Getting a start on that bucket list...

This weekend's shenanigans included LOTS of paddleboarding.  On Sunday we met some friends at the beach with their daughter and 2 of her friends.  They wanted to try some paddleboarding so we took the boards out and took turns playing around.  It was pretty windy and the water was choppy but we had fun.  This friend of mine is a yoga instructor... who better to practice a head stand with??? Well, we attempted to do head stands on the paddle board (and we failed miserably).

Speaking of head stands, it's #23 on my bucket list.  I've been trying every day and I've gotten pretty good (on land) at kicking up to a head stand without needing the wall... although I've always been near a wall in case I kick too hard and go completely over.  So this morning, we met some friends for an early morning paddle and Lake Tahoe was glassy and calm.  Long story short... this happened...

Failed attempt #1 

Failed attempt #2 

Failed attempt #3 

SUCCESS!!!!!!!!!!!!

After that little public display... we headed out.  Our friend Ann is 6 months pregnant and awesome at paddle boarding. 

The scenery was beautiful as always.  

You can still see the snow cross on Tallac and a hot air balloon!  

The weather was so beautiful and warm... and the lake was so calm... I got brave and attempted the head stand again...

this time on the board...

Here goes nothin'

YES!!!!!!  And I didn't even get wet this time!  

 I didn't hold it very long but IT COUNTS!!!  Thanks to my dear husband for being my photographer! 

Ok Mike, it's your turn...

He actually did pretty good considering he's never done one. 

We decided to make the most of a day with no wind so, we loaded up the boards and drove to the east shore.  The Nevada side of the lake is arguably my favorite side of the lake.  

The water felt a lot colder than the shallow water of South Lake.  But the color... oh. my. gosh.  There are no words to describe it.  

We packed a lunch... paddled to a beach... ate... swam (aka 1 quick dunk under the water for me)... floated on the water and ate cold watermelon... picked out houses and boats we would LOVE to own... and then paddled back.  

It was peaceful and calm.  Exactly the way I like it.  I'm pretty sure I'm going to like having 2 days off during the week.  Less crowds to deal with. 

It was an awesome weekend and I got to cross off one of the items on my bucket list.  A few of the other bucket list items are in progress.  I will try to take pictures as I complete all of them so stay tuned.

30 by 30

It's my birthday month!  This year I will be 29 years old.  In thinking about my upcoming birthday, I have been thinking a lot about my life and where I am at this point.  Lots of people make lists of the 30 things they want to do before turning 30 years old.  Well, here's mine:

1. READ THE BIBLE COVER TO COVER

I started this over a year ago... I'm in Luke now... 

2. GO ON A BACKPACKING CAMPING TRIP. 

Something short. Probably just 1 night.  

3. REFURBISH ALL THE BEDROOM FURNITURE. 

This is already in progress, but it's slow going. 

4. GO TO SEATTLE. 

Just because. 

5. VISIT PORTLAND OREGON. 

Same reason as #4. 

6. RUN A HALF MARATHON.

I am crazy... but only half crazy!

7. COMPLETE A(NOTHER) WHEELS FOR THE WORLD TRIP.

Leaving Oct 31st for Lima, Peru!

8. DO A PADDLEBOARD YOGA CLASS.

Not just playing around on the board... like I wanna attend a REAL class. 

9. WATCH THE SUNRISE FROM EMERALD BAY.

The mouth of the bay faces East. 

10. LEARN TO MEDITATE.

Effectively. 

11. GO ZIPLINING.

Technically I've been before, but only down 1 zipline.  I wanna do more!

12. SUMMIT FREEL PEAK. 

The highest peak in the Lake Tahoe Basin. 

13. RIDE ON A SNOWMOBILE.

Driving it would be even better!

14. GET A HOT STONE MASSAGE.

Maybe more than once. 

15. LEARN HOW TO BAKE A CHEESECAKE.

Because Mike loves them.  Who am I kidding... I love them too! 

16. HIKE TO ALOHA LAKE. 

Hundreds of rock islands... yes please! 

17. TRY PADDLEBOARD SURFING. 

We've only had 1 opportunity so far and it was a REALLY rough day.  

18. RIDE IN A CABLE CAR IN SAN FRANCISCO. 

It's ridiculous that I haven't done this yet. 

19. OPEN A RETIREMENT ACCOUNT. 

So responsible of me. 

20. LOOK UP MY FAMILY ANCESTRY.

I should know where I come from, right?

21. PADDLE LAKE TAHOE UNDER A FULL MOON.

I've heard you can see everything under the water. 

22. RENT A BOAT AND CRUISE AROUND THE LAKE. 

"The Lake" being Lake Tahoe of course.  I wanna see every little cove. 

