San Francisco is the most walkable city in the country and it's also known for its unique neighborhoods. I was very interested in walking and exploring the city and I feel like we did a good amount of that.

Our hotel was in the middle of Union Square, which isn't a neighborhood in the residential sense, but was a very interesting part of town. It was very dense and busy and reminded me a lot of Manhattan. There were tons of major stores and diverse people and small restaurants and art galleries and big advertisements. It was pretty neat. Another interesting neighborhood was Chinatown, which wasn't too far away. We walked along the touristy part, which had a lot of intricate accessories as well as some trinkety junk for sale. Then we walked around the more authentic part, which was really busy and had interesting foods on display.

We walked through the Haight, which is famous for some stuff that happened a long time before I was born. To me it just seemed like another vibrant neighborhood. There were a lot of independent stores and restaurants. We spent some time in Amoeba Records as well as in a very small bookstore with way too many books.

Another neat area we walked through was the Mission District. There were some unique stores there, such as the weird pirate store we went into, which wasn't a party store, it was very serious about pirates and had pirate clothes, sea salt, and some books. There was a tub of sand in the middle and there was also a barrel of lard for some reason. There were drawers along the side of the store that had different things. One of them had hair in it. I'm not really sure why.

There was another weird store nearby, which was definitely creepier. It had bins of different kind of animal claws for sale, like badger claws. It also had rodent remains wrapped in foil. I'm not sure why you would buy either of those or how the store obtains those in the first place. It was a strange but very interesting place.

Near our friend's apartment along Clement was a diverse area, which had some things similar to Chinatown but also had a lot of other types of establishments. His neighborhood was three miles or so from downtown but still had a lot of places to walk to. It amazed me that there were so many businesses on each block and that they were all so diverse.

Walking through all of these unique, vibrant neighborhoods made me realize how unique San Francisco is among American cities. It was amazing how dense the city was and how many square miles it covered. It's a huge city and I felt it reached a potential that most cities never dream of. It certainly has its flaws, but its lively neighborhoods make San Francisco a pinnacle of urbanity and one of the few great cities in the country. It's definitely a place that I would like to go back to and experience further.

Here are a few pictures we took in various places throughout the city:

Like I mentioned in a previous post, Troy and I went to San Francisco to visit a friend over Labor Day weekend. We left Wednesday, August 27 and flew back on Labor Day. We had a really great time seeing our friend and spending a lot of time in the city. We did pretty much everything we wanted to do and enjoyed being there. Over the next week or so, we'll be posting about our trip along with different sets of pictures each day.

Today's set of pictures were taken from Twin Peaks, one of the best viewpoints in the city. Hope you enjoy them.

List of Posts

1. Introduction
2. Neighborhoods
3. Giants game
4. Hanging out with our Friend
5. Muir Woods & Gardens
6. Food
7. Bridges
8. USF
9. Famous Places
10. de Young Museum
11. Transportation
12. Marin Hills and Other Viewpoints
13. San Francisco Video

I've been taking the bus to work some and while overall I'm glad I do, sometimes it can be annoying. The bus I take to work has been pretty consistently 5 minutes late, so I can count on it. However, the afternoon bus is unpredictable. Sometimes it shows up early. I don't know how early it shows up, but it's early enough for me to miss it.

Then, because all the people like me who missed the first bus are crowding onto the second bus, the second bus is delayed more than normal. When this happens, the bus is often overcrowded with standing room only and not much room to stand at that. Anyway, I'm going to start trying to show up to the bus stop earlier so I don't miss the bus in case it shows up early.

We got back from our trip to San Francisco this past Monday and have been so busy that it's been hard to make time to edit all of our photos. We took over 800 pictures and I shot more than 40 minutes of video during our trip. It's taking a while to figure out which pictures we want to post and how to organize them. We've already worked on the photos over 3 hours and are still not really close to finishing them. Hopefully we'll have some posted by the end of the weekend.

I've been going to work for a couple weeks now and don't have a lot to say about it yet. I am still very happy that I got this job and am glad that I chose it over my other options. I have enough to keep me busy at work, so that's good. I'm really looking forward to becoming more involved and understanding things better.

My job gave me a bus pass so I can ride to work for free. I don't have to use it all the time, so I have been driving some, but most of the time I've been taking the bus to work. It does take a little longer to get to work by taking the bus, but I can spend most of that time reading. I also save gas money and help the environment.

This past Sunday, Troy and I were planning to go to the library downtown so that we could find a few books about home design and decorating. It started raining while we were eating lunch and it rained the rest of the day off and on. We didn't want to wait to get a few books because we wanted some for the plane ride to San Francisco. So we decided to walk to the library in the rain, over a mile each way. It was kinda fun walking in the rain with our umbrellas. The rain was nice for a change too since it hasn't rained much lately and it cooled things off. Now we have some books to look at to help us decorate our place.

The things that are in Dallas/Fort Worth that I like most are family, friends, and food. You can add football to that list too, since I'm a big fan of the Dallas Cowboys. I've been able to travel back a few times to visit with family and friends and to eat the food. However, I'm a little concerned about what I'll do once the regular season starts. Seattle Seahawks games will get local priority, so if the Cowboys and Seahawks are playing at the same time, the Cowboys game won't be on local TV. So, I'm trying to figure out what to do so that I can watch the Cowboys games, because not watching them is not an option.

There have to be other Cowboys fans up here, so I'd be curious to know what they do to watch the games. Unless I make friends with a Cowboys fan who gets all NFL games, I'll probably have to go to a sports bar to watch the games.

I'd like to find a sports bar that is close to downtown and thus, close to me. If I could walk to watch the game, that would be ideal, but I'm open to driving a few miles. I'd rather not have to go to the suburbs. Also, I'd like to find a decent place, nowhere too loud or rowdy, since Lesley will want to come along (to root against the Cowboys, unfortunately). But, I don't want somewhere very upscale or high-priced.

Anyway, I'm not sure how to find a place that meets those criteria, but I'll see if I can search online, ask around, and maybe find some kind of Seattle Cowboys fans group to ask. If anyone has any suggestions, let me know.

I've never been very interested in the Olympics until this year when Lesley got me interested in it. We got cable just in time for the Olympics and have been watching some every day. We only have limited basic cable, so we don't get all the channels that show the Olympics, but we do get the Canadian Broadcasting Channel, since Vancouver is nearby, and their coverage of the Olympics has been better than NBC's. But, anyway, watching the Olympics has been quite enjoyable, and a good way to pass the time until football season starts.

Troy and I leave for San Francisco in two days, it's coming up soon! I can't wait! I have a lot of ideas of things to do and places to go. My Dad gave us a few ideas for where to eat too. One main reason we're going is so we can hang out with our friend who goes to college there and have him show us around. We're going to a Giants game Wednesday night and then we plan on renting a car on Thursday or Friday to go to Muir Woods, Sausalito, Tiburon, Yerba-Buena Island, and the Marin Hills. We'll definitely ride a cable car at least once and I'm hoping to eat at the Ghirardelli Chocolate Factory twice. And of course we'll go to Fort Point, Alamo Square, Chinatown, Golden Gate Park, and Fisherman's Wharf. We'll probably run of out time to do everything we want to do.

It's weird that we'll be flying again so soon after our last trip, barely two weeks ago. It seems like I've flown more this year than the rest of my life combined. Here's a list of everywhere I've flown or will be flying this year:

Jan 08 - Flew to Seattle/Portland for interviews
Aug 08 - Flew to DFW
Aug 08 - Flying to SF
Dec 08 - Flying to DFW

Anyway, I'm looking forward to going to San Francisco, it should be a lot of fun.

For the last few weeks, I'd really been wanting to go for a hike. Lesley received a book detailing some nearby hikes for her birthday, so we decided which hike we wanted to do and set out to do it this weekend. I was afraid that the weather would be too hot again this weekend, so we set out early for us (10:00). Unfortunately, the trail we chose had water damage, so we had to turn around after about 15 minutes. So, we chose a second trail and went there. According to our book, there was supposed to be a good viewpoint. Unfortunately, we never found it. But, it was still a very good hike along several well-shaded trails. Also, we ran across an old, abandoned car, which was strange. Anyway, I was glad we went hiking again, and am looking forward to going back to look for the viewpoint.

