It's been a crazy fun-filled week! We got to go to Fairbanks for a few days and stay with the Hajduk's and see all of our wonderful Fairbanks family members. I helped Sheli get some of her house painted and we did some yoga. It was full moon and shining right into her living room window where we were doing yoga so the living room is Heidi's Full Moon Yoga Studio:)

Martin's sister, Jenette, is up visiting. We haven't seen her much so hopefully this next week we will get to see more of her. Lois (Martin's mom) and her have been coming to my Saturday Hot Yoga class and we have had a couple of coffee dates. Everyone is coming over for dinner tomorrow night and we will celebrate my dad's 66th birthday, which is actually today.

We are still working on organizing and cleaning the house after pretty much finishing our remodel project. Martin put countertops and shelves in the home office, which allows him to be a little more efficient. He is working at home so the home office is pretty important.

We had a great Easter at my sister's with a treasure hunt AND an egg hunt and delicious food.

Have I mentioned lately that I love my life?!


And, as promised, pictures of the remodel. This room used to be Tristan's, it was red and now it is four different bright colors and is Calista's room.

And this is Tristan's new room. This used to be one half of a garage. The other half is Kevin's room but I didn't take any pictures as we are in the process of re-painting after adding a closet. We finished his room last year.

This area is in front of the boys room, was part of the original garage also. The back wall is open concrete block so I'm going to put some faux brick wallpaper up and let the kids grafitti all over it.

Dying easter eggs at my sister, Robin's, house.

Kevin displaying his first paycheck! He thought it so strange of me wanting a picture of this. Mommies are just strange that way:)

Betty and Veronica. They got three fun-filled days together but, of course, it's never enough time. Best friends since birth and it's so fun to watch them in action.

Those smiles are at me!! This is Porter who was born 7-8 weeks prematurely. This is my cousin, Jason's, little boy. They were in Anchorage at the Providence Hospital Neo-natal Intensive Care Unit for 54 days!! I got to visit him every week while he was there but now he is a totally different baby than the one that was in NICU two months ago. So fun to hold him, without all those wires and tubes, and to interact with him. He is just yummy!

I think I sat just like this for about two hours. I would have been quite happy to be there all day!

Wow, almost an entire month since I last blogged. We've had lots going on this last month; finishing up our remodel project, three birthdays, the Japanese language contest, and a few other things. I just haven't had the chance to sit down and blog.

Since there is far too much to blog about I think I will just post a few pictures:) So here goes:

I haven't taken any pictures of the finished remodel so I will take some and post those in a few days.

This kid is on a funky schedule and is known to fall asleep in the strangest of places. On this particular day he was rolling around with the dogs and the next thing you know he is asleep on the dog bed.

Martin with his buddies on his 40th birthday. We had a wine and cheese night with a bunch of friends and family. Sadly, I only took a couple of pictures- I guess I was just having too much fun.

And Suzanne's 36th birthday.


Debbie and Suzanne on Suzanne's birthday- St.Pattie's Day style

And Debbie's 41st birthday! I told you we had a lot of birthdays!

Debbie on her birthday.

Out my living room window a few mornings ago.

Typical day at the Snavley house:)

Our goofy bird, Bandit.

He thinks he's human. He pulls himself up on the glasses with his beak. Crazy bird!

On his new playground that Martin and Tristan built for him. Doesn't he look happy?

Calista's black eye that Tristan accidentally gave her when he chucked a sled in her direction. Whoops!

We've been feeding the birds and they have been flocking. They are so fun to watch. Reminds me of my momma, who used to spend about $60/mth feeding the birds.

Watching the birds from the living room window and ........................lights out!

Kevin's new haircut. I don't think his hair has been this short since he was a wee one.

Kev got the job!!

Kevin applied for a lifeguarding position with the borough about three months ago-it's a government job and we all know how efficient government employees are (wink). He finally got an interview a couple of weeks ago and then they called this morning to tell him he was hired. So exciting!

Next week he takes the Water Safety Course, which will allow him to teach swim lessons at the pool. That means his starting wage will be $11.60/hr - not too shabby for a 16 year old.

Tristan also got a job! My friend Debbie has a paper route, actually a few, that on some nights takes her quite a while to get through. So she hired Tristan a few weeks ago to go with her to roll and wrap papers and sometimes get out of the car to put them in the boxes. She pays him $20/night. A couple of months ago the boys and I subbed for her and it took us 6 hours! I thought it was the worst job in the world, especially since it is during the night and I'm not one to handle the lack of sleep too well. Tristan, on the other hand, thought it was the best job in the world and thought it suited him well, being that he is up all night anyway. So Debbie hired him! He usually only goes once a week with her, the night that she has the most papers, but since it's been snowing for over 24 hours here and the roads are terrible she thought she might appreciate his help tonight so he will get an extra day in this week.

I'm really proud of my kids! It's so much fun to watch them grow and become independent; each one of them living the life of their choosing- doing the things that make them happy and fulfilled.

Meditation from Dr. Judith Orloff

"Thank you, home, for allowing me to live within your walls. Thank you for giving me shelter, warmth, and security. Thank you for allowing me to live my life in your womb, for staying strong and sturdy, for supporting me, and for your beauty.

Thank you, earth, for the land that I live on and for allowing me to steward life with you. Thank you for allowing me to walk upon your soil, cultivate you, and live in partnership with you. Thank you for supporting my home and my family.

