Christmas 2010

I could go into great detail about Rory's first Christmas, and how wonderful the celebrations were this year, and how much I love my new Keurig coffee maker and dehydrator and pressure canner (recipes and ideas, please!), and how great it was to spend time with family, but instead I'll just keep it at some pictures:

Delightful

Devastated!

Lowercase bowens

Classic.

The loves of my life during our little family Christmas

Christmas caterpillar

Rory's ninja ornament, appropriate for her first Christmas

My delicious overnight cinnamon rolls!

Christmas morning

Christmas evening with extended family

A gift from Uncle Joe

Andrea and Joe, wedding coming soon!

We detoured through Zion coming home from Cedar City.

Family and nature make for a wonderful end to Christmas 2010.

Best of Flagstaff, according to Brittany

Every year the Daily Joke readers vote on the "Best of Flagstaff." The winning businesses receive a wall plaque and bragging rights for the year. Since voters got some of them wrong, I thought I'd throw in my two cents on some categories (most of them food related). See the actual results here:
http://azdailysun.com/special-section/best_of_flagstaff/article_58bb9176-fef9-11df-8158-001cc4c002e0.html

What are your opinions?

Best Annual Event or Festival: Voters said "Flagstaff Hullabaloo." Am I the only one who has never heard of this? Obviously a better choice would have been the illustrious Pine Cone Drop.

Best Bakery: Voters said "Village Baker" and they got it right!

Best BBQ: Voters said "Bigfoot BBQ," so they must have never been to Satchmo's on 4th street, whose meat truly needs no sauce (but the sauce is so good you have to use it anyway).

Best Book Store: Voters said "Bookmans Entertainment Exchange" which is funny since Bookmans was closed for all but a few days of the year. I love Bookmans as much as the next person, but how can it win when it wasn't open?! I give my vote to the kid shop "The Book Nest" this time.


Best Breakfast: Voters said "MartAnne’s Burrito Palace." I've never heard of this place, but will definitely need to check it out, seeing as it won a couple categories. I'd have to say "Brandy's" for their amazing pancakes.

Best Burger: Voters said "Diablo Burger," which is pretty fabulous. Blake and I also go to the "Beaver Street Brewery" for a burger fix, and "It's About Coffee" has surprisingly good burgers as well.


Best Chinese Food: Voters said "Golden Dragon." I don't know that there's anywhere better, but this place is not one of my favorites.

Best Clothing Boutique Store: Voters said "The Basement Marketplace," and they're probably right. I wish I were cool enough to wear their cute things!

Best Coffee House: Voters said "Macy’s." I say "White Dove" or "It's About Coffee."

Best Coffee Roaster: Voters said "Late for the Train." I say Manuel, the guy at the farmers' market (his coffee is also available at the Village Baker). He spends half the year growing his own beans on his farm in El Salvador, then roasts and sells them himself. The Italian roast is some of the best coffee I've ever had!

Best Day Spa: Voters said "Flagstaff Face & Body." I wish I knew!

Best Deals on Kids Clothing: Voters said "Maddie & Moe’s." Sounds like another place I'll have to check out.

Best Deli Sandwich: Voters said "Crystal Creek Sandwich Co.," which I've never tried but would like to. This is lame, but I think Safeway's deli has pretty terrific sub sandwiches.

Best Department Store: Voters said "Kohl’s" and I agree!

Best Dessert Menu: Voters said "The Cottage Place," and though I've only been there once, I'll probably never forget that chocolate cake.

Best Elected Official: Voters said "Sara Presler." I say HAHAHAHAHA!

Best Ethnic Food: Voters say "Himalayan Grill," and they are so right. Lamb korma=most amazing food on earth.

Best Event Planning: Voters said "Peak Events," which means they've never attended a wedding coordinated by Laura Lanting and catered by the Millers!

Best Fabric and/or Sewing/Knitting Store: Voters said "Odegaard’s," and without JoAnn's, there's no other option. I did find the fabric for Rory's adorable crib bedding there too.