As of today we have been living in Seattle for 6 months already. The time has flown by. As Troy mentioned in a previous post, we're very glad we moved here. We just love being in Seattle!

One significant difference between living in Seattle and living in D/FW is the cost of living. Things like rent and food do generally cost more here, however it hasn't impacted us.

Our rent costs 64% more here than it did in the suburb of Dallas we were staying in, however if we were staying as close to downtown Dallas as we're staying to downtown Seattle, the cost of rent would be pretty close. Continuing to live in a suburb wasn't an option, so our rent cost would've increased regardless.

And, we've managed our other expenses well. Groceries are a little more expensive here, so we've learned to shop for better deals and only buy things when they're on sale. Gas and parking are more expensive here, so we sold a car and drive very little.

Overall, our expenses have been a little higher on a monthly basis, but if we lived in Dallas and bought a new car, we'd be spending more than we spend here. And, with the new higher-paying jobs we've both gotten, our income after expenses is higher here. So, we're actually better off financially after moving here.

There is a lot of new construction in Seattle, especially near where we live. Most of the development is residential, as more people are drawn to city living for various reasons and as developers try to profit off of underutilized land. These new developments will be good for the area as they will provide more activity and convenience to people spending time in the city.

Unfortunately, while the construction is in progress, all these construction zones are annoying. Lesley walks by three construction zones, plus a scaffold, and street construction on her way to work. While it's not particularly loud or unsafe, it just makes it less enjoyable to walk. There are other construction projects in the area, too, some of which are just annoying whereas others are inconveient due to sidewalk blockage.

It will be good when these projects are finished, but for now, I wish they could do more to keep the sidewalks available to pedestrians.

Since we've been doing a lot more outdoor activities in Seattle, I've been wanting some hiking shoes. I finally bought some from REI last weekend with some of my birthday money. I initially was looking at some other shoes, but they didn't fit that well and I didn't know what to do. Then one of the store employees showed me another shoe that fit my narrow foot much better. I ended up buying the ones he showed me and they were on sale too. I'm looking forward to trying them out this weekend on a new trail we plan on going to.

I also bought some winter clothes at REI. It's really convenient that REI is only 3 blocks away. We like some of the styles of clothes there, so we'll probably end up buying more stuff there.

Our home phone line is being disconnected today. I used it some for work, but now that I'm not working from home anymore, we don't really need it. We used it infrequently at other times, but it's not worth the extra whatever it costs. The only problem is that because we don't have a local number, now when a visitor gets to our apartment building, they won't be able to use the call box so that we can let them into the building, but that doesn't happen often enough to warrant keeping the phone line. Plus, now we can put away the phone that has been sitting on the counter. Anyway, I'm glad we could do that, I feel like we just simplified our lives a little bit.

The view from our apartment is awesome. We've added more pictures to our "View from Our Window" gallery:

Yesterday was my first day at my new job. Unlike my old job, I actually have to get dressed and go into the office for this job. Aside from that, though, things are going well so far.

On my first day, I got a new laptop, flat-panel monitor, and cell phone. However, the most exciting thing that I got was a FlexPass, which allows me to ride all local transit systems for free.

As for work itself, so far I've mostly been sitting at my desk and reading things. My boss has spent a lot of time teaching me things, and I've learned a lot so far. I'm very eager to start actually doing things and getting to know more people in the office.

I took a few more pictures in our neighborhood and have added five of them to the neighborhood gallery. I'm still not enthralled by the area, but I'm recognizing that it's better than I originally thought and is rather convenient to a lot of things, even if those things are not as close as I would like.

When I was back in D/FW last week, it almost seemed like I never left. Everything there was very familiar and rather uninteresting. Being there reminded me of why we left in the first place. While never leaving Texas would've been easy and normal, I am very happy with our decision to move to Seattle.

Driving around during our visit, I knew where every road went, was familiar with all of my surroundings, and didn't really miss any of it. I talk about the things I miss: family, friends, and food; but Fort Worth isn't on that list and neither is Dallas. While the cities have their advantages, along with the benefits of my friends and family, it's not enough to make me wish I stayed. Continuing to live in the same metropolitan area where both of us grew up and lived in would have been boring, routine, and tolerable at best.

However, Seattle fits our ideal lifestyle and interests better than any city in Texas does, by far, and moving here has offerend numerous benefits. Moving here has challenged us, the change of scenery has stimulated us, the things we've discovered here have been incredible, and our lives have been enriched significantly. There's no question that moving here has caused us to grow and mature like no other experience could.

It sucks that it's not as positive of an experience for everyone else as it has been for us, and it hasn't been without its sacrifices, but the great thing about being adults is that we can do what we believe is best and we believe it's been worth it. I won't comment on what the future might hold, but for now I must say that I'm very glad we decided to move. So far, it has proved to be a great decision and a highlight of our lives.

I saw the most ridiculous Chevy truck commercial ever last week. They were advertising some huge truck as being environmentally friendly because it got really great gas mileage - 20 miles per gallon. What the heck? How is that environmentally friendly? That would be terrible mileage. I just thought that was absurd. People in Texas just love their trucks. I don't think I'd ever see that kind of commercial in Seattle.

We went to Discovery Park a few weeks ago on a very nice afternoon. It was a nice day for a walk and the Sound was very blue and beautiful. Click the picture below to see a few others.

It's nice to be back in Seattle after being gone for 6 days. It felt like a long trip and I actually ran out of things to do. It seemed like I was just there in DFW, even though it had been almost 6 months. If my family didn't live in Texas, I don't think I'd have any reason to ever go there. I don't like the culture or the weather and I got really tired of driving everywhere. It was always muggy (humidity usually above 70%) and hot outside which made it miserable to do anything outside in the afternoon. Everything was so dry and ugly-looking and the water was very dirty looking from the plane. I noticed a lot of differences, mostly the same things Troy noticed. All the buildings are short, especially in Fort Worth. And downtown Fort Worth is very tiny compared to Seattle. There were very few people walking/exercising outside and I think I saw one guy on a bike the whole time I was there. It's just a totally different place from Seattle.

It was so nice to fly back and be able to see all the pretty mountains and trees and water. We took the bus home from the airport and then walked to the drug store and the grocery store downtown and then took the bus back to the apartment. All of that, without a car. We didn't use any of our gas and didn't have to fight traffic or anything. It was a relief to be back.

I'm also glad that Troy has finally quit his old job and now has a new one here in Seattle. It will be nice to finally have some stability and I won't have to wonder if his boss is going to call him and ask him to go back to Dallas any more. I'm looking forward to doing more things here in Seattle.

I arrived around 2 on Friday afternoon and we drove to my parents house and then went to eat at Uncle Julio’s for dinner. We all shared some queso and Troy and I shared the chicken fajitas. We each got our own Swirls, which were really really good. After that we went to the Kimbell Art Museum to see the current exhibit called The Impressionists. My parents wanted to see it since they went to the Smithsonian in Washington D.C. and saw a lot of paintings by Van Gogh and Renoir. After that we went back to their house and ate some chocolate cream pie from the Swiss Pastry shop and watched the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. Troy was also very intrigued by my dad’s iPod.

On Saturday, we went to eat at El Fenix with Troy’s parents and then played on their new Wii. After that we went to visit Troy’s grandmother, who was actually sick at the time. Thankfully we did not catch her cold. After that we met at BJ’s Restaurant in Arlington for my Uncle’s birthday and we saw the extended family. We visited for a while at my Uncle’s house and then went to hang out with Andy. We went to Dairy Queen and then hung out with Sofia and played a fun game called Taboo.

On Sunday, Troy and I went to our old church where we got married and we talked to our pastor after the service for a little while. He was very happy to see us and was glad we visited. My mom made a big meal for us that included baked ham, potatoes, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, corn, and rolls. It was all really good and Troy especially liked the ham. My dad showed us some photo albums from trip him and mom had taken to Seattle and San Francisco and he showed us some articles he’d kept that talk about things to do in those cities. After that we went to eat sushi with my sister at Edohana. It was actually pretty good. It was nice to hang out with my sister some. Then we went to hang out with Andy, Sofia, and Bryan and we made cupcakes and watched more of the Olympics.

