Stealing From Oprah

I have to tell you...I'm not an Oprah fan.
Oh I think she's inspiring and all but her show is about as exciting to me as watching grass grow...so an Oprah fan I am not!
But...I do think she has some great ideas...well her or the one of the hundreds of people she employs to come up with good ideas.
And so as we come to the end of another year I think I will steal one of Oprah's ideas.
Her annual "Favorite Things List".
So without any further ado I introduce to you...

Donna's Favorite Things of 2009.

{thunderous applause}
..thank-you, thank-you...
I'm sure you are all breathless with anticipation!


Favorite Thing # 10: Nespresso CoffeeMaker.




Matt tried to convince me for months that we needed a new coffee maker.
That our existing drip filter coffee machine made coffee that tasted like dirty water.
I was blissfully unaware of the actual flavor of the coffee until one day when we ran out of flavored coffee creamer and I had to drink my coffee...{gulp} with plain, old milk.
(I know ...I can just hear your horrified gasps).
So after months of resisting I finally agreed to buy a new one.
Now all of you who know my hubby are well aware that he doesn't just go out and randomly buy ANYTHING.
Everything must be researched and compared.
And as usual he did an awesome job.
This machine makes the BEST coffee...honestly I haven't had a "store made" coffee or used coffee creamer since we bought it.
{YUM}


Favorite Thing # 9,8 &7 - Homeschooling



Why is this 3 favorite things in one you may ask?
Because embarking on our homeschool adventure this year has allowed me to spend time with 3 of my most favorite things in the world...my kids.
I can't tell you the number of times I've bumped into someone at the store and they ask me how homeschooling is going.
Am I sick of it yet?
Are my kids driving me crazy?
Do I feel like I need a break?
The answers are always the same....no, no and no.
So far homeschooling has been such a wonderful, liberating learning experience for our whole family and we are just LOVING it.


Favorite Thing # 6 - My Cervelo



This is truly bike love.
She is just the most splendid thing on two wheels.
Thanks to the hideously cold temps were are experiencing in Spokane at the moment though she will remain housebound through the winter and is relegated to the stationery trainer until it starts to warm up.
The upside is that there is something pretty cool about being able to ride 20 miles on your bike AND watch T.V at the same time!
Oh..and before you ask...yes...they are my shoes clipped into the peddles.
This being the lazy person's way of making sure they don't lose their bike shoes.


Favorite Thing # 5: Organic Wine




I really stink at picking a good wine.
Unless I've tried it and I know what it tastes like I usually just pick something based on the cuteness of the label..(yeah...we're talking a real connoisseur here).
But Matt and I stumbled upon this fantastic organic wine.
We took the Merlot to a wine tasting party with some friends and it won...which was a surprise to everyone including me!


Favorite Thing # 4: Brooks Running Shoes



Being a newbie runner there are SO many tempting things out there that have me drooling..the Garmin 405 GPS watch, compression socks and Clif Shot Roks just to name a few.
But the best thing that I think you can invest in is a really good pair of running shoes.
We have an awesome shoe store here in town called Runners Soul and they measures and fit me for my first real pair of running shoes. Apparently I overpronate when I run...which means I roll my foot in...and so they fit me with this great pair of Brooks that provide support and stabilize my foot to help prevent injuries.
Who'd have guessed that there was so much to think about when you are buying a pair of shoes.


Favorite Thing # 3: Winter Warmers



You're all aware of my uber-stylishness...NOT!
But I have found a couple of things that I am loving so far this winter.
One in this Salomon soft shell jacket.
It's warm without being bulky, wind resistant and fits like an absolute glove.
I have been virtually living in this jacket so far this winter.


Favorite Thing # 2 : Chocolate



This one needs no explanation.
My mantra is ...
"There is no BAD chocolate. There is only varying degrees of awesomeness!"


