Williams - Surprise Snow

Isn't she cute!

It started snowing today totally unexpectedly. We took advantage of the rare occasion.

It is still coming down.

Williams - Christmas 2009

We had a great Christmas. We got the kids a puppy for Christmas. She is adorable. We named her Dakota. The kids have played with her outside every day for the last few days even though it is cold. They are having the time of their lives. Yes, we are crazy to have a puppy and a new baby in the same month. We like to live on the edge:)

My Dream Bedroom

Snow Valley

Check out my sporty sister, Andrea at snow-valley.com
I'm so jealous of her job. She agrees, it's anything but work.
What a babe.

High School Memories

Nicole,

I was going through some old boxes today and I found this note from Mr. Gust. It brought back memories of what fun we had in his class. He was a funny guy. This is what the note said:

Did you guys see this on Saturday? I was laughing so hard. I had to rewind the DVR and watch it twice. SNL still gets me rolling now and again. It's worth sitting through the commercial. I really feel that excited sometimes; that's what makes it double funny.

El Raton

Do you remember when My Mom, Janna and I put the gist of our worldly possessions in the back of the orange Ford truck and headed for the tip of Baja? And ended up living with Cara and her roommate, Heather, in Newport for over two months?

One day, all five of us were piled in Cara's car, headed somewhere.
My Mom was driving. She saw one of these
and said, matter-of-fact, "Did you know your Father had a Woody when I met him?"

The side-splitting laughter was instant. The tears started rolling.
My Mom didn't get what was so funny and kept saying, "What? He did! I swear it!"

Still, we couldn't get it together. It was too hilarious to hear her repeating herself:

"What? What's so funny? He did! He named it El Raton! It means The Rat!"

That might have been the single funniest moment of my life.
When we told her that Woody nowadays does not mean a car,
she was the one laughing until she cried.

Satan Claus

Long ago, my brother had a girlfriend who was from Paraguay. Her English was not perfect, nor her written English. We spent Christmas 2003 at their house. It was there I spied, underneath the tree, a small package wrapped neatly in colorful paper and tied with a gift tag that read:

To: Alex

From: Satan


This little memory is my go-to for a quick belly laugh. Never fails. Am smiling as we speak.

Do you guys have anything that you remember when you need to illicit a laugh from yourself?

Williams - Sage's Violin Recital

Sage started taking violin lessons in September. She had her first recital on Friday. She did so great and I wanted to share her with you.

^Andrea and Ian's awesome new house! That is her awesome new boyfriend, a fellow ski instructor. I hope when I visit, I get snowed-in underneath five feet for a week. I really get homesick for Lake Arrowhead this time of year.

^This is the view from her back porch.
I can't wait to cozy up to that fire.

OH YES, LES!!!

Alana, you got me with this one. I have not a second to spare today but I can't help but respond about this ever passionate topic in my life!

Quinn and I have OFTEN had this debate! We talk about Bear and Les all the time. I liked Bear in the beginning- but he's gone all shock-value and his show is totally sensationalized. I'm for sure a Les girl. He's authentic. Did you see that one where Les was in Alaska and the ice melted but the crew didn't know where he was and couldn't find him. He almost died! And I'm pretty sure he cried. They finally got him on the radar and sent a copter in. And the wolves! I didn't even mention the wolves!

Yes, Les is for sure more realistic and plausible. I mean come on Bear, are any of us ever going to be stranded in the Bedouin desert of Pakistan and just happen across a camel carcass? No thank you, I do NOT need to know how to gut a camel carcass and sleep inside of it!!!

The Eternal Question

I often find myself pondering... Bear Grylls? Or Les Stroud?

Man Vs. Wild stands alone in its ability to trigger my gag reflex as much as... anything else. I especially tune in when he is going somewhere cold because there is a high likelihood of Bear getting wet and taking his clothes off all the way down to his cute little British boxer briefs. Who can refute the hotness:

Faults? A little too hyper. And perhaps a little too hairless. You just know the second the cameras are off he sets down that elephant dung and dines on whatever is flown in for him. Whatever. He was a member of the British Special Forces. Me likey.

But what if you were forced to choose? Would you take the hyper, hairless Brit? Tempting. But I think I prefer my men a little less fancy. Enter Les Stroud:

Hairier than myself. The smallest bit of flab on the midsection. Hmmm. Yes, I like this. His show Survivorman isn't as spastic. He has no crew. He films himself. He is calming. Soothing. Less fancy-pants with less fancy pants. Probably wears faded, threadbare underwear.

So girls. You have to survive in the wilderness with one of these men. I'm sorry but you cannot have both. Who is it going to be? Are you going to let Bear boil you some crawdads in a hole in a rock, holding out hope for the British Skivvies? Or will you let Les shoot you a grouse, taking comfort in his calming presence?

Me? The winner is going to be Les.
A bit more man.
A little less spastic.

My Life In Pictures

Yet another award-winning photojournalism essay by yours truly.


^This is what morning looks like. Anika likes to get in bed with me and watch cartoons (since I'm already watching them).

^This is what hair looks like when you are two, terrified of the unfamiliar Thanksgiving guests and have had your head buried in the couch for an hour like an ostrich. If I can't see them, they can't see me.

^This is what the clean laundry looks like when you are married to Brandon. Happily knee-deep in black marabou jigs since 2003!

^And when two readers fall in love, they make baby readers. This photo was not staged. And that's a toy catalog, by the way.

^ Whilst not propagating my own species, I propagated leaf cuttings of my upstairs ZZ plant to this new pot downstairs. And I finally dusted all the filthy blinds.

Isn't it all so exciting?

But sometimes it really is. The sisters came from CA for the holiday. Also Jake and Ian. We had so much fun it hurt. It went down the only way we know how... Order hot wings at seven. Have second Thanksgizzle dinner at the stroke of midnight. Then heated political and religious debate until two (that's AM). All the while hysterically laughing, crying, testifying.

Now there's Christmas to look forward to and after that- well- dark and cold January. I'm going to try and go to Lake Arrowhead and Newport the end of January to give me something to get through that eventless month. Is eventless a word? I think we'll cut a Christmas tree down this Saturday, maybe the next, and that's about that.

Sometimes exciting.
Mostly mundane.
(marabou-jig mundane)
But I am deeply satisfied.
And happy.