Hawaii Pics...finally!

Us on our Kauai Vacay

Yes, I know it has been over a month now since I last blogged. I was getting ready to go to Hawaii, the last of my summer. I was busy with my master's class...as I still am now, and I was mentally preparing myself to go back to work.  I had a fabulous trip to Kauai with my family!! We had so much fun exploring the sights, eating wonderful food (we even watched our tuna being slaughtered right at the butcher), spending time with family, getting a nice dark golden tan before I head back to the gray Seattle, kayaking, and having tons of fun! Now I've been back to work for 3 weeks and am finally starting to settle down with my life.....and now we're moving!! Steve and I will be moving back to Maple Valley September 30th into a large house!  We found a great steal of a house, that is currently cheaper than the little townhouse where we are living. This weekend we started packing, and it is coming along smoothly.

Anyways, here are some highlights from our Hawaii trip.....can I please go back soon?  I miss it already! :(

Abby and Jim at Waterfall

Emily looking at the sunset

the family on the beach coming back from Waimea Canyon

We like it a lot here in Kauai!!

Magpie loved to swim...everyday!

Us at Ke'e Beach

Na Pali Coast...this is what I picture heaven to look like

Queen's Bath Waterfall

Queens Bath...we went here like 8 times, and saw sea turtles every time!

A Monk Seal came on the beach to have a little nap

Ocean Stream...Tunnels Beach

The Girls having fun!!

~Steve and I will definitely have to come back!! :) Wonderful Trip

Dad Visiting and Hawaii

Longing for my first Hawaiian sunset....ahhh

The month of August is going to be a very busy one for the Brousseau's.  This week my dad will be coming to visit us while exploring the Northwest.  We have lots of activities planned for them to make their trip worthwhile and a little more entertaining than Steve and I's normal life glued to the television on the couch. :) We're planning several things like seeing Pike Place and downtown, going to Seafair to see the air show and hydroplane races, and even going whale watching in the San Juans.  I'm really excited about the whale watching since now we are having our summer weather!!  It is finally starting to be consistently in the 70's now! It will be nice to hang with the parents and have great, bonding time!

Right after my parents leave, the next day we are going to Kauai!! Steve and I are very excited because this is a must needed vacation for us.  I have never been to Hawaii at all and have heard nothing but great things about it from the time I was born.  I'm ready to relax on the beach and drink some fruity drinks!! We will also be spending more time with Steve's family and it will be great! We will be in Kauai for two weeks, so I will definitely come back with a nice golden tan...:)

When we come back from Hawaii I will have to go back to work the following Monday..:(. We have a week of meetings and professional development to get us ready for the new year, and I can start getting back into a routine again. This summer has been very relaxing laying around with the dogs, running by the lake, and working on my classes.  I am almost done with my second class!! In a few weeks I will be submitting my action research project (which is already 15 pages long) and I'll be done (yes I will also have to work on this in Kauai)...but oh well. Then I start my children's literature course that I am actually kind of excited about! 

Pictures of our adventures coming soon!!

Trips!

Steve and I at the Vineyard

Hello All!

Sorry for another hiatus I took from my blog!  I really do need to be better about blogging at least once a week!  I think my track record is about once a month!  Steve has been bugging me to blog....I think to just show off his beautiful new pictures though! hehe...  Anyways this past few weeks we went on a couple of trips.  We went down to San Antonio for a few days to spend time with my mom and see her new place, and then we went camping at Rim Rock Lake which is just east of Mount Rainier..it was gorgeous!!

In Texas we were able to spend lots of time with my mom catching up.  Her new house is on 4 acres and is a nice eclectic, unique house.  We finally got to meet her puppy Rose who she got right after we moved last June...can you believe we've been in Seattle for over a year now?? We went out to eat lots of yummy food as well in San Antonio.  We ate BBQ, mexican, and my mom's home cooking!  Yummy!!  We also got to walk around the Riverwalk for a night, and we visitied the Vineyard where Steve and I got married.  It was nice to revisit the place, it had barely changed at all.  It is now one of the top hot spots to get married!! During our trip I also got addicted to the Hunger Games Series....just my luck hooked madly to another set of books ( I finished the whole series in about a week).  We went home sad, but excited for our camping extravaganza.

After a couple of days from returning from Texas, we went to a Mariners game thanks to one of my classrooom parents Caroline!!  At the end of the year along with my shower of presents, I had a mom give me 2 tickets to a game..they were her brother's season tickets!  We had the best seats!  We were right behind the Mariners dugout, and could hear and see everything!  Besides the Mariners losing (what else is new??) we had a great night.

