MIA

Yes, we have been seriously missing in action for quite a while. I have not been in the blog-updating mood. It's not that nothing happened over the past many months, I just wasn't feeling witty and creative and write-y (not that my writing is all that witty or creative). Since our fabulous trip to Morocco/Spain/Portugal (just writing that makes me want to go back), we have been keeping ourselves busy.

On the train in Portugal

Mark got home long enough to unpack and repack, before heading off to Costa Rica for a week. As soon as he returned from that mini-adventure, he started an even bigger adventure, working as the Warehouse Operations Manager (aka the Director of GSD ... which stands for Get "Stuff" Done [I'm keeping this rated G]) for Spidertech Kinesiology Tape. If your wondering what that all means, just know that it's magic tape that makes your aches and pains go away. (Sorry to confuse you with all my high-tech scientific talk!) If you want to know more about it, ask my dad. He loves it. Or you could ask Mark, as he would be able to explain it more professionally than I apparently can.

The bright blue stuff on the arms and legs of this
creepy black mannequin is SpiderTech tape.

Our summer was filled with barbecues, hikes, bikes, and even a raft trip or two ... and for me, a too-quick, but very fun, trip back to New Jersey/Connecticut/Massachusetts to see the family (during the big hurricane, of course).

Ella and Sabrina watching the storm roll in
Plymouth, MA

Then in the fall, it was back to Costa Rica for what had to be one of the most difficult-to-put-on World Rafting Championships ever. I won't bore you with the details, but the "highlights" include two weeks of soggy, ant-infested tents, mildewy laundry, monster-sized moths and bugs in the bathrooms, cold showers, slippery-slope hikes down to the river, and a bunch of unappreciative athletes (not all of them, but the vocal minority were really annoying). But we survived, and now, after 10-plus years, Mark is officially retired from the International Rafting Federation. And it is their very serious loss.

Did I mention our camera died at the end of the Portugal trip.
This is one of four photos I took in Costa Rica, using my camera phone.

Thanksgiving, my folks came out for a fabulous visit. We ate delicious food, tasted some incredible local wines, and had lots of laughs. I wish they (and the rest of our families) lived closer, so we could spend more quality time like that together.

Family fun at Bitner Winery

Winter was very mild here. We did make it up to Sun Valley for a yurt trip for our 10-year (holy cow!) anniversary. But other than that, we've been hanging out in Boise, working on the house and having fun with friends.

No photos of the yurt trip. The camera was kaput, and our phone batteries died due to the cold. The few photos I did have (courtesy of our good friend Daphne Muehle, who just moved to Idaho), I proceeded to delete from my computer ... along with ALL of the rest of my photos. Oops!

Now spring is coming fast, and the rivers are rising. We already have two river trips planned for the summer, and possibly even a trip at the end of this month (brrrr!!). We also hope to get out to the East Coast and then to Australia. Unfortunately, this real job gig of Mark's is getting in the way of our usual fun travel times. It's tough being a grown-up!

The first blooms in our garden

We hope all is well with all of you and that we get to see a bunch of you sometime this year (come visit! Boise is wonderful!). And maybe we'll even write again sooner rather than later with another update (lucky you!).

Measuring the hours in dishes and the minutes in socks

As usual, I have been a little quiet here in BlogLand. As some of you know, that will probably change starting this weekend.

For the past two months, it's been all quiet on the various fronts, as Mark and I have been working, working, working away --- him in Morocco, having fun putting together races and such; me in Boise, in front of this computer for hours on end. But now, I'm struggling to get the last bits of work done in between cleaning house, mowing the lawn, and trying to keep my hands off the Rough Guide to Portugal--so tempting!!

As I finish up each chore, I find myself thinking, "That is the last load of laundry before I go." or "I won't have to wash this pan again until I get back." The biggest milestone will be when I can say, "This is the last time I have to open Microsoft Word or Adobe Acrobat for an entire month!" And let me tell you, that milestone almost thrills me as much as the fact that I finally get to see my long-lost Mark on SUNDAY!!

