01-31-12

“Is this teddy bear mode?” – Bruce

I have to learn the options on this new camera before our New Orleans trip! It doesn’t seem as intuitive as prior cameras. And a half-intensity flash option would be nice. But even the worst photos seem better than my last camera, so that helps.

“It says you’re blinking.” – Bruce

Tonight we found ourselves at Electric Bean. Chat with old friends, chat with new friends, hot drinks, a game of Hearts with Xander, and reminders of why date night should be sans kids. Isn’t 13 old enough to not spill a drink then sit there in a daze?

“It doesn’t recognize your face!” - Bruce

01-30-12

Today was an exciting day for Anastasia, not such an exciting day for me.

She started a new semester, with new classes, including shuttling to the other nearby high school. I savored my only free evening this week, working on my Malachi study.

No judgments about my messy desk! My scrapbook room is a loosely organized hub of my chaotic life. My desk at work is usually a wreck too, so maybe that is just how I function best…

01-29-12

The only thing that is constant is change, and sometimes you have to be flexible enough to change plans around, due to weather and circumstances.

We found ourselves at a nursing home in Centralia today to visit Bruce’s grandfather. We planned on finally visiting the Monarch Statue Garden too, but I haven’t waited three years to see it on a cold, wet, blustery day, so we found ourselves at Starbucks instead.

“The trouble with weather forecasting is that it's right too often for us to ignore it and wrong too often for us to rely on it.” ~ Patrick Young

01-28-12

Today was a church filled day.

Discovering Class in the morning, church services in the evening. Devotions and a lake walk in between.

Thankful for the opportunities, excited to see how God will use the church body and us in the midst of it.

01-27-12

Anastasia goes when it is a punishment. Bruce refuses to go. But Xander willingly goes with me to the vegetarian/vegan potlucks.

Tonight the shining star in his mind was Debbie’s vegan coconut cupcakes. I, as always, enjoyed tasting a few bites of a huge variety of dishes.

Tonight it was also fun to see Forks Over Knives again, see young Ethan win a door prize, and catch up with friends I don’t get to see with our church change.

“You need to eat another plate of kale salad before you can have a third cupcake, dude.” - Mom

01-26-12

From the little boy who was reluctant to put his head in the “O” of LOVE to the teen boy who is reluctant to pose for mom before heading out to a school dance.

Still trying to figure out the settings on my camera – I can get good lighting or good expression, it seems, but not both.

It’s almost Friday, right?

01-25-12

One kid sick, another raiding the pantry for a snack.

Get up early, run around, collapse in bed, repeat. Day 3 of running like a crazy person at work and home, looking forward to a more normal day tomorrow.

“Cereal is not an evening snack.” – ogre mom

01-24-12

Busy, busy, busy.

Got up way too early to drive way too far. Took a midday break from work to catch up on life a little, but afraid to sit down for fear of falling asleep. Off to a meeting to see what innovative social services are brewing in the community. Not enough time to squeeze in allergy shots. Off to rental association meetings to find out how to turn our uncollected rents and damages to collection.

Busy, adjective: 1. actively and attentively engaged in work or a pastime: busy with her work. 2. not at leisure; otherwise engaged: He couldn't see any visitors because he was busy. 3. full of or characterized by activity: a busy life.

01-23-12

“If you do not have a safe, affordable place to lay your head at night, everything else is off the table.” – Jo Brewer

Bruce has had a heart for affordable housing for a really long time. I didn’t start really pondering and understanding it until we became landlords. The stats are alarming and interesting, but it is more compelling to me to see and hear the individual stories of people who are or have struggled through it. Tonight at the Longview Housing Authority annual meeting and dinner, Bruce presented an award to another person who feels passionately about access to affordable housing, Jo Brewer.

01-22-12

Today was a Portland shopping day. Gotta love Cascade Station!

Anastasia was looking for jeans and lighting for her bedroom.
Xander was looking for bunk bed options at Ikea.
The kids lobbied for lunch at Red Robin.
Bruce was looking for Michele’s early birthday gift – a new NICE camera!
Michele was looking for something to bring to the potluck at work tomorrow.

Here’s the first photo from the new camera…

01-21-12

Why do free days go by so much faster than working days?

On weekdays I’m at work over 8 hours, I’m eating super healthy, and sometimes it seems as if time stands still.

