I Heart Seattle! (Part 1)

It has been two weeks, and I feel I have finally recovered (enough) to share our Seattle trip with everyone.  Nathan and I took a trip to Seattle to watch the Seahawks-Patriots game on Oct 14.  Having never been to Seattle before (which is weird, considering how close we live to it), we decided to go up a couple days early so that we could spend our Saturday doing some sightseeing.

We stayed at the Hampton Inn by the airport, which I would HIGHLY recommend to anyone taking a trip to Seattle.  For $75 a night, we got a super nice hotel room, a delicious free hot breakfast every morning, and free 24-hour transportation to and from the airport, light rail, and multiple restaurants (even after we checked out on Sunday morning).  As someone who is always hunting for a bargain, I would say we definitely got it with the hotel!

The weather forecast for the weekend was rain, rain, and you guessed it – more rain!  So, Saturday morning, we layered on our Under Armor, raincoats, and hats, took the hotel shuttle to the light rail station, and took off for a little sightseeing in the rain.  It is amazing what you can do with a smartphone and a map of Seattle, and we had the whole day planned out.  We had two goals – see as much as we could see, and only eat at local Seattle restaurants.

Our first stop was Pioneer Square, to hit Smith Tower and the Waterfall Park.  I had read about this park on the Pioneer Square website and naively thought there was a real waterfall in the middle of downtown.  Yes, ha ha, joke on me.  It was a manmade waterfall in a courtyard, in a neighborhood where the only people seemed to be homeless, druggies, or just plain creepy people.  Funny how the website didn’t mention THAT part.  But the man-made waterfall was pretty.

Smith Tower wasn’t open yet (note to self – nothing opens until 10).  So, we made our way north into a less-creepy part of Pioneer Square and had some authentic Seattle’s Best Coffee (definitely better than Starbucks!) until the tower opened.  Never heard of Smith Tower?  Until the night before, neither had I.  We had been debating whether the $19/person fee to ride to the top of the Space Needle was worth it, when we saw that someone mentioned the Smith Tower online.  For only $7.50/person, you can ride the manually operated elevator (super awesome) to the 35th floor and access the observation deck.  You can see downtown, the waterfront, and even the Space Needle (on a clear day, you can also see Mt. Rainier).  You can also check out the Chinese Room on the 35th floor, which features a ceiling made of porcelain discs imported from China, and a 300 year old “wishing chair”.  The story is that if a single woman sits in the chair and genuinely wishes for love, she will be engaged within one year.  We got to the Smith Tower when it opened, and we had the entire place to ourselves for the half hour we were there.  We got a personal tour of the Chinese Room, and it was amazing to be the only ones on the observation deck!  I am guessing we couldn’t get that at the Space Needle.  The Smith Tower was one of the best stops of our day.

 

After Smith Tower, we continued heading North toward Pike Street Market.  We planned to ride the light rail, but once we started walking it just seemed easiest to keep on walking!  On the way, we made a nerd stop so that I could check out the Seattle Public Library.

The library building is so cool and unique.  It is TEN whole floors, and the fourth floor is this lovely surprise:

I kid you not; the entire fourth floor is red.  Except for the bathrooms.  (Which was disappointing, because I really wanted to see what an all red bathroom would look like.)  The fourth floor was also surprisingly deserted.

Next up after the library was a quick stop to see what a City Target looks like (they have separate escalators for your cart!) and then it was off to Pike Street Market!  I can’t believe how huge that place is.  You could spend all day there and probably not see everything.  We checked out the shops, the farmer’s market, the fish stand (yes, we got to see a fish getting thrown – there is nothing quite like seeing a giant dead fish fly through the air!), and the antique market.

Next, we continued walking our way north until we reached the Olympic Sculpture Park.  It is right on the water, a few blocks west of the Space Needle.  It features several unique sculptures, along with an excellent view of the Needle itself.

 

 

From the Sculpture Park, we made our way to the Space Needle.  We felt we had gotten our view and money’s worth at the Smith Tower, so we didn’t go up to the top, but we enjoyed the atmosphere.

