Kitten Names and Baseball Games

What a weekend! Gus and I have really been on the go lately, and this weekend was no exception.

Gus' friends, Carlos and Katy, came up to visit us from Portland this weekend. Not wanting to disappoint our guests, we took them on a whirlwind tour of the local sites. Beginning with breakfast at the always popular, Mae's, we continued down to the Pike Place market to people watch and pick up some flowers. Following the market, we rented some kayaks and paddled around the arboretum near the Montlake cut. Finally, we ended our night at the Oakland Athletics vs. Seattle Mariners baseball game. Overall, I think the visit was a hit, although quite exhausting! Pics below...

Also, I wanted to tell everyone that we named the new kitten. From now on she will be known as "China." Gus wanted to name her something symbolic of the time we got her, and thus China was decided. It actually fits her pretty well. Gus loves to call her his "Little China Girl," and I call her "Chee Chee." The real name never really matters, right?

Anyway, I'm off to bed before beginning another long week at work. Wish me luck! Don't forget to leave your comments below and check out my YouTube videos on the right.

Carlos, Katy, and Dean

Carlos, Gus, and myself

China!

New Kitten Alert!

Gus and I picked up our new little kitten. As some of you know, we had to put down one of our cats about a month and a half ago (he suffered from heart disease). This was an extremely difficult time for us, and as a result our remaining cat, Jack, and suffered as well. While Jack was initially mopey, his attitude has switched to pure boredom. I can hardly even look at his toys without him getting super excited and meowing until I play. Needless to say, we really wanted to get him a friend.

I began researching the many kitten rescues in Seattle, and eventually picked out a lovely little girl kitten at Forgotten Felines. She is about 10-12 weeks old and has a TON of energy to burn. After showing her to Gus, who instantly fell in love, we drove out to visit and couldn't leave without her!

Even though she has not been named, she has been wonderful so far. She is extremely snuggly and purrs constantly. When she is not sleeping or loving on you, she is chasing her many jingly balls and fuzzy puffs. If you get your face close enough to her little face, she will nuzzle your forehand in a sign of her affection. We definitely know that she was the perfect girl for us. Today we began introducing her to Jack, who proceeded to follow her around and growl/sniff at her. I think it will take some time for him to warm up, but Jack will eventually be grateful for the new friend in the house.

Here is her picture:

Here is the baby with Gus:

Marzjana is an old married lady...

Many of you probably never knew of my friend, Marzjana. She and I met my senior year of college while working together in a restaurant. After instantly hitting it off, we became the best of friends and spent much of our "after school" time together (she attended Eastern Washington). We had quite the routine down, and were very well known in the local bars. Mondays = $1 beers and pool at The Globe. Tuesday = Trivia night at the Blue Spark. Wednesday = Dinner and movie night. Thursday = Sushi, sake and karaoke at Raw. Friday & Saturday = Fast Eddies or Trick Shot Dixies... you get the picture. We had a blast!

Post-graduation I moved to Seattle and Marzjana stayed in Spokane, and our relationship loosened up. We still got to see each other occasionally when we ventured to the different sides of the state.

Anyway, in our time apart, Marzjana met Kevin and that's what led us up to last weekend... her wedding. It was a very lovely time up in Anacortes, Washington. The Inn where they were married was located right on the water with the alter built on an overhang. Gus and I enjoyed a nice service, good food, and karaoke led by the father-in-law. Here are the pics:

Marzjana, Kevin, Marzjana's mom and dad, Frank and Carly

Marzjana and Kevin at the alter:

Cutting the cake:

Gus and I taking in the sunset

NOTE: If you would like to see more pictures, just let me know!

Olympic Fever

So, it's official. I have Olympic Fever! Since they began last Friday, I have been completely obsessed. It doesn't matter what the sport; volleyball, badminton, diving, swimming, equestrian... I love it all!

I blame this on the media. They have hyped athletes, such as Michael Phelps, and made me feel like I know them personally. Haha. My only gripe is the late time that the events are on. I have get some sleep, but it can't resist.

Oh well. Luckily this will only last for two weeks.

On a side note, I received a complaint that Washington D.C. was not a part of this week's poll. So, if you wish to vote this way (SAM!), please leave me a comment saying so.

Love ya!

Gus' Parents Came to Visit

Hi Everyone - I know I've been slow to post this last week. We were BUSY!!! Gus' parents and parents' friends were in town visiting, so we were on the go go go. I will recap all of our adventures and add some photos in a day or so. Hold tight!

UPDATE: On Saturday, we woke up and picked up Gus' parents and their friends Caroline and Ben from the cruise terminal. They were returning from a week long cruise to Alaska. It sounds like they had an amazing time; they ate great food, went for a helicopter ride to a glacier, went dogsledding, and the list goes on and on.

Having begun our weekend with the tales from this trip, Gus and I knew we had quite the program to live up to. Since Caroline and Ben had never been to Seattle, we decided to do the typical tourist activities. They went up into the Space Needle (luckily the day started out sunny) and we ate at a family-style Italian restaurant. About this point, the weather had taken a turn for the worst, so we holed up at the house and made nachos and watched the Olympics of course.

The next morning, we went downtown and joined the infamous Underground Tour. For those of you who don't know, Seattle was built on a flood plain and thus had a serious mud problem. The solution at that time was to shift the huge hill (49 percent grade) and fill in the lower portion (creating an 18 percent grade). That's a lot of dirt to move! Needless to say, the city basically built on top of the old one, thus creating an underground city. The tour takes you down below the streets so you can see the old architecture and the unorthodox solution to the city's problems. That night we decided to head out to Alki Beach and enjoy food, drinks, and sunset at Duke's Chowder House. The night was perfect and the sunset didn't let us down; it was brilliant pinks and oranges. The food wasn't bad either as I enjoyed lobster chowder and a pomegranate julep.

The final day, Ben and Caroline travelled home, and we went out to breakfast with Gus' parents. Afterwards, we took a nice tour of the city while trying to get a feel for areas with condos for sale.

We then took the parents to the airport, said our goodbyes, and went home to relax. What a great weekend!