gone and back again

i'm back from my little excursion and it was absolutely lovely. it went entirely too quickly and i think i'd like to make it tradition.

what i saw:

• the highways of utah, idaho, oregon and washington
• my friend, jillian
• the space needle
• pike place market
• the original starbucks
• exhibits at the seattle arts museum
• seattle underground
• a lovely production of "sunday in the park with george"
• an enormous, terrifying troll that lives under a bridge
• I-5
• portland (just passing through)
• the oregon coast
• newport harbor, complete with sexy fishermen
• lighthouses
• some pretty incredible sunsets

what i listened to:

• adele
• ben folds
• bob dylan
• disney songs
• a hella good mix that was recently made for me
• the eagles
• a chorus line
• john mayer

what i ate:

• entirely too much gas station food (namely quaker cheddar mix and swedish fish)
• delectable seafood (at the space needle and georgie's grill)
• galucci's pizza in lincoln city
• gas station food (it bears repeating)

thoughts i had:

• i am incredibly lucky
• do people (particularly idaho people) not understand the concept of the fast lane?
• seattle is a cool city
• it's very therapeutic being around water
• reading paulo coelho alone on the beach is life at its best
• how do people effectively travel by car in unknown places without gps?
• i must do this more often

pictures i took:

life is good.

i am at ease

Arms Of A Woman ~ Amos Lee
Video sent by Cehcw

have a listen.

driving solo.

i'm heading out. just me, my ipod, and the open road.

i'm leaving april 20 and driving to seattle - staying there a couple nights, hanging out with my friend jillian, then heading for the oregon coast for a couple days.

i could not be more stoked.

i'm planted here for the summer, since i'm doing saturday's voyeur (which i'm also incredibly excited for) so this is my pre-summer vacation.

i've also been jonesing to travel by myself, so this will be the perfect little adventure.

stay tuned for pictures and stories, coming the end of the month.

happy birthday dad!

my old man's 49 today, so to follow suit, he is awesome for the following 49 reasons:

1.he is the funniest person i know. i'm serious.

2.he knows the value of a good book.

3.he has great work ethic.

4.he's an entertainer extraordinaire.

5.he has great taste in cinema and literature.

6.i inherited a lot of his personality traits, and am all the better for it.

7.he's a free thinker.

8.he taught me the proper use of profanity.

9.he is very supportive of dalton and me.

10.when my car breaks, he fixes it.

11.when i was a tiny girl he would hold me up to my wallpaper border (which was teddy bears) so i could kiss each one good night.

12.he instilled in me a love for the eagles and took me to their concert my junior year of high school and we're going again this year on my birthday!

13.he plays the guitar.

14.although he was reticent to get an inside dog, he loves george more than he'd probably like to admit.

15.he also loves and takes care of gus.

16.he serves on the north ogden city council and is oftentimes the only voice of reason.

17.he announces the softball games for cherry days and is usually the most entertaining part of the games.

18.he relishes putting on a new pair of socks.

19.he wants to write a novel. and i want to read it.

20.he taught me the importance of truly enjoying life and doing things you like to do.

21.whenever i answer the phone and it's him he says, "hello is shanny there?"

22.his favorite joke is "ask me if i'm an orange."

23.he's active.

24.he doesn't worry about anything.

25.you can count on three hands the number of concussions he's had.

26.he does the best sling blade impression i've ever seen.

27.he's saving the planet one bottle at a time. (click here for his sweet website.)

28.he knows almost everything.

29.he was a crazy youth.

30.he's thrown his fair share of punches (although none in the past approximately 25 years, as i understand.)

31.he speaks mandarin chinese.

32.he's not picky about his food, clothes, or pretty much anything.

33.he's not afraid of anything. except snakes.

34.when telemarketers call, he becomes engaged in conversation.

35.he's seen every show i've ever been in. some, multiple times.

36.he likes the simple life. (not the tv show, an actual life of simplicity.)

37.he has no feeling in his right arm.

38.his hearty laugh has been compared to the tickle me big bird doll.

39.he is left handed.

40.he loves old cars.

41.strictly by accident, he's set our old barn on fire. twice.

42.he then renovated the old barn into his "hut"

43.he has lots of friends, but maintains that he is his own best friend.

44.he is generous.

45.he sings some mean karaoke.

46.he takes good care of his family.

47.he's always the life of the party.

48.he helps people.

49.he is the perfect dad for me.

love you pa! happy 49th!