Deception Creeks Hike

In preparation of our Enchantments Hike in August we set out on a quick overnight backpack trip a few weekends ago. We had originally planned to take #1059 Deception Creek the full 5 miles to camp at the Creek junction. After stopping at the Skykomish Ranger Station, the Ranger talked us into doing a different hike instead due to the number of hikers that were already camping on the #1059 trail.

We started out at the #1059.1 trailhead (spur to Tonga Ridge) after driving some 14+ miles on a gravel road. There were about 4 other vehicles parked at this trailhead, but we didn't encounter anyone until we reached the junction with #1059 (Deception Creek Trail) - there were a couple of campers there just as the Ranger had . The #1059.1 spur is roughly 0.7 miles, that has an elevation drop of 700'. I knew on the way down that the way out the next morning was going to be grueling!!

We continued on the #1059 across Deception Creek and then  for about 3 miles of relatively light elevation gain to the #1059.2. There were multiple blow downs and creek crossings, but nothing too difficult to get over.

Near the junction of #1059.1 and #1059 - Deception Creek log crossing

Another Deception Creek crossing

The #1059.2 to Deception Lakes is a seemingly endless array of switchbacks and elevation gain before it meets up with the Pacific Crest Trail. I thought I was going to die! ;-) After a quick break, and another 1/2 mile or so and we were at the Lakes. We camped on the "island" between the Deception Lakes and Daisy Lake. Despite the warm daytime temperature, it was very cold at night and there were LOTS of bugs also.

Deception Lakes from the camp spot

Daisy Lake

Nighttime stars!

4 year anniversary!

Isn't this so true? I am lucky I found the one I wanted to annoy for the rest of my life at the young age of 16.  Happy 4th Anniversary to my amazing, wonderful, handsome and awesome husband! You make my life so much better, you support me, you make me laugh, you make me feel like the most beautiful woman in the world! 

Lopez Island Kayaking

In mid May we went on an excursion to Lopez Island with friends, and stayed at the Spencer Spit State Park. It was opening weekend so the campground was still quite overgrown and needed a lot of work to bring it up to it's prime condition. The bonus was that there weren't many other campers there (due to early season and semi bad weather) so we had the majority of the campground to ourselves!





Lucky for us the rain on Friday and Friday night paved the way for a cleared up Saturday afternoon just in time for our sea kayaking trip around Frost Island. Unfortunately I learned the hard lesson of sunburn even with gray skies and my face got fried! :(

After kayaking we came back to the camp and made our first (of many) Dutch Oven dinner. It was a simple stew, but boy was it delicious! It's super easy for camping as you can do all the prepwork in advance (chop all desired veggies & meat, place in ziploc bag with seasoning. Put in Dutch Oven, cook for 35-45 minutes and then open a can of refrigerated biscuits - place on top and let cook for another 15-20 minutes!)



We ate more than our own fair shares of dinner  and then we walked down to the Spit and had a huge driftwood fire while watching the sun set. It was absolutely breathtakingly beautiful! There is no place like Washington!!

Man Cave Transformation

This very well could be the largest and craziest transformation yet of our fixer upper house. We built a shed in the backyard, that I will write about soon. I was so excited that after 4 years of living here, we finally were able to turn our 'family room' into just that... no more man cave!

This picture collage is a mid-way shot. About half the items had been removed, and the new window is installed. You can clearly see I had painted it a bright turquoise color called Scotch Lassie by Behr (what was I thinking?). It was so bright but yet, not bright and the cement epoxy coated floors were just not doing it for me! 

I had a Pinterest board going with ideas; most of my ideas centered around the want for it to be comfortable for the guys when they came over, but still classy and maybe a little shabby chic. That being said, I decided to go with the most popular neutral right now as the base color... grey. I chose the color Sterling by Behr. It was the perfect blend of grey with a bit of blue to give it the "guy feel".

I also had the brilliant idea of painting stripes... Of course I chose the wall that is 17' long...Yes all 17' of it was taped and painted in 13.78" wide stripes! Let me tell ya, my O.C.D. came out for sure!! I tried to read up on stripe painting using Pinterest and Google, and some of the best tips came from Emily's blog. I wish I would have taken pictures during the process. 

Here is a picture of the after (the stripes turned out awesome).

