Victory!

The Seattle Times reported today that Seattle will begin using salt to deice city streets during future winter storms. Sa-weet. Never again will be we completely snow-bound for an entire week of doldrums. I was waiting for Seattle to make the change - especially after ecologists pointed out that sand is actually more detrimental to the marine environment than salt. Booya!

Seattle to use salt in future storms
Seattle Times, December 31, 2008

Retrospect and Resolve

The year 2008 has been one of the most interesting, terrifying, stressful, and gratifying years of my existence. My life has changed in ways I never expected. All in all, though, I have grown tremendously and I can look back in retrospect and say to myself I did it. I made it through my first full year out in the big scary adult world.

Over the past year, I left a job I held for seven years, applied for and was hired for a new job and love it. I took serious steps towards pursuing my future career. I supported myself financially (for the most part) and learned to buy a little less and save a little more. I am single for the first time in five years. I made new friends. I finally feel settled in Seattle after moving back here a year and a half ago. And now I'm excited for a new year with more changes and more growth.

So, looking ahead to 2009, I have crafted some resolutions:

Be healthy.
Once upon a time in college I exercised five to six days a week and ate healthy. I slept better; I had more energy; I loved the way I felt. So my goal is to get back to that stage, which means exercising regularly and eating better. This will improve my quality of life in so many ways. I will be able to hike farther and faster, and I will feel glorious when I wear my favorite jeans. This resolution will rely on me adapting exercise and healthy eating into my lifestyle as I once did in college. I am not setting a target weight because I believe in sustainability. Which means establishing a lifestyle that I can maintain and sustain over time. Whatever weight that is, so be it!

Read more literature.
Like a lot of word nerds, I have a stack of books in my room on my to-read list. So my resolution for 2009 is to read more literature. I will do so by reading all the unread novels currently on my bookshelf: 35 books total. Some I look forward to reading: Catch-22, Tender is the Night, and The Name of the Rose. Some will be difficult to finish: The Sound and the Fury, Crime and Punishment, and A Farewell to Arms. I plan to record my thoughts about each novel as I finish it. I like this resolution, because even if I don't finish the entire list, I will still have read a whole bunch of great literature. The dormant English major in me is very excited for this resolution.

Try new things.
I already wrote a to-do list for myself in my blog. I have an annoying tendency to be a stick in the mud if I don't push myself to be active. So this resolution is very important to me. I want to try new things like downhill skiing, cycling around the city, yoga, rock climbing, orienteering, taking a design class, and building a Web site. I will challenge myself to step out my comfort zone and try new activities...and hopefully develop some new interests or hobbies along the way.

And...I want to say thank you to all my returning Seattle Swift readers. Thanks for you comments and thoughts over the past six months! I wish you all a wonderful 2009.

Merry Christmas to All!

It's no surprise after a week of seemingly continuous snow, I awoke to this on Christmas morning. A white Christmas indeed. Already a foot of snow on the ground and more fat goose down flakes coming out of the sky.


Merry Christmas to all of you, I hope you have a wonderful holiday with family and friends! Stay safe and warm, and happy New Year!

For the Record

In my Let in Snow post on December 13, 2008, I complained of our conspicuous lack of winter weather. Just to clear the record, I was hoping for snow in the mountains so ski season could begin... NOT for a foot of snow in Seattle that has not melted for nearly a week. Just in case any you are looking for someone to blame for all the snow. I might as well say it: this snow business is just plain awful.

Cheerio!

Happy Winter Solstice!

I know, I know, I'm a few days late. I blame the snow.

Winter solstice is a special time for a lot of reasons. First of all, it means Christmas and New Years are just around the corner - so lots of time spent with loved ones. Second of all, both solstices are exciting for different reasons. Summer solstice means the following two or three months will be filled with sunshine, warmth, long days, and glorious summertime activities. But it also means the days start getting shorter. Winter solstice, on the other hand, means many more months of cold, rain, short days, and even some snow (like now). BUT the days start getting longer - each day the sun rises a little earlier and sets a little later and we get one day closer to those warm summer nights. Now I just need to keep myself occupied in some way until then...

And FINALLY, winter solstice means that my blog is now just over six months old! Happy half birthday, Seattle Swift! Six months ago, I wished readers a Happy Summer Solstice, and here I am, six months later: a little older, a little wiser, a little less diligent about posting in my blog, but nonetheless still posting!

