Winding Down...

Blogless. Is that a word? Well, regardless of its validity it is very descriptive of my Christmas! I will certainly find time this week to catch up with a few pictures from our week and a day in Utah with my family. But not today. It is already time to get ready for our New Year's Eve with nieces and nephews from the Gillas family. If I am not posting anything of substance then why do I even bother to show my virtual face? Good question--and one that will likely remain unanswered.

Pains of Procrastination

Seriously. When did shopping all day become a painful process? What happened to the teenager who longed to spend an entire day devoted to shopping? I procrastinated my Christmas (& Alex's birthday) shopping, so today I left the house at 10:00 am and didn't return home until 10:45 pm. I hurt everywhere! When did I get so old and wimpy?!

Ugh.

At least it's done.

Success at the thrift store

Actually, thrift stores. I had an unusually lucky week for thrift store purchases. I cannot reveal all of my exciting finds however, because some will take the form of a Christmas present in not too many days.
Still, some finds are public knowledge:

This is beyond awesome. A Fisher Price Sesame Street Clubhouse! I swear I had this when I was little. I remember the moving sidewalk that dumps you down the twisty slide and the trap door that spills you out onto a chute on the other side.

Count (with monocle) and Big Bird (looking a bit skinny) were included...along with some barrels and a jump rope!

Uh oh Bird...watch out for the trap door at the top of the stairs!

I saw this a split second too late to transform it into a Christmas present. We've been trying to find a lunch box for Alex for ages...but he saw it just after I did. Still...a Voltron lunchbox is too cool to pass up. And everything was 50% off. Wahoo! So..I guess Alex got an early Birthday present.

Speaking of birthday presents and good finds...

Alex's dad found this old 4-string Slingerland banjo at a pawn shop. It's just what Alex has been looking for! They gave it to him last weekend for an early Birthday/Christmas present. (Al's birthday is Wed. Dec. 19th...he'll be 29!)

For a good 48 hours he only put the banjo down to sleep, eat, and use the restroom. I think the gift was a hit! I hope I can find a gift even half as cool...

The Official Start of my Holiday!

And suddenly...Jen is a pleasent person to be around! As of 2:35 am Monday morning, final grades are in the system and I am free from my job until Januray 7, 2008! Wahoo!

Alex is wonderful to put up with the mood-swings of a girl who is overworked in the higher-education field. I work-work-work and stress-stress-stress during the term...but as soon as the term is over..........ahhhhhhh..............life is wonderfully pleasent again. I'm not sure that this is a healthy way to live, but I do love the idea of having a month off of work during the Holiday Season.

Boy, I'm sleepy. I have designated Monday Official Sleeping In Day!

and now the grading begins...

Hooray! Finals are done! I gave a Beginning Math Final exam today from 10-noon, and I took a Chemistry Final exam today from 1-3. It feels so good to be done! But-of-course I am not done. This is a new feeling for me: the elation that follows successfully completing college courses immediately followed by the realization that I now have a lot of work left to do in grading the exams. (Last spring term I had to grade exams, but I hadn't been taking exams as well).

It was really tough to finish that Chemistry final and then have to go back for 2 more hours of work that day. Yuk!

Oh...p.s....recording is going very well. We are having a blast--and we have another session tonight!

Almost...

Tuesday night Alex and I went with our niece Greta (18) and her boyfriend to an Aquabats concert. It was super rad. The Aquabats are a poppy ska band that were huge in the late 90s. They are a bit older--but put on an out-of-this-world performance. They dress up in costumes (the famous blue aquabat spandex, black Zoro masks, and "utility belts") and fight bad guys on stage. Plus also, the music is fun.

So, the Aquabats co-created this new CrAzY show on Nickalodean called Yo Gabba Gabba (produced by Alex's cousin Justin!). It is a show loved by kids and grown-up-kids who overdosed on Sesame Street and Saturday Morning Cartoons in the 80s. They have 5 funny characters (robot, wolf, alien-like creatures, etc.) and have guest stars (Elijah Wood, and lots of indie bands), kids, and songs (There's a Party in my Tummy!). (We have never actually seen the show, because we don't have cable--but we watch pieces on YouTube).

