Flying by the Seashore

It's not everyday that life-long dreams come true. Last Saturday was the culmination of many years of dreaming and one year of practice. I have always wanted to be a roller-blade chick, skating along, weaving in-between people and looking so cute and I finally did it! I was given a pair of roller-blades from a lady at work. I was thrilled to find that N. had his own pair and was willing to very patiently teach me the art. We spent a lot of time in the church parking lot going in slow circles learning how to stop and how to turn and how to do "s" curves. After a couple of VERY violent falls, I was scared enough to be careful and after a couple of VERY exhilarating accomplishments, I was ready to fly!

Last Saturday we went to Malibu and Santa Monica beach. We roller-bladed all the way down to Venice and Muscle beach and back - maybe 4 miles total? We had SO MUCH FUN! It was great going through Venice Beach because there were lots of people milling around looking at all the little trinkets for sale. It was a great lesson in going slow and staying in control. I didn’t fall or bump into anyone… and I was so cute! On the way back we went around the people so we could go really fast. It’s a thin trail, so at one point I was ahead of N. In my way were three guys (older 30s, maybe?) and they were being obnoxious. I barely got between them when I heard one call out, “I’ve been looking for you all day!” I just skated on, and heard, “What, not even a smile?” I sure did smile when I then heard N. say, as he skated by them, “That one's mine!” They replied, “Oh, sorry bro!” I LOVE IT! I laughed and laughed. Yes, I’m taken, and I love it. What a fabulous experience!

It felt so good to fly by and be in control and not be afraid. Thanks, N.!!

The Newest World Cup Fanatics

I've never been one to sit down and watch a basketball or football game on TV. I wondered how anyone could have the patience or interest to watch any professional sport! And yet here I am, day after day, yelling and jumping at the big screen as the Brazillian soccer team takes on the world. The longest, some say boring, sport around has me acting like a crazy woman! Dressed in my Brazil shirt, it helps to have my yellow-clad husband cheering beside me as we watch the legendary Ronaldo score his 14th World Cup Goal - the most of any player EVER! We wrote down the scores of every game and tried to guess who would win. We nearly cried when the US didn't make it to the Round of 16! The best matches are the Brazillian matches, of course. Ronaldinho dances when he gets the ball! Dida flies! Kaka works his magic and the whole team has the greatest smiles on their faces (showing their severe need for braces! :). I may not be a soccer fan, but I am definitely the newest World Cup Soccer Fanatic! Ukraine plays Italy at noon today. I know exactly how many minutes it takes me to get my lunch and meet N. in front of the screen. I took vaccation time this morning to watch Germany defeat Argentina. Que Joga Bonito, ne?

DMV vs. The Dentist

I used to think that a visit to the DMV was worse than a visit to the dentist. Now, I am SURE OF IT!!! And I HATE the dentist! What a terrible experience! I went to get my CA license yesterday and didn't know I needed my marriage cert. NO WHERE on their inaccurate website does it say anything about that. I assumed that my changed SS number would work, since it's the same government that requires my marriage cert to change that! So, I had to come back this morning and wait in line AGAIN. Their website also said I would be required to have an eye exam, but that they wouldn't test each individual eye. WRONG. Now I have to have an ophthalmologist fill out a form before I can get my license. WA never needed anything like that! Why is CA so dumb? Can you tell I've had a long morning? At least I passed the test, and I won't ever have to go to the CA DMV again. I just get to change it back to a WA license in 4 months. Blah!

"Tico Tico na Fuba"

N. and I had a wonderful time celebrating our 1 year anniversary in Pasadena. We found a little Brazilian restaurant and THOROUGHLY enjoyed the authentic taste of it all. We were directed to a little Brazilian market where we loaded up on Guarana and other goodies. N. tipped the musician playing at their little restaurant to play "Tico Tico," our favorite choro. It was so much fun! We got a new digital camera to celebrate the occasion - a Cannon SD600, I believe. VERY cool, and greatly needed! For mother's day I found a live Cala Lily on the table and enjoyed breakfast in bed. What a lucky girl I am!!

By the way, Disney land and Death Valley were amazing - be sure to check out all the flickr pics!

Still a good crack!

