My life is relatively boring (but that is a nice change) and I am usually very opinionated, but there are a lot of things I've reserving judgment on. Because of this, there hasn't been much to blog about. Here is a rundown.

I won't know if I am returning to school until the end of August. My backup plan is just trying to find work that my Master's degree prepared me for.

I am currently house shopping. Or should I say condo shopping? It will be my first place, so my budget is limited and I do live in Seattle and will be shopping NEAR Seattle, so it could be slim pickins. I'm looking in Kent, Auburn, Des Moines, Redondo, Federal Way, Renton, Tukwila primarily.

My softball team I've been playing on since late May has ended its season. We ended up being in fourth place in the league, which is pretty impressive seeing as how we were pretty similar to a Bad News Bear team! My other two teams end their season soon. These other two teams are part of the Underdog league and they have not been enjoyable. I much prefer my City of Seattle team. It's a huge gamble when you play on an "Underdog" team-I lost.

That's it!

I'm hoping to go back to school this Fall. If I don't get in, I will be devastated.

I went to Missouri/Kansas for 5 days and LOVED it.

I think I'm returning to the Mormon Church and the thought scares me for two reasons.
1. I'm an enigma and there aren't many Mormons like me. I feel lonely and out of place when I go to Church.
2. Because of the aforementioned and other issues, by returning to the Mormon Church, I will significantly reduce my chances of doing the traditional thing; getting married and having kids.

I am really tired of politics.

I live in one of the whiniest condo buildings in Seattle. Not a week goes by without some note whining about not recycling properly, or complaints of noise, footsteps, parking, etc.

I like Twitter, a lot, and I "tweet" occasionally, but I prefer Twitter as a means of getting breaking news and keeping up with friends, associates, etc.

I am bored to tears and would love to find a part-time job that I enjoyed.

I've loved salmon since the first time I tasted it. Most of the time I've enjoyed it, I would buy 3/4 pound fillets of, I'm sure, the cheapest salmon out there. This was a great way to enjoy salmon and save money and not worry about salmon going bad because I could take out one fillet at a time from the freezer. The salmon tasted good and I even cooked it for a few friends who loved it as well.

Last week I decided to splurge and buy two fillets of King salmon at the Metropolitan Market. King is supposed to be the best salmon out there. The fillets were expensive, but I have never had really nice salmon and was anxious to see if there really was a difference in taste. Well, I can pretty much say that once you taste King salmon, you never want to try another type of salmon ever again, it is THAT good. Not to mention the fact that I was cooking with fresh garlic and had honed, almost pefected, my salmon cooking skills.

I feel very lucky to live in Seattle where we have such an abundance of salmon and selections of places to buy it from. Not to mention the fact that I am less than 2 miles from Pike Place Market where there are multiple places to buy fresh fish.

With King salmon being so pricey, I think I might go out on a limb and try some Sockeye. It is usually about $5+ cheaper a pound, and is known as the second best tasting (though everyone has their preferences).

If you have a food you really like, but haven't splurged for a better quality version of that food, you owe it to yourself to splurge every once in a while. But just a warning, once you splurge you won't ever want to go back to the cheap version!

Tonight I volunteered at an event for the King County Conservation Voters. A part of the evening consisted of a live auction, which had about 30 items. Many of the items involved getaways, such as a trip to Sedona, a stay in Great Britain, a condo rental in Washington D.C. and some little getaways in our own Washington.

If you aren't from Washington, it can be difficult to grasp the weirdness of the geography of our state. We have some bodies of water that break our state up. If you see water shots in a picture of Seattle, it isn't the Pacific Ocean you are seeing, but either a lake or the Puget Sound. To get to the Pacific Ocean from Seattle, you need to drive a few hours, and in some routes, take a ferry, which would be quicker. (I'm totally simplifying things here, sorry).

For you Twilight fans, Forks is pretty close to the coast, and is, I think, about 3 1/2 hours away from Seattle. You would drive north a bit and take a Ferry and drive a few hours to get to Forks. I definitely want to go there because it is beautiful.

If you look at a map of Washington and really zoom in on the western part, you can get a better idea of our geography and see the Puget Sound.

I write about this because aside from the auction I attended, I have been watching reruns of Little People, Big World and right now the reruns are of the Roloff's RV trip to some National Parks. It reminds me of the diversity and the beauty that is all around us. Even the most "boring" looking states, contain vast amounts of beauty.

