Say Cheese!!

Hello There Beloved Reader 

and

Happy Friday!!

I'm still going thru last years photos to find all my favs so if you are here for the Flash Back Friday link up I want you to know I haven't given up on that link-up, or my other ones Love/Hate and Letters To Pets, I just need another week off from them okay? 

I realize it's been a while and normally

I don't make promises so I won't promise you that they will be back next week but there is a really, really, good chance, I  mean really good, that they will be live next week and I do SO hope you can join me cause those link ups are like a party, and parties are only fun if there are people :) attending them. 

So please check back in next Friday. 

You're a good boss beloved reader.

Thanks for that extra week off.

That's why I still work for you.

You know what else I would work for?  

Cheese.

I'm gonna attempt to carry on two conversations with you beloved reader so stay with me.

One will be about what I would work for, and the other one will be about a variety of cheeses with the occasional olive thrown in for good measure. 

I will have this conversation with you while posting  S'more favorite pics. Oh wait. I just put a s'more in there and that was the topic from my last post .... so let's scratch that out shall we?

Focus Noël Focus!

CHEESE is my favorite food besides olives.

Cheese and olives, olives and cheese, yes please. 

I would work really, really, hard so that the rest of my days here on planet earth I could eat cheese and olives every day!

Fer Realz!

I would go so far as to say that IF I didn't have a job and had to stand on the side of the road holding up a sign in hopes of the kindness and generosity of strangers, my sign would read;

WILL WORK FOR CHEESE!!

But, thankfully I do have a job.

My job here as CEO of the MoNoSco house pays in hugs, kisses, "Thank you's and this kind of Cheese.

Cheesy GRINS!!

Cheesy Grins are a good paycheck as far as I'm concerned, what do you think?

( My Niece Last Minute Biscuit  aka  Sophia Adelle April 2012.

Now technically I wouldn't consider this smile a cheesy grin but I just love this biscuit so much that sometimes I will randomly just insert her picture on my blog so I can make it bigger and look at her cute lil cute face all day. So if I would rate this cheese it would be a mild chedda... say that with an East Coast accent)

What do you work for?

Olives? Cheese? Money, Money, Monay?

WHAT WOULD YOU WORK FOR?

(Moses Birthday January of 2012. Now in this picture My Giant is exhibiting what I would consider a kind of Swiss Cheese. Let me explain. It's got some holes in it because it's a forced cheese grin, ya know what I'm saying? None the less, I love me some Swiss cheese and I love my Giant. Can't believe he'll be 40 in a few weeks.)

I would work for High Fives and thumbs up too.

(Valentines Day 2012 Isaiah 7 years old. Now this cheese is a perfect Sharp Chedda with an olive on top even. He gets extra points in the cheese department because... well.... because he's Isaiah)

I would work for hearts on cheeks

or

Cheesy grins Cheek to cheek like the ones above and below.

(Andre and I, last year in February. Okay, now it's hard to rate your own cheese but I'm gonna try. I think Andre and I have kind of a mellow cheesy grin going on here, so I'm gonna go with an Altemburger Cheese which was described as being a mellow soft goat's cheese. Not sure where the goat comes in but I think we look kind of mellow and soft here, what do you think?)

I would work for trips to see the people you love.

( Emma, Chloe, Promise, Solomon, Niki, Isaiah and Samantha. Now this Cheese right here is like a Colby Jack cause it's all kinds of cheese mixed together and it makes me SO happy, So so so happy!)

I would work for kids having fun,

and 

Grown Ups playing hard!

(Me and my friend Andre again. This picture has got to be one of my all time favs from last year because this was Joy that came after much sorrow. It reminds me of the scripture Psalm 30:5 , "There may be weeping for the night but JOY comes in the morning." There's no cheese here. Just pure JOY!!)

I would work for time with a beloved friend.

I would work for family.

(Isaiah and Solomon down at Pike's Market in Seattle. This picture was taken in April when my folks came for a visit around Easter. Grandma Ellen bought the boys those very special hats. They are the creation of this guy Dan Gregory. Don't know if you have noticed but I live in a family of artists. They appreciate art and artists more than most, and art is the what I would consider the spice in life so I'm gonna go with a really good  

Jalapeno Cheese on this one)

 I would work for Art.

