Battle of the bands

April 18, 2009: Rock Band Party I. We brought serious skills, serious threads, and even more serious facial hair.










The lowdown: 3 sets, 4 songs each. Disco ball in effect. Fog machine also in affect, but only for about 3 seconds because it set off the smoke alarm.


DISCO LEDERHOZEN

VS.

BEES AND TREES

VS.

DR. ACULA

We battled long into the night, and in the end....

DISCO LEDERHOZEN were crowned the champions. It's pretty hard to beat a band whose members have matching fingernail polish.

In July...

you will find us here. The two of us + Derek and Sara + two canoes on the Upper Missouri River in Montana = awesome.

Another fine weekend

We spent all the live long weekend with Derek and Sara, shooting hoops at the YMCA, doing squat thrusts and core pushups in their living room, eating Sara's tasty meals, playing a lengthy game of Phase 10, having a good Bible study, discussing a canoe adventure for the summer, and then this afternoon, riding the cruisers into downtown Olympia for lunch and some time at the waterfront. All most delightful, as is the case whenever we spend time with D and S. Thanks again, you two!

The most useful information you'll find today.

How very lucky for all of you that have been waiting with baited breath for my latest, most favorite green smoothie concoction, because just today I have discovered the best ingredients yet (Jan Michael disagrees, but nevermind). If you would simply combine....

2 cups spinach
1 cup sliced strawberries
1/2 c blueberries
1 orange
Water

....in your blender, you will make your own day, and I mean it. You will have enough to fill 1-1/2 A&W Rootbeer mugs, which will fill you up and also cause you to sigh with great satisfaction at how well you are feeding your little body.

Down the lane

Today we took a quick peek at this little lake, which is just a hop, skip and a jump from our house. Really, it's only about 5 blocks away.
It even has a boat launch! Derek and Sara, we see a picnic/canoe double date in our future!

Great big birthday love...

to our #1 #1 mom. How THANKFUL we are to belong to you!

"I regard no man as poor who has a Godly mother." Abraham Lincoln

Boy wonders

All of us

When we were all together a couple of weekends ago, we had a quick family photo shoot. We hadn't done this since Little D was a baby, so it was high time. I think we're planning another session later in the spring - I'm excited because we live in such a beautiful area and will be able to get lots of really fun 'on location' shots.

One of my favorite things about these, besides the actual subjects of course, are the colors in the background.

Lovely ladies!

Derek's faces had Jan & I in stitches. I'm sure we were encouraging him, but we couldn't help it :)

Ordinary miracle

This is for our Mama, because today is her birthday and because years ago she began looking for everyday miracles and does it still, and because we love her.

Togetherness

Such a whirlwind of a weekend for us! We spent a very quiet Saturday morning with my parents and then all afternoon and evening at Jan's parents' house with the entire clan, celebrating our Dad's 65th birthday. Shame on me for not taking a single picture - what on earth was I thinking, anyway? On Sunday we were a part of the baptism of Sebastian, precious baby boy of our good friends Soren and Leyla. He is darling and charming and so pleasantly chubby - and very patient with being passed back and forth 200 times between his adoring fans :)


Proud mama and daddy!
Jan was hopping the entire time - putting together programs and filming the whole ceremony...
and getting in some good conversation with the younger set. I will never, ever get over those cheeks.
Such a treat to be with the old gang!

We're still here!

I've tried and tried to think of something new and delightful to post on here, but the truth of it is that the last month and a half has been a time of hunkering down in our little house and spending lots of quiet, simple hours together. Besides, we're both under the weather just now, and the most effort I've put into anything this week is cleaning our disaster of a kitchen. We have some fun things planned for the last weekends of February, though, and that should give us enough pictures and memories for a handful of posts. I just feel like I need to provide some explanation as to why our poor blog is leaning toward lame these days. That's all for now; over and out.

P.S. My brother told me this week that he's heard from several people, who are readers of the Farmer's Almanac, that the month of February is supposed to be worse than December in terms of the amount of snow. Goodness gracious, what a terrible thought.

A new leaf

Today I accomplished the following:

- Walked 4 miles
- Did an ab video and part of a legs/buns video
- Ate vegetables three different times
- Drank 8 glasses of water
- Remembered to take my vitamins

Now, because I spent most of January eating immense piles of junk and lying in a lethargic heap, complaining about the weather, I had forgotten how uplifting it is to make good, healthy choices. So, here's to a brand new month, with lots of opportunities for lively habits. Want to join me? :)

25 things

I've been tagged on Facebook with the task of listing 25 things about me. For some reason, I don't want to list that many things on Facebook, and what's more, I especially don't want to list 25 things about me. I've been so cross and contrary lately that I'm getting tired of myself. But, I'm not tired of my husband, and I always like to think about him, so here we go with 25 things about Jan Michael:

1. Besides Calvin and Hobbes, his favorite comics are Asterix and Obelix, Tin Tin and Donald Duck. I love to hear him laugh out loud while he reads them, and I love that he reads the funniest ones to me.