Best Family Dining: Voters said "Himalayan Grill." I say that unless you've got serious money, this isn't the place to take the whole family out to dinner (not that kids wouldn't like it, it's just not cheap). We save it for date night (unless someone else is treating!) and consider "Miz Zips" the best family restaurant for the kid friendly menu, cheapness, and homemadeness.

Best Fast Food: Voters said "Dog Haus." I have never been there but hear it's good. I think Freddy's may give them some competition.



Best Fine Dining: Voters said "The Cottage Place" and they probably got it right.

Best Flagstaff Attraction: Voters said "Arizona Snowbowl." That, and the Peaks in general.

Best Fries: Voters said "Diablo Burger," which are awesome, and I think also either "It's About Coffee" or "Satchmo's" for their sweet potato fries.

Best Hole-in-the-Wall Restaurant: Voters said "MartAnne’s." I really need to find this place.



Best Home Furnishings: Voters said "LaZBoy & Lite Co." (TIE) Can I say "crarigslist?"

Best Home Improvement Store: Voters said "Ace Homco." I think Blake likes it over the other places in town too.



Best Hotel: Voters say "Little America," which is probably true.

Best Ice Cream: Voters say "Cold Stone Creamery," but I think Mountain Delights in the mall is better.

Best Indian Food: Voters say "Himalayan Grill," and I say "amen."



Best Italian Food: Voters say "Mamma Luisa," which I still have to try. I like "Oreganos" but I'm not sure it qualifies as Italian food.


Best Landscape Company: Voters say "Warner’s Nursery." I'm a fan.

Best Late Night Snack: Voters say "Pita Pit." Would it be terrible of me to say "Diablo Burger" for a late night snack?

Best Live Music Venue: Voters say "Orpheum," which is good, but I like the amphitheater.

Best Lunch: Voters say "Himalayan Grill" again. I like Cafe Ole.



Best Meat Department: Voters say "New Frontiers Natural Marketplace." I can't really afford to find out.

Best Mexican Food: Voters say "La Fonda." I say "Noooooooooo!" I vote for "Cafe Ole" or "Burritos Fiesta." "Tacos los Altos" is good too.



Best New Restaurant: Voters said "Criollo Latin Kitchen," another place I want to try.



Best Nursery/Plant: Voters said "Warner’s." They're probably right, but I'd like to try "Viola's too."

Best Office Supply: Voters said "Staples." Office Max is on my side of town, so I go there. I like browsing their clearance stuff.



Best Outdoor Dining: Voters said "Brix." I like the patio at "Cafe Ole" or" Charly's."

Best Outdoors Shop: Voters said "Peace Surplus," which is pricey but local, so I'll go with it too.

Best Overall Nonprofit: Voters said "Second Chance Center for Animals." I love animals too, but does it say something about us that the animals win out over people? I'm going with the "Sunshine Rescue Mission" and "Hope Cottage."

Best Overall Restaurant: Voters said "Busters," which I'm a fan of. I'd probably give it to the "Himalayan Grill" though.



Best Photographer: Voters said "Cameron + Kelly Studios." I'm not familiar with too many others, but they shot Blake's cousin's wedding and did a fabulous job, and I worked with Cameron's husband at FJA and he was a nice guy, so why not? Of course, Christian Young is awesome too!



Best Pizza: Voters said "Fratelli." I still haven't discovered the best pizza yet; it eludes me.

Best Place for Party Supplies: Voters said "Confetti’s," and I like that place.

Best Place to Adopt a Pet: Voters said "Second Chance Center for Animals." You can't go wrong with that, but I'll put in my plug for the Arizona Boston Terrier Rescue too.

Best Place to Buy Music: Voters said "Hastings." I say "online." Really, I have a hard time finding the music I want here in Flag.


Best Place to find Cheap Gas: Voters said "Fry’s." I say "Safeway" when I have the 20 cents off per gallon, or "Sam's Club," as well as Fry's.



Best Place to go on First Date: Voters said "Lowell Observatory (Mars Hill Overlook)" and that sounds good to me.



Best Produce Department: Voters said "New Frontiers Natural Marketplace." I like it when I can afford it, but I'm all about the co-ops now.


