Seattle Art Museum

So eons ago The Man and I made it into Seattle to go to the Seattle Art Museum.  We had been wanting to go and I was determined that we would go while we had free admission (Active duty military and dependents had free admission to hundreds of museums this summer; that's how long ago we went!)  We both enjoy looking at art and going to an art museum is on my 101 in 1001 list, so that was another incentive to go.

I have to say that I love taking the ferry to Seattle.  I know that has nothing to do with the art museum...but really, taking the ferry is the best. We usually get some soup for the ride over; Ivar's clam chowder for The Man and chicken noodle or chili  for me, depending on what they have. We're creatures of habit and we love our soup.  I also keep an eye out for some Orca. It's not unheard of to see them from the ferry and I really, really, REALLY want to see some Orca.  I refuse to leave WA until I see some. It's a good thing we're not planning on moving anytime soon!  I've never seen orca but it is common to see some seals (or seal lions...not sure which one) hanging out around the buoys.  They're really cute!

So, on to the Seattle Art Museum.  We enjoyed the feature exhibit and sadly we weren't allowed to take any pictures.  We really enjoyed the exhibit of paintings of American landscapes.  I'm usually drawn to ones of either coast and the ones they had did not disappoint.  I could just stare and enjoy for hours. Thankfully I had The Man with me to keep me from doing that!  They also had logging photos from the early 1900's.  Those were pretty awesome too.

We didn't explore too much else as we under a time crunch.  We really wanted to see the last Harry Potter film at the IMAX in 3D so we headed over to the Pacific Science Museum so w could do that. It was awesome though I didn't think the3D added too much.  I'll be just fine seeing it on my plain old TV when we get it on DVD!

Anyway, I did manage to take a few photos at the museum....

How about wearing this to a military ball?

I wonder what Ig would do with this mouse?

I really like the colors and pattern.

53

The quick trip to NH also had another purpose besides making memories...it was so I could meet my nephew!  Meeting him was number 53 on my 101 in 1001 list so that's another item crossed off.  I'm just going to town on that list...

He was born in February and I'm just now meeting him...very sad but the way life is sometimes.  He did let me hold him but he wasn't sure who this random person was.  At 6 months no explaining of how cool Auntie Poe and Uncle Man are would have made a difference.  If it would have, his older siblings would have convinced him!  They'll fill him in as he gets older.

The little man

Getting Auntie and Uncle love

Poe and M

The Turner Joy

The Man and I decided to go into Seattle for the day one weekend.  We enjoy taking the ferry so he looked up the schedule and we decided that we'd take the 10 o'clock ferry.  We park and start waking towards the ferry.  We have some time so we decide to stop at Starbucks to get drink to take with us on the ferry.  We start walking towards the ferry when we realize that it's pulling away from the dock.  We scratched our heads in wonder because it wasn't yet 10.  We ask a worker and she said that the ferry leaves at 9:45 not 10.  It turns out that The Man read the ferry schedule for leaving Seattle!  The next ferry wasn't until 11:10 so we had a little over an hour to kill.  We decided to walk along the Bermerton Boardwalk.  At the end is the ship Turner Joy that is now a museum.  We've talked about touring it but never have.  What better way to kill an hour?  Added bonus is that this is on my 101 in 1001 so I'm able to cross another item off.

 A plaque on the boardwalk remembering the men lost in the Viet Nam War on the Turner Joy.  I found it interesting considering I've been where this boat has been.

 Looking to the ship from the bow

Looking out from the bridge

Enjoying the Captain's quarters

Enlisted berthing. The Man commented that they have thicker mattresses!

I could tell I'm sub wife...I was surprised that they had a post office!

 In the mess hall....it's huge!

The Turner Joy in all her glory

Kisses

While we were at California Adventure in California I was able to cross off another item on my 101 in 1001 list!  I'm very happy to cross off #37. Kiss at the top of a Ferris wheel. 

Poe, The Man and the Wheel

It's not exactly a Ferris Wheel....but it's close enough.  I figured that since I wrote the list I can decide what qualifies!  The wheel is pretty cool.  There are swinging and non-swinging gondolas.  We rode it twice and both times we rode in the swinging gondola.  You don't go as high as the non swinging but it's more fun to swing!

The kiss

  Of course I had to take pictures from the top:

Matterhorn & Space Mountain in the distance

Tower of Terror

I really liked the wheel!  Here's what it looks like at night:

#54. Paint the Sewing Room

I'm happy to report that #54 of my 101 list has been completed!  The sewing room is our third bedroom downstairs.  When we bought the house the room was painted white.  Boring.  It used to have carpet but when the washer machine overflowed the rug got wet and we removed it so it wouldn't mold.  It wasn't the best carpet and we were going to replace it eventually.  We're actually pretty happy with the bare concrete instead.  The was also a mess since I never really unpacked.

From the doorway

The closet

The doorway

It took me a while to pick out the colors.   I had hoped that The Man would help me paint but I did it myself (thank you duty day).  He was amazing and put up the crown molding.  I love crown molding.  I think it has to do with the fact that my parent's house is at least 130 years old and full of crown molding.  It adds a nice finishing touch to a room.  If I have my way there will be crown molding in every room in the house...except the bathroom.  We'll see if The Man agrees to put that much up!

Bye Bye boring white!

Miss Molly keeps me company

Putting up crown molding

Iggymans supervises from the window

Anyways, we still need to put down flooring.  The one we really like has to be special ordered and I want to make sure that that's the one we really want.  At some point The Man is going to build me some more storage and after that we'll put in better lighting...thank goodness I have two true lights for extra lighting!  I think this is going to be the never ending project room.

