More Snow!!!

Snow in Portland

Honest to goodness, real snow!! And it is still coming down. This rarely, rarely happens here.

Abby Says Merry Christmas!

Tech Support

So, today when signing on to my work computer, I was prompted to change my password. Apparently the computer decided I'd had the one I was using long enough. For years now, I've used basic variations of the same password. Only now, I get confused about which variation is used with which password-needing situation and often get locked out due to too many password misfires. (Side note: is there anything for which we DON'T need a username and password?) Today I decided to pick something completely different and totally easy-to-remember.

Imagine my embarrassment when this afternoon I had computer problems and had to tell the internal tech support guy that my password is Sassypants77! Now he'll never forget my password either.

Are you expecting?

I can't help but wonder...Who else out there amongst my reader pool is with child and hasn't announced it, yet? I'm sensing a trend as I keep hearing from expectant friends. The count keeps getting greater, so I've given up trying to put a cap on it. It's very exciting to celebrate such happy news!

Ape Cave

This weekend, Brett and I decided to drive north and hike Ape Cave near Mount St. Helens. Ape Cave was discovered in 1947 and was formed 2,000 years ago during an eruption of the volcano. The official cave information explains the formation in this way: “About 2,000 years ago, fluid basaltic lava poured down the southern flank of the volcano. As the lava flowed, chunks of the lava’s surface cooled, crashed and fused together creating a hardened crust. In turn, the crust insulated the molten lava beneath, allowing it to remain fluid and travel down to the Lewis River Valley.

The hot flowing lava began melting into the pre-existing rock and soil. This thermal erosion deepened and widened the channel of the flow. The level of lava in the tube rose and fell as the eruption surged and slowed, contributing to the unique contours of the walls.

During this eruptive period, hot fluid lava pulsed through the tube for months, possibly up to a year, until the eruption subsided. As a result of this rare eruption, a spectacular 13,042 foot (3976m) long lava tube, the third longest in North America, was created.”

We weren’t expecting it to be so busy as it’s nearing the end of the season but the lot was crawling with visitors. In an effort to avoid the loud, boisterous groups we opted to hike above-ground to the upper entrance to the cave and hike the Upper Cave instead of the easier, more-traveled Lower Cave. This entrance was literally a hole in the ground with a ladder descending into the darkness. I made the statement that if at any point I had to get on my belly and crawl, we were turning around and returning from whence we came! Off we went. What an eerie feeling being underground with nothing but a flashlight to show you the way. There were several rock piles that had to be climbed over which was a little tricky, but not too bad. Actually, if I’d been able to see more, I probably would’ve been more scared but what you can’t see clearly isn’t that bad! The worst part by far was what they call Lava Fall which is literally a wall of lava. An 8-foot wall of lava and there’s no way around it. Since we were traveling “down” we had to go down the wall. I literally broke into tears at the thought of falling. I mean, where was I supposed to put my feet? There was a foothold about 2/3 of the way down and to the right. Brett went first, literally sliding until he got to the foothold while grasping with his hands. I came down next and with his helpful coaxing (and a helpful hand) was able to make it down. Looking back I can’t believe I did it. A huge benefit of the lava was it afforded many grips and holds regular rock wouldn't. That being said, it wasn’t enough to comfort me at the 8-foot wall.

It was really a lot of fun - a very exhilarating experience. Next time I’ll take more pictures. It was hard to hold my flashlight, scramble over rocks and take pictures at the same time! Also, my camera was acting up. Apparently it doesn’t like being underground! It’s not natural. And, to any of you wondering, we did not have any Bigfoot sitings - or smellings - though there were plenty of ledges on which he could’ve been hiding.

Literary-Minded

I really like to read. This isn't a new thing or a unique thing or even a particularly interesting thing. But whenever anyone asks me what I like to do, this is what I tell them. Recently, it came to my attention that I had no idea where my library card was. I looked through wallets and drawers and backpacks and couldn't find it anywhere. Typically, I indulge myself with purchasing the books I read and seldom visit the library. However, due to a recent spate of books that left me disappointed and bitter at the invested money (not to mention the rising cost of living) I rethought my stance on borrowed books and found myself at the library being issued a new card. And what a wonderful thing it is! TO think, I just read a book I've been dreaming of reading, enjoyed it immensely, and all for the low low price of free! I figure if I fall in love with a book, I can add it to my personal library. But for all those I read and don't care to own, I'm out nothing. (I know, I know...there are many of you who are thinking, duh! but each reading experience feels very personal and the books on my shelves are like friends to me.)

