Chicago 2015

Why not make it three posts in one day?

Chicago!
I got to go back for work again - a training - and it was just as lovely as the first time!

PNW 2015

Well, now that I'm back and settled down from a few crazy weeks of travel, I've remembered to post pictures from our adventures. This is mostly for posterity (and my mother's) sake since I've moved them from my phone to my external hard drive. So, phone dump it is...

I think this might be my favorite photo of the trip. Haystack Rock at sunset...it was incredible. 

Of course we had Voodoo Doughnuts...and mom had a fritter the size of her face. Literally. 

I have about a million (ok...fewer than that but whatever) pictures at the International Rose Test Garden but here are just a few.

Toes in glacier water...

Skeeball break!

Windsurfing in the Columbia River Gorge (not any of us, sadly). 

Mt. St. Helens is just above the treeline on the right half of the picture...

We had a lovely trip and were hosted by my mom's lovely friend Ellie and her family. She was the best hostess and chauffeur and we saw so many great things. I'm thankful for the chance to travel with my mom and my sister, as that never happens anymore these days. Sweet memories were made!

Mt. LeConte 2015

Two posts in one day, like I've lost my mind (or maybe making up for lost time)...

We crazy-people hiked Mt. LeConte again this year and survived. We forgot to take the requisite picture in front of the Lodge with the date on it but we did OK. Its a pretty strenuous hike but we keep doing it. I think this was our third time...I might be willingly giving up my spot to someone else next year. I say that now but I also tell myself that I am going to be in better shape the next year, every year too. It rained all the way up the mountain the first day but I actually have zero complaints about that. I have good, waterproof shoes and a waterproof pack cover so I stayed pretty cool and happy.

As always, we celebrated our survival with a stroll to the brewery, beer cheese and warm pretzels, and a cold beer. You'd think we'd never want to walk again but it is nice to keep moving after coming off the mountain - or you are so stiff that you can't walk for days. I generally felt pretty good by the next day but my calves and ankles were sore for 3 or 4 days afterwards. Old age (ok...and out of shapedness) will do that to you...

Either way, I think fun was had by all.

Busy summer.

The only place it has been quiet and calm this summer is right here on the ole' blog. It's been a crazy summer so far and the next few weeks are going to bring about more of the same.


I'm still doing lots of pottery. Trying to get to the studio one afternoon per week and I've already gifted a couple of mugs that were meant to be Christmas gifts but I got too excited and gave them to their new owners already. I'm still quilting too. In fact, I did both pottery and quilting yesterday so I'd call that a good day. I volunteered with the pottery studio at the local Creative Discovery Museum while they did some hands-on wheel demos for the kids. It was awesome seeing the kids - of all ages, even some teenie ones - try their messy hands on the pottery wheel. Faces lit up and all kinds of muddy excitement - but then, I feel the same way!


Finished my 4th quilt this morning after sitting under it sweating with a cat on my lap while I finished sewing on the binding. Hand sewing binding is a pain in the rear (and the fingers for that matter) but it looks so nice when it is done that it is absolutely worth it. I'd take a picture but there is a corgi sitting on it right now and I'd hate to disturb her.


More crazy coming: in the next 4 weeks, I'll spend one weekend at camp for an event, a couple of days in Knoxville, make a 2 day trip to Columbus (dad is having his pacemaker replaced), make a 3 day trip to Chicago for work, and then make a 6 day trip to Portland and Seattle with my mom and my sister. I'm looking forward to most of those things...the one I'm not should be pretty obvious (always worried about my dad).


For now, I'm relishing in my third department budget being finished...and in record time. I finished it the same day I got the spreadsheet which is pretty incredible for a team that has at least 22 unique events coming up in the next year. I'm learning a lot about managing a team and writing budgets and made some improvements this year to make it easier on myself.  It'll go for approval this week and I'll have to make some edits but in general, it's mostly done!


Talk to you all again in...2 months or so. Kidding but not.

Projects

Sorry for the long absence but kinda not. Blogging comes and goes as does all of life and I've been too busy for it to be a priority.

However - I haven't been sitting around doing nothing! Work, life, more work, and then some fun side projects along the way. For example, pottery class! I took a wheel pottery class with my friend Elizabeth and have some pretty fun things to show for it.

Apologies for the messing dining room table too. Ha. 

I picked these up from the studio on Saturday and glazed, I think, 8 more things that had finally dried enough to be fired the first time. If you didn't know, items get thrown on the wheel, allowed to get "leather hard" in drying, bottoms cleaned up and trimmed, then dry completely, then get bisque fired once, glazed, then fired again. Its a process to be sure but i am pretty excited about how things have turned out and it has been loads of fun. 

I took my class at the Scenic City Pottery Studio in Tiftonia (near Lookout Mtn.). I highly recommend. David, the guy that runs the studio, is awesome. Patiently helps you and answers a million questions, gives you lots of practice time between classes, and is generally very friendly and knowledgeable about all things pottery, in addition to being a pretty talented potter himself. 

I think morning coffee tastes better when you drink it out of a mug you made!

Len Foot Hike Inn

Both my mom and Chad's uncle Jay asked for time - not things - for Christmas. They wanted to DO things with us and how could we argue with that? Since they are pretty hilarious when gathered together in the same company, we decided that it would be fun to pick something that the four of us could do together.

Enter: The Len Foote Hike Inn at Amnicolola Falls State Park in Dawsonville, GA.

Mom suffered through a hike to Mt. LeConte with us a couple of years ago when we all swore we'd never go again and Jay suffers through that hike most years, with us in tow at least once more and probably again this fall. We knew that hiking would be something they would both enjoy as long as it wasn't too strenuous (me neither!) and it was something that was on my mom's bucket list.

Off we went last weekend and enjoyed a hilarious, cold, invigorating hike up the mountain!

Good fun these folks are. 

I would HIGHLY recommend this hike to pretty much anyone. It is about 4.8 miles of rolling hills. There were only a couple of places that made me lose my breath or where we needed to take a break. It is generally very flat or gentle slopes, crossing a couple of little creeks, and hills. 

The Inn itself is SUPER nice...think hot showers, great food, mostly comfy beds, and an incredible view of the GA mountains. Quite a shock to our Mt. LeConte hiking systems. 

The cost includes a bed, dinner, and breakfast - plus snacks and hot/cold beverages all day. Lots of games to play in the Sunrise Room or you can hike around nearby. 

Go make some memories with folks you love!