reflection

With the start of a new year right around the corner, I find myself wondering where did 2011 go? Before I make any 2012 resolutions, I want to take a moment and reflect on this past year. There was death, new life, love, and of course, lots of adventures.

I started the year by joining the smart phone world. I don’t know how I stayed away for so long.

2011 will go down in the books as the winter that wouldn’t quit! We loved the long ski season enjoying powder days after powder days after powder days. I’ve always dreamed of getting snowed in on a Sunday night in Tahoe and this year it actually happened! Hwy 80 was closed and we literally could not get home to go to work on Monday so we sucked it up and stayed the night in Tahoe, getting fresh tracks with no crowds the following day :) 2012 winter doesn’t look like it’s shaping up to be the same, but we’re still hoping the snow shows up.  

As is the cycle of life, we had death as well as lots of new life this year. We lost my grandmother in the spring. She was my last grandparent which seemed to make the loss more difficult. She was such a loving, caring, and beautiful woman and is missed by us all. We also welcomed 5 babies into the world – my boss became a father, my cousin had a baby girl, my sis-in-law had a baby girl, and two of my dear friends had babies as well. There are already a few more on the books for next year too as more of my friends and family are pregnant with their first.

We celebrated some milestone birthdays with my mom turning 60, my golden year (turned 28 on the 28th, although most people had never heard of a golden birthday until I told them) and Luke turning the big 3-0! Mine was spent in the mountains and ended with a marriage proposal on top a snowy mountain, and Luke’s was spent at 11,000 feet in a blizzard on Mt. Shasta. I don’t think either of us will forget our 2011 birthdays anytime soon!

We managed to get to a few concerts – Tim McGraw, The Band Perry, Luke Bryan, Thompson Square, Dierks Bentley, Florence and the Machine, Mumford and Sons, and Green Day.

We attended a wedding in Texas, a local one in Sebastopol, and then of course, our own wedding in Healdsburg. The second half of the year was filled with wedding activities – planning, crafting, showers, bachelorette and bachelor parties, bridal shows, dress shopping, cake tasting, and finally the beautiful day. Next came our honeymoon in Kauai, and we finished up the year with the holiday season in Sonoma County and Carson City, NV.

Oh, I almost forgot! This year we got a new addition to the Blank Road family - a tractor! Luke is very excited about his latest tool and has big plans for the property in 2012.

Those were my highlights. The year sure flew by. I hope you had a great 2011 and take the time to reflect on your year as well. Enjoy the last few days of 2011. See you next year!

happy holidays

It's December. I thought I should remind you all of this fact because you surely forgot if you were out and about in Sonoma County this past weekend.

Shorts and t-shirt in December

Luke and I figured that since it wasn't snowing, we might as well take advantage of the sunshine and go for a bike ride. We ended up riding from our house in Sebastopol to Santa Rosa to Lake Ilsanjo in Annadel State Park, and back home to Sebastopol. Over 42 miles when it was all said and done, not bad considering we were on mountain bikes. We tried out some of the great bike paths in Sonoma County - the Joe Rodota Trail and Spring Creek Trail - which were a welcome change to the busy streets of Sebastopol and Santa Rosa.

The tree is up and it is beginning to look a lot like Christmas around the Young household. Merry Christmas and happy holidays from our house to yours!

Ellie, Luke, Gracie, Katrina

Looks like Gracie found a new place to sleep!

one month ago

I married my best friend. People ask us is anything different now that we are married? The answer is no, everything is still the same, nothing has changed much besides my name. We are still the same people living the same lives as before. But at the same time something is different. I somehow feel more love and a sense of belonging. When I lay my head down at night I know the person next to me trusts me with his heart and life not just for now, but forever. And I trust him with mine. Of course I knew this before we got married, but saying those vows on that warm fall day somehow made our commitment to one another even more meaningful, stronger, and amazing.

The professional pictures are starting to come in. Here are just a few. I will share some of our favorites with you when we get the rest of them!

happy thanksgiving

Oh how I love Thanksgiving! Brisk air, colors changing in the vineyards and trees, smell of turkey in the oven and a crackling fire warming the house. Every year I like to start out Thanksgiving day with a bit of exercise to burn off some calories before the afternoon of eating! Normally I try to sneak away for a quick run, but this year I tried something different. After an early morning boot camp session of sprints, lunges, push ups, and bleacher runs, we met some friends and family in Windsor at Foothill Regional Park for a hike. Despite the sprinkly morning, lots of other walkers/runners/dogs had the same idea and were out enjoying some fresh air and exercise.

