A Doggone Christmas

Gretta

Bailey- the obsessive retriever

Shuksan

Bruno- Rosie the Border Collie in the background

Jarred's sister, Jenese and I are suckers for dogs. I'll take a dog over a baby any day and Jenese is the first to admit that she will too, even though she has her own pink bundle of joy. Jenese has two BIG dogs- Bruno, a German Shephard and Bailey, a Newfoundland mix. Gretta spent some time with Bruno when Jenese and David first got him, as his social skills were less than desirable and Gretta will play with just about anyone. Jenese and I like to get the dogs toys at Christmas. This Christmas I found a big box of sturdy rope toys at Costco and Jenese brought an equally large bag of flavored bones. The bones were a hit but caused a bit of a ruckus as no one wanted to share their bone and most wanted to bury their bone for safe keeping. They rope toys were more of a hit and everyone except Bruno and Rosie spent some quality time attempting to destroy the toys. I think the 10 people and three kids were a bit much for Bruno and Rosie spent her day circling the living room making sure that we were all herded into the right location.

Christmas 2010

Randy Sieg (Jarred's brother-in-law) having fun, really.

Jenny Sieg (Jarred's sister), working her way to a sore butt.

Whenever we see sledders on some sort if mini-hill with barely enough snow to cover the ground, Jarred and I scoff. We say to each other, "Don't these people have anything better to do?" or "That looks fun, I've always wanted to sled on grass." So when Jarred's sister told us to bring snow clothes to her house for Christmas because we were going sledding, we were skeptical but complied anyway.

True to sledding tradition, there was just enough snow on the ground to sled. We headed out to the Sand Dunes by Moses Lake which serve as an established ATV area in the summers. The dunes are by no means tall, but they do provide some good sledding hills and much to our dismay we had a great time. I think watching adults sled is more fun than watching kids sled. Kids seem to know what to expect when on a sled as they are perpetually propelling themselves down hills on various plastic vehicles. Adults have forgotten this feeling and sledding is a good reminder of how fun being a kid can be. As we got further into the spirit of sledding, our adolescence kicked in and we tried standing on the sleds, piling onto the sleds, bashing into each other while on the sleds. Needless to say, we were all a little sore the next day, a little reminder that none of us are seven anymore.

Christmas Cookies

My sister typically works over Christmas so she came down the week before the big day to hang out and do what Americans do best, eat. We made cookies laid around and read (well she read, I graded essays) and walked dogs in the rain. I also made chocolate mousse, which was probably the best dessert I've ever made despite the fact that it contained 6 eggs and two cups of heavy cream.

THIS PLACE IS MAGICAL

I was just reading a post from Sarah and noticed that she commented on how much she loves where we live. I think this is worthy of note as she and I seem to be constantly on the move, literally. We haven't lived in one house for more than 2 years since we've been together (10 years!) and we have just now lived in SW Washington for just over 4 years, definitely a record for us. So I think it's worth mentioning that this area is amazing. I don't mean Vancouver and all it's big box store crustiness. I mean the Columbia River Gorge and all that surrounds it. I've been kayaking on some new rivers in OR lately and have been amazed by the beauty of the canyons! Each time I drive home through the Gorge after being elsewhere I'm reminded of how unique this area is and how magical it seems to me. I don't buy into nymphs and all that hoopla, but if there's a spirit out there somewhere enlivening the Earth and the living beings on it, that spirit most assuredly spends part of the year in the area surrounding the Columbia River Gorge. People have tried their best to ruin the Gorge with large cities around Portland, dams every 50 or so miles, power lines stretching as far as the eye can see, freeways and roads lining the lowlands, and yet it's still one of the most amazingly beautiful places I've ever seen.

If you need some time away from home come down for a visit. It's the rainy season but the mysticism is still alive, even more so in some regards as it's the rain that brings the beauty!

Take Care, hopefully you love where you live! If not, move!

