To walk or not to walk: that is the question....

Graduation is quickly approaching. In just over a week, I start my final quarter at Pierce college as well as my first class at Central Washington University.  In June, I will be graduation with my AA in Social Service/Mental Health.  My question is: should I walk for graduation???

Over the last couple quarters, I have made some friends in my classes who are wanting me to walk at graduation with them.  For me, I don't really want to walk and would rather cheer them on in the crowd.  But, they really want me to be part of the celebration.  So, I want your opinion.  I have created a poll to see what you think I should do: walk with my friends, or not?  Personally, I was going to wait until I got my masters to walk at graduation, but I know this is a big accomplishment for them and want to give them my support. 

Please vote and help me decide what to do.  Thanks!

First Ride

So, on Thursday, Terry made an offer on a 2006 Yamaha V-Star 1100 Silverado for me.  The week before I took his bike out for a ride and realized that it all came back to me quickly and I started to get antsy for a bike of my own again.  Amazingly, his offer was accepted and on Thursday night, we rode up to Renton and rode home separately on two bikes.

On Sunday, it was forecasted to have great weather, so we decided to go for a ride after church.  We made the decision to ride up to Poulsbo.  Terry had never been there and we thought it was the right distance away for a quick trip.  We left after church and arrived in about an hour.  The ride was really nice.  We had lunch on the waterfront which was amazing.  We shared a crab and corn chowder, Terry had halibut and chips while I had the halibut tacos.  It was all really good.  After eating, we walked around town and looked for the bakery everyone talked about when we mentioned Poulsbo.  We found one in town and each picked out a donut.  I also got a cinnamon roll that I had for breakfast this morning; one word amazing.  The ride home was nice as well and we got great views of Mt Rainier.  It did start getting cold though and by the time we cruised off the freeway, my lips were numb and I couldn't easily talk.  Overall, we both had a nice day on the bikes and enjoyed the ride.  I am definitely happy to be back on two wheels.

Scrapbook Weekend

Last weekend, I joined about a dozen other women at a conference camp outside of Lake Stevens for a scrapbook weekend.  I was invited by a couple ladies from our 4-wheel drive club and had a nice time.  Due to some stuff I had to get done on campus, I didn't get up there until late Friday night and immediately went to work on some pages.  We were up until about 1:00 on Friday before heading to the cabins for bed.

The cabins definitely reminded me of 6th grade science camp where we were all in bunks in a big room.  I didn't sleep too well, but that wasn't too much of a surprise.  On Saturday, we got up and started scraping again.  The grounds provided food for us and the meals weren't too bad.  They also had a giant swing that we were able to go on.  It was about 60 feet up and I went to the very top before I released.  It was fun, but the final hanging around the bottom made me a little nauseous.  We worked on the scrapbooks all day and I actually got a lot accomplished.  I ended up leaving Saturday night to come home since I wanted to go to church on Sunday morning and was looking forward to sleeping in my own bed.  Overall, I had a nice weekend and hope to do something like that again sometime.

Elbe OHV Work Party

Yesterday, our 4-wheel drive club, the Timber Tamers, hosted a big trail work party to fix the top of our apoted trail at Elbe OHV.  When we got there, we noticed that we had a lot of work to do.  The top of our trail had become a huge mud hole and a few new by-passes had been created.  We had to put rock on the top of the trail to prevent more erosion and sedimentation from running down the trail and into any streams.  We also had to try and block some of the by-passes.  Luckily, we had a decent show of people with 3 small tractors, 2 trucks and 60 yards of rock to work with.

Terry spent most of the day driving Gary's flatbed Dodge loaded with rock to the trail repair site.  I was outside and helped unload truckload after truckload of rock.  I think I must of sometime during the day got hit in the ankle by one as it is a little red and swollen today.   We were on the trail all day and didn't pack up to come home until dark.  I felt like I had worked my ass off during the day until Mark said he still saw it, so I guess that wasn't the case.  I do know that we all worked hard and amazingly got a lot of rock moved an the trail looked a lot better when we were leaving then it did when we first got there.  Even though it was hard work, it was another great day with good friends.

