I am working on catching up. I know that some of our friends and family and family friends my not be on facebook etc etc.... well, we want this to be a place for you all to catch up on what we are up to. Along with the blog posts I am typing, I also have a page with Shutterfly that I am putting my pictures so you can not only read, but see our fun activities :)
Check them out at this link:
http://peterslifeinlove.shutterfly.com/pictures
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Christmas in Nevada City
Well, we took another trip down to the Roseville area. Tim's cousin Dan is doing grad school up in Washington as I have talked about before in the post about our Seattle trip. He didn't get to come down for Thanksgiving, but just came down to Christmas. This was going to be our only chance to see him until May.
Friday after Tim got off work we drove down to Rocklin to stay the night. Aunt Linda prepared a lovely dinner for up us and Tim's cousin Kendall and her fiance John joined us too. So nice to get to spend some time with them too. They were down at her parent's house in Santa Cruz for Thanksgiving so it was the same case for them too. Good times!
Saturday we had some lovely doughnuts at Krispy Kreme. Took a little trip to Toys 'R Us! Then had pizza at Dan's favorite pizza place that is pretty much tradition to get each time we spend time together down there. One of Dan's good buddies came to join us. Cole lives in San Fran and I guess came to stay the night.
After lunch we said our good buys and drove up to Nevada City where my Grandpa Bill and Grandma Carol lives. Mom and Dad, my sister Cara and her boyfriend were there too. We had a nice dinner, the first time for all 8 of us to be around that table together. We played find the "Elf on the Shelf" and find the pickle on the tree (a German tradition), and had our little gift exchange. There were many laughs that evening. We really enjoyed ourselves.
Everyone went home, but Tim and I stayed the night. Sunday we joined Grandma and Grandpa at their church in Grass Valley, Twin Cities. Got to meet a number of their friends that go there. We also got to see some of Tim's mom's good friends the Brattons. After all this time, I think that was my first time actually getting to meet them. Sandy has some pretty great girlfriends!
The four of us had a tasty brunch at one of their favorite places in town. Actually got to run into my Uncle Richard (Grandpa's brother) when we were leaving, they were just going in. On the way home we did a little driving around G&G's neighborhood, there is some pretty cool stuff around there. Then watched some football at the house together for the afternoon before we headed home.
We got to spend some good quality time together. Its been a while since we last got to catch up. It was nice!
Friday after Tim got off work we drove down to Rocklin to stay the night. Aunt Linda prepared a lovely dinner for up us and Tim's cousin Kendall and her fiance John joined us too. So nice to get to spend some time with them too. They were down at her parent's house in Santa Cruz for Thanksgiving so it was the same case for them too. Good times!
Saturday we had some lovely doughnuts at Krispy Kreme. Took a little trip to Toys 'R Us! Then had pizza at Dan's favorite pizza place that is pretty much tradition to get each time we spend time together down there. One of Dan's good buddies came to join us. Cole lives in San Fran and I guess came to stay the night.
After lunch we said our good buys and drove up to Nevada City where my Grandpa Bill and Grandma Carol lives. Mom and Dad, my sister Cara and her boyfriend were there too. We had a nice dinner, the first time for all 8 of us to be around that table together. We played find the "Elf on the Shelf" and find the pickle on the tree (a German tradition), and had our little gift exchange. There were many laughs that evening. We really enjoyed ourselves.
Everyone went home, but Tim and I stayed the night. Sunday we joined Grandma and Grandpa at their church in Grass Valley, Twin Cities. Got to meet a number of their friends that go there. We also got to see some of Tim's mom's good friends the Brattons. After all this time, I think that was my first time actually getting to meet them. Sandy has some pretty great girlfriends!
The four of us had a tasty brunch at one of their favorite places in town. Actually got to run into my Uncle Richard (Grandpa's brother) when we were leaving, they were just going in. On the way home we did a little driving around G&G's neighborhood, there is some pretty cool stuff around there. Then watched some football at the house together for the afternoon before we headed home.
We got to spend some good quality time together. Its been a while since we last got to catch up. It was nice!
Amazing party last weekend!
Our friends Brian and McKenzie Helvick and a fun party at their house last weekend. This was their forth year of doing it and it was a great time!
The invitation had this amazing description I just have to share with you (it explains it all):
"What's the dish? It hails from the Piedmont region in beautiful northwest Italy and is called: Bagna Cauda (BONN-ya CAW-da). It's like a fondue, for all intents and purposes, only from the heavens. It has four basic ingredients: insane amounts of garlic, anchovies, some olive oil and some love (otherwise known as, "buttah"). Its one of the most blissful thing I've ever tasted in my life, next to Mexican food and breakfast (obviously). There will be plenty of other food if you're a little skittish about the idea, but unless you are allergic to fish, you'll probably be asked to try it once... out of the respect for all Italians."
Brian has suck a way with words! Yes, the event was just as great as the description made it sound.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Saturday, December 8th - Tim and I headed back down to Roseville, only two weeks after our last visit with Brian and McKenzie. We had an item we needed to return at Ikea and had a wonderful lunch at this place called "Five Guys" (check it out at http://www.fiveguys.com/). I think its pretty new to California.
We then went back to the Helvick's and spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out and preparing our items for the evening's festivities. We brought organic apple cider that I made 100% from scratch, using apples from my grandma's apple trees; organic apple sauce that I made from straining the cider; and cocktail meatballs (chili sauce and grape jelly).
The evening was spent hanging out with and getting to know great people. Their families joined in too and it was nice to get to spend some time with them too.
We topped the evening off when there were only a few of us left, with this wonderful desert (if you want to call it that). This amazingness is called Tim Tam slams. Cookies they call biscuits, you bight off a tiny piece of two opposite corners and suck hot cocoa through it. The Tim Tam will catastrophically reduced soon after this process is started, and the whole biscuit must be crammed into your mouth as soon as this happens or your cocoa will be filled with pieces of melted biscuit. We had a few new people to this, and so we spread the love.
We stayed the night at their place again and joined them at their church Calvary Metro of Roseville. We had a wonderful time, the music and message was inspiring. We stopped at this coffee shop called Bloom, which carries a top-notch beans from a roasting house in Santa Cruz. Got drinks and bfast there. Got lunch together after and headed back to their place for the Sunday afternoon football game.
Man! We love hangout out with Brian and McKenzie! They are amazing.
The invitation had this amazing description I just have to share with you (it explains it all):
"What's the dish? It hails from the Piedmont region in beautiful northwest Italy and is called: Bagna Cauda (BONN-ya CAW-da). It's like a fondue, for all intents and purposes, only from the heavens. It has four basic ingredients: insane amounts of garlic, anchovies, some olive oil and some love (otherwise known as, "buttah"). Its one of the most blissful thing I've ever tasted in my life, next to Mexican food and breakfast (obviously). There will be plenty of other food if you're a little skittish about the idea, but unless you are allergic to fish, you'll probably be asked to try it once... out of the respect for all Italians."
Brian has suck a way with words! Yes, the event was just as great as the description made it sound.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Saturday, December 8th - Tim and I headed back down to Roseville, only two weeks after our last visit with Brian and McKenzie. We had an item we needed to return at Ikea and had a wonderful lunch at this place called "Five Guys" (check it out at http://www.fiveguys.com/). I think its pretty new to California.
We then went back to the Helvick's and spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out and preparing our items for the evening's festivities. We brought organic apple cider that I made 100% from scratch, using apples from my grandma's apple trees; organic apple sauce that I made from straining the cider; and cocktail meatballs (chili sauce and grape jelly).
The evening was spent hanging out with and getting to know great people. Their families joined in too and it was nice to get to spend some time with them too.
We topped the evening off when there were only a few of us left, with this wonderful desert (if you want to call it that). This amazingness is called Tim Tam slams. Cookies they call biscuits, you bight off a tiny piece of two opposite corners and suck hot cocoa through it. The Tim Tam will catastrophically reduced soon after this process is started, and the whole biscuit must be crammed into your mouth as soon as this happens or your cocoa will be filled with pieces of melted biscuit. We had a few new people to this, and so we spread the love.
We stayed the night at their place again and joined them at their church Calvary Metro of Roseville. We had a wonderful time, the music and message was inspiring. We stopped at this coffee shop called Bloom, which carries a top-notch beans from a roasting house in Santa Cruz. Got drinks and bfast there. Got lunch together after and headed back to their place for the Sunday afternoon football game.
Man! We love hangout out with Brian and McKenzie! They are amazing.
Oh Christmas Tree
December 2nd, after a crazy roller coaster of emotions, rants and ethical debating we got our Christmas tree.
We had originally planned to get our tree with our bible study small group on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. There are 6 of us couples in our group and thought it would be super awesome to all go together. One couple found out last minute they couldn't make it due to poor planning and work scheduling. Then another couple pulled out, then another. Sunday church came around and we found out that only two couples could go no problem and due to homework the third couple decided holding off till the next week would be a good idea. It was a tough thing for me to agree too... I hate plans being solidly set for a while and people not keeping their plans. We did wait till the next week.
Church Sunday rolled around and as we were in the same situation as last week. Things completely fell apart. Two couples could only go Saturday, two could only go Sunday, one couple was sick and one was out of town. GOOD HEAVENS!
Our good friends who are also in our small group and the wife was in our wedding as I was in theirs; Liz and Dan were able to go. I had chatted with another couple (Shane and Emma, also good friends of mine) earlier in the week about maybe going with us and they ended up being free to go. At least it didn't fully turn out to be a dud. This was our last chance to go get our tree, so we went for it.
We have lots of National Forests around us and they have this fun deal where you can buy a $10 permit and cut a tree on their property.
We took an hour drive up Hwy 32 to Butte Meadows where everyone from our area goes. There is a National Forest ranger station just in town up there where you can get the permits. Much to our dismay, there was a sign on the door saying that they closed early due to weather. This is the only place we knew of around that sold them; the nearest place was in Chester, maybe 40 miles away. There were a bunch of other unhappy people who showed up when we did to find the same note.
