assortiment

I love the irregularity of this arrangement. And the colors--so calming. Oh to be a delicate, little egg so I could nestle up in one of the compartments for awhile.

via .m0iseau.

the ben tyler trail

We definitely need to come back and visit this trail Spring, Summer, & Fall as well. It offers gorgeous views on the small portion that we were able to hike with our 2 1/2-year-old! The trail is named after a guy who operated a lumber mill in the area during the gold rush days. Perhaps after hauling all that lumber over the ridge, he deserved it. Here is one serious hiker:

...some of the scenery...

...and two of my favs.

She's still smiling. Good. There is so much to explore out here!

winter 'greenery'

the wonderful thing about friends

Charlotte came out one morning & announced that she was ready and that we could go to Avva's house. Avva, sadly enough, lives nearly a thousand miles away. A few minutes later Charlotte had also added her pink winter boots to the ensemble. They would be needed on a cold day like today of course. Such a practical girl.

After her mother had dashed all of her hopes and dreams for the day she decided to play in her room for awhile, still asking frequently if we could go to Avva's--just in case. She was incredibly proud of the outfit she had picked for just such an occasion as visiting a well-loved, mutually admiring friend. Isn't that the wonderful thing about friends.

eat fat, lose weight

My latest endeavor is to research the concept of eating healthy fats...or fat in general and thinking of my food as fuel. To begin, I've applied my own meager knowledge to my grocery list, and have accumulated an array of fresh veggies, some fruits, & a variety of meats. No bread or pasta, as I've got plenty of that on hand, and should be eating far less of it anyhow.

I have also been trying to get over this media-induced fear of eating fat! So far, it's been quite interesting. I've noticed that eating foods with naturally occurring fat, actually keeps me satisfied longer, & provides sustained energy. As opposed to when I was eating what I thought was healthier, but would end up pulling out my hair after a week because of hating being hungry all the time! I feel and am starting to look better, energy, glowy skin, etc...and it has only been a matter of a few days. The fear is subsiding.

I have found a couple of books on the subject to check out the concept more in depth: Eat Fat Lose Fat by Dr. Mary Enig & Sally Fallon Morell and Eat Fat, Lose Weight: The Right Fats Can Make You Thin for Life by Ann Louise Gittleman. The concept is very intriguing, albeit a little scary. Balance, people, balance. Right? Well, my curiosity is definitely piqued, and my battle of the bulge could use some sign of victory! If nothing else, I'll spend all my time reading instead of eating, ha! I'm psyched.

a few things I miss

I was just thinking about missing our beautiful 1917 house in Hawley, MN. Here are a few of my favorites:

I miss our gorgeous dining room. We took off an old wallpaper border when we first moved in. And little by little we made more improvements. With the window seat and the built-in buffet on the left, this was always my favorite room in the whole house!

The front porch may have trumped it, however, after we put a whole new ceiling in--complete with crown moulding, and painted the trim, walls, & floor! Such a lot of work. (Thanks, Ben.) The blue wall color turned out amazingly well.

There are definitely other rooms I miss (perhaps even our fabulous--or not-so-fabulous--orange kitchen countertops). But definitely a favorite memory was unloading a truck-full of fire wood into the garage for our wood-burning boiler & fireplace! We had so much fun doing this. At this point we'd only owned the house for about a month, and we were giddy about it.

Sigh. Some days I would give anything to be tearing up linoleum, or scraping paint off the old garage, or painting cabinets, or taking a wall out! Now I guess I'm supposed to be praying that this old house will sell. But...I do miss it, all of it.