Video: Crossing the Rock Fin at Arches' Devils Garden Loop

I was pretty nervous on various stages of this hike, but we did it, and this video makes me proud I made it across. Despite moderate acrophobia, I've been able to do quite a lot. Though on this hike, without Charlie holding my hand, I would have turned back a few times. I did not look down the left side while I was walking. Just one step in front of the other til I got to the other side.

Encaustic Saturday

Today we spent the entire day at a local art store learning a new technique, encaustic painting/collage. Only about twenty blocks away is a little place on Alberta Street called "Collage" where they sell art supplies and offer affordable classes (mostly all one time only) and where we did the felted gnome class last time. For Christmas, rather than a traditional gift, I got us an art class together.

This morning when I woke up, I thought, "We should have rescheduled this to a different date! I need a day of doing nothing." Turns out, we needed a day of doing encaustic. Last time I took a class with Carrie was right before Christmas and my sentiments were the same. I guess just because you think you need to sit on your butt all day and do nothing doesn't mean it's really what you need.

I don't have any pictures of the process, but Justin and I really enjoyed our six hour class. The classroom has a wall of windows so we didn't miss out on the nice sunny weather by being inside, which was another plus.

 Justin's up and down -- below is a tipi in the wave (kinda hard to see in my pic)

 

Mine up and down... below is sort of a commentary on leaving the traditional ways and above on travel and living

First Thanksgiving Dinner with Just the Charlies.

Charlie & Charlie stayed home this year with Oatie & Bailey. We knew of some people in town, but didn't have any invitations until the day before. Since we have some hermit tendencies we were pretty happy not to have to decide what to do. We thought it would be nice to have our own quiet holiday. Also, we've not had a lot of time alone in our two years together, so when we do, we treasure it.

Though I've been a vegetarian for about eight years now or so, I've never really been into fake meats. One of the reasons I gave up meat was because I didn't really care for it anyway, among other things, and I was trying to go to a healthier lifestyle, which meant that I didn't want uber-processed foods. Occasionally one must break with your values. A national holiday is a good time.

We'd seen the Tofurky roast in the New Seasons ad on sale and decided it was the year to break out the Tofurky. My mom has a long standing love affair (not) with all things tofu, so I go out of my way to harass her about it, even going as far as sending a Tofurky card in the mail to her last year. (I know she loved it secretly.) We did a little research and discovered that Tofurky is made about 60 miles from Portland, in Hood River, OR. The company was founded in 1980 in Forest Grove, OR (where I went to optometry school), and during the first seven years the founder lived in a tree house to save money. Wow. Those people are real hippies!

The dinner was a joint effort- Justin bought a few small sides at New Seasons (green beans, sweet potatoes, and stuffing, so we wouldn't have too many leftovers), Gluhwein (which being the heavy drinkers that we are, never got around to opening) and beeswax candles for the table, as well as a beautiful cheese ball (which we also didn't get to eat until today but was super tasty). I made the mashed potatoes (had no idea three russet potatoes made so much!), some vegetarian gravy (super yummy, also a first time), a all-organic, natural pumpkin pie and homemade crust (thank god I got the Grandma Agnes pie-crust gene), and some Light Rolls (which are a southern thing, but basically light and buttery dinner rolls). Surprisingly we didn't have any fails. I rarely use recipes and often screw things up a bit, so this was pretty great.

Justin set the table and we arranged the dishes for photos and timer pictures and then sat down to our little meal. It was quiet and peaceful and really lovely. The two dogs were treated with tastes of almost everything (even the pie) and I think enjoyed the day too. Earlier, I'd taken them for a walk in the park, so no one gained any weight (I hope).

 

This year, I'm very thankful for a lot of things- mostly having a good family and my Charlie by my side. I'm thankful he didn't give up on me when he could've (when I ran off to Oregon) and thankful that we've been having such a nice and happy life. He has a really large calming effect on me, which is not so common. We get along and have so much in common and meander through life at about the same pace. We've found peace and tranquility in Oregon again and things are moving in the right direction. I'm thankful to have a job, and to have been lucky enough to find work whenever I needed it. I'm thankful that I was able to be a gypsy for five years and return to home with Justin, coming full circle. We are thankful for everything we have, and try not to take it for granted.