Ranked #4

I registered for classes this morning and while poking around the UW Applied Math website I found a link to this site.  Turns out my program is ranked #4 in the Nation!  Go UW!

The Travel Bug

Tonight I skipped my regularly scheduled FHE to see my Grandma who is visiting this week.  I spent my evening trading traveling stories with her.  Thanks to my Grandma and her Time Share I was able to spend last week in beautiful Mexico on a small island called Isla Mujeres.  Tonight I showed her a few pictures of all the places I went while staying there.  My favorite part was showing her my picture at Chichen Itza because she then hooked up her video camera to the TV and showed me pictures of her in the exact same place a few years earlier.

I appear to have inherited my love of traveling from her.  Did you know my Grandma has been to 104 countries? 

I've been to 4.  I have some catching up to do.

Come November I will be able to tack on 3 more countries to my list.  :)

Helping a Friend

I don't normally do this kind of thing, but it's really easy and I know/like the guy who is doing it. My friend Austin is competing for an amazing job in Los Angeles, and is very close to getting it. But he needs our help.

It takes literally 5 seconds to vote for him - Click Here to VOTE!



Thanks, everybody.

He's Home

My li'l Brudder came home from his mission in Argentina today.  I've missed him.  A lot.

Betty Boop

At the beginning of this year my mother bought me a Betty Boop day calendar. It's one of those paper ones where you tear off a day at at time and have a new picture for each day of the year. By the way, I love Betty Boop. I also have Betty Boop checks. Betty pretty much rocks.

For the most part each day I tear away the page and promptly throw it in the trash. However there have been a handful of days that I liked the picture enough I put it in my desk to look at later. I decided to glance at the saved pictures recently and noticed a theme. Can you guess what else I love other than Betty Boop?

I love the Seattle Skyline

Saturday was a rather fun day. I had lunch with my new visiting teacher and then met up with a group of friends to finally see Inception at the IMAX theater in Seattle. Just after the show we were in the car about to head home when we took a brief detour. Thanks to Derek, who knew exactly where he was going, we ended up at this quaint little park with the most amazing view.

Me with my good friend Matthew

Seattle is not just beautiful, check out the majesty of Mount Rainer too. My low res cell phone picture will not do it justice.

I love living here.

Saudi Arabia

Years ago I was aquainted with a few people who had once lived in Saudi Arabia.  That was years ago and none of them live there anymore.  Come to think of it none of them were actually from there, just happened to live there for a few years with their families.

I think it is safe to say I do not currently know a soul who lives there anymore.

I point this out because I have received an abnormally high number of hits on this blog from computers in Saudi Arabia over the last few months.  So, um, who are you?

My 1st Vacation of the Summer

Merry and I have always been close as sisters. We shared a room for most of my memory while growing up. She first taught me to do my make-up, and told me stories about dragons. I make it a point to visit her as often as occasion (and money) permits. As soon as school ended for my students I took off to spend a week with Merry and her family.

I try very hard to be the 'favorite aunt' to all of my 10 nieces and nephews. Her 3 boys are the ones I see the least as they live the farthest away. However we jumped right in to playing around as soon as I arrived. They seemed to think it awesome that I would sit and play Wii Super Mario Brothers for 2 hours with them. (Thanks Brenda for showing me that game ahead of time!) I helped them beat World 1.

We played swords and dress up and blew bubbles in the back yard. I read books with them and taught them a few words in Chinese. We went to the zoo and even did some geocaching with their dad.

They are three of the best boys ever. My only regret is that I could not stay with them longer than the one week.

I did more than just play with my nephews, I also sat around for hours talking with Merry and playing games with her. We found the perfect game for us, it's a card game called "Once Upon A Time...". The basic idea of the game is to tell a story using characters, items, and events on the cards you are dealt. You are also dealt an 'ending' card with the words to the end of your story. It's up to you to make sure the story makes sense and flows correctly to the end. There is a catch, you are also dealt 'interrupt' cards that allow you to interrupt the other in the middle of the story so you can take over. We had a lot of laughs with this game. Prince Mirliflir and Nimrod the Cook were regulars to our tales.

As convenience would have it one of my dearest friends in the world lives 20 minutes away from my sister so I could not fly all that way without a couple visits with Andrea as well. Saturday evening we got together so I could finally meet her finance. It was strange to meet someone I already knew so much about. I'm sure the reverse was true for him as well. We played mini-golf and had a lot of fun. Monday evening Andrea and I went wedding dress shopping and found an absolutely gorgeous dress for her. I still can't believe she's getting married!

My first vacation of the summer is now over and I'm back home preparing for work in the morning. At least I have something to look forward to: Cruise Reunion 2010 is coming this weekend!

Summer Solstice, when the Fairies come out

The Other Kingdom is full of fantastical creatures, tricksters, wee folk, magic and my sister Merry.

Merry called me a few months back wanting to know if I would fly out to visit her if she had a Fairy Party. Um, of course! I mean, who wouldn't want to attend such an event?

I packed my wings, wand and as much glitter as my luggage would hold.

I arrived Wednesday and we got right to work by planning and baking and making the proper arrangements.

Friday evening arrived and the fairies came out of hiding for one night only to dine, tell tales and make merry.

Meet a few of my favorites...

Dori had amazing wings she made herself!

Mindy won the costume contest, she reminded me of a fairy from Disney's Sleeping Beauty

I don't recall her name, maybe Rachel? Her dress is beautiful!

And, of course, Merry herself. She made the entire costume.

We played fairy games, searched for hidden fairies in the garden and made our own fairy wands. I do believe we've started a tradition. Next summer solstice I'll be flying out again for Fairy Bash 2011.

He plays guitar.

Railyard playing at Seattle's Folk Life Festival

I’ve always had this silly school girl fantasy of meeting the lead guitarist of a band just after attending their concert. Of course he would find me amazing and we’d go out together after the show. Tonight it came true. Sort of.

I have a friend that plays in a band called Railyard. I’m using the term ‘friend’ somewhat loosely here, really he is an acquaintance. We met because we have a handful of mutual friends, we have talked once or twice, that’s it. What is important is that he plays guitar. And he plays in a band.

Tonight I headed into Seattle to check out Railyard for the first time and I was impressed. They are a little mellow in comparison to what I typically get into, but still very enjoyable. My music tastes have altered quite a bit in the last few years since I learned to play guitar for myself. Talent matters a bit more to me now. I would say this band has a lot of talent in it. It was a fun experience and I’m glad I went.

After the show I said hi to my guitarist friend. As it would turn out we were both heading to the same place after the show, to one of our mutual friends’ birthday party. I gave him a ride.

I seem to remember my day dreams turning out slightly different. So really it didn't come true at all.

But the band was great, check them out at http://railyardmusic.com