My parents are taking over the outdoors

Looks like plans changed. Matt and I were planning on climbing Mt. Baker this week but with Caleb being sick, we were unable to train how we had anticipated so Baker was out of the question. Instead, we took my parents (who are not hikers) out on a little hike. We were planning on doing my favourite hike (Chain Lakes in Mt. Baker National Forest), however, there was still too much snow on the trail and we didn't come with the proper equipment... I wouldn't have taken them on that hike in those conditions even with the proper equipment. So we improvised and climbed Tabletop Mountain. It was about 3 km and we traversed over snowfields and rock. My parents did great! Some of the terrain was a little unnerving for them but I think that's simply inexperience on a hiking trail and a mild fear of heights. One of the bonuses of having people join us on our outdoor adventures is that there are lots of people taking pictures! I would say a conservative estimate of the number of pictures taken between all of us would easily be over 700 considering my Dad took over 500 just by himself. We had a great time! The downside is that we found out Caleb gets carsick on mountain roads. We had to make a timely pit-stop on the way up to clean out the car. Poor kid. Then he rocked the hike without any complaining. That's my boy! Here are some of my favourite pictures! Enjoy!

Have you ever taken your parents on an outdoor adventure? How did it go? What's your favourite family adventure?

Be joy-filled!

Caleb's first birthday

Let's have a ball at Caleb's first birthday party!!!

Where do you even start to come up with a birthday party theme for a kid who cannot express what kind of party they want? I'm the kind of mom who wants her kids' parties to actually be about them and not about all I can do to make myself look like a super creative and wonderfully perfect mother. I had narrowed the party theme ideas down to two based on what Caleb likes to play with the most... rubber duckies or balls. Both could be super cute, but how to decide? I was torn for months when I realized that if I did a ball theme, then I could just have polka-dots everywhere! Sold! 

Please someone figure out the "joke" (hint: it has to do with the colours)

Party decor: red, blue, green, yellow and orange polka-dots everywhere.  

Jujubes, cheese and crackers with kielbasa, quinoa pizza bites, BBQ chicken bites, honey garlic meatballs, rice krispie balls, goldfish crackers, cheerios, fruit, veggies, and punch.

I found this tutorial on how to make a paper bunting birthday banner. It turned out great! http://crafete.com/2010/11/how-to-make-a-paper-bunting-birthday-banner/

Polka-dot balloons! 

We live in a townhouse complex so I figured it might be nice to decorate the door just to help people find our place.

Polka-dot trail up the staircase

I was very happy with how that turned out and it has yet to be taken down

Polka-dots all over the backyard! There were even some hanging on ribbons in the chain link fence. Can you tell I really rolled with the theme?

Caleb's cake was a rice krispie ball covered with powdered sugar icing.

Guests were inviting to indulge in a rice krispie ball of their own. Tip: simply dye the marshmallows to get great colour out of your treats. I used Wilton gel dye. When rolling the balls, don't compress them too much or they will be rock hard. I had to make an extra batch since they first blue ones were brutal. 

The cutlery was displayed in a container made from duplo. I realized that the colours matched so it worked perfectly. 

My favourite part (although I don't have a good picture of it) is the polka-dots hanging from ribbons on the light fixture. You can just see it at the top of this picture. I cannot believe I don't have a picture of it. 

We had a great time! All the kids went home with a ball and balloon of their very own! We had corn hole for the adults to play with and lots of bubbles for the kids. It turned out better than I had expected. Yes, we will have other parties but they will probably be a let's go play at the park and bring some food along kind of parties. 

What's your favourite party theme? Best food to serve at a party?

Be joy-filled!

Frolicking in creation

Over the last two years, my body has gone through some major changes - going from living at sea level to 8600 ft above sea level, pregnancy, giving birth, and recovering from giving birth. Yup, major changes over here. After seeing what my body has been through, I find I have a new respect for it. Does that mean I eat only organic foods, drink fancy water and exercise daily... no! I have discovered that I am happier with my body now than I was pre-pregnancy. I do love to play and be active. I do try to drink lots of water (helps with the milk supply). I am eating better now that I am being tested for celiac or maybe it's that I am more aware when I am not eating well so I try to make better food choices. I have also realized this last year that although I am very active, I have never set fitness goals and really worked hard to achieve them. I wanted some kind of motivation to train and see how far I can push myself. My first goal was to lose my baby weight in six months. Then when I went in to the doctor's office 13 days after giving birth and realized that I only had 13 more pounds to go, I changed my goal to my birthday (approximately 4.5 months post-birth). I achieved that goal!!! Did my body look the same, no way! Progress is progress though and even now that I weigh less than my average pre-pregnancy weight, it is not the same. My legs may be leaner (God bless walking) but the skin on my stomach isn't as tight as it use to be. Am I happy with how my body looks, absolutely. Are there still areas I'd like to tone, for sure. I'm a firm believer in the saying, you get out of it what you put in to it. If I fill my body with junk food then complain about it being 'flabby'... well honey it's your own fault. I use to eat whatever I wanted because I was so active that it didn't really alter my appearance. Now, however, I am beginning to notice when I eat too much chocolate and not enough veggies. Oh how habits need to change the older you get.

