mountains – Darkk Horse Travel

Hometown Adventures: Barclay Lake, WA

Published on February 21, 2018April 13, 2018 by Emilee2 Comments

Washington state is one of the most beautiful states in the U.S. and I’m not just saying that because I live here. One of the things that I’m trying to get better about is taking the time to experience my beautiful home state instead of taking for granted all the amazing nature. That being said, this past weekend seemed like the perfect time to start getting out on some of the trails. Or at least that’s what we thought.

Saturday morning @seattlebred and I had an early start, grabbed some Starbucks and drove NE of where I live (Seattle). The drive was pretty quick, and we’d worn warm clothes because we’d heard that there might be snow. In retrospect, we probably should have checked the morning before whether there was snow that had fallen. As we were driving up the mountain road we quickly realized that things went (very quickly) from, “Hey look, some snow!” to, “Holy hell, the bottom of the car is dragging on the snow.”

Needless to say, by the time we reached the top of the mountain we were completely and hopelessly S-T-U-C-K. We also didn’t have cell phone reception. We ALSO couldn’t push the car as it slid on the compacted snow/ice.

I finally got some cell service, after us trying to dig the car out/push it for a couple of hours. So we called 911, and asked them to send Search and Rescue to save our asses. In the meantime we sat in the car for about an hour wrapped in blankets and wishing we had chains and/or a shovel.

@seattlebred getting the blankets out of the car so we don’t freeze to death

In the meantime I also took a couple of pics of my new R.Riveter bag because what else are you going to do whilst waiting for help to come? I had been so excited because this bag came the night before the hike, so just in time for some snowy shots with the bag from their winter collection.

I was a little cold and didn’t notice until afterward that the focus was on the trees in the background…oh well.

Taking product shots while I’m in the car. FUN FACT: Each piece of R.Riveter bags is stamped with the number of the lady who made it!

The crazy part of all of this is that it was so beautiful outside, all around us…but it was a little bit hard to appreciate while trying to imagine how you’re going to not only get the car somehow turned around, but then going to drive DOWN the hill in all of the snow you barely cleared coming up the hill.

When you really have to pee, but the bathroom is locked for the winter.

Luckily, a big ‘ole Toyota Tacoma came up the hill after we’d been sitting in the car for about an hour and they helped to guide not only our car, but the next five cars (which also got stuck) as they turned around and also got pointed in the direction of going back down the hill. These people were complete lifesavers and knew how to kick some serious ass in the snow-driving department. They were from Minnesota.

And yes, I stayed in the car because I have a medical condition where if I get too cold my hands/feet loose circulation and we weren’t trying to call Search and Rescue AND visit the hospital in the same day.

The GOOD news is that I still got some beautiful shots with my bag. I mean, with this kind of beautiful how can you NOT get glamour shots. The moral of the story is to always have chains in your car, and to check the weather before you head up on a trail. We won’t be making that mistake again. Thanks R.Riveter for being the highlight of the day.

Me and The Hobby bag from R. Riveter. Photo cred IG: @seattlebred

Adventures at 7,800 ft: Ouray, Colorado

Published on October 19, 2016December 14, 2016 by Emilee4 Comments

This past summer was crazy busy, and even though I went on quite a few adventures, it was hard to find the time to put together blog posts. Which is so sad, and terrible. Buuuuuut that’s the way the cookie crumbled. Now, three months later, I have a little bit more time to put together some pics of my adventures!

One of the big trips that we took, this past summer, was to Colorado. We started off by flying from Seattle to Denver, and then popped down (or was it up?) to Ouray, Colorado.

The best way to describe Ouray is to think of an old 1950s western movie, somehow time capsuled. Like John Wayne actually filmed a western in Ouray. No joke.

One of the best parts of this little town was that they had a vintage photo-shoot place where we got to take old western style photos. Needless to say, I’m not allowed to post any of those photos because soooooooomeone would be embarrassed (#rude).

I did, however think I would include some of my other photos from the trip, because it was an absolutely beautiful trip that included Jeep 4-wheeling, great meals and s’mores every night.

Our thoughts: “Imagine coming up to this when you’re driving a covered wagon?”

There were these little cabins all over, that were left from the old miners. It’s crazy how everyone just up and left.

Jeep! I love how smooth this road looks. DON’T BE DECEIVED! Half of the driving was over piled of rocks and boulders.

The wildflowers in the mountains were so beautiful! It was like walking through the book Heidi. I have a whole book full of pressed flowers, now. 🙂

Hundred year old buildings. This one used to be a barn for horses.

While starting off at 7,000 ft (which was crazy) – we actually drove (four-wheeled) up the mountains to 13,000 ft, to Imogene Pass!!

That moment when you just want to start singing songs from The Sound of Music.

Tangible Dreams

Published on May 16, 2014 by EmileeLeave a comment

71486_10200534879427882_1557643591_n — My feet and Rattlesnake Ridge, WA

There’s something beautiful about tangibility.

Call me a romantic, but I love the feeling of feeling.

I love getting ink on my fingers while I’m thumbing through the NY Times. I love pounding down the keys of a vintage typewriter. I love running my fingers over the hand tooled leather of my favorite bag, or turning the pages of a vintage book.

There’s just something about being able to touch and feel, that makes things more real.

Yesterday, I got an acceptance letter to the University of Orleans, in France. I was excited beyond words to get the email, but I couldn’t help slightly mourning that I wouldn’t be able to rip into the letter when it arrived in the mail. That being said, I’m so extremely excited, I think I can overlook missing the experience.

