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I also extended my trip to visit the East Coast to meet up with my pals at blip, create tapas with Liz, hang with Jen in the village, see my family, and wish my Mom a happy birthday.

My flight back home ended with being placed next to a 70 year old fellow originally from Wisconsin, who’s now living in Washington State. He found it interesting that I worked for a place that does zoo design, and the topic of animals led to a story. He told me that when he was a teenager, he used to hunt mink by a stream on his way to high school. The forest where he hunted is gone, but the excitement he conveyed at remembering his time outdoors when he was younger is something I’ll remember whenever I encounter programs that bring kids into the outdoors. It’s magical; it’s very real.

I moved away to the northwest with Mike, in search of a few things that may sound new-agey unless I explain in person over a plate of local produce or while gazing at the Olympic Mountains. I hunted for work thousands of miles from any contacts, and based my search on a fit of core philosophies. Luck? Determination? I’m not sure how things really materialized, but now I work for a company that I feel is innovative without being evil.

I work for an architecture and landscape architecture firm that specializes in projects that use green building techniques and tries to build sensitively on the land. There’s an importance placed on how culture and communities affect spaces, whether it’s a dwelling or an estuary.

My desk. Note the huge plants!

I wish I had photos of all my past working spaces. Some were horrid, dark, small areas with no windows and stained carpets. Most of them were fine. But now I can’t believe how much some natural light and a view looking out over a park can affect my mood at work.

I love open source software. I love working with guys that are quirky and a bit socially awkward, and goodness I’ve come to really like geek humor and talking shop. I still code. But the tech industry is just not my thing.

What I do love is going to a place every morning where I’m comfortable, use my computer to work on tangible results, and most of all feel proud of my efforts.

Seattle Central Library

My Dad asked me twice in the past week, “Have you been to the new library yet?”. It’s so nice to get pleasantly surprised when I don’t know what to expect! Holy cow what an awesome building. It was hard to appreciate what going on when I first stepped through the main entrance, but as soon as I got on the escalator I thought this is different… wow.. Seriously, I could spend all day at the Seattle Central Library.

Mike and I sat down and he reasoned that since we’re in a new city and don’t know all that much about it, why not see it all? So we spent all of one Sunday looking at varied rental units. Our favorite was the blond on Mercer Island that scared us with stories of bad traffic (justified), and the promise that if we didn’t act NOW, the apartment of our dreams overlooking nothing, in a bland cream and beige box, would be gone. Skipped that one.

In a different section of town, we found out the formula for getting into a polished condo in Belltown if you’re not currently employed with a normal 9-5 job:
a) have an offer letter
b) paystubs
c) have enough cash or liquid assets to equal (monthly rent) x 3 x 12
which in our case would have equaled.. $60,000.00.
so NO!

After a crowded open house in Ballard we jumped at a house in the Eastlake neighborhood. Here are few quick pics of our place that I swiped off of craigslist.

It’s great to have our own place again!

A quick gift I made out of some soft pink cotton jersey, and black lace. I’m still using Near Sea Naturals as the source for my cloth, and so far I’m very happy using them as a vendor. This project was quick and fun, probably because attaching the lace gave such a pretty result!