I wanna live like we lived in the summer

Washington's giving us some glimpses of summer. You really have to pay close attention though, ha!

One of my favorite summer time activities (depending on the temperature) is hiking.

There are two hikes that I've always mixed up. Cougar mountain and Tiger mountain. Mixed up that is until Shannon Ryther and I straightened it all out this last Saturday.

Cougar mountain is in Bellevue, off of Lakemont Blvd. Tiger mountain (the mountain where all the hang gliders go, according to my neighbor) is a few more exits down and right off the freeway.

Cougar/Bellevue Tiger/Snoqualmie Got it?

So after taking a leisure scenic route filled with highway, house and recumbent bicycle. We made our way to Cougar Mountain.

I discovered when we parked there that I hadn't done this hike in 6+ years. The last time I did it was when I was getting my Associates degree at Bellevue College (Then Bellevue Community College) taking a plant identification class. The syllabus for that class was: Show up at class in tennis shoes everyday ready to HIKE! Best class I've ever taken.

Shannon and I took the route towards Coal Creek Falls. A beautiful hike. We had so much shade cover from the trees, we did just fine in the 78 deg weather without sunscreen.

Hurrah for hiking. I love it! Thanks for coming along Shannon

And another 'peek of summer' day I was able to catch was just a couple days ago. Monday night Kelsey Rudd and I headed out to Seattle to the Arboretum.

Whoooooo! talk about fun. Arboretum + Canoe + Paddles = a raving good time.

Kelsey and I went under around, forth and back

And now I really want to go Kayaking. Anyone else?

But, yes thanks to WA & the great northwest. You may keep us in puddles, just keep shining the sun every so often.

Garden? Why, yes I'd love to!

Firstly, I've been on another cultural excursion. Props to Jacob for reminding me of this event.

The center house in Seattle annually holds a Spirit of West Africa Festival. I headed out (post garden shopping) to it this last Saturday. They have many musical performances and other presentations throughout the five hours that it lasts.

One of the first musical performances I saw was a man from Gambia (I think...am 95.7% sure) playing the 21 string harp exclusive to West Africa, the Kora.

see here for more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kora_(instrument)

The Kora is traditionally passed down through the family. This man spoke of how his father had taught him and passed the instrument to him. Cool!

After this man played I noticed a fashion show on the schedule board and accordingly let out my squeals of excitement!

If I can just break here for a moment to explain my-self.

Christina LOVES culture. So, this wasn't some of kind of runway fashion excitement (I love my sweats) No, this was a "AFRICAN CLOTHING?!?! What they wear on the other side of the world!?!" excitement.

At the start of the fashion show they talked about how the cotton is locally grown and how that directly influences the quality of the fabric.

I was in AWE when the ladies came out with how gorgeous the fabric is. The vibrant colors, the texture. It was a really great show.

Now, on to explaining the title of this blog post:

I've never had a green thumb. But wow, these days I've got a green thumb and probably entire hand, shoulder, foot....well you get what I mean

The gardening sale my mom and I attended before the festival was over at an extension office for WSU. It's an annual sale put on (always the first Sat. in May) by the 'Master Gardeners': Men and Women in our community to be worshiped for their wisdom and knowledge of gardening, or at least to be called (they have a handy hotline, er web site http://mastergardener.wsu.edu/).

Plants and Flowers sold at this sale are locally grown (remember the quality factor). And they're DIRT CHEAP..haha with dirt in them. Double points!

Very swiftly, or not so swiftly (I think we spent two hours there) my mom and I weighed ourselves down with $1 herbs, $3 tomato plants etc.. and trekked like sumo wrestlers to my car.

romaine lettuce, green leaf lettuce & rainbow chard

So, point!? I've been gardening for the last few/many days and LOVIN IT

2011!

Ha, I'm such a bad blogger.

Yes, it is 2011! Here are some favorite photos from 2010:

2 year olds give the best smiles

Kanom

I'm official- Daughters of Norway

Sore throat, BUT beat the average

She really sleeps like this

So fun to make

Jacob (Cub) William Sprecken

JOHN MAYER AT THE GORGE!

