February 4th, 2008 - Haunted houses

Not really "Haunted" but the street looked extra creepy with the dark blue, cloudy sky. I thought it was funny that they came out looking kind of slanted in the photo as well.

February 3rd, 2008 - Gameworks RULES!

This is the Photo of the day and a few more just for fun. We had a great time!

February 2nd, 2008 - Giambotta

It isn't the best photo of it, but I nearly forgot to take the picture!
It turned out SOOO good! I highly recommend this recipe. You can find it HERE. Perfect for my veggie friends!
I did add some extra spices to taste, but anyone who has ever made soup knows that is how it usually goes.

February 1st, 2008 - Paper Posies!

I made these just for fun.

January 31st, 2008 - Found

January 30th, 2008 - What's up Doc?

Ummmmmmm....

January 29th, 2008 - Yielding for dummies.

Technically, it doesn't say STOP.

January 28th, 2008 - Planting seeds...

It started off just a little clipping from another plant. Today it graduated from a jam jar to a real pot (One that was decorated by our nephews)

January 27th, 2008- Warm & Fuzzy

Today was all about things that are warm & fuzzy.
The day was spent with an extra fluffy robe, (Thanks Bree's mom!) a good book, and a kitty! Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm....

January 26th, 2008 - Melissa!

My sweet friend surprised us with a visit. She moved back to California about a year ago. It was wonderful to see her!

January 25th, 2008 - Take a closer look...

I took this photo from my window at work today.
What is wrong with this photo?

This man fell down and was bleeding. We called 911 as soon as we saw it.

The guy in the blue hat is helping him, the guy on the phone is calling 911, but the woman, she is having a snack while she is watching it all go down! Some people see blood and get grossed out, some rush to help, some think, "Snack time!"

The man was all right, he just had a fall and head wounds look a lot worse than they are. The fire dept came and cleaned him up and left. I hope he made it home OK. he didn't seem too steady on his feet.

January 24th, 2008 - Birds & Beacons

He was watching me watching him...


A beacon.

January 23rd, 2008 - "Love?"

Nothing says "I love you" like an isle full of pink crap.

January 22nd, 2008 - Frozen sunshine

It was deceptively beautiful outside today. One might have seen the blue sky and sun shining and thought it was spring, but everything was frozen over.
This is a birdbath I walked past today. It conjured images of teeny birds in teeny ice skates.

January 21st, 2008 - Full Moon

The moon was HUGE and pretty this evening. I don't know if it was full, but if it wasn't it will be soon. This is the moon hiding behind a tree that still had some leftover holiday lights.

January 20th, 2008 - The Auers

This was technically taken early Sunday morning at around 1AM, so it qualifies for Sunday's photo of the day. It pretty much sums up our Sunday anyhow. We were just hanging out being silly, watching movies, etc...

January 19th, 2008 - Happy 30th Birthday Shauna!

It was our beautiful friend, Shauna's birthday. She had a party in the Moe Bar VIP room. Here she is in all of her sassiness. Much loves to you dear one!

January 18th, 2008

The day ended with good friends, good food, and a little bit of coloring!


I love this tree. It has a great "Face".

January 17th, 2008 - Rambutans

Rambutans! They look like something out of sci-fi or Sea Urchins. I am tempted to try them, but I'm still reeling from the Dragon fruit incident.

And look at the description!!! Steamy!

January 16th, 2008 - Carl's Birthday

Our dear friend and superb neighbor celebrated his birthday today, so of course he gets to be photo of the day. Happy Birthday Carl!!

This was the runner up:

January 15th, 2008 - Snow Day!

Today we have a tie. It snowed overnight making the morning commute a little more interesting than usual.
I took this photo on my walk to work.

This photo is in my cube at work. Let's just call it wishful thinking...

January 14th, 2008

The never ending process of home improvements....
Got new shelves, starting to touch up the yellow paint (The old desk touched the wall and left marks) and finally alphabetized the DVDs.

January 13th, 2008 - The new hutch is here!

