A few weeks ago, we received our federal tax return, and with the First Time Homebuyer tax credit, we got quite a hefty sum. The bulk of that money is going right back into the property with a few home improvement projects. But we took a small chunk and set it aside to complete the entertainment system. So I went…

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[caption id="" align="center" width=412 caption="Wildflowers on the Palouse"] [/caption] Spring is officially here on the Palouse, as temperatures soar to almost 80 degrees and graduation season is upon us. The University of Idaho had its commencement yesterday, though I did not attend. This marks the end of my first year in graduate school, and so far it has been a…

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Mother and Child, originally uploaded by Matthew Singer. We had a baby. And by We, I mean Erin. And by Erin, I mean her horse. Thursday night (Friday morning) around 12:30, we went out to check on Mae and turn in for the night, but we heard groaning and grunting coming from the barn. So, Erin rushed up to see…

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One of the properties of Moscow is a wet winter and spring. We're close enough to the coast to get the rainy weather patterns, yet far enough inland to incur the effects of the Cascades rain shadow. Though I suppose being at the foothills of the next major mountain divide, it's only natural for the moisture to build up and…

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Snowstorm, originally uploaded by Matthew Singer. After last week's post about the snowstorm that welcomed us in to March, I took a few photos of the snow banks to illustrate how much we had. So here's one of those photos, from Tuesdsay, March 1. Now, to be fair, the total snowfall over the few days was anywhere between a foot…

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Wow, it's March already. Yesterday, it began to snow. Let's back up, all of last week, it snowed. We may have gotten a good combined foot of fresh, fluffy powder. We got a bit of a break over the weekend. Sunday it snowed a bit, but the accumulation wasn't siginificant. But yesterday, it began to snow. In the course of…

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If you're reading this on the website, you won't see much of a difference. But I just upgraded Wordpress to version 3.1 and upgraded the theme. The result is a better integration with the Gallery plugin. The galleries should now fit with the look of the site. Enjoy.

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I was in town today getting snow tires for Erin's Jeep, and when I'm in town, I often head over to Hyperspud to look at maps, books and gear that I can't afford. Today I was looking through the book Mountaineering: Freedom of the Hills put out by the aptly named Mountaineers Press. They put out some nice hiking guides…

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First Snow, originally uploaded by Matthew Singer. On Friday, I woke up to find a light layer of white on everything. At first, I thought it was a heavy frost, but when I put my glasses on, the truth was revealed. We had our first snowfall. It wasn't much, less than an inch, and by late afternoon, all was gone.…

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I've got two new books available for purchase. 2010: The Year of Change, Volume 1 is a collection of photographs and stories from the first half of the year. 2004-2007: A Portfolio from the Archives is a portfolio from my first four years out of college. This book is more of a photo portfolio rather than a personal album. 2004-2007…

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Havest Moon, originally uploaded by Matthew Singer. I've been so busy lately that I haven't been able to make any new posts. I wish I could tell you that I've been busy doing some sort of interesting research, but that's just not the case yet. However, during my drive home this evening, I was given a nice treat. My drive…

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I can hidez., originally uploaded by Matthew Singer. We've been in and out of the Altoona area to pack up belongings in preparation for the big move later this summer. We usually stay with Erin's grandfather who lives on a farm off of Rt. 22 near Williamsburg. He has some "stray" cats that he feeds, but won't get spayed or…

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I haven't been very good at updating this or my livejournal in a while. I've been fairly busy for the past few weeks. I returned to my job at the mountain campus (www.mountaincampus.org, check us out) in the middle of March and spent the first two weeks cleaning up and preparing for the season. With all of the heavy snow…

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The Palouse, originally uploaded by Matthew Singer. Holy Smokes, it's March already? My how time flies. It's funny how time goes by when life is mundane and you feel like you've wasted the days. On the other hand, when you've got something to look forward to, it just can't come fast enough. I suppose I ought to let you, my…

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Fox sparrow Passerella iliaca White-crowned sparrow Zonotrichia leucophrys Northern cardinal Cardinalis cardinalis Today I took the camera out to photograph the birds. We've got a feeder in the front yard, but all the birds flock to the seed spilled on the ground. So I threw the dogs inside, scattered a can of seed on the ground, sat and waited. It…

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For the longest time, I have been wanting to re-design my site to make it easy to update and manage content. At first, I thought a content management system would suit me, but I found them to be a bit daunting. Perhaps later I'll re-visit the idea, but for the amount of content that I actually publish, a blogging platform…

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