Amy Scott's Thoughts

Sharing the thoughts that bounce around in my brain!

One of my favorite places! October 27, 2012

Filed under: Family Time — Amy Scott @ 2:43 pm

Yesterday, Jeremy and I made our annual autumn trek down to the Historic Waterfall Highway outside of Portland, OR. I love the waterfalls at any time of year, but it’s especially magical at this time of year with all the fall color and the leaves everywhere! Every time Jeremy and I hang out in Portland or go visit the waterfalls, it reminds me of our dating years while I attended Multnomah Bible College (now Multnomah University). Those were good times and special memories!

Every year we have a to guess a bit about when the best autumn color will be out. The Columbia River Gorge doesn’t get as cold as we do up here in Lewis County, so the leaves are slower to change. Usually we can take our peek color and add about a week or so before the falls will be ready. Also, Jeremy and I are limited in the days we can go – pretty much Friday or Saturday before our evening church service. Add the weather and trying to visit on a dry day… it gets complicated! Yesterday was going to be the best day for our calender and we hoped it would work out in our favor. While we didn’t a dry day, we did get some dry moments to we get a few pictures!

Some of the pictures we took!

After we explored and photographed around the falls, we headed back into Portland for some dinner and some shopping. By shopping, I mean, we bought tealight candles because we realized we were out last weekend when we carved our pumpkins and chapstick. So yes, big shopping spree! We had dinner at Famous Dave’s which Jeremy talks about often, but we never seem to make it there.  Our time in the city was brief, but fun! It’s always nice to stop by the big city!

We met up with Jeremy’s brother and sister-in-law for some bowling. I used bumpers for all three games and you’d think it would greatly improve my score, but it didn’t. I had a great time time being silly and trying to use the bumpers to my advantage. Jeremy ended up beating us all each time – no bumpers. He’s pretty fantastic!

It was a great day spent in one of my favorite places, doing some of my favorite things!

Fall Photos Through The Years – 2005,2008,2011,2012

 

As the October days fly by… October 23, 2012

Filed under: Family Time — Amy Scott @ 8:31 pm

Just one week left… How did that happen? October is one of my most favorite months and October 2012 did not disappoint and it’s not over yet!

Us at Charlotte’s wedding reception!

The theme of the weekend would be celebrations that involve cake! Saturday was a wedding reception for my cousin, Charlotte, who got married in Mexico at the beginning of the month. It was great to see photos and video from her wedding. They had a yummy confetti cake with a tasty whipped frosting! I watched my uncle go back for a second slice!  It was good to see the extended family. Most of them hadn’t seen April and Andrew since they got back from Kansas so it was good for the whole group. We were even able to get a family photo with almost everyone… The biggest highlight of the reception was watching the little ones dance as well as my grandma getting her groove on! Made me laugh so hard! In a good way – not in a I’m laughing at her kind of way! She was braver than me and for that I admire her courage!

Sunday was spent honoring 4 Scott birthdays! We had lunch together and then jumped into what the Scott family does best – table games! It’s not an official Scott gathering without the words “What game are we playing?” being uttered. Jeremy and I learned a new game called Carcassonne. I’ve learned that Jeremy’s dad and brother really rock the strategy games, so I don’t expect to win. The biggest win for me was being able to accurately count my points! It’s the small things that equal victory in my book. We played BuzzWord which is more up my alley and Catch Phrase. For the birthday desserts I had a small piece of Nathan’s homemade German Chocolate Cake and Debbie’s lemon cheesecake with raspberry puree. Good stuff!

Blast from the Past: Kaly & I – January 2003!