Favorite Thing # 1 {otherwise known as most favorite thing of the year}: My hubby



OK...so it was neck and neck between the hubby and the chocolate but I knew that if chocolate came in second on my list of favorite things IT would still speak to me.
Not sure the same thing could be said about the hubster if he had come in second to chocolate!

All jokes aside...he did turn 40 this year.
Still babe-ilicious for an old guy, we have been together for nearly 20 years...and after all this time he still manages to make me giddy {don't tell him though....a girl's gotta play hard to get ya know}.
So with a record like that he HAS to be number one.
(I wonder if Stedman made Oprah's list or not this year....the poor guy has probably lost all hope)

Part 2 - The Charlie Brown Christmas Tree

This is the OTHER tree we cut down over the weekend...

The ugly, stunted, dwarfed, bedraggled one that we have put in our school room.

This is our Charlie Brown Christmas Tree.

And we LOVE it :-)

The Christmas Tree - Part 1

So I have a question........

Why does a fir tree look so small out in the forest....

...BUT...

You get it home and its E-NOR-MOUS?



We took a hike up to our acreage and cut this one down to use as our Christmas tree this year. Some friends came with us and the one they cut down is even bigger!!!

Thank goodness for vaulted ceilings :-)

Toy Society Christmas Drop

This post is a little late.
The Toy Society held a worldwide Christmas Toy Drop on the weekend before Christmas. For those of you unfamiliar the Toy Society, it..."is a small project spreading the love throughout the streets. Nothing to it really just a bunch of handmade toys looking for a nice home."
So this was a synchronized drop across the world in an effort to leave behind a little bit of anonymous Christmas spirit.
I made the toys here at home in Washington and they were packed away in my luggage and taken to Australia.



The toys accompanied my family and I to the Sunshine Coast in Queensland where with the help of my daughter and niece we found just the right place to leave them.
We left the first one in the cafe we frequented every morning for our coffee fix...Le Monde on Hastings Street, Noosa



And the last one we left tied to this hysterical looking tree at Noosa beach on the boardwalk. (I had to tie the twine...the girls thought the tree was "gross" and wouldn't touch it....sheesh!!!)


The toys were both gone when we came back a few hours later to check....I wonder where they ended up????

Its over....(sniff!)

Hmmm..I think she is thinking what I'm thinking.....

its over...I'm back home....

have been back for nearly 3 days....

going through the post vacation blues.

My lovely friend Michelle asked me when she can expect some sunny vacation pictures to appear on my blog! Well ..I have to say I am still in denial that my vacation is over.

I look back over the last 3 weeks and we really had such a fantastic time.

We caught up with our crazy family and friends




We ate all the food that we have not been able to get here in the States

My youngest son learned to swim

He lost his first tooth on Christmas day

My older son learned to surf.

I got tan....I even wore a bikini!

My daughter got to spend precious time with the cousins she calls her sisters

Even Paloma had an many exciting adventures that will be the subject of a future post.

...and I took over 1500 photos..(yikes...am seriously putting off going through them because it seems a little overwhelming at this point.) You will see them featured on the blog over the next few weeks.





It's sad that it has come to an end. We traveled over 19,000 miles and took 8 different flights...and here we are...back where we started.

....and this is what we have come back to. Record snowfalls for December..from one extreme to the other!





Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Sunday S t i l l -ness

I have been quite remiss the last few days...neglecting my blogging in an effort to get on top of preparations for the holidays. I did get a few things squared away...I ordered my christmas cards, started my Christmas shopping, did some baking, put some finishing touches to some handmade knitted gifts and submitted a painting to an art competition. Also this week my daughter was performing in the Missoula Childrens' Theater production of Hansel and Gretel so there were a lot of trips to and from rehearsals and then performances. By Sunday I was starting to feel a little like a whirling dervish.

So I had to stop....and just enjoy the peace and s t i l l -ness of Sunday.

Thinking about Christmas

I need to get organized and start thinking about getting my Christmas cards written.



I leave it to the absolute last minute EVERY year.



So maybe this will be the year that I will be super efficient and get it done early...maybe!