Vacation, Salish lodge, etc.

I'm still in shock that June is almost over. Here in the Pacific Northwest, it has not felt like June at all.

Tomorrow, Ryan and I are leaving for Montana to see my mom for 5 days. Woo hoo! The town she lives in, Livingston (about 10 hours from here), has the Livingston Round Up every year for the 4th of July. They have a parade, rodeo, craft fair(yes!) and fireworks. It's a pretty big deal for out there. Hopefully we'll have time to go to Yellowstone National Park(always great) and check out other stuff while we're out there.
We're planning to leave Wednesday around noon, pretty much drive through the night and get there Thursday morning. We'll have most of Thursday, all of Friday, Saturday and Sunday to do stuff, then we head back Monday morning. I'd like to stay a little longer, but work has picked up for Ryan and his dad, so he needs to work as much as he can while he can. Such is the construction industry.
I'm so excited for this trip I can hardly stand it. I LOVE road trips. Some people think that driving 10 hours is painful, but to me, it's wonderful. I've always had a love for it. I think my mom instilled it in me as a child. For most of my younger years, we would always drive on our vacations. I didn't get on a plane till I was almost 16. I have so many fond memories of places and adventures when we traveled by car.
Luckily, I married someone who enjoys it as much as I do. We make a good team and we always have a great time. We've road tripped to: Montana 3 times, southern Utah, Lake Tahoe California, Washington Coast and our honeymoon was one BIG 2 week long road trip-4500 miles.
I haven't taken a day off, aside from being sick, since our honeymoon. 349 days. I think I'm due for a vacation, even though it's a small one.


Last Friday Ryan and I stayed at the Salish Lodge(http://www.salishlodge.com/) for our 1 year anniversary. Which is actually 2 weeks early, but I got a great deal on a package;1 night in renovated room, 2 25min massages and 75$ breakfast credit, and it needed to be booked and used by June 30th. I'm going to have a whole post talking about our stay/mini vacation. I'd say it was 97% great though.

The shop/garage is progressing nicely. It passed inspection and has a roof. Now we just need to get some money together for walls, more concrete, garage door etc. I will be doing a progress post soon, I've just been too busy to go through all the photos and put it together.

Which brings me to the last part.
Ryan and I had talked about getting a dog last year. September was the last time we really talked about it. Winter came and school for Ryan, so it was put on the back burner. Now with the shop being built, we have started to talk about it again.
*Before anyone thinks I am being hasty or thoughtless because my Bailey just passed, please understand that I have wanted a dog in our home for a long time. Bailey having passed away has strengthened my resolve. I feel an even stronger need for a dog in my life now that my previous dog friend is gone. This is not a move to replace Bailey, for he can never be replaced.*
We have made it a goal to have our home and yard ready for a doggy friend by August 7th. This involves fencing the area behind our house and planting grass, which would be a play area for Future Dog Friend. Our plan would then be to connect this by door/doggy door to the garage where there would be an area closed off specifically for FDF. Our garage will have in-floor heating and insulation, so this area will be a nice place to have FDF hangout in when we are gone. It will be safe for him and for our belongings and we hope this will prevent FDF from having to be crated when we are away.
On August 7th, there is going to be a large dog adoption event in Tacoma where we hope we will find our FDF. It's called Woofstock for anyone interested. We've talked over all the details of owning a FDF extensively. We are aware of the life long commitment we will be making and are ready for it.
All I know is I am so excited to give a FDF a home and to love it so much it will want to burst with happines. I also know that once we find "The One" Ryan will love it more than he can imagine.

Buddy, loyal companion, Mr. Fuzzy Face.

I haven't really known what to write.

My mom's and my dog Bailey passed away on Wednesday. It's incredibly sad. Ryan and I are planning to go out to Montana next Wednesday and I was going to say goodbye to him while I was there. His health was getting bad and we knew it was coming, but I really had hoped he would hold out a little longer. He was not a perfect dog but he was an amazing, great and loving dog and was well loved. He was with us for around 11 years.

