In keeping with our general theme of reducing the quantity of our belongings, Brian and I decided that we wanted to have a gift-free Christmas this year. After having packed up all our stuff and moved it twice in the past six months, we feel even more strongly about continuing our mission of the past five years to get rid of all our extraneous material belongings. Brian has been busy cleaning out and organizing since we arrived in Seattle; our goal is to reduce the amount of stuff we have by 50% between now and June. So far so good, but in order to accomplish this goal we also need to reduce the flow of stuff into our lives.

Since both of our families are making the trip out to Seattle to be with us this Christmas, we thought this would be a great opportunity to begin a new tradition of making the holidays about spending time together instead of about consumption. Since we’re all adults, we often buy the things we want for ourselves throughout the year anyway, which sometimes makes the holiday shop-a-thon more of a burden than a joyous occasion. I would rather buy gifts for people when I’m out and about and see things they’d like, and give them the gifts just because, than buy gifts at a certain time of year because society says I should. I really feel like the holiday season has become too commercial and I don’t want to feed the monster. Additionally, gift-giving and receiving has lost some of it’s charm as we’ve gotten older due to over-reliance on gift lists. While we often do surprise each other with creative gifts, a lot of the holiday shopping is based on lists that everyone makes of the things that they want. Sometimes, the gift exchange feels too much like just going through the motions and can lack the meaning and feeling that make giving and receiving special. Shopping from a list does ensure that I always give people things they want, but in many ways I miss the challenge of thinking of the perfect gift for each of my loved ones.

In November we proposed the idea of a gift-free Christmas to our families. Some of them were into the idea and we agreed to simply enjoy spending time together this holiday season rather than buying each other gifts. Some of them were not into the idea at all and we agreed to go ahead with the gift exchange with those family members. While we wanted to stick to our principles and go 100% gift-free, we felt like like we were ruining Christmas for some of our favorite people every time we asked to not receive gifts this year. Part of enjoying the holidays is spreading joy, and we didn’t want to take anyone’s joy away, so we’re doing a partially gift-free Christmas. I feel good about our decision. Finding a middle ground that works for everyone is better than getting my way at someone else’s expense. Besides, maybe next Christmas we can direct the gift-giving towards the baby instead! And please don’t remind me that Brian and I will still be responsible for dealing with all the baby’s stuff at the end of the day!

Last Thursday was really sunny. I took the morning off from work to take care of some things, one of which was a walk with Cooper through our neighborhood. I am supposed to be walking everyday, but have had trouble doing so either because of “morning” sickness (mine lasts all day) or lack of time. With my commute, my workday is over 10 hrs, and then with all the extra sleep I need to fight the pregnancy-induced exhaustion I’ve been experiencing, I barely have time to shower and eat. Additionally, we don’t have much daylight here in Seattle and I often commute both ways in the dark. So, it was a real treat to be outside with Cooper during daylight hours, especially on a sunny day!

Marina at Golden Gardens with the Olympic Mountains in the background.

Electric car getting a charge (that’s the tip of Cooper’s tail in the foreground).

Even in the winter, plant life remains lush here because it’s so damp and rarely freezes.

Some people in our neighborhood have really incredible views from their homes.

I liked the look of these few red leaves left on the vine. This shot is even better with a dog silhouette and the shadow of my hand, don’t you think?

Artichokes!

Dahlias! Still blooming in December, and the blooms are almost as big as my head.

Soaking up the sun post-walk. I think the gray days get him down because whenever the sun comes out he just has to be in it. He sat like this for about 15 minutes and then got up and drank an entire bowl of water, a process that was repeated three times. After the final round he curled up next to me on the couch and passed out. Yes!

Brian and I are very excited to announce that we are expecting our first child in June 2009! It’s no secret that we’ve been ready to start our family for quite a while now, but with all the excitement of the last year (wedding, honeymoon, two moves) we had to put the baby project on hold for a bit. We couldn’t be happier or more excited about the upcoming addition to our little family, though for now we’re looking forward to enjoying the last months of “normal” before our lives are changed forever.

Last week the three of us went on a walk to the overlook in our neighborhood so we could watch the sunset. It was pretty but so cold! When we got home I heard on NPR that it was 45 degrees outside, but the tricky thing about Seattle is that it feels much, much colder because of the dampness. I had on a sweater, shearling boots, a scarf, and my winter coat, but I could have used another layer of clothing, a hat, and some gloves. And because our house is not insulated (ridiculous, I know, and NO, we would not have rented it had we known that in advance), I left my outdoor ensemble on when we got home!

Dramatic sky and twinkling marina.

Slightly less dramatic sky with the Olympic mountain range in the background.

I know this is a really crappy shot, but I haven’t shared too many pictures of our house since we moved (mostly because it is a disaster) and figured this one would do for now. This is what our living room looks like these days. The room is a strange shape with poorly-placed doorways, so we have no idea how to arrange it. For those who are interested, Cooper was laying at my feet staring me down because he wanted his dinner. He was 30 minutes early, I think the fact that it gets dark so early really throws him off.