It's official! The Grand Canyon is 'as old as the hills, and twice as dusty!' We had a fabulous time hiking down and up The Grand Canyon. I'll probably loose a few toe nails, but what an accomplishment! We took three days to do the round trip. We were VERY lucky to get the permit (thanks to a little Nevada time zone misunderstanding, we got in line an hour before we had planned!). We went down the 6 mile South Kaibab trail in about 6 hours. My poor toes kept slamming the front of my boots, and I don't think they'll ever forgive me! We made it to the bottom, though, and it was well worth the pain. The river was beautiful and we got to camp along the Bright Angel riverlet. At the bottom it was green and so warm. There was a 20 - 25 degree difference from the top to the bottom of the canyon. When it was 18 or 20 degrees F at the top at night, we enjoyed a very warm 40-45 degrees. The next morning we took our time and left camp around noon. It was 4.6 miles to the next campsite, and it only went up about 1320 ft. It was the most beautiful part of the hike. We hiked through green little canyons and saw waterfalls and deer and we watched the sun set. We were pretty tired when we wandered into camp five hours later. It wasn't that difficult of a hike, but we took it really slow and enjoyed the scenery. The next morning we got an earlier start along the last 4.6 miles to the top, almost 3000 ft above us. It was SO much easier going up than it was going down! We saw bighorn sheep along the way! We had so much fun, and the week was only starting! More soon about the further adventures of the Cardons!

New Toys!

We got some great new toys from REI this weekend, thanks to a gift certificate from some very nice friends and a big ol' REI dividend check! We bought a water filter for camping/emergency preparedness; I got a nice headlamp, a new purse, and my very own climbing harness and chalk bag! We also picked up some rope to keep in the car. So exciting! We didn't do anything all weekend but play with our new toys and look forward to putting them to good use. We're really excited about our up-coming adventure. We're headed for the Grand Canyon, Vegas, and Death Valley! We're hoping we'll be able to get a same-day permit to hike down to the Colorado River and camp in the bottom of the Canyon. We'll see, though. They may not allow us. If not, we'll still get some great views and we'll get to camp up at the top. It'll be quite a hike, but we'll take three days to do it if we can get the permit. In all, it's a 15 mile hike that goes 4700 feet down and back up again. We figure we'll go all the way down on the first day, 1/3 back up the second day (they have a place to camp there) and the last 2/3 on the third day. Then, it's off to Vegas! We're excited to get to see the M. family and maybe see a show. From there, we're headed to Death Valley for a few days. Unfortunately, we'll probably miss the spring wild flowers. I guess if you didn't get to see them last year, though, you'll never get to REALLY see them, anyway. We're SUPER excited, and ready for a great adventure. Just do us a favor and don't tell mom until we get back ;) Just kidding, mom! We'll be good! I was nervous with the idea of going down the GC until N. showed me how wide and slowly sloping the trails are. Piece of cake! I'll post pictures when we get to Vegas, if I can!

A Joke for a Bloke

A man with two left feet walked into the shoe store and asked the attendant: "Do you have any flip-flips?"

Why did the ant run across the cracker box? Because the directions said to tear across the dotted line!

"Are you ok?" shouted the olive still on the table to the one that had just rolled off. To this came the relply, "Olive!"

Why were the elephants asked to leave the pool? They couldn't keep their trunks up.

I'm not sure why it is that I have such a terrible memory for jokes. If you know any that are funnier than these (which I doubt is possible, of course), please leave a comment!

Our favorite primate

Our favorite primate
Originally uploaded by kjcard.

Universal Studios!

It turns out that living in CA does have its perks - the Universal Studios, Hollywood local discount, for example. We got a free ticket in the mail along with a coupon for $15 off a regular ticket (normally $55). It was pretty fun to see Spiderman, Shrek, and Frankenstein wandering around. The rides were fun, but ridiculously short. There were only two that I can remember and they were both about a minute in length. The lines were short, as least! The rest of the park is shows - like Shrek 4D, Terminator 3D, and Backdraft, and stuff like that. We did make one very important discovery. I can't see 3D movies in 3D! They passed out 3D glasses, and it was really fun to see the shows, but I don't think it is quite the same. I always wondered what a 3D movie would look like for me, and now I finally know. It looks like any other movie! I could tell when something was supposed to jump out at us, though, because everyone around would jump and squirm and the picture would be outlined kinda funny. It was great fun, though, and I'm glad for the experience! We didn't see any real movie stars, but it we did get to see how they make fake rain, and we saw a flash flood, as well as the actual crash site for the War of the Worlds. It was all quite surreal. We saw everything there was to see in 5-6 hours, so I don't think we'll be going again. It was worth seeing once, though, and you can't beat 64% off!! Next adventure: Disneyland!

