during the winter there is never a lack of excitement at the cabin.

we were trying to drive out on wednesday so i could get to a church meeting, parents could visit grandparents, go grocery shopping, etc. that didn't happen. it had snowed at least 12 inches and the truck was doing ok until we got to the turn at the top of a hill and it would just slide into a snow bank.

my dad gets a wee bit intense in the situations. typically us kids just do what he says, when he says. colton did not just sit back and listen to orders. he thought his plan was better than my dad's. which led to interesting conversations between the two :)

nelson showing the amount of snow the truck had been plowing through in our attempt to get out.

we shoveled away the wall the truck was stuck in. shoveled to try and level the road a bit. inserted boards and sand for the truck to drive on and got it out on the first real try. as my dad said, "that went a lot easier than i thought". i guess if you've dug away the entire road then it gets a little easier.

here are the champions with the car removal/saving tools.

so about the same time we were trying to leave a tree fell on a power line and took out both the power and phone lines. so we were unable to communication with the outside world and slept in a cabin that got down to 44 degrees during the night.

nelson, colton and i hiked out then next day and caught a ski bus down. oh how exciting :)

p.s. yes my dad did wear a santa baseball cap throughout the entire dilemma.

for shaw shaw of co co.

merry christmas!!

so nycole and i rent a studio apartment my aunt has above the garage. we love it. here are some pics.

we share a room.

i used these tutorials 1 & 2 to do the above dressers. knobs are scavenged from anthro of course (i managed to get most on clearance).

the bedroom doesn't have a closet so we have two clothes racks that we use. the dresser was my great grandmother's which i got to take over from valery who originally inherited it (woot woot :)

i love the dresser top. random orange tree to hold necklaces? check. awesome photo of poppies given by lamia? check. box made with vintage paris maps by alex? check. gorgeous frame with message that i am "the breast" by jessique? check. color me mine bowl depicting downtown feng yuan and the tunnel of death massacre? check.

party of the christmas variety

so nycole and i had a little christmas party last thursday. we definitely enjoyed it :) we put up tons of lights, got a tree up and decorated and served a delightful spread of food.

rolo pecan pretzels

chocolate peppermint crinkle cookies
red velvet cupcakes!

avocado bean dip

cranberry, cilantro, jalepeno, cream cheese dip (nycole has a name for this which i've forgotten)

and punch

b the w. the cranberry-cilantro-jalepeno-cream cheese dip is fantastic i couldn't get enough of it. i'll have to have nycole jot down the recipe so i can share.

yay for parties and yay for chrismas :)

i think the niece and nephew will appreciate this.

so each year i read atlas shrugged again...just because i love it so much. and this video is hilarious!! hehehe.

i am missing these babes something fierce!!

[pic stolen from sister's blog ]

christmas lights at temple square.

i kept thinking i just need to get through with my church's christmas party. well now i just need to get through collecting the auction money and buying christmas for the spanish branch. whew.

i have ripening avocados and nachos are now all i think about...

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from my grandfather:

to polly: "at this new school you attend, do they properly honor you?"

about parfaits: "no thank you. i'm not sure i trust granola."

"if i weren't born mormon or had never joined the mormon church, i'd be an alcoholic. because i like drinks just so much...not milk or water but sodas and juice"

"descartes was eating a parfait in a restaurant. the waitress came by and asked if he would like some more to which he replied, 'i think not' and then he vanished."

about the over-the-top musical number my grandmother is having her grandchildren perform at her church: "mary (my grandmother), no one will know if we just play the cd and mouth the words. and we'll sound much better."

ode to you...most recent favorite coat of mine. as i learned of your most likely demise today i proceeded to place my repressed frustration of recent events (insert knee injury) into my reaction. this in no way diminishes my love for you and sadness at our relationship's end.

you were bought for my trip to chicago and served that purpose magnificently. you were warm on the really cold mornings. you were long enough to provide more modesty when i neglected to change after morning intensives and wore you over bike shorts and a tank top. i could easily leave my purse behind as your 4 roomy pockets held my keys, wallet, cellphone, camera, carmex and hair things. your hood covered up my ridiculous mulan hair and protected it from rain.

i grew close to you in chicago and embraced those memories as our relationship continued in slc. you endured the haunted corn maze...in fact numerous times as silly boys tried to scare me you held on to me close :) we continued to endure sans purse as i fully utilized the additional 2 pockets i discovered had never been unstitched. you provided additional coverage when i felt self conscious in my astro pants. always an easy pick on fall/winterish mornings because of your length, warmth and hood. you stuck with me on one of our final outings...the infamous adventure club trip where i took a fall.

dearest coat, who knew your demise would be at the hands of my pie baking grandmother and hot hot temperatures of her laundering.

