getaway

I missed POTD yesterday. Oops. I think I had a pretty good reason though and to make up for a day missed I will provide a photo montage of that reason...

CASTLE MOUNTAIN!!!! OMG. OMFG (for you sister)... And any other equally awesome acronym can suit the hilarity/epicness of 'our adventures at Castle' - I think I'll title it - though I can't think of any other acronyms except for the two most obvious; my brain is hazy (and still in a state of academic hangover from staying up until 3:30 finishing a paper after a day of ripping, after a night of partying, after a day of paper writing).
So, my soul mate, and our soul friends took a much needed break from the chaoticism (that should be a word) that was M-F of last week. Dave and Renee had been to Castle but K2 were both newbies (I promise I will try never to refer to myself in the third person again). Anyways, this story could be a long one so I'll keep it short with point form, some parts may or may not make sense to the random reader but that's not my fault..
-Castle Mountain: nothing but a ski hill 50 km. off any main road. As such, nothing but ski bums to inhabit the spectrum of dwellings anywhere from rusty trailers to beautiful cabins, to the Holiday Inn type hostel, and probably a snow hut thrown in there somewhere too.
-The T-Bar: the 600 square foot bar that these inhabitants, be it 'locals' or passerby's, cause a mega ruckus. I am, and forever will be, in love with The T-Bar. The bell means free shots for all... free shots for all!
-Bachelorette parties were crashed, though I like to think we added to the flair of the evening.
-Ski poles doubled as swords that attacked unknowing margarine containers.
-Various fridges were explored in fine detail using said sword.
-Piggy backs ended in piles in the snow, more than once and more than twice.
-Heads hit the pillow past 4 to dream of the snow that would follow a few short hours later.

The riding was fabulous. We mixed the day up with some serious tree action at the top with fun cruiser blues half way up. Sometimes I couldn't tell whether a cliff was 1 foot in front of me or flat ground the light was FLAT at the top, but a few cautionary moves led to better and better light and SO MUCH FUN in the trees. I LOVE CASTLE!!!

FREAKING FUN.

OUR CREW.

What's going on behind that bag of "hot wings" Ruffles (????!) is anyone's guess

After we closed the bar down we went searching for a apres-bar trailer party. What we found was a gorgeous cottage filled with fun girls to hang with. Let the sunglass-off begin..

ROCKSTARS!

SOULMATE ROCKSTARS!

There was no way to know this at the time but this was some major foreshadowing of what was to come. Unfortunately, only I have the 6 minute video that captures the evidence and I have been sworn to secrecy by one, KMB.

Intact Margarine container.

SNOW DAY!!! Renee rocking out.

We laugh in the face of the "easy way" down.

EPIC WEEKEND. Thank you Castle :)

stuff I like - part 1

I have the tendency to get very attached to things. I think it has something to do with being the baby of the family and about as sensitive as a little flower. Aw. Anyways, there are so many things that I have that I love and cherish.

One of those things is my reusable mug. At first, I bought it because my sister likes me to be enviro-girl and I like to make her happy. It didn't take long for me to practically attach the mug to my hip. I use it every day for my coffee, if I forget it at home I turn the car around to get it. When I make my espresso at home I now drink it out of my to-go mug so it stays warm for at least 3 hours and I get to enjoy every sip slowly.

When I went to Hawaii my mug came on board with me so I could get a much needed coffee at 5 in the morning in L.A. and at 4 in the morning in San Fran on the way home. Every single morning on our trip we went to Starbucks to get delicious coffee (I swear Starbucks tastes better in Hawaii).

One day I took it whale watching and sipped my latte as I watched 40,000 pound beasts throw themselves out of the water - wicked. Anyways, on the way back I went into a lavish bathroom and left it sitting on the edge outside.. I didn't realize until the next morning when I headed out for coffee. To me it was gone. I was sad, but you know what? I knew I'd get over it... Eventually.. My knight in shining armour insisted we drive back to Lahaina and check to see if it was there. I doubted it but always like my man to be the hero so I agreed. Sure enough it was sitting there waiting patiently in the 10-minute parking zone. I guess I thought for sure someone would pick it up but when in retrospect, why would someone want a well-used mug that recently survived a tumble down the stairs?

I'm sorry for leaving you mug. I cherish you even more now that you had an overnight adventure in the big bad woods of a Hawaiian pier.

TIESTO!!!

