If you're gonna make a fashion statement, you might as well go BIG

Who says that sock monkey beddies, striped knee-high socks, strawberry pants and candy cane mambas don't go with a grey ski jacket?

Wanna join my gang?

2008: Year in Review

Like every year, 2008 began with high hopes for another calendar filled with adventure, love, laughter, time in the woods, self-improvement and a Stanley cup for the Flyers. O-Eight did not disappoint and as a matter of fact, it was damn enjoyable. Lucky is an understatement & LIFE IS GOOD. (We didn't win the Stanley Cup, but we made it damn close! Go Flyers!!!)

On New Years Day, Tom, Teddy and I hiked up Mitchell Point to an amazing view down the Gorge.

2008 was a big birthday year for Teddy, who turned the big 3-0 on February 14. That's 3 in teddy years for my little red Valentine buddy.

We celebrated the occasion with 30 chocolate Teddy cupcakes!

In mid-February, we enjoyed some unseasonably warm weather that nixed skiing, but opened the door to some Q1 camping on the Deschutes River. Beavertail is a cool canyon campground in the desert of Oregon. :)

A big warm fire was in order when we woke up to the tent coated in ice. Brrrrrryeeeahhh!!!

At the end of February, we celebrated Tom's 33rd birthday with a group trip to the Wallowa's in eastern Oregon. 10 of us spent 3 nights packed to the gills in a Forest Service cabin at Wallowa Lake. We tore it up at the Hydrant and the bowling alley in Joseph and also got rowdy at Terminal Gravity Brewery in Enterprise. Neal and Laura brought their sleds for some backcountry turns and we also got some freshies on the T-bar at Ferguson Ridge. :)

Trouble!

We certainly enjoyed our share of local food and libation this past year—we took advantage of all the local microbrews, wines and eats. We cook a lot and party a lot at home and at our friends' homes, but when we did go out and about, I'd say the places we hit most often were Brian's Pourhouse, Taqueria, The Horse & Hound, and of course, late night at Jack's.

Beer sampler at Full Sail


I even created a beerscape of Mt. Hood and the Columbia River Gorge! :)

In April, we took a trip home to PA to visit some friends and family and to cheer for the Flyers in person! The inlaws and the outlaws finally got to meet. Highlights were the self-tapping beer on our table at Chickie and Pete's and of course, the Flyers playing with heart for a win.

We met up with Kevin at Eulogy to explore their beer selection and my nostrils.

We also spent some time in Shenandoah during this visit. The air hockey tournament was fun. We played for fancy Oregon prizes like pear wine, Mt. Hood shot glass, Oregon Trail bingo game, marionberry jam and huckleberry hot chocolate. :)

Air hockey, prizes, karaoke and beers you can't get in Oregon. That's a night in.

Back in Oregon, we kicked off spring riding the new beginner jump line at Post Canyon and doing some heavy-lifting landscaping. Between the two of us, we lugged two tons of rock from the driveway to the back of the house.

Tom flyin' over "Happy Meal", now called "Middle School".

Workin' hard in the yard.

Craigslist. You can find anything on Craigslist. Proof positive—we found our boat, Floaty, our HOUSE and in May—our Baby Cooper!!!

5 tiny weeks old

During late spring, my best girls treated me to a sick bachelorette in Bend. We rocked out and romped in the desert. JT + sippy cup + headlamps + desert wilderness = GOOD times.

"Them apple bottom jeans—boots with the fur, fur..."

Andrea, Gerry, Erin, Me and Kate at the Deschutes Brewerey, Bend

And, no bachelorette is complete without a iced penis brownie. This bad boy didn't last long with the ladies late-night. :)

In mid-June, Baby Cooper came home. The first thing we did was play with him in the front yard. He was so small that he had to hop over the blades of grass. The little things in life truly are the best things in life. :)

Little ding & Dad.

One of my new year resolutions for 2008 was to make the most of the full moons. I did a pretty great job of getting out for night hikes and full moon foolery.

I heart the moon.

What else happened in 2008? Oh yeah, I got MARRIED in July! It was TOTALLY AWESOME having so many friends and family in Hood River. My mom and her sisters got to hang out together, HR friends enjoyed the company of East Coast friends and we had a lot of fun adventures together. :)

The ceremony and party were held at the Crag Rat Hut, located about five miles south of town in the Hood River Valley.

'Slove.

Although I had high hopes of a honeymoon spent mt. biking Zermatt and lazing around in tiny Swiss villages, we ended up spending a week tooling around the Pacific Northwest.

First leg—Mt. Rainier National Park—EPIC.

After a few days playing at Rainier and drinking lots of Rainier Beer, we stopped back in Hood River to pick up our little buddy and camping gear.

Second leg—Cannon Beach, Oregon coast.

Since summer '07 ended, we've been talking about Bench Lake. We were hoping the snow would be melted in time for us to spend a few days honeymooning and fishing up there in the peace and quiet. We got our wish, the roads were cleared and opened in time for us to spend one mosquito-infested night camping there. Yikes!

We woke up at dawn with the mossies and got right out on the water. I caught a big honeymoon trout and we rolled out of there by 7:45am. When we got back to Hood River, I noticed a big plume of smoke coming from the area south of Mt. Adams (viewable from our living room). Unfortunately this lightning-caused forest fire spread quickly and closed down Bench Lake and that whole wilderness area for the rest of the year! Poops!

Third leg—Bench Lake, Mt. Adams Wilderness/Yakama Nation.

In August, we spent an incredible weekend backpacking in the Opal Creek Wilderness. We scored the best campsite ever right on the creek. The water and woods are probably the most pristine place I've experienced. We partied it up and even played on some natural waterslides!

Opal Creek = Perfection

Opal Creek crew at the old mining site, Jawbone Flats—Lahaina, Cooper, Me, Nicole, Abe & Gary

In August, I realized that I still had 5 vacation days left, so I planned a fall visit to PA. The weather was perfect and it was really great to visit friends and family. A break from the daily grind was nice too. ;)

That's a kid-eatin'-sized hawk. :)

In October, we did some high-elevation hikes that are usually inaccessible or snowshoe adventures by then. We made the most of the lack of snow, for sure.

Coop & Mt. Jeff on Jefferson Park Ridge.

This Halloween weekend I became a licensed motorcyclist!!! Hells yeah!!! We had to sacrifice costume parties and pumpkin fun, but now I can legally vrrmmmmmmmm vrmmmmmmm around!!!

Licensed to stab, I mean ride. :)

I'm in the market for a BMW 650 GS in Deep Black. Can't wait to get out on the forest roads with this beotch!

Oh, the places we'll go. Alaska? Austria? Rio de Janeiro?

The holidays this year were spent in Oregon. Thanksgiving was a nice 4-night vacation to a kick-ass cabin in Zigzag, on the south side of Mt. Hood. Great friends, food, hikes and woods. :)

Cooper takes in the morning sunlight on the cabin's deck.

This was Cooper's first Christmas. We learned that he LOVES opening presents (a.k.a, shredding paper), which translates to him loving to destroy his new toys. He maimed his new cute giraffe and removed the stuffing and tore apart his new candy cane. He thought his new bed was a toy too and removed some of the stuffing. BAD DOG!

Cooper's Candy Cane Carnage Cuteness.

Tom got me a new pair of skis—K2 Phat Luvs—and bindings for Christmas. We rang in 2009 at SkiBowl—great snow, fireworks, beers, funsies and friends. My new sticks are a HUGE upgrade from my very first pair and I had the best time slidin' around on them. Thanks to my ding! What a great year!

Smaltzie slopeside. Hello, 2009!