marae and b-e-n

playdate

2011-07-24T19:35:00.003-06:00

a while ago some of our friends moved, so ben helped them pack the van and their baby boy came over for a play date. i'm hoping that nora's behavior isn't too indicative of her future...

i'll take that

and that

and don't mind if i crawl on you

and sit on you

or steal the toy you brought.

poor, defenseless boy. though he did take it all in stride, and when it was time for him to nap i just laid him on the floor with his blankie and closed the door. then i took a half hour to put my squirmy girl to sleep (she takes breaks to play, rest, bite my toes, repeat...). funny babe.

i love this picture of her looking out the screen door as ben drove away.

sunday school

2011-07-17T22:50:00.004-06:00

ben and i teach 4/5 year-olds in primary. it is a little bit fun and funny, but mostly inspires comments out of me like, "can we move soon?" but my comments are (sometimes, sort of, supposed to be?) facetious.

the hard part is mostly that it is from 2:00 to 4:00 pm -- two hours of sunday during which nora nearly falls, then eventually does fall, apart. and adding other attention/energy-requiring activities to that can be trying.

but i was just thinking about church today and even laughing to myself a little. i usually sit by a little boy during sharing time who is generally all over the place and needs to be focused on something or saying or doing something. so every few seconds/minutes he whispers "teacher!" then tells me a secret, like:

"teacher, i fell out of my bed this morning."
"teacher, my name is bob now."
"teacher, a wedgie is when you pull up your pants reeeally high in the back."
"teacher, i want a pretzel."
"teacher, look--" (unbuttons two chest-buttons of his church shirt and pulls each side apart to reveal a buzz lightyear costume)

he also likes to put the end of his shoelace into his mouth, pull it tightly, and pluck it like a bass.

and yet another aspect of teaching four and five-year-olds:

"teacher, i need to go to the bathroom."
"do you think you can wait until we're finished with our game?"
"no."
"okay, everybody line up and we'll take a bathroom break."
(at this point about 15 seconds have elapsed since she asked to go to the bathroom)
"teacher, i just peed in my underwear."

birthday babe

2011-07-12T19:22:00.005-06:00

nora is one today. we can hardly believe it!
she's been walking for a few weeks, and has been a pretty good sleeper for months now.
she loves to smile and play and crawl on our heads in the morning.
we love her...

her first morning

first birthday morning

i took nors on a walk to a park today, where she walked and crawled on all of the play things like a very big girl. swinging was scary today, though.

by dinner time she was so very tired. the following pictures are making me laugh a lot right now.

she had mango/pineapple/banana/coconut ice creamy stuff for dessert, and we got her her own chocolate bar to dig into instead of cake, but she was far too tired to take the wrapping off.

and here she is about ten minutes later, conked out among toys, a balloon, an unopened present (chapstick. don't worry, she doesn't eat it)...

new tricks

2011-07-01T16:53:00.002-06:00

pictures of our favorite

2011-06-12T20:24:00.006-06:00

nora is so much fun these days--waving and shaking her head and on the verge of walking.
she's 11 months today.

abq aquarium and gardens

2011-06-06T10:29:00.004-06:00

here we are at the aquarium the other day. we also walked around the gardens and farm--everything was gorgeous! i could walk around for hours (if it was 10+ degrees cooler). nora was a bit zoned out by the time we went inside the aquarium, but i think she liked staring at all of the colors.

still singing praises to royal jordanian

2011-06-06T10:07:00.002-06:00

our flight back from damascus was pretty last-minute. we had the choice between a 24-hour flight and a 35-hour...and chose 35 hours to save $1000. we were definitely prepared for the worst.

first item of good news: a snack and a meal on our first 2-hour leg (we always starve when we fly, for some reason).

we flew from damascus to aleppo, then to amman, where we were anticipating staying nine hours in the airport. when we got there at 1:00 am, we went to ask where to find our stroller. the nice men said that they'd find it for us, then take us to the shuttle to our hotel. what welcome words! it was so nice to get a few hours of sleep before the very long flight ahead, and to have the men figure out the transit visas and everything for us.

the rest of the story is too long and not very exciting, so i will leave you with these pictures of us lounging about our hotel in amman in the middle of the night.

ben checking email and nora matching the bed cover

apples before sleep.

back so soon

2011-05-03T15:14:00.003-06:00

we have returned!

our stay in syria was shorter than planned, but every bit wonderful. we're so glad we went.
our 35 hour trip home was great, despite the horrendous final four hours in the back seats of a tiny plane (don't ever let them put you there when you haven't slept for 24 hours. those seats don't recline).

here are a few pictures. off to the library now!

just-woke-up nora playing on the couch (marble floors prevented much floor time)

part of our living room

our garden and lovely waterfall

a music video on tv

and camel racing.

brrr...

2011-02-04T16:59:00.000-07:00

it's cold here!

when ash and martha came

2011-01-02T12:13:00.004-07:00

while we were in new hampshire, ben's aunt martha and uncle ash visited.
we had such a great time with them!

martha got nora her first toy

ash took this great picture of nora smiling at martha

the three went hiking--this is ben and martha crossing treacherous waters

ash and ben

when we were in maine

2011-01-02T12:02:00.002-07:00

on the birthday of elise and rachael

2010-12-22T17:03:00.005-07:00

happy birthday to my baby sister elise (23) and to my most fabulous niece, rachael (13).

now, i won't even TRY to catch you up on all that's happened (ok maybe later).
we left new hampshire, spent a month at mom+dad's in nevada (wild thanksgiving), and are now in albuquerque. it's almost christmas!

here are a few pictures from a couple weeks ago. the last one is my favorite!

and here's a video for good measure. this is (a very easily entertained) nora in the car, on the way to reno.

testing

2010-11-03T19:36:00.006-06:00

the northeast

2010-10-23T09:15:00.004-06:00

ben's uncle ash took these when he was here last weekend.
the leaves! they're mostly gone from the trees because it's quite windy here,
but lately the mountains have been all aglow with snow--beautiful, beautiful.

the cutest thing i have ever seen besides our baby

2010-10-23T08:57:00.005-06:00

these little cubs were running around the yard a couple weeks ago. i wish they'd come back (sort of. we miss bear-watching but it's kind of nice to know that they're not regulars at the house anymore). watching the little bears climb the big pine trees was something i'll probably never see again--it was really neat.

make sure to click and enlarge. i'm still trying to figure out how to edit html so photos are big but not blurry...

