New Year's Resolutions

Some years I make no new year's resolutions. This year, I have several. I have decided to share a few with y'all (I can't share everything, I don't want you to know ALL my weaknesses).

1. Keep my new year's resolutions.

2. Take a daily vitamin and eat more vegetables.

3. Ride my bike at least 50 miles a week.

4. Drink 64 oz. of water each day.

5. Limit my spending on lattes to $30 a month.

6. Read and do all the homework in The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity

7. Read to my kids every night...no skipping.

8. Wear my night guard every night...no skipping.

9. Give 3 compliments a day.

10. Commit to, and be more disciplined with, improving my photography skills and
starting my photography business.

Now for those of you who do not have any resolutions for 2008: Copy and print off the following, and put it up where you will see it everyday. I have mine on my bathroom mirror, it's been there for a few years now, and I have long since memorized it.

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous?
Actually, who are you NOT to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small doesn't serve the world.
We are all meant to shine, as children do.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine,
we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear,
our presence automatically liberates others.

Nelson Mandela 1994 Inaugural Speech

Slides and Phone Booths

My husband really is a creative guy. Since he has accomplished so much more than just pretzel art, I thought I'd take the time to show off some of his creations around the house. A year ago he told me that he wanted to put a phone booth somewhere in the house. "Really? Wow" I think was what I said, but what I was thinking was Wow honey. You really are freakin' crazy!

Then sometime after that he came to me and said he wanted to build a slide down the stairs for the kids. You've officially lost it this time, honey! was again my thought, but told him to go for it.

I think every single time Dale has had an idea for some new novelty around the house, I always think he is insane, yet always end up loving whatever it is that he has made.

The phone booth was actually made from what was a hardly-used linen closet in our downstairs family room. I brought up the idea of making it one of those red British phone booths, and Dale was like "But it's not a British themed room." And I was like "Yeah, but it is a purple room. I think all rules go out the window once you paint a room purple." You can't tell in the picture, but the opposite three walls are painted eggplant- Love Potion is the actual color name. Anyhoo, we found the telephone for it on the internet, and it takes quarters and really does work!

As for the slide, our kids love it...and their friends REALLY love it. It is great entertainment when my friends bring their kids over. The only time it is not in our favor is when people bring their kids over to be photographed, the kids don't want to leave the slide. I always have to bribe them..."Okay! TEN more pictures (or whatever) and you can play on the slide again!"

Christmas Eve

I start this post with a heavy heart. Growing up in my family, Christmas Eve was when we celebrated Christmas. We'd wait until it would start to get dark, around 4:30, then open all of our presents. After that we would go and visit both sets of grandparents, eat dinner, and open even more presents. Then we'd go home and go to bed and wait for Santa Claus to come bring that one big, exciting thing to discover on Christmas morning. But it was always Christmas Eve when the action was!

I miss my dad this morning. It has been a little over 2 years since he died. To me, the sadness that grief brought was like carrying an elephant on my back. For a long time it was always there, always heavy, always painful.

Living with my dad's death has gotten easier. That doesn't mean I miss him less, anyone who's lost a loved one will agree on that, but living day to day with the fact that they are gone does become easier. Grief is no longer an elephant on my back, but more like a little chihuahua that rides along in my purse.

I can usually stifle emotions when something makes me think of my dad or miss him. Often I can just go somewhere else in my mind or busy myself with an activity. But it's always Christmas eve when my sadness simmers to the surface. And that's ok.

Merry Christmas, dad.

Christmas Music

We've been listening to non-stop Christmas music at my office since returning from Thanksgiving break. I am all for getting into the spirit, don't get me wrong, but I swear if I have to hear Barbara Streisand's version of Jingle Bells (jingle ja-jingle ja-jingle!) one more time, I'll pull my hair out. Everyone knows how much I hate that song, and every time it comes on, someone will be like, "Hey Jess! Your song's on!"

So I thought I'd share my favorite Christmas song. It's God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen by the Barenaked Ladies and Sarah Mclachlan. I like the folk-y touch they gave it.

Sleeping babies

Speaking of bicycling, I thought I'd share some funny pictures of the kids from one of our rides over the summer.

Not Camping

Dale and I have gotten into cycling in the last couple years. This July, he and I are planning to do the Seattle to Portland, or STP. The STP is a 200 mile ride that will take two days to complete. Some crazy Lance Armstrong types do it in one day, I will not be one of those. My goal for the event will be just to reach the finish line without needing chest compressions along the way.

So the other day we were doing some shopping at Cabela's, and we wandered over near the camping gear. Our conversation then proceeded like this:

Dale "We're going to need some really good sleeping bags for the STP."

Me "What are you talking about? We're getting a hotel."

Dale "No we're not. We'll be camping. Everyone does."

