A Snowy Photographic Adventure

When Alivia first mentioned the idea, it sounded like an interesting day out and the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to go. It's spring break this week when all the kids and teachers are off from school. Alivia wanted to go check on her cabin up in the mountains and had invited a few friends along to go with her for the day. I happened to have the day off of work so called to tell Stacey I would not be at tap dancing class and packed my gloves, scarf, and hat. This morning, we met at Alivia's and were off! Alivia's plan was to drive around Mt. Hood, one of the most majestic mountains in our area with stops along the way. (She knows how much I love to take pictures.) We first stopped at Multnomah Falls up in the Columbia Gorge. For those of you who don't know the area, it's this extremely dramatic waterfall from a high cliff with a beautiful bridge in front. It's well photographed and known around the area. This summer, I want to take the hike to the top of the falls. For lunch, we went to Hood River for Mexican food then on to Alivia's cabin. After checking on the building, signing the guestbook, and sweeping the snow off the porch, we went further up the road to see how far we could go in the snow. The scenery was absolutely gorgous. Snow was falling, the mountains were covered, and Alivia took a video of me splattering snowballs that she is threatening to put on youtube. Alivia stopped again so I could take pictures of the mountain and then again at Mount Hood Medows, a well known ski resort so I could get some close up shots. Our last major stop was at Dairy Queen for ice cream treats. One of my favorite parts of the whole day though, was the time talking in the car. I really enjoyed getting to know Alivia and Marie better through talking about a variety of topics.
Sometimes, you just need to go enjoy a day. Not to worry about what you're leaving behind, but to take the chance, seize the day, live your life. All winter I hadn't been up to the mountains and I have missed it. Some of the snow banks were far above my head and the trees were so pretty looking as if they had been dipped in powdered sugar. It was a beautiful reminder of how majestic God's creation is and how close he is in the world around us.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I hope you all had a wonderful St. Patrick's Day! Besides wearing green, the day wasn't a big deal to me when I was growing up but ever since I became involved in Irish Dancing, I have loved the joys surrounding it. My favorite of which is watching my friend Stacey dance with the Molly Malone Irish Dancers. She is an extaordinary dancer as well as the other women who dance in the troupe, watching them is always one of my delights. That was on Sunday, the day before St. Patrick's Day. On the actual day, I went down to Great Harvest, a bakery that gives you a free cookie if you do a jig. I don't care much for the free cookie but I admittedly like dancing the jig to get it. Stacey says dancing, and exercise in general, is not so much to prolong your life, but to enrich it. Dancing can bring so much joy to life and teaches you things you may not learn anywhere else. I know at least for myself, I can't imagine my life without dance. In addition to Irish, I also participate in Israeli dancing when I can get it and I regularly tap dance. It's so much fun to not only dance and move my body, but to become a musical instrument myself through my feet. You can find more information on the tap dancing classes Stacey teaches at http://www.ontapdancing.com/ . Come check it out and dance for life!