Life has been a little off balance lately. Aaron and I both are measuring time by weeks in the quarter (it’s week 5 of 11, so we’re just about half way done). I’m working too much, taking too many classes, and spending a lot of time at my internship. Aaron’ s working hard at both his regular work, and his projects for his two classes. The laundry and dishes are piling up and neither of us are getting enough sleep. We are tired, but surviving together.
It’s nice to have a deadline ahead of us and know that we only have 6 more weeks until we get a break. As much as we try to have work/life balance, it’s even hard to enjoy procrastinating (or taking a night off) because I keep thinking about all the things I haven’t done (including getting back to friends, answering emails, and opening the mail).
On a brighter note, we have taken some time off to have fun and spend time with our friends and neighbors. Two weekends ago we went to the Seattle Art Museum (SAM) to see the Alexander Calder exhibit (He is my absolute favorite!). Afterwards Aaron took me out for a belated birthday dinner at Machiavelli’s. Their spinach ravioli and antipasto plate is unbelievable. Last weekend we went to a pumpkin patch and corn maze with some friends, and then carved pumpkins with a mix of new and old friends at the local Boys and Girls Club. This weekend I hung out with Becca and Jason at the Bottleneck and dressed up as Minnie for Halloween. And tomorrow I’m going shoe shopping with Mel. It’s the little things sometimes that bring me joy.
Aaron's
Mine
Speaking of the little things and joy, I’ve also been so aware of the beauty of fall this year. The leaves on our street are out-0f-control red and yellow and the sky seems bigger and more colorful. I keep hoping fall will just morph straight into spring and we can skip winter altogether.
This past weekend I celebrated my (28th!) birthday in the happiest place on earth. While I’ve got plenty of gripes regarding Disney, I must admit that it was a pretty happy place. “It’s a small world after all” and Space Mountain, and Mickey, and the fireworks, and the parade, and the music….I totally loved it and felt like a little kid again. AND I got in for FREE because it was my birthday.
In Hollywood the girls got a picture with “Michael Jackson” and then posed next to the “wand prints” and hand prints from the cast of Harry Potter. Raina stuck her head out of the car in Beverly Hills to look for famous people and the girls sang “Beverly Hills….that’s where I wanna be!” In Disneyland we ran from ride to ride to ride, until we collapsed for lunch to refuel. Then we posed with Goofy, Mickey, and Aladdin & Jasmine. Then…the Haunted house. Then, Splash Mountain (three times). By 9pm I was ready for a break, so the girls went on Splash Mountain a few more times while I watched the rest of the parade and the Haunted fireworks. I couldn’t stop smiling. It was really fun to see so much creativity around me. 
The longer that Aaron and I have been in Seattle, the more it feels like home to me. But I know that the people I love in the Maryland area are also a source of “home” for me, and it’s difficult to be so far apart. Still, driving around familiar places and even visiting my childhood home didn’t make me feel any sense of longing to return to my old surroundings or lifestyle. I realized that I couldn’t see myself there, even though so many people I love are there. When I got off the plane in Seattle I breathed a huge sigh, and realized that more than ever, this is home. There’s really no place like home.
Congratulations Becca and Bryan!
I was working at Brain Camp in the mornings, so Alex usually hung out or did some solo sightseeing until the afternoons. I gave him the full tour (I really do love being a tour guide, and I’ve gotten a bit tamer than I used to be). It was a relaxing visit and really easy on our part because Alex had a rental car and is generally chill. In the evenings we’d meet Aaron after work and either cook dinner or go out. We finally used the grill by ourselves (we usually make our neighbors Andrew and Allissa grill for us). 
August is the best month to visit Seattle, as I’ve probably told most of you at some point. While there are sometimes exceptions, August days are sunny, void of humidity, and full of deep blue skies, tons of hiking opportunities, and all the blackberries and blueberries you could ever pick. Patrick and Brianne visited us our first August here (along with Blythe, Aaron’s parents, Kim Nichols, and my mom). Since then, Patrick and Brianne have had a baby, moved to Iowa, and are now 4 months pregnant with their second. I was thrilled when they called to say they were coming for another visit (and leaving little Patrick with his grandmother). Don’t get me wrong, I love babies, and I’d really really love to meet him, but our condo is pretty small.
It was a relaxing visit, and we usually didn’t leave the house until at least noon. Patrick watched at least 8 episodes of Arrested Development (we introduced him to the Bluth Family), we spent an afternoon picking blackberries at Discovery Park, and we ate at Pike Place Chowder, Blue C, Dilletante’s, and Assimba (our favorite Ethiopian place down the street). After picking three full bowls of blackberries, Brianne helped me make my first blackberry pie (with homemade crust). I’m happy to say that it was pretty tasty, especially a la mode. 
