Interview Day

Today is the day for the big interview.... Here's to hoping! How do I look?? I'll let you all know as soon as I do. (This is possibly first of many)


Update on the house and yard. We are slowly working on the basement, it is going to take A LOT longer then we thought, but isnt that how it always is? The outside landscaping is coming along. We are transplanting trees, and pretty soon, going to have our front and back yards torn up, tilled, leveled and and re-seeded with grass. Leveled is the key word here... it is so bumpy out there, hard to mow. Once leveled, I am going to 'build' a regulation horseshoe pit, with sand and everything. It will be great fun at our BBQ's.

Trips this summer! Our next one is camping in Ocean City with our great friends Matt and Elizabeth and their two tikes Isaac and Max. Then a few weeks later off to Vegas with some other great friends. It will be my first time there. We will keep you updated with lots of photos of these trips. Comments are always welcome, from our family and friends!!

Miss everyone!

Amazing Sound!!

Today, I went with a friend up to the Seattle Convention Center to listen to one of those free live music concerts, of a friend of mine, Geoffery Castle. He is an amazing violinist, who I was lucky enough to have play at our wedding. You should check out his website, if nothing else then to read about where he travels to play and his electric violin. www.geoffreycastle.com Ok, when you are there, go to the music link, there are 6 songs to listen to. (unfortunately not my song... yes, I have a song), but amazing songs. PUSH PLAY! (it may take a while to play, be patient).

Anyways, he played with this other guy, Andre Feriante, a guitarist who I have never seen before, and was quite amazing. You can check his site at www.andreferiante.com You can listen to some of his work!! I got a small clip of him playing with our digital camera, though it didnt come out too well, I will try to upload it.

Here are some photos of them playing.


L->R
Andre (guitarist), ME, Geoff (violinist)























PS... Besides the treat of an amazing sound, Geoff always adds a little extra when I am in the audience... the sounds and song of the Irish Wedding Song, the song that I walked down the aisle to, and danced our first dance.

Always, thank you!

Catching up...

Dear, Sweet Annabelle.


Eric, herding everyone back to their pens.
Parrot, "I'm coming to get you."

Pearl Jam Concert

This last weekend Eric and I headed out to the Gorge at George for the Pearl Jam concert. Niether of us had been to the Gorge before, so it was a treat simply to go. Howver, when we got there, we learned that there are new rules there, and some rules that are inforced and some that are not. A new rule is that there are no blankets allowed in anymore, because of the fear that someone will set them on fire. Also, there are no bottles of water gallon size of bigger allowed, though I think that they should be, they could be use to put out the blanket fires. hahaha
We were not allowed to bring in our camera either... that is what is completely bogas, so we didnt get any shots of the amazing view that the Gorge has to offer... If you have been there, you know what I am talking about... if not, I dont know if I can even come close to the beauty that was bestowed upon us. You have to walk up this concrete hill, between the radio stations and the porta-potties and once at the top of the hill, at the top of a massive grassy knoll... It was the most breath taking view of sureal cliffs diving into the Columbia River far below. Then at sunset, oh WOW, the rays of orange, pink and red light carressing the endless landscape as far as the eye could see.

We did get some photos from my camera phone, but we need to get a cable to transport them. Even if we get them, I dont know how well they will turn out, but I'll try. As for the concert, it was good... Eric and I enjoyed it alot, but the view was SO amazing. :)

Hope everyones summer is going wonderful! And you are staying cool! At least there is a breeze today. I'll keep you posted.

Summer Together

This last weekend was our first of many BBQ's for the summer. There was tons of food, great people all coming together, chasing of goats, little kids and big kids playing capture the flag paintball, and a bonfire with smores. Of the entire time, the funniest moment was when the little kids went out in all their gear to 'capture the flag' and the dads went to watch them play. After a moment, the dads realized that the kids had no aim, and took shelter behind a tractor. Enjoy the photos.

Anniversary Weekend

Our 3rd anniversary started with a picnic which later lead to the Sorrento Hotel in Seattle.
The hotel offered us a chauffeur to take us to our romantic dinner at the Serafina Restaurant.

After dinner we had enjoyed live jazz and wine at the Fireside located in the Sorrento.

Summer Time!

It is been a while, yes, I know!

