Flights of the Valkyrie

Product Review: Almond Yogurt

2012-01-18T09:39:00.004-07:00

I've been eating soy yogurt & granola as part of my breakfast for a few years now, & now that more dairy alternative yogurts are showing up on the market I thought I'd give them a try. First up: almond milk based yogurt.

I buy my yogurt in the big tubs since I eat so much of it, so I figured I'd start out with 24 oz tub of plain 'amande' brand cultured almondmilk from my co-op. When I opened up the tub it was a big solid mass sitting in clear-ish liquid. I was clearly gonna have stir up this entire thing before I could use any of it. It did not come out very smooth, kind a chunky, almost the consistency of cottage cheese. Wait, I brought my nose closer for a sniff. It smelled like cottage cheese! And yes it tasted more like a non-dairy approximation of cottage cheese than of yogurt. I did not look forward to my morning bowl of 'yogurt' & granola for the next two weeks.

I recommend the plain flavor of amande as a cottage cheese substitute. It will give you that consistency, smell & slightly tangy taste. This product could easily be re-branded as such, especially as I have not ever seen a non-dairy cottage cheese on store shelves. Perhaps the vanilla flavor would approximate ricotta? I hope the individual serving size containers stir up to that chunky consistency so that I won't have to buy a big tub the next time a cottage cheese craving hits.

This Vegan Thing, is Totally Happening

2011-12-20T12:05:00.004-07:00

It can be so frustrating, but it is paying-off big time!

Let me start at the beginning. In December of 2007, with lots of encouragement from my long-time-vegetarian-for-health-reasons Mother-in-Law, I took the plunge into vegetarianism not sure how long it would last. I had been meat averse for a long time but never taken a firm commitment to the diet. A vegetarian co-worker of mine was excited for me & very encouraging. She mentioned that the first 6 months was the hardest, so I figured I'd stick with it that long & see how I felt about it in June. I stayed vegetarian for three and a half years.

This summer as I was preparing for my first trip to Europe (many more blog posts on that trip to come soon) I decided that I wanted the ability to experience new cultures through their traditional cuisines. So, I slowly began adding meat back into my diet. I had heard horror stories of vegetarians accidentally being fed meat & becoming rather ill. As I was not raised vegetarian & I still consumed the occasional preferably white only egg & home-cooked salmon, I figured my digestions system still contained the proper enzymes & what have you, in order to prevent that from happening. With the exception of a week long rash after consuming who knows how many different kinds of seafood at a sushi bar, I was fine. I actually did not eat as much meat on the trip as I thought I would & was able to maintain a mostly vegetarian diet, while enjoying some traditional foods. More importantly due to my earlier experiments I was able to travel worry free about consuming, say a soup with hard to translate ingredients & becoming sick.

When I came back to the states I was not sure how my diet would proceed. Although I am not sure why it surprised me to learn this, I discovered I simply found the taste of most meats disgusting. I decided I would stay mostly vegetarian but enjoy the occasional meat I enjoyed such as bacon, or a slice of pizza that also happened to be topped with say pepperoni. One thing I would do while vegetarian, based on a fear of food illness, was refuse a taste of something my omnivore husband offered, simply because it had touched a piece of cooked meat. No more. I felt free to sample things that I wanted to taste without fear of digestive retribution. My decision was bolstered by reading "The Omnivores Dilemma" by Michael Pollan which confirmed that semi-vegetarians could live just as healthily as strict ones. (Although I feel the need to make the statement here that Mr. Pollan's book was not my only source for coming to the conclusion that this could be a healthy lifestyle for myself. While I HIGHLY recommend the book to everyone, it is not the end all be all on the subject of diet.) Then, the incident occurred. I was eating a seemingly innocuous slice of Hawaiian pizza, when what should I sink my teeth into? A bone chip. That was it. My ass is now much more firmly placed on the vegetarian wagon. Yes I will, occasionally try a morsel of something new, but I will no longer be ordering non-vegetarian meals at restaurants.

Now we come around to the vegan part of this tale. I have had a milk allergy for most of my life, my sister, and if memory serves, brother have it as well. In the past several years it has been growing steadily worse & I have done the bare minimum to avoid its consequences. You see I have always had a massive fondness of cheese. This grew when I met my husband & he introduced me to that fact that there are WAY more than 5 types of this particular nectar of the gods. Finally I had to say enough is enough, and I decided to give semi-veganism a try for 30 days. I would not cut out dairy completely, but cut back large quantities at one time. No more cheese or cream heavy dishes, no more meals consisting of wine & cheese, no more cheese & crackers for a between meals snack. I thought that this massive reduction of cheese would allow me to enjoy our pizza & movies 1 night a week with friends. It made it worse. So, I had to cut out pizza all together. I didn't realize how much cheese & dairy I had been consuming until I wasn't anymore. I think that the vegetarian diet especially, is heavy on cheese. When you go to a nice restaurant the vegetarian option is usually something rich & creamy like risotto. or vegetable lasagna. I think that many vegetarians consciously or unconsciously think that because they aren't eating meat they are eating healthier & therefore are allowed to consume more dairy & still be healthier than the average American.

So what was my conclusion after the 30 days? I didn't even notice that the 30 days was up. I just kept finding ways to reduced the dairy in my diet. How do I feel? I feel much more energetic, as if my body isn't wasting energy trying to consume something that is making it sick. Kinda obvious I know, but sometimes I can be so stubborn it takes doing it to see I can. How do I look? So fine! I had been at weight loss plateau for about six months. I am now within three and a half pounds of my end of year goal! In the foreseeable future, I will not be a strict vegan looking for animal byproducts in everything I eat & use but just eliminating the big sources of milk products like cheese, cream or butter based sauces, soups, and desserts; that sort of thing. Now that I am a semi-vegetarian, semi-vegan, weight loosing, high energy machine, I'm looking forward to how this new commitment will affect me.

My WW1 Connection.

2011-05-31T21:40:00.005-07:00

Yesterday was memorial day and today I decided to see what I could find on my Great-Grandfather's Service Record from World War One. Vernon Vain Veysey was less than a week from turning 23 years old in 1915, and thought the US was taking too long to enter the Great War. So, he took a trip across the border into Canada and up to Calgary. After just seconds on the webpages of Library and Archives Canada, I found his enlistment papers for the Canadian Expeditionary Force, which he signed exactly 96 years ago today.

There it all is, in his handwriting! I want to take thank the staff at Library and Archives Canada for taking the time to digitize these documents in order to give not only the citizens of Canada but also of the world the opportunity to feel closer to history & to their families, whom they may never had a chance to meet.

Setting up my Worm Composting Bins

2011-05-11T12:25:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I set up my worm bins for vermicomposting. The first thing was to find suitable boxes. I choose wood.

I found these lid-less wine boxes for 10 bucks each on craigslist. I bought 6. I don't think I'll use them all for composting but I got them while I could. I am starting with 2 & will probably expand to 4 & use the extras for planters.

