Canadia Day 3

On Sunday (Day 3) we of course went to church with Chizm's family. Guess what. The Church is the same in other countries too. Good to know, right?

Anyways, after church we went to Waterton for a picnic with the Payne side of Chizm's extended family. His Grandpa Payne was awesome. He kept taking pictures randomly, just like my Grandpa West does. Made me feel more at home oddly enough. When he emailed the pictures to us, the album was titled Katie at Waterton Picnic. I felt a little like a celebrity.

 There was a car with my name on it in Waterton. That means it's mine, right?

 This is picture that I don't actually like, but it helps explain the next picture. My head looks bigger than Chizm's. Which cannot be correct. At least I hope not.

 So here he is, trying to figure out how to measure our heads to compare. This is probably my favorite picture ever. At least right now :)

 We saw 4 bears!! And, although I bet you won't be able to find them, this is a picture of a mommy bear and her cub. Also, it documents the beauty that we were driving through.

 This picture just makes me giggle. 10 points to whoever can guess why.

 If you look really hard, you can see some cool rock stacks in the middle right of the picture, next to the waterfall. I really wanted to find out how to get down there so I could check them out, but it would have taken far too long.

 Our sheep friends. Apparently, in the wilderness, sheep aren't fluffy. Goats are. I was so confused. What is the difference between sheep and goats? Because I always thought that it was because sheeps were wooly and goats weren't.

We got real close to them. We also saw some mountain goats, but they were too far away to photograph.

Canadia Day 2

The second day of my trip involved a long walk, which was expected since I was with Chizm. We hiked 10 miles (18.something kilometers) to see one of Chizm's favorite lakes, Crypt. We started our hike at 4 pm, which meant we got to hike back down in the dark. Chizm said this hike was a test of my abilities and general toughness. It was one of the most unique trails I have been on. To get there, you have to cross Waterton Lake. We canoed. I was so glad that we had two strong men so I didn't have to paddle.

This is Jonathan and Ridge. Jonathan is Chizm's cousin and Ridge is Chizm's little brother. He was a trooper. Hiked basically the whole way by himself.

Canadians are too tough and manly to bring water bottles with clean water. They just stick their faces in a stream and drink. I also drank from the stream, but choose to scoop the water up in my hands and then drink. Easier to tell if there was a floaty.

This was our next water break, and the pictures do not do it justice at all. It was stunning. I would have been okay just chilling here and not continuing on to the lake. Although I am glad that we did.

The waterfall comes from Crypt. It looks tiny, but trust me, it is huge. Somewhere around this spot, Chizm and Jonathan were gazing around in wonder at the rocks making up the mountains. I just kept walking. Chizm said something to the effect of "Obviously rocks do not move you like they move me" which was pretty humorous. He would be correct, while rocks are lovely, they are not as cool as water or living things.

We had to walk along this extremely narrow ledge to get to the tunnel (really, a tunnel!) to Crypt. I felt like a mountain goat. I forgot to take a picture of the ladder that we had to climb up to get into the tunnel. I felt bad for the construction team who had to put the ladder there. Not a lot of good footing.

Chizm peering into the tunnel. It was not a very big hole. If I was claustrophobic, the whole thing would have ended very badly.

On the other side of the tunnel we had to cross a cliff (more or less) with no ledge. They just expected us to hold onto a little cable while we crossed. Chizm was so cute about Ridge, he kept telling him to hold on with both hands and grabbing onto the back of his shirt to make sure he was safe. He was less gentlemanly with me. He didn't even check once to see if I was okay. Rude.

That little tiny black hole is where the waterfall comes out of Crypt Lake and begins its plunge down the mountain side. Pretty, huh?

Finally, the promised land. As far as lakes go, it was nothing that special, but the hike was super fun. Also, we got there just as the sun was setting, and the reflection of the sunset in the water was beautiful.

Just a sweet photo I took from the inside of the tunnel. Chizm is waiting to climb down the ladder to get back to that teeny ledge I mentioned earlier.

After this, it got too dark to take pictures, but we had to canoe back across Waterton Lake in the dark. The stars were so bright, and the air was so cold. If I wasn't so cold, I could have stayed out there for hours just looking at the stars.


By the way, I passed the Crypt trail test with flying colors. Hiked those boys into the ground. Ha.

Canadia Day 1

I love flying. I have just decided that I hate airports though. The first day of my trip was spent traveling from 5 am to 12 am. Long day. But I did get to fly over the Grand Canyon, which was sweet. (apparently you have to fly to Phoenix to get to Calgary) 

See the Grand Canyon?

Also, I had the most delicious breakfast sandwich while at the Phoenix Airport. It had an over-easy egg, bacon, melty cheese, tomato, and avocado. There was some other stuff, like a bun and mayo, but that is boring stuff that most sandwiches have.

 I love sitting next to the window and taking pictures. This one gives me some odd vertigo or something with its crazy angle.

Tiny houses!

