I'm feeling a bit better. I love love love my doctor and as long as I'm living in the same state I'm going to her.

The skunks have been super extra cuddly lately.

I shampooed the stairs today.

Three weeks of school before Spring Break! Hubby and I might be going out of town, which makes me a little excited. Sometimes I feel exiled out here in Newberg.

Oh, and I've lost another couple of pounds. I took a hiatus from the Bod Blog for a couple of weeks because A) I plateaued and was bitter about it, B) a whole bunch of school + social stuff made it really hard to stick to, and even if I didn't cheat horrendously I still didn't feel like writing about it, and C) I've been busy with other stuff. Oh and also I lost my calorie binder for a couple of weeks so I wasn't writing calories down - which is total diet suicide for me. Being sick this past week has been the best boost to my diet ever. Can't taste food? Not as appealing.

A couple weekends ago I went with Liz and Jason out to Champoeg (sham-poo-ey) State Park and shot some pics. These haven't been through Photoshop and I'm planning some funky stuff for them.

Screw you, Kulongoski!

ugh

So I'm sick. This is the first real cold I've had this entire school year, so I can't complain that much, but I still feel horrible.

Also, I only went to school on Tuesday this week - the rest of it I had a tech conference downtown that was, unfortunately, pretty lame. Mostly for people who don't already integrate technology and/or don't know what a computer is. And two of the sessions that were NOT convincing you that technology is good was teaching you basics of neuropsychology + education... which I already know forwards and backwards, as I learned it my second year of undergrad. Annoying. But I did get to each sushi two days in a row for lunch which made me happy.

Oh, and one other bonus from the conference: I created this website for my class. Still a work in progress, obviously, but I don't know if it would be blocked by our school. (crossing fingers)

Valentine's

Before we were married, James and I made an agreement about Valentine's Day: it's really about consumerism, and they jack the prices up on everything because you feel obligated to buy candy and flowers and cards - thereby increasing profit the more they make you feel like that is appropriate Valentine's behavior. So we decided not to purchase anything Valentine's-y. And anyway, you should be doing nice things for each other year-round, not just in mid-February, right?

So it came as a surprise when, a few weeks ago, James asked, "Mind if I plan Valentine's this year?" (We don't normally do anything besides make each other a card or something, so of course I wouldn't be planning anything anyway.)

We first met downtown around 1:00 (he came from class), got some Escape from New York Pizza, then had dessert at Papa Haydn's. We went on a little architectural tour of some parts of NW PDX, then went for a drive out to Sauvie Island. It was gorgeous, and we had perfect weather. Then, we went on a tour of some of the landmark places in our relationship: the Pearl, where we spent much time while dating, the Art House on Haig (along with Sanborn's, where our reception was), our place on Gaines, the church where we were married. After that, we headed back downtown to eat at the East India Co., a really great Indian place that had a special Valentine's menu. It was sooooo good!

Thank you, Hubby, for the best Valentine's I've ever had!

Chinese New Year

...Not my best work but at least you get the idea of what the Chinese New Year's Lantern festival was like.

Last Week...

I haven't written in a while. Sorry. Many things are going on at work and I'm uber busy!
One of those things is hosting a Valentine's Day party for the PTA. Saturday, Liz helped me make ads for it. There was much pink and red.








































We also spent some time walking around our own neighborhood with our cameras.
































On Sunday, James and I spent some time with Bryce and Kadra. We first went to the Chinese Gardens for their New Year's lantern festival. It was beautiful and I'll be adjusting some images to post later. This is just a teaser.

Night photos

I've been trying to take more photographs. Last Thursday evening I went with Hubby to his class, dropped him off, then went downtown to try to get pics of PDX from the Ross Island Bridge. Everything went fine until the fog rolled in - about 10 minutes before I got set up. Still, I managed to get a few that I'm happy with. The bridge was freaky, though, with a tripod.

A new semester starts tomorrow. I'm a little nervous about how my classes with turn out, but I had a few doozies last semester and I pulled through it just fine. All in all, I enjoy even my tough classes. And this semester we're starting cellular biology and genetics, which are my favorites, so I'll be uber happy with what I'm teaching.

Oh! And today was a Ghost Hunters marathon.

I think some students have found my blog. Not that I'm freaking out or anything, and I can't lie and say I'm not curious about who it is, but it's a strange feeling having my two very different worlds clashing. So, if you're a student, this is my message to you: I don't blame you for your curiosity, and I'm sure I'm not nearly as interesting as you were hoping, but it weirds me out just a little that you're here. That being said, please don't tell me who you are, and please don't tell other students where my site is. It's not that I don't welcome you into my personal life, but I like to keep things separate, you know?

It was funny, though, after I made this discovery I had Liz try to "find" me on the interwebs. She's one of the more capable people with technology (duh, she's our tech/art teacher) so I figure if she couldn't do it, then I don't know how other people are. Also, my personal info is hidden on Facebook, so that's not the avenue. Who knows.

In other news, I had an exhausting/great week. It started at the beach with a hike, the most perfect weather, fresh clam chowder and ice cream. Then we had Exhibition, which was awesome and I've never been more proud of our students ever ever ever, then I did a little shopping and a little cooking and I'm feeling great and totally happy. On the other hand, my kitchen is a total mess and I need to work on that. But my life can't be 100% awesome, can it?
Also, in science we've been constructing Rube Goldberg machines. I am in total awe at what some of the kids have done. We've had fire, electric guitars + amps, boats, and dangerous flinging bungees. I like a little chaos in the classroom but this week was really trying! I had to just let it all go. 95% of them were totally on task and into the assignment so I had little to do while they worked. Pictures to come later!

...went on a walk today...

Check out my flickr page to see what I saw today!

Bodblog

It has arisen again!

And I'm totally 100% serious this time. I know this because I've already started but didn't want to jinx myself by blogging about it first. I will post weekly updates with weight gain/loss, how many days I went over my caloric intake, how many minutes I exercised, and other boring statistics.

New Year!

Hubby and I went to Jared and Skye's on New Year's Eve. It was delightful! We spent some time pre-party cooking our favorite party foods. I made sushi and James made Gougeres (delightful French cheese puffs) with Fontina and Gruyere. We also brought Aroma, who quickly made friends with Jared and Kaarina.

Before we went to the party, I gave Hubby a haircut and he sculpted his fine man-face-hair into a stylish 70's fu and sideburns. He even parted his hair for a true sleezy-70's 'do. Sexy!

We were really happy to see our friends. Aroma enjoyed cuddling with Kaarina!

Skye and Jared always have the most delightful food at their place. This cheese was divine.

It's an Apricot Stilton. I decided to do a bit of reading about it, and found that it must be made in one of three counties in England to actually be called a Stilton. Also, a study in 2005 found that 85% of women had weird/bizarre dreams after going eating it and then going to bed. Oddly enough, I had two really freaky dreams last night - freaky enough that they woke me up and demanded snuggles from Hubby. We had a good laugh about blaming the cheese for my terrible night sleep.

Toby (on bottom) and Aroma snuggle with Hubby and I. This is a usual sight in the evenings after their dinner time.

Liz, Hubby and I went for a walk tonight and Liz taught me some tricks for nighttime photography! It was cold and wet but it made my heart happy.

Here are a few pictures I took today.