One of the more time consuming things about moving is that we had to clean our old apartment. I was off work last Monday for President's Day, so I was able to get a lot of cleaning done. I went over there around noon and worked for about four hours. The place was dirtier than I thought. I started by vacuuming everywhere, even around the baseboards. Then I cleaned the bathroom, including all the drawers and the bathtub.

After that I moved into the kitchen and started cleaning the refrigerator. We had magnets on it that had left a black residue, so I had to clean that off. The vegetable drawers were also dirty, but I could pull those out and clean them easily in the sink. The microwave wasn't too bad since we had cleaned it fairly recently. And I didn't bother trying to clean the drip pans because they're so bad it would take at least an hour to scrub the grime off. I tried to clean them once before and they never did come completely clean. We'll just pay for new ones. That's pretty much where I stopped.

Then on Saturday we cleaned the kitchen counters, sink, and under the sink. Troy also took down all the stuff from the walls, including our curtains and all the nails. It was pretty hard to take the curtains down though because we didn't have anything to stand on. Troy had to get up on the windowsill to reach, which looked difficult. It took another couple hours to get everything completely out and cleaned. We didn't have time to clean the oven because the self-cleaning feature would have taken over four hours. Unfortunately it costs $25 for the apartments to clean it for us, which means our deposit will be even less than I was hoping for.

It felt weird to be in our empty old apartment. Here are some pictures of it while we were packing, moving, and after it was all emptied. We'll miss it.

After three years of living in our original apartment we found when we first moved to Seattle, we started looking for a new apartment. We made a list of what we liked and didn't like about our old apartment and neighborhood and decided it would be a good idea to move. Our lease would have increased at our old place anyway, so it was good we had already resigned ourselves to moving.

Moving was a lot of work, but everything worked out well and we've put almost everything away. We really like having more space in the living room and an actual bedroom. The location is great and is still within walking distance to my work. It's actually a shorter bus ride for Troy from his work too. It's even a little cheaper than what we were paying for our old place. And we're about a 6 minute walk from the grocery store and tons of restaurants. The main drawback is that the bathroom is tiny and there isn't much storage or counter space. Otherwise I think we're pretty happy with it and are looking forward to making it feel more like home. Here are some pictures of the new apartment, during the move and after.

Here's a video tour:

First Hill Apartment on Vimeo.

Today is the start of our fourth year in Seattle. It's hard to believe we've already been here three years. The past year hasn't been as rewarding as previous years due to my plantar fasciitis, but overall we've done some pretty cool things.

After going to Vancouver for the Olympics last February, we didn't do much until the end of May when my friend Megan came to visit us over Memorial Day weekend. We went to Ken Griffey Jr.'s last Mariners game, the Museum of Flight, and the Boeing manufacturing plant.

In July, we took a day trip to the Bavarian-themed tourist town of Leavenworth on the other side of the Cascade Mountains.

One of the best highlights of the year was when our friends David and Karen visited us for a week later in July. We went to Mount Rainier for a day, Bite of Seattle, and just enjoyed hanging out and playing video games.

Troy and I went blueberry picking for the first time and it was a lot more fun than I thought it would be. I made some really good blueberry pie with all the blueberries we picked.

We saw a concert paying tribute to Paul McCartney at Benaroya Hall. It was nice to finally go see the Seattle Symphony, I'd like to go again sometime soon.

The only trip we took this year (other than to Texas) was to the Oregon Coast in September. We really enjoyed being on the coast, seeing the beautiful scenery, and just relaxing on the beach. I liked seeing all the lighthouses and going to the Tillamook Cheese Factory. We even took a dune buggy ride on the sand dunes! The weather was the best we could hope for that late in the summer. I'd definitely like to go back.

We didn't do much in the fall or winter. We went to a pumpkin patch for the first time, which was neat. We also started receiving produce boxes from Full Circle Farm and have enjoyed trying new vegetables and fruits. And we took a three hour Thai cooking class to learn more about the ingredients and ways to cook Thai food on our own.

Finding a new apartment and moving has taken up a lot of our time in January and February.

I'm excited about what this coming year has in store for us. Both of our parents and my Uncle are coming to visit early this summer. We might also be going on a week-long National Park road trip with David and Karen. We'd like to take a few short trips as well, perhaps to San Francisco and Vancouver. As for things in Seattle, we'll have another summer full of great food to eat, festivals to go to, and hiking to do.

