Eagle's Wings

Life as we know it

2011-12-02T14:33:00.001-08:00

Mark gave Caleb a beef stick that he had (still in the package) to play with as a distraction since he was getting tired and fussy. Pretty soon he had fallen asleep, still clutching the beef stick!

I love seeing his personality beginning to come out!

I guess I've been busy lately, considering I haven't posted in over 2 months! I've been teaching a class that's a couple days a week this term and working one full day a week as well. Not much flying, but when I look at the face in these pictures I have no regrets at all. Caleb has recently discovered that he can go places rolling, so he's been all over the place. He also likes to scream for fun... not sure that I'm into that one so much, but I sure like it when he makes other noises, such as practicing talking. Finally after 8 months he's sleeping through the night more often than not, it's not every night and he still doesn't like to go to sleep, but I'll take what I can get. Uninterrupted sleep from 11PM 'til 7AM is great! :)

Other things I've been up to besides playing with Caleb, feeding him, moving him away from the areas of our house that still aren't baby-proofed, removing his hearing-aid from his mouth and putting it back in his ear, etc. are preparing to give the message in middle school group this Sunday, and working on a cookbook. I decided about a month ago to put together a cookbook with our family's favorite recipes along with pictures of the dishes for Christmas gifts... yes, I decided to take on that project with less than 2 months 'til Christmas! It's been a little crazy getting everything together, but it's been fun to work on.

Mark is still busy working both of his "part-time" jobs and then staying home with Caleb while I'm at work. After almost a year leading the middle school group at church he still loves it... just wishes he had more time in the day to prepare for his messages or hang out with students.

Overall we're busy, but incredibly blessed!

6 months

2011-09-21T10:41:00.000-07:00

I can't believe he's 6 months old already! Someone asked if the time has flown by and I told them that the days have but the nights haven't. Just when we think he's getting into a schedule he changes things up on us. I guess he just likes to keep up guessing.

He has pretty well mastered rolling over from his tummy to his back and occasionally gets from his back onto his tummy. His vocabulary is expanding to now include Ds and Ls, coughs, heaving breathing and high pitched screaming just for fun! Lately his favorite thing to do seems to be sharing his milky drool, as everytime I pick him up he either sucks on my neck or my chin... oh well, I've heard milk is good for your skin and I'll just say he's giving me a kiss.

One of the things I've been enjoying the most is the grin he gets when I pull out my guitar and sing. I may not be the best singer or musician, but knowing that my son likes it means a lot to me. :)

There's normally something in his mouth, whether it's a toy, his hand or both

I love his smile!

Caleb's first taste of a vegetable

He liked it eventually

I tried to turn this picture around,
but then figured it represents him pretty well right now
as he enjoys being upside down

Rockin' & Rollin'

2011-08-24T15:46:00.000-07:00

Caleb's 5 months old and finally rolled over for the first time today... diaper changes will never be the same! We started giving him a little rice cereal recently, and after the first bite which he usually makes a face for he gobbles up the rest no problem... usually wanting more. Also he's finally been sleeping through the night consistantly (6-8 hrs) for the last several nights which is wonderful! I never thought I'd be rejoicing over 6 hours of sleep, but it's amazing what a difference uninterupted sleep makes. We were really proud of him for how well he did on our ~10hr. trip out to Idaho for middle school camp. He had his fussy periods, but I don't even like being in a car that long, so I can't blame him. That was his second long trip this summer and we've got one more planned, so hopefully it will go as smoothly.

He's getting bigger

2011-07-18T12:14:00.000-07:00

I keep thinking Caleb's a little baby still, but then I see a newborn and realize how much he's grown. He's 4 months old now and a little over twice his birth weight. We're having a blast with him! He smiles a lot, has started playing with toys, loves playing with his hands and shoving them as far into his mouth as he can, holds his head up while lying on his tummy (although he still doesn't have complete neck support), "talks" and has just started laughing occasionally.
Mark was helping out at high school camp out of town a couple weeks ago, so I had the single-mom experience. Just not having the support when Caleb's tired, crying his eyes out, and there's nothing you can do to calm him down was hard. It's definitely been nice having him back again this last week.
I started flying again a little bit at the beginning of the month, after almost 4 months of being on the ground. It's been hard to get out of the house, but nice to be back up in the air as well.

Happy & sad... still cute!

2011-06-10T14:04:00.000-07:00

He looked so cute in his big boy clothes that I had to take a picture... unfortunately he was hungry at the moment and didn't like the delay in getting fed. I still think he's cute, even when he's screaming. :)

Even though I don't get much done when Caleb's asleep on me, I love how snuggly he is and know he won't be like this forever, so I try to enjoy it as often as I can

I haven't necessarily gotten everything done that I'm supposed to (like dishes), but I've finally gotten a few scrapbook pages done. I'll try to post more soon.

Look who's smiling!

