Livin' in the Big City

Mid-afternoon on a weekday and what am I doing? Sitting in my pj's posting a new blog... Yup, I love having so much downtime, but I am definitely ready to get going with the rest of my life! Now 3 weeks in, my apartment in Seattle has been great and I'm loving the fact that almost everything is a short walk or a bus ride away. For you older Washingtonians, you may know Pioneer Square as a slightly scary neighborhood, but I will be the first to tell you that this part of town has definitely gotten better. SO much better in fact that I am feeling completely safe and comfortable living here. While my place is small, I enjoy the fact that it has forced me to get rid of belongings I REALLY don't need. Some pictures to give you a good general idea of the place are below (sorry they're blurry, my flash was off):

Living area you see right when you walk in the door.

Continuation of the living area with part of the kitchen counter showing.

Right side of kitchen, viewed from living area.

Other side of kitchen- lots of storage! :)

Hallway that is just to the left of the front door. In the photo, the double doors are the washer/dryer and more storage, straight ahead is the bathroom, and to the right is the bedroom.

Bedroom with double door closet showing. In the left corner of the room (which you can't see) is just our dresser and mirror.

The views! All of these can be seen from our three windows since the place is small. The above left is a view of the Columbia and Smith Towers that you see if you look UP. the above right is a view of a tree blocking the Alaskan Way Viaduct and a small water view that you see when you look LEFT. The photo below is the building next to us, which you see if you look straight out- it's a lot nicer of a view then just a brick wall! :)

SO there you have it- my ~600 square feet of joy. Richard and I are living together to help share the costs which has been REALLY nice since I wouldn't want to be renting a place in Seattle on my own. Milo doesn't seem to mind the place, especially since it has such high ceilings, allowing for some high shelves on top of the kitchen cabinets that he can jump to and watch everything from. Rich works in Renton so he has many routes to pick from to get to work (I-90, I-5, Rainier Ave or Martin Luther King Way) and I will be working at Boeing's Bellevue location starting TOMORROW so it will just be a straight shot for me down I-90. I'm not too sure if I'm excited or bummed to be starting work already, but I do know that I feel really fortunate to have gotten such a good job. I have many amazing and smart engineer, science, and business degree friends that have not been able to land a job yet, or if they have, it's dismal at best. I hope my good fortune continues as Rich and I explore Seattle more and get used to the big change from college to the "Real World". I can't wait to see what happens!

Annie + College = NO Blogging...

Yup, it's official, I suck at writing frequently in my blog... but what can I say? Senior year moved WAY too fast that I hardly even believe that I've really graduated. But Pullman was good to me this year- I had a fun experience living with 5 great guys in a house, I successfully completed a double major in 2 Business subjects, and I am in a great relationship with my boyfriend Rich- Definitely a good year :) Now I'm at the parents home in Monroe while I'm in my "transition" from college to living on my own and working. I've got the living on my own figured out to be a 1 bedroom apartment in Seattle, but the job subject is still a work in progress given the current economy is not helping my odds. More details on all of that will come though! Below are pictures from the last few months-

Richard and I snowboarding one weekend at the fabulous Schweitzer Resort. Biggest benefit of WSU's college business is that there are no classes on Friday- woohoo! Guess it's to help enforce Thirsty Thursdays... haha :)

The terror known as Milo, taking everything out of my purse in this picture. I feel as though he is more of a dog then a cat... such a trouble maker, but way too cute.

AWESOME Spring Break trip to Puerto Vallarta!

Graduation- picture in front of the HUGE new cougar statue outside of Martin Stadium. GO COUGS!

New Semester, New Pet, and NEW Nephew!

Yes, she's back! Some of you may have noticed three new posts that you hadn't seen before... and yes, they are from the dates they claim, I simply just hadn't posted them because I wanted to have some pictures... WELL, no pictures, but hey at least you know I'm still alive!

