Paris, Day One!

I woke up super early and headed to the train station to take the Eurostar to Paris. The train was so comfy and nice, what a way to travel. I arrived in Paris around 10:15, and checked into my hotel which is only one subway stop away from the train station. After unloading my luggage, I headed out. First up was lunch at a little café. I enjoyed a quiche and it was divine! Next, I headed to the Louvre. It was crazy crowded, and I'd been told there's no way to see everything in a day, so I picked out my "must sees," and started exploring. I saw the Mona Lisa, which was much smaller than I expected. Next was Venus de Milo, followed by the apartments of Napoleon, and then I went to the section on the history of the Louvre. I passed lots of beautiful artwork along the path to each of those things, and saw a ton. I was there for four hours, and probably only saw one quarter of the museum. It is HUGE! Next I made my way through town in the pouring rain to the Eiffel Tower. What a site!! I stared at the tower for about an hour, and the boarded the Champagne Cruise on the Seine. It was fantastic, and I sampled some delicious champagne from Champagne. Afterwards, I made my way back to the Gare d'Lest neighborhood, where my hotel is, and now I am enjoying dinner at a French bistro!

London, Day 6

My last full day in London started early, with saying goodbye to Andrea, who'd been by roommate during the conference, and breakfast at Pax Lodge. Kristi, Louiza, and I then headed out for the day. Our first stop was the Olympic Village. What a site!! There's a whole mini city established around the village with a spectacular mall, and the stadium is amazing. The aquatic arena looks like a stingray. Curious to find out if that was the intention. There's still tons of work being done, and it's going to be quite a sight when it's finished. We followed our trip to the official London 2012 shop with lunch. I enjoyed the official dish of London, curry! It was delicious!! Abbey Road was our next stop. Turns out that even though the subway stop says "Abbey Road," and the street signs say "Abbey Road," it's not THE Abbey Road... Oh well, we tried! Our next adventure was a trip to Oxford to see Christ Church and the college. AMAZING! It was a one-hour train trip, and then we spent the afternoon exploring. The "Harry Potter" dining room scenes were filmed there, and it served as Lewis Carrol's inspiration for "Alice in Wonderland." I'm so glad we went, especially since that's where I'd wanted to go originally on my bus tour! I picked up dinner from a local market, M&S, a BLT, chips, and a millionaire shortbread. All items were made locally from farms in the area. It was delicious! Got back to Pax around 8pm, and after packing up my things, it was off to bed!

London, Days 3 through 5

The conference started on my third full day in London. 40 people in attendance, 12 countries represented!!
Our council will be twinned with Suriname. Have you heard of it? I hadn't. It's in South America, and is the smallest country there with 450k residents. Each country identifies 15 girl leaders to work together on an environmental issues, concluding with a trip to Suriname to execute the program!!
Days were packed with sessions, and then free time. First night we went to the Garden Gate pub, which was fun. Second night we had a scavenger hunt around Lindon, competing on teams. Also super fun!! Our final day ended at noon, and I went out with new work friends, Louiza, Kristi, and Andrea to explore. We went to the Prime Meridian, took a boat tour down the Thames, and enjoyed drinks at a pub looking out onto the Palace of Westminster. It was a great afternoon!!!

London, Day 2

Day two in London was my bus trip! Started off super early with a tube ride to meet the shuttle. Was greeted by a hilarious old man who shuttled a group of us around in an old Harrod's bus to the bus terminal. My tour ended up getting cancelled because only 5 of us signed up, so we were bumped to the tour of our choosing. I chose Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, and Bath. It was great, the only thing I wish was that we'd had more time at each location. I loved Windsor Castle, its the Queen's permanent residence and it is so beautiful. We got a tour of the apartments, grounds, and some of the collectables, including an awesome old dollhouse belonging to Queen Anne. Next stop was Stonehenge, which was definitely amazing and fascinating!! We had lunch in a small pub along the route near the house where Harry Potter's parents lived in Wharton, England. Our final stop was Bath, where we had time to just roam. I enjoyed a stop at the Jane Austen museum, the Roman Baths, and Bath Abbey. I met a nice mid-western couple who thought I was 18... Got home super late, around 10:30, which I was not expecting, so I was exhausted, but so glad I decided to do the tour.

