Hiking...

Ladies and gentlemen, today I learned what a real hike is like and what real hikers do. It was quite a surpsise because I just assumed everyone just "strolled" on the easy paths, but no, there are people in the world who actually go and LOOK for things, like mines and stuff. It was surprising and yet exciting. And in case you were worried and hadn't figured it out yet I am just fine...

David Jones (he used to basically live at our house) got back from his deployment 2 weeks ago. He found a new love for hiking and so he is always getting groups together to go. Since today is Martin Luther King Jr day and he had it off he set up a hike. Me, Doug and Matthew ended up going along with David and his roommate Matthew. The weather was perfect at 78 degrees throughout our whole hike. We set out looking for an old mine, but ended up not being able to find it. David wore a backpack-that is how serious he is. It was full of snacks and water (which is good because I was definitely not prepared fro such an excursion). It was pretty fun and Matthew was excited because he was able to climb on a bunch of rocks. I realized that nature is a beautiful thing, especially the desert-which allows you the opportunity to hike even in January.

Doug on top of the world

Doug found a gord and threw it against a rock. It exploded and he pretended to eat it. It looked disgusting!

The tiny person ahead of Matthew is David with his legit backpack.

Prior to the hike. We had all just barely got up.

The Parade

So my boss had planned all of this stuff for the week of the rose parade and then forgot to mention that she had expected me to go to a bunch of different functions. I was able to go to the Rose Parade Gala which was amazing. I had the opportunity to get all dressed up (which is fun, but I am glad I do not have to do it all that often) and go out for a fun evening. Then on Saturday I went back down to Pasadena and enjoyed the parade from the grandstands. I am so grateful that I did not have to sleep in the streets like so many other thousands of people did. It was CRAZY! The parade was another awesome experience!

This was the theme of the 2011 Rose Parade.

This is the mass herds of people who travelled from all over the world to be there. I was amazed at the people from different states and countries who came just for the Rose Parade (and probably the Rose Bowl). I never realized what a huge world wide event this was before. Very cool!

Me all bundled up because it was super cold!! Thankfully it started to warm up when the sun came up, but there was a couple of hours when I didn't think I would make it. Luckily my grandstand seat was at the top so I was able to stand and move around when it got really cold.

A stealth flew over the grounds to open the ceremonies. It was very loud!

The police escort clearing the streets for the floats to come through.

The Good Year Blimp-always heard about it, but never seen one before.

The Marine Corp band. I do so love men in uniform :)

This is the float that we worked on. It one the Theme award which means it captured the essence of the theme of the parade the best. Our group leaders were very excited. You can see Victor he is the first rider on the right. If you look closely you can also see the seeds I put on the top of the kite on the left and the purple flowers on the right! Some of Barb's yellow flowers are also on the right, the red flowers are covered by part of float so you can't really see that.

Victor is the guy and the one waving. He was so excited to ride the float! After two transplants and five years of treatment I am glad he got this fun treat!

These are the floragraphs on the left side of the float. Each picture is of a donor who was able to donate cause they had passed away. There were 60 pictures done and some of the memebers of the families of those donors were able to attend the parade. All the pictures were done in completely natural substances. They were so beautiful and many tears were shed over the pictures.

The float of one of the teams in the Rose Bowl.

The other team in the Rose Bowl.

The real heroes of the Rose Parade-the poop scoopers. They got more cheers than most of the floats.

The next are just a couple of pictures of my favorite floats. Of course I took like 200 pics so I only posted a few. This float was done in celebration of the 30 year anniversary of Pac-Man. SO AWESOME!

I loved the fire breathing effects.

I loved the bulldozer floats-thought Dad would like them to. I especially like the smiley faces.

The freeway was completely shut down for the Rose Parade. I like the picture of the mass herd of people crossing over the freeway pass. This was at the end of the parade.

Thanks to some great words of wisdom I brought a book to wait out the crazy mad crush of people all in a hurry to get home. I kicked it in the bleachers reading for about an hour after the parade ended and had no problem getting home. Which is good because traffic really annoys and frustrates me. The book was really good to!

Float Decorating

So it has taken me ages to post this blog because for some reason it didn't want to upload the pics. So here it is. This year my supervisor worked all year to get one of my patients on the Donate Life float for the Rose Parade. It was an issue since Donate Life is for donors that donate after they die and bone marrow can be given as a living donor so there was a little convincing that needed to be done to get permission. It probably helps that the hospital donates a bunch of money to the parade... My patient was super excited to ride the float and all the fun that went along with it. A group of my patients and staff from the hospital as well as Barbie all went down to Pasadena to help decorate the float. It was super intense.

The group gathered at the hospital prior to heading out. Barb is taking the picture.

Yes it was downpouring rain. We had to wait outside for the whole team to get signed in and we all got a little bit wet while we waited.

So the leader asked for volunteers who were unafraid of heights and who would be willing to walk on the scaffolding. I raised my hand, figuring it would be no big deal. Then I spent the next 2 1/2 hours up on the scaffolding in awkward positioning placing tiny seeds in a row. It was very tedious work and I am glad I did not have to do the whole thing!

