Life Lessons Learned...

... while on my mountain bike.

First of all, let me start off by saying that mountain biking is hard.  Life is also hard.  Mountain biking can also be TONS of fun.  So can life.

Today, on a long ride with my husband, I realized how much I've learned just by picking up mountain biking.

Lesson One: 

You will fall down.  

The lesson is not in the fall... but in how quickly you get back up and keep going. 

You just will.  If you ride long enough, eventually you'll do something that accidentally results in a fall (no one falls on purpose).  Last weekend I fell... twice.  I was riding with people who were much faster than me and I was struggling to keep up with their pace.  Only one of my falls actually hurt (and caused some minor bleeding) but because I was so worried about catching up to the group, I jumped up as quickly as possible... got right back on my bike... and kept going.  When I caught up to the group and showed them my battle scars, I realized that I never even actually processed any pain.  They asked if I was ok and I smiled and said "YEP."

The bruises on my body after that ride were little reminders all week that life will knock you down sometimes but you can choose whether you stay down or you can get back up and keep attacking the path before you. 

Lesson Two: 

Keep your focus on the path in front of you. 

You want to know HOW to fall on your bike???  Look at where you DON'T want to go.  Let your eyes stray to the rock in your way... or the cliff to the side of you... and you will be sure to HIT that rock or go over that cliff.  

I used to struggle because I was always looking at the obstacles in my way.  There were two big rocks and a TINY little path between them (just big enough for a bike tire).  I looked at those rocks and HIT THEM EVERY SINGLE TIME.  When I started looking at the little path between those rocks, I was suddenly able to ride it.  

If you are constantly looking at the obstacles in your way in life, you will NEVER get around them.  Don't look at the obstacles.... look at the path. 

Lesson Three: 

You have to finish the ride.

No one is going to come and rescue you when you get tired. It's up to YOU to get yourself up the mountain... and it's up to YOU to get down.  Even if you turn around and go back the way you came, YOU are the one who will complete the task.  

Climbing can be hard.  It can be frustrating.  It's often exhausting.  But in order to ride your bike down a mountain, all fun and flowy, you first have to ride UP that mountain which means you have to know what you're made of.  You have to learn to keep pedaling no matter how much it hurts. Take a break if you must but as soon as you can... keep going!  

Life can hurt while you're going through it but if you stop "pedaling" you will stay right where you are... right in the hurt.  You have no choice but to "pedal damnit" (this is a phrase plastered right on the tube of a particular brand of mountain bike).  

Lesson Four: 

There are UPS... and there are DOWNS. 

Ironically, this is where mountain biking and life differ.  In mountain biking, the UPhill can be hard.  In life the "ups" are high points... the good times.  In biking, the DOWNhill can be a BLAST.  In life, the "downs" are typically a bummer.  

Regardless, in both, there are ups and downs and one thing you can be sure of: it won't be ALL UP or ALL DOWN.  Whatever you are feeling right now... it won't last.  It will change.  

I hope your LIFE is full of UPS and your BIKE RIDE is full of DOWNS! 

OK BLAIR... ENOUGH WORDS... MORE PICTURES PLEASE ( I know that's what you're thinking).  

OK... here ya go!  Here's a photo dump from our lives lately... enjoy!

YUBA!!!
HEAVENLY'S MOST AWESOME AVALANCHE DOG.
WE WATCHED HIM FOR A WEEK.  

AWESOME "SKY ON FIRE" SUNSET

YUBA WANTED TO TAKE IN THE SUNSET TOO

MIKE AND YUBA SWIMMING

SO SLEEPY

HE LOOKS LIKE HE'S IN PUPPY PRISON

SWEET BOY

SLEEPING AGAIN

AND THIS... IS NOT YUBA!

HAHA.... THIS IS TALLY!
SHE BELONGS TO SOME FRIENDS OF OURS
AND WE GOT TO WATCH HER FOR A NIGHT!

TALLY AGAIN...

SNUGGLING WITH YUBA'S HAIR BRUSH. 

We've had a blast being dog sitters lately.  We also had Brewster (another Heavenly dog) for a few days in the mix but sadly, I didn't get any pictures of him.  We took NO pictures from mountain biking.  Sorry... but we were too busy getting shreddy!  

That's it for now.  I'm hoping to have some pictures of a few completed house projects soon.  Stay tuned! 

Making Time for Adventures

Life has been busy lately.  I had high expectations for my last few weeks of "summer break" before returning to work.  Things didn't really go according to my plan.  Mike ended up picking up full time hours at work and that didn't give us any time off together.  After several weeks of no adventures and barely seeing each other, I kinda broke down.  Just a bit.

Please don't get me wrong... I am grateful my husband has  job that he enjoys.  I have prayed a lot for him to get a job that makes him happy.  And Lord knows we needed the extra income since we are trying to rebuild our savings from the EPIC adventure of home-buying.