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adventure in eureka

so. i tore my acl. on my left knee. funny story.

we started a group called the adventure club. we go on adventures. it's kind of awesome. well our first major adventure club activity was to drive down to eureka, ut and explore the abandoned mining towns.

well it was a really cold and windy day (a huge storm was coming in that night). at one point i was climbing on top of these cement wall type things...and goofing around...when a gust of wind came and blew me off. so as to not land in a pile of rubble, i propelled myself towards a cement area, that's safer right?

i tried to land on my feet which caused my left knee to buckle and collapse. ick.

so two of my guy friends were on the other side of the wall and saw me go down. i eventually got up and realized i couldn't put any weight on my knee (which was scary since every time i dislocated my knee before, i could at least hobble on it). so one of the guys very chivalrously carried me back to the car.

i felt a wee bit ridiculous about getting hurt and really wanted to stop for some liquid nirvana so we continued the adventure as planned and stopped at art city trolley.

i confided in the girls that my knee was swelling something awful and we decided to ditch the boys and head to the emergency room. b the w, if it isn't a true emergency the er is quite a waste of time, they recommended i see an orthopedic surgeon on monday.

so unable to walk, nycole really rescued me. she procured a cane; drove my car for me from eureka, to the er, to our place; helped me pack for thanksgiving in washougal; drove me to ward council and my grandparents; and walked next to me everywhere so i wouldn't slip on the snow or ice.

so on monday, my mom took me to an orthopedic surgeon who confirmed that yes, i had torn my acl. i was quite immobile and uncomfortable so he volunteered to drain my knee...60 cc's. it did make me much more comfortable.

it's been a week of ice and advil and i'm finally starting to feel more confident walking...hurrah!!

i will most likely need repair surgery sometime in january.

anyway, my knee saga continues :)

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since my family's untimely departure from texas i have begun to love tv shows filmed in texas. the good guys being one of them :) love the accents, love the dallas skyline, love the 'stache.

"let's go bust some punks!"

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:)

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trying to look on the brightside of life. and drinking all my water and juice out of an ikea wine glass (alex style :)

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feeling this way more and more.

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one of my favorite things about grey's anatomy (still a guilty pleasure...except i don't really feel guilty about it) is how often christina's character dances away.

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mmm...oreos.

so i kind of moved and no longer have daily internet access...for now. and i kind of love it. instead of surfing blogs/facebook/watching hulu/etc. i read before i go to bed. i turn on the lamp next to my bed and read. what a novel idea yeah? (he he he...)

AND i'm looking forward to a party tonight, fall favorites, which is guaranteed to include cupcakes (nycole style) and homemade mac n cheese. meaning extra cheesey creaminess goodness. harry potter premiere!! i'm also looking forward to thanksgiving (reinsert lamia, the jacksons, and washington family into my life...fyi i'm not including the dog here). shopping with polly at h&m, she came up with this idea :) football games! not watching but playing!! oh and i'm loving the all christmas music radio station. brilliant.

two gifts wrapped...about a bazillion (it seems) to go. never fear. i found an awesome idea for nephew yesterday. it has me pretty excited :)

and i'm getting my hair cut (finally) friday morning. nycole hooked me up with the hair dresser/cutter/whatevs and we had a fun chat on the phone, after i drastically told her, "i have very thin hair."

i'm getting so close to balancing in forearm balance and handstand. it's a constant check of:

1. push through the ball of the foot, spread the toes

2. tuck tailbone (which once you get upside down all directions get mixed up...kind of hard)

3. pull in abdominals/use core!

4. wrapped shoulders, push into the floor and essentially grow

it's exciting. if you haven't tried a handstand in awhile i highly recommend it. i like to do them against the wall a couple times a day.

as i was driving down the freeway passing a huge overhanging green sign about a million birds took flight. it was an awesome sight of the black birds against a blue sky with the green sign hanging out.

and the leaves have turned that awesome yellow color which makes me want to paint everything merigold yellow.

p.s. i'm not sure where i found the picture documenting two chocolate chip cookies with nutella in the middle but the author is definitely genius...like einstein genius.

one bonus to colder weather.

my feet turn to chucks for the winter :)

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i love red and orange poppies. i remember them from california when i was growing up. but i experienced a resurgence in spring of 2005 when i lived in the suburbs of paris. you'd see the poppies riding the train across the countryside, my daily ride into paris, and in the artwork. lams gave me a photograph with beautiful contrast, a gorgeous blue sky and poppies (even more dramatic than the one above).