Me (with sarcasm) "Oh really? You know this because you've done it before?"

Dale "No, I just know that's how it is, and it's part of the experience."

Me "Riding the bike 200 miles is the experience. Besides, I am going to want a cozy bed."

Dale "Will you be packing your hair dryer and makeup bag too?"

I gave up at that point. I am going to book a hotel for myself, and we'll see if Dale joins me. Maybe he can curl up in his new sleeping in the parking lot of my hotel. Maybe he'll change his mind and come knocking on my door...I'll probably be too busy resting my aching body in a hot bath to let him in. We'll see.

My Creative Husband

My husband is very talented and artistic (he really is). Right now as I write this he is laying on our bed, watching a movie, and (I thought) eating a bowl of pretzels. Just eating them. I was wrong. Being the creative and ever-so-deep-thinker that he is, he just informed me that he discovered you can make any letter in the alphabet out of a pretzel, and just look at his masterpiece. I attempted our last name, but I spelled it wrong.

The Christmas Card Fiasco

I made our Christmas cards by hand this year. I do it because I like to torture myself during an already busy and stressful time of the year. Well, really what I do is make one, then take it to Kinko's and make color copies. Anyway, I was already feeling a little behind last Saturday when I spent the greater part of the day getting the card done. On Sunday Dale and I did some shopping and I ran the card in to have the copies made. SEVENTY of them. When I got back to the car I was eager to showed Dale the finished product. He looked at them, looked at me, and said slowly..."Ack-e-ly?" and I was like "What?....no........" Yes, that's right, folks, I had actually misspelled my own last name.
We sat there and laughed about it for 5 minutes strait, then decided that it gave the card character, and that anyone who actually noticed my error would also find it funny. But till my dying day I will never know how I overlooked it. I always thought I had such a critical eye for detail.
Oh wait, it gets better. We then went over to the crafts store to buy envelopes for my misspelled cards. Well, they didn't have seventy, more like twenty, so I decided that I would just order them online. Should be easy, I thought. I found the exact thing I wanted the next day, but in order to have them delivered by the time I wanted to get them into the mail, I had to pay through the roof for shipping. I don't even want to share how much it came to all together.
I had yesterday off, and the envelopes finally arrived (on the 5th day of 3-5 day shipping). The quality wasn't that great, but I didn't dwell on it. I worked like mad to get them out to the mailbox. A few hours later the mail lady knocked on the door, delivering a package. "By the way," she said, "I don't know if all those cards you're sending are going to make it with just one stamp." I decided to just send them anyway, because I have sent other cards out with that size envelope and 1 stamp and it's been fine. Besides, I'm in well over $100 already.
So to all my friends and family out there: Your card from the Ackleys (or Ackelys) will arrive in a poor quality, over priced envelope, and it will be spelled wrong. It could be late. It will have one stamp with one postmark, or it may have two stamps, two postmarks, and a little sticker telling me to add more postage. We'll see.

The Ackley Christmas Tree

Every year we like to get a different type of Christmas tree. This year we got a Frasier Fir that has a blue-ish hue to it. It's really pretty. I know lots of people who have fake Christmas trees, and they rave about how easy, clean, and convienient they are. I must admit, it is tempting to make the switch, but I just can't seem to do it. We live in the Evergreen State. Buying a fake tree would be like buying a plastic cactus in Arizona.

I was getting pretty bored of our old ornaments, too, so we bought some new ones to add to the mix. We got these really great apple-green glitter balls from Home Depot (Thanks for the tip, Melissa!). They are shatter proof, which is great when you have toddlers running around, and the green goes nicely with the blue-ish-ness of the tree. I also added some crystal, some moss from outside, and lots of great big pine cones from our friends' yard in Lake Tahoe. Oh, and some little disco ball ornaments, too.

Freakish Cristmas Lights and Wreaths

Erin Lea...This one's for you. I was afraid that if I posted it it would trigger a frenzy of copycat artists. You know I love you.

Crazy Weather

December arrived and brought some crazy-ass weather with it. On the 1st, we rode the ferry into Seattle with our friends Don and Michelle and during the hour-long ride it started snowing pretty heavily. The water was actually pretty rough, too, and I had to fight the queasiness the whole time. We went and saw The Trans Siberian Orchestra at Key Arena, and then went out to dinner at The Metropolitan Grill (or "The Met" if you are Seattle-savvy). The snow had all together stopped once we had finished dinner and drove home (it takes the same amount of time from Seattle to Shelton whether you drive or take the ferry, for any of my 12 blog readers that may be unfamiliar with the geography of Washington). We pretty much thought that was the end of any exciting weather.

When Dale and I got up yesterday to go pick up the kids at my sister's house, it was dumping snow. It snowed pretty much all day, and of course I took tons of pictures. By the time we went to bed, the snow had turned to rain, as it often does around here.

