beachwalkerz

Seaside Trip

2012-01-24T12:31:00.000-08:00

The third week of January brought us our first taste of Oregon Coast Winter Storms.
WOW!

Luckily, we never lost power for any length of time here in town. The winds got up to 100mph and we actually had to take our stained glass hanging out of the big window due to the panes rattling so hard we honestly thought the hanging was going to break!

We went to Seaside, OR (about 2 hours north) on our days off. We got a great rate on an oceanfront room. Gotta love off season rates on the Oregon Coast! This is the view we had:

Seaside has always held a special place in our heart. It was our "getaway" place when we lived in Tacoma. A place associated with relaxation.
Although it was stormy and incredibly windy, we had a great time. We met up with one of our old friends, Linda MacDonald Lewis. She is an amazing ambassador for Scotland, a poet, and writer, to name a few of her many talents. We stopped by her shop to visit and then ended up going out for lunch and drinks. I laughed until my cheeks hurt. Skott and I have said that when we get to visit Scotland someday, we are going with her as our tour guide.... Some day I will have to do a post about Linda. She is incredible!

The dogs enjoyed the car ride to Seaside. Haha. Lazies!

Skott and Fucie relaxing in motel

Skott trying to mimic Izzy

The winter storms have really changed the beach. A lot of debris has been deposited. But then we can go out a couple days later, and it's gone. Always changing.

Debris on beach. (Don't mind my fat finger in the picture)

More debris. (And more of my fat fingers! geesh!)

In between storms, we have been getting out and walking every chance we can (which lately has only been once or twice a week).
Yesterday, there were a lot of interesting things deposited on the beach:

Uprooted trees

The red was so brilliant!

Don't underestimate the power of the ocean! This was a piece of plywood impaled on the tree

Winter storms also create a lot of sea foam

Second week of January 2012

2012-01-15T14:11:00.000-08:00

The tale of the leaking roof continues :(
and we faithfully check the papers, Craigslist, etc every day for new places to rent. I am most irritated about the fact that we have to shove everything in the bedroom over to one side to avoid the bed getting dripped on. I have no nightstand and it feels really cramped in the bedroom.

The weather has been phenomenal and we have been able to take a lot of walks this past week.

Skott has been busy cutting bottles again. He taught me how to sand them. We spent part of Thursday working on them.

Most of the wine bottles he is wiring and turning into lamps. We are searching for the right decorative bulbs to put in them, but this is an idea of what they look like:

unplugged

plugged in

a brownish green one

I know the pictures don't do them justice, they are actually very pretty and put out a wonderful, soft light.

Carolyn's liqueur bottles make wonderful ice cream dishes. They are thick and heavy glass. We are also going to experiment with vinyl lettering and acid etching on them:

ice cream dish

Skott made one of my favorite breakfasts for me- Belgian pancakes. Mmmm
Diced ham, mushrooms, and onions cooked on top/into a pancake with cheese melted on top.
Seriously, its delicious!

I have been attempting to crochet fingerless gloves. Learning a lot, will post pics when they are done.

Busy weekend again at work. Next week Skott is starting an earlier shift. Hopefully, it won't be long before I can follow. There is a bad bunch of people on the graveyard shift that call in all the time so we have been having to stay late a lot. Grateful for a job tho!

Hummus

2012-01-13T12:35:00.000-08:00

We have been toying with the idea of getting a food processor for a long time. We are really trying to examine our lifestyle, needs, and wants and live more simply. We weren't sure if we would use a food processor enough to warrant the expense.
The town we live in has a fabulous outlet mall. We go to one of the kitchen stores to buy refills for our soda stream (http://www.sodastreamusa.com/ ) and the last time we went we also had to refill our CO2 canister so we got a $10 off coupon for anything in the store. Nice! We looked again at the food processors and then went home to think on it a few days, read reviews, etc. When we went back that weekend, they happened to be on sale! So we picked up a really nice Hamilton Beach food processor for $34.99!

love love love it!

We have used it for many things but perhaps my favorite of all is hummus.
I absolutely LOVE hummus! We work with so many people that have never tried it. I love bringing them samples of my hummus and seeing their favorable reactions.

So I'd like to share my recipe and encourage anyone who hasn't ever had hummus to give it a try. It is very healthy and you can custom season it. It makes a great alternative to chip dip or veggie dip!

Basic Hummus:
2 cans (15oz each) Garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup lemon juice (or lime juice) -I have used both fresh and concentrate and both work fine
1/2 cup roasted tahini (can be salted or unsalted, you can adjust salt later)
1/2 cup water
slightly less than 1/4 cup olive oil
4 garlic cloves (must be fresh garlic, the minced stuff in a jar gives the hummus a "metallic" taste)
1 1/2 tsp salt (more or less to taste)

combine all in food processor and blend until smooth. Then add "flavors". If making just plain hummus, consider adding more garlic after taste-testing.
Flavors will be stronger (and better) after chilling for 24 hours so when possible, make in advance.

Some flavor ideas:
Roasted red pepper and chipotle
one large red pepper (look up internet directions how to roast them in your oven, it's very simple)
chipotle powder to taste (I used 2-3 tsp)
smoked paprika to taste (1 tsp)

Smoked mushroom, onion, and garlic
we pre-smoked with mesquite wood chips in our smoker 1/2 red onion, 2/3 pkg crimini mushrooms, and a bunch of garlic cloves, all tossed in olive oil.
We added all of the above to the basic recipe, using 6 total garlic cloves.

Spicy hummus (couldn't really think of a creative name)
2 roma tomatoes (smoked on the grill, but you could use the same oven roasting method as the peppers above)
1 tsp Sanaam peppers
2 tsp Aleppo peppers, dried and crushed
1 1/2 tsp Chipotle powder
2 tsp smoked paprika

Other flavor ideas/combinations that I want to try:

- "Pizza" hummus -using italian herbs and tomatoes
- Anything with fresh herbs (basil, rosemary, chives, etc)
- A "cheesy" hummus using cheese powder and hmmmm, maybe bacon salt??
- A curried hummus
- Toasted pine nuts and parsley
- Ranch flavored

Enjoy! Let me know if you come up with any other ideas or suggestions for flavors to try

First week of 2012

2012-01-08T14:40:00.000-08:00

Whew!
With the nice weather added on top of the holiday season, we've been very busy at work. Meeting lots of nice people (as well as a handful of grumpy, not-so-nice people). Sometimes I really wonder what happens to people that they feel they can treat another human being as rotten as they do. Add in the factor of them "losing" and boy, -it is sometimes REALLY hard for me not to laugh out loud!
For example, I was tapping on to the single deck blackjack game. Now single deck blackjack is different from all the other blackjack tables we have in that the cards are "pitched" to the players and they are allowed to hold them in their hands (versus regular blackjack where the cards are laid out on the table by the dealer and players are NOT allowed to touch their cards). Also, since it is a single deck (versus six decks on the regular games), the odds are slightly in the players favor if they have the ability to "count" cards and know if a big or small card is coming next.
While I was waiting for the dealer to finish their hand, the floor supervisor stood behind me and said "This guy is probably going to be very mean." Ok, no big deal but nice to have a little warning.
I tapped on and there was just one guy playing. He was a big guy with plastic-surgery arm candy sitting at his side. I struck up a little chit chat and it was ok for a few minutes. Then I beat him on a hand and it was like a switch flipped. He started freaking out saying that we only switched dealers cuz he actually started to win with the other guy and now look, I am going to take all his money. I kind of laughed and jokingly said "No sir, we all deal for an hour on a table before we get a break so you are stuck with me for the next hour." I could literally watch this guy get angrier and angrier with each passing hand that he lost. He started flinging cards and chips and at one point, even threw the cards so hard that they hit me in the chest. I just stopped, gave him "the look", and continued on. He was acting so childish that I almost laughed outloud.
Needless to say, he lost all his money and stomped off yelling and whining like a little baby.

But enough about casino stuff :)

We have been taking advantage of the nice weather and taking a lot of walks. Skott found an AMAZING piece of pink sea glass the other day, as well as the bright blue chunks. We had never seen or heard of pink before. When I googled it, it is very rare and probably from the depression era. We will have to do something really fabulous with it.

We bought a smoker with some Christmas gift money. We finally got to set it up yesterday. We smoked some turkey legs. They turned out amazing!

There was a gorgeous sunset yesterday. I was trying to capture it through the spare bedroom window, but you just can't get the full beauty on film

Skott made a couple more bracelets out of the reclaimed pallet wood. I thought they turned out really nice! They are a gift for his cousin and partner.

Goal setting strategies

2011-12-30T15:56:00.000-08:00

I will be the first to admit that I have avoided setting "New Years Resolutions" for a VERY long time now.
I thought they were pointless.
I didn't believe in them.
I always broke them and felt like a failure.

Lately I have been feeling a bit unproductive and "restless". I feel like life is passing by so fast and I worry that I am not taking advantage of my mind, my health, and my potential talents, not to mention nuturing and cultivating existing skills and ideas.
I miss the challenge of learning new things.
I miss the excited feelings associated with learning.

I read an interesting article on setting realistic goals. I would like to share some of the keys things in that article:

#1: Write your goals down
When you just think about a goal, it's not physically real and easier to forget or toss aside. The physical act of writing the goal down results is greater success of achieving the goal.
Rather than make some big, long intimidating list of goals, I have decided to make goal notecards and place them in strategic locations around my house (weight loss and healthier eating on the fridge, writing in journal on my bedside table, etc).

#2: Start with the short-term that leads to the long term
I am very guilty of focusing on the long term. But really, the only way to achieve the big, long term goal is by a series of short term goals. I will keep this in mind as I make my goal notecards.

#3: Be specific and detailed
How to you want to be more organized? What steps will you take? How can you lose weight? How can you be more service minded? What specific events can you volunteer for?

#4: Measure actions instead of progress
This didn't make sense to me at first, but then the author went on to explain that most people set really aggressive goals with specific timelines (such as fit into my bikini by summer). Then, when the deadline isn't met, they quit trying altogether. So instead of saying, I want to lose "x" amount of lbs, incorporate actions into your goal by saying I want to do "x" amount of cardio every week and eat at least one fruit or vegetable a day. That way, when you incorporate these actions into your lifestyle, you feel good because you are reaching your goal and not discouraged because the weight insn't falling off as fast, etc.

and perhaps the most valuable point I got from this article was:
Start with just one goal

We all have a million things we'd like to do, things we'd like to change, improve, etc.
Pick one. Do it. Then slowly add in more. Make it a lifestlye change.

As hard as it is for me to pick just one goal, I am going to follow this advice. I am going to write all my goals on notecards and then start with one. When I have comfortably implemented it into my life for at least 3 weeks, I will then get out another notecard.

I am not meaning to be chastizing or critical or anything like that. Different things work for different people. I just wanted to share my strategy that I am adopting this year and hope that you all take time to think about things you want to do, try, and experience.

Life is so good. It truly is a gift.

Christmas 2011

2011-12-26T16:23:00.000-08:00

Last year Christmas looked like this:

I had just graduated, we had a HUGE winter storm, and life was wide open.
I never imagined in my wildest dreams that the following Christmas would look like this:

We kept things VERY simple this year. Didn't send out many gifts (sorry family).
Skott and I both had to work on the day, so we celebrated early on Thursday (our day off). It was a wonderful day!

Backing up a little: having lots of time to think while standing on dead games at work allowed me plenty of time to really plan out Skott's christmas. In years past, I was always stressed with finals around the holidays and was never really able to devote a lot of time to brainstorming Christmas. Well, this year I got a little bold and after a couple weeks of debating with myself, I decided I was going to try and custom paint a pair of Vans shoes for Skott. Mind you, I am not a painter, nor an artist. I did a lot of research, watched a ton of videos, then finally plunged in.