On Sunday we woke up early and took the ferry over to Bainbridge, then drove to Olympic NP. Hurricane Ridge was closed because of a landslide (whoops), so we spent most of our 
time on the shore at Rialto Beach, then took a short hike to Sol Duc Falls. For lunch we stopped in Forks, and while we avoided most of the Twilight madness, Patrick did make sure to order the “Twilight” sub from Subway (Ham and Chicken? How does that equal vampires?). The ferry wait was ridiculous once we got to Bainbridge, so we drove south via Tacoma, and I finally got to drive over the 
My aunt Peg was adamant that we take them to some things that were new for us, so we went to the Science Fiction Museum, the Experience Music Project, and Dilletante Chocolate (all for the first time). Both museums were good, and I think we’re planning another visit to Dilletantes when Patrick and Brianne are in town next week. There cheesecake is amazing, and I don’t even like cheesecake.
Our main purpose in visiting London was an easy layover where we could adjust to our jet lag before touring Nairobi. I’d been to London once (for three days with Jessie, Sarah Beth and Stacia my junior year of college), but it was Aaron’s first visit. London is nice and has charm, but it was probably the least interesting part of our trip. The two big highlights were Westminster Abbey and seeing Desmond Tutu speak. With such a short trip we tried to cram a lot into each day, but once we started touring Westminster Abbey we stopped and listened to the audio tour for almost every single entry. Aaron especially loved the history, poet’s corner, and all the dead mathematicians. The building itself is so strange, with so many tombs and memorials crammed into one area. It’s a lot to take in. 
Without a doubt, visiting Gideon was the top highlight of the trip for both me and Aaron. After a six hour drive from Nairobi we arrived in Shankoe, a small farming area in the western part of Kenya where Gideon lives. We took some really rough dirt roads into the project, and as we got close to the gate, we could hear kids singing. Suddenly they started pouring out of the gate, which they opened to let us drive in, and surrounded the car singing and dancing with their hands in the air. Both Aaron and I were completely surprised, and I had trouble taking it in because I started crying. We got out of the car and two of the kids approached us, bowed, and held up beads to put around our heads. Then they continued singing, grabbed our hands, and led us into the chapel where they performed songs for us for the next hour. Then the leader of the project gave a speech thanking us for visiting, and requested that we give a speech as 
well. The entire experience was overwhelming and is still difficult to process. As the children sang one of the project leaders translated the words for us. Nearly a hundred kids (including kids from neighboring villages) crammed into the church, and as the service ended they followed us outside and watched every move we made. After the music and speeches, the project leader led us to the corner of the property for a tree planting ceremony. Then we played an unorganized game of soccer with the kids, ate a lunch they prepared for us, and took a tour of the project (a school room, church and office). Aaron and I did our best to interact with all of the kids, but after a few hours at the project it was time to say goodbye and go to meet Gideon’s family.
and post cards from Seattle, and a soccer ball for Gideon. Gideon sat very still the whole time, but when we brought out the soccer ball he jumped from the ground, grabbed the ball, yelled, and ran out of the house to show all of the other kids. We also got Gideon’s dad a t-shirt with Obama’s picture on it and the word “Victory!” which all of the adults were really excited about. After exchanging gifts we sat and talked (with an interpreter) and asked questions about each other’s lives. As we got up to leave we took pictures with everyone and promised to send copies. Almost no one had ever seen a picture of themselves, so everyone wanted to be in a picture.
The definite highlight of the safari was seeing a lion kill. One morning we snuck up on a field where we could see two lions crouching in the grass near a group of Thompson’s gazelles. Suddenly three other lions came from the other side of the field, chasing the gazelles into the two near us. Two of the lions grabbed adult gazelles, while a third grabbed a baby right near our truck. The lion near us held the gazelle in her mouth, then dropped it on the ground and taunted it until it tried to run. The gazelle played dead, so the lion swatted at it and made it run, then chased it again. We watched this for fifteen minutes as the other two lions ate their gazelles with blood all over their face. While it was a bit sad to see the kill it was also incredibly exciting, especially to watch how the lions worked together to attack the herd.
Zanzibar is the picture of paradise and a perfect place to relax after 10 days of camping. The major highlights were exploring Stonetown, visiting a spice farm and relaxing on the beach in Pongwe. Stonetown has been settled by the Portugese, the Omanis, various African tribes, and the British, so it has a really unique cultural vibe. The island is 
primarily muslim and historically was an important source of spices and slaves for the islands off of the Eastern coast of Africa. In Stonetown we visited an outdoor food market and ate octopus and baracuda, toured the sites, and got lost in the maze of old unmarked streets that wind in and out and abruptly stop. On the way to the coast we stopped at a spice farm and got a tour of all of the plants and how they are used. A man at the spice farm also insisted on 
