Wagner Road Trip 2015 - Vacation Recap

Okay, okay... so, I've been gone an entire year... but, a friend asked me if I was going to blog about our recent road trip and I told her I would. So, without further ado... here's a quick recap of our Wagner Road Trip 2015!

First stop, the Pacific Northwest. Mount Rainier was beautiful and we saw it on a (mostly) cloudless day...something I'm told doesn't happen too often! The wildflowers were also just starting to bloom. The Grove of the Patriarchs trail was phenomenal... So many massive trees!

Ruby Beach in Olympic National Park off the Pacific coast was beautiful. The rugged rocks off the coast are called sea stacks. The water was cold and as you can see, we definitely needed warm clothes. The starfish, sea cucumbers and sea anemones could easily be seen because it was low tide. The bottoms of the rocky sea stacks were covered with them!

Hiked through the HOH Rain Forest of Olympic National Park. Lush and green! It's amazing how the landscape can change so dramatically!

Possibly one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. North Cascades National Park was a definite favorite. The water in this picture was truly turquoise (No Photoshop needed here!) Roaring waterfalls were at every turn from the melting snow. It was very beautiful! (My heart goes out to the victims of the recent ice cave collapse that occurred in North Cascades National Park. Such a tragedy.)

Words can hardly describe the beauty of Glacier National Park in Montana. We hiked and explored as much as we could in our two short days there. The bear in the picture was foraging alongside the road and we were lucky to be close enough to get a great picture of him. The picture of the reflected mountain is a totally legit picture taken by me.

White water rafting in the Salmon River. Randy's friend owns a rafting and guide business in Stanley, Idaho and he invited us to spend the afternoon rafting! So much fun! 

Arches National Park in Moab, Utah is one of the most extraordinary places I have ever been. What must have occurred here thousands, upon thousands of years ago to form these incredible arches and rock formations is truly mind boggling. If you ever have the opportunity to visit this national park, it is well worth the visit! 

Canyonlands National Park in Utah was such a stark contrast to Arches NP. Canyonlands is literally across the highway (or the Moab Fault) from Arches. After checking out all of the canyon overlooks, Randy convinced us that his GPS tracked a "shortcut" back to Moab that was only 18 miles. Um, that shortcut was an off-road 4x4 trail that was NOT a shortcut at all. We spent over two hours off-roading on Little Canyon Road. Fun? Maybe for Randy...

Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado has been on my bucket list of national parks for quite some time. These cliff dwellings were established approximately 800 years ago. And trust me when I say, they were under a cliff overhang, over a deep canyon! The Ranger guided tours were very informational and interesting. Hard to imagine people actually lived there!

And finally, 

Thank you to this guy for researching, planning and plotting our road trip adventures for the last four years! 25 National Parks and counting...

Um, yep...

....it's been a whole month since my last blog post.  It's not as if I haven't thought about blogging... I just haven't carved out the time to do so.

Lot's of stuff happening around here and as usual, the end of school has us swamped with track, school field trips, all things soccer related - games, practices, etc., and end of school projects, reports and events, etc.  Fun, fun!

Throw into the mix a few photography sessions and you have the makin's of one busy mama.

But, probably the biggest news (for me, anyway) is that Randy surprised me with a new vehicle about three weeks ago!

The girls and I pulled up to the house and I hit the automatic garage door opener and there sat my dream car!  A brand new Toyota 4-Runner 4x4 Trail version.  It's black with black interior and super cool!

We've talked about getting a new vehicle, but I had it in my mind that we would wait for another year or so.  But, Randy had other ideas.  He already knew exactly what I wanted, so he just went and got it for me.  Pretty cool man I've got there, don't ya think?

The girls are out of school (Friday & Monday) for Easter break and I could not be more excited!  We needed a break in a bad way.  I think today we'll stop by Sonic, get a big drink and head to the park for some much needed down time.   

Brain Dump (1st ed. 2014)

Y'all, if I had not experienced the relief myself, I wouldn't be a believer.  Because how on earth does a strip of stretchy kinesiology tape (or KT tape) make your muscles feel better?

But, one day Randy brought home a roll of KT tape to use for his plantar's fasciitis (which I also suffer from) and he swore it worked.  So, I tried it out too and it does!  I have been able to run pain free since I began using it.

So, the science fair is today and I'm sad to say that Elisan did not require any help from her mama.  What?  Last year, we worked side-by-side for many hours making sure her project board was interesting and balanced and visually appealing.  But, this year, she refused to let me help or offer my opinion.  That stinks!  I mean, that's great.  I'm glad she's taking initiative.  

Speaking of Elisan... she placed 2nd in area-wide competition for "reasoning" in Math Oympics.  She goes on to regionals next month.  (Last year, she took first place in the regional competition, so she's hoping she can hold on to her title!)

Kyla has become a rainbow loom bracelet making expert.  All weekend long she watched rainbow loom tutorials online and practiced step-by-step with the instructor on making new and fascinating bracelets.  She can now whip out an intricately detailed bracelet in no time. 

Randy told me he'd consider cutting his beard and hair on the first day of Spring.  Y'all, that's 2 months away.  What?!  I'm not sure what's gotten into him, but I'll have to post an updated picture of his bear and hair soon.  He doesn't even look like himself anymore.  It's a little disturbing.

You may have noticed my "budding photographer" button on my blog.  Well, that's because I have decided to offer my photographer services for hire.  This is a huge baby step for me, but I feel good about it.  My rates are really low right now... I already had a friend chastise me about it (hah), but I set the rates low enough so that as I hone my skill/talent, I will have room to raise my rates when the time comes.  I'm excited to see where this road takes me.  In the meantime, check out my website here.

