um, i changed my blog background. feelings, reactions? and i, in the process, lost all my links to other blogs, who can remind me how to put them back in again? Becca? Laura?

I am battling the fear of the unknown again, the abyss of life that I must face and fill, Lord help me. What employment will I have next year? What will I do after next year? What do I want to do? What should I do? What color should I dye my hair next? What if I end up alone forever? Should I go to school, travel, or do something equally beneficial that I haven't thought of yet? The list of questions goes on indefinitely... Ack!! Will this ever get easier? Shoot, another question! I have so much to learn still, so much I don't even know I don't know. The only thing that is keeping me from keeling over in a fit of convulsions is the mantra that keeps running through my head from the lyrics of Derek Webb, unoriginal yet profound, Do not be afraid. Do not be afraid. Do not be afraid. Do not be afraid. These words compel me forward into the future, compel me to have a little bit more faith, a little bit more trust, and a little bit more contentment in the place I currently occupy.

La La La La Laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Hello!! I am blogging!! My Job is CRAAAAZZZZZYYYYY!!! but here are some things that make it okay:

1. When children come to help make and serve lunch and are so so so cute and get excited about grating cheese and give everyone teaspoon sized portion of applesauce.
2. When children staying here have birthdays and I get to carry them around and draw elmo's on their birthday cakes.
3. When my favorite old timer comes in and raves about my peach cobbler and biscuits
4. When my boss says things like 'you must be busier than a one-legged man in a butt kicking contest' or 'what in the name of seven billy goats gruff'
5. When I get 13 hours of sleep
6. When Jose does the dishes
7. When I understand some spanish
8. When we have a spontaneous dance party in the storage room, with the beat box of none other than Rachel Moore-Bietler
9. When Muck and Nora sing the State song
10. Really when I am with any of my co-workers who are the most fantastic people ever
11. When a guest of age 2 wears his batman cape and hood everyday and struts like nobodys business and protects us all from evil doers.


Also, I know I talk about how cold it is all the time, BUT, it is amazing how you aclimitize and how, walking to work this morning, I didn't need my mittens because it was 15 degrees out instead of -15. shocking.

This week in Christa's head: random and obscure Disney songs!!! I don't know where they are coming from or how they got there, but they are stuck in my head permanently!! Currently, 'sing sweet Nightingale' from Cinderella. Who ever thought that I would sing 'Sleigh Ride' on purpose, to cleanse the palette of my mind.

Other interesting things of the week: I have had two very vivid detective dreams where I was solving a mystery or crime related to or committed by one of my relatives. p.s. never read 'A People's History of the United States' before bed, I had a horrible nightmare with lots of people being tortured to death (I had read the chapter on Columbus).

There is a tree in my front yard that i love. I admit, at first I thought it the ugliest stumpiest tree I had ever seen for it lacks the graceful limbs of a birch or the stolid sense of eternity given off by a giant oak. Instead, all of its branches rise out of its base, each one looking twisted, gnarly, and somewhat malicious, an abomination of a tree as it cannot hold a treehouse, cannot bear a swing, and cannot provide any shade. But, one day I noticed that a flock of birds lives in this tree. They all roost down in the branches, completely invisible to the outside world until you walk past, disturbing their meditative perch, and they all fly from the tree as a collective force. Its one of my favorite things to witness. So now I love the tree; it is still ugly but it is graced by many sweet little birds. I am sure some metaphor for life can be extracted from this picture but I will just leave it at my pleasure in watching the daily happenings of my neighbors in the ugly tree.

I copied this from USA Today, it has the Highs and Lows in Temps in the States, um, just check out how many times in the past ten days that Alamosa, thats right, my new hometown, has been the coldest place in the States (not counting Alaska)....thats 6 out of 10 days my friends...never in my life have I used hat, scarf, and mittens as a funtional clothing item rather than just fashion, here they are a necessity!! It was only 11 degrees when I was running errands around town at 10 this morning, thats without the wind chill.