Yesterday was another awesome food day, when my friend Kaly’s husband, Isidro, made dinner while I was over for a visit. Isidro is a professional in the kitchen and it showed in the amazing food I ate last night! Even though it was a wet and rainy day, I made my way up north to visit with the Gomez family. I made major headway with Lucas – a cute little boy with beautiful, expressive eyes. At his birthday party a little less than a month ago, he didn’t want me to hold him. Yesterday, he sat himself on my lap so we could read a book. While Kaly and Isidro were cooking, he let me hold me at the dining room table. I was shocked! We made some major progress! My heart was happy! It’s such a special treat to spend with Kaly and her family since she’s lived out of state for many years! Now I’m making up lost time! It’s so much fun!

Oh, October! It’s full of good food and time with loved ones! I’ve been happily enjoying fires in our wood stove and snuggling up in many layers. This Friday, Jeremy and I hope to make our annual trek down to Portland to visit the scenic waterfall highway! I love the colors of fall surrounding the falls. It’s always so beautiful and one of my favorite places for a Christmas photo op! I was talking with Kaly yesterday about how she’s already ordered her Christmas cards! I hope to be in that same boat soon! Just have to get the right photo!

I think I October so much because the fall colors really come alive in this month. Pumpkin everything becomes popular – like amazing baby pumpkin cheesecakes with gingersnap crust (I enjoyed that at staff meeting today – we had a special Pastor Appreciation Month lunch provided by a very talented lady in our church)! Jeremy and I have annual traditions like carving pumpkins and going to the waterfalls. October gets me all excited for the holidays! Red Cup Day (if you don’t know what this holiday is about click here) is less than 2 weeks away! Soon I’ll be listening to Christmas music and planning shopping trips to Portland!

Yes, these are good days and this is the best time of year! I plan on enjoying each day that is left is great month! I love October!

 

Birthday Month and Other Family Gatherings! October 15, 2012

Filed under: Family Time — Amy Scott @ 7:05 pm

Getting “crafty” to keep up with all the celebrating!

It seems like 50% of the people I know have birthdays in the month of October. On my husband’s side of the family we have 3 October birthdays and 1 early November birthday. At church I can think of at least 4 students I know with October birthdays and on my side of the family, I have 1 October birthday. That means lots of celebrating in the span of a month! Good thing I like cake and general birthday festivities!

Friday started off what we’ve deemed as “Birthday Month”. Jeremy and I headed down to Portland to celebrate with my sister-in-law, Beckie. We went to see The Dark Knight Rises at OSMI. It was certainly an experience. We didn’t have time to get dinner before the movie so we purchased a large popcorn for each couple. Jeremy and I’s popcorn was gone before the movie started. Who knew we could polish it off in a half hour of waiting. Oh well! The movie was good. Jeremy and I hadn’t seen it, so that exciting to see a new movie on the OMNIMAX screen, which is 5 stories tall! After the movie, we went to a burger place called Brothers and gave Beckie her birthday present. It was a fun time to hang out with family in Portland and of course, celebrate another awesome year of Beckie!

Memories of meeting Mason for the first time!

Saturday kept the birthday party theme going! My dad and I drove up to Puyallup to celebrate my second cousin’s third birthday. This meant that I had to miss a bridal shower at the church. I was sad to miss the shower, but at the same time I knew I needed to prioritize family. Since I couldn’t make it to Mason’s 1st or 2nd birthday, I felt like I really needed to try to be there for the 3rd. Mason was great to watch open presents. Each gift he LOVED and was so distracted by that he completely forgot about the other presents. He was a little slow to open the gifts, so his cousin, Lincoln, who is not quite 2 years old, jumped in and helped with the opening. It’s sweet how at that age how they don’t care who opens the gifts. We had the traditional cake and watched the little boys run around the house doing laps. It’s so weird sometimes to think that the next generation is here. I am going to parties for my cousin’s kids! Since I didn’t get to see my family a lot over the summer, I feel like I’m making up for lost time and I’m trying to hit as many events as possible! It was nice say that I would see them all next weekend at my cousin’s wedding reception.

