Crosstown trail (1/31/09)

Lindsey joined us for a fun day of cross-country skiing at Mount Hood's Government Camp. The snow wasn't ideal... pretty icy with just a dusting of fresh on top. And because of the mixed-use nature of the Govy trails, it was full of icy, clumpy potholes from snowshoers and dogs. The weather was warm, around freezing, with no real wind down in the trees. It snowed off and on... little pellet snow. The sun kept trying to break through as the high clouds whizzed by.

We started on the Skiway trail at the west end of Govy and made our way to the Crosstown trail. We stopped for a short break at the Summit Ski Area before turning back.
It was a fun trail with lots of turns and small hills to navigate. It would have been a REALLY fun trail in better snow conditions. It was Lindsey's first time out, and about halfway through she declared it her "new favorite sport!"

Can't wait to go again soon :)

Hello, gluten!

A month of gluten-free living gave me no noticeable relief from my stomach woes. So our department breakfast meeting provided the perfect opportunity to welcome gluten back into my life. Cream cheese-stuffed french toast never tasted so good!

Don't we all look related? We have a McGee, a McKee and a McFarlane... and a Johnson. What a good-looking bunch :)

-Liz

GF fish house

I read on the Web about the Corbett Fish House, which specializes in gluten-free fish and chips. We decided to give it a try... and we're not disappointed!

Brad ate the Pacific cod fish & chips with jalapeno tarter sauce. I ordered the mix-and-match three taco combo - classic, baja and southwest cod. I think I ended up with baja, southwest and catfish. I liked the southwest best.
We ended our meal with a caramel-swirl cheesecake... yum! We would definitely go back.

-Liz :)

Sacrifice

With snow falling outside, today was the perfect day to use up some old fruit and make a batch of banana bread for my students. I pulled out my tried-and-true recipe and went to work in the CE2 kitchen.
It smelled wonderful, and everything was going well until I tried to slice the cooled loaves with a brand-new serrated knife. The blade slipped off the crust and right into my fingers... ouch!
The health center nurse said I didn't need stitches and instead gave me some cream, bandages and Advil. Luckily, the bread was not contaminated, so the students enjoyed the fruits of my sacrifice.
-Liz :)

What is this?!

So what is this stuff? It's not really snow or freezing rain. It's strange. I need labels!
Since I snapped the pictures, it's turned to real, big snowflakes. What if we get snowed in at school?! Yikes :)

-Liz

Fun Sunday

Our Sunday started off with snowflakes and just kept getting more exciting!

Mile-high burgers at Brad's folks' house

Out came the party pants for movie night

Church Ball

Cats: The Movie ...VERY strange

Yay for a fun-filled Sunday!

Mud Creek Trail (1/24/09)

Sean, Karen, Brad and I hit Mount Hood today for some cross-country skiing. We started at the Trillium Lake Sno*Park and headed toward the lake. But we hung a left at the campground and went up, up, up the Mud Creek Loop. We turned right onto the Quarry Loop and made our way down the steep "most difficult" section. Then another right back onto the Mud Creek Loop. One more right and we were headed to the car on the Trillium Lake Loop.

It was a fun trip, full of some lung-burning hills and some challenging icy narrow steeps. Luckily, there was some fresh powder on top of the hard base to provide some edge control... and a lot more fun. The weather was calm, dry and relatively warm (hovering around freezing, I'd say), but low clouds blocked any special views. Brad and I really enjoyed the much-less-traveled variation on the traditional freeway-like Trillium Lake Loop. Plus, it was great to have an outdoor adventure with Sean and Karen! Busy lives have prevented a lot of hangout time lately. My favorite moment was Karen getting stuck on the fallen tree!

Unfortunately, we were working too hard and having too much fun to remember to snap any photos. Next time! :)

The King's Singers

Do you know these guys? They are amazing. I've been looking all afternoon at their YouTube stuff. I can't find a good version of my favorite, "You are the New Day" -- but here are a couple other good ones.

O Holy Night
The Gift
Down to the River to Pray

-Liz :)

Chris & Theresa

Earlier this month, friends Chris and Theresa tied the knot. I snapped a couple pictures from the pew at Newberg Friends Church.
:)

Girls' beach weekend highlights

Cape Meares

Watching for whales

Trying to time the jump shot... too late

... too early

Burning a milky puzzle

Cheese is yummy!

Ice cream is yummy!

Hanging out

Being girlie

Front yard friends

Inauguration Day

Did you watch? What an amazing day!

Foggy sunrise

Last week, this was the foggy early morning view outside my office. Not too bad :)

Mustaches

Karianne is obsessed with facial hair. She and Lisa thought they might look good with mustaches.

-Liz :)

Cookie Day: Truffle Treats

Because of my gluten-free diet, I picked out a couple non-cookie recipes to try with our CE2 students. Today we made truffles, a first for all of us involved.

Between math and English chapters and internship duties, Sue, Dillon, David, Dustin, Doug and Justine helped with various stages of the creation. We think they turned out well... yum!

Truffle Treats

Prep: 10 mins - Ready in: 1 hr 10 mins

1 pkg. (8 squares) BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Extra Creamy Whipped Topping, thawed
Unsweetened cocoa, chopped nuts, multi-colored candies, BAKER'S ANGEL FLAKE Coconut

Microwave chocolate in microwavable bowl on HIGH 2 to 3 minutes or until chocolate is almost melted, stirring halfway through heating time. Stir until chocolate is completely melted.

Mix in peanut butter until smooth. Cool to room temperature. Gently stir in whipped topping. Refrigerate 1 hour.

Roll mixture into 1-inch balls. Coat with cocoa, nuts, multi-colored candies or coconut.

-Liz :)

Birthday fun

For his 33rd birthday, Brad chose dinner at Jamba Juice and Qdoba, followed by Valkyrie at Bridgeport Village. Good movie but kind of a downer.

It was a fun evening, and we decided we should have more date nights :)

Happy Birthday!!

:)

New Year's getaway

Brad had a couple days off last week, so we took a brief but very relaxing trip to the family beach house in Oceanside. A few highlights:

Cozy fire

Old, bad TV

Stormy at the top

Sunny by the time we got down to the beach

The bats came to visit