Lights Out!

Apparently, if we receive two tenths of an inch more in snow before the end of the year, we will have broken the record for the snowiest December in the Portland, OR area!

Last Sunday brought snow atop freezing rain atop snow, canceled church services, and fun nighttime adventures. If you have never experienced freezing rain, you are missing out. It is beautiful and dangerous. This happens when it warms up enough in the clouds to produce rain, but the ground is still so cold that the rain freezes on contact, leading to an ice frosting on everything it touches. Consequentially, church was closed and we stayed home all day.

(we are going nowhere!)
Freezing rain is beautiful, but it makes tree branches very heavy...and we have a lot of those in Oregon. Sunday evening this led, as it often does, to a power outage. Alex already had a nice firing roaring in the fireplace, so we lit some candles, were joined by our friends from upstairs, and enjoyed the rare treat of a cozy night with no electricity. Brian brought home some hot deli food, and we all cuddled up in front of the fire while Alex read Price Caspian aloud.

I'm married to a 30 year old man!

Weird.

Yes...I've been a slacker about blogging! I'm sorry! I've got no good excuse.

Well, life is good. Last Monday was supposed to be my last day of work (before the Christmas Break...not my last day before baby comes...) but--Hooray!--we had a week worth of snow days!

NW Oregon doesn't get much snow. So when there is snow, everything stops while we play in the snow and avoid driving on the roads. Last week Alex either worked from home or walked to the bus stop on a more main road and took the bus in to work. I could think of no good reason to leave my happy nesting projects...so I stayed inside and worked furiously to get our house back in order. It's not done yet, but it's getting closer.

So...Alex is 30! Yikes! But, he did get in some important things before he left his 20s:

He skied down the hill that we live on.

The snow was starting to melt a bit, and the road had been gravelled, so he didn't make it very far!

For his last dinner of his 20s he chose...

Yup. Fruity pebbles with whipped cream and a Mountain Dew. That's my man--father to my unborn son!

He had a fun birthday. We lit a fire in the fireplace and the weather calmed down just enough that some friends were able to come and celebrate. I made some yummy chili and guacamole for dinner and we watched The Christmas Toy (best Christmas movie EVER).

I made a Banana Cake with Penuche Frosting (YUM!) and Alex managed to blow out all 30 candles (with a little help from neighbor-David).

Alex got some fun new toys:

• A Transformer (from Vince and Christi)

• A Spice Girls doll (thanks to Adam and Candice)
• A silly picture of neighbor David so he can look at it and laugh when he is at work
• 5 lift tickets to Hoodoo Ski Resort (from his parents and myself)
• And.......drumroll........our nephew Garrett gave Alex a guitar!

Not just any guitar--THE guitar that Alex has been drooling over for 6+ years. Garrett made this custom pick guard and then let Alex babysit his guitar while Garrett was serving a 2-year mission for our church. Alex was very sad to see it go at the end of those 2 years and hasn't found a guitar with the same sound yet. And now--it's his! It didn't leave his hands the rest of the evening. Believe it or not, but in this picture he is actually still playing the guitar while mostly asleep!

In other news, my tummy is getting bigger and our baby boy is very active in utero (= Although, he always stops moving as soon as Alex puts his hand to my belly! Speaking of this kid...I need to go eat some breakfast!

slacker!

Jen needs to blog. She's a slacker.

[from her husband, who does not have a blog, so that he doesn't have to feel bad about not updating it]

More Recording

Okay! 3 posts in one day! I finally have the time and space to blog a little...so I'm playing catch-up.

We have started recording again with Eric Lovre. We are working on a full-length album. Most probably to be released on cd sometime next Spring / Summer. Recording is going so much better this time around. In our first 4 hour session we recorded basic tracks (drums, guitar, bass) for FIVE songs. (Compared to taking 3 or 4 months to get basic tracks on our first 3 songs last year).

Our friend Jeremy Rice is playing drums for the album. We are super excited about what he has added to these songs.

Alex and I went in yesterday and laid down 2 flute tracks, a violin track, and a bowed-guitar track, and tried a few takes on some vocal tracks. We are having a GREAT time recording and are hoping to finish up recording the album tracks by December.
So...here are a few pictures from the first session!

Jeremy set up in Eric's tiny studio

Alex and Eric engineering

Alex and Jeremy recorded "Spinning" in one take. This is the song where they start slow...and speed up until they are playing as fast as humanly possible. See their hands? No? Then they are doing it correctly.

