Well Summer has come to an end, and the cold fall and winter lay ahead.
Living in California you hardly noticed the seasons change from hot to hotter, and back to hot again.
Here in Washington that is a different story, during the winter people stay inside and most of the time because of the poor weather, but even if you wanted to go out, there was not much time for you to get the chance to be in sunlight (Well if you have a day job at least). I go to work in the dark and come home in the dark, during the time in between I work in a building with no windows so the only chance I get to go outside is my 40 min lunch break, and usually this place is just starting to thaw by 11 am. I take advantage of the break and get a little sun while I can but I am not like most of these Washingtonians that would miss a day of work because the weather guy says “SUNNY AND HOT.” FYI there idea of “hot” is about 80-85 degrees, which isn’t that hot if you are from Palm Springs like me where it gets hot enough to fry and egg on the sidewalk.
So far we have gone 48 days without rain but there was a little sprinkle last night and this morning but it’s just morning dew compared to the rain we normally have so in my opinion it doesn’t really count as rain. The record for Seattle area is 51 days. Not very long when you think that California can go the full 360 without a drop. In Palm Springs (about and hour away from where I lived) they, on average, get 350 days of sunshine year round!
Back to the cold we go but its fine with me after being born and raised in the sunshine state I am the only one in Washington that misses the misty, foggy days!!
Well it’s going back to being colder and darker in the early morning and early evenings, and I guess the depression is starting to sweep back across everyone… or maybe just me. I’m from California “the SUNSHINE state” and moved to Washington a little over a year ago and never thought the weather would have any real effect on me I just thought people who were born and raised in gloom and doom are the ones that really get depressed when the rainy season comes back.
I’m a unique Washingtonian because I am the only one that is hiding when the sun is out and going for a walk on the gloomy fog covered days, but maybe the fog has finally got me down.
I recently stopped having a monthly cycle because I’m using the Mirena IUD, and I just wanted to be sure I wasn’t pregnant because I have had the insert for about 4 years now and they only recommend it to be in there for about 5-7 years. Well I took the test almost 2 weeks after my missed cycle and it was negative.
Unfortunately no one had the same reaction, and no one was happy with anyone’s reaction, but on the up side no matter which way it would have gone everyone would have been happy BUT as far as reactions go…. that part didn’t go so well.
Because I had a baby when I was 14 I feel really weird going through the same process again only with love, support, and understanding. To me it comes off as teasing and judgement, because that is what I endured the last time I was pregnant. I always felt like my 16-year-old sister-in-law looks down to me because she can’t even fathom being stupid enough to get pregnant at 14, she is 16 now with no baby so she has already immensely surpassed me.
I felt like she would look down on me more for getting pregnant again (even though I’m not 14 anymore) I felt like even my daughter would look down on me because she follows everything my sister-in-law does since they are not too far in age. I just wanted to have it be in intimate private thing between my boyfriend and I and then share the good or bad news with the family. Instead I got laughs and shits and giggles all down the hall from my daughter (whom is 7) and my sister-in-law ranting “HA HA pee on a stick, you have to pee on a stick.” I have never felt so embarrassed and disrespected in my life. Even though only my family was home I felt like I was 14 again being taunted down the halls by all the horrible high school jerks. Later my mother in law told me that it was out of love I’m being emotional and they were just having fun because they were so excited and happy and they love me and blah blah blah…. Well where was all that affection, support, and love when all I heard was fun being poked atme.
It made the entire experience like a revenge assignment to prove that was or wasn’t pregnant, the outcome didn’t even matter as long as I had an answer so the subject could be laid to rest.
Maybe I overreacted because of the experiences I have had in the past and maybe they were supportive laughs and giggles I could just be super sensitive to the subject because it’s an experience I want to have so badly with him but I’m also scared to death to actually live that experience again because it was so scary and painful the first time. I’m so torn with emotion over the subject that I just want to burst to relieve some of the pressure. I guess I’m hoping I’m not ruined, I can be happy about having kids in the future. I guess we really wont know until the day comes.
