some good news in 2012 - I GOT ANOTHER CAMERA

this is literally like, my seventh digital camera.  why do they make them so small and easy to lose?

here we go! xmas in seattle!!!!!

theres two places my mom sits in her house...this is one of them and below is the other one.  we call it "the thrown."  here chris has stolen it.

 the entire time we were in seattle, chris complained about my mom's tv being too small.

these are the langdons and this is right before we stuffed our faces with tomatoes filled with cheesy rice and shrimp.  sounds weird but literally was one of the best things i have ever eaten.

then on to dads where the real party started:

not every day you get a private concert!  my dad, his brother and my cousin put on quite a show for us and we did a lot of singing along.  some notes: i need to work on my voice before my next visit and maybe need to practice the tambourine.  being the only person NOT participating in a sing-along sucks.

instagrammin' (killed born tired).

this candle's story is an epic odyssey.  its literally like forty years old and used to belong to my grandma.  I'm pretty sure its from my dad's childhood even.  anyway - now my dad has it and he gets it filled with wax every now and then so the tradition lives on and on and on.  its pretty cool and basically represents christmas spirit in the krause family.

yay!

I'm Guided By A Force Much Greater Than Luck

Today I will offer myself to Rex Manning.

Some New Techniques Being Deployed

Positive Thinking is part of this new phase.  Some bullets:

• Take care of yourself.  As you begin to follow a healthier lifestyle, you are giving yourself the message that you are worth taking care of.  Even if you’re not sure yet if you believe that, you’ll soon start to feel better physically, and that will help you feel more positive.  Exercise several times a week, eat healthy foods, and learn some relaxation techniques for when you need to take a stress break.

• Surround yourself with positive energy.  Make sure that the people around you are optimistic in their outlooks.  Nothing is more contagious than negativity, so try to banish it in your environment.

• Spot-check your attitude.  Several times a day, take a moment to analyze what you’re thinking.  Are you being positive or negative?  If the latter, try to reframe the situation in more positive terms.  By becoming more self-conscious about your negativity, you’ll learn to curb it.

• Use positive self-talk.  Encourage yourself by giving yourself positive affirmations; e.g., “I am a self-confident individual who has much to offer.”  Avoid the use of “could-a” and “should-a” messages to yourself. Change what you need to change, and try not to beat yourself up in the process.  Allow a little humor into your talk.  Laughing at yourself and at life does reduce stress.

What A Long Strange Trip Its Been

I quit my job, so I'm back here again:

Does anyone still read this?

Maangchi Is My New Guru

She teaches me how to be a Korean cook with these wonderful tutorials and then I screw up all her recipes in my kitchen.  Today I screwed up Japchae (pronounced Chop Chee).  Normally a delicious savory noodle dish - tonight I made something that tasted like a dessert.

Thanks Maangchi!

Rosie Had A Really Fun Birthday This Year

Chris and I hosted a birthday party for our favorite person, Rosanne.  We got a cows worth of cheese and meat and had a big old bash.  This is Chris pridefully readying our house for guests.  What a guy!

Liz made super clever pins of old pictures of Rosies rave days.  All the pin backs eventually fell off, but we kept the pics and put them on our fridge, so now we have a fridge shrine dedicated to Rave Rosie.

Another one of my amazing, super talented friends, Eleanor, made this red wine, head-explosion delicious cake (we added the macaroons):

We tried to play Celebrity but everyone started screaming all at once, so that ended quickly.  Really what we did best that night was sit at our kitchen table and drink whiskey:

Sunny took a lot of super flattering pictures of everyone but me.  Is it me or does the camera add 500 pounds?

Sunny takes amazing pictures by the way.  Check her out here.

Its funny, something I learning about the difference between being in your twenties and adulthood is directly related to dinner parties.  When you are in your twenties and all of your guests bring a bottle of whiskey, you drink it all.  Every last drop like its your last day on earth and then you call in sick to work the next day.  But when youre an adult, you drink it casually, in moderation and then put the rest away in the liquor cabinet that only gets opened on holidays and other special occasions.  Im ready for adulthood.

Doesnt this seem like a low key night of soft light and cheerful banter?  It wasnt.  Things definitely got weird:

Love you guys!

The Beach

I had a big trip this summer to Guatemala with Mac, Nick and Spencer.  LOTS of learning took place.

This town we stayed in was called El Paredon and the roads were actually just black sand paths.  We slept in a bamboo bungalow and turned into crazy people beneath a full moon on a black sand beach.  Spencer, Mac and Nick are the ultimate chillers.  When I was worried about when we would find the next bathroom and being extorted by cops, they were smooth sailing.  I wish I could powder them and put them in a pill to take whenever I feel too tight. 

I wrote about my trip to Guatemala in one of my writing classes and there were two Spanish speakers in my class who were shocked by the name El Paredon.  Translated, it means a firing squad wall.

 This is where all the magic happened.  Rum + Hammocks = CRAZY ACROBATICS!!!

This is was a bad dog.  It attacked a neighbor's baby chicken and the owner of our little camp whacked it with a stick and then used black magic to bring the chick back to life. 

This summer I saw a pink sand beach and a black sand beach.  Black sand beaches totally win.  That shit's dramatic!!

Ferry boat.

None of us could really handle this bird.  It was enormous and angry.  We danced around it taking pictures and being scared and then this little ten year old girl shows up and takes charge and made us look like big babies.  Guatemala is pretty street in that regard.

I like this picture because we all look so relaxed, but the truth was, we were being annihilated by mosquitoes.  Like, I think I recall Spencer run screaming back to our room saying he couldn't take it anymore.  Some how a rumor started that if you got one hundred mosquito bites, you die - so things were tense as our trip wore on...there was a lot of counting...

Look at them!  I'm sure I was kind of a nutcase to deal with - I'm not a dawdler and I like to stick to the plan, but I would go on another trip with these guys any time if they would take me.  This was a super special week.