2014 in review

I don't usually really sit down and reflect much on each year as it passes, but 2014 was a bit of a doozy, so I feel it warrants some reflection.

In some ways, it was an amazing year that brought me a lot of joy. But it was also a crappy year for many reasons:  loved ones (of mine or of people I love) have passed away, I've felt stagnant in some areas of my life, and I've been reminded that while some friendships grow, others, sadly, dwindle. And all of this was happening against the back drop of our community experiencing tragedy and unrest, filling many with hopelessness and anger.  It's really easy to dwell on the negative, forgetting that I actually have a lot to be thankful for. In an attempt not to forget, here are some of the highs of my year:

• Winter/Spring:
• I started a bunch of home improvement projects, these would actually continue through the year. My house definitely feels more "put together," and is a more pleasant place to be. Without the help of my awesome brother, this would not have been possible. He is super cool.
• Cooper and I had the opportunity to work with a fabulous dog trainer (Tovah) one on one for months. She helped me and my pup so incredibly much; her training has made our lives much happier. 
• I bought a new bike, and was able to hit the trails here and at the farm.
• Summer:
• I  traveled to see dear friends I haven't seen in years. Friends that my heart identifies as family. It was fantastic, and not to be traded for the world.
• I spent a day in Missoula, the city that breaths life in my soul.
• I ate huckleberries :)
• I watched my best friend full of happiness and love as she got married. It was a beautiful ceremony.
• I was able to travel to all these places to see friends for free because I won airline tickets in a raffle (yay!)
• I tried something new and terrifying:  rowing (ultra beginner stage), and found I absolutely love the peace that being on the water brings. 
• My niece (K) and I spent more time together; she is a ball of energy and makes the world better. She's hilarious, too. 
• My garden, especially my tomatoes and cucumbers, grew like crazy.
• Fall/Winter:
• I visited Boston (for free, again) and drank in the history and beauty of that city, meeting new friends while doing it.
• I cut 70-80% of the meat out of my diet. I feel better about my impact on the earth's resources in this respect.
• I found out Twin Peaks is coming back for a Season 3, with all episodes being co-written by Lynch/Frost (the only way it can work!)
• I was invited to a "surprise" wedding (the surprise being on us, the guests) by two of my favorite people. It was one of the best weddings I've ever attended.
• I, with a couple of friends, lots of community members tried to bring something positive  to our city in the midst of unrest and pain.
• I have a new fence that keeps my dog safely in the back yard. :)

So, what do I wish I'd done more of?

• hiked, climbed, biked
• cooked
• created less trash
• run (I couldn't, due to an injury.. hopefully I'll be able to this spring)
• gotten at least 7 hour of sleep a night
• made healthier choices
• spent less money/saved more money
• volunteered
• planted sunflowers

end of summer

Near Billings, MT

missoula path, 2010

This photo makes me happy, so you all get a bonus picture! Missoula Path, 2010

I was looking through old photos that I like to figure out what it was that liked about them, so as to capitalize on that, but I realize it may just be the subject material and not actually that there is anything special about them beyond that. Anyway, this photo is from a path that I spent a lot of time on when I lived (or now visit) Missoula. I would ride my bike on this path to reach tennis courts, or take it to reach the Mountain in the background so I could hike up to the M. So, I'm going to list some of the things I like about it, and I welcome you to tell me what you like about it and/or give me suggestions 0n how it could have been better.

What I like about it:
I tend to like paths, roads, train-tracks, etc, and they are prominent in many of my photos; this may stem from my love of travel, or I just like the lines, or both. Anyway, I like the path, and the idea of where it might lead. I also like the colors; the sky is a beautiful blue, and I love that the shades of green add dimension without being "showy." The benches, streetlamp, and the people on the path gives this place a sense of community and makes it feel alive. So Of course, I feel this way -in part- because of the memories affiliated with this photo; in other words, I'm biased.

mmm....huckleberries

I am eating a tasty PB and Huckleberry J sandwich right now. Deeeeeelicious!

true story

I finally got my hands on this picture. When Brandi, Kelly and I went on our hike up to to Holland Falls, this is the sign that greeted us:

i'd like to get my picture took

and put it in my memory book.*

Today I started making a scrapbook/photo album from my Portland/Missoula Holiday. I find the task fun, but somewhat stressful. What if I mess up? What if I RUIN it? So far I've done all my Portland pages and the first Missoula page. I'm really excited about how it is turning out! Here is the front cover I made!