Then I woke up this morning at about 3:30 to a crazy wind and rain storm. The kind of winds that howl and make the house creak. The power went out, but came back around 5:00, so I decided to brave it and get up for work.

Dr. Bowers was out of town, so I was going to see some patients by myself. By the time I got to work (after navigating the closed and flooded streets) 5 out of my 8 patients had canceled. Plus, the assistant and front-office person that were scheduled to work with me weren't able to make it in because of multiple mudslides on Hwy 101. I thought, no biggie, I will see my 3 patients, then enjoy a short day and treat myself to a pedicure. Not so fast.......I got about 1/3 into my first cleaning when the power went out! Ugh! I didn't even have phone service at the office so I had to call the other 2 patients on my cell phone to cancel. Then I heard all of Mason County (and most of Western WA) was without power. When I headed out to go pick up the kids, everything was dark, no traffic signals, nothing, and still super windy. A truck driving in front of my had a huge branch crash down on top of it- Scary!

Anyway, it is still really windy and rainy (I heard there was a gust on the coast measured at 126 mph!) and I know our electricity is on borrowed time. We'll see what tomorrow brings!

A Tribute To Rus

I have a traveling companion whom I have been taking trips with now for about 10 years. His name is Rus, and we have gone some exciting places together. He has been faithful and loyal and loves taking trips with me. Sometimes we travel just the two of us and sometimes others join us. Rus even came along on my honeymoon.

Rus is my suitcase.



Years ago, I saw a story on the news about luggage theft. They said that if you carry an ugly suitcase, then people won't think you have anything good and therefore would be less likely to rummage through it or steal it. Made sense to me, and I kept the tidbit of information in the back of my mind.

Some time after that I was working for a dentist who would bring random things to work that he intended on getting rid of, to see if any of the staff wanted whatever it was before he discarded it. One day I walked into the break room and there it was. The most hideous suitcase I had ever laid eyes on. It was perfect.




It had black, faux leather with big brass buckles (Pilgrim style). It was tattered and torn and had stickers stuck to it. On one of the earlier trips the handle broke and Dale just fastened it back together with a zip-tie, which added yet another element of ugliness, but made it more charming to me. It is gawdy and big and unmistakable. I could always spot it a mile away at baggage claim. I loved it.





When Dale and I flew to Las Vegas to get married, I was sitting on the window seat watching the luggage being loaded onto the plane. I saw my unsightly but lovable suitcase on its way up the conveyor belt and his name came to me in an instant. I names him Rus. It stands for Ridiculously Ugly Suitcase.



I've decided to put Rus into retirement indefinitely. Maybe I am getting shallower as I age, I don't know. But more and more I am embarrassed by him. Isn't that sad? He's been so good to me, and I am ashamed of him. I even feel bad about it. Sometimes I get emotionally attached to inanimate objects. Like when I traded in my old car last year, I couldn't even look back at it as I drove away in my new car. I really was kind of sad...I wanted my old car to know how much I loved it and what a good car it had been and that the only reason we had to get rid of it was because Rowan came along and we couldn't fit two car seats in the back and that secretly I don't love my new car as much and that I really miss it and ...Sorry, I got off on a tangent. Where was I?



So Rus has a new home in the Harry Potter Room (that's what Dale and I call our little storage closet under the stairs) in between my old tennis racket and our golf clubs.



Thank you for many good years, Rus. It's been a good ride.

Art Night

Last night I got to spent some time with my great friends, Kaylee and Erin. Kaylee is my friend from Phoenix who was in town for Thanksgiving. We got together at Kaylee's Parent's house for a little tradition started last summer called Art Night. We drank wine, watercolor painted, ate lots of good food, had wine, laughed at eachother, caught up, and enjoyed wine. There is something about Art Night that I always find so theraputic!

We were joined by Amy, who is their neighbor and actually is a real artist. She is also a lot of fun and is very talented, I must say!

Our friend Erin is a registered nurse. Somehow the conversation turned to how Erin had to overcome her life-long phobia of needles in order to make it through nursing school. She overcame, and admits she now loves to stick people. She said she even gets a run at it!;) Then we all stopped painting to pull up our sleeves for Erin to judge who had the best IV site. I know...What a roudy bunch of girls we are!! Oh, and in case you were on the edge of your seat over who had the best vein, it was yours truly.













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Pickles & Olives

Every year we go to both my mom's house and my in-law's for Thanksgiving, and every year I ask, "What can I bring"? And every year I get the same reply: "That's okay, honey. You don't have to bring anything". Sometimes it's a relief to hear this. But now I am starting to take it personally. Granted, I am no Rachel Ray, Emeril Lagasse, or Julia Child, but I can cook a little bit. It's like they don't want to burden me with anything that may pose the slightest culinary challenge.

