We got back on Sunday from our honeymoon. I know, I know we've been married for two and a half years, so it isn't really considered a "honeymoon" but we haven't gone on vacation together since we got married due to not having money.
So anyway. We went to San Francisco, California. I've never been to California before, and Tim was born in Santa Barbara, so we went to a place that neither of us had been. The build-up to the trip was almost as fun as the trip itself. Several weeks ago, we bought a Lonely Planet San Francisco and started paging through it in order to figure out what we wanted to do.
Right away on the list was Muir Woods and Alcatraz, as well as Lombard Street.
Our hotel was about three blocks from Pier 39 and the Fisherman's Wharf. We were really lucky that we stayed there, because we got to walk just about everywhere. We took a hike (really) up to Russian and Nob Hills, which features 45° hills or greater. In the early mornings we would get up and walk down to the Pier to see the sea lion. It was better in the morning. The Sea Lions were often more vocal and more playful than later in the day. We had some babies there who were very sweet, at least from far off. Unfortunately, the Sea Lion in general is a mean animal, and I could tell that from just watching them fight and biting at each other.
We took a ride on the Trolley up the "Rice A Roni" hill and then dropped us off downtown by Union Square. We saw some cute local artists' stuff, saw a few cute galleries and found some new artists that we like. While we were touring the pretty city, we had a two day pass for the Hop On, Hop Off bus tour, which takes us around all areas of the city and places of interest. We saw the Presidio, which is in a lot of famous movies, and a couple streets used in movies for street chases like in Bullitt and The Rock. We saw Mel's Diner on the corner (From American Graffiti) and the place where George Lucas started a school for people in the business of graphics and CGI so he can get them for his movies. It's actually a really beautiful campus, and the only reason we knew it was George Lucas' was when we passed a fountain the middle of the campus with a little Yoda guy on it.
On that same trip we went to the Haight-Ashbury area. It was one of the crazy awesome places that was huge in the 60s and it was basically where the Hippie Movement started. We had a lot of fun just walking around and checking out the stores there, and the local artists. Tim and I bought a beautiful glass bowl and a dragonfly window hanging. We ate lunch at a great local Thai place, and the strangest thing that happened was that some locals asked us if we had any 'bud' and when we said no, they asked us if we had any spare change they could use to buy some. It made me laugh.
Chinatown as also one of those places that I enjoyed. Turns out the first time we went to Chinatown, we were on the WRONG SIDE of the street. Grant Street is cut in half by Clay, and we were on the "working people's/I live here" side of the street. We went to Chinatown again and somehow ended up on the "Right Side" and had a blast looking at the things they had for sale. While in Chinatown we bought some Strainer Teacups, and a Sake set. Also, Tim bought The World. The World is a marble globe that will sit on his desk. It is cute. When we got it home he took it out and sang "I've got the Whole World in my Hands." I thought it was cute, anyway.
The strainer cups have a little ceramic strainer that you put in the cup before you add the water and the tea. You throw in your loose tea, and pour boiling water over it and let it steep in the cup and then pull out the strainer -- VOILA. Tea. We have not used them yet but they are currently sitting pretty on our kitchen table.
Speaking of Tea, we found a very cute little tea house in Ghiradelli Square, called Crown and Crumpet. They sell very awesome loose leaf tea. We bought some Grapefruit Green (Green Tea and Grapefruit pieces) and Paris Black (Earl Grey with vanilla). The Grapefruit Green is really awesome -- I had a pot of it and I was bouncing off the walls feeling amazing. Green Tea has always done that to me, so I wasn't surprised. A little sugar and you're all set to go. Paris Black, when steeped and is temperate enough to drink, has a very light taste of vanilla. It's actually quite delicious.
Another thing the San Fran area is known for is red/rosewood, and there are a lot of pretty bowls and things made of these gorgeous, natural materials. We found a man who made some things out of redwood. I decided that I wanted a pair of handcrafted knitting needles, so I got one. The ones I got are a dark rosewood, and have nicely carved ends with nice and sharp-but-not-breakable points. They don't have an official size, but I think they will knit up with a little drape but pretty tightly. I'm ok with that, and I'll plan on knitting with them soon, once I find some yarn nice enough to do it.
I haven't talked much about the food we ate there, but now I will. :) One thing I found out about San Francisco right away is that they have a lot of seafood. I'm lucky because I *LOVE* seafood. I love fish, crab, lobster and just about anything that comes out of the sea except for eel and sea urchin (both of which I've eaten). One of our first meals was at a place on the Wharf called Alioto's. I ordered the fish and chips and while that sounds very Chip-Shop, wrapped in blank newsprint, it was not your Grandma's fish and chips.
