Day 3 - note: this took me ALL day to post.

Well, today I am on day three of my 'snow week'. No, I'm not officially off for the entire week, but it is beginning to feel that way! Monday we technically had school, but were on a delay. I found out that the roads in town were too aweful to drive on, so I stayed home all day. My first graders just played without me- JUST KIDDING! They stayed with their second grade teacher in the afternoon.
Tuesday I was half way up the mountain when I found out it was changed from a delay to no school. And today McKenzie is closed once again. wahoo for me! right? Well, Monday I was pretty motivated to get things accomplished. Yesterday, it was another story. I didnt' do too much. And today I am feeling motivated again. The bad news is... this was my testing week for the kinders, and Friday is grading day. So.... I'm not quite sure what I will do. If we do have school tomorrow I will just put in a video after recess and start pulling kids as fast as I can to get them tested (I know, after a week of no school- not too bright, but what else should I do?). If we don't... I guess I'll do other stuff on Friday and test next week and send report cards home late. What else can I do??
In the mean time, I have vacuumed several times, dusted, laundry, baked 4 batches of C.C. cookies, finished a scrapbook, gone to the grocery store (where I encountered the rudest woman EVER), cooked dinner two nights in a row, watched Oprah, Martha, and a bit of Rachael. I have watched a movie with my husband, ironed and napped. Oh, I also finished a book. So all in all, it has been a good week- and we have snow! How fun is that? =)
Now, about that dinner thing... what happens when you combine a REALLY cool recipe book from your fave school staff...


and one great recipe from my friend Tricia...


awesome cookware from my wedding....


and a pink stove to cook it on?


and one familiar table to eat on?

ONE HAPPY FAMILY!!

What we woke up to this morning...

may not be all that interesting for you folks living with more snow/ice/cold than you know what to do with. But for us in Eugene it was quite the sight. We woke up at around 8 this morning and were both thinking..."ah, it's quiet, it stopped raining." Well, Brandon turned around to look out the window, and saw this.

So I turned around, and got excited, because I LOVE the snow. (Even though I do have spring fever, and am ready for flowers, warmth, and sunshine.) I walked into the kitchen and saw this through our kitchen window.

This is what our backyard looks like.

This is our front yard.

and these are the little bulbs that were trying to start their little lives above ground.

And while all of this is going on... my IKEA shopping friends are stuck in Stevenson, WA. trying to get home to see their families. The roads were icy, snowy, and closed yesterday so please say a prayer for them that they can get home safe and sound today.

While at IKEA yesterday, I found a few things that I would like to have eventually.

One was this sideboard that my friend Lindsay purchased for her home to store toys and other Murdock belongings.

And as I post this, my husband is at Jerry's stocking up on supplies so he can finish building our beautiful new nightstands. WAHOO! Enjoy your Sunday, I know we will.

Crater Lake

Saturday morning Brandon and I woke up with plans to drive about 2 hours to our friends' cabin to go snowshoeing. We had both been looking forward to this for weeks, but Brandon had a bad cold, so we decided we would go up for the day, and be back by Saturday evening.
We got up to the cabin at around 10am to find a house full of our college friends, all laying around in the sunshine that was streaming through the huge windows. It is a familiar place and scene to us, and it felt good to be there. However, as soon as we sat down, our friends informed us they wanted to go snowshoeing at Crater Lake. I thought they were kidding... they weren't. "Well, it sounds like fun to me! It will be an adventure." I said to Brandon. He thought he was up to it also, so off we all went, in two rigs because we knew we would want to drive home directly from Crater Lake at ht end of the day. Crater lake is about 2 hours from the cabin, so we stopped once or twice looking for food (with no luck) before arriving at the beautiful state park. We found a place to eat once we were there, and then geared up for our snowshoeing. It was a beautiful sunny day and we were all excited to get going. Our trek around the lake was about one mile in, and one mile back out. This proved to be a perfect length for us, as we were all tired by the end.

photo taken from NPS website on Crater Lake.

This is about what the lake looked like when we go to our turnaround point. It was sunny and clear.

This is somewhat close to our view by the time we headed back about 15 min. later. Only it was completely cloudy above us, foggy below on the lake, and was snowing like crazy! It is amazing how quickly the weather can change when you are at 8500'.
Of course, this was another weekend that I FORGOT my camera. So here we are at one of the most beautiful places in Oregon, a place I've only been to a few times, and I had NO camera! The pictures therefore are from the Crater Lake National Park Service website and are by no means taken by me. Our friend Miki did have her camera, and is hopefully sending me a copy of our group picture and a picture she took of Brandon and I.
We had a great time over all, and by the time our day was over, we had been gone over 12 hours and had seen about half of Oregon. We started in Eugene, went almost to Bend, over to Chiliquin, Fort Klamath, Crater Lake, Roseburg, and back up to Eugene. Whew!

PotteryBarn

I love PotteryBarn. I think anyone who knows me very well at all, knows I am obsessed with PotteryBarn. I love the colors they use, the simple way they display things. The way they organize the belongings we all have in our homes.

