hardcore

I went camping on the Olympic Peninsula with Sean, Jamie, and Kevin this week. It was a typical peninsula fall week... i.e. raining and suuuuuper cloudy. We went for a little hike in the clouds one day, but Kevin and I decided that we didn't have enough of the clouds, so we kept going up while Sean and Jamie went back down to get the car and meet us at the top of the trail. We ended up hiking 10 miles. Now, 10 miles on its own, not too bad... 10 miles in the windy rain, getting a little more hardcore... 10 miles in the rain in Chacos, borderline stupid... 10 miles in the rain in Chacos with the crazy stomach cramps, just another day in the life of Kate Maxwell. I'm just that cool.

Fast food to the MAX

On Sunday, I was fortunate enough to get to hang out with my good friend Ingrid Harper. I rolled out of bed around noon and she came over shortly after. Following doing not much of anything for about an hour, we decided that we should go to Dick's (more affectionately known as Richard's) to get some cheeseburgers and chocolate shakes. It was tasty.

Then, after a few hours of watching stupid TV and movies, we decided to go to church then grab some dinner with some friends. We decided to wait until after church because we weren't super hungry, aware that we could be starving by the time that church finished. Well little did we know that the new youth pastor was being ordained and installed at that service so it lasted a lot longer than average. Thus, at 9:00 rather than the normal 8:00 we were starving and wanted to eat as fast as possible. If one finds oneself in the U District in need of food ASAP, where does one go? That's right, Richard's. So we ate at Dick's again.

We went home and then watched a couple more movies before deciding around 2 AM that we were still hungry. So we did one anyone with the munchies at 2 AM would do. We went to McDonald's. We were really hoping for some good fast food breakfast, but were informed that McDonald's only serves breakfast after 4 AM. So naturally, we had chicken nuggets instead.

After returning home for another hour or so, I was still totally craving the fast food breakfast, so we went to Jack in the Box where breakfast is served all day. I got my sausage and egg biscuit as well as some french toast sticks. We also stopped by a Red Box so we watched a good movie. Life is good.

That's right. Four fast food stops in twelve hours. I really am that awesome. And oddly enough, my stomach was totally fine after all that junk.

The best part of the McDonald's experience was when a dude got out of the car in front of us. I was jokingly hoping that he would have to pee. I figured that it would be hilarious if we saw a guy pee in the bushes while going through the drive thru at 2. But he just adjusted his pants and sat back down. Then the dude on the other side of the car opened and I was hoping that dude would have to pee. I then said, "take a pee, take a pee" but Ingrid pointed out to me that he had already gone pee based on looking at his pants. But he continued to the bushes anyway where he wrenched multiple times. So rather than seeing a drunk dude pee in the bushes, we saw one puke in the bushes... and that was the most eventful thing of my weekend.

'nother sweet weekend

This weekend (if you can call Tuesday-Monday a weekend) I went to Oregon with my parents. It was pretty much awesome. I read some Harry Potter. I took some naps. I played with my nephews. I flew some kites. I put together some puzzle. Good times.

sweet weekend

This weekend I went to Mt. Rainier with Karuna and Becca. It was pretty much awesome. We totally lucked into a campsite (or God had a plan...). We hiked, we ate, we burned stuff, we slept in the woods. All in all, a good time.
In other news, the eating gluten is going fairly well, aside from the sporadic stomach cramping, desire to lay in the fetal position, and need to run to the bathroom...

border patrol

So I went to Whitehorse with Ashley this weekend. It was pretty fun, but I think the highlight of our trip for both of us is when we stopped at the US border on our way home. The officer noticed the brace on my hand and asked what I did. I told him that I did something to the ligament in my thumb because I was trying to do a flip on a trampoline. I didn't talk about the fact that I was trying to do a flip off the wall, but whatever... his response? "What a loser! I'm over 200 pounds and even I can do a flip on a trampoline!" Great. Thanks. Can I go home now? He didn't even really care what we brought back with us. He was laughing too hard.

