need to blog

Becky and I were talking about journaling last night...helps clear the mind, I think. Blogging is akin to journaling, which I save for all the crazy thoughts that one shouldn't make public :)

I think I need to start taking more days like yesterday- I ran off with the kids because of my lack of babysitter (thank frickin Goodness). We did our customary "explorer day". On our way to Snoqualmie Falls, we stopped at Lake Tyee & an AWESOME BBQ place that I will ABSOLUTELY revisit. It was a really fun day. Of course Lance decided to loose it (tired) when we got home, in order to bring me back to reality. It was fun while it lasted, though :) I even got to see Beckers last night. She is doing way too awesome, which is setting the bar really high for the rest of us when we encounter a mayor illness/disease/yuckiness/whatev. Everyone is gunna be like "we KNOW your finger hurts, Rachel- STOP WHINING, geez, Becky - I don't remember you whining this much when you had CANCER" See? It's going to make us look bad. :)

RUNNING LOG

4 mi- niiiiiice pace-

Sometimes you just need to get DiRty...

Well...I had a lot of plans today...and they all got thrown out the door because it was 60F and SUNNY outside today. Mother Nature was calling to me. We went on a nice walk with Papa, and then I gardened until the sun came down. Now all my garden needs is plants :)...That dose of Vitamin D was exactly what I needed...and the DIRT was amazing, hehe...I love the smell of dirt on your hands...

My favorite youngest student

This is Savannah....she's my youngest beekeeping student yet...and by far the BEST (the best youngest...I make no claims to have a single favorite student...I like them all equally). She MADE me the mason bee house in the picture above....AWESOME.....

why I've been slacking on the blog....

ya know guys....I don't know how to blog what's going on with me lately...there are no pictures to go with this...

I fell in love with this boy you all like, named Chet... and I've been spending almost every non-child, bee store moment -thinking about him :). So I apologize for all the sisterly slacking. I can't get enough of that boy...

I have been doing interesting things here and there...things that could have been blog worthy...so I will try to start this Momma back up - I would apologize for this hiatus....but I'm too happy.

RUNNING LOG

9.8 miles

Ignore these titles ppls- just for me to keep track- RUNNING LOG

RUNNING LOG - actual
1/15/09
3.7 mi - good pace - better pace up hills ***TIRED, MORE SLEEP***

RUNNING GOAL - next week

1/17/09 - SUN
9 mi - steady pace

1/19 - TUES
4 mi - fast pace - work on stride

1/21- THUR
6 mi - steady

1/23 - SAT
3 mi - periodic sprints

1/25 - MON
10 mi - steady pace

New Name

so I love how you all think I'm a raving hippie :) I'm keeping my first name, and keeping my middle intial...just spelling it right ;) So it's

Rachel Bee Tunnell

...........in 90 days

and then I'm getting Rachel Bee tattooed on my back :)))))

New name.....

My divorce will be final in about 90 days....can anyone guess what I'll be changing my name to? Winner gets a random new name related gift :) hehehe....

note: (because apparently I wasn't clear:) My name change will be because of a DIVORCE, and not because of a MARRIAGE...I'm sure it'll be awhile before I change it AGAIN ;)

runrunrun

hey I'm up to about 8 miles or so, is anyone going to do the marathon with me? Or relay it with someone else? I'd love someone to run with....

really quick blog entry

I'm really really happy.

Holly Jolly Christmas

Christmas was pretty stress free this year....I think it's been about 8 years since that has happened ;).....I love feeling the excitement the kids feel in the morning...

the kids made me a blanket with Grandma & the birdy fabric they remembered i love- I ADORE it :) and Luna made little ppl Momma and Luna...my kiddies are so sweet to me. Mom and Dad got me an awesome espresso pot (which makes AWESOME coffee, Mom- thanks for supporting my habit, lol), and Sarah gave me a book that I think was written with me in mind. Not pictured are my cozy bee slippers


This is Grandma's present from Luna- she was so excited to get this piece of corn! ;) and Mom....now we're even for the cleaning pic


Dad's nose flute...he's pretty talented with it


Santa brought Lance an electronics kit....he's so smart! He knew how much Lance loved Brandons...I kept finding Lance stowed away playing with it...he managed making a light and fan turn on by himself, but now I think he needs guidance....any techies want to come hang with Lancers?


Luna and I talked about Santa last night...do you know what ppl say?! That santa isn't real, that it's PARENTS that fill the stockings! Ridiculous, right?! Luna and I both think so...and it was confirmed in Luna's mind when he left her a pokemon with her stocking...I didn't have to ask her to pose for any pictures...

Uncle Mike kinda rocks.....

We rotate families every year for Christmas due to the massive number of ppl in the fam....the Veatches had the kids and I this year....and I must say- handmade gifts give me warm fuzzies :) Add Mike's expertise and WOW....



a wooden bike?!?! Really?! This is to help Lance learn to balance so that he can move onto a regular bike....You're amazing, Mike...



my gorgeous handmade mirror.....


Marshmallow guns!!!! So fun....caution to our next visitor...mwuahaha


Luna's "candy shelf"....hopefully it will become a knicknack shelf before she loses all her teeth...


Thanks, Veatches - we love you guys, and love love LOVE the gifts- I have warm fuzzies right now ;)

My Story (of the last 3 months.....)

Music has helped me through all this crap- so it's only fair that I should devote a play list to all this drama. The end is worth it :) I'll rename the titles as I see fit -for understanding purposes.

