happy halloween!

can you believe it's already the end of october?? just last week, i remarked at how surprising a difference a few days can make in the daylight as i leave for work when the days grow shorter at this time of year. this morning, it was equally surprising - broad daylight as i walked to the bus, entirely due to daylight savings. and yet, dusk arrives well before i leave the office, and leaves me walking home on most days after dark. i love everything about this season - except the shorter days.

and it's cold out too - 29 degrees last night, barely reaching 48 degrees today. i finally gave in and pulled out a sweater from my closet - one i haven't worn since last winter. it fits so differently, so much better now. i think i need to invest in some long-sleeve t-shirts and embrace the layered look, else i'll have to replace my entire wardrobe.

the extent of my "costume" today is a pair of sequined cat ears that i picked up at joann's a few weeks ago - and how could i not?? if we take our neices trick-or-treating tonight, i may very well break out the eyeliner and add whiskers and a nose.

and while it's only halloween, today i begin my yearly project of selecting our corporate christmas card. i thought i was totally ahead of the game, until i flipped back through my records and realized that i started this on october 19th last year... oh well. ;)

otherwise, life is straightening out, and we're preparing ourselves for the onslaught of the holiday season. maybe i'll have some photos tomorrow!

thoughts...

it wasn't really my intention to go missing, but then - i guess i haven't been gone all that long if you don't count the weekend...

today, i find myself wishing that stress burned calories - don't you? i mean - my cats shed fur when experiencing undue stress, why can't i shed pounds? mostly, i'd like to burn more calories when i'm stressed, because i'm stressed now - and i really want a snickers bar. *sigh*

but i've hit a new high (or is that a 'low') in my weightloss: 36 pounds. wooohoo. so i'll do my best to distract myself from the candybar in the next room that has been calling my name since 1pm.

family circumstances have made the last week a rough one for us. long, long story cut very short: matt's family needs prayer - and a lot of it. if you pray, would you please lift up - specifically - his parents and his sister?

and on top of that, my work situation... i have to make a grown-up decision today that i don't want to make regarding circumstances that i wish i didn't even know about. would you pray that i will make the right moral, Godly decision?

on the upside, we housesat this weekend for my mom to keep her cute, cuddly little guy company. remember him?

well, he's not quite so tiny now. but he's certainly just as playful. when i arrived saturday, he had pulled a curtain rod bracket (and the attached rod & curtains) out of the wall, unraveled a ball of yarn *all* over the living room, and laid claim to a little stuffed penguin made out of my grandmother's felted wool. sunday morning, after i finished baking my stepsister's birthday cake, he helped himself to several large bites of said freshly baked cake. (and my first instinct was to blame my stepbrother... sorry, andy!)

ok, i guess that's all for today. toodles.

pumpkin patch

if you've been reading for any length of time at all, you're all too familiar with my fascination and general appreciation for the fall season, so it should come as no surprise that i love pumpkin patches which are, to me, the ultimate symbol of the arrival of autumn.

saturday, matt & i drove north into everett to go to a patch simply called "the Farm". this was, by far, the most amazing production i've ever seen in terms of pumpkin patches. not only did it boast a gigantic patch littered with pumpkins in shades of red, green and orange, but it also featured a 12-acre corn maze shaped like washington state. a tractor-pulled hay ride drives you around the "oregon-washington border", into "idaho" and drops you off - then it's up to you, and your map, to follow any of the 250 actual highways to see the various landmarks of the state, and come out the other end at gray's harbor. in addition to the patch and the maze, the farm includes an 18-hole putting course, a "four little pigs" entertainment show, a beverage/snack bar, a bakery, petting farm, and a hay maze just for children. totally incredible! sure, it was mostly geared for kids, but us adults had an awfully good time - and we were comforted to see that we weren't the only childless couple there to play! a few (ok, a ton of) pictures to share:

{i'm not sure if thsoe pumpkins are there to make a point or not, but it reminds me a little of public hangin's in the town square or Henry VIII's fascination with beheading people and displaying their heads on a stick around the entrance to his castle.}


{doesn't this squash look just like a goose?? it even has a speck of dirt right where the eye would be...}








{fun little constructions marked the various washington landmarks. this, their rendition of our capital building in olympia, was among the most amusing. note the dome - made with a faux-ceramic flower pot turned upside-down.}


