seattle

Last night was the inaugural Thursday Night Dinner Club.
ok, so I just came up with that name myself and haven’t verified it with the other members. Todd met Ryan at Microsoft and over the past year whenever I came out to visit, I got to know Ryan and his wife Aubrey better. I really like them and it’s helped make my transition to Seattle much easier having them around.
Anyway, this week’s restaurant of choice was Purple Cafe & Wine Bar.

Purple has 3 locations in the Seattle area: Downtown Seattle, Woodinville, and Kirkland. We chose the Kirkland location, which had a nice patio outside to enjoy the cool evening.

Ryan perused the wine book and selected a bottle of Troken Riesling and baked brie appetizer to share. I need to figure out how to make it at home, because it was oh, so delicious, as was my blackened salmon sandwich with mango chutney. Purple has an extensive wine selection, and you can get cheese and wine flights too. The downtown location has a tasting bar, to sample multiple appetizers for cheaper prices, which i’d like to check out sometime.

I’m on the lookout now for next week’s dinner location. It’s probably going to be a more casual (ie: cheaper) dining spot.

I’m super excited for this weekend though, because do you know what movie comes out? I think we’re planning on going to see it tomorrow. Matt Damon is a stud.

2,000 miles, 9 states, and a bazillion tanks of gas later….we made it to Seattle.

i’ll post more later, but just for those keeping tabs on me, i have safely arrived in the northwest. and it is hot here.

the day is finally here!!! everything i own is in a box to the left….to the left..to the left….

the U-Haul is all packed. i’ve said my goodbyes. i’ve cried some tears (only thanks to the U-Haul company’s poor reservation system). and we are westward bound early in the morning, after breakfast with my parents and brother. i still don’t think it’s hit me yet, and i forecast that somewhere between Sioux Falls and Rapid City, i’ll become a soppy mess of waterworks.

i’ll do my best to post updates, but who knows where we’ll stay. perhaps the back of the truck. just move a couple boxes and crash on the couches.

farewell KC, you’ve been good to me. oh, so good. no need to fear, i will not forget you and the good times and great friends you’ve given me.

there i go again….not blogging.

it just seems like i’ve been too busy. i do feel bad for not keeping everyone up-to-date on my life, i promise to do better. here’s a recap of the past several weeks:

i turned the big 25, and it was bittersweet spending it with my family and friends, knowing that it was my last birthday here in KC.

my time here is dwindling down, and i’ve reserved a U-Haul, notified my Starbucks manager, and am slowly getting everything packed into boxes. i move to Seattle in 9 days!! EEEEEEK!! i’m scared. i’m excited. i’m ecstatic. i’m sad. i don’t think it’s really hit me yet, i kinda still think it’s just another visit and that i’ll return again. (well, i will return 2 weeks after i move, but just for a weekend wedding) i still have a lot of preparation to do, the house is in disarray, and i can’t even think straight.

between weddings, work, packing, i have managed to do some running. not as much as i would like, but i’m at least keeping an 8 mile base. i’d still like to do the SeaFair Half Marathon the weekend after i arrive in Seattle, but we’ll see what transpires between now and then.

i’m more concerned about finding a job AND place to live, than i am about training for a race. i’m sure i’ll have plenty of time once i get settled in out there to focus on training, when i’m homesick and missing all my family and friends. (i’m going to go cry now)

i told myself that i wouldn’t let an entire month go by without blogging anything, so being the procrastinator that i am…i’m cutting it close and finally blogging before the month ends.

i’d apologize for being a bad blogger, but the truth is, i’m not sorry. i’ve been busy and blogging wasn’t ranking too high on my ‘must-do’ list.

and since i don’t have much time today, i’m just here to give a quick rundown of my last month.

runningwise, i’ve been doing mostly 6 or 8 milers two or three times a week, sprinkle in a 3 or 4 miler and maybe a 10 if i feel like it. i’ve either been out of town, or working on saturday mornings, so i really miss seeing my Saturday morning running buddies

and just as i was thinking about training for the SeaFair marathon in Seattle (instead of the half marathon), my running took a sidenote when i got really sick for a couple of days. the sick where every single muscle fiber in your entire body hurts, and you can’t eat, can’t sleep, can’t do anything except lay on the floor and cry. it was absolutely awful. i’ve had back problems since a high school car accident, and the vertebrae i injured is linked to the stomach, which is linked to my head, which is linked to my muscles. and basically, all of those shut down.

but i’m better now (i think).

i took a trip to Seattle for some fun with the Todd, and it makes me really excited to move out there.

packing up my stuff and getting ready to move is exhausting. and i went home to my parents farm for Memorial Day and was able to see some of my cousins i hadn’t seen since my grandma’s funeral last year. and lately i’ve been working so much that i feel like i live at Starbucks. and i’ve been getting ready for my friend’s wedding this weekend, finishing up designing the wedding programs, etc. (and making sure i fit into my bridesmaid’s dress).

other than all that…not much is going on

one last thing: Happy Running to everyone running Rock n Roll San Diego this weekend!!!!! can’t believe that was a year ago when i suffered through that i do wish i were doing it again this year, though.

 I’ve been told that it rains in Seattle.  But everytime i come here, i apparently scare it away.  Maybe, just maybe, i’ll get lucky before i leave tomorrow and i’ll be convinced of its rainy reputation. 

   Yesterday and today though, it’s like the weather we don’t usually get in Kansas until March or April.  And it makes for awesome running.  (unless you overdress b/c you’re used to freezing temps)  Still, i went for a 4 mile run this morning in the sunshine and pine-scented Washington air. 

    We took the bus downtown yesterday to walk around the Capitol Hill area and scope out the neighborhood.  It ended up being about a 3 mile walk through the Montlake area with some gorgeous views and very hilly streets.  This is a view overlooking Lake Union towards Queen Anne hill. 

 Supersonics game tonight!

Deep Thoughts, by Me.

I feel like an entirely different person compared to this time last year. I was just going through the motions of life like a normal 23-year old.
Limited Responsibilites….check. Partying with friends….check. Single and ready to mingle….check. Earning a *meager* salary…check.

But there was something missing. Several things missing, actually. Problem was, I didn’t quite know what they were and I wasn’t sure where to find them. But one thing I DID know, was that I felt like there had to be something more. Something to make me happy.

This past weekend marked the one year anniversary of a very special (I might even go so far to call it ‘life changing’) event. It was my first training run with Team in Training. It’s hard to express how awesome of an experience the whole thing was, but if you’ve been a part of TNT, you already know. And, despite my marathon being the most physically, emotionally, and painfully challenging thing i’ve ever done, I still had an absolutely fantastic time.

It certainly helps having such a great bunch of people to run with and that’s definitely one of the things I’ll miss the most when I move to Seattle.

I’m sorry…what? Move?

Yeah, so i figure if i tell enough people that i’m planning on moving this spring, then there’s no backing out of it. It’s just another thing that i gotta do in my life. But when the right person comes along, you gotta do what you gotta do. I can’t let this one slip away. And it’s hard being in a long distance relationship. VERY hard. I probably enjoy flying more than the next person, but after awhile it is just too financially and emotionally draining to keep on doing this. I have so much more respect and admiration for those in the military who go months, even years without seeing each other.

More on this subject later, but for now i’m off to go run in the balmy 50 degree weather!! It’ll be gone tomorrow so I might as well enjoy while i can.