hey kids,

since I last wrote in here my sister moved away from Seattle and settled into her new life in New Mexico where she's enjoying the heat, and I'm feeling like the other half of me is gone (which is probably the case).

i've also entered the next chapter of my life, and started attending college at The University of Washington. You know, it was the first week of school and I'm already tired, but I'm also extremely content. I have those fun projects only environmental nerds strive for. I actually got into a class called "Restoration Ecology" last minute, but I already have my needed credits. Can I switch Chemistry for Restoration Ecology? No? Okay, there's always next time.

Well, my sister left her sports bike at my parents and cheerfully said that it needed to go to a good home, so I have permanently adopted it as my newest addition to my physical lifestyle and possibly my other form of transportation.

just because I logged on...

just in case you guys are wondering, you can find me here:

Pinterest (a place where i can be girly, sadly enough. this site is actually a little addicting)

Wordpress

Facebook

Tumblr (a somewhat personal blog)

And because part (or mostly) the reason why I've been avoiding packing for my weekend is this:

au revoir for now!

Hello latest readers!

I've been missing in action because I am now stationed in wordpress. Please bookmark it. Well, since then I spent the first day of Summer hiking at Cougar Mountain, where I did the Coal Creek Falls trail. I went too close to the falls and ended up biting it right on my tail bone (which is still healing). I also went back to the forests of Evergreen State College and went all the way down to the Eld Inlet, then went up a different trail, and ended up doing a little bit of street hiking. Last weekend I took my sister to Snoqualmie Pass to hike the Franklin Falls trail for her birthday. Washington's Summer finally hit the 80's! Although I'm absolutely miserable at any temperature past 70. Oh, a friend and I also went to the Olympic National Park (no Twilighters allowed) to Hurricane Ridge where it was still packed with snow. So we went to the Sol Duc Falls trail. Absolutely beautiful. I spent the fourth of July with friends, and ended my night early at 10:30 with scared cats close to my side.

I've been busy trying to save up money for college, planning trips, working, having too much of a life to keep up with house work, and then doing a lot of house work when my to-do list starts piling up.

Here are some pictures from the past month!

Eld Inlet at The Evergreen State College

Oh, Evergreen nudists and your tomfoolery!

Eld Inlet

Franklin Falls at Snoqualmie Pass

Momma's eggplants. Spent the day being educated on making my own veggie garden by her :)

Parent's chihuahua, Casey, basking in the 70 degree sunshine.

Fourth of July's tank wars!

Me Casey-sitting today :)

Me hiking Sol Duc Falls trail!

Mmmm...Sol Duc Falls

Sol Duc trail head

Hurricane Ridge at Olympic National Park

Tree pose at Hurricane Ridge

Took the ferry from Seattle to Bainbridge Island to get to the Olympic Natl Park!

going up Sol Duc Falls trail

Coal Creek Falls, right before I hit the ground on my butt

Nike Horse trail to Cave Hole trail to Coal Creek Falls trail. Phew.

food, gardens, and health.

My lunch for today: Quorn's leafy chik'n sandwich.

-Quorn's breaded fake chik'n patties
-Feta cheese
-Dave's killer whole grain bread (or any type of whole wheat bread). For better results, use hamburger type bread.
-Earth Balance vegan butter
-Good heart veganaise
-frozen Spinach, cooked, and thawed
-Romaine lettuce


I was in dire need to go back to my vegetarian ways today. I am lacking a lot of vegetables due to bills, bills, bills. It's a good thing that there's always green, or anything leafy in my fridge and freezer. This sandwich is delicious, and was SO close to being vegan. And if any of you non-vegetarians/vegans are skeptical about being meatless, Quorn's products are AMAZING. Almost like tasting the real deal. Also, I grew up wanting lots of butter and mayo on everything. It's a big weakness of mine. So it's quite a dream come true when I found Earth Balance vegan butter, and Good Heart's Veganaise at my local health food store. Because it taste better than the real deal. Even Garry, who is anti-vegetarian and vegan, switched over to Vegan butter and mayo for good.

And I really want my own garden. However, I live in a small duplex and since I have no idea when I'll be moving, I don't want to fix up a garden, or destroy part of the lawn. I'm doing it an even easier way, and I'll be growing my own vegetables in pots and wooden box planters. I'm super excited. No more trips to the grocery store for me :) I also intended on getting seeds from a local garden store instead of buying from big companies.

My next step, buy a chicken when I move to a bigger house so I can have some free range, cage free eggs! Mmmm.

It's a doggy dog world

I finally brought my camera to my parents for a dog photo shoot. Their newest addition, Charlie, is such a stubborn brat. However, Casey and Charlie are buddies, even if Charlie is chronically jealous.

Two active volcanoes in two days.

(Click the panorama for a bigger view)

A few good things and a few bad things about Mount St Helens. Good things: it was more amazing than I imagined. The weather was GORGEOUS, and I'm so happy Garry and I waited until the weather cleared up for us to go. Bad things: The road leading up to Harmony trail was closed until Early June (and it's early June! Hello!?) because of how high the elevation is, and there was still snow. Therefore, leading us to put this trail to a halt. Oh, and we spent the night in Kelso. We went in a restaurant, and I was the only colored person there. Awkward much?

However, Mount Rainier wasn't too far away. And it was on our way home. After much debating with Garry, we drove there, and stopped at Paradise. And you know, Paradise was COVERED in snow. No, not just a few feet, and believe it was about 15 feet. And since it was sunny Mount St Helens, we were wearing our shorts. And since there was no way for us to change, we went exploring in the snow with bare legs.

The incline was steep. And normally that wouldn't bother me much, but I was trying not to fall or sink in the snow. I had to keep rhythm. Going up I was digging my toes in, and on the way down I was digging my heels in. I wasn't a heel-toe-heel-toe normal walk. And there were cross country skiers, snow shoers, and even one snowboarder going down the path we were taking up. All the more reason for me to practice hiking steeper inclines so Garry and I can go Winter snow shoeing and camping :)

Geological scratches

Mount St Helens and Toutle Canyon

Garry and I on the Boundary Trail #1 with Mount St Helens and Toutle Canyon in the background

Beautiful 80 degree day on Boundary Trail

Turning back

It was SO amazing to walk through a pseudo-desert like trail.

And since Forest Road 99 was closed to Spirit Lake, we went to Iron Creek Falls instead.

Iron creek falls.

Me and the plunging and raging falls

At Mt Rainier, and I conquered!

You try hiking on top of dense snow with just hiking shoes

Toes in first.

Tatoosh Range in Paradise Valley photo by Garry.