Floating Vacation Day Thoughts

- I have been sitting on my brothers couch for over an hour doing re-entry stuff... bank account updating, personal email, work email, etc.

- I hate re-entry stuff, even when done while still on vacation (although I think in the end it will make the actual re-entry from vacation easier).

- I wish I could post a pic, because where I'm sitting is pretty cool! My bro has a 120 inch "screen" (actually a projector on a wall) which he and Mark are using to play Need 4 Speed Undercover with the racing steering wheel setup. It pretty much feels like you are driving in real life. We are all on couches with the mini-bar, mini-fridge, mini-microwave within reach. We've already used the "I DO Movie Room" (it's named after the pics of the "I DO BREW" label that was on the special beer my uncle made them for their wedding rehearsal dinner) for about 3 movie showings since we've been here. Last night the movie showing was WANTED on blu-ray. Pretty sweet!!!

- I was trying to determine if I could afford to go snowboarding with Mark and everyone tomorrow but after realizing I'll have a $200+ bill for school books when I get back and still need to DEQ and license our vehicles, clinches my decision... no. In a couple weeks I will forget I missed out on anything anyway.

- Speaking of cars (in the plural sense), did I mention my parent's are giving us their minivan? MAJOR BLESSING!!! See, they want us to have a place for grandkids (whenever that time comes) and we can't afford to get another/different vehicle. We are driving it home from MT and are VERY excited to have a vehicle that will hold people and stuff!!

- Did I mention I'm taking classes next semester? I start on the 5th. Scary!!! That is how I am choosing to spend my extra time and hope I can make enough $$ from concerts and side projects to cover the expenses. I'm really thankful that Janet and my job at Sunset Pres is flexible enough to let me adjust my hours to accommodate the new schedule.

- Today was our vacation transition day. The rest of the visiting family left yesterday and Mark and I are moving over to JR & Molly's place from my parents. We wanted to spread the love. We are still over at Mom & Dad's for meals and stuff though. It's fun to have extra time to hang and all that.

- Mark bought me the book Twilight for Christmas (I had heard it was good) and am over half way and LOVING it!!! Which is weird since I hate vampires. It's been hard to put it down and be social. I'm trying to pace myself.

- I'm excited and nervous to go home because in addition to feeling like December was a weird month with Mark being gone, so many snow days, and being on vacation for 2 weeks, I start school. I didn't decide to start school until mid way through December so haven't had much time to process. Can I do it??? Oh, and we'll have another car... which totally changes our life dynamic. So in other words, we will be creating a new normal and life as we've known it is completely different.

- I enjoyed driving around a little on the snowy roads since I've been here. After our time in OR I was glad to find out I still had good snow legs. Mark too. Although the snow has now mostly melted off the roads.

- The guys are buying more cars now that they passed another level in the game and all this talk of reading makes me want to put the computer down and grab my book for a few minutes before we head to the parent's place for dinner.

Happy New Year!!!

Our Snowy Adventure #2

We are supposed to be driving with my aunt and uncle and their 2 kids, to Montana tomorrow night. Up until today things were looking okay.

This morning my uncle called me and said that the Gorge route is closed and is supposed to be possibly as late as Wednesday... that doesn't fit in with our plans since that is the route we need to go. 

Jerry & Andrea (my uncle and aunt) don't have as much time as we do for the trip so leaving a lot later isn't entirely an option for them. We on the other hand, don't have to be back at work until the 5th. So we're trying to stay open to plan B (which won't get us there by Christmas Day, but whatever). 

I'll try and update more when things play out. If we end up with plan B it will mean quite the adventure for Mark and me, but we seen to have a knack for running into adventurous travel situations.

Our Snowy Adventure #1

Yesterday we woke up to lots of snow. It kept snowing. And snowing. And snowing. In the morning we had a nice breakfast and drank coffee while watching a movie and then decided to brave the weather and walk to Bridgeport (about 3.3 miles away) and take the bus back. I was going to suggest that we take the bus there too but Mark wanted the exercise. Since I had walked to Barb's twice this week and to our house once, figured it was more than doable. 

We were the only ones to make tracks in the snow part of the way. At least the most recent layer. By the time we got there we were questioning our decision because we were cold and hadn't seen a bus the entire time. But since we were there we opted to move forward with the movie. 

7 Pounds was good! Sad, but good. 

We got out a little before 4 and headed straight for the bus stop where we got the stop ID and called to find out where the bus was at, only 5.5 miles away. An hour later we were still waiting and called like the 10th time to get the status and it was 3.3 miles away!! The last time it had only been 1.2 miles away!! We were starting to wonder what on earth to do and why the bus suddenly back-tracked when we saw it coming around the corner. 

By that time we were really chilly! It hadn't stopped snowing the entire day!! Our toes were numb, our legs were cold, and we weren't even sure where this bus was taking us. After the bus died at 2-3 different stops, we got to the transit center, and were considerably warmer. It was about a mile from the house and we decided to just walk the rest of the way. We actually stayed pretty warm and made it home just fine. The hot shower and hot potato soup was the perfect end to our adventure. Actually, going to bed at 9 because we were so tired from our excursion (it's hard to walk in 1 foot of powder!) may have been the perfect end. 