For the past week, the entire U.S. has been pummeled by nasty winter weather - Seattle included. Since last Wednesday night, we have been snow-bound and temperatures have remained mostly below freezing. Thursday brought an entire day of snow, Saturday brought blowing snow and freezing rain, and Sunday brought another four inches on top of that. And the snow is still sticking around, ruining or delaying holiday travel plans for many. Above is a photo from Sunday morning, before another four inches of snow arrived. You can see the snow drift piled up on one side of the steps.

Anyway, I hope all of you are staying warm and safe. Now, if Seattle will just get on the ball and start de-icing those roads with something other than sand - we would be golden. See the Seattle Times article here.

Happy Holidays to all of you!

Intro to Parking 101

So I have lived in the Seattle Eastlake neighborhood since late September, almost three months. Eastlake is one of the many zoned parking neighborhoods in the Seattle metropolitan area. Zoned parking is designed to help residents by discouraging long-term non-resident parking, making more parking available for residents of the area. So in my neighborhood, cars without the particular zone permit are allowed to park for only two hours during most times, and not at all from 6 PM to midnight on Fridays and Saturdays.

I have a permit for my neighborhood, so zoned parking doesn't make a big difference, except that it means the Seattle Department of Transportation patrols our neighborhood for parking offenders, including those with zone permits parked illegally to varying degrees. I have learned over the past few weeks that I basically suck at following parking regulations. I'm racking up the parking tickets - one for not being 15 feet from a fire hydrant (when I was about eight feet from the hydrant) and another for parking in an area with no parking 7 to 9 AM (I parked down the hill when it was icy). Not to mention friends and family have been ticketed for parking without a permit since each household is only allowed one guest parking permit.

I understand that zoned parking is in place to help residents - but I'm learning that I am just not used to this downtown parking deal being a North Seattle gal most of my life. Any suggestions for dealing with the parking issue around Seattle or elsewhere? Any complaints?

Oh the Weather Outside is Frightful

This morning around 5 AM I woke to intense rolling thunder. Thunder is pretty rare in Seattle, and even more rare considering we were expecting snow to start overnight. I have seen lightning during snow storms a few times - it is an impressive sight - the whole sky lights up like a million fireworks are going off in the thick white clouds.

I woke up later in the morning for work and lay in bed wondering if it had snowed, and if so, how much. My house is a block down from the freeway, so from my bedroom I can always hear the faint roar of cars. It never bothers me since it's such a dull, constant, unobtrusive sound. But this morning I heard nothing. Just muffled silence. Which was one clue it was snowing and snowing hard outside. Then a text from a friend arrived saying "snow snow snow!" That was my second clue so I closed my eyes and drifted back to blissful sleep.
When I actually dragged my body out of bed I immediately looked out the window and saw there was almost two inches of snow and fat flakes of goose down floating from the sky. It's over five hours later and the fluffy flakes are still coming down.
Seattle is both one of the best and absolute worst cities for snow. Since we so rarely get real snow storms, Seattle is totally unequipped - we have very few sanding trucks and plows to clear the streets. Not to mention a lot of inexperienced drivers when it comes to snow and ice (myself included). Add in steep, treacherous hills, it can be a recipe for disaster and chaos. Yet largely as a result of these reasons, as a born and raised Seattleite, I can't help but love the snow.

The holly tree in my yard - it looks so Christmasy with snow!

Almost every instance of a snow storm during in my elementary and high school days meant no school. It meant sleeping in, playing for hours in the snow, snow angels and snowball fights, no homework, eating maple syrup with snow, drinking hot cocoa, and passing out long before my bedtime from sheer exhaustion and excitement. The city shuts down during snow, which means you have to forgo previously made plans and maybe use some vacation leave. But the snow is so beautiful that it's hard to stay mad for long - today I have resigned myself to the snow even though my office Christmas party was rescheduled and I probably won't see my friends tonight. It's hard to be unhappy when the world looks so clean and wintry and peaceful. And, this snow is perfect snowball snow. So... as long as there's no place to go, let it snow, let it snow, let is snow!

My Subaru trying to blend in with its surroundings.