The morning meeting

Mike leveling the mud at the beginning of the day

Dropping some rock

Getting Mike unstuck

Blocking a by-pass

Winching out Gary's truck

Bringing down more loads of rock

(we did a lot of unloading by hand, but towards the end of the day, the tractors started bringing some down too)

Me at the end of the day (I was filthy)

One of the final loads of 2-minus

Nookchamps Winter Runs 10K

On Saturday, Terry and I ran our first 10k. It was really nice that we were able to run it together.  He stayed at my pace, which was quite slow, but we finished under my goal of an hour and a half.  We were able to cross the finish line together at 1:25:55. 

Overall, we don't have much good to say about the event except we ran it together.  We felt like the signage was inadequate as it took us about 10 minutes walking around a college campus to find the registration.  Then, there was no direction as to what to do once we got our race packets.  Since there the race wasn't chipped and the roads we were running on weren't going to be closed, we decided to start early so we wouldn't have to compete with other racers at the starting line.

When we started the course, the first mile was a gradual up hill.  Great, I hate hills.  After that, we ran through some farm lands and got to enjoy the smells of a local dairy... I don't know what is worse, smelling car exhaust or country cologne.  Also, by now, the sidewalks were gone and there was no shoulder to run on so we are trying to share the narrow road with passing vehicles.  After about a mile of that, there was another long, this time very steep, uphill.  Once we got to the top of that, we passed the mile 3 marker.

From there, things mostly leveled out and we had some minor hills to deal with as well as roads with no shoulders where the white line was hanging off the edge of the pavement.  No fun.  We kept going and luckily running together made the time go faster.  Right before the mile 5 marker, there was another steep section, this time it was short though, only about a block long.  In my head, I thought the last mile would be easy since it was so close to the end.  That was not the case though. 

The mile marker 5 was right before we cut into a wooded trail.  This was my favorite portion of the course as we were running through trees on a sawdust path.  It kind of reminded me of being in high school and running in Fall Creek.  By this time, my legs were hurting.  I wasn't good on my workouts for the weeks prior to the event and by mile 5, I could tell that I wasn't as in good of shape as I would have liked.  We kept pushing though, and with Terry's motivation, I was able to finish the race.

We crossed finished the 10k, or 6.2 miles, at 1:25:55.  My goal was to complete in under 1:30, but in my head I was hoping for a finish in under 1:20.  Overall, I am just glad I was able to jog the entire time.  It is amazing to think that just a couple months ago I could only run for about 2 minutes straight and now I can go for about an hour and a half.  I do know that I need to get back into a regular workout routine as things of tappered off with the holidays and starting school again.When we crossed the finish line I didn't think I would ever sign up for a 10k again as I was miseralbe, however, things change and as of this morning, our next 10k is on March 20 in Orting.

Trying to Find a new Routine

School for me started on Monday.  That means new classes and a new schedule of daily routines are now in play.  I make a weekly calendar and put it on the fridge so my family knows when to expect me at home.  Here is the calendar for the next 10 weeks:

This quarter I am taking 18 units at Pierce College.  It wouldn't be that bad but one of the classes is Field Experience where I have to put in at least 120 hours in the field.  So, in addition to my usual hours spent in class, I also have to add about 12 hours a week for internship.  Luckily, I found a volunteer opportunity at Metropolitan Development Council, working in the Community Assitance Resource and Education (CARE) group.  I passed the background check today and start "work" there on Monday!  I am scheduled to work there from 8:00-12:00 Monday through Thursdays.