Most of you know that the area that Mt. Rushmore is in, Badlands, is pretty nice looking. Well, I would disagree, it contains an infinite amount of beauty. You cannot even imagine how gorgeous it is. I so badly wished I had a day or two to spend near there because it was breathtaking! But, even before I got to the Badlands area, I was shocked to find so much pretty scenery in South Dakota. I really want to go back to South Dakota because I loved the Badlands area and the whole western history was really neat.


So I guess the moral of the story is that there is beauty all around us, in our state, in our country, and in our world. We should carpe diem and see as much of it as we can. We need to spend less time working (which is easy for me to say) and more time living.

The problem with me is that I find too much enjoyment in being a nomad. The thought of settling down somewhere is frightening! Being in Las Vegas and not knowing where I would go next was both scary and exhilarating. Same thing with New Hampshire. When I spent a month flying all over the east part of the USA, (Michigan, South Carolina, Florida, Tennesse, Connecticut, etc) I had the time of my life. I found it far too easy to live out of suitcases, motels, and my car.

It's the fear of commitment that gets me. I can commit to friends and family, but beyond that it gets really dicey. Having pondered my living situation for the last year or so, I always found the idea of buying an RV and living out of that and being so mobile really attractive. Driving across the country twice exposed me to this whole culture of RVing that was really fun to watch.

Most of the RVers were, of course, retired folks, who had the time and money to do it. BTW, It's so absurd that you have to wait until you are 65 or older to actually travel and enjoy our country. I know someone who is closer to my age who bought an RV and has that mobility, but chooses to stay around the Vegas area. He loves it and I can't blame him.

So having been unemployed since November, I've found myself a bit disappointed that I didn't do something more fun with this time. I truly didn't think the economy would keep getting worse and that hundreds of people would be applying for janitorial jobs and such. It would've been fun to rent an RV back in November and just drive around!

I don't wanna believe that my traveling days are behind me. Is normalcy that only thing I have to look forward to???

A few days ago my dad took me out to lunch. We went to the Space Needle and ate at the top. It was a bit overpriced, but really fun as the restaurant moves around and you get a whole view of the city as it slowly moves (makes a whole rotation every half an hour or so). To eat at the restaurant, you must spend $25/person. Included in that $25 is the admission to the top of the Space Needle. So really you are only needing to spend what you would spend eating at a Cheesecake Factory or similar restaurant.

It was fun to get the view of Queen Anne and find my condo building! Seattle is a very unique and fun city and it is fun to live here. But, my mind can't help but wonder where I will be living come November, when my lease ends. I like Seattle, but parking is expensive, the bus system is overpriced and when you are in the ride free zone, it's a bit scary. Anytime you live in a big city, there are always complaints, which I why I just need to move out into the suburbs a bit. If I want to go to the mall or a movie, I don't want to pay for parking, unless it's valet parking. But I will miss my view!

Living in Idaho really gave me a craving for living on a property with some land. A bit of seclusion, but not too far from the city, some land for a big yard, a fire pit, but not tons of acreage because that would be a little scary.

Am I describing Auburn or something more eastward? If I won't live in the big city, do I really want the typical suburbia city with regular neighborhoods all filled with families and minivans? No thanks.

Federal Way has turned into "Ghetto Way" or "Federal Watts." Other nearby areas are equally as scary, or so I've read. How about a place with some land and a view of some water? Does that exist?

In just a few days, I will be on my way to Miami, Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, and St. Maarten and I cannot wait. I definitely need to just get away and recharge my battery. How sad is that as I am not even working right now!?!

The weather this winter in Seattle hasn't been too horrible, but I am stoked for sunny skies, warm water, and warm wind, if there is any wind at all!

As the economy continues to take more and more victims, I am left wondering if there is any point in looking for a job at all? News story after news story document hundreds and thousands of people applying for low-paying and often times temporary work.

With that said, I am definitely moving full steam ahead with getting my knowledge compiled into a small book so as to consult campaigns on the use of candidate trackers. If they can't afford a consultant, they can get the small e-book and I might print out some hard copies because it would come in handy to have a small copy.

I better get to work, the 2010 campaign season is fast approaching!

I haven't made my love and obsession of New Hampshire a secret. Can you blame me? NH is beautiful and has such a diversity of scenery that is incomparable. The Lakes Region, coastline, forest areas, the mountains (North Country), the more urban areas, the country, and all within a short drive of eachother. It reminded me of Idaho in some ways, though NH is a bit superior, IMO. It reminds me of Washington State much more.

