Rabbit Food

Lately I have been having so much fun learning what I can about cooking. Maybe once people get to the point where they are amenable to marriage some sort of nesting instinct kicks in. Or maybe I'm just competitive and fully realize that it's going to take a lot of practice time for me to get to the epicurean level that MJ is at. Anyway, I am pretty much starting out with zero previous experience. It was in no way my mom's fault that I never learned - I was just never interested before now. At the rate I'm going I will probably end up (dare I say it?) begging her to teach me to sew next year.
If anyone has some recipes they would like to share I would be very interested in trying them. I just found one on-line for turnips. I’ve never even considered cooking them before, I've always thought of them as a vegetable that showed up in Beatrix Potters’ books – sought after by wayward rabbits looking for a free meal.

This weekend:

yurt -
noun

a circular domed dwelling that is portable and self-supporting; originally used by nomadic Mongol and Turkic people of central Asia but now used as inexpensive alternative or temporary housing .

Also - a great place to ski to with friends in Idaho for those that are in need of a sunny break from cold, grey, wet, polluted Boise.

Yurt Fever...

From left to right the clearly delirious "yurters" - Josh, Cori, Robyn, Jason, MJ, and me

"In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer."
-Albert Camus

Loving Life, Family, Friends & the New Year

I keep promising pictures and not delivering. My apologizes… I have now come to realize that I don’t have any pictures from Christmas. I wasn’t thinking about capturing the moments, I was too busy reveling in them. I have only my words to describe the events.

A few days before Christmas I was able to meet a few more members of MJ’s family at an early Christmas party with his aunt, uncle and cousins on his mom’s side. It was interesting to meet them all after hearing so much about them from MJ’s uncle Mike and Peggy. Watching their excitement at being together and planning another reunion in the mountains at the wedding this summer was a highlight of the season. There were so many kids running around that I lost count and track of which child belonged to whom. They were all so high on the excitement of Christmas and having so many playmates to share the excitement with – they whipped themselves into a frenzy running back and forth between new toys and their parents and aunts and uncles. I was honored that evening to receive my “something old” from my future mother-in-law – a vintage heart shaped locket that she had gotten from her mother. Tears ensued as always when she and I spend any amount of time together talking about anything not completely devoid of emotion. I definitely inherited this perplexing ability to tear up on cue from my own mother. Peggy was able to be in Boise for over a week. We spent as much time as we could with her and Jennifer and “Uncle” as they call Peggy’s brother Mike.

Scott & Angie and Kathy & Joe got in Christmas Eve week from Eugene and Indianapolis respectively and were here until New Years Eve. After spending a really cozy Christmas in town with Grandma and Granddad we headed for the Headrick Cabin in Garden Valley. We skied a couple times, but had to concede that the snow was melting faster than it was falling. There were a few midnight sledding sessions after partaking in a few too many glasses of wine, there was the annual Headrick Family Men vs. Women Shuffleboard Tournament, there was a family band night jam session (shorter this year than in years past), there was a lot of “really good Pinnacle” played, and there was some fabulous food as a new tradition took root. Mom decided since we have all taken an interest in cooking that this year each couple should have a night to cook. It turned out to be the highlight of the week. I think I gained about 5 pounds, but can truly say that it was worth all the extra running I am going to have to do this month to burn it off.

After everyone left we went to the MPC Computer’s Bowl to watch Miami scrape one by Nevada. It was a close game, but it was so cold that we spent most of in my company’s tent in the end zone. They had food and drinks along with the essential heater and television. We then went on a journey of downtown with our good friends Celinda and Isaac celebrating the New Year as we made our way back home. The next day we experienced the greatest college football bowl game ever played as we watched completely stunned as our beloved Broncos beat my Grandma’s home state Sooners in the Fiesta Bowl. It was the perfect bookend to an amazing couple of weeks.

Tomorrow morning we will embark on another adventure. We are skiing into a back country yurt around Banner Ridge. I won’t promise that I will post pictures… but I’ll promise to revel in the experience and share it here in words if not in pictures.

