Jun 24 2009
Joel and I visited Yosemite National Park for the second time in May. We visted last October and enjoyed the great fall weather and the small number of people there at that time. The thing we missed were the waterfalls. Since, Joel was still working in Sacramento we decided to do a short weekend in May to get the full effect of the waterfalls. You can find more photos of our quick trip on Flickr.
Mar 28 2009
Joel and I enjoyed the quality time unplugged. I have been thinking a lot about the event and wondering why we don’t do things like this on a regular basis. It is a way we can acknowledge that our climate is changing and that we need to do something about it before it is too late. There are many things that Joel and I need to live a “greener” life style, while this is just a small effort it is something. Why don’t we sit quietly without the extra stimulation of our computers, music, or television? Why do we need all the lights turned on? Why not candle light more often? If you didn’t get to participate in this event for whatever reason, I challenge you to have your own Earth Hour.
In case you are wondering the game we are playing is called Set Cubed. It was our first time playing.
Also, if you want to learn more about Earth Hour, please visit their website. If you would like to see more pictures from other people participating in Earth Hour you can visit the Flickr Groups for Earth Hour and Earth Hour 2009. In both of these groups there are some wonderful city skyline photos of both before and during the event.
Mar 20 2009
Last year Joel and I participated in an event called Earth Hour. The event challenges people to turn off their lights and not use electricity for 1 hour on March 28 at 8:30pm your local time. It was a great experience for us last year and we plan to do it gain this year. Last year we shut the lights out unpluged most of our appliances, I think everything except the refrigerator. We sat at the table and read by candle light. It was a relaxing non-stressful evening and even better we were doing something good for the environment. I’d like to say we’ve done it again since turned off all the distractions and focused on us, but we haven’t. We are looking forward to participating again this year. I don’t know what we’ll do in our hour (or more, last year we didn’t turn the lights back on until we got ready for bed after 10pm), maybe play a board game, maybe read, if it’s nice maybe we’ll enjoy the patio or take a walk. Have you participated? Will you this year? What are you going to do? I would love to hear your ideas, please comment.
Jan 20 2009
Unfortunately, I was unable to watch the inaugaration of the Barack Obama, our 44th President, live. The advantages of technology allowed me to record it and watch it this evening. There are so many emotions running through me at this moment, I am not sure that I can even put it into words. I feel inspired and hopeful that President Obama will be able to do as he wishes and inspire the US to come together to assist him in this endevor.
In October I had the opportunity to see and listen to Barack Obama as he campaigned for President in La Crosse. I feel so lucky to have experienced him in person. He spoke on a cool October morning to an estimated crowd of 15,000 on 2nd Street in La Crosse, Wisconsin. The photo to the left is one of my favorites that I took that day. I am thrilled to have had the opportunity to take it. If you would like to see more photos from that day, you can see them on flickr.
Jan 12 2009
Our friend, Kate, got married on December 27, 2008. She introduced Joel and I. I was one of Kate’s Bridesmaid. We had a wonderful time at the wedding. You can check out more photos here. I had never been in a winter wedding. It had its own weather related adventures and challenges, some you wouldn’t have expected in December. It rained most of the day causing a treacherous trip from church to the Tee Pee where the reception was held. Kate really wanted to snow on her wedding day. Who would have thought she would have had rain? By the time we left the dance on around Midnight the rain had turned to snow and Kate got her wish.
Jan 01 2009
January 1, 2009 Happy Birthday Molly! We adopted our giant schnauzer in April of 2008. Our vet told us she was born in early January and recommended we pick a date if we wanted to celebrate her birthday. So today it is! Molly is a 70 pound ball of energy (this photo is a bit misleading). Over the last year Molly and I have participated in training classes. I have learned lots and firmly believe that Molly would not be as good as she is (sometimes), if we hadn’t gone through the classes. We are looking forward to what the new year has to offer.
Dec 02 2008
Recently my sister-in-law, Sarah, posted on her a blog about what she knows for sure (Original Post). It has got me thinking of what I know for sure…
This I know for sure… without my dogs I would be very lonely. During the week when Joel is working in California, Cammie and Molly keep me company. Don’t misunderstand, I am ok with Joel being gone during the week, but sometimes the weeks get long and it is nice to have other warm bodies in the house. They may not do anything special, but they are here and they keep me sane. We have conversations, ok I talk they listen, but somehow this makes me feel better. They give me something to talk about. Most important they make me smile. Maybe Charles M. Schultz says it best, “
Happiness is a warm puppy.”
Dec 02 2008
Today, I played a bit of catch-up. I uploaded photos to flickr from our mini-vacation to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We took a few extra days over Labor Day weekend. Why the UP? Joel’s cousin Ross attends Michigan Tech. The O’Briens planned on camping up there and invited the family to join them. The weekend turned out to be gorgeous weather-wise. Cammie spent the weekend with my parents and we brought Molly along for her first weekend of camping. It went well and we look forward to more camping with Molly.
The sunsets were spectacular over Lake Superior. Each night we walked along the shore, checking out the best spots to catch the sunset on “film”. For more photos from our Michigan trip you can visit our flickr page.
Nov 19 2008
On our way back to Sacramento (from San Jose), Joel and I took the scenic route. We drove to Santa Cruz and took Hwy 1 north along the coast to San Fransisco. It was a beautiful day. We couldn’t have asked for better weather in November. Once we arrived in San Fransisco we decided to wander and ride the famous cable cars of San Fransisco to Fisherman’s Warf. After we had our fill of Fisherman’s Warf we decided to try our hand at public transportation to get to the Golden Gate Bridge. We made it, but were pretty tired by that time so we didn’t attempt to walk the bridge and enjoyed it from the shore.
Joel and I enjoyed our few hours in San Fransisco and look forward to a return trip.
For more photos from our weekend road trip visit my California set on Flickr.