2011-05-25T12:01:00.000-07:00

First dryer ride... he liked it! :)
He's finally smiling

Caleb is actually sleeping right now, and not in my arms, so I have 2 hands to type with! It's the little things in life! :)

Caleb finally started smiling a few weeks ago! Yay! The smiles are still pretty few and far between, but it's sure nice to see a big smile after a long day and night of crying. He still has a really hard time getting to sleep at night and is often up until 2 or 3 in the morning before finally falling asleep. Once he gets to sleep he usually sleeps 4 to 6 hours at a time, but it's the getting him to sleep that's tough. I've spent quite a few nights on the couch now so that Mark can get some sleep before he has to go to work... alas, it won't last forever... I've never known of a teenager who can't sleep and doesn't like to sleep in. :)

Other news, Mark graduated earlier in the month with a 3.95 GPA and was given a couple other awards! I wasn't able to be in for the entire ceremony due to Caleb getting fussy, but I was able to see him get his awards and diploma... I'm really proud of him!

I've been teaching one class this term and will probably be flying a little again in the summer.

The latest

2011-04-28T14:41:00.000-07:00

The whole family

My two favorite guys!

Well, I still don't have time for much of an update. But here is our amazing Caleb... he doesn't like to go to sleep at night, but we still love him. :)

2011-03-25T16:32:00.000-07:00

Well, he came 12 days earlier than expected, but he's here and he's perfect!

Caleb Brian arrived on March 16 at 4:27PM, weighed 7 lbs. 2 oz. and was 21 in. long

Getting closer

2011-02-09T11:13:00.000-08:00

Not a whole lot has changed since my last post, except that the baby's gotten bigger and therefore I've gotten a bit more awkward, but still can't complain.
Mark's loving his job working with the Jr. High and occasionally comments on how he's amazed he's getting paid to do ministry! I'm really glad he's enjoying it... and getting paid. :)
We still have about 7 weeks until the baby arrives, but lots to do in the mean time. We're moving into a new apartment next week, so that should keep us busy, and I'm still working for another couple weeks at least before taking a break.

Growing baby = Growing Jill

2011-01-11T14:56:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been a long time since I posted last, but wanted to let you know what's been going on over the last couple months. I know the baby's not here yet, but I've started a photo-journaling baby album anyway. So far it's been a place to record how the pregnancy's been going, milestones along the way, and at least a picture each month to track baby and tummy growth. I'm really looking forward to the pages that will be added in a few months when the baby arrives, but in the meantime Mark & I are enjoying each day and making sure that when the baby does arrive he or she knows that they've been loved even before they were born.

Other big news is that Mark finished college in December and within a couple weeks had a job as the Jr. High leader at the church we've been attending and helping out in for the last 3 years! God is good!

There are lots of unknowns still ahead, but we're looking forward to what God has planned and seeing what He does through it all.

Coming Attraction

2010-10-29T11:09:00.001-07:00

Mark & I got to see our baby for the first time yesterday, it was pretty amazing! So far everything is looking good, so we're happy. :)

Finally, a new post and new news!

2010-10-04T20:35:00.000-07:00

At long last, here is a somewhat new picture of us (it's actually from August).
Mark started his last and paid for semester of college last month! Yay! We're both excited about him being done in December and whatever is next after that.
I'm still instructing and teaching a ground school class again this term, while also trying to continue with the Creative Memories business.
Other news is that Mark & I will be joined by a third family member somewhere around the end of March or early April, hopefully. No, we're not getting a dog, we're having a baby! :) Needless to say, we're pretty excited!

What's new...

2010-06-03T21:32:00.001-07:00

Last night the middle school group Mark & I help out with at church had an "Oscar Night" where we played videos that the kids had done last month along with giving out awards. It was hilarious and a lot of fun! These are a couple of the movie posters I designed for the event. If you'd like to see the videos they're posted on the youth group's site at www.eugenefaithcentermiddleschool.blogspot.com

Other news... I teach my last class of the term tomorrow morning, then there's finals and we're done... yay for summer. We're hoping that the weather will remember what it's supposed to do in the summer and that the sun will actually come out. Mark's finishing up his last assignments for the term and then has the fall left to go before graduating! Almost there!

Old News and Burning Cars

2010-04-22T09:30:00.000-07:00

For those of you who didn't see the newspaper last month, here it is. One of the local papers did an artical on women pilots and intervied myself and three others out at our flight school... we had fun. :)

Other news: On Monday night, our car decided it didn't like being a car anymore and wanted to be a BBQ instead, so after Mark and the firemen put the fire out (I was hoping if it was going to be toast anyway that we would at least get a show with a good explosion, but no, Mark had to go and put the fire out... no fun at all) and declared it dead we got to walk home wondering what God had planned next. Well the next day Mark bought a new clunker from one of the guys at his school for what he would have gotten at the junk yard he was planning on taking it to. So after getting it jump started, bailing all the water out of it and using almost a whole can of lysol on it to get rid of all the mold, we now have a running car. Now the entertaining part is me trying to learn how to drive it... you would think that since I can fly a plane I'd know how to drive a stick shift, but not yet.