Here we go!

freehand sketching the design

custom mixing the main body color

Ready to start painting design

Compass Rose custom vans complete!

I honestly would encourage anyone mildly interested in this to give it a try. It was a lot of fun! And believe me when I say, If I can do it, ANYONE can do it!

Skott put together a really fun stocking for me! The theme was "All things good.... with one really bad thing"
Guess what that was?

I did a "Forever Young" theme for Skotts stocking

We had a great day together. Went on a walk and went to see the new Sherlock Holmes movie.
Hope everybody has a great holiday!

Starfish at low tide

2011-12-22T13:20:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday, I pretty much had one of the worst days I've ever had in a LONG time. Without re-living too much detail, it was all due to one miserable, arrogant, self absorbed individual who (unfortunately) was doing my audition for single deck pitch blackjack. Wow, I have NEVER been so humiliated and discriminated* in my ENTIRE life (*age and *weight)! I didn't give him the satisfaction of seeing me cry, but boy, the rest of the day I was a mess. Uggggh! I REALLY hate it when stupid people like that get under my skin. No matter how many times you tell yourself that you are better than that, it still hurts. After talking to my managers, they both agreed that what he did was unacceptable and they encouraged me to talk to the casino general manager, which I did the following morning.

My loving husband suggested we take a walk on the beach since it was a really low tide that day. And what a walk it was.

So beautiful!

It just never gets old

You can see how brilliant the orange starfish are

The starfish are only visible when there are minus tides

I love the bright anenome at the bottom of the photo

I don't know what the orange "globby" thing is on the left,
but there were several of them. Any clues?

Sunset that day

What happens when you are too engrossed in taking pictures
when the tide is coming back in!

A neat rock Skott found.
The dark lines are actually water seeping out of the cracks

Skott taking it all in

I feel much better now.

Sisterly love

2011-12-13T17:03:00.000-08:00

My little sister Josie came to visit for a few days. Due to her school and work schedule, and our work schedule, we were only able to take one day off while she was here, but we still managed to have fun!

We picked Josie up in Portland, which is about 2 hours from us. On our way back from the airport, we ventured to the famous VooDoo doughnut (http://www.voodoodoughnut.com/ -check out their menu, it's amazing!).

The next day, Friday, we went up to the Tillamook Cheese factory. Wow, the air up there is very "reminiscent" of my years growing up on the dairy! Bleh! We toured the cheese factory, had some tasty samples, then got some Tillamook ice cream and wandered through their gift shops. Skott and I try to avoid sweets but Tillamook ice cream is an exception. Skott had two scoops of "Grandmas Cake Batter", I had one scoop of "Pumpkin" and one scoop of "Grandmas Cake Batter", and Josie had one scoop of "Caramel (something)" and one scoop of "Grandmas Cake Batter" (can you tell which flavor is our favorite???).

On the way home from the cheese factory we stopped at another wine and gift shop called The Blue Heron and had more samples of jellies, sauces, dips, etc.
We also stopped by Pacific City on our way home. It is a beautiful little spot with waves that are amazing for surfing.

I (Jodi) had to work Friday night so Skott and Josie stayed home and watched movies. The dogs LOVED their aunt Josie and would fight over her lap (in this picture you can see Fucie won):

Saturday we went to some of the local shops and also the outlet mall. Josie's "special" bus even came to pick her up!

Sunday we went for a walk on the beach. It was a little cold and windy but the sun was shining!

Josie also cut and colored my hair -MUCH appreciated! I am scared to death to try a new stylist here in town.... been spoiled too long with my CareCare doing my hair the past 5 years.

Monday morning it was time to say goodbye :(

I love all my sisters and wish we all lived closer!

Beach Glass

2011-12-05T13:23:00.000-08:00

We went down to the Siletz Bay on the south end of town to take a walk the other day. It was a low tide and we happened upon a newly exposed rockier section of beach that we had never seen before.
We found some neat pieces of beach glass:

It was pretty cold and windy that afternoon and we weren't dressed warmly enough so we didn't walk long. We decided to go back yesterday and look for more glass. We found some amazing pieces again!
It is very exciting to hunt for these "treasures" and I am proud to say, that for the first time since we moved back, I found just as many pieces of glass as Skott! haha

Reducing your environmental impact this holiday season

2011-11-27T13:05:00.000-08:00

photo from:eartheasy.com/give_sustainchristmas.htm

Over the years Skott and I have been slowly trying to integrate more "earth-friendly" practices into our lifestyle. The Christmas holiday is no different.

It is very overwhelming to me when I read articles about reducing my carbon footprint. There are so many ideas and suggestions out there that I feel like I don't know where to start!
My suggestion:

pick one that you can easily see yourself realistically doing.

Start there.

For example: many years ago we started recycling christmas cards to use as gift tags the following year. If the cards had writing on the back side of them, we would use wrapping paper remnants and glue over the writing.

We also re-use gift bags like crazy!

And as much as I hated it when I was little, we save bows too. If the bows get crushed, we remove the staple in the middle and use them for ribbon the following year. We haven't bought bows in probably 5 years. One year we hit an amazing clearance at Costco and bought some wired ribbons and beads. We use these to decorate packages. And we re-use them. Year after year.

Another idea that I love is a tradition my sister Justine has. It is a wonderful way to cut back on the amount of wrapping paper used each year. (I tried to find a picture, but couldn't).

She uses giant, homemade "Santa stockings" made out of fabric. They are velvety with a drawstring top, much like what you would envision Santa himself carrying. Each child has their own "Santa bag" and on Christmas day, they awaken to find their bag full of (unwrapped) gifts. This idea could be carried further to incorporate many other sized reusable fabric bags for individual gift "wrapping".

So tell me, what are some eco-friendly practices you have?

What new lifestyle change are you pledging to make? For some ideas, try this link http://www.green-christmas.org/

Skott and I are doing homemade gifts, many of them made from recycled/repurposed materials. Pics to come after the holidays :)

Unique gift ideas

2011-11-20T04:03:00.000-08:00

We picked up these two funny cookbooks off Amazon. (We originally saw them way overpriced in a local gift shop).

With the holidays coming up, I thought I might share some of my favorite websites for unique gifts:

http://www.uncommongoods.com/

Some items are extremely overpriced, others are reasonable. Very good creative stimulation nonetheless

http://www.thinkgeek.com/

Love this website!

http://www.live-inspired.com/

Geared mostly towards paper products (cards, stationary, etc) with lovely colors, images, quotes, etc. I'm sure my more talented friends can do many of these themselves.... but alas, I have not the skills

and of course, googling "upcycled" or "recycled" on etsy produces a wealth of awesome ideas!

So tell me, what are some of your favorites?

Seagulls!

2011-11-18T22:59:00.000-08:00

There is a particular area on the beach where we walk sometimes that there are literally hundreds of seagulls gathered. Not exactly sure why, but it makes for beautiful photos:

View from our window

2011-11-16T00:13:00.000-08:00

Looking out our kitchen window

We're not crazy about the duplex we are renting right now. It's got plenty of room, garage, two bathrooms, etc, but it's not really "us". It is very much in need of an update but it was the best we could do at the time. One of it's redeeming graces is the location: very quiet street, back about 4-5 blocks from ocean. We don't have an ocean view, but we can hear it very clearly.

Living room windows

Our "yard"

We will just stay in this place for as long as it takes to find the perfect home to rent. We have decided not to buy a home right now so we can remain mobile, if necessary.
Life is good. We are very content.

Our disney princess

2011-11-10T23:42:00.000-08:00

Sooooo, the "joys" of having an aging senior dog who is also a former puppy mill rescue.... will lead you to drastic solutions when their failing bodies no longer maintain complete bladder control
(See this link for more info on puppy mills:
http://www.puppymillrescue.com/what_is_a_puppy_mill.htm
or simply google the very censored Oprah special on puppy mills.)

Poor Izzy is having a hard time with her back end. Her crippled little legs do a shuffle/drag movement now, and when she attempts to run, her back legs work in unison, rather than opposite of eachother. Quite comical to watch, but sad at the same time. She has started having more "accidents" and we were tired of shampooing carpets and rugs every day so we came up with this ensemble:

This was our first attempt but the diaper wouldn't stay on

Makeshift elastic "suspenders" did the trick!

Ironically, the only diapers we could find that were the correct size were some Disney princess pull-ups.

My little princess

Crack cream anyone?

2011-11-07T13:15:00.000-08:00

I must still have a very juvenille sense of humor, but some things like this still make me laugh:

this was a sale tag that printed. I did not hang it :)

Along the same funny note, I have a couple stories to share

On the first day of the grand opening, I was helping an elderly couple load a TV and their groceries into their car. The old man was very frail but still pretty spunky. After I was done, he grabbed my arm and asked me if I would like to go to Dairy Queen with him :)

That same day I was approached by a short little round hispanic lady with limited English. She was asking me if something said 5/$5 if she could buy just one and get it for $1 or did she have to buy 5? I told her yes, she could just buy one for $1. She stomped her foot and got really mad and practically growled "He wrong! Where my husband?!" and stomped off to find him. I really wanted to follow her and see what happened when this poor guy got it :)

Getting life back

2011-11-06T13:14:00.000-08:00

My last day doing my temp job at the retail store BiMart was yesterday. I met a lot of great people working there (as well as some incredibly "challenging" people... if you didn't catch that from my facebook postings. haha). Working both jobs was a lot harder than I expected, and I'm not as young as I like to think I am. So, after having a meltdown on poor Skott and crying myself to sleep Friday night, enough was enough. My only concern was that the casino was only part-time and I really needed full-time income.

Well, a strange thing happened Friday night at the casino....

I was actually scheduled off that night since I had to work a couple of extra days earlier in the week. (I was grateful things worked out this way, as I had to do a weekend of 12 hr shifts at BiMart for their grand opening). I was unable to sleep much that night, despite being totally mentally and physically exhausted. Skott text me around 5am and I was awake to answer it. He said he had a suprise for me but I had to wait until he got home.

The suprise:
I was made full time at the casino that night.

I don't believe in coincidences such as these. I know this was an answer to my prayers and an indication that this is what I should be doing right now. I no longer doubted my decision to leave BiMart (the job was offered to me until the end of Christmas).

It is hard for me to accept the fact that I don't have a job in Biology.
but I am not giving up!
I am going to be looking at places and organizations I can volunteer with over the winter. Next spring I will be ready to apply for seasonal and temporary jobs. Most of the jobs in my field of interest are grant funded and we all know what is happening with the budgets these days.... But I have faith that something will come along, someday.

I am really excited to be able to spend more time with this guy:

Our walk home

2011-10-30T12:33:00.000-07:00

We had a mandatory employee meeting for our department yesterday. These are never fun. Every casino is the same and seems to attract the same kind of employees. Dealers are notorious for having gigantic egos in combination with being very lazy and greedy.
I really hope Skott and I don't EVER become this way.

We have a new Games Manager that is really trying to make things better. This, of course, is brought about through changes and better policies and procedures.
You would think she was asking everyone to give up their first born child.

So, after sitting there for over an hour listening to all the whining, sniveling, arguing, and complaining, the meeting was done. Understandably, we were both very irritated and fed up with all the attitudes. We had decided to walk to the meeting to try and get some exercise in. On the way there, we were running a little late so we just took the streets/sidewalks. But on the way home, we had plans to walk along the beach.

Let me tell you, it is hard to be in a bad mood when you walk outside and see this:

It was gorgeous and warm and sunny with no wind at all.
As we walked along, the sun quickly started to set.

