A little bit of my life

takin' pictures

2012-01-24T08:04:00.000-08:00

Along with taking a picture a day for a year, I really want to be better at taking portraits. Especially when we're hanging out with friends. That way, as we put together photo albums they'll be filled with more things than {pretty} pictures of rocks and Lukas and I making funny faces. Plus, these will be the ones we'll enjoying looking back on and our kids will groan about. "Gosh Mom! Why do we need to have all these pictures of you and your OLD friends?!" Building up ammo for our {future} kids, we're nice {future} parents like that.

So, when we got together for a little football watching last weekend I made sure to take out my camera. And while all eyes were on the game I tried to get a little bit creative on my portrait taking. Though the low angle isn't always the most flattering and my skills with off camera flash could use lots of work... everyone's got to start somewhere right?

Zach details the intricacies of throwing a perfect spiral.

The crowd a little bit worried.

Then, with a few minutes left in the game dinner was ready. Fish tacos and yummy salad were gobbled up quite quickly. Amazing, considering our skills for packing away snacks just a little bit earlier. I guess when it's yummy there's no stopping us.

After dinner I tried for one last candid shot... except my sneak attack was not that sneaky and I was caught.

{bean hollow}

2012-01-22T10:18:00.000-08:00

A weekend at home... a seemly rare event. So far we've filled it quite splendidly. Sleeping in, a little house cleaning {ok, not exciting but it was much needed}, a sunset trip to the coast, dinner to-go... and that was just yesterday!

Today, we'll head across the bay to hang out with this cool family. We'll take some pictures, watch some football, dinner... sounds lovely.

Here's to weekends that recharge and get you ready for the next adventure.

a little snow and a whole lot of driving...

2012-01-17T20:00:00.000-08:00

As promised {a few} more details about our winter travels...

The first stop on our annual winter trip was Death Valley. Filled with alien-like landscapes, its a place of great photographic imagination. But I have to say, after being there twice, it doesn't really capture my imagination so much. We spent our first two sunrises at the Mesquite Dunes. The dunes seemed to transform before us as the light began to spill over the mountains that rim the valley. The ripples of the dunes caught the light and shadows, becoming more defined. Not a bad way to spend the first moments of the day.

Lukas whittled us a little dreidel and we "gambled" away the middle of the day. That, and scouting our next photographic spot. We explored Badwater, Devil's Golf Course, Dante's View, Artist's Drive, and some salt flats. We kept busy!

During our explorations the car began to groan horribly when I turned the wheel. Sorry car, but we'll need to continue making turns on this trip. A stop at the tobacco spitting mechanic in Death Valley confirmed the suspicion... power steering leak. With a $2 bottle of fluid the groaning stopped and we were pretty stoked. Until a few minutes later back at the camp site I peered under the car and it was leaking furiously. Worried, I took it back to the mechanic who said, yeah it's leaking - just keep putting fluid in. Nothing he can do there. So with assurances that the car wasn't going to spontaneous explode we continued about our business.

And our business took us from Death Valley through Zion National Park {unexpectedly} to Bryce Canyon. And Bryce was spectacular. Red rock hoodoos, a light dusting of snow, beautiful sunrises and sunsets. We were worried that the mild winter we've been having might mean no snow at Bryce Canyon. But, while the dusting wasn't fresh, there was just enough snow to really make the canyon pop.

By this point in the trip we'd stopped putting power steering fluid in the car. We had decided that it didn't make sense to just keep pouring it on the ground and adding it didn't seem to make turning the wheel any easier. Bring on the toned arms, we said!

Still, we were ready to leave the land of unexciting microwaved dinners and beautiful landscapes 3 days later {as planned} for a little more camping. Our last stop was to be try number 2 at Valley of Fire in Nevada. On try 1 last year we made the bad decision to stay in a little motel just outside the park in a little blip on the map called Overton. This year we were smart and snagged ourselves a campsite nestled among the red rocks of the park. The red rocks, platforms for the tents and covered picnic tables made us feel like we'd landed on the set of a 1960s aliens on Mars movie. It was just that awesome.

This year Valley of Fire was a win too because we found "the wave". And it was just a little disappointing to realize when we found it that last year we were just steps away, but hadn't found it. It is this amazing swoop of red and white marbled rock that looks like salt water taffy being pulled and stretched. If I had been ready to write VoF off the list after last year, this year brought the park right back on the list.

We caught some great light here as well. A wonderful thing for the photographer... and I found it pretty amazing too. Then, after two nights, we were on the road again - this time headed home. We pulled out of the park a little after 4am on New Year's Day. As we drove along the road in the middle of nowhere east of Las Vegas we saw fire works off in the distance. Then at the intersection, right in the middle of the road just in front of the car a sparkly green pyrotechnic exploded. To say we were unthrilled {really, that isn't a word?} by that shocking display would be an understatement.

Still, we made it through the early morning in Vegas without incident and eventually we made it back to Santa Cruz where the little guy was waiting for us. And that's how, this winter, we did a little snow and a whole lot of driving.

{P.S. If you were wondering about our buff arms and power steering... the arms never really got that buff - darn - and the power steering leak was a loose tube. A quick and not arm-and-a-leg expensive fix later the car is turning like butter. Guess it's back to pushups should I want to ever have toned arms.}

a little summer in winter

2012-01-14T11:01:00.000-08:00

Although winter really isn't much like winter around here this year, the cold cold mornings have me daydreaming a little bit about summer. Except summers here tend to be very windy. Thinking of windy and summers led me to the sweet Windy Day print from Backyard Baby. And that {along with this little challenge} got me daydreaming some more.

Let me share my daydreams with you... Summer in the Backyard:

{1} Backyard Baby Aqua Windy Day

{2} Amelia Cotton Tempting Turquoise Dotted Swiss

{3} Backyard Baby Gray Bug Jars

{4} Essential Dots Moss

{5} Bespoken Citrus Stitchery

{6} Coming Home Birch Wood Barn Siding

{7} Get Together Gray Flock of Birds

{8} Essential Dots Spring Green on White

{9} Flannel Ruby Sherbet Sundae

{10} Juicy Blossoms While Doodle Flowers

{11} Now We're Going Places White Tossed Bicycles

{12} Paris Apartment Slate le Linge d'Epoque

{13} Kona Cotton Caribbean

{14} Riley Blake Designs Lime Solid

{15} Stella Light Pink

Happy {daydream} sewing!

one moment every day

2012-01-11T08:02:00.000-08:00

Starting in the new year, Lukas challenged me to complete Project 365. A picture taken every day for a straight year. I got my start a few days into 2012, but still planned to go 365 days. And I did great for 4 days. And then we went to Yosemite and I only took a couple videos that Saturday before I was required to put my gloves back on. {quite impressive that Lukas could stand to have his gloves off to capture some great images!}

I started again. Lukas said instead of 365, maybe I should just see how many days in a row I can go. I hope my next personal best, after this dismal 4 day streak, will be 365. Fingers crossed.

Check out the daily capture here: onemomenteveryday

we Yak Trax

2012-01-08T13:35:00.000-08:00

And it was cold! As usual, it was before dawn when we loaded up the car yesterday morning. We drove east under pink clouded skies. Our destination? Tioga Pass in Yosemite. Normally by this time of year the pass has been long closed. But without any major snow there's been no need to close the pass. Instead, people are making the most of it - even iceskating on Tenaya Lake. So, we made the most of it too!

Making the most of it we scouted out the frozen lakes along 120. And then we had the bright idea to don our YakTrax. Putting on the YakTrax was a good idea... the 3.5 mile hike straight up at 9,000 feet not as great of an idea. We made it to Lower Cathedral Lake and the wind was gusting and cold!

When we got to the frozen lake we stripped down and quickly got into our thermals. Good thing we brought them on the hike. It was bitterly cold! It didn't help that we were there at sunset. That did mean we got hike back for 2 hours in the dark. Good thing we had the GPS to find our path back. No repeats of a previous trip to Yosemite {see lesson #2}.

While we were hiking up and sucking air, waiting for the sunset, and hiking down in the dark the question we kept asking was, "Is it worth it?!" Now home and warm we'd say the answer is yes.

We finished up the quick little trip with a sunrise stop at Tenaya Lake. Then a few hours later we were home. Quick, cold, fun little adventure.

how we finished the year... the bullet points

2012-01-02T19:59:00.000-08:00

And here's how we finished up 2011...

::a drive to Death Valley

::sunrises at the Dunes

::Hanukah candles light on a table in the campground

::another drive, this time to Bryce Canyon and without power steering

::an awesome sunrise over the canyon

::3 too many microwaved dinners

::another drive without power steering to Valley of Fire

::an awesome sunset over the red rocky ground

::the last and longest drive without power steering

Some day a real post should come... pictures, details and such. Until then... Happy New Year!

snow on winter trees

2011-12-19T21:32:00.000-08:00

A quick little weekend trip up to Lukas's uncle and aunt's house prompted a little holiday sewing. One week out I said, "I'd like to make them something." But inspiration, as it usually does, didn't hit till just a few days before we headed up there. My inspiration came directly from this free pattern offered by Pink Chalk Fabrics. Except, I didn't remember to print off the pattern.

So, looking at the pattern online as my guide I drew up a couple paper piecing patterns. A magazine from the recycling bin was quite helpful. That night I pulled fabric scraps from my stash. I had greens for the choosing, but completely lacked any red scraps. Or any red yardage too! Fortunately, just a couple weeks earlier I had won this give away. Sure that fabric was sitting in the "can't touch this till I complete all my other projects" pile, but I neeeeeeeeeeded some red to make these pot holders. And that fat quarter pack that I won just happened to have the perfect one.

This was one of those projects where at the beginning I was a bit uncertain of the fabric choices but as I sewed, that uncertainty went away. With each piece pieced, I was loving these more and more. I especially liked the way the white polka dots on the black background were reminiscent of snow.

I had fun with the quilting - stitch in the ditch around the tree and wavy lines across. I outlined the tree because I knew the quilting would show on the backside. Speaking of the backside, how adorably cute are these little winter penguins?

Danger Zone

2011-12-18T22:45:00.000-08:00

Some how it's been almost a month and I haven't posted about our Thanksgiving. Maybe I was just being lazy, but I'll pretend it was because I was working hard this entire time on the movie you'll see below.

Both my dad and brother got their pilots' license several years ago. I'd been up in the little airplane with my dad before, but their licenses lapsed when they hadn't been flying for some time. My dad, though, got himself a couple lessons before we all headed up there for Tday. So he was ready to take us flying.

I thought the flight would be a perfect time to work on my new movie making hobby. And really... when shooting a movie about airplanes and flying there's really only one way to take it...

Right into the danger zone!

weekending

2011-12-12T07:50:00.000-08:00

Winter weekends are quickly filled. And this one I filled with pie baking and bagel making. Using this recipe I started the bagels Saturday morning. Bread flour, yeast, and some water left to turn into a bubbly sponge. But, two hours {the suggested time} and two pie crusts later there wasn't much bubbling or raising action going on.

Instead, we snuck out of the house for a little holiday lights photography {photo from earlier in the week}. The sky was hazy, the streets crowded {think 100s of drunk santa clauses}, and the outing pretty much a bust. But, by the time we got home the bagel sponge was big and bubbly - just the way it was supposed to be.

So I knocked it down, dumped in more flour, yeast and salt and began to kneed. On the cleaned counter I pushed and pummeled the lump of dough. Working it till it was smooth and satiny. At ten minutes I checked but not good enough. At fifteen I checked again but it still tore as I stretched it to window pane. Some time later {I stopped looking at the clock} it was ready.

Pinched off rolls, rest, shaped into bagels, rest and into the fridge to wait for tomorrow. The next day we had friends over for a bagel party. {Maybe I shouldn't invite people over when I'm making something new for the first time?!} The bagels were boiled, topped and baked. They looked like bagels and surprise surprise they even tasted like bagels!

I made sesame, herb parmesan, and salt bagels {the salt were way too salty!}. And after toasting them up we topped them with our favorite stuffed mushroom filling, and smoked salmon.

Other weekend activities:

baking pumpkin pie with maple whipped cream
a little sewing
creating a troll hunter costume for this little monster

Happy Monday...

sunshine and zigzags

2011-11-22T07:30:00.000-08:00

It seems I have been working on this quilt for quite some time now {yikes! April?!}. Well, I got another kick in the pants to get sewing just last week. I was excited to win a give away Rita hosted on her blog - Red Pepper Quilts. With pretty new fabric on its way to me I thought I better tackle my other projects so I might have a shot at sewing with the new fabric some time in the foreseeable future. Waiting projects include another quilt started before this one, seat cushions, more napkins, a table runner {that I'm pretty sure we've decided we don't want}, ... the list goes on.

Toping the list, because I'm excited about it, is my Kona Cottons guild challenge quilt. I've had the top done for months and months and had been excited to move onto the back but then I stalled. Fabric is expensive! And a big quilt back takes lots of fabric. Last weekend I went with the ingenious {yet, wholly unoriginal} idea of using a bed sheet for the back. So, I found my way to Target and their seasonal display of flannel sheet sets. A cozy gray one came home with me.

I knew I wanted to use up the charms from the brights pack that I hadn't included on the front {mainly, many many pink ones}. And I wanted a big zig zag. I cut more 5 inch squares from the additional fabric I bought, plus a zillion {I counted!} 5 inch squares from the gray flannel. Stacked, diagonal lines drawn, I feed them chain piece style through my machine. A big, long floppy banner of colorfully squares of fabric. Cut, press, trim and I had a zillion times two half square triangle blocks

On to the layout!

The first night I played around with the blocks and Lukas helped me too, but we didn't seem to come up with anything that really worked well. {And I ended up staying up too late!} Work was busy the next day and I didn't even have a moment to spare to daydream about the rainbow of half square triangle blocks sitting in the sewing room. I didn't even think about them till I started laying them out that night and first try... this is what I came up with. And I liked it.

Now it's just a matter of stitching them all together, piecing them into the back, making a label{?!}, sandwich, quilt, and bind. Ummm yeah, that's all!

Happy sewing!

lazy days...

2011-11-18T20:23:00.000-08:00

Some of the best days we don't do anything much. The afternoon comes after lazing the day away. Through the front window the sun filters through the shutters. The warm light fills the room and we continue in our lazy ways. Lukas grabs the guitar from the wall. He strums and sings and I join in {after grabbing a quick shot}.

going BIG

2011-11-17T19:57:00.000-08:00

We had plans to spend the long weekend camping on the Big Sur coast, so Thursday after work we loaded up the car and headed south. Except we made it just as far as Santa Cruz before the rainy weather really started putting a damper on our plans. Instead of leaving the next morning for our adventure we spent a very lazy day at my mother-in-law's house. And that was a wonderful little change in plans {that equaled some amazing french toast!}.

Then next day {Saturday} the weather had cleared somewhat and looked like it was going to continue in that direction. We continued south down the coast and before we knew it we were at the turnouts for Garrapata State Park. Finding the right rocks along the coastline requires counting to make sure you've found the right turnout. "Did that count? Was that one or two turnouts" were common questions as we wound around the rolling hills and cliffs.

We explored a bit before continuing on to set up our campsite at Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park. This was a beautiful park tucked among the big trees. Tent up, we set out to explore again.

The weekend was quickly over, but we left with some good memories. Check out the video below to see a few.

going SLO

2011-11-11T19:21:00.000-08:00

I was counting down the days and the week just seemed to drag on. Work was busy and I had a project that needed to get done. It needed to get done and I was counting down the days because Shawna was coming home. My brave, little sister who moved 1/2 way around the world for school. Who {didn't tell my mom} jumped out of an airplane. My little. And she came home for a visit!

We rolled down the highway to Los Osos and the Waechtlers. It was a weekend filled with tea, laughing, crochet and being silly. A blast was had by all.

Enjoy my second movie...