The fish was light and perfectly cooked, and did not taste too fishy, which is always ok in my book. They served it with homemade fishsauce, which was probably a light mayonnaise and dill, amongst other flavors. It brought out the taste and texture of the fish perfectly and I spent most of the meal gobbling down my fish and making moany noises to denote my satisfaction. Looking out from our table we saw the Golden Gate Bridge and looked out into the ocean. It was the perfect view.
We went to Fisherman's Pizzeria one night, a slew of Italian restaurants a few other nights, the stand-out best one of which was Firenze by Night. The restaurant was a bit of a jaunt from our hotel (about 5-10 blocks) but definitely worth the walk. The food was delicious, atmosphere was fantastic (soft music, low fairy-light lighting, pictures of Florence, Italy and the Duomo looking out at the diners) and they made the best Peach Sorbet I have probably ever had. Sorbet can sometimes be too icy/crystallized, but this was the best consistency I could have dreamed of.
The Fog Harbor Fish House was another restaurant recommended to us by one of the concierges in the hotel. Tim wanted to eat beef and I was taking advantage of the fish availability, and this place was one of the few not-Hard Rock Cafe/Rainforest Cafe places we could go for a nice dinner without being overrun by tourists. It was on Pier 39, overlooking the Bay. I ordered some crab cakes and some french fries. The crab cakes? Divine. They were not all stuffing with no crab. They were the perfect mix of stuffing and crab, not to mention perfectly cooked. Tim's steak was also very good and wonderfully cooked as well. We had house cocktails and after dinner drank a cup of very good coffee, finishing up just as the sun was setting (we ran to the end of the pier by the Sea Lions to get some pictures of the sun going down by the Gate and over the Alcatraz island) and walked home to the hotel.
Some of the restaurants we chose (or were recommended) were not as good as we hoped they'd be, but overall we were very pleased with our food choices and the restaurants that we went to. I miss having the availability of good, fresh seafood and other options. I'm not good enough of a cook to make some of the stuff I ate.
This is getting long enough, so I'll sign off here. I've posted some pictures on Facebook and maybe will post some here in the near future.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Thanksgiving's Belated Thanks
There has been some really good things happening here. It feels weird to say that good things are happening and that life is starting to have a semblance of goodness to it that we haven't had in a few months.
At the start of this month I interviewed for and accepted a new position at my bank and that means two things. One, I'm full time now (woot) and two, I had to move branches from a small one to a big one. The change has been an interesting one, and I am still learning and adjusting to things and how they all work at the new branch. It has been a very incredible blessing to us. We have been working towards this for over a year.
Shortly after I changed branches, word got out that my old branch needed a new part timer to work the closing shift. Tim applied for, and was offered the position. This is another huge blessing because that means once his contract with the Red Envelope people is up, he can focus on being there more fully. He's been there about a week now, and so far it's going well.
We are thankful too that my dad was able to come out and visit us for a weekend this month and spend some time with us. It was bittersweet but also quite wonderful to spend a little time just relaxing and eating.
The winter has truly come down on us now, and it's been in the low teens to mid 30s in temperature. So we've had a little snow and we're dealing with that. It's quite pretty when we look out on the balcony from our apartment because we can see out along this little valley-thing.
We are very thankful for a lot of the things that have come our way recently. This was the thing we needed so desperately to try and counteract the terrible events of this late summer/early fall. So while the balance isn't quite met yet we are feeling quite optimistic about the next few months, into the new year.
And this is where I'll leave you for now. We are thankful for new jobs, family and friends, opportunities and the good times we've been able to have in the last year or two, and in the years before Tim and I got married. There's a long and bumpy road ahead but we're feeling able to take it on now.
At the start of this month I interviewed for and accepted a new position at my bank and that means two things. One, I'm full time now (woot) and two, I had to move branches from a small one to a big one. The change has been an interesting one, and I am still learning and adjusting to things and how they all work at the new branch. It has been a very incredible blessing to us. We have been working towards this for over a year.
Shortly after I changed branches, word got out that my old branch needed a new part timer to work the closing shift. Tim applied for, and was offered the position. This is another huge blessing because that means once his contract with the Red Envelope people is up, he can focus on being there more fully. He's been there about a week now, and so far it's going well.
We are thankful too that my dad was able to come out and visit us for a weekend this month and spend some time with us. It was bittersweet but also quite wonderful to spend a little time just relaxing and eating.