{this shot brings me dangerously close to singing showtunes from "Oklahoma!" - you know, with the corn being as high as an elephant's eye and all...}

on the way back to the freeway, i spotted a beautiful little scene i just had to photograph (see last two photos) - so i brought the car to a screeching halt on the side of the road, and sacrificed a bit of my dignity to run back up a cement overpass to take a picture... too bad matt forgot to bring his paper bag. ;)

monday, already?

it seems like it was just friday, really... and i'm amazed at how much of a difference 3 days make in the number of sunlight hours in our day. i rubbed the sleep from my eyes this morning, intrigued that it was just barely getting light outside, where as it had been near-complete daylight when i arose friday morning. it's throwing my body clock off.

an eventful weekend, really... saturday morning, i received a call from my mom that my step-dad's father, norm, had passed away friday night. i can't say it was unexpected: with a leaky heart valve and the other discomforts that come along with being 88 years old, the doctors had given him less than a year only a couple of short weeks ago. the family was able to say their goodbyes, and he will be fondly remembered.

not to jump too quickly to another subject, but moving along nonetheless, we celebrated rebecca's 3rd birthday on friday with a cinderella-themed party. she was supremely happy, the center of attention, and all decked out in accessories fit for a princess. i thought i'd share a few photos:

{a little bit of the royal treatment for the birthday princess from her cousin, david, whom she idolizes anyway}


{more of that royal treatment - i think we have a bit of a prince charming thing going on here!!}




{the birthday girl, gracing her royal subjects with a photo}

other weekend activities included teaching on sunday, our hot date to the pumpkin patch on saturday, and - you guessed it - wedding shopping!! things are coming along smashingly!

happy birthday rebecca!!

warning, warning!! this post contains a ton of photos.

my little niece turns 3 today!! i can still remember exactly where we were, what we were doing, and even what i was wearing when matt's mom called to tell us that the baby had arrived.

so, marisa and the girls came to play with us on tuesday. the girls donned their fancy "princess" dresses (rebecca's party tonight will be cinderella-themed) and were mostly good sports, except that i had to all-out bark like a dog to get elizabeth to look at the camera AND smile at the same time! after we'd finished the formal stuff on the backdrop, we took the girls to a nearby park and did a few more - fancy dresses and all! elizabeth enjoyed this half much more, not being restrained to sitting on a backdrop, as she was able to run around. i had tons of fun, and most definitely got some exercise chasing them around!

{the birthday girl, all dressed up in her pretty dress!}


{elizabeth, not interested in sitting still - or smiling - i had to resort to all-out barking like a dog to get this picture!}


{trying to escape...}


{a ham for the camera}




{trying to escape... again...}




{i hope this looks like a hug, because in reality, it was most definitely a chokehold!}

birthday party tonight, and a hot date to the pumpkin patch with matt tomorrow - so you can bet you'll get more photos on monday!

hold that thought...

sorry - no photos yet... they're taking a little longer than expected, mostly because i'm being a little more finicky than expected. ;) but that's ok right? you'll be here tomorrow? i'll post then.

that's it for me! quiet day today, and i'm looking forward to a quiet evening at home tonight, and a new episode of grey's.

a little wednesday randomness...

i'm sure you're simply on the edge of your seat, waiting with bated breath for what i might post next. riiight. i'm trying to decide if i'm truly "sorry" that i don't post more often - but i think i really am! i wish i had more to say, but for some strange reason, i feel almost as if every post needs to be accompanied by photographs in order to be worthy of reading. and (believe it or not), i just don't take that many pictures. (yeah, whatever.) so, enough of my internal musings, let's see if i can come up with something interesting enough to post about that doesn't require photos. ;)

i have not scrapbooked in weeks. i'm not sure how many weeks - but enough that i've lost count. in fact, i'm not even sure what the last page i scrapbooked was about... but that's ok - because i've been making up for it in other creative ways. wedding planning has included lots of creativity, so i most definitely don't mind devoting my creative energy to that. i've made a few cards, a few tags, and made a sad half-attempt to introduce a new organization system into my layout storage (more about that later).

LOST is on tonight - woohoo - but we're an episode behind. we watched the season premiere a few days late, and it has simply reached a whole new level of weird. i honestly don't know if we'll stick with it or not. anyway, we recorded last week's episode - and for the same reasons, we just haven't gotten around to watching it yet. i think we'll be firmly planted in front of the TV tonight in order to get caught up and see the new episode.

the photo shoot with my nieces was a blast yesterday. i got a handful of rebecca (3yrs) inside, but elizabeth (16mos) wouldn't have anything to do with sitting still. after nearly exhausting one 1GB memory card, we took the girls to our favorite nearby playground - 'formal' dresses and all - to do a few more. miss thang was much happier running about, and i was able to get a handful of photos of her too. so as to not tempt fate, we changed the girls into playclothes to let them play on the fabulous big toys. i'll post a few pictures tomorrow.

it's monday.

