Confessions of an Overweight Chicken

12 years

2012-02-11T20:50:00.000-08:00

Today is our anniversary,
I want to thank my wife for twelve amazing years. I knew the first time we went out that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. Jen has supported me in everything I have ever done. Right now she is enduring discomfort of mass proportions carrying our babies around. She never complains about it and glows with anticipation of their arrival. While we are excited to have the twins come into our life we have been very fortunate to have had 12 years to enjoy each other's company alone. We have been able to see and do a lot of things together and it has been wonderful. I love Jen more than I will ever be able to put in words. Thank you Jen for making my life what it is. I can't wait for the twins to get here and join us for many more amazing years to come.

Portland Prime AKA Portland Mediocre

2012-02-11T19:19:00.000-08:00

This year Jen and I have been married for 12 years. We got married in 2000 which was a subconscious effort by myself to make it easy to remember how many years we have been married. 2012=12 years! I also subconsciously planned our wedding date to be near Valentines day so I could get all the hearts and flowers done in the same week ;) So today is our anniversary and the last as just a couple (babies will be here soon!). So I decided to take Jen to a fancy restaurant for dinner. I found what appeared to be the best place in Portland, El Gaucho. When I called to make a reservation they were booked... The subconscious scheduling of our wedding near Valentines backfired because everyone was doing a special valentine dinner this weekend. I had to pick another place. After some phone calls the recommendation was "Portland Prime". I looked them up online and they definitely seamed to be the caliber I was looking for. When we arrived the lobby was not set up well and it didn't feel like a 5 star joint. Should have turned back but we had reservations and finding something last minute was out of the question. The hostess didn't offer to check Jen's coat, another sign that this is a place pretending to be fancy. We were seated and the place settings were not fancy. The flatware was old, dull and beat up. The plates looked like they had been purchased when a Chinese buffet went out of business. The wine glasses were dirty, I mean dirrrrty. A gentleman poured us some tap water, another sign this isn't a fancy restaurant as a true 5 star joint would offer still or sparkling. When the waitress came for our drink order she didn't tell us her name nor did she offer the special(this will annoy me greatly later). We ordered beverages and the waitress seamed annoyed we didn't order any cocktails but hello even if we were interested in doing so Jen is PREGNANT! When I got my Cola it was flat, like a soda from McDonald's after being in the car for two days flat! The waitress was collecting our dirty unnecessary wine glasses when she asked if we needed another minute to look over the menu. Well we didn't but when I said we were ready she again seamed annoyed because she had to set down the wine glasses to take our order. If you weren't ready to take our order don't ask if we need another minute when I probably don't. When we received our salads they weren't bad but mostly pretentious with slices of apples and not enough dressing. We received our meals and there was no attempt at presentation when they plated up our food. The prime rib was average, nothing you couldn't get at Outback, Black Angus or any roadhouse. The best prime rib is still found at Hamilton's in Logan Utah. I ordered lobster tail with my meal because we were at a "fancy" restaurant in a big city which should equal good seafood. Wow was I wrong! The lobster tail was solid rubber...I mean I stuck my fork in to pull out a piece and the entire tail came in one piece, I tried cutting it with the steak knife but it was such rubber it just squished and wouldn't cut. It was so chewy it was like the bits of clam you get in canned clam chowder. It took a good couple minutes to chew through each bite. At this point they seated another couple and the waitress told them about the special, it was a great deal compared to the items we had selected but they hadn't told us about the special. Now I was really ticked. This was supposed to be the nicest dinner ever and it wasn't even as good as Texas roadhouse. So if anyone is wondering, we won't be going back to Portland Prime.

21 Weeks!

2012-02-10T18:02:00.000-08:00

Our little girl has Bryan's nose and Jen's mouth and eyes.

Side profile of our little girl

The one and only glimpse of our little boy.

He turns his head every time they try to get a picture. He is upside down with his face to Jen's back. He kicks HARD and covers his face with his hands. He takes after his dad, who doesn't like his picture taken either :c

Today we went for our second official ultrasound. They took all the measurements to make sure they are growing even. Our girl weighs 15oz and our boy weighs 14oz. They are a week ahead of normal for a single baby which for twins is awesome. Boy's heart beat was 150, girls 151. All is well and Jen has them on quick bake so these cookies will be big and healthy when they come out.

Finally a sunny day roadtrip

2012-02-05T11:10:00.000-08:00

The Veterinary Deliberation

2012-01-27T16:09:00.000-08:00

Nivia at the vet's office right after the shot of Phenobarbitral, sound asleep.

Last Friday, while eating lunch, I heard a loud thump by our back door. When I peered over the couch to see what it was, I saw Nivia having a full grand mal seizure. I immediately leaped off the couch and ran outside in just socks. There was nothing I could do to stop it, and so I squished our babies as I crouched over her writhing body to stroke her head and tell her mommy was there and everything would be okay.
Back in September, we had Nivia and Jax kenneled at our vet's office while we were on vacation. We'd done it before, and the peace of mind of having your dog being taken care of 24/7 while gone is quite nice. Unfortunately, we got a call that Nivia had a seizure, but the vet's office was so rude to me and wanted so much money, that I had a really hard time believing them. She'd shown no evidence beforehand. She spent all day laying next to me while I worked, and all night sleeping next to my bedside. I would've noticed symptoms. Her kennel costs came to $400 while Jax only came to $80. In December, when we went to visit family, I had both dogs kenneled again, but at a different location. There was no call this time, and so I truly started to believe it had all been a hoax. However, when we picked her up, she had a fit of anxiety and went into a seizure. It was the first time I witnessed it happen to her and I cried like a baby. I felt terrible for not believing the vet's office back in September.
Since we'd had the original experience, I did have some medication I could give her. Right after the seizure finished, and Nivia seemed to snap back to reality, I gave her some water and food with the meds. We then put her in the garage, in her kennel, to keep her calm and help her to rest and relax. Bryan left the door open to the garage, so we could hear her in case anything went wrong. And was I glad we did. A couple hours later, she had another seizure in her kennel. It was very mild compared to the one at lunch, so although I was crying hysterically, I figured the med was just taking time to work into her system. Then at dinner time, she had another grand mal seizure. At that point I knew it wasn't good. We took her to the vet's office and waited over three hours to be seen. Although one receptionist was really nice, I was disappointed that my baby who was having medical meltdown wasn't given a higher priority. When she finally was seen, she was behaving quite normal. The vet's only recommendation was to hospitalize her so they could monitor her. Bryan was beyond irritated, and opted to make sure we had enough medication to take home, and told the vet we'd be better at monitoring her than them. We waited another 45 minutes for the office to compile the medication and finalize the bill, and during that time, Nivia had another seizure in the back of the truck. Bryan was still fed up with the vet's office, and from the information we had, we thought nothing else could be done. The vet had said the medication would take time to build up, and said Nivia would probably have a few more seizures. We took her home, as we still felt it was the best option. Once home, I hauled Nivia into the bathtub and soaped her up good to get all the grunge off her. Bryan had to hose out the back of the truck, and got her bed all set up nicely in the garage. We then had to listen to her bark like an untrained puppy for almost an hour until she finally calmed down and went to sleep. I hoped a good night's rest, with a second pill in her would break her seizure streak. How wrong I was.
The next morning, Nivia seemed a little dazed, and I chalked it up to her ordeal from the day before. We sent her outside with Jax, and within a few moments, she was having another seizure. At that point, Bryan started researching on the internet. We brought her into the garage again so we could keep her closely monitored, and left Jax outside. Poor Jax had no idea what was happening, and we didn't want him to get in the way by accident. After much whining, Nivia finally fell asleep again, only to be awoken by yet another seizure that had me bawling. My puppy was sick, extremely sick, and I felt so helpless as I squatted over her, trying to soothe her as best I could. Bryan found some information on the net that a dog with constant seizures can be given a shot of medication that will most times help break the cycle. We searched the yellow pages for another vet clinic, and found an emergency vet. We called and explained the situation. They were very helpful and asked us to bring her in immediately. When we arrived, the receptionist paged "Triage to the front". Bryan and I looked at each other in surprise, as it seemed kind of odd to hear those particular words, but at the same time, I felt relieved that finally someone was taking this seriously. The 'nurse' took Nivia back to a kennel, where she proceeded to once again bark like an untrained puppy. We sat in the waiting room, with tears in our eyes. After a few minutes, the nurse came and got us, and asked if we'd feel comfortable sitting in an exam room with Nivia. Absolutely we would! It was exactly what Nivia needed to calm down. The vet that saw her decided to give her the shot we'd read about online. He said it would make her act exceedingly drunk, but would hopefully break the cycle of seizures. They took her back again to give her an IV and administer the medication. After a few moments, we could hear her barking again. Not too long after that, they asked us to sit in a different room that had a couch and chair, and brought in a thick blanket for Nivia to lie down on. They asked if we would help her calm down and see if we couldn't get her to fall asleep. I think the vet was somewhat skeptical, but he doesn't know my baby girl like I do. She came into the room drunker than a skunk. She couldn't keep balance well, her back legs kept slipping out from under her, and she bumped into everything. We got her to lie down within a couple minutes, and she was gone with her tongue hanging halfway out of her mouth. When the vet came in five minutes later, he couldn't believe his eyes. He said usually they keep dogs in the clinic over night when administering that kind of medication, but since Nivia was having such a hard time, he suggested we take her home with us. I was more than happy too. Once home, we got her all setup in the garage again with a bunch of blankets and towels to help make the floor more comfortable. Within minutes she was snoring. Since that shot, she's only had one mini seizure. We have her on the medication steadily now, and our baby girl has slowly regained her former personality. She's normally high strung, with a slobbery kiss for anyone who gets near her, but the shot toned down that hyperness for a few days.
It's been a week now since the seizures started. I'm so grateful I haven't had to witness another since that last mini seizure. It was heartbreaking to say the least. I truly thought when we called the second vet clinic, I'd be leaving my baby girl there forever. The idea she may not be with us anymore mixed with pregnancy hormones made me inconsolable. Today she gave me a huge scare. When I went outside to check on her, she was nowhere to be found. She had somehow escaped the backyard. I went huffing and puffing down the street as fast as I could waddle screaming out her name and whistling. I was distraught at the thought of her missing. What if she had another seizure? What if we never found her? What if she got hurt, or I happened to find her dead on the side of the road victim of being hit by a car? I was in tears on the phone with Bryan, as it had been at least a couple hours since I knew I'd last seen her. When I didn't find her at the elementary school around the corner, I huffed and puffed back to the house, finally came to my senses and hopped in the truck to go looking for her. I didn't even get one house down the street when she came bolting around the corner. I burst into wracking sobs, slammed the truck in park, and jumped out to give her a ginormous hug. I cried and cried into her coat, and she patiently let me, then gave me slobbery wet kisses. My usual self would have given her a good yelling, but pregnant Jenny couldn't. I was so glad my baby girl had finally found her way home.

One of Each!!

2012-01-19T19:41:00.000-08:00

Here is a profile of our little boy's head. He would not turn in a way that we could get a full profile or a 3D. Hopefully when we go in again he is in a better spot.

Here is a 3D pic of our little girl. The 3D makes them really look like aliens!

Here is a full profile of our little girl.

Our little boy kept punching our little girl in the face, brotherly love already... The tech didn't seam interested in trying very hard to get good pics of our little boy but he was not cooperating either. We are lucky because of having twins they will do another ultrasound in February.

When we got into the room where they were going to do the ultrasound I pulled out my phone and turned it to video. The tech said I couldn't video it. I asked if they were going to burn a copy on video for us and she said no and that they can't because of a federal mandate. Please, do I look that stupid... If that was the case then nobody would get videos of their ultrasounds. No the clinic is just covering their butts. You see there have been cases where babies were born with defects that parents would have aborted had they known and when reviewing the videos of the ultrasounds it was found that it could have been caught. So some of those parents sued and now nobody wants to let you have a video. So because of the liberal pro choice crowd and sue happy freeloaders I don't get to enjoy something this amazing. I'm more annoyed that the clinic can't just own up to it, instead they have to make up excuses.