The latest update
- I am graduated with a masters (obviously)
- I have finished a school year from .... (I have spent this last week cleaning up and out of my classroom - I had a lot of stuff)
- And now it is time to relax, and do some amazing things this summer!

This weekend Eric and I are celebrating our 3rd year anniversary. It is a big surprise for Eric, so I have to keep it a secret a little while longer. Keep watching ... I post it next week. :)

Last week, we had our neighbor come over with his excavator and cleared out and burned those massive pile s in the back. What is left? The largest pile of ash I have ever seen. He is coming back this weekend to do some more clearing for us as well as for the neighbor on our other side (he wants cleared pasture land for cows).


The last pile... Our neighbor is pooped... hahaha
This last one was taken from our back porch. If you look really close, you can see Eric between the smoldering pile and one of the excavator's buckets. These fires lasted from Friday afternoon at 2 till the following Tuesday when they finaly stopped smoking.

It was way to hot to cook smores...

Graduation Day

June 9th, 2006, 10 am, Tacoma Dome. I officially have my MEd. Yeah!

See the red head (Rachel) in the second row, middle? I'm to her right... the one with the super long hair.

Ryan and I graduated from the Ed Program at St. Martin's together exactly 5 years ago. Here we are again, at UWT, now with our MEd.

We're Graduated!! We went to celebrate by the waterfront in Ruston Way with family and friends!


At last, I have no more papers to write, no more classes to attend, no more late nights, no more taking notes. I can finally relax..... better yet, crash.

Im There

As of Yesterday at 4pm, I am officially graduated from my 2 year long Masters in Education program from University of Washington, Tacoma. The photo is of an all time Proffesor, who has just signed off on my final project. More to come! I 'walk' on Friday at the Tacoma Dome.

As an added treat, I 'won' a mariners ticket for last night's game!

Family Update

Memorial Day Weekend! A few shots of the goats and chickens and us being goofy. Parrot is chasing the goats in one of the photos.

The Chickens are in my pen... Luke is not looking happy.
Eric and Beau getting close.

Perplexcity.com

Ok, so if you know me, you know I love logic! Well, this weekend, I ventured into a game store and as I was buying this game called 'MadGab' I over heard another clerk talk about this worldwide game called 'Perplex City.' So I got involved in the conversation. Low and behold, I liked what I heard... logic, puzzles and a cash prize... well, check it out for yourself. You can play for free or you can buy in or a little of both. It is a blast!!

First Tree Out

Today, I started on the rose garden by pulling out the first of five trees... literally. hahaha

Landscaping ...

... has begun!

We are mowing with our riding mower, which has a new front tire (the first time we mowed, Eric ran over something metal and flattened it). We have about 2 acres now cleared!
Weed eating is my new favorite thing to do!









My first area of attack is this area. The plan is to make this into a rose garden. The trees on either side of the walk way are going to be removed and possibly replanted elsewhere. The area between the path and the window will be tilled and the grass removed prior to beginning the steps of planting roses. After much research, I have found my plan of attack for this project.

Here goes:

http://www.rosemagazine.com/pages/planting.asp

'Site: good drainage, and 4-5 hours of sun.
First of all, it is very important to choose a sunny area of the garden that gets at least 4 to 5 hours of sun for your rose. Do not crowd your rose with other trees and plants. Some roses, such as climbers and shrubs, don’t mind company, but most like to mix with other roses or other non-invasive plants. If you’re replacing an older rose bush, it is important to remove an 18 cubic inch area of soil and replace it with fresh soil. A newly planted rose doesn’t like to grow in the same soil that an older rose bush has been in. Picky darn thing isn’t it!

Step-by-Step Rose Planting: Here are the basics:
1) Dig a hole, slightly larger than the pot size or root system of your rose bush.
2) Add a small handful of bonemeal to the planting hole. Spade in some compost or peatmoss to loosen the soil. Mix the soil you took out of the hole with more compost or peat moss.
3) Remove the rose from the pot. Carefully place in the hole and shovel the extra soil around the new plant. Plant the rose with the crown slightly deeper than the original soil. The crown or bud union should be about 1 inch under the soil
4) Gently firm the rose into its new home and water well.
5) Stand back and watch it grow!
Important note!! NEVER fertilize a new rose bush with anything other than bonemeal. '