What? No Internet?

Its true. Yesterday was the last day of verizon fios high speed internet. Sara and I both got new phones that get internet and email on them. Now, its no complete substitute but it works. The only things we really used the internet for was for email, blogging and finding recipes on allrecipes.com. we can do all those things with the phone, plus we both have computers at work that we can use during lunch and breaks and stuff. This blog post is kind of a test to see if I can blog from my phone. On another note I started working out again. We have been tracking our workouts and the food we eat using a website called gyminee.com. Its pretty cool and is actually quite motivating. You should check it out if you want to track your progress. Well, enough for now...

What is your definition of food?

I posed this question to my students today. I got a variety of answers.

-It's something I put in my body when I'm hungry.
-It gives me energy.
-It is yummy.
-It is served in large portions.

Not quite the depth of thought I was hoping for.

So now I toss this question your way, and challenge you to think deeper thoughts than a high school student. How do you define food?

It's Back!

Snow.

Again.

Woke up to the cars and lawn being lightly dusted, and currently there is more white stuff falling from the sky.

Snow.

Again.

What to do? * Update*

Thanks for all your suggestions! Blog-land is full of wisdom.

This morning we decided to try putting Cassie in the guest room. It was the easiest to dog-proof. We pulled out the little bookshelf, and the quilt my aunt made for our wedding. Cassie willingly went in the room, and when we got home today, everything was as it should be and Cassie was very wiggly and happy. It looked like she had spent most of the day looking out the window because the bed is under the window, and the pillows were all smooshed down!

So I think we'll work with this for a while until we are able to do some test-runs on leaving her to have run of the whole house.

:)

What to do?

Cassie, our dog, usually stays in the bathroom during the day while we are at work. Typically in the morning she goes into the bathroom easily and willingly when we open the treat jar. The last few days, she goes in and then comes right back out, with her tail between her legs. It takes some coaxing to get her into the bathroom. Anybody have any ideas? What could be her deal?

We left her free in the house when we first got her, which worked until she started absolutely destroying things.

For a while, we were putting her in her kennel during the day. The bathroom seems to give her more room to stretch and move. I know the best option would be to not keep her contained all day, but total destruction is not an option either.

Help!!!

Settlers is a long game

We just taught my (Sara's) mom and dad how to play Settlers of Catan. It was a 2 1/2 hour game. Very long. And I didn't win. :(
Jason did.

And now we are tired and going to bed, and the best part of that is...we don't have to work tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Book Reviews

On the recommendation from some other teachers at my school, I read "The Omnivore's Dilemma" this fall. Great book. I can't say I buy in to everything, but I appreciate Michael Pollan's approach to food and his ability to communicate his beliefs. This book is currently on loan to my parents, but if any of you out there would like to borrow it, let me know!



I am now reading "In Defense of Food". I just made it through the introduction and first chapter today, but so far I am liking it alot. This book appears to be just as good, or better, than "Omnivore's Dilemma". It particularly interests me because Pollan explores the influence of the study of nutrition on social eating trends and the dissolution of Americans knowing how and what to eat based on their own intuition, needs, and pleasure. This book should be available to loan out within the next few weeks because I plan to devour it! :)

If you are interested, Michael Pollan also recently wrote a letter (Oct. 2008) addressed to the President Elect, published in The New York Times. I haven't actually read the entire letter yet, but listened to an NPR interview with Pollan that address food as a national security issue. Worth listening to.

Birthday @ Bounty

This weekend we had the awesome opportunity to spend the weekend at Bounty, A beautiful cabin located in Stevenson, WA, in the Gorge.  The past leaders of our small group built the cabin recently.  Friday was Sara's birthday and so we headed out there to celebrate.  Friday night we hit up Mcmenamins Edgefield for dinner and a movie and then continued to the cabin.

Saturday we attempted to do some geocaching but failed due to the snow that will still around.  We couldn't get to any of the caches.  Well, we probably could have got to them but didn't feel like risking getting stuck.  Later my parents showed up to help us celebrate.  We walked down to the "40 ft falls," played some games, ate some food, and had a good time.  Here's Sara and my parents on our walk to the falls:

 

40 Foot Falls.  Usually this is a MUCH smaller 'creek.'  This weekend with all the heavy rain and snow melt it was a raging river and waterfall!  Impressive!

 

 

I got a new fly fishing pole for Christmas and had an opportunity to do some practice casting with it.  I can't wait to get out and do some real fishing!

 

My dad got some practice in too.  Look at that form!

Goodbye Wood Stove

We will miss you forever.

The wood stove, which was removed from use this summer, was sold today. Thanks to craigslist, our wallet is a little bigger, and the two of us are alot colder!

Livingroom Makeover

After we got home from Medford on Sunday we unloaded the car, stood there for a couple minutes, then began taking down the Christmas stuff and rearanging our living room.  Since we took out the wood stove we decided we would move the TV over ther to save room and make the living room feel bigger.  Its hard to tell in these crappy macbook webcam pictures but it made a big difference.  The room Feels larger and when we have our bible study over at our house it will be much better for that.  

 

 

Jacksonville

Today we ate a yummy lunch at Kaliedascope in Medford and then drove out to Jacksonville. We did some hiking in the trails behind the Britt Gardens. It was a beautiful sunny day, but lots of sticky, slippery mud! We stopped to catch our breath and take some pictures at Panorama Point, which overlooks the Rogue Valley. Beautiful!!

I finished a 750-piece Thomas Kinkade puzzle this evening and we are going to watch "Get Smart" as soon as the football game on tv is over.

'09

We spent New Years Day relaxing, walking, drinking Dutch Bros., opening Christmas presents, shopping, eating, and relaxing. May every day of '09 be like today.