A new mode of transportation

This past week marked the start of summer camp. A summer camp that I have had the opportunity to develop and design. This camp is for students with High functioning autism and Aspergers...and is being run through the University of Washington. I found out the week before that the UW doesn't give parking passes to their employee's (or only to a select few) the rest must either bike or bus it to work. How cool is that??

I live maybe.....a mile from the UW. Lucky for me the Burke Gilman is right by my house (this is the biking trail here in Seattle). So I was thrilled...I finally get a chance to pull my bike out and use it. Off I went to my laundry room to rescue my bike. It was covered......in spider webs......cat hair.......camping gear........dust.......it was not a pretty sight. The tires were flat....I mean not sure they were going to work flat. The handle bars where the brake was located was bent in. This had happened when brilliant me decided to hang my bike from the ceiling. In my mind it was a great idea......more space in the laundry room. Little did I know apparently you need to hang these objects from the beams?? What? I just put it up......well it came down after about a month. Note to self...find the ceiling beams!

I pulled the bike out and I have to say it wasn't looking good. I took my bike over to my friend Tracey's house. Her husband was so kind to look/fix it. Side note.......the new jetta IS much bigger.....my whole bike fit inside my trunk......of course with the seats pulled down....but my last jetta it wouldn't fit. Yay!

My bike was able to be saved! It was ready to get on the road again. Now it has been well over a year since I had last been on my bike. I mean how difficult can it be right?? You get on and ride. Well that is true. I have no crazy story to tell about falling or crashing on my bike. However I was not prepared for how sore I was going to be! I felt so pathetic...I mean I am an active person.....I hike and walk quite a bit...use my legs. Apparently you use VERY different muscles for biking. Needless to say it was Wednesday before they started feel somewhat better.

I have loved biking to work this past week. I am looking forward to doing it again this next week. I enjoy feeling the cool morning air on my face........the rapid beating of my heart...... being just a tad bit out of breathe when getting to the stoplight......knowing that I am getting exercise.......but the BEST part of biking is that my commute is only 10 minutes!

Another year older

Look who turned Four........

I can't believe it has been 4 years since I received these sweet little creatures. I still remember it like it was yesterday. Oh what anxious new mommy I was......you see Abby and Chloe were my first true pets!

They are wonderful and I just love their personalities. Each one is so affectionate. Abby is always standing at the door when I come home...ready to flop onto her back so I can give her a belly rub......and Chloe well not a night goes by that she doesn't sleep right next to me. I love having pets....I love the energy they bring into a house. These four years have gone by so quickly.....I am looking forward to many more!

Mt. Rainier National Park

My friend Sarah and I made plans to go on a backpacking trip this summer. When we started talking about it in early July we both had the same destinations picked out...Mt. Rainier or the Olympic Peninsula. Both of these destinations are breathtaking and I personally had yet to be to either one. We decided on Mt. Rainier and the planning began! Well sort of.......I think Sarah and I spent maybe 20 minutes planning this trip. We went to Barnes and Noble took some books off the shelf and looked through them. Quickly we had picked our spot. The one thing we did change was we decided to NOT go backpacking but to camp instead. We made that decision mostly because we wanted more of a "vacation" and camping would allow us to bring all kinds of things....where backpacking...well you have to be much more selective as you are carrying all your crap on your back!

So we made our plans that day. The two of us are very "Type A" personalities so between the both of us we had all bases covered. We planned to camp for 3 nights at the White River campground on the Northeast side of the park. We would do 3 hikes while we were there. Easy...hard ...then a moderate one. We were all set! We left on a Wednesday morning. The weather was perfect and lucky for us it stayed that way for the entire trip.

Here is our campground. We scored such a great site! It was away from the road and there was quite a bit of room between ourselves and the sites next to us. We did pretty well with camp set up.....I was using a tent that was "new" to me. Sarah and I struggled a bit with it and I am pretty sure we didn't get it up 100% correctly but it stayed up the whole time!

Ahh...not the best quality photo......here is Sarah making dinner. Let me tell you we ate like kings. Well according to Sarah. I grew up car camping and we always ate very well when camping ( thank you Dalene!) so I don't know any different. We had chicken, steak and veggies for dinner......eggs, blueberry pancakes and sausage for breakfast. Apples....cherries....cantaloupe for snacks. Then of course no vacation is complete without happy hour...so we had wine each night along with cheese, crackers and Salami. The only tricky part to eating was building the campfire. Sarah had never done it before....and well I should probably know how to do this and in my mind I thought I did (easy....newspaper, twigs, log and a match) it turned out to be a bit more difficult than either of us expected. We got it the first night.......the second night which was steak night we didn't end up eating until almost 11pm because we just couldn't get the fire started.......and the third night I sucked it up and asked our wonderful neighbor Jim to come and give us a tutorial on it. That was so helpful and I am proud to say I know how to get a fire started. On a side note...I did think the pieces of wood we had were too big and that is why the fire wasn't catching....come to find out I was right. On my list of camp supplies that needs to be purchased an axe to chop wood.

