WATERSKIING!!!

I had my first waterskiing lesson Sunday afternoon on Lake Pleasant. To sum it up in one word: WOW! It's amazing how much effort it requires (I ache in places I didn't know I had muscles!) but the experience is INCREDIBLE! I actually managed to get up out of the water twice. I only lasted 3-4 seconds before I lost my balance, but it was so much fun!







The second time I fell (see 3rd photo), I went in face first and had the air knocked out of me on impact. The upside was that I didn't swallow any lake water! :) I'm looking forward to the next trip and a chance to improve. Maybe next time I'll stay up for at least 6 seconds!!!

See all photos here: View Waterskiing

Home Sweet Arizona

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE living in Arizona? I keep experiencing new things that remind me of how much I enjoy AZ. The magnificent sunsets I witness make the commute home worthwhile.

Aren't these views phenomenal??















For the first time in my life, I feel like I'm well and truly HOME. This doesn't feel temporary to me. I can see myself living the rest of my life here. It's pretty intense, scary, and wonderful all at once.

Monsoon Season

With Monsoon season come high winds, with high winds come sand storms, with sand storms come AWESOME sunsets! I took these pics on the drive home from work. It was an exciting drive with the sand storms and flying debris.














The sand worked as a natural light filter so I was able to take the picture with the camera pointed directly at the sun. (A short commercial: I absolutely LOVE my Kodak EasyShare C533 digital camera!) The sun sets behind the White Tank Mountains. It was breathtaking! God is so AWESOME. I feel so sad for the people who believe Creation was a cosmic accident.






The darkness across the top of the photo is clouds and the darkness across the bottom is all sand. Pretty incredible, isn't it??

Too cool video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pv5zWaTEVkI

This is pretty amazing choreography in an unusual setting. I found this video when "following the thread" on a friend's blog.

Vacation - Episode 4

I guess I just made up for the month of silence on my blog!!!

Episode 4: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

The bus ride into Vancouver from the ferry took an hour. Grandma decided to rent a car after all when we discovered our hotel was way outside of the city proper. Drove out to West Vancouver, had lunch at 3pm and spent the remainder of the afternoon resting in the hotel. We ventured out for dinner and decided to hit the deli at a local grocery store. Started out early Monday morning and drove to the Capilano Suspension Bridge. Spent about 4 hours there enjoying the rainforest and bridge systems. Ate lunch at The Bridge Restaurant and then drove up to Grouse Mountain. Took the cable car up the mountain and enjoyed the Lumberjack Competition, the Birds of Prey show, visited the grizzly orphans, Grandma took a ski lift ride down and back up while Grandpa & I enjoyed Beaver Tails (Elephant Ears to my Hoosier friends) and watched the Lumberjack show again. It was funny both times, even though we knew the punchlines to all the jokes the 2nd time. We finished off with a video presentation about the grizzly orphans and their rehabilitation program and a bird's eye view of Vancouver video tour. Had dinner at Denny's and went to bed early. We had to get up at 4am to catch the bus back to Seattle so I wouldn't miss my flight home. There were other departure times available, but none that would arrive in Seattle before my flight. Had SO much fun at Customs and we went our separate ways in Seattle. G & G went to their hotel for the conference and I went to the airport. I had even MORE fun with all the new restrictions for carry-on luggage. Made sure every conceivable liquid, gel, lotion, etc was in my checked bag and then stood in line for the security checkpoint. It was a good thing I arrived 3 hours before my flight was scheduled to leave. Survived the plane ride even with 3 screaming babies on board (so much for napping) and was so glad to be back in the land of warmth. The weather the entire trip was MUCH cooler than Phoenix. I had to resign myself to a perpetual state of being cold the entire time. My sweet sister loaned me her jacket and I was so grateful. I think I was the only person on the plane who cheered when the pilot announced the current temp was 103. It was a fabulous trip! Thank you Grandma for making it possible! See corresponding pics: View Vancouver, BC