Twenty Percent Plus

2012-01-16T14:00:00.000-08:00

When I first hit triple digits on a scale in my mid-twenties, I was so excited. Then my mom and sisters came to visit and mentioned they could see the weight I'd put on was all in my bum. Lately I'm obsessed with the scale. My first goal was to gain 20 pounds by 20 weeks. Yesterday I hit that goal, and I'm only at week 17! My next goal is to be at 35 pounds gained by 28 weeks, which is very doable. Considering most single pregnant mommies gain 1-2 lbs a week during trimester two, I have extremely good odds of hitting 35 by week 24-25. So far, the biggest drawback to this is the fact I've gained twenty percent of my body weight. My meager frame is crying out in agony. My back muscles didn't have time to keep up with the weight gain, and my feet don't understand where all the new pressure has come from. Last night I started working on some long awaited blanket projects. At first I did my cutting and measuring at the table, but my back couldn't handle the angle any longer after the first blanket. I then tried the hands-and-knees approach, but my knees screamed out in bony snaps, crackles and pops. It's strange having a belly in the way, that absolutely does not squish. The reward for all this awkward uncomfortableness? The kicks, thumps and rolling about that happens every so often. I can tell the difference between our twins; twin A rolls often, and kicks very lightly while twin B rolls rarely, but when s/he kicks, it's a powerful 1-2 punch.
I also got the bug to clean, clean, clean this weekend. Seems a little early to be nesting, yet I've always been an overachiever with a bee in my bonnet to get things done efficiently and with plenty of time to spare. I took the time to snap a few pictures after the thorough cleaning, as who knows if I'll be able to squat (bending is out of the question), stretch, climb a footstool, or push a vacuum easily much longer.
I loved my kitchen in Logan, and this one is slowly growing on me. We haven't done much in this room yet, but there's a stack of tile on the floor next to the cabinets which are due to become the backsplash this next weekend. We also will add under and above cabinet lighting. Oh, and if you ever get a chance to splurge on a Fisher-Paykel (pronunced fish-er pie-cull) dishwasher, DO IT. I love the dish drawers. For a small family it's been absolutely perfect. I can fill up the top drawer on a many dish dinner night, or just the itty bitty one on bottom. Saves energy, water, and gets those bowls we're constantly running out of clean again quickly. Once we're a large family, I'll have to revisit this subject again, to see if the dishwasher is keeping up with us.
The entry in our first home was tight and we filled it with a brick arch, a Venetian plastered wall with a few bricks peeking through, and a faux copper colored tin ceiling. This entry is so spacious, we were able to purchase a credenza. We also took the time to do Venetian plaster on this wall, which happens to be the pantry on the other side in the kitchen. The homebuilder did a slight texture on all of our walls, which caused the plaster to look like worn leather rather than smooth glass. I love how it turned out. Now to just get the credenza filled and adorned with decorations...
After living with 6'5" to 7' ceilings for nine years, I caught myself staring at the spacious vaulted ceiling in our great room rather than watch TV the first little while we lived here. I couldn't believe you could actually have that much space above your head. The homebuilder also installed one ceiling fan with a light...yes A light...in this space. Trying to see anything by the one lightbulb 12 feet above your head was horrible. I sat with a lamp on the back of the couch for the first 10 months until we finally figured out the lighting we wanted. Bryan took out the fan and installed the track lights. The lights are suspended by wire and give a planetary solar system look to the space. We also just purchased a 10x20 piece of sculpted carpet that will be bound and given a mat to create a rug that will tie the living room side with the future office side. We've had a difficult time with the furniture placement of this room. The homebuilder also put the cable access above the fireplace, which is handy to keep your TV off the floor, but not so much when you don't want the heat to ruin your wonderful electronic device. Besides, we already had our TV 'console' set up. The layout of the patio door, fireplace and large window make it such only one wall truly works for the TV, hence only one layout works for the couches too. I'm hoping with my office joining the large empty space in front of the fireplace, and the addition of the rug, they will finally give the whole space a cohesiveness it longs for.
And at long last, my office. Right after moving into our home, we set about finding a desk. This was not an easy task. Bryan and I have always longed for a library with floor to ceiling bookshelves, a commanding desk, gargantuan fireplace, and deep leather chairs. We're not quite to the stage of a home that can accommodate this dream, but felt we should be selective about the office furniture we purchased. After visiting several furniture showrooms, we were at Mor Furniture in Portland where the salesman told us we had fantastic taste. He couldn't believe at our age we were going straight for the rich woods and classic traditional styles. He said most couples at 20 purchase only what can be afforded, by their 30s (our age group) purchase the light colored oaks and maples, and by late 40s to 50s, finally move into the age old classics. We've always been detailed about our purchases. Why buy the cheap or unwanted, when with the right quality product, you can make a buy that will last a lifetime? When I mentioned I was going for a 1930s look with the desk, the salesman told us about Classic Home & Antique. He said they'd have what we were looking for. And boy, did they ever! We've spent countless hours visiting this showroom, and purchased my desk, filing cabinet (which is cleverly hidden as a small desk), and credenza from here. The commanding desk definitely fills the space, but I've loved every moment I've done my work at it, which is 8 hours a day Monday through Friday. I'm also glad we went with it, as now that this room will become a nursery, the large great room wouldn't have been done justice by a small table and chair.
Right before I learned I was pregnant, but after we had purchased the credenza, I set to work on a couple of cross-stitches. The first is "Something Wicked". It's the tiniest aida cloth size I've ever worked with (35 count!). The final product turned out beautiful, and I purchased a special mat which I plan on using the papers featured in a collage. Once framed, the plan for this piece is to be out at Halloween, adorning the credenza. I then went straight to work on a Christmas themed cross-stitch titled "Tis the Season". I finished the stitching of both projects in time for their respective holidays, but unfortunately, babies A&B made it difficult to continue and get both framed up. Now that I'm past the icks and have more energy, I can finally complete the framing in time for this year's holiday season.
Finally, the stroller. I never in a million years thought we'd need to buy this type of furniture. Classic Home & Antique actually has a pram in their showroom, but it's more for display than use (the rubber on the wheels is just about worn away). Bryan spent several hours researching our best options for car seats/infant carriers/stroller. I needed infant carriers that were light since I'd be hoisting two babies around, and I needed a stroller that wasn't a double wide trailer coming down the grocery store aisle. His hard work paid off with this gem. The stroller comes with two removable seats that also double as infant carriers, and then triple as car seats. Once your babies grow big enough, you upgrade to the toddler size seats (which unfortunately do not do triple duty, they only work for the stroller). The toddler seats are featured right now, as the infant carriers haven't shown up in the mail yet. The whole ensemble can be yours for the low price of $3000, but with a few tweaks, searches, and exhausting email debates, can be bid upon at eBay for a mere $700. A much needed bonus, as the purchase of duplicate on everything adds up quickly.

Food

2012-01-08T14:16:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I've shared any food critique. Good food is hard to find in Vancouver Washington. If you want a lousy pizza joint Vancouver has one on every freakin' corner. If you want something good, not much to choose from.

Gustav's - This is a unique place with German food and it's great! I have loved everything on their menu. The other day I wasn't looking for the big Rheinlander meal that I usually go for so I got salad and clam chowder. Now I RARELY get clam chowder, I love the flavors but it is always nasty at most restaurants. Most places use canned clams that are fishy and chewy. The clam chowder at Gustav's was amazing, fresh clam and tons of them. Looks like I will be getting clam chowder more often.

Bones - This is a relatively new place up in Battle Ground. The food was not bad. I had prime rib because we have been desperately searching for a replacement for our favorite prime rib from Hamilton's in Logan Utah. It is very hard to find a good prime rib. Every steak place has a prime rib and they are never good. While the bark on the prime rib wasn't great and it was not the best cut of meat it was prepared well and it was better than the prime rib at Black Angus and Outback. We will make this our prime rib place until we find something better.

Carriage House - Great burgers, they do this weird thing with a spiral cut potato that is deep fried. The idea is cool but it was soaked in oil and bitter. It needed to be cooked at a much higher temp and shorter time. The burgers are big juicy patties and the toppings are fresh.

Laurelwood - This is a Portland restaurant with a location in Battle Ground. Lame food, lame atmosphere. Not even worth typing the details.

Bruchis - Best cheese steak in the area. Funny how the name is similar to Muchies which is the best cheese steak in Salt Lake City. We go here every other week on my Thursday off.

Mommy Brain

2011-12-28T19:07:00.000-08:00

Capitalize on it and don't rely on it. Jen has found she no longer has the steel trap of a memory she once had. Pregnancy has a big impact on memory and Jen, although she is superwoman, is not immune. In the past when one of us remembered and incident often Jen would correct me and I would utter the preprogrammed response, "you are right". Recently as her "mommy brain" has taken over I have found many an opportunity to capitalize on being "right". One such occasion occurred while at my parent's house during our Christmas vacation. Jen was telling a story (I don't remember what the story was about, don't tell Jen) and she was incorrect about the details. I corrected her and she said "oh, your right"... time to capitalize, I said "what was that honey?" she didn't repeat it and I did have a shoe thrown at my head but that moment of rubbing it in was so rewarding :) I countered with a jab about the "mommy brain" she was experiencing and laughed about being able to get used to being "right".

Fun while it lasted but karma is a...

So Jen always makes the travel arrangements and I just pack the gear like a mule. We arrived at the airport yesterday to fly home to Washington. Our flight was at 1pm and the airports website was instructing people to arrive two hours before your flight because it was the busiest day of the year for that airport. We arrived at 11am and the lines were not terrible. We got through security in about a half hour. When we arrived at our gate the board said the flight was at 3pm. I had Jen pull out her itinerary and sure enough 3pm... We then had the luxury of spending the next three and a half hours waiting for our flight. I made no "mommy brain" comments. I didn't get upset, I didn't poke fun. I just learned, don't rely on the "mommy brain" and karma was delivering a large dose for making fun of her the day before.

Karma is a pregnant woman and you don't want to piss her off!

I don't get enough time with the camera in Utah

2011-12-28T19:02:00.000-08:00

Every time we go to Utah it is difficult to find time for my hobby. This time I was able to snap two shots, last time it was only one so I guess I have doubled my efforts.

Cedar Creek Mill

2011-12-15T20:36:00.000-08:00

Lucky Week Thirteen

2011-12-15T18:46:00.000-08:00

When I first heard the doctor exclaim "There's two!" my first reaction was tears. They were not tears of joy. They were overwhelmed tears. The kind that you wish weren't in the corner of your eyes, and your psyche is trying to decide fight...or flight? I've always been extremely independent, but for the first time in my life, I realized I couldn't be that way for this particular experience. Originally, today would have been the day we shared with the world our joyous news, but that all changed when the ultrasound revealed two distinct heartbeats.

My belly is quickly growing. I outgrew my regular clothes at ten weeks and bought a few maternity pants and shirts. I had to gulp my embarrassment as I never cared for the stretchy jeans look. But the pants were so comfortable, I really didn't care. We took the first picture that night of my expanding midsection, and were both amazed at how big I already was. Then last week, just before the twins turned twelve weeks old, we took another picture and compared, and it blew our socks off. The growth difference was astounding.

There are many perks to having twins, like the early baby bump that helps you feel dreams have come true. Another is ultrasounds. The majority of parents only get one. A little peek at around twenty weeks to make sure all is well, and most times learn if it's boy or girl. Due to the nature of twins, we get to view our babies every time we go to a doctor. Although it sounds frivolous, it most certainly is not. The doctor checks to make sure both babies are growing well and about the same rate, as well as check the heartbeats. If one started to slow down in growth, we'd need to know right away. Today we got to see them again. Each time is breathtaking and leaves me speechless. Two tiny cell conglomerations turned into tiny pieces of rice with heartbeats, that doubled in size in two weeks, doubled again and gave a show at nine and half weeks, and then doubled yet again in three more weeks. The view started with both their heads, snuggled against each other. We then saw baby A, who once again took the center of attention. You could see its facial profile, watch its heart beat quickly and take gulping breaths. Then it raised its little arm, waved its hand and smoothed back its hair. You could see each bone work to make those tiny movements. Baby B had its back to us again. Maybe its because this one can only fit in my skinny body this way, but we think its once again a personality being reflected. The quiet, shy, reserved baby. It gets me wondering if the two play with each other, having little kicking wars? Or do they cuddle together and give each other reassurance and hugs all day? Probably a little of both, as each seems to be in one's character.

The twins's heads

Baby A the Showoff

Baby B the Quiet

Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T18:25:00.000-08:00

For a number of years now, we have done Thanksgiving on our own. I always have to be at work at some ridiculous early hour and the drive time never suited us on such a busy week for my job. This year driving is most definitely out of the question. Our neighbors Dan and Robin invited us to spend Thanksgiving with their family. It was a great experience, their family welcomed us as their own. We are thankful for such great neighbors.

9 1/2 weeks

2011-11-23T20:40:00.000-08:00

Today was the coolest day of my entire life. How do you quantify that? As we go through life we experience things that leave a permanent mark on our lives. When I think of the coolest days in my life many things come to mind.

The day my dad showed me how to start the mustang by laying a screwdriver over the terminals on the relay.
The day I discovered the Camaro in Grandpa's garage
The day I bought my first bike from K-mart
The day we moved into the house my parents built
The day I bought my roller blades
The day I learned to sail
The day I learned to ski
The day I acquired my first car
The day I started Grandpa's Camaro, now my Camaro
The day I won the state championship for automotive skills
My first date with my now wife
The day my sisters shared life with a bone marrow transplant
The day I graduated from College
The day I got married
The day I became an ASE Master Tech
The day we bought our first house
The day I changed careers
The day I got my own store
The day we moved to Washington
The day we found out we were going to be parents

Today we saw our babies move about, wiggling their arms and legs.

Many more amazing days to come

Baby 1 has a heartbeat of 157 and measures 30mm
Baby 2 has a heartbeat of 175 and measures 26mm

Miracle on 96th St

2011-11-10T16:26:00.000-08:00

Nine years, eight months, four days and a few hours is how long we waited. It didn't happen because we relaxed. Nor did it happen because we weren't thinking about it. It definitely didn't happen on day 14, or when I stood on my head. It didn't happen from lack of trying. And it most definitely didn't happen because we learned a life lesson. It happened because of Hope. Our journey began with much anticipation and excitement. Then it slowly become an obsession. Reading every article possible and understanding the science behind it all. It then twisted into hurt and at times, anger. It was frustrating to say the least. Difficult to watch others have no trouble. Difficult to hear advice, no matter how sweet the intention may have been. It stared us obnoxiously in the face, and reared its ugly head through the gestures and words of others. Slowly it became the everyday, and eventually it was accepted. We made it through the long haul of pain, misery, and swallowing pits of despair until one day, peace crawled in and burrowed deep to make wounds so deep and obvious melt away. The bitterness receded. It took strong hearts and minds on this journey we made, and as always, in the end, it was all worth it. A miracle occurred. And not only a small miracle...one that was double in size.