Lately

We had a fabulous time in Joshua Tree! The weather was FREEZING, but we had a great fire, warm blankets, and everyone else's tent blocked the wind for ours. :) N.'s cousin D. is living there working and climbing so he said he'd catch up with us and take us up a route nearby. It was great! After D. secured a top rope, N. went first, followed by the rest of the guys. Then it was my turn! I was totally freaked out, and was about to vomit when I was half way up, when I got really mad and just willed myself the rest of the way up. I was thrilled to see that my hands were bleeding (just a bit), giving me the mark of a true climber! I had never climbed outdoors before, and it was great! I think it was only a 5.4 route. We then tried a 5.8 route. None of us got to the top, though N. got the highest! I was the only girl who tried it and I got about as far as the guys did, anyway. There was one point on the climb that you had to switch your feet and hands, and it was so hard. I decided I was just going to jump for it, so I called out "I AM M. N. I STICK TO ROCKS!" (Reffering to a certainly sister-mine). I didn't quite make it, but we all got a kick out of it, and I had a fabulous time trying!! I'm working on being able to do a pull-up. I can do it starting from standing (with the bar about a foot over my head) but I can't do it starting from hanging. N. and I get to go to a climbing gym just as soon as I can!

Off to Joshua Tree!

We're going camping tomorrow at Joshua Tree! N.'s cousin is out there living/working/climbing and said he'll hook up with us and show us the ropes. We're very excited. We're going with the S.'s and the H.'s and a third friend. Cool beans. I can't wait for Friday to be over! M - have you been to Joshua tree? Climbed there? Call me and tell me what it's like! It may be cold and wet, but we're up for a winter camping adventure (as long as we're in So Cal and it's the desert!)

Life in So Cal

I got an "A" in my history class! No rolling your eyes, now! This was quite a feat as independent study courses are not so easy, I have found. That was the biggest pain of a class that I've ever taken. So, yeah me! :) Now it's time for physics. Blah. Good thing N.'s a genius and a great teacher! He was almost an engineer, you know...

Valentines Day was so great! N. said he would have to stay late at work, but he really got off at 2 and had dinner and roses and candy and presents waiting for me when I came home from work! I THOUGHT we had decided no presents or candy or flowers were to be involved here, but he's got a selective memory, I think. I gave him a pop-up valentine that I had been working on for a couple of days. I feel the need to boast here, because it turned out SO cute (Thanks, mo!) but I guess a blog shouldn't be all about me and how great I am, huh? Nate gave me the blue Fiesta Ware butter dish we had been searching for for months, as well as a pair of slippers that I have been whinning for for months!! I was very surprised. It was so sweet of him, and I know that I am just the luckiest girl. He bought me all my favorite candies and foods - complete with gummy bears, white bread (a RARE treat!), pasta-roni, and even some complete meals-in-a-box! He made us a salmon salad that was wonderful. Not shoo tabby, if you ask me! So, life is good and will be a lot better once Friday afternoon gets here and we can take off for Joshua Tree for our camping trip with some friends! Pictures will follow, to be sure.

Dreams

I wish I didn't have to go to work everyday. I wish I could stay home and clean my house. I wish I had a house. I wish I had a garden behind my house so I could grow pretty flowers and yummy things to eat. I wish I could spend all day trying new recipes and learning to cook. I wish Nate didn't have to go to work. I wish we were independently wealthy. That way we could play all day and take trips and just have fun. I wish I was done with school. I wish I could read and read and not have to take any tests or turn in papers. I wish I had all my family around me and we could all play together when ever we wanted to. And as long as I'm dreaming... I want a pony. :)

Fun with Sparkle Paint

N. had the week off and was so helpful! He made dinner and did the dishes so I could study. His big project was a new inlay centerpiece for his game table. On one side, he made an outline to hold the Settlers game board pieces, and on the other side he made a Joker table (it's a marble game, like Sorry). I got to help him paint it, which took forever! Every little marble slot needed three or four coats of paint, and there were almost 300 slots! So fun to be creative and play together, though. We're sure it'll be a family heirloom someday!