So, recently I have stumbled across something on the web that has changed my life, or at least where I picture myself in my future life. You see, I have never been a big fan of huge houses: more area to clean, more space to fill with junk, huge cost, and just a general waste of what could have been a big yard.

So when I discovered tiny houses, I immediately decided that I wanted one.
They are so cute and fun. Plus, they are automatically easier on the environment, and best of all, cheap. You save on building materials, utility costs and all sorts of things.

And there are so many options. I could build one on a trailer thing:

Fencl Plan

Bedroom & Sleeping loft: 130 sq ft

Ready made: $53,997

Built it yourself: $23,000

I read the blog of a couple who lives in a house very much like this one, and they spend an average of $5 a month on utilities. Much less than what I currently spend.

 

Or a teeny one with a foundation: 

Beavan Plan

Box Bungalow: 99 square feet
Kit Base Price: $11,999
Assembled Base Price: $13,999 

Or a larger one with a foundation:

Sebastarosa Plan

2 bedroom/1 bath: 750 sq ft

Estimated building cost: $49,000

I really think that I am going to do this. And I will build it myself. Being a sculptor has given me all sorts of useful skills when it comes to building things. I will probably go for the last one, since I do hope to have a family some day, and I doubt that it would be comfortable to live in such cramped quarters.

 And I am pretty sure that wanting to live in such a small house makes me at least partly a hippie, specially when you add in other life style choices I am trying out (bike riding instead of driving, somewhat trying the raw diet, becoming a minimalist). I suppose this all comes from being an artist. The more artsy you get, the weirder you are.

The company who designed the houses above is called Tumbleweed Tiny House Company. Check out their website (with more awesome plans and information) at http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/

This is where I got the title of my blog.

Maira Kalman, The Principles of Uncertainty

I found it on this blog, which is my favorite: 
http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2012/07/25/maira-kalman-on-identity-happiness-and-existence/

How I Almost Got Married in Mexico and Other Fun Stuff

This last week, I had the opportunity to go to Southern California with my Canadian friends (actually at the beginning of the trip, I only knew one of the Canadians--Chizm). It was awesome. I even got to go to Mexico.

Gilbert Arizona Temple. This is actually the second day of the trip, but the first day was super boring. Also, Arizona was hot and humid. Which was miserable. The rain/monsoon was beautiful though. We went swimming during storm. So much fun.

Mesa Arizona Temple with my good friend Morgan Charles. Haven't seen him since Christmas time when he graduated. It was super fun to catch up with him.

MEXICO!!! My very first foreign country. I didn't have a passport, and I was sure I was going to get stuck there. Turns out all you need to get back into the US is a valid driver's license.

The entire time we were walking around Los Algondones, one of the Canadians (Nephi) wanted to see a Cathedral. We found one. The only thing he had to say was, "That is not what I was expecting."

 Chizm drinking a refreshing beverage. The lame brain almost let me order water. Luckily, I remembered that horchata is delicious in time to avoid getting some nasty disease from drinking contaminated Mexican water.

 Random story: While we were walking around, a nice man named Pepe told us we could get married for $5. Or, if that was not what we wanted, we could get divorced for $2.50. Totally could have gotten hitched and then unhitched for the low, low price of $7.50. Suh-weet.




 Our first beach, La Jolla. There was snorkling and cool caves to explore. I love San Diego. Someday when I am old, I am going to retire to that place.

Same day, new beach: Mission. I was freezing. Had to go buy a super attractive jacket thing. Gained a new nickname too, the Mexican Girlfriend.

I have no idea. Boys are weird.

So, at some point while driving through Arizona, a random gentleman told us that our tire wasn't going to make it another ten miles. He was wrong. It made it another several hundred miles, then gave up the ghost on our way to Six Flags.

Perhaps we should have listened to him.

 Six Flags is awesome. So many roller coasters! And they are huge. I just read a news article about a boy who got hit by a pigeon while riding one. And Fabio got hit by a goose. I was lucky to not have a bird smack into my face. That would have been painful.

Third beach, Laguna. By far my favorite. It was not super populated, and was gorgeous. Plus, I found some sweet sea shells. 









Same beach, just without those two uglies ruining the scenery. I am totally going back.

 Fourth beach: Santa Monica. This is us on the pier which is the very end of Route 66. We are so cool. There was a playground for grown ups on the beach, and the people there are seriously skilled. It was like being at a circus.

Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nc5F10BQfSs

Sea World!! I love this place with all my heart. Chizm looks kinda grumpy in this picture though.

This fish was huge and super ugly. Chizm was trying to show how big it was, but the picture didn't turn out very well.











Ugly fish, cool photo.

 Me with some seals. I was so sunburnt I could barely move, and all sorts of tired.

 Making a funny face while waiting for the 4D thing to start. It was not what I was expecting at all. One does not normally get wet while watching a 3D movie.

 Under the sea!

And to end my long post, here is a cow on a roof.

Actually saw this. I am someday going to own a store and put a cow on top. Yes.