*BigRiver, "Arkansas"

my sunglasses are supercool

I have irrefutable proof:

1. A drunk homeless person in Missoula told me so even after I wouldn't give her a dollar so she could buy a pint.

2. The guy at Goodwill told me so even after I gave him a bag that had both clothes and non-clothes in it.

If I hadn't already packed my USB cord, I would post a picture of my supercool sunglasses for you to see. As it is, you're just going to have trust that I'm telling the truth.

fun in glacier

Last week, Bird and I went camping in Glacier for a few days. Upon arrival, we set up camp and headed out for a hike. The hike was in Griz Country, so I was on alert. Fortunately, we did not come across any bears on the trail, although there was a tree stump that put a good scare in us. When we got back to camp, we noticed a bunch of people crowded around our campsite. They couldn't all be gathered for a deer, could they? No. Oh no. They were crowded around for a bear. Yep, that's right. A bear was milling around my tent and the tents of the people in the next site over. By the time Bird and I got to our site, the bear had moved off into the woods, away from all the people and commotion. I caught a glimpse of him, and he appeared big. Of course, any bear near your tent will appear big.

The Forest Ranger came and shoo-ed him off. Apparently, the bear was a sub-adult black bear. He comes around this camp ground often, but has never gotten into people food/trash or bothered anyone. Surprisingly, I was not freaked out, and felt confident I would sleep through the night.

As I was cleaning up dinner, I told Bird that the ranger said to wash our dishes at our site, but to use the dump-sink for our drippings. I told her this as I was heating water in our chili bowl so I could better clean it. The bowl sat atop my trusty pocket-rocket stove, and as I'm saying "we just have to be sure not to spill any of our drippings," what do I do? Why I knock over the bowl of chili water all over the table and ground. Seriously. Now, for those of you who have witnessed my klutziness, this may come as no surprise. It did not seem to faze Bird. I, however, was freaking out that there was now chili all over the ground of our campsite. A campsite visited by a bear not 2 hours earlier! I thought about moving camp, but instead just removed any dirt that was anywhere near the spillage, and called it good. Needless to say, the bear did not come back to eat the chili or me.

The next day we saw another bear (on the side of the road on our way to a hike). Bears are awesome, but I'd rather they not be near my tent.

Holland Falls Hike

Pictures, I say! Pictures! Here are a few pictures from a hike I went on yesterday up to Holland Falls:

I met a new friend along the way. It always surprises me how non-pulsed these mule deers are at my presence; it's a good thing I don't have a hunting rifle.

This is a picture of Holland Lake. The mountains pictured are the Mission Mountains: the most magnificent mountains I've ever seen. I still remember the first time I laid eyes on them. I had gone home with a friend who lived on the Flathead Indian Reservation for Thanksgiving my freshman year. We drove in at night so I did not see the mountains upon my arrival, but I woke up in the morning and outside the huge bay window were this majestic mountains. It was breath-taking.

Here are the falls. Unfortunately, I don't have a good picture of the falls that doesn't also picture either me or Brandi.

This little guy is about 1 foot away from me and Brandi. He and a friend wanted a bit of our apples, and they would not leave us alone. They actually did come up by our feet, and they were fast little critters! People should not feed critters because THIS is what happens.

Rain Rain Go Away!

For those of you who are regular readers, or who know me in real life (wait...those would be the same people), you know I love rainy days and thunderstorms. Well, not this summer I don't! I've got trails to hike and tennis to learn! It has not stopped pouring down rain all day and it is FREEZING. Luckily, the drizzle did not become full-fledged rain until after Bird and I hiked the "M," but I've spent the rest of the day bundled up with my crochet hook in (freezing) hand. Oh how I wish I'd made myself some gloves!

All settled!

After several days on the road and almost a week visiting good friends, Bird and I arrived in Missoula to find that the room we had rented out for the summer (and put all of our belongings we couldn't live without for 2 months in) had been re-rented out from under us! Nothing like realizing you are homeless after 9 hours on the road! Horrah!

Long story short: the college kid we were renting from is a piece of crapola, and (we think) gave our room away to a freind of a friend. He moved our stuff out to the garage and said "sorry, I didn't know you were taking the room." Um...what? We said we were taking it, we talked to your roomate, we moved our stuff in (as per his okay), and said we'd be moving in on the first. What's not to know?

Luckily, we found a place with 2 rooms (bonus!) that is downtown right around the corner from my favorite burrito place (bonus!) and in walk/biking distance from everywhere we want to go (bonus!). The new place is not well kept (dirty hippies), but we basically have the upstairs (w/ a half bath) to ourselves, so we can keep our area clean.

So far, we've gotten setteled, watch Bird's tennis teammates compete (and win all their games), walked a lot, biked a lot, and eaten a ton. Good times. Tomorrow morning, we hike the M! YAY!.

So, that's the update on me!