Anyway...DJ Lance Rock (guy in big orange hat) opened for the Aquabats and....the characters from Yo Gabba Gabba danced on stage! AND WE MISSED IT!!! We got to the concert a bit late--and they had just finished and left the stage. Bummer. We saw a family from church there with their little ones--they got to go up on stage and dance. Muno even tried to pick up the baby. How cool is that!? I suppose it would be like me going to a concert as a 2-year-old and getting to meet Big Bird and Snuffy. Whoa. I wish.

But...the concert was super fun and it is always fun to go to concerts with Greta.

An exerpt from a rambling Journal entry...

"Life isn’t a competition to see who is engaged in the most worthy or time-consuming cause! Life is a test to determine how we meet the challenges our Heavenly Father presents for us—by our actions and our attitudes. Life is so much more than this week’s To Do List. When we sacrifice the "best things" in favor of crossing off the more obvious things from our List—we are not getting any closer to becoming the whole and healthy daughters of God that we desire to be! Life is made up of moments. How we live in each moment IS our life. SO…choose wisely."

Great Auntie Jen

Thanksgiving was wonderful...the food was excellent and the family had so much fun. My 5-year old nephew Ole (the blond-boy below) called me a few days before Thanksgiving: "Auntie Jen? Will-you-bring-your-Gameboy-with-you-when-you-come-to-my-house-so-that-you-can-battle-Mabel-in-Pokemon?"




It was so cute! (Mabel is his 7-year old sister). This is me with nephew Ole (5), niece Mabel (7), and my great-nephew Garrett (3--the one trying to figure out what the camera is doing). I adore those kids! I don't get to spend near enough time with them! Also pictured: Alex and our nephew Gavin (26)--who is Garrett's daddy--playing ping pong.

Oh...p.s. the day after Thanksgiving I went to see Mr. Magorian's Wonder Emporium with my mother-in-law and some of my nieces and nephews--it was SO cute!! I definitely recommend it!

The First Recording Session

Hooray! After months of missed plans, we have finally begun recording for our EP! We are recording 3 songs (Pacific Shores, Over the Mains, and Corridor) with our friend Dennis Ayres (who is drumming for us). Eric Lovre (of the Dharma Bums) is recording us in his in-house basement studio. It's tiny--but perfect for Kalaloch.

These are songs that we have been playing and planning on recording for a long time. Too long. Until today, these songs were a bit boring to play. But...it was fun to watch other people get excited about our music. The excitement was contagious and the day was awesome. There was much creativity and some great sounds. We got 2 drum tracks down perfectly...and one that needed just one last take--but our drummer had a gig and couldn't stay a minute longer. Hopefully we'll finish the drum tracks up this week, and then get the rest of the recording done this year.

If we're lucky...we'll have a record pressed by February or March.

Fun Weekend Sunday: Cowgirls and Colossial Heights

SUNDAY
Sunday we spent enjoying God's creations. We hiked Blue Basin (which is green...hm...) and found much peace in spending time together 1000 ft. above a breath-taking view. The hike was about 3.5 miles with a thousand foot elevation change. We hiked up the canyon and then around the rim on the top of the mountains--looking down into this blue/green basin. Many amazing early mammal fossils have been found in this "valley of dry bones." It was awesome to look down into the basin and realize that it is the resting place for mammoths, the first rhinos, saber-tooth cats, and Alex's favorite: the fanged-mouse-deer.

My favorite part: climbing over the stile when the path crossed through a private farmer's land. I felt like a real cowgirl up on the mountain side walking the cattle-trail. (=

Sunday night...I won. We drove to the nearest real town and stayed in the Best Western. I soaked in the bath and Alex picked up Pesto Pesto Pizza (yum!). We slept with the heat on full blast all night.

Fun Weekend Saturday: Crikey, it's COLD!

SATURDAY

We spent the day learning about the ancient jungles of Central Oregon--a story told in the fossils of these painted mountains. Apparently banana trees, crocs, and rhinos were plentifully until the hot lava redecorated the landscape.