23. LEARN TO DO A YOGA INVERSION.

Consistently... and without needing my feet up against a wall. 

24. JUMP OFF A CLIFF INTO WATER.

Angora Lakes anyone???

25. PAY FOR SOMEONE ELSE'S MEAL. 

Anonymously. 

26. ATTEND A CHURCH REGULARLY. 

Just looking for the right one. 

27. THROW A PARTY FOR A FRIEND.

Baby shower planned for 7/10/14. 

28. FIND AT LEAST 1 HAPPINESS IN EVERY DAY x 365 DAYS!

This might be harder than I think, but I'm going to buy a calendar and every night before bed I am going to write down one thing that made me happy that day (even if it's a simple as a cup of coffee).  Since I have just over 1 year until my 30th and I REALLY wanna cross everything off my list, this starts TODAY! 

So... I have a paper with all this written down.  It also includes a #29 and #30 but I'm not quite ready to share those two bucket list items.  

I know what a lot of you might be thinking... 

maybe #29 is move back to North Carolina and #30 is have a baby!?!?!  

I'm sure that would make both of our parents very happy but, that's not what they are.  

They are just personal goals of mine that I'm not ready to share just yet.  But, when I check them off my list, I will let you know what they were and that I have ACCOMPLISHED them!  

Ok, so there you have it.  That's my list to complete over the next year.  There's a LOT of stuff on that list that makes me nervous but this blog is all about being outside of my "comfort zone," right? 

I will keep you all informed as I check off items on my list (especially those secretive #'s 29 and 30)!  The best part of this entire thing, was that it made me realize all the things I've already done.  I went to the internet for inspiration because coming up with 30 realistic things to do in 1 year is actually a little tough.  In reading other people's lists, I realized how blessed my life has been in 28 short years.  I also realized a lot of my priorities (fitness... travel... spiritual health... etc).  I have a better understanding of who I am and that's exactly how I want to feel leaving my 20's and entering my 30's.  This upcoming last year in my 20's is sure to be a memorable one!  

Bliss

It's super windy today, so instead of mountain biking or paddleboarding, we chose to hike a touristy location before all the tourists show up for the summer.  

The location: DL Bliss State Park.  It's on the west shore of Lake Tahoe and a short 2.5 mile hike offers amazing views of the lake.  

The lighthouse. 

The pictures really don't accurately show the tremendous color of the water.  You just have to see it for yourself. 

Mike and Ann looking out over the lake. 

The windy weather today is blowing in some wet weather over the next few days. 

Mike and I drove across the street to scope out the sunset and we were surprised to see that the weather was already blowing in.  It almost looked like the mountains were on fire. 

 

 

Summer Projects

Lately I have been obsessed with the "home decor" section on Pinterest.  I've also been watching a LOT of HGTV.  I can't get enough of it.  Mike and I both would love to flip a house (well, in reality, I don't think either one of us wants to do the work involved... and I am sure it would interfere with all our mountain biking/hiking/camping plans).  Considering the fact that every house we have looked at in this area is (a) WAY out of our price range and (b) needs a TREMENDOUS amount of work... I don't think that flipping a house in Tahoe is in our near future.

So, I've decided to tackle a much smaller (but still significant) project this summer.  I'm going to refinish our bedroom furniture.  It's actually Mike's bedroom furniture from childhood and it's awesome.  I love the bed and nightstand... and then I contributed a chest of drawers that sort of match, but not really.  Anyway, the nightstand has water rings and the finish is coming off.  The foot board has chipping in the finish as well and the other piece has tons of scratches.  In summary, we haven't taken very good care of it and that makes me sad.

After some debate with Mike, he has agreed to let me refinish the furniture as long as I keep the stain as close to the same color as possible.  I totally agreed to that.  I actually really like the color, PLUS the more it matches, the less work I have to do!  So we bought our supplies and I just started the work today.

I am quickly realizing that this project will likely take me the entire summer because I only have a few days a week to work on it and because it takes so long for the stain to really dry between coats.  Today I sanded the nightstand and put 2 coats of stain on.  So far... I LOVE IT!

BEFORE: 

Pre sanding... it was in rough shape.  

After just one coat of stain!  

I will have to wait a while to really let the stain dry thoroughly, and then I guess I'm supposed to put a coat of polyurethane.  I'm hoping to do that later this week.  Then... it will be time to start the next piece.

 This is the "other" piece of furniture that doesn't quite match the bedroom suit.  It's a big piece... it's going to be a big project.  But, as you can see: it really needs to be refinished.  

It looks good from far away...
but not close up. 

The other thing we have been wanting to do for a while is to get a TV cabinet.  I found one in a store in South Lake that sells antiques and refurbished furniture and my sweet husband went out to get it for me!  Love him.  

This is before:

 And after... 