Alex--passed out after a long hard day of recording.

Halloween

Alex as Robert Smith from The Cure
Jen as the Gothic Cure fan that Alex-as-Robert-Smith knocked up

We ended up spending Halloween with friends Vince and Christy (Vince is behind the camera, Christy is back/center), Shalese (front center), and their friends. We ate food, handed out candy to trick-or-treaters, and watched the Garfield Halloween special. (candy, candy, Candy, CANDY!)

Remodeling

We're still working on the apartment. We have new kitchen/bathroom floors, we are finishing the last of the painting today, and the carpet will be in Monday. Yeay! After a few days for the toxic carpet fumes to dissipate, we can move back in!

A little worn out
Alex painting the baby's room (=

Yup. The toilet is in the shower. It's a time saver, really.

"The brown wall" in our new bedroom/office/music room

The beginning...this is how the apartment looked the first few days after the flood. The getting-rid-of-the-mold process required these ET-ish plastic sheets quarantining the room.

Boy, Oh Boy!

Yep! He is definitely a baby boy! I considered posting the "gender" photo...but it is a bit graphic.
I'm not yet sure how I feel about exploiting my child on the Internet...

So, here he is! I've finally started feeling him move. The first moment where I was certain it was him (and not just gas!) was on Tuesday. Then Wednesday, the day of the ultrasound, I felt him move lots (= Probably I'm just now figuring out what it feels like.

It was so fun to watch him wiggle and squiggle around on the ultrasound. At one point he scrunched up and bonked me with his rear-end...and I could totally feel it!

He was very sweet, a little camera shy (didn't want to show us his face), and had all of the important parts (4-chambered heart, arms, legs, brain, spinal cord, kidneys, stomach, etc., etc.).

I, on the other hand, am not camera shy. I will comply and post some preggo Jen pictures as soon as life makes it a little easier to post (like having a computer set back up in my house).

The measurements were on par with what we were already certain is the right dates. So, baby boy Carmichael should be joining us sometime mid-April. Yeay!

A Discussion

One of the perks about living upstairs with the neighbors for a while is getting to spend more time with David. David is 4 going on 40. Yesterday he came and told me, "Jen, I need to discuss with you in the office". It was so funny I had to find out what it was about...

"The office" in this home refers to the big room in the basement that used to be the office for Brian upstairs, and is being converted into our new master bedroom / rock & roll room in preparation for our bedroom becoming the baby's room.

So, in the office we begin our discussion:

David (with arms folded high on his chest and a spitting image of his dad): "Okay. I just feel that there are too many things in here. I just feel we should get rid of most of these things, and make this the baby's room." (David has been using "I feel" a lot recently.)

Jen: "Why do you feel that way?"

David: "Well, I might want to come down here and just get something for baby Jonathan" (his new baby brother). "I just feel that we need to move all of these things. Well, we can leave just 3 things...the couch, the computer table, and the trash can. Then I can sit on the couch, and put things in the trash can!"

It was SO funny. He was pacing, gesturing, and using all of his logic and feelings to convince me to leave the room (mostly) empty. 

David has really enjoyed playing in the big empty rooms downstairs while they are in the process of being renovated. I think he sees visions of building huge Thomas the Train tracks that can be left out all of the time. 

You know, after living for 3 weeks or so with all of our stuff packed in the garage, I am beginning to wonder if we really even need all that stuff! (=

Stretchy Pants

I bought my first ever maternity pants yesterday. Wow! I didn't realize how squished this growing belly was until I felt the sweet release of maternity jeans. 

Ahhhhh. Now I can breathe!

Home

Home. I miss that place. It's amazing how much we rely on having a place to hideout and escape and eat and sleep and read and write, and watch TV. 

I miss my home! We are doing good.  I haven't been posting because not much is changing day-to-day and I don't have easy access to the computer. It's been nearly two weeks since our basement apartment flooded, and it looks to be another week or two until we can move back in. The floors and lower walls were ruined, so the apartment is kind of gutted right now.

For now, we are staying upstairs in the attic guest room. Our neighbors are currently at the hospital presumably giving birth to their second child. I feel terrible that we are invading their home during this special family time! But, I'm trying to make the most of it and be helpful for Becky.

Last weekend we packed up all of our bedroom and living room stuff in boxes and moved it to the garage. We didn't realize it would be so long--so we only left out clothes! There is amazingly nothing much to do! 

