{"id":301,"date":"2014-03-21T14:44:19","date_gmt":"2014-03-21T05:44:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/penniestoyennies.com\/?p=301"},"modified":"2014-03-21T16:44:57","modified_gmt":"2014-03-21T07:44:57","slug":"the-new-normal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/penniestoyennies.com\/?p=301","title":{"rendered":"The New Normal"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s March 20th this evening. Dan and I have officially survived being apart 2 months. Which means I&#8217;ve pretty much been in Seattle for 2 months, and things have really come together as I&#8217;ve finally settled in. <\/p>\n<p>When I first arrived in late January, after being sick for 2 weeks and 2 straight days of driving, this was home!<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/s2.photobucket.com\/user\/hardcandy627\/media\/IMG_0266.jpg.html\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"70%\" src=\"http:\/\/i2.photobucket.com\/albums\/y35\/hardcandy627\/IMG_0266.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\" photo IMG_0266.jpg\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I didn&#8217;t have any furniture! But it slowly came together. Kelsey gave me her bedside table. I bought a bed frame at Ikea in Portland. A book shelf from Target my sister helped me pick. It slowly started to feel more cozy.<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/s2.photobucket.com\/user\/hardcandy627\/media\/IMG_0628.jpg.html\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"90%\" src=\"http:\/\/i2.photobucket.com\/albums\/y35\/hardcandy627\/IMG_0628.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\" photo IMG_0628.jpg\"\/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/s2.photobucket.com\/user\/hardcandy627\/media\/IMG_0630.jpg.html\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"90%\" src=\"http:\/\/i2.photobucket.com\/albums\/y35\/hardcandy627\/IMG_0630.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\" photo IMG_0630.jpg\"\/><\/a><br \/>\nAnd of course, Shellie May made the move too \ud83d\ude09<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/s2.photobucket.com\/user\/hardcandy627\/media\/IMG_0376.jpg.html\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"90%\" src=\"http:\/\/i2.photobucket.com\/albums\/y35\/hardcandy627\/IMG_0376.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\" photo IMG_0376.jpg\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I started working my first week in Seattle. Now, you may be familiar with my visits to Seattle in the past, and how I got to go to work with Kelsey on the days she nannied. Because the family was super cool and friendly, and I&#8217;ve come to know them in the 5 years I&#8217;ve now known Kelsey. They generously offered for me to nanny for them as well, the days Kelsey wasn&#8217;t available. I can&#8217;t even begin to tell you what kind, wonderful people they are. I spend time with their 2 daughters, E and G. E is 15 and loves ballet. And in true teen character, this is what she usually looks like- always on her phone \ud83d\ude09<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/s2.photobucket.com\/user\/hardcandy627\/media\/IMG_0664.jpg.html\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"60%\" src=\"http:\/\/i2.photobucket.com\/albums\/y35\/hardcandy627\/IMG_0664.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\" photo IMG_0664.jpg\"\/><\/a><br \/>\nG is 12 and is a girl with many talents, but is most passionate about horse back riding and soccer. And she&#8217;s such a joy to watch at her activities.<br \/>\nWarming up with her baby<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/s2.photobucket.com\/user\/hardcandy627\/media\/IMG_0671.jpg.html\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"70%\" src=\"http:\/\/i2.photobucket.com\/albums\/y35\/hardcandy627\/IMG_0671.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\" photo IMG_0671.jpg\"\/><\/a><br \/>\nWe get along great, though activities usually wear her out!<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/s2.photobucket.com\/user\/hardcandy627\/media\/IMG_0654.jpg.html\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"70%\" src=\"http:\/\/i2.photobucket.com\/albums\/y35\/hardcandy627\/IMG_0654.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\" photo IMG_0654.jpg\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I also puppy sit for them! I don&#8217;t have any pictures of their sweet Jack Russell Molly, but here is Finn<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/s2.photobucket.com\/user\/hardcandy627\/media\/IMG_0666.jpg.html\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"70%\" src=\"http:\/\/i2.photobucket.com\/albums\/y35\/hardcandy627\/IMG_0666.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\" photo IMG_0666.jpg\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I miss Dan, and Japan also, but I&#8217;m so happy to be back. I love Seattle! And the things I can do because I&#8217;m here!<br \/>\nE&#8217;s ballet classes are, quite literally, next to the Space Needle, so with my annual pass i often go up and have a coffee and read or people watch<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/s2.photobucket.com\/user\/hardcandy627\/media\/IMG_0396.jpg.html\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"60%\" src=\"http:\/\/i2.photobucket.com\/albums\/y35\/hardcandy627\/IMG_0396.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\" photo IMG_0396.jpg\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I was reunited with my friend Jamie, whom I&#8217;d met in Japan briefly last year through hashing. Together we hash and are on a mission to find adequate ramen in Seattle (spoiler alert- it&#8217;s not happening).<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/s2.photobucket.com\/user\/hardcandy627\/media\/IMG_0618.jpg.html\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"60%\" src=\"http:\/\/i2.photobucket.com\/albums\/y35\/hardcandy627\/IMG_0618.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\" photo IMG_0618.jpg\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I can pop down to Portland any time I want. Like to celebrate St. Patrick&#8217;s Day with my sister, nieces and nephew with some shamrock shakes!<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/s2.photobucket.com\/user\/hardcandy627\/media\/IMG_0687.jpg.html\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"90%\" src=\"http:\/\/i2.photobucket.com\/albums\/y35\/hardcandy627\/IMG_0687.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\" photo IMG_0687.jpg\"\/><\/a><br \/>\nNate will be 2 a month from today!<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/s2.photobucket.com\/user\/hardcandy627\/media\/IMG_0680.jpg.html\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"70%\" src=\"http:\/\/i2.photobucket.com\/albums\/y35\/hardcandy627\/IMG_0680.