Costa Rica

New Job, East Coast Trip

Big news from the home front folks! Annie got a new job... and an amazing one at that. I was recently offered a position as a Quality Control Analyst at Seattle Genetics in Bothell, Wa (about a half hour outside of Seattle) I had met a few of the SeaGen crew last year while playing as a guest on their kickball team and over time they have given me the heads up on job openings, knowing my background. I had first interviewed with them back in October but unfortunatly didn't get the job. Six months later, they called me back in, and after a short 2nd interview they offered me the new open position. I'm extremely excited and it could not be better timing. I passed my one year mark at Guy Carpenter earlier this month and with the company facing lay-offs it seems like a good time to get out. It's been a great experience working there, I have met some amazing people and built friendships that I hope will last for years to come. I have absolutely no regrets, but am very much looking forward to this amazing opportunity and to work in an environment that I am interested in. Yay science! SeaGen is an awesome company specializing in monoclonal antibodies and antibody drug conjugates for cancer treatments. They have some great products going through clinical trails and I'm very excited and honored to be a part of their QC team.... plus 3 weeks vacation doesn't sound too shabby.

Speaking of vacation, last month I took a week off work and traveled to the east coast for a massive city tour. Washington DC: to visit Jessie who is going to law school there, Boston: to meet up with the parentals visiting for Dads work and see Aunt Margy, and finally to New York City to stay with my friend Shannon from college and cousin Aizen who both live and work there. I was originally supposed to take a red eye friday evening to arrive in DC Saturday morning. Unfortunately a blizzard in Cleveland got my flight canceled. The next available flight was 8 hours later.... but nobody deserves the punishment of driving me to the airport at 5am so I opted for a sleepover in SeaTac airport. Surprisingly, I slept well propped against my backpack and listening to the overly loud and corny elevator music that can only be heard at odd hours of the night when NOBODY is around.... Unfortunatly my flight adventure wasn't over yet. My new flight had a layover in NewJersey before heading into DC. As we approached the NJ airport we were informed that our plane would not be allowed to land... so we circled.... and circled some more. Finally, we were told we would have to refuel at some other destination, which turned out to be Washington DC! Luckily for me, I survived the amazingly awful turbulance landing at BWI, was allowed off the plane and had Jessie Bunce coming to rescue me, but without luggage of course. Despite the drama, we had a great time. That night we went out to dinner and had some drinks at a sports bar downtown, caught up and watched a basketball game. The next day we took the metro to the mall and wandered around the Washington Monument, Capital Building, a botanical garden, Vietnam memorial, and the Lincoln memorial before watching a few episodes of entourage with dinner and heading out with some law school friends for the night. Monday we were joined by Jessie's classmate Gillian and we headed for the FDR memorial and Jefferson before heading to a cute neighborhood that I can't remember the name of right now.... There we grabbed Chai tea at a cute tea place and wandered around the embassy buildings before having sushi for dinner and heading home for some competitive rounds of Mario Kart with the roommates before bed. Tuesday morning I awoke early to catch the metro to Union Station, hop on a train to BWI and then a plane ride to Boston to be greeted by my Mom.

Boston was great. Mom and I wandered around the first afternoon and saw some of my old hang out spots. Namely the children's museum, which was my favorite place as a kid and is probably responsible for my love of science and hands on learning. We had lunch at a small mediteranean place and wandered around the waterfront, aquarium, Quincy market and Faneuil Hall. My parents were staying outside Boston in Peabody, so Mom and I rode back with the commuters on the train to meet Dad for dinner. Our second day in Boston was fairly rainy so we decided to take a drive west to Auburn, the town I called home until I was almost 10. Driving through those streets brought many old memories of my childhood back. It was interesting to see my old house, the willow tree with our tire swing in the back yard, the hills that I used to sled or drive my big wheel down, the golf course nearby where hot air balloons used to land and I was allowed to pose for photo ops in the basket; My old elementary school, where I learned to play soccer and used to chase the boys, and where I first learned I was a decent runner. My church where I made friends and sang in the choir and dressed up as the baby giraffe for a play. Oddly enough, I was reminded that Massachusetts was where I spent my childhood and was glad to recount all the memories that came with it. Back to Boston! Mom, Dad, and I met up with Aunt Margy and Uncle John for John's birthday dinner and had great discussion over scorpion bowls and chinese food. Mom and I made plans to meet Margy early the next morning for more Boston wanderings and a walk down through Harvard, MIT, Boston Common, the Public Garden and Beacon Street. For happy hour we had a few drinks at an irish bar in Faneuil hall and ended up running for a train hours later than expected. Margy is always one of my favorite people and I thouroughly enjoyed the great conversation we had in the time we spent together. Of course it is always good to see Mom and Dad as well and it was a tearful goodbye when I had to fly to NYC the next day. But not before breakfast at Friendly's!