London 2012, first full day!

Today was excellent! I'm writing from a pub, The Famous Euston Flyer, enjoying a club sandwich with bacon (slices of ham) and chips (French fries), and wine. There are approximately 20 beers on tap, but since I still haven't acquired the taste, I'm enjoying wine!
The day started with the Royal Bike Tour. We saw Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, Trafalager Square, Big Ben, and much more!! We endured a combination of wind, rain, sun, and heat; classic London, our guide said. The group was small, only five of us, and I was the youngest by at least 20 years. During our ride, we stopped for lunch, and I chose the café inside the National Gallery. It turned out to be an excellent choice because the millionaire's shortbread was divine. It's a shortbread cookie topped with caramel and a disc of chocolate. Yum!!
After the bike tour I went to the daily church service at Westminster Abbey. Simply amazing!! It was pretty cool to think of everything that's happened there and everyone who's buried there. I happened upon Sir Isaac Newton's burial site which was cool.
I followed church with a ride on the London Eye. Very cool, though next time I'll definitely wait until dark because I bet the city is simply brilliant at night!!!
I'm headed home after I finish this glass of wine. Early start tomorrow as I'm headed to Oxford College, Windsor Castle, and Shakespeare's birthplace!

A year later. London 2012

I figured a trip to London was a good way to start up my blog again. Mainly because I want to remember everything on my first trip outside of north America!

Left 4.24.12 at 18:55, and after a mostly comfortable flight with free wine, decent food, and my own row, landed in London at 12:00 local time on 4.25.12. Brandi Carlile was on my plane, too! Do you know who she is? If not, look her up, she's rockin, literally -and figuratively!

The adventure of getting to Pax Lodge wasnt terrible, but I think it felt long because I was extremely tired and my bags felt heavier than I remembered them being when I packed them!

Made it to the lodge. It's in a cute little part of London with quiet streets and homes surrounding. After a nap I felt energized and ready to head out.

I had high tea at the Palm Court, Langham Hotel, and it was divine. I had their signature Langham Tea, finger sandwiches, awesome pastries, and of course, scones!!

I'm back at the lodge now, and ready for bed. Looking forward to a full day of adventuring tomorrow: Bike Tour, and a ride on the London Eye!!

Disclaimer: I've never blogged from my phone before, so I have no idea what kind of order these pictures from high tea will be in. :)

Be Sure to Wear Some Flowers in Your Hair

We're off to San Francisco in two days and I'm super excited!! Tomorrow is Marcy's last day of work at Girl Scouts, which we've both come to terms with. Her more than me, but I dwell and that's a story that would lead to a more negative post, so by the by.....

We're off to San Francisco! :) Marcy and I taking eight of our 5th Grade Girl Scouts to bridge to the next level of Girl Scouting by walking across the Golden Gate Bridge. Can't get more symbolic than that!! The girls have been working hard the last five months to fundraise and plan. On Sunday, we took a field trip to the airport so they could learn the ins and outs of security, travel, and proper packing. Some of the girls have only been on an airplane once and most haven't flown in 5 or 6 years, so this will be the first time they really remember.

We're meeting at the airport at 6:00 a.m., much to the dismay of some of the parents (haha!) on Friday morning. Every day is jam packed with exciting activities, including a haunted night tour of Alcatraz, the Academy of Sciences Museum, the Cable Car Museum (this is the thing the girls are MOST excited about - and so is our trip budget, since it's FREE!), and of course the Bridging Event. The Bridging Event draws in over 3000 Girl Scouts from across the country, so that should be really cool to see.

I'll post pictures when we're back. Have a fantastic weekend, and Happy Mother's Day to all my fabulous friends who are fabulous mothers :) And, of course, an extra special Happy Mother's Day to my mom!!

Goodbye Fall, Hello WINTER

Wow, I've become LAME as a blogger, and really I have no excuses.... Here's a recap of the past 2.5 months....

SEPTEMBER:
Marcy and I traveled to Colorado for Labor day and had a great time visiting friends in Denver and Estes Park. We even got to sneak in a visit with my cousin and his wife, which was so great. We were there for a wedding, and enjoyed hiking and reminiscing about our time working at the YMCA of the Rockies.