Later that week we went camping with the Brousseau's!  We drove about an hour and a half south and went camping on Rim Rock Lake.  Another beautiful destination.  (I was just realizing how all of the lakes in Washington are blue/green, and in Texas they are all brown...it is kind of funny).  We took the dogs with us and they loved getting dirty and playing with their friend Sadie (Jim and Abby's dog).  The first day it was really cold..like in the 40's...then it started warming up to the 70's the next few days.  We went on lots of hikes, and sun bathed by the lake.  We even celebrated Steve's 31st birthday!  Steve's sister Koriann made him his favorite yellow cake with chocolate frosting, and I made him a S'more pie (to go along with the camping theme).  We had a great time being "unplugged" from life for 6 days and loved spending time with family.  Too bad Maggie wasn't there...but she probably had fun in Oak Harbor with her friend. 

For the rest of July I am really concentrating on my classes for my master's.  I am in a Reading Foundations, Theory and Research class that is very intensive.  There is a lot of reading to do, and I have a big Action Researach Project due at the end of the course I am working on.  I am also keeping myself busy exercising at the gym, and running along the lake, and I am also reading lots of books.  Steve is keeping busy with work still, and is continuing to test and interview with several fire departments.  We don't have any promises yet with a job...but keep your fingers crossed that something will happen soon for him!!  It is a very competitive process that can be very daunting at times, but I feel that the waiting will pay off greatly in the end.  The typical wait time for people to get hired is in between 2-5 years.  His first year has come and gone...hopefully it's not much longer.

Up Next for us this summer....

23 days until....Aug 4-7 My Dad and Toni come to visit!!
27 days until Aug 8-20.....HAWAII!!! We're excited!!!!
48 days until Aug 22.....I go back to work :(, then school starts Aug. 30th!

I also wanted to say Congratulations to my best friend Cristina who is getting married July 30th, and I am sad to not be there in Destin, Florida for her!!  Miss and love you friend!

The Riverwalk

Rosie eating sticks

Waterfall while on a hike

Ichiro up to bat

Mount Rainier coming home from camping

Riley Bear enjoying the sun

I hope you are all enjoying your summers! 

Steve, me, mom, and Mike at the Vineyard

Sun Setting at Camp Site

Texas Cactus

Life Lately

Lighthouse at Discovery Park

Our life lately has been very busy. I have just wrapped up school for the summer and had lots to organize in my classroom. I have also been working on my first set of classes for my master's and I am getting acquainted with getting back in to the groove of writing papers and completing research and assignments again. It hasn't been too hard so far...my lowest grade is a 98!! Steve has also been busy with work and testing with several fire departments. We have been out to Maple Valley many times to visit family, and go to the farmer's market that we love. We got our first chance to "babysit" an infant! We babysat Steve's niece Malia...who is so darn cute...and we had to change our first dirty diapers!! It wasn't as bad as we were expecting it to be! We have gone on several hikes to Discovery Park and around Alki Beach.  We also have had many friends over for dinner and relaxed after a hard day's work with a nice glass of wine or beer. To kick off my first day of summer we went to the Woodland Park Zoo yesterday and saw all of the animals. It was soo cool! Here are some pictures from the past couple of weeks!

Lupines at Discovery Park

Lupines

Old Military housing at Discovery Park

Riley Bear and best friend Gator Ball

Zoo bird

Jaguar Paws

Elephant

Sun Bear playing

Mr. Grizzly

Giraffe

Gorilla in Tree

hairy monkey...he's cute isn't he?

My favorite....the meerkitty

Sloth Bear...i.e...Buddy's Cousin

Kitty Kat



Wolves


I hope you are all enjoying your summers!!  We head off to the Great State of Texas next Wednesday to see my Mom's new place in San Antonio!! We are very excited for warmer temps and HUMIDITY!! :)

How many days until summer??

One of my favorite summer memories...helping my great papa on the farm!
Louisiana...possibly flooded now due to the torrential rains

Hello Everyone!  Yes, again, I am at home sick this weekend.  I am still confused what I have.  I either have a head cold or allergies are getting the best of me.  Seattle has been blessed lately with 70 degree temps this week, and lots of sun...I have a feeling the new spring blossoms and pollen have been disrupting my nasal passages.  I am extremely congested, have a scratchy, dry throat, and am having headaches.  I even had this during my class' field trip this week..in beautiful weather.. :(.  Hopefully this clears up soon!