Sunday was lunch and games with my sister and brother-in-law. April and Andrew’s work schedule makes hanging out with them sort of hit and miss. I hang out with April quite a bit (it seems in spurts), but all four of us just hanging out doesn’t happen all that often. It was a nice treat to have them over after church for some laid back hang out time. We threw together a meal of pasta and homemade french bread (made by my hubby) and we ended the meal with some lovely cake truffles (pretty much cake pops without the stick). Once the meal was finished, we dove into game time. It was really fun, despite the fact that I didn’t win any of them! I know that April and Andrew are family, so it’s kind of different, but I’m really trying to learn laid back hospitality. I didn’t super clean my house before they came over. In fact I wasn’t even sure what I was going to feed them until less than an hour before they came over. It was more about just opening my house in whatever condition and my refrigerator whatever the contents and saying “You’re welcome anytime.” I might not be anything compared to Shauna Niequist, but it was a baby step for me in the right direction!

These October weekends have been great for family time and the upcoming weekend looks like it’s going to follow the same trend! We’ll celebrate my cousin’s marriage on Saturday and then all the Oct/Nov Scott birthdays on Sunday. In fact, we’ll have all the Scotts under one roof, which hasn’t happened since before Brinley, my adorable niece, was born. It will be great to be all together and keep the birthday month party going!

 

Somewhat Corny Family Fun! October 8, 2012

Filed under: Family Time — Amy Scott @ 9:33 pm
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The Apple Fritter Club!

Okay, my family has never been the kind of family that goes on hay rides and visits pumpkin patches. I guess most cutesy fall activities were not on our radar. We never had anything against them, but we sure didn’t grow up doing stuff like that. The last couple of days have been sort of weird but fun! We’ve gone to some pretty corny family entertainment!

Sipping cider by the piggies!

On Saturday, we went to a local cider mill for their annual apple festival. Going on Saturday meant that we got still warm apple fritter which they only make on the weekends! Oh my goodness! It made the $3 for parking worth it (I guess I should note that I didn’t pay for parking… or the doughnut for that matter… but I would have to get another one)! We also bought an amazing marionberry pie, a gallon of cider and two cake doughnuts – one pumpkin and one apple cider to split and sample. If it was a contest – the pumpkin doughnut won… In case you were wondering! So the visit to the cider mill for me was really all about the food. I will admit that I felt awkward because it

Our Souvenirs

seemed like everyone there had a kid, toddler or baby. Since I’m not in the mothering crowd, I felt a bit out of place. However, for a really good doughnut, I will go about anywhere! They had a pumpkin patch, a petting zoo, face painting and carnival games for kids to play. It was a very family friendly place. Also, it was a very taste bud friendly place. It didn’t take us too long to see everything and pet a goat, but it was a lot of fun. I wore a puffy vest (which my sister loves to mock my obsession for puffy vests) and fuzzy warm boots! It felt like autumn was official since I was all layered and warm. By afternoon, I was kind of warm though. We’ve had an awesome October! Lots of sunshine. Cool mornings and nights, but the days are in the mid-70’s. Pretty much perfect in my book! The cider mill is open year around and I’m sure I’ll drop by again for another pie or doughnut!

Off to a great start!

Today was an adventure as my mom, sister and I took off for the local corn maze. This was only my second time doing a corn maze and I will admit that I am a follower. Last time I followed Jeremy around and this time I followed April. She had the map and was determined that we would reach all of the check points. After a lovely 3.3 mile walk, we made it through two mazes and to all the check points. I think last time I was there Jeremy and I just wondered and didn’t use the map. Using the map made the maze go rather quickly. Since we went on a Monday afternoon, it was fairly quiet.

Surrounded by a sea of corn!

We really didn’t bump into anyone in the maze. The only downside was the amount of dust at the corn maze. Because we’ve had no rain for so long, we walked in literally inches of dust. We walked through the maze in a dust cloud. It caked our shoes and jeans from the knee down! The sunshine was great though, so I guess I can’t complain about the lack of rain. Plus, I know that the rain is coming. It has finally been spotted in the forecast after weeks of sunshine. I guess I’m okay with this since I know it will bring the cooler, fall weather that I know and really do love. It will mean that I can wear sweaters and start using our wood stove again.