Thank you, plants, minerals, and animals that dwell on the land that I steward. Thank you for allowing me to experience your beauty, share in your wonderment of life, and for the honor of living with all of you on this earth.

Thank you for the wisdom and joy you bring to humanity.

I honor you."

Pictures of my mom, the day after the anniversary of her death. We noticed later that the candle had a heart shape on top, just from the way it was burning, very cool!

Enjoying our M.O.M meal:) Saucy dogs, oh ya!

Our veggie version of saucy dogs. They don't look appetizing but we think they are oh so yummy.

Making boxes for their Valentine's.

Sara and Calista making Valentine cards.

My nicely organized room that used to be the dumping grounds for anything and everything. Just a weird addition that doesn't have a lot of usefulness but it's great for the dog kennels and all the mess of craft stuff.

My awesome buy this week, from Debbie's mom. It is an old paper shelf from an old printing shop. It organizes our crafts quite nicely. Especially with the fun orange paint job I did on it.



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Wow, I think I've just been spending so much time on Facebook, catching up with old friends, that I forgot about my blog. It's been so fun to reconnect with people I haven't talked to in YEARS!!

Let's see, February started out with the anniversary of my mother's death. Our family got together with my sister and her family that first Friday and made some dishes that my mother used to make us when we were young, all the way down to desert- frozen yogurt pie. We had chicken enchiladas, saucy dogs and oriental coleslaw, of course all modified to be vegetarian:) We also reminisced over lots of pictures. It was a very sad week for me, as I just miss my mom more and more as time goes by. The horrible, painful, heart-hurting grief is not there anymore but it has just been replaced by a constant sadness for the void she left behind. I dream about her a LOT!

I made a promise to my kids that I would try and make all the holidays Grandma Cheryl-worthy this year. So for Valentines we spent the week making homemade cards and boxes to put the cards in. My sister and I got the kids a couple little presents and we made lots of pizza. Mom usually made an entire heart shaped meal but we didn't feel like doing that. Since pizza is everybody's favorite that's what we did. Our friends, Debbie and Ryan joined us that night and we had a good time. Sara, Kev and a few other friends ended up going to see Coraline and then on to a Rave so it was a little quieter than normal. I woke up that morning to a card attached to my fridge from Sara, Kev's best friend. On the front it said, "My Favorite Place" and when I flipped it over it said, "Snavley family, thanks for letting me hang out at your house and eat your food and all that good stuff! Happy Valentine's Day! Love, Sara". We love her and I hope she is always in Kev's life!

Kev had an interview at the pool on Tuesday, for a lifeguarding position. He thought he did pretty good. He should know if he got the job by next week sometime. The people that interviewed him were the same people that supervised his volunteer time so they know him- that's a plus. He also has several friends that lifeguard there- another plus. So cross your fingers for him!

We are down to the wire in getting this remodel project done. The music room and area in front of Tristan's new room are done except for the trim and Tristan's room is down to sanding and getting the primer on. The craft room/dog kennel area is also done and organized, thanks to an awesome deal that I got from Debbie's mom- an old paper shelf from an old print shop. It fits all our crafts perfectly and they are all organized. We forgot some of the stuff we had. It's an area that used to be the drop zone for anything that we didn't know where to put. You couldn't even walk in the room. Now everything is organized and there is space. It's a breathable area:)

I start a workshop tonight and it will go all weekend. Tonight is our study of the Bhagavad Gita; tomorrow is an Asana practice, experiencing the energy of the chakras in movement; and Sunday is about Bhakti Yoga, exploring the history and practice of the path of devotion. I'm really looking forward to it, as these workshops always feed and uplift my soul.

Today is a beautiful day! Yesterday was cloudy and gray and it snowed all day. This morning, on our way to coffee we realized that there was a circle of dark gray clouds all the way around our little town of Wasilla but in the middle was sunny and blue skies. As the day is progressing that circle has gotten bigger and bigger and it is now a beautiful sun, shiny day. The trees are all frosted and snowy from yesterday and it just uplifts the spirit!

Kev's Essay

Okay, so I am posting this again. This is Kevin's edited version of his essay that he wrote last summer. He has gotten quite a few comments lately on his grammar so, rather than have him endure any more, I will post this. I'm sure there are still a few grammatical errors so if you are going to comment on the grammar please offer some constructive criticism that will help him be a better writer, rather than rude comments that just hurt feelings.

Education From the Free Eye by Kevin Snavley

All my life I have unschooled; that was just life, how things were. The only thing that could be considered school is the year of pre-school I attended; of course that's all fun and games. Regardless of how good life was I always wondered in the back of my head what it was like to be in a school building all day. Is it really horrible? Do you sit there for hours on end being lectured by crazy teachers and doing hours of homework? Or is it fun, with lots of cool people and what you really "should" be doing with your life? Somewhere in between these thoughts and the influence of my public schooled friends I got worried about "catching up" and being on par with the rest of society. For a while, around age twelve, I always wanted to be on-track with the kids at school. It was probably because I felt less intelligent than them, which really wasn't the case. They just knew more meaningless facts than I did. They knew more of what our SOCIETY deems as "common smarts". It took me until last year to fully understand that and to truly understand the joys and philosophy of unschooling; the things that make it so much better than public school, the key to genuine learning.

