Snow Play

Last night was so much fun! Heather, Alex, and I took the Alex's snow skate out and attempted to learn how to use it. Well, rather Heather and I tried learn while Alex who already knows it watched our attempts.

After we got tired of falling, we went up to the Douglas snow fort and had fun making improvements. It was pretty incredible to begin with, so really we were just building up the walls higher. We figured if we build up the back and side walls really high, we can call the front panel an awesome skylight window since it was the view out onto the mountain. We even delegated out jobs. I was the brick maker-I sat up on the hill and found huge snow chunks and rolled them down, Heather was the brick layer-she stacked them appropriately and logically, and Drew was the mortar- he layed and packed the snow between snow bricks to make sure they held. We were highly successful overall and it was really quite fabulous. It already has a bench, a fridge and a garbage can for beer cans, two windows, and a backdoor secret slide entrance(which I learned I can go down, but I really suck at climbing back up).

Of course the evening could only be completed by sharing the biggest cup of noodles I've ever seen-it took three of us to eat the thing. Sheer deliciousness.

Winter Sports Time!

So I'm up at Schweitzer, and as usual its a wonderful time. Last night we went sledding, but we went down the ski runs, starting at the terrain park down thru the bunny hill. It was a lot of fun, and we weren't supposed to be there. (One-because the slopes were closed, and two-because your not supposed to sled the slopes at all.) I was on a toboggan which wouldn't steer so I kept falling off and was slower than all the others. As a result I was one of the two of us caught by a groomer and chastised. Then when we got to the bunny hill jumps, a guy yelled at us from the lodge balcony and waved a flashlight threateningly at us. Then they sent the groomers down there to chase us off. It was an adventure!

This morning I went and rented ski gear, and Heather, Alex, and I spent all morning out on the slopes. I love this mountain. Heather gave me an awesome shirt for Christmas that is thin, really warm, and dries super fast for traveling purposes, but its perfect for skiing! I know my legs are going to be nice and sore tomorrow, which is awesome. Today only my right arm is sore, and sadly, that's because Heather and I were Wii sword fighting yesterday for a little too long.

pranks

So I'm sitting at the bagelshop on my day off because the artic wind has finally come down so it's really cold, and being the cheapskate I am, my apartment is also rather chilly. But the real reason I chose to come here of all places is that I am attempting to prank my mom. She's not particularly tech. savvy, so I've taken great pleasure in spending my morning learning how to make my own ringtones. I currently have a ringtone of Tardy for the Party waiting for her, and I'm going to assign it to Morgan so that we can call her when all the bagel girls are at dinner tomorrow night. It's only fair that we all get to partake in the joy of seeing her shocked and horrified face, right?
But of course, since it's so cold, as soon as get here, she grabs her purse(cell phone inside) and goes to let the dogs out since she can't leave them outside. She better get back soon, because I want to make sure I get her all taken care of, and my computer battery is draining quicker than I would wish.
I'm also trying to determine more such pranks to play, because I'm having far more fun than I should doing this. And it's far more fun, and more successful than trying to figure out what to get her for Christmas. I've been scrounging for ideas all month, and still nothing! So if anyone has ideas for either, let me know!

Living life.

Life is short, you have to appreciate what you have. So many people go in freak accidents, for all you know this could be your last day. You always have to make the moment, cause each moment could be your last. My coworkers father died the other day. He was geocaching and fell off a cliff. I can't even believe that actually happened, it's like a bad novel. I didn't know him, so I can't say I'm sad about it, more just shocked that it actually happened. It's so surreal. It makes me want to go out and do things even more though, make the most of what I have. We can't stop death, only make the most out of life. Unless you happen to know a vampire, but depending on which types of vampires you read about, that could be an even worse thing. Ah well, I guess I'll just stick with my humanity and enjoy what I have.

Man who died in cliff fall identified

From staff reports The Spokesman-Review

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Stuart Anderson died Monday after falling from a cliff in the Dishman Hills Natural Area.

A memorial fund for Stuart Anderson has been set up at Spokane Teachers Credit Union. Donations can be made at any branch in Anderson’s name.

The 56-year-old Spokane Valley killed Monday after falling from a cliff in the Dishman Hills Natural Area was identified Tuesday by his family.

Stuart Anderson was “geocaching” with his wife Monday afternoon, when he apparently slipped on wet pine needles and fell about 100 to 150 feet off a sheer rock cliff to his death, the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office said. Geocaching is a GPS-aided treasure hunting game, where geocachers use GPS coordinates left on Internet sites to find prizes left by others.

Anderson’s family issued the following statement:

“There are no words to describe how meaningful he was to everyone he knew.

He was a loving father, husband, grandfather, son, brother, and friend.

His humor and zest for life will be deeply missed.