On weekends I have more free time and I loosen my eating habits. But I still try to exercise as much or more. A lazy Saturday, but still carved out time to run on treadmill, walk the lake, and walk the treadmill with my book.

01-20-11

Today was a chili kind of day. Literally and figuratively.

We hosted a chili feed at work to raise money for Relay for Life at work.

And this evening I went scrapbooking with a group of gals, and we had chili and cornbread for dinner.

“Chili represents your three stages of matter: solid, liquid and eventually gas.” - John Goodman as Dan Conner in 'Roseanne'

01-19-12

Chopping peppers for chili for our Relay for Life fundraiser tomorrow.

Plans tonight:

Shop at produce stand

Take more tylenol to ward off headache
Make chili
Weekly rental market research
Exercise
Blog & e-mail mom
Devotions

Doesn’t leave much time for my January to do list, as January screams by, but somehow found time to semi-aimlessly wander the Internet… Thankful that we have no snow or ice on the streets, power, and things are getting back to normalcy.

“Your food matches your shirt.” – Debbie Kay, as I chomped on snow peas today

01-18-12

When I woke up at 4:30am, the room seemed brighter than normal. Took a peek out the curtains, and there was a thick blanket of snow. So pretty!

Anastasia doesn’t get up on school days, but she was up bright and early on this no school day… to stockpile snowballs for use against her brother.

Taking bets on what tomorrow will bring. Xander says another no school day, I say two hour delay, and Bruce says back to school as normal. I’ve gotten used to Bruce driving me everywhere, they know him at the security gate at work now.

01-17-11

We had planned to go to the Rental Property Owners Association dinner meeting tonight, which means heavy food for us and TV dinners for the kids at home. The weather and my debilitating headache killed those plans, so we had a meal slot open.

Pantry and freezer staples to the rescue! I’m not used to eating so much packaged food, but it sure does make calorie counting easier. I decided to treat myself to ¼ cup of Kraft, and the whole grain really does taste different. Drier, so not as cheesy... I tried to eat more snap peas with lemon juice and almonds than anything else.

“Dude, macaroni and cheese is the food of the gods!” – Haley James Scott

01-16-12

I decided not to get my camera out when the snow started falling thick in the middle of the day. I assumed that was the beginning of a lot more snow again. But Xander is still peeking out the window looking for any snowflakes on the wet streets. He may have to go back to school tomorrow after all!

So I offer chap stick instead. Because I was really wishing I had some at work with me today! If I’m avoiding the coffee calories, I can at least put it on my lips…

01-15-12

In-laws, tenants, and snow, oh my!

Today didn’t exactly go as planned, but it’s good. No running the lake in snow, so took a morning walk with Bruce instead. Bruce and the kids visited with Grandma & Grandpa while I verified applicant information, then they headed north. No movie and manicure/pedicure tonight, but the inconvenience is worth it to move in a new tenant.

Keep warm…

01-14-12

For a lazy Saturday, I have a lot of photos to choose from. The live mariachi band at Los Rocas was a surprise. And trying to take better photos of our vacant rental unit, some of them with Bruce and I in them. But this still life caught my attention, so here goes. My to do list, an old fashioned tape recorder to practice my Bible memorization, my funky fitness journal, and Xander putting grocery list items on… my used Kleenex…?!?

Life is always an adventure!

01-13-12

Ah, relaxing on a Friday evening.

Had friends over for dinner tonight, which is always a blessing, but is often hard to get to that place. It is such a blessing to have kids who will entertain the wee ones so the adults can talk.

Breyers vanilla ice cream with homemade apple pie filling and caramel sauce is a blessing too!

01-12-12

“I love Nutella!” – Xander, the only one in our family not on a New Years healthier kick

Xander announced today, multiple times, that he wants to be an astronaut, superhero, chef, and firefighter. Dream big, little man! He put his chef skills to work this evening making dinner. I didn’t realize it until now, but a vegetarian dinner! You go, little man!

01-11-12

I could post photos of a wonderful sunrise, a lovely bouquet of flowers, or another coffee date, but decided it would be good to try to keep some focus on actual people. Not happy with the photos, but like the little angel over my shoulder on this one.

“Be an angel to someone else whenever you can, as a way of thanking God for the help your angel has given you.” ~Eileen Elias Freeman

01-10-12

Work, work, work. Too much overtime makes for a boring week! I think of September as my busy season, but in January every single spreadsheet I touch has to be updated for the new year, and I touch a lot of spreadsheets!