By the time we got home an hour later, I was feeling at peace (despite the fact that Skott found two pieces of beach glass and I, again, found none).

Seeking input and help

2011-10-29T04:02:00.000-07:00

Found out last week that the casino is doing an ugly sweater contest for Christmas for the employees.

I want to win it!

Any suggestions? I was also wondering if anyone had any creative ideas where Skott and I could dress up together/complimenting/etc....

I am going to have to start hitting the used stores early... as I have already scoped out the heinous prices on ebay. Apparently, this is a very popular party idea.

A sad death

2011-10-16T13:40:00.000-07:00

My airpop popcorn popper died last week. It was my only evening off and I was craving popcorn and this:

Seriously, it's the BEST!

A low-calorie snack that tastes like artery-clogging, heart attack-inducing love of my life?!?!

And of course, it was after 9pm so there was no where to go buy another popper. sigh

Since then I've been too busy to go shopping but you can bet this coming Thursday (my next night off) you will find me relaxing with sandy feet, a glass of wine, and a big bowl of bacon-flavored popcorn!

Day off at Oceanside

2011-10-10T15:50:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday we both had a day off together. We planned to get up early, but when the alarm went off, we hit snooze, then when it went off again, we just shut it off and slept two more hours. Aaaaaahhhhh! Nothing like waking up feeling totally refreshed!
We decided to head north to one of our favorite beaches: Oceanside. It was an absolutely perfect day -sunny and no wind.

This is the beach when you first get there. To the right of the photo is a giant rock cliff. There is a passageway cut through the rock that allows access to another beach:

looking through one of the holes in the passageway

Skott getting ready to climb down to the other side (end of passageway)

This is the view on the other side. This is where Skott proposed to me :) It's a very special place to us.

We were wandering along the beach and saw this (dead) jellyfish. I was really excited, as we usually just see bits and pieces of them, never a whole one.

Then we walked on a ways and I saw this HUGE one that still had all it's organs visible:

We climbed rocks, searched for beach glass, laughed, and had a great time...

It was a nice break.
Skott is working full time at the casino now. I am part time. I am also doing a temporary job and with the way the schedules have fallen, I am doing a lot of double shifts. Thank god for naps :)

Lincoln City is a tourist destination, so we meet a lot of interesting guests at work. It is a refreshing change from the "screamers" I used to get at the hotel, and the isolation Skott used to experience as a driver.

We miss everyone terrribly and want to you to know that you are all welcome to come visit anytime :)

Warning

2011-10-04T17:47:00.000-07:00

Warning:

If you don't like pictures of the beach, you might want to stop reading my blog now.... -just sayin'

The beach has always been very humbling to me. The feeling I get when I stand there with my toes in the sand and that vastness laid out before me is undescribeable. It really centers me, calms my mind, soothes my emotions, and reminds me that life is so big, so wonderful, and to never take it for granted.

We managed to not be working the other night at low tide. I couldn't capture the anenomes like I had hoped, but here are some shots of the tide pools we stumbled upon.

We even saw a seal come up on the beach! It was really neat to watch it. Even though there are lots of signs posted to give the wildlife their distance, people still get stupidly close to snap pics. And then some dumb chic was letting her dog run off leash and wasn't paying attention and her little weiner dog ran right up and spazzed out on that poor seal. It was barking and circling the seal and the dumb chic was chasing her dog around the seal. All the while the seal is snapping and lunging at her and the dog. Dumb people. Even the people in the oceanfront hotels were drawn out to their balconies by all the commotion and started yelling at her to get control of her dog. It was sickening. I felt so bad for the seal.

We are both back to work at the casino. Luckily, we are on the same shift even though it is graveyard (8pm-4am). The first night back was a little nerve-racking but dealing cards is like riding a bike.... you forget some of the finer points, but you never really forget. Skott got full-time at the casino and I am part time. I am also doing a temporary job for a retail store that is moving/opening a new location. The dogs have adjusted pretty well. Life is very busy right now, but I couldn't be happier

Life on the Farm

2011-09-27T17:29:00.000-07:00

We were very grateful our home sold in this current housing market, and even more grateful that Dad and Sherry opened their doors to us this summer!

SherDen Farm is such a beautiful, relaxing place! Thanks for sharing your wonderful home with us!

Jack (the cat) supervising Dad and Skott hanging the bat box on the silo

Skott and Dad baling hay.

Daddy and his "Powermaster" tractor

Lindsey visited. This is her mix puppy "Sasha"

This is a hilarious shot of "Big Boy" Roscoe buck

Lots of yummy goat milk and cheese curds courtesy of Solo and Blossom! This is Dad and Solo.

I loved how this twin always kept her feet up on the rail when you fed her

Milo on the birdbath

Nia snoozin on my stomach one lazy afternoon

Taking the dogs on a "walk"

View of the farm across the valley

The sky was amazing that evening!

The old hay barn

Skott took a lot of great shots from inside the barns one afternoon

View of the farmhouse from inside the barn

The following photos are not photoshopped or anything. Skott actually took them with his phone one morning after work. This is looking out over the garden into the hay field. Soooo pretty!

Back Online

2011-09-25T09:42:00.000-07:00

We had one last family dinner together the Sunday prior to our move. We went to Round Lake. It was a gorgeous day!

Mason, Skott, Aundray, (Nic), Max

Carrie made the most delicious homemade chocolate and bacon cupcakes! YUMMM!!!

Our move back west was challenging.... to say the least! Our biggest hurdle was the fact that no one would rent to us without us viewing the property in person first. Fair enough, but also extremely frustrating in that no one would "pre-approve" us before hand (run our credit, check references, etc) so that we would be ready to sign once we found something.

My Dad helped us load the truck on Monday. Hard to believe everything we have easily fit into a 10'x20' storage unit:

Measuring to make sure its all going to fit into truck :)

We left early Tuesday morning. I am so glad Skott had the skills to drive that huge truck and trailer! He volunteered to take the dogs with him so I had the nice, quiet car all to myself! Good thing! -he told me Fucie whined for the first couple hours. Eventually, they settled down to this:

We drove from about 7am until 11:30pm. We stayed in Billings, MT. Ran through the sprinklers at the hotel trying to locate an outdoor outlet so we could plug our freezer in.... We were so exhausted! Izzy was nervous and panted the ENTIRE night. She was literally shaking the entire bed. After a little sleep, we woke up and headed out. Hit a lot of construction that afternoon around Yellowstone. Made a quick stop in Jerome and visited "Mamma Jerri". Then headed on to Glenns Ferry where we stopped and visited Skott's "Mom and Pop" and his Aunt Joyce. Then on to Boise/Meridian for the night. We stopped at Heidi's first. Mom and Seth drove up from Utah, and Rachel and Josie were there also. It was wonderful to see everyone and we really appreciate them all coming over, despite the late hour. Got to hug and kiss my sweet niece Ayla. I haven't seen her in over a year. Wow! -what a difference. She was so cute toddling around and kept trying to feed the dogs bits of food through the (closed) screen door. Adorable.

We left Heidi's to go sleep at Josies new place. Wish we would have had more time to visit. In fact, I should have just skipped sleep altogether that night thanks to more panting by Izzy.

We left Boise Thursday morning and continued on to Oregon, arriving late at night in Lincoln City. The retarded desk clerk misdirected us and we ended up getting "stuck" in the lower lot with the truck and trailer because the ramps into the lot were too steep to get out and there were a couple vehicles blocking the way. Finally managed to position the truck as to not block anyone and we collapsed into bed. The next morning we went out to move the truck and got a lovely scolding by the day shift front desk lady. Love it when you call ahead to make arrangements for things, are given wrong information, and still get yelled at because no one can communicate or pass down messages. Ah well, we got it all straightened out amidst dealing with a gushing toenail from Izzy... she drags her back legs when she walks and she managed to snap off her toenail below the quick. Luckily, a vet clinic was close by and we were able to get some styptic powder to stop the bleeding but not before she had made a giant mess of the bathroom floor. Oh, and did I mention we were supposed to be out doing drive arounds with the rental people? Yah.... it was a crazy morning.

The place we really wanted had just been rented out the day before. We looked at a couple places in the morning, then the landlord had some other appointments so we went and got breakfast/lunch where we discovered we had ran over a nail somewhere so off to Les Schwab we went. Thankfully, they got us in quickly and fixed it up for no charge. After that we went back and looked at another place and decided it was the best of our options at the time. It is a duplex townhouse, built in the 1970's, but very roomy! We love the fact that we are only about 4 blocks to the beach.

We FINALLY made it to the beach about 5pm!

We had to stay in the hotel all weekend until our credit check came back. Late Monday afternoon we got the keys and started unloading the truck into the garage. It took SO LONG to unload. We were already a day over our allotment on the truck so we decided to just return it that night. Oh, but before we could return it we went and picked up a washer and dryer we found on craigslist. Then we headed to Salem, which is an hour away (but the nearest Penske drop-off). Ate our first fast-food of the entire trip, and consequently, both got sick on the way home (when will we ever learn?), and got to bed around 2:30am.

Whew!

Life is good

2011-08-10T22:43:00.000-07:00

We really are alive, despite limited cell phone service (one teensy little bar that allows for text messaging, at best) and no internet access (except the library or when I'm at work).
Life on SherDen Farm is wonderful! I love all the animals and the peace and quiet. The sunrises are to die for, the garden produce is delicious, and the company is accomodating and gracious. It's all good!

We had a bit of a rough start at the farm -our frenchie attacked a kitten (in all fairness, the kitten WAS teasing her...) and in my gallant efforts to get the kitten out of her mouth, I, myself, became kitten and my poor fingers got crunched. Luckily, Sherry was outside at the time and ran in to get Skott who came running out and had to use pressure points to get Izzy to release her jaw off my fingers. For a dog with very little teeth, she managed to go all the way through my finger with her back nubs, plus the skin on top of my finger was all cut and ripped. One trip to the ER, a $1,000+ medical bill, 3 trips to the vet (located 45 minutes away), an awful antibiotic reaction, and two weeks later, I am mostly all healed. Poor Izzy -she has a prey drive that has landed her in two more scraps with cats... This last time the cat got her pretty good and the last few times she has seen said cat, she hasn't tried to chase him anymore.

We are still hitting the job market with a few leads here and there. Keeping fingers crossed! My job at the hotel has been really hard lately as far as mean people go. I'm ready for a biology job. So ready.

Sorry I dont have any pictures to post. I wish I did. It is so pretty out here.
Hope all is well with everyone. I apologize for my lack of contact, but know that we love you all !

Has it been almost a month?

2011-07-12T11:11:00.000-07:00

Geez, I just realized it has been FOREVER since I've blogged. I have a handful of unfinished ones saved, but it seems like blogging is the last thing on my mind lately...

Quick update:
We sold our home and we sign next week. We tried and tried and tried to find a rental in Eau Claire that would 1.) rent short term and 2) accept pets. No luck. I'm pretty sure I talked to every landlord in this entire county! We decided that committing to a 1-yr lease completely negated the reason for us selling in the first place so we took Dad and Sherry up on their offer and we will be living at the peaceful SherDen Farm inbetween our moves. I LOVE the farm and I am looking forward to spending time with Dad and Sherry. I'm going to get some awesome audiobooks read, as this move increases my commute time by an hour. Oh well, it will be worth it!

Dylan (Skott's 15 yr old son) came to visit for three weeks. What an adjustment! He is a good kid and we had a lot of fun with him! He got a long really well with my nephew, Mason, so that was nice for him to have someone to hang out with while we were at work. We went camping 2x while Dylan was here: once to Door County and once to Nugget Lake. We wanted to go back to Door County for the Fourth of July but they were all sold out. Nugget Lake was still a blast! Despite the heat and the fact that the campgroud ran out of ice (really?).

