Christmas in Cali!!!

 We got off the plane and headed straight to Venice beach.  We had breakfast at a nice little outdoor open air diner with the view above.

 Then we spent the day walking the boardwalk from Venice beach up to Santa Monica pier.

 We enjoyed the walk in shorts and tank tops although most of the other people around us wore coats and scarves.

There were plenty of surfers enjoying the water.

 Before heading to bed that night, we took a walk from the hotel down the street to the 7-11 a couple blocks over to get a Slurpee.  We have to enjoy our chance to have a Slurpee when we can.

 New Year's Eve we spent the evening walking around Universal City Walk.  We watched the Hobbit in 3D at the IMAX theatre and had a good night.

Best Presentation!

 The robotics team this year won for their Sherlock Holmes video!  After all of the extra work the students put in on getting their programming working before the tournament, one of the kids dropped the robot and all the programs were shot.  Their video did win for presentation due to the hard work and effort of the team and our hard working video editor!  At least I can say that one person on the team learned a whole lot about video editing over the course of our season.

I think I'll take a break from coaching next year, particularly if the tournament is on the same weekend as the state wrestling tournament like it was this year.  While I was at the robotics tournament in Bethel with my students, Avery was at the state wrestling tournament with the wrestling team.  He placed third!  Can you believe it?!?!?!  3rd in the state...pretty awesome!  Go Avery!  Third this year, state champion next year!

Region Champ!

 On his birthday weekend, Avery was crowned Region 1 Champion!!!!  He had a great birthday and went undefeated the entire tournament.  He will travel to the state tournament next weekend.  Good luck, Avery!

In addition to Avery rockin' the mat this weekend, the Bethel team took state again for the third year in  a row!!!  They have been state champs all 3 of Avery's high school years.  Congratulations Bethel Warriors!

17 years!

Is is really possible that Avery could be 17 years old already?!?!?!?!?!?  He had to learn some tough lessons during his 17th year, but I have a feeling that this 18th year will be one full of good memories.  He has big plans for this year and many things on the list of things to accomplish.

Right now he has a baby for his personal life skills class.  The baby has a computer chip in it that tracks all of the activity.  He did surprisingly good with it although there were a couple of meltdown moments.  It has been fun to watch him grow and learn over the last few months.   Being a parent is still the most challenging thing I've ever done in my life, but it has also been the most rewarding.   He is becoming a man whether he likes it or not.  Less than a year and he'll legally be an adult!!!!!  Unbelievable!

Thanksgiving 2012

Like usual, we enjoyed Thankgiving dinner at Ma and Pa Harris's house.  Good food, but especially good friends make Thanksgiving a great day.  It is the good friends that really make Bethel a great place to be.  If it weren't for great people/friends, I dont think I would have been able to tolerate living in such a remote place for so long.  This year, most of those people are talking about leaving next year. Bethel will feel very empty without good friends to fill it!

Apple crisp

I got a load of apple in my Full Circle Farms box this week and am planning to make something for our Thanksgiving dinner.  I think I've just about perfected my apple crisp recipe so I guess that's what I'll do.  Being in Bethel has definitely made me a better cook.  I've always enjoyed cooking, but I feel much more intuitive about cooking and ingredient choice.  In the past I've been good at following recipes, but now I can easily open the refrigerator and cupboard to find something to whip together.  I have enjoyed my newfound ability to combine ingredients with success.

Oh...the things I've learned by living in Bethel!

Sherlock Holmes

When choosing a project for robotics, my students decided to research the use of nanobots in clearing blood clots from veins and arteries.  Then they had to choose a way to present their project to the judges...a unique and entertaining way to present their idea.  At the time I was listening to the Sherlock Holmes stories on my ipod and had shared that with the students.  They ran with the idea and decided to create their own version of Sherlock Holmes.  We gathered costumes and they wrote a script, then we spent a couple of days filming.  It was ridiculous and fun...we had a great time filming it!!!

Number 15: Experiment with bean cooking

 Garbanzo's soaking for hummus.

 Crockpot full of lentil soup.

This is the bean mixture that I've used a few times with veggies as a side dish.  It turns out good!  I've also used dried beans for the first time ever in chili and have plans to do my own baked beans from scratch sometime soon.

Number 19: Hunt and Identify Mushrooms

Every year when I go out berry picking I see lots and lots of mushrooms.  I've always wanted to take some time to try to identify some of them.  I friend lent me this really great, totally 80's mushroom guide.  It has a dichotomous key in it which makes it much easier to identify unknown varieties.  The difficult thing about trying to identify mushrooms in this area though, is that many of the species are unknown.  Some species are very similar to the species in this and other books, but they are really never spot on.  The other thing about mushroom identification is that their are many varieties of mushrooms that can have nearly the exact same characteristics, but one is edible and the other is poisonous.  That's the part that makes it nearly impossible to ever really feel okay with eating any of the mushrooms because you never really are certain about your identification.  The only mushrooms that I certain I can identify correctly every time is called the shrimp mushroom.  It is edible, but I'm still leery about eating it.  Maybe next year I'll start with just a little nibble, then work my way up from there.

Still Wrestling

Avery is still wrestling.  His season is going well.  He's seeded 6th in the state which is actually down from 4th a couple weeks ago after he had a "down" week.  He made it to the finals at the big Bethel Tourny last weekend.  He lost by points in the finals round to a kid that he has beat several times in the past.  Somehow, he lost a chunk of skin on his knuckle during the match and was bleeding all over the place.  They had to stop the match several times for blood.  They wrapped his finger, but it was clearly distracting him during the match.  This weekend he is in Nikiski.  His record for the year is 17-8 so far. He is hoping to place at state this year and get his name mounted on the wall.