What's up with the McBrides!

When you're a little behind on blogging it can seem a little daunting to catch up. While chronologically I should do our spring break trip next, it seemed like a big post that I couldn't quite manage at the moment, so instead you get to see what's been up with each of us since April and next time you get to hear all about Vancouver, BC!

Let's catch up with Alex first! Alex is nearing the end of 8th grade and has found a lot of things to enjoy here in Washington. While school isn't his favorite place, he has straight A's! 

He finally had his first in-person band concert since Covid! I'm excited for him to continue music in high school with his brother and have some more fun experiences.

He has continued his bake sales here in Washington. He has sold M&M cookies, snickerdoodles, brookies, red velvet cream cheese sandwich cookies, fudge, sugar cookie bars, cupcakes, mini pumpkin breads and his best selling Brookies! 

He has used the money from his bake sales to fuel his retro video game obsession, and save up for an awesome 3D printer! (this is actually his first 3D printer that spawned interest in getting a better one) I took this video of my Silhouette going at the same time, look how crafty we are!

He's also found a good group of friends at church that love all the nerdy things he does! Here they are playing a game while eating pizza and listening to some music. They regularly get together to work through their D&D campaign. Funnily enough Spencer is the brother of Cade's girlfriend, and Noah and Heidi are cousins of Spencer's. Where would we be without the Cornwalls?

Alex also just got braces!

Now how about Cade? He is finishing his sophomore year with mostly A's, and has probably found something here in Washington we least expected. A girlfriend! Mackenzie (also a Cornwall) is a beautiful girl inside and out and probably has more in common with Cade than anyone on the Earth. They're both band nerds and get to share a lot of those experiences together. They've been dating nearly 6 months now!

He has since cut his hair, but I love this picture of them! Cade also has a good friend Moroni and the three of them often hang out. He also has a good cohort of friends at school, and he had them all over for his 16th birthday. That's right, he's 16!!

And he has his license! Here he is washing 'his' car. It's a glorious PT cruiser (have you seen how expensive used cars these days???) We've nicknamed it the Chick Magnet and it is our family's 3rd car.

Cade participated in track in the spring and of course did as many music things as possible. He does jazz band after school, and recently started playing with a group called SOGO, the student orchestra of greater olympia. A lot of the school programs don't have strings, and the band programs often lack, so this is a community group they can audition for and join. This weekend he's participating in another musical experience down in Portland called Music in May! Soak it all in Cade! (he sounds so good!)

Now for the man of the house- Dan! Since the mask mandate lifted in Washington, the band has finally been able to play again! I have to imagine that having a purpose to rehearsal makes a huge difference. There will always be things about the other duties he has at work that aren't the best, but getting to play and perform is why he does it all!

We all kind of went into hibernation from all the construction of the winter, but Dan has been instrumental in continuing to get this house into shape! He finished painting the ceilings and he worked with Alex to put up a fence on the side of the house that was missing since we moved in.

All we have left are 2 bathrooms and a laundry room to fix up before saving up for a full kitchen remodel! Dan also loves getting out on his motorcycle whenever he can (that darn rain!), because there really is some beautiful country around here.

And then there's me! How about a quick health update? It's been a saga just to get consistent health care here, but I think I've finally got a primary care doc that will be sticking around, the kids have a place to go, and all referrals are in tact. Only took 8 months. My pulmonologist has taken me off the 3 antibiotics that were treating my lung infections because he feels it has improved. We will do another CT scan in a few months to see if anything has gotten worse since being off the meds. My fatigue has improved overall since my time in San Antonio, but it has gotten worse in the last few months, probably related to pushing myself too hard at times. Still trying to figure out how to manage it and see if we can find the root cause. I deal with a lot of chronic pain as well, and when fatigue gets real bad, so does the pain. I see a rheumatologist in June so maybe some more answers to come my way? We'll see!

I feel blessed that I've been able to find a lot of accompanist work in the short time we've lived here. We need every penny to help survive the inflation, gas prices, (and braces, and teenage care insurance) and overall cost of living in WA! I've played for several middle school choirs, solo and ensembles, and most recently the high school musical! This summer I even got a job playing piano for a kids theatre company.

