ToddlingAroundTheWorld

Well, I have been working, just been working from home mostly, especially while having that nasty cold. I’m finally getting over it now and went back to Bellevue today. Walked the mall, though it is New Years Eve day and only one other person was walking there. On my lunch walk, I was going to do my regular route on the Sunset Ravine trail, but it was raining, so I walkedthe parking garage, 15 levels and got a few miles in that way.  Tonight, went with LeAnn and Autumn to see Knives Out and walked the mall a bit before that with LeAnn. 

Took Autumn up to go have her teeth checked again since they were still hurting after having them removed last Friday.  Then went to the Hylebos Wetlands, where I was the sole person crazy enough to be out there on a cold winters day. It was great. Walked 5 there and another five on the treadmill

I was super sick the past couple of days dealing with exploding sinuses. Not fun. Stayed home from children and started feeling better in the afternoon. We decided to take the Ordenes’s down to Point Defiace to go on the Waterfront and play on the new slides. The kids loved it. Then we walked down to Ruston and theyplayed on the playground there. It wasn’t too cold, sothat was nice. That was the only walking I got in for the day, but figured I would be better off by not pushingit more while having the cold. 

Beautiful sunrise to start the day in Tacoma. Got in some good miles around Point Defiance during my break at the aquarium.  Found thes cool slides coming down the hillside into where the marina parking is.  Went to Jumanji with Brookes family and Kelly and Ruth.   Then the Ordenes’s came to stay at our house for a couple of nights. Fun to have them here. 

Head cold. WFH again. Drug store again. Enchanted loop. Treadmill

Went to pick up some medication for LeAnn. Walked up and around to Walgreens. WFH today. 5 miles on treadmill.

Girls slept in until 10. Inside all day Austin called Went to Kelly’s  Home at 10, didn’t have any real miles, so hopped onthe treadmill late at night to get 5 miles in. 

Got to work from home today, so hit the treadmill in the morning and got 4 miles in there while watching Aeronauts on Amazon Prime. Enjoyed the movie and the miles melted away.  In the afternoon, went to LeAnns parents for Christmas Eve dinner, and didn’t get outside anymore, just enjoyed the time with the family. Had a great dinner where LeAnn made Swedish meatballs and then played a game with a Saran Wrap ball with prizes inside. You had to try to unwrap it before the person rolled doubles with the dice. It was a riot.  Came back home and LeAn. Gave out the Christmas Jammies. I even got some this year! They are Star Wars ones! Soon after that, not a creature was stirring, not even amouse. 

Crazy that I had almost 10 miles done by the time I finished work today. I went a bit longer in the morning, and then at 10:00 took a package down to the UPS store and walked back. Then the lunch loop. On the way home, went to the mall to pick up some stocking stuffers for LeAnn, so that got me another mile or so. I thought I might get some more treadmill miles in later in the evening, but after 11 miles today, talked myself out of it. 

Went on a drive up to Bellevue to see snowflake lane.This was their fifteenth year. We have been going most of the last 14 years. It was raining, but the lovely fake snow bubbles held up nicely through the performance. We almost didn’t make it in time as the traffic in downtown was backed up horribly. Luckily, we peeled off into a parking garage that was daily empty and then walked the last five blocks to Belle Square.  The performance was great and it was nice to be there with my girls.  Hit the treadmill for another three miles and got 5 for the day. 

Zoo in the morning. So gray. So dark. Guess it is the shortest day of the year. Finished the Shark food prepand was going to head outside for my post sushi prep walk down to the beach and back. It was still raining like gangbusters. I have a good rain coat and waterproof shoes, but didn’t think my zoo khakis would hold up so well. Talked with Sam and Kat and told them Iwould skip the feeding at 11 and head to the mall to get my miles for the day in. Walked Tacoma mall for anhour and headed back home.  7.8 miles for the day. 

Finished listening to the BOM today. Busy day at work. Went to a farewell lunch. Walked sunset ravine a couple of times to make up for lost miles. 

Staying out of the cold for my night walk and hitting up the treadmill. Started watching The Tick while on the mill. 

Austin hits his Bump this week. He has been out for 6months. Hard to believe, but it’s true!

Jaylin was really sick. 