This post is a bit overdue, but lately I’m finding that time just gets away from me. A combination of not feeling well, spending so much time working/commuting, and the weather. All the rumors you’ve heard that the weather here in Seattle just isn’t so great are true. People keep telling me it’s worth it to suffer through fall, winter, and spring just to experience the Seattle summers, but my opinion is that they are all insane. Why suffer for nine months of the year when you could just live somewhere else?

Anyway, last weekend we made a family trip across town to visit the Warren G. Magnusen dog park, which includes a dog beach, and it made Cooper’s day. I just love to make his day, it’s one of my favorite things to do! It was strange to be at a dog beach in cold weather, since we are used to going only in the summer. We didn’t have our wellies on, so couldn’t walk into the water at all, something we always did at the dog beach in Annapolis. But there were so many dogs there and Cooper was much more interested in running around with them than playing fetch with us, so we didn’t really need to do much beside stand around anyway. After he swam and splashed and chased for about an hour we explored the rest of the off-leash area, which includes several large play areas and a wide fenced dirt walking path that’s about a mile long. It was really fun to be able to walk with Cooper off-leash and not worry about his safety. Photos from our excursion are below for your viewing pleasure. A side note about the photos – I know I keep saying I will start taking real photos and putting them on the blog, but with my lack of time quick iPhone shots are all I can manage lately!

We took a little detour walking from the car to the dog area so we could check out the views.

My gorgeous boy.

It was really misty for some reason even in the middle the of the day.

More mist.

Strange graffiti on an abandoned building in the park.

The dog beach. That’s Brian on the right.

We did get Cooper to pay attention to us very briefly!

Sky views on the way back to the car. It was only 2pm at this point, but doesn’t it look much later? That’s Seattle for you.

Water views and a weird sculpture.

A parking lot! Actually, this shot it supposed to be of Mt. Rainier (that light grayish lump on the horizon) but the iPhone is so wide-angle that it ended up not quite turning out.

I’ve been a bit under the weather recently, which is why I haven’t updated the blog as much. I have taken a few photos, though, which I thought you might like to see!

The view out our living room window; I think this is a cherry tree. This photo is about four days old and the tree now has less than half the leaves you see in the photo.

Brian and Cooper headed down the super-steep stairs that lead to our local dog park.

The dog park was a pit of mud. I am so, so glad that I bought some rubber boots for the wet Seattle winter!

Not a great shot, but I know some of you are craving Cooper pics. This is at the dog park, and he’s got a small football (made of tennis ball material) in his mouth. Brian and I were splattered with mud from head to toe just from sitting on the sidelines as the dogs raced around through the mud pit.

Wet moss and leaves on the way home from the park. The metal edges on the stairs seem like a bad idea for a place as consistently wet as Seattle!

The result of the dog park excursion: a tired puppy who fell asleep with his head on his papa’s shoulder. Yes, Brian realized his luck and was extremely grateful!

The sun is out in Seattle today, which for Mr. Snuggles means it’s the perfect time to take a nap in someone’s lap.

Although it’s damp and cold, I will say one thing for Seattle: it sure is pretty! I was particularly impressed the first few mornings I commuted to work, as the views are all very lovely. Our neighborhood is cute, and my bus route takes me over the water where I get to see boats and hills and, often, dramatic skies. The pictures below were taken during my first few weeks of commuting; now it’s so dark in the mornings that it doesn’t feel like daytime until we get about 20-25 minutes into my trip.

The corner where I stand to catch the bus.

Looking across the street while waiting for the bus.

I see the same school bus everyday, it comes a few minutes before my bus.

Looking west while heading south over the Ballard Bridge.

Another view to the west from the bridge; Ballard Marina in the foreground, hills of Magnolia in the background.

Sometimes I sit on the other side of the bus! This is the view to the east from the Ballard Bridge.

View of the Space Needle as we enter downtown.

Looking south down 3rd Ave. Safeco Field is way down at the end of the road there, with the sun shining on it.

Friday after work we stopped at Easy Street Records to see The Black Kids play a free show. It was a very spare acoustic set, almost to the point of being a cappella, and it was incredible! I liked them okay when I heard their recorded stuff, but they really shine during a live performance. A highlight of our outing was seeing incredible sunset views of downtown and Mount Rainier from the top of Queen Anne after the show. Mount Rainier is just to the right of the Space Needle (above the top of the apartment building) in the photo below. Then, on our way home, we stopped at the overlook in our neighborhood to see the sunset – the water is Puget Sound, and the Olympic Mountains are in the background (and that marina that you see is just south of Golden Gardens park for those who like to map this stuff). But wait! It gets better – we were home by 7pm and still had time to catch up on Heroes (are the writers for this still on strike? It’s so weird this season!) and The Office before turning in early. A pretty perfect night!

Jessica is happy to have a hot cup of soup.