The Fourth of July

I had a great day today. I woke up 8... then at 8:30, then at 9 then at 9:30. Tom didn't have to be to work until noon and I cannot tell you how amazing it was to lay in bed pushing snooze wrapped up in everything I've ever wanted with the sweet smell of my lily-dotted white iris bouquet coming from the other room.

We eventually got out of bed when my bladder was about to burst but returned with coffee in hand to watch an episode of Dr. Katz - our favorite cartoon.

Around 11 Lane arrived to pick me up for our trip to the river and we sat around for awhile drinking coffee and inhaling that wonderful lily aroma while Tom joked with us from the other room as he got ready for work.

Lane and I found a beautiful spot full of friendly people, and dogs, and what looked to be a crawdad (really?) and dragonflies, and what looked to be swallows, and a few hawks and a bald eagle (which was really pretty incredible).

We swam a little, but mostly we sat on the shore talking about things we needed to talk about and getting burnt by the sun and marveling at the birds.

Afterward we considered a movie at the Bijou but were too worried about being depressed and late for fireworks and settled on a donut instead.

It was a great choice, I've wanted another one all night.

We also went grocery shopping for what was for me the first time in way too long. I have missed being home and doing laundry and taking care of things and filling my basket painfully full with vegetables and bread and (oh darn! I forgot more coffee) meat made me feel like I was back on the right track. And it made me really excited to eat!

In the interim before fireworks we spent our time in Lane's garden eating strawberries and picking fava beans (which were too small but still delicious).

Then I changed into my soft new sweater and powdered my sun-burnt cheeks but couldn't resist going back out into the garden and trimming the rose bushes while Lane took a shower.

I cannot wait to have a yard.

We met up with our friends at 8:30 on a church lawn with great views of a fireworks show and some private illegals. Everyone set off their own firecrackers in the parking lot before it got dark enough for the rodeo to set off theirs. Baby Callen held his first sparkler tonight but he had much more fun shoving his snack cup on my face and giggling through the resultant Darth Vader voice that I would have repeated a million times just to make him happy.

After the show Lane and I went back to her house and toasted our freedom with a tiny bottle of Prosecco.

Then I kicked her butt at Rummy.

Tom has been working all night. I'm about to jump in the shower. He will be here soon for an hour or so before going back off to work until sometime tomorrow.

We miss each other so much.

Today was a good day, and more special than I think I realized while I was living it. Though, I was happy living it.

The moon is beautiful tonight.

Happy fifth of July.

Memorial Day

Today I am thinking of the people in my family who have aided our country with their military service. And all but my Grandpa Patterson are still with me. I am thankful for that, and for them.

My Grandpa Humphrey

My dad

My mom

I found this picture today while on the hunt for some others. This is me at the tail-end of my honeymoon at a party for my dad who was about to leave for active duty (for the first time in my life) in Kuwait.

There ain't no doubt we love this land and we are so thankful for all of the brave Americans who have been called over time to defend her. May they never fall in vain.

Wonderland

We were in St. Helens again this Christmas. Last year we inched our way up there in chains and didn't leave the house for over a week. This trip we left the chains in the trunk - which is great because we broke them last year - and our Christmas was every color but white.

But a few days later Mindy, at least, got her wish for a magical world. As we were leaving the theatre where we had seen Avatar in 3-D, which I imagine had the same effect as a child's imagination, in the '90s, had on the forest of FernGully (though I never really watched that movie), it began to snow so lightly I announced it to my party with uncertainty.

By the time we had dropped Tom off at the mechanics and pulled up to the Burgerville drive-thru it was coming down. Within maybe a couple of hours there was 3 inches of snow, which eventually became 5 inches of snow which by the next morning was retreating into the gutters and dripping off of the trees.

Fortunately Tom had seized the moment and shot some beautiful pictures from the backyard.

We didn't make our snowman though. We thought we'd have more time. But by the morning it was slush. I do have some great memories though. This is when the sky turned white for the rest of the evening:

But more fantastic was the moment, lead up to by worrying (and wishing I hadn't bought ONE cheeseburger meal to share with Tom but 2 or 5), when Tom walked into the house smiling, arms tucked into his coat, covered in snow, having walked from the mechanics where the car was, in fact, not ready to go. Such a big smile... What a guy.

Happy, unseasonably warm, January. May we appreciate what God gives us and always be amazed at the beauty of His world.

Just the beginning...

I got a new camera this Christmas! A really great little camera that I'm determined to learn how to use every button and menu of. I love using it. Of course this means, at least for now, many, many pictures of Tom. Here's a few from our trip...

Tom chopping wood.

Tom warming himself by the fire (in his soft socks).

Tom playing Race for the Galaxy!

Tom in the other room.

And finally: Tom lifting weights.

There are many, many more but I don't want to overload your systems.

