Turkey in the Straw, Haw Haw Haw.

That's the song I've been singing for the last day or so. All of this snow has put me in a holiday mood and I've had lots of Christmas songs running through my mind. Yesterday I kept accidentally singing the Christmas songs but Steven said I had to stop because Thanksgiving hadn't even happened yet. I tried to tell him that I didn't know any pre-Thanksgiving songs but then I remembered Turkey in the Straw. I even looked it up on Wikipedia this morning to find out what the actual lyrics are. Evidently there are quite a few variations and the one I know is a combination of a few of them.

Well, so much for bringing you the latest on the storm. I haven't written anything in over 48 hours!! Steven made it home safely from work just before midnight on Monday evening. He didn't even leave work until 10:20pm so he made pretty good time getting home considering. My car still hasn't moved since I tried to venture out Monday afternoon. When Steven got home we made paninis since neither of us had had dinner yet, and shared cookies and one of the cinnamon rolls I had made. It was a pretty late night and we were up early the next morning. I had to try to figure out whether or not it would be safe for me to drive to the recording studio. It was a tough decision to make and I really wanted to go but just decided there was too much risk involved. As it turns out, everyone's recording sessions were canceled for the day! Glad I didn't attempt the trip. We woke up to clear sunny skies and very very cold temperatures.

That little thermometer actually read 13 degrees at some point over the last couple of days. Brrrr!!! Tuesday was lovely. Steven had to leave a couple of times for calls with the fire department and even got to go to his first little fire. The fire was mostly out when they got there but Steven got to hack away at the wall with an ax to check inside and make sure nothing was burning in there. While he was out, I took a walk in the sunshine. We both got home around noon and had fresh baked cinnamon rolls for a very late breakfast.

We took a walk in the evening and while it was very pleasant and beautiful we were both unbelievably cold by the time we got home. My toes were so cold they were all sting-y and hurt-y.

Back in our cozy little home we made pizza for dinner and then went to bed to watch Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. Unfortunately, I was asleep by 9:30pm, only 45 minutes into the movie, and didn't wake up until 8am! I never get that much sleep but I think we both needed it. This past week has been crazy busy and with the stress of the snow on Monday, we were both exhausted. Yesterday was spent eating more cinnamon rolls, cookies and pizza, watching Seinfeld and playing Pandemic. We also peeled and ate a pomegranate. Steven had never seen one before and I told him that I wasn't really expecting him to like it (he does not like to be inconvenienced by his food and these require lots of time to peel and the seeds are a nuisance) but he actually rather enjoyed the experience. It sounds really silly typing about it like this but it was just a fun little moment (okay, hour) in our day.

Steven had to stay at the station last night and I was bummed to be home alone but we have the whole weekend together to look forward to so it's okay.

We woke up to snowflakes this morning. Why can't it snow when Steven is home with me? That would be way more fun. It didn't last long though and has been raining for a little while now. Steven is at work and I've been here at home waiting for the ground to warm up and thaw a bit so that I can drive up north and spend the day with my family. I can see the pavement now, so I guess I should probably be getting ready to go. Of course I'm missing Steven on this special holiday but I'm glad to know that he won't have to work on Christmas and this just means we get to save our "first Thanksgiving" for next year :)

It's been so cold that we almost had to postpone Thanksgiving until tomorrow -- one of Papa and Grammi's pipes broke this morning. But I just got a text from my mom saying that the water is back on and so is the feast. Woohoo! I don't really like to disrupt traditions and I wasn't here for Thanksgiving last year so I've really been looking forward to it. It's fun reminiscing about last year in England, making my very first Thanksgiving dinner all by myself for all of my friends in Virginia Water and have a Christmassy sleepover with Victoria but I am so very glad to be local for this one. And how fun to have a white Thanksgiving! I don't think I've ever experienced that before.

So here's wishing all of you a very Happy Thanksgiving!!! Safe travels and stay warm!

lots of love,

Steph

Longest Day Ever.

Well, I guess that maybe isn't really true but it surely feels like it. The snow hasn't stopped and I can't believe how much there is! It's like two years ago when we got that crazy snow over Christmas break. It just kept coming and then the weather turned unbelievably cold so nothing could melt and go away. They're saying things will warm up and it should start raining on Thanksgiving but that's only two days away at this point... who knows.