I am completely mesmerized and obsessed with Tiesto & Tegan and Sara's song "feel it in my bones". Yesterday K2 bought tickets to see Tiesto on April 16th in Calgary....!!! I am telepathically connecting to Tegan and Sara and telling them to make a special appearance at the concert so we can GET DOWN to this song. It worked when I telepathically connected to Dave Matthews

LYRICS THAT ROCK MY WORLD

Blow by blow
I didn't see it coming
Blow by blow
Sucker Punched

Rushes in
Here to stay
Rushes in
You are here to stay

What rushes into my heart and my skull
I can't control
Think about it
Feel it in my bones
What rushes into my heart and my skull
I can't control

I feel you in my bones
You're knocking at my windows
You're slow to letting me go
And I know this feeling also
This feeling in my bones

Left hook
I didn't see it coming
Left hook
You've got dead aim

Rushes out
Run away
Rushes out
You always run away

What rushes into my heart and my skull
I can't control
Think about it
Feel it in my bones
What rushes into my heart and my skull
I can't control

I feel you in my bones
You're knocking at my windows
You're slow to letting me go
And I know this feeling also

This feeling in my bones

I take a breath
Take a breath
With me blow by blow
Take a break
Take a break
From you you are here to stay
I take my heart out of my chest
I just don't need it anymore
Take my head out of the game
I just don't need it anymore

I feel you in my bones
You're knocking at my windows
You're slow to letting me go
And I know this feeling also
This feeling in my bones

somersaults

Yesterday afternoon Kristian and his bestest friends Dave and Rene came over to Chateau Corbett Parent's for an afternoon/evening/early morning full of adventure, friends, fun, laughter and love. We toasted to our epic Sunday on the deck and swung on the world's best front porch swing before setting out in the snow to break trail up Two Pine. We scampered up playing all the while. We broke free of trail etiquette on the way down and bounded like wild animals, howling like 4 year olds, through knee deep snow. We came to the cut line about half way to home and were playing with reckless abandon. Four 'adults' somersaulted their way down the hill eventually arriving back home and feeling fully deserving of our favourite new signature drink, gatorade and grey goose. Somewhere between the top and bottom of that stiff glass I realized that my beloved iPhone was no longer in my pocket. Thank goodness that the Mac guy upsold me and convinced me to buy Mobile Me, the selling feature was most certainly the fact that I could track my phone. Well that $60 just paid for itself as we pulled up the location of my phone - EXACTLY where we were doing somersaults!! We took this as another opportunity to adventure and suited up in our warmest gear and trekked out in the dark. What night hike doesn't turn out to be wondrous, especially full of yummy vodkarade and wonderful company? More hilarity ensued and sure enough we found my phone no problem. Thank you Mobile Me for adding to an unforgettable evening, and next time I'll try to remember to zip up my pockets when I somersault down a mountain.

Hawaiian Colour

Sunset on February 17th, 2011. Kristian and I were sipping Vodka and Gatorade, what a perfect way to hydrate while you dehydrate! I was writing a paper(!), he was working(!) and we were enjoying this view from our deck. Lovely Hawaii.

Moments in Time.

Dudes... Hawaii is pretty much the best place ever, ever, ever. I have to send out a massively massive shout out to my parents for bringing me to paradise, I can't believe I've never been here and I will most certainly be back. Sapphire blue waves crash endlessly into the shore, every shade of green you could possibly conceive of is in grasp, everywhere I look there is the lushest of lush vegetation. There is the brilliantly mastermindedness of mother nature combining heat, humidity and wind. There are whales, oh yes, there is no shortage of the majestic presence here (even less so when we head out whale watching at sunrise in a few short hours). There is wild laughter, there is peace, there is love, there is wonder, there IS adventure.. There is much more to be explored and discovered in the next week, I am sure of that.

Really, this is all thanks to my amazing M&D but this post will, for now, focus on the other two lovebirds here. Most of these shots were taken yesterday, February 14th, 2011 (2OLL...????!) There will be many millions more to come, there will be magnificent quality shots that will be mounted and hung in various sacred spots, but for now, here are a few from my not so bad if I do say so myself iPhone 4.

K2 drove the road to Hana yesterday, a 55ish mile drive that is supposed to take 3 hours (I did it in 1 when we came back in the dark, when all the sensible people were already at home, wildly winding the perfectly paved road while blasting some wickedly perfect techno beats). This drive is breathtaking and if you haven't done it, it really must be experienced to be understood. There are countless stops along the way to choose from and we set out at 5:30a.m. with no sure plan except to soak up every precious moment. What transpired was nothing short of something resembling magnetized perfection created by two. Here are a few of our memories:

Early morning shot on the road to Hana, triple espressos and pumping tunes makes these two road trippers bright-eyed and bushy tailed.

This place really has to be seen to believed but basically, there's an infinity pool to my right and a 200 foot drop overlooking the great Pacific to my left all the while surrounded by electric greens. The state of Hawaii has agreed to give me the small parcel of land to inhabit (thank you kind folks). This is my new job, I watch the gear, yah baby, I watch it good, while Kristian got distracted by a King Kong sized lens and a dragon fly. BTW I am not sleeping just a meditation of sorts lying down soaking up excesses of that sweet stuff called Vitamin D and other sweet stuff that can only be felt and not written.

Further on this epic of epicness hike we came to a baboo forest. The trail lasted for about a kilometre and when you looked into the thick of it darkness took over before you could spot the end. It was like nothing I've ever experienced before. On our way back down, as the sun had set, it was like a tale out of Alice in Wonderland.

