A beautiful morning

We had a beautiful morning hiking with friends out at Tiger Mountain. Anne picked up Holly, Genevieve, Bexar, and me and we went out for a morning hike. The forecast showed rain all day long, but we didn't get sprinkles until we were getting back into the van. It was a lovely morning and perfect for hiking. We did an easy trail since Holly was carrying Genevieve on her back...one word - Superwoman! We wound up walking on the marsh trail, which thankfully wasn't very marshy. There were bunches of different berries; we know they were different because Anne sampled all of them. :) We saw slugs, a couple of snakes (which Anne tried to play with), a chipmunk, and a few birds. Bex played with a Shorthaired German Pointer for a couple of minutes; they were such good playmates! The trail needs some cutting back in places, but all in all, we had fun and only saw a couple of other people. We wound up making a big loop and coming back on Bus Trail, walking a total of a little over 4 miles.

We had worked up an appetite and thankfully, Holly was prepared. She brought a whole spread of food including almonds, sunflower seeds, crackers, cheese, salami, cherries, apple juice and more. We snacked under the pavilion until we were full and the skeeters chased us back into the van. A quick stop by Starbucks helped to wake us up for our afternoon of cleaning. It turns out that all of us need to clean!

What a wonderful way to start off the day! The Lord is good.

A little encouragement

A quick card for a friend needing some encouragement during tough times.

Blog lurking

And boy did I score 2 big ones today. I love love love their websites. http://shabbychickjunk.blogspot.com/
http://www.pinefeather.typepad.com/
They have both really inspired me to keep on the lookout for junk. Maybe I'll start at my own house...LOL! Let me see what I can turn some things into. :-)

Off to walk the dog and get my day going...I've putzed around for almost 3 hours already, reading, finding recipes, and blogging. The faster I get my chores done, the more time for crafting and looking for some junk to alter!

Happy blog lurking!

Lazy weekend

Our lazy weekend was full of movie-watching, reading, hot-tubbing, and stamping....basically recovering from our pains. Nathan tweaked his neck during yoga one night last week and had a huge knot with pain shooting from his neck down to his shoulder...not fun. I am still recovering from my hurt back. I'm ready to walk and I've got a Tiger Mountain hike with the girls (Anne & Holly) this week, so I've got to be ready. This weekend we're planning on checking out the trail to the PCT from Snoqualmie, a trial run of the first day of Nathan's mancation. Hopefully the snow is melted...

For today, I've got lots to clean up, as my stamping stuff is everywhere! I made a couple of cards this weekend, which was fun. The latest are these simple grad cards. I was going for cute simplicity. These are SO late, but I'm still sending them...Well, off to clean!

I didn't have a sentiment that I liked, so the writing is hand-written. I doodled on the cap and around the edges. On the insides, I included a bow made of black & white plaid ribbon. It helps to girlie it up a little, but I wanted to keep it simple...something I'm not used to doing!

Movies

Lately, I haven't been playing WOW, so I've filled my time with other unproductive things...such as watching movies. This all started when the Blockbuster guy convinced me to try Blockbuster Online. I think it was one of the most sensible things we've done; our movie rentals have increased while the cost has decreased!

A few recent rentals that I have really enjoyed were:
"Sense & Sensibility"- Loved it, loved it, loved it!
"Facing the Giants" - A "football" movie that is mostly about living out your faith. Although tempted to shut it off at the beginning because of the acting, I was so glad we continued to watch it, as it was one of those rare flicks that is morally pure and honors God.
"Happy Feet" - Cute penguin movie!

These also go great with a bag of popcorn and a pop!

Just stamping today

I've been in a stamping mood today and have made a couple of cards. This pig card was inspired from the ribbon. The ribbon is adorable, but I had a difficult time matching my cardstock and inks to it.

My niece, Madison, is turning 7 tomorrow. This card did not turn out as cute as I wished it to, but I think she'll like it. Although you can't see it from the scan, I put another set of wings on top and made them stick out. The wings and wand both have purple glitter. Again, not the best I've ever done, but it's glitzy, girly, and glittery - just like Madison!

Cards for our hero

Our hero (and BA's fiancee) was deployed to Iraq earlier this month and will be there at least a year, maybe more. Well, as friends and supporters of him and all of the troops, we're on a mission to make some cards for him. We hope it will brighten his day.

Wendy came up with the idea of making challenges so we could get the ball rolling. I have a difficult time coming up with masculine cards because I love the girly stuff. I had a lot of fun making this card and with Wendy's challenge, it enabled me to make choices quicker and go with them. I wasn't second-guessing myself so much. This wasn't my original idea for the card, but I really like how it turned out. I hope BA & Adam like it too!

