looks like we'll be here awhile

it's official. jamie has a job. yes!

it's been a long road. at the end of august last year we made our first trip to seattle to get the lay of the land. which means that we were thinking about moving even before then. and after trying to figure out if to move, then when to move, then moving and then not knowing if we would get to stay or if we would have to move again and finally, finally, the unknown becomes a known. mostly its just a huge relief.

and although there were other good options and i am sad to not be near my family in arizona, i absolutely love this city. and the many good friends who have made us feel like this is home in just a few short months. here is what we have been up to so far in this great city:

eating local. local bakeries, local farmers markets, in this case theo's chocolates, a local chocolatier. the food and the produce here is amazing. when 1/2 flats of beautiful raspberries picked from a local farm are just $11 you can literally eat yourself silly.

being outside. rain (or mud) doesn't seem to stop anyone here. on memorial day we headed to bainbridge island with some friends who literally spent the morning hanging out in mud. in fact most of the following pictures are outside because being outside is what you do here and i love it.

insta-friends. it helps when you don't have to go far for great friends. we love having cara and evan close (which in turn means cute carter who says elliot's name in the most adorable way possible) and lots of other friends from both of our graduate school programs and even from chicago! who have made seattle home.

new friends. people have been awesome, weekly play groups, camping, strawberry picking, girls night out, book club, tide pooling, hiking, picnics, there is literally something going on almost every day of the week.

camping. we love to camp! we almost forgot how after five years in chicago, but earlier this month we were invited to go camping with some friends in this picturesque spot by the ocean. seriously, does it get better?

wildlife. tidepooling is literally one of the coolest things i have done. sea anemones, urchins,huge star fish (see john below), clams. no need to visit an aquarium.

the great outdoors. okay, i know i am getting redundant. but our poor little city boy didn't even like grass when we moved here. but i think we have finally convinced him that water and sand and all things nature are actually pretty cool.

learning the local way. i dragged my sister to pike place when she got here so she could show me how to pick out wild copper river salmon. we poked and prodded (and wheeled and dealed, who knew that was an option?) lots of fish and eventually bought two whole fish of which i sadly don't have a picture. but i know have a favorite fish counter as well as a favorite flower counter, donut counter, chowder counter and almond croissant counter. come visit us and i promise you will gain 10 pounds. but you will also be very happy you did.

seriously the coolness doesn't seem to end. i am amazed with all of the things you can do here. below is elliot at the fish locks watching the salmon (i swear there were fish although i seem to have missed all of them in this picture). this week we missed out on an opportunity to go to story time on a tug boat and to visit a floating farmer's market. fortunately there is always next week.

family. one of the reasons we moved here was to be close to jamie's family and we have gotten to spend lots of time with them in the last few months doing everything from a fourth of july bbq to mary poppins to visiting a touring norman rockwell exhibit. pictured below is my sister-in-law jessica with a butterfly on her head at the science center.

visitors! we have had so many friends and family pop by just because they were in town for this and that, which is amazing. just this week pam and michelle came for a couple days on their way back from a boat cruise through the san juan islands (sounds pretty good, think i might have to try that out). here we are on our way back from getting amazing scones at a local, very cute bakery. in other words, eating of course.

this says it all. seattle, you are awesome.

next up. buying a house.