Merry Christmas to you all and Happy New Year! Check in soon to see more pictures from our trip and new pictures, probably of the apartment with all our new stuff in it. Sounds thrilling, huh? I know, I'm excited!

HOME for the holidays

This apartment is finally shaping up thanks to a new desk from Dad (Merry Christmas) and a new dining table Tom and I bought ourselves ($40). It's looking much more homey. I'll have some pictures soon, I hope, though I ruined our... little... uh, square... picture holding thing, that goes in the camera - you know!

I still have some clearing out and rearranging to do but it's so exciting! I feel like Christmas has already come and it's still a week away!

Plus, with part of Tom's Christmas bonus we're getting a new vacuum cleaner! (!!!!) I am so excited. Our little dinky-stinker has been non-functional for months. I couldn't stomach throwing it out but I borrowed Lane's vacuum whenever I could, which wasn't nearly often enough.

Oh, thank you Lord for all these blessings!

Christmas Books

The Sisters "Humphrey" exchanged early Christmas presents this Thanksgiving since we'll all be apart on the 24th this year. There being four of us our tradition is to draw names and only give and receive one gift. It makes it much easier on us now and made it much easier on our parents in the past who then funded our gift-giving. It's a fun tradition: the lottery. It's exciting.

This year I gave to Brooke and got from Sue. Among other things (as Suzanne is a notorious spoiler and is always putting our gifts to shame) I got the four books above.

I'm so excited. I asked specifically for Mark Bittman's Kitchen Express and can't wait to start working on the super-simple recipes - 404 of them!

I'm terrible at following instructions and this book has but a few lines per recipe - three recipes can fit on one page. Plus he breaks the recipes up into seasons which is terrific. If you've never watched his show on nytimes.com you've got to now. He's so charming in and completely un-charming way.

I read Organize Your Life which I mentioned in my last blog and I've also given Make It Yourself the twice- or thrice-over. I probably won't do any big projects too soon. It might take me a while to get to The Cat Who Talked Turkey. Though I am looking forward to it I've got, literally, a stack of Paddington Bear chapter books ahead of it in line for super-light reading.

But I'll let you know as I try out recipes.

Save some writing for your term paper, Dinah!

Today is the day! Tom and I are heading down to Jacksonville, Oregon for a little family reunion - or union, for the most part. We'll be meeting our 3 new nephews (1 month, 6 years, 10 years) an our new brother-in-law, as well as my Dad's fiancée and possibly her daughter. Whew!

We have quite a day ahead of us beforehand though finishing wrapping (we'll be spending Christmas scattered around at in-laws places and are exchanging gifts early) and packing. I have to start an English term paper that will be due shortly after I return. (And yet, I'm writing this instead. Strange.) I also have dishes to do and classes to attend. Tom won't be home until around six so we're getting a late start. We still haven't cleaned out the car - poor Tom lives out of it during the day. And often night, actually - it's full of clothes, containers, important papers trampled on the floor, plus anything any of his crew leaves in there. But we're giving Lane a ride down to her family and we need the space.

So with one thing and another we'll be rolling into J-ville around bedtime, missing dinner at La Fiesta and probably Amelia, Jesse and the boys, but with any luck Levi will be up for a feeding and will get to marvel at him for a bit before we turn in.

Oh, I'm so excited! All of Thursday and Friday spent relaxing and enjoying my family, new and old. And eating! Man! It's gonna be good. Saturday we'll get to hang out as long as we want, just as long as we get back home for church on Sunday as we're scheduled in the nursery (consolation after leaving my little nephews).

Good news! Our, uh... thing-a-ma-jig came in the mail yesterday! I'm now able to put my pictures on the computer - plus it's quite a cool little device to look at.

Here is one of my favorite pictures from our first anniversary trip on the coast. We stopped at this beach by chance and I was so happy we did - it was gorgeous in a grey way that I love. It had a kind of lush-bleakness. It was wonderful.

Can you believe how white that patch of sky was? The sky was incredible. Against a white background the sky in this picture completely disappears. But I think maybe Tom wonders why I took a picture of rocks (though he'll deny it).

We have different photographic inclinations - I could not get him to stop (forced) smiling at the camera! My Grandma, bless her sweetest of hearts, was always snapping pictures - the only photo-documenter in the family. But she was always sending us tons of photos of ourselves looking into the camera and "smiling" in some random cluster of loved-ones. And we'd all think, "What are we gonna do with all these?"

But the candids I own I look at over and over and over again - who took those?

My morning coffee and post

I'm "busier than normal" again this week, which means I have ample time to sit in front of the computer, I just have a slightly more guilty feeling in my stomach about it. But really, I've just caught up on everything since my week of flu - making up a midterm, catching up on reading - and the house has yet to be restored to order.

