Brown and gross

So it's Jan 12 and there is no snow in Boise. I know I had a little fit about that last time, but for reals people there is NO SNOW!!!!!
When Mr. Gill and I moved out west I told myself that I want to try to be a more adventurous girl.....try to do some camping....I did a little snowboarding (I cried the whole drive up the mountain though, knowing it was the last time I'd be able to walk without a limp) and was looking forward to doing it again this year. I thought maybe we'd even do a little snow-shoeing.....I don't want to waste the opportunity of being in such a Beautiful and extreme sports climate.
But, for the winter it seems......there will be no snow.
And it doesn't just hinder our exploration of winter sports.....it's ruining people's lives!

Kind of.

People who work at the slopes have had to figure out how to be paid cause.....no one is skiing.
More dramatically though, people here in Boise keep talking about how if there isn't a snow pack on the mountains, there will be no snow melt in the spring.....less water in the rivers....no water through the canals that bring water to the cities and farms because really......boise is a DESERT!

Snow apparently is vital to the workings of this valley.
And last but not least, no snow leaves us brown and ugly winters....:/
I heard a rumor that the reason lots of places are having such strange weather is because of the earthquake and tsunami over in Japan....truth? It seems shady at best but, at least it gives us something to blame.
I don't necessarily have a point to this ramble except that um, pray for snow.....and Can I just tell you that today when I was driving in the middle of the city there were two kamikaze deer? Seriously one ran right in front of my car and the other was waiting in the wings! Antlers bigger than my car! (ok....maybe not bigger than my car)

Some things never change.


Jenny G

in the year 2000.........and 12

Ohmigoodness!


So....we bought a house

and we moved in


and I lost my CAMERA!?!?!

I know-it's terrible.

How can I be a blogger w/out a camera?

I kind of feel like I'm going to be disappointing you all w/all my ramblings with out some sort of fun photo.
I'm sorry. You will leave this blog wishing for lovely images so you'd know what I was talking about but-oh well.

We LOVE our house. It's old, and the floors creak and its just great.

Here are some photos I took before we moved and I lost my camera....got to love the paneling :)
but also notice my coat in the mirror-it's like a dress....i LOVE it!

Some fun cubbies in the bedroom!

We took care of the paneling by painting it a lovely sunshine yellow! Its so great.

We also painted the dining room and kitchen a nice light blue/gray that looks awesome.
Yes-I've bought into the yellow and gray fad but-whateva->it looks great!











So-we've done some other fun things like-move all our stuff in and paint one room emerald green(!)
In other news-WELCOME TO 2012!
Who's ready to make it a great year?!?!

That would be me.

I'm ready to make it a great year.

Mr. Gill and I have been in Boise over a year now, and we're really excited to establish some rhythms in our life....besides eating and sleeping....we have those rhythms down!
We have high hopes for snow* in Boise, for getting to know our neighbors, to start you know-saving the world one little chicken at a time.
Did I mention I might want to start raising chickens now that we have a real yard?
OH MAN! I think it would be great!! Fresh eggs-all these little hens for me to run around the yard with? Doesn't the idea just make you want to jump up and down and yell YAY!?!?!


Ok-maybe that's just me.


So-one of my rhythms will be trying to talk Mr. Gill into letting me raise chickens so I can slowly turn into a homesteader.

I am actively planning our garden. What do you want me to grow? I'm thinking rutabagas. Corn because we miss Indiana...

Mr. Gill got us Lindy Hop lessons here in Boise for Christmas-We're hoping this turns into a regular thing for us-to be out dancing. It is part of how we met and our story in Indy and we loved it....and we think we'll get to meet awesome people here in the city not to mention a good workout and it's way fun.

What are some of the things you want to make a habit out of in 2012?
Taking out the trash regularly? That's a good one, I'd suggest that to anyone really.
Making your own yogurt? That's kinda fun-use a crockpot.


*Jenny G
















*Boise has NO SNOW/No SNOW on the mountain either and Mr. Gill went and bought a snowboard he can't use.....because there is NO SNOW*

That Happened

Two years ago today, this happened:


My Dad cried.

Mr. Gill "almost" cried.

We exchanged vows.

We took communion.

We danced.

And we partied!

!

Traditions

Tomorrow is Dec. 1st.

Which means.....Christmas is just around the corner!

I feel like is was just labor day-I mean, for real.

But as a *relatively* newlywed, Mr. Gill and I have been trying to formulate what our Holiday Traditions will be.
Growing up my (Jenny) family would always do the tree and on christmas eve we'd come home from church and have a little buffet and watch silly christmas movies. We'd also get to open one present before we went to bed to hold us over until the next morning.
For Mr. Gill and I though we haven't had much time to start traditions. Our first year of being married we had a christmas tree that was filled w/teal and silver ornaments from our wedding only weeks earlier.

Our second christmas together we didn't have a tree because we packed up our little apartment to move across the country the morning after the holiday and decided that dealing w/a tree would be just too much work.

This year, we will probably put up a tree, but as we are in the process of purchasing our first home (!) we'll wait until we're all moved in. While waiting for that fun event, we have something that we've been participating in for a couple of days now that we think we'll keep as a tradition for our family-an Advent Wreath!

The wreath has been great because we get to take time right before dinner and light a candle, read the scripture for that day and remember the waiting of people for thousands of years and then we get to eat by candlelight! It's fun for us as a couple, and we've been inviting friends to join us! It makes for great conversation and who doesn't love eating around a tiny little table by candlelight with their friends!
It also kind of forces us to eat at the table together (which we don't normally do) and we really like it. We might even keep the candlelit dinners as a norm!

What are your Christmas Traditions? Are they new or have they been passed down in your family for a long time?

Happy start o' the holidays!!

*Jenny G

This time

Two weeks from yesterday Mr. Gill and I will be married for 2 years!

Crazy.

Two years ago this past weekend I was attending a sweet party put on by the beautiful ladies in my house church....which now one has a baby, one is pregnant and one is moving to Morocco in just a couple of months!

One year ago from last weekend Mr. Gill and I decided to have a little date.

Look at that HAIR! Oh man, if he wasn't all professional-I'd beg him to grow it out again :)

How fun to look at what was going on in our lives this time last year.
What about you? What were you spending your time doing last year, or the year before?

On a saturday morning

Two Things

#1. I made strawberry rhubarb jam in May and today I ate the last of it on homemade bread. And I'm really sad because it may have been the best jam ever!




#2.

I LOVE MAKING CHRISTMAS CRAFTS!!!!

Jenny G

May or may not

We may or may not have bought a house.




What's that?



Um....




Maybe yes?!?


.....oh goodness, yes we've bought a house!