2. He drinks a ton of milk – at least two gallons a week.

3. And he’s never broken a bone.

4. He’s never had a cavity, either.

5. He’s been skydiving three times, and you would not have to twist him arm get him to try it again.

6. He can’t always remember how old he is. Last year he thought he was 36; he felt better when I reminded him that he was only 32.

7. He paces and paces in a circle around the living and dining room when he talks on the phone.

8. He loves our family fiercely.

9. He has wonderful memories from growing up, and he tells stories from when he was little with such detail that I feel like I was there.

10. He likes to play basketball, but doesn’t like to watch it (because watching makes him wish he could play instead).

11. He's a natural runner. He can take a break for months and then go out and run for miles without thinking twice.

12. He’s very fond of his pillow. It’s the longest, flattest, hardest pillow I’ve ever seen, but he remains loyal to it still.

13. His smile lights up our whole house.

14. He can't stand to see someone else embarrassed.

15. He has incredible hand-eye coordination.

16. He has crazy Rock Band skills. I have fun watching him play.

17. Sometimes he gets a twinkle in his eye and a certain look on his face, and I know that mischief is about to be made.

18. He makes up little songs all the time and the hearing of them makes me laugh and laugh and laugh.

19. The more tired he grows, the sillier he becomes.

20. He has a tender heart.

21. When he decides he wants to accomplish something, he will get it done, and no bones about it.

22. He calls taking a nap "resting my eyes."

23. He likes driving in the snow.

24. He says the funniest things in his sleep. One night he said, "My feet are big...But they're not made of wood!"

25. He is easy to love.

Into the twilight, endlessly grousing

This is my car. It is frozen shut, probably because it's 25 degrees outside, which is also probably a vast improvement from the early morning, very dark hours. My car is frozen shut, and I am stuck.
But wait! All is not lost, because this is the sun (I identify it because if you live in Washington, you may have forgotten what it looks like) and all I have to do now is wait patiently for my car to thaw out, and I'll be on my merry way. Of course, I may have to wait until 4:00 this afternoon for the rays of the sun to actually reach my car, at which point the sun will begin to set, thereby re-enforcing the ice on my doors, thereby forcing me to wait until tomorrow to do things such as go to work and replenish our toothpaste supply.

January has been a trying month for me.

After!

It's the coziest thing to be snuggled up to my husband on our new couch while he reads to me from Calvin & Hobbes. And our guests will appreciate something other than folding chairs, too, I bet :)

Before

When you haven't had furniture for months on end, it's handy to have a vivid imagination & just pretend.

One last thing about the flood.

And that's it. No more after this, because besides being tired of snow, we are also tired of water.

I think I will make a belated New Year's resolution to put on something cute once in awhile.

Down came the rain

As of early this morning, we can boast of living on island property - we are surrounded by water & all roads leading to our little town are closed. Of course, we're safe & dry & in no danger of flooding ourselves (and we're together, the most important thing!), which is much more than what most people can say - my heart just aches for everyone whose houses have been invaded by rivers & who've had to evacuate. We're thinking anxiously of my parents & sister, whose houses are right in the line of fire. They've spent yesterday & today moving belongings to higher ground & sandbagging where they're able; the only thing left to do is wait & hope. Sigh.

No 4 mile walk for us today! The trail was officially closed about 2 minutes after we took this picture.
No playing in the park either!

In a little while, if it stops raining, I think we'll venture out to take more pictures. For now, we're happy to be inside & out of the downpour.

A little bit of us, live-action style

I've been meaning to post these videos for ages, and finally, here they are. Of course, they wouldn't be here at all without Jan Michael, who knows a thing or two about editing & uploading & embedding videos. Honestly, without him, I'd be able to check my email & that's about it. Anyhoo, on with the show...

It's hard to see because it's so dark, but this is Jan Michael on the night of our spectacular double date with Derek & Sara, zipping down the path on the Ghost Rider. When we watched this the other day, he said, "Oh, this was when we thought the snow was fun," and I laughed & laughed & laughed, because at this point, we DO NOT THINK THE SNOW IS FUN.

I may have said this before, but we strongly suggest inviting yourselves over to Derek & Sara's & demanding a ride on their tandem. Sailing along with your love, bundled to the hilt, will make you smile until your face aches :)

This is from our trip in November to visit cousins Gary, Merrilee & their girls. Whenever we visit, Gary takes us on a shooting expedition, and we have heaps of fun (but some of us have better aim than others, ahem...).

And here we have a clip of the biggest & fastest & craziest roller coaster we rode all week in Florida back in September. I'm adding this mostly to impress you with our immense daring & pluck :)

2009 already?!

We rang in the new year with the usual suspects - a handful of our very dear friends, piles & piles of food (Bill even barbequed in the snow - we will not be beaten by rotten weather!) & really fun games. A very happy way to end a very happy year :)