For as long as I can remember the only friends that I had went to public school. If they didn’t go to public school, they were usually strict homeschoolers. The only true unschooling friends I have are my cousins, who live over 4,000 miles away. So in a sense I've grown up with hybrid thinking; one side struggling to decide if public school is bad or good and then one side completely supporting unschooling. My parents have always told me the reasons why public school is not ideal. Not only that but I've heard my Mom debate it numerous times. Of course I couldn't understand it like they did. I hadn't had the same life experiences as them. So inside I continually battled with myself. It was slightly neurotic, because I wouldn't care for a long time and then suddenly I'd have a small panic attack and decide I needed to catch up.

In my mind I always had horrible writing abilities. I had bad hand writing (still do!) and really the only people that ever read my writing were my parents or close friends. Which didn't really help a lot because most of my close friends are really good writers as well and my parents are my parents, you know? I guess because I had never been to school I felt slightly inferior and probably had bad self esteem. It took me until I was fourteen to finally decide I needed to see into this unknown world so I could figure everything out. Why is public school widely considered a necessity? Why do my parents and unschoolers everywhere say it's so wrong? And why is unschooling so much better? Can I REALLY survive 21st century America without it? I got all of my answers.

I would be lying if I said I went for one hundred percent personal reasons. I had one friend in particular who was pro-school and thought I was wasting my life. In a way, I wanted to prove to her that I could do it, in turn becoming a reliable resource to say if school is a waste of time or not. To be honest, up until I started writing this I forgot about that completely. I kind of kept the fact that this whole thing was an experiment in the back of my mind. While in school it does feel nice to be "normal". But is it best? For the sake of writing this I'm going to skip through the school year and spare you the details of explaining the entire nine months. School was most of what I expected, the whole face of it anyway; it wasn't quite as horrible as my parents said it was, the days went by fast most of the time, it wasn't intensely boring, and I got to see my friends. However, I noticed how little socialization time there is. I'd expected a lot more because everybody always says, "I get to hang out with my friends!!". This is definitely not my definition of hanging out. It seemed like a stupid reason to want to be there; still, understandable enough.

After a few weeks of school I quickly started to realize who I am; I wasn't stupid, not even close. If anyone was stupid it was the other ninety percent of the kids there. Everybody loved my writing, my Honors English teacher included. I did great in every class despite never having formal lessons. That's when I realized the irony; the kid that an average adult would deem to be stupid due to "lack of education" is doing better at the school game than most of the students in the entire building. It's just funny how much weight is put on something so ridiculous. If I can get good grades without ever being officially taught something, SO CAN EVERY OTHER KID OUT THERE. Grades mean nothing. School means nothing. I'm not trying to sound condescending, because at the time I felt anything but, it's just a simple realization and proof that school is unnecessary.

My favorite classes were Jazz choir, Japanese and English. I looked forward to those every day. Though something I really began to hate about the school day was waking up at 6:30am, staying there for six hours, and then swimming for another 2 hours before going home to do meaningless homework. It felt like a waste of life, time and energy. If I had it my way, I would be there for 3 classes and swimming, so towards the end of the first semester I got pretty lazy and ended with a 3.3 GPA. Still, better than most kids, but not really my best. If I was going to be at school all day long for nine months, I was definitely going to prove to those school nazis that on America's education scale, I am not any less intelligent than anybody else. Second semester I ended with a 3.8. Throughout the whole year I couldn't stand the fact that I was surrounded by unmotivated, stupid (not the academic way, but in the general manner they acted) people. Another trend I noticed was the word "can't". EVERYBODY uses that one - “I can't become this”, “I can't do that because I'm not smart enough”, “I don't have the looks for this”, etc.

I learned why a lot of the kids there are unmotivated, immature or annoying. Most of it is due to loss of motivation, and the fact that they've lived in this world (public school) practically their whole lives. I finally came to the realization that if I had to endure that nonsense for nine years, I probably wouldn't be the person I am today. Friends have told me that I would have been the definition of an honors student, I say, “no”, I would have been a lazy bum that wanted nothing more than a couch and TV in life. I might add that I've learned a lot from TV, but you get my point. The thing that has made me a responsible, smart and motivated human being IS due to my unschooled life. As stupid, annoying, unmotivated (whatever a huge portion of the public school kids are), you really can't blame them. There are some people that can relate to me and a few in school that get annoyed with the same stuff I do, but they don't completely understand either. You never really can unless you have lived a free life. Also, I noticed that my friends were coincidentally some of the lesser annoying people in the building, friends I made BEFORE going to school. Some personalities are strong and can endure twelve years of school plus college, most cannot. Between some teachers telling them they're not good enough and wasting years of their life on something that doesn't really matter, they get fried. Most of the time it goes unnoticed too and you just kind of... evaporate. I started to feel the same thing happening to me in just those short nine months. Every thought you have, dream you want to fulfill, inspiration that strikes you, it all goes on the back burner because you're slammed with everything else, and eventually you just forget how to live any other way altogether.

The whole nine months all in all were good for me though, negatives and positives. I learned that with unschooling you can learn MORE than most public schooled kids do. I learned that the things my parents have told are not complete heresy. I experienced something that I had never done before. The mystery was gone. Best of all, I can now defend the unschooling philosophy without any doubt in my mind, while being credible in my accusations against the system.

