12-31-17

Kangablue from the outside.

12-30-17

Ah, life is about simple pleasures.

12-29-17

Tiny House adventure!  We spent two nights at the Caravan tiny house hotel on Alberta Street in Portland to meet my 2017 goal to stay in a tiny house community.  Not the best weather, not the most comfortable tiny house, and ended the weekend with the flu, but still very thankful for the opportunity to be here.  Enjoyed seeing beetle kill pine, this house is called Kangablue.  And really thankful for the real toilet!

12-27-17

And off they go.  Back to a quiet house...

12-26-17

Hanging out at G&G's today,more Christmas cheer.

12-25-17

Merry Christmas!  Changed our venue to Diana's house this year.

12-24-17

Just like one year ago when Jacob and Anastasia reconnected, we went and saw a Star Wars movie on Christmas Eve.  Came out of the theater to a blanket of snow!

12-23-17

A little bit of adventure and a whole lot of crazy to take our watercraft out tonight with the Kayak Club to view the lights.  I about froze t death on my paddleboard; the board literally froze up.

12-22-17

Today's plans... group stocking shopping at Target.  And enjoying the cozy fire...

12-21-17

Bring on Christmas!  All the gifts have arrived, they are all wrapped, I am officially ready!

12-20-17

The kids are home!  Which means the TV is devoted to video games instead of shows about flipping houses.  Enjoying some downtime.

12-19-17

Kids made it home!  Took an extra hour with the detour with I-5 closed for the train crash in DuPont, but let family festivities begin!

12-18-17

Getting my wrapping groove on. Feels like there are more gifts this year.

12-17-17

Out walking today, this time in the daylight.  I love the decorated trees at the lake.

12-16-17

Two events today, out of a choice of at least 10 things to do today.  We spent the morning at the Highlands Community Center helping kids decorate cookies into reindeer, and the afternoon at a Pokemon Go event in Vancouver.

12-15-17

We walked downtown in the rain this evening.  Feeling a little better, need to ease back into collecting steps.  TGIF, ready to ease into the weekend!  Enjoyed this Christmas display at the pet store.

12-14-17

A few months ago I saw an article about grant money being available if we could coordinate a Habitat for Humanity Weyerhaeuser Build Day by year end.

When we set Dec 14th as the date we imagined the worst weather, but we got so lucky!  Also luck that there was a lot of interest, 16 volunteers!

Habitat got a ton of subfloor framing and floor sheeting accomplished, plus $3500 from from the Weyerhaeuser Giving Fund.

12-13-17

Been trying to wrap 10 gifts each night to make a dent in the pile.  Been having fun with it.

12-12-17

Hey little reindeer!  One of my favorite decorations that we have had the longest.

12-11-17

Getting my wrapping Jones on.  Cards got mailed, time to wrap now!

12-10-17

Got to hold little Sierra at church again!  Lovin' it!  Big brother Cedar in the background...

12-09-17

Further north to Mountlake Terrace to visit Mom, Jerry, Grama & Grampa.  Got their Christmas decorations up, including a new star.

12-08-17

Seattle!  Enjoying downtown.  So many cranes and construction!

12-07-17

Headed to City Hall tonight for my first Longview city council meeting.  Bruce spoke first in a string of citizens supporting the housing authority.  The story broke today, front page news.

12-06-17

Home sick today.  Just me and my light up cow.  Which I need to give up because I'm out of USB ports at work.  Love being able to cough and lay on the couch whenever I want to.

12-05-17

What's on top of your tree?  Ours has a country angel that we have had for decades.

12-04-17

I scored some owls at the ornament exchange!

12-03-17

Panera Bread!  The Kelso one opened, and I drug Bruce there for lunch today.  Love their Pick 2 menu, yummy!

12-02-17

Parent stocking event at the frat in the morning, helping Jacob move in the afternoon.  75 items, 75 stockings, 75 name tags, and a few gorgeous photos.

12-01-17

Friday!  December!  Wayne Brady!  We witnessed some truly hilarious and witty improv in "Tacomas", as Wayne liked to call it.

11-29-17

I spent my entire day pawing through old files, deciding what needs to be retained.  Co-workers should have to weed through their own records, they know what is important better than I do...

11-28-17

Look at these adorable little Pokemon toddler underwear I scored for shoebox ministries!  Some cute little kid is going to have a happy little butt!

11-27-17

Took a walk while I could today, although I did wonder if I'd make it back dry.  The Peace on Earth decoration struck me today, since I spent all morning working on Dave Ramsey's Peace University financial material.  Vacation day in front of a different computer...

11-26-17

This is the view from the furniture display area at Macy's at Clackamas Towne Center, sandwiched between Black Friday and Cyber Monday.  Found a few things, but mainly just a walking adventure on a blustery day.

11-25-17

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

11-23-17

Happy Thanksgiving, Survivor style!  We had a scavenger hunt with selfie sticks, here's two teams partaking in a group hug.  More or less.

11-22-17

Day before Thanksgiving.  Work.  Small Group.  Assemble Food.  Survivor.  Greeting Anastasia and Jacob.

11-20-17

Priscilla Shirer, big on the screen and bold in her preaching.

11-19-17

Love sleeping in on the weekends and jogging in the daylight, sometimes even with the colorful sunrise!

11-18-17

Go Huskies!  Scored a great deal on some tickets, so broke my streak of no football since meeting Bruce.  Baby, it's cold outside!

11-17-17

Folks at JoAnn's wanted to know what I was going to use the fabric for, but nobody at Winco was at all curious about the ton of malt balls I bought.

11-16-17

'Tis the season for all things Thanksgiving, including helping those less fortunate.  Packing food "baskets" at church tonight.

11-15-17

Having some creative time with my watercolor pencils.  Happiest with the bottom row.

11-14-17

Jacob brought over a few more loads of belongings tonight.

11-13-17

Stormy weather.  Our Japanese maple has lost all its leaves.

11-12-17

Our annual attention getting trip to Wal-mart to buy food for Thanksgiving baskets.

11-11-17

Today was dress shopping.  For some reason it takes 6 months for a dress to be created.  This is not the dress, but she found the dress.  Fun outing!

11-10-17

With the time change it is so dark so early.  We were rambling around Longview Friday evening, trying to walk but too much rain.  Historic motel sign...

11-09-17

Heard today that 64% of all US households subscribe to Amazon Prime.  Our Amazon Prime gets a huge workout, with all four of us at three different addresses frequently ordering.

11-08-17

Spent my morning in non-profit land.  Signed up to help with the Finance Committee.