Memories....

Before Christmas we went to Bend to do an early Christmas with Josh's Uncle Scott and Aunt Cathy (we just LOVE them!!) and went to Linen's and Things because they were having a going out of business sale. They were selling EVERYTHING including the shelving, cash registers, office supplies, door plaques ("office"), file cabinets, boxes of pens.... you get the picture. We got a photo-link one-touch picture scanner that was originally priced at $99.99 for $39.99. The largest pictures it can scan are 4x6 ones, but I've already scanned probably around 800 of our old pictures so now we have them available as JPEG's on my computer! So I want to start posting some ancient pictures every once in awhile on here of old times.... here are a few of me I scanned from when I was just a tot..... ahhhhhhh! Neither of our kids really looked anything like me when I was little... Audrey did look similar to Josh when he was little though (I will have to find and scan some of him later.) Have a great day!

I see where Bridger gets his "constantly-hurting-himself syndrome" from!

My New Job and Upcoming Trip

Josh and I have had our business for about 2 1/2 years now, and up until just recently, we have done a few trips now and then, but not too much. In the last month or so, we got offered a pretty big contract :) so what that means is that Josh and Ricky (our business partner) will be gone... a lot..... a whole lot. Which is good news for our business, but not the greatest news for our babysitting situation. I love my job at dispatch.... really do.... hours aren't so great, but I love the job. With Josh leaving and going to be gone a ton, we talked a lot about it and finally decided since we still need an income for me, I would look for a new job. One happened to come open at the Circuit Court right as we decided this, and so I applied (on the last day they were accepting applications!). I was skeptical because I didn't really think I qualified, but alas, I got a call for an interview. It went well, but I knew there were 15 applicants, so I still wasn't too confident. I got called back on Wednesday for a second interview :) They said they had asked three of us back for second interviews.... I wasn't the fat kid in gym class! I made the cut! Then that same evening they called and offered me the job! Yay! I am kinda excited about the job, but I think I am just more excited about not having to stress and drive an extra 30 miles dropping kids off at night, and picking them back up in the morning. I will have weekends off - and holidays! Plus it pays a little more! I'm going to miss all the people at dispatch dearly though - they are a great little community. At least I'm still somewhat going to be in that area of work though and get to correspond with them on different things. So.... wish me luck... and goodbye old job :(

I will be starting the new job (as far as it goes right now) on March 2nd. Until then? I am going to be working as the apprentice on a trip we are doing for our business :) I will be on the course from the 9th of February until the 1st of March. Total of about 18 days or so in the back country. Going to be a blast :) But, I have a TON of stuff to do to get ready. Since our business is the one that was hired for it, we have all the paperwork, equipment to get ready, food, transportation, itinerary, organizing, etc. to as well as me getting all my lessons written up, my stuff packed and figured out. We will have 13 students, and we are hiring a lead instructor. Josh will be helping with logistics, etc. (when he gets done with the course he is currently on) and will be home with the kids. I guess what that means is I better stop this and get some work done!!!!

School

Josh and I decided recently that we would use our GI bill to go back to school..... cause, you know.... we don't have enough other things going on right now. We have quite a bit of money from our military service that needs to be used within 10 years of leaving the service. That means that by 2017 I need to have used all of it - or it's wasted. There are a ton of things I really want to go to school for, but seeing how we live in BFE (er... ahem.. middle of nowhere), it has to be online (unless we want to travel even more than we do now weekly - and try and stress with even more babysitting hassles). It looks like Josh won't be starting until August and will probably be pursuing a Bachelor's in Small Business Management/Entrepreneurship. I am signed up to get my Bachelor's in Global Business Magangement. Excitement level on these degrees? Eh...... But, they will be handy to have. Maybe later I can go back and get something I really am interested in........ botony, or nutrition, or GIS (very cool), acupuncture, and I want to go back and get recertified in massage so I can legally start doing that again. So many dreams, so little time.... and money!

My Sister is Coming! My Sister is Coming!

