Instagram Update

I find I'm chronicling some of the tiny moments of my life with the Instagram app. Like I mentioned before, I'm not one for selfies, but it is kinda fun to snap a quick shot of some little thing that caught my eye. Later, I enjoy looking back through the moments I captured. From the last few weeks...

Still #playingwithinstagram

A photo posted by @karlacinid on Jan 21, 2015 at 7:43pm PST

January 21. Light snow caught on the bark of a tree outside the office... I thought the textured filter added a neat effect, too.

So... does the lettuce wrap and the sweet potato fries cancel out the carbs in the milk shake? #workinglate #Sonlight25

A photo posted by @karlacinid on Jan 22, 2015 at 3:31pm PST

January 22. A quick supper with co-workers before the Inspire25 event that evening. All four of us had lettuce-wrapped hamburgers... and milk-shakes!

Taking the light rail downtown. Mid-morning is definitely the best time to ride! #introvert #publictransportation

A photo posted by @karlacinid on Jan 23, 2015 at 9:17am PST

January 23. I met a friend in downtown Denver for lunch and didn't want to try to find a parking spot, so I took the train.

Saturday morning breakfast date at the Golden Diner. #coffee #Colorado

A photo posted by @karlacinid on Jan 24, 2015 at 7:04am PST

January 24. For our breakfast date that Saturday we drove to Golden and ate at an old-timey diner. I like taking pictures of a cup of coffee, apparently.

#breakfastdate #brainstorming #chickfila #lovemyman

A photo posted by @karlacinid on Feb 21, 2015 at 7:33am PST

February 21. My daily snapshots didn't last long. A few weeks later our breakfast date was at Chick-fil-A. We were trying to work through some details for our family budget that morning.

Cute new mug for my Monday morning #coffee. #Sonlight #goodmorning

A photo posted by @karlacinid on Mar 2, 2015 at 5:40am PST

March 2. And another coffee picture with a new mug from my Secret Sis.

Love the blue sky and sun! #Colorado #spring

A photo posted by @karlacinid on Mar 9, 2015 at 4:14pm PDT

March 9. I actually didn't know about this picture until I started getting comments on it. Turns out I had left my phone at home one afternoon, and "someone" decided it would be fun to post a picture for me. Could be worse!

#lookingfortulips, #earlyspring

A photo posted by @karlacinid on Mar 15, 2015 at 3:16pm PDT

March 15. I noticed tulips coming up in the backyard. I hope they bloom this year. Last year a spring snowstorm ruined them.

#sunsetinthecity #denver

A photo posted by @karlacinid on Mar 16, 2015 at 6:05pm PDT

16 March. Mountain sunsets are spectacular, even in city traffic.

#firstdayofspring #crocus

A photo posted by @karlacinid on Mar 20, 2015 at 8:09am PDT

20 March. I was delighted to discover crocuses emerging on the first day of spring. Not my yard, but close enough.

Happy spring!

Winter Day Trip

After a particularly snowy week we were happy to see sunshine when we got up yesterday morning. Lyle suggested going for a drive in the mountains to see the fresh snow. Rebecca and Cookie accepted our invitation to ride along. 

We started out early because I was afraid the sunshine might not last. Sure enough, it was only partly sunny during our drive. Still, the scenery was breathtakingly beautiful.

ICY CONDITIONS MAY EXIST

 Do tell!

Our route took us through the ski resort towns of Breckenridge and Keystone.

MUG SHOTS

 I thought the name of this coffee shop in Breckenridge was clever. I love a good play on words.

 We were especially interested in watching the skiiers. Needless to say, the ski runs were quite busy after all the "fresh powder" this past week.

We pulled into a scenic overlook above the chair lift at Arapahoe Basin. It was neat to have a bird's eye view. Lyle and Rebecca would have liked to go skiing themselves. Maybe another time.

It sure is fun to have beautiful scenery so close to home when we are in the mood to go for a drive.

Marshmallow World

On Friday the weather forecast for the weekend was 8-16 inches of snow by Sunday evening.