It’s been a lot of fun having my sister back in the area to experience this autumn season with. The cider mill was her idea and the corn maze was mine, so I guess we’re stretching the level of our family bonding! We’re doing the corny stuff this year and loving it! It’s hard to not want to be outside of these perfect, sunshiny October days. Nearly impossible really! I love this time of year!

 

What I’ve Been Up To… September 29, 2012

Filed under: Amy's Bookshelf,Family Time — Amy Scott @ 2:22 pm

So, I sort of dropped off the blogging scene this week. I love to blog and I really do miss it when I don’t. The week started off very full and has ended quietly. I don’t mind. It’s been a good balance of spending time with family, doing things I love and resting. Here is what I’ve been up to this week.

Jeremy has family visiting from South Dakota. They are staying with his parents so we’ve made many treks over to their house for family gatherings! Lots of good food, fun games and time spent catching up with family. We usually get to see Jeremy’s grandma and Aunt Sandy once a year and it’s always a special treat. We had them over for dinner and games on Tuesday night at our place. It was fun to play hostess. Overall, it was a great time to see them so often while they were in town. We had to make the most of the time we had with them!

Recent Reads

When I haven’t been with family, I’ve been reading a lot this week. I finished two new books! The first was Cottage by the Sea by Robin Jones Gunn. She’s my favorite author and I always love to read her latest work. This novel was about a lady who ends up taking care of her dying father after he suffers from a severe stroke. It was sad, but good. It also had a peek into the lives of one of Gunn’s other characters that I know and love. It gives a glimpse into Sierra Jensen’s happily ever after. I know people who have had to take care of aging parents will really relate the main character, Erin. It remind me of my own family and how they cared for Jeremy’s grandpa in his failing health.

The next book I read was Winning Balance by Shawn Johnson. I followed Shawn during the 2008 Olympics because I think that gymnastics are the highlight of the summer Olympics. I also rooted for her on Dancing with the Stars. Now that she’s on a second season of DWTS, I’m watching it again and cheering her on. It a good read and a quick one for that matter. I got it at the library Thursday afternoon and finished it early Friday AM (around 12:30). I didn’t read it in one sitting because my eye had an allergic reaction and swelled up. So I took a drug induce nap and watched The Avengers with my hubby. It was interesting to see her faith journey and how she had to find herself again after all the fame that come with the Olympics. I appreciated her honesty and her struggles. She’s known for being so smiley and joyful. It’s good to see behind her smile, she’s learned things the hard way. Life hasn’t been handed to her on a sliver spoon and it’s been difficult. She intentional and her smile comes from true inner joy. It was a great insight into the girl that I’ve only watched on a screen.

Friday’s Movie Marathon!

Friday, Jeremy was gone most of the day – golfing with family and then at our church’s annual Man Camp. I decided to do a Disney princess movie marathon! It was great! I rested and just stayed in my jammies. Toby snuggled right on in for the marathon and I was super content and happy.  I didn’t spend the entire day alone. Toby and I drove up to spend the evening with my mom and sister because both their men were at Man Camp as well. We had dinner together and watched a movie. It was a very fun day. It was the right amount of alone time and people time. The only downside of the day was how little I saw my hubby.

Today is sorta similar to yesterday. Jeremy is at church but I’m guessing he will be home in the next two hours. My mom joined me for another Disney princess movie and we had lunch together. After she left, I gave Toby a bath and he is sitting next me shivering from time to time. Poor pup. Being clean is such a trial for a little dog. I’m not quite sure what my next move is… I don’t have a new book. There is one waiting for me at the library, but I’m not sure I want to put the energy into getting presentable and heading into town. Not yet anyway. I’ve watched what feels like a million movies since Thursday, so I’m not sure that is the direction I want to go. Oh well… I’m sure I will find something chill and quiet to do around the house. Next week is super busy so I know I need to take advantage of these restful times while they are here.