Got the new desk for the computer today. I already love it a thousand times more than the old one. Now I really can't wait for the new couch. I almost feel like we should have a housewarming party after we get it!

January 12th, 2008

This is the couch we purchased today! The red color swatch on my lap is the color we are getting it in. We also ordered it as a hide-a-bed, so to encourage the Mills to come visit again! ;-)
It gets delivered in about 8 weeks! (They have to build it first.)
I'm so excited! It is super comfy and just what we had in mind. Our new computer hutch is getting delivered tomorrow as well. It is about time. I've been itching to be able to just have a nice big hutch that we can close the doors on when we are not using the computer.
The guy sitting with me on the couch is our buddy, Dustin. He bought a new TV today! It was pretty much a shopping day all around. This is the best time of year for it. Everything is on sale!

January 11th, 2008 - Blue Sky

Finally, a day of clear blue sky!

January 10th, 2008 - Boom, Boom, Boom...

Today I tried out the new neighborhood noodle joint, Boom Noodle. It was yummy!

January 9th, 2008 - Mashers!

On a cold, rainy Wednesday, there's nothing better than homemade mashers!

January 8th, 2008

The hard life of a cat.

January 7th, 2008 - Daydreaming...

Mondays are always hard after vacations. The sun was coming through my window all afternoon making me wish I could go outside and play.

January 6th, 2008 - Everything Bread

Today we went couch shopping, hit a book store, and did some cleaning.
The most fun I had today was making Everything Bread, so I am making it photo of the day.
I bought some blueberries that were on sale, but they were way too bitter to just eat on their own. I thought they would be great for cooking.
I took a basic zucchini bread recipe tweaked it a bit, added the blueberries and a grated green apple.
It turned out delicious! Almost like a cake!

EVERYTHING BREAD
2 c. sugar
1/3 c. oil
3 eggs (or 1 egg plus the two egg equiv in egg substitute)
2 c. white flour
1 c. whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1.5 tsp. cinnamon (add to taste)
2.5 c. grated fresh zucchini (About 3 average sized zucchinis)
1 grated small tart green apple (Or 1/2 larger apple)
1 18 oz container of sour blueberries
zest of 1 Lemon
Juice of 1 Lemon
2 tsp. powdered vanilla
1/4 tsp of liquid vanilla

Mix dry ingredients together - mix wet ingredients together, add fruits & zucchini to dry ingredients and then slowly add liquids while mixing on low speed.
Bake at 350 degrees, 50-55 minutes. Makes two large loaves.

FUN FACT ABOUT BAKING SODA/POWDER

Rubbernecking roving eye guy

I have to complain about this for just a minute.
I just got back from getting coffee and then running over to the store to pick up some things for dinner this evening. While I was there, I was walking around minding my own business when I passed a young man in the cereal isle who did the head nod "hello" at me. I smiled back politely.
No big deal.
I walked to the next isle where I was looking at olive oil when I spied the same guy again. This time he was looking at me in that way that guys do when they are looking for an "opening" to come talk to you. I grabbed my oil and walked the opposite direction. I was not in the mood for making small talk with some random dude.
I wandered through the store some more and came up behind the same guy again with his girlfriend. (I'm figuring it is his girlfriend because he had his arm around her and they were discussing what they wanted for breakfast food for the next week.) When he saw me he dropped his arm and started giving me the eye while his girlfriend was still looking at different types if bagels and not quite paying attention to what he was up to. (And before you say it is all in my head, I KNOW when a guy is giving me the eye, he was doing that uncomfortable extended stare/leering thing with that cocky half smile that guys do.)
It instantly pissed me off. His girlfriend was pretty, she looked like a nice girl, what kind of sleazeball goes shopping with his girlfriend all the while trying to get the attention of some stranger when she has her head turned?!? Had she caught him, it would have been uncomfortable for her, it WAS uncomfortable for me, and he should be ashamed of himself for acting like such a pig! It got me so flustered and ticked off I just went straight to the checkout because I didn't want to run the risk of running into him in the store one more time.