The next thing I did was add some wood dowels in the corner to reinforce & protect them. I also had to drill holes in the top to allow for air circulation. I used coconut coir as the bedding. I soaked the brick in distilled water in order to protect the worms from chlorine.

In go the worms! Eisenia fetida to be exact.

Here they are all stacked up with the lid on top. For now my strawberry & herb starts are weighing it down, but I'll have to find something else & soon, since I'll be potting them this week.

What to do....

2011-04-11T22:07:00.006-07:00

I went to the fabric store today after dropping off my sewing machine for its annual check-up. I was looking for fabric for a specific project. I didn't find any, instead I bought this:

14 fat quarters bundled up all pretty and matchy-matchy. I have no idea what to do with it: Quilt? Skirt? Something else?

I bought it as an exercise in stretching my design muscles. I always get an idea in my head & have to find fabric to match that mental image. I do not buy fabric without a predetermined project or pattern in mind.

I don't plan on actually executing this project anytime soon, too many UFO's in my brain and in my workroom. It will be fun to see what unfolds.

Massanet's Don Quichotte

2011-03-17T12:47:00.006-07:00

This past weekend I attended my first opera: the Seattle Opera's production of Don Quichotte.

This version is not based on the novel penned by Cervantes, but rather on a play first performed in 1904 and written by the poet Jacques Le Lorrain. This explains the french spelling of the name and why a Spanish story was performed in French, with English subtitles. Massanet began composing the operatic version in 1909 & it debuted the following year.

My familiarity with the story stems not from reading the novel, nor had I even heard of this adaptation, but rather a viewing in my early teens of the Man of La Mancha (1972) starring Peter O'Toole, Sophia Loren, and James Coco. I was puzzled therefore, by the portrayal of Dulcinée not as a tavern wench Don Q has imagined as a courtesan, but as an actual courtesan.

Side note: I have always thought Peter O'Toole one of the most handsome men in cinema & adore all the movies I have seen him in, and yet I find the beard he sports in the beginning of this film combined with his piercing blue eyes especially swoon-inducing.

The use of a live horse & donkey in the opera was astonishing. The sets were confounding as they consisted of literally larger-than-life books & quills in ink bottles. The infamous scene where Don Q fights the windmill he perceives is a giant relied on imagination & familiarity with the tale. The humor injected in the script was barely funny, and the love expressed was lackluster. This production seemed to need a mix of extensive knowledge of the story and its history and yet at the same time complete ignorance in order to be thoroughly enjoyed. Perhaps they were trying to appeal to the widest audience possible. However, despite this strange mix of good & bad aspects, I did have an enjoyable time. This was due in part I most confess to my pre-opera dinner, the champagne, the wine & the brownie. But on a serious note I do appreciate all the time & effort that goes into a production like this by all the cast, crew, orchestra, & other support staff.

Something that bugged me during this opera was the lack of movement by the 'crowd' on stage. Maybe this stems from the fact that I was raised attending and performing ballet. I look forward to attending Mozart's The Magic Flute in May and finding out if this is a normal trait of opera or if this one was particularly 'stiff'.

5K Personal Record

2011-01-20T22:28:00.003-07:00

On Saturday December 18th 2010 I set a personal record. I ran the Santa Runs Tacoma 5K in 26 minutes 29 seconds. It was my second race ever.

Ben came with Rachel and I to act as cheering section and photographer. Which is truly saying something as he is not a morning person. Thanks so much honey! I love you!

Here we are at the starting line, waiting with nervous excitement for the go signal.

You can see the head of the pack running up the hill as the race gets underway.

Just before I reached the base of this hill I shot like a rocket to the finis line. I had planned on doing so at the bottom of the hill, but something came over me before that point & I just booked it.

It turns out, if I hadn't booked it when I did, I wouldn't have run this race a full two minutes faster than I ran my first 5K the Sunday before.

I look forward to running a 5K again in late 2011 to see how much faster I can run this distance.

2011: Goals for a New Year

2011-01-01T14:42:00.005-07:00

Yesterday I assessed how many of lasts years goals I met. I did pretty well. Now it's time to write my list of goals for the new year.

1. Run the Beat the Bridge 8K & beat the bridge.

2. Run the Bank to Bay 10K.

3. Speed up to 10 minute miles.

4. Run a 5K in under 30 minutes.

5. Plant some herbs and a container garden.

6. Blog more, at least once per week.

7. Read More Books & blog my review.

8. Practice music 3 times/week.

9. Have dog well trained on the leash.

10. Learn something fun and new, like skiing.

11. Improve posture.

12. Get down to 120 pounds.

13. Finish kaleidoscope quilt.

14. open Etsy shop.

15. Re-learn garment making & finish at least 1 clothing item for myself.

2010: A Year in Review

2010-12-31T13:18:00.003-07:00

On January 1st I set some goals for the year. Now it's time to look back on them & see how many I achieved:

1. Compete in at least one 5K run. Yes, in fact I completed 2 in December the first one I blogged about here, & I will be blogging about the second one soon.

2. Finish cross-stitch project. Yes, the finished product can be seen here.

3. Make working on my quilt a regular part of my routine (once the cross-stitch is finished). Yes, I have begun sewing regularly in September, and I hope to finish my first soon.

4. Workout consistently. Run/Cardio 3 days/week. Relax with Yoga on off days. Yes, I now run 3 days a week. & I do yoga on occasion.

5. Practice music 3 times/week. No, I was really good about this earlier in the year but recently not so much.

6. Take swimming lessons. Yes, I took lessons for one session in August but I didn't get into the following session, so I haven't done any swimming since.

7. Set up long-term savings account by March 26th, 2010 (Update 3/26/2010: Ben and I have a plan, but need to save a couple thousand more to implement) Yes, got this one taken care of.

8. Have dog so well trained she can be off the leash. No, we just let her out in the yard or play with her to burn off energy so she hasn't been for a walk in some time.

9. Learn something fun and new, like skiing. Yes/No took a quilting class but not much else.

10. Make my life and home greener. Reduce plastics, buy more things second-hand, eat local, eat organic, plant some herbs and a container garden. Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, & Not yet, but currently doing research.

11. Read More Books:
1) The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
2) Buy-ology The Truth and Lies About Why We Buy by Martin Lindstrom,
3) The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch,
4) Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has
Never Seen by Christopher McDougall (Audiobook)
5) Numerous comic books
Hmm, I'm gonna call this a fail, as 3 books, 1 audiobook & some comic books isn't very much for 1 year.

12. Blog more, at least once per week. This makes my 25th post this year, Last year I only posted 13 times. So while it is an improvement, almost double the amount it is not once a week. This is gonna count as a half point.