Also, we just found out that the kitchen and bathroom floors will need to be replaced. So, tonight we are packing up the rest of our belongings. And, while the floors are all ripped up, they may be cutting concrete and doing some major sewer repairs. 

And...as long as we are getting new wallboards, carpets, and linoleum--we are going to go ahead and paint the walls, too. 

Ugh. It will be lovely when it is all done...but, until then it is really weird to be somewhat homeless. 

I am thankful for all the good in our lives: for ward members that have us over for dinner (I'm SO sick of eating out!), for people who donated boxes, for family that spent a day moving boxes to the garage, and for good friends that are letting us live in their house. 

I am thankful. I'm trying to be patient. But I just miss being home.

Cleaning and Packing

Found some old photos that my good friend Rachael Preston (in picture above) gave me last time I saw her. I think that they are photos from my Junior (?) band, choir, orchestra tour to St. Louis, MO.

Me with a girl who I think is named Cecily. Can any one confirm that?

Just now, in the bathroom

3 stalls, 1 in use.

I step into an empty stall and hear this greeting coming from the stall next to me:
"Hello, how are you doing?"

I was certain she was on her cell phone (which is just gross if you ask me), so I waited for her follow up response.

Nothing. Not another sound was uttered.

I don't think she was on her cell phone.

To Jesus, with love

This last week at church, one of our Sunbeams (age 3 kids) had drawn a picture during class. He also had a small card with a picture of Jesus. He went to his teacher and said, "I want to give these pictures to Jesus."

Ah. How adorable. "That's so wonderful." She says. Then, confused, she watches him walk resolutely across the primary room and hand his pictures to my husband Alex.

Alex, completely oblivious, grins and says, "Thank you!" Then, pointing to the card, "Who is this a picture of?" Beaming, the child answers, "Jesus!"

"That's right!" commends Alex.

Upon his return, the boy's teacher says, "Um, I don't think that is Jesus, honey. That is Brother Carmichael." The Sunbeam looks at a nearby picture of Jesus...looks back at Alex...and firmly replies, "Yes, I'm sure it is Jesus."

Lucky kid to have Jesus as his Primary Chorister!

Here comes the flood...

Hmmm. I could word this post in such a way as to complain about the flooding of our apartment last night. I could lament about the inconvenience of sleeping on an air mattress in the living room because the bedroom is full of wet and the bed is full of stuff. I could moan about the amount of clean-up and my lack of time. I could explain about how Alex and I are busier at work than we have almost ever been. I could expound on the hardships of our upstairs neighbors: their half of the basement also flooded, they need a new water heater, they have a new baby due any day, and the husband is also super busy at work. I could. I could complain about how inconvenient this all is. It is. But I won't.

Instead, I hope you will indulge me while I list a few of the things for which I am grateful:

1) I'm grateful my good husband has a job (well, 2 jobs) during this time of financial instability in our nation. I'm grateful that he works so hard to provide and save for our growing family.

2) I'm grateful that I have a job that I love and will continue to put my best effort into this job while I am in this stage of my life.

3) I'm grateful that I have a house to sleep in. I'm grateful for electricity, yummy food, and great house-mates.

4) I'm grateful that we are getting new carpet and an additional room now so that we can prepare the house to fit one more soon.

5) I'm grateful for a great extended family: for siblings that I continue to grow closer to, for sibling-in-laws that have become an integral part of my life, for loving parents, living grandparents, and nieces and nephews that have become some of my best friends.

6) I'm grateful for my Savior. I'm grateful for the knowledge that God will not give us more trials than we can handle! I'm grateful for a Savior on whom I can cast my burdens.

7) I'm grateful for my calling in Young Womens and the joy it brings me to watch this girls grow in the Gospel!

8) I'm grateful for wonderful landlords that are so much more than that. I'm grateful that we are good friends and can look to each other for support, dinner, or a good laugh.

9) I'm grateful for this new life growing inside of me and the excitement it brings me every day!

10) Can I say I'm grateful for my husband again? I'm grateful that he loves me so much...that he tucks me in at night...that he thinks of ways to lighten my burdens, even when he himself feels so heavy laden, that we make a good problem solving team, that we like each other, that he is an amazing male primary chorister, and that he is such a good friend to me!

Sorry if this is a bit personal and/or cheesy. I'm just trying to keep some perspective. A friend at church has to watch her husband endure another 8 weeks of chemo. A family member is grieving over the loss of a child. A friend is faced with intense financial hardships.

Plus there are all those kids starving in Africa, right?

