More Christmas progression

I promised to post pictures of my tree as I went along and I never got around to it! Hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas Eve. I am cooking and cooking and snacking as I go along tonight!

So here is the tree completed during the day.

Then at night with the new strand of lights. I'm so use to the old one's that were a little faded, so these seem really bright!

Some more of our special Christmas decor. Combo of Nativity Display and Christmas workshop!
I am finally in the Christmas spirit! Hope you are too!

Christmas in progress

I remember starting my first blog on a night similar to this at about the same time of night too! I was baking chocolate chip cookies in the middle of the night, while watching late night tv and figured it was good of a time as any to start a blog!
I meant to start the chocolate chip cookies much earlier today, but I watched a movie with my husband instead "Love in the Afternoon" with Audrey Hepburn. Then I kept interrupting that by checking my email after my hubby fell asleep. I guess we'll have to watch it again so he can see the ending! So I'm baking the cookies now while watching "White Christmas" and trying to stay up later than the noisy neighbor who is back in town. If I fall asleep after her then she won't wake me up and make me mad! Crazy logic I know.
I've been trying to do something each day during my break from school that I didn't feel like I had the brain capacity to do while school was in session. So far the last three days I've done pretty well. Cooking, watching movies and going through drawers and organizing pictures. It was so nice to watch a couple of movies yesterday without feeling guilty!

My husband brought home a Christmas tree yesterday from a local nursery. I still miss cutting down a pine from a Christmas tree farm. It was my favorite part of Christmas. This year was the first year I purposely didn't go with my husband to pick out a tree. It's not the same buying one at the store. I started to put the lights on tonight and realized the two of the strands had broken bulbs and I had no replacements. That put a halt on decorating until I can get new bulbs tomorrow! Here's a fuzzy pic of what we have so far. I'll take photos as it progresses! So far this Christmas season has had it's ups and downs. It just feels weird to me. It just occurred to me that we should visit the last local tree farm just for the experience anyway. Their trees are much too large and expensive for us right now, but we could at least go walk around!

Now that I don't have studying hanging over my head constantly, it's allowing me to think about things in life that I don't particularly like. I don't want to spend my break dwelling on them, but I don't want to ignore them by keeping busy with little things either. Not sure if I feel like tackling them head on either! Maybe I'll take a week to decide what to do. For now, I'm just trying to stay happy. Sometimes it's tough.

Rain!

It's been raining all day and it's been nice. I feel for those in the rest of the country who this storm will hit next though, because it probably won't be so nice!

My first semester at the university is coming to a close. Just 2 more days with 2 1/2 finals left to go. I am procrastinating studying as I write this! I think the middle of the night was made for studying though! haha
It looks as if I am on the right path to my desired career. I have a teacher who has taken a special interest in me (which is common when a teacher sees that a student has potential to go further) and has asked that I sign up for independent study/research next semester and then an internship the following semester. I guess it all looks good on a Grad School application. I am very grateful, but I know that it is not by chance because I have worked really hard.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the Christmas break. I was going to spend it looking for a new place to live, and I still will but of course it doesn't seem so pressing now since the loud, late night neighbor is gone for the Christmas break as well! Funny how it works like that sometimes.
I know I want to take lots of walks, cook some good food (since I won't be too distracted to cook) and try to finish all the books I've started reading over the last year! I had the goal of reading Atlas Shrugged this next month, but maybe I should give myself a break for awhile! I am hoping to go to Disneyland with my family this month to see it all decked out for Christmas, maybe that will get me in the mood.

It doesn't seem like Christmas time to me, probably because I just can't think about it right now. This may be one of those years where it comes and goes and I won't even realize it. I haven't had that happen since I was a teenager. At least that is better than the few years there when I dreaded it's coming and didn't want to think about it.

I've had my fun, so now it's time to get back to reading for awhile. Hopefully more exciting posts will come later!

Hi Gram! :)

So much to be grateful for..