13. Become more Fluent in French, reading, writing, and conversing. Well I have been working on my foreign language skills, but Spanish instead of French, Ben is supposed to be working on his French

14. Improve posture. No, I haven't really consciously been working on this.

Accomplished: 8 Unfinished: 4 Half & Half: 2

I have found that having this list to check & reassess throughout the year has helped me reach & remember these goals.

My First 5K Run

2010-12-21T21:02:00.004-07:00

I ran my first 5K fun run on Sunday December 12th at the Seattle Jingle Bell Run. It's put on every year by the Arthritis Foundation & this was the 26th year. Seattle's is the largest Jingle Bell run in the country & about 12,000 people ran it this year.

I got up that morning at 4am & the stomach butterflies started almost right away. I left for Rachel's at 5am we drove to downtown Seattle and breakfast at 13 Coins. I had the french toast. Yummy! We made our way to Westlake Center to pick up our packets & change for the race.

Seattle was experiencing a rainstorm and the streets were slightly flooded in spots. We reluctantly left the cover of the sidewalk awnings & made our way to the middle of the street & the starting line. Thankfully most of the race was run on the covered I-5 express lanes. However, the worst part of the race was not the rain. It was the walkers & strollers. You would get stuck behind the walkers and have to maneuver your way around them. The runners pushing strollers had to start during last wave & many were pushed by obviously elite runners. They would mow you down from behind with little or no warning.

Despite all this I turned in a finishing time of 38 minutes 59 seconds. We stretched in the Westlake Center as stores were opening and shoppers were showing up for the day. Overall, I felt a little disappointed in my first race. It wasn't my time, but the dodging the huge crowds of people that made the experience lackluster. The biggest lesson I learned from this race was to avoid races that allow strollers, walkers, & tend to register more than 10,000 participants

Kaleidoscope Quilt: More Fabric

2010-12-13T15:45:00.007-07:00

For the past few months I've been work hard on the quilt I first started at a class I took in September. I have decided I am going to arrange the blocks on the diagonal with lattice work in between the blocks.

On Friday I went shopping for fabric to make the latticework. I found a beautiful green fabric to use at Material Girls in Silverdale. I also stopped at one of my favorite stores: Rochelle's Fine Fabrics in Port Orchard. They had the perfect stripped fabric to use as the border. I bought enough for the quilt back as well. However, I think I may change my mind and save it for a future project.

Return to WA, Day 7

2010-10-23T22:14:00.002-07:00

The last was spent driving from southwest Washington to our new home in Port Orchard, WA, and unpacking the car.

Crossing the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, once called 'Galloping Girtie'

Looking across the water at Bremerton Naval Base.

That night we took the Southworth-Fauntleroy Ferry to West Seattle & spent the night celebrating with friends.

Return to WA, Day 6

2010-10-22T09:23:00.000-07:00

We drove from Newport, OR to Battle Ground, WA on the 6th day. We were headed to spend the night at my parents house & go through some things. The Pacific Ocean was grey & blue & green and the sky was so gloomy.

Eery trees

We stopped at a small town & took pictures of the Ocean:

Here is a 1 second film we took of the waves while fooling around with the camera: hope it works!

Return to WA, Day 5

2010-10-21T16:51:00.006-07:00

Day 5 we drove from Eureka, CA to Newport, OR. It was a long day, lots of photos. I had a hard time picking just a few:

I looked forward to seeing Paul Bunyan & Babe the Blue Ox the entire trip.

It's sad to see how faded they've let the plaque become.

Ben & River

So tall!!

A closeup of our little family.

Me & River

The Northern California Coast

1 state left

the mist was so beautiful

look at how calm that pool is

We saw this random T-Rex statue, it kept us laughing for a few miles.

Pretty fall colors on fun windy roads.

Return to WA, Day 4

2010-10-20T15:02:00.003-07:00

On day four we Left Ben's family in San Fransisco to see my sister in Eureka, CA

Caught the dog in the middle of the yawn

Driving through wine country

Trees!!!

It was a short day for us. We ate dinner at my sister & her husband's and spent time with the nephews.

Return to WA, Day 3

2010-10-19T14:22:00.004-07:00

On the third day we headed up to Navato, CA to stay with Ben's Aunt Mary& Uncle Brett. We passed through San Fransisco and took a bunch of pictures. Here are the best ones I got of the city's iconic landmarks:

Alcatraz Island

Coit Tower

The Golden Gate Bridge

River had her bed set up in the back seat. She was supper interested in what was going on when we crossed all the bridges & I was crazily taking pictures.

We had a wonderful evening eating great food & enjoying good wine with family. The dog had a great time playing with the cousins & running around in the back yard.

Ben & I would love to go to San Francisco for vacation to explore the city. We would also love to spend more time with Mary, Brett, Elsie & Tess.

Return to WA, Day 2

2010-10-18T14:20:00.004-07:00

On the second day of our trip we went shopping after breakfast. The outlet mall was across the street & the Disney store was open nice and early. Ben got a grumpy the dwarf hat, which became a halloween costume along with a red shirt. He also got a beanie cap that had grumpy on it that looked rather dashing, but I think it has since been lost. I got a cute Tinkerbell sweatsuit.

We set back out on the road again north through southern California. You can see the progression of taller vegetation as we get closer to the agricultural area of the state:

That night we stayed in a comfortable hotel in Tulare, CA. When we woke up the next day, the dog had crawled into bed with us. I was greeted with doggy kisses! That sealed it. She started out on the floor every night but by morning was in bed with us.

Return to WA, Day 1

2010-10-17T21:49:00.000-07:00

A year ago today Ben & I began our week long drive to Washington State. We were so happy to be moving back! We were able to take a week & make a great vacation out of it. The first day we drove from Scottsdale, AZ to Las Vegas, NV.

In case you've ever wondered, this is what fall looks like in the southwest; barely a hint of orange.

There are some pretty interesting rock formations in the southwest.

High desert of Northern Arizona.

When the sun sets, the landscape blazes orange.

Hoover Dam at Sunset.

We got to Hoover dam just as the sun was setting. We stopped at the lookout & let the dog stretch her legs. Ben took lots of photos; 95% of which came out blurry.

We stayed at a pretty comfy hotel off the strip, across the street from the outlet mall. They gave us a coupon for the Italian restaurant across the street where we had a decent meal & enjoyed some wine.

Farmer's Market

2010-10-16T14:00:00.004-07:00

Today I biked down to the Proctor Farmer's market & brought back this organic bounty:

1.5 pounds whole hazelnuts $5

1 bunch kale + 1 lemon cucumber + 1 pattypan squash $3.25

1 bunch basil $1.50

1 giant zucchini $0.50

1 bouquet $8

Natures goodness, some sunshine & a 3 mile bike ride/walk, it doesn't get much better than this!

Quilting Class & A New Tool

2010-09-23T11:46:00.004-07:00

Last Saturday I took a quilting class @ Fabric Crush in Seattle. The Class was on how to make kaleidoscope quilts.

