A Tuesday....

Today was a different Tuesday than usual because I had an ECT appointment. The hubster worked from home/hospital so we dropped off Baby Bananaface at daycare together and hung out a bit before heading to my appointment. We got there a bit early so there was some extended waiting but everything went to plan and pretty smoothly except for a little bit uncomfortable of an IV.

After ECT I was starvin' Marvin (so was Hubster) so we hit up the local McMenamin's and gorged ourselves. I had a little bit of a hard time since I get a special medication when I go under that reduces my saliva (apparently I'm an extra-spitty person) and that made eating somewhat difficult. I did really enjoy the meal and our dessert, a salted caramel hazelnut torte that we especially enjoy.

Once we had finished our hefty meal we decided to go for a walk with the dog-or should I say stroll? Normally our walks are rather... zippily paced to where we break a sweat and get our heart rates up but this time was more relaxed and I even took some pictures and videos (feels like I haven't done that in a long time). 

A green pinecone on the ground (I don't recall seeing one on the ground before!):

What we are pretty sure now is a type of millipede (Harpaphe haydeniana) but I wasn't sure at the time:

 Another little video which I wasn't sure what a bug was-I know the worm is a worm but the other thing?

And a last video about a slug, but not a jumping slug-which apparently exists!

 A field bindweed (no I didn't know it was called that, it just reminded me of a morning glory and I liked it):

Overall it's been a pretty good day. I laughed a lot, cried a little, and really enjoyed spending the day with my husband. My jittery feelings seem more mild than usual or I'm less agitated by them, either way I'm grateful for the relieved sensation!

Babymoon-DONE!

We've declared our babymoon a success, though I must say we took things a lot slower than we anticipated, mostly due to me coming down with a cold shortly after arriving in Canmore :/ Despite traveling with masses of tissues and phlegm we managed to see most of the things we planned for and found some fabulous dining (my taste buds weren't totally defunct).

Our favorite food spots included Trough and OEB with the Trailhead Cafe in Lake Louise a surprising lunch success. Trough and OEB were straight up, best of the best, making it on the list of our favorite food spots ever. The hubster enjoyed a brew at Grizzly Paw but we didn't eat out all that much (well, we've discovered Canadian A&W to be vastly superior to the American version). Instead we managed to eat quite a few meals at the condo and save some cash, which was nice and worked out well with my low energy/food motivation.

We really enjoyed Cave and Basin but the Banff museum was closed for renovations. The scenic drives around Tunnel Mountain and the Icefields Parkway were awesome (a low-flying eagle may have scared the bejeezus outta the hubster at one point) and the mountains blew our minds. They are beyond big up there, as are the ravens (another bird that the hubster was not enthused by-but I sure did!).

The hubster found the teddy bear he wanted for baby in Banff and I found a cute board book with adorable bear illustrations. Otherwise we sent some postcards and snagged some Kinder eggs while the getting was good but opted out of most souvenirs.

Broke in our new camera (we may still be getting the hang of it) and managed to do the Peyto Lake/Bow Summit hike (I was wheezing, I tell ya what), toodle around the Marsh Loop at Cave and Basin, and walk around Lake Louise a bit but not a full trail journey. Between the congestion and general fatigue I was experiencing things were pretty laid back. It was pretty chilly for us too so viewing sites from the warmth of the rental car was a natural alternative!

We found the golden larches I so wanted to see and learned a lot at the Ammolite Factory tour, even saw some new species for us at the zoo in Calgary. All in all, it was a lovely trip with amazing views, only a few hiccups and a lot of pleasant surprises. The hubster seems to be coming down the cold I had during our stay and I unfortunately barfed on two of our three flights but the good definitely outweighed the bodily fluids.

On a side note, we got rather wrapped up with the Canadian news of the week. Sadly our trip coincided with two horrible attacks; our anniversary involved a hit-and-run of two Canadian soldiers and then a couple days later the shooting at Ottawa. Being American we are a bit desensitized to that sort of violence but the fact that it was on Canadian soil really struck us and it was fascinating watching the news coverage and how CTV handled things as opposed to how American news handles such occurrences. I was very happy to see many of the guest speakers and hosts refrain from sensationalizing too much (it still happened but was kept pretty well in check) and focus on positives and national pride more than fear and reactionary statements. Stay classy, Canada.

In other news, I am shocked at how long my hair is! And how pregnant I'm looking.... Starting to sink in! And here is photographic evidence with a lovely grimace...

I'm not a huge fan of head colds or creepy Halloween decorations. It's a double whammy grimace.

Banff Babymoon Ideas

Well, our flight is booked and our rental car reserved! Babymoon Banff is in officially in-the-works.

We've got a rough itinerary penned and I thought I would share some of our plans, no guarantees that we'll do exactly as planned (especially if there are some early snowstorms) but I figure it might come in handy to know some cool things to do around Banff if any readers are in that neighborhood.

1) Geek Out

The hubster and I are avid parks visitors. No, not the swings & BBQ pit type of parks, the National parks and monuments type parks. Basically, we like to geek out with all the educational displays, interpretive exhibits, museums, and historical factoids we can find and they usually have some killer views.

