Back in Action

Hello, hi, how are ya? The blog is back after a looong hiatus. Sorry about that :) So, let me give you a little update on what has been going on in my life.

SUMMER IS HERE.....it is definitely, hands down, my favorite season. I love long days spent outside, BBQ's, sun tans, fire pits, vacations, yard work and the chance for absolutely no chance of rain. Well, except for today, which it is actually comforting because I have nothing to do.

This weekend I traveled to Portland with friends to see Coldplay in concert. I am pretty sure the concert is tied as one of my all time favorite concerts (tied with Ms. Keys, obvi). It was amazing...beautiful weather, a great play list, a rendition of Michael Jackson's Billy Jean sang 20 feet away from me, great friends. What more could a girl want, right?! After the concert, we were wiped out so we went back to the hotel and passed out. We spent the next day shopping in Portland. I have never really hung out in Portland and was pleasantly surprised. We spent the day on Hawthorne Street, weaving in and out of shops, finally settling in the Bridgeport Ale House. One beer and I was a little dazed....strong stuff. We set off for Seattle around 4pm and spent the rest of the evening relaxing.

The 4th of July was spent in our backyard with great friends. My roommate, Kim, celebrated her 30th birthday with bbq, beer, sun and flip cup. About 30 of our friends and family joined in the on the celebration. All of the preparations and work put into the day was well worth it.

Besides the concerts and BBQ's, the rest of the time this summer has been devoted to working in my yard. It has come a LONG way in the last few months and I am enjoying the progress made. There is a long list of "to do's" and this is what we have accomplished so far.

-digging a roof full of shingles out of their shallow grave (grrrr).
-tons of tree trimming, weed pulling, and rock digging.
-planting, watering and watching my potted garden bloom.
-planting flowers, bushes and shrubs.
-grinding 3 huge tree stumps.
-more rock digging.
-staining the deck.
-digging up little treasures and more rocks.
-piling all the rocks on the side of the house in a little dry river bed formation.
-digging up rocks...have I said that before?

I of course am not the one completing most of these items. Kim and my parents have done most of the work. So while I am watching the yard come into it's own, I am also watching their muscles tone. I also can't forget to mention the bathroom remodel. It started about a month ago and it is slowly taking shape. It will be well worth the wait...here is a sneak preview...

Lastly, I have been spending time figuring out how I want to spend my vacation time this summer. I have 3 events planned, starting with the annual Double Day Bike Ride to benefit the ALS Association. If you haven't done it before, you definitely should. It is a two day ride covering 85 miles of the beautiful Skagit Valley. Last year it was amazing to spend the weekend with others living with ALS and families riding in memory of lost loved ones. It definitely brings your spirits up to see so many people riding to support a good cause. If you want to join the team, click on the link and find Mo's Biker Beauties.

Another great event in the works is the first annual Ring Around the Needle pub crawl. This is definitely something you don't want to miss! 5-8 bars around lower Queen Anne, all donating beer and a good time to benefit the Melissa Erickson Foundation. I promise you, you will have fun and feel good about drinking some beer.

I have decided to close out my summer going back to my roots. I will be Denver bound on September 2nd and will have fun showing Jessica around my old stomping ground. It has changed so much, I hope I remember where I am at. I am hoping to have some sort of a fund raiser in Denver, so stay tuned if you are in that area. So far we have a Rockies game on the agenda and will be traveling up to the New Belgium Brewery for a tour. Everything else is up in the air.

So that is about all for me. I will try to keep this thing up to date and not slack off as I have in the last month or two...who's counting :)

Aaaahhhhh Weekends

Seriously....why can't we have a 4 day weekend??? I guess my two favorite days of the week wouldn't be as sweet if they were the majority. I lie...they would. I can absolutely say that a sunny day makes this city buzzzzzz. The freeways are jammed, the lakes are packed with boats and the parks are a zoo. Seattle sun is probably never taken for granted.

This weekend was especially great because we were able to enjoy sun on Friday and Sunday (Saturday, get with it). One of my favorite days of the year is the Windemere Cup. I can actually say, I have never watched the crew races or experienced the boat parades but I always seem to find myself stuck on 520 long enough to get a glimpse of the boats tied up to each other forming the raceway for the Cup. It is definitely a sight and I was happy for them that at least one of their days was sunny.