 

At that point, we realized it was only 1:30 in the afternoon.  It’s amazing what you can get done when you get up early!  We had seen nearly everything that we wanted to see in just a few hours, despite the fact that we had walked well over two miles at that point.  We slowly made our way back toward Pike Street Market via Belltown.  We stopped at a little eatery called The Lucky Diner for a little snack to tide us over until dinner. They serve breakfast items all day, one of which is a delicious dish called Home Fries.  Yummmmm.  Belltown had tons of cool little shops and restaurants, and I wish we had stayed a whole week so that we could eat at every single one!  We made a slight detour so that I could see the Nordstrom flagship store (fancy and expensive, as always) and check out the downtown Nordstrom Rack (ten times busier than Portland, yikes!).  Then we headed down the Harbor Steps to check out the Pike Street waterfront.

At this point, we had walked over four miles and my legs were to the point that I could walk no farther.  So, we painfully climbed back up the ten million Harbor Steps to cap off our night with dinner at the Pike Street Market.  We picked the Pike Place Brewery (also called Pike Place Pub), because not only did it look like a pretty cool place, but it came highly recommended for great food (especially good burgers).  And frankly, a good burger is the way to our hearts!  The restaurant was awesome, and the food did not disappoint, prompting Nathan to claim that it was “the best burger I’ve ever had in my life”.  If you know him, you know this is a big deal!

By the time we finished dinner, it was 6 pm.  The market was closed, we had seen everything we wanted to see, and we were dead on our feet!  So we hopped the light rail back to our hotel to prepare for the big Sunday ahead of us.  One of the best parts about our day Saturday was how many other Patriots (and USC) fans we saw out and about – we definitely were not the only ones sightseeing.  It was really fun to say hi and wave to complete strangers who shared our team spirit (and even more fun when people mistook us for being from Boston!).  We had the most fantastic day exploring Seattle, and I am so glad we went a day early to take advantage of it.

Stay tuned for Part 2 and the big game!

Another Happy Happy Birthday!

Today we are wishing a very happy birthday to the best husband ever!

He looks so thrilled to be moving from mid to late twenties, doesn’t he?  He should be, because I made a delicious cake to celebrate the occasion and put him into a sugar coma!

Make a wish!

Happy birthday to the best husband I could ever have asked for.  We love you, Nathan!

*For those wondering about the cake, you can find the recipe at this awesome blog.  I followed her recipe exactly except for making white cake instead of chocolate, and tripling the amount of peanut butter cups.  Super rich but also super easy, and no cake decorating talent required (always key when I am involved).

Birthday Shout Out

Today, I want to give a short but sweet birthday shout out to the smartest, coolest, prettiest, and most fun medical school student in the world!!!  That’s not even me being biased, it’s just the truth.

Happy birthday Erika!

A Lesson In Adulthood . . . From Teenagers?

What makes a person a grown up?

The term “grown-up” or “adult” means different things to different people.  The definitions have changed and blurred over the years.  Especially in this age, where many young adults live at home longer, spend more time in college, and wait until they are older to get married.  Some people classify being an adult as reaching a certain age, like 18 or 21.  Some people classify it as a stage in life, like moving out on your own, getting your first full time job, getting married, or becoming a parent.  Some people consider it being financially independent.  And some people consider adulthood to be a frame of mind.

I would argue that being an adult is some combination of these things.  A 16 year old child actor can be financially independent and emancipated from their parents, but that doesn’t make them an adult.  On the other hand, a grad student may live at home while pursuing their advanced degree, or might receive financial help here and there from their parents, but they are still an adult.  So, the most logical definition of an adult would be some combination of the above mentioned factors.

But perhaps one of the most damning signs of adulthood is a lesson provided by the younger generation – a lesson in what the phrase “turn in to your parents” actually means.  A couple weeks ago, I had the privilege of chaperoning a group of high school kids on an overnight athletic trip, and they delivered that lesson loud and clear.

