A few of my favorite things...

*KenKen

I spent many a hours in my BYU days working my way through the Sudokus in the daily newspaper. After graduation, I wasn't sitting through hours of classes and consequently stopped my daily tradition. Then the other night, I had my Reader's Digest at work during a slow period and discovered this super fun new puzzle. It is like Sudoku except the numbers in the shaded boxes have to make the number in the corner using the function indicated. Here is an example. Unfortunately, I have yet to complete one correctly but I get closer everytime.

*High School Musical on Ice:

Now this is just good clean fun. I totally loved the movies, though I have yet to see the third one. I saw this event advertised last week and somehow I convinced my roommate to come with me. We stuck out a little among the shrieking pre-teens and long-suffering parents but I had a great time! Go Wildcats!!!

Right now my favorite things do not include the following:

*Having to cross a picket line to get to church

O Christmas Tree

Okay, okay, I know that it is only one day after Halloween but I am already super excited for Christmas. It is undoubtedly my favorite holiday of the year. I love it all, from the music to the decorations to the sappy Hallmark made for TV movies about people discovering the true meaning of Christmas.

Tonight I was practicing the organ for tomorrow and I started playing Christmas hymns. This isn't the first time this has happened but since it is November now, I felt justified in indulging myself. I pulled out the fake Christmas tree and German decorations and went to work. My roommate had a few ornaments but we're going to need some more. Good thing I didn't leave this to the last minute.

While You Weren't Sleeping

Chances are while you weren't sleeping, I was now that I have become a person of the night. Unfortunately, my body has resisted my circadian switch a little more than I had expected. So in the hopes of a better night (day) sleep, tonight I bought a foam memory mattress pad. I mulled over the decision in Walmart for about a half an hour, trying to decide between the generic pad and the more expensive one.

I eventually bought the higher quality one. I love that it does this:

This obviously isn't my hand but you get the idea. I am very excited to go to sleep. End of post.

Filling My Time

Well, even though I have a full-time job now, working three 12's a week still leaves me with quite a bit of free time between my shifts. I'm still getting used to not having to constantly study for exams in all my free time, although that is a very pleasant change. When I first moved, there was more than enough to keep me busy in getting settled in Seattle. Then my church calling as organist and hiking began taking up more of my time. But now that I am feeling more comfortable with the organ and it is getting too cold and rainy to hike, I have been looking for some other activities.

An evening with google, a few emails and phone calls later and here's what I've done.



My clogging shoes have sat quiet in my closet for far too long. I was so glad to find a clogging group here in Seattle. There are only about 6 people in my low-intermediate class but it was so much fun. We are currently preparing for a Christmas performance at Pike Place Market. Sweet!


I also wanted to find a good volunteer opportunity. There is a senior center not too far north of me that desperately needed drivers to deliver food through their meals on wheels program. So now Sheila and I will get to spend some more time together and make new friends.

Last week, I changed to night shifts so I am getting used to a new schedule anyway. And these acitivities should fit in just fine.

Lake Serene

Wow, two posts about hiking in a row! I'll have to find some other things to blog about. A nurse at work lent me a book about hiking around Seattle and I couldn't resist checking this hike out. It was a pretty intense hike with a hours worth of steps (both man-made and granite) at the end but the view was supposed to be totally worth. Unfortunately, it was pretty cloudy.

I got this picture from google- this is what the view was supposed to be:

Here is how it looked for me:

It was still a lovely way to spend the day. While I was hiking, I finally listened to "The Last Lecture" which was very inspiring.

A little side story. Due to the weather, there weren't very many people on the trail. But when I got to the top, there was a group of hiking grannies (and thus ends my complaints about how hard the trail was). The first thing they said when they saw me, was "You hiked all the way up here in those?!"

The "those" they were referring to were these:

My hiking Chaco sandals which I bought at the Seattle REI at one of my pre-move visits with the help of my REI expert cousin Leslie. Honestly, these have been the best shoe investment of my life. They are so great for hiking. I've broken them in so they are very comfortable and I find them superior to shoes and socks especially when you have to cross creeks (wet socks= miserable).

But I guess I'll have to hang up my hiking sandals until things clear up a little more.

Wallace and Gromit Falls

Yesterday, I went on the most beautiful hike. It is actually just called Wallace Falls but I have a hard time separating those two names. Here is a picture of the falls. Just lovely!

My only complain was about a half an hour into the two and a half hour hike, I stumbled on a rock (clumsy, clumsy) and rolled my ankle. It hurt pretty bad and I was bummed because I really wanted to finish the hike. So I said a prayer and sat down on a rock for a few minutes. When I got back up, my ankle was still tender but I was able to make it to the top without any more problems. In fact the longer I hiked, the better it felt. By the time I came back down, it actually felt pretty good and I was convinced that I wouldn't have anymore trouble with it.

The awkward self-taken picture to prove that I was really there:

Wallace Falls is about an hour northeast of Seattle. When I got back to my apartment, I stepped out of the car and immediately winced in pain. My ankle must have stiffened up on the way back because it was hurting again pretty bad. Luckily, after a little ice and elevation, it seems to be fine. The few moments of pain were a small price to pay for such a gorgeous view!

Organ Donor

Since starting my job, I have spent a lot of time with patients who have had organ transplants and I am of course designated as an organ donor on my drivers license. But now I have a whole different type of organ to appreciate:



That's right friends- today I was set apart as the ward organist. Apart from a few informal lessons, I have no prior experience. I got a few hints from my mom and sister ( http://johnstonjive.blogspot.com/2008/06/day-in-life-of-organist.html) who are vetran organists but I still have a lot to learn.