Day Forty-Seven.

Reason #050 to come to Washington: Pike Place Market. These are the famous fish throwing guys. I don't think I've ever personally witnessed them throwing fish (apparently someone has to buy a fish first) but I've seen videos and it's pretty cool.

Reasons #049 to come to Indiana: Stuff to warm your bones.

Day Forty-Six.

Reason #049 to come to Washington: UW Hockey games. Who can resist ice skating, hitting stuff with sticks and blood all at once? Certainly not me!

Reason #048 to come to Indiana: Legit juice making.

Day Forty-Five.

Reason #048 to come to Washington: Homemade pizza. Since I don't go out much at night because 1. I have no friends and 2: I work early in the morning (7 am) and try not to stay out late, I cook at night instead! Tonight I made pizza.
Reason #047 to come to Indiana: Finding things that you thought you lost on planes. Like mp3 players.

Day Forty-Four.

Reason #047 to come to Washington: Wii Fit! I tried it out today and did some yoga which was cool. I felt all balanced and stuff. I also pretended to hula hoop. At the end I had 5 pretend hula hoops going at a time! But then I had to run in place and try to not pass the little guy on the screen. That was kinda dumb

Reason #046 to come to Indiana: Being so busy that you don't have time to take a legit picture. Let alone get on the Internets to upload it. I really wish I could get home before 11 pm some time this week.

Day Forty-Three.

Reason #046 to come to Washington: Letters from Harper Casimiro. I love her. We're pen pals now :)
Reason #045 to come to Indiana: Sometimes you get in car accidents with another car for the first time. It's a long story. When I told the guy I was really sorry he said, "The Lord is merciful." Then he walked back to the house he was helping build. 

Day Forty-Two.

Reason #045 to come to Washington: Large empty rooms. My parents are downsizing in order to move. This room used to hold a nice couch and our tv and all that jazz. We no longer have a couch (no worries, we've got plenty of chairs!) and our tv is upstairs. If you come visit, we'll throw a couple of comfy mattress pads on the floor and you can have this room all to yourself!
Reason #044 to come to Indiana: Making packages for friends who are at college. Especially friends named Ashley Finucan who are amazing. A mix and a card are definitely deserved when your almost 19 year old dog has to be put to sleep and you didn't get to say goodbye, the guy you're dating decides he can't do "long distance" relationships, and your freshman year as a nursing student at Ball State is kicking your trash. Love you, Ashez.

Day Forty-One.

Reason #044 to come to Washington: Fun times with Josh Alvarez and Michelle Conlon. Both are actually BYU-I students. Josh is off track and Michelle is making life decisions. She is also my aunt! But she's only 26. I love these kids.

Reason #043 to come to Indiana: Etch-A-Sketches love Indiana. You should, too.

Day Forty.

Reason #043 to come to Washington: Late night slurpee runs with Carrie McGrath, a previous Idaho Falls resident that has come to find the Seattle scene much preferable. Slurpees are really great. Especially when you get creative and mix them.
Reason #042 to come to Indiana: Vertical blinds. Finally. The cat better not tear these up like he did the horizontal ones.

Day Thirty-Nine.

Reason #042 to come to Washington: National Pie Day with Kari Patterson. I don't know if you knew this but today was national pie day. Kari and I made some delicious pies and had a little party at a park in Seattle. It was great. You can't ever go wrong with pie. Or parks.

Reason #041 to come to Indiana: Vintage pinball machines. My family has had this for a long time. I don't know where it came from.

Day Thirty-Eight.

Reason #041 to come to Washington: Charlie. I nanny a little boy and he has a dog. He just go neutered and has to wear this cone things. Poor lil' guy! But he's a great dog and always ready to play.

Reason #040 to come to Indiana: Chip granola. More than likely it's not very healthy, but delicious+filling=great way to start the day. Also good for lunch, dinner, fourth meal, and snackage.

Day Thirty-Seven.

Reason #040 to come to Washington: Mike's Grill. A delicious place to eat with your mom on her lunch break in Snoqualmie Ridge. Breakfast is served until 2pm!


