House Pictures

Our Wine nook

The Office room

The Kitchen

Living room leading to kitchen and bathroom

Living room Part 2.

Spokane, Mom, Mt.Adams and Roomies

Well, in my efforts to scrounge together a quick update, I managed to forget a few minor details of happenings as of late in my last blog. If only I would update more often then maybe these things wouldn't happen. Then again, maybe no one reads this and my efforts are futile regardless..... Either way lets catch everyone up and move onto present tense.

First off, the first weekend in August I took a solo road trip out to the east side of the state for the wedding of my friends Rae and Morgan that I worked with last summer on Mt. Rainier. It was a beautiful day in Spokane and a cute, simple but sweet reception. I was joined by a few other mountain peeps that traveled to WA from all parts of the country. It was great to see everyone and it was one of those times that you feel like no time has passed since you last saw each other. After the reception ended and Rae and Morgan headed to Canada for their honeymoon the rest of the gang and I hung out at the park for the rest of the afternoon. We bought some kid floaty toys at wal-mart and thought it would be a good idea to use them to "tube" down the river. Unfortunately, the river was only a few inches deep in some parts and our bodies ended up getting tossed on the rocks like rag dolls. Afterward we played some volleyball, ultimate frisbee, and had a barbecue for dinner.

The following week my wonderful Mom flew into Seattle to visit for the next two weeks. It was so great to have her in the area, to meet with her and my aunt Claudi in the city for lunch, to have her ride the bus home with me, or to have her pick me up from kickball games; she blended right in with my life here. One weekend we took the ferry from the port of Seattle to Victoria, British Columbia. We spent the day wandering around, drinking tea, and shopping in the cute city. We got rained on for part of the day but that didn't stop us from enjoying it. We had an amazing dinner on a restaurant patio looking out over the harbor, complete with wine and creme brulee for desert. Mom swears it was one of the best meals she has ever had.... maybe it was the wine talking but it was truly delicious. The Monday before she left I took a half day off work to join her and my cousin Elyse for lunch and a trip to the Seattle Aquarium. We had lunch at a cute bistro near the market and enjoyed the tide pools and other exhibits in the newly remodeled museum. When Mom left for home the next day, I was definitely sad to see her go.

A couple more things and we are almost up to speed.....Next is my adventure on Labor day weekend. My good friend Julia from the mountain invited me to join her, her brother Andrew, and her roommate Tressa to climb Mt. Adams with them. As Mt. Adams is the second tallest mountain in Washington at 12, 276 feet, I couldn't help but not let this opportunity pass. I drove from Seattle to Portland Saturday night and the four of us drove together to a camping spot at the trail head. We spent the night there and woke up ready to face the mountain the next morning. We departed with our 30 lb bags shouldered and ready to climb. That day, we hiked 7 hours over trail, boulders, and ice/snow fields to the "Lunch Counter" at 9,000 feet where we spent the next night. The higher we got on the mountain the more intense it felt. The wind picked up, boulders rolled from under our feet, and our back hurt from the weight, but we pressed on. We ate our freeze dried dinners, hot cocoa that turned cold after just a couple minutes, and attempted to stay warm as long as possible. We were in our tents ready for bed at 8:45. 5 am came quickly though as we got up, had breakfast (cold oatmeal), watched the sun rise and headed for the summit. In the first 1.2 miles we gained about 24oo feet in elevation, so we were climbing at about a 45 degree angle. At one point Julia and I got stuck climbing an ice wall as our boulder path ended abruptly. It was slightly scary for a bit as we had to use our ice axes to crawl up the chute inch by inch with the wind aiming to cut us loose. We made it past and up to the full summit where we had amazing views of Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Rainier, Mt. Hood and miles beyond in each direction. The weather, minus the inevitable wind, could not have been much better. It was a great intense, exciting, thrilling experience.

So that brings us to the present. And by present I mean I'm currently sitting in our living room with both roomies, hangin, and listening to music. Theresa and Andy have been a ton of fun and I love coming home to the warm welcome call of "ROOOOMIE" We have an adorable and comfortable home, nicely decorated with Theresa's art and furniture she has accumulated along the way. Both roomies are grad students at the University of Washington. Andy is in his second year in Physical Therapy school and helps Theresa and I with our knee and back "injuries." He can usually be found on the living room couch listening to music, playing the guitar and singing, or killing spiders with his navy blue slippers and screaming. Theresa is a Geologist who is just finishing her Masters and starting her PHD. She just returned home after spending 6 weeks in eastern Russia (boonies!) living on a volcano. Last weekend we drove up to the Mt. Baker area for a day hike and thoroughly enjoyed walking and chatting. She loves salt and butter, which is an issue that we are going to have to work out but shes a blast and I'm really happy to have her back.

As for me, I still have no complaints about life. I have been running and thinking hard about the Seattle marathon(eating double stuffed oreos after every run), getting through some slow days at the front desk but still enjoying it for the most part, and trying to keep in touch with friends and family as best as possible. I feel active, rejuvenated and excited about life and what the future may hold.

I hope life is bringing the best for everyone.
Much love, Annie