Whirlwind!

It's been a while and lots of stuff has happened since my last update.  I have a Master's degree. Yay! I went to the Olympic National Park! I started running again. I got into a biking accident. I'm going to Hawaii in a couple of days. I'm going to start volunteering in another lab. All good things.

First, this Master's degree in MSE. Yes. I'm awesome. I was hooded.  The hood is absolutely amazing. It has all my favorite colors: purple and gold/yellow for the UW colors (go dawgs!) and orange for engineering (woo engineers!).

Didn't really want to take this picture, but Thanks! dad! Way to be a paparazzi and get a nice shot!

We had dinner at Ohana restaurant in Belltown.  I love Hawaii! It was good.  The salmon sushi was the best.  The cocktails were a hit or a miss.  I liked the drink with cream and coconut the best- I don't remember what it was called though. Later, we went to the Coppercart and Del Ray.  Del Ray seems to be a staple in my dancing and nights out.

The family at Ohana...so appropriate!  This makes me think of Lilo and Stitch! Who doesn't love that movie??? My favorite part is when she's late to hula class because she has to go feed Pudge the fish. LOVE LOVE LOVE!

Next! Camping!

This past weekend I went to the Olympic National Park.  We (me and the boys) camped at Sol Duc camp grounds, near the Sol Duc resort. The hot springs weren't that great. The Hoh rainforest also wasn't as spectacular as I remember. It was a wee-bit dry. 

 Sol Duc Resort

Rainforest

Weird Unicorn in the Rainforest

That night we had some chicken sausages from Trader Joes, zucchini with garlic, and some onions, accompanied by chips...and for dessert! S'mores! The zucchini was so good. It was very simple.

Camping Zucchini: 

Al foil

cut up zucchini

cut up fresh garlic

Put in Al foil, create a packet to keep in the moisture, place on the fire. It cooks up in about 10 minutes depending on the fire...ps. I totally started the fire! haha

The next day, we headed to Hurricane Ridge. It was spectacular.  I didn't make it all the way to Hurricane Hill but the view was great regardless. Dan was afraid I'd fall off the edge of where we were standing...I do have the reputation for being quite accident prone.  He had valid concerns. 

View from the hike to Hurricane Hill

More Views!

Quick stop up to the Park station, pretty.

I've been quite busy!  This week I head to Hawaii.  First to Oahu then to the Big Island. I'll have plenty of awesome pictures from that...I'll also have some awesome stories and food to report as well. Mmm.

As for tonight! softball league and a run! :)

keep keep keep trekkin'!

Caramel Coconut Chocolate Concoction (Alliteration!)

My Master's defense presentation is tomorrow and of course there has to be some kind of treat to entice the masses (or not) to attend!  

I saw this recipe on the Cookin' Canuck blog, and I gave it a tweet with what I had and the number of people I'm anticipating.  I know you are all wondering, what in the world are you doing baking when you should be preparing.  Well, baking is calming for me. The apartment smells delicious now. I have to either buy it or make it and I'd prefer to make it.  I have to impress by showing off my culinary skills!...and here I can show my baking skills and maybe my photography skills??? haha Do I have any? I don't know, but I'd like to think positive - so I have skills in photography. 

On to the recipe!  I had to double the recipe and didn't have enough brown sugar, so what did I sub??? dundundun! CARAMEL!

Step 1: 

Preheat oven to 350F

Make the crust first: 1 cup oats, 1 cup all purpose flour, 1/2 cup packed brown sugar,

1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1 cup coconut shredded (I used non-sweetened)

Place in a bowl and combine with 12 tablespoons of butter, melted.

Combine until well mixed.

Cover a pan with tin foil and spray with oil.  Put the crust mixture in the tin foil and press into the pan. 

Bake for 11 minutes

Smell the goodness!!

Let the crust cool and start on the fudge chocolate inside. 

Step 2:

Place 3 cups of dark chocolate and 4 tsp butter in a microwave safe bowl and heat for 2 minutes.

Take out and stir.

In another bowl, place 1/2 cup flour, 1/4 cup packed brown sugar, 1/2 cup caramel sauce (mmmm),

1/2 tsp salt and mix together. 

When the chocolate has cooled, mix in 2 eggs. 

Mix everything together. 

Pour over the oat crust. 

Smear the goodness around. Cover with caramel sauce.

Let bake for 10 minutes then add shredded coconut.  Let bake for 10 minutes and then cover with tin foil. Bake for 5-10 minutes.

Cut into pieces! I had to cut off the edges because I didn't want to present them...slightly harder/slight burnt.  It's ok. I means more for me!! Or whoever has a sweet tooth...the boy. 

I did some laundry and went on a run.  It was the first run without stopping for a while!  It was good.  I was definitely going slow. I ran 3.35 miles at 9:40 pace.  That's slow compared to where I was at in January, but I'll get back up there with more consistent running.  I want to run a 5k at 7 min/mile pace but I don't know if that will happen this year.  I'm thinking 8 min/mile pace by December will be a more attainable goal. Wish me luck!!!!!!!!

Oh and luck for tomorrow! Send the good vibes.

EXERCISE OF THE DAY June 2, 2010

Hmmm, those of you that know me know that I LOVE exercise and I LOVE competition.

Lately, I haven't been doing as much due to shoulder surgery and my Master's defense ju

st around the corner, but I do lose those days that I get in something. I want to start doing an exercise of the day and maybe that will motivate me even more, or you, who ever you may be! If you want to share an exercise then please do. I love new and challenge moves.

I love all kinds of exercises- gymnastics, Olympic lifting, crossfit, running, etc. I think Crossfit has some of the right ideas but I'm not in total agreement, since, it's seems to have a crazy emphasis on the upper body. I'm not always a fan because I look at weights and I gain muscle. Some may say it's a blessing but not always, especially when I gain too much muscle (thank you rowing).

Workout of the day:

800m warm up run

leg swings- front back, side to side (loosen up those muscles and hips)

high knees

butt kickers

grapevine

lateral shuffle

main:

8x 200m sprint, 200m jog

4 rounds

20seconds on, 10 seconds off

as many as possible

push ups

dips

800 m jog warm down

stretch, talk, be merry!

I still need to do my physical therapy. I don't have any pictures of me exercising, perhaps next time I'll take a picture or two. I'll leave you with a beautiful picture of Snoqualmie Falls in Washington State. There is a nice hike down and a even better hike back up. I'd totally do hill repeats there...haha yea, I am probably the only person to think that instead of spending all my time admiring the waterfall...but, hey, that's me.