Guest Writer: Ryan

Hello readers of ‘Rock Quarries and Applesauce Sandwiches’! This is Ryan stepping in to write an entry for Meghan’s blog. Let me start by taking you back in time...to fifth grade or so. Life was so much easier then. We were all care free, enjoying the moment. The amount of adventure and accomplishment that you could pack into a 24 hours back then seems completely improbable today. All this to set the stage that my writing style, vocabulary, and overall desire to capture a reader’s interest with my writing hasn’t evolved since. Enjoy.

Now that I’ve lured you in with a heightened sense of disappointment, I have some great news to share with you…we will soon be homeowners!!! We are building our first home in Auburn, Washington. Due to the ongoing economic downturn which hit the housing market hard along with the lowest interest rates in years, we decided that this is the time to take the plunge into home ownership. We are so excited to finally have the privacy and freedom that you have in a house compared to an apartment and it will be great to finally have a small fenced in yard that we can let the dogs (Telfair and Apollonia) play in freely. Again, we are truly excited and blessed to be able to purchase a home at this point in our lives and it is my hope that we will never take this nor any future blessings for granted.

Home Details
· 3 bedrooms
· 2.5 bathrooms
· Loft and Study
· 2 car garage
· Luxury master bathroom
· Master bedroom balcony

For a photo tour, go here!

Check back for more updates. Only about 70 days left until we call this place home.

Ryan

Thankful: Photo Edition

This past Sunday Ryan and I trekked up to Mount Rainier in search of some adventure, scenery, and peace. We found all. Although the views of the Mountain were obscured by fogs, we were able to focus on the details and the alpine fields (and the marmots, of course). For the first time in our marriage, Ryan had to convince me to finish a hike. It's usually the other way around, but I literally thought I was going to die. I'm glad he persuaded (aka: kicked my butt) me up the mountain. We reached Panaroma Point at 6,800 feet above sea level and went a bit further in the direction of Camp Muir, but turned back because it was so foggy we could only see a little bit in front of us and dew had drenched us.



It was a beautiful day. Here are my thankfuls from the past weekend in photo form:

xo, Meg

PS- The full album can be viewed here: Hikes, Bikes, and Walks.

Crazy times.

Things this past week and the upcoming week are going to be crazy. Crazy good and crazy bad. Just lots to do and see. And then.... vacation! September 1-11 we will be in a mixture of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina (with varying rest stops between the latter two.)

Here are some thankfuls to tide you over until my next posting:

1. Statistics is over after this week! Ryan can attest to the fact that I am indeed (and contrary to popular opinion) skilled in math, but am miserable throughout the process. Not to brag (well, kinda) - I rock at math (apparently, statistics in particular), but find it utterly boring. Perhaps that's why I hate it. I like exciting things. Not things with definite answers and proven paths to a solution. I enjoy problem solving on my own, from problem to solution with no step-by-steps. So, I am thankful that this class is almost over and that it has taught me what it is I hate about math.

2. I have the best friend and partner in the whole world (and probably the universe too). His name is Ryan.

3. I am back in control**, and you all know how much I love to be in control. My blood sugars are back under my control and submit to my carb ratio-ing and insulin injecting ways. For a while I was stressed to check my blood glucose as it could be at 400 or 50 - randomly. Not associated with any choice of mine. Ahhh, the feeling of control.*** **I do sometimes plummet or sky-rocket, but I see them coming after, say, I have eaten a giant chocolate bar or rock climbed for far too long. I still consider this control. ***I am under no illusion that this will be the way it always is. Chronic diseases have a way of showing you who is boss, but for now it is nice to feel in control.

4. Hiking trip. Sunday will be our first Mt. Rainier trip of the summer due to my recovery. We have been up there at least once a year since we've been together and I think you could call it our "happy place."

5. WEEEEE. I'm so excited about this one! We finally bought a backpacking tent and sleeping bags. I found stuff on great sale at REI outlet (you should check them out: http://www.rei.com/outlet/). Altogether our tent and sleeping bags weigh 11 pounds. 3 pounds for each sleeping bag and 5 pounds for the tent. That will make for easier hiking and camping! To top it off, my sleeping bag is the most beautiful color, which always makes life a little sweeter. So if you are up for a hiking/camping trip - let us know.

xo, Meg

Using this Bashed Up Body

I love to be outside and I love to exercise (see: using this body I have).

These thankfuls are related to those things:

1. Rock climbing. Yesterday I was brave enough to go try rock climbing for the first time since college. I used to love to rock climb and/or repel, but fell out of the habit after college. But I put on my courage and went .... and had an awesome time bouldering and jumping from high places onto bouncy mats. My arms are revolting today, but it was great fun.

2. Swimming at 1 am. August is meteor month, so a friend had a bon fire and then we went to the nearby lake she has a key to (it's a private lake) and swam out to a floating dock to watch for shooting stars. I saw a few, but swimming in the lake was refreshing, even at 1 in the morning.

3. Walking. Ryan and I walk a lot. I mean a lot. Hours at a time. So imagine my delight when we went to explore our soon-to-be new neighborhood and found 3 trails within 2 minutes of walking from our house. One is a rough path along the river that we walked for over an hour and saw no sight of an end, one is an up-hill wonder that could be biked as well, and the other is the Interurban Trail which I will use to bike to the train station (but it also goes all the way to Seattle and stops in every city along the way, I think that's where they got the name of the trail). It made me sure we chose the right place. Everything we need is within 2 miles, it's surrounded by farm land, close to public transit (to Seattle where I hope to get a job), about 50 yards from a river, close to a million and 1 parks, and has great views of Mt. Rainier.