After getting camp set up we headed out for our first hike. We went up to the Sunrise Lodge. Talked to a very helpful ranger who graciously told us a great hike to do. We set out on our 4.5 mile hike. Although relatively easy in terms of elevation gain.....it was hard to get acclimated to the elevation gain in general. We had gone from Sea level to over 7,000 feet in less than a day. Needless to say I had a hard time breathing. Here is a mini lake we saw on our hike.

Day 2 we did the Summerland hike. This hike was 8.5 miles and an elevation gain of 2100 feet. This was our "hard" hike. This picture is taken on the trail. So many times throughout this trip I was wishing I had a "real" camera. The wildflowers were beyond beautiful. They were everywhere ...so many colors......and yet my camera just didn't capture it completely. Someday!

Summerland is one of the most popular hikes in Mt. Rainier. In this picture you can see why.....such a great view of the mountain. I also have to say this was the first time I had ever camped in a National Park...and well it is sooo nice. The trails are clearly marked...even the back country trails. When we got to the top of this hike we both had to use the restroom......well lucky for us this has a back country campground and they had a bathroom....with hand sanitizer in it! Yippee! Now I know not all back country sites are like that.....but it was pretty impressive.

Day 3 we did the Naches Peak Loop. This hike was 4.5 miles. (I have to say I am very proud of us we hiked nearly 18 miles on this trip) I love this picture as the mountain ranges look like they go on forever. Sarah made fun of me most of the trip as I am the nerd with the map trying to figure out what mountain was what..... I wanted to know all the names and where we were in location to Mt. Rainier. I was such a student!

Here we are! Great view of Mt. Rainier...except the clouds are in the way. That is how it was a majority of the trip. The clouds just love to hang out around the top of Rainier. It makes the mountain very mysterious.

Our trip was wonderful. I am such a nature girl and find that I feel my absolute best when outside...camping and hiking. I love at end of the day when you have finished a hike and you are covered in sunscreen....bug repellent...and dirt.....and how just a tiny bit of water and quick scrub with a baby wipe can leave you feeling clean and refreshed. I love that in the National Parks they do Ranger talks at night. I love the slow pace of camping and how the rhythm of the day revolves around cooking meals... cleaning dishes...and heading out for a hike. I love sitting in a camp chair in the late afternoon reading a book. I love watching the camp fire at night. My all time hands down most favorite part of camping (and this can only happen when you have nice weather) is going to sleep at night with the rain fly off and being able to look up at the stars while you are falling asleep. It just doesn't get any better than that!

It's official ~ we're having a heat wave!

We are having a tiny bit of a heat spell here in the NW. Now I know, I know.....all my AZ friends and family are just laughing at me right now. As 96* does NOT mean a heat wave in that state. That means summer is just getting started! However here in Seattle where we are lucky if temps get to 82* in the summer...... 96* is just plain HOT. Not to mention that most of this city has no air conditioning...me included!

I came home the other day and found Abby and Chloe laying on the floor in front of the door and exactly where the fan was blowing. It must be hot as these two don't usually lay in this spot. Poor girls...all that hair! I had to capture the moment.

So I am off to think of fun ways to keep cool. Although I am not a huge lake girl ~ I am thinking that today I will be getting myself into Greenlake for a swim! Hope you stay cool today!

Conquering Fears

Confident, Self Assured, Independent, Strong, Intelligent.....these are all words that have been used by friends, colleagues and family to describe me. These words I have heard so many times.....for many years.....yet at times that voice from within says something different to me.....and what it has to say is not nearly as positive or as kind as what my dear family and friends have expressed. Why is that? When did that happen? Or has it always been that way? I am coming to the slow realization that somewhere on this life journey I have taken a major detour ....the path has been filled with....needing to "fit" in...... needing to be perfect....not wanting to make mistakes in front of others.....not letting people completely in...as they may find out.....what??.....what have I been so afraid of? Truth be told it is many things. Funny how that tiny voice can keep a hold over you saying loudly .....you aren't good enough or no you can't do that.

I was recently asked to do a presentation at the University of Washington's Autism Center. Every summer they put on a week long summer intensive program. Now to back up just a bit....three years ago when I moved to Seattle, the school district who hired me sent me to this very training. Everyday I would show up and sit mesmerized...listening to all these speakers...wondering...wishing......wanting to be one of them! I have always had a deep desire to be a professor....to write grants...do research....get my Ph.D.

This all came about because my district has a contract with UW Autsim Center. We have a consultant who works with us .. Dr. Milani Smith. I have worked with her for the past three years. I can still remember the first time I met her at the training. It has been wonderful working with her and she believes in me. She actually says she learns from me...what?? me?? When she asked me to present this summer I was flooded with two emotions....excitement and FEAR. I knew this was exactly the opportunity I have always wanted and needed. As my goal is to someday....train teachers to work with students who have autism. However that tiny voice in my head was there...whispering..." You can't do this....remember your public speaking class in college...yes the one you almost failed.....remember....you completely froze when you got in front of others....no you can't do this...it will be a disaster". I have given 3 presentations this past year and I always walked away feeling like I did ok....but not.. I hit it out of the ballpark great.

