Mountain Climbing

This past year my husband got the itch to go mountain climbing and since I decided that he could not do this adventure alone I joined in. We first started with Mt. St. Helens. As an active volcano that is still rumbling and was closed to climbers for several years for fear of eruption, I was a little (okay...a lot) nervous the day before the climb as we drove around the mountain to survey what we had gotten ourselves into. As we were getting our climbing passes the day before we met up with several people that had just finished summitting it. A few of them were younger kids, so I figured if they could do it, then I could do it. At a summit of only 8,365 feet it is a small mountain.

We made it to the top and had a great time doing it. It was physically exhausting (we were definitely not in mountain climbing shape) and we were tired when we were done, but we soon were talking about our next mountain climbing adventure.

As midwesterners where flat land and cornfields stretch for miles upon miles, many of our friends and family thought and still think we are crazy for wanting to do these climbs. Mt. Hood 2008 here we come!

Fred

Fred is my 7-year old Birman cat, and for anyone that knows me, Fred is my baby (and James' too). We pamper this cat more than we would any child. This morning for instance, he started licking my face and meowing at me at 4 a.m. wanting to be fed. I worked hard to ignore him and he left me alone for a bit, but by 5 a.m. I gave up. It was just too much to let the little guy's tummy bother him.

I adopted Fred from a co-worker who had two male Birman cats that just were not getting along. The first night I had Fred all he did was meow and fun away from me, and I thought that I was making a huge mistake. But, finally he started warming up to me; however, by then I was ready to take my trip to Australia, so when I got back I had to start all over again.

I was first dating James when I adopted Fred, and he hated cats and did not want me to get Fred (at that time his name was "Zach"). However, my sister told him that if he really loved me that he should let me get the cat. So, he did but told me the only only condition to me getting the cat is that we call him Fred. Thus the name. (Note: I was going to get the cat whether or not James wanted me to...just to clarify.).

SNOW!

Last weekend we enjoyed our first major snowfall of the year. It's been several years since we have seen this much snow so early in the year. I ended up spending the weekend baking and putting up the Christmas tree. The snow just puts me in that festive mood.

I love when the snow falls...it's so beautiful and white and peaceful. While I live in Minnesota though, it doesn't mean that everyone here likes snow or knows how to drive in it. The first snowfall always proves a challenge for people. On Tuesday we received more snow just in time for rush hour, and I guess that it took a lot of people many hours to get home. I was in Mankato that afternoon, but it took me less time to get home that evening than it did for many!

I did envy my husband who got to go skiing on fresh snow on Monday. I wish I could have gone with him! Oh well, if this much snow this early in the season is any indication of the rest of the winter to come, I think I will have plenty of chances!

Deciding to Blog...

I have for awhile thought about starting a blog, but I am not quite sure who would really want to read it anyways. However, after reading through my grandmother's journals recently, I decided that I would go ahead and start a blog. I have for many years tried to keep a written journal, but I'll start and then after a few weeks (or even days) quit writing and forget about it. Maybe this way I'll actually keep writing!