But, I miss the days where we would just jump in the car and GO... somewhere... ANYWHERE new to us!

We've done a LOT around the Tahoe area.  But there's still SO much to go do and see!

So, my super sweet husband (realizing how bummed I was) planned some impromptu adventures.

One week night a couple of weeks ago, I came home to the paddleboards loaded up on the car.  He had laid out my bathing suit/clothes and told me to change.  It was a complete surprise to me.  We paddled Bliss State Park and headed over to The Beacon for a lakefront, sunset dinner.  I didn't take a single picture but it was AWESOME.  Sorry folks.

But, I did some pictures of our impromptu hike up to Cave Rock to watch the sunset.  Super easy hike.  Super awesome views.  More pics on facebook for you to enjoy but THIS was one of my favorites:

I give my hubs a lot of credit.  He TRIED to get a full weekend off so we could go do something fun but, it didn't quite work out.  He ended up having to work on Saturday but as soon as he got home, we headed out to do some camping and bike riding.

We headed to Blue Lakes (without a reservation) and luckily we found a campsite.

SUNSET FROM OUR CAMPSITE

GLAD WE FOUND A SPOT! 

WE LOVE A GOOD CAMPFIRE

WE ATE BREAKFAST BY LOWER BLUE LAKE

PEACEFUL MORNING

 From Blue Lakes... we headed to Big Meadow Trailhead for a bike ride to Meiss Meadows... with Zater's ashes in tow.  Ok, so that part we planned in advance a little bit.  

We made a quick stop by Round Lake.

ROUND LAKE

ROUND LAKE AGAIN

BEAUTIFUL MEADOW

 Several years ago we hiked from Carson Pass to Luther Pass with Zater.  It was a nice long hike.  We stopped at Meiss meadow at these little cabins.  While we were here, Zater (who LOVED to chase chipmunks), actually caught a chipmunk in his mouth.  He grabbed it.  It squeaked.  We yelled "NO" and he dropped it (he was disappointed because it was the first and ONLY time he had actually caught one).  Anyway, the chipmunk was fine and it was a funny memory of our dog that we still talk about.  

So, it seemed only fitting to bring a little bit of him back here.  We know he's chasing chipmunks in heaven.  

MEISS MEADOW CABIN (one of several cabins)

PRETTY FLOWERS

A BEAUTIFUL STREAM 

OUR LITTLE MEMORIAL TO OUR BELOVED DOG

BEST WE CAN REMEMBER, HE CAUGHT THE
CHIPMUNK SOMEWHERE AROUND HERE.

THERE WAS CONVENIENTLY A ROCK THERE
SURROUNDED BY BEAUTIFUL WILDFLOWERS
AND RIGHT BESIDE THE STREAM. 

 We opted to ride from Meiss meadow to Dardanelle's Lake.  A place we've never been before!  EXCITING!!!!  I love NEW adventures! 

MY BIG BIKE TIRES LOOK SMALL NEXT TO THIS
BIG OL' TREE

I BASICALLY TOOK MY BIKE FOR A HIKE IN
ORDER TO GET HERE...

MORE ROCK GARDENS THAN I EXPECTED ON
THE TRAIL.

IT WAS TOTALLY WORTH IT THOUGH! 

WE SAT ON A ROCK... ATE A SNACK...
AND LISTENED TO SOME THUNDER IN THE DISTANCE

DARDANELLES LAKE

MY PERSONAL ADVENTURE GUIDE

SINCE THERE WERE STORM CLOUDS ALL AROUND US, WE
OPTED TO RIDE BACK THE WAY WE CAME (A SHORTER ROUTE
THAN WHAT WE ORIGINALLY PLANNED)... 

...BACK THROUGH BIG MEADOW

PRETTY PRETTY STORM CLOUDS... NOW RAIN ALREADY!

We had a wonderful weekend with all our favorite things... campfire... sleeping in the truck... mountain biking... memories of our beloved Zater... etc.  

Thank you Mike for realizing that I like spending time with you, and that I NEED to spend time with you (and nature)... just every once in a while ... just enough to keep my sanity.  

My Last Week of Summer Vacay

What a sad title for this post?!?!

My short summer break is over and tomorrow I head back to work.  Honestly, I'm not ready to head back.  I don't feel relaxed or refreshed.  Oh well.  Regardless, it's back to work I go!

But, on to happier things...

... my hometown friend Frankie, his lovely wife Alli, and their friends and pup came to Tahoe for a quick visit and allowed me to tag along on their hike up Mt. Tallac.  

WE STOPPED AT ALL THE LAKES TO LET THE
PUP SWIM AND COOL OFF

ALMOST THERE!
BEAUTIFUL WILDFLOWERS NEAR THE TOP.

THIS VIEW NEVER GETS OLD

LOOKING AT SOUTH LAKE

THANKFUL FOR A CLEAR DAY WITHOUT
SO MUCH SMOKE AND HAZE

LOOKING AT LOTS OF LAKES IN
DESOLATION WILDERNESS

FRANKIE AND ALLI

We've also been dogsitting our friends sweet pup who is so goofy and lovable.  

