House Tour

Ok, Marsha asked for a video tour of my new house. So here it is in all it's stunning glory! I had to do it in 5 segments. There is audio as well, so be sure to have speakers or headphones on. So enjoy!




Video 1



Video 2



Video 3



Video 4




Video 5

Tea Party

Today, I went to my first tea party. I have officially joined the ranks of the tea baggers. Basically, if you don't know what the tea party movement is about, it's basically from the original Boston Tea Party, where colonists threw tea into the Boston harbor because they were tired of taxes, and not feeling represented in parlement. King George had his wake up call in 1776 when the colonists defeated the British army. So tea stands for Taxed Enough Already. I joined the movement, because I don't feel that the congress and senators, or the president for that matter, are listening to the voice of the people. It's supposed to be We the People, not We the Government. We elected them to represent us, and to think of the people when they legislate. But they only seem to be listening to themselves and special interest groups. It's just not right, and it's time to take the country back from these special interest groups who do not represent the majority of Americans. Here are a few pics of the event.


A pic of the crowd. I saw this great sign. It's a spin off the liberal sign "Bush Lied, People Died" This one is MUCH better.



The man down in front of the crowd is wearing a colonist hat. Pretty cool.




This is a pic of the crowd around me. I wish I could have gotten a picture of the crowd from the lawn below, but the crowd was too thick below.

This was a great experience for me. I encourage everyone within the sound of my electronic voice to go to a tea party, which ever side of the isle you are on, and just listen to the tea party message, because it is a good one. We have ideas, but no one in DC will listen.

9 - 11

Well, yesterday was the anniversary of 9-11. First of all, on Thursday, I was visiting Jim at Costco during his lunch time. He forgot to take it with him to work, so I went up and took it to him. Anyway, so a football game was just starting in the lunch room, and they were having a bit of a tribute to the fallen on 9-11 during the national anthem. And one of the guys asks why there are people in the crowd and players crying. So one of the other guys says, well some of those in the crowd were families of the victims and firefighters who died on 9-11. You remember that, right? When the planes hit the towers? And the first guys like, oh yeah, is the anniversary soon or something?

I was disgusted that so many people seem to have forgotten. The mainstream media barely mentions it, as if it's something to be ashamed of. As if we brought those attacks on ourselves. They don't seem to understand that the world as we know it, changed that day. There are evil people out in the world who want to hurt us, because they are threatened by our liberty, and our way of life. It's not that they are poor, its' because they are so filled with hate. I wish those in power could understand that they just hate us, and get rid of them. Stop trying to negotiate and "find common ground". Well, maybe they should find common ground, and then bury them in it!

So yesterday, I watched a few hours of shows on Fox News and History channels. One was a show about the survivers in the Marriot Hotel on the trade center plaza. One man said after getting home that night, he found that his sister and neice were on one of the planes that hit the towers. Then there was another man, trapped in his room after the first tower fell, that the firefighters found, and they led him out safely. The man's daughter got married about a year later, and he invited the firefighter to come, and then thanked him again publicly for saving his life that day. Another thing that touched me yesterday, was the audio from a 911 call from a woman on the 83rd floor. She talked about how there was so much smoke, and it was so hot, they could barely breathe. And then she starts to cry, and says, I'm going to die, aren't I. It made me so sad. This woman was asking for help, but there was no way for rescuers to get to her and those with her, because they were above the impact zone. But of course, even if the 911 operator knew that, she wouldn't tell the woman that. But I'm sure the 911 operator stayed on the phone with that woman until the end. I'm sure there were many 911 operators who stayed on the phone with people until the end. That would be so difficult, not being able to help those on the other end of the line, but only being able to talk, and be there for them. Needless to say, as I watched those shows, I cried alot.

The last thing I want to talk about, is flight 93. Wow, what brave men and women. They were the ones who stormed the cockpit, and went down in the field in Pennsylvania. That was also the plane thought to be heading for the capital building in DC. Hearing the audio from the phone calls made to loved ones were really hard to hear. But they realized they had one last chance to say goodbye to family, because they knew they were going to die. I would hope that when its' my time to go, that I tell my family how much I love them, and make sure I leave in good standing with family.

catching lunch

So ever sense we moved to Washington, Jim has talked about how we can buy a permit, and go catch all the seafood we could possibly want. So last week, we got permits for about $17 each, which lasts a year. Very cool. So last Wednesday, we went out to a beach on the Hood's Canal, just east of the bridge, and went crabbing. Jim snorkled and I walked around about waist-high in the water. He found 6 keepers, and I found 0. Thats ok though. I couldn't get out deep enough to see them without swimming. Anyway, so this morning, we decided we would get up early and go clam digging. So we went to a public beach near Belfair that was supposed to be a great place for clamming. And we had some GREAT success. First, we found at least 100 clams, but we could only keep 80, so we kept the biggest ones. We found that the best place to find them is in sandy, slightly rocky dirt. Amazingly enough, we also found some rare Olympic oysters. We got about 12 of those. I was just so impressed today that we could just go out, and catch food, come home and eat it. So today, we came home, cleaned the clams, and made soup with them. Here is a picture of it:

Basically, you get liquid, butter, garlic, and parsley, and boil the clams in it until they open. If they don't open, then they are bad, so that makes it easy to not eat a bad one. Then the oysters, we just broiled them in the toaster oven with a little garlic and parsley. Yummy! So I am excited to go out and try a little more catching. Perhaps tomorrow.. Oh yeah, luckily, the clams and crabs both freeze fairly easily, so we can go get some, and freeze it for another day.

