WARNING: Ab-alanche Danger!

Wow, this weekend was a winner!! Tim is only the best husband in the entire world. Friday we saw a movie and went to a special fancy dinner (involving fondue...) and then Saturday we packed our snowshoe gear for a SUNNY trek pretty much straight up a mountainside. We barely survived an avalanche, even though the danger was reportedly low.

We descended together with the sun and then drove to a secret destination for the evening, which was only the most spoily place I've seen! The Salish Lodge and Spa. After my time in the eucalyptus steam room and hot pools and my hot stone massage, I was ready to stay forever. We built a real fire in our room (without setting anything ablaze) and enjoyed a 5 course country breakfast the next morning while it started snowing outside, all above a towering Snoqualmie falls! Very lodge-y and Colorado. Very happy Abby. THANK YOU TIM! He really knows how to make this girl feel special. And he's all mine!!
PS We were celebrating a belated birthday and my finishing all grad school application materials! New season of life, here we come.

going organic?

Thanks to some of our cool new friends Andy and Elisa (our other friends are cool too, don't worry!), Tim and I have decided to try buying our vegetables via an organic food share box weekly from a local farm, Leftfoot organics, in Olympia. We are learning lots of new recipes to cook with kale, turnips, radishes, chard, lots of squash and other stuff we never buy on our own at the store. Each box is like a surprise present. You never know what you're going to get, or what it is supposed to look like.

Sometimes we get really cool vegetables like this one!
It's been a nice experiment, and it's not over, although I'm not sure it's transformed us for life quite yet. We like the idea of supporting local, but finding ways to actually live what you believe, now that's revolutionary...right?

SBUX holiday extravaganza

Tim and I hosted his store holiday party at our house last week. Well, every day is a holiday party at Starbucks these days, admit it! What must it be like to work in a place people come to treat themselves, listen to festive feel-good tunage and relax in a home away from home?

Besides eating what was probably a better meal than any of us have made for Christmas dinner (sorry, parents), the fun and games continued with home-made catch phrase, a gift exchange, and decorating gingerbread men and women to look like each other in real life. Brad, Kara's highlights were amazing! I tried to make Tim's spidey shirt.Everyone's welcome again, and the fun continues daily at your local Starbucks!

Snow Anniversary

Now we have proof - it does snow about once or twice a year year here, and today was one of those days! At least one full hour of it. The first blustery day of December, which also happens to be the anniversary of the first FULL day Tim and I shared together as boyfriend and girlfriend:), just 4 years ago. Nice way to celebrate! Thanks, God!
Here, you can view our backyard for the record.

Thanksgiving Blockbuster

Thanksgiving is all about the act of remembrance. So it seemed appropriate, when Abby and I hosted the Isaacson family for the holiday, that we reenacted the first Thanksgiving. History can be incredibly emotional.



*If the film is choppy look for it on youtube under http://www.youtube.com/goluckyfilms

Birthday!

Birthdays and Black Friday are a dangerous mix! I have never scaled the malls on this horrific day and I wasn't about to break the tradition after 27 years. What I DID do was wait until Seattle was lit up with Christmas lights, and entered only one store downtown, a favorite: Anthropologie. Wow is it hard to make an economical decision in that place! But I did it and came out spoiled with a victorian style, beige, 3/4 length, cute coat! Followed by a Mediterranean dinner and friend's concert.

Before that, since Tim had to work, Cyrus and Abbie took me with their visiting parents for a nice sunny walk at a nearby state park. Thanks, guys! It was a beautiful day!




Started out kind of nippy though...







I had to throw some rocks in the sound and they made a cool ripple.

Scenes from Part II

Here are a few other shots from the first Thanksgiving we've ever hosted (including cooking the turkey). Part of the centerpiece on a new Indian tablecloth from Meag

Place settings for everyone with funky table cards, each one different with his/her Dinner Theatre character on the inside

The Isaacson gang before the show. We whittled it down to 13 people instead of 15, then cousin Jacob joined us after dinner to make it 14. I guess if you count Hillary and Mike's coming little one in utero, then we're back up to where we started. Not bad!

Everyone could hardly contain their anticipation for the performance (They had no idea what excitement was in store!)

Joanie's bear-chested boyfriend, Josh, could only join us in cardboard form. We love you Josh! Especially with those hunky muscles (and buckles)!


Caveman Tim ?!?!!
The Director getting his energy intake before the task ahead...stay tuned...

Thanksgiving Part I

Turkey day has begun. We're talking parades. Pilgrims. Indians. Bloody turkey juice (sorry, but there is a lot of that nasty stuff and it leaked all over the inside of the fridge earlier this week, before we had to get a totally new fridge on Tuesday!). And long walks in the sun and cold air, and family. Stay posted for the Historic Reenactment of the First Thanksgiving. Until later, here's a preview. Yep, Kevin Costner himself, joining us for this thankful day.

HE's arrived!

So the quilt arrival preceded BABY MANGRUM's arrival yesterday! My college roommate, Julie, and her husband Ben had their first baby yesterday named Owen. He's really cool! Congratulations friends! Tonight we get to bring over dinner and play with him! (Ok, watch him sleep).

It's Arrived!

The mighty Tim-Abby-Story-Quilt has reached its home! Kudos to Susan, who has deeply invested in this labor of love!! The love story starts at the top with inter-twined O's and I's and T's and covers everything from Starbucks to toes that fell in love with each other to green eyes, sunsets, snowshoes, fall leaves and dancing elephants. WOW. Here are a few highlights:

My favorite snowy mountaintop....

Where Tim gave me THIS!

And can't miss the 3D aspects

and the Llewellyn's door where it all began....