds to the top fee

One thing I’ll say
Would Jesus make
His students pay?

So forgive me Dear Lord, for I have sinned…

Whitworth
Best on earth
BJ, Boppell, East, what up tonight?
Heart and mind
See you all at Prime Time
B-Rob’s
Off the job
But the party don’t stop, no
Oh oh oh oh

Whitworth
It’s our turf
Freakin’ worldview studies rock!
All right!
Takin’ flight
Cause we’re really Christlike
Those Zags?
Make me gag
Cause they’re all complete f…ailures
Oh oh oh oh

. yay for spring break! .

Last night I got to hang out with Nick, Kate, and Kamryn. Kamryn is now walking and running instead of crawling. She is developing such a fun and cute personality!

Kate & I were sitting in their living room talking and laughing and Kamryn came over, sat down, and started laughing like she was part of our conversation. That made us laugh so hard, which kept Kamryn laughing. She is so funny!

Nick and Kate are redoing their bedroom, so their bed is in the living room while they work on their room. Kamryn would run through the living room and fling herself on the bed and laugh at herself. I love her personality!

I came home last night feeling kinda queasy and didn’t sleep too well. I went to work still not feeling great and maybe with a bit of  a fever. Jennifer and I worked on scheduling again today…Esther & I sorted the Science HSPEs since the students will take that when we return from Spring Break…and everyone was giddy about Spring Break beginning! Not much April Fool’s pranking today at CHS, which I was pretty surprised about!

The art trip is leaving on Sunday for Greece and Turkey – such a fun group of people going. I can’t wait to hear about their trip and see pictures! I’m a tad super jealous!

We’re heading out tomorrow for our Spring Break trip…anyone want to pack for me?!