Yay! It's finally here! Friday! I put in for leave today and tomorrow because my sister, her boyfriend and my beautiful little niece are all coming today to spend the weekend in Eastern Oregon! She has only been to our house here once, and that was for an extremely short span of time, this time they will be spending the night :) We wanted to light a fire at our shop, drink some hot cocoa (with additives :) ) and go sledding on the hill at our property, but looking at the current weather I don't think sledding will still be included. Of course, we all know that hot cocoa can be drank without sledding! We are going to do our Christmas with them since we are both always late and didn't get our gifts together in time. :) Saturday we will all be going to my cousin's oldest daughter's birthday party. I can't believe she is going to be 8 already! wow, she is growing up so fast! Then, afterwards we will all be attending my Grandpa's retirement party at The Elk's Club in John Day. Busy weekend! I will work Sunday night (so that will be a sleepy night!) but then have my usual Monday and Tuesday off. I also worked last night and got off at 6am this morning - but hey.... I'll power through the day :)

Why Do They Call It The Cold Sump of Oregon?

Soooo..... Why do they call it that?

sump (sump) n. 1. A pit or hole that receives drainage. 2. A cesspool. [ME sompe, marsh.].

Well, Seneca really isn't too much of a swamp or marsh - though it does have a river that runs through it which tends to flood in the spring. A lot of people might lovingly refer to it as a cesspool, but most the town folk might disagree.

A cold sump is the lowest point in an area, and since cold air is heavier than warm air, it tends to settle there. Throughout the winter it is usually always foggy when you are driving across the flats coming into Bear Valley. I always think of the ocean when I am driving home in the early hours of the morning just as the sun is starting to peek out. Seneca is unique that it is a valley, but it is a valley that sits at nearly 5000 ft in elevation. We get the cold and snowy mountain weather that the whole county gets, but the cold settles in early and stays late. Last year we had a week straight of about -30 degrees that never rose above 0 degrees during the daytime. Seneca holds the record of -64 degrees back in the day (I believe that's right it might've only been-54, but I'm pretty sure it's -64).

This year has been odd. We didn't really even start getting "winter" until about 1 1/2 weeks ago. Now it's in full bore and we have already reached -20 a couple days ago. This year is different though, the rest of the state, including Portland have been getting snow as well and freezing temps. It was colder in Bend this last week than it was in Seneca! We had our Mules (Harley and Rusty) at Josh's Aunt and Uncle's house in Redmond last year because it gets so cold in Seneca. This year we kept them here and are having a very hard time keeping water to them. Their water freezes as soon as we give it to them. Josh says they will just eat snow to get water, but I feel really bad. We have no way of getting electricity to them to put a heater-thingy in the water to keep it thawed. At least this year they are in a pasture that has a loafing shed so they can get out of the storm.

The dogs have been getting spoiled this winter though. Since the cold hit, they have been sleeping inside every night. The first couple nights they were confined to the laundry room, but it has slowly ebbed out so that now they walk right in and spread out in the living room, our room, etc. I love it, and Josh has surprisingly accepted it. Our house is so small, and they are so big though that it's hard to get around them.

Well, I will take some more pics of the aftermath of the storm later. I'm at work now and we just got a storm warning from the weather service that said we could get up to 18 inches by Monday! I know other areas have already gotten that much and more.. (Spokane, Wa), but we will batten down and get ready. With our recent wind/snow storm earlier, the tarp ripped and blew off our house. Let's hope it stays really cold so we can continue to shovel the snow off the subfloor and not have it soaking in.

The pictures are from one of the warmer nights in our house. I'm very grateful for the house we are renting right now - but it is very old. Very thin, single-paned windows that the grout has all loosened from, drafts, etc. The windows are from Bridger's room (that has plastic on the outside!), the kitchen window, and the laundry room window.

Stay warm everyone! It's just getting started!!!

Christmas "program"

Ms. Darla and Audrey and Bridger... Audrey was reading him a book beforehand... The kids in mid-song..... from left - Lauryn, Sage, Billy, Shawn, Audrey and Gracie.