4. Biking. I have been biking at least every other day, but most days to get where I need to go. I love using my own energy as transportation, it's very satisfying indeed. I am even getting brave enough to take left turns in the car turn lanes. Thank goodness for bike lanes and trails though.

5. Have I ever mentioned how thankful I am that Washington is beautiful and how blessed I feel to live here? Well, consider it mentioned.

Watch for a post from Ryan with pictures of our ever-developing house (I think it is about to hit puberty aka getting windows and such). Another post may also include our plans for a secret passageway and room. Things are exciting around here.

xo, Meg

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Oh, happy day.

We said a sad goodbye to Alyssa this morning as she headed back to school, but we will see her in a month!

Today was a lovely mix of lazy moments and busy times. Here are some thankfuls:

1. Sleeping. After an early morning (3:45am) and quick jaunt to the airport and the obligatory stop by our ever growing house-to-be, we came back and slept for a few hours to catch up on the sleep we lost earlier.

2. Dark chocolate, Rainier cherry, Praline bar. I was crazy to not like chocolate in my earlier years. I am now quite in love with the substance. Particularly dark chocolate. If you ever want to wiggle into my heart, there are 4 ways: coffee, chocolate, cheese, and wine. Try it some time. Ryan has learned quickly that a sample of cheese or dark chocolate bar can quickly cheer me up. Also, only Ryan knows my hiding spot for my chocolate - I will never tell you.

3. Walking along the river. A nice long walk along the river this evening involved some photographs (I'm still trying to get good at this), bats, a sunset, breezes through poplars, holding hands, and dreaming. It ended with some live music (albeit, that of teenagers with rocky skills) outside Redmond city hall. What a nice evening. I am never as happy as when I am outside and moving about.

4. Blue heron. We saw an eagle, some bats, Canadian geese, robins, and my favorite, the blue heron, sleeping high up in a tree. It's long beak in a stark silhouette against the pink sunset.

5. Deciding to find beauty and happiness today.

All in all, it was a great day.

xo, Meg

Happy Grey Days!

I love, love, love grey days. I am most productive and kind on these days. I smile more. I know, strange- but it's me.

So aside from my thankfulness for the past few grey days, here are some more thankfuls for your reading pleasure:

1. Blackberry days of summer. (No, not my phone, the real thing!) The blackberries are ripening faster than they can be picked. This equals evenings of blackberry picking and yummy treats. So far we have had cereal with blackberries, blackberry (and blueberry) crumble, and blackberry pancakes. Yum.

2. Twin Falls. This is my new favorite hike. It is perfect for my current fitness level (see: low) and results in spectacular views of 2 waterfalls. It is also perfect for hot days. You can be brave, cross a river on some rocks and logs, and get close to the falls - close enough to swim at the base.

*My new project is to take pictures of me checking my blood when I am doing it in strange places. Here I am checking my blood glucose at Twin Falls, on a rock, in the middle of a river.

3. Where did August go? This isn't a thankful, merely a question. I can't believe the month is almost half way over.

4. 80 days until we (hopefully) move into our house! We have weekly pictures of the progress, but Ry keeps saying he wants to do an update on here so I am saving those pictures for him.

5. I'm still alive. Despite life's best attempts to take me out, I'm still here. No, I'm not really close to dying (unless I get hit by a bus or something) - but sometimes it feels like life is trying to drain me of everything I have left. (Maybe that's just the Benadryl though.) Anyways, I'm just thankful I'm alive.

xoxo,

Meg

Productivity: On (but not on-line)

So the past few weeks have been very productive ones for me, but this always means I lose touch with people, don't answer my phone, ignore texts, don't check my email, and obviously don't update my blog.

But I made sure to write "Update Blog" on today's to-do list so that it would get done. Things are always more important when they are on my graph paper to-do list with a little hand drawn box to check off.

So here are my thankfuls for today:

1. An amazing team of doctors. Seriously, my doctor's finally got it together, figured out I am falling to pieces, and started communicating with one another. It's awesome. I feel much better about my care now. Soon I will be adding "Allergist" to my list of specialist doctors. It sucks. But I am thankful I have insurance, access to care, and a knowledgeable team of experts to help me with all this "shit" (my doctor's words, not mine ... well, mine too.)

2. PRODUCTIVITY!! I am thankful that some how I feel motivated and energetic enough to get a million things done at once. Even with Benadryl trying to knock me out every other minute I have been able to get a lot done.

3. Cool weather and rain. Call me crazy, but those are some of the things I love about Washington and even though the heat was nice for a time, it's great to have "our" weather back.

4. Zimbags. It keeps me busy, helps me feel I am living my purpose, and teaches me things. We are re-launching soon and you can follow our progress and get product sneak peeks here: www.zimbags.blogspot.com. Enjoy and watch for updates often!

5. Concert. Lauren won tickets (or our names on a list) to a "Company of Thieves" show tonight. It should be fun and it turns out I really like their music too! It's one good thing that came out of the warm weather, as Lauren called in to 107.7 on those hot days to let them know that Seattle may be 100 degrees but Redmond was registering at 109. Thanks Laur for being brave!

Alright, hopefully I will be more consistent.

xoxo,
Meg