A Week of Hunting

Hunting! What a great week. For all of you that don't know, my siblings Hannah, Molly, Kurt, and I were all drawn for Branch Bull tags this year. I got the happy news while I was in Europe, and we have all been anxiously awaiting October 20 since then. We went up last Sunday(dad and Tim went up on Thursday to set up camp) and got all ready to start hunting on Monday. There were six of us in total, the four hunters and the two guides, my dad and brother Tim. We hunted all this week. Although I haven't brought home an animal yet, it has been one of the most fun weeks. I will admit that I was a little afraid to spend so much time alone, crammed into two little tents, with five other people, but we had a fantastic time. We got up every morning at 5:30, ate breakfast, and started walking. Some of us had farther to walk then others, but we all saw lots of incredible views, and lots of elk. Every morning this week I've watched the sunrise while sitting on the edge of a cliff looking for elk. It was so much fun.

I have all of next week to hunt as well, but my chance of seeing a bull could drop excessively since all the regular season spike hunters will be roaming around my mountains looking for a spike(a spike is a young bull with only one horn on either side, for all you non-hunter types). I don't know if I'll see a bull, but I haven't given up yet.

I took lots of pictures, and here are a few for you to enjoy.

This was the view I had every morning this week. I'm not sure that pictures really do it justice.

Kurt and I hunting right before sunset.

My view of Mt. Rainier

Brian and I


Believe it or not this picture and the one right below were taken approx. 1 hour apart.....the weather can change really quickly.

Before the storm blew in.

(*note* when sitting on the edge of a cliff for hours and hours it can get boring, and taking pictures of your shoes becomes common place. I have so many....but I'll spare you. I'm not the only one either, my sister Hannah has quite a few of her boots as well.)

Kurt packing out his bull.

All the boys walking home after the long, but successful, hunt.

All the girls

Tim looking for elk for me to shoot.

The Great Escape

The SAGA

Carrie and Hilary's Escape.

Having just escaped from all responsibility.....we gaze at one another.

When I said escaped.....I meant escaped.

Seriously!

We made it through the Jungle!

After surviving the jungle....I made sure I could see properly...

so that I could ward off any scary men(or beast....or both)

Hilary was there to look cute.....as always.

As you can see in this photo......the excitement was overflowin(We don't get out very often).

We saw interesting things along the way..

I spotted some thievery

But O So glamorous.

I pondered.......

And mulled over options.

And then I scoped out our situation......

And so did Hilary.....

And we decided on some drinks....

Now, as you can see in this next photo......

We decided on drinks without caffeine(for good reason).

The drinks were definitely dance worthy.....

but, all good things must come to an end.

so we gadded our way home(That one's for you).

Though complete.....never forgotten.

The End.

(P.S. Hilary may have remembered our day going a little diffently.....but don't believe her.....I am always right.)

What a Week

It's only Wednesday, and yet I feel as if this week is never going to end. Not only has it been emotionally challenging, I was sick all day yesterday with a fever and an inability to keep anything in my stomach including water. Today I feel much better. I feel like sleeping all day, which is neither possible, or a good use of my time. I cleaned my room though, which was necessary, because some High School friends that now live out of town are going to be staying with me this weekend so that they can attend the funeral. Although this is the worst of circumstances, I've been talking to people that I haven't talked to in years. It is so good, and I need to make sure that I am sharing the gospel with them when possible. Well, I'm off to accomplish more, but I just though I would update on how I was doing. Thank you all for your prayers and support. It is so special that I have people that truly rally around me in the midst of difficult times. Thank you all.

Life

For those of you that don't know, my friend Chelsea Garner was killed in a car accident this morning. As I was sitting on my bed, tears in my eyes, thinking of all the times she and I did fun, crazy things together in High School, I couldn't help but sit down and start typing. The first person I talked to said that even though this is a terrible thing, death is a part of life. I was thinking of that, and wondering at it's validity. Yes, death is a part of life, but what a small part. My friend Chelsea, who I've known ever since I was little, became a Christian last year. She and I talked extensively about how God came into, and changed her life. She truly was a new person in Christ. As I praise God for her friendship, and what a bright and sunny person she was, mostly I praise God that He saved her. I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that I will see her in Heaven. She has died, but not a permanent death. Because Christ died for our sins, she now lives. I can sit here and smile knowing that God is in control, but mainly that Chelsea isn't dead, she lives in Heaven with the Most High King. What a privilege.