Would I recommend sending a kid to school their entire life? Absolutely not. It's much too easy to lose your way, too easy to become just another drone without that spark; dreaming of "success" and money but failing to be creative in achieving it. One thing I would advise though is to find fellow unschoolers because support is important. I'm a perfect example. Would I recommend a current unschooler attend school? If it's going to do them good as it did me, sure. If they want to see what it's like, sure. Otherwise, it's going to seem like a shit hole, plain and simple. It would be beneficial for everyone to see what it's like, but not everyone can go through it with the same view point. So like everything else in our unschooled lives, it's up to us to make that decision.

I can't say I had a bad experience, probably the opposite. Like I said before, I learned a lot about myself and the philosophies I'm submerged in, negatives and positives. But it's also great to feel like you're a part of something. There's this building full of 1200 kids that will be there right alongside you, people to relate with, interesting and amazing people as well- some you might never meet otherwise. It's fun occasionally and there ARE opportunities. And of course, the classic "my friends are there". At this point, I think it would just be easier if I moved so I could break all of my attachments. As ridiculous, unneeded and meaningless as school is, parts of it tend to grow on you. So here I am, the year I thought would never end completed and I have to decide what I want to do for the remaining three years. Over the last few days I've really been reflecting about what I truly want. Is it to finish high school, deal with everything I don't like and benefit from the things I do? Or stop, maybe go straight to College, and just start focusing on what I want to achieve in life? That's something I'll be thinking about for a while.

A few days ago it was -20 degrees. Currently it is pouring down rain. Strange to live in a place like this, coming from the far north of Fairbanks, Alaska where it is frozen for six months with no chance of anything warmer than about 0 degrees. Unfortunate for Martin and about 20,000 other commuters that live here and travel the 40 miles into Anchorage for work. I have a feeling that Martin will be working from the home office tomorrow.

My computer is finally working again. The fan went out a few weeks ago and I had a heck of a time getting the part here. I could only get on the computer for 10 minutes at a time to make sure it didn't overheat so now I'm catching up on all my favorite blogs.

The last two weeks have been pretty uneventful. It's been pretty quiet around here and we've gotten to be pretty lazy. We had a three week cold snap that kind of zapped the energy right out of me. We don't often get sub-zero weather but we had -10 to -20 for three weeks. All I wanted to do was sleep and I did a lot of it! I'm anxious to get out and walk the dogs again. They have a bit of stored up energy in need of an outlet right now and so do I.

Tristan and I are starting a little project- a playground for our parrot. I will post pictures upon completion; could be interesting:) Bandit gets a little bored so we are trying to remedy that with a playground that keeps him entertained. We couldn't really find what we wanted so we decided to make it ourselves. Tristan loves to build things so this is right up his alley.

Well, I don't have anything inspiring today...............sorry. I'm just not feeling too inspired. I'm sure as the light returns and the weather stays warmer I will come out of hibernation and find inspiration again.

The last two weeks in pictures...........

My niece, Rylee, curled up with her dog, Roxie.

I was a little ba humbug about the holidays this year and Kev was bummed that I didn't make cookies. I came up one night and this is what I found. Kev is vegan so he had to find a recipe online for vegan cut cookies. I think they are beautiful!

Calista's birthday. She wanted ice cream sundaes instead of cake so here are the creations of her and her girlfriends. Maija is missing from the picture because she was in the car driving down from Fairbanks. She arrived a couple of hours later.


Uncle Tony was giving the girls a hard time about make-up so guess who got a make-over? He was a good sport about it and the girls had a great time. The room vibrated with the giggles.

And Maija arrives to a VERY happy Calista!! Calista and Maija, aka Betty and Veronica have been bosom buddies since the womb. Her mom and I are very dear friends and we shared our pregnancy. They have been attached at the hip ever since, at least when they are together. We try to see each other at least every other month. This last spell apart was a long one so they were pretty excited to see each other.

But OH SO SAD when they had to say good-bye. Makes you want to cry!

Our Solstice Party. Tristan is walking on FIRE!! We burned an old coffee table that was really trashed and unsalvageable and Tristan had to walk on it over the fire. Just so everyone knows - it was Martin who was outside supervising!

One of Tristan's Christmas presents. He is a big gamer and spends lots of time on the couch so this was appropriate.

Daddy's "princess".

Martin and I on Christmas Eve.

Kevin and me on Christmas Eve.

Rylee and Calista on Christmas Eve.

I love this picture. I don't know what I was telling them but look at their expressions of disgust on their faces. We were opening some Christmas gifts.

And my HIGHLIGHT of the week- visiting my new baby cousin, Porter, who is in ICU at Providence. Jason (on right) is my cousin. His wife delivered two months early, due to some health issues she has so they knew he was going to come early and were prepared and living at the hospital a week prior to delivery. They will probably be in the hospital until around Feb.10 so I will get lots of visits in before they get discharged and head back home to Fairbanks.

I am currently having some computer issues; my fan went out due to the kids leaving it on the couch ALL the time to overheat. I have to order a new fan today so I can replace it. I would like to post pictures today of our marvelous week but I can't because I'm using Calista's computer. Maybe I will post pics next week.