The library system in my county is fantastic. I can check out from one and return to another. If the title I want is only at another library, they'll ferry it over to my local library so I don't have to go out of my way. Along with searching the entire catalogue, I can renew and reserve online. And when I check out books, I get a nice printout - a receipt if you will. Gone are the days of having to sit at the kitchen table and write out a list longhand so Mom knows what titles are missing when they come due.

Of course, all the advancements don't make up for the feeling I used to get walking into the old, brick library of my childhood. The smells of the musty books and the coziness of the basement children's section..the sound the rubber stamp would make as the date was printed on the checkout slip...the sheer anticipation of deciding which to read first...and the weight of the exciting new adventures in my arms as I walked up the stairs and out to wait for my ride home.

Joie de vivre

I find this both lovely and mezmerizing. The music is by Nouvelle Vague and the clip is from a 60s-era French movie called Bande a Part. Enjoy!

Really??

Summertime, Summertime, Sum-Sum-Summertime

I love the colors of Summertime meals.

Jump Around

Kevin and Charisse made a Northwest visit a couple weeks ago to attend a family reunion with Charisse's family. Luckily for us, they were close enough to make a trip down to Portland for a couple days. The Bean kids just couldn't get enough! Kevin and Charisse always show such an interest in them that it's easy to see why the kids enjoy them so much. Kevin was a good sport and spent some time on the trampoline. I'd like to draw your attention to the picture in the bottom right-hand corner. Can you find Tanner?

(click to make larger)

Called to Serve

I went to Springfield this past weekend to listen to my parents and Jaylyn speak in church. They report to the Church and Family History Department in Salt Lake City on August 1. Here are some pictures from the day, which also happened to be Keaton's birthday. It was a beautiful day for taking pictures outside. Click on the collage to make it larger. I'm trying something new!

Garden Fresh

No salmonella for me this summer. Look at my tomatoes! They're coming along nicely and should provide me with plenty to share. You may be wondering why I have so many plants. Well, I live on the second floor and on windy days, the tree branches snagged the top of the tomato cages and swept them off the railing. So some plants became two and I bought a couple replacements for the ones I didn't think would make it. Surprise! They are apparently much more resilient than I realized. And now you're probably wondering why my tomato plants were up on the railing. Well, due to the aforementioned trees, the direct sun they crave is somewhat limited. So as you can see now, they're all set up - very happily, I might add - at the bottom of the stairs. Safe from trees and shade. Too bad you're all not closer...I guess the people at work will benefit the most. I can't wait until I'm out of an apartment and can develop a real garden! Next year, I think I'm going to see if I can get a plot in one of the community gardens we have around the city here. In fact, it's probably not too early to see if I can get on a waiting list. It's really a great program and I'm sure will provide me with many friend-making opportunities.

Day of Independence

When I was a child, the Fourth of July held a certain appeal that, as an adult, I can't quite articulate. There was something about the combination of a warm summer day and barbecues and water balloons and the sheer anticipation of getting to stay up late. Not to mention the explosives! On Friday, Brett and I went to a park/greenbelt in west Portland that puts on a very impressive fireworks show. Just sitting there looking at the crowd I thought about how fantastically excited I would've been if I was a kid there. As it was, I myself was very excited about the show. I love fireworks. Love them! We had a great time. When I was young - 6? 7? - my parents manned the high school band fireworks booth in our small town and every Fourth, I'm reminded of dismantling the booth and driving the truck home under the threat of catching a rogue spark as the celebrations had already begun. Well, I didn't do so much of the dismantling or driving, but I was an active observer. I'm sure the threat wasn't as imminent as it felt when I was little, but it sure was thrilling to my young self!
This doesn’t quite illustrate it, but the crowd was quite large. A good time was had by all!

The Itch

It seems I've got much to blog about right now, but haven't the time to sit down and do it. In the meantime, this fasincating - and disturbing - article about the urge to itch might capture your interest. I heard about it on a radio program recently after it was published in The New Yorker.

