last.fm is like a really cool online radio.
you can listen on the website, but i prefer using the downloadable player.
to get started, all you do is type in an artist name, and it automatically plays songs by that artist and similar musicians. if you don't like the song you can skip it or ban it. or you can "love it" and/or add it to your playlist.
why i really like this - last.fm is like a great musical discovery center. most of the songs and artists i listen to i have never heard (heard of) before. i like expanding my listening selection, and last.fm does all the work for me. also, when last.fm is playing a song, it shows a brief biography of the artist. i love learning about who i am listening to. it makes it much more personal, which i think enhances the music.
plus, when you listen online like this, it is totally legal and costs nothing. which appeals to me very much.
currently, i believe that this family is failing at blogging. drey's birthday was on feb. 9th. we do have pictures and a story, but the pictures are still on the camera. eventually we will get the birthday posted, but i'm counting on mom doing that, not me. also, mom recently went to arizona and mexico, but again that is for her to write. so, in the meantime, to add something to this blog, i've decided to post about random things that i like.
pt. 1 - isight camera
my laptop has a built-in camera. the photo quality is poor, but it still has the ability to entertain me for a very long time. it's also a big hit with other people. here are some pictures to give you an idea of what this magical camera is capable of making people do (sorry they are mostly of me, but, well, it is mine):
on a side note, i played guitar hero for the first time this weekend.
Cooking is now done on our new gas top ! We had a glass top, which months ago something fell on it and made a chip.....which turned into a crack, and cracked a few more directions. It was past time to do something about it. 
This is our old model glass top. And the drawers that are below the stove top.
It took some time for Aaron to do the wiring/piping for the new stove top. But it is nice to be able to work with 4 elements again!
Snow storm weekend (see below post) This is Monday morning....a snow plow did come out and clear some of the road better....but by 11:00 Aaron gave up on them and took it in his hands to clear some of the real mess. 
Soon after he started a road grader came. They talked for a while then worked together clearing and cleaning the road up. Aaron spent 3 hours out there- the other man 2.....now that is some kind of mess! Instead of just piling it up higher by the side of the road, it was moved into a couple of snow piles/hills. School was canceled again....Making it a 5 day weekend ! ( They sent the kids home Thurs. morning due to snow problems & canceled school Fri. & Mon.)
Here is Taft standing on the road beside the snow drifted new plowed road. We worried that if the wind picked up- it would all be back in a hurry.
Tilmann climbing the huge pile that was made!
Taft on top too! It will be sad to see this all melted! Actually it will be a large mud hole!
A week ago Sunday, during the snow storm weekend, Aaron and I awoke before 5 in the morning. The wind had blown all night, and drifted the road in front of our house...very well. The noise of a couple of stuck cars spinning wheels woke us.. Aaron got dressed and headed out in the tractor to help. I woke up Taft, who is such a weather watcher, he dashed up the stairs to look out our bedroom window. And out the door he was to help dad. I woke up Tavin and the two of us watched the action from the window. Not too hard to spot the tractor. 
When it was light out, I took a couple more photos. Aaron worked on packing the snow down with the tractor, but that ended up making a bumpy -roller coaster ride....and only one lane too.
Can you find our mailbox? It wasn't long after this that the snow started up....they even canceled church ! We called the sheriff to report our road problem, but they never did send out any snow plows. So the boys and I would sit looking out the window watching (or out in the yard) ....not much traffic....but what did go through was entertaining! Some would go fast, and they certainly had a rolly-polly ride! Lots would hit their back bumpers. Others slower, almost getting stuck....we even had a pick-up truck that had hay bales in the back drop one because of the bumpy road!
This fence is a 6+ footer....Drey is standing on a snow drift. 
Here is Tavin and Drey flying through the air into the snow drift!
The road in the afternoon.....still has plenty of problems.
We have a hill that the boys practiced their snowboarding skills on Taft in Red, then Tilmann in green.
It is difficult to tell by this photo but we are in a huge snow & wind storm. It looks foggy, but it really it snowflakes. (photo taken from bedroom window) This is Thursday morning- it blew all night, but after the kids went to school did the snow and drifts start arriving. They canceled school at 9:30. The snow, wind and snowplows kept up for quite some time. The second photo is today, the day after the storm, to give you a before and after effect. That big pile across the road has a mailbox in it....which didn't get any mail. The following photos Tearsa took this morning, showing the mounds of snow. 