So, looking at my schedule, my Mondays and Wednesdays will be quite busy.  I have work, then Public Speaking in Puyallup, then have to drive to Lakewood for back to back classes of Abuse in the Family and Law & Ethics. At least I have some free time on the afternoons of Tuesday and Thursday and luckily my Fridays and the entire weekends I have off and can use to catch up on school and house work.  I am excited for my classes and hope that they go as well as last quarter.  I will try to keep ya'll posted on my progress.

Hangover Run 2009

Yesterday, Terry and I went on the annual Hangover Run with our 4-wheel drive club.  This year, we decided to go to Tonga Ridge which is a forest service road just east of Skykomish on Hwy 2.  On the way there, it was raining really hard and so I started dreading the trip.  I don't mind wheeling in the snow, but I wasn't looking forward to wheeling in downpour.

We stopped in Sultan and picked up Mike Jones who was going to be riding with us for the day.  From there, we headed up to the trailhead where we left the truck and trailer and unloaded the Jeep.  Greg V. and Wyatt showed up at the same time as us and we all got ready to hit the trail at the same time.  As we were leaving, Mark, Mike and Greg S. pulled in and started unloading their rigs.  We decided to start up the road and let the others catch up with us.

As we drove, the snow started to get deeper.  It was nice being in the front of the group.  Eventually, Mark and Gary caught up to us and Mark took the lead.  Finally, we got to a point where we were all getting stuck, so the five of us decided to turn around.  On the way back, we rescued Greg S. from a little slide into a ditch and eventually made it to where a lot of the Tamers were stopped and relaxing.  We hung out with the group there for a little bit before continuing down the hill.

We made it back with perfect timing.  By the time we got the Jeep back on the trailer and were heading back to the main road, it was just getting dark.  After we dropped Mike off in Sultan, Terry and I decided to stop in Monroe for dinner.  We were lucky that we did since when we pulled into the parking lot we noticed a strange noise and it turned out we had blown a trailer tire.  Lucky we had a spare.  Unlucky for us, we had a slight malfunction with the hi-lift jack.  Lucky once again, Terry was able to use a screwdriver to replace a missing bolt and change the flat tire.  Unlucky for us, as we were changing the trailer tire, we noticed a tire on the Jeep was also flat.  At least that one could wait until we got home for further investigation, so we just added some air to it and so far it is doing good.  After spending some time in the rain changing the tire, we headed home.  Overall, it was a fabulous day with some great friends.  Now, we are just looking forward to our next snow trip to Denny Creek later this month!

First Snow Shoe Adventure

Today, Terry surprised me by saying that we would be taking our first trip up to Mt Rainier with the plans of doing some snow shoeing.  Since last summer, we have talked about going snow shoeing.  I had looked online and noticed that Mt Rainier gives ranger led trips twice a day in the winter and even have snow shoes available for use (they ask for a $1-$4 donation only.  Check it out at http://www.nps.gov/mora/planyourvisit/winter-recreation.htm#CP_JUMP_142395 for more information).  We had talked about it for a long time and finally, today was the day we decided to try it out.

We left our house around ten o'clock and made it to the ranger station in Paradise in time to sign-up for the 12:30 trip.  Terry noticed a sign advertising the ranger led walk and it described it as "moderately strenuous".  At reading that, I began to freak out.  I suddenly became weary of the walk and wasn't sure that we should be attempting it.  However, I decided to give it a try and figured that a 2 hour walk that was only 1.5 miles should be very doable.

I am sure glad that we went.  We had such a blast!  Since it was ranger led, we stopped every so often and she talked about the area.  There was one hill that we had to go down and since I had my snow pants on, I went down on my butt like a sled.  The walk took us to the Nisqually Glacier overlook and it was very neat to look down at the glacier.  Then, we headed back to the visitor center.  We had a really good walk and both really enjoyed it.  We can't wait until we are able to get out and try it again!

Christmas Wishes for 2009

Dear Family and Friends,


Wow, I can’t believe another year is ending. It seems like as I get older time goes by faster. This year has had its ups and downs, but we are still doing well.