The coolest kid you'll ever meet

I didn't make it, but I will someday

Joy ride

Elder Griffin found gourd carving a bit straining

Gourd + sweat and struggle = maraca

I'm all about the intricate

Rock Canyon Park-sledding just like Fresh year

She actually loved this...

Burley ID -Has some crazy wind

That's all.

Catch up!

Wow! Two months gone by....

Here are some highlights:

August

Grandma Fredrickson (Grandma Fred)---An AMAZING woman in my life

Esther Clella Fredrickson

Funeral Services were held August 19th. My immediate family and I sang "O love that glorifies the son. " It was always one of her very favorite hymns.

I hope to honor the life she lived with the way I live my own.

September

Bumbershoot! Couldn't pass this up. I love music WAY TOO MUCH.

The lead singer of the band Civil Twilight

It was Aaron's 1st time to Bumbershoot

Jamie Lidell, like James Brown..only white

Thanks for the invite Shannon!

Caroline's Wedding

Weddings, weddings! "Marriage is what brings us together today."

Yup it's what brought my ol college roommates in town. Had a blast. It was like Freshman year all over again (Well except the group of boys playing pranks on us)

Caroline Mina Chong is now Caroline Mina Chong Pickett!

April and I checked out the Asian Art Museum when she first flew in. You can never fail with some good ol culture.

Chyea ! And this wonderful month was finished off with a nice and WET backpacking trip. Discovery Lake was discovered!

X marks where we camped (eh, well semi close)

HA, Sun was on our side till about 4pm then down came the rain.

Squish, squish went my hiking boots.

Thankfully we had a fire to top all fires! We were able to get it so hot that it burned wet logs from the lake.

Despite it being a cold and wet trip, it was a BLAST! I love backpacking

October

So far.....................

I'm just noticing some similarities...

FALKOR!!

I didn't know puppy-cuts turn dogs into dragons.

Otter Falls

Phew! 10 good miles of trail. This has got to be one of my very favorite hikes now. The hike is easy (ie there's only a 300 ft elevation gain the whole trip) BUT! It's pretty, very pretty. There are many water features along the way.

The top of Otter Falls with Lipse Lake below

Me at the bottom of the falls

Me in front of Lipse Lake

A close up of Marten Creek Falls

Marten Creek Falls

Hiking back I met a 90 year old man with a big ol frame pack BLAZING down the trail.

That'll be me, that'll be

Summertime and the living is easy

Mmmm this weather's been so nice. I love summers in Washington.

Well I've been working part time at a massage studio my friend owns and helping out with random business stuff. Perks for working at a massage studio... FREE MASSAGES. Oh yes, hehe it's a beautiful thing.

Yup but aside from work, I've been getting back into a lot of ol hobbies I haven't done in YEARS, so many years.

I discovered recently that an elderly neighbor across the street from us double majored in Art and Engineering. I got him to trade services with me; I bake him cookies, he gives me art lessons. So I get art homework every week. We're starting with drawing. Rendition after rendition of PITCHERS! I'm so sick of them. Morandi can keep the pitchers. But, my neighbor says I have to draw well if I want to be a realist painter. So more pitchers it is....

Another fun thing I've been re-visiting is Ballet. I took it many years ago with my sister. We'd gone as a family to see the Nutcracker and I fell in love with the dancers. So Laurianne and I signed up! We only danced for a couple years, but we were able to get up on pointe shoes in that time and do a lot of fun performances. One of the masseuses at the massage studio tipped me off about a place in Belltown that offers adult ballet classes for a very decent price. So last Friday, I attended! I never realized how much I really loved Ballet and the good work out you get from it until I went to this first session. I was dancing circles in the streets after the lesson. I can't wait for this Friday.

Boating! Got up on water skis for the first time the other day.

And HIKING! Can't get enough of it. I go once a week with a friend. We've done Rattlesnake Ledge, Little Si, Mt Si and this week's hike is Otter Falls, a good 10 miler.