He is the best thing that ever happened to all of us.

Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers.”

According to a family spokesman, a memorial service for Anderson has been scheduled for November 20 at Heritage Congregation. The time has yet to be announced.

So the last two days of just continued in awesomeness. They are legen-wait for it-dairy. Haha, couldn't resist that one. Friday we stuck around Upper Montclair and it is a gorgeous area. We went and had brunch at Jackie's Grillette and went shopping (though we only really bought things at the bookstore). Then we went out for dinner with the family for Liam's 6th birthday. They are such cute kids! All in all, it was a pretty low key day, though I think Meridith and David were kinda surprised that we would rather do the family dinner, play with the kids and the kittens and watch a funny movie before going to bed, instead of going out and doing a Pub Crawl. Althuogh a Pub Crawl would be fun, I just don't think I would have had the energy to get through one and still make it back to the house at the end of the night.
Then yesterday Jen and I went back into NYC. Today we walked around and saw a lot. We started with the Chrysler Building and Grand Central Station, followed it up with the Empire State Building, walked to Little Italy and Chinatown (where we bartered for purses), and then continued south to the site of the Two Towers (although its just a construction site now). Then we took the Subway back up north, checked out Times Square and the library before going to dinner. David got us reservations at Sparks Steakhouse. I don't think I've ever eatten somewhere so fancy and probably never will again. OMG. It was so delicious! I definitely felt rather out of place though, I don't think two girls dressed for wandering the city all day are their normal patrons. Best steak I've ever eatten though. To top that we went to Chicago. I was sadly a little disappointed by this show. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't everything that I had been expecting. Wicked put it to shame in my mind. Then David's driver Nabil came to pick us up and take us home. This actually rather amused me. We insisted we could take the bus but David wouldn't hear of it. Turns out it's because he was worried when we took it back the other night and sat up all night until he heard us come home! Made me feel bad because if I had known he wasn't alseep I would have gladly sent him a text to let him know where we were and that we were ok. Jen and I have been officially spoiled though, and were not really entirely sure what to make of it, particularly Jen. Were going to try and set up something nice for David and Meridith but were still trying to figure out what!

East Coast

So I've been over here for a day and a half now. I'm staying with David and Meridith in their home in New Jersey, which is gorgeous! (Both the home and NJ). Jen came over with me and we've been having a blast. Spent yesterday evening playing with Ainsley and Liam, and they are the sweetest kids ever. Then this morning we walked to the creperie for breakfast. After spending the morning wandering around, we hopped on the bus to NYC. So much fun! We bought our city passes and went to the MOMA and the Museum of Natural History. Saw all sorts of cool things. We also wandered through Central Park for awhile. It was pouring rain all day, but we still had a great time. One guy was singing by the museum for money and he was so good! We gave him some money after sitting around for four songs.
After all of our exploring, we went to a fabulous little Italian restaurant for dinner, and then off to Broadway for our first show. We saw Wicked, and it was fantastic! Thanks Janaya, for getting the whole soundtrack stuck in my head a couple years ago. It totally built up the anticipation, and I was not let down. Just wish I could have bought the Defying Gravity T-shirt, but I wasn't about to fork over $40 for that. I'll just have to make my own instead at some point.
Tomorrow were going to explore Upper Montclaire some more, check out their little shopping district. Then in the afternoon its Liam's 6th birthday. It should be a lot of fun and we definitely are looking forward to it. This is going to be one awesome week!

Fall so far.

So I've been really bad about updating, no matter how much I tell myself I'm going to work at being more consistent with it. So this is sort of a cumulative summary of the fall so far. I'm sitting in Cafe Moro where Heather works in Pullman doing the crossword. Life is good, ignoring that I'm a little sick. But scones and tea are putting that to rest. I met my lookalike at the bagelshop. Mike's daughter also named Nicole came into the shop for the first time.I don't think we look quite so much alike but we had fun proclaiming over it to her dad's pleasure. Our meeting had been several years in coming so it was a fun experience. My mom and I went to the Jason Mraz concert this last week. It was incredible. The concert was outdoors at Riverfront Park and it was a perfect evening. Gorgeous, perfect temperature, and great music. His opening act was G. Love and the Special Sauce and they were incredible! Definitely not what I was expecting by their group name. They sounded really similar to Jason actually.
I also went to Collin's house for a barbeque. That was a lot of fun. We played washers, beer croquet, halo, and just had an all around good time. Collin is quite a good cook too. Everything was delicious. I was just sad I was to full to eat a bowl of jummbalia.
Everyone had a lot of fun and it was good to see everyone.
Now I'm just enjoying a day off with friends though (ignoring that Heather's working since I'm at her job harassing her). It's always good to spend time with people, something I forget when I get to holed away at home. I'm glad to be out and about.