Hello world. Or, I LOVE that song and couldn't think of anything else to title this.

So today I found myself reminiscing. About my children's childhood (*sniff*), our now sold and gone house they spent their babyhoods in (*blows nose like trumpet and wipes eyes*), my youth, (*long wail and momentary dash to the cupboard for comforting chocolate*) and the many ways our life has changed in the past year (*slight smile and wiping of teardrop in left eye*).

Sigh.

In the midst of all that drama, I turned to my old, dusty, history-filled blog. And I read.

And laughed.

And rolled my eyes.

And snorted.

And sighed.

Again.

And then a funny thing happened.

I clicked on "new post" and all of a sudden I started to type.

And here I am.

I don't know if I'll be back anytime soon. It's not like I even decided to blog again. I thought I was done with it forever!

But alas, I was wrong. I feel like writing.

Or maybe I just feel like rambling.

And maybe posting some pics.

That's me. Like RIGHT NOW.

I just discovered blogger has this new feature where you can take a screen shot of yourself and instantly upload it.

Amazing the technology.

Do I look 41? And tired? And bored? And colorless? Can you tell I have no makeup on?

So anyway. It's real and it's me. Deal. HA!

There I am again. Happier. Know why? I was opening  up a birthday package sent to me by my friend in So. California (who I shall brag on and shamelessly hock her books to you) . I didn't even PLAN on it. How rogue is THAT? So anyway, she sent me this delicious yarn and a really amazing yarn bowl and stuff. I was blessed!

And yes, I realize there's a plate with a mound of Kosher salt and mustard on my dresser. Guess what was also on it 10 minutes before?

So this is Hannah when she turned 14 this year. She's now taller than I am. And way smarter too! In her Freshman year now, she's studying Latin, Logic, Algebra, Literature, Scientists and like, current events and stuff. Most impressive though - she is amazingly sweet, loving and thoughtful. I don't deserve my kids, but I am so thankful for them!

And here's a great little sign we saw coming home from Oregon this August. You need to click on it to read it. I recommend it. It was the best laugh we had all summer. Sadly, their efforts didn't seem to convince anyone as the restaurant was all boarded up and is now just a place for unruly weeds and roving teens up to no good.

This was my son and I inside a really cool lava tube. This photo is PROOF that I conquered my fear of caves, earthquakes while in caves, rabid bats, bats in general, large groups of people passing one another too closely while crossing precariously small walkways, germs, slipping on wet rocks and ending up in traction, and death in general. ALL just to prove to my kids that you can face your fears and actually LIVE.

They were amazed.

And well they should have been! (*fist pump*)

This was Emma after spilling her iced coffee for the 3rd time. Grandpa got a picture because it was so funny. Poor Emmabean. She's so cute yet so very accident prone.

She turned 11 way back in March of this year and as painfully shy as she is, you would never guess how funny, witty, sweet, and competitive she is! She is a JOY!

And here is a recent pic of my guy.

He looks like this a lot.

Not really.

We were playing a cool game with family members in Oregon this summer.

He's pretty great as far as games go.

And yard work, architectural job stuff, bike riding, making our kids laugh, making me laugh, being forgiving, sweet and helpful, and all around awesome. I love him!

How is that for a rambly blog post?

Maybe I'll be back soon to do it again.