1) Evacuee (You're not worth it if you don't even like me- leave)
Taliesin Orchestra Maiden of Mysteries - The Music of Enya

2)We Can Work It Out (man up and fix yourself so we can still be a family)
The Beatles

3)I Don't Love You (I Don't Love You Anymore, Jerkoff)
My Chemical Romance

4)Turpentine (Wasted Time)
Brandi Carlile

5)All I Believe In (Trust Yourself)
The Magic Numbers & Amadou & Mariam

6)Sleep (this one goes out to Mike)
My Chemical Romance

7)Shut Up And Let Me Go (Stop Calling Me and Leave Me the FriG Alone!)
The Ting Tings

8)I Will Not Bow (my ringtone :)
Breaking Benjamin

9)Never Know (Word)
Jack Johnson

10)I'll Stand By You (Luna & Lance)
Pretenders

11)Help! (I need to move on)
The Beatles

12)London Calling (Escape!)
The Clash

13)Franklin (coming back...time to get on with it)
Paramore

14)Fireflies (Old Rachel's back)
Owl City

15)The Story (Empathy)
Brandi Carlile

16)Just Say Yes (" ")
Snow Patrol

17)Dreams (couldn't have even imagined)
The Cranberries

18)The Fever (SHE'S got the fever)
Bruce Springsteen

19)Such Great Heights (treehouse)
Iron & Wine

20)I Miss You ( I friggin miss you, Chet)
Incubus

Christmassy Dinner

lots of crazy and lots of food, lots of good company - hence all the smiling ;)





yah....there were lots of other ppl there....

a little MORE closure wouldn't hurt

No matter what age you are....burning stupid men's pictures makes you feel better......






and apparently burning things makes Amelia even wierder....

I'm SO in love!!!!

Sleepy Mommy and sweet boy Lancer





Lance took this pic, he's getting good

mmmm...drinkin water through your nose....




yup....I'm in love with Maggie's Buns in Forest Grove. It's amazing...it's decorated as if Maggie went garage saling to fill it up....LOVE IT!!!!! It doesn't hurt they have amazing cinnamon rolls that have to be shared by 2-3 ppl for $2. I think I would like to decorate my next house in this fashion...easy and AWESOME

Gerrit- I love you - but I give up!

The Awful German Language
by Mark Twain

I went often to look at the collection of curiosities in Heidelberg Castle, and one day I surprised the keeper of it with my German. I spoke entirely in that language. He was greatly interested; and after I had talked a while he said my German was very rare, possibly a "unique"; and wanted to add it to his museum.
If he had know what it had cost me to acquire my art, he would also have know that it would break any collector to buy it. Harris and I had been hard at work on our German during several weeks at that time, and although we had made good progress, it had been accomplished under great difficulty and annoyance, for three of our teachers had died in the mean time. A person who has not studied German can form no idea of what a perplexing language it is.
Surely there is not another language that is so slipshod and system less, and so slippery and elusive to the grasp. One is washed about in it, hither and thither, in the most helpless way; and when at last he thinks he has captured a rule which offers firm ground to take a rest on amid the general rage and turmoil of the ten parts of speech, he turns over the page and reads, "Let the pupil make careful note of the following exceptions to the rule then instances of it." So overboard he goes again, to hunt for another Ararat and find another quicksand. Such has been, and continues to be, my experience. Every time I think I have got one of these four confusing "cases" where I am master of it, a seemingly insignificant preposition intrudes itself into my sentence, clothed with an awful and unsuspected power, and crumbles the ground from under me. For instance, my book inquires after a certain bird-(it is always inquiring after things which are of no sort of consequence to anybody): "Where is the bird?" Now the answer is waiting in the blacksmith shop on account of the rain. Of course no bird would do that, but then you must stick to the book. Very well, I begin to cipher out the German for that answer. I begin at the wrong end, necessarily, for that is the German idea. I say to myself, "Regen (rain) is masculine -or maybe it is feminine-or possibly neuter-it is too much trouble to look now. Therefore, it is either der (the) Regen, or die (the) Regen, or das (the) Regen, according to which gender it may turn out to be when I look. In the interest of science, I will cipher it out on the hypothesis that it is masculine. Very well-then the rain is der Regen, if it is simply in the quiescent state of being mentioned, without enlargement or discussion-Nominative case; but if this rain is lying around, in a kind of general way on the ground, it is then definitely located, it is doing something- that is, resting (which is one of the German grammar's ideas of doing something), and this throws rain into the Dative case, and makes it dem Regen. However, this rain is not resting, but is doing something actively-it is falling-to interfere with the bird, likely-and this indicated movement, which has the effect of sliding it into the Accusative case and changing dem Regen into den Regen." Having completed the grammatical horoscope of this matter, I answer up confidently and state in German that the bird is staying in the blacksmith shop "wegen (on account of) den Regen." Then the teacher lets me softly down with the remark that whenever the word "wegen" drops into a sentence, it always throws that subject into the Genitive case, regardless of consequences-and that therefore this bird stayed in the blacksmith shop "wegen des Regens."

***Ok. Now I could keep typing, because Mark Twain ventures on with hilarious examples of the "Awful German Language"...but I think I've made my point. It's also my opinion that my English needs some improvement before I try to master another language...***

Day 4 - England Trip

So Mom completely ditched us Sunday...something about being "exhausted" and needing "rest". psssshhhhh (love ya Momma)

Gerrit and I gallivanted off to the bus in search of adventure. The weather in England was PRISTINE the entire trip- except Sunday. For about 4 hours we dodged torrential rains, then found ourselves at the Tower of London.
















It was a nice Gerrit/Rachel bonding day, haha