Public Enemies in the Clouds July 2, 2009

So, yesterday my sweet darling dear took me to a movie and dinner. It was all thanks to my sweet students who gave us a $100 gift certificate to eat at Nimbus.Nimbus Restaurant This place was incredible! Of all the nights to go, I do believe we chose the most wonderful. We went to the movie at 6:15 and then arrived for dinner at about 9:15. It was the exact time that the sunset emerged after an equally beautiful day in Bellingham. We were moved to the best seats in the house to enjoy our 4 course dinner of unique and creatively arranged food.

This is the area we were sitting in for our hot date.

Here is some of the food we had. Andrew ate the Basil Creme Brule and we shared the bread with oil and vinegar in the shape of Nimbus.

Nimbus Creme Brule with Shortbread

And here is the bread dipping.

Nimbus oil and vinegar that came with our bread

We also went to go see the movie Public Enemies with Christian Bale and Johnny Depp, two of my all time favorite actors.

Public Enemies

Here is the poster for the movie.

Great shot from the movie Public Enemies

Public Enemeies-Christian and Johnny

Public Enemies-Johnny-cover poster

Ok, I’m hoping this works. It was a great movie. More later!

Tis the Season December 14, 2007

Tis the Season for all things nice. I am pleased to announce that I am surviving this Christmas season of many performances. This is the first year I have been able to do all of the performing since right after Mark was born. My students are amazing and have been a true joy to work with. They don’t complain and they are reliable! Last Friday was the Holiday Port event as well as a Christmas party with the Fun Club. We enjoyed the festivities. Tomorrow we have 2 parties to go to and I also want to take Audrey to see Cyrano, the Sehome HS production. Sounds like fun. I haven’t just hung out at home for a long time, but I enjoy doing these things as a family, too. We will get our tree on Saturday morning and also have our annual photo shoot with Santa. the boys got matching sweaters. This is the first time I have done that to them. I hope it all turns out well. Andrew put together the Christmas newsletter tonight and it looks fabulous! I can’t wait to blog more about my trip to Georgia with Matthew. I wrote it all down in my journal so I couldn’t forget, but I also need to put it here with pictures. We really enjoyed spending time with Grandpa and Amalia. They were wonderful hosts. It just seems like the time of year when I want to invite all of my friends over for coffee, cider, games, music, and fun. Sounds good, eh? I won a coffee carafe at the party last week. I can put hot coffee in it just for you! I’ll be waiting. You’ll know our house by the lights out front and the three on the porch with a jolly red bow. Merry Christmas! PS Even the post office was into it! They had a secret mailbox for the kids to open with a special key and they got to pick a piece of candy out. How sweet.

Christmas Carols in October October 18, 2007

We are hanging in there through yet another schedule change. So far this school year is wonderful. I’m really enjoying it. Andrew is continuing to work hard building up clients. Audrey is enjoying first grade at Geneva. She recently lost her sixth tooth and is taking dance and after school Spanish classes. Mark is getting over being sick. He is a great singer and sure loves his superheros and transformers. Matthew had his 18 month shots today even though he is almost 22 months. He is quite the character. He will do almost anything for a laugh, including jumping from high places! Yikes! The kids ask me to play the piano every night while they fall asleep. I have been playing Christmas Carols lately. It just seems like a good year for warmth, blankets, candles, spices, and nice music. Warm happy thoughts. We even decorated the outside of the house a little for Halloween. I hope I can get a few nice pics of the kids in costumes. Andrew and I had our reunions this summer. They were fun. Cougs are having a terrible season. Gretchen and Brian are looking to move back to Bellingham in the spring. I am pretty happy. It would be nice to have them near. Mom and Dad had a great trip to England, Scotland and Wales this summer. Renee quit working at the hospital and is working at a school near their house. What a cute niece!

A maggot for Purcell July 15, 2007

So tonight I played piano for an English country dancing ball celebrating Jane Austen. It was rather fun. The music was different than the normal Scottish country dancing music, but it was nice to try a different style. It was still through the group Up in the Air who I have been playing with for about 9 months now. There was even an article in the Bellingham Herald about us! The weather here in Bellingham has been lovely the past week or so. We have been hovering around 80* and have been enjoying swimming in Lake Whatcom. I haven’t even had a chance to write about camping down at the beach with my parents, yet! The kids and I had a fabulous time at Kalaloch campground, sleeping in a tent, looking at tide pools, riding bikes, flying kites, and making sand castles (well, sort of). The trip started when we left the house at 10:30am and headed south on I-5. We took the “fun” and most direct way to the beach by going West towards Anacortes, but veering south to the Keystone ferry. We had to cross deception pass and I was so proud of the kids as not one of them started to whimper or cry at the height. We got to the ferry terminal and started driving to the end of a very long line of cars. It ended up taking and hour and a half to get on the ferry, but it was a nice wait at the beach. It is late so I will have to finish the story later. I also have to write about my reunion!