So that has been our last few day. Definately exciting, crazy busy, and still incredibly blessed by God!

Almost There

2010-03-14T20:52:00.000-07:00

Just a short update... This week's finals week! Yay!!! Just a few more days to go until a week break. Mark has really been feeling the need for a break this last month and I have as well, especially this last week, so we're both looking forward to being done with this term. I hope you're enjoying the nice weather and longer days... I will be until I have a night flight to do (getting home from work after midnight is never my favorite)! :)

That's all for now.

My weekend

2010-02-22T09:35:00.000-08:00

This weekend Mark was gone at a conference, so I was home alone, :( but I had time to get some new pages done. My current goal is to get our wedding album done... sometime before I die... and hopefully a lot sooner than that. I'm also working on a digital book of Mark's cycling trip overseas. He has some amazing pictures that I've enjoyed looking at on the computer and there are some great stories from the trip as well, I just don't want them to be forgotten, so that's my other project.

In addition to all that, Mark and I are staying busy with work and school... 4 weeks and counting until the end of the term! Then we're taking an early anniversary trip before starting another term in which I'll be teaching 2 classes... busy, busy, busy... but good. God continues to provide all we need and bless us! :)

Creative Memories Details

2010-01-24T21:56:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone,

I just wanted to let you all know what I’ve been up to lately. In addition to flight instructing I’ve also started a new job as a Creative Memories Consultant. Not that I just needed more to keep me busy, but this is something else I enjoy and I think I’ll be able to encourage others with it as well.

What I’ll be doing is helping equip people with the tools and training needed to organize, preserve, display and share their photos and stories. Since digital photography has become so popular, more and more people are taking pictures; it saves time, is cheaper than film and is much easier to share with everyone using e-mail, facebook, etc. While these are all great, I miss getting to hold the pictures in my hands and look at them anytime, whether the computer’s on or not. I know there are a lot of people who, like me, really love their pictures, but don’t know what to do with them, so I’m going to help get those pictures onto pages where they can be enjoyed and remembered again and again.

What’s great about Creative Memories is that it’s more than just your traditional scrapbook supplier. From organizing tools and digital storybook software to custom card and calendar designs, a photo center and much more, there’s something for everyone.

I’m really excited about this new job, because I’ve always enjoyed photography, design and scrapbooking (both traditional and digital), and now I get to share all of that and help others get excited as well. I’ll be teaching classes and having “Crops” where people can come together to work on their projects, share tools and get ideas from each other. I’m also going to be posting tips about photography tricks, scrapbook design ideas, how to make a nice album on a small budget, speed tools, and more on my website along with a schedule of events, so be sure to check it regularly.

Another thing I’ll be doing is called a “Get Together”. If you are at all interested in any of what I’ve been talking about or know of other people that might be then this is a great opportunity. A “Get Together” is basically a chance to learn about what’s new, get some training tips, new ideas, be with friends, have snacks (which I’ll provide), and if you host there are lots of opportunities to earn free products.

Please check out my website to find out more. If you’d rather not host but would like to come to a “Get Together” let me know as well.

www.mycmsite.com/jlemaire

2010-01-20T12:13:00.000-08:00

I don't have much time to write now, but wanted to post my latest scrapbook pages. Also I just became a Creative Memories Consultant and will have more info. on that soon. In the time being you can check out my website at www.mycmsite.com/jlemaire

Back to busy

2010-01-04T16:31:00.000-08:00

Well, here we go again. I started back at work today for the winter term and Mark starts classes tomorrow. Here are some of the things that have been going on with us.

Falling into Winter

2009-12-08T11:40:00.000-08:00

I just realized it's been a really long time since I posted last, and I don't have much time now to either, but wanted to put up a few pictures I've taken lately. The reason the spiderwebs look white is because they were frozen. It's been really cold out lately... yesterday's high was 32 degrees F. and this morning it was down around 15 degrees F. Brrr, is it almost summer yet?

Soltrek 2009

2009-10-30T10:37:00.000-07:00

This is long overdue, but I finally had a chance last week to do a scrapbook page of Jr. High camp. It was crazy and a lot of fun... hopefully this page at least slightly reflects that. :)

Crock Pot Chicken Chili

2009-10-27T11:26:00.000-07:00

Sorry there's no picture, but here's a recipe I've made quite a few times that I think everyone who's had it has liked, so I figured I'd share it. It's nice since it's a crock pot recipe so I assemble everything in the morning and by the time I get home from work it's done. :) It's also good for the cold weather. I hope you enjoy.