It was shocking to read a positive on a test I had taken too many times. It was downright unbelievable. So much so, that we took another just to make sure our eyes weren't playing tricks, and that test #1 wasn't a dud. Thinking back now, it's special that we took two tests...each baby was able to tell us, "Yes, I'm truly here!"

6 weeks with heartbeats of 114 and 108

7 1/2 weeks with heartbeat of 160

7 1/2 weeks with heartbeat of 153
(I'm hard to see because I'm in my sibling's shadow)

More from Newport Bay

2011-10-26T13:02:00.000-07:00

Yaquina head

2011-10-16T15:36:00.000-07:00

The only picture I took while in Utah

2011-10-16T15:35:00.000-07:00

Sweaters

2011-10-04T16:01:00.000-07:00

My teeth have sweaters I can't get rid of (you definitely were not expecting that, were you?).

When I was first dating Bryan, he made the comment once about the sweaters on his teeth were driving him nuts. Sweaters? What the...? Sweaters is the cozy plaque that likes to build on your teeth. Brushing and flossing daily will usually solve a sweater problem, but every 6 months or so you need a real deep scrub from the dentist's office. Today I elected to have sweaters put on my teeth. I am finally part of the 'metal mouth club', and it is no picnic.

The pain is agony, and Tylenol does absolutely no good, so I've stopped the alternate medicine routine and been sticking with ibuprofen, which is doing okay. But then I tried to eat. Yesterday I went grocery shopping, and loaded up on soups, yogurts, ice cream, spaghetti-o's and on. I cracked open a can of Chicken Noodle, heated it, and sat down in front of my computer to enjoy a lovely warm bowl of steaming liquid to only realize the noodles kept getting caught on the wires. I wasn't really able to chew, so I pretty much drank my soup. Plus the bottom front wire kept scraping the inside of my lip making me think a noodle was somehow getting trapped lengthwise in the braces. However, once the nutrition hit my tummy, my teeth actually did hurt less. Then I had myself a nice cold drink which really helped my aching mouth. I know I'm a total wimp, but the thought of having to last a week or so before I finally get used to my sweaters is making me seriously reconsider my choice. But if I pulled them off, then what was the good of having 4 teeth pulled to make the room for the others to be straight? That orthodontist was cheeky...no pun intended...he realized with 4 teeth gone it would be great motivation to stick with the sweaters plan.

So hopefully soon, I will no longer have 4 gaping holes in my smile, or a line of wire, or these odd clear plastic things that stick a mile off my teeth. No longer will there be the worry of my tooth next to my front teeth pushing behind, making front tooth B kick out at a funny angle. And I will finally be rid of that oddball canine that has never truly bugged me, except right now, as the bracket makes it even more noticeable. Being 13 the first time around was hard enough. I'm not relishing the idea of living it all over again for the next 18-24 months.

When I Smelled That the Autumn Had Come

2011-09-18T15:55:00.000-07:00

The last 2-3 weeks have been 'hot' for the northwest. We finally sky-rocketed to the mid-90s, and I absolutely loved most of it. It was wonderful seeing blue skies and a yellow sun. My garden had a spastic fit, as the vegetables had no idea what exactly they were meant to do with all that heat. I was very hopeful for my tomatoes. The plant became so gargantuan, it broke its cage, and fell over to only grow into a wild tomato forest. There are millions of green tomatoes that need to turn red. Then on Friday, when I walked outside to take lunch to Bryan, I could smell autumn in the air. The sky was still blue, the sun bright and yellow, but the air was cool. Back down to the usual high 60s to low 70s. I woke on Saturday, excited to enjoy the cool autumn air while I stained our brick. It was not meant to be. The rain was back. And I mean BACK. The clouds are thick, billowy and gray, with no end in sight. This type of weather is depressing. No, not the rain, I enjoy the rain, but the clouds. I'm not accustomed to a blanket of clouds that does not change for days, sometimes weeks on end. There are no patches of blue sky, or bits of sun rays shining through. The day is only punctuated by mist, drizzles, rain, heavy rain, and wet rain. *Sigh* I'm hoping this is just the first of many small storms, and that the blue skies and yellow sun will show themselves several more times before the winter rain is back.

2011-08-28T14:06:00.000-07:00

Another lovely drive

2011-08-27T23:31:00.001-07:00

Somewhere Wedged Between the Kidney and Olympic is Summer

2011-07-22T16:08:00.000-07:00

In the middle is where these stories lie. Stuck in the foggy parts of my brain that keep saying pssst! don't forget us. Yet how do I muddle through the thick web of tales spun? Where do I tell of the Mustang convertible we drove all over the hills of San Francisco. The plane being brought in from the hanger as the 'reason we're late' excuse, then turned out to be a prop-job straight from the movie screen of Indiana Jones. The crazy kid with his girlfriend behind me on Space Mountain that kept asking how his hair looked and caused me to forget most of the ride. MoneyPenny giving instantaneous directions that involved extreme braking and hairpin right turns. Endless amounts of rain that turned into seven straight days of beautiful northwest summer while family visited, just to turn back into raindrops as they drove away. The first cab I hailed on a dark street with a flick of my wrist actually worked. Eating our favorite Greek food every day in San Fran. Preparing for the worst on the back of Splash Mountain when three 200+ pound guys were sat in the front of our log, then laughing hysterically as I watched the 20-foot wave crest our log canoe. Eating Dippin' Dots at the zoo and watching a baby polar bear belly flop into the pool for a fish. The hand of my nephew grabbing mine over and over again dragging me to the garage saying 'doggies' and loving their drool and excitement to see him. Sitting at the park taking pictures of my childhood home that no longer existed, but reliving many happy memories. Taking pictures of bursting tar to have a girl, yes girl, pass mountain-man gas right next to me.

Before and after it all I've been reading, gardening, (which by the way, has exploded since I planted my seeds a few days before June 19th) cross-stitching, watching endless episodes of Sex and the City and eating many ice cream Snicker's bars all to my heart's content.

We even found time to say good-bye to the Honda and hello to the G8.

Olympic National Park

2011-07-17T12:48:00.001-07:00

We decided to go to Olympic National Park, as with every weekend I have off, the Northwest weather made sure we couldn't see anything. Heavy rain and fog all day, couldn't see more than 25 feet at any given moment. From the looks of the road there is a good chance there might be some great views but all we saw was dark clouds and rain.... Near one of the parking lots at Hurricane ridge there was a blacktail deer walking around. On the way down the mountain the clouds broke for about 1 minute, we hopped out and shot a pic of the mountains. 9 hours in the car and only two pictures, not a great day.

4th of July

2011-07-17T12:22:00.000-07:00

Pictures from the Northwest

2011-07-15T22:13:00.001-07:00

Road Trip

2011-06-03T20:41:00.000-07:00

Thirteen years ago I graduated from high school and my youngest sister started Kindergarten that next fall. Since I had college classes in the morning at Weber, and didn't work until the evenings, I would walk to the top of our street to pick her up from the bus stop. We'd then walk down the street while she showed me what she had learned that day. I wasn't able to afford the spring semester of my first year in college and I took advantage of opportunity, and would help my mom out by waking Becky up and watching her favorite TV shows and help her get ready for school. We'd watch "Bear in the Big Blue House" (Shadow! Shadow, Shadow Shad-ow!) and "Blues Clues". She would then fall asleep on the bean bags in the basement, and once I was home from work, she'd wake up and beg me to let her sleep in my room. I gave in every time and would drag the bean bag in my room and carry her in to sleep on it. I cherished every moment with her. Being 12 years her senior, I knew I would be leaving home long before she grew up.
Today we started the long promised 'senior trip'. I told Becky I would go on a senior trip with her if she found herself alone with no one to go. I got lucky (along with Suzy), and found myself flying from Vancouver to Salt Lake, picking up a rental and then spending fourteen hours driving from Salt Lake to Anaheim to go to Disneyland. Although it's been a long day (with bouts of separation anxiety from Bryan getting to me), it's been a fun adventure. Our compact rental car came in the form of a Mazda Crossover. All the comfort we could want, dual zone controls, tinted windows, and roominess. We stopped in Cedar City for some snacks, and then in St. George for ice cream. The brakes on the crossover work awesome; a last minute Moneypenny telling us to turn right gave the perfect opportunity to double check we could stop in 60 feet. About 5 miles outside of Vegas, the Cali traffic started, and the drive became...more involved. We stopped at Edwards, the AFB my family last lived at. I haven't seen it since we moved away in 1992, and a lot has changed. The housing where we lived no longer exists, and two of the schools I went to are no longer used as schools. The BX has been rebuilt, and the old library building has been torn down. We also stopped in Rosamond and saw the small rental we lived in; it brought back a lot of memories. Happy memories of riding bikes in the desert, swimming in pools filled with a garden hose, sleepovers every weekend and walks to the Four Seasons for Haagen Daaz ice cream bars and toys. The last drive into LA was long; we hit rush hour at its peak. Three hours later we finally went the last 25 miles and arrived at our hotel, directly across from Disneyland. Once in our room I changed into PJs in a matter of seconds ready to hit the sack. Zzzzzz...

Some more things to see

2011-05-27T20:48:00.000-07:00

Northwest Gardening

2011-05-14T16:38:00.000-07:00

I have not yet become accustomed to the consistent cloudy sky with occasional drizzles and mostly downpours. Back in January, we had a week of balmy 50˚ weather with blazing sunshine. In a t-shirt, I started digging dirt to bury day lilies, gladiolas, dahlias. Then it was back to the rain. And it rained all through February, March and most of April.
Towards the end of April we started getting dry patches. The sky is still cloudy, but we'll go a few hours to a day without much rain. The last couple of weeks I've gotten lucky with quite a few sunny days, days where you can actually see patches of blue sky. So I started the long arduous task of building a raised vegetable garden. My original plan was to build the boxes against the shop. On Easter weekend, I purchased all my block and spent all day unloading it, making trips back and forth. Each stone is heavy, and I could not lift more than 2 at a time. After about 10 trips of that, my arms were too tired, and I had to resort to 1 at a time. One-hundred and sixty-eight blocks later I was finally finished stacking them in a nice pile next to the shop. Then I changed my mind. I decided I wanted my garden on the southeast corner of our backyard. This would allow for a simple gate/fence to be built and keep the food thieves known as Jax and Nivia out. The new location meant digging up grass, which wasn't too difficult. With the yard being brand new, the roots haven't really taken...root yet. I stripped up a 4' x 10' section and dug up the dirt some and started laying the block. After 28 trips back and forth one piece at a time, Bryan came home and decided I needed a wagon. However, I was finished for the day; too exhausted for even a wagon. Plus the rain was starting to drip-drop again. Later that week Bryan dug up the rest of the grass for me, a 10' x 10' section and finished laying the block for my first garden box, and got started on my next two. Alas, the rain came again, and he only got about halfway. The next evening, I took the time to re-lay all the sod. But it wasn't laying nice and flat. After staring at it in disgust for a week, last night I loaded up all the dug up sod in the truck, and drove down to the local yard waste dump and unloaded it for $7.
Today's forecast was once again rain in the afternoon, but I was determined to finish my garden. Just past 7 am, I started digging. I dug up the rest of the dirt, as well as a boulder the size of Lithuania. Next I laid the block, making sure I leveled all of it, as well as dug around the sprinkler that will be adjusted for watering the garden. Once I laid all the wall, I threw in grass clippings from mowing the lawn, and planted my raspberry and blackberry bushes. I also planted some lavender. Then it was back to the store to purchase the dirt. I found 2 cubic feet bags were cheapest and also heaviest. I had to get help to load it in the truck, because I physically could not lift it high enough to clear the tailgate, and had 15 bags to load. Once home, I got out my wagon (which had been a huge help in carrying the block) and took 3 bags at a time back to my new garden. Two planters are full, and the third is awaiting a sprinkler surgery, and then will be filled as well. As soon as I finished raking the last bit of dirt, I started to feel raindrops. I had literally finished in the nick of time. I cleaned up my gargantuan mess and came inside just as the rain started to pour.

Another Random Day

2011-05-09T20:36:00.001-07:00

Another day off with nothing to do... Bam google reveals that "THE" Spruce Goose is interned at an air museum just an hour or so away. Load up the car and we're off on another random drive. More pictures to follow.

