Arctic Blast '08 Continues

After accumulating about five inches of snow yesterday during the nine hours it snowed, we thought we were home free. We were wrong. Early this afternoon, it started snowing again and we've probably gotten two or three more inches so far today. It's crazy! I've never seen it snow like this in Seattle.

Because we've been snowed in for the last four days, we've gotten a little bit of cabin fever. Corey and I finally decided to venture out to North Gate for a few hours yesterday and Kels and I be-bopped around Ballard today. Gina, Nick and Mark met up with us later for a little happy hour action at The Loft. Gotta love some yummy comfort food when it's cold and snowy out!

Here are some photos from our snowy weekend.


The view from our place last night as the snow continued to fall.


Kels and I, out and about in Ballard.


If you walk around Ballard enough, you might just find a snowman in the middle of the sidewalk.


Corey and I, just after he pelted me with a snowball.


Gina & Nick, just after chaining up their car to ensure they were able to get home safely.

Kels, Mark & Gina (that's a snowflake, not a snowball in front of her face).

White Elephant Party at the Asher's

Corey and I braved the elements tonight to head over to Katy & Tyler's for their annual holiday party / white elephant gift exchange. The roads seemed okay but with how cold it's been lately, we were a bit worried about having to drive home (down a big hill) when it would potentially be icy, so we road the bus. I haven't ridden the bus in ages so it was quite entertaining to see (and listen to) the characters on the bus. Good times.

The party was fun, the food was yummy (the triple chocolate cheesecake I tried for the first time was a hit, too!) and the gift were pretty funny. Corey ended up with a hand-held version of Frogger and I got a facial scrubber / over-the-door hooks / car air freshener gift pack. I don't think either of these topped one of the gifts we gave - the Crazy Cat Lady Action Figure.

Here are a few photos from tonight.


Tyler & Katy - the host & hostess with the mostess.


Me & Corey.


The gals - Katy, Susie, Sandy, Addy, Jyothi.


Addy trying to read - she's so precious!


Sandy & Addy.


And here's a cute shot of Corey and Roxy napping pre-party.

Arctic Blast '08

Corey and I woke up to about an inch of snow in Ballard. While that may not seem like much, it's enough to close every school district in the area (which were all closed yesterday as well due to the threat of snow).

As we watched the news, we both decided that we'd be working from home to avoid potential disaster on the freeways in the area. Here is a video of 520, which was closed in one direction this morning due to the poor conditions: http://www.king5.com/video/featured-index.html?nvid=314424

And here's a photo of what my work exit looked like this morning - glad I didn't end up going in!

Though we worked all day like the diligent and dedicated employees we are, we also wanted to get some shots of Roxy in her first notable snow storm. While we couldn't let her stay out long in order to avoid her stitches getting wet (she has stitches from her spaying for about 5 more days), we did let her explore the snow for a few minutes. Overall, I don't think she loved it but I don't think she hated it, either. Just lots of sniffing and jumping around.

Back to work I go. Wish us warmth in the upcoming chilly and snowy Seattle days!

Holiday Bash at the Gossetts'

Tonight, Corey and I ventured over to Chris and Natalie's house in Kirkland for the Gossett Holiday Party. Many of Natalie and Chris' college friends were there, along with the Reeders and Matt Hunt and his girlfriend. It started out with an awesome dinner made by Natalie and was followed up by a dessert bar which was created by all the party attendees who each brought a holiday dessert to share. In addition to the remaining dessert that everyone got to split up and take home, Natalie sent all the dog owners home with some homemade milkbones. Can't wait to see what Roxy thinks!

After we were all successfully in food comas, we played a fun game where we split up into two groups - guys and girls. Each team got to choose one member of the opposite sex to join their team. Then each team was given a bag of crafty goodies and had 15 minutes to create a Santa costume for one member of the team. While our Santa costume was definitely the best (of course!), the male team + Natalie won (one of the kids - Wendy & Brett's son - was the judge).

Finally, we played some fun Xbox games including Lips, a karaoke game that was a blast. I've already asked for it for Valentine's Day.

All in all, we had a great time and it couldn't have been a more perfect night for a holiday party - when we got out to our cars, they were covered in snow.

Here are some photos from our night. The rest are here.

The cranberry apple crisp I brought.

Reading through our instructions and assessing the materials we had to create Santa.

All done! Looks pretty good, right?

The female team with our Santa.

The winning Santa - he's a little Transformer-like to me, don't you think?! ;)

Corey and I.

Lisa and Chris playing other Xbox game where you create a movie. Here they are Hula Hooping - hilarious!

For a holiday party, you need snow, right?

Poor Pup

Yesterday, we took Roxy to the vet to be spayed and crossed our fingers that she didn't hate us when we picked her up this morning (they like to keep the pups overnight to ensure they just relax and recover).

We had a holiday party at one of my co-worker's houses last night and while it was nice to be able to stay out late and not worry about racing home to walk Roxy when we got home, both of us thought it felt very strange to come home to a silent house with no cute puppy waiting to jump all over us when we got home. After sleeping in for the first time in months, we were totally missing our girl and more than ready to pick her up by the time we woke up.

When we picked her up, she was super happy to see us, even though she has about 10 stitches in her belly and a cone on her head. She's still a little (okay a lot) groggy from the meds yesterday and has been cuddling with us for the last four hours.

