Random thoughts about Seattle

So I'm still getting used to this urban mom thing. Life is very different when you're living downtown. Here is a sampling of thoughts/random experiences so far that has made Seattle memorable so far, but beware, it is long and very random. This is my way of remembering our summer. :)

~First of all, I must say that our view is so amazing! That is my favorite thing about our apartment. The water looks so beautiful in the afternoons when the sun is out:

And today I learned why the water looks light green close to the shore and dark blue out farther during the day....it's because of the tide going out. It gets very dark blue again around dinner time, and now I know why!

There are so many beautiful plants. We just love driving around and looking at people's yards. It is so green and lush here.

~I am not very good at parking a van in a parking garage with skinny parking spaces. This garage was not built for larger vehicles, and I have found myself trying to park and having to go back and forth several times to squeeze in just the right way. I think since real-estate is such a commodity here, they make the parking spaces extra small. And people park along the curbs everywhere you go, even in the outlying neighborhoods. I have not been brave enough to parallel park the van yet! So that means that I get to keep driving in circles until I find a spot or a curb that is not packed.

~Grocery shopping is an adventure here. If you want a real grocery store, you have to drive a ways to find one. Thankfully, there is one by swimming lessons, so I shop after. But in 4 weeks when they are done, we'll see what we do. Many people here order groceries online and have them delivered. I may have to look into that! But at any rate, getting the groceries and 3 kids from the parking garage to the 10th floor is a bit of a feat. I have decided that the best thing to do is to take the kids up to the apartment, occupy them with lunch or a movie, and then take my new double jogging stroller back down to load all of the groceries in and then roll them to the elevator and then back up to the apartment. That way it only takes me one trip. This double stroller has come in very handy, and not just with my kids! Pike's Place Market is just a block away from us, so I plan to try out the fresh produce this week. We'll see how that goes!

~Whenever I am out and about with the kids, I always get lots of looks from people, and usually a few comments. The looks range from, "Oh, how cute!" to "You must be crazy!" I think I am quite the spectacle. You will see the occasional stroller, and very rarely 2 kids, but I've never seen 3. I'm getting used to the comments (I got them before, but now much more often!).

~Swimming lessons have been interesting, because once again, I look much younger than the other moms there and have more kids. The common comments are, "You've got your hands full!" or "I don't know how you do it!" I love mentioning where we moved from....maybe it will open up some missionary opportunities down the road.

~We went to Steamer's Fish and Chips Friday night and it was so yummy! That was my first real fish and chips and Justin had the grilled fish tacos. Oh so good!

~Going to the library....is it really worth it? It costs $13 to park there. So we walked. Alright. I know it's a great place to take the kids to get books, go to story times, etc. But seriously, I almost died when we went there yesterday. The library is 2 blocks to the south and 3 blocks to the east of us. Not bad, right? Except for the fact that the 3 blocks east are extremely STEEP! Like San Francisco steep (not that I've been there, but those streets look really steep too). The real kicker is the fact that between the weight of my new double stroller (which we love) and the weight of my 2 girls, it's about 85 pounds. So the first steep block was okay. I was feeling the burn from pushing that stroller up the hill. Then the second hill came and I was really huffing and puffing to get up it. The third hill was just about impossible. I struggled up that thing and felt like I had just ran a mile (and I am out of shape and don't like running!). I am sure that I was quite the sight to behold. And most of the looks that time were, "She must be crazy!" and rightfully so. Coming back down the hill was a struggle as well. It was almost all I could do to white-knuckle the stroller handle and pit my weight against the 85 pounds that was ready to roll down the block full steam ahead! I am positive that there were people laughing at me and I walked - half leaning back. I am really not looking forward to going there again, especially since I will also be pushing the weight of the 9 books we checked out! So I'm not sure what we're going to do next time.

~Today we came home from swimming lessons to the tune of our two maids cleaning the apartment top to bottom. I could really get used to this!

~Finally, I am very thankful that I have made a fast friend in a girl who is the wife of an MBA here to do an internship at Amazon as well (they're LDS) from Michigan State. She lives close to us, and we've done many outings together. We ventured out last Friday to explore the communities outside of Seattle. We enjoyed walking around the temple, and we got educated about a couple of suburbs.

We figure, we'd better look around now, in case we end up here next year. I'm thankful to have a friend to get lost with and be a spectacle with (she's got a son). Thank goodness for the church! If it weren't for that, I would feel very out of place here.