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i had a chance to assist my forrest teacher brande yesterday for one of her classes. she had wrist surgery earlier this week and couldn't do hands on adjustments very well so i got to! the exhilaration or high you get from teaching and assisting in classes is amazing. at the end of the class when everyone is laying in savasana you can see their energy pulsing and filling the room.

i saw on facebook last night that they cancelled all forrest yoga classes at centered city yoga due to a lack of attendance. i know i'm a wee bit ridiculous but this made me really sad :( a good forrest yoga class leaves you feeling so powerful and connected. bronwen, who was teaching there would frequently sing during savasana, make jokes about elvis and would ask me how i was doing twice when she knew i wasn't quite telling the truth.

i stopped by my grandparents house to visit on tuesday which happened to be election night. they were set up with peanut m&ms, popcorn, rootbeer, chips, all for watching the results. and they were SO excited.

now my grandfather fell down the stairs about 2 months ago and broke his pelvis and collar bone. he spent almost a month in an assisted living center doing physical therapy etc. so when i saw him up and walking around i told him that he looked great. he responded, "i'm still not doing too well." then leaned in and whispered with a smile, "i'm trying to avoid the obnoxious tasks!"

my grandmother tends to boss him around, "father get this, father do that, etc." well we watched the elections for about 10 minutes when my grandmother brought out a king size quilt (she makes one for each of her grandchildren when they get married...she has over 75). she sets it on the table and then says, "father, come take out the basting stitches." he slowly gets up out of his lazy boy, sits down at the table and begins to slowly pull out threads with a sewing pin.

i come over and help and we talk about my family, etc. at one point i can tell he is frustrated with this menial task and yells out, "i bet stan doesn't have to pull out basting stitches!!!" (stan is my dad and his son).

my grandmother ignores the statement and says, "we can eat dinner as soon as you're done pulling out your basting stitches" (her pronoun selection is fantastic).

my grandfather continues to make comments every 5 minutes or so:

"i didn't sign up for this slave labor!"

"why couldn't you have done the stitches in red so someone can actually see them!"

after she makes another comment on his holding up dinner, "we could eat on the floor like indigenous people!"

my grandfather's comments are in good fun...he typically looks at me with a sly grin on his face afterwards. one of my favorites of the night however was about the musical number my grandmother is planning.

she has invited all of her children and grandchildren to sing a musical number at her church the day after christmas. there will be a harp, 2 cellos, 3 violins and a flute. she has burned the music divided up into parts on cd, organized practice times which start this weekend, etc. so it is quite the production. well, as i'm obligingly listening to the cd and singing along with my grandmother (she has turned off the election results for the time being) my grandfather says,

"i think you should just play the cd instead. tell all the grandkids to mouth the words. no one will know the difference. in fact it will probably sound better!"

again i turn around to see him chuckling and smiling as if to congratulate himself on what a good joke.

my grandmother and grandfather are quite the pair.

flamingos

i kind of love this.

the countdown to christmas has begun!!! which means i'm trolling diy sites for christmas present ideas (etsy i'm looking at you). just in case i do decide to use something, i'm not going to post about it here...yet. but i did discover a site the other day that was way cool awesome. 20x200.com

(limited edition prints x low prices) + the internet = art for everyone

i've definitely found some i love:

photograph of an art deco swimming pool. love the style of art nouveau/art deco. it all started (for me) with hector guimard in paris.

now this is said to be a birch forest. i look at it and see quaking aspens. which i love. which turn a fantastic yellow in the fall. a color which my grandfather said i could have. he gave it to me.

p.s. reading the artists description of the birch forest again, she talked about incorporating avocado coloring into the painting. avocados totally fall in the love column for me. and now i'm realizing unconsciously when i generated a random blog template with colors...i have an avocado themed blog. cheers :)

do not be alarmed...

but i totally got into this pose (yogi's sleep) yesterday in brande's forrest class. my hips and shoulders are officially open. now to work on my hamstrings.