* * *

Teenagers are incredibly noisy.  Did you know that?  The words, “Indoor voices please!” actually came out of my mouth.  When I heard myself say that, I cringed – the first time.  Because another thing about teenagers?  They have very short term memories.  So I uttered those words not once, not twice, but three times.  Oy.  By the third time, I was no longer cringing.  I really just wanted them to be quiet.

Teenagers are also not great listeners.  The building we stayed at was unfortunately a victim of the same useless, malfunctioning Kidde smoke alarms that are found in my house.  The group bathrooms didn’t have a door, and the steam from the showers set off the smoke detector in the hall.  Of course, the girls didn’t care for it beeping.  Nor did they listen to me when I said, “Leave it alone, it’s just the steam.  It will turn off on its own.”  Now, those seemed like pretty clear instructions to me.  But to a teenage mind, I actually said, “Yes, please take down the smoke detector and mess with it.  Who cares that removing smoke detectors is a federal offense, and we are guests at an army base?” 

Needless to say, I was not happy when I returned two minutes later to find them with the smoke detector in one hand and batteries in another.  I asked what they thought they were doing, and they replied that it wouldn’t stop beeping.  I told them to put it back up immediately.  Several confused faces looked at the ceiling and then at me.  “How are we supposed to get it up there?”

If I were a cartoon character, steam would have started coming out of my ears.  But this is real life.  So, I did the only logical thing I could do – told them off.  “How did you manage to get it down?  I told you not to take it down, and you did it anyway, so you get to figure out how to put it back up.  I don’t care how you do it, but I will be back in five minutes and it better be attached to the ceiling!”  And thankfully, it was.

The fun didn’t stop there.  Before we could leave the dorm that we were staying at, we had to clean the place spotless and get it signed off.  But the thing is, you can’t start cleaning until everyone packs up their stuff.  And as it turns out, teenagers move at approximately the speed of a turtle.  For the first time, I understood why my dad was always nagging my sisters and I about taking ridiculously long showers.  I mean seriously, how long does it take one person to take a shower?  And why does it take twenty minutes to brush your hair?  At one point, I finally sent one of the girls in to tell the other ones to get moving and get out of the shower, or else I would come tell them myself, and I certainly would not be nice about it.  And once I finally got them to get dressed, pack their stuff, and get it outside, I learned the hard way that teenagers do not voluntarily clean anything, and was forced to transform myself into The Evil Cleaning Drill Sergeant.

If there was any doubt that I am nothing but a cranky old adult, I hunted down the coaches of the other team that we shared a dorm with when their girls made a mess in the bathroom and then did not help to clean.  Seriously, they completely disappeared.  I had already made my girls clean the entire dorm, and I didn’t think it was fair that they have clean the entire bathroom too.  When I asked the girls from the other team about it, they said, “Well our coach said we didn’t have to because we are seniors.”  HA!  Well, I am apparently on my way to being a senior citizen, so that excuse was not going to fly.  So I went outside, found their coach, and said, “Excuse me, but the dorm and bathroom have to be signed off on for being cleaned before we leave.  My girls have cleaned the entire dorm out by themselves.  What are your girls cleaning?  I would suggest the bathroom.”  The coach looked at me like I was mental, but ten minutes later a bunch of grouchy teenage girls filed up the stairs to clean a bathroom against their will.  SUCCESS!!!  The Evil Cleaning Drill Sergeant strikes again!!!!

* * *

I disliked the word “grown-up” for a long time, because I associate it with the world “old”.  And we all know how I feel about being old.  But the trip a few weeks ago made me realize that in comparison to teenagers, I AM old.  (And also, I am apparently turning into my Mom and Dad.  So, congratulations to me.)  But you know what?  I like being an adult.  I like indoor voices, going to bed at a reasonable time, and taking naps after dinner.  And besides that, my mom and dad are pretty cool, and always right about everything (including the fact that no one needs to spend 45 minutes taking a shower, no matter how much you love hot water).  And I do like being right.  So if being an adult means turning into them, I guess it can’t be all bad.

And now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go to bed.  This old lady needs her beauty rest so that she can take on Seattle this weekend.  Go Patriots!!!!

