would you believe that i didn't take a single photo over christmas?

it's true. i packed my camera. and my tripod even. but never once did my camera leave it's case.

the truth is that i really *do* love taking photos, and i love scrapbooking. but i'm not what you would call an "event" scrapbooker - that is, i don't define my albums by including one layout for every event. i'm more of a "moment" scrapbooker - if i can say that without sounding overly cheesy and sentimental. i scrapbook to remember life as it is, not a chronology of events. so i am okay with not taking photos over a major event. i'm "at one" with my lack of photographic proof, you might say... but i digress. i didn't start this blog to discuss my scrapbooking philosophy. i meant to talk about christmas - so moving on...

matt & i, as you might expect, have settled into a traditional method of celebrating each christmas. most people finish their shopping on our about december 23rd and begin celebrating on the 24th or even waiting until the 25th. but when i went out for my annual "last minute shopping trip" (hers, not mine) with my mom on the 23rd, it was really for her benefit - matt & i were already hurtling headfirst into our Three Day Christmas Celebration.

it began with brunch with his immediate family saturday morning. luckily, his mom is flexible and grew up in a huge family herself, so her philosophy is that christmas doesn't happen on a specific day - it happens when everyone is in the same house at the same time. anyway, games were played, lunch was had, gifts were exchanged. it didn't go exactly according to plan, but it went.

sunday - christmas eve - morning, we were up extra early for church, as it was my first sunday on-staff. between the morning service and being back for the annual candle-lighting service later that evening, we rushed home to pack, have lunch, lock down the house for the weekend. back to church, successful candle-lighting service, and then we rush to the ferry - hoping we didn't just miss a boat. a half hour ferry ride, a half hour drive, and we arrive at my grandparent's farm. grandma is as relaxed as i've ever seen her - because we're later than usual, and she's had more time to prepare. (it's normal for us to not have dinner until around 9pm, but still - we were later than usual.) after a leisurely dinner with the family, our annual phone call with my trans-atlantic aunt, our gift exchange, and goodbyes to mom & bob, and we head to bed - exhausted, but with more to look forward to.

but that's where all of the lovely christmas tradition turns sour this year...

you see, i went to bed feeling strange... a little "iffy", you might say. i had a little trouble getting to sleep, and then awoke at 4:15 and knew immediately that i'd best get to the bathroom before i saw dinner on Instant Replay. sure enough, dinner came up - and i proceeded to be terribly ill for the remainder of the night. matt's not a great nurse-maid in the middle of the night - he sleeps so hard that i'm more likely to get some comment about washing his hair in motor oil than a sympathetic remark. (luckily, he makes up for this by being a fabulous caretaker at my beck-and-call during the day - it just makes for lonely nights.) so i struggle through it, sleeping off and on, when i'm not busy... well, you know.

fiiinally, the rest of the house wakes up. i'm pretty sure that i've emptied my entire digestive system of its contents and that it's all over... but it's not. i pick at my breakfast - torn between severe disinterest in food, and not wanting to be rude. eventually, i'm fairly confident that my stomach can "hang in there" long enough to brave the 50 minute drive to my dad's, so we pack up and head out.

thankfully, the worst of it was indeed over and we made it to dad's without any additional displays of gastronomic pyrotechnics. i was still feeling yucky and the nasty cold/cough that seemed to jump me while i was already down for the count added to my problems.

we did our best to celebrate at dad's. food (for matt, certainly not me), gifts, even a christmas carol game, but we were both in bed early christmas night. and probably not a bad thing either.

so, really - i guess there wasn't much to take pictures of... but i'm okay with that. really.

i got a 96%.

what's your score? :)

and today's photo:

nothin' special, but it makes me happy. back next week, and with some news. merry christmas! :)

one more...

i promised a photo a day, and i missed yesterday, so here's one more:

i love wrapping gifts. nothing says "'tis the season!" like plugging in the tree, turning on christmas music and settling in with a cup of tea to wrap a stash of gifts. usually, i begin with grandiose plans of fancy packaging, but i generally revert to plain ol' storebought creatively printed wrapping paper. it's cheap, easy, and practical. but there's something to be said about a package wrapped in brown paper and embellished with real ribbon, or a special handmade gift tag.

in this case, the tag is just a tree shape cut from felt, pinned with a Making Memories mini safety pin and an Avery price tag. i'm pretty sure i got this idea from Martha, but i can't for the life of me locate that page in the magazine.

don't take recipes from strangers

(or "the batch of ill-fated sugar cookies")

i love holiday baking and sugar cookies hold special memories for me. my mom & i used to bake them every year and then decorate them with every imaginable color of icing, and there was nothing better than a few fresh sugar cookies - the icing perfectly set - and a big glass of milk to reward all of that hard work.

you could say that this year's burning desire to bake sugar cookies was my inner 8 -year-old longing for a taste of her childhood. saturday morning, i rose early, cracked open my recipe book and proceeded to mix the dough for sugar cookies. it was in tasting the dough (as every baker knows is a requirement!) that i noticed it seemed sweeter than mom's cookies... i was disappointed, but kept going. the purpose for making the cookies was to have something for matt to take to a party that night, and something to offer guests that were coming over the next day. so i kept rolling, cutting and baking.