{fall} color me happy

2011-10-24T00:01:00.000-07:00

We skipped out of town about a week ago hoping to catch the fall color show in the Eastern Sierras. Plans to go earlier in October had fizzled out - the leaves didn't seem to be turning quite yet then according to the reports. So we waited. And even though the color reports still didn't sound amazing we packed up the car and hit the road. Destination... the Eastern Sierras.

First order of business was finding a campsite since we were flying by the seat of our pants. {not normal for us} We settled into June Lake Campground, got the tent up and headed out to find some fall color in the fading light of the afternoon.

We found a little stand of birch trees colored all different shades of yellow and neon green. That night for dinner we had overly toxic cheesy mac and cheese. Really! We will not be doing that again - and it was the "healthy" version. Ew!

Before turning in for the night we continued up June Lake Loop to Silver Lake for some night photography. The moon was almost full that night and little dabs of color ringed the lake.

The next morning we hit up the beaver pond along the road to Lundy Canyon. Then we hiked and photographed our way up Lundy Canyon. The cloudless sky brought harsh morning light that light up the changing trees brilliantly. But hard to capture just right with the camera. It was here that I decided to test out my skills as a videographer {movie at the end}. Maybe I've given Josh Cripps a run for his money?

We hit up Mono Lake for sunset. Talk about crowded. We expected the crowds and got there earlier enough to stake out a spot Lukas had scoped. The clouds looked promising but as the sun got lower it seemed less and less likely that any color would come. We overheard another photographer say "This is just about the worst I've ever seen it here."

So... we moved away from the crowds looking for other interesting compositions and found our way to a deserted stretch of the water. Lukas shot a little bit before pointing out to me, "Look. There's a little bit of glow." He pointed across the sky opposite the sun. And shortly after that the color spread around the entire sky.

The next morning we met up with a photographer friend, Jeff, at Convict Lake. We were impressed by the 30 people that piled out of two vans. And unimpressed that the clouds didn't cooperate and blew away from the scene of interest.

After sunrise we drove out to check out Mcgee Creek and then Rock Creek Canyon. On Rock Creek Canyon road we ran into Jeff again. He let us know about a sweet spot up the trail at the end of road. Since we were quite a ways south of our campsite already we opted to spend the day just hanging out along Rock Creek Canyon. It was a long day spent hanging out in the car, shoot a little fall color.

At one point we were parked in a wide turn out facing a large evergreen tree. A couple pulled into the turn out in front of us, hopped out and started picking up bark off the tree. Strange! Then a couple on bikes rolled up. As they passed us they were wondering what kind of tree the big tree was. "I think it's a redwood tree," the man said. I called out to him that while I wasn't sure what kind of tree it was it most definitely was NOT a redwood tree. He rode up to the tree to join the others there. And before they all pulled away he shouted back to us the conclusion they'd come to. "It's a redwood. Majority rules!" Majority might agree that the tree is a redwood, but that doesn't make them right. We had a little laugh over that.

The sunset over Mack Lake was a cloud bust just like the morning at Convict Lake. Maybe shooting with Jeff is back luck for clouds. I enjoyed a {cold} peaceful night fall while Lukas unsuccessfully scampered around the rocks trying to capture the bit of color that got caught in the clouds away from the lake. And though the sunset wasn't as hoped for the awesome beauty of the landscape didn't disappoint.

We got mostly packed up that night in anticipation of hitting the road before the sun came up. And that's just what we did... up at 5am, out by 5:30am. It was early and dark as we drove into Yosemite. It was hard to find the right spot for sunrise and we almost missed it standing in the wrong spot.

Then the sun came up and we loaded back into the car. West of Groveland we stopped on the side of the highway to switch drivers and have breakfast. We enjoyed a couple bowls of frosted flakes.

And now for what I'm most excited about sharing... It started in Lundy Canyon and continued throughout our little trip. After coming home I had fun learning how to put all the little movie clips together. Just like with sewing it's all about the attention to details. {It also never hurts to have a plan before you start it all.}

{if the video doesn't work - click here}

sew baby {quick change trousers}

2011-10-09T23:11:00.000-07:00

Some of my favorite sewing is for babies. Cute fabrics, sweet little patterns and almost instant gratification - little projects just come together so quickly. In March I sewed up a storm for this little girl. I checked out Handmade Beginnings from the library and made the little hoodie. The pattern and directions were easy to follow and I loved how it turned out. So... I checked the book out again to sew for another little girl.

This time I landed on the Quick Change Trousers. A cute little pair of reversible pants, perfectly made for pairing a couple cute fabrics. And aside for being designed for a quick change on baby, these are quick to sew up. I used a Heather Ross print in pink from my favorite line - Mendocino. And a tan, small whale corduroy was the perfect match.

{rumpled goodness}

The 'B' side might be a bit on the busy side, but I still think it's cute. But even cuter still... these little booties. {tend to be a go-to baby project for me} For these I went a little more modern with the fabric choices - a little less "baby". And I got to use fabric from my tiny little stash.

I wrapped these two items up in fabric with sock monkeys on pogo sticks and brought them over to the little girl - almost 7 weeks old already! I soaked up some time with the sweet family while I could. They move in a week.

The next book I got out of the library...{Wee Wonderfuls}. Good thing I know a few little girls.

Happy sewing!

home town tourist

2011-09-22T07:37:00.000-07:00

As summer rolls into fall we are rounding the corner on photography season. Photography season is the magical time when the summer fog lifts and the sunrises come a little later in the morning. This is the time of year where every weekend gets filled with photographic adventures - and some just happen to be right in our backyard.

After our last little trip I left my phone charger in Santa Cruz. So, being left with only a car charger mid-week, we came up a little excursion that required a trip in the car. We hit up crookedest street - Lombard. It's world famous - the Australian woman there let me know she saw this street on TV back home.

We were definitely the only Americans there taking in the review of the city. There was an incident of a lost filter holder in the bushes. The blue light quickly turned to black and we hoofed it back to the car. San Francisco hills demand respect.

The following Saturday, before Hansilly pulled into town for a weekend visit, we woke up early and drove up to the Marin Headlands. The photographer was hoping for some sweeping fog and the opportunity to check out a new-to-us spot. But the fog was thin and high so we stuck around Battery Spencer. I brought the Gorillapod and pretended to be a landscape photographer too.

Want to see the work of the real landscape photographer? Well, you're in luck! We'll be in Pacifica at the Pacific Coast Fog Fest this weekend. Bring the whole family - sounds like it'll be a fun weekend.

The Details

When: Sat. & Sun. 10am - 6pm
Where: Palmetto Street, Pacifica

{cream puffs}

2011-09-13T11:08:00.000-07:00

Lukas has the ideas and I'm the executioner - well, probably not using that word correctly. His idea for dessert this weekend was chocolate covered cream puffs. Sounded pretty decadent to me. As I began to look up recipes I had a strong recollection I had made cream puffs before, but I couldn't place when. Maybe I'd dreamed about making them?

Either way these turned out to be simple and oh-so-good. No special ingredients to buy, not much active time and no tricky techniques to master. If you can boil water you can make cream puffs!

{waiting to be topped}

garden gems

2011-09-11T06:14:00.000-07:00

The tomato experiment of 2011 would get a B- if it was graded. I planted a solitary tomato plant, so I can't say I had much invested. I was worried it would be a complete failure so I just did one plant.

And at first it looked happy in my garden. Even if it was small. But then, it began to look a lot less happy. As my plants were disappearing the little tomato looked about ready to give up. The plant thief spared the tomato plant and a little more watering perked it up. Then over night it seemed to start to grow.

And then I noticed little green tomatoes. They got bigger. And then they started turning golden. When we returned from the long weekend, most of them were ready for eating. I get so excited anytime I can pull something from the garden. Like I've accomplished something amazing. Except, in truth, most of my plants survive inspite of me not because of anything special I've done.

So, with the exception of 3 more little tomatoes still needing to ripen, this was my tomato harvest. It was enough for a pizza and lunch with mozzarella and balsamic vinegar. Yum! I'm learning, just like with everything else in life, you get what you put in. This book has been inspiring me for next year. And maybe I'll even get a winter garden going this year.

Megan Anne{ie get your gun}

2011-09-07T07:13:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned, on the way home from Shasta we made a pit stop in Santa Cruz. First, we had to get the kitty. We'd heard he'd had a hard weekend - going to the bathroom behind TVs and such instead of his litter box. Oh the stinker! And usually he's so good at being at "Grandma's".

We also had to pick up all the art show STUFF - grid walls, tent, pictures, prints, the list goes on! Since we've got another show coming up at the end of September. Mark your calendars - September 24th and 25th @ Pacifica Fog Fest!

But the best part of the stopover in SC {aside for the very very yummy dinner Betty made - thanks a million!} was learning how to shoot a {BB} gun. Lukas wanted to find his old collection of pog slammers. He'd found the binder full of page-protected pogs but not the slammers. And in hunting in the closet we happened on a box full of BBs. "I want to shoot the BB gun," I exclaimed. So we did!

I was amazed at how hard it was NOT to point the gun at anyone - rule number one! Seriously, the moment the gun was in my hands I felt like I needed to channel my inner rifle toting bad guy. Instead, while actively trying not to point the gun at Lukas I ended up putting my mother-in-law directly in the line of fire. Ooops - good thing the safety was on.

At first I couldn't hit squat. Lukas was impressed with my inability to hit anything. Really, he thought something might be wrong so he grabbed the gun to check it out. Bulls eye on the aluminum can - first shot. So nothing was wrong with the gun. He asked me how I was aiming and therein was the problem. My first shot after being schooled on the correct way to aim I totally took out one of the old cans. Pop and it fell right over!

___________________________________________________________

On a different note...

Earlier this week Emily from Blue Corduroy {my cousin! - Thanks Em!} nominated my blog for the Versatile Blogger Award. So, I'm playing a long with this fun chain letter of sorts. Here are the rules:

1. Thank the person who nominated you and link back to them in your post

2. Share 7 things about yourself

3. Nominate 15 blogs you have recently discovered

Seven things about me?

1. I have been accused of having calf-implants, which I do not.

2. I like to try new recipes for dinner, but usually would be just as happy to make dinner that doesn't require any thinking.

3. One of my favorite parts of writing is seeing the way the words line up on a page.

4. I love writing and reading, but am a horrific speller.

5. I'm finding this exercise to be much harder than it probably should be.

6. I don't sound or look my age.

7. I am most happy when in or near a big body of water - the ocean, a lake, rivers...

Phew, I made it to 7! And now to point you to some of blogs.

1. Biking the Pacific Coast

2. The Nurse and The Engineer

3. Scarlet Fig

4. Little Blue Cottage

5. oversewn

10. Sew This is My Life

11. just showing up

12. Breaking Out

13. Lucy & Norm

14. Honey & Jam

15. Film in the Fridge

Shasta-stic!

2011-09-06T20:48:00.000-07:00

The long weekend just flew right by, but that tends to happen when you head out of town. Over the past Labor Day holiday we drove north to the Shasta area. Just long enough of a drive that it makes for a great 3 day weekend destination.

We camped at Castle Crags State Park. {side note - many great state parks are on the list to be closed. Major, major bummer!} Nestled beneath its namesake, the park is tucked in a little valley right off I-5. Right off I-5 means that big rigs drove by all night. We also had the pleasure of listening to the trains roll by. But the campground itself was nice and quiet with clean, warm showers.

In the ranger station while checking in I over heard the ranger talking on the radio with another ranger reporting a rattlesnake at the vista point. The ranger on the other side of the radio confirmed he'd heard the reports too, but hadn't found it. Hmmmm...

After setting up camp we headed up to the vista point. On the little walk out there we met with a couple returning who described where the rattle snake was. And... it was curled up right where they said it would be. I wonder why the ranger hadn't been able to find it. We gave it a wide berth and headed off to our next adventure.

That evening we hiked up to Heart Lake {also possibly called Little Castle Lake} from Castle Lake. It was a heart pounding couple miles up to a nice view of the lake below and Mount Shasta off in the distance. We waited for the sun to go down and then hiked back down to the car. It was a late evening of hot dogs and baked beans for dinner, then showers and to bed.

The next morning we were up early as per our usual. {this must have something to do why we never feel rested after a long weekend} The morning activity was the easy hike out to Middle McCloud Falls. No one was at the lower falls - popular for its swimming hole - when we went by first thing in the morning. Chilly temps don't lend themselves well to swimming.

Middle Falls was similarly unpopulated. The landscape was lush and the falls a bit misty. We hiked up past the falls to get a good look at them from above.

After a nap we checked out the River Trail in Castle Crags State Park. The trail took us under I-5 and then under the train tracks and over the river on a suspension bridge. Lukas called it "the trail inspired by a civil engineering enthusiast". We butt-scooted down to a little spot on the river. I showed my toughness by only taking 3 minutes to dunk myself briefly in the fridgid water. {I know this because Lukas had the audacity to film me - that I wont be posting!}

Clouds in the sky that afternoon meant another trip up to the view above Castle Lake. We thought there might be a different trail up to the top. But that proved not to be the case and instead we got a good "warm-up". Day two and the hike up was still heart pumping. The second trip up the mountain was worth it though! The sky filled with some amazing color.

It was even later when we made it back to the campsite for our standard dinner and then to bed.

Before heading home the next day we woke up at 6am. We parked in the town of Dunsmuir and walked along the railroad tracks to Mossbrae Falls. There were a couple of spots by the tracks where there wasn't a whole lot of space along side should a train have happened by at that moment. We did see one train, but it was at a time when there was lots of space.

The falls themselves were beautiful and unique. Water poured out in streams over mossy rocks into the flowing river running parallel to the cliff face. Spectacularly awesome.

We hustled back to our campsite, broke camp, and were on the road headed home by 10am. With the trip behind us we made a pit stop in Santa Cruz to pick up the kitty and Lukas's art show supplies. Exhausted, we made it home {late-ish} Monday night.

The minor casualty of the trip was the screen of our hiking GPS. Lukas's nifty carrying system of holstering it to the waist belt of his camera bag only worked until he took off the bag and set it down on the GPS which in turn was on a rock. Thankfully we had a screen protector on it. Things could have been much worse!

Happy travels!

"But, I promise I will not kill you until you reach the top"

2011-09-03T20:38:00.000-07:00

Just because he's cute...

And it's a good thing he is because all in the last few days he's forgotten the house rules of no kitties on the kitchen counter. He has knocked over my pretty mason jar of sunflowers. And he has revisited his early kitten days by emptying an entire roll of TP onto the bathroom floor. A busy kitty that Inigo Montoya is!

"I wanted to go bowling!"

2011-08-30T07:12:00.000-07:00

For the last week I've had my head buried inside statistical computer software and data and averaging close to 4 hours sleep per night. In that short period of time work created the perfect storm and took over just about every inch of my life. And as challenging as that was {felt like I was back in college trying to cram for a test}, it is also the most interesting and rewarding parts of my job. I wont bore you with the details - the report is {for now} complete, I have a moment to catch my breath and things are getting back to normal.

When my late evenings and weekends turned into lots of this...

we thought it brilliant to make use of a Groupon we'd been sitting on and go bowling! For what felt like free {funny how that works with Groupons} we rolled a couple games. My scores were pitiful, but not once did I think of work. A welcome break because work had pretty dominated all my thoughts even when I was trying to take a break - even sleeping.

So here's to jobs that challenge us and fun past times that give us a little break from everything right when we most need it. {I see a three day weekend on the horizon!}

weekend hiking

2011-08-17T07:13:00.000-07:00

August has been a month of relatively free weekends. We haven't traveled anywhere or had any art shows. So we've been doing what we've been meaning to do for a long, long time - do some regular hikes. Who knows... maybe we'll even get in shape.

Two weekends ago, due to my inability to read directions, we ended up at the wrong trailhead for the hike we were doing. Seven miles turned into 9 and a half. The last two were spent walking up, up, up along the ungraded path. The first few were spent angry and so, from that hike there were no happy pictures like these. And it took all week just to start feeling normal again - umm, yeah... need to get in shape {and learn to read directions}!