We are moving along packing although as the time draws nearer, the "to-do" list is growing faster than we can keep up. Keeping with the Shaw moving tradition, we will be putting everything into storage on one of the hottest days of the summer. Seriously, it has either poured rain or snowed every one of our eight moves. This will be the first time we have ever moved when 1.) It hasn't rained or snowed and 2.) Skott hasnt bought a gigantic package of Sharpie markers (he always thinks we're out despite the fact that we have at least 30 of them in the office).

I promise I will update more when all is settled. The job search continues. I have put out lots of apps. Skott has been in contact with some old friends in Washington and I have been looking at Master's program and Research Assistant jobs. **crossing fingers**

Have a great summer!

Family dinner

2011-06-20T12:45:00.001-07:00

Family dinner was a Greek/Mediterranean theme this month. Dad and Sherry brought pita and hummus, plus Dad brought some of his homemade cheese curds from their goat milk. They were so good!!! Justine brought a delicious spinach salad with feta and lots of good stuff on it. Carrie brought kalaskhlsdfskbdland ????? none of us could pronounce it/and or remember how to spell it, but it was good! We made some meat thing on kabobs (once again, the name leaves me) with a spicy yogurt sauce. There were fresh fruit smoothies for dessert.

Luckily, the rain held off so the kids were all able to go play outside and several people were able to sit outside and eat. Since everyone was so spread out, I didn't get many pictures.

Sadly, this is the last family dinner we will host in this house :( If all goes as planned, we will sign on the sale of the house July 20th.

The floral design Skott made in my smoothie

Skott handled all the food and dessert tasks.

Paco was a little freaked out by all the people

Carrie likes her smoothie!

Kenalee and Erika

Kenalee loving Erika

Justine

Sherry

They know who the softie is to beg from

Remember Me

2011-06-14T22:42:00.000-07:00

Remember Me

Author: Unknown

Remember me when flowers bloom
Early in the spring
Remember me on sunny days
In the fun that summer brings

Remember me in the fall
As you walk through the leaves of gold
And in the wintertime - remember me
In the stories that are told

But most of all remember
Each day - right from the start
I will be forever near
For I live within your heart

Maple bacon + dark chocolate

2011-06-13T22:05:00.000-07:00

For family dinner at Carries last month we were instructed to "bring something with bacon".
This is what we brought:

Maple bacon and Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies!

(yes, I realize the picture is sideways. Blogger was flipping it every time)

Caution: Slippery when wet

2011-06-08T01:19:00.000-07:00

I know I do a lot of complaining about my job, when really, I should be grateful I have some form of employment.
but I think this "situation" at work is getting a bit ridiculous.... what do you think?

Background:
about 6-8 weeks ago, puddles started to form in the basement of the hotel. They were atributed to a leak in one of the water park pumps. Said leak was located and repaired but the puddles continued to grow.
Eventually, the entire basement was covered in at least an inch of standing water. Funny, the management wasn't the least bit concerned.
Several weeks go by. The time clock is in the basement, the breakroom is in the basement, housekeeping is in the basement. I was working all night with soaked socks from sloshing through the water in the basement.
After a month of this ridiculousness, someone reported the company to OSHA. Oh boy, management was FURIOUS! "Who would do such a thing?" they lamented. They were given a week to remedy the hazard.
They did nothing except this:

This is the sign on the door to the storage rooms. I think this is their way of covering their butts.
Day 6 of their week timeline they start moving boxes from the soaked storage rooms.
Lots and lots of soaked, moldy boxes lined the stairwells to the basement. I saw unbelieveable things like the big screen tv's -soaked. Boxes of pillows -soaked. It was smelly and slightly frightening due to the dangers of mold.
They finally decided maybe they should tear out sheetrock and insulation since it looked like this:

(notice how high up the sheetrock the water and mold is?)

After installing a sump pump (that did nothing to help) they decided to just "give up" in hopes that as summer came, the water would go away. Apparently, the problems stem back to cutting corners on permits and tests when they built the hotel four years ago... Turns out they built on a marshy area.

So this is what I deal with every day, this is what I wade through every night on my way to the timeclock and housekeeping. It smells absolutely wretched down there and just recently, the guest complaints have started -"Our room smells musty....". Hmmmm ,yah think?

How can this be legal?

How can this be healthy?

How are they getting away with this?

storage

Housekeeping. The shiny is all water.

This is the deepest area, well over 1"

the hallway to the time clock

It reminds me a little of our high school: as you walked through the gym into the freshman wing of the building there was "Danger: asbestos" spray painted on many of the pipes and ducts. Nice.

Selling our home

2011-06-07T00:27:00.000-07:00

For those of you that didn't see my facebook post, we have put our house on the market due to the job search in the Eau Claire area proving futile. We have to be able to expand my job search nationally and because of the depressed housing market, we decided the first step would be to sell the home. We don't know how long this will take. Our realtor told us to expect 100-200 days average.

It has been REALLY hard keeping the house spotless! hahaha

but seriously,

working night shift is not conducive to trying to sell a home.

Many a day we wake up after a couple hours sleep and head out to the parks to kill time during a showing. Plus side: we have gotten out more and enjoyed nature. Down side: taking the dogs out in this horrible humidity.

Here's a couple shots from last week:

Skott took about six pictures of me and Izzy and in all of them she is licking my coffee mug. Hmmmm, that wouldn't be due to the fact that there was some Rumchata added to the coffee? She is such a lush....

Here's a link to our listing:

http://www.edinarealty.com/WI/Eau-Claire/54703/homes-for-sale/1028-Omaha-St-61007409

Finding your happy place

2011-05-26T20:25:00.001-07:00

Izzy has been quite sensitive and traumatized by all the changes lately. We often find her hiding in her "happy place" aka -the downstairs bathroom. She goes in there when she is scared or feeling insecure.

Monday I was working on the front flower bed. I had just mowed the lawn so I drug out my weeding bag to throw everything in. I kept hearing a funny rustling noise behind me. When I finally turned around, this is what I saw:

I didn't realize it, but the next door neighbor was running his air compressor =terror for Izzy. So she found a new "happy place" and laid in there among the weeds and dirt while I finished working on the flowers.

threads of love

2011-05-23T21:41:00.000-07:00

When Skott and I first started dating I was living in Twin Falls, ID and he was living about 45 minutes away in Jackpot, NV. He had this amazing soft, comfy sweatshirt that I LOVED to borrow. At the time, it was a deep burgundy color. He bought it on a trip to the ocean so it had special memories for him. Throughout the course of our relationship (and marraige), this sweatshirt has seen many sicknesses, tears, and adventures. It used to go everywhere with us -every camping trip, every trip to the beach, etc. As the inevitable wearing started becoming more prominent, it took a loving place in our closet, only to be brought out during the sickest of times.

kind of like a baby blanket

When I was interning in Oregon during the summer of 2008, Skott's vacation to come visit me was denied by his boss. I was devastated, homesick, and lonely. A few weeks later I got a care package from Skott. On the top of the package was the sweatshirt. I shed tears. I wore it every day and it brought me a lot of comfort.

During our recent decluttering/simplifying event, we came across this sweatshirt in the closet. We both looked at eachother, not wanting to say the words....

"One more time" I said

And we each posed for a final picture with the sweatshirt.

Yes, I know it's huge. Skott used to be about 55lbs heavier. So proud of you babe!

I wish I could capture the color....

2011-05-23T20:08:00.000-07:00

We took a spring fever induced trip to Como Zoo and Conservatory last month.

Skott found Woody! hahaha
We had to go check out the new LegoLand at Mall of America. Very cool!

simple pleasures

2011-05-09T12:27:00.000-07:00

My sleeping has been so out of whack the past 3 months, leaving me plenty irritable most days. Poor Skott has been so patient and kind with me -he truly is a gem!I must have been pretty crabby the other day because instead of going with Skott to do grocery shopping/errands, he gave me strict orders to "Stay home and plant something!" Ahhhh, he knows me so well.
The highlight of my evening was finding this totally cool frog/toad underneath the leaves under my rhododenderons. I made him a new home under our front porch steps since I needed to rake up all the leaves he was under...

I also got a big kick out of watching our fat dogs try and chase eachother around the yard. They are loving this weather as much as we are!

Spring fever here

2011-05-02T09:39:00.001-07:00

Fucie desperate for some sunshine

We all have a bad case of the winter blahs. Sooooo ready for nicer weather, like everyone else in the country. It is so scary to hear about all the weird weather and storms across the nation and around the world. Yes, The times, they are a'changing! -and not in a good way.  It frustrates me that media attention is constantly focused on insignificant fluff. It is easier for everyone to ignore what is happening to our planet and focus on "the now". I hear of very little plans for the future (when we have disrupted the balance of our ecosystem to the point that our planet can no longer support life as we know it). In light of all the natural disasters, Skott and I have had several interesting discussions lately such as:
     -If we had 1/2 hour to evacuate, what would we take and where would we go?
     -If our home was leveled by a tornado (good-bye food storage), what would we do? Where would we go? How would we eat?
     -If disaster struck and the government broke down, would we stay and defend our home, our things, our food? Or would we pack up essentials and band together the family? Where would we go?
     -What if the roads became impassible?
Lovely dinnertime conversations, I know. But interesting, nonetheless.

As many of you know, my job hunt is proving much more difficult than I ever imagined. And with the recent passing of a bill by our idiotic governor, biology jobs in Wisconsin are futile to pursue. Yes, I am aware that the job market is TOUGH everywhere, but I cannot sit and rot working for this stupid hotel company much longer. It is pretty ridiculous that I fight back the tears constantly every weekend due to the tremendous stress and B.S. level I am forced to deal with at night, especially when none of the 3 managers will answer their phones and I am left to try and figure things out. We have decided that we need to be more mobile so I can apply for more jobs nation-wide. So we have been getting our house ready to put on the (crappy) market. Oh boy.
We made it a goal to really and truly de-junk/de-clutter. I will not lie, it has been extrememely overwhelming and stressful!  One side of our garage is completely full of items for the yard sale. It's not that I don't want to get rid of things, I do. It's just the mess you create while trying to sort through things. Piles everywhere....  But let me tell you, it feels GOOD. It's amazing how these things have cluttered up our lives for so long.  We have been using a wonderful technique as we go through things:
1) When was the last time we used this? How often do we use this? Why haven't we used it more?
2) Is this something that has sentimental value but is never displayed or looked at? If so, is it something that can be used?
3) Was this a gift from someone?
4) Cool item, but where/how can we use it?
I have taken many, many pictures of things that have sentimental value, but that have been packed away in a trunk since I left home. Dolls, stuffed animals, barbie horses, care bears, .... Most of them are stained and the barbie horse hair is a weird sticky texture now. Why keep them? So I have a new folder on my computer with pictures of these items so that I can always bring back memories when I look at the photos. And quite truthfully, I will look at the photos more than I would ever open that trunk and look at the actual items.
I also have a lot of pillowcases, tablecloths, etc that were embroidered by my grandparents and great grandparents. Rather than keep them in a trunk (where they won't get ruined), I have taken photos of them, and then I plan to use them!
Things such as my graduation cap, gown and tassles. Really? Why am I keeping them? Click a pic, donate.
Some things are harder than others. I have A LOT of blankets and afghans. A ridiculous amount actually.
Why am I keeping them all "just in case". We sorted through them -set aside ones for camping, ones for winter-time throws, ones for guest bedroom. Kept one in the hope chest that was quilted for me by three generations when I was younger, then the rest we are donating to the woman's shelter. Someone else might as well get some use out of them, right?