Ph.D. in Dodgeball

Considering the United States has one of the best college education systems in the world and our entrepreneurial, individualistic spirit is supposed to be a defining aspect this great nation... why hasn't someone in our own country tried this? I will say one thing - W. has quick reflexes.

Bush shoe incident catches Secret Service flat footed
December 15, 2008

Let it Snow! Seriously...

I will say also that Mother Nature seems to be making up for lost time. She was unbelievable easy on us Seattleites this fall with dry, warm weather. But now the National Weather Service says in a special weather statement: "be prepared for an unusually prolonged and intense period of cold winter weather" - which means for the mountains...... SNOW! Good news for all of us winter sports people, finally!

All I Want for Christmas...

Well, I know, I am seriously deficient at posting regularly. My excuse is that there is not always much exciting to do during fall and winter in Seattle when there's still no snow in the mountains. I am guessing you don't want to hear about how I watched three hours of How I Met Your Mother in one sitting...

But! We are now in full Christmas season swing, so I thought I could share my holiday activities with you.

This past week, I made the last minute decision that I needed to decorate a Christmas tree - whatever it took to find that tree. A day of considering options of how to get a live Christmas tree to my apartment, I remembered years ago when I still meticulously left milk and homemade sugar cookies out for Santa Claus, my parents had a small artificial tree we decorated each year. So I called them lickety-split, picked up the tree, purchased evergreen-scented room spray for a whopping one dollar, and decorated the little four foot tree with lights, tinsel, bells, bulbs, and my Seahawks ornament. My apartment now looks rather festive and I am now finally feeling the Christmas spirit.
Some other favorite things about the Christmastime include: my best friends return to Seattle from their lives around the country, quality time with my parents, the hope of snow, peppermint ice cream (actually, peppermint anything), Christmas Eve mass, more turkey, finding the perfect gifts for family, the Mariah Carey Merry Christmas CD, wrapping presents, an excuse to watch Home Alone, time off from work, eggnog, and Christmas lights.

Though Christmas can be hectic and usually means even worse Seattle traffic - I am happy it's that time of year again, and look forward to spending time with my loved ones... while listening to All I Want for Christmas is You of course.

Seattle Sounders FC Coming Soon!

Last Thursday I was fortunate to attend a Seattle Sounders FC season ticket holder event where Drew Carey told season ticket holders about the exciting new team. My dad holds two of the 18,000 season tickets already sold for the Sounders FC - to begin playing at Qwest Field in March or April 2009. The new team is developed on a model where season ticket holders form a member's association that meets twice a year and votes every four years on the team's general manager. We also voted on Thursday to name the team's marching band (I voted for Green Machine) and the member's association.

Currently the team has four players - two of the players were at the event. I got forward Sebastien Le Toux's signature. I am very excited to go to some Seattle Sounders games in the near future. Once upon a time during my CYO soccer days, I watched many a Sounders games at Memorial Stadium. And I think it's great that Qwest Field will be used throughout the year. Go Sounders!

Oh, and I met Drew Carey!

Working Away

So I have been working away on checking items of my to-do list. First off, I successfully navigated Baltimore and Washington, D.C. on my own with only a few very minor mishaps.

Last Friday, I hit that gigantic set of stairs by my house - twice! I counted 276 stairs in the whole set, and my legs felt like lead afterward. I discovered that once you start running up stairs, it is more painful to start walking because your legs feel heavy and dead. Now, as far as hitting them regularly, only time will tell. I am not particularly comfortable running past dark in my neighborhood, so the stairs might be a weekend-only activity.

I terms of keeping fit during the long winter months, I invested in the 30 Day Shred workout DVD by Jillian Michaels from the Biggest Loser. I was sore for a week, and now am training myself to make it part of my daily routine. The workout is only 20 minutes and consists of basic exercises like jumping jacks, lunges, crunches, and squats. I like the simplicity of the workout but it also kicks my butt each time so I know it's working!

I started on Sunday the first lesson in my Adobe Photoshop CS3 Classroom in a Book. Now if I just keep with it, I will be a pro in no time!

I also just joined the volunteer planning committee for the Seattle Expanding Your Horizons event. I have yet to start any work for the committee, but I took the first step for getting more involved.