Best Salsa: Voters say "Salsa Brava." I prefer "Cafe Ole," though I like Salsa Brava's pico de gallo.

Best Seafood: Voters said "Busters," and while Flag has no outstanding seafood in my opinion (shocking, due to our location, haha), I like Busters' halibut.

Best Soup: Voters said "Wildflower Bread Co." which is great, and I say "Charly's" too.



Best Steak House: Voters said "Horsemen’s Lodge." I like "Busters'" for steak.



Best Thrift Store: Voters said "Savers." I've seen jeans with a price of $14 at Savers. I think that's crazy. Why go to a "for profit" second hand store with high prices when we have a few good charitable thrift shops in town, like "St. Vincent de Paul's" and "Goodwill?"

Tradition

I am a lover of Christmas. Come around August every year, I inform Blake gleefully that it’s almost Christmas (my husband is certainly not a Grinch, but the Yuletide season fails to evoke such strong passion in him). I’m not ridiculous about Christmas either- I don’t listen to carols all year long, or even all December long, we don’t have garish inflatable snowmen in our yard, and I don’t swoon over all things Santa.  I love Christmas because it is the start of the most unique period in the history of the world, the 33 years or so that Jesus Christ took on flesh, breathed our air, walked our earth. If we didn’t have Christmas, we wouldn’t have Easter, and we certainly wouldn’t have any reason to celebrate. And boy, do we celebrate! Cookies, lights, songs, all of these are traditions. Tradition. That’s what I love about Christmas. I have so many memories of the little things we’d do every Christmas growing up, silly things, but we were so possessive of our traditions. We’d go to the same tree farm up in the mountains every year, scour the acres for the perfect tree, and all help cut it down before stopping for hot cider and a candy cane in the little shop. Then, every year, we kids would be sent to our rooms while Mom and Dad had a big fight trying to set the blasted tree up. Hanging ornaments was like seeing old friends. Stockings (funny how the tiniest of gifts is something amazing simply because it is pulled from a sock). Candles. Eggnog. The glee of watching the UPS truck stop in front of our house. And, of course, the nativities. There was the cloth (entirely kid proof) set, the really fun one made out of wood blocks, and my absolute favorite, the one etched into the crystal slabs that we were never allowed to touch; all of them are special and completely unrealistic (having had a baby six months ago, I am sure that Mary and Joseph didn’t look so clean and serene). I wonder if I had requested that little figurines of me, Blake, our baby, and all of visitors in the hospital be crafted, then arranged them on a table on each of Rory’s birthdays; we would relive how exhausted we were, how I desperately needed to put on some makeup, and how awkward nursing was. I could pull them out when she is a cranky teenager and one look at the little face would remind her of all we suffered for her! But nonetheless, I love nativities, and I love Christmas, and am looking forward to continuing Blake’s and my fledgling traditions (creamed eggs and cinnamon rolls for breakfast, decorating our bust of Apollo) with our little cutie pie on her first Christmas.

A Bowen family tradition

Apollo, Christmas 2008

Six Months

I'm sitting here at the computer, marveling at the goofy little creature sprawled out on my lap. She's fiddling with the camera cord and trying to eat my grocery list, and every minute or so she glances up at me and grins, making sure that I'm paying attention. Aurora is six months old today, and I can hardly believe it! Even though I do feel the occasional twinge when I think about how big she is getting, really I'm just enjoying so much the person she is becoming. Rory is truly a delight, generous with her smiles and always ready to laugh. How blessed we are!

My mom brought me a really special little token of our Rory when she was visiting last week:

As a thank you gift to our parents at our wedding, Blake and I gave them lavender rose bushes. Lavender roses are my favorite, and they were our wedding flower. My mom dutifully planted theirs shortly after we were married, and in the mild Pacific Northwest climate, it slowly began to grow.

Fast forward about a year and a half.

At church on Sunday, a lady came up to me and asked when the due date was. I assured her that I was not remotely pregnant, and had no intention to be for a long time, then helpfully pointed her to my friend who really was expecting, the woman she was actually looking for. I told Blake about it and we laughed. The truth was, we had begun talking about starting a family soon, maybe in a year we'd start trying, but certainly not before then; I wasn't ready, I needed more time.