Emma remembered years ago you could purchase permits at the pub in town so we hoped back in the car to go see if it was a chance they still did that. More frustration came over us when the guy behind the counter said "How do you say it? S... O... L?" How classy! Not. He could have just said sorry and not rubbed it in our face. We got quite upset.
One more cafe/pub in town and we headed over there. After people get their trees they come here to get fries and hot cocoa. Hoping that maybe someone has an extra permit we could buy from them. Unfortunately, the only person who did have an extra just sold it as we walked in the door. We were all so unhappy now. Ranting about the people leaving so early when they knew how many people were going to come up that day.
The waitress told us what had happened and we got even more angry. "Due to weather" it had nothing to do with Butte Meadows, there was no rain/snow or anything for that matter. The ladies left because of bad weather up the road on the way to their home in Chester. They should have just waited it out if that was an issue, it would have been safer and a better idea all together.
Battling what to do, we talked it out a while and decided to risk getting caught. We figured that there couldn't be rangers patrolling since the ladies in the office weren't even there. The CHP don't stop people either. If for some reason we did get pulled over we had a very good reason and we tried as hard as we could to go about it the right way. All those other people who came up late decided to risk it too, so we figured we would be fine.
We drove up the mountain and found a good spot to park and started trekking out. It didn't take too long and we found a tree. We actually had success finding trees only feet away from each other.
Mad it down the hill and back home with no problem. It was an exhausting day!
On the following Wednesday we got our tree decorated.
We had originally planned to get our tree with our bible study small group on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. There are 6 of us couples in our group and thought it would be super awesome to all go together. One couple found out last minute they couldn't make it due to poor planning and work scheduling. Then another couple pulled out, then another. Sunday church came around and we found out that only two couples could go no problem and due to homework the third couple decided holding off till the next week would be a good idea. It was a tough thing for me to agree too... I hate plans being solidly set for a while and people not keeping their plans. We did wait till the next week.
Church Sunday rolled around and as we were in the same situation as last week. Things completely fell apart. Two couples could only go Saturday, two could only go Sunday, one couple was sick and one was out of town. GOOD HEAVENS!
Our good friends who are also in our small group and the wife was in our wedding as I was in theirs; Liz and Dan were able to go. I had chatted with another couple (Shane and Emma, also good friends of mine) earlier in the week about maybe going with us and they ended up being free to go. At least it didn't fully turn out to be a dud. This was our last chance to go get our tree, so we went for it.
We have lots of National Forests around us and they have this fun deal where you can buy a $10 permit and cut a tree on their property.
We took an hour drive up Hwy 32 to Butte Meadows where everyone from our area goes. There is a National Forest ranger station just in town up there where you can get the permits. Much to our dismay, there was a sign on the door saying that they closed early due to weather. This is the only place we knew of around that sold them; the nearest place was in Chester, maybe 40 miles away. There were a bunch of other unhappy people who showed up when we did to find the same note.
Emma remembered years ago you could purchase permits at the pub in town so we hoped back in the car to go see if it was a chance they still did that. More frustration came over us when the guy behind the counter said "How do you say it? S... O... L?" How classy! Not. He could have just said sorry and not rubbed it in our face. We got quite upset.
One more cafe/pub in town and we headed over there. After people get their trees they come here to get fries and hot cocoa. Hoping that maybe someone has an extra permit we could buy from them. Unfortunately, the only person who did have an extra just sold it as we walked in the door. We were all so unhappy now. Ranting about the people leaving so early when they knew how many people were going to come up that day.
The waitress told us what had happened and we got even more angry. "Due to weather" it had nothing to do with Butte Meadows, there was no rain/snow or anything for that matter. The ladies left because of bad weather up the road on the way to their home in Chester. They should have just waited it out if that was an issue, it would have been safer and a better idea all together.
Battling what to do, we talked it out a while and decided to risk getting caught. We figured that there couldn't be rangers patrolling since the ladies in the office weren't even there. The CHP don't stop people either. If for some reason we did get pulled over we had a very good reason and we tried as hard as we could to go about it the right way. All those other people who came up late decided to risk it too, so we figured we would be fine.
We drove up the mountain and found a good spot to park and started trekking out. It didn't take too long and we found a tree. We actually had success finding trees only feet away from each other.
Mad it down the hill and back home with no problem. It was an exhausting day!
On the following Wednesday we got our tree decorated.
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Me, The Health Nut
For those of you who know me (Jaime) really well, you will know that back in Freshman year of High School I first became a bit of a health nut. Health class taught us about healthy eating and its benefits. I would constantly be reading labels to the food I was eating to see what it contained. I still ate a lot of the stuff I had been eating over the years, but was now exercising my skills of label reading and trying to add in healthy food where I could and when I thought of it.
Sophomore year of high school I started running Cross Country and Track, and with that I would pay even more attention to cut out certain things where I could; sodas, things that are partially hydrogenated, etc. My mom still did most of the cooking in the house so I ate what she made, the same things I loved all the years of growing up. Thats not saying she cooked things that were bad, she actually went out of her way to make them healthier.
Married now, I am doing the cooking myself and its MY job to watch what I am making. Fortunately, Tim already was on the track of trying to eat healthier before I met him, so he is pretty happy that I am trying to continue that today for both of us. And boy! I lucked out, he is really good at trying anything that I try making; he is really easy going about that sort of thing. Naturally, I ask him what he thinks every time I make something new, I want to make sure if he doesn't like it that I change the recipe or totally cut it out next time.
My good friend Emma and I have been spending almost a year now, nearly every week if we can, in fellowship with each other. We talk about all sorts of things, but one thing that always comes around is health and how we could better improve what we eat and how we take care of ours and our husband's bodies. Emma has a lot of things she has to keep in check with her health routine, and through her sharing, it has really motivated me to seek better health.
Back in January I singed up with this great company called Meleleuca (http://www.melaleuca.com). A GREEN wholesale company from Idaho that has all natural products and are 100% a USA based. They have amazing products! We started taking their vitamins and saw a great difference. I used to get sick for what seemed to be 10 times a year, and this year I have only been sick once for only a couple of days (I didn't even hit full strength cold). And I don't think Tim has gotten sick at all!
A couple of weeks ago Tim and I went to Sacramento to visit some good friends of ours Brian and McKenzie Helvick. They made us a really nice dinner at home and I was shocked to find out what we were actually eating. They told us about this diet that they have been doing which we had never heard of before.
Paleo! http://robbwolf.com/what-is-the-paleo-diet/
Revolutionary! The big AH HAA! This diet is also known as the "Cave Man" diet. You eat the way we were originally meant to eat. You cut out dairy, grains, legumes, starches, and processed foods & sugars.
Naturally, this is a hard thing to completely jump into, but its a great goal to aim for. Taking this diet into thought, I have started cutting out a TON of the grains and starches we used to consume. Switching my snacking to nuts, seeds, dried fruits, and carrots. I feel so much better knowing now that what I am eating isn't going to shorten my life. I used to make pasta and sauce ALL the time and I always felt so guilty for home much of that stuff we ate. WOW a weight has really been taken off my shoulders!
If any of you are feeling the way I was about what I was eating and preparing for others, I would strongly recommend this to all of you!!!
I picked this book up at Costco. It is totally worth getting.
Here are some more really great cookbooks for the family and for kids:
Sophomore year of high school I started running Cross Country and Track, and with that I would pay even more attention to cut out certain things where I could; sodas, things that are partially hydrogenated, etc. My mom still did most of the cooking in the house so I ate what she made, the same things I loved all the years of growing up. Thats not saying she cooked things that were bad, she actually went out of her way to make them healthier.
Married now, I am doing the cooking myself and its MY job to watch what I am making. Fortunately, Tim already was on the track of trying to eat healthier before I met him, so he is pretty happy that I am trying to continue that today for both of us. And boy! I lucked out, he is really good at trying anything that I try making; he is really easy going about that sort of thing. Naturally, I ask him what he thinks every time I make something new, I want to make sure if he doesn't like it that I change the recipe or totally cut it out next time.
My good friend Emma and I have been spending almost a year now, nearly every week if we can, in fellowship with each other. We talk about all sorts of things, but one thing that always comes around is health and how we could better improve what we eat and how we take care of ours and our husband's bodies. Emma has a lot of things she has to keep in check with her health routine, and through her sharing, it has really motivated me to seek better health.
Back in January I singed up with this great company called Meleleuca (http://www.melaleuca.com). A GREEN wholesale company from Idaho that has all natural products and are 100% a USA based. They have amazing products! We started taking their vitamins and saw a great difference. I used to get sick for what seemed to be 10 times a year, and this year I have only been sick once for only a couple of days (I didn't even hit full strength cold). And I don't think Tim has gotten sick at all!
A couple of weeks ago Tim and I went to Sacramento to visit some good friends of ours Brian and McKenzie Helvick. They made us a really nice dinner at home and I was shocked to find out what we were actually eating. They told us about this diet that they have been doing which we had never heard of before.
Paleo! http://robbwolf.com/what-is-the-paleo-diet/
Revolutionary! The big AH HAA! This diet is also known as the "Cave Man" diet. You eat the way we were originally meant to eat. You cut out dairy, grains, legumes, starches, and processed foods & sugars.
Naturally, this is a hard thing to completely jump into, but its a great goal to aim for. Taking this diet into thought, I have started cutting out a TON of the grains and starches we used to consume. Switching my snacking to nuts, seeds, dried fruits, and carrots. I feel so much better knowing now that what I am eating isn't going to shorten my life. I used to make pasta and sauce ALL the time and I always felt so guilty for home much of that stuff we ate. WOW a weight has really been taken off my shoulders!
If any of you are feeling the way I was about what I was eating and preparing for others, I would strongly recommend this to all of you!!!
