ONCE

This is a super serious must-see. There really is no choice in it. If you have not seen it you missing out on one of those experiences that only comes all too infrequently in film. I cannot get enough of this film ONCE. I haven't ever heard anyone say one negative thing about it. It really is just one of those. It is a low-budget, draw-you-in, easy to love film that is quirky, odd and precocious as well. It is about two musicians and their love of music, while trying not to love eachother. It just came out yesterday on DVD...so you better get to it. Brad and I watched it in the theater and loved it, but couldn't wait for it to come out on DVD because we had a hard time understanding what they were saying sometimes and we needed subtitles. If you miss out on this film- it is a pretty serious mistake.

happy family (aka dutch baby) recipe

This is an excellent recipe. I have no idea where I found it, but it was when Brad and I first got married. I don't like the name dutch baby...it sounds weird to me... so I changed it to happy family (because it is sure to make the family happy!) I now have to make three of them so that we'll all have our fill. Well, two for sure.

I freeze tons of blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries and marionberries that I pick in season so that I will always have enough to last me until they come out again. At our house we never can get enough berries!

The recipe for one happy family:
(if you want two just double it and then pour it into two pie pans)
* 3 eggs
* 1/2 C. flour
* 1/2 tsp. salt
* 1/2 C. milk
* 2 Tbs. butter
* 1Tbs. lemon juice
* 2 Tbs. Sugar
* powdered sugar (for topping)

Mix in everything (except powdered sugar!) Pour into a pie pan or a cast iron skillet. Bake at 450 degrees F for 20 min or so. Take out, fill with room temperature berries, apples, or eat with butter and syrup or jam. whatever you think sounds good.

I promise, its incredible.

for those who want Parkour

If you are interested in Parkour training, start out with these simple exercises to get you on your way to the desired fitness level. I can do all the exercises on the clip...what do you think?! haaha. Yah. right....but it is interesting to see just how strong you need to be in order to perform such stunts. Oh, and by the way I am not sure but there may be some bad language in this clip, so mute it if you so inclined (I take no responsibility).

ENJOY! and let me know when we all want to implement this into our lives:

Parkour...my dream.

My dream is Parkour. I want to do this so incredibly bad. Today I spent my boy's nap time reading about it...watching tons of youtube videos and as I did that I could feel the blood in my veins, and sweat on my palms. There are some things that make me feel that way and this is one of them. I don't know that that means I was meant to do it, but it calls me like I belong to it. Do you know what I mean? Not that everyone feels this way about Parkour, but everyone must feel that way about something.


What is PK? Well, this is what it says on Wikipedia:

Parkour (sometimes abbreviated to PK) or l'art du déplacement^[1] (English: the art of displacement) is an activity with the aim of moving from one point to another as efficiently and quickly as possible, using principally the abilities of the human body.^[2][3] It is meant to help one overcome obstacles, which can be anything in the surrounding environment — from branches and rocks to rails and concrete walls — and can be practiced in both rural and urban areas. Parkour practitioners are referred to as traceurs, or traceuses for females.^[4]

Founded by David Belle in France, parkour focuses on practicing efficient movements to develop one's body and mind to be able to overcome obstacles in an emergency. It may also be a form of entertainment or pastime.

Watch these and feel your jaw drop:

confessions??

Watch the following video. It is funny, it is from Spain about confessions...just a silly clip.

6

from Selected Poems of RAINER MARIA RILKE



I have faith in all those things that are not yet said.
I want to set free my most holy feelings.
What no one has dared to want
will be for me impossible to refuse.

If that is presumption, then, my God, forgive me.
However, I want to tell you this one thing:
I want my best strength to be like a shoot,
with no anger and no timidity, as a shoot is;
this is the way the children love you.

With these ebbing tides, with these mouths
opening their deltas into the open sea,
with these returns, that keep growing,
I want to acknowledge you, I want to announce you,
as no one ever has before.

And if that is arrogance, then I will stay arrogant
for the sake of my prayer,
that is so sincere and solitary
standing before your cloudy forehead.

_______________________________________________
So...this is my take on it:

What is my faith like? I love the passion in this poem, this desire to give of oneself, not the 10% in order to meet the requirement...but full on...only out of love and passion. To give and not regret, to go way overboard and not even think for a moment what others would think, what others would say, what others will do, or how we will be treated because of it. What is a relationship that is there out of requirement, or discipline alone? What is a love that no longer has any feeling? There is only one thing that that will give, it will give the appearance of love, but that love has vanished and now been gone for way too long.