January 10
High:
Lows: -56 at Chandalar Lake, Alaska (contiguous 48 states: -14 at Alamosa, Colo.) as of 8 a.m. ET
January 9
Highs: 87 at Anaheim, San Juan Canyon and San Gabriel, Calif.
Lows: -49 at Tanana, Alaska (contiguous 48 states: -10 at Alamosa, Colo.)
January 8
Highs: 88 at Fullerton, Los Angeles and Santa Ana, Calif.
Lows: -49 at McGrath and Sleetmore, Alaska (contiguous 48 states: -12 at Alamosa, Colo.)
January 7
Highs: 85 at Daytona Beach, Naples and Punta Gorda, Fla.
Lows: -45 at McGrath and Sleetmore, Alaska (contiguous 48 states: -21 at Boulder, Wyo.)
January 6
High: 86 at Fort Myers, Fla.
Lows: -50 at Stoney River, Alaska (contiguous 48 states: -20 at Craig, Colo.)
January 5
High: 88 at Laredo, Texas
Lows: -47 at McGrath and Sleetmore, Alaska (contiguous 48 states: -10 at West Yellowstone, Mont.)
January 4
Highs: 83 at Fort Myers, Naples and Punta Gorda, Fla.
Lows: -46 at Nuiqsut, Alaska (contiguous 48 states: -7 at Alamosa, Colo.)
January 3
Highs: 86 at Kona, Hawaii (contiguous 48 states: 85 at Fort Myers, Punta Gorda and Naples, Fla.)
Lows: -47 at Nuiqsut, Alaska (contiguous 48 states: -13 at Alamosa, Colo.)
January 2
Highs: 85 at Kalaeloa, Hawaii (contiguous 48 states: 83 at Marathon, Miami and Pembroke Pines, Fla.)
Lows: -47 at Nuiqsut, Alaska (contiguous 48 states: -10 at Alamosa, Colo., and Farson, Wyo.)
January 1
Highs: 84 at Kahului, Hawaii (contiguous 48 states: 82 at Marathon, Opa Locka, Pembroke Pines and Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)
Lows: -46 at Nuiqsut, Alaska (contiguous 48 states: -15 at West Yellowstone, Mont.)

Today I played at the church I have been going to (off and on), sacrificing a trip to Taos (which has a really good Thai restaurant, bummer) to go to church but this first rehearsal was supposed to be my audition/try out but they liked me so much they just let me play today. sweet. except one song got messed up, i re-tuned after it at the behest of the director but i swear it wasn't me, but the singers who were slowly getting sharper and sharper as they sang accapella. for real. but over all, the experience was not as scary as i anticipated and though they aren't the greatest players, their enthusiasm is contagious. and i still really like the pastor. maybe playing in services will make my church attendence a little more consistant, its just so hard to get to know people....

imitation is the highest form of flattery....

I am totally stealing this idea from the blogs of other more blogerific people, who, in honor of the new year, looked back on their blogging in reflection of all that has past in the year 2006. So, I recount for you the first sentence of the first blog of each month in 2006. ahem.

January: So last night i went to a concert with my Aunt and Cousin.

February: i am feeling bloggish

March:no posts, none at all

April:so it has been almost a month since my last blog. an awful month.

May: i love rainy days.

June: Hello Friends! I am now in the beautiful city of Prague, just having completed our first full day.

July: Last tuesday we went to this amazing pool and it has this incredible slide and no lifeguard so we can do whatever we want.

August: I am unpacking and my computer has crashed horribly. like it won't turn on and it sounds like a little man is trapped inside trying to get out. oh well.

September:So yesterday a man who had worked and lived at the shelter died.

October: This is my, um, third blog attempt.

November: I am reading a book about women empowerment (or somethingalong those lines) and suddenly I am reminded of my childhood self, in that i am ready to fight, ready to challenge, and generally my level of mischeivious inclination has greatly increased.Interesting

December: Last night was the charity ball and it was interesting and fun (mainly because the volunteers were all together).

