Friday, November 29, 2013

around the house

Hope you had a nice Thanksgiving!

Are you a Black Friday shopper or avoider?  I typically try to avoid it, but sometimes a great deal will persuade me to venture out into the crowds.  It has to be a really, really good deal, though.  Typically, we put up the Christmas tree and decorate.  I love to get in a workout too. Feels so good to move after a day of eating and being lazy.

Today, I thought I'd collect some photos to give you a glimpse of the house.  It's slowly starting to feel like home.  Space by space, room by room.  Turning a house into a home  takes a long time.  I still don't have any curtains hung.  All of my walls are still white like they were when we moved in.  (Except the kitchen which was lemon yellow and is now painted grey.)

I am sort of enjoying the process this time around.  I'm always moving things around and changing up things, so it's an ever-evolving art for me.  Here's a few snapshots of what some of the house looked like this fall.


This little space is in the entryway.  I fond the orange mirror in the Target clearance section, and the "Welcome" sign at yard sale. :)  Those square photos are Instagram prints that I stuck on with masking tape to make changing them up quick and easy.

This was a table centerpiece for awhile until I got tired of  the obstructed view across the table.  I eventually moved the vases to a shelf in the living room.

Z and I making dinner.  Notice the lovely lemon yellow?  My favorite! (sarcasm implied.)

The living room.

Master bedroom.

Repainted kitchen!  Yay for grey!

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

my boys

 Just some snaps of my boys.  I think Mr. Z had just crashed into something and hurt himself, thus the ice pack and his lovey.






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Are you on Thanksgiving break this week?
We are in the midst of Nutcracker rehearsals all week (except Thursday) and weekend full of performances!
I received a 24-page document from our ballet studio on how to do stage make-up.  No joke!  This studio's Nutcracker performance is a little bit of a bigger deal than the last studio we were a part of (gross understatement.)
Luckily for me, I sort of enjoy the art of make-up, though I am just a little overwhelmed at the detail going into it.  I have never in my life applied shadow or highlight to one's face, but I am now armed with the supplies to do so.  Wish me luck!  Maybe I'll post some photos next week :)

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

catching fire, sort of

I apologize, I couldn't resist the pun.  I have to admit, I am a YA fiction fan.  I probably should not admit that on a public blog post, but it's true.  I'm not sure what that says about me.  Maybe that I am young at heart.  Or that I find some adult fiction too mundane.  YA fiction must capture the reader because young readers won't tolerate a boring story.  Don't get me wrong, I love some classics and adult fiction too...

But, I was at the Catching Fire opening night on Friday.  And, it was so good!  I'd definitely recommend it.
:)

Onto the pics in the blog post.
We've been enjoying our make-shift fire pit.  Our house came with a big pile of bricks in the backyard, so we figured we'd just jerry-rig a good fire pit for now.  It was a hit with the kids and with us too.  Staring into the fire is mesmerizing and so relaxing.  Roasting marshmallows helps too!








Friday, November 22, 2013

from caterpillar to chrysalis

Two summers ago our family had the privilege of watching 20+ caterpillars hatch and go through the amazing process of turning into butterflies.  I had stumbled upon a milkweed plant at Home Depot, and that was the beginning of an amazing summer.

If you haven't read those posts, there are three and you can read them here, here and here.  At the end of the series, I promised to post some more photos...

Two years later, here they are! (Better late than never, I say.)

That summer we witnessed monarchs landing on our milkweed plants and laying eggs.  Eggs hatching, caterpillars growing, and finally crawling off to let their transformation begin.  I saw at least two dozen caterpillars hanging upside down in their "J" position (which they do for a very long time!)
Then then next thing I saw was a little green chrysalis.

Despite trying to keep a watchful eye, it was nearly impossible to catch them in the midst of their transformation.  I would get tired of waiting and give up.  Or, I'd be there at the right time, get distracted for like 5 minutes and come back only to find that I'd missed it again!

Until finally, one morning, I saw it happen!

They hang upside down like this for a very long time--at least it felt like a long time when you're trying to "catch" them in the transformation process.


They sort of curl up really tight, and then go back to the "J."


Their coloring changes a little bit.  See how he looks slightly greenish?  To me they look a little unwell during this whole process, sort of puffy and bloated.  Their antenna become a little limp and lifeless looking too.


They do this a lot, and it gets a little boring to watch them curl and unfurl over and over...


But, that morning, I saw something different.  All of a sudden, it was the right time, and he straightened out.  Something I'd never seen happen before.


And then, in a split second, his skin split open at the head.  It was honestly so freaky to witness.


His old skin looked like it was just shriveling up, and this very odd, strange green blobby-thing began to emerge.



