Seattle

Seattle is truly my reward for the long, hard journey through the desert. Arizona will always be special to me and prove that I could withstand more than I thought I could. But the time for constant battles is over. The time for happiness and tranquility is now.

Seattle was always a distant, almost unattainable entity to me. This far away city where there were people like me. People interested in art, science, and the absurd. What first drove me to want to visit was a childhood friend who moved to Portland. Jenny returned to Pennsylvania with great visions of this far off land. And the idea that this northwest corner of the world was some beautiful mecca became firmly planted. Years later, I wanted to attend school there for my undergrad but fate has a way of making things difficult and this never happened. Of course through all my college career I continuously thought of transferring. When the appropriate time to transfer arose, fate showed me why I had to stay where I was. And I was more than thankful for staying.

And after this interesting journey through this country and my life, I have finally made it to the gem on the west. A sigh of happiness, relief and peace.

I was never a “cat person”. Mostly because my mother did not like cats. She felt they were annoying, smelly creatures. And in general, she was right. The few cats I did meet were terrible and I had no intention of ever owning one.

In college, I had a few friends that owned cats and on visits to their homes I met a few nice cats. One of the nicest was Tiger, a drooling old cat that loved people. She really helped change my mind about cats. There were others too, a friendly Siamese and a talkative, smart kitty. Before long, I did not despise cats, but judged them the same way I did humans.

Kit-Kat and Kupo. They are completely wonderful. Kit-Kat came into our lives in New Hampshire. She was a starved calico cat, who's owner was too busy with a child and a divorce to care for her. We had met Kit-Kat prior and totally adored her. Thus when the choice came for us to care for her or live in the pound, we took her home. Kit-Kat loves people and she loves food. She's moody, playful and purrs for hours. She taught herself to hunt chipmunks. But Kit-Kat was lonely.

Kupo came into our lives one summer for my birthday. We knew Kit-Kat wanted a friend but we needed to find a kitty that needed us. We found this adorable black kitty at the animal shelter and after playing with him for an hour, we knew he was for us. Kupo flops and squeaks. He's the most laid back, attention seeking cat around. He loves feet and would gladly give up eating for a chance to play with toys. He's fairly submissive during kitty battles but can out run Kit-Kat any day. He even taught himself to caught bugs and birds off our porch! He's a very special cat.

Combined, the two of them spend their mornings jumping and squeaking on us, wanting us to get up. They spend their days lounging in the sun and their nights curled up around us. They are good companions.

What do you say about the person that made so many of your dreams come true? I guess the first question you really ask is, “Are you real?”.

Everything in my life changed when I met one particular person. I was never one to let anyone get too close to me. The few scars that marked my heart were enough for me and I had no interest in saving myself or anyone else. He changed everything. I still recall the first night after meeting him. I spent the entire evening wandering the town. Walking, talking to myself, and generally disoriented. I eventually made it home the next morning, still seeking answers about the lightning bolt that had struck me.

Through the years, he has been my companion. A real friend when I needed one. Someone that encompasses so much, but says so little. Words will never hold the emotions and respect I have for this person.

He is a wonderful monkey.

The whole world changed for me so quickly. One moment I was preparing to take on a possible career change, learn to scuba, join a new ice hockey team, and was looking forward to a winter of skiing and snowshoeing. The next, I found myself sick and after pneumonia last winter, I found myself in a doctor's office asap.

Due to my symptoms, she wanted to do a blood test prior to antibiotics. And on Friday, October 13th I received some strange news, I was pregnant. This was hard to believe. I have been on birth control pills for years and done very well with them. And I spent all of September in an ice hockey training program that required lots of falling and bumping. From all medical standpoints, I was a complete anomaly.

I am not the “mom type” and this whole concept is a foreign idea to me. But sometimes fate does things for a reason. I have been dealing with a few issues, anemia, high blood pressure, and of course morning sickness. And sharing my body with this outside entity. I enjoy my alone time and have had to learn to share it. I keep hearing people say it will change our life. But our life is so far from normality. And Seattle is the perfect place to have a strange family.

We get to meet her in May. And already she has an entertaining personality.

I am not surprised it took me so long to start traveling. I was dealing with school, jobs and with lack of funds, thus making travel almost impossible. As time has progressed, I have had the opportunity to visit most major cities along the east coast. And out of all of them, Boston is definitely my favorite. The city is alive with various types of people, the harbor areas are beautiful and there is never want for something to do. It is one of the few places on the east that I would not mind returning to.

But after awhile of living on the east coast, it was time to see the rest of the states. The west coast has been enjoyable. Las Vegas and LA were interesting. Not my sort of thing, but a good place to visit. I really enjoyed San Diego because of the great beaches. Seeing the sunset over the Pacific ocean was a great experience. I mostly biked the streets of San Francisco. We drove the coastal highway. And we had the luxury of spending a long stretch of time in Hawaii.

Mexico proved to have beautiful water to play in and great tequila. After visiting the gulf of California, I am eagerly awaiting to return to scuba dive off the end of Baja.

I also got to live out the beginning of a dream. I swam with sharks. During our time in Hawaii, I saw my first shark snorkeling. A small and beautiful white tipped reef shark. But it was a tease, and we were lucky enough to return to the same area for our first scuba dive. I had the pleasure of seeing two white tipped reef sharks. They were so close I could have touched them. It was thrilling. Now that I've had a taste of it, I want more.

A beautiful trip to our new home, Seattle. From the hot, arid morning in Tucson, to the surfer laden beaches of Santa Barbara, taking California roads to the busy, beautiful streets of San Francisco, winding up the enchanting monoliths of the Oregon coastline, stopping for a relaxing night in Portland, and seeing the beautiful skyline of Seattle for the first time. An incredible trip.

Each year that passes, I get to experience more places with people I enjoy. And I hope the future will offer me the opportunity to travel to the many places I wish to go.