Elk, Cherry Pie & Soccer

This place amazes me every day.  On the way home last week this happened:

Right next to the road.  Yes, I pulled over like a tourist and took a photo, but wow, who gets to see an elk herd this close up?   They might look like gentle giants but somebody's dog was actually attacked by one of them at a nearby lake yesterday, so I'll be keeping our Molly on a short leash when I'm up there!

We had family visiting over the weekend and it was so much fun being tourists.  We hiked locally to Teneriffe Falls on Saturday.  The trail was pretty challenging for the kiddos towards the top, but it was so worth it to see the Falls.

So steep!

We rewarded ourselves afterwards at Twede's Cafe in North Bend, famous for being on Twin Peaks and for having the most awesome cherry pie.  I can confirm that it was indeed the best cherry pie I've ever eaten - crust and all - which is really something because I usually don't like pie crust! 

After we cleaned up from hiking, we drove to Seattle to drop a small fortune on buy shirts and scarves for the Sounders soccer game that we were going to the next day.  Mission accomplished, we took a walk around the waterfront for some people watching, a scenery fix and a Rachel's Ginger Beer to go.  I'm still getting used to all these imaginative ways to park downtown and get around.  We used Zirx for our parking.  You tell them your whereabouts, some nice man shows up and takes your car away and then keeps it someplace safe until you're ready for it later on.  No matter where you happen to end up later on, they will deliver it back to you!  It's pretty cheap too!

Daughter in crow pose with a view :)

We decided we wanted to eat Korean BBQ, so we uber'd it out to Shoreline where the only Korean restaurant in Seattle with grills at the tables is situated.  It was well worth the trip out there.  The taste of bulgogi, kimchi and mandu transported us back to Korea, minus the nasty smells of Songtan of course.  OB beers were consumed and a bottle of soju purchased to take home.  Only the husband partook in the soju though, I'm still scarred from drinking one too many soju slushies when we lived there!   The staff were lovely, helpful and we will definitely return in the future.  If you fancy giving it a try, here's the link: Old Village Korean BBQ

Korean BBQ

Sunday was game day.  We arrived pretty early at the stadium, but there was already tons of people milling around.  The Seattle Sounders/Portland Timbers rivalry is serious, some drunken 'lady' was yelling swear words at our kids while we were looking for our friends.  Normally Americans are so nice that it was a bit of a shock to be honest!  The atmosphere in the stadium and the game itself were FANTASTIC!!!  We ate authentic Scotch pies, rather expensive, but they were the real deal.  The stall also had sausage rolls which I will definitely try at our next game.  We yelled ourselves hoarse, learned some of the team chants and watched the Sounders win.  We also met up with 2 friends that we haven't seen since our wedding, many years ago!  They were supporting the opposition, but still hung out with us for a while even though we were decked in Seattle shades of green and grey :)  Middle son was in heaven seeing two of his soccer idols, Dempsey and Martins and it was so exciting when Dempsey scored. 

Posing!

Rocking our Sounders scarves :)

Speaking of soccer, this week middle son started tryouts for select soccer.  It's a whole different ball game up here (pardon the pun) from how it was in Tennessee.  The pressure on the boys here is enormous.  My son is 9 years old and awesome at soccer, but there is a good chance that he might not get selected.  I can't even imagine how rejection would feel for a kid his age - not good obviously, and probably very spirit crushing.  There were a lot of boys there for the first session and to me, it looked like not enough coaches taking notes on the boys trying out (but that's probably just an over anxious Mum thing)!  All the kids out there were awesome, the competition is high and this isn't even premier - a whole other level higher than select.  I don't want my son to be mollycoddled at all, but I also think he's kinda young for all this pressure.  One more session to go and then we find out who  made it.  Please cross your fingers for my wee lad! 

Otherwise, things are going great here.  There are so many things to do, see and eat.  I miss our friends from Tennessee of course, but we're starting to make new ones here in WA.  I've even seen the sun A LOT contrary to popular belief!  I'm also happy to report that I haven't bumped into any bears yet, let's hope that streak of luck lasts.  And of course, you can be sure I'll tell you all about it, were it ever to happen! 