Bailey Tid Bits:

• He loved the Red Hot Chili Peppers song Scar Tissue. Seriously. ANY time that song came on, he would start singing. His head would tilt, his ears would perk and he would make noises and howl. Then, as soon as the song was over and something else came on he would go back to whatever he was doing. Proof below.
• I used to grab him, sit on the couch and lay him on my legs on his back and then play with his legs. He was SO patient with what I'm sure was not his favorite activity. When I did this, I called him asparagus legs because that's what they looked like.
• He loved his toys but especially his squeaky bugs. They were some of the only toys he would never pull all the stuffing out of.
• If you said bug or snake in an excited voice he would look all over for one. He got really excited about them.
• When it snowed, he would jump up in the air and bite the snowflakes. It would be a dark and silent night except for his jaws snapping. It was funny.
• When we would go running he would start out pulling me and then by the end I would have to pull him.
• I used to dye the white patch on his chest pink and purple.
• Once when my mom got in a car accident, poor Bailey flew out of the car. Somehow he ended up almost a 1/2 mile away and was about to merge onto 405 before some kind people grabbed him and brought him back. He was ok too, no injuries.
• When we first got him, he slept in my room every night and had his own special blanket.
• One night when I came home to no one being there except Bailey, he rescued me from a giant wolf spider. It was scary!
• He used to go to Doggy Daycare. They had a live video feed you could watch and I would sit and watch him play and have fun while I was working. I also made everyone else watch.
• He LOVED Ryan even thought Ryan isn't very much of a dog person. He would follow him around and get excited when he came over.
• He was an escape artist in his younger years. He would climb fences and then take off on the Burk Gilman trail. Luckily, he didn't get out too often and once he was older and we lived in Seattle, he only got out once.
• He was adopted and returned to the shelter 2 times before we got him. You could almost say that not only did we give him a home, we may have saved his life. I never regretted us having picked him. The other people missed out.
• We never really figured out what type of dog he was. He was definitely a Lab mix. I always though he had a little Husky in him.
• He would stash toys all over the house. Sometimes you would find one in your bag, in a plant or under the couch.

You will be missed Bailey. Love you.

Montana 2009

Kenmore 2005

Kenmore 2006

Golden Gardens, Seattle 2007

Bailey singing to Scar Tissue 2006

Kooza!

On Friday, Ryan and I went to see Cirque Du Soleil in Redmond at Marymoor Park.

The show was called Kooza and it was amazing.

I had gone to a Cirque Du Soleil show quite a few years back, but this was way better than I remembered or expected.

The performers were great and very talented. I don't even know what my favorite part would have been. It was all so cool.

There were a couple times it was so intense it was almost too much to watch. The performers have some safety equipment, but it was very obvious it wouldn't have felt good if they had fallen.

If you ever have the opportunity to go to one of these shows I highly recommend it. I hope we are able to go again next year!

Still life? Wonderful life...

A couple randoms from today.

My little frog prince sitting in the sunlight. Lucky me... I already found my prince.

Flowers from a friend for my birthday. They came from her garden and they are beautiful. They make my house feel so cheerful and happy. I love them. Thanks Mollie!
My friends threw me a surprise early birthday dinner last night. It was awesome and so much fun. I was totally surprised. I felt and feel very loved. I'm still glowing from it.

I'm getting into some of the best shape of my life.

I've mentioned to a couple people that I have started working out. I'm sharing this because I love it and it has made me happier with myself and feel really great.

In the past, I've had a problem with exercising. To be honest, I hated it. I hated running most of all. Unfortunately, without joining a gym, that's all I really could do. Snowboarding usually keeps me in shape in the winter, but that really isn't enough. I really like hiking, but by summer I'm so out of shape that I don't enjoy it. I had an issue with joining a gym because I felt like I would get bored and not know what to do if I went. Plus, the whole "meat market" aspect of it was unappealing.

Mid April I was introduced to a different form of training/exercising called CrossFit.
It takes parts of gymnastics and strength training and combines it with cardio for a very formidable workout. Work outs are based a lot on natural weight and movements. It incorporates the whole body and really works everything.

