last few lazy days

we've been enjoying a week of settling in, which means a lot of stir-crazy feelings for me.  i am so used to working, studying, or at the very least doing something every day!  once the house was in order though, there wasn't a whole lot on the agenda for the week.  we managed to fill it with a hike, two mountain bike adventures (to two different riding areas, no less), and a camping trip.  we are loving laramie and quite happy to be here, although our lungs are adjusting a little slowly.  :)

harvey had a little adjusting to do also, as we were accustomed to just letting him outside when we was getting rambunctious or otherwise annoying us.  however, for most of last week we didn't have the freedom to let him out without running the risk of having a pancake for a dog. brandon built a much needed fenced area for locking harvey up.  or for providing him with adequate grounds for romping around in. whichever way you prefer to look at it...  our attitude about it changes frequently.

he also went camping with us in the medicine bow national forest and we chose a nice dispersed campsite away from all other signs of civilization where he could run and jump and chase critters.  he was quite content and so were we.  the picture above is now one of my favorite of harvey and that i have taken yet.  it is out of focus and not perfect, but it captures that moment well.

this lake was so peaceful and seemed like the perfect swimming hole for harvey.  instead it was a quicksand trap along the banks.  with each step he took on what looked like solid, albeit muddy, ground resulted in a thrashing panicked attempt to prevent being sucked in.  i mostly stood by and laughed until i realized i was going to have to share a tent with the muddy mongrel.  oh yeah, that.

this last picture is entirely for kemi.  she bought me that snazzy backpack (which incidentally matches my favorite sandals perfectly). today was the first day of school so i had to get a commemorative photo. it was a good day, although this week i am in one class for 6 hours each day, 5 days in a row.  then the class is over.  whew! talk about a whirlwind and heaps of reading.  i feel content and happy with the program and the route i am taking though.

i'll try to get pictures of our little house up soon.  i have been waiting for the sink to be free of dishes and all of a certain spouses' piles to be put away, but that isn't too realistic.

now that i don't work around food every day i am enjoying being in the kitchen again.  the kitchen aid mixer has actually been utilized every day so let that be an indication of my cooking and baking zealous.  the elevation has made a few of my culinary endeavors less than perfect, but these high plains and i will learn to work together soon.

books, how i love, wait... loathe, thee.

generally i love books.  i love the excitement of opening a new book.  i love relishing in the pride that comes from finishing an especially great one.  i love to have shelves full of books.  

currently, i loathe the mounds of paper and words that now adorn my bookcase and are in route via ups.  $743.22 worth of books i had to buy for the term.  major ouch.  

i had to purchase a DSM (diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders)--which makes me equally giddy and anxious.  this it the holy word of both social work and psychology, to be revered as sacred and only read by those qualified enough to apply the diagnosis.  having it as required reading suggests that i am on the path to being in the fold of those who are permitted to do so.  

slow going, but they have arrived

so three months late i finally got all the photos from our trip to costa rica up on the web--whew.  there were a lot of them so i only had the patience to put them up on facebook.  anyone can access the albums at the following links:

Album 1

Album 2

glad to have that off my plate!

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.  

a piny suprise

yesterday was our 4th anniversary and after last year's "texas roadhouse grill" disaster in pocatello, i was eager to have an anniversary that was memorable for positive reasons (not hair in my meal or driving around a hot southern idaho town in search of something, anything, better than the tacky chain restaurant).  

we both were really busy all day so the true celebration didn't start until dinner at about 8:30... we went to a nice restaurant in sisters called "chloe" and both had wonderful meals and dessert.  as we were walking to our car in the dark i joked that we should forgo our plans to pitch a tent in the woods and stay at the fancy "five pine" resort.  brandon looked and me and said, "you want to?"  uh, yeah, but that isn't gonna happen!, i thought.

oh how i underestimate this boy!   he had made reservations for us at five pine and had the keys in hand!  i was giddy as we walked through the cabins in search of ours.  the inside was even more beautiful and simple than i imagined. as grandma would say, "you done good brandon.  you just done real good."

our little patio that backed up to forest and quietness!

here we are, four years of wedded bliss!

the crazy bathtub that pours water straight from the ceiling.  this isn't a bath/shower hybrid either--just a bath with a "surprise faucet".  i was surprised at least when i went to turn it on and the water grazed the top of my head!

the little "five pine" logo tiles.  everything was beautiful about this place!

before we were able to go to dinner we had a kayak class to teach out at black butte.  the combination of wind and water had us both really chilled so at the end of june we found ourselves cozied up beside the fireplace.

the other crazy thing was that one of our favorite musicians, keb mo, stayed in the same cabin when he was here for starry nights last spring.  there is a guest book in the room and we read through most of the people's comments and came across an entry from keb mo and his wife.  that's right folks, we stayed in the same cabin as keb mo!  brandon didn't have a hand in that, but it was a cool coinsidence to us.  

thanks to mom & matt for watching harvey for what i thought was a couple hours while we ate dinner, but turned into a doggy slumber party.  

this was certainly an anniversary that will be remembered forever with smiles and giddiness!

week 1.5

here are a few more pictures of our central american adventure...

an adorable little poison dart frog, sometimes call the blue jean frog because of its little blue legs. very non-threatening despite its ominous name.

an unfortunately silly picture of brandon, but the only one of us on the entire trip in our "nice clothes". he looks exhausted here, but really it was just bad timing with the flash and all.

after this photo we went to dinner at the fanciest place either of us have ever been. i counted: throughout the meal i had 13 plates in front of me at various times, with the servers changing the settings at each course. we felt a little ridiculous because the waiter literally stood 3 feet from our table to make sure we didn't go without. his objective was achieved because we didn't go without, or even approach wanting for anything for that matter.

through an awesome deal with the raft company, we got a free night at the most posh hotel in san jose, the hotel grano de oro. we cruised in after our raft trip all stinky and dirty and felt more than out of place! we were treated like royalty though and enjoyed all the plushness of the fancy hotel that we knew we wouldn't encounter again on our trip.

painted oxcarts are a big deal in costa rica, but we didn't see many full-size versions of them (tons of miniature trinket versions in the souvenirs shops though). the detail is amazing, although this one is quite modernized with its rubber tires and suspension. never-the-less, they are beautiful!

more pictures to come when i get some more time.