February 22, 2009

Glass is Blowing in Tacoma

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As a Christmas gift this year we were given a session at the Tacoma Glass Blowing Studio. We all partnered up and were able to choose between a bowl, a sphere and a paper weight. My husband and I chose to make a paper weight and the rest of the family chose one of each of the other options.

You were then able to pick the glass colors you wanted your piece to have display and into the hot room we went.

There were two huge metal containers that glowed with heat and all of the tools seemed so old and functional.

The glass blowing expert that was helping us really handled majority of the work so we were not winging it on our own but he did explained all of the ins and outs as he went and we were able to lend a hand when needed.

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We swirled, twisted, blew and cut our masterpieces into shape. There was one last dip in the glass and some shaping and cooling…and a few days later…waaalaaa…

It was a great experience and gave us all a better understanding of what goes into making glass art. Below are just a few photos of our paper weight…or piece of art is what I like to call it.

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December 22, 2008

Pictures From the Park

Just a few pictures from my favorite place for a walk at the end of the fall in 2008.

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December 19, 2008

Eggs...eggs and more eggs

I love eggs! All types, breakfast eggs, eggnog, hard boiled eggs, etc. it is too bad I can’t drink eggnog during this holiday season. I also just learned that a friend of mine who also lives in the city has chickens in her backyard (adhering to city restrictions of course). I thought the coop she is using is awesome! It is nothing like what I thought a chicken coop should look like and the best part is it is call the “Omlet”. Check it out here I hopefully will be able to get over to her place to take some pictures soon!

This reminded me of a photo I took on my trip to Chengdu of some eggs that were for sale. They were just sitting out on the sidewalk in the sun.  A bit different then what we are used to seeing here in the US. Chengdu (414)

December 11, 2008

Winter = Whistler

Whistler06 (50)There was talk today about some cold weather heading our way which means snow in the mountains, and when there is snow in the mountains that means it is time to make plans for our trip to Whistler.

 

Not sure if you have heard about the new Peak 2 Peak gondola that is opening this Friday but it is going to change the way we cover the terrain on the mountain. We are usually Blackcomb people but now that getting to the Whistler side is much easier I can see us trying the other side more often. Our usual routine was to head up Blackcomb and if the conditions were poor we would head back to the village with maybe a slight intention to try Whistler but would actually just end up in the Dubh Linn Gate for happy hour.

 

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Although I can’t snowboard this year I will be happy with going to Whistler to just enjoy the atmosphere and the village!

December 03, 2008

Our Trip To Hawaii

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My husband and I went to Maui a few weeks back to get in one last trip before the baby comes. We stayed down in the Wailea area and spent most of our time on that side of the island. Since I am expecting I wasn’t sure what types of activities I could take part in, but I was able to find a few things to do.

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We went snorkeling very early one morning on the Kai Kanani boat. It was a beautiful boat that left out of the Maui Prince Hotel which was right down the road and I particularly liked that is was not very touristy with tons of people and staff trying to get you to spend more money. We were the first group to all the hot spots and were able to see dolphins and sea turtles. We thought it was a great trip and very reasonable in price.

DSC_1910I also wanted to try paddle boarding which seemed to be the hot past time in the area. I wasn’t sure about being pregnant and learning to do it but it was not too hard and there were no waves so everything was pretty safe. We rented the boards at our hotel and set off to figure this sport out. My husband just stood up right away and I took the longer road to my feet, starting on my rear and moving to my knees and eventually my feet. Once you get up it is a bit more hard than it looks but after awhile it is pretty easy and a ton of fun.

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We had a great trip and was very relaxing. Now we start the countdown for the baby to get here.

October 16, 2008

Did You Ride a Schwinn?

I am not sure why but in High School a friend of ours loved referencing Schwinn bikes...so when I saw this bike seat in Chicago I had to snap a pic. Did you ride one?

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October 06, 2008

Football Season!

We were able to visit Pullman, Washington the other weekend for a home football game. I love the energy in the stadium and that all the fans are in their school colors. Football season is always filled with some good memories.

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October 01, 2008

The Colors of Fall

I was going through some of my photos looking for one that reminded me of the colors that have started to change with the season. I thought that this scene from my trip to Chengdu really captures them well. It is of Koi pond in one of the gardens I visited. It was feeding time as you can see and the fish were swimming on top of eachother to eat.

Koi in Chengdu China

September 23, 2008

It is Offically Fall...So One Last Picture from the Summer

I took this photo awhile ago from a neighbors garden. It is a bright and cheerful photo that makes me think of Spring and Summer. So as a farewell to the warm weather and welcoming the fall I will post it today!

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August 29, 2008

Up to San Juan Island

We went up to a beautiful wedding this past weekend in the San Juan islands. To start off the adventure we took a seaplane from Kenmore Air in Seattle. We had never flown in a seaplane so we were pretty excited. The best part about it was the pod of orca whales we saw swimming along. The pilot was able to circle a couple of times so we could get a good look. It was a gorgeous day in the PNW. I loved the relaxed atmosphere of the island and particularly liked these two little guys we saw on the docks. It looked like they needed some sunglasses but they definitely had their life jackets on!

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