What's going on

So, we've been in the Pacific NW for over a week now.  The movers came on Wednesday and Thursday, then we moved in to our new house on Saturday after a final breakfast in Seattle at the Portage Bay Cafe.  Man, that place is the bomb.  I had bananas foster french toast, smothered in caramelized bananas, sauce, fresh strawberries and coconut.  I could eat it every day and never get bored.  Perhaps that's why when I weighed myself this morning for the first time since all this moving house business began, I saw that I've gained a massive 10lbs!!!  Eeeek!  My excuse is that we've been eating out for every meal, every day, over the last 2+ weeks, but I don't have an excuse any more, so it's time to get back on the healthy train.

The kids started school on Friday, just to get a feel for it before Spring Break.  I'm happy to say that they loved it and are really excited to go back!  Middle son is doing a UK Elite Soccer Camp all this week, and it's rained quite a bit.  If we were still in Tennessee, the camp would for sure have been cancelled, but here, it's business as usual!  It's the same at their school.  If it rains, the kids still have outside recess.  The only time they don't, is if there is thunder and lightning. Just like back home in Scotland really.  Monday marked the husband's first day of commuting.  He left pretty early and his drive was only 30 minutes, which is pretty good for driving into Seattle. 

The funny thing is, although we've downsized quite substantially from our Tennessee McMansion, we still have to buy new furniture for our rental house.  I thought we'd have way too much stuff, but turns out not so.  Our house is lovely and has amazing views.  There is a golf course out back, we can see Mount Si from the front, and beautiful tree covered hills to the side.  Like the bananas foster french toast, I don't think I'll ever tire of such spectacular views!  Another difference from Tennessee is that there is no air conditioning in most houses here and our rental doesn't even have ceiling fans.  I can't complain yet because it's not summer, but we'll see how that goes...

I'm loving being able to buy beer AND wine in the grocery store, and even better, you don't get asked for your ID every time you do so!  It's the small things!   My freak magnet is still drawing them in though and I did have an encounter in the Safeway bathroom yesterday.  I was waiting for my son and trying to avoid eye contact with some lady who was literally just staring at herself in the mirror and poking her forehead.  She then asked me if I shopped at Safeway or QFC the most.  I said Safeway to be polite, she then launched into an angry tirade about how people at the other grocery store are so much nicer.  As soon as my son was done, we were out of there at top speed.  I guess being approached by strange people isn't just a Tennessee phenomenon. Otherwise though, I'm happy to say that everybody I've met so far has been really friendly! 

Anyway, sorry this was very mixed up and random, but I've been too busy to sit down and think about writing a proper blog post!  Hopefully normal service will be resumed once the kiddos are back at school next week.  Till then! 

So Far In Seattle

It's been a busy week!  We drove 2400 miles, settled into our temporary apartment downtown, applied for driver licenses and WA vehicle registration, set up our utilities and registered the kids in their new school.   When we registered for school in Tennessee there was a permission form regarding your children being paddled.  Although I myself was hit with a ruler and a belt on my hand at school, it's not the practice to hit a child nowadays right?!  I was shocked to read the form and I thought it was a joke, but as I looked around the classroom filled with other parents scribbling away, I realized that it was for real!  Needless to say, I declined to sign my kids up for paddling in Tennessee.  It was nice to see, when doing the paperwork here,  that paddling is not an option and in fact, isn't even mentioned.

This place is pretty similar to back home in the UK in many ways.  You can buy wine in grocery stores for starters - yippee!!!  No more dragging the kids into the liquor store if I'm picking up a bottle of vino for dinner, and getting frowned at for doing so.  This is life changing, people!  When you're grocery shopping, if you don't bring your own bags with you, you are charged 5c per bag, which isn't a bad thing at all and will encourage me to try and remember my own bags next time.  It definitely costs more for groceries here though.  It also doesn't rain here all the time contrary to popular belief.  The weather has been lovely, t-shirt weather in fact, and it's only rained once so far.  

Gas is 70c per gallon more expensive than it was in Tennessee.  That's going to be a shock to the system.  We've already experienced Seattle traffic at its worst, but because it's still new to us, we were quite content to sit in the van, and admire the scenery.  I'm sure that'll get old soon enough though.  The husband will be the one dealing with city traffic while the kids and I spend our days in and around our new abode close to the mountains. 

