Brrrrrrr....

It must be like 70 here or something. On the night we got here we could see our breath it was so cold, and we were so underdressed. So alas, we have arrived in Washington. For those of you counting types, yes, we have been here a few weeks. In fact we are in our fourth temporary residence since we have arrived. This one we will call home for at least the next six months as we figure out what our more permanent arrangements will be.

The new picture above is of the south slope of Mt. Rainer - which April reminded me is called Paradise. Hence us still being "just another day in..." I like that thought. And we like it here. That being said, I was never so happy to see fleece as I was when we were unpacking. That box I had labeled and set aside of "Fall/Winter" clothes for the family, just got opened.

There's really no need to make a list of the things I'll miss in Hawaii (although I still have a few thoughts on our previous life that I'll have to get out I'm sure). I'm following the advice of inspirational cards, motivational plaques and dear john letters everywhere - if you love something, set it free, if it was meant to be, it'll come back to you. We love the islands. We will go back. But this is our home now and we are going to love it. Am I trying to convince myself of that? Maybe.

One thing I do love about Washington that I need no convincing of is the friends we have here. But they deserve an entire post and pictures so more on that later. But have they made the transition easier for me and for Avery. Absolutely.

All right so what else do I love about Washington so far:

- Loooonnnngggg summer days. We flew in at 10pm and it was still not quite completely dark. Although it gives you plenty of time to do fun stuff and it's nice for B. to come home in the daylight, it makes it tough to adjust to a new time zone. It will start getting dark and that is an indication to us that it's dinner time. Only it's 9pm. I realize to that there is a flip side to these long days known as winter.

- No frizzy hair. No sweating.

- The mosquitoes here are bigger and slower. Not only did living in HI make me an expert mosquito squisher, I got bit so many times that I became immune - this is completely true. The ones here must have diluted juice cause I don't even feel the slightest itch.

- The grass is softer and unlikely to have thorns in it. Not that you are likely to be barefoot in it.

- Greater variety of fresh produce and bread.

- Good Mexican food. There's also bad mexican food here, but we have found at least two places that are legit. I think Ben has tried every one. If it has Los or El, any reference to a location in Mexico or any form of 'berto in the name he's there - He even braved a place with Tijuana in the name. Never again.

And for good measure - a few things I'm going to have to get over:

- What seems like nearly 10% sales tax. Double what we paid in Hawaii. Where we live it's around 8.8% but enough to discourage me from shopping anywhere but on base. (Why doth I love the military - let me count the ways...) Okay, so there's no state income tax - we weren't affected by that anyway.

- Wearing shoes. This mostly applies to A.

- People not driving with Aloha. I could write a whole post about this. And I just might.

- Pineapples are expensive.

- Butter takes longer to soften.

- The music. I'm not sure exactly which category to put this one in, because although it's fun to hear bands that remind me of high school - Candlebox, Soundgarden, Nirvana etc. On continuous loop it loses some of it's charm. Not that I liked Reggae any better.

The best news about us moving to Washington for all of you (since you just lost your free vacation home in the tropics - need I remind you) is that you are no longer subject to pictures of me in my bathing suit or Ben shirtless. Although, I can't guarantee the latter. Oh wait, yes I can. It's July and it's freezing.