Boston Cream Pie and Birch Bay

Dinner with Angie and Carla last Wednesday. Carla provided the steaks, Angie baked the best Boston Cream Pie ever and I brought the salad.

Ummmm, what are you doing Carla?

Best Buds. (Angie, Carla, Sara)

As the story goes...Ang and I made a Boston Cream Pie when we were about 10. Quite the undertaking and we didn't have all of the right ingredients. I don't remember exactly what our substitutions were, but the outcome was delicious. Ang recently began making Boston Cream Pies again and treated us to this one. I am not ashamed to say that I had two, yes two, big pieces. It was that scrumptious. Good work Angie!!!

On Friday Kyla, Desiree, Emily and I all headed up to Bellingham to run in the Birch Bay International Road Race 15K (9.32 miles). The day began overcast and was a little on the chilly side, but that didn't stop us! We ran along the bay and the sun came out. It turned into a beautiful day for an awesome run. It was mostly flat with a few hills in the middle and then they put a hill right before the finish! Rude! :-) Emily placed third in her age group with a time of 1 hour 16 minutes. She is a real Speedy Gonzalez! Desiree and Kyla were not far behind her with me bringing up the rear. Slow and steady wins the race right...? :-) After a successful run we changed gears and power shopped for a few hours and finished up the day with dinner at Boundary Bay. It was a great girls weekend. Can't wait to do it again!

Ready or not here we come! (Emily, Kyla, Desiree, Sara)

The inevitable wait for the honey buckets pre-race.

Last but not least...! :-)

We did it!

Saturday night at Boundary Bay in Bellingham.

What a Weekend

Busy, busy, busy. After work on Friday Kyla and I met up with Cari for a hike up Saddlerock. Chloe too. It was such a beautiful day everyone else must have had the same idea. We had to park half way down the road! Totally worth it though and a great way to start the weekend.

We are lucky to have a view like this so close to town.

Sara, Cari, Kyla

Then on Saturday Kyla, Emily, Desiree and I all ran the Eastmont Fun Run 10K. It was cold. As in 27 degrees when we woke up that morning. For some reason I didn't think I needed my gloves. Wrong! I am pretty sure my fingers almost fell off. It was a nice run to start our morning. Emily and Kyla got first and second in their age group respectively and Desiree and I got first and second in ours. My fastest 10k yet. We are all definitely ready for our 15K in Birch Bay next weekend.

Finished!

The daffodils in our yard have started blooming. Daffodils might just be one of my favorite flowers.

We also worked on the house. Windows are trimmed out and the beadboard is up!

Jay did the majority of the work as usual. I did paint all of those trim boards before they were up though. But then I tried to put doorknobs in the bedroom and got so mad Jay made me walk away. They are still not on. I couldn't do it. Then I decided to put up the lights in the hallway and dining room. I almost fell off the five gallon bucket and had to holler for Jay every five seconds, but they are up! Maybe next time I can actually to it by myself.

Pictures

There is nothing too exciting happening in our lives right now so I thought I would share some photos. All photos were taken by Anne Wagg, Northwest Action Photography.

Becky and I signing the top beam for the Hospital. We were having a good laugh because Becky was telling Anne she wrote: "For a good time call Anne."

Flying the top beam. The topping out ceremony is Scandanavian in origin. After they were finished with a building they would hold a ceremony to appease the tree spirits for the ones they displaced with their new building. Then the iron workers place the tree on the beam which symbolizes no injuries on the project.

These guys are crazy. I couldn't do their job. Do you know how high that is?!
Happy St. Paddy's Day! I know you are jealous of my hat. It even lit up!



8 week old Golden Doodle Jesse. I am in love. Jay says no. Big meanie.


Signing the last pour of concrete on the top floor of the new Hospital addition.

Nice view.

Guys framing in on one of the floors. Do you see all of those things hanging from the ceiling? They are metal strips and I asked what they were for. In all seriousness Greg explained they serve the same purpose as foil strips tied to trees in the orchards. They keep the birds out. Me: Oh really? Huh, never would have thought of that. Anne: No way! Greg that is not true. I totally bought it hook, line and sinker. They are actually to hold up the ducting. I also called my hard hat a helmet. Whatever. :-)

It is awesome to have the opportunity to go into the new addition while they are working on it and see the progress. It is amazing.

Happy Birthday Carla!

Happy 22 Birthday Beautiful Sister! I love you and hope you have an awesome day.

More Stories from the Antarctic

I got to talk to Gina the other night and we spoke for over an hour. I don't think I have been on the phone that long since middle school! It takes Gina forever to get a hold of me because I either am in the bathroom, think she is a telemarketer, or am too lazy to get up and grab my phone. Then she leaves me a message. Then I say "$(%*! I missed her call AGAIN." I immediately get on Facebook and tell her to call me back. This almost always works. What would I do without that technology?

They are down to around 200-225 people (I think) and they are working six, ten hour days. Whoa. This summer they worked five, eleven hour days: one half day: and then had 1.5 days off. I guess there is not much else to do down there so you might as well work.

With less people she was able to move into her own room AND it has a window!!! She is really moving up in the world. She did admit that if she left Antarctica she could go pretty much anywhere and have her own room with a window. With a window she is growing a garden. This cracks me up. I told her she only has about another month because then the sun will go away and it won't grow. Direct quote from Gina, "It's gotta grow while the growing is good. " And she sprayed her curtains with dirt perfume so that it smells like the outside. LOL. Here is what a garden in Antarctica looks like:

Onion, carrot and radish tops in a pan of water.

Her star grower. Look at that baby!

She went to the bar the other night with $80 and came home with $120! Apparently one of her firefighter friends bet her $100 she couldn't fireman carry him. He obviously doesn't know Gina that well. One: she is crazy strong. Two: as soon as you bet her or tell her she can't do it, she will even if it kills her.

She was wondering if she could get away with not doing her taxes since she is at the end of the world. I told her I wouldn't chance it. The IRS knows all.

Her and two friends celebrated national margerita day with margeritas in sugar shakers. They even had fresh avacodos or "freshies" for guacomole.

I loved talking to her on the phone. It was fun. Big hugs Sister.

Friends & Family

On Friday I headed to Issaquah to see my sister-in-law Traci and her fiance Jason. After some glasses of wine and yummy fajitas Jason challenged us to some Wii tennis. Here is Traci showing Jason and I how it is done.

We also took some time to snuggle with Zephie, their rescue dog. She is a total sweetheart.

Saturday morning I headed into Seattle to spend time with Angie. We took advantage of the nice weather to walk around downtown, do some shopping and eat yummy food. On Sunday we decided to join the rest of Seattle for a run around Greenlake. Ang and I like to match when we run. The outfit goes like this: Smith Sunglasses; bright blue shirts; black $7 Champion pants from Target, Brooks Addiction running shoes. We beat everyone in our spiffy outfits.

Thanks for the great weekend girls! (and Jason) Can't wait to see you both again soon.