Samantha Farbman - Blog

2011-10-14T11:20:00.000-07:00

Lots of new things

2010-07-22T19:23:00.000-07:00

So many new things! Last weekend Gregg and I drove to Sierra Nevada Mountains near Fresno to attend African Drum and Dance camp (Camp Fareta). It was absolutely amazing / relaxing / inspiring / peaceful / etc, etc, etc. Only further encouraged our impending move to Berkeley, CA.

Why Berkeley? As many people seem to be asking me this as asked "Why Utah?!"

While we IMMENSELY enjoy owning our own home (and paying a mere $730 a month in morgage) - we have evolved in ways that don't seem to be easily supported by the communities we have met here. We seem to be leaning further and further left every day (which is always frustrating in THE reddist state in our fair union).

We have been rabidly educating ourselves on food, nutrition, and the politics of food. That passion has driven us to try to eat as local and organic a diet as possible - something that isn't always easy here in SLC.

I think the biggest factor is that we aren't meeting enough people here that really drive and inspire us, that we fit in with. I feel like I am constantly making excuses for the weird stuff I eat, or the excessively liberal politics I believe in.

I also want more opportunity, more diversity. I want to have more options - higher quality options for education. I don't want to notice every time I see a black person, because it's been so damn long since I have seen one!

So we head out August 26th on our new adventure. We are renting out our house for a year and trying it out. We will GREATLY miss being close to the mountains, and may never get used to the greater distance. The Tahoe resorts are a mere 3ish hours away, and hopefully that will keep us satisfied.

Although packing up the last 3 years of our life, the house we put so much time and money into is hard - But I am so excited about this move - I just cannot wait.

Getting closer to livable - new floors and one less wall!!!

2010-01-17T19:55:00.000-08:00

These are actually outdated even as I post this - more to come soon!!!!

Teardown!

2010-01-17T19:50:00.001-08:00

DUST!!! MY NEMESIS!!!

Textured Ceilings!! My OTHER nemesis!!!

At it again, the tear down before the new reno!!! (they call it reno instead of renovation in Australia, I like the nickname!)

Newest House Reno

2010-01-17T19:45:00.000-08:00

When we arrived home from Australia, within minutes of being into out home, we noticed mushrooms growing out of the carpet. Just a few hours later, carpet, wall and tile were ripped up, and we got site of the water damage. Over the next few months, we tore out walls and replaced surfaces - trying to fix and improve upon our house on little money.

Initial tear down within hours of getting home

Home and Married

2009-12-20T19:01:00.001-08:00

Gregg and I decided to get hitched in Reno on the way home from Australia! Here are some pictures!

The hike before the big day with the doggies, Kevin and Denise.

The party hike the night before the big day!!! Denise and Kevin suprised us with wine and blingy rings.

Gregg's unofficial proposal.

Me, Gregg and the Justice of the Peace, Dave

Justice of the Peace Dave signing the Marriage Certificate

Standing up, ready to take the vows.

Right after the vows.

Waiting to get married

The delicious after party at El Adobe in Reno.

Hanging out with friends on the Wedding Night

Me, Gregg and Denise on Wedding Night!

Fiji / New Zealand / Australia

2009-05-08T01:29:00.000-07:00

Gregg and I will be traveling through Fiji, New Zealand and Australia (where we will live in Melbourne) until late 2009 -
Please follow our travels here!

http://www.samanthafarbman.com/Journals/australia/Intro.html

New Dynamics

2009-02-20T15:24:00.000-08:00

I just heard a statistic on CNN - since December of 2007 - 80 % of the jobs that have been lost have been men.

They say that male dominated industries, like construction, etc..are more deeply affected. Looks like we can affect home dynamics to shift a bit moving forward.

Protest!

2009-01-30T07:42:00.001-08:00

Here are some links of my brother protesting - and a news article that mentions his efforts. Though his passion often worries me, I am proud of the selfless effort and incredible time and resource he dedicates to community activism.

Here is a link to a Seattle News Broadcast regarding the closure of 5 Seattle schools - and also a link to a newspaper article on the same topic. My brother is featured in both.

http://www.king5.com/video/index.html?nvid=326943

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/398080_schools30.html

And here is a link to a YouTube Video of protest in Seattle about the occupation of Gaza - I thought it was a rather innovative approach to protest....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BPYXdjFKq0

HOT!!!

2009-01-10T15:08:00.000-08:00

Look at my little sister all grown up, (and still only 3 feet tall).
She is all dressed up for her Snowball with her man Jimmy James Jellybeans. She is wearing something resembling an 8" heel and is still nowhere near the height of her boyfriend. I think she gets her good looks and fashion straight from me, her hero mentor and friend.

Puppy Parlor

2009-01-08T18:14:00.001-08:00

I know all my posts as of late are puppy-centric.

I gave Puppy his first full body haircut. I don't think he enjoyed puppy parlor.

Puppy is training to be a circus performer. (Before the haircuut)

TA-DA!!!!

Holiday Pics

2009-01-08T17:58:00.001-08:00

The dinner table

Phinny eagerly awaiting the holidays

My Stepmother Diane opening presents

Resurrecting skills from my first job - a mall giftwrapper. I do believe I still 'got it.'

My brother opening presents

Me, Chanan and Phinny

Jason and sister Karen

My Dad's bag of pills for the week. After a few days were already taken out. ABSURD!!!! I reapeat. FOR THE WEEK!!!!!

My snowy backyard

Everyone! Jason, Karen, Phinny, Diane, Father Allan, Chanan and Sambolina

Sammy and sister Karen

The table set for mealtime - with the heathenous tree in the background

My hobbies

2009-01-08T07:29:00.001-08:00

One of my favorite hobbies is going to the Google image search and typing in "puppies"
Here is one of my most gleeful finds. I believe this to be a Pomeranian puppy-doo.

My favorite things!

2009-01-06T21:19:00.000-08:00

So one of the perks of going to an office is getting to dress up every day!!!
I have an affinity for shoes and accessories - especially the kind I get at a discount (most of these things were clearance)! Here are a few of my favorites. If you didn't notice, I am especially fond of shoes!

My Choker from Etsy.com (purchased from LieblingDesigns )

Earrings, Etsy.com (from user AmberSky)

Necklace - also from Etsy.com (MagpieCollections)

Nine West Outlet Bag

Franco Sarto Shoes

All Black Shoes (I LOVE these)

Diesel Shoes

Etienne Aigner Shoes

Banana Republic Hat

JUMP Boots

Riding Boots from Buenos Aires.

Update!

2009-01-06T16:10:00.000-08:00

Hello friends!
(And as I say that, I realize, had I not lived in Israel, no one would read this...)

Happy 2009!
This year is starting off rather well for me!

At the end of last year, I was working 80 or so hour weeks, not sleeping, and pretty much burning the candle at all ends. I gave a few of my clients to friends, cleared my schedule - and committed to spending more time away from work.

I have been spending more time reading, sewing (....not sewing well......), snowboarding, skiing - and rock climbing. Idle time has been fantastic. I actually have been able to clean up my house, play scrabble.....and have time to think - instead of quickly moving from one project to the next deadline!

And!! On April 30th Gregg and I fly out to Australia - stopping for 6 days in Fiji - 11 days in New Zealand - and then finally landing in Melbourne, Australia. We have purchased one way tickets, and intend on spending about 5 or 6 months there. I have a great friend from college, Megan who is living there with her husband Zack. We will be living with them for the duration of our stay.

I really cant wait! The are intelligent, artsy, interesting ....After a 2008 of staring at a computer screen - I am ready to surround myself with an immersion of intellect and culture!!!

Work is also going well. I am slowly learning the art of raising my rates to get clients of a better caliber. The ones that pay more seem to respect their designers far more. They are more familiar with spending more to get more. Slowly I am building a great client base - which will hopefully follow me as I flit about the globe!

And finally - I have been reaching out and trying to communicate better to people whom I think I can better my relationships with. It may not work, but at least I am trying, communicating and putting the effort out there.

So, that's 2009 thus far in a nutshell! I hope everyone is well! Pics from the holidays coming soon!

Isn't it about...time!

2008-12-12T21:32:00.000-08:00

Today was a wonderful day. I have been working 80 hour weeks for as long as I can remember. I have only spent time with friends socially about 2 times in the past several months. My life consists of staring at my computer at home, staring at my computer in the office, napping o the couch, and fitfully trying to sleep through the night. I didn't realize my plate was too full until I was so overburdened it took months to dig myself out.

Slowly I have been thinning out my work load, reassigning clients to friends, and trying to make time to breathe. Today I handed over the design files to my last major project outside my day job. It as such an overwhelmingly happy feeling - I didn't even know how miserably overworked I had become until the moment I was free.

With my Friday night free, I realized once again, I don't have the first clue how to relax. Gregg and I went to the bookstore, and went out to a fantastic Indian dinner. I spouted off my plans for all my free time - until Gregg intervened reminding me to keep my free time free. I am no good at that.

We came home and invited our lovely next door neighbors over for scrabble - something so simple and natural, yet so refreshing for me. I am a full blown workaholic. I work day and night, 7 days a week. I fall asleep and wake up thinking about my projects. Being lazy will take effort - but I need to get back to a healthy balance of spending time with Gregg, going to the gym, reading, walking the dog, cooking dinner, watching movies (really watching them, not working through them)...spending time with friends (making friends), skiing, working on my house.....writing, photographing.....It is amazing how happy freedom makes me.

A winner!!

2008-12-08T05:10:00.000-08:00

Here's a winner I pulled out of the archives this weekend...

Thanksgiving Photos

2008-12-08T05:06:00.000-08:00

Here are some photos from our wonderful Thanksgiving at our neighbor's house. She did an amazing job decorating, and her husband has a very nice fur hat. All in all, great day.

