A Charlie Brown Christmas

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

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

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

view out our door

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

The Problem

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

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!

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

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!

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!

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

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

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

free entertainment

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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.