Rolling Stones Aren't Satisfaction

2011-04-18T16:18:00.000-07:00

As all stories, this one must start at the very beginning. Coming home from any trip always has the same to do list: a) do all laundry and b) get to the grocery store for milk and other necessities. At the grocery store, I noticed rhubarb in the vegetable section. Bryan has gone on and on about his dad's rhubarb plant he remembers as a kid and always wants strawberry rhubarb pie. Here was my big chance. I picked up a few stalks of rhubarb and strawberries. Once home, Bryan got busy cooking dinner and I got busy making dessert. At last my pie was in the oven, and about an hour later was smelling delicious. When it was finished to perfection, I pulled it out and sliced up two ginormous pieces for Bryan and me. The same thing happened the next night, and the following night. Thursday was Bryan's day off, and it has become customary to go to Bruchi's to get cheesesteaks for lunch. We arrived at our destination, and when I got out of the car, I had a sharp pain in my back on my right side near where you'd imagine your kidney to be. It was really odd, as it hurt pretty bad and made me feel like I needed to use the restroom. After ordering, I couldn't help it. I had no choice but had to go use the public facilities. But when I got there, nothing happened. Huh?! The pain was already gone so I didn't think too much of it. We got back home and I went back to work. About an hour later, I got another sharp pain in my back. Bad enough I lost my concentration for a few moments. Then another half hour later, I got more pain. I did some calculations, and realized maybe it was just cramping. Darn. After another half hour went by, I got yet another pain. This time, Bryan made the offhand remark that maybe it was a kidney stone. I smiled, yeah right. But curiosity was killing my cat, so I looked up the symptoms. Oh no...the first symptom of a kidney stone is sudden sharp pain in your back where your kidney is located. Makes sense, as that is where the stone first enters your ureter and causes all the grief I was about to encounter for the next 72 hours. The website I found also listed foods that were high enough in oxalate to cause a stone. Guess what was at the top of the high-oxalate foods (which were listed highest to lowest)? Ding-ding-ding-ding-ding! Rhubarb. My love affair with the pie was shouting its sins from the rooftops. After researching it, I mentioned it to one of my co-workers, who let me know she'd never had one, but several in her family had and it was very painful. I nodded in agreement, but somehow had the will power to continue working. Until the next attack. At that point, work was no longer worth it and I cried uncle. I got comfortable on the couch with 4 bottles of water and started chugging. I noticed standing and laying were the best positions. Sitting caused my ureter to be pinched which becomes painful quickly. Thursday was a sleepless night. Friday I got up, showered and had no pain. I wondered what exactly that meant, but maybe I'd gotten enough water in my system to get the stone all the way down to my bladder. I started working and 5 minutes later I was on the bathroom floor, crying. The pain was unbearable. Standing hurt, sitting hurt, laying down hurt. I found laying with my head on the cool bathroom tiles, on my stomach allowed my kidney some rest. Then the worst happened. The pain became so bad I wasn't able to keep anything in me. After 4 hours of not getting fluids, I knew it was time. I called Bryan at work. Luckily he taught me a trick to get directly to his phone so I didn't have to put courage in my voice when I called. All I said was I need the ER now please come home and hung up. He was home in 10 minutes and drove me to the hospital. I honestly don't know how I made it. The ER's parking lot was tiny, hence packed. Bryan had to park about 30 yards away. It was pouring rain, and I took tiny baby steps all the way to the ER. Bryan kept saying he'd carry me, but I knew if I got in that position, I'd heave, and maybe pass out (passing out may have been a good thing though). The guy at the front desk was very nice and got a hospital dog tag attached to my wrist pronto. The triage nurse saw me within a couple minutes. She was able to give me something for the nausea (although that wasn't my problem; the pain was. I needed a pain killer to keep from having the nausea, but she couldn't give me that). Then I laid on the dirty waiting room couch, off in the corner, moaning and crying. I'm sure everyone there thought I was possessed. It took over an hour for a bed to become ready, and then I was taken back. The bed was much more comfortable, and an IV was stuck in me right away with fluids. Pain killers came when a doctor was assigned to me and he gave the okay. The morphine made me feel very strange, but the pain didn't really subside. I had two pains, the stone in my ureter and the pain in my kidney from my ureter being stopped up. The kidney pain was worse than the stone pain. The doctor was concerned I had something worse than a kidney stone, so ordered up an x-ray, a CT scan as well as an ultrasound. Ultrasound came first to make sure I didn't have a failing appendix or diseased gall bladder. The tech made a comment about my kidney, then asked if I had fallen recently. I said no, and then she asked if I'd been hit. I said no again, but the look she gave Bryan...too bad she doesn't really know him. He can't even squish a spider! The ultrasound came back negative, so the doctor went ahead with the CT scan. The x-rays were hard to do because I had to stand with my arms up which made my kidney angry. The CT scan was worse. I had to put my arms over my head, and take in a deep breath. The first breath wasn't deep enough so I had to do 3 scans instead of just 2. By the time they wheeled me back into room 18, I was exhausted. Yet all I'd done was lay around looking like I was dying. The results from the CT scan said I did have a kidney stone and it was 3 mm. I know tiny, but in the world of kidney stones the doctor said it was actually quite large. Since I didn't have a fever, or infection yet, he sent me home because there was nothing else he could do. But at least I had pain killers now, along with Flomax to help ease my ureters, and antibiotics to keep from getting an UTI or a kidney infection. Friday night was sleepless again and Saturday was downing pain pills all day. By Saturday evening I was feeling pretty good. I started thinking the stone was in my bladder. I was wrong again. Sunday morning I woke up at 12:30 am to the most pain I've ever experienced. My kidney was spasming, and my bladder was having a fit. I could barely stand up, let alone walk to the bathroom. I cried and cried, worried I would get sick again and have to go in. Bryan begged me to take more pain pills, as I had read the instructions wrong and wasn't taking enough. "Don't make me suffer" I cried out pathetically. In that moment I didn't think Bryan could understand the level of my suffering. It was awful. When he finally got me calmed down, I took another pain pill and tried to lay still. Later when Bryan called from work, I told him to still come home as I was in huge amounts of pain even with the extra medicine. When he finally made it, the pain was just starting to subside. I decided to be a tough guy and brave it out. Later that morning, the pain had one final attack. I called Bryan again, just to hear his voice so I could rationally think about my decision. Then the pain went away, just like that, and the stone passed. Unfortunately, the residue of my angry kidney has not worn off, and I'm still paying for that one. I've been in and out of bed all day, trying to do some work, but not succeeding at too much. Then I have the crazy idea to do some laundry, and maybe even sweep and vacuum as the dog hairs are starting to annoy me. I need to learn how to say STOP and help yourself by being lazy. At least lazy enough to watch the movie I DVR'd just for that reason, and to drink a few more bottles of water. And maybe have Bryan take me grocery shopping, but not to buy rhubarb. Definitely not rhubarb.

And more...

2011-04-14T19:20:00.000-07:00

When we walked the Golden Gate Bridge we saw some dolphins out in the bay. I snapped some pictures but they were so far away and the bridge moves SO much that I couldn't get a clear pic.

Some more...

2011-04-10T16:22:00.000-07:00

San Francisco, more to come...

2011-04-10T16:15:00.000-07:00

Rain, Rain and more RAIN!

2011-04-03T17:42:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks back we went out to Grays Point. The rain was relentless as you can see in this picture. We took our only pic of the light house when it stopped pouring for about 10 seconds. The next week we went up to Bonneville Dam and checked out the hydroelectric plant. There isn't any pics of the outside of the dam because it was once again pouring rain, big surprise... I knew it rained a lot here but it is getting old.

Dentist Tales

2011-03-25T16:05:00.000-07:00

I have been one of those few fortunate to have had only one bad experience with the dentist. Don't get me wrong, I've had my share of interesting experiences, but only one that actually made me frightened. I remember browsing in video rental stores (remember when those used to exist?) and seeing this one movie cover that showed a mouth full of braces and the teeth like daggers. It scared the bee-geebies out of me (I'm the type that can't even watch a scary movie trailer, let alone overhear the conversations of others about scary movies), but never made me fear the dentist. The first dentist I went to was when I lived in Oklahoma as a kid. I remember the building was dark brown wood, and it was sunny outside, but that's it. The next dentist I saw was about 8 years later or so when my family moved to Utah. Dr. Corey was awesome, other than he liked to sing songs to you while working on your teeth. As a young teenage girl it weirded me out; what if his "Jenny-baby" doo-ops meant he was crushing on me! Sick! But other than that, he was great. He always told me to shut my eyes when he gave me a shot. Somehow he knew I wouldn't be able to handle the sight of that needle going in my mouth. Then I got married and had to switch dentists. This dentist was horrible. We went in for a cleaning, and I got told I needed a ton of work. Being a believer, I figured he was right when he said my upper wisdom teeth should be pulled out, by him. The upper left tooth got nice and numb, but the upper right...well, that was a nightmare. We never went to that dentist again. Next was Dr. Godderidge. He was the sweetest dentist. He never pushed any treatment our way. He gave great service and advice, and let you work out the details of what to get done yourself. No pushy salesman trying to get dental school paid for. For years he told me again and again to get my bottom wisdom teeth yanked out, but I was too fearful from my first experience with the uppers. After 7 years of suggesting, I finally had them extracted. This time, I went to a maxillofacial surgeon. He put me out and the next thing I knew, I was climbing into the truck ready to go home. My left side healed really quickly, but the right side of my face swelled like a balloon.
Now that we have moved, I've had to hunt for a new dentist. I was nervous about it, as how do you know that you're finding another Dr. Corey or Dr. Godderidge, and not the other type? I finally made my decision and got an appointment set up. The day before our cleaning appointments, we got the usual reminder call with an extra notice that it may take up to 3 hours. What?! It was just a cleaning! After much yada, yada, yada about it being our first appointment, I decided to still go with it. Appointment day came too fast, along with appointment time. The gals in the office had Bryan go first, as they wanted a full x-ray of my mouth. However my insurance wouldn't cover it because I'd had one 2 years ago for my wisdom teeth. If they had told me the day before, I would've looked up the info, but I couldn't remember the surgeon's name off the top of my head, and the receptionist couldn't find Dr. Godderidge by Google search (which by the way, I just googled, and found in 3 seconds). After waiting 30 minutes, the dentist finally decided to just give me the x-ray free of charge. At least Bryan got charged, right? I did the full mouth x-ray (it was hard not to giggle as visions of "The Whole Nine Yards" crept into my mind), then sat in the dentist chair and was promptly started on another whole set of x-rays. They probably took 20 shots, which made me wonder what was the point of doing the panoramic one? Wouldn't that have been enough? By the 20th x-ray I was starting to gag. The tech felt bad, but I couldn't help it. She was cutting up my gums with the little cards and she had clumsy hands. Finally finished, I started to wait for my cleaning. After another 30 minutes passed, the tech came back. She needed 2 more x-rays, and that time I couldn't stop the gagging. It was horrible. I felt bad for her, as that must sound awful. She was gauging my gums and her fingers were so far in the card was in my tonsils. With that truly finished, I was x-ray complete. No need to worry about the possible radiation from Japan; I got my full dosage in that chair. The dentist then came back and went over all these details for this that and the other. The cha-chings were starting to add up. After the cleaning was finally done, I walked out to the front reception to find we'd been there 3 hours and 15 minutes. Good grief! Bryan's mouth had racked up more cha-chings than mine, and all were for fashion fixes. After leaving we talked it over. The one item that is absolutely needed is for me. Unfortunately, my fear of the dentist and wisdom teeth made the 10 years my bottom wisdom teeth pushed into my last set of molars a huge problem. The right back molar has since died and is mostly just one large filling. It will need a crown one day. The left back molar is now on the same path. It has decay all on the back of it. Due to all that wisdom tooth pushing, it weakened the tooth's enamel, and now being 'open' to the elements it was a prime candidate for decay.
So lucky me. I get to find out if this dentist is any good at numbing. I hope like the dickens he is.

Don't go chasing waterfalls, (ha ha now you can't get that song out of your head!)

2011-03-12T22:17:00.000-08:00

So this is how most of our Random Roulette Road Trips take place. Yesterday, we get in the car, with the camera gear because we have a rule if you put shoes on the cameras come with. That's because we have missed so many moments in life because we didn't have a camera, but I digress... So we start down the 205 and after about 45 minutes we see an exit that says Mt. Angel. So we pull out the phone and do a quick google and find that Mt. Angel is a town that has a bunch of Octoberfest things and even has a place that makes sausage. They had a little restaurant at the location where they make the sausage so we stopped for lunch. Well the folks there were nicer than any folks we had met before but the building while nostalgic was filthy. Anyone that knows me knows germs and I don't get along.... Anyhow we ordered and the knockwurst and bratwurst wasn't bad. The funny thing is you know when you are in a place that sells primarily beer when you ask what soda they have and they don't know! "We might have RC cola, but I'll check". They did have shoestring beer battered fries which for those of you that ate at the "original" Iggy's in Salt Lake back before it got bought out and ruined, you would have enjoyed these as they were just like the old Iggy's fries. So when we got done with lunch we drove down the road and saw signs for Silver Falls State Park. So 20 miles later we got to a parking lot and despite the pouring rain we visited three beautiful waterfalls. The park has tons more falls but we were already soaking wet and the sun was getting low in the sky, LOL, sun, as if we've even seen the sun in the last 4 months! This is how we do weekends, pick a direction, start driving, find what ever we can find. Random Roulette Road Trip.

Stuff

2011-03-09T20:46:00.000-08:00

I didn't have any time in Vegas to do anything fun, the last night I walked the strip a little before going to bed. When I got back to Oregon we went and saw this waterfall in Oregon City.

Stumbled upon

2011-02-14T19:11:00.000-08:00

We went on a short drive yesterday and stumbled upon a waterfall, a footbridge, and an old train station and tunnel. Not bad for just driving around...

