Horoscope and this weekend...

Today's horoscope: "You're an easygoing person, and you've always felt like you owed it to everyone else to do what they want with your myriad gifts. This seems like it would be easier on you, but it's actually not. Stand your ground."
You better watch out! I'm gonna be a fiesty one today!

This weekend am headed with Bill and TimA up to Whistler to ride the glacier, do some hiking and of course there will be a few cold beverages drank along the way. I've always wanted to ride the whistler glacier in the summer, so I am completely stoked on doing it!

Now I just have to get through a days work (ok, I'm bailing at 3 today) so that I can get in the golf and we can go... go... GO!

This is the strangest life, I've ever known..

Ever have those days when at the end of the day you are just like, holy shit. I made it through. Today was a whirlwind, but amazingly I am suprisingly calm about it all. Truth be told I am so very happy with all the life desicions I have been making and once again, I have seen just what amazing friends I have. So thank you, to all the people who stand with me as we figure out this thing called life.

Am headed to Whistler with Bill and TimA on Friday. Totally pysched for that. Glacier skiing, here we come. Oh yea, did I mention we got a free condo upgrade... gnarly.

lilwaldo

Days like today....

Congrats to miss KT. You kicked some serious Rainier ass today!

Days like today are the reason I believe I am so truly happy, all of the time. Today was another big first for KT. On this day, KT had her first Mt. Rainier "experience." Most of you know that Mt. Rainier holds an incredibly special place in my heart. It is like my home away from home. I love the sites, the sounds, the snow, the trials, and the experience of Rainier. And for the first time, miss KT took her first steps on Rainier. The first few minutes were a little rough, but then again, that paved steep part at the beginning is a bitch for us all. But eventually we got into a nice groooooove and up and up we went. Chatting our way up. Laughing at some crazy memories from the winter ("SHE TAKES MY MONEY, WHEN IM IN NEEEEEEEED".) Conversations ranged from fashions sense commentary (bike shorts? on the mountain?) to the very serious ones regarding our number one driving philosophy that we are only going to surround ourselves with people who are positive on life and who do things for no other reason than that it is what they love to do.

As we continued up I kept on running into people I knew up the mountain. Brenda W (RMI guide) was on her way back down from a killer summit climb, with some guys who brought up a nine-iron just to chip one off the summit, other random people from the gym, etc etc. After what seemed like no time, we made it to Pebble Creek at 7200. KT was still feeling great after having my favorite snikkey snack, gummy bears and a nectarine, up again we went. We were quickly on the snowfield and after figuring out her footing, KT was nipping my heels the whole way up. At this point, it was about 2 oclock, wickedly hot, and right when we were needing a brief break, what should come down over the mountain side, none other than our own personal parade of RMI guides, which are always appealing to look at. We climbed up a bit higher, hung out for a little while, rested, relaxed, had a photo shoot, and then decided it was time to slide on down (no, no riding down this time).

The downclimb. Was. Nothing. Short. Of. Amusing. Shortly after we started coming down (aka riding down the speed tracks on our asses - lil still in her skirt and kt (who changed into shorts) we ran into this group of peeps heading down as well. Their brillant idea for coming down: the Garbage bag diaper. BRILLANT!


The snow chutes (where you slide down) were quite slick and a booty shake was necessary to make sure you got all the cold ness out of your undies, but other than that. After that things calmed down quite a bit. Conversations continued. Winter memories were rehashed (God we miss being Chair2 chicks...), life plans continued to unfold, and new memories created. Dinner at Copper Creek was fab as always. Now for some more pics and quotes.

"It's like our own personalized strip club."
"I just bought my own condo. I'm pretty pysched."
"The eighties want all their shit back."
"Its pink. I must have it."
"Hands down, this is the best day."
"You might want to hold your breath."
"explitive, explitive, explitive...." to all the cars/busses/minivans/range rovers in the golfs way.
"We give new meaning to the meaning of being a "watergirl" skirt. We just use them on frozen water."
"What's with the skirts, you girls trying to prove something?" - "No, we're just smart enough to know how to stay nice and cool..."
"Don't worry, they're serving margaritas at the bar at muir..."
"I just hiked up this fucking mountain. What the hell did you do with your day." (KT to the rest of the world.)
"Dude I totally just got the once over from that Lady"KT - "The old one?"Lil - "Yup."KT
"You all been up to Lake Muir...?"
"Dude. Did you SEE HER HAIR..." "How could I miss it...It's taking up my entire rear view mirror..."
"I am not a one trick pony."