How do I want to love my God, give me undignified...what do I have to loose? All that I could loose: myself. But what is so pretty about that anyway? What is worth my sacrifice? What is worth my love? Wait! Thats not right... all my sacrifice, all my love is worth nothing...but He picks it up and blasts me away with what he gives to me instead. He loves my rawness. How could I not become undignified...I have so much to loose.

crap, it's what's for dinner!

Hey...just a thought, an idea...whatever that I wanted you guys to know about ( I am sure many of you do...and in that case...what do you think about it?):

Did you know that even though Europe has McDonald's and Burger King that they do not allow their restaurants to serve the same low-grade quality of meat and other ingredients that are served at the McDonald's and Burger King here in the USA??! When I say low-grade there are many things that I am talking about, the growth hormones, the antibiotics and the general quality of the meat cuts used.

What do you think about that! I have know this for a while...and let's just say that in the last 10 years I have probably only been to a fast food locale MAYBE 5 times.

How do you feel that the person who told me about this insane thing is one of my best friends from Spain, living in Spain and studying Agriculture in a Spanish University? How does it make you feel that they know...and many of us do not!? I know that it makes me feel pretty bad. If this were only about fast-food...but oh,...it isn't. It is about the quality of most of our food in the US. Our standards are too low because we want the cheapest, and the fastest, and what really should not be eaten...we want it all. YUK!

Oh, did you know that 1 out of every 3 health care dollars is spent on fixing the problems caused by bad eating habits?! Yay.

Does that make you feel well taken care of, or what!?

tree land...ADVENTURE

Our adventure began after we shoveled our dinner into our mouths as fast as possible in order to make it to the tree world before it closed. We got in the car all warm and cozy and realized just how dark it was once we left the city of the living, and entered no man land (tree land!). We followed our friend Becky's directions to where we thought this place would be, and it was there...it was just very hard to see. There were no lights on, but there was an "OPEN" sign we could see once the headlights hit it. So, it was open...right!? Or did they forget to take in their sign?! Oh, well since we had traveled to tree land we did not want to come back treeless (especially with a 3.5yr old in the back seat, talk about disappointment!).

Brad got out of the car and went to the mobile home door and knocked. Soon after that, a man followed him with a light and a saw and tried to illuminate our path through this new and exciting world...it didn't really work too well. The man was in front with the flashlight, then Brad followed...and we all know Brad is much, much taller than any of the rest of us, meaning none of us could see anything. I was carrying Oliver and holding Jackson's hand thought this darkness, I mean adventure.

We kept tripping, falling and all sorts of fun things, but the funniest is when Jackson's face kept getting brushed by those really tall weeds and he asked, " there are no bees here, right mamma?". I about answered no, but our tree land guide turned and answered: No, well I don't think we have any out here right now, they are a little to the east". Uhm, yes...that is not what you tell a nervous, in the dark, muddy, falling over tree stumps 3.5 yr. old!! I held my breath and hopped Jackson did not understand that this man actually had homes to put his thousands of bees in, and that maybe they were not here right now....Jackson did not seem to notice. YAY!

So, we cut the tree, we carried it to our car and left tree land...with one Christmas tree. What more can you ask of tree land than that!? It was a great adventure. Happiness is going home with a tree in your trunk! right?! (and no bees)

fire, oh...fires are good.

In our house, we have two super wonderful fireplaces...my favourite is to have both going at the same time. I don't know why...it is just so neat to me.
Here are some of the pictures I just took of our fires, i love fire...it is pretty and warm, and those are good qualities in an item. aren't they?!

state of my locks

This is Samson slaying a lion. Samson is said to have had locks...in the Bible it says that Delilah cut his seven locks. What else would that mean?!
Besides the fact that some people had them, and some did not...the history of locks is a bit ambiguous, but it pretty much seems that many nations want to claim the idea of locks.
Whatever, anyway....here is an update on the state of mine in stills. I love them, they are so easy to manage and I don't have to worry about having to style them all the time. (I don't think I ever did with regular hair either...but oh, well.) They are actually quite a bit of work as they are forming, but it is getting to be less and less of "palm rolling" and smothering them with wax, and all that. So...here are the pics. (oh, and I put glass beads in them now too...yay!)