More progress on the yard and house!

2008-12-08T04:58:00.000-08:00

Hello friends.
We have been making great progress on the house!!! It is really starting to set in just how much work we have done with our own hands. In the next few months, we should have our hot tub and our walk-in shower complete!

Here are pics of the finished hardwood floor in our bedroom, my closet and our *finally* sodded back yard. The all-dirt back yard was getting our house super dusty and muddy..So this is a long awaited moment!!! (These pics are a few weeks old)

And, of course, a picture of Phinny in his holiday attire. All modeling inquires must be booked through his agent.

Hilarious Blog Post

2008-11-28T10:20:00.001-08:00

This is super funny.

http://www.momlogic.com/2008/11/review_lilys_cafe_resturant.php

What have I been up to?!

2008-10-27T20:26:00.001-07:00

Not too much going on - I have been working nonstop!!! At my freelance, at the company I contract at 3 days a week (egad, a 9-5!), getting my hair permanently straightened (at least until it grow out), a weekend in Moab with old friends, and ever renovating my house. Here are some images....

Getting the backyard ready for sod!!! Dirt be gone!!!!

The new Brazillian Rosewood hardwood floors I am installing in the bedroom. The old Engineer hardwoods got ruined by the leaky air conditioner. Thank goodness for home insurance!

The new Brazillian Rosewood hardwood floors I am installing.

Our new washer and dryer! Got a sweet deal by bying the floor model...

A furry furry coaster on our weekend in Moab.

Gregg and our friend Brian in Moab.

Gregg, Brian, Peter, Aaron and Kathy at our campsite in Indian Creek / Moab.

Phinny defeating a roll of toilet paper. Phinny 1, Charmin 0.

My new straight hair - on my first day of my new psuedo real job. 9-5 three days a week.

Ohohohoh

2008-08-19T09:22:00.001-07:00

Phinny's first bike ride

2008-07-27T21:37:00.000-07:00

We took Phinny to the farmer's market this weekend! It was his first bike ride (We have plans to get a safer doggie basket)...He was a real popular little puppy there!

Garbage Removed!!!

2008-07-27T21:31:00.000-07:00

Finally we had the enormous pile of debris removed from our backyard! It took a man with a truck and trailer, combined with Gregg, his brother Ed and friend Eric 4 dump trips to get rid of it!!!

Memory Lane

2008-07-27T21:08:00.000-07:00

So I have been finally fixing up SamanthaFarbman.com (it will be a slow road to completion on that one..) Because PeakGraphic, which has been my freelance website, will soon be taken over by my new web template company.

I still wanted to have a place to show my custom graphics, websites, and most importantly for me, my journals. I started fixing up my site on the Travel section. Looking over my journals and travels from the past 7 or so years brought back a lot of smiles. But in reading them, I also realized how different I have been in various stages. In some of the journals, I really talk about my feelings, and where I am in life. In others, I just list my goings on.

Lately I have been feeling spiritually dead. I have been laboring away starting this company - which isn't really that fun. Also, some aspects of Salt Lake City living have been really hard for me. I don't have a community of like minded friends. I really find myself disinterested in the small town gossip and goings on. There is a real lack of culture here, and worldly awareness.

I am so far away from the person I once was - the person who desired nothing, and could sleep in the back of a neon alone for months. Now I have a house, and I want furniture. And of course, I find myself having expensive tastes (which I rarely ever indulge). I want to go back the the spiritual person I used to be. The person who didn't care that they were driving a beat up krapwagon. I want to feel at peace whenever I see the sun setting on the mountains. I want to have the perspective to let the little things go.

I miss all the homes I have ever had. Chicago, Boston, Israel, Seattle. I wonder if I will ever find a city to live in that satisfies all the annoying complexities of my personality. I want to spend more and more time in Europe, learning languages and being immersed in culture.

I want to stop being such a hermit, which means I want to find things around SLC that I feel are worthy of leaving the house for. I want to feel fulfilled at the end of the day. I miss college a lot, where I was always around brilliance and creativity. I would never wish the sleepless nights on anyone, but it was a really great time in my life - when my creativity wasn't weighed down by the practical demands of the 'real world'. I can't even imagine being able to think or perform on the level I did in college again. It was truly a unique time in my life.

I miss my roadtrip around the USA. It was a time in which I was so happy just being free. I didn't care about things, or money, or looking presentable. While I enjoy being able to afford updated clothing - I miss not desiring any.

I have really been so fortunate, and led such an enchanted life. The downfall is, it makes everyday life feel so dull.

My journals - http://samanthafarbman.com/journals.html

Free Hot Tub!

2008-07-18T21:50:00.000-07:00

We got an 8-seater hot tub for free on Craigslist today! Hurray!! It needs some light cosmetic work, and potentially a new motor - but heck, a few hundred dollars for a huge 8 ft by 8 ft hot tub?! Not bad. It will be a super swank apres ski hangout.

We rented a truck from Lowe's to get it - they only charged us $20, even though we didn't refill the 1/8th or 1/4 tank of gas and kept it for about 3 hours. Sweet!

With the help of our super wonderful neighbor Adam, we slowly blocked it up with cinderblocks, until at about 4 blocks high, they were able (with the help of the owners) to get it on the truck. When we unloaded it, we had neighbors aplenty to help. It will remain in the back alley, until Monday when we hire some people to remove our ENORMOUS dirt and debris pile in the back of our house. It will be a momentous occasion to have that gone.

More puppy pics...

2008-07-18T21:46:00.001-07:00

Okay, I realize I am that lame person that just posts pics of their dog. I can live with for awhile.
Here is Phinny, lounging on the bed, while gregg writhes with gastrointestinal discomfort.

Muddy Pic!!

2008-07-18T21:43:00.000-07:00

So this pic is a few months old now, but I forgot to post it. Gregg and our fantastic neighbor Adam dug up our yard to replace the water line to the house with a larger supply line to increase the water flow as we update our baths and showers. The line broke in the middle, so we had to shut off the water supply. Because of this, there was a huge rush to get the job done asap, so we had water again. It rarely rains in SLC, but it sure poured down that day! The downpour, combined with our revolutionary dirt yard was a muddy mess!!!

Coming along!

2008-07-15T09:59:00.000-07:00

Our house is slowly but surely coming along!
We will be painting it in the fall, building more cedar planter boxes, and redoing the railing...
So far this year, we did the zeroscaping ont eh parking strip, put down sod, painted the door and built the cedar planter. Slowly but surely....

Pics of the growing puppy. (and a bbq)

2008-07-15T09:54:00.000-07:00

Phinneas

2008-05-27T07:03:00.001-07:00

We got a new puppy at IKEA. Okay, well it was in the IKEA parking lot. There was a man with a truck with hot pink signs that said "Tiny Puppies for Sale"

So we got ourselves a tiny puppy! 3.14 lbs, male, half chihuahua, half mini schnauzer, alll cute!

I don't exist

2008-05-27T06:53:00.000-07:00

I found this myspace thing that tells you how many of people with your name exist in the USA. These were my results.

HowManyOfMe.com

There are
0
people with my name
in the U.S.A.

How many have your name?

I know for a fact, there are at least two tho'!

Europe Blog

2008-03-30T15:04:00.000-07:00

I am in Europe, well, actually Africa (Morocco)..I will be traveling for a bit - here is my journal...

http://www.samanthafarbman.com/Journals/7WeeksinEurope/

Enjoy!

JibJab

2008-03-20T06:59:00.001-07:00

I was introduced to jibjab by my neighbor - they have hilarious cards - some of them you can even paste in a picture of someone and personalize it!

Don't send a lame Birthday eCard. Try JibJab Sendables!

Everyone in the world except the US

2008-03-14T19:22:00.000-07:00

“Everybody in the World Except US Citizens Should Be Allowed to Vote and Elect the American Government”–Leading Intellectual Slavoj Žižek

I think that is brilliant, after all, all my Euro-friends seem to know a heck of a lot more about our country them my Ameri-peers.

Read the full article on Democracy now:

My Daddy's play

2008-03-07T09:27:00.000-08:00

My father wrote a play which will be performed off Broadway in NYC. The theater receives about 500 unsolicited plays a year, of which about 10 are chosen to be staged. Yay Dad!

You can read the article if you are so inclined here:

http://www.newstimes.com/entertainment/ci_8488141

Way disturbing

2008-02-20T12:49:00.001-08:00

Wisconsin man guilty of dead deer sex:

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/803806,deer022008.article

Boo!

2008-02-05T07:23:00.001-08:00

Someone hit our car while it was parked in front of our house - at about 3:30 am on Saturday morning. Gregg noticed out our window, that some red plastic was scattered around our car -

When we went to examine, we found this! As we stood outside, an officer pulled up and notified us that a Taurus has been abandoned in the middle of the street up the road, unable to drive any longer after the impact. We don't know yet if it was stolen, or if the owner has crashed into our car. Our car, as shown below, was also left undriveable!

Nice, huh!
The best part - We had just put $400 into fixing it (which Gregg just informed me hadn't even fixed the problem).

Staining!

2008-02-05T07:18:00.000-08:00

I have been staining our new mouldings!! Can you believe it's already time for the finish work on the addition!!!
Initially we bought the stainable mouldings from Lowe's - they were Pine - but they stained poorly, and looked cheap.

We visited Huetter's here in SLC, and purchased some knotty piny instead. I was amazed at the difference in the finished quality. It's just too bad our doors are poor quality wood instead of something that looks higher in quality.

I have been having a blast staining and polyurethening the mouldings - it is amazing how much the wood transforms with the smallest TLC.

Staining is stinky work though!

Laptop Case

2008-02-05T07:15:00.001-08:00

I like to make things.
One time, I made a laptop case for my brother.

Adulting

2008-02-05T06:56:00.000-08:00

I am so old.
I had someone come and clean my vents out yesterday.

