Visit to NM

Have had every intention to post this a while ago, but somehow life always got in the way. I've done a lot of looking back at where I've come from, and where I am now. I never would have imagined I'd be in the place I am right now, and yet its the absolute best thing that ever could have happened. I love living here, with  my sister (so she's not here much but still) and to get to be a part of her life and start living my life the way I need to. Okay okay, enough with the sappy stuff.


I had an AMAZING time visiting everyone back in NM at the end of June/beginning of July. I got to spend a ton of time with my nephews who mean the world to me. I miss them every day and wish I could be more involved in their lives. To my friends who took the time to see me and hang out and have a beer or coffee, thank you. I can't begin to explain how much you guys mean to me. I can think of a few people in specific who have been nothing but wonderful to me over the past year or two, and I'm lucky and blessed to have you guys in my life. Times have been rough since moving and a few of you have really helped me through it (shit this is sappy too- okay time to actually wrap up with it all). All I can say is I love you (P.J. and Pam, Sara, Sea-bass, and so many more) and thank you!

As most of you know by now, I am actively seeking a Navy lifestyle. I have spoken with a recriter, taken the ASVAB (grrr to my sister and brother for having higher scores, even with my amazing 93 they make me feel dumb, lol!) and am now awaiting medical clearance. Fingers crossed it all goes okay. If so then soon enough I will be a Navy sailor. My parents are proud, as is my sister, and that's all I can ask for. This new chapter in my life will be one to remember! I'll keep everyone updated once I know more!

Back to my original reason for posting (besides to rant away!)
I soaked up the sun and took lots of pictures while I was at my "home-away-from-home" in NM.

This is the 4th of July run they do pretty much every year. I was the first race I ever ran 7 years ago and that day made me fally madly in love with races (sorry boys- running (besides soccer) is my first true love). I was so proud and happy that all 6 of us (My sister, mom, dad, nephews and I) ran the 5K together. And of course were decked out in "Navy" attire sporting "Nauman" on the backside, courtesy of my fine craftsmanship and artistic abilities, lol.

My mom had time off because of the 4th of July and it gave us the time to take the boys to the zoo! I feel especially blessed to have these two boys in my life.

This is the neighborhood my parents live in, it has an awesome park just a few blocks away and my mom and I took the boys to enjoy the NM heat.

And this is the newest memeber of the Nauman household, the new puppy Widow. She's a blue heeler and a pain the butt with her loud barks and hyper puppy ways. But she gives killer kisses

I still can't believe where I was 2 years ago, and where I stand today. Living in Washington state, happy as ever and just enjoying being 22. I'm young and have so much to look forward to!!

Airport

As I sit at the airport waiting to board I think back to the past 5 months that have lead to where I am sitting now. Its been an uphill battle the whole way, but I couldnt be happier that I am  here.
I think about all of my friends I have missed and my family of course. I am extremely excited and anxious to see everyone again, so much has happened in the past few months and I feel like an outsider to the place I called home for 13 years. Now I call Washington home, for now at least. All of the difficulties and hard times have just made me a better person and I look forward to all the other experiences- be they good or bad- life has to offer. Never had I imagined a year ago that I would benwhere I am today, and wh I am today.
Looking forward to the next two weeks in New Mexico! Let the sunshine, soccer, running and reminiscing begin!

Life- The "Evergreen" Way

Well I've slacked a little on posting blogs, but things have been crazy so here's all the updates...
I've been in Washington for about 5 1/2 months now, and it feels like home. Not in the sense of "I want to live here forever and I'm 100% happy" but I'm making the best of everything, and I've become accustom to living in the "never sunny" state (okay so the motto is "The Evergreen State" but we all know its only that way because its constantly raining and almost never sunny). Any ways- besides being in a new state hundreds of miles from what I called home for the past 13 years, I'm experiencing a new way of living, and its called living alone. My sis and her boyfriend, plus our new roommate Kyle are NEVER home. Well not never but enough to make it feel that way. I got to go on the Tiger Cruise last week which was the best thing ever, and I got to see my parents and spend a lot of time with my sister. But outside of that I rarely see any of the 3 other people living in the same house as me.