Seattle

2011-02-12T20:42:00.000-08:00

We drove up to Seattle for our anniversary. The weather was nasty and the light was terrible for taking pictures but I took some anyway.

Sorry chef, undercooked is undercooked...

2011-01-12T10:32:00.000-08:00

So last night we went to a new restaurant in Vancouver called Applewood. Jen ordered a lamb chop and I a pork loin chop. The chef was obviously trying to present like a fancy French restaurant but the food left much on the table, no pun intended. The portions were VERY small. My Polenta was good but tiny, more of a garnish than a side. The Risotto that Jen had was nasty, the flavors all clashed making a rotten taste. The bread that was served with dinner was good but you don't go to a restaurant for the complimentary appetizer. The worst part of all was the undercooked meat. Jen's lamb was so very raw, not rare but raw. My pork was undercooked as well. When the waitress came with our check she noticed we hadn't eaten our food and asked if it was OK. Jen mentioned the undercooked meat and the waitress took it to the chef. The chef stated that it was "rare" not raw and was fine...

Let me explain something, the goal with any meat is to ensure all bacteria is killed so you don't get sick. Generally you want your meat cooked until there are "CLEAR" juices not blood. As tender as possible with clear juices is always my goal. The bone-in versions of meat cuts are more likely to harbor bacteria, Jen's lamb was bone-in. There are multiple bacterias that can be present. The most likely to be found in lamb is Campylobacter. Campylobacter is the most common in the U.S. ahead of salmonella. Campylobacter will cause the typical cramping, nausea, diarrhea, etc. The scary thing about it is it's not like other food poisoning, it takes 2-5 days to become symptomatic. And infection can develop into Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS), which can leave people unable to move for months. Meat must reach 180 degrees to kill this bacteria.

Then there is salmonella, E. Coli which can cause kidney failure and bloody diarrhea, cryptosporidia, Staphylococcus aureus, Giardia lamblia, Shigella, and Clostridium botulinum.

Add to the list trichinosis parasites from the pork and suddenly eating out becomes Russian Roulette.

Here are the pics of our undercooked food....

Cannon Beach

2011-01-03T21:17:00.000-08:00

Indian Beach

2011-01-03T21:15:00.001-08:00

Cape Meares

2011-01-02T21:37:00.000-08:00

The Sixes Excursion

2011-01-02T20:46:00.000-08:00

New job, new home, new residence, new year. Since our harrowing drive here, we've been in constant over drive accomplishing way too much in too little time. From unpacking boxes, decorating for Christmas, to getting to know the local area, last minute Christmas shopping and shipping, and arranging furniture. It was finally our first official weekend with nothing really on the schedule to do and our first row of sunny days. With nothing but rain and clouds since we got here, I made the command decision to do something fun. Since we've gone north to Mt. St. Helen's, West to Astoria, and East to the Columbia River Gorge, I thought we should try south. My search yielded the Mt. Hood Scenic Byway. We packed our camera gear, strapped on hiking boots and set off. Halfway into our drive, we noticed the clouds were getting thicker, and that the sunny skies seemed to be north, where you could actually see Mt. St. Helen's. But I had a plan that we were gonna stick to. Even though I tend to be a 'technology' navigationally challenged person, I didn't have much trouble finding the byway. The signs every 100 yards or so helped too. The first part of our drive was quite boring. All downtown city streets. Then you would find a set of open fields, then back to downtown city streets. We finally found ourselves in the mountains...I mean hills. But there was nothing awe-inspiring the entire way. Then we connected back with the main highway, and went on our way to Mt. Hood, to just find heavy, wet snow and roads that hadn't really been plowed. Just cleared from all the traffic going to the ski resorts. As we passed a chain up area, there were several cars stopped, removing their chains. We stopped too, and turned around. The plan had back fired. Nothing amazing, no neat finds, no surprise Bald Eagles. At home, I spent the rest of the evening finally tearing into the final boxes and got the last room finished. Now that everything was sorted, and the checklist completed for today, I decided we'd go on another drive to celebrate. And this time the plan would NOT backfire.
I suggested Cannon Beach and Bryan suggested Cape Meares Lighthouse. We Googled both, and found each were the same distance away. I opted for Cape Meares. Again we packed the camera bags and strapped on hiking boots. The skies were blue in all directions (you could see Mt. Hood to the southeast, just to spite us). We got on the 5 and went south to pick up the 26 going west. After crossing the main bridge in Portland, there's a tunnel that goes directly underneath a bunch of homes and apartment buildings. As we were in the truck, Bryan couldn't resist. He rolled down both windows, down shifted into 3rd and took off. The rumbling exhaust became a thrashing tornado. I think we scared the small Honda Accord next to us, as he shot off like a rocket. After leaving the city, we entered a bunch of 'plains' with vineyards everywhere. If it hadn't been so green, I would think we were leaving Sacramento heading for San Francisco. We then hit the hills and started our slow, winding climb. There were plenty of fishermen off the side of the road. At the tippy top of 2000 feet, we had to cross a bridge that was in the middle of construction. It was a little creepy. You hoped nothing would go wrong as our 3+ ton truck crossed. Halfway down the other side we passed a semi, and we gave each other sideways glances. We pulled into Tillamook about an hour later. We had been through here on our 2004 west coast trip, and hadn't really enjoyed it. The pouring rain, and car sickness from winding seaside roads had made us crabby travelers. This time the sun was shining. We rolled down the windows to be blasted with the worst cow manure smell ever. It made me think of our old South Park video game. It was a James Bond type shooter style, and one of the 'gun' devices was a cow bazooka. It would shoot out a cow that would land on your opponent's head. Then your opponent would squirm as the methane 'killed' the character. The road to the lighthouse is in bad need of repair. I accidentally saw the sign for Cape Meares, and pointed Bryan straight, when the sign for the lighthouse pointed left. Oh well. After driving a road that needed to be repaved before we were born, we found us a beach with a sea monster. And I found an oyster shell. We then headed back for the turn, and saw a sign that said rough road ahead. After the short jaunt we had to the beach, we couldn't imagine what would be deemed rough road worthy. And it was nothing. Much like Peter crying wolf. The lighthouse was small and looked very similar to the lighthouse in Lowestoft, England (where my mom's family is from). Bryan got some great pictures of the ocean with the dazzling sun, and then learned a cool technique, only to not be able to try it out as the lighthouse was a popular destination. We're not much into pictures with random strangers, and we are not photo shoppers. One of the many history signs pointed out all of the lighthouses along the Oregon coast. The next one was called Tillamook Lighthouse, so we decided to drive north to see it and then would head back home. Along our way, we saw a small gas station with the label Tillamook Smokehouse Outlet. We stopped and found ourselves in beef jerky heaven. We bought a bag of reject skewered teriyaki jerky and a bag of sea salt and pepper jerky. Delicious! So good, I couldn't put the bag down and finally had to zip it up after grabbing one more piece and then stowed it behind my seat to stop. After we hit the town Garibaldi, Bryan realized we should have found the lighthouse by that point. We stopped at a beach parking lot to get better directions, and found the lighthouse was at Cannon Beach, which was only another 25 minutes north! We took the turn off for Cannon Beach (which is really for the town, not the beach), and drove through the center of town. It's a miniature Park City. There were tons of people on the beach looking at Haystack Rock, so we decided to go to Ecola Park. The first beach had great views of Cannon Beach. We took shots of the tiny town with fog rolling between the hilly peaks. We then drove a short distance further to Indian Beach, and finally found our lighthouse. It was built out on the ocean on a rock in the late 1800s. The workers sometimes would go weeks at a time before more supplies (building and food) could arrive. Ten days before it was completed, a British ship crashed in the area. No one survived. It was eventually shut down as it was too hard to keep maintained. It's now used as a cemetery for ash remains. I kept my head down while walking along the beach, looking for treasures and found a sand dollar! I yelped and picked it up to show Bryan. It was broken around the edges some, but looked pretty good. Then he noticed a perfect sand dollar a few steps away. After a little research, come to find out that sand dollars are a type of urchin. We got plenty more amazing pictures, and then stuck around to get the perfect ocean sunset. After the bombshell plan yesterday, today had been much more fruitful. The drive home was even eventful as we were in the dark on a mountain road we've never traveled before, that had not been cleared either. At one point, while zooming past a slow poke, we careened a right hand curve over an icy bridge. After that scare, we took it a little more slowly. Just until our hearts got below 200 bps. The rest was uneventful, unless you count the tunnel into Portland with sleepy homeowners above. Imagine being on a Harley with the exhaust blasting into your ears. If the tunnel had collapsed in the rear view, I would not have been surprised.

But I Did Stay at a Holiday Inn Express Last Night

2010-12-08T19:52:00.000-08:00

Last week was spent packing our home of nine years, then loading it onto a truck to be driven 722 miles to Vancouver. Late Thursday night, we headed over to PetSmart to pick up a couple dog beds and encountered sticker shock. The bed size that fit our large dogs were $75 a piece! We then drove over to Wal-Mart to maybe find a cheaper alternative, but realized the beds at the pet store were the best option. We went back, and while debating which colors to pick, an employee walked by and mentioned the beds would be on sale the very next morning for 50% off. My eyes filled with tears as this was a small blessing. I've felt like we're bleeding cash at times, and this small gesture (and stretched emotions) almost got the better of me. Friday was spent packing all the items that the movers would not, which is every chemical and product that could potentially create a leak and ruin possessions. We boxed the last minute items too and loaded everything into our 30' trailer in a 5' space to allow room for our Honda, thus creating one tightly packed possible bomb. Saturday morning the dogs were then placed in the back of the truck with their kennels creating a makeshift dog run with the beds and bones for chewing. We finally headed out of Logan at 11 am. It was so foggy, we weren't able to get a backwards glance in. And honestly it was probably a good thing as we were still teary eyed from our final video of our home. The drive went well and we arrived in Boise at 4:30 pm. The hotel was pet friendly, and we opted to pay the extra fee to let the dogs sleep in the room with us. Sunday morning we awoke early. While walking the dogs, a guy stopped us and asked if he paid us some money could he use our cell phone. Jax started barking, so Bryan said we'd left the phone in our hotel room. The whole thing seemed weird any ways, but when Jax went off we knew something was not right. We got on the road by 9 am. About 17 miles outside of Ontario, Oregon the unthinkable happened. For those who have flown, when preparing to land there is a loud noise as the pilot opens the doors to allow the landing gear to extend. This is exactly the type of noise we heard come from the rear of our truck. The left rear suddenly dropped some, and Bryan gripped the steering wheel with white knuckles as we slowly pulled to the right hand side of I-84 to stop. Just before stopping, there was a loud explosion and our tire started to roll down the highway. In the ensuing panic and shock, I quickly unlatched my seat belt and jumped out of the truck and pelted after that tire. I did not want any traffic to hit it and cause more chaos, nor did I want the tire destroyed. Once I rolled the tire to Bryan (it's a 33" and extremely heavy), I noticed our wheel was laying in the middle section between the east and westbound freeway. Yes, I did look both ways, making clearly sure it was safe and then ran across to retrieve it. When Bryan looked up to see what we should do next, he saw me in the section for authorized vehicles only and started to panic. As there is not much traffic on the I-84 I was able to cross back pretty quickly, and then told to sit in the truck with my seat belt on. I had the task of sitting in the driver's seat warning Bryan every time a semi went by so he could brace for impact just in case. One car got my middle finger as he passed within inches of the truck, when he could have moved lanes as no one was around him for miles. Bryan was able to put our spare tire on, which was low on air. The process took about 30 minutes. We then drove 20 mph a mile down the road to the Stinker Station (I'm not making this up). As the accident had sheared three of the eight lug studs, we had to borrow a lug from each wheel to put the spare on. We stopped at the Stinker to see if they possibly had any lug nuts, but they didn't. Knowing that Ontario was only 15 miles away or so, we decided to push on. The town had a tire center and hotels. We figured it was our best chance. We drove at 35 mph with hazards flashing for 15 miles, then missed the exit and had to drive another mile to turn around and head back. We pulled into Les Schwab which was right off the freeway but as it was Sunday, they were not open. We tried calling, thinking they may have an after hours emergency number, but no such luck. Instead we listened to the ringing of their phone on the obnoxiously loud intercom. Knowing we were stuck, I told Bryan to drive over to the hotel, which looked really nice due to how new it must have been (it was built in 2008). While he stayed with the truck trying to decide if we should just drive really slow all the way to Vancouver, I went inside and spoke with the hotel manager. He did have a room available for only $77 (which was cheaper than the hotel I had reserved in Vancouver). He also had the home phone numbers for the Les Schwab manager and Big O Tire manager. Both did not answer, but he left messages and told me if we were able to get help that day, he wouldn't charge me for the room, even if we did use it for sitting and laying down. He even offered the use of the hotel's pool and spa, which made me wish I had packed my swimsuit with me. After driving to the hotel, Bryan found that the drum had been barely crushed out of round once the wheel had fallen off and impacted the concrete. We weren't limping anywhere. He called around to several parts stores, and found the closest drum was in Boise. After that was Aurora, Colorado. We unloaded the Honda and he headed back to Boise to get the necessary parts, while I stayed in Ontario to do laundry and be with the dogs. Unfortunately, Bryan's hour and a half drive was extended to 2 and a half due to road work. He was finally able to get the parts and drove all the way back. We had dinner at the Sizzler across from the hotel and then went to bed, beaten to our very core. In the morning we awoke to freezing rain, a new sensation for us. It was so cold, and extremely slick. We drove to the Les Schwab and were smacked with a rude dose of corporate lawyer crap. We told our story, and the Les Schwab employee told us he would not use the parts we had obtained and we would have to wait 2-3 days for the drum to show up. Bryan said "Thanks for NOT helping us, we'll give our business to the Big O, and where is that exactly?" I couldn't believe it, but the guy actually gave us directions and we walked out in a huff. When we arrived at the Big O I was afraid we'd get the same treatment. But Brandon and Mike were not Les Schwab. They listened to our story, how rude Schwab was and immediately went to work helping us figure out what we needed. Even though they did not have enough wheels nor tires in stock, they did have one steel white wheel that would work. They mounted the tire that I had chased down, then called around town and found a mechanic that could fix our drum. We were once again afraid we'd find additional damage to the rear end differential. Lonnie at Justus Auto located in Fruitland, Idaho fixed the drum in a couple hours. When we went to pick up the truck, Lonnie chatted with us about mechanicing and how he specialized in rear ends. We drove the truck back to the hotel to pick up our trailer and reload the Honda. We were finally fixed and ready to go. For the next nine hours we drove at 50-55 mph in fear of hearing that horrible loud skimming noise followed by an explosion. When we got past La Grande, and found ourselves on Cabbage Hill, we were awestruck. The beauty of the frost and grandiose view left us speechless. We pulled into Vancouver around 10 pm, safe and sound.

