Shiner & Schnooze

the dog next door wants to play soooo bad

Kono

he sticks his head all the way through the fence, and has us pet him :)

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we're babysitting this Dobberman named Shiner

while his mom and dad are in Thailand for a month

they split up weeks between friends, and we have him for the last week.

he is such a sweetie, but his farts are so smelly!!!!

shiner puts his head upsidedown in your lap and wants you to pet him

he's 100 lbs and she's 13 lbs.

will holly

after eating grass and dirt, will got a little sink bath

my friend went to nepal and she brought this...

my friend bethany left for nepal Friday for 1 month.
she is working in a clinic in Katmandu for 2 weeks.
then her husband is meeting up with her for the last 2 weeks and
they are traveling around the country.
it's so cool.
well, i was helping her pack, and she can't take very much stuff, b/c she has to carry it around with her on her back in a pack.
and the one thing i made fun of her for taking, was not a blow dryer (didnt take that), not excessive clothes, but this.

she wrote me an email this morning, and she's doing great, and she might skype soon!!!!

su su called!!!!!

sus called me today!!!!
(well actually a couple times yesterday, but i missed the calls b/c i was working).
and i cried myself to sleep b/c i missed her so much.
so i worked all day with my phone in my pocket just in case.
i bought a calling card this morning at 4am (at work, online)
and tried to call her, but she hadnt given me all the phone number (b/c when she was leaving a message, her phone cut her off).
so i called at 4am, which was 12 noon there.
but it didnt work.
so at noon my time, she called! it didnt work the first 2 times, and i dont know why.
but on her third time calling, i got her voice, and she said to call her back.
so i did, but it was still the wrong #
she finally called me back and said, what's wrong, we compared #s, and she gave me
the last 3 digits i was missing.
i called her back and we talked 30 minutes!!!!
highlights of convo:
she loves it
their health is good
only diarrhea once
living with a host family that speaks english
family has a grandma and 5 kids, 22, 17, 8, and 2 younger ones
they are really nice
sus and chris make them popcorn every night and they love it
they made them pizza the other night and they loved it!
they saw a zebra this morning
they are living outside of Mbabane, in Piggs Peak (you can see it on google maps)
she said it's cold in the morning and night and HOT in the daytime
it's winter there
they are having classes on language in the village everyday
she loves the language but its really hard, but she's good at saying, "hi how are you"
they went to the city today and got to go to a big grocery store
she got good cheese which they havent had in awhile.
she said they didnt have cumin, so i am sending her some.
their staple foods are pretty much the same, but we didnt talk about what else they had.
everyone else is gaining weight, but she's losing it, but doesnt look bad.
she may want us to send her soy bean seeds, but isnt sure what/when
she finds out saturday where she will be placed and her job, she's excited.
the got chris a cell phone and it's super cheap, and she's getting her cell "unlocked" so she can talk internationally, and her's will have the internet. but she says she may not be able to email from it, only facebook. she will see. but i asked dad to figure out how to get her an iphone, sus said that iphones work well with email.
the country is so small she gets cell reception everywhere :).
she misses us all and loves us all.
she has been getting our letters and packages, so keep em coming.
she loves organic fair trade chocolate & nori wraps (seaweed) & dr bronners soap &
also wants pictures to be send, as they can't see them on internet (internet is sooo slow she said, at the internet cafes i guess).
so that's why they need an internet phone.
so no skype from her for now. but we can use skype or calling cards (i got mine on the internet for 14 cents a min). comfi.com or something like that.
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that is all for now
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shalom

my new fav. beer

made just for people like me :)

local & organic & beer

what more could I ask for?

garden update

what i picked saturday
in the cute cute basket :)
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took the broccoli for a snack to work, and gave out samples, and EVERYONE LOVED IT!
good job garden!
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more flowers are blooming away, and i will take pics later today/tomorrow!

pesto pizza

i made pesto pizza
b/c i had a lot of basil growing and i kept forgetting to use it.
so i made this:

pesto:
put into food processor:
2 cups packed basil
1/4 c parmesean cheese
1/4c pine nuts
3 cloves garlic
1 T lemon juice
1/4 c EVOO

then i put it on a homemade pizza dough
then put mozzarella & parm cheese
then roma tomato

then heat until cheese melts.

so amazing!

it's blooming!!!!!!

