Happy New Year!

Dearest friends - wish you all a happy 2015 - hope that it brings you all that you wish for.

The last year was nice.  Evan sat and crushed the WA bar exam and landed a job.  My brother and his wife gave birth to an adorable baby girl.   Evan and I visited the Pacific beaches in Washington and were astounded.

As for New Year's resolutions, I resolve to be more healthy: drink more water, run more regularly, and meditate more.  I feel that these three goals are reasonable and can be realistically accomplished.

Last year's resolution was to be more comfortable alone.  I think I may have succeeded too well - some days I feel like such an anti-social grouch that I just want to wander into the forest and stare at trees all day.

All in all, I feel pretty happy and content.

I look forward to going on adventures and expanding mental and social horizons in 2015, and wish you many happy adventures - be they external or internal - as well.

Some interesting things about Washington's physical geography

Washington's landscape is diverse - it has everything from desert to rainforest.  The city of Seattle is surrounded by water and mountains on both sides.  Mount Ranier is a behemoth of a mountain, rising 14409 feet from near sea level.  It is considered one of the snowiest places on Earth, and takes up so much of the moisture from the west, that an immensely dry rainshadow lies to its east.

Seattle is nestled between the Puget Sound, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and Lake Washington, a large freshwater lake.  The Olympic Peninsula is to the west of the Puget Sound, and contains a large temperate rainforest, formed from an average annual rainfall of 140 inches.  For reference, Seattle's average annual rainfall is 37 inches and Denver's is 14 inches (rainfall equivalent including about 60 inches of snow per year).

Seattle is also surrounded by mountains on both sides - the Olympic range to the west and the Cascades to the east.  The Cascades have been formed by the subduction of the Juan de Fuca Tectonic Plate under the North American Plate.  For information on the formation of the Olympic Range, see this site.  Mount Rainier is Washington's only 14er, while five of the Cascades are active (or potentially active) volcanoes: Rainier, Baker, Adams, Glacier Peak, and most famously, Mt. St. Helens.  Rainier and Baker can both claim to be the snowiest place on earth, by different measures - Rainier by average annual snowfall and Baker by having the single snowiest year ever recorded (though there are some places in Japan that claim the title).

Anticipating a visit from a loved one or close friend brings feelings of such joy, love, and excitement. 

Happiness

What compels a person to pack their bags and move away, far from family, friends, and the familiar?  For Evan and I, like many others, it was to pursue new opportunities and for a breath of fresh air, a chance to experience something new.

There is something very palpably exciting about change. The move seems to have reignited some long buried exuberance for life and optimism in both Evan and me.  For the first time in a while, I feel content. 

There is something uniquely enchanting about Washington. This morning, when I was leaving for work, the world felt so still and the air was so misty, I just stood there dumbstruck for twenty minutes, wondering how it was that I felt I was seeing the world for the first time.

I don't know why it is the simplest things in life that bring immense pleasure - a laugh with a friend, an interesting insight from a stranger, a cup of good coffee (what Seattlite wouldn't put that in the list? :-)), and a hug from a husband.  I feel fortunate to have these things and a chance to feel such contentment.

A word about the title...

In case you are wondering about the title of this web log, "Los Bonitos Ojos Negros de Felipe" means "The Beautiful Black Eyes of Felipe" in Spanish.

In case you are wondering who Felipe is, here he is.  He is the adorable stuffed llama my husband got me for my birthday.  Like all the gifts in my life, my family and friends, he fills me with joy.

I am Daoist and agnostic, and I like Lakota religion. 

I perpetually long company, yet also feel sometimes anti-social, wanting to abandon social etiquette and just sit and think.

A few material comforts in life make it wonderful - a warm shower, a good cup of coffee, the comforting grey skies and Douglas firs of Washington, and the loving embrace of one's spouse.

Mount Tacoma looks as if it came from another planet.  When Evan and I were returning to Seattle, we flew by it.  It was jutting out of the clouds, aloof and formidable.  I wonder how many other people have stared at it, overwhelmed.

Tried out zumba and yoga today.  Zumba made me sweat and feel happy.  Yoga was relaxing, and made me feel happier.  Spending a nice evening with my husband filled me with feelings of love and left me feeling happiest. 

Mental exhaustion hits my language comprehension skills first.  After returning from work a few days ago, I found myself getting frustrated trying to read a recipe, because it used compound sentences, and my tired brain couldn't piece it together.  However, my brain worked fine otherwise - math, word meanings, all else.  It scares me a little that my skills in listening are so poor.  I'll make an effort to read, write, speak, and listen more, to hone these indispensable skills.