It was a fun morning, great way to start the holiday, and the day got even better when the sun decided to come out and bless us with a beautiful Thanksgiving afternoon. We spent the afternoon eating, drinking, and hanging out at my parent's house. Cathy cooked up a delicious meal of the usual suspects - my favorite being the stuffing, mashed potatoes, and gravy. After dinner and dessert we met up with Luke's parents and family friends for round 2 of dessert and a friendly game of dominoes.

Pumpkins from Cathy's Corner

Cathy cooking up a storm!

Gorgeous view from water tower

The table ready for our Thanksgiving feast

Brothers, Matt and Doug

Brothers-in-law, Jimmy and Luke

Three black dogs - Ellie, Fank, Charlie

Waiting for some treats

Luke and Frank

All night I was debating on whether or not to brave the stores for a little Black Friday shopping. Ultimately I chose to sleep in instead and enjoy a quiet morning while Luke was out hunting.

Listening to Christmas music for the first time this year as I type this!

Happy holidays! I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving day filled with good food, great company, and lots of laughs.

So much to be thankful for this year:
- My husband
- Wonderful family and friends
- Gracie and Ellie (Frank and Charlie too :) )
- Warm house
- My job
- My health

honeymoon

Luke and I spent a wonderfully relaxing and rejuvenating 8 days on Kauai, known as the garden island of Hawaii. We stayed in Kapaa which was a great central location enabling us to easily travel north or south to Princeville and Poipu and really explore the island. Kauai is a few hours ahead of California time and I don’t think we ever really adjusted to the time change. We woke each morning before the sun and fell asleep each night before 10:00! The condo we stayed at was about a 2 minute walk to the beach so we started each day by making some coffee and walking, coffee cups in hand, to the beach to watch the sunrise.

We did so much and it is such a beautiful island that it is hard to pick just one favorite thing of the trip. Highlights include taking a dip in Queen’s Bath, snorkeling with a turtle, hiking the Na Pali coast to a secret beach and the biggest waterfall I’ve ever seen, taking a muddy ATV tour and seeing a wild pig, renting stand up paddle boards and trying to catch a wave, local bananas, kalua pork, Duane’s Ono Burger, Chicken in a Barrel, hiking in the pouring rain and praying the lightening storm didn’t get too close to us, running along the Kapaa coast, river crossings and muddy hikes, Kauai happy hours, going directly from the beach to the rental car drop off to the airport (still in our wet bathing suits!). I guess pretty much everything we did on the trip was a highlight!

Our digs in Kapaa

View from our room

Plantation Hale, our home for 8 days

Enjoying some local goodies

The sunrises we fell in love with

Playing with the "Just Married" flip flops my mom gave me

Taking in the morning

Cool roots along the side of the road

Snorkeling at Tunnels Beach and the Na Pali coast in the distance

Kee Beach and a seal sunning itself

Queen's Bath

Luke taking the plunge into Queen's Bath

Enjoying a Kauai sunset

Who knew our dessert would be so big! We ended up taking it home and enjoying this dessert all week long.

Hike to the top of the Sleeping Giant. Views of Kapaa and the Wailua River

Kayaking on the Wailua River

Muddy hike to the secret falls via Wailua River

Enjoying another sunset right before our dinner at The Beach House

Enjoying another sunset right before our dinner at The Beach House

Life is good - soaking up the sun in Poipu

Luke loving his kalua pork burrito from Da Crack (delicious hole in the wall we found in Poipu) 

Local guys catching some waves

Another beautiful sunset

Luke getting ready for our ATV tour on the Kipu Ranch

We got VERY muddy

What was a white shirt....

is now a homemade Kauai red dirt shirt!

Another sunset!

Hiking along the Na Pali coast

HUGE waterfall. See Luke in the picture for some perspective.

Our last sunrise

Enjoying our final minutes in paradise by eating lunch outside at the Lihue airport

The weekend after we got home, we saw this amazing sight. Hawaii may be warm and beautiful, but it has nothing on our Sonoma  County sunsets!

Good to be home!