We covered up the nasty epoxy coated cement floor with a laminate by TrafficMaster called Allure. We bought it at our local Home Depot. It's waterproof vinyl laminate. It feels and looks more like real wood than the Pergo in the rest of our house. It's great for the daylight basement and I don't have to worry about the floors getting wet or scuffed up by shoes coming in from the backyard.

I was excited when we bought a set of brown leather couches for the space, but I still need to find a coffee table/ottoman, a new TV stand and a rug or two to finish it off. As it stands now, I am totally loving the feel of our new family room! Definitely a huge transformation and a lot of work.

Essex, Montana

This last weekend we road-tripped to a little town called Essex near Glacier National Park in Montana. Really the only thing that is there is about 20 vacation homes, and the Izaak Walton Inn. It's a great location for cross-country skiing & snowshoeing in the winter, and for hiking in the summer (also being so close to Glacier National Park gives you the opportunity to explore there as well).

The town is accessible by regular vehicles, which can be sketchy in the winter months, or by Amtrak Train. The Amtrak train stop is just out front of the Inn. We decided to drive for this trip, as the costs of Amtrak were so high. I was grateful we drove this time, as the scenery coming through highway 2 on the way from Sand Point, Idaho to Kalispell, Montana was absolutely breathtaking and well worth the time it takes to drive. During the day and at night, it was great fun to watch all the trains coming into the train yard, and to see the helper trains pulling the ultra-long trains over the pass. The skill and timing required to coordinate the trains is interesting to watch.  It was also truly an amazing feeling to be standing just feet from the tracks and to feel the ground shaking as the trains rolled by!

We did a bit of snowshoeing right on the Izaak Walton property's trails, as well as at the Walton Ranger Station, which is just a short down the road. The hike from the Walton Ranger Station goes to Ole Creek and then the trail continues on to Fielding Picnic Area. Before we had made it to Ole Creek, we ran into some other snowshoers on their way out who told us that there was a suspension bridge - what a great surprise!!

The snowshoeing in Essex was great, and we even got a chance to do a night shoe during a snow storm. The Izaak Walton property has a "starlight" trail that is lit at night for skiing and shoeing. It was a blast. It was also super cool to stay in the caboose lodging they have. We stayed in the JJ Caboose which had a full kitchen area, bathroom, queen bed in a bedroom and full sized bed in the second floor of the caboose. It was a great alternative to standard hotel room lodging, and fun to boot!

One word resolution?

I've seen a lot of hype the past week and a half from some of the blogs I follow about creating resolutions and how there is this new trend of not creating a list of resolutions you will never keep (I know I'm guilty of that!), but creating a one word resolution. I'm not typically a crazed follower of the latest and greatest things, but I did some research on-line and found this site. I am not sure if this is what stemmed the "one word" resolution or not, but it got me thinking...What one word can I take with me this year and make it a part of my daily practice to improve on?

I completed a Beth Moore bible study last spring with my mother-in-law at our church on the book of James. There is a verse of scripture from the book of James that has really stuck with me since the study. But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation. (James 5:12 ESV) 


Interestingly enough, the few verses before this tell us to be patient, establish our hearts before the Lord,  not to grumble, to be steadfast, compassionate, merciful. WOW. That's a lot to soak up at one time. How many times have I condemned myself for not sticking to my vow or promise (weight-loss, chores, goals, etc)?  And then, how many times have I lost patience with myself...grumbled...gave up...lost my compassion for what I was trying to accomplish? Sometimes, I think that if I make new promises to myself or others that it will somehow have a different outcome (sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't). How many times have I condemned myself or others for not sticking to a vow or promise? Why can't don't I just do what I say I am going to do? 


I talk. I plan. I discuss. I want to do so many things (serve, travel, blog, organize, craft, clean, lose weight, garden, the list goes on...) but, I think the problem is that I often have the recognition of what to do and then get lost before the doing of it. 

But above all..let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no...

So that is what my one word for 2013 is:

recognize what I want to do > make plans to do it > actually do it > keep doing it

Our Top 12 of 2012

I saw a Christmas card that I totally fell in love with after I had just purchased ours the day before. I vowed to 'recreate' it as a blog post to kick off 2013. I am a day late, but true to my favorite saying, "better late than never"...right?? Well, here it is.