SO this semester started off pretty normal- Nothing going on but parties and recruitment for my business fraternity. My class load is lighter (just 12 credits/4 classes) AND a lot more interesting, including a hospitality class titled "Beverage Management", of which I am ONE of only two students in the class that are not a hospitality major... why is it so hard to get into this class? WELL, the teacher is great, the workload is nice, and I think that being able to taste wine and spirits in just about every class might have something to do with it as well!

Yes, this appeared to be a normal semester, but something different was definitely going on... see, I live with 5 guys which yes, are just fabulous and all, but I needed something else... and if you know me well, you know where this is heading! While up in Spokane visiting Rich before coming back for school, I drug him around to every shelter in the area looking for the perfect orange cat. With no luck there, I decided to continue my search in Pullman (still dragging Rich around with me), and began at the Pullman Humane Society. Now this place is a bit small, so I didn't expect to find anything there. I checked out the cats they had in this old bus-converted-cat shelter outside, but decided to ask them whether or not they had any kittens. No, i wasn't exactly looking for a kitten, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask... right? WELL, they had 12 kittens. 6 were orange.

All were adorable , but I finally decided on ONE that stood out because his markings were the darkest orange of any of the other kittens. I instantly purchased him, got the necessary supplies from the local store, and took him to his new home. It took a few days for me to decide on a name, but Milo (pronounce my-low) finally stuck. The name came from one of my favorite childhood movies, Milo & Otis, which it seems like most of my friends had seen or atleast heard of, EXCEPT Rich... fun fun. I guess we'll just have to have a movie night. Anyway, he was 3 weeks old when I got him and now he's 2 lbs heavier and almost 7 weeks old.. crazy how they grow! Pictures will come... :)

SO- that's the main excitement in my life right now, but it's honestly nothing to what's happening on the west side of the state! On Monday, January 26th my first nephew Benjamin was born. I'm very excited for my brother and sister in law and hope that all is well in their second week with Ben. I'm sure Mckenzie is just loving her baby brother too- congrats to you guys! Two birthdays in the same week! Crazy fun- look for a package from Pullman in the week to come!

That's all for now- it's a sunny (but cold) Friday and Rich and I are planning on heading to his parent's house in Spokane today so that we can get an early start tomorrow for Schweitzer, snowboard all day, and make it back in time for Saturday night parties in Pullman.. talk about fun!

OH the Holidays....

Lots of family, lots of gifts, seeing old friends, and gaining a few pounds... what's not to love?

Yes, the holidays this year were just as good as ever, but perhaps they were the last of their kind for me... My parents were dead set on having us do all the same stuff that we'd done in years past. Why? Mainly because my siblings are adding new members to their own families (currently on a yearly basis), so this year was the last of it's kind. It's sort of weird knowing that things are going to be different a year from now... I mean I may not even be living IN Washington (although I greatly doubt that), and my siblings will be starting their own traditions with their growing families.

I will say that in all the years growing up, I had loved the difference in my age and my brother and sister's age.. we were a decade a part, experiencing completely different things yet still being rather close. I learned from all of their mistakes (thanks for that!) and all of their triumphs. However, now more than ever I think I wish I could just understand a little bit more of what's going on in their lives, or be at least a little closer in distance. I think that I at least have a SENSE of what it must have felt like for my sister to be living away from family in Wisconsin (or Colorado) and being so out of the loop. I don't let things get to me too much when it's discovered that they "forgot" to tell Annie (oh yes, you know it's true), but still it makes me wonder if I'm supposed to just vanish for a few years... have my own adventures away from home and just... not feel like I'm at SUCH a different stage of life. Now this isn't a pity party, so don't even think about calling me up family. I just know that I need to really figure out what is best for me to do and not try and focus on just making sure I'm close to home to hear everything that goes on while I'm away...

SO, that's just my thought of the day... I never thought I'd be in the same boat as SO many other seniors right now and not have any idea on what I'll be doing after college, but I have the economy to thank for that... my for sure job is now just a mere hope, and all of my other job options grow smaller each day with more companies laying off or collapsing altogether... at the same time, I AM getting some creative ideas... like, another degree? working abroad? HA! Who knows...