A Winter Cure

Does anyone else suffer from their own version of Seasonal Affective Disorder? "Many of us experience tiredness, weight gain, difficulty getting out of bed and bouts of 'the blues'. As many as half a million people in the U.S. have winter depression, and 70-80% of those diagnosed with SAD are women." (pulled from familydoctor.org)

I haven't been officially diagnosed :), BUT, I get the 'blues' a little bit each year after the holiday part of winter is gone and now it's just the yukky part of winter. (the recent sub-freezing temperatures in Utah haven't helped!)

All that to say... I found a fun winter project to put some light and life during the dreary season of short days. I bought some Paperwhite bulbs at a local nursery last month, and after some gravel rocks and water, and a little bit of love... this! The flowers grew quickly and filled our family room with a nice flowery aroma. (not sure Ben liked it) Who knew that such pretty blossoms could bloom in the dead of winter! No need to wait for the blooms of spring. I'm not sure if the bulbs are still being sold, but if they are, I challenge you to create this fun and easy miniature garden. It was a GREAT winter cure.

Pandora's Box

Ok, my favorite new thing... if any of you have a desk job that allows you the comfort of a cozy chair and a glaring computer screen for 8 hours a day (and maybe a few lucky ones a cubicle) :) , this may be exactly what you need.
I found it the other day when I was looking for a new online radio station. I've been pretty displeased with those I've found in the past.

I stumbled upon Pandora.com, a site that allows you the option of plugging in an artist or genre you'd like to hear, and then creates a playlist of similar songs for your listening pleasure. What a find! I've typed in everything from Justin Timberlake to Michael Buble, and it's great music every time. You can register for free, and the site will remember your stations. Another cool feature is that you can select "Quick Mix" and music will play randomly from all of your stations.

It's cool! You get the best of the new and the old. I just heard "Pony" by Ginuwine (memories of 8th grade dances)... and I'll occasionally hear songs I've never heard before, by new or lesser-known artists.

The ONLY way to make it through a long work day is by finding something to wisk you away. This works. Trust.

The Nest

I've stumbled onto something fun that I thought I would share. I would consider most of my married friends "newlyweds" still (I mean, consider eternity!). For years, I've been a member of The Knot, www.theknot.com, a resource for brides-to-be and their wedding planners. (They also produce a fat magazine, too fat for me to actually buy).

They've recently branched out, creating THE NEST, a new website and magazine for newlyweds. (cute name!). I first heard about the new company last year when I was working for LaylaGrayce. com I sent one of our fabulous Pine Cone Hill throw blankets to a photoshoot for their flagship issue.

It's a pretty neat resource. I've only been to the site so far (and joined of course)... they have tips on home buying, decorating your first space, "his stuff vs. her stuff". They even had a guide called 'Post-Wedding Clean Up' that saved me (!), and other much-needed tips for those transitioning to the state of matrimony.

Although I'm not a huge subscriber of magazine, I absolutely LOVE them. Not so much UsWeekly or People, but O at Home, Martha Stewart Living, etc. Two new discoveries: Domino, and Blueprint. (v.cool!) - and if you have babies... check out Cookie magazine.

Fine Holiday Fun

Well, it's been a very eventful holiday break! Christmas with Ben's family (all 26 of them) and then a road trip up to Montana to spend New Year's weekend with my family. On the 9-hour drive north, Ben and I had a near-death experience. Passing a semi-truck on an icy road, our car slid off the highway and into the median - where we skidded sideways for about 100 yds, meanwhile snow was flying over the hood of the car and I felt as though I was dreaming, "this isn't happening!" Luckily, the median was snow-filled and very wide, the widest median I've ever seen in fact. We were very lucky. My heart was pounding 1,000 times a minute, and as soon as our car came to a halt, I looked over at Ben. "Are you ok? Are you freaked out?"- His response, "I'm fine." NOT even scared. Cool as a cucumber. Ahh! I was almost scared to death and he was completely fine. I swear I thought we were going to flip the Land Cruiser. We drove straight out of it too. (I'll never make that drive at night AGAIN!)


Since we've been here, lots of non-deathly fun activities. We went to play hockey down the street on Saturday, Ben's first time. (street roller hockey when he was 8 doesn't count). He was great! Just jumped right in. Here is a picture of him in action. (the one in the sweet T-Rex hockey jersey, back middle of the ice).


On New Year's we had a gingerbread house contest. Three teams, Mom/Dad, Tessa/Duffy, Me/Ben. Same size platter, same materials, and $50 to the winner. We'll email the pictures and let our certified judge, Taryn, decide. Here is ours- it took a LOT longer than it looks to have taken.

And then we rang in the new year... bubbly, poppers, hats, and those blow noisemakers. It was fun for about ten minutes. Then we realized how tired we were and went to bed. :)
Happy NEW YEAR everyone. Here's to a great 2007!