Water Will Rise...

After doing an awesome training this weekend for Disaster Relief and having lived on the Atlantic Coast for a short time and having many friends over there I cannot help but be thinking and praying for those who are being affected by and prepping for Hurricane/Storm Sandy...

[Atlantic City, NJ. Photo From Here]

[Ocean City, MD. Photo from Here]


Cheers and Lord protect this area.

Music Mondays: Gypsy Soul

Here's a new one for ya on this cold Monday morning...



I really want to have a dance party like this and have someone film it. Wouldn't that be fun??? Who's in?

Cheers.

Music Mondays: Simple Truth

A simple fact about me: 

and a song to go with it...

Been listening to this most of the past week. Their whole album is pretty awesome. Enjoy!

Cheers.

"Goodmorning! FEED MEEEE!!!!"

This is our life now... well we haven't gotten to the bat yet but pretty close...



This is basically how we woke up to "Sweet" little Lilu yesterday morning at.... 4am [insert crazy "MEOWING"]. She's not so cute at that time of morning.

Unfortunately N reinforced her behavior by giving in and getting up to feed her at 5 and I paid attention to her. Now we have to retrain her. Oops. Hopefully it won't take too long.... she was banished to the bathroom last night for the cause. Sorry Lilu.

Cheers [to hopefully retraining out cat].

"Nothing Gold Can Stay"

This was a week of gold...

Golden Field Trips.

This photo is a snap by one of my kiddos. Last week I went on my first field trip as a teacher instead of as a student. The neat thing about our school is that the whole grade goes on the field trip together. So that meant we took about one hundred 2nd graders on a hike on Humphrey's. It was an adventure to say the least. They did great and LOVED it! I haven't seen kids be that purely kids for a while. It sure beat sitting in a classroom all day!!!

Golden Caramel Sauce.

This stuff is sooooo good. You can dip apples in it or drizzle it over ice cream, but really all you need is a SPOON! Its that good. I promise. We finished a 12oz jar in 3 days. [recipe coming soon]

A Golden Hike [with a dusting of snow].

With Golden Hearted people.

[These are my sweet grandparents who visited last weekend from Alaska. They taught me the art of adventuring.]

Nature's first green is gold,

Her hardest hue to hold.

Her early leaf's a flower;

But only so an hour.

Then leaf subsides to leaf,

So Eden sank to grief,

So dawn goes down to day

Nothing gold can stay. 

-Robert Frost

Golden aspen leaves fall to the ground, the golden light disappears as the moon rises, sweet golden jars of caramel become empty with a spoon... autumn is a beautiful golden season but "nothing gold can stay". So enjoy the golden days while they are still here... at least until next year...

Cheers.

p.s. Photos from the snow dusted hike were mostly taken by my dear sister Kendal. Check out hers and her roommates' fashion blog. 

Music Mondays: [American Girl]

Sorry I have been MIAthis past week. I even missed Music Mondays! Here's a classic to make up for it:

I'll be back later with some new posts later. I've got some good ones for you. Including this caramel and  some beautiful fall foliage.

Cheers.

Kitten: Hello Lilu

Meet Lilu [pronounced "Lee-Loo"]. The newest addition to this part of the Haystack clan....

If you're on Facebook, you may have already seen these pictures...she is just too cute for me not to share these as soon as I took them! I just couldn't wait and I wasn't organized enough to get this post written at the same time I posted to Facebook. So all of you in blog land, I'm sorry for making you wait.

She is the littlest "2yr old" kitten I have every seen. I think she is younger, but 2 is what the vet thinks. She is quite playful, curious, and a snuggle bug. We'll see how quick of a learner she is tonight, we'll see if she remembers that the bed is off limits and that if she gets on it she gets taken off VERY quickly [she had this happen 4-5 time last night].

Cheers.

p.s. To all of you who voted, though "Slippers" won by a long shot, she is more of a Lilu. We tried Slippers for a couple hours but Lilu is what stuck. Thanks for your input though!

Happy Birthday Sissy

Dear[Birthday Sister],

You are 19 now, not so much my "baby" sister, but you will always be my favorite littlest sister [in many ways]. I remember when mom went to the hospital to have you. It was a beautiful cool fall day in Alaska, and she was planting tulip bulbs with Ben, Kin, and I. You've always had the most beautiful round cheeks and such a cute smile. 

You've grown up since so much since you were this little rosy cheeked girl and I am so proud of you and all your talents. I love how you love to learn and pick up new skills [like guitar and harmonica playing and now rock climbing].

I love that my college friends have adopted you so now you have more big sisters than you know what to do with and you are always willing to join us in our adventures.

You will always be the cutest 18 yr old flower girl there ever was and I will never forget the tears that came to my eyes as you played at mine and N's wedding. I love that you are called "Donkey" and that you have always been the first to crack a clever joke. 

I love your style and how you rock your independent fashion sense with so much confidence. I love talking coffee, wine, and food with you and sharing recipes and good music. I am so excited to see where life is taking you and can't wait for the many more meals [bottles of wine] and adventures we'll share along the way. 

So happy 19th birthday sissy! Have a fabulous 19th year of life [it's your last "teen" year] and keep rockin'. Love. Sisters. Alaska.

Cheers.

Music Mondays: [Birthday Tribute]

This Music Monday is for my littlest sister Kendal because today is her 19th Birthday....



ANNNDDDD.....because she loves music so much you get two today! Plus the new Mumford is awesome.



So Happy Birthday Kendal and ENJOY! [There will be a special post about Kendal later today, the kitten will make her debute tomorrow].

Cheers.