Challenge #1

Stamp set: A Little Love (on page 84 of SU catty)
Colors: Brown, White, and a color from Bright Bolds
Accessories: at least one type of accessory, whether it be ribbon, brad, glitter, sticker, etc.

The square is punched out of the front so the dog, saying, and doodling is all on the inside. The heart "charm" is made of paper and says "Miss you." Ideally it would dangle straight down, but just getting the card straight on the scanner is challenge enough! The inside reads "Me too!"

Google Reader

I just stumbled across Google Reader...wow, it's awesome! I was able to "subscribe" to most of the blogs that I stalk, so each time they add something, it shows up in my reader and I don't have to check them all individually. This will work for anything that has a feed. :) So, if you've got Google...enjoy!

Happy Late Birthday to CODIE!

Sorry Co-Co; I'm working on your gift. Of course, it's hand-made and not finished. Okay...it's planned but not started... BUT I'm going to work on it today. :(

I still haven't sent graduation cards...or father's day...I'm VERY behind!!

The Angry Neighbor Lady

You know, the one who grunched at you when you were young and partying into all hours of the night...the one you hated...

Well, I became her on Saturday night. As you have just read, we had a very long day, and climbed into bed at around 10 pm. The neighbors had a few friends over and were quite loud while outside smoking. I was so exhausted, you would think I would have slept right through them, but at 2:10 am, they were so loud, they woke me up. Our walls are thin and our bedroom, although on the 2nd floor, is by their back patio. Well, a few of them were outside smoking, talking, and laughing VERY loudly. I laid there for about 30 minutes, steaming mad because I was exhausted and couldn't sleep because of them. Finally, I had enough. I raised the window and loudly (because I had to get their attention) said, "Hey! Can y'all be a little quieter; I'm trying to sleep." The obnoxiously loud girl replied, "Oh, we're sorry." I said, "It's okay. {Which it wasn't -because if it was, I wouldn't have said anything.} Thank you." I closed the window and got back into bed. They actually got quieter and I was able to fall back asleep.

Nathan couldn't believe I did it; I couldn't believe they were so loud I had to do it. LOL - I guess I couldn't believe I did it either. At least I gave Nathan some chuckles all day Sunday!

Blanca Lake

Well, Blanca Lake was an adventure. The first and closest road (63) was washed out from last winter's floods, so Nathan navigated us to the next road (65) to go around the long back way. We already knew we were going to have to hike to the trail head from the road, we just didn't realize which road they were referring to. We got there sometime in the late afternoon and walked to the trailhead just to see what it was like since we had no idea what to expect. The closed road was littered with scat (not sure of the animal), but it seemed something had made a trail out of it. The devastation was quite impressive and the third scramble was a little challenging with packs on. Because we arrived a little later than we wanted to hike up and find a spot, we decided to stay at a campsite just down the road that we had passed on the way in. It was situated along a beautiful river. It was absolutely gorgeous. The bugs were out but not in full force yet, so they were manageable. When we arrived, we scored a hatchet under some split wood around the fire ring, but the wood was too wet and we never got a campfire going. :( I set up the tent with the sleeping pads and bags and then got dinner on. We had beef stroganoff from the package, and man was it awful! But it was warm, so I ate up. As the evening wore on, the meal disagreed with us more and more and we just about suffocated ourselves to death in the tent during the night! After washing dishes and getting everything put back up in the truck, we got into the tent to escape the gnats and skeeters. I was so sad that we had to leave Bexar in the back of the truck throughout the night and Bex was too. :( I hate leaving him anywhere...I know...I'm lame! We took the small snow tent since we thought we were backpacking so there was no room for him in the tent. We had a restless night of tossing and turning and an early morning, getting up at 4:45 am. It was somewhat overcast and once we got up and about, fixing a warm breakfast of oatmeal, it began to sprinkle on us. We took our time washing dishes and getting packed up and headed over to start hiking. Thankfully, we didn’t have to carry everything in our backpacks, as mine was too heavy considering my lack of energy that morning. A park ranger had stopped by our camping spot the night before and informed us that there was snow on top of the mountain, so I opted for my heavy boots, as I wanted warm, dry socks and feet. Bad idea…I hadn’t hiked in my big boots in a very long time. I had forgotten how heavy they were and it didn’t take long for them to start rubbing blisters on my heels. We began walking to the trailhead at 7:26 am. The trail began with a jaunt through a lot of old growth and proceeded into a ton of switchbacks up a mountain. Because the road accessing the trailhead has been closed since last winter, the trail was littered with several downed trees, which made the going even slower. It rained on us the entire trip, so I just left the camera in the bag on the way up. The trail was quite steep and difficult with tons of exposed tree roots, which were slippery when wet. As we neared the top, we began to hit patches of icy snow. I slipped and caught myself, but when I did, my knee went one way while my body went the other. This caused quite a bit of pain, but after a rest, I was able to continue on…even slower! The higher we got, the more snow we saw and the more pain I was in…I wasn’t sure if I was going to make it. We had hiked this far, though, and I was determined to at least get to the top. The lake was supposed to be over the other side of the mountain and I REALLY wanted to see it. Nathan went ahead and scouted the trail because we knew we were very close, but after a few switchbacks, he still couldn’t see the top. The amount of the snow continued to increase and we just didn’t have the right gear for hiking in it. So, because of the trail conditions, the ucky weather, and my exhaustion and pain, we turned around and opted to do it another day. Even if we did make it to the top, we couldn’t have gotten any good pics because it was so cloudy. In fact, we were cloud walkers that day. Shortly after turning around, we ran into another couple with a dog. We were so surprised, but apparently there are other crazy people like us out there! On the way back, Nathan declared that he didn’t care that we didn’t make it to the top because the joy for him was just hiking through the wilderness. I had to agree, although, secretly admitting that my joy was hiking through the wilderness with him and Bexar. I doubt that I would enjoy it that much without them…or maybe at all. Maybe my joy is just being with them, no matter where we are!

