Martha's So-Called Life

new in the shop // fingerless gloves

I finished these before we left for Utah, but I just posted them in the shop.

They are soft and cozy and perfect to keep your hand warm and your fingers useful.  

Color is charcoal gray and the yarn is a super soft and squishy combination of merino wool and cashmere. One size fits most! 

utah ski weekend

By the time we got on the plane to come home yesterday afternoon, I was wobbly and exhausted...I'm taking both of those as signs of a successful ski weekend.

We arrived in SLC on Thursday afternoon.  We were both pretty tired from flying all night so we headed to the hotel where we watched the Olympics and napped.  

After our nap it was time for lunch.  I was super excited to discover that Utah has In-N-Out Burger!  

Rather than going back to the hotel, where we would inevitably fall asleep again, we went for a drive and ate an early dinner. 

Friday we skied at Alta.

I had 3 miles of running on my training plan, so I took care of that after we were done skiing for the day.  After that I was STARVING, so we went in search of dinner.  We ate at a pizza place where they make everything fresh (including the ricotta!).  We sat right by the kitchen, which was obviously where they put the people who looked like they had skied all day...but it was fun to watch the chef work his magic.  

Saturday we skied at Solitude, which was my favorite day of skiing.  It started out kind of snowy but eventually cleared up (less than an inch of snow fell).  

I skied some trees...about three turns worth and not well, and the steepest run of the weekend (37° slope according to Ski Tracks)...that's what I get for following John around!

I also finally remembered to download the Ski Tracks app. Unfortunately I missed our first day at Alta, I would have liked to see the stats.

Saturday night we celebrated National Margarita Day and had Mexican food at the Red Iguana.  It was delicious.  

Sunday we had a rest day.  We had breakfast with my friend Wade and his family, and then drove to Park City and poked around for the afternoon.

The ski lift in the last photo is called the Town Lift and it goes right into town. 

Monday we decided to venture out to Powder Mountain.  We were both pretty tired, so there was some fairly unenthusiastic skiing happening.  However, it was a beautiful day (for the first part anyway) and we made the most of it.

 

On Tuesday, our plan was to ski at Alta again until we had to go to the airport.  We managed to get there at the same time as the 70+ Ski Club outing and were surrounded by old people who couldn't figure out how the RFID readers at the lifts worked.  By that point we were both pretty tired, the skiing was mediocre and the mountain was crowded, so we called it quits just after 12, packed up our stuff, and went in search of lunch before heading to the airport.

Overall we had a great weekend, even if there was no powder (Utah is having a bad snow year).  There was tons of sun and it was fun to ski so many different places...and I always like hanging out with John.  

off on another adventure

We are headed to Utah tonight for some skiing fun.  Of course it snowed here the day before we left.  Go figure.

Kiva and I had an early morning.  I had to take her to the vet because she was due for her Bordatella and Rabies vaccines.  She needed them so she could get boarded while we are gone (our house sitter is out of town).  We went for a run when we got home, but I don't think she was feeling terribly well after her vaccines.  She was awfully subdued after our run. 

Time for us to head to the airport!  

around here

I've been a knitting fool lately.  I go through phases where all I want to do is knit, or sew, or attempt to draw something.  Current stage is knitty.  I made a hat for my mom out of some yarn that I had leftover from a baby gift, the yarn is awesome and soft and I knew it needed to be an adult sized hat.  I'm also working on a few pieces to list in the shop...more details when stuff gets completed.

The weather has been less than desirable.  All the snow melted in January while we were gone, and we have been getting it back 0.1" at a time.  It's maddening!  It has also been cold, which doesn't bother me other than the fact that we don't get good snow when it's cold.  Worst. Winter. Ever.  At least the sunsets are pretty...

Fortunately we are heading to Utah next week to go skiing.  It's been snowing like crazy there (or at least a couple of inches in the mountains every day).  I'm pretty excited about it.

 

misc burkina faso photos

I finally got the last photos from my trip edited.  There are more photos posted on the McCreary Foundation's Facebook page if you are interested.

Going to work...

The hallway at the clinic where patients waited to see us.  

Setting up to do LEEPs...in an office...

That stack of papers is the screening forms for all the women we saw.

This man is one of the nicest people I have ever met.  He works at the clinic (I'm not sure what he does, but we called him a "gatekeeper" because he was always out front by the gate).  We saw him walking down our street one afternoon with his donkey.  I can't remember her name, but she was not very impressed with us.  
Pollution makes for good sunsets...

introducing martha florence // the shop

Lately I've been struggling with my online shop.  I haven't really been into creating new things for it or giving it the attention that it deserves.  I think it was because I was trying too hard to make things that fit together and belong under the umbrella of "Kiva & Co."  Since I have a day job, I figured this side business venture should be fun and I should enjoy making whatever I put into it.  

Enter Martha Florence // the shop.  I like to make stuff...and I want to share it.  No theme or specific medium, just things I made.  Don't worry, I'll only be selling things that are of a quality that I would purchase myself, you won't be buying my crafting mishaps.  The even better news is that if I decide to make only one of something and you are lucky enough to be the one who purchases it...you will have a one-of-a-kind item.  That's way better than something that everyone else has!  

I am planning on having a few of my best-selling cards listed as long as they keep selling.  

I currently only have three items listed and am testing out a new ecommerce website.  I have the free version at the moment, so I can only list five items with one photo each.  Depending on how things go, I might be upgrading soon (if not, I'll go back to coding my own shop as I did before).  