24th Birthday.

Song video for now. More to come... when I have a slight amount of free time.

With months between posts, I kick myself everytime for letting this blog slip for so long. I do apppoligize for keeping everyone out of the loop so long. There is much to be caught up on so we will start from where I left off....

September....hah. My big brother Evan comes to visit. After finishing his job studying snowshoe hares in Colorado,Ev made the trip up to Seattle to stay with me for a couple weeks before heading back to Michigan to look for the next mammal research position. It was awesome to have him around. Unfortunatly I had to work while he was here, but on my off time we went to see the Arcade Fire, the redbull boxcar races in Fremont, and wandered around EndFest, an outdoor music festival in Seattle, where we saw the smashing pumpkins, social distortion, against me!, bright eyes and a few others. We met up with Uncle Jim and Aunt Claude a couple times in the city and made the ferry trip out to Whidbey Island to hang with Jim for an evening. Evan is now studying coyotes outside of Chicago and is very much enjoying it. I would definitely enjoy it if he came out here more often.

October... At this point, the only thing I can remember about October is carving pumpkins with my roommate Theresa, and decorating the house for the kids who Trick or Treated..... On Halloween we put on wigs and handed out candy to the kids before pouring ourselves some whiskey and cider and settling down to a movie.... which brings us to...

November.... For Thanksgiving in November, I booked a flight to Denver to see my girlfriend Colleen, that I lived with my last year at Michigan State. She is currently living in a cute house outside of Breckenridge with Sam and Amber, who I knew from school as well. I had a great time while down there. Colleen and I got stuck with all the Thanksgiving cooking while the others were at work,which made us a little nervous at first but we somehow managed to pull it all off. We had everything; Turkey, stuffing, salad, potatoes, green beans, and apple cobbler. All came out delicious and we at leftovers for the rest of the weekend. We went out Thanksgiving night to a local Breckenridge bar where they have open mic night on Thursdays. Watching Sam play the guitar and sing was one of Colleen and my favorite pasttimes back at school, so it was a fitting start to my time there. Friday was a relaxing day as we did all the dishes from the big dinner, listened to music and read by the amazing stone fireplace in their living room before going out for martinis that night. Saturday, Sam and I went on a beautiftul hike outside of Breckenridge with the dogs, while Colleen had to work. I met up with her later at a coffeeshop in Breck and we wandered the town before meeting up with the others for an amazing seafood dinner. I was to fly out of Denver the next morning but that didn't stop us from hitting up a popular club in town and having a great last night with one of my best friends. We made it to the airport on little sleep and I recouperated at home before heading back to work the next day.

Moving on to December... The most obvious moments being centered around the holidays. Theresa and I decorated the house with garland and christmas bulbs and listened to festival music. My company threw a holiday party for the office, so we closed the office down one afternoon and headed to a nice lunch with entertainment, prizes and a casino themed party with open bar. It was my first "real" experience with gambling, and found I didn't do too hot even after a few people gave me their chips to add to my stack. The funniest part of the evening was when a slighty intoxicated administrative assistant was trying to figure out which gentleman of the office she was going to "marry me off" to...haha. Lucky for me, I was able to take a week away from work and flew home to Michigan to see my wonderful parents and brother. I took the red-eye in and spent my first morning on my "nap couch" in front of the tree with the bustle of home comfortable happening around me. Mom and I met Jessie Bunce and her mom for lunch in Birmingham, which has become a yearly tradition. That night I headed up to my old school stomping grounds of East Lansing,the co-op and our favorite bar the Peanut Barrell. I was very happy to see and catch up with some of my old roommates and friends. I appreciated everyones efforts to hang out with me again. For new years eve, I hung out with my best budday Heidi at her sisters house and then joined her and her dad for midnight mass at their church. Christmas day was fun and relaxing as always. Our traditions never seem to change as we had cinniman buns, orange juice, and coffee for breakfast before spending HOURS opening gifts one by one. Although, I was feel a bit under the weather (I swore I was allergic to Michigan.haha) it was a wonderful Christmas with my wonderful family. The rest of the week was spent seeing as many people as I could while still getting my fill of family at home. I went to my highschool cross country team reuniun, roadtripped it up to Midland to see Jessie in her hometown, and saw my Mongolian Barbeque/San Fran friends at Kaytee's yearly Christmas Party. It was really great to see everyone, although there is never enough time to see everyone and fully catch up.

