Wedgewood to Kirkland to Mercer Island

I'm sitting on a sectional in a spacious, minimally decorated living room, staring out at the rainy weather on Lake Washington. Patrick and I are currently house-sitting in Mercer Island for my aunt's sister while she's in Hawaii, allowing us some time to ourselves. Luckily, this will also allow us to follow our own schedule and be a little more productive in our job searches. Staying with family and friends has been great, but our routine changes every two weeks (thus defeating the purpose of routine). Staying with people with kids in school, then a grad student with a flexible schedule, to a house full of more kids on Spring Break...we wake up at different times, get a different amount of stuff done, and never know what is going to happen next. This has helped keep our life interesting but it causes us to lose track of time! It has been almost a month exactly since we made our attempt at leaving Montana and heading off to our Seattle adventure. So we are here in Mercer Island for two weeks (minus this weekend when we'll be in Bellingham) to get grounded and organized again. And to get some quality US time :)

We celebrated Patrick's birthday on the 19th by waking up and going to get donuts. If we were still in Bozeman, we would have gone to Granny's donuts and enjoyed Robert's company, but alas, we must find a donut shop here locally. We made it to Top Pot Donuts to find that the entire little league football team had had the same idea, so we bought our donuts and ran. We decided it would be a day of do what Patrick wants to do. We hung out, David and Patrick played video games and eventually we made our way to the Seattle Center. Patrick wanted to go to Genki Sushi where you eat sushi off of a conveyer belt. Each plate on the conveyer belt is a different color denominating $1, $1.50 and $2 sushi. There was also an option to order rolls of your choice. It is a little intimidating at first, but after you get the hang of everything, it's pretty fun and cheap! Patrick ate mostly vegetarian and I discovered Eel Sauce. You could probably put that on anything and make it taste good. Mmmm. We had Mochi for dessert (if you haven't eaten it, you should. It's a rice dumpling filled with ice cream). Since Dave and Carrie couldn't join us for Patrick's real birthday they joined us the next day for games and Pagliacci Pizza (the Agog Pizza is the best). Good times for all and a whole year older for Patrick.

We stayed last weekend at Tintinger House #2 - John, Lisa, Mark, Leah and Anna...and the 6 chickens, lizard, cat and dog. I helped with delivering kids to where they needed to go and the rest of the time we just had fun with the cousins. Patrick's allergies tried to kill him at this point in time so he wasn't sleeping much, but at this time we also discovered Allegra, which seems to be helping now. This group of cousins goes to The Attic, a community home-school...hard to explain, maybe visit the website for more info. We attended their Interest Project Night and I got to meet lots of the staff. Lisa had me write some pitches for workshops for the summer (beginning photography courses, basically) and the lady who approves them remembered me and is very excited to review my credentials. So I might be teaching some this summer, which would be great!

And things I learned from being around chickens (and trying to take their picture) - don't wear shiny things unless you want to be pecked. I wore a jacket one day with shiny brass buttons...and they tried to eat me. And shiny toenail polish isn't any better...

I have been teaching piano lessons to my youngest cousin, Emma. She has grown and learned so much in the few weeks we have had classes together! After realizing that learning piano doesn't have to be scary and it is okay to make mistakes, she sings while she plays, makes funny music jokes and talks about music with me. It has been great for me because I can revisit those good ol' beginning photography books that I taught myself from. I look forward to Emma completing her first piano book and being able to name notes without pause.

The cousins also remember me making pizza in the kitchen the last times I have visited, so I promised Lucas and Emma pizza night. Sunday Patrick and I came over and made three pizzas along with homemade pizza sauce (Lucas' suggestion). I love getting these guys excited about cooking and baking, it'll make it easier for them to learn and help out as they get older. Below are photos from my phone of Emma's treble clef joke and pizza #2 from Sunday.

I applied for a Media Editor position in Bellevue yesterday at about 3:30 on Monster.com. An hour later I received a call from the company telling me about the position and that they will be having a meeting about it all tomorrow. The lady told me I would be a perfect match for the position and she was going to recommend me to the higher ups. So keep fingers crossed, it would be a contract job for a year!

