Congrats Cory and Ginny!!! (Oh - and my Grandma too!)

Ok, so it's not really my family but I'm so super excited for Cory and Ginny, I had to post it for everyone. Here's Cory's email:

Hayden Clara Salley was born on Tuesday, May 27, 2008. She weighed 8 pounds 12 ounces and was 21 inches long. The nurse who measured her said she was "off the charts" in regards to her length. I guess she is tall like her daddy. Ginny is recovering nicely, and the pediatrician said the baby was perfect.

Congrats you two - can't wait to meet her!!

So next while I'm posting about other people, I also had to share a story from my mom about her mom, my grandma decker. Now you can all see that I come by my strange stories and get into honestly!! :) P.S. - while you're reading, keep in mind she's 90 years young!!

You know how we turned moms car port into a garage? She was hurrying to get to Sunday school forgot her keys and locked herself in the garage. You really should hear her tell it, she's hysterical! Her thought process was amazingly clear. She remembered Dad told her to pull the cord to release the door. Unfortunately , even after SWINGING on said cord it didn't work. First thought was there's a faucet. I can live for days without food as long as I have water. She thought she could with existing tools take out part of the wall dad just built to get to the brick wall. I know I could take out some of those old brick!. Worst case I have my lipstick, I can write HELP on the garage door windows. An hours contemplation later she decided to try it again. Much SWINGING, prying etc. it finally released! But the story doesn't end there. Late to church, someone else was sitting in "her seat". After church she couldn't find her car because of course someone got "her" parking space and she had to park way down the hill out back. As she was standing there frustrated, the same two women that took her seat came by an asked to help. After several more minutes looking, she remembered she had parked on the opposite side. That was quite a morning for her and she really got a good laugh at herself. How I love to see her laugh!

This story made my day - not because grandma had a tough time - but because I can absolutely picture it all and love her sense of humor and (not to mention her sense of survival)!! I miss you grandma!!! Oh, and congrats on finally getting out! ;)

Ok I promise next post will be more about Seattle and the new condo...but for now, suffice it to say that I continue to barely stay afloat at work - it's SUPER BUSY, especially since I'm new and still learning, and I still don't have internet at my condo which limits being able to work some from home... So not that it's a good excuse, but hopefully it atleast explains why I've been horrible about posting and email. Add to that the late nights at work and a 3 hour time difference, well I just really need to get better about communications.... Sorry guys I'll try I promise! :)

Love and miss you all,

-e :)

My last night in my first highrise...

My time at 2515 1st Ave is coming to an end and it's time to reflect on lessons learned from highrise living...

1. Being able to walk to everything makes city life absolutely amazing and you'll never understand how you could have possibly relied so much on your car before now.
2. Parking in the city is a nightmare. People in Seattle claim they stay fit for their health and/or that it comes from simply enjoying the outdoors and the NW culture: in reality, it's so they can squeeze in and out of their cars in Seattle parking spaces!! (On a related note: always wear dust-colored pants when squeezing in and out of said spaces!!!!! And think about charging your neighbors for waxing the sides of their cars as a side note... And on a super side, note I'm convinced that Sherman did us a good thing by burning down half of our state if for no other reason than the fact that we were forced to redraw our parking spaces for cars and not just tiny horses and buggies...)
3. Trash Chutes are an absolutely fabulous invention, just remember to always hold your breath when the chute is open!
4. Elevators can be both friend and foe: 23 stories up and you grow dependent on them. When looking to rent/buy a highrise make sure to check quantity and speed of your ellies!
5. An Easterly-facing bedroom window is a friend to the late sleepers but an enemy to the air-conditioning deprived.
6. Air conditioning is not always a given, but it is an absolute necessity no matter where in the country you are, and don't believe the locals when they say it's not needed!!
7. The views in a highrise will cost you an arm and a leg..... and they are absolutely 100% worth it.