Then I was a day late. I knew that there was a tiny, minuscule chance that Blake and I could be expecting, but it was so unlikely I hadn't really considered it. I had jokingly mentioned it to Blake, who smiled and shook his head at my jesting, but that was it. I was never a day late. I began to worry. At the grocery store that morning, on an impulse I tossed a test into the cart. My least favorite cashier rang up my purchases and looked at me knowingly. I took the test as soon as I got home, just so I could stop worrying about it.

It took all of a second for that horrid little plus sign to appear, and I almost threw up, and not from morning sickness. I know that it's terrible, but the only sentiments I had at that moment were horror and dread. There was no good reason for it, I mean, we were married, employed, stable, all of that; nothing that would indicate a baby would be an unwelcome thing. But I was selfish, and I did not want a baby. I wanted my husband to myself, I wanted to go back to school full time, I wanted to travel and save money, all before growing our family. I felt like I had thrown away all of my dreams along with the used pregnancy test. In my shock, I knew I had to tell Blake, and it had to be soon (I was meeting a friend for breakfast and knew I'd end up telling her- Blake needed to know first). So, (this is actually kind of funny), I called him at work. I know this is something you're never supposed to do, and ironically, I had spent time scheming before cute ways to tell Blake that we were going to have a baby. None of those even crossed my mind at this point, and when he answered his phone I blurted the awful news out: "I took a pregnancy test!" Silence. He replied, "And..." "It was POSITVE! (Sobbing)" This is one moment when the amazing character of my husband showed itself. "Okay, wow,....that's- great, we can do this (shock, hesitancy, but blessed encouragement). Looking back, he remarked to me that it might have been nice to learn that he was a dad under other circumstances, but at the time, he was my rock, and he was through the entire pregnancy, and continues to be now.

I met my dear friend Leah for breakfast. In the parking lot, I hurriedly called my sister and told her, since I figured she should know before Leah. Lindsay was delighted, and I began to feel a teensy bit better. One of the reasons I was so appalled by the whole thing was that I was sure people would snicker at us and smirk, seeing as we had only been married a year and a few months. They'd shake their heads and comment that they thought we wanted to wait longer, had we heard of birth control? Lindsay's enthusiastic response showed me that it was something that people were going to be happy about. Leah, too, was thrilled for me. She asked if she could throw me a shower, which got me excited for a moment because I love gifts. Then I remembered that the gifts weren't really for me, and I scowled internally at the little creature inside me, whom I would have to share the rest of my life with, whom I was not ready for.

Blake and I decided to tell our parents that day, though we would keep the news quiet from the general population for a couple more months. His parents were shocked: "We thought you were going to wait a couple more years!" My mom, too, sounded stunned by the news: "Hey mom, guess what? You're going to be a grandma!" "Oh...how nice, that's lovely." "Well, tell Dad, wontcha?" "Of course, he'll be thrilled! (Fake sounding cheerful voice). I was a bit put off by the less than elated responses, but granted, we had caught them off guard. When the news sunk in a little more, all four grandparents-to-be were entirely thrilled, and it didn't take long for them to develop full on grandparent fever. But I interpreted their shock as criticism, and was more than a little disappointed. What I did not learn until later, however, is that in her joy, my mom walked outside to the garden, and seeing our wedding rosebush, she went over to it. On the bush was a single bud; it was the first day it had bloomed. Mom knew right then that it would be a girl. When the bud blossomed into a gorgeous rose, she picked and carefully dried it. Now it is a reminder to me that God can make beauty out of the turmoil of our hearts, and that his greatest blessings are not given based on our worth. My sinful heart longed to reject what He had in store for us, but instead of punishing me for my sin, He waited patiently for me to see that He is good, and that what I hated was something precious, an amazing privilege, to be the mother of this incredible baby girl.