The presentation was to be 3 hours! YIKES! That is a long time to talk. I almost called Milani and told her I couldn't do it.....but I didn't. Instead I wrote an affirmation and taped it to my bathroom mirror....and I worked on my presentation (took 5 hours to put together).....and I rehearsed. I organized and prepared my materials. The night before I am not sure I slept at all. There was that voice again.... " What if you get up there and forget something...or even worse what if your voice starts shaking". Each time I would say my affirmation...it was simple..... Julie you will do a wonderful job presenting tomorrow..... over and over all night.

I arrived at the UW 30 minutes early. Set up all my books and visuals I had brought as examples. I sat in the bathroom for about 5 minutes as the nerves kicked into high gear and my hands started to shake. Took lots of deep breaths. Then it was time. The room we were in was a stadium style seating with a stage area. The presentation screen took up the whole wall behind me. The participants trickled in from lunch. A lady walked to the front to introduce me and read my bio ...and then.....it was time to start. I walked up ...looked out at the audience and I suddenly felt comfortable.....just like I was standing in front of my class teaching. No shaky voice...no forgetful moments...No freezing up. I even started to remember all of my funny student stories and dropped them in at all the right times. The 3 hours flew by...and several people came up to me at the break to pick my brain and ask me questions and advice on how to handle situations. It was awesome! I had a lady stop me after the presentation and told me that she learned so much from my presentation and that she wrote tons of ideas down.

I walked out there beaming! Glowing..... mostly because my biggest goal in all of this was to deliver a presentation that would be meaningful to teachers. It made my whole day to know that even if it was just one person.....that one person walked out learning something they didn't know before. I also realized that I would really like to do this more.....I would really love to teach teachers how to work with these students and share what I have learned working with students who have autism for the past 12 years.

Ok...one last thing...another fear...... I hiked Snow Lake last week. I did this as a backpacking trip last August....and although I LOVED my trip I felt the hike was sooo hard. Needless to say i have been asked to do this hike by several friends and I have always said No. Why? Fear......fear of not being a good enough hiker........and struggling again with this hike. Well I am happy to report I did it...and guess what.......it wasn't hard at all! Of course I have done tons of hiking so I am in much better hiking condition this summer than last.....but once again I let that voice...that self doubt get in the way. Once of these days I am going to have a stomp that voice party! I wanted to share this with as well...i read it and was blown away. I need this reminder...daily!

"Our imperfections are what connect us to each other and our humanity. Our vulnerabilities are not weaknesses, they are powerful reminders to keep our hearts and minds open to the reality that we're all in this together" ~ Brene Brown ....author... "I thought it was just me"

That's not photoshop

This is for my dear friend VB. She came to visit me a couple of years ago and she took my picture at a restaurant we were eating at in Pike's market Place. Well we laughed when we saw the picture as it looked like I was photoshoped into the picture. I recently went on a hike to Lake Annette with a co-worker. Beautiful hike......it was about 7 1/2 miles. She took this picture of me on the trail and when I got home and looked at it...I started to laugh as it looks fake!

I know I promised less nature pictures....BUT it is so hard! This place is bursting with gorgeous scenery. I mean I really can't believe I live here...I must think that several times a day. I love the scenery but I also love living in a city. A place where by night you can bar hop and sing karaoke....then the next day you can wake up and this is your view on a hike. All the while.....this view is maybe a 45 - 50 minute drive from my house! Can you say L-U-C-K-Y! :) Here are pictures from the bar hopping and the hike!

It's beginning to look alot like.....SUMMER!

It's been one week since school ended and summer vacation began......and I have to say I just love summer! We just went through a bit of a "hot" spell here in the Northwest...temps in the mid to high 80's...OH MY! I will admit...that does seem sooo hot...especially when there is no air conditioning.

I love living in a place that has seasons. There is something wonderful about living in harmony of the natural cycles of the environment. Each season has a purpose....letting go of grief...slowing down and reflecting.....producing and transforming.....expansion, growth and activity. I especially enjoy living in a place where summer actually exists. Not the kind of summer where the pool feels like bath water.....you get in your car doing the "try not to burn your legs and hands" dance......where you generally stay inside because...well 114 degrees is not all that comfortable.

The kind of summer where everyone is out playing and enjoying the outdoors. When I first moved here I was taken back when I went to Greenlake for a walk and saw so many people outside swimming, biking, walking, roller blading, paddle boating, laying out in the grass. It was amazing! I knew at that very moment that I would never move back to Arizona. I wanted to share a few images of summer here in Seattle. These were taken at Greenlake....

cute stand that sells delicious treats

Lifeguard post and wooden platform

love the "old School" style diving boards

Look at all the people...and this was a weekday....is everyone a teacher??

this is my favorite place at Greenlake.....the kiddo pool area!

Summertime.... to me means..... yummy lemonade... fresh Salmon cooked on the grill.... Rainer Cherries......picking blackberries while out for walks......fresh rasberries.....swimming....the smell of sunscreen and bug spray mixed together..... camping...camp fires...hiking.....getting dirty..... warm days...cool nights......outdoor concerts at the Zoo......LOTS of patio time......skirts and dresses...flip flops....painted toenails.....strawberry shortcake..... and plenty of sunshine!

What does summer mean to you?