Since the weather has been mostly sunny and snowless this winter, I thought it would be interesting to do a series of "time lapse" photos of our back yard over the course of the weekend. Obviously, the weekend isn't over yet, but the results are dramatic enough that I decided to go ahead and post while I have time. (Otherwise I might not get around to it. Iz bad, I know.)

The little dab of snow lurking in the shady areas on Friday afternoon was left over from a few days earlier. The clouds were beginning to gather, but the flurries didn't start until after dark that day.

 Saturday morning the ground was lightly covered with a very wet snow. It had already melted off the stone walkway and mostly just stuck to the grass. But more was still in the forecast.

Midday Saturday it started snowing lightly... 

 just kinda spitting snow off and on...

 By early evening the snow finally decided to start getting serious.

 The "snow" setting on the camera shows it coming down better than the "auto" setting above, though I have to say the "auto" setting makes a prettier picture. I love the warm lights shining from the back fence neighbors' houses.

 And so finally, this morning, we did wake up to a Marshmallow World.

Church was cancelled due to the bad roads, so we are enjoying a quiet morning sitting by the fire, watching the snow. We love that our family room has both a fireplace and French doors overlooking the backyard.

We will enjoy the snow while it lasts because it could very well be all gone by midweek. Denver weather is funny that way.

Settling In

 I guess it's way past time for an update. We are gradually settling into our new home. The weather has been quite variable. January was overall pretty mild. Last weekend we got a good bit of snow, turning our backyard into a Winter Wonderland.

 Two weeks ago we made a quick trip to Kansas over the weekend to meet up with my parents so the girls could go home with them. They are planning to stay in Arkansas until the end of March. Laura will probably come back to Colorado at that time, but Becky intends to stay and raise a new flock of chickens this spring, since last year's Girls had to stay in Idaho. She's thinking of adding some guineas to her flock as well.

We drove home across southern Kansas, and drove parallel to an Amtrak train for many miles. Sometimes it would get ahead of us when we stopped, but then we would pass it again.

 In the evenings we're trying to get more unpacking and setting up done. Last weekend we got some pictures hung which makes the house feel more like home. I was happy to get Lyle's string arts hung in the family room. (This is a craft he was into as a teen. Even though they are somewhat "retro" by now, I have enjoyed hanging them in our home throughout our marriage.)

Work continues to go well. Each week is a little better than the last... which is a good thing, I think. Lyle is getting to know his co-workers and enjoying more variety than just running the printing press, which is what he mostly did the first couple of weeks. I've been making plans for the upcoming homeschool convention season. Turns out I'll be doing 8 events this year... 3 of which are in Alaska! I'm very excited about that, as I've never been to Alaska before. That will be an adventure, for sure!

One thing we are thoroughly enjoying is exploring the area. Last Sunday was sunny after a big snowfall the previous two days, so we went for a long drive up in the mountains. Suffice it say that fresh snow in the Rockies shimmering in the sun is breathtaking.

Until next time...

Moving Day 1

We had hoped to be on the road by 9:00 a.m. today. However, it turned out we still had about 4 hours of work to do this morning, including final loading and cleaning, so it was almost noon by the time we were ready to pull out.

 My assigned "rig" was the Excursion pulling the Plan B (12-foot) trailer. Did I mention that I've never towed a trailer before in my life? Seems like a 1,000-mile trip over the mountains in January is a good time to learn, dontcha think? Ugh.

 I snapped this picture as we were ready to leave our neighborhood. Our caravan consists of Lyle driving the Penske truck towing the car-carrier with Laura's car on it, Laura driving our VW Jetta with a car-top carrier, and then me in the Excursion with another car-top carried and the cargo trailer. Lyle's co-pilot is Cookie-the-dog, and Rebecca is riding with Laura to keep her awake and entertained.

 The girls took these pictures as we drove through Montana today.

We got to our hotel in Bozeman, Montana about 9:00 p.m. The hotel beds are soft, which is a very good feature in a bed. We are looking forward to a good night's rest.

Tomorrow's destination: Casper, Wyoming.