Kai, on the other hand, isn't thrilled about any of this

Catching Up

There is so much to post here, but it's late and I am tired. So I will just send out a little note letting those who are interested know that Mark made it to Manchester, England, just fine. Last I heard, he was "packing gear right now--2 duckies [2-person inflatable kayaks], 2 life jackets, 2 helmets, 2 paddles and my gear--all in 2 bags. Then i get to lug it all on the train tonight, switch stations, and get to Gatwick at 2pm and fly out [to Marrakech] at 8. Will be an adventure."

In the meantime, I am here in Hamden, CT, with my folks. We had a great weekend with my sister and brother-in-law, their three beautiful girls, Nana, Karen, my cousin Debra, her folks, Rab, Julie, and a bunch of neighbors and friends I had never met before. All to celebrate Ground Hog's Day. Today the girls and I trudged through three feet of snow on an adventure of our own along the trails behind my parents' home. Who needs a gym when you are "postholing" up to your thighs with every step?

Pictures to come soon, along with a photo update of our past two months of good times and construction projects. In the meantime, here are two of the three gorgeous nieces and a whole pile of snow:

I'll also post the news from Mark (along with any photos he sends) as it comes in to me.

G'nite from snowy, sunny Connecticut!

[p.s. I don't have my camera here and am relying on my Android phone for camera shots. Never did get one of spunky Sabrina.]

As Time Goes By

I am happy to report that the lack of blogging here has been due to an extremely busy, fun-packed summer. We are actually all packed and ready to go on our next adventure right now. We are just waiting for our friends Sid and Davida to sort out the stuck egg in their chicken (no joke).

So while we wait, here's a very quick recap:

After our Middle Fork of the Salmon trip (see the previous post), Mark headed off for the Netherlands to help organize and run, as well as do the media for, the four-person raft championships. You can read all about it at internationalrafting.com. This site is also what has been keeping Mark busy this summer, as it is his job to keep it (and the IRF Facebook page) up to date and full of interesting info for boaters and nonboaters alike.

While Mark was off in the Netherlands, I hopped on a plane for a fantastic two-week trip to Connecticut, New Jersey, and North Carolina. After being pampered with mom at a local spa, we stopped off with Dad to see the Darling clan on Green Pond. Relaxing cruises on the lake, a fun night at the Seven Sisters, and always love and laughter made up for the fact that it was a much-too-short visit. Then Mom, Dad, and I headed south for the Outer Banks of North Carolina, where we met up with the Tuthills, our family friends from my earliest days of life, and the Studebaker gang. The house was right on the beach, but also had a pool. Our days were filled with more laughter, lots of swimming, and a whole bunch of relaxing (not to mention a heck of a lot of eating and drinking). Thanks so much to the Tuthills for making it all possible.

I returned to Mark here in Boise, where we have filled up our days with garden projects, more boating, lots of barbecues, the Tour de Fat, the Western Idaho Fair, a hot air balloon festival, pool parties, a bunch of mountain biking, and even a little Willie Nelson at the Botanical Gardens. In between all that, Mark took a job as a polysomnographic technologist at a sleep lab. An entirely new venture for him that he is finding incredibly interesting, even if it isn't his dream job (no pun intended).

And once the chicken and egg issue is sorted, we will be going full circle this summer, returning to Portland to pick up a bench that Mark's folks bought for us last time we were there. In addition to visiting the city again, we will also be camping on the coast for a couple nights to get in some more ocean time!

And now for your viewing pleasure, photos from our summer, in no particular order and without any labels, as the chicken problem has been solved (unfortunately without a very happy ending for either the chicken or the egg) and we are about to head out the door.

Miscellaneous Photos (more to come ... someday)

So technically today is a tomorrow, it just isn't the tomorrow I referred to in my previous post. I still don't have all the pictures from our various adventures. Most are on Mark's computer, which is the Netherlands with Mark (check out www.internationalrafting.com to see what he is up to).

But I did promise pictures (when am I not promising pictures?), so here are the few I have related to the previous post. Actually, only the first few are related to the previous post. The rest are from our wonderful, wonderful, wonderful Middle Fork of the Salmon 6-day river trip (which we just got back from on Thursday night). The river was gorgeous (it runs through the Frank Church/River of No Return Wilderness, which apparently is on the list of 1,000 places to see before you die ... so check that one off the list. Only 999 more to go.), the weather was fantastic, the food was to die for (and then to come back to life just so you could eat more and die all over again), and our group was excellent. Not a bad egg among us (or maybe I was the bad egg and no one told me).

