SNOW!!!

We got a ton of snow this past week, and it's still coming!! Last night, we had more wind than snow. The wind carried all of the snow to certain places where it stacked up to several feet high!

Here is Whiskey in the snow next to our house..you can tell he is about 2 feet off the ground here


Here they are in the backyard...we had a couple of steps there and you can see the BBQ next to where Matt is standing.



Here is the door from the garage out to the backyard-there are steps down from this door as well-so deep!


Here is the fam on top of what must be at least 3 feet deep-I had just sunk down deeper when the picture was taken

And here is when I was actually standing on top of the mountain of snow

Whiskey found a Fruit by the Foot wrapper to keep him busy

Here's Matt and W on top of that mountain in the front yard

The front porch-our porch is off the ground about 2 feet and you can see the snow blew up onto the porch by the front door

The back side of the mountain of snow

Mountain

A video clip of Whiskey running from Matt to me-he LOVES the snow!

snowy

I left my house at the usual time today: 6 am to get to work by 6:30 so I can have my coffee. By 6:20, I am at Eastgate in Bellevue-making good time even with the snow!! All of a sudden, I was at a stand-still. It then took me 3 hours to get to the hospital for work. I don't think it's even 5 miles!! Needless to say, I was late. I-405 royally sucked today.

brrr

neutered

My baby Whiskey was neutered today. He also had a small umbilical hernia that needed to be fixed. I felt so bad for the little guy! He has a cone around his head and cries when he really wants to bite at his incision. I guess the good news is that he is mostly calm and quiet tonight, sleeping next to his sheep.

Whiskey and Matt

Matt and I wake up the other night to Whiskey rolling around in his kennel being SO noisy. Matt jumps up out of bed and turns the light on to see if he was ok. He was fine, just moving a lot. I rolled over and went back to bed. A few seconds later, I feel Matt tapping me on the shoulder. He says,

"honey, when did I put on your shirt???"

me: "umm...you have MY shirt on???"

matt: "ha, yes...but WHY?"

me: "I don't have a clue. Go back to bed...and take off my shirt."

I am not kidding you either. There he is in boxer briefs and my long sleeve V-NECK purple shirt! All I could think of was "fat guy in a little coat..."

We have been laughing for days!

The other day while Matt and I were getting ready for work, Whiskey took a pair of my underwear and ran away with them. He does this with everything: clean laundry, dirty laundry, the recycling, etc... We usually chase him around until we corner him then get it back. This time, while running away from Matt, Whiskey SWALLOWED MY UNDERWEAR WHOLE!!! And no, this was not a little thong, it was normal underwear. Luckily, W passed it yesterday!! Matt and I have never been so thrilled to see poop.

Thanksgiving

I work this Thanksgiving, 12 hours, 7am to 7pm. So I decided to make a little Thanksgiving for my little family yesterday. Notice that I don't own a gravy boat, and yes, I used Rachael Ray's "Muffin' Stuffins" idea. Or is it Stuffin Muffins? Not sure, but I like it because I can portion my food a little better. So much for eating less carbs and sugar...

Twilight

I am recording Ellen today for my sister who is in LOVE with Twilight's Edward. I have NOT read the books, but she has read them all in the past 3 weeks. When she explains to me some of the plots, I laugh because she explains them as if they are so real. And then she realizes how funny she sounds talking about vampire romance...

I will read them eventually. I have heard from many that they are awesome-do not think I don't like Edward. :)

Daycare

Not much going on around here. Just work, work, and work. Whiskey started doggy day-care/obedience this week. I think Matt was sad to have to drop him off in an unfamiliar place, but he did well with it. Whiskey has his own kennel there and seems to be doing well with his training. I felt like we were taking our child to school for the first time... :) I know, I am pathetic.

