Washington- The Move

Utah-> Idaho -> Oregon ->Washington

Jake interviewed for a job on Tuesday, got it on Wednesday, bought a truck on Friday and we were on our way on Saturday.

He moved to Forks, WA to work for the Department of Fish and Wildlife for Washington State. He'll be marching around doing research and collecting data about the Juan de Fuca Watershed Complex (at least something like that).

I was terribly sad to see him go, but I'm also very excited about this sweet job and even cooler move. Maybe I'll end up there soon ;)

Our trip was event-less (which is what you want on the road). We spent the weekend camping in his bosses back yard in Olympia which is the capital of Washington. It's not my favorite place. We went to the coast and the rain forest and got to know the area a little bit. I flew home on Monday night but I can't wait to visit again.

The new truck - packed to the hilt.

On the road: Entering Oregon, and finally hitting something green - the Columbia River that separates Oregon and Washington. 

Getting to the coast- it was so cold!

The best fort I've ever seen

The Beach

The rainforest. We wandered up to Lake Quinalt that is on the edge of Olympia National Park and wandered around in the forest a little bit and saw some waterfalls and enjoyed the change of scenery.

  

Bear Lake 2012

Bear Lake 2012

We threw our bikes on the car and headed to Bear Lake to do an afternoon ride. We stopped at the lookout to show off the blue lake and enjoy the scenery.

Then we parked the car and got on our bikes to do a 20 mile jaunt around (some of) the lake. Once we got back we enjoyed some cold drinks on the beach and each other's company. My favorite date thus far.

On the beach near the south end of the lake

Little Red Riding Hood

Little Red Riding Hood 2012

I can't say how excited (and nervous) I was to do this ride. Little Red Riding Hood is in it's 25th year and supports women cancer research through Huntsman Cancer.  It's the largest all women's ride in the country. I barely got registered. There were 3,600 riders registered back in February in just under 2 hours - it's a very popular ride. My friend Steph came from Seattle to ride and volunteer. It was the perfect weekend. Mariah and Jose came up to volunteer and cheer me on. We spent Friday night handing out clothes that women ordered and wandering around. We had free food and got lots of luna bars. Not a bad haul. I had sprained my ankle just a few days before and had a hard time walking around and standing so I watched the festivities as they happened around me.

Watching the costume contest while volunteering

Jake, me, Jose and Mariah in line to get Cafe Rio dinner

Morning of the ride. I'm stoked to get going  and  Steph and I before the ride

Lunchtime. It was a bicycle graveyard and a estrogen party

The first 50 miles went smoothly. I plugged in some music and rode. I kept a pretty good pace until lunch. I took about 20 mins to devour a subway sandwich, chips and cookie and take a quick bathroom break. I skipped a couple rest stops before lunch and that helped me keep a good pace. After lunch I was feeling a little lonely and down so my pace slowed. Looking back I think that I was probably climbing a little more than I had been so my pace could have also been slower because of that. Those next 25 miles (mile 50-75) were awful. I was cursing and feeling down and couldn't get to the next stop fast enough. Once I got there, I decided to take a longer break, and that's when my cheering section showed up. It was perfect timing. Seeing them made the last leg all that much better and really cheered me up. They watched as my ankle got re-taped and while I down gu's and they gave great words of encouragement. I worked hard that last 25 miles - climbing and into the wind but saw them again about 10 miles out and they cheered as they passed me to go to the finish line. I was so stoked to almost be done, but tiring quickly. So to keep my spirits and energy up I cheered for everyone that I saw riding on the other side of the road. It really helped me through to the end. The finish line was awesome! My grandma, her husband, Jake and Mariah and Jose were there! It was the best finish line so far. Even though it's hard to ride 100 miles, I don't think this will even be close to my last! Next time Mariah might even be there along side me!

Hitting 1000 miles on my bike computer and the final count 98.86 (I didn't want to do another mile) and burned 5584 calories while in the saddle for 6.5 hours.

I couldn't be happier to have accomplished my third century ride in a year!

My support team. I don't think I could have done the last 25 miles without seeing them at the final rest stop.


Grandma and Gary came to the finish line (they also took us to dinner). My grandma is the best. She brought flowers!

My amazing boyfriend - what a great sport and support.

Memorial Day: Moab

Memorial Day in Moab

Again, we packed up and headed down south for a weekend of adventure. We met up with Jack, Lori, Dusty, Forrest, Christine, and then Nick, Elle, Little Nicki, Nate and his girlfriend for some fabulous times. I got to the campsite Jake and Jack had staked out late Friday night after a lot of weekend traffic and a slight detour. The drive was exhausting. We slept hard, even though the wind was insane.

Setting up camp

All the toys!

The next day all we could do was drive - we dropped Jack and Dusty off at the top of a mountain to bike down. The wind was just out of control. We (Lori, Jake and I) were planning on an Arches National Park ride but we postponed and instead spent some time facing the wind on a little hike in the park and in an outdoor gear store in Moab and then wasted time that night until the wind calmed down. I was in charge of food for the weekend and people couldn't get enough of the chili that I made in the dutch oven.

