EUROTRIP 2015

As you can tell, Lucas and I are very good at regularly updating our blog. . . :/   We've been too busy having fun - maybe even a little too much fun!

Our most recent trip was to Europe. My last trip over the Atlantic was in 2009, and Lucas' was in 2007 (?), so it was about time to see the other side of the pond.

Our first stop was Amsterdam. We stayed with two awesome Dutch guys who gave us tips on how to get around the city like an Amsterdammer, and taught us some useful Dutch phrases. My favorite: Ik find Pandas lekker (Translates to: I find pandas tasty/sexy).

We took a bike ride into the country one day! It was a long ride, but well worth it and very beautiful.

One of the many beautiful Amsterdam Canals.

Our next stop and reason for traveling to Europe was visiting Lucas' extended family in Berlin.

Clockwise from Lucas: Uncle Frank, Brenda, Christoph, and Lolo! A lovely dinner on the river in Kreuzberg.

View of Berlin from the Church Dome.

Oma, Christoph, Lucas, Uncle Frank, and Uncle Frank's beer.

Lucas' family were awesome hosts (especially Lolo, the head of the infamous "Lolo gang"), and we were sad to leave. Hopefully we'll see them again soon!

Our final stop, just for funsies, was Venice!

The coolest tourist in Venice!

Night time photo of Arsenale. The light in the sky is actually from lightning. We took about 15 photos trying to get a lightning bolt, but were unsuccessful!

Beautiful fishermen's homes in Burano, a separate island from the main part of Venice known for handmade lace.

Sexier than an Italian Stallion! ;)

The Grand Canale, Venice, Italy.

And, even more exciting, while we were in Europe, we officially became Aunt Jamie and Uncle Lu to the adorable Landon Bradley Shutta. Can't wait to meet this sweet boy!

The happy new family! Lucas and I are actually on skype on the red computer when this was taken.

2014 Pre-Christmas Update

Ok delinquent blogger here...  Lucas and I got a little swept up in moving and new jobs and dissertation/paper writing and (of course) MOUNTAINS!  I'd say the lack of blog posts during good weather months will be fairly predictable.  

So now for the updates:
Summer was mostly hiking/climbing/moving, and we'll post a nice Summer reflection post later with highlights from our trips.  It's always nice to look through summer pictures in January/February when the weather seems to be the dreariest here.

Today we'll mostly focus on updates for work/moving.  For me, I am currently a high school math/science teacher and dorm parent at a boarding school.  That means in addition to teaching, I live with the boarding school students in the dorm!  Lucas, Kaia, and Toby are able to live with me, and we have a very nice 2BR apartment.

To re-iterate the idea that we live in the dorm, a view down the hallway looking out my apartment door looks like this:

Every single one of those doors is the room of one or two high school girls, and you're only seeing a small section of the dorm area!

My door looks like this, and was artfully decorated by my prefects :)

Lucas' first graduate advisor moved to Baltimore mid-PhD, and his second advisor moved to Denver this week.  That means that Lucas is now advisorless in WA.  Good thing he's defending this March!  He's currently looking for a postdoc, so if you know of a good one send it his way ;)


Both of us are enjoying living in a boarding school.  We have formal dinners with the students (this one is Thanksgiving):

(this was Lucas' attempt at a full table selfie)

We take them go-karting:

Early morning Black Friday Shopping (taken at 6:30am by our vehicle of choice):

And on many other adventures...

Lucas and I are entertaining ourselves with very tame adventures since we're crazy-go-nuts busy, and I'm still healing from a stress fracture that developed in September (probably from climbing too many mountains...).  We've mostly been enjoying walks by the water front, pulling pranks on students and other dorm parents (hehe), and decorating for Christmas:

Student's door decorating contest

Fall along the Tacoma waterfront

A view from the ferry terminal on Vashon Island, WA

                                     

Kaia!

And to prove that Lucas is still alive despite nights spent babysitting his experiments in the lab:

This PhD is brought to you by:  "MORE COFFEE"

Early season trip to Vesper Peak (Mountain Loop/Monte Cristo)

We left the trailhead for Vesper Peak at 9am on Saturday.  For those of you looking for more of a trip report than a quick photo post:  the first part of the trail was in good shape, and the snow leading up to the steep ascent into Headlee Pass was solid with very minimal post-holing.  The steep section into the pass was a little soft, but not bad.  The most hazardous part of our day was someone who intentionally threw their pack down the pass without checking to see who might be below... (who does that?!)  

The route we took was the same as the Summer route with the exception of climbing straight up the would-be switchbacks, so it was super straight-forward.  When the trail runs into snow, you follow the valley straight up to the pass on the right (the route up the pass is marked by dirt and debris).  Once you get to Headlee Pass, you can see Vesper Peak.

View from Headlee Pass.

Andy, Lindsy, and Piko breaking at Headlee Pass

The snow from the pass to the summit was a little bit softer, but still solid enough to be safe at 12pm-ish when we left the pass after lunching.

Carolina leading the crew

The top layer of snow was getting soft as we made the final steep ascent to the summit, but the pre-established boot track made it a LOT easier (thank you skier guys and Carolina...).

Summit selfie :)

Summit ladybug colony!

The rock at the summit was dry so it was an excellent place to sit, and the snow was good and soft for glissading and plunge-stepping on the way down.  We took down a little bit of soft snow with us on the glissades, so it's definitely a trip to get an early start on and check the snow conditions!

We got back to the car around 4:30pm.

Gear used:  Helmet, Ice Axe.  We brought crampons, but didn't use them.

~9mi Round Trip

~4000' gain

Mother's Day - Mount St. Helens

On Mother's Day, PNW folks  have a tradition where they climb Mount St. Helen's in a dress to honor their moms.  Thanks to an invite from our good friend Carolina,  Lucas and I were able to partake in this fun (and exhausting!) event this year.

We left for the volcano on Saturday night, camped in the trailhead parking lot with a bunch of other climbers, and left for the summit at 5am on Sunday.  We summited around 10:30/11ish and were able to glissade (literally slide down the snow on our butts, for those of you who don't climb) about 3000 of 5500' of gain we climbed that day.  It was a fantastic day with sunny weather and lots of meetings with friends along the way.

We made it back to Seattle in plenty of time to have drinks with Mark and Megan, Lucas' friends from college, and it was wonderful catching up with the cute couple!

An Anniversary and some nature therapy

With two posts, this is officially my longest blog ever!  Lucas and I stole away to Camano Island to celebrate four years together.  We brought Kaia, went for a long walk, and had a bonfire on the beach where we had our wedding this past October.

Just for fun, here's a picture of Lucas, me, and Kaia at our weekly Pub Trivia :)

After a couple of busy weeks for Lucas in grad school and me at work, we skipped over to Leavenworth for a quick jaunt up Sauer Mountain and took Kaia on her first camping trip.  The weather was a little rainy but warm and clear enough for good views of the surrounding ridges.

The wildflowers were beautiful, and Lucas
was showing his Gamecock pride!!

Summit!

"what?"

Both weekends were awesome and we're looking forward to bigger adventures once the snow melts!