Yesterday Lane and I started purchasing the supplies to hand-make Suzanne's wedding invitations - which, I'm doing the etiquette math on and they need to be sent out THIS MONTH for a March wedding?? Not likely!

The end of this month and the beginning of the next is finals and term papers for me. Not to mention I have to buy and wrap MOST of my Christmas presents before we head down to Southern Oregon for Thanksgiving as I won't be seeing the Humphrey/Riley/Childresses for Christmas this year (this my FIRST year to have any nephews - no nieces yet - to spoil!).

I'm very excited about these months though. The holidays are starting and I love all that entails - especially all the relaxing, eating, shopping and family but also the smells, lights, colors and sounds of Fall, Winter and especially Christmas. It's the most wonderful time of the year.

"I love thee, I love thee... tis all that I can say..."

In the life of this married women nothing could be greater than a day spent with Tom basking in the joy, love and wonder of my marriage. Waking up late is great, eating leftover Cornucopia with our coffee is wonderful, lying on the couch watching The West Wing under a big down blanket, going to St. Vinny's and buying the things we really wanted, ordering pizza and fixing G&Ts and ending the night off with a cigar, a walk around the block, and some more couch-time is sublime. Lest you think we live like two merry bachelors I'll inform you that last night I put on a pink satin skirt (and my dirty old red sneakers) and went out to a movie and a late dinner with my Valentine AND co-purchased a heart-shaped box of chocolates (that we ate with our breakfast this morning)... ok that didn't sound that impressive either.
Tom wants to know if I'm giving away all our secrets. I told him even if I did you wouldn't believe them. So I leave you with but the bare facts of our life, but try to imagine how they are transformed when you dress them in all the love and beauty you could dream of on Earth - and that's what it's like with us.
I return to my life and love - Happy Valentine's Day.

The only way to sleep

I'm in Heaven when I am in my bed. Last night when Tom and I got home we switched out our old mattress pad for the down one his mother gave us this Christmas and put on our favorite million thread count sheets we got for our wedding. On top of that went our down comforters and the hand-made quilt Tom's grandmother and mother made for us, another Christmas gift.
It was past noon when we finally dragged ourselves out of bed.
I can't wait to put a picture up of this quilt. It's covered in these geometric cabins and each one is different from the others. Some have little doorknobs, one has a lace curtain in the window, one is a nighttime cabin with a bright window. It is so charming. It is the last quilt Tom's grandmother will ever make and it is the first one Tom's mother has ever worked on; it's a piece of our families eventual history and that's an exciting thought.
I'm excited by the prospect of making useful and fanciful things like that myself and passing things down the family line. The baby blanket I'm knitting will mark my first attempt at this and it's so motivating, and thrilling. Now I just need to have a baby, I guess. But until then I'll enjoy the time I spend with my bed.

I just finished H.G. Wells' The Time Machine - my first book of the break. It was very freaky. It made me realize how different it would be to believe in the evolution of man - from something other than man, to something other than man. In the book man and the earth become so grotesque and everything so meaningless.
I started another book last night, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver (who wrote The Bean Trees which I read and liked in high school). Kingsolver es novelista pero el libro es autobiográfico. There is some talk of evolution and the destiny of man in this book as well; it seems to be a theme so far this break - perhaps my attention is being draw in this direction for a reason.
I was looking up information about a young-earth - evidences and theories about man living with dinosaurs and the Earth being considerably younger than we were taught in school. I find it all very interesting and compelling, not that I need to be compelled, I for one believe in a young Earth as the Bible and many evidences and facts support. I also believe in Evolution - it has occurred in my short time on Earth, which just shows how quickly things can change, and have!
But I digress - what I wanted to say is that I will post my critical review of my new and exciting book when I'm done. So far it's so full of fascinating and relevant information that I'm sure I'll urge everyone to borrow it from me. Oh! I didn't say! The book is all about her and her family's experience growing and raising their own food on the farm for a year after moving away from Tucson, Arizona (where nothing grows). She talks about the state of the world and all their reasons for making the change. It's almost textbook-y in information and style but it's also got recipes and is a personal story.
My (cutest) mother sent this book to me as a Christmas gift (I opened it a little early - but, really, as I finished TheTM, just in time). She also sent me a cookbook with "luscious" and healthy recipes. Tom and I try to eat well, organically and healthily and locally! In a town like ours it's crazy not to take advantage of all the health and happiness that are so accessible to us - and to support the people who make our town what it is (although nature plays a role as well - but we support her too... she never did us wrong). Anyway, my mom knows all this, and although she lives in Mt. Home, Idaho with a Paul's, a small Albertsons, and a Wal-Mart as her only options (and mine when I lived there for 5 months), she is very supportive of what we're doing here - she is very adorable. She still shops at Wal-Mart I believe but I really feel for her scanty options and try not to preach (... I don't like Wal-Mart).