thankful for family and desperate for snow

for some reason or another, i have had a lot of trouble uploading these photos.  anyhow, we haven't been up to too much, just praying for snow and applying to a temp agency so we can maybe have some form of income.  oh, how we are feeling this economic crisis--and the effects of global warming!  :)  we just want snow and then all will be well as we can then begin working at mt. bachelor as planned.  until then, we are entertaining ourselves with lots of hikes and time with family.  not a bad way to spend your time when unemployed.

this photo is one of my favorites of harvey.  we were bouldering with ross and his friend christian.  i discovered that i have absolutely no upper body strength, so i chose to focus on taking pictures of the icicles that formed along wychus creek instead of climbing.  harvey has a bit of separation anxiety and was trying with all his might to get up onto the rock where i was taking pictures from.  in between jumps i caught this photo of his crooked little ears peeking over the edge.  
and these two photos are of my most epic domestic adventure to date: making my own french fried onions.  "why," might you ask, "would a girl vehemently opposed to onions fry her own?"  because my favorite thanksgiving dish is actually green bean casserole; forget the turkey, stuffing, and even the jellied cranberry sauce.  the thing that takes priority on my plate is green bean casserole... which happens to have gluten in every ingredient aside from the green beans. instead of forgoing my favorite thanksgiving dish, i made it in my own gluten-free kitchen.   
the smoke alarm was blaring and harvey was in panic mode as he thought i was trying to burn our house down, but indeed, these little greasy onion pieces were superb!

we had what i like to call a progressive thanksgiving (not in the ideologically progressive sense, rather in that we progressed from house to house in celebration of giving thanks).  we started at the overstreets and each had salad plates full of food.  we then popped over to my dad's place for a little pumpkin pie, and finished the night with my mom and matt, enjoying a truly gluten-free feast.  needless-to-say, we drove home in solidarity with most of america: feeling the burden and pains of overeating, but giving thanks for the plenty that was on the table and the family that surrounded it.

silly spirit

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

sunday secret

this was a hard week to choose a secret, as most of them did not relate to me at all.  anyhow, here goes:

not that i don't like adults, but i really don't mind sitting at the kids table at grandma's christmas dinners.  it is just way more fun to be free to be silly.  now though there may be too many kids for me to still sit there and i may be relegated to sit with the adults.  hmmm...

on another note, my wonderfully kind, giving, fun-loving aunt kris fell yesterday morning and shattered her ankle.  she spent the afternoon in surgery and now has something to the extent of 6 screws and a plate in her ankle.  please pray for her to heal without complications and for her to be content as she isn't one to sit for long periods of time, indeed, she is a little busy bee.  also, she is a skier and this really puts a cramp in her season.  

aunt kris, if you read this... 1) thanks for teaching me to love the kids' table as you are a true kid at heart and always will be, 2) know that we are sending lots of love and healing prayers your way in idaho, and 3) let those around you use this opportunity to serve you in the way that you are always serving others.  oh yeah, and 4) GET WELL!

sweet bike...

as i alluded to before, we have had an event-filled week.  sara mia came to visit, then we drove up to seattle with her for time with kemi, after that we cruised down to visit logan, alyssa, and rowan (our godson).  it was recently rowan's first birthday and alyssa's 23, so we had some celebrating to do.  when we got back from our northwest tour we celebrated mom's birthday with a little spaghetti and mashed potatoes (her favorite combination--don't ask).  and now we are home and i am sick.  but the sickness is worth it for all the memories we made.

for the past month, i have wanted to show everyone something brandon has been putting his heart into.  however, it was a big surprise for logan and rowan (alyssa already knew about it).  rowan started walking a month or so ago and brandon decided to build him a "like-a-bike" which is a wooden bike without pedals.  kids learn to run along and then pull up their feet when they want to coast, which puts them at an advantage with that balance thing the rest of us all struggled with.  being the awesome godfather that brandon is, he wants to give rowan every advantage he can.  thus, we introduce to you the wooden, pedal-less bike:

we knew logan would be thrilled that brandon made it and that his son had his first bike, but we also knew rowan would need to grow into it a bit so our expectations weren't too high that the little guy would be too interested.  boy were we wrong!  he loves it and every 20 minutes or so while we were there he would go over to the bike, pull on the handlebars and grunt at us until we helped him up and cruised around the house.  it was the best reaction to a gift we could have ever hoped for. 