Last Thurs. we celebrated Calista's 10th birthday! Hard to believe that I have no children in the single digits anymore. As the years go by it just speeds up faster and faster. I spent that morning looking at pictures of the day of her birth. My mom was in most of the pictures holding Calista and shshing her as she snuggled her closely. I spent the morning in tears, missing my mom horribly and smiling as I remembered her absolute resolve to be at every one of her grandchildrens births. When Rylee was born she was extremely ill but was determined to stay up through the night with Robin until that baby came. I remember so clearly watching through the window of the door, anxiously waiting Rylee's coming into this world and seeing mom fly through the door with a big grin on her face annoucing to everyone that she was finally here. You would have never guessed that she was only 7 months away from her death. Birth and death..............the cycle of life.

We had a wonderful day though! We took Calista to Chili's for her birthday dinner and gave her our gifts. Friday she celebrated her birthday with the rest of the family and her girlfriends. Uncle Tony was giving the girls a hard time about one of Calista's gifts; a little case full of make-up. So Uncle Tony got a makeover from all the girls (I will be sure to post pics later). He was a good sport and the girls had a blast.

Back up to Thursday night; when we got home from Chili's there was a package in the mail from my aunt. It was two ornaments; one with a picture of my mom and the other was the cancer ribbon. The tears came quickly! Funny how the universe just knows, all that connected energy. I think my mom was just letting me know that she was there.

Sunday night we had a Solstice Party but hardly anyone showed up. We still had a good time with a big bonfire outside, s'mores and all. Sunday we had 5 hours and 28 minutes of daylight so we are definitely celebrating the return of the sun. Fairbanks only had 3 hours and 41 minutes so I don't feel too bad. And Barrow (a village way up North at the top of the state) hasn't seen the sun since Nov. 18 and won't see it's return until Jan. 23 so try to imagine living in that kind of darkness. I would go crazy!!

We were also really excited because we have been working with the dogs on some off leash training, taking them up Matanuska Peak where they can't run off except to go up the mountain where they will dead end eventually. So Sunday night was our first night letting them outside to hang out without any restraints. They stayed right with the crowd around the bonfire and had a grand time. It's finally paying off!

And the best news of all.................................my cousin Jason just welcomed his first child into this world last night!! Welcome to this world Porter Layton Tinsley!! They are in Anchorage so we will be going into town on Christmas to see them and give them big hugs. The baby is in NICU so we may or may not be able to see him yet. Molly has some kidney issues and was a high risk pregnancy. They new she would deliver early and were actually expecting her to only make it to between 26-29 weeks gestation. She made it to 31 weeks so we are happy about that. The baby is 3 lbs. 1 oz so it's all looking pretty good. Baby cried and is breathing on his own and I guess Molly was actually able to hold him for a few minutes before he was whisked away. I'm really glad that I went into town last week and spent the day with them before all this craziness and am looking forward to meeting my new cousin! So exciting!!

Christmas morning we will be sleeping in, being lazy all day and playing our new Wii that we will be opening up on Christmas. We will probably try to make it into town to give the new parents a big hug too. We may even go see Marley and Me. Happy Holidays to everyone! However you celebrate.

Day two of 20-40 mph hour winds with gusts to 70 mph. It sounds like our house is going to fall down. I love the wind!! I know, I'm one of those strange creatures that LOVES the wind. I'm not sure what it is about it; the way it feels when it blows my hair away from my face, or the way it takes my breath away, or maybe it's the way I feel all cozy in my nice warm house while it is banging away outside. I just love it!

We lost some sleds that blew away, probably sitting in some neighbors yard. I'm sure there are a few other things missing from the yard too. The one bad thing about the wind is all the trash that gets blowing around, makes for a big clean-up day in the spring.

So here is to a beautiful, gray, windy day!! :)

Wow, that was a long dry spell! Kelli just posted at her blog about not blogging also, writers block she said. Or is that bloggers block? She mentioned that just because her blog was quiet didn't mean her life had been quiet; ditto!

It seems like we've had a real good balance of busy/fun to quiet/chillax. We have had plenty going on but plenty of down time to wander around in our pajamas.

Kev is busy with his usual activities; swimming, youth court, teen political talk, model UN, etc. He keeps himself pretty busy and all I can say is thank goodness he is driving himself now. I thought it a privilege to take him to all his wonderful activities but driving taxi took up a tremendous amount of time so I'm thankful for the relief.

Tristan and Calista are thankful also, as they were tired of either being in the car or at home waiting for me to get home. They started a homeschool open swimming session once a week. Calista is also doing swim lessons three days a week for the next few weeks. She has decided to join swim team and the coach is encouraging her to learn the techniques of the strokes before she starts. So she is hoping to be on the team within the next couple of months after she gets the strokes down.

Kev, Calista, and I are continuing with our guitar lessons and having so much fun with it! Martin is talking about maybe taking up bass guitar and with Tristan playing drums we might just have a family band coming up:) We've been going to the weekly concerts at Make-A-Scene. Our guitar teacher and good friend, Josh Fryfogle, owns a music venue for local (and some non-local) musicians. He holds weekly concerts that are great fun.

I'm starting two new yoga classes come January; one is a teen/parent partner yoga class - encouraging trust and harmony in that particular relationship, and a kids yoga class for 8-12 year olds. I'm really looking forward to it, especially the partner class. I'm also looking forward to some advanced training workshops that are coming up after the holidays.

