Amarillo, TX, in the Panhandle on Route 66, home of Cadillac Ranch (pictured above... If you watch CARS again, look for this profile in the mountains behind the dinky town that is the main setting if you didn't already figure that out...), flatter than FLAT, High Plains, dusty, Spanish for "yellow"... Where I'll be for five days visiting family, celebrating our niece's 1st birthday... We'll tour Todd's home town of Pampa for a day (pop. 19k) and drop in on our financial adviser... 1st flight as solo parent with Sarah... Seven hours that I will be praying non-stop for Sarah to be mellow and me to be calm even if she isn't... I thank God for portable DVD players!

My Lil' Sunshine
Even when clouds prevail, it's so nice to have cheery baby toys/food - especially the yellow ones - strewn around the house to bring a little more color to these sometimes very grey days. I think she's living up to her joyful middle name...

You Are an Oatmeal Raisin Cookie

On the surface, you're a little plain - but you have many subtle dimensions to your personality. Sometimes you're down to earth and crunchy. Other times, you're sweet and a little gooey.

What Kind of Cookie Are You?

Hmm. (or should it be Mmmmmm....?) not totally into the "plain" description even though I am... In my mind I'm about 5'8" or 5'10" head turning beautiful, the life of the party yada, yada and then well an online quiz pops my bubble... Tee Hee.... Glad my self worth is not in a cookie description! I agree with the personality part though... God's the best baker don't you think?

You Are Best Described By...

The Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh

What Famous Work of Art Are You?

How funny! I'm drinking my morning coffee from a Starbucks mug they put out way back when they had famous pieces of art on them by the major artists... And the one on mine? You guessed it... Thanks Ellen!

A random picture. When I taught middle school Language Arts and had a "free write" I would often give the students a piece of art, a writing prompt, or picture to help them get started. This is me inside a rock. The hole was actually made from a trapped gas bubble "Miiiillllliiiiooonnnnsss of yeeeeeaaaaarrrrrrs agooooo!" (read in a deep baritone voice that kind of does an echo-y thing in your head) when Ranier was active. Todd and I decided that we would do "all things Seattle" for our second anniversary and visiting Paradise National Park by Ranier turned out to be one of those things... I was about three months pregnant and feeling pretty well so we set out to go to Pike Place, the Space Needle, go to a Mariner's game, stay downtown, have coffee (decaf at the time), and well, hike! So now we've celebrated our anniversaries at:

Cannon Beach - 1st Anniversary

Seattle / Mt. Ranier - 2nd Anniversary

at home with Sarah - 3rd Anniversary

Climbing Mt. Pilchuck - 4th Anniversary

(there was fog at the top - not much to show in a summit picture...)

Next we're planning a hot air balloon ride for our 5th - complete with a yummy champagne brunch afterward... Hope my prone-to-motion-sick-head/stomach can handle a balloon ride! Sure, it's still 10 months away until August 2008, but I'm so EXCITED...I just love being married to Todd...

10 years ago...

I had just come off Summer Staff at Lakeside and meeting some of the most amazing people, many of whom became dear friends... I was living with the Leffels in a bedroom across the hall from a certain 16 year old who was a soccer phenom and loved scaring me to death by jumping out of my closet when I wasn't expecting it... I settled in to subbing and then got a long-term sub-position at Harbour Pointe Middle School as a 7th grade Lang. Arts/Social Studies teacher - the first position of my 10 year stint in the district. Sunrise became my home church and I enjoyed meeting at the Golikes for Bible study, fellowship and fun... I was wondering when Mr. Right might wander into my life, but enjoying the richness of old friends and introduction of new ones... I loved how the Lord had given me a "home" to live in, a feeling of home living in an area I was not familiar with. This is a time I look back to and see God's provision and work in my life so clearly.

20 years ago...

I was 14 and a sophomore at Central Valley in Spokane. I met my dear friend Lina in Adv. Soph. English class and we became kindred spirits... I was challenged in my writing/thinking and that was great. This was the year of the Bronte sisters, Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, Lord of the Flies, etc. The standards that are introduced and become "the beginning" definition of good reading in my mind... That was very good. I also ended up meeting a guy in my driver's ed class in the spring who I dated until mid-senior year. I "thought" this was good, very flattering to have a boyfriend and attend all dances etc. through most of my high school time, but oh how I wish I had spent that time just being friends with everyone. The Lord spared me the worst, but certainly I missed out on a lot because I was wrapped up in being "us". God is so good to direct our paths...