Samantha

Avoid United, skiers

2008-02-05T06:48:00.000-08:00

United airlines just announced it will be implementing a $25 fee for checking a second bag on its domestic flights. For many this is an inevitability - medications, walkers, skiis AND boots, etc.

If United weren't already the last airline on my list, it would be now. After failing to deliver my family's luggage for four days in Christmas 06 - I was privy to some of the worst customer service I have yet experienced with an airline.

Europe!!!

2008-01-26T08:21:00.000-08:00

Wuhoo!!!

We (Gregg and I) are going to Europe for 7 weeks!!!!
First we will arrive in Paris, where I hope to catch up with my cousin Alana who lives there - hopefully take some side trips to Amsterdam and Brussels -
Then we will head down to Barcelona - where we will study Spanish for a month (coincidentially my German friend Alex will be also living in Spain!).

En Route to Spain, we hope to see Morocco, and possibly even portugal.

After Spain - We will drive around parts of the Mediterranean - Italy, Croatia and Greece.

I will, however, be working the whole time - although I know I am fortunate to have a job which offers me the flexibility to do this.

Hope you are all doing well!!!!

Painting!

2008-01-25T09:45:00.001-08:00

Flooring!

2008-01-25T09:41:00.000-08:00

We laid the flooring in the bedroom and closet - It came out nicely! Aside from the closet area, it was pretty easy and fun to do - but yielded way too much of the sawdust that I have come to abhor. My allergies are in overload!

Snowing!!!

2008-01-25T08:33:00.001-08:00

It has been snowing non stop for days! Here is a picture from outside my front door!

Cabo Cruise!

2007-12-13T10:04:00.000-08:00

I know I am a bit spoiled generally speaking - but this is unusual, even for me...MY friends Lindsay called me and asked me to go on a free cruise, sponsored by her company as a Christmas gift to their employees. SO I flew to Phoenix to meet them, and onto San Diego, where all 82 of us boarded the Elation. It was both of our first times on a cruise - we hear the boat was abnormally rocky. Two days later, I still feel a bit unsteady like I am still on the boat!!!

We met some serious characters...Aurora, Bret Michaels, Ernie / The Dude / Dary.....

Good times!

The Last few days in Argentina

2007-12-13T09:21:00.000-08:00

November 12, 2007

I know my posting is a bit late, but here are the last few pictures from our Argentina trip - in Bariloche, one of the most beautiful cities we saw.

Bariloche

2007-11-11T17:48:00.000-08:00

November 11th, 2007

Arrived in Bariloche - tired but ready to explore.

Today we took a bike ride - 25 km (about 15 miles) - of very hilly terrain. The views were incredible - as Bariloche is a beautiful town (and a beautiful city as well). However, on the bike ride, we didn't have the memory card for our camera, so hopefully we can return and get that done.

Check out the Alf picture though - there is WAY too much Alf down here. WE even cought some episodes on TV. Yup - lots of Alf and lots of early 90's power ballads. Excellent.

On the Valdez Peninsula

2007-11-11T17:32:00.000-08:00

Nov 9th, 2007

Today was a bit of a bust, but redeemed by our excellent company. We set out to drive around the peninsula today - starting with Punta Norte - famed for its penguins and sea lions. The wildlife was not as a-plenty as we'd all hoped for (especially after our incredible experience in Punto Tumbo the previous day). The weather was cold and overcast, and the landscape as desolate and uninspiring as one can imagine. It was enjoyable nonetheless to be traveling with new people - (Simon and Morena / UK)...;

Around 4 or 5 pm, we dropped Simon and Morena back at the hostel and drove the 1.5 hours back through the boring landscape to Puerto Madryn. There we returned the rental car, and boarded the bus for the last stop on our itinerary - Bariloche. We were unable to refill the gas tank, as there was no gas due to a strike brought upon by the results of the election a few weeks ago. Kristina, despite a landslide vistory, is still a controversial president - especially to the poor people.

Our bus ride to Bariloche was a real doozy. We were sitting in front of a couple who made homeless people smell good. Between general BO and dirty clothing and other poor natural human odors - they exuded one of the most unpleasant human aromas imaginable. Every time they moved, Gregg had to rush to cover his nose, and I felt a wave or nausea. Gregg didn't fully recline his seat all night, because that would only bring his nose closer to the smell. It was SO bad that the service employee on the bus approached me and Gregg, and asked us what the deal with the odor was - that he could barely stand to walk in the back of the bus.

Additionally, a large man who slept all but maybe 10 minutes of the ride, was a loud snorer - which kept Gregg up all night.

PENGUINS! (and Punto Tumbo)

2007-11-10T16:16:00.000-08:00

November 8th, 2007

Today was penguin day!!!! Gregg and I, along with Morena and Simon rented a car - and drove the 2 or 3 hours south to Punto Tumbo - a premier penguin watching destination. And that it was!!!! The penguins were EVERYWHERE!!! many of them were buried in holes protecting the eggs that will hatch any day now. The others were waddling around, seemingly unperturbed by the spattering of humans paying them a visit.

We had opted to go later in the afternoon - which wound up being a great decision. all the tour buses had gone for the day, so there weren't many crowds competing for penguin attention. aside the penguins was the Atlantic ocean, filled with sea lions gathering together in search of food.

It was really an amazing day. It wasn't even tarnished when I got Penguin Poop all over my pantaloons and jacket. (I was kneeling down to photograph some penguin eggs - and stood up to find I was covered in poop.)

The drive back was long and boring - aside from the mountains, Patagonia has a desolate and lifeless landscape. It spans farther than I can even fathom, without any visual variance, whatsoever.

We passed Puerto Madryn, where we had started our day, and continued onto Puerto Pirimedes, where we would begin the next days' drive around the Valdez Peninsula. I was more tired then I can even remember and my head flopped into sleep every few minutes. The drive seemed to take forever, and I was thankful Gregg was awake enough to do it, while the rest of us slept. I think they probably put sleeping pills in our dinner.

When we arrived at the hostel, the four of us had our pick of beds - our room had about 8 bunk beds to choose from, and no one else around.

Puerto Madryn

2007-11-10T15:09:00.001-08:00

November 7th, 2007

Today we left El Calafate around noon, arriving at Rio Gallegos at 4:30. We departed Rio Gallegos 4 hours later, heading for Puerto Madryn, a city on the coast with good proximity to the marine wildlife in the area.

On the bus, we had leather seats that reclined fairly far - and watched movies, which allowed the time to pass fairly easily. The gasoline smell that pervaded the whole ride left us feeling a bit off. On the bus we had met Morena, and Italian living in the UK, and Simon, the Brit she was engaged to, and lived with in London. We all joined together and rented an apartment, planning to split a car rental and head to the various wildlife areas over the next few days.

We explored the town a small amount, walking along the beach to an eco museum, and then returned back to our apartment for some take home pizza.

Penguins - here we come!!!!

El Calafate, again...

2007-11-10T14:31:00.000-08:00

November 6th, 2007

It has been relatively uneventful since leaving El Chalten. I had a great time there, and was a bit sad to leave....We had to stay in El Calafate longer than we wished to, for scheduling purposes.

Monday morning our lucky weather streak broke. We had scheduled a trip to the Perito Moreno Glacier - about a 1.5 hour bus ride from town. It was gray and freezing and drizzly out. The Glacier was quite nice, and on a warmer day I could have stayed there for hours. However, the poor weather drew me to the only shelter in the area, a tiny snack bar, where I stood for several hours, until our bus driver finally let us board again.

We did however, get lucky while freezing in front of the glacier - and saw an enormous glacial chunk calving off, hitting the water below with a boom.

The most positive part of El Calafate was all the different people we met in our hostel, also cooking dinner and relaxing with a bottle of wine at night. As with our first time passing through El Calafate, there was little of interest to us, and we were eager to be anywhere else.

Our plans to go to Chile next died, while we were at the Glacier. We realized while shivering in the cold, that camping in weather like this might yield some incredible unpleasantries. I had a hunch that we would be hit with bad weather - A hunch which was supported when we looked at forecast. It is rumored that in Patagonia, they can have several different weather systems in a day, which might have made us hopeful - but we had also heard of the incredible expense associated with getting to the park - and didn't think the expense, bundled with the poor weather looming seemed worth the trip.

After gathering itineraries and costs all over town and juggling ideas, we finally settled on our current plan.

We felt our best option was the 4.5 hour bus ride to Rio Gallegos, a coastal city, probably mostly used for layovers to other cities. From Rio Gallegos - the bus would continue north, bringing us to Puerto Madryn 18 hours later. I felt that I was so far from home, that I should have been riding alongside at a different ocean, something more exotic than the Atlantic.

Driving from El Chalten to El Calafate

2007-11-09T15:59:00.000-08:00

November 5th, 2007
Some amusing pics from the rest stop / estancia while taking the bus back from El Chalten to El Calafate. There was a baby cow that was following Gregg around.

"Are you my mommy!?"

Lago Peidras Blanco / El Chalten

2007-11-04T15:39:00.001-08:00

November 2nd, 2007

I arose early, and still tired and a bit edgy and cranky from the continued lack of nutrition. (as I have mentioned, Argentina is not vegetarian friendly, and I have been subsisting on grains and carbs alone for a few weeks now). Bundled with the sleepless night, I wasn't eager to camp and hike much more without a down day in the hostel to allow for some muscle recovery. My body was starting to be achy, and I knew I had many miles to walk before I was back in town.

Before leaving with our packs - we took a smaller hike to the Lago Piedras Blanco (Both a lake and a Glacier). It was about 3 hours round trip to get there. We walked along a beautiful and peaceful stream that was clear enough to see every stone on the ground beneath it. The weather was sunny and crisp for now, but there were a few thick clouds gathering over the mountains. When we arrived at the glacier, there was a bit of scrambling over large boulders to get to the lake. At this point, I was very tired and dehydrated and sore, and cranky. (Poor Gregg!!!!)

