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.

Thanksgiving 2009

For Thanksgiving, we headed up to my parents' house in Ferndale.  Since I had Wednesday through Friday off, I headed up Tuesday after school while Terry and Jake came up on Wednesday afternoon.  My mom and I ran some errands on Wednesday and hung out at home most of the day.  On Thursday, Terry and I got up early and took a 4 mile jog together.  It was nice running together as he pushed me to keep going when I know if I was by myself I would have walked.  Once we got back to the house, we had breakfast with the family.  As the day progressed we watched football and played some games of Farkle.

For the dinner, we had the traditional turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy.  We also had fresh brussel sprouts from the garden and I made green bean casserole.  The turkey was very moist and was probably the best turkey ever.  After eating way too much food, we celebrated grandma's 79th birthday.  After dessert, Terry and Jake headed home as they had to work on Friday.

On Friday, my mom, grandma and I joined in the crowd of Black Friday shoppers.  There were some crazy deals out there and I was able to pick up a couple gifts for people.  On Friday night, we went out for dinner at Chihuahua's with Jimmy and Sheri before heading over to their house to watch Dylan's Up With People performance. 

On Saturday, mom and I went out again to run a couple more errands around town.  It was fun being out as the weather is changing so it is definitely starting to feel more like the Christmast season.  I left on Sunday morning to head home.  It was a nice time to celebrate Thanksgiving with the family and I am excited that the holiday season is finally here!

Quick Trip to CA

Over the last weekend of October, Terry and I took a quick trip to visit family and friends in California. We were fortunate and got amazing weather and were able to visit with lots of people. We arrived on Thursday night and spent the evening with my cousins, Greg, Debbie & Trinity. On Friday morning, we were able to meet Lola for the first time. She is a cutie!

We headed down to Hollister on Friday morning and spent the day with Terry's parents. That night, the rest of the family came over for dinner. On Saturday morning, Terry and I did a little jog to his sister's house. I was amazed I was able to jog the entire way (5.6 miles) and it only took us about 70 minutes. Not too bad since I felt like we were going incredibly slow. I think running with Terry helped keep my pace up and since we were able to talk the entire time, it made the time fly by.

On Saturday afternoon, we headed into Santa Cruz. We had a nice lunch at Ideal Bar and Grill, at the end of the wharf in Santa Cruz, where we were able to sit outside and enjoy the sun. From there, we headed downtown and did a little shopping. I would have liked to stay downtown longer, but it was packed due to Halloween.

After that, we headed up to Boulder Creek. We stopped first to see Cassie. It was great seeing her and I wish we could have spent more time visiting. Then, we headed up to our friends' house, Robin & Michelle, to help set up for their annual Halloween party. This year's theme was Dead Celebrity Gala. It was nice getting there early since we were able to talk some before things got crazy. We had a nice time at their party and were able to see a bunch of our old friends from Santa Cruz 4-Wheel Drive Club.

On Sunday, we headed home. We were fortunate to get the exit seats on the way home which made the flight more enjoyable. Overall, we had a great trip!

Bad Blogger: September ReCap

I have been horrible at blogging lately which is weird since we have been very busy doing fun stuff. I do want to do a quick overview of our September this far. So, going back to Labor Day weekend, Terry and I headed out to Lake Wenatchee State Park. We were a little disappointed about the proximity of the lake to the camping sites. We did find one site we would like in the future as it was very close to the lake, however, the loop we were in was far from the lake and day use area. We stayed Friday night there and fell asleep and woke up to rain. So, after one night, we decided to head down to Taneum and spend the rest of the long weekend with the Tamers. We snagged some seats on Sunday for a little trail ride where we encountered snow on the high ridge. It was chilly, but a fun weekend.

The weekend after Labor Day was Team Trophy Challenge-Washington (TTCW) that our club hosts. It was the third year of putting on the event and a ton of fun. We had 16 teams (I think) of 2 rigs and 4 people. The teams spend about 24 hours on the trail completing tasks during the day and looking for punch buckets at night. Our task this year was to a side hill winch task. We were there until about 11:15PM waiting for teams to finish before we were able to head back to camp. However, on the way back down the gravel road, on of the teams took a corner a little too fast and ended up down the embankment. There was a large group of us that helped winch the Jeep up and luckily everyone was okay. As we were about to go back to camp, Dan-O and ScramblerMike drove up on a mission to rescue some Toyota guys who had gotten lost and broke. Terry jumped in with Dan-O to help with getting them back to camp and didn't return until about 6:30 on Sunday morning. We had an exhausting, but fun weekend and can't wait until next year!
Then, last weekend was Operation Shore Patrol (OSP) at Ocean City State Park. Terry and I headed down on Thursday and enjoyed the sunny Friday around Ocean Shores. My parents and most of the Tamers arrived on Friday. Then on Saturday we headed out for the beach clean-up. I was surprised, there actually wasn't that much garbage on the beach. On Saturday night, our club put on the annual steak dinner that everyone seemed to enjoy. After that was the raffle where we won a gift card to 4 Wheel Parts, a ARB hat, and a T-shirt. On Sunday we packed up and headed home, stopping at the casino on the way out to watch the first half of the Niners vs. Seahawks game.
Once we were home, we unpacked a few things and then headed to the airport to pick my brother up. On Monday, Danny and I headed up to Mt Rainier and did the Naches Peak Loop hike which was a nice 3.5 mile hike that gave amazing views of Mt Rainier. It was a perfectly clear morning for the hike. On the way back at the house, we stopped and got tacos from the bus that were amazing. Once Terry got home on Monday, we headed up to Seattle for the Ben Harper w. R7/Pearl Jam concert. We had burgers at Dick's before the show and then walked over to Key Arena for the performance. Both bands put on an amazing show and we were entertained watching the guy in front of us try to pick up the drunk girl who had previously vomited into her purse.

On Tuesday, Danny and I headed down to Ruston Way in Tacoma and took a little walk and had a great lunch before dropping him off at the airport to head back to Texas. The weather was amazing for the first day of fall and it was good to be able to enjoy the day with him. Then, yesterday, I started school. I am going back for my degree and certificate in Social Services/Mental Health. I was a little nervous about starting classes again, but have always enjoyed school and my classes seem pretty good. I guess that is all that has gone on this month. I will try to be better about posting in the future.

Jake & Brittany's Visit

Jake and Brittany came up to visit for 10 days from Aug 19-Aug 29. We were very busy while they were here. They arrived on Wednesday so straight from the airport, we decided to spend the day in Seattle. We had breakfast at 5 Spot, saw the Fremont Troll, visited the lochs, walked through Pike Place Market, and enjoyed dinner at the Crab Pot. On Thursday, we stayed local. We drove through Point Defiance Park and had lunch and a walk along Ruston Way in Tacoma. On Friday, we headed to NW Trek and then spent the day at home.

Over the weekend, we attended our 4-wheel drive club picnic at Lake Samammish on Saturday then went to church and Emerald Downs on Sunday.

Then, on Monday we did a 5 mile hike at Mt Rainier followed by a drive through the park and up to Paradise. Then on Tuesday, we drove down to Mt St Helens and spelunked through the Ape Caves. After that, we drove into Portland and had wings at Hooters (and yes, they were good). On Wednesday, we headed up to my parents' house and on the way stopped for wine tasting at Chateau Ste Michelle. Then on Thursday, we took a ferry to Orcus Island. Friday was another relaxing day at my parents' place with lunch at the Bellingham harbor and then a night of margaritas and Mexican food in Ferndale. On Saturday, we left early and dropped them off at the airport for their trip home. It was a busy week and we had a lot of fun.