As far as reading only books on my shelf - I hope that reading books off my roommate's shelf counts, because I have been indulging in the Twilight series since my trip. Next up is Dostoevsky, I promise!!

Twitter Updates

You returning Seattle Swift readers may have noticed I added Twitter Updates to my right-hand gadget column. Twitter is yet another social networking site where users simply type or text what they are doing or thinking at any time. I decided to add Twitter Updates to my blog to spare my close friends and family from an incessant stream of running commentary from me about what I am up to. I will try to keep my Twitter as up-to-date as possible, so feel free to check out those updates if I don't have any new blog posts!

Exploring Baltimore and Washington, D.C.

I returned this week from successfully navigating Baltimore and Washington, D.C. (check that off my to-do list!). Last Thursday, I flew into Baltimore and drove to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania with coworkers for a site training. On Friday, we returned to Baltimore. Friday night I met with work associates at the famous Rusty Scupper restaurant in the Baltimore Inner Harbor. I ordered the Maryland crab cakes - they were amazing. Pacific salmon is far superior to Atlantic, but I think the East Coast has crab on lock - they were the best crab cakes I've ever had. The evening was very warm, so on the walk back to our hotel, we stopped to listen to a group of singers covering Temptations hits.

Saturday, I talked up the National Girls Collaborative Project at the Society of Women Engineers Outreach Exposition. I always love going outreach events because I get to talk one-on-one with the people we are supporting and I can tell new people about the program. Saturday night I went to a delicious Spanish tapas restaurant in Baltimore Inner Harbor with a coworker. I love the variety at the tapas restaurant, and their sangria was delicious.

Sunday morning I woke to bright, sunny skies in Baltimore, and was happy the work part of my trip was over. I walked the few blocks to the Baltimore National Aquarium. I saw manta rays, sharks, poison dart frogs, dolphins, and other fun marine animals. Below is a view across the Baltimore Inner Harbor toward the aquarium. After the aquarium, I caught a cab to Fort McHenry, a couple miles from Baltimore Inner Harbor. Fort McHenry is a star-shaped fort, famous for the American defense of Baltimore from British Navy attack during the War of 1812 . While the British bombarded the fort during the 1812 Battle of Baltimore, Francis Scott Key (aboard a truce ship in Baltimore Harbor) wrote a poem that he later renamed "The Star-Spangled Banner." The line "bombs bursting in air" came from the British bombs launched from their ships in Chesapeake Bay that exploded in the air above Fort McHenry, leaving the fort largely undamaged. Below is a view of Chesapeake Bay where the British Navy bombarded Fort McHenry in 1812.
After exploring Fort McHenry, I caught the Amtrak to Washington, D.C. I love how easy it is to get from one interesting, historical city to the next via public transportation on the East Coast. The West Coast has mild winters and beautiful summers, but the East Coast has that transportation thing down. I arrived at Union Station in D.C. and successfully traveled via Metro to my hotel. It was already after dark, so I settled in to my room and then went for a brisk walk, seeing the Reagan Center, Department of Commerce, and EPA as I got some fresh air. The rest of the night I relaxed and continued reading Twilight - a guilty pleasure I reserved for my trip.

I woke up fairly early and set out walking to the Capitol Building to pick up a tour pass. After picking up my 3:30 PM pass, I explored the Library of Congress, just behind the Capitol Building. The Library of Congress building is beautiful, with ornate decorations in the main hall.
The Library of Congress holds Thomas Jefferson's library, which was at one time the largest library in the country after a fire destroyed much of Washington, D.C. The Library of Congress also contains original documents from the Revolutionary War, diaries from Christopher Columbus, and a Gutenberg Bible. All in all, it was an English major's fantasy, especially Jefferson's library.
The day was sunny and the air cool with a crisp breeze. After the Library of Congress, I toured the National Gallery of Art, one of my favorite Smithsonian Museums. I traveled to D.C. last October with my mom, and we spent some time in the National Gallery then, but I decided to return to talk my time. I marveled at their collection of paintings from Monet, Rembrandt, and Picasso. I took photos of a few of my favorites (below). A photo of the National Mall looking toward the Washington Monument from the Capitol Building.After the National Gallery, I walked to the Rayburn Building, where all the offices for the House of Representatives reside. You can go to a representative from your state to request a pass to see the Senate and House inside the Capitol Building. I visited Jim McDermott's office, received two signed passes, and ran into a high school classmate who I chatted with for a minute. Small world.Before I toured the Capitol Building, I walked through the Smithsonian Botanic Gardens, which was neat, and something I'd never done before in D.C. The photo above is looking up from the rotunda at the Capitol Building dome. I was a little creeped out by the painting at the top of the dome - it features George Washington sitting like a Christ-figure on a cloud with other influential Americans sitting on either side of him.