A weekend of surprises...

Last weekend we jetted down to Utah for a quick weekend full of surprises. We left work early on Friday, picked our friend Danita up in Portland, and headed out about 3 pm. Despite the successes of previous marathon road trips, there was no way I could drive all night (for reasons that will become clear in a moment). So, we stayed the night in Boise and finished the drive Saturday morning.

We got to listen to the morning session of General Conference in the car (for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints). It's so much more difficult listening in the car. It always makes me realize how blessed we are to be able to watch conference in our p.j.'s at home!

Anyway, we got there in time to make a few final party preparations before we all met at 4:00 at Los Hermanos in Provo (one of dad's favorite restaurants).

(pose for the camera Grandma!)

It was so fun to put a party together with all of my siblings. It was kind of the first time we have all worked together to create something as grown-ups with spouses. Peter was our emcee and coordinated the planning, and Peter and Tayva gathered and scanned many of the photos for the dvd. Adam helped Stef & Darin put together some music from dad's collection. Stef created a memory book with each person supplying a memory about dad for the book.

Candice & Adam put together the decorations and enlarged this picture, matted it, and we all signed it for dad.

Ryan and his girlfriend Kaylee brought some really cool balloons to the party, and Ryan price-checked the group gift--a record player for Dad's old records (=

Mom had completely tricked dad--he had no inkling that there was a party that night. She talked him into buying some 70s clothes and to reminisce about their early years together (it was kind of a dress-up party: "come dressed in clothes from any decade Lester lived through"). She even let him choose the restaurant (knowing he would chose Los Hermanos!) He said later that as they walked up the stairs to the upper room, he noticed a big happy family having a birthday party and singing happy birthday. It took him a few moments to realize it was HIS big family singing HIM happy birthday!

(The staff had him stand on a chair while we all sang to him. I ALMOST got a picture of Grandma Betty with her hand on my dad's behind. She was terrified that he would fall! Once a mommy, always a mommy).

The highlight of the night (for me) was the slide show I had put together. It was a time line with pictures of dad from 6 months up to last year (complete with music from his teenage years). We paused the dvd throughout as Peter narrated and asked dad's parents, mom, and dad to fill in with stories from dad's life. It was so fun to get to know my dad better. Here are a couple of my favorite pictures:

Me & my dad at my baptism

Me & my dad at my 2-year college graduation (mom & dad drove up and surprised me)

The slide show ended with "2008: Lester turns 50!" and a credit-style list of contributors. The movie faded to black and the music faded out. A few moments later, the music fades back in...

"2009...Lester....becomes..........a Grandpa! April 2009"

Alex snapped this shot of their initial reactions (look at Grandma Betty's face...I though she was going to choke!"

The next response was..."Who's Pregnant?" (we do have 4 of us married off...)

I threw a t-shirt at my dad that says "Grandpas Rule" (a reference to his favorite t-shirt "Old Guys Rule")

Then the most amazing thing happened...my parent's eyes got all smallish and squishy. Then their voices got unusually high...then their eyes got all shiny and wettish as they realized that finally, FINALLY, they are going to be grandparents. It was a great day.

We caught this sweet picture of my parents walking to their car after the party, mom carrying dad's balloons, and dad keeping his sweetheart out of the rain (=

(p.s. if it wasn't obvious, I was the one making the big announcement. We are due mid-April (so we don't know if it's a boy or a girl yet...but we do plan to find out. I will keep the blog updated with any pertinent information!)

Breakfast Disaster

)=

I just spilled my Cinnaman Toast Crunch all over my lap and the floor.

Darn.

That was the last of the box.

Humph.

Record Review--Jen is Rock Star

Kalaloch record release tonight!

Check it out! Our record got reviewed in The Portland Mercury (local newspaper)--and it was a great review! (click here)

We are super excited for our record release shows--one is tonight in Portland, and one in Salem next Friday.

Why two? Um...two sides to the record? Tonight is the release of the a-side, and next week we will release the b-side.

We were also on the Mastan Music Hour (click here)--a podcast of local Portland area music (Episode 58)

Lots of exciting stuff going on these days! (Also...it appears that we will indeed be recording a full-length album this fall. Probably a cd...more info later!)

Dance shoes and a plan

Last night at the Ida / Tara Jane ONeil concert (which was amazing, by the way) we were...treated?...to a performance by Fred Nemo. During Tara Jane's set, a homeless looking man with a suitcase approached the stage. He sat purposefully on the steps at the side of the stage and begin to open his suitcase.

