Not Everything Around Here is Doom and Gloom...

Ryan and I get to smile...a lot. I'm sure it sounds like we are (I am) always struggling, and sure we have our moments of frustration, but we also have a lot of fun and plenty of reasons to be thankful.

We ventured with some friends to the Golden Dragon Parade in Chinatown to celebrate the Year of the Rabbit. It was amazing and I was surprised at how relatively uncrowded it was! I bought a confetti blaster and scared the crap out of a float of beauty queens when I blasted the confetti over them like a bazooka. Later we enjoyed some great conversation over oodles of noodles. ;)





We also had a chance ... or more correctly, we took a chance and sneaked away to Durango, CO for a long weekend. It was just what I needed! I was getting pretty burned out at work and being around family, especially my nephews and niece completely recharged my batteries. They are pretty much the most adorable kids in the world, and I love them so hard.

We pulled into town around 6 am and Dave and Erin let us snuggle in bed with them until the kids woke up. Jonas, the youngest, likes to crawl into their bed first thing in the morning and have snuggle time. By the end of our stay, he only wanted to snuggle with Ryan. I have to admit I was a bit jealous. Ryan is always the superstar.

While we were there Ryan was able to go snowmobiling while I helped Erin wrangle the kids and pass out Valentines. The next day the whole family went skiing at Purgatory, aka Durango Mountain Resort. We were so impressed! Those kidlets really know how to ski, even 3 year old Jonas was cruising down the double blue's with the help of Erin or Dave. We ate like it was Thanksgiving and then relaxed in the hot tub in the winter air. The boys were brave enough to roll in the snow a bit and jump back in, and we all were impressed when Jonas swam around the hot tub.

Not only did we get a good hike in, but we also saw Jed in his musical performance at school! We love those kids and can't wait until we see them again!

On our way back we stopped at the Grand Canyon to take in the view. I had never been and it was breathtaking. I would love to go back and do some legitimate hiking/backpacking. We were short on time, so we zipped around the rim and back down to the highway to L.A.

Within the last month I was able to spend some much needed time with my good friend Jamie. I did a 24 hour vacation in San Diego and we hiked to a beautiful and freezing waterfall and then drove the lazy, winding roads through pastoral country to the town of Julian where they specialize in pie. I was in heaven! I also learned what it meant to "do a solid". Where have I been? Am I getting so old that I can't keep up with the lingo?
Later, I accompanied Jamie on a trip to Reno, NV...narrowly avoiding death on a slippery highway thanks to my superb snow driving skills, to watch her niece and nephews while her brother and his wife enjoyed a little escape. What? Babysitting your friends family sounds boring, but it wasn't! It was a blast. Those little guys were full of personality and energy...let's just say I had to use my skills as a nurse more than once! It was like having little brothers and sisters of my own. We had so much fun teasing each other. We blazed our own sledding paths on some super steep hills...and managed to have only ONE injury! I took a half day of my own and went snowboarding down narrow chutes and wide open runs in 2 feet of fresh powder...every run. I got worked! On our looooooong journey (5 hours to go 15 miles) back, Jamie and I went snowshoeing half way around a reservoir. The sun was spectacular on the untouched and quiet snow. Nevada was good to me.

See? Not everything is doom and gloom.

Lake verNON

Ryan and I went backpacking in Yosemite last weekend. We were planning on a 5-6 day trip, but a friend and a huge Kid Theodore supporter, Kathy Carpenter, passed away unexpectedly and her funeral was on Monday. Our trip was shortened to 3 days. The first day we (Ryan) spent driving (I slept a majority of the time, having finished a string of shifts at the hospital). We stopped at a kitschy but admittedly cool road-side farm/market/fruit stand and had BBQ'd tri-tip sandwiches, fed the chickens, and pet the rabbits and goats. They had wine and cheese tasting (we only tasted the cheese), artisan foods and loads of stuff for hipsters to Quilted Bear homemakers to rednecks alike.

Hetch Hetchy Reservoir

Unfortunately, we ended up having to back track an hour or two after missing our turn-off. We arrived late at Hetch Hetchy and slept under the stars at the backpackers campground at the trail head instead of hiking to Laurel Lake. We got an early start, bypassing Laurel Lake and headed straight to Lake Vernon. I speak for both of us when I say we soon found out we are out of shape (although round is a shape). The hike was a mere 10-ish miles in, which should have been a piece of cake considering my past hiking adventures. Granted the first half of the trail is a series of steep switchbacks, it felt like a struggle most of the way. It was also unseasonably hot. I deserve to have another excuse right? We didn't reach camp until 4pm (we hiked an extra 2 miles to see the winter trail shelter).




Face flies galore. Can you see them all? That's only half of them.



We passed on setting up the tent and slept under the stars again. I would ditch tents altogether, but storms and rumors of storms keeps me from doing it. I would take my bivy, but that would leave Ryan to fend for himself if it rained. It would be nice to get another one so we could minimize pack weight and have back-up in case the weather is foul. I miss my day's at REI when I could actually afford all of the new fandangled gear through pro-deals.


Since we lost a day driving and we had a funeral to attend, we packed up and hiked back out the very next morning. We made good time (downhill) and covered the distance in 4 hours.

We took the scenic route home and drove through Yosemite Valley and visited Bridalveil Falls, Fern Spring, and Glacier Point. We'll definitely be back for more. Hopefully in better shape and have more time.

Sore and blistered, Ryan couldn't jump very high

We drank straight from this spring... I hope we don't die.