It wasn't until later that the reality of our situation really hit. Bryan was able to keep steady hands and not roll our truck, with the 30' trailer that had our Honda. All three would have been totaled, meaning we wouldn't have a vehicle to call our own. Nivia dislikes the loud exhaust of our truck, so sits over the left wheel well, getting as far away from the noise as possible. When the wheel failed, it split in half around the wheel, like cutting out a donut. The tire could have easily been sliced and cut into the rear quarter. If you've ever watched a NASCAR race and seen a rear tire blow, it quickly shreds the quarter panels to bits. Somehow the tire stayed in tact, which kept Nivia safe on her perch. I wouldn't have been able to bear the thought of burying a dog. Bryan and I were both wearing our seat belts, something I've always been good about, but Bryan has a bad habit due to all the in n' out when working as a mechanic. We were also so close to a town with decent amenities, and good people. The hotel manager, John, Mike and Brandon at Big O, and Lonnie. We had the good fortune of having a mechanic fix our rear end that specialized specifically in that. Last was the final drive over Cabbage Hill down into Pendleton. If the wheel had waited until then to fail, it wouldn't have been a quick coast on a long stretch of lonesome highway. The tight hairpin turns, steep cliffs and miles of 15' snow mountain sides would have meant instant death. A guardian angel had been with us on that drive. He made sure our truck stayed straight, that our baby girl was safe, our possessions didn't explode into the cold freezing rain, and our lungs were still filling with precious air. Every prayer I've said on this trip has ended with thank you for this opportunity. The opportunity to live in Vancouver, to be with my family safe, to stay in a hotel instead of a hospital, to have my life.

And that maybe, just maybe, (although we didn't make it Mulligan free) the stay at a Holiday Inn Express that night made all the difference in the world.

Sasquatch

2010-11-28T12:30:00.000-08:00

The panic has begun. This morning I woke with my mind ablaze. I had a million thoughts bungled inside my head and laid there slowly working myself into freak-out status. To help, I did what I do best, create a list. I sat down with my sasquatch notebook (the first week I was here in Vancouver, I needed a notebook. I went to Fred Meyer and started looking through all the office supplies. Once I found the notebooks, I spent several minutes trying to decide which one would work best. Then I saw the sasquatch one. Talk about a genius market idea, and a little predictable. Of course I had to have it. Besides, it came with a pocket in the front as well, handy for all the business cards I've been given in the last 3 weeks). I then made a page for every day this week, and started listing what needed to happen for each one. At first, my list had the calming effect I was needing. However, it slowly turned into sadness and delved into slight depression. It's the beginning to many lasts. Tomorrow, Bryan and I fly back 'home' for the last time...a few things will be fixed by us for the last time...it is our last week in our first place...I will clean my home for the last time...
We bought our home in the fall of 2001. Not long after 9/11 when the world had lots of uncertainty. Yet, we were at an age when the world was ours to conquer. I knew this would be our first home, but thought we'd only live there for 3-5 years. The 3-5 turned into 9 years, 1 month and 1 day. The spring after we moved in we borrowed a camcorder and made a tape of our first place. Now we'll load our camera and tape the end. Instead of big smiles and silly laughter, it will contain long faces, bright eyes and detailed explanations of what we accomplished.
Old age brings new uncertainty. Will the choices I made in my twenties have good lasting affects for the choices I am making in my thirties? Will I have the good sense I did at twenty with buying a home in a wonderful neighborhood with lots of potential into my next home? Life is full of new goals now. In November 2001 it was all about proving to ourselves and the world (mostly our parents) that we could be responsible adults. We would own a home, and take good care of it. We would create a family atmosphere that all would want to be a part of. We would set the foundation for our retirement. We would be self-sustaining. Now, in November 2010, it's all about adding to those original goals. Still being the responsible adult, and making wise investments. Investments that will allow us to help those we care about. To continue the home that is inviting to all, just in a new location that may become adventurous vacations for our extended family. Most of all, adding a new layer to our cornerstone. On paper all our plans and goals look sound. But that was the easy part; making that list in the comfort of our habits. Now that our habits have been jumbled up, I hope I'm able to wade through the mess of packing, hauling, and signing to see the end goal clearly.
So armed with Sasquatch, I will link arms with my thirty-something comfortable life, and allow the young twenty-something to emerge and conquer this world.

And some more

2010-11-25T17:45:00.000-08:00

While viewing Lucia falls a bald eagle swooped in with a salmon in his clutches. He was about 100 yards away so I wasn't able to get many good pictures as I didn't have a tripod and couldn't get closer. Halfway through his meal he accidentally dropped his fish. He turned around and stared at the ground for a minute looking heart broken then flew away.

Connoisseur or Food Snob?

2010-11-24T13:45:00.000-08:00

Not that far back, a good friend of Bryan's told him he was a food snob. Huh?! Not possible! We have great taste, but now the seed of doubt has been planted and it makes me wonder...are we food snobs?
In the beginning, Bryan introduced me to all types of food. I was an extremely picky eater. Although I'll eat at most restaurants, I usually detail my order to have items removed and/or added, and then once it's delivered I pick off anything to my disliking. At first, I hated Mexican food and would usually opt to eat somewhere else. Then Bryan took me to Lorena's in Woods Cross, Utah. I ordered a ground beef flour enchilada. I know, why don't I just get the cheese enchilada, as I pull out all the ground beef? Well, the flavor just isn't the same without it. The enchilada sauce at Lorena's is AMAZING! I love it and have tried to replicate it since. Only recently did I receive a recipe from a friend that comes close to the real deal. Most enchilada recipes have salsa in them, and enchilada sauce does not, I repeat, does not taste like salsa.
Next I was introduced to Ho Ho's Chinese in North Salt Lake, Utah. Bryan had eaten here with coworkers from Willey Ford, and had been shown to order the chicken chow mein pan fried noodle style. I absolutely love this. We have become such regulars for this particular meal that when we do order, the elderly gentleman who owns the restaurant takes the time to come out and see us and say hi.
From there, I was given Iggy's with shoestring beer battered fries. Sadly, Iggy's sold out to a couple of brothers who turned it into a franchise and no longer has the fries. But I've grown to love the Chicken Philly With, but minus onions and cheddar and add mushrooms. And it must come with the rice pilaf. Bryan also opened the world of sandwiches to me, like Caruso's deli, Grove's market and Bob's deli.
Once we moved to Logan, the world of restaurants became small. There is not much for dining in Logan, but over the years we have found our favorites. The Italian Place makes a great hot sandwich, but you do have to overlook the lack of hygiene in the place. For a germaphobe, this is difficult. We love Hamilton's, and will go there for prime rib whenever we can. Cafe Sabor works for decent Mexican, but any chance I get, I still go to Lorena's.
In the traveling we've done, we love going to new restaurants, and finding mom & pop dives. In San Francisco, there is a Greek restaurant that we found by accident on our first trip, and have spent countless hours finding it again each time just to have the rice pudding and homemade lemon rice. In North Carolina, we found Carrabba's and Sticky Fingers. Both are large chains, but are very worthy of our good food stamp of approval. But England takes the cake for food. I know, how do the Brits do it with their pie of every kind, gravies and yorkshire puddings? But that's home style cooking at its best. We ate in the local pub of every town we stayed in. The Welsh pub hands down was the best. I had a chicken & leek pie (which I've successfully recreated about a month ago), and Bryan had a steak & ale pie that we have recreated several times with great results. I actually posted the recipe to that one a while back.
Since being in Vancouver, finding good food has been a little difficult. It's hard to navigate this town, as it is sprawling and there's not really a defining neighborhood for food. On Sunday, I did a search for Greek food, and even though we never found the restaurant (I think it's no longer there), we did find Bruchi's cheesesteak & subs. It wasn't bad at all. Then on Monday at lunch, I noticed a Greek restaurant inside the mall as we were finishing up our pizza. So yesterday we went back, and had yummy homemade lemon rice. The first week I was here, we went restaurant hunting, and found Gustav's, a German restaurant. I've never had German cuisine so we decided to try it out. We got the sampler plates and found it to be pretty good. Definitely a cuisine I wouldn't want to eat every day, but it's not something I'd boycott. Then Monday night, we went out to the east end of town and found Roots. It had a menu that was a little over the top, with some higher prices. The decor didn't really fit the place either. They had paid a lot of attention to detail, but then used cafeteria style chairs and cheap faux wood top tables. It just wasn't jiving.
In the end, I find I now go to restaurants and critique everything. From the decor and cleanliness, to the service and smiles, to the food and presentation. I find myself noting areas that could use improvement and wishing I could speak to the general manager and head chef about the food and service. I will without hesitation leave a note on a receipt letting a restaurant know if the dining out experience was great, or what needs improvement. I love when a restaurant has a card asking for constructive criticism, as I give it my heart.
When Bryan was first called a food snob it was because he had called into question a Marie Callendar's pie. I was appalled that this label had been given to us; I just like good food and will not pander to those who don't make it. But now that I've allowed my mind to wander on the subject, maybe I am a food snob. But I think I prefer to call it food connoisseur.

Astoria, Oregon

2010-11-23T15:13:00.000-08:00

I arrived back in Vancouver late Friday night. Bryan said it had rained from the moment I left, and it was still raining when I got here. We stopped at McDonald's for some comfort food and then crashed at the hotel. I awoke Saturday to the sun lightly shining in. It was partly cloudy all day, but it made for beautiful scenery and gorgeous pictures once again. I decided we were going to have some fun, so we drove out to Astoria. In 2004, we took a road trip out to the Pacific coast and then drove north to Seattle. We passed through Astoria with lots of rain, crossed the giant bridge and headed straight for the freeway as we were sick of winding roads. Along the way was a covered bridge that we missed. I decided we should try and find that covered bridge. We drove north and turned at Longview. Originally this was the location for the store we had applied for. However, due to oddball circumstances, Bryan was passed up, mostly due to his rookie status. Our first pass through was in the industrial part of town. It was near the port and pretty rundown and dirty. We then drove along the highway, and missed the turn off for the covered bridge. Along the way we saw a gargantuan eagle in a tree. He was a mottled brown and white. After zipping past, Bryan said we should have taken a picture. I said why not, so we screeched to a halt, three point turned and went back. But he was gone. Darn. We three point turned again and kept heading west. It wasn't until we saw the signs for Long Beach that we realized we had gone too far (no, not Long Beach, CA). Luckily, there was a sign for Astoria, so we turned there. We happened upon Fort Columbia and took a short drive through it. I don't know why we didn't get out and take pictures there. It was beautifully sunny, and there were some great views. Must have been one of those zoned in focused moments where you're too hungry to realize you're seeing something wonderful. We continued on to Astoria and crossed the giant bridge that goes over the mouth of the Columbia, which spills into the mighty blue Pacific. We chose to go to Astoria Column and climb the steps to the top to get panoramic views. The top of the hill is the tallest point in Astoria, a whopping 600 feet above sea level (we live at 4700 feet in Logan). Halfway up the stairs I started to panic. It was very cold and windy, and there were a few people running up the stairs towards the top. This caused the stairwell to shake some and me to shake a lot. I told Bryan to go slow, and he kept saying don't look down or up. But that wasn't my problem. I'm not really afraid of heights, but I am afraid of rickety staircases. And of a platform that sways a little in the wind. Besides, I do not enjoy being cold whatsoever. So after a couple minutes hugging the side of the column, I told Bryan I was heading back down. It wasn't til I got to step 6 that I felt 'safe'. I was very happy to be back on the 600-foot hill, and not at 725 on top of the column. Bryan got some amazing pictures. Next on our list was lunch. We headed east on the 30, and ended up halfway back to Longview before we found something, a small restaurant that served huckleberry pie. Lunch was surprisingly good. Bryan had a reuben and I had a BLT on sourdough, mm-mmm! And of course it was finished with yummy pie. We bought some huckleberry syrup for when we finally have moved into home and can cook up some delicious waffles. On our way back, we stopped in Longview and went by the store. Everyone in Vancouver tells Bryan he's lucky he didn't get Longview as it is just a town of hicks. We were sad; this town reminded of us so much of Logan. Too bad the circumstances didn't work out. We would have felt extremely at home in this small town. Maybe in the future one day. We passed a turn off for Mt. St. Helen's, but we'll have to do that once it's spring again and the snow has melted. There was also a sign for tourist information, pointing out a bulb farm is located here. We will have to definitely check that out. We have probably over 300 bulbs in our current yard and I love springtime. I have everything from tulips and daffodils, to mini irises, gladiator aliums, star of nature, crocuses and on and on.
Today we were able to go by the house and see the progress that has been made. The driveway in front of the garage has been poured, the trim work around windows and doors is complete, most of the cabinets are in place, and the travertine bathroom floors are laid. Today, the landscapers are working on the sprinkling system. Our driveway for the shop will now be concrete, as you need hot days to lay asphalt. We will also be getting a thicker granite countertop, as there was not enough in the color we picked for the thinner size. The wood flooring is inside the house acclimating to the temperature, and will probably be laid tomorrow. Our appliances should be delivered on Friday, and carpet should be going in next week, and sod should be laid by end of week too. It's all coming together and we hope to be moved in by December 10 like promised. I can't wait, as hotel living is...hotel living.