I quit Starbucks mid-September since Marcy and I were moving to South Seattle. It was a really tough decision, but it's amazing how much more time I have...which definitely doesn't help my case for why I haven't blogged......Here's my last chalkboard art at Starbucks...


At the end of September, I spent a weekend with my Girl Scout troop at Camp Robbinswold (a Girl Scout camp on the Hood Canal). We arrived on a Friday night in the midst of a massive thunder storm, which resulted in many crying wet children....BUT, we awoke Saturday to beautiful sunshine, and the Girl Scout Gods were shining upon us the rest of the weekend - it only rained at night or when we were inside - LUCKY!!!



OCTOBER:
Most of you know that Marcy and I lived with one of Marcy's clients for the year. Linden has Down's Syndrome and needs some extra help around the house, so while her parents were traveling for the year, we moved in to their house. Our year came to an end when Linden's parents got back at the beginning of October. It was bittersweet - we were REALLY excited to have our own space again, but we loved the neighborhood where Linden's family lived...and the free rent was a nice bonus :) We are loving our new place, and are finding things to love about our neighborhood every day!! Billy's favorite is the nice front yard where he can lounge and watch over the house at the same time :) Here's a few shots of our house before we moved in....




I went to the Kappa Delta Chapter at Washington State for Initiation weekend. It was great to participate in KD Ritual again - I hadn't been part of initiation since I was in college, and it was wonderful to welcome new sisters. I'm really enjoying my work as a chapter advisor and could foresee myself staying in this role for a while.

Mid-October we had a Girl Scout field trip (I'm sure you're thinking that my life is consumed by Girl Scouts - ha! It is, and I really do love it!!). We went on a walking tour of Downtown Seattle, and it was really fun to play tourist for a day. Many of the girls hadn't been downtown, so we had fun exploring all the sites and had a great meal at Ivar's on the water.


We spent a weekend in Bellingham with friends, and had so much fun. We explored the local farmer's market, ate delicious food, and went on a beautiful hike near Mt. Baker. Lovely!!


At the end of October, I turned 29!!! Can't believe it! Marcy and I planned to have a housewarming party at our new house, but little did I know that she also planned to have it double as a surprise party. Our friends teased her that she took the cheap way out by having me clean and prepare for my own birthday party - haha!! It was really fun and a great night spent with friends. And, lame as it may be...we took ZERO pictures!!!

Halloween we didn't have ANY Trick Or Treaters, so we left the house and spent the night with friends at a bar where you can bring your dogs. Billy was on cloud 9. We also watched the lame Ranger game that night - what a BUMMER!!

NOVEMBER:
I spent two weekends in Pullman at the KD house. The first one was for Council Officer Interviews. The second one was for Elections. The women elected a GREAT council and I'm excited to work with all the women next year.

We had ANOTHER (ha!) Girl Scout Field Trip. We had a lock-in at a local campground, and the girls spent the night doing fun activities, crafts, geocaching, and games. We all fell asleep watching "Alice In Wonderland" using a giant projector - it was like our own private movie theater. So fun!!

And now, here I sit, with the snow falling outside and loving it. I finally have some time to just sit with nothing to do and no excuses, so I BLOG!! Hope all is well where you are, and HAPPY THANKSGIVING. Hopefully I'll be back sooner than later :)

August updates thanks to my phone!

I've become so bad at remembering to take my camera with me! Luckily, since I have my phone, I can use that to remember events. It's not amazing picture quality, but it does the job...
Since working at my new job, I've discovered this awesome cupcake shop - check these out:


I went to Minnesota at the beginning of August for a family reunion. It was great to be back and see the cousins and enjoy some quality time. Of couse, I didn't take many pictures, so I'm relying on my dad to send me his. This is the only photo I got the whole weekend. Our first morning walk with Sadie:


I had a couple days after the reunion to hang out in Minneapolis before catching my flight home. I braved the crowds and headed to the Mall of America. It's changed a lot since I was there as a kid, but it was still a humorous experience :)


Marcy and I went with a couple of friends to a Melissa Etheridge concert with some friends. It was at the Paramount Theater, which is a really old theater that I love:



Our year living at Linden's house ends September 30, so we've been looking at a lot of places to live. We'd like to buy within the next year or so, but for now, I'm really excited with the place we found a couple weeks ago:

It has two bedrooms, one bath, a completely redone kitchen and living area, a full basement (unfinished, but that's FINE with me - more storage!!!), and the closets have these awesome closet organizers in them that I'm in love with. We move in next week!!!