Negative Nancy

Right now I am grappling with a couple of things. #1. I have a cold and have made good friends with Kleenex today. #2. I am wondering how my social networking is affecting my lifestyle and what I've actually gained from it. I feel that blogging is a worthy cause. It encourages writing, which is creative and blogs teach me something about my friends or someone else. I find I use my blog-stalking as a diversion to work sometimes, but consider it a healthy diversion. Facebook is a different story. I feel it is totally superficial and often contrived. As I talked with some work friends today, one of us mentioned that he might "quit" Facebook. Myself and another friend, scoffed...why "quit" such a good thing? But is Facebook really a healthy and positive asset to my life? I'm not so sure, yet I am constantly compelled to check for updates, click "like" or join a group and I just don't know why. I kind of feel like I smoke and know I should quit, but can't. I just tried to post a question about my pondering but I was only able to use 420 characters and I didn't feel like I had enough room to really make my statement. I admit the ease of conversation is great and the quick posting makes keeping in touch easier, but I'm not sure how much quality exists in the networking program. #3. I have a lot to be thankful for right now, conveniently it is Thanksgiving....

1. I love where we now live. I think a lot of my previous disgruntlement was location and while I'd still like property and a nice kitchen, a bathroom without a pink tub, a landscaped yard...you get the idea. Now that we've moved, I don't feel like I need to change that aspect of my life.
2. While my job is tough and unrewarding at times, I really like it. I like the school, my colleagues, my classes. The kids are kids but they're never the root of why I don't like teaching. The system is broken and the kids can't change that aspect.
3. Dogs are great, especially mine. Unlike people they are always happy.
4. I have a great group of friends here, finally. It took awhile but I now have a great group of friends that I love hanging out with. Actually I have two groups. My biking friends and my horse friends. My biking friends actually consist of girls now in addition to a fabulous group of very good looking guys. We all got together this week to see a biking movie and I marveled at how different we all are (in both age and outside biking interests) yet how when we bike, we just mesh...we know what order in which to head down a trail, we know who likes which trails, we know who has what bike parts, we even know what each of us likes to eat on the trail. We all have an oddly organic relationship, but it works and we've all come to appreciate what has come to be. While my horse friends are not as close, they're still an awesome support group and another family away from home. Horse shows are not really competitions (they're more like good natured competitions), they're more like family get-together's and while I just chastised networking, networking has allowed me to keep in touch with them in the "off" season.
5. I don't have a lot of negatives in my life. I hear people complaining all the time and while I do my fair share, it's not serious and it's not affecting my life in any serious way. I hear of negativity frequently at work and I wonder why? Sure, the system is broken and needs fixing, but why ALWAYS focus on the negative. Plus, I have too much to do at work to focus on the negative or anything un-work related.
6. I have a best friend. Jarred and I have been together 10 years this Thanksgiving. He's still my best friend and he's still the one. I have a few single friends right now and they comment on our relationship which is a good reminder that it really is great, all the time. Even when Jarred says, as we walk in the door, "Our house stinks. I'll light the candles, if you make dinner."

Sophie

I took this photo at the start of September and it makes me realize how fast Sophie is growing. She's still two but looks more grown up every day. Sophie is the first horse I've started seriously (meaning I really think about what I'm doing when I work with her). She's actually VERY smart and easy to ride. While she's still a two year old and has two year old moments, she's been a great learning experience for me. She's off to "school" this month and I'll miss riding her multiple times a week but I also know I'd like a finished horse before she's five as I really like to show. It's also hard for me to ride on a consistent basis right now because of school and my own school program, so it will be good for her to spend the winter elsewhere.

Just like other animals, horses have personalities. Sophie is social, she loves to be where the action is. She's also a thinker. As I rode yesterday, two girls came into the arena with ponies and carts. Ponies attached to carts can look weird- ponies trotting fast with people in carts can be weirder, especially when the come up beside you. But Sophie gave them a few glances and then got back to work.

I'm Getting a Little Older

The day has finally come. Shuksan can no longer go on long bike rides with us. We're now too fast and he's getting older. I don't know what I'll do when my little buddy dies and I don't like that he's older but such is life.

Caveman TV

There is nothing like a fire on a damp Western Washington day. When we bought our Camas house we knew we had to get another wood stove. The house has a double sided fireplace. A totally inefficient heat source that had to be changed. We finally bit the bullet and bought a wood stove. Our previous wood stoves had been hand-me-downs and while they did the job they weren't all that efficient. Both Jarred and I had visions of a nice Vermont Castings sitting in our house but after nearly pooping our pants upon discovering the prices of wood stoves, we settled on a middle of the road insert. This little stove is light years better than our other stoves and we got it in just in time for the cold weather to come. While we still have work to do on the fireplace, we're loving our little stove.