Ready for another Cornwall in our life? That's Kelly Cornwall, pianist extraordinaire, and mother of Mackenzie and Spencer! Oh, and her husband is a percussionist and our Bishop!

In late April, Amy and I were able to meet up with our good friend Janel on the other side of Washington for a TOFW conference. It's a religious 'retreat' where there's speakers for a few days and gals just get together for a spiritual boost and a good time hanging out.

I've tried to do my part around the house, keeping it up and clean as well as with the construction. I even planted some flowers, and they're not dead yet! This is a big deal for me. Probably helps that it rains here all the time.

I also got to start playing some percussion in the area! South Puget Sound Community College (SPSCC) plays a big role here in the area, and they have several performing groups. Bishop let them know of my skills and I received an invite to help out with their orchestra. This is actually how we found out about SOGO for Cade, because so many SOGO staff are part of the orchestra. They even asked me to be a Teaching Assistant for the percussion of SOGO next year! More and more musical opportunities, yay!

And of course I'm trying to keep upping my game with Calligraphy so I practice and come up with ideas for my Etsy shop. I recently re-designed my shop page and added some new items so feel free to check it out! https://www.etsy.com/shop/laurashandlettering

That is what we're up to! Spring has definitely sprung here, and now at the end of May we are thinking we 'might' be getting out of the rainy season. The extended forecasts have had a lot less raindrop pictures in them! Spring was just lovely here with so much green and blossoming trees.

This tree is in our front yard

We've done a few fun things with the Bennetts. We got together for Easter and had an EPIC easter egg hunt! And by epic we mean that we hid the eggs way too well and it hailed and rained on the kids while they were looking for them. Not sure how much fun they had, lol. But we did have good food and made some lasting memories.

playing some minute to win it games- easter style

decorating the yearly bunny cake

And then for Joe's birthday we went on a fun double date. Amy got tickets for the American Car Museum and we had dinner at a nice restaurant on the Sound. 

We've also tried to get out and about a little bit as time and weather have permitted. When Dan's sister Kristina visited for a weekend we went up to Port Townsend and found ourselves some sea glass!

And just this weekend the weather was so nice that we just had to get out and enjoy it. We went to Tolmie State park at low tide and hunted for clams and sand dollars. We came home with enough clams to clean 'em up and cook them. Couldn't be any fresher, right? Good job Chef Dan! It was my first time having clams, and I would've enjoyed them more if there wasn't still some sand in there along with them, lol.

Now the only thing you don't know about us is what our trip to Vancouver was like! Next time :)

Cape Disappointment!

Now that it seems that winter and the worst of the rainy season is behind us, we've started to come out of hibernation and continue to explore the PNW! Ok, that was like the worst sentence ever created, but I'm going to just keep going!

We had a Saturday in March that nothing was planned so we took advantage and headed to the coast. Where we live in Yelm, you can find other water front areas to visit that are much closer, but if you really want to see the ocean you need to travel a ways. We've had lots of good suggestions on which beaches to visit, and for this trip we settled on Cape Disappointment. 

Cape Disappointment was 3.5 hours from Yelm, and while we won't often drive that far for a one day trip, I'm super glad we did. If you're wondering why it has that name, here's what the NPS website says a quick summary. "A notable landmark of the Pacific Northwest, Cape Disappointment was already named by the time Lewis and Clark reached the site in November 1805.  The first known documentation of the site was in 1775 by Spanish explorer Bruno Heceta, who named it “Bahia de La Asuncion,” or Bay of the Assumption.  Then in 1788, British trader John Meares named it “Cape Disappointment” when he mistakenly believed that the mouth of the Columbia River was only a bay. 

Meriwether Lewis laid eyes on the area in mid-November 1805 – he proceeded on by land while the rest of the Expedition sheltered at Dismal Nitch.  He returned to camp on November 17 and Patrick Gass wrote in his journal, “They had been round the bay, and seen where white people had been in the course of the summer; but they had all sailed away.”  For this reason, Cape Disappointment had a different, unhappy meaning to the men of the Corps. 