Gotta love the Washington sunshine, that's all I have to say :)

Fragrant Flowers

Opps missed a couple months here.

So Korea hasn't happened yet. BUT! It's still a high probable future...be watching and waiting.

I had an interesting gardening experience the other day. My mom and I had these weird shrubs that were growing in between our Rhododendron. They looked like weeds. SHORT, UGLY, WITHOUT FLOWER and FRAGRANT-LESS!

I told my mom we oughta dig 'em up and send them out! But they still hadn't flowered yet, so we decided to wait a while and see if maybe our eyes were just being mislead...

Boy were we wrong about those shrubs:

They were actually peony bushes.

Peonies (as you can see) are BIG, BEAUTIFUL, HIGHLY FRAGRANT flowers. Nothing at all like weeds. So it just goes to show. You never can tell. Don't judge a book by it's cover. People (Plants?) are like onions (layers, layers, layers)..

So if you ever find what you think is a nasty weed in your yard, wait a couple weeks. You never know, you might just have a stunning peony bush!

FYI Peonies really are beautiful and very fragrant. I highly recommend them.

Happy Gardening!

New opportunities! a new obsession

It's 1:18am. I've been up for last the two hours emailing and having late night interviews.

Figured since I'm on a roll with the late night productivity, I might as well do a March blog post.

So, the latest and greatest...lol I was let go about a month ago. But had my last day of work this last Friday (they kept me on for the last month but with whittled down hours, gotta love that) and I've NEVER BEEN HAPPIER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! <----notice the extreme emphasis. This is a GOOD THING<---again notice.

But yes I mentioned late night interviews...sounds like something shady (lol) but it's actually a call I got from a recruiting company that sends ESL teachers to South Korea. It was a good interview and it's got me pretty excited. So who presently loves Korea? I do, I DO. And I'm doing my research. I've got plans to watch a Korean film tomorrow night, I'm making myself a korean pancake for breakfast and I'm pretty sure the communication with my ol Korean, half Korean, any percentage of Korean friends in the last couple days could be termed spam. I'm buggin people but if feels so good.

Anyway, so I'm counting this as a new obsession. If did teach over there, contracts usually run 12 months, so adios folks. I'd be SO GONE.

If you want to partake of the obsession, look what I have for you:

http://www.mysoju.com/a-moment-to-remember/ Watch this Korean film, it's a tear jerker.

Lefse and tapping into my roots

My mom and I went out this last Saturday morning to Sons of Norway Bothell lodge to make the traditional Norwegian flat bread made of potatoes, butter, sugar, salt and flour known as Lefse.

This two dollar class gave me great insight into how much hard work my Norwegian ancestry put forth just to make a meal. Lefse, though it may look simple, actually takes two days to make. There's quite a bit of prep work involved with those spuds prior to mashing them up with the butter and sugar. I'd never in my life heard of 'ricing potatoes.' Now I know what it means and that there is such a thing as a 'ricer'. If you imagine a massive garlic press with holes on all sides, well that's what a ricer is. You're basically taking the cooked (and peeled) potatoes and sending them through a sieve so that they come out like little potato noodles.

They don't stay in that shape though, oh no they most certainly don't. They're mashed with the butter and sugar and everything else. But Norwegians are detailed people and they're all about quality. No lumps aloud in the lefse!

So here's my mom and I rolling out and frying our lefse.

(that stick I'm holding is a lefse stick and is used to flip the lefse)

And here is a lefse

Lefse are traditionally eaten with butter and cinnamon and sugar on them and accompanied with a cup of coffee. In certain parts of Norway they also use lefse as sort of a hot dog bun. They'll wrap it around sausage and eat it that way. It was really fun to be able to go and get some cultural enrichment in a tasty way!

Tusen takk to Bothell lodge for having the class.

BEST Valentine's weekend ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey for someone like me who is constantly working, working, working 6:30am to 5pm every working day of the week, a break is so much appreciated. And boy did I get one wonderful break this weekend.