This past weekend was much more successful in the enjoyable category of hikes. We did an easy 3.5 miles. I read the directions correctly. There was no storming off. And we weren't monumentally sore the next week.

We hiked Portola Redwoods State Park. Very pretty, but in the end we decided it wasn't worth the over an hour drive and $10 entrance fee. So, this coming weekend we'll probably stick closer to home. And we might be up for a challenge - all in the spirit of getting in shape.

Happy hiking! {the goofballs!}

bath time for baby

2011-08-15T07:35:00.000-07:00

Sewing for a new baby is so much fun. Projects are little, they go quickly and I get to think happy thoughts and wishes for the new baby all the while. This little hooded towel set is for the new baby and the soon to be big brother.

The parents are planning to be surprised by the gender when the baby makes its official appearance into the world. And they're not even sharing names they've picked out - those stinkers! Really, I kid. But that certainly made sewing for baby a bit challenging.

So, I went gender neutral with a cozy terry cloth towel with a little hood. And big brother gets one too so he doesn't feel left out. I found the perfect binding at Hart's - white with dolphins, star fish, fishes, ect. Super cute! These really are as simple as they look, but feel free to let me know if you'd like to know how I put them together.

Happy sewing!

Heather meet Martha {a napkin tutorial}

2011-08-11T22:36:00.000-07:00

Well, Heather Ross might have already met Martha Stewart but I thought a little napkin project would be a great way to reintroduce the two. Actually we were in Harts the other day picking up fabric for a different project. Wouldn't you know it, they put the cutest fabrics right up by the cutting table. This just jumped off the shelf and begged to come home with us - couldn't say no to a request like that.

So, when I made these napkins the first time around I followed Martha's instructions to a T. And let me tell you there's lots and lots of pressing involved. I thought I could do this with a few less steps of pressing. With just one little hiccup I did find a way to simplify the process and I even took pictures a long the way. Sit back and relax... here comes a napkin makin' tutorial...

For starters I cut two 17" squares from my yard of fabric {some day, I'll make another two with the remaining fabric}.

Fold edges over 1/2" and press all the way around.

At the corner, fold so that the pressed edges meet up. It'll look something like this:

Using your ruler line up a perpendicular line with the folded edge of fabric at the top. Place the ruler so that the distance from the line to the pressed edge of the fabric is 1". Draw a line here with a pencil. {repeat for the other 3 corners}

Sew along the 1" line you drew. Repeat for all the corners. Then trim the corner off, leaving a 1/4". Trim at an angle as shown below:

Using your finger, push out the corner you've now added to the napkin and press the seem open.

Holding two adjacent corners, pull gently in opposite directions to straighten out the napkin. And press {just a little more pressing to go. I promise this is a lot less pressing than the original way}.

Flip the corners right side out and press again. The last step is to top stitch around the entire napkin. I did this 1/4" {or so} from the finished edge and than again another time around 1/4" from the top stitch line.

The End. {or repeat till you have enough napkins for a dinner party}

{Lukas Wenger Photography}

2011-07-27T07:59:00.000-07:00

The summer season has begun. The season of longer days, fresh veggies from the garden, and for us... Art Shows. This means prints are ordered, mats are cut, new photos are framed. And this year we even added a new product - fine art photography cards.

The first year we did a show it was all about pulling all-nighters right before. Queen of procrastination, I hadn't done up the panel covers till then. And at the morning of set up we had the express "joy" of trying to slip them over the grid walls. Well, this year my pre-show project was making cards. Quite a bit less brain power required and I didn't put everything off till the night before.

In Santa Cruz, the day before the show, we finished up framing and cleaning all the art. It's amazing how much better the pictures look all printed up than when you're just looking at them on the computer. The details pop more, the colors grab you and they're just more impressive.

With one year under our belts we weren't as rushed {well some what} and set up the day of the show went much more smoothly. This year, in addition to the cards, we added another large print rack. We also added wooden boxes for the smaller matted prints. Lookin' good I think!

All this to say...

If you're local to the Santa Cruz area why don't you head over to Capitola for a day in the sun at the beach this Sunday - July 31. We'll be there {in this fancy little booth} from 11am-6pm. Stop by, say hi, check out the photography. We'd love to see you!

my garden

2011-07-21T07:39:00.000-07:00

Well after loosing one watermelon, one cucumber and two garlic plants to causes unknown I decided to give the garden a second try. And things seem to be growing this time. The peas - my saving grace - have completely taken over their little corner of the garden. The other night we had our first little harvest of them for dinner. Yummy fresh peas with almonds and garlic.

I also planted more peas and those are just trying to catch up with their older counter parts. Hopefully this will extend our pea eating season. The summer heat has been kind to the tomato plant and it actually has many tiny little tomatoes on it. My hope with planting a cherry tomato variety was that it wouldn't need as much heat to get the tomatoes ripe. Fingers still crossed about that one.

I've got rows of lettuce sprouts that just need to get a little bigger. Then salads and such here we come. My basil plants seem to be growing by the day too. These are destined to be pesto. Really it's the best thing to do with basil.

Here's the garden in all it's jungle-y goodness. Happy summer!

the rest...

2011-07-15T20:55:00.000-07:00

On Sunday we woke up early again, but the fog had already lifted by the time we made it up to Redwood National Park. So we turned around and headed back to my folks house. Instead, we spent the day playing and relaxing with my parents.

We got in a rousing game of croquette. From the opening swings I took an early {and very very short lived} lead. Quickly my dad took off with Lukas in close pursuit. All the while my mom and I remind neck and neck for last place. We just couldn't seem to get away from each other. For awhile my dad looked like he might run away from the whole thing. He was way out in front, but lost his focus and kept missing wickets towards the end. Still he was slowly progressing and Lukas just barely caught him. With one lucky strike Lukas knocked my dad's ball and drove it far away. It was enough for Lukas to steal the lead and my mom and I ended up battling it out for second from last.

The next activity of the day was fresh squeezed lemonade made by my dad. We enjoyed it under the shade of the over hanging lilac bush. The large plant had grown over a corner of the deck making a perfect shady, fort of a sitting area. Perfect for enjoying lemonade on a sunny summer day.

In the lilac fort we played a game of gin rummy. Lukas won that too and we all decided we were done playing games with Lukas for the day.

In the late afternoon we all headed down to the school. The dogs played, Lukas and I swung and my dad showed off his balance skills by walking up the long handrail from the lower field. The railing is slopped up and over 25 yards long. With arms outstretched my dad worked his way slowly up the railing. He paused when needed to regain his balance, but moved steadily on. At a caterpillar walking on the bar he had to adjust his steps to avoid the critter, but my dad just kept on going. All the while I was video taping him. {now I just need to figure out how to work with what ever the file format these videos are in}

We introduced my parents to Modern Family. We believe that Phil Dunphy is directly based off my dad. The similarities between the two are quite striking. Both named Phil, both married to a pretty blond woman, both have 3 kids - 1 boy, 2 girls, both are real estate agents, both like to do magic, both are enamored by Apple products and technology... See strikingly similar.

And except for one last morning trip up north the next day, that was the end of our holiday weekend.

{jacoby creek}

2011-07-12T18:58:00.000-07:00

After we got home from our morning hike my dad said, "I think I've got a place you guys would like. A hike, waterfalls..." Sounded like it was right up our alley. My dad took us out to the end of Jacoby Creek Road. Past the street with the covered bridge {where we took bridal photos a year ago - gosh I never posted those did I?}. The road narrows and you think you're lost, and then you're there.

The hike took us back into the woods and kept us walking along Jacoby Creek. A little ways in my dad pointed out a little side trail down to the water. We all clamber down there - it's beautiful. The water cascades over rocks. The ferns are lush and green.

"There's little spots like this all along the creek for then next, maybe, quarter mile or so," my dad said. Sweet! Lukas shot to his hearts content at each little spot a long the creek. We walked, stopped and shot - welcome to the world of hiking with a photographer, Dad. We may not move fast, but we see a lot.

Along the way we munched on salmon berries. I didn't think we'd see any ripe ones when the first ones we saw weren't ready to eat yet. But, just a little bit further down the trail the bright orange and sometimes almost red berries caught our eye. Small clusters of them stood out against the greenery and we stopped to gobble them up.

Now here's where I say my photography skills have a long way to go. Even though I got a fancy little camera that can take really nice pictures it's the photographer and not the camera that makes the shot. There are so many things to think of when taking pictures. First there's getting the exposure right - which for some of these shots I missed. Then there's creatively using your depth of field while keeping things that should be in focus in focus. Very tricky! And then even if you get all that right you could have a boring picture if you don't have an interesting composition. So much to think about that something usually gives. But lucky me I live with a photographer who's willing to provide me with feed back. And really, the only way to get better is to practice taking pictures and I'm loving doing that.

Four hours later we arrived back home. My mom was back from work {she was on-call over the weekend} and had been wondering where we were for quite some time. We hadn't thought we'd be gone so long and were excited to see both my mom and dinner waiting for us when we got back.

Just one full day of the long weekend down and we'd already packed a lot in.

{rhododendron and lady bird johnson}

2011-07-08T21:25:00.000-07:00

As many times as we've trekked up to Arcata we'd only been up towards Redwood National Park a handful of times. So when the 4th of July holiday rolled around we drove north. Plus we figured of the places to travel during the holiday this would be one of the lesser crowded ones - we're all about avoiding the crowds. And special bonus - getting to see my folks.

The alarm went off at 6am - doesn't everyone get up in the wee morning hours when they're on vacation? Out the door by 6:15, we took 101 north past the lagoons and the elk into Prairie Creek State Park. We watched the mile markers to locate Rhododendron Trail. Lukas had hopes the rhododendrons were still blooming and the trees would be bathed in eerie fog.

We kept our eyes peeled, but here the fog was higher and the rhododendrons were past their peak. Still hiking through the lush green forrest was a treat. While Lukas captured the forrest on a grander scale I looked for the little bits I could get with my little camera. Like the reddish-brown snails that littered the path {more than one went by way of accidental boot stomp}.

I started learning about the manual focus on my camera. In MF mode, turning the focus ring causes the image preview to zoom in so that you can really see that you're getting all the details. It's a cool advantage of live view {but given that my camera lacks a view-finder it is always 'live view'}.

On the way home we stopped at Lady Bird Johnson Grove. Here the gentle one mile loop through the tall trees lends itself to the causal stroll. There were more people here than our first stop of the day. But the walk was beautiful. Up here the fog was still among the trees and we found a few blooming rhododendrons.

The walk through the trees took us about as long as the first hike. We fell into our normal hike/photograph rhythm - 5 yards, stop for 10min to take pictures and then repeat.

The morning turning into mid day and we headed back south down the 101. With four miles of walking under our belt for the day already we rested a bit, then joined my dad to explore the woods a little bit closer to home...

home for Shabbat

2011-07-05T22:29:00.000-07:00

There's something about being at my parents' for Shabbat. The challa just seems to taste better. The songs are more fun to sing. It just feels like home - maybe because it is. It's comforting to fall into the same routines. The summer time light gets longer, the table is set, my dad plays a niggun as we gather around the table. We light the candles, sing Shabbat Shalom, bless the wine, wash our hands, and marvel at the yummy home-made challa before saying that blessing too and digging in. Being home for Shabbat is special.

I had fun on this visit up to my parents' house playing with my new camera. Above my mom, sporting the apron I made her, shows off her home-made challa. What you can't tell from this picture is how moments before, when I asked her to hold it up she almost dumped both loaves straight onto the floor. But with quick reflexes she kept them from sliding off completely. *Phew!*

A hand washing tradition that started off as a couple innocent flicks of water has now turned into a full swipe of a wet hand down the back of the neck. My mom gives me a look because she knows it's coming. Can't you see how much she appreciates this little tradition?

My parents have a beautiful garden this year. I remember it last year from just about this time. This year it's even more beautiful. The lavender bush is lush and fragrant. And the lilac is huge - creating a fort perfect for card games and fresh lemonade. My dad has a lettuce patch with huge heads of lettuce and radishes too. All enjoyed in the beautiful summer weather we had last weekend.

let's eat

2011-06-30T21:48:00.000-07:00

Some nights dinner is a hit. And this night last week was one. It all started with an idea from Every Day Food. That's our go-to magazine for great dinner ideas and new recipes to try. Lukas picked out this rice with boiled egg and soy dressing. Except he mistook the green onions in the magazine picture for leeks. But since we had leeks already that's what we went with - a happy mistake.

We paired the rice dish with a little crunchy, almond chicken {minus the cheese} and a spinach salad with cranberries and toasted almonds. Yum! Each part tasty and they worked so well together.

Want a closer look? I'm sure you do...

And for dessert? Well, I know I did say that the strawberries deserve their own post but I've got to include them here. {as I type this I'm sipping a strawberry smoothie made by the master} Another win from EDF - frozen strawberry cream bars.

We don't eat like this every night. Not even most nights. Boy, but when we do... YUM!

stepping up

2011-06-30T08:43:00.000-07:00

So, the other night I did a little teeny tiny bit of sewing after dinner. When the kitchen was all cleaned up I took a few minutes to do some mending for my dad {yay, we're seeing my parents this weekend} and then I busted out some fabric choices for Lukas. The goal was not too girly and with my fabric stash this was hard to get at. We settled on this Heather Ross print. And just a few minutes later - really not much longer than it took me to do the mending earlier - I had a new wrist strap for my brand new {to me} little camera. This little camera is quite impressive. While only slightly bigger and with a bit more heft than my previous camera, the images this new little guy produces are leaps and bounds more rewarding.

I remember when I bought my previous camera I clearly told Lukas, "Nah, I doubt I'll ever use manual controls. It's ok if the camera doesn't have them." And so I ended up with the Panasonic TZ5. And while it was serviceable for quite some time, the pictures I was able to get with it just didn't live up to Lukas's standards. Plus, noise reduction smeared the heck out of things and that was just yucky {but now I'm getting all technical on ya}.

So for my birthday {and every other gift giving holiday from here until I'm old and wrinkled} I got this new little number - the Panasonic GF1! And boy does it pack a punch. A big enough one that I may be slightly worried Lukas might want to steal it from me.

This little camera uses interchangeable lenses like Lukas's big fancy camera, but it's missing a few other big camera features to make it fit in this little body. I picked out the 20mm f/1.7 lens for its large aperture and pancakeness {yes, I can make up words}. Pancake lenses have a lower profile than your standard lens and are a great fit for a little camera like this where the point is to keep things small. And the 1.7 aperture is great for letting in lots of light. And light... is the most important part of taking a picture.

Boy, have I got a lot to learn! But I'm so excited to have a camera I can grow into. Happy photographing!

{p.s. Notice my pictures have gotten bigger? Well, I've decided to host them on Picasa Web instead of just uploading through the blogger interface. I'm liking the results much more.}

{summer} veggies

2011-06-23T07:34:00.000-07:00

This has been the year of the asparagus. Each week it seems we've been eating at least one big bunch. I was bringing home a bunch each Wednesday from the little Farmer's Market by my work. "Little" might be an understatement, but they usually have just what I'm looking for even if they don't have several different options to choose from. I love taking a little break from work to walk over there. The sun is usually shinning and the wind is usually blowing. The standard combination for this side of the city.

The people selling the asparagus just have asparagus. Every time they ask if I've had theirs before and if I've liked them. They love to remind me how sweet the asparagus are. And, the green spears really are so tasty.

I love that we can still get asparagus, even at the beginning of summer. The summer fruits have arrived in all their glory too. We've been devouring nectarines and apricots and strawberries. I think the strawberries will need their own post like asparagus. We've been downing them by pint-fulls every week.

Happy summer eats!

weave me the sunshine

2011-06-22T21:17:00.000-07:00

I love seeing all the WIP {work in progress} quilts that pop up around the internet on Wednesdays. Today, with just a couple hours to spare, I'm joining in on the fun.