I had a lot of time to myself on Monday and Tuesday afternoon since Troy had to work. I went to see my old co-workers in Dallas for a little while and they were excited to see me. They asked me all these questions about Seattle and how much we liked it and everything. It was nice seeing them again. After that I drove to Fort Worth and ate Perrotti’s pizza for lunch and hung out at my parents house until Troy arrived in Fort Worth via the TRE. We hung out with David and Andy Monday night and ate at Cousins for dinner, which was also very good. It was nice to see David since we hadn’t seen him in like 2 years. Tuesday I had lunch with Megan at Freebirds and then I hung out with Sofia at Hulen Mall. I picked up Troy again from the TRE and went to see my parents one last time. Then we went to Adam’s apartment to see him and everyone else.

Wednesday we went to the airport around 9:30 and finally landed in Seattle at 4:30. We took the bus to downtown and then had very good timing and caught the 70 bus that goes right by our apartment. We arrived around 6:15. It was a pretty long day and a long trip overall.

Click below for some pictures that we took during our trip to D/FW.

We were both a little hesitant about heading back to Texas during August, the hottest month of the year. But, the worst part of this visit back wasn't the daily 100 degree heat, as I thought it might be, but it was all the driving we had to do. Of course this was exacerbated by the fact that we stayed like 40 miles away from where all of our family and friends were, but still, everywhere we went included like 20 minutes in a car. In the week I was there, we drove 869 miles, which is more than the distance from Dallas to Albuquerque. I definitely got sick of driving, but even with all that driving, the large Texas sky wasn't as smoggy as I expected, which was nice.

The food was a highlight of our visit. It's been very nice to have a lot of very good food that many people have paid for. Unfortunately, the food is all so heavy and all the meals have been so filling, so I'm glad to be back in our own home again so that we can make healthy-sized meals.

My complaints don't overshadow how nice it's been to spend time here - though it was a very long visit for me (7 days) - but they underscore why I'm eager to get back to Seattle. Now that we're back, I'm looking forward to relaxing and getting some exercise.

Well, I'm done with work. After almost two years working for this company, I'm done. It's almost as if I quit a long time ago, since I haven't been in the office or making significant contributions since working from home. However, working ther was a very good experience and I learned a lot. If I'd stayed around, there would have been a lot of opportunities for me. However, I'm excited about my new job, which I think will be even better.

As I've said before, it's nice getting to return to D/FW every few months. Unfortunately, that has come to an end with this trip back. My company had been paying for me to fly back to visit the office, which was nice for them, I guess, but probably nicer for me because I could see family and friends.

However, now that I've found a new job, my current job is flying me back for the last time, which means that after this, I'll have to pay for all flights back to D/FW.

I don't want to move back, but I wish we could fly back every four months or so. However, that's somewhat impractical with airfare being so polluting and expensive, along with employers who grant limited days off.

We're planning to fly back for Christmas, though, and that's not too far away.

A couple weeks ago I went for a walk through the city. This was a much shorter walk than my extreme 17-mile walk and I was also more focused on taking pictures.

The city is full of things that are often observed as single items: a building, a car, a tree, however I tried to show something different with these photos. Each item in the city is part of the web of the city and fits in to the rich tapestry of urban life in an interestingly unique way. In these photos, I tried to highlight those relationships, specifically between new and old buildings, secular and spiritual buildings, and how a building's surroundings relate to the building itself.

Anyway, aside from all that, I like some of these pictures too. Click the image below to be taken to the gallery.

It's been really nice to be back in Fort Worth to see our families and friends. The biggest disadvantage of living in another state is being apart from these people. Now that we're back, it almost feels like we never left.

The nice thing is that when we come back, our time spent with everyone is more enjoyable than it was when we lived here, meaning fewer minutes of silence, staring at the floor, or trying to figure out what to do. So, it's been a real highlight to get to spend time with so many people we love.

I've been back in Texas for almost 3 full days now seeing friends and family. It's been great seeing people and eating great food and everything. But honestly I kinda miss Seattle. I miss the natural beauty, the weather, and the city in general. Don't get me wrong, I love seeing my parents and sister and friends and stuff, I just miss Seattle. We'll definitely post more detail about what we did and everything when we get back.

Some evenings we're very fortunate and see some beautiful skies and sunsets. Click below for some pictures I took last Friday:

My flight leaves at 6 AM tomorrow morning to DFW. I still have some packing to do and a few last minute chores that need to be done. Waking up at 3 AM will be hard. The shuttle picks me up at like 3:30, so I'll have plenty of time to get to the airport. It'll also be the first time I've flown by myself.

This will be the first time I've been back in almost 6 months and the first time to see my family again. It's going to be difficult fitting in time for everyone. Most of the time we're going to be with my parents, sister, and extended family. I'm also going to see my friend Megan for lunch on Tuesday. We basically have everything planned out, even the places we're going to eat. In fact, we're having Uncle Julio's Friday with my parents, which will be really nice. I'm not looking forward to the heat at all, but it will definitely be nice to see my family and friends again. This time it will be me instead of Troy who has the culture shock. I'm betting I will think it's really flat, everything is too far apart, and it will be very smoggy and hot.

Good advice.

The environmental consciousness here has influenced us a little bit. We've been doing more lately, in addition to all the things we've normally done motivated out of environmental concern, such as driving less and using reusable bags.

• Rather than leaving my phone charger plugged in all the time, I only plug it in when I'm using it, since it uses energy even if my phone isn't plugged in.


• I've also turned down the fridge so it wouldn't have to run as much.


• I've also been timing my showers to save water - doing something that my parents could never get me to do.


• We've also been turning off the surge protectors for the computer, TV, modem, and router at night, since these devices use electricity all the time, and from what I can tell, it doesn't hurt to turn them off nightly.


• We've also turned off the microwave clock, since there's one right below it on the stove. Why have two clocks right next to each other?

Most of these changes won't make much of a difference in our monthly bills, but if everyone did little things like this, the energy savings and decrease in pollution would be significant. Hopefully we can find more little, easy things to do to save energy.

And it feels hot and uncomfortable outside.

It will be a bit of an adjustment to be back in D/FW for a week of projected highs around 100º.

It's kind of weird that five months or so of working from home comes to an end today. I will be leaving tomorrow to go back to the office for my final days with my employer. Sending emails in my pajamas, holding conference calls on the couch, and writing documentation by the windowsill has all made for a good experience, overall. However, while I will miss some of the advantages (15 second commute), I'm looking forward to interacting more with my coworkers and shouldn't have any trouble adjusting to a more typical lifestyle.

I turned 25 last week and had a good time with my co-workers and Troy. I received several cards in the mail which was nice and got a few presents too. With some of my birthday money I plan on getting some new hiking shoes and maybe a new purse that I've been wanting for a while. On my actual birthday, Troy drove me to work and saved me the trouble of walking. When I got to my desk, there were two presents and a few cards there. I got a book called "60 Hikes within 60 Miles of Seattle" and I also got a little dish to save my tea bags on. After about 30 minutes, Troy called and told me to meet him downstairs. He had bought me some asiago cheese bagels with cream cheese for breakfast!

For lunch, my co-workers took me out to eat at a sushi place called Red Fin. I got a Bento Box with a Seattle roll and a California roll. It was really good, but it was a ton of food! One of my co-workers made chocolate chip cookies for me for dessert too, so I was stuffed. Unfortunately I wasn't very hungry for dinner when I got home, so Troy and I waited to eat dinner until almost 6:30. He took me to an Asian place in downtown called Wild Ginger. We got three small dishes to share (family style): mushrooms with pea pods, duck, and mandarin chicken. It was all pretty good, especially the mandarin chicken. It was nice to go somewhere different.

That night we didn't do much since we didn't get home from eating until about 8:30. Troy made me a chocolate cake with chocolate icing (my favorite) and gave me some really nice flowers from Pike Place Market, a bag of honey roasted pecans from Chukar Cherries, and some nice fruit to eat that included a peach, nectarine, apricots, and a pineapple.

Then on Friday, he took me to see The Dark Knight at the Cinerama. I really wanted to see it in IMAX, but it was sold out until this week and I was tired of waiting to see it. I thought it was really good, great acting by Heath Ledger.

On Saturday, we drove to the Washington coast and saw the Pacific Ocean near Westport. We walked along the beach and drove around the scenic areas and saw an old lighthouse called Grays Harbor Lighthouse. We toyed with the idea of going to Portland for the night since it was just over 80 miles away, but figured it would be better to go some other weekend when we'd have more time there. On the way back we stopped in Olympia, Washington state's capital. We ate at an Asian restaurant called The Lemon Grass, which was pretty good, and then drove home.

