way past over the line

i love harvey, i mean love harvey.  like i spend most of my tips on treats and toys and other things i think he will enjoy.  i try to make a point each day of doing something i know he will dig (trip to the dog park, a walk, a swim, a frisbee session, etc.).  admittedly, i verge on obsessive.  i begrudgingly confess that i have become one of those "dog people".  i never thought that possible, but alas, here i am all goggly-eyed over this mutt.  

i do have a line, and recently i discovered a distinct point on that line: too far!  check this bumper sticker out.  doesn't it induce gag-reflex?  it does for me.  

in case it is too small, it reads: "i [heart] my granddog".  fear not dear parents, you will not find one of these in your christmas stocking, no matter how much you like harvey.  

(credit to wil for sharing this initially.)

have house, will travel

i have been looking forward to our move and all that comes with this new chapter of graduate school and the pursuit of our goals.  never-the-less, i have had the nagging, snarky voice in the back of my head that frets about where we will live.  i was worried about housing and finding a home that wasn't right by the freeway or railroad tracks, a house that we could see ourselves in for two years, a place that had character (in a good way), and that let little harvey be there too. oh, and being close to campus was important to!  whew, that is a tall order, no wonder i was stressed!

well, brandon, being the regular hero that he is, found us a charming little house in laramie.  it might not look like much to others, but after living in a dilapidated cabin in jackson and a garage-turned-apartment here in bend, we have a whole different set of standards.  

beautiful hardwood floors throughout, great light, and special details only found in older homes--these are the things we love about the place.  do not worry dear reader about the single-pane, wood-frame windows and the impact they will have on our heating bill as all, that's right, all utilities are included!  

this funky little oven/fridge nook makes me giddy.  it is so random and unconventional, but i can't wait to put our magnets and pictures of rowan (& others) on the fridge so i can think of him and smile as i cook.

the other selling points: there is a basement apartment below (separate entrance) and the folks that live there own the mexican restaurant in town.  woohoo for free tamales!  the house on one side of us is owned by the people that have the yoga studio, and the other neighbors are the founders of wyoming public radio.  three of my favorite things surround us: mexican food, yoga, and NPR.  is this a slice of heaven right here, 7 walkable-blocks from campus?  i do think it is!

thank goodness for brandon, my house-finding hero!  we leave in two weeks and i am so happy to know where we are headed to.

when you're a celebrity

this weekend an unusual death occurred at scout lake, a place where brandon and i have spent a lot of time learning/perfecting our kayaking rolls and flat-water cartwheels. this is a small lake full of logs that people are always swimming out to, clambering around on like a jungle gym, and proving their brute strength by wrestling on the slippery tree remnants. last night an 18 year old boy drowned in this apparently safe, hazard-free lake. from the accounts given he was attempting to swim to a log and something happened (a cramp maybe?) that caused him to give up and attempt to swim back. he didn't make it to shore and his friends didn't get to him in time. as hard as it is to believe, the young man drowned in 12 feet of water.

now to make an incredibly awkward segue (is that an oxymoron by the way?) to the above title...

brandon was working with our kayak school out at scout lake today as we often do on the first day of camp. there he was approached by the news crews and interviewed. i can't upload the video to our blog, but here is a link to the video and his interview. they cut him off at a strange place in his dialogue that doesn't make a lot of sense, but he still looks handsome and knowledgeable about river safety.

go forth and be safe on the water.

deschutes county credit

it takes a while to get to the good snake story (don't worry mom, there is a happy ending and it is worth hearing about snakes for a while), but dwight totally gives credit to central oregon. and for those of us in the know, that specifically means sisters. wohoo for "the office" and our hometown being connected! if you are in a real hurry, speed up to 3:58 as the best part of the clip begins there.

whatcha got cookin'?

been making gluten-free goodness in the form of chocolate chocolate-chip with walnut cookies. these didn't last but a few days and were a great consolatory gift for a friend that is going through a rough break up.  nothing like cookies to mend one's heart.

brandon caught a huge salmon that we cooked up with rob & becky--so fresh and delicious!

mmm, doesn't that salmon look scrumptious there on our counter?  

and last, but certainly most important, was that sara "mia" was here!  she came and we kayaked and we biked and we kayaked some more.  it was one of the most fun weekends i have ever had--unfortunately we did little to document it.  she is so brave and always willing to try anything once so we capitalized on that and introduced here to four new ways to recreate.