the bike features some handlebars that were once logan's (cut down to rowan size) and the custom decals on the side read: GODSIFF RACING, with Rowan underneath.  it is pretty dang awesome and i am so glad to share it with the blogging world now that it is no longer a secret gift.

on sunday the boys went mountain biking and alyssa had sunday school to teach, so rowan and i got some awesome godmum/godson time.  he was a doll and was all smiles, with each animal cracker i fed him.  i got a few great photos of the adorableness that he is, but the one above is my favorite.

ah, tradition

here it is this week folks, my favorite post secret of the week:

it isn't a serious secret, one where you learn a lot about who i am, but i used to think the world operated in a similar fashion to the person who sent this one in.  

in retrospect, what a terrifying thought to have tiny green men running the world.  think of what they could do in the 59 seconds between changing the minutes!

i have more to post about our wonderful time with sara mia at our house, our trip to introduce harvey to kemi, and giving rowan his birthday gift; however, those things are going to have to wait because i am in charge of a belated birthday celebration for my momma!

worldwide participation

i came home from work tonight to find this in the google search box: 

what to make for dinner tonight

indeed, my husband googled what the people of the internet thought he should eat for dinner.  i was at work and therefore not a contributing party to this decision.

he settled on cereal, if you must know...

can there be a "new tradition"?

each sunday i eagerly await the weekly posting of new cards on post secret (see link on sidebar).  some weeks they seriously let me down with their themes of vengeance and adultery as people share their "big secrets".  but almost every week i come across one that resonates with me and makes me smile.  so i am going to start a new blog tradition: to post my favorite secret each week.  for those of you who follow post secret, i hope you will share your favorite card too.

and here is the first secret i share with the anonymous postcard sending people of the world:

when i was in middle school i remember thinking that when i was old i wanted to have fleshy arms to hug all the people i loved with.  i always thought that meaty arms were a sign of a capable, conquering, loving woman.  well, i am currently less-than-thrilled with the fact that my "triceps" jiggle when i wave to people, so my desire for fleshy arms has diminished substantially.  

my desire for laugh lines has surely replaced it!  brandon makes me so incredibly happy and each day he is to blame for the deepening of my laugh lines.  not a bad thing to cause at all...

latest photos

brandon, becky, and i went for a hike on sunday to alder springs, which is along squaw/wychus creek. the day was pretty overcast, but it was a great hike. the objective: to wear harvey out and give him some off-leash practice. he did great and indeed, he slept the rest of the afternoon!

when we got to the spring the sun broke through and the lighting was incredible. i took a couple of shots of bradon and harvey; however, due to photographer error they weren't composed very well. the light was awesome, but my eye was not up to par. 

anyhow, i still love this one of harvey going bonkers. he loved the tall grasses and went nuts running in circles. brandon looks pretty dang good in that sunlight also!

and this one, it just might be my favorite photo i have taken to date. mmm, i just love the lines and the warmth. i think i am going to have to frame this one.

peace abounds

we found out the news while we were out in black butte with friends. it didn't seem real at the time, but then again there was that concession speech from mccain. we drove home in the snow and ice, still not quite willing to admit that this was real. that our america would forever be a different, albeit better, country because of this day and because of what these election results signify. it just seemed too scary to admit because surely it was too good to be true.

i have believed in obama, in his grassroots movement, and in the power of our democracy for over a year (prior to that i was pretty disgusted and embarrassed by what the u.s. had become). and yet, i didn't expect a freaking landslide! this tells me so much about my fellow americans and that the future we have in store for us as this country is revived and healed. as we work towards peace. oh, let it abound!

wow. i can't wait to wake up tomorrow morning and be a citizen of the united states of america--and to be damn proud of it too!

welcome to the white house mr. commander-in-chief!

all that matters now

GO VOTE!!!

i have made no attempts to hide my support for barack obama as the next president of the united states. i endorse him as the candidate who can redirect this country from the course of certain demise are are currently on.

however, regardless of who you vote for, please just vote. don't throw it away. don't be apathetic about our country. it is a privilege many people fought for so that we can direct the winds of our nation. so as i said above, i don't care if we disagree politically, i want your vote to count just as much as mine!