On to snowy adventure #2, driving to Montana!!

Why we are at Barb's

So, I've had a few questions about why we are at Barb's. I was reminded of the reason just a few minutes ago when I heard a Mustang on the street and as I looked out the window and saw a car just like mine trying to get out and then back into their garage and barely got anywhere, slipping and sliding. 

That's why we're at Barb's. There is a more direct bus route to and from Mark's work (which he's used every day) and the potential to car pool with a 2 wheel drive car. She also likes the company and it's fun to hangout sometimes. My car is crappy in this weather, a joke really and I'd prefer not to put Simone in risk of getting messed up. Yes, it's the downfall of having your only car be a highly impractical rear-wheel-drive-wide-tired Mustang! Dad warmed me of that and I decided to move forward anyway.

Today Mark and I are moving back home. He already left for the bus and Barb and I are packing up stuff to head out. I have to pack all Mark's and my stuff from the past 5 days. We're heading into church so I can catch up on some work and help with Food & Toy. Mark and I will take Barb's car home (she's staying the night with friends) and we'll probably just hang at home for the weekend as the weather is predicted to keep up... it's snowing right now. 

Snow Days

I have to say, I think it's cool that I get snow days as an adult. Technically I never got them as a kid since we were homeschooled. But my mom was merciful sometimes and gave them to us after a big storm. In Wolf Point we got some wicked storms! Temps reached -40 with wind chill and when we'd go outside during the middle of the blizzard to check out what was happening we had to completely cover all skin. We didn't go out alone, dad went with us, and the dog. I can't believe our dog could survive that! Although if I remember correctly, she was always running and jumping around. She really seemed to love it!! She used to get ice balls in her paws and stop walking and try and bite them out but would always let us help her out by pulling them out. 

So far this week I've had 3 snow days. Although technically I wouldn't have been working today. I'm pleased at how productive I've been! Monday we packed 2 days worth of clothes into backpacks and hiked the 3.5 miles to Barb's, yesterday we went into work for half a day (hitched a ride with our friend Ken Mulder) and then a stop at the crowded grocery store and today Barb and I saw Mark off to catch the bus and headed out on our own adventure to walk from her house to my house and back. It's about 3.5 miles each way. 

We decided to go out earlier since the weather wasn't too bad yet. The walk went fine! Took a while, but otherwise was uneventful (except for seeing a car hit the curb when sliding around a turn). It's not an easy adventure, especially with ice covered sidewalks. There are significant hills, but they didn't kill us. 

When we got to my house it was a mild 43 degrees. yikes!! I left the heat on 50 to keep anything from getting messed up and grabbed another day's worth of clothes and a few items we forgot or wanted, warmed up some of our clothes in the dryer and in front of the fire and put on warmer pants under my jeans and a new fleece coat and headed back. I was a little bummed our Netflix hadn't arrived, but oh well.

It had started to snow again, which actually made the walk easier then on the way there because of the snow on top of the ice, which allowed for better traction. We stopped at the grocery store for a few items but were surprised that the way back seemed almost easier.

We arrived home in time for lunch and noticed the weather quickly turn. It actually started to snow part way back, but the wind picked up after we were safely home. 

After a bit of lunch and catch up time with email, I made some calls, worked on some work items and am going to move my party in front of the fire before starting on the second batch of cookies for Food & Toy drive. Figured might as well make good use of the time at home by baking for a good cause! We are having potato soup for dinner and I have to admit, I'm excited about that!!

The only bummer part of this snow day business is I can't get much (or hardly) any work done remotely!! I was glad for time in the office yesterday to gather some files to work on creating cue sheets, but since so much of what I do is making copies and other normal office flow, there just isn't much to work on from home. 

Concert Pictures

I'm still waiting to get the one of me with two of the ladies I work with at the concerts and Michael W Smith. But here are some others.

Michael on the piano and the backup singers with melinda in the middle.

Melinda singing with Michael in the background.

This was right after the show. I got tickets for Bruce, Barb, Ken and Sharon. I like this picture because you can also see how the stage was setup. The drapes were Rolling Hills', which looked fantastic!

I wanted to introduce Sharon to Melinda Doolittle since she also enjoyed watching her on American Idol. Sharon stuck around long enough that we snuck in at the end of the line to have her sign things and get a picture. 

Evening In December Pictures

Saturday the 5th I was privileged to host 7 friends at the Evening In December event. It was a blast! Here are pictures of how I set my table and who came.

These are my new Christmas dishes ;)

These are some little cakes I made with white chocolate drizzled on top with crumbled candy cane.

Me and my cousin Jenna.

Holly, Rose and Bethany. I work with Bethany and Rose's husbands and Holly's husband-to-be.

Raychel, Tracy, and Trisha.