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\" photo IMG_0680.jpg\"\/><\/a><br \/>\nMy girl friend from high school, Brita, and I have cupcake dates<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/s2.photobucket.com\/user\/hardcandy627\/media\/IMG_0736.jpg.html\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"70%\" src=\"http:\/\/i2.photobucket.com\/albums\/y35\/hardcandy627\/IMG_0736.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\" photo IMG_0736.jpg\"\/><\/a><br \/>\nSunday brunch with the roomies. I had the crab benedict<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/s2.photobucket.com\/user\/hardcandy627\/media\/IMG_0743.jpg.html\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"70%\" src=\"http:\/\/i2.photobucket.com\/albums\/y35\/hardcandy627\/IMG_0743.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\" photo IMG_0743.jpg\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Living with Kelsey and Jim is pretty great. Especially because Kelsey loves Pinterest and gets inspired to try new things. One morning I&#8217;d woken up and she&#8217;d made breakfast quiches in our cupcake pans!<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/s2.photobucket.com\/user\/hardcandy627\/media\/IMG_0439.jpg.html\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"70%\" src=\"http:\/\/i2.photobucket.com\/albums\/y35\/hardcandy627\/IMG_0439.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\" photo IMG_0439.jpg\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I got caught in the snow after a hash one night!<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/s2.photobucket.com\/user\/hardcandy627\/media\/IMG_0413.jpg.html\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"70%\" src=\"http:\/\/i2.photobucket.com\/albums\/y35\/hardcandy627\/IMG_0413.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\" photo IMG_0413.jpg\"\/><\/a><br \/>\nBut it was totally worth it because my house looked so pretty the next day!<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/s2.photobucket.com\/user\/hardcandy627\/media\/IMG_0420.jpg.html\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"90%\" src=\"http:\/\/i2.photobucket.com\/albums\/y35\/hardcandy627\/IMG_0420.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\" photo IMG_0420.jpg\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>We actually just celebrated E&#8217;s 15th birthday last week! We went out to dinner before her french class and then picked some candy at the confectionery. She even let me take her picture when I asked, which is usually returned with a, &#8220;OHMYGOSH, nooooooo!&#8221;<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/s2.photobucket.com\/user\/hardcandy627\/media\/IMG_0720.jpg.html\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"70%\" src=\"http:\/\/i2.photobucket.com\/albums\/y35\/hardcandy627\/IMG_0720.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\" photo IMG_0720.jpg\"\/><\/a><br \/>\nFor dinner we&#8217;d gone out for sushi, and all the plates were train lines in Tokyo. I&#8217;d ridden them all! Yurakucho is a great line- it gets you to Tokyo Disneyland \ud83d\ude00<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/s2.photobucket.com\/user\/hardcandy627\/media\/IMG_0718.jpg.html\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"70%\" src=\"http:\/\/i2.photobucket.com\/albums\/y35\/hardcandy627\/IMG_0718.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\" photo IMG_0718.jpg\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>And of course it&#8217;s nice to know I&#8217;m not forgotten in Japan, as hashers have gotten custom, personalized patches made and always make sure I get one. It makes getting the mail so exciting!<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/s2.photobucket.com\/user\/hardcandy627\/media\/IMG_0747.jpg.html\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"70%\" src=\"http:\/\/i2.photobucket.com\/albums\/y35\/hardcandy627\/IMG_0747.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\" photo IMG_0747.jpg\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>But most importantly, I was finally present for a girl scout cookie season. Yessssss.<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/s2.photobucket.com\/user\/hardcandy627\/media\/IMG_0621.jpg.html\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"90%\" src=\"http:\/\/i2.photobucket.com\/albums\/y35\/hardcandy627\/IMG_0621.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\" photo IMG_0621.jpg\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m also happy to report I found a great trail to run on! It stretches through about 4 cities and I can just run my little heart out. I catch the trail around the middle at a park, along Lake Sammamish, so I can run either direction to mix things up!<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/s2.photobucket.com\/user\/hardcandy627\/media\/IMG_0651-1.jpg.html\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"70%\" src=\"http:\/\/i2.photobucket.com\/albums\/y35\/hardcandy627\/IMG_0651-1.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\" photo IMG_0651-1.jpg\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Life is good here. I miss Dan and that&#8217;s really hard. I&#8217;ve also been working hard job hunting and am now finally getting some interviews! It was a depressing couple weeks of not hearing anything in the beginning! I nanny. I run. I cook myself dinner (and always have leftovers). I try new things. It&#8217;s just so good to be back!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s March 20th this evening. Dan and I have officially survived being apart 2 months. Which means I&#8217;ve pretty much been in Seattle for 2 months, and things have really come together as I&#8217;ve finally settled in. When I first arrived in late January, after being sick for 2 weeks and 2 straight days of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[55,76,390,454,453,38,130,37],"class_list":["post-301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-family","tag-friends","tag-hashing","tag-job-hunting","tag-nanny-life","tag-portland","tag-running","tag-seattle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/penniestoyennies.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/penniestoyennies.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/penniestoyennies.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/penniestoyennies.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/penniestoyennies.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=301"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/penniestoyennies.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/penniestoyennies.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/penniestoyennies.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/penniestoyennies.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}