Anyway, without further ado, a few pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Trip the First -- The No Lochsa Weekend, during which we did not raft on the Lochsa and instead enjoyed a wonderful weekend in McCall (which included rafting, skiing, rafting, which a bunch of food and laughter in between).



Trip the Most Recent -- Middle Fork of the Salmon River

Not-Quite-the-Weekend Update

We have been MIA again from this little blog of ours. We are still busy with the house, as well as the beginning of barbecue season, bike rides, work, ... and the list goes on.

Last weekend we were swarmed by bees and now have our own honeybee hive. That excitement led to us cutting down all of the old trees in our backyard, which, in turn, led to the pseudo-orphaning of two little baby mourning doves and then the cruel agony of watching Mama Bird return later to no nest, no babies, and a torrential downpour that lasted all night. It was a very somber ending to an otherwise productive and interesting weekend. After about a week, Mama Bird has finally flown off and no longer sits on our clothesline, staring in our window all day and night, so I no longer have to hear her telltale call. And yet I will never be able to listen to a mourning dove again without getting a big ol' lump in my throat.

The swarm, settling down in one of our former trees

The swarm's new home

This horrendous juniper is now long gone,
as are the birds who had made it their home. Sorry birds!!

After all that excitement, we settled down to a busy week of work so that we could get ready for our first real adventure in Idaho. Originally the plan was to head up into the mountains for our first Idaho rafting trip on the raging Lochsa River up near Lolo Pass. Apparently this is the spot along Lewis and Clark's adventures where they had to kill a colt to feed the crew, where they faced near starvation, and where they were caught in an unseasonable snowstorm. As we watched the weather reports throughout the day today, we were starting to think that we would be in for a similar encounter. But at the last minute, our crew decided to scrap the original plan of camping in the rain and snow. Instead we are heading up to McCall for a weekend of rafting, skiing, and hot tubbing, all based in the comforts of a warm and cozy cabin. Hooray!

So if you haven't heard from us in a while, it's because we've been wrangling bees, birds, work, and play. It's a rough life here in the wilds of Idaho!

M.I.A.

We've been MIA again, but this time not due to sickness or sheer laziness or lack of anything to say.

A week ago Friday, I bought two bookcases from a shop that is moving to a new location. I got a steal of deal -- $10 each. What a bargain!

The two bookcases, stashed in the corner

The next day, at about noon, Mark and I sat in my office, trying to figure out how to organize the room, where to place the bookcases, etc., etc., which led to the discussion of, "Well, we do want to pull up the carpet and paint the walls." "Yes, but I thought we were going to work in the garden this weekend." "Yeah, well, maybe we should do this first." And off to Home Depot we went to get all the materials to rip up the carpet, paint the plywood (for our temporary ghetto-hardwood-floor substitute until we can afford the real stuff), paint the walls, clean up the trim, etc. etc. All so that we could then move in the $20 bookcases. So much for my bargain.

For a week, our living area looked like this:

Ack!

as we did this to my office:

And now it looks like this:

Yay!

All that's left to do is hang pictures, shorten the curtains, and find some new bookcases. Because, alas, after all that, we decided that the bookcases really didn't go with my office. So now they are being used as clothing shelves in our bedroom (in place of the cardboard boxes that we had been using as dressers for the past 7 months ... really, we are not still in college. We are grown adults ... sort of. Really.)

After a brief respite of having the house all in one piece again, we started in on Mark's office, and once again our living room looks like this:

If you know anything about home "improvement" projects, I'm sure you won't be surprised to hear that in the process of ripping up Mark's carpets, etc., we discovered that the wood around his window was rotten and icky and mucky from a leak that the previous owners decided to just ignore:

Oooh, pretty!

So yet another quick-and-easy project turns into a major chore. But already, it looks like this, so we are making terrific headway ... all things considered:

In between painting and moving and taping and priming, we also had time to plant a huge donation of clippings and cuttings from our neighbor's garden, buy all the materials necessary to build a fence around our future veggie garden, and attend a fantastic wedding reception up at Bogus Basin for some good friends of ours.

The happy couple

So, that's where we've been. Phew ...

It's been a long, long time.

Once again I am apologizing for not posting sooner. It's been a little hectic, fun, busy, crazy, whirlwindish this first month or two in Boise. I don't even know where to begin, so I'll give a sort of quick paragraph to each category.