Here are some pics of some of his crazyness:

THIS WAS AFTER A NICE LONG WALK.  I SAT ON THE COUCH,
HE LAID HIS HEAD IN MY LAP... I GOT UP AND HE DIDN'T EVEN
NOTICE I LEFT. HE WAS OUT!

BUTT ON THE COUCH... PAWS ON THE FLOOR..
HEAD ON THE COFFEE TABLE

TAKING A NAP WITH HIS NEW FRIEND JAKE

LOOKING REGAL ON THE COUCH

PRACTICALLY BEGGING FOR A WALK?
ACTUALLY, HE WAS GETTING AWAY FROM
THE SUPER SCARY VACUUM CLEANER. 

Well, short and sweet for this post.  Now, back to watching the Olympics, doing laundry, and savoring my last day of summer vacation til next year! 

Projects

When Mike switched jobs and became a ski patroller, we were excited to have summers off together.  So far, that hasn't really worked out in our favor.  But, that's ok.  He's been picking up a lot of shifts at work which we are really very grateful for.  And for the remainder of summer he will actually be working full time.  So, instead of spending lots of time hiking and mountain biking and paddling (like we originally intended for this summer), he's been spending lots of time at work and I've been spending my free time working on small projects around the house.  

One of the first things to get done in the house was our upstairs bathroom.  Overall, the bathroom is fine.  The fixtures are all relatively new.  The layout works.  It is the smallest room in the house, and the one that needed the least amount of work to make it what we want... so obviously I started there. 

The only problems I had with this room were:

 1) There were 4 different finishes in this one tiny room... brass door handles, chrome faucets, oil rubbed bronze bathroom accessories, and satin nickel cabinet hardware.  That's a lot of different fixtures for a tiny room.  

2) There wasn't much storage.  The only storage available was in the bathroom vanity.  So, we always ended up sticking a lot of things (like extra paper towels, toilet paper, towels, etc) in the shower!  Not a big deal because we don't often use that shower but, still, it was kind of annoying.  

So, during our visit to NC, I noticed my mom had painted all the handles in their house an oil rubbed bronze color and they looked amazing!  With that as my inspiration, we did the same.  

This sounds like a super easy project and in theory it is.  But, I wanted to make sure I did it correctly because I want it to last as long as possible.  So, I took off all the hardware, cleaned it, sanded it, cleaned it again and then sprayed primer, paint, and a clear enamel layer on top.  Might've been overkill in hindsight but if you can have a little patience (which I struggle with), it turns out pretty well.  

BEFORE

DURING

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU AREN'T PATIENT

AFTER

 I also decided to spray a couple of soap dispensers throughout the house.  They were old and needed to be replaced.  But, I was on a roll and figured I would give them a shot with the spray paint.  

BEFORE
RUSTY AND GROSS

AFTER
SLEEK AND SHINY AGAIN

So far, so good with the soap dispensers.  The paint is holding up well to lots of use.  And when they do wear out, I get to go buy new ones.  But, at least I salvaged these as long as I could.  

So the other issue was storage.  This bathroom has the old "pass through" that connected the two sides of the duplex.  On our side is a door, on the neighbors side is just a sheet of plywood.  That doesn't offer much of a sound barrier between the bathrooms.  

 The nice thing though, it that this area is about 7-8 inches deep... perfect for a set of shelves in my opinion.  

So, I headed to Lowe's and bought a sheet of 1/2" sound board (which I doubled up to make 1 inch thick), and a sheet of bead board to make the back wall look a bit prettier.  

I found old plywood in the basement and marked out the dimensions for the shelves.  I took it to Lowe's and they cut it for free.  

There was only one problem, the guy cut 2 of the 3 boards too short!  He cut them on the wrong line (there was a faint old red line on the boards and he cut on those instead of my nice, new, black lines). 

Naturally, I didn't double check his work in the store (that would be rude) so I didn't realize this mistake until I got home.  Great!  Perfect.  

Anyway, I decided it wasn't a big deal and I could either have new pieces of plywood cut OR I could attempt to resolve the situation and just make the best of it.  

Luckily, we have a basement that just seems to keep providing for our needs.  I started looked around the basement for anything I could use to salvage this project.  I stumbled across 2 pieces of black plumbing pipe which I used as legs for the 2 short boards.  

  PERFECT solution!  And this ended up being a total blessing because now I have a tall, skinny opening on the side of the closet that so perfectly houses our broom and swiffer!  It couldn't have worked out any better if i'd planned it that way!  

I got way too excited over this new found storage!  It's so nice to have a purpose to that wasted space.  

It's awesome to have one small project finished (on a list of seemingly never ending projects)!  Maybe I can get a few more done before the school year starts back up... stay tuned.