See if you can get through the article without scratching! It's long, but very interesting.

Save Ferris

I swear the man in the car behind me on the way to work this morning was the dad from Ferris Bueller's Day Off. I kept looking around to see if Ferris would roll across my hood before vaulting over the nearby fence in an attempt to beat his family home, all the while being his annoyingly charming self. Then, I considered the contrast of reality and fiction and continued on to work knowing nothing that exciting was going to happen to me today. But a girl can dream.

Ghosts of Closets Past

I am finally posting pictures of the clothes my parents brought me a couple weeks ago. Wow. What memories! If there was any way I could get that bridesmaid dress over my hips, I would've put it on and just shown up at my sister's house wearing it. In her defense, it was 1989 and fuchsia was a very popular color. I would like to mention that with the exception of the graduation gown and that outrageously cool black and white number, each item of clothing was sewn by my mom. What talent!

Mount St. Helens

Photobucket

I seem to be having greater slideshow success with Photobucket.com. I took these one day a couple weeks ago while Brett and I were out running errands. We were on Skyline Blvd and pulled into a plush neighborhood to watch the lightning. Of course, I wasn't able to time the taking of a photo with an actual flash of lightning. Oh, well, they're still pretty in a Something-Wicked-This-Way-Comes sort of way.

Stormy Weather

Exercise in frustration

I have been trying for way too long to figure out how to add a photo slideshow on this here blog. I've been trying to get something to work using flickr.com as I've seen many other people use that on their blogs. Does anyone have a suggestion of a more user-friendly site? Or can anyone email me instructions on how to add a picture slideshow to my blog? I can't afford to pull any more of my hair out. It's thin-enough as it is!!

Oh, Wow

The greatness of some of the items my parents delivered on Tuesday can best be described only through pictures. I'll try to take some tonight.

Now what?

For those of you who read the post a couple weeks ago about going through boxes of childhood *tchatchkes, this intriguing email was waiting in my inbox this morning.

"Hi I found a box labeled "Jennifer's ceramics off the shelf" which we will bring you tomorrow. Then if you do not have plans we can go get something to eat. If you have other plans that is OK too.Love, Dad"

Now, I know I painted several ceramics throughout my early years but never do I remember them occupying "the shelf". And is this a box I packed up or is it one that my mom did on my behalf when she realized she needed the space? And, this just occurred to me, are they knick-knacks I made or are they just breakables I picked up over the years? I can hardly wait to see what is in there. I distinctly remember a cute, gray bunny...will it be in there? Another few hours and I'll have the answer.

*The spelling of tchatchkes brought to you by "The Yiddish Handbook: 40 Words You Should Know"

Signs of Spring

Pack Rat

My parents and younger sister are anxiously awaiting a mission call that could arrive any day now. Plans are being made, affairs are being put in order and in a magnanimous gesture I decided to accept responsibility for the myriad boxes of books and various mementos they've been storing for me for the last 10+ years. Thus giving them room to store their own things while they rent their house out. I know, I know...very generous of me. Anyway, last night they delivered the first of many boxes with the intent I'll empty out the boxes over the next week and give them the empties when they deliver the next shipment. The first tub I went through last night was full of books which didn't take me too long to go through. I found that many of them were titles I purchased a second time in the years since they were packed up. So those duplicates all went into a bag to sell back to Powell's. The second tub took much MUCH longer to go through as it contained such items as my middle school yearbooks (is it just me or did my awkward period last longer than everyone else's?) and high school journals (oh, the angst). Who knows what next week's boxes will bring.

Speaking of the yearbooks, I went to middle school with a kid who is now quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles. Do you think I could sell them to some fan?

Other items I came across:
* a letter my 15-yr-old self wrote to my 22-yr-old self (apparently I thought I'd be fully established in adult-land at 22)
* A high school paper on Antigone
* Phoenix Coyotes hockey puck
* small plastic Baltimore Orioles helmet
* high school diploma
* pencil with a fuzzy giraffe's head and the question "wanna neck?" (I think I got that when I was ten. Scandalous!)
* high school i.d. cards
* family picture at my sister's wedding circa 1989 - oh my!
* score sheet from a laser-tag outing at Ricks
* seventh grade science award

YUM!

