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1. Who? Kevin Athey and myself (Mike).
2. What? Man camp, of course! No car camping this time though. We packed everything in approximately 5 miles via Glacier Point Road.
   
3. Where? Badger Pass, Yosemite National Park.
   
4. When? March 18th - 19th.
5. Conditions? Lots of snow.
   
6. Why? Because its so cool!

Here is Kevin, dragging a 6 ft. sled behind him full of gear. I did the same. It worked out really well actually. Much easier as far as balance goes and I didn't get uncontrollably sweaty with a pack on my back.

We went approximately 4.5-5 miles in before we set up camp. We decided to create a snow shelter instead of using tents.

We had to cut out some ice bricks to build the base, and level out the inside of it for sleeping and cooking areas.

Ouala! A canopy for a cover, and an entrance that won't catch any wind. Despite it's flaws (heavy snow all night nearly caving in the canopy), it worked well. It had to be at least 5 degrees warmer in there than it was outside, which is pretty amazing.

Photos from the next morning...

WEIGHING IN

At an incredible 33 1/4 inches!

A whopping 25 lbs!

Mad Madie Fi!

Santa Cruz Adventure

Anyone ever visited or heard of the Mystery Spot? Their web site explains:

"The Mystery Spot is a gravitational anomaly located in the redwood forests just outside of Santa Cruz, California. It is a circular area of effect around 150 feet or 46 meters in diameter. Within the Mystery Spot you will be stunned as your perceptions of the laws of physics and gravity are questioned. But don't take our word for it, come and decide for yourself!
Some speculate that cones of metal were secretly brought here and buried in our earth as guidance systems for their spacecraft. Some think that it is in fact the spacecraft itself buried deep within the ground. Other theories include carbon dioxide permeating from the earth, a hole in the ozone layer, a magma vortex, the highest dielectric biocosmic radiation known anywhere in the world, and radiesthesia. Whatever the cause is, it remains a mystery." (mysteryspot.com)
It was really interesting actually. A lot of it was an illusion, obviously. But then again, that doesn't really explain a couple of demonstrations they showed. It would be fun to bring in my own level and play with some of the demonstrations and come to my own conclusions because as of right now, it's still a mystery!

When we arrived to the Mystery Spot, Madie apparently needed a diaper change because her pants were all wet when we pulled her out of the car seat. So, we let her streak for 30-minutes while we waited for the tour to begin.

Look at those little sausage roll legs!

Madie really enjoyed watching this water before the tour. Pretty sure she would have found a way to get down there if we let her.

This cabin we went into was really bizarre because it was located on a hillside, and the cabin was not level at all. I'm sure that there was a lot of illusion at play, but that doesn't really explain how a level surface can cause a ball to roll in favor of one direction. We actually have a video of this.

Might be hard to tell, but I'm standing at a slant.

Definitely worth the trip.

La Mision Santa Cruz. Spain was the first European country to settle California, and they set up these missions along the entire coast, hence all the cities by the names of San Jose, San Francisco, Los Angeles, etc...This mission was actually really small compared to others I have seen.

Initially, Madie thought the water was pretty cool...at least until a swell came and was probably a little more than she could handle. She was then scared of the water, but in the end warmed up to the idea of standing near it. I think they have settled their differences.

The latest craze has been putting on Mum and Dad's shoes. There aren't many things that she finds enough interest to entertain herself with, but she can be completely occupied with our shoes for up to 10 minutes.

The return of 'The Face'

What Can I Say? The Girl's Got Taste.

For the past week Madie has run around in my bathrobe in the morning and my shoes, sandals, flats, or slippers in the evening. She is seriously getting into the whole dress-up thing.

She also enjoys taking my hairbrush and following me around with it until I sit on the floor so she can comb my hair for me. Let's just say, I cannot wait until she grows some of her own.

Mike's Gone

They announced during Sharing Time in Primary that the Elder's Quorum would be bowling tonight at 9 pm. That's all fine and dandy for them, but Mike and I are on a 30 Rock kick--we're systematically working through all the seasons--and this really puts a damper on my night. But he's always complaining that the Elder's Quorum never does anything ("and the Relief Society is always doing things"--which is true) so he wasn't allowed to stay home, even when the temptation to watch another episode hit us both wicked hard. I've read a few chapters in my book, which I'm almost finished with but haven't felt up to reading lately--I think mostly due to being sick last week. Being sick always puts me off from reading, ironically. I just feel too tired to pay attention and take notes, etc., but I know that if I read it without paying attention or at least jotting some thoughts down I'm probably going to just forget about it and reading that part will have been largely worthless since I don't remember anything from it. It also takes longer 'cause my mind keeps wandering off the page and I end up back-tracking to figure out what's going on.