I walked out a couple of hours ago to help push a big pick-up truck that had swerved up onto my lawn, and all of my footprints from that are now completely filled in. They must have been 6 or 7 inches deep! It's already down to 20 degrees and getting colder. Steven only just left work about thirty minutes ago. That's an hour and a half after when he was supposed to get done. I'm praying he gets home before midnight. I've been trying to keep myself busy to help pass the time. And it's definitely helped but I was originally counting on Steven being home by now and I'm too tired to continue. I've made cinnamon rolls and chocolate chip cookies and even mixed up some pizza dough so we can make a pizza for dinner tomorrow night. I've decided to stop before I run out of flour. I guess now I need to make myself get back in the kitchen and clean it up again since I've just messed it all up. Steven has requested that we make paninis when he gets home... it's going to be a long night, but I can't wait to have him home!! It's been such a very long and worrisome day. I know I shouldn't allow myself to get so anxious when there's really nothing we can do about the weather or the traffic but I would just really rather he were here in the house with me keeping warm and staying safe and off the roads. This is definitely one of those times where no one should be out driving unless they absolutely have to.

Relentless.

Steven and I did end up taking a walk when he got home last night. It was so much fun!! We have hardly seen each other this past week so we walked for at least an hour and just talked and talked until we were too cold to stay out any longer. I think it was about 11:30 when we decided to go back inside. We wanted to take mugs of hot chocolate with Bailey's irish cream on our walk but, sadly, were out of hot cocoa mixes and didn't want to take the time to make it from scratch.

It was beautiful outside and very quiet. The snowflakes were so tiny and sparkly that it just looked like there was glitter in the air. It felt kind of magical. Snow tends to have a glittery quality when it's all around you but I don't feel like the actual snowflakes in the air have ever looked glittery to me. I loved it.

We shared a mug of tea when we got home. I also made Steven and I a couple of rice socks. We microwaved them and used them to heat the bed. The smell or microwaved rice reminded me of England when I used to carry my rice sock everywhere and heat it multiple times a day.

This morning I caught a glimpse of my neighbor using a leaf-blower to blast the snow off of his truck. I thought it was pretty funny and figured I should share it with you.

I cannot believe how this snow just keeps coming down!!! There was a little snow on the streets this morning but Steven didn't have any problems getting to work. By 9am the streets were completely covered -- half an inch of ice with at least two inches of snow on top.

I bundled up to go for a walk around 10am. I'll admit that I got a little too bundled. Long underwear, socks, ski socks, jeans, rain boots, snow pants, tank top, long sleeved shirt, sweater, track jacket, sweatshirt, scarf, hat, both hoods up over the hat, down jacket and gloves. I was sweating by the time I got home an hour later but it was really nice to walk around in the snow and not feel the cold creeping in even a little tiny bit.

After wandering through the neighborhood for a little while I made my way over to QFC and bought a bag of satsumas, some raspberry jam and some hot chocolate mix. Our walk this evening will be a little cozier :)

(above photo -- 10am this morning) I wish I had taken a picture in the early afternoon just to show the drastic difference. It was still snowing but had warmed up to 34 degrees and the snow had completely melted from the streets and sidewalks. The roads weren't dangerous or slippery at all. I started to feel anxious about going to the recording studio tomorrow morning so I called and said that I was going to do my recording session this evening instead since someone else had cancelled. I left home at 4 o'clock. It was 34 degrees outside, all the streets were bare and I felt safe. About 12 miles into the drive, somewhere near the Muckleshoot library, I drove into a wall of snow. I thought it was fog but realized instantly that it was snow and all of the sudden there was about an inch of it on the roads. My tires slipped once and that was it. I turned around to go back home. I never found the clear roads again. That wall of snow beat my back to Enumclaw and when I got home again at 4:50 the temperature had dropped to 28 degrees, it was foggy, snowing like mad, and the streets were all white again.

And here's a picture of my car less than an hour after I got back, already covered in snow again. The streets and sidewalks are white and all of the snow where the neighbor kids had been playing today is all filled in with fresh snow and smooth again. I'd be interested to know what our total accumulation is at this point. I would have to guess that we're nearing 8 inches. Seriously.