The Life of a Salmon

Maybe our population would be under control if all women led the life of a female salmon. If one has never seen spawning salmon, it's quite the sight. These girls head as far upstream as possible- most aim for their own birth place to lay eggs. After the eggs are safe, these girls die and their littleuns are born the next spring. When we lived in North Bonneville we lived next to Hamilton Creek and watched this wonder each fall. We also dealt with the aftermath of the death as rotten salmon is a tasty but poisonous treat for dogs. While Shuksan has yet to be affected by his salmon consumption, both Gretta and Bella made visits to the vet after consuming the rotten delicacy. Regardless, it's always amazing to see nature at work.
We spent last weekend in the rain at our favorite hiking spot, Eagle Creek. Since we moved, we actually forgot about the salmon season, so it was a nice treat to see all the girls and boys working their way upstream.

Bend is SICK!

Jarred went to Bend earlier this summer for a "boys" weekend. He came back all excited about the riding, repeating over and over again that "Bend is SICK." I told him we had to get down there before winter. Summer in Bend is hot and dusty so early summer or fall is the best time to go. We thought it would be fun to have some of our biking friends join us, so Jarred sent out a mass email inviting anyone who wanted to come. We ended up with 14 people wanting to come to Bend. I kept thinking to myself as the emails kept rolling in, this place must be GOOD. Jarred loves to plan and he found a house that slept 15 close to the major trail systems. We all headed down Friday. The weather was awesome and we got some great riding in on the Phil's trail system. Saturday's weather proved to be outright crappy but since it wasn't too cold, we decided to stick with our original plan to ride around Mt. Bachelor. We figured we were in Eastern Oregon, it wouldn't rain all day. WRONG. This was the dirtiest I've ever been. While the ride was fun, I ruined my brakes, ate enough grit to feel pounds heavier and worried that the skin on my butt was going to be rubbed raw. Because of the weather, we had some technical difficulties with equipment (flat tires, lost contacts, non-existent brakes and cold bodies) but overall Saturday's ride was fun and as I kept having to tell my friend Danielle, who decided she should have gone climbing somewhere sunny after 15 minutes of rain, that this was a character building experience and she would appreciate it later. The weather improved Sunday and after putting the washer at the house to the test...imagine 14 grubby bikers, 14 grubby pairs of shorts, socks, shirts..... we were ready to ride on Sunday. In my opinion, Sunday's ride was the best. We rode some short but well built trails and the were some of the best trails I've been on. Fast and fun. I now agree with Jarred, Bend is sick.

Boys Will Be Boys

While Jarred generally has an obsessive personality, I do not. I consider myself more anal than obsessive. I do, however, believe that his biking obsession has worn off on me. If I wasn't biking this summer I was riding my horses (my obsession) and I think I biked more than I rode this summer. I thought the biking would taper off once school started but as the weather was great, we were allowed to continue to fuel our obsession. After the Mt. Hood Epic, I took a weekend off to get my horse show fix and then we were back on the bikes headed up to Seattle to take a skills class with Simon Lawton, owner of Fluidride. Simon is one of those gifted individuals who can not only ride like a pro (he is actually a pro) but he can teach those who ride like mortals, to ride like pros. He really knows how to teach the fundamentals of going up and downhill faster and more efficiently. After leaving Simon's class we just had to try out our skills the following weekend at Black Rock. Black Rock is a downhill skills park. I have decided I am not a downhill rider. Jumping scares me but I do love going fast. Part of Black Rock was scary and I had no interest in trying to see how high I could jump but another part of Black Rock was like one big roller coaster ride where the rider could hone in on new skills and build confidence. We all got our fill of adrenaline and good times at Black Rock.

The above photo is Jarred, Aaron and Cage on a teeter-totter. It took a number of tries (and some balls) for them to stay on the teeter through the whole ride.

Mt. Hood East Side Epic

Holy cow! What happened to fall. I thought I'd spend a couple of minutes doing some blog-stalking tonight and realized while all my blog friends have been diligently posting significant events, I've been a lazy blogger. I'll blame it on the fact that I'm having too much fun to blog this fall.