*yawn*

i'm not a fan of mondays. and my saturday was so busy that near the end, i decided i couldn't handle the same kind of sunday, so i cancelled half of my plans.

so anyway, saturday: matt & i watched david's soccer game, which was surprisingly fun. this peewee league plays 3-on-3, they don't keep score, and thus, there's no winner or loser. but man - those kids have fun. and so did we.

afterwards, i dropped matt off at his mom's and his sister and i took rebecca - my 3 year old neice - shopping. our mission was to find rebecca's sister, 16 month old elizabeth, a party dress for the cinderella/princess-themed birthday party we'll be having for rebecca on friday. mmmmm, baby clothes. they make the cutest stuff for kids these days.

spent the rest of the evening hanging out at matt's mom's, just enjoying the girls and visiting with marisa. decided we'd do a photo shoot of the girls in their party dresses - i'm super excited, as this is the first opportunity i've had to do a "real" shoot with them.

so, yep - that's it for me. i'm working on christmas presents lately. imagine that. ;) and wedding stuff, of course. :D wish i could show you the favors - but i suppose i should keep some stuff a surprise... ;)

the itch to stitch, and more farm photos...

i am so glad it's friday - but i'm sick again, and quite afraid that the worst part of the sick will fall on my weekend... bleh.

tonight, i get to do a little shopping - a birthday present for my neice who turns 3 next friday, and a little christmas shopping because stuff is on sale, and you know me - i love to start early.

tomorrow, to continue our "tour" of western-washington craft stores, we'll be hitting up the southcenter joann's and michael's for - you guessed it - wedding stuff! afterward, we'll watch my nephew's soccer game (photo op!!), and then i get to spend some time shopping with my sister-in-law.

earlier this week, while visiting my mother-in-law, i inherited several yards of fabric, including scraps of courdoroy leftover from when she used to make the boys' clothes (!), and some beautiful floral patterns including one that i dare call "vintage" (not to her face, of course). so, anyway: i smell a quilt coming on. ;)

and as promised, part 3 of my farm photos:

{the cool kids.}


{a random farm scene...}


{a random spigot...}


{my super-cool, abstract farm scene...}

happy friday! :)

more farm photos...

part 2 of 3... :)

{barn kitty - good for keeping mice away.}


{these sheep just crack me up...}


{more funny sheep. :) }


{don't they look like a street gang?}


{and this, ladies & gentlemen, is my award winner of the day... i think i smell next year's fair entry!}

as promised, but a little late...

i promised these monday, but promptly decided i was too sick to stay at work. went home early, was out yesterday, and am just today getting back to my regular-old-self.

so, the background: my grandparents have been raising & showing sheep for most - if not all - of my life. annually, they hold a 'farm sale' where they invite fellow farmers and vendors to set up shop in the barn for a day. i love the opportunity to peruse beautiful, handspun wool yarns, carefully carded fibers and unbelievably soft wool felt, but this year, i was looking forward to turning my camera on the whole event. this is a handful of my favorite photographs. and actually, this is just part 1. there are so many, i think i'll have to post them in 3 parts. ;)

{love this little one's spot on his nose. he came running when he saw my camera... i thought maybe they were natural born models... later i learned that they just hadn't been fed yet!}


{miscellaneous cool farm shot.}


{another miscellaneous cool farm shot.}


{is it my imagination, or are those sheep whispering about me? well, at least they're not pointing their hooves and laughing...}


{sena, the farm guard dog, looking dejected and... threatening...}

ok, more later. :)

moon photos...

matt & i went to visit my dad this weekend. my dad is a photography enthusiast himself, and loves the gadgets. a few months ago, he bought a converter that hooks up his camera to his telescope, allowing him to photograph what you can see through the scope. as we have the same camera, (it's like sharing clothes with your sister, but better!!) i got to play a little myself. thursday night was the full moon, so by friday it was beginning to wane. finding a few fabulous shots between bouts of cloud cover was definitely challenging (as was properly exposing the image to capture the surface details!) but i'm really happy with the handful i got before the clouds took over.

our weekend was fabulous - wish it could've lasted a little longer. the farm sale on saturday was a great outing, but the driving made for an exhausting afternoon. i'll post some photos later - i got quite a few that i really love...

friday thoughts...