maxwells

Within the span of just over 24 hours, I saw my whole family. Well, at least my brothers and their families. That pretty much never happens outside of Christmas, so it was pretty fun. Highlights from this weekend include:
-Owen thinking he can scare anyone by saying "BOO" at any point in time (and me pretending to be scared every time)
-Getting to hang out with baby Josh (despite some spit-up)
-Owen telling me that I have big toes (and me telling him that at least they aren't as big as his daddy's)
-Making Calla giggle by putting her on my shoulders and running or jumping (even though she tries to eat my hair)
-14 hours in the car with Ethel laughing at random stuff (like people who are really, really bad at parallel parking)
-Getting to have conversations with my big brothers and their wives (a total of four people... no one in my family is polygamous)

Oh, and btw, a Sky High update... it turns out that I stretch or strained or in some other way injured the ligament in my thumb, so I now have a brace on it to prevent it from moving for the next 6 weeks.... on the bright side, it is stationed in such a way that I can still hold a ski pole and a kayak paddle (not at the same time, of course).

And in case anyone was wondering, I'm ready to be back in Haines any time now...

older than i thought i was

I went to Sky High on Friday. Trust me when I say that it's much harder than it looks. I was determined to do a flip, which might not have been the best idea that I ever had, but the teenie boppers made it look so easy. It was super fun, but I kept landing awkwardly, which has caused me to be sore for the past 48 hours or so. Brutal. All this has led me to the conclusion, "I'm not as young as I once was," which is the first time that I've ever really had that thought. I guess everyone has to grow up sometime...
But let's be honest, I'm still gonna do random stuff that will likely get me hurt. Sorry Mom.

snowshoeing and kayaking

This weekend was freaking amazing. Yesterday I woke up to go snowshoe up Mount Riley with Jenty. It was such a clear, beautiful day. The mountain kinda kicked my butt, largely because I didn't really eat a good breakfast and didn't drink enough water. So I kept trying to find snacks to eat all the way up and adding snow to my water bottle so I had enough to drink. At least Jenty put up with me...

Then I went kayaking with Julie. It was pretty much amazing. We went toward battery point and got harassed by some sea lions that were none too stoked that we were there. As we turned to avoid them, we saw a couple orcas just kinda doing their thing. It was so amazing. The fog was rolling in a bit, so we decided to follow the orcas back toward Julie's house. It was a glorious day.
On the other hand, today I woke up and could barely move because I was so sore. So I watched some movies and slacked off. Good day.

weekend story

So this weekend I went to the grocery store to look for pumpkin goo in a can. I went to the store that was closer to me at that point and asked about the magic orange stuff, but they were all out. But rather than be dismayed, I took heart and decided that the other store might have some. So I confidently walked out the door of the grocery store to my bike determined to ride to te other store and get some pumpkin goo in a can. But after 10 feet of riding my bike, a dog decided I looked rather threatening in my purple husky pants, and decided to attack them. Now, these were my favorite pants in the world, and this little weimaraner/pit bull mix thing ate them. I mean, she took a full on chunk out of the cloth. Better the cloth than my leg. Anyway, I went to the other grocery store determined to find pumpkin goo so as to make mini muffins and now perhaps find a new pair of fleece pants since the dog owner said she would buy me a new pair. But alas, there was no pumpkin goo to be found. So, rejected, I headed home, but only had 3 minutes before I headed off to a friend's house for game night. So, wanting to show off my pants, I didn't change. She lives relatively close, so I wouldn't take my car, but I felt a little shaky seeing as how a dog tried to eat my leg but had to settle for my pants, so I walked. And I called my mommy to tell her that a dog tried to eat me. As I was walkling to Natalie's house, talking to my mom, I saw my friends Lindsey and Ashley drive by. So I did what any self-respecting almost 24 year old would do, and promply ran after them shouting, "I want a ride!! I want a ride!" But, no dice. So I put the phone back up to my ear to talk to my mom again, only to hear a friendly voice call from across the street, "everything ok?" I guess it's not every day you see someone running down the street with pants in slight tatters shouting, "I want a ride!" I said, "yeah" and pressed on. I tried to tell my mom that I was ok and the dog did not in fact break my skin, only to see another friend, Jody, driving by. So what do I do? Again, I run down the middle of the road shouting, "I want a ride! I want a ride!" Then I saw the most magical sight I have seen in a while... break lights. So I got a ride the rest of the way up the hill and played games and all was well with the world. But I still want a new pair of pants.
Anyway, if you got this far, you must be bored, and I am sorry. I felt the need to post something, and this is the most exciting thing that happened in a while, so there ya go. I'll let you all know how the fleece pant shopping goes.

