"Only Two weeks of Winter"

Yesterday Nicole told me she could get used to only two weeks of winter and that it felt like spring it was 45 degrees. Also the snow finally melted so we don't have to be in 4 wheel drive to park at our apartment, and we won't have to shovel any more snow we hope.

But to help us remember how it was I found this cool image of of the snow storm from space.

"Happy Boxing Day"

Well since the Gorge was shut down for four days the mail got backed up and we didn't receive are presents from the "Mother Ship" until the day after christmas or as are friends up north call it "Boxing Day." So here are our presents.

thanks mom & andy and virgina (we love the gingerbread man!)

A lonely little Lake Oswego Christmas

It snowed alot in the portland metro area this year.


Then it did some freezing rain


But people still rode their bikes



And went surfing??



And while they were doing that, no one plowed the roads.

Which made going anywhere really hard for me. But it was no problem for rich.

The end

bah hum bug.

Richard's Mosaic (Are you Happy Joy)

Concept:
1. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.http://www.flickr.com/search/
2. Using only the first page, pick an image.
3. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.
http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/mosaic.php (choose four columns and three rows, also choose individual URL's)
Questions:
1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One word to describe you.
12. Your nickname.


Tag:
Anyone who wants to do it.

Don't worry Amy, it didn't expire!

My sister sent us a package full of our favorite goodies. One of those goodies is grandma sycamore's white bread. that stuff if like cake and we haven't found anything here that comes close. We ate every decadent piece of that loaf in 24 hours. So sad.

From the loins of the pink flamingo......

THANK YOU AMY

Our favorite is the snow globes. You are the greatest.

Books I've read this year.

I thought I'de copy Joy's blog - Since for the first time in about 16 years - I actually read books that were not text books. And....I enjoyed it.

In defense of food - Micheal Pollan
The earth knows my name - Patricia Klindienst
This organic life: confessions of a suburban homesteader - Joan Dye Gussow
Into thin air -John Krakauer
The Climb - Anatoli Nikoliavich Boukreev
Over the Edge: A True Story of Kidnap and Escape in the Mountains of Central Asia - Greg Child
The cruelest miles - Gay and Laney Salisbury
a long way gone: memoirs of a boy soldier - Ishmael Beah
Gone with the wind - Margaret Mitchell
Collapse: How societies choose to succeed or fail - Jared Diamond
The Thornbirds - Colleen McCullough

oh man. my list sucks compared to joy's - but it's pretty good for a reading newbie (:

Bye Bye Mangy Mane

Hello shortness. I was sick of long hair. Sorry Bryan....but short hair is just so much better.

As my mom says........

Everyone has to do it, or see it, once in their lives.

Home SWEET Home

My first time making real gingerbread. Man was it good. "glueing" the house together with "hard crack" staged cooked sugar works really well!

ARTIC BLAST!!!!

IT SNOWED IN PORTLAND. yeah! And, unlike Utah where nothing could stop church from being held.....they cancelled our meetings today!

But then again, they also salt and plow the roads in Utah.

The temple sure is pretty in the snow today!

Merry Christmas Richard

7 months after leaving logan, Rich has finally completed his Masters Degree in Geotechnical Engineering. Merry Christmas to us.......no more editing stories about landslides and risk factors for me and no more sitting at the computer all day and skipping out on chores for Rich. WAHOO

final ruling

I guess we will buy a rug for the front room next month. thanks for the idea breea!

For Sale, Stupid Subaru

Has a great history. 205,000 miles and still running.

New front and rear brakes and rotors. New tires. New headlights. New belts. New rear bearings. New boot.

Makes loud "whirring" noise in the back. Expect clicking noise near the front in a few months. Requires exquisite flexibility or a passenger for entry. Automatic seatbelts. Locking trunk (only the current owner is able to open it at this time). Not-optional sauna setting. Leaky sunroof = after gym showers or refreshing morning showers. Likes to "dance" when making sharp turns.

Comes with free guessing game: When will I run out of gas???

Please contact us if you are interested, because we are not interested in fixing the fuel pump in the coldness.

Take Two

Well the blue rug was taken back and now this is the second choice, but were still not sure yet.

Any comments or ideas?

Buyers remorse revisited....help us decide

I suffer from chronic buyers remorse. Any time I buy something expensive (meaning over 50 dollars) that I am pretty sure we can live without .... I pretty much want to take it back.

What do you think about our new rug? To keep or not to keep? I think it needs to be a greenish color or a dark red. Richard likes the blue - - I think that is only because it matches his BYU pillows.

they're gone!!!