Let me know what you think...and stop by often as inventory will most likely change frequently!

my hair product essentials

It might seems strange that I am writing about hair products.  This post came about because the salon where I get my hair cut used to be an Aveda salon, and now is not, and I panicked about where I was going to get my hair products from.  Thankfully, Amazon has everything that anyone could ever want...including the things I use in my hair.  The only other place in town to get Aveda products is downtown, and that's not convenient...so the internet wins again.

I have naturally curly hair that I straighten sometimes.  Since I don't like complicated routines, this means I have a few products that can be used in both situations.

 

Aveda Confixor Liquid Gel

I love this gel.  It's liquid, it smells good, and it doesn't make your hair crunchy.  I put it on my hair after I have towel dried it.  If I am going to blow dry and straighten, I'll put it on after I've dried my hair a bit with the hair drier.

Aveda Be Curly Curl Enhancing Hair Spray

I use this if I wear my hair curly (obviously).  I spray a little bit on after the gel, and then a little bit more after I have let my hair dry a little more.  

 

Aveda Shampure Shampoo & Aveda Shampure Conditioner

No nonsense, good smelling shampoo and conditioner.

 

 

Bumble and Bumble Curl Conscious Defining Creme

If I am wearing my hair curly, I put a dime-sized amount of this on after I use the liquid gel and scrunch to help define the curls.

That's it!  

an inspiration

I am not an Olympic athlete, and thus I do not know what it's like to not win the medal you've been working so hard for. Obviously I have experienced other forms of disappointment in my life, but probably nothing compared to missing an opportunity of an Olympic medal.

Kikkan has been on my mind all day.  We haven't been teammates in over ten years (we won't talk about how long it's actually been...because that makes me feel old), but I still cheer for her every time she races.  I haven't seen her in almost as long...except for that one time a few years ago she flew past B and I as we were huffing and puffing up a hill out on the hillside trails.  Her words to us, "hey guys!  So great to see you out here!" We had no words...we were too out of breath.  

She's a great teammate.  Her enthusiasm is contagious, and she is an excellent motivator.  She doesn't care if you are fast or slow, she'll still cheer you on while you try not to die on the biggest uphill.   

I don't really have a point here except to say that we could all learn something from Kikkan.  She didn't have the outcome she wanted today, but she won't let this one event define her.  If she's anything like the Kikkan I skied with 10+ years ago, she's going to carry on stronger and faster.  

She's done so much for the sport of cross-country skiing (especially in the US) and come so far in the past few years, you can't help but think she's awesome.  Also, how can you help but love a girl whose goal is to make cross-country skiing cool.  If there was anyone who can succeed at that...it's her.  

Read any of the articles published about her in the past few weeks and you can't help but smile and be proud of her, especially if you're an Alaskan.  I know it's not an Olympic gold medal...but in my opinion all those kind words say more than any medal or trophy ever could.  

Thank you Kikkan, for being who you are and doing what you do with poise and passion!  #crosscountryiscool 

burkina faso nazinga adventure

We were very fortunate to have a day off and time for an adventure.  We arranged to go to the Nazinga Ranch to see elephants.  It is about a three hour drive, so in order to make sure we got there before it got too hot, we were out the door by 5am.  

We saw tons of wildlife and had a great day being outside in the fresh air (the air in the city is very dusty and polluted).  We rode on the top of a Land Rover while we were in the park and got really close to a herd of elephants.  It was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience.  

scenes from burkina faso

As I mentioned before, I have been struggling to find a way to share my experience in Burkina Faso.  As I have been going through my photos, I feel that I lack the photography and the writing skills to do this experience justice, mostly due to the fact that there is a long list of interwoven characters and events that become very complicated once you try and write them down (you'll see, just wait).

Anyway, as I was going through my photos, I decided that I would let them drive the story.  There are holes, but I can fill those in later when I get the photos from my travel companions.  

The streets are covered with garbage (no garbage dumps, they burn their trash), mostly plastic bags.  It's amazing that in a place with no central place to dispose of garbage that they still use plastic bags.  Although, when most of the people in the country are starving, I suppose it is difficult to think about environmental responsibility.

 

There are also animals everywhere.  Dogs, who all seem to have a home, but roam the streets freely as well.  Goats, chickens, sheep, and cows are all common sights on the streets.  

 

This is the mosque near the clinic and the house where Dr. McCreary stayed.  It helped us to know what time it was with the four times daily call to prayer.  The only time when it was unfortunate to know the time is at the 4am call to prayer.  

View from the clinic  

Dr. Issa is the doctor whose clinic we worked in.  His wife (who died late last year) started a school in the town of Loumbila.  It started with just one classroom and is now three.  They are building a second building to house more classes.  They have gardens and animals and grow food to feed the children during the day as many of their families cannot afford to feed them.  This year was the first year that they supplied the school entirely with food grown on the grounds.  The school receives major funding from a family in Austria. We met the mother of a doctor who was one of the very first teachers of FDM and who is responsible for a majority of the schools funding (see interconnected and confusing).  We went to the school for the annual Christmas party for the kids.  There were performances by the kids, the women, the men, and the girls who cooked and served the food (Dr. Issa's children, sister-in-law, cousins, etc.).

I will try and get some more photos edited and posted soon.  I have about 10,000 from our safari adventure...which should keep me busy for awhile!