Ahh, Sunday

I got up in time for church this morning, biked over there, did the worship/fellowship thing for a couple hours, then headed to the library to work on a couple papers. I was there for maybe an hour when I got a phone call along the lines of, "hey, you wanna come on a boat ride and go rock climbing with us?" Uh, only always.
So I ended up not finishing that paper this afternoon, which is why I'm on my computer now. And clearly, still not working on that paper...

Sorry moms...

Sorry Ethel, Bonnie, Frankie, and anyone else that has that motherly worry about me from time to time... but here's the story of my weekend.
I decided that I needed some Kate time, so I decided that I was going to kayak out to an island not too far from shore and go camping for a night. It's close, I've done it a bunch before, it's in cell phone range, and worst case scenario, I would never be more than a quarter mile from shore, which I can swim even without a life jacket, so it's all good. It was a little rainy when I got there, so I set up camp right away... it was a little rocky, but I sleep in odd positions anyway, so I wasn't too worried. I forgot to check the tides before I headed out (mistake #1), so I called Jenty when I got to the island to see what was going on. So I got the times for the tides, but forgot to ask how high and low they were (mistake #2). I had a great evening and night, reading my bible and journaling and just sitting out staring at God's glory all around me. Then I went to bed. I happened to wake up at 1:30 (high tide was at 1:54) and heard waves pretty loud close to my tent. I knew that I was above the tide line, but I wasn't so sure about my kayak (mistake #3), so I went to go check it out. It was half in the water. If I hadn't happened to wake up in the middle of the night, I could have easily been without a kayak in the morning. But I still had a kayak, so I went back to sleep. Then, when I got up in the morning, I could tell that there was a lot of wind without even looking. It was pretty obvious by the random bending of my tent. So, I wasn't really gonna be able to make it back across the channel. Shouldn't have been that big of a deal, but I didn't have any extra food with me (mistake #4). I had planned on doing a little fasting/prayer retreat, so I didn't have any food with me at all. Luckily, I did have a scavenging book about the natural plants, but the only thing I could find was seaweed... and the tide was high, so I was gonna have to wait. I happened to text Lindsey, who was at a coffee shop, and she heard that there was a small craft advisory out, so that pretty much meant that I shouldn't really go anywhere. So I sat on a rock and tried to start a fire with my flint, Bear Grylls style. I don't know how that dude does it. I was getting pretty hungry too, so I was about ready to pull a full on Woman vs. Wild and take my kayak paddle apart and rope my pocket knife to the end of it and stab a seal. Probably not totally legal, but hey, I was hungry. Anyway, I waited until it was high tide so it was heading back out which meant the wind and the water were going the same direction and then I couldn't handle it anymore, so I packed up and headed for shore. I texted Lindsey to say that if she didn't hear from me in an hour and a half something had gone wrong and headed out. The wind was strong and the waves were about 3-5 feet. Not exactly optimum in my 17' long 34" wide boat. I got tossed around and ended up not exactly where I wanted to be, but I couldn't get the skeg down and I was exhausted from no food and sleeping on random rocks, so I went with it. It took me almost an hour to do something that would have normally taken about 20-25 minutes, but I made it. I pretty much just sat in my boat the whole time saying, "me and you, God. Me and you." and "i'm so tired. God, give me some strength." and "holy shit, that was a big wave." On the bright side, Lindsey and some friends came out in a skiff so if things had gone wrong I had some support. Anyway, it was a good trip overall, but not a situation I will get myself into again.
Long story, but entertaining. Kinda... Or something...

