Pirates Booty Runs an 8K downtown

Arrr. T his was the most fun I have ever had running! Wendy, Evan, Jessica and I (team Pirates Booty) dressed up as pirates this Saturday and ran the 8K Torchlight run downtown. It was hard (lots of uphill), but we did it! THe best thing was that the last mile or so you are running on the parade route. So there are people already on the sidelines cheering you on! ANd lottle kids asking to get your Hi 5! I cannot tell you how cool it was, we all felt like superstars with all the cheering! It really boosts you to keep going no matter how pooped you are. :)I can't wait to do this run again! Here are some pics of our outfits and the run. Yo ho ho.

Kitsap Camping with Mom and Dean

My uncle Dean, my mom and I went camping this weekend. The only place we could make a last minute reservation was at Kitsap Memorial State Park. The campground was soso... but the beach was cool. It looked nasty and boring, but once we got on it we were fascinated by what we saw! For example, this guy!

He is a moon snail and he is huge. I have never seen anything like it! So, there were oysters everywhere, spitting cochells, moon snail eggs, crabs, jellyfish, star fish... it was neat! We also checked out Green Mountain where we had a pretty nice view... it was hazy, but if not so hazy we would have seen Seattle from afar. We had fun camping, our first family trip in a while! Good food too! Biscuits on a stick with raspberry jam, BBQ chicken, potatoes and onions, good breakfasts, banana boats and so on.

Mt Si with Steph! We did it!

Today was great! I got to go on an 8 mile hike up this mountain that has intimidated me since I moved to Seattle, as 4 years ago it was my first hike out here and it totally kicked my ass. It is a pretty relentless climb up! Took us about 2 hours up and maybe 1 - 1 1/2 down. We took some time at the top in the meadow to take flower pictures, which is always super fun. It was a gorgeous day, sweaty at the bottom, but a perfect breeze at the top! And awesome company. Steph is really great, and she is getting married in August! Yay!

American Idol Concert - yes, for real! and it was awesome

I went to see the American Idols with my mom, Dean and my mom. Believe it or not, it was awesome! Each idol did 3 songs, then David A did 4, and David Cook did 5... so we had 10 mini concerts! We all agreed that we would go to a concert with just Michael Johns, Carly Smithson, Brooke White and David Cook. They really are great singers and performers. THe concert was so good, and like 3 hours long, and filled with screaming teenage girls, as you could imagine... so next time I will bring ear plugs. But I do plan on there being a next time. It was well worth it! It took some pics...

My 32 year Birthday Camping Trip

I had such a great birthday this year. My friends and family joined me for hiking and camping and fort exploring and ice cream eating... it really was awesome! Lance, Meri, Wendy and I camped Fridya night at Oak Bay campground, a secret place not far from the already fully reserved forts. We did go to Fort Warden to check out the awesome battery and what nots there. Creepy and fun! Then we had biscuits ona stick and hobo pockets for dinner! The next day Sam, Evan, Jessica, my mom and Dean joined us and we all drove up to Hurricane Ridge, where the views were insane, and we say a bear and a goat off the trail! Crazy! It was just incredible. That night we had chicken in a pot for dinner, pistachio birthday cake drove in from Seattle that morning, and banana boats! Next day Meri, Lance, Wendy and I finally went to the cool train depot place fro some candy and ice cream. I had always wanted to go there. There are incredibly generous with their helpings too! Two scoops is actually too much, if you can believe that! This trip was so great. Everyone really made this a super birthday! THANKS!!

Moving Chris to Redlands, California

Chris got a great job... in Redlands, CA (the jewel of the inland empire, as they say). So, I took a week off

to help move him down there. It actually IS pretty nice there, and hte best part if that Joshua Tree isn't far! So we drove down, with some pit stops on the way to drive through a tree and see GOlden GAte bridge. We had planned on more than that, but the transmission was having issues. So, we poted for a quicker journey. There are some pictures of the apt, as well as the drive down, oh, and of Joshua Tree! What an amazing place!

Road trip to Rewoods and up Oregon Coast

Chris and I went on a nice long road trip to see hte Redwood Forests of Northern California. We drove through big trees, went to an Aquarium, drank beer, and camped a lot. It was awesome. Here are a tOn of pictures to browse through! There are 2 albums to look through, just click on the picture of this super tall tree :).

5ks!

This year I resolved to do a 5K a month. Here we (Patti, Evan, Wendy and I) are at the St Paddy's Dash! Awesome costumes! We also did the Love Em or Leave Em and the 5 mile Tulip Run!!! Go team. Click on this pic to see more pictures from the runs from this year so far. I lvoe these guys!

deception pass and widbey island exploring

chris and i went camping at deception pass state park and then saw a few more parks on widbey island, including a fort. forts are fun!

snoqualmie tunnel

tons of snow atop the sign at the snowqualmie tunnel. chris took me to see the tunnel... closed till May 1st though.

stuff with mom

my mom and i went snowshoeing and then we stayed at a cabin fo rher bday. fun fun fun. wallace falls state park has some nice cabins

Holiday Party!!