A Whale of a Time

Over Labor Day weekend, Nathan and I escaped to the Oregon coast for a short camping trip with my parents.  We went to Beverly Beach, which is one of my very few “approved” campgrounds.  I have a lot of requirements for an acceptable campground, including but not limited to: flushing toilets, showers, minimal dirt and bugs, weather that is not too hot, and a low risk of being mauled by a bear while I sleep.  All in all, I do not think these are unreasonable requirements.

I was a little nervous about camping with my parents.  Not because I don’t love spending time with my parents, but because they have a much higher appreciation of nature than I do.  As in, they aren’t afraid of dirt, bugs, and bears.  They even like hiking!  Yikes.  I am really not a nature person (or a camping person, for that matter).  I just really like going to the beach.  So off we went.

The weather was absolutely beautiful all weekend.  We spent most of Saturday at the beach, enjoying the sunshine and getting A LOT of exercise.

My parents, being ambitious and nature loving and all that, took off on a walk and disappeared immediately.  I, on the other hand, dawdled slowly down the beach, then got water in my shoes and had to take a break to dry off.  This is when I learned the lesson that driftwood does indeed have splinters, and you should sit on driftwood at your own risk.  Just an FYI. 

While we were sitting, Nathan pointed out a cliff in the distance.  He thought the cliff looked really similar to Devil’s Punchbowl, a state park day use area that we usually drive to from our campground.  Somehow, he managed to convince me that it would be a good idea to walk there and see if it really was the Punchbowl.

So we walked.  And walked.  And walked some more.  We passed my parents, who had walked to the distant cliff and were on their way back to camp with my dad’s prized beach finds.

My parents said that they didn’t see any access from the beach to the top of the cliff, and that they did not think it was Devil’s Punchbowl.  Nathan insisted, so he and I continued walking.  And walking.  So much walking . . . but finally, we reached the cliff.  And the stairs.  The millions and millions of stairs.  But FINALLY we reached the top.

The view from the top of the stairs.  I was not kidding about the long walk!

Once we reached the top, we noticed a large crowd gathered at the lookout over the Punchbowl.  It was low tide, so the Punchbowl couldn’t be that interesting.  We wandered over and were rewarded with the sight that made the walk all worth it.  WHALES!  Not one, not two, not three, not four, not five, not six, not seven, but a whole gigantic POD of whales!  (TAKE THAT, STUPID LEBRON JAMES!)

As you may know, seeing whales is one of my most favorite things ever.  I get very excited and jump up and down like a child.  Judge all you want.  Seeing a whale breach is one of my life goals (sadly, despite an hour and a half of whale watching that day, none of the whales breached).  But it made up for it by seeing so many at one time.  There must have been some good food in that water, because the whales were everywhere!  After several texts to my mom about how cool the whales were and how they were missing it, she and my dad texted that they were heading back.  I figured they were about halfway back to the campground beach and must just be turning around. 

When they finally showed up over a half an hour later, I asked what took them so long.  Somehow, they had managed to walk all the way back to our campsite and smuggle in my dad’s prized seaweed by the time Nathan and I reached the Punchbowl.  And then they turned around and walked all the way back!  (I told you these people love exercise and nature.)  They were glad they had walked back though, because the whales were still swimming all over the place.  It was so much fun to watch.

The walk back really tired everyone out, so we spent the afternoon relaxing, reading, and eating some yummy food!

Just before dinner, the Nature-aholics struck again and somehow forced me into a hike on the nature trail around the campground.  I sort of blame Nathan for this, because he agreed to go and therefore I was forcefully dragged along.  I did try to make a break for it a couple times and turn around to go back to camp (I would have succeeded too, if not for my husband.  Apparently he pays more attention to what I am up to than I thought.)  I nearly had a heart attack when we stepped onto the trail and saw the sign saying, “CAUTION! A bear was sighted here on _______.”  Nathan and my parents claim that this sign was just posted just in case someone ever DID see a bear, and the fact that the date was blank meant no bear had been spotted.  Since my escape attempts had failed, I had no choice but to believe them.  So they won, and I unwillingly went on a hike.  (But you better believe I whined the whole way.)  We had a nice dinner out in Newport and yummy s’mores for dessert.