the baking part went fairly smoothly, especially compared to the rest of the evening. the cookies came out and i tasted again: they were definitely too sweet for me. i looked at the recipe and thought through my steps - yes, i'd done everything right. they were simply too sweet for me. and it was far too late to turn back now.

so i'm feeling short on time - having to send at least half the batch with matt in under an hour. to speed the process along, i'm cooling cookies in the fridge on a rack, and apparently having a serious case of the dropsies. more than one cookie gets fumbled between pan and fridge, shattering on the not-exactly-clean-anyway kitchen floor.

gotta keep going - i mix the icing. no recipe - recalling from memory... confectioner's sugar, water, vanilla... or was it milk and vanilla... mom doesn't remember, so i go with milk just to be "safe". first dribble of milk into the mixing bowl - icing's too thick, need more milk. second dribble - i lose control of the gallon, and pour way more milk than intended. ack! i mix and taste the icing. doesn't taste like mom's. frustration is mounting. i mix in some color to see what i can work with and begin to ice the done & cooled half of the batch.

the icing is runny, to say the least, and i'm not thrilled by the idea of serving these to company, but they're probably okay for matt to take to his party. except that the very wet icing won't set. matt comes home and is very patient and understanding, until he urges me that he has to get going and i tell him to just wait a minute, i'm not done yet. having gotten the point that i'm having a "bad cookie day", he impatiently says "i'll just get something at the store".

wrong answer, bud.

i basically send him packing when i - with the heat of the 375 degree oven in my eyes - suggest that he does, indeed, just get something from the store. he leaves, and i've had it with the cookies. it's about time for a saturday night movie on TV, so i set out to fix myself a plate of goodies. of course, i drop the first gooey cookie on the floor, icing side down. *sigh* cleanup the mess, start again.

i walk to the living room, balancing my plate of cookies atop my glass of milk, as i do with my breakfast every morning. i reach the coffee table - and i bet you saw this one coming - the plate gets jostled and goes down, smashing into my glass-topped coffee table, shattering both the plate and the cookies into a thousand shards and a bunch of dust all over my table AND floors (oh, and icing-side down, of course). being of a rather skittish nature, this process startles me, and i jump back. the milk in my glass reacts as one with a basic understanding of physics would expect and sloshes out of the glass and down - onto the couch, the coffee table and the floors. i hope santa doesn't mind eating his milk & cookies off the floor because i might very well leave it there till christmas...

at this point, i'm pretty sure i'm being tested. i mean really - how could one day of baking possibly go so awry without it being used for Divine Purposes? i sigh and retrieve the necessary supplies to clean up, fix myself another plate, and then effectively ban myself from the kitchen for the remainder of the evening.

the next day, as i'm cleaning up for company (and cleaning up the previous day's mess in the kitchen), i'm sweeping. what remains of the cookies - which i intend to ice with something other than my recollected icing recipe - is resting on the rack on the counter. the kitchen being small, and me being in a hurry, the arm of the broom brushes up against the edge of the rack and sends the whole thing tumbling onto the floor. every last whole, servable cookie is now face down, on the floor, and in pieces.

so maybe the whole day's events weren't related to that one recipe, but i've found that cookbook rather hit-or-miss, and those cookies definitely didn't taste like mom's.

today's picture:

i've always loved miniatures, and have admired my mother-in-law's collection of christmas houses for several years. her collection spans the entire top of their entertainment center, with trees and figurines and even a little gravel pathway. last year, i fell in love with a set and began collecting for myself, with the help of the after-Christmas sales and a little contribution from my mother-in-law. it's minimal now, and when compared to hers, looks rather pathetic and bare, but i love it. i love the way the houses glow when they're lit up and the room is dim. i love the warm, cozy feeling they give me. and when we're not having a white Christmas - at least i know my little Christmas houses are.

truly, the season is upon us...

no, not christmas. that would be too obvious. 'tis the season during which my husband insists on wearing a santa hat every blessed waking moment... yeah, that season. so he waltzes into my office today, wearing work uniform and santa hat and i say "oh, it's that time of year, huh?"

and he, who knows me too well, dons his best impish grin and responds: "yep. sorry."

i suppose it's a good thing he lost his seahawks cap, because he threatened to wear that under the santa hat. wouldn't that have been a sight!

i had a great weekend - we had dinner & games with friends friday night that ended with a spontaneous trip to the local candy cane lane, and then another spontaneous trip out in the middle of nowhere, to an even better candy cane lane. had a little me-time on saturday, did some crazy christmas shopping with my mom that afternoon, and baked the most doomed batch of christmas cookies i've ever baked in my entire life (i'll tell that story this week when i have nothing else to talk about - it's just too bad i didn't get a picture). i'm thrilled to say that i made great progress on my christmas journal, but i'm nowhere near caught up. (i've done 6 entries total, i think - and let's see, i should be on entry 18 today... oh well!) i cleaned the house, wrapped more presents, and othewise whittled away at my to-do list. church on sunday was an adventure: saturday afternoon, we got a call that a tree had fallen on the power line next to the gym we rent for sunday services. we were moving our service to another building on the same campus - the room where we hold the kids' church, which meant no kids' church and since the gym had no power, no preschool or nursey classes either. the whole church, in one significantly smaller-than-usual room. but it worked. an extra measure of patience and understanding, and it's amazing how people can come together in frustrating circumstances.