The lake was incredibly beautiful, small and greenish blue - with chunks of glacial ice that had calved off from the large glacier on the other side of the lake. As we walked back to the campsite to gather our things - I told Gregg I thought I would go back to town instead of campaign again. The campsite we had intended to stay at was one hour away - and town was about 2 hours past that. He was angry and irritated with me - and I was irritated and tired in general. It was still early, bad weather appeared to be rolling in. We didn't have much for eating, and I had one page to go in my book - and nothing else to entertain me, should we have to sit in a tent all day because of poor weather. The views of the mountains were obscured - and all I wanted was a warm meal and a bed. We had quite a tiff about this, He was disappointed in my differing opinions on trekking and camping. I was dissapointed that he was dissapointed. It was a stupid and pointless fight brought upon by sleep deprivation.

He decided to stay and camp at Lago Capri, regardless of the gray clouds, and I opted to continue on and return to the hostel. We had ended our very short fight by this point. He said he would return the next day by 2 pm. As I walked down to the town, I felt a bit sad about our tiff, but thought it might be good to have a night apart, as we do spend every waking moment together.

My descent felt like it took forever. Every turn I rounded, I thought I was closer than I was. My body was aching and tired, and I wanted to sit down and have coffee and take a warm shower. For two hours as I descended downhill back to town, my knees ached and I wished I was closer then I was. Once I arrived in town, the walk to the hostel, which is only about 300 feet, felt as if it took hours. I was so relieved to be in the hostel, I knew I had made the right decision for myself in returning. I had walked more miles in the past three days, (probably 30) than I had ever walked in a three day span (probably double in fact). I was unaccustomed to carrying a pack - and I was feeling the effects of dehydration, poor sleep and a poorly balanced diet.

When I arrived at the hostel, my roommate was a French girl named Veronique. She spoke English, and invited me to dinner with a German girl and a Dutch girl she had met while traveling. We ate at a restaurant that actually had two vegetarian dishes (Hallelujah!!!)...and had a wonderful time drinking wine and talking about our travels. I felt inferior however, two of them spoke 3 languages, and the third girl, the Dutch girl, spoke 5 languages fluently! After dinner we went to a cafe a few doors down and had hot choco. I don't often meet and spend time with other travelers while on my trips - It is always hard for me to approach people and make conversation - so I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

When we returned back to the hostel, it felt wonderful to sit in bed and look through my pictures and relax.

Note: The last several pictures are actually from the day after this entry - they are Gregg's pictures from his camping night away from me, and the following morning before he met up with me again in town.

Poincenot and beyond

2007-11-04T14:58:00.000-08:00

November 2, 2007

The sun is going down and it is cold here in the Poincenot Campground beneath Mt Fitz Roy. (In Los Glaciares Nacional Parque). Carrying all our camping gear in was a bit grueling, as the first half of the trek was quite uphill. The incline was substantially greater and more prolonged than either of us has anticipated. As far as hiking goes, it was not all that steep - but I was already drained from 9 - 10 miles of hiking yesterday. Carrying the pack also made the incline feel greater and longer. I took some Aleve at the beginning of the hike, which allowed some of the pain in my lower back and legs to subside.

We have been lucky - the weather could not have been nicer today. There was barely a cloud in the sky, and no wind. A man we met informed us that just four days prior, there was snow covering much of the ground. We had truly come for the arrival of spring - and coincided with a window of weather that was uncommonly good for this town. The temperature was cool and crisp enough that we didn't overheat while walking.

As we hiked up to our camp, we had no views of Mt Fitz Roy for the first half of the hike - but it was the focal point of the landscape for the second half. Every peak in area was prominent and clear and illuminated by the bright sunlight.

After about 3 to 3.5 hours of hiking, we reached our campsite. There were already several different groups there. It was rather more rustic that many American campsites - just one outhouse, and that was it - however, unlike America, it was free of charge.

We pitched our tent and boiled water for tea before grabbing our much lighter daypacks and heading to Lago De Los Tres - (a nearby lake).
This hike was a bit more then I bargained for. It was relatively short, maybe a mile or two - but it was EXTREMELY steep the entire way up, with no break in pitch. In fact it only got steeper the higher it got. I do favor hiking up prolonged steepness, I much prefer varied terrain. I was fairly miserable on this hike, and could not wait to be back at camp. Gregg enjoyed it immensely, and made it up a good deal before I did. At the top, the sun was in poor position for photos - and the lake was covered with snow still. However, it was a fantastic and close view of Fitz Roy, which I appreciated. My body is not accustomed to all this hiking, and I was beginning to get sore. Additionally, I had not eaten or drank anywhere near what I should have.

Walking down was much faster and more enjoyable, though it was a bit hard to keep traction on the sliding rocks and steep path. When we reached camp again, I felt out of it. I was hungry and dehydrated, and probably experiencing the effects of low blood sugar - which always knocks me out after I haven't eaten or drank enough on a hike. We made a dinner of burnt soup (I think this is a first for me, burning soup, but my stove was boiling the water over at even the lowest temperature!) - and then spaghetti and poor quality tomato sauce. It raised my energy, but I still longed for some non carbohydrate nutrients.

Gregg retired to the tent at that point, even though it was still maybe only 8 pm (and since we are in so far south in the hemisphere, the sun sets very late here - at 9 or 9:30)...while he rested, I wrote in my journal sitting on a log. There were English speakers sitting aside some tents nearby - I asked if I could join them. There was one Israeli, and two Americans (from Colorado). We drank hot choco, and sat and talked for several hours. The most amusing part of the conversation was when the Israeli exclaimed that you cannot touch Penguins because they have AIDS (I suppose there is a small possiblity this is true, but the rest of us were dubious). I still, however, am looking forward to arriving at the coast in a week or so, and seeing these penguins.

I slept very poorly that night. For the past year, I have not slept well in tents, although I don't know why. Probably because my sleeping bag is a mummy sac, and I like to move quite a bit in my sleep. Also, the wind was as violent as I have ever heard. It whipped all night long, whistling and howling, although there was no rain and I stayed warm after bundling up.

Lago Torres and El Chalten

2007-11-04T09:55:00.000-08:00

October 31, 2007

Today we did a day trek of about 9 - 10 miles round trip, on one of the most famous and iconical of Patagonian hikes. As we left town, the winds were whipping at 40-ish mph (on Gregg's estimate), making movement a bit clumsy. As we ascended up in the hills, the wind subsided. The temperature was crisp and perfect, with us both wearing 2 to three layers.

The path took us uphill in the beginning, although it felt very moderate, as the pitches were never steep for very long, and they were separated by enough flatter terrain that we didn't really need any breaks. After the first mile, the views were striking - Mountains Fitz Roy and Torres were both in view for much of the hike. It was really energizing to see the symbol that, for so long has defined Patagonia for me (and indeed it is also the logo for the Patagonia clothing company).

It is unfortunate, but it is very difficult for me to get excited while traveling anymore, because while I certainly haven't 'seen it all' I have seen enough of a sampling to no longer feel like I am looking at things with my eyes wide open, like you do the first time you see something. But today, especially when we reached the terminus of our hike, I felt quite energized by the scenery. I was fairly eager to photograph the whole way out, and it was exciting to feel that way again. However - I thought I had forgotten my Circular Polarizer (After the hike I of course found it in my bag) So as excited as I was to photograph, I didn't implement the proper methods to take images that reflected the beauty we were seeing. That was frustrating.

When we reached the end of our hike, the wind was whipping, quite possibly the strongest I have ever seen it. It was very hard to walk, as we were headed into it. It was even harder to hear each other. Even though the wind was strong, it was still warm, and no sand was blowing in our eyes. Lago Torres (Lake Torres) - which was the end of the hike, was among the most serene (as serene as 50 mph wind can be)..places I have been. Glaciel lakes have the most beautiful teal color - enhanced by the blue glacial chunks that had calved off and were now afloat in it. Between the bluest of skies, ice chunks, glacial pieces and famed spires above - I couldn't really imagine anything that could improve upon the view (except maybe puppies, penguins and a few less clouds - not to mention having the proper photographic equipment). Gregg and I both separately came to the conclusion that we felt like we were in Antarctica.

We arrived back ready to sit down, hungry and perhaps a bit tired. It wasn't necessarily a terribly hard hike but I was definitely ready for it to be done when we arrived back.

Tomorrow, we will assess the weather and then set off on a two, possibly three day trek in the same general area. We expect any mix of cold, sun, rain, wind - as the town generally expects any combination of them in any given day.

This may well have been the best hike I have even taken in my life - definitely one of the best destinations to any hike I have yet taken.

El Calafate - El Chalten - PATAGONIA!!!

2007-11-04T06:53:00.001-08:00

October 30, 2007
En route to El Chalten by bus, rocks were popping up from the packed down dirt road, hitting our windows. Outside there was rolling rocky vastness similar to parts of the southwest. Everything as far as I could see was muted and gray and brown, with the exception of a few intermittent lakes.

I feel like today has spanned about three days. We woke up in Buenos Aires at 4 am in preparation for our 6 am flight to El Calafate, Patagonia. According to news from other travelers in the bus terminal, Buenos Aires has since shut down its flights, while the workers strike. If this is true, we must have been one of the lucky last flights out before the strike.

When we arrived at the airport, we were both still experiencing stomach discomfort - queasiness...general badness - most likely due to something we both ate. This persisted on and off throughout the day - but was the worst in the morning.

The flight was 5 hours, with a "technical stop" or "layover" in Ushuaia - the southernmost city in the world. Depending on our weather and enjoyment in El Calafate and El Chalten, this might be our only exposure to the city. The flight was long and uncomfortable for both of us, as we were seated in front of an emergency row, which resulted in seats that didn't recline.

