Work Work All Week Long

Poor little Vera has quickly learned that she has been relocated into something that resembles a tornado.  I've always believed that raising a dog is a lot like raising a kid.... the key is to get them outside and wear them out!  Good behavior stems directly from fresh air and tired legs.  That being said, what a sweet little pup she is.... Bear and her have such a special little bond, and I foresee many adventures in their future.  They have so much fun running around the property together and Bear's laugh is evidence of the joy she brings him... it's a magical age to have a pup of your own, and it's quite the event to watch. 

Cam spent the past weekend working at the "other house" on the coast.  He is really cooking along with this project, and although it's tough on our schedule and being apart, the end is really in sight!  It's so nice having a man that can do it all; what a dying trait self sufficiency is, and I'm proud that that will be passed on to our children, and lucky that it exists in my life (we all know that I always have some sort of project that needs to be built).  We are really working our tails off right now... but there is something to say for it, something that feels good.

View From My Morning Commute to School

My parents took pity on me and made the trek over the mountains (North Cascade pass is open now so that is a plus), and spent the weekend with me and the kids.  It was fun!  After a short time at school on Friday, it was weekend time.  We took a few hikes around the property, and up to the lake
near our house.  We discovered a turtle shell (with dead turtle-yuck) up there, enjoyed the peaceful scenery, and had plenty of laughs over the kids antics.  We drove the back roads up to Conconully, a cute little town tucked into the hills, and went out for lunch!  We reveled in the views of spring...and the peace of the quiet around here.  It was nice to have the company, a chance to get caught up on some work, and someone to share our lookout with.  It was a good weekend!

Nevertheless, it was nice to have my husband back on Sunday.  We had a nice dinner then hit the quads for a little scenery therapy.  We are still finding new areas to explore around here, and it's a great way to clear the mind.  With clear minds we headed right into this week.  I have a bit of a long one and there never seems to be enough time.  Monday we were able to do a bit of work on the chicken coop in preparation for chick delivery next Monday.  The kids thought it was their lucky day when I let them help me paint the coop floor.  Toddlers + barn red  "real paint" = what was I thinking?!  Actually, besides Kendyl's desire to paint one square foot over and over, it went pretty well; they had fun, and there is no way that one square foot will EVER rot!  No matter how much we having going on in the course of a week, these are the projects we sure have fun doing.

This is a long week for me and we will be leaving after my 12 hour clinical day Thursday to head back to the coast.  I'm fairly exhausted, I'm not going to lie, and I'm sure Cam is worn down as well, but we seem to still be upright and functioning, and I'm happy we are partners in all this!  Today after school we took the evening off and took a drive up to Lake Chopaka, a destination we weren't able to get to about a month ago, due to snow.  It's up near the town of Loomis, and is a high mountain lake that is fairly secluded.  WOW! 















Talk about peaceful beauty... there is a few simple campsites on the lake (uninhabited at this time of course), but other than that you would think you were the only person that existed.. there are really no signs of civilization.  The lake is open to fly fishing only, and we saw a ton of beautiful rainbow trout (or fish sticks as I like to call them).  The mule deer were frolicking near by, and we watched an eagle dive bomb a group of ducks.... it's the discovery channel in true HD around here people!  Bear of course could not resist the call of the water and was soon down to his undies and was channeling his inner Native American fisherman and trying to catch trout with his bare hands... mind you, we were all still bundled up on the shore!  We packed our little barbeque up and had dinner by the lake, and Bear was quite disappointed to find that we weren't camping out for the night.  The country around here is just full of solitude and forgotten, hidden gems, should you choose to venture out.  

It's nice to have these outings to break up the constant madness we find ourselves in... to take a deep breath and enjoy this experience and remember why we are here.  I wish we had time for more of these moments......or to sleep for about 3 days straight....  I keep reminding myself that achieving a goal comes at the cost of your sweat, and is a challenge of your grit.... and that challenging yourself is usually more valuable than you expected.