Marcy and I went to this awesome event at the Woodland Park Zoo called "Tasting Flight" where we got to taste wines from a lot of local wineries and explore the Northwest America zoo exhibit. It was perfect weather and definitely delightful!!

Last weekend was a Girl Scout event called GirlFest! It was a really fun event with over 6000 attendees and lots of cool activities, ending with a concert by Josh Golden, who is a Radio Disney star - the girls went CRAZY! I was responsible for decorating the Meet and Greet Room for Josh to sign autographs and take pictures. This photo isn't the final result, but pretty close. I had a lot of fun!

This weekend we're in Denver, and since I'm up before everyone else (my typical pattern), I thought I'd blog a little. We're staying at our friend, Jenny's apartment, and her dog Koda does this 20 hours out of the day:

He is SO cute!! :)

Minnesota Here I Come!!!

It's another gorgeous day in Seattle, and it's supposed to stay that way through the weekend...but of course, I'm leaving tomorrow to head to Minneapolis...where it's raining.... I'm very excited, though, because I'm meeting all of my cousins, aunts, uncles, parents, and Bryan & Leann for our Family Reunion!!!! The last time we were all together was when my grandmother passed away six years ago, so it'll be great to all be in the same place together again.

I leave tomorrow afternoon, so after work today, I'll be packing, cleaning, and doing laundry. I have tomorrow off from Girl Scouts, but I open at Starbucks in the morning, which actually works out well, because then I'll be tired enough to sleep on the plane.

This morning, Billy and I went for our usual 3-mile jog around Green Lake. After we climbed the hill back home, I made a pit stop at Starbucks. Billy had to wait outside. This is how he felt about it.... (and I don't know why the photo is upside down...it definitely takes away from the cuteness factor...)


Have a great week!

Time Flies...

I can't believe how quickly the summer is passing by...

A quick recap of my life the past month:

It was a cold, dreary 4th of July here in Seattle. A couple of our friends live on a boat (cool, right?!?!) and we were going to watch fireworks from there, but bailed when the rain and wind didn't stop. July 5th = Beautiful...go figure :) We went on a really nice hike to Snoqualmie Falls, and really enjoyed it!!

I finished up my job at the YMCA on July 7th, and enjoyed a nice long weekend, starting at Girl Scouts on July 12th. I've been there a little more than a week, and I LOVE it. I feel totally different about this job than I felt about my job at the YMCA, and I'm so excited to be working for Girl Scouts in this new capacity!! Speaking of Girl Scouts...have you seen the new Girl Scout brand? It is totally rad and I love it!!

This weekend, some friends and I got together to watch "Troop Beverly Hills," make s'mores and pop popcorn in a kettle. It was really fun - most of the friends work at Girl Scouts, and hadn't seen "Troop Beverly Hills," which I was shocked by, so it was fun to watch it with them and laugh at what a ridiculous (and AWESOME!) movie it is!!

Today I got to take a new GS employee on a tour of our one of our camp properties, Camp River Ranch. We had a great time, and hiked all over camp, which I really enjoy. Tomorrow I'm going to visit one of our Community Day Camps (different from River Ranch because it's held at a community park and run exclusively by volunteers).

Here are some pictures I took with my phone during my morning workout the other day...I used the iPhone app "Hipstamatic" which takes "vintage" pictures - LOVE IT!!

Another New Job

Funny how the last time I posted, it was about a new job, and now exactly a month later, I have another new job.... Here's the story.

