Snips, snails and puppy dog tails

Merry Christmas

...and thanks to all of you who didn't send out a mass "Merry xmas" text. I appreciate your thought NOT to do it.

Much love to all of my friends and family, and I promise next year I'll send cards.

First Christmas

I flew to Boulder for a quick weekend trip to see Tyler and his family. We celebrated Christmas on Saturday, and now we just have two more Christmas' to go (one on Dec. 25 here and another with my family in January).

The trip was great and Mazie James was the star of the weekend. She's grown so much since I last saw her, and I can't wait to see her again in May.



The Dickinsons

Winter morning

Holiday biological baking timers

Tara and I decided to bake Christmas cookies this weekend. When I told my co-worker Adam what we were doing, he said that every woman has a need to bake Christmas cookies. He said a biological baking timer goes off in December and all the women suddenly feel an urge to bake Christmas cookies.

That fact could be debatable, but since I am one of those women (along with Tara) who has that timer set off every holiday season I could not find any good points to argue with.

On Sunday Tara came over and we baked up dozens of cookies. We ran out of green sprinkles, but the lack of sprinkles led to a creative Christmas cookie breakthrough thanks to the help of green food coloring. We dyed some of the dough green for the Christmas tree shaped cookies. Now we're excited to dye the dough more colors next Christmas...

Christmas tree hunting

Tyler had never cut down a Christmas tree before, so we bought a permit from the Forest Service and went hunting for one this weekend. We thought it was good timing because my dad was in town and he had a pick-up truck to haul it.

We ventured out into the woods and Tyler picked out a beautiful tree, but it was a big one. When we put it in the long-bed truck it hung out the back end.

To fit the tree in the house, we had to take out the window panes. We slid most of it through, but then we realized the trunk was too thick for the tree stand. The boys had to have an impromptu power saw session to make it fit.

The tree didn't win in the end, and it is gorgeous. Dad said Tyler will have a tough time topping this tree next Christmas.

Under the Mo' in action

Beautiful day

There's nothing better than a morning picnic on the lake shore, and a round of disc golf shortly after.

Thanksgiving events

Zack flew up from Flagstaff, Ariz. to spend Thanksgiving with us.

We ate our turkey dinner at 9 p.m. Thursday when Tyler got home from work. Besides the dogs and roommates, we had a few guests: Tara (my good friend), Adam (my fellow reporter), Zack (my brother) and Kona — who we were dogsitting for one of my coworkers. After eating a lot of food, drinking wine and beer, and finishing a game of Cranium, we all fell fast asleep. Kona wore out Aspen and Moses so it was a peaceful night.

The next day we were all pretty lazy recovering from our turkey comas.

Thankful

Even though my favorite part about Thanksgiving is eating a lot of great food that comes around once a year, I still like how the holiday forces people to pause and think about what they have to be thankful for.

I am thankful for my incredible support system that's made up of my family and friends. Without them, I would not be where I'm at today. They're the ones who make me laugh until it hurts, the ones who offer advice, the ones who listen, the ones who help me and the ones who put me in my place.

I'm thankful for all the random events that lead me to where I'm at now.

I'm thankful for all the opportunities that are ahead of me, and I can't wait to see where it all leads.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Under the Mo'

This is the best picture I have to show how much taller Moses is than Aspen.

Aspen can walk under Moses without having to duck her head. We thought it would be a cool trick if we could make her walk under him on command. Tyler, Quinn and I have been working with the dogs to make this happen. One person tells Moses to stand still, while the other tells Aspen to go "under the Mo.' " Hopefully we'll be successful...

Swimming in Lake Tahoe

Check out that stick...

Election Day

I woke up early to vote when the polls opened at 7 a.m. today. It took me 45 minutes, and the line was getting longer when I left.

I don't have to go to work until noon today, but I'll be there until midnight. We had a pow-wow yesterday to figure out who was covering what, so I'm prepped and ready for the long haul today. There's been a lot of angst in the newsroom building up to this day, and we'll all be relieved when it's over.

So get out there and vote!

More puppy kindergarten

Tyler and I attentively listen to the dog trainer while Moses looks elsewhere for amusement.
Photo by Jim Grant

I'm actually writing a first person story about my experience in the dog training class for the Tribune. I'll post a link to the story when it publishes on Friday. Jim's been visually documenting the classes, so there should be some good pictures to look at too.

A Halloween tradition

On Sunday Tara came over, and we all harnessed our artistic sides by carving pumpkins. Quinn made a political statement; Tyler cut out a pretty hole in the back of his pumpkin's head; Tara accidentally cut out some of her pumpkin's teeth, and I carved a sad, zit faced pumpkin.

Vote!