10 minutes well spent

2010-10-23T08:45:00.003-06:00

monday i made my very first loaf of banana bread.
friday i made my third loaf.
i have eaten two slices,
only one other person in the house eats solid food.
where did the rest go?

here's the very easy recipe:

3 large bananas, mashed
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups whole wheat flour
3/4 cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray the bottom of a loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.

Mix the mashed bananas and olive oil in a large bowl.

Stir in the flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda.

Pour the batter into the sprayed loaf pan.

Bake for 55-60 minutes. Remove and let cool for at least 15 minutes. recipe found here.

nora and me baking.
(not banana bread, but nigella's chocolate chocolate cookies, the only cookie i have ever loved.)

i want that in my mouth

2010-10-23T08:33:00.003-06:00

oxford

2010-10-12T19:08:00.003-06:00

as our time in london was coming to an end, we realized that we hadn't even left the city in our year there. so, we got tickets to oxford and took the hour-long train trip the weekend before we left. it was definitely one of the best things we did in england.

the buildings were incredible and all so old--they made london feel modern!

here's another just like every other picture we take of ourselves

nora was an angel all day. it made us want to go on many more day trips.

two bears

2010-10-05T18:44:00.005-06:00

we were sitting on the couch listening to conference on sunday when we saw this big black beauty in front of the house. ben and i saw a tiny black bear last year when we were here, but this one was much, much larger--all fattened up for winter! i will try not to think of it's enormity the next time i'm taking my little baby girl out for a walk, all alone (if i am ever brave enough. perhaps they hibernate soon?).

it wandered around the lawn for a while then just sat down for quite some time. then it walked over to the deck and started eating grass (or something). it's amazing how much safer a piece of glass makes one feel when there is a bear ten feet away.

oh, and here's the other bear. she does growl sometimes (but she mostly grunts).

the view from here.

2010-10-05T12:50:00.009-06:00

we are in new hampshire now, and happy.
we were very sad to leave london, but it's so nice to be in another place that we love.

after an overseas flight that was much easier than we feared, we spent a night in a highway hotel in newark, new jersey. instead of starving in isolation (i did finally find a vending machine and ate a snickers for breakfast), we decided to pick up our rental car a day early and go straight to maine. there we stayed a night with ben's grandparents, then drove with them to new hampshire the next morning. nora didn't love the car as much as the airplane, but everyone endured her, uh...expressions of unhappiness...very well. i have never known lungs with such stamina! hopefully car seat will be a happy place soon.

we got to spend a wonderful three days here with ben's grandparents, and were sad to see them go back to maine. here are some favorite pictures of ananda and chen sun with nora (who was long overdue for a nap in most of them).

we are anticipating some cold weather, but so far have only needed extra layers a few mornings. we're enjoying the brisk fall chill and fiery leaves! here are some pictures on the first day nora (sort of) needed her winter hat.

oh, and i am so excited to dig into all of the books here.

sweet, sweet baby.

the thames

2010-09-19T16:45:00.000-06:00

our flat is just blocks away from the river thames, which makes for some nice walks.

hammersmith bridge

little houseboat neighbourhood (at low tide)

old sign on chiswick mall

2010-09-19T12:15:00.002-06:00

yum

nors thinks her daddy's arm is yum

and she likes to look at us while she plays on the table

2010-09-07T01:25:00.003-06:00

22 july/21 august

2010-09-05T16:36:00.001-06:00

two car garage

2010-08-18T06:41:00.004-06:00

well, the predictions are coming to pass.
everybody said nora would lose her soft, beautiful hair,
but ben and i didn't want to believe it.

here's nora on her one month birthday

then just a couple days later!
(ben always makes sure that her pants are pulled up properly)

now it's almost all gone in the front
(but still full and thick in the back--it's quite funny.
and isn't this a sweet picture?)
but she has a straight hairline coming in
instead of what ben calls the
"two car garage"

anyway, that's the big news.
here's ben playing with nora in the morning.
he always plays with her first thing to give me a chance to shower or just sit around by myself.
and she loves it when he holds her like this.

oh, and look who started smiling today!

we couldn't catch a non-action shot
but i'm sure there are plenty of toothless grins to come!

very best weather

2010-08-14T06:45:00.004-06:00

the weather has been wonderful lately--
cool-ish days with patches of rain and patches of sun.
ben is gone most of today on a youth temple trip
so it's just me and my baby girl at home.

(we moved, by the way.
we'll be here for just a few weeks.
and this place has a bedroom!
wood floors!
a couch!
hot water!
a washing machine!
it's glorious.)

i just put nora in her wrap carrier
(which we're crazy about...i'll have to devote another entire post to that one)
to go out for essentials before sunday.
it started to pour again, so we're just snuggling and waiting out the rain.
it's so nice here.

d-u-n

2010-08-14T03:18:00.005-06:00

ben and i recently finished books we've been reading for months--pickwick papers by dickens for him and the book of mormon for me.
i've enjoyed reading a lot whilst pregnant and with new baby (and always, really), and have read quite a few books this year that have been on my list for some time now (and a few that haven't).

Lewis Carroll
Alice in Wonderland

Gustav Flaubert
Madame Bovary

PG Wodehouse
Girl in Blue
Carry on Jeeves
Stiff Upper Lip Jeeves

Charlotte Bronte
Villette

Yann Martel (author of Life of Pi)
Beatrice and Virgil

Jane Austen
Northanger Abbey
Pride and Prejudice
Sense and Sensibility
Persuasion
Emma
Mansfield Park (almost done!)

F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Great Gatsby

Ernest Hemingway
The Old Man and the Sea

Henry James
Portrait of a Lady

John Steinbeck
Cannery Row
Of Mice and Men
Tortilla Flat
The Grapes of Wrath

Julie Powell
Julie and Julia

JD Salinger
Catcher in the Rye

Hala Jaber
Flying Carpet to Baghdad

Carson McCullers
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter

Chaim Potok
My Name is Asher Lev

Alisa Smith and JB Mackinnon
Plenty

Azadeh Moaveni
Lipstick Jihad

Naguib Mafouz
Palace Walk

EM Forster
Howard's End
A Room With a View

Poppy Adams
The Behaviour of Moths

W Somerset Maugham
The Painted Veil

Charles Dickens
Oliver Twist

favorite book overall: my name is asher lev
favorite author overall: john steinbeck
favorite jane austen: persuasion

phew. and so many more to read!
(this post reminds me of this one)

one month

2010-08-12T14:51:00.004-06:00

happy one whole month to nora. she is growing! here are a few pictures from the last couple weeks. those skinny legs in the third picture are now getting nice and chubby, and she doesn't seem to be losing any hair yet.

when she's awake and happy, nora loves to stare at stripey things and apples, and play with her daddy. she likes sleeping but does not like getting there! she's gaining about 8 oz per week so far and is looking huge to me, though she's now only barely bigger than i was the day i was born (yikes. thank you mother)this one was taken just yesterday. the rest are from about 2 weeks ago.

ben + nora

2010-07-28T11:55:00.004-06:00

pretty safe to say that these two are in love.