The winter has truly come down on us now, and it's been in the low teens to mid 30s in temperature. So we've had a little snow and we're dealing with that. It's quite pretty when we look out on the balcony from our apartment because we can see out along this little valley-thing.
We are very thankful for a lot of the things that have come our way recently. This was the thing we needed so desperately to try and counteract the terrible events of this late summer/early fall. So while the balance isn't quite met yet we are feeling quite optimistic about the next few months, into the new year.
And this is where I'll leave you for now. We are thankful for new jobs, family and friends, opportunities and the good times we've been able to have in the last year or two, and in the years before Tim and I got married. There's a long and bumpy road ahead but we're feeling able to take it on now.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes
Fall has come and come upon us relatively quickly, all things considered. We had a few weeks of Indian Summer and then suddenly it got cold. This is not a bad thing. The trees were gorgeous for about three weeks, and now it's gotten windy and billowy so I'm ok with that.
I've been working very hard to recover from the events of July/August/September and I think I've done well enough, all things considered. Tim has also made some wonderful strides in his own place, the most fun and best thing: he got his Driver's License! So now he's driving around on the automatic car and I've been driving the standard/manual truck, who my dad named Willy. So I'm driving Willy around and having a blast. It certainly makes things interesting.
Life has thrown a few curveballs at me on a professional level and I'm working to come out in the way I need to. I have a few good feelings so we'll see where that leaves us. I'm getting ready for our annual Wine and Cheese night. It's just a quick way for us to say Thank You to our customers and get to know them on a more personal, non-banking type level. It's a lot of fun.
Tim got a second job working at a Red Envelope Co. and he's enjoying it pretty well. The drive is about 50 miles round trip, but thankfully his hours means he misses a lot of the morning commutes, so that gives him plenty of time and space to learn the highways and byways to get there and back.
So that's been our October so far. We had a friend from Alaska come visit us last week on her way through to Texas and that was fun. It's been a strange few months. There is still a lot of good happening in our lives, even if there is overwhelming sadness as well.
I've been working very hard to recover from the events of July/August/September and I think I've done well enough, all things considered. Tim has also made some wonderful strides in his own place, the most fun and best thing: he got his Driver's License! So now he's driving around on the automatic car and I've been driving the standard/manual truck, who my dad named Willy. So I'm driving Willy around and having a blast. It certainly makes things interesting.
Life has thrown a few curveballs at me on a professional level and I'm working to come out in the way I need to. I have a few good feelings so we'll see where that leaves us. I'm getting ready for our annual Wine and Cheese night. It's just a quick way for us to say Thank You to our customers and get to know them on a more personal, non-banking type level. It's a lot of fun.
Tim got a second job working at a Red Envelope Co. and he's enjoying it pretty well. The drive is about 50 miles round trip, but thankfully his hours means he misses a lot of the morning commutes, so that gives him plenty of time and space to learn the highways and byways to get there and back.
So that's been our October so far. We had a friend from Alaska come visit us last week on her way through to Texas and that was fun. It's been a strange few months. There is still a lot of good happening in our lives, even if there is overwhelming sadness as well.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Starts and Ends
It has been a crazy few weeks. Since the last update we have started to see the reality of the year for us.
It is not the year we were hoping so desperately for. I'm going to be brief for this post and perhaps follow it up in a week or two once I get more settled. But for now, here's what has gone down.
In July my car died. My parents came out to visit and sell us their old cars, and a week or two after that, my mom was diagnosed with cancer.
Cut to the end of August, she was in the hospital and coming to the end of a surprisingly quick battle with Cancer. She passed away August 30th, and I was VERY thankful that I was able to get out there and spend time with her in the last 36 hours she was alive.
I was very thankful, too, that I could be with her when she died, as much as it hurt and as sad and devastating it was to experience. My dad and I then drove to Michigan and made arrangements for her funeral and burial. We were thankful that we could remember her in a way that was both glorifying to God and to memorialize her life. She is now at peace and with no more pain, which is a blessing I cannot even begin to speak on, since there are no words to do so adequately.
We buried her with my grandpa in Georgetown Cemetery, and even got to visit with my dear Grandpa. I left a pretty pink rose on his tombstone, and cried a few tears for him too.
Life has been seemingly on hold for the last few weeks. It's still on hold for a while, and I hope that something good will happen to us soon. Tim and I are too much sad that our lives with my mom were cut so short. I know that's life, and I'm trying to deal with it.
It has just been a really sad week or three. I hope and pray it gets better. There are no other words to say.
