Just do it

Go see it:
Read it:

Bake it and eat it:

Raspberry Almond Thumprints

You can thank me later.

First taste of Maui

For several years after moving to Portland we spent the week between Christmas and New Year's in Sunriver with our friends, the Nelsons. Last year, with my school schedule getting in the way of a long trip to Utah for Thanksgiving, we decided to head home to Utah for the Christmas holiday instead. And so the Nelson's went to Hawaii.

This year we joined them. We pulled the kids out of their last week of school, and spent nine amazing days in Maui. (On Maui?) I felt myself decompress instantly upon arriving, and stayed in that amazing "chill" mode for the entire trip. It probably would have had a nice afterburn effect, except our re-entry into the world after vacation was brutal. More on that later.

For now, let's remember the good times. Here's some pictures from our first day or two.

View from the lanai on the Nelson's ground floor unit

Maddie and Mason

Mia and Cooper

View from our condo on our first morning. I could see this view from our bed. We slept with all the doors open and listened to the waves all night.

FROGS!!! Hawaii rules!

Aaaah. See? Now I'm all relaxed again. Stomach flu, head injury, car repairs, it's all like it never happened and I'm on the beach with sun on my back again.

Christmas

Okay, well I failed at that little exercise, didn't I? When I pictured 12 Days of blogging I thought I'd be waking up in my bed in Maui, writing a blog post each morning to get caught up on life, all the while fooling would-be house robbers that I was actually home. But guess what? I didn't really feel like it, and I kind of stopped caring if someone stole all my stuff because being a beach bum sounded much better.

So now it's really time to get my blog on. I'm starting with Christmas because it just happened yesterday. And since I spent much of yesterday working on photobooks of Maui, I'm kind of tired of looking at those photos.

We had so much fun last year, we decided to make Chinese food and the lights at the Botannical Gardens our Christmas Eve tradition. The kids really enjoy the lights--I remember freezing my butt off in the crowds at Temple Square every year, but this is a little less of an undertaking. It's only a couple miles from our house and takes about 20 minutes to walk around the gardens, and the kids have a little scavenger hunt sheet to find the animals in the exhibits. It was rainy and muddy, but even that isn't too miserable at 48 degrees.

Then we headed to the chinese restaurant we discovered last year: Spiced Truly Chinese Cuisine. They have a new menu this year with photos. Photos of things like "Fish head soup," "Pickled chili chicken claw" and "Sliced pig ears." Dishes are rated by two kinds of spiciness: hot spicy and numbing spicy. Despite those horrifying options, it really is the best Chinese food we've ever eaten. (We choose "zero" on both numbing and hot spicy, because even zero ranks a 3 or 4 on our wimpy tongues.) But right after ordering, Madeline decided she needed to puke. And since Kolby had puked earlier in the week, I don't think it had anything to do with the photos of chicken claws in spicy sauce.

So Christmas Eve and Christmas day ended up being very mellow for us. We hung out at home in pajamas and watched movies, played Wii and the new Kinect, and talked to family and friends on the phone. The only puking episode was on the way home from dinner Christmas Eve. Maddie got to enjoy her Chinese leftovers while we ate ham, brussels sprouts, and sweet potatoes for dinner last night. She couldn't have been more pleased with herself.

Swedish pancakes for breakfast

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! I'm going skiing with Amelia today, and I'll be back to blogging tomorrow. I really will this time.

We are family

I know you are all sick of hearing about our cats. But maybe if I just explain a little bit, you're attitude will improve.

You see, we have the best cats in the history of cats. This after having a cat who was a tyrant for 14 years. I can't tell you how many times a day I hear from members of the family, or exclaim loudly myself, "I love these cats so much!"

At first I thought it could just be that our family was just in the honeymoon phase after getting out of an abusive relationship with Lucy, our ex-cat. But it's been 18 months, and our kitties get kinder, cuddlier, and cuter every day. We still take pictures of them sleeping. I can hardly walk by either one of them without picking them up and rubbing my face in their fur. I can't help but laugh when I hear Willow's fat paws lumbering down the hallway. We all sleep in ridiculously uncomfortable positions when Mango is snuggled up with our legs because we don't want her to leave. In the morning whomever she chose to sleep with that night brags about it for as long as possible.

These kitties bring so much happiness to our house. I can't imagine not having them around to keep me company. Sure, they bring in dead animals and take naps in the Christmas tree. But they make up for it with their cuddles and cuteness. And so now you see why I must continue to talk about the cats. I'm glad you understand.

12 days of Blogness (Day 1)

It seems I've been neglectful, and really not for any good reason other than I was feeling lazy and uninspired.

But I'm on break from school, so I'm going to commit here and now to blogging TWELVE times between now and Christmas. I can't promise it'll be quality blogginess, but it'll be something. So come back! I've not abandoned you!