I hope you are living life to its fullest and enjoying every drop.

Wedding Plans

Hello Friends and Family,

We hope that everyone had a peaceful, healthy and happy holiday season. It was fabulous to get to spend time with everyone that came to Boise and Garden Valley to visit. We even got a bit of skiing in between rain showers. It was also pretty great to watch the boys from Boise State introduce Cinderella to Lady Liberty in Arizona on Monday (sorry for those of you in Norway, Australia and India - I'll explain later).

There has been a lot of confusion as to our wedding plans, so we thought we should clarify for you all exactly what will be taking place. Our ceremony will be near Stanley at Petit Lake on Wednesday, July 18 at 4pm. It is not our intention to exclude anyone from attending. If you would like to be there please join us. We do, however, want to make sure that everyone understands that this will be a very short informal event at a mountain lake with little to no amenities. In other words, there will be no formal “after party." The bride and groom may just decide to disappear into the Sawtooths for a quick hike into solitude after the ceremony. When the invitations go out in the spring they will be for the reception and not for the wedding. We will try to have someone record the event for posterity and those of you that would like to be there but are unable to attend.

Our reception will be at Terrace Lakes on Saturday, July 21 at 6pm. Terrace Lakes is in Garden Valley just outside of Crouch, Idaho and is roughly 1 hour north of Boise and 2 hours west of Stanley. Terrace Lakes has an RV Park, a few small cabins and motel rooms for rent – www.terracelakes.com (208)463-3250. There is a motel in Garden Valley which is about 15 minutes from Terrace Lakes– www.gardenvalleymotel.com. There is plenty of camping available in the surrounding Boise National Forest - www.fs.fed.us/r4/boise/. There are also a lot of cabins available for rent – www.idahovacationcabins.com. Links to other lodging options and more information about the Crouch/Garden Valley area at the website www.gardenvalleyidaho.net.

All of this information is available on our wedding website – www.headrickandjohnston.weddings.com. We hope that this will put an end to all of the confusion and that we see you all this summer (hopefully sooner).

Take care, Michael & Michelle

In Ian We Trust...

I promise to write about the holidays and post pictures soon, But first things, first. I just became a huge Florida fan for the next week. Because I am still hoarse from last night’s game, and have no words left of my own... I'll borrow from Pat Forde, the only sports writer that has written a novel I actually own.

"GLENDALE, Ariz. -- At the end of a game unlike any college football has ever witnessed, two of the great female icons in American culture staged a harmonic, hypnotic, borderline hallucinogenic convergence.

Boise State introduced Cinderella to Lady Liberty.

A head-to-toe, shining-beacon-to-glass-slipper miracle ensued."

Enough said.

Cosmic Birthday Bash!

MJ had a birthday on Saturday. We went bowling and a great time was had by all. Jennyfer is going to send me some pictures and I will post them soon. Happy 28th Michael!

Fiesta, baby!

Can you say BCS for BSU? OK, logistically there is a pretty good chance that we will get trounced, but I believe. I believe that Zabranski has worked out all of his "issues" after our disasterous game at Georgia last year. I believe that this is a much better team than the one that just barely lost to Louisville in the Liberty Bowl two years ago. I believe the Ian Johnson is the best running back in the nation. I believe we beat Oregon State (actually, truth be told we trounced 'em) and they in turn beat USC (ranked second in the nation). I believe we deserve the Fiesta Bowl, regardless of all the nay sayers out there that make fun of our Smurf turf and "soft" schedule. I believe in the Broncos, and at 12-0 I think they've already proven me right.

Thanksgiving Puppy...