The class was excellent! There was just me and one other student so we had lots of space and hands on help from the instructor, who was very kind.

I am so inspired to finish the quilt I started. Even though it is my third quilt, I have a feeling it will be the first one I finish.

These are the blocks I've cut so far.

While we were at the store, we had the opportunity to make use of their Design Wall (by Fons & Porter). It is a felt sheet 60in wide x 72 inches long with grommets along the top to make it easy to hang. The felt is backed with Vinyl that has a 2 inch grid pattern on it to help you place your fabric.

This tool made it really quick & easy to play with orientation of fabrics to decide on the best kaleidoscope for each block. I had planned to hang up a sheet at home as a design wall & use pins to keep the fabric in place. I'm so glad I found this instead. No pins needed! I bought one at the store & put up in my craft area yesterday.

July Cross-Stitch Update

2010-07-19T17:31:00.004-07:00

I didn't do an update last month because I was in the middle of moving. This month I'm doing it early because I've finished!

I just need to do all the outline stitching and it will be ready for... I have no idea what I'm going to do with this thing, but I'll have plenty of time I'm not in a big hurry to finish the outlining.

May Cross-Stitch Update

2010-05-25T22:26:00.004-07:00

I haven't made much progress since April, because I've been cutting out blocks for my quilt.

First Step

2010-04-27T13:14:00.005-07:00

I am starting a new queen sized quilt. This will be my first machine sewn quilt. This is the fabric I picked out:

I spent this morning washing, drying & ironing it all so I can get started. I can't wait!

April Cross-Stitch Update

2010-04-25T21:44:00.004-07:00

I haven't done much in the past month. However, I am almost done with the top and side branches, and the end is in sight. Not a moment too soon. I am starting a new project. More on that later.

A Girl's Best Friend

2010-04-14T21:45:00.009-07:00

On Xmas morning 1995 I was directed to the biggest box in the room and told to open it first. It was .... a puppy! It took me for ever to pick a name for her, I chose Christy. As best as we could tell she was some sort of Border Collie/Black Lab mix. She was born Oct 18th 1995.

I joined the local 4-H club and began training and showing her. Here we are blue ribbon winners at the city fair, a few weeks prior to the county fair.

She was my best buddy growing up. We went everywhere together. Spent hours walking in the woods & fields behind our house. Most of our family vacations were spent camping, and she always went with us.

Here we are "camping" on the living room floor.

Here she is on one of our camping vacations, hanging by the river.

When I went to college I had to leave her with my parents. Then when I moved to Phoenix it wasn't feasible to take her with us. She was 12 years old, and with her thick heavy coat in the heat, it wouldn't be good. Here is a picture of her about that age when she was getting up in years.

When we moved back to Washington 6 months ago, we stopped by and she got to play with our dog. She was thin and her coat was salt-and-peppered. She had even lost her voice and her barks where hoarse and hollow.

Yesterday my dad took her to the vet. She wasn't eating. Over the past few years she had dropped from a healthy 45 pounds to 21. They think she had cancer. She was 14 years and 6 months old, almost to the day.

My First Sewing Machine

2010-04-13T19:55:00.004-07:00

Yesterday I bought this sewing machine. It's a Pfaff Creative 1471 circa 1986.

I spent today playing around with it and finishing a project I was doing by hand. Then the creative juices started flowing and I designed & planned a new quilt. I'll go buy the fabric tomorrow. I was so enthralled I accidentally skipped my run, but I did my pilates video instead.

The dealer I bought the machine from gives free classes for as long as I own the machine. My first class is next Wednesday and I can't wait! I plan to have read the entire manual by then so I can ask specific questions, especially for my new project. Hopefully the single-stitch throat plate I ordered will be in too.

March Cross -Stitch Update

2010-03-25T21:18:00.005-07:00

I haven't posted an update in a couple of months, because something came up. Look what a difference those two months made!

I am hoping to be finished with this project soon.

99 Things

2010-03-04T12:03:00.003-07:00

The idea is to copy the questions and bold the ones that you've done. Add a comment or two if you feel like it.

1. Started your own blog- you’re reading it
2. Slept under the stars – as a kid, man it was cold outside!
3. Played in a band – played the clarinet in Jr. High and High School
4. Visited Hawaii – I so want to!
5. Watched a meteor shower – while camping, and several other times
6. Given more than you can afford to charity – before I was 18 my parents forced me to give 10% of all my money to their church, odd jobs I had, birthday & xmas money, even what I got from the tooth fairy!
7. Been to Disneyland –when I was 4, I don’t remember much
8. Climbed a mountain- I hope to someday
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo- in choir practice, but I wasn’t good enough to perform in front of people
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris -someday
13. Watched a thunder and lightning storm – I’ve seen them in Washington, Indiana & Arizona
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch - I am teaching myself to make quilts
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning – I hope I never do
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty- when I was there she was closed, in fact I think she still is
18. Grown your own vegetables – I did as a kid, I hope to again someday soon.
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train – never even been on a train
21. Had a pillow fight-of course!
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill- who hasn’t?
24. Built a snow fort – I love snow!
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse – of the moon
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset – several of each
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person - twice
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community – I’ve seen them traveling down the highway in their buggies in Indiana, and one hitched at a walmart in Kentucky
36. Taught yourself a new language – I’ve learned several languages,including Latin, Spanish, French, Russian, and a little German, I hope to continue teaching myself more
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied – I don’t think money itself makes you satisfied, it’s the experiences you can buy with money, like a trip to Europe or a comfortable home.
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person – I want to take that corny picture where it looks like you’re holding it up
39. Gone rock climbing - on rock walls, I want to do it in the great outdoors
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt – I was a kid, the smell was awful!
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant – I’d like to someday
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight – not yet
46. Been transported in an ambulance – I hope never
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing – for halibut in Alaska, we didn’t catch anything
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris – one of my biggest dreams
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain – almost every week
53. Played in the mud – it’s always a blast!
54. Gone to a drive-in theater – my first date with my husband was at the drive-in movies
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China – I think it would be cool to hike the whole thing
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class – Kung Fu
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen- does making pancakes at the homeless shelter count?
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching – in Mexico
63. Got flowers for no reason – I love it when my husband does this
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma – I wish I could
65. Gone sky diving – id love to have a chance
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check – nope, and I hope I never do
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy – I’m not that far from my childhood, we’ll see if I keep them
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial – it was night , I’d love to go back
71. Eaten caviar - ewww
72. Pieced a quilt – working on one now
73. Stood in Times Square - yep, wanna see some pictures?
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London – I’ve heard getting a good view is impossible
77. Broken a bone – close, but not quite
78. Been a passenger on a motorcycle – my cousin’s dirt bike, he used to race them
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person - once
80. Published a book – I think that’d be a cool accomplishment
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car – I’ve never owned a car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Kissed a stranger at midnight on New Year’s Eve
86. Visited the White House – something I’d like to do
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating – I used to want to, but not anymore
88. Had chickenpox – yep, got 2 scars to prove it
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous –Charlie Duke (the youngest person to walk on the moon)
92. Joined a book club – does volunteering & working & the library count?
93. Got a tattoo – I want one, but my husband doesn’t like them. One day, I’ll show him.
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit – please no
98. Owned a cell phone - yep, the only phone I have these days
99. Been stung by a bee- a big fat bumble bee

I’ve done 35, not bad for my 23 ½ years, although some of these I would never want to happen.