Naturally, I'm watching FRIENDS on tv! 

I really like it!  Our living room feels a little smaller, but it also feels more "finished."  The top part of the cabinet has doors that close to hide the tv.  

Anyway, stay tuned for more progress on these projects!

Shoulder Season

The ski resorts are officially closed.  The only place to find snow is in the highest elevations.  It's no longer the "high tourist" season but it probably should be, because the weather here is PERFECT right now.  It's warm, but not hot.  It's sunny and breezy.  Simply perfect.  So what do we do during shoulder season?  We hike!

We live at the top of a mountain pass where there are tons of hiking trails, one of which being the Tahoe Rim Trail which goes around the lake.  There is a short loop of this trail right beside our house and Zater and I went for a walk there the other day.  I love that we can walk to these trails and that because we are higher elevation than Lake Tahoe, we get awesome lake views from many of these trails.

A lone tree growing out of a large rock.

Mike and I took Zater for a hike to Castle Rock.  We did this hike last year too.  It's super close to home and has fantastic lake views.  

Zater always leads the way. 

Stopping for a water break. 

We passed our neighbors on the trail... climbing rocks. 

Castle Rock

You can see the mouth of Emerald Bay across the lake.

Sunday we hiked Horsetail Falls. It is a short, but pretty intense hike. 

The falls are just outside of the Tahoe Basin.  So, not walking distance from our house but that's cool because the trail is pretty tough.  It's a short hike but it's pretty treacherous.  The falls are HUGE and beautiful and totally work the difficult hike. 

At the bottom of the trail. 

LOVER'S LEAP (the big cliff face in the center of the pic)

Mike leading the way with Horsetail Falls in the background. 

You can hike to the bottom of the falls, which isn't too bad.  But if you want to go to the top of the falls you have to follow a tiny trail over HUGE boulders.  We used our arms almost as much as our legs.  We scaled big boulders like spiderman. 

Closer to the top! 

 This is where I stopped.  The trail was covered in snow and I just wasn't motivated to keep going so I sat on a warm granite rock while Mike climbed the rest of the way to the top.  It was nice because we could see each other the entire time... we didn't have to worry about losing each other... getting hurt and not being able to signal, etc.  

 It was really windy and as we were hiking back down, we noticed the winds seemed to be picking up.  There is some weather blowing in from the west and we could see the clouds along the crest. 

 I took most of the pictures on my phone since it was readily accessible in my pocket, and I couldn't have my camera around my neck as I was crawling over large boulders.  When we stopped for lunch, I broke out the "real" camera for a few more pictures: 

Lower part of the falls. 

Not a bad view. 

Had a quick snack... and a quick glance at the map. 

The top of the falls where we ate our lunch.  

This hike takes you into Desolation Wilderness which is a place we hope to hike more of this summer.  There was a point, while sitting at the top, that I felt so small and alone.  It was amazing and slightly scary at the same time.  I love seeing these places that not everyone gets to see.  It feels exclusive.  But, with poorly marked trails, it's easy to see how people get lost out there.  I was grateful to get out of desolation... fill my belly with some amazing sushi... and to have a long soak in the hot tub for my achy feet.   

It was definitely an adventurous hike and I'm glad we did it.  There were times it might have been a little more adventurous than I would have liked, but there is no one else in the world that I would rather take these adventures with than Mike.  He looks out for me and makes sure we stay safe, etc.  I feel so blessed to have him, to live here, and to have family that supports our decision to live this far from home. 

Someone once said...

..."BE BRAVE. TAKE RISKS.  NOTHING CAN SUBSTITUTE EXPERIENCE."

Our entire time in Tahoe has been a wonderful experience.  Having been born and raised in the South, moving to the west coast has been nothing short of an adventure.  Things are different here.  Not better, or worse... just different.

We have had some amazing experiences since moving to Tahoe.  I feel so blessed to be at a place in life where we can travel, see new things, do new things, and take up as many hobbies as we want!

Lately, we haven't had any HUGE adventures but we have been doing a lot of mountain biking.  The weather has been fantastic so we've tried to be outside as much as possible.  We have also been paddleboarding (only once so far).  The water is freezing but we just try REALLY hard not to fall in.  Mike did end up in the water once, but it was only waist deep and it was the dog's fault.  Yep, we take our dog on the paddleboard.  He's usually very well behaved but he was being obnoxious on this particular trip.  Anyway, it made for a fun morning!  Otherwise, things have been pretty mellow here.

As awesome as my experiences in Tahoe have been, I keep wanting to do another wheelchair outreach.  I recently applied for an outreach to Lima, Peru.  Still waiting to hear if I'm accepted to go (and more importantly if I can get the time off from work... that's another story).  So, stay tuned for more details!