Here are a few recent photos :). First, a picture of our driveway with accumulated snow on the sides. Second, a view from a hike I did this Saturday. It was lovely, peaceful, quiet. So nice! In between the snow in the foreground and the mountains in the distance is the inlet. Last-- a young moose hanging out next door at the neighbor's house!





And, finally, here's the moose in action.

This afternoon, because I was on that side of town and had my new skates in the trunk, I went ice skating on Cheney Lake. I thought I was the only one there 'til I looked over and saw a mound of brown across the lake. It was a moose. Of course. She watched me for a good five minutes or so and then decided I was harmless. I got some good practice in! Might look into lessons...

And on a completely different note, here are my dad, Ben and Alex on Christmas, acting like the fabulous goofballs that they are. I mean, how can anyone resist these boys?? They're SO CUTE... Enjoy!

I feel rich when...

...I have a stack of stamps, all different kinds (superheroes, quilts, children's book characters...)
...My sisters all call in the same day!
...There are 3 boxes of Cheez-its in the pantry.
...I can go ice skating any time at the lagoon!
...I have a comfy bed to sleep in.
...I am overcome by the beauty of music, mountains, children, water.
...I look through my address book.
...I have plenty of art supplies!

And, speaking of feeling rich, here's a picture of the New Zealand montage on my wall. Getting to hang out with my best friend, travels to warm and beachy foreign countries... now THAT'S living!

My trip home, and then to Seattle, was great. So many good people, lots of music, and sunshine!

Here are a few highlights:





Beth and baby Maura, at Beth and Dennis' new Louisville home!




Little Miss Abigail reclining...




The Altarnatives, hard at work... Yeah, right! I think they're playing Here Comes the Sun.



My gorgeous friends Kristin and Andrea, after our Bullitt Central High School choir reunion. Whoo-hoo!



The view from Theresa and John's (and Patrick's!) peaceful retreat of a house. So much kindness and love, there.


Blooms at Bernheim on January 2, 2007 (Happy Birthday, Mom!). The weather was weirdly warm, but I did my best to soak it in!



Gotta love this picture of Annie. If it's the only one I ever have, I don't care. Fabulous! This was taken right before a night on the town (Seattle) that included a wine tasting (I liked the sauvignon blanc!), yum Thai food and then the new Superman movie (and Annie's subsequent crush on the man of steel himself).

Shew! What a year. I mean, seriously, I've done my fair share of living in the past 12 months or so. And I think I'm learning, getting to be a better person. I can feel it, the way I can feel myself getting older but not minding, because I know I'm acting with the wisdom of a person who's lived a bit.

And yet, just today, I realized that I made a(nother) big mistake this year-- that I was sorely absent from helping TWO people who I should've been present for. (What if people had given up on me in my nutso phase? I learned to see the sun again because of a whole slew of friends and family.) Both of these instances have to do with the same thing on my part-- me thinking I knew enough to write a person off, or to stop being only generous with my love. And, more specific, it had to do with me making assumptions about where people are, and then acting on those assumptions.

This I know for sure: Even when it seems like a person doesn't deserve, want or need my love, I STILL NEED TO GIVE IT TO THEM. Otherwise, I will eventually regret it. It's one thing to take care of myself, to make sure that I'm getting and staying strong, and quite something else to neglect others in the process.