We now live 25 minutes from a ski resort!  Granted, the snow season hasn't been great, but we're that close to stunning, craggy mountains that we can enjoy year round which is pretty cool!  The view from the kids' new school is Mount Si, which is pretty spectacular.  They can also see  Mount Si from their bedrooms.  I don't think we've ever lived anywhere with such amazing views.

Recycling wasn't really a big thing in Tennessee.  Here, however, it's highly encouraged and even compulsory, which is great.  I'm still learning though, it took me an embarrassingly long time to sort out our lunch trays at Panera after we'd eaten.   Hopefully I'll get used to that quickly!

So that's it for now, just a quick blog until I have more time.  Our stuff arrives tomorrow so chaos will ensue for a few days, but it's one step closer to being settled.  We're really looking forward to our new life here and so far, so good.  Molly has had a few walks around the city and has even visited her first Starbucks.  She did so well traveling in the van for 4 days to get here, and now has yet another trip under her collar, making her a very well traveled dog indeed.  I'll blog about our mega road trip soon!

Letters From The Heart

Warning, this is an overly sentimental blog post, so continue at your own risk! 

I've begun many posts over the last couple of weeks, but there is so much going on that it all sounded very disjointed.  So instead, I decided to write small letters to my family, so that we can remember in the future, how this move felt to us all!

Dear L,
You have perhaps grown up the most since we've lived here.  You started Kindergarten here and went from being a baby to being a boy.  You are such a homebody and would be happy for us all to stay home together every day and snuggle on the sofa watching TV.  You are so happy being with our family and your brother is really your best friend.   Our neighbors' girls have also been a huge part of your life here (and all of ours).  I love seeing you play with them and treating them so nicely and respectfully, I truly think they have made a mark on you that will last for your lifetime.  You are not really a fan of the outdoors, but these girls always make you want to actually go outside and play, which is fabulous!  You tried some sports, but are more interested in the snacks than in actually playing!  But L, you are truly AMAZING at building lego and solving puzzles.  Age recommendations are meaningless when it comes to you.  Your concentration levels are incredible and you will sit down for as many hours as it takes to build something.  You excelled at Robotic Lego Camp which you absolutely loved, your attention to detail is so much more than I could ever give.  You are devoted to your big brother, as he is to you.  When he cries, you cry.  When he is upset, you are equally as upset, if not more.  Your commitment to each other always makes me emotional, and again, I'm sure it will last for your lifetime.  At 7 years old, you are already talking about when you and C will live together both during and after college!  Although you have grown up a lot, you are still incomplete without your 'blankie' from Korea.  That brown, furry thing grosses me out, but you are seldom without it.  I love seeing you first thing in the morning, said blankie wrapped around your shoulders.  It has traveled to so many different places with us, probably more places than the average person!  And even though you're not too excited about outdoor activities, you like nothing more than to go camping as a family, and hang out by the campsite all weekend.  It will be tough for you leaving your friends and your teacher here, and I know there will be tears shed, but L, I know that ultimately you will be fine because of your love of us all being together. xxx


Dear C,
My tender hearted boy!  I think it's going to be the most difficult for you when we leave Tennessee.  You have loved and enjoyed all our experiences here and have become a thoughtful, clever and sporty boy.  You are so kind and considerate to everybody.  When your brother hurts, you hurt more because you care about him so much.  You are so concerned about the well being of others and you are equally as happy with your boy friends as you are with your girl friends - especially our neighbors' girls who you love like sisters.  You are the sporty one of the family.  It's true that you can fall over fresh air and are a wee bit clumsy sometimes, but when you're participating in any kind of sport, a change comes over you and you are one with whatever it is you are doing!   Basketball, gymnastics, you name it.  You excelled at soccer as soon as you started playing.  So much so that we signed you up for Strikers last year, something that you love passionately and are totally committed to.  You watch the Premier League on TV, you memorize the pages of the Match books and comics that Granny and Papa send to you, and you can answer any question about soccer players and teams worldwide.  You practice constantly in the yard.  You get so anxious before your games which kills me, as I know how much you actually love playing, but hopefully you will grow out of that!  You absorb everything at school and I rarely have to help you with your homework.  So much so, that your teacher wants to have you tested for being gifted.  You are already sad that you will be leaving your friends, your teacher, your beloved Strikers and your amazing coaches, but I know you will quickly get used to life in Seattle.  Your heart will break saying goodbye C, but you know that at least, you are moving with your best friend - your brother.  I have thoroughly enjoyed watching every one of your soccer practices and games and look forward to more at our new home! xxx,


