Idyllwild

Last weekend we went to a memorial service for the mother of Matt's co-worker. They grew up in Idyllwild and that is where she still lived. I think the entire town turned up and then some. They had to have it in the school cafeteria to accommodate everyone so there were children's painting all over the wall and a disco ball hanging from the ceiling. Some interesting characters spoke and a terrible bagpiper played Amazing Grace. It was like an episode of Northern Exposure. But, there is something to be said for living in a tiny close-knit community like that.

This was a photo taken just outside of town looking out from the mountain. So pretty up there. I remember going there once as a kid to visit my parent's friends . All I remember was that they had a giant rock in the front yard that we played on.

Nice

They fixed the cracks in our street.

Isn't it lovely?

Biking

Matt was all gung-ho about bike riding New Year's weekend so, on the 2nd, he cleaned up our bikes and aired up the tires. I couldn't refuse after he'd done all of that work.

We biked over to the lake which only took about 20 minutes each way. However, there were a lot of hills and we went through these skinny dirt paths that didn't agree with me. I felt like I was in a Mario Kart game....I'd run into the bush on the right and immediately run into the bush on the left and so on.

It was pretty fun overall so I think we'll do it again but I'm choosing the route next time.

January 1, 2012

Happy New Year!!!

Well, my "year of pictures" experiment is over. Did it inspire me to take more photos? I think it did. However, I still forgot to take photos at some of the most important times. I tend to get wrapped up in living the moment and forget to record it. Nothing wrong with that but I'm one of those people that cherishes my memories so it's important to me to have something to show for them.

I've long kept scrapbooks and photo albums so I want to continue to do something like that in my blog. I also want to share some of my favorite things. I'm still going to strive to post to my blog weekly, at the very least, but I feel the daily aspect forces the issue.

So, what about today? Well, here are 2 photos taken last summer at my dad's retirement party in La Jolla. Mike Nicholas was there and took a bunch of photos of our extended family with a few exceptions (Will, for one). The first includes my dad's brother and family (The Shanks). The other includes my mom's brother and family (The Shooks).

Shank squared

Shanks and Shooks

December 31

I think this was one of my mom's old ornaments.

I love it because it is so unique.

They don't make them like this anymore.

December 30

One of my favorite ornaments...

a vintage metal Alice in Wonderland.

December 29

Well, I might as well stick with the egg theme I've got going. This is one of 4 eggs that I bought when Matthew and I went to Prague. Their custom is to paint eggs with ornate designs and use those as ornaments on their trees.

December 28

This is a little diorama ornament I made for a

school contest, probably at Witter Elementary.

It started with a L'eggs egg. Remember those?

December 27

I'm going to finish the year with some of my Christmas decor, starting with these 2 nativity scenes from my Grandma. Technically, there is another nativity in the mirror, courtesy of my mom and Avon, but I want to focus on the 2 items front and center.

I'm actually just guessing that they were my Grandma Artha's because they look like they were from Europe and Russia and she traveled extensively. I really like the wooden Russian nativity because the little figures inside are all hand-carved. Plus, it has a cool top. The other is an egg which was cut open and has little hinges for the doors. It's pretty ornate but it keeps falling off it's stand despite my attempts to glue it in place. Luckily, it's never even cracked.