So where to next you ask? My new condo of course!! I am soo stoked! Not as stoked as I will be once all my furniture arrives, but in the meantime I can live like a pauper for a few days (I'm certainly used to that!). In fact, Rosie was so great that she spent her last full day in Seattle at the "Walmart on Crack" with me buying a few essentials. I think our shopping list was quite telling...I felt like a college student all over again with slightly more refined taste. So what does your 30-year old college revisited type get? A cheap set of dishes, silverware, an air mattress and one fitted sheet, 2 bath towels and 1 bathmat, a can opener, a few knives, a plastic cutting board, a pizza cutter, a cork screw, a cheese grater - OH - and a 12 pack of diet coke :) I'm all set! Profilers go crazy - I'm sure you can tell me my entire life based solely on my necessities necessary! :)

Miss you and love you all, I promise to have both furniture and Clay in about a month for you all to come and visit!!
-e :)

ps-good luck to Ginny and Cory - if the baby doesn't come before Wednesday then Wednesday it is!! I can't wait to meet baby Salley!!!!!!
pps-Cory - I just found out that one of my co-workers was born in Warner Robbins, and although he only lived there 6 months, he still has family in....guess where?? Thomaston!!! :) It's a small world even when 3,000 miles away!
ppps-new addie is 2929 1st Ave, #803, 98121. Pretty cool, eh? :)
pppps-if you are a stranger reading my blog, please do not come attack me at my new apartment. Thank you. ;)

You say good-bye, I say hello.

Hi! It's Rosie again. It's my last night in Seattle and I had an absolutely freaking good time! Yesterday Erika, Joe and I took a ferry to Bainbridge (my first ferry ride)! Rika's parents used to have an apartment on this island. So Donna, these pics are for you :) We had such a good time both on the island and the ferry.

After spending a good amount of time on the island, we can back to Seattle to check out Freemont and Gas Works Park. And of course, more pictures :)

So, we had way too much fun at the Freemont Troll! Joe was the adventurous one agreeing to climb on the troll's nose. I was more concerned with picking the troll's nose. Seriously, Joe and Erika made me laugh so much my stomach hurt for twenty minutes after we left the park.

After fun with the troll, we went to Gas Works Park. Again, more child-like fun ensued as evidenced by the pictures below.

We came back to Rika's and then got ready for dinner at the Space Needle. The restaurant was amazing! And the view...spectacular! The couple at the table next to us got engaged while we were there! Since the camera was out, Joe took some pics of them and I sent them this morning. It was too cute.

So I have packed my bags and will be heading back to the ATL shortly. I have had such a great time in this wonderful city and I am sad to go. I'm already looking forward to my next visit to see Erika, Clay and Joe (in their new digs, no less!). Rika, thanks so much for having me out here. I love your city, but even more I love you and miss you a lot. Until next time, this is Rosie signing off :)

We Have a Place to Live!!!

No, my house has not sold yet, but my temporary corporate housing is coming to an end. After tons of research and lots of apartment and condo showings, we finally picked our dream rental. It's a little pricey (yes, almost twice my mortgage back home), but it's also the going rate out here and it's beautiful. Not only is it just a few blocks from where I am now, but here are the other fab things all within a few blocks walk:

• My bus stop for the free work shuttle
• The Space Needle and all of the other things at seattle center
• The Waterfront!
• Olympic Sculpture Park
• Lower Queen Anne
• Restaurants and grocery stores galore!
  

It has million dollar views, hardwood floors, cherry cabinets and granite countertops, 2 BR/2Bath, full size washer and dryer, surround sound wired through the entire apt, california closets, a fireplace, 2 decks, and a space in the parking deck. And here is the best part of it all: it has central heating and AIR CONDITIONING!!!!!!!!! (They had me at forced air...) Even better yet, the heat and air conditioning, water/sewage/gas, and high def satellite are all included!! Suckers. Don't tell them I keep the air on 65 all summer long! Furthermore I can bring my baby grand if I want to!!! Check out pics here.

I am so excited!!! I sign papers tomorrow and Clay and I can't wait to move into our new place!!!

ps-if you know anyone who is buying a house in ATL - I'll give them a really good deal on mine!

Rosie takes Seattle!

