daddy

we booked tickets to DC for a trip this spring with friends. yay!

this picture was taken at the national zoo when i was a little girl.

i'm the kiddo on my dad's shoulders.

if you are of a prayerful spirit, my dad is in the hospital and could use positive thoughts/prayers.

i think the hardest part about living so far away is when things happen and you wish you could BE there.

not that there is anything i can do, and it is not life-threatening, but it still scares me and

 i wish i could  be home.

So i had some goals....

so i had some goals for my break. which was sadly a week shorter than i had thought.

i think i did really well!

bake bagels (done and delicious, i bought sesame seeds at the market on saturday so next weekend i'm trying sesame seed ones)

write down my must read list in a nifty notebook (done)

finish reading outliers (done & loved it)

walk (done & loved it)

see the nutcracker ballet (done & loved it)

hem some pants (done)

finish up my project 365 (pictures ordered and here, planning on finishing up this weekend at scrapbooking)

drink tea (done & yum)

give (done & loved it)

yoga (not done, sad)

and hopefully blog (done! it was good to get thoughts out and make connections.

this weekend was really great. yesterday we got to spend time with some great friends and eat some yummy greek food. today was spent being lazy. back to work and school tomorrow.

walking

the husband and i have taken to walking around our neighborhood.

one day this week he was at work late so i set out on my own, with glee playing on my ipod.

i enjoyed saying hello to the horses and cows down the street.

watched the little birdies hop hop hop on the side of the road.

wished i had a cute dog to walk with.

wished i had pepper spray when i passed the empty pockets saloon.

walked through campus and down route 66.

a lovely half hour of music and thinking.

the sun was setting over the desert as i walked up to my door and i remembered why i like living in arizona.

it's january and i took a walk in sneakers and a hooded sweater. beautiful!

random post of randomness

i am such a child in that i can only stomach vitamins when they come in gummi form.

fortunately this is a trend. yay!

my husband E made us tempura for dinner last night. i am blessed. it was delish.

i have been cleaning and re-organizing like mad. making space makes me happy. my friend linda always teases me about how i get rid of/purge things but it works for me.

it's been really cold here. i feel odd saying that because growing up in NORTHERN ONTARIO was colder...but like....dude...i can't wear flip flops....and i sometimes have to wear gloves and uggs with my hooded sweater.

i thought school started again on the 18th. i was wrong. it's the 11th. looking forward to it but i feel cheated out of my extra week!

a co-worker/friend lost a long battle with cancer yesterday. i'm happy that she is at peace

but she will be very missed.

bagels!

what a difference a year makes. a year ago i was afraid to make anything with yeast.

i started out making no knead bread. and it was good.

then came pretzels, and rolls, and this weekend;

BAGELS!

the recipe i followed is from Peter Reinhart via this post at the Brown Eyed Baker

i love Michelle's blog and this recipe was awesome.

i really enjoy a good bagel and since moving west i find it harder to come across a good one.

this recipe yielded a chewy, somewhat dense bagel with a crisp crust. delicious!

e loved these and urged me to make a second batch this weekend shortly after he tasted them so we could freeze and toast at will.

up next.....eclairs OR croissants....cast your votes now!

10 life list goals for 2010

on my sidebar i have a list of things i want to do. it's kind of a reminder to live big and dream big. since i started my list i have crossed off some really big ones. going back to school, learning to make bread, and some small but happy things. in 2010 my goal is to cross off at least these 10 below.

Learn to drive stick

Make toffee

Visit DC

Go camping

See monument valley at sunset

Write down my list of must read books and read 10

Make a sand castle

2 push ups

Learn a memory trick for remembering people’s names

Try a raw oyster

2009 was a very good year

it brought a lot of growth and happiness

i:

went back to school

conquered my fear of yeast bread and moved on to pretzels, rolls and bagels

watched e grade papers

missed Canada

took bokeh, glow stick and sparkler photographs

worked on my life list

turned 29

made crème brulee

took a picture (almost) every day
aced all of my classes

fell in love with instant photography again

we:

went to Disneyland

read books

listened to lost of music

made gingerbread houses

aquired a new nephew

saw the nutcracker

celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary

celebrated E turning 30

saw rent, wicked and the lion king

lost people we loved

renovated our bathroom

played

a fond farewell 2009 and every happiness in 2010!