Looking back on my pregnancy, the most tumultuous time of my life, I see that we were so remarkably blessed by supportive friends and family, by good health for me and Rory, and most of all by the faithfulness of God who never left my side even though I doubted His plan. I learned some ugly things about myself during that time, and motherhood is refining me even more. Sometimes I wonder if God could have done better for Rory than sticking her with me, but we're in this together for a reason, so I will trust and be faithful and rejoice and pray. For, as we wrote on her birth announcements, "This is the Lord's doing, and, it is marvelous in our sight!" Psalm 118:23 Our little bud is blooming; what a joy to be her mama!

Headstart

I've been musing about some new year resolutions lately. Actually, they're not just for the new year (they're for whenever I get around to them), and they're more just basic goals than resolutions. But, I do have them written down in a list, and since I keep losing my list, I figured I'd write them here where they can't get lost!

Item #1: learn how to can and dehydrate food. Okay, so we currently don't really grow anything (gardening is tough in Flagstaff!), but I can order bulk produce through my co-op at a fabulous price. My parents are helping me with this one, as they're getting us a pressure canner for Christmas and they left us two cases of mason jars under the tree!
Item #2: Make lasagna from scratch. Except for the noodles.
Item #3: Be a consistent menu planner (especially with lunch, the meal I most struggle with) and intentional bargain but healthy grocery shopper.
Item #4: Sew the shirt that I've had the pattern and material for for years. Oh yeah, and learn to sew.
Item #5: Order pictures for all of our empty frames and update Aurora's baby book.

I think that's a decent start! We had a nice Thanksgiving with family in Palm Springs. A highlight was a trip to the zoo, including Rory's first carousel ride, and Blake and I amused ourselves by puttzing around on the golf cart since the weather was beautiful.

At the zoo

In other news, my mom (who spent a few days after the holiday with us) and I were inspired to browse a couple local thrift stores on a whim, and two great finds included: a fabulous artificial 7.5' tree with lights for $13, and a vintage lined wool jacket for Blake (he's wanted one for months). Now the house is all decorated and I'm officially counting down the days until Christmas is here!

So many wonders in the world!

 

Rory loves WORLD magazine. Eating it, that is.

A Christmas Story!

Car seat cover made by Nana

 

Purple poof and PJs

Domestic Accomplishment

I really have the best intentions when it comes to keeping a neat house, serving nutritious and tasty meals, and having a clean and happy baby (and husband). But more often than not, I fail. I was just telling a friend today of one of my greatest frustrations, being unable to keep folded clothes folded in the drawers; it's like all I have to do is look at a drawer of clothes and they unfold themselves and get all askew. I think the only way for me to keep them tidy would be to have one clothing article per drawer, and that is quite unpractical.

Bag 'o broth cubes

I did, however, have one recent success story (after the pomegranates and the ham, that is). My poor spousy caught a cold, and it broke my heart to hear him sniffling so, and I determined to feed him chicken broth to spur him on to health. After looking at the ingredients in my bullion, however, I saw that there was no way it could possible nourish his poor sicky body, with all of its fakeness and additives. So I attempted the ultimate Florence Nightengale; I went to the store, bought a whole big chicken (I was a little doubtful at this point), boiled it up in a big 'ol pot with some vegetables, and made my own broth. You're not impressed, are you. Well, it gets better. Then, I poured the broth into ice cube trays and FROZE it, and then put the individual cubes into a gallon ziplock. Now, when someone in my household gets sick, all I have to do is thaw out a few broth cubes and have instant goodness! The alternative, of course, would be thawing out an entire bag of broth if I hadn't gone the ice cube method. Ah, I perceive that I've finally won you over with my ingenuity. Well, just hold onto your hats, because there's more!. I also shredded the whole chicken and flash froze it, before putting it into its own bag. Now, if the ill one is up for it, I can toss a handful of chicken into the broth while it's heating up for a heartier meal. The best part yet? Blake is able to prepare this on his own if I'm out while he's home for lunch. Now that's what I call a domestic accomplishment. Bring on flu season!

 

We think we might see some dimples emerging...

Joyrider

New shoes!

"Mama, have you seen my llama anywhere?"

Is this November?