So for Day One, I'll share a few pics of the snow days the kids had the week of Thanksgiving. You'll laugh at the amount of snow that earns us two days home from school.

While the kids were outside playing in the snow, I was inside baking and cooking and decorating and refilling countless mugs of hot cocoa and apple cider. My own version of enjoying a snow day.

Something I've been wanting to do for a long time is an art wall with the kids' projects from school. I've been saving their artwork for a couple of years, but buying the frames and actually hanging those frames (remember that li'l issue I have?) has been holding me back. I finally decided to just tape them to the wall. (I've since had to use thumbtacks because the tape didn't hold. So now there's 64 holes in my wall. And here I am, still breathing, still walking. It's incredible.)
That self-portrait of Mia on the bottom has been replaced with a really fantastic self-portrait she brought home yesterday. No photos to show yet because my laundry room is piled high right now.

There you go. Day one.

Baby, it's cold outside!

I know we haven't even had Thanksgiving yet, but it's cold and there's snow in the forecast, so I'm breaking out the Christmas mug, turning on the holiday music, and moving along to the Christmas decorating. It's time to revamp the Christmas mantle. Here's some inspiration I'm pouring over.

(I swiped them all from the web, and have absolutely no idea who to credit for these images.)

And I'm also mulling over all the little elements in this photo, from this website my sister introduced to me.

Lists

I asked the girls about their Christmas lists the other day, and surprisingly they both had them already. (Amelia is usually slow with hers because she never knows what she wants. Actually she does. She wants candy, and whatever Maddie is getting.)

Here are their lists this year. They crack me up because they are so typical of their personalities.

Madeline--she always knows exactly what she wants, and this list will not change a bit between now and Christmas.

• Small sewing kit--brown w/ blue and green circles
• Choker necklace from Banana Republic (she saw it while shopping with Kolby)
• Waterproof watch
• Camera
• Lego Batman for Nintendo DS

Amelia--she had candy on the list, but then crossed it off. It really is her #1.

• DS game
• Pillow pet
• Clothes
• Fruit roll-ups

Clearly, she was desperate. This list will be amended multiple times, based on the items she sees advertised on TV.

Clarity

I just finished the biggest part of my mental health rotation working in-patient psychiatrics in the state-run hospital. (I still have a few days left working in out-patient clinics). One of the big predictors for how well these patients would do once discharged was the quality of their support system on the outside. Many of them had come from absolutely tragic upbringings and had only toxic relationships in their lives. Many of them will likely be back within months--this was the fifth or sixth or tenth admission for some. It was a tough rotation for me. It left me feeling beaten and defeated most days.

At the same time, it also left me with a huge sense of gratitude for the people in my life. My parents and siblings--how lucky am I to have nothing but happy memories of my childhood? My family is still an amazing support system for us. When Kolby was laid off a few years ago, one of the things that calmed my panic attacks was knowing that "the worst" that could happen was we'd have to pack up and move to Utah and live in the old house for a while. And that just sounded nice, living next to Mom and Dad and having Pammy and our siblings and nieces and nephews close. And after this rotation I realize what an amazing thing that is--going through life always knowing that you have a soft place to fall.

And the "family of friends" we have made up here in the Northwest have helped us raise our kids, supported me in so many ways while I've been in school, made the holidays away from family less lonely, and loved us and loved our kids like family.

There's an Eddie Vedder song that catches my attention every time I hear it:

I'm a lucky man, to count on both hands

The ones I love

Some folks they got one,

and others they got none...

After spending a few weeks with those folks who have one or none, I feel lucky. Very, very lucky and incredibly thankful for the people in my life. You know who you are. Text me if you're unsure.

Edited to add: I got a text from Kolby. Apparently my husband doesn't identify with the "we" I used in the post. Maybe he thought I was talking about me and the cats whenever I said "we?" I guess I can understand how you could make that mistake. Anyway, absolutely Kolby and the girls are also a very important part of my support system keeping me out of the looney bin. And so are the cats.

Team Spirit

Amelia's friends were signing up to do the mini cheer camp at the high school, so I signed her up as well, because I'm that kind of mom. If they were signing up to jump off a cliff, I'd sign her up for that too. (Not really. I don't think.) Actually, I signed her up because I just love to see what this girl will do. She was such a shy and timid kid up through preschool, and now she'll try just about anything that's thrown at her.

I did not expect her to love it as much as she did. All week long she practiced her cheers and kicks around the house. The camp was Monday thru Friday, with the "minis" cheering with the big girls at the high school football game on Friday night. Clearly all that hard work paid off. Have you ever seen a more skillful high kick? No, you have not.

I'm pretty sure she grinned like that the entire time she was out there.