Our family vehicle finally bit the dust, for good, here last week. We have a Windstar that has gone through 4 transmissions in the last three years and it gave up again. We aren't going to put any more money into it so we are sharing Martin's car and the Cadillac that my grandparents gave us. Two days after Kev got his license one of his friends backed into him in another friends driveway so that has to go in the shop this next week to get fixed, which takes us down to one car. It's a little inconvenient, especially the days Martin is commuting into Anchorage, but we will manage until there is enough cash to buy a new car. Next summer we will be enjoying our bicycles more than usual.

On the plus side, our year-long remodel project in the basement is finally coming to a close and if everything goes right the kids should be in their new bedrooms before the holidays. Yay!! It's been a slow project, as Martin only has so many hours in a day, but we are at the end of it now. The kids have a pretty nice setup down there to hang out in, just keeping our eyes open for a decent priced sectional on Craigslist and it will be complete.

We've also been planning a Winter Solstice party for all of our friends. We aren't big on all the commercial holidays and Christmas seems to get worse every year, with all the consumerism, so we are making our own holiday traditions. Getting back to good old pagan traditions, the roots of which Christmas actually grew from. If most Christians new what they were celebrating they would be horrified but then again most religions wouldn't exist if people knew how to think for themselves. Anyway, we are having a party into the night with LOTS of candles and a big ole bonfire. I may even try to talk Josh into some great live music:)

Hope everyone is enjoying life as joyfully as we are!!

Namaste'

There was an article posted at The Root, on MSN about what white people shouldn't do and what black people shouldn't do, now that Obama has been elected President.

Have we not learned that this just widens the divide? Can we quit separating people by the color of our skin for goodness sakes? We are all part of the HUMAN RACE................period!! What is wrong with people!!!??

And for those of you who just cannot get past the color of peoples skin, what makes the color of your skin so superior? Aaaarrrrggghhh!!! I'm now venting! If we are going to get past this racial divide in this country we are going to have to start looking at people, as people, not constantly separating people because they have more or less pigment in their skin cells!!!

I voted for Obama because I thought he was the better man for the job, I wasn't even thinking about the color of his skin. Can we please move forward?

PS- On the other hand, the open letter to Obama, written by Alice Walker, was beautiful! Worth the read.

I just have to add a short blog about how proud I am to be Kev's mom. He has been at the Begich campaign office for the last two days doing cold calls to get people out to vote and spent 7 hours today doing calls and knocking on people's doors. It is not something I would have ever done, especially not at 16. He is standing up for what he believes and staying informed about what is happening in our state and our country.

Go Vote Today!

I placed my vote today!

I'm really thankful that I have the right to do that, thanks to all those "naughty" women in history! I know some people think it's all rigged, and it could be, but as long as I have the right to voice my opinion, by voting, I will.

And may I say that I'm really proud of Martin for voting his conscience today. Neither one of us is really gung ho about either candidate; I voted for Obama because I would rather have him than McCain and I didn't want to split the vote. Martin didn't vote for either one but instead voted his conscience and told me, "I am being the change I wish to see in the world! If more people voted their conscience we wouldn't be in this mess." Amen. But ouch, since I'm always preaching, Be The Change You Wish to See in The World. Good for you Martin for taking a stand.

I'm listening to NPR right now, all the people calling in and voicing their own opinion and, no matter how we feel about the candidates, it is a blessing to be able to call a radio station and let people know how we feel. Sometimes we get so caught up in being disappointed as to where the country is headed we forget all the freedoms that we do have. I've been watching a lot of shows and reading some on some of the laws of other countries and I begin to realize how many freedoms I really do have.

Because of all the differences in opinions I have been giving a lot of thought to where those opinions come from, realizing that it is all based on our own experiences, filters, the way we view the world. I keep thinking about a quote I heard years ago; "There is no reality, only our own perception." There is always a reason that one feels the way they do about this or that. I have a LOT of my own filters, bad and good experiences, etc. based on how I was raised, my parents opinions and beliefs, societal expectations, etc. My cousin mentioned the other day that we are all actors.....................SO TRUE!! There really isn't a reality, it's just how we perceive our world and how we choose to act it out. We are just in a play:)

No matter who is chosen to be our next President I hope they can veer our country back in the right direction. I will keep voicing my opinion and writing letters to our Senators and Representatives (actually Martin does all the letter writing but I'm vowing to do more) and let them know where I stand; hopefully they will listen. So far Martin has received a reply from every letter he has written and they have voted the way he wanted ,so some politicians do listen to the people if there are enough people that are willing to stand up and have a voice.

I did it! My first ever winter hiking/camping trip. My cousin, Jason, and I hiked into a undeveloped hot springs (can't remember the name of it at the moment). It was a 3 hour drive to the trail head and a 7 mile hike in. It was totally exhausting but completely worth it! We hiked in on Friday (the dogs hauled our gear in on a sled), set up camp, soaked in the hot springs, and slept in a tent at 0 degrees or colder! Woke up Saturday morning, had breakfast, soaked again, talked and napped all afternoon long, and slept another night in the tent. Woke up Sunday and cleaned up camp, hiked back out and drove back into town. It was a fabulous weekend!

I've met my cousin lots of times at the coffee shop for a visit and have visited him at his house and him at mine but we haven't done anything just fun together since we were in high school. It was great to just be with him and get lots of visits in! I learned a lot about camping, especially in winter. This is piddly stuff to him since he has done hundreds of these trips in his lifetime, ones extremely more difficult and longer. One of the last ones he did was for 100 days! He is a true outdoors man!

