Weekend Getaway

So over the weekend, something big DID happen! Kara, Coltin and I went out to Spokane for the whole weekend. We caravaned it out there with about 30 of our friends to go to a weekend long Leadership Conference.  There were going to be so many big name speakers, but definitely the most note-worthy was John C Maxwell! He is a former minister who is now the number 1 author on leadership books in Barnes and Noble and in the New York Times.  He speaks about leadership to Microsoft, Amazon, the United Nations, and he's mentored 4 out of the last 5 presidents (not the current one).

Some small things that make the time fly

There haven't been any really big things going on here lately. Everyone has been getting sick with a 24hr bug, and then a coughing, sore throat, fever/headache. Kara just got me sick with that, but I am hopeful that it will go by fairly quickly. Last week, on april 17, was Alyssa's 5th birthday! So we celebrated that and it was very fun. She wanted to make sugar cookies with Kara's friend Kody, so in the morning at 7am, when Kody's husband Justin came upstairs to leave for work, she was waiting for him at the top of the stairs to ask if Kody was awake yet and if they could start making cookies, LOL!

Finally, a new adventure!

I took Joe to his acupuncture appointment today in Freemont, Seattle. Lately, Joe has decided to go from gluten-free/vegetarian, to gluten-free/vegan. So, it's been interesting to say the least to be around him a lot, since he can't eat hardly anything in a normal restaurant. Well, Freemont is like hippy central and many of the bars/restaurants and most of the cafes offer gluten-free/vegan alternatives, if not being totally vegan. Anyway, Joe's acupuncturist recommended a cafe to us and we decided to check it out. It's such a beautiful area, so we were just walking around, me in heels. I was impressed, because this cafe was entirely gluten-free and vegan, and we had delicious personal pizzas, and paninis, and we tried to fantastic muffins! They were very, very good! I never even gave a thought to attempting a vegetarian (much less vegan) lifestyle, but given these recipes (and some extra money) I would totally do it! Knowing how great it is for your body, I would like to be able to do it. While we were there, we were talking to some of the people and mentioned that we were still new to the Seattle area and hadn't seen enough of the sights. They told us that just a couple blocks over was one of the biggest tourist spots in the Freemont neighborhood; the Freemont Troll! There is a giant cement troll that was crafted underneath the Freemont ave bridge and he's actually crushing a real VW Beetle! Down the street a block are the wire creations of the 3 Billy Goats Gruff. It was a fun little excursion. (although, you should see the hills that I had to hike up 3 blocks in 3 inch heels!)

Update on Nothing

Wow, it's been so long since I posted anything on here. Sorry world. Although, it's kind of hard to think about posting something new when absolutely nothing interesting is happening. :( Since starting Hot Yoga, I had gone four times. After the fourth time, the next morning I woke up around 4am and felt very sick. I laid in bed trying not to have to throw up... Around 6am, I had to run to the bathroom :( After that, I was full-blown sick for 5 days! I was dizzy, naseous, had severe and constant diarrhea (i know you wanted to know that!) I couldn't eat anything, and yet I kept going to the bathroom. For 5 days, I felt like I was on the verge of throwing up all the time. I slept almost all of the time, and my back muscles cramped up so bad, that it made me cry. I still remember when my back muscles started loosening up. Kara and Coco and I were at Wed evening church service, and I just kinda tried to flex my back or crack it, and it snapped really loud and kinda painfully. All the people nearby me looked over and all I did was smile and sigh in a completely happy, contented way :) It was such relief! Just a few days after I finally felt better from that, I got a cold. It started really slowly with just severe allergy symptoms, and it became a full blown cold a few days later. I finally feel a lot better from that, even tho I still have some nasal congestion that is giving me some problems. Hopefully, I'm getting used to all of the weird new bacterias in the area and will be more healthy from here on out, cuz this has been quite irritating and not much fun :( I've still been applying for jobs during this time too, but not to much avail. Even tho I think I send a really good resume and enthusiastic cover letter, I just haven't been getting any replies. It's so discouraging. I finally got a couple responses back from some companies that aren't science related, and wouldn't be my first choice, but that would at least offer me a chance to get out, and have a job. One of them would be working directly for Epic, which is the computer system that Park Nicollet switched to during the last year that I was working there! Epic is a very big company and would be great to work for. They emailed me friday evening, so I will call them Monday and try to set up an interview. Wish me luck! I've also been babysitting for Kara and Coltin a lot :) Kara keeps track of all of the times that i've watched them, and she still says that she will pay me for my time, but i keep telling her that it's not really necessary, since I'm staying here rent-free. I've been on the website Meetup, trying to get into contact with some new people and make some new friends, but I just get nervous at the idea of going to a function where I won't know anyone at all. Especially since one of the groups is a Happy Hour group- I would feel weird going to a bar by myself to meet people.