It’s been a good week! I love spending time with family. There was lots of good food – anytime I get to have a grandma made apple pie is a good day! I’ve read, I’ve rested. I’ve snuggled with my pup. The only thing I wish I could remove from the week was my swollen eye because it made me cancel a dinner date with a student. Oh well. Even the best weeks aren’t entirely perfect. But it was pretty good overall and I’m a happy camper.

 

 

Feels like Christmas! September 21, 2012

Filed under: Cooking Experiments,Family Time,Simply Me — Amy Scott @ 10:40 am
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I just wrote a blog last week about how last Friday felt like my birthday! We had strategically waited to get new phones. I was happily learning all the features of my iPhone 4s. We also had a half off coupon for The Melting Pot. The savings were a part of the excitement of getting such nice experiences. I was a little giddy with how great the day went. That was where the blog post came from.

The “Free Day” Latte Maker!

Well, now I get to do it all over again… but now it feels like Christmas in the Scott household. It takes a little explanation, but the end result has been pretty awesome.  So here is the story. A few months ago, when Jeremy was very sick, he stayed home from work and and signed up for a bunch of free stuff. He called it “Free Day”. He mainly got a bunch of free plants, but he also signed up for golf clubs, kitchen stuff… etc. Pretty much anything he could for free. Jeremy has great luck with getting picked for stuff like that. Last Saturday the UPS man dropped off a big box at our house. The return label had been torn off so we had no idea what were opening. Turns out it was a very expensive one-touch latte maker. Jeremy got very excited and pulled it all out. He made himself a drink and told me how awesome it was.  I informed him that we had a Keurig and a Mr. Coffee Maker. We didn’t need a third coffee making device for a house where only one person drinks coffee. Apart from a lack of storage space, it seemed a little excessive. Jeremy did some research and realized that the latte maker was worth a LOT and was returnable to Macy’s. It didn’t take too much twisting to get to him to take it back and take the money instead.

Just like Christmas!

After returning the latte maker, Jeremy went on a shopping spree at Costco. He was able to get all this stuff with the money he got from the latte maker – plus have some left over. He bought a new stick blender (which he is using to today to make his homemade salsa). He picked up a Dyson vacuum which was on sale! I didn’t make him do this! It was his suggestion. We also got some Christmas decorations and a new decorative pillow. It was like Christmas when I got home to discover all the goodies.

One Happy Amy!

For those of you who know me, I’m major OCD when it comes to cleaning. I’m a neat freak. There is no way around it. I love to clean. It makes me happy. Jeremy knows this and saw a Dyson as an investment into my cleaning obsession. Of course, I couldn’t keep it in the box for very long! I needed it out! Once we figured it all out, I vacuumed the whole house – even though I vacuumed the day before. It was amazing all the stuff the Dyson got out of our carpet. It was almost scary! I think my carpet audibly sighed with joy from being so clean. Oh wait…that was me! I’ve always dreamed of owning a Dyson vacuum. I can’t believe I got it for free.

I might have laughed at Jeremy when I came home at the end of “Free Day” but now I have some serious respect for “Free Day”.  I’m blessed to have a hubby that shares his winnings and thinks of me! I would have never asked for something so nice, but he was generous. I’m fairly positive that he is happy with his purchases as well (He was singing while using it)! He loves making salsa and pasta sauce. We did a ton of research last year about stick blenders and food processors, but we couldn’t make a decision. Getting it for free made it real easy to pick one! It’s a happy day in the Scott household! Just like Christmas!

 

Feels Like My Birthday! September 15, 2012

Filed under: Cooking Experiments,Family Time — Amy Scott @ 4:02 pm
Tags: , , ,

Enjoying some funny company!

Heaven? Perfection? YES!