We're settling into our home and loving ALL the projects (though I can't say the shed building or the fence moving were super fun; but so satisfying once they were completed). The house itself is in pretty good shape. Mark, my hero, fixed the garbage disposal, the washing machine, the leaky tub and toilet, the bathroom fan, and the dish washer. I cleaned the floors and did my best to get the stains, crayon marks, and leftover glitter out of the off-white carpets (white carpets with two little kids ... why would they do that?!). Then it was on to the yard, where we've already planted six trees, inherited a multitude of plants from our neighbor, and done our best to kill off the weeds and grubs. The big projects were moving our 75-foot-long back fence to the edge of our property, rather than 16 feet into the backyard, and then building a shed. A humongous thanks to Mom and Dad for devoting almost all of their visit to the shed. I honestly do not know how it could have been completed by just two people, especially when one of those two (that would be me) threw up her hands in frustration and had to escape into the house for part of the afternoon. Such a diva!


Mark, the Fence Mover

When we aren't working on the yard, hunting for bargains on tools and furniture, catching up on real work/looking for real work, and trying to squeeze in some zzzz's, we've been having fun. In the first month in our home, we've already had three sets of visitors: Joe from Dallas was the first, over Labor Day. We wore him out (and vice versa) with hikes, bikes, floats down the Boise River, dinner out, drinks with friends, pirate golf . . . you name it. And all this while we had a house full of dogs (our Kai, plus Judi's Dobie and Heather's Kayla). Just like old times. Then Tony and Terry from Santa Barbara, who attended raft guide school with Mark 20 years ago, stopped in for a wonderful two days. Again there was hiking and walking and dining and laughing, as well as a failed attempt to see the raptors out at the Snake River Birds of Prey National Park. And, finally, most recently, were my folks, who drove out with their Ford Explorer (now our Ford Explorer) loaded to the gills with all of our stuff, which had been stored in their attic for the past year. It was like Christmas morning opening up all the boxes and getting reacquainted with all our stuff. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Mom and Dad, for everything!


Joe showing off our fine Thermarest furniture


Kai's girlfriend, Kayla


Mom, Dad, and LJ the really big dog

Now the walls are hung with photos and artwork and the knickknacks are on the shelves. We even threw our first big dinner party/barbecue, using the china and crystal and flatware that we hadn't seen since Denver. Thanks again to Mom and Dad for entertaining the guests and preparing the delicious margaritas and yummy yummy gravy while I gallivanted around the neighborhood.

Our first BBQ with Heather and Simo

Throughout all of this, we've been exploring Boise, meeting our neighbors, and making many new friends. I cannot begin to express how great it is and how incredibly nice everyone has been. While working on our fence, we met our neighbors, who have a garden and chickens in their backyard. We'd barely introduced ourselves before they had loaded us up with fresh onions, tomatoes, basil, kale, and cukes and zukes from their garden. And in exchange for our veggie cuttings (tops of carrots, potato peels, fruit that's just gone off) as well as a couple bucks, we get fresh eggs, practically from our own backyard. We've been to barbecues and get-togethers and backyard gatherings. Mark's been on bike rides up in the hills, and I've taken Kai for walks through the foothills. And just the other day we went with some friends to pick pears from an orchard so they could make cider (the pressing of the pears will be next week).

Veggies from our neighbor's garden










Putting the Explorer to use: Pears from the orchard

So, although Mark is unemployed right now, we are so much more at peace with our lives. I am trying to find a good spin to put on our time in Dallas. We met nice people, made some good friends, had incredibly nice neighbors, and even saw a few places we liked (namely, Oklahoma and Austin). But Dallas just didn't speak to us. It didn't bring us any joy, and try as we might, we couldn't find the joy. We know that many people like it there. And that's fine. It just wasn't for us. And the fact that many people in Dallas thought Mark was an angry, bitter person made us realize that it was taking a serious toll on ourselves and even our relationship. So in answer to the question many people are still asking, "Why Boise?" I can just say that it spoke to us as soon as we arrived that first day in July, and to us, the risk of moving somewhere new without any real prospects for work in this crazy economy were worth it to our peace of mind, our sanity, and our relationship. 'Nuff said.