february (plus the rest of january)

well, we've established that i'm terrible at keeping up with this. i have already failed to post at least once a month, which was my "roomy" goal. so, now it's march and i'm playing catch-up once again.

the most exciting thing in seattle is that spring has come early! the weather has been incredible and everything is just about in full bloom- daffodils, plum trees, hyacinth, apple blossoms, magnolias, dogwood, forsythia, crocuses, and everything else that screams spring. all of these images were taken around my house. the smell of the plum blossoms and hyacinth is divine. that, plus the smell of paseo's cuban pork sandwiches, makes our neighborhood smell irresistable! from what i can tell, the cherry blossoms are just getting started, but in another few weeks we'll have a spectacular show from the thousands of cherry trees around town.

visiting lilliana: at the end of january we headed down to austin, tx to meet my newest niece. she is absolutely precious and so, so beautiful. my sister is handling motherhood with grace and makes it look oh-so-easy. lilli is, well, perfect. she smiles and sticks her tongue out and wails and sighs and projectile vomits and does all those wonderful things that babies do. i am now receiving a picture for every day, and i'm amazed by how much she changes in such short spans of time. i am hoping to see her again this summer and can't believe she will be eating solid food and 10 lbs heavier by then.

back to denver: after about 6 months, we finally got back to denver for a short weekend visit. i was sorely disappointed by the cold and snowy weather, but i'm not sure why i expected anything else. it is the middle of winter afterall. it was great to see family and friends and we wished we had more time to visit with everyone. we celebrated my brother-in-law's birthday and chinese new year, and i got to spend some time with my sister before her move to japan. it was comforting to fall right back into much missed time with friends. i am looking forward to seeing you (you know who you are!) again in april.

for those of you following her story, kiyomi has arrived in matsusaka. it was a long trip involving a flight to san francisco, a 16-hour flight to tokyo, a bus ride to nagoya, a ferry to matsusaka and some form of transport to their temporary apartment. communication will be limited for the time-being, but i'm hoping she will contact our parents or update facebook occasionally.

at the seattle municipal court, i've gotten to be more involved with community court and evaluating clients for eligibility. it's been a nice change, but it's hard to fit it in with so many recent changes in the court resource center. we are having a lot of volunteer turnover, so it's essential that i am in the crc for most of my hours. this limits my abilitites to get to work in probation, but i'm hoping we'll have our new volunteers trained in the next few weeks.

my work with the the league of women voters of washington has slowed. we were able to release our second video: a balancing act. we are still hoping to put out a third video, but for now we are waiting for members to absorb all the information we've released for far.

evening shifts with reconnecting youth have shaken up my schedule a bit, but it's good to be finally getting paychecks again. small paychecks, but one of these days i'll get my credit card paid down.

interning with the voluntary committee of lawyers has been interesting thus far. a lot of computer research. i'm following bills through the legislative process, looking at state drug issues (in washington and beyond), researching state statutes, and examining international harm reduction research.

overall, this move finally feel real. it feels different. it feels good. the change in climate has completely changed my outlook on life. i simply hate winter. i hate the cold. i hate the snow, or even the threat of snow. i'm surprised that i don't mind the cloudiness in seattle a bit. cloudiness does not equal dreariness for me. because although it may be cloudy or drizzly, it's still green and above 35 degrees. i can handle cloudy. i cannot handle cold and snow and brown. the el nino winter in seattle has been so enjoyable, in fact, i have realized that life continues even through those 6 months of cold in colorado. one can, indeed, make plans for the future and enjoy her time throughout the months of october to april. and so, i have. we have made lots of plans for travel, including san francisco, denver, and the san juan islands. we still have plans pending for canada this summer and mexico this fall and of course our asian adventure next year.

and for now, i wait. i am waiting to hear back from uw about whether i can finish my msw here in seattle. i feel as though my entire fate rests in the hands of the admissions committee. dramatic yes, but consider this: our next steps in life hinge on "accepted" or "denied." even if i get waitlisted i will have significant, life-altering choices to make. if i get accepted we (or at least i) will most certainly stay in seattle through june 2011. if not, i have to decide whether to return to denver or stay and try a third time. i can hardly bear the the thought of leaving seattle so soon. du seems hardly worth it now that i've settled in here. but, i am anxious to finally get this degree! and so, we wait. part of me cannot see any reason why i wouldn't be accepted. but another part of me can't shake this feeling that it's not yet my time (or perhaps i will never have a time) at uw. that part scares me. that part makes me hope that i don't have intuition. because i know it's common sense that says i am an excellent applicant. but for now, i wait.

stay tuned for official spring updates!