Happiness

Right now, happiness is being a home owner. A week and a half ago, on August 13th, 2009 we became home owners. A year ago, when I lost my job, I would never have believed that only a year later, we would be moving into our own home. But here we are. The economic downturn has been a blessing and a curse for our family. I lost my job, but the downturn also made the housing bubble burst, dropping home prices, and interest rates. We have also learned to live on one income. So because of the home prices dropping, we can afford to own. Here are some pics of our house:


This is a view of the front of the house.


One side of the kitchen.




Living room view of bay window.




Here is the master bedroom.


laundry room.


Garage with the boxes I swear multiplied while they were in storage. But at least all our stuff is now at the house!





closet in the master bedroom



Totally awesome shower head in the master bedroom.




spare bedroom




bathroom sink in master bath with the water pick from Costco.

Bittersweet

Well, it's official. We have moved out of our tiny apartment in Seattle, into an even smaller temporary place in Bremerton. This temporary place happens to be the basement in one of our friends house. So we have a bedroom and a living room. It's enough for our needs for now. Meanwhile, we are looking for a house. We have one that is looking very promising. Anyway, I digress. So tonight, we finished cleaning our old apartment and as we were leaving, Jim reminded me that we have lived in that apartment for more than half our marriage. We just had our 4th anniversary, and we have been in that apartment for about 2 3/4 years. Bittersweet moment. But on to better, more exciting things.

Packing

Well, finally, at long last, it has happened. Jim FINALLY got his job transfer we have been waiting for for 2 years. So at the end of June, we are moving over to Bremerton. And we have begun the process of buying our first home. Talk about exciting! We found one that we wrote an offer with our realitor for earlier today. We will continue to look around though, because there may be something better out there for us. With the amount of time it takes to be approved by the bank, we should have plenty of time to look more. Anyway, so yesterday, I was packing some stuff up. I came across some Christmas lights in bags, and I thought how cool it is to think that by Christmas this year, we may be in our first house. And we'll get to decorate it how we want, and make it our own. How cool is that! Anyway, I'm just so excited about all this, as I'm sure you can tell.

International Week

This week, as far as our dinner menu goes, we are having an international journey. Last night, which was Monday, we had, I guess you could say it was Chinese. We had a fried fish, and shrimp salad. Man, it was awesome! Then tonight, not on purpose, we had enchiladas. It was pretty good. I say not on purpose, because today is Cinco De Mayo, and I didn't realize this when I planned the menu for the week. Anyway, then tomorrow, I am making pho, from Vietnam. If you don't know what pho is, it is a noodle soup. It is totally the best soup ever! And it just makes you feel better if you have an upset stomach or just aren't feeling particularly well. I would love to try some from an older Vietnamese woman who has been making it all her life. I bet it's awesome. And Thursday, I am making a marinara sauce. I will double the recipe so we can eat on it for several meals. So there you go. A week of healthy meals. The healthy eating continues. I have been doing better with my eating habits than with my excercise program. But it will get better over time, right? Bye for now!

I'm Baaaaack!!

Ok, so sorry it's been forever sense I posted last. A few good things have happened the last month or two. This last weekend, Jim and I went to Sakura Con at the Washington State Convention Center. It was pretty fun. It's an anime convention, if you were wondering. Anyway, it was a bit boring this year. There wasn't that many panels or interesting things going on this year. Most of the stuff the venders had this year weren't that great either. But we did both get a few cool things there. Like I got a littl Care Bears figurine to attach to my cell phone. Then I got a little beginners mecha to build. Mechas are so cool. They are kind of like Transformers, only they don't usually transform into anything. There is one anime I like that is about a ballet dancer who joins this club in her high school or college that races these mecha bikes. They are really cool, because you can give them verbal commands that make them change forms. Like some of their forms are really aerodynamic and others aren't quite so. So they change forms throughout the race, from a less aerodynamic form to the sleek bike that is very aerodynamic.
Anyway, that's about the most exciting thing I can think of right now. I will hopefully have lots to talk about tomorrow. Bye for now!!!

Couple of Updates

First of all, I am SO HAPPY!!! In order to be concidered for a job at the Navy Base, you have to pass a test called the Accuplacer test. So yesterday, I took the test and I passed with flying colors!!! I am so happy!

Anyway, next thing is my healthy program. I haven't been doing my video workouts as well as I would like to, but my eating habits have improved. I try to make sure there are plenty of veges in every meal. And we've been doing really good with that. Anyway, I did my kickboxing video this morning. It was really fun. And I've been walking alot to make up for not doing the videos. So today, I'm making pho. I'm very excited for it too, because it is really tasty. And really healthy.

Well, I guess that's about it. I'll write more later.

Dinner

This morning, I didn't exercise because I woke up too late. So I just got on with the day. Anyway, last night, we went out for dinner to Panda Express. So I got orange chicken and steamed vegetables. They were pretty good. I love orange chicken more than anything else. Tonight, I made a really good chicken rice and broccoli casserole. It was way good. We have lots of leftovers, so it always tastes better the next day. So there's my update.

New

Ok, I have a goal to get healthier. That includes eating healthier and exercising at least three days a week. By eating healthier, I mean to add more greens and nutrient rich veges. This morning, I did a low-impact, yoga based work-out. There are two other 30 min work-outs on this dvd, and I have a few other dvds as well, so I don't think I will get easily bored with this. Anyway, the reason I'm talking about this on my blog, is because I need a way to be accountable about my eating choices and my exercising. So I'm going to try to post everyday to update you on what I'm doing. Right now, I weigh in at 197 lbs. I will do weekly weight checks as well. Anyway, have a great day!