We're finally mostly settled in our new apartment. Last week and weekend was really busy with all the packing we had to do to get ready. Thankfully we still had most of the boxes we used to move here, including four big wardrobe boxes and boxes for our kitchen dishware and appliances. We signed the lease on Thursday and moved in some small things that night and Friday night.

We had originally wanted to have the movers come Saturday morning around 8 or 8:30, but our old apartment wouldn't give us the elevator key to use because the office didn't open until 10. So we ended up changing our move time to the afternoon, which had a big start window of 12-4. We used Gentle Giant, which I read good things about and checked on the BBB website. It ended up working out well that they came later because we were still busy packing up things and getting furniture emptied. Three big, strong guys showed up at the old apartment around 12 and took about an hour and a half to get everything padded, wrapped, and in the truck. I was impressed with how fast and hard they worked.

The only thing that got broken was a cheap picture frame that fell off the wall when they were lifting the mattress. To compensate, they didn't charge us for the packing materials used to wrap the mattress (which we weren't told about in the beginning, but I guess it didn't matter). It seemed to take longer for them to move everything into the new place. The couch looked especially difficult to fit through the door. They ended up finishing around 3:45.

After they left, we spent the next several days unpacking and putting things away. The place was quite a mess for a few days with boxes everywhere. We still have some piles of stuff here and there that we don't know what to do with or where to put, but it's starting to look like a home now. We hope to have some pictures up by this weekend.

We're finally moving this weekend after several weeks of searching for the right apartment, packing, getting rid of stuff we don't want, and waiting until the big day. We'll be able to move in small things and boxes Thursday and Friday. Then the movers will move the bigger furniture Saturday sometime between 12 and 4. The forecast currently looks very favorable for Saturday: sunny skies with 0% chance of rain, while all the surrounding days have a chance of rain/snow. Hopefully the move goes smoothly!

The camera we bought shortly after we moved here has had some photo quality issues lately. It looked like there was something on the lens, even after we had carefully cleaned it.

We decided to buy a new point-and-shoot camera that would take higher quality photos. So far, I like it. My favorite thing about it is that it has a wider-angle lens, meaning essentially that it can zoom out farther than other cameras and capture more of a scene. This is especially helpful for indoor shots and self-portraits. It also has image stabilization and is smaller than our previous camera. It came in multiple colors and Lesley chose a greenish color.

Last weekend we started going through stuff trying to reduce what we have. We have a lot of stuff from when we were kids that we can't really get rid of, like school yearbooks and stuffed animals. We got rid of a lot of clothes we never wear in preparation for going down to 5' of closet space in our bedroom. We'll have to store more clothes in the chest of drawers, which we've been using to store random stuff. It was quite a mess in the apartment with all our boxes out in the hallway and living room.

We're planning on packing a lot more stuff this weekend, our last full weekend in our current apartment. It's kind of sad to be leaving it, after being there almost three years. We'll miss being close to Whole Foods and REI. We'll also miss the view we have of Queen Anne Hill and the sunset to the west, even though it is partially blocked by Amazon buildings.

We'll probably go out to eat at a few more places nearby before we move. I want to order take out from Laadla Indian restaurant again and we might to go Seastar this weekend. I'd also like to walk to Lake Union Park again.

It's definitely become our home, but I guess it's time to move on. Our new place will be bigger and cheaper. It's also in an area we aren't very familiar with, so we'll get to explore a whole new neighborhood and try out all the restaurants in the area.

As we look forward to moving into our new place, we're trying to think of where we want to put all of our furniture and how we want to decorate. The place we're moving into has white paint over the walls and kitchen cabinets, so we want to add a little touch of color by painting a wall in a different color. We've never had anything painted before, so we're picking up color swatches and trying to figure out what color we want to use.

We're thinking of a shade of green, as everything else is very neutral - the walls are white, the carpet is brown-ish, and the closet doors are grey. There are so many different shades of green, though. Our current color scheme has some green in it, so we want the wall to match. I don't want the wall to be too grey-colored, because we get plenty of that from the sky. I think a green with some yellow in it would be nice, but we don't want it to be an olive color. So, we're going to go back to the unit and see what shades of green would look best.