"It's always better in a skirt."

Here's to having more of these to come. I will go to bed a happy Lil' Waldo tonight.

always something...

Not too much to report from the past week. Well ok, maybe some things. Jesse's little bro Josh was in town, I worked a bunch at Vertical World, went hiking on si, messed up my ankle, babysat, had a fabulous night out on the boat, and then finally made it to today, Sunday. KT's first day up to Rainier. More on that later. Here are some pics from the Si Hike. It was pretty much your standard evening, weekday hike up. Got out of Seattle later than anticipated. It was hot. We (Bill, Lil, and TimA) sweated a lot, worked on the details of Whistler, discussed the meaning of life, ok maybe not that, but still. Great times. Beautiful sunset. I slipped a couple times on the way down and that good ol' field hockey ankle injury of mine returned, and we didn't return to the car utnil about midnight, BUT it was still a hella lotta fun. Plus, for TimA and Bill, Lil's superhuman powers were brought down a notch... Bummer for me.

To the right we have the sunset shot from Haystack on Mt. SI. Beautiful.

calling all my friends.

If any of you know any local Pacific North West Bands, please let me know. AND SAVE THE DATE: OCTOBER 7, 2006. EVOGear, Fremont, Seattle. It will be the place to be that night.

Funny weekend.

Here are some photos from this weekends adventure!

http://lilwaldo.smugmug.com/gallery/1677331

Hope you all had a great one like I did.

Favorite moment

So I've been asked time and time again what my favorite moment of the trip was. Now that I've been back to reality for about a week (and what a crazy week it's been!) I think the best thing about my trip was, well, the experience. Many of you know that I pack my days and nights full of activities. Work, climbing, skiing, hiking, running, throwing parties, babysitting... I am always doing something with or for the people I love. However. This trip was about me being with mostly me. Dinners/skiing/running/hiking by myself. Some of these things I do alone at home, but not to this extent. I think I almost forgot the sound of my own voice cause I wasn't ever really talking to anyone... So then I started talking to the car... just kidding. sort of. But that's another story. However, the experience of having to eat dinner by myself and really face solitude, well, this might be funny to some, but that was a scary thing for me. I thrive off of the energy of other people. But I finally forced myself to do all of these things and the best part, I really enjoyed it. And now I look forward to my "quiet" Lil time. And no longer does this time alone have to involved running/skiing/climbing/etc etc... But it can be doing normal things. Grabbing a bite to eat at a restaurant that I want to try. It has been a disasterous year for me. No denying that. Two relationships that failed miserably. Both doing quite a number on me. However, I am finally feeling like I am standing on my own two feet. No longer feeling codependent. No longer feeling like I have lost control over my own life for some unknown reason. No more doing things simply to please someone else. I am finally embracing my independence. Combining that with my self confidence and strength and I know I am going to be ok.

So ask me what my favorite moment and I'll probably pull something out like the skiing, the sunrise in Taranaki, the massage in Rotorua. But ask me my favorite experience and what really matters and the answer is, my newly refound independence. Something I didn't realize I was missing until I was forced to deal with it again. And now I see. Welcome back independent Libby. Glad you've returned.

Ever wake up

And just feel as though today is going to be an odd day? Maybe by typing this in the morning everything will be perfectly normal. Who knows. But its starting off really kind of weird. Strange dreams, strange coincidences, just plain strange.

Summer in Seattle

Sunsets In Seattle.

So this one is a little blurry, but that is how the colors looked and I still kind of like it, despite its imperfections. Story of my life.















This is just up the street from my house. Is the stereotypical Seattle shot. I figure since every other photographer takes this shot, so should I. :-)

Quote of the day.

Today's quote of the day is from the boys at Comet Skateboards...

"We're working to stop clear cutting of our forests. Now we've got to stop clear cutting our youth."