I picked this book up at Costco. It is totally worth getting.
Here are some more really great cookbooks for the family and for kids:
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Holidays begin
Its that time of year again. The weather is finally getting cold, wet and blustery.
Thursday 22nd - Thanksgiving wasn't how we originally planned it, but it was actually quite wonderful! Mixing things up after the last two years doing the same thing.
Tim and I participated in Chico's annual Run For Food. There were close to 6,000 people there piled up in Bidwell Park to support the Jesus Center. The money raised goes to provided a Thanksgiving meal to all the people in Chico who can't afford it. Mom, Dad and Grandpa Hoyt volunteered at the run. After it was finished, Cara joined us and we all went to Peet's Coffee for a light breakfast and coffee.
Around mid-day, we (Tim, me, Mom, Dad, Grandpa and Cara) went up to Redding to meet up with our cousins and Aunt & Uncle for a large meal together. Nineteen of us sat around the table sharing stories and having a grand ole time together. Hung out through the evening watching football and got to view the new house that our cousins just bought and are fixing up. Its a pretty incredible place and the work they have done on it is a vast improvement to what it was when they first got it.
Friday 23rd - We went back home to sleep for the night. Black Friday proceeded with a few good deals we got at Kohls and the most empty I have EVER seen Costco. I would have to say Chico is quite the place to be for this shopping day. Its quite mild compared to the greater Sacramento area. I could actually breath here.
We drove down to Sacramento and made a quick stop to Ikea. We picked up a new bed for the extra extra room at Tim's parent's house. Now that there are two of us couples when we stay at the house there needs to be more room for all of us. Christmas time we will be setting up the bed for them and making the finishing touches to the newest guest room. I love organizing and decorating, it is nice that I can be a help to complete this project for them.
Tim got tired of shopping, so when we were done at Ikea we headed over to our friend's house. Brian is one of Tim's great friends from college, and McKenzie his new wife of a almost half a year now. We decided it would be fun to spend some time with them, and we actually got to be their first house guests to stay over.
Brian and Tim went out to play some disc golf, as they love doing, and played until it was dark out. I went over to the Roseville Galleria to finish up my shopping. I wanted to make sure I could get discounts while there were offering them. I pretty much completed my Christmas shopping list. Really mice having it done well in advance, I don't have to think about anything except for the wrapping.
The four of us had a wonderful home cooked dinner at their place. And finished the evening at this cool place that has a large variety seasonal, local and unusual beers on tap. Got our beers, took a table and played a great many rounds of this really fun game called "Spot It".
Saturday 24th - Tim and I drove over to his aunt and uncle's house where two of the three cousins were visiting home. We hung out for a little while and had breakfast together. Short, but sweet. This was our only opportunity to see Thomas and Laura during the holidays and so had we to take the opportunity.
We got back to Brian and McKenzie's while it was still mid-morning and they were only just having breakfast themselves and so we joined them for "second breakfast" (Hobbit quote).
We hung out for the rest of the day at their place talking, eating and watching the college games. GO DUCKS! When the games were done we said our good byes and headed home.
Thursday 22nd - Thanksgiving wasn't how we originally planned it, but it was actually quite wonderful! Mixing things up after the last two years doing the same thing.
Tim and I participated in Chico's annual Run For Food. There were close to 6,000 people there piled up in Bidwell Park to support the Jesus Center. The money raised goes to provided a Thanksgiving meal to all the people in Chico who can't afford it. Mom, Dad and Grandpa Hoyt volunteered at the run. After it was finished, Cara joined us and we all went to Peet's Coffee for a light breakfast and coffee.
Around mid-day, we (Tim, me, Mom, Dad, Grandpa and Cara) went up to Redding to meet up with our cousins and Aunt & Uncle for a large meal together. Nineteen of us sat around the table sharing stories and having a grand ole time together. Hung out through the evening watching football and got to view the new house that our cousins just bought and are fixing up. Its a pretty incredible place and the work they have done on it is a vast improvement to what it was when they first got it.
Friday 23rd - We went back home to sleep for the night. Black Friday proceeded with a few good deals we got at Kohls and the most empty I have EVER seen Costco. I would have to say Chico is quite the place to be for this shopping day. Its quite mild compared to the greater Sacramento area. I could actually breath here.
We drove down to Sacramento and made a quick stop to Ikea. We picked up a new bed for the extra extra room at Tim's parent's house. Now that there are two of us couples when we stay at the house there needs to be more room for all of us. Christmas time we will be setting up the bed for them and making the finishing touches to the newest guest room. I love organizing and decorating, it is nice that I can be a help to complete this project for them.
Tim got tired of shopping, so when we were done at Ikea we headed over to our friend's house. Brian is one of Tim's great friends from college, and McKenzie his new wife of a almost half a year now. We decided it would be fun to spend some time with them, and we actually got to be their first house guests to stay over.
Brian and Tim went out to play some disc golf, as they love doing, and played until it was dark out. I went over to the Roseville Galleria to finish up my shopping. I wanted to make sure I could get discounts while there were offering them. I pretty much completed my Christmas shopping list. Really mice having it done well in advance, I don't have to think about anything except for the wrapping.
The four of us had a wonderful home cooked dinner at their place. And finished the evening at this cool place that has a large variety seasonal, local and unusual beers on tap. Got our beers, took a table and played a great many rounds of this really fun game called "Spot It".
Saturday 24th - Tim and I drove over to his aunt and uncle's house where two of the three cousins were visiting home. We hung out for a little while and had breakfast together. Short, but sweet. This was our only opportunity to see Thomas and Laura during the holidays and so had we to take the opportunity.
We got back to Brian and McKenzie's while it was still mid-morning and they were only just having breakfast themselves and so we joined them for "second breakfast" (Hobbit quote).
We hung out for the rest of the day at their place talking, eating and watching the college games. GO DUCKS! When the games were done we said our good byes and headed home.
Monday, October 22, 2012
Fall semester 2012
For those of you who were wondering what we are up to currently apart from our trips and adventures....
Tim has been working at his job with Morrison & Co. for a year now. He quite enjoys it. The job he had before doing taxes and audits for Matson & Isom (public accounting), he ended a week before the wedding. Now he works doing grant writing, feasibility studies for projects companies want to pursue, among other financial projects companies want assistance with. His job really gets us hooked up with most of the big, local farms and ranches. Well and widely known businesses, having amazing reputations for their great impact on the environment and economy and a good number of them pride themselves in being organic. I love it when we have a function to go to that allows to connect with these people, its so fascinating. Connections and events with the Butte County Farm Bureau, Northern California Land Trust, Young Farmers and Ranchers, Chico Chamber of Commerce and others.
I work very, very part time with a local catering company called Bacio. I help serve food at the events and clean up. This would be the same company my mom is working for, but she works almost full time and she helps with all the food preparation.
My main job though is working with kids. I am a part time nanny for several families. I work a few days for one family and different days for my other family. I have been doing this as my solid job since I moved up to Chico 4 years ago this November (next month). I love it and will keep doing it as long as it works out that way.
Last summer I took a class called "Child Development", then another in spring called "Teaching Young Children" and this fall I am actually half way through my last two child development classes "Guidance & . With having 12 units (4 classes) I can working in a preschool or daycare. I decided that it would be good to take the classes so if I wanted to get a job beyond nannying I could.
So thats about it for that.
No, kids in the works yet for us, it will be another couple years. We want to be able to make a trip to New Zealand while its still just us 2. That trip we are planning for early 2014. We will have updates for that trip when it gets closer.
Tim has been working at his job with Morrison & Co. for a year now. He quite enjoys it. The job he had before doing taxes and audits for Matson & Isom (public accounting), he ended a week before the wedding. Now he works doing grant writing, feasibility studies for projects companies want to pursue, among other financial projects companies want assistance with. His job really gets us hooked up with most of the big, local farms and ranches. Well and widely known businesses, having amazing reputations for their great impact on the environment and economy and a good number of them pride themselves in being organic. I love it when we have a function to go to that allows to connect with these people, its so fascinating. Connections and events with the Butte County Farm Bureau, Northern California Land Trust, Young Farmers and Ranchers, Chico Chamber of Commerce and others.
I work very, very part time with a local catering company called Bacio. I help serve food at the events and clean up. This would be the same company my mom is working for, but she works almost full time and she helps with all the food preparation.
My main job though is working with kids. I am a part time nanny for several families. I work a few days for one family and different days for my other family. I have been doing this as my solid job since I moved up to Chico 4 years ago this November (next month). I love it and will keep doing it as long as it works out that way.
Last summer I took a class called "Child Development", then another in spring called "Teaching Young Children" and this fall I am actually half way through my last two child development classes "Guidance & . With having 12 units (4 classes) I can working in a preschool or daycare. I decided that it would be good to take the classes so if I wanted to get a job beyond nannying I could.
So thats about it for that.
No, kids in the works yet for us, it will be another couple years. We want to be able to make a trip to New Zealand while its still just us 2. That trip we are planning for early 2014. We will have updates for that trip when it gets closer.
1 Year Anniversary - 8/13/12
We just celebrated one year of marriage back in August. And a great year it was.
Tim and I are the great outdoors type and so we decided we wanted to embrace that while we celebrated our life together thus far. One of the many wonderful places around us that we don't take advantage of nearly enough is Lake Tahoe. Each time we go there we think to ourselves... "why don't we come here more often?"
Friday 10th - We drove up the 80 to the Indian Springs campground just west of the Donner Pass. It was late in the evening, but we found our spot, pitched the tent and decided a camp fire would be nice. When we go camping and its just us two, we don't normally make a fire, but did this time. The camp ground is seriously right on the side of the interstate, but never would I have imagined that it would be such a soothing sleep with the white noise filling the tent.