stuck in juneau

i'm dumb. i thought my flight left an hour after it actually did, so i missed my flight tonight. so i'm stuck in juneau tonight and get into seattle tomorrow and then leave for puerto vallarta tuesday morning. so i have one day less to help out in Mexico, which i'm pretty bummed about overall. LAME!! But things could be worse. I had a little bit of a rough weekend too. suffice it to say that I just acted stupidly, and some things came up that I wanted to ignore. it's probably for the best though.

to Oregon and back

I got to hang out with my brother, sister-in-law and nephew this weekend. It was pretty rad. Super low key. I like Bend. And I really like watching my nephew run around. My family is cool.

my nose

is really, really burnt. it burned last week from the car wash, and then this weekend it burned really bad again because i was out kayaking the san juans. but this weekend was amazing. my friend jamie and i ferried out to lopez island on friday and spent the night at a little state park. then saturday morning we packed up the kayaks and headed out toward shaw island. after giving jamie a few quick lessons on paddling, we kayaked around shaw and decided that we wanted some ice cream, so we went to friday harbor. upon our arrival in friday harbor, we saw san juan brewing company, so we also stopped for a beer. :) then we headed back across san juan channel (not a super easy task) and camped on shaw island. so that day was roughly 15 miles. then sunday we got up and kayaked back to lopez where the car was and headed back to the mainland. it was pretty dang rad. a little intense for jamies first real time kayaking and my first time out on the open water, but it was amazing.

My farmer's tan

yeah, you know you're jealous. i took this with my computer, so the contrast isn't very good, but trust me, i burnt my arm real bad until about 4 inches from my shoulder.

My Memorial Day Weekend

What did I do this weekend? A lot of nothing. It was beautiful. A little car wash, a little movie watching, a little kayaking... but overall it was a super relaxing weekend. Not quite over yet, but still. It's weird that I'm going to the DR so soonish. I know that I still have almost four weeks, but that's still a fairly short amount of time. I guess with all the relaxing I did a bit of thinking this weekend about the DR and after I get back and what things I'm doing when I get back and whether I should go to Alaska or not and all kinds of other stuff. I also thought a lot about forgiveness and stuff (big surprise), and how I'm continually called to forgive time after time. Not easy. Here's the quote (from The Bait of Satan by John Bevere) that I read that stung the most...

"Jesus eliminates any gray areas for judges. In fact, he says that our attitude is to be so far removed from avenging ourselves that we are willing to open ourselves to the possibility of being taken advantage of again."

That's part of the reason why I have been thinking a lot about what is next after the DR. Am I far enough removed from the idea of avenging myself that I could move back to Haines, knowing that there is a possibility that I will be treated poorly by some people? Just one of the questions that has been going through my mind lately.

My Amazing Weekend...

I got to hang out with my brother, sis-in-law and nephew, and then my other bro and sis-in law had a baby girl last night!! So rad!!

Just Because...

Sure, I don't really have much of anything to report on... I didn't get a haircut, I'm not recently back from Australia, I'm not going anywhere cool sometime soon, and although my job could be a lot worse, I'm not a fan of the 9-5.
But that's not to say that things aren't good. Life has been good lately. I have been celebrating Wednesdays. I have been doing my best to enjoy the weekend.
This weekend was pretty rad. Yesterday Chaco and I drove around the mountainsish. You may ask yourself "Self, what the heck does Kate mean by 'the mountainsish?'" Well, we drove to Granite Falls, where we were going to hike, but there was too much snow and too many people, so we just drove around. We managed to see both ends of a looped road that was closed in the middle for the season, we saw a crazy beautiful scene by a river, we chatted with some fly fishermen, and we drove through Darrington just for the heck of it. The weather was beautiful.
So, for now I'm living a fairly predictable existence (which drives me crazy), with a weekend jaunt or two, but that will pass, so bring it on.