Willows Lodge

Matt and I finally got away for the weekend!! We had what we called a "wine-cation"...we went to Willows Lodge in Woodinville and it was wonderful! On Saturday, we ate lunch at the Redhook Brewery and walked a bunch on the Burke-Gilman trail. We also took some time to walk on over to Chateau Ste Michelle to buy a few bottles of wine. Then for dinner, we went to the Purple Cafe and Wine Bar-delicious! On Sunday, we ate at the Barking Frog for breakfast, then went for another long walk. After we checked out, we decided to go to the "Taste of Red" at the Columbia Winery-the wine was delicious! And yes, we brought Whiskey-he is our baby :)


Poncho Villa

This is the bed THE HOTEL PROVIDED US FOR WHISKEY

Whiskey kissing a dog

Sitting on the fireplace, nice and cozy

The view into the bathroom from the bedroom

I know this is fuzzy, but I love W's eyes!

Beautiful sunset!

It was a great weekend get-away! Matt did a wonderful job of making it special!

Halloween 2008

I only got one semi-ok pic of us this year for Halloween... can you guess who we are? (I am standing very awkwardly, I know-and this is the only GOOD pic!)

Mason Lake Hike

Mason Lake is off of Exit 45 on I-90. It was a beautiful hike...and I realized how out of shape I am! I was tired/burning almost 100 yards in=pathetic. I usually do really well hiking regardless of my shape...I guess I'm getting old :) That day the mountains had really strong winds but it was a gorgeous day!!

Here we are on the way back down from the lake taking off some of our many layers.

Going down...thank goodness.

Up at the peak of the hike. You could actually see a large part of Mt. Rainier but my pictures aren't showing it. Like my lumberjack shirt?? It's Matt's...I got cold.

Matt looking cute

More of Matt...cute

Katie and Halas

Matt and I at the lake. The winds were so strong and freezing!

Whiskey had way too much fun

The lake

Trying to put my hood up...

Needless to say, I am very sore today!

A Walk With Whiskey

Matt took these pictures the other day while on a walk with Whiskey. We also went on a hike today and pics of that will come later when I actually upload them.

Whiskey LOVES this hill with a bunch a newly planted plants.

WEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Let's go!!

Home updates

So I mentioned awhile ago that when Whiskey was itty-bitty he knocked over one of my curtain rods in my room...then proceeded to pee on them because I was too lazy to get them fixed. ALSO, my curtains were too long if you remember. So, I FINALLY decided to hem them myself instead of coughing up the dough for it to be done for me. I was very worried that I could potentially ruin them. Well, I hemmed them and then sent them to be dry cleaned and voila! They are pretty much perfect! Some of the panels are still slightly long, but most are grrreat!!




And here is the picture collage wall in the loft that I worked on a few weeks ago.

I think I will do one more layer on the bottom to make a more defined line....

Bees, Bees, Bees

I got stung by several bees today...on my butt. Whiskey and I were finishing up our run, when he stopped to try to catch a bee. Little did we know he was going to step on a nest. I didn't even notice until it looked like one stung him in the face. Then I got stung on the right side of my bum and we started to run home. At the front door, I got stung AGAIN on the LEFT side of my bum from a bee who must've hitched a ride home with me. Once inside, I began to wipe Whiskey's feet off, and a bee jumped out from my jacket! I screamed, then stomped on him. So, some Bendaryl for Whiskey and a stingy sore butt, and we're all ok. I have actually only ever been stung once in my life...until now.

rockin it

I got up to go workout again this morning at 5:30 while Matt got ready for work. Today is my one day off between 3 days on, so I had to get up and get some exercise since I do not work out on my 12 hr days! I then had to stop by the cleaners (can you believe they open at 6am???) to pick up the dry cleaning I had done. My curtains are not ready yet but I paid $160 for all 6 panels to be cleaned....yipes. Then I stopped by the gas station and paid another $66 for that, all by 7am.

