Wander Life

A Few More Pictures

I'm back in Colorado, back at work, back running with my roommate (we did another [much smaller] half marathon this morning)...but nothing that I've taken pictures of.  I'll try to capture the next snow storm we have, but for the last several days, it's been anything but snowy (sunny & low 70s).  My sister-in-law did put up the pictures she took at my Grandma Larson's funeral, though, so I'll share a few of those.  If you want to see them all, go here.

Thanks again to everyone for the kind words.  Here's little Meddy (dressed as Elmer Fudd for Halloween) to say, "Thank you for being a friend!"  : )  

Have a good weekend.
 

95 Years of Pictures

My family and I had been working on a slide show for my Grandma Larson's slide show for most of the week - quite a life.  The funeral yesterday was a wonderful time of remembering a more-than-wonderful lady, and I'll share some of those picts soon.  But for now, here are a few from the life of Harriet E. Larson, grandma and pie & cookie maker extraordinaire....

  
 
 
 

Remembering my grandmas

I don't really have the right words to describe this past week, but I did want to share a few picts (my sis-in-law has all the pictures from my Grandma Stout's funeral here).  The service on Monday was a great time of celebration of her life and time to be with family.  Below is a picture of her surviving grandchildren (one cousin has passed away). 

After Monday's events, I spent Tuesday with my dad and aunts cleaning out my Grandma S' apartment and spent Wednesday with family and hanging out in Portland with my sister.  I was set to fly back to Colorado today (Friday), but in the early morning of Thursday, the Lord decided it was time to call my other grandma (Grandma Larson - who lives with my parents) home, as well.  So, I am delaying my return to Colorado by another week and am glad I can be with my family during this time.  My Grandma Larson's service is Friday.

Losing both of my grandmas in such a short time is hard to fathom, but I'm thankful that they were both such a presence and influence in my life for 30 grandma-love-filled years.

Thanks to everyone who has e-mailed, called, texted, sent Facebook notes, etc.  It may be a while before I get a chance to get back to you, but know that it really does mean a lot.  For anyone who is interested, here's the link to the obituaries for both of my grandmas: Harriet Stout; Harriet Larson (yeah, both my grandmas were named Harriet : )). 

On a happy note (because, hey, both of my grandmas were happy, fun people! : )), my roommie B & I did the Denver half marathon on Sunday...and survived.  It was a great time of running (and running...and running) with a huge mass of people, and we even got a picture to prove it.  : )

 Hope everyone has a good weekend, and again, thanks for your prayers and thoughts.
 
 

Grandma Love

My older bro just sent me these pictures that he came across.  This is me with my grandma when I was five years old.  I don't know how I felt about the dress, but my grandma was a keeper.  : )
 
 

Grandma

Thank you, all, for your prayers for my family.  My Grandma Stout passed away early Friday morning, and, though, of course, we grieve that she is absent from us, we celebrate that she is now present with the Lord.  I'll be going to spend time with my family and honor my grandma's life next week.

As for life in Colorado, here's a quick summary: we've had our first snow (a couple of inches Thursday & Friday...and still on the ground today); we had a baby shower for a friend yesterday at PF Chang's; saw "Wicked" in Denver on Thursday night (excellent); the Denver half marathon that B & I are running is in one week; and we made Baked Alaska tonight for dessert (tasty).

Enjoy the sideways pictures.  : )     

Today

Today, my lil' bro ran the Portland marathon (2:32 - good job, lil' bro!); it's 40 degrees and raining here in Ft. Collins; B & I made crepes.  Some ordinary things; some extraordinary; some marking a change in season.  But the biggest thing, of course, is that my grandma is going off of life support today.     

In church, we've been going through the book of Ecclesiastes, and I've appreciated the timing of it.  It seems like there's a time to laugh and a time to cry not just in different seasons in life but also, sometimes, each day.  Today, I can celebrate, I can mourn, I can do ordinary things, and I can ponder something momentous - the life of a loved one.

And through it all, I can say, "This is the day the Lord has made!"  I hope you all have a blessed day....

Rocks! (Last of the summer catch-ups!)

Ok, I've set my mind to finishing my summer recapping...especially now since it is decidedly fall (I'm thankful that it's still sunny, but it doesn't look like we'll be getting much higher than mid 50's to mid 60's any time soon).  Plus, I've got to finish catching up, so I can start doing some new stuff. : )  (For example, I'm seeing Wicked, which is coming to Denver for one month only, next week, and my roommie and I are doing the Denver half marathon in two weeks.  Fun, fun.)