Earlier this week I was asked if I really could hear waves crashing from inside my room? The answer is yes, I can. Especially at times like these when the surf is really big. I have had this privilege for eleven years now and I think I appreciated it only the first month we lived here! As I pondered on the significance of this to most other people, I was struck with how ungrateful I have been for the amazing things I do have in my life. I remember as a child listening to my grandma describe hearing the waves crashing at night from her room while vacationing in Hawaii and thinking that it must be the most wonderful thing in the world. I hoped that someday I would be able to experience the same thing.
It is sometimes difficult to not focus on the things I don't have instead of the things I do have.

I have been sick during this week I've had off from school and I have been grateful for the time to be away from the world and to sleep a lot without guilt. It has helped me to "refresh" myself a bit and to remember my goals and who I want to be.

Thanksgiving Day was wonderful and not food focused this year for me. We drove a couple of hours to my husband's aunt's house and enjoyed very light traffic in both directions. One of my husband's cousins has two small children and I enjoyed playing with them. We as a group also played "Apples to Apples" (my favorite card game), played pool and played video games. It was fun to have so much interaction and to just "play" in general. It was nice to take a break from doing school work too!

Now I am off to have a day after Thanksgiving dinner with my family! I look forward to driving the old backroad to their house and spending time together enjoying a good meal.

Thursday Night Sunsets

This term at school I have class on Thursday nights and the last two weeks since the time change I have seen the most beautiful sunsets right before class. The first one was after a very difficult day, while I was driving over random farm roads to school and the gorgeous red sunset was very comforting to me. The next week I was using the computer in the library at school when I noticed a funny orange/pink glow to my right. I looked over and there was this amazing sunset outside the glass walls of the library that everyone else was ignoring! I quickly changed to studying in a different part of the library to take advantage of a better view.
It made me think of my friend who has started a gratitude blog and how especially this time of year would be good to write a few gratitude posts!
So I am very grateful for these Thursday night sunsets and I look forward to only three more that I will enjoy at school this year! I hope next Thursday (Thanksgiving) there is a beautiful sunset that we all can enjoy and give thanks for.

New stuff (or a quick Halloween post)

This is going to be a very speedy post! I promised myself I would post a blog today..so here it is!
Two of my cool birthday gifts this year were...
A Pottery Barn gift card from my brother and his wife that I used to buy a cool retro phone! I love it, it even rings like an old phone!

I also was able to get a new camera thanks to my Gram and my husband. This one has a nice sturdy battery door and doesn't take pictures with spots in them!


Here are some samples of photos I've taken with this new camera...

This was on a favorite walk of mine.
The pumpkin family I made at the pumpkin patch while there with my brother and sister.
My brother's new black kitty. Not the best photo, but it does make it Halloweenish!

Special red velvet Halloween cupcakes that I made today. (Filled with raspberry jam and gummy spiders.)
Okay I'm done! Still having trouble with prioritizing my time effectively! Not sure what to do next.
Have a Happy Halloween everyone!

What has been going on lately

Somehow I missed posting anything in September! Ah, as I type this it's beginning to rain. So nice to hear! I can feel the air changing in the house and the windows aren't even open.

School has been great and very busy. My husband's band is playing lots of shows and recording some songs. We almost moved, but then we didn't. I had a wonderful birthday and I got a new camera. All of these would make great topics for their own blogs, but I don't see how I'm going to get them done. So an overview will do for now. I have a photo of our new camera to share, but not photos from the camera because my computer doesn't recognize the camera, nor the memory card. A little frustrating, but I'm working on it. For now, here are some photos to catch up on the last few weeks. That seems to be my favorite blogging style lately.

So here is a cell phone photo of my favorite place to study in the library. When I first saw it, I didn't think I'd like all the open glass and chairs with no back, but it's surprisingly comfortable and private..and most of all quiet!

I took one last walk in September across this cute little footbridge. It is now being replaced with a large scale arched steel bridge that won't be the same.

Also in September I helped out putting together a display for an event at my church. This is a poor picture of the final result. It was fun and a nice creative outlet during this time of education!