I just ordered a copy of this book and I could not be more excited!!

Books!

Yesterday was my mom's birthday and as she and my dad work in the LDS temple every Tuesday it worked out nicely to gather at my sister's afterwards and celebrate. My parents live about an hour and a half south of Portland. It was nice to gather with family and celebrate my mom. I had a great time interacting with my niece and nephews, especially when somehow the subject of books came up and they each excitedly told me about what they're reading right now. It makes me so happy to see them excited about reading and excited about the adventures that lie within the pages of the books. Tanner is reading To Kill A Mockingbird in his 8th grade class right now. He doesn't care much for his teacher which in turn is making him not care so much for the way she's presenting the book. This is one of my all-time favorites so I tried my best to heighten his interest in the story despite the way his teacher is handling the material. In preparation for his freshman year he has to read Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury over the summer. I haven't ever read that but from the little I know about the story it seems kind of an intense rite-of-passage to freshman English!

Jarae is into a fantasy author, Brandon Mull, whose stories are full of satyrs and fairies and trolls and magical, mysterious lands. She had a rough go of it when learning to read so to see her so excited about it now is really endearing. Hopefully when it's her turn to read To Kill a Mockingbird in a couple years she'll be more into it than Tanner.

Not for me

I have a confession. Every once in awhile I google old crushes and old boyfriends to see if I can find out what they're up to. And not so you think I'm a total freak I also look up people I used to know and in whom I never had a romantic interest. One of the easy places to start is MySpace. I have never had, nor do I ever intend to have, my own MySpace page. It's just not my thing. I do know lots of people who have pages, though. Why do people feel the need to make their page as busy as possible? I was looking at one today that had music blaring, a collage of pictures behind the text and flare everywhere. I was so overwhelmed and annoyed that it simply served to remind me why it's a good thing things didn't ever "work out" with this person. I could never support his MySpace layout! I have always felt simplicity is best. I'm not into frou-frou and this page was all about the pizzazz.

I googled my own name and came up with these superior(?) alter-egos:

Jennifer Kohler, Stanford biology professor
Jennifer Kohler, Ph.D.; director of the School for Professional Studies at Saint Louis University
Jennifer Kohler, grad student at Columbia
Jennifer Kohler, surrogate mother
Jennifer Kohler, New York lawyer

There are 1,416,416 people in the U.S. with the first name Jennifer. Statistically the 21st most popular first name.

There are 18,237 people in the U.S. with the last name Kohler. Statistically the 1,943rd most popular last name.

There are 85 people in the U.S. named Jennifer Kohler. You can figure out your own statistics here.

The Neighborhood is Growing

Randomly, three people asked me today when I'm going to update this thing. My brother, Jeff, even offered to be a guest blogger! Since only a few of you leave comments, I guess I didn't realize how many are paying attention to my blog. Thanks for the love!

I'm getting excited by the number of my friends who are putting both feet into the blogging circle. I think it's a fantastic way to keep track of what is happening with each other and it's so much easier than sitting down and writing an email or - heaven forbid - picking up the phone. I have never really been a phone person unless it's a conversation that can take place in less than 5 minutes. However, I'm already aware there are exceptions to that rule as I can talk to family members for much longer than that. I think that's because it's simply a continuation of a conversation that has been going on for the last 30 years. Do you know what I mean? There are those people with whom you always have a level of contact so when you speak to them or spend time with them there's no need for small-talk. I find small-talk exhausting. I don't mind going to social events, but when I'm at a party where I only know one or two people I find I'm ready to leave shortly after arriving because I simply can't make myself small-talk with strangers for three or four hours.

How's that for getting off-topic? I was saying that I'm excited about all the blogs I get to read and all the years-long friendships (high-school...college...mission) that are being rekindled through blogspot.It's fun to see the daily events and not just get the highlights in the Christmas letter. And I thank you for sharing your lives with me.

Four Eyes

Look at my new glasses! When they arrive I'll take a pic so you can see them on...it's hard to tell how great they are in a headless picture.

Happy Birthday to Me!!

My birthday was this past week. Thanks to all of you for your birthday emails, cards, and phone calls!

My sister Jaylyn, niece Jarae, and nephew Keaton made me this banner.

We like to start the young ones on the hard stuff before they're too old to know better.