So, now, here's the rest of September's highlights: The Killers concert at Red Rocks and then some hiking in Boulder.  (This is the same hike I did with my sister when she visited for my b-day - it's a good one. : ))

As you can see, it's a pretty sweet ampitheatre.  I didn't take any shots of the actual concert...but trust me, it was a good one.

And here's the Boulder hike I did with AY & B.  We then had pizookis at BJ's on Pearl Street.  Oh, and we also visited a meadery.  Who knew that mead was so interesting (or even that it's still made)?  Well, it is...and it's pretty tasty, too.  (For those of you who are now Wikipediaing "mead," I'll save you the trouble - it's wine made from honey.)  So, there ya go: don't say I never taught ya anything.  : ) 

So, there ya go.  Now...time to get outside again while I can.  : )  Hope you all have a great weekend!  

Grandma & Continuing Summer Recap

Ok, first off: my grandma (my dad's mom who lives in Vancouver, WA) is in the hospital.  So, that has been the main thing on my mind this week.  But at the moment, I'd rather have a distraction from stuff that's beyond my control.  So I'll just ask that you continue to keep my family in your prayers, and I'll keep you posted on how my grandma's doing.  Until then, here's some more recapping of the summer....

So, let's see...in the last post, I promised you Tour de Fat pictures.  But probably, I should explain a little about what Tour de Fat actually is.  Fort Collins, Colorado, is pretty much known for two things: Colorado State University & New Belgium Brewery (makers of such popular beers as Fat Tire, 1554, Skinny Dip and many others).  So, put the two together, and what do you get?  ...Ok, on second thought, let's not venture there.  : )  Totally unrelated to the university (though a good many participants are students there, this is totally a New Belgium thing), the brewery sponsors an annual multi-city bike parade & festival called Tour de Fat.  The main point, I think, is to promote bike riding, so basically, people just ride there bikes along the designated parade route through town.  And dressing crazy is optional...but seemingly preferred.  : )

So, anyway, over Labor Day, I had a couple of friends (CL from Idaho & LH from...well, originally Montana, but she's been in Baltimore and is now moving to Denver) from my ECHO/Florida days visit, and what should be happening that very Saturday morning?  You guessed it: the Fort Collins Tour de Fat.  We decided that instead of participating, it would just be more fun to watch (with coffee in hand).  : )  So, without further ado, here's a glimpse of Tour de Fat: 

(And I have no idea why I can't get that one to rotate, but...you get the idea.)  : )  Anyway, a fun time was had by all.

Also, while C & L were here, we had to, of course, do a little hiking.  'Twas a great visit (for me, anyway...but I'm pretty sure they enjoyed it, too : )), so thanks for coming out, guys!

And I guess that's good enough for now.  Some more hiking pictures and a concert yet to come....  Stay tuned.  : ) 

Where does a month go?

Been a little quiet on the ol' Wanderlife blogfront, I know.  Sorry about the silence (or is silence golden?).  It's not that nothing has been going on...it's just that I haven't been good about relaying it.  I have taken a bunch of picts, though, so I'll do my usual catch-up method of letting some picts tell the story.  Mid-August to mid-September, summarized thus:

In case you haven't heard, hiking's kind of a thing to do in Colorado (some might say the thing to do), so we've been trying to take advantage of it.  This is one of the hikes on the outskirts of Ft. Collins - Horsetooth Rock.  I should take a picture of the formation from a distance sometime 'cause then you'll be able to see how it gets its name: it does, indeed, look like a giant horse's tooth.  Luckily, though, the air up there probably smelled a little better than a horse's mouth....  : )  Anyway, Bri, Alli & I enjoyed it thoroughly.

Then I went back to Brush Prairie, Washington, to visit for the fam for a week and a half.  As you can see from my nephew Med's expression, a good time was had by all.  : )  Good family time; my grandpa's 85th bday bash; my college alumni soccer game; visiting my little bro in Seattle; and catching up with several friends.  It was a great summer visit to the ol' Family Farm.  Here are some more picts to illustrate the sweetness:

Though it may not appear so from the picture, all four of my nieces really do enjoy motorcycle rides.  Med's not ready quite yet.  : )

And you'd think I would have gotten, at least, one picture from the alumni game, but, alas, I did not.  You'll just have to imagine the fun....  I'll also include one from Gig Harbor (where I got to meet up with China friend, Tasha...which was awesome) and one of Jake's place in Seattle (which is in a pretty stellar area):

Gig Harbor.  Pretty pretty.  : )

Jake's place in Seattle (which he shares with something like 12 other people...but still cool : )).