Yesterday was a very fun day! When I woke up, I was greeted by Jeremy who has been researching iPhones while I slept. He had come to the conclusion that we didn’t need the new iPhone, but that we could now get the iPhone 4s for half the price. I agreed that we didn’t need the newest model. We’ve been waiting for months for this revealing from Apple. Jeremy’s phone left the title of “functioning” a long time ago and mine was over 2.5 years old and ready to replaced as well. This was no spur of the moment, we need new toys kind of thing. I just thought you should know. We’ve been planning and waiting… After sharing all his research findings, he asked if we could go to the store that morning and get our new phones. So yes, we got new phones and spent the rest of the morning/afternoon getting them personalized and chatting with Siri (our new best friend).

Empty… sad!

Meat! Ready to cook!

Now most would say any day you get a new phone is a good day and I would agree. However, this day got better! We had made plans to go on a double date with my sister and brother-in-law. April had found a Living Social coupon for half off a three course meal at The Melting Pot. At the beginning of the summer, we had talked about how fun it would be for the four of us to go together. It’s not a cheap bill so we knew it was going to take planning and until the coupon arrived, it didn’t look like our plan was going to pan out.

The best part!

Us!

I had only been to The Melting Pot once before. My hubby had braved snow and ice to take me there as a surprise for my 21st birthday. It was a great memory and we’ve always talked about going back. I’m glad we did! And at a discount! Can’t beat that! It was fun to dress up a bit and head up to a bigger city than Olympia! You can tell we’re from Lewis County sometimes! I get excited over stuff like that.

The food was amazing! As it should be! We had cheddar cheese fondue that we dipped bread, apples and veggies into… well, others dipped the veggies. I didn’t! Just being true my taste buds! The next course was salads. I had a yummy Caesar salad. Then it was on the next course which was cooking meats and pasta in a delicious boiling stock. I used my handy dandy new phone to time each item that went in. No need to poison myself with undercooked food. The final course was dessert – the best of all! We got what they call the Flaming Turtle which consisted of milk chocolate, caramel and candied pecans. They used some form of alcohol to light it all up on the table. Very impressive and tasty!

April and I were talking afterwards and the cheese and the chocolate really were the highlight of the meal. A perfect way to start and end! I might not get a meal like this very often, but when I do I go all out and enjoy each minute of it. Calories were forgotten and I ate everything I could! So worth it! Plus, the company was amazing. There were times where I was laughing so hard I was crying and at one point I almost couldn’t sallow my “free” glass of apple cider! April was describing how using a half off coupon meant we got half a glass and it was so funny in the moment. Good food, good times! I think this what the Teacher in Ecclesiastes was talking about. Each meal being a blessing. This was certain one of those meals and those moments!

 

Welcoming September September 1, 2012

Filed under: Amy's Bookshelf,Family Time,Simply Me — Amy Scott @ 7:05 pm

September rolled in quietly and started off as many September mornings soon will. I bid my husband farewell extremely early in the morning. I went back to sleep. He went out to kill a deer (correction…attempt). Or really scout out elk. He has a couple days until he can legally kill the bigger beasts (Tuesday). I often joke that I am hunting widow during the months when my hubby roams the woods with a bow in hand. I get a lot of reading done and in all honestly, I’m perfectly fine with entertaining myself. The quiet feeds my soul in a way very few things can.

After tricking my dog to sleep in, I opened a book that I picked up from the library last night. I’m massively obsessed with Lucy Maud Montgomery, so I devoured A Tangled Web rather quickly. I finished it this afternoon. Jeremy had returned home earlier than expected with many stories of the elk he and his family has spotted. He settled onto the couch with college football on and I poured over my book unable to put it down.

Good books go too quickly in my opinion and soon it was over. I had originally planned to pull out my few autumn decorations on Monday for the holiday, but I just couldn’t wait. With today being the first day of September it seemed fitting to add hues of orange to my house. I pulled out our autumn wreaths. I replaced the doormat with one that has leaves on it. I changed the Scentsy scents to Pumpkin Marshmallow, Autumn Sunset and Falling Leaves.