We drove through some great small towns. These pictures are from our drive on the business loop in the "town" of Mitchell. It was sad and artistic and scary and beautiful. These buildings are not all abandoned. They house businesses, families, and the ghosts of happier pre-Interstate times when the Business Loop was a regular stop for cross-country travelers.

On our travels we happened across this bizarre looking tree with some Jurassic fungus. Shoe-shaped fungus...No! It's fungus-filled shoes! The sign seems to read "A bearing tree--no cherries or peaches--just a few pairs!"

Saturday night...Alex won. He really really really wanted to go camping. He was certain that the extra bedding he brought would keep the bitter cold at bay...and--I admit, it did sound fun.
After an indeterminable amount of time we agreed that the violent shivering of our bodies was not actually warming the air in the tent...perhaps we needed to consider a different lodging option. But...we didn't have enough gas to get to a town with a hotel. We only had enough gas to get to towns that had gas stations open during daytime hours. Hooray for heated seats! We threw our air mattress and blankets in the back of the wagon, turned on the heat full-blast until we were sweating--then turned off the engine and dove under the covers! It wasn't quite as comfortable as our "really nice" motel room...but it was warm!

to be continued...

Fun Weekend Friday: Jennifer Aniston, and paleontology

Our plans to record with our band fell through last weekend (again), and we were suddenly left with a long 3-day weekend and no plans. I voted for spending time cleaning and catching up on my to-do's...but Alex really wanted to go away and--I'll admit it--I did too. (I'll never look back on my life and wish that I had spent more time cleaning and less quality time with my husband!)

We decided to go somewhere close that we had never been to before--and the only National Park we had not been to in Oregon was the John Day Fossil Beds (http://www.nps.gov/joda/). This is a little piece of desert in the middle of green Oregon! I felt like I was in Utah--colored mountains, tumbleweeds, and COLD. But I'm getting ahead of myself...



FRIDAY


We decided to spend the first night in a little town called Madras, OR. Tiny town, middle of the off-season, freezing temperatures...we should have no trouble getting a hotel...right? But but but we were unaware that Jennifer Aniston is filming her new film in a hotel in Madras, OR.



Yup. So we had to settle for one of the only little hotels with a vacancy sign--The Madras Hotel and Motel. It was awesome. The lobby of this 1800s hotel doubled as a real estate office, museum, post office replica, hotel desk, handyman shop, taxidermy shop, christian missionary center. Our little old hotel manager gave us the grand tour--he told us all about the grand history of his hotel (which we couldn't stay in because it was built before indoor plumbing) and the motel that he recently re-decorated by himself. "I'll give yer a real nice room with a queen sized bed," he says. "Everything in the room is brand new! I re-done-it myself," he says. He was adorable...and that was the smallest queen-sized bed I've ever slept on!

to be continued...

My Grader

I have the best husband (sorry ladies, but it's true!). Alex has been commuting to Portland everyday (getting up at 5:15 a.m. to make the morning train and not getting home until nearly 8 at night)...yet he doesn't let that be an excuse to not help out at home. He knows that I'm busy and tired when I get home too.

This last Tuesday I needed to grade some exams for the Basic Math class I teach at the college. We've started a tradition with grading exams: I bring home the tests and pizzas--we divvy up the problems--and then spend the evening comparing weird answers and helping each other with those tough-partial-credit decisions. It is so fun! It sounds weird--but it is really fun to share my teaching experience with him. Anyway--on Tuesdays I don't get home until 8:30 pm because I work late and then have a late night Yoga class. I came home with the pizza and found the house straightened, the dishes done, candles lit, and the coffee table cleared and ready for exams.

I love my husband! It's so great being married to someone you like. I highly recommend it.

New Calling!

After nearly 2 years teaching the CTR 8 class at church, I have a new calling! I will now be an Achievement Days leader for "FIGS" girls 10 and 11. Yeay! I'll miss my class, but I'm excited for my new calling and I'm really looking forward to it. I remember Merry Miss activities when I was in primary. Those are some of my fondest memories from Primary! I hope that I'll be able to make these activities fun and meaningful for these girls!

