The Deadliest Catch

Ahh, the smell of the ocean, the breeze coming off the water, the sounds of the waves licking at the shore. There is nothing like visiting the Pacific to do a little crabbing! Whenever we are here in the summer we make an effort to get all our gear together and go out to the bay at Netarts (knee-tarts) and see how many tasty crab legs we can get for dinner.

And is it just me or does Netarts sound like something you would call your brother when he is tickin' you off? "Quit it you netart!" Maybe you would disagree but I think it every time I hear it.

But I digress. This past Saturday we got our chance to visit the bay and participate in our version of The Deadliest Catch. Usually we watch an episode or two of that show the night before we go but we forgot this time. It's our good luck charm. And we forgot. Dun, dun, dun.... [think ominous music]

Well, the day started out nice enough. It was supposed to be 95 in Vancouver so we were excited to spend the day at the much cooler shore. Much cooler. Cold actually. It was fine though. I had 2 sweatshirts, 2 regular shirts, a life jacket, and a hat to keep me warm. I wasn't worried.

Tyson wasn't worried either. You can't tell in this picture but he is actually wearing shorts. He confessed to me later that he wished he had pants on. Guess I wasn't the only cold one. It really was a lovely day though. Usually visibility isn't that good and the sun is rarely out when we go crabbing. You can see that it is gorgeous out there.

Here I am enjoying the first of many cookies. I like to prime my appetite before eating crab. It makes 'em taste better.

Tyson was the man when it came to throwing the pots in the water. We baited them with shad and turkey. The turkey didn't go over so well but those crab were all about the shad (which smelled really bad by the way)

Ah! Our first pot came up! Crab! Unfortunately none of them were big enough to keep :o( So all of them had to be thrown back in.

Ah, here we see the first casualty of the day. See that yellow thing in the water? That would be the measuring tool that we use to know if the crab are big enough to keep. DIL (Dad-in-law) accidentally threw the measurer in the water instead of the too-small-crab that he held in his other hand. Tyson and DIL tried to grab it before it sank but to no avail. (you would think that these things would float wouldn't you?)

Well, MIL and I had a good laugh while they tried to retrieve it until we realized that without a way to measure these guys we would have a hard time knowing which ones we could bring home. And there is a hefty fine if you get caught with crab that don't fit the regulations.

So we threw out our anchor, ok yes, we anchored on shore, while DIL ran out to buy a new measurer (he bought 2 this time). We chose this fine moment to have our lunch.

Ok! We made it back out onto the water.

So, look at the picture here. See that Doritos bag that DIL has? Although it looks like he is savoring the last bits of a dorito well done, he's actually drinking water. We left the cups at home and had to get a little creative.

I couldn't breathe while I drank because the smell of watered down Doritos made my stomach cringe. I couldn't look while I drank either because you just couldn't get all those little bits out before you added water and the floaties... oh the floaties. It still grosses me out a little. But it worked!

Oh, and see the hat on DIL's head? About 10 min or so ago that very hat blew off his head as we were racing back to the pots we left behind when we anchored on shore. Luckily it floated longer than that darn measurer and Tyson was able to save the day and fish it out of the water.

Ok, the next casualty. As Tyson was grabbing the rejected crab out of the pot one of them got a hold of him. In spite of his ultra thick rubber gloves that darn crab still drew blood. It wasn't as bad as last year when DIL got pinched without gloves on, but it still hurt! Poor baby. (I'm still surprised he didn't get lock jaw or bird flu or something from that open wound on those dirty fingers. I guess that's the life during The Deadliest Catch.)

So, not to be outdone by his finger, Tyson's legs decided to have a say of their own. Think he still wishes he wore pants? And yes, since he was sitting the majority of the time his knees were the only parts of his legs burned. Ha ha.

Although Tyson appreciates every opportunity to improve his farmer's tan, I prefer to only expose parts of myself to the sun that would have been shown in 1830. Therefore, only the backs of my hands, my ears, and my chin were fried. Very very attractive.