This de-cluttering has been very liberating in an undescribeable way. And it feels good knowing that someone can get use out of something that would otherwise be sitting in storage.

pretty much how I feel

I have been horrible at blogging, especially lately. My body refuses to adjust to the day sleeping schedule so I am always exhausted. I get up, eat breakfast, pack/clean/paint/, exercise for 1-2 hours, then have dinner and go to work. I feel more stressed now than I did in school. It seems like there are never enough hours in the day. The last major project to be completed before listing our home is the basement. Then a thorough deep clean. Then cross our fingers.

I am a planner. I don't like not knowing. I don't like uncertainty.
What I do know:
I love plants. I love conservation work. I love working with people. I love my family. I love the ocean. I feel happiest being in nature.
I also believe with all my heart that we will be guided in the direction we are meant to go. Things will happen for reasons that might not be apparent right away. I put in a for a great job here locally. A dream job. I was in the top 3. I didn't get the job. It was devastating. I have since put out close to 100 applications and landed only one more interview. Didn't get that job either.

I don't want to sell our home. I love it. I love living next to family.
But I also cannot live to work at a crappy job. So much of life is spent working, it might as well be something you enjoy. -or at least something that doesn't give you anxiety attacks and send you home in tears every day. Skott and I have made a lot of sacrifices the past three years while I was in school. I don't want them to be for nothing.

So here's to crossing our fingers and seeing where life takes us!

Skott has been spoiling me lately. After a particularly rough night, he made me breakfast: ocean animal shaped pancakes, ham, and eggs. Yum!

Play 'n Freeze Ice Cream maker

2011-04-11T23:55:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we made homemade ice cream using this fun little device called the "Play 'n Freeze". We got the smallest one that makes only a pint, but we are not big sweets eaters so we thought it would be the perfect amount to split.

How this works is you add your ingredients to a metal canister inside the ball. We used fat free creamer, brandy, rum, and spices to make "egg nog". On the other side of the ball is an opening where you add ice and rock salt. I was really suprised how much ice this holds! -probably 5 lbs worth!

Then you shake it, roll it, toss it

for 10 minutes. Stir.

Shake, toss, and roll some more.

We actually went too long with ours (20 minutes total) so the ice cream was rock solid.

It is a fun little workout, suprisingly!

We hope to take this camping with us.

The recipe ideas are ENDLESS

The final flavor wasn't what we had hoped, so we added some mint chocolate and chocolate peanut butter.

Delish!

Oh technology!

2011-04-05T04:27:00.001-07:00

My cute little Grandma Tolman is just beginning to grasp the concept of the internet. I have tried to show her "texting" with my phone, or "chatting" via facebook, but that is a bit much for her to comprehend. (I was super bummed the day my brother Seth was visiting her and he and I were trying to link up his mac and my iphone so I could FaceTime talk to her. Too bad we couldn't get it to work, that would have blown her mind -to see me actually talking to her via computer!). Anyways...

Apparently, my aunts read to her our blog posts and facebook updates. To Grandma, everything is "facebook". It is cute. It makes me laugh. She will ask "Did you hear about so and so on facebook?" She is trying to incorporate the word "blog" into her vocabulary but I don't think she quite knows how.

It is amazing how fast technology is progressing! We are in the process of de-junking our basement and came across some cassette tapes. We dont have anything to play them in. Sad.

I also came across an old journal. I don't know why this entry caught my eye but it made me laugh!

Spiffy!
That car was a beast -a gigantic black boat of a car but boy, we thought it was cool because it has electronic locks and windows! hahaha

Curried Butternut Squash Soup

2011-03-29T11:23:00.001-07:00

Two posts in a row about food.
Hmmmm
but this soup is so amazing I wanted to share it with anyone looking for something new to try. Last night was the second time we made it and it turned out just as good so this is a keeper!

Curried Butternut Squash Soup
1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
3 Tbsp. butter
3 tsp. red curry powder or curry powder (we used hot curry powder)
3 tsp. grated fresh ginger (we used ground ginger powder)
1/2 tsp. salt
1 can (14oz) reduced sodium chicken broth (we also mixed our own with chicken bullion cubes once)
1 1/4 cups water
1 1/2 lbs butternut squash (about 4 cups) peeled and cut into 1" cubes
1 can (14oz) unsweetened coconut milk (Imperial Dragon is a great brand)
1/2 cup of half-and-half or light cream (we used our coffeemate coffee creamer last night)
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro (we used frozen cilantro from our garden last year)
Optional:
Skott added some smoked paprika and minced garlic as well.

In a large saucepan, cook onion in butter over medium heat for about 10 minutes, or until tender. Stir in curry poweder, ginger, and salt. Cook 30 seconds more.
Stir in chicken broth and water, bring to a boil.
Add squash (we pre-steamed our squash so it cooks faster). Return to boiling, then reduce heat and let simmer (recipe says for 40 minutes, but that is if your squash isn't pre-steamed).
When squash is tender, let soup cool slightly. Transfer half of the cooled soup to a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth. Combine back into saucepan. Stir in coconut milk, creamer, and cilantro. Heat.

Now, here is a question for you:
Does anyone have a good method for recipe keeping? We get a lot of recipes online and print them off, therefore, we have lots of various sized print-outs of recipes. We hate recipe boxes. We like to be able to write our modifications on the recipe, notes, etc. We currently have a drawer full of recipes. Some of the really good ones I have put in plastic sleeves but they are still an unorganized mess.
How do YOU store, organize, etc your recipes? Any suggestions?
I don't really have the time or desire to hand-type all of them so they are uniform, plus I like pictures :)
And how do you handle recipes you see and clip from a magazine? You want to try them, but what if they are crap? What do you do with them before trying them?
Help :)

Bread

2011-03-19T13:43:00.003-07:00

A friend of ours shared a wonderful bread recipe with us.
Thanks Molly! -I think? I don't know, I have a weakness for good bread but I like this recipe because it keeps for a long time in the fridge and you can make whatever sized loaf you need so you don't have a bunch sitting around calling you from the kitchen.

This was my first attempt. We used them as bread bowls for cheddar broccoli soup on a cold winter day.

heavenly

I have made several more batches since then, each time experimenting with something new. I did a rosemary and garlic batch that was fabulous. Right now I am trying a batch with Guiness as the liquid instead of water. Not sure how that will turn out with the yeast activation, etc but I will keep you posted!

Here's a link to the website with the recipe:
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/Artisan-Bread-In-Five-Minutes-A-Day.aspx?page=9

There is quite a bit of information here but the recipe I have been using is:
1 1/2 Tbsp yeast
1 1/2 Tbsp salt
6 1/2 cups flour
3 cups water

We use a pizza stone and the bottom of our broiler pan for the water in the oven.

My next step: tackle foccacia

Update:
So the Guiness beer idea -not so much. It made the bread an interesting color, but NONE of the flavor was there.
Last night I tried a regular recipe with big chunks of sharp cheddar cheese and some jalapenos mixed in. That was amazing. Oh, and I put a little of the jalapeno juice in the dough. Tasty!
Tonight I am making little bun sized loaves to use for tilapia sandwiches.... Anyone hungry?

The Flying Pig

2011-03-08T16:16:00.000-08:00

If you're ever in Wisconsin, it is worth taking a drive up to Door County.
This has become our ocean away from home.... the closest thing to the beach we can get here in the Midwest.

A must on the list of stops is the coolest place called "The Flying Pig". Here is a link to their website:
http://www.theflyingpig.biz/
Technically, I guess they are in Algoma, which is south of Door County, but it's a slight detour on our way home so it is lumped in with Door County.
It is wonderful and inspirational to walk their grounds and see all the neat plants and displays:

We got to meet the artist that designed this. There were live birds nesting on the left support post.

These are trained apple trees. I love this technique!

The also carry the most amazing muffins and have delicious espresso!

Last year for our anniversary we bought a really neat clock from The Flying Pig. I also got a REALLY cool "Plant a Lamp". You know those touch lamps? -well, this is similar only it is a lamp in a plant and you touch the leaves of the plant to turn it on and off. No joke. I saw it working. I haven't planted mine yet, as I am still searching for that perfect pot to put it in. Here's the link to "Plant a lamp":
http://www.plantalamp.net/

So if you're ever near Algoma and need some creative inspiration, I highly reccommend The Flying Pig. The owners are awesome and the staff is always friendly.

stooopid cancer

2011-03-01T17:40:00.000-08:00

Izzy had a mast cell tumor removed a couple months ago. It was first spotted a short time after we started fostering her in Aug. 2007.
Well dang the luck, I just found another one on her other shoulder that looks exactly like the first one did so many years ago. I just hope it is as slow-growing as the first one. She had malignant cancer already when she was rescued from the puppy mill in Oklahoma so every day with her is a gift. She has just made such an amazing transition that I want her to have many more years left to enjoy life like it should be!

It's not often that Fucie and Izzy snuggle. They play quite a bit, but Fucie doesn't seek her out like he did Rori. Maybe it's because Izzy literally tried to kill him the first 4 months we had her. Or could it be because of the time she tried to drag him across the top of a baby gate by his jaw? Or maybe the fact that a couple times a year she had unpredictable bursts of regression wherein she attacks him with intent to kill for no apparent reason?
Hmmmm,
can't blame him for being leary.
But last night they both snuggled on the couch with me after Skott went to work. Proof that with enough time, patience, and discipline, even the worst cases can be rehabilitated.
Please, think twice before you buy a dog from a pet store or backyard breeder. Pet stores get their stock from puppy mills -like where Izzy came from. Lives spent living in cages stacked on top of eachother, dark, cold, no human interaction, cages layered in feces and urine.
To refresh:
When we picked Izzy up she had already been to two other foster homes. We were her last hope before euthanasia. She was filthy and her back legs were solid callouses from the concrete pad she was kept on. She didn't know how to eat food from a dish. She has no teeth -she wore them off trying to chew her way out. She is completely blind in one eye due to injury neglect. She was terrified of other dogs, didn't know how to walk on a leash.... it was heartbreaking.

Please, visit the humane association. Google "(breed you're interested in) + resuce" and I guarantee you will get hits. Every breed has a rescue organization.

Skott's latest creations

2011-02-23T15:35:00.000-08:00

I absolutely LOVE Skott's latest artistic outlet:

These bracelets are all made from recycled/reclaimed scrap pieces of wood.

This one he made for me out of 100+yr old oak heat registers from the first house we ever owned:

This one is from a piece of oak that was headed to the burn pile at work:

And finally, who can forget the pallets? Yes, more wonderful creations from the pallet wood:

I am very lucky and very proud to have such a talented husband!

here let me help you...

2011-02-21T13:45:00.000-08:00

It was a looooong work week.
I am enjoying my one day off
-indoors, watching the snow fall, and thanking all the angels that helped me get to and from work safely. Skott was rear-ended earlier yesterday. Thankfull he is fine and the car (still our one and only) is still driveable. (I actually haven't seen the damage yet, as the entire back end is covered in a thick layer of ice and snow).

My "funny" story for the day:
So yesterday there was that major snowstorm. The hotel I work at is right next to the freeway and an intersection with another freeway. There was a gigantic 32+ car pileup. Employees from the hotel saw it happen and immediately rushed to help. Blankets, back braces, neck braces, first aid kits.....
One very sweet guy who works front desk rushed out to help. Adrenaline pumping, he forgot gloves, hat, etc. He did manage to grab a "first aid kit" -only when he reached the scene of the accident, he discovered he had actually grabbed a box of tampons.
Now I am not sure how you can confuse a box of tampons and a first aid kit....
but can you imagine?
(insert endless tasteless jokes here)

I laugh at this story, but....
sadly, after quite some time helping victims, he himself was admitted to the hospital with frostbite and will be out of work for a few days.