More to see

2010-11-20T19:27:00.001-08:00

Astoria

So much to see, plenty of time

2010-11-07T17:44:00.000-08:00

We went for a drive while the realtors were looking over our offer on our house. We just picked a road and kept driving. The amazing thing about this area is the number of things to see. Here are some pictures from just a 1 1/2 hour drive.

Offer accepted

2010-11-06T20:10:00.000-07:00

We've been dickering back and forth on our new house but finally our offer has been accepted...Here are some pictures of the house under construction. We actually found a house we liked more that was on a hill over looking Lacamas Lake but it was bank owned and it takes many months to go through the process of buying one and months we don't have...

The House Hunt

2010-11-05T10:46:00.000-07:00

Have I ever mentioned I'm picky? I have a preference for everything and homes are no different. Our list for our next home is:
a) MUST be new. No major upgrading and outdated is just that. No grand envisioning is allowed.
b) a three car garage with pad for parking a 30' trailer
c) a large enough yard for our two large enough dogs
d) a space for me to work from home, without feeling like I live at work (is that possible?)
e) a view of mountains would be nice, but not necessary
f) no budget busters!
This list has been difficult to accommodate. Around here most of the homes are only a car length from the curb (and a small car length, no extended cab, long bed trucks fitting here), the backyard is a hop, skip with no jump, with your neighbor's front yard directly behind your backyard. It looks like apartment living made gourmet. Add in the tricky street system and scary neighborhoods and it has been difficult. We narrowed our search down and with the help of a realtor I went looking at homes yesterday. The first home is in Washougal. The town is east of Vancouver and right on the Columbia River. The home was beautiful, but the backyard was three sets of terraces only wide enough to walk along. Although wonderful and bigger than our current home, I didn't feel myself in this home. It was like all the others, drive by and give a maybe, with a furrowed brow thinking it might work. We then drove around Vancouver past several homes, but none really had the parking for our 30' trailer. The realtor treated me to lunch and then we headed for our next destination, which was a group of homes being built. As we drove around looking for the correct address we stumbled upon it. When the realtor pulled to a stop I had to fight back tears in my eyes. Just looking at it I knew...I was home. It's funny how you get that feeling. As a kid, my dad would always let out a small gasp of happiness when we rounded the bend from Provo and entered the Salt Lake valley. After our first couple years in Logan, I found myself giving the same happy sigh when we popped out of Sardine Canyon. I wasn't sure if I would ever have that feeling again, but somehow, Atlas walked over and picked up his giant world off my shoulders. I wanted to skip, shout, jump over the moon, but my reserved nature kept me in check. I'm pretty sure my realtor felt the pressure release, as she was giddy too. When I went to take a picture with Bryan's phone, I had the sinking realization I had left it at the restaurant. Bryan was in a store in Milwaukie, Oregon (a suburb of Portland) for a store manager meeting. I was his only lifeline and ride back to Washington. When I called him using the realtor's phone, it was hard to relay my happiness as he had been waiting 45 minutes already for me to pick up the phone and drive the 30 minutes there to pick him up. The realtor and I hurried back to the restaurant, saved the phone and went to get the rental car. I then drove like a maniac through Portland rush hour to save Bryan. Just for you to know if you ever come out this way, Washington drivers haul butt and do NOT stop at red lights or stop signs. It's kind of a pause, but only kind of. Oregon drivers are slower, but will suddenly jump lanes and zoom off. The driving here is not for the faint of heart, and it's weird to get used to. Nothing like Utah where every driver is far too involved in their own world to realize they're plugging up the left lane.
After grabbing Bryan we drove straight back to the house so he could see the outside. And he felt that this was it too. I don't know if it was as strong as my reaction, but I think he felt relieved to have found a place in the time frame we had allotted. The home is in the northeast corner of Vancouver, in a more 'rural' area of the city. There's still many fields out this way, but the building boom of new homes has started. The home is about 7 minutes from Bryan's work, which is convenient, as right now we're exactly 6 minutes. It's also not quite finished yet, which is perfect because then we can choose our floors, cabinets, counters, bathrooms, etc. It also has a two car garage...with an 18x30 SHOP! Plenty of space to park a 30' trailer and plenty of space in the shop to completely overhaul a car. Now that we've spent the last 10 years doing DIY on our home, we can spend the next 10 doing DIY on the three hot cars we own. Two 1970 1/2 Chevrolet Camaros and a 1940 2 door Chev. We've also been pre-approved, with no contingency of the sale on our current home. PHEW!
I've also spent the last two days doing work remotely. It's been wonderful! I'm able to answer all my emails, look up problems and get them solved, as well as create email judging packets. The dry run test worked and I'll be able to keep the job I've grown to love over the past 9 years.
Through all of this we've been blessed. Although the dreams of growing our family have not happened, the dream of becoming a store manager has been achieved. All of this has been quite smooth, extremely fast, but easy. Bryan's new co-workers are great! He loves his new management team and is very excited and eager to get going. I still have worries about the sale of my current home, but maybe the good luck will continue to flow. In the three full days we've lived here, I've found peace. The landscape is gorgeous, just as everyone said. The people are 'good people' (per Tom Poulson). And the moving roller coaster has become a Sunday drive. We may actually get to have a fun day tomorrow, a day off to have a little fun and explore; something we do best.

And on the First Day...

2010-11-03T15:59:00.000-07:00

Vancouver is beautiful! The leaves are in the middle of changing colors still, and the reds up here are glorious. It's been fun experiencing fall all over again. The landscape here is very different than I had expected. We had seen pictures on the web, and I had created a Vancouver world in my mind's eye. With the number of pine trees and hills, along with views of Mt. St. Helen's and Mt. Hood, you start to believe that you are not at sea level. You find yourself thinking you're at 10,000 feet living atop many mountains, with gargantuan ones in the background. It's easy to keep yourself hoodwinked into this idea. I've never had trouble adjusting to the time difference, but here is a different story. I find by 10 AM that I am starving. I know it's 11 in Utah, but couldn't I last til 11 here? And right now it's just past 4 and I'm starving again! Yesterday I had Bryan with me as we started our house hunt. Homes are very different here. Most are about 6 feet from the curb, with a lawn barely big enough to lay down in, and then the backyard is about 3 big jumps to the fence. It makes the homes look huge, but it's sad to see no yard. Especially after we've been used to having almost a 1/2 acre for the past nine years. I'm sure the neighbors will have a good laugh when we mow the lawn in one swipe with the riding mower. Poor Nivia and Jax; they'll really fatten up now. I should invent dog fitness centers. You could hook your dog up to a tread mill for running and walking, have a large arena for fetch, and all the trees, posts and mailboxes for marking (and maybe a few postal workers to chase)!
Bryan started his first day here and finds the store and people to his liking. They were very excited to meet him and couldn't wait to show him around the store. It's made a lot of our anxiousness go away. Now just finishing our house search and putting in an offer that will get accepted. And then finding a buyer for our home. And then pack everything, move...

Soon to be For Sale

2010-10-27T14:42:00.000-07:00

9 years of blood sweat and tears, soon it will be for sale....

It's Official

2010-10-27T13:34:00.000-07:00

The long wait is over and it's now official, we will be moving to Vancouver Washington.
We will miss Logan but we are very excited for all the new things to see and do. I must thank my wife for all of her support. She supported us when I decided to change careers and quit turning wrenches. She has spent many nights at home alone while I'm at work, not to mention the 3 months I was living in California for training. It has been a long 8 years but I finally will have my own store and work mostly day shifts. We have lived here for almost a decade and it will be tough to watch it shrink into the distance as we take the next step in our journey. Now the fun really begins....they want me there by Saturday.

Oh, and I'm going to need a lot more film, the area around Vancouver is a photographer's dream come true.

fall outings

2010-10-13T20:31:00.000-07:00

Every fall the Kokanee Salmon at Porcupine reservoir turn a brilliant red color and run up stream to spawn. If you have a chance to see it you won't be disappointed.

While taking pictures a fish jumped three feet out of the water so I snapped a shot real quick. I had to crop it because I had my super wide lens on so it's not that clear but you can tell it's a fish.

Uintah Autumn

2010-10-12T19:13:00.000-07:00

After spending the last two months waiting on a precipice, I decided that waiting was yesterday's news and told Bryan we'd be taking an autumn drive. I wanted to go further than the usual close canyons. I've never seen the Uintahs in the fall, and here was a golden opportunity. We woke late on Saturday morning, and packed snacks, along with fishing poles (just in case) and took off. We took the route through Evanston. We arrived in town around lunch. After driving the main drag we decided on McD's. They had a lunch special of a 50 piece nugget with 2 large fries and 2 large drinks. It seemed like a great idea at the time, as much as we could eat with nuggets to snack on all afternoon. Seemed was the operative word. While we ate we watched one 'stellar' employee use the washrag for cleaning tables to clean the floor. Needless to say I lost my appetite. We headed on our way, and stopped at the convenience store for the road pass, and day fishing tags. The store didn't have any road passes left for sale, but we could continue on our way and stop at the ranger station instead. Since they so kindly weren't able to sell us a pass, we didn't bother to ask about fishing licenses. Just as well, it was pretty chilly, and we probably wouldn't have caught much as it had been a full moon. The color was quite beautiful on the way up, but once you reach about 9000 feet or so, you no longer see color, just pine and rock. You never really notice during the summer as everything is green, but it's grossly evident in the fall. Once we started our descent back down the other side, the color reappeared and was glorious. Bryan had a lot of fun capturing autumn with his half sunset filter, half neutral density and polarizer. We even used the red intensifier which made the oranges stand out brilliantly against the colossal amount of yellow. I'm glad I got us out of the house. It was well worth the fuel spent. Now I just need inspiration for the next long weekend.

Light and Glass

2010-10-02T21:52:00.000-07:00

Jerry's Cousins

2010-09-13T14:31:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went into the kitchen to make Bryan some yummy tuna melts. When the microwave beeped and I walked over to pull out my softened butter, I heard a weird squeak noise. I turned and looked at Bryan bug eyed. Please God, please say no. Not my luck. The squeak happened again, and a giant mouse poked its head out from under the stove. I screamed like a maniac and jumped ten feet to the counter behind me and got on top. After our kitty passed away, and before the house was finished, we would get an occasional mouse. Once when Bryan went home for lunch, he kept hearing what sounded like small feet running, then a thump. When he went downstairs to investigate, he found a mouse was trapped in our dryer vent hose! He took the vent off from the top, crimped it shut and put a sack on the end with a rubber band. Then hauled the dryer outside, where I disinfected it, got a new dryer vent hose, and a whole new contraption for outside (it has a 'tank', that opens at the top when you are drying clothes; no mouse can get in that).
When we did the kitchen reno, we found where the mice had been getting in. There were gaping holes where the house "attaches" to the foundation. The mice would climb the vines of the creeping ivy outside, and get in through the holes. Then they would run amok, having quite the party underneath the kitchen cabinet next to the stove. We ended up with a pregnant mama mouse, that had babies under that cabinet during the reno. Sadly, one baby mouse just got its little foot trapped, and we had to put him out of his misery outside. I cried for him, even though I hate the critters. Once we discovered the cabinet mess, we cleared it out, patched all the holes, and haven't had a mouse since.
Until now.
We could hear this mouse behind the stove causing quite a ruckus. We laid out traps, and watched him lick away at the first one! Jerry had taught this one well. So I grabbed the second trap, smashed a whole bunch of tuna on it, and placed a Lucky Charm treat on top. The mouse ran about several times, attempting to escape to the fridge, and successfully made it to the dishwasher. Fed up, and Bryan now late to work, we left. I went and got sandwiches, as our house was infected with mice and who knows what else, and then bought more mouse traps and armed myself with cleaning supplies galore. When I got home, I tip toed into the kitchen. There was the mouse, snapped shut in the trap with his mouth over the gourmet meal I had prepared him. Whew! I then spent all afternoon cleaning and disinfecting. I pulled out the stove, shoved sticks down the side of the fridge with lysol wipes attached, and same with the dishwasher. Then late in the afternoon, after I was finally done, I got a call from my boss. While on the phone, I noticed a flash of a shadow, and screamed right into my boss' ear. I thought I'd seen another mouse. False alarm; just the shadow from the bag I was playing with. Then today I got a text from Bryan. There was a mouse under the fridge, as well as the stove. WHAT?!?! How the @#&*%? And sure enough, there are two more. One is a conniving little devil, and licked the peanut butter cleanly off one trap, and stole the Lucky Charm treats from two more. I left work and bought bigger, better and meaner traps. When I got home, Bryan was in the shower getting ready, and no trap was set off. I set up all mine, but with no gourmet meal this time. These culprits were getting no prize, as they had pranced around all night in my house. And now I'm worried that this must mean I keep a disgusting home, but I know I don't. I clean every week, and deep clean once a month. I disinfect every corner, and will take the time to use a toothbrush on the stove, and q-tips in the corners of windows. I'll even use a swiffer cloth on my ceilings to get any stray spider webs. When I finally arrive home tonight, I better find two mice DEAD, snapped in traps. I know it may seem sadistic to use the snap traps, but I will never use Decon. Who knows where that mouse will end up dying. Inside your wall? Behind the cabinets? Under the fridge? Or in the floorboards between the main floor and basement? No thanks!

