Getting Ready for Warmth

Since this blog is dedicated to keeping our family and friends in the loop of our lives (however uninteresting they may be), I'll share with you a few things I've observed about life in the Pacific Northwest; starting with some big differences related to vacationing. Mike is currently in Vegas attending his annual National meeting. Tomorrow, I leave for Cancun and next week, we go to Hawaii with our great friends, the Bertottos. In this economy, I'm not being facetious when I say that I recognize this is not the time to be celebrating. Too many people are struggling to make ends meet much less flying to warm, tropical places. Cancun is an annual trip with a small group of people that I work with across the country. Greyson is staying home with Sara and I'm trying to be positive that he'll be fine, have a great time and not miss us a bit. We get home on Sunday and turn around next Wednesday and fly to Oahu. We're looking forward to that trip because 1- Greyson gets to come along 2- he's going to have a blast with the Bertotto boys and 3- Mike's parents, who are already on the big island, will be hopping to Oahu to spend a few days with us.

So, as we prepare to leave, I'm struck by the following:

• The milder Seattle climate changes the way I look at warm weather vacations. There's something to be said for the anticipation one feels when living in sub-zero temps and watching snow pile up outside your window at home and work. An average winter day is Seattle is 50 degrees. It doesn't mean I'm not looking forward to it, but I'm not completely un-focused.
• Packing is easier. I don't have to worry about coats and pants for the trip home. We can board the plane in shorts and stay in them.
• West Coast stores are carrying their summer lines now so picking up a swimsuit, sundress and flip flops is a breeze (I can proudly say that I did very little shopping in preparation for my trips. I am truly embracing cost consciousness and need to thank my sister Jenny for hooking me up with some great stuff to bring along)

A lot of you have asked me what I think about Seattle. Does it rain a lot? Are the people friendly? Do I like it? I can't cover the differences in one post but here a few things you might find interesting:

• Mike & I are shamefully hooked on the Bachelor for the first time since Trista the Bachelorette. He's from Seattle so we feel a connection. It's embarrasing. If you watch the show, I will tell you that he went on a group date on the Argosy which is a ferry boat based in Kirkland that we used to watch from the deck of our old house.
• The trees in Seattle are gigantic and really green. They don't call it the Emerald City for nothing.
• The beauty of the landscape lives up to the hype. There are snow-capped mountain ranges in 3 directions. When you can't see the ranges, you look for Mt. Rainier (stunning) and where there are no mountains, there's water.
• It does not rain like the rumors, but it does rain more often than the Midwest. The rain is typically light and mist-like and usually occurs at night and early in the morning. It rarely rains all day.
• Thunderstorms are very rare and I will miss them.
• If you've read my posts, you know about the snow.
• The locals are very friendly but not 'open' in a way that we're accustomed. As our good friend RJ likes to say "My friend list is full" and that's what I think of when I meet a new friendly stranger.
• The culture is much more casual. Mike rarely wears a tie. Most of my business interactions are with jean-clad geniuses and cute girls in leggings and oversized sweaters.
• The number of people who ride their bikes to work is astounding. Most of the office buildings have gyms and showers.
• Seattle reveres its pedestrians. There are pedestrian lanes on every street and the law takes 'yield to pedestrians' very seriously. Automobile drives are second-class citizens (though there are still plenty of them).
• Traffic sucks.
• The city is very 'green'. You may be shocked to hear that Mike & I no longer purchase bottled water. We rely heavily on our Brita. And, we compost.
• Ask us about our dinner with Stone Gossard (guitarist from Pearl Jam), conversation with Harrison Ford and playdates with Kelly Jennings (cornerback for the Seahawks)!
• Yes, we like it. Mike doesn't miss the snow at all. I don't miss the freezing cold.
• We miss all of you immensely.

Check back in a couple of weeks- I'll post some fun vacation pictures and maybe a recent video of Greyson singing a song he made up called "I play the day"- sung into a foam rocket. Cheers!

Happy Birthday Mike!

Tuesday, February 10th is Mike's 34th birthday. I've got 6 months on him so I already know what it feels like. He's preparing himself by ignoring his advancing age and spearheading an effort to ressurect his old fraternity house and watching Pearl Jam DVDs. (I jest, I jest- 34 is no different from 24 except the hangovers last a little longer) A little shout out goes to my brother Nate for sending him an early birthday gift. More on that in a minute.