I love the snow. I think it's beautiful and fun but there's just never a good time for it. To be completely honest, the reason I'm blogging right now is to try to distract myself. I'm so anxious about Steven driving home from work tonight. He doesn't get off work until 9pm!!! That's hours away. God only knows how much more snow we could have by then. I want him to be safe but I also want him to be home as soon as possible. I told him that if his car gets stuck he can start walking towards me and I'll start walking towards him with a thermos of hot chocolate and we'll just meet in the middle. Thankfully he has the next two days off.

I'm worried that I won't be able to go to my recording session tomorrow morning. It's supposed to be at 9am and things are not looking promising. I'm so bummed! I really don't want to miss it and I'm feeling anxious about it but not nearly as anxious as I feel about driving in this terrible weather. I'll still have my opportunity to do it, I just might have to wait a couple of months.

Really, it's most important that everyone is safe. I keep checking the weather and the traffic on King5.com rather obsessively and there are so many car accidents on there. A bus turned over on it's side in Tacoma today sending 10 people to the hospitals. Steven drove by a rolled over car. A call just came in on Steven's FD pager about a chimney fire and I almost cried I felt so bad for them. Can you imagine? You're just enjoying a nice cozy fire trying to stay warm in this absurd winter weather and all of the sudden the fire is out of control. I could picture them standing outside in the freezing cold with snow falling all around them watching water being blasted at their house. This is neither a warm nor cozy image. I hope they're okay. I should have listened to the address. I could go invite them over for dinner or something.

I think it's time for me to turn my computer off and stop checking the weather reports. I can see what it is just by looking outside. Maybe I'll make cookies or something, that would be a good project and having the oven on would warm the house up. I'm still trying to use the heater as little as possible when it's just me in the house. It really isn't too cold in here right now.

I put my refrigerator thermometer outside and when I looked at it just now it said 24 degrees. Oh. My. Goodness.

Snow First, Then Turkey.

It seems a little backwards, doesn't it? I honestly cannot remember the last time we had snow before Thanksgiving. It's crazy! We had a fairly mild/warmish September and October with really no frost at all and then all of the sudden the temperatures have plummeted and here it comes. We've got at least three inches right now and it's still snowing. I'm playing a rather odd game of "let's see how long I can wait before I have to turn the heat on." I think I'm winning, with the help of my long underwear, sweat pants, fuzzy socks, slippers, t-shirt, sweatshirt, hat, scarf and blanket. But, I can feel the cold starting to creep in through the layers so I don't know how much longer I'll last, better make some more tea.

I'm waiting for Steven to make a safe return home from work, probably in about three hours from now, and hoping that maybe he will want to bundle up and go for a walk with me. I love walking in the snow. It's always so quiet and peaceful and even somewhat whimsical. The snow is beautiful, as long as you don't have to drive in it. I'm secretly hoping that there will be so much when we wake up that Steven won't be able to go to work tomorrow and he'll have to stay home with me, but I don't really think we'll get that much more. I do know, however, that I will be swinging by an auto-supply store later this week to buy some chains for my car. If today's weather is at all indicative of the winter we're going to have, I'm definitely going to need to be prepared.

Steven and I had a really lovely weekend. It's been a busy one for sure and we've hardly seen each other, which is always rather sad, but we hosted Friends Thanksgiving at our house last night and that was wonderful. It's so fun to have friends over and eat good food and play games. I hope we have more opportunities to do it. I'm happy to feed people if they're willing to make the drive :) Actually, I didn't have to do much cooking this time around. I made the salmon and let everyone else bring the rest -- this is FAR less stressful than trying to do the whole thing by myself and I think it's fun for everyone to share food and recipes and be able to contribute something.

Steven had to take the day off yesterday to take a test for one of his firefighter applications and then spent the rest of the day filling out even more applications. I think he has four in the works right now, spanning the whole of Western Washington. I'm feeling rather optimistic about the whole thing. I believe he will get a FF job sooner rather than later. Let's keep praying about this one.

