the adventures continue

I know that a fair amount of you are already aware of this but to those who are not, it's about time you hear our big news: Bret and I are moving again, to this place....

Not kidding here. Details to follow.

seattle christmasy things

Since it's almost Christmas and the only holiday-like thing I've posted was about ice skating ducks, I thought I'd show some pictures of Christmasy things we've been doing lately.

The Hybrid

On Thanksgiving weekend, Bret and I went out to Liberty Lake, Washington to visit his family there for a day of holiday merrry-making. Since we'll all be in different places for Christmas, the Miller family chose to do their traditional Christmas tree decorating and gift exchange the same night we had Thanksgiving dinner. We called it the hybrid. We were there for only a day so it was a bit of a blur of turkey, Amy Grant music and family togetherness.

Extreme Gingerbread
The next weekend, Bret's younger sister Melinda and her husband Landan came to Seattle with friends for a visit and to eat great food. So we took them to a place downtown that was showcasing some incredible holiday food, only this wasn't for eating. Every year the Sheraton Hotel hosts a Gingerbread "House" competition where architects and chefs of the city combine forces to make some magnificent displays of festive fantastic-ness. This year they chose classic holiday movies as the theme. I need to apologize real quick and say that these pictures were taken in haste and hardly do the creations justice, nevertheless, here is a selection of our favorites:

Nightmare before Christmas
Muppet Christmas Carole
A Charlie Brown Christmas
A Christmas Story
"stuck...?"
The Polar Express

Intergalactic Christmas

Remember when I found that Craigslist ad for the position of space elf at the top of the Space Needle? Well this is what I'm missing out on. It's a shame I didn't follow through on that.

We also had the pleasure of having our friends the Wilsons stay with us for a couple days this week. We were grateful for the chance to spend time with them and their sweet little Olivia. More pictures with them to come.

Today I head home to Utah to spend Christmas with the fam and Bret will join us tomorrow. Can't wait to see all my Utah people!

P.S. You're probably thinking about now: "Hey, wait a second. Bret seems to be wearing that same tan zip-up in like every picture lately!" You're right, he is. He loves that thing. I promise I wash it.

a random post about ducks

My sister and her family are in town right now, staying with her in-laws for Christmas. We love having them around but we also enjoy the opportunity to visit the Bowens at their home in North Bend. The other day we over there and saw that the lake was frozen over. We went out to investigate and found a pack of ducks having a great time slipping and sliding all over the place; it was like they were having a little duckie Christmas skating party.

The best was watching the ducks flying in the sky try and land on the slippery ice. Some of them were a little awkward, flopping onto the ice and eventually skidding to a stop. Others with more skill landed gracefully, touching down and sliding a few feet similar to an airplane when it lands.

(duck below caught mid land)

I never realized how orange ducks' feet are. I guess because they're usually below the water.

And that was my random post about ducks. I hope it brought you some holiday cheer. Somehow.

party at the space noodle

I know I've been blogging up a storm lately but life has been pretty crazy and its only going to get crazier so I'm trying to cram it all in while I can, if only for the purpose of documenting our life and family since this has somewhat replaced my journal as of late. Some big changes are on the horizon for us but I'll wait a little longer to explain. For now, just enjoy these photos...

5 months later and Bret and I finally visited the biggest tourist attraction in the city, the one that's right down the hill from us actually that we pass everyday: the Space Needle. Both of us have been to the top before but we were like 12 or something, so it was good to go again together. We picked the perfect afternoon when the sky was fairly clear and the sunset was on its way. I'm glad we waited until now though cause Christmas decorations always make things more fun.

The Space Needle is such a cool structure and just like the Eiffel Tower in Paris, I can't imagine the city without it. I like to imagine what my mom thought when she was a child visiting the Seattle World's Fair in 1962 when it opened. (Remember this? That song was stuck in our heads the whole time).

Queen Anne hill: we live kind of by the tower on the left.

It was a gorgeous day but SO cold! You can see it in my eyes.

Elliott Bay and downtown.

There goes the sun...

Watching the Christmas Ships sail across the bay.

I really like Seattle.

Can't wait for these people to be in the area starting this weekend and these people to stay with us for a couple days next week!

*Post title brought to you by Jane the Robot and the letter "P"

something new to do

I've met a lot of cool people during our time here in Seattle and Jenny Vorwaller is definitely one of those people. I'm lucky enough to be her visiting teacher (if you speak my language) and I quickly discovered what a talented and interesting person she is: a true artist in every sense (check out her blog and see what I mean) and such a kind and fun person. That's why I jumped at the chance to attend a workshop she did last weekend where she taught the art of handpainting black and white photographs.

It sounded cool to begin with but the experience exceeded my expectations- such a neat (and under appreciated) art form! She's got me hooked and I'm headed back to her house Wednesday for some more fun. If you're looking for a new blog to follow I highly suggest hers: True Nature (then you can start idolizing her like I do).

smiley face

Hello there. Welcome.