Today, the Cape is a Washington State Park which pays tribute to the many different uses of the area, from military outpost during the Civil War and World War II, to iconic lighthouses. Hike through old-growth forest or around freshwater lakes, saltwater marshes and ocean tidelands. Gape at the breathtaking views. Launch your boat from Baker Bay. Benson Beach is a popular clam-digging destination, and fishers love to set up on the North Jetty to catch salmon and crab. The beaches at Cape Disappointment also lure kite-fliers, sand-castle builders and those who love to walk and explore."

There are so many areas to explore out here and we started out at Waikiki Beach. Nope, not the one in Hawaii! This was not quite as tropical, but certainly spectacular. The beach was littered with driftwood and the sand was black. The jetty and the rock cliffs created for some gigantic waves that we didn't tire of watching.

 

After Waikiki Beach we drove over to the jetty and caught some different views of the beach we were just on. It was also the perfect time for a lunch break!

Then it was time to visit the Cape Disappointment lighthouse. We'd heard it was a strenuous hike, and really it wasn't bad except I haven't done any hiking since becoming ill. It was rough there for me for awhile, but I stayed slow and steady and was able to soak in the views.

First we passed through an old military installation that still had bunkers and pits in the ground for massive guns. 

Half way through the trail to the lighthouse there was a sign to go back down to ground level and visit Dead Man's Cove. I wasn't excited about the physicality of the detour, but this was an idyllic cove that seemed straight out of a movie. I guess it was called Dead Man's Cove because ships would end up getting stuck in there. It was so cool!

Then we went back up to the trail and up the rest of the way to the lighthouse. This is one of two lighthouses in the Cape Disappointment area. While it was closed for tours, it still was perfect for picture taking, and great to get out to the coast and see out to the ocean and all the way to oregon!

My new favorite picture of carson!

All of these adventures were in one area at Cape Disappointment state park. After spending most of our day here we still had one more lighthouse we wanted to see before heading home. It was just a short drive to find North Head Lighthouse.

Surprisingly, even though these lighthouses are fairly close to each other, of similar sizes and builds, the area at North Head Lighthouse had a very different feel to it. The area was so much more vast and you really got that ocean feeling. You could see down the coast for miles and just watch waves of waves approach the beach calmly. 

I'm so glad we took a day to get away and explore. It makes us remember the things we were looking forward to about living in Washington. After all the housework and then the cold and rain, we kind of forgot. If things are feeling glum, get outside!

Oh and on the way home we saw the world's largest oyster!

The state of things today

 

This picture may not mean much to you, but I actually felt the need to snap it because it's the first time in many many months that I *almost* have all the right dosages of my medicines. I feel like this is the perfect image to represent just how messed up things are right now, and I know it's not just me.

We should play pandemic Bingo. The free space in the center says "you've had something cancelled", since that's happened to every single one of us. Maybe there's a space for delta and omicron. At lot more of us could put a chip on omicron, right? Ate a meal in your car?  Showed up at a store or restaurant only to find it closed at a very normal time and day? Something costs twice what it used to? My favorite right now would be a space that says "had to go to 3 different stores to find something basic like noodles". 

I think we'd all have a blackout game. So many things are rough right now. I remember when I first started blogging about the pandemic I only could guess at what some of the ripple effects would be. You can't just stop the world and then get it back going again apparently. 

I guess I'm just wanting to put some of this 'on record'. Something to look back on. There were some moments where it felt like things were getting back to normal, but it really never has. The story of my medicine really stems from pandemic related problems. We got here and established care with my PCM, which i was already at the point of needing refills by the time I even got that first appointment. Since then it's been a battle to get the right medicines and the right dosages due to mistakes, long wait times between appointments and referrals going through. All paperwork is SLOW due to everyone being understaffed. I got some of my meds the first time and then when it was time for another refill my PCM had quit. They didn't tell me until I called and asked why my refill wasn't being processed. The only way to get my medicines (while still waiting for my first appt with the pulmonologist) was to go to an urgent care... filled with people testing for covid. The urgent care doc put in for all of my meds, and then the pharmacy was out of stock of half of them! What? Before I knew it it was January and I finally got to see a pulmonologist who promptly fixed my antibiotic meds, but i still don't have a PCM who can fill all of my other meds. Ugh. I'm getting closer!