And anyway, next week I’ll have a scan of the original acceptance letter, and I fully intend on running through the streets waving it like a child high on 4^th of July parade candy. It shall be glorious.

Getting into the university I wanted comes with a lot of emotions – something my Norwegian roots are not used to and, frankly, have no idea how to process.

Mainly, because this is the first time I’ve really wanted to get into a university. Most of my life my parents have decided which school I would go to, and I’ve never questioned their decision-making. Even the college I went to for my BA was the same one my brother and mom graduated from.

Applying to the Université D’Orleans was the first independent choice in my education, and it feels wonderful. Think kid riding their bike without training wheels for the first time: completely thrilling, mildly terrifying and ridiculously liberating.

I’ve wanted to study abroad since I can remember. But when I was in college, it was ridiculous to even think about. Since I was on an accelerated track for graduating, there was the issue of time (I was only at the university for two years, instead of four), and there was also the huge issue of financial accessibility.

My school promised to match the tuition being spent at their campus, but since that would still have been about $40,000 (without scholarships) and with an added cost of living expenses in Europe, it was just not plausible.

So I tucked that dream away. And, honestly, I forgot about it. I forgot how much I wanted to study abroad when I was in college. How weird is that? A teenager who wants to go to school as much as possible. But every time one of my friends would announce that they were going off to whatever country they were planning on studying in, I remember being slightly ridiculously jealous.

Now, in the true nature of my life, I’m finding a roundabout way of accomplishing a dream that has unexpectedly resurfaced out of nowhere. Normality doesn’t run in my timeline.

God looks at my plans and says, “Haha. Yeah – how about this, instead?”

And the thing is, it’s always so much better than what my plans were, or could have ever been. Here I am getting ready to study at a university for an entire year, instead of only a semester. Rather than amassing more debt than I can ever pay off, I’m getting paid while I’m studying. AND I get to live with an amazing French family the whole time. Call it cliché (French word – woot!), but I feel so blessed right now.

Even though this whole process has been/is going to be filled with ups and downs, stress and hard work, laughing and crying, it’s one of those mountains that’s worth climbing in order to reach the amazing view.

Although it might not be the way I had it planned (there’ve been a few more rocks and potholes on this trail than I had anticipated), I’m learning that, sometimes, it’s the unconventional paths that reward us with the greatest experiences.

Intangible and seemingly impossible dreams can (and do) become tangible realities. Sometimes, you just have to find a different way of climbing.

‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.’

Isaiah 55:8-9

Swiss Alps 2015

Published on March 5, 2014March 5, 2014 by EmileeLeave a comment

Today I realized that next year, about this time, this is what I’ll be seeing with the au pair family I’ll be living with. I can barely believe my life. I’m so excited!

L’exécution d’une bonne course

Published on February 17, 2014 by Emilee2 Comments

1229882_10201498797485231_837854524_n — Rattlesnake Ridge, North Bend, WA

Six months from today I will be in France. And that’s scary.

In six months I will be in a different culture, with completely different people. There will be different customs, different expectations and different ways I will have to live in order to adapt to them.

But today, while I was having my daily panic/excited thoughts about my upcoming adventure, I was reminded of something a teacher I had in college used to say: “Don’t be scared, be prepared.”

With the Olympic games going on right now, athletics seem to be the go-to for life analogies, and it’s not hard to see why. It’s only one time, every four years, that these athletes have an opportunity to showcase their absolute best. And, if you asked most of them, you would find out that they have been training for this moment their whole lives. Similarly, in everyday life, we have to start training for goals long before we find ourselves standing in front of them.

Unfortunately, it’s pretty easy to see goals as far off expectations; things we can think about when we get to them. But the challenge is to start running long before we ever see the start line of a marathon. Yesterday I was reminded of this while, in church, we were talking about living the present with the hope that our future reality brings.

We don’t know what exactly lies for us in the future. For me there are still a lot of undetermined variables that go along with the huge move I’m about to make. There’s paperwork, translators, classes, packing and numerous other aspects. But, what drives me in the now is the hope of change in my future, and it takes constant reminders to remember that there is an end goal I am working toward.

Because, ultimately, I have the option to do one of two things:

1. Panic and shut down because the obstacle looks too large to conquer.

2. Start preparing myself now, so that when I reach those obstacles I’m prepared to conquer them.

If you know you will need to run a marathon months away, you start training now in order to be ready. You start running now. You start logging your hours now. You start living in preparation of the future while you are still in the present.

The people who are the most successful are the people who begin with what they have and work toward what they want. It’s easy for me to look at goals, such as learning another language fluently, or successfully living and helping take care of a family I’ve never physically met, as mountains I don’t even begin to know how to climb.

But, when I start going into freak out mode, I remind myself of the promise for hope in my future. One of my favorite bible verses is Deuteronomy 31:8:

The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.

Discouragement is one of the biggest battles when you’re fighting toward change in your life. There’s always going to be the negative input from outside and inside telling you you’ll never make it, or the challenge is too hard. But, when I start to listen to these voices, I take a minute and stop to remind myself that I will NEVER be left or forsaken and that discouragement and fear are not of God, and therefore of absolutely no interest to me.

He will never leave you nor forsake you.

It’s crazy, the power of words. They are essential to reminding us of our identity and our rite to live a life of freedom. They allow us to remember the promises of the future, by looking into the histories of our past. And allow us to work toward goals that are so much bigger than our comfort zones.

Six months from today I will be in France. And that’s scary. But fear is only an emotion – one I am not willing to allow to control, taint or command my actions or decisions. I live my life turned toward the reality of serving a God who promises me strength for today and a bright hope for tomorrow…and six months from now.

“Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will.” – Karim Seddik