Here are some pictures. I would have taken more, especially of the hot springs but 0 degrees and lots of steam really isn't conducive to pictures, on top of the fact that you don't soak with clothes on. At 0 degrees you don't want to be messing with trying to take off wet clothes and then trying to get them dry, not to mention that there isn't another person around for miles.

Hiking in. Got the camera out to snap a few pics but that didn't last long at 0 degrees.

Pretty pooped out and we still have 3 miles to go!


Finally make it to the campsite and the dogs are just as tired, or more tired, than I am.

Setting up camp, just made it by dark.

Home safe and sound.

Be The Change You Wish To See In The World

There has been a lot swirling in my mind lately but something that has taken up a lot of space is how my lifestyle and the things I purchase and eat effect the world, or at least effect my conscience.

Most of you know that Kev is vegan and a big animal rights activist so I hear information all the time about how our choices effect other beings. For some reason this last couple weeks it is weighing on my mind quite heavily. I choose to be vegetarian, partly for the HORRID way that animals are treated, partly for the effect that raising that many animals has on the earth (environmentally), and partly for the fact that it just grosses me out to eat dead animals, especially when we have so many other food choices.

The thing that has been weighing on me though is that even though I don't eat meat I eat cheese and some other dairy products, I have a down jacket, and ewwwwww, even leather furniture. All those choices add up to the same horrible treatment of animals that eating meat does. I just want to become more aware of EVERY choice I make, the products I buy, etc. We quit feeding the dogs IAMS because of their reputation for inhumane treatment of animals, yet I'm wearing a down jacket; just doesn't add up for me. I'm warm, I'll give you that, but at what cost?

Just to clarify, I don't judge others for eating meat but do you know where your meat comes from and how it is processed? I believe that most people would be vegetarian if they were forced to watch their food be processed. I understand that people have been eating animals from the beginning of time but I also believe that every being has a right to live a life free from pain and suffering until they die. I understand that nature can be cruel but to purposely treat another living being so horribly just because they are animals? Do you really believe that they don't feel pain? Do you honestly believe they don't have a right to live a good life just because we are more powerful than they? And it's funny that most people would find it disgusting to kill their pet rabbit or dog, for that matter, to eat but what is the difference? That you have a more emotional connection to them? Maybe spend some time researching where your food comes from and how it is processed and see if it changes how you feel about your food.

Getting back to the vegetarian thing; dairy farms treat their animals just as cruely as the slaughterhouses, so every time I take a bite of ice cream, eat cheese, etc. I am supporting the industry that treats these animals so horribly. I can choose to buy organic/free range- that would help. I could also buy from local farms that farm humanely. I just want to be more conscious of the choices I am making.

Sometimes it seems that the choices I make, as an individual, don't really make that big of a difference and it probably doesn't but I keep coming back to my favorite quote, "BE THE CHANGE YOU WISH TO SEE IN THE WORLD." Ghandi I want to make my corner of the world as joyful and peaceful as possible. It might not make any difference at all but I do it because, as my sister once said, "It's the right thing to do, damnit."

Well, we are on to the next phase..................

Kev got his license yesterday morning! It's a strange feeling to have a child driving himself around. I'm not prone to worrying but I have to say that it has crept into my being. The roads aren't slick yet but when they are it's going to be tough to not worry all the time. I guess that is what we are supposed to do eh?

He is a good driver and I'm really proud of him. I'm mostly proud of the man he is becoming.

Life is just grand, most of the time!

Well, another fabulous weekend. I know everyone is probably going to get sick of me singing the "life is grand" song but it honestly is just good!

Friday night we went into Anchorage and had dinner with my bosom buddy, Sheli, who rode a bus down from Fairbanks with 45 or so swim kids. Her daughter is on the West Valley High School swim team (the school I graduated from) and they were down for a meet on Saturday. It's always good to see her!! Calista was a little, no a lot, disappointed that Maija couldn't come with. Calista and Maija have been BFF's since birth and Sheli was just a stark reminder of how much she missed Maija. So we had to listen to her ALL weekend long, scheming how she was going to get up to Fairbanks and visit Maija:) We are going to try really hard to get up there in the next two weeks.

Saturday Kev had the swim meet in Anchorage so after my yoga class we went and watched that. He didn't do all that great ,so he was a little bummed, but they've been pushing the swimmers pretty hard in practice this last week and I think they were all a little broken. This week they are supposed to get a bit of a rest. After the meet we came back to Wasilla and did some chores and then went up for our weekly hang-out at Pandemonium, the coffee shop that I work at. They have music every Saturday night so we go hang out and heckle the musicians (mostly Chris Alvarado) and hang out.

Sunday I had an Acroyoga Workshop. I was very hesitant to go since I don't really care for all these things that people create, based on yoga. It seems like hype, marketing, whatever you want to call it, to me. But I went anyway and surprisingly I had a wonderful time!! It was pretty cool! This couple has taken their love of acrobats, yoga, and thai massage and melted them together. It was so much fun and such a good exercise in trust. There is a "base" who basically flies you like an airplane, they way we did it with our children when they were small. It's a little more technical than that but not much, and instead of just flying you do yoga stuff and then when you come off you get thai massage. If you are interested watch acrolicious, pretty incredible. I've also posted pictures of our group (I'm the one in the pink tank-top and black pants).