At more cautious venues, this may have resulted in bouncers tackling the guy and dragging him out of the show. But, the Doug Fir was pretty relaxed. And apparently this guy is something of a legend.

So, with his long greasy, balding hair and tattered Hazel shirt--he crouched above the suitcase as it creaked open to reveal...his dancing shoes. He carefully removed each hiking boot, tenderly slipped his large dirty feet into the dance shoes, and asked if he could dance on a stool on stage.

The stool was moved to the ground in front of the stage where Nemo climbed atop to "perform" to one of Tara Jane's songs.

Afterwards, he bowed, leaped from the stool, walked back over to his suitcase, tucked the dance shoes away, replaced his hiking boots, and walked out of the room.

Ah, Family Politics...

Kalaloch Tour Part IV (House shows, Hippies, and Home)

Sorry for FOUR new blog entries all at once. I've been busy. And lazy. Both. Now I'm making up for it. But if I don't just blog the whole tour now, I'll never get it done.

So...I would suggest scrolling down and starting with Part I (=

Or...just glance through the pictures. Or...just ignore it all together. You get to choose!

....

So...after San Fransisco and the Oakland show, we crossed the Golden Gate Bridge and headed up Highway 1 (The WINDIEST road in America) to the Redwoods and our next show in Arcata, CA.

The show in Arcata was probably the most successful. It was a house show at a college-house with a great vibe. Arcata itself was great. The fog rolled in as we drove in. After all of the long drives under the high desert sun--it felt like home (= In fact, Arcata felt like a piece of Portland and a sliver of Eugene, OR all emigrated to California. It felt like home. There were college indie rockers, hippies at the Farmer's market, organic food, and recycling bins. Seriously...a bit of heaven after the the dry desert where everything gets tossed out with the Styrofoam.

The show was great. Two other bands played: Clapsnapslapstravaganz and ...shoot. Can't remember. Chick with a guitar + Guy with cello + guest harmonica guy. It was fun. We had some fun jamming moments after the show. There were also some sing-alongs and snap-alongs. We stayed at the Haus that night. Hm...no photos.

After that...we were done. We made about 60 bucks (Which covered about 1 tank of gas and 1 meal). We sold a couple records. We made some new friends.

And...we headed home. We had a few days to kill before Work and Real Life came due...so we took it easy up the coast. We hiked Fern Canyon. GORGEOUS! It's in the Redwoods. I definitely recommend it.

We also saw lots of Roosevelt Elk. I have avoided putting our deer shots up (as they always end up being boring)...but here is an Elk picture. It was a big family crossing of the road. Daddy Elk waited until everyone was safely across before giving the all clear to the cars.

We took some afternoon naps on the beach in the sand. We walked into some beach shops. We ate some food. We stayed in a hotel. And we drove.

This was our last day. We watched an awe-inspiring sunset over the water before turning inland and going home.

Kalaloch Tour Part III (Stretching our Legs in San Fransisco before the long drive up Highway 1)

We stayed in a hotel in San Fransisco. We booked online.


We got what we were looking for: a hotel with free parking in town so that we could park the car all day and walk around San Fransisco. The bonus? The Embassy Hotel is in The Worst Neighborhood in San Fransisco. It's true. Even more homeless than Portland and sirens all night long.

Still, the walking was fun (and exhausting!). We walked through China town (anyone see Big Trouble in Little China? I'm pretty sure THIS is the alleyway.)

We walked UP to Nob Hill. (Wow! Seriously steep. The sidewalks have stairs cut out in places because it is nearly vertical). We walked DOWN to Pier 39 and watched the Sea Lions.


Then we walked UP a bazillion stairs to Coit Tower and looked out over the city.

Then my knees turned to jello and my ankles shattered into a million pieces...so we took the Cable Car home. Did you know that you are supposed to pay $5 to ride? We didn't know. We tried to ask, but the driver said, "Just hold on tight!"













That night we crossed the Bay Bridge and played a show in Oakland. It was...okay. The people there seemed to enjoy the show. But...we were told at 8:10 that we didn't have until 10--we had until 9:00. And the other band (Jonesin) had just gotten there. We made it work. Jonsin's set was really fun--but far too short. Perhaps we played to long. Anyway...it went well. Afterwards, Matt & Jen (Jonesin'...another boy-girl band) took us up to Twin Peaks--a local make-out point where you get a 360 birds-eye view of the whole city. It was gorgeous.