Reason #039 to come to Indiana: Visits to my alma mater. I will always bleed Carroll Charger blue, even though Carroll has been said to be a little red. Please note that the port-a-potties are for construction traffic only.

Day Thirty-Six.

Reason #039 to come to Washington: Lots of houses. I am staying the week at the house I nanny at because the dad is on a business trip. They live in Snoqualmie Ridge. It's a great neighborhood if you like the sense of community, fancy cars, 3 inches between you and your neighbor about about 1,000 other houses that look just like yours in your neighborhood.

Reason #038 to come to Indiana: Tim Tam Slams. The great country/continent of Australia is responsible for this decadent dessert. My Uncle Jake brought it back to us when he returned from his mission to Adelaide Australia circa 2003. A Tim Tam: the most irresistible chocolate biscuit acts as a straw to sip up Milo, the warm chocolate drink. You could have a contest to see how many slams you can do in a row, but that usually leads to someone barfing. 

Day Thirty-Five.

Reason #038 to come to Washington: Wind storms. This is a 3.2 second glimpse of what windstorms do to the bushes outside your kitchen window in Snoqualmie, Washington. I enjoy windstorms. Unless rain is included that is. And I don't recommend flying a kite in one. Or wearing a hat. But I do recommend wearing a big coat and opening it against the wind.

Reason #037 to come to Indiana: Semi-spur-of-the-moment road trips. So we didn't go see Bishop Allen in Ohio because we had work in the morning. To fill our live music hunger, we drove all the way to Anderson (1.5 hours one way), and sadly missed Rodeo Ruby Love by one set. We saw a very...faithful Christian band and a not so good band that was a mix between Aqualung and Ben Folds. Thus our hunger was not satisfied. Anderson streets are mostly one ways and we got a little lost, but we did make it to White Castle. Just livin the American dream.

Day Thirty-Four.

Reason #037 to come to Washington: Sunshine through your window. There's nothing like opening your curtains and filling the room with warm sunlight. 

Reason #036 to come to Indiana: My family takes pride in their sports teams. Go Colts. Go Cubbies. (And Steelers all the way for the Super Bowl this year.) We're ready for baseball season. If you get bored during a game, Jason will entertain you by going "Nine, ten a big fat hen! Ha ha ha ha ha." 

Day Thirty-Three.

Reason #036 to come to Washington: Bumbershoot. Just one of Seattle's  many annual music and art festivals. My personal favorite though. It occurs every Labor Day weekend. Saturday, Sunday and Monday. And has a plethora of fantastic bands, street performers, an "indie market" with all sorts of hand crafted goodies and an entire building full of printmakers. All yours for a pretty dang good price! Oh, and I just recently put up this Bumbershoot '08 poster I won in a Bumbershoot haiku contest. It's beautiful.

Reason #035 to come to Indiana: Buffalo Wild Wings. You have not had wings until you've had B-Dubs. Parmesan garlic is my favorite sauce, but there are 15 to choose from, ranging from mild to hot, and I've probably only had five. I was extremely upset when I went to Winger's and they only had like three sauces. Also, they now have $2.99 unlimited refills flavored lemonade. The flavor pictured here is huckleberry.

Day Thirty-Two.

Reason #035 to come to Washington: Mismatched socks. Matching socks are a waste of time. And I don't like to waste my time. Plus it spices things up a little. 
Reason #034 to come to Indiana: With a high of 1 degree and a low of -19 with a windchill of -37, schools (and my nanny and babysitting jobs) get canceled. Luckily we have plenty of Mexican blankets to warm our bodies and hearts. Tomorrow it will get up to a balmy 20 degrees. Viva el tiempo tropical.

Day Thirty-One.

Reason #034 to come to Washington: Nights in. Sometimes it's okay to have a night just hanging out in your room with your laptop and your cat... Even if you've been doing it every night since New Years... 
Reason #033 to come to Indiana: Recently redecorated bulletin boards. If you send me something, I'll put it up. This is a great honor. Esteemed individuals such as my mother, my younger sister, my cats, ghosts, my younger brother, and things that go bump in the night view this very piece of cork board.

Day Thirty.