All Hallow's Eve

The Hippie and The Hick

Passing Ships

We went on another great escape this weekend...trying to outrun our crazy lives before it all catches up with us as we realize that we are exhausted. At sunrise, we grabbed our coats and camera and slipped out of the house before our work and worries could convince us to stay. We jumped in the 'wagon and headed to the beach. Alex navigated us through the fall leaves on an amazing scenic route through the mountains (that's what they call their hills here in Oregon)--across the river--around an island--over beautiful bridges--and on to the beach (Long Beach, WA). It was a great day.

Nothing that is can pause or stay; The moon will wax, the moon will wane, The mist and cloud will turn to rain, The rain to mist and cloud again, Tomorrow be today.

--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Instead of using the main bridges that cross the Columbia River, we went through the mountains to Clatskanie, Oregon and took the ferry across to Puget Island. While on the ferry, we had to stop and wait for these ships to pass. The Sternwheeler ("The Empress of the North") was coming in from the ocean--she is from Juneau, Alaska! The other ship ("Keystone State") looks less impressive in the pictures--but in life it was impossibly large. The ferry dropped us of on Puget Island--an rather large island in the Columbia river. We drove around the perimeter and dreamed about life suspended on an island--then took the bridge from the other side to Cathlamet Washington.

Destination: Long Beach, WA. It was ridiculously warm and wonderful for being the week of Halloween. We walked on the beach with no coats and it was great! There wasn't too much to do (it certainly wasn't warm enough to play IN the water...and Long Beach is too flat for tide pools), so we played a little and then went back to the main street to bum the stores.






We stopped by Marsh's Free Museum--an eclectic collection of taxidermy, antiques, seashells, peepshows from the late 1800s, nickelodeons (player pianos and music boxes from sternwheelers and circuses), shrunken heads, and Jake the Alligator man (seriously--look him up!). We spent some time saying hello to the residents there:
























We headed back home on the main roads--trying to keep a few miles ahead of our sleepiness--and watched the sunset over the wide mouth of the Columbia river...trying to imagine what it was like for Lewis and Clark to choose on which side of the river they would winter.

Golden Crab Chowder--YUM!

• Saute sweet onion, garlic, and celery (seasoned with salt, ground black pepper and curry powder) in a little butter--(thicken with a little flour)
• Boiled cubed Yukon Gold Potatoes until mushy
• Add chicken broth (~2 c.), milk (~1 c), and a little cream (I used 1/2 pint of whipping cream)--for thicker soup add some of the starchy water drained from the potatoes
• Add Crab (or Krab--I used one package of immitation stuff)
• Add the Potatoes (you could add more veggies--steamed cauliflour or corn would be good)
• Simmer over low heat until flavors are mixed and veggies are very mushy

Yum. This experiment was a huge success. I was shopping hungry on a cold drizzly northwestern evening--stressed beyond belief and needing something warm and comforting. Yukon golds and Krab were on sale--so I quick thought up a soothing solution for my comfort cravings. The creamy curry flavor fit the bill. This soup is great for nights when you are ready to curl up after dinner in your pjs and read a book!

Utah Pictures

Me and Alex at the Malad Gorge in Idaho. I don't know who started the tradition, but every time Danita (Pappas), Alex or I go to Utah, we always stop at Malad Gorge. I'm certain that millions of people have driven that stretch of I84, looking at the flat plateau all around them, never realizing there is a huge ravine with a violent waterfall just a few feet away. Crazy.

Shadows on a bridge--suspended 250 feet above Devil's Washbowl in Malad Gorge

Left to Right: Danita Pappas, Jada Pappas, Jen Carmichael, Alex Carmichael.

Ontario & Meggan Britton (2 days before Meggan's due date) and Alex & Jen

Having too much fun way past our bedtimes. When did we get so old?

Road Trip!

Portland to SLC--7:30 pm to 8:00 am

SLC to Portland--3:00 pm to 3:30 am

My Morning Commute

suspended mid-intersection
waiting for your turn (a grey dusty morning)
encapsulated in your colorless car

flashing hues from passing cars behind
illuminate your profile

--like a runway model on changing background--

your face (disregarding the gay colors) remains
unperturbable;
unexcitable;
uninteresting.