Ah we made it to January! To the present. I am still at my receptionist job downtown, which has its ups and downs. Although I can't say I enjoy the job itself that much, I really enjoy the people, working downtown, and having the ability to pay the bills and to save some money. I have made some great friends in the office and they make it worthwhile. Currently I am playing with them in a bowling league and a few of us are planning a trip to Croatia in June. I absolutely love wandering around the market, getting breakfast, veggies, and salmon for dinner. A group of us also went up to Mt. Rainier to snowshoe on MLK day. It was absolutely beautiful and we had a great time wandering around my old stomping ground. I will be going to at least 3 concerts this month and that is always good for my well being. I am very happy with life and am still finding new and exciting things in Seattle to keep me on my toes.

Hope this finds everyone in good health and happiness.

Much Love, Annie

House Pictures

Our Wine nook

The Office room

The Kitchen

Living room leading to kitchen and bathroom

Living room Part 2.

Spokane, Mom, Mt.Adams and Roomies

Well, in my efforts to scrounge together a quick update, I managed to forget a few minor details of happenings as of late in my last blog. If only I would update more often then maybe these things wouldn't happen. Then again, maybe no one reads this and my efforts are futile regardless..... Either way lets catch everyone up and move onto present tense.

First off, the first weekend in August I took a solo road trip out to the east side of the state for the wedding of my friends Rae and Morgan that I worked with last summer on Mt. Rainier. It was a beautiful day in Spokane and a cute, simple but sweet reception. I was joined by a few other mountain peeps that traveled to WA from all parts of the country. It was great to see everyone and it was one of those times that you feel like no time has passed since you last saw each other. After the reception ended and Rae and Morgan headed to Canada for their honeymoon the rest of the gang and I hung out at the park for the rest of the afternoon. We bought some kid floaty toys at wal-mart and thought it would be a good idea to use them to "tube" down the river. Unfortunately, the river was only a few inches deep in some parts and our bodies ended up getting tossed on the rocks like rag dolls. Afterward we played some volleyball, ultimate frisbee, and had a barbecue for dinner.

The following week my wonderful Mom flew into Seattle to visit for the next two weeks. It was so great to have her in the area, to meet with her and my aunt Claudi in the city for lunch, to have her ride the bus home with me, or to have her pick me up from kickball games; she blended right in with my life here. One weekend we took the ferry from the port of Seattle to Victoria, British Columbia. We spent the day wandering around, drinking tea, and shopping in the cute city. We got rained on for part of the day but that didn't stop us from enjoying it. We had an amazing dinner on a restaurant patio looking out over the harbor, complete with wine and creme brulee for desert. Mom swears it was one of the best meals she has ever had.... maybe it was the wine talking but it was truly delicious. The Monday before she left I took a half day off work to join her and my cousin Elyse for lunch and a trip to the Seattle Aquarium. We had lunch at a cute bistro near the market and enjoyed the tide pools and other exhibits in the newly remodeled museum. When Mom left for home the next day, I was definitely sad to see her go.