today's christmas photo:

one year, my mom discovered an unfinished ceramic nativity set at our favorite painting studio and painted it for herself in the simplest, most elegant fashion. i knew i had to have one for myself, so the next year i did the same.

but i only got halfway through it before i needed to stop for the day. i left the painted half to be fired, and took the unpainted half home. the painted half wouldn't be ready in time for christmas anyway. over the course of the next two years, i would lose the painted half and find the unpainted half - and then find the painted half only to lose the unpainted half. finally, i saved myself from - well, myself - and put the painted half away with the other christmas decorations. when i came across the unpainted half the next time - having thought for sure it was gone forever - i wasted no time in painting it, and then putting it with its other half.

so now i have my nativity set, and it's truly my favorite part of my christmas decorations. if it came right down to it, i could "lose" everything else, and be just fine with this on display. and if i had my way (and trusted my cats), i'd have it out year round anyway.

and finally, i have big news to share that i think i've been hinting at for the last week (or two), but there's one more person who must hear it from my lips, and i can't risk her reading this before i talk to her! so i'll post about it as soon as i can...

what a storm! the weather last night had me briefly wondering if now would be a good time for an ark... it felt like all of november's record-breaking rain coming down in the space of about 10 hours. mom & i left the office at 5pm, earlier than planned, because power was already going down in the north end and we knew traffic would be bad. the wind was gusting so hard in downtown seattle that it was shaking the car. lightning lit up the sky regularly, though i never heard thunder. traffic was not as bad as expected, and we were grateful to make it home quickly.

our lights flickered all evening. i camped out in my studio to work on my poor, neglected christmas journal, with our coleman camping lantern next to me - so i wouldn't have to grope through the darkness if the power went out. the winds howled outside. the cats howled inside. the rain came down... and down... and down... but the power stayed on. we quite were surprised.

as the wind wreaked havoc on the outdoors, we'd identify the sounds we'd hear... *craaaack*... "tree limb!"... *budum budum budum*... "garbage can!"... *thud... thudthud*... "chairs off the back deck!" (whoops!)

and sure enough, i went out to inspect this morning to find two garbage cans toppled, two loose limbs laying below the pine tree, and two lawn chairs laying prostrate in the backyard, not to mention, a few loose fence boards and the gate to our backyard wide open. at least we didn't ever lose power!!

so, i thought i'd share a photo from my home every (week)day through christmas, because i have this anal-retentive thing about trying post a photo in every entry and i have an abundance of photos of my christmas decorations at home. :)

this is one of my favorite scenes right now, because i'm so in love with gold and red:

the roses are leftovers from my grandmother's wedding, the golden vase belongs to my mother - but i'm not giving it back until after christmas, and the photo is one of my favorite things: my aunt, at 4 or 5 years old, opening a brand new doll at christmas. i love her very-1950's outfit, the very-1950's christmas tree in my great-grandparents living room and my very-1950's great uncle next to her with a very-1950's bowling ball on his lap. but the best part of this photo is the look in her eyes - the expression of a child who's just received a gift that was more than she could ever imagine.

thursday musings...

if our weekly visit to my mother-in-laws hadn't been cancelled due to illness, it would've been cancelled due to the weather warnings. so, my evening is suddenly free & clear. part of me is disappointed, but the part of me that's worn out from the hustle & bustle of the season doesn't mind staying home one bit.

not really sure what i'll do with myself tonight, but i've been wanting to play with this soft tree pattern, make a button wreath ornament out of my green button stash, or cover something in glitter. mmmm, glitter.

love this shot of our neice at her dedication last sunday:

she wasn't really sure why she was on stage, or why there were cameras out. but while the pastor prayed for her squirming sister, she did think to point out (loudly) that there were "all those people taking pictures of me".

and this little monster squirmed and fussed the entire time the pastor was praying for her... we made more than one joke about what causes a child to react that way...