Well, things pretty much improved after that. We only ran over about 7 buoys and broke the key to the boat motor off in the ignition right before we went home. What a funny day.

Last casualty of the day? 6 delicious crab: 5 rock, and 1 dungeness.

I love crab.

Summer reads

So, since I've had just a little bit of extra time this summer I've had the luxury of being able to read a ton. As a result I thought it would be a great idea to share what I'm reading with you, and see if you have any suggestions for new books for me! So here is my reader review #1

The Host.

Yes, the long awaited Stephenie Meyer alien invasion book. Let's be honest, I wasn't so sure I wanted to read this one but since it was Stephenie Meyer, I pretty much had no choice. I mean, sci fi? Alien invasion? I dunno...

But then again didn't we all think that only weirdos read books about vampires...?

Look where that got us.

I actually got this book for my birthday, May 12 in case you forgot, but I held off on reading it for a couple months because I had too much going on with school and work. I really didn't feel the need to be consumed mind, body, and soul by a book for the next day or two. Well... as it turns out I didn't need to be so worried. Don't get me wrong, I thought it was a way good book but it didn't capture me in quite the same way that the Twilight series did.

Who's excited for Breaking Dawn!? Raise your hands!

Me too.

Anyway, I would recommend it if you are looking for a fun summer read and although I do know lots of people who just loved it, I was more on the liked it a lot end of things. So, have you read it? What did you think? I heard a rumor that she (stephenie) said that she wasn't going to write a sequel to it, but don't you think she left it open for one? Or did you think it was a fine ending the way it was?

Tell me your thoughts my dear friends. And read the host if you haven't already.

In other news... I passed the praxis, hooray!!! The agony of waiting for my test results is finally over and the prognosis is good. I can't even tell you how relieved I am that I don't have to pay $130 to take it again. So there you evil test-makers! I beat you once again!

Mt. St. Helens

A little while ago Tyson and I were lucky enough to get to visit Mt. St. Helens.

I was so excited that I started taking pictures as soon as I could get a good shot.

Or, even a not so good one.

For example:
I swear, it's right behind those trees... My timing was clearly a little off with this one.

Here I am looking down at a lovely river of, well, ash I think. There was a little water down there too. The whole time we were driving up Tyson kept telling me how you could see moose or something from the telescopes at the visitor center.

Guess how many we saw?

None.

Tyson is all about the Mt. St. Helens

These humongous flying ants were EVERYWHERE! Every time I saw one I had a flashback to that scene in Indiana Jones. You know, the one with the nasty ants? {shudder} Since I did not want to be taken to their lair I chose to run away from every one that I saw.

Except this one.

While we were there I took a sweet helicopter ride!!!

Oh, can you tell that I'm inside?

Bummer.

Well, Tyson took a sweet helicopter ride!!!

You can still tell we're inside?

Dang.

Ah, Helen herself.

Inside the visitor center there was a seismograph machine set up to measure the vibrations where we were. I was lucky enough to witness one of the straightest and least cool lines ever recorded by a seismograph machine.

I consider myself lucky.

Here she is again.

Here is a tree that they built the visitor center around.

Not really.

But maybe.

I forget what they were trying to exhibit here but isn't Tyson cute!

We got to watch a movie about when the Mt. exploded and right after the movie was over they opened up the curtains and there she was!

We wanted to get a few more shots before we left and I'm glad we did because as we were posing for this picture we felt a rumble beneath our feet, and a plume of smoke billowed out from the remains of the mountain.

I wanted to run but Tyson wouldn't let me.

He said it was our duty to take pictures and preserve this moment for mankind (as if they didn't have 3,000 cameras pointed at the mt. at all times from the visitor center alone)

He also said if it was gonna blow we wouldn't be able to get away fast enough anyway.

So I faced what was quickly turning into an ashy hot mess and stared into the face of death.

Just kidding.

Happy 4th of July!