By the time we reached the truck, we had hiked about 9 miles in 7 hours (at a snail’s pace) and I didn’t know if I could walk another step. I was exhausted and in loads of pain, with my tummy queasy from the tasty beef stroganoff, my heels rubbed raw (or so I thought), my crushed pinky toes hurting so badly I thought my toenails might fall off, the bottoms of my feet throbbing with pain, my shoulders aching from carrying my pack (although just about empty) and my knee receiving sharp pains when bent 40 degrees or more. Boy, I was a mess! We were both absolutely filthy, soaked in sweat and I stunk to high heaven. I seriously don’t think I stunk that badly when I hadn’t taken a shower in 6 days during the Boundary Waters canoe trip!

All in all, I was glad we did it. I realized I need to get in better shape before trying that trail again and I won’t be wearing the heavy hiking boots anytime soon! We had a good time together, so that’s what counts. :D We also wore Bex out, as he plopped down in the truck the second we returned! He slept all day Sunday & Monday and has been the best snuggler ever! After catching a quick bite at Red Robin, we headed home, changed into our swimsuits, and went directly to the hot tub. We didn’t unload anything, didn’t pass go, and didn’t collect our $200! It felt wonderful…we must have stayed an hour or so, and finally left when we began dozing in the hot tub!!
The good news: we’re both recovered and my knee is fine. I still have a small hiccup in my getty-up, but nothing some time in the hot tub won’t fix!

Off to Blanca Lake

We're off for a backpacking adventure to Blanca Lake this weekend. We've got a medium chance for rain, which I'm really not looking forward to. Hiking in the rain is fine, but backpacking in the rain and getting into the tent already soaked is NO fun for me! It makes it a lot more difficult to get warm...then you've also got a wet "Boof" (Bexar) to consider!

Blanca Lake is a glacier-fed lake, about 4,000 feet up in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. Glacier lakes are known for their emerald green color, which makes them a little more special. This is going to be a tough hike, straight up a mountain with 52 switchbacks (according to another reviewer). To make it even longer, the road is washed out a couple of miles before the trailhead, so we'll be walking a little farther just to get to the trailhead. It will be challenging, but I've been wanting to hike to do this hike since last fall, so I'm ready for it.

Hopefully we won't have any rain tonight and we'll make it into the tent nice and dry. We also may get to see a little snow, which will be a treat. The temps are supposed to be 40/57, so it doesn't sound too bad.

Enjoy the weekend!

May 2007 pics

See May 2007 pics of our Cinco de Mayo party, Tiger Mountain Summit, Shua's coaching of the HS ultimate frisbee team-Raging Safari in a Bellingham tourney, our hike up Poo Poo Point Trail, and the Pentecost Feast and Dance.