Since no one really can understand what I’m going through I guess I really didn’t expect anyone to be supportive of my over reactive emotions,I wish someone would be able to understand where my emotions are all coming from. I don’t wish anyone to be as damaged as be I just wish someone would understand. I guess I just wanted someone to tell me I’m not crazy…..
The garden in Jennings Park in Marysville is getting so beautiful they have added a rose garden and have even helped feed the community with the herbs and vegetables. It’s a cool little park and I am glad I get to live so close to it.
I know it is a little late to be posting anything about the 4th of July but I could not resist saying something since…it was the best 4th of July I have ever had.
Living in California in a normal residential area they do not allow fireworks that can be seen over rooftops because of fear of fire. This is smart, but very disappointing when 4th of July comes around, you have to make plans to go and see a big show if you want to see the big fireworks, or there is a possibility you can go to jail if you light them off in your driveway.Here in Washington I recently found out that the area I live in allows fireworks of any size, shape, or form, making this the best 4th of July ever. Right next to us on the Tulalip Reservation they sell fireworks at “Boom City” and you can actually afford them, I know what a shocker!! you we bought a pack of 24 Mortars for 40 bucks. That was an awesome deal considering my neighbor had paid 50 bucks on one box that you light and it does a small 20 sec show…. our mortars lasted us 4 hours. I think we got a little more bang for our buck…. no pun intended. 😉
We had a small barbecue , some pie, and lots of fireworks …..
We were planning to do some damage, if any of the neighbors liked us before I was sure they were not going to be happy with us after shooting off over 50 fireworks of all different kinds !!
Though my daughter didn’t have the chance to light off one of the big fireworks because I didn’t want her to blow her hand off, she still had a great time and she did get to light a grow worm firework and a smoke bomb, both don’t explode, but that does not mean she doesn’t enjoy them.
I took some video of the fun night we had setting off fire works for the first time in the comfort of our own drive way.
It’s one year to the day that I have worked at Boeing on the 747-8 Freighter and Intercontinental, and I am so proud to be apart of a team like that. I don’t think that I could have gotten any luckier upon entering the company, the timing the plane, everything was just perfect. I got there just as the 747-8 was being certified and having its first planes delivered they were in the middle of one of there biggest celebrations because of all the accomplishments we achieved for the company with just this plane. I even got to be apart of the concert they threw for the employees in the factory! The Steve Miller Band played live for us. It’s been a great year and I am just so glad to be apart of it.
Compared one on one, the 747-8 Freighter has no competitors.
Both airplanes represent a new benchmark in fuel efficiency and noise reduction, allowing airlines to lower fuel costs and fly into more airports at more times of the day.
Living in Washington State is amazing you can snap a beautiful shot of some amazing landscape scenes and you were only on your way to the doctors office. There are so many moments I am riding in the Vanpool, and I am just dying to take a picture of some of the beautiful things I get to see just on my way to work in the morning.
Before moving to Washington I had heard all kinds of things about it, mostly about the weather. I wanted to know more about this place though since I was bringing my whole family. One of the things that I had heard was “Suicide is the second leading cause of death among young adults in Washington”. They say that there are actually more suicides then homicides. Interesting right? Well I guess it could have been better than a high serial killer count or something crazy like that, right? I started asking more questions after that but not to other people who have been there before, but to Google. Gotta love Google. I wanted to know not only about the suicide rates but the serial killers…. since the issue came up why not see what I could find and….well I started looking and this is what I came up with….
Turned out there are 41 serial killers that lived, worked, and killed here. Just to put it in perspective for you here is the list as well as their professions. The ones I highlighted are the ones I found particularly disturbing.
What is a serial killer?….
…..Two or more unrelated victims in distinctly separate incidents…..