The End of an Era.

2010-02-24T20:26:00.001-07:00

This is my Great-Grandmother Cecelia, she died this morning at the age of 102. Born in November 1907, she saw many changes in the world. She was the oldest girl of 16 children and lived to see 12 great-great grandchildren.

In this picture she is 3 months away from her 97th birthday. She looks pretty good doesn't she!? The last few years were hard. The last time I saw her, February 2009, I knew it would be my last. In a way I am relieved to see her go because it means her suffering has ended.

In the next few weeks there will be many stories of her long life recalled with fondness.
I hope to share them with you here.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-02-03T22:49:00.002-07:00

January Cross-Stitch Update

2010-01-24T23:47:00.000-07:00

I have actually been making quite a bit of progress of late. Here is how far I have gotten as of today:

At least being unemployed is good for one thing. :)

The Greening

2010-01-20T11:34:00.000-07:00

As you know I am trying to become greener, as in more eco-friendly.

This xmas we only had 2 gifts to wrap. I couldn't see the justification for buying a roll of paper and having it sit around and probably get lost between now and next year. I remembered hat I had lots of brown packing paper from when we moved. But how to make it feel wintery?

Paper Snowflakes!

I just used scratch paper from the printer that I had saved. I buy printer paper that has a high recycled material content. If only I could find tape made from recycled plastics.

I have been replacing the plastics in my kitchen with metal and glass. The first thing I do is look around for used items when I need something. Craigslist, Goodwill & the local antique shop are the closest resources in Port Orchard.

Recently, I went to goodwill and got various sized glass bowls for storing food and dinner preparations. I was even able to find a set of matching 4 oz ramekins! They were even brown tinted glass to match my nice dish set. There were only 7 and I was hopping to find 8 but there was a similarly sized and shaped pink one that I got to complete the set. I even found a dish that exactly matches a set of plates we use everyday. I ended up with 12 bowls at $1 apiece.

I have been saving food jars and lids to store dinner leftovers. The best candidate I've found are pasta sauce jars. They use un-laminated paper labels and just a bit of glue so it washes off pretty easily. One night I made stew and used 2 different forms of protein, one for Ben and one for me. The jars were perfect for storing the leftovers:

Marinated Chicken, Pennsaltuckey stew, and marinated tofu crumbles.

I have been trying to find a way to green up our lunch boxes and here is what I found:

They are made from food grade steel and are dishwasher, but not microwave, safe. The square boxes are Lunchbots. They come divided (duo) and undivided (uno) and in 3 different sizes. I got two uno's and two duo's in the same size. The uno's fit the wide loaves of bread I use for sandwiches perfectly. The uno's came with blue lids and the duo's came with orange lids, I just swapped one of each so that we would remember whose is whose. That way we don't contaminate the meat with the non-meat sandwiches and we only have to wash them on the weekends.

The tiffins are for us to keep in the car to pack up leftovers at restaurants in order to eliminate using plastics and styrofoam.

I was so glad when I unpacked these items and my husband didn't make fun of me, but was actually excited to eliminate waste! Thanks honey!

2010: Looking Ahead

2010-01-01T15:15:00.004-07:00

Yesterday I assessed how well I achieved my goals for last year. Today its time to set goals for the new year. Some of these may look familiar.

1. Compete in at least one 5K run.

2. Finish cross-stitch project.

3. Make working on my quilt a regular part of my routine (once the cross-stitch is finished).

4. Workout consistently. Run/Cardio 3 days/week. Relax with Yoga on off days.

5. Practice music 3 times/week.

6. Take swimming lessons.

7. Set up long-term savings account by March 26th, 2010 (Update 3/26/2010: Ben and I have a plan, but need to save a couple thousand more to implement)

8. Have dog so well trained she can be off the leash.

9. Learn something fun and new, like skiing.

10. Make my life and home greener. Reduce plastics, buy more things second-hand, eat local, eat organic, plant some herbs and a container garden.

11. Read More Books

12. Blog more, at least once per week

13. Become more Fluent in French, reading, writing, and conversing.

14. Improve posture

I am sure that I will be adding to and tweaking this list as the year progresses.

2009: Year in Review

2009-12-31T10:45:00.004-07:00

Earlier in 2009 I set some goals to be completed by the end of the year. I figure there is no point in setting goals if don't try to achieve them and then look back to see how you did. So here are my goals how I did, in no particular order.

1. Complete a 5K Run: No

2. Finish Cross-Stitch: Nope

3. Sew 1 quilt block per month, later changed to every 2 months: shakes head sadly

4. Know if I want to pursue a career in musical instrument repair: I figured this one out and the answer is no.

5. Save $xx,xxx: woohoo we reached it, and may have even exceeded it!

6. Catch-up to CSI: Finished!

7. Workout every day: If I had reached that goal probably would have reached the first one.

8. Sew or Practice Music every day: I've gotten better at the sewing but not at the music

9. Take swimming lessons in the fall, if I complete a 5K by the end of the year I get to reward myself with rowing lessons in the spring: We moved to another state in the fall so this is no longer attainable this year, I may still be able to do this at my new home, I'll have to do some research

10. Finish watching West Wing: Awesome series, so glad I saw it all.

Achieved: 4 Unfinished: 5 Void: 1

Monthly Cross-Stitch Update

2009-12-24T23:17:00.000-07:00

Here is what being cooped up in the house will do for my craft project.

I hope I can continue to make such big strides each month.

Coronado Island

2009-12-14T11:58:00.000-07:00

The weekend after 4th of July Ben and I drove 6 hours to vacation on Coronado Island, just off Sand Diego, CA. I am posting these pictures now because some good friends of ours are moving to San Diego and I wanted to share with them what they can enjoy.

We arrived late Friday night and went right to bed after checking into the Coronado Island Inn. The next morning we walked up Orange Avenue towards the ferry landing and went to Tartine for breakfast. We ate quiche and fresh fruit. It was divine! Ben and I wished we could eat breakfast there every weekend.

After breakfast we milled around the shops by the ferry landing and considered renting bicycles. We noticed that most tourists were on bicycles and because of the many intersections they seemed more hassle than they were worth. Besides, the civilian area of the island is only one square mile, it wasn't that far to the beach.

On the way back to our hotel to pack for the beach we stopped at Boney's Bayside Market to get items for a picnic lunch. We found out that you could order sandwiches from the deli counter so we didn't have to make them ourselves.

