date hike update (week 2)

From now on you will be getting the weekly update about our hikes. We are going to try and go every week on either thursdays or fridays. This week we drove about 10 miles from our apartment, parked our car, then hiked 4 miles there and 4 miles back. That is a total of 8 miles! We started on a trail that went next to Little Garlic River, up and down, through the woods, and then back up and then back down. We were in the woods for 4 hours and only saw two people, 3 very big dear, a couple chickadees, and some fat squirls. it was so peaceful and jason and i really get a chance to talk in a way that doesn't happen when we are at home in our daily routines, and we are able to work on our doughy physiques!!! -stacey

the river had a thin layer of ice over almost the entire surface, except for small traces in the middle where the water lapped over the ice and made the sort of flowing crick noises that some people record and put on cds to help busy people relax. the falls at the end were a bit lackluster to our expectations, but beautiful nonetheless. the series of 3 to 4 foot falls were completely frozen over but the water flowing underneath casted mysterious shadows through the thin ice that reminded me of standing in govan, saskatchewan very late the night before i was to record my drums for the blue star album, watching the northern lights. the water underneath the ice, like the northern lights, seemed to have no rhythm, but shifted silently and finitely, ready to transition once again, announcing spring.-jason

yes this is my bottom, it was a little slippery and this is me sliding down the hill

me

enjoying our coffee that jason made with his new java jet boil before we head back 4 miles

wow, look at that hair! :) That blue mark is called a blaze. Almost all hiking trails are marked with blazes on trees or stones, so you are able to find your way (a very good thing)

jason

this is little garlic falls, like we said not that impressive, but beautiful

hikers leave these stones piled for other hikers, we are not sure of the meaning, but mostly as a hello for fellow hikers
ice stalagtites or stalagmites, not sure which one it is


water running underneath the ice chunks


jason's new jet boil...it can boil 3 cups of water in about 5 minutes AND doubles as a coffee press

jason setting up the jet boil

for the North Park Olson girls

I don't know about you girls but everytime I play tetris, i can'tnhelp but think about Olson and staying up til all hours of the night, and when you finally stopped playing, your eyes were blurry, sneaking into Sarah and Kristin's room while they were sleeping to play. Most of all when I play now I am disappointed with the quality. There are no spinning screens....ahhh, how dissapointing! I love you girls and I miss you. There's nothing like memories!

night riding

on my bike ride tonight I took my camera with me. It was almost dark and just before I got to the big hill, I saw four doe feeding in the woods. i just stopped and watched them, and they didn't pay any attention to me. I was almost home and I just had to take these pictures. They sky was perfect. They pictures are of the railroad tracks that take the iron ore to the boats. No snow yet, but hopefully for later this week!

hiking

In honor of the new year Jason and I have not "resolved" but "decided" to be healthier. We are eating better foods, smaller portions, and making sure we exercise. Jason has walked through the woods in presque ilse park, riden his bike and taken a run. I took a bike ride in the dark through the snow and the puddles and we both have lifted weights on jason's new weight bench. Today we went hiking for a few miles, it is so mild out, that it is hard to believe that it's january. We're going to try and find a new trail to hike on as many friday afternoons as we can.

I don't know why we had to wait for the new year to start being better healthier person's....but it is WAY over due. Don't wait to do something good for yourself!

My man!

That's my new pink Tigers hat jason got me for Christmas! So cute.

Oh and my new coat, which i LOVE

why do my glasses always have to fog up? (you call that a smile jas?)

angels

i have to tell this story, it's a good one.

jason and i were on the way home on suday night and were about and hour and a half from home on M-77 going north and i was going about 73 mph. and if you have ever driven on a stretch of road with no other cars, it's hard to drive 55 or even 60 (73 is slow for me). Well, i saw a car drive by and hit it's brakes, i've been pulled over to know that i might as well pull over now. sure enough, it was a state cop and i was trying to find my licence and for the life of me it was not in my purse anywhere, i dug and dug and pulled stuff out and looked again and it was NO WHERE!!! i did have my old licence with my maiden name (from 2 years ago) and he took that and went back to his car. now here is why i know he was an angel, i have never heard of a state cop not giving a ticket and not even comenting on the fact that i gave him the wrong licence. he just told me to slow down and watch for deer and drunk drivers.

about 15 minutes later on M-28 i was cruizing along at 60 and there she was, a HUGE doe, right in front of my car. I was able to stop in time and just grazed the deer. there are no scratches at all on my car at all. If I hadn't been pulled over I would have been going 80 or so and wouldn't have been able to stop in time. God knows that it takes a little bit for me to listen (like cops)

the other thing that happenedl, is that jason and i got into a HUGE argument that stemmed from me not ever know exactly where my licence is. we needed to have that argument, it was just one of those thing that has to happen in order for growth to happen in our marriage and for us to understand each other.

God has a great sense of humor because after unpacking and putting a few things away i went through everything i thought my licence could be in and finally i tried my purse, i went through all of my pocket and then pulled out my planner on my lap fell my licence. So funny...it was in there the whole time.

not bad for a trip home. i just have to share...God will use anyone and anything to let us know he is still there and he knows how to get our attention, so keep an eye out!!!

i know you want to know

well, if you blinked, you missed us. we drove into GR on Christmas Eve and spent the week hanging out with our families. i loved being home, but it went by soooooo fast. we had a great time with everyone and our families were very generous with Christmas gifts. THANK YOU!!! family is so important, and we are so blessed to have amazing families.

well, in no time at all we are back at home in marquette. it was nice to sit and not have any plans on new years eve. we watched a movie and had a couple of cocktails, a kiss at midnight, and then bed (we are getting SO old) the plans this week are very exciting, work, work, laundry, knit, organize, knit, work, work, knit some more, etc. I'm sorry if we missed you while we were home. I'm not sure when we will be in the area next, but hopefully sooner than later. Have a HAPPY new year....i'm serious be happy!

awww....

andrea, tim, joe, megs sue (at the troost progressive Christmas party)

riley, sam, meghan, katie, olivia

denny and debby playing guitar hero (only the BEST video game EVER!!!) this was jason's Christmas present, if you've never played it before, come up to marquette and i'll show you the ropes! (OH, and there is a great video of these two playing that i will post later)

she loved the wrapping paper, who cares what is inside

so beautiful

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!