Early 2010

The first few months of 2010 have been very busy and we've taken advantage of the recent warmer weather by going to the parks and the zoo and taking lots of walks around the North End. Koen has also enjoyed naps in the sun, hanging out in the space between the den window and the storm windows, and eating a lot of black beans. He LOVES black beans!! Koen's also been experimenting with the nudist lifestyle but his mean parents aren't supporting this lifestyle choice until he's potty trained. We sure learned that the hard way! ;)

Camel's Back Park

What better way to enjoy a beautiful February afternoon than a walk up Camel's Back?

Fun local blogs

As Kenn will attest to, I spend way too much time perusing my favorite sites on the Internet; Pioneer Woman, Facebook, Hotmail, Craigslist, friends' blogs, etc... I'll admit that there are a million other things I could be doing (working out for example), but they are just not as tempting or amusing! And just on the off chance that you find yourself with some time to kill and a computer handy, I thought I'd pass on a few of my favorite local blogs for your viewing pleasure.

Treasured Valley - "In the morning you’ll find a round-up of links from various new outlets around the Valley, you’ll also find a host of links relating to Idaho politics in the morning. In the afternoon you can catch a round-up of links from area blogs and in the afternoon a collection of food & drink links from around the Valley." This site is my one stop shopping for local news and interesting info from locals.

Boise Style - "Boise Style is photographed and produced by Boise photographer Thomas Lea. It is about fashion style in Boise as defined by photos of people on the street. It is about the fashion of people who get up in the morning, look in their closets and put together something interesting and stylish." I love to see the interesting people/ensembles that pop up on the streets of Boise.

If you've got any suggestions of "must see" sites for me - please share...but don't tell Kenn ;)

The Compact

My first step toward my attempts at change (see previous post) is to commit to The Compact for one year. There is one simple (or not so) rule of The Compact: buy nothing new for a year. The Compact is an idea that started with a group of people in San Francisco. The group has several stated aims:
1) To go beyond recycling in trying to counteract the negative global environmental and socioeconomic impacts of U.S. consumer culture, to resist global corporatism, and to support local businesses, farms, etc.
2) To reduce clutter and waste in our homes
3) To simplify our lives

There are two main principles of The Compact:
1) Don't buy new products of any kind (with some exceptions like food, toiletries, and underwear!).
2) Borrow, barter or buy used

This new way of looking at purchasing will also help Kenn and I stay on track financially (with the help of Dave Ramsey). The bummer is...no more things from Costco that I don't really need but are such good deals that I can't say no! ;)

One Little Word

I recently ran across a blog where the author encouraged everyone "to choose one word (or let it choose you) that has the potential to make an impact on your life" and let this word guide your choices throughout the year rather than make a bunch of resolutions you forget about in a few weeks. I loved this idea and my word for 2010 is change.

This year I'd like to make some major changes in a number of areas of my life (physically and mentally) and look forward to seeing what the new year will bring as I focus on change. What's your word going to be?

(To read the post that inspired this tanget click on the highlighted words in the first sentence)

Holiday Season 2009

A wonderful and exhausting holiday season is once again over :( With all of our family and friends in town, the holiday engagements can become overwhelming but I wouldn't trade it for anything. We are very blessed to be surrounded by so many wonderful people and cherish every moment. We love having four work parties, cookie exchanges, and five Christmases!! Well I should probably clarify that and say that I enjoy all this holiday hoopla, Kenn may have a different view -- but he's not blogging, so too bad for him! ;) I also wanted to thank everyone again for the wonderful presents and fun holiday letters/cards. I know that many have opted to do an online Christmas card to be green and save money, but I'm just not ready to jump on that bandwagon yet. I love plastering my walls with my friends and family and hearing about everyone's year. Hopefully you all had a wonderful holiday season too and have a Happy (and safe) New Years!

Formal Family Pics

We recently had Nikki Hoover take our yearly family pics and it was a great experience. Koen hadn't napped so he was a bit grumpy and he was distracted by all the planes flying overhead (as you can see by all the pics where he's pointing to the sky) but we ended up with some great pictures. A few of my favorites are below and for those of you that want to see all the pics you can sit through the slideshow ;)