A couple more things and we are almost up to speed.....Next is my adventure on Labor day weekend. My good friend Julia from the mountain invited me to join her, her brother Andrew, and her roommate Tressa to climb Mt. Adams with them. As Mt. Adams is the second tallest mountain in Washington at 12, 276 feet, I couldn't help but not let this opportunity pass. I drove from Seattle to Portland Saturday night and the four of us drove together to a camping spot at the trail head. We spent the night there and woke up ready to face the mountain the next morning. We departed with our 30 lb bags shouldered and ready to climb. That day, we hiked 7 hours over trail, boulders, and ice/snow fields to the "Lunch Counter" at 9,000 feet where we spent the next night. The higher we got on the mountain the more intense it felt. The wind picked up, boulders rolled from under our feet, and our back hurt from the weight, but we pressed on. We ate our freeze dried dinners, hot cocoa that turned cold after just a couple minutes, and attempted to stay warm as long as possible. We were in our tents ready for bed at 8:45. 5 am came quickly though as we got up, had breakfast (cold oatmeal), watched the sun rise and headed for the summit. In the first 1.2 miles we gained about 24oo feet in elevation, so we were climbing at about a 45 degree angle. At one point Julia and I got stuck climbing an ice wall as our boulder path ended abruptly. It was slightly scary for a bit as we had to use our ice axes to crawl up the chute inch by inch with the wind aiming to cut us loose. We made it past and up to the full summit where we had amazing views of Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Rainier, Mt. Hood and miles beyond in each direction. The weather, minus the inevitable wind, could not have been much better. It was a great intense, exciting, thrilling experience.

So that brings us to the present. And by present I mean I'm currently sitting in our living room with both roomies, hangin, and listening to music. Theresa and Andy have been a ton of fun and I love coming home to the warm welcome call of "ROOOOMIE" We have an adorable and comfortable home, nicely decorated with Theresa's art and furniture she has accumulated along the way. Both roomies are grad students at the University of Washington. Andy is in his second year in Physical Therapy school and helps Theresa and I with our knee and back "injuries." He can usually be found on the living room couch listening to music, playing the guitar and singing, or killing spiders with his navy blue slippers and screaming. Theresa is a Geologist who is just finishing her Masters and starting her PHD. She just returned home after spending 6 weeks in eastern Russia (boonies!) living on a volcano. Last weekend we drove up to the Mt. Baker area for a day hike and thoroughly enjoyed walking and chatting. She loves salt and butter, which is an issue that we are going to have to work out but shes a blast and I'm really happy to have her back.

As for me, I still have no complaints about life. I have been running and thinking hard about the Seattle marathon(eating double stuffed oreos after every run), getting through some slow days at the front desk but still enjoying it for the most part, and trying to keep in touch with friends and family as best as possible. I feel active, rejuvenated and excited about life and what the future may hold.

I hope life is bringing the best for everyone.
Much love, Annie

Home Sweet Home

Well folks, Life is continuing to unfold for me here in Seattle. I am feeling more and more settled in my daily routine and life and I'm feeling pretty great about it. I am really enjoying my house and my roommates and the new friends I'm making at work. Every morning I hop on the 74 express bus to downtown and walk a few blocks to my work. Its an extremely convenient location and I really enjoy reading along the ride. Especially the 7th Harry Potter book!!

For the week of July 4th, I took a weeks' vacation to the Costello's yearly Delaware beach trip. It was a relaxing week spent with good food, great family, and a relaxing atmosphere. For the first few days, we had the pleasure of my friend Jessie Bunce's company yet again as she joined us in the beach house and on the shores of Fenwick Island. The week was filled with shrimp cocktail, gin &tonics, fishing, cranium and quality family time.


I have found a great group of co-workers that are a ton of fun and extremely welcoming. One of them, Kyle, invited me to participate with a few of the others in a team relay race a few weeks ago. We trained by running around Greenlake and had a blast on the trip. Each of us had to run 3 legs in 24 hours. I ran 12 miles total in those 3 legs. We rented a house in Langley, WA on Whidbey Island for the night after the run and did anything and everything we could to stay awake that night. Played indoor basketball, apples to apples, bocce, and finally a movie where of course everyone passed out once it started. Our team ended up finished 3rd in our division and 15th overall out of 58 teams! It was a great time and got me thinking pretty hard about this years Seattle Marathon.

I also played on a kickball team with Kyle, his girlfriend Caitlin, and her coworkers for 6 weeks. It was great to meet some new people and get outside after work. The league has a "sponsor bar" that all the players hang out at after each game. We ended up placing second in the league. I currently am starting up a new kickball league with a group of my coworkers as well as a mini-golf league called "drink on the links" Wednesday was our first round of golf and I got a hole in one!

Hope everyone is having a great summer. I will soon be purchasing a ticket to Detroit for Christmas break and am very much looking forward to seeing everyone in the mid-west.

Take care, Annie