Blame it on the Hamsters

So yes, we have been bad- we admit it! We have not posted here in OVER a year. Pathetic? Yes, but we don't regret it. We just needed to increase the pay for the hamsters that were running inside the little wheel to keep it going in our minds because they were on strike (but come on, why should we pay hamsters more when we are both unemployed?)



So enough about hamsters, this is supposed to be about random events of life, right? So let's get to what has been going on since then... SCREECH! Wait, what? You expect us to cover all this in just one post? If we do that, we'll just be catching up to today and it'll just go back to those money-hungry hamsters placing a halt in production.

Well reality-wise, it was really because we were honestly too lazy to figure out what our password was (well that, and that our account was made on an e-mail we no longer use and completely forgot about.)

So what have we been up to while we were AWOL {'Absent With Out Leave' for those whom are non-military minded [blame it on Sean and his JROTC (and no we are not going to define that either!)]}? That's a good question, actually. So we will try to make this as short as possible so we don't bore you to death... because we can not afford to defend ourselves at the time in case that were to happen; but at the same time we will also try to be as detailed as possible so that we can actually cover the most that we can.

So... Since *skims for the last and only post* January 31 of last year, Sean worked for only up to April of 2010 until he was let go because he could not support the weekly quota. He worked for a non-profit organization, canvassing (asking for donations) in public areas such as at store-fronts and busy intersections in Seattle. He loved what he did but was let go because no one was willing to donate in this horrible economy and also because at the time the Seattle city council was working on a bill to ban pan-handling and considered canvassing as a form of it. With that, people thought that canvassing was already deemed 'illegal' when it actually is a First Amendment right in the terms of a non-profit organization.



Since then, he has been busy looking for work and is now the vice chair for his city's Parks Agency, a citizen agency that plans and makes recommendations on Parks and Recreation and special events. Also since December of 2010, he has been volunteering with a local non-profit working as a land steward- planting over 100 plants (and moving pots for over 3000) and cleaning out an abandoned historic dairy barn- as well as doing work with public GIS (no we are not describing that... trying to make this short, remember?) for the organization. He is loving all that he is doing, but hopes to find himself a job real soon!



Shana is on her final stretch with her Elementary Education program at the Western Washington University. Up through June, she was a nanny for two kids in her neighborhood, watching a 2-year-old boy and a 5-year-old girl. She was also in Kindergarten practicum through June as well. At the beginning of the Fall of 2010, she was at a practicum for 2nd Grade- which didn't work out. She then transferred back to her past host teacher at Kindergarten practicum in January and has been loving it there ever since. She will begin student teaching full-time in mid-March where she currently is at. Sean will be dropping her off at the Tacoma Dome the first week of her student teaching so she can attend a teacher's career fair for the region. Let's cross our fingers she can get a job for the next coming school year since she graduates in mid-June!



So we hope that caught you up to this current year... hope it wasn't too much and didn't sound like we have been nothing but blobs of boring- because seriously we are not, honest! One of our year goals this year was to get this thing back up and going... and trust us, we got some ideas of how to keep it going and you will see soon enough! It will be our lovely, exciting, and not-so-boring (we hope) random events of life.

Also... please come back, we promise to post more. We promise!!

A Sunday in Maple Leaf

This afternoon we went on a walk through the Maple Leaf neighborhood of Seattle. First we walked around for about a half hour on the west side of Roosevelt Way, then we stopped in for tea and pastries at The Blue Saucer. Sean got the Indian Chai tea and Shana got the herbal Scarlet tea. They were both scrumptious! We also chose a marionberry scone (among an array of baked goods) which was also amazing. They had an assortment of small local newspapers and magazines to read as well as a book exchange corner, where you take a book and leave a book. They also offer free wi-fi, but we weren't there to do homework today. :) We will definitely be returning and give this place four thumbs up!



After tea and scones, we finished our walk on the east side of Roosevelt Way. We ended up walking around here for over a half hour. It was a very quiet neighborhood with sidewalks everywhere and really unique houses - not like all those new age developments!


This was just one of many, though I'm not sure it was one of our favorites.


From certain areas we could see the Seattle skyline, which was pretty cool.




We came across this house with a really interesting yard. It's the end of January, so you expect to see people here and there with a few Christmas decorations still up, but these people obviously keep their decorations up all year long. And not only Christmas, they had Thanksgiving, Valentine's Day, Halloween, St Patrick's Day...they even had Super Bowl Sunday and Seafair decorations!! Along with a few random things like cows and chili peppers.

It was one of the most random, artsy types of outside decor we've ever seen. I'm sure alot of people would think this yard was pretty tacky, but we kind of liked it... even if we wouldn't do our yard just like it. :)







They have quite a few interesting little shops on Roosevelt Way, although alot of them were closed because it was Sunday. A few stood out to us though, like this one and the one shown below.


Sean checking out the plans for the development of the new Maple Leaf park which will be on top of the cap for the resevoir (he would... ;))

Shana with ear muffs on for the walks (my ears get painfully cold!)