Christmas Party at Guilbeau Apartments

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! Snow has been falling all day here in Moscow. Although I love the snow...I kinda wish it would go away. Greg and I are leaving Saturday for West Virginia and are praying for clear, easy driving conditions so that we can make good time!! We're so excited to head back home and see everybody that we've missed these last six months.

This weekend was pretty relaxed...the snow started Friday night and has slowly continued. Saturday evening, we had a little Christmas get-together for friends. It was small, we just enjoyed some food, had a White Elephant gift exchange (aka a Yankee Swap) and watched Christmas movies.

Strange that you can buy such tasty strawberries for so cheap in the dead of winter!

Shannon and I sporting our fashion glasses! We were recently talking about girls wearing glasses purely for looks, so Shannon presented me with an early Christmas present. Ha, ha. On a side note...I had my first eye appointment in many moons today. I fear that - at the ripe old age of 27 - my vision is already on the downhill slope. :) No glasses yet, but I no longer have 20/20 vision. Booooo!

Don't expect to see this reindeer pulling a big heavy sled around this Christmas Eve. She would prefer to lay by the fire and sip hot cocoa.

Travis drew Greg's gift in the White Elephant... a box full of gummy snacks. The limit for the exchange was $5 and creativity earned extra points.

Shannon drew my gift, which was an electric pizza cutter I found at the thrift store for $2.99. I'm not sure who came up with this invention, but I was NOT surprised to see that it had been donated to the thrift store! :) It seemed more dangerous than helpful.

Greg was the very lucky winner of the night's most popular gift (thank you Shannon) of a Snuggie!! In leopard print, no less. He, of course, had to try it out Sunday afternoon!

"Does this make me look fat?"

Less than one week until we leave for West Virginia!! We'll be taking off from Pullman very early Saturday morning. We are very excited to leave a day or two earlier than planned. We can't wait to see everyone.

PS. - As a side note, I just wanted to mention ahead of time that I will be sticking to my gluten-free diet during our trip. I veered off course the last time we came home, and paid the price for it later. This means that I will not be able to eat anything made with regular wheat or white flour (plus some other things that I won't really get into). I'll be bringing my own bread, crackers, and pasta so that I don't have to miss out on Kathy's cheese dip and Mom & Dad's spaghetti! Nobody needs to fix anything special, but please do not be offended if I don't eat your wonderful breads, cookies, and desserts. Maybe Greg can eat my share! See you all soon!

Hurry Christmas, Hurry Fast

Well first off... my resolve to have long hair didn't last. Big surprise I know! One whole year of growth, gone in just a few minutes. Here's how long my hair had gotten (granted it's not fixed here, but you get the point)...

And here's how short it is now. I'm beginning to like it a little better, but it definitely is taking some time!

This past weekend, Greg and I attended WSU's Graduate/Professional Student Association holiday party that featured some good food (including WSU Cougar Cheese) and a live swing band. It was a good time, and one of the only excuses we've had to get fancied-up in quite awhile. Greg even broke down and shaved for the occasion!!

The party got me excited for Christmas and our trip back to WV. Our Christmas shopping is complete...if our car was red, we'd look like a couple of Santas zipping across the country in a few weeks due to all the loot. Now I've just got to get around to finishing (ok starting) those Christmas cards!

We have been experiencing some frigid weather here on the Palouse lately. Highs of about 20 have been the hallmark of the past week. This morning when I started the car, it read 4 degrees. By the time I had made it across campus, that had dropped to 1 degree. Brrr...much too cold for my liking! The perfect excuse for hot chocolate every day of the week though. :)

Dixie Loves The Beach

These pictures seemed to deserve their own post!

Camping on the Olympic Peninsula

Since we couldn't be home in WV for Thanksgiving, we decided to take a camping trip and explore some more of the Pacific Northwest. We opted to make a big loop around the Olympic Peninsula. We drove to Seattle, where we drove onto the ferry that took us across the Puget Sound from Edmonds to Kingston. Our first stop was going to be Fort Worden State Park, a 19th century military fort, but since the campground was full (!) we stopped instead at Dosewallips State Park in Brinnon. It was fairly cold and misty at this campground right beside the Hood Canal. Of course it was already dark by the time we arrived, so we heated some soup and curled up in the back of the Forester for an early night. The next morning, we paid to take a shower (a crime!) and hit the road towards Port Angeles with gorgeous weather. We were warned that the Olympic Peninsula sees very few clear and sunny days, but we lucked out and got one on Friday.

We drove through Port Angeles, which was fine, but were treated to a fantastic view just between Port Angeles and Forks. At Lake Crescent, the majestic mountains, glassy blue lake, and three bald eagles playing over the water was enough to make us want to relocate (again). The scene was straight from a painting. We didn't get any good close-ups of the eagles, but it was amazing to watch. Half of the lake still had a mist that hadn't evaporated by noon.

We piled back in the car and headed toward the now famous Forks, WA. For anyone not up on their tween fiction, the Twilight series of books and movies about a love triangle between a teenage girl, a vampire, and a werewolf is set in this small Washington town. Judging by the steady stream of cars pulling off the road at the "Welcome to Forks" sign (including us) it is evident that this town is now a major tourist attraction. We had lunch at Sully's, home of the Bella-burger, stepped in both of the Dazzled by Twilight stores, and had ice cream at a local candy store, where I sampled a flavor called "Edward's Hugs & Smooches." If you don't know anything about the Twilight series...none of that made any sense to you. :) Yes, I have read all the books, and yes, I liked them. Aside from the tourist-y stuff, there isn't much to the town of Forks, so we didn't stay long.