800 miles

Last week Danita Pappas, her sister Jada (spelling?), Alex, and I jumped in our Passat (which we own 100% as of yesterday!) and drove. And drove. And bought gas. And drove. Actually, Alex and Jada drove most of the way. I went to sleep in Boardman, OR about 10:00 p.m. and awoke at 7:30 a.m. in Salt Lake City. Alex and I dropped the girls off in SLC and headed down to Spanish Fork to stay with my folks. We had a great time at the GREAT UTAH PROVO MISSION reunion. Pres. Greggson announced that he still loved Alex...even though he has long hair. He also assured everyone that Alex is not really rebellious...he just looks that way. After the reunion (which was unstructured chaos: 7-10 years post-mission and the room was spinning with dizzying toddlers), a bunch of the old group (affectionately identified as "The Goonies") hung out at Ontario and Meggan's apartment. Meggan was a great hostess...never mind that Meggan was supposed to birth their first child in less than 72 hours.

For some reason we didn't think to go to conference. But, we did enjoy watching it with my family. We got to meet all the new significant others (significant figures? I should really be doing my Chemistry homework). Peter is dating Tayva. We really like her. I need to call him and tell him how much I like his girlfriend. She is an Creative Writing Major, and really cute and nice. Stef is dating Darron this week (sorry for that sis.) He seems nice, but I didn't really get to know him. He was too interested in cuddlin' with my sister to talk to us very much.... Ryan has a new girlfriend this week to, but we didn't get to meet her. Long, long ago and far, far away, it was just me and my brothers and my sis. No sig. figs. We went everywhere together. We stayed behind in the car while mom and dad went into the store. We played radio ("I'm the radio!"), the silent game, and hit each other. Now we're all grown up. I kind of miss it.


p.s. I never mentioned that we hung out with my old room-roommate Julie Black and her hubby Josh and two cute cute boys--SO FUN! All I can say: Themed Mad-Libs? Brilliant.

The Gorgeous Gorge

This week Alex and I found ourselves overwhelmed by the pile of things we needed to do. Even more overwhelming was the thought of trying to attack those piles of work inside our house--surrounded by reminders of things-left-undone (dirty dishes, underplayed guitars, un-filed mail, unpacked camping gear, unfolded laundry...).

So, we decided to run away. We took all of our portable work (lesson plans, homework, reading for work), packed our toothbrushes, a change of shoes, pillows, and jackets--and filled the car with gas.

The fall foliage is just beautiful right now. In the Northwest, there is a very narrow window of time when the leaves are changing colors--and still on the trees. When the heavy fall/winter rains begin, the leaves turn into soggy brown piles that clog the gutters and flood low-lying intersections. But--this weekend the leaves were crunchy and colorful. We hopped in the car after work and headed to the Columbia George.



We drove through a little town on the Washington side called White Salmon. It was 8:30 at night and everything appeared to be closed--until we drove past a Glassblowing gallery where they had "Friday Family nights." We ducked out of the cool crisp air and into an almost sweltering showcase with colorful art with white-hot ovens burning. We had entered some magical place where a glassblower bibbity-bobbity-boo'd a glass pumpkin right before our eyes. It was really amazing.

We stayed the night in a hotel where we whittled down our piles of work--slept in a bit--and then got back on the road for more adventures. We stopped by the Ice Caves, but didn't stay long without a flashlight. But we did spend quite a bit of time at the Natural Bridge--collapsed lava tubes and piles of lava rocks crowned with flame-colored leaves. So Beautiful!






Then we headed back home via the Bonneville Dam where we visited the returning salmon at the fish ladders and hatcheries.

It was really cool! We got to watch 20-pounder salmon (at $18.99 / pound!) working their way up the ladders. Then on the Oregon side, we watched the adult salmon in the "crowder" as they jumped out of the water and smashed against the concrete sides of the tank. (Where did they think they were going?!)

All-in-all it was a great way to escape the constant reminders of buried-under-responsibility, and enjoy the moment (while getting some of the more important work-stuff done along the way). I highly recommend such an escape for anyone with portable tasks and cabin fever. I feel refreshed and ready to tackle another busy week.