Friday my mom and I cut out oodles and gobs of construction paper hearts for mischievous plans (well put two and two together, what else do you do with a bunch of paper hearts)

We also made oodles and gobs of cookies to accompany the mystery plans. I quickly remembered why I prefer cooking to baking, I'm not a patient person. Waiting for each tray upon tray of cookies to get baked started to wear me down ;)

K but now here Saturday is where you really see why this was the best Valentine's weekend ever.

So quick history, back in December for Christmas I gave my sweet mother a spa package to a spa over in University District. (I also gifted one to myself so we could have mother-daughter spa dates) So Saturday we went for our first spa date to get massages.

SO GOOD! I love massages, masseuses and the whole world of massage therapy. It is a wonderful, wonderful thing! That half hour was a little piece of heaven for me. I had no idea my body was so cramped up. It felt SO SO GOOD! If I'm making you jealous, just save up some dough and do it, just do it. Get a massage NOW!

Oooo and if that massage wasn't good enough, after that my mom and I picked up my sister and we all went out and got manicures and pedicures.

Basically I was pampered this weekend. So very pampered. And that's a rare thing for me to be pampered. So yea, that made it the best Valentine's weekend ever!!

Oh and my sis and I went out to see Valentine's Day. Cute movie. I thought they did a good job with the casting. I absolutely loved the end with Julia Roberts character. I won't spoil anything for y'all by saying, but yea it's a sweet ending. Go see it. It's worth checking out.

Hope everyone gave love this weekend.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2010 and I'm already slacking...

Hey, hey well it's already February!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So just to catch up quick, here are just a few events worth mentioning from the start of this year:

Hiking! This early spring weather is taunting me! A group of friends and I went and hiked Wallace Falls a couple weekends ago. Had a nice picnic lunch at the top. The weather was a bit chilly but it so didn't matter to me. I can't wait to do more and more hikes as the weather improves...OOO and then it's on to CAMPING!

Jazz Alley: Had never been before and then a friend invited me out the other night. LOVED the venue. I've decided it's my new favorite place. It was one of the classiest places I've ever listened to music in. The band was really good too. They were straight up funk! It was a eight or nine member band with brass instruments and piano and then of course the amazing vocalist, Larry Braggs. I swear his voice brought me to tears, it was just so good. And the bands beat was so effective, it went through the floor boards and you couldn't help but feel it. I was wondering why they had us sitting at tables. I felt like we should be dancing. The band's name was "Tower of Power" Here's a link to one of their songs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3t2g28y7_gM

When in Rome: Caitlyn Quist and I went out and saw this. It was adorable! I loved it. And the soundtrack was great. Jason Mraz had a new song on it that I'm definitely buying. It was a refreshing romantic comedy. I highly recommend it.

So there's my quick recap. Happy New Year!

Eric Tingstad and Nancy Rumbel

Christmas time, Christmas time!

That means Christmas concerts! My parents and I went out last Saturday to such a concert being put on by Eric Tingstad and Nancy Rumbel: professionally known as "Tingstad & Rumbel" on their Cd's. They've been doing music together for 25 plus years. Both went to school for music. Eric plays classical guitar, Nancy plays the ocarina, english horn and the oboe (and a lot of percussion instruments, she pretty much plays everything) and the combo of the two of 'em makes for very wonderful background Christmas music for hanging stockings, trimming the tree, wrapping presents, sitting by the fire etc..

Tingstad & Rumbel, Mannheim Steamroller, A Carpenter's Christmas, Motab and some of the classics (Frank, Ella, Bing) was pretty much the x-mas playlist in my house growing up.

The concert was great! I've never seen someone play the oboe so well. Nancy makes it look so easy. And Eric is an amazing classical guitarist, I got dizzy watching his fingers move so fast.

And now it's official! Christmas time is here

I hope everyone has a great Christmas!

$1 Thrift Store baskets

This is what happens when Christina finds a $1 basket at the thrift store........