We're a week into November. And the sun is shining. Really? Where's fall? I can't complain too much, since the colors in the trees are outstanding, but it would be nice to have to wear a jacket when I go out, and Rory has all these cute warm clothes that she needs to wear before she outgrows them (am I the only mom who gets stressed over making sure her baby wears all her cutest clothes as much as possible?). But what can one do but patiently await the first snow (we haven't even had a frost at our house!).

In other news, I'm decently pleased with the election results, but disappointed with voter turnout- we only had a 44% turnout, which is bad news;  it shows our leaders that there's a high level of apathy amongst the citizenry, and it lets them know that they can get away with quite a bit without being held responsible.

In even more news, I started babysitting a little newborn, which has been an adventure. Rory gets so jealous when I give Olivia her bottle, and it breaks my heart! She needs to get used to the idea that we'll have more kids one day though, so it's probably good. It's also good practice for me to juggle (not literally of course) two babies at once- so much work! Even though I never had the desire to watch any kids other than my own, I'm grateful that God's given me the chance to bring in a little income for our family from home, and I thin it's going to be okay.

Blake and I had a date night Saturday while our housemates and some friends were doing a Grand Canyon rim to rim (they're so awesome). We went to a movie (Mega Mind) and thoroughly enjoyed it; it was quite clever. We were then going to try Freddie's, the new burger place, but weren't hungry due to free popcorn. Instead, we hung out at home sans daughter and later got takeout from Wildflower Bread Co. They have this awesome fall sandwich: turkey, bacon, cranberry sauce, and stuffing. It was delicious, and got me all excited for Thanksgiving!

On Sunday I used some of my frozen pomegranate juice to make a ham for the first time in my life: pomegrante-jalapeno glazed ham, to be exact. It was amazingly good, and we all thought the glaze recipe was fantastic. It may show up on the Christmas table this year... here's a link to the recipe: http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/pomegranate-jalapeno-glazed-ham
It was also the first time I made a recipe from Food and Wine magazine- usually they're too hoitytoityt gourmet for me, but since I have all this pomegranate...

Yesterday was the start of day light savings, which should not affect us here in AZ. Except, Blake's new alarm clock sets itself for the time change automatically, just like his old one did. So, we did inadvertently fall back. I was so proud that we had so much time to get ready for church, but I found that pride cometh before the fall (back) and we ended up getting there a good 40 minutes late. Yes, this happens to us every time.

Yesterday also marked Rory's five month birthday. Everyday is more fun than the last with this happy little creature- we are enjoying the person she is becoming, and are so proud of our smiley babycakes. Here are the last of her October pictures:

She was a doctor for Halloween

Good/Bad

Good- enjoying the autumnal aspens at Hart Prairie with my family.
Bad- a container of red enchilada sauce falling out of fridge and going everywhere, staining my clothes.
Good- God providing just the right amount at just the right time
Bad- being bedridden with a plugged milk duct...who would have thought such an innocuous sounding problem would be so debilitating?!
Good- a loving, concerned husband who came home from work early to take care of me and my duct,
Bad- a baby who found her mama's feverish shivers hilarious and entertaining.
Good- 24lbs of pomegranates that are forcing me into kitchen-creativity.
Bad- Vladimir's foster family renamed him Boomer! Boomer, of all awful names!
Good- Inlaws who answer my cry for ice cream late into the evening.

What can I say...I'm striving to enjoy the journey towards sanctification! 

A little something I wrote for the prolife newsletter at FCF

I remember the first time democracy disappointed me. I was in third grade, and my class was voting on which student-submitted design should become the cover of our class book. To my critical eye, only a couple choices could be taken seriously; the rest clearly would not do at all. I passionately campaigned for the picture I thought best fit the bill (a cartoonish face peeking out from behind a book). To my great disgust, the winning selection belonged to the most popular girl in the class, a hideous and unoriginal flower (all the girls were drawing variations of it) that had no correlation at all with our compilation of short stories.