"hi julia"

ben is very good at diaper changes (and calming nora down after changes)
keeping nora happy while i shower,
and having a nice chest to sleep on.
well--and shopping, making dinner, writing dissertations...
a lot of things, really.

i'm glad that we all get to spend lots of time together,
because i love these two kind of a lot.

nora

2010-07-28T11:22:00.003-06:00

our sweet baby girl was born.

nora gwyneth campbell
12 july 2010, 11:55 pm
6 lb 12 oz

all went well and we're now just enjoying getting to know each other.

we like watching nora make her many faces
(this is "grumpy old man")

and it's always nice when she sleeps. :)

things are very good.

lovely marmite

2010-06-24T21:30:00.000-06:00

yep.
we have become marmite people.

it all started with some marmite-flavoured rice cakes.
we weren't sure if we liked them
but were compelled to buy more.
and more, and more
until we dove in and just bought a jar of the real stuff.
and ate it all.
and now we've graduated to an even bigger jar!
mmm.

home tour

2010-06-24T21:15:00.000-06:00

the days of our family of two are winding down, and we've been doing what we can to fit everything baby in our one room. it's pretty tight...

aren't our suitcases charming there?

and two shelves for baby on our no-books bookshelf
yes we still have christmas lights up (much less glaring than the overhead one)

for all of you who have practically threatened my life, here is a picture of my belly (last week).
sorry no face, (too embarrassing to include in a self-taken photo).

ben's around-the-house shorts sleep in the moses basket until baby comes.

other than that, just waiting to pull the hospital bag out from under the bed.
ten days! we hope.

ages ago we went to the tate.

2010-06-24T20:44:00.001-06:00

a while ago we went to the tate modern (museum of contemporary art). we saw the interesting and some beautiful and some very, very weird. i liked the gift shop the most. it was a sunny day so we walked along the thames river for a bit, stopping now and then to watch people lose money on those button-under-the-cups games (where they move the cups around really fast and the better has to follow the button and guess correctly where it ends up. people were surprisingly bad at it).sitting in a sunny upstairs room of the museum

the view out the window--the thames and st. pauls

ben reading where's waldo in the gift shop
(oh, but it's called where's wally here)

we had a really hard time finding him on this page...

they had lots of gift wrap that i liked.

k-k-k-katie

2010-06-20T21:00:00.000-06:00

happy birthday! here's a fuzzy bit of love from england.
a shrine on my bookshelf.

happy father's day

2010-06-20T09:41:00.006-06:00

to my favorite father-to-be.

and to my dad
and ben's dad
and my brothers and brothers-in-law
and grandpa hal
and ananda.

we really are blessed to have you in our lives.
ben got a flower at church

wow i am huge.
i'll just try to think about how one of the young women told me last week that i only look four months pregnant.
haha.

we really love chocolate

2010-04-22T12:10:00.003-06:00

even the not-very-good chocolate here is pretty good. as long as it's dark, you really can't lose.

fruit & nut chocolate. 'plain' is what they call it when it's dark but not really fancy.

ben eating

ben going for a run "for the first time in like a hundred years."

me, obviously NOT going for a run. but yes, eating chocolate, too.

and, yes, some of the functions on our camera are obviously broken. like everything but the 'shoot' button.

mmm. (some say)

2010-04-08T11:18:00.004-06:00

our friends gave us these chips (crisps, i should say) to try.
how to they make a chip taste like roast? or cheeseburger?
they really do (and without msg, even).
besides the many special edition flavors, you can also buy
prawn cocktail, steak and onion, roast chicken, or pickled onion, anytime!

and here's a picture of our most recent palak paneer. we usually do brown rice, but one of our burners broke one day and we didn't want to eat really late, so i bought white basmati. it was so much more delicious than regular white. we loved it!

2010-04-04T13:09:00.000-06:00

ben's stomach is the size of a
large
large
bassett hound
right now.

happy easter to you

2010-04-04T03:58:00.002-06:00

not much is new, but all is well. ben is on a long break from school, which mostly means that he gets to study and write papers all day instead of going to class and studying and writing papers. after his big papers are turned in and finals are done, he'll start his dissertation. he works really hard, but we are still lucky enough to get to spent lots and lots of time together.

i spend my days reading and studying and going for walks, and i've had a bit of temporary work lately. i also bake snacks for ben to bring to school--banana muffins and bran muffins lately. when i couldn't stand a lot of smells, indian food and lentils were out. now i like them again, so we've been experimenting with lots of recipes (palak paneer is a recent favorite) and it's been delightful.

every saturday we take our very long walk through hyde park. we normally walk home, but yesterday we walked straight to general conference (it's broadcasted live, morning session at 5:00 pm here) and took a bus home. these pictures are from our walk last week. we're both wearing raincoats because it has been pouring or sunny every 20 minutes lately. and doesn't ben look stunning in glasses?

that's about all. life is good. we are happy.

jamie's christmas

2010-03-22T04:55:00.003-06:00

we picked up a few books a while ago out of a "free" box at a bookstore. ben also picked up a jamie oliver dvd for me, which sat on the shelf until i got a sore throat/flu thing the other day (does anybody else just want to watch tv when they're sick? and, it must not have been the flu because i was perfectly fine watching jamie stick his hand inside a raw turkey).

besides the fact that the shopping list for the meal requires 3 lbs of butter and a tin of goose fat, everything did look delicious, and like a good meal for celebrating, and even ben got sucked in. maybe we'll be missing england so much someday that we'll break it out again and replicate the meal for christmas...bacon-wrapped sausage and all.

while i was watching, ben was really hungry and afraid he was getting sick too, so he went to the store and bought a can of soup for our dinner. when he tried to open it, the can opener broke. then he went to three stores but came home without one. then he opened it with a knife.

five days have passed, during which i got better and went to a young women's sleepover (lots of twilight and candy and dessert and girls dancing), ben got the stomach flu, then i got the same thing i had before but much worse. ben said that i sounded like i was swallowing baby rabbits all night. so, yeah. we're here eating bananas and saltines and chicken noodle, and coughing and swallowing rabbits, and ben puts on his chapstick with his knuckle. but, ben is loving an excuse to listen to many podcasts and read the whole christian science monitor. not too bad, not too bad.

baby number 2

2010-03-16T03:09:00.006-06:00

you might remember our great love for kombucha and that we hoped to make our own last year. unfortunately, that baby never grew into a full grown symbiotic colony of bacteria and we had to flush it because it was smelling up my bedroom.

