Richard is 95% sure...

that we sat behind Bill and Melinda Gates at the opera last Saturday.

And unlike the previous time he was sure he saw someone famous (i.e., mistaking some random bearded guy for George Lucas at an off-broadway production of "the Fantastiks" and almost following the guy to the bathroom), I have to say that I am nearly 75% sure that he is right.

Thanks to Richard's employer, Moss Adams, we sometimes get complimentary tickets to some amazing productions. Not only were these tickets box seats (thus increasing the probability that the patrons in front of us were the Gates'), but we also had access to a magic room that provided us with soup before the show and appetizers and chocolates at intermission.''

I told Richard that I felt like a real grown-up-- dressing up, dropping the kid off at the sitter's house, and leaving for the opera. It felt just like a movie, except that in a movie, we would have been killed in some tragic automobile accident on the way home, or mugged like in Batman!

So we sat behind Bill and Melinda Gates. He didn't seem to have any body guards around him. We kind of wanted to say "psst...Bill...hey, do you want to go get some hot chocolate after the show...or maybe we can just hug!"

but we just contented ourselves with feeling giddy for a few moments.

Rachael's Broadway Debut

It is finally here!

Rachael's Broadway Debut


Skip to minute 4:16 (about halfway through) for the start of "wash that man." Rachael will be the one singing the song with her ensemble behind her.

and please let her know if you like it!

Cheese Festival

One of Seattle's greater virtues that we have discovered is the Seattle Cheese Tasting festival.
Yes, that is right-- FREE cheese, as much as you want, and hundreds of different varieties. We came, we saw, we tasted, and promptly fell into a lactose induced coma afterward.

Richard and I greatly underestimated the power of the cheese and overestimated our own appetite. At the first tent there was probably about a dozen different cheeses, and we tried each one. But as we began to comprehend the scope of the festival and how many varieties were left to be sampled, our courage began to flag. About halfway through I couldn't tell one goat cheese from another, one aged cheddar from another, and I had almost no appreciation for the prized Brie that was rated #1 in the country. Richard was manly in his approach. He would not rest until he had sampled every variety.

But even he faltered near the end.

We have already planned our approach for next year. In the morning, we will fast, then we will bring a couple of crusty baguettes, some apples and grapes, and gorge ourselves on cheese. I will probably have to start training now to be ready.
Anna didn't participate much this year, but I imagine next year she will ready, along with the rest of Team Rose, to conquer the cheese festival once again.

Happy Birthday, Rachael!

Happy Birthday, Rachael!

We have had some great times together so far, but I promise you this will be the best year yet!

Our grand Olympic Mecca....Hoh Yes!

Our first family vacation of the year was to the Olympic Penninsula. And if you are thinking to yourself, "hey, that is the setting for 'Twilight', I wonder if they went to some of the places in the book" then my answer, after laughing self-consciously, is "of course not, do you think I am obsessed or something?" (pssstt...just wait for an upcoming blog post).

But really, we stayed in Port Angeles at this great hotel (we highly recommend the Olympic Lodge-- it was awesome!). This was our first hotel stay with a baby, and because we don't usually go to sleep at 7:00 like Anna, we ended up dragging our pillows and blankets into the bathroom and watching movies on our computer and eating lots and lots of candy and popcorn.

We spent most of our time during the day in Olympic National Park. We didn't have specific plans each day, so we took our time to stop and see anything that sparked our interest. This time, it was a baby dear and its mama.......

the deer and the doe were quite cute too :)

both Richard and I were kind of tired, and we thought that Anna needed to start pulling her weight, so we let her drive for awhile. She had a hard time keeping her eyes on the road though.
Anna couldn't reach the pedals, so her daddy helped her out with that one.
"excuse me, could we hurry it up here? I've got some milk to get home to!"
Richard really wanted to see the only rain forest in the United States. In an effort to save time I tried to convince him that he didn't need to shower because we were going to a rain forest. It did not rain the entire time we were there.

Anna liked the huge trees. This one was a 270 foot sitka spruce.
The happy family.
Anna is really liking textures right now. She wants to feel (and then eat) everything.

Baby backpacks are awesome. I wish I could ride in style like that.
This giant tree was just laying on the beach at La Push. I can't even imagine how huge it must have been in its heyday.
Despite the rumors about Washington, and the Olympic Penninsula in general being the rainiest part of the entire contiguous United States, it was sunny the entire time we were there.

The most beautiful part of the trip was the last day when we walked around Crescent Lake. The air was still, so that the water did not even ripple the whole morning. I have heard of lakes being "like glass" but this was my first experience.

Days like that make me think "Thank you Heavenly Father for making the earth so beautiful"
this lake is deeper than the height of the 47-story Wells Fargo Center, where Richard works. The water was very clear and it kind of gave me the heebie jeebies to see how it just kept going down and down.
Anna was in her proper form-- ragdoll mode.
This lake is just three hours away from Seattle, and possibly one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited in my life.
I know that Anna will not remember this trip, so it will have to be enough to have pictures to show her someday. We want her to see beautiful things all around her.

passed out.
Our picnic by the lake was a fitting end to our weekend adventure. It was like a scene from "the Last of the Mohicans" I half expected Daniel Day Lewis or Pocahontas to come kayaking down to the shore.


Some visitors came to join us.
Their names were Hughey and Louie. Dewey had a lunch appointment elsewhere

Anna loved these new "friends"

And yes, there might have been a few "Twilight" stops for curiosity sake only.....at least, that is what I tell myself.

All I can say...

All I can say is that hair looks a lot different the next day when it is dry. Maybe it wasn't quite as easy as I thought it was....(and to be honest, we were both tired and I had eaten a lot of candy just before).