                My eight year old self pondered the unsatisfactory outcome; it had been a fair vote as far as I could tell, and the only conclusion I came to was that the value of the results depended directly on the values of the voters. This is not meant to berate my classmates, most of whom probably did not consider the ramifications of their vote. They likely based their decision on one of several factors: name recognition, popular trends, and subtle pressure from classmates (or bad taste, but we won’t go there). Fifteen years later, the results of that vote could hardly matter less, but I’ve reconsidered my conclusion and think it has never been more relevant.

                Americans today are susceptible to the same influences that plagued my third grade class when it comes to election time. Maybe you’ve been skimming over your ballot and found your eyes drawn repeatedly to a comfortably familiar name. I know I am guilty of voting this way (“Oh, that guy…I really like the font he used on his signs, so I think I’ll vote for him”). Or you might let the trends determine your selections (it said on the news that so and so is a friend of the environment, and a friend of the environment is a friend of me!). You may receive pressure (obvious or not) to vote a particular way (from your union, the media, coworkers, and family, just to name a few). Ultimately though, each voter is responsible for every little bubble they fill in (or don’t fill in, for that matter).  Any election may have ramifications of death or life for countless unborn babies, and a vote squandered or flippantly cast can make a devastating difference: the value of the results depends directly on the values of the voters.

                Few of us are called to do radical things on behalf of the unborn, like organizing marches and starting crisis pregnancy centers. But every single American over the age of eighteen has the chance to make an enormous impact through the very small act of voting. Whether you care at all about bonds or the border does not matter in the least, you have been given a voice and God is not honored by your silence. If you choose not to vote, either out of laziness or principle, I beseech you to reconsider for the sake of the little ones who have no voice at all. You are not called to singlehandedly defeat the practice of abortion, but you can take ownership of your own little vote, which is just as valuable as the next guy’s.

Maybe his name is less than melodic and he cannot afford flashy signs. Maybe she is dismissed as old-fashioned and her beliefs are far from popular. Maybe they are mocked in the lunch room at your work and ripped into by the local newspaper. Prolife candidates need your vote.

I imagine my third grade class book is buried in a box in my parents’ basement right now, stupid flower and all, and the silly cover has ceased to offend (except perhaps in the opinion of a few particularly aesthetic dust mites). However, the results of our elections can influence for decades. And to think, the value of those results depends directly on the values of the voters. Please, if you value life, get out the vote.

It's a beautiful day, so....

I truly love the rain. I do, I do. I suppose I am a true Seattleite, because these days of gloom fill me with such joy and contentment that I walk around singing Les Miserables, usually with a hot beverage in hand.

Last weekend was the Women of Faith conference in Phoenix, which I enjoyed more than I was anticipating (most of my reticence was due to Rory- I wasn't sure how she'd do there, but she was a star!). She actually literally was a star- she made it on the jumbotron twice, and was even referenced from stage by one of the speakers! We couldn't go anywhere without her being adored by countless women. Rory's developing just the best little personality ever; she's so laid back and happy, and she's discovered her tongue recently, which is hilarious! A couple of the speakers touched on things I really needed to hear, which I'm still processing.

It's fall. Which means baking season has begun! This is the new favorite in the Thompson-Bowen household. You should make them, because they're awesome; snickerdoodles that don't get crunchy!

Snickerdoodle Blondies
this version of the recipe was found at Dozen Flours- I got it from My Own Sweet Thyme

2 2/3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup butter, at room temperature
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 Tablespoon vanilla
2 Tablespoons white sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9 x 13 inch baking pan.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla until smooth. Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture and beat until well blended.
4. Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan.
5. In a small bowl, combine the white sugar and cinnamon.
6. Sprinkle the mixture evenly over the batter in the baking pan.
7. Bake for 25 - 30 minutes or until the surface springs back when gently pressed. Remove from oven and let cool slightly on a wire rack. While still warm, cut into squares with a sharp knife...
8. Share with friends and family. Enjoy! 

What a happy girl!

Unsure about her first car

Cowboy booties!

Family

Waiting for the light rail.

My snuggler

Zonked out at WOF.

After pooping through all her spare outfits, Aurora left WOF clad in diaper, cowboy booties, and hair bow.