Up hill both ways...

 A "day off" for both of us is rarely wasted. We do our best to take full advantage of such bonus days (like yesterday's MLK day). With beautiful weather in the forecast, we headed to the nearby, majestic Mt. Hood with my younger brother, Jensen; aka, Mountain Man. He came fully prepared with a pack full of gear to include a jet-boil. We had great intentions of making some hot cocoa as a mid-trail treat but instead made a stop at DQ on the way home for a refreshing sugar boost.

We chose to snowshoe a 5 mile lake loop and enjoyed our packed-sandwich-lunch part way through the hike. 

All in all, I'd say that my first time snowshoeing was a success; though I reached my limit of walking around mile 4... Okay more like 3. Three miles is plenty, people. Especially when there are hills involved. Besides, with the number of times I stop to take pics, the trek ends up taking far longer than it should. I know, I'm a wimp. Don't get me wrong, it was a great time. But, next time, I'm feeling the sledding/tubing hills! Less work, more reward. After all, screaming and adrenaline always equals more fun.

PS- My brother is so much fun. So glad he came along. Lots of laughter was much appreciated and much needed. He's a hoot.

 

We are walking over a frozen lake here.... Not gonna lie, I was very nervous!

 

Hope you had a great weekend! Thanks for reading! 

Pom

 I ate my first actual pomegranate the other night.  I know, I know... far over due. Eating one/cutting one is quite the process (we did it slightly wrong).

Anywho, the pom was thoroughly enjoyed as was the hour and a half it took to put together our new Ikea chair. Not. That's what husbands are good for right? Ikea is dangerous..... d.a.n.g.e.r.o.u.s.s.s.s.s.ssss... I always spend far too much. With only a couple of screws wonky, we're hoping the chair doesn't collapse. Time will tell.

In other news, during my "week" at work, I'm dead to the world. Gone. Absent. Forget about responding to emails, paying bills, oh please... getting any chores done? Psshhh. There are definite perks to working 12 hour shifts- and even more perks to being young enough to pull off working them all scrunched back to back and getting long stretches of days off- but there's no doubt a price to pay. And on that note, after a long night's work, I'm off to sleep!

Wait, I worked all night and I'm writing blog posts when I have to work again tonight? Does that mean this post contradicts everything I just said? Nope, it was a scheduled post written a few days ago. Fooled you :)

Do you work an 8-5 job? split shifts? night shifts? 10 hour shifts? 12 hour shifts? I always thought that grown-ups just worked 8-5 jobs because that is what I grew up knowing as a youngster. Little did I know the variety of occupations and schedules that a grown up could have & enjoy. I just didn't think that person "working night shift" would be me. Ever. But it is. And I love it.

Most of the time...

PS- I love my macro lens. We're besties.

Lots of little man Isaac

 

 This kid could not possibly get any cuter could he?!? Though he had a cold yesterday and was sneezy-snotty, he let me snap a few pics of him in the morning light. Isaac likes to sit near the window-door leading to our porch and watch the happenings of outside. It usually allows me a few minutes here and there to clean up or take a potty break when I'm babysitting him. The light hits him just right that it's hard to resist practicing some photography. I happened to have 2 white towels folded nearby from the laundry that worked as a great make-shift "studio set up." I could not get him to smile for the life of me. I think this was mostly because wasn't feeling too well. I also had to act quick and wasn't able to grab my best lens; but these will do!

He's going to be such a ladies man. Just check out them eye lashes.

Bonus to me babysitting = You get tons of pics of your kiddo! Good photography practice for me too!

"You talkin' to me???"

"Don't care; I'm over this picture-taking stuff...."

 "My reward was bath time!"

 "Now that's what I call fun! I even splashed all over you and your bathroom Mwahahahaa..."

Newborn Isaac

Baby Isaac

A bit older Isaac (after the oreo chewy bar recipe)

Outside to Inside

 Remember this little table friend of ours from Ikea? It spruced up our patio over the late spring and summer months and provided for some sweet sunset dinners with my man. Having a few extra folks over for a dinner party last month prompted me to find extra seating space, and voila!

I'm kind of in love with this little breakfast bistro space.. though I'll be honest. I've sat here once. 

Until the sun decides to shine again, it will likely stay and be home to the candle that provides the 'scent of the day.' I sure do love candles; but then again, who doesn't. In other news, Christmas is finally neatly packed away until next year. I'm looking forward to the mister coming home to a clean apartment and timing how long it takes him to realize that the Christmas decor has vanished.

 My next apartment project will be finding a headboard (I know, I know... we still don't have one) and working on our bedroom... it's a complete disaster. I contemplated DIYing a headboard, but without the space and tools to do it, I decided against it. Props to all of you wood/nail/hammer handy folks. Maybe someday I'll have the space/time/tools to be like you!

iLife.... playing catch up

Too late to post about Christmas? Playing a little bit of catch up here..

 My in-laws sure know how to celebrate Christmas. Magical, I tell ya...

1. Cookie baking day// 2. cookbook from 1950 used every year

3. Andrew's new pjs from me... I've been wearing them every night since// 4. Andrew's parent's house

1. Sibs // 2. Cousin Isaac 

3. I love my Grandma // 4. Painting of us by a friend (gift from Andrew)

5. Mom, me, Aunt, Sister, Grandma // 6. Dad and his new fishing gear

 I was blessed to see every member of my entire family on all sides in a span of 4 days. Just realized that! Wow! The neat thing is that my family spreads all over the country and we were all able to make our way together over Christmas/New Years. A few days prior to Christmas, members of my immediate family were in 4 different states, technically 5 (since my sis moved across state lines that week). Anywho, great times were had by all. And most importantly, we were reminded of Christ's birth. So thankful and blessed to have a loving savior.

My favorite part of Christmas was when my sweet hubs came to say goodnight (I was a bit of a party pooper and needed to go to sleep earlier than the rest of the clan after working the night prior) and wanted to pray together and thank God for this year's blessings. So grateful for his kind, godly spirit.

Okay, all caught up. Now I can move on with January. Can't believe it's 2013....

Our tree is still up... On today's agenda to de-christmafi the apartment...