Final destination: 400 foot high waterfall cascading down on none other but Kristian and my teeny little bodies. We can't believe this was our first Valentine's Day experience. The water pounded down "like meteorites". It was such a beautifully surreal experience to share. The best part was that we were there pretty late in the day and all the people had left, other than one girl who took some pics of us frolicking under the falls for a few minutes, then promptly departed, it was just me, Kristian and mother nature at her absolute finest.

Post waterfall. Look at those happily enlightened eyes. That was some magical water. If you can't feel it, I can't describe it!

And to prove that we are in fact spending hours upon hours near the wilds of the Pacific here is a shot from the day before when my M&D took us on our family Valentine's Day outing which was spectacular and will deserve a post of its own once I get home and organized.

And, finally, here we are, two nights before Valentine's Day lighting up the dance floor at one of Maui's hot spots. Yes, there is tequila in hand, and yes, after the bar closed down there was a short period of time that was spent passed out on a random piece of beach. All in all, an EPIC, EPIC, hilariously fantastic night full of Hawaiian sugary drinks, patrone and NON-STOP groovin'. SO FREAKIN' FUN!!! The next day, however, was not. After a repeat performance of a hangover morning comparable to mine and Lindsay's last morning on the Amalfi Coast I pulled myself together by throwing up, drinking coffee and Gatorade and getting on with another day in paradise. Only in Hawaii can a hangover go from 10-0 in a matter of hours.

Surreal. So real. Soul real.

intro

Big events in my life are always included in my blog (obvi :p). Sometimes I use my blog as a means of random chatter directed at whoever may need a mild dose of procrastination, but mostly I use it as a means to remember some special moments throughout my years. I'd like to turn it into a public journal of sorts, filled with photos and stories of my adventures. I admit I haven't been as diligent as I'd like to be, but I'm working on it. Maybe I'll make it a new year's resolution next year Krissy :)

Anyways, point being.. Special moments have been bursting through the seams as of late and it's time to make an introduction of that special someone 1/4 responsible for that. The other 1/4 being me and the other 1/2 being this universe to which we have no control over. Enter Mr. Kristian Bogner. Human being extraordinairre, there is nothing ordinary about this man nor our rapidly expanding relationship. Get ready for upcoming gush people.. And some great photos :) K2 (as we like to refer to ourselves) are off to Hawaii in a few short days to experience and photograph some ridiculous adventures and beauty that this world has offered to us.

Side note: guess who just won Alberta's photographer of the year? click to be impressed
Oh, and p.s. keeping clicking, as big things are happening in the world of KB.

snow days

I'd recap my weekend but I think that would be next to impossible. I'll just say this it was filled with snow, snow and more deliciously white snow, cold temperatures, nature, company, food, drink, all things necessary for survival. I survived the weekend. Oh, yes I did. Today is filled with nothing but sunshine.

whale love

Three weeks tomorrow I'm headed to a place I have always, always wanted to visit. Lucky for me, this trip materialized out of nowhere about a week ago and I couldn't be more excited!!

My Ma & Pa visited Maui last year for the first time. My Mom begrudgingly 'dragged' my Dad there who didn't think he'd like the American factor. They both ended up LOVING the laid back attitude of the island and quickly booked a small condo on the beach for a month February-March 2011. Because my parents are the bestest and because we have so much fun together they invited me for two weeks. I get my very own place right on the beach. Ahhh, heavenly.

Since my computer and I have the freedom of going absolutely anywhere as long as there is an internet connection, "we've" been enjoying working on the couch at home or in various coffee shops around the city since beginning my Masters a few weeks ago. Soon though, our view is going to get much more spectacular as I will be doing my work from my balcony while sipping an equally spectacular Hawaiian drinky.

February is smack dab in the middle of whale season and it's rumoured that Hawaii is one of the best places in the whole wide world to watch Humpback whales migrate. I'll see them left, right and centre ALL the time. For those of you in Bangladesh or Taiwan, you don't know this, but I LOVE WHALES. Ever since I was little I have been obsessed. I was seven when we went for the first time off the coast of Tofino, I was so, so, so excited... Until, we headed out in one of those sturdy inflatable boats. Well, being seven I wasn't sure about this dingy and cried thinking the whales were going to come and tip us over and EAT US. Ha, so cute I was..

We survived and my love of whales deepened, I had a sweatshirt with whales on it, I had a chart indentifying all the different types, I was a bonified fan of the whales. Now, here I am twenty years later and still as curious as ever.

I am so looking forward to the sun. I am so looking forward to the beach, the ocean. I can't wait to soak up some humidity. I can't wait for runs outside in shorts, sipping drinks on the balcony, hanging with my Mom and Dad and other friends who will be over there. I can't wait for a tropical holiday that came to me much sooner than expected, but mostly, I can't wait for the whales!!!!!