Grey skies are gonna clear up...

So I said I would post some pictures and other stuff, and since I am home sick with what I believe to be food poisoning, I will make good on that promise!

Following are some pictures from last September when Christopher and I went to Pacific City with our friends Kati & Travis and their adorable daughter for Travis' birthday celebration. We rented a great cabin and spent the weekend just relaxing and having a good time.

Christopher and I
September 2010

Haystack Rock

This Thing Called Life

So I have had to put some plans and dreams on hold while I deal with this thing called life. Unfortunately I lost my position with the client I was working for due to a loss of coverage. Their insurance has stopped paying out, so I don't have a job in the mean time.
What this now means is that I am back to unemployment as my means of income. Not so awesome. Especially considering that this time around(those who know me, will know that I was on unemployment just last year, for about a year and some odd months) I will be receiving even less than I was before. It's going to be tight trying to make ends meet, and luckily for us the credit balances on the line of credit and credit card are either paid off or under $200, so that leaves us with something to dip into if it comes to that.
As I was not laid off from the agency, just lost that particular position, I am currently listening to compliance audio(two hours worth of out of this universe FUN I tell ya!) as I write this. Ah, the joys of multitasking.

So I will see if I can't get some new pictures and a few good updates on here. I sure have been gone awhile and have quite the laundry list of things to fill the pages of this handy dandy blog thing. Look forward to lots of new stuff!

Grateful Dead Touch Of Grey Video (Band In Bones)

This is my anthem these days!

Love this song and something about it reminds me of being a kid again.

Excerpt: Tough Week

For the past 5 weeks I have been doing Weight Watchers online. I am doing well with it, and have been keeping a blog there, and in the meantime have been forgetting to post here. So...here is an excerpt from todays' entry on my WW blog.

"So the past week has been very tough here in our household. Over the past three years I have of course had hard days, what with my father having cancer and my grandfather passing away, with job changes and everything else. This week though has been a doozy to say the least.


I have realized more strongly than ever how different it is to know someone is dying and to have your opportunity to say your goodbyes and make your peace with their death, compared with the shock of having someone here one day and gone the next. Unfortunately, Christophers "uncle" Mike died of a heart attack suddenly (and we hope in his sleep) sometime Sunday night or Monday morning. He was an employee for a contractor in Iraq and was on his way home from there when two men found him on a bus in Bagdad. We got the news Tuesday morning, and even though Chris' stepdad isn't his biological father, Chuck is the man who raised him and the man I credit with why Chris is who he is and the man I love. Mike was Chucks' best friend. Since high school these guys were best friends. They both served in the military, they both rode choppers, they even lived together for awhile before Mike went to work in Iraq.

It has been very difficult to process and it is excruitiatingly hard to know how much Chuck and Chris and the entire family is hurting.

It reminds me to cherish every day with the ones I love.



It reminds me that while I might be on WW and losing weight, I can still splurge. Life as I know it can include birthday cake(and it will this week, twice!) and cool ranch doritos or whatever other food is being had at a party. I can enjoy life and the ones I love and monitor my eating and my weight at the same time.



Because knowing that it could all be over tomorrow makes me want to live today completely and taste every little thing I can. I also know I don't want to die fat. So I make changes. In portion and activity level I trust, because without those I am just the before Crystal. The Crystal who hadn't lost 5% of her body weight in 5 weeks.



So I suppose my lesson this week to share is that life is tough, sometimes it is harder than you ever dreamed it could be, sometimes life will break your heart and make you cry for days. It's real life, but in real life we DO get to make our choices and we CAN become the person we dream of being. Even if not everyone we love will get to see the final result of all our hard work.



It's a big lesson, and a hard one to learn, but it's well worth it."

Mest, Good Charlotte & Goldfinger - The Innocent (Live)

I am posting this for two reasons. 1 cause it's 9/11 and well, that's what this song is about. Also for Steph cause I know we have talked about this event and I told her I would one day find the video of the guy eating it when trying to stage dive into the crowd during GC/Mest's performance of "The Innocent"

From back when NRK was 100% more awesome than it is now.

Self taught AKA how I learn the hard way

I bought myself whole wheat flour. I did not go the smart route and get the whole wheat pastry flour, oh no, I got regular whole wheat flour.
I mixed it in a 2:1 ratio with left over white flour I had in the cupboard.
This was not the right ratio, as I found out when the biscuits I made turned out like rocks.
Okay, so they weren't rocks, they were somewhat edibile(with a ton of butter, which I guess cancels out the health benefits altogether) but Christopher wouldn't eat them, so of course most of them went bad.
Now, I am making it a point to do a bit of research before I go off trying new ingredients. It isn't going too badly, so far.
I'll try biscuits again and let you know the result.
As of right now I'm waiting on some slow cooked pork ribs in the oven, hopefully they turn out as good as usuall. See normally I use sauce, especially when baking ribs instead of grilling. Today I decided to try a dry rub and see what happens. So I dry rubbed the heck out of these puppies, poured some water in the bottom of the broiler pan and covered them in foil. If all goes well I will have pictures to add to this entry in a few short hours.
If not I'll blame the internet for giving me this haphazard idea!

Half a Lifetime

So I haven't updated in awhile, don't be upset I had a fantastic reason! Family!

That's right, we had family in town to visit. My dad's family to be exact. His mother and older brother flew in from Chicago. I haven't seen them in 15 years! That's half of my lifetime! Crazy I know! It gets better. They haven't been out here to the west coast to visit since the late 1980's. I think my uncle may have been in town on business when I was around 12, but he only stopped by for a couple hours before he had to jump on a plane and leave again. I must say it was very wonderful to see them again.

Here are a few pictures from the BBQ we had yesterday to send them off.

Uncle David, Myself, my 'little' brother Mac

Mom, Grandmother and Dad

September 1, 2010'

Uncle David & Dad in the front yard

Dad & Grandmother

My little brother Mac,
the pit master!

Uncle David, Grandmother & Dad
waiting on dinner