After the long flight to El Calafate, it was a short, but expensive (apparently that is to be the hallmark of our trip - expensive)...cab ride to the terminal, or bus station - so we could secure seats on the evenings' ride to El Chalten.

We were then left with over 5 hours to walk about El Calafate - an overpriced touristy town which would have otherwise captured our interest for no more than a couple of hours. In fact, aside from some nice buildings, El Calafate didn't strike us for any other reason than its high prices, although we know it to be the gateway to some of the greatest natural splendor on earth.

El Chalten is very remote, so much so, it lacks a paved road, or even an ATM or bank. I can't even imagine how far away the nearest one might be, 3 hour at the very least.

As we pulled closer and closer to El Chalten, Mt Fitz Roy, the iconical image of the Patagonia clothing company was striking in the distance, getting closer and closer as we neared. It was just as breathtaking as the images I have adored for so long. As we pulled in, It was after 10 pm and dark out, reminding us how long a day it had been getting here.

The town was so quaint and small, that its city lights literally looked like fireflies in the dark as we pulled nearer.

The mountains are much closer than I thought they would be, and the town seems to have a natural charm. Our hostel is huge and welcoming, and comfortable enough in its first impression. It has been a long day - but the views of the mountains are encouraging me for the next phase of this trip. I am glad to no longer be in Buenos Aires. El Chalten is about as much of a contrast as can be found to the noise and crowding of the big city.

So long BA! Tiempo por Patagonia!

2007-10-28T18:46:00.000-07:00

I was expecting today to be the pinnacle of the trip - after all it's market day!!! The day that all the outdoor markets are allegedly in full swing! However, a mold infested hostel and achy bodies from tons and tons of walking slowed us (mostly me) down a bit. We still did make it to the San Telmo, La Boca, Recoleta and Palermo weekend markets.

At dinner, as they had all day, my eyes burned and my throat felt hoarse and I opted to get a better hotel - We'd had enough of the ill effects of mold while living in our danky Seattle pad.

My father booked a room for us, while I IM'd him the details. The hostel's internet connection had been far too slow that evening to search for anything. When we arrived at the new hotel - the Concorde, we had two twin beds. I thought for a minute my father had planned that - but it was just an overbooking issue with the hotel. HAHAHA!

Here are some random pictures from the last two days in Buenos Aires. Tomorrow (Tuesday) We head out on a 6 am flight to El Calafate - our LONG awaited entrance into the famed Patagonia region. The weather looks sketchy, and we hear it will be pricey, but we are super excited to sleep with such close proximity to the Andes.

I know my pictures haven't really been that interesting, but quite honestly, I haven't really felt inspired at all in BsAs for the most part. Hopefully Patagonia will bring some beautiful images!

And so it goes!

2007-10-27T19:52:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was super great from start to finish - Cabbed it to Recoleta and slowly walked through the Recoleta cemetary (which is, as mentioned yesterday, is an astonishing city of rich dead people with enormous masoleums...).. The Recoleta market was getting bigger and bigger the longer we stayed. I bought a bunch of stuff before heading out.

We went to the Malba - (Museum of Arts / Latin America / Buenos Aires) In there I liked the work of Botero, who I remembered fondly from art school (One example of his work, generally characterized by rotund people, often nude, performing mundane tasks) I was also impressed by Antonio Berni - who has phenomenal political paintings (Here is a blurry example of the image in the Museum.)

When we returned back to Palermo, it was ALIVE with people, and the weekend market. Bars had been transformed to shops, the streets were packed, and vendors had set up all around. There was so much more energy then we had seen in previous visits to the central area of Palermo. We walked around for hours - and in that time, found a GREAT little cafe near our hostel that actually had vegetarian food!!!! Finally a meal with a few veggies mixed in with carbs!

BA!! YAY!!

2007-10-27T19:10:00.000-07:00

Finaly today, we begn to see some of the splendor we had hear about in BsAs.

I think we walked around the whole of BsAs three times over

During our stroll, we stopped at the Buenos Aires zoo - It was a bit different than other zoos I had been to, in that there were a few harmless animals free ranging around.

Oh what fun the zoo was!!!! We saw kangaroo-wallaby-rabbit things running free, Peacocks walking around with their feathers out and about, parrots who said "OLA!" in response to Gregg's "OLA!" (The Parrot didn't however, respond to "Hello"), and a Pygmy Marmoset mini monkey playing with himself for all to see. Fun!

After the zoo and tons more walking, we went on a bike tour around Recoleta and the Gardens in Palermo which informatively took us through Recoleta, near the University and through the Palermo Rose Gardens. The Recoleta Cemetery was astonishing - it was the grandest richest village of the dead I have ever seen. It is also the final resting place of the famed Eva Peron.

Diego, our guide was super knowledgeable about Argentinian history and politics - it was a really great tour. We really had the time to ask the questions we wanted, as we were the only people on the tour.

Today we really began to see the enchanting side of Buenos Aires. The old architecture of Recoleta, the green area in Palermo, the history....We were exhausted from walking and biking all day, but had our first day of feeling fulfilled after tourism.

The only downfall of the day was finding good food to eat. I literally ate bread for every single meal today. We realized were are spending a ton of money on food, but have only had one noteworthy meal thus far. Instead of a restaurant, we went to a mini market to find dinner. There wasn't all too much that fell into both the healthy, and the vegetarian cateory. For about 6 dollars, we got 4 baguettes, butter, chocolate wafers, a bottle of wine and a litre of beer. And that was dinner!

Well, I guess there was actually two downfalls - at the end fo the night when Gregg was moving around our tiny bathroom, he knocked my toiletry bag into a toilet with pee in it (G. Pee). This included, of course, my toothbrush, my makeup, my shampoo..among other things. Gross, huh! G felt really bad about it tho.....

I am finding that I am sleeping well, and waking refreshed. It is nice to finally have a vacation. Sleeping with earplugs in has been a dream! Did I just jinx myself?!

I am super excited to see the open markets this weekend!

Day Two - Raining Gatos y Perros

2007-10-27T18:54:00.000-07:00

Day two was about as uneventful as day one. Our quest to book a show at the famed Teatro Colon brought us relatively close to where we had spend the previous day. We took a bit more time seeing the iconical obelisk downtown, attempted to book a ferry to Uruguay (which we decided to nix)..and eventually ducked into a cafe for a long, long lunch while rain dumped down on the city. We had dressed for the heat and humidity we had experienced the previous day. After we got bored with our extended lunch, we ventured outside to catch an available cab. That available cab never came - but the cold wind sure did! It was cold as heck.

We ducked into a mountain gear shop to escape the rain. The employees there spoke English fluently - which is a major rarity here. They advised us on the remainder of our trip, the Patagonia part - and gave us some of their mate - which led to the most amusing event of the day.

Though he was fluent, the employee accidentally told Gregg to blow into the mate (which essentially is like telling someone to blow into a straw instead of suck). Gregg did this, and proceeded to blow hot water and Herba Mate (loose tea leaves) on some jackets for sale. Highly funny.

We returned to our neighborhood and strained to find a restaurant that opened up before 8 pm. They just don't really exist here! These people eat dinner at the most ridiculous hours! Even at 8 or 8:30, the restaurants are generally empty!

The only decent restaurant that was open was a pricey one (We haven't found food, or much else for that matter, to be as cheap as we had been expecting).

The whole experience was fantastic!(it is hard for me to eat well as a vegetarian, and as someone who can't understand all items on a Spanish only menu)...With wine, beer, T-bone for Gregg, some pasta dish for me and helado for dessert - it came to about $50 USD. Which is way more then we need to be spending on vacation!!!!!

However it was a truly enjoyable, long and leisurely meal. Argentian Malbec is a great red wine in general, btw.

On the whole, it was a boring day, redeemed by our fantastic dinner. We are finding ourselves largely underwhelmed by BsAs, and wondering what all the fuss is about.

Here in Buenos Aires!

2007-10-26T19:47:00.001-07:00

After a relatively uneventful flight, we finally arrived in Buenos Aires. We didn't do much of excitement on our first day - just relaxed and tried to decompress after week of non stop working, and little sleep. The city, on first impression is bustling, dirty, boxy, in parts beautiful, and not much cheaper that Salt Lake City, which cam as a shock to us. We spent our first day wondering around the shopping district of Florida Ave, and trying our damndest to find out way back to our hostel in Palermo Soho. We had neglected to write down the street number, and my initial guess was fairly far off.

Unfortunately, we got word from our neighbors that the back window of our car had been smashed in at about 1 am the night we left. This would probably be a good time for a little story.

We were fairly sure that it was related to the contractor we had been at odds with before leaving. He took a deposit for work and left to run errands. Said he'd be back in an hour, and never returned. We literally called him about 50 times - with no response. That night he called back, pretending to not know what we were talking about, convinced he was still going to do the job. We fired him more times than I can remember. Additionally, he sent a worker to our house the next morning, neglecting to mention to the worker that I had fired them all. When I called to discourage any future drop ins, and very clearly told him that if he didn't return our money, we would call the cops. He didn't, and we did. Additionally, the company name he was working under was registered to someone else, who had no idea who my workers were. Oh the drama!!!! It was NOT the news I wanted on vacation (who does!?). I can only hope it was an isolated event.

Asbestoside.

2007-10-25T20:00:00.000-07:00

While finishing up some plumbing under the house, Gregg found a material he likened to "tampons" wrapped around our pipes. Luckily we just made a brand spanking new friend who is an asbestos tester. Double luckily we had just dog - sitted for them (for little willy) all weekend, so they were still feeling indebted, and triply luckily - they are the only people we know who also live on the west side, so they didn't have far to go.