Patrick is shooting off resumes and hoping for feedback. Once we got to Seattle we realized how you have to cater each resume to every company you apply for. So he has been working on reformatting his resume and creating a LinkedIn profile. He's also learning how to drive in Seattle traffic and on the hills. He's doing well but he's ready to be an engineer!! He'd be great at it, we just have to get him some interviews :)

Hope everyone is doing well! We'll let you know if anything happens here in Seattle, you keep us posted too. Love you lots,

Tessa and Patrick.

Newcastle to Wedgewood

We have survived our adventure in Seattle (the actual being in Seattle bit) for two weeks as of today. We stayed our final night at Jim and Lisa's on Tuesday and midday Wednesday we packed our car and drove on over to Wedgewood (near the University District) to stay with David. Going from a household of lively kids with changing schedules to a household of allgraduate students who aren't always here has been an adjustment, but I will say we do get a little more work done here. Yesterday I am pretty sure Patrick and I both got eyestrain working on resumes and applying for jobs, but that comes with the search, I suppose.

I have applied for a multitude of photography positions; technician jobs, assistant-ships, editor positions, etc. I also shot off a resume and a class description for my cousins' school to teach a homeschooling photography course. After forwarding my email to someone who is friends with someone who works at Amazon I was informed that my resume needed some major reconstruction. It was good for an informal position (arty or food service), but for a major corporation like Amazon, it wasn't really worth passing on. So there is the next thing on my to do list - figure out what exactly is wrong with my resume and fix it. But for today I am working on an application for a grant to do a photo project in Thailand for a month in September as well

as an interview for a contract/part-time writer/blogger position in Bellevue this afternoon.

Patrick is currently working on revamping his resume to Boeing standards, which is a longer process than anticipated. He has gotten a few contacts about people wanting to help him find jobs, but nothing solid yet. Uncle Jim gave him a worksheet to help him fix his resume and also helped him find jobs well suited for him at Boeing. Patrick's birthday is tomorrow and our plans are to sleep in, walk to Top Pot donuts for something yummy and maybe some coffee, hang out and do whatever Patrick feels like doing until dinner when we will take the bus to the Queen Anne district and have sushi from a conveyor belt at Genki Sushi. Then I imagine there will be a night of video games or Left For Dead. Who knows...it's Patrick's Day! He's quite excited, it probably doesn't help that we've been carting around his wrapped gifts for weeks and he just gets to stare at them.

In the past week I have started volunteering at the Photographic Center Northwest across from Seattle University. I am the back desk/darkroom/studio monitor on Wednesday nights and have to keep track of chemicals and the photography students (when there are any). We are in between quarters right now, so it'll be slow for the next week and then I'll be fully immersed in my position. I really enjoy it, mainly because the darkroom is so familiar...even though the smells of the photo chemicals kind of reek, they are somewhat of a comfort for me.

I am also picking up the responsibility of being my youngest cousin's piano teacher on Monday nights. She didn't get along terribly well with her last teacher (he made her cry that last lesson and so she couldn't handle it any more) and asked if I would do it. It's been fun, although I have to rack my brain for how it is to learn as a child and I have to refresh myself on basic piano

skills. I'll be doing this until there is a better teacher found, but Emma really seems to be enjoying it and I get paid as well, so it all works out.

Rainboots, I've decided, are essential this time of year in Seattle. Well, at least they are better than my canvas Converse. It's been quite rainy around here, but at least everything is green and looks like spring, whereas I know in Montana it is probably cold (although sunny) and there is still snow on the ground.

We have the opportunity to house sit for a few people while we are here, which will extend the time where we don't need to find housing. It did bump around the schedule a bit and I am still figuring that out but I will post where we are in the upcoming future. Pi Day was Monday and

David came up to Newcastle to help us eat pie (I think originally it was to help us make it, but Patrick wanted to eat it at 1:59....so we would be eating at 3.14159...so it was already in the oven by the time he got there). Patrick and David discovered Lucas' Legos and had a blast for a few hours just playing. Lucas was just glad to have some friends who wanted to build cool things with Legos with him.