This quilt has been in progress for quite some time. All the way back in April {goodness it's been that long?!} I posted about my start. Things were slow going until June. When I learned that I would actually be able to attend the June BAMQG meeting I pulled something close to an all-nighter to try and get the quilt top finished. Ummm, yeah... the top didn't quite get finished by that meeting.

The all-nighter did get me excited to see this quilt coming together. So a couple weekends ago now I started getting the strips put together. There's still one more to add to the bottom and then a boarder around the whole thing. Then, finally, the top will be done.

I was completely inspired by the Crazy Nine Patch by Oh Fransson! and the hands-on tutorial a member of the BAMQG did. Starting with 5" charms meant my finished blocks would be a bit smaller than the example. By bit, I mean a lot! These were squared up to 3.75". And with smaller blocks, but the wish to make a bed sized quilt I had to do some finagling to figure out the best way to use them. Graph paper was my friend!

Now, to just get the top finished {hopefully this weekend} and come up with a back side. I'm thinking mostly solid with a stripe of zigzagged half square triangles - rainbow style.

Happy sewing!

it's the weekend!

2011-06-18T22:44:00.000-07:00

That's my favorite phrase to repeat when I walk in the door on a Friday evening. It is said with much excitement and often hands raised above my head. And it is always followed by a dramatic sigh.

What follows will be a random, weekend worthy, post of pictures from our weekend so far.

Our dinner tonight... pizza bianca from the June Everyday Food. Wow, it was tasty. Here in the picture the pizza is missing the arugula that was the perfect finishing touch. Lukas even agreed, though when tasting it on its own prior to putting it on the pizza Lukas likened the flavor to vomit. Sorry, not a pretty image/taste for such a wonderfully tasty pizza. To round out the meal we had asparagus with bell pepper, mushrooms, toasted almonds, pepitas and a little squeeze of lemon. Mmmmmm...

Prior to the yummy dinner I spent the day in the garden. This has been the year of disappearing plants. First it was the garlic. One by one the green stalks just vanished. No suspicious nibbles or wilting - just there one day, gone the next. And then it was my cucumber plant. It was growing so big and it too just vanished one day.

Today while weeding a completely different patch of the yard I found some chewed on cloves of garlic. My guess is a neighborhood cat made off with the green parts but ditched the cloves. But, I have no guesses for what happened to the cucumber plant.

With more space now available in the garden I filled it today with round two of garden version 2011. Today I planted more peas {since that's about the only thing I'm good at growing}, lettuces, and basil. And I covered the garden with a net to keep out birds. Hopefully that will allow the seeds to sprout and maybe keep out the plant thief. Fingers crossed.

And just because he's so cute... and it was a weekend {last weekend}, here's Inigo hanging out on my current quilt project. He has claimed it for his own. Every time I lay it out he must come hang out right on top. Good thing he's cute.

::sew:: clean

2011-06-12T20:01:00.000-07:00

Well over a year ago Lukas and I ventured to the fabric store to pick out fabrics from some house projects. Things like fancy-ing up the shower curtain, seat cushions, table runner, etc. But in all that time I've only made the fancy shower curtain.

Well, that and this set of napkins. To make the napkins I started with one yard of this fun fabric. It's heavier than quilting cotton and works great for napkins. I quartered the yard {fat quarters}. Then I followed Martha Stewart's instructions for making napkins with mitered corners.

In short... there was much pressing involved. And by the time I was done pressing I was just about out of energy. So, one napkin got make just to see that it could be done. The rest sat pressed, but unfinished for quite some time. Hard to get excited to sew napkins when there fun things to work on.

At a recent BAMQG meeting and sew day I pulled these out to finish them up. Our meetings are so much fun with lots of sharing and chatting so I only managed to finish up one more. But that got the ball rolling again and the last two were quickly finished up.

Now we love to use them every day.

I'm linking up with Needle and Spatula's Dinner Party. You can go check it out to see all the other dinner related sewing projects.

Postcard :: let's go home

2011-06-06T10:15:00.000-07:00

Our longest day of travel began with an early breakfast on the veranda. Rita, knowing we were leaving on the early bus, brought us breakfast at 6:30. We waited on the main road for the bus - distinguished from the school buses by the "fancy" paint over the standard bus orange. This was our most crowded ride of the trip. I was squished in a seat with another woman. The aisle was packed - Lukas stood in the back. Little kids were practically falling into my lap with every bounce of the bus. On and off people shuffled and eventually we made it back to Dangriga.

There was some worry when the express bus pulled into the station with only 12 seats available. Luckily we got seats, but there were a few people that ended up standing. As we pulled into Belize City the bus stopped at a taxi association. "International airport?" That was us.

We checked into our flight right at the time it was supposed to board, but when we got to the gate nothing was boarding - the flights were running on Belizian time. So we were late leaving Belize and late getting into Atlanta. Our lay over wasn't as long as we thought so we were in a hurry.

We hustled through the airport to customs. Then got directed tot he line that wasn't moving. Every other line around us moved quickly along but we were stuck in the same spot just watching the clock. Finally it was our turn, but our customs form gave the guy a moments pause.

"You've been to a farm?" Yes, we'd been to a farm and no we hadn't washed off our boots. So after collecting our big backpack from baggage claim we headed back to security. There we were routed to the line with the special scanners.

"What kind of livestock were there on the farm?" the agent asked us. What? There weren't livestock on the Sho's farm. "Vegetables," I replied. "Just plants."

"Oh, then collect your bags at the end." With that she was done with us and we hurried on. We dashed through the airport; our flight should already be boarded, but maybe we'd still make it.

The crowd around the gate seemed like a good sign that we hadn't missed the flight. Out of breath I asked the woman at the counter if our flight had boarded. "Where are you going?" she asked. "San Francisco." "Nope that flight hasn't boarded yet." Well, we'd made it and the run through the airport left us with enough time to change our money and get two pieces of piping hot card board with cheese they called pizza.

And with that... one last flight and we touched down in San Francisco. As we walked out of the secure area at SFO Betty {my mother-in-law} was there to welcome us back. We collected the big backpack and went home.

{click here for: Postcards #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, and #11}

*Note: I know when we were planning this trip we were hunting down any details we could find. So, if someone doing the same thing happens on this little blog of mine and would like more information and specific details shoot me an email. I may not have the answer, but I can tell you what we did. megan{dot}a{dot}wenger{at}gmail{dot}com

one year down

2011-06-04T18:29:00.000-07:00

To celebrate being married for a year {and to fill the long weekend} we ventured up to Lake Tahoe. What we didn't plan on when thinking of places to spend the weekend... snow?! But the hotel was booked and the forecast said possible snow. So here it was almost summer and Lake Tahoe was a winter wonderland.

Our first evening there we headed out to Bonsai Rock. Lukas was hoping for some smooth water to reflect the rock and of course fingers crossed for a killer sunset. Well, we found the rock {good thing we'd been here before} but that was about it for this night. There would be no killer sunset or reflections. Instead, we didn't even get out of the car due to the grayed-out sky and snow fall that was starting to obscure the road.

We nixed the idea of getting up for sunrise in favor of staying up late and enjoying our vacation. The only goal for the next morning was waking up in time to get breakfast at Heidi's. Breakfast was tasty {even if it was too expensive} and the weather was breaking by the time we finished. We were off to Cascade Falls.

Lukas had brought along our waterfall book and we took advantage of it. A 1 mile hike took us to the top of the falls, overlooking Cascade Lake. Quite stunning!

Can you spot Lukas?

That night we did manage a trip to Bonsai Rock that didn't involve getting snowed on. There wasn't a killer sunset or reflection, but we had fun just the same. Some places we can go out to shoot and have it all to ourselves, but not so at Tahoe on a holiday weekend. As we hit up the popular photo spots we kept running into the same group of photographers. Everyone wants a shot of the magical landscape. {pretty sure Lukas was composing his images to avoid any photo bombs}

To cap off the trip {and it wouldn't be a photography trip if we didn't get up early for at least one sunrise} we caught the sun coming up from Eagle Creek Falls. There's something pretty special about waterfalls that tumble into bright blue lakes.

And that was the trip... 3 day weekends go by too quickly.

Postcard :: Hopkins

2011-06-01T07:16:00.000-07:00

It was scorching hot when the bus deposited us in Hopkins. We walked south to find our hotel - Hopkins Inn. Right as we walked up to the group of red roofed, white cabanas a woman that had been on the bus with us was being told there were no rooms available. We were so thankful to have a reservation. And even more thankful after our perfect stay.

Our host, Rita, showed us to the little cabana - clean, neat and welcoming. First order of business was supposed to be showers but the ocean was too inviting. So, even before taking the much needed showers, swimsuits were quickly donned and we waded out into the shallow, warm water. For quite awhile we bobbed around, enamored by the blue water and blue sky and feeling refreshed.

"Perfect place to end the trip on," I told Lukas. And it really was. There wasn't much of anything to do in Hopkins except relax.

Our swim was followed by lunch, another afternoon swim and relaxing until dinner. Dinner was tasty fish served by an unsmiling waitress/cook.

Our last full day in Belize we woke up for sunrise and walked a few yards across the sand from our cabana to the water. The sun rose pink. Then we napped and enjoyed the breakfast Rita's husband brought to our veranda. Fruits, toast with jam and fresh orange juice. It hit the spot.

We filled that last day with more swimming and relaxing. For lunch we walked all the way up the beach to the north end of Hopkins. One of the dogs from the Inn decided to come with us. He meandered through the shady spots as we walked with our toes in the water. A couple of pina coladas and an amazing pizza later, who should be waiting outside for us but the dog?!

"You staying at Hopkins Inn?" a woman asked us. When we nodded our affirmation she followed up with, "I thought so. I recognized the dog." So the three of us made our way back home - me, Lukas and the dog.

Dinner that night was at Yagadah - why'd we go there? Well, because yagadah. {had to through in a pun for my family} The atmosphere here was a world different than last night's dinner place. Rosie served us tasty food with cheer and even talked us into dessert with her winning description. She laughed when Lukas call me iced tea fancy. It did have a lime wedge on the rim of the glass.

We repacked that night for the las time. It was funny, but we were almost as excited to be going home as we had been when we were leaving home at the start. Tomorrow we'd be home!

Stay tuned for the final segment of our honeymoon journey - the travel home!

{click here for: Postcards #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, and #10}

*Note: I know when we were planning this trip we were hunting down any details we could find. So, if someone doing the same thing happens on this little blog of mine and would like more information and specific details shoot me an email. I may not have the answer, but I can tell you what we did. megan{dot}a{dot}wenger{at}gmail{dot}com

yearly weds

2011-05-31T08:50:00.000-07:00

one year ago today...

::we had been married for less than a day

::we were excited to be embarking on a new adventure

::we had spent the night in probably the most fancy place we will ever stay

::we were so happy

today...

::we have been married for a year and a day

::we are excited about the adventures to come

::we are happy to be home from our latest adventure {post to come}

::we are so happy

Happy 1 year anniversary Lukas!!

Postcard :: Maya Village {Na Luum Ca}

2011-05-19T23:15:00.000-07:00

The old school bus was our ride out to the Maya Village of Na Luum Ca. We were off to spend three nights living with a Maya family. We bounced along a dirt road and I noticed after some some time the power lines were no longer along side the road. The bus paused at villages {tiny groups of thatch covered houses}.

We wondered if we'd missed Na Luum Ca when we drove past a sign for San Jose, the village that was at the end of the bus line. But upon asking, the driver said not to worry and he'd let us know when we got there. "There" turned out to be a small road to nowhere leading from the main dirt drag through the jungle.

As we walked up the road we chatted with a villager who was returning from his job in Placencia. When the road forked he went right, but directed us to go left to find Emeterio Sho's house - our host family. To our dubious expressions he said, "you're never lost." We certinly felt unsure of where we were going even if we weren't "lost".

At the top of the little hill we came to house with flowers out front. A woman came to the doorway and we told her we were looking for Emeterio Sho's house. "This is his house," she replied with a smile. Her front two teeth were missing. "Come in." We followed Emeterio's wife, Mathilda, into the dirt-floor house.

The house was a long rectangle. At the far left corner there was a hearth with a fire and comel - the flat cooking surface. The right side was the family sleeping area hidden by a big tarp. There were two rooms with doors at the front of the house - one, the son's room and the other the parents' that they gave to us for our stay. A long, skiny table occupied the center of the main area. A work bench with grinder and stacked dishes along the left wall. Sunlight came in through the three doorless doorways, but even still the house remained on the dark side.

Mathilda set us up with two plates of brown mush. "Jipijapa," she said. "What's this?" I asked not understanding that she had just named the food. "Jipijapa," she repeated. So, although we knew the name of the food we still didn't know what it was. "It's not meat," she said by way of further explanation. "And it has egg." And it was very tasty. Lukas would have sworn it was chicken. We ate it with a stack of hand more corn tortillas.

Learning to make tortillas was on the top of my list for the home stay. After lunch we got to try our hand at grinding the corn for the evening's tortillas. Attached to the workbench was a grinder made of cast metal. Corn went in the top funnel. Cranking the handle turned the screw-like device inside that fed the corn into two plates. Out the end and into the big waiting bowl came mashed up corn. I commented that it looked really hard. "It's not so hard," she replied. "It's just hard because I've got to do it twice." Twice as in Mathilda reground the alreayd smashed up corn. Twice for the tortillas for breakfast, twice for the tortillas for lunch, twice for the tortillas for dinner - six times, every day!

Lukas and I both took turns at the grinder. The mountain of smashed corn grew, but goodness that was hard work.

Later in the day one of the girls, Angela, showed us how to pat the corn meal dough into a tortilla. Even though she slowed down to show us the steps her fingers still moved with expert speed. When I tried to follow my first attempt was not pretty or circular at all. Angela's on the other hand was even in thickness and beautifully round. When I slowed down I had better luck, but still my tortilla making skills had a long way to go. The Sho women were whipping out about 3 tortillas for every one a Wenger was able to make.

Each finished tortilla was layed on the comel to cook. Using just her fingers Mathilda would flip them and pull them from the hot surface when they puffed up and were ready. She didn't make it look all that hot, but they were because at dinner a little while later the tortillas were still almost too hot for us to handle.

We ate well after sundown but weren't sitting in the dark. Instead, the power from the little solar panel out front was to light a couple small fluorescent bulbs strung down the center of the house. At 9pm the family turned in and so did we. While brushing our teeth outside the house we looked up. No lights or city for miles meant an unadulterated inky sky filled with more stars than seemed possible. I could pick out Orion, but now all the spaces between were dotted with little pin points of light. At first glance it was enough to take my breath away.

After breakfast the next morning {every meal was like dinner in content and large portions} Lukas and I followed Emeterio to the farm. The walk there was filled with steep little hills that left us a bit winded. Emeterio would pause, letting us rest and point out medicinal plants. "We can't always go to the clinic. But what we have here works." We tasted the bitter wood of the cedar tree - good for head aches and the even more bitter Jackass-bitters.

Here at the farm Emeterio grew cacao. The cacao were harvested then sold wet to a couple of companies that would ferment the beans and later turn it into chocolate sold in the UK. A few of the low trees had pods on them the length of a man's hand and green. Not seeing a ripened yellow one, Emeterio cut off a green one for us to try. He held it in his palm as he hacked it open with a machete. One false move and it would have been goodbye hand. But he smiled and opened the pod in a few well directed hacks.

The inside was filled with white pulp and divided into sections. Each section surrounded a purple bean. The white part was tangy, the seed bitter and spit-out worthy. Emeterio found a ripe cacao, but this one the birds had gotten to. A woodpecker had bored a hole in one side. Earlier Emeterio had shown us a tree he had planted hoping the woodpecker would like it better than the fruit. There was still enough good on this fruit, so Emeterio opened it up. The ripened fruit was quite a lot different than the other. The white pulp was softer and almost gooey. It was also much sweeter. The beans were still purple and still bitter.