Wonderful Weekends

Pullman is a town full of incredible people. If I had to decide to come back to school at WSU solely based on my opinion of the People in Pullman, I would move back and never leave. We had such a great time at the highland games, watching the men compete, and enjoying the fellowship that comes so easily to a group of true, bible believing, Christians. Not only did we get to celebrate Heidi's upcoming marriage in style(aka our "Game Over" shirts), we got to spend time with some of our closest friends. What a great weekend.

Here are some pictures of the festivities. Some are of the Bachelorette party, and some are of the games.

Hilary didn't make it in this group photo(she was taking the picture). This was right before we left for the Wine Cellar. We had a lovely time, and we shared a bottle of some very good wine. Hilary learned a few things about wine etiquette, and I thought that was great. She did a fabulous job ordering our wine.

This is the whole group at the Highland Games. We had matching shirts that said "Game Over" with a picture of a Bride and Groom. We got the shirt idea while we were in Europe(it's a European tradition for Bachelorette Parties). One night, while walking down the streets of Bonn, we saw a shirt hanging in a print shop window with this design on it. Jane, of course, re-did the design, and I made the shirts. I thought they looked great.

This is the cake I made for the party. I am having so much fun making these fancy cakes. This was the best one so far. The cake was dark chocolate with Nutella between each layer, and then a chocolate frosting underneath the fondant. It traveled very well, and it was so much fun to finally eat. It's great when things look beautiful AND taste delicious.

Hil and I together at the Highland Games. It was fun to be back at the Pullman house, but at times a little strange. The two of us lived in that house for nearly two years, and in many ways it still feels like home even though none of our stuff is there. I love being in Pullman with Hilary, it is always a delight.

O these strong, strong men. That was one of the most intense tug-of-wars of ever seen. These guys really go all out.

O Yeah!

My uncle paid for us to ride this, mostly just to dare Hilary. She was so nervous, it took me nearly 30 minutes to convince her to go. Well, in the end she had the time of her life. It was awesome! I would go again in a heart beat(and so would Hilary!)!

Fall

I love Fall. I think that these cooler days, which beckons me to retrieve my sweaters and gloves from storage, are my favorite of the year. I am not always a fan of the very chilly early mornings where getting out of bed is almost impossible, but after my day has begun I realize why I love this time of year. Harvest is nearly over, so the stress of summer life on a farm is starting to ease. I missed most of the summer, and in many ways it doesn't feel like it's time for summer to be over, but it is. All my siblings are back in school, and along with them went my mom this year. I have began to realize how often I called her for little questions and/or favors. No longer. I now pick up the phone to call her right about the time I realize that she isn't going to pick up.
My life is slowing down, but not as fast as I would like. With many events and other commitments filling up my time fast, I'm busier then I would like to be. I'm extremely excited for Heidi and Luke's Wedding which is now less than three weeks away. I'm so thrilled for them, and it is fun to see them prepare for this next huge step.
I know it has been a while since I've posted on this blog, and I am going to try to follow up soon with some pictures of everything that is going on.

Congratulations

We had a great family dinner last night celebrating Hannah's Graduation from Cosmotology school. We are so proud of her, and excited for her. It is such a big accomplishment. Well, here are a few photo's from the evening.

Jheiryn, my super cute nephew

The family getting ready to eat.

The chef!

The graduate

Me and Hannah

Good Morning, Good Morning

Well, I am up early this morning for another great day of work. I am going to be at the Dowlings today and my niece, Veheir, will be hanging out with me all day. It is 5:22 in the morning and I can hear a ton of Police cars, I wonder what happened. Anyway, I am excited for the day, and happy to be able to get things done.

My camera was broken in Europe, but I got the new one yesterday so I've been taking lots of pictures. I decided I would post a few.

Maggie on School Pictures Day

Maggie and Tre together

Veheir jumping onto the bed....she is SO cute

Maggie relaxing before school

Maggie and I

Tre and I

Me with Tre and Veheir

Tre being cute

Tre being super sweet to Veheir.

Becky's incredible Flowers. This is our balcony. They are so beautiful.

Veheir jumping onto the Bed. Earlier she was standing on the foot board and actually jumping onto the bed, but in this video she mostly just falls. She definitely has the Calhoun/Williams fearlessness.

Amazing Race

So, I am totally aware that it has been a while since I updated. Well, my life hasn't changed to much, I go to work, I sleep, I eat, I go back to work and so on. The only thing that changes is where I go to work. Some days at the restaurants, some days at the farm and some days as a nanny. I do enjoy working though. It's great earning money after not working for two months.
Our youth group did the Yamazing Race today all around Yakima. It was pretty great, and the kids seemed to have had a good time. I'm glad that we did it, even if my team didn't win. I love the Amazing Race, and I'm so competitive that even just being a taxi driver was fun for me. I love my youth group kids, they are incredible people.