I cooked the turkey for the first time this year and although I over-cooked it, I think it turned out OK. I may even do it again. MJ helped me brine it the night before and I think that saved it from getting too dried out. It was a learning experience, anyway. We had dinner at Grandma and Granddad's. Jennifer, Dorothy, Pablo, Mom and Dad were all there and we had phone calls from Indianapolis, Eugene & Stavanger, Norway. Here are some pics from the weekend... my turkey, MJ & I's self portrait, and the newest addition to the family... Ono. Ono is Jennifer's new puppy... the cutest little guy... it will be fun to see how Ripley, Riggs and B.B. react to their new "cousin."
The rest of the weekend I painted out spare room in an attempt to turn it into MJ's den. If I ever get done with that project I will post some pictures. At this point I have my doubts.

wedding website version 1.0

Our wedding website is officially up and running for the curious. Please excuse any gramatical errors and lack of information. Love and Happy Thanksgiving to all, -M

http://headrickandjohnston.weddings.com

Gobble Gobble!

A few of the things I am thankful for:

My family- old and new… how cool is it that when you decide to get married your family doubles instantaneously? And you actually love your future mother-in-law? And how cool is it when your sister and brother become your closest friends? I still get to see my grandparents on a regular basis, and they are the most fabulous people I know. My mom is incredibly loving and creative and talented - hard at work on my wedding dress. My dad has made sure our reception is set to go at Terrace Lakes. My family is coming here from half way across the world (Norway and hopefully India) to see me get married. I could go on and on…

My friends- amazing, amazing people that light up my life in so many ways. Things change so quickly in your thirties. Parents die, people get married, have children, get divorced, grow apart, people move away. It is so good to know that there are so many people on my side if I need them. The Bunco girls, the Girl’s Night ladies, friends from college, friends from elementary school. Luck doesn’t begin to describe it.

My dogs- old and new… as much as I joke about getting rid of one of them, I have to say that having three dogs has its advantages… and having three adorable creatures wag their tails ecstatically when I walk in the door is defiantly high on that list, even if they do occasionally get into the garbage. And dig holes in the back yard. And knock stuff over. And get mud all over the floors. And jump up on our guests when they clearly know better. And chase the cat. The tail wagging is good though… really it is…

My kitty cat Cairo Gyro a.k.a. Shaq- People say that cats are not loyal like dogs are, but I disagree. Cairo had to have been pretty far away for him to finally venture home after a year and a half. Now that is devotion! I’m so glad he came home. It wouldn’t be fall unless I had that cat curled up on my lap purring the night away. Even if he does hate dogs now!

My co-workers – Somehow all of the men I work with here in computer geek lumber land turned out to be like brothers, and my boss is like a second dad. I couldn’t ask for a better group of people to work with.

My health- Something that I will never take for granted again. For so many reasons.

Michael – For being on a constant hunt for music that he thinks I might like, for always believing in me in a way that no one ever has, for being my sounding board, for never going more than a few weeks without bringing me flowers, for putting up with my mood swings, for learning all the BCS standing stats so we can talk football, for his amazing culinary skills, for wagging his tail when I walk through the door, for everything. I’m so thankful that he had no idea what he got himself into when he asked me to marry him.

Red Fish Lake

P.P.S.
For those of you coming to the wedding start thinking about sleeping arrangements for Stanley. We will need to make our reservations on January 2. I am hoping to get the Save the Date cards out this month. Here is the website... www.redfishlake.com
Can't wait to see you all next summer! It looks like we may have people there from four different continents!!!

Sweet Novemeber

Sorry that I haven’t been writing much. My race went as well as can be expected for the amount of training I did, which was just about none. I did beat my old time, and am looking forward to the YMCA Christmas Run in December. I’m back in the gym most of the week except Saturdays now that the trails are staying soggy with the typical Boise November weather.

School is going well. I am trying to decide how many classes to take next semester. I don’t want to over do it, but I feel like I am not making very much progress right now taking one class a semester.

Tonight after spinning (side note: uggh… spinning is a lot tougher than I remember it being) my grandma, mom, and friend Celinda and I are going to look at wedding dress patterns. I think I have a basic idea of what I want, but it will be fun to be with women that are so important to me when I make the final decision.