It was a pretty good birthday, even though it was a little weird not seeing my family. I can't believe I'm already 25.

Click on the link below for pictures:


Video of the coast:

Starting next January, grocery stores and other stores will have to start charging 20 cents for each paper or plastic bag. The city is trying to encourage shoppers to use reusable bags to reduce waste and litter.

This new fee shouldn't impact us much because we've been using reusable bags since we lived in Texas. They were on sale for $1 each at the grocery store and have saved us from using quite a few plastic bags since then. Before we got them, I remember we accumulated quite a few plastic bags, so not having to deal with plastic bags has been nice.

When we used our reusable bags in Irving, it felt kind of odd, as hardly anyone used reusable bags there. However, here probably about 1 in 3 people use reusable bags, and that number will probably increase once this law takes effect.

One of the most interesting things about my recent visit to the Photographic Center Northwest was a photo I saw called The Real Dallas. I always find it interesting when Texas is referenced here, and so I found this photo very interesting.

It appears to be a picture of a mural at a Metroplex establishment (I wonder which one). However, I don't know why the photo is called The Real Dallas, when the mural, in fact, shows downtown Fort Worth. Regardless, it's always cool to see something from Dallas or Fort Worth here. If you're interested, you can go here to view the photo at the photographer's website.

I went on a 17 mile walk on Thursday, which was a very unique and enjoyable experience. I'd like to share some more details and highlights from the day.

When I set out, it was a cool morning, but I knew it would feel good once I started walking. I brought my camera with me, along with some water and snacks. I set off with a basic idea of where I wanted to go, but I wasn't in a big rush and I just wanted to see how things turned out. Here's how things went:

1. After walking Lesley to work at 7 am, I walked toward the water. It's common to see people in the city selling a newspaper called Real Change News, which offers local news with a different perspective. For each $1 newspaper the vendor sells, he or she keeps some of the money and the rest goes to the Real Change non-profit, which is working to end poverty. I only buy one if I expect to have time later to read it and this day I figured I'd need some reading material for relaxing at the park later. I saw a guy lightheartedly listening to his headphones and selling the newspaper, so I decided to buy from him. After buying the paper, he offered to tell me a joke and let me choose the type of joke. He was very thankful that I bought the paper and told me that he was the Vendor of the Week featured in the newspaper and that because of people like me, he was able to get a job.


2. After walking along the waterfront a little bit, I got some bagels downtown for breakfast. I sat by the window and was able to watch the people go by as I ate my bagels and read the newspaper.


3. Pioneer Square is one of my favorite parts of the city, and that's where I was headed next. I enjoyed walking around there and looking at the old buildings. Unfortunately, I was there too early in the day to go into any of the many art galleries, so I'll have to go back there some other time for that.


4. Seattle has made the news recently for its automated public toilets and attempts to sell them on eBay. But, walking around all day without them would have been a problem. Fortunately, the one in Pioneer Square was still working, but the toilet was locked for good the next day.


5. I walked through the International District next, then crossed over the freeway and caught a few glimpses of the Blue Angels practicing. After that, I made my way over to and through the Seattle University campus.


6. As I was walking along 12th Ave, I was stopped by some people handing out some information and I stayed to listen to what they had to say since I wasn't in a hurry. According to them, the banking system is collapsing and our whole economic system is doomed. They were "very serious" about it. They handed me some reading material, including the magazine "Your Enemy George Soros" and the article "British Agent Al Gore is Taking People's Food Away!" So, uh...moving right along...


7. A big highlight of my walk was stopping by the Photographic Center Northwest. I like photography more than any other type of art, and this place had some pretty neat photos. It was well worth my time to visit.


8. I decided to take a break once I got to Cal Anderson Park, which is a nice park with plenty of benches. So, I stopped and read the Real Change News that I had picked up earlier. As I read, someone was playing acoustic guitar a few benches away, which, along with the beautiful weather, made for a very enjoyable atmosphere. I could have relaxed there for quite a bit longer, but had to keep going.


9. I walked north through a quiet, upscale neighborhood before getting stuck on a busy street as Lesley and I chatted on the phone. Once I got to the University District, I walked up The Ave. It's a active, exciting place to walk, with plenty of places to eat, but strangely, I just wasn't hungry. Next, I headed west toward Wallingford.


10. After walking through Wallingford, another walkable neighborhood, and picking up a smoothie, I gave my friend, Andy, a call, and we chatted for almost an hour and a half as I made my way through Fremont and along the west side of Lake Union. Aside from the Fremont neighborhood, this part of the walk was the least interesting, so it was a good time to be on the phone.


11. By the time I got off the phone, the day was almost over and my feet were sore. I walked through the walkable Lower Queen Anne neighborhood and decided to take the Monorail back downtown, since I'd been wanting to take it and I was running out of time to walk. Once I got downtown, I picked up some movie tickets and met Lesley outside of her building at 4:00.


12. We walked home together, and once we got there, I barely got up for the rest of the day.

Click below for some pictures that I took during the day:

As we've mentioned a few times before, it's been really nice not having to drive nearly as much as we used to. It saves quite a bit of gas and frustration with traffic and annoying drivers. It's been especially weird for me though because I used to drive over 25 miles a day to and from work in Dallas and now I barely drive my car once a month. Usually Troy is the one driving, so I've driven my car here in Seattle probably only 4 or 5 times the past 5 months. The first time I drove it after not having driven in over a month was weird. It's like I forgot how sensitive my brake and gas pedals are and it was hard to drive the car smoothly. Anyway, I just think it's interesting that I don't drive my car anymore really.

We went to our 4th Mariners game this year on Saturday, July 19 with a group of people from my work. They were playing the Indians and the game started at 1PM. It was a really sunny day and I knew our seats would be in the direct sunlight for most of the game, so I put sunscreen on. Troy didn't bother putting on sunscreen and so his forearms got pretty red. I didn't have a cap on though, so the part in my hair got sunburned again, which was annoying.

Anyway, the game was terrible, the Mariners gave up like 6 runs in the first 3 innings. They lost again, which means we haven't seen them win a game in person all year. The highlight of the game was actually when a fan ran onto the field and got arrested. It was nice to talk to my co-workers outside of work and Troy was able to meet and talk to some of them. We hung out for a little bit after the game too. So, even though it was pretty hot and the game was terrible, it was nice to do something with my co-workers outside of work.

Electric cars aren't very common here, yet, but they would be embraced. On the other hand, I forgot how much different Texas is. I read an article about a Dallas businessman selling electric cars, which mentioned some of the reactions to electric cars in Texas:

"I was out riding in the GEM [electric car] one day," he recalled, "and this guy – I don't want to engage in stereotypes, but he was like this construction worker in a pickup – yelled out, 'Where'd you buy that? Toys "R" Us?' "

Obviously that's not representative of most people in Dallas, but I think that kind of reaction would be unheard of here.

When I rented a Toyota Prius last time I visited the Metroplex, I drove a few of my coworkers to lunch. They all thought the car was interesting, but most of them didn't take it seriously. They seemed to think that it was dorky and gimmicky, and wouldn't consider driving one themselves. Based on the number of Priuses I see here, I'd say the attitude is a little different.

Of course, it's a common assumption that people on the West Coast are more environmentally-oriented, and I've always fit into that mindset a little better. But, after just a few months of living here, I already find it almost shocking how some people in Texas act towards electric and hybrid-electric vehicles. I'm sure that attitude will gradually change, especially as higher gas prices shift peoples' ways of thinking, but for now it's very interesting.

The Blue Angels have been practicing their maneuvers today around downtown Seattle. They're such a big deal here that the I-90 bridge is closed for portions of the next 4 days. I have a pretty good view of them since I'm up so high on the 28th floor. I saw them practicing all their stunts like tight formations and free falling. They made loud plane noise all day. They're here to perform for Seafair, which I mentioned in my post about the Torchlight Parade. The Blue Angels will perform their show Saturday and Sunday afternoon this weekend, so hopefully we'll be able to see them.

I took the day off from work today. Given my appreciation for the city, interest in getting to know it better, and love of walking, I figured it would be great to go for a walk on my day off. All day. I left home before 7:00 with Lesley and walked her to work. I walked all day and then arrived back at her work to walk home with her at 4:00.