Have you had similar woes with every day things? We even had to take our dog to the vet for an urgent visit and I called our vet's office on base and they don't have any doctors in for month. That makes NO sense! Then you wonder if they're sick, or if somewhere else was so understaffed that they got pulled there to help. It's just really been a wild and bumpy ride that no one gave us dramamine for so I'm nauseated and want to get off. We might just have to get used to the ride...

A very fun date day!

Part of Dan's birthday present was to go to a Korean Spa together. Well it turns out the spa I got him a pass for was a women's only spa! Thankfully they refunded our money and we found a place that was more traditional and allowed men and women in the co-ed area.

If you aren't familiar with Korean Spas, it's definitely a different experience than you might think. This is not to get your hair or nails done, it's meant to rejuvenate your whole body and mind. You start off in separate areas where clothing is, I'll say optional. It's optional in the states, but in Korea you wouldn't see anyone in clothes there, it's just not done. My first time in a Korean spa was in Korea, and it was definitely a culture shock and an uncomfortable at first, but eye-opening experience. It's actually really nice when you can get past the weirdness that we hype up in our minds and just 'be'. You can get to a point of just appreciating your body for what it is and how God makes us all so different yet all so amazing. I am in terrible shape right now, but I never felt judged or ashamed.

So in the first area, you shower real good so you're super clean. Then you can pay for a full body scrub and be the cleanest you've ever been in your life. I did this in Korea, but opted not to this time around. Then after you shower you can enter the saunas and various pools/spas. This location had a steam sauna, dry sauna, hot pool, warm pool and cold pool. The idea is to flush out the toxins and impurities in your body by getting your body temperature up and then when you're ready to leave you get in the cold pool to close all those pores and regulate your body temp again. We spent about an hour apart in our separate spa areas. I enjoyed moving from area to area and just relaxing my very tired body. It felt great.

After our time apart we put on our little shorts and t-shirts that they give us (pink for me and blue for Dan!) and met on a different level. This level had 4 rooms where you do more meditation and purifying. Here's a picture of Dan and me in the Himalayan Salt room. You know those salt lamps? This whole room is made of that! The bricks are salt, underneath our towels are salt rocks, and there was a heater surrounded by more bricks. It was so relaxing just laying in there for as long as we wanted. We chatted and Dan listened to a book for awhile.

The other rooms were a jewel room where the walls were completely covered in amethyst, an ice room, and a clay room. Sadly, the last two rooms were closed. I think if those rooms had been open I'd be ready to come back here a lot more often. But we really only spent time in the salt room and cooled off in the lounge area. If anyone ever wants to join me, let's do it! It's so refreshing and great!

After sweating everything out at the spa we were hungry! It's not surprising that there were lots of Korean restaurants in this area of town. It's probably a good thing we don't live closer, or we'd never eat anywhere else! Here we are at a good ol' Korean BBQ place! It never fails to be sooooo good! If we go back we're going to go in the basement of this place and get Korean Fried Chicken!

While we were eating that delicious dinner, we joked that the one thing that would make this night perfect would be to have some Bing-su for dessert. It's a VERY finely shaved ice topped with fruit, ice cream, sweetened condensed milk and other yummy embellishments. It was a pipe dream because we've never been able to find it in the United States.

until....

Now! They have it literally down the street from the Korean Spa we went to! (This was all in the town of Federal Way, btw) While it wasn't AS amazing as in Korea, it came pretty darn close! And it wasn't necessarily a Korean restaurant either. The place was called Cafe Noir and they had a wide assortment of food, treats and drinks! 

This is definitely a 2-3 person dessert!

I even made a little video of it so you could see the texture of the shaved ice. This is not like Bahama Bucks or that type of flavored ice. It's as if someone shaved vanilla dip n dots or something. You just have to experience it sometime!

I'm not sure what it is about having a Korean day like this that is just so much fun. I'm glad we can do all this just about an hour away from where we live! Go Washington! (To be fair Dan says the Korean Spa in Dallas is much much better, but it was never close enough for him and I to go together, he just went when he was traveling)