I think we found a photographer and I am so excited. He is a friend of MJ’s that he rock climbs with and his photos have been in Ski and Outside magazine. I think his work is incredible and really hope that it works out. We wanted something out of the ordinary and Todd will definitely fit that bill.

The dogs are getting a bit stir crazy with all of the rain we have been getting this month. I won’t let them into any rooms in the house except the dinning room and it drives them crazy. A couple of times they actually knocked down the baby gates we set up to keep them corralled. When all three of them get going there isn’t much we can do to stop them. Yesterday I was painting the hallway and I could hear them whining most of the afternoon. I felt bad, but not bad enough to let them in with their muddy paws. Hopefully we’ll get some snow for them to play in soon. I can’t wait to start skiing. Although, we have had such a warm month so far that I have my doubts that will happen anytime soon.

MJ is plugging away with school and work as well. We are hopeful that the new funding that Idaho is putting into the nursing programs will help him get in soon.

I hope that all is well with everyone. Lots and lots of love to you all, and don’t forget to VOTE! –M

P.S. The Broncos are 8-0!

Weekend of Competition

Tomorrow morning I am running Barber to Boise. This is the first race I am running to prepare for The Race to Robie Creek. Last year I completed my goal (run it without stopping), but got bursitis in my hip. I think the bursitis struck because I train in the foothills on sand. Barber to Boise is along the river on the greenbelt which is paved. I’m hoping for better results this year, although I must confess I couldn’t convince myself to train on asphalt. It’s too nice in the foothills and I’ve grown attached to my favorite trails. There is nothing on the flat that compares to huffing and puffing your way up a vertical and having the view of the city below you as reward for making it to the top. The air is cleaner and crisper. The city looks peaceful and green. My goal this year is to beat last year’s time, although I don’t remember what my time was. I suspect that I’ll know when I cross the finish line whether I made it or not. It’s so true what they say… running is 10% physical and 90% mental. Bring it on.

After my race Michael and I are headed to the cabin to watch the BSU/ Idaho rivalry played out on the big screen with a bunch of our friends. It looks as if Idaho may have a chance at a bowl game this year… stranger things have happened. I’m a bit torn having grown up a Vandal fan, but becoming a BSU alum… that being said I have to predict that Boise will probably win this one.

October:

...consistently wet & muddy dogs… dark beer & red wine… football… wool socks… long afternoon drives… trees that look as if they’ve been lit up from within… hikes into the foothills as the sun sets… cinnamon scented candles… an extra blanket on the bed… pumpkins, hay bales and corn stalks… bright sunny days and cold dark nights… consistently wet & muddy dogs… fallen leaves crunching beneath my bicycle tires… purple and orange winter pansies… getting out the winter coats… soup and hearty homemade bread… corduroy… card games at the kitchen table… a mug of hot spiced tea… rain boots and sweaters… consistently wet & muddy dogs.

Candid pictures of the family from Kathy's wedding last summer...

Petit Lake

I think we’ve got the wedding nailed down. It amazes me how involved people get into this stuff. I’ve come to realize over the past few weeks that weddings are not about the couple, they are about their family and friends. I would have been happy jumping on a plane and getting it done on a remote beach somewhere, but I think this compromise will work out really well. It should be a great time for everyone. We are lucky to have so many people that love us so much.

We are going to have a small, short wedding ceremony for family only at Petit Lake near Stanley on or around July 18 which is a Wednesday. Petit is a mountain lake, but the road is really well maintained and shouldn’t be a problem for those of you in rental cars. After the ceremony we will have everyone at a cabin we are renting at Red Fish Lake for dinner. There is plenty of camping, cabins for rent, and a lodge with inexpensive rooms available in the area. I will send out this information again in December, or with the save the date cards. Everyone attending the ceremony and staying the night (it's about 2-1/2 hours from Boise) will need to make reservations at Red Fish the first week of January because of the popularity of the area. On July 21 we will have a reception at Terrace Lakes with all of our friends and family. I will send out lodging information for Terrace when I send the information for Stanley.