We're also thinking of painting parts of other rooms like the bathroom, kitchen, and bedroom, but I don't know if we'll do that. At our current apartment, the bathroom is already painted in a neutral tan color, which I think helps the feel of the room. So, anyway, hopefully we pick a good color for the living room and any other rooms - there are a lot of options.

Last Friday we decided to celebrate being done with apartment searching and went out to eat at Daniel's Broiler, a very nice steak restaurant right on the south end of Lake Union. It's just a 10 minute walk from where we live, though we've never been there. It was a really nice place and still seemed fairly casual. The view of the lake and Queen Anne hill was amazing at night.

We started with the bacon wrapped scallops as an appetizer and they gave us fresh warm bread with butter. I had the 8 oz petite filet mignon with a baked potato and Troy had the prime rib with a baked potato. The steak was cooked perfectly and had a good flavor. It was a lot of food, but somehow we still had room for dessert. We got the creme brulee with fresh berries and drizzled caramel.

All the food was excellent. The service was a little slow, but I suppose nice steak places tend to be a relaxed experience. Since we're moving out of the area, going out to dinner on the lake was kind of our way of saying goodbye to our neighborhood.

After weeks of searching and visiting 14 different buildings, we finally applied for a new apartment. We thought we found "the one" last week in a building on First Hill, but it was gone before we could apply. Then Thursday night, we thought we'd found "the one" in a building on 8th Ave. But yesterday, we ended up applying for another unit in that first building on First Hill. While this unit isn't as big as we had hoped for, it's still bigger than what we have now and costs less than what we're paying now.

This wasn't in the plan - as of Thursday night we expected to apply to a building on 8th Avenue that we saw that day. It had the best floor plan of any that we'd seen, including plenty of storage space, and the building had a super amazing rooftop deck with a view of downtown, Mount Rainier, and the Cascades to the east. However, we found out later that the unit we'd be getting would be smaller than the unit we'd seen on Thursday. We also found out that the first apartment building on First Hill we had tried to apply to last week still had a unit available, though it was smaller than the one we'd tried to apply to, it was about the same size of the unit we'd be getting on 8th Ave and much cheaper.

After some analysis and discussion throughout the day on Friday, we decided to take a look at the less expensive unit on First Hill. It's not the ideal floor plan, as there is not as much bathroom counter space and storage as we wanted, but the living room is much bigger than what we have now. We also have a better view from this unit than we would have had at any other place we'd looked at (though not nearly as good as what we have now). I also like the location better, as we're close to downtown, close to the grocery store, and in a rather quiet residential area.

We applied for that unit and then returned home to find a note under our door that our current rent would increase 7% if we wanted to sign a new lease where we are now. So, that helped to reaffirm our decision. We're excited to be done with the searching and looking forward to moving into our new home.

Our lease ends next month and we are looking for a larger apartment. We really like our current apartment building, but we have decided that we want more room in the bedroom and living room. Ideally, we'd like a little more space but without paying a lot more.

There's not a lot available in our current building and what is available seems to cost a lot more. We've spent the last few weeks looking up available apartments on HotPads and PadMapper. Things are a little difficult because we have very strict criteria. We'd like to stay within reasonable walking distance to downtown and Lesley's work. That rules out a few neighborhoods we like, like Ballard and the U District, but I think we would quickly tire of a longer commute. Specifically, we're looking at apartments in upper Belltown, Capitol Hill, and First Hill. We want a one bedroom apartment in good condition without being too pricey.

We had found a place that we liked and almost applied for it, but it was leased right before we got there to submit the application. So, we are still looking for a place we would like. We have to give notice by early February to our current apartments if we are planning to move out by the end of the month. If we can't find anything, we may sign another 6 month lease here or go month-to-month until we find something.

Note: This post comes from Walking in Seattle.

This exploration of Pioneer Square takes you through one of the most walkable neighborhoods in the city, full of character and history.

Click here to continue reading.

With our lease ending in February, we're going to be deciding soon whether to renew our lease or to move elsewhere. In the years since we've moved here, this location has grown on me and overall I'm pretty satisfied with the neighborhood and the apartment building itself.