Fall event #1- The Mt. Hood East Side Epic. Jarred had this great idea last year that he wanted to organize a mountain bike ride that covered over 50 miles of trails up in the Mt. Hood area. Actually, his original ideas was 75 miles but very few people want to punish themselves to this extent and linking up 75 miles of single track is hard. So after a winter of bickering with the forest service (only because of general disorganization- like any government run entity), getting sponsorships and working out a good route the ride was a reality. Now if only people would sign up..... since Jarred and our friend Ted, who jumped on board to help Jarred out with sponsorships, could not charge for the ride (forest service rules), not many people initially committed to riding. I think there were 10 riders signed up two weeks before the event. However, because of a stellar forecast, another 40 people signed up the week of the ride. Between the 50 riders and 10 guides, this shaped up to be quite an event. By the time 8 am rolled around the parking lot where we met was full and 50 bikers waited eagerly to get started. The only hang up initially was the fact that because of lack of communication between the forest service and the forest "cops" the forest cops only caught wind of the ride the morning of the ride and they were not happy about the situation. After initially blaming Jarred for his lack of communication and threatening arrest (not sure how this was going to take place as these guys were glorified security guards) the situation was resolved and we were on our way. I volunteered to run sweep- ie ride at the back and pick up the slow, injured or people with mechanical problems. I am generally the sweep because I am the slowest in the group of riders we ride with, however I wasn't expecting this kind of slow, so running sweep was a little different on this ride. It was nice to see all sorts of riders on all sorts of bikes.
Overall the ride was a success, everyone finished the entire 50 miles and we only had one minor crash and one minor detour off trail. The only bummer about the day was that those of us who ran shuttle to the starting point of the ride all had our vehicles broken. Both Jarred and I lost our wallets, clothes and some camping gear. While our insurance company treated us right, it was a pain and a disappointment to come back to a vandalized car.

The following building products should have NEVER been invented. They don't last and make lives difficult.
1. Linoleum- cheap product. Bad idea. Ugly.
2. Sheetrock- see previous post. Good idea but why can't someone come up with a better, less messy and time consuming product.
3. Carpet- traps every disgusting smell and piece of dirt in the world. Cheap and comfortable but always ends up gross.
4. Formica- cheap (noticing a trend?), ugly and doesn't last.
5. Vinyl siding- bad idea.
6. Shutters on exterior windows that remain MUCH smaller than the actual window opening and are nailed to the exterior siding.
7. Wall paper- especially when used to cover moldy Sheetrock.

Why oh why do we remodel?

Rot, Rot and More Rot

This was the most depressing stage of the remodel. At this point we'd been tearing into layer after layer of rotten wood. After finally getting down to the studs, we could tear no more. Luckily we didn't have to replace the studs BUT we'd yet to start on the floor. After tearing into the floor, Jarred realized that there were no joists in the floor, only layers of particle board and plywood (both rotten). So began another job.

The Crack Room

Since we always seem to buy fixer-uppers, we find that there is always one room in whatever house we live in where we can picture a bunch of crack or meth addicts gathering to huff their drugs. In our new Camas house this room happened to be the laundry room. When we looked at the house we could initially tell that there had been some water damage to the floor due to years of inept house owners neglecting to fix their leaky washers. We decided that this room would be the first to remodel. After getting our fill of fun this summer and the fact that we were tired of looking at moldy Sheetrock and having our washer drain into a sink; we decided to rip into the laundry room. Typical remodel: the project grew to more than we expected. We initially thought that only the Sheetrock and floor were damaged. HA! After thirty years of leaky washers and wet climates, we should have known better.

So after two days of demo, we (actually Jarred, I'm just the helper or bitch to use less PC terms), felt like all the rotten siding and floors were in our dump trailer and out of this portion of the house. Jarred spent the next day figuring out the plumbing and the next working on moving electrical outlets. We're cheap, actually we like nice things but don't like to pay for them. We've had great luck with Craigslist but no one on Craigslist has yet to post an ad for used labor, so Jarred is often stuck figuring out electrical and plumbing himself which takes longer than hiring someone. Luckily we're passed the "major mistakes" point, we took care of all those with our Hermiston house. I vividly remember getting in the shower one night, turning on the water and hearing a gushing sound BEHIND the new shower wall.

