2008...a year in revue

As I look back I can thankfully say I'm glad 2008 is over. There wasn't much normal about it for us at the Martin home. Timm's mom fell in January and suffered from a broken hip. She never came home and passed in March. My Grandma passed away just a day later. She died unexpectedly. I had both knees operated on in March...on my birthday. We ripped up carpet, textured and painted walls and the ceiling, layed laminate flooring and more in the house during this period also.

Scott and Christy were married Mother's Day weekend at the Valley of Fire. It was an awesome day! I did the flowers, we made a cup cake wedding cake, and shopped for the wedding dress with Christy along with the rest of the planning that goes into a wedding.

With a short time to breathe I crafted like a mad woman trying to get ready for fall shows.

In August, we went on our first cruise...to Alaska. It was the most awesome experience! The weather was perfect everyday. We stopped in Juneau, rode the tram to the top of the mountain, panned for gold and enjoyed dinner at the Salmon bake. In Skagway, we took the bus into the Yukon, rode ATV's in the world's smallest desert, had a great BBQ lunch, and took the train back into Skagway. We ventured into Glacier Bay National Park, saw the glaciers calf as well as see the mountains on a gorgeous day with blue skies. Ketchikan was our last stop, there we went crabbing, enjoyed a crab feast, and spent some time shopping. We shipped out of Vancouver, Canada, there were enjoyed a bus tour of the city.

We hit the ground running to work on the house. We bought Timm's family home and property. Papers were incorrect and we had to wait until after the cruise to sign...again. We had ripped out the carpet and torn down the ceiling in the living room before we left for the cruise. Timm, his brother Bill, and a co-worker, Joe put up a new ceiling. I textured the ceiling and a couple of the walls. A ceiling is hard work by the way. Paint choices were not quite right the first time so back to Lowes...again. I swear I was there everyday for 2 months, sometimes several times a day. They know Cassy at this point. We had new counters installed. They are the coolest thing you've ever seen...petrified river bed. I have to admit I was a total brat at the warehouse when they didn't have it in stock, I had made up my mind that was what I wanted and nothing else would do. They lots of gorgeous stuff, just no what I wanted. We also had oak flooring put in...after much distress about the floors not being level. I must say the floor guys were prima donnas. They installed it the second time they were here.

We moved into our new home on our 26th anniversary, October 1st. Most of the house is complete but there is still work that continues. We haven't even started on the master bath.

We did make it to a few campouts this year. In January, we retreated from the chaos and went to Tecopa, exploring mines and more near Dumont Dunes. Memorial Day took us to Gap Mountain NV. Good times were had riding our ATV's through the worst rain we've ever encountered. June took us to Hatch UT. Always great riding there. Thanksgiving weekend, we went back to Tecopa with friends. There were a couple of day rides in between also. Fuel prices played a large part in the number of places and how far away we went along with a lack of time.

My craft shows were numbered this year. I added a few new ones, dropped a couple of old ones, started my own with a friend, traveled to Utah, Reno, and California (for the first time). I was the Vice President of the Las Vegas Crafters Guild also. Things are changing, some not by choice but I look forward to regrouping and preparing for 2009. I don't know what it will bring with the economy the way it is...but does anybody really know? I just pray a lot about it.

Ketchikan, Alaska

Oh my gosh, I didn't finish telling you about our Alaskan cruise. Things have just been so hectic with the house renovation and getting ready for craft shows. Anyway, our last stop on the cruise was Ketchikan. This is a really neat place and wish I had more time to explore there. Next time I will not plan so many shore excursions (as great as they are) so we can do more exploring around town and taking in the architecture, shops, etc. Notice the photo of Timm pointing up...he is pointing to the Ace Hardware sign. He and his nephew, Guy have quite an infatuation with them. He quote to Guy was, "They're everywhere!" The Duck boat is an amphibius vehicle that tours through town on and off the water. I think that would have been neat to do also. We didn't get to explore Creek Street either, that's the old red light district. The houses are built on stilts and the houses sit half way over the creek (to serve both sides, the streets and those on boats). We did most of our shopping here for souveniers, mostly for the kids.





Our tour at this stop was the Wilderness Exploration and Crab Feast. We took a bus out of town (along with a short narrative tour) to the George Inlet Lodge. From there we boarded a small pontoon boat and headed up the inlet to a small cove where they set crab pots daily for dungeoness crab. Timm got to pull up the pots. We had several crabs and a sunflower starfish in the pot. They prey on crabs so once one in the pots no more crabs will go in the pots. We passed the old Libby Cannery to and from the cove. It's the buildings on all the pylons (is that the right word?). It apparently shut down just before Alaska became a state. Back at the lodge we dined on dungeoness crab. Let me just say it is delicious! I think Timm ate 3 whole crabs, I had one. Dessert was homemade cheesecake with fresh picked blueberries...YUMMY!


Ketchikan gets 14 feet, yes, I said 14 feet of rain each year. Although we had a lovely day full of sunshine (as with almost all of our trip). What a difference from Las Vegas with a whopping 4 1/2 inches (and we haven't even come close to that this year). That would explain why moss grows on the rooftops of homes and businesses there, especially on the flat roofs we could see from the ship and home with asphalt shingles. One house had a lawn that seriously needed mowing, must have been a foot tall.
Ketchikan sits on one of the largest islands in North America yet there are only 36 miles of road. They have police and state troopers for those 36 miles, I think that is hilarious. Where are you going to go if you were to steal a car, really. The forest is sooooo dense you aren't getting off the roads.

Oh, and Timm 'mooned' some obnoxious local teenagers as we left town. I couldn't believe he did that...then again...
We were heading south back towards Vancouver after Ketchikan. A whole day at sea, saw some whales and dolphins, relaxed, and didn't want to come back to reality. I really wanted to take 'June', our cabin steward home with us. What a wonderful young man. He took his duties to heart, was very personable and kind...and made the cutest little towel critters.