So for awhile after February I laid low, worked non-stop on my final component for boards, and just generally tried to keep up with work.
Kimberly and Luke made a little visit out west over spring break, so I was able to show them around. We hit up all the usual tourist stops. Gum Wall, Mariners game, Snoqualmie Falls, Pike Place Market, Space Needle, and Chihuly Museum.
Otherwise it was back to work. To shake things up, I bought a new light fixture and installed it myself (with my dad on FaceTime) and I'm pretty proud of it, so it makes the blog.
I had lunch for my friend's birthday at this fantastic location.... and we walked the market to celebrate the grand opening of the new market extension (that means, new pigs were put in).
Then my parents drove out to deliver my brand new artwork that I ABSOLUTELY LOVE. We quickly hit the road again to drive back to the great Midwest. We made a few fun stops along the way- meeting a family friend in Spokane for a drink, and stopping at Sickie's Garage to share some kind of giant burger contraption. I think my parents were especially happy that I found that place on yelp.
We saw this amazing statue at a rest stop in South Dakota. It is called "Dignity".
I got to spend a few weeks back in KC taking in a Royals game, and shopping with the Squish.
When I got back, I hit the road to Cannon Beach to spend a few days by the ocean. One morning was one of the lowest tides ever, so we woke up early, went for a run on the beach (way harder than it appears...!) and then got to walk almost all the way around Haystack Rock. It was really, really cool. The water isn't usually so low, so there was lots of sea life out and about. It was my first time seeing sea stars in their natural habitat!
We stopped in Portland for one night on the way back home. We woke up early to drive over to Multnomah Falls in hopes that we would arrive around opening and therefore be able to find decent parking. Multnomah Falls is so very cool looking.
We did the 1 mile hike to the top. I didn't think much of 1 mile, and I was in jeans and regular shoes, not running shoes or hiking shoes. The hike was much more intense than I expected and we were sweating by the time we were half way through. There were 11 switchbacks and it was very steep. But we made it, and I swung my phone over the railing to get a nice view of just how far up we really were....
Then we explored Portland, ate our way around- food trucks, VooDoo Donut, some amazing pizza place with the BEST beet/goat cheese arancini that I'm convinced I need to figure out how to make...
and we ended at Ace Hotel in the Pearl District.
I still had a few more weeks before school started up again, so once back home I went with friends on a float trip down the Snoqualmie River. It was not as relaxing as I anticipated, but we made it.
I took a map class through REI at Discovery Park in Seattle. I learned how to orient my map and triangulate if I am every lost in the mountains. Mostly it taught me that I never want to be lost in the mountains, but I learned a ton.
I attended my first University of Washington football game. We ended up at a Montana Grizzly tailgate where they had flown in these amazing porkchop sandwiches from Butte, Montana's Porkchop John's. It was delicious.
But at UW games, people can boat up, anchor, and take a dingy up to the stadium. It was so cool.
Then there was the solar eclipse. We weren't in school yet, so a friend and I took her kiddos out to Gold Creek Pond and played around outside while the moon passed us by. It got pretty chilly and the crescent shaped shadows were pretty neat. Plus it was beautiful outside.
They put goats on my street instead of mowing the grass, so that was a fun week.
And this school year I decided to register at Seattle University to earn my English Language Learner Endorsement. It is 24 credit hours from Nov-June. About one 3-4 credit class every month and a half. It is accelerated and all online, so I'm hoping to power through and take my state test this summer to add it to my teaching credentials. This year I'm also a mentor teacher for a brand new teacher, helping another teacher with building EdTech responsibilities, helping out with our Global Reading club, and on our teacher support team. Mostly it just means I am attending a lot of meetings, but it's keeping me on my toes and glued to my calendar. I find out about my final score on my boards in December, so FINGERS CROSSED! Otherwise, it's business as usual.
Finally, I picked up my 4th glass pumpkin for being in my 4th year in Washington. Crazy to think it's been that long already!