Hope you enjoy taking a quick journey with us as I recap my 12 most favorite moments of 2012, in no particular order:

Mondavi Winery Napa, CA

* Road trip to Napa, California.
January 2012, we made the long trip to Napa to visit a couple of good friends who Steve plays computer games online with. I went in to the trip totally psyched for the wineries and sunshine, but little did I know we'd leave with so much more than that! We met awesome new friends and have gained a whole new understanding and love for each other (I guess 15 hours in the car each way, only stopping for bathroom breaks will do that to ya!!) The wineries in Napa are truly beautiful, and the wine was great. I can't wait to go back.

* Two new babies were added to the "Cohn Clan". My cousin Danny and his wife Cristie welcomed Lailee Gray in January, and my cousin Andrew and his wife Alicia welcomed Makenna Koren in March. Both girls are absolutely adorable and full of personality.

Denali National Park, Alaska

*9 day trip to Alaska. This was seriously the trip of a lifetime. We covered over 1,500 road miles during our trip and did not see even 1/4 of the State! Everything about Alaska is rugged, untouched and adventurous; its a place you can't really explain to someone until they've been there to see it themselves. We tried to do as many activities as possible while we were there: hiking, kayaking, glacier trekking, photo-taking, beer drinking at 9 breweries, cruising on choppy seas, and sleeping in remote cabins without electricity at 6,000' elevation. It was a trip I will not soon forget, and we are hoping to go back (maybe 2013?) to do more activities that we didn't have the time for on this trip.

*Hiking & Snowshoeing. While we didn't get to do as much of both that we'd have liked to do...We did get out a few times this year for hiking and snowshoeing when the weather cooperated. We are really looking forward to a trip to Essex, Montana for snowshoeing in February; hopefully we can get some training snowshoe trips in before we go!

*Hanging out with our nieces. We got to watch Claire and Adina a few times over the Summer and had an absolute blast doing it. They are both growing up so fast, it's fun to see their personality and interest changes.

*Trip to Hawaii. Two weeks before Thanksgiving we got an amazing opportunity for cheap airfare to Hawaii so decided to book it and spend our Thanksgiving on the beaches of Oahu. It was a great week of relaxation, un-plugging, and just getting away from all the hustle of the Holidays. The weather wasn't the best for us, but it was still a great trip and I am very grateful for the opportunity and the chance to see Pearl Harbor and be so immersed in rich history.

*Camping, camping and some MORE camping! We went camping almost every weekend of the summer. We enjoyed 3 days on Orcas Island, complete with a sailing trip on one of the most gorgeous sunny days I've seen in Washington. We camped at our special spot in Darrington for 6 weekends of the summer, and also got in 2 trips to the Leavenworth KOA.

*Steve got a huge promotion at work. I am super proud of his strong dedication and good work ethic that provides the opportunities for him to advance in his career! Additionally we both reached big milestones in our careers - Steve's been at his work for 4 years, and I've been at mine for almost 6! It's not often that one can say that these days with the turmoil in the economy.

The shed before it's roof job.

*More home renovations...This year we didn't do too much work on the house, it kind of got old after doing it non-stop for the first 2 years of our marriage/home ownership. We did accomplish a few small projects, and one major project (which leads the way to more projects!) The major project we completed was a 16'x24' shed built by Steve, with the help of family and friends. We will finally, after nearly 4 years of living here, have a dedicated 'family room' and not an inside garage storage!!! The shed will house all the tools, and boxes, that have been shelved in our downstairs family room. We are so excited to have more space. I already have a plan of exactly how to decorate the new space and will be sharing those pictures and tutorials here in the coming months. Sidenote >> as of November for the first time in 3 1/2 years of marriage we are sans roommates. It's awesome to have a full house to ourselves!! :-)

*Losing 30 pounds and doing two 5k races! I actually lost a little more than 30, but gained a bit back over the last two months; I need to get back on track! ;-) Mostly exercise and some diet changes have got me here, and will keep me going in the right direction. I am about half way to my goal!!

Oktoberfest

*Oktoberfest 2012. We rented a Kabin at the KOA and had one of the funnest weekends of our lives at the Leavenworth Oktoberfest. Our friend Ryan who moved up here from Southern California in 2010 invited a couple of his best friends to join us, it was like we'd all been friends for years even though we'd just met - that does not happen often. I cannot wait to get down to So. Cal to visit Emily & Noelle and the rest of the gang.

*Sary's wedding. My best friend Sarah got married in September and I was her maid of honor. It was a lot of fun helping her plan and design her big day, and it was one of the most beautiful weddings I've been to. The weather was absolutely perfect for an outdoor September wedding, and all the details were just right.