We walked the mile down Orange Avenue (the main road on the island) to the main beach and on the way shopped at Bay Books. The proprietors were the nicest women you'll ever meet.

The Hotel Del Coronado from the Beach

A closer view of the main entrance dome

We found some cabana seats in front of the Hotel del Coronado and ate our picnic lunch. Then we went down to the water and set up towels. We read, took pictures of the front of the hotel, and played in the water.

The Pacific Ocean!

Almost half the island is a naval base, so you'll see lots of ships like this if you ever visit.

When we came back to our towels we found that our lunch leftovers had been pillaged. The Seagulls on the island are aggressive. A kind neighbor had tried to protect our things, but the seagulls got to the food anyway.

See the orange? That's the carrots from my wrap that they devoured.

Look what they did to this apple!

After leaving the beach we stopped by the Brigantine Seafood Restauran t across the street from The Del (what locals call the Hotel del Coronado) and enjoyed happy hour. I had 2 very wonderful Bloody Mary's and Ben had 2-3 Coronado Iced Teas. We also ate some decent appetizers. On the way back to our hotel we stopped by the famed Moo Time Creamery. Ben didn't get any, but I had black raspberry chocolate chip. Yummy!

We were so full and exhausted from our day we didn't end up eating dinner. The next morning we made sure to stop by Tartine for more wonderful food and atmosphere before driving back to Phoenix.

I would love to go back there sometime, get a tour of The Del, and maybe do some sea kayaking. Ben and I both loved this place and hope to make it our special vacation spot. Next time I think we will stay on the mainland at a cheaper hotel and take the ferry to the island.

Cross Stitch Poject

2009-11-24T16:58:00.004-07:00

If you may recall, I am working on a cross-stitch pattern. I haven't updated my progress for 5 months. Here is the latest picture, taken today:

Hopefully now that I am unemployed and I have lots of free time I will be able to reach my goal of finishing the project by the end of this year.

Recipe: Spaghetti Squash with Tomatos

2009-07-23T22:37:00.008-07:00

I have discovered a new vegetable: Spaghetti Squash. This is the recipe that came with it. I tweaked it and made it my own.

I was excited to see in the 112F degree weather of Phoenix that I wouldn't have to turn on my oven!
Here is my version of the recipe. I only had a 1/4 of a squash so I paired it down., plus there are only two of us so that's all I needed to make.

Making the "Pasta"

Scoop out the seeds, then microwave the squash on a plate covered with plastic wrap that has been poked a few times with a fork. It should take about 4-6 minutes. I tested it by poking the flesh to feel if it was soft and squishy, like cooked squash should be. Then take a fork and rake it through the flesh of the squash, against the grain (the long axis). It will create strands that look like angel hair pasta. Portion out the 'pasta' onto plates.

The Sauce

Tomatoes (amount as needed)
Onion, chopped (small amount proportional to the the tomatoes & how much you like onions)
Garlic (same as onions)
Pesto Sauce, just a touch as pesto sauce has very strong flavors (or finely chopped fresh basil)
Salt & Pepper (a dash each)
Cheese, preferably feta, but Parmesan will work just fine

Dice the tomatoes and remove the seeds, but use the juice, mix with the onion, garlic, pesto sauce, salt & pepper. Just add the ingredients in proportions that are according to your family's preferences, for example my husband and & love garlic so I will add more than most people. Microwave the chunky mixture until warm. (1-2 minutes). Spoon the sauce over the pre-portioned 'pasta' then pour the juices over the top so it can soak down into the squash.

Top with cheese, serve, & enjoy!

Note: after making this we realized that a 1/4 of a squash was not all that filling and didn't have much substance. Next time I will break angel hair pasta into lengths the same as the squash strands, cook it, and mix the two together.

Cross Stitch Progress

2009-07-23T22:22:00.004-07:00

I just realized that I didn't update my progress last month. Oh well, as you can see not much has changed. I hope to get more done now that summer and days over 105F are here. I will be spending lots of time indoors plopped in front of the TV catching up on my shows.

Wordless Wednesday - My New Guitar & Amp

2009-06-02T21:53:00.005-07:00

Home Improvement: Re-upholstering Chairs

2009-05-31T12:59:00.004-07:00

This weekend I have been working on a simple home improvement project: re-upholstering my dinning room chairs. It has taken me this long to do it because I was waiting for the fabric to go on sale. Upholstery fabric is expensive. For example, the particular pattern I liked was originally $34.99 per yard! Finally I stuck gold. Joanne Fabrics had a 50% off sale and I had a 10% coupon on top of that! So I got 2 yards for less than the price of one :)

Enough about my frugal conquest, on to the project. We got this dinning room set for free from a good family friend in college and we carted it with us to Arizona. I finally have a dinning room and bought a rug to go with my color scheme. Unfortunately medium blue and dark green do not go together as you can see:

Before

After

Isn't it pretty! I like having a home filled with pretty things that actually match, much to my husband's chagrin. Interestingly, I found this original pink silk under the green re-covering:

I wonder how old it is?

Cross Stitch Update

2009-05-23T11:17:00.001-07:00

I know I know, It's been 6 months since I posted about my cross stitch. With the Holidays, and moving, and my camera breaking, and having to hunt around for a good deal on a new one, not to mention not having much time to actually sew, progress has been slow. I have however set a goal of finishing this thing by then end of 2009 AND finishing at least 3 quilt blocks by the end of the year. Ambitious I know!

You can see how far along I was 6 months ago here

Chihuly at the Phoenix Botanical Garden

2009-04-20T19:21:00.010-07:00

Dale Chihuly is a glass sculptor who has a temporary installation at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix. We went to see it with friends last weekend. Most of the sculptures were just glass spikes. Boring! I'll share the interesting pieces with you

This sculpture is very intricate

This looks like a giant lollipop!

These spikes are actually cool. see how iridescent they look when the sun shines on them!?

More Spikes

Pretty flower

This was my favorite, a boat full of floats. It reminds me of the beaches of Oregon & Washington all the shops have the glass floats carried over from Japan on the ocean currents. I believe they are/were used to keep fishing nets afloat. most of them are clear glass, but some of them are very pretty and intricate.

Floating blocks of glass. they look like ice burgs don't they?

I love this chandelier it makes me want to curl my hair and dye it blue!

This ones pretty cool too

Giant condoms!

Very pretty and I imagine difficult to do.

Me from A to Z

2009-04-08T08:15:00.006-07:00

My Mother-in-Law did this on her blog so I thought I would copy and paste for an easy post:

A - Age: 22

B - Bed size: double, need to get a queen ooh and tempur-pedic!

C - Chore(s) you hate: I hate all chores

D - Dog’s name: Christy, although she lives with my parents in Washington State so I'm not sure she's really mine so much anymore.