Dear A,
You have grown up so much since we moved to Tennessee, but thankfully, you are also still my little girl.  You are sweet, helpful and always happy to help around the house.  You love nothing more than to make everyone's beds and make us all breakfast.  You took over responsibility for the dog here - feeding her and taking her outside - not once have you complained, even when it's raining!  Although you do like to wind your brothers up sometimes, I know you love them and always look out for them. They don't know it yet but they're extremely lucky to have you as a big sister.  I love watching you with our neighbors' little girls, you love them like sisters and are always happy to play with them, despite the age difference, which matters not a jot to you!  You would play outside every minute of the day if you could and you just love hanging out with your friends.  In fact, you experienced your first big girl sleepover here with another of our neighbors who you are also going to miss!  We feel blessed that you are such a "go with the flow" girl.  You admit that you're going to be sad leaving here, but you are also truly excited for our next adventure.  You've matured so much since we've been here.  You're very responsible and you actually love going to school - I sure hope that lasts!   Your confidence has also grown here, firstly through gymnastics, and then you discovered something you are very passionate about and excel at - karate!  I'm so proud when I watch you execute your katas and moves, and you pay such close attention to your sensei (unlike your brother)!  You were selected for the Demonstration Team and loved performing your moves at various venues around town.  We so enjoyed coming to watch you!  You also began yoga classes which brought you to a love of yoga, just like your Mummy.  You are definitely a rule follower and everyone you come in contact with, comments on your beautiful manners, your good behavior and your sweet nature.  Daddy has been gone for most of this move and you've helped me out so much.  I will be forever grateful for you A, thank you for everything you do, every day xxx

Dear J,
I'm not going to lie, I was very skeptical about moving here when you retired from the military and took a job with Amazon.  I'd never even heard of Murfreesboro and didn't really know much about Tennessee apart from country music and Nashville!  It was kind of scary that we were going to be miles away from the nearest base and there would be no more shopping at the commissary or the BX.  But...  I can't even begin to say how proud I am of you and how grateful and happy I am with our life together.  You sucked up several months on night shift which was hard on all of us, but we managed and made the most of it.  Daytime dates were actually fun!  We had fantastic weekends exploring the countryside in and around Murfreesboro and took the kids on several hiking, boating, camping and mountain biking adventures.  You would always surprise us with some new place you wanted us to visit, and we have had so much fun being tourists and exploring.  You have worked your ass off (as usual) and you were promoted after your first year with Amazon.  You then went on to be promoted again just before Christmas last year which led us to this move to Seattle.  You are so committed to us, your family, that it still amazes me.  We are truly a team and I love that our best friends are each other.  Although I'm sad to be leaving our friends and our life here in Tennessee, I am also excited for our new adventure - and we have already been amazingly lucky to have had so many adventures in our life together!  I've missed you over the last month and I'm so excited for us all to be together again and begin our new chapter.  Love always xxx

So my friends, there you have it for this week.  Yes, I'm an emotional wreck!   Tennessee friends, thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the amazing friendships and experiences we've had with you all.  Not only have you made this place one of our most favorite places we've lived in, you also made our transition to life in the civilian world so very easy, thank you so much!  We love you all and hope to see many of you again in the future.  Till next time... xxx

Bears and Angry Birds

Regardless of where you live, when you move house, you take into consideration all the usual things like schools, location, walkability etc.  But when you move anywhere in America, it's a good idea to research the local wildlife too.  The scariest things here in TN are without doubt, the snakes, and unfortunately I've seen too many of those!  Apparently in Washington we won't have to worry about venomous snakes.  They do however, have bears and mountain lions.  Shitballs!  Do you play dead or act big and loud when you see a black bear?  I have no idea, time to do some research I guess.  Apparently we have to use special garbage cans in our new neighborhood to stop the bears foraging for food in your trash.  Yikes!  But truly, this is part of why I love living over here, there's definitely never a dull moment!