Walking to and from the farm left us covered in a sweaty sheen. The only solution - a bucket bath. I filled the bucket with water and lugged it to the bath house. The bath house was a small 3'x3' slab of cement with sides of corrugated tin and a tin roof just barely taller than my head. I moved another piece of corrugated tin in front of the open door way to get as much privacy as I could despite the gaps. I doused myself with bowls full of the cold bucket water. As I crouched and poured water over my head a lizard clung to the roof watching me.

That evening we taught the kids yahtzee and card games. I helped the women make the mountain of tortillas for dinner. Still, I was slow but I did eventually earn the praise from Mathilda, "You're getting better."

Our last day in Na Luum Ca was filled with another trip to the farm - this time to the cassava fields. Emerterio dug the cassava up using just his hands and the machete. And he carried it back in a sack hanging from his forehead. The heavy sack didn't slow him down at all.

We also went with Emeterio to San Jose - the big village just down the road. This really was a village, big enough to have several stores, more than one church and a mechanical corn grinding machine. The people here didn't have to grind corn by hand. Instead they paid something like 5 cents a pound to have their corn ground. At the top of the hill was the school and below we could see the hills dotted by thatch covered houses, green lawns and plants. We could hear the hum of someone mowing their lawn. Besides the fact that everything looked different, if you closed your eyes it was almost like a summer weekend back in the states. To cap off that feeling, on the walk back we heard the distinct must of an "ice cream truck?" I asked. Yes and it rolled right by us a moment later.

That afternoon Emeterio took us to the creek behind the house. The water was murky brown and the level low, but we were there before the rainy season. He showed us where, when there was more water, the family would do dishes, washing and bathing. Down the creek each family in the village had their own spot for this purpose.

Our three nights spent with the Sho's came to a close and the next morning we were up at 3am to catch the bus back to the more developed part of the country. We paid one last visit to the latrine - where earlier a little black fly had flown into my mount and I had accidentally swallowed it. Emeterio walked us to the main road and a few minutes after 3:30 the bus rolled up. We bounced down the road listening to the same 11 song scratch CD - an eclectic mix of country and rat pack favorites. Just as dawn was beginning to show we got off at the cross roads to wait for the bus to Dangriga. We could have waited longer and paid more for the express bus, but Lukas and I were all too eager to leave the bitting bugs behind.

{click here for: Postcards #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, and #9}

*Note: I know when we were planning this trip we were hunting down any details we could find. So, if someone doing the same thing happens on this little blog of mine and would like more information and specific details shoot me an email. I may not have the answer, but I can tell you what we did. megan{dot}a{dot}wenger{at}gmail{dot}com

yes, peas

2011-05-19T21:29:00.001-07:00

Peas are the one thing that seem to grow without fail. They are the little green, redeeming goodness for my little garden. With no effort on my part, they do wonders to make me feel like I know what I'm doing. When really, they just grow, easy peas-y.

After some late spring rains I ventured back to the garden yesterday. Surprise! There were little, tiny pea shots just an inch or so tall waiting for me. Ready to keep me inspired in the garden.

Here they make their 2011 photo debut...

I garden {?}

2011-05-14T14:08:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the 2011 edition for Megan's attempt to make a garden. Better late than never, right?

Just the other weekend I took the garden back from the weeds that had taken over since I stopped paying attention to it - almost a year ago. Last year yielded a handle of peas and that was about it. Well, that and the lettuce did fine until the summer heat wilted it and it all turned to seed. Imagine my surprise though as I tried to conquer the earth again to find more peas and some carrots. Happy little volunteers. So encouraged I finished weeding and then didn't do anything for another couple weeks.

Finally though, last weekend I got up the gumption and spent the entire day working outside and planting. Into the ground went strawberries, dahlias, a tomato, lemon cucumber, water mellon, garlic, beans and peas. I've got little starter pots that will hopefully sprout basil, lettuce, more tomatoes and some cucumbers too. Fingers crossed!

Now... a little garden tour

P.S. Lukas got a new camera. It's big, it's fancy and I've got a lot to learn if I even want to be good at using it.

P.P.S. Off to cook some yummy food to bring to this little family. Can't wait to meet the littlest one - she looks too cute for words.

Postcard :: Honky-tonks & busted knees {Punta Gorda}

2011-05-07T09:03:00.000-07:00

We caught sunrise our last morning on Caye Caulker. Then we lazed the morning away enjoying the hammock and just doing some old fashioned relaxing. I finally caught up with the birthday girl owner to pay for our room that last morning there. She helped me figure out where to catch the James Bus to take us to Punta Gorda. And she also recommended we take a cab between the water taxi station and the bus station. Belize City is known for having a high density of unsavory individuals and sketchy areas that could surprise the naive traveler.

The taxi ride was a quick one, but our wait for the bus not so much. The express showed up and we were off - surprisingly there was some leg room and the bus was comfortably air conditioned. We watched the sunset from the bus and by the time we rolled into PG it was dark.

We hadn't made reservations, but we hopped off the bus optimistic and walked a couple country blocks back to Tate's Guest House. The dark makes one a bit more leery of everything. It took a bunch of knocking and waiting for Mr. Tate to finally come to the door and for us to learn that they didn't have any room.

As we walked down the stairs Lukas perused the guide book to find us another option. I reached the bottom and turned back to look at Lukas just in time to see him completely miss the last three steps. All of him, plus the 40 pound backpack, landed on his knees! He hopped up quickly and didn't make much fuss so I didn't know how bad it was.

The next place was all full too and our options were looking slim as we walked back to the center part of town. We walked with determination like we knew where we were going just to ward off any opportunistic bad guys. Lukas noticed a sign high up on the side of a building that said "Hotel". The market on the first floor of the building was closed, but light and loud music spilled out of the second story. It looked a bit sketchy to me but our options were check this place out or keep walking around in the dark.

In the room with the music blaring a few people stood around the edges drinking beers under the fluorescent lights. The woman we asked about getting a room for the night didn't smile at all when we greeted her. And she wasn't very forth coming with information either. Maybe there was a room. Cost? Maybe 40, maybe 50. But we ended up with the key to #3 in our hand so we checked out the room.

From what we were expecting it wasn't too bad. The sea green walls were enhanced "nicely" by the bare fluorescent tube over head. There was a PVC pipe for a shower. The toilet was clean. What more could we ask for?

Drying off the towel - tripod style

I ran down to pay, found out the music would shut off at 10pm, and we settled in for the night. Lukas's knees were actually much worse than I'd imagined - two bloody messes. Our showers that night were like standing under a garden hose. The bed was a saggy sack full of springs. The music did shut off and we slept surprisingly well until the middle of the night when a gaggle of birds decided it was a good time to make a ruckus. Next we were woken up by country western music. Sure, the music shut off at a reasonable hour but it started up again bright and early at 7am.

We breakfasted on dry corn flakes straight from the box washed down with a few swigs of chocolate milk. With directions from a Mennonite selling watermelon we found the bus that would take us to the little village of Na Luum Ca. The next adventure was waiting for us there.

{click here for: Postcards #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, and #8}

Postcard :: The Good Stuff {Wish Willy}

2011-05-06T22:07:00.001-07:00

Wish Willy was the one place we knew we wanted to eat at before we even left the states. We'd read some rave reviews of the food when we were doing our pre-trip research. So we had put it down on the list - a list of one. It proved not to disappoint.

To say the atmosphere at Wish Willy is relaxed is quite an understatement. Run by owner/cook-extraordinaire Maurice Moore the place is the epitome of "Go Slow". Maurice is a tall guy with a pile of dreadlocks and a big, easy smile. The "menu" written on a chalk board is more of a suggestion of what might be available. But it doesn't really mater what you order - it's guaranteed to be tasty.

Maurice comes to your table, takes your order and then kicks back in a hammock. We sipped rum punch - cheap and good - while waiting for dinner that Maurice was in no hurry to cook. One glass of punch down, Maurice came to let us know the pasta was done so he was going to start cooking now.

Tonight I was going to feast on whole fish. Good thing we came here both nights we spent on Caye Caulker because the first night I was having a hard time deciding between that and the jerk chicken. The first night the jerk chicken won. Tonight when I asked for the whole fish Maurice said, "Sure. It should be here soon." How's that for fresh?!

Maurice brought Lukas his shrimp kebabs and me some pasta while the fish was cooking. Even the pasta with veggies was yummy and just right. Darn, 'cause I gobbled it right up and was starting to fill up when two big fish in a lemon butter sauce finally landed in front of me. Lukas didn't mind at all and totally helped me finish.

Having finished our second glass of punch I got up to pay our host. There really was no rush about the guy. I sat down next to him on a long bench where he was chatting with some friends.

"That all?" Maurice asked after I paid.

"Yeah, well unless you've got something for dessert." Really, this is the kind of place where you can just ask to see what he's got cooking. And I was craving something sweet to finish off the night.

"I do. I've got brownies." Just one look at this guy and you'd understand why my first thought when he said brownies was "special" brownies. But I didn't say anything. Instead I turned to Lukas, "You want a brownie?" "Nah." I hesitated when I told Maurice "I guess no thanks."

"Get the lady a brownie," he said in the direction of one of the guys that worked when he felt like it. "Don't worry, it wont get you high." He must have read my mind.

I laughed. "Oh yeah? They do a lot of that where I grew up." And then before I knew really what was going on Maurice pulled something from his pocket.

"Smell this. This is some good stuff." So me, the girl that grew up in Humboldt but has never so much as smoked one puff on a joint, smelled the Belizian's weed. The good stuff. I had no clue what the proper response should be. My "ohhhhh" got a laugh from the guy across the table. "She's got better in her garden at home. She's not impressed." So maybe my response didn't quite show the right level of appreciation of the great weed. But how was I supposed to know?

Laughing we took the brownie and headed back to our cabana.

{click here for: Postcards #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, and #7}

*Note: I know when we were planning this trip we were hunting down any details we could find. So, if someone doing the same thing happens on this little blog of mine and would like more information and specific details shoot me an email. I may not have the answer, but I can tell you what we did. megan{dot}a{dot}wenger{at}gmail{dot}com

isn't it pretty?

2011-04-26T21:49:00.000-07:00

Now I just wish I had some more counter space in the kitchen to keep this new, pretty toy out all the time. But alas, in that area this little house of ours is quite limited.

When we got our tax return, a big chunk went into savings, but we decided to spend some too. I hadn't even thought of what to get until Lukas said, "You could get a kitchen aid." Yeah, something I'd dreamed of owning, but I thought it would come around the time when we had loads of money, our perfect house, etc. I wasn't thinking as near in the future as RIGHT NOW.

And then... permission given, I jumped all over reading reviews and picking one out. And then I ordered it and it came... smack dab in the middle of Passover. Yes, the Jewish holiday were leavened, flour baked goodies are totally off limits. What was I thinking?

Smitten Kitchen to the rescue! Just a few days before I had ordered my mixer she had posted a recipe for a heavenly chocolate cake that was completely Passover friendly. So this was how I broken in the new, pretty mixer - whipping eggs and mixing in melted chocolate. Sure a stand mixer wasn't necessary, but it made the job quick and fun. And now that Passover is over, I can't wait to try out some breads and tasty baked goodies.

My heavenly chocolate cake didn't turn out quite as pretty as Smitten Kitchen's. It stuck in places to the towel I used to roll it. The frosting squished out as I tried to reroll it. But in the end all that mattered was that it was super duper tasty. Lukas dubbed this "The Giant Ho Ho".

P.S. I clearly lack the proper kind of plate for rolled cakes.

Postcard :: You better Belize it {Caye Caulker}

2011-04-22T07:18:00.000-07:00

From the Jaguar Inn at Tikal, we were shuttled to El Ramate where we met up with another, mostly full, shuttle. We recognized some familiar faces as we climbed in - we were back on the common trail and on our way to Belize.

At the boarder it was everyone out of the van with all our stuff. We first paid and got our passports stamped to leave Guatemala. Then we walked over the the Belize immigration and customs. On the immigration form we got a kick out of the question about what our interests were - nature, history, and the likes were the options to choose from.

On the other side we waited for the van to come across. An old guy came to chat us up as we sat in the shade. "Make yourselves at home, you're in heaven now. In heaven we speak English."

In Belize City we pulled up directly in front of the water taxi terminal. Sweet, no need to figure out how to get there since that's where we needed to be. We bought two round-trip tickets then sat down to wait for 1:30pm when the boat would leave for Caye Caulker. From a little stall across the street I bought us a whole fried fish with rice and beans. Here the beans were red, not black like in Guatemala. The fish was seasoned well and pull off the bones good.

The boat ride took us through rain and deposited us at the dock on Caye Caulker where we collected our backpack and made our way to the second street from the water. No one was at the office when we arrived at the yellow Maxhapan Cabanas. From the group of people sitting under the trees, Luis came to great us.

"Welcome! You'll have to excuse me - its my birthday and my friends are here. This is not a normal day. You must have a drink with me once you are settled." She had the pep of the aerobics instructor that she was. We settled into the nicest place we stayed at so far. All the modern convinces, bottled water every day, a hammock on the porch. A little piece of paradise. To top it all off for the day we found a place to have our laundry done. We picked it up later - washed, dried and folded. It was nice to be on vacation!

We skipped sunrise the next morning - living the island life - and grabbed breakfast at Glenda's. The food portions were definitely bigger since leaving Guatemala. We were lured to Glenda's by the reputed cinnamon buns, but the rest of our breakfast was better than the buns.

After breakfast we headed off, loaded down with sunscreen, for Carlos's Snorkel tour office. We'd signed up the day before by putting our names down on the list tacked down to the closed office door. This morning Romero fitted us with masks and flippers and with eight other we headed to the boat. Romero met us there with a cooler and we were off.

The first stop was only for about 15 minutes. As Romero said, "just so we could get a feel for the snorkeling." Then on the way to our first real snorkel spot - Hol Chan Marine Reserve - Romero squirted some anti-fog solution in our masks. One of the women said, "So this is better than spit." Romero gave a small hint of a smile. "No, this is bottled spit. A combination of spit."

We duck-waddled our way back into the water and followed Romero for a guided tour. He pointed out and named all the different fishes. We saw spotted green turtles and large rays. The neatest was the eagle ray. It was brown with white spots and had a big beak.

"There's a swim through cave. You can follow me if you want," Romero said. I dove down to check it out but had to come up for more air. As I came up Romero went down. I grabbed a quick breath so I could follow him. My ears hurt and so I hurried through the tunnel so I could come up and release the pressure - we must have been down at least 15-20 feet. But I went up too quickly and scrapped my head on the top of the tunnel. While it hurt and was bleeding a bit, mostly I was embarrassed that it had even happened.

There were two more snorkeling stops after lunch. First up was shark ray alley. Romero tossed fish in the turquoise water as nurse sharks swarmed around the boat. The passengers showed apprehension, but Romero eased the tension by letting everyone know that the sharks only eat people with blood in their bodies. Ha! Into the water with the sharks we went. For the sharks part they were completely uninterested in us and when the food was gone so were they.

Our last stop was to the coral garden area. Here Romero left us to explore on our own. Lukas and I took off the check out all the corals and fishes. We had fun swimming on our own away from the group. When we got back to the boat Romero had sliced up fruit waiting for us - watermelon, pineapple, papaya - the perfect treat!

On the way back the flying fish put on a show for us. They skipped across the top of the water. Some staying in the air for impossible amounts of time clearing the swells. Romero took us around the back side of the island. We spotted a dolphin and Romero let me drive the boat. He took over and captained us through the split and back to the dock.

Dinner that night was a story all on its own...

{click here for: Postcards #1, #2, #3, #4, #5 and #6}

*Note: I know when we were planning this trip we were hunting down any details we could find. So, if someone doing the same thing happens on this little blog of mine and would like more information and specific details shoot me an email. I may not have the answer, but I can tell you what we did. megan{dot}a{dot}wenger{at}gmail{dot}com

Postcard :: Tikal under the {big} moon

2011-04-18T20:02:00.000-07:00

The howler monkeys had kept Lukas up all night, so 4 am came rather quickly. We met up with the tour group, bought our entrance passes and walked through the dark into the park - welcome to Tikal, Guatemala!

