Welcome to 2010

Wow! I don't know about all of you but I am having trouble adjusting to 2010. I keep writting 2009 and then I have to errase the 9 and slip a 1 in front of the 0! I generally don't have this much trouble with a new year but I think after writting 0- for the last 10 years I set in my ways. This has caused me to start thing about other things that I might be set in my ways in, both good and bad. How much stuff do I hang on to because it's comfortable? How many things do I need to deal with and I don't because it's stuff that I don't want to face or I don't want to have to deal with right now because I am to busy doing other things? How comfortable am I with my living situation, my roles in certain groups, etc.? The answers to these questions have been running through my mind the last week or so and I must say some of the answers are disturbing and other answers have spurred me to action. I have gotten things moved around and out of my room, I have gotten my storage containers in my storage unit more organized, I am committing to keeping a daily journal and I am committing to taking care of things as soon as they need to be done. So far so good but it has only been about a week. I can usually write in a journal for about 2 weeks and then I quit. This time I am not going to let that happen. I love to write but I get too detailed and I stay up too late and I am tired when I go to bed, so one night I don't write and the downhill slide begins. This time around I am changing things, I have a journal that asks specific questions and it is a prayer and blessing journal so it somehow feels less like I have to give all the details and so far, so good!
As I go into this year I somehow feel it is going to be a year of many changes and I don't know exactly what I should be ready for but yet I can rest knowing that all things work together for good to them that love the Lord. I have already seen His hand at work and I look forward to seeing what is around the corner as I make the commitment to staying on track and doing what lies nearest, when it needs to be done and not a second later!
I know for a lot of us, FB sort of swallowed us and blogs have fallen by the wayside, but regardless of how might read this I am back and I am excited about sharing the adventures of this new year with anyone who happens by!
Happy 2010 to one and all!

Alaska again!

It's hard to believe that 4 years had gone by since our last cruise to Alaska but indeed it has. So why go to the same place twice??? Well aside from the fact that it's beautiful and convenient, being able to leave from Seattle or Vancouver it was the culmination of a promise that I made to Nicki way back when Nicki was much younger and in grade school. I had promised her if she would stay in school and graduate that I would take her on a trip somewhere. Well she did it and the time came for me to pay up! We went back around with different ideas over the years and finally at practically the very last moment we settled on going on a cruise to Alaska.
ANd so on June 22nd we set sail from Vancouver bound for the Inside Passage on the Norwiegen Sun.
It became the girls trip with her, her mom and gramma and my mom and me all going. We had wonderful adjoining cabins with large windows and fairly comfortable beds! Of course for anyone that has ever cruised before you know that a wonderful cabin includes a bathroom probably smaller than most people's closets, one small walkway along the closet, a tiny fridge filled with $2 a can soda that they are trying to tempt you to drink, a safe, a chair or two, a little desk space, a small TV and if you are lucky 2 little night stands and a small amount of floor space either between or along side the bed(s). But having descirbed the roomy accommodations I must say what more do you need? If you are like me you hardly spend anytime in your room anyway so it's really more than adequate. The rooms we had this time had nice fold down bunks so that was handy, much nicer than the pull out couch we had one the last one we went on with 3 people in a room.

This trip we left from Vancouver and stopped in Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway and also went through some fjords and up Endicot Arm to visit Davis glacier. Just in case you are interested I thought I would share a few highlights of the trip with you.

Ketchikan: It was rainy here but we once again visited the Saxman Native Village so that Nicki would have the chance to see the place and dance in the long house. This was the one thing she really wanted to do. Last time we were there I danced so this time it was her turn!

On the way to the village we saw an Eagle sitting on it's next right near the road which was fantastic because you could really get a good idea of how large the nests get. We did some shopping and picture taking and then it was back on the boat to our next port.

Juneau and Glacier: This is the capital city of Alaska and last time mom and I took a walking tour and saw all the capital sights but this time since none of the rest of our party had ever gone whale watching that is the tour we decided to take. We got views of a few glaciers along the way, the weather was wonderful and we were blessed to see not just whales but a cow teaching her calf to breech.