I myself had a rather unique opportunity this weekend. I got to take a master level voice acting class. I've decided I'm going to try my hand (or voice rather) at a career in voice acting. I spent 15 hours in class this weekend along with 13 other aspiring voice actors and a marvelous instructor who has already established himself in the industry. We learned all about technique and how to market ourselves effectively. We practiced analyzing and reading different types of scripts with one another. We discussed how to deliver a commercial verses a narration type piece. We also learned all about how to set up a home studio, making us eligible to work in any market where the clients will accept recorded submissions via e-mail. Over the next three days we will each have the opportunity to spend 2 hours in the recording studio with the instructor recording the scripts that he has selected for each of us. I get to do mine on Tuesday morning. He will coach me through all of the lines and help to make sure that I am delivering them in the best way possible. Then these "demos" (one commercial and one narrative) will be edited and uploaded to my website (yes, I have my own website) and I can start looking for work! I'm really glad that the timing of this class coincides with the business classes I'm taking because as a voice actor I am essentially starting my own small business. The extra lessons in marketing and finances will be a huge help in the next few months as I'm figuring the whole thing out. The other good news is that I now have some excellent resources. The people from Voices for All will always be available to help me out and answer questions as well as the people in the Small Business Assistance Center at Green River Community College.

I'm really excited about the whole thing. It was so refreshing to be in a class where I was actively engaged during every moment. I couldn't get enough of it! I wanted to write every single thing down (and I'm pretty sure I did) and ask questions and share my thoughts... it really was such a rush to be learning something new and to be so enthusiastic about it! I really have Steven to thank. I found out about the class about two and a half weeks ago and I wasn't going to do it. It was a bit of an investment financially and I was feeling a little skeptical about it and was worried about the timing and I didn't want to have to cancel Friends Thanksgiving and I didn't know if I could really do it anyway and on and on and on. I thought of every excuse I could. To be quite truthful, I think I desperately wanted to do it and was just trying to be "reasonable" and talk myself out of it. But Steven shot down every single one of those excuses when I told him about the class and insisted that I call and sign up immediately. I got the last open spot in the class. It was an amazing weekend and I only wish that the class was going to continue on for many more sessions. It was such a safe and comfortable environment and everyone had a blast. We laughed a lot and encouraged and learned from one another. It was so important for us all to learn that we each have something different to offer. There were 15 incredibly different voices in that room and not one was any better or worse than the other. We took time this morning to share our stories and insecurities and visions and I just felt so closely bonded to all of them. Now I feel like I really can do this. It doesn't feel too big or scary or "beyond me" anymore. I will definitely have to put in some hard work and make an effort to get jobs and get my name and demos out there but I'm ready! So who knows, maybe you'll be hearing me on some random web-based training video or on a GPS or on the ads they play when you're "on hold" or pretty much whatever! I'll keep you posted.

For now, it's time to pour another cup of tea and watch the snow fall.

Oh yeah...

And in case you didn't know. The Harry Potter movie came out today. I've never been this excited for a Harry Potter movie. I'm hoping Steven and I will see it next week.

The Scintas.

Steven and I ventured out to the Muckleshoot casino last night. It was our first time in a casino and what a crazy place it is!! I can't believe that people sit there all night feeding their money into machines not knowing whether or not they'll get any of it back. It's crazy how many machines and tables are in there. We, however, did not go to gamble, we went to see the Scintas (Shin-tuh-z). We had seen them on the cruise ship while we were on our honeymoon and they put on a wonderful show. So when we were driving by the casino a couple of weeks ago on our way home and we saw their name up on the board, we knew it was something we didn't want to miss. And the good news is, the show was free. Yes! We like that! One of our funnest dates ever and it didn't cost us anything.

We just showed up at the casino, got our Preferred Players Cards (haha! They actually think we're going to spend money!!!!) and we were in! The security people at the door who checked our IDs greeted us with an enthusiastic "Good luck!" which I thought was rather amusing. The only downside of the evening was that we came home reeking of cigarette smoke. Gross! I wish I had worn jeans and a sweatshirt so that I could just throw everything directly in the wash but no, I wore a dress and a nice jacket, both of which are dry clean. I'm going to let them air out for a while and hope they return to their normal smells.