The kids and me went out for breakfast recently.   It's always a struggle to order tea over here.  Servers rarely understand that when I ask for milk on the side, it means I want it at the same time as my tea.  My tea duly arrived minus the milk.  I asked again.  And again.  15 minutes later (yes I'm sad, I timed it), my milk was brought to the table, but of course by now, my hot tea was bloody freezing.  I waited another 10 minutes for fresh, hot water, but I did eventually get my nice cuppa.  By the time our food arrived, I was kind of frustrated after the tea debacle, but looking forward to eating.  Ha!  Middle son ordered a pancake with a smiley face made out of fruit.  We were all about to get stuck in when the waitress decided to become Chatty Kathy.  She started talking about the pancake face and told my son that if he moved the apple slices, it would look like an angry bird.  I was looking like an angry bird myself by now, hungry and fed up waiting for my tea for so long.  I was about to say something when she took it upon herself to use her long, nasty fingernail to move my son's apple slices to make the angry bird face.  Ugh!  I told her we were in a hurry to eat, so she left and I removed the apple slices before I let my son eat.  Yes, worse things happen to your food while it's still in the kitchen, but I'd rather not see people touching it with their fingernails!  I wasn't feeling very generous by the time we left, so Chatty Kathy's tip wasn't very large...

This little episode reminded me of an experience we had in Korea.  The husband and me had popped in for a coffee somewhere and I ordered a latte.  The server was lovely as are most people there who work in stores, restaurants etc.  She was chatting away, we had no idea what she was saying but we nodded politely and smiled a lot.  Until... she was in the middle of making my latte when she took the spoon out of the mug, put it in her mouth, sucked it and returned it back into my mug.  For real.   She then presented it to me with a huge smile, like it was something very special.  Yes, it was indeed very special and there was no way in hell I was going to drink it.  I waited until she wasn't looking and dumped it into the trash can before slinking away silently.  She was such a nice girl that I really couldn't get angry, but man, how gross is that?! 

Anyway, eating out here is usually a good experience, so you'd think that by now I'd have learned to be more patient with the tea thing.  But nope, I still get a bit grumpy when it happens again and again.  Tea is very important to most of us Brits you know!  I did spot a Tea and Crumpets Cafe in Seattle when we visited, so I'll definitely be going there for a taste of the homeland when we live there.  Speaking of which, it's less than a month to go before our mega-drive to live in the land of bears!  Till next week folks!  
 

Recently...

...it's been pretty hectic around here, between selling the house, sick kiddos, husband working in Seattle, and the all usual weekly activities.  I could whine for Scotland, but instead, I'll share some things that sucked, followed by things that were fabulous to make up for it.  Here goes. 

IT SUCKED

1.  Finding out I have arthritis in 3 different places on my knee, I have lost a significant amount of cartilage, I have a misaligned knee joint, and I also have something called a popliteal cyst on the back of my knee.  A steroid injection didn't make much difference.  The doc said my running days are over, I prefer to think of it as no running for a little while, or at least until I find a new doctor in Seattle who will be more proactive in getting me back in my Mizunos...

2.  Being told that mostly due to my age, I now need to wear bifocals every single day for the rest of my life.  I've never even worn glasses till now, apart from reading glasses - without which, I can't read menus any more.  Not that I have anything against glasses, but it'll take a bit of getting used to.  On the bright side, they're progressive lenses so don't have the old lady bifocal line on them, but I haven't mastered the art of drinking tea and managing not to steam them up yet!  And I sure as heck don't feel bloody well old, although I may look it - I don't really know, because I can't see properly in the mirror these days... 

3.  Filling in a ridiculous amount of house selling paperwork, and having to wait for all involved parties to complete their parts.  While it's great that we have a relocation company working with us, it sure does add a lot of required signatures and approvals.  Plus with the husband not being here, there's a lot of extra scanning and emailing going on. 