Photo Editing

I have recently been playing around with some free photo apps on my computer, and I gotta tell ya... I could spend countless hours doing so.
Here is just one of the finished products that took a good portion of my Saturday afternoon.

Hope you all enjoy it!

Table Topics

A few weeks back my friend Andre came up for a visit and one day while she was here I whisked her away for a little one on one time. We had a fun date by the beach, in and out of novelty shops, getting coffee, and eating sushi together. We've never eaten sushi together before because I never used to eat sushi. I do now. I like it. It's really great. I now know what the buzz was all about. It's only taken me a few 20 years to catch on. I'm a slow learner.

Anyways, one of the shops we went into was in Kirkland. It was this great little shop that had everything from fancy quotes around every corner(i love the new trend of words everywhere btw), furniture, something called a gurgle pot(i want one just can't decide on what color),amazing smells, lotions, candles, fabrics to die for, and fun cutesie kid stuff.

http://www.gurglepot.com/

I restrained from buying up the whole entire store. It was hard, but you would have been proud. I showed great self control in this here lil place, so cute.
I did however buckle when I saw a cute little box labeled Table Topics.

http://www.tabletopics.com/

This was listed as one of Oprah favorite things and I am sure that is why it is now a famous item because anyone of us could have come up with this idea. In fact I think I kinda did. We used to have a tradition called "Highlights" where we would tell our highlights from the day and then if there was any low lights those were added as well. I should get a patent on this now, so that Oprah can't take the credit for my great idea. Anyways, it was just our families way of getting conversations started. But now we have Table Topics. It is a box full of questions that get conversations around the dinner table started. Whoever sits down first gets to read the first question and this gets the ball rolling.

One of the questions that was asked last night was;

"If you weren't afraid of what would happen what would you do?"

I realized once again how much my life has been driven by fear.
I wish so much that I was not given over to the fearful nature that is within me, but it's been a work in progress.

I am afraid to swim, sky dive, ski, and many other athletic related actions. That was my answer last night. I said I would learn to swim, sky dive, and ski if I wasn't afraid of certain death that would come knocking at my door if I tried to do any of those things.

What about you?

What would you try if you weren't afraid?

I used to be afraid to try sushi because of the allergic reaction that might take place all over someone else's plate. Eww... gross sorry ;(

I am no longer afraid of sushi.
In fact, I now really, really, enjoy sushi.

Kinda makes me think what else I might be missing out on.

Gore Girls

Life is about making memories. Every day, every hour, every moment memories are being made. I read once that unless a memory is written down, it can quickly be forgotten. There are people who go about writing down everything they do to record the memories, and although I know that the memories that were made this weekend won't soon be forgotten, I thought I would share them all with you anyway.

Some of my favorite people on planet earth came up to visit me this weekend. Well, really they came for a tour of Seattle Pacific University, for a certain Senior who will be attending there this fall.
Isn't she just Cutest Senior you have ever seen in YOUR LIFE? I love her.

But, They also came on what they deemed "The LOVE trip". It was a very LOVE filled weekend.

There were so many emotions this weekend coming from all different directions. We had news coming in from every corner of our worlds that were together. We had Old News, Sad News, Happy News, New Plans for the Future News, Lost Dog News, Scary news, Life Threatening News, and even News of a Death. It was a an emotional roller coaster ride of a weekend.

With all that News it's hard to keep your head on straight, but we did and we managed to rise above that other News, to where our hearts should always dwell... with THE GOOD NEWS. Do know what it's like my friend to hear GOOD NEWS, when you have heard nothing but bad,sad,scary, or depressing news?

Well I do. This weekend it was good to be with my sister/friend Andre and her beautiful girls because we could in the midst of all that crazy news, remember the GOOD NEWS that dwells within our hearts. The saying really is true, "You can face an ocean, with the hand of a sister"

And boy did we face an Ocean together this weekend. Hand and Hand as sisters we came, we saw, we conquered. And by the Master Creators hand and the Grace He has given us we will continue to "ROCK ON" I mean, walk on. Thank you Jesus.

Did I mention to you that these girls are some of my favorites?


WELL.... The Gore Girls are some of my all time favorites. Do you all have favorites? Don't lie. You know you do. Well I do. And these girls are some of them.

They are some of my chosen family. Do you have chosen family?
Some family you are given.
Some family you choose.
My God given family I would choose so...

there are not many people I would call my "chosen family".

