The Reading Rainbow of My Heart

I’m reading a pretty terrible book right now. Normally when I don’t like a book, I give myself permission to quit after 100 pages or 1/3 of the book, whichever is sooner. I keep reading this particular story because it was written by a celebrity and...

Turns All Year: Month 55

FIFTY FIVE MONTHS!!!To kickoff my birthday month, and celebrate my 55th consecutive month of skiing, I hopped on a helicopter and took a trip into the mountains of the great white north! I’d never ridden on a helicopter (it was incredible), I’d never done...
How To Paint A Mountain Mural

How To Paint A Mountain Mural

One weekend in 2016, I painted a mountain mural on my bedroom wall. I shared it on Facebook, and was surprised by the response. My best friend gave me the ultimate compliment when she said, “You PAINTED that? I thought you bought it at IKEA!” My life was...

Things I Love: A-Z

My coworker Becca works with the ‘leaders of tomorrow,’ which is a fancy way of saying she spends a lot of time with kids and young adults. She gets to know them pretty well and vice versa. One year, as a joke, the kiddoes made her this book called Things...

Turns All Year: Months 53-54

In the Pacific Northwest, March-May are typically some of the best skiing months of the year. Most often you’ll get new snow to start off the spring, then slowly it warms up and turns to spring corn. My favorite season of all is “Volcano Season”...

Sweet Serendipity – How I Bought A House in Seattle

I love birthdays. Christmas, Easter, the last day of school…. pretty much all of the holidays kids get excited about pale in comparison to birthdays for me. Birthdays are the one day where you are different than (most) everyone else. Everyone should enjoy...

Your UNpacking Persona

You get home from a big trip and you’re exhausted. You really need a shower. The VERY last thing you want to do is unpack your crap, but you know you should…. You weigh the pros and cons: unpacking is a 20-minute commitment at minimum, putting off the...

Your Packing Persona

As I write this, I’m in the car about to begin a 10-day ski trip into the Canadian backcountry. It’ll be my first time in a helicopter, my first time backcountry skiing in Canada, and the first time without cell phone coverage for more than a day in...

If At First You Don’t Succeed, Try, Try Again

PorterPants as I call him. Lovingly captured hiking by Lisa Bowers.You wouldn’t know it from looking at this photo of my favorite little buddy, but a few years ago I didn’t like dogs. Or red wine. Or riding a bicycle, carrying things up hills, or sleeping...