01-09-12

My motto for this month is no carrots after dinner. I’m hungry tonight, but still not desperate enough to eat more carrots. They are already my 3pm snack. Poor, neglected carrots.

"Large, naked, raw carrots are acceptable as food only to those who live in hutches eagerly awaiting Easter." - Fran Lebowitz

01-08-12

Narrowed todays photos down to three favorites – Xander throwing a glider at the base of the Astoria Column (since he was yet again too chicken to climb to the top, which the rest of us did twice for exercise), Bruce and the kids at the Shipwreck at Fort Stevens, and this one.

About the ship: Built in 1890, the Peter Iredale (a 2,075 ton 285 foot four-masted steel vessel) ran ashore in1906. Sailing from Salina Cruz, Mexico, the ship was bound for Portland, Oregon with a crew of 27, including two stowaways. High seas and wind drove the ship ashore. No casualties occurred in the accident. There was little damage to the hull, but the ship had listed to the right and become embedded in the sands.

About the girl: Loves posing for photos, especially if they are to be posted on Facebook. Disappointed to not swim at the Astoria aquatics center, but asking for more hiking adventures. Chose a cute local pizza place for dinner with the help of Yelp reviews.

"May God bless you, and may your bones bleach in the sands." - Captain Lawrence's final toast to his ship

01-07-12

Xander is on a serious Buffalo sauce kick. He goes from thing to thing, and since Christmas he is putting Buffalo sauce on almost everything he eats.

It was kind of a quiet day, but chores are done and Saturday Nite church rocked, so we are ready for an adventure day tomorrow. Decided to head to the coast instead of the snow.

01-06-11

TGIF!

Bruce got new glasses, I haven’t captured them on the blog yet. He wasn’t thrilled to be my subject, and he’ll probably hate this photo, but the blogger has control…

“Happiness is like a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.” ~Nathaniel Hawthorne

01-05-11

So in our scrapbooking class, it is an assignment to photograph something that represents healthy. A few participants have posted stacked fruit photos, similar to this link. I loved the idea and decided to try it.

I am less than enthused with my attempt. But, at least I have a head start on chopping up my fruit salad for breakfast tomorrow! The layers are: the top of an Anjou pear, kiwi, Gala apple, Meyer lemon, Fuji apple, Cara Cara orange, Asian Pear, and bottom of an Anjou pear. Healthy!

01-04-12

I wasn’t feeling very good today, thinking an evening of lounging sounded good. Imagine my surprise when I came home to a baby in a baby seat on the couch! It’s Anastasia’s turn to bring home a robot baby for her Personal Choices class. And my can this kid wail! I was torn on sending her off to youth group – it was good to get the child out of our house, but I felt bad about foisting it on to others. Hope we get some sleep tonight…

01-03-12

End of another quarter, time for Ducky and I review the past three months of reading:

Most Educational: Travelling with Pomegranates by Sue Monk Kidd and Ann Kidd Taylor
Most Disappointing: The Abstinence Teacher by Tom Perrotta
Most fun Christmas chick lit: The Perfect Christmas by Debbie Macomber
Biggest Surprise: My Antonia by Willa Cather
Most Surprised I Enjoyed It: Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Happy reading!

01-02-12

Must admit that I spent a good chunk of the afternoon playing Bruce’s new Kung Fu game for the xBox Connect. It’s pretty hilarious, and a pretty good work out. The rest of the family can be the bad guys with the controllers, so it kept us amused for quite awhile, taking turns being attacked.

This is just part of how my day didn’t go as planned, but it was a good day. Now back to more normal routines for us all tomorrow.

01-01-12

Doing something twice in a row constitutes a tradition in our family, so I am starting a tradition of the New Years couch photo.

I wasn’t sure I was going to choose a focus word for 2012, but Ali inspired me, so here goes…

Deeper…
In my walk with God. Continuing to memorize 1 John, improving my prayer life, and submitting to viewing my time as His instead of mine.
In saving money. 2011 was a sad savings year, want to get finances in order before college costs start. Attack food, coffee, and healthcare categories, and try to go all of 2012 without buying non-essential clothing.
In adventure seeking and exploring the Pacific Northwest. More hikes. More daytrips.
In my fitness journey. Move more, eat well. See the scale at my goal weight more often.