Crock Pot Chicken Chili

Ingredients:
1 – 16 oz. can kidney beans, rinsed & drained
2 – 16 oz. cans chili beans (plain chili beans, no meat/no extras, un-drained)
2 – 14 ½ oz. cans diced tomatoes, un-drained
1 – 15 oz. can tomato sauce (optional, makes it soupier)
1 small or medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced (or 1 teaspoon garlic powder)
2 Tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 ½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules
2 or 3 frozen chicken breasts (plain, skinless and boneless)

Directions:
Combine all ingredients into a 3 quart or larger crock pot, including whole, frozen chicken breasts. Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours. Remove chicken and shred, and then add back in to chili. Serve with grated cheese.

And a few more

2009-10-13T18:23:00.001-07:00

Some Family Portraits

2009-10-13T18:15:00.000-07:00

Another thing I did this weekend while avoiding work was doing some family portraits for some friends from church. I had fun, hopefully they did too.

A new page, finally

2009-10-13T18:09:00.000-07:00

I took part of this last weekend off and did no work at all... I know, that's what weekends are supposed to be for, but I always have stuff to do. Anyway, even though I had stuff to do I didn't do it, instead I did a scrapbook page. This picture is from June, so Ducky is all grown up now, but I liked the picture and wanted to do something with it. Mom took the picture, but I had fun scrapbooking it... and not getting any work done. :)

Back from CA

2009-09-27T21:04:00.000-07:00

No, this is not me, it's my sister.

Mark's mom gave us some chocolate eyeballs which Mark really enjoyed! :)

This is Mark's dad's leaf art... I liked it.

Ducky's all grown up now.

Dad & Mark on tractors.

Mark & I got to spend a little over a week in CA with my parents and alas, now are back in Oregon. I do like it here, but I don't like being so far away from my family.

School started back up for Mark last week and I'm starting another term at work starting Tuesday, so the crazyness has begun. Here are a few pictures from our trip down south.

Long Time No Post

2009-09-11T13:36:00.000-07:00

I didn't think I'd been that busy lately, but aparently I have considering it's been a couple months since I last gave an update. Summer has consisted of moving into a new apartment, working, going to Jr. High camp in Idaho for a week, photographing a wedding, working some more, house sitting for a week, baking while enjoying having a full size oven again and playing with our neighbor's kitten.
Today's the last day of summer term at the flight school, so now we get our summer vacation for a couple weeks before starting another busy term... I think Mark & I are both ready for a break.

Peach Pie

2009-09-11T13:30:00.000-07:00

I know it's almost the end of summer and peach season, but if you can still find some you should try this, it's amazing... if you like peaches... and pie (sorry the picture's not great).

Peach Pie

- Pastry for two-crust pie
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 6 cups pealed and sliced peaches (6 to 8 medium)
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon stick margarine or butter

Heat oven to 425 degrees F. Prepare pastry.

Mix sugar, flour and cinnamon in large bowl. Stir in peaches and lemon juice. Turn into pastry-lined pie plate. Dot with margarine. Cover with top pastry that has slits cut in it; seal and flute. Cover edge with 2- to 3-inch strip of aluminum foil to prevent excessive browning. Remove foil during last 15 minutes of baking.
Bake about 45 minutes or until crust is brown and juice begins to bubble through slits in crust. Cool in pie plate on wire rack. Serve warm if desired.

It's also good with vanilla ice cream. Enjoy! :)

God's creativity

2009-07-18T13:22:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Mark & I got to go out to the coast and see my parents and grandparents who were staying in a campground there. While we were there I got to enjoy and take some pictures of some of God's amazing creations... some of them might seem ordinary, but I think they're pretty incredible. I'd never seen the flowers pictured in the middle before, but all I could think of when I saw them was, "Wow, God's got a crazy imagination!" Who else would have thought of creating a flower that intricate and weird! I liked it, so I figured I'd share it.

Meet "Ducky"

2009-07-04T16:56:00.000-07:00

This is my parents duckling, Ducky, that they hatched. He was the only one that made it, so he's rather spoiled... He gets held, watches movies with the family, runs around the house occasionally and peeps really loud anytime he's left alone. Once he's let out of his box he quiets right down and is happy to follow people around or just snuggle up in someones' lap. Someday he (or she as the case may be) might take off and decide to be a real duck and we'll never see him again, or maybe he'll continue to follow people around and become annoying, but right now he's still a cute little bugger and becoming part of the family.

Family Portraits

2009-06-23T23:07:00.001-07:00

Back to work again after a week long break. Here are some of the pictures I got to take of one of Mark's brother's and family. More to come, but now it's time for bed.

Digital Photography Designer

2009-05-10T20:49:00.000-07:00

Click on image to enlarge

I don't know how busy work will be this summer, but considering it's gotten pretty slow here lately I figured I'd try to supplement it with something else I like doing. So this is my plan. If you know of anyone who might be interested let me know.