Reason #032 and #033 to come to Washington: Mountains and good weather. Mountains EVERYWHERE. And the weather has been GREAT the last couple days. I didn't need a coat today. I barely needed a sweater. This view is right by my house. I took this on my way to work today. If mountains didn't hide other mountains behind them there would be mountains as far as the eye can see here. And along with mountains come many trails to hike and places to camp and wildlife to see. It's fantastic. 
Reason #032 to come to Indiana: It's cold and lonely without you here.

Day Twenty-Nine.

Reason #031 to come to Washington: Skylights. We have two in my house and they're right next to each other. They let loads of wonderful light in especially when it's sunny like today. But even when it's cloudy! You'd be surprised how bright it can be even with clouds.
Reason #031 to come to Indiana: iChat with friends that aren't in Indiana. It was like summer oh eight never ended. Oh hey, do you guys know Blake? Blake Holland? Yeah me neither. That's just who Saychelle was talking to on the phone.

Day Twenty-Eight.

Reason #030 to come to Washington: CD's and candles. My dad has a fairly large collection of CD's and so do but they are not featured here and my mom always has lots of candles lit. Both always contribute to the warm, cozy atmosphere of our home.


Reason #030 to come to Indiana: Legit tagging. Wouldn't stop it if we could. It's a hood thing. (Sorry about the swearing.)

Day Twenty-Seven.

Reason #029 to come to Washington: My dad! Here he is working in his office. My dad's pretty much the same person as me except older and a man... and smarter. He's an amazing graphic designer, listens to really good music, knows pretty much anything and everything about everything and anything. He has very good taste. He loves graphic design, fly fishing, comic books, old school punk rock, jazz, pottery, vw's, bowling, going to concerts, vintage things, and pizza.

Reason #029 to come to Indiana: Portraits with kitty catty patty waddies. I have three to choose from, so you can pick the one that best compliments your skin tone. Pictured here is Tator Tot. As you can see, his eyes match mine. Price: $PossibleScratches.99 including tax. (Neither Amy nor the great Hoosier state of Indiana is responsible for any physical, mental, emotional, ecological, or other damage that comes as a result of being photographed with said cats...Especially Bouncer.)

Day Twenty-Six.

Reason #028 to come to Washington: Even when it's cloudy, it's beautiful. I went to the coast today. It's a little bit of a drive and involved a ferry ride but it was worth it. You just don't get beauty like this anywhere else. (If you would like to see more photos like this, visit www.toridickson.com)
Reason #028 to come to Indiana: Steak and Shake. So you just went to a fly show. You can still feel the bass pounding in your chest. Your ears are still ringing. Your feet are still tapping. Going home is not an option. Go to Steak and Shake. Famous for steakburgers, but cherished for truly being open 24 hours.

Day Twenty-Five.

Reason #027 to come to Washington: Laundry folding. Contrary to popular belief Seattle is not all fun and games and rain and trees and apples. We do real work here. We lead real lives. We are real people. We too have to fold our own laundry. Really.
Reason #027 to come to Indiana: Real wildlife. Right out my kitchen window. We don't even have a television because these birds are so entertaining. Okay, that was a lie. We have like five TVs. But it's not something I'm proud of.

Day Twenty-Four.

Reason #026 to come to Washington: Cupcakes. Cupcakes are my favorite. I love making them but I don't like making things out of a box so when I do, I like to add something special to them. I guess you'll just have to come and find out what the something special is.


Reason #026 to come to Indiana: Bouncer Alan Benkenstein. Sometimes he can be a real d-bag, but he is usually there when you need him. Just like Zach Gibson.

Day Twenty-Three.

Reason #025 to come to Washington: Swimming in the winter. In the summer people usually go swimming in Lake Sammamish or Lake Washington but in the winter we get our very own swimming pools right in our backyard. Sometimes even the front yard or the street. In some cases people get them right inside their house! It's great. Gotta love rain storms and floods.


Reason #025 to come to Indiana: Babaganoosh dip. It's Neosporin for the minorly cut, scraped, and burned heart. Other uses include: nutritional supplement for use when writing a talk on prayer, family get together hors d'oeuvres, and other activities that require light munching to stay awake. Not for use by vegetarians and people who do not produce the enzyme lactase.