Saturday - Packed up the our campsite and headed across the road from the campground to a really great rock face the has anchors. We hocked up our climbing gear and took turns climbing a number of different routes up the rock. It was really fun, we had a great time climbing (and no, we didn't hurt ourselves, we were very careful).
When we were done climbing, we headed for King's Beach, North Tahoe. Had lunch at a burger place called the Char-Pit then took a walk over to the beach. They were having a big event there, i think it was for paddle boarding. Tons of people were out on the sand and in the water. Art and other vendors were lining the sidewalks, there was much to see.
Heading around and down the lake we made a stop at the Eagle Falls area and walked down to Vikingsholm. We had the intention to tour the "castle", but we got there after their very last tour ended, so we walked the grounds and took an adventurous hike up the rocks and boulders next to the waterfall (again, we made sure we were being safe). It wasn't as intense as it sounds.
We finally made our way down to the state line in South Lake Tahoe and checked into our hotel, the Timber Lodge at Heavenly Village. For the rest of the evening we walked around the village, checking out shops, watching families have fun at the mini golf at the pool, etc. We then walked over to get dinner at The Naked Fish (sushi). Its so good! And we ended our evening with taking a dip in the hot tub. It was great spent 20 minutes down there before the security guard kicked us out saying the pool closed an hour ago. lol
Sunday - Took advantage of not having to be anywhere, so we really slept in. The hotel provided some tasty smoothies as a late morning snack, which we made be our breakfast. Packed up our room and went to get lunch at Baja Fresh (one of my favorite fresh mex places).
Our big adventure for the day was driving to Baldwin Beach and rowing our kayak all the way into Emerald Bay to the island that is so famous to anyone who knows about Lake Tahoe. We had a snack break there and explored the little "tea house" and its views of water. We then rowed all the way back to Baldwin Beach. Round trip, were went almost six miles on a weird shaped kayak that is meant for 1 person. Worn out after that, but had fun. Tim made me a deal, he would row the whole way back, if I drove home. Deal! What a guy :)
Monday 13th - The official day marking one year. We went out to dinner at one of our favorite fancy places, the Sierra Nevada Brewery. Ordered specials off the menu and had a lovely desert that reminded me of mud pie with a hint of coffee, but I forgot what it was called. It was a lovely evening.
Tim and I are the great outdoors type and so we decided we wanted to embrace that while we celebrated our life together thus far. One of the many wonderful places around us that we don't take advantage of nearly enough is Lake Tahoe. Each time we go there we think to ourselves... "why don't we come here more often?"
Friday 10th - We drove up the 80 to the Indian Springs campground just west of the Donner Pass. It was late in the evening, but we found our spot, pitched the tent and decided a camp fire would be nice. When we go camping and its just us two, we don't normally make a fire, but did this time. The camp ground is seriously right on the side of the interstate, but never would I have imagined that it would be such a soothing sleep with the white noise filling the tent.
Saturday - Packed up the our campsite and headed across the road from the campground to a really great rock face the has anchors. We hocked up our climbing gear and took turns climbing a number of different routes up the rock. It was really fun, we had a great time climbing (and no, we didn't hurt ourselves, we were very careful).
When we were done climbing, we headed for King's Beach, North Tahoe. Had lunch at a burger place called the Char-Pit then took a walk over to the beach. They were having a big event there, i think it was for paddle boarding. Tons of people were out on the sand and in the water. Art and other vendors were lining the sidewalks, there was much to see.
Heading around and down the lake we made a stop at the Eagle Falls area and walked down to Vikingsholm. We had the intention to tour the "castle", but we got there after their very last tour ended, so we walked the grounds and took an adventurous hike up the rocks and boulders next to the waterfall (again, we made sure we were being safe). It wasn't as intense as it sounds.
We finally made our way down to the state line in South Lake Tahoe and checked into our hotel, the Timber Lodge at Heavenly Village. For the rest of the evening we walked around the village, checking out shops, watching families have fun at the mini golf at the pool, etc. We then walked over to get dinner at The Naked Fish (sushi). Its so good! And we ended our evening with taking a dip in the hot tub. It was great spent 20 minutes down there before the security guard kicked us out saying the pool closed an hour ago. lol
Sunday - Took advantage of not having to be anywhere, so we really slept in. The hotel provided some tasty smoothies as a late morning snack, which we made be our breakfast. Packed up our room and went to get lunch at Baja Fresh (one of my favorite fresh mex places).
Our big adventure for the day was driving to Baldwin Beach and rowing our kayak all the way into Emerald Bay to the island that is so famous to anyone who knows about Lake Tahoe. We had a snack break there and explored the little "tea house" and its views of water. We then rowed all the way back to Baldwin Beach. Round trip, were went almost six miles on a weird shaped kayak that is meant for 1 person. Worn out after that, but had fun. Tim made me a deal, he would row the whole way back, if I drove home. Deal! What a guy :)
Monday 13th - The official day marking one year. We went out to dinner at one of our favorite fancy places, the Sierra Nevada Brewery. Ordered specials off the menu and had a lovely desert that reminded me of mud pie with a hint of coffee, but I forgot what it was called. It was a lovely evening.
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Seattle Road Trip
Our big trip for the summer was taking a big drive up the coast to Seattle for the 4th of July. Tim's cousin Dan is living up there right now, he is working on his second year of grad-school. We wanted to visit him while he was living there, so this worked out great.
*When I say drive up the coast, it was exactly that.*
The drive up
June 29th - We drove to Tim's parents' in Willits and stayed a night.
June 30th - We headed over to Fort Bragg. From there we took hwy 1 north. Where 1 meets up with 101 there is this really great attraction. In the little town of Leggett, on the south end of the Humboldt Natl. Forrest is what they call the "Drive Through Tree" also known as the "Chandelier Tree". Yes, like the one that used to stand in Yosemite, there are a few other trees in parts of California that are big enough to drive your car through.
Our next stop was in Fortuna, we stopped by Eel River Brewing Company. There is a really good drink that I couldn't get a six pack of anywhere but there. And for lunch we stopped in Eureka at the Lost Coast Brewing Company. The food there was amazing! They had some of the best garlic fries I have ever had. The weather at this time was chilly and slightly rainy.
We made a stop to check Gold Bluffs Beach (inside Prairie Creek Redwoods St Park), driving through those trees was pretty neat, Tim calls it the Jurassic forrest. This is also the place along the 101 where the elk crossing is, and we most certainly got to see them, two large herds hanging out in two different spots just off the road. We also stopped at a place in Kalmath called Trees of Mystery, there is a giant Paul Bunyan and his Blue Ox, got a few pictures then headed on. We had a camping spot at the Crescent City KOA. Thanks goodness, by the time we got there the rain had stopped and there was still some light to set up our tent by. Nice little camp ground, we love KOAs, but it was a bummer that it was entirely covered in redwoods, so the water still in the trees dripped a lot on everything. That evening we had a little date to Denny's for chocolate sundays.
July 1st - We checked out Crescent City's light house, fishing dock where they catch all their crab and we walked around the city park (they have an amazing play ground & as well as a disc golf course). Then we continued our drive crossing the Cali/Oregon boarder... Jaime's first time. We drove into Brookings, got ourselves some breakfast and took it over to Chetco Point Park. It was a neat little spot with a great ocean view on either side of the point, fun rocks to climb on; Tim was bummed we didn't bring our climbing shoes or had our crash pad yet, he saw a greater climbing potential. The sun was out and the fog was cleared away from the small town.
Just north, outside of the town of Coos Bay, there is a spit (not sure what its called) with loads of sand doons we stopped there for a while and ventured to the ocean. It was a long jaunt and as we were about to make our way back to the car a couple in an off road vehicle gave us a ride back. It was a totally unexpected perk to our stop, it was so much fun.
Lunch or was it dinner (linner), I can't remember, was in Florence. There is a restaurant with a funny name that Tim wanted to eat at called Charls' Restaurant. The next part of the drive was quite spectacular, the views were wonderful. There was still so much road ahead of us, so we didn't make any more stops. We made it to Tillamook 10 minutes before closing time, so we got ourselves ice cream cones.
July 2nd - We stayed at a pretty nice (besides the smoke) inn in town. In the morning we took a self guided tour of the cheese factory and had samples of their cheese. Before we left, we bought ourselves some "extra sharp" cheese (black wrapper) and the most amazing summer sausage I have ever had. We hopped back in the car and headed on our way. Our fist stop along the drive for the day was Cannon beach, one of our favorite stops of the drive up. Its was a pristine beach, with a cute little town and the houses that lined the beach were the most amazing "beach cottages" I have ever seen. What this beach is most known for is Haystack Rock; it was in the movie "The Goonies" (a favorite of both of ours).
Our next and last stop for the day was in Astoria. We spent a couple hours in the Lewis and Clark Natl. Historic Park, Fort Clatsop. Lunch we had our cheese and sausage on crackers I packed and dried pears from our home farmer's market. Got to watch a gun demo and tour the fort and walked a bit of the grounds. If we had more time, I would have wanted to go check out the town of Astoria (the setting and filming location of the Goonies) its a neat little town on the water.
Finally, our last part of our drive, we crossed into Washington, yet again a first for me. We drove up through Olympia and would have stopped by to see my aunt and uncle if we had more time, that would have been fun, next time we will. An finally reached Seattle.
Seattle/Victoria
July 3rd - Dan, Tim and I hopped on a Clipper boat and headed for Victoria BC. The weather was wonderful, sun patches, high clouds, little to no wind. It was a great ride getting to view all the islands in the Puget Sound. My first time to Canada and yes, I asked the customs guy to stamp my passport (they don't do it unless you ask). We ate lunch at the most amazing Fish and Chips place on the docks called Red Fish Blue Fish. After we got settled in our room we headed over to the Royal British Columbia Museum and walked through the dinosaur exhibit and and two others that were in the building. We then took a walk through the town and window shopped till dinner time. Dinner we chose to eat at probably my favorite restaurant I have ever been to, Irish Times. The food and drinks were so good! And the music was even greater, authentic Irish folk music. We had gelato for desert at a cute little candy shop.