The year started off good. Jake, Terry’s youngest son, came up for his 21st birthday, which was January 1st, and we had a good time celebrating with him. He was able to get a taste of the Pacific Northwest weather as we took him on a snow run with our 4-wheel drive club. All year, Terry and I have continued to be active in our 4-wheel drive club. We go on day or overnight events with them at least monthly and have volunteered our time for trail maintenance and repairs. I am going on my second year as club treasurer and as we are around the group more, we are gaining friendships and becoming more involved with the club and community.

Terry and I are also still active in our church, Renovo. It is a good group of people that really focus on how we can help those around us who are in need. We love the core values of the church and have made some good friends there.

During the summer, my mom, dad, Terry and I all decided to start training for the Seattle Rock ‘n Roll ½ marathon in June 2010. So far, Terry and I really enjoy the training and can feel our bodies getting stronger. We completed our first 5k in October and both did tremendously better than we expected.

We also bought a motorcycle during the summer. We had both started to miss riding and came across an amazing deal that we couldn’t pass up. We got a Honda VTX1300, which is big enough for us to both ride, but still small enough that I can handle it alone (even though I haven’t done that yet). We have taken some trips together and with friends and really enjoy it. I hope that next summer we can plan more trips on the bike as I have always dreamed of camping on a motorcycle.

I guess the biggest news of the year came in June when I was let go from my job. Since then, I have decided to continue my education and am pursuing a career as a social worker. I have to start at the beginning and first get a bachelor’s degree in a social science before I can apply for a Masters of Social Work, which is my goal for the time being. So far, classes are going great and I really feel at home in this field.

Terry is still working for the postal service in Kent, WA. We still have the camper and take trips in it quite often during the summer. This year, we were able to take a quick camp trip with my brother’s family and we had an amazing time building memories with our niece and nephew. We also had some friends from France spend a couple days at our house. We can’t wait until we are able to plan a trip to visit them. Jake and Brittany also came up for a week and liked it so much they plan on moving.

Josh, Terry’s oldest son, is still living in Georgia. He is happily dating Jessica and they are looking for an apartment together. He is working as a security guard at a mall and seems to be really happy. Jake has moved up to Washington. For the time being, he is living with us and got a job working for a beverage distribution company. He is hoping to save some money so Brittany can join him up here in March.

Overall, this has once again been a busy year. The weather is getting colder up here as we prepare for Christmas. I still try to keep up on my blog so check it out when you can (http://crawfordcurse.blogspot.com). I hope everyone that is reading this is doing well and we wish you all happy holidays and a very Merry Christmas!

Love, Terry and Amy Crawford

Annual Bellevue Birthday

Yesterday afternoon, I met my mom, grandma and cousin Sheri in Bellevue for our annual shopping trip.  We meet up around my birthday every year to celebrate my birthday and enjoy the festivities of Christmas.  This year we were hoping to do Seattle, but with the frigid temperatures we have been experiencing, we decided Bellevue Square would be a better option as it is mostly enclosed.  I had a great time even though I didn't get much of my shopping done.  It was cool because we were there at 7:00 when they have a parade of drummers on the sidewalk and "snow".  It definitely made you feel like Christmas was in the air.

O, Christmas Tree

On Saturday, Terry went with the Timber Tamers, our 4-wheel drive club, to get a Christmas tree. I wasn't able to go as I had school, so he was responsible for picking out a tree for our house. He took the Jeep and came home with a great tree. We were worried it was a little too tall, but once we brought it into the house, it fit perfectly. It took a couple days to get the lights on (as we had to buy more) and decorated, but now it really feels like Christmas is getting nearer.

We also put lights up outside our house for the first time ever!  It was quite exciting for me.  Below is a picture of Terry and Jake putting up the lights in 19 degree weather.  I will post a picutre of the outside of the house soon, I just have to bear the cold and take one one of these nights.