Hello to all of Erika's friends and family! For those of you who don't know me, my name is Rosanne, but Rika calls me Rosie. I got here on Wednesday night (2 am Atlanta time) and was left to my own devices on Thursday and Friday while Erika was at work. Apparently I brought the weather here - it's been high 70s and 80s and the Seattlites (sp?) apparently are freaking out! On Thursday morning I started my journey by hitting up Pike Place market. I was in search of the first Starbucks ever being the rabid coffee drinker that I am. Unfortunately I did not see it! I saw a huge Seattle's Best, but I did not see my green lady. I nudged my way through the other tourists and made my way through the market (apparently I didn't go down far enough through the market - that's where the first Starbucks ever is). However, I did see the place where the guys throw fish at each other. This was actually really entertaining for two reasons:

1. The guys were a lot younger (not to mention cuter) than I had expected and 2. They sing these weird songs in weird voices as they do their act.

Next I went to the Olympic Sculpture Park. At this point the weather was gorgeous (in the morning it was gray and cold). People were everywhere in the park basically just laying out in the grass. The park itself was interesting - I'm not sure of the style of art, but it was somewhat out there. Plus the park is right on the water (I saw the house from Real World Seattle).

I went to back to Pike Place to get some flowers for my fabulous hostess. She wasn't kidding how beautiful (and cheap) they are! It was the best $10 I spent! I made my way back to the apartment and about 20 minutes later Erika and Joe came home from work. Joe is absolutely freaking adorable. I'm so glad Rika has such a good friend out here. I'm a huge fan.

So this was all day one! I already have over 200 pics (right now it's the morning of day 4 for me)! I have a tendency to get extremely long winded so I'll spare you all from my daily itineraries :) So far I've also been to the Seattle Aquarium, the Microsoft campus, Pioneer Square (Rika and I took the underground tour), and Safeco field for a Mariners game. Today we are going on a ferry and Erika, Joe and I are having dinner at the Space Needle. Yes, that probably guarantees at least another 100 pics. But before I let you all go, here are a few observations:

• There are plants & vegetations everywhere! Window boxes, big planters in the street, etc. It's really quite gorgeous and makes me happy.


• Everybody smokes. I was not expecting this. Erika and Joe said they haven't noticed this and perhaps this was because I was in a touristy section town, but I think they're just oblivious :)


• The city is really clean (well, except for all the cigarette butts). Again, a huge plus.


• Beautiful skyline. Joe told us that there was an ordinance awhile back mandating that none of the buildings could have flat roofs. View from Erika's apartment below -->

Okay, signing off for now! Thank you Erika for letting me be your first guest blogger. To the blogience (sp?), our girl is doing great out here :)

Time for some catch up....

...blame it on Clay's presence if you must, but blogging when he's here often pales in comparison to venturing off for new city exploits and discoveries (plus, all the more to blog about later, right?). So first and foremost, I think I downplayed his arrival due to my ill-timed migraine...It was like Christmas Morning!!!! Clay was so great calling and drilling me the night before to find out anything and everything I wanted him to bring...so $50 in excess baggage weight and a 5.5 hour flight later, presies galore! Not only did he bring me the purses, dvds, cds, and clothes I had been missing - but he surprised me with my TIVO!!!!!!!!!!! The only bad part was making sure I didn't pay the tivo more time and attention than Clay. ;)

So over the 10 days that he was here (Clay, not TiVo) we had a great time to say the least. I already filled you in on our two weekend trips but there were lots of weekdays in between as well. Overall we balanced Seattle sightseeing with time spent relaxing at the apartment (read: lazy time on the couch....ahhhhhh my tivo remote back in it's rightful place with clay at my side...perhaps home really is wherever you make it....). All the while, things somehow continued to go on in Seattle - case in point - the opening of Boating Season!

I'm new to the whole world of boating so I'm just beginning to learn of their traditions including the opening day boat parade, the "logjam" which from what I can tell is a big log thingy where they all line up on (anchor to maybe?) a couple days in advance in order to "get a good spot on the logjam before they all fill up", and the cruises that fill the bay each thurs-sunday.

So little time, so much to learn! Now if we can either score some friends with a boat out here or convince DJ, Courtney, and baby Layfield to move west then we'll be set!

Happy Mother's Day!!

Hi mom! Hi grandma!! Hi all other mothers out there!!

Happy Mother's Day!!

I miss you ladies!!!