Well, Tyson and I had a lovely 4th of July out here in Washington. We began with a trip to the fort to check out the activities going on there.

For entertainment they had a group from a local junior high playing in a drum line. They were the cutest ever! And they played a good beat.

Tyson is thrilled just to be there.

There were some gardens nearby and we found a special "tunnel of love".

Ooh la la.

And of course we had to get my favorite summer treat. Dippin' dots! Have you had these? They are the best! Mmmm

And of course I had to get my picture taken next to the biggest anchor ever. I forget what boat it went to but isn't it huge!!??

And my favorite tree. Good ol' Number 10. Man we had some good times together.
After we got back from the fort we came back to the house and had a BBQ with Mom and Dad Lowder, and Tad and Becky and their kids, Banana and J-Dawg.

Banana and I are having a ball playing hide and seek with Tyson. It was all fun and games until I got nailed in the nose with her cute little noggin.
Here we are getting ready for the fireworks!
Sorry you're a little washed out J-Dawg!

KA-BOOM!!!

J-Dawg was wearing earphones to cut down on the sound from the fireworks. I guess we didn't need to worry about him getting scared after all!
Hope you all had a happy 4th!!

Warning

This is what happens when you drink too much cough syrup before bed.

That extra half tablespoon really got me.

Yes, I've been attacked by the plague. Ever since I got to Washington I've had a hack-up-a-lung type of cough that keeps me up at night and makes Tyson wish I had stayed in Utah. I've eaten enough ricola cough drops to feed a small country which as it turns out is just enough to keep the coughing at bay for a solid 30 seconds. Any suggestions anyone? Help me please.

One of the nice things about being sick is that I can indulge myself in my true passion. Crocheting.

Don't laugh, I'm serious! I love how relaxing it is, plus it gives me a feeling of accomplishment even when I've been sitting on the couch watching movies for 7 hours straight. So, as a future member of the Crochet Society of America, I would like to teach you how to make a blanket.

First, make a chain of 41 stitches.

It is usually best to pick a random number like 41 or 237 when starting out. This way every time you start a new square you have to struggle to remember how big it needs to be. It keeps the mind working and gives you the perfect level of frustration to make a stellar project.

Next begin work on a square. For our blanket today we will be using the simple single crochet stitch.

Why?

Because it is simple. And single. The way I was when I first learned to crochet.

Please ignore those white sticks in the background. Those are my legs. They can't help the way they are.

7 hours later...

Voila!

Of course, this does not take 7 hours if you crochet at a carpal tunnel inducing rate like I do. My wrist cracks at least once for every stitch. For this square that is... approx 2009 bone crunching turns of the crochet hook. Awesome.

Did you know that one time I went to the doctor because my hands were going numb all the time? After stabbing me with no less than 57 little needles in all the most sensitive parts of my fingers and forearms, he determined that I have the equivalent of carpal tunnel syndrome in my elbows. Who has even heard of that?

His remedy: sleep with my arms around a pillow at night so my elbows don't bend whilst I slumber.

Uh, yeah, that lasted all of 10 minutes. So now I just wake up each day with rubbery numb arms. Its all good.

Anyway, where was I... Oh! Crochet!

After you finish your lovely square you'll want to carefully stitch it to the 300 other squares you have made to create your blanket.

P.S. I took all these pictures using the timer on the camera and holding it between my chin and my chest. Just in case you wanted to know.

I was feeling pretty creative with this one. Usually I just go for the basic line up all yer squares and get 'er done pattern.


Next you need to add a border. I wish I had more time to make a bigger border cause I think it would have looked way better.
Actually now that I'm looking at the pictures I almost like it without the border better. What do you think? Never mind, don't tell me. It is what it is.

Then you fold it up somehow, tie it with the 14 skeins of extra yarn you have, and make it presentable for your friend Rachel. Then you give it to Rachel and shed a silent tear because you'll be in Washington when she gives birth to her sweet little munchkin.

And that is how you make the best crocheted blanket ever.