this excited body needs to get outside to let the imagination fly

for the past two days i have been practically glued to my computer...

you would think i was designing computer software or writing code, but no,

i have been trying to improve my illustrator skills for an exciting project i'm working on.

this morning, after a great little meeting, my brain has been flooded with ideas

and i'm tempted to spend another day on the computer...

but i'm going to fight that urge because i know that when this happens

i need to take a walk outside, in my mountains, in the woods,

and write down everything that comes into this body, heart & mind.

so very excited indeed. can't wait to tell/show you all what it's all about.

these photos are from our last trip down to southern utah.

ceej is in europe (in norway, i think, at the moment), and i'm missing him.

i think it's hardest when the holiday season is upon us, and i have no one

to sip hot cocoa with and listen to andy williams with. 

sunday this loneliness will be over with. can't wait.

so until then, i'm distracting myself with such a wonderful project and headed to the mountains.

come and visit...

meag, the egg out west, asked me to talk about my love for jackson.

i love her blog and her love of the west. her photos are lovely and inspiring.

come see my guest post here.

thank you, meag!

happy, happy monday!

christmas is here and how i can't wait for dark to come

we wasted no time getting out the christmas decorations this year.

last year i didn't get to decorate as we were right in the middle

of our move from california to utah...so it's been two years

since i've seen my favorite christmas decorations.

i loved having boxes scattered about, ella singing silent night in the background,

ceej helping me fix my insufficient hanging jobs, and then finally

sitting on the couch together admiring how festive this little home has become.

i really can't wait for evening to come and for the sun to set so we

can turn on all of our pretty little twinkle lights. 

ceej gets to go to europe tomorrow for a week of business meetings in lovely countries...

jealous indeed. but at least i have my pretty little christmas house to console me.

about thanksgiving and my cute little scarred pies

our holiday was cozily quiet and low-key...other than that crux-of-a-moment

when all of the food is about to be ready and we're all running around the kitchen

trying to remember which timer was for which dish, and which dish goes in which dish.

my pies got a little scarred thanks to my slovenly use of tinfoil. oh well. they had character. and tasted delish.

there were only eight of us this year. so there was plenty of food, and plenty of opportunities for post-feast naps.

we finished out the night watching a little movie about a fox. 

i quite like a quiet holiday.

hoping yours was festive and restorative.

today we ventured down to the basement for christmas decorations...more photos to come.

{photos by ceej}

grateful for it all...especially the pies

the food preparations started today as i'm sure it did at many of your homes.

this is it. the holidays are here...yippee! earlier today it was ella; now it's johnny.

my pumpkin pies turned out, other than the scars from peeling back the foil;

the banana cream pie might need a re-do as the pastry cream has not set quite firm enough...

oh, perfection! how i hope you never touch this kitchen.

i am truly grateful for it all: this life, this earth, the people i love and who love me,

the bad days just as much as the good days, the frustration as much as the triumphs...

and the pies. i am grateful. this life is enough.

i hope you enjoy your harvest feast tomorrow.

we'll eat to our soul's delicious content,

and make our way to the mountains the following days

to ski with friends. should be a satisfying weekend.

skiing for free, no lines, my mountains, and why my thighs will be hurting for days

yesterday i had the afternoon off from teaching so i thought

i'd take advantage of free time and free lift rides.

a ski resort near us offers free skiing everyday after 3 o'clock. everyday.

that's a solid 1.5 hours of skiing; 5-6 runs {enough for this woman's thighs}.

plus, there were no lines yesterday. let's here it for weekdays!

i went up to get my first turns in for the season,

knowing that, in the backcountry, downhill can be the most difficult.

and this year we're trying to avoid giving the resorts any of our money...

they're all trying to expand and develop into the backcountry. boo.

why can't they just be happy with what they've got,

and keep our skiing {winter} and hiking {summer} as empty as possible?

anyway...

was happy to get up to the mountains to drop into lunge after lunge after lunge {telemarking}.

i'm determined this year to get some better skills...if only just to keep up with these kids.