Fun with Mom & Eddie

Friday, June 8, we got up at 5:00 am to take the Anacortes ferry to Friday Harbor. We got there just in time to see the earlier ferry take off. We parked the car and waited, walking onto the ferry with all of our gear. We had tons of room to move around and it was a very pleasant ferry ride, I think taking around an hour to get there. Friday Harbor was a quaint island town with lovely shops and restaurants. We checked in and only had about 30-45 minutes to eat and get back down to the dock for boarding, so upon the owner's recommendation, we trudged up the hill to "Kings Market". We thought it was going to be a sandwich shop, but quickly found out it was a grocery store. I'm thinking he (or a family member) must have owned the joint, seeing as how we passed several burger shops/cafes on the way there. We got some expensive grocery store sandwiches, clam chowder, chips, and chocolate and headed back down to the dock to eat at a picnic table there. After slurping down our food, we walked down the dock, admiring all of the yachts and sailboats, and even listened to a high school orchestra providing some beautiful seaside music. By that time, it was "all aboard" for The Odyssey, the whale watching boat. The boat (somehow) holds 97 people, but thankfully we only had 28 on our cruise. We moved around freely, at times enjoying the cool sea breeze and then heading in to warm up in the cabin. The cruise was 4 hours and we saw the "J" pod of whales, totaling about 25 swimming up and down the coast line. One even breached for us, making a big splash, the latter of which I got on camera. We didn't actually see the entire pod of 25, but we saw several, including a mother and calf. It was so cute, surfacing right after its momma every few yards. They were beautiful. We even saw a few seals basking in the sun and a bald eagle perched in all its glory on Eagle Point while trolling back. None were in camera-shot, but they were brilliant through the binoculars. We were exhausted by the end of the day, and a little pink from the warm sun. We were very blessed with a gorgeous day.

Saturday, we took our time getting up and eating breakfast before we headed off to Tulalip Casino. It was a drizzly and overcast day, so this was the perfect day to go. Nathan played a little poker (which he hadn't done in ages) and walked away with $225 more than he went in with. I played the slots a bit and eventually won $3 over what I started with, so all in all, it was a good day. Mom and Eddie weren't so lucky, dropping some coinage in the slots, but I think they had fun, despite their loss.

After church on Sunday, we ate sushi, which was quite an experience for mom. She said it wasn't as bad as she thought it was going to be, but she didn't eat much and I don't think she'll try it again! Unfortunately, the sushi wasn't very good, so she didn't get a great taste for her first try. :( The weather was gorgeous, so we made our way out toward Issaquah to try to find our way to the road that goes up to Poo Poo Point. Our internet (plus phone and cable) was out when we returned home on Saturday, which was puzzling. We found out on Sunday that the neighbors had installed Dish Network on Sat and he had ignorantly disconnected our service. The Comcast guy fixed us up first thing Monday morning and mentioned the "dish network guy" before I could tell him. Apparently this happens frequently. Anyway, with the internet out and the atlas in the truck, we had to rely on unreliable people to get us to the road...which never happened. We finally happened upon the field where the paragliders land, so we stopped in and went for a short hike up the side of Tiger Mountain. It was a great trail and I was proud of mom and Eddie for making it as far as we did. There were still quite a few slugs out which were cool to see. After working up an appetite, we headed back to Kirkland for our favorite restaurant: Royal India. Once again, this was another first for mom and I think this was a better experience for her. She loved the naan!

Since this was their vacation, they chose to relax on Monday. We spent the day lazily lounging around, watching TV, playing internet poker, eating leftovers, and napping. It was a hard work, but somebody has to do it.

Tuesday was departure day. :( Mom and Eddie got up early and got packed before walking to Starbucks. Once I saw they were up, I went back to sleep, as I still had my headache from Monday. It was a beautiful, clear day and as we drove up to the terminal, we saw the snow-covered Mt. Ranier in all its glory. What a beautiful send-off. As of last night, they barely made it into Atlanta, their scheduled layover because of a bad storm. Their flight to Austin was cancelled, but thankfully, Nichole lives there (Eddie's younger daughter), so they were able to spend time with her before their flight this morning.

I'm glad they finally got to come. We had a fun time together. :)

Catching up

Since mom & Eddie have been here, we've enjoyed picking veggies at the Kirkland Farmer's Market, going on a tour (and desserts) at Redhook Brewery, visiting and touring Ste. Michelle Winery, and catching up on lost time!

Tomorrow is whale watching from Friday Harbor. This should be a wonderful experience!

Free Root Beer Float Night at Sonic - June 7

Here's a heads up for all you SONIC Cruisers® out there. Thursday, June 7, 2007, is Free Root Beer Float Night. At the stroke of 8 p.m. up until midnight, anyone who visits a participating SONIC® Drive-In can guzzle down a complimentary 10-oz. Root Beer Float. Just hit the red button and say, "Gimme a free float!" Make a meal out of it if you like, but the sweet treat is on us. Tell your friends. Bring the fam. Spread the word. Because when darkness falls, it's free floats for everyone on the lot.

http://www.evensweeterafterdark.com/

Unfortunately, there aren't any Sonics within 150 miles of us! :( So sad...I love Sonic and miss their drinks and onion rings.

This is the day

I've been so excited for this day for a while now...mom & Eddie are finally coming to visit and I can't wait. They get in very late tonight and they're here for a week. We've got a bunch of fun things planned. I'll keep ya posted on the events.

WOO-HOO!!

WTA Trails Workdays

Read about our weekend (June 1-3) near Glacier, WA and the workdays with the WTA here: http://www.mwit.zoomshare.com/2.shtml