I am pretty sure I am missing a lot of events that happened the past week or two, but because the Internet is so plentiful around here, I am sure there will be future updates including them. Hope all is well for everyone out there reading this, cheers from Seattle!

You Have Brought Home 10 LBS of Food 03.06.2011

One of the things I forgot to mention in the last post is that the cousins love to make cookies with us. Usually "us" is Katie and I, but last weekend Patrick got roped into the deal. Each older cousin pairs with a younger cousin and bakes the cookie of choice. Patrick and Lucas made Swirl Chocolate Chip Cookies and Emma and I made Sugar Cookies with Frosting (with Sprinkles on the inside like FunFetti). I didn't realize that Patrick hadn't made cookies in probably 10 years...mix that in with high energy children in a small kitchen and the result is a little chaos and a lot of mess. He did well. The cookies are almost gone :)

Banker, Carpenter, Farmer? 03.07.2011

03.07.2011 Monday

So here we are, a week after we planned on being here. Getting here on a Friday was a little chaotic for the schedule. We had planned on jumping right onto job searching and phone calls and scheduling as soon as we arrived, but being that we showed up on a weekend, we felt a little jolted. So we recovered from our multiple recoveries, made cookies, cooked dinner, played with the cousins, helped with piano, dance and homework, called family and enjoyed the Seattle sunshine. OH and Maddy and Kyle were in town so we went downtown for our first celebratory clam chowder on the coast. Good to see familiar faces in a new place, we miss you guys!

Sunday Patrick went to church with Jim, Lisa and Lucas and I stayed back to help with Emma's to-do list, which included helping with piano. We then went the grocery store and made a mess of the kitchen making a yummy brunch for everyone.

Today was a little hectic but our first priority was getting a P. O. Box. We had our mail held in Belgrade at the post office and it was to be forwarded whenever we got to where we were going. We looked online at our options for locations and eventually settled on Bellevue, a central location between all family and friends. We went to one in Bellevue (the wrong one) and were unsuccessful. We came back, getting plenty of city driving practice, ate lunch and went out again. This time much more successful. So if you need to mail us anything, let us know and we will email you our address.

We have bus passes, a PO Box, a schedule for where we are staying and a few potential house-sitting opportunities for the summer (which would mean a little more time not paying rent). We have family that wants to see us, Montana friends who are making their ways towards us and we have each other. I am so glad I am doing this journey with Patrick, he is my rock and keeps me grounded. Love you honey.

You Have Forged the River Successfully. 03.04.2011

Still retro-actively posting. Almost done...

03.04.2011 Friday

We got a phone call from Carl at 1030 am saying our car was done and that he'd be there to pick us up soon. We loaded the car and hoped and prayed that we could either 1) get within 100 miles of our destination so if we broke down we could use our 100 mile tow or 2) get within an hour of Jim and Lisa's house because if we broke down there would be SOMEONE to come and get us. We didn't have to depend on either because we made it in one piece, two alternators later. We rolled in about 230 and I must have looked ridiculous because as soon as we parked I got out of the car and danced my little heart out. Every success deserves a happy dance.

We walked to the bus stop after reviewing our damage and unloading the beast. Lucas got off the bus and barely acknowledged us. I don't blame him. He was told multiple times that we'd be there just to be disappointed later that day. Emma was with a friend so she wasn't as interested that we were there. Plus she had already given up, remember?

So we're here. Finally.