But These girls are girls you want to be family.

You are thankful they are in your family.

And you treasure as your family.

I love spending time with them.

I love hearing about what they love.

I love them.

And I am looking forward to many more memories with these Favorites :)

Sister/Friend

High Lights and Low Lights

In our family almost every night we have what's called "high light and low light" time. This is where we share what was the high light of our days and what was the low point in our days. SO here you have our high light and low lights of the Scofield's Spring Break 2010







Some high lights from our Spring Break-

My mom and sister Jenny finally getting to come see where I have been living these past several months.

Surprise visit from Dan and daughter Shane( who like a typical princess Shane left her fuzzy pink slipper behind)

Mom and Dad's renewal of vows in celebration of their 40 years of marriage.

Watching Brother Jeremy in the Wizard of Oz performance.

My niece Savannah calling Uncle Moses "Your Prince"

Two Easter egg hunts for the kids: One organized and carried out by sister Gina despite the Tornado like winds and the other by New friends in Seattle in Ms Sue's backyard.



Snow in Carson City.

Playing, Talking, Visiting with all friends and family in Reno, Sparks, and Carson City.

Seeing the Gore family not once but twice in the span of one week.




Some Low Lights from our Spring Break

Having to leave Moses behind to work and slave away at a job that doesn't deserve him.

Driving through the snow to get back home.

When my niece Savy started to cry when we drove away, dagger through my heart !!

Coming home to 20 plus loads of laundry.

Having to say good bye. I don't like good bye's.

Picture Post

An Update and Some Late night Ramblings

So here I sit after countless hours of unpacking and work work, school work, driving, kids school work, traffic, more traffic (did I mention the traffic up here?) and I am finally able to update my blog. What a whirlwind this adventure of moving 700+ miles has been. I still feel like I am on vacation, even though I have a job and my kids are in school it still feels as though at some point I will have to head back to Nevada.
I was telling Moses the other day that I honestly believed that although I have always loved the Northwest area I didn't ever think I would get to live here until I was an old lady and not even able to enjoy it. I now realize how silly that was to think that way. He thought I still had some kind of weird leftover Catholic guilt that wouldn't allow for me to be happy.
I can honestly say that although this cabin is ever so humble there is no place like home.
It feels like home to me.
It's not because the surroundings are familiar, they aren't. Let me give you a list here of the unfamiliar things; It's wet. It's green. It's wet and green two things Nevada was not. There are so many trees and plants, and things growing around me that I am in utter amazement about. Our neighbor has plants growing on their roof, on the ROOF people!! Oh and it rains a lot. Did I mention that? Seems silly to mention that as being something that is unfamiliar but have you ever tried driving in the rain in lots of traffic, that is something a person has to ease into. There is a little water creek that runs outside my front door. The sound of running water makes me want to do two things, go pee and take a deep breath. Let me also mention the unfamiliar aspects of this cabin. Pitched roof and windows everywhere, beautiful but my home decor is not so much for this kind of house. We gave away almost every piece of furniture we owned so even that is unfamiliar(except our Bed-thanks be to Jesus and the Judy's that feels familiar) No dishwasher, garbage disposal because we are on a septic tank.
No, nothing here is familiar... still it feels like home.
I think it has more to do with the fact that I have dreamed of this being a reality for so long that now that it is a reality it seems vaguely familiar. Does that make sense?
I was talking to a longtime friend the other day about moving up here and she reminded me that I talked about moving up here so long ago but that back then I would say, "God won't ever let me go there. I will probably dry up and die in this desert" When I heard her say this it made me feel kind of silly for thinking like that. God doesn't make us do things like stay in a state we don't really want to live in, we do that to ourselves. And it wasn't really that I chose the state as much as the people. Despite the fact that the people were not easy to walk away from the state that I was in however was.
So here's to moving out of whatever state(whether it physical, mental, spiritual, or emotional) you are in, and not blaming God for your own choices to live out YOUR truth.