WELL, last friday i was checking out our area's freecycle and came upon a few magnificent words: free organic kefir grains. and saturday we were at bob's flat picking up our precious new baby and by sunday we had fresh kefir to drink. kefir is like yogurt but thinner, with even more probiotics (the brand i've had the most is lifeway. next time you see it at the store you must buy). you just put the cauliflower-looking "grains" in a jar, pour milk on top, leave it out at room temp, and have kefir the next day. we are so excited and our quality of life has multiplied exponentially, really.

milk and grains

the grains after we strained the kefir out

and, i realized that some of my best and favorites don't yet know that baby number three will be a real live girl, coming in july. yep, it's true, and we are anticipating that we will be even more excited about 3 than we are about 2.

here are some pictures from our walk to pick up kefir (another long one).

we stopped at my new favorite bathroom (in paddington gardens) which is in my new favorite part of the city (marylebone). it is a nice and clean one.

i wished that they still sold these, but the dispenser was empty.

ben obviously loves a front-of-bathroom photo-op.

taking a rest at hyde park

always stop and sit at these fountains

and this was last week.

lots of walks

2010-02-22T12:11:00.006-07:00

last week was ben's reading week (no school) so we got to spend lots of time outside! one day we walked to regent's park, which is a very large, nearby-ish park that contains the london zoo, pretty gardens, and black swans (and many other birds from all over the world). another day, we took a longer walk to hyde park. just beyond the park is the most wonderful whole foods i have ever seen (3 stories, a huge cheese room, a chocolate counter with great samples...), so we spent some time there and dreamed of being rich enough to fill a cart someday. on the bus ride home, we sat in the front seats upstairs and got a nice city tour.

THEN, we walked to and around hyde park, to whole foods, and back home. we hoped to check out speakers corner, but there were no speakers there. i had to track our mileage when we got home, because i am nerdy like that and the walk was very long. 9.1 miles long. the pictures don't look great, but hyde park is really big and beautiful, and we can't wait to walk around when it's greener and warmer. there are no black swans, but at least 50 really enormous white ones and monstrously large pigeons.

a little dock on the serpentine (a large body of water built for a queen? in the 1700s)

princess diana memorial fountain--it's a big circle that flows downward from both sides at the top. pretty neat in real life.

new best sandwich and junkier delights

2010-02-21T13:10:00.003-07:00

all of the avocados we've been getting have been rotten inside (anNOYing), so I've been taking a different sandwich route. ben likes it, too (when he doesn't want eggs and toast for lunch).

rye toast + red pesto + melt-y feta + tomato

and, have you SEEN this? i'm not usually one to be tempted in the cereal aisle, but do find it hard to resist most things chocolate-hazelnut. it looked so uncomfortable on the conveyor belt at the store, surrounded by blocks of rye bread and fruit and piles of veg, but i just had to try it. and it was really tasty. it tasted sort of like captain crunch filled with nutella (and gave me a bit of a headache, but maybe that's because i surely ate more than one serving). even ben was amazed and declared, "sugar cereal is SO much better here." i am embarrassed to tell you how quickly we ate it.

needless to say, we won't be buying it again.

what we watch in our spare time

2010-02-17T06:40:00.002-07:00

ben and i are youth leaders at church here in london. it is always entertaining, to say the least. two weeks ago, they made video adverts centered around a strength of youth principle, and they were really more entertaining than anything i expected.

for a little taste of our thursday nights and sunday mornings, you can watch them all here on the youth blog, and if you only watch one, it's got to be the third one down.

granola bars

2010-01-29T06:10:00.003-07:00

here's the recipe (found on the smitten kitchen website).

2 cups old-fashioned oatmeal
1 cup sliced almonds
1 cup shredded coconut, loosely packed (I used unsweetened)
1/2 cup toasted wheat germ
2/3 cup honey
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 cup dried fruit, or a mix of dried fruit (I used chopped apricots, cranberries and raisins)

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Butter an 8×12-inch baking dish.

Toss the oatmeal, almonds, and coconut together on a sheet pan and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned. Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl and stir in the wheat germ. Reduce the oven temperature to 300°F.

While the mixture is still warm, stir in the honey, vanilla and salt until the mixture is well coated, then the dried fruit. Pour the mixture into your prepared baking dish and press, press, press it in (wet fingers and/or a silicon spatula work great for this) until the mixture is packed as tightly as possible.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until light golden brown. Cool for 2 to 3 hours before cutting into squares — your best serrated knife is great for this.

*****

that was just copied from her website--i actually used apricots, dates, and sultanas, and left out the wheat germ and vanilla. i made it again using peanuts instead of almonds and all sultanas (like raisins) for the fruit, because that's what we had. still good. the second time it was more fall-apart, probably because i didn't measure anything and didn't press, press, press enough. no problem, though--just ate the crumbles like granola.

new oven

2010-01-28T03:50:00.004-07:00

when our hob broke recently, our landlord replaced it and asked if we wanted an oven, too. it sat in its box on the floor for a few days while ben got used to the idea of losing half of our counter space, but now it fits right in. as much as i've been wanting to use it, we've both been sickly the last few days and just wanting soup and sick food.

isn't it nice? oh, and i did make some granola bars last weekend.

and here are some favorites that we ate last week.

rye toast + avocado + sauerkraut. the best sandwich. i bought corned beef once because i wanted to make real reuben sandwiches, but they weren't nearly as good as this version.

this yogurt is amazing. we first tried it because fig-date sounded good, but the grains are the best part. yogurt flavors here definitely win for creativity (and taste).

this is our skinny bathroom window. it's always foggy. ben took this one morning when there was snow in the garden.

on this day one year ago...