{i call it "seasonal self portrait". ;) }

with the wedding behind me, i'm diving headfirst into christmas. only 10 days (!) left of my favorite season, and i want to be sure i enjoy it.

monday night, matt & i had our annual "Christmas date". the activities vary each year, but we always have one special date in December that somehow incorporates a seasonal activity. sometimes it's driving through the local Candy Cane Lane or painting Christmas ornaments at the local ceramic shop. this year we went to dinner and to Wight's Nursery in Lynnwood to experience the "Wonderland of Christmas" that takes over their store from November 1st to December 24th each year. crazy. i've never seen so many decorations, so much variety in themes and shapes and colors, and i quickly lost count of how many times the phrase "that is so stinkin' cute" left my lips. it's a good thing i don't live in a bigger house and have more disposable income - because i could see myself turning into the Crazy Christmas Lady with a tree in every room, etc, etc, etc.

other than that, life continues as normal as can be for a holiday season. i only have a bit of shopping for matt left to do, and nearly all of the other gifts are wrapped and under the tree. i have some baking to do - namely a few batches of my traditional magic bars (ooooh, i sense another blog post coming on), and i'm aching to make a gingerbread representation of our house (it's a disease!) but i don't know how feasible that is, given how much work goes into making the dough alone. my only real regret this season is my christmas journal, which lays wildly neglected on my scrapbooking desk, having fallen in place behind the other adventures of the last few weeks. perhaps i can make some attempt to catch up, though i don't even want to think about how long it would take me or how many pages i'd have to do each day to finish it by Christmas...

happy wednesday!

presenting...

Mr. & Mrs. Marvin Lunde
(aka - Grama & Marv)

since early october, i've been coordinating and preparing for my grandmother's wedding. she asked me to help with the planning, and i was pleased and honored to do everything i could to make this day extra special for her. i had almost as much fun planning her wedding as i did my own - but boy, it really is a lot of work, especially when you're emotionally invested. anyway - here's just a few of my favorites.

{i loved being able to add handmade touches to her day.}


{my dad, looking rediculously handsome in his mobster suit, waiting to walk the bride down the aisle...}






{dancing barefoot... who could resist this cute shot??}


{the wishing tree - guestbook alternative.}

lots of photo-proofing going on right now - the wedding, my neices' dedication last sunday and still finishing up the choir shots from the week before... lots of other stuff going on right now, not to mention the busiest time of the year.

pensive, today...

it seems that, as of late, i am often reduced to tears over the blessings God has poured out on my life. though, i guess that's the best thing over which to be reduced to tears.

choir of the sound

volunteering during concert weekends for the Choir of the Sound has become a little tradition for me, and a great opportunity to spend some quality time with my mom, who sings 2nd soprano in the choir. usually, i "call the show" for the video crew. this job itself is for only one of the shows, but because i have to know exactly who will be where and when, it means watching the dress rehearsal and earlier shows, and taking some very good notes.

this last weekend, i had another opportunity. the choir was in need of photos for promotional use, and my mom readily volunteered me. friday night, i spent the entire dress rehearsal photographing the choir, soloists, sets & props, and dancers. i shot 3 full gigabytes of memory, knowing that the more i shot, the better my chances were of having tons that i loved. i'm about 50% done with the proofing, and i can honestly say i'm thrilled with the results. here's a handful of my favorites:

{i was so pleased with the photos of maria, the ballerina that danced during the choir's performance of "O Nata Lux". she dances so beautifully, and seeing the photos the next day brought back the same feeling i had when i saw her perform.}


{renaissance dancers}








{maria, again, as mary in the choir's rendition of "mary, did you know?"}


{mom in her renaissance costume}

feeling a wee bit like superwoman.

it's december 4th.

my christmas shopping is finished. (except for matt's gifts - but those don't count, because he's not likely to get overlooked!)

my tree is up. and decorated. (thanks to my super-hubby who went out to find my perfect tree on friday and had it home and in an upright position, ready for me to decorate by the time i got home.)

my christmas decorations are proudly on display.

presents are wrapped and under the tree. (that's aaaall me, baby.)

the COTS 30th Annual Christmas Concert is over and done with. (i spent friday evening photographing the dress rehearsal and all day saturday working with the video crew.)

the house is adorned with christmas lights. (another super-hubby feat.)

my christmas cards are created and signed - just waiting for their envelopes and postage.

the wedding is 5 days (5 days!) away and we are as close to 100% ready as we can be. (there are a few little things left to be done - but not until just before the big day.)

yep, i'm feeling a wee bit like superwoman... made possible entirely by my super-hubby, of course.

{oh, and the photo above has nothing to do with anything today. i took that last week after matt finished building his snowman. frosty looks far less like a snowman today, thanks to the the rising temperatures and the wild creature who made a half-eaten meal of his nose... i'll post pictures from the choir's show tomorrow - didn't get as far as i thought i would in proofing yesterday!}

brrrr...

yoga leggings - $19.99
jeans - $39.99
tank top #1 - $9.99
tank top #2 - $9.99
fleece hoodie - $19.99
pair of socks #1 - $3
pair of socks #2 - $3
solid shoes with good tread - $24.99
down jacket - $69.99
chenille earband - $4.99
wool hat - $15
little scarf - (handmade gift)
big scarf - $20
really bad hat hair - (free)

barely noticing that it's 18 degrees out as i hoof it to and from bus stops: priceless.

{oh, and lest you think we're just a bunch of wusses - that photo was taken sunday, shortly after it started snowing. there's far more accumulation now!!}

speaking of snowflakes...

last tuesday, i planned to make snowflakes with the kids at my husband's family's thanksgiving dinner. not only was it a hit among those old enough to hold scissors (and as you can see, those too young for scissors held cookies instead), but the adults got in on the action too.