As I mentioned in my previous post, my husband is super active. Matt just loves to play. One of his passions is mountaineering. Now I have never really seen the draw to alpine climbing. Trekking over glaciers and up incredibly steep terrain to walk across a knife-edge ridge simply to spend a few minutes at the top then turn around and descend the same path. Nope! Not for me please! However, something changed in the last year. My next fitness goal has been to climb Mt. Baker in Washington State. It is a 10,781 foot dormant volcano that has been my comfort mountain for as long as I can remember. It is clearly visible from the house I grew up in as well as the house where we currently reside. I always look for it when returning from a trip because it does not feel like I am truly home till I see my mountain. Why not climb it right? It's one of those things where I don't think I can actually do it and it scares me, but I'd like to push myself. So I've been training for the past few months; actually I've been simply stepping up my typical daily exercise routine to include a few more mountaineering specific exercises with the hopes that they will help at least a little.

The Goal! Mt. Baker!

Matt and I decided to test out how well I've been training and go for a 'long' hike. We had my mom come over to watch Caleb and we left for the day. It was the longest I had ever been away from Caleb and I was both excited and nervous. I was more nervous that something would happen to Matt or me and Caleb would be orphaned. Poor kid. We set off anyway. Flora Lake was our goal. (http://www.trailpeak.com/trail-Flora-Lake-Trail-near-Chilliwack-BC-746) There is a loop that connects three lakes and that was my original goal but upon further review 20 km in one day was out of the question (we got a late start). Okay, now we were going to make it to Flora Lake then see how we were feeling after that. This is a beautiful hike; however, it starts out with a brutal incline that made me want to turn around and go home, never to even contemplate climbing Baker ever again. I figured if I can't make it up this, how in the world am I going to get up a major mountain? Thankfully, after the first 2.5 km it really wasn't that bad.

It had great views of Chilliwack Lake and a few nice places to stop and rest or camp for the night. 

We did encounter snow fields, which I was not expecting. But with this guy as my fearless leader, I couldn't complain about anything (except that brutal first few km). 

He's so cute!

Matt's words: "This is better training for Baker than I expected!" He kicked steps for us to get up the steep slopes. We boot skied (or fell/slid) down those same slopes on the descent. 

This hike has made it to my top three favourite hikes of all time. Yes, the start was steep and tiring and I wanted to quit; but we pushed through and I feel much more confident about climbing Mt. Baker now. The gorgeous views along the way make this journey incredible! God is amazing to have created all of this! We arrived at the saddle and had a choice in front of us - continue climbing the snow fields and make our way to the lookout or climb down into the valley to get to Flora Lake. We opted for climbing up to the lookout. I was shocked that I had such a good attitude about it. I was tired and wanted to stop to eat lunch but I just knew the view from the lookout would be incredible. I was right. We were rewarded with an epic, panoramic mountain view! Words cannot describe the majesty of these peeks! Wow!

This picture does not do it justice but it's the best one I have. Mountains as far as the eye can see. We spent over an hour frolicking on the peek. It was delightful! 

The whole trip was approximately 7 hours of hiking, with 1400 ft. of elevation gain, over 13 kms. I highly recommend this hike but remember to push through those first few km. It is worth the struggle.

Now I wait and continue to train till the timing works out for the big trek. We need good weather, Matt to get his passport delivered, a healthy baby (he's had a teething fever the last number of days which has resulted in a lack of sleep for the whole family), and my parents to be available to take care of Caleb. We were planning for this week but that might not work out since Caleb has been ill, we haven't been able to train the way I would have like to, and Matt still doesn't have his passport. The goal is to do it this summer but our summer schedule is filling up quickly. One of the joys of having a husband who is a teacher is that we get to play all summer long! Plus, living in Beautiful British Columbia, we have gorgeous summers to go play outside! I'm sure I will let you know once this fitness goal has been accomplished! Stay tuned!

Fitness Challenge For You: go outside and play! Go to the park and toss a frisbee, run, walk, swim, bike... DO SOMETHING then let me know what you did! What's your favourite way to enjoy God's creation?

Be joy-filled!

Introductions are in order

My name is Ashley and I have created this blog intent on giving myself a creative outlet to keep myself sane. My life is always busy. It seems as if there is no room to add in anything yet I feel the need to fill it more.  I love to live each and every moment with joy! I love Jesus and sharing His love with the world around me. I enjoy traveling, cooking, exercising, crafting, creating, laughing, shopping, and playing any chance I get!

I have a super active husband who is constantly moving (not joking). Matt and I met at church and sparked up a conversation about rock climbing. What can I say - the boy was hooked! We have had an adventure filled four years of marriage with five moves in four cities on two continents. We purchased our first home and welcomed our first child (Caleb) last year plus Matt started a new job at a new school (he’s a teacher). We spend our time playing in God’s creation as much as we can.  Whether it is hiking, backpacking, rock climbing, mountain biking, playing catch, walking or simply reading a book on the beach, outside is where we thrive. We are both at home in the kitchen, which took some getting use to. I do love a man who can cook but we have learned that there needs to be a time when I am in charge. I grew up in Southern British Columbia whereas Matt hails from Ontario but fell in love with the mountains when he came out West to attend university. Praise the Lord he stayed! We live modestly and within our means but still find ways to have buckets full of fun!

Here we go…