A Nice Seattle Day

Yesterday was great. In the morning, I went to kickboxing, which is always fun, but I really like the teachers up here, and the classes aren't nearly as jam-packed as in SF. Then, I headed up to Seattle to first see Danielle and meet her little boy Nathan. Since Alex isn't here, I don't have any photos of us (I tend to forget or lose motivation and wish I would've later). The weather has been perfect, so we went on a walk, played and were kept busy with the babe. On to Rira's on the other side of the city. We had delicious crepes on Capitol Hill, then went to Trophy Cupcakes, the best cupcake place ever. At that time, I was movitated to get a photo of us there, but the rude girl at the counter made me lose interest. So I found this one online so all can see how cute it is.

I had the Hummingbird, which was ok, but like a sweet banana muffin with frosting. Rira's triple chocolate was delicious. My sister introduced me to this for my bday by getting me a shirt and a choc-vanilla one that hooked me in. Next time I want to try this one, the graham cracker one that was on Martha, or the pb&j or the snickerdoodle. I'm starting to think my blog and/or life is centered a bit too much on cupcakes...

Anyway, lots of fun, and if the weather keeps up this way, it's going to be hard to leave.

What To Do

Well, my mom and sisters are in Taiwan now. Mom will be back next week, Laura in August and Andrea's doing an MBA thing for 2 years. So, it's just the boys and me at the house. Bobby and my dad work during the day, and I get to hang out with Nick. What do I do with a 13 year old who just likes to sleep in way too much and play video games? The weather is so nice, but it's not like he wants to just go out for a walk or anything. So, any ideas would be appreciated! I'm thinking maybe a movie, a day at Wild Waves and that's about all I have so far. Thankfully, he's got some friends to do things with, but I'm not letting them sit in front of the tv all day! And, there are certain friends my mom says he can't play with anyway. I feel like I'm back in my nanny days....I miss my mom, then she can be in charge and make dinner.

Family Update

It has been a busy and fun past week up here in WA. I'm here with the fam while Alex is doing his externship in Dallas for another week and a half. He's enjoying it, although it sounds quite exhausting! He's learning more than I think he planned; he sutured some prisoner's ear today. I've just been hanging out in Fed Way-playing Wii, running random errands with my mom and sis and enjoying the lack of rain while it lasts! Yesterday, we all went down to Steilacoom to see Grandma...

Here is Grandma with a few of my cousins and Uncle Ron.

Me with my cousin Kelli's baby Jia.

The biggest Kaler family picture we've had in who knows how long...just 2 husbands and a cousin missing. I wish we could see everyone more-maybe in a year or so...?

Kim's Shower

What a wonderful way to kick off my time up here in good ol' Federal Way! Kim's bridal shower was on Saturday, at a cute Tacoma tea house, and it was just perfect. We all got to reminisce, catch up and recall classic Kim memories. Kim and I have been friends since 1st grade; she is probably the friend I've had the longest!


Since my camera likes to decide when to take great photos and then blurry ones, I had to steal this one from Danielle. Here are the 4 of us; I can't express how grateful I am that we've been able to stay in touch all these years (although I haven't always been the greatest). Rira and Danielle-I promise to visit more this time around; Kim, I miss you lots!
Here are all of us at the table. Betsy and Jenny did such a great job with the shower! It makes me want to visit tea houses more often....esp. to eat those delicious scones and shortbread....

So Pretty

Alex heard me talking about how pretty Courtney's necklace is that Tyson got her and I guess it sparked the idea for my birthday gift... I love it so much. It is the first piece of jewlery from Tiffany I have ever owned-who would've thought I could get so much joy out of a necklace. Although I do feel a little undeserving since we should've been celebrating the beginning of being a 3rd year, too...congrats, Alex!

Blogiversary

Well, today is my 1 year Blogiversary. I like that word, it is funny to me. Although I spend waaay too much time in the blogosphere, I think they are a great invention because it is the closest thing I have to a journal for the past year. Not too much has changed in my life this year. Since I really enjoy making lists, here is a list of 9 things that are the same and different:

Same:

1. I look and weigh the same

2. Live in the same place

3. Still no kids

4. Have the same furniture

5. I eat & like the same foods

6. Doing the same thing I did last "summer"

7. Still on my same page of scrapbooking

8. Still no car (that will change soon though)

9. Still haven't been to Alcatraz (that will happen in July:)

Different:

1. Not a nanny anymore

2. Different calling in church

3. Have 5 nephews instead of 4 (Congrats, Tasha!)

4. Making more new foods/recipes

5. The ulcer is gone

6. I have my "sea legs" now

7. I understand more why people love to live in Northern CA

8. Alex is almost a 3rd year instead of almost a 2nd year

9. I have a different cell phone number

Love for TJ's & Number 100

Trader Joe's is awesome. It is my 2nd favorite grocery store (if you factor in price, it would be #1, but I am just thinking about how pretty and tasty Whole Foods is right now so that will be first in my mind for today). Everytime I go to Safeway, I always wish I were at TJ's instead. Thankfully, it's a 10 min. walk so I can be there instead! Although there are some things that TJ's just doesn't have (ice cream cones, baking powder). Here is a list of some things I like there. This may get continued the more things I try, we'll see...

1. Vanilla Wafer Cookies- These must be relatively new; they come in a clear tub and are so delicious. They have Madagascar vanilla specks in them which makes the vanilla seem that much more present. Whole Foods' 365 wafers are also very good, but no specks there.

2. Salmon Patties- Come frozen in a package of 5 or so. They are super easy to make, only 80 cal each and are loaded with protein and omega-3s. Sorry, I don't know if it is farm-raised or wild (I'm guessing farm-raised since it's cheaper, although let's hope for wild:)

3. Pizza dough- At around $1, you get a bag of ready-to-roll dough, either wheat, herb or original. Very tasty and relatively fresh!

4. Joe Joe's- TJ's verison of an Oreo sans hydrogenated oils. Haven't tried the ginger ones, but we love the peppermint ones and the chocolate and vanilla are good, too.

5. Gyoza- In the frozen section, either pork, chicken or veggie. It goes great with the gyoza dipping sauce they sell (a checker there upsold us that and we loved it).

6. Hansen's soda- Other places sell this, but it is by far the cheapest here at $2 for a 6-pack (if you live in CA, add on the $.05/can for CRV....blah). Personally, it's not as sweet as I would hope, but I guess that's what you get for not having HFCS, so it's worth it.

7. Big Bars of Chocolate- At over a pound for $3.49, you can't beat it. They have milk, bittersweet and with almonds for sure. Apparently, TJ's is the only place you can get this specific brand of imported chocolate- perfect for baking. My friend's MIL had her go buy about 15 bars once and mail them out to Utah for her, they are that good.

One area I would pass over is the fruit section. Maybe buy bananas ($.19 each), but the other fruits don't look that fresh to me. Do you have any favorites?

Also, this is my 100th post, yippee! I was going to wait until Sat. to post again, since that will be my one year bloggerversary, but I am more bored at work more than usual....