For the past 4 or 5 years, we've celebrated Mike's birthday by having pizza at Balistreri's in Tosa with great friends. We're going to miss that tradition this year. Mike's favorite line, "I've never met a pizza I didn't like", may be true but he definitely has his favorites and Balistreri's was #1. So, I've got the daunting task of finding something in Seattle that might be comparable. We've got a local joint called Zeeks which does a portabella/prosciutto/arugula with olive oil that's out of this world, but Mike is a pepperoni and sausage guy. Pagliacchis is good, but it's not Balistreris. Garlic Jim's holds its own...but again, you get the drill. The other question is dine out, or eat in? It's a Tuesday, so it's not like we're going to kick back with a bottle of wine. If anyone has ideas, talk back!

I promised to share a few pictures of the house now that it has furniture in it. We're enjoying our new digs and especially like the fact that we're 10 minutes away from everything- Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond, downtown Seattle and my office. The commutes can be brutal so it's an ideal location.

Great Room (dining)

Great Room (living)

1/2 of Grey's playroom Kitchen

So, back to Nate's birthday gift. He sent Mike a Pearl Jam DVD from a tour they did in Italy. (Highly recommend it!) Grey, as I mentioned in the last post, is quite the fan...check it out.

A Boy & His Guitar

For Christmas this year, my mom picked up a small toy guitar for Grey, who has a bit of an obsession with all things music. It might be normal for a 2 year old but I think it's odd that he's often able to identify an artist after hearing a song play once. This may have something to do with the fact that music plays in our house 90% of the time that we're home- this since Grey was a newborn. Those who know us well know that our combined music tastes range from classic rock and alternative to classical, jazz and hip hop. The only thing you likely won't hear blasting from our iPods is country (although I've downloaded a cut or two over the years). Those who know us won't be surprised by the fact that Grey has an affinity for Pearl Jam. His favorite track of the moment is Eddie Vedder's Hard Sun.

So, this guitar my mom picked up was from World Market and it was a pretty good knock off of a standard acoustic. Much to my dad's chagrin (my dad, the guitar player), she didn't consult him and she tells me that he took one look at the guitar and scoffed in disgust. "You can't even tune it"! Well, he was right. Greyson's eyes lit up upon opening it. A few minutes later, after attempting to strum it and watching the limp strings literally fall off, Grey said "I want a real guitar". (Thankfully, my mom laughed) Within one week, we were down to one string and that one string survived until yesterday. Grey still plays the guitar, even without strings. Although last night, he cried that he couldn't "play like Papa".

On March 21st, Greyson will be 3 and my dad has let the the cat out of the bag that Grey will be receiving a real miniature acoustic guitar. (Shh, don't tell Grey) My dad is ignoring my protests that a 3 year old won't understand the value and as this one is particularly impulsive, there's a chance we may witness destruction a la Guns n Roses or Metallica. We'll do our best to protect, but I'm not making promises!

A visit from friends!

We've had the sincere pleasure of enjoying 50 degree weather in January. Knowing our closest friends and family are dealing with sub-zero temp for weeks at a time and if it's not freezing cold, then it's snowing, does make us feel bad. (Really) The past few weekends have been especially enjoyable- not having to wear a coat in the winter is really strange.

We enjoyed an even greater pleasure with a recent visit from Sejal, Ann & Deven Shah. They were the official "first guests" in our new home (which we are loving, for the record). In fact, I'm pretty certain they (or at least Sejal) has been our "first" guest in each of our homes. That's what happens when you've been friends with someone for 15 years. I've known Sejal longer than Mike, if you can believe that.

Greyson & Deven had a great time together. It's amazing how little 'watching' you have to do as a parent when there's another child in the house (yes, we're working on it!). The two of them literally entertained each other for 3 days straight. They especially loved putting on football helmets. (Note: Deven's father is a huge Bears fan so the Packer helmet is especially satisfying)

The highlight of the weekend, by far, was bathtime for the boys on Saturday night. If anyone out there is a fan of America's Funniest Home Videos and Caddyshack, press play!

We're moving...again!