4.  Youngest kiddo projectile vomiting all over the bathroom.

5.  Middle kiddo being sent home from school sick.

6.  Regularly being told by people that I'm not being fair to the kids by moving to Seattle and starting them in a new school in the middle of the school year.   I personally think (hope) that moving mid school year, the kids will have time to make friends at their new school before the summer holidays, and will therefore have friends to play with when school is out.  Also, many people have reacted negatively to our news saying "Oh no, how awful" or "Oh no, the weather is awful up there".  Our family is used to moving every couple of years from our time in the military and many of our friends still move every couple of  years with no adverse effects, so I think we'll be just fine.  So there! 

ALWAYS LOOK ON THE BRIGHT SIDE OF LIFE

1.  A fun afternoon was spent drinking champagne and eating cookies outside (in February no less) with my good friend and neighbor.  Plus, later on in the week, a fun morning of pedicures followed by lunch with the same friend.  Can't complain about that! 

2.  The fact that the projectile vomiting happened in the tiled bathroom and not on the carpet made for easy clean up!  Yippee! 

3.  The house is under contract!  Every time our lovely realtor comes out to the house, she brings a box of cookies for the kids,which of course have to be sampled by Mummy first.  I sure seem to be eating a lot of cookies these days... 

4.  So much help from my previously mentioned friend and neighbor with printing and scanning the zillions of pages of house related stuff, because my own printer keeps messing up.  I really don't know what I'd do without you JW!

5.  Middle kiddo had a soccer game at 7am on Saturday morning, which meant waking everybody up at 5.30am.  I'd normally complain about that if it wasn't for the fact that his recent games have mostly been at 9pm on a Friday evening, therefore spoiling my usual Friday afternoon beverage time.  So, 7am on a Saturday morning?  I'll take it! 

6.  Although my knee hurts like heck, I can still practice my beloved hot yoga.  I'm thankfully only limited in a few poses.

7.  Scandal and The Walking Dead.  Olivia Pope and Rick Grimes make me happy.  Yes, I do know they're not real.     

8.  We're going to Scotland in the summer on vacation!  It's been 2 years since we last visited, so this trip is long overdue. I intend to stuff my face with square sausage, proper bacon, twiglets, proper bread, massive amounts of British chocolate, every cake that Asher's Bakery has to offer and many other foods I miss from back home.  I may or may not weigh at least 10 lbs heavier at the end of this vacation...

Anyway, I hopefully managed not to whine too much, and even found a couple of extra good things to compare to the sucky ones so it's not all bad!  Hopefully, normal blogging operations will be resumed next week.  See y'all then! 

Our Trip To The Emerald City

We recently returned from a 4 day trip to Seattle to check out our new home and the surrounding area.  On countless occasions during the trip, I kept saying "This is so much like Scotland",  both in and out of the city.  The city itself is beautiful, with a mix of old and new, stunning views at the end of roads and my favorite thing - TOTAL WALKABILITY!!!!  I've lived in 4 states so far and none of them have had decent sidewalks and public transport as we do in the UK to speak of.  Seattle, I am happy to say, is the total opposite.  There really are Starbucks everywhere, and crazy people, and friendly people, and dogs - I've never seen so many dogs.  We even saw somebody walking their cat on a leash down a busy street.  The husband intends to take our Molly to his work to see how she does.  Apparently it's the norm at the campus where he'll be working, which I think is hilarious!  We did a few touristy things too - we gagged at the sight of the gum wall, watched huge salmon being thrown around at Pike Place Market and ate a massive pile of crab legs and shrimp at The Crab Pot before riding the Ferris Wheel.   While I did also want to visit Uncle Ike's, I didn't really think it would be appropriate with the kiddos...! 

Just walking around!

Delicious crab legs!

The nasty gum wall :)

Seattle had recentlymade it to the Superbowl Final, so there were blue and green lights and Seahawks flags and signs everywhere.  I know jack about American Football, but it's easy to feel the excitement going on for the local team.  My soccer mad child is more excited to see the Seattle Sounders play, so of course, we bought both the boys Sounders shirts to the dismay of our friend Lennie, who is a Portland Timbers fanatic :) Unfortunately, the Hawks didn't win the Super Bowl, but man, they sure had a lot of support!