I also find that enough time seems to lapse between when we work with Sheetrock that we forget what a messy pain in the rear the stuff is. Jarred hates working with Sheetrock and swears that he'll always hire it out next time we remodel...next thing we know I'm holding pieces while he saws away at them, then we're mudding and sanding and mudding again.

After finally getting all the proper walls back up, we were ready to paint. I thought I'd be a good human and buy the VOC free earth friendly paint. While the color options were cool, I may as well have colored on the wall with a crayola marker as the paint seems to come OFF the wall just as fast. Next time (like next week) I'm going for the Behr one-coat chemical laden paint.

**** So there's be a slight time lapse since when I started this post and now. Don't know where time went, oh that's right, school started and I have to be a part of the working world again while still maintaining my action packed personal life.. ****



So to continue the remodel story, after the paint saga our luck started to change. We're floor snobs and decided that even though this was a laundry/dog room, we wanted nice hardwood floors. After calling around we found a super deal on some birch flooring...regular price $5.75 a square foot...our price $.99 a square foot! This deal made up for our paint experience. Now that we've nearly finished the room (the foreman in this household gets sidetracked and does not like to finish projects) we've realized it's the nicest room in the house and we have some work to do.

Hummingbirds

Birding

Like blogging, birding is also one of those words that has become a verb even though it probably should not be. Jarred loves birds and he is always pointing out bird when we ride bikes or drive somewhere. I think the obsession started when we lived in Idaho. The first year we lived in Sun Valley we actually rented a place in Fairfield which is about an hour from Sun Valley. The place we rented was cheap and the horse facility was great BUT it was an hour from Sun Valley which is where all our friends lived. Not long after moving out to Fairfield, our friend Nate asked Jarred why we chose to move to Fairfield. Jarred concocted a small list which included, "Plus the birds of prey are freaking awesome." I'd never noticed the birds of prey being exceptionally awesome in Fairfield but with all the time we spent driving, Jarred had taken notice of them. I think he'll probably get into birding with his other biking friends when they're all old and broken. A few months ago we were on a ride with our friend, Cage (the name says it all) . Cage is an exceptional biker, he grew up riding motocross and can hop his bike around and up and down all sorts of obstacles. He does not strike me as the birding type. As we rode along one day, Cage suddenly stops, points up the hill and says, "Look guys there's a blue breasted blah blah blah (or something of the sort)." Jarred and I look at each other and laugh as I'm always making fun of him for pointing out birds.

Our backyard is full of flowering trees and bushes which have attracted these two hummingbirds. Even I get excited when they visit. They're pretty hard to catch on camera and while I've been "helping" Jarred with the remodel of our laundry room, I've had some down time to sit and wait for the birds to come.

Mo Mo Moclips

Tyson and Jarred were obsessed with kite flying. They both got those little trick kites and spent most of the windy days flying their kites. Tyson is going to be a freshman this year and he's a totally cool kid. He likes to get out and bike and hike and can wheelie a bike like no kid I've ever seen. He and Jarred get along great...might be a comment on Jarred's maturity level!

This about sums up our summer break. It's been a fun one, so fun it was really hard for me to actually sit down and update the blog, but since we're taking a break from our big laundry room remodel project and school is starting soon, I thought I'd better catch up!

Quinalt Rain Forest

So Jarred and I are obsessed with the no-smiling photos....but this one is really sad. Why didn't someone tell me my pants looked like this? This was a beautiful hike complete with an overabundance of huckleberries for the three of us to eat.

The World's Largest Known Spruce

Mo from Moclips

I forgot to add that while in Moclips, Jarred, Tyson and I made a trip to the Quinalt Rain forest. We initially thought we'd ride are bikes around the park but quickly realized the cool forest trails were meant to be hiked, not biked so we ditched the bikes and started hiking.