This is the 4 of us (me, my sister, my mom and my dad) in San Francisco after the Tiger Cruise (such an amazing trip I can't even begin to explain it). The very top picture is my sister, dad, and mom during the USS Nimitz - also during the Tiger Cruise. Again- can't even explain how awesome of an experience that was and I'm so happy I got to be a part of it!

At the end of this month I'm visiting good ol New Mexico for 2 weeks! Which will help with the next 2 1/2 months since everyone living here will be underway (mini deployment) and I'll be home alone the entire time. (No I still don't have a boyfriend or anything so I'm mostly alone)

Don't get me wrong, moving here was the BEST decision I've made in a long time. I love my sister and I couldn't be happier that we are getting to spend this time together. I've missed her dearly since she moved 5 years ago. Its just a huge change, and I'm lucky I have my friends back home to help me out (especially Pam (even from Turkey!) and Sara Heffern- love you guys!) and my new friends here in Washington. Couldn't do it without all of you!

And Dora- if you're reading this- marry Dan, he's pretty much perfect for you!

And Dan- although I doubt your reading this- marry Dora, she loves you more than life.

Washington-ian

Well I've lived in Washington for 3 months now, and besides having to wait another week to get a new drivers license, I feel like a real Washington resident. Of course that means that I'm aware of all the differences between Washington and New Mexico:

Its GREEN (and I'm not talking about chile)-

New Mexico is a pretty state but it has nothing on Washington when it comes to greenery. Of course this is due to the constant rain which I am becoming quite accustomed to (never thought rain boots would be part of my daily footwear) so no matter where I drive its always green- and that's a pleasant sight to see.

There's coffee EVERYWHERE-

Its a very common thing to see little coffee "stands" set up in just about every parking lot. Its really cool that Starbucks isn't my only option for coffee anymore when I need a quick fix. I enjoy being able to stop by (they all have drive through) and get yummy coffee for cheap (much cheaper then Starbucks). Its something I'll miss when I leave Washington for sure.

There's no Dions,TGIFridays, or hot air balloons-

This is one area that Albuquerque has Seattle beat. Although there's lots of good food places that NM doesn't have- I miss Dions and TGIF (mostly the happy hour- didn't really eat the food much). I really miss seeing hot air balloons in the early  mornings too, and its sad to know I won't be able to make the Balloon Fiesta this year :(

The beer/liquor selection is pretty different-

I guess this wasn't really a surprise since I'm 1500 miles from home. New Mexico had some good breweries that I miss seeing at local bars and restaurants, but I am lucky to get to try all the new local beers on tap (Pyramid Hefeweizen is my favorite so far).  The coolest thing is to see Aha Toro Tequila at almost every place I go to- its much more popular here.

The traffic SUCKS-

No matter what time of day or week. There's HOV lanes which help- just not me since I'm always driving alone. Luckily the people here know how to merge, and drive in traffic. I've noticed there's very few accidents (unlike ABQ where a 3 car pile up on Coors was your average morning). Although there's a lot more traffic, people aren't as horrible of drivers- controlled chaos in a way. Oh and the "metered ramps" are something I'm still not used to (only used during busy times of the day to help like 6 lanes merge into one before merging onto the highway). Its a weird system that takes some getting used to.

Photography- Seeing the world through my eyes

Photography has always been a love of mine, and although I have never made it a professional career, I take any chances I can get to snap away pictures of my surroundings.

Now that I live in a completely new state (miles and miles from New Mexico) I've rediscovered my passion for photography. Washington is such a beautiful state (now if only the traffic didn't suck so badly) and I jump at the opportunity to take photos of its architectural beauty. In particular I have become fond of Seattle, and its amazing buildings, plants, and art. Its nothing like New Mexico, and while that still saddens me a little (I miss home) I love the opportunities it has given me for photography and in life.