Contrary to what the news is portraying, the hotel did offer to house the accident victims. Granted, we were completely booked already but they opened up the big skybox conference room, set up air mattresses, etc. free of charge. It is a very sobering thought to put yourself in their shoes. Many people had no idea who towed their cars or what shop they ended up at. Most were from out of town and quite literally, stranded with nothing but the clothes on their backs.
I only wish the rest of the hotel guests could have been as grateful as these victims....
Seriously? Due to the number of lifeguards calling in (not driving in the insane mess), the waterpark had to close three hours early because they legally didn't have enough coverage. Boy, you would have thought we stole Christmas.
Ok, #1: Do you honestly want your kids swimming with no lifeguard?
#2: Would you want your inexperienced teenage driver to try and drive to work, endangering their lives for minimum wage?
No.
Ok then people, relax. Let's try and make the best of it.
Instead it was a big huge whine-fest/let's see what we can get for free riot.
So glad the majority of it had passed by the time I arrived, otherwise I might not be employed anymore. I would have lost it on someone.

here's praying for spring

A sign of old age

2011-02-15T06:43:00.001-08:00

To celebrate Valentine's Day, Skott and I went to "The Cities" (Minneapolis/St. Paul) on Sunday, our only day off together.

Our first stop was Rustica Bakery. Delicious coffee and we each tried a new pastry. I would tell you what they were but I can't remember the french names :)

Then we headed to Penzey's Spice on Grand. This is like a candy store for us. For Christmas, I got Skott an Indian food cookbook and a bunch of spices. Yesterday, we stocked up on more good spices:

and of course, had to hit Ikea later to buy more spice jars! (Any excuse to go to Ikea is a good excuse, right?)

So this was the little shelf we kept our spices on before Christmas. Now it is mostly grilling stuff.

We had to rearrange a bunch of cupboards in the kitchen so we could devote a new, bigger space for spices: (and this doesn't include Monday's haul)

We went to the Mall of America and hit up a couple of our favorite boutiques. I was also looking for shoes and stuff for work. I love people watching and listening to all the different languages being spoken there...

We needed to stop by Home Depot on our way home so Skott could get a better miter saw for his latest project (see upcoming post soon). Of course, I went to look at plants while he went to the tools. Imagine my excitement when I found these:

I have wanted "Living stones" for, oh, like TEN YEARS but never saw them in any nursery we ever went to. I had a hard time picking just three! I am super excited to pot them today. They actually bloom in the spring so if they do this year, I will be sure and post pics. Wheeeee!! So excited!
As I was wandering the plant aisles, I could smell something so good -like lilac almost. After sniffing perhaps every plant there, I discovered the source and had to buy one:

I know these hyacinths will only bloom for another month or so but I am going to enjoy every minute.

I also picked up a couple new pots for an idea I have for the deck this summer ($1.50 each, thanks Ikea!):

On the way home Skott and I were talking and we realized that

We are getting old

We bought one thing at the Mall of America and it was work related.

Everything else we spent on spices and plants.

tax time.... and a few laughs

2011-02-07T22:54:00.001-08:00

Since starting my job, I finally got two days off in a row. That may not sound like a big deal to most, but when I work until 7:30 in the morning on my day off, I have to sleep until at least 1 or 2 to be able to awaken somewhat human. Then, I try to stay up as long as I can that night, sleep, wake up the next afternoon and have a few hours to do stuff before it's work again. Bleh. Anyways, my point to all of this was that I have had an amazing couple of days. I think it's more psychological than anything else, but whatever the reason, it has helped my mood immensely!

Had my first experience with a total "bridezilla" at the hotel. Wow. That was interesting. She got all huffy right away when (god forbid) I didn't know who she was. She walked up to the counter in her dress and everything and said "yes, I need to check in". I said, "Ok, what's the name on the reservation?" She gave me a big huffy sound and really snottily told me her name. Then, I had to get her license and credit card info and you would have thought I told her to hand over all her presents. Geesh lady. And then her credit card was declined. Oh boy, that went over well.

I had another guest accuse me of being a liar. She called around 1am Saturday morning to make a reservation for that day. I told her we were sold out and she argued with me. Uh hello dumb lady, why would I lie? She said it was the middle of winter in Eau Claire Wisconsin and she didn't believe that we could possibly be sold out so I better just quit lying and get her a room. Well, we do have a rather nice breakroom with it's own bathroom down in the basement that no one uses....

Whatever happened to the concept of being nice to someone that you are trying to get to help you?

But, my story for the week is a really young, cocky guy who calls at 5:36am from his room. (Usually when the house line rings at that time you know it is going to be bad). He says "Yes, I need a wake up call for 6am, 6:15, and 6:30." I told him we can only program one wake-up call at a time but I would try and reset it if I wasn't busy. I actually got busy so he got two out of those three calls. At 7am, I am giving my passdown to the next shift and the phone rings again. Same guy. "Yah, I need wake up calls for 7:15, 7:35, 7:45, and 8am." At this point I wanted to just tell him to GET UP ALREADY! How bizarre?!

Oh, and I can't forget the nasty woman wearing something only best described as a cross between a homemade poncho and a snuggy.... it was just cut (no hems) and was the most hideous pattern imaginable. There was some kind of charity benefit thing going on for kids with hemophilia so her and her six kids were staying. That's awesome. Have fun. But noooooo she had to stand down at the front desk and tell me her life story while my eyes are watering from the stench rolling off this woman (B.O. and SMOKE). I felt bad for being so repulsed but really?! She was going on and on and on about how all her kids had ADHD, how one had hemophilia, how another had OCD, another severe asthma, and yet several others with autism.... how she was on welfare and food stamps and that the various fathers were losers. It just made me so sad that our government enables and encourages this behavior. Having kids IS a choice and there are MANY free birth control options out there. And seriously -what was going on that ALL her kids had these problems? Environment? Genetics? Drugs? Poor kids don't stand a chance. There were actually some guests that were visiting in the lobby that came up to me after she left and said "Wow, how did you do it? How did you keep such a professional straight face?". yah, it was that bad.

I realize these stories make me sound like a shallow individual. But this was a really hard week of seeing a lot of mistreated kids. I don't understand why people are allowed to have so many when they can't take care of them.

Anyways, we got our taxes done today. Relieved to find out we have enough to hopefully get my car fixed. It's becoming some sort of weird tradition that every year around December my car breaks down. As in major breakdown/cannot drive it. And in previous years, we have just let it sit until late spring before getting fixed. Not really an option now. We are carpooling, but Skott is either done hours before or hours after I am. One of us ends up waiting a long time every day. Now I can't say that I don't blame my car. It's kind of smart, really, to break down for the worst months of the winter. No trying to start when it's 30 below, no getting saturated with salt and road grime..... yah, I think my car has got the right idea!

On our way back from getting taxes done I spotted this road sign:

Hi, My name is Jodi and I live on Tru-Gas Road. No, no not false gas, Tru-gas!"

Have an awesome week everyone!

Already dreaming about summer

2011-02-04T04:32:00.001-08:00

Like everyone else, I have been plagued with seasonal depression....
To keep my mind on brighter things, I have been thinking about summer projects.
Some of the things I want to do this year are:

1) Build a bat box
Contrary to popular belief, bats rarely bite humans! In fact, they are very helpful to humans. Bats are essential for maintaining healthy ecosystems. Most bats eat huge amounts of insects, including farm pests and many of the nasty bugs that harass outdoor gatherings.
Our backyard is situated on a bluff that overlooks a giant body of water. We love to sit around the fire pit in the evenings and watch the bats swoop in and eat all the mosquitoes.
Here's some great links for building a bat-box. Make it an FHE activity and reduce your population of mosquitoes!

http://www.nwf.org/Get-Outside/Outdoor-Activities/Garden-for-Wildlife/Gardening-Tips/Build-a-Bat-House.aspx

http://free.woodworking-plans.org/bat-house-plans.html

Once you have built your box, here are some tips for attracting bats:
http://www.batcon.org/pdfs/bathouses/attractingbats.pdf

2)Another project I want to continue is creating a native pollinator flower bed. Before doing work with The Prairie Enthusiasts, I naively bought those wildflower mixes you can get in any store, -not realizing that many species in the mix are invasive and/or not native. The problem with non-native species is: the local pollinators don't benefit from them and also, the non-natives can become invasive. I always wondered why people had flower beds in their gardens. It seemed silly to me until I took an entomology class and learned about all the different pollinators.
Did you know that pollinators are responsible for the production of 75% of the food we eat?

Want awesome fruit tree production?
An abundance of tomatoes? Strawberries? Raspberries? Potatoes? Beans? Broccoli? Squash? etc...?
Plant some flowers. You don't need to devote a large area, even just a few pots will do.
For some ideas on finding native pollinators in your area and what you can plant:

http://www.fws.gov/pollinators/PollinatorPages/YourHelp.html
this link is a wealth of information and lists many links to allow you to research specific to your region.

Also, contact your local DNR, FWS, or BLM and find out if they have prairies that you can harvest from.

3) I want to start composting.
Initially, the thought sounds disgusting. But, after growing some vegetables last year, I realized the importance of providing nutrients to my plants. Plus, we are conscientiously trying to eliminate waste in our household and composting is a fantastic solution to both!

There are many ways to compost. Last year we just threw a bunch of stuff into a pile in our backyard. This year I want to get a composting barrel, or at the very least, construct a bin behind the garage. Here are some links for composting tips:

http://www.howtocompost.org/

http://vegweb.com/composting/

http://eartheasy.com/grow_compost.html

4) I want to make bird baths
I have been saying this for years. I don't know why it always gets pushed to the back burner. The magazine article I have kept for YEARS in hopes of making one, is this:

http://www.gardengatemagazine.com/extras/53birdbath1.php

Anyone have any other suggestions?

Where is the third floor?

2011-01-25T11:03:00.000-08:00

My job search continues.
It is a difficult and depressing issue.

In the meantime, I have started working as night audit at a resort hotel in town. It is a new place, with an indoor waterpark on one side, and "Action City" game center on the other side. Translation: hellish on weekends with unsupervised, out-of-control children. Very calm and quiet during the week with corporate clientele.
Now that I have been there a few weeks and am somewhat getting the hang of things, I am starting to enjoy all the strange crap you see in hotels. Some examples:

"Where's the third floor?" -spoken by a man so drunk I am amazed he was still upright. I was sooooo tempted to tell him it was in the basement. But instead I smiled and sweetly pointed up.

A little boy about 6 years old wandering down to the lobby around 2am telling me it was a "snore fest" in his room and he couldn't sleep. Then proceeded to burst into tears because he missed his mommy (he was with his dad). Poor little dude. I let him use the office phone to call her.

A call from 911. "Yes this is 911, we have a caller on the line who is locked out of his room. He is five. He said he thinks his dad is in the room but can't hear him knocking. He's on the third floor." Ok. #1: Why is a 5 year old locked out of the room, yet has a cell phone on him to call 911???? #2: It is about 3am. #3: Where are his parents?????
The rest of this story: you will never guess who his dad was.....
yep, Mr. Where's-the-Third-Floor dude.
I'm beginning to think I should be trained in child protective services instead of front desk operations.

And then there's the usual babysitting of drunks who think it's fun to get wasted and push eachother up and down the halls in the wheelchairs or on the luggage racks. Oh, but said wheelchairs did come in handy last weekend when a guy was so drunk he couldn't walk, yet his psychotic wife was screaming at him to get back to the room. I helped the guys friend load him into a wheelchair so he could be taken back to room. As far as I know, drunk guy spent the night sleeping in said chair.