2010-01-24T14:34:00.003-07:00

i answered the door and said

oh, you're a birkenstock man.
(yes i am)
that's not a bad thing. i am too. well, not a man.

and then we left for a very short first date where the conversation continued slightly less awkwardly. it was agreed that pesto is the best sauce and peaches the best food, and i told him that i worked in maine last summer and he said, "i love maine" and we decided to retire there. well, not yet at that point, but we did go outside and accidentally ram into each other on the way to his car.

then i called our mutual friend and told her that i just went out with her neighbor, and she said, "oh, he's handsome."
and i said "yes he is."

then my sister slept over and, as we were falling asleep, said "he'll call you wednesday for saturday. no, tuesday for friday."

and he did.

the worst song in the world

2010-01-18T08:20:00.005-07:00

ben has been waiting and waiting for me to blog about
1. his new favorite song
2. his bread knife

favorite song
through a survey of 1001 people, a pair of russian artists discovered the most desirable and least desirable characteristics of a song, then created two songs using these characteristics.

"For example, people hate songs about holidays, choirs, and kids singing. So there was a passage where a children's chorus singing about Labor Day.

[Phil Ford] quotes an account of how the sonic parameters were selected:

The most unwanted music is over 25 minutes long, veers wildly between loud and quiet sections, between fast and slow tempos, and features timbres of extremely high and low pitch, with each dichotomy presented in abrupt transition. The most unwanted orchestra was determined to be large, and features the accordion and bagpipe (which tie at 13% as the most unwanted instrument), banjo, flute, tuba, harp, organ, synthesizer (the only instrument that appears in both the most wanted and most unwanted ensembles). An operatic soprano raps and sings atonal music, advertising jingles, political slogans, and "elevator" music, and a children's choir sings jingles and holiday songs. The most unwanted subjects for lyrics are cowboys and holidays, and the most unwanted listening circumstances are involuntary exposure to commercials and elevator music. Therefore, it can be shown that if there is no covariance--someone who dislikes bagpipes is as likely to hate elevator music as someone who despises the organ, for example--fewer than 200 individuals of the world's total population would enjoy this piece.

Hiphop tuba plus a soprano rapping about the Old West -- what's not to like? You can listen to it here. (boingboing.net)

ben listens to the most unwanted song over and over, and says that if you really love him, you'll listen to all 25 minutes of it.

bread knife
we moved in with nothing but clothes and a few books, but were lucky to find nearly everything we needed in the kitchen. we inherited a pretty good knife, but it often squashed or crumbled ben's bread. when the knife wouldn't cut ben's new loaf at all, he searched frantically through the flatware drawer for something that would work, and found a nice-looking butter knife. or maybe it's not a butter knife, but its serrations worked like a dream, and now ben praises it day and night.

in my opinion, the french bakery down the street (where he buys bread) is a bit more exciting. the pastries look so delicious...

birthday boy

2010-01-10T11:38:00.005-07:00

the 7th of january was ben's 26-er. his favorite gift was this mysterious one that we got in the mail. no return address, just sent to "ben." no last name. no note. he was wary of taking it out of the package, but has snuggled with it ever since. well, that's not true, but he did let me hang the horse blanket on the wall for a few hours.

less blurry and more beautiful in real life.

ben wanted to go to the national gallery on his birthday. since it was cold, he put on thermals, a cotton shirt, wool sweater, thick cotton sweater, thick fleece, and rain shell. he really regretted it when we got inside and the cloakroom was full. despite his dripping, we had a great time rubbing shoulders with monet, rembrandt, seurat, vermeer, michelangelo, raphael, leonardo, van gogh...

a bad picture of the fountain in front

birthday boy (big ben is just to the left of his ear)

a monument of...somebody

front of the national gallery

lion statues. and a great part of the city.

we're not getting any better at the picture taking of selves. and sorry i only have hat now. hair will be back in a couple months (i hope).

today's walk

2010-01-02T13:34:00.004-07:00

was to see st. paul's cathedral.

it's much bigger than this front view shows

and a picture of king's cross for the faveros

and we saw this great sign on our walk.
everyone in london loves my baby bro.

cheese

2010-01-02T13:27:00.004-07:00

we are becoming quite the experimental cheese eaters. this plate holds a cheddar with whole mustard seeds and a lancashire with raisins and apples and coated in cinnamon. both really good, mustard esp. good.

elana's pantry (yum)

2010-01-01T09:50:00.003-07:00

one of my favorite food website/blogs for a while now has been elana's pantry. all of her recipes are gluten free, but it's actually really good food that i'm dying to make/eat regardless of the wheat thing. natural and delicious and simple and without xanthan gum and carageenan and extensive mixtures of flours. she has recipes for (and out of) all sorts of things, but almond flour cooking is her specialty.

i want her book! you can link here to read about it and see her give it away .

i also want some almond flour.
(an oven would be nice, too).

dc is done

2010-01-01T09:23:00.005-07:00

in honor of finishing all 882 pages of david copperfield, we walked over to the house where charles dickens lived (an exhausting .5 miles away). there's a museum there, but it was closed today.

we were also a little excited to find out that there's a whole foods only 1.5 miles away, so we walked there, too. ben got some bread and we shared a ginger flapjack, which is an extremely dense cookie that's mostly oats and oil and not too sweet.

a blue plaque means that somebody famous dwelt here

yep

a street we loved to walk down

(closer)

goosey goosey

2009-12-28T06:31:00.004-07:00

our christmas break so far has included david copperfield reading, outings, podcast listening, and sort of trying to start new traditions. or trying new things, anyway. one thing we tried was roasting chestnuts. no open fire, of course, but it worked pretty well on top of the stove. and this is a picture of ben cleaning up the ones that exploded all over the kitchen. and next time we will wear goggles because one shot right into my eye. they were pretty tasty, though, and sometimes tasted like potatoes. or popcorn.

right now we're trying to decide where to go today. and we just found the most delicious hummus the grocery store ever sold and had it for lunch. and ben is singing this song over and over.

How do you feel when you marry your ideal?
Ever so goosey, goosey, goosey, goo-sey

school's out and it's fun

2009-12-24T03:40:00.003-07:00

with ben's break from school, we've finally visited a few places we've been meaning to go for months. tuesday, we layered on the wool and took a nice, long walk to westminster abbey. it was so beautiful inside. at 5:00 on weekdays there's a worship service and the choir sings, which was amazing. we were seated around a corner and couldn't see too much, but the music was really beautiful. we were surprised to find that what sounded like an enormous choir was actually about 16 people. there are 30 boys and 12 professional men in the choir (but they don't all sing every night).

big ben

the london eye and the river thames

we bought my hat on the street and it saved my life.
actually ben's, because i was wearing his before.

westminster abbey

ben pretending to take a picture of w.a. and taking one of me instead

our first christmas tree.