• the invitations are finished! and they look fabulous!!
  
• did you see the moon last night? i don't know if it was this way for everyone (because i know very little about this stuff), but it was enormous. so huge, i actually had to stop and consider the direction from which it was rising, just to make sure it really was the moon, and not the sun. (it was covered in a haze, disguising the detail that would've made it distinctively lunar...) after a little research this morning, i learned that this has to do with it's angle to the horizon... and that's about all i retained because it was a touch over my head. ;)
  
• i threatened to make a few tin can luminaries last weekend, and i followed through:
  
  
  
  they're kinda tough to photograph because they don't emit THAT much light... they look better in person, and they'll look smashing when my porch is littered in carved pumpkins and lit luminaries. :)
  
• heading out to my dad's tonight, and really looking forward to it. i'm even looking forward to the drive out there, because i have a knitting project and a good book for the ferry ride (which is usually just the necessary evil of the trip).
  
• i gave up dairy a few days ago because i've been having some stomach problems... i did some research and found that milk allergies can actually cause obesity and slowed weightloss, so i'm wondering if that's a part of the reason why i'm not losing very quickly (or losing at all). of course, part of it, i'm sure, is my overall behavior and love for all things dessert. so we'll just see what this does. i've never wanted a big, cold glass of nonfat milk so bad in my life. not to mention a splash in my coffee. *whimper*
  
• i finally got my hands on Big Picture Scrapbooking. so far, so good. i love stacy's overall philosophy. i love her album systems. (because i really love any excuse for a "system" about anything. mmmmmm. anal-retentive & organized.) i've had to be careful not to devour the book - i really want to absorb her stuff. :)
  
• really excited about heading out to see my grandparents tomorrow for the 'farm sale'. shameless plug: this is their website. :) they've been raising and showing sheep for nearly 20 years, i think, and they sell wool, yarn, fleeces and skins in addition to socks knitted from their wool.

that's all - pictures monday, i hope! :) happy friday!

is it only thursday?

because it feels like friday. don't you hate that?? well, at least i'm being productive. here's what i've been working on for the last few days:

almost done - just have to add the snaps & flowers to 17 more of them. thanks to my mom who was a huge help in the assembly line today. :) the scan doesn't really do it justice - the cream-colored paper is pearlescent, and the sheer ribbon matches it beautifully. i'm thrilled with the way they turned out.

i'm really looking forward to the weekend for some photographic opportunities. matt & i will head to my dad's friday afternoon, and spend most of the weekend there. we're hoping to make a trip to the top of Green Mountain, where dad says we might have a view of Seattle. saturday afternoon, i'm planning to drive 40 minutes north to my grandparent's farm for their annual 'farm sale day'. most of the women in the family bring their knitting to such an event - i will be bringing my camera.

happy thursday!

hello, hello...

so much going on - and i've had to be careful not to overbook myself. trying to avoid burnout - there's just too much to do to panic now. ;)

my big task this week is wedding invitations. hoping to get them finished before a weekend jaunt to my dad's. i bought the paper & the ribbon for them last night, but now i can't find the right color of flower that we'd intended to affix over the ribbon. i'll be raiding every craft store within a 20 mile radius tonight, in search mode for the illusive candy-red hydrangeas... eek.

i have a handful of other tricks up my sleeve for this event, and i'm having a great time. i really love having the opportunity to use my creativity/craftiness to add a personal touch. luckily, my favorite bride is just as impressed with me as i am with myself. ;) she's giving me quite a bit of creative freedom. and i can't wait to make her big day extra-special.

so, despite the extraordinary amount of time i've spent at craft stores in the last 4 days (and the extraordinary amount of time i expect to spend at craft stores in the next 9 weeks), things are simply normal around here. and besides, i like craft stores.

a great production...

a great production will make me wish i'd stayed with theatre. a great production will have me leaning forward for a "better view" more often than not. a great production will make me wish i'd pursued my dreams on stage. a great production will make me want to see the first act again, before i'm emotionally ready to see the second act. a great production will make me cry. a great production will have me planning what theatre production i want to buy tickets for next, before i even get home from the first. a great production will leave me wanting more. a great production will keep me up that same night, trying to absorb all of the little details before i forget them.

"wicked" is a great production.



i can't even describe in words how incredible this show is. (and it's not often that i'm speechless.) the costumes were colorful and superb. the scenery was detailed and it just roped you in. and the actors. oh wow. the actors. the music was so amazing - harmonies and songs that made me cry at their climax. i'd see it again in a heartbeat.