Our hotel, The Fairmont, was amazing.  We had afternoon tea in their Georgian Tearoom which was a great experience for the kiddos.  The hotel was in the middle of downtown, so we walked to lots of different restaurants and for once, no arguments about who had to abstain from drinking to drive us home.  We visited The Space Needle which was great fun - for the husband and the kids.  I suffer from vertigo attacks every couple of years, so just going in the elevator to the top had me sweating and nauseous.   I literally took a couple of photos of the amazing views at the top, then went straight back down to the bottom to wait for the rest of the family, who luckily aren't affected by such ridiculous things.  If you come to visit us, I will gladly take you to the Space Needle, but I sure as hell will not be going up top with you!   

The fancy Georgian Tearoom

Afternoon Tea, yes please!

Trying to be posh...

View from the top of the Needle before rushing down!

We drove out to Snoqualmie which is about 30 miles to the east of Seattle, and where our rental house is situated.  Our landlord was happy to show us round as the kids and me hadn't actually seen it yet. Luckily, the husband chose well and we all loved it.  Snoqualmie is pretty rural and is surrounded by trees, mountains and gorgeous scenery, there's even a ski resort 20 minutes away.  The spectacular Snoqualmie Falls are a mere 2 miles from our new home and can actually be walked or biked to from our front door.  Snoqualmie also has it's own Brewery, which of course, we had to try out.  The beer was amazing and I'm pretty sure we'll become regulars there.  The closest Walmart is about 28 miles away, so my tales of woe from the Walmart parking lot will be discontinued, but that's definitely not a bad thing :)  There are enough stores around that we won't starve, and there are more than enough activities, trails, restaurants etc around that I have a feeling we will love living there.  The only down side I can think of is that houses up there are twice the price of those here in Tennessee - and half the size, but as far as I'm concerned, that's a good thing.  Less to clean right? 

Snoqualmie River

Snoqualmie Falls - 2 miles from our house!!

It did rain for our first couple of days, but to be honest, because it was a lot warmer than here in Tennessee, it didn't really matter and never felt uncomfortable.  It certainly doesn't stop the locals from doing outdoor activities, there were still people running, hiking, biking and just outside doing their thing.  Just like Scotland really!  We also took a drive out to Rattlesnake Lake which is pretty close to Snoqualmie and had a hike around the crystal clear lake and into the woods.  People were so friendly, literally everybody said hello and the kids had a blast petting people's dogs.  There are walking trails everywhere, we will never be stuck for something to do for sure.  When the sun does come out, the views are just incredible.  Mount Rainier is massive and looks like it's been superimposed above the landscape.  Just amazing!  We took a drive out to Kirkland which is a lovely wee town on the banks of a lake.  Again, another very walkable place with lots of cute restaurants, bars and stores and a nice walk along the lakefront. 

Pretty Kirkland

Rattlesnake Lake

So, it's safe to say that our trip to the Northwest was definitely a success, and the kiddos are really excited for when we move there at the end of March.  They were especially pleased to hear that school there doesn't start until 9am - a massive hour and a half later than here in Tennessee.  Me, I was pleased to see that I can utilize Amazon Fresh at our new address, and even more happy when I saw that they also deliver wine, beer and my favorite champers to your door.   Yep, its the small things in life...! 

Thoughts on moving so far...

Thankfully I'm used to moving every couple of years from our time in the military.  It's actually enjoyable for me to declutter and dejunk the house.  Seattle is going to be a lot more expensive than here, and our new house will be half the size of our Tennessee McMansion, so Goodwill and the dump have had several visits already on my quest to have a minimal amount of 'stuff'.  Our family of 5 fit into a 3 bedroom apartment when we lived in Korea, we managed fine and it was actually very liberating living in a smaller space than we were used to.  Less crap means less cleaning and less stuff to tidy up which is never a bad thing!

Some places we've lived, it took several months before we truly settled.  It was different here.  It was so easy to settle down, get in a routine, make friends and get on with life.  It could have been so much worse - this was the first place we lived when the husband retired from the military, so it was definitely a leap into the unknown, but it was totally painless, mostly thanks to the lovely people of Murfreesboro!  