We've never visited a Canadian park of this kind but we're looking forward to it and have high hopes for Banff National Park. Things get a bit tricky for us traveling in the off-season (another one of our favorite things-avoiding crowds) and late October in Banff is the beginning of restricted hours for many facilities, so we have to make sure we hit certain facilities later in the week when they're actually open!

On a similar geeking out note we hope to visit the Calgary Zoo. I have a complicated relationship with zoos... While I love visiting them and seeing all the animals, I really wish that the animals didn't have to be there. Sometimes they don't, most of the time it's humans' fault that they are! But I love going to the zoo. Politics aside our first major date was a visit to the Oregon Zoo, so it's kind of a romantic excursion for us.

The Glenbow Museum and Heritage Park are intriguing, though I think the Glenbow is more our style. Not sure if we'll have time for either, but they are noteworthy.

2) Pig Out

Oh yes. One of the first things we look at when planning a trip is where we should eat and our babymoon is no different. We were surprised to find so many great options in Calgary, Canmore, and Banff and we've got a few "must see" places we hope to visit.

For our anniversary we're planning a special dinner at The Trough (funny name, right?) though they won't be open on our actual anniversary, we still really want to check it out. I get a little uncomfortable at "fancy frufru" places but we try to go at least once a year and enjoy some "class."

I stumbled across a place called OEB on TripAdvisor and was immediately intrigued. Maybe I get it from my dad, but breakfast places usually make me very happy and this one seems like a must. We're planning on hitting it more for lunch on our way home the last day, so I'll be looking forward to it all trip.

We also keep our eyes open for local brewpubs and there are a few we may stop by if the hankering arises. Banff Ave. Brewing Co. is on the pricey side and fancier than we usually go for, but maybe a brew (for the hubby) and some poutine will do the trick? There are also Grizzly Paw and Iron Goat and The Drake Pub not too far from our hotel. Not sure how much we'll eat out or where we'll end up visiting, but I'll make sure and post reviews ;)

3) Hiking

Having different skill levels, knowing that I will be preggers, and understanding that October is an unpredictable time in the mountains choosing hikes for our trip is a tricky proposition but I think we've found some winners.

I had never heard of the "tea house hikes" but now that I have I'm a little sad that our trip is occurring in the off season. That said, even though the tea houses (yes, we mean cabins with a limited menu and hot tea for hikers that make the trek-and pay-it's awesome!) won't be open during our visit we're excited to explore these famous trails.

Another easy-moderate hike with great views in the area is the Peyto Lake/Bow Summit trail and viewpoint. We're planning to combine this trail with our drive up the Icefields Parkway. There is also a Bow Glacier Falls hike that piques my interest and we may explore that as well. I'm a sucker for waterfalls.

There are lots of other hiking trails but we don't want to push it and try something too difficult while I'm preggers. We'll also be looking at pamphlets and brochures as we go and may happen upon some other local gems.

4) Scenic Drives

The hubster and I love going for drives and lucky for us Banff has a lot of great drives to take! We're hoping that the weather won't be too hellish and we'll feel safe going for drives, but only time will tell.

Right now we're planning to do the Icefields Parkway and Tunnel Mountain Drive but we could add in other routes if we feel like it. We like to leave a little bit of wiggle room in our itineraries for lazy days and impromptu adventures :)

5) Hunt

Not actually hunt, what I'm talking about is a very concentrated souvenir quest for a children's book (our preferred souvenir when traveling) and maybe a stuffed bear for the little one. The hubster is very adamant that our child will have a stuffed bear. Not an elephant, not a dog, not a seal, nothing but a bear. He's very into this stuffed bear thing. It's just a fun little "mission" that weaves itself into our trip in funny ways, gets us into stores and places we might not otherwise venture into and I like having "goals." Totally optional and a little obsessive, but there ya have it.

My 1st Anniversary Trip

The hubster and I celebrated our first anniversary this past week with a trip to Klamath Falls, OR. We went there earlier this year and really enjoyed the area and it was even more fun this trip.

We stayed at the same resort/condo, brought along another audio book, and visited the Lava Beds National Monument again but explored new caves and visited Crater Lake. We stopped by the Woodburn Outlets and the local art gallery and Klamath Basin Brewery again, walked Main Street and tried a new restaurant, WaffleHut. This trip we copied our menu from the last visit with Chicago mix popcorn, mac 'n cheese, peppers, steak, croissants, turkey and mustard and then added some special anniversary treats like our wedding wine and a lemon creme blueberry pie from the same baker that did our wedding cake.

While we did a lot of the same things as our last trip this trip was different in some good ways. 

The hubbo helped me realize that I've come a long way and that we're doing better now than we were in February. My mood has improved quite a bit and I'm off of all anti-depressants! I did have some anxiety over the trip recalling how sour my mood was last time we traveled to Klamath Falls-yes, we had a great time, but I was so cranky!

A good trip, a good year. I"m happy with where we are heading and how far we've come! More soon :)

APRIL Comes in Like a Lion

April 1st the fiance and I went on a day trip to Bellingham to visit/meet one of my old bankin' girlfriends for brunch and see the town.