It is not the year we were hoping so desperately for. I'm going to be brief for this post and perhaps follow it up in a week or two once I get more settled. But for now, here's what has gone down.
In July my car died. My parents came out to visit and sell us their old cars, and a week or two after that, my mom was diagnosed with cancer.
Cut to the end of August, she was in the hospital and coming to the end of a surprisingly quick battle with Cancer. She passed away August 30th, and I was VERY thankful that I was able to get out there and spend time with her in the last 36 hours she was alive.
I was very thankful, too, that I could be with her when she died, as much as it hurt and as sad and devastating it was to experience. My dad and I then drove to Michigan and made arrangements for her funeral and burial. We were thankful that we could remember her in a way that was both glorifying to God and to memorialize her life. She is now at peace and with no more pain, which is a blessing I cannot even begin to speak on, since there are no words to do so adequately.
We buried her with my grandpa in Georgetown Cemetery, and even got to visit with my dear Grandpa. I left a pretty pink rose on his tombstone, and cried a few tears for him too.
Life has been seemingly on hold for the last few weeks. It's still on hold for a while, and I hope that something good will happen to us soon. Tim and I are too much sad that our lives with my mom were cut so short. I know that's life, and I'm trying to deal with it.
It has just been a really sad week or three. I hope and pray it gets better. There are no other words to say.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Summer goodness
There has been so much GOOD going on here on the Prairie. So, so much good. This week (and the next week or so) will more than likely set the tone for the rest of the year, if not our lives. [Note: I'm probably making this much more dramatic than it really is. Truly this is something that will be very awesome if it all works out. It's not some insanely wonderful change or plan of events, but rather just a few little nods we've really been needing.]
I can't say more than that at this point, at least not directly, but we have some very interesting opportunities that seem to keep falling into our laps. Our Taurus has started becoming more and more, well...unreliable, so we're working to getting another car. She died for a few days this week until we could get the parts for her to get up and running again. Her "death" was actually quite wonderfully spectacular, and made for a good story at work with customers, though anxiety was high.
Tim is at our friend Dan's wedding in Ohio this week, and while I'd love to be there I couldn't get the time off work I needed, and besides, one of us should be here to maintain the house.
So that's what's up in the Prairie. Summer has really hit and we're surrounded by trees and leaves and grass and lakes...not to mention lots of little babies for wildlife. It's wonderful. And gorgeous.
I can't say more than that at this point, at least not directly, but we have some very interesting opportunities that seem to keep falling into our laps. Our Taurus has started becoming more and more, well...unreliable, so we're working to getting another car. She died for a few days this week until we could get the parts for her to get up and running again. Her "death" was actually quite wonderfully spectacular, and made for a good story at work with customers, though anxiety was high.
Tim is at our friend Dan's wedding in Ohio this week, and while I'd love to be there I couldn't get the time off work I needed, and besides, one of us should be here to maintain the house.
So that's what's up in the Prairie. Summer has really hit and we're surrounded by trees and leaves and grass and lakes...not to mention lots of little babies for wildlife. It's wonderful. And gorgeous.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Spring has Sprung
Spring has finally come to our little place here, and while we like that the trees and grass are starting to turn green, we're not really enjoying the insane amounts of pollen in the air. It's making us both feel bad.
We have been living very quiet lives in the last few months, always managing to make ends meet, and living as best as we can. We are pretty happy with the way things are, though I always like to dream about what COULD be. We've been talking a lot about the state of things and we've realized a few very important ideas that we are doing, without even realizing it.
A few weeks back we were surfing Hulu and came across Dave Ramsey's show. We hadn't listened to him before, just because we didn't know/didn't watch his channel back in Chicago when we had TV...and we realized we had one of his books (wedding present from a friend's parents). We realized after reading parts of his book (and watching two episodes of his show) that we're already doing the things that he wants suggests. Honestly this is like the best sort of affirmation we can have here.
Tim has been driving more, which is a good thing, and hopefully he'll be able to get a driver's test date sometime this summer. He's doing really well, which is a wonderful thing and I'm hopeful that he'll be driving on his own within the year. :)
We are doing well, despite our silence the last few months. All is good, Spring has Sprung, and I'm glad that we're in the Prairie. It feels really, really good.
We have been living very quiet lives in the last few months, always managing to make ends meet, and living as best as we can. We are pretty happy with the way things are, though I always like to dream about what COULD be. We've been talking a lot about the state of things and we've realized a few very important ideas that we are doing, without even realizing it.