The point wasn't to stay moving all day or stay on my feet, but just to stay out all day. I wanted to walk in areas that I like to spend time in and take some photos. I visited an awesome art gallery, relaxed at a park, and used the monorail to help me get back downtown more quickly.

The map to the right shows the basic route I took, but when walking through downtown, Pioneer Square, and the International District, I did a lot of zig zagging and backtracking. My route was so complex that Google Maps wouldn't let me map it all - at about the 49th stop it wouldn't let me add any more destinations. So, I actually walked farther than the map shows. I'd say I walked about 17 miles today.

Walking for that long is kind of a crazy thing to do, but I think it was a good idea. I really enjoyed it, it was good exercise, it was cheap, I got to know the city better, and it's something interesting that I'll remember forever. It was definitely a better use of time than staying at home today. Over the next few days, I'll be sharing some of my photos, experiences, and highlights from my walk.

We went to the 59th annual Torchlight Parade in downtown Seattle this past Saturday night. Last year more than 300,000 people attended and this year had just as big a crowd. Some people camped out overnight to save a spot right on the curb. The parade went all the way from the Seattle Center to Qwest Field, which is about 2.5 miles. People were everywhere on both sides of the road the entire length of the parade. We arrived around 5:30 after being somewhere else all afternoon. We walked around for a while before deciding to pick a good spot before they were all taken. The parade started around 7:30 and lasted until after 10.

I've never been to a live parade before, so it was pretty cool to see one in person. There were a lot of kids there and it seemed like all of them had toy horns they blew in the whole time. There were all sorts of floats, balloons, drill teams, bands, and special groups that participated. One balloon in particular we thought was cool was the compact fluorescent light bulb. You'd never see anything like that in a parade in Texas.

We started to get a little bored by the time the 5th drill team went by and our legs were tired from standing for over 3 hours. At the end there was a big pirate ship float that had an actual cannon on it that would fire couple minutes. It was pretty loud and scary the first time we heard it. Overall it was pretty fun.

Today is Lesley's birthday. Everyone feel free to wish her a happy birthday in the comments.

We used to get Einstein Brother's bagels almost every Saturday morning (read: noon) when we lived in Irving. So, when we moved to Seattle, I wanted to find a bagel store that we could go to. We tried a few places and were unimpressed, but then we went back to one of them, Noah's Bagels, and it was better the second time we had it, so we have been going there ever since. Noah's Bagels is owned by Einstein Brother's, so it's basically the same thing except here they have a few crazier flavors such as peppercorn and sourdough.

Anyway, it's nice to have a bagel place so close to us. We took the bus to Noah's last Saturday and got two asiago cheese bagels and a super onion bagel that were so fresh and even still warm. I can't wait to go again this weekend and eat bagels.

I don't really want to get into politics on here, however I always find it interesting when Seattle, Dallas, and Fort Worth are ranked on a list of cities. The latest list I found is a list of the cities with the least government restrictions, according to pro-free-market Reason Magazine.

The article takes the approach that government restrictions on things like guns, alcohol, gambling, etc. are restrictions on freedom and ranks the cities on this list from least restrictive to most restrictive. Unsurprisingly, the #1 least restrictive city on this list is Las Vegas. Anyway, the politics are irrelevant, the differences between Seattle and Dallas/Fort Worth are all I'm interested in pointing out.

I have definitely that there are more restrictions in some places. For example, on tobacco (smoking banned in all public places, though people still do it outside). Also, the liquor stores here are run by the state, and some beers with high-alcohol contents are banned in certain areas. And, trans-fats are banned in restaurant food. On the other hand, Seattle doesn't seem to do much to fight drugs

Interestingly, Fort Worth is ranked at #11 and is the freest city in Texas and Dallas is at #17. While Texas cities seem to be more anti-drug, they're more relaxed when it comes to regulating alcohol, tobacco, adult establishments, and other things.

Anyway, I'm sure there are tons of reasons why one way is better than another, which we needn't get into, but I just think the differences are interesting.

Welcome to the new look of our website. This new look is the product of a couple weeks' work from both of us, and we hope you like the change as much as we do. The previous look was set up quickly and was meant to be temporary, and a year of that look was long enough. We really wanted to make our blog and photo gallery better looking and more coherent. One main focus in designing this new site was to make the blog and photo gallery look like the same website and make it easier to go back and forth. Some of the changes were made to make the site more easy to use, in addition to the overall change in appearance. Here's a brief list of changes below:

• Our Move to Seattle blog and Our Move to Seattle photos have a standardized look. We worked for several hours on the header and footer, including editing the picture of Mount Rainier, which is an actual picture we took ourselves from Seward Park. We thought this was a beautiful picture and wanted to emphasize the natural elements in the Northwest, so we chose our main theme colors as blue and green.


• The font styles and sizes have changed.


• The blog shows random pictures from the photo gallery on the left side to attract visitors to some of the photos we've taken.


• The photo gallery includes links to the latest posts we've made on the blog.


• We made it easier for people to contact us by including our email addresses.


• We included Lesley's name in some places where only my name was listed.


• Post labels are now available on the sidebar so that you can more easily click on certain labels to see all posts on a certain topic or with a certain theme.


• Our Move to Seattle icon in the top left corner is visible after scrolling down far enough on the page.


• New icon associated with the site visible to Firefox users.


• There are numerous other small changes.

We've tested this in multiple browsers and believe that the site appears and works correctly in most browsers. However, if you find anything that doesn't look right or doesn't seem to work on your computer, please post a comment here or send us an email to let us know.

Also, please let us know what you think of the new look. I know that the white text on the blue background may be harder to read for some, so please let us know if you have an issue with that. And, let us know if you have any other suggestions or complaints.

Our blog is 1 year old as of today. I remember wanting to start the blog, which used to be called "Our Move to the Northwest", and being so excited about writing about how we wanted to move and all the steps we had to take to get here. I'm glad we have a record of how we felt and what we did the past year in the process of moving to Seattle. It's been fun writing posts and posting pictures and video the past year.

We watched the 1963 Elvis movie It Happened at the World's Fair last week because it's set in Seattle during the World's Fair. It was pretty neat seeing how Seattle looked in the 60s. The Space Needle was painted orange and the Monorail was brand new. There were a couple of scenes filmed inside the Monorail when it was going to and from downtown and the Pacific Science Center and it looked weird not seeing any tall buildings around. Downtown was pretty small back then. So, even though the movie wasn't that great (I've seen much better Elvis movies), it was still cool recognizing all the locations and seeing how Seattle looked back then.

I'd really like to go to the Oregon coast sometime. I've heard that it's really scenic and peaceful and a great place to go and relax. It's over 4 hours away, so we'd probably want to stay at least one night there. It'll probably have to wait until next year though since we already have so many trips planned for the rest of the year.

When we moved in here, we didn't sign up for cable TV or satellite or anything like that since we don't watch enough TV to make it worthwhile. However, we're going to get cable set up soon, in anticipation of football season, just like last year.

In our last apartment, we were just going to sign up for limited cable, which just had the local stations that we couldn't see because they didn't come through the antenna well. However, they had a great deal going so we only had to pay $5 more for the basic sports channels and whatever else came with them. Our monthly bill was something around $20/month.

I was hoping to find something that inexpensive this time, but it looks like it will cost more. The only channels I want to get are the 4 basic network channels (CBS, FOX, ABC, NBC), ESPN, and Fox Sports, so I do want more than just Limited Basic cable. It would be nice to have ESPN2 and Versus as well.

As far as I can tell, Comcast and Broadstripe are the two cable companies in the area. If I want just Limited Basic cable (local TV), it's around $20/month. I'd really like to have ESPN though, for college football and Monday night football. To get those two channels along with the network channels, I'd have to get basic cable, which costs around $55/month, which is more than we want to pay.

It looks like Broadstripe has an option called Expanded Basic (click for the channel lineup), which has all the cable channels that come with Basic cable and it carries only some of the local channels that come with Limited Basic. It has CBS, NBC, and ABC, just at a different channel number than they are through the antenna. It also comes with local FOX HD. All this is only $35/month. My concern here is based out of ignorance...if I get the FOX HD channel but don't have an HD TV, can I still watch the channel? Getting FOX is pretty important as I want to watch the NFL on it and we get a poor signal through the antenna.