Here is a description from www.crossfit.com:

"CrossFit is the principal strength and conditioning program for many police
academies and tactical operations teams, military special operations units,
champion martial artists, and hundreds of other elite and professional athletes
worldwide.

Our program delivers a fitness that is, by design, broad,
general, and inclusive. Our specialty is not specializing. Combat, survival,
many sports, and life reward this kind of fitness and, on average, punish the
specialist.

The CrossFit program is designed for universal scalability
making it the perfect application for any committed individual regardless of
experience. We’ve used our same routines for elderly individuals with heart
disease and cage fighters one month out from televised bouts. We scale load and
intensity; we don’t change programs.

The needs of Olympic athletes and
our grandparents differ by degree not kind. Our terrorist hunters, skiers,
mountain bike riders and housewives have found their best fitness from the same
regimen."

You start with the same warm up every day.
3 Sets of 10 of:

• Overhead Squat
• Sit-up
• Back-extension (almost opposite of a sit-up)
• Pull up (assisted in my case till I am a lot stronger)
• Dips (also assisted till I am stronger)

After that, there is a specific W.O.D. (Workout of the day). This is usually about 15-20 long. Sometimes it is timed and you do as many reps as possible, sometimes you do a set amount of reps. It kicks your butt, that's for sure. You scale it up or down depending you your level, more weight or less weight and sometimes less reps than what is posted.

Example WOD:

3 rounds for time(as fast as you can):

Run 400m
KBS x21 -16kgs (kettlebell swing)
Pull-ups x12 (jumping pull ups in my case)

Every day is something different and you're almost always sore the next day or even next couple days.

The best part about CrossFit for me is it changes every day which keeps things interesting and it's quick. I'm usually done in around an hour.

After about 2 months of going twice a week I already feel amazing. I don't get winded very easily and I am stronger. I can even do a handstand against the wall, something I could never do before. The small CrossFit gym I go to is just that, small. This makes for a much more intimate and non intimidating workout experience. There are all levels, ages and body types that go to my gym, which I think is great. It's not just a bunch of beefy guys and perfect females. The gym I go to in Woodinville: http://www.agogegym.com/

I just wanted to share this. I'm working towards the best shape I've ever been in and it's awesome. I also hope that maybe someone else with a strong aversion to exercise (like me) might see this and become interested like I did. :)

Simple things excite me.

Sometimes, there are things in life which are just so amazing you can't believe someone didn't think of it sooner.

I love bagels. They are a frequent addition to my lunch routine. Basically, I eat them 3-4 times a week. Yum. The downside to this is bagels aren't really all that great for you. Sure, I get the whole wheat variety but those suckers still have somewhere around 240 + calories. Which when you add cream cheese(low fat) and turkey, it all adds up.

Well on Monday Ryan are I were doing some grocery shopping and low and behold, what's this on the shelf?
Bagel Thins. (cue heavenly music)
Made by the Thomas brand: http://thomasbagelthins.com/
They are bagels, but half the thickness and half the calories! What a great idea. You still get the bagely taste and texture and they aren't as bad for you.
Usually I only buy things which are on sale, but I HAD to try these. I was so excited.

So wondering what the verdict is on these?

I am in love! They're delicious and you don't feel like you're missing out on any of the bagel goodness. I hope they keep making these because I plan on eating these forever. Or until I get sick of bagels which usually happens every 4-5 months (but then I start eating them again shortly after).

Wedding Season?

I remember at this time last year I was starting to gear up for one of the most exciting and important moments of my life. Getting all the last details set in stone. About to have a bridal shower. It was a fun time in my life.

After our wedding and during the planning phase I found myself thinking I wanted to go to other people's weddings. I wanted to experience it from the other side.

You see, I've never really been to any weddings. I was a flower girl for my aunt when I was 5, which I barely remember. There were a couple other wedding type things over the years, but nothing that really has stuck with me.

This summer we have three weddings we've been invited to. One this weekend, one in July and one in August. I guess for some people that doesn't seem like a lot. But it is to me.