Vacation - Episode 3

Episode 3: Victoria, BC, Canada

Arrived in Victoria and went straight from the Clipper to the tour bus. The bus took us to Butchart Gardens for a 2 hour self-guided tour. It was PHENOMENAL. I wished we'd had more time. I took pictures as fast as the camera was capable. Had lunch at the Blue Poppy. http://butchartgardens.com On the way back, we got a tour of the Victoria/Vancouver Island coastline. Checked in at Abigail's Hotel http://www.abigailshotel.com/ and had appetizers before walking to Cafe Brio for dinner. Abigail's served a gourmet breakfast every morning. Absolutely fabulous food! Friday we visited Parliament, the Undersea Gardens, ate lunch at Barb's, took a Harbor Ferry Cruise, visited Craigdarroch Castle, and had dinner at Pescatori's Seafood Restaurant. Saturday we went on a whale watch tour, visited Rogers' Chocolates, Grandpa took a seaplane tour while Grandma & I kept our feet firmly planted at a waterfront cafe, we all visited the Royal British Columbia Museum, and skipped dinner because of all the snacking during the day. Sunday we enjoyed our last gourmet breakfast and took a cab to the bus stop for the ride to Vancouver. Rode on the bus an hour to the ferry, then 1.5 hours on the ferry to Vancouver. Corresponding pics: View Victoria, BC

Vacation - Episode 2

Episode 2: Seattle, WA

Picked up the rental car and jumped right in to the sightseeing. Thank you Jim Lyon for the list of "must see" locations. We didn't get to them all, but we tried our best to get as many as possible. Made reservations at Palisade Restaurant (Item 1) for dinner Monday and at SkyCity Restaurant (4) for Tuesday night. Wandered around the waterfront until dinner. Palisade was fantastic! Incredible dining experience. Tuesday we hit the Space Needle (2), Pike Place Market (5), Children's Museum, Argosy Harbor Tour, and the Seattle Aquarium. The Market was my favorite stop. It brought back memories of the markets in Argentina. Wednesday we drove up to Discovery Park (3) in Magnolia Bluff. Our one overcast day but it cleared up quickly. After the park we drove to SR 520 to cross the floating bridges (6), then down I-405 to I-90 for another floating bridge. I didn't get any pics because I was driving and G & G had a camera in each hand already. From there we went to Alki Beach and ate at Spud's (7). Back to Seattle Center to catch an IMAX presentation of "The Eruption of Mt. St Helen" and then on to Spaghetti Factory for dinner. Parking at the restaurant was limited, so we walked down, but it was too steep for Grandpa to walk back up, so I walked back to the hotel to get the rental. Returned the rental 1st thing Thursday (10th) and went to Pier 69 to catch the Victoria Clipper. See corresponding pics: View Seattle, WA

Vacation - Episode 1

So, I'm back from vacation. Boy, did I take a lot of pictures. 553 in 12 days... impressive, right? After sorting out duplicates and a shot of the inside of the camera case (don't ask me how, I don't know) I have 543 to share. I have broken them down into 4 albums - 1 for each stop.

Episode 1: Montana - Great Falls & Glacier Park

Flew to Great Falls, MT on the 3rd (Thursday). Deb picked me up and we went to Mackenzie River Pizza for a late lunch. They have THE BEST pizza in the world. http://www.mackenzieriverpizza.com/ Spent the rest of the day at Mike and Deb's. Played video games (Mike & I kick butt at soccer) and played with Jake. Deb & I drove the rental car ( a Jeep Grand Cherokee, very nice!) up to Glacier Friday and met G & G Wilson at Izaak Walton Inn. They took the train from Indpls to Glacier. Spent Fri-Sun in Glacier. Well, most of the time. I had to take a 9 hour detour back to GF on Saturday to get an abscessed tooth taken care of by Dr. Coleman. He is the Raschke family dentist and was so kind to come in on the weekend for an emergency call. G & G and I left Glacier on the train to Seattle Sunday night and Deb went back to GF. Arrived in Seattle Monday morning only 1.5 hours late. Not bad for Amtrak! Here are the corresponding pics: View Glacier Park, MT

Commute

So, my 45-minute commute is a thing of the past. School zones and buses have added 30 minutes to my drive... yay. At least I'll have something to look forward to next summer. :)