My latest projects

2009-04-12T16:53:00.000-07:00

I haven't had much time lately to do creative stuff, but was able to squeez these in a couple weeks ago

Signs of Spring

2009-04-12T16:28:00.000-07:00

Last weekend while the weather was so nice I finally got to take some pictures...

here are some of them.

3 Years!

2009-04-12T16:19:00.000-07:00

Last week was our 3rd anniversary!

I am so blessed!

Two morning's wake up call

2009-03-26T16:17:00.000-07:00

One day last week while getting out of bed I heard a bang on the window. I looked out and there sat a slightly dazed male quail! I felt bad for it having flown into our window, but also took the opertunity to take some pictures at a much closer distance than fully coherient birds allow. After a couple shots he must have been feeling better and seen me moving through the window and flew off. I got another chance though just a couple mornings later when a female quail did the same thing! That time a grabbed my zoom lens and took a lot more pictures to make sure I captured the slightly blind bird... the only thing we can figure is that the lighting is such at that time of day that the quail see a reflection in the window and try to fly through it. We haven't heard it happen again yet, but here are some of the pictures I got when it did.

Life as we know it...

2009-03-06T21:19:00.000-08:00

Life is crazy, and by crazy I mean crazy busy. I know people say, "Just wait until..." you fill in the blank, but I'm trying not to think about it possibly being even busier someday because it seems busy enough now. There is only one week left in the term plus finals week and then we get a week break... maybe. On top of my regular work I'm trying to piece together the class I'm going to be teaching next term... it's coming along, but pretty slowly. Mark spends almost every spare moment studying trying to finish up his external studies classes at the same time as his other classes and get good grades in them all (which he's been doing really well with so far). I wish I had gotten a picture of him the other evening when he fell asleep face down on his books while studying. I've been pretty bad at taking picture of what's been going on with us lately, although it's pretty much the same thing every day... pry ourselves out of bed, inhale breakfast, rush to work and school, sit in my office, get in a plane, get out of a plane, sit in my office some more, come home, eat dinner, study, go to bed. I haven't had much time to do much creative stuff, but here's what I have done in the last month.

a new page

2009-02-08T19:20:00.000-08:00

This is one of my newest scrapbook pages. I know I've posted the picture before, but I figured I'd post the page anyway.

midterm madness

2009-02-08T18:56:00.004-08:00

The winter term is now officially half over... unless you count finals week which I probably should, but I'm trying to think positivly. Mark & I are both pretty well swamped in work & studying.
I've been working long hours, six days a week still as the weather's been good and that's the school's schedule, so it's been busy. Only really having a half day off (since we spend half the day Sunday at church and with the Jr. High) it means a lot of the time is spent playing catch up... laundry, dishes, grocery shopping, cleaning, taking a shower... just kidding, I try to do that more than once a week! I guess I can't really complain though since work means a paycheck which is good.
Mark's taking a heavier load this term than he has since he was in school several years ago, so he's been busy with homework. The nice thing is that his work has been really slow and he hasn't gotten many hours at all, so he has more time to study. And he's enjoying his classes, so that's really good.
In general we're doing good, just busy. I had the crazy nerve to except teaching a ground school class next term, so I guess I'll officially be a college teacher... what was I thinking?! Pray for me! :)

Jr. High

2009-02-08T18:29:00.000-08:00

Mark & I have been helping out with the Jr. High group at church this last year. This is a picture I took of one of the jr. highers who when he heard I had photoshop asked if I could make his head big in the picture... so here's the finished product! Kind of makes you wonder if you can trust anything you see that's digital huh? :)

Bad Make-up Job?

2009-01-29T23:32:00.000-08:00

Nope, it's my very first black eye... well it's more like a red eye, but I'm still very proud of it! One of my co-workers asked if I got in a fight and I said, "Yeah, and you should see the other guy!" but here's the real, not quite as exciting story... Mark & I were playing soccer last night with some other people from the college and I tried to block the ball with my eye... "keep your eye on the ball" right? Maybe not the most intelligent thing to say unless you like wearing what looks like red eyeliner... which I happen to like quite a bit right now! :)

A New Year

2009-01-11T20:01:00.000-08:00

Well, work and school are back in progress, so we're getting busy once again. Last week, before everything started back up, Mark & I were blessed to have a few days off to go down to California to see my family. It was really nice to see everyone again. Adam & Meca and Mark's parents and younger brother even made a special drive out just to see us while we where there... don't we feel important! :) Unfortunately I forgot to get out my camera while Mark's family was there.

The first week back at work was really slow with not many students, but hopefully that will be improving soon. Mark is excited to be taking a full load at school this term and I'm hoping the excitement will last the next 9 weeks as homework and class projects increase. One nice thing is that his job has slowed down so he'll be able to focus on school more... even though an extra paycheck would be nice, I think it's better for him, and God has still been providing everything we need.