To Mom, Grandma Decker, Machelle, Patti, Sandi, Rise, Shirley, Elizabeth, Jenn, Eva, Chaun, Punk, and Chris...and the future moms to be Ginny, Courtney, and Shirley (again!):

You are all so amazing and I truly think that there must be nothing short of having children to get you in line for heaven first - you all give your hearts and souls, your time and effort, your love and your embrace... Thank you all for all that you do!! Here's a site just for you guys that might make you smile: http://www.inthemotherhood.com/ (this is especially for you, mom - I'm afraid you sometimes spend too much time worrying that you aren't mrs. perfect like you imagine all of the other moms to be - but don't worry - they're not perfect either and even if they were - I'd still choose you and not have it any other way!!!)

and ps...... for Glee, Rosanne, Shannon, Paige, Nancy, Heather, and all of the other childless women like me - happy UNmother's day to us!! I know someday it will be right for us to join the motherhood too... and if not, may we always have children around to make us smile and always have their moms around for us to send them home to at the end of the day!! ;)

love and miss you all! -e :)

Clay's Last Full Day :(

Having Clay here for a full 10 days has been fantastic but it's almost over :(

In the meantime we tried to make the best of it and we got to see a lot of the city in his last day. It started with a drive to Discovery Park which is the largest park in Seattle and supposedly has beautiful cliffs to the ocean, a lighthouse, and a few miles of beaches where people can bonfire and stroll up and down the coast. We got to the visitors center but it had already closed so we took a quick peek at the map and off we drove through the forests...

"Dangit! Authorized vehicles only??" Funny thing you see... it turns out that a GA license plate does not qualify as authorized, so we tried a few other routes that were just as unsuccessful. Darn outdoor hippies! A pair of flipflops (thanks Eva!) and a looming sunset served as excuse enough to save the hikes for another day so we headed for the locks instead. We drove through the neighborhood of Ballard, and I must say, were it a little further east I think we could definitely move there - it's a quaint, understated area that seems to have a pretty young and relaxed vibe. Darn commute.

So on to the Ballard Locks - it's the first time either of us have been there and we were definitely impressed. Basically, these locks (imagine several huge boat elevators about 50 feet long and 20 feet wide) separate the Sound (on the map above it is the blue area on the left which goes out to the Pacific Ocean) from Lake Union and then Lake Washington (the blue area in the middle). The locks serve to control the water level on the lake side, but as a benefit (or perhaps on purpose?), it also keeps the salt water to the west and leaves all of the lakes freshwater - pretty cool! The picture on the right shows one of the lock doors closed and then when needed, it splits open from the middle closing the walls up and out to allow the water (and boats) to flow through to the next section. It's like a Ga Tech engineer's dream project :)

So the fun part was definitely seeing how the locks work and watching several boats pass through, but I must admit that I felt a little bad for Clay - what a tease I am! I show him all the water the city has to offer, boats EVERYWHERE, fish hopping up left and right....and not a boat or fishing pole for him in sight! Sorry Clay - give me time at MS and hopefully I'll eventually be able to buy you what you want and deserve ;)

To continue the trip through the city, we went through Fremont (showed him the famous troll) and its neighbor Wallingford, then back across the Fremont Bridge to Seattle. Just south of the locks and the bridge I showed him what houseboat living was like in the NW. If you're like DJ then you're picturing one of the huge "trailers on the water" that are so abundant in Lake Lanier sailing all over the lake and docking when done. Not so up here... Not sure which is higher class and which is lower, but the "houseboats" up here are still on the water, they just look more like houses and are completely stationary (perhaps "dockhouses" would be a more descriptive name - think "Sleepless in Seattle"). It took awhile for Clay to understand what he was seeing, but then it clicked: "These people actually live ON the water, can have boats tied up to their HOUSES, AND can fish RIGHT OFF their front porch???" I think he was in love.

Well...that is... until we spotted the sign warning about excess sewage draining in the case of high water levels.

Yikes. Back to land-living we go....

Techie Talk Thursday

Ok so maybe I'm behind and everyone else out there already knows about this, but I am so excited to find a fun new toy. Now for anyone who does not have their own webpage you probably want to skip this post unless you are having trouble getting to sleep... or are looking for more ways to be paranoid about being stalked online...