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i brought home a yogi! :)

i met kim at the forrest teacher training and convinced her to come and visit in salt lake. we've done yoga classes, ate at the red iguana, hot tubbing in the snow, cupcakes, round robin yoga and hatches chocolate, amongst other things. so fun.

the beach in the chicago is quite cold in october. the water is freezing. yet this little girlie has no fear. she walks straight for it, val or i will pull her away setting her down in the sand and she immediately heads for the water again.

b the w. she is the most darling little thing. check out her skinny jeans and way cute shirt (buttons up the back :). seriously...if only that shirt came in my size. of course she is still rocking the pixie cut 'a la' michelle williams:

oh liva...i forsee a stylin' future little miss.

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my nephew the photographer 2

my nephew's latest camera escapades. he definitely likes to get up close and personal with people, see last year's.

[photos by nephew ]

our first weekend teaching ana said to wear bright bold colors. a teacher's body should be seen. well i'm the queen of black yoga pants (there were a few of us). ana wears reds, pink, blues and tons of tie dye. so i'm working up to it. i should probably go for something like the top option but i'm definitely drawn to the bottom (very dark :).

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this will be my sister valery and me for the next few days. talk talk talking. of course insert adorable babies jumping across the bed :)

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glorious fall weather in chicago. so much for all the fuss about how cold it would be.

a bunch of fellow trainees and me on the beach here. truly amazing ladies.

so what a cool way to get old mismatched chairs to work seamlessly together yeah?

[designsponge...of course]

so. i got into head to ankle on both sides today. booyah.

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so at the forrest yoga training we paired off with 'nutrition buddies'. someone that became an automatic friend/confidant. we talked about our nutrition issues (mine being sugar), we played the secrets game together, essentially it is someone that is available for support/to talk to during the training.

well one of our homework assignments was to discuss our own personal ethics and jenna (my nutrition buddy) and i decided to shop and eat while chatting :)

we hit up lululemon (b the w yoga teachers get 15% off everything...woot woot!) and ate at flat top grill for dinner. way yummy. you grab a bowl and it's buffet style stir fry. pile as much veggies, rice, noodles, sauces, etc, that you want and they stir fry it up for you. i got brown rice and noodles (in retrospect jenna and i both think we'd go with just noodles next time), asparagus, carrots, green peppers, pineapple, potatoes, broccoli, and chicken with garlic black bean sauce. so so so tasty. it's a flat price so we piled our bowls super high (the guy in front of us demoed how to get the most stuff in your bowl...noodles on top) and ate the left overs for lunch.

unfortunately i didn't take any pictures even though i thought about it and brought my camera. suffice it to say it was yummy and makes me want to have stir fry more often (lams and j-dawg remember the stir fry we had at the villa!? so good).

three more days of early morning intensive yoga practices. two additional days after that of instruction. it's crazy how fast the time has flown.

cucumber feta toast

saw this tasty treats a little bit ago and it's stayed on my mind. then again most things involving feta do :)

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i've been spending around 11 to 12 hours a day at generations yoga studio in wilmette, illinois. i was caught doing this during our lunch break a few days ago:

sleeping in the bolsters :)

i originally heard this version of be still my soul in an episode of alias. i loved it. it has been running through my head again for a couple of weeks now. still love it.

this little guy climbs into bed with me most nights.

he says, "kay kay, cuddle wif me."

it really is just so melt-to-the-floor cute.

p.s. lams he loves the shirts :)

much of our teacher training has been focused on change. ana provided us with her formula for change:

1. catch yourself doing behavior

2. take many deep breaths to reset your energy

3. congratulate yourself for having caught behavior

4. take a step that puts you in a healing path or direction (as you do this you will develop a repertoire of steps)

one example of something that ana says to investigate is our addiction to foods or certain types of foods. me, sugar. me, addict.

so when i'm craving sugar because i'm bored, sad, tired, etc., i should catch myself in the craving...hopefully pre-ice cream scooping process (because as saint like as i'd like to be, once a bowl is scooped there's no stopping). congratulate myself on being self aware enough to have caught the behavior. then do something.

keeping in mind, "don't make changes to the extreme as it sets you up for failure". one thing recommend was if you're craving something 'sweet' then do something that feels sweet to you.

now it's hard for me to conceive of something that would be a sufficient 'sweet' replacement but even just recognizing what was the catalyst behind the craving i think is a step in a good direction.

hmmm. interesting.

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