Just Me!!

I’m so glad we got the Smith Tower crossed off my “what I want to do while we are in Seattle” list. When I first read the story about  Petra Franklin Lahaie who lives atop the 462 feet Pyramid Smith Tower I was mesmerized. I want a tour of her house but they don’t exist. A tour of the Smith Tower was as close as I could get. I would love to be the lady who lives at the top of the tower, along with her husband and her two kids. The loft is beautiful with its views, Pyramid windows, and the Chulily chandelier hanging from the ceiling. Lucky for me I found a Groupon that had tickets at $10/2 people, which is a huge savings! The views are amazing, the drinks at the bar at the tops were refreshing and enjoyable, and the time alone was precious and valued. 

Obituary Michael Patrick Cortez Michael P. Cortez Michael Patrick Cortez, devoted husband and father, outdoorsman, dog lover, motorcycle and cooking enthusiast, died on Monday, May 9, 2016 in Olympia, Washington. Mike was born to Gabriele and Albert P. Cortez in Nuremberg, Germany. Although he considered Olympia to be his hometown, he was nevertheless proud to show off family photos of himself as a child, dressed in traditional Bavarian lederhosen. He spoke fondly of his childhood and the many life lessons he learned from his school and family life. A charismatic storyteller, Mike was always eager to share vivid stories and keen observations about his youth with those around him. After graduating Timberline High School in 1984, Mike began working in sales. A natural talent, he rose to become a well-known and respected auto parts sales representative in Olympia and the surrounding area, most recently working as a territory sales manager for O'Reilly Auto Parts. His honest, personab...

Valerie and I spent the day shopping together up at Westfield Mall. We had a blast driving up to Tukwilla and shopping all day long. She got some clothes, we had a sushi lunch, and visited LUSH (one of my favorite shops recently—have been taking lots of baths lately and using bath bombs and oatmeal infused lotion bars to help with my skin and my CHI). Mark bought me two magazines for Valentines and I am slowly working my way through them, while I bathe. We also checked out the Asian Fish Mart and Val brought home a 12 lb Yellowtail Fish to fillet and prepare for us. Everyone in line asked her what she planned to do with him....it was funny. She is so full of adventure and let’s NOTHING stop her. She has never filleted a fish, but she did, and it was tasty. She even brought over her friends to enjoy the spoils. I unfortunately was taking a nap so I missed getting pictures! Here is one that doesn’t do it justice. It was skin up so it looks burnt in this picture but it wasn’t. It was pai...

On Wednesday, before I got off work I sent the kids all a text requesting schedules, things we needed to get done, what they would like to do, and requests for dinner. I loved getting responses so that our weekend isn’t just sitting around trying to figure out plans. Instead we were purposeful which led to a fun weekend. We went to the Farmers Market on Saturday morning while Mark was at work, then he and Ethan met us at Caskcade Brewery for hot dogs, coin operated games like Buck Shot, Pinball, and Pac Man. After we went back to the Pulicon at the Puyallup Library.  Charlie got Sans painted on her arm, we did crafts, got 3 free comic books, and saw some awesome costumes. Afterwards we went home and had street tacos for Cinco De Mayo.  The next day we got up early and headed to see The Avengers: Infinity War at 8am. We left saddened by the ending of the movie and are hungry/anxious to see the next one. We finished the day off with a nap, some time with extra teens in our hous...

We spent a lovely Sunday enjoying the Tulips in La Conner Wa my last rotation off. Our schedules of soccer, college, and homework keeps us pretty tethered to our home but we managed to sneak away for a few with the kids. We love drives together! Also we like to make things educational so we helped Val out with her college art assignment by visiting the MONA while we were in town. We were lucky enough to examine several pieces of work by a local Northwest artist Robert McCauley. His work is stunning and thought provoking. He loves to paint nature in its’ habitat! I loved the turtles and its message.....MOVE more slowly. Be Purposeful, lean in! The best thing about the day...everything was free except for parking at the Tulip fields. We walked downtown, visited the shops, bought some blue cheese olives, some “Paris tea”,  grabbed  a grab bag at the local antiques store (used to love the surprise of those as a kid) and Ethan bought a bunch of tulips for Sam. We ate at the casino ...