According to our boat captain this something they once see about once a week and we were privileged to see it. We also so lots of eagles and some sea lions as well as really great scenery, a neat lighthouse on the point of Admiralty Island which boasts the greatest concentration of black bears of anywhere in N. America. I want to go and check that out sometime in the future!
From Juneau we went into the Fjords and they were stunning. The glaciers that we saw were of course beautiful but the rocks and valleys carved out by them were simply incredible. Along the way we saw some seals perched on icebergs and some really interesting icebergs that looks like they have been sawn out of the glacier with a straight edge. I haven't ever seen icebergs like these.

Skagway: We had an entire day in Skagway and what fun we had there! I think this was my favorite town. Quite small but very pleasant. You can actually get to Skagway by car while the others we visited were landlocked and only accessible by air or sea. While in Skagway we took the White Pass train that follows the first part of the Yukon route and take you, yes amazingly enough to White Pass! The train ride was a lot of fun and we learned alot about the gold rush on the way.
The view looking back at the end of the train.
What a fantastic journey the men of the gold rush undertook to get to the Yukon. Once they made it as far as Skagway they had to walk 2000 lbs of supplies up over White pass to Lake Bennett before the Canadians would let them in.
This is the trail that they walked single file in a long line that continued almost 24hrs. a day for many months.
Then they built a raft or boat of some sort and sailed the lake and river for over 500 miles. If they made it that far they were then at Dawson Creek and then they had the task of finding and working a claim. Interestingly enough no gold was ever found at Skagway but now since it is called 'The Gateway to the Yukon" and all the tourists come there expecting to find gold they truck dirt in from the gold fields and make it available for panning on tours! Yes of course we went panning for gold and yes we all found some!

Top 10 things we (I) did while on board during sea days:
10: Bought my first real work of art (a beautiful Kincaid!)
9: Watched the Cat's Pajama's perform
8: Went to a demonstration/workshop on folding towels into animals. sort of like origami in towels!
7: Went to a really funny singles dinner where only another girl from Mexico and her 3 aunts showed up and so we had a ladies dinner...not exactly the place to meet guys! (In the process though I got meet a great girl who I hope to keep in touch with.)
6: Got dressed up and had pictures taken.
5: Got beat at Wii bowling by my mother!!! It was her first time ever playing a video game I think and she was afraid of looking silly...whatever!
4: Had my picture taken with the Cat's Pajamas.
3: Enjoyed some great shows.
2: Got dressed up in a sheet and went to a party with a white theme. I did' have anything white but wrapped and tied the sheet made quite the fashion statement, trust me! LOL
1: Went to 5/6 shows that the Cat's Pajamas gave on board and one time I actually got sung too!! I thought I had figured out who they pulled up and used in their shows but I guess I missed the part in the previous show where they sing to someone in the audience! I was shocked but I guess that's what I get for sitting in the front row. LOL You might have guessed I liked these guys! I hope I can convince them to come to Bellingham sometime before they really make it big and I can still afford tickets to their show because I am pretty sure they will not be affordable for long. If you like male a Capella music then go check them out!


There are more pictures here on my face book page albums:
Skagway
Juneau
On-board
Ketchikan

Well ok maybe not

So there I was in my last post excited that spring was here and then today I was putting on my long underware. Found this the other day that sort of summed it all up!

It's finally here!

It seems that spring or summer whichever you choose has finally arrived! I was whinning yesterday because it was getting a bit on the hot side and felt like such a baby until I realized that basically in one day we had a 20 degree temperature change. I didn't feel so much like a baby after that and felt quite justified in whinning!!! LOL Was interesting to notice that the air got remarkable softer all of a sudden as the temps rose. With the humidity it almost reminded me of Hawaii even though it didn't smell as nice.
Today was just a bit hot for my taste and I hope this is not a preview of what our summer is going to be like. On the other hand hot weather means hiking, camping, more hiking and more camping which I totally plan on doing this summer. Still am not decided about doing school this summer but am learning towards just working and playing with no homework!
Wish I had more interesting things to talk about besides the weather but alas my days are varied between class at Whatcom, class at Western, tutoring at Whatcom and spending time at my other job. On any given day I do at least 3 of those activities and then the next day I do it all over again. M/W it's WCC class/tutoring/work/WCC tutoring. T/TH it's WCC class/tutoring/WWU class/either dance class or work depending on if it's T or TH. Fridays after I get off work about 9am are my days to sometimes tutor, run errands, clean at home or any number of things I can't get to the other days. Then come Sat. its pick up the kids (my sudo neice and nephew that have been coming to church with me everweek) for church and then have most of the day until I go to work between 6 and 8:30pm. I get off about 9am sunday morning just in time to either meet one of my students for a tutoring session, hit a few garage sales or get home to get things down before it starts all over again. Once in a while I can sneek in a little time with friends but it seems that everyone else is busy too and hardly ever see anyone. Oh well that is life in the fast lane I guess.

