A strange holiday

So 2011 ended in a mishmash of good and bad. Talk about an emotional roller-coaster. Mainly my grief was focused around life change: a transition from working full time to going to school full time, moving again, and family stuff. In case you didn't know... I'm a Virgo. The ultimate creature of habit, lover of routines. We typically hate change of any kind. We highly dislike chaos. But we need it because without it, our lives would become stagnant ruts. Sometimes it takes unfortunate circumstances- catalysts that kick us in the pants and force us move out of our comfort zones and on with our lives. It's a gift really, that the universe gives us; even if it it's hard to get past the uncomfortable wrappings.

In the time surrounding the holidays Casey and I took a nice trip up to Seattle. I showed her Pikes Place Market, we explored the driftwood beach I had only gotten a glimpse of during my trip up with Mom, and we walked around the city a bit. We stumbled upon this hidden little place in an alleyway that apparently isn't on any of the visitor's tour guides, but had been visited thousands of times. It's an ever changing monument: The Chewing Gum Wall. Gross, yes. But you have to admit this oddity is impressive. A stretch of wall about 50' long and as high as people could reach, completely caked with previously chewed gum in every hue imaginable. Several inches thick in places, rubbery icicles dangling from the window sills, from years of people leaving their sticky mark that says "I was here." Some people took it a step further and made pictures, you can see the space needle and a ferry on the window in the photo. I admire their ode to this great city.

Not long after returning from Florida, Tressa and I jointly added a new member to our household: Sora! She is a Green Cheek Conure, a small parrot type bird. Her name means "Sky" in Japanese. Sora has been a joy to have around, she is one of the sweetest and most cuddly birds I've ever met. She always come to greet us at the cage door, wanting nothing more than to ride around on our shoulders and snuggle up in our necks. I had never heard of her species before, but now that I know what wonderful little creatures they are, I'll probably never have any other kind of bird as a pet. She has even softened the heart of Casey, a previous dis-liker of birds. Now she can't wait to take her out of her cage each morning to say hello.

Here's a couple of videos we took of Sora, me petting her, and her petting Tressa! As Always, don't forget to make the video it's highest quality by clicking on the button shaped like a gear to the bottom right of the movie. Also, turn up those speakers, I take time choosing good music to go along with the videos!

Sora Pets Tressa Video

Me Petting Sora

And there are more random photos from the Seattle Trip, The holidays, and all the other stuff around that time:

CLICK HERE FOR THE PICS
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