And now for the finished (for now!) product:

The door

Repainted bookshelves

My cutting table

My sewing table

It's been painted since mid-October.  I just got the motivation to get it organized and stuff put away.  It's not perfect and still a little messy (you should see the closet!) but I'm able to do stuff down there now.  I have curtains, pillows, table runners and place mats to make.  I'm so thankful that I have a sewing room!  I'm a little spoiled by it.  I know that I'll have to give it up someday as it is our third bedroom.  I'm going to enjoy it while I have it!

Where do you do your crafty stuff?  

Two Birds, One Stone

The Man & I went to the movies last night.  I was able to cross TWO things off my 101 list!  It makes me so happy to cross stuff off.  I've been doing pretty well with it.  Anyways, back to the movie.  We saw Tron.  To be honest, I agreed to see it cause I knew The Man REALLY wanted to see it.  He had found the trailer for it online ages ago and made me watch several times.  He also kept saying how he wanted to see it.  Since it didn't matter to me one way or the other, I went with him.  It was great.  I really enjoyed it.  We saw it in 3D.  It was the first digital 3D movie we've seen.  That crossed off #69.  Then it also helped in the A-Z Movie Challenge.  I didn't have a T movie yet.

So if you haven't seen it yet, I do recommend it.  I have not seen the original so I can't compare the two.  I enjoyed the action scenes and plot.  It was a date night with The Man so how bad could it really be?

#8. Donate My Hair

I'm excited to say I've finally gotten a haircut!  It's been awhile.  I was letting grow for the wedding and then after that decided to donate it.  I was waiting to come to MA to have my hairdresser of 15 years do it.  I knew I would need it styled and I trust her.  She cut the ponytail off and then suggested a style.  I said do it.  I love my new haircut!  It's taking some time to get used to having it short.  It feels weird when I brush it and I have to remember that I don't need as much shampoo/conditioner as before. 

Before:

After:

The ponytail:

I haven't mailed it yet but hope to soon.  I have thin hair and it's not much, but hopefully it will help in some way.

#13. Eat at Sully's on Castle Island...

Castle Island is one of my favorite places in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD.  I love it there.  My grandparents used to take me there all the time.  We would get dinner and then walk around.  Grandpa & I would watch the planes taking off and landing at Logan and try to guess what airline it was.  Sometimes we would take a metal detector and walk along the beach and try to find stuff.  Other times they would let me play on the playground.  A walk down the fishing pier was a must and I loved seeing what the different people caught.  As I got older I would go with my parents and then I would bring friends there.  It doesn't matter how crowded it is, it always feels peaceful to me.  I love going in any weather.  I've been there on sunny days and on rainy ones.  I've been there when the wind was so strong that it held me up and I couldn't walk against it.  I've eaten in the car and all around the island.  I've been inside Fort Independence but to be honest, I don't really remember it.  All of my memories take place outside the walls of the fort.  The fort is always there, a part of the landscape.  I also always wanted to go swimming while we were there.  The answer was almost always NO but there were a few occasions I was able to go in the water.



Sully's on Castle Island



I was surprised whem Mom mentioned that Sully's was open till the end of November.  I had expected them  to be closed so I didn't mention going there.  Well, once I knew it was still open I HAD to go.  So off we went!

We got there a little early so we walked around first.  I took tons of pictures.  Then we ate lunch at Sully's.  Hot dogs and french fries.  They have the best fries there.  We had some birds that wanted to share our lunch but thankfully we were able to protect our food from them.

Due to the wind the planes weren't landing over the island.  They were taking off over it and you could still see the wing art.  I love trying to figure out what airline it is.  Being there remind me of my grandparents and I missed them.  It was so nice to spend some time at Castle Island. 

Fort Independence

One of the old school playground toys that I used to play on as a child.

The railing around the island



Logan Airport with a plane taking off



View of the fishing pier




The monument with the fort in the background



Looking towards to Sully's



He stole the fry from the trash can!




Inside Sully's



Yummy Sully's food!




The birds wanting to share dad's food



Mail

I have mixed feelings about mail.  I often don't want to get it anymore cause it's mostly junk and bills.  I think this is how you know you're an adult...mail isn't fun anymore!

My post card from the US

I remember as a kid being excited for the mail.  I loved getting mail and would rush to see if I had any.  I didn't get any often but knowing that I *might* get something was enough to have me excited.  In college mail was great too.  Your day would be made if you had mail.  It was a GREAT day if you had a package slip.  Sigh...those were the days!

There is one thing that has made it fun to check the mail recently.  I started participating in Postcrossing.com for my 101 in 1001 list.  The idea is that you send a postcard to a random person in the world that you are given and when it is received they register it on the website.  Then someone who wants to send a postcard is given your name & address to send a postcard to.  You know when your postcard is received so you know at some point you should be getting a postcard from somewhere in the world.  Checking the mail is fun again cause you never know if you'll have a postcard!

My postcard from Finland.

I received two post cards today, one from the US and one from Finland.  The one from the US is of a cross with a purple sky background.  I've been a *little* stressed lately and this made me smile.  Even though it was sent from a random lady in Minnesota it encouraged me.  A little smile from God, a reminder that He loves me.

The other card was from Finland and Elina mentioned that she read my Blog and found out about The Day Zero Project and started her own 101 in 1001 list.  I think that's pretty cool!

So it's a lot of fun for a little price.  The only cost is to buy the postcard and postage.  This is great for kids and adults alike.  If you participate in Postcrossing, what do you enjoy about it?  If you haven't participated, will you?   

A post card from Germany