The end.
Not so specacular. my first attempt, i accidently posted all the first sentances of my last postings of each month, seesh, but actually they were a lot more interesting. oh well, for the sake of the project I stayed true to the formula.

look out for the best photos of 2006....

i am back from vacation with the family. it was pretty much exactly what i needed, lots of quiet, games, movies, reading, sleep, and snow. and now I am back in Alamosa and I am thinking things like, I need to change something in my current lifestyle in order to survive, but I just don't know what that change is exactly, maybe more time to myself to read and reflect or __________(fill in the blank) and that i really really missed the people here when I was gone. I feel like I am still in such a transitional state (possibly because I am changing houses in less than a month) but also because I only have a vague idea of my future. i guess thats okay, i just feel a bit restless or unsettled.


this new form of blogger doesn't seem to want me to put up pics, i will post some when i figure out how.

the end.

Birthday Spa Pictures:





Christmas Party elf pictures (do you see how many costumes we had to make!!!)

well, its official, I am a prime number again. To tell the truth, I do feel immensely smarter now that I am 23. I really really like the number 23. and you know I haven't been prime since 19 and won't be again until 29. So I am going to savor this 23. I can't explain why but I think this could be my favorite number. fo' real.

so my birthday was made fantastic by my Alamosa crew, they did a home spa theme, hilarious, we watched movies, the Bell girls made me breakfast of banana chocolate chip pancakes and we went out to dinner. Carman (my house mate) took me on a surprise road trip to Monte Vista where we went to Mudpuppies and he bought me coffee and beautiful yarn of my choice!!! Hooray!! It was lovely. and then it snowed. :) Thank you for the lovely apron Katrina, the cello strings mom and dad, the fun calender, Amy, and all the lovely cards.

I cannot wait to see my family. only a few days more, hopefully, hopefully the snow storm won't prevent me from getting to Denver.

Well the week of holiday insanity is over and I have but to glide through this next week until (!!!) I (!!!) see (!!!) my(!!!) FAMILY(!!woot!!). I cannot wait. Our cocktail party gig last night went really well, though my exhaustion and my depreciated thinking power after eight PM caught up with me a bit in the last ten minutes of playing. It was really swanky, but with neat people (they invited us to try all the cheese and wine they had set out and several really nice people talked with us), mostly doctors. And their house was this great little cottage with bright yet tasteful wall colors and really great art. Also, there is nothing like playing Bach and overhearing operation discussion ('Did it puncture through to the bone?') And though we were playing for free (because they bought us at the Charity Ball auction) they gave both of us a $50 tip!!!!!! Hooray!!! But, interestingly enough, you know you have had a change in lifestyle when you have $50 of free spending money and you can't think of anything you really really want or need. I mean last year I would be off to anthropologie in a hot second. but I think I am going to use it to buy fruit and veggies, because that is an indulgence I usually cannot afford. I either eat at the shelter or eat peanut butter and honey. This change in perspective is also noted by my appreciation of another delicacy, cheese. I love cheese, but it is so expensive. I ate a bit of Stilton and Brie last night. yum yum.

After playing, Joelle and I went to fort night where we played games, built and slept in a fort of our own construction with all the volunteers. I already have an architectural design in my head for my new living room. Because la puente owns it I am planing to install some eye hooks in the living room that will be suitable for assisting in sturdy fort building. oh yes. oh yes.





and tomorrow is my birthday and I am planning to wear my super hero cape all freakin' day long.