As I looked around the Capitol rotunda at eight massive paintings they have displayed prominently, I saw nothing but old white men featured. The few women included in the paintings were in submissive poses - kneeling before a pilgrim, or Pocahontas kneeling before John Rolfe, or other Native American women screaming in terror as Americans pillaged their home. It was all a little disturbing, and though I was standing in our nation's seat of government, I did not feel especially proud to be an American. I was not represented anywhere in the rotunda, except in an unfinished statue of Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and one uncarved woman who was supposed to represent all women who gained suffrage in 1920. Yet she was still just an unformed block of marble. Not the glorified George Washington, or the towering marble Lincoln, or even the godly John Rolfe. I looked around the room at all the other women making up more than half the large crowd, wondering if some also noticed this pitiful lack of representation. Nonetheless, however, I enjoyed the tour of the Capitol Building, even though the House and Senate were closed for Veteran's Day so I did not get to use my viewing passes. I like this photo because it is sort of symbolic. There are dark, ominous clouds over Washington now, yet there are blue skies and bright days not far away on the horizon. Yes we can!
A closer-up view of the Capitol Building down and Lady Liberty. Beautiful blue skies in the background.As I left the Capitol after the tour, the sun was setting. It cast a beautiful orange-pink hue onto the Capitol Building and I had to snap another photo as I made my way toward the National Portrait Gallery on the nippy fall evening.After my tour of the Capitol, I made my way up Pennsylvania Avenue to visit the National Portrait Gallery, which is open until 7 PM, two hours later than the rest of the Smithsonians. A coworker had recommended the Gallery, and even though I was tired from a long day on my feet, I did thoroughly enjoy the museum.

They had portraits, paintings, and photographs of many of our presidents and other influential people in American history - including a number of women. One room was set aside for portraits of Lincoln; I found this especially interesting. They featured a large portrait of him around the time of his first inauguration, clean shaven and youthful looking. Five years later, there is another portrait of him that was taken not long before his assassination. His skin his weathered and wrinkled, his eyes tired and exhausted - so much change in just five years time. Looking at these portraits of Lincoln, I did feel proud to be an American, that he stood strong and relentless amidst one of the most difficult times in American history.

Also in the museum were two other exhibits I really enjoyed. One compared photographs from Ansel Adams with paintings by Georgia O'Keeffe. I love both artists, and it was interesting to see their work, style, and subject compared. There was also another exhibit of photograph portraits of influential women of the twentieth century. Their bios were inspirational and I was very happy I made the trek to the National Portrait Gallery.

After the Portrait Gallery, I picked up dinner and headed back to my hotel, with mighty plans to set out again to view the monuments and White House at night. But as soon as I warmed up (it was about 40 degrees and windy after nightfall in D.C.) and relaxed, I found myself exhausted and curled up instead in the giant king bed in my room. Next time I am in D.C. I will visit the monuments first.

So all in all, it was a great trip, and I felt independent navigating and exploring the city by myself. And it was exciting to be in D.C. so soon after such an exciting election. I hope, as always, to get back to D.C. as soon as possible.

Cheers!

Moonrise over Washington.

Color Wheel

This fall in Seattle has been absolutely gorgeous, up until just yesterday. The sun has been shining most days, and the temperature often hits low-sixties during the day. At work we played a three-on-three basketball game at a nearby court and were sweaty from the sun and warmth. I've read that fall leaf color is maximized by warm, sunny days and cool nights in late summer and early fall. This year's weather likely contributed to the incredible colors seen around the Northwest. The trees below line the streets of the business park center where I work - it makes driving to work quite enjoyable every morning.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! I carved a pumpkin for the occasion. Hope you're celebrating or at least eating a little candy corn. Halloween and Thanksgiving are two of my favorite holidays because they are so simple yet absolutely enjoyable - good times with friends and family.