One day after classes I did some exploring and went to the third floor of the library. The walls are all huge expanses of glass and although it's very pretty up here, I couldn't help but feel a bit of vertigo. I might try studying up there sometime to see if I can get use to it.

The same day I explored the other side of campus because I heard a rumor that a certain well from a scary movie was on the property. Sure enough, there it is in plain site. I hiked up to it, fully expecting a girl with black hair and wearing white to jump out at me! It was fun. Great view of the campus to the left too.

When my sister came to the campus with me before I started, we saw one of these construction signs and she exclaimed "It's pudding!" Which is an inside joke and if you click on the link it will make no sense and I'm sorry! I love it though and I see this sign everyday and it makes me smile.
I've been able to sneak a few of my favorite walks in here and there. This was a particularly beautiful day in my hometown in October.
The same day I was waiting in line in the grocery store and I thought this view looked too good to not take a photo of!
On my birthday after a great dinner and presents we headed down to the creek in my parent's backyard using the wide path my father just made. He even cut out some steps into the dirt too.

Down in the creek the willows and bamboo are so tall now. Reminds me of how it was 18 years ago.
This is my sister's tree. We tried many times to get a good shot using the timer. This was our favorite, although not what we were going for!

The day after my birthday, my husband and I took a beautiful walk. It was the first real cool, blustery fall day we had. I loved it!
My husband took an awkward picture of me with my tree. No wonder I like it so much, we both lean to the left a little! (Actually I think it was the wind blowing me around.)

So that is it for now. More to come...hopefully sooner than last time!

First Week of School

Well the first week of school started off with a bang! I'm so glad it's over! There has been so much going on, I didn't know if I'd be able to keep it all straight.
I have a really strange school schedule, I'm not sure if I'm going to be enrolled in one of my classes yet, I had to get use to my new work schedule and only working a few hours and my husband had two band practices and two shows this week that I'm helping out with.

On the first day, I was kind of in denial that school was really starting and that I didn't have to go to work. I was worried about all the logistics of getting through traffic to get to the campus on time, finding a parking place, taking the long walk from the parking lot to the classroom, finding my classroom and finding a seat.

Well everything went fine and I had a great first day. I was so happy to be there. It's now the end of the third week and I think I have a handle on my schedule and everything that I'm suppose to do. I was patient (because I knew it was yet another lesson in patience) and I was added to the Statistics class I was waiting for. I'm going to have to be reading constantly to keep up with my assignments. It's all good though.

I was going to write more details about the first week, but I've kind of forgotten them by now. It was pretty euphoric, but now I'm feeling more realistic. More realistic about a lot of things I guess. I don't know how much I'll be able to update my blog during the semester. Even now I feel guilty, like I should be reading!


Here is the view across the entryway to the building called "The Bell Tower" where all of my classes are held. I've come out here after class on a number of occasions to call my husband on my phone. In this warm, muggy weather we've been having it's the coolest spot on campus!

"Senioritis"

I remember in high school a condition that existed among the Senior class called "Senioritis" that hit during the last 6 weeks of school. You were so close to being done with school, but not yet done so you got really antsy to have it over with!!

Well that is what I'm feeling at work right now. I have one more week of full time work before I got back to school again. So I am now antsy to GO to school? Yes!

After school starts I will work very, very part time at this job on a week by week basis. I am so excited and happy to be making more progress on my dream!

I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to make money for school the last five months. It felt so good when I wrote the check to pay for my first semester tuition with money that I had earned myself.

Last week, my sister went with me to the college so I could get my student ID, parking permit and the ever important T-shirt. It was really fun to show her around, it's such a beautiful campus. While in the bookstore, my sis saw a really cute keychain of the school's mascot and I got it for her as a thank you for coming with me. We had to do a little photo shoot with "Splashy" as I named him. (Pictures to come soon.) Then we went on to my Gram's for a nice visit, haircuts and grocery shopping at my new fav store "Fresh and Easy"!