So this year when I asked my mother-in-law what I should bring and she said nothing, I thought okay, fine. When I asked my own mom the same question, she kind of hemed and hawed, thought about it for a while, then told me I could bring pickles and olives. Something easy and that I can't screw up!

Maybe I am being a little bit of a Point Prover here, but I decided to go a bit over-the-top. Black olives, check. Gourmet olives, got 'em. Marinated mushrooms, those weren't even on the list and I got those too. I want to show that I am highly capable, thankyouverymuch.

Lily at Arcadia Point

Yesterday I did a quick shoot of Lily, who is the 17-month-old daughter of our friends, Steve and Becky. It was a beautiful day, and we decided to take the photos at Steve's parents' house on Arcadia Point. Lily was super cooperative- Almost too cooperative! When we were down on the beach, we could hardly get her to move. Although there were blue skies, it was pretty chilly and she just stood there frozen!

Lily is a beautiful little girl with really dark eyes and super long eyelashes. She remindes me a lot of Bella when she was that age.

My Fertile Office

There is something in the water in the dental office where I work. There are 10 women (counting myself and the boss- ok he's a guy, but he has babies, too) and someone is always pregnant. I have been a hygienist there for 5 years, and in that time there have been 11 babies born, and there are 2 on the way. With my pregnancies, I was one of four both times. The second time I shared a due date with one of the assistants. Two sets of babies share birthdays (February 9th and June 14th), and most recently one of the hygienists returned from maternity leave the same day one of the assistants gave birth. The patients think it's funny, and often our conversations go something like this:

Patient: So who's pregnant around here?

Me: Well, there's so-and-so, and so-and-so, and so-and-so...

Or it goes like this:

Patient: Did the pregnant girl have her baby?

Me: Which one?

Patient: The blond one.

Me: Which one?

These are some photos of one of the latest pregnancies. She was so fun to photograph...So cooperative!

Kaylee is coming home!

A few years ago I remember feeling really fortunate that I never had to endure the sadness of having someone close to me move away. I thought I was out of the woods, so to speak. I had my comfortable little world with my family close by and lots of great friends within walking distance of my house.

My best friend Kaylee lived just up the street. She is someone I have known all my life. Our parents were friends, so I have literally known her since birth. We weren't always close, though. In school we just ran with different social groups and our paths didn't cross much. We would always say "hi" when we did see each other, but it never went much beyond that.

Our friendship didn't develop, oddly, until our late 20s. We coincidentally had bought houses in the same neighborhood. She came over to my house the first time with our mutual friend Erin, to meet Bella the day we brought her home from the hospital. Later, when I had to return to work after maternity leave, Kaylee agreed to babysit Bella.

Kaylee and I were meant to be friends. I hope everyone is lucky enough to have a Kaylee in their lives. She is kind and loyal and sensitive and caring. Our friendship grew with each milestone...births of new babies, personal struggles, and losses. She helped me through the loss of my dad two years ago and even though at that point she had not been through it herself, seemed to know just the right thing to say and when to say nothing at all. When she lost her little brother last spring I did my best to be the friend she had been to me.

When Kaylee told me that her husband was taking a new job in Phoenix and that they would be moving soon, it was like somebody put a little lead weight inside my heart. On the day I had to tell her goodbye, I walked into her house where her whole family was coming in and out with boxes, loading up the U-haul that was parked in the driveway. At first I was first just making chitchat with her, then without warning burst into tears. Not the dab-at-the-corners-of-your-eyes cry, but the full-on, sobs and gasps kind of cry. It even makes me teary-eyed just writing about it. All I could say was "I have never had a friend move away before!"

Kaylee has lived in Phoenix for 6 months now. I miss her a lot. It's even hard for me to drive past her old house. But.........She is coming home for two weeks for Thanksgiving! Yay! I miss our laughing over lattes. Our kids playing and screaming and laughing. Long talks (and tears) over red wine. Art night and watercolor painting. Walking and talking and gossiping. I can't wait to see you, Kaylee.

One more thing....I can't believe I don't have even one photo that's just the two of us. I know what we'll be doing next time I see you!!

Rowan

Just a couple pictures of my sweet little mama's boy.

Pumpkin Patch

Today we got up and headed off to the pumpkin patch. Since it was forcasted to be a sunny day, I wanted to get there as early as we could to take advantage of the morning light. It was worth getting our butts out of bed. Nobody was out there, and there was even a little lingering fog. It was great. However, it was super cold, and pretty muddy. Some of the pumpkins still had frost on them! Early on I stopped trying to keep the kids out of the mud and just let them enjoy themselves. We even drug along the kids' babysitter, Krista, and her two girls Kylie and Quince.