I used to always tell people I was going to go out for a run when actually what I did was 60% run and 40% walk-typical. So I changed my tactics and told people I would go out for a "rock" (walk/run) so I wasn't being dishonest anymore. :) Lately Whiskey and I go out for "rocks" every morning around 8:30 or 9 when I have the day off work. Today was a long one around all of the trails in my neighborhood. It started to rain about 10 minutes in, but both Whiskey and I were in heaven. For some reason, I feel spiritual when it's raining and slightly warm. Whiskey loves any form of water and he LOVES puddles! I let him off leash along the trails and he is very good about staying near by for the most part. Sometimes he lags, but when I get about 30 feet ahead, he bolts forward into a full-on sprint, having the time of his life! We usually end up at the park, where he loves to run up and down the big hill...sometimes army crawling his way down, sometimes rolling down because he was running too fast. There is a tiny little stream back there that he loves to stomp and run in, making every effort to get as muddy as possible. In fact, as I type, he is sleeping soundly from "rocking" so hard.

Matt planted 2 pear trees in our backyard and they look so PUNY because they are all by themselves! I cannot wait for all of our plants to grow up a little.

I think I will be baking some banana bread today and making some chicken and shrimp curry for dinner. I love these blustery days!

Sorry for the random post, but I actually have the time now :)

Whiskey & Slaw

Whiskey cracks me up! Every day he does something new and funny. Each time one of you talks about your child, I swear Whiskey has done it as well, except for the cute talking part :) . Here are a few things we love(sometimes) about Whiskey:

-he eats rocks
-he eats dirt
-he actually will eat anything
-he always licks the dishwasher when I am filling and emptying it
-he always stands on the dishwasher whenever it's open
-he LOVES the taste of pledge (we cannot dust anywhere near him or he will run toward you and lick all of the furniture)
-he always sits under each fuschia when I water so that it drips on him
-he licks cracks (i.e. sidewalks, patios, fireplace stone, etc...)
-he LOVES cucumbers (I usually give him the end and he will play with it for 15 mins and then eat it right up!)
-he picks toys out of his kennel one at a time when we are getting ready for bed
-he protests when it's time to go for a walk (usually 3-4 times)
-he eats dried slugs
-in the morning on his way downstairs for the first time, he usually stretches causing him to slide down the first flight on his belly
-he loves a windy day because he gets to chase the leaves
-he likes to put his top half on the bathtub and drink water from the faucet
-he loves the hose, especially when on
-if I am trying to sleep in on my day off, he sits on the floor at the bottom of the bed and watches me quietly for any little move. If I move even an inch he runs over and barks at me to get up!
-he always stands on our hillside in the backyard and causes an avalanche so he can chase the rocks down the hill




Last night I made "Santa Fe Slaw" from Sunset magazine
In a large bowl, combine 4 cups shredded green cabbage, 2 cups torn spinach, 1.5 cups shredded jicama, 2 chopped green onions, 1 cup cooked corn, 1 cup finely chopped tomatoes, and 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro. In a small bowl, whisk together 1/4 cup each mayo and sour cream, 2 tbsp finely chopped canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, and 2 tbsp fresh lime juice. Pour dressing over slaw mixture and stir until combined. Season to taste with salt.
Delicious!!

Weekend Update

The weekend included a nice dinner at Jak's in Issaquah with the in-laws to celebrate our anniversary (late). Sunday we did some landscaping and planting in the front yard then ate dinner at my aunt and uncle's house to celebrate my meeting up with my Dad after 17+ years! Yes, I did it and have no pictures to prove it. Things are good and will no longer be awkward for us. It's so funny how throughout the years I thought about what that moment would be like, and it was SO much different, and so much better than it could have been. Thanks for having us over guys!!

Matt and Whiskey planting

Whiskey likes dirt and must lay by anything dirt

He is so darn cute

Posing

Matt shoveling up the grass

Whiskey playing with Kona, Val & Rod's new puppy

The amazing view of Mt. Rainier at their house

Kona and the back half of Malibu

The three playing ever so nicely

My new garden gnome sitting on a mushroom