E - Essential start-your-day item: Shower

F - Favorite color: Green

G - Gold or Silver: Silver

H - Height: 5’ 3”

I - Instruments you play: Piano & Clarinet although its been awhile so I'm rather rusty on both

J - Job title: Acquisitions Clerk

K - Kid(s): None. Hun, let's keep it that way.

L - Living arrangements: My Husband and I rent a 1100sq ft condo. I should post pics sometime

M- Mom's name: MIL's name = Michele

N - Nicknames: Valkyrie (thus the name of the blog)

O - Overnight hospital stay other than birth: Never

P - Pet Peeve: Sticky things

Q - Quote from a movie: "You're a lair and a thief" "I only lied about being a thief" - Ocean's Eleven (2001)

R- Right- or left-handed: Ambidextrous

S - Siblings: Older brother & older sister

T - Time you wake up: 6am

U- Underwear: Victoria's Secret, although I guess its not a secret anymore :)

V - Vegetable you dislike: beets

W - Ways you run late: getting Ben off the computer is impossible!

X - X-rays you’ve had: left ankle

Y - Yummy food you make: zucchini soup

Z - Zoo favorite: Polar Bears!!!

Your turn!

Will Thursdays Ever be the Same Again?

2009-03-12T20:56:00.003-07:00

One month ago today, on a Thursday evening a very good friend of mine died. Ever since then Thursdays are a very sad day for me. This is the first time I have lost someone so close to me, or someone under 50 years of age. She was 24.

I remember her smile, her shinning eyes, and her love for life. I think of how I will never see any of these things, I think about all the people she left behind. I remember the fun times we had and I miss her. I wish I could write more, maybe sometime in the future.

She really was an amazing person and you are all unfortunate to not have known her. Becki, I miss you so much and I wish you hadn't left so soon. Thank you for all the wonderful moments, and for setting an example for what a woman and a friend could and should be.

Sweet, Sweet, Visions

2009-02-18T13:13:00.004-07:00

After 8 years of waiting, I finally got Lasik eye surgery just over 2 weeks ago!

I cannot believe I finally got it done. No more walking into walls when I get up at night to go to the bathroom. You think I'm kidding? just ask my husband. No more dealing with glasses every year, or debating if I can juggle contacts again.

I had started to get nervous a few days before and then it went away, untill right before the surgery. They did my left eye first I was freaked-out! Then they were done and I realized I had had dental procedures more painful than this. I've had all sorts of drills & saws in my mouth. I had braces twice & my wisdom teeth removed while awake. I have never known anyone else who had it done while awake, if you have kids: do not torture them with this no matter how much you think they deserve it!

Anyway, back to my new eyes. I love them!!! If anyone wants to know more about the nitty-gritty details just ask me in the comments section I will not post them out-right because I know way to many squeamish people. Also, If you are considering the surgery feel free to ask questions too.

Vegetarian Musings

2008-12-19T14:04:00.004-07:00

I have been a Vegetarian for a year! A fellow veggiesaurus (yes, I just referenced Jurassic Park) told me that the first year is the hardest, or was it six months. I don't remember, but anyway apparently the hard part is over. Not that it has ever been all that hard.

When I started out on this endeavor I didn't give any thought as to how long I planned on living this lifestyle, I was just concerned about having enough self control to not backslide. I still don't know how permanent this is, I'd certainly like it to be permanent, but who knows, maybe I'll decide to have kids and when I'm pregnant I'll crave meat. That would be horrible! It happened to a friend-of-a-friend, she couldn't stop eating McDonald's, and they are the worst.

Here are some cool things about being a vegetarian:

Spend less money on groceries
Spend less money at restaurants because things like pasta primavera are always cheaper than steak, or even chicken.
Spend less time deciding what to order at restaurants. I'm notoriouse in my family for taking forever to make up my mind about what to order. Now I'm always the first one done because as soon as I see the words, beef, chicken, steak, lamb, goat, shrimp, crab, turkey, etc. I move on to the next thing, or better yet when the menu is organized by protien I can skip entire sections! I get excited about the strangest things, i'm weird, I know, my mother-in-law tells me all the time.
Eat less fat, especially saturated
Eat less calories overall
Eat less soidum & other things that are bad for you
Tends to make you eat more fruits, veggies, whole grains & other things that ARE good for you, partially because you have to read the labels on EVERYTHING. For instance: cambell's minestrone soup is made with chicken broth and its not all that good for you because like most canned soups it's high in sodium, like 960mg! That's almost half the amount of salt you should eat each day!
I lost a few pounds, yay!
Less cholesterol
I get to feel good about myself when I read articles or hear stories/news reports about how bad mass farming is for the environment, and how wastefull it is. So humble of me, isin't it?

Sorry about getting preachy in there about some stuff, but I want to encourage you all to think about what and how much goes into your body. You don't have to become a vegetarian, just take care of yourself.

It Worked!

2008-11-23T23:31:00.003-07:00

I successfully shamed myself into sewing more on my cross stitch project. Here are the results, which you can compare to my previous post:

As you can tell, I decided to post on my progress once a month. Now I need to work on blogging more often so that my life doesn't seem so pathetic.

Cross-Stitch Project

2008-10-23T17:18:00.000-07:00

At the end of February 2008 I bought this cross-stitch kit:

I started within 2 weeks and have been dabbling in it ever since. As of today here is what I have done:

Pretty pathetic, eh? Actually, it's even more pathetic when you consider all of the medium and light colored green thread has been added within the past month and a half, or so. Of course, by "or so" I mean more like 2-3 months, but I get so busy with life that I lose track of big spaces of time.

So, I have decided that I have to post my progress on the blog every week, 2 weeks, or month, in order to use humiliation as a motivator in finishing this project. As you can tell I haven't decided the frequency in which to post the cross-stitch. This is because I don't know yet how much time will be adequate enough to hide my shame.

My hope is that making all these tiny stitches will improve my hand-piecing skills for the king-size quilt I am making. ALL BY HAND. That project will take even longer than this one, but that is a post for another time.

Ben's 25th Birthday Surprise

2008-09-28T17:39:00.000-07:00

Last satuday was Ben's 25th birthday and I took him to Seattle for the weekend. He had no clue we were going anywhere until we turned onto the road that becomes the road that goes to the airport! We were supposed to get out of Phoenix at 3:30 in the afternoon but didn't end up catching a flight until the last one for the day at 7! Oh well, I got catch up on some reading. When we got to Seattle we rented a 2009 Hyundai Sonata and drove to our hotel to check in. We had a really late dinner at the 5 Point 24-hour cafe with our friends Aaron & Kristen.

The next day we slept in and found out that this was the view outside our window:

I couldn't have asked for a better one. We walked the 5 blocks to the Seattle Center and toured the Sci-fi Museum, where I bought Ben a nerdy Serenity shirt. We hung out in the hotel the rest of the day until the grand birthday dinner at Anthony's Bell Street Diner.

A few of our wonderful friends that helped us celebrate.