Holiday Ramblin'

To say I'm feeling overwhelmed these days is putting it mildly.

It seems surreal that Christmas is the-day-after-tomorrow. I keep turning on Christmas music (even though I usually only enjoy it in very small doses) to remind myself that we really are in the midst of the Christmas season. Mostly my mind is whirling with trying to figure out how we are actually going to manage to move in two weeks.

In the midst of everything, life goes on. So here's a little glimpse of what we've been up to lately besides packing.

Early in December, the girls and I enjoyed a lovely ladies' brunch at church.

The next morning Lyle and I flew to Colorado for a week to check out the situation there and to make our decision about moving.

While we were there I crocheted almost non-stop because pre-Christmas orders for mug cozies were pouring in from my Etsy shop. I haven't yet taken time to tally up how many I actually made this fall, but I know it numbers in the hundreds! Just crazy!

Last Sunday night we sang in a cantata at church. We enjoyed participating in the choir. It was a fun cantata to prepare for. What was so amazing to me was that our choir director was a 19-year-old young man, and our accompanist just had his 15th birthday! They did an outstanding job.

Wednesday night we had a "farewell" social time with our Bible study group. We have been hosting a weekly Bible study in our home for the past 6.5 years, so we've formed some very special relationships. It is hard to say good-bye.

The girls have been enjoying Christmas activities and time with friends this month. Laura hosted a party for her friends Friday night.

On Saturday afternoon she went sledding with friends and banged up her knee pretty badly. The wound was very deep and ugly, so we decided she should probably go to the Immediate Care clinic. As it turns out the covering of the knee cap was even torn, so it required 6 internal stitches and 4 external... plus a tetanus shot and a round of antibiotics. Lyle said, "We are so glad the accident wasn't worse, but the timing couldn't have been much worse." She is getting around pretty well, but is limited in what she can do.

And so... that brings us up to Christmas week. My shopping is done. I just have a few last-minute gifts to wrap... and countless boxes to pack.

As always... life is an adventure!

Fragmented Thoughts for November

I have a love-hate relationship with the month of November. 

It's the month I was born, 

as well as the month I was married, 

so double reasons to celebrate, 

in addition to Thanksgiving.

My children presented me with this lovely bouquet of mums 

in honor of our anniversary last week.

They bought their dad candy.

The other part of their gift was a series of pictures

they had a friend take of them at a local park.

I was so pleased!

I told them they could do that as a gift for us for any occasion.

 Speaking of mums, the ones in my flower bed 

have been blooming since early September.

Some of the blossoms are beginning to fade, 

but the plant is still putting out buds, too.

That's two months and counting of bloom time.

This is the fourth year I've had them.

Isn't that wonderful?

 With the ever-shortening daylight hours and the drizzly gray skies

(which is what I hate about November),

I appreciate the bright spot in my front flower bed...

 ...and the still-fresh Jack-o-lanterns on the front step

which I plan to leave up until after Thanksgiving,

or until they start to soften, whichever comes first.

 An early snow this week reminded us that, ready-or-not, winter is upon us.

We've winterized the trailer and put away the bikes and lawn furniture,

and are turning our attention to more indoor pursuits.

Happy November!

The Flu

...will steal a week of your life.

Nasty stuff, that.

Glad to be back among the living.

No, Cookie didn't have the flu. I did. Just didn't care to share an actual "flu" picture! Not that there are any, you understand. She's a cute dog, though, isn't she?

Sunshine!

After several days of freezing fog and "stagnant air" the sun has come out! It's still well below freezing so the hoarfrost on the trees glitters like jewels. Sunshine is rare in January, and very welcome!

I am, however, still fighting "the crud" so I didn't venture beyond sticking my head out the door to take pictures. Maybe we'll have a pretty sunset in an hour or so. I'll try to remember to keep an eye on the west windows.

From the rising of the sun

unto the going down of the same 

the Lord's name is to be praised. 

Psalm 113:3

Fire!

We were watching a movie last night when Becky came down to the family room quite alarmed. "There's a cop car with its lights out sitting in front of our house. It's got the street blocked off, and it's freakin' me out!"