After 1 whole week (minus 3 long days of work) they are finally gone. Thanks for coming to visit us family!!!

thanks andy

*** found on craig's list by my big bro andy***

Free Hot Tub

Date: 2008-10-15, 8:57AM AKDT

Do you need a year round way to water your lawn, deck, yard, garage? Have you ever wondered what a 425 gallon colander looks like? Ever really wanted a motorized dog bath? Today is your lucky day. I have a free hot tub. Yes it is complete and it is drained. I drained part of it and it drained itself the rest of the way. Where does it leak??? Find that and you have found the leprechaun with the pot of gold. This unit is perfect for the individual who knows no limit to frustration. The type of person who likes a challenge even when there is no chance of winning. This will build the kind of character in you the armed forces dream of. You will find yourself exhibiting behavior that you never thought possible, but ITS FREE!!!! You will need strong backs to load and a trailer. I will be able to offer short bouts of sympathy and witty banter while you prepare to begin your journey.

If this interests you, and it should because ITS FREE, you will need to call and schedule to come by and pick it up. Please remember, I am not a business as it is hard to make a living giving things away. Please call and let me know when you will be there as I have other things to do. I will not guarantee anything except you have your work cut out for you. I will not deliver it, save it, paint it, or take photos of it for you until it is on your trailer....again...ITS FREE. Please call me if you want it. [DELETED] Coleman 411 – 5 Person tub Has Cover Pumps, heater, etc did work Air injector pump has been disconnected The rest is a foam filled crap shoot
Location: South Anchorage
it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

Nice Job Breea!

She took second in this competition: http://www.usu.edu/ust/index.cfm?article=31854

love your hair cut by the way!

when trying to remember what left brained vs right brianed meant I found this

Seems that I am both. That explains the doodles on my extra long and organized to do list. Or the unique lettering on my weekly menu on the fridge.

thanks for the idea Joy's roommate Kelly.

You Are 45% Left Brained, 55% Right Brained

The left side of your brain controls verbal ability, attention to detail, and reasoning. Left brained people are good at communication and persuading others. If you're left brained, you are likely good at math and logic. Your left brain prefers dogs, reading, and quiet. The right side of your brain is all about creativity and flexibility. Daring and intuitive, right brained people see the world in their unique way. If you're right brained, you likely have a talent for creative writing and art. Your right brain prefers day dreaming, philosophy, and sports.

Are You Right or Left Brained?

My cousin is almost as famous as richard's cousin......

parker heiner - ballroom dancing @ BYU

only in oregon.....

Since it wasn't raining cats and dogs, we went to a wildlife refuge yesterday . You gotta love those environmental sanctuaries. Not only are they irradicating the oregon's favorite invasive species (blackberry bushes) - and trying to make it a quiet zone by banning even joggers - but they also put the "hybrid parking spaces" closer to the building than the "handicapped spaces." Only in portland..........

p.s. this picture was taken from somewhere online - i dont really think it was taken in oregon though......when searching for a picture there are actually signs like this all over.......

sesame street thanksgiving

The today show was hosted by muppets today, which was hilarious. Then I ran across this while browsing for some thanksgiving pictures........gotta love the muppets.

I miss my mountains and my mountain loving friends......

Jardine Juniper 2006

2 years ago in may, Richard and I hiked the jardine juniper and signed the trail register. When I hiked that with my BFF rach a few weeks ago, rich & my little note was still in the register....cool huh. Basically we must have been phsycic or something because we were profesying that we were going to live green even before we moved to portland!

the toilet paper experiment

If you know us very well, then you are probably aware that we are tight wads. Yesterday, we broke down and bought some of life's basics (toilet paper, soap, shampoo, a cable converter box). It was way too expensive and the most pricey item on the list was the TOILET PAPER.

I have never understood why some are more pricey than others? Who cares if it is soft....does rough TP contribute to hemmorhoids or something? Strength on the other hand......that is important for apparent reasons. Since I had a coupon for charmin, I decided we would get it, even though it is double the price of angel soft or the "off brand kind" that we usually buy. I thought that maybe it is more expensive because it lasts longer. Afterall, they claim that their 24 rolls are equal to 96 regular rolls..........

.

So we are running our own consumer report on TP. We have 4 rolls of angel soft which are going in the TP holder starting tomorrow. We are going to consume a moderate fiber diet (meaning I am not going to add or take away any vegetables and whole grains from our diet) - and we are going to count how many days it takes to get through the 4 rolls of TP. Note that we will not be taking our TP to work - and since I only work 1 day this week, I will be using a separate stash of TP from 7:30 am - 6:00 pm (the time i am usually using salem hospital's TP).

Once those are gone - we will see how long it takes to get through 4 rolls of charmin extra strong that we bought. If it is the same amount of time, then i am never going to buy expensive TP again - Even if I do have a coupon.........

Does anyone have an insight to who the winning TP will be???

Or - do you see any other confounding variables that may skew our results? If so, let us know below...............

RE: 36 months of total fitness

Turns out that she asked me what my job was before we started the training session (darn it)........then she didn't dare ask me anything..........actually, she did a pretty good job - not that I would ever pay for someone to watch me work out, but hey it was cool for free!

I couldn't wait......

While we were rummaging through our crap on saturday to find our raquet ball raquets......I came across our christmas tree and decorations.

I have always hated it how christmas is focus for retail the minute trick or treaters have put their costumes away. Mostly because thanksgiving = tonz of squash and good food and I don't want to skip over it.........But I don't care, because this year, I simply couldn't wait.