{click to make bigger}

and speaking of snowflakes, it snowed out at my dad's on thanksgiving day. it didn't really stick, but big, juicy flakes fell in a real hurry from the cloudy sky. and that, folks, is something else. it never snows this time of year in Seattle. i can count on one hand the number of Christmases during which i've seen snowfall, and you can't sing "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" without somebody making a comment. and to make matters more interesting, it wasn't a freak accident - late yesterday afternoon, we watched a good four inches accumulate on our porch. and now they're threatening that a little more may be on it's way. amazing.

so maybe we'll have a white Christmas this year, after all. but just in case our cutting up paper snowflakes had anything to do with recent precipitative events, you can bet we'll be making more in time for Christmas. ;)

nothing much to say...

just popping in to share a photo i love...

so technically imperfect, but so real.

thankful for...

{click to make bigger}

this year, i'm thankful for:

1. a God who loves me so much that He sent His Son to die in my place.
   
2. a husband who loves Jesus.
   
3. the most supportive and loving parents.
   
4. marrying into the big family that i always wished for when i was little.
   
5. chocolate.
   
6. being a part of a wonderful church family that values, encourages and prays for us.
   
7. having (most of) my whole life ahead of me.
   
8. living my life, mostly, without regrets.
   
9. starbucks.
   
10. the friends that delight in my triumphs and support me in my trials.
    
11. hobbies that grow and change and evolve, and always leave me excited for more.
    
12. the divine blessing that brought us to achieving goals we didn't think we could achieve this year.
    
13. the celebration of Christ's birth that is upon us again.
    
14. hope for eternity.

getting ready to head out for the holiday. we're off to visit my dad and share Thanksgiving with that side of my family. totally looking forward to a few days out in the middle of nowhere.

the closest i can get to snow in november...

lately, i've been itching to make snowflakes - for no applicable reason, given that it surely won't snow here - if it does at all - until late January. but in spite of that, i'm going to teach my nephew how to make paper snowflakes tonight. who knows, maybe i can get the adults to play with us too.

until then, i've been spending an inordinate amount of time making snowflakes here. go to "make my own"... then use the scissor cursor to cut away pieces of the paper. when you're satisfied with your cuts, click "preview"... it's fun. and boy, does it suck away time. (note, you really need a mouse to play with this - don't bother trying with a laptop's touchpad.)

celebrating thanksgiving tonight with matt's family... i can't wait for the turkey and the cranberry sauce - the best salty/sweet combination i can think of. yum. i'm trying not to think about it too much, because i don't want to set myself up for obvious overeating...

so i'll go make virtual snowflakes instead...

monday...

and gearing up for the holidays ahead. tomorrow is the start of my "busy season". between tomorrow and january 8th, i will:

• attend two thanksgiving dinners.
  
• devote an entire weekend to volunteering, photographing and filming my mom's choir's annual christmas concert.
  
• buy stuff for 5 more christmas gifts - and then make them!
  
• celebrate 5 birthdays, including my own.
  
• buy christmas gifts for my husband.
  
• bake two batches of magic bars, one batch of rice crispy treats, and at least one other edible goodie to round out the remaining gifts.
  
• wrap and assemble all gifts and goodie baskets.
  
• get a christmas tree.
  
• decorate the house.
• write out, address & mail christmas cards. (luckily, i've already made them all!)
  
• visit matt's family once a week.
  
• teach sunday school (though just once).
  
• celebrate christmas three times - with three different "sets" of family.
  
• finish a handful of projects for upcoming wedding.
  
• attend, photograph and execute said wedding.
  
• help plan & execute company holiday luncheon.
  
• shop with donations for a family our company will adopt via salvation army for the holidays.
  
• proof countless holiday & wedding photos.
  
• strive to squeeze in as much girltime with my best friend, who will be home from school, as is possible.
  
• spend a little time each day working on my christmas art journal.
  
• celebrate the new year.
  
• turn 24.
  
• pack up christmas decoration and do my best to return to life as normal, without feeling that post-holiday slump.
  

and yet, i still love this season. i love the busy-ness, and for the most part, i don't terribly mind the craziness - as long as it's buffered with plenty of no-pressure enjoyment of the sights and sounds of the season. i'm ready for it all to begin.

saturday, i got a wild hair and did my annual pre-holiday deep cleaning. i don't do spring cleaning - instead, i spend a few hours just before the christmas decorations go up. i scrub windows, inside and out (yes, in november, at 8pm, in my pyjamas), i vaccum the dust and grit from the fine crevices of my coffee table, i damp-mop the wood floors to collect any extra dust that my vaccum missed, and i pull out my favorite high-powered cleaner - vinegar - for windowsills and ledges. i get a little crazy, locked up in my 852 square feet by myself with all of those lovely fumes, and when everything is sparkling, my husband returns home with an oreo mcflurry - extra, extra, extra oreo. yep, i love my little holiday cleaning tradition. and when we get home next weekend from our thanksgiving away, we can put away the autumn decorations and pull out the christmas stuff - no deep-cleaning necessary. because that's one thing i've already crossed off my list. nothing like starting the season ahead of the curve.