After the workshop I met one of my sisters friends, from Pensacola, at Pandemonium for lunch. Bonnie lives in Pensacola where my sister, Ren, and her family lived for eight years. She was up visiting another friend who used to live in Pensacola. She knew Ren's family lived here so she got our info and called. It was fun to get to know someone that I've heard my sister talk about so much but have never met.

This week is going to be a busy week, as I'm filling in for some shifts at Pandemonium; one 2:15-10:15, which is going to be hard on Calista, and one evening shift. The great thing about being a fill-in is that I can always say "no". I won't do the day thing too often, this week being an exception. My yoga classes are picking up also. The studio opened in April and we never did any marketing, just word of mouth, so we have just been chugging along, not knowing whether we were going to be able to keep all of our classes. We did an open house last weekend and, during the month of September, did a 7 days for $7 special. It just took off! I've had 15 people in my Saturday class the last two weeks and my weekday classes have had 4-5 people. Before the open house I had a month of no-shows to my weekday classes so that is exciting. I may not have to cancel them after all.

Hope everyone has an AWESOME week! I know I'm going to, starting with guitar lessons tonight:)

Wonderful week, as usual! Lately it seems as life just couldn't get any better!

It's nice to be home again. I forgot how wonderful my life was at home! I'm a little spoiled, I have to say, and I can thank my husband for giving it all to me. He has been so willing to work hard and ensure that I can be home with the kids. I know it isn't always easy and I know it's hard to watch us having all the fun. And kudos to all you working moms out there. I honestly don't know how you do it!! I certainly wasn't able to find the balance. Well, maybe I take that back because I have been filling in for sick people and doing some training with the new people in the evening hours but it isn't anything like working full-time. I don't think it can even be considered part-time at, hmmm, let's see, this week was a total of 9 hours and most of that time the kids were hanging out at the coffee shop with me.

Kev has been participating in a teen political talk, at the coffee shop, every Tues. night. He has been very impressed with how informed these kids are and how respectful they are of each others' opinions. We live in a very conservative area with some pretty conservative, fundamental Christian views so his views aren't always welcomed with open arms but he says it's been very nice. He has done it for two weeks now and plans on continuing.

We've all been continuing with our guitar lessons. My left hand fingers are totally numb at the tips but it's all good:) I'm really enjoying it!! Calista gets a little frustrated at times but our teacher is SOOOO encouraging with her and that helps. Josh is an incredible human being, in my book, and plays into her dreams and aspirations as if they are very real. She always leaves with a big smile on her face!! It helps that he home educates his children and is very relaxed, seems like an unschooler.

Winter is quickly approaching! The snow is coming down the mountain and is going to be on our doorstep soon. We went out, this last weekend, and started gathering up winter gear. We still have a few things to get but we are mostly ready for the cold weather. The kids are excited that I'm all geared up because, pathetically, I've never had really warm gear. I've lived in Alaska all my life and really never got out and enjoyed it. We are trying to arrange for a trip, with my cousin Jason, up to a hot springs in which you have to hike 7 miles to get to it. He brings his yurt on a sled. I guess it is best to do it right after the first snowfall, when there is enough snow to pull the sled but not so much that it makes for difficult hiking. I hope we can arrange to go because I've been dreaming about it for a few years now and want to make it happen. His wife is pregnant now though so we will see how it goes.

Subway Commercial

This is the new Subway commercial.................verbatim!

A young girl, 13/14ish is narrating:

"Everything is decided for me- when to get up, what to wear, what to read, and, of course, when to go to bed. But, at Subway I have the power to choose and I EAT IT UP!"

Sadly, this is the reality for most kids. And we wonder why teenagers rebel. I can't imagine how I would feel if my husband tried to make those same decisions for me. Why is it that we think kids feel so much different than ourselves and why, even more, do we feel that kids aren't capable of making their own decisions? Especially when it comes to their own bodily functions! I hear so many parents state that if they allowed their teens to make their own decisions that they won't make good ones. The problem is that these same kids have never been allowed to make their own decisions so they have no self-control or self-discipline to pull from when they are allowed to make their own decisions.

My kids have been allowed to make their own decisions about their lives. The only decisions that they don't have a lot of control over is things like going places when they can't drive, etc. On those things, we decide together so that everyone is happy, at least mostly happy. We try to come to a middle ground on all things. I don't deal with teenage rebellion, thank goodness! True democracy exists in our household and it works pretty darn good.

I'm thankful that, through a series of life experiences, I begin to examine how I was doing things, how it was when I was a child; how I felt when I had decisions made for me and was treated unfairly, and how I wanted them to be different for my family. And, starting with my sister, Ren, thank you to all you wonderful people (mostly unschoolers) who challenged me to think outside the box. Because of you, and my willingness to listen, I enjoy a joyful family life and I REALLY, REALLY enjoy my teens!!!

I'm sorry to everyone out there dealing with "teenage rebellion". Maybe you should back up and start living in their shoes for a day and see how it feels. Remember how you felt when you were a teen and all your life decisions were made for you, down to sitting in that prison we call school when you had to ask to even go to the bathroom, when you were told when to eat, how to learn, when to learn, what to learn, and all those other decisions that the adults in your life made for you. Think how different things could have been for you had the adults in your life trusted you and allowed you control of your life. Just imagine!