Richard hates it.....he won't touch it. If I go to bed before I turn off the christmas tree lights, our house would probably burn down before he would turn them off. He keeps threatening to take it down. He thinks we need to wait until thanksgiving day.

Maybe he's right. What do you think?

36 months of total fitness

well, today it rained. I love running in the rain, but lets be honest, my knees don't love running. so we joined Bally total fitness which is within walking distance of our house.

The exciting news is that I get a free training session tommorow. I've never been to one of those. But let me tell you, I think it's going to be good. I can't wait until she asks me if i have any nutritional goals and if I want to buy some whey protein supplements.................

Should I play dumb and ask her lots of questions that will show me if she is nutritionally inept.......or should I tell her that I am a dietitian and see if she dares try to sell me anything???

hmmmm. Im excited for tomorrow.

ps the picture has nothing to do with this post. I just took it last year the day richard lost his kayak.......and that is kind of what it looks like here today......gloomy

It's a golden birthday

Rich turned 28 today, the 28th. To celebrate, I bought him 28 gifts.

We also invited some Elfs to come for dessert.....(if you can't cypher mayan cake writing, that second number is an eight)

and we had a romantic dinner in italy (or as close as we could get within walking distance)----Taylor man, we wish you coulda been there with us again. I refrained from eating my weight in soup for once.

I love ya richy love smooopy poo man of my dreams!!!

for another tribute to my main man visit joy's blog: http://rubyg.blogspot.com/

For Andrew RE: sept 21 comment

For Heather

Probably my favorite recipe for spagetti squash is my mom's spagetti squash gumbo. She simply cooks the sp. sq. (bake it in oven flesh side down @ 350 for 1/2 hr or till the strands are to the texture you desire) and adds sloppy joes to the middle, tops with cheese and serves. yum

You can use any sloppy joe mixture you desire - i believe my moom puts about 1# of ground beef, 1 can campbells gumbo soup, some squirts of ketchup and mustard.....

My newest spaghetti squash creation comes from Mollie Katzen's cookbook and is as follows:

Spaghetti Squash Pancakes

2 cups cooked spaghetti squash

1 cup minced onion (mince it really fine)

1/4 cup bleached all-purpose flour or rice flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 lg eggs

nonstick spray and butter for the pan

1) place cooked squash in medium sized bowl and separate the strands by combing through them with a fork. continue to use the fork to mix in the onion, flour, and salt, and then to beat in the eggs.

2) Place a skillet or griddle over medium heat. After a minute or two, spray it lightly with nonstick spray, and, if you like, melt in a little butter for a richer flavor. When the cooking surface is hot enough to sizzle a bread crumb, use a 1/4 cup measure with a handle to scoop batter into the hot pan.

3) Cook the pancaks for a good 8-10 minutes on each side - until truly golden. Get them really well-done on the outside, and you will ave an exquisite chewy-crisp result. Serve hot or warm -plain or topped with ketchup, minced parsley, tomatoes and basil.

from Mollie Katzen's Vegetable Recipe's I Can't Live Without.

Since it is almost inconcievable that I played organized sports......I thought I would give you a picture

This is the best pic rich took.........i think i look like bryan......tall and awkward when playing soccer!! We only lost this, our last game, 3 to 0 rather than 6 or 7 to zero!!

tagged by Jen

it's like one of those jr. high forwards - but in blog form. I'm not sure how i feel about it. Don't feel obligated to read this.

I am: richards favorite wife (and i think his only wife)
I think: alot about my book gone with the wind........is she going to marry Rhett????
I know: that i am a child of god
I fear: being a clinical dietitian for the rest of my life
I feel: cold
I hear: richard cleaning up dinner
I smell: the taco's richard made for dinner
I crave: pumpkin pie and cookie, and peanut butter cookies and chocolate chip cookies and salt
I cry: if someone looks at me wrong
I usually: change my mind about everything
I wonder: what is going to happen to scarlett in my book
I regret: not quitting dietetics when I wanted to
I love: richard's beard and calling people "little slimes"
I care: about my health
I always: say "have a nice life" instead of goodbye to my mom
I worry: about obama becoming president
I am not: a dancer
I remember: my mountains all the time
I sing: only at church - and to red hot chili peppers in my car and i hum at work
I dont always: eat healthy or pick up my towels - even though i try to make richard think I do
I write: nutrition assessments on people that either refuse to eat/can't eat or shouldn't eat so much
I win: quiet often at our new game: thurn and taxes
I lose: every soccer game i've ever played
I wish: That I was an amazing scriptorian and that I payed more attention in sunday school/semenary
I listen: to the oldies station on my way home from work
I can usually be found: reading, cooking, eating or daydreaming
I am happy: pretty much all the time

I tag: anyone that wants to do it, but i really think i would like this to stop......because i think i just wasted a half hour on introspection.....and richard stopped doing the dishes.......

Happy Halloween From the Loins of the Mummified Pink Flamingo