Some Debussy, mood music… April 20, 2007

My husband is such a stud. He has been working out at the gym a bunch the last two months and his is so hot. Tonight he took me on a little date, thanks to Gpa Mark who was willing to watch the kids for us. We went to the Cliffhouse and ate some of their marvelous Whiskey Crab soup. It is amazing! Then he took me to a movie. We saw 300 which some of you may think is not such a good date movie, but I enjoyed it. I decided that I like movies like that where the purpose of the violence seems to be for a noble cause. Perhaps the reason why I so strongly dislike some other violent movies is because of the underlying spiritual implications or evil content. I do not enjoy those ie: the cell, Hannibal, Seven, ect…

My kids are so adorable. Audrey’s bday is coming up and we are getting geared up for a cool horse themed party. It is so hard to believe that she is already turning six. Wasn’t it just yesterday that we found out we were pregnant?

Mark seems to be stronger and more confident every day. He has such a sweet smile. I never thought he would be my little softy, but I love to cuddle with him.

Matthew has quite the little temper emerging. He has taken to screaming wildly about everything he can not express through words, which is pretty much everything. He seems so grown-up all of a sudden. Instead of hanging out in the stroller at the park while the other two play, he runs around and climbs up on everything the others do. He has no idea that he is so much younger.

Our dear friends, Mark and Amanda gave us some beautiful hard wood flooring that we can’t wait to install. It will be such an improvement in our adorable house. I am ready to get rid of my juice stained carpet.

Mom and Dad have a new addition to the farm. His name is Ramses and he is a cute little lamb. The kids and I had the opportunity to take care of him over spring break and we loved it. We also rode Pietro the donkey bareback. I was super proud of the kids since they had no fear and really enjoyed the jaunt around the pasture.

We also had a chance to visit with our friend Colleen and her three kiddos, Lincoln Everett, Heuett, and baby #4. It was such a fun morning of catching up. The kids played so well and made us miss our dear friends. We even got to feed horses!

Also, as part of our spring break trip we went down south and hung out with the Crawford clan in Vancouver. Everything about the trip was wonderful from the walk to the park, the evenings together, Easter feast with my cousin and her family, the egg hunt for the kids put on by mom and Renee, playing in the yard, Chuck E Cheese, coffee, shoe shopping, and meeting up with my childhood best friend, Patty Hillis!! She looks amazing and we talked almost as if no time had passed, although in reality we have not lived near each other or really spoken for about 15 years. WHOA!!! I’m not that old yet am I? I’m still 27!!!!!

Good times. Thanks husband for a nice night.

A Little Grunge is OK February 5, 2007

Sometimes it is nice to take a little peek back in life and remember the different fads that have been around. I was recalling how much I liked to wear my flannel shirts in the 1990’s. It was such a statement. They do remind me of taking trips with my Dad in the 4-Runner. I haven’t written about it yet, but the Gray Ghost is no more.

I was in a pretty serious accident on 12/29/06 on my way to a Clumsy Lovers concert at the Night Light in Bellingham. I was planning to have a night out with my friend Marlys from WSU. We lived next to each other my sophomore year in Regents Hill Hall and we have been friends ever since. The first time she met me, I invited her to go to Moscow, ID to hear this band play. They are so much fun!

Well, she now lives in Lynden and the only time we see each other is when the Clumsy Lovers are in town. The night we were meeting happened to be a really cold night with black ice that didn’t even sparkle. I ended up in the ditch, on my side with the drivers side in the air and my pop top off of the truck. It was pretty amazing that I landed inm the back yard of my friend, Pete Williamson, who is the pastor of the church Oikos, whose building Breakwater rents. He also went to WSU and did music at a campus group called FCA that I used to go to. He came out when he heard the crash and helped me find my husband Andrew. It was a crazy evening full of emotion for me about giving up my truck. It is more than a truck. It represented all of my wonderful childhood memories as a family. I feel somehow that by giving it away (crushed and all) that I was giving away some priceless heirloom. It took Dad a good long talk to convince me that it was just “stuff” and that our and built on more than that. He also talked about letting go of earthly possessions, no matter how “righteous” they seem.

This all happened on Friday and the following week was just even crappier. There were some good things that came out of it though. My Mother-in-Law and her husband graciously allowed us to borrow their “extra” ESCI vehicle for an undefined amount of time. It was delivered to us by noon the next day. AMAZING!!! Thank you so much Brian and Gretchen and Magne. Also, my friend Holly really wanted to buy the truck from us even though it was in pretty bad shape. God was definitely watching out for us! It is pretty amazing that I didn’t come out with a branch through my head! Thanks God.

Dissonance sucks February 2, 2007

Some super mod musicians love dissonance, but call me “old school”, I just don’t like it. I really dig the good stuff like Copland.