On Sunday, my parents went home and Nathan & I stayed one more day.  The weather was even more perfect that day!  We spent Sunday laying on the beach like lazy bums.  We ate lunch, read books, and it was warm, sunny, and perfect.  The best part was, the whales were still around, and we could see them spouting from the beach!!!  The trip was definitely a success in the whale watching department.  We ate dinner at the campground that night and enjoyed the sunset on the beach.

Contemplating life.

All in all, it was a much needed, relaxing, and fun vacation.  Hopefully we can do it again next year!

Be Jealous!

Because I, Megan, have a date with destiny!

That’s right, Seattle!  Watch out, because Megan & Nathan are coming to town!

Now, all that remains to determine is how much more Patriots gear I need to purchase.  Did you know that you can buy stickers for your FACE????  This is a very tempting thought.

In other related news, the TBFC dominated (and I mean DOMINATED) Week 1 by crushing their opponent 131-68 and leading the league in points (only two other people scored over 100; 111 and 101, respectively)!  All this was accomplished with mediocre RB play, a defense that scored negative points, and only an average day from the Golden Boy.  The wide receivers that I “didn’t love” stepped up big time.  As did the kicker I hated.  And then after this was all said and done, some dude offers me Jordy Nelson for Reggie Wayne.  I have a hard time seeing how this will benefit them, but it will certainly benefit me, so I took it.  Put in claims on Kevin Ogletree and Dexter McCluster by dropping the frighteningly terrible Ryan Williams and Jonathon Dwyer.  So, we’ll see if we can continue the path of excellence in Week 2.

I don’t like to brag, but this is likely the only week I will do so well, so I had to do it.  There is currently a poll in our league posing the question, “What do you think? Will Tom Brady Fan Club go all the way to the championship game?”  So far, there are ZERO “yes” votes, and 3 “no” votes.  And one of those no votes is mine!  So for today, I will brag all I want.

Team Nabime (the team of ever changing names that my dad and I, joined this year by Nathan, run in a league where real money is on the line) continued its history of underachieving.  Team Nabime really outdid themselves this week, scoring the second lowest points of the weekend and kicking off the season with a loss.  I find this shocking, since we have what I consider to be a great roster.  I would kill to have some of these RB’s and WR’s on the TBFC!  But despite all this, our KICKER was our high scorer for the weekend.  And unfortunately, there is no one but myself and our good for nothing wide receivers to blame.  Now you you see why I have to brag when things go well!

THE COUNTDOWN TO OCTOBER 14 STARTS NOW!

Flashback Friday: Raising Your Political Voice

HA!  I bet you all thought I had forgotten about Flashback Friday after its one and only debut performance.  Well, fear not and call me an elephant!  Because I never forget. (About Flashback Friday, that is.  About what day of the week it is, that’s another story.)  And all the talk of politics lately has made me a little nostalgic.

The first year that I was able to vote happened to be an election year, in 2004.  At that time, I was a freshman at UO.  I lived on campus that year, and it was such an exciting time to be there!  People were really buzzing about the election, and it was THE big thing on campus that fall.  There were rallies, voter registration campaigns, and it was the main topic of discussion in the dorms and around campus.  One day, Howard Dean came to talk at the EMU, and the turnout was huge.  Everyone was going to attend to hear what he had to say.  I myself did not go (I had a class at the same time), but you could hear the rally inside the buildings and blocks away at the dorms.  For everyone who says 18 year olds don’t care about their country?  That experience was proof for me that they do. 

I was so excited that my first vote could be part of something big like a presidential election.  I remember on election night, the girls on my floor all spent the night parked around the TV’s in our tiny dorm rooms, eating ice cream and watching the results.  At the time, a lot of people on campus were disappointed that George Bush was elected to another term.  I’ll admit, I was a little disappointed too.  I didn’t like Kerry, but I also did not like the direction our country was headed.  In retrospect though, it was the right thing, and I think most of those disappointed students would agree with me.  If it weren’t for that loss, we would not have had the victory that really mattered with Obama in 2008.