not much to say today, so i'll share a layout... from the photos of quaint little port townsend, which we dropped in to explore one fall afternoon in october.

it feels like friday, which makes the fact that it's really thursday especially unpalatable. get to see my sister-in-law & neices tonight, and itching to bust out my camera...

missing:

one white gold shaped wedding band. one of a kind. worth next to nothing, and yet absolutely priceless. last seen 11/13. no reward to give, except my undying gratefulness for it's safe return. :(

groomsmen antics...

matt & i had the pleasure of seeing his best friend married this last weekend. matt stood up in attendance as a groomsman, and i contentedly snapped away from the crowd. the ceremony was beautiful, but leave it to the groom's older brother to throw in a little twist.

having no ring bearer, it was the best man's responsibility to guard the rings with his life. as the pastor turned to brian and requested the rings, he and the groomsmen put on a great show. first, he panicked - patting himself down, checking his pockets, from which he promptly produced a golf club (yes, a gold club!) from his right pantleg. he threw it aside and then he turned to the next groomsman, the bride's little brother, and started checking *his* pockets, locating a scarf, tied to another scarf, tied to another scarf, etc. they went down the row, each panicking a little bit - one had a frying pan in his jacket, one had the spinner to "naked twister" up the back of his jacket. the bride & groom laughed and the crowd ate it up. the boys carried this gag on for a good minute and a half until finally, brian produced the rings at the end of the line of scarves being retrieved from the pocket of his neighboring groomsman.

when matt told me after the rehearsal dinner that they'd be doing this, i was sure something would go wrong or that the bride would be less than amused. (ladies, you can identify with that, right?? this is not the day to toy with a girl.) i'm simply amazed that they pulled it off - especially the golf club and the frying pan.

a few more...

{i absolutely love his expression here...}

today i'm thinking about...

• a christmas journal. i took an online class last year by the rediculously talented shimelle laine called "journaling your christmas". i followed along with the journaling prompts, but never really got to putting anything into an art journal. i'd like to do that this year, so i'm thinking about details now.
  
• thanksgiving. coming up in just two weeks - hard to believe it's already here. loving the idea of a four day weekend - two days with family, two days with me. ;)
  
• my business. how to make it really work for me.
  
• christmas shopping, but only because i'm about 2/3 done. :) disgusting, isn't it? that's ok - while you all are racing around finishing off your lists, you can delight in knowing that i'll be up to my eyeballs finishing off the last of my handmade gifts. it doesn't matter how on top of everything else i am, i'm always behind in that arena.
  
• fudge. i made fudge last weekend - irish cream fudge, to be precise. and it's a good thing i'm not heading directly home tonight, because right now, the huge batch in my freezer - intended for christmas gifts - is all i can think about. it turned out fabulously, and the best thing about it - it's made from chocolate chips, so it's nearly foolproof. i was even able to futz with the recipe - a general no-no in candying - and still succeed. for fun, i'll share the recipe:

Irish Cream "Fake" Fudge

Fudge Ingredients:
* 3 cups semisweet chocolate chips
* 1 cup white chocolate chips
* 1/4 cup butter
* 3 cups confectioners' sugar
* 1 cup Irish cream liqueur
* 1 1/2 cups chopped nuts

Topping Ingredients:
* 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
* 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
* 4 tablespoons Irish cream liqueur
* 2 tablespoons butter

Instructions

1. Butter a 8x8 inch pan, or press wax paper into the form of the pan. (I buttered and had a heck of a time getting it out. I'd bet wax paper would be easier.)
2. Make fudge: Over medium-low heat, melt the 3 cups semisweet chocolate chips, 1 cup white chocolate chips and 1/4 cup butter until soft enough to stir. Mix well.
3. Stir in the confectioner's sugar and Irish cream until mixture is smooth. Stir in nuts. Place mixture in the prepared pan, evenly spreading it into the corners.
4. Make topping: Over medium-low heat, melt remaining chocolate until soft. Remove from heat and with a fork beat in the butter and Irish cream until smooth. (Note: don't try to melt butter and mix it in - it doesn't work. Whip room-temperature butter into the chocolate instead.) Spread topping over fudge with a knife. Refrigerate until firm, 1 to 2 hours at least. This fudge can be easily frozen.

happy tuesday!

rain, rain, go away...

i think cats & dogs are actively falling from the sky. this weather is downright insane... and walking to work in it is less than exciting. (though, i dunno - chasing your favorite wool hat down battery street might be considered exciting!) i've always thought battery street, which runs perpendicular to the water, was something of a wind tunnel, but i was just shocked at how hard my 1-block walk from the bus stop to work was this morning. the wind blew against me, naturally, removing my hat and threatening to steal my umbrella. the rain pelted down from the sky, and up from the street, leaving my jeans soaked in the front, and dry in the back. that was two hours ago and i'm still damp & soggy. that's fall for ya, huh?