This is a pic of what took me all that time to complete. Although it was only about a 6 inch section so the picture is of a way bigger portion then what I completed. So glad someone else was willing to donate their time to fill in that section.

Me up on the scaffolding which was actually really fun, even though my whole body felt bruised and beaten the next day from the awkward positions I had to put myself in to reach the seeds.

Barbie placing her carnations with the utmost concentration. Love the sticking out of her tongue.

Again dealing with the carnations.

The whole group eating lunch trying to stay dry since it was STILL raining.

Barbie and Stefanie

Barbie was balancing on top of a 5 gallon bucket that was placed on a not smooth surface. She was a little dramatic with the whole balancing act.

Once she felt a little more confident of her balance she became the bucket model.

Barbie relinquished her bucket climbing duties to another volunteer who was a little more gutsy about bucket climbing. Of course she had to keep her hand on his side, cause he was making her very nervous. He was able to reach high enough, but couldn't see so another volunteer who was up higher and could see was directing him. It was pretty funny and involved some smashed flowers, but the space did get filled.

There were signs that were put on the sides of the float. Jen and Dr. Morris worked on placing the seeds in perfectly straight lines. Jen tried to instruct Dr. Morris that the supervisor wanted the rows done horizontally, but he didn't listen. He made his rows vertical and then was a little upset when the supervisor came back around and scraped all of his seeds off and told him to redo the rows horizontally! They take this float decorating business very seriously!

Some deflowered stems

Barb finished with the yellow flowers and moved on to the red section.

We were so good at placing the flowers on the float that we finished with the flowers before the people preparing the flowers had more flowers ready. So we goofed off a little, until the head boss came along with his laser pointer and looked a little irritated. So we played it cool after that.

Barbie getting all sticky from the tacky glue on the flowers. Things got a little messy and that glue really sticks! I have washed my jeans twice and there are still sticky spots!

Part of the section that we finished. Well mostly Barb. I did the purple flowers in a different section.

Working on placing the flowers on the underside of the float. Definite neck pain, but it was so worth it!! We had so much fun decorating and it was a great experience!

Orange Torte

So I got a free cookbook from the last pampered chef party and it was 56 delicious desserts. The pictures are enough to simply make your mouth water and I am sure just by looking you are consuming calories. Anyway in the cookbook is a reciepe for an orange torte that sounded simply heavenly, so I decided that I would make that. Low and behold though to make a torte you have to have a torte pan, which not only did I not know what it was, but you also can't just go get one from Wal-Mart. Thankfully Michelle sells pampered chef and remembered that I wanted one so when Kim asked what I wanted, Michelle was ready with an idea!! Thanks again Kim for the pans!

This is right out of the pan. My heart did little excited flips when it came out perfectly! I was so giddy with excitement!

The finished product! We haven't eaten it yet so it may taste like dirt, but it sure is pretty! I made two, but only took a picture of one since the other turned out just as well, but I left off the mandarin oranges so it is not as pretty.

Oregon update

So thought I would try and keep everyone a little more up to date with our lives, not a New Year's resolution just trying to be better. Any way Kim and I have been looking at a new dryer because the one we had did not really dry clothes it just spun them in a circle, I know dad probably a bad heating element, but it was old school freebie that the Lowe's let us have when we got married. (I know mom and dad you had your set FOREVER, well they do not make 'em like they used to). Back to the story, we had been looking and looking and I decided we should just get a new set so they are both warrantied yada-yada. So we have been waiting for about four months for the set we liked to go on 20% off sale but they weren't and kim was tired of doing wash at her parent's house, though she was over there every other week the last two months (so it worked out). We got a nice Maytag set, I think they are SWEET, Kim is excited about the STEAM dryer and the fact the washer can do an entire King bed set all at once and I like the look. Any how we got a good 10% off, the next week they went to 20% off (just our luck), but Lowes was super cool and hooked us up, plus threw the stack kit in for free. We got a good deal!

Here is the guest bedroom, FINISHED!!! We like the color alot. Cleaned carpet, painted baseboards and all trim, painted walls, and ceiling. So yes it was the easiest room to do, but it is nice having something finished!! It is right nect to our room so I can look in everyday and pat myself on the back, SWEET!!!!

Another project marked off the list, got Kim's food storage shelves up and mostly organized!!!!

Sadly Kim is still without a master bath (toilet and sink) but she is a trooper, she is hanging in there.

We love you all!!!!!!!!!!

Matthew's Basketball Schedule

Matthew had his first Basketball game of the season today. I wish I had a picture to post but, well, I don't. I am sure there will be tons to post on a later blog. I felt bad about not letting everyone know about Matthew's game. He played AWESOME! Of course that is his mother talking, but I think Uncle Doug would say the same thing. :) I am new at this but I am going to try it here is Matthew's Basketball schedule for the season. He is in the 8-9 division and his team name is the Bulls. Click here to see his schedule.