Thanksgiving forest feast!

For the past month I have had a weird idea stuck in my head. Possibly because The Hobbit is coming out in 19 days (but who is counting?). My weird idea was a forest feast.

In The Hobbit, a starving Bilbo and his band of merry dwarves are passing through the dark forest of Mirkwood when they come upon a group of Wood-elves in the forest. The elves are gathered around a large feast and a warm fire. I picture a long wooden table, decorated with berries and pine cones, and full of meats and squashes and honey. A perfect Thanksgiving feast right?

Well maybe it's because I have secretly always wanted to be an elf, or maybe because I love the forest, or maybe because I love feasting, but for this Thanksgiving I decided to force a rather unenthusiastic Brandon into my idea of a forest feast. And it turned out great! For two days I baked and strung cranberries and planned it all out. So on Thanksgiving we had a stuffed turkey, red potatoes, butternut squash, green beans, and homemade pumpkin sugar donuts around a fire in the redwood forest at Samuel P. Taylor State Park.

The drive out there:                                                        

A scary picture of me cutting the turkey:

He really did enjoy it. Just not in this picture.

It's the beginning of the wet season, so that means....mushrooms! Everywhere.

See the little tiny one growing out of the post?

Also a cute one of Moos just because she is so cute.

We have so so much to be Thankful for right now, and it was great to spend some time together and count our many blessings.

Ketchup

It's been an eventful couple of weeks. First, Brandon's grandma Irons passed away, so we went back to Utah for the funeral. She was an amazing lady and probably the grandparent that Brandon was closest to. He gave a beautiful tribute to her at the funeral. I will miss stopping to see her on our way to and from Zion.

That weekend, I got a nasty allergic reaction to something, and came down with a fever and severe hives. They were so bad that Brandon's dad thought they looked like measles. That was fun, being at a big family gathering looking like a smallpox victim. I went to the doctor who gave me a high dose of steroids to alleviate the hives. I'm not sure what was worse, the hives or the stomach pains from the steroid.

Last weekend I flew out to Idaho Falls to meet my family for our semiannual Yellowstone trip. I took a bus, a train, a plane, and a car to get there. But I made it. And it was worth it.

Wolf tracks!!

 John with a trout at Trout Lake:

Mom at Trout Lake:

 Parkour Laura:

Sunday night, everyone else drove home, but my flight didn't leave until Monday. So my parents insisted on renting me a car so I could do some more exploring instead of hanging out at the hotel for 24 hours. So I vacationed by my lonesome in Teton National Park. Someday I am going to live in Jackson.

What have we done?

We got a cat. Her name is Moose and she is crazy. She sure fooled us at the shelter into thinking she was nice and calm. But she is crazy. She is gnawing on my elbow as we speak and she purrs non stop. It sounds like we have a lawnmower in the house 24/7. Am I ready for this? Good thing she's cute.

We drove down to Half Moon Bay last weekend to see all of the famous pumpkin patches. Turns out everything closed at sunset which is like six o clock now so we didn't get to see much. We did have the best burgers in the whole world though; California avocados and tomatoes, fresh ground beef and bacon. I guess it was worth it.

Weekend of man things

This weekend I was a pretty good woman. I did all of the man things Brandon wanted to do, and even had fun doing them. Next weekend I will make Brandon go to the Pumpkin Festival and our ward pie party to make up for it. 

Friday we got takeout pizza and watched the BYU game. For some reason I get excited for BYU games more now than I did in Utah. Maybe because I feel like it's a connection to home.

On Saturday night, Brandon finally convinced me to go on a motorcycle ride with him. The reason it has taken me so long is because when we were dating, Brandon would take me out on his dad's dirtbike and go crazy. He did wheelies with me down University Avenue, we chased deer through the park at 45 mph, went off jumps and down dark bumpy mountain trails in the middle of the night. As fun as that was four years ago.....I have been a little more...hesitant this time. However, I ended up having a blast. We rode through the Marin Headlands. The air was fresh and cool, and we saw tons of wildlife with our headlights: deer, skunks, coyotes, and a gray fox. 