I can't believe I'm even writing the words, much less packing boxes, hauling art work and otherwise spending my free time looking for places to put little odds and ends like bouncy balls, Greyson's art projects, errant coffee cups and old picture frames I can't seem to part with.

We're moving for the 3rd time in 3 years. Can I put it on record and say that I miss my old house (our very first house, the one we bought in 2000 for less $$ than the price of a little plot of land in Seattle- have I mentioned how expensive it is out here?) We finished the basement, put in hard wood floors and built a huge deck. We made a profit! (gasp)

Here is our 2nd home- the one we left in order to come to Seattle to experience something new. It's beautiful, yes. We loved it, yes. We miss it, yes. But, I didn't get as attached to it because we only lived there for 2 years and when we sold it, we said good riddance since the market was tanking and we got lucky. We did not, however, make a profit (gasp)

The house we moved into upon moving to the great Northwest was dated and needed a paint

job but it was quite beautiful inside and the view of Lake Washington, downtown Seattle, the Space Needle and Mt. Rainier was unbeatable. This photo doesn't do it justice. Unfortunately, the owner didn't do a great job with the remodel and we got to experience not one, not two, but three instances of water seeping into the lower level. The 3rd time was the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back. Thank God we rented.

So, here is house #4. The market hasn't bottomed out yet so we're renting which means another move may be in our future (gasp) We're going to enjoy it while we're here. You know you're in Seattle when...an espresso machine is built into the cabinets.

Kitchen



We have plenty of room for guests, so come and see us!

Happy New Year!

We just wrapped up a nice long Christmas break and are offically back into the swing of things. I'm not the New Year's resolution type. I set my goals as I need to and then measure my successes and failures accordingly (it's usually a failure to ever get started). This year, however, I decided to write 3 things down:

1. De-clutter
2. Find new doctors for our family (that's every doctor you can think of- pediatrician, pediatric dentist, regular dentist, OB/GYN, GP etc)
3. Try the pilates class at the gym I've never been to

I'm pleased to report that I've gotten a start on #1 and #2. Let's ignore #3 for the time being, shall we?

We want to say a big, official, THANK YOU to our family and friends for hosting us (and our 5 suitcases, 3 carry on bags and a myriad of other crap) throughout our vacation. We flew into Minneapolis on 12/22, spent the night in a hotel in Menomonie, WI due to weather, arrived in Stevens Point on the 23rd, spent a fun and relaxing Christmas Eve with my family, hopped in the car and drove to Tasmania (that's Minocqua-speak for "1000+ acres of secluded beauty") for an extended Christmas with Mike's family and then got back in the car and drove to Chanhassen, MN to spend NYE week with our good friends, the Johnsons. We flew back to Seattle on the 2nd and enjoyed a quiet weekend at home (the "big melt" left water in our basement for the 2nd time- that's a story for another day).

Greyson with his cousin, Alayna (5)

A nice glass of Cab waiting for us at "the lodge" on Christmas Day (thanks Lee!)

Greyson at "the lodge" with his counsins, Jake (10) and Bria (7)

We played in the snow like kids- it was awesome!

Nana & Papa, Greyson is being video taped relentlessly on my new Flip. I'll be sharing video soon. Uncle Nate, Grey is asking for the 'suplex' so you need to fly to Seattle before our backs break. Grandma Janet, the bugs were the biggest hit.

The tree is down, the stockings packed and Giggles returned to the North Pole until Thanksgiving 2009. Greyson wants him to come back tomorrow. Perhaps he'll find comfort in the wonderful Christmas gifts he got to open, but not play with, on Christmas Eve and Day. They're in a UPS truck somewhere between Central WI and Western WA. Happy New Year!

Dads and Sons

There's something special about the bond between a daddy and his son. Mike and his dad have a neat relationship- they don't need to talk every day and when they do, they don't need to say a whole lot but the mutual respect between them is palpable. My dad and my brother Nate are very similar- they're bonded in a way that's different from the bond my sister and I have. Not better, but different; special.

I cannot WAIT to watch the bond between Mike & Greyson grow. I watch the two of them now, at 2 1/2, and my heart swells. I'm not an idiot. I realize there will come a time when Greyson won't be able to stand the sight of either one of us, but until that time comes, I'm going to get (in the words of my most amazing photographer) 'schmoopy' every time I watch them together. I can literally smell the 'boy' in them; the sweaty, no-girls-allowed, 3rd and long, bases loaded, sudden-death testosterone. It smells amazing.