She should be good as new within 10 days but until then, no walks (only time she can go outside is to go to the bathroom), no stairs, no jumping on the couch and I'm assuming no army crawling down the hall (though the vet didn't clarify this...).

Here are few pics of Rox that I took since she's been back home:


Hanging out in her doggy bed.


This was taken just after she came around the corner and accidentally whacked her cone on the wall. Oops.


Poor puppy!!

And here are a few cute pics of her from the past week.


Chillin' on the couch with Corey.


Playin' with her Bully Stick...she absolutely LOVES these.

HMG Holiday Shindig

Tonight was the 2nd Annual HMG Holiday Dinner. This year, we were at the Dahlia Lounge in downtown Seattle. The company was great and the food was fabulous - we had a great time! We were in a private room in the back of the restaurant - it was fun to have the place to ourselves as we mingled and pigged out.

It's so fun to see how the company grows in the course of a year - their revenue per month has doubled since last year at this time, they've added another employee and their clients seem to be keeping them really busy even though the economy has taken a turn for the worse in recent months.

Here are a few pics from the evening.

The whole crew.

Corey and I.

The HMG clan.

Back (L to R): Matt, Brian, Niels , Corey

Front (L to R): Laura, Natalie, Pat (the newest edition to the team)

The Great Escape - Part 2

So y'all remember a few months ago, right after we brought Roxy home, she escaped from her pen, right? Well it happened again. This time, though, it wasn't because she was able to squeeze through the bars in the gate, she actually knocked the gate down! I walked in to find her sitting on her dog bed looking at me.

Luckily she didn't get into much this time (no more molding was chewed and the table was in-tact with the exception of the chewing she did last time). She did tear her newspapers up a bit, chew on the book that helped hold her gate up and tried to eat one of the bulbs on the Christmas tree...but that's it! There were no accidents like last time. She's definitely growing up (I think).


Our cute, innocent pup.


Her pen - torn apart during her escape.


Another view of the gate - she really did a number on it.

Celebrities, Chips, Cougars & Complimentary Coke

Last night, Corey and I met up with the Reeders for dinner and a trip to the new Snoqualmie Casino. The casino just opened a few weeks ago and you could tell - it was packed. It's really cool inside - it has really high ceilings with lodge-like beams, several restaurants, a poker room and a dance club. While there were some five cent and penny slots, the minimum bets were set pretty high and the tables had high minimums.


Lisa & I trying our hand at the slots.


Lisa, just before winning some extra cash on a bonus round of Wild Dolphins.

While Corey and Jason were playing Blackjack at the tables, Lisa and I decided to check out Club Sno, the dance club, where we found all kinds of interesting characters (who very likely were on some sort of drug). See the photos below.


Lisa and I scoping out the club.

Great shot of one of the cougars dancing it up (to the left of Lisa).

The cougar's dance partner had some special moves - he's directly to the left of Lisa. As we left the club, he even tried to get Lisa to dance with him. For some reason, she declined.

Overall, we had a fun night. We saw Julian Peterson (Seahawks linebacker) who was hanging out with his wife at the Blackjack tables (we would have tried to get a pic with him; however, there were too many video cameras and pit bosses around for us to attempt that), Jason saw Norm Charleton (ex-Mariner pitcher), Corey and Jason were able to play some Blackjack and smoke cigars, Lisa and I were able to dance it up a bit with the druggies and score complimentary Diet Cokes (while Jason had to pay $3.50 for a bottle of beer even though he was gambling) and Lisa came out the best, having won $50+ on the slots. We're all looking forward to our March Vegas trip!

Date Night with the Soon-to-Be McNeills

Last night, Corey and I met up with Brian and Katrina (who were in town for Thanksgiving) for a yummy dinner at Via Tribulani (the restaurant Corey and I had our first date). It was great to see them and catch up.

After dinner, they stopped by our place so they could meet Roxy. Of course, she loved having new visitors and people to give her attention. Check out the cute pic of the three of them below.



Then Brian, Corey and I went to see the new James Bond movie (Katrina is trying to kick a cold and went back to the hotel to get some much needed rest). The movie was pretty good - lots of action, as you'd expect from a James Bond movie. And some cool cars - if anyone needs a gift idea for me, feel free to splurge on a new Aston Martin.

Next time we'll see Brian and Katrina will likely be in April for their wedding in Maui - can't wait!

Terrific Turkey Day

Well, we did it! We survived our first Thanksgiving as a married couple, complete with a condo-full of nine people and 2 dogs. My family (my mom, dad, brother and grandma) and Corey's family (his mom and dad) and our family friend, Consuelo, all joined us at our place for a day of fun and food. Consuelo's dog, Brio, joined us as well. While he and Roxy didn't get along too well, it was fun to have both dogs here - both pups got lots of love and attention.

It was the first time either of us had cooked a turkey (and a large large turkey at that - 19.3 lbs!) and stuffing so we were a bit nervous but everything turned out really well. We did a salt roasted turkey with herbs (which turned out especially well - this recipe is highly recommended!) and homemade stuffing, along with a big pan of gravy. Corey also made a really good broccoli & pancetta side dish and I made a pumpkin pie. All of our guests provided the appetizers, wine, other side dishes, desserts, etc so that was a HUGE help (thanks again, all!).

Here are some pics from our fun day.


Basting the bird...


The big bird - ready to eat!


The spread - mmm!

The 'adult' table...

The 'kid' area...

The top (turkey) chefs for the day...

Brio made the rounds - I think he spent quality time on everyone's lap.