Things I like about our apartment

The positive impressions we had when we moved in were pretty spot-on and there is still a lot to like.

1. There are no major complaints - the neighbors are fine, it's pretty quiet overall, and there are no regular inconveniences or other issues.


2. Our unit was designed well and makes good use of the space. For being only 555 square feet, the kitchen and bathrooms are adequately sized.


3. The apartment building is pretty nice. People respect the public spaces and the apartment keeps things in good condition.


4. Even though we lost the best part of our view, we can still see some mountains, Queen Anne Hill, and quite a bit of sky.


5. I love the afternoon sun that comes in and brightens up the place


6. We almost never have to use our heater (which is good because we have furniture blocking it right now). It's nice that we usually get enough heat from surrounding units during the winter and can use our windows to cool things off most of the rest of the year.


7. We can compost our food scraps. Maybe this is available in all apartments, I don't know, but it's nice to be able to do it.


8. Our trash and recycling room is just down the hall.

Things I don't like about our apartment

1. The grill on the balcony below us puts smoke in our apartment if we have our window open. This is very annoying on a nice day when we want to feel the cooler outside air.


2. The balcony below us can get kind of loud if there's a party, or people at nearby clubs and bars. Also, the recording studio across the alley is really annoying.


3. It would be nice if some rooms were bigger, particularly the bedroom.


4. We face the west and it does get warm in here for about a week or two every summer.


5. We've had to add some lights to get it to be bright enough in here, as there are not enough light fixtures built into the unit.

Things I like about our neighborhood

The neighborhood has changed and improved since we moved in. Now that some workers in Amazon's headquarters have moved in this year, more restaurants have opened and there is more to walk to in the area. Check out this color-coded view of the area from the Space Needle.

1. It's nice to have some restaurants and retail within walking distance. We try to take advantage of it when we can. Also, Whole Foods is nearby.


2. We're about a 15 minute walk from downtown, which is convenient for Lesley's work and if we want to go downtown to shop or eat or run errands. This is a lot more convenient than having to drive downtown or take a bus like most people do.


3. Lake Union Park opened late this summer and is one of Seattle's great urban parks. Even though the weather got cooler and wetter right after it opened, we've been there several times already.


4. We are close to several bus routes that can take us to many parts of the city, at least in the northern part of Seattle. For going to any neighborhood north of here, we can get to a bus pretty easily and I enjoy doing that on the weekends.


5. The farmers market outside our building is a fun place to buy fruit and flowers, among many other things, though it may not continue next year.

Things I don't like about our neighborhood

1. It's a 10 minute walk to Whole Foods, which isn't that far, but the walk is across a busy street and up a hill. It would be nice to live closer to somewhere where we could regularly shop for more affordable groceries.


2. The streets that surround this area are a deterrent to walking.


3. While there is a lot to walk to in this area, there aren't as many places to walk to as I would like. Few other Seattle neighborhoods are more walkable, though.


4. Being a neglected mostly-industrial part of town for decades means that it will take some time for this area to feel have a cozy neighborhood feel that other areas have.

It will be hard to find a new place with as many positives as where we live now, but we're planning to look into our options and will see what we can find.

Note: This post comes from Walking in Seattle.

Stroll by the eclectic retail and historic buildings in one of Seattle’s most walkable family-friendly neighborhoods.



Click here to continue reading.

I've been on the personnel committee at church for over a year now (called the Committee on Staff-Parish Relations). There are about ten of us who meet monthly to review how things are going with the church staff, hire new staff as needed, and organize staff appreciation events and whatever else comes up.

It's been a good experience to see how a church operates, to gain experience with the hiring process, and to be able to provide input. Since July I've been the co-chair of this committee, so I've had more things to do in addition to the monthly meeting. There actually seems to be quite a bit going on, such as the budget process that we've been working through for the past couple months. I also have to represent the committee at the church's monthly administrative council meetings. It will be nice when things slow down soon, but overall I've enjoyed the experience.

As I'm sure everyone has heard by now, the Seattle Seahawks upset the defending Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints 41-36 this past weekend in the Wild Card game. One play in particular was pretty awesome - Marshawn Lynch ran 67 yards and broke at least 8 tackles to score a touchdown late in the 4th quarter. Qwest Field erupted so loudly that the ground shook enough to register on a seismic monitor about 100 yards away.