Audrey had her Christmas "Program" at preschool today..... Her preschool is held in one corner of the city hall in Seneca. They only have room for 6 kids (or else Bridger would also be in it this year), and it is held on Tues and Thurs from 9am-12pm. Audrey was very excited and got all dressed up in her "santa" dress which is still too big for her this year. We fixed her hair with lots of ribbons so she looked like a present (this is probably the last year she will ever let me do stuff like that), and was ready to go! All of us parents all piled in and watched the whole class all dressed up in their pretty holiday dresses sing a bunch of songs (such as Jingle Bells, I'm A Little Snowman, and also Itsy-Bitsy Spider, Twinkle Little Star, and a few others). It was cute as ever with the kids not knowing the words, looking at their respective parent the whole time or being sidetracked with other things (like Bridger who was sitting in front making faces the whole time). Audrey was one of the loudest who sang most of the words (not always the right ones) Billy pretty much whispered hers and grinned at her momma, Lauryn didn't sing half of it and crossed her arms (but when she did sing she was very good :), Sage mumbled and then shouted out the last word of every sentence :), and Shawn and Grace just kind of sang along quietly. All in all, good program - an exact replica of last year's and will be an exact replica of Bridger's next year (with different kids).... yay for Christmas "programs". Sorry, just tired. Got home at 6:40am from work, slept until 7:30am, fixed Audrey's hair, got the kids dressed and breakfast, then Josh took them and I slept from 9:40am until 10:15am, then got up and went to the "program" (yes - I am going to continue to use the "" ), then came home, got lunch for the kids (after their crack overload of cookies and fudge), then went back to bed around 12:40pm. Got up several times but finally for good at 5:30 or so.

The kids getting their crack fix.......

I never appreciated a full-night's sleep until recently. Ok, when the kids were babies - but it 's been a few years since I've been taking it for granted that I could get more than 1 1/2 hours of constant sleep at a time..... Alright - Off my pity rant. :)

The whole gang....

Cookies! Cookies! Cookies!

Yay! I'm so proud of myself :) I love to bake, but try as I might, I have never been able to make soft cookies (with the exception of the cake mix cookies). I love making sugar cookies, especially around this time of year, but avoid it because they always turn out crispy. Well, this year I found a recipe that swore it was the best recipe, guaranteed to be soft. I was very skeptical at first.... half of the reviews said it was an awful recipe (mostly because the dough was too sticky and hard to handle) and the other half gave it an enthusiastic 5 stars. I tried it, added it something, omitted part of something and they turned out GREAT! It's been 3 days, and they are softer now than when I baked them :) I ended up putting butter cream frosting on them - which I would definitely suggest. They are not very sweet cookies (but that also is what makes them good), so a layer of frosting makes them just right! I took a tray of these to Audrey's preschool Christmas "program" (I say "program" because it was pretty much just 6 kids singing about 10 different little songs, and then it was time to stuff them all full of crack .. a.k.a.. sugar). The kids and adults loved them. One of my friends was there and she ate three while we were standing there talking and made herself leave so she wouldn't eat anymore :)

So, for any of you out there who have been searching for a soft sugar cookie recipe, here it is! For all you other skilled bakers who are reading this saying "sheeesh, who CAN'T make soft cookies? I mean really, it's easy..." well, pooh on you and you can just ignore this :)

Soft, Yummy Sugar Cookies!

1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup shortening (substituting butter might work, but then again, it might not)
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 Tbsp distilled white vinegar (I know.... just trust me)
1 tsp baking soda
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 cups all-purpose flour (I packed mine)
1 tsp nutmeg (I cut this down to about 1/2 tsp - next time I will probably just omit it completely)

*I also added about 2 tsp butter flavoring and about 3 Tbsp corn syrup

1. Combine milk with vinegar to make sour milk. Let stand for 5 minutes.
2. In a large mixing bowl combine white sugar, shortening, eggs, and vanilla. Add flour, soda, baking powder, salt and nutmeg (if you are adding it). Last, stir in brown sugar (this is also where I added my corn syrup and butter flavoring. I hand-stirred this rather than using my mixer.)
3. Stir in sour milk and mix well. NOTE: Dough will be very sticky and hard to handle. You could refrigerate it for a few hours, or just use plenty of flour when rolling out. (All the reviews suggested refrigerating does not help.)
4. Flour your surface very well and keep extra flour at hand. Drop dough onto floured surface and begin to knead. I ended up kneading 3/4 to 1 cup more of flour into the dough before it was to the correct texture and not sticking to me. Keep the surface floured to avoid it sticking to the counter.
5. Roll on well floured surface to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut with cookie cutters to desired shapes. (lg cutters work best).
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly brown on bottom. (I used a silver baking tray covered with tin foil and ended up baking the cookies for approx. 12 minutes - we also sit at almost 5000 feet. I cooked them until they were just BARELY browning on the bottom).
6. Frost with frosting (Butter cream is soooo yummy on them) and decorate. Or you could brush with milk and sprinkle with sugar.


(I also made some peanut-butter chocolate bars...)