To make a long story short, Buster Brown came over and brought his asbestos suit and took a sample. Results have not yet been reported, but I think seeing him int he outfit was definitely a quality moment.

Old Pictures of the house!

2007-10-25T19:48:00.000-07:00

I just came across these pictures on Gregg's camera that we never posted or looked at. We have come such a long way!

The exterior of the house

2007-10-21T19:45:00.000-07:00

So finally the first coat of stucco is on!!!! Next spring we (or Gregg) will add the finish coat. Sometime between now and them hopefully we can get the soffits and such on the exterior, to make it look a bit more finished.

The rest of our house, however, is hurting!!!! Our yard went severely underwatered this summer - and we certainly didn't have time to landscape. Next year, next year...! While we have painted some of the trim white, I still have a bunch more to paint - and I would like to replace the metal railings with nicer white wooden ones.

Always something to do!! But it's coming along!

Our backyard, however, looks like a natural disaster struck - and that may take a bit longer to beautify :)

Drywalling!

2007-10-21T19:44:00.000-07:00

Our place is coming together!!!

We have been going crazy, working long full days, to get the house moved along before we head to Argentina. We talked and agreed to hire some drywallers to come in and finish up the walls. It is a task that would have taken us probaby a month - and wouldn't have been done nearly as well.

In order for the drywallers to be start their job, we had 2.5 days to finish
- the waste plumbing (Gregg)
- insulate the walls (samantha)
- and ceiling - yucky!! (samantha and Gregg)
- finish framing the drop down ceiling in the bedroom(samantha)
- build a closet for the washing machine (samantha)
- build the bench and built in niches for the shower (samantha)
- plastic wrap the walls that have been insulated (samantha)
- install the pocket doors (samantha and gregg)
- level and finish off the doors (gregg)
- built the interior bathroom walls (gregg and samantha)
- finish the electric (gregg)

among other things.

We worked LONG LONG days to get this stuff done. I was happy I had a slow week at work and could frame some of the interior things that need to be built. I am not the most experienced framer, but it sure is fun!!!

The first drywallers we hired, via craigslist, wound up being insane, stealing $200 from us, and refusing to be fired - still sending an unknowing worker to our house the following morning. I eventually had to file a police report, because they were operating under a false company name, among other things...It was super stressful at a time when we were already exhausted from working our butts off.

But, we did find some new drywallers that we like thus far.

Plumbing and Interior Framing

2007-10-21T19:43:00.000-07:00

Night in Moab

2007-10-21T19:42:00.000-07:00

After a few intense weeks, I was overly ready for a night away! With the weather changing it seemed everyone I knew here was feeling the same way. After a hectic week of non stop work and drama, my friend Tonya and I made the 4.5 / 5.0 hour drive down to Moab to meet with Gregg and Zach, who were already there climbing. My friends Aaron and Kendall from Seattle were also there, on the tail end of their southwestern roadtrip.

I haven't seen Aaron since I moved, and though I love SLC, I do miss my friends back in Seattle. 5.0 hours is a long drive for a night, granted - but the scenery and the company made the drive fly by.

Were were supposed to climb on Sunday, but our friend Zach aoke with a disgustingly enlarged uvula (hangy ball thing int eh back of your throat). It looked as if it would burst, or cut off his airways if it got any worse, so we nixed climbing to get him home.

My state is BEAUTIFUL!!!!

80's Party

2007-10-21T19:40:00.000-07:00

Dressed up for the mid-season kickball party. I am not one for themes, but apparently Utahoans love the 80's! Gregg dressed up as an 80 year old - a tribute to our kickball team - the old farts' - and also because our next door neighbor Jean had given us tons of her late husband's clothing that day. What a coincidence!

Interior Framing in Style

2007-10-21T19:37:00.000-07:00

Doors and Windows

2007-09-11T19:38:00.001-07:00

Our construction is coming along!! Gregg installed the doors and windows this week, and hopes to complete the stucco on the outside of the house soon. For now, the roof on the addition is complete - so no more getting up at 5 am and vacuuming out water!!!! Right before the roof went on, it rained, and even hailed for several days.

It's coming along!

House Building

2007-09-01T20:00:00.000-07:00

My father came to visit - and worked his butt off to help in the construction effort - we now have a framed addition!!!
After my father left, Gregg got the roof up - but we still ahve a long way to go - electricity, plumbing - interior walls, eindows, insulation....

Pics from Laura Snellgrove's Wedding

2007-09-01T19:52:00.000-07:00

More pictures from Laura Snellgrove's wedding - I love those two!!!!

Camping in Oregon

2007-08-23T14:55:00.000-07:00

About a month ago we went camping in Oregon, here are some of the pics!
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Heading to Portland Oregon

2007-07-30T21:39:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Gregg and I headed to Portland Oregon - by car - for the wedding of Laura Snellgrove and Josh Good - two people who are nothing by quality, and who I would transplant in SLC if I could.
Gregg, champ that he is drove the whole way both there and back! I offered to take over, but he was a man on a mission!

Though I don't adore, by any stretch of imagination, single day really long road trips (how times have changed now that I've driven these roads through and through!)....I DO love the Columbia River Gorge Area - it is one of the most calming and beautiful places in the Pacific NW, and one of my favorites in general, country wide.

Gregg and I checked out Wachella falls, a short 1 mile in, 1 mile out hike, and quickly stopped to admire a large dam on the Columbia. Gregg was hating the Pac NW moisture, but I was enjoying escaping the 100+ degree heat smothering us in Utah. it did however feel about 80 percent soggier in Oregon, than we have gotten used to in dry deserty Salt Lake.

Camping in National Forest near La Grange, OR, on the way to Portland

Morningtime - haven't camped in awhile, I was fearing bears all night.

Wachella Falls

Wachella Falls

Wachella Falls

Big ol' Damn

PATAGONIA-HO!!!!!!

2007-07-30T21:20:00.001-07:00

Finally, Samantha will be going to PATAGONIA!! and no silly people, I do not mean the outlet store in SLC, I mean the southernmost region of chile and argentina!!! To reward Gregg for all his hardwork, I suprised him with a ticket I got with frequent flyer miles, and then I bought myself an accompanying ticket (so I can collect airline miles, of course!)..

It just sounds cool, don't it...P a t a g o n i a....
I have never been to South America, so this will be super sweet to go somewhere so far off the map. It is like the Alaska of South America! ...And we all know how I feel about Alaska!

Greggers and I fly to Buenos Aires in the end of Oct for three weeks! I really want to go down to South America for longer, long enough to learn Spanish - but he have a lot going on here, with the house, with my work....

But, we plan on taking off for AWHILE next year, and we think we have narrowed it down to two destinations to choose from - South America, or Asia. HA! so vague....

We will be int he southernmost town in the world - hiking in some of the most splendiferious terrain in the world, and hopefully penguin viewing on the Argentian coast.

A map of glorious patagonia

oooooohhhhhh

We plan on seeing some of these....

The Perito Moreno Glacier - on our planned itinerary...
(ahhhhhhhh!)

Mt. Fitz-Roy - also on our to see list. w.o.w.

If anyone is happening to be in that region this fall, let me know!

Friends!

2007-07-30T21:08:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!

Recently I had a few friends come through town, which was great, because we only know a few people in town. Kaiti from Seattle came, and my friend Jake who I met in Israel rolled through with his girlfriend. Our paths crossed again a week later when I was in Portland for a wedding. Yay!

We got out a small amount around town, including a hike in the floral mountain meadows up at Brighton Mountain.hello.

Gregg and I hiking on Brighton Mountain

Kaiti and me hiking

One of many floral meadows of Utah

Lake on Brighton Mtn

More flowers on Brighton

Me and Gregg, Kaitlin and Jake

House Updates!

2007-07-30T21:00:00.001-07:00

Gregg is just about done with the foundation process - it was expensive, arduous and I am sure he is elated that it is nearly complete! He had a little help along the way from Kaiti and his brother Paul. He has just finished tearing down the-pre-existing addition to our house (all 7 feet in width of it)...and hopefully we will be ready to start framing the new addition when my father comes in a week!

We are finding that we have been terrible with paperwork and organization, so I am going to make and effort to organize the project to make it easier on Greggoire. its coming together though - even though the heat is anywhere between 95 and 105 degrees daily!

The rebar inside the foundation

My dirty feet after minutes of helping -
sort of reminds me of a certain roommate in Israel!

Gregg and Paul building up the foundation

Paul roasting in the heat!

Colorado, again!

2007-07-10T09:11:00.000-07:00

Back again in Denver last week for a wedding! Met up with our friends Kevin and LeiLei there - I had never met the groom, and nont of us had met the bride - who was about 6 months pregnant. - (they swear she got pregnant a week after the engagement) We all explored downtown Denver (I was surprised and delighted to find they have a fantastic Art Museum, which is called DAM) - Denver was incredibly interesting architecturally - especially in the area surrounding the museum.

After the wedding - we headed about an hour out of the city and went white water rafting in the mountains. It was my pretty much my first time doign this (aside fromt eh mild water of Israel's Jordan River - it was exhilarating in 38 degree water! It took several hours to bring my numb hands back to life.

I have still not gotten around to bringing my disposable waterproof camera to the camera place yet for development. Thankfully, this time we flew to Colorado - a quick 1 or so hour jump over there from SLC (much quicker then the 8 hour drive a few weeks ago).

Idaho Springs, Co

The sunsets are rather pretty around my house.

Gregg and Kevi

Korean Wedding Costume, I think....

Dressed up and ready to go...

The Groom and the other of the bride

In downtown Denver

Still dressed up and ready to go...