So, I guess I need to figure that out. If I won't be able to watch FOX through Expanded Basic, then I don't know what we'll do...probably only get Limited Basic and watch ESPN elsewhere. I don't mind going somewhere else to watch TV on occasion, I just don't want to get tired of being forced out of the house to watch football...or get tired of paying to watch it inside.

A few weeks ago we went to a cook out because it was our friend's second to last weekend in her apartment on Westlake (west of Lake Union). Everyone was going to a Pat Green concert later that night too, but we passed on that part. We only knew three people at the party out of about 25 that came, but that wasn't a big deal. We had a couple of hot dogs, some chips and hot sauce, and drinks. The cook out was on the roof of her apartment and had a great view of Lake Union, downtown, and Capitol Hill. We could even see Mount Baker from the roof. Here's pictures of our view. If you look closely at the left side of the skyline in the bottom picture, you can barely see Mount Rainier.

There's a new building being constructed two blocks from our apartment and it's been like that ever since we got here. All the sidewalks around it are blocked off and sometimes the streets around it are closed too. I wish they would hurry up and finish it so that we would be able to walk on those sidewalks and not have to take detours. Also, hopefully they'll put some street-level stores or restaurants in so that we'll have more options for places to go shop or eat.

One of the reasons I moved here was so that I wouldn't have to drive as much. Overall, that's worked out pretty well. However, there's not a grocery store close enough that we can go to and avoid driving.

We normally go to a store near Seattle Center. There was an event going on this weekend, which we forgot about, so, traffic was terrible when we decided to go to the grocery store. It was quite annoying. It was our fault for trying to go to the store on the weekend, but it would still be nice to not have that problem. Also, whenever we forget something or need to pick up something from the store, it's such a hassle because we have to drive to the store, we can't just walk by after work or something. There are several grocery stores within a mile or so, but it's still inconvenient and I wish we didn't have to drive.

So, I'm seriously entertaining the idea of moving to another apartment complex when our lease expires. Part of it is because I want to live closer to the store so it's not so inconvenient and so that we don't have to drive. Another part is that I've never been crazy about this neighborhood, and while it's developing and should be a better place in a while, I'd like to live in a different part of the city. We don't want to move farther away from Lesley's job, though, so it will be hard to find a place that's close to her work, close to a grocery store, isn't run down, and is affordable. Still, I think I know of a couple places that would work.

Lesley dislikes the idea of moving, though, and really where we live now is not bad, so who knows if we'll actually do it.

1. Start early and be patient - The rule of thumb is that it takes a month of searching for each $10,000 you expect in salary. I thought I could get a job faster than that, but not really. If I weren't employed while looking, it would have been easy to panic. Whenever I look for a job in the future, I'll have to keep that guideline in mind and just be patient until I find the right position.


2. Don't settle or give in - I knew the whole time that I didn't want to work for one of the major manufacturers here and despite all of the suggestions from people and offers from people I met, I refused to apply there. I could've gone that way and maybe found a job faster, but I stuck to what I knew I wanted and it worked out in me getting a position with a company that I'd rather work for.


3. Keep options open - There was a company that I interviewed with and after the first interview I really didn't think I wanted to work there. But, I didn't rule them out and went back for a second interview. After the second interview I saw a lot of good things and felt that if my first choice didn't work out that I would like to work there. At the same time, though, I learned not to lead a company on if I'm not interested in working there. I kind of did that with one company to see if they'd give me an offer, even though I felt like I would have to decline it no matter what.


4. Know what's important - I knew I didn't want a long commute, so I screened all positions and excluded ones in suburbs that I was unwilling to commute to. This was one major screening criteria, but I also had a pretty good idea of what kind of company culture and work environment I was looking for. It ended up that I found a company that I feel will be a very good fit on all criteria that I felt were important. This goes along with #1 and #2 above; once I knew what was important, I didn't panic and settle for less than what I wanted.


5. Applying to individual companies is a good idea - I applied directly to some job postings, but the other prong of my attack was applying to individual companies. I bought a book that listed local companies, I did searches for local companies in the industries I was interested in, and I also used Google Maps to search for companies nearby. I found a lot of different companies and just had to slog through all of their websites to determine what they did and whether I thought they might have positions I would qualify for and whether the company itself would be a good fit. From there, I followed the process for applying to them, whether by uploading or emailing my resume. This is how I found the job that I ended up selecting.


6. Job postings aren't as important as I'd hoped but they're not worthless - Once I got my resume and cover letter ready, I started looking at job postings on the major job sites. After a few weeks of applying and hearing nothing back, I began to feel like applying to individual job listings was worthless since I was competing against so many other people doing the same thing. I almost gave up on browsing job postings, but kept going to make sure I didn't miss out on anything. It took a while, but I finally got some responses from my applications, in fact two of the three companies I interviewed with I made contact with by applying to their job posting on one of those major career search websites.


7. It takes time to learn to sift through job postings - The first few weeks of my job search, I tried to filter the available jobs with the highly inadequate searches on the major sites. Then I normally read most of the postings I found in my search, finding a very small percentage worth applying to. It was discouraging that it was taking so long for me to review all the job postings and then more discouraging that there were so few jobs that I could actually apply to. However, after a few weeks I got much better at identifying positions that I would possibly be suitable for before clicking on them and then in skimming the posting to quickly determine whether it was worth my time to investigate further.


8. Don't stay somewhere out of fear I can't find something better - One of my first jobs was with a good company to work for. Everyone who I talked to there said it was a good company to work for. They paid well and had good benefits. I chose not to work there again. The next company I worked for had tons of perks - free tickets to sporting events (in a suite), travel, nice views from the office, good bonuses. But, I'm leaving that company. The company I'm going to seems like a much better culture fit, and it has been rated as one of the top companies to work for.

Troy & I are revamping our Seattle blog over the next few weeks. I'm excited about how it looks so far and can't wait to upload the new version. I'm mostly helping on look and layout while Troy does all the html work. We've been needing to change how the blog looks for quite a while, but just haven't had the time to sit down and work on it for several hours a day, especially with Troy's job search taking up so much time. But now that's over, so hopefully we'll have it done before he starts his new job.

I think I've figured out the plan for the next few weeks. Getting a new job really helped to clear things up, but to solidify things, I had to figure out dates, book tickets, and coordinate details over the past few days.

I'll be continuing to work for my current employer for about another month. I've notified my boss, who has been very supportive the whole time. After this weekend, my main focus at work will be transitioning things. I've done a variety of things with my current employer and there are a lot of things I know that will need to be passed on. As of now I've documented most things I know, so it's just up to my replacements getting up to speed, but there should be plenty of time. I'll be traveling back and my final full days in the office will be August 7, 8, 11, and 12, which Lesley mentioned.

One of the things I've done between the end of a semester and the start of a job is allow for a week or two in between for some bonus time off. While it's not paid vacation, its nice to be off for a few days to take care of chores and errands, do things that I can't do when occupied full time, or to just relax. Since my next job will be starting a little earlier than expected, I'll try to intersperse this time off while still employed with my current employer. I need to go to the dentist, get cable set up for football season, meet Lesley for lunch and after work a few more times, study a few things for my new job, and finish a book I've been reading. Also, Lesley's birthday is at the end of the month.

I will be starting my new job on Monday, August 18 and am excited about that. After being in the office for a week and a half, I'll be out for a few days for a trip to San Francisco and then back in the office.

The next few weeks should have more variety than normal, with me taking some days off of work, traveling to D/FW, starting a job, then going to San Francisco, but I'm looking forward to it.

Walkscore released rankings of 40 walkable cities in the United States. This ranking shows what the most walkable cities are (excluding suburbs). Dallas and Fort Worth appear on the list. Walkability is, to me, one of the most important aspects of a city. While many cities have reasonably walkable neighborhoods, it's great to be in a city where walking can be done in many places.

When we were deciding where to move, we didn't have this list in front of us, but wanted somewhere walkable. We discussed in a previous post how we chose Seattle, but we started with a list of cities that we ranked based on factors important to us, and it's interesting that our list is very similar to the list of the top 10 highest Walkscore cities below:

1. San Francisco (appeared in our list)


2. New York (appeared in our list)


3. Boston (appeared in our list)


4. Chicago (appeared in our list)


5. Philadelphia (appeared in our list)


6. Seattle (appeared in our list)


7. Washington D.C. (appeared in our list)


8. Long Beach


9. Los Angeles


10. Portland (appeared in our list)

Weather, affordability, and other considerations helped us select Seattle, but it's nice to see that our analysis still reflects this Walkscore list pretty closely.