I also updated my pictures in the house. I usually do this about twice a year… sometimes only once a year. I have a real hard time picking which pictures to transition. If I like a picture, I want to keep it up forever, but I also want to add new photos… Unless I want my walls to be overtaken, I must weigh my choices carefully and make the tough call. As you can tell, this takes me a while. I arrange and rearrange. I try to make sure the representation fair – Scotts, Vitzthums, friends… Equal amounts of Jeremy and I both separate and together. It can get complicated like a jigsaw puzzle. I will admit that I don’t think this current arrangement will last long. It has inspired to print more photos soon so I can have more options to play with.

My mom calls rearranging things “moving her kibble.” Usually this refers to furniture and what not, but in a small way I moved my kibble today as a welcoming of September and the autumn months ahead. A new season is ahead of me and I am ready to take it on. It is the best season in my opinion – the season were the world takes on a golden hue, where pumpkin is the favored flavor, when the leaves fall. It’s beautiful and I am excited!

Welcoming September!

 

Todd & Toby Go For A Walk August 27, 2012

Filed under: Family Time — Amy Scott @ 9:06 pm

Toby & Todd blaze the trail!

From the time April got back into the area until now, we’ve always said it would be fun to take our dogs on a walk together. Toby and Todd have played around the backyard at my parent’s house, but they have never had an organized activity. Today was that day we spoke of! April and Mom had been planning on doing a portion of the Willapa Hills Trail (also known as Rails to Trails). I’ve heard a lot about this trail. Family members have biked it, ladies for our church organized walks there, but honestly until today, I had no idea where it was. I love the fact that I’ve lived in this location for 14 years and there are still things I discover… Things that everyone already knows. When it comes to nature places or walking trails, I’m a bit out of the loop. When I lived in downtown Chehalis, I would walk the track at the middle school with my friends. Once Jeremy and I moved out to the sticks, we just walk our doggie along the road. It’s nicely paved and fairly quiet. We live right across the street from tree farm land, so the view isn’t too bad.

I will admit that I was a little nervous about how Toby and Todd would do all harnessed up and walking in the same direction. It turns out they did pretty well together. They sniffed stuff and tried to be the lead dog. However, I would say for the most part they were in their own zone and minded their own business. At one point, we passed a very well fed dachshund. Toby and Todd hadn’t a made a noise at anyone, but the dachshund was not shy and started to bark as we passed them, even though our doggies passed by silently. It was so strange, at the moment Toby and Todd became a team and the pack mentality kicked in. Suddenly they were side by side, sniffing each other and acting all interested in each other. It was so random, but they must have felt the need to join forces against the pudgy dachshund who had long past.

The Ladies!

I love to walk! The trail was flat and covered very pretty landscape. I’m not a fan of inclines, so this was perfect for me. It also came at a great time as I have decided to crack down and exercise more. It’s been a bad summer for me when it comes to being active. I haven’t taken Toby on as many walks as I should. It’s always fun to have a buddy and the trip with my mom, sister and the dogs made it very enjoyable. I’m feeling pretty good today about my walking – 4 laps around the church, a walk to the mailbox (which is down the church’s long driveway), and ending the day with doggie walk on a new trail! I was intentionally saving some calories for an after walk snack and Mom offered to treat us to McDonalds. I got a small cone and Toby got an ice water. My final act of the outing was to split my last bite of cone between Todd and Toby. The ride home was quiet. Toby was passed out. He greeted Jeremy by flopping over on his doggie bed.  It was a good outing for both Toby and I! I sure hope Todd feels the same way!

 

Camping Adventures! August 26, 2012

Filed under: Family Time,Travels — Amy Scott @ 7:48 pm

I’ve taken a short break from the blog. This weekend I was out of cell range and that also meant no wi-fi! So no blog! It was great to get outside and go camping with my hubby and sister (and of course, the little dog too). It came at the perfect time for me because they’ve been painting at work and the fumes were starting to get to me. I couldn’t wait to breathe some fresh air!