The last couple of weeks I've been in an incredibly good mood. I forgot what that was like! I think I have indeed found "sunshine"!

My Vacation

This post will make no sense right now because it needs to be reformatted completely! I entered all the text and uploaded the pictures at home using Mozilla, but I can't make any changes at work using Internet Explorer. So I'll just let you try to figure it out until I have time at home to move things around.









As I wrote before, it looks like we won't be going anywhere this summer on vacation, but I did manage to have my own style of vacation.
While my brother and sister-in-law were on their trip, I volunteered to house sit and as mentioned before kitty-sit.
I started on Tuesday when I stopped by during lunch. I got some food from Burger King and then stopped in to see how Addy was doing. I ate my lunch and played with her a bit. It was kind of strange to be in their house without them being there, but I could tell it was going to be a fun time! After work my husband came with me to the house and played with Addy for hours, while I made dinner. They would chase each other around the house. It was really cute and funny and I don't know who got tired out first, my husband or the cat! That night I was looking for the can opener, only to figure out that my brother had taken it with them on their trip! After dinner and ice cream, my husband went home and I put on a DVD, Pride and Prejudice (the BBC version). I played with Addy for awhile until my sister arrived. She spent most nights with me. We had a great time, catching up during the week and watching Disney movies we've been wanting to watch for a long time and of course eating lots of ice cream! My brother and his wife had left 3 almost full containers of ice cream and "demanded" that we have them all finished before they got back!
So the first night, I slept the best I had in a long time. It was so quiet on their street and in their house. It also felt very peaceful. Addy seemed to adjust to us being there and it was good. The rest of the days were pretty much the same. My husband would stay with me for awhile to have dinner and to play with the cat. Then he would go home and my sister would come over a little while later.

Some things I also loved about staying there was having some time to myself, not having any TV and being only 10 minutes away from work instead of 25.

On Friday, Addy the kitty came to work with me for the morning. My co-worker really wanted to see her. After exploring the entire office for a few hours, she took a nap in my chair, so I had to work standing up of course!

The one Saturday that we were there, my husband came over in the afternoon and we took a walk to the beach and then over to downtown and back again. We also explored this aqueduct structure that is above the mission. I had never been to that spot before and it was like seeing the city in a whole new light.

I had a couple of nights to myself and surprisingly felt very safe. One of those nights, I went for a walk to the beach.
When it was over, I did have a little hard time letting go and getting back to my life. I knew that there was still craziness around my home. I stayed until the travellers came home and helped them unload their car and hear a little bit about their trip. They were so glad to be back home and I don't blame them.

That night my parents were out of town, so I spent the night at their place to keep their animals company. I kind of got use to living out of my bag and not being at home. It kind of gives one self reliance and keeps you from identifying so much with your home.

The following week, my sister was house sitting for someone else in her town, and I was able to spend the night with her for one night. We had a little pool party earlier with my brother and his wife. It was interesting to go from one kind of home, that was small and neat and tidy to a completely other kind of home that was large, under construction and normally full of wild children. It kind of gave me a balanced perspective to come back to my home. I could see the positive and negative of my own situation a little better.

Thanks to everybody who let me escape at their homes while they were gone!

Something cute and cuddly

So the other day I was looking at the updates for blogs that I follow and ALL of them had photos of little cute and cuddly babies and kids. It was a tiny bit overwhelming for me and I got a little jealous and wished I had something like that in my life. Then I realized that I do have something to blog about that's along the same lines.

I've been house sitting and kitten sitting for my brother and sister-in-law for the last 10 days while they were away on vacation. Little Addy, their kitten is just a few months old. It was fun to have a little creature happy to see you when you come home and follow you around the house wanting you to play with her. Also to feed, clean up after and to keep you up at night! Sounds familiar, right?

My sister stayed at the house too and had a few kitty photo shoots, which I'm borrowing these pictures from.

Addy loves to play with this hat and on the first day I was watching her, she strategically moved it into her "bed" and slept IN it every day. Must have been like a comforting "baby blanket" to her. I love how her colors match the colors of the hat perfectly. The day my brother came back, she moved it off of her bed and onto the floor.