It is crazy busy here in Alamosa, I think we finished all the elf costumes we had to make, now I just have to get through two music gigs, a giant christmas party with santa for 400 kids, and then FORT NIGHT (aka making forts, yes!!!!) I am super excited and cannot believe that I have been so lucky as to find a group of people as passionate about forts as I am, I mean truly, it is a miracle. I should do a sociological study, looking for a correlation between those who are service oriented and those who have an affinity for fort making. interesting...Pretty much everyday this week has required jumping from one activity to the next, I have made so many lists to keep my head on straight because every morning when i leave the house i pretty much have to take everything i need. so today that inculdes a change of clothes, my cello, music, and a pie recipe. and a little dash of sanity I have stored away for weeks such as this. For all the choas of this week, next week has no programed activites (except for a viewing of little miss sunshine, a hair dying session, MY BIRTHDAY, dinner at the brew pub, and finishing making Christmas presents) cool, so i take that back, still really busy. I can't wait for vacation!!!

i have received some birthday packages and cannot decide whether or not to open them......

Today at work there was a little girl who said she could speak english, spanish, and chinese. I said 'Chinese? really, wow, say something in Chinese for me' She responded, 'Chopstick. Lo Mein. and Beef and Broccoli.'

So the saga of not enough hours in the day continues....last night after work Rachel picked me up and I recorded a cello bit to one of her songs that she was recording with Aaron (recording is interesting, you are hear all your mistakes), anyway we stayed until one AM and then hot footed it out to the country where she was house sitting and went to sleep only to find the morning came all too soon. after a quick sip o' coffee i am back at work...and already wanting this day to be over. but after work I have scheduled craft time and open mic night. i definately need a nap. something fun, though, this morning i learned how to make sopapillas, and thus my mexican cuisine knowledge continues to expand....

In response to Lauren's blog, which has no place to comment:

I miss you both so so so much!!!

Dad, you would be so proud, yesterday we played football in the park and I am not lying when I say that some of my throws drew gasps of admiration, yes, it is true, your early lessons of football throwing are still rooted within my being. It was a fantastically fun game (we played an hour and a half) and we had wildly creative plays with great names like the 'double rainbow statue of liberty with fake handoff' or 'the rainbow post' or'tic-tac-toe' or the 'flea flicker'. Our team name was the saber tooth tigers. I don't even know who won, but I do know that we had a fantastic trickery fake out at the end. Kelsea hid my frisbee under her fleece, and after she said hike, she wipped out the disc, tossed it to John while the rest of us spread across the field in rainbow formation and John threw the disc to Muck, who was in the end zone, scoring a ridiculously fabulous goal!! HOORAY!! alas, the other team was very confused and footbal soon dissipated into an enthusiastic, though short lived, game of four on four ultimate. I still got my frisbee moves, even pulling out a highly successful hammer. yes sir, It was a fine day of organized sports.


after that we had hot cocoa, went to the director of La Puente's home for cookie decorating and christmas movies, and then went to Weekends Bar for birthday Karoke for Rachel, where I conquered fears of singing in public and sang, with Rachel, Dixie Chicks 'Long Time Gone' John Denvers 'Annie Song' and Lady Marmalade's 'Moulin Rougue' it was ridiculous. and i played pool. it was fun. and today is a day of magnificent crafting and christmas present making (my room looks as if my craft box vomited its contents all over the place. its fantastic)

and that is a play by play of my weekend thus far. the end.

and lastly, a snow picture...

Last night was the charity ball and it was interesting and fun (mainly because the volunteers were all together) There was a dinner(Highlight: Kelsea finding crayons and a toy mini moses in a tree, we colored on our programs), than an auction(Highlights: Carman and Muck imitating the auctioner and listening to yourself being auctioned off (I was part of two of the auction packages, dinner and musical concert went for $375 and wine and musical concert went for $300)), and then some dancing (I was first on the dance floor) and I was home by 11:15 and went to bed, only after trying on my new running shoes I ordered online (from steepandcheap.com, thanks Jon!!) Overall, it was a fun evening and now a jam packed weekend is ahead, with two rounds of christmas cookie baking, a football game in the park, and birthday karoke for Rachel. Oh also, today Alamosa highschool won the state championship in football, 47 to 0, ending the season undefeated, a crowd of 5,000 showed up for the game (more than half the size of our town!) Way to go small town spirit.



The Hat I made



Joelle and I


My new sneakers