We walked quickly in the dark and heeded our guide's direction, but we went so quickly in fact that two people were left behind. Our guide was obliged to wait for them, but gave us directions to continue on.

"In about 5 minutes take the path to the right. Then at the 'y' keep left. Then 30 seconds later go up 150 stairs on your right." Sounded easy enough, but in the dark?

We went right when the path came to a 'T' but saw no 'y' with a left or stairs. We were stumped until we heard a voice high above us. "Go around to the left. The stairs will be on your right." I counted as we went up - 171. This was it - we'd "followed" the directions without really knowing it. With a little help from a person already at the top of Temple IV.
The 171 stairs in day light.

We were there just in time to take in the pretty pink color {photo at beginning of the post}. Then in one minute, total fog out. So instead of watching the sun come up we watched the fog get lighter and listened to the sounds of the jungle waking up. The howler monkeys sounded more like an angry jaguar than monkeys. The birds added to the ruckus.

From the top of Temple V.

But the coolest, most amazing part of our adventures at Tikal came that evening. We had planned our entire trip around being at Tikal for the full moon. All day there were big, ominous moon-blocking clouds in the sky. But we decided to go for it since this was what we planned for.

Ladder to the top of Temple V.

The park officially closes at 6, but we knew that with some finagling we might be able to stay for the full moon. This could be done by either bribing a guard or by hiring a guide that takes care of all the details. We went that second route and ended up with the experience of a life time. We had a light dinner before we were to meet our guide at 5 pm.

While eating the hotel guy {p.s. all the staff at Jaguar Inn were wonderfully nice and helpful} that had set up our tour came up and explained that the only guide who could do the tour was Juan and Juan only spoke Spanish. Juan came over and introduced himself. I explained that Lukas was a photographer and Juan nodded with understanding. Right away we could tell he was very personable. His reply when I told him I only spoke a little Spanish was to joke back that he only spoke a little Spanish too.

We thought there would be other people on this tour with us but that wasn't the case. A little worried that there was already a plan in place we asked if it was possible to walk to other places once the moon came up. Por su puesto! {but of course!}

As we walked back into the park with Juan in the warm afternoon sunshine we paid a bit more attention. Juan explained that we were walking the original way the Maya would have gone. In their day the path was white from lime stone plaster and they had leveled the jungle. Juan asked if we'd like to go to the plaza first. The plan had been to head to Temple IV to watch the moon rise, but in the golden light it was a quick decision. Por su puesto!

Temple I in the light of the setting sun.

It was great that he offered the little detour. When we rounded the corner and came into the plaza we saw Temple I lit by the warm light with beautiful blue sky and clouds behind. Suddenly Lukas was in a rush to get out his camera. Juan and I wondered a little bit away to look at the birds that built hanging nests in a nearby tree. Lukas shot to his hearts content.

Juan followed behind us as we climbed to the top of Temple IV {for the second time that day}. At the top Lukas set up to take some pictures while I scoped out the possibility of going past the railing to the other side of the temple to watch the sunset. The guard there made it clear this wasn't an option. Juan reached the top a moment later and we went to rejoin Lukas. We found him standing next to a guard with an expression on his face like, "What do I do? I don't understand a thing this guy is telling me." I pointed to the guard that we were with Juan. As I walked back to Lukas I caught Juan say to the guard, "You talk to me about money." We let them work out matters and moments later Juan was telling us it was all ok.

Juan got us permission to duck under the railing and go to the west facing side to watch the red sun sink down. Then, with the small group of people that had worked out deals with the guard separately, we waited for the moon to rise. It came up big and yellow, playing peekaboo with the clouds just on the horizon.

Back at the main plaza, the moon was up but directly behind Temple I. The shadow fell in perfect line with Temple II. As neat as a perfectly alined shadow was, we would have to wait for the moon to get higher in the sky. We lay down on the large steps to look up at the stars. The bright moonlight drowned out many of the stars. Still it was something special to lay there in the night at this ancient place. It was like we were the only ones there.

Moonrise, the view from Temple IV.

That was until the group of people that had watched the moon rise at Temple IV caught up with us. They were {slowly} on their way out of the park, being led by the guard they'd paid off. Their voices broke up the jungle silence and the flashes from their cameras were uncomfortably bright. Our moment was gone.

Juan could tell we were bummed this group showed up so he offered to take us to see the view of Temple V. He led us across the plaza and up the other side. Temple V stuck up tall and dark above the jungle. We stood in front of the ancient palaces, which, upon learning we were on our honeymoon, Juan joked were for us.

Temple II

We made our way back to the plaza hoping the moon was higher and the people were gone. High above the plaza we paused. The group of people with the guard were just leaving so while Lukas took a couple pictures we waited. Then once again we had the place to ourselves. The shadow was gone and Temple II, dedicated to the moon, was completely lit by moonlight. I could imagine the ceremonies that had taken place right here thousands of years ago.

We were contentedly tired when we arrived back at the Jaguar Inn. The moon was now partially blocked by clouds. It was amazing though that the entire time Lukas had been photographing the moon had not been blocked at all. We thanked Juan profusely - he had totally understood what we were hoping to get and have given us the chance for the experience of a life time. We were excited to discover that we had made it back to our room with just enough time for each of us to have a hot shower before the generator was turned off for the night.

The clear skies the next morning taunted Lukas but once again it was a travel day. Today we were leaving Guatemala for Belize - and the second half of our honeymoon adventure.

{click here for: Postcards #1, #2, #3, #4, and #5}

I {look like I've} got skills

2011-04-16T21:14:00.000-07:00

Do I look like I'm trying too hard?

Here's the first sign that art show season is just around the corner. Today, the photographer and I spent some time making plans, buying lumber, and cutting pieces. Then end product, we hope, will be a couple nice boxes to display matted prints.

And the picture? I was just the helper, but I was well prepared!

Want to start marking your calendars for where you can find us this summer selling beautiful photographs? I'm sure you do. Mark it down... so far we know we'll be at Art & Music at the Beach in Capitola June 5th and July 17th. Hope to see you there!!

{and as always you can get great prints here any time of year: Lukas Wenger Photography}

Postcard :: travel days

2011-04-14T19:13:00.000-07:00

After leaving Lanquin the pictures were few and far between until we got to Tikal. Picking up where we last left off...

Lanquin was a bustling market when we made it back to town. Bumped and bewildered we wandered through the town. In the market filled streets you could buy fruits and veggies plus clothes and household items. We hadn't eaten breakfast so we paused for a couple big wedges of watermelon.

The bus to Coban Guatemala, our jumping off spot for Tikal, was supposed to pass by the cross roads leading out of town once every hour. Asking around we found that maybe we'd have a half hour to wait. No one seemed certain.

When a pick up truck rolled by with a young guy hanging off the back yelling "Coban" we hopped up off the curb. We confirmed that they were headed to Coban and not Cahabon which sounds suspiciously similar, but is in the wrong direction. Yes, they were going to Coban and we were tired of waiting. We threw our pack in the back and followed suit.

Crammed in the back with us were seven others plus the guy hanging off the tailgate. It was hot sitting beneath the tarp that covered the bed. We made ourselves "comfortable" on the backpack as the truck bounced out of town.

Turns out the Maya people who were on the ride with us didn't speak Spanish - just Kechi, a Maya language. We watched the green hills fly by out the back. A couple women hopped off some time later. Then at another village two women climbed in with a big basket filled with melons. For the ride up the hill one of the women was perched just about in Lukas's lap - a big bump and Lukas would have gotten a face-full of Maya woman behind.

We were impressed by the young guy who road straddling the narrow tailgate. He was even able to balance without a problem while reading the newspaper using both hands for the paper and none to make sure he didn't fall out.

Everything looked vaguely familiar until we rolled into a town and across a bridge that we definitely had not seen on our way to Lanquin. And then the truck stopped. Where were we?! This wasn't Coban. With all the displeasure I could muster with my limited vocabulary I gave the young guy a piece of my mind. "Why'd you tell me COBAN when we aren't in COBAN?!" I think he got a kick out of my attempts to tell him off - not maliciously though. And he was kind enough to walk us down the street to the bus station. We were just a few minutes outside Coban.

But, making it to Coban was not the end of our trials. Our time in Coban was filled with walking in circles {poor map and confusing streets}, Lukas getting a case of the traveler's best friend and a fever, stressing out over and finally booking an expensive ride to Tikal, hunting down contact solution at the fifth pharmacy, not being able to get cash, and rushing through a breakfast that we hadn't thought we'd have time for. We were more than ready to leave Coban when our shuttle arrived later than expected.

Highlights of the drive to Tikal...

:: seeing a cute puppy playing with his mom when we stopped for lunch

:: witnessing a family of four on one motorcycle

:: enjoying the novelty of crossing a river on a barge {pictured in this post}

:: stopping right in front of an ATM in Santa Elena to get some cash

:: arriving at Tikal before it was dark and booking a sunrise tour for the morning

Yes, that is a semi-truck getting ready to cross on the barge.

{click here for: Postcards #1, #2, #3, and #4}

charming challenge

2011-04-12T07:34:00.000-07:00

A quick interlude in the honeymoon posts just to let you know that I am still doing a bit a of sewing.

Recent completed projects... {yep, I actually have completed projects}

::a set of four napkins made from this fun print {but in brown}

::embellished shower curtain - quick and easy, but makes such a difference

And on the uncompleted, but excited to be started stage... I've started working on my quilt for the BAMQG challenge. Robert Kaufman donated some bright charm packs to our guild. The challenge is to make a quilt - solids only - with these as the focus.

The colors were so pretty all together. So I jumped right in, cutting and sewing. Not quite sure where I'm going yet.

Where I was at the end of the day on Sunday.

Postcard :: pools paradise {Semuc Champey}

2011-04-10T17:33:00.000-07:00

The next bit of our journey, out to Semuc Champey from Lanquin, can be described as the Guatemalan approximation of a roller coaster. The bed of the small truck had been outfitted with a metal bar that ran down the middle about 4 feet off the bed of the truck. Bars also ran along the sides. We tossed our bags in and hopped up after them.

We held on so tightly the blood drained from beneath our fingernails and our arm muscles seemed sure to pop out of our skin. The driver only slowed to change gears. But otherwise expertly avoided mile deep potholes at top speeds and kindly didn't topple us overboard as he careened around turns and down steep hills. We ducked low hanging vines and outstretched branches as we headed deep into the jungle. We saw rolling green hills covered in flowering coffee plants and corn. It smelled fresh and everything was green.

At El Portal, our accommodations for the night, we checked into a thatch covered bungalo with private bath. It was our first place with such a luxury, but such a luxury came with only cold water. There were nice little shelves in the bathroom too where I would end up leaving my contact solution making for further adventures down the road.

The morning greeted us with heavy rain. We donned our raincoats and made our way across the bridge to Semuc Champey. Our guide book said it would open at 6am, so we were up bright and early. But at what we though was the entrance we saw a sign posted stating that it wasn't open till 8am. Darn - so Lukas took some pictures of the close by cascades.

"Megan, get your fingers out of the shot!" I was only trying my best to help keep the camera dry. After a couple shots we headed back to the room to wait till 8am.

Two hours later we found out that the entrance wasn't where we thought it was. Two hours lost, but at least the rain had stopped.

We came to the pools after a short walk along the trail. A paradise! Except for a couple of park workers clearing fallen leaves further down stream we were the only ones there. Above the turquoise pools rose steep rock walls. Greenery clung to the rock face and dripped over the top high above. Big puffy clouds rolled overhead. The clear water tumbled over the limestone from one pool to the next.

The air was thick and all I wanted to do was go swimming. I stripped down to my bathing suit and walked in. Little fish gathered around my legs waiting for me to stop moving so they could take little nibbles from my feet. They followed me as I swam out to the middle. As I paddled around Lukas explored, taking pictures.

Too bad our time at Semuc Champey was limited. Reluctantly we walked away from the water and back to El Portal. We hopped on the back of a passing pickup truck - death defying ride number two - and were back in Lanquin before we knew it.

{click here for: Postcards #1, #2, and #3}

Postcard :: these boots

2011-04-09T12:30:00.000-07:00

...We sped past many cool furniture shops and dogs that knew not to wander into the road as we headed back to Antigua, Guatemala. We got off the shuttle at the center of town and made our way to Casa Amarillo. Our 4 hours here on the way to Lago de Atitlan turned out to be useful and we didn't need to get the map out to find the yellow house.

After checking into a private double {with shared bath} we walked back to the central plaza. The waiting taxis were all lined up on one side. The driver wanted 200Q for round trip to Pastores. We got him to go down to 120Q and off we went.

I can't believe we didn't take any pictures in Pastores. We were single-mindedly on a mission to find red cowboy boots. What we saw of Pastores - and I don't think there was much else - was one little street lined with boot shops. Every shop sold boots.

"Tienes botas rojas para una mujer?"{do you have red boots for a woman?} The question brought quizzical looks to the shop owners' faces. It seems they just didn't make red woman's boots. Finally, at the third shop we found a pair - not bright red like we'd been thinking, but they would do. And hopefully not be too big. I tried them on, but they were a gift for my mother-in-law for watching our kitty. Now we just had to carry them with us through the rest of our travels - just under two weeks to go!

We also took some time that day to return to a textile shop we had ventured into on our previous 4 hour layover. This shop was filled floor to ceiling with beautiful and bright Guatemalan woven cloth. The younger of the two women working there pointed out the different patterns. Common were quetzals, ojos {eyes}, las directiones cardinales {cardinal directions}, and volcanoes. Each pattern was specific to a pueblo.

Deciding on a cloth to buy seemed impossible. I liked the bright ones, but they weren't our style. Lukas liked a cream one with earthy colored designs, but it wasn't grabbing us. Then when the woman showed us a dark blue cloth with simple designs we knew that it was the one.

We filled the afternoon taking pictures around town. Lukas tried his hand at panning. Chicken buses were old, tricked out school buses. They were painted brightly with many sporting some chrome at the front and along their sides. When they slowed down to let people on the back lights would flash like they were at a disco.

While waiting for the buses to roll by we witnessed something amazing. Sitting on the back of a moving motorcycle was a woman breast-feeding a baby. I think this puts any discussions of breast-feeding modesty to shame.

After a big, yummy breakfast - included in the price of our room at Yellow House - we were the first people picked up by the shuttle. That led to an hour spent driving around Antigua picking up the other passengers and then returning to their hostel to pick up forgotten articles of clothing.

Finally, we were on the road to Lanquin, Guatemala...

{click here for: Postcards #1 and #2}

Postcard :: Casa del Mundo

2011-04-08T20:44:00.000-07:00

Casa del Mundo is set into the hillside over-looking Lago de Atitlan just outside of the tiny village El Jaibalito, Guatemala. Steep stone paths wound through the various buildings on the lush, green property. This gave the place a Swiss Family Robinson feel.

Had we been so inclined we could have filled our days exploring the other village and hiking San Pedro volcano. We did trek through El Jaibalito, but mostly we settled into the easy routine of sunrise photography, followed by a morning swim, afternoon games of Yahtzee and evening photography.

We let our stomachs keep time and enjoyed each delicious meal. Should you go we recommend the Chapin Enchiladas - us Californians might consider them to be more like tostadas - and the huevos rancheros. Be sure to try a bite of the sweet fried plantain dipped in the salty black beans. The view from the dinning room looked directly across the water at the three volcanos often obscured by their own weather systems.

We swam right below our room and discovered patios and old stone supports under the water. It was like exploring a sunken ship. In the last year the water level of the lake had risen three to four meters - all due to a heavy rainy season and no outlet from the lake.

