This past weekend, Brandon flew to Seattle for a second interview and I shortly followed. My lovely sister, Keri, took great care of Elly while we were gone. So much so, that she didn't even miss us and wasn't ready for us to come home on Sunday. By the time I arrived in Seattle on Friday evening, after all Brandon's interviews, he already had a job offer. We talked all about his interviews and the offer over dinner that evening. We both felt really good about taking the job. The company put us up in a fabulous hotel and we were pampered all weekend.
When we were at BYU 5 years ago for Brandon's undergrad, we lived across the hall from two of our very best neighbor-friends, Billie and Eric. They now live in the Seattle area, so we were thrilled that we got to spend some of the day with them (we haven't seen them in over 3 years). First we had lunch right by the pier and it was delightful, then we went on to the Seattle Center where we entered the Experience Music Project. The best way I can think of to describe it is a rock music museum and hall of fame. Brandon loved every minute of it.
Then, we said goodbye to our friends (not knowing when we'd see them again since by the time we move to Seattle, they will be gone to Cleveland). Brandon and I headed to the Space Needle. Niether of us had been to Seattle before and we were excited to ride to the top. It did remind us of being at the top of the Empire State Building a little...but with more mountains and water around and a lot less people and huge buildings. Anyway, it was a fantastic view as we caught the elevator just in time for a fabulous sunset.
Before leaving the city, we stopped at Pike Place Market, the amazing fresh food and goods market down by the water. We picked up some souvenirs and caught a little taste of the famous fish throwers. That night we had yet another wonderful dinner on the company's dime and headed back to our hotel...we were exhausted. In the morning, we found the LDS ward that was closest to us and made it to sacrament meeting early (it's amazing how the lack of a 2-year-old speeds things up). We sadly drove to the airport wishing we had more time in our new favorite city. I think it's a good sign when you are sad to leave the city you will be moving to in the near future. Seattle gave us beautiful weather, excellent food, and the best thing of all...a want for more...Seattle. But, we owe everything to our new favorite company, of course. Thank you:
We will be heading to Seattle in the middle of May and coming back to Cougartown at the beginning of August. So...now's a great time to make a trip to Seattle if you've never been. Come and visit us! And maybe you'll see Mount Rainier on your way out of Seattle on the plane like we did:
(I didn't actually take this picture, I pulled it off the internets, ok? But, it is really that beautiful!)