Puppy kindergarten

Moses attended his first day of puppy kindergarten today. Tyler and I are taking a dog training class with him, and so far he is the worst behaved, most distracted dog in the class. The whole time he was fixated on all the other dogs' treats, so he had a hard time focusing on us. Tyler said at least this way Moses has a good chance at earning the "Most Improved" award for the class.

My sweet new bumper sticker

Boys

I think my co-worker Ryan said it best:

"Sara — when boys get together, all they want to do is harness their inner 17-year-old."

And he couldn't be more right.

When I got off work around 11:30 p.m. and walked home, I found Tyler and Quinn playing Wii games, along with acting goofy and reminiscing of their 17-year-old stories of the past.

But this was pretty tame compared to the "first snow" dance I witnessed on Friday morning. Tyler bolted awake after I informed him that snow was actually sticking to the road, and he immediately ran into Quinn's room to celebrate.

Since the boys have joined their assets, acquired a kegerator, shopped in Costco together, and now rent video games for the Wii — I think all of their adolescent goals are finally complete. When they arrive home from work, I see nothing but smiles and giddiness from their new bonded life together.

Oh, living with boys again...

First snow

Summer has left, and fall didn't stay for very long. Now it's time to stock the cupboards with grilled cheese fixings, tomato soup, chili, hot chocolate, and all those other go-to winter comforts.

Cambria

Aspen, Tyler and Moses play on the beach.

Tyler and I decided we needed to take break from the South Shore before the winter hit, so we headed for the Central Coast on Friday night. We stopped around 3 a.m. and parked in a State Park parking lot, but I had a hard time falling asleep because empty parking lots at night creep me out.

We woke up early and took the dogs for a walk on the beach, where Aspen proceeded to roll around on top of a dead creature. She wreaked.

On the way to Cambria we stopped for lunch at the Rocky Point Restaurant — the place where the chef Tyler works with got his start. It's 10 miles down Highway 1, and the nearest town is Carmel. The place eerily reminded Tyler and me of the Manor because it was right on the ocean, not near a town, and had a similar menu (with the Early Bird menu for seniors too).

After lunch, we arrived in Cambria and checked into the pet-friendly Cambria Pines Lodge, which had a pool, hot tub, restaurant and a large room waiting for us. It took both of us holding Aspen down in the shower, but we managed to wash the dead creature smell off her.

The 2 1/2 days and three nights we were in Cambria, we ate a lot of food, tasted wine, and had afternoon tea at a tea house. The town is a small, funky place, and it has tons of great food. Most of our time was spent planning where we'd take the dogs, and finding the next place to eat at. If you ever stop through Cambria, have afternoon tea at the Tea Cozy, and eat dinner at the Black Cat Bistro. Those were our favorite spots.

On our way back on Tuesday, we stopped for a few wine tastings along Highway 46 in the Paso Robles region. All the tastings are between $5 to $10, and you get to keep your glasses. It's a wonder we made it back without breaking any wine glasses. All the wineries are small, and have distinct personalities. We liked Four Vines, Linne Calodo and Lone Madrone.

Here's the some of the visual documentation from the trip:

Wipe out!

Nevada Beach

This is one of our favorite places to take the puppies because it's dog friendly, and it's close by. Plus the lake is beautiful.

And yes, Dad. The moose calf can swim.

Long day at the office

It's official

Moses is officially bigger than Aspen. It's only a matter of time before he's bigger than me. My dad pointed out that when he's full size, it'll be like having a moose calf running around the house.

Today we went for an abbreviated hike on the Tahoe Rim trail, so here are the pictures from that.

Do what you gotta do

Ever since we moved here, and I started covering the business beat for the paper, the phrase "do what you gotta do," has come up a lot in interviews — especially with state of the economy.

Most of the people I interview for stories own multiple business around town, or they work at multiple jobs. I'm constantly running into the same people over, and over again, just because they are starting up and second, third (or even fourth) business.

When I ask them why they're doing it, they usually respond with the same statement: It's Tahoe. You do what you gotta do to get by.

It's not unusual that people work as many jobs as they do here. There aren't many opportunities to move up in the work force. If you're not working for the government, school district, or the community college, all that's left are jobs related to the tourism industry (servers, retail, etc.). The town lacks economic diversity, so most people are stuck with minimum wage jobs, or trying to make their own small business venture work.

Just this past week, five businesses closed their doors for the final time, and it's only the beginning of the shoulder season. The results of the recession are amplified here since the community counts on visitors, and the residents don't make enough to keep all the businesses afloat.

Since newspapers are fueled by adverting, I decided to join the Tahoe club and do what I gotta do, so I'm moonlighting as a server at the Ridge a couple days a week.

It'll be interesting to see how everything plays out after the election is over. All the officials elected in November will have a lot of work to do once they get into office.

P.S. Yes Eric, I lost the bet.

Let me assure you...

...We are all freaks.

So big

I found this old video I shot when we first got Moses. It's crazy how small he used to be.