Now, if this was an isolated incident, it would bother me, but not as much. The thing is, this sort of thing happens all of the time. Ask any woman. If you go out on your own, you will always run into rubbernecking roving eye guy. It is sad, and it makes me angry. Don't people have any kind of manners anymore? I mean it is just common courtesy to not try and pick up other women when you are out with your significant other. They should all know better!

And with the very recent, seemingly random murder of the single women who was coming home from the grocery store only a few blocks from here, it is already very uncomfortable, as a women, to go out on my own! The police have no leads, so everyone looks suspicious! Women do not need to be made to feel any more uncomfortable in this neighborhood right now. It is just wrong. On so many levels.

End rant.

January 5th, 2008

Today I helped a very good friend move into our building. I thought this was the perfect fortune cookie to get after a full day of moving!

January 4th, 2008

The sun showed up today! For a minute it looked like Spring.


This one was today's honerable mention. The phone was pretty busy today.
I think people finally woke up from their holiday vacations!

January 3rd, 2008

Rain rain go away...

January 2nd, 2008

Back to work! Out with the old year, in with the new...

January 1st, 2008 - Mmmmmm Pizza...

Mellow day. Worked on video edits and watched movies.

Happy New Year!

(I'm going to try to do at least one photo per day in 2008. We will see how long it lasts.)

Alaska

While I was back in Alaska earlier this month I shot a couple of videos. People always ask me what it is like up there, so I thought it would be fun to string them together and give you a little glimpse.
Most of this video was taken on the drive from my mother's house to the Airport. The song is one that I wrote the lyrics to with my old band, Dear John Letters.
I hope you enjoy my little video blog!

In Between Days

This photo of Jon (My husband) from YEAH! Magazine #17, February 1989. Jon was featured as a valentine in a Tiger Beat spoof. Photo by Jill Goodejohn.:

and This (My biggest crush from the 80's):


A coincidence? I think not! ;-)

Cool Yule...

We had a very mellow holiday, just like I like them!

Bree came over with her son, Oliver to do some baking on Sunday. Darian had a friend over too and they made bread while Oliver made chocolate chip cookies. I made hot spiced cider and wine. The whole house smelled like Christmas.
We watched Muppet Christmas and then called it a night. The next day they came over for a big Christmas Eve turkey dinner. Since I was SO very sick on Thanksgiving, it was really fun for me to pull out all of the stops and make a big old dinner. It was kind of my Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner all rolled into one. Delicious!

Darian really made out like a bandit in the gifts department this year. By the time she opened her last gift she actually had tears in her eyes, a giant smile and she said she could cry she was so happy.
She got a huge stack of video games for all of her various game systems, some movies, and a bunch of other stuff, but her big gift this year was a Wacom Intuos3 USB Tablet - 6x8. This is something she has been wanting for a very long time. She's become quite the little artist and this will help her in that pursuit. She has already started working with it, and has made some really cool stuff in Photoshop. I have a feeling this tool will help take her art to the next level.

Something else that Darian got was Singstar for her PS2. If you are not familiar with this game, it is like Guitar Hero but with microphones and singing. You sing along with music videos and you try to get your voice as close as possible to the singer in the video. She got the 80's version, so of course, Jon and I were gonna have some fun with it as well. Christmas Eve and Christmas morning turned into a sing off. Jon, having the clear advantage, beat me by 30 points singing Madonna, Like a Virgin and Blondie, Heart of Glass.
I beat Jon by almost 100 points singing Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go by Wham (More than once! Guess I got some GM in my soul? Haha!) I also beat him singing a Twisted Sister song called We're Not Gonna Take It.
So, I won on the boys and he won on the girls. This makes no sense to me. Darian said that it is because he has a high voice and I have a low voice.
Nice.
Now we can't wait to get them all! I see many Singstar parties in our future!

So, that was our Christmas. Now on to the New Year!

Many warm fuzzy blessings to all of you who read this. I hope you have a beautiful New Year!