1. John R Gasser
Student/state employee, Seattle/Olympia
2. James Dwight Canady
City water department employee,Seattle
3. Warren Forest
Clark County parks employee,Vancouver
4. Gary G. Grant
Navy enlistee, Renton
5. Ted Bundy
Law student, Tacoma at University of Washington
6. James Elledge
Part-time church janitor, Lynnwood
7. James Edward Rezicka
Stable cleaner, Redmond
8. Gary A Taylor (The Phantom Sniper) Escaped mental patient, Burien
9. William Batten
Car lot worker, Aberdeen
10. Robert Yates, Jr.
Aluminum plant worker and Army Reserve helicopter pilot, Spokane
11. Kenneth Bianchi (The Hillside Strangler)
Security-alarm installer, Bellingham
12. Morris Frampton
Sprinkler system installer, Seattle
13. Stanley Bernson Produce salesman, Spokane
14. Lewis Valley Killer – unknown
Investigators have a suspect, but have never made an arrest.
15. Randy Woodfield (I-5 Killer)
Bartender, Eugene/Portland, Ore.
16. Martin Lee Sanders
Long-haul trucker, Spokane
17. Charles Sinclair (Coin Shop Killer)
Died in jail in Alaska.
18. The .22 Caliber Killer – Identity unknown
Spokane
19. Dwayne Elton Army sergeant, Fort Lewis
20. William Scott Smith
Unemployed cook, Salem, Ore.
21. Bill Ray Ballard, Jr
Truck driver, Plains, Mont.
22. Joe Kondro
Laborer, mill worker, Longview
23. Gary Shaw
Unemployed, Tacoma
24. Daniel Yates
Tattoo artist, Bremerton
25. Dismemberment Murderer
Identity unknown
One killer could be responsible for three murders in which the victims’ bodies were dismembered and dumped in remote areas in Snohomish County.
26. The Index Killer
Identity unknown
One killer may be responsible for murders of two Seattle women whose bodies were dumped in the Index area in 1988
27. Wesley Allan Dodd
Shipping clerk, Clark County
28. Scott William Cox
Long-haul trucker, Newberg, Ore.
29. Keith Jesperson (Happy Face Killer)
Long-haul trucker, Yakima Valley/Portland
30. George Russell (Eastside Serial Killer)
Unemployed, Mercer Island
31. Robert Sidetrack Silveria (The Boxcar Killer)
Railroad transient (claimed to have killed 28 drifters while riding in a boxcar)
32. Jack Owen Spillman, III
Laborer, East Wenatchee
33. Robert Lee Parker
Unemployed, Shoreline
34. Rafael Resendez Ramirez (The Railroad Killer)
Day laborer, transient
35. Dwayne Lee Harris
Transient
36. John Eric Armstrong
U.S. Navy, Bremerton
37. Brian Keith Lord
Carpenter, Kitsap County
38. Gary Leon Ridgeway (The Green River Killer)
Identity unknown
Forty-nine murders are attributed to the Green River Killer, whose victims were prostitutes and runaways in the Puget Sound area.
Gary A. Ridgway, a South King County truck painter, is accused of killing Cynthia Hines, Opal Mills and Marcia Chapman in 1982 and Carol Christensen in 1983. Although all four deaths have been attributed to the killer, and Ridgway remains a suspect in other deaths, authorities are careful not to call him the Green River Killer.
Status: Ridgway arrested in 2001, awaiting trial. The Green River investigation continues.
39. Michael J. Braae
Transient, Lacey
40. John R. Gasser Student/state employee
41. John A. Muhammad
Mechanic Tacoma/Bellingham
If you would like to read more about what it was they did the full description can be found here : Source
So if there are more suicides then homicide people here must be really, really, really sad to beat the list of victims, conceived from this list of killers.
…And it seemed like such a beautiful, quite state….
Before I moved to Washington I had no idea what the weather was going to be like so I started asking around to see what kind of experiences people had while they visited the place. A few people said they came up during the summer months for a few weeks to go camping and hiking and they said the weather was up and down but mostly nice. You could just wear a light jacket and be fine no matter where you went. They made the place sound amazing I really do their story no justice.