Imagine what else could happen from Christina going thrift store shopping. The possibilities.......ENDLESS

So, I absolutely LOVE the fall. The layering, the leaves changing, even the constant drizzle of rain (for WA). I decided to express my love for fall by making this thrift store find creation. It is my Thanksgiving day centerpiece which, I'm happy to say, will have at least another day of glory before it's place is taken over by a monstrous turkey.

Late night fun for a crafty girl with no work tomorrow (HA) that's what this all was really.

I hope everyone has a great Thanskgiving! Happy Turkey Day!

Under the Sea

I went to the Halloween dance this year. Hadn't actually planned on going, in fact, up until about 4 O'clock I had every intention of staying home. But then after perusing through our old Halloween costumes, finding the mermaid costume, trying it on and finding that it actually fit?!??!! (a shock because my mom made it for me when I was 15..and no, I'm not bragging here) I counted it as a sign that I should attend this dance. And so I donned my fins and shells and got ready to boogie down!

It was a fun time. I hadn't been to a good dance in a long time. For a bit there I thought I'd forgotten how to boogie down. But it all came back when the music started up.

Now for a shift in focus: I'm gonna get deep here, so hang on!

In church today one of the speakers gave an analogy. He compared our lives and how we combat temptations and sin to scuba divers and having the proper equipment. He referenced Disney's "Little Mermaid" and talked about how Ariel lives under the sea, but more than anything (as she sees the human world above the sea) wishes she could be a part of it. This speaker said, "For us, what we want most is to be able to receive eternal life. To return to live once again with our heavenly father. We want to be part of his world. But we live on this earth, having a mortal experience so it's necessary we have the proper equipment that can help us to get closer and closer to the surface." He said, "When we don't pray or read our scriptures, it's like we're refusing to wear our oxygen mask and then when we're suffocating we wonder what's wrong, why we're having such a hard time."

Anyway, I thought it was a really cool analogy. And his talk definitely had an impact on me. So I just wanted to share that with y'all.

Oh and remember! Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming, swimming, swimming... :)

An obsession

So, anyone who knows me well, knows that I like to cook.

Wait, no..let's try this again. I LOVE to cook. In fact anything related to food is pretty much a-okay with me: Food Art, food shops, food ads, food shows, food cars (ie the Papa John sedan-who cut me off today on my way to work..was I upset? No, he and his car were food related) food animals?? Okay, so just put the word 'food' in front of it and you have at least a 75% chance that I'll accept it.

I'm crazy right? So read this: I'm sitting at my computer, it's about 12:30am. And I think to myself "I should head to bed, work tomorrow!" But what should happen? An email is sent to me, a RECIPE EXCHANGE email. So instead of doing what any normal person would do (save responding to the email for tomorrow when my eyelids aren't so heavy and I have more of a brain to work with) the thought of searching online for a recipe to send for this recipe exchange, has me so excited all of a sudden, that all my mind is preoccupied with is checking out my favorite recipe web sites and getting a fabulous recipe to send off.

I clearly have an obsession.

Elder Stephen Beacham

Ahhh! The day finally came. My brother Stephen officially left for his mission. He's now in Manchester, England at the missionary training center. He'll be there for two weeks and then transfer out to Dublin, Ireland where he'll be serving as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

I lovingly uploaded this picture of the two of us at Olive Garden. Don't we look awkward, lol. It was our last meal together before he left.

How I shall miss my little bro: waking up to him belting Michael Buble at o'dark thirty in the morning, his original style of hip hop dancing in the kitchen, the midnight grocery store runs, Hulu nights. We had a lot of fun together :)

I know he will be a great missionary though. I've created a mission blog for him, if anyone wants to see how he's doing http://elderstephenbeacham.blogspot.com

Godspeed Elder Beacham!

Waffles worthy of a second post!

So, I don't normally post twice in one day....hmm in fact it's rare if I post twice in the same month. (I'm not an avid blogger) BUT this weekend, amidst car shopping and being spiritually rejuvenated, I also found the MOST AMAZING WAFFLE RECIPE EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, yes it's THAT good. This is no exaggeration.