Love walking the zoo in the wee hours. Having the whole place to myself. I am fascinated by these wolf cubs that were born last summer

Hit the marina after work

Bit of a crazy day with Flash. Took him to the groomer to get his haircut. That was at 8 a.m. After that, took Jaylin to court in Burien for a ticket she got related to a fender bender a couple of months ago. She did very well with the judge. We had rehearsed what she would say as far as explaining how the lady zipped in front of her on the offramp and then slammed on the brakes when she hit her. The judge didnt even ask about that. He just asked if she would like a deferral. That would enable her to strive to not get in any more incidents over the next year and then the ticket would be wiped off her record. She decided to do that as it will hopefully help with her insurance rate as well as keep her very mindful about driving responsibly. Then went back to pick up Flash and they STILL werent done. This was almost 7 hours later. So I walked a bit around the shopping area. I Found two dollars on the sidewalk in front of JoAnn’s and was wondering what to do when I decided to just turn it ...

Shoes from Vienna

Mall in the morning. There is one lady who walks the mall going the opposite direction as everyone else. Cant figure out why. Everyone else travels around like you would a race track. She goes clockwise, so often have to move out of her way as she likes to streamline on the edges. *shrugs* The lunch walk was in the parking garage. It was pretty rainy, so that helped to keep more dry. Then went across the street to check out some shoes at Nordstrom Rack. Long commute home. Took about an hour and a half even though I left around 3:45. Crazy rain causes the congestion to be worse out there. In the evening, I went upstairs and walked the treadmill for a 5K. Ended up with 12.7 miles for the day.

Austin has transferred to Bahia Blanca! We got to talk to him today and he is very excited to be there. He said the people seem to be more open to discussing the Gospel, so that is fantastic news. He loves his new companion, Elder Mikelson as well, so things are great! Here is his letter from 12/9/2019: Hey I don’t have a bunch of time but I got switched to a new area! I am serving in Bahía Blanca (area general arias)! And I absolutely love it here, it’s amazing. It is also 104 degrees here right now as I’m typing, and it’s still spring haha. And very humid… My new comps name is Elder Mikelson and I love him. He’s been in the mission for almost 18 months. He’s from Saint George but he lived in the mountains lol. He doesn’t know anything about music, sports, or pop culture in general. Just how to fight (MMA I think??) and talk about Jesus haha. But I love him and I’m learning a lot. So much has happened in this last week I can’t explain it all. We are teaching soooo many families I ...

Took my jaunt around the zoo. Weather was decent, then walking around the aquarium for a couple of hours taking care of my responsibilities for the shark food preparation. I need to get some photos from within the bowels of the aquarium where the freezer is and the fish are stored. Just a couple of miles there, then needed to leave as soon as I finished the shark food prep. Finished at 10 am, then headed to Puyallup where I needed to go to the bank. After that, was planning on meeting LeAnn and Jaylin in Edgewood at a Christmas Tree farm. LeAnn had wanted to go out and get one in the wild out near Rainier, where we had gone last year, and you can get a permit for $10. We didnt quite have time to do that as I didnt get back until 11 and Jaylin had to work at 2. The farm was cool and closer to home. It was raining a bit and we mucked around through the trees trying to find a good one. The challenge was trying to find one around 9 feet tall that was full enough for what we wanted. Our new...

Sunday - funday. Just got the regular walking around at church meetings and then residual mileage around the house. Was a slow day for miles today as Jaylin had her boyfriend over after church. They went to church together at the Star Lake ward and then came back for lunch. LeAnn made a nice lasagna and we watched some football and Mandelorian. LeAnn then went to a church meeting in the afternoon, so I was chaperone. I would have hit the streets a bit in the afternoon, but, you know, didnt want to leave two young teenagers alone in the house. ;) Went for a short neighborhood walk in the evening and came back at 2.2 miles for the day. Ill have some catching up to do to hit 70 miles for this week.

Once again, Stayed home to take care of some car stuff. This time it wasn’t the Volvo! As we were preparing to head north to Birch Bay, wanted to get the oil changed. I stayed home and took the car to Jiffy Lube. While waiting, I walked around Surprise Lake and back. Took about 45 minutes. When I got back, I got a call from LeAnn and she had found that Les Schwab had gotten in the tires we ordered. I ended up going there right after the oil change. They said it would take an hour, so I went on yet another walk while waiting. This pretty much gave me my miles for the day!