The bbq before the big day - at the bride's parent's motel

LeiLei and Kevi

Dinosaur National Monument

2007-06-22T21:21:00.000-07:00

Heading back from Red Rocks / Denver, we drove through Dinosaur National Monument - I had never been there before, it is located in t he NW corner of Colorado, sprawling into the eastern part of Utah. Dinosaur was beautiful and remote and peaceful. We pulled into the Colorado part at the tail end of a sunset - and continued on in the Utah part the next day. It was spectacularly beautiful - petroglyphs, mountains, hundred of layers of rock one on top of each other...

Colorado, sunset, dinosaur. nice.
And then onto the Utah part of it all...
How weird is it that Dinosaur Nat'l mon. has rocks that are golden and shaped like a d-saur. (note: that isn't why they named it such)

Damn allergies!

petroglyphs!

Foldsey and Mayer

2007-06-22T20:32:00.000-07:00

Well, lame I may be, but when two of my favorite artists play together in the most amazing outdoor ampitheater in the country (Red Rocks), I gets excited. My brother found the concert and suprised Gregg and I with tickets for our collective birthday. We arrived very early and scored 7th row center, out of several hundred rows. Much superfantasticness. Even tho it had rained early in the day, The towering rocks and sheer vastness of it all was magnificent. Everyone should have the experience of seeing a show there.

The approach to Red Rocks Ampitheater outside Denver, Colo

Anticipating the big show. much anticipation, since we came mucho early to get the good seats.

Lots of people, lots of rock. both natural and manmade. tee hee.

We drove the 8 or 9 hours to boulder for the weekend - and had the opportunity to catch up with a friend whom I met in Israel - how delightful it was to hang out in public with human beings! We are such shut ins here in SLC!
The opening act (to the opening act) was Brett Dennen, who I had never heard of before - he was wonderful! A little hawaiian, Jack Johnsoney Raggae-y.And he came out barefoot.

Brett Dennen

Then the fantastically amazing Ben Folds - 100x better then I was expecting. Hilarious, full of energy, and so damn good - in fact, the best performance of the night. Good Good Good. I can't wait to see him in concert again.

And then, John Mayer - who I was hoping would just be an acoustic, sitting on a chair - but instead it was a 8 or so piece band behind him, and a bunch of jamming out. Also, I was unfamiliar with much if Continuum, his new album - so I wasn't as plussed as I would have been, had he played all my old favorites (3 x 5 and comfortable - altho' he did play Why Georgia) with a guitar and no backup. Still, enjoyable though.

Good ol Johnny Mayer. Born In Bridgeport, Ct. (Your hero, me of course, was ALSO born in CT)

Excavation

2007-06-20T08:51:00.000-07:00

Hello friends, family and all your creepies that read blogs of people they don't know...
Last week was out birthday week. You will have to wait until later posts to read about that tho;
To kick off the week, we hired excavators and dug up our backyard in preparation for the addition we plan to build. (build ourselves!)
They brought in a track-hoe, or so they called it, and wrecked our yard up good. In the process, we found some old bottles, some dating back to the 1920's, and some bone, which we have yet to submit for DNA testing. Speculation is much more fun though, isn't it!?
This week we will pour the foundation.

What we started with...

Gregg's worky outfit

Removing a very heavy concrete block and pole..

A collection of items found in our little dig.
Some date back to the 1920s, say the internet

Digging a walkway for extending the crawlspace

And..the finished product...

Bones of unknown origin, also found in the digging.

Housey update

2007-06-12T18:48:00.000-07:00

Things have been developmentally disabled onthe house front - as we decided to scratch our earlier plans, and go ahead and add 16 feet to the rear of our house. It would enable us to leave all the other rooms intact, instead of coming up with absurd ways to make more space when there ain't that much to start with. So, the excavators come tomorrow, and then onforth we shall go.

On a happy note, mother suprised Greggy and I with a 40 inch Samsung, shiny black flat screen HD LCD tv. suprise suprise! It is fantastical. And even more fantastic is the $20 stand I found at the thrift store to rest it atop. Because there is nothing like resting a pricey tv ona brown box of unpacked books!

Also, IKEA opened its SLC doors in the end of May, so we picked up a nice new couch and ottoman, and a one dollar table from teh scratch and dent section (plus $20 of legs to hold it up)..
We are in business!

We took time out on the 10th for Gregg's birthday, and we will again this weekend for mine - to Colorado to see John Mayer and Ben Folds at Red Rocks Ampitheater.

But, I have had a very few stressful weeks, so when it came time to take a sledgehammer to the back room in our house, I was game. Game and a half in fact! Boy did that feel nice. Gregg ripped up the floor the next day - and boy, you really never know what you will find - we had layers of interesting flooring to feast our eyes on!

Also, Salt Lake City supposedly picks up extra trash on teh side of the road for spring cleaning once a year (I say this because they were supposed to do this yesterday). There are huge piles of sofas, and debris everywhere awaiting rescue. So, we cut down our unsavory shrubbery, and now we have a roadside jungle awaiting pickup...

I painted the window this week, but I had a lot of sanding to do to remove layers of ugly paint. I didn't get all the layers off.

Our roadside jungle

Our newly naked-ed house

The suprise layers of floor below our back room's carpet...

What a gorgeous subfloor, eh! Vinyl heaven!

Felt good to wreck those walls!

More heavenly subflooring.

And speaking of heaven, our new tele.

And my new kitchen floor mat.

Wrecking mothers tubbly wubbly

2007-06-12T18:28:00.000-07:00

What more fantastic a way to practice for upcoming home construction then on mother's bathroom! Mother put Gregg and I to work. Initially we were going to do a nice new tile floor for her, as a thank you for her help with the downpayment on our new housey....but, being my mother and all....ideas began to brew. Us women are ever looking for them greener pastures.
Mother decided the avocado tub, pot pot and sinky had to go. And, she also decided that it was time for a whirlpool.
This involved a significant amount of wearing, tearing and smashing of cast iron bathtubs. It also involved much man labor. And a little bit of woman labor as well. Winston, the dog, was unhappy with the uprooting of his bathroom. We stayed an xtra week, but still failed to complete the project in its entirety, but did replace the whirlpool, tear down two layers of wallpaper and respackle, remove and replace the tile, assemble the new sink and countertop and stop a faucet that has been leaking for decades. Now, onto our own abode....

The Starting product...the bathroom I grew up using...yeck!

De-tiling the floors. Them tiles came up WAY too easily...

Comforting the puppy.

Goodbye walls.

Taking time out to potty train Winston. Unsuccessful.

Take that mother!

Good time for a house party...

This is how we left things. I found I LOVE tiling! With a tile saw it's a snap, and super fun!

Where's Warhol?

2007-05-30T20:34:00.000-07:00

Visited my mother last week, while taking a break from redoing her bathroom we went to NYC. We brunched out in New York city at a super duper good breakfast spot. Olympia Dukakis also thought so, but came dressed as Andrew Warhol.

Exploring

2007-05-27T19:38:00.001-07:00

We went out and about exploring some local waterfalls. Here are some pics of the heavenly splendor that a .10 mile hike can yield.

More house updates!

2007-05-27T19:25:00.001-07:00

So, we just got back home, after visiting with my mother in CT for a few weeks. We were initially going to tile her bathroom floor, but then embarked on a much larger project as she realized her avocado tub, sink and toilet had to go. (Picture of that in the next posting).

We weren't able to really get going on our home improvement projects before leaving for CT, because we didn't want to leave our house half roofed, etc..
But, Gregg did build a handsome cover for the crawl space and start to level out the back of the house - some previous owner or another probably turned a deck into a home addition, and didn't properly support the floor, so it is slightly sloped, and currently not necessarily ready for the weight of a new bathroom atop it.
I have been trying to juggle my job, unpacking and drawing the floor plans up for the house. I also put together some handsome adirondack chairs for our front porch. Next project - screen to block the sun in our eyes when we sit in the chairs!
Also, after much trolling on craigslist, we found a murphy bed for our guest room, and a super cheap whirlpool tub that we will install when we redo our master bath. sweet!!!!! its friggin' huge!

Our future master bathroom whirlpool

Gregg in the crawlspace figuring out how to level the floor of the back room.

Starting the floor leveling process

Putting together our handsome new adirondack chairs.

I love them!

New Appliances! And the start of a Veggie Garden!

2007-05-07T13:21:00.000-07:00

We are beginning to start sorting everything out here - trying to figure out what needs to be done, and in what priority...After 4 or 5 days without them, our appliances finally arrived on Saturday! After 3 or 4 trips to the Lowe's and Home Depot, we finally have our Oven/Stove / Fridge and Dishwasher in their temporary locations. Our kitchen will be in limbo for the next couple months, as there are a few higher priority items on the legnthy to-do list. For some reason or another, the previous owner made the executive decision to paint every wall and ceiling in the house tan. BLEGH! and to put a HORRIBLE texture on everything. I wish they just woudln't have even bothered!)

(Our old, and oh-so-handsome range. Why ever did almond go out of style?)

(Gregg removing cabinetry to find a temporary home for our dishwasher until our kitchen is remodeled in a few months)

(My first dishwasher as an adult. YAY!!!!!)

(Our new appliances - a bit out of place in our current kitchen)

Gregg has finished planting the starts for our veggie garden. Now he is spending all his free time playing, watering and feeding his kids. He is such a doting father.

Getting settled, starting work on the lawn

2007-05-03T10:58:00.000-07:00

It has been in the 80’s and sunny and hot, but I woke up to a cool rainy morning which turned to hail after a few hours, then ceased entirely.

I am going to walk to the grocery store to get bagels for breakfast – our fridge won’t be arriving until Saturday (the delayed arrival gave us $10 percent off our appliance suite).

Our hot water heater may be broken – which will be good because we bought the home warranty, so if it is, then we will get money for a new one – and then we can get the new energy saving on-demand kind we have been researching, which is more pricey, but saves money on energy, and saves space.