My favorite thing of all is seeing the pride in Mike's eyes. Greyson is his. Greyson's throwing arm is his. Greyson's left-handed bat is his. Greyson's 'please' and 'thank you', 'excuse me' and 'sorry'...all his. Mike is an amazing daddy. Just look at them together!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Did I mention that I love snow? I love almost everything about it; especially the large white flaky stuff that floats (it's falling outside my window as I type). I don't like old snow- the kind that piles up on the sides of the streets after dirty plows push it away over and over again.

SNOW DAY! I'm also not a fan of snow that prevents me from getting where I want or need to go. I'm working from home today not because I want to but because my car is stuck in the driveway. Mike is in San Francisco and hoping his flight isn't delayed tonight (me too!). The city of Seattle and its surrounding suburbs are absolutely paralyzed today. 6 inches are on the ground and most highways and bridges are closed. We're told this much snow is a rareity and have been warned that the locals freak out when it happens (they do) but selfishly, I'm happy to see it because it just doesn't feel like Christmas without it.

If you haven't met our nanny, Sara, here she is with Grey. They're playing in the snow today and having a blast.



I also thought you might get a kick out of the neighbor who is clearing his car with...what else...a frisbee!

To those we'll be seeing next week, just know that we've been looking forward to it for months and will be ready to:

• Have a glass of wine (or 4)


• Kiss and hug our nieces and nephews


• Completely shun our parenting responsibilities while Grandma Janet, Papa Lee, Nana, Papa and Greyson's aunts, uncles and counsins parent for us


• Get a pedicure with Tina


• See a movie (Twighlight, anyone?)

Greyson is ready to take yet another plane ride, see if Giggles* really did tell Santa how good he's been this year and show all of you:

• He's got some new dance moves


• He can recite almost all of The Polar Express and Frosty the Snowman (and the songs too)


• He can identify songs by Mannheim Steamroller, Pearl Jam, his Papa and Paul Simon


• He sings a mean "Who let the Dogs Out"

*This is Giggles- he's Greyson's pixie elf and he visits us every morning after spending the night in the North Pole where he tells Santa if Greyson has been a good boy. Greyson loves waking up in the morning to find Giggles.

Merry Christmas to all!

Seattle doesn't know what snow is

Seattle got it's first taste of snow last weekend (a whole inch!) It was the talk of the town. This was the view from our deck on Sunday.

This is a strange place when it comes to snow. Another inch or two was forecasted for today so last night, every school annnounced it would be closed (and lo and behold, not a flake flew today)!

Greyson loved it though. He's into eating the snow and not wearing mittens. We had to bribe him ("hello, Santa?") He spent a good hour outside until the little snow we did have turned into slush. I wish the snow had come today just to see Grey play in it again. I'm a December snow girl and I can't wait to get home to see what I hear is quite a bit of it. (Wisconsin here we come!)

Mike & I recently celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary (gasp!). We took a road trip into the mountains with Greyson to visit a Bavarian village that celebrates Christmas with a beautiful lighting ceremony, Santa, Father Christmas, Frosty the Snowman and other familiar friends. Grey wasn't feeling great so we cut the weekend short but we did get to enjoy some of what the town had to offer. As beautiful as it was, we just can't wait to get home for the holidays.

Greetings from Seattle!

I've been trying to come up with a way to say hello, collectively, to our friends and family (mainly in Wisconsin, but we've got some people who care in other parts of the world as well) so I'm going to try my hand at blogging and see how it goes. I will apologize in advance for what will undoubtedly be boring, rambling and sporadic posts as I:

a) don't have time to call home, much less post
b) have a bit of a phobia of "internet" publishing (i.e. facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, etc)*
c) am not sure if our family and friends will have their own time to read, or access, this site

*disclaimer: the aforementioned phobia has been beaten down by the fact that I cannot say no to peer pressure and have thus caved to facebook and LinkedIn (MySpace will never happen- sorry Dad)

So, sit back, relax and enjoy the small window into this crazy thing we call life with the Guenthers.