5K Accomplishment

I did it! I ran in my first 5K on Sunday. It was the "Bog Jog" in Grayland, WA. The run took us by cranberry bogs and if you did the 10K, onto the beach. It was a beautiful morning, though very cold. I didn't come in last, and I didn't walk at all so I accomplished my goal. My friend, Susan, convinced me to do this and I'm glad I did. We are already looking for our next race - maybe a Santa run in December!

That's me on the right (#332)...we are about to high five Susan's 3 year old son at the half way point. Isn't it sweet that her husband was waiting there to encourage us and take photos?! My hubby & kids were at the finish line to do the same.

Friday My Town Shoot-Out: Silhouettes

I'm so excited to have my pick as the theme of the week! I chose silhouettes because I just love the way they look - it is that simple :)


This is from my archives but I just had to include it. This is the group my husband and I herded around the zoo for our son's field trip last year. They are looking out into the African savannah.

More recently I caught a silhouette of a ship in the fog. If you enlarge the picture you can see a surfer heading out to catch a wave!

Another foggy silhouette of a seagull preening on a pole off of the seawall.

Pelicans are my favorite birds....here is one flying by the channel marker at Half Moon Bay:

While the ocean is now closed to salmon fishing, they are running through the marina and these guys landed a nice slab that looked to be 12-14 lbs. I hope to get some dock fishing in myself.

This tree is off the side of the highway between Grayland and Tokeland, just a few miles south of Westport. We zip by it all the time on our way here and there and I have always wanted to stop for a photo. I was thrilled to be able to take a silhouette shot. I love this tree!

What a beautiful night this was and I was so lucky to get our viewing tower silhouette against the sunset.

And finally, this was one of my favorite shots from my archives of a December storm in 2008. Christmas day brought high winds, high tide, and quite a swell so the dock area flooded. Christmas festivities were postponed because my husband works for the city and was out sandbagging and driving heavy equipment to clean up the roads. It gave me a chance to go get some fun shots like this one of some (not so bright) people walking on the beach trail as the waves came up over the rocks.

I hope you've enjoyed my silhouettes. Click on the camera to see other participants' take on this theme. Thanks for stopping by!

Friday My Town Shoot Out: Building Study

This week I headed down the coast a few miles to Tokeland, Washington to shoot the historic Tokeland Hotel. Rather than confine myself to my teeny, tiny town, I use my school district area for shoot-outs. That gives me a few more opportunities and keeps you from having to see the same places over and over. Tokeland is at the south end of our district and is located on Willapa Bay. The hotel is said to be haunted but I didn't catch any ghosts staring out of those windows on my shoot-out. Click here to get more information on the hotel: http://www.tokelandhotel.com/home.html

Thanks for stopping by My Town...I appreciate your comments!

Oh, yeah...I almost forgot that this is where my husband almost proposed :) We had dinner in the restaurant and his plan was to propose but the hostess put us at a table right next to people we knew...and the rest of the restaurant was empty!!! Mike chickened out and I figured my suspicions were wrong. He ended up asking me during a Sportscenter commercial later that evening. I have since forgiven him ;) It is funny, though, because fourteen years later our life revolves around sports (he coaches HS football, JH basketball, elementary basketball and Little League baseball so I guess it was an omen.

Friday My Town Shoot-Out:My favorite place to....

My favorite place to get my espresso fix:

I'll have a 16 oz Dirty Debbie, please. That is an Americano with steamed half-n-half, raw sugar, and topped with whipped cream.

My favorite place to volunteer:

My favorite place to be on a Friday night in the fall:

I love that I have a bay view while watching a high school football game. GO WILDCATS!

My favorite place to get a book:


My favorite place to eat out:

I only photographed the sign because the restaurant had a fire and is temporarily closed. There is a giant ugly dumpster out front. I can't wait for them to re-open - they are very missed!

My favorite place to get a sandwich, specifically a Sweet Maui Onion Pork Sandwich:

This is The Mermaid Deli, home of the yummiest sandwiches.

My favorite place to run:

I am training for my first 5K and I love to run on this trail. You can't beat the beach view.
Here is my daughter having a peek at me with the bay behind her. This shot reminds me of the viewfinder in Toy Story! **Update - Actually, Kent is right - it looks like Wall-E!

These are the places, outside of home & work, where I spend the most time, though not necessarily in order!! I didn't take a picture of my very favorite place to be because it isn't very pretty, but it would have to be my bathtub with a coffee and a good book!

Thanks for looking!

Friday My Town Shoot-Out: Animals (Domesticated)

Friday My Town Shoot-Out was started by Patty & Reggie Girl to show off their towns and took off from there. Fifty people now participate in showcasing their towns via the different topics chosen each week. The assignment for September 18th was chosen by Sandy from Apache Junction, AZ. Check out her post at www.flyingwg.blogspot.com/

I should probably duck and cover before I say that I am not much of an animal person.

Are you still there? Do you hate me? There's enough room in cyberspace for all of us, right?

A couple of years ago we got our daughter a wascally wabbit for her birthday. Meet Sweetie Pie:

She loves to chew on things (grrr) but snubs carrots in the house. She prefers to munch in the privacy of her cage. She'll allow you a snuggle but once you put her down, forget about catching her. She runs around and thumps her foot to let you know to leave her alone! She is house trained :) and enjoys snuggling into her pink toile bed.

My neighbor is a cat lover. She has no less than 4 cats at all times and mothers any strays that come her way. Unfortunately I think someone has figured that out because the cats keep coming!

I think this is Dahlia - most of them look alike so I'm not totally sure.

I think her cats are cute, I don't mind seeing them poking their heads out of the bushes along the driveway or hanging out in her driveway. However, the evidence my son found in my backyard while playing football, I do mind!

The picture I really wanted for this post is eluding me. I have a sweet elderly neighbor who stands out near the road with his dog several times a day. At least he did until I needed a photo of him. I held out on posting this because I was sure I'd catch him this morning but I haven't. If he is out there this afternoon I will add the shot later!

**UPDATE: Here is my sweet neighbor and his baby, Poco.**

Aren't they adorable?
Thanks for looking!

Friday Shoot-Out

Animals (Domesticated) coming soon...come back in a few hours!

Friday My Town Shoot-Out: Aged & Weathered

Today's theme, Aged & Weathered is the brain child of Pauline. There are a couple of shots that I really wanted for this week but I had a flat tire today and wasn't able to go get them. Maybe they'll fit into a future post. You can hop on over to http://paulinespaddock.blogspot.com/ to see what she came up with.



Now a residence, this was once property of the Coast Guard. You can see the sign still hangs on the side. It is definitely aged & weathered. See the moss on the roof?! I wish I could remember the history on this place.






Here are some old bottles in an old window of an old house.


I don't know how comfortable I would be boarding this boat. It is an old wooden commercial boat that has seen better days.

Thanks for stopping by! I love your comments. Also, see the camera for a list of other participants in this photo scavenger hunt that shows off our hometowns.