Borrowed grandpa Thorne’s car to get to work and then hit the Factoria mall in the morning. I had a training at Denali in Redmond that went through the afternoon, so drove home along East Lake Washington Blvd and then over through Highway 18 since 405 looked horrible. Since it was a bit rainy, I decided to stop at the Supermall on the way home to get the rest of my miles in. 

As I am now needing regular transportation to get to Bellevue each day, we needed to finally get the Volvo fixed. It had been having a problem where the engine would just cut and die while driving it. Scary stuff. So we hadn’t been driving it for a while, since I had been working from home and we didn’t need 3 cars. Now we do. Took it to the shop and walked home the Langway to get my miles in. Had to let work know that I was getting the car fixed and worked from home. Also walked the Jovita loop later on in the day. 

Happy Friday! Still don’t know where Austin landed inArgentina. Have to wait for Monday to find out. We were blessed that Austin was in Tandil to start his mission where they had a church with a family history center and a number of computers that they could use to communicate whenever they needed. We will find outsoon where his new city is and how he will be able to contact us.  Did my standard Bellevue work loops and then met LeAnn at the church to attend the award Christmas party. I got there a little before she did, so I went and walked the paths over by lake Killarney. Ended the day with 9.9 miles. 

I am a amazed that some days I can get my 10 mile goal in by the time I finish my work day. I have been trying to get into Bellevue a bit earlier to take another 10 minutes off of my morning commute. I get up 10 minutes earlier at 4:35 and get to the Factoria mall by 5:45. Walk for an hour there and then go park my car the half mile away. After morning meetings and walking around the TMobile campus, I’m at around 6 miles. Then I walk for 30 minutes at lunch and get another 2.5 miles  done. Walking back to the car at the end of the day and I will usually be in between 9-10 miles.  On this day, I stopped by QFC and got some Asparagus Soup to take back to work and finish there. It was tasty!

Took Jaylin and Maria with me to the zoo lights tonight

Had a good day for miles today! Did about 10 with my morning route and then lunchtime 3 miles and back and forth to the car. In the evening, I walked out to Milton and took Jaylin some chicken from Safeway and grabbed some ice cream bars for the ladies that were meeting with LeAnn at our house for a Girls Camp meeting. Only two of them took me up on my offer!

Back to life. Back to reality. Woke up at 4:45. Got to the Factoria Mall by 6:00. Walked there for an hour, then my lunchtime walk around Newport. No rain. Yay. Highlight of the day: Austin on Google Hangouts! He is getting transferred from Tandil. He is sad to leave, but excited about a new experience. They actually dont tell them where they are going until after they take a bus back to the Mission Home. He could end up staying in Bahia Blanca, or be transferred somewhere else. The great unknown! Here is the letter we received from Austin today: ¡Me Voy! Soy Gringo DECEMBER 2, 2019 I’m leaving Tandil! I am excited to experience a new city, but very sad to be leaving my home town. The people I’ve met and the experiences I’ve had will be in my heart forever. I’m not sure where I’m going yet! All I have is my ticket to the Bahía Blanca terminal at 3:30 in the morning haha. I could leave from Bahía Blanca to any other area in the mission, or I could stay in Bahía. We’ll see! I’ll be getti...

We were planning on leaving the condos around 10 am to head home. Headed out around 8 to get five miles in. Walked down to the Birch Bay State park and back.  Saw this Bald Eagle Here are a few signs from the state Park

Drove up to Semiahmoo with LeAnn and Jaylin. Was going to walk around the resort with them for a bit and then walk home from there. Stopped in a Gift shop and then we parted ways. LeAnn took Jaylin to the outlets and I trudged my way back to the condo. It was a good walk most of the way as they had a nice, dedicated trail for about 4 miles. Was just across the straitfrom Canada. You can see the Canadian side behind me here.  And this funny sign And this nice view across a field and over the sound into Canada Walked almost eight miles back home and had 9 for the day. 

Best way to spend the day is on the couch, watching football, while staying away from the chaos that is shopping of Friday. I went on a walk along the north of Birch Bay. The traffic on that road was a bit hectic, soI don’t go up quite as far as I would have otherwise.  Got back to the condo and watched the Apple Cup. Which was awesome! 7th year in a row of beating down WSU!  Happy Happy! Late afternoon, headed back out and walked down the south end of the Bay, which is less trafficked. Ended up with 7.5 miles. I had planned to hit the treadmill in the evening, but we had Matt and Anna over and ended up visiting instead.