A few weeks back we were surfing Hulu and came across Dave Ramsey's show. We hadn't listened to him before, just because we didn't know/didn't watch his channel back in Chicago when we had TV...and we realized we had one of his books (wedding present from a friend's parents). We realized after reading parts of his book (and watching two episodes of his show) that we're already doing the things that he wants suggests. Honestly this is like the best sort of affirmation we can have here.
Tim has been driving more, which is a good thing, and hopefully he'll be able to get a driver's test date sometime this summer. He's doing really well, which is a wonderful thing and I'm hopeful that he'll be driving on his own within the year. :)
We are doing well, despite our silence the last few months. All is good, Spring has Sprung, and I'm glad that we're in the Prairie. It feels really, really good.
Friday, January 1, 2010
Very Merry
Ah, 2010. How quickly it seemed to creep up on us, especially since the last few months have been, at best, a blur of epic proportions. The "holidays" are done for the most part and we can pretty much just continue on and not worry about it. We actually had a really GOOD Christmas and New Year's Eve, and that's something that we are grateful for.
We hadn't planned on doing much of anything on Christmas at all, especially when the weather reports were saying things like 20+ inches of snow in 72 hours...but on Christmas eve, our friend Chris came in his SUV and told us to get ready and come over to his house since his mom had pretty much demanded we show up. So we went over on Christmas eve to our friend's house and ate some finger foods, had a few glasses of wine and had a few cookies. Later towards the end of the evening, we hooked up their St. Bernard up to a sled and ran up and down the road with him pulling people in it. The weather was perfect and it was probably the best night we'd had in a few weeks. Tim, Chris and I then drove around Lake Minnetonka (like we did on July 4th) and looked at all the prettily decorated houses. It was a wonderfully great evening. Tim and I got home, and slept.
About four in the morning we woke up and were unable to go back to sleep, so we got up and opened some presents. At around 7 or 8, we got tired again and slept for a few more hours. Who are we to make our internal clocks make sense? We woke up, showered and enjoyed our gifts, and then left for Chris' house again, since we had been invited over for dinner. We hung out with the sisters and Chris, and ate more cookies and delicious food. The temperature got to 34 degrees, and things started melting, which has resulted in a lot of ice on the back roads. It has cleared up a bit.
New Year's Eve was a pretty good party too. We went to Brady and Jason's house around 8ish, and there were already some people playing music and talking. I was DDing for the night, and was ready for anything. We played pingpong and talked and danced to some funky tunes in the back room and I drank soda all night, which was fine. We all watched the ball drop and kissed at midnight, which was fun and sweet. We finally went home around 1:30ish after dropping someone off home, and we both fell asleep.
We had a very merry season, and we are most definitely looking forward to a year of stability and promise. I know we have a list of goals and things we want to accomplish, and I think we'll make it just fine. Personally, I'm feeling really good about it.
We hadn't planned on doing much of anything on Christmas at all, especially when the weather reports were saying things like 20+ inches of snow in 72 hours...but on Christmas eve, our friend Chris came in his SUV and told us to get ready and come over to his house since his mom had pretty much demanded we show up. So we went over on Christmas eve to our friend's house and ate some finger foods, had a few glasses of wine and had a few cookies. Later towards the end of the evening, we hooked up their St. Bernard up to a sled and ran up and down the road with him pulling people in it. The weather was perfect and it was probably the best night we'd had in a few weeks. Tim, Chris and I then drove around Lake Minnetonka (like we did on July 4th) and looked at all the prettily decorated houses. It was a wonderfully great evening. Tim and I got home, and slept.
About four in the morning we woke up and were unable to go back to sleep, so we got up and opened some presents. At around 7 or 8, we got tired again and slept for a few more hours. Who are we to make our internal clocks make sense? We woke up, showered and enjoyed our gifts, and then left for Chris' house again, since we had been invited over for dinner. We hung out with the sisters and Chris, and ate more cookies and delicious food. The temperature got to 34 degrees, and things started melting, which has resulted in a lot of ice on the back roads. It has cleared up a bit.
New Year's Eve was a pretty good party too. We went to Brady and Jason's house around 8ish, and there were already some people playing music and talking. I was DDing for the night, and was ready for anything. We played pingpong and talked and danced to some funky tunes in the back room and I drank soda all night, which was fine. We all watched the ball drop and kissed at midnight, which was fun and sweet. We finally went home around 1:30ish after dropping someone off home, and we both fell asleep.
We had a very merry season, and we are most definitely looking forward to a year of stability and promise. I know we have a list of goals and things we want to accomplish, and I think we'll make it just fine. Personally, I'm feeling really good about it.
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