I found it interesting to go through this list and look at the maps of individual cities. You can see which neighborhoods are most walkable within the city and, even cooler, see the walkability distribution on a color-coded map.

Another interesting list along with this is the new list of walkers' paradises, which identifies the most walkable neighborhoods. Even the least walkable cities have some walkable neighborhoods. Different cities have different sized neighborhoods, which has some impact on which neighborhoods appear on this list, but it's interesting to see what some of the most walkable neighborhoods are and which cities have some of the most walkable neighborhoods.

Few people are as interested in walkability as I am, but it will become much more important to most people as gas prices, smog, global warming, and health become greater topics of concern. Besides, on top of how walking will become encouraged by finances, health, and the environment, for a lot of people, walking through a walkable neighborhood is very enjoyable and better than driving.

It's been really foggy this morning, so much that we couldn't see the top of the Space Needle from our apartment. It's especially foggy out on the water, which I can see from work of course, and it reminds me of San Francisco a lot. It looks like we'll have nice weather again this weekend with highs in the mid 70s and mostly clear skies. I love this weather.

I've been spending many nights for the last few months working on finding a job, uncertain that I would find anything that I would like. I've been having to put other tasks and projects aside while I focused on this. So, now that I have found a job which I feel will be a very good fit for me, I am very relieved. Not only am I glad that I found a good position with a good company, but I'm also very relieved to be able to focus my attention differently. Now I can work on other stuff in the evenings, or just relax. I no longer have to feel like I have to work on finding a job. It's just great that I have this big burden behind me, and I'm really looking forward to doing some other things over the next few weeks.

Troy & I finally booked our plane tickets to DFW in August, after waiting several weeks to see if prices would come down, which they never really did. Then for a while, we were uncertain when he would start his new job and if that would conflict with our trip back. But it's all pretty much final now. He's arriving in DFW on August 6 and I'll get there in the early afternoon on August 8. We'll be there that weekend and then the first few days the next week. Then we go back to Seattle around noon on August 13. We'll be staying at a hotel really close to his old office in Las Colinas, so that will be convenient for him going to work. It'll be nice to go back and see my family and friends and have a chance to eat some good mexican food and BBQ. I also plan on visiting my old co-workers in Dallas, which will be really fun. We'll certainly be busy seeing a lot of people while we're there.

After several months of searching (and several weeks of slacking, plus a 2300 mile relocation in between), I have accepted a new job. I have been working from home in what was a temporary arrangement set up to ease the transition out of my current position. I was in a good situation to allow me to search for another job while employed. Three different employers offered me a position, all of which seemed like a good opportunity. In deciding which job to choose, I considered the following:

• How would I like the job itself? (how does the position fit with my interests and background? Would it be interesting enough and challenging enough and use the skills that I want to develop?)


• How do I fit with the company? (Would I thrive in the culture with their expectations? Does the company seem like a good place to work?)


• Opportunity (What kinds of opportunities would I have if I stay there for a while?)


• Location (How long does it take to get there? How much would it cost?)

All three of the positions had good answers to some of those questions, however the job I chose had a good answer to all four and the best answer to three of those questions. It's too early to go into detail about what I'll be doing, but I'm excited about my opportunity in this position with this employer, and very glad that my search is over with.

I used to love working in two time zones. It meant I started work at 9 (Central) and when I quit work it was only 4 (Pacific), so it had the effect of making it seem like there were more hours in the day. It hadn't really been a problem because when I was at work, my computer had central time so I didn't have to convert. But, lately, it's gotten more frustrating, especially when scheduling job interviews. I have to check my work calendar (in central time) and convert it to pacific time to see when I'm available for an interview, then when putting an interview on my work calendar, I have to convert back. It's been a little complicated each time, especially when checking different days and times to try to find a match. Now the interviews are over, which is nice, and soon I will stop working in central time. I'll still have to convert times when talking to family and friends in TX, but that has never been as difficult.

Our friends thanked us for keeping their dog Benji last weekend by shipping us some brisket and barbecue sauce from a place called The Salt-Lick, located in Driftwood, Texas. We were shocked to receive something labeled perishable and wondered what it could be. It was a big piece of brisket, probably about 3 pounds, so we invited them over to have a cookout and share it with us today. The weather was awesome for cooking out. It was sunny with a light breeze and the high was about 75. We cooked it on the grill for about 45 minutes and had Bush's honey baked beans, corn in the husks, Texas toast that we found at the grocery store here, and some potato salad that they made. It all tasted really good and the barbecue sauce was excellent. It's a little different than what we've had before since the sauce was a little more mustard-based. The brisket was tender and flavorful too. For dessert we had angel food cake with cool whip and frozen strawberries. It was very nice of them to send us some Texas BBQ. We have some leftovers too, so that will hold us over for a little while until we visit Texas next month.

We had been wanting to go to Mount Rainier ever since we moved here and so we finally made it out there yesterday. The weather was great for going to Mount Rainier; mostly sunny with highs in the upper 70s. We invited one of our friends to go with us too, so that was fun. We left at 10:15am and didn't get to the park until about 1:00pm, after driving over 90 miles. Traffic was quite bad near Puyallup, which slowed us down. We stopped in a small town just outside the park to eat lunch and so I could get over being car-sick. This one place we tried to eat at only had two employees there (most likely the owners) and they never even acknowledged our presence, which was quite strange. So we gave up on that place and went across the street to a burger place, which was actually pretty good. I was glad to stop for a while after being car-sick from all the windy roads and stopping at stop lights all the time.

Anyway, we finally made it to Mount Rainier and were completely blown away by all the natural beauty everywhere we looked. We figured we would hike on one of the many trails there and have a chance to see some fields of wildflowers. Unfortunately, despite the fact that it was about 80º outside and it's the middle of summer, there was still several feet of snow in most places. Most of the trails were still covered with about 4' of snow. It was really weird walking on all that snow and wishing I had shorts on instead of pants because the air was so warm. We could also tell that the air was thinner at higher elevations. So, we didn't actually do much hiking, but the views were just spectacular. There were creeks everywhere you looked from all the snow melting, which created several waterfalls. One of the highlights was Reflection Lake, which will make a perfect reflection of the mountain and all the trees later in the summer when the lake is completely melted. There were still patches of snow sitting on top of the lake. There were several miles of roads between the different camping spots and visitors center, so it took us a while to drive around the park. There were also some canyons with rushing rivers going through them. We started heading back around 4:30pm and got back around 6:30pm. We were on the south side of the mountain and couldn't see Seattle at all. Next time we go, we'll have to go to one of the trails on the north side of the mountain if there are any. It was a lot of fun though and I'm really glad we went with our friend. We definitely plan on going again in the next couple of months and actually getting to hike on a trail.

I have received one job offer that I need to respond to by the end of the day Monday. I am expecting another offer this afternoon or Monday, and hopefully another one. All three of these positions would be a good fit, so since I don't have all of the details yet, I can't make a decision. Once I get more details and get closer to make a decision, I will post it here.

Even though I live in Seattle now, I do what I can to stay close to my hometown of Fort Worth (and Dallas). I read the Dallas Morning News on a daily basis and read the Fort Worth Star-Telegram multiple times per week. And, of course, I stay very caught up with the Dallas Cowboys. Also, I've been doing what I can to keep in touch with family and friends. While it's not quite the same as living in Texas still, considering how far away I am, I feel like I've been keeping up with Metroplex happenings pretty well.

There is a lot of hiking to do around here, including three lakes about an hour east of here that supposedly offer some good hiking opportunities. They sound like pretty cool places to hike, so I'd like to make it out there sometime. I think the trails are longer than the trails we normally hike, so I'd like to work our way up to going out there sometime.

We've been wanting to go hike at Mount Rainier for a while and I think we might be going this weekend. There are tons of trails there and it's very scenic, so it sounds like a lot of fun. Most of the roads are closed except for about 4 months out of the year because of all the snow and ice. We'll probably do one of the trails at the lower elevations. We invited some friends to go with us too, so hopefully they're free this weekend. It'll be exciting hiking on Mount Rainier. Maybe we'll go high enough to get some good views.