2009-12-23T10:43:00.005-07:00

ben and i got our first real, live tree a couple weeks ago.
it is approximately 8 inches tall.
just right!

in other exciting news, we finally have in-home internet.
but, it's a dongle, which is a usb thing that you plug in
to get anywhere internet
and it's sort of limited and slow after 4 pm
and it was blocking my blog-power until i got the content lock off today.
we're so happy to have it, though!
i do have a few pictures from our recent
big ben/westminster abbey trip that i will post
someday soon before 4:00.

and happy birthday to taryn,
and day-late wishes to elise and rachael!

jenner house

2009-11-18T03:24:00.003-07:00

photo tour of our apartment.
it's really great, eccentricities and all.

it is small but does have high ceilings and nice windows.

we don't have heat. good thing we brought the red mummy bag.

that little black thing is like a key, which we bring to the market and top up. we pay some £, then stick it back in to have electricity. it looks creepy and yellow because we have creepy yellow glass above our door, and the building's hall lights are always on.

black and white, i don't know why. but this is our fridge.

and these are our advanced methods of cooking. the hob has two burners. soup on one and toast on the other.

northanger abbey

2009-11-16T09:59:00.004-07:00

i'm needing to catch up a bit in the english novel department. last week i read villette by charlotte brontë (which i quite liked), ben and i are reading david copperfield by charles dickens, and i'm now reading northanger abbey by jane austin. i'm about 3/4 of the way through, and so far it's mostly about the dresses people wear, carriage rides and evening balls. and the main character is somewhat half-witted. but, she is admirable at one point (after making false assumptions and acting upon them) when the author writes:

her mind made up on these several points, and her resolution formed, of always judging and acting in future with the greatest good sense, she had nothing to do but to forgive herself and be happier than ever.

she makes it sound so easy.

capital of the world

2009-11-03T10:32:00.005-07:00

an interesting thing about london is that there are hardly any english people here.
we come from all over the world!
the other day i was talking to a ghanaian guy who said

idaho? i never heard of that.
how do you say it again?
are you sure it's a state?
the only states i know are
new jersey
california
miami
florida...

which i thought was funny (miami) until i realized that i know about two cities in ghana.
and nearly as little about this lovely u.k.
so much to learn about the world!

i am learning that i love the ethiopian market that sells us 5 delicious avocados for £1.
delicious with the mystery condiment (sauerkraut).

also, i'm wearing wool socks and penny loafers and i feel
really cool/like my mom.

no pictures lately, so here are some old favorites.

big news!

2009-10-30T10:59:00.003-06:00

not really.
but we did buy our very first condiment for the fridge.
the first person to guess what it is...wins.

in other news, we're at the british library
which is huge. and high security.

also, ben wore one short sock and one tall one today
but we did get the laundry done.
($10 per load. do appreciate your in-home w/d for us.)

and ben just sat next to me and said,
"the queue was really long."
his english is getting to be just brilliant.

twenty-fiver

2009-10-17T14:36:00.009-06:00

ben is homeworking arabic interrogatives
and i finally have time to blog!
today has been a most superb celebration of my 25 living years.
ben got plenty of treats for me
(there are so many new things to try here)
including:
cardamom, pepper, cumin, citron, and ginger chocolates
rose tea
pumpkin seed & Herb savoury biscuits
mixed berry oat biscuits
caro (like pero/postum)
whole dried bananas
candied ginger (an old favorite)
zesty lemon biscuits
and an amazing ginger cake made with all rye flour.
(there are gluten and/or wheat-free foods everywhere
and they're not insanely priced
and i'm loving it).
and
my mum will be so proud to hear that we stayed in for dinner
and ate a really great lentil soup.
with rye toast, of course.

after packing a little sampling of nearly everything to eat,
we got on the train
and caught a nice glimpse of the english countryside
on our way to the london temple.
twenty miles outside the city is a whole different world!
i made sure to finally charge my camera battery
so i could take our very first post-wedding pictures.

the temple grounds are somewhat vast and very beautiful

and we had 25 minutes to walk around and take some pictures

(with a lot of self-timer experimenting)

while we waited for our cab ride to the train station.

it was a coold day!

but not as chilling as i've heard it can be
(but we'll see, right? our flat has no heat!)

the temple behind us

and ben and marae

and my husband studying arabic on the train ride home
(he loves the paper here. it's longer and a bit thinner)
isn't he handsome?

yep!

and our landlady brought us flowers

2009-10-17T14:23:00.002-06:00

we've landed!
after 2.5 weeks in a temporary (though extra lucky) flat,
we have even found a little place to call home.
it's teeny-tiny with a 2-burner hob and a futon bed,
but we are right in the middle of it all (london, that is)
and we love it.
and we have a nice little garden outside our kitchen window.
it's nice to finally have an address.

married lady

2009-09-12T15:57:00.002-06:00

right now i am putting the finishing touches on about eight clayton college papers while ben is filing my feet, fanning me, ironing my clothes, and feeding me chocolate. actually, he offered to do all of those things, but is only doing one. can you guess which?

with the end of camp and our wedding and honeymoon and passports and visas and classes to finish, there is just far too much to catch up on.

i think it's just safe to say that life is really good,
and we're so excited about london,
and i got a burn from the toaster oven that looks like a jellyfish,
and my feet are very smooth.

and i'll try to be back soon.

just two more little weeks

2009-08-13T21:21:00.003-06:00

with this old name.

elise and i went to rockland this morning to meet ben's grandparents. we had such a good time--they are really quite wonderful. after visiting and lunch, elise and i explored the town a bit before running off on other errands. as you can see, the pictures we took are stunning, as usual.

"from flat to fabulous in a jiffy!"

2009-08-13T21:15:00.006-06:00

one of my campers got these in a care package.

the girls went craaazy.

beach day revisited

2009-08-13T20:58:00.003-06:00

our 12 little babies at the ocean

remember how naughty this chew-gum was?
yeah, that's why we had to confiscate it from a camper.

ritual burial

"couns-y pic!"

elise is back!

