Brothers gotta hug.

The end is coming. 

Katie and Cameron Fun Days will soon resume.

Seattle Zoo.

Wedding date.

Fittingly the last I saw him was in a Cafe Rio parking lot.

Go big or go home.

One should put thought into a first date outfit. 

One should consult with those who know them best. 

One should, in fact, make a bigger deal out of this than one should. 

And one did. 

This is how one consults with Utah, without a full length mirror. 

One went with black. 

New Fave

Have this on repeat, now I'm sharing with you.

Enjoy.

Slow, but steady..

I'm furnishing my place, slowly. 

There's almost nothing on the walls and barely any furniture. 

Check it out:

The curtains I hemmed today and part of my very own new couch.

The hallway picture row.

My miniature dining table.

My bedroom has the most furniture it in.

Half of my red, white and black all over kitchen.

Work hard, play hard.

Things I've done since to arrival to the Seattle Area:

had real dim sum

aerial yoga class

ate a vegan cupcake

put gum on the gum wall

explored downtown in the rain

planetarium light show
ice skating

ferry rides

became first aid trained

played "tour guide" to out of state visitors

cirque du soliel show in a circus tent

flower shopping at pike's place

visited Microsoft campus

rang in the new year downtown 

volunteered at the art museum

made a lot of friends.

The Greater Seattle Area.

I dislike it when people say they are from somewhere, but really live 45 minutes outside that city. 

So, to set the record straight, I live in Bellevue, WA. Which is just on the other side of Lake Washington from Seattle, here look:

Those two freeways that go from the Eastside into downtown Seattle are floating bridges, which are pretty cool to drive across. And it's about a 15 minute drive to downtown Seattle from my house.

I work in a big tall building in downtown Bellevue, it's pretty close to where the Bellevue dot on that map is. Now I'm sure you've all heard the stereotype about Seattle. That it's full of dirty vegan hippies and banjo toting hipsters. And that is correct. Don't forget the homeless people. Seattle is broken up into neighborhoods, much like any big city, and depending which one you're in determines how many hipsters you're bound to run into. There are vintage shops, mirco-breweries, gluten-free restaurants, and bike shops all over the place. 

I live in Bellevue. The Eastside.  Birthplace of Microsoft, Bill Gates has a mansion here. Bellevue has the stereotype of people filled with the wealthy stuck-up folk. Which is true. Skyrise condos. Beamers are the poor man's auto. Every public space is immaculate landscaped. And the city just got its first Wal-Mart last year (they were previously forbidden to build within city limits but Wal-Mart struck a deal, it's one of those fancy neighborhood market Wal-Marts, where the employees wear green polos).

These of course are stereotypes, other people live here too. Like me, I'm just happy to soak it all up.

Being alone is not being lonely.

So, I've lived by myself now for nearly 4 months. 

And it's great; expensive, but great. 

Every time I tell someone I live alone, especially people in my ward, I usually get the response, 

"Oh, my gosh don't you get lonely??"

I added two questions marks because that is how concerned they all sound. 

And of course, I tell them, no. 

There's this stigma that if one spends time alone, one must be lonely. 

No way, dude. 

I share a lot of character and personality traits with my father, one blatantly obvious one is 

I rather enjoy being by myself. 

I like having my own space, full of my things. 

I like living alone because I can do what I want whenever I want to, which sounds selfish, but being single and in my 20s this is about the only time I have to be 100% selfish. I like sitting in a quiet apartment and reading a book. I like going out by myself. 

I prefer to go shopping alone. I love to see movies alone. I go out to eat alone, with the companionship of a good book usually. 

I like that I am filling my apartment with things I picked out and purchased, with the exception of some generous donations from the parentals. Thank you. I get almost a sense of accomplishment not only being able to handle living alone financially, but also emotionally. 

Don't get my wrong, I will be more than willing to share space and time again one day, you know, like with a spouse. But not until I buy all the furniture and decor for the apartment so he can't try to weasel in some sort of sports memorabilia or a lazy boy.