I'm excited and apprehensive at the same time. Apprehensive because I'm afraid I'll get some wedding jealously. Yes, I am aware of how petty that sounds, but I can't help it. Don't get me wrong, I loved my wedding. But there are a couple things I would have done differently, but money was tight. The three weddings we are going to this summer will be far more elaborate than ours was and sometimes it makes me kind of sad. But when I feel this way, I try to remind myself that ours may not have been super expensive and fancy, we may have taken short cuts, but when it comes down to things Ryan and I have an amazing relationship and marriage. We got married for all the right reasons and are still amazingly happy and in love. And I did have the most perfect dress ever. :)

Plus, with all these weddings coming up, I have the opportunity to wear some cute dresses and shoes and get all fancied up, which is always a treat.

Speaking of, I had my eye on some teal Steve Madden pumps that I saw at Macy's Memorial Day weekend. Well, last weekend I went back and tried them on and fell in love. Amazing and on sale! They are bright(more so than in the photo), fun, cute and so comfortable (2 3/4" heel). They'll get some wear this summer (and after) for sure! They are the Ulltra pump, in case anyone is curious.

It begins!

On Memorial Day weekend, Ryan and his dad started the shop/garage. This is something Ryan has been waiting to do for a long time. One of the reasons we bought our house is because there is room to build a garage. So after permits, planning, plans and saving money, it's finally started.
A tree needed to be removed and the hillside behind needed to be dug out to make room. Ryan rented a bobcat and had fun playing and digging with it. He also used it to dig the big holes that the posts would go in.
Much more progress to come later. It's all very exciting and I can't wait for it to be done.

Taking down the tree. It wasn't very nice looking and was starting to rot.

Starting to dig with the bobcat.

Our yard full of dirt.

Once the hillside was dug out, there was a surprising amount of space.

Cutting our driveway concrete for one of the posts.

This hole is misleading. It's almost 5 feet deep. Kinda freaked me out. I also let Ryan know that I expected him to check all the holes every morning to make sure no bunnies had fallen in. We have bunnies in our yard and that would have been horrible.

Putting in the posts.

Now the posts are ready for concrete.

Quote of the day

A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person.

-Mignon McLaughlin




(I still love you as much as always and more than ever Ryan.)

CORE #4 Monroe, WA May 22nd

On May 22nd, Ryan competed for the 3rd time in the CORE 4x4 off-road competition held in Monroe, Wa.
The weather that day was pretty iffy. It was raining when we left Bothell which didn't bode well for the rest of the day. Fortunately, it stopped raining but the clouds didn't go away.
Ryan and a few of his friends competed in their buggies. There were 3 events: Rock crawl, Obstacle course and mud drags.

First round through the rock crawl Ryan rolled his buggy, he was the first of the day too! No damage done and the crowd loved it!

He kicked butt on the obstacle course. His mom and dad were able to make it down for a little while to watch which was great.


He really needed to take another run at the rock course because his earlier roll over meant he didn't finish and wouldn't get points. The weather finally broke and it started to rain and hail. Wet rocks on the course would make it much more difficult to make it through and get a good time. But I helped talk him into trying one more time. He did awesome! I was so proud of him and I was really happy his parents got to see him do something he loves so much.

He ended up placing 2nd overall in his class! Yay Ryan!

The starting line up.

V8 Chainsaw guy. Pretty crazy. And Redneck.

Cool truck.


Ryan's friend Justan on the rock course

Ryan's first try on the rock course.

Getting picked up and lifted out after his rollover.

Almost to the finish on the obstacle course.

Second time on the rocks.

Almost done! Good job Ryan!

The dreaded mud drag. He did a great job!

Aftermath of the mud.

Playing around after the competition was over.

And all of a sudden its June!

Where has time gone. I never even got a post in for May. Terrible.


Well May wasn't all that exciting anyways. Really. We didn't do a whole lot.

• We went to a Mariners game on the 8th which was cool. We actually had good weather, but they lost.
• Ryan competed in a off-road event but I'll leave that for another post.
• I changed my hair color.
• Ryan and his dad started building our garage.

I think that's about it. Maybe its a good thing because the next 7 weekends we are completely booked!

The new lighter haired Katie