The first week of 2017 was COLD! It stayed below freezing until some time Sunday afternoon, with thick layers of ice and frost decorating every surface.This was a week that really made me appreciate working from home - not having to spend 5 minutes in the cold every morning scraping the ice off my windshield, or waiting for it to defrost. Instead, I could enjoy the beauty of the cold by going for afternoon walks, during the warmest part of the day. Over the weekend, Andy and I drove out to the Snoqualmie Valley so I could stop by my favorite yarn shop to stock up on yarn for my next big project, followed by a walk around the frosty Evans Creek Preserve before heading home to start knitting. Now that the holidays are over, I finally have time to start this sweater for myself! The pattern has been at the top of my list since I saw a knit sample of the sweater at Tolt Yarn last winter. I'm so excited to finally get started on this beautiful project. Hopefully I can knit quickly and have a cozy new sweater to keep me warm for the cold winter day to come!
Read moreLife: Week 52
The last week of 2016 was filled with snow, sunshine, family, and sweets! Most of it was spent in Wenatchee, celebrating a belated Christmas with Andy's family. After the hectic scramble leading up to Christmas this year, this was the perfect way to end the year, and start off 2017. We spent hours playing with new games and toys and reading new books with our niece and nephew. We drank hard cider made by my father-in-law from the apples on Vashon and limoncello made by my brother-in-law from the lemon tree in their backyard. We ate far too much delicious food, as we usually do when we visit Andy's dad. We stayed up late playing cards and dice, and catching up on life. We went on several snowy adventures, including two snowshoeing treks, with hot cocoa - or hot rum cider! - to warm us up after. Sadly like all good things, it had to end, but with 2017 off to such a good start, I'm optimistic about the year to come!
Read more2016 in Hikes
Breathtaking views from the Sauk Mountain trail on a cloudless July day!
2016 turned out to be a great year for hiking, even if Andy and I had to cancel plans for the hike I was most looking forward to! We covered a lot of trail this year, and spent more time camping and backpacking in one year than we have since we started dating! We also volunteered for our first trail work party with Washington Trails Association, and I joined the Alpine Trails Book Club, which combines hiking with another of my favorite pastimes - reading. 2017 is already off to a good start, but some of the adventures we had in 2016 will be hard to beat!
Read moreLife: Week 51
The week of Christmas is always so busy! All the time spent with family, baking loaves and loaves of pulla, the last minute scramble to finish all my knit projects before Christmas. I'm still wrapping up some last minute projects for the final gift exchange we'll have over New Year's weekend, but after months of knitting, it's wonderful to start passing my knits along to the recipients. The sweater I knit as a surprise for my niece, based on a favorite sweater of mine and my sister's turned out perfectly - a relief, since it was the first improvised sweater I'd ever made! My mom and sister both loved it, and it matched the original almost perfectly! It's dark so early these days, but light takes other forms in December - whether it be stunning winter sunsets, twinkling Christmas lights, or neon signs lighting shops in the city. During the shortest days of the year, these glimmers of light keep me sane!
Read moreLife: Week 50
Now that work has (finally!) slowed down for the holidays, I've had more time for mid-day walks and evening baking sessions. It's continued to be cold and overcast, but sadly there's been no more snow around home since the dusting I missed last week. It's been years since we last had a good snow around here, and now that I'm working from home, I wouldn't mind a few snowy days one bit! Luckily, we had plans to spend a lovely weekend in snowy Bellingham visiting friends who recently moved north. I'd thought it had been cold at home, but when we got into town Friday evening we discovered we were terribly under-dressed for the 18° temperatures! We didn't have to suffer too long, since there wasn't much walking to do, but the cold was certainly a shock! Saturday morning, we had a delicious brunch followed by a peaceful walk around Lake Whatcom. After a few hours relaxing at our friends hours, we spent the evening bar hopping in the city. Andy and I have become major homebodies since the summer, and it was a nice change of pace to get out so much.
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