Our second morning there we took out a double kayak before breakfast. The waters were still calm but that would change by 11am. We worked up an appetite while marveling at the blue water and the shore line that, in some ways, reminded us of California. Dramatic and peaceful all at the same time.

Evenings "entertainments" were games of gin rummy played while waiting for our amorous neighbors to go to sleep and relocating a big spider from its spot way too close to my pillow.

Our last morning here we savored the food and view over breakfast. After settling our bill we walked back down the 103 steps for the last time. We waited for the next passing boat headed back to Panajachel and hailed it from the dock. The driver spoke English. He immediately guessed correctly that we'd want to go to Antigua. With a quick phone call he had our shuttle ride set up for us. They were waiting for us when we hopped off the boat.

And we were off on the next adventure...

{click here for: Postcard #1}

Postcard :: Day 1

2011-04-03T18:52:00.000-07:00

We left home at 4:30 in the afternoon on a Friday night and our adventure began. Our adventure, also known as "The Honeymoon", took us through Guatemala for 8 days and then onto Belize for another 8 days. Each and every stop was different from the one before... Here's how it all got started.

I was treated to a pat-down at SFO. We killed 4 boring hours in LAX with card games. And at midnight we hopped on the plane for Guatemala. I slept, Lukas didn't - the story of all our travels.

Our plan to get quetzales at an ATM upon arrival quickly went out the window when, after passing through customs, there weren't any ATMs in site. Instead there was an empty room save one guy behind a taxi counter. On the other side of the sliding doors was a "mob" of waiting Guatemalans. We were overwhelmed. Just a bit.

So instead of getting cash we bargained ourselves a taxi ride to Antigua. Luis, our driver, got a kick out of showing us collegio Berkeley. "You have a university with the same name?" he asked with a smile. In my broken Spanish I tried to tell him that it is actually very close to our home.

The view across the street in Antigua when we were waiting for the shuttle.

After 4 hours in Antigua we boarded a shuttle to Panajachel. We were in for a crazy ride. Neither of us could keep our eyes open. Every time our eye lids would droop they would spring back open as the driver slammed on the breaks to avoid a chicken bus or motor cycle or person at the edge of the road. One time I woke up and we were just inches from a bus.

A boat ride and 103 stairs stairs later we were at Casa del Mundo.

{picture at top - travel-weary Megan amid the ONE big backpack we took for the trip, our other two little packs, and the one-eyed cat that made itself right at home on my lap while we waited for the shuttle}

the whole package

2011-03-26T07:45:00.000-07:00

The last of the baby gifts for the Graffs was a cute little quilted blankie. I wrapped everything up in this cute and snugly quilt. And it is soooo snugly.

The quilt blocks came from the Bay Area Modern Quilt Guild. One day a couple months ago I had a fun trip to the fabric store with our past president. We picked out these fabrics for a guild challenge at our November meeting - The Quilting Race! Two teams were pitted against each other in a race to finish the most blocks where accuracy was the final deciding factor. I think I was on the winning team, but everyone won because we decided to divide the blocks evenly between all participating members. Thanks BAMQG for making it possible for me to give the Graffs such a fun blanket.

I backed it with some pink polka dotted minky fabric. And I chose not to add any batting to keep the blanket super soft and floppy. Ok, floppy sounds like a bad thing but really when it comes to blankets it's the best. The whole thing is bound with some teal satin blanket binding. This was my first time working with satin binding. Not sure if I put it on the correct way, but it worked.

Here's the picture of the complete package. Can you tell I had a blast sewing for this new little girl? {P.S. Notice the booties look like little ears on the coat? That's what you get if you ask your husband to take pictures during the day light hours. He had some fun too!}

Happy Sewing!

baby in the hood

2011-03-22T08:46:00.000-07:00

This may just be my most exciting piece of clothing sewing yet. {maybe after my wedding dress, but I had help on that} It doesn't get much cuter than this little hooded coat. And sewing it all up was surprisingly simple - thanks Anna Maria Horner!

Her new book of sewing patterns to welcome the new baby made the rounds around the web a little bit ago. I read nice reviews of Handmade Beginnings but didn't rush out to buy a copy. I lack the baby to be welcomed. Well, that was until our friends graciously decided to have a little one so I could do some tiny sewing. Ok, so it wasn't for me that they made that decision but I was certainly going to use them as a great excuse to sew.

Still, I couldn't justify buying an entire book. So I turned to one of my favorite places - the library! They had the book {with its accompanying patterns} and I didn't even have to wait long to get it. Oh boy did I have fun flipping through the pages and looking at all the pretty pictures! But deciding what to make? That was the tricky part. After first falling in love with this little jacket I read through the directions. Each step looked detailed and many had explanatory drawings. Not once in my read-through was I left thinking 'hmmm, how am I supposed to do that?' Some times I read through a pattern or tutorial and something either doesn't add up or a small, but important step seems to be missing. Not this time! I could do this!

Next it was a matter of getting fabric. I was bummed to hear that my favorite fabric store, Harts, was having a huge Super Bowl Sunday sale. Bummed because we had no plans to be in Santa Cruz that weekend. But then my sweet mother-in-law offered to go for me if I gave her a wish list. I jumped on that offer!

Harts has a great website featuring many of the fabrics they carry in store. Thank goodness! I browsed their selection, made a detailed list, and sent it off to Betty. The day of the sale she called me when she was at the store to double check some of my selections. She reported that it was a zoo there. I couldn't even imagine! Thanks Betty for finding everything I asked for!

My initial reading of the pattern turned out to be correct. Each step was clear and detailed, but there were quite a few steps. Still, I took my time to make sure everything turned out right. It was a joy to follow such a well written pattern.

Well, the library book has been returned and it has seriously got me considering buying this book. We'll see. There's another baby on the way for me to sew for. {no, I'm not pregnant - just have friends that seem to like having littles}

for tiny feet

2011-03-17T07:52:00.000-07:00

Ok, look past the cute little polka dots and buttons {post on that will come later} to the yellow that's slightly out of focus. Almost exactly two years ago I first made these little baby booties. Then it they were for my college roommate's first. They're on their second little one already now. Time really does just fly by.

I made them again - here for Craft Hope. The yellow fabric has been my favorite - can you tell? So of course Emily and Zach had to get a little pair too! Should you be so inspired, you can find the free pattern here.

more itty bitty-ness

2011-03-12T08:26:00.000-08:00

What's this I see? Some gathered fabric? A little pipping? Could it be another Itty Bitty Dress? You bet it is, but only this time I decided to play around a little bit. I gained some confidence the first time around, so I thought 'why not?'

I happened on this 1/2 yard of cute gray fabric at my first visit to the Peapod Fabrics. This cute itty, bitty shop in the city is filled with the best and most popular fabrics out there. Really, stepping inside the shop was like taking of tour of the modern fabric explosion that is all over the web. I snatched up this 1/2 yard cut in the basket by the front door only moments after walking in. A bad sign for my wallet, but a great sign that the Peapod Fabrics is doing something right.

Anyways, back to the little dress at hand and how I modified it the second time. First off, I enlarged the pattern. I don't remember by how much now, but since the first dress was so tiny I thought a bit bigger might not be a bad idea.

I took the 'scalpel' to the pattern as well. Off came the ties - they became just regular, plain old shoulder straps. And the biggest bit of surgery - I cut straight up the back of the dress. This little dress was getting a button closed backside! I didn't just cut the back and add buttons because that wouldn't have worked - you need some overlap. So, with great trepidation because my math skills have been degenerating year by year, I figured the amount of overlap and added this to the side where I split open the back. I also added in the amount that would go into the finished seam of the back opening. Tricky math business! {ok, not really but I took my time because I wanted it to come out right}

Lastly, out of necessity because the gray fabric I had left over for the skirt part of the dress wasn't quite big enough I added a band of the orange to the bottom. I love how this finished the dress.

Happy sewing!

itty bitty love

2011-03-07T00:15:00.000-08:00

Itty bitty sewing for an itty bitty baby. I've had this pattern "stashed" {bookmarked} for awhile now because it's just so cute. It's the Itty Bitty Baby Dress by Made by Rae - and let me tell you... it's really itty bitty! It's also free so I bookmarked it ages ago.

When I found out our friends were expecting I was {not so} secretly hoping they'd be having a girl. I really wanted to give this pattern a go. I kept asking Lukas, "Do they know yet?", till he had to tell me to stop asking. But it turns out they are expecting a little girl in May. Let the tiny dress sewing begin!

This dress, with the pattern and step-by-step instructions was simple to put together. What really got me the entire time I was sewing was just how tiny this dress really is. I kept wondering, 'is this ever going to fit?' When I gave it to the new parents I was sure to let them know it's new born size.

For my first try at this dress I stuck closely to the pattern/directions. The one change I made was when it came to finishing the hem. I had trouble sewing on the called for binding. It wasn't as neat as I wanted it to be. So, I chucked the binding and opted for a rolled hem. I think it worked and made the dress very simple and casual.

I also raised the neck line in the back as Rae offers as a modification. This totally helps differentiate front from back. But even if I hadn't done this the back would be pretty obvious. I added a cute little tag from the left-over selvage of some Amy Butler {used here}. Some itty bitty LOVE.

wheel of fortune!

2011-02-23T08:51:00.001-08:00

How do you play a family game with all your kids even when one of them is living half way around the world? Through Skype of course! Shawna may live in Israel, but that doesn't mean she can't get in on the weekend fun.

My brother, Matt, recently won an iPad. How cool is that?! And we all had fun playing with it over the weekend at my parents' house. Matt had an iPhone too which allowed Shawna to join us on a couple walks - all from the comfort of her room in Israel.

But, what takes the cake in fun use of cool technology was playing Wheel of Fortune with Shawna on Matt's iPad. Shawna was on Skype on my dad's computer. On the screen she was almost life-sized. My dad held the iPad up for her to take her turn. We all laughed as she reached out a finger and pretended to spin the wheel.

One more quick little story to relate. When Matt handed my mom his iPad for the first time her first comment was to note the finger prints and say, "It's kinda dirty isn't it?" Nothing to say about how cool this little piece of technology is. Well, later she did but we all had a good laugh about that one.

mmmmmmm

2011-02-17T23:57:00.000-08:00

We've been taking little steps recently to have a more healthy lifestyle. Just little things like planning meals based more around the veggie and much less 'meat & potatoes'. And one other small change - we've only been having dessert once a week. As Lukas says, if it's only once a week it better be good.

And oh boy have these desserts been yummy! The latest triumph was this tasty and surprisingly simple flan. Now looking back at the recipes I'm pretty sure that I actually did a cross between this one and this one. The dangers of having more than one recipe open at a time. Thankfully, the flan turned out just fine. Actually better than fine - it was mmmmmmm tasty!

I did...

1 cup sugar

6 eggs

14 oz sweetened condensed milk

12 oz evaporated milk

1 tablespoon vanilla

betty's bag

2011-02-16T18:46:00.000-08:00

In a moment of inspiration I remembered that my mother-in-law had mentioned wanting to find a long and skinny purse. I'm great at storing random bits of information that may {or may not} be useful in the future. Not so great at remembering the non-random bits. Like yesterday while folding laundry I turned to Lukas with one of his shirts in my hand, "You have a brown Oakley shirt?" Umm, yeah, he's had that shirt for about 4 years now.

Anyways, back to the topic. I remembered Betty wanted long, skinny purse. I put that together with another bit of information - the Amy Butler Kimberly Bag. It fit the bill perfectly. Except... there was just a little over a week to Christmas. I quickly found the pattern on Etsy. Debated fabric options for a minute before deciding that the Amy Butler primrose was just a really great fit for the pattern. Both Etsy sellers were prompt and I got the fabric and pattern with enough time to finish {in theory} by Christmas.

The pattern was challenging, but do-able. The little tucked pleats at the ends of the bag were tricky. Fitting the zipper ends in was also hard for me. But with relatively few pieces and clear directions the pattern wasn't all hard. And I did get it all finished before Christmas. I am super happy with how everything turned out in the end.

the Pioneer Woman came to town

2011-02-09T08:40:00.000-08:00

When I found out the Pioneer Woman was coming to San Francisco for a book signing I was super excited. I hurriedly told my friend Emily who was just as excited. The day came so quickly and Emily ended up having to do her clinical rotation {gosh darn nursing school getting in the way of fun} instead of joining me and the hordes of PW fans at Books, Inc. Then Lukas put in a bid for husband of the year and volunteered to go with me. {you'll see later, that while I am grateful to him for going with me, we may be even in the brownie points}

I came home from work a little early and we swung by Barnes & Nobel to pick up a copy of The Pioneer Woman Cooks. I got to use my nifty Groupon - those things are fun. Then it was off to the city for the rest of evening.

We pulled into the parking garage connected to the plaza with the book store - $2/20 minutes! I don't think so! So we drove directly across the street for a better deal of $2/1 hour. And what do you know... we were there over 4 hours. Wow! Ok, maybe Lukas still deserves some major brownie points.

We waited and waited. Then Ree showed up and declared that she needed to use the restroom. And a little more waiting and waiting she came back out and chatted with the group. {group=lots and lots and lots of women who knew just about every detail about her} Ree was cute, sweet, personable, funny. After the Q&A we did lots more waiting for her to sign my cook book. As the time crept past 10pm I started to worry about the parking garage that would close a 11pm.

But no need to worry. At 10:35 we were finally next in line. Then in a quick blur of a minute Ree signed my book. Took a picture with me that she totally wasn't ready for because she was signing my book. Asked me where we were from, told Lukas he rocked for coming with me {may be those weren't her words}. I told her thank you and that was it. It wasn't till I was home that I remembered I'd wanted to tell her she'd picked our kitten to feature on her blog. And that she'd also chosen some of Lukas's photographs too. Oh well, I had been star struck.

Oh, and the reason why Lukas and I just might be even in the brownie points? While waiting for Ree to speak Lukas texted Emily's husband Zach. Zach responded by asking what led Lukas to offer to come with me. When Lukas replied that it was a momentary lapse of judgement Zach reminded him that "Well, Megan does watch MMA with you". Still, I think waiting over 4 hours to meet the Pioneer Woman probably puts Lukas ahead in the brownie points.

Lukas's favorite part of the night? Ree's marriage tip that you should give your husband lots of foot rubs.

just a little hair cut

2011-01-16T12:13:00.001-08:00

I couldn't remember the last time I'd had a hair cut. It had probably been a couple years. Once in awhile I'd get fed up with my hair and start looking online for hair salon. But I'd get discouraged because the nice places charge so much and the cheaper places...? So, I just kept putting it off.

Then in my email box a Groupon showed up for a haircut. 1/2 off a fancy hair cut?! Sweet, I'll take it. Lindsey at Jubilee gave me a great hair cut. Shampoo, head massage, haircut, style, the works. But first she chopped of 12+ inches for locks of love. That's what happens when you've let your hair grow for a couple years.

Here's the before picture. {I forgot to take an after picture. Have to get one later.}

getting it right

2011-01-12T22:55:00.000-08:00

For Hanukah I decided to make my dad a guitar strap. Seeing that I was a pro since I'd already made one for Lukas I decided to kick it up a notch. This time, with inspiration from this pillow, Lukas suggested adding half stars to the guitar strap. Sure, I can do that!

So, I got out my trusty ruler for fabric cutting that has handy angles on one end of it. Asked Lukas to do some fancy algebra to figure out the length of the triangles. And drafted myself up a paper piecing pattern. This time I was smart enough to scan my draft into the computer before I started sewing to it. Nice to be able to use all that hard work more than once.

I actually did end up needing to use the paper pattern more than once. Try number one used a heavier canvas material in a blue color for the main body of the guitar strap. I only made the star points a different color and also added some quilting in white to help the stars stand out as stars. The issues? The canvas material was pretty stiff. And while it would break-in a bit the stiffness added extra bulk to the seems. With those paper pieced triangles there were quite a few seems. The quilting that I added to give the stars some pop just looked a bit messy even though it wasn't. I think this had something to due with the fact that it was white quilting on a colored fabric. The quilting itself just stood out too much.

