I've been petitioning for a new washer & dryer for a while. Sometimes, I would have to spin a load 3 times before I threw it in the dryer. While I was at work last night Russell texted me a picture of these and said, "it's a Christmas miracle!"
Russell may or may not have also purchased a new television. Why does re-arranging the furniture so the chair is in the middle of the living room (and squarely in front of the tv) mean Christmas to me?
And Otis says Merry Christmas.

Christmas picture this year? Could have been worse.

Top contenders:

Yay, Thanksgiving!!

Never too old for the Barbie power wheel. If you're not singing the pow-pow-power wheel commercial right now...

Just some random things:

- Moonstruck is pretty much one of the best movies ever. I was taking care of a guy who had a serious brain injury and he couldn't talk. He was flipping through the tv channels and I heard one of the songs from the movie and I asked if he remembered it. He flipped back to it for me. It was kind of funny but made me a little sad, too.

- I took care of a guy this weekend who had 4 different women's names tattooed on his body. He was hilarious. Half the words he said to me, I couldn't repeat. I was doing that thing that I do where I laugh at everything because I'm not quite sure what to say. Hilarious.

- I've been feeling pretty grateful these days. I love my job. I love my house. I have good friends and the best family. It feels so good to be happy, to be content. It feels just like a mug of hot chocolate on a fall day, where it's sunny but still a little cool out and you have time to just drink hot chocolate so it doesn't get cold. That is the feeling, exactly.

- Russell is buying a canoe and he's going to float down the river and hunt for deer. I only wish I was going to be there for the photo op.

- I can't wait for Thanksgiving.

The weather has been cool since school started. It's been really nice for a quick change but I'm not saying I'm ready for the fall or anything. Fall is lovely in Boise, it really is but it doesn't last very long and then fall turns in to winter. And winter lasts forever.

Anyway, I have been busting out a few classic fall recipes. Wait, real quick, does anyone else think cookies are kind of a fall thing? They remind me of back to school - you know? Cookies for school lunches? Maybe it's just me. I did make pumpkin bread last week (unquestionably fall) and we had chicken pot pie for lunch today. I usually skip the bottom crust, really just to cut out a few calories but I went for it today and it was totally worth it. When I asked Russell if it's the best chicken pot pie I've ever made he said yes.


Doesn't Otis look very contemplative here? Fat, too. Fat and contemplative.

We packed up for a camping trip on Tuesday. Otis gets very anxious when we start getting ready. It's like he never knows if we're bringing him along or not. We've never left him! Anyway, note the panting - cardinal sign of dog anxiety.

We didn't leave until Tuesday afternoon so all we really did on night one is find our camp spot and eat dinner. But really, dinner is the best part of camping anyway. We had pizza for dinner one night last week so all I needed for calzones was the dough. I put them all together and par-baked them at home so really they just need to be heated up - don't they look so good. They were.

I was just fooling around a little with the camera while Russell was prospecting. Yes, prospecting- panning for gold. He didn't know it and that's the only way I got this picture of him. He said I was only allowed to post it on the internets if I didn't disclose our super secret camping/prospecting location. Deal.

A summer trip to Las Vegas. What were we thinking? Blame Bride. I couldn't possibly wait any longer to see her. 10 days after she'd been home was long enough!!

A day trip to St. George to see Grandma who turned 90 on Saturday!

How come everyone in the world can take those "turn the camera around" pictures except for me?

These are seriously all the pictures I took while I was there. Sad, huh? It's just that I feel totally silly about taking pictures with my dumb camera when my sister in law is totally ready to go pro (if you can name that movie, we just became best friends). Check out her pictures...

I should probably issue a public apology for how much I complained about how hot it was. That was annoying, wasn't it? It was so bad that I couldn't think about anything else (wait, am I still complaining)! Anyway, really sorry about that. I'll do better next time. When it's winter.

I started looking at awkwardfamilypetphotos.com. It is so hilariously bad - I cannot stop laughing! Go there.

As usual, I was a total slacker and didn't get enough pictures, but my sister and her family came up to Boise and stayed with us for a couple days. We picked cherries, went to the zoo and we floated the river. We pretty much had a total blast, complete with two trips to the snow cone shack. It was so much fun and I can't even say how glad I am that they could come and stay at my house and hang out. Really. Can't even say.

I got a package in the mail today and I almost waited an entire hour before I gave it the first test run. The result? Peach hand pies. Come on now, how cute are these things? That lattice top? Thanks, Meliss! A hand pie mold - another kitchen gadget that I didn't know I couldn't live without. Next up? Empañadas!!

I'm so glad Bridgie is home.

Everyone had Thursday off this week. Russell, Ryan and I went to Emmett, Idaho to pick cherries. Can you see all the cherries on those trees? It took 5 minutes and we had 5 pounds of cherries - forget about what we ate while we picked. Now I just have to worry about the potential problem that 3 adults, 1 bathroom and 5 pounds of cherries could equal.

Russell likes to eat them right off the tree.

After that, we made our way over to Weiser, Idaho for the Fiddle Festival. Let me tell you something about these little Idaho towns - excellent people watching. I do have photographic evidence but feel too guilty posting it, the poor guy...

Doesn't this picture make you want to start a family band? It totally makes me want to.

This week I:

- fell down the stairs

- made a white texas sheet cake

- got a scholarship

- tried 3 new recipes for dinner

- burned myself making strawberry jam

- got new summer sandals

- made blueberry scones

- danced in the basement because it was raining too hard to go for a run

At the risk of sounding completely insensitive, I just have to tell you - every time Russell and I saw this sign, we laughed so hard. There is something about the way the little stick figure is running away that made us laugh. It's probably totally messed up but it made the driving a lot more fun - this sign is everywhere!

Haystack rock on Cannon Beach. I think this was the only picture of me the whole trip.

This was one of the first glimpses of the ocean that we got. I always get the same feeling the first time I see the ocean on a trip. I wish I was a good writer so I could describe it.

How crazy is this tree? I was taking a bunch of pictures but you couldn't tell how big it really was until Russell got up there to give us a point of reference. They estimate it is over 850 years old! Insane, huh?

Otis ate my leftover sandwich (an entire half) and slept the entire way home.

My keys were lost forever. A friend broke in to the house and fedex'd us our spare. We still had a most excellent time at this hat store. Russell didn't ask why there were no pictures of me in any silly hats until after we left.

So, I haven't started on the porch project yet - but like I said before, I'm trying to take my time and slowly gather up just the right assortment of things. Anyway, I was too busy on the Oregon coast (!) to think about decorating the porch.

It was different than any beach I've ever been to. Russell just kept saying, "I guess the forest goes right up to the ocean" over and over again. It rained the entire time we were there but we ate a lot of seafood and it was awesome (I ate clam chowder at 3 different places). I did manage to lose my keys. On the beach. Minutes before we were supposed to be headed back home. I had to miss work. But as long as we're looking on the bright side, we got to stay for an extra day...

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It's starting to get nice out. Wait. Let me re-phrase. It's starting to get sunny out. Well, except for today. And yesterday. Whatever! I know it's coming (it HAS to be coming) and I don't want to waste one lovely Spring evening. When Russell and I moved in to the house, we ate dinner outside on the camp chairs every night. In the summer, we would wait until it was cool enough outside and eat dinner late. This year, I am decorating the porch - I think we can do better than camp chairs. I got my Sunset magazine this week and of course they have some awesome outside porch decoration ideas. I'll try to keep you informed on the progress. I have a hard time doing this kind of project because I just want to hurry up and have it be done. I'm going to try to take my time and get it just right. Wish me luck!

Especially you, Cm.