Look at this beautiful quilt my mom is making me. What talent! Many of the fabrics belonged to dresses from different generations and women in my family. It's quite spectacular.

World Ice Art Championships in Fairbanks, Alaska

Thank you, Shannon, for sending fun pictures of the ice festival! For those of you not keeping up with things, I posted something about it a couple posts ago...I promise that someday I will come and visit. And yes, I realize I've been saying that for years.

Just Shoot Me

I had fully intended to update my blog over this past weekend with new pictures and new stories, but unfortunately Friday night's dinner gave me food poisoning and left me incapacitated for the rest of the weekend and a whopping seven pounds lighter. Today is the first day I've felt any semblance of "normal". At one point, I was lying on the floor, half my body in the bathroom, half in the hallway just hoping that by some stroke of benevolence I would be struck dead and put out of my misery. Yes, it was that bad and I'm not generally given to exaggeration. (I don't think.) So now that I am back to the land of living, I'll be posting again real soon. Hope your weekend was better than mine!

Valentine's Day

I hope your Valentine's Day was fun!

Fairbanks, AK I'm talking to you!

I have a 1,000 Places To See Before You Die desk calendar - you may be familiar with the book of the same name. Each day spotlights either a travel destination or a travel experience and causes me to spend the first ten minutes of my workday daydreaming about far-off places. Yesterday had a winter wonderland theme, with a picture of ice skaters on the frozen Rideau Canal in Ottowa, Canada. (Yeah, I’d never heard of the canal, either.) Also on yesterday’s page was a list of four other cold-weather cities and the winter festivals for which they’re known. One caught my eye - the World Ice Art Championships in Fairbanks, Alaska. Now, I know this blog has a reader who calls Fairbanks home. You know who you are. Have you been to this festival? More importantly, do you have pictures you could share with the class? Email them to me and, with your permission, I’ll put a couple on the blog. We’ll call it a little ode to winter weather and the beauty it possesses! Of course I can wax poetic about winter weather because, unlike a lot of you, I don’t have to deal with it on a daily basis. So bear with me!

Happy Feet

I want these boots:

Or these ones:

Or even these ones would work:

Working (Wo)Man Blues

I haven't posted in a while. I think I've been waiting to see if something noteworthy or exciting happened. And then, said exciting event would elicit its very own, "Hey! Look at this exciting thing that happened. Want to hear about it?" post. But, alas. That doesn't seem to be how my life works. I'm too tired when I get home from work at night to do anything but be lethargic and lazy. Work has been trying lately because I don't really respect my boss and yet have to find a way to work with him. I used to look forward to the days when he would be out on vacation but now I almost dread them because inevitably I'm going to uncover some mistake on his part or something that he has swept under the rug as no one else holds him accountable and I end up having to take care of it so it doesn't look as though the fault lies with me. No one monitors him so he can pretty much do what he wants. It's extremely frustrating given that I was raised with a pretty strong work ethic and when a customer calls me with a problem or an issue, I hate discovering it was due to something he did (or didn't) do and I'm left having to calm them down and clean up his messes. I don't get paid enough for that! I keep biding my time, knowing that his retirement is soon and I'm the logical person to step in and take over his responsibilities. Heaven knows I already do most of them.

This one and this one and this one...

Generally speaking, I don’t look forward to getting the mail. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t avoid getting it but long gone are the days when I’d eagerly anticipate the arrival of the mailman. Nowadays, he just brings me bills and catalogues for random mail-order companies and several esteem-building credit approval notices. What other pieces of mail cheerfully proclaim “You’re pre-approved!!!”? But yesterday, I received a catalogue from Barnes and Noble.com advertising their warehouse sale with pages and pages and pages of sale-priced books. It’s like a grown-up version of the Scholastic book orders I drooled over in elementary school. Well, except without the 75 cent posters of puppies and kittens curled up together. I sat on my couch and drooled over every single page, seriously considering circling every item on my mental wish list. But then I wondered what would I do with it then? Do like the old days and give it to my mom so she could decide how much money I’d be allowed to spend? And then face the arduous task of whittling down what I want to what I can feasibly spend without feeling luxuriously guilty? My dinner was ready to eat when I finished my perusal so I never did get to circle my wishes…But I’ve got some free time tonight!