Party at the Needle

Last night we went to a benefit party that one of our friends helped plan. It was held at the Space Needle so we were excited because even though we have lived in Seattle for 7 months we haven't been to the top. It was a cocktail event with mostly Microsoft & Boeing employees. After getting ready we taxied there because my feet were freezing. They had a great DJ, 3 bars, & appetizers. Everyone was given 3 drink tickets and the opportunity to go to the observation deck. After we left, we went to a friend's apartment for a little while & then trekked it back to our place (& yes this time I walked back in my heels). We had a great time. I love to dance & so it was great for me! Thanks Dave for dancing with me!

Downtown view

the bay

Us

Our friends..Diane, Davis, George, me, David (Freddo), & Frankie

Everyone in line for drinks...Adri is the only one looking

Can't remember name, George, & Adri

Moving

After much debate, Davis & I have decided to move into an apartment next door. It is ran by the same management, but is a little more upgraded than our current apartment. Our main reasons for moving were because it has hardwood floors and it will be warmer! Davis freezes in our current apartment & our electric bill is ridiculous. The new apartment will have direct sunlight through the windows and also has enclosed, heated hallways. We are super excited, but dread moving our stuff. We are still looking to buy, but our lease was up so we decided to change places.

We are moving next weekend and I will post pictures as soon as I can!

Pictures

John & Nancy - I know you guys took pictures at Ma & Pa's house & I was wondering if you could send them to me. Email is csmith83@utk.edu
I would appreciate it greatly!

Obviously I am the picture taker of the family considering we have no pictures from Estill. I am sorry about that and will be better in the future. I have told Davis that he needs to take pictures, but I guess I am going to have to do it!

Tennessee Pictures

So this is the most random assortment of pictures & it is a lot of pictures! Enjoy!

Valentine's Day was spent in Knoxville with friends & of course we went to Waffle House

Adam Chan being Adam Chan

me & my bestest....Thanks Tyler for staying with us at mom's & for letting us stay with you!

Me & Adam Chan....We love this Asian

Us with Dad & Barb....You guys need to come visit!

Davis in my 4th grade leather jacket....he is cute in everything

Me & my sister....in case you can't tell

The whole crew at Soccer Taco....I am so glad that everyone of you were able to attend!

Me & J-man

Jonas feeding uncle Dave

me, mom, & Greg

TVA ash spill

The girlies at LJS (Long John Silvers)!

loving on Jonas

nephews at daycare

Jonas loved the camera

who knows why

Dave & I were more entertained than the nephews with the building blocks

the kids outside CB (Cracker Barrel)

me, Dave, & mamaw

Dave loving on Greg

me & my wonderful mom!

A Week In Tennessee

Our week vacation has been wonderful! We have enjoyed being able to see everyone & thank everyone for being so flexible. I have a ton of photos/videos to post, but I am going to wait until we get to Seattle to do so. Our schedule worked as predicted. We enjoyed home cooked meals, Cracker Barrel, Waffle House, Soccer Taco, Copper Cellar, and Chili's molten cake! Yes, we ate a lot, but we did stay on track with the marathon training.

We can't wait for everyone to move to Seattle! or at least come visit!

We got to meet Daniel's new girlfriend, Kalie and tour Vanderbilt campus. These were extras to our already packed week!

We were also blessed with re-arranging my bedroom at home because my sister and her crew moved into my old room. Since the TVA ash spill Nolan has been breaking out in a rash & not to say that it is TVA's fault but you never know so precautionary measure was to move in with mom. We had to move all of our wedding gifts that didn't make it to Seattle upstairs in the extra closet. This was a pain, but well worth it for Nolan's health! I love my nephews and I do miss getting to see them whenever I want! I was able to spend a lot of time with them this week & even got to go to their daycare for a Valentine's Day party!

Mom's house was packed Friday night. Along with Davis & I staying at mom's, Mandy, Chris, Nolan, Jonas, and my best friend Tyler stayed the night. It was a full house! Saturday afternoon we all gathered downstairs & watched The Family Stone. It has always been mine & mom's favorite thing to do on Saturdays....Eat pancakes & lay around while watching movies (granted mom usually doesn't see the movie)!

We spent Valentine's Day night with friends. It was a wonderful night and it was great to see everyone that was able to come. Thanks Tyler for letting us stay the night! Also thanks Amber for brunch Sunday morning. It was delicious! It was good to see Evie and I loved her loving on me!

We are going to miss everyone & really hope that will have visitors soon!

Thank you to everyone who cooked for us and/or took us to dinner/supper (that's for dad)!

We hope that Gregory had a good birthday party. We thoroughly enjoyed the company, the meal, & the margaritas!

Davis Boarding

Boarding

Davis and I love to go snowboarding on the weekends! It is something that we both love & it's awesome to have the athletic common interest! Pictures below....

This picture is from a few weeks ago when 2 friends from college were in town on business. We were so glad to see familiar faces and be able to show them our city! This picture is in front of the gum wall in Post Alley!

Davis boarding

The mtns...it is so beautiful

Us sitting on the slopes

Davis boarding

The beautiful scenery

Me probably after a fall

Me boardin

Me & my new helmet

My wonderful husband bought me a helmet because I was too scared to go fast without one. I have been wanting one for a while so I was extremely happy! I love it and it doubles as a great beanie!

Movie night....I am wearing my newly crocheted hat!

Life in Seattle by my lonesome!

Not much has happened, but I figured it was time for a post! The past 2 weeks Davis has been in San Fran working Mon-Thur so Beast and I have been hanging out by ourselves. The bad thing about our friends in Seattle is they all travel too. So when Davis is out of town so is the others & that leaves me here by myself. Although I don't mind it too much. I have been keeping busy watching Vivian & applying for every job available in Seattle. I also applied for jobs in San Fran, Greece, Mexico, and anywhere else that I would love to go. The funny thing is the application for the Mexico job was in Spanish & I actually did a good job of understanding and responding. It was a proud moment for me. The Greece job already responded and told me that I would need an EU passport which I did some research on & it is a ridiculous process so I do not think we will be moving there any time soon. Some people think it is hard to get US citizenship...try Greece!

I have been super excited about coming home and we will be landing in Tennessee on Tuesday! The only thing I am not excited about is leaving Beast :( Although our neighbors are keeping him and they are super nice people and are very excited about having him. We are having dinner with them Sunday and taking Beast to their apartment for a pre-visit! It will be nice for him to get sniff the place before actually settling in for a week.

I have made a schedule for us while we are in Tennessee so that we can try to accomplish everything we want to do in the short week we will be there.
Here is a rough draft:
Tues - land & stay in Estill Springs
Wed - drive to Harriman (spend time in the afternoon with Mom & eat supper at Mamaw's w/ fam)
Thur - go see memaw & supper with Dad, Barb, Russ, Pooh, Mandy, Chris, & boys
Fri - take Greg to Soccer Taco for his birthday (enjoy Margaritas w/ the Cancun crew) & Tyler
Sat - lay around, maybe lunch with Dad?, supper with friends in Knoxville
Sun - dinner with fam before leaving for Estill Springs & then back to Seattle...last day with my fam :(
Mon - spend the day with Tammy (she has the day off...Presidents Day?)
Tues - spend the day with Tammy, Daniel, and possibly Daniel's new girlfriend Kalie in Nashville before going to the airport & flying back to Seattle

Hope everyone is as excited as we are! We can't wait to see everyone!