We also paid a visit to LaPush - First Beach and Third Beach - on the Quiluete Indian Reservation. Despite the huge logs on the beach, it was actually very beautiful. The sun peeked out for awhile, and Dixie enjoyed her first ever trip to a beach. Just like a kid, she would run away from the waves. The waves looked pretty fun...or maybe dangerous. :)

As it began to get dark outside, we got back in the Subaru and headed on around the peninsula, where we camped at Kalaloch Campground in the Olympic National Forest. Again, rain set in for the entire evening, so we heated some soup and then crawled in our sleeping bags and listened to some of the audio book we got from the library to pass the time while driving. It rained all night, and was pouring still in the morning, so we skipped breakfast at the campground and waited until we found the nearest McDonalds. (which was in Aberdeen, which appeared to be the most depressing town ever...maybe it was just the rain.)

We reached Cape Disappointment, the southwestern most tip of Washington, and our last scheduled destination, around noon. True to it's name, Cape Disappointment was disappointing. Quite possibly the smallest lighthouse I've ever seen. Greg kept trying to explain that the lighthouse didn't need to be tall since it was on such a high bluff...but still! The rain was still coming down, Greg was wearing down from having to do all the driving, and I was still not feeling up to par, so rather than trying to find some way to fill up the whole day, we decided to head home a little early so that we could recover before heading back to work/school on Monday. It was a great trip, and I hope we get to see more of the beautiful Pacific Northwest in the springtime! As always... here are a bunch of pictures!

Eating chicken and rice soup, staying dry with Dixie.

Leaving Dosewallips State Park

Camp chef.

No campfire during the whole trip!! :( This is me trying to roast a marshmallow over the candle latern, inside the Subaru. Some things are just important!!

PUGET SOUND FERRY

We waited for close to an hour to drive onto the ferry. The ride was about 30 minutes.

Looking back at Edmonds across the Puget Sound.

CRESCENT LAKE, WA (between Port Angeles and Forks)

Bald eagle


3 bald eagles!



The fog on one side of the lake... at noon.


FORKS, WA


Eating at Sully's, home of the Bella Burger.

Eating "Edward's Hugs & Smooches" Ice Cream. :)

LA PUSH, First & Third Beaches (of Twilight fame!)




She loved the beach! And was thrilled to get out of the car for awhile.

Hiking out to Third Beach.


CAPE DISAPPOINTMENT

Teeniest lighthouse ever! But still a cool view.

Gluten-Free Betty Crocker Comes to Pullman!

The Betty Crocker Gluten-Free Baking mixes finally made it to the Safeway in Pullman. Naturally I had to try one out. I chose the chocolate chip cookies and was pleasantly surprised. I was on the verge of giving up when it came to gluten-free cookies. These are still far from Greg's puffy, golden chocolate chip pudding cookies, but definitely the best gluten-free cookie mix I've tried thus far. The dough was good (no that I would ever eat raw cookie dough :) ) and the cookies were delicious while still warm. The true test for gluten-free cookies comes the day after baking. These did get slightly crumbly and gritty with each additional day, but they're still the best yet in GF cookies. There are also two cake mixes and a brownie mix...guess I'll have to try those too!

And I just found out that Land O'Lakes has a bunch of gluten-free recipes on their website. In the search bar on their page, just type "gluten free" and voila!

Pumpkins, Moustaches, & Candy

We started our Halloween festivities last weekend with pumpkin carving at Travis & Shannon's. As usual, we waited until the last minute to purchase pumpkins, so the only ones left were huge!! Greg opted for the flying WV, while I just freehanded a scary face. Here's a few shots...

Starting the gross part. Ick.

Greg was literally still sketching by the time my pumpkin was finished. Perfectionist???

My "angry" pumpkin, with Shannon's "Weiner Dog" pumpkin.

Greg pays homage to WV.

L-R: Greg's "WV", Travis' multi-shape pumpkin (sorry, can't come up with a good name for it), Shannon's "Weiner Dog", my "Anger Issues" pumpkin :), and Jenny's "Happy to Be Here" pumpkin.

This past Friday, Greg and I were invited to a Mega-Moustache Movie Marathon. All the guys shaved or grew moustaches, while the girls sported a variety of taped-on moustaches. We watched the Tom Selleck movie, "Crossfire Trail" (or something like that). The craziest part is...I just read an article a few weeks ago about how this was one of the hottest wedding photo trends right now...sporting fake moustaches. I saw photos of brides and grooms (and even entire wedding parties) holding up moustaches on sticks. I have to say...this is not my favorite wedding trend Hannah!


It was a struggle, but we managed to get a nice handle bar taped to Dixie's nose for a milisecond.

Prom pose!

Not unlike the pumpkin carving, Greg and I didn't choose costumes until the last minute either. By last minute, I mean 5:00, when trick-or-treat started around 6:00. We sported "absolutely-free, 5-minute costumes" pulled from our own closets (and Shannon's)! Greg went as Doctor Greg (I think he's ready for his own TV show) using a stethoscope that some neighbors left behind when moving, and Shannon's lab coat and name tag. :) I begrudgingly went as a leprechuan, again borrowing a hat and tie from Shannon, and rounding up the rest of the outfit in my own closet. Not exactly the most original, but we tried....sort of. We served a whopping 4 trick-or-treaters!! :) Nobody really complained that much, all mouths were too full of the trick-or-treat candy to complain!



L-R: Brian as a Starbucks coffee cup (notice the lid for a hat) and Jenny as the Starbucks barista. Bryan as "Mountain Man", Travis, Shannon & Ginny as "The Man In The Yellow Hat", "Curious George," and a banana, Jenny as a praying mantis, and Greg and I. For anyone who would like to hand out something other than candy next year...Shannon had a great idea of handing out miniature containers of Play-Do! All 4 trick-or-treaters were pretty excited about it!