So some stuff has happened!

Yeah yeah I've been bad at updating. But here's one thing to cross off the list: the West Coast roadtrip!

A cool bridge with Rapunzel hiding in the tower, in Seattle.

On Bainbridge Island, just outside of Seattle.

Mount Saint Helens.

Portland by bike

Crater Lake

Me and Dave, on the Northern California coast.

Me, Lisa and Nathan at Yosemite.

Finally made it to the beach! (In Oahu)

With Katrina at Lauren and Scott's wedding on Kauai.

With Lauren and Scott at the wedding!

Waterfall hiking on Kauai.

Sunset on my last evening on Kauai (at Poipu Beach).

Swimming

I came into work today after swimming at the Marie Reed pool, feeling good about getting up early and enjoying the early morning weather, feeling strong after swimming about 1,400 meters.

Then I came across this article.

Second triathlon!

Completing a triathlon was one of the first things I crossed off the list. But it was way too fun not to do again. So Catherine and I are doing another one in August, this time with longer distances and for a great cause. We're doing the Iron Girl Triathlon in Columbia through Team in Training, which raises money for leukemia and lymphoma research.

We went to the welcome breakfast this morning, and it was so awesome. We heard from some blood cancer survivors and a bunch of people who have participated with the group before. I read about the 11-year-old cancer patient who is our "honored teammate" this season (she is so cute!). I am SO excited about this. We'll be training with other Team in Training members, and coaches, for the next few months (the race is in August), all while raising a minimum of $1,600, which is a little daunting. So, I don't know who still reads this silly blog anymore, but if you do, please consider donating to get me closer to my goal, and you can also come see us race in August! Hopefully I don't drown in Centennial Lake.

And thanks to Angie for the first donation!!

Progress in the patio

I'm thinking that by tonight, I'll have crossed one more item off the list: Grow and eat my own veggies. My spinach is looking pretty good now, and I'm planning on sauteing some tonight for dinner. Here are some slightly outdated photos of the patio progress. The "garden" is a fair bit more overgrown at this point. I have some planters that I'll be hanging from the fence, so perhaps once I have some flowers in there, I'll take new photos. I'm loving my patio :)

My spinach and a few other things I can no longer identify.

Ikea patio furniture, rug off of Amazon.com. The plants are much bigger than this now.

This is probably closer to what the plants look like now. I made my self a burger last night on the new Craigslist grill! The little green table Mom got me is perfect for holding the raw meat and veggies while I'm grilling.

Yeah, so there's this.

It's been a while, but I'm still thinking about the West Coast trip. I've got plane tickets (ouch) and some general plans, but a lot is up in the air. One thing I 'm REALLY excited about is this:

This image causes me fear.

Lisa and I (and whoever else) are planning on hiking Half Dome in Yosemite. Everything I've read so far makes it seem rough, so I'm planning on training -- hikes, stair climbing, weight lifting, etc. Also, this means new hiking boots! Yeah!

West Coast planning!

Plans have changed a bit for the West Coast roadtrip. First, it's going to be in September instead of May, which means I have to miss Nina's bat mitzvah, which sucks. But it's for a good reason. My friends Lauren and Scott are getting married in Hawaii (!!!) in September, and I want to squeeze everything into one trip to save a bunch of money. The Hawaii part has pretty much been planned by the couple (including some really awesome stuff), so that leaves the West Coast. Here's what I was thinking about today.


View Larger Map

Here's a more detailed look.

This is the shorter of the two plans I've come up with so far. The other one had me driving down the coast of Oregon, but it turned a five-hour drive into nine, which means an extra hotel/campsite. And I'm already going to have plenty of California coast to drive, so I decided to take the speedy highway for the Oregon part instead.

In general:
Seattle -->
Mount St. Helens -->
Portland -->
Crater Lake -->
Cool Northern Californian coastal places with redwoods -->
Santa Rosa/Yosemite/wine country -->
San Francisco -->
Mountain View -->
Monterey -->
San Francisco (to drop off the car before heading to Hawaii!)

I've got three weeks. I might use the first few days of that vacation time to go to Fenwick with the family, so a little less than three weeks. It seems like so long now, but I have a feeling that once I actually get into the details of planning, it will seem like much less.

Can't say I'm surprised

Yeah I'm terrible at blogging. I've started others before, and they all died a swift death. But I said I'm going to keep this up, so even if there's one post a month (or two months!), I pledge to keep it crawling along, like a handicapped snail.

Anyway, since I haven't really accomplished any more items, I thought I'd use this, a New Year's Eve post, to look back on what's done so far and to brainstorm a bit.

Items I've at least made some progress on (yes, the bar is low):
8. Keep up a blog for three years -- Okay this is just barely. I'm glad I didn't set a post-a-day requirement. I hope to use more pictures in the future. I've got some way cool apps on my iPhone that should make this fun.
10. Send 30 letters or cards (1) -- I sent a card to Lauren and Scott when they got engaged. (By the way, I'm only counting cards on which I've written a meaningful amount of words on.)
12. Weigh 150 -- This has been super fun. I'm at 157 right now, so I have almost three years to lose seven pounds. I think I can do it. Weight Watchers has been awesome. Though occasionally I still gorge myself on chocolate cake. Also, cookies are a serious weakness. But what can I say; it's still working.
13. Get a car -- Ah, the Blue Bomber. That's what Mom calls it. The car has required one repair so far, but it's working well. I drove to work today because there's no parking enforcement on New Year's Eve. Awesome.
14. See Yosemite -- Well, I got the time off work, so that's progress, right? 
15. A week on the Appalachian Trail -- Thanks to Matt, I now own a sleeping bag and an awesome headlamp. Also Mom got me some trail maps for Christmas. I think I'm eventually going to get some hiking boots, but this is pretty far down the road.
19. West Coast roadtrip -- Same as Yosemite, above. Matt might join me for the northern part.
21. Finish a triathlon -- That was awesome. Catherine and I did this in September. My only goal was to finish without having to walk during the 5k. I think next year I'll do it again but actually try for a good time. Not expecting to place or anything, but I want to push myself. Note to self: Need to buy a bike rack for the car.
22. Read 30 awesome books -- I haven't updated this on the sidebar yet, but I did finish one book. That is sad -- I should have gotten much farther on this by now. But as penance I will try to actually start making my book list today. Anyway, the one book I've finished is "The Gift of Fear" by Gavin de Becker. It's pretty awesome, and I recommend it to anyone, especially women. It talks about trusting your instincts. 
23. Grow and eat my own veggies -- The patio is pretty much ready -- I just need a few more containers for the veggies themselves. But this will have to wait for spring. It is super cold out.Oh and I also got "The Washington Post Garden Book" to help me once I start planting.
24. Throw a fancy garden party -- Ditto the progress on the patio. I also still need to buy a dining set, but there isn't a great selection out there in fall and winter, so I'll probably have to wait till spring for this, too. I did get an awesome outdoor rug, though!
28. Learn to knit -- I took a class at Stitch DC, but honestly, I'll probably have to take another one in order to make anything on my own. And I haven't worked on my scarf in a while. I should probably get on that so I can use it before it gets warm again!

I guess that's about it. Not terrible for the first few months.  In the next post, I will attempt to start compiling my book list.