The show was great. They did some of our favorite stuff from when we saw them on the ship and there was also some more... adult content that they had left out before. They did impressions of Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Michael Jackson, Niel Diamond, Sammy Davis Jr., Ray Charles, Billy Joel, Whitney Houston, Elvis Presley, and some other people who we weren't so familiar with. We laughed a ton and sang along and had a marvelous time. I hope they come back to the area again sometime soon.

Feeling Christmassy.

And here we are back at the Seattle Center yet again. I feel like I've had a lot of pictures of the Seattle Center on my blog and facebook recently. It's just the place to be I guess. In fact, Steven and I are headed back there next Saturday for some swing dancing at the Center House. I can't wait! We haven't gone dancing in so long because it's so late at night at Century Ballroom and our drive home is just too long.

We went to the Trans Siberian Orchestra concert last Saturday. We've been waiting for this for SO long!!! It was an incredible concert. We were seriously impressed.

They started the concert with a song where these three musicians were lowered from the ceiling on those platforms and they played the whole song swinging up there like that. They had crazy lights and lasers and even some pyrotechnics thrown in here and there. It was a holiday concert so they played lots of Christmas songs and there was a guy narrating a Christmas story in between the different songs. They had a full strings section, two people on keyboards, loads of people on guitars, a few on vocals, and one on a fiddle. Everything was loud and bright and exciting. It was quite the rock concert, which is rather new to us, and all of the sudden we found ourselves wishing we had been able to see Queen in concert at some point in our lives. How awesome would that be?? (very)

A little boy was sitting in the row behind us and he kept tapping us on the shoulders and getting really close to Steven's face and just being silly. It was really funny for a little while but after a bit... we were pretty much over it. I was kind of glad that they didn't stay the whole time.

TSO played some really awesome songs like Sarajevo 12/24, which is one of my personal favs, and a bunch more that I wish I knew the names of so I could download them. We recognized quite a few of them as traditional Christmas songs but they seemed to have a lot of different stuff as well.

After about an hour and a half, we thought the concert was over. The narrator had just reached the end of his story and wished us all a Merry Christmas and they had brought up the lights and introduced some of the performers. Then the guy said "Now's the part of the show where you can really go crazy!" and they started the non-Christmas part of the concert and lowered those long floating sidewalk type things. About an hour after that, one of the guys got on the mic and said "before we get to far into this..." we were thinking oh my gosh! how long is this concert going to last? It just kept going! There were only a couple of songs after that but the whole concert was 3 hours long!! We loved it. You definitely get your money's worth with these guys. I'm thinking maybe we should make it an annual date.

I guess I've been feeling Christmassy for a little while now but that concert last night really got me in the holiday spirit. I can't believe that Thanksgiving is next week! I love Thanksgiving and I'm definitely going to enjoy it as it's own holiday separate from Christmas but I'll admit that I'm excited for the day after when I can get out the few decorations that I have and start playing Christmas music and drink eggnog lattes and peppermint mochas and eat candy canes and buy a box of satsumas and go Christmas shopping and all sorts of lovely fun Christmassy things. We might even get some snow this weekend! I don't know if you can tell in that picture above but the snow level has been slowly creeping down the hills towards Enumclaw all week long. It get's colder by the day and the snow just keeps getting closer and closer. Early next week they're predicting just above freezing temperatures during the days and temperatures in the 20's at night. Yikes! Where's my electric blanket???

Accio Wand!

So did you know that I've turned myself into a bit of a Harry Potter nerd? It's true. In fact, there's a good chance I can often be herd saying "accio keys!" as I'm getting ready to leave the house. Steven and I started listening to the audio books about a year and a half ago and we just finished the series together in September. I very much enjoy watching the films (with the exception of number 6, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince) and am pretty stoked for HP 7 part 1, which comes out next week!!

For my birthday present, exactly 3 months late, Steven took me to the Harry Potter exhibit that's at the Science Center right now. Unfortunately, they didn't allow us to take any pictures inside but they had so much cool stuff in there!!

They brought in all sorts of costumes and props and set pieces from filming and then random little informational things to read. We listened to a little audio tour as well. They did a really great job transforming the building and making you feel like you were really in the wizarding world. It was dark in there and they had screens in the portraits so the portraits were moving just like in the books. They had everyones wands and all of the Quiddich gear and Hagrid's hut and Buckbeak and Doby and Kreacher were there and I'm probably going to stop now because I'm starting to feel a little silly talking about all of this. Basically it was really fun. They also had a really legit gift shop at the end. I want a wand. And a Griffindor hat. And maybe the tie as well. OH! And the time-turner necklace. That was pretty cool too.