Oh, and an update to my last post about Elisan running track this season.  Well, as it turns out, a little (positive) peer pressure has made her decide to run track this year after all.  There will of course, be soccer conflicts, and soccer is the priority right now since she is the goalie, but I think track is such a fun sport, I'm glad she signed up!

And finally, a bit about what I've been doing at the gym these days... Jumping Rope!  Love it!  I've always been good at jumping rope.  Must of been all of those "Jump Rope for Heart" fundraisers we did every year in elementary school  (Thanks Coach Hammerly).  But, nonetheless, I've really enjoyed adding another layer of cardio to my workouts.  Jumping rope is a full body workout and it takes a lot of endurance.  So what I do is jump rope for one minute and rest for one minute.  I do this for 10-15 minutes.  By the time I'm done, I'm done... literally.

Concertina Wire Anyone?

Okay, so this kinds tells off on my husband.  But, he can take it. I have no doubts about that.

Back in November, one Saturday night, Randy and I were sitting in the living room around 10:30 p.m. when all of a sudden we hear this noise coming from the backyard.  At first, we thought it was our neighbors messing around with the garbage can, but then suddenly the security lights kick on an there is a man who appeared at our BACK DOOR with this hand on the door knob trying to get in.

Randy jumped up and grabbed his .357 Magnum (yes, he keeps a weapon downstairs for such an occasion) and asked the man what he wanted.  Clearly, Randy had a gun, there was no question about that.  The man said he needed help and was still trying to use the door knob to get into the house!

Randy told the guy he'd help him, but that he was not coming into the house (while still holding his gun).  After about another 15 seconds of trying to reason with this guy about why he could not come into the house, he took off and jumped the wooden fence that encloses the front yard from the back yard and he was gone.

We called the police and they came out and determined that the man came from the back pasture behind our home.  The barbed wire fence was damaged and there were boot marks near the fence.

The back pasture?  Really?  There's no road anywhere near the back pasture.  In fact, it's downright secluded, except for the farmer who lives on the property.

What's weird is that the man was dressed nice and he wasn't carrying any weapons that we could tell. We figured he was drunk and/or high and somehow got mixed up (?) at to where he was?  Not sure...

What I am sure about is that Randy decided to go all commando and has outfitted the back pasture fence with 10 ft horse panel fencing.  He wanted to put concertina razor wire (still does, in fact) but I put my foot down on that one.  I'm sure our HOA would not look too favorable upon that.  Heck, I'm pretty sure they would approve of the 10ft horse panel fencing.

Anyway, he's still looking into ways to fortify the wooden fence that surrounds the three sides of our home that would not draw attention to the HOA and that I will approve of.  His ideas of security and MY ideas of security are not the same.

Randy does say that the number one security measure that he has in place right now is the motion detector security lights at the back door and corners of the back yard.  That helped us to see that the man was unarmed and we were able to give a good description of what he looked like to the police.

All it takes is vision!

Y'all, Randy has requested that I update the garden planters I blogged about back in January.  He accused me back then, that I didn't see his vision. 

Guilty, as charged.

But y'all, look what I had to work with.  Would you see raised garden planters from this?  I mean, c'mon... I don't normally lack vision.  I'm a visual person.  

So, today, I submit to you... the finished raised garden planters... ready for a Spring garden.  Randy is clearly proud of his handiwork... or proud of my lack of vision.  Whatever the case may be, his raised planters turned out pretty well.  He even has some neat features that will come in handy.

See the metal poles sticking out along the sides of the planters?  Those not only hold the wood in place, but they will also serve as means to stake up plants or create a green house effect.  Imagine taking a flexible piece of plastic pipe and bending/attaching it to the pole on the opposite side... making an arc shape.  He could do that all the way down each planter and drape plastic over the planters (green house) or tie up plants that need a little bit of extra support.  Pretty nifty.

He also created a drip line irrigation system that extends to each planter.  As you can see, each section has an irrigation soaker hose around in.  Beats having to stand there with a water hose... plus, the slow drip will ensure a good soaking when needed.

He planted a little bit of everything!  Squash, spinach, red onions, tomatoes, lettuce, peppers, herbs, carrots, etc.  And some of it has already begun to sprout!

The added bonus... I think Kyla may have inherited Randy's garden green thumb.  She's taken a big interest in the garden and is excited to see the new growth each day.

I think Randy did a great job with the planters and I can't wait to reap the benefit of the fresh veggies!

December 16 - 25 Days of Christmas Blogging Challenge

So, last night, we were having dinner out as a family.  During the meal, Randy began complaining of a headache.  About 10 minutes later, his headache was so bad, we drove home immediately and he crawled into bed.  An hour later, he began throwing up.

He mentioned that the woman sitting next to him on the plane from Taiwan was sick and he suspected he must've contracted the flu or something from her because he felt like he was about to die from the headache and nausea.  So, I quarantined him in the bedroom and slept on the couch.

This morning, I went up to check on him.  He said he felt better, but he still had a slight headache.  What's weird, is that, earlier this week, I had a significant headache for nearly two days and the headache pain I described, was much like the headache he was having.  (Throbbing pain, across the forehead, etc.)  As we were discussing the headache I had and the headache he was having, he asked me if I changed up anything while he was gone... foodwise.  I couldn't think of anything and then he asked.  What about the coffee?

And then it hit me... I went to check the bag of coffee and we had been drinking decaf coffee!  My withdrawal headache happened 4 days prior to his withdrawal headache.  And his was happening at that moment! I immediately, tossed the decaf coffee out and brewed up a pot of regular coffee and it was like he was as good as new.  It was a miraculous recovery.

Who would've thought that two days without caffeinated coffee would wreak so much havoc on our lives?