Hiking Flattop Mountain

Every year, Nate's family takes a vacation to Rocky Mountain National Park. We have been going a few years now and usually there is one intense hike that we do. Three years ago, we got up to hike in the dark and then watch the sunrise from above tree line. This year, we didn't get up that early (only 4:30am), but did have an ALL day hike. This was the 8.6-mile round-trip hike to Flattop Mountain. This is a hard hike in general, but since this was early June, there was still a good deal of snow on the hike. For about a full mile to mile and a half in the middle of the hike (meaning up to 3 miles round trip) we attempted to hike through, around, and on top of snow banks, measuring up to 3-4 feet. That is the part that really got me. I could handle the sun, elevation, exhaustion, but that snow... it really did me and everybody else in. However, we persevered and all got up to the top! And then persevered again and all got to the bottom in one piece! It was definitely one successful and intense hike!

L: There was 4G pretty much all the way up the mountain so Nate was using a remote desktop app to control his computer at home and run some code! Of course!

R: Nate and I at the Dream Lake Overlook (995' climb up and 1.6 miles in)

T: Panorama as we were approaching the tree line (with Nate's cousin and uncle)

B: Nate and I at the Emerald Lake Overlook (1,882' climb up and 2.9 miles in) -- this was after a good deal of the snow so we are happy but exhausted

T: Nate taking a picture of the crew all huddled up and eating lunch (2,660' climb up and 3.9 miles in)

B: Panorama of the perennial snow bank right before the top (I may have taken this a bit too quickly because I was unrealistically worried about the threat of avalanche)

T: Panorama of the top of Flattop Mountain (4.3 mile hike and 2,849' climb up to put us at 12,324' -- over two miles up from sea level)

L: Nate and I posing by a flag near the top

R: A shot from the top where you can see the parking lot where we parked our car (surreal and sort of sad!)

Cropped Cardigans

My friend Laura wanted a few cardigans cropped to be shorter. There are quite a few tutorials online for this kind of thing, and it seemed very straight forward. Of course, I measured about twelve times before cutting and then I found out the sweaters were all a little bit different so that was annoying. One of the four I cropped was a full inch longer than the others. Just for funzies (and to annoy me!).

I cut the middle of the sweater out so that I could attach the ribbing to the top part of the sweater. The button spacing, thankfully, aligned close to correctly so that was nice, but if I were making it a different size, I could see the button spacing being too short between the top and the ribbing. I needed to pin everything pretty intensely, because it was stretchy material and the machine tends to pull the bottom through faster than the top so if you're not careful, you can get some large differences between the two fabrics you are sewing.

All of the tutorials recommended a zigzag stitch, which is usually what should be used for this. However, I found that a different stitch was better -- I think it's a modified blind stitch but I can't seem to find the correct name for it on the interwebs. This stitch has the zigzag but also has a few straight stitches on each side (this is the stitch I have used to hem at least a dozen of my brother's shirts). This caused the fabric to ripple less since there was less thread going back and forth. In the end, all the cardigans looked nice and cropped, and Laura was very happy with her newly modified cardigans! The sleeves didn't need any modification because they were already 3/4 sleeve but they could be modified exactly like the main part of the cardigan.

Sodastream & Flavored Syrup

This is something that I have wanted to mention on this blog for a while, but now is a good time. For Christmas, Nate's parents gave us a Sodastream. Specifically this Sodastream model. This is something I wanted for a long time because I like drinking carbonated water. It was really easy to use and we started using it in January. It did come with some "syrups" and they were ok, but not great. The suggested dilution was WAY too syrup-y and sweet so we haven't really used them at all.

We have had to replace the carbonator twice now. Once in mid-April and once yesterday. I thought this was going to be super hard and frustrating, but we just went to the Bed, Bath, & Beyond (there is one next to Costco so it's super convenient) with the old one and they had new ones there. They are apparently $15, but Bed, Bath, & Beyond honors their "$5 off $15 or more" coupon for them so it becomes $10, which is really cheap for about 3 months of carbonated water.

At first, Nate was skeptical of the Sodastream, but now he uses it almost as much as I do (which at least once a day). So, if anyone is really into drinking carbonated water and thinking about getting a carbonator, we really recommend this one. Yes, you can make your own and yes, that's probably cheaper and handier, but the Sodastream is really easy to use, takes up very little space, and the cartridges are super easy to replace.

So, recently, especially now that it's summer, I have been wanting to find a syrup that I can add to the water to give it a little bit of flavor. I started looking online, and all of the syrups I could find were just sugar. They had high fructose corn syrup listed as the second ingredient. I didn't want sugar but rather a flavoring, so I was really frustrated. Finally, I decided to just make some of my own. I had a few berries in the fridge, so I boiled them with some water and a tiny bit of sugar (I also added some rosemary and a squirt of lemon juice to round it out). I ended up with the perfect flavoring (I don't think it's even syrup since it's not syrupy) that was not sugary at all. Yay! And it was super easy to do. I should have done this long ago!

I used a cocktail shaker to strain out all of the berry skins!