Now, admittedly, she gets "freaked out" easily, but Lyle went to see what was going on. Our house sits on the corner so he looked out the back door to see the other street.

"Karla, come look!" he said. "The neighbor's garage is on fire!" Flames were shooting out the roof!

When the neighborhood is filled with fire trucks and emergency vehicles galore, all the 14-year-old boys (even those in their 40s) gather to watch. Doesn't matter that it's 19 degrees and dark outside!

And of course, Mama has to get her camera just in case she might want to blog about it.

Lyle came back in to put on proper shoes and a coat, then went back out to stroll around and see if he could find out what happened. Me? Once I got my pictures (taken from the back porch), I retreated back inside where it was warm.

Turns out the neighbor guy had been smoking some meat in his smoker inside the garage, and the fire got out of control. He tried to put it out with a fire extinguisher, but to no avail. He hosts football parties in his garage nearly every weekend. I wonder what this bodes for his Super Bowl plans?

Frozen Fog

Laura took these amazing pictures in our yard this morning...

Frost crystals on her car antenna...

...and mirror...

...and on every little bare twig of every bush in our yard!

By the breath of God frost is given...

Job 37:10

Sufficient for the Day...

"...do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or what you will drink..."

...or whether or not winter will ever be over...
...or when Becky will get over this virus that has been hanging on for a week now...
...or what if the rest of us catch it from her...
...or what to do about the washer on the blink, after just replacing the dryer last week...
...or where to turn for encouragement when the days are dark and cold...

"For your heavenly Father know that you need all these things. 

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, 

and all these things shall be added to you.

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow,

for tomorrow will worry about its own things. 

Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."

Matthew 6:25, 32-34

Frag-Blogging

I have been receiving some gentle nudges that it's time to blog again. The thing is, in my mind, blogging should be story-telling. If I wanted to just talk about the weather or what we had for dinner, I could just tweet about that... or post it to Facebook... and be done. Blogging is more fun for me because I love stories!  And sometimes I just haven't got a story. So that's where Frag-Blogging comes in. You can blame Mrs. 4444 and Keetha! Somehow they've managed to convince me that it's okay to gather up a bunch of fragmented pieces of almost-stories, weave them together, and voila! Blog-worthy story!

And so, we've had snow. Well, duh. It's January. In Idaho. So, yeah. There ya go.

I have to admit, there's something magical about watching falling snow pile up. I am kinda enjoying the way it's been coming this year. We've had several snowstorms with thaws in between, which keeps the white stuff fresh and pretty.

Cookie likes to lie in the window and watch the snow... and keep an eye out for any interesting passersby. She loves in play in the snow when it's deep and fresh. She pounces around in it like a puppy, rather than the more sedate 7-year-old lady dog she usually is. It is very fun to watch her.

What's not so fun is driving in it, though the snow plows are pretty good about keeping the main roads cleared off. The snow was coming down pretty heavy on Monday morning as Becky and I headed back to co-op.

Speaking of co-op, since this is a fragmented post, this term I am helping with a class of little girls (1st to 3rd grade) who are learning to crochet. Let me rephrase that. They are "learning" to crochet. See the difference? They think they are learning. Mostly they sit and hold their balls of yarn and crochet hooks, and giggle. One-by-one, the other teacher and I put our arms around them to guide their little hands to hold the hook and manipulate the yarn in just the right way, while they watch intently. I don't think they've caught on much yet, but this was just the first class. It will be interesting to see what progress they make by the end of 8 weeks.

On to the next fragment... Tuesday evening we had a birthday dinner at Olive Garden.

Our family had received a gift card to Olive Garden for Christmas, so we decided to go there for Laura's birthday. We also invited her BFF to join us.

And while they are "grown up" young ladies, legally adults and all that... they mostly just sat and giggled. Wonder when they outgrow the giggle stage?

Anyway, it was a lovely dinner.

Other than that, we've mostly just kept the home-fires burning (figuratively, since we don't have a real fireplace)... fought a virus that's going around...

...and tried to stay warm!

Hope you're having a good January!