July 4th - We toured the Parliament before we hopped back on the clipper to head back to Seattle. We rented bikes and rode them through the University of Washington to view the campus. Then we rode to the Gas Works Park to watch fireworks over the water of Union Lake and I must say it was the most spectacular show I have seen yet. The fireworks were coordinated with music and there were more colors and affects then most shows.
July 5th - Tim and I ventured around the city. We first stopped to get coffee at Peet's and walked around part of Green Lake. We drove over to the Fremont District to see the "Fremont Troll" under the Aurora bridge. Then headed downtown. The REI "Mother-ship". That place is incredible!!! We had to watch our time, we could have been in there much, much longer, but had to remember all the other things we wanted to see. We did lunch at the Water Front, there was a place with really good clam chowder.We walked a little bit, then headed up to Pikes Market. We didn't see anyone throwing fish, but we did see the original Starbucks and the famous "gum wall" in Post Ally.
We drove over to the Space Needle and toured the grounds there (the line was really long and the day was getting on, we figured we would save our trip to the top for our next visit and get dinner there while we are at it). We saw the EMP Museum (from outside) and other neat art sculptures in the area, and toured the Pacific Science Center. We were hoping to see the King Tut exhibit (this was its last stop before they were retiring it back to its tomb), but we weren't going to indulge them in the outrageous fee they were charging. We were really upset over the whole ordeal. Needles to say, it was the end of our touring for the day and were tired.
Back at Dan's waiting for him to get out of class, Tim and packed our climbing shoes and jogged over to the UW campus, they have a rock climbing structure we wanted to check out. And we ended the day the three of us going to see the latest Spider Man movie.
Trip Home
July 6th - We slept in a little in preparation for our drive. Hoped in the car and started down I-5. Stop 1, Fort Vancouver Natl Historic Site, built by the Hudson Bay Company. Toured the fort and had another wonderful picnic lunch of cheese, crackers and dried fruit. Crossed the Columbia River and went for a little detour through Forest Park. Walked through the Rose Gardens and part of the Japanese Gardens, then headed into the city where we took a little walk. Hoped back on to I-5 (got to be my favorite stretch of the 5 I have even driven on) and continued south for Eugene. So tired at this point that all we did was get dinner and go to bed early.
July 7th - Tim and I went for a little run in Alton Baker Park on "Pre's Trail", then stopped in the Duck Store at Autzen Stadium. Drove over to Oregon U's Track, Hayward Field and touched the ground that has changed running's history time and time again. From there headed up to Skyline Blvd. to visit Steve Prefontaine's memorial site.
Continued along HWY 58 and took a pleasant unexpected stop at Salt Creek Falls, Oregon's second tallest waterfall. Then onto Crater Lake we went (Jaime's first time and a VERY long time since Tim first time there). Set up our campsite and had dinner at the lodge. We went to a stargazing thing at the campground amphitheater.
July 8th - Had our breakfast on the wall overlooking the lake, walked a little bit of the trail to Garfield Peak and checked out the Sinnott Memorial Overlook. Drove down to Medford and had lunch at Wild River Pizza and Brewing Co. The Pizza was so good! And this was our final stop before we crossed the boarder back into California and arrived home.
*When I say drive up the coast, it was exactly that.*
The drive up
June 29th - We drove to Tim's parents' in Willits and stayed a night.
June 30th - We headed over to Fort Bragg. From there we took hwy 1 north. Where 1 meets up with 101 there is this really great attraction. In the little town of Leggett, on the south end of the Humboldt Natl. Forrest is what they call the "Drive Through Tree" also known as the "Chandelier Tree". Yes, like the one that used to stand in Yosemite, there are a few other trees in parts of California that are big enough to drive your car through.
Our next stop was in Fortuna, we stopped by Eel River Brewing Company. There is a really good drink that I couldn't get a six pack of anywhere but there. And for lunch we stopped in Eureka at the Lost Coast Brewing Company. The food there was amazing! They had some of the best garlic fries I have ever had. The weather at this time was chilly and slightly rainy.
We made a stop to check Gold Bluffs Beach (inside Prairie Creek Redwoods St Park), driving through those trees was pretty neat, Tim calls it the Jurassic forrest. This is also the place along the 101 where the elk crossing is, and we most certainly got to see them, two large herds hanging out in two different spots just off the road. We also stopped at a place in Kalmath called Trees of Mystery, there is a giant Paul Bunyan and his Blue Ox, got a few pictures then headed on. We had a camping spot at the Crescent City KOA. Thanks goodness, by the time we got there the rain had stopped and there was still some light to set up our tent by. Nice little camp ground, we love KOAs, but it was a bummer that it was entirely covered in redwoods, so the water still in the trees dripped a lot on everything. That evening we had a little date to Denny's for chocolate sundays.
July 1st - We checked out Crescent City's light house, fishing dock where they catch all their crab and we walked around the city park (they have an amazing play ground & as well as a disc golf course). Then we continued our drive crossing the Cali/Oregon boarder... Jaime's first time. We drove into Brookings, got ourselves some breakfast and took it over to Chetco Point Park. It was a neat little spot with a great ocean view on either side of the point, fun rocks to climb on; Tim was bummed we didn't bring our climbing shoes or had our crash pad yet, he saw a greater climbing potential. The sun was out and the fog was cleared away from the small town.
Just north, outside of the town of Coos Bay, there is a spit (not sure what its called) with loads of sand doons we stopped there for a while and ventured to the ocean. It was a long jaunt and as we were about to make our way back to the car a couple in an off road vehicle gave us a ride back. It was a totally unexpected perk to our stop, it was so much fun.
Lunch or was it dinner (linner), I can't remember, was in Florence. There is a restaurant with a funny name that Tim wanted to eat at called Charls' Restaurant. The next part of the drive was quite spectacular, the views were wonderful. There was still so much road ahead of us, so we didn't make any more stops. We made it to Tillamook 10 minutes before closing time, so we got ourselves ice cream cones.
July 2nd - We stayed at a pretty nice (besides the smoke) inn in town. In the morning we took a self guided tour of the cheese factory and had samples of their cheese. Before we left, we bought ourselves some "extra sharp" cheese (black wrapper) and the most amazing summer sausage I have ever had. We hopped back in the car and headed on our way. Our fist stop along the drive for the day was Cannon beach, one of our favorite stops of the drive up. Its was a pristine beach, with a cute little town and the houses that lined the beach were the most amazing "beach cottages" I have ever seen. What this beach is most known for is Haystack Rock; it was in the movie "The Goonies" (a favorite of both of ours).
Our next and last stop for the day was in Astoria. We spent a couple hours in the Lewis and Clark Natl. Historic Park, Fort Clatsop. Lunch we had our cheese and sausage on crackers I packed and dried pears from our home farmer's market. Got to watch a gun demo and tour the fort and walked a bit of the grounds. If we had more time, I would have wanted to go check out the town of Astoria (the setting and filming location of the Goonies) its a neat little town on the water.
Finally, our last part of our drive, we crossed into Washington, yet again a first for me. We drove up through Olympia and would have stopped by to see my aunt and uncle if we had more time, that would have been fun, next time we will. An finally reached Seattle.
Seattle/Victoria
July 3rd - Dan, Tim and I hopped on a Clipper boat and headed for Victoria BC. The weather was wonderful, sun patches, high clouds, little to no wind. It was a great ride getting to view all the islands in the Puget Sound. My first time to Canada and yes, I asked the customs guy to stamp my passport (they don't do it unless you ask). We ate lunch at the most amazing Fish and Chips place on the docks called Red Fish Blue Fish. After we got settled in our room we headed over to the Royal British Columbia Museum and walked through the dinosaur exhibit and and two others that were in the building. We then took a walk through the town and window shopped till dinner time. Dinner we chose to eat at probably my favorite restaurant I have ever been to, Irish Times. The food and drinks were so good! And the music was even greater, authentic Irish folk music. We had gelato for desert at a cute little candy shop.
July 4th - We toured the Parliament before we hopped back on the clipper to head back to Seattle. We rented bikes and rode them through the University of Washington to view the campus. Then we rode to the Gas Works Park to watch fireworks over the water of Union Lake and I must say it was the most spectacular show I have seen yet. The fireworks were coordinated with music and there were more colors and affects then most shows.
July 5th - Tim and I ventured around the city. We first stopped to get coffee at Peet's and walked around part of Green Lake. We drove over to the Fremont District to see the "Fremont Troll" under the Aurora bridge. Then headed downtown. The REI "Mother-ship". That place is incredible!!! We had to watch our time, we could have been in there much, much longer, but had to remember all the other things we wanted to see. We did lunch at the Water Front, there was a place with really good clam chowder.We walked a little bit, then headed up to Pikes Market. We didn't see anyone throwing fish, but we did see the original Starbucks and the famous "gum wall" in Post Ally.
We drove over to the Space Needle and toured the grounds there (the line was really long and the day was getting on, we figured we would save our trip to the top for our next visit and get dinner there while we are at it). We saw the EMP Museum (from outside) and other neat art sculptures in the area, and toured the Pacific Science Center. We were hoping to see the King Tut exhibit (this was its last stop before they were retiring it back to its tomb), but we weren't going to indulge them in the outrageous fee they were charging. We were really upset over the whole ordeal. Needles to say, it was the end of our touring for the day and were tired.
Back at Dan's waiting for him to get out of class, Tim and packed our climbing shoes and jogged over to the UW campus, they have a rock climbing structure we wanted to check out. And we ended the day the three of us going to see the latest Spider Man movie.