As I write this I'm listening to frogs outside and it reminds me of growing up going to sleep to the sound of them and crickets... it's a comfort sound I still enjoy hearing. It's so easy to get caught up in all the busyness and crazyness and then to stress out wondering what we should do and how everything's going to turn out and are we going to make it? Sometimes it's good to just stop and listen.

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." -Jesus (John 14:27)

A Charlie Brown Christmas

2008-12-27T13:27:00.000-08:00

Well, despite me being sick, we still had a good Christmas. Mark & I just hung out at home, ate way too much and watched a couple movies... it was fun. Since we have a really small oven I couldn't do a turkey, so I decided to try stuffing a chicken and cooking it in the crock-pot. It turned out really well, along with the stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy and jell-o. Mark didn't want me to over do it since I wasn't feeling good, but I couldn't help myself... it was Christmas! Incase you haven't actually seen this, I attatched the greatest Chrarlie Brown show ever, so I hope you enjoy it.

Mark's scholarship photo contest

2008-12-26T12:44:00.000-08:00

Planet Beautiful
Brickfish

For those of you who haven't seen this yet, Mark entered a picture he took in a contest online for a possible scholarship. All he needs is more views and more votes. Unfortunately it seems to be a popularity contest and not a talent contest, but it can be voted on multiple times by the same person... you can actually vote multiple times a day, so I'm just trying to get it out as much as possible so he has a better chance... and I think it's a cool picture!

Christmas Traditions

2008-12-24T14:48:00.000-08:00

Today is Christmas Eve and I'm kind of sad because this is the first year I won't be with my family for Christmas... but then considering that I'm 25 I guess that's a pretty good record. Mark & I are spending Christmas together, just the two of us, and then next week we're going down to CA since Mark has a few days off.

This is the latest scrapbook page I've done. The random words on it are a bunch of Christmas traditions I grew up with, or just things that remind me of Christmas... including Charlie Brown's tree.

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!

Another snow day

2008-12-20T14:19:00.000-08:00

view out our door

It snowed again yesterday and it looked really cool so I took pictures... enjoy!

The Problem

2008-12-20T13:34:00.000-08:00

Peppermint bark

Christmas tree cookies

Dipped pretzels

It's Christmas time and I like to make Christmas cookies and candies, so the last couple days I've been making a bunch of stuff (some are pictured above). I normally give a lot away to neighbors, friends, relatives, etc., but when Mark asked me the other day who I was going to give them to this year my response was something like "Ummm... uhh... I don't know yet." and then I went back to making more. So that's my problem... how am I going to get rid of all the cookies and candies I'm continuing to make? We don't have many neighbors and our families are all out of the area. So, if any of you reading this live in the area and want some let me know... if you don't live in the area and want some, please send your mailing address and postage. :)

Winter Wonderland

2008-12-16T15:24:00.000-08:00

This probably isn't very exciting to most of you since it seems like pretty much everyone got snow in the last couple days, but this is what Mark & I woke up to yesterday. It's been really cold and even though the sun is out today the snow isn't melting very fast at all. This morning when we got up it was 13 degrees out and I think the high was supposed to be around 30! Not quite the CA temperatures I grew up with. The picture of the road is what Mark & I dug out with shovels for an hour or two yesterday morning so Mark could go to work... probably about a third of a mile... then he ended up staying home afterall because the main road hadn't been plowed and was really icy and his work found someone to cover him. Oh well, at least we got some exercise!

Finals Week!

2008-12-10T17:04:00.000-08:00

Well, it's the last week of fall term. Mark has his last final tomorrow and I finish up instructing for the term Friday or Saturday, then we have 3 weeks until winter term starts. I haven't decided yet if I should stand out on street corners with a cardboard sign or just be a lazy bum at home... right now I'm leaning towards the lazy bum idea, but we'll see, I might get tired of that after a couple weeks. :)

The Latest Project

2008-12-07T15:31:00.000-08:00

This is what I've been working on the last week or so. The Jr. High pastor at our church asked if I could do a picture with one of the other leaders of "Busted Halos" which is the theme he's going to have for his messages starting next week, so here it is... and very large! It's a 36 by 48 inch print that's going to be kind of the background on the stage. It hasn't been hung yet, but already it's weird seeing one of my pictures that big! I'm glad it worked out though... and that it's done now. :)

A Little Christmas Cheer!

2008-12-05T18:28:00.000-08:00

I heard this song on the radio today and had to laugh. Here's a web-site that has it free to download. Enjoy!

"Toy Packaging" by Sara Groves

http://blog.beliefnet.com/gospelsoundcheck/2008/11/free-christian-music-download-1.html

24 Days 'Til Christmas!

2008-11-30T19:59:00.000-08:00

I know this isn't anything spectacular, but even though it's no 8 foot tree, I like our little 2 foot Christmas tree. Mark & I both had Thanksgiving and the day after off of work and school, so I busted out the Christmas decorations and music as soon as it was legal to do so! :) Now as soon as we get home in the evenings, the Christmas lights are the first ones to come on and they make me smile... what can I say, I like Christmas!