Couldn't have said it better myself!

http://www.treehuggertv.com/thtv_sustainable_skateboards.php
Just another way to be part of a sustainable life.

Song of the day....

Today's song is Gravity by Alison Krauss... Given many recent events this song seems very fitting. And this song is dedicated to all my supporters back east.

"I left home when I was seventeen
I just grew tired of falling down
And I'm sure I was told
The allure of the road
Would be all I found

And all the answers that I started with
Turned out questions in the end
So years roll on by
And just like the sky
The road never ends

And the people who love me still ask me
When are you coming back to town
And I answer quite frankly
When they stop building roads
And all God needs is gravity to hold me down"

Confusion.

For some crazy reason my life can never stay on the straight and narrow. It is in a constant state of confusion. And I think that used to scare me. And I would constantly try and "fix it." And now, I'm finding I quite enjoy the ride. Nothing in my life has ever been simple. Seemingly normal every day experiences always have something a little different about them with my life. And maybe I cause some of that (I'm certain I do). But now I'm seeing, that is what makes my life, well mine. And that is what makes things exciting, challenging, but it also makes me a better person (I believe) at the end of it all. While I sometimes wish things were different, I really wouldn't change my life for someone elses.

horoscope.

Very interesting today:

"Just imagine: The thing that you've been seeking has actually been searching for you this entire time. This applies to a new career opportunity or a bright spark on the love front. Be open to all the possibilities."

What a smiley girl I am these days. Life continues to make me smile.

Picture time!

Finally. I've selected my favorite photos and have them posted up at:

http://lilwaldo.smugmug.com/gallery/1633875

A few more might be added but these should give you all the jist of the trip!

Enjoy.

what time is it? what planet am i on? am i home?

so i finally made it. more on the last leg of travel to come. however, shortly after i landed i was whisked off to 4th of july bbq's and fireworks. now, i have been up for 30+ hours and though i should be absolutely slammed. i can't quite fall asleep. maybe its because my body has no idea what it should be doing now.. (running, sleeping, eating dinner, napping?!?!?!) or maybe it is because I am on an incredible natural/adrenaline high from the amazing trip i just took. i think i like the second option better.

lilwaldo

final thoughts.

Ok. so I bored the long flight back to SAN FRAN in just overa n hour. The new passport did me good getting through customs... so that is good. Final presents have been bought... Though i was very sad that security wouldn't let my knitting needles through. Oh well. can't knit anything on this flight *BUMMER* butt hat's ok. Anyways, i can't believe my 12 days in paradise are over. It's been an amazing trip and I will work up a final blog post on the flight.

cheers everyone and HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY! a beer and burger better be waiting for me.

lilwaldo

Time for some pictures.

Now that I have good internet (NO MORE DIAL UP!) I can actually post some pictures. So this blog posting is going to be heaps of pictures and limited text. ENJOY!

This one to the right is of the trees I planted four years ago on the Buckley's farm. I was really hoping they'd have grown a little bit more (and was kind of hoping for sequoia sized trees) but oh well. Slowly but surely they are growing!














This one is the sunset from Taranaki. An absolutely stunning spot on the western coast of the north island.

Its truly an amazing spot where the mountain meets the sea. Quite breath taking and actually kind of reminds me of seattle.








Next, to the left, we have the taranaki waterfalls. Funnily, these are not actually in Taranaki, but rather they are in Whakapapa Village, at Mt. Ruapehu. (By the way, the "wh" is pronounced with a "ph" sound, just a little Maori instruction for you all).













To the right, below, is the Whakapapa ski field. Technically you can ski most any where. The one "weird" thing most of you americans will see how there are NO TREES. I found this strangely suprising.




















This one to the left shows the "pinnacles" which normally is open. However, you couldn't quite traverse far enough to get over there. Down below the pinnacle is the "valley" where the infamous t-bar from my previous post is located.



Below, to the right we have Mt. Ruapehu National park & the second volcano. This one is just a bit shorter than Rupauhu itself but is quite amazing in its own right. It's interesting to me how it looks like a stereotypical "cone shaped" volcano.














And I believe this to be the most appropriate final picture. The moon over Whakapapa village on my final night in the mountains. Hope you all enjoyed the pics!