We kept Benji from Thursday afternoon until Monday afternoon when his owners picked him up. He's a cockapoo, a combination of a poodle and a cocker spaniel. We fed him twice a day and walked him three times a day. He wouldn't walk that far, though, and all he did was sniff the bushes. I think we made it around the block twice. He also went to the bathroom every time he went outside, which meant we had to pick up his poop with a plastic bag. When we'd go back inside after walking, he expected a treat, but he would not roll over for us, though he did sit and shake hands. He didn't bark that much, just when he heard other dogs in the hall or sometimes when we would come back into the apartment. Otherwise, he didn't really do much and just sat around all day. It was kind of weird to have a living animal with us. We're glad we could take care of him and help out our friends, but I'm definitely still a cat person. Here are pictures and video.

My parents were hoping they could make it out here to visit us this summer, but I think they will end up coming next summer. That will be their main trip next year, so they'll be able to stay for longer than they would have if they'd come this year. Plus I'm going back to see them in about a month and we're going back for Christmas, so it won't be too bad this year. They've been to Seattle a few times before, so they have plenty of ideas of things they want to do when they visit. I'm really looking forward to them visiting next year and doing lots of cool things here with them.

We had never made asparagus before and we needed to make a vegetable to go with the salmon and baked potatoes we were making for Troy's parents, so we decided to buy some asparagus. It's pretty easy to cook, we just put it in a pan with olive oil and cooked them on the stove for a little while. They tasted pretty good and are pretty healthy for you. I'm looking forward to making some for ourselves again soon.

We didn't really have any plans for the 4th of July except to watch fireworks from South Lake Union. I sort of wanted to cook steaks or hot dogs on the grill, but it was so much work the last time we used the grill and we had a hard time getting the fire lit. So, we just figured we'd save money. Around 9pm, we set out to find a spot to sit at South Lake Union park to watch the fireworks display on Lake Union. There was a huge barge sitting in the middle of the lake where all the fireworks would be set off from. There were quite a few people standing in front of us, so we had to stand while watching the fireworks. There was another fireworks display near the waterfront that we couldn't quite see because of buildings and trees.

Anyway, the fireworks finally started around 10pm and lasted for about 20 minutes. They were pretty cool, there were a few heart and smiley face fireworks which people really liked. And of course the grand finale was the best part. Overall I wasn't that impressed with the show and we probably would have had a better view from Gas Works park. Maybe we'll go there next year and stake out a spot early. We definitely won't be taking our car there next year though because it would take forever to get out of there. The only problem with walking there is that we'd be walking home for like an hour in the dark. Perhaps there's a bus that runs that late. Still though, this year it was much easier to go find fireworks, all we had to do was walk 6 blocks to South Lake Union Park.

Here's some video we took of the fireworks:

We had all day off today since it was the 4th of July and didn't really have any plans. We hadn't done a lot of walking the past week, so Troy suggested we go take a long walk around Lake Union this afternoon, which ended up being a 7-mile walk. We started by going north on Eastlake Drive, and walked for a little while until we stopped at the original Red Robin to eat some lunch. From Wikipedia:

The first Red Robin still stands at the corner of Furhman and Eastlake avenues E. in Seattle, at the southern end of the University Bridge. This building dates from 1940 and was first called Sam's Tavern.

It was alright, I got a California Chicken Sandwich, which is basically a chicken sandwich with guacamole and bacon on it, and Troy got a Chicken Teriyaki Sandwich.

After lunch, we continued walking north across the University Bridge and we could see the Cascade Mountains to the east and lots of green trees behind Portage Bay, Union Bay, and Lake Washington. After we crossed the bridge we went west towards Gas Works Park along Northlake Way. The park was really busy when we got there because of the WaMu Family 4th fireworks show. It's an all day event where people brought their chairs, blankets, food, and fun to Gas Works Park and waited until nightfall to see the fireworks. I've always liked going to Gas Works Park because of the lake with all the sailboats on it and a great view of the city behind it. I've heard before that on the 4th of July, Lake Union is so full of boats that you can walk across the middle of the lake on boat decks.

Anyway, we sat on the hill for a while and then continued to walk west towards the Freemont Bridge. After we crossed the bridge, it had to be raised so that a couple of large sailboats could cross underneath, so we watched that, which was something neat we hadn't really seen before. Then we walked south along Westlake and on down to South Lake Union Park. We were pretty tired at this point, having walked about 6 miles. We finally made it back to our apartment around 6:00 after having left at 2:00. It was a really long walk, but it was cool to be able to stop and eat and see Gas Works Park and walk across the bridges without having to mess with a car. And the weather was great for such a long walk today. The high was around 70 with a light breeze and partly cloudy skies. I'm sure we'll go on another long walk in the city again soon.

Here are pictures from our 7-mile walk today:

I had an interview this week. I think it went pretty well, but I got the impression that they were looking for a specific kind of person with specific experience and goals and I'm not sure that I fit that. I also don't think that the job and company fit me that well, either.

I did hear back from one company that I interviewed with and they've asked me to come back in next week. I was hoping I'd get a job offer from them, but I guess the first interview was just to see if I might be a good fit and the second interview will be for them to make a better evaluation.

Also, I had an interview that I didn't get a good feel for, but I got a call back from that company and will be going in for another interview next week.

So, as it stands, I'm being considered for three different jobs. I have my preference between them, but all I can do is prepare well for my interviews. I am still looking for other positions with other companies, though, in case none of these work out, or in case I can find something better.

I dropped my parents off at the airport this morning. It was nice to see them again - I think I've spent more time with them since Lesley and I moved than I did when we lived in Irving. They had been in town since Saturday, so Lesley and I spent some time with them on Saturday and Sunday, then every evening during the week. I also took a day off of work to spend time with them.

I was hoping that the weather would cooperate during their visit, and it did to a certain extent - it wasn't cold or rainy, and Mount Rainier was very visible. However, it was a little too warm, with temperatures 10 degrees above average, and since our apartment doesn't have air conditioning, we couldn't really spend any time there until the weather cooled off.

Even though it was hot and my mom is still recovering from surgery, my parents still did plenty of walking on their own. We let them explore the city on Monday and Tuesday, so they were able to go to Pike Place Market, Pioneer Square, the Space Needle, and spend time downtown, where they were nearby to a shootout. We took them to Kerry Park, drove through a few neighborhoods including Ballard and the University District. They wanted to eat seafood while they were in town, so we ended up having a lot of that. When the weather was nicer, we went to the locks, Volunteer Park, Gas Works Park, and Kubota Garden. On my day off, I took them to Snoqualmie Falls and West Seattle. We also spent some time togther at our aparment and played some games.

I enjoyed showing them around and doing a lot of different things in the city. We don't share the same interests, so they probably didn't enjoy everything as much as I did. If they visit again, I think they'd have a good time if they do some things outside of the city, like visiting small towns and maybe even going to Vancouver. Anyway, I'm glad they were able to visit and hope that if they visit again they can find some more enjoyable things to do.

Our friends from church (that also went to SMU) are going out of town for the 4th of July and needed someone to take care of their little dog, Benji (we think he's some kind of Yorkshire Terrier). Troy and I said we would take him. They'll be dropping him off tomorrow afternoon and will pick him up Monday afternoon, so we'll have him a full 4 days. He sounds pretty easy to take care of and seems to be on a regular schedule of being walked 3 times a day and fed like twice a day. It'll be an interesting and kind of cool experience. We've never taken care of an animal before by ourselves. It's like we'll have the fun and company that comes with a dog, but without the long-term costs and headaches. He doesn't bark either, so that's good. We'll post pictures of him sometime over the weekend.

We've been doing a lot of talking here, but thought we might open up this thread to questions. Does anyone have any related questions for us, such as about moving, living here, or anything like that?

I'm not sure how long our fridge has been broken, but a few weeks ago we noticed that our ice cream had melted and refroze in a different shape. Also, my milk has been going bad a couple days prematurely. So, I submitted a maintenance request and they replaced a couple things on our fridge. So, while I'd gotten used to our cool water in the fridge, now the water is really cold. Anyway, I'm glad that's taken care of.

I get to leave work early tomorrow at 2:00 because the markets are closing early for the July 4th weekend. It seems like it's been a long week even though it's a full day shorter than normal. So it'll be nice to get home so early and relax.