Another person told me that I should think about buying a better car something like a truck just so I could survive the winter since I was going to be moving not just visiting. So be this point I had very conflicting stories. I got a pretty straight answer from my schools councilor she said that she almost moved up her but she had to convince her husband by tricking him into visiting the place every summer, this worked out for them since they were teachers but not all summers here are wonderful and he got a taste of what Washington was all about when he came even in the summer it was cold and rainy. She told me simply when it is nice, it is realty nice, when it is bad, it’s pretty bad. So again good incite but still I felt conflicted.
So I was anticipating thunder storms, lighting, snow, sleet and hail by the time I was moving up here but I was pleasantly surprised when I got here and realized that it was beautiful. I arrived in July so I was lucky I didn’t get here in the middle of winter or something. But when I got here it was slightly misting and the sky was overcast. I was in love…I came out of California where it was 90 and up and constantly baking you. The only relief was to sit in front of the air conditioner. Even when you took a shower just to cool off you were sweating after you got out, before you even got dressed.
Once I got here people started asking me “So how do you like the weather so far?” and I think it shocked them when I would tell them that I loved it! I have had enough sun to last me a lifetime I don’t mine going outside and it is overcast so I am not blinded the second I walk out of the house every morning. I also don’t mind it being in the 50’s most days because it is much easier to get relief from the cold by wearing appropriate clothes. Once you acclimated to the weather you can just wear a hoodie and jeans and be just fine. Try to acclimate to the weather when it is 95 outside… I don’t care if your naked it’s still hot. As soon as you go into a nice air condition building and you have to walk back outside you get that nice wave of suffocating heat to great you at the door every time.
I think it is just wonderful here because you actually get to enjoy all of the seasons. It is a little bipolar though it can be raining while the sun is out.
Its raining with beautiful blue skies
Washington has different weather all over but I am in Western Washington I am close to the coast so when it is a nice 75 degrees outside I can head down to the beach which is littered with shells for us me and my daughter to collect and really cool rocks it is just a good time every time we go …..
Howarth Park
Howarth Park
We can head Down to the city and make a day of it. Seattle is amazing it is the greenest city I’ve ever seen. and it seems like there is always something going on always something to do we went down there one day just to check out the sites and see what the city was like and we stumbled upon a festival and had a great time.
Seattle Center
Seattle Center
In the winter time we can enjoy the colder weather and still have fun. it is easy to get warm when you are cold just put a jacket on or sit in front of the fire and defrost, or you can just drink coffee like everyone else up here it is there one weakness everything in Washington would come to a screeching halt if someone came in and took away there coffee. There is a coffee house on nearly every corner here so you wont have to worry about staying warm. Oh and there are plenty of baristas coffee shops out there for all the guys
Halie building a snow man on the first snowy day
Fishing lake at Jennings Park
My Snow Covered Driveway
My back porch riddled with huge icicles
So it turns out all the rumors I heard were just that rumors because I see nothing wrong with the weather up here… I love it 🙂
My Engagement Ring, it has a blue heart shaped gem but I don’t mind being a little different and not having the traditional diamond wedding ring.
I almost lost my engagement ring was almost lost forever when I moved up to Washington.
Being in the tight financial situation that I was in at the time I had to pawn my rings so that I could make it up to Washington from California with my family for a job. When I took them down to the pawn shop I had ever intention of getting them out the first chance I got… but once I got up to Washington and I realized how far away my rings really were and how much it would cost to get them out and get them to me so I quickly realized that looking or new rings was going to be my only option…..
…. they story does not end badly though I got my rings back eventually by paying the interest a few times and having my mother in law fly out there and pick them up (since she had some things down there it was not a big deal)
But anyways… back to the reason why I was writing this post in the first place was to share this amazing site I found called “Green Lake Jewelry Works” with the most beautiful rings I have ever seen I really missed my engagement ring when it was not on my finger… but I would not have missed it quite as much if I got one of these beautiful rings.
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A New Chapter 
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