So, with some gentle nudging from the husband to redo and do it right I did just that. We took a little field trip to Jo-Ann's {have to say, not my favorite fabric store but it works in a pinch}. Lukas helped me pick out these fabrics - it was tricky. Then I got down to sewing. The paper piecing went quicker on round two. But I got held up trying to add the stars to the rest of the strap.

The first time I added the stars to the rest of the strap I simply sewed a seem perpendicular to the strap and called it a day. For try number two, Lukas suggested that instead I make this seem on an angle so that it fits with the stars. This would help that seem no stand out too much. It only took me three tries on the first seem and two tries on the second to get the seem in the correct spot. First I had to determine the angle at which to cut the fabric. The more challenging part was figuring out how to line up the fabric so that once the seem was sewn the middle of the stars was in line with the middle of the strap. Tricky I tell ya, but not impossible.

At last minute I decided to undo the end of the strap and added a label to it. Got to actually use the letter embroidery stitches my machine has. I have to say, in this instance {and most actually}, Lukas was right. Taking the time to redo the strap was a great idea.

{extra details: backed with a soft brown houndstooth fabric. Any guesses as to what is printed on the dark blue fabric? The stars are two different batiks.}

{Red} Rockin' New Year

2011-01-01T21:29:00.000-08:00

{note: click the pictures to see them a bit bigger}

Our latest adventure had us traveling to Sedona, AZ by way of Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada. And though our trip started off a bit rocky {pun intended}, we had a great time.

The not so great...? Our foray to Valley of Fire. The park itself is full of dramatic rock formations that are bright with color giving it its name. But, the park is light on accommodations and we didn't feel like camping. Turns out we pretty much ended up camping indoors. We stayed in the closest little town to the park - was little! Just happened to find the motel on a google search, but the motel didn't have a website of its own - just a phone number and a cheap rate. So, we took a chance.

(Valley of Fire State Park, NV)

After exploring the park after our long day of traveling we pulled into the motel after dark. I greeted the old man that walked towards me as I got out of the car and let him know we had a reservation. His response, "I'm sorry but I don't think you do." I must have looked really shocked because he quickly followed up with an explanation that their hot water pump had broken down and most of the rooms were without hot water. They could offer us a room with two twin beds that did have hot water and the "upgrade" of a kitchenette. I joked that it'd be better than staying in the car, but after one night I'm not sure it was. The place was mostly clean - we used our sleeping bag liners and didn't take off our shoes. We only ended up staying just one of the two nights we planned to spend there. The upside? We got to Sedona a day earlier.

Before leaving Nevada for Arizona we spent the day in Valley of Fire. We searched high and low among the rock formations to find the "wave" but were unsuccessful. Instead we saw the beautiful views from Rainbow Vista, checked out the petrified trees, and watched the sunset from the curving roadside. Then off into the night we drove for Sedona.

We knew we'd like Sedona from our trip there a couple years ago. {side note... check out those short sleeves! no such thing on this trip.} We pulled into Sedona at midnight, quickly checked into our luxurious Super 8, and fell promptly to sleep.

(Courthouse Butte Hike)

While we were in no shape to wake up for sunrise we did get up semi early and began scouting out the perfect photographic locations. Top on the list was finding a spot to shoot sunrise the next morning and the search for this spot took us to Airport Mesa. On our first trip we'd somehow missed the better view and had only ended up at the top of the airport. This time we found the view we'd actually heard about and only had to scramble up a huge rock to get there. With views in almost every direction the place had sunrise potential.

Next we made a quick stop at Crescent Moon Ranch. We spent our time there walking the creek looking for a way across so that Lukas could get a better angle on Cathedral Rock at Red Rock Crossing. But we didn't have any luck finding a spot to cross and had to hurry back to the hotel to check out of the room they gave us for our extra night there.

In the time between checking out and checking back in we hiked a little ways around Courthouse Butte. Here we got to marvel at both Courthouse and Bell Buttes. This is a popular trail and was a bit crowded for our taste, especially since we were there in the middle of the day.

(View from above the high school)

In contrast to the crowded trail around Courthouse Butte we didn't see a single person on our sunset hike. We took a trail that led us up behind the high school and up to the top of a mesa. We hustled up the side of the hill and were sweating by the time we reached the top. Quickly though, the frigid air cooled us off.

Temperatures dropped throughout the trip and on the third day it began to snow. The morning though, only brought rain. The rain kept us inside long enough to search the maps and find a way to get to the other side of Red Rock Crossing. In our great hiking book we found Baldwin Trail and it looked like a promising solution to our problem. We suited up in our rain gear and made our way down 179 to check it out. Sure enough, problem solved. The spot made the list for a future sunset, but for the moment we headed back to the dry haven of the hotel.

That afternoon the rain gave way to snow and we quickly headed out to the Coffee Pot trailhead to take advantage of the winter wonderland that was forming. The afternoon light didn't stick around long so after a couple pictures of snowy cactuses Lukas and I had a good old fashioned snowball fight. I only lost because I brought the wrong gloves and had to forfeit due to freezing fingers. Lukas might tell you differently, but that's the truth.

The next day was all about trying to catch the sun breaking through the clouds. This involved two separate trips out Coffee Pot trail. As the sun would start to poke through the clouds we'd quickly layer up and head out there. It was a game of chase that we seemed to be loosing.

Earlier in the day we drove through the fresh snow to the Fay Canyon trail head, but fear of getting caught in the deeper snow kept us from pulling into the parking area. But that afternoon after Lukas said three trips to Coffee Pot was enough we braved the drive out to Doe Moutain, past Fay. The roads were clearer and the parking areas well packed down from cars throughout the day. In the long afternoon light we hiked up snowy Doe Moutain - boy was it slippery on the icey patches. Finally we had caught the sun. The clouds broke up big and puffy and the sun sparkled on the snow. We headed back down the mountain before the sun actually set because we didn't want to be caught in the dark on the cold, slippery mountain side. {I'm a slow poke when it comes to walking on slippery snow/ice.}

(Airport Mesa)

The next morning we hoped for a beautiful sunrise from Airport Mesa only to find about 10 people up there already hoping for the same thing. The clouds blocked out the sun so we headed back down and off to hike Cibola trail. This was a beautiful hike with great views of the red rocks and snow. Again the sun played hide and seek with Lukas and his camera. But he was able to capture some of the grandure anyways.

Our last evening was spent at Red Rock Crossing. Being on the side opposite Crescent Moon Ranch was where it was at. We ran into an older couple - the guy was shooting with a big 4:3 camera. His wife and I commiserated a little about our job as helper, but really we loved being out there as well. I got to peak under the hood of the big camera - everything was upside down and backwards. When they took off Lukas and I headed up the creek a little ways for a better composition. It was stunning, too bad there were any beautiful clouds for a little extra pizzaz. As the sun sunk lower Lukas flirted with falling in the creek and I watched ice form on all the little puddles.

We capped off our last night there with a great pesto pizza. Just so happened that one of the guys that worked at the pizza place was from Humboldt - crazy small world. Then it was promptly to bed by 9:30pm on New Year's eve for the two of us old farts.

We got up at 6:15 the next morning for the 13 hour drive home. We watched the prettiest sunrise of the trip from the car - nowhere to pull over and it was -11 at the tine. The coldest we saw it get was -29!! And I can report that I've been out in minus temps now that when we stopped for gas I pumped it in -3 degree weather. Wow!!

We took 2 hour shifts and made it home tired and safe. Happy New Year!!

Hanukkah was...

2010-12-10T23:46:00.000-08:00

::full of lights - pretty beeswax candles

::full of twinkling blue lights

::full of bellies full of latkes and home-made doughnut holes {we tried this and this recipe}

::full of celebrating with family

::full of songs {see that guitar strap Lukas is rocking?}

Hanukkah was over so quickly.

a good cause

2010-12-08T19:38:00.000-08:00

Local to the Santa Cruz area?

Doing anything this Saturday evening?

Well, if you don't happen to have plans this Saturday and live in the Santa Cruz area let me recommend that you check out Art for AIDS. This is an event hosted by my friend Christal's church. The benefit is to raise money for Santa Cruz AIDS Project. And who should have a couple pieces of artwork in the silent auction then my very own husband!

::Details::

Date: Saturday December 11, 2010

Time: 7pm, but doors open at 6:30

Place: Kuumbwa Jazz Center - directions

You can click here for tickets and more information.

C-attle

2010-11-24T20:36:00.000-08:00

{A nod to Nick Thune.}

Sure we might be silly to plan a trip up to Washington at the beginning of winter. Can we say, rain? But we got a two-for-one flight voucher on Virgin America at a Giants game earlier this year. And Virgin only has a few destinations and Seattle sounded the coolest, so that's where we went. Except we hardly spent any time there.

Instead, after our 8 o'clock arrival we picked up our rental car and drove through the dark to Port Angeles. First, a few words on our rental car...

I found a coupon on Costco Travel that ended up making it cheapest for us to rent a small SUV. The picture on the coupon showed an old-ish Ford Explore so I assumed that was what we were getting. At the rental counter I was afraid the agent would try to up-sell us. He didn't - actually hardly said more than 10 words. I declined the extra insurance, signed on the line and we walked out to the spot to pick up the car. Sitting innocently in space #61 was a brand spankin' new Jeep Grand Cherokee. It was new as in 2011 with only 5 miles on it. We did our best to {gently} brake it in - a little mud, a dirt road, some snow. It had all the bells and whistles - automatic everything - locks, headlights, windshield wipers, mirrors that turned blue at night to reflect less light. Pretty fancy. Probably the nicest and newest car I'll ever drive.

Ok, on to the trip. We spent two nights in Port Angeles but really spent little time in this little town. Sunrise our first morning was spent at Lake Crescent. Sunrise looked like it was going to be a bust until right when we were about there. Lukas looked over his shoulder and saw a hint of color. Getting slightly frantic I pulled over at what might have been 'the spot', but it wasn't. Quickly I drove 100 yards to the next little road and turned down it to the lake. Perfect timing, Lukas hopped out and I parked the car. The clouds and fog cooperated nicely to be broken up enough to let some pretty colors through. Then as the color faded from the sky denser fog rolled in. Light fog rested right above the water creating an eerie foreground for the leafless trees on the other side.

On the way back to the hotel we hit up Madison Falls and Wolf Creek Falls. Madison is a tiny little walk from the parking area. Nice, but not spectacular was our conclusion. From Madison we drove down a dirt road to Wolf Creek. There was more of a hike down to Wolf Creek Falls. It was muddy too. We even saw a big cat print on the way down. At the base of the falls we could just see a hint of the cool upper falls. But to get up there we would have had to climb a sketchy 'ladder' of roots. Since that wasn't happening on the way back up the hill we bypassed a switchback to look for a trail down. We didn't find a path. We did make the hike much more difficult though as the going was pretty much vertical and soft pine-needle ground. We both had rubber legs by the time we met up with the trail again. So much for that.

For our afternoon adventure we piled on the rain gear and headed out to the Hoh Rain Forest. Guess what, it rained. While we stayed dry, our backpacks did not. Lukas couldn't see out of his glasses or really take out his camera due to the heavy precipitation. And silly me for not wearing my waterproof hiking boots. Instead I was in my not waterproof white sneakers. That meant wet feet and brown shoes. We spent the night drying everything out.

The next morning we went straight to Sol Duc. The plunging water was quite impressive. Tons of water barreled over the ledge in three big streams and fell into the steep-walled gorge. Lots of mist shot up from the spray. On the walk back out we took a little detour at a side set of little cascades. The water tumbled over bright green mossy rocks. The light was diffused and made the scene seem little like a fairyland. To add to the wonder, once we were back in the car and driving back to Port Angeles we came face to face with a buck with a big rack. He was smack dab in the middle of the road. After a little face off he moved on his way. Well, at least mostly out of our way enough that we could drive slowly by.

We pulled out of Port Angeles and started to make our way back to the Seattle area by way of a waterfall - Rocky Brook Falls. This was a tall falls with a dark rock face that the water fell straight down against. We waited around for the sun to dip below the mountains so the white water wouldn't blow out in Lukas's picture. While we waited Lukas shot the stream below the falls. A couple guys walked by us asking if we'd seen in salmon, which we hadn't.

Our next adventure {blunder} was attempting to catch the sunset that wasn't. We grabbed a bit to eat in a little town on the way. While we were waiting for the food Lukas kept watch on the sky. It kept looking better and better so when we were back on the road with our food to-go our eyes were peeled for a good spot to pull over and watch the color show. We weren't having much luck but spotted a sign that said something like "Sandy Lake next right". On a whim and a prayer that the spot would pan out we took the next right. The road took us through a stand of trees and then to an open area without a picturesque view. Behind a locked gate was a small road that led to 'Sandy Lake game area' or something along those lines. Not at all what we were hoping for and even if it was it was too far to walk down to the water. Quickly we drove back to the open area. Lukas walked out in the grasses, but wasn't feeling it. Back in the car again with the hope of maybe getting to a little water we saw along the side of the road a bit earlier. Nope, that was too far to walk too. Then past another locked gate we could see far off a little color on the horizon. Lukas took off on a run down the tree lined dirt road. I ran after him with my food in the take out container. I hadn't gotten a chance to eat - remember we were trying to catch the sunset. Out of breath I caught up with Lukas and we watched the sunset without much of a display of color. I wolfed down my food in a couple bits and we bemoaned our out of shape jog. Before hoping back in the car Lukas snapped a couple pictures of silhouetted trees against the grey blue sky.

For fun and because our nifty navigation system told us to do so we took the ferry to Seattle. Then we made our way to our fancy hotel in Renton. Fancy as in our room had a full kitchen. Fancy as in we paid about 30% of the posted price for the room. Thank you AAA and a down economy. {one thing to note: the hotel was really confusing to find because our GPS got confused. Might have been better to get human directions for this one.}

Our last full day we spent waterfalling {can I turn that into a verb?}. Well, after trying for a sunrise at a view of Seattle's skyline. {it didn't light up} First up, after grabbing breakfast, was the impressive Snoqualmie Falls - ooooo wow impressive. The path down to the base was closed for renovations, but we were just happy to marvel at it from above. It was so powerful.

Next we were off to find Franklin Falls. It was tricky to find as it was between the north and south sides of the freeway and the falls weren't signed from the road. Here we ran into a little snow and did a bit of exploring. When we first couldn't find the falls we set off into the woods and found some beautiful cascades instead. Lukas tempted fate on some slipper rocks, but he didn't fall down - thank goodness. We were able to find the little trail to the falls after our detour exploration. Franklin was pretty, but I preferred the clear cascades.

I had to make a bathroom stop next so we headed back south. When we plugged in the details for the next waterfall and were quite confused. Instead of telling us to get back on the freeway the GPS told us to make a couple turns on city streets - looked like we were turning around or something. So we drove the way we thought we should be going but quickly pulled off at the next exit. Turns out the GPS was right and we were closer to Twin Falls than we thought. Here the water spilled down the rock face and fanned out like hair. It was beautiful.

We watched a rainy sunset from Kerry Park. And I had dinner with my friend Jodie from UCLA. We had fun catching up and eating a yummy beef and cabbage stew she'd made. Oh and home made pumpkin pie!

Our last day start with a drive out to Harbor Ave that should have had a view of the skyline. Instead we had a beautiful view of fog, fog and more fog. We waited for the sun to come up but the fog only lifted slightly. We could just make out a few lights across the water. Lukas snapped a shot just 'cause we were already there, but it wasn't quite what we were hoping for.

We hit up Pike's Place Market after checking out. I wanted to bring home a big bouquet of dahlias and greens, but doubted it would make it home. Instead we bought mini donuts hot out of the oil and some za'atar. We also got some fancy chocolate covered caramels for Lukas's mom for watching the kitten.

Then we returned the rental, hopped on the plane, and our big trip was over.

Here's to more adventures!