of wreaths and tea

Whilst waiting for my chamomile & mint tea to seep, I listened to some Christmas melodies and finally decorated the wreath that's been hanging bare on my door. I used orange ornaments with cream and gold accents. I know. Orange. I can't help it, the color draws me to it.

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Frolicking

I made it up to SLC last night to play with some friends. Melanie and I caught some Thai food at one of our favorite little places, Me Kong Cafe. Mmmm. Pad Thai. Though my pork was a little dry. Crap! I forgot my leftovers in Mel's fridge. She, graciously, let me nibble on her yellow curry. Once again, mmmmm.

This morning I went to silly Kathryn's bridal shower in Murray. There was a delicious brunch and much laughter and womanly chatter. Can you believe this silly girl is getting married in less than three weeks?

Now I'm back in Provo, at the Web desk for the DU. Sporting my cute new hat though.

Mel, in her sweetness of trying to be a good host, turned on her humidifier so I could have "white noise"while I slept. This is the second time she's done this for me, and both times I wake up feeling like I caught a cold. Sore throat, runny noise, cough....I was going to bring some tea in my Newseum mug to help sip this silly cold away, but, lucky for me, my roommate had taken it with her on whatever stupid errands she went on. Very frustrating.







And here's an enjoyable tune that just popped up on last.fm. I liked it.

You're in the right place, you're running with the right forces, and if the wind should howl tomorrow, let it.

-Walter Kirn

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Good News

Hey all -

Just wanted to let folks know that I've been hired as the opinion page editor for The Daily Universe. I'll now be getting 10 bucks an hour, my own computer/cubicle area, and not have to work nights/weekends (most of the time). It's not all perks and glory though. Rich warned me today about hate mail. And, there is an increase of pressure because the opinion page is one of the most consistently read pages, and it's made up of opinions, which always stirs emotion.
I'm excited though!

A 5 dollar adventure

We ventured up into the woods to get our Christmas tree this year. Turns out that it only cost 5 bucks to get a tree cutting permit in Oregon. It was quite the bonding time for the whole fam. Zoey especially loved when we tested the four wheel drive up steep snowy hills and off the road into inches of snow. Eli sampled snow from every surface he could. Jeff was mistaken for sasquatch as he went the distance to try and find the one. Max was a loyal saw carrier. Riley proved she's the burliest of us all in her frequent references to not wearing her coat. Mom was a great supervisor, and evenutally we returned to get the tree she originally had chosen. I promise it was the required 50 feet from the road. And I just looked fabulous as usual.

The view from the supervisors' perspective.

I know Max is well camoflauged here, but I promise he's there, cutting the tree like the burly woodsman he claims to be.

Jeff holds the chosen one.

Cute little round faces!

Mom "helps" the boys put the tree on the car. Take note that the lights are on and doors are open.

Due to our neglectful behavior of leaving lights on, doors open, and no engine running, our battery died. Zoey and I were frightened for a moment.

Luckily we got a hold of Stephanie. An hour and a half after hoisting the tree on top of the car and loading up to go, and just before sunset, we were rescued.

Good memories! Well worth the five bucks! And we learned what we needed in our car for emergencies, most importantly snacks and matches!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was a pleasantly casual affair this year. The Smith's were gracious in hosting Thanksgiving at their house. Between the two families making dinner, it didn't seem too stressful. Stephanie set up a pretty table in their living room that all 10 of us could sit at. That was probably my favorite part, that we could all sit down together and feast.

After eating we returned home to watch "Up." Soon after we were all in a food induced coma. Even the pets.

Yay for good food and a loving family!