So, yeah, reading while I'm sick doesn't work out. Moving on.

I'm not sick anymore. Thank heavens. Last week really did a number on me, as demonstrated on Friday when I completely slept through my voice lesson--at 6 pm. That was embarrassing. My email to my teacher that night was just pathetic. Sunday I was well enough to fill in for a friend of mine who leads music for the Primary. Oh, my, she is the luckiest woman on earth! No, leading in Primary is not that great. It can be fun, but the big kids are constantly seeking attention (or avoiding it) and getting the Sunbeams to pass the teddy bear in a game of musical hot potato is like trying to get them to hold still while you saw their legs off.

But then you get to go to nursery. Oh, my! What an AWESOME gig! Man, that is where I'm supposed to be! And the best part is, two of the girls were home sick that day! (Not that them being sick is good, it was just nice to have such a small class.) It was Madie and three boys. They sit on these little carpet squares the teachers pull out for them and just stare up at me like high schoolers who think they'll get As if they stay awake! The three littlest ones--Madie, Ezra, and Weston--all lit up when I pulled out little suns on popsicle sticks for them to hold while we sang Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam. Weston kept running up to me every time I'd pull something out of the bag and clap his hands together until I gave it to him. Hahahaha! I was cracking up! Even Ezra, who has had three hard weeks of nursery so far, calmed right down and smiled when singing time began. Oh my goodness, it made my week, that's for sure.

Speaking of little kids being cute:

Her foot looks huge in this picture. Well, actually, her feet are pretty big. For an 18-month old anyway. I'm planning on sending her to clown school.

And here's a little sumpin'-sumpin' I've been working on for a few days now. Part of me feels like it needs to be longer, but then every time I go to write more nothing sounds right. It all sounds like I'm trying to hard to lengthen it, so I guess this is it. I dedicate it to Tani, since she's always asking to read my stuff. Thanks, Tani! You're too sweet--I'm sure everyone else thinks that too. ;) (P.S. I hate, haaaaaaaate titling things. I'm so bad at it! If you have any suggestions let me know.)

Days pass slowly.

Weeks fly.

Time itself knows not what it does,

But tumbles down as so many beads

Off a broken necklace

Bouncing and scattering,

Then slowly spinning to their stops.

If I Hadn't Shelled Out $1300 at the DMV

I might have accidentally shelled out a healthy chunk on one of these--in fact, maybe ALL of these dresses. But I must say, this would be far more justified. They're pretty awesome.

I love the houndstooth. 

Mike said, "I wouldn't mind seeing you in that dress." How much would you not mind, Dearest?

I love this one! The cut is great!

This one's cute. I like the one with the red top even better, though. (It just wasn't downloading.)

Have you ever visited ShabbyApple?

Paintings I Love, Part II

Today deserves a post. Do you know why? Because (a) I have mostly cleaned up the entire apartment after the mess it was in last night, (b) I have finished shopping for the week and planned the menu with extremely low stress, and (c) the smell of chocolate shortbread wafts through the air and inspires me to write. In fact, after this I think I might keep working on the poem I started Sunday. That's how awesome this day is.

By way of paintings, here's a great one for you. It's an unfinished sketch by da Vinci, presumably meant to be turned into a painting, but never prepped or transferred for it. It was stored away and by what anyone can tell basically preserved itself. Thank heavens! It's one of my favorites--one I would love to have hanging in my house somewhere. It's entitled The Virgin and Child with St. Anne and the Infant St. John the Baptist.

For those of you who don't know who St. Anne is, you used to be in excellent company, but no longer since I looked it up. :) We don't know much about her except from apocryphal books. Anne was barren, as any good woman in the Bible is, and prayed to God to bless her to conceive. An angel appeared to her and told her God had heard her prayers and that she would conceive a child who would be known throughout the world. Anne vowed that whether the child was son or daughter, she would raise it unto the Lord. The child Anne bore was Mary, the mother of Jesus. (This makes her the great-aunt of John, just in case you missed that.)

I love the pose of the figures. They all strike me as being real and divine at the same time. But perhaps more than Mary and Jesus, I am drawn to Anne and John. They show devotion, concern, and love for Mary and Jesus that is palpable. I can almost hear Anne teaching her daughter as she gestures toward Heaven. Their faces are both beautiful, but Anne's is animated and engaged. John also, leans in toward his younger cousin with an expression that says, "Send me, I'll go." I love it. I just love it. 

I hope that wasn't too cheesy for anyone. I'm not really a sappy person, but this one really gets me.