I was excited to see my friend and we chatted up a storm but things between me and the fiance were a bit tense. Well, mostly I was pretty tense and picked a fight about turn signal use on freeways and then he got tense and even more tense after the poor service at the restaurant. At least the food was great-check out Bayou on Bay-hopefully we just got the C-line waiters or something.

Anywho, we ended up in one of those intense, long talks about the wedding and how I feel so attached to the wedding planning as a reflection on myself. I basically said, "I'm done." No more wedding planning. I may make some decorations but I ain't plannin' and I ain't worrying. My main concern with the wedding will be purging the worries from my thoughts!

The next day I completely missed therapy. I set alarms and was set to leave the house "right on time" when my phone's clock displayed 2:20 and not 1:20. Double checked the times on the microwave and computer and realized that I was a whole hour off schedule.

Luckily there had been an appointment cancelled for that evening and the fiance accompanied down to Seattle for my therapy session. Once again I was tense and agitated and soon quivering with anger and frustration. I was ready to go to therapy and explain to my therapist how pointless all this effort was and that we should just recognize I'm a dead-girl walking and let me go to my death and save everyone else the trouble of dealing with my disease.

Didn't quite turn out that way.

I actually began the session in a curled up, quivering ball of rage that quickly devolved into snot and tears. Straight talk was too intense so the entire session was carried out in complex metaphors. There was one about a fawn in a field surrounded by dark woods and another about a room full of people that were actually safes lumbering around with painful memories and hurt secreted away in their locked compartments.

It was all a little kooky and I can't imagine being in the fiance's position of sitting there and watching the whole performance, but it got me turned around and I definitely felt lighter afterward.

My mother came up to visit the next day after I had met my ornament friend for a yoga class. The next couple days Mom helped me clean the apartment and get some momentum going by keeping me out of the house and awake all day helping her find her MOB dress for the wedding.

We found the dress and on Thursday I had a good session at PAWS while today I was able to get out for a short walk by the lake AND do laundry enough to see the bottom of the clothes hamper!

March was a rough, rough month and April got off to a rocky start as well-but I think I sense a bit of my tension dissipating and a little more fire kindling in my soul. 

Early Spring Camping in the North Cascades

This weekend the fiance and I took off to the North Cascades for some impromptu (and rather chilly) camping. We ended up at Goodell Creek Campground about 15 minutes out of Marblemount and right on the banks of the Skagit river amidst moss-strewn trees and gorgeous mountainscapes. While we enjoy camping, we haven't been out and about quite yet because we're waiting for our true Washingtonian spring to be sprung-but when I was asked what I'd like to do this weekend I found myself replying, "I want to burn some shit," and so we took to the mountains!

The fiance had been researching new tent options and we found ourselves at the local REI with a 20% off coupon in our hot little hands and our REI member annual refund ready to be redeemed. We ended up purchasing a Marmot Limelight 3-person tent in a fantastic shade of orange. Why 3-person for 2-people? The only 2P tent in stock was the display model and we anticipate using the tent not only for backpacking trips in the near future, but as a blooming family camping trip tent. The fiance might be packing an extra pound or so of material up the trail for a while, but we are quite pleased with our purchase.

The rain flap has a handy vestibule with a teardrop window and the tent was almost too-easy to erect. In addition to the new tent we whipped out a Christmas present we had yet to use-a set of (assumed-to-be-novelty) LED Coleman Mini-Lantern String Lights. We strung the lights up in the tent's stash pocket expecting some cute twinkling lights and a romantic time but found ourselves bathed in blazing LED light and a read-aloud session ensued (we're currently working our way through Dumas' The Three Musketeers-drama, action, and French names that leave you needing to be resuscitated).

The lights are powered by 3 AA batteries, light enough to be hung easily in the tent, and bright enough to replace a traditional lantern option. We were happily surprised by the utility of the lights and immediately sent a thank-you picture text to the folks. Check out the lights here: http://www.amazon.com/Coleman-2000001475-LED-String-Lights/dp/tags-on-product/B001TSCDBQ

In other early spring camping news, we were prevented from reaching our trailhead to our planned Thornton Lake/peak hike by some intermittent, deep snow. The fallen boulders and trees we found on our way up the gravel road should have been indicator, but we pressed on until we found ourselves outplayed by a sharp corner covered in deep snow and slick gravel. We walked past the snow to see how hazardous the rest of the road was and found more snow and a large tree blocking the way up ahead. We gave up our hiking plans and resolved ourselves to some warm and outstanding breakfast at Patty's Eggnest outside Arlington (which has some delectable Swedish pancakes and biscuits-n-gravy you won't be able to stop munchin').

The blocked trailhead turned out to be a blessing. We had forgotten to leave extra food for the cats and they were very pleased to see us home sooner rather than later!

As for the cats: Millie's spaying wound is healing up quite well and didn't bust open and eek gut juice when she tossed herself down the kitty tower. Iroh is still grouchy about my recent vacuuming and seems to have dropped a bomb in the box as a form of revenge. Lovely!