Once we had finished with the exhibit and the gift shop we went over to the Mindbender Mansion exhibit and tried all of the different puzzles and mind games. We stayed until they closed and we still didn't get to do all of them. We'll have to go back again soon. Sushiland for dinner, of course, and then the drive home. It was a fabulous birthday present. Well worth the wait.

Bring a Torch Jeanette, Isabella!

Do you know that is actually the title of a Christmas song? Bring a Torch Jeanette, Isabella. Tara and I were at Target yesterday to buy the Toy Story 3 DVD and we were looking at a Christmas CD in the $1 spot and this was one of the first songs on the list. We laughed pretty hard. I mean, that's a rather ridiculous title for a Christmas song. But later I looked it up online and it's for real! And legit people have recorded it too like Downhere and Sufjan Stevens. I haven't listened to it yet but just wanted to share that with you.

We spent Halloween playing the Zombie game. Steven and I took Tara to Sushiland and then spent a couple of hours playing at Starbucks. It seemed like an appropriate Halloween game and Tara seemed to really like it. We also took the game with us to the Piehlers where we ate nachos, drank tea and watched the Sounders lose. We got to see some cute little trick-or-treaters though. The boys were all trying to play tricks on them, like holding out an empty bowl and asking the kids for candy when they came to the door. I thought it was a little funny but also not very nice but when you think about it, the kids are asking for it. When you say "trick-or-treat" you really should be prepared to receive either of the two.

Oh yeah! And we got our wedding gift from the Piehlers. Mrs. Piehler made us a big beautiful quilt with a bunch of our old T-shirts and sweatshirts. I had helped her with the quilt earlier in the summer before the wedding and it was so exciting to see the finished product! I'll have to post a picture of it soon. We really love it. She made us some super cute place mats too. I think I want to start quilting. First I need a sewing machine...

Have I mentioned that I'm a bit addicted to grocery shopping? Really, I think I might have a problem. I get SO excited about looking through the adds each week. I make a little list of what I want to buy at each of the stores (Safeway, QFC, Rite Aid, Walgreens and the Grocery Outlet) and mark which things I have coupons for. I love clipping coupons. Then I'll just go out and go to each one of the places (they're all with in a mile of each other -- ah, the simple pleasures of small town life) and buy all of my groceries and come home feeling so productive. I have gotten some GREAT deals! When How to Train Your Dragon came out, Safeway had this deal where if you bought the DVD, two boxes of Kraft macaroni and cheese, a box of Orville pop-corn and a 4-pack of Izzy drinks, the whole lot of it only cost $17!! Well we already knew we were definitely going to buy the DVD so it worked out perfectly because we basically got all of that other stuff with it for free. And then all of the sudden all of the big stores had Progresso soups on sale for $1 each and I think I purchased about 30 cans... it's just a little crazy.

I think this (above) particular shopping trip might have been my most fulfilling. QFC had all of these cereals 4 for $10 BUT if you bought 4 then they were magically only a dollar each! So we bought 8. Before all the discounts were calculated in our total was $40 but we only paid $8 because they were only a dollar each! How cool. Am I the only one who gets excited about this stuff? Wait. It gets better. When I got home I realized that the two boxes of Lucky Charms we bought were "specially marked boxes" and if you have two of them that equals a free movie ticket! I wish I'd known. I would have bought two more boxes so we could have TWO free movie tickets. I'm still searching for more boxes marked like that but I haven't seen any. Two boxes of Lucky Charms (normally priced $6.50 each) and a movie ticket all for just $2. What a steal. I know. I'm a total nerd. Anyhow, the closet under our stairs is so full of cereal and soup that I can't seem to find anything else in there.

(Papa and Grammi's lace-leaf maple in it's pretty fall colors)

The weather has continued to be gorgeous and the leaves are still clinging to the branches for dear life. My camera didn't pick it up very well but the leaves in the photo below were actually really orange and looked stunning against the blue sky. I love blue and orange together.