matt went camping this weekend (despite the weather) with some buddies for a bachelor party for his best friend, who's getting hitched next weekend. i was left to my own devices and accomplished a ton in the way of christmas, crafts and domesticity, and even got to have a "girl's night" with my sister-in-law and neices. great fun. but i'm glad he's home (as is he, since the waterproofed tent he borrowed from my mom wasn't as waterproofed as she thought it was.)

other than that, the highlight of my weekend was trying on a new pair of jeans, in the next-smaller size and finding that not only did they fit - they were a bit big. :) i think i won't bother buying them - i'll just wait a bit longer and buy the next-smaller size. :D yay!!

too early?

each year, i strive to make the holiday season a little more meaningful, relaxed and enjoyable. there is nothing more stressful than having too many things to do, and not enough time to do them, so my number one key to success during the holiday season is to start early.

the definition of early varies from year to year. this year, i briefly considered some ideas in March, and actually created my first planning spreadsheet in July. i usually won't act on anything until September at the earliest, and that's when i begin playing with ideas for handmade gifts.

my first official gift purchase this year occurred on or about October 13th, when i was birthday shopping for my neice. i stumbled across the perfect gift for my littlest nephew and it was on sale (my second key to success!) so i bought it and stashed it away in my hiding place where christmas gifts will live in secret until the tree is up and wrapping begins.

but yesterday was my first attempt at major gift purchasing - and a few of my own family members have referred to it as "disgusting". that's ok - i can take it. i rest in the peace of knowing that - unlike them - i will not be navigating the chaotic parking lots of local malls, stealing parking spots from little old ladies out of desperation, or ruthlessly picking just any old thing off of shelves just days before Christmas. besides, with or without gift shopping, i have a very busy two months ahead of me, so i might as well accomplish as much now as i possibly can.

together, matt and i crossed off a surprising amount of our list yesterday - namely, the kids - and i'll even do a little more this weekend, when i make my big trip to the area craft stores to stock up on supplies i'll need for finishing touches on handmade gifts.

and i feel quite confident in my planning, especially in knowing that in those final days before Christmas, i'll be kicking my feet up and relishing the joys of the season, which most definitely do not include struggling to find last minute gifts.

that's it for me today. i'm looking forward to a quiet evening at home - in part, figuring out what the heck to do with my growing stash of gifts that will no longer fit in said secret spot. :)

happy thursday!

(wow - i almost said "happy wednesday"! oh well, better a day behind than a day ahead, right??)

they're not fabulous by any stretch of the imagination, but they're definitely good scrapbooking material. i especially love the one of her waiting patiently at the door. but i'm kicking myself today for not getting a photo of them together, in their costumes. and i'm also kicking myself for not turning off my flash the last time i used it, and thus, draining my batteries, and leaving myself in a tight position on halloween night. oh well, at least these have that "dark and spooky" look to them that goes so well with halloween.

i ran to target last night, fully expecting to "clean up" in the seasonal aisle - thinking that all of that lovely halloween home decor would be on a rediculously-inexpensive-can't-pass-that-up sale. i was wrong - someone had clearly beaten me to it. what had occupied 5+ aisles just the day before had been condensed into 2 clearance aisles, consisting mostly of excess halloween candy (no thank you!) and bad generic-brand candy corn. i was quite disappointed, but i'll try joann's this weekend, since they always have a better selection - and more of it.

i usually have no problem marching right onto the celebration of the next holiday - but for some reason, i'm still thinking about halloween. upon reflection, i've realized that this was the first year i went trick-or-treating as the adult supervision, and not the trick-or-treater, yet another notch in the bedpost of adulthood, much like buying your first (non-futon) couch, or raking the leaves in your front yard because it needs to be done and there's no one else to do it. so i guess, you could say, i'm just kinda "stuck on it".

oh, well - onward!

what a night! matt and i donned our "costumes" (cat ears for me - mouse mask for him) and passed out candy to the beggars. i'm simply amazed that today's teenagers don't have any shame in waltzing up to a door - without any costume at all - and asking for candy. i would've rejected them, but i'm always afraid some scorned teen would retaliate and the weeping cherry in my front yard is just too pretty to be desecrated with TP.

we were pretty sure that our plans to go trick-or-treating with the girls had fallen through and i had just recovered from my disappointment, finished handing out candy and turned off my porch light when there was a knock at the door... i assumed it was someone who didn't understand the universal rule that you don't knock on doors with no porch light. after some insistent knocking, i realized it was probably marisa and the girls, so i pried myself off the couch and answered, to find the cutest little cinderella and bumblebee combination i've ever seen! marisa had sensed the dissappointment in my voice when i found out they weren't coming and decided to come after all. they couldn't stay long, and it was well after dark and getting colder by the minute, but we managed to hit 5 houses on our block. becca is old enough to get the idea - but wasn't too keen on the phrase "trick-or-treat" - so she greeted every opening door with "HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!" in the loudest, most gleeful 3-year-old voice she could muster. beth didn't get it at all, and was less than thrilled about having to be carried but her little eyebrows perked up when we got back to the house to sort through our stash. alas, i didn't get any good photos of them in their costume - my flash batteries had died, but i may have gotten a few of them going door-to-door... maybe. so i'll share those tomorrow. (maybe!)

