San Francisco

Kateen and I journeyed to San Francisco to see some of the sights and check out the city. Really fun, energetic city is my first impression. We had great weather, good transportation karma, and met really fun people. Definetely a worthwhile trip.


Kateen on the famous trolley's



Grace Cathedral- the replica "Gates of Paradise" doors are located here- really neat to see



Pier 39 - the sea lions are huge!



Moonlight Kayaking- probably one of the best excursions we took. Kayaking out to Bay Bridge, eating dinner on the waves under the full harvest looking moon with the skyline of San Fran and lit up bay bridge nearby. Very Very fun.



The reflective full moon over the pier



We biked across Golden Gate to a little picturesque town that starts with an "S" has sauce in it somewhere and ends in "ito".



In said town- enjoying the warmth, sun, water, boats, views...and gelato!



Vampire tour- can't say what was more entertaining... listening to some of the history of the rich patrons of the city or walking into one of the most prestigious hotels with a women dressed like this.



Heidi Jeske, Kateen and I waiting for the tour to begin.



Sailboat on the water underneath the Golden Gate Bridge amidst cloud and fog



Not sure if you all knew, but Kateen had to go to Alcatraz :)



We had three beautiful clear sunny warm days in San Francisco and on Monday- the fog rolled in to show us San Francisco's true colors. The fog kept shifting creating new and more interesting photos- it was a really fun trip.

Rant on the GRE

So I took the GRE. After I finish this three hour test where I know a minimal amount of the vocab words and all the math problems are just tricky (feeling really strong about how I did)- a notice comes up and says that I have a choice. This message tells me that my scores will be published and will be on my permanent record once I view them, so I have the option of not viewing my scores and canceling the test right then or I can go ahead view my scores and they will be published. Now at this point- I am exhausted and am tired and feel like I did horrible, but know that this is a scam. People can retake and retake the GRE and if you take it again and improve- it can only mean you are dedicated. So what is the risk, but part of you wants to cancel. So I of course - I hit publish to view my score. This message flashes up again with WARNING! and displays the same message. So again I click on - publish score...and it came up again. Third time after choosing publish scores- it published them. I am so mad. If you had any test anxiety on all you'd cancel, beat yourself up later because you really don't know how you did and have to pay some 200 dollars again to take it. I rarely get upset, but pretty annoyed over this one. Thankfully, most people will recognize this ploy for what it is, but still- annoying of the test makers.

Lunar Eclipse

My attempt with a point and shoot skaking camera. The ecplise was beautiful.

Why I live in Seattle

Getting up for work and my room was pink..was able to capture the view from our apartment. I love Seattle. I still don't love mornings, but this one was totally worth getting up for.

Hawaii 2007 into 2008

Sunbathing Seaturtles



Dad enjoying the rocky coast of the Main Island, HI



Adorable gecko



Kauai's Grand Canyon



Mom at the Grand Canyon of Kauai

Hawaii continued...

Slumbering on the rocks- I just liked him.



Bird Refuge Area on Kauai-The birds have chosen a very nice spot. It was amazingly calm for the winter months. Usually the waves are pounding on the cliffs per locals. Kauai was amazing. I reccommend that island to anyone traveling to Hawaii.


Wave action on a calm day



The end of the road- a beautiful beach and hiker's paradise.

News Flash: When Ski signs say dangerous terrain ahead-it's accurate

I realize this is late- but the story is good...So the story starts on a beautiful powdery dry snowy day where Justin and I had just finished lunch on a logdge near the top of the bowl on Crystal Mountain. Feeling refreshed and ready to tackle new terrain, I looked up and decided I could take what looked like the easier side of the mountain (not the bowl part). So Justin and I head to the lift to go up to the top of the mountain. Justin does read the sign that says (Terrain and skiing unlike anything you have skiied before- dangerous) as we sit down on the lift and are swept upwards towards said terrain. Getting off the lift- I realize, "Yup" definetely out of my league...but Justin- bravely leads the way and I willingly follow since the only way out is down and following Justin was definetely the safest route. A while later after passing by numerous cliffs with large trees- Justin sees an opening...I look ahead and see an easier path beyond some trees. I tell Justin to go ahead and I'm going to head to the open area because it's easier- Right? :)
I never made it...my path took me to the edge of a cliff like slope mostly covered with rocks,a drifting of snow and bushes poking out all over..Justin wisely unsure if I was going to make it followed me and also ended up at the beginning of said cliff. I decide that I could either take off my skiis and walk up or down past the trees and justin also at the same time comes to the same conclusion. So we take off our skis- I sit down and said out loud- maybe I could slide down...now I didn't mean to the bottom of the cliff..but famous last words. I slide a bit and then way way out of control. My thoughts came in pieces and kinda panicky ---"Sliding" "Rocks" "This could be bad" "Now I'm sumersaulting" "Not good", "Ouch- rock" "Still tumbling" "Bushes" Oh, good snow" "Still not stopping" Still not stopping" "Still not Stopping" I finally stop and look up. I'm at the bottom of the cliff- thankfully still able to walk and Justin is halfway down the cliff as well.- He also slid- but totally by accident. He skillfully and scarely braved the cliff to get both of our skis- pretty much the hero for the day and went on to conquer the bowl- both impressive feats..I limped back to base and enjoyed a hot cup of hot chocolate while sitting outside in the snow. So it ended well for both of us. So moral for the day: If unsure- trust the signs:)