I was even more excited for the election in 2008.  The message of change really hit home with me (still does), and in Barack Obama I saw our future.  I was honored to vote for him, and watching his speech on election night filled me with so many emotions.  On that night, for the first time in my relatively young life, I understood how it felt to be truly proud of my country.  One of my co-workers in Eugene got to be in Washington during that time, and she brought back election buttons for my parents and for me.  I have a whole box filled with mementos from that election, so that one day I can share them with my children, and maybe help inspire them in the same way.

Most people know that Eugene is a fairly liberal town.  It’s what I love most about it.  It’s why I loved attending school there, working there after college, and one reason why I was so hesitant to leave my job there, even though it was time to move on.  Eugene and UO are filled with open minded, forward thinking people.  If you have spent much time with me (or taken a look at my car in the last four years), you know that I am fairly liberal in my beliefs as well.  I credit most of that to my parents, who raised me to be open minded and think for myself; but I also credit some of it to my time in Eugene.  I was raised in and currently live in a very close minded, conservative, and fairly uneducated part of Oregon.  This is not an insult or criticism to the area; it’s simply the truth.  When I was at UO, I met a lot of new and different people, who lived a lot of different lifestyles.  If I hadn’t spent that time in Eugene, I might feel very differently about certain issues.  My experiences there solidified my beliefs.  More importantly, my experiences taught me that it is okay to have different political opinions from some of my friends and family, as long as we share the same values. 

So, now we are here in 2012.  Some of you probably think I should be keeping my big mouth shut and my opinions to myself.  And that’s fine; you can think that.  But the thing is, I’ve never been very good at keeping my mouth shut and my opinions to myself.  Some of you have your own opinions, but don’t want to verbally announce them to the world.  And that’s also fine . . . for you.  But not for me.  If I learned anything these last eight years, it’s that things won’t change unless you stand up for what you believe in and make your voice heard.

So here is my voice.

I believe in healthcare reform.

I believe in raising taxes. I would actually support a tax increase for everyone, including my middle-class self.

I believe we are in a better place then we were four years ago.  I certainly am.

I believe in marriage equality, for EVERYONE.

I believe in moving forward.

I believe in Barack Obama.

And I will not apologize for the believing in any of these things.

I encourage everyone to make their own voice heard.  Whatever your voice may be.  You don’t have to agree with me.  The point is, nothing in this country ever changed for the better because people stood by idly and watched.  Things change for the better when people get out there, do something, and make their voices heard.  Too many people do not stand up for their beliefs.  Or even worse, they don’t vote!  One of my biggest frustrations is to hear people complain about the state of the nation, and then say in the same breath that they aren’t even a registered voter.  Get out there and VOTE.  Make your words and beliefs count.

I encourage everyone to visit HealthCare.gov, and learn some real facts about healthcare reform. In particular, I recommend checking out the timeline of changes and reading about the key features of the law. I was introduced to this website through work last year (I work with insurance companies for a living), and I found it very enlightening.  There are a lot of misconceptions out there about healthcare reform, and you should not make up your mind before you know the real facts.

I encourage everyone to listen to President Clinton’s speech from Wednesday night, if you have not done so already.  He laid out the facts, plain and clear.  I don’t know about the rest of you, but I also come from a world where 2 + 2 = 4.  My mom is a math teacher; I know my arithmetic!

While you’re at it, I also encourage everyone to listen to President Obama’s speech from Thursday night.  He gave a picture of how far we have come, and then explained why we can’t stop there.  Why we need to continue to move forward, and how we will accomplish it.

And if, like me, you believe in moving forward, then I encourage you to get your free bumper sticker and let your voice be heard among all the people on the road!

I am raising my voice – forward, for the future.  For my future, my parents’ future, and my children’s future.

Happy weekend, go Patriots, and rock on TBFC and Nabime!