Cycling in Arches National Park

Lori, me and Jake

The next day we hopped on our ride bikes for our 12 mile tour. Again we headed into the park, this time there was no wind, but the climbs were deceiving. We didn't' go far, but I felt like I got a great workout in. After that we tore down camp, and headed to the put in for the Colorado (Moab Daily) River. We packed the oar rig and the kayakers jumped in their boats as we floated/rafted down the river.

Boat captain Forrest, and Lori and I as passengers

We just spent one night on a riverside beach, but it reminded me of how much I like being on the river and spending time in such a unique and special place.

Lori, Dusty, me, Jake and Jack after packing up the car ready to get home.

I ended up getting a ride home in Jack's Subaru. That thing was PACKED TO THE HILT. I was amazed at how much stuff it takes for a fun filled weekend to actually happen. But hey, it was worth it. I'd recommend Moab to anyway. Just try to avoid it during long weekends!

The T-shirt Quilt

So as I've mentioned before, college was an incomparable time in my life. It was so fun and filled with so much growth.  But beyond the mushy emotional stuff, there was all the volunteer opportunities and hours that I put into making my experience great and to enhance the lives of students that I was serving. Along with those hours and days of service, came the T-Shirts. Oh, the t-shirts! So, instead of giving them up along with the memories I got when I wore them, I cut them up and started making the coveted t-shirt quilt. 

I started this project over a year ago with some scissors and a faint idea of what kind of finished project I would have liked. This is the middle finished product.  First I had to cut my squares (13"sq.) and my middle fabric pieces (3x13" and 3x3). After some shoddy work and then some process reversing research I realized I'd need to buy some interfacing and iron it onto my t-shirt squares.  After that I could finally start piecing it all together.  

This is my middle finished product. I still need to sew a border and attach the back and batting. It's a slow process for me since I don't have a seamstresses background but I'm proud of myself for having enough knowledge (thank you Grandma M.) and inspiration and interest to finish this project!

Nearly finished product!! 

I stiched around the edge and have been hand sewing the edge. It looks great and feels even better. I love having this literal piece of history to wrap up in!

Birthday Celebrations!

Birthday!

Birthday celebrations lasted all week this year.  On Tuesday I met up with a whole hoard of friends at the Owl for burger and a big dog. It was so different than last year - we took up at least two tables and were loud and looked like we were having so much fun, and we were. We went over to Jake's house to continue the get together and it lasted well into the night.  My mom, Mariah and Kalli drove up that night and we met up at their hotel to hot tub and hang out until it was bed time.  The next morning we had (continental) breakfast then got ready for our pedicures! (pictured below)

The pedicures were relaxing and I had been looking forward to mine for weeks - they definitely delivered. After that we headed to the fabric store to outfit me to finish my quilt.  Then the obvious next choice was some girl-time shopping! TJMaxx it was and as per usual we spent hours there (maybe too many for my taste).  Then onto my favorite Love to Cook at Kitchen Kneads! I could spend hours in there looking at kitchen stuff. They have everything from knives to cooking chocolate to pressure cookers, cheese knives and classes - more on that later. After that we headed down the canyon to eat at the family favorite, Maddox! It was delicious, just like every other time. If you go there make sure you get the Turkey Steak. It is so good. The family headed home after lunch and I made my way back to Logan.

The next day was the real birthday. I treated myself to my favorite fruit dip for breakfast and then off to work for a few hours.  I had lunch at Cafe Rio with Blair and her brother.  Then I took him on a tour of campus and then a nap. I headed to my cooking class that evening. Blair and Vic came with me and we got to try a lot of new spices. I think my favorites were the French spices and the Adobo. I ended up buying a new herb called Savory and an all purpose seasoning called Spuds. I also got a tiny liquid measuring cup, silicone tongs and a cheese knife. Happy Birthday to me! I've tried them all, and just like every other cooking utensil, I love them.  After that Jake made me a salmon dinner with risotto and green beans (some of my favorites) and we headed to get Fro Yo at twizzleberry which is one of my favorites. Try fro yo today if you haven't yet.  Anyway, we arrived at Twizzleberry just in the nick of time before closing. The best treat however, was watching 12 Logan, North Park and Sheriff cars swarm the Wal-Mart parking lot and man handle/body slam an offender to the ground.  Looked it up the next day, apparently the guy was wanted for credit card fraud, forgery or some kind, shoplifting and a whole slew of other misdemeanors.  It was amazing. I've never seen anything like it in Cache Valley and it was the best way to top off my birthday.

On Saturday Jake and I headed south (after some very successful yard sale-ing) and spent some time fixing and riding bikes, sitting in the sun and then got well needed massages.  We had a fabulous joint birthday dinner that night with steak, asparagus, shrimp and scallops, salad and asiago cheese bread. The next day we went to church for Mother's day and then celebrated with another feast and all the family.

All in all it was a great birthday and I think it'll be hard to beat next year. Thank you to everyone who made it so fantastic!