After making it home through the maze of traffic, I didn't want to leave. We held our traditional game night on Friday. Cranium is typically our game of choice and my team usually wins. However, Jessica and I did not bring our A game and Kim and Abby came out victorious. Newcomers, Swen, Jamie, Ashley and Jen put up a fight to the end but their sllloooooow start had them doomed. They are no longer newbies and have witnessed the competitiveness that the regulars bring night in and night out. If things go array, there have been carrot fights, wrestling and pouting, none of which come from this angel.

As I said before, Saturday's weather left a lot to be desired. RAAAAIIIIIN, booooo! BUT, it made it a perfect day for painting. Kim Hope returned in the morning to lead us in painting. Both Jess and I have never really painted so it was nice to have a little direction. We jumped in the van for Home Depot, picked a great color of green, yelled at a red neck Harley driver for parking in the handicap zone, and headed back to the house to paint. A few hours later we were surrounded in Moss Landing green and out of paint. All the hard work was completed for the day so it was on to fun times. We cleaned up and set out for a little beer pong. Kim and I devoured the amazing dinner made by our friend Erin, conversed with the other party goers and tried our hand at a little pong. I wish I could say that we came out victorious but I definitely can not. We lost 5 TIMES. WHAT, seriously!!! I am just as amazed as you but I can say that we mostly lost to a team that whore matching beer pong shirts. Needless to say, they must be well practiced.

Sunday started perfectly, breakfast with friends that I haven't seen in months. The eggs benedict was great and the conversation was even better. After filling my stomach and saying goodbye to my friends I headed back home to find that my green room was basically finished and Kim moved on to yard work. Seriously, do I really have friends this incredible? YES. We chopped the hell out of some seriously overgrown ferns and the backyard look a whole lot better now. I didn't realize the potential of it until today.

All in all it was the perfect weekend ( minus the losses in Cranium and beer pong). Here's to the weather staying beautiful and having friends who never cease to amaze me.

PS- I also just found out about the website pandora.com this weekend. Where has this gem been all my life? Commercial free radio and the music choice is always what I want. If you don't know about it, you need to check it out. If anyone else has any hidden gems, send them my way.

Correction

After reviewing my last entry...I found a few errors. Most importantly, the "crap macaroni" salad was not crap...it was crab. Oops....must have been a Freudian slip :)

Happy Easter!!!!

PS- Mrs. P....what's the 411 on the paint color???

Get a Move On it!

Patience...either you have it, or you don't. I totally think I am patient, I hold it together....I wait and wait without complaints. Right?! Well, that is what I think but I am sure there are many other people that have a different opinion about this, but so what. So, after waiting and waiting to find out if my parents offer on a new house was accepted by the sellers, by the bank, by the other bank and whether or not the inspection would pass, my patience finally were rewarded with a YES!!!

Jessica and I will be the beneficiaries of a new house in Shoreline, WA. It is beautiful, well at least it will be after a thorough cleaning. This house will need elbow grease, knee grease and a whole lot of TLC. BUT, after that, it will be AWESOME!

Capitol Hill has been my neighborhood for the past 3 years and I will definitely be sad to leave it. My first year was spent with my awesome roommate, Brock and we definitely took advantage of the nightlife, restaurants and the ability to be able to walk or bus where ever we wanted to go.

After that fun year, I decided to enter the real estate market and found a awesome condo about a block from my apartment. It has been my home for the last 2 years and has definitely taught me so much about real estate, home ownership and all of that adult stuff. But all good times have to come to an end right....nah. They will keep on rolling but in a different zip code. While all of the responsibilities of a house may seem a little overwhelming for some, I am excited about it. Call me naive but I have always found a way to get things done. My incredible support group always rallies when my efforts fall short.

Speaking of rallying, I may need some of that come moving day. We decided to pay someone for their elbow grease when it comes to cleaning, so that is out of the way. However, once the house is showered in bleach, the moving begins. I am hoping to rally a few friends to help my parents move. There is not a lot of stuff but definitely some heavy things that my dad's back needs to avoid. I am sure there will be plenty of food and beverages to reward those who help, so if you want to help, let me know what your drink of choice is...I will go to Costco and provide.

Well you have read about my fabulous times on Capitol Hill and they can be duplicated by you! YOU can move into my pad and experience the fun for yourself. I am trying to get the max price for this baby but if I know you and I trust you, I may be able to come down a little. I would love to have someone in here that I know will keep it spotless so I can finally sell it when times improve.

