Bringing in 2012 with a splash

On New Year's Day, I jumped into Birch Bay for the 29th Annual Polar Bear Plunge.  It was my mom's idea.  It was something that she had always wanted to do, and standing out in 42 degree weather waiting to jump into a 38 degree ocean, the thought crossed my mind that she may be a little crazy.  But then again, with the hundreds of people that stood around us for the noon plunge, the idea didn't seem that crazy at all.

Trinity, cousin Grace, my mom and I all did the plunge.  And, it really wasn't as cold as I expected it to be. We were in and out of the water within 2 minutes.  The best part is now that I have done it once, it is crossed off my bucket list so I won't ever have to do it again.  But, it was kinda fun, so then again maybe it will turn into a New Year's tradition!

Dad's Birthday!

Last week was my dad's birthday.  I know, I have been horrible at blogging.  I am going to blame it in midterms last week and promise to try harder in the future to stay up on my blogging.  It's amazing that the quarter is already halfway over and I can't believe I was actually looking at my the course schedule for the spring quarter.

So, back to my dad, last week was his birthday, so I headed up to Ferndale with Zeus for the weekend.  On Friday night, my mom had made reservations at the steakhouse at the Silver Reef for us, grandma, Ed, Jimmy and Sheri.  It was the first time we were there and really fun.  My dad and I both ordered the baseball cut steak which was really good.  For a starter, I had lobster bisque and the best dessert was banana foster that they flambéed table side. And, for coffee at the end, they provided freshly pressed coffee with two types of crystal sugar stir sticks, cinnamon sticks and two types of grated chocolate to customize your drink.  The coffee in itself made for an amazing dining experience. Overall dinner was really good and I would definitely go back there again for a yummy steak.

The rest of the weekend was spent hanging out with my parents.  I had some homework I had to to as it was midterms and I needed some things on my car fixed that my dad took care of for me.  The best part of the weekend came on the way home.  I had been thinking of getting a friend for Zeus as I spend more and more time out of the house and thought it would nice to get him a playmate to keep him company.  In Stanwood, I always see the place N.O.A.H. Animal Adoption on the side of I-5.  So, I decided to stop and see if they had any dogs that would be a good playmate for Zeus.

Long story short, I adopted two 12 week old kittens.  They are brothers who recently came to the shelter and had recently been neutered and had all their shots.  They were quarantined at first, but are now starting to be more comfortable at the house and with Zeus.  They love to play with each other and are super cute.  Rocky is more outgoing and Clubber is a little hesitant with everything, but they both seem to be adapting well to their new home.

2010 Fairhaven Waterfront 15k

On Saturday, September 11, my mom, dad and I all ran a 15k race in Bellingham.  It was a perfect day for a run!  The weather was sunny, but not too hot and the views along the waterfront were really pretty. We all improved our pace from the half marathon we did in June so were excited about that.  I was really hoping to finish in less than two hours, but the extreme lack of bathrooms and the fact that I am a modest person made my time a little longer than I wanted.  Right around the 6 mile mark, I had to start walking as jogging on my bladder was becoming unbearable.  I was really surprised that there were no outhouses along the course.

Overall, I was disappointed with my finish of 2:06:24 but was glad my pace improved by almost a minute a mile.  My hope now is that I can finish my next half marathon at a decent pace.  However, the next run we are signed up for is a 5k which should be a piece of cake.  After the race, we went and enjoyed the sunny day at the yacht harbor and had lunch at the Weblocker.  

While I was visiting my parents, my mom and I decided to spend the rainy Sunday baking.  We both enjoy baking and trying new recipes.  This weekend we made apple butter, blackberry crisp, apple oatmeal cookies, chocolate zucchini cake and some gluton free cookies.  Everything turned out really yummy as always!

Visit from Uncle Jim

Last weekend, my uncle Jim surprised my parents by saying he was coming up for a visit.  I don't think I had seen him in about five years so decided to head up to Ferndale with Zeus to spend some quality time with my family.  I had previous plans with friends for Friday night so headed up north Saturday afternoon.

Once I got into town, we headed to Five Guys Burgers for lunch.  I love the place and convinced my family to go.  Straight from there my dad, uncle and cousin Matt decided to go shooting.  I knew my uncle had gotten into guns recently and thought it would be fun to bond that way.  I had borrowed a couple pistols from a friend and then also brought my Charter Arms .38 Special and my little Derringer .32 to shoot.  Hands down though, my uncle's gun was the nicest.  The range we went to was an outdoor range run by the county.  We shot there for a bit before heading home.

In the evening, they were having a music festival in Ferndale.  So, after dinner, we met Jimmy and Sheri along with Mel and Mike to listen to some music.  My mom and I were a little disappointed as we thought there were going to be vendor there as well, but apparently we missed them as they were there only during the day.

On Sunday, my mom planned a BBQ with some family members so Uncle Jim could see everyone.  A lot of the people up there hadn't seen him for twenty years or so.  It was fun watching everyone tell old stories and bond.  We got lucky with the weather and my mom and I figured that throughout the afternoon about 30 people came and went from the house.

My uncle left early Monday morning to head home.  He said he had a fun trip and would like to move up to this area once he retires (if not before then).  I was glad that he came up as it had been a long time since I had seen him.  I decided to stay until Tuesday so after he left, my mom and I ran some errands.  We went into Bellingham and enjoyed a yummy lunch at Olive Garden before heading to Costco.  On the way home we stopped by Hagen's so I could get some stuff to make a pie and also picked up some salmon for dinner.

After dinner, I attempted to make a Caramel Apple Pie.  I didn't really know what I was doing so just tried to make something up.  My friend loves apple pie so I thought bringing one home would be a nice surprise.  I bought a pre-made crust because frankly I hate making crusts.  For the inside, I did the standard flour, sugar mixture with some caramel on the Gravenstein apples.  For the topping, I made a streusel topping and then dripped some more caramel on top of that before baking it.  I am not sure how it tastes, but it sure looked impressive!

I left for home on Tuesday and had an uneventful drive back.  I am glad that I headed up north for the weekend and had a nice time with my family.

Mother's Day

For Mother's Day, I went up to spend the weekend in Ferndale with my parents.  On Friday, I met my mom and grandma for lunch in Ferndale at the thai restaurant.  It was delicious as always.  After eating, we went to the nursery and got some annuals for their garden.  We spent the afternoon at my parents house enjoying the sunshine.  For dinner, we went down to CJ's Beach House in Birch Bay.  The tide was out and the view was really pretty.

On Saturday, I volunteered to help my mom at the annual plant sale at Hovander Park for the master gardeners.  I helped with the checkout in the morning and assisted with the tomatoes, where my mom was working, in the afternoon.  After a long day in the sun there, we went back to the house and barbecued hamburgers for dinner.

On Sunday, Mother's Day, my dad and I made breakfast for my mom.  After eating, I did some work on my car that included changing the oil, replacing the fog light, trimming the ends of my roof rack and washing the inside and outside.  I am really happy with how clean it turned out.  It's nice to drive a clean car.  After cleaning my car, I also vacuumed my mom's Jeep.

In the afternoon, my grandma and Ed came over.  I had asked my mom what she wanted for dinner and her reply was, "barbecued hot dogs".  Perfect, I can totally do that.  So, for dinner, we had hot dogs, potato salad, chili and jello.  It was nice to be able to spend the weekend with my parents.  It was nice to get away for a while and I am really glad we had amazing weather.