Subsisting in Seattle

An update

2010-03-28T13:43:00.000-07:00

So, here's a well past-due update on our activities:

Sarah is still working at the day care (just approaching 3 months now) and is also working one on one with a girl with autism 2 evenings a week. In her spare time she tends to get sick (so far she's had three colds, two fevers, and one stomach bug). Health benefits coming soon! At least the work is fun :)

Jon successfully built his own guitar amp without being electrocuted:

He has also found a couple artists to record via craigslist. He recorded a two-song demo for a high school pop-punk band which can be heard here. He is also doing a bunch of songs with a pop/rock singer/songwriter that are yet to be completed. The pay isn't much at this point, but it's something. Next week Jon will also start tutoring two days a week.

We were happy to have a few friends visit last week. It was really refreshing to see some familiar faces! We enjoyed hanging out, trying new restaurants, and making butternut squash gnocchi with them. Yum!

We hope to have more visitors soon. This means YOU! We still don't have room for anyone to stay with us yet...but hopefully by fall. Well, we could accommodate one or two if you're willing to sleep on an air mattress in our kitchen/dining room. Just an idea.

Golden Gardens Park

2010-03-21T19:03:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago we went to check out the sunset along the Puget Sound at Golden Gardens Park in Ballard. The colors weren't as vibrant as an Arizona sunset, but it was still really pretty. :)

Waiting for the sunset:

Behind us:

Climbing trees to pass the time:

And finally, sunset:

Whew. Finally...

2010-01-04T20:36:00.000-08:00

Sarah got a job today, after over 3 months of searching and interviewing! She has to make it through a 90-day probationary period to gain permanent status & benefits, but we have no doubt she can do that. The position is at a small, family-owned child care and the owner and staff seem like a nice group of people. They like her quiet and calm nature :)

Marshmallows

2010-01-02T14:45:00.000-08:00

So we have a bag of miniature marshmallows that we have been trying to get rid of since Thanksgiving when we made Watergate salad. Last night we decided to light some tea light candles and do some small scale marshmallow roasting. Yum!

Christmas in Arizona

2010-01-01T20:19:00.000-08:00

It was so nice to be able to visit with our family and friends in Arizona for Christmas! We were thankful to find fairly cheap flights which made that possible. It was a little stressful trying to organize when and where to see everyone in such a short amount of time and having to get rides/borrow cars. We got see almost everyone we wanted to, but we know there are some we did not get to see, and we sincerely hope we can see you the next time around!! Thanks to everyone who helped get us places--we really appreciate it!

Again, we failed with the pictures...(or the lack of)...we were too busy catching up with all of you to take pictures!

But for some visual stimulation, here are some pictures of Jon's most recent project--a footswitch pedal for his amp. He used his dad's workshop when we were in AZ to build the housing and just finished wiring it up with the lights and everything today. We decided it wouldn't be a good idea to wire it up in Arizona because it might have looked like a bomb when we went through security at the airport. Jon is happy with how it turned out!

Thanksgiving

2009-12-04T15:39:00.000-08:00

This year we had our first Turkey Day apart from our families. It was weird, but we still had a nice Thanksgiving. Our friend Joe came to visit some family here in Seattle so we got to spend Thanksgiving with them. They were fabulous hosts...and it was so nice to spend some time with an Arizona buddy! We hope we get more visitors in the future :) Sadly, we have no pictures from that to share with you all...sorry!

JuiceSmash!

2009-11-17T18:34:00.001-08:00

We decided we want to get more fruits and veggies in our system, so yesterday we bought a juicer from a lady on craigslist for $20. She never used it and the model gets good reviews online so we think we got a good bargain. Today we juiced 4 apples, and then we juiced 6 carrots and a tomato. The apple juice was yummy, but we didn't love the carrot/tomato combo. We're going to consult the web for better proportions and recipes for next time.

The only drawback is the cleanup!

After our juicing adventure, the apartment manager and a random guy came to our door and asked Jon to go outside. The guy was backing out and hit Jon's car (that's two strikes in one week--just by being parked on the street)! Fortunately, the guy was apologetic and cooperative and gave Jon all of his information. We're hoping this will be a smooth process with the insurance company. Jon should be getting a quote for the damage on Friday. Apparently this in an unlucky place to park.

Broken Mirror

2009-11-16T12:20:00.000-08:00

Jon has been having to park on the street because the parking lot for our apartment is small--only one car from each apartment is allowed to take a spot. We don't live on a very narrow street, but there are a lot of those around here so you'd think an experienced driver could avoid doing something like this to a parked car:

Mustaches

2009-11-15T22:09:00.001-08:00

Yeah, we know...we stink at updating our blog. It's just really hard to get ourselves to write about our boring every day stuff, which usually consists of looking online for jobs, hanging out, eating, watching movies from the library, and keeping warm. It kind of works with the rainy weather though. We haven't been getting out a whole lot because we don't want to spend much money since we are both still not collecting a paycheck. Our biggest adventures involve going to the grocery store and the library. And many of you have told us that it's okay to blog about ordinary, every day stuff, but we sincerely think our current daily routine would bore you. We might start reviewing things we try...like meals or movies. We'll try to do better. Thanks for your patience.

We were invited to meet some people at a mustache-themed party this weekend. Here's how we turned out:

Sarah kept getting homemade cheesecake on her mustache (eating was a difficult task)! We met some interesting people and got to try all sorts of other homemade goodies like pumpkin-curry soup, candied nuts, samosas, rum cake, and chocolate-coconut bars.

Jon plans on wearing his mustache more often.