Matt's Neat Links & Missoula

If you go to Matt's Blog, and all 5 of my readers do, you probably have visited some of his "neat links." Right now, there is one titled "Bear vs. Tranquelizers vs. Trampoline." I suggest you click on it. This is amusing to me because the clip actually takes place in my favorite town, Missoula, MT. Bears in trees are actually not all that uncommon there. During my sophmore year of school there was a bear stuck in the tree outside of my freshman year dorm. Another time a bear was found sleeping on the quad ouside of the building where I checked my e-mail every day. Luckily for me, the bear was snoozing at the same time I was (early morning) so we did not encounter eachother. Ahh, Missoula....the last best place.

My trip was totally awesome!

Despite the unexpected night's stay in Denver on the way to MT and the missing bag at the St. Louis baggage claim, I had the best time on my trip!

We started out in Glacier, which is the most beautiful place I have ever been. I've been there just twice now, but it is my favorite of all the National Parks. The first day was a bit of a bust because of my stupid airline delaying me overnight, but on the second day we got up and hiked to Avalanch Lake. It was gorgeous - I highly recommend this hike. It starts out as the Trail of the Cedars, which is an easy paved trail, and continutes on a slightly more strenuous hike until it opens up to the beautiful Avalanche Lake. The rocks all around the lake were this weird light blue-green color - very cool.

We drove the Going to the Sun Road and saw lots of wildlife: big horned sheep, mountain goats, etc and on the way back, we saw a bear! It was a black bear meandering down the road. When it saw us it detoured into the forest, but overall seemed completly unconcerned with our presence. Needless to say, this pretty much made my vacation. It was topped only by seeing the look on SP's face when I told her the tale.

Day three, we lounged, and I mean lounged, by Lake MacDonald. The next day (our last day at Glacier), we went white water rafting. The rapids were not that fierce, and we were with a family who had no idea how the hell to paddle, so it was a bit frustrating. Seriously, I do not know what this family's problem was. They did not paddle in sync - I cannot tell you how many tmes I heard paddles clang against each other. At one point, the mom completely lost all reason and started paddeling the opposit direction from everyone else. The young girl, who cold not paddle to save her life, finally decided to stop, but her dad kept yelling at her to paddle. So, clang, clang, clang went the oars once again. Idiots. Still, we were going down a river in the middle of 3 million acres of protected land, so it was pretty freaking awesome.

Then we headed to Missoula and my heart immediately felt at home. We saw a pretty cool band called the Warsaw Poland Brothers. They have a bit of ska to them and we danced some jigs and had a really awesome time. We also saw The Inconvenient Truth. Everyone should see this movie! We also went to an experimental short film fest and the first documentary was by Werner Herzog (unfortunately, I've forgotten the title).

We ate a bunch of good food, climbed the "M," met Steve Frost (one of the writers for Twin Peaks), and walked all over town - many, many times - to take in the cool chillin' atomosphere of my favorite town. Me at the top of the M:

My trip ended in Billings where the unthinkable happened - my friend Brandi beat me at Trivial Pursuit. Neither of us could recall this happening before. I'm pretty sure she cheated.

I'm hot on your heels

Yep, I'm a runner. Actually I hate running, but desperately want to learn to love it, so while I was on the treadmill training my legs to go up hill in anticipation for my summer trip to Missoula where my college buds and I will hike to the M on Mt Sentinel, I switched up my routine and jogged a little. For four very long minutes. I tell ya this much: running is more of a work out than walking or biking.

Meanwhile, I am very excited about my trip in July! I have been back to Missoula in 2 years and it is just about my favorite place to be. We are also going camping in Glacier for 3 nights. I am a little worried about bears since we will be in Griz Country, but Glacier is the most beautiful place I've ever been, so I'm just going to take a heathy amount of bear fear with me on my trip and call it good.

"That gum you like is going to come back in style"

For the past two years, two of my best friends from college and I have met in the beautiful Snoqulamie Valley for the Twin Peaks Festival. The festival is just a fun excuse for us to get together, meet some cool people, and rewatch the awesome series. This year, we decided not to do it, opting instead to head for a Missoula renunion this summer. We all felt it was time to take a break from the fest and spend our money elsewhere. Also, we wanted to include our other best friend (who doesn't watch Twin Peaks) in the fun. I've really been looking forward to this trip - I'm already eagerly awaiting a white water rafting trip I'm sure we'll go on. I should be a blast.

***Bird & Heather - I wouldn't read anymore if I were you.***

I am still on the Festival mailing list however, and the send updates about the festival - the activities and the anticipated celebratiy guests. I promised myself that I would not to got to the Festival website in case I saw something that would fill me with regrete at our decision. Well, I broke that promise to myself, and boy, am I paying for it. The celebraties are lining up, and amoung them is Kimmy Robertson; she played one of the main characters - Lucy Moran (the secratary at the T.P.P.D.). Still, we made a decision and will stick by it, but I cannot believe I'm going to miss Lucy. I cannot believe it!