Sleepless in Seattle

 

In the last two weeks we had two visitors- Chuck's dad and then Chuck's mom.

 

The weather was gorgeous (most the time) for both of their visits and we tried to cram in as much stuff as we could so they could both see as much of the Pacific Northwest as possible while they were here. Their trips can be told pretty well by pictures. We took a LOT of pictures. (Please note- these pictures are in no particular order.)

 



 

The San Juan Islands. 

We visited Orcas Island and just as a piece of advice to anyone who plans to visit the San Juan Islands- make sure you plan to spend at least 2 days here. We tried to do the trip in one day and spent most of our day just traveling. Driving from Seattle to the Ferry, waiting for the ferry for 2+ hours, riding the ferry... We saw some gorgeous sights and had fun, but think it would have been time better spent if we had allowed a whole weekend for it.

Of course we showed off Pike Place Market.

 Fresh donuts. Yum.

 

The gum wall. Ew.

 

 

We took a Duck Boat tour because, while they are extremely cheesy, they are a great way to see a city and who wouldn't have fun riding in a vehicle that can drive on land and water!?

 



 

 

 

My favorite part of the tour was when we floated past the Sleepless in Seattle house. Too bad Tom Hanks doesn't actually live there. 

 

Watching airplanes land and take off from the lake was a highlight as well. 

 



We went back to the Ballard Locks, the same place Chuckie and I visited a month or so ago. It's so pretty on a nice day and watching the boat elevator (I don't think that's really what it's called but that's what I call it) is pretty entertaining. We also got to go underneath to the fish observation room and watch some salmon pass by which was pretty cool!

 

 

The weekend his mom was here we took a trip to Vancouver and Whistler. I took about 100 pictures that day so I will save that adventure for its own post.

All in all I think they both got to see not only a good portion of Seattle, but a good portion of the Pacific Northwest! We love having visitors because it makes us go out and do and see things that we may not go do and see on our own. With only 8 weeks left in Seattle I'm not sure how many more visitors we will have but with all of the LGOs, Sloanies and other MBAs from Amazon, we will hopefully stay busy and make the most of the remainder of our time here!

 

 

One Down and One to Go

This week is the halfway point of the LGO program. Can you believe it?
Last year on June 4, Chuck attended his first day of classes and met the people he'd be working alongside for the next two years. Next year on June 6, he will be graduating. Everyone warned us that the program would fly by, and so far it has.

Here is Chuck on his first day of class last summer. I made him take the traditional "first day of school with your backpack on" picture before he left for class that day. He was a little reluctant but he humored me. :)

 

 At this time last year, we were still unsure of what to expect out of these 2 years in the program, but I can honestly say the reality of it all has FAR exceeded our expectations. The fact that we are counting down the days until we can get back to Boston in September is an indication of how much we love the program, the school, the city, and most of all, the friends we have there.

 

It is so funny to me to go back and look at this picture taken in mid June last year after we took one of the infamous Duck Boat Tours around the city with some of the LGO classmates and their families. (Jessica, if you're reading this- I stole your picture from FB because I love it! Hope you don't mind!)  

 

At the time this picture was taken, these people were still pretty much just strangers to us. Now I look at this picture and see good friends, neighbors, Chuck's teammates, people we spent Thanksgiving with, people we have plans to go visit in Portland next month... I get a little teary-eyed thinking about having to say goodbyes next June. While I'm looking forward to the day we settle down, both have full time jobs again, get a house and get back to a "normal" routine, I am also dreading the end of this experience.  It feels a little bit like real life is on hold for these 2 years and it's kind of fun. I know I will have very mixed feelings when it's over and I know Chuck feels the same way.

But... it's too soon to think about that, so I'll stop. We have 2.5 more months in Seattle and then it's back to Boston for two more semesters! I'm so excited to have another Fall in the Northeast and to be reunited with friends.  Until then, we are going to enjoy our summer in Seattle where the weather is starting to be sunny and warm every day AND several more of the LGO and Sloan students have arrived to start their internships for the summer. Things are going to get a lot busier and a lot more fun around here and we are very happy about that.

Year #2- GO!

Staying Busy

The title of this post pretty much sums up our previous week, and probably every week from here on out. Chuck started REAL classes this week so that plus homework plus socializing with the LGOs has kept him extremely busy. As for me, I have been running errands, interviewing for jobs and also socializing with the LGOs and their SOs. Rather than bore you with all the details, I will show you our past week in pictures.

This wasn't technically in the past week but just a little over a week ago. Long story short, Chuck's BFF and our Best Man Branden flew in last minute (his work sent him) and took Chuck to Game 6 of the playoffs between the Celtics and Miami Heat. They had like 8th row tickets and took this sweet sign with them. They didn't get on TV but that's ok. The Celtics lost unfortunately. Maybe Rondo was just too nervous to play in front of two former high school and college classmates?

One day I walked to CVS across the river and came upon Charles Street. So I had to take a picture for Chuck, obviously. (This is the Instagram copy.)

We've been doing a lot of cooking and baking. Chocolate chip muffins, yum.

Garlic shrimp and Fiesta Lime Rice. SO. GOOD. Here is the recipe for the rice: http://www.skinnytaste.com/2011/04/fiesta-lime-rice.html This website is amazing.

This week we discovered the on-campus karaoke bar called The Thirsty Ear. We went with a bunch of LGOs and SOs on Thursday night and it was a blast. You can see Chuck up there in the middle, pretending to play guitar on the random Guitar Hero guitar that someone handed him. They were singing Sweet Home Alabama. And yes, it appears one of them is studying while also singing but I promise he wasn't.

Yesterday we went on a "Duck Tour" with a lot of LGOs and their families. We had enough people that the entire bus/boat was all people we knew, so that made it a lot of fun. This was the Captain of our bus/boat "Old Glory." The Duck Tours take you all over downtown Boston and then into the water where you float around on the Charles River for a bit before heading back. Our Captain was a tad crazy but that's ok, it was still fun. And we got some great pictures of the city.

Another Instagram photo:

After the tour, a bunch of us went to get dinner together and ended up at a Thai restaurant. We had so many people they gave us the whole back room to ourselves, so that was fun. Except this dude hovered over us the whole time.

Other highlights from the week? I got a job (yay!), I had lunch and went shoe shopping with some SOs, we went to some cool Irish bars Friday night, and did some wedding planning. Today we worked on planning our ceremony and music for the reception. Chuck suggested we do our first dance as husband and wife to "Play That Funky Music White Boy." So as you can see we got a lot accomplished. :)