Well one of the great things about Washington State is that you get a lot of that diversity, though much more spread out. Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens and more, the country, the urban, the forests, the beaches and coastline, beautiful bodies of water, suburbia, etc. There isn't the beautiful color of fall that manifests itself in the leaves during Fall and there isn't the proximity to other states, but it's home, my home.

I am so excited to go camping, hiking, biking, weekending, etc. The west truly has so much to offer and the summer's in the west are amazing!

I am thinking of having a housewarming party in the next week or so. I'd like to do it on a Saturday and have it be open for a few hours since my condo is only so big and people are pretty busy. I'd also like to have some nice weather so people can sit out on my deck and enjoy the view.

Would any of my family members reading this blog in the area drive to Seattle for it? Comment or facebook me and let me know.

The economy is still in the shitter. I've applied to a few jobs where I am overqualified and thought for sure I'd get a call back or something, but...nothing. Something will come along, someday.

Today, though, something interesting happened. Someone friend requested me on Facebook. We have some mutual friends (mainly campaign workers in D.C.), and so I accepted and took a look at his Facebook profile. He owns a firm that does communications work. They are hiring, but I am not quite qualified for what they are hiring for. Therefore, I decided to shoot him a Facebook email and ask if he would meet with me to possibly do an internship.

This is a great firm that does really good work. And I think it would be awesome to really get some great experience in communications and PR. He said yes to my email provided I email him a resume and cover letter!

Thoughts? No lectures on working for free, please.

The title of this blog post is the best way to describe my 2008.

-I drove across the country for the second time in a year.

-I met Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, Bill Richardson, Dennis Kucinich, Chris Dodd, Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson, John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, Duncan Hunter, Tim Russert, James Denton, Viggo Mortensen, Anderson Cooper, Candy Crowley, John King, Joe Lieberman, and more that I am forgetting.

-I adopted two kitties.

-I lived in 3 states.

-I have now visited 47 states in the US.

-I lived in my Mecca, Washington D.C.

-I worked on K Street.

-I became known as the best in my field of tracking candidates for public office.

-I bought a new car, my dream car.

-I helped a few people have a Christmas.

-I lived my dream and I had moments of such profound happiness, there are no words to explain it.

Unlike many I know, and countless I don't, 2008 was a pretty good year for me. I hope 2009 is even better, especially for those who need it.

Ok, so I was hoping for snow, a lot of it, but it's now gotten to the point of ridiculousness! I have been snowed in since Thursday and could very well be snowed in until Christmas or later. I live on a hill and a sidehill. The hill is plenty covered with snow, but I think my SUV could navigate it, but the sidehill is a death trap. It hasn't been plowed and the snow is very deep and slick. So, to get out of my parking garage, I would have to either go up the sidehill or down. sigh.

My kitties arrived from Oregon on Friday and thank goodness my brother has an Xterra and drove from Federal Way to come and get me and take me to the airport. I made him stop by the grocery store so I could get some groceries and firewood (duraflame), but jeepers, had I known the hell that is my sidehill would be this bad and continue to be this bad, I would've stocked up more!

Last Christmas I spent it alone in Rhode Island. How ironic if, after moving across the country from DC to Seattle, I would spend this Christmas alone because there is no way I could make the 26 mile trek down I-5 to my parents house? Now, if my main hill is driveable and if I-5 is fine, I'm sure my brother or step-dad will come get me and my pets and bring us to Federal Way, so I highly doubt I will truly be alone, but this whole experience has made me grateful for the City of Rexburg, Idaho Falls, Pocatello, Concord, and every other town and city in Idaho and New Hampshire for the way they handle the snow.

I can't blame the City of Seattle too much. The amount of snow we get is unpredictable and it would be hard to justify the expense of several more snow plows. I do think these storms we've been having have provided the City with information and hopefully new ideas for tackling storms in the future, namely, plowing the roads.

Seattle is very hilly and the City lacks the resources to tackle all the sidehills in Seattle and trust me when I say, there are hills everywhere, but there is always room for improvement. It seems as though they have done a good job with setting up temporary shelters for the homeless and heating stations in case the power goes out and you're cold. But heating stations don't help if you can't get there!

So, my fingers are crossed for some rain to wash away the snow and/or some sun to melt it away, so I can finish my Christmas shopping, go buy some kitten supplies, and return to some semblence of normalcy.

I am totally feeling at home with all the snow in Seattle! I've never lived in a big city during winter and it is just awesome looking out my windows and seeing the snow amidst the cityscape.