Today after conference, we went to go see the Navy Airshow and the Blue Angels. They were so cool! The jets would get together in really tight formation, then go straight up and dive, barrel roll, and come back to formation. We saw WWII planes and my favorite, the stealth bomber which looks exactly like a UFO.

After that we hiked around Land's End and the ruins of the Sutro Baths. Pretty good weekend! 

 And here is the little project I made listening to conference. Wishing for winter!

Today I am mourning my return to the crowded city of San Francisco. My feelings right now can be summed up by two quotes from Edward Abbey, author of one of my favorite books, Desert Solitaire.

1. "Wilderness. The word itself is music."

I took this picture last weekend on a hike in Cedar Breaks.


2. "There is science, logic, reason; there is thought verified by experience. And then there is California."

Four years of birthdays

Last week was Brandon's birthday. This was the fourth year that he and I have been together on his birthday, and every year I have made him a cheesy cake. Luckily I have kept pictures of all of them!

Birthday 1:

Birthday 2:

 Birthday 3: Noticing a trend here?

This year I kind of dropped the ball, but here it is: a tooth!

He had a lame birthday party: watching the awful BYU/Utah football game and studying for finals.

Last week I hiked Mt. Tamalpais with Louise. 2500 ft above sea level!  It was so beautiful, and as always, so great to get out of the fog.

On Monday Louise invited me to the Jewish Rosh Hashanah ceremony on Baker Beach. A group of around two or three hundred people gathered to listen to a group of Rabbis sing some Jewish folk songs (which were really beautiful!) and explain the ceremony. We were to think of sins or vices we wanted to get rid of from this past year and write them down with our fingers in the sand. We each brought bread to break apart and throw in the ocean to symbolize throwing them all away. What a beautiful tradition!


(Phone picture)

Still moving along

Time is passing surprisingly fast here in SF. When we first came out here just under three months ago, I thought September would never come. Now we will be going back to Utah for eight days in two weeks! Brandon's first quarter is almost over, and next week he has finals. His first semester has gone great and he is really loving dental school. And, just as I thought would happen but he was worried about, Brandon is a natural at all of the stuff he is doing; making wax-ups, learning biochem, and assisting with patients.

We had a nice little break last weekend. Brandon aced his test on Friday so we took all of Labor Day weekend (our anniversary) off and he didn't study once. We drove up to Northstar resort at Lake Tahoe and rode the lift accessed downhill and freeride trails all day. Northstar is definitely one of my favorite places to ride! Fun was had, fine lodgings were stayed at (La Quinta Inn) and gourmet food was enjoyed by all (at Panda Express and Carl's Junior). What a classy and relaxing weekend.

                Nothing makes Brandon happier than anniversary buffalo wings

Classes officially started Thursday of this week. The day before class started I was able to go sea kayaking with Louise, who is a family friend of the Nakkens and moved out here a year before we did. It was so fun! We got to see a few harbor seals and one even swam behind us as we paddled away. After that I met up with the Luna Chix mountain bike group for a beautiful ride at China Camp.

Here's the little guy that followed us:

So, at least so far, I seriously love my job. This semester I am teaching three online classes. It's kind of a bummer that I don't have any real life interaction with my students, but for someone with no teaching experience, it's a great way to start out. Next semester they expect that I will do half of my teaching in class and half online.

The way our online classes are set up, the students are assigned pages to read from the textbook, then they watch a video presentation, and read the other information that I have posted. Each week, or module, they have to participate in a class discussion, complete a written assignment, and take a quiz. Then they have a midterm, a final project, and a final exam. So far I have been able to participate in class discussions and grade a few assignments. I get really excited being able to give feedback and participate in these discussions. Although so far it's been all of the overachievers who turn in work early that I've dealt with. Maybe I won't be as excited if I have to push and prod some of the less enthusiastic students.

One benefit of online classes is that I can login from anywhere, so when Brandon has his break, we can go back to Utah and I can still do my job and get paid! Awesome.