TravelHopper

Berry Picking in the Northwest

Hopper — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 04:38:52 +0000

Saturday morning rolls around, and Stefanie and I hit the road around 7:45 AM to go pick berries. Just outside of Mount Vernon there is a nice, quiet farm with a quaint store, ice cream stand and rows and rows of U-Pick your own fruit. Stefanie and I headed straight for the raspberries and had fun talking and laughing, taste testing and becoming one with the raspberry bushes. Next we hit up the strawberry rows. The smell of the berries was amazing and filled the air around us. Unfortunately a lot of the rows had been searched and picked over, but we persevered until we found ones to our liking. The real treasure of the morning was the blueberry bushes! We weren’t expecting to be able to pick them, but the branches were filled with yummy, plump and juicy blueberries!! The total damage….I mean find, was 11 lbs of raspberries, 5 lbs of strawberries and 3 lbs of blueberries! I think $40.00 for all of that was well worth it! Of course I was not looking forward to the cleaning and storing process, but I knew I could not procrastinate! Stefanie taught me a trick on spreading the berries on a cookie sheet and freezing them, then sticking them in a freezer bag, will help keep their shape and be amazing when adding them to muffins and breads. So I split up the process. Freeze parts of them individually and freeze in bulk for when I have time to make yummy jams and syrups! After approximately 8 hrs or so, I think I have the process complete. Of course the next process will be a whole lot tastier!

New Adventure

Hopper — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 05:55:49 +0000

So my latest adventure in life has been to branch out and become a Partylite Consultant! I love candles and having them going throughout my home to brighten the place up. Besides it being a way to earn some extra money for bills, I wanted to do something that I find enjoyment in and be able to share that with others. I am excited about this new endeavor and praying it will be a great experience!

So if you love candles like I do, please check out my website!
http://www.partylite.biz/sites/ambiancemaker

Sweden 2010

Hopper — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 03:42:46 +0000

My latest and greatest news is my upcoming trip to Sweden in August! As the time grows nearer, I am starting to think of all of the exciting and new places that I will be able to explore. My dad has a conference to attend and I was given the opportunity to accompany him on his trip. What a blessing! I now have another country to mark off of my list!! If anyone has any great suggestions of things to do and see in Stockholm, please share them with me!

Mom’s Birthday 2009

Hopper — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 21:45:27 +0000

We celebrated mom’s birthday by eating dinner at the top of the Space Needle! It started off as a cloudy and rainy day, but the sun did come out for a little bit and we were able to have a beautiful view of the city and water. I even ordered fish for dinner! It wasn’t too bad ;o). After dinner we walked around on the observation deck and took more pictures. Back on their apartment we ate German Chocolate cake and ice cream and watched the A-Team :o). It was a great celebration and I am glad I was able to be apart of it!

Sunshine!

Hopper — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 21:31:50 +0000

We had sun last weekend and I made sure I enjoyed it! :o) Saturday I went walking with a friend and we were able to catch up on our lives and enjoy the beautiful weather. Sunday was just as gorgeous, so after church another friend and I went into the city and spent some quality time in the market place. We ate donuts, watched fish fly about, ate lunch in the park, admired the beautiful mountains, and bought fresh flowers for our homes. A perfect afternoon I must say!

Christmas 2008

Hopper — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 16:35:19 +0000

I had a wonderful Christmas spent with family! And we actually had snow on the ground!!! We haven’t had snow on Christmas in almost 13 years!! On Christmas Eve we all went to the candlelight service (minus the candles), then went and looked at lights, ate dinner, opened our stockings, and then played a game together. On Christmas morning my dad read from the Word and then we opened presents. I think opening presents must have tuckered most of us out ;-), so most of us proceeded to take a nap afterwards! After my nap is was on to helping with the last minute preparations for dinner. The rest of the day was spent hanging out, watching movies, and making cookies. I am thankful for the time away from work so I could spend the holiday with my family. Now it is the day after Christmas and I am sitting here watching it snow outside. What a beautiful site….as long as I don’t have to drive in it!

Snow in Everett

Hopper — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 17:01:52 +0000

I didn’t make it to work today due to 10 inches of snow!!! I need to go and buy a shovel!

Snow 2008

A New Decade

Hopper — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 21:56:39 +0000

Well I am a little late on posting this, but I have now entered my 30’s!! I have to admit crossing over from my 20’s to my 30’s was not an easy transition. However I have accomplished a lot! In February I bought my first townhouse! Since then I have been been fixing it up and making home improvements. Twenty-nine wasn’t all fun and games but I guess that goes with the territory of “growing up”. So now I have had almost a couple of months to get used to the idea that I am now the big 3 - 0, I think I am adjusting to it and coming into myself now. I am looking forward to seeing what new adventures are in store for me!

Acapulco 2008

Hopper — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 21:55:07 +0000

Beginning of November I spent 6 wonderful days in Acapulco, Mexico. I went with 3 other friends and we enjoyed the sun, sand & water! The first day we went to Walmart and bought groceries and then the rest of the day was spent by the pool! Each day we would experience something new and of course spent quality time in the sun. We enjoyed experiencing the culture, the sights, the food and watching the sunset every evening! This may need to become a yearly event!!

Thanksgiving

Hopper — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 05:46:04 +0000

As you have noticed, I am a little slow on posting what is happening in my life, but here goes my latest adventure!
So I decided to be different this year, and I spent Thanksgiving in New Jersey with friends. I took a couple extra days from work so that I could do some exploring while I was over there. Thanksgiving was spent with my friend’s big Italian family. It was a great time of meeting family and eating awesome food!
Friday my friends and I spent part of the day in Atlantic City and walking the boardwalk. I was able to try my first experience of Jersey pizza and I must say it was tasty. The other half of the day was spent in Philly and of course we had a true cheese steak sandwich, cheese wiz and all! Again, it was good food. We ran up the steps to the museum just like Rocky did in his movie, saw the Liberty bell and walked to Penn’s landing.
Saturday was our big New York City day!! It was amazing with how much we fit in to the day. We went to Liberty Park and we were able to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis island. After that, we drove by where the Twin Towers stood, but we did not get out as there was still so much construction going on. Then I experienced my first dirty water dog (from a street vendor), hot nuts (from the street vendor), Macy’s store, Empire State building, Saks 5th Avenue store, Rockefeller Center, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, FAO Schwarz Toy Store, Carriage ride in Central park, Carnegie Deli, Broadway, Radio City Hall, New York Style pizza, and Times Square. And there was much more in between all of that! It all went so fast and it is hard to believe that I even saw all of it, but I am so thankful that I got the opportunity.
Sunday I explored more around where I was staying in Jersey and walked on few of the different boardwalks in the area and ate some of the local cuisine.
Monday I had to return to reality, but I will never forget my Thanksgiving of 2007!