I had a physical therapy appointment this afternoon and thought it best to cancel. It isn't as though I am scared to drive in it (I am, a little), but other drivers here generally have very little experience driving in it. Also, the City of Seattle, and other areas in Western Washington, just aren't prepared for weather like this. Had this snowstorm happened in Idaho or New Hampshire, the roads would be consistently plowed, salt and/or red rock put down, and the sidewalks cleared. Not here. I live on Queen Anne, which is on a hill and no roads have been plowed.

Living in New Hampshire and Idaho, I loved to venture out in my car, even in several feet of snow, and just defy logic. Here, I don't wish to defy logic and drive in it (until tomorrow to go get my kittens from the airport) and it looks like a lot of other people feel the same way. It's the traffic jam time and I-5 in Seattle has no traffic. I know this because I can see I-5 from my condo (well part of I-5, obviously). So maybe I have underestimated Seattle drivers?

Hillary Clinton will soon be named Secretary of State and though I would rather have her be my Vice-President, I can live with SoS. I am just eating up some of these Obama staff announcements. It's so refreshing to have intelligent people that will be running our Federal Government again.

Today is also a great day because I finally got back up on that job searching horse and submitted some resumes and cover letters to some great places. The job market is just flooded with the unemployed and so it will be interesting to see what type of progress I have. Unfortunately, getting a job has a lot to do with who you know, not necessarily what you know, and most of my contacts are in Idaho, Vegas, New Hampshire, or DC, and not Seattle.

I am really digging my idea of creating a website with some information on candidate/campaign tracking. There is a huge lack of information out there and I have lots I could share with those novice trackers and campaigns who need help with their tracking program.

As you might know, I have views of downtown Seattle and Lake Union and I've noticed that often times when I look outside, I don't see any lights. Sometimes it startles me and I think the power went out out there and then I remember how much fog this area gets. I've missed fog. NEW HAMPSHIRE got some decent fog, but Seattle gets way more fog. It's nice.

Still unpacking and getting settled. Ahhh, so much to do. I still am waiting on my loveseat and I am hoping to get it delivered next weekend! I'm really not happy with the layout of my furniture, but my "great room" is small and more rectangular, so arranging is awkward. My tv had to be placed in a specific spot (lest I have cords running all over) and that has really screwed everything up. 

to create (re-create) my Curriculum Vitae and submit it to a few community colleges to see if I can do some adjunct teaching next quarter. I think it's a good opportunity to see if I really like teaching and if so, maybe go back to school for another degree.

Many of you, I'm sure, have already voted. To those who haven't, allow me to give you some recommendations.

Obama (must I give an explanation???) Aren't we tired of the direction this country is headed? Aren't we tired of endless war? Endless war that costs $10 billion dollars a month? Are ready to usher in a new era? An era where we work with our allies, where our government works for the people and not corporations, where we can tackle our problems with solutions that don't hurt the middle class?

Gregoire. I'm sorry but Dino Rossi doesn't support open and transparent government. He despises openness and he despises Democrats. We need a Governor who works with both sides. Gov. Gregoire has won awards for her managerial skills and this state, though not in great shape, is one of only 10 states that has a surplus.

Peter Goldmark (Lands Commissioner). The Republican, Sutherland, is a perv and sexually harassed an employee. Not to mention he is way too cozy with the special interests he is supposed to help regulate!!! That is NOT GOOD.

Carol Gregory in Federal Way. I love love love Carol Gregory and Skip Priest has been around far too long. While he is a moderate Republican, we need change and someone who has a better grasp on educational issues. Gregory is a former teacher and understands education.

Randy Dorn for Superintendent of Public Instruction. I don't like the WASL, you don't like the WASL, no one likes the WASL, except Terry Bergeson. Time for Randy.

No on 985. Sounds good but takes money from the general fund to pay for unspecified road projects, which is NOT GOOD.

Need any other help? Give me a call.

Let me just say that I am deeply saddened that the Mormon Church is spending $20 million dollars in California for Proposition 8. I support equal rights and I don't believe that discrimination should be legal. I can't help but think of what that $20 million dollars could do. How many hungry children it could feed. How many widows could have heat this winter. How many vaccines could be given. Heartbreaking.

Well, I've been spending the last few days moving things from Federal Way to Seattle. Things have gone relatively well, except my beloved couch I picked out at Macy's couldn't fit into the elevator or the stairwell.