Although I don't much care if I ever do become a professional photographer, I would never turn the opportunity down. But for now, I'll just keep snapping away at everything that intrigues and inspires me. Hopefully life after Washington only allows me to discover new things and capture still frame moments with my amazing camera (huge thanks to my parents for buying it for me a few Christmases ago).

I'd like to now use my blog as not only a place for distant family and friends to read about my adventures of life (or lack there of for the time being) but also to display my pictures that I am proud to have taken because they bring joy to my life. More to come soon!

Seattle

 Washington is starting to feel more like home. The weather has changed and is now perfect for running and biking and wearing dresses!

 
I hadan interview in Seattle this morning and I got a chance to venture around Seattle Center a little bit and it was really fun. I've been in this state for almost 3 months and I haven't gotten out to see much. Here's some pictures that I thought were cool from Seattle.

Once I get fully situated (have a job!) I'm going to do a lot more sight seeing!

Home sweet home

Early February my sister and I finally moved into our new house in Everett. Its a very nice- and old- house that we planned on doing a lot of fixing up to. Here's a few photos of our progress so far.


This is the front of the house (it was snowing that day). I have plans for the front yard once I finish working on the backyard. Its going to look awesome! Oh and our mailbox is about 2 houses away on the opposite side of the street- Everett likes to group mailboxes in sets of 3- its kind of weird...

This was our backyard when we moved in- the tree to the left is staying but the rest is getting pulled and I am planting lots of flowers.

 
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This is all the shrubs and trees to the right in the picture above- after me and my sisters boyfriend (Dan) chopped it all down. It opened up the backyard a lot to let sunlight (on those rare occasions that the sun shines) in. It was a brutal proccess cutting it all down because although you can't see it the non tree stuff was like nature's barbed wire (that's what Dan calls it) and cut up our legs, arms, and fingers (even with gloves on). But we prevailed and the stupid thing is gone!


Although you can't see it in these pictures I'm going to put in a garden off to the right with lots of yummy veggies. Pam's suggestion to start my own garden is what inspired me to take on the whole backyard (thanks Pam!!)

<------------                                                                This is my bedroom, I painted it myself (it was a pain in the ass-I would not suggest anyone try this themselves- just pay someone to do it for you). I'm going to do more work on it still (shelves, a rug, some throw pillows) but the majority of it is done.








Thats all gist of what we've updated. We still have big plans for the house (adding a dishwasher, new kitchen sink, adding counter space, ect) but it feels like a home now.
Did I mention we're getting a pool table sometime soon?? Its all ready for parties!!

It's my party and I'll cry if I want to

I celebrated my 22nd birthday in Seattle with my sister and a bunch of her (and now my) Navy friends. It was a really fun dancing and drinking at a bar called The Frontier Room- until my purse got stolen with my phone and everything in it. Sad birthday present, but at least my sis made me this awesome birthday cake!

I still remember my 21st (somehow) and I wish I could have spent this one with all my friends back home but at least I had new friends here to make new memories with. No one told me however that these damn candles never blow out- so everyone had to help me. I'm just glad we didn't burn the hotel room down :)

All aboard- the USS Nimitz

My sister and her boyfriend are both in the Navy, so they took me and my mom on a tour of there ship. We got to try a bunch of stuff on, and see some cool things (behind us all is the anchor of the carrier- its HUGE).

This is probably my favorite picture, we got to try these on even though we weren't really supposed to. I don't think they're meant to be worn with heel boots like ours but- hey I think its a pretty good look on us.

Blogging it up- take one

Although I'm just now posting a blog, my true adventure started about 3 months ago when I packed up my room and got ready for a 1500 mile trip to Washington. Since then things have been crazy and awesome all at the same time. So here's the story of my great adventures to the state that never shines (okay maybe thats just how it seems to me). On January 26th my mom took the trip with me from New Mexico and it was beautiful along the way. I also learned that you can't pump your own gas in Oregon (and NJ as it turns out) which was really weird for me to have some random gas station attendant do it for me.

But we made it safely to Washington after about 30 hours (pretty damn good considering its almost exactly 1500 miles from Rio Rancho to Bremerton). And then the real journey began.