Trip Home
July 6th - We slept in a little in preparation for our drive. Hoped in the car and started down I-5. Stop 1, Fort Vancouver Natl Historic Site, built by the Hudson Bay Company. Toured the fort and had another wonderful picnic lunch of cheese, crackers and dried fruit. Crossed the Columbia River and went for a little detour through Forest Park. Walked through the Rose Gardens and part of the Japanese Gardens, then headed into the city where we took a little walk. Hoped back on to I-5 (got to be my favorite stretch of the 5 I have even driven on) and continued south for Eugene. So tired at this point that all we did was get dinner and go to bed early.
July 7th - Tim and I went for a little run in Alton Baker Park on "Pre's Trail", then stopped in the Duck Store at Autzen Stadium. Drove over to Oregon U's Track, Hayward Field and touched the ground that has changed running's history time and time again. From there headed up to Skyline Blvd. to visit Steve Prefontaine's memorial site.
Continued along HWY 58 and took a pleasant unexpected stop at Salt Creek Falls, Oregon's second tallest waterfall. Then onto Crater Lake we went (Jaime's first time and a VERY long time since Tim first time there). Set up our campsite and had dinner at the lodge. We went to a stargazing thing at the campground amphitheater.
July 8th - Had our breakfast on the wall overlooking the lake, walked a little bit of the trail to Garfield Peak and checked out the Sinnott Memorial Overlook. Drove down to Medford and had lunch at Wild River Pizza and Brewing Co. The Pizza was so good! And this was our final stop before we crossed the boarder back into California and arrived home.
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Santa Cruz Weekend
A few weeks ago Tim and I took a little trip to Santa Cruz. Its been since January since I had been down, but that was focused on taking photos for a friend's wedding & it has been much MUCH longer since Tim had been down there. We wanted to make a trip down before summer ended and the weather got less sunny and colder.
We stayed with my good friends Jenna and Henrique (she married a Brazilian). They live in Felton. I am really glad it worked out to stay with them, it had been too long since I got to spent much time with them last. Also a fun concept being "adults" now and staying with friends in their homes.
Saturday, Tim and I ran a part of my old high school Cross Country course so he could see how crazy a run that was. We played half of the Black Mouse disc golf course (located at the school). Later went down to SC and had lunch at a favorite place of my parents and I, Cafe Brasil. So good!
We headed over to the Boardwalk to play a round of mini gold at Neptune's Kingdom and go for a few rides, Giant Dipper and the Logger's Revenge. Had to reminisce back to our childhoods and boy was it great! ... Those of you who don't know, Tim's grandparents lived in Aptos all the years I lived in Felton, extremely close to one-another.
Dinner time, we caught up with Tim's good buddy Tedd and his girlfriend Rachel. Tedd just moved to Capitola from Mountain View this summer. We had food and drinks at a little pub called Birtannia Arms in downtown Capitola. We had a fun time catching up and getting to know Rachel.
Sunday we went to Vintage Faith Church in the morning. Tim's first time going there. Not the church I grew up in, but a favorite of mine in the last couple years I lived there. Amazing music, messages and people. They really shined a light on the community and college when they started up the church in 2004.
Before heading home, we went down to Pacific Ave. and got lunch at one of my most favorite places in the world for food, Pizza My Heart. A must-go-to stop for me when I am in the area. Got my FAVORITE, 2 slices of Maui Wowie, Tim got something meaty and I picked up the 2012 summer T-shirt. After that we took a walk a couple blocks down to Street Light Records and perused the vinyls. Tim found a few things to add to our collection at home. He was a happy boy ;)
Heading over 17 we made one last stop to visit Uncle Paul and Aunt Amy for a short bit. We watched the end of a 49ers preseason game. Uncle Paul showed us around the winery (yes, they own it, quite lovely), took us out to check on the grapes growing on their property and checked the sugar content in the grapes preparing for harvest. It was quite interesting. Before we left, they let us cut an empty wine barrel in half to take home for planting in. We planted a lime tree in it.
It was a fun weekend, short and compact, but we will be back down soon enough again.
We stayed with my good friends Jenna and Henrique (she married a Brazilian). They live in Felton. I am really glad it worked out to stay with them, it had been too long since I got to spent much time with them last. Also a fun concept being "adults" now and staying with friends in their homes.
Saturday, Tim and I ran a part of my old high school Cross Country course so he could see how crazy a run that was. We played half of the Black Mouse disc golf course (located at the school). Later went down to SC and had lunch at a favorite place of my parents and I, Cafe Brasil. So good!
We headed over to the Boardwalk to play a round of mini gold at Neptune's Kingdom and go for a few rides, Giant Dipper and the Logger's Revenge. Had to reminisce back to our childhoods and boy was it great! ... Those of you who don't know, Tim's grandparents lived in Aptos all the years I lived in Felton, extremely close to one-another.
Dinner time, we caught up with Tim's good buddy Tedd and his girlfriend Rachel. Tedd just moved to Capitola from Mountain View this summer. We had food and drinks at a little pub called Birtannia Arms in downtown Capitola. We had a fun time catching up and getting to know Rachel.
Sunday we went to Vintage Faith Church in the morning. Tim's first time going there. Not the church I grew up in, but a favorite of mine in the last couple years I lived there. Amazing music, messages and people. They really shined a light on the community and college when they started up the church in 2004.
Before heading home, we went down to Pacific Ave. and got lunch at one of my most favorite places in the world for food, Pizza My Heart. A must-go-to stop for me when I am in the area. Got my FAVORITE, 2 slices of Maui Wowie, Tim got something meaty and I picked up the 2012 summer T-shirt. After that we took a walk a couple blocks down to Street Light Records and perused the vinyls. Tim found a few things to add to our collection at home. He was a happy boy ;)
Heading over 17 we made one last stop to visit Uncle Paul and Aunt Amy for a short bit. We watched the end of a 49ers preseason game. Uncle Paul showed us around the winery (yes, they own it, quite lovely), took us out to check on the grapes growing on their property and checked the sugar content in the grapes preparing for harvest. It was quite interesting. Before we left, they let us cut an empty wine barrel in half to take home for planting in. We planted a lime tree in it.
It was a fun weekend, short and compact, but we will be back down soon enough again.
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Our new Niece
Elena Teresa Peters was born at 6:43 (Boston time) on Thursday, July 26th. Four days past her due date. 7lbs 13oz.
Elena was named after numerous ladies from both sides of the family. For all the Eileen's, Helen's and Elena's whose names were all similar and ladies so dear to Steven and Teresa.
Tim and I are very excited to now have the title Uncle and Aunt. She is the first of our next generation in both our families.
We are very excited, Steve and Teresa finished up their doctorates at MIT (Boston) and now they will be moving back to California by the end of this month. It will be awesome to finally have them back here for good this time, after 7 years I believe.
Elena was named after numerous ladies from both sides of the family. For all the Eileen's, Helen's and Elena's whose names were all similar and ladies so dear to Steven and Teresa.
Tim and I are very excited to now have the title Uncle and Aunt. She is the first of our next generation in both our families.
We are very excited, Steve and Teresa finished up their doctorates at MIT (Boston) and now they will be moving back to California by the end of this month. It will be awesome to finally have them back here for good this time, after 7 years I believe.
Elena 4 hours old. Teresa looking very pretty ans happy.
Elena 1 day old. She is lookin pretty alert!
Elena 2 days, 6 hours old. Happy family ready to go home.
Mt. Whitney
If you want to see pictures from our trip, you can check them out on our photo site with Shutterfly :)
Click here > Whitney Pictures
Yes, thats right, the tallest peak in the Continental US!
It reaches 14,505 ft.
Location: Inyo National Forest.
The summit is the beginning of the south end of the John Muir Trail and part of the Pacific Crest Trail.
The trail head for both hikes starts at the Whitney Portal, elevation 8,360ft. The trail is over 7,000ft elev. change from start to finish.
-- The Whitney Trail; most commonly traveled, it is an 11 mile hike one way. Almost the whole trail is switch backs, but the most infamous part is called "99 switchbacks" which is entirely on shale.
-- The Mountaineers Route; for the more adventurous hiker, a 6.9 mile trek one way. In the first portion of the route is the "Ebersbacher Ledges", (class 3) a tricky traverse across a cliff face. The last ascent, starting at Ice Burg Lake there is a 1,500 foot climb up a steep, loose gully of scree; the "notch", a 500 foot (class 4) technical free climb.
For those who don't know, climbing has a rating system for difficulty. Class 1 is easier, class 3-4 is large rock scrambling, but when you get to class 5 it requires ropes.
***
Wednesday, June 20th we drove down the 395 south of Bishop to the town of Lone Pine and drove up to the Whitney Portal campground to meet up with our group and stay the night. Tim's cousin Thomas and his friend Neil both put their names in for the lottery to get hiking permits. Yes, same as the process for getting Half Dome permits. Fortunately, both their names were picked and we got a "day use" permit for both trails.
Thursday morning we woke at 4:30am and got on the trail by 5. A mile up the trail the Mountaineer's Route branches off and that where our group split up. Five people took the Whitney Trail. Me, Tim, Neil and Thomas's other friend Eddie took the M. Route.
Have in mind, we know a lot of people face elev. sickness, so we were prepared with Aspirin and lots of water and iodine tablets if we needed more water from one of the lakes. Shot Blocks, Cliff Bars, bananas, other fruit, trail mix, peanut butter sandwiches and everything else we figured we would need to keep ourselves happy and healthy for the whole hike.
Most people do Whitney in at least 2 days, camping along the trail to break up the hike. Our group went up and back in one day. People were shocked when we told them before what we were planning to do, but we did it all the same.
With the morning sun coming up, the trail was beautiful! Quite a climb every step of the way. Took the occasional water breaks to keep hydrated and catch our breaths. Hour breakfast stop at the first lake we came to, Lower Boy Scout Lake.
Continued the constant climb past other lakes, taking more stops as needed. Came up to Ice Burg lake where we took our Lunch Break. Two hours of sitting enjoying our surroundings and recharging before our final ascent.