I started my new full-time job at the YMCA as a Program Supervisor of Before/After School Care and Day Camp Director in the summer. I was also still working part time for Girl Scouts and Starbucks, so my days were JAM PACKED - I left every morning at 6:00, and got home in the evenings at 6:30 or 7:00 - exhausting... The new job at the YMCA started out okay, but I never had that feeling of excitement I think you should have when starting a new job.... I thought I would give it some time, and see if I just needed to adjust. Well, the adjustment never happened. Instead of creating curriculum and supervising staff like I was told during my interview I'd be doing, I was providing direct care and felt more like a Day Care worker than anything else. Just not my cup of tea, so to speak.

Then, a job at Girl Scouts came open, I applied, and now it's my NEW JOB!!! The title is Area Manager - it's a job I've had my eyes on since first moving to Seattle, and a job I applied for in the past. I really like the Regional Director I'll be working for, and I am really glad to be staying with Girl Scouts. My reasons for leaving to go to the YMCA were not that I was frustrated with Girl Scouts, just more that I was ready for a new challenge. I know I may not have given the YMCA job 100% with still having two other part time jobs, but I think I would've wanted to put more into it had I been enjoying it more.

So, I'm finishing up my last two weeks as Day Camp Director, and then my YMCA Director will take over. She is being amazingly supportive through all this, and said this isn't the first time someone has left for the same reasons. I definitely feel badly, but I also think this is the right move for me.

I start as the Area Manager in July. I will be supervising 2,000 volunteer Troop Leaders, recruiting girls to Girl Scouting, and recruiting volunteers. I'm also going to serve on the Teen Programs committee and the Gold Award committee (the Gold Award is the highest Girl Scouting award - like the Eagle Scout). I can't wait for this job to start!!! WOOHOO!! :)

New Job and Parents in Town!!

I've had a busy May so far! My parents were in town for 8 days, so I got to play tour guide for the week. We had a blast, and even had a quick mini-vacation in Portland, which was a blast. After that, I started my new job at the YMCA. I am a supervisor for Before- and After-School Care at an elementary school during the school year and then during the summer I am the Day Camp Director at an elementary school. I am SO SO excited!! I am currently still also working at Girl Scouts, because I want to finish out the year with my girls, thus my day goes something like this....
6:30-9:00 - Before-School Care at Elementary School
9:40-11:30 - Teach Girl Scouts at Middle School
11:30 - 2:30 - Work on curriculum for Girl Scouts, run errands, plan Summer Camp
2:30 - 6:00 - After-School Care at Elementary School
It's chaos, but the extra cash I'll get from having both jobs, plus Starbucks, will be GREAT!! I'm only working at Starbucks on the weekends for now. My last day at Girl Scouts is June 22, so I'll be able to add more Starbucks hours then. Girl Scouts is keeping me on board during the summer at just 5-10 hrs. per week to write curriculum for the Girl Scout program, which I am happy to do, since I've already invested so much into it.

This weekend I went out to Orcas Island in the San Juan Islands for a YMCA retreat with all the other Day Camp Directors. I had a great time....once I got there. I was going late to the retreat because I had to work at Starbucks yesterday morning. I drove an hour north to catch a ferry to the island...The woman at the ferry terminal directed me to the WRONG FERRY!! Me, having never been up there before, trusted her, obviously to a fault. We arrived in Friday Harbor, and I called my boss to come pick me up. Once we realized that I was on the wrong island, I had to wait for another ferry to take me to Orcas.... I ended up being a couple hours late, but still got to meet a lot of cool people and get some great information!! I'm PUMPED FOR SUMMER!!!

Needless to say, my hectic schedule leaves little time for blogging, but I'll do my best :)
Here are some pics from the last month....

Me teaching (my parents came to watch me teach!!!)


My 6th Graders


My 7th and 8th Graders


Marcy, Me, and Mom at Happy Hour


Argyle Winery - where I went wine tasting with my parents - YUMMMM


Dobbes Family Winery - our next winery stop - also YUMMMM


Us on our bikes!!


My parents and me at Two Tarts Bakery (one of our stops on a Bicycle Tour we did!!)


My mom and me trying on some headware at the Portland Farmer's Market


We went Geocaching on our way back to Seattle. This is my parents at the first Geocache ever - they were excited!!


My parents in front of a waterfall on our hike


Multnoma Falls in Oregon - 4th highest waterfall in the US


BILLY