A few days in the life of ME

What a weekend. It started with a going away party for my friends David and Andre who are leaving for Oregon, well one already left , other half leaves next Monday. The party was so much fun that we didn't get home til 2 am. Debated spending the night right there on the lawn but then in the end we wanted our own beds. Dre's brother Leif is a party in a box. He brought bounce house, Wii, and a HUGE bounce house type screen to make this send off oh so special and it was. I love this family that has been in our lives in such a special way since I was a teen. Our parents are friends and the way God has intertwined our lives is really sometimes so strange and at the same time awesome to me. I will miss them. I know many people teased that they would be back but I have a feeling the permanence this time is going to be a bit more than in times past.
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After getting home at 2 am and getting up for worship practice that was at 9a I thought I would be tired but I wasn't. It was then time for niece Savy's first birthday party. What a treat. She almost fell asleep while eating her birthday cake poor thing. We saw an old friend of sister Gina's there, Camille and she said that our old neighbor Bob has passed away. Bob used to bring us vegetables all the time when we lived in Carson City in our very first home that we ever owned. He was a really neat old guy. Time is strange. Sometimes I wish it would stand still for a moment to take it all in. I can hardly believe that Savy is 1 year. To be an auntie is the coolest. It was so fun to buy birthday presents for her. Then it was time to head home for some much needed nappy time. Boy howdy, did I ever sleep good.
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Sunday morning, had a moment or two of reflection to say the least and almost lost it during worship but I knew more tears would come later. Feeling emotional about alot lately. God has been so good to me and my family and I can't thank Him enough. Truly He is my source of strength.
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Sunday afternoon Moses worked on our bikes all day and we finally took a bike trip all together. WOW, what a treat that was. At one point we were crossing a busy intersection and lil man Zed was slow goin' to say the least, cars were piling up and we were getting nervous, just then somebody shouted "Come on lil buddy you can do it!!" You should have seen the smile on his face. What a treat.
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Sunday evening was spent with great friends enjoying the finer things in life, good wine, great bbq steaks, and really good conversations. Again I serve an awesome God who has not only provided well in health and wealth but in friendships as well.
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I slept in this morning and then headed up to the Lake with kiddos and my friends kiddos. It was a beautiful day. The smoke cleared by mid afternoon and it was absolutely gorgeous by the end of the day.
Tomorrow it's off to Wallies Hot Springs for some swimming and more sun.
Man, I have a hard job!!

Easter morning, and The First Subway Ever made, in the world!!!

We woke up Easter morning in Budapest and the sun was shining the birds were chirping and we were off to Jen's church over there. This particular morning they were meeting at her friends/pastors house Jeff and Anna's. Her whole team was there and had brought lots of yummy food for me to enjoy :) and enjoy did I ever!! On the way to the gathering Jen took us on the first subway ever made in the whole world which just happens to be in Budapest. I did not know this. Sister did know this, and I was like a kid at Disneyland. Truly , I thought how cool and what an insight to the people of Hungary who have proved to be very intelligent people. Hungary is one of the only countries in Europe who somehow managed to survive the World Wars pretty much intact or least better than surrounding neighbors. Many of the buildings there are original buildings and that is something that is rare in Europe because of all the brutal hits of war that had completely demolished many countries. So this lil' subway trip was pretty fun. There was an old man on there that looked so much like my dad's side of the family (who have Hungarian blood lines) it was crazy. He kept staring at me and my sister and finally we asked if he would take a pic of us. That is the one at top of the page. It was awesome to see sister interact with him speaking his language. I was so proud of her. I am so proud of her.

Germany in the light of day

Our first morning in Germany Franzi took us to see two of the colleges in Frankfurt and the Museum that had the big scary dinosaurs outside. After her shift was up she passed on the torch of "tour guide" to Dudi and Aris. We were in such good hands. The picture of my friend Andre and I outside the wooden box was an elevator that rotated around like a big clock and you just had to jump in when a box was open and jump out when your floor had arrived. THAT was so much fun!

27 Dresses

27 Dresses is a great, clean(as clean as they come these days) chic flick. I took my girlies to go see it on Friday and I was so pleasantly surprised by how cute it was. It also got me thinking of all the weddings I have been in over the years. I made a list and out of the 9 weddings I was in only 4 are still married. 2 were widowed and 3 divorced. The dresses in these weddings ranged from butt-ugly to something I have worn again truly because I really could. That was one of the funnier parts of the movie was how many times the brides would tell their bridesmaids that "the great part about this dress is that you could just shorten it and wear it again" . Then I started to think of my wedding day almost 13 years ago and my poor bridesmaids and what I made them wear. Sorry girls, I am truly really sorry for the hats especially.