The old skin lost its color too.  It must not have any color to it--it must just be the shell that holds this amazing creature inside.


What do you call it at this point?  It's neither caterpillar nor butterfly.  It looks like a little green alien!  Whatever you call it, the not-caterpillar-nor-butterfly's skin is all shriveled up.  To get it off, the creature starts doing a crazy dance.  Seriously, I wish you could see it.  It's like this wild wiggle dance.  I felt like we should be playing music for it.  Something akin to LMFAO's "wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle" line from their hit song--you know the one I'm talking about, right?

Okay, so here's the skin.  It still strikes me how this old skin that once held a caterpillar is now useless to it.


The crazy wiggle dance keeps playing in my mind as I watch continue to "dance."  Maybe he was just so happy to be out of that old skin?  Wild and free now?  And yet, this creature looks pretty naked and vulnerable, having just lost his skin and not yet being a chrysalis.  It's probably his most vulnerable state--no skin and no shell to protect it.  Yet, it doesn't last for very long at all.  The entire process probably took less than a minute.


After the crazy dance is over, he starts to shrink up and become more and more compact.  Until he becomes the little green chrysalis I was so familiar with.


It still strikes me, two years later what a miracle it is when a butterfly fully emerges from its cocoon.  So many things can go wrong in the process.  Sometimes, there were too many caterpillars on one plant, and they ran out of food before fully growing.  Wasps abounded that summer, and over and over again, I'd find half-eaten caterpillars lying dead on the ground.  Those who made it to the cocoon stage often had problems emerging successfully.  If they didn't get out of their cocoons in time, their wings would shrivel up, and they would die before the next day.  We witnessed lots and lots of crumpled up butterflies whose wings were not able to fully open up to dry in time.  Once, I saw a butterfly emerge successfully, only to have a wasp come along and attack it.  It couldn't fly yet because it's wings were not dry, and there was no way for it to escape being in such a vulnerable state.

It still makes me sad to think of all the tragedy involved in the transformation process.
Why is it such a struggle to emerge a butterfly?
I still have more questions than answers.

But, now, when I see a monarch butterfly, I know there are countless others who did not survive.   
And, I know what a miracle it is that it did.

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Thursday, November 21, 2013

steamboat

The girls had a 4 day weekend last month, so we decided to take the opportunity to go to the mountains.  It was the first trip since our epic move across the country that I swore would be a once-in-a-lifetime drive.  We are not a road-trip family.  Not at all.  This 3.5 hour road trip was no exception.  I think it felt like we were in the car 8 hours.  It was a little dramatic.  I'll spare you the details.

I still think it was worth it.  The scenery was gorgeous.  I mean drop dead gorgeous.  Taking in the beauty of the mountains is like food for my soul.  I love living in Colorado.

As we climbed up the mountains, we passed through Fall and Winter and then ended up back in Fall.  The top of the first pass was just breath taking.  Maybe anything at 10,000 feet above sea level is breathtaking.  I wanted David to pull over, but we had just hit an icy patch in the road, and he was more concerned with keeping us alive than capturing the awe-inspiring moment.  I still regret not stopping.  It was amazing.  You'll just have to take my word for it.  It had just snowed.  The clouds were sort of hanging off the mountain...you can imagine it.  

Anyway, here's a little glimpse into our trip.

Even though I took my huge, honkin' SLR, I still used my iPhone for most of the trip.  I think I really like it for scenery shots!



We did a little hike up Fish Creek Falls.  Didn't make it all the way.  I'm okay with the fact that we can't finish any hikes right now.  I figure as long as we keep it fun and enjoyable now, our kids will have good memories of hiking and someday we'll be able to finish them.





So, you see that white mist on the left part of the photo?  I swear it could be an optical illusion.  What do you think it is?
The way I was looking at the photo, I thought it was a little black cloud with some white mist.  Yeah, yeah, go ahead and laugh at me.  That's exactly what my husband did when I told him that a strange cloud had descended upon my photo.  It was misty, and I can still see it if I look just right.
But, it's actually my glove in front of the lens.  I can't tell you how long I laughed at myself when I realized he was right.  
He has stopped arguing with me about things like this.  He just gave me an incredulous, playful look when I told him I was sure it was mist.








Here's the pass on the way back home.  We pulled over this time.  Still pretty breath taking, I think!
Above shot: iPhone 4s.  Below shoot: Canon 40D.
I think I like the iPhone shot better.  

If you're on Instagram, you might have already seen a lot of these photos.  I've been enjoying posting there the past few months.  You can follow me here.




We hit winter on our way back home and pulled over so the kids could play.