I had briefly considered actually going to the game since tickets were still available as late as Friday and were only about $60 each. Neither of us has ever been to an NFL playoff game, but I figured the Saints would win though and I didn't feel like sitting in 35º weather for 4 hours. As it turns out, it was one of the best, most exciting NFL games I've seen in a long time. And finally, Seattle can be proud of something sports related! Now if only we could beat the Bears this coming weekend...

Note: This post comes from Walking in Seattle.

This trail through grassland takes you near wetlands that are popular with bird-watchers.



Click here to continue reading.

With Lesley's foot hopefully on the mend, I'd like to fit two year's worth of hikes into this summer, since we weren't able to hike much last year. Here are the top trails I want to hit:

• Rattlesnake Ledge - A moderately difficult hike that's not too far away and offers beautiful views. Probably my favorite trail in the nearby area.


• Iron Goat Trail - Not sure if we'll do this one again, as it's kind of far away, but it's one of my favorite hikes we've done in the past few years.


• Cascade Pass - We've gone twice before and it's been one of our favorite hikes. We'd like to go earlier in the season so that we can see all the wildflowers.


• Lime Kiln Trail - One of my favorite hikes we did our first year here, it's a little far away but I'd like to go again.


• Twin Falls - Another enjoyable trail that can get rather busy


• Cougar Mountain - We've been here many times as it's closer than all these other options. There are many different trails of easy to moderate difficulty. I hope we can go here several times.


• Olympic Peninsula - We went here with Lesley's parents a couple years ago, but the weather was rather hot. I'd like to go back and do some longer hikes in different parts of the park.

We just returned from our 9-day-long visit to Fort Worth for the holidays. This was the longest trip back to Texas since we moved to Seattle almost three years ago, so we had more time to see our families than we have since before we moved away.

This trip has seemed different from others. The first few trips back we were very excited to be back and see people and we noticed the many differences between Seattle and Texas. However, this trip, things have felt more like what I remember when we used to live here. This trip was maybe a little too long, but we did many different things to make the most of our time there.

We spent a lot of quality time with our parents, other relatives, and our friends in the area. We went to several of our old favorite restaurants and enjoyed good Tex-Mex and barbeque. We ate at pretty much every place that we wanted to eat at, though it did get expensive eating out so much. There were a few fun family activities, such as the normal Christmas gatherings and going to church with Lesley's grandmother for the first time. I got to see an uncle and a cousin that I don't normally see and spent some time with my brother and saw the apartment he'd moved into. We also had a good time with my parents playing their Wii and other games, going to the mall, and walking at the park with my dad. We also played games and walked in the neighborhood with Lesley's mom and went to a Dallas Stars hockey game and the zoo with Lesley's parents.

I was happy to be able to tour Cowboys Stadium to see the giant high-def screen and walk on the field - it's an awesome stadium. We also celebrated the new year with some of my friends in the area and had a lot of fun playing games and hanging out with some of our best friends that we hardly ever get to see. We saw several movies when we were there, including True Grit and Despicable Me, as well as seeing Tangled while eating lunch at a Movie Tavern.

I also got to explore a lot of the interesting parts of the Metroplex. My parents drove us around new development in Fort Worth along West 7th, and we spent time in the Fort Worth Stockyards with my mom. Lesley and I had a mini-vacation in Dallas, staying in a hotel downtown and spending time in the city on our own. Taking Dallas' trolley to go out to dinner and a movie in Uptown was a highlight of the trip. We also went to breakfast the next day on Oak Lawn and went to NorthPark Center. The day we spent in Dallas also provided us with some welcome privacy and a break from being driven around all the time.

Taking trips back to Texas can be stressful, as we often can't spend as much time with people as they would like, and dealing with people's moods can be challenging. The stress of dealing with expectations may be why Lesley didn't feel very good on the trip.

Overall, this was one of the better trips I've had back to visit family. I really enjoyed the time we spent with people and the varied things we did. We're not yet sure when our next trip will be, but we will be going back this year for Thanksgiving or Christmas again.

Here are our favorite pictures that we took last year. Vote on your favorite below.

Go here to see our favorite pictures from 2008.
Go here to see our favorite pictures from 2009.