Don't get me wrong, this is a nice hotel resort -with a bar in the lobby. I am just shocked how many people come and dump their kids off at the waterpark or game center, and then proceed to get utterly obliterated in their hotel rooms.

Besides night audit, I am also doing some additional bookkeeping work which is nice because it gives me something to do. I stay pretty busy all night long.
I accidentally cussed out loud the other day (not in front of any guests, just co-workers). Everyone's jaw hit the floor. Apparently they all bought the "sweet and innocent" look. hahaha I don't know why this happens everywhere I work but people are always shocked to find out I drink coffee and cuss.

Izzy is healing well from her cancer removal surgery.

On the way home after surgery

A week after. Infection is almost gone.

Two weeks post-op

Hope you all are staying warmer than us:

In a funk

2011-01-13T12:14:00.001-08:00

It's so much easier to just not blog when you're in a funk.

I hate being a negative, pity-me person so I try to keep those feelings to myself (most of the time), hence, no blogging for a couple weeks. Gratefully, I got a menial job at an even more menial wage as a night auditor at a resort in town. Glad to have some income. Glad Skott and I are on the same sleep schedule. Depressed that I can't find a biology job. Trying to maintain faith that one will come along. Trying not to be discouraged with all the rejection letters.

Instead of wallowing in self pity, I took a walk around the house this morning with my cup of coffee.

Throughout our home we have lots of random, candid pictures displayed. I highly prefer them over the starchy, "posed", professional pics. I think candids capture the true personalities and dynamics of the moment. We specifically hired a photographer for our wedding that only did candids. He captured some great moments, one of my favorites being the instant we realized we had left all the wedding music at home.

Anyways, I love to look at all the pictures when I am feeling down.

Candid photos are like visual journals.

They make me smile and appreciate what I do have: LOVE, FAMILY, and FREEDOM.
Here's just a sample of some of my favorite candids I have saved to my computer:

Great Grandma feeding hotcakes tothe dogs in Hat Creek. A wonderful reminder of the times when life was simple

A memorable visit with Skott's grandma Alta. On the ferry in Pugent Sound,WA

Mom and Pop looking so cute

Grandma drinking Ovaltine. I told her I was sending the evidence to her doctor

Grandma and Grandpa Tolman

I will always remember this vacation to Seaside. This pretty much sums up how relaxed we all were

The Z chillin in the leaves in our backyard

remodeling the restaurant and pulling all-nighters

How can you not smile when you see this picture? Excited Ayla

Skott and his grandma Alta headed off for an adventure

My adorable husband

Jodi and Heidi

Then and Now

2010-12-29T19:30:00.000-08:00

I was looking through some old photos and found this one of Fucie and Skott. We were on our way to Seaside Oregon for a weekend get-away. I believe it was around the year 2002.

This photo on the bottom is one that I took only a couple months ago. We were on our way to Door County to go camping. Fucie loves to ride in the car!

Rustica

2010-12-22T07:41:00.000-08:00

I must admit-

one of the things about the West Coast that I miss the most is

a good cup of espresso.

I used to take offense when people called me a "coffee snob" but now I don't really care. I don't actively make that my goal, I just enjoy a great espresso, something I took for granted before moving to the midwest.

Everyone has their "thing" that brings them comfort and elicits a floodgate of good memories. For some, it's chocolate, for others, cookies. For me, it's coffee.

It is really hard to find good espresso here. The good kind -the kind where the crema is generously floating on top, the kind where I don't need to add any splenda or sweetner, the kind where it is the perfect drinking temperature...

It is very easy to tell if I am going to get a good cup of coffee at a new place here in the Midwest. The conversation almost always goes as follows:

Me: "Hi, I'd like a 16oz triple shot breve" (note: none of those stupid starbucks labels, just plain terminology. 16oz=size, triple shot= how many shots of espresso I want, breve= type of drink made with cream instead of milk).

Barista: (with a blank stare or completely panicked look) "Um, ok, uh.... What size?"

Me: "16 oz please"

Barista: "Ok, and how many shots, just one?"

Me: "No, three please"

Barista: "Oh, so you want a large/24 oz!? (at this point usually relieved, as she has a button to push on the cash register)"

Me: "No, I only want 16 oz. I just want three shots in it." (FYI- three shots in a 16 oz cup is mostly just the espresso, doesn't leave much room for the actual cream part)

Barista: (Confused again and at this point, turning for help if anyone else is there) "Ok, so you want three shots in a 16 oz cup? Now refresh me, what's a breve?"

Me: "Just use half-and-half instead of milk"

Barista: "Oh! Ok!"

at this point, I don't even dare ask if they will only heat it to 140degrees (my preference). I am afraid I would end up with a 140oz breve with 16 shots or some weird derivation of all the numbers!

***********

Fast forward to Rustica.:

A couple of months ago Skott and I were in the cities. We went to a neat shop that has a lot of local spices, chocolates, cheeses, etc. We bought the most amazing cookies from a place called "Rustica". We looked them up online and found out that they have a shop in the cities as well! Skott went once when he was over there shopping. He couldn't wait to take me!

The next time we went to the Cities we made it our first stop. I didn't get espresso that time, but wished I had of when I tasted Skott's! We had some delicious pastries and looked forward to returning.

For a graduation/birthday combo, we went to the Cities last Saturday. We met up at Rustica with some good friends from Cedar Creek and had amazing espresso and this awesome cake:

Ahhhhhhhh.....

Winter Storm

2010-12-12T10:09:00.001-08:00

Looking out the back door Saturday morning. Heading out to carve Skott a path in the driveway.

Looking out into the yard Saturday morning before Skott got home. No plowing or snowblowing done yet.

Saturday afternoon. Still storming. Skott is home. The wonderful neighbor has made one round with the snowblower.

Sunday morning after more snowing and lots of wind

Sunday morning. Snowblowing Round 2. The snow is higher than the fence now.

After Round 2, the view of our yard from the street

The front of our house. The snow is piled higher than our windows

The dogs braving the elements to check things out

Standing near the garage looking into our backyard. Lots of drifts! Our swing is buried, along with our endtables. In some places the drifts go over the fence!

Live

2010-11-21T18:52:00.000-08:00

Live

with intention

My wonderful, talented husband made me this necklace from a pendant we found at one of our favorite stores, Bibelot. I love it!

We took a long walk today; down to the library and back, and then along the railroad tracks behind our house. We followed the bluff all the way around the water. It was misting a fine rain that made everything seem so coastal and magical. I cherish these moments with my best friend.

Homesick

2010-11-16T04:55:00.000-08:00

I miss lounging in a beach chair with this as my view:

I miss breathtaking scenery that truly puts my life into focus:

I miss this look:

and this one too:

A Rare Sighting

2010-11-11T05:21:00.000-08:00

Skott driving a mini-van!

On our way to the Como Zoo and the only vehicle that would hold all of us at once.

I finally figured out how to get pictures off my iphone so here are more images from the Como Conservatory:

poisonous dart frog

It looks like someone drew on it with a crayon!

Mmmmm chocolate..... -or is it?

you know it's been too long

2010-11-05T20:44:00.000-07:00

Geez, you know it's been too long since you've blogged when you can't even remember your password! Yikes. This semester has just been insanely busy. I have one class that is completely kicking my butt, which makes everything else feel so overwhelming. But, I am half way done with the semester and just weeks (36 days, not that I'm counting) away from graduation.

So I have started the job search. Very scary to put yourself out there in this economy, but not quite as scary as this:

I was absolutely terrified. The first day of Entomology lab we "had" to hold Madagascar hissing cockroaches.
But anyways, I have been applying all over the country so we'll see what happens. I just hope I am not out of work very long after school ends.

We have been enjoying an amazing fall. They completed a really nice bike trail a short distance from our house. Skott and I have been riding together a couple days a week. We try to go around 16 miles or so. Most days I try to ride to school as well. But the last couple of weeks I have been running on very little sleep so I have slacking in the bicycle/exercise department.

Justine & Max, Carrie & boys, and Skott & I went to the Como Zoo and Conservatory in Minneapolis last weekend. It was pretty amazing!

We were also able to go to Mason and Aundray's last football game. It's easy to spot Mason, he is the tallest one out there (#68) and Aundray is to his right (#61).

Dad, Sherry, Carrie, and a very enthused Ray

I'll leave you with my favorite picture from the conservatory (good eye, Skott):

Family dinner, Part 2

2010-10-17T16:00:00.001-07:00

"Bloody Handprints" gel clings on our back door

More pictures from family dinner last week at Carrie's:

Aundray

Max

Justine trying to lift giant pumpkin

Erika and Aundray

Mason

Aundray and Max

Can you see all three boys?

"Special" Sisters

2010-10-12T04:23:00.000-07:00

This picture is from a couple months ago. Carrie and I were at Kohl's trying to find sunglasses. Who can resist a giant pink bow headband???

Carrie at family dinner last Sunday

How many forehead wrinkles can you count?

This is for you Amy!

getting ready for eyebrow waxing

This picture terrifies me

Family dinner was awesome! Lots of laughs! Lots of blackmail photos taken. I will post more this weekend.

being silly

as normal as our family gets

Lovely fall

2010-10-08T05:43:00.002-07:00

I just got back from my TWS (The Wildlife Society) Conference in Salt Lake City, UT. It was an amazing trip. I had lots of opportunities to attend workshops, job fairs, mentoring sessions, symposiums, mixers, etc -it was go, go, go from 8:30am until 8 or 9 at night.

My mom and little brother Seth met me in Salt Lake on Saturday before the conference started. It was SO FUN hanging out with them that day, even for just a short time.

When I arrived back home (at midnight), Skott was already at work but I found these throughout the house:

upstairs in office

in the bathroom

in the living room

on the dresser in the bedroom

on kitchen table

Skott went out to the park and collected a bunch of fall foliage, then came home and arranged them all! I was so impressed! (At first I thought he had bought them). It was the sweetest thing.

Last week my Dad and Sherry got a new addition to their farm -a baby nubian goat. Skott has never seen a baby goat before so we went out to visit. I think it is about three days old in this picture. It is so cute and will follow you around, trying to buck and run.

Feeding the new baby goat at SherDen Farm

you can see that the goat is barely bigger than the cat

Skott just completed this project refinishing a trunk for Carrie to use as a coffee table. Unfortunately, we didn't get "before" picutres, but this truck was very rusty and painted black, with some silverish/grey paint on parts of it.... it was pretty rough. I thought it turned out beautiful!

While I was in SLC, Skott attended Sherry's daughter's wedding up north near St Croix. These are some beautiful shots he captured up there. (There were many, many more but this post is already long).

Brooke and Brandon

These pictures were taken along Skott's bicycle route in Carson Park.

I hope everyone is having an enjoyable fall!

Family dinner

2010-09-27T18:57:00.000-07:00

I didn't take many pictures this family dinner. It was so nice outside that I just wanted to sit and enjoy. We had a "pasta" theme with delicious pasta salads, spaghetti, bowtie noodles and alfredo, breadsticks, and a super good apple crisp made with apples from Sherry's Turtle Lake Farm apple tree!

Fucie likes to sit on the step and rest his head on top of Dad's

Erika, Dad and Sherry

Kelly, Justine, and Carrie

I was the mean Aunt Jodi who made the boys eat their pasta before pigging out on all the breadsticks.