Here I am at the Holiday Party that I decided to host last minute on Sat. There ended up being 10 of us and it was awesome. I had a blast... someone even made this Little Miss Sunshine Xmas cookie for me! Then we all had a white elephant. Check out ths pics. Thanks for coming, Evan, Patti, Meri, Wendy, Tracy, mom, Krista, Sameer, and Alex!!!

Heather Lake Snow Shoe!

I went snow shoeing again! THis time Evan got Patti, Allison and me out to Heather Lake. I had actually hiked with Patti a long time ago when we wen tto Lake Serene. It was really good to see her again. And I met Allison and her dog for the first time - and on her birthday even! It was really great to get out there again. We really didn't need out snowshoes until we hiked around the lake... but on the way down Patti and I were determined to keep them on as long as possible! Fun fun fun. 4 miles round trip and pretty easy. Beautiful. It even snowed on us once we got to the lake. Click on pic to go to the album.

Gold Creek Snowshoe - the first of the season!

Evan, Sam and I went on my first snow shoe of the season today! It was so awesome. We went to the standard first time of the season place, Gold Creek, and probably did 4-4.5 miles. We even made Mr. Henry Snow!! Isn't he great!? Click on this pic to see the album! THe bottom part of Mr. Snow took two people to push!

Dec in NH

I decided very lasy minute to go to NH for the weekend to see Tim (who was going in for surgery on Wed and I felt like I just needed to be near him!) and Steph! and my dad! and a bunch of family too!! IT WAS SO AWESOME to but a ticket and be there the next day. Tim's surgery went well by the way! :)

Mt Rainier with Dean and my mom

My mom, Dean and I went to Mt Rainier for a camping trip while my mom was in town (just before she actually moved here!). It rained and we didn't see the mountain, adn Dean was sick so he didn't even get to enjoy the campfire... but the second day was fun. :) It is neat taking people to places I have been a bunch of times and love!

North Cascades Road Trip

Chris and I finally did our North Cascades road trip! We went all the way to Twisp and then back. I have actually been up there once before, but Chris never has. The town of Winthrop is really cute. We also checked out the interesting town of Concrete breifly to stop at the restroom that was too scary to actually use. Then we got to camp at the highest in elevation campground in Washington! Hearts Pass. COLD!

upper palisades lake in mt rainier NP

Chris and I took the day to go to Mt Rainier NP and see the wildflowers today. OH! It was awesome! THere were so many flowers, so many colors. Plus it was a foggy day which added this really cool magicalness to it all. It was awesome. An easy hike too!

A good day

Today was a good day!

Chris and I went to breakfast at Julia's first. We had a coupon for $10 off of $30, so we got tons of food to readh the $30 mark and stuffed ourselves silly. Buckwheat apple and cinimon pancakes are super good! Plus I like going out to eat with my man, it is fun. :)

Then, I got to go geocaching with Evan, Ginger adn two new fols I met, Christy and Jen. We went to Carkeek Park, which I hadn't been to in a while. It is a really nice park, with trails all over and big grassy field overlooking the sound with a view of the Oylmpics. Quite nice. We found 2 of the 4 we looked for. But I was most excited to have finally placed the "travel bug" that my mom and I found in NH in Feb. Red the Fireman! I also picked up sweet "tour of Ballard" picture TV thing from, I suspect, Archie McPhee's, the BEST place for geocaching trinkets! Sadly, I didn't bring my camera.

After, again, SADLY I didn't bring my camera, we, Chris and I, went to the Ballard Seafod Festival where we saw the now-famous fisherman from The Deadliest Catch! That was pretty neat! Pretty neat indeed. Any of you seen that show? Chris loves it so I have seen it a few times. Sig Hansen and Phil Harris where there for example! I thought it might be cool to get their autographs, but the line was a bit long and we wanted to eat!

i was sad when i went to fairs on the west coast and discovered apple crisp was not a staple food like it is at the fairs in NH.... but I have discovered that apple dumplings are, and MAN are they delicious! mmmmmm, apple dumplings.

chris was happy to find crab cakes and a crab quesadilla, i was happy to find chicken gyros.

and then i spent over $200 at Fred Meyer - that past wasn't so good necessarily. that may be the most i haev spent there yet... but at least i finally got a cokie drying sheet and a brownie baking pan!

and now... and now... i get to begin reading the last book of the harry potter series! yes, i got it last sat, but i had to finish reading The Kite Runner first! (a book i recommend for sure!).

book binding!!!!!!!

I knew I would love it, and I soooo did. I have been so fascinated by handmade books for years and I finally took a class on it! Simple Stiched Books for now. It is so easy and so fun! This is the third book we learned how to make. I hope to take the next class - book binding with glue! I am so excited.