Autumn

2009-11-04T12:15:00.000-08:00

We kind of neglected the Halloween festivities this year and didn't feel like figuring out costumes, which we were totally okay with. Our way of celebrating was getting clearance candy a couple days later. In the end, isn't that cheaper and quicker than making a costume and going trick or treating? The only disappointment was the Airheads. Well, the Airheads themselves were okay, but they included a "super sour gel pack" that came in a little thing that looked like a ketchup packet. They make condiments for your Airheads now? It was neon yellow and it tasted like Pine-Sol. Ew.

After Halloween we realized we missed the changeover to Daylight Savings Time. So for those of you in AZ, we are now one hour earlier than you. Let us know how things are going in the future, we feel so behind...

Here are some autumn pictures we took while the weather was still kind of nice.

Soggy Leaves

2009-10-16T21:02:00.000-07:00

Today was the rainiest day we've had since we've been here, but it was still a beautiful day. We walked down the street to a very convenient auto licensing location to register Sarah's car. Jon was able to take care of his earlier this week since he was not required to get an emissions test. It was only about a 10 minute walk, but we were pretty soaked by the time we got there. We were wishing we would have brought the camera so we could show you all how pretty the trees and fallen leaves are now that it's getting cooler. The sidewalks are covered with red, orange, and yellow leaves. This is our first real autumn!

We have so far managed to avoid using the heater, aside from one day when it was still warm outside when we turned a mysterious, unlabeled knob on the wall of our bedroom. It got a bit toasty and we realized it controlled the heat in our room. Now we know. We are curious to see what the electric bill will be like, which we have yet to receive as it is sent out every two months.

On another note, we are continuing to apply to jobs and are checking our e-mail every five minutes hoping for responses. Sarah has gotten a couple emails back about teaching assistant positions but doesn't know for sure if she's still being considered. As sort of a last resort, she applied for a job at a nearby dry cleaners and surprisingly got a phone call back very shortly after to schedule an interview for Monday. Not her dream job, but it may have to do for the time being. Kinda brings her back to senior year of high school...and hanging out with her sisters at the old dry cleaners in Chandler.

Jon is in constant search of decent, like-minded musicians to record and play/write with. He has met up with a couple of different people through Craigslist but hasn't found anything too promising yet. He did find one guy who wants to pay him to record a few tracks, so that's a start!

Rainbow Wall

2009-09-24T17:56:00.000-07:00

Tonight we went to a record store in Queen Anne, about 10 minutes from our apartment, to see David Bazan play. It was a good show--we were pleasantly surprised to see him play with a full band. Afterward we hung out in Queen Anne, ate a little Taco Bell, and walked up some very steep streets to get a rewarding view of the city at night.

The Show:

The Rainbow Wall:

The Hike:

The View:

Fabulous Views in Queen Anne

2009-09-23T02:33:00.000-07:00

We got a tip from Sarah's brother about a park in Queen Anne that has a great view of downtown Seattle. It was a pretty nice day so we decided to check it out. Now we know why people pay so much to live in Queen Anne!

Job Hunt

2009-09-22T19:17:00.001-07:00

Sarah is going in for a third interview tomorrow afternoon for a job working with teens at a before and after school program. Jon has been searching craigslist thoroughly for good positions and will be starting some projects with a recording engineer next week.

Within the past couple days we've picked up some useful items including a free desk, a wireless router that works (Kathleen will appreciate this), and a Hoover Mach3 Cyclonic Upright Bagless Vacuum with bonus Swiffer mop, all via craigslist.

Time to rearrange the apartment!

Birthday Cake

2009-09-21T12:49:00.000-07:00

Jon's birthday was on Saturday, and to celebrate we made pineapple upside-down cake. What a fun cake to make! It was the first time either of us had attempted it before, and we were pretty pleased with the results. As you can see it is quite a large quantity for just the two of us, but we have been eating a couple servings every day and are fairly confident we can polish it off - we're about halfway there. :)

Frozen dinnners with a side of Ramen

2009-09-19T10:44:00.000-07:00

Before:

After (...still in progress):

Our apartment is tiny, but doable for the two of us. We have a kitchen/living room combo (the fridge is kind of in the living room area), a small bathroom, and a decent sized bedroom. We've got a couple nifty storage cupboards as well. The living room isn't so much a living room, but a music room, dining room, and office. Yeah, it's pretty confusing...but it works.

The first couple days consisted of stacking and pushing all of our stuff against walls to make pathways to the important places, and then we finally got around to putting things in a more logical order. Once we got the kitchen area clear we attempted our first home-cooked meal--frozen dinners with a side of Ramen. Yum!

Since then, we've gotten a lot more things in order and have bought more groceries, which has lead to more substantial meals, like spaghetti! We've only set the smoke detector off twice, but no fires or burnt food :). The grocery store, by the way, is just down the block. Super convenient. Almost anything we want/need is within walking distance--restaurants, movies, music stores, banks, the library, and bodies of water!

Pictures of us being weirdos:

Here we are!

2009-09-15T13:44:00.000-07:00

After draining most of the west coast's supply of gasoline and driving pretty much straight through, we arrived in Seattle late Friday night. The apartment manager was still up and let us move our stuff into the apartment without worrying about the lease until morning. She was also kind enough to connect our electricity for us ahead of time - so far she is very friendly and laid-back. Before getting some much needed rest we then delivered some furniture to this lady from craigslist, who was paying us to pick up her furniture in Phoenix and bring it to her in Seattle. It didn't quite cover what we spent in gas, but it certainly helped make our move more affordable.

To answer the question that is on the tip of everyone's tongue - does Isis sound better in the city in which it was recorded? Yes, yes it does.