Lake Chelan Wordle

I created a Lake Chelan word cloud (with wordle.net) from my Lake Chelan Vacation post. This one is just for fun - I love how "lake," "water," and "chelan" are huge. I cannot wait for my next opportunity to soak in the sun at Lake Chelan.

Left/Right Brain

A coworker shared this link with me today, and I thought it was really cool. It is a very simple test to see if you use more of the right or left side of your brain. Look at the dancer, what direction is she spinning for you? See if you can get her to change directions. It's pretty trippy when you get her to go back and forth (try focusing on her bottom, almost stationary foot).

Left Brain v Right Brain Test

I see the dancer turning clockwise, as does my dad. Most people I have showed this to see her turning counter-clockwise. This makes me feel kind of special (in a good way!). Though I think I fall in the left brain column for some of the qualities, I think I am right brained as far as: imagination rules, present and future, can "get it" (i.e. meaning), spatial perception, fantasy based, presents possibilities, and sometimes impetuous. I am definitely not a risk taker though. Hopefully my to-do list will help me broaden my risk-taking horizons.

My To-Do List

By writing this down and sharing with others, hopefully I'll encourage myself to complete the list below. Below is my to-do list for the coming months. Winter can be a depressing time in the dreary Northwest, so here is a list to keep me motivated, active, in shape, avoid any symptoms of seasonal affective disorder, and keep off that holiday pudge. Some on the list like biking and running are not always feasible in Seattle winter, but I will try my best. Wish me luck!

• Get comfortable riding my bike on the street and getting around Seattle that way.
• Try mountain biking.
• Learn to drive confidently in the snow so I can go cross country skiing anytime I want this winter.
• Start regularly hitting the gigantic set of stairs by my house.
• Try downhill skiing this winter.
• Go snowshoeing for the first time this winter.
• Complete my Adobe Photoshop CS3 Classroom in a Book so I can be proficient Photoshop user.
• Learn to not hate running so much.
• Start reading each book on my bookshelf before I buy or check out more books. This includes Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, so we'll see how long that takes.
• Sign up to volunteer for the Seattle Expanding Your Horizons conference.
• Expand my music interests.
• Navigate Washington, D.C. by myself in a couple weeks.
  
• Visit Gabs and Galen as soon as possible!

One Drop Concert

On Friday, October 17, I went with friends to a reggae concert at the bar Nectar in Fremont. The groups Publish the Quest, Project Lionheart, and One Drop performed. I was there to see One Drop. They are fantastic, and so much fun to hear live. The crowd was buzzing, dancing, and singing along with their California rock reggae songs like One More Night, She's Gone, and Little Black Dress (my favorites).
Their music is so fresh, easy to listen to, upbeat, with great vocals... I had a blast! I love the casual atmosphere of a bar concert - I chatted with the guitarist before the concert and later bought a t-shirt from the band members. I can't wait for them to come back to Seattle! And I am going to start going out to local concerts more often around Seattle.

I sold my bookcase earlier in the day on Friday, so my saleswoman money bought cover, a One Drop t-shirt, and a round of drinks for the group, with money to spare.
I shamelessly pilfered these photos from my friend who took more photos than me at the show (thanks R). I was pretty sure we were going to get smacked in the head by the bassist's guitar, we were that close. These guys rock, literally.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

That's right, for all of you astute returning Seattle Swift readers, I have changed the name of my blog. Or rather, finally synced the title of my blog with my URL. I was unhappy with "The Bluest Skies," though I love the song and wholeheartedly agree, I didn't think it unique enough and it didn't really express my blog's purpose. So now I am Seattle Swift. Cheers!

Snow Lake

In summer 2007, I hiked Snow Lake with my best buddy who was moving to Boston in just a few days. We loved the hike and were amazed at the size of Snow Lake, as well as the craggy mountains surrounding it. I have been eager since then to hike it again, and did so last weekend when Washington fall colors were in all their glory.

The Snow Lake trail is about six miles round trip, with a moderate elevation gain. The trailhead begins from Alpental at Snoqualmie Pass. You climb pretty gradually through talus slopes, meadows, and trees before beginning steep switchbacks. After the steep, rocky switchbacks, you crest the mountain ridge and get a spectacular view of Snow Lake, then you descend steeply to the lake. It was cold and windy at the lake - so we ate our lunch quickly, gawked for a moment at the gigantic Snow Lake, then began our way back up to the top of the ridge.