Like the description at the top, the last 2,000ft were intense! It took 2 hours for me to make it up the 1500ft of scree, Tim being the loving and caring man he is, stayed with the the whole way making use I made it and assisted me when parts got really tough. I am an adventurous person and really enjoyed the challenge, but made sure I was confident in every step I took. Boy was it a challenge. We took another little break, then went up the "Notch". Holy Moly! Class4... I think I would call that a 4.5, crazy! If I had rope and a harness, I would have flown up that thing, but my only safety net was Tim and his encouraging words.
AWWWWHHHHH we made it!
The people from our group that took the Whitney Trail were at the top waiting for us. A few of them were really feeling the elevation and not doing so well. They beat us to the top because they took far less breaks then us and certainly were feeling it. They waited for us because we wanted to reconnect before the trip back and we wanted a group picture. Once we did, they were in a hurry to get down. Our M. Route group hung out for a little while longer enjoying the views and the fact we made it.
Tim and I ended up traveling down by ourselves. We traveled at different speeds, Tim and I wanted to get back down as fast as we could, tired and ready to get back to camp. 99 Switchbacks were awful, they just kept going and going, and that was only the first leg of it. Every time we thought we were getting closer there was another turn, another valley. Eleven miles down felt soooo much longer. The surroundings were beautiful, but it was hard to pay attention to.
Eight 'o clock in the evening, finally back and were all celebrating! What a day. I can see why very few people do it in one day. Eighteen miles for Neil, Eddie, Tim and Me. Twenty-two miles for the others.
Friday was a chill day, four people of our group left back to home. Neil, Thomas, Eddie, Tim and I hung out for a while at the campground. There is this incredible rock with a fisher going right through it and an anchor at the top. Set up the ropes and the guys started climbing. I took the pictures. They climbed a few more boulders around the campground before we headed out.
We went up to Bishop, to a place called the Buttermilks. It is in National lands, open lands? the government owns it. There are farmers that let cattle roam free. Driving over the cattle guards, we entered into one of the most world renowned bouldering sites. Set up camp, cooked dinner over an open fire watching the sun set in those amazing surroundings. After dinner, grabbed our climbing shoes and the crash pads and headed out to do some bouldering.
Saturday Eddie, Tim and I packed up and headed home. Neil and Thomas stayed till Sunday to continue climbing.
***
And that was our Whitney trip :)
.JPG)
Click here > Whitney Pictures
Yes, thats right, the tallest peak in the Continental US!
It reaches 14,505 ft.
Location: Inyo National Forest.
The summit is the beginning of the south end of the John Muir Trail and part of the Pacific Crest Trail.
The trail head for both hikes starts at the Whitney Portal, elevation 8,360ft. The trail is over 7,000ft elev. change from start to finish.
-- The Whitney Trail; most commonly traveled, it is an 11 mile hike one way. Almost the whole trail is switch backs, but the most infamous part is called "99 switchbacks" which is entirely on shale.
-- The Mountaineers Route; for the more adventurous hiker, a 6.9 mile trek one way. In the first portion of the route is the "Ebersbacher Ledges", (class 3) a tricky traverse across a cliff face. The last ascent, starting at Ice Burg Lake there is a 1,500 foot climb up a steep, loose gully of scree; the "notch", a 500 foot (class 4) technical free climb.
For those who don't know, climbing has a rating system for difficulty. Class 1 is easier, class 3-4 is large rock scrambling, but when you get to class 5 it requires ropes.
***
Wednesday, June 20th we drove down the 395 south of Bishop to the town of Lone Pine and drove up to the Whitney Portal campground to meet up with our group and stay the night. Tim's cousin Thomas and his friend Neil both put their names in for the lottery to get hiking permits. Yes, same as the process for getting Half Dome permits. Fortunately, both their names were picked and we got a "day use" permit for both trails.
Thursday morning we woke at 4:30am and got on the trail by 5. A mile up the trail the Mountaineer's Route branches off and that where our group split up. Five people took the Whitney Trail. Me, Tim, Neil and Thomas's other friend Eddie took the M. Route.
Have in mind, we know a lot of people face elev. sickness, so we were prepared with Aspirin and lots of water and iodine tablets if we needed more water from one of the lakes. Shot Blocks, Cliff Bars, bananas, other fruit, trail mix, peanut butter sandwiches and everything else we figured we would need to keep ourselves happy and healthy for the whole hike.
Most people do Whitney in at least 2 days, camping along the trail to break up the hike. Our group went up and back in one day. People were shocked when we told them before what we were planning to do, but we did it all the same.
With the morning sun coming up, the trail was beautiful! Quite a climb every step of the way. Took the occasional water breaks to keep hydrated and catch our breaths. Hour breakfast stop at the first lake we came to, Lower Boy Scout Lake.
Continued the constant climb past other lakes, taking more stops as needed. Came up to Ice Burg lake where we took our Lunch Break. Two hours of sitting enjoying our surroundings and recharging before our final ascent.
Like the description at the top, the last 2,000ft were intense! It took 2 hours for me to make it up the 1500ft of scree, Tim being the loving and caring man he is, stayed with the the whole way making use I made it and assisted me when parts got really tough. I am an adventurous person and really enjoyed the challenge, but made sure I was confident in every step I took. Boy was it a challenge. We took another little break, then went up the "Notch". Holy Moly! Class4... I think I would call that a 4.5, crazy! If I had rope and a harness, I would have flown up that thing, but my only safety net was Tim and his encouraging words.
AWWWWHHHHH we made it!
The people from our group that took the Whitney Trail were at the top waiting for us. A few of them were really feeling the elevation and not doing so well. They beat us to the top because they took far less breaks then us and certainly were feeling it. They waited for us because we wanted to reconnect before the trip back and we wanted a group picture. Once we did, they were in a hurry to get down. Our M. Route group hung out for a little while longer enjoying the views and the fact we made it.
Tim and I ended up traveling down by ourselves. We traveled at different speeds, Tim and I wanted to get back down as fast as we could, tired and ready to get back to camp. 99 Switchbacks were awful, they just kept going and going, and that was only the first leg of it. Every time we thought we were getting closer there was another turn, another valley. Eleven miles down felt soooo much longer. The surroundings were beautiful, but it was hard to pay attention to.
Eight 'o clock in the evening, finally back and were all celebrating! What a day. I can see why very few people do it in one day. Eighteen miles for Neil, Eddie, Tim and Me. Twenty-two miles for the others.
Friday was a chill day, four people of our group left back to home. Neil, Thomas, Eddie, Tim and I hung out for a while at the campground. There is this incredible rock with a fisher going right through it and an anchor at the top. Set up the ropes and the guys started climbing. I took the pictures. They climbed a few more boulders around the campground before we headed out.
We went up to Bishop, to a place called the Buttermilks. It is in National lands, open lands? the government owns it. There are farmers that let cattle roam free. Driving over the cattle guards, we entered into one of the most world renowned bouldering sites. Set up camp, cooked dinner over an open fire watching the sun set in those amazing surroundings. After dinner, grabbed our climbing shoes and the crash pads and headed out to do some bouldering.
Saturday Eddie, Tim and I packed up and headed home. Neil and Thomas stayed till Sunday to continue climbing.
***
And that was our Whitney trip :)
.JPG)
Monday, July 9, 2012
Grandma Hoyt
For those of you who haven't heard, on June 16th we said good bye to my Grandma Ruth. A little less then a year ago we found out that her cancer came back and they decided not to treat it.
In mid April they moved up from Santa Ana to Paradise to be closer to us. We had 2 months with her here. We got to celebrate Mother's Day with her. We knew it was probably going to be her last and wanted to honor her on this one last special day. She made it to her's and Grandpa's 60th Anniversary, to the day.
She lived a great and long life, impacting many, many lives of those who knew her. She was a teacher and a mother, not only to her own children, but those she worked with over the years. She was a missionary not only over seas, but also in the States.
We are happy for her though, she got to go home to be with siblings and parents. She has very much been looking forward to heaven, now she gets to enjoy the rest of forever there.
She will be missed, but we will see her again one day and through a big party together.
In mid April they moved up from Santa Ana to Paradise to be closer to us. We had 2 months with her here. We got to celebrate Mother's Day with her. We knew it was probably going to be her last and wanted to honor her on this one last special day. She made it to her's and Grandpa's 60th Anniversary, to the day.
She lived a great and long life, impacting many, many lives of those who knew her. She was a teacher and a mother, not only to her own children, but those she worked with over the years. She was a missionary not only over seas, but also in the States.
We are happy for her though, she got to go home to be with siblings and parents. She has very much been looking forward to heaven, now she gets to enjoy the rest of forever there.
She will be missed, but we will see her again one day and through a big party together.
Gizmo
Some of you may know, some may not. Back in November we got ourselves a kitty. Pretty sure he was born in August, the same month we got married. He is a Siamese, Snowshoe, Rag-doll mix. We named him Gizmo and call him MoMo or MOzy.
He is one silly little man. Sleeps most of the day and goes crazy when we get home from work. And he really lets us know home much he missed us when we get back from a trip, tons of meowing. He likes to rough house with Tim and attack his ankles. When I am working in the kitchen, he likes to lay on the edge of the counter and watch me run around putting things together. Silliest thing though, he absolutely loves drinking water from the sink faucet... watch out when your washing your hands, he will join you. Quite silly, he prefers rolled up plastic bags and cardboard boxes rather then real cat toys.
I am at home more often then Tim normally and new I wanted a companion to keep me company during that time. Slinky was an awesome pet, but ferrets sleep something like 20 hours a day and hides out when he does. A cat was the next best thing. A dog would be too much responsibility for a pet right now. Perhaps one day will get one when there are kids to enjoy them too. We love our Mo!
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Good bye Slinky
Getting ready for work this morning, making me lunch, I found myself going into the garage for a reason I had no idea.
