10 reasons to love the snow!

10. NO SCHOOL- means sleeping in, hanging out with my husband and dog, and actually getting to relax on a day off. Sure it sucks to make it up later in the year, but it is greatly appreciated right now.


9. Tired dogs- Let me tell you, Jack is hard to tire out. I can take him on a 5 mile run, and when we walk through the door he is running around like it never happened. But after an 1-2 hour walk in the snow, this dog is CONKED out for a solid hour or two. Awesome.


8. Long walks and crunchy snow- I love the sound of snow crunching underneath my feet. I also love taking Jack on walks in the snow. It is very entertaining and he never looks happier.


7. Inside is SO cozy- After playing outside in the snow, nothing is better than coming inside to a warm cozy house! Throw a little hot chocolate and Christmas music into the mix and it's like a little slice of heaven on earth.


6. Sledding- It's not just for kids! Joe and I had a blast sledding down a huge hill next to our house. Is it weird that we hardly saw any kids sledding? We are 25 and were having more fun than the youngins- no wonder childhood obesity is such an issue in our country! (P.S. Look closely at Jack attacking me as I sled down the hill... it really riled him up!)

5. Playing in the snow in general- Making snowmen, skiing down the middle of a street, and snowball fights are just the tip of the iceberg here. Who doesn't love to revert to their childhood days and just "play"? Good, clean fun :)


4. Dogs- Jack is HILARIOUS in the snow. Seriously, if you don't have a dog, you must get one simply to see him/her be a complete psycho in the snow. It's unreal. Really. Sheer, unadulterated joy. (Look closely at the pic of Jack in the water... he is chasing ducks, of course!)




3. Baking- What sounds better than fresh baked warm cookies when holed up inside on a snow day? Nothing! That is what I think too, which is why I made these delicious chocolate chip ones.


2. It's romantic- Why is everything prettier in the snow? I don't know, but it is, and is extremely romantic to me. Makes me wanna snuggle up with the hub, a warm blanket, and a good movie. FYI- Nighttime walks in the snow are also very romantic :) We took several of them, and they were awesome.

1. A white Christmas- They write songs about it, and everyone wishes for it. Well, it finally happened. Aside from all of the traveling difficulties, I'd say that it was pretty great and "magical". If only I was 8 again it would've been the most amazing thing EVER!!!

Don't eat the yellow snow...

I love the snow. People always complain about weather in the NW, but I think a sunny, warm Christmas would just feel weird. I think cold, wet winters make me appreciate the sunny summers even more. The recent snow storm that has taken over the NW may be dangerous and annoying to some people, but for me it just puts me in the Christmas mood. To celebrate a day off from school, I spent it with (who else?) Jack, my BFF. We went on a 1.5 hour walk around town, and had a blast. Can't wait for his Daddy to get home so he can join in on the fun.

The blur in this photo is not due to poor photography skills or a bad camera... it is due to our psychotic dog that we adore, and he is demonstrating his typical "hot laps" for all to see (this is a daily ordeal for him)

I like to call these "Jack" angels...

Could a dog look ANY happier? Seriously, I don't know if it's possible...

Jack was VERY unhappy about this sign... he kept barking at it... loudly.

Me and my lil' buddy :)

Lots to be THANKFUL for...

Thanksgiving Weekend is awesome. Family. Food. Friends. Football. Sleeping in. Days off. And most of all, perspective. It is easy to get caught up in day-to-day life and feel overwhelmed, stressed, frustrated, etc. I generally feel this way most days lately. However, I really have SO much to be thankful for (you do too!) and this day always helps me remind me of that.

Our Thanksgiving weekend started out awesome and ended ok... Aside from the horrendous traffic (2.5 hours just to get through Tacoma!), it was great. We stopped in Portland to eat dinner with the Joy family, before heading down to the dirty South (AKA Roseburg) to eat dinner with the Newton family. It was so wonderful to spend time with all of our family, both the oldest and newest members (Sinah, Jeb). We really are lucky to have such amazing people around us.