On the positive side, Steve has gotten another interview with Renton FD!  Only the top 70 people were selected for interviews out of 2,000!  Let's just hope one of these interviews pays off soon!  Steve and I have been looking forward to moving at the end of September into a rental HOME.  We really miss having a backyard, and a little more space and storage.  We're going to be looking in the Issaquah/Maple Valley areas for a decent size house with a decent rent.  Our current rent is getting a little high for us....and we don't have a very nice grocery store close enough to us.  So the search is on!!

Speaking of summer...I only have 18 days left of work!!  My friends in Tucson are ending school this week....so I still have a little longer to go! 

These are my plans for summer:

• visit mom end of june
• camping over 4th of July weekend
• tutoring students from school
• starting my master's (I start this Thursday...ahh!)
• dad visiting early August
• going to Hawaii before school starts up again....12 days of bliss!! Yes!!

Hopefully I'm not too wiped out!!
Here are some of Steve's current pictures:



Buddy loafing around on the couch



Riley napping



flowers I received from teacher appreciation week...I think I have 4 other flower arrangements in my classroom



what most of riley's tennis balls look like



enjoying the sun....total happiness



Auction and Mother's Day

Steve and I before the Auction

Hello All!  Life with the Brousseau's has been very busy.  Steve and I continue to be busy with work, and we have been busy almost every weekend with events, or spending time with family and/or friends!  Last weekend my school held an auction to help raise money for our PTSA programs.  We got all dressed up to support the cause!  It was so nice to go out and wear a nice dress or suit every once in awhile.  We rarely get to do that anymore.  My school's parents and teachers were able to raise over $200,000 from all of our donations.  I am very lucky to be at this blessed school!!

We have also been spending lots of time with some of Steve's friends from Wazzu, going out to Seattle, or enjoying some wine at home with them.  We were also able to see one of our close friends, Jeremy, and his little boy Gunnar a few weekends ago as well.  They were visiting from Tucson.  Last weekend we had some gorgeous weather and took the dogs to Marymoor Park for them to have some fun (even though Buddy rarely listened to us!). 

Well I hope you all have a wonderful Mother's Day, and are planning something special!  This weekend we are slammed with Mother's Day events!  Today we are going to visit Steve's current step-mom, Abby, and have dinner over there and we will spend some time with them as well.  Then tomorrow we are having Steve's mom over for fajitas and other treats!  It is just so nice to spend time with family I love it!  I just wish my mom could have been here!  I'll also have to call my step-mom this weekend to all the way in Florida!!  Steve and I have lots of "Mothers" between us!!

Hope you have a great weekend!! Please do a "Sunshine Dance" so Seattle can get some more Springtime weather!!

April Break

My Pride and Joy!!! 

This past week I had my school's spring break...which is actually very late for what I am used to....I usually have it the 1st or 2nd week of March.  But this change was definitely ok!  Most of the week it rained and I caught up on my reading, sleeping, bonding with the dogs, and exercise.  I also discovered a new book that I have fallen in love with.  It is not typically something I would kick  back and read, but it was a good book to make you feel....BODY CONFIDENT!  It's a health and fitness book that teaches you how you are supposed to eat, the calorie intake you are supposed to have with each meal, and how to incorporate exercise into your life.  This book has really opened my eyes how most people have been eating the wrong way, you are not supposed to eat only 3 times a day!! You are supposed to eat small meals every 3 hours!!  So that's 5-6 meals daily!  They even say you're supposed to eat within the hour you go to bed.  The author is a nutritionist/personal trainer who lets us know that we always need to respond to our bodies blood sugar levels, and always keep them balanced.  Eating this way will give you tons of more energy and less cravings for other "non-clean" foods!  I really recommend this book if you are struggling with feeling confident about your body!!

Besides reading the book throughout my week, and changing my eating habits, I was able to go out with my SMIL, to go shopping and I even got to try Dim Sum!! Very interesting!  It was also nice to spend some more time with Steve on his days off this week, yesterday we went on a hike with my FIL and SMIL in the forest behind their house.  (This was our first truly sunny day in awhile so we took advantage of it!)

Here are some pics of our sunny day!

Buddy and Riley love to swim!!

Riley with freedom!

Sadie finally free as well!

Pretty flowers around our home!

Too pretty!  This makes the rain worth having the beautiful sunny days!

The Super Moon we had the other week! 

The moon looks very close to the sun!

Well I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.  Steve and I are going out with close friends that we have not seen in awhile, and are looking forward to it!  Then tomorrow we will continue with our spring cleaning.....and then back to work for me!  I have definitley enjoyed it!

PS...let me know if you want the information from the book I mentioned!  It is truly great!