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.
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. 
Oh, and the best part of Nina and Ben's visist is: now, Terry wants to plan a trip to France!!! I couldn't be more excited thinking of going back. We are hoping for the spring of 2011 as that will give us time to save some money. Currently, we are thinking about staying in France with a quick trip to Venice.