Aside from the typical family events, like food and Catch Phrase, we also got in a good game of basketball and played with LOTS of dogs. On Saturday, we caught the Civil War game on the way back up to Seattle. The game pretty much sucked, but hey, worse things in life can happen. I also ended up getting sick this weekend, which got worse as the next week went on, but all in all, it was a pretty good time.


So sweet :)


The newest member, lil' Jeb, is extremely fiesty and holds his own with the big boys.


She really likes Jack, including biting his fur.


It looks like our niece Sinah is checking out her lil' booty!


I heart this picture.

My how fast they grow...

So, I realize I am a little (or maybe a lot) behind on the blogging. My life has been consumed by mad chaos (aka teaching), and I have neglecting this little guy (among other things). Over the next day or two I will post some new entries in order to fill you in on the last month or so...

November 26: Jack's first birthday. It was a big deal. Had we been in Portland, I would've thrown a puppy party with all of my friends and their subsequent dogs (Merissa-Jack, Mo-Capone, Julie-Ogden, Jessie-Puggles, etc.) However, we were in Seattle, so we had a quaint and intimate "family" birthday party. Here are some pics, which explain the joy felt by Jack far better than I can...








P.S. It took him approximately 12 minutes to open 5 presents and turn our room into this.

One PROUD lady...

I made a last minute decision to go back to Portland this weekend... The soccer team I used to coach, at Philomath High School, made it to the state championships after FIVE YEARS of making it to the quarter or semi-finals, only to come up short. Well, THIS year, they were undefeated the whole season and on Saturday night they took home the state title! The current seniors were just little freshmen when I first started coaching, and I was in awe of how much they've grown! They played awesome and I am SO PROUD of my girls... Even though taking Saturday off to drive down to see the game meant my Sunday really sucked (worked the entire day), it was worth it to be there to support them and give them big hugs after the game! Congrats to all of my lady Warriors :)

Things I am grateful for...

Well, I was going to start this blog by speaking of the things I currently miss due to the time constraints my new job. However, in my attempts to be an eternal optimist, I decided it would be better to first start with the things I am grateful for, and then speak of the things I miss.

Things I am GRATEFUL for: my marriage, Jack, our family, friends, my (exhausting) job, and my health.

Things I have been missing A LOT the past month or so: exercising, sleep, spending QT with Jack, spending QT with the husband, being able to relax at night, cleaning (weird, I know), the flexibility to do what I want, whenever I want, and the peace that comes without having teenagers who are the "good" students in school bitch about... well, anything really.

All in all, things are OK. I am just tired, and miss spending time with my husband and dog. I also miss my friends. Hope to see you all soon :)

Busy weeks, and even busier weekends!

So we just finished weekend #4 of a 5 week stretch of busy plans... One of my oldest friends Merissa, her boyfriend Brandon, and their dog Oscar came to visit. The weather was bad,and the Seahawks were even worse... However, the company was great, the monumental amounts of food we ate was good, and we even had a break of sun on Sunday just long enough for a walk with the dogs....

And finally a couple more...

Let's just say dance party + friends + 80's music= FUN

More pics from the crazy weekend....

A birthday and a baby!

I thought that title would get ya... not OUR baby of course, but the teacher I am filling in for had her baby last Monday (as in a week and a half ago). The baby came two weeks early, which means I've been teaching for a little over a week now and things have been crazy... The transition has been rough, with a lot of long days (we're talking 12+ hour days on a regular basis), but eventually it will get better. Maybe after Thanksgiving?

Given this news, here is a brief rundown of what has been going on in our lives the last week:
-Joe turned 25 last Wednesday and we had a relaxing, but nice birthday celebration at our place... just the two of us, with Jack of course, and we ate a nice meal in (sometimes those relaxing nights are the best)
-Friday 5 of our best friends came up to stay with us for the weekend. It was a crazy, but super fun time. We rocked out playing "Rock Band" on Friday, watched the Beavers STOMP the Huskies at UW, and went out dancing Saturday night. Let's just say it was bananas!! A good time all around, but my weekend might've actually been more exhausting than my weeks are (which is hard to imagine). Here are some fun pics from the weekend...