Jake & his new birthday iPhone.  : )

...And that brings us almost through August.  So, I think I'll say "to be continued" on this one 'cause I still have a bunch of pictures (Tour De Fat bike parade, another hike, Killers concert at Red Rocks...), but...I'm hungry.  So, I'm off to get dinner and call it a day, but hopefully, I'll be back soon to carry on with the catch-up.  Until then...keep soaring high!  : )

(Friends) Leaving on a Jet Plane

Well, I am leaving on a jet plane next week (to go back to the Pac NW to visit my fam for 10 days), but this title is actually referring to the fact that I have just seen several of my friends off again to Asia.  And some who haven't quite left, yet, will be soon.  Indeed, it's about that time: the fall semester will be starting soon.  So...if you're teaching (or studying) in Asia, I guess you had better start making your way to class, ay?  : )

And though I'm not going with them this time around, my heart & mind can't help but kinda drift that way these days.  (Luckily, my work requires my thoughts to be around Asia, so, on the upside, I guess I won't be reprimanded for having my attention elsewhere. : ))

But, yeah, that's pretty much what's been going on with me for the last couple of weeks.  Some friends came back in town (before heading back to China); roommie B has been sick (but is feeling better now, thankfully); another friend left the Fort (aka Ft. Collins) today (which meant a farewell party last night...more details on that in a bit); and...work.  I also saw "500 Days of Summer" one of those days in there and enjoyed that.  : )

Oh, and I'm also reading "Wild Swans" (a memoir about China), so, though it probably doesn't help with the whole "thoughts currently revolving around Asia" issue I have going on at the moment, I'm enjoying it quite well.  So, there's that.

...But to get back to my original point (I did have a point, didn't I?): leaving on a jet plane.  As previously mentioned (it was just two paragraphs ago, and I know you have been eagerly awaiting it since), we had another farewell party.  This one was for our friend DK who is heading back to Vietnam.

Now B & I had a great idea to make a cake.  And don't all great cakes start out as great ideas?  Surely.  But apparently some less-than-spectacular cakes also start out as great ideas.  Who knew?  And, alas, as these things sometimes go, ours was a case of the latter.  

I, of course, could go into a lot of explanation about what happened and theories about why, but I think the best one is: I blame my sister.  : )  (Just kidding, sis. :))  

The cake part worked out great - two yellow cakes.  Since we only had one round pan and one small square one, we did kind of a "modern art" thing with a two-layered cake with different shapes.  But this was not the problem.

For the filling, I used something I had learned from my mom: vanilla pudding mix with half & half instead of milk.  I think that's how it goes, anyway.  ...Regardless, this also turned out fine.

The trouble came with the frosting.  Oh, but first I should tell you how we intended to decorate the cake....  It really was going to be something.  First, there was going to be a US flag and a Vietnam flag.  Then an arrow from the US one to the Vietnam one.  Above the arrow was going to be an airplane with our friend smiling out the window.  In the arrow, it was going to say "Vietnam or Bust."  Beautiful, right?  And then down below, it was going to say "Please take us with you, Deb! (in your heart)"  Ha ha!  Clever AND sweet!  As you can see, it was really going to be...something else.

And by "something else," I, of course, mean...something other than this:

If this doesn't even look like we tried, you're wrong.  We did try.  We even had icing tubes, with different colors and different shaped-tips, to boot!  We had the idea; we had the motivation; we had the equipment....  What we didn't have was frosting that didn't slide off the cake.  Well, we probably did, at first...until I melted it.  Only for a few seconds, but still...what was supposed to be "frosting that easily ran over the cake to cover it all evenly" turned into "frosting that easily ran over the cake...and kept running off the cake."  

Maybe if we had had a couple more hours to let the chocolate set on the cake before decorating it, things would have still turned out ok. But as it was (and as you can see), we did not...and they did not.  The letters and flags just kind of slid along with the frosting to form puddles of icing at the bottom.  

The whole effect turned out to be a little more "horror movie" (like someone's plea for help being written in a streaked mirror) than "funny yet touching comedy," but if it's the thought that counts, it was definitely a great cake.  : )

   Anyway, it tasted great, and our friend knew we cared, so, in the end, I guess you could say that this farewell party took the cake.  Buh dump duh dum.  : )