So SPREAD THE WORD AND HELP A SISTA OUT!!! Check the link for pictures and details. Have a good March, hopefully St. Patrick will push a little luck in all of our paths.

PS- My condo is sitting pretty on the bottom right corner of the fabulous park in the center of the picture. (Things to consider, suntanning in the park, walking to shop downtown, never having to pay for another cab home at night...just walk, you will burn the calories. Oh, and there is a Dick's two blocks away to satisfy all late night cravings. You know you want to.)

What Gets me through the tough ones

So, usually I don't use this blog as a kleenex to sob on but I figured that I would answer one of the questions people commonly ask me about my health situation...."How do you deal with this and stay positive?"

I figured I would put a list together of things that "get me through the day".

Jessica's smile
My family's unconditional love
The little corners of craziness each of my friends let me invade
Team Enji, Cori, Mo....Fuck yeah! (sorry for the swearing, it's a quote)
The kids and people I work with at Region 4...yes, even the ones that drive me nuts :)
Frenchie's attitude and success thus far in her own battle
Andrew Moritz's amazing attitude towards his own war
Tommie (my cat)
Watching the Dawgs...even if this year has almost been unbearable. Thank God for men's team
latte's
Duncan, Jill and Elise
Music from Adele, Coldplay, Alicia
Faith
My sisters from momma June and the ones from my step momma Coach G
Facebook
Obama

Those are all things that I hold close to my heart. On the REALLY tough days, when things seem a little hopeless, there is a poem that I read that brings me out of the darkness. It was given to me by another Melissa. She has helped me more than she will even know just by passing this along. Thanks MO!!!!

INVICTUS

OUT OF THE NIGHT THAT COVER ME.
BLACK AS THE PIT FROM POLE TO POLE
I THANK WHATEVER GODS MY BE
FOR MY UNCONQUERABLE SOUL.

IN THE FELL CLUTCH OF CIRCUMSTANCE
I HAVE NOT WINCED NOR CRIED ALOUD.
UNDER THE BLUDGEONINGS OF CHANCE
MY HEAD IS BLOODY, BUT UNBOWED.

BEYOND THIS PLACE OF WRATH AND TEARS
LOOMS BUT THE HORROR OF THE SHADE,
AND YET THE MENACE OF THE YEARS
FINDS AND SHALL FIND ME UNAFRAID.

IT MATTERS NOT HOW STRAIT THE GATE.
HOW CHARGED WITH PUNISHMENTS THE SCROLL
I AM THE MASTER OF MY FATE:
I AM THE CAPTAIN OF MY SOUL.

-WILLIAM ERNEST HENLEY


Thank you.

Happy Birthday T-Town!!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you.....I could keep them coming but I guess you guys get the point. Today is a great day...it is the birthday of one, Miss Takiyah Jackson. If you don't know her, you are missing out. If you do, well then, you know how amazing she is. Last night I was fortunate enough to celebrate her birthday with her and her closest friends. She decided that she wanted to make this birthday special and throw a charity event. My foundation, The Melissa Erickson Foundation, was the lucky beneficiary. She really went all out for this event. Not only did she rent out an amazing location, Sole Repair, but she had a DJ, food, full bar, picture booth, slide show, raffle, trivia contest, and the AMAZING Choklate perform live. If you haven't heard of Choklate, you are really missing out. Her soulful voice and inspiring lyrics are smooth and melodic. She is a local woman who has garnered international attention and affection.

The love I felt last night was immeasurable. Takiyah's heart is huge! She is beautiful inside and out and I am honored to call her my friend. It was definitely a night to remember. I didn't get a chance to take pictures so hopefully I will be getting some from all of you photags out there *wink*.

THANKS AGAIN TAKIYAH...I LOVE YA!

Over it!

I am over the sun...bring back the clouds and rain. I will take that any day over ice and frozen car doors. I also just found out that my office never closes. Yeah that is right, as a Washington state worker, I roll through ice, snow, rain and traffic to command my post. Not a huge complaint, it could be waaaay worse, I am thankful for my job and the heat that is pumped through the building.

I am thankful for my blessings but can a girl get some 40 degree weather...is that too much to ask for?! Is this Seattle or Denver???