Izzy and Fucie enjoying the nice day too

Field Trip

2010-09-17T05:57:00.001-07:00

With winter just around the corner, all of my classes have been cramming in the field trips. Ok for now, but ultimately means more work later when the "real" classwork begins.
My first field trip was for Vegetation Ecology. We went all over northern Wisconsin. Some of the places were really neat! We visited bogs, old growth pine forests, old growth hemlock stands, etc. People that have lived here all their lives don't realize how lucky they are to have all of this diversity! My favorite places were the bogs. It is interesting to see how all the plants adapt to low nutrient conditions.
Even though I was surrounded by nature, I must admit my second favorite thing was people-watching some of the idiots accompanying our 16 person group. Seriously. We were told well ahead of time we would be going into bogs, bring waders or sandals that can get wet. One girl brought these wierd plastic bags to put over her feet because she said she didn't want to haul around boots all weekend. Plastic bags vs. Bog = shredded bags and wet shoes and socks. That night she spent hours drying all her socks and shoes over the campfire, only to leave them outside her tent overnight. The next morning she literally poured water out of them, as it had downpoured all night long. Oh, and this is the same girl who scorched at least 20 marshmallows over the campfire because apparently someone on this planet actually has worse depth perception than I do, or else she thought she was being cute. Either way, it was very amusing to see her freaking out every time one caught on fire. It was like watching someone repeatedly touching a hot burner, and wondering why they were gettting burnt. Sometimes I feel evil for my thoughts, but I couldn't help but be amused.
I debated bringing the new camera. At the last minute I decided to go for it so it only had about 10 minutes on the battery charger. Needless to say, I drained the battery about halfway into the first day of the trip. I love nature.

Even trees need a hug now and then

I should know the name of this fern....

cool fungi

One of the bogs we hiked in to. It goes as far as you can see

cranberry in the bog

My favorite bog tree -Tamarack

(hard to see) "Kettle" depression left by melting glaciers

really cool looking club moss

It's hard to believe I only have two full weeks of class before I am heading to SLC, UT for a wildlife conference for 5 days. Yikes. I better get busy

It's finally here

2010-09-02T06:13:00.001-07:00

Starting my final semester today -WooHoo!
My class load isn't too bad (although I think that every semester and somehow it never turns out that way). I am taking: Vegetation Ecology, Entomology, GIS mapping, and Women in Life Sciences (a required class, not my idea). I was super excited because I thought I had Mondays AND Fridays off from class until I realized yesterday that I had looked at the wrong calendar week (it was Labor Day week, no class Mondays). At least I only have an 8am class 2x per week, unlike my last few semesters. I still have no classes on Friday, which is awesome!
I will be grading tests and labs again for a Chemistry professor. Gotta love any job that pays well that you can do in the comfort of your own home in your pajamas!
I was also selected for an apprenticeship position for The Prairie Enthusiasts. Fall activities include prairie restoration, seed collecting, and tree removal. I am looking forward to getting my hands dirty and learning more about prairies.

Angry Minnow

2010-08-28T20:27:00.000-07:00

A couple weekends ago we went for a drive to Hayward, WI (north of us). We had lunch at a place called The Angry Minnow. Despite getting THE WORST waitress service I have EVER had, the food was great! For an appetizer, we had pretzels made out of the spent hops they use to make their beer. They were amazing.

On our way back we stopped at a grocery store. I stumbled upon this scary sight:

Seriously?

More than "just a little butterfly"

2010-08-25T06:25:00.001-07:00

I haven't been blogging much this summer. Mostly because I have been insanely busy. But also because I hate trying to load pictures. Maybe I am retarded but this blogger picture loader really irritates me.
Anyways, starting to wrap up my internship. Field work is done now. We saw an awesome increase in Karner populations which is great, since Wisconsin is one of the few places they are thriving. Some people say "What's the big deal? It's just a little butterfly" but in reality, it is much more than that.
It has been proven that diversity benefits all species. The more diverse, the greater the growth and survival rate of all species, and the better the overall health of our planet and ecosystem. Karner blue butterflies are referred to as a "flagship" species. They are cute and a great image to present to the public to bring about awareness of the loss of biodiversity on this planet.
Karners were listed as federally endangered species in 1992. In managing the habitats suited for Karners (pine barrens, open prairies, etc), there are also a lot of other species being "saved" as well such as trees, prairie flowers, and wildlife.
So when people say "It's just a little butterfly", it actually is much more than that!

Here are a few random shots from field days. I didn't take the camera too much because it was always so hot and sweaty and we were working pretty hard. Yes, counting butterflies IS hard work. Most of the terrain was very brushy and we were going through a lot of trees and blackberries.

Looking for butterflies. Haha -just kidding. We are actually finished for the day and trying to get some good profile pics for facebook!

One of the prettier sites we surveyed. ( Most were not this open and clear of brush)

Anna and Lindsay attempting to "look scientific" while they take weather and wind readings

A Karner checking out Anna's lunch

Does it count as harrassment when they land on you and you're trying to eat?

Karner on my measuring tape while doing vegetation analyses

Karner on my distance pole

Relative Abundance Level 2+ Sampling

Stepping outside my comfort zone.... WAY OUT

2010-08-10T19:55:00.001-07:00

Besides my job with the DNR working with the federally endangered Karner blue butterflies, I am "critter sitting" for one of my professors that is gone to Cambodia for five weeks.

Talk about a big leap outside my comfort zone. Yikes.
I am responsible for the care of two tarantulas, a parrot, a chameleon, a chinese water dragon, koi, two cichlid fish tanks, two tortoises, four turtles, two sand snakes, two sonoran sand snakes, a frog, a king snake, four boas (snakes), a frog tank, another frog tank, two scorpions, a hermit crab, a rat snake, and (for those of you wondering if they have any "normal" pets) 20+chickens, two cats, and a dog!

Mr Wilson, the parrot, is my favorite. He has a very extensive vocabulary that is usually pretty situational-appropriate. The other day I was getting ready to leave and I said "Bye Mr Wilson" and he said (in a really sad voice) "Bye" and then as I was stepping out the door he said "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine".
Another day he kept saying "Fire! Fire! Save the bird!" Finally I said, "Really? Is there really a fire?" to which he promptly replied, "Nope".
He can talk in both the husband and wife's voices. And he just started doing my voice the way I say "heellllooooo".
If he is bored, he makes a sound like someone is knocking on the front door, which causes the dog to start barking and run to the door. Or he will meow to the cats.
The other day I was trying to teach him to say "Hurry Hurry! Late late!" (cuz Deb is always running late). Instead, Mr Wilson said "No habla espanol".
He is so funny!

Learning to handle and feed all these animals has been a challenge! You won't catch me dead with any of the tarantulas in my hands, but I have had to handle a couple boas as well as seperate two sand snakes that were trying to eat eachother.

"Mr. Wilson" -African grey parrot

Abby begging at back door

Abby and "Pokey"

some kind of gecko

a rat snake. Very nice snake

can you see the hidden gecko behind the fish tank?

some kind of chameleon

Chinese Water Dragon (he is sick, that is why part of his upper jaw is gone)

big cichlid fish tank

hermit crab

One of many African frogs

"Glump"

always ready to eat Boa

"Peter" -a boa

Nice Boa

Naughty escape-artist boa

Koi

How many can you fit?

2010-08-04T05:19:00.002-07:00

One night of our family reunion we had a cheeto cheese ball-stuffing/eating contest around the campfire. We had hot ones and regular ones. Wish I had caught pics of everyone.... It was hilarious!

Seth

Tim setting the bar really high! (Aundray, Lexi, Justine in background)

Amy

Ellie

I had my money on Josie

Dad took off his glasses and got serious!

Kenalee

Nic and Marley. ( Max, Kelly, and Seth in background)

Mason and Skott

Kelly was the winner!

Tim bowing to the new champion

What happened to July?

2010-08-01T14:34:00.000-07:00

The weekend of the fourth of July, we went camping up in Door County. That Saturday, Heidi, Ellie, and Josie flew in to Minneapolis/St Paul and went camping with us.

We enjoyed the political advertisements, oops! -I mean, the Parade in Bailey's Harbor on Sunday.

We ended up coming back to Eau Claire a day early due to rain. The same rain that also threw a giant wrench into all of our carefully made reunion plans for the entire week....

Carrie, Josie, Heidi, Skott, Ellie, and Aundray at parade

A very patriotic camel

Only in Wisconsin. Notice anything wrong with this float? Maybe the GIANT pack of beer?

Mason, Ellie, and Aundray. Baileys Harbor

Ok, this blogger thing is really bugging me. I can't get text and pictures to go where I want them. So I am posting, as is. Try to put more up later.

13 wonderful years

2010-06-23T21:20:00.000-07:00

Who knew that two crazy kids who met while working graveyard shift in a casino....

Could fall so madly in love..... and....

two years later get married....

and eleven years later, still be madly in love!

Happy 11th anniversary to my best friend!

my baby

2010-06-14T14:54:00.000-07:00

I have to brag a little.

I did research last summer along with my internship at Cedar Creek. Once all the data and analyses (is that how you spell "analysis" plural?) came back, it was time to present the research at the university's Student Research Days. My mentor and I spent countless hours on this project so it felt really good to win an award for all our hard work.

Some lessons I learned along the way:

1) No matter what you are doing, there is always someone along for the ride and the best thing you can do is ignore the fact that they are not contributing at all whatsoever to the project, but at the same time, accept the fact that you have to include them since they were on the grant. Anger and resentment are horrible feelings to harbor.

2) Immediately when opening a working poster document from your email, "save to" in a safe location. That way, after 5 hours of meticulous editing, you do not lose your hard work to some random, untraceable temporary internet file.

3) Remove yourself from the project and ask "Does this make sense?" Lucky for Skott, he got to be my guinea pig. I would explain a concept on the poster to him. When the glazed over look happened, I knew I needed to change the way I was presenting and explaining.

4) People will criticize and attack your work. Some are genuinely being mean. Some are trying to be helpful and make you think outside the box or take it a step further. Wear thick skin. Don't dwell on the mean people who are out to find fault no matter how well things are portrayed.

I like doing research and hope to continue with this project this summer as well. We want to get three days of measurements in. This doesn't sound like much but for this project, we are monitoring leaf activity (gas exchange, water content, air in/out, temperature, etc) all day which means starting at 4:30am and measuring a set of plants, at set intervals, in set locations every two hours until 7pm. So far, we haven't been able to do anything because of all the rain. Our project involves droughted plants and "normal" plants grown under ambient and high carbon dioxide levels to better understand how plants are coping with global warming and decreased water availability.

(Not quite sure why I am leaning in all these pictures) Me and my mentor Dr Tali Lee. Oh, and that one guy who was along for the ride.

Memorial Weekend Camping Trip

2010-06-03T22:17:00.001-07:00

For Memorial weekend we went camping in Door County. It was so pretty. The weather was perfect! This is our campsite. I am amazed that everything fit in the back of the car! We just got this new tent. Love it. Slept with the rain fly off because the ceiling is all screen and we could see the stars. Luckily, Skott woke up the night we had thunderstorms. We got the rainfly put on literally seconds before torrents of rain came down!

I enjoy camping but an air mattress is a necessity.

and bathrooms.

and showers.

I was making some sauteed mushrooms wrapped in tin foil. Didn't realize the bottom of the bag got a little moist. Imagine my suprise when I reached into the bag for another handfull and there was nothing there! I was so bummed we lost half the mushrooms on the ground.

We spent a lot of time walking on the little beaches. We went to Peninsula State Park one day. It was so pretty there. Hard to capture all the brilliant colors.

Skott even spotted a frog!

This is a tower that we climbed. It was really high (I think 75 ft?). It had way too much sway for my comfort! But the view was great from the top!

Lucky for Skott the top level was more stable than the middle areas on the way up.

Hanging on for dear life! haha