Since I last posted there have been fun things like the Spring Messiah concerts, my mom and I helped with a wedding, I auditioned for a choir that will be preforming this summer and got in (will be singing Beethoven's ninth symphony in German with an orchastra so I am pretty excited!), and my mom and I went to the N. part of the OR coast for a few days during my spring break which was a ton of fun. I totally want to go back there. Anyone interested in a road trip with me this summer????? There is at least one park I want to go hiking in and I would love to stay at the old fort on the Columbia where Lewis and Clark first stopped. It is now a state park and they rent out cabins there.

Right now my gramma and uncle are visiting and while it's kind of stressful everyone is getting along ok so that is a blessing because it's not always the case when they are together and my uncle is involved. We will be taking my uncle back to Port Angeles either Sunday or Monday but my gramma will be staying until Weds. It is nice to see them both and I hope and pray that the rest of the visit continues to be pleasent.

well enough boring information...I'll try and find something interesting to post about very soon!

A new dress

How many of you have ever bought one of those clothing items that you have no idea where you are going to wear but it was resonably priced and you just had to have it??? I can say it rarely happens to me but today I fell victum to this very event. I was out shopping at a second hand shop where I get lots of my clothes and other things and there was this dress, a formal type dress, totally impractical for much I admit, and yet I had to have it. Where will I wear it? I have no idea, oh but I have shoes to match it so it's all ok!!! Mayby I'll wear it on my next cruise vacation formal dinner. I don't know but it's just so different than any dresses I own or have ever owned that I thought it should come home with me. It's navy blue, sleevless, with a narrow waist, 3 tiers of sheer fabric gathered and falling down from the waist, and then a sheer layer, cape of sorts falling over the shoulders. It's floor length, fits me to a T, and was under $10 so how could I leave it at the store for some less deserving patron???? I think I might have to take the fabric rose off from by the neck though and maybe figure out a way to make it into a hair peice or something because it might be just a big much! As if the dress isn't. Oh well hopefully someday I get a chance to wear it.

Now back to my homework...

Come be inspired!

Just wanted to mention a concert that I found out about that's coming up this Sat. that I think will be well worth attending. It is a piano concert, should last about 45min or so and is being presented by a young woman from the Phillipians who was born with only one hand and a stump. I have seen a video of her playing and it's truely incredible. She plays beautifully and as part of the program shares her testimony of how God has led her in her life despite her handicap. She has traveled the world touring with students from the music school that she attended and also plays the organ as well but I don't know if she will be playing that during either of the concerts. Here is a some more information about her. There will be two concerts offered in Whatcom county. One will be at the Bellingham Seventh Day Adventist Church, 910 N. Forest, Bellingham at 11am and is being presented in lue of most of the regular morning program. The second is being held at the Ferndale SDA church, 2488 Mountain View Rd. at 6:30pm and I think that one will be just the concert and nothing else though I am not 100% sure. Both are free with an offering being taken as far as I know.
I am going to go to the Bellingham one I am pretty sure and if anyone wants to come let me know you are coming and I'll look for you.

The Mouse

Cats were going crazy under my bed and I figured there was something down there. Then I went into my room and what should run up the corner of my bed but a little gray mouse. Of course it being me I can't honestly make it a good story and say that I ran screaming from the room but it did lead me to ponder mouse traps! I just can't say that I have ever set one. I know it's a little shocking but somehow I have always managed to have someone in my life who will set them for me and I can't say I have ever complained! But then I found this trap and I think it's just the one for me!!! Can you believe people actually invent this stuff??? Just made me laugh and I had to share.