thanks to those of you, friends and family, who have expressed support for matt's family. this is a rough time for them, and matt's handling it well, wisely and patiently - far better than i could if i were in his position.

over & out.

happy halloween!

can you believe it's already the end of october?? just last week, i remarked at how surprising a difference a few days can make in the daylight as i leave for work when the days grow shorter at this time of year. this morning, it was equally surprising - broad daylight as i walked to the bus, entirely due to daylight savings. and yet, dusk arrives well before i leave the office, and leaves me walking home on most days after dark. i love everything about this season - except the shorter days.

and it's cold out too - 29 degrees last night, barely reaching 48 degrees today. i finally gave in and pulled out a sweater from my closet - one i haven't worn since last winter. it fits so differently, so much better now. i think i need to invest in some long-sleeve t-shirts and embrace the layered look, else i'll have to replace my entire wardrobe.

the extent of my "costume" today is a pair of sequined cat ears that i picked up at joann's a few weeks ago - and how could i not?? if we take our neices trick-or-treating tonight, i may very well break out the eyeliner and add whiskers and a nose.

and while it's only halloween, today i begin my yearly project of selecting our corporate christmas card. i thought i was totally ahead of the game, until i flipped back through my records and realized that i started this on october 19th last year... oh well. ;)

otherwise, life is straightening out, and we're preparing ourselves for the onslaught of the holiday season. maybe i'll have some photos tomorrow!

thoughts...

it wasn't really my intention to go missing, but then - i guess i haven't been gone all that long if you don't count the weekend...

today, i find myself wishing that stress burned calories - don't you? i mean - my cats shed fur when experiencing undue stress, why can't i shed pounds? mostly, i'd like to burn more calories when i'm stressed, because i'm stressed now - and i really want a snickers bar. *sigh*

but i've hit a new high (or is that a 'low') in my weightloss: 36 pounds. wooohoo. so i'll do my best to distract myself from the candybar in the next room that has been calling my name since 1pm.

family circumstances have made the last week a rough one for us. long, long story cut very short: matt's family needs prayer - and a lot of it. if you pray, would you please lift up - specifically - his parents and his sister?

and on top of that, my work situation... i have to make a grown-up decision today that i don't want to make regarding circumstances that i wish i didn't even know about. would you pray that i will make the right moral, Godly decision?

on the upside, we housesat this weekend for my mom to keep her cute, cuddly little guy company. remember him?

well, he's not quite so tiny now. but he's certainly just as playful. when i arrived saturday, he had pulled a curtain rod bracket (and the attached rod & curtains) out of the wall, unraveled a ball of yarn *all* over the living room, and laid claim to a little stuffed penguin made out of my grandmother's felted wool. sunday morning, after i finished baking my stepsister's birthday cake, he helped himself to several large bites of said freshly baked cake. (and my first instinct was to blame my stepbrother... sorry, andy!)

ok, i guess that's all for today. toodles.

pumpkin patch

if you've been reading for any length of time at all, you're all too familiar with my fascination and general appreciation for the fall season, so it should come as no surprise that i love pumpkin patches which are, to me, the ultimate symbol of the arrival of autumn.

saturday, matt & i drove north into everett to go to a patch simply called "the Farm". this was, by far, the most amazing production i've ever seen in terms of pumpkin patches. not only did it boast a gigantic patch littered with pumpkins in shades of red, green and orange, but it also featured a 12-acre corn maze shaped like washington state. a tractor-pulled hay ride drives you around the "oregon-washington border", into "idaho" and drops you off - then it's up to you, and your map, to follow any of the 250 actual highways to see the various landmarks of the state, and come out the other end at gray's harbor. in addition to the patch and the maze, the farm includes an 18-hole putting course, a "four little pigs" entertainment show, a beverage/snack bar, a bakery, petting farm, and a hay maze just for children. totally incredible! sure, it was mostly geared for kids, but us adults had an awfully good time - and we were comforted to see that we weren't the only childless couple there to play! a few (ok, a ton of) pictures to share:

{i'm not sure if thsoe pumpkins are there to make a point or not, but it reminds me a little of public hangin's in the town square or Henry VIII's fascination with beheading people and displaying their heads on a stick around the entrance to his castle.}


{doesn't this squash look just like a goose?? it even has a speck of dirt right where the eye would be...}








{fun little constructions marked the various washington landmarks. this, their rendition of our capital building in olympia, was among the most amusing. note the dome - made with a faux-ceramic flower pot turned upside-down.}


{this shot brings me dangerously close to singing showtunes from "Oklahoma!" - you know, with the corn being as high as an elephant's eye and all...}

on the way back to the freeway, i spotted a beautiful little scene i just had to photograph (see last two photos) - so i brought the car to a screeching halt on the side of the road, and sacrificed a bit of my dignity to run back up a cement overpass to take a picture... too bad matt forgot to bring his paper bag. ;)