30 years ago...

I was 4 and don't remember a whole lot from that time... I had a dreamy childhood and in that respect it seems just a blur of fun... Running around our back yard getting splinters from pine cones in my feet, making mud pies, pine needle forts, sniffing my mom's roses and popping the petals on my forehead, running across a couple of lawns to go to my best friend's house, playing dress up, etc. I loved the "real" summers reaching the upper 90s and lying in bed moving wet wash cloths from my face to legs to arms etc. trying to get cool enough to sleep in a house without air conditioning. Singing into a box fan. I'm sure I was a Sesame Street, Electric Company, 3-2-1 Contact! watcher. Weird how some of the same bits are STILL on Sesame Street today... Gordon and Maria sure have aged well...

Thank you to those who inspired this walk down memory lane...

Fours For You

Fours For You

via Ellen, Becky etc, etc....

Four Jobs I have had in my life…

1. Middle School Teacher
2. University Conference Housing Coordinator
3. Resident Advisor at Western Washington U
4. Secretary (Merry Maids, Lakeside, currently at Grace)

Four Places I have Lived…

1. Spokane, WA
2. Edmonds, WA
3. Bellingham, WA
4. Whidbey Island, WA

Four Places I have been on Vacation…

1. France & Germany
2. Kauai
3. Charlotte, NC
4. Oregon Coast

Four of my Favorite Foods…

1. Mom's Pot Roast and veggies
2. Good Sushi
3. Aunt Margie & Uncle Senator Richard's Guacamole, Chips & Margaritas!
4. Pretty much any good Italian dish and a great glass of red to go with...

Four Places I’d rather be right now…

1. Anywhere sunny
2. Beach in the Caribbean
3. With family just hanging out
4. On a date with Todd

Four Places I’d Rather Not Be…

1. In a dirty public restroom
2. In an awkward conversation
3. In a boat (I'm SO prone to motion sickness - bleh!)
4. Without a Savior

Rosemary
The last of my herbs to last the elements and only lasting evidence to grow my own herbs this summer, but a jump start on next year...
Basil
My love, my delight in Italian dishes grew well, but is no more...
Problem

Getting starters to grow indoors before getting transferred to outdoor containers without overgrowing the starter container that looks like a short square greenhouse... If I take the lid off, when I'm not around, our 13 year old indoor cat thinks they are a snack (as are all other plants not placed up high and out of her reach - she still jumps pretty well for an older cat - and then pukes them back up after an hour or so... I won't be too sad when she goes to kitty heaven...Then I can keep fresh flowers and other plants displayed lower than the top of bookcases and the refrigerator!) If I do keep the lid on, the little tender shoots bump their heads on their plastic protection and then mold. I don't know if Winston Churchill ever tried to start herbs indoors with a cat who thinks she's a vegetarian, but I will "Never, Never, Never Give Up!" I WILL have my herbs and eat them too!

Paddle ~ Jade ~ Snake ~ Spike 2
New additions to my house keeping with the Southwest theme. Hopefully they will survive my barely green thumb.

I spend about 30% of my day outside trying to satisfy Sarah's insatiable desire to be out of doors... I love it!


My Little Adventurer - ready to go rain or shine...

She seems to love smelling weeds...
Me: "Oooo, Sarah that isn't a pretty smelling flower... Bleh."
Sarah: "Mmmm good!"
Apparently I need to recalibrate her sense of smell...
or perhaps extend my own to include the smell of dandelions...

Dirt? I didn't eat any dirt! Why would you think that?

I couldn't resist...

1. MY ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car),
Muffy Legacy

2. MY GANGSTA NAME: (fave ice cream flavor, favorite cookie),
Mocha Macaroon

3. MY “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name),
A-Loc

4. MY DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal),
Red Leopard

5. MY SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born),
Elizabeth Spokane

6. MY STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first), Locab

7. MY SUPERHERO NAME: (”The” + 2nd favorite color, favorite drink),
The Blue Merlot

8. MY NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers)
Anthony James

9. MY WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names )
Ann Franklin

10. MY TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME: (Your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter),
Charlotte Cunningham

11. MY SPY NAME: (your favorite season/holiday, flower).
Summer Allium

12. MY CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now + “ie” or “y”)
Simply Strawberry

13. MY HIPPY NAME: (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree),
Cherry Oatmeal

14. MY ROCKSTAR TOUR NAME: (”The” + Your fave hobby/craft, fave weather element + “Tour”),
The Garden Thunder Tour