thanks to be given

1. beautiful view of a beautiful valley with beautiful clean air to breath and a beautiful canyon to hike in.
2. mom and dad so close and sisters far away.
3. savior's love
4. thesis DONE!!!
5. dear friends
6. dear deer
7. soon snow
8. knitting/woodstove
9. health
10. three warm kitties.
xoxo happy thanksgiving.

foccacia mia

so the night before my defense i spent several hours in the kitchen relieving stress by making foccacia that i hoped would be good enough to distract people from my presentation the next day (its tradition in our department that you bring food for people who come to your defense). you'd think making something for the first time wouldn't be the smartest idea for such an important event, but that's never stopped me before. i used the recipe from the cook's illustrated baking book, mixed with some elements from jamie oliver (naked chef). i made a rosemary and olive oil one, a caramelized onion one, and tried to recreate the green olive foccacia i would buy each week at a little foccocceria down the street from my school when i lived in florence. they turned out pretty good and i'm excited to experience with some new flavors.

in case you were wondering . . .

this is where i live.

jack of all trades, master of . . .

ONE!!!
thanks to all your prayers and support . . . i passed! it went well, and despite me being really nervous, i got a lot of great feedback and people loved it. most especially my committee loved it. i have to do some revisions, but i will still graduate in december. whew. i am so so happy. thanks again for all your love and support!

please please please

tomorrow at 11 am is my defense (yipes!) i'm excited and nervous. i have my powerpoint ready and my clothes laid out. so if it isn't too much trouble, if you wouldn't mind saying a little tinsy prayer for me i would greatly appreciate it. love you all. xoxo

tales of hans the brave, etc.

so yesterday inga and i were looking out the window at two deer, a mama and a baby (if you haven't noticed, there are a LOT of deer around my place these days). The mama was looking very worriedly under inga's truck, her ears kept flicking, and her nose was twitching. we were just as bewildered trying to figure out what she was looking at, when none but mr. hans stepped coyly out from under the truck. he gave sort of half a glance at the deer, turned and sauntered off. earlier that day i'd hear a bunch of deer stampeding and i'm almost certain hans was chasing them.

then today annalisa and i decided to take a little hike up bill allred canyon to my favorite spot. now hans makes the walk out to the pigs with me every morning and evening, and spends prodigious amounts of time outside, so i thought i'd invite him on our hike. mind you this is probably a three mile hike or so, not so long, but very long for a cat. he trotted along quite well, but after a while got tired and proceeded to meow and meow in his full husky voice. what ensued was a combination of me carrying him, him being upset by that, me deciding maybe this time he'd follow, but he'd just go sit under a tree and yowl. so i carried him. once up in the canyon he was happy as a clam exploring and being his jungle cat self (it was such a pretty day up there!)
.
but then when it was time to turn around and head home, he once again yowled and hid under trees. so i carried him again and invented this most useful cat snuggly. all in all it was a grand adventure for mr. hans, and he has been asleep by the first ever since we got home. poor tuckered whiney baby.
in other news . . . analisa and some kids from aspiro helped me load manure and leaves for two days and put the garden to be for the winter! we used the sheet mulching technique were you make a lasagna of cardboard, manure and leaves over your garden. this will decompose under the snow and give you rich, weed resistant soil in the spring. yeah!

r.i.p. mama africa

one of my musical heroes died doing what she loved yesterday, singing on stage in southern italy. miriam makeba, or 'mama africa' was a huge voice of south african music and also spoke out openly (and appeared before the UN) against apartheid. because of this she was exiled to the u.s. for awhile. i first heard her from my dad, and then learned more of her when she was featured in 'amandla: a revolution in four part harmony' (if you haven't seen it DO IT). her music is so gorgeous, she is so gorgeous, and she sings from a real and beautiful place.

title track

this morning i was sitting in one of my four window seats enjoying the sun and watching a deer nibble on grass outside, sifting through the still fresh snow. i thought of a line from 'poisenwood bible' (barbara kingslover, if you've not read it, DO IT) "i trust in creation that is made fresh each day". and as i sat i thought about this idea, of the miracle, majesty and mystery of nature/creation. i spend so much time just looking at the sunset, or the snow fall, or the deer munching in my yard . . . and i feel inspired, and connected to all of it. i am amazed that nature goes on doing it beautiful amazing thing all the time, regardless and totally indifferent to whether i am watching. i hope i can be like this. create, and be beautiful and inspiring with no audience. to do it all for love of being what i am and in love of the creator of all. i know these are not new or profound thoughts, but they slide around in my mind, and become more real the more time i spend watching, listening and feeling. this song by beth gibbons (of portishead) sums up a lot of what i feel, the opening line "god knows how i adore life" sums it all up. if i had to pick a title track for my life, this would be it. plus, this video? so gorgeous.

do your duty with a heart full of song

i'm pretty excited about this family moving into the white house. what a great day for america! however, president obama will need help in bringing about change. america as we know it is largly controlled by big business corporations and getting the voice of the people heard will be no small feat. that is why we need to respond to obama's plea that we serve more and sacrifice more. here is one way i believe we can make a difference. lets not let our momentum for change fade, lets not leave the fate of our nation and our lives in the hands of one man (no matter how good and competent he may be). lets let our voices be heard. please sign up for the nov. 5 movement. xoxo
http://november5.org/

today is a beautiful day . . .

because
1. i voted (hope you did too!)
2. it's SNOWING outside and i have a new wood stove at the lodge
3. i handed in a 99 page document yesterday which means a least for a little while i have a free ticket to read in bed, watch movies, start knitting my sweater, clean the lodge, visit with inga the awesome girl from iceland who is staying with me, or just curl up with some pero and watch the snow come down. i deserve it. after all i herded one of the blankety blank pigs for 45 minutes this morning.

i thought i was done

but she told me to rewrite one section by monday . . . and then turn it in. so my plans for blissful vegging and hiking all weekend were shot and i'm back to my beloved laptop . . . speaking of beloved inanimate objects . . . it could've been worse, i could have been married to the berlin wall like this lady. so so weird. at least i'm only on my way to being a crazy cat lady, not a crazy 'i'm married to the berlin wall' lady.