So I feel bad for once again hyping a google product, so please forgive me and I promise once I start researching msft products I'll add them too. In the meantime I'm just doing research on our competitors ;) You see it all started with my desire to add a simple site counter to my blog. Turns out blogger.com doesn't have a good template for one, but they did have several suggestions for free versions out on the web, so off I sent exploring. Most of them required you to setup an account and although they were free, I try to at least minimize the amount of times I put all of my info out there and add more junk mail to my inbox...and thus my google find. Since I already have gmail account I gave it a shot. All I had to do was add some simple hidden HTML to my page and I was done.

It's been about a month and I decided to log back in and check out the analytics reports. WOW!!!! I am so impressed! Not only does it tell you how many hits you've had, it breaks it down by day, by length of time on site and number of pages within the site visited, AND by country, city, and state!!! Furthermore you can see exactly how the traffic was directed to your site such as my google gadget, a direct link, boredomtech.net, or a search engine - which is further broken down by exactly what was typed in the search box to get to your site!!! How cool is that?!?!?!? I know it's a bit big brother but it's super fun too. I was thinking about dad's church site and how you could use the analytics to see the most visited/therefore potentially most important pages on the site, how to expand your audience by researching the traffic origination, etc. Plus I got to find out there is some city out there called "Earth City" in the midwest and that someone there actually looked at my site!! There are also lots of pretty charts and graphs and knowing my love of those, well I was entertained for all morning. As an example I have pasted my GA traffic map is on the right. So fun!!!

Now I hope this won't preventing any of you secret readers from visiting - you can just block your IP address and I promise I won't be able to see you ;)

Ok now finally I'll end on a fun msft tool - maps.live.com, enter in your address (or mine!) and choose the birds eye view. Way cooler than google's satellite view!! (although live has that too...)

So I've got to go back to work - now you all can go enjoy your first tech thursday!!

Downtown Snoqualmie

So I told you all about the falls and now I'll continue on our trip for Sunday afternoon's downtown Snoqualmie. I must say I was surprised at how much I liked it, how much I connected. I'm pretty sure it's the Crawford-Decker connection that got me: for those of you who don't know, my grandparents on my mom's side were in the logging business while the other side was into railroads. Enter Snoqualmie, WA, a memorial to logging trains. How perfect!!! I thought of Grandma and Grandpa Crawford so much with all of the train museums, train rides, and train memorabilia everywhere. As for the Deckers, I couldn't help but picture Grandpa Decker down in Oregon being a top logger and grandma doing either the cooking for the entire mill or at home waiting for him to join her and my mom.... It just seemed like the perfect culmination of my background and I really felt a connection. Here's a few pics:

Pretty perfect, eh?? The first is the main town square/town train depot; the second a painting/memorial of the logging that brought the town to life; and the 3rd a combination of the two with one of the largest trees transported by train (no fear, it was dead from midway up so no trees were hurt in the making of this photo). We had such a great time!

Driving back towards town we continued the amazing views that weren't visible on the cloudy day before... We mistakenly thought that houses in the 'burbs up here would be as reduced in price as those in ATL but no luck - still half a mill for a 3BR/no yard house in a planned neighborhood....sigh.... But then again, who can blame them for these views???

Love you and miss you all!!!

e and c :)

Drum Roll Please....

Where exactly where did I take Clay you are asking?? Well ...(insert drum roll here)...I took him to Salish Lodge at Snoqualmie Falls!!


Only 40 miles East of Seattle, it is a quaint and beautiful hotel perched over an amazing 270 ft waterfall. I hadn't been there before so it was new for us both, but it came very highly recommended by the locals and now I see why! In this picture the waterfall is obviously on the right, the lodge is on the top left with our dinner window in the middle of the top floor and our room is around the corner on the right/river side of the lodge.




Now just to back up a little first, Joe and Clay finally met on Friday night and we all walked to an amazing Thai restaurant that has become my favorite Thai food ever and one of my favorite local restaurants for sure! We all had a such great time and therefore my Friday ended a little better than it started; and it was a much better kick off to my weekend than expected. We chatted until dawn (or at least the two of them did, I fell asleep much earlier) and we have all created great friendships despite the short time we've known eachother, no doubt!