Oakridge, Oregon Biking Trip

Two days after getting back from the beach, we left for Oakridge, Oregon. Our biking friend Dennis plans an annual mountain biking trip to Oakridge. Oakridge is known for LOOOONNNG downhill rides. Because the rides are spread out and really long and meant for downhill riding, they require a shuttle. The shuttle can be expensive if just one or two people go down to ride, which is why Dennis plans this trip. We got about $300 worth of shuttle trips for $100 and we got to ride with a great group of riders. We ended up riding about 83 miles over the course of three days. The riding is hard because the down hill can be technical but there's not a ton of hard climbing so we were able to ride longer mileage each day. Jarred and I did not do this trip last year as we were in Idaho working but we'll put it on the list for next year. The trails were great, the shuttles were great and the group we went with was fantastic. I don't get to ride with girls too often, not a lot of girls bike and very few like longer harder rides. It was nice to meet and get along with two other girls, Brooke and Danielle, who love to bike. Brooke was a little intimidating to ride with as she is pretty evenly paced with Jarred. I've never ridden with a girl who was this good. She was pretty inspiring. Danielle and I were evenly paced but Danielle has some mean down hill skills and no fear. The best part about the group is that all of the guys were really excited to ride with us too, sometimes the testosterone can get to raging and the boys take over, but I think we tamed the testosterone last weekend.
Jarred left our camera on the Middle Fork of the Willamette trail after he decided to strip down and swim naked, so photos from the trip are limited.

One last fam photo....

This is the whole crew, bride and groom AND all dogs included.

Jackman Family

Like I said, we had fun with the photographer at the wedding. After doing some cheer poses, no-smiling photos and the traditional family photos, we'd just about run out of fun family poses, Someone suggested this one... which is my favorite. I'm not sure why I'm the only girl holding up a guy, let alone the biggest guy...but whatever. Gretta has also managed to sneak herself into every photo, she's kind of like the "Where's Waldo" character.

Jarred has a really fun family, which is great, because Jarred and I are all about fun. From right to left are: Jenny (Jarred's older sister), her youngest son Zane, Jenny's husband Randy, their older son Kyle, Jarred and I, Jenese (Jarred's younger sister), David Jenese's husband, Julie (Jarred's brother's ex-wife- Jarred's brother passed away while married to Julie- Lauren is his daughter), Tyson Julie's youngest, Tyson Julie's husband, and Lauren. The German Shepard and black dog are Jenese's. They're a great bunch of people who are always up for good games and adventures.

No Smiling

Jarred and I are all into the no-smiling photos at tourist destinations. We even convinced his family to do a no-smiling photo...can't believe they all bought into it!

Moclips

We had to leave Idaho a bit early this year because Jarred's mom, Noni, found an awesome guy to marry. Not that she was looking, she spent most of her time when her kids were at home as a single parent and has been totally happy living on her own for a number of years. But when the right guy comes along, no one can pass him up. Noni and Gary had known each other for years and things just seemed to work out for them recently. The decided they wanted to marry and have a small ceremony and celebration at the beach, which is Noni's favorite place. She and Gary got all us kids condos so we could spend the four days prior to the wedding hanging out. I have to admit, I was a little hesitant to go to the beach during the summer as Northwest beaches don't tend to have the best weather, and while the weather was not summer-y, we had an awesome time while at the beach. The condos were right on the beach AND they allowed dogs. Between Jarred's sister's and Gary's two boys and their families, we kind of took over the compound.

The wedding ceremony was great- lasted about 10 minutes, dogs were invited and we didn't have to wear shoes. Noni and Gary also had their friend, Nikkie come and do "official" photos. We had a lot of fun with Nikkie and her camera.....

Thanks Gary and Noni for a great long weekend at the beach! You guys have wonderful families I'm excited to be a part of!

The Ice Caves and Why the Government Should Not Lease Land

The Shoshone Ice caves are a cool geological phenom just south of Sun Valley. This is my second trip to the ice caves, not because I'm a cave or geological nerd, but because the ice caves are leased from the government by a family. Because of this, the family has leeway to set their American tourist trap up in whichever manner they wish. In this case, the ice caves always look like an garage sale is taking place next to a cheezy drive-through diner. The cave guides generally live in Shoshone or Gooding, Idaho. Some are family members, some come for the summer work. Some guides are aware of why and how the ice caves formed, some just like to tell stories about Super Bowl parties held in the caves or how they don't believe in carbon dating and the bear skulls in the caves are really prehistoric bear skulls. I get a morbid kick out of the guides and am reminded to support my forest service....otherwise.....

Meghan has been to the ice caves a whopping five times. Since Jarred had not experienced the caves, we decided he needed to make the trip down. We also decided that when being photographed at the ice caves (or any other American tourist location) one cannot smile, just as sulky teens don't smile when drug to various "American Hot spots" by their deranged parents.