Somebody is watching you! Addy kept doing this while my sister and I were watching TV. It was so cute. At least she couldn't attack us from behind the lamp!

I had the best time at the little house with the little kitty and my little sister. It was so nice to take a break from my own life for awhile and get a better perspective on things. I have made some goals to help make my life more peaceful and make me less grumpy! It's also good to have everybody in my family back home again.

I am so excited!

It's been a great last few days and I think my mental health is improving from it! Part of it has to be anticipation of my little mini "vacation" that starts today! Funny I should say that, since I'm at work right now and will be at work the whole time! (Actually work is a vacation too since the boss is gone and things are very slow.) After it is over, I will explain what I mean.
I am looking forward to having something to care for everyday and to see things from a different perspective.

I don't have any pictures from this weekend, so I'll just write it up.

This summer holiday season has been a little different from times past. Everyone in my family did their own thing and we met up together here and there. On July 3rd, both my husband and I had the day off so we took a drive and a hike in the mountains above our area. Somehow we avoided all the bad holiday traffic on all our travels. That evening we met his family for dinner and had a good a time. We also stopped in a bugged my brother and sister-in-law and their kitten on the way home. I visited a good friend on Independence Day and enjoyed her company and the peace away from the crowds in my town. My husband went hiking and the rest of my family had a BBQ together. The next day on my way home from there I stopped at my folks place and just stayed for a several hours, letting the Sunday beach crowds disperse before I went back to my place. My parents went to Disneyland that day for my father's birthday.
Yesterday was my brother's birthday and we all met together in the evening for an impromptu birthday party at his house for him. It was a fun, relaxing gathering.
It's been so nice this weekend to not have big plans and expectations for everybody and to just go with the flow and enjoy ourselves. I think and hope that everybody had as good of a time as I did.
I read something yesterday that really hit home about families that is a truth everyone can benefit from. It said "The beauty of being a family, is that you can be yourself."

Just pictures

I haven't been feeling very inspired lately, which explains the lack of postings! For now I will post a collection of pictures taken mostly on my cell phone over the last two months. That might kind of catch up on what has been happening in my world lately.

April 15th at the Tea Party protest. The lady in pink was suppose to be dressed like a pig. Interesting note, my computer locked up right after I wrote the words tea party. My name is going on some list with Homeland Security I suppose. I'm such a radical!

Beautiful sunset on the evening of April 15th on an evening walk. Funny that I don't remember taking a walk that night!

In May, the parking lot was torn up and repaved at my work. I thought this looked cool.

My little Benjamina ficus plant, I plan to take home with me when the job is over.
This was inside one of the buildings at University of Idaho. Lionel Hampton went to school there! I had the pleasure of seeing him perform at Disneyland with my father when I was 5 years old, although I had no idea what it meant at the time!
Shadow of me, in my tree.
My brother's sweet little sleeping kitty on my sister-in-law's lap.
Beautiful view on one of my walks after work
In May on our 16th anniversary we drove up to the top of Frazier Mountain and enjoyed this beautiful view.


Another neat looking sunset on one of my walks

Beautiful roses off the mini rose bush my Grandma gave me years ago. There were so many blossoms, the bush was bending over from the weight.
Along a river on a quick walk my husband and I took on a local bike path before going to my folks.
The reflection pool in front of the library at my new university. This was taken the day I registered for classes!


First Beach Night of the season. Someone put the tomato/cucumber salad on top of their chili dog. Can you guess who it was? Hint: it wasn't me.

My poor excuse for a dolphin picture. They were leaping out of the water like crazy, I'm just not fast enough.

The sun sets on our first beach night.

Towing the jet skis after a fun morning of skiing last Saturday!

My father's fence art on the new backyard fence

Playing, or attempting to play croquet on Father's Day.

That about sums it up for now. Just two more months until I start "real" school!
My plans for this summer are to have no plans and no expectations.