On Saturday afternoon Clay and I headed east for the lodge. It was a typical Seattle misty/overcast day, so the drive over wasn't very scenic, but that just gave us time to explore the hotel :) Our room was adorable and was equipped with a wood-burning fireplace, a patio overlooking the river, and the most comfortable bed I've ever sat on (pillow service came free with the room where we had an actual "Pillow Menu" - lavender, buckwheat, pregnancy, body, hypoallergenic - you name it they had it! My headaches that come from strong smells kept me from trying anything out but I really should have tried out the memory foam pillow...next time!). We had an amazing dinner at the resort on Saturday night and we checked out the falls from above to complete our day.

Sunday was absolutely gorgeous - not a drop of rain for miles and the sun was beaming down heavy just as if I were back home in the South. More views of the falls from above first and then we decided we needed to make the trek down the cliff... A "mere 1/2 mile trail" is what was advertised....and so we followed...

"This isn't so bad", I thought, "nice and meandering". Ok, I'll admit, getting close to the bottom it got more bumpy with a few narrow passageways and tree roots to climb, but no biggie, right? Once down along the river a wooden walkway meandered along the river until it finally ended in a small observation deck. "Hey wait a minute! This isn't close to the falls! What about all of those people that we could see playing on the rocks at the bottom of the cliff?" Ahhhh...right on queue, right next to one of the dozens of signs warning against going off the walkway due to extreme water changes jump the visitors...

- Over the wooden ledge,
- - down the steep hill with help from century old tree roots and branches.
- It's as if nature had created a path down to the view,
- - (well nature along with thousands of visitors I'm sure).

Needless to say the leaps and bounds were sooo worth it. It was a beautiful spring day: an amazing waterfall cascading off of a cliff as the mist blows off of the falls like a light summer rain. We relaxed on large rocks enjoying the view and listening to the river trickling by at our sides. In a word it was amazing.

And then came....... the return hike up (!!!)

No worries needed - despite my closeness with death - I did finally successfully make it back to the top in one piece. Note to self, NEVER go on that trek again without water and NEVER go on that trek without a few months of training and a really good pair of running shoes!!!! ;) About 25 minutes later after a treacherous hike straight up the cliff, a purchase of a few bottles of water and a diet coke, and one valet parker later - we ventured around town. Turns out we both loved Snoqualmie!!!

I'll post details about downtown next....

I am SOOOOO depressed right now

I'm sorry - I know you're annoyed at all my north v. south talk - but I can't help it!!! My team just went out to lunch which is way cool (especially since it went on the company credit card), but I must tell you it was depressing on so many levels....... First of all there is no such thing as real mexican food up here - not even 1 real mexican employee, no good food, no good chips and salsa, - not even a Willy's! But set the cuisine aside and the lunch still just about sent me packing to come back home....... The people up here are way too nice - well not in a good way - not in a "oh, let me hold that door open for you ma'am" kind of way, that would actually be great. Instead they'll close the door in your face but hang you for mentioning anything related to any group of people that might even be remotely possibly twisted a million degrees to be something even remotely possibly offensive. You just can't cuss - not even in a "golly molly darn it" kind of way, instead it is in a "oh we don't acknowledge bad things" kind of way. Nevermind that I was just set up for the most perfect smart-arse comment, I have to bite my tongue!!! Well....don't get me wrong - I still say it - it's just that I'm the only one who does... And I get lots of dirty looks. Losers. ;)

Furthermore, NO ONE UP HERE WATCHES COLLEGE SPORTS!!!!!! I was prepared to have to look far and wide for ACC fans, but to not even like ANY teams?????? Ludicrous. It would probably not be PC enough to chose one team over another anyways... I mean do you know they ACTUALLY call black people "african-americans" up here??? Like for real!! If you ask me it sounds dirtier than black. They probably don't even know any black people.

They watch lamo tv and read lamo books too. And the guys up here watch lifetime and think that camo is only for hunting. (not that they hunt of course, that would hurt the animals....) I prefer men who are gentlemen to ladies but actually do manly things - but then I guess I'm just a Crawford at heart. Only a bunch of crazy bleeding heart liberals up here - that's all there are! Maybe it's in the granola.....note to self - steer clear of the granola..........

Ok guess I'll go back to being a hard-working PC cog in the machine...I wish these people would get a sense of humor and joke around some though!!

ps-Glee I LITERALLY just came back to lunch into a conf room and BUSH was playing!!!!! eerie!!!!!