I think I could sit in a quiet, sun filled room and listen to the Grand Canyon Suite every day. There is something so stirring and natural about his music. It bothers me sometimes when the world seems to desire dissonance. They like to stir the pot, just to stir the pot. Can’t we all just get along? There are so many things going on in our life right now that it feels like I have a lot of discord in my mind. I can’t quite settle my soul. I need to be still and listen to God. He hears my struggles and knows the desires of my heart. His plans are to prosper me, not to harm me. Trust…

Too much music to compose January 18, 2007

Do you ever get weirded out thinking about life? I’m being too melancholy tonight, but thinking about stuff.

I guess I’m really thinking about how life changes as you go from one place to another. Being on myspace has been cool, but kind of like a time warp for me. Does it ever depress you when you see all of these people, who at one point in your life were the most important thing to you, only to have lost them?

I should be happy to have “found” so many of you, but the reality is that we have lost those times to the past and we will continue on in a new reality. I wonder about some of you whom I used to know so well. It seems crazy that we wouldn’t matter so much to each other any more, but I guess that’s what happens when you near 30. Oh man, did I say 30? Yikes. Why does that have to happen? Can’t we just have a huge commune where everyone has their own house/family, but there is a cool community center where they always serve awesome coffee and I can sit in a corner and play cards all night? Or can that only happen when I’m 85 and the rest of you are living in nursing homes, too old to come be a part of my cool dream world?

Well, c’est la vie de les hommes qui ne pas dans mon vie a cette temps. Quelle dommage.

Je t’oublies!

(wow, it’s been so long since I’ve attempted to write in French.)

Carol of my Bells December 14, 2006

Well, it is WAAAAAY past my bedtime, to quote my daughter, so this will be short. Tonight Audrey and I attended the Sehome high school annual Spirit of the Holidays Dessert and Concert evening at the Majestic on Forest and Maple in downtown Bellingham. It was a beautiful event and I was very proud of my students and Steve who is teaching for me this year. It was a long concert with no seating by the time we got there and no breaks to get the awesome Starbucks coffee that was provided complimentary by our local Sehome location. Thank you Starbucks! The kids sang very well and there were a bunch of solos. I also want to do a plug for some kids who are outstanding! Steven Johnson was accepted to All-Northwest and I am so proud of him. I believe Esther made it in also, but I’m sorry to say I don’t know her yet! Way to go you guys! Little Audrey was so good tonight. She passed out on a table in the back as she patiently waited for her fancy dessert and punch. I had talked it up, but she couldn’t wait.

On the way out the door, we took some items to Amanda’s house for our Sudden Valley MOM’s Club swap. This was a great idea to swap items before Christmas instead of purchasing new. We’ll see if she grabbed anything interesting for us. On the way to her house, the van died three more times, so we drove home and switched cars. Somehow, in the switch, I misplaced the new set of checks that I had grabbed on my way out so I could pay for our tickets. I noticed this about five minutes away from the house, after driving though the random hail in Gate 5. So, we drove all the way back to the house, which is why we arrived at 7:33 and did not get chairs. Sorrry guys, few would understand this sequence except for my family. Thanks Mom.

I’m tired, goodnight.

Oops, forgot to say that we also did a huge Christmas project with the kids today which involved PAINT! Yikes. And the kitchen table lived to tell about it….

Just a short Jig December 10, 2006

I had soooo much fun today!!! It was the best day ever! (ok, at least in a long time) The family slept in a little and then we went to Bellis Fair Mall where we had our pictures taken with Santa Claus. It was very fun and the kids were remarkably well behaved. Matthew was a little freaked out by Santa so he wouldn’t sit in his lap. Oh well. Maybe next year. Audrey actually wore a dress that my mom (pictured left) made for me when I was about five years old. Yeah Mom!!

Mark wore a little three piece suit. Daddy even slicked his hair with gel.

So, then we drove to the Christmas Tree farm where we get our tree every year. It is called Manthey’s out off of the Guide Meridian Rd pretty close to where we used to live. It was super cold and windy, but we bundled up and had a blast. Matthew rode in the back pack, Mark carried the saw (crazy I know), and Audrey carried the video camera (if only for one minute).

I guess I need to practice a little more with getting the pics in here right. Oh well. Each kid got a candy cane and Matthew had his first taste of candy! He smiled awfully big when I put that piece in his mouth.What a joy.

Then we went home and I got ready for my gig! I looked in my closet and Audrey helped me find just the right combination for my Scottish Dancing gig. Since I am Scottish I actually had a kilt and hat in my Crawford tartan (See Left). I felt very proud to be wearing my colors to a gig that most would dress pretty casual for. It was an honor! The group that I played with was very fun. It is called “Up in the Air” and they have been around for a while with different combinations of players, me being the most recent addition. The music is fast and takes a quick eye/ear to hear the right changes and repeats. I think I caught on pretty quick because everyone seemed to like my playing. When I got home it took a long time for my brain to calm down. The music was playing over and over again in my mind. It was still playing when I woke up on Sunday! Now that’s good stuff! I even found out that there is a Gaelic society in Seattle that meets and learns how to speak Gaelic. I’m pretty interested in this and will have to find out more. What a seriously cool day! I can’t wait to send pictures of me wearing my stuff to Gpa Crawford in Florida!