Halfway along the trail, there is a cutoff to the Source Lake overlook. Source Lake is a minuscule lake sitting at the bottom of the valley, feeding into Alpental. We decided an overlook of Source Lake was enough, so began the final trek back to the car.

The Snow Lake hike was fantastic for a brisk, clear October day. The colors, though nothing compared to East Coast falls colors, were spectacular and made the scenery look ablaze and lively. It was a little chilly at the lake itself, but the view was still incredible. This will likely be my last hike for the season. Next up, cross country skiing and trying out snowshoeing!

Me with fall colors, mountains in the background, and my fantastic new hiking pants and boots.

The picturesque view of Snow Lake you get after cresting the mountain ridge.

A view from our lunch spot. It was very chilly at the lake, with a brisk wind and temperatures, we guessed, around 35 degrees. Brrr! We ate lunch quickly...

A panorama of the large Snow Lake.It looks like there are little patches of fire from the autumn colors.

Vine maples trees ablaze.

Another spot where it looks like there are little patches of fire at the bases of trees from the fall colors.

A study in color.

I liked the symmetry of this photo with the waning moon in the center.

Pandora Radio

My favorite new Web tool is Pandora Radio. It's a free, online radio that plays songs you want to hear based on your music preferences. You start by typing in a song or artist and then Pandora picks a song based on similar music types. You rate whether you like the song or not, and Pandora narrows in on what you want to listen to. When you give a song a thumbs down, it immediately skips to a new song. I found the radio is not great for artists you know really well, unless you want to hear only other songs you know really well. But it's perfect if you like a particular group and want to find similar music. You can see below I typed "Third Eye Blind" and got some great music choices from Pandora - all songs that I love. So cool!

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

I have been thinking a lot lately about my favorite places. I have learned that I am the type of person who likes to categorize - favorites, dislikes, pet peeves. When feeling lost in life, I believe those categories can help keep you grounded because they are something in yourself you can define. Especially the favorites, because they are the most fun.

Of course the home that I grew up in and my home now and my friends places are up there with my favorite places. But besides those, there are other places that are no longer simply locations, but memories, personifications, and significant to who I am as a person. Looking at photos of those places makes me happy to be who I am and happy to have lived my life. So I decided to share a few of those places with you Seattle Swift readers. And I want you readers to tell me some of your favorite places!

Santa Clara University in San Jose, California. My alma mater. And one of the most beautiful places in the world. I have fantastic memories of my English classes, amazing friends, stimulating intellectual conversations, the beautiful campus, and glorious California sun. I grew tremendously in my four years at Santa Clara. Below is the SCU Mission Church and the SCU Mission Gardens - a great spot for laying out in the afternoon sun with friends. Santa Clara has taken on the qualities of an oasis for me - a relief, refuge, haven, and delightful change. It looks like an oasis too, with palm trees and green grass and flowers galore.

This photo comes from the Wolf Creek Ridge trail, one of the trails in the Sun Mountain cross country ski system. Nearly every winter of my childhood and adolescence, my parents and I drove to Sun Mountain Lodge, near Winthrop, Washington, for three days of snow and cross country skiing. This place makes me love winter weather and helps me through dismal Seattle winters. I also learned to cross country ski here. Sun Mountain was one of the first places that helped me set measurable goals for myself. I decided each year I would attempt a more difficult trail to ski, until I reached the point I was skiing two hours uphill to come screaming back down the mountain.

And of course, Cannon Beach in Oregon. My family traveled to Cannon Beach nearly every summer of my living memory. For many of those years, my cousin traveled with us. So Cannon Beach means to me that close relationship with my cousin. Cannon Beach also means sand castle building, body surfing for hours in the frigid Pacific Ocean, exploring tide pools, riding fun cycles down the beach, sunsets, shopping in town, and sand between my toes and in my hair for days. I love everything about Cannon Beach and all the memories I have from there. Below is the castle I built with my dad summer of 2007.

Some other favorite places include: Lake Chelan, CYO Camp Gallagher, Seattle, and Mont Saint Michel in France.

So where are some of your favorite places? Where do you love that has shaped who you are?