A palindrome

(i received this from a cousin...fascinating. I'm glad he shared with me and wanted to share it with you.)

Note that a 'palindrome' is a word, phrase, number or other sequence of units that can be read the same way in either direction (the adjustment of punctuation and spaces between words is generally permitted).

In this case, not only can the words be read in either direction (forward or backward) but the meaning is also an exact opposite. Actually, quite brilliant.

Be sure to watch it in it's entirety, both forward and backward.

Enjoy....

Granite Hot Springs

Since I have known Colby, he has told me all about this fabulous place. I never imagined it would be quite what it really was, and I know the pictures do not do it justice. The forest department has taken a natural hot spring and captured the 110 degree water into a partially manmade pool. The place is 15 miles off the road, so to get there most snow mobile, dog sled or cross country ski in. We took the snow mobiles. Even with partially frozen hair after the plunge, the experience was fantastic.

{click collages to enlarge}

small detour

Minus our little detour on our way to Wyoming, our week long vacation to Star Valley could not have been better. We always love when we are able to get out and visit family. Our original plan was to be in SV for Christmas, but after looking at plane tickets, we decided to forgo that option. One night at home, Colby was playing around on priceline. He looked at me with a scared face and exclaimed, "I just bought plane tickets to Wyoming." He had put in his info, thinking it impossible to actually be granted tickets, but we got them--great deal too!


Our flight there left from northwest arkansas regional airport, only 10 minutes from our house. We flew through Chicago with our final destination being Jackson Hole, wy. We arrived to Jackson 30 minutes early and were so excited, until the pilot suddendly pulled the plane back up after nearly landing. There was a snow storm and due to the large size of our plane we could not land until the runway had been cleared off more. Small planes were landing, but not us. We circled over Yellowstone for 2.5 hours (couldn't see anything except clouds though) before being redirected to SLC. Bummer. Because the conditions in Jackson were not improving the airline decided to send the plane back to Chicago (several hours later) because they needed the aircraft the next day. Passengers were told they could fly to Chicago then try to get on the Jackson flight the next day. Wow. Because it was weather related, the airline was not reimbursing any additional travel expenses. If we flew to Chicago, we would need a hotel and were not sure if we could even land in Jackson the following day. We felt bad for all the other passengers who were going to Jackson for skiing and had to lose out on hotel room reservations and ski lift passes they had already purchased. A man across the aisle from us actually ripped the armrest out of his chair because he was so mad. Lucky for us, we had no "real plans" and our vacation could be put on hold. We stayed in SLC with Aunt Malee that night, and rented a car to drive up to Idaho Falls the next day where we would meet the Heiners and go with them to Star Valley. The good side of all of this is we got to see Malee and I got to stop in real quick at Nordstrom!!

Needless to say, we were grateful to finally reach our final destination in Star Valley, 27 hours late.

Black piece is the armrest from the seat in front of it.

Merry Christmas

This Christmas was a little different for Colby and me in that we spent it in Arkansas, just the two of us. I was a little unsure about the idea at first, but after looking at plane tickets a while back to visit Wyoming for the holiday, I decided Arkansas would be just great. And really, it was. Actually, it was more than great. We spent Christmas Eve with some of our favorite people in Arkansas and have an afternoon/evening with food, games, conversation and even a little nativity by the kids and Colby. We left the party and headed home to a very quiet home and loved it. After watching movies and playing games opening Christmas PJs (thanks Mom and Dad), we went to crawl into bed around 12:00. I went to lock the front door and saw SNOW outside. I opened the door and could not believe my eyes. We were having a white Christmas. To most, including Colby, this was nothing noteworthy, but to me, this was bliss. It is my first White Christmas (that I can remember)!

Santa/Colby was very good to me this year. I have been drooling over several photography sites since beginning to plan our wedding 2 years ago and have really been wanting to have a nice camera of my own to see what I could do with one. Sensing my desire to have my own hobby, Colby got me a Canon t1i and I could not be happier with it! I had been wanting this for some time and Colby made it very clear that I would not be getting one for Christmas. I was prepared to not get it--until every gift I opened was camera related--HC memory cards, tripod, SLR camera case, etc. But, I came to the end of my pile and there was no camera. I was slightly confused until Colby dragged (almost literally) me into the bedroom to make the bed and I saw it sitting on the bed. I started to cry. I love it and can't wait to learn everything about it! I know Christmas is not all about gifts, but this made for a great day. I am grateful for a great husband who understands me and supports me in my new hobby.

After gifts, we had a Jergensen traditional Christmas breakfast, omelets! They were delicious and accompanied by a phone call from Mitch in France. We wrapped the afternoon up with a trip to the theater to see Sherlock Holmes.

Christmas was wonderful being here in Arkansas. We missed our families but luckily get to see both families shortly before and after Christmas. Thanks everyone for helping make our Christmas wonderful.

christmas eve


snow

omelet sous chef

Jergensen Visit

Since Colby and I were unable to visit family for either Thanksgiving or Christmas, and we just moved into a new home, my family came out to visit on a quick weekend trip the beginning of December. We loved having them here and showing them our home in NWA! We toured way too many Walmart places, played several rounds of scattergories, ate good food (depending who you ask...), napped, and just enjoyed being together. Thanks for a fun time!