2009-08-10T20:57:00.001-06:00

and after she puts her campers to bed,
she'll meet me and we'll eat gelato
while she checks 14 days of email.
yay!

beach day

2009-08-09T16:17:00.003-06:00

maine has some very nice beaches!
went to this nice one with abenaki.

popham beach state park

gone so long, you say?

2009-08-06T15:17:00.002-06:00

camp life is great so far.
elise is on a long, long trip and i miss her.
ben is far too far away.
but, the girls in my cabin are fantastic.
we went on a 5-day trip to baxter state park where we:
hiked katahdin (a very large mountain)
played in natural waterslides
hiked some more
and fun was had in general.

these pictures are from our primer trip the week before...

abenaki

2009-07-20T20:11:00.002-06:00

the name of my cabin this year is abenaki (11-12 year olds).
we get to hike katahdin! i've been waiting and waiting.
i get to do the trip elise did last year (6 days in the mountains)
and she's doing the trip i did (14 days on the river).
we are excited...

hopes crushed.

2009-07-19T17:12:00.002-06:00

elise and i have been dreaming all year of going to the lindt chocolate factory outlet in freeport, maine. only recently have we become lindt lovers, you see. well, we were disappointed to find that the outlet was more expensive than the grocery store, though we were fascinated by all of the kinds and flavors of chocolate we didn't know they made. and the smell. we did enjoy breathing.

you will like this one

2009-07-19T17:07:00.002-06:00

elise and found the perfect solution to the wyoming nod-off.

especially after a sleep-deprived previous night, jump-roping perked us right up!

phew.

2009-07-18T19:28:00.002-06:00

we made it.
our trip was very nice and fun.
we also got new glasses...
what do you think?
mom was a little worried about her two little girls traveling so far all alone
(and all of the men who have nothing better to do but follow us)
so we purchased these lovelies to ease her mind.
i personally think they enhance our beauty,
but for some reason, not a single person followed us...

ps: did i mention that i rear-ended a car at a toll booth and unit 2 (their car) was a family of carnies? as we waited and waited for the state trooper, they did impersonations and chatted with us about the amusement industry.

yiiikes

2009-07-13T17:14:00.001-06:00

i pick elise up from the airport tonight
tomorrow we
pack
clean
move out
get invitations printed
buy roadtrip food
and
more
more
more

i had to go to the mall today

2009-07-10T14:09:00.010-06:00

and was quite literally grabbed at two separate locations
by those dead sea salt scrub/nail buffer kiosk people.
and they start buffing/scrubbing
even as i'm walking past saying:

no thanks
i already have one of these
i have to go
i really don't want to buy this
i don't want a deal special for me
I HAVE TO GO
argh.

i must avoid this mall
before it turns me into a grouchy-person.

this isn't the first (or second or third) time it's happened.
one cherished memory is a time they were buffing elise and she yelled to me from across the mall to come rescue her, and i spent considerable time trying to convince them that she really had to use the bathroom and we already have those things they try to sell for $25 (that we got at sally's beauty for $1).

more but not quite as ridiculous

2009-07-09T10:26:00.010-06:00

these are some that i really did like.

ps: please locate the third photo from bottom.
now click to enlarge.
see how one of my teeth is white and one not white?
that's because the not-white one is fake
(it's real predecessor ran into a refrigerator when i was a child--
does that count as a broken bone?).
i quite like it
(but hope that if it breaks again it's on halloween).

poll

2009-07-09T10:17:00.005-06:00

elise took our engagement photos (thaanks!).
mom has been very insistent upon posting some and having people vote on which we should use.
which would you like hanging on your fridge?
(these ones were not even of the 178 deleted)

i think the last one is my favorite. you?

look what i got

2009-06-27T23:55:00.012-06:00

i bought this laundry detergent today

and look what came with it!

(this yellow wonder)

we kind of had a huge fight over who got to wear it today.
and decided that we'll just need to do more laundry.

also, yesterday we went on a field trip with ben's arabic class here
(friday prayer at the mosque)

then ate stuffed grape leaves and baba ganooj at mazza

and in just two little months we'll be married here!
(yes, we have a real date--august 27th)
{photo by richard webb}

we were inspired

2009-06-22T20:13:00.003-06:00

by the harley gang to get one of our own.

doesn't it suit us?

ps: ben got this great honeymoon idea on the way home from nevada.

first date shoes

2009-06-17T15:02:00.003-06:00

much better than flat coke

2009-06-15T12:46:00.002-06:00

i had never tried it, but from the very first
sheet-twisting,
middle-of-the-night
flu pain (last week)
all i wanted was this:

as soon as i could stand the next day,
i stumbled over to smith's to buy some.
mmm.
maybe i could get sick again?

mmm (thanks!)

2009-06-15T00:42:00.007-06:00

liz funded some celebratory gelato...so good!

samoa
peach
raspberry
tortufa something (just like ferrero rocher)

thanks, liz!

we reserve the lot next door

2009-06-15T00:16:00.005-06:00

ben and i went to mom & dad's new place in yerington last week (see more detailed posts on yerington by ben and elise and craig here and here and here). i needed to store some things, we wanted to see some family (and hear hours of deliberation on wedding ideas, of course).

at a rest area at the salt flats.
i'd never seen them!
wish we got a picture of the harley gang...
in the bathroom, one lady said, "don't worry, i'll be fast. i'm not wearing my chaps."

looks like snow. and is bright!
and this is our first arm-extended take-it-ourselves picture.

car got a flat outside of lovelock.
punishment for not locking our love on the fence?
this is pre-frustration and rain and long time.
the tire just wouldn't come off!
finally a nice man stopped and pried it off
with a sledgehammer and other big tool.

had to unpack to get to the spare tire.

[[of course we took no pictures at home or with the family]]

are your thumbs straight or curved? isn't nevada lovely?
(stopped in construction on the way home)

ben: heyy, elise could move here (yerington)
and still hike the Y every day!

or you could move here and have your own E.

welcome to the newest member of the family

2009-06-15T00:00:00.006-06:00

you may know that the motor of my (too-costly-to-ever-die)
blender died.
it was still under warranty for four more years,
but the guy at the fix-it place said,
"i dunno, i think it was only a 3 year warranty...this'll probably cost you..."

but they never called to say it'd cost me--
just called to say, "it's done!"
so i went in, prepared to spend lots on a new top at least
(only warranteed one year)

so they interrogated ben about his divine intention
and handed me a box
and we left
and when we opened it
we found
a brand brand new one!
and she's quiet as a mouse. or a vacuum cleaner.

and, of course, welcome to the second newest member of the family.
ben and i are engaged to be married at an unknown time in an unknown location.
but, we are very excited. that we know.

the two most exciting things right now

2009-05-29T16:09:00.003-06:00

1. elise is playing "buffalo gals" on her harmonica
2. i saw caveman three times in the last two weeks
(he hangs out at bookstores!)

paper i love you

2009-05-29T15:57:00.004-06:00

i randomly write strange things like this.
when i find them in old notebooks it makes me laugh.