I’ve posted a few pictures of Petit. We went up the weekend before last to scope things out. It is absolutely one of the most breath-taking places on the planet. Ripley had a great time getting her swim on. We're already trying to figure out what we are going to do with all three dogs during all of the wedding stuff... might have to put them in doggie jail.

Love to you all! –M

Help the Fight Against Blood Cancers!

My company is pushing hard this month to raise as much money as we can to fight blood cancers. After watching what Teb and her family went through in her battle and having a brief scare myself I have declared war against any and all types of cancer. If you happen to have an extra $5 or $10 it would be much appreciated. You can donate through the secure site online I've listed below. MJ and I are going to be participating in the Light the Night Walk a week from today. I'll post pictures of the event afterwards. Love to you all! -M


http://www.active.com/donate/ltnDenver2/1782_mheadrick

Labor Day Weekend Photos

MJ sneaked this pic when I wasn't paying attention... I want a front porch and a swing at home...

Beautiful Lake Walcott at twilight


MJ enjoying the view from our tiny cabin


That little red dot up there toward the top... that's MJ... it was just another day of climbing for him... I was scared out of my mind watching him. This was "Wheat Thin" at City of Rocks and was actually the easier of the two climbs he did the day we were there.

Sandwich Thieves and Champagne

This morning I woke up with a slight headache that I have been nursing for the past three days. It has settled down from searing pain to an annoyingly constant dull ache on one side of my brain. Trying to ignore it I grabbed the lunch I made the night before out of the fridge and set it in my bag to take to work. While I looked around for my bike lock our sneaky dog Riggs, ignoring the carrot sticks decided to help himself to my sandwich. I was a little bit peeved at his mischievousness and may have done a wee bit of yelling. After explaining to MJ why I had woken him up while expressing my displeasure at Riggs in what I would hesitate to describe as an indoor voice I grabbed my now lighter bag and headed put the door to go to work… sandwich-less. I had started to wheel my bike to the front of the house when I discovered that the back tire was completely flat. Needless to say another bit of yelling may have occurred. I can’t take my car to work on Wednesdays because I have to get to BSU on my lunch hour for class and to the yoga studio downtown after work and parking at both locations is virtually non-existent. Anyhoo… MJ, with his trademark before-coffee-yawns and half-open eyes, helped fix my tire while assuring an almost hysterical me that he would make another sandwich and drop it off at my work. He then sent me on my way and I seriously doubt that he was sad to see me finally go. He did indeed fulfill his pledge to bring me a sandwich this afternoon… along with it was a bouquet of gorgeous flowers. I have the best fiancée in the city… no… the world… yup, the world.


Riggs, our resident sandwich thief

So… an update… let’s see… hmmm… it’s crazy because I feel like I can’t catch my breath, yet I don’t know why exactly I have been so busy. Work has been absolutely insane, I have been working late every night. Month end is always bad for me as lots of people need extra reports sent out. Both Michael and I started school a couple of weeks ago, and that of course entails a lot of studying in the evening. We went to Southern Idaho - Lake Walcott and the City of Rocks this weekend for Labor Day. I’ll post pictures of that trip later in the week, we had a great time. It’s been way too smoky from all of the forest fires to run, so I have gotten really behind with my training. I just can’t get myself to go to the gym before December, but the air quality is rated red which is bad… the Boise schools even canceled outdoor athletics for the week. My aunt Jan is here from Norway and I haven’t made it up to Grandma's to see her yet. We’ve always been close and I’m really excited to catch up with her and have her meet MJ.

I made dinner last night. I am expanding my culinary horizons… so I made champagne risotto with scallops which actually turned out pretty good. If anyone wants the recipe let me know. The best part was that I got to drink champagne while cooking it, although that may not have been the best thing for this on-going headache.

I hope that everyone is well and getting all that they can out of life. Love to you all, -M