The nerds from Ellensburg that made the trek.

More of our friends.

I have more pictures but I didn't want to call anyone out and embaras them. That evening we saw Aaron & Kristens new house and enjoyed the warmth of their hot tub. We also saw Cara's new town house. The next day was spent relaxing and catching up with more friends.

Between the success of our friends, the beautiful rainy overcast weather, and the general pleasantness of the population, we really missed this place and can't wait to move back. To all our friends: thank you so much for keeping the secret and making this Ben's best birthday ever!

Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA

2008-08-07T19:15:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, I haven't blog in quite some time. To make a long story short: I've been learning to balance work and home while fitting all the things I have to do each day into only 24 hours. Plus the digital camera broke. But not to worry, Ben got these great pictures of my first trip ever to the Grand Canyon:

Standing on the ledge looking down

I always knew it was a giant ditch, but seriously, this thing is HUGE! Not to mention very beautiful. It was so nice to get up out of Phoenix. It was cool enough that we were able to do a 2.5 mile hike of the South Rim from the parking area to El Tovar Lodge.

We stayed two nights in Flagstaff. I fell in love with the place and I told Ben that if we had to stay in this state for the rest of our lives we would live in Flagstaff. We have decided to make trips to Flag a monthly ritual.

Part 3: The Finale

2008-06-17T05:03:00.001-07:00

On the last day of our trip we drove through southern Utah and into Arizona. The northern half of the state is pretty in a desert/barren sort of way and there are many different types of land formations as you can see:

Back on the road to Arizona

more red rock formations in southern Utah

I am not sure if this is in Utah or Arizona but isn't it pretty!?

This was actually way off in the distance but I was able to get an excellent shot

We crested this hill on near Flagstaff on I-17...

..and then saw this is comming down out of the mountians

Part 2: Red Canyon

2008-06-01T14:18:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday April 15th we made it into Utah and ran into snow in Salt Lake City. We spent the night at Ruby's Inn at Bryce Canyon and planned to do a little sightseeing the next morning. However, when we checked in around 8pm it was already 30 degrees Fahrenheit, and as you can imagine the next morning was very cold. Seeing as we didn't have any of our winter gear we thought we could go to the visitors center and there would be some sort of vantage point at which we could grab a few pictures. The entrance fee to the park was $25 and we felt that was a bit much for just a photo-op and no hiking. We did get these amazing pictures of Red Canyon though:

Snow in Utah!

Ben got out of the truck and took this amazing picture at the
entrance of Red Canyon

Rock Formations in Red Canyon

This was taken on the road between
Bryce Canyon and Red Canyon

I love the conical pine trees and rocks
contrasted against the sky

Part 1

2008-05-28T18:29:00.000-07:00

Ok, back to the trip that inspired this whole blog. I finally have gone through all 500 of my pictures and have chosen a few to share with you all. Monday April 14th after we left Ellensburg we drove down through Oregon and over to Idaho where we spent the night. Here are some pictures I took along the way:

The Rolling Hills of SE Washington

Crossing the Mighty Columbia River

Welcome to Oregon!

Beautiful Oregon Farm Country

The Great Open Country Near the Oregon/Idaho Border

Snow in Idaho!

The Red Elvises

2008-05-26T14:35:00.000-07:00

Last night Ben, his brother Noah, and I went to The Rhythm Room in Phoenix and saw The Red Elvises perform live. It was great show! There are a ton of videos of them on YouTube but because of the sound quality they do not do them justice. Their sound is reminiscent of the 1950's Elvis and the Beach Boys, and most of the members are from Russia and former Soviet block countries, thus the name. They will be back in September and I recommend to everyone that they go. Also for our friends in the Seattle area, they will be up there in mid-July. Check out their website for details.

Robot Art & a Jewel of a Restaurant

2008-05-17T23:28:00.000-07:00

Ok, time to take a break from the trip, although I haven't been doing much of that lately anyway. Last night Ben and I went to my friend Jason's art gallery in downtown Phoenix, called The Trunk Space, and saw some really cool robot art by Jon S. Borrette. We really enjoyed all of his pieces and were amazed by the detail that could be created with pen and ink.
Afterwards, I took Ben to one of my favorite restaurants which is the only one I know of that is within walking distance of work. I go whenever I can get an hour lunch break. The Willow House is so good in fact that I ate there twice in one day. They have the general cafe fair of coffee, tea, cold drinks, soups, salads, and sandwiches. They also offer more unique items such as a pita pizza and a hummus & pita platter that are both excellent. They are vegetarian and vegan friendly without making omnivores feel disdained.

Snoqualmie Pass

2008-05-07T21:56:00.000-07:00

On Monday of our trip we drove from Seattle to Ellensburg, WA the town of our Alma Mater, by way of I-90 and Snoqualmie Pass. I was able to get some great pictures of the still snowy landscape. It even started snowing on our drive! I really missed having snow this winter. I will cherish these pictures this summer when Phoenix gets to 120 degrees.

Whidbey Island

2008-04-27T13:53:00.000-07:00

On Saturday morning of our vacation we went through the storage unit and packing up the rest of our stuff then we spent the rest of the day relaxing.

Sunday was the really fun part: we went to Whidbey Island in the Puget Sound and I of course forgot my camera. I rode a ferry for the first time in my life. It was so cool. We spent the day with three other couples and another friend. We all went wine and cheese tasting. The girls went to a few little shops in Coupeville and the guys went to some sort of old military fort. Our friend headed home and the couples got together and enjoyed our wine purchases in the hot tub. Then we all headed home and I got to ride the ferry again!

Vacation

2008-04-24T23:00:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago Ben and I were able to go on our first vacation together as husband and wife. It was also my first paid vacation ever!!! The first day we spent time with my family in southwest Washington State and we got to see our niece who is now a year old, a relatively smart one year old I might add. We also started organizing all the stuff we were bringing down. Sadly, this was somewhat of a working vacation because were finally going to finish moving our stuff down to Arizona.
The next day we drove up to Seattle in the moving truck and went to our friend's wedding. Shout out to the bride & groom! 10 years to the day that they had been together. I wish them all the best!

Spreading My Wings

2008-04-22T09:50:00.000-07:00

Ok. So here it goes, my first blog entry. I had been contemplating writing a travel blog for quite some time and now that I have a trip to write about I am going to give it a go. This blog will primarily be a travel log of vacations, day trips, and my eventual plans to travel Europe and the rest of the Globe with my husband, Ben. However, since our income and amount of vacation time built up won't allow for much of the week-long or more variety of traveling I will have to spice it up with other entires. I'll probably include my hobbies such as quilting, scrap booking, reading, cooking and the like. I may also include a bit of an exercise log, not to be overly boastful or bore you, but as a motivational and accountability tool for myself. Hopefully this can also be a tool to keep our far away friends and family aware of the goings on in our lives, instead of having to do the annual Xmas letter.