Whether the Weather..

Washington and I are having a hard time becoming buddies.

To be fair, I blame the weather. It's cold, rainy, and gray.  So gray.  Also, in fairness to WA it's not easy being the follow up climate to Southern California.  Can any area in the continental US compete with SoCal's beautiful blue skies, sunshine, fast moving freeways, ocean..oh I better stop.. I've been missing it a little.

Well okay, a lot.. but let me tell you about how I've been trying to get to know Washington.

Tuesday afternoon I went to Olympia, the state's capital.

The rain couldn't keep me inside.. but it prevented me from enjoying being outside.

Thursday is a day I'm a little afraid to talk about..

I didn't do anything. Well, that's not entirely true. I ran errands, which were done by about 9am. Then, I did nothing. Except maybe lay on the couch all day watching moves...

Friday was a different day. I went to a small costal town called Westport, WA.

It was adorable and kind of shabby, but the people were friendly, unlike the miserable weather.

I wandered to the beach and found myself totally alone. Usually this is kind of fun, but to be honest I was feeling nervous.  Remember when that creeper came up to me in Malibu? Well ever since then I am aware of how vulnerable I am when I'm alone.  While I was on the blustery beach I couldn't stop worrying and looking over my shoulder constantly.

Then I got a text from my dear friend, Anna Booher.  It said simply, 

"My peace I leave with you - my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid." John 14:27

How's that for timing? Reading that bible verse gave me a sense of peace and relaxation.  God promises that I don't need to fear, He is always watching over me. Now I could enjoy the windy and rain isolated beach.

Then I went back into town, perused some gift shops, chatted with locals, and got lunch at a little place someone had suggested to me. This restaurant was known for it's excellent seafood. The menu listed "breaded prawns" which was a new word for me. I asked the girl at the counter, "what are prawns?" and she, giving me an incredulous look, said, "what do you mean?", "are they like fish?", she scoffed and said, "they're shrimp!" I replied, quite sharply I regret, "I'm sorry, I didn't grow up on a beach!"

..I hope she didn't spit in my crab cakes... they tasted great anyway..

In the evening Matt and I went to a local place for pizza and drinks.  My beverage tasted like lip gloss, but I we had a nice time chatting and commenting on the environment of the restaurant.  It couldn't quite figure out if it wanted to seem like a coffee shop, a pizza place, or bar. At least we were confused by the painted flames, beige walls, neon lights, elevated round tables, metal death music, and coffee house-esque lighting.

Saturday we went skiing at Crystal Mountain.  Despite the uncooperative weather, we skied some crazy stuff.

We were in the clouds all day, which was a little disappointing because Matt said the view from Crystal is incomparable to anywhere else. I caught glimpses of Mt Rainier through a window in the clouds.  It's massive.

 I've said this before, but skiing with Matt is no joke.  We skied steeper and more challenging stuff than I think we did in Tahoe.  I made a poor choice in an area that lead to me falling off of a small cliff in the woods into a chute and slamming my body into a pine tree.  Luckily I came out unscathed, but definitely shaken up.

^that's the area I came out of. See the chute in the middle? That was my path.. this black spot here^? Me taking a break after retrieving my lost ski pole. The drinks in the corner? Our afternoon break from me risking my life and limb.

In the afternoon we started climbing.  The chair lift took us to a high point, but we hiked higher, to other peaks and bowls. 

we descended the face opposite of Matt, the left side of the picture

On what would be our last run of the day, I found myself in another jam.  Stuck in a chute, impossible to back track, unable to move forward, too scared to ski down, and finding it difficult to hold my edge.  I was scared. It was that type of fear that gives you tunnel vision, and all you can see is the unfortunate situation in which you are stuck. I tried this technique where I punched my arms in the snow to use them as an anchor as I lowered my body to a better spot in the chute. Whether or not this approach really did anything to help me, I'm not sure, but it helped me feel safer, I guess.  Eventually I skied out of the perilous trap and sat down to wait for Matt. He was able to approach the area differently and made it through without a problem.  My heart was still pounding.

When we reached the bottom we turned around to see The King's Bowl, the 2nd potential for my death that day.  Some people tear their ACLs on intermediates, people die and get hurt skiing all the time.  How did I make it through those situations unharmed?

All I can surmise is that God has a plan for me that requires me to people alive and not disabled at this point.  I'm grateful. And I hope I make better decisions that don't place me in dramatic situations like that next time..

Today we went to church then went out to lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant.  I had bubble tea and pho for the first time. Both delicious.

Tomorrow I'm going on a 3 day trip up North. Let's see what circumstances I get myself into then..