Our new place

I made a video of our new place. The lighting gets bad toward the end, and I couldn't figure out how to fix it.

Latest weigh-in

Moses weighed in at 54.5 lbs today. It won't be long at this rate...

Quick update

Well we're all moved in to the new apartment. We just need to finish up the nesting process, and I'll post pictures when the Internet gets switched over this week. Stay tuned...

The response

So it did get published in the paper, so check out the column.

In repsonse...

...to the amount of e-mail I've received, phone calls and personal inquires:

I am writing a blog (perhaps and column if all goes well) about McCain's running mate Alaskan Gov. Sarah Palin. My editor asked me if I wanted to, and I said yes. I'll post a link to it when it's published.

About a year ago

A Knoll's sunset.

About a year ago I was in New York finishing my internship at Men's Journal. Besides leaving my internship, I also said temporary goodbyes to to some really great people.

Before I flew to New York, I had know idea where I would live. I had contacted a few people on Craigslist, but nothing panned out. And there I was — less than a week until I had to get on a plane, and I didn't know where I was going.

I honestly don't know what I would've done if Steve and Karen hadn't asked Mark and Sue if I could live with them. When everything was finalized, and I had a place to live I was so grateful (and I can't express in words the relief my mom felt).

After I arrived and we all got to know each other, my summer went very well. Mark, Sue, Melinda, Liam, Aine and Caera welcomed me into their lives, and I don't think I could ever thank them enough. Sue and I mastered the art of baking angel food cakes, and we hiked the Appalachian Trail; Mark and I completed crossword puzzles, and we shared a love for Curb Your Enthusiasm; Melinda and Liam invited me to the beach house, and their daughter Aine didn't waste any time putting to work at whatever her next idea of fun was.

When I look at Sue and Melinda's blogs, I'm amazed at how much Aine and Caera have grown, and I can't wait to meet their new sister or brother who is on the way.

Thank you all for taking me in and making me feel like I belonged there. I hope I can return the favor some day.

What's your bet?

Moses weighed in at 44.5 pounds today...


Aspen weighed in at 64.5 pounds...

Right now he is almost as tall as she is, but the real question is...

When will he over take her?

Lions, and tigers, and bears

Oh my!

Quinn's here!

We're moving into our new place on Sunday. But for now, our current place is also a storage unit.

Quinn arrived Wednesday, and he already has a job. He will be working at The Ridge Tahoe in the spa. Now I'm living with two hermits who probably won't leave the top of Kingsbury since work is only a 15 minute walk away for them.

A short lived trip to the beach

I love when Tyler brings home specials! This is seared tuna with rice noodles, beet carpaccio and cucumber cardamom foam.

Tyler and I took Moses and Aspen to Nevada Beach to cool off in the lake on Sunday. The temperature has been in the 90s, so we thought it'd be fun to hang out the beach (aka the lake shore). It's been sunny every day since Memorial Day weekend, so we didn't pack coats or anything.

When we got there, a dark black cloud creeping over the mountain. We hung out for a bit, but it started to rain. We decided to get some grub and wait it out. Once we finished eating, the sun was back out and we all went back to the lake. Shortly after our second arrival, the clouds came back and big, heavy rain drops started falling. We then started moving toward the car when hail started to fall. Needless to say, we did get some beach time in, but not as much as we were hoping for.

Here's a visual account of the experience:

Last weekend

The aftermath of the puppies' romp through the campsite.

Unfortunately my camera battery died shortly after this picture was taken, so I don't have any more for photos. So for those of you who are visually oriented, I apologize.

This last weekend we went camping and explored Highway 4 and the Point Reyes area. On Monday we met up with Katie, Caleb and Mazie James in San Francisco (they were out here for a friend's wedding). It was great to see them again, especially Mazie because she's grown so much since June. We wanted to go to the Exploritorium, but to our dismay it was closed. We settled for a walk around the wharf, where we saw a creepy magician, sea lions and some fantastic landscape photography. All in all, it was a successfull trip — but as usual — way to short.

Did you get your plague vaccinations?

Tyler and I didn't realize this was going around...

Rib-off

The two rib-off competitors Tyler Hansen and Dan Thomas exchange friendly banter before the ribs are tasted.

One night my co-worker Dan Thomas and Tyler began a discussion on who could grill up better ribs — so it's only fair that a competition had to take place. Since Dan is from the South, he had a lot of Southern pride riding on his shoulders.


Mr. Thomas tries to impress the judges with some appetizers before the ribs are done.

So we invited everyone we knew, and since my mom was in town she made her potato salad. We all feasted on ribs, beans and potato salad until we couldn't pick up another rib. It was glorious.


Mr. Hansen places his three-day cured ribs in the smoker.

We declared the rib-off a tie, so now Dan and Tyler have a new challenge ahead of them: Wings.

Nap time