Twitter & Teddy Bear

I seem to have been updating this blog a bit slower than I would like. Instead, of blogging once a week, I seem to blog 3-4 posts at the same time once a month. Still just as much material, but not as spread out. Oh well. Therefore, I have 3 other posts I will soon be uploading (this weekend) so stay tuned.

In the meantime, I have finally succumbed to/discovered the beauty that is Twitter. To parallel the name of this blog, I can be followed @oxyquips. There may be a slight overlap with things here and things there, but obviously this blog will still have more pictures and text.

Yesterday, I crocheted a cute little rainbow teddy bear! I got the instructions from this youtube video and it was a really quick (less than an hour) and enjoyable crochet project.

On the left, all of the crocheted parts before assembly. On the right, the finished bear. 

New Microwave

About a year and a half ago, our dishwasher broke. We had to buy a new one and install it. After a few hiccups, we were successful in installing it and it works perfectly.

Two weeks ago, our microwave broke. It had been making a weird noise for the last almost 4 years so I was not surprised. We were very proactive and went to remove it the next day. The uninstall/removal process was killer.

Before we knew anything was wrong...

We watched some videos on youtube that made it look super easy. Little did we know that the microwave we had was installed on some kind of incorrect bracket and the bracket was installed incorrectly to the wall (hanging on by three points instead of four). After lots of tugging and frustration, we finally got it down. 

Nate has it propped up with a table on the left and the faulty bracket (you can see the top left part not attached) on the right. 

After we finally (finally!!) got it down, we realized that not only was that wall the wrong color (not the same color as the rest of the apartment), but due to the faulty bracket, there was a fun-sized hole in it. I patched it up using spackle (I used this DryDex spackle that went on pink and dried to white -- very handy!) and then painted the wall with two coats of paint. I also used this opportunity to patch up and paint other areas around the apartment that needed a bit of attention (mainly the light switch in the bathroom that was covered with caulk that had started peeling off -- eww! It's all fixed now so that is awesome!). 

After everything was ready to go, what did we do? Well, Nate drove around with the purchased microwave in the trunk of the car for a good week or so. Of course. We were very busy in this time so it was sort of understandable. But only sort of. 

Finally, we had enough time to install it (this was this last Friday night). That is when we started reading the instructions and realized that we needed a drill. We borrowed a drill from a neighbor and were ready to go. Except, now we needed a 5/8'' drill bit. After a crazy search around the lab and texting pretty much everyone we knew in a good 10 block radius, we were able to borrow a 5/8'' drill bit from Will (this was Saturday morning). 

Once the template was up, we drilled some holes, located some studs, and made sure everything was level. Using those holes, we added the bracket (once again, making sure everything was level -- our cabinets are NOT level -- based on everything else in this apartment, I'm sure you're not surprised). There was also a template for the top of the cabinet that we taped up and drilled those holes. Everything was so simple and easy!! 

Once the bracket was in place and the holes in the cabinet were drilled, we easily put up the microwave and everything popped right in place! We attached the screws through the top cabinet (which to our surprise worked perfectly fine and straight) and it was perfectly in place! It looks so nice. I was surprised I had no pictures between the bracket and the finished product but it was so easy that there was no time for pictures (Nate says it was because we were holding it up but even if that's true we were only holding it up for a few minutes). 

So, in the end, it was much easier to install this microwave than to uninstall the last one (mostly because the last one's bracket was so messed up!). And now, we have officially replaced half the kitchen appliances in this apartment! I predict the next one to kick the bucket will be the washer/dryer but I hope that will not be for a long time! 

Paint Nite!

A week or two ago, Nate and I went to Paint Nite. This was a gift from Nate's parents for my birthday! Thanks to them for getting us this wonderful opportunity to create something cool. 

Nate at first was very hesitant but in the end, he was pleasantly surprised by how much he was into it. 

We went to this event at the Friendly Toast. That link also has the painting that we were there to draw. As you can see below, we didn't quite follow it completely, but did take major elements from it for our paintings. 

Me being super excited beforehand and Nate not quite sure at the end!

Mine on the left, Nate's on the right. 

Overall, both paintings turned out pretty cool. I really didn't like the way my reflection turned out on the bottom. Nate had this great idea for a white tree but didn't have time to do the reflection on the bottom correctly. His turned out a bit darker and more interesting than mine that turned out a bit more meh. He signed and labeled his "NJ 1/1" and I signed mine as "OS!" Right now the paintings are hanging up in our living room because we had to give back the painting on loan and there were two empty hooks on the wall. 

In the end, even though we were both not in love with our paintings, we had a great time and our paintings came out better than we had anticipated! Thanks again to Nate's parents for this birthday gift!! 

Jamaica(n me crazy!)

Nate is opposed to this title. But, oh well. I am finally done with TAing so I finally have some time to update a few things that have been going on lately in my/our world.

Three weekends ago, Nate and I went to Jamaica with Anton and Lyuba. We stayed in Discovery Bay in a Villa. It was beautiful! We kayaked, played cards, drank Red Stripe, swam, attempted to play tennis and volleyball, and just chilled. Such a great and relaxing trip!

The view from our meals and the walk to the private beach from the villa. 

After a successful kayak trip out on the bay/ocean. 

Standing on the dock of the private beach on our last day there.