You Have Broken A Wagon Wheel. You Have Small Pox. 03.03.2011

03.03.2011 Thursday

We got up super early, ate breakfast and got on the road to get our car. We packed and left by about 9:45 am and were on the road, over the passes and out of Montana in good time. By the time we had passed Spokane we were in high spirits and ready to get to Seattle. Patrick and I decided to stop in Moses Lake, WA for lunch and about 20 miles from our turnoff, our battery light came on. Which is exactly what happened before our car completely broke down in St. Regis. So our blood pressures spiked and we looked for the nearest turnoff. Pull into Moses Lake, park car at Arby's, Tessa stares at car silently once again, we call Carl and ask him what to do, call a Napa certified mechanic because...the alternator that was put in was a dud. Aparently this happens more often than not, which is slightly irritating when we are already four days off schedule and I am at the end of my emotional calm. Seriously.

We drove our car to the mechanic, Gasoline Alley with Ron as our mechanic and we find out that he doesn't have an alternator in his shop. Guess who does? Spokane. Guess when it will be in? 8 am the next morning. As in Friday. So we are without car, without somewhere to stay and I am literally on the brink of emotional breakdown (it came later). Luckily Ron was more than nice and drove us to the Shilo Inn and offered to pick us up in the morning when the car was done. He also said he'd get it done as soon as possible so we could get back on the road. So we loaded up again and were dropped off at 2 in the afternoon...insert emotional breakdown here. Thank God for mindless cable (that we are usually without) and an amazing husband (thank you Patrick) who hugged me until I was somewhat sane again. The pool (Shay's advice, thank you Shay) also calmed me down and my yummy turkey burger, fries and chocolate malt finished off that nasty emotional mess. I was still frustrated but could live with the normal Tessa-travel-karma delays once again. I couldn't, however, handle another phone call to my aunt, uncle and cousins letting them know that there was yet another delay. Emma had completely given up on us coming to stay with them at all and Lucas woke up every morning asking if we'd be there when he got back from school. Thank you Patrick for fielding that one.

You Have Broken a Wagon Axel 03.01.2011

03.01.2011 Tuesday

So the plus side of all of what has happened so far is that I got to see my first newborn calf. I managed to avoid the birthing process (I wasn't ready for that) but did get to see it within an hour of it being born.

We left relatively early on Tuesday morning loaded with our cheese sandwiches, pop and brownies to get us further on the road. The weather wasn't awful, although the potholes were somewhat horrendous, and we were just excited to be on our way. We saw the sign right before St. Regis, MT to check the weather stations for Lookout and Fourth of July Passes and realized our radio had stopped working. And all of the gauges dropped down to nothing. And there

wasn't any lights, windshield wipers, etc. So we quickly took the exit (turn signal not working), had to restart the car while driving 3 times (thank you driver's ed for that review) and barely drug into the gas station in St. Regis before breaking down completely. I just sat there and stared at the car. I am pretty sure Patrick asked me what I wanted to do next and all I did was sit there and stare at the car.

Let me give you a little background: When it comes to travel, I manage to miss buses, trains, planes, have cars break down, planes be delayed, lose luggage, etc. My travel karma is quite low, and the cause is somewhat unknown (I am a responsible and frequent traveler and always come prepared...). Patrick and I have gone to Chicago and Vancouver together and never had this bad luck come up. So Patrick got to experience what my adventures usually include. I have learned to live with this but this time was unexpected and extremely inconvenient. So there's the background.

Also, St. Regis is 71.6 miles from Missoula. We didn't make it far.

We had AAA tow us to Superior to Carl's (thank you Mom) and found out, as expected, it was the alternator. Carl's is a great place to take your car if you are ever stuck near the area, he's honest and a generally nice guy. Carl didn't have the part at his shop and so had to order it from Napa in Spokane. Too bad we couldn't have just towed it there and gotten a few hours closer. So we called Ken and Sue and they came and got us and took us out to dinner.

03.02.2011 Wednesday

We figured it would take a few hours to get the part and a few hours to install it in our PT Cruiser (gotta love small town MT, slow going and friendly). We made breakfast, went to the Book Exchange in Missoula, looked over some Ireland photos and books with Sue before we got the call at 2 that our car was done. We figured it would take an hour to get to Superior, 30 minutes to get the car ready and another few hours to get part way to Spokane so we decided we would just get it in the morning. We got some quality time with Ken and Sue, which is always appreciated.