i planted flowers from SEED at the end of may, and look now!

today is their first day in the world of color!

i don't remember what kind they are...

but they are tall & pretty!

my little baby buds

this is what they looked like yesterday

(and some still today)

so i KNEW tonight i would come home and see these little suckers.

the tall things in the front are cool

but have no flowers yet.

don't know what they will be.

but they are TALL.

other flowers.

and things that may be weeds, but i am too afraid to pull b/c they may also be flowers.

el jardin

*weed free might i add*

brocc (after first cutting and starting 2 new ones)

bell peppers :)

arent they so cute!

more bell peppers

a baby miniature cucumber... i love him.

and i think, what a good pickle you would make.

some little squashes

another zucchini

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ttfn.

letter from sus

sowubona sisi,
(hello sister)

I miss you already! How are things going? There is a nurse thats a volunteer with us, so i cant miss you too much. We go stay with a host fmaily for 9 week during training. I love the language so far, we havent spoken much yet, but just wait. There's a girlwho is interested in pregnant women and nutrition and babies! Oh I cant wait to start everything. If you havent mailed anything yet, will you throw in some ginger people ginger chews? thanks sis. I will write more soon.

Love,
Sus
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yeah!!!!!!!! so good to hear from her!
she mailed it on 7.6.09 and i got it today, not too bad!

going green

i'm all for going green, but this is taking it a little far...

brian and lauren's wedding

our neighbors Brian and Lauren Baker

got married in Keystone, CO

at a cute little lodge

the tent for the reception

*but ended up being for the ceremony as well

due to rain that wouldn't stop in time

of course it stopped for the reception :)

us

my dress was $5 at Old Navy (i had a $20 off coupon)

so i felt like i could splurge on the hair accessory from Anthro

it was on sale for $20 though

their wedding was Aspen themed

so, this is the wood bark from an aspen tree, but it's just fondant.

the umbrella walkway for the wedding party :)

the gorgeous bride and her daddy

they had each of the parents place a lily in a vase,

showing their love and commitment to the couple

lauren couldnt even talk she kept crying :)

but i don't know why brian was laughing here

woo woo

they totally had mojitos

but the bar list included:

organic white wine, red wine, lotsa local beers, and mojitos

on tha house suckas!

1990 called and they want their yellow suit and pumps back

*i had 2 drinks by this time, and finally felt confidant enough to sneak this picture

so cute!

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it was beautiful

we met some fun new people

the food was great

they played a few songs RIP michael jackson

the weather was great for the reception

the cake was good

and it was a great drive home.

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congrats to the happy couple & good luck in California

what is wrong with this picture?

I was painting bethany's office with her, more pics to come

and cameron comes over to meet stephen to play ultimate frisbee.

he informs me that he is late b/c

as he was leaving the house

he had the key in the lock, turned it, and thought it was turned just right

and was pulling the key out, but it totally wasnt

turned the right way, and he broke the key off IN THE LOCK.

with the lock off, so he could work on getting the key out

*ps, i didnt take pics, but the vaccuum was out, and he really did try to suck it out with the vaccuum.... wow.

bad pic, but it was the inside of the lock, with the key in it.

yeah.

tools.

he definately looked online how to get a key out.

the tool that saved us a million dollars, and the broken off key.

wow.

my husband is a genius :)

good buy

only red starbursts.... genius!

garden of *my* life

picked these saturday :)

ate them sunday

soooooo good

zucc and brocc

(we just picked the flowered brocc too late, but we can still eat it)
accidentally jumped into my hands at crate and barrel
i mean, it was ON SALE :)
i'm using it for the garden :) yippee!!!

sister bear

sus and chris wrote us an email!

Hey everyone, we're still missing you down here. We've been in training for about 2 12 weeks. Things are really busy right now and it's hard to get to the internet. soon though we will buy phones and will be able to communicate as often as we want. we are planning to get an internet phone so we can email often. It'll be cheaper if you can call us with skype or an internet phone card. (younger people liz, erin can you help the parents with this maybe).
can't wait to talk to you guys,
love you
sus and chris

yeah!!! theyre safe!!!!

garden of *my* life

progress

tomatoes
brocc

cucumber

squash

zucchini

this is when we were weeding the yard sooo much

you can see the weeds that we havent gotten

but see how much we did do?

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anyways, yeah for reaping the fruits *veggies* of our labor :)