Only 3 days until we go see my new favorite band!!! We saw them several months ago and bought tickets for this show the day after we returned home. I am SO looking forward to this trip. We are even leaving a little early to visit the IMA for a couple of hours. I think it has been far too long since I've had an adults only outing!

just another reason my hubby is the best around

It's Friday night and what are we making for dinner? Homemade sushi, of course. Nope, it really wasn't raw shrimp. But it really was tasty, wrapped in lettuce leaves. And the kids all tried it willingly and while I wouldn't say they would choose it over chicken nuggets, they ate several bites and didn't complain too much.

updates

So, first and foremost. I got my ding letter for my grant. We will not be going to Alaska. But don't feel bad for me. Even a little bit. I wasn't upset at all; I really just wanted to know one way or the other. We are also re-thinking our Yellowstone trip for this summer. Something about trying to be responsible with our money. Anyway, things have been a little stressful around here for the last week, so we will make summer decisions at a later date. We just know that it won't be Alaska. I've even been thinking of the upper peninsula of Michigan if we're trying to stay a little closer to home. For having grown up in Michigan, I think I've only been as far as St. Ignace in terms of the u.p..

Last Saturday we were up early (thank you so much, kids, for getting up at 6:30 on a Saturday and then screaming at each other) and I was feeling desperate to get outdoors. So, we packed up and headed to the state park for a little hiking. It's amazing how relative temperature and weather is. In November we never would have gone hiking at 8:30 a.m. in 30 degrees with a fresh blanket of snow. But in February we totally would. We were thinking 30 seemed like a pretty warm temperature, relatively speaking. It was nice to be the only ones there--we were actually were the only tire tracks on the road.

I've been wanting to post some pictures for a long time, but I was confused about who had them on their camera--I just knew it wasn't me. These are some pictures from our crowning ceremony on New Year's Eve. If you want more information on what a crowning is, click here. The short answer is that it's part of the Orthodox wedding ceremony. Because we weren't married in the Orthodox Church, we wanted to have our marriage blessed for our 10 year anniversary which was on December 18th.

My house is a disaster. AGAIN.

I guess it's because of this that started it. Emily was home with a stomach bug last week. On Friday Mary was home in the morning with me too. I thought it might be fun to get out the box of paper my aunt and uncle sent from their printing business. It's lots of colored scraps that are just the kind of thing that Mary could play with for days. She was cutting, gluing, glittering to her little heart's contentment. Unfortunately it all still sits there today as well as a lot of kitchen mess AND Brian's grading projects. I really just want to pretend will disappear.

Brian brought home this incredible book the other day called The Edible Schoolyard. It was a quick read with lots of great photographs. I was immediately hooked. I certainly don't know where (if anywhere) this will go for us, but I know that it is a concept that he and I both feel strongly about and just seems right. If you check out the website, read through some of the most recent journal entries or watch this video. It is amazing to hear about these kids getting such hands-on experiences with food and where it comes from. It would be a pretty fantastic experience for many adults for that matter. It's also really cool that it's connected to the school's lunch program. I get so frustrated with the institutionalized disgustingness that we feed our children. Yes, it's free to many of them. Yes, it is the only two meals a day they will get. But really, a healthy breakfast is poptarts? Chocolate milk? Sugar cereal? Frosted donuts? Because those are the options that they have at my school. Way to go government. Brian has talked with the cafeteria staff about the food choices they have at his school and from what I understand, they don't get money from the government per se; it's actually more like the food has to come from these certain vendors. So, they don't have the option of purchasing fresh produce or locally grown eggs. It's a racket. And who are we really helping?

Is anyone else a little worried about the predicted 8 inches of snow for this weekend? Mostly, I just don't want a snow day. Every day we postpone this school year, it just means one more day I have to teach this class. Ok, that sounds a little harsh. I don't mean for it to... they are just making me nuts.

Actually, my school is supposed to be done several days before Memorial Day this year and I'm looking forward to not tacking on a bunch of snow days at the end for a change. My school corporation just adopted a new calendar for next year and we start a little later in August than we have the last few years, so potentially I could get an extra week of summer this year. Which would be awesome--especially if we end up in Alaska for the month of June. Then when we return, we'd still have a nice long summer in a place that isn't cold. I am getting really anxious to know about the Alaska grant. I should know by Feb. 23rd. Brian and I were dreaming last night and then getting practical, like, "if we get it, we are going to start family walks immediately. And we will have to start going to Turkey Run and hiking in rain and snow and everything so we're prepared." and "We're going to need hiking boots. And rain gear. And a new stroller." "We should definitely plan to fish while we're there. Cooking our own fish at our campsite sounds amazing." (Who is cleaning these fish, I wonder?) We really need to stop this, I think. It's probably not going to happen. It's probably not going to happen. It's probably not going to happen. but what if it does?