So I'm kind of weird because I'm always seeing faces, shapes and letters (but mostly faces) in every day objects as well as architecture and nature such as rocks, trees, clouds, etc. (I think Bret is sick of me pointing these out to him, actually). This may be one of the reasons I tend to attribute human personalities and feelings to inanimate objects, but that's another story....

I know there's some weird name for this condition but I can't remember what it's called off the top of my head, anyway I have it bad. For example, I remember seeing a witch's profile in the branches of a pine tree outside my window growing up that used to scare me so much I wouldn't sleep. Most of these "sightings" aren't scary though, usually just intriguing. So I was pleased to see this very creative and well executed commercial by American Express. It's not new so I'm sure most of you have already seen it (and perhaps, like myself, was so distracted by the images that it took you at least five times before you realized what was being advertised), but it's good to know that there's other people out there like me. I thought I'd put it up here so you could get a peek into how I see the world.

My favorite is the yellow plane at the end. It looks so cheerful.

roche harbor

I just realized that I still have some pictures from our San Juan Island trip that I wanted to put up and haven't yet. So let's just do it real quick, like a band-aid.

These are from Roche Harbor, a smaller, quieter spot on the north side of the island. It's a sleepy little area (with great fish and chips!) that almost seems enchanted, as if frozen in time.

This hotel was built in 1886 and is rumored to be a favorite spot of President Teddy Roosevelt's.

On the way back to Friday Harbor to catch our ferry home, we passed an Alpaca farm where we noticed an unusual creature peeking at us from the fence. "Was that a camel?". After a quick debate over whether we had time to go back and say hello, I eventually persuaded Bret to turn around and investigate. She seemed hungry so I offered her what we had, delicious french fries.

the end.

what could make this situation better?

This....

the name game

If only I were talking about that fun game you play with groups of people where you guess names written on pieces of paper out of a bowl, but no, I'm actually referring to the story of my life. You see the name Laura has at least two phonetic pronunciations, LOOR-ruh (rhymes with Dora) and LAR-uh (rhymes with STAR-uh). I happen to be a LAR-uh which, although pretty common in Utah, is like a different language here in Seattle. So when I meet new people (like I have a lot lately having started two new jobs) there's always this typical conversation:

me: Hi so-and-so nice to meet you, I'm LAR-uh.
new acquaintance: LAR-uh? Is it LAR-uh or is it LOOR-ruh?
(me in my head: ummm.... didn't I just said LAR-uh?)
me out loud: It's LAR-uh, but I don't care if you say LOOR-ruh, whatever is fine.

(new acquaintance tries to sound it out in a very exaggerated version of my name, gets it right perhaps once or twice but usually reverts to the other way)

I'm used to my name being an issue anytime someone wants to address me. It was particularly bad at my last job where we had both a LAR-uh and a LOOR-ruh - we could hear the difference, why couldn't they? The best though is when people tell me that I'm pronouncing my own name wrong. Riiiiggght, my mistake. I may be coming across slightly bitter here so I apologize, that's not my intention. I realize it's not the end of the world and I don't care too much if someone calls me LOOR-ruh. What I really hate is having this kind of awkward exchange every time I meet someone new. Should I just introduce myself as LOOR-ruh from now on and skip the hassle? It's not that I don't like that pronunciation, I do. It's just that (and I think all LOOR-ruhs and LAR-uhs alike will agree with me here) it's not the same name.

Bottom line: I love my name, but it's trouble. Does anybody else have a similar situation or perhaps advice on how I should handle this? Which version of the name are you more familiar with? Chime in.

*Please Note: If you ever have or still do call me LOOR-uh, I am in no way upset with you. In fact, I apologize for making you feel bad because you probably do now. I understand that they are spelled the same and that it's more common to say it that way. We can still be friends. In fact, Bret called me that for the first month or so of dating; I just didn't have the heart to tell him he was wrong and it was my friend Rachel who finally set him straight. Things still worked out pretty well for us.

*Trouble is the weirdest word. Look at it and say it a few times. Weird.

party girl

I've been meaning for months now to talk about my ever-creative friend (who I've actually mentioned before for other talents) and the fabulous parties that she throws. Parties as in like baby and wedding showers. She has such great taste and goes above and beyond as a hostess to create some truly amazing themed invitations, decor, food and party favors. She's so good in fact that she's been featured on some party blogs. Here's a brief look at some of what she's done (please keep in mind that she hand makes EVERYTHING, including the food, herself) but follow the links to her blog and see more images from these adorable parties.

Tractor Baby Shower

Circle Baby Shower

I've already made her promise t0 throw me a baby shower if the occasion should arise, or at least let me come to her next one.