So today a girlfriend and I went to our first PotteryBarn design class. We went with little, but high standards. We weren't sure what to expect, but we expected it to be good. We were a little disappointed, but I will say it was fun to get out of the house and into a place filled with visual inspiration. After the class was finished (did I mention we were a bit disappointed?) we walked around the store pointing out things we liked, what we were thinking would be our next big purchase (or our first big purchase), what inspired us and why. It was fun to bounce ideas off each other, and to see what we were drawn to. When i returned I thought it would be fun to spend 10 minutes or so on the PotteryBarn website and pick out what I would want for my living room to achieve the look I am going for. As if somebody were to say, "Guess what! you have 10 minutes to pick out a free prize from PB!" So here goes:




these end tables, but probably in white.

this lamp doesn't look like much in the picture, but in real life, it is very cool- looks like an old antique.

white or offwhite slipcovers for my couches.

a rug for warmth... although I really want a hair-on hide rug.

and I like these curtain rods... but I like lots of curtain rods. they don't have to be these rods.

Is that

Santa Claus??

Right before Christmas I walked out of my craft room to find this....

Somebody handsome inside of my chimney.

Who could that be? Santa, is that you?

Oh it's Brandon!! My handsome husband!

Hi Honey! Yep, this is bloggable. =)

Let your God

be great everyday in 2008.
I drive by this reader board each day on my way home from work. It just strikes me for some reason. Let MY God... be great EVERYDAY. Wow, I can do that. It's up to me. I need help, I need to remember that, I need to pray for that, but I can do it.
These past few weeks I have been tired, disconnected, and unfocused.
I haven't done anything inspiring or crafty in my craft room.
I haven't felt connected to my husband.
I am tired.
I am feeling like there is so much to do in my classroom.
I barely get the house vacuumed on the weekends before I need to drive back up the river. However, the sun came out yesterday for a few hours. It was so nice.
I opened up our windows, I stood outside and looked at my yard.
I got a few things done in the craft room and around our house.
I napped.
I am hoping that if I can keep my Lord great each and everyday, thing will start to look up. I know the days will begin to get sunnier, both literally and figuratively. I know this cold will go away. My mood will lift. Life is good, and life will be good.

25 Things I will never get tired of...

1. the smell of freshly cut grass
2. snow
3. the smell of fresh rain when it hasn't rained in a long time
4. watching thunder/lightening storms
5. my husband
6. watching kids laugh
7. my c.c. cookies
8. a clean house
9. an organized house
10. family
11. decorating
12. photography
13. journals
14. rodeos
15. my wedding ring
16. being artistic
17. being a teacher
18. potterybarn
19. target
20. jeans
21. my friends
22. having my hair done
23. oregon
24. my church
25. my own classroom

Simplify

My new word for the year 2008 is simplify.
In Merriam Webster's Dictionary,
simplify is defined as: to make simple or simpler: as a: to reduce to basic essentials b: to diminish in scope or complexity

I have decided that I want my life to be simple. This decision came years ago, and now is the time to get serious about it. I want my actions to be simple, I want my life to be simple. I want to simplify the belongings in my possession, and to focus on the important things in life.
I had a few other words floating around in my mind... last year my word was accomplish. I had lots of things to accomplish with a short time line, and it all worked. I was also thinking about celebrate (celebrate the first year of my marriage, a new home with my new husband, a new job at a new grade level), attitude, give, organize, adventure, and appreciate. Hoping to incorporate these words into my daily life also, but will focus mostly on simplifying my life. Wish me luck.

Tubing at the Autobahn

Yesterday Brandon and I went up to Hoodoo Ski Resort with a group of friends to go tubing at the Autobahn. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was so much fun!!!
We bought the all day pass, and grabbed a tube after putting all of our cold weather gear on. There is a tow rope to pull you to the top and then the hardest part of your day is deciding which run you want to go down. Brandon and I chose runs right next to each other the first time, and I remember thinking as I was speeding down the hill... "holy crap, this is so fast!". And Brandon was thinking... "What is so safe about this?" But it was a blast and so we got in line to do it again. In all there were five couples and also 6 small kiddos. We all went over and over and over. Even the kids who are as young as 3 were going by themselves in tubes, and not one adult sat out for more than 5 min. It was great and it snowed so hard the whole day. I did take some pictures, but they are mostly of other people's kids (so I wouldn't post them) and the rest that I COULD post are on a camera that I don't have a way of uploading them to my computer. So those will come later.
When it was time to leave we all hugged and headed out. However, there was a car accident right below the ski resort, so we sat on the highway NOT moving for 10 min. or so. So... we turned that into an adventure, we turned around and headed to Sisters for Pizza. We ended up getting a hold of 3 other couples and we had a great time visiting one more time. By the time we finally got back over the mountain it had snowed so hard and so much.. so the roads were quite an adventure, and then there was even snow in town. =) So that was fun.
To see the hill at Hoodoo click here: www.hoodoo.com/autobah.htm

Nothing to say

no, I haven't forgotten about the blog world. I just haven't felt like I really have anything great to post about. I do though.
I also feel like I don't have great pictures to share. I do though.
Maybe it's that I don't have any energy. I don't. I really don't. I'm getting better, my funk is starting to lift, so maybe I will post sometime soon about something interesting with some great pictures. Until then, here is our update...
We were in Eastern Oregon for a week exactly.
We celebrated Christmas three times.
We went sledding and built a huge bon fire out of a slash pile.
I saw a couple good friends in Hermiston.
I tried to watch my cousin play basketball in PR, the game was cancelled as I was driving there.
I visited with my whole entire family on my dad's side, plus my grandma on my mom's side.
I worked on a project for my mother in law.
I watched the snow fall.
I went back to work again on Wednesday.
I lost my cell phone, and found it again in the middle of our street.
My husband nearly broke his finger.
We are going sledding again this weekend with our Hamilton friends.
and hopefully we are going to get back into the swing of things and get our energy back!