all are safe...

initial reports suggest that all my friends and their families in christchurch, new zealand, are safe. the city and nearby areas were largely leveled, however, so their lives are a long way from normal. i will let you know if there is anything we can do to help them rebuild their lives.

an early spring?

it is hard to believe that i am sitting outside for the second weekend in a row in early february in a tank top and shorts. it is days like these when i realize that THIS is the california dream. with either foolish optimism or real belief that winter is on its way out, i planted the spring veggie seeds in the garden last weekend. the daffodils are blooming...so it must be time, right?! hopefully within 70-80 days we will be feasting on chard, beets, lettuce, spinach, carrots, and spring onions from our garden. the bok choi and cilantro starts have been going strong for a few weeks and are definitely enjoying the warm weather too. rain is in the forecast for this week, however, but we still need several more good rains this season to make it through the summer without severe water restrictions. not so much the california dream... 


this is one of my favorite times of year - the days are getting longer on both ends, trees are blooming everywhere, and the migratory birds are starting to come through.


for all of you still buried in snow and ice, a few photos of hope!
be well.

 pete's handmade concrete patio table
(and prototype for our future bathroom counter top)

 bok choi

 spring veggie seeds are in the ground!

 mini iris

the tell-tale sign of spring...

a beautiful weekend in tahoe

we headed up to tahoe for the weekend to spend some quality time with a handful of pete's co-workers. it was my first time to lake tahoe and my first time skiing on an actual mountain (the hills in minnesota don't really count). it was fun to play in the snow without the thermometer being below zero!

jenny, andrew, and pete

i survived our skiing adventure!

emerald bay, lake tahoe

a belated christmas on the frozen tundra...

why we travel to minnesota in january is a mystery to me...as much of a mystery as the people who choose to live in that ungodly cold state! the temperatures did make it above zero this year, though, so that was an improvement. the house grew increasingly warm as my whole family descended on my parents' house for our belated christmas get-together. lefse making, pheasant hunting, snow fort building, and continuous cooking was the agenda for the weekend.

nearly the whole family...we forgot to take the photo before brian left

 kieran with his fire chief hat and new turnout boots!

 luke (2) and kieran (4) in the snow

alexandra lynn - her first christmas

in addition to celebrating a late christmas, we also celebrated madeline's end of treatment for leukemia! when i asked her what the best parts of being done with treatment were she said, "my port is gone and i can eat ice cream whenever i want." we have all learned so much from her over the last two and a half years and i know that she will continue to guide us through the next phase of watching and hoping the cancer doesn't return.

the bravest 12-year old i know

cassie turned 13 in december! she still has some spunk left in her and shows her puppy spirit on a regular basis. she has slowed down a bit and has either lost her hearing or chooses not to listen to us more often, but she is a bright spot in our lives. 

cancer FREE!

it is with GREAT hope, joy, and excitement that i report that my niece, Madeline, is officially finished with chemotherpy! after 26 months of treatment, she is leukemia free! the only wish for her 12th birthday came true...

thank you all for your support and well wishes during her journey!

life changes. . .

since it has been a ridiculous amount of time since i have managed to update this blog, there are many, many changes that have occurred.

#1 - we bought a house in felton, california, in august. we love it and have room for you to come visit!



#2 - pete and i got married in october in the back yard of our new house. pete's sister married us and we were surrounded by 12 of the best people in our lives.


#3 - the day after we got married, i defended my phd at uc santa cruz! i know what you are thinking...and yes, it maybe was a little crazy to get married and a phd in 24 hours, but i wanted the same people to be at both events so it only made good logical sense.


#4 - i was offered a post-doc with stanford university working for the center for ocean solutions. i actually started my post-doc before i had the "doc", but couldn't pass up the offer. COS is a collaborative group that uses cutting-edge science to inform policy in california and beyond. i have mostly been working with lawyers (they are nice people) and learning the ins and outs of coastal zone management in california. it is definitely a shift from what i have done, but it has been a really good learning experience, and i am really grateful to have a job. i have also maintained my ties to uc santa cruz by getting a research associate appointment. i still have grant money to work in big sur to tie up some loose ends after the fires burned through there in 2008.

#5 - madeline has an end date for her treatment!! she is a super trooper, is flying through the 5th grade, and is living life to the fullest. she will be finished with treatment on 11 december 2010 - just in time for her 12th birthday! we are going to celebrate!!!

the rest of my family is doing well. cassie turned 12 in december and is still going strong. we were in minnesota at the end of january to celebrate a "belated christmas" with my family. it was cold, but we managed to do some pheasant hunting (pete is a natural), sledding, and 4-wheeling while we were there.

pete has been away often for the last couple of months driving the boat and mapping the sea floor in northern washington. my travel schedule is much reduced these days, but i did make a trip to san diego and portland last week for two different science conferences. in addition to seeing good friends there, i was able to meet up with others from my days in oregon. it was great to reconnect with so many good people.

the days are getting longer, the trees are blooming, and my daffodils are getting bigger every day. welcome spring!

the spring update

i guess it's about time for another whirlwind update. i'm not exactly sure where the last six months (!) have gone, but they've gone fast. it seems like i've spent more time in front of my computer during that time than is healthy for a person, and yet i'm still staring at one. i just gave my committee chapter 3 of 4 and have fully come to the conclusion that i love being in the field and could leave the long days of sitting in this chair! i will be finishing my phd in september and have been writing grant after grant and application after application for jobs once i finish, but this isn't the greatest time to be asking people for money. pete is loving his job at the USGS so i'm trying to stay as close to santa cruz as is possible. if anyone has a job for me...

in march cassie and i took a semi-cross country trip to minnesota. besides the blizzard, 35mph cross-winds, and a tornado, the drive wasn't too bad. :) cass was a trooper and a great co-pilot. i stayed with steph and david for a night and got to see steph's new yoga studio (it's beautiful!) and attend one of her classes. if you are ever in des moines, iowa, you should stop by studio om. i spent most of my time at sister sarah's house to help out while maddy finished the last two weeks of her hardest phase of chemotherapy. she navigated those stormy waters well and has now entered the maintenance phase of her treatment. she has energy, feels great, has been back at school almost every single day, and has a big smile on her face most of the time. it is so great to see! she'll be in this less intense phase for the next 18 months if all continues to go well.

while i was in minnesota my grandpa was admitted to the ICU in grand forks, north dakota, with a severe case of pneumonia. getting to grand forks to visit him was a bit tricky because the flooding red river had closed all but one bridge into the city and that one was nearly under water too. he was in pretty rough condition when i saw him and he was later transferred to fargo, nd, where he died at the beginning of may. he had a good 88 years of life and we're all grateful that his soul is free from his suffering body. he was the last of my grandparents and his presence will be missed.

although the last two trips to minnesota have been for less than uplifting reasons, it has been wonderful to see my family so frequently. kieran turned three last week and luke continues to grow like a weed. he is definitely giving his brother a run for his money in the weight category. it is possible that i have seen my family more than pete in the last couple of months. the survey has had him off on adventures from san diego to puget sound. he finally learned how to shoot a gun so he can protect himself from polar bears when they do work in the arctic (hopefully in 2010). he has also officially added 50-ton boat captain (madeline thinks he should start driving a cruise ship and take us with) and truck driver to his list of titles. i keep hearing from the scientists that he's going to get rookie of the year so he must be doing something right.

if your summer travels bring you to the west coast, let us know...we'd love to see you!

be well.

soberanes point, big sur, ca

poppies in full bloom at the pinnacles national monument

kieran's 3rd birthday!

madeline with auntie steph

the whole foley family plus my mom's brother and sister