Make and eat these waffles and you might be surprised what wonderful things happen to you. Perhaps me getting a car could have some connection to the waffles...who knows, who knows.

Now before I give you the recipe, I must give credit where credit is due. The website where these waffles are found is teriskitchen.com. I don't know anything about Teri; don't know if she's some adorable old grandmother, keen on filling the world with her delectable breakfast foods or if she's simply a chef student who decided to make herself a web site, but I thank her from the bottom of my heart for these waffles.

And so I give you:

THE MOST AMAZING WAFFLES EVER

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup all-purpose flour (see variation below)
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar (or sugar substitute that equals sugar portions 1:1, such as Splenda)
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted (see variation below)
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1-1/2 to 2 cups reduced fat or nonfat milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Place the flour, sugar and baking powder in a medium bowl and whisk with a wire whisk to combine well. Add the eggs, butter, oil and 1-1/2 cups of the milk; beat with the whisk just until smooth. Add more milk as needed to thin the batter to a pouring consistency, being careful to keep it thick. Heat your waffle iron and bake according to manufacturer’s directions. Serve immediately.

Notes: The batter may be made the night before, covered and refrigerated. Add a little more milk before baking if it has become to thick. Waffles freeze very well. Just bake them a little lighter than usual, let them cool on a wire rack, wrap individual portions in waxed paper and place in a freezer bag.

ENJOY!

Mi Coche!?!? and conference

Turns out Puyallup has more than just a fair. They have a semi-annual car event called "the Wallup in Puyallup." All of the car dealerships in Seattle gather to one central location and people come from far and wide to peruse through the new and used cars displayed there (all of which are being sold for killer prices!!)

That's where I found this beauty. Meet my new car. A 2006 Toyota Camry. I'm in love. Can't stop driving......and driving ..and driving..

Sure beats the bus, that's for sure :)

Aside from getting a car, I also listened to conference this weekend. Jeffrey R. Holland gave a stirring testimony. His talk was probably my favorite, although all the talks were great.

Julie & Julia

This last Friday I was sabotaged! Nearly out the door to the singles ward movie night, my mother came home itching for a mother-daughter date. So after weighing the choices and realizing that it had been SOME TIME since our last mother-daughter date, I relented and freely gave up my original plans. My mother valued my decision enough to insist that I pick the activity. A sweet gesture from her. So gleaning from my previous plans, I decided on a movie date.

After checking the local theaters, deciding on a film and leaving a note for the boys, we drove to Woodinville to become AMC Loews on Garden Way's patrons for the 7:30 showing of Julie & Julia. My mother and I both love to cook and so naturally a chick flick about cooking was right up our alley. We grabbed our Milk Duds, Dibs (those tasty ice cream bites) and Junior Mints and sat ourselves down in a barely halfway filled theater who's main seat occupiers (ha, probably not a word but I like it) were people over the age of 40. I was surprised by the lack of attendance and the older age of those around us, but of course I didn't know anything about Julia Child before entering the theater.

The film was delightful. Meryl Streep does a great job being Julia Child. I can say that now after having spent a good twenty minutes on youtube looking up Julia Child after the film. Meryl was really able to capture Julia's character. And now that I've seen the French Chef and the era this woman was from, the crowd in the theater makes more sense. I applaud myself, having been the one to suggest this movie. It had my mother and I smiling and laughing all throughout it.

It was a good outing with my mother and to be repeated more often. We're both agreed on that.

I highly recommend Julie & Julia! Bon Appetit!

To see a good clip of the French Chef with the real Julia Childs:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ohiUbQyDhk

Blessed garage sales

How I love my ukelele! My little bro picked this up for me at a garage sale the other day. It only had three strings on it (it was a $4 uke) but that minor set back doesn't keep me from still playing it (of course I'll get that last string put on though, can't play too much without your high G)

What a sweet brother to buy me such a gift (although I was frequently borrowing his ukelele before :)

I can already play a couple songs on the uke:

Find my way back home- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJzYy5encCk&feature=related

&

Beautiful Girl-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64meUVyq7jk&feature=channel