Emery Rose

2008-11-23T14:44:00.000-08:00

This is our beautiful niece Emery Rose Lemaire! I wish I could take credit for the picture, but credit for that goes to Danny Lemaire... I just designed the page because I couldn't resist.

Tasty Tortilla Soup

2008-11-18T22:13:00.000-08:00

I don't know why it's called tortilla soup since it doesn't have tortillas in it, but it's still good, so I thought I'd share it. Mark & I have made this a couple times and really like it. It's super easy since it's made in the crock pot and for those of you who don't like working with raw meat it's great since the chicken goes in frozen and comes out cooked! Enjoy! :)

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Ingredients:

- 1 (10 oz.) can whole, peeled, drained & mashed tomatoes

- 1 (10 oz.) pkg. frozen corn

- 1 can black beans, drained

- 1 small onion, chopped

- 2 cloves garlic, minced

- 1 (4 oz.) can chopped green chili peppers

- 1 (10 oz.) can enchillada sauce, mild

- 1 tsp. cumin

- 1 tsp. chili powder

- 1 tsp. salt

- 1/4 tsp. black pepper

- 2 frozen chicken breasts

- 1 (14.5 oz.) can chicken broth

- 2 cups water

- 1 Tbsp. chopped cilantro (opt.)

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in crock pot, cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours (or on high for 3 or 4 hours). Remove chicken and shred, then add back to the pot. Serve with chips, cheese, sour cream, guacamole or anything else that sounds good... now wasn't that easy?! :)

Salt Creek Falls

2008-11-12T22:44:00.000-08:00

free entertainment

2008-11-02T15:42:00.000-08:00

Incase you haven't seen this you should check it out. It's pretty funny even without the sound. Be prepared to be amazed... well, maybe just surprised.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pv5zWaTEVkI

Jill's first attempt at carving a pumpkin

2008-11-02T13:43:00.000-08:00

I know this may come as a shock to you, but I'm 25 years old (that's not supposed to be the shocking part) and until last week i'd never carved a pumpkin!... or maybe that's not too shocking. Anyway, last Wednesday night at jr. high we did pumpkin carving and I got to try it for the first time. The funny part was when we asked one of the other leaders if she was going to carve one and she said probably not because she wasn't very good at it. So I told her I'd never done it at all before and then she jumped up and grabbed a pumpkin to carve! Well, I thought it was funny. So here's a picture of my first attempt. The one with the scary face is Mark's, it was a multiple personality pumpkin and there was a happy face on the other side. Enjoy!

Quinn's Football Game

2008-10-30T22:09:00.000-07:00

This is our other nephew, Quinn. We got to go to one of his games while we were in Reno which was quite intertaining considering it's 8 and 9 year olds running around in full football padding. His nick-name is "Captain Crunch" because he loves to tackle... whether it's the person with the ball or not, and at the right time or not! It was fun!

Better late than never

2008-10-30T19:46:00.000-07:00

Well, this is way over due, but here are some of the pictures I took while we were in Reno last month. This is Mark with his brothers, our new niece, Emery, and two of our nephews, Nathan and Lucas. It was fun getting to spend time with everyone out there.

Coming soon:
Quinn's football game
&
Jill's first attempt at carving a pumpkin

Details

2008-10-13T22:22:00.000-07:00

Mom & Dad got me a zoom lens for my birthday which is sweet! Here are some of the pictures we took with it on our trip.

Happy Anniversary Adam & Meca!

2008-10-13T21:35:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is my brother and his wife's 2nd anniversary, so I figured now was a good time to post some of the pictures Mark & I took of the wedding. Happy Anniversary guys! :)

Of Moles And Army Men

2008-10-09T22:16:00.000-07:00

While Mark & I were in CA last month, we got to watch and help Adam put together a short video for one of his classes. The story line was pretty simple... big furry mole attacks army men (I wish I had gotten a picture of the mole, it was classic. It was a bouncing/shaking stuffed animal that was about the size of a grapefruit and slightly disturbing looking... especially considering it was a kids toy). Here is the behind the seens footage of the production crew that will be worth millions when the video makes it to the big screen.

JD Photography

2008-10-09T21:16:00.000-07:00

This summer while I wasn't working (I wasn't working because the weather was too beautiful for people to be flying in), I decided that instead of standing out on a street corner with a cardboard sign saying a poor flight instructor needed money that I would put my photography training to use... the result was JD Photography. It didn't keep me nearly as busy as I would have liked, but I did get to do some senior portraits and that was fun.