I saw Slinky laying in front of his house. It looked like he sensed I was coming and lay there looking at me like he normally would when that was the case. When I got in there he didn't lift his head or make any sort of movement, yet he was looking at me. Something was up!
I called his name and clapped my hands. Nothing. I started to approach slowly, afraid. When I touched him and didn't respond and was rigid. I kinda screamed from the shock.
Tim and I just buried him in our back yard. Sent him off with his hammock, an apple and his treats.
I saw Slinky laying in front of his house. It looked like he sensed I was coming and lay there looking at me like he normally would when that was the case. When I got in there he didn't lift his head or make any sort of movement, yet he was looking at me. Something was up!
I called his name and clapped my hands. Nothing. I started to approach slowly, afraid. When I touched him and didn't respond and was rigid. I kinda screamed from the shock.
Tim and I just buried him in our back yard. Sent him off with his hammock, an apple and his treats.
We laid him on his hammock.
Apple next to him and sprinkled the teats around.
We can see him resting from our sliding glass door
and the kitchen window.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Making our house a home
Tim and the guys lived in the house for nearly 3 before the two of us met. Granted, it was new when they moved in, it was still a guys house. Tim did a good job making sure that the house stayed manageable, the carpets stayed rather clean, no holes in the walls and no funky stuff happening to the place that would normally happen with renters.
The walls were the manufacture white color with smudges and chips, the carpet has gotten stretched out, the garage has stains all over from our beloved pet Slinky (ferret). A bunch of random things around the house that got left here when the guys moved out, the college furniture has continued to hang on and the yard too had only been maintained to keep from getting any worse.
This is not me saying that anything could have been different for the better, I congratulate them for keeping it as nice as they did. Tim working full time and the other guys working on grad school and jobs of their own, it would have been a big job to do too much more. Props to the guys!
All this to say, here and there in our dating I started doing little things to improve the place, further setting me up for the big things I get to do now. Truly making the house our own. We started together with a pretty awesome clean slate.
* Those white walls? Yes, we have no gotten to paint our master bedroom, laundry room, downstairs bathroom, entry way and our kitchen. Our guest bedroom downstairs is very soon to follow, as I already have the paint.
* Stretched out carpet? We will soon see about getting someone in to come and trim the excess.
* Garage? I have organized and gotten rid a bunch of the random stuff that doesn't need to be there.
Unfortunately, not much can be done about the floor stains, I think. I will have to look into that more. First we need to build Slinky a much bigger and awesome cage to live in all the time, rather then living free range.
* Furniture? We have gotten rid of a few things, several couches and other things. We got our selves a "new" couch, thanks to the Rocklin yard-sales and it matches the Lazy Boy arm chair we had.
* The yard? Oh my favorite thing of all! The grass was completely weed filled and in awful condition. The ground didn't drain and had many potholes in it. We killed it, dug it all out, filled in the ground with good soil and reseeded with a local grass blend. A bunch of the bushes that were in the yard originally, Tim and I tore out to replace with nicer things. It feels like we are starting to have a little paradise back there.
>> We also have built a vegetable garden bed. Still have to fill it with dirt from the worm farm, but we will soon be able to grow our one veggies :D I can't wait!
I would say we are well on our way at this point to making our home totally awesome.
If you would like to see the progression our our house please feel free to check out our pictures on Jaime's facebook.
Well, three posts in one evening, I am pooped. Time to hit the hay.
The walls were the manufacture white color with smudges and chips, the carpet has gotten stretched out, the garage has stains all over from our beloved pet Slinky (ferret). A bunch of random things around the house that got left here when the guys moved out, the college furniture has continued to hang on and the yard too had only been maintained to keep from getting any worse.
This is not me saying that anything could have been different for the better, I congratulate them for keeping it as nice as they did. Tim working full time and the other guys working on grad school and jobs of their own, it would have been a big job to do too much more. Props to the guys!
All this to say, here and there in our dating I started doing little things to improve the place, further setting me up for the big things I get to do now. Truly making the house our own. We started together with a pretty awesome clean slate.
* Those white walls? Yes, we have no gotten to paint our master bedroom, laundry room, downstairs bathroom, entry way and our kitchen. Our guest bedroom downstairs is very soon to follow, as I already have the paint.
* Stretched out carpet? We will soon see about getting someone in to come and trim the excess.
* Garage? I have organized and gotten rid a bunch of the random stuff that doesn't need to be there.
Unfortunately, not much can be done about the floor stains, I think. I will have to look into that more. First we need to build Slinky a much bigger and awesome cage to live in all the time, rather then living free range.
* Furniture? We have gotten rid of a few things, several couches and other things. We got our selves a "new" couch, thanks to the Rocklin yard-sales and it matches the Lazy Boy arm chair we had.
* The yard? Oh my favorite thing of all! The grass was completely weed filled and in awful condition. The ground didn't drain and had many potholes in it. We killed it, dug it all out, filled in the ground with good soil and reseeded with a local grass blend. A bunch of the bushes that were in the yard originally, Tim and I tore out to replace with nicer things. It feels like we are starting to have a little paradise back there.
>> We also have built a vegetable garden bed. Still have to fill it with dirt from the worm farm, but we will soon be able to grow our one veggies :D I can't wait!
I would say we are well on our way at this point to making our home totally awesome.
If you would like to see the progression our our house please feel free to check out our pictures on Jaime's facebook.
Well, three posts in one evening, I am pooped. Time to hit the hay.
Birthdays
Tim's birthday is May 5th and my birthday is May 16th, thats 11 days apart. Kind of fun! It makes the event seem even bigger and makes celebrating a great time.
As some of you know, we had a joint BBQ birthday party at my parents house. My parents, Cara, G&G Hoyt, Tim's parents and his grandma Eileen & a few of our good friends. We had a great time hanging out, eating and chatting.
~ For Tim's birthday, the two of us went to Lassen Natl. Park to go snow camping. We left Friday evening and camped on a snow bank at the visitor center parking lot. The next morning we got together our backpacking packs and started our hike up the road, up the mountain. We were fortunate to have a couple miles of paved road, but had our snowshoes clipped to our bags for when the snow started.
We had a lovely "sack" lunch picnic that we ate sitting in the middle of the road. Warm and sunny, sheltered from wind and not a worry of cars because the road is closed. After lunch we continued our hike through the snow up the rest of the mountain.
All the lakes up there are completely frozen over and snow covered. Its so pretty! To those don't know there are lakes, would probably walk right over them continuing to not know. We came to our destination between the two lakes at the Bumpass Hell parking area. Because of being nearly at the highest point of the park road, most of land is very exposed, minimal tree coverage. The wind was especially bad and so we had to find a good shelter.
A large cluster of trees found to be just what we needed, we set up our tent. Still the wind was a real issue, so we didn't really get to explore as we had planned before and hung out in the tent the rest of the afternoon. Got out to make some dinner, but that was an awful time and ended up eating our "hot" meal as less then lukewarm. And went to sleep super early, putting hand warmers in our socks to keep our toes warm.
Sunday morning we woke up to calm winds and lovely sunshine. Much warmer! Had odds-and-ends for breakfast because oat meal was no longer worth it. Packed back up and had a wonderful walk back down. Seriously, the walk was quite lovely! Beautiful surroundings and wonderful weather.
We did it! Snowshoe backpacking.
~ My birthday tomorrow. I am going to be 25!!! Last day of class before finals. I am probably going to have myself some breakfast outside, sitting in the lovely adirondack chairs Sandy gave us for my birthday. Not sure what I will do with my afternoon. Then Tim and I will go to a lovely restaurant in down town Chico called Broadway Heights.
Good times :)
As some of you know, we had a joint BBQ birthday party at my parents house. My parents, Cara, G&G Hoyt, Tim's parents and his grandma Eileen & a few of our good friends. We had a great time hanging out, eating and chatting.
~ For Tim's birthday, the two of us went to Lassen Natl. Park to go snow camping. We left Friday evening and camped on a snow bank at the visitor center parking lot. The next morning we got together our backpacking packs and started our hike up the road, up the mountain. We were fortunate to have a couple miles of paved road, but had our snowshoes clipped to our bags for when the snow started.
We had a lovely "sack" lunch picnic that we ate sitting in the middle of the road. Warm and sunny, sheltered from wind and not a worry of cars because the road is closed. After lunch we continued our hike through the snow up the rest of the mountain.
All the lakes up there are completely frozen over and snow covered. Its so pretty! To those don't know there are lakes, would probably walk right over them continuing to not know. We came to our destination between the two lakes at the Bumpass Hell parking area. Because of being nearly at the highest point of the park road, most of land is very exposed, minimal tree coverage. The wind was especially bad and so we had to find a good shelter.
A large cluster of trees found to be just what we needed, we set up our tent. Still the wind was a real issue, so we didn't really get to explore as we had planned before and hung out in the tent the rest of the afternoon. Got out to make some dinner, but that was an awful time and ended up eating our "hot" meal as less then lukewarm. And went to sleep super early, putting hand warmers in our socks to keep our toes warm.
Sunday morning we woke up to calm winds and lovely sunshine. Much warmer! Had odds-and-ends for breakfast because oat meal was no longer worth it. Packed back up and had a wonderful walk back down. Seriously, the walk was quite lovely! Beautiful surroundings and wonderful weather.
We did it! Snowshoe backpacking.
~ My birthday tomorrow. I am going to be 25!!! Last day of class before finals. I am probably going to have myself some breakfast outside, sitting in the lovely adirondack chairs Sandy gave us for my birthday. Not sure what I will do with my afternoon. Then Tim and I will go to a lovely restaurant in down town Chico called Broadway Heights.
Good times :)
About time
I now have my page set up the way I want to and I can finally send out my new blog to you all. I hope for all your cases, I can stick with this and be good at keeping you all updated.
Love you all! And here we go :)
Love you all! And here we go :)
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