1st Entry - Getting to know you

I begin this blog at somewhat of a loss. My husband has a blog called Mastering Mandarin in which he posts about learning Mandarin Chinese - a goal of his. I sometimes check his blog to see if his posts have anything to do with me. Guess what? They don't. They are about, you guessed it, learning Chinese. I gave up on being frustrated with this and decided to start my own blog where I could talk about anything I want. Lord knows what that will be...

I have a few friends who are having a baby, and are posting about that. Love looking at those. But, I am not with child, so that is out. I do have a "child" of sorts. His name is Spencer and he is our nine year old Shih Tzu. Spencer came to use from Ed and Lena Martinez. Family friends of my husband. He is quiet the character. His character is most notably marked by the fact that his tongue is about and two inches to long for his mouth and sticks out ALL THE TIME. Not just when he is sleeping, and not because he is missing teeth....but all the time. I find it really endearing, but, that's Spencer...just a sweetie pie.

Kevin (my husband) and I live in the Phinney Ridge neighborhood of Seattle. For those of you who don't know where that is, it is the neighborhood where the Woodland Park Zoo is located, on the hill between Greenlake and Ballard. We love our neighborhood, and the fact that many of our friends are so close. We are pretty frustrated with our lack of space, however. We live in a 740 square foot condo that we both feel a little cramped in. I'm sure we will stick it out for a few more years until the inevitable move to the suburbs occurs.

Kevin and I got married last summer on August 31st 2009. We were married at Tibbetts Creek Manor in Issaquah, Washington. I can honestly say, that was the happiest day of my life. Kevin and I dated for five years before we became engaged, planned the wedding for a year, and then got married. The wedding was beautiful and everything I could have asked for. Now, seven months after the wedding, I think we are still in our honeymoon stage. I constantly think of our lucky I am, and what a wonderful life we have currently, and ahead of us.

I work in the marketing department of an engineering consulting firm. We respond to RFPs and make our engineers sound better than the engineers of other consulting firms. My forever job? I don't know...but I like my co-workers for the most part, am learning some valuable graphic type skills, and getting paid pretty well, so all-in-all, I'm happy.

Kevin is an actuary with a life insurance company. He is in the process of studying (and, fingers crossed, passing!) a series of tests to become a FSA - Fellow of the Society of Actuaries. It's a demanding career because of all the testing, but once passed, HE will be the one in high demand. He also likes his co-workers but I think is a little frustrated with the subject matter is the currently working on. He talks about possibly one day going to the consulting side of actuarial work.

No kids for us at the moment. We are putting that off until we get some personal things done. Travel, passing exams, buying a larger house, etc. all are things we want to do before the kiddos come along. That does not, however, stop me from day dreaming about it. ;) One of our best friends are having their first baby this June and we (ok, me more than Kevin, but still) are so excited. Steff and Eric are having a little baby girl and I can't wait for her to come out and join the world so I can be her auntie Katie. Very exciting!

So, that's me, at least for now, in a nut shell. Not sure what I'll use this for, or how often I'll post, but at least it's here now and I have the option.

Goodbye for now!