Perhaps you could lend your
Ability to
Protect my
Every thought and
Rendering of emotion and forsaken
Inhibition to a
Living, breathing
Organism someday. As of now, your
Valiance in containing my
Ecstasy and carrying heaviness in each of
Your kind lines is not
Only appreciated, but
Unmatched.

abq

2009-05-29T15:52:00.002-06:00

ben and i went to albuquerque.
and boulder.
it was wonderful!
(but we didn't take a single picture)

greeen

2009-05-14T22:57:00.003-06:00

Kale Chips
1-2 big bunches of kale
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon oil
coarse salt (to taste) or favorite seasoning blend

Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 350.

Wash and de-stem kale. Chop or tear into "chip" size pieces.

Spread onto baking sheet. Pour the apple cider vinegar, oil and seasoning (1-2 tablespoons) onto kale. Mix and massage kale to coat all pieces.

Bake for 10 minutes or until crispy. Serve immediately!

made these today.
delicious!
like other cruciferous cousins (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage)
loves to fill the entiiire house with its aroma.
(when i'm being sneaky i cook something garlic-y at the same time so it's not so so obviously smelly)

el j

2009-05-10T23:33:00.003-06:00

eliza jane is four!

it made me a little sad that i couldn't be there to eat some

scooby-dooby cake with her.

i already miss seeing the shakey-shakey and the hula-dula.

oh, and last year (when the 2nd and 3rd pictures were taken)
eliza was always saying, "this is scrumptious to my bumptious!"
when something tasted delicious.
lo and behold, dictionary.com's word of the day last week was:

bump⋅tious

[buhmp-shuhs]

–adjective

offensively self-assertive: a bumptious young upstart.
Synonyms:
pushy, forward, cocky, cheeky, brash.

there is no other

2009-05-10T22:22:00.003-06:00

we lived in alaska when i was in second grade.

one peculiar morning, i saw on the news that sun was in the forecast.

i got very excited and ran to my room to put on shorts.

found stirrup stretch pants and neon sweaters

drop waisted dresses, sweats with elastic at the ankles...

no shorts.

told mom that i needed shorts for summer.

i went to eat breakfast,

she got out her sewing machine.

half hour later, i got on the bus.

(wearing shorts)

very wet

2009-05-08T16:31:00.012-06:00

last saturday we made our way to seattle. it was rainy rainy on the drive there, but the sun was nice and shiny by the time we were ready to walk outside.

i like a city that is green and grey instead of grey and grey.
it was beautiful.

after walking downtown and pike's market and all that, we went to discovery park. it has miles and miles of trails, so we started on a three mile loop. about 1/2 mile in, rain started dropping, then dumping. i was crazy about it.

we were so disappointed to see how dry we look in this picture.
our skin was sopping.

before we went to washington, i said something like,
"i hope we get lots of sunny days and one rainy one."
not very realistic, but it happened just like that.
perfectly.

downtown

2009-05-08T16:18:00.005-06:00

we went to a concert in bellingham one night.
what a beautiful city!
elise found it to be the perfect place for picture-taking.
sadly, these were the only four (of hundreds) that weren't accidentally deleted.
she made sure to remind us of just how awkward we are.

OH. also. i fell in love with rose ice cream.
(at mallard's in bellingham)
i can't decide if i should say
try it and you'll die
or
you'll die if you don't try it.
it is so good.

the evenings were very nice

2009-05-08T16:04:00.005-06:00

matchy-matchy

2009-05-08T16:00:00.003-06:00

eliza: heeyyy, you and ben have the same shoes!
_____except yours are red, and his are white.

kombucha

2009-05-08T15:54:00.008-06:00

we are so in love.

we've been trying to find a kombucha culture
(or scoby: symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast)
so we can make huge vats of our own.
in the meantime, we've been drinking lots and lots from the store.
gt's has four new flavors!

two favorite things

half of our bottles from the trip. also in the bin is a box of chili-cucumber popsicles. strangely delicious.

we were very hungry but wanted to see these flowers

2009-05-08T15:35:00.005-06:00

just in time for mount vernon's tulip festival...

cooper found out i was only staying two weeks

pret-ty sassy.

spring in WA

2009-05-08T15:17:00.004-06:00

been gone so so long.

ben and i went to washington a few weeks ago. dave needed temp help, we wanted to visit, yay. we got to have lots of fun, with a little working on the side. i was not very good at taking pictures, so I was lucky to have cooper around to take these.

this is ben and me sitting on the couch, drinking tea.
we bought c.s. vanilla hazelnut and liked.

cooper loves to predict our future, just like his dad.
but can our baby please drink kombucha instead of allca holl?

during church i drew this very accurate picture of cooper kissing me.
when i handed it to him, he punched it.
then scribbled a very unflattering revenge picture of me, of course.

we had such a good time, and loved staying with dave and jeanne's family and seeing green all around. i really did take a few pictures, so, a million posts to come.

why student ratings are due before finals

2009-04-17T13:10:00.000-06:00

1. which is true?
a. perhaps this one
b. definitely this one
c. probably this one, too
d. maybe not (but maybe so?)
e. two of the above
f. none of the above
g. all of the above.

my new testament final was 138 of these.
not guessable.
but i did pass--hallelujah!
(what does that mean in hebrew? uhhh...two of the above?)

today is a

2009-04-17T11:35:00.000-06:00

walk-around-target
kind of day.

where are you, elise?

me, elise, and camp friends at target in augusta, maine.

or i might like to be in times square, looking at a target billboard.
i'll take either, really.

lucky clothes

2009-04-17T11:27:00.002-06:00

well, not lucky, but rather the clothes that i wear when i must be comfortable.

as in, i'm taking four finals today, so what is pajama-like yet okay-ish to wear in public?

wavus sweatshirt and my nothing-great-but-i-still-love-them jeans, of course.

ps: i'll have you know that i finished four finals before 10:30 a.m.
(you can borrow my lucky outfit if you want)