Seattle is a huge distance from here.  Huge, as in it might as well be an international move (we've done a few of those too!)  Plus, seeing as I'm not from America, it might as well be an international move because it will be very different from Middle Tennessee!  So far in the US, we've lived in North Dakota (yes, it was freezing in the winter, but the people were lovely), South Dakota (one of my favorite places in the world), and Virginia (not one of my favorite places in the world) and here in Tennessee.  The Pacific North West will be a complete change of scenery and pace from Murfreesboro for sure.

We were really worried about how the kids would react to moving, so we made them a power point presentation about Seattle (which most of you have probably already seen on Facebook), talking about beautiful scenery, wildlife, crab legs and camping in teepees!  They watched it, were silent for a few seconds and then started screaming with excitement.  Now the hard thing will be to live up to the hype we created!

Things are happening very quickly.  The realtor has already taken the photos and put the "Coming Soon" sign up in the yard, the house has been inspected, the moving company have been to see how much crap we have and we've told pretty much everybody we know that we are moving.  I'm not really looking forward to the day that the house goes on the market because it's not fun trying to hide all evidence of family life - 3 kids and a dog, at a moment's notice to make the house look good for showings.  It's also going to be heartbreaking saying "see you later" to all of our friends here, but I'm not going to think about that until the day comes.  And anyway, I do believe it will be "see you later" and not "goodbye"!

A lot of people can't believe we're still moving around after leaving the military, but we're not ready  just yet to put down roots anywhere and we're fortunate that the husband's job has many opportunities for us in different locations.  It's an adventure and we're very lucky we get to still do this in the civilian world.  Without going into too much detail, it's been a lot easier to move as a civilian so far.   Way less paperwork and chasing around after signatures!

So for now, we're house hunting in and around Seattle, trying to suss out good schools, karate clubs, soccer clubs and all that you need to know when you move with young children.  I'd be lying if I said I haven't been looking at all the Hot Yoga studios for myself too :)  We actually don't have too much time before we leave, so it's all a bit of a whirlwind, but I'm hopeful it will all turn out fine.  I'll keep you posted!  

Bits and Bobs

Wow, it sure has been a while since I blogged.  Happy New Year y'all!   Although I really must stop saying y'all because WE'RE MOVING TO SEATTLE IN MARCH!!!!  What words will I pick up there?  Happy New Year dude?  Happy New Year man?  Who knows, but I'm excited to find out.  The next few weeks will probably be pretty busy, but it's not like we haven't moved before so it'll all work out fine.  It's been interesting receiving different reactions to our news.  Most of our friends are excited for our new adventure, but I've actually had a few people react in horror and tell me how awful it is!  We have loved living here for sure, and have made many wonderful friends that we will be sad to leave, but we feel pretty lucky that we have this opportunity to move to the North West and live near the mountains and ocean again.  

We had a lovely holiday with my parents who came over for Christmas and New Year.  Lots of food and drink was consumed, and many walks taken to walk off the aforementioned calories.   We visited Nashville, Franklin and went to the movies. My "lucky" Mum had the experience of seeing people shopping in their pajamas at 3pm in Walmart, an experience not to be missed I tell you! 

Speaking of Walmart, I had yet another adventure in their parking lot.  There I was, innocently packing away the weekly grocery haul when some bloke came up and asked if that was a German flag on the front of my van.  I explained that it was actually a Scottish flag, but I guess he didn't believe me.  I then  had to listen to him talking nonsense about flags of the world while I hastily chucked the dog food in as fast as I could, before jumping in my van and driving off at top speed.  I really must check the van to see if there is actually some kind of sign on there that attracts weirdos...

Driving here at night really freaks me out.  There are no cat's eyes on the roads AT ALL!  Is it the same all over America or is this just a Tennessee phenomenon?  Please enlighten me!  It's so hard to see where the road is in the dark, especially when it's raining, so I drive like an old lady peering over my steering wheel trying to see the edge of the road.  You need to see the edge of the road here because sometimes it's a sheer drop, I kid you not!  Cat's eyes America, google them, and more importantly, put them on the bloody roads!

So that's all I've got for y'all you dudes this week.  I'm off to swot up on Seattle and the surrounding area and do a wee bit of house hunting while I'm at it.   All whilst listening to some Nirvana, Pearl Jam etc, trying to get a feel for the Pacific North West.  Ha, stereotyping at its finest...!  Till next time!