Busy once again

2008-10-03T12:07:00.000-07:00

Well, I've been meaning to post some pictures from our CA/NV trip last week, but I still haven't found time to. The fall term started on Monday so I'm back at work 6 days a week with 10 students scheduled. Mark's taking a Greek class at EBC this term and working part time aswell. I got kind of lazy over the summer because it was so slow at work I had all kinds of free time, but now it's busy again and I'm not quite used to it. I hadn't found time (or maybe it was that I hadn't made time) to unpack my stuff from being in CA and NV for a couple weeks, so after it just sitting on the floor for several days Mark finally unpacked for me... I feel like a bum, but it was really nice of him.
We had almost 2 1/2 weeks off between summer and fall terms... unpaid of course, but time off none the less. We spent about a week in Wheatland getting to see all of my family, and then about a week in Reno getting to see Mark's family, so it was really nice. The one bad part of the whole trip was that our car decided to go kaput and was going to cost more than the car is probably worth at this point to fix it. So we're on a car hunt while borrowing one of my parents' cars in the time being. I'm really glad we made it all the way out there and back though, it was a good trip.
Well, I'm on my lunch break at work right now so I can't post pictures, but I will try to soon.

Jill's Old Friends

2008-09-01T14:32:00.000-07:00

When Mark & I were down at Mom & Dad's in August, I got to see the sheep again and my old friend, Elizabeth. She's not doing the greatest anymore, but considering that she's 12 1/2 years old and has had 17 lambs, I'd say she's doing pretty well. It's always nice to go out into the field and see Elizabeth bringing the group over to say hi. All the other sheep in the pictures are somehow related to her (daughters, grand-daughters, etc.), but she's the oldest, the friendliest and still the leader of the flock.

Rural Kayaking

2008-08-19T21:05:00.000-07:00

A long time ago my brother and some of his friends made a video of urban kayaking... it involved someone getting in a cardboard box, with ores, in a city fountain... unfortunately the video has since been lost. After seeing that video however, I've discovered that using a real kayak, in a slightly larger body of water, where you're not looking over your shoulder for the security guards just works better. This is Mom, Dad, Mark & I kayaking in Mom & Dad's pond.

Disclaimer: Children do not try urban kayaking without proper floation devices.

5 year intern anniversary!

2008-08-16T18:47:00.000-07:00

This year marks five years since we all interned down at Old Oak Ranch! I can't believe it's been that long already. We were missing a few, but it was great getting to see everyone that was able to make it out to Diggs wedding.

Diggs & Emily's Wedding

2008-08-15T20:40:00.000-07:00

One of the interns Mark & I worked with at Old Oak Ranch got married last week, so we got to go down to CA. to celebrate with them.

More oldies

2008-08-05T19:23:00.000-07:00

These are some more oldies... in other words the flowers are dead now.

Oldies but goodies

2008-08-05T18:53:00.000-07:00

Spring Blossoms

2008-07-28T22:21:00.000-07:00

Our miniture garden

2008-07-28T22:06:00.000-07:00

This is one of the plants in our happy little garden back in May... before the bugs and deer invaded and decided to have a midnight snack.

This is one that's survived the raids, but like the rest of the plants in our garden it doesn't seem to know how to grow. I think we've got dwarf plants, because they seem to be mature with blossoms on them and everything, but after 2 months, they're still only about 6 inches tall! I don't get it.

Sky Camp

2008-07-28T10:08:00.000-07:00

Mark had the opertunity to help out at our church's high school camp a couple weeks ago. I had to work during the week, but was able to go visit a couple times and then flew over one day between students. It's a really cool camp, right on the lake, and the leaders go all out to make it a great week for the youth. Mark had a lot of fun working in the kitchen, but came home wiped out... in the first 48 hours of being back he slept 30 hours!

Fresh off the press

2008-07-27T21:44:00.000-07:00

Here's the newest of Mark & I... no spandex this time. :)

4th of July bike ride

2008-07-23T21:35:00.000-07:00

Mark & I went on a bike ride on the 4th of July since we both had the day off, and Mark took this picture along the way... try to ignore the spandex! It was a pretty ride, but kind of tough too since I'm not in the greatest shape.

More of Oregon's Coast

2008-07-23T13:58:00.000-07:00

Oregon Coast

2008-07-23T13:18:00.000-07:00

These are some of the pictures taken on our trip to the coast back in March. We stayed in a place right on the water and got to see some really beautiful sunset.

A New Page

2008-07-19T12:27:00.000-07:00

As I write this I'm kind of wondering why I'm starting another web-page. I've had a couple in the past and I've always neglected them... no new stuff, people stop looking at them... including me. Eventually I even forget the web address and password so to dust they return. While I can still remember my last web-site's log-in info I'm going to delete it, so this will be it. My hope is to post pictures as stuff is going on with Mark & I... or just as I take random pictures for those of you who like to see them. So here I go again... I feel like I've just made a new year's resolution that's destined to crash and burn, but maybe I'll do better this time. :)