While we have more space then previously, we still have little room for storage, and washing machines, especially after we install our second bathroom soon.

We then bought a push-lawnmower off craigslist for $100 – when we picked it up, we found a pile of “junk” and extracted a circular saw and long folding table for temporary use in the shop. Not perfect, but in working condition. The saw just needeed a new $5 blade! Yay! (wait, I thought G already had one, I’ll have to ask if we have two now)

Gregg mowed our jungle of a backyard....

..and I derooted, weeded, deplanted the space which will soon be our vegetable garden (thanks for the peas, eggplant, tomato, squash and other plant starts donated by Farmer Colin).

Someone who once owner this house got very concrete happy and there are strange instance of poured concrete here and there which I hope to remove.

The water heater guy, Nate, if you will, comes today and I will know more about that. So far, everything going well.

Arrival Day

2007-05-03T10:37:00.000-07:00

After about 13 hours on the road (broken up over two days) we arrived! I don't know how I used to not mind driving these long distances, it was SO boring!!!! Gregg, the NASCAR champ that he is, drove the whole way!

It was so exciting to head into our very own house for the first time!

Upon arrival, we found that our front yard had been mowed by our neighbors - nice, eh?!But our backyard was a jungle!

Very efficiently the gas, water and internet were turned on - and we were done moving in. Our neighbors seemed nice, from the brief introductions we made. It was astonishingly different to move into a residential neighborhood, populated by home owners, as opposed to a street of rental apartments.
It is a relatively quiet neighborhood for being on such a main street. It is definitely a working class area - which highly contrasts the moneyed neighborhood we just vacated in Seattle.

Moving on....

2007-05-03T10:04:00.000-07:00

Moving day came and went - we have arrived here in our happy new home.
Here are some pics of our going away partay, and of saying goodbye to my brother.

Farewell Smith Rock

2007-03-26T08:44:00.000-07:00

A few weekends ago, climbing season began again for old Samantha. Gregg, and I - along with our friends Aaron and Jill, Brad and Kaiti, Matt and Allison and a few others, took the 6 hour drive south (in separate cars), and slightly east To Terrebonne, a little burb of Bend OR.

The 70 - 80 sunlight was well received, although we didn't do too much climbing. Laziness, preoccupation, who knows..

Gregg decided he hates Smith - and that this might be our final journey there.
It was the first places I ever climbed outdoors, so it holds a special place in my heart, though I am quite alright with not climbing there again, as it is about to be a much longer road trip for me........

Weekend in Alyeska

2007-02-25T12:07:00.000-08:00

So the famed Gregory and I went to Alyeska - the largest ski resort in Alaska.
Why ever would we do such a silly thing as go to Alaska in the middle of the winter? Excellent query samantha, excellent query.

We went because I love Alaska, we had free freq. flyer flights, I wanted to see the northern lights - and well, I thought it would be interesting. We saw no northern lights, but did ski two days, and saw Alaska's incomparable scenery.

When we arrived on Friday night, there was snow a'fallin. Very nice to have that wintery Alaskan feel right off the bad. Set the mood right well. We decided that this snowfall would make for excellent skiing, and altered our plans for the next day to accommodate this assumption.

Morningtime came, and we headed out for the resort. It was darkish and foggy. The ski areas there have to open a bit later (10:30 am) due to extended dark hours. It wasn't very busy there so we got out tickets (after waiting in a line that should have had 3x as many persons fo rthe time it took) and got on a lift. At least I assume it was a lift. It was too foggy to really tell. In fact the whole day it was pretty much too foggy to see anything more than 2 feet ahead - which made for difficult sk conditions for your hero, Samantha.

We learned this was not typical from a nice fella on the lift. In fact, everyone we talked to was very nice and very chatty - much easier to meet people and strike up an actual conversation - rather then a super duper quickie fake one - the kind we enjoy in the lower 48. I guess when you don't have many people around, you make the best of what you got.

After skiing, we hit the bar and got wine and the worlds largest piece of carrot cake, and fries. We are classy, and no one in the world can contest that simple factarooney. We met a fella from LA in the bar, who we would run into the following morning and ski with. That was one of the rare times, in all my travels, that I met someone who I would actually hang out with, while on the road.

The next day, the fog lifted, but I was tired, perhaps having something to do with the persitant stomach pains I was experiencing. I skied a half day, byt then bailed to take a nap. Gregg and Jack, our new buddy - continued at met me later at the bar in Girdwood.

Monday was our last day there, and we had planned to drive south to Seward, but the skies were cloudy as we traveled south, and I was feeling really tired and weak. We were able to catch an earlier flight and head home midday.

A fun after story: While I was gone someone was borrowing my car - and I just received a letter in the mail from a stop light camera, telling me I ran a red light at 5:22 am on the monday I was in Alaska. I will contest it on account of being 3000 miles away. And maybe me and the nameless perp will both get off the hook.

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Update number 2

2007-02-14T15:45:00.000-08:00

In this post:
- Freelance update
- Computer update
- Moving update
- Trip update

So the more recent news (the previous post was written weeks ago, but just posted) - I have been keeping very busy with freelance work. I made double my usual salary in the moth of January, just in freelance work. I have steady work through this month. I am putting together my own graphics company to try to get new business and keep the freelancing going. I am looking for anyone who needs illustration, graphics, web, photo.

In other news - I HATE APPLE COMPUTERS!!! I had a computer that was two months old, saturday morning, I went to use it, and it was dead. Nothing had happened, but the hard drive was fried, and the data unrecoverable. This is about the 5th mac this has happened to. So they are fixing the computer, but can do nothing about the lost data. BOO! I am so sick of Apple, Gregg and I went in on a new PC - an HP with Vista. I am still getting used to it, but so far I like it. Gregg is especially enamored of the Majong.

Moving news - I can't afford to buy a house anywhere nearby. But I CAN afford a house in Salt Lake City. Yes, Mormons, I know, everyone knows, so don't make the joke. Just hold that one in. And the mall shooting - hear that also, don't send me the new link.

However, what UTAH DOES have is this - 30 hour drive to world class skiing, and climbing - 4 or 5 hour drive to Zion, Bryce, Moab - and a 6 hour drive to the Tetons. It has houses IN THE CITY for under 150,000. It has 1.5 percent property tax. (Seattle has about 9). It has health care with an almost non-existant deductible for about 100 a month. It has a huge population of outdoor enthusiasts. It is closer to many of the places Gregg and I often visit.
I, ever the grownup, have been approved for a mortgage, all on my own, no cosigners! Apparently my credit scores are impeccable.

I head to SLC the first weekend in March to check the place out, talk to the realtor and look at homes!!! Worse case scenario (The 150,000$ homes) - my total monthly payment, mortgage, insurance and taxes, will be in the 900$ range. So do-able!!! So who knows, we can get settled, then rent it out and travel the world! After all, If I have to start a new business anyhow, what difference does it make if it's here or there!

And, the final news - Gregg and I are going to Alaska this weekend to ski. Cross your fingers that we see northern lights!

Hope you all are well!

Xmas number 3

2007-01-03T15:17:00.000-08:00

After a few days in Steamboat, CO with my family, Gregg and his two brothers, their girlfriends, and our friends Kevin and LeiLei showed up. Here is a picture after exchanging some gifts.

Handmade Gifts

2007-01-02T09:54:00.000-08:00

So I though this year, that I would try to make as many of my gifts as possible - that was I could learn, and have fun while sending money and gifting. Here is some of the jewellery I gave as gifts.

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Beatiful Mt. Baker !!

2006-12-11T10:39:00.000-08:00

Here is another pic from last weeked at beautiful Mt. Baker - my new favorite place in Washington State - it's gorgeous there! Look at those mountains in the back!

From left to right - Andy Chang, Jesse Heineman, Gregg, Me and Eric Nebel.

Mt Baker Ski weekend

2006-12-03T21:36:00.000-08:00

So my pictures don't do this weekend justice! Mt Baker (a volcano) and its surrounds, numerous sharp peaks all vastly higher than anything east of the Mississippi, formed a wintery heavenland. I have heard that Baker has received more snow (the 98 - 99 ski season) than any other resort ever - at something like 1140 inches. Last week, it broke the record for snow in one week - (or so I heard). This is phenomenal, as the inbounds area of the ski resort tops out probably 3000 ft. shy of the 10,781 ft summit of Mt. Baker.

For miles and miles it was underpopulated, forested and perfectly serene. The weather was extraordinary - the snow could have been fresher, but it certainly was acceptable. We bunked up with 15 people total in a house made for 10. All 14 of the other people were younger than me, and about 13 of them were engineers.

If you have never been surrounded by towering snowy peaks - this is a phenomenal place to start out. Riding up the lift, I felt as if I could have just as easily been staring at the Alps.

And - our new car was a champ! Fit all our friends (not all 15 were our friends of course..), all our gear, and went through the snow just wonderfully. And - I skied (without knowing it) my first double black diamond - granted it was mostly smooth - but I got down it, several times, unscathed-like. Gregg's also had an exciting weekend - aside from discoloring and swelling up his entire upper left leg after a tree collision, he also shared a bed and a pillow with another man.

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Let it snow!

2006-11-30T11:24:00.000-08:00

Well folks, November 2006 is the wettest month in in Seattle in over 100 years of recorded history. The past three days it has snowed here! That doesnt really ever happen. And when it does - oh boy is it funny!!! People aren't used to driving, so lots of things shut down - and people slide down the snowy roads on cardboard boxes for fun, and build little snowmen all over.

Gregg ran out of the house around 11 pm and built us our very own snowman, Snowy. He was really super duper until his head melted off around midnight. His torso and bottom were just snowy lumps on a green lawn by morning. Oh dear snowy....

Up to Mt. Baker to go skiing this weekend! A cabin full of engineers, and me.

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