Thankfully, Richard is forgiving and he has faith that I will keep improving.

Learning new things

Usually, I would say that I hate to learn new things. Not that I don't like having new skills, I just don't like the learning curve-- that period of time when you naturally stink at whatever you are doing.

I also usually don't like to involve other people in my learning curve. Thus it was with great hesitation that I agreed to take over cutting Richard's hair from the good people at Great Clips or wherever he was going.

So after purchasing a hair cutting kit from Target, and watching a video on youtube called "how to cut your man's hair," I attempted to learn a new skill without making Richard the laughing stock of the whole office.

With a little guidance from Richard (he was going to content himself with the bull cut I had given him before agreeing to allow me to try again), after about an hour he looked relatively normal. I told him he looked better than his worst haircut at a salon.

And I have to admit, I had a lot of fun. I kind of like this whole "learning a new skill" thing. And Richard is glad I don't ask him about his family or love life while I am cutting his hair. Not that I am planning on switching professions, but I think I can handle the hair of the men in my life from now on.

Pre-birthday thoughts

My birthday is coming up.

I turn 29 on May 18. I can no longer say I am in my mid twenties because 29 is so close to thirty you might as well just round it up anyway (I would have made a poor accountant)

The other day I listened to a Taylor Swift song and felt exceptionally old. I don't think she was even born in the 80's, and a lot of her songs are about high school crushes and first loves, and the music videos invariably involve her somewhere in high school or wearing a prom dress.

I didn't even know who Justin Beiber was until a few months ago, and it was because I read about him in Time magazine, and not because I watched him on youtube.

At some point in the last year, I realized that not only am I no longer a teenager, but teenagers would not even consider me their peer. I am a grown-up, an adult, a mom. I wear socks with slip on shoes because my feet get cold. And lately, my legs have begun to creak and pop when I do squats.

And I have to admit that there is a part of me, watching those Taylor Swift videos, that would like to be 18 again, a senior in high school, with my whole life ahead of me, dreaming about my first big crush, getting ready for senior prom...

and then I remember that it is a music video, as far from reality as a Star Trek episode. I might as well dream of being a Vulcan for all the similarities.

In reality, being a teenager was really hard and full of a lot of insecurity. I wouldn't relive it for all the chocolate in Switzerland. I wouldn't want the skin of a teenager, the body of a teenager, or the emotional drama of a teenager.

Its really not that bad to be 28, almost 29. In fact, its pretty awesome. I don't have to worry about whether the guy I like, likes me back. I don't have to worry about what I am going to do on Friday night or who to sit next to in the cafeteria. My life doesn't rise and fall with whether or not I get asked to a dance. My success in life is not measured by how many people I get to sign my yearbook. I have two separate eyebrows and my body is healthier than it has ever been.

Although, I do kind of miss my minimum wage job working at Great Harvest....mmmm, bread.

All in all, I like being me, right now, right where I am.

Now, time to go write a song....

Why we call her Anna Banana (or Anna B. for short)

A few weeks ago I discovered this monster living in our house...
a monster with sharp teeth and an insatiable appetite.
She might look cute, but beware the cute....

And the only way to appease the monster is to give her a banana.

Her appetite is ravenous
Better the banana than me.
She has 8 teeth now.
That could have been my arm.

her hunger is appeased for the time being....
but beware the Anna banana.

Happy Anniversary to us!! 3 years old today

...and it all started because a boy and girl fell in love (and because even when the girl was weird and had issues, the boy didn't give up!)

and one day Richard asked me if I would be his wife and move in with him...in that order
so I got to marry this handsome fella.

and I even got to wear high heels on our wedding day. Richard was nothing like the lanky geeky pre-med guy I thought I wanted to marry. He was SOOOO much better!


These two pairs of size 11 and size 14 feet have gotten dirty in a lot of places since we began...

Greece...

New York...

Cancun...

I think we are a pretty good looking pair!

We have survived not just one graduation...


but two... (and who knows for the future)

But I think we never lacked sleep more than when we let this little girl into our lives.

my two sweethearts-- Anna and her daddy!


I would do it all over again!! I love you Richard! You are my perfect partner

Happy Mothers Day to the "World's Greatest Mom" (Congratulations, you did it!)

Mom, this ones for you!

Happy Mother's Day. You have survived the poopy diapers, the skinned knees, the cardboard valentine's boxes, the halloween costumes, the teen drama, the chore battles and dish nights, the weekly allowance, the orthodontic bills, the family road trips, the carpools, the soccer practices, the school plays and dance concerts, the permanent marker, the missing socks and endless laundry, the driver's permits, and the "Mom! She's touching me!"
You waited up for me after every school dance and listened when I told you about every minute detail. You cried with me when I didn't get the part in the school play that I wanted. You made me posters and cheered me on when I ran the marathon. You let me borrow your shoes.

you read scriptures with us every day even when we fought you tooth and nail. You got us up every morning for school. You never gave up trying to get us to help out around the house. You made sure we had family dinners around the dinner table. You put up crepe paper and balloons on our birthdays.

You always told me what you really thought about the guys I dated. You wrote me almost every week when I was on my mission. You went with me to pick out my wedding dress and danced at my reception. You have been my Valentine for as long as I can remember. You continue to laugh at my jokes. You gave me my blue eyes.

You inspired me during the hardest moments of my life. You helped me to keep going when I wanted to give up. You brought me a chocolate shake and a sandwich after Anna was born. You calmed me when I thought she couldn't breathe on the first night we had her home. You continue to tell me "everything is going to be okay!"

Thanks mom! You are my best friend. Happy Mothers Day.