Takhlakh Lake with the hubby!

Jeremy had been researching new places we could go. It’s been fun to camp at two different locations for the first time this summer. The first would be Hidden Springs on California road trip and now Takhlakh Lake right at the base of Mt. Adams. It was beautiful! The lake framed the mountain perfectly and it was a very picturesque place.

There were many highlights to our camping adventure. The first and foremost for me is getting away! When I get to a place where there is no cell reception, I truly feel free. There is something freeing about not being track-able.  I know this might seem silly, but falling off the grid every now and then does a lot for my soul. The views were spectacular and the combination of a beautiful setting and the freedom of being off the grid made for a relaxing mini-vacation.

Thursday, we set up camp and got everything situated. I love making the bed in my tent and making it feel homey. We packed a ton of blankets so we could stay warm. I always layer them and make them look as much like a “made” bed as possible.  I guess I’m OCD even in my little tent home. After the site was ready to be inhabited, we look a walk around the lake. It was a nice mile hike with great views. Once we got back from the walk, we started to make my favorite camping dinner – pizza pockets! Camping food would also go on my highlights list! We eat well on these trips.

The view from the top of the lava rock mountain!

It was really cold Thursday night into Friday morning. I was surprised by the chill even though I knew it was coming. However, even with 4 extra blankets on top of my sleeping bag, I was still cold. It think the greatest downside of this trip was constantly trying to feel warm. It was a battle for heat and I was losing most of the time. Friday morning we had breakfast (cinnamon roll pop tarts, another camping food treat) and then set off to hike around the camp ground. We made our way to Takh Takh meadows and we climbed a lava rock mountain. April was the first to start scaling the rocky path and soon we were all following suit. The view from the top was worth it!  After our wanderings, we made it back to the campsite for lunch.

Our next adventure was a drive around the area to look at other campgrounds and check things out. It was so remote out there. Every campground we came to I marveled that there were people out there that knew about these places. The scariest and funniest part of this afternoon adventure was our drive on what was labeled a “primitive” road… That would be an understatement! It was like a movie scene as our truck drove through the forest in what reminded me of the jungle. There were huge potholes, giant rocks, narrow road with the branches scraping along the side of the vehicle. At times we weren’t sure if we were going to make it, but we did! Praise the Lord! There is a lot of prayer on my part for us to see the end of the road. The funny thing was I was sitting in the middle of the truck cab, so I had nothing to hold on to. Toby had settled into my lap and we literally bounced around the cab together. I was flying every which way the truck seemed to go. It seemed like some strange kind of chiropractic treatment. Or I might need chiropractic treatment afterwards! By far the sketchiest road I’ve been on.

Huckleberry stained fingers!

Friday concluded with huckleberry picking, another walk around the lake, a hot dog dinner and s’mores. Around 8:00pm, we all got talking about the cold night ahead of us and I admitted that I would be willing to pack up and head home so we could sleep in warm beds. We’d done everything we planned on doing. All we would miss was breakfast and tear down in the morning. So we quickly got the site packed up in the fading light that we had. We were on the road and heading home before 9:00pm. We got in around 11:00pm and let me tell you, it was nice to sleep in my own bed! I didn’t sleep so well with the cold on Thursday, so even though I felt a bit wimpy about coming home early, it was a great decision!

Saturday morning, April and I ate pop tarts in honor of our camping trip and watched the Hunger Games all wrapped up in blankets. It was so nice to be warm! We got cleaned up and headed out to lunch at our favorite Chinese restaurant and then went blackberry picking. It wasn’t the Saturday we had originally planned, but it was pretty close to perfect in my book!

Thus ends our camping adventure and really the last hurrah of our summer! It was a great trip and one we’ll always remember… that view, that road, the lake. Summery weekends like this are going to be gone soon. It was nice to spend the last official one in August in nature with loved ones!