Close Encounters of the Flower Kind

2010-08-05T00:57:00.000-07:00

Remember how cute Flower was in Bambi? Skunks are more like the Christmas Critters that appeared in South Park.
I awoke tonight to the sound of Nivia barking. Unfortunately, we have crabby old neighbors who freak out at any noise that emanates from our yard. They called the police once about our dogs, and have written official complaints to the city. She had only barked a string of 5-6 barks, but it was enough to get me out of bed to tell her to hush up. I went to the back door, opened it and was blasted with a wall of the most horrible smell you could ever encounter. Nivia would hardly listen to me, as she was in a panic running around the yard with her nose in the grass. It was then that it hit me...my dog had found a skunk. In her curiosity, Nivia had been at the back fence line barking at a noise, which happened to spray her for her gallantry. I couldn't be mad, as it wasn't her fault that a skunk happened to be hanging out in the very backyard of the crabby old neighbors. I slammed the door shut to realize with every window open in our house to allow the cool night air in was also allowing every drop of the skunk's spray. Good grief. I hopped on the internet and found what would work best for removing the smell off Nivia. Come to find out that skunk spray is actually an oil which is why it is so difficult to remove. Several sites mentioned to use Listerine, along with a formula by a chemist of hydrogen peroxide, baking soda and soap. I gathered all the materials and a wad of paper towels, along with my cleaning gloves. I then suited up. I put on old jeans that barely squeeze over my butt, a painting shirt, and a tatty old hoodie. I tied my hair up and used Bryan's three handkerchiefs to wrap around my hair as well as my face and nose. I used a pair of beloved old shoes, put the gloves on with the long sleeves tucked in and took a deep breath. Out I went into the putrefied night air. Nivia behaved pretty well to all the treatments. I used paper towels soaked in Listerine around her nose, eyes and ears. I then rubbed her chest down and her back. I washed this all off with a heavy dousing of soap. Next came the hydrogen peroxide and baking soda concoction. The sites mentioned it would foam and possibly bubble, but none of that really happened. I rubbed Nivia down all over with this, but kept it away from her face, as all the sites mentioned whatever you do to not get it in your dog's eyes or mouth. I rinsed her off and then soaped her again with a final rinsing. My poor baby girl was shaking from head to toe. Normally she's quite hyper during bath time, but I think she realized she needed the help. Once I was finished, I stole out to the front yard, and with Bryan keeping watch and armed with new clothes, stripped down to panties. All my clothes, along with shoes, gloves and handkerchiefs were thrown into the trash. I came inside and got showered. Luckily I don't smell. My chemical suit getup actually worked pretty well. However, the house is rank. I've sprayed what I have left of Febreeze everywhere, but I'm going to need to buy more. But that will have to wait until later this morning; yes this morning. It is now 2:26 am. Good night never never land.

Maybe Next Time

2010-07-30T19:07:00.000-07:00

When I looked out the window this morning I saw Nivia vigilantly keeping watch under the tree, and could hear the persistent chirps of a squirrel. The poor guy had been treed all night long. We had noticed him late last night and I figured while the dogs slept he would make his escape. Alas, he did not. After listening to the racket he made for ten minutes, I decided to let the dogs in to give him his chance. With the new carpet throughout the house, I put up the dog gate and closed the bedroom doors then let Jax and Nivia in to hang out while I got ready for work. Jax walked in and immediately shook off which sprayed water everywhere. He had just taken a drink from the sprinkler that was on and gotten his entire underside sopping wet. So back outside they went, and I locked them up in the dog kennel. As I headed back to the deck, I heard the squirrel jump out of the tree. I looked up and saw him on top of our fireplace. He kept very still as I hurried back to the house, but once inside, he still wouldn't move. After a bit I threw some pebbles at the fireplace to get him to go, as this was his big chance. My pebble racket alerted Nivia to his location and she whined like the dickens to be let out. This caused the squirrel to run down the fireplace and hide in the grass. He slowly crawled forward and would pause every few steps, stand up and survey if everything was ok, then suddenly run back to the fireplace. Then he ventured out far enough for Jax to see him, which caused Jax to turn into a ferocious lion. Jax does not bark often. When he was a pup we wondered if he even had a voice until one day we threw his Mickey Mouse toy in the corner and his shadow scared him so badly that he let out one big woof. He won't even speak on command. And when he gets worried, he growls deep in his throat so softly that you would think he has indigestion. But this squirrel brought out a series of barks I've only heard one other time from him. The squirrel leaped ten feet and took off as fast as he could scurry. I gave it another five minutes before I finally let the dogs back out. Nivia ran for the tree, convinced the squirrel was still there. But Jax, he ran straight for the fireplace, got the squirrel's scent and followed it wherever he had ran to. When I left for work, the squirrel was now making a racket in the neighbor's tree. Probably telling his family about his horrible sleepless night, the brown dog that kept trying to climb the tree, the death leap to the fireplace and then the way he hoodwinked that black lion. And where was the black dog? At the gate, keeping sentry. His brown eyes watching the tree intently.

Fireworks

2010-07-04T19:08:00.000-07:00

Here are some shots from the fireworks at USU. The flyover was pretty cool, we were hoping for F-16's but instead when we weren't expecting it this KC135 popped right overhead and we nearly fell off the roof trying to snap a picture of it. It was close, no zoom necessary... After nightfall we also had a nice view of Venus.

More Pics

2010-06-29T18:47:00.000-07:00

More Pics

2010-06-29T18:35:00.000-07:00

Here are some bear pics and a picture of Bear Lake.

The Montana Effect

2010-06-28T15:36:00.000-07:00

With only minor details left to finish our home, we've seriously started considering where we would like to move. My dream as a little girl was to own a horse ranch in Montana. I would raise Arabians and Thoroughbreds out West. Then I married a man who is extremely allergic to alfalfa and is weary of hay, and my dreams went down the drain. Or so I thought. Bryan announced his dream location would be to live in Montana, or even the eastern side of Idaho (nearest to Yellowstone of course). And with that, we decided to go on a whirlwind weekend trip of Montana to feel out our dreams a little.
We started Friday eventfully as always. I wanted to take a rental car on our short trip for two reasons: a)it would have air conditioning that worked AWESOME and b)if the car happened to break down, the rental company would show up with another one. When we showed up at noon to pick up our rental, a note on the door promised a certain Nancy would be back at 2:30. The note had a phone number to call which we did and were greeted by a blast of rudeness. Why hadn't we been there at 9 am to pick up the vehicle? But that didn't matter as there was no vehicle there at 9 am to pick up, so we could wait until she was back, which would be 2:15. Huh? Our pick up time was noon. Godsmacked by this, Bryan called Avis command. The operator put us on hold while she contacted the agent, and was given the same routine. And I thought Avis tried harder! We drove over to Enterprise to see if we could get a car there, but all they had was an Expedition that would cost twice as much in rental fees, and triple that in fuel. In the end, we waited and ended up with a Camry, which was mostly comfortable.
Finally on our way at 3 pm, we quickly headed to Pocatello, our first stop. The store there was nice. We even saw an employee who had worked at Logan. She ran over, so excited to see us and say hi. We got back in the car and drove around Pocatello some. It's definitely the same town I remember as a teenager. Full of nice people, but pretty dirty. It wouldn't be too bad to be at this location. Our next stop was Idaho Falls. As we drove into the south end of town, there was a small plane crop dusting the fields. We drove right past the exit that would have allowed us to take great pictures. At the next exit, we noticed another crop duster, so hurried off and drove straight to the field it was dusting. He passed over head as we parked, banked to turn around and flew off. We found our way across the freeway and stopped just in time to watch him fly off to another field. And we missed him again at the third and final field. So much for third time's the charm. Bummed about our misfortune, we made our way to the Idaho Falls store, which is in a clean part of town. We were quite surprised. We've heard time and time again how clean Idaho Falls is, but each time we go through here for Yellowstone we exchange sideways glances; yeah, right. We stayed over night in Idaho Falls, and spent the evening looking over the town for a great spot to watch the air show (by the way, the air show is July 24 weekend and is being headlined by the Blue Angels). After twelve trips through Yellowstone, we finally found the Idaho Falls everyone speaks about. We could definitely live here. We woke at the crack of dawn and had breakfast at Bubba's. Bubba's also has a location in Jackson, which has the same great BBQ dinner, but Jackson has a far superior breakfast. We drove straight north to Missoula. The store here is nice too but the town is somewhat dirty. One other misfortune is the airport, which happens to be about 1/2 a mile away. And why so bad? If corporate decides to make house calls, it makes this store a prime pick. But then again that could be good if you work hard and keep a tight ship. We had lunch at the Staggering Ox, which had sandwiches like the Clinton Shuffle and Yo Mamma Osama and Camel Spit. The bread was divine, and the sandwich would've been great if the mayo hadn't been too sweet, but it was better than the typical fast food. Next was Helena. We decided on the long route, which happened to go by a ghost town. We found our way up the mountain to discover we had come during Garnet Days. This meant the 'ghost town' had more people in it than when it was a 'live town'. Unfortunate for pictures, but we made do. We only went inside one building, which was the hotel. It still had quite a bit of the furniture in it, and the original wallpaper. The town had originally been found back in the 1860s, and then died out around the 1880s, but had a revival during the 1890s which lasted through the 1930s. When World War II struck, the men left to fight the Germans as most of the gold was already gone. On our way down the mountain, we stopped at a view point which gave a magnificent panorama of the valley, and at a small cemetery that had only five graves. These men had no family and no history. All that was known was their name and the date they had died. The placard here mentioned the cemetery was small as most of the town had money and would be buried in city graveyards. These poor five souls had gone to strike it rich and had died before anyone knew who they really were. We continued on our way and finally arrived in Helena, which is an extremely dirty town. The store here was a mess. There was quite a bit to see with Helena being the capitol. We stopped at the capitol building and at a cathedral which had beautiful character. It also had an extremely friendly kitty who said hi to us, and then tried to say hi to the homeless guy's dog. We drove through downtown Helena and took lots of pictures of the old ads you could still see on the side of the buildings. The original buildings here have survived over the years and are more historic than most of the 'historic downtowns' we've seen. We also took a jaunt up the canyon and found the Grizzly Gulch Limestone Kilns. Sadly, Helena is at the bottom of our list. It's a town that has grown quite large, but doesn't have the population to support it.
Our last day of driving we had breakfast at the local IHOP. Our waitress seated us next to the only other customers in the restaurant, which happened to be a group of six teenage girls. My first thought of their extremely loud conversation made me think get your head out of the gutter. There was no way I was hearing what I thought I was. But after we ordered I realized I had heard what I thought. Then one of the girls started hushing the others, as one said to the other that twelve was too young to be saying that kind of stuff. I turned around and realized we were by a group of 13-14 year olds, and the topic of their conversation was horrific. But each comment I thought of making was inappropriate, even if I said what they were talking about was inappropriate. Finally they left, which Bryan clapped to. When we finished, we realized they were all sitting in the lobby waiting for a ride from their parents. As we walked out the door, one said good morning which Bryan replied "It was until you were here." and I burst out laughing. It was one of those moments where you couldn't have stopped yourself if you had tried. Personality two had taken over and pushed you aside with "I've got this." Oh well. As we drove to Bozeman, I didn't pay enough attention to the road signs and missed our turn. About twenty minutes later I realized the mistake and we turned back. Bozeman turned out to be beautiful. It was the cleanest store, and the town was amazing. It felt a lot like Logan. Who knows if we'll ever be lucky enough to get this store, but it's a dream, right? We then drove straight to Yellowstone. The last time we drove through on our way home from a trip, it was after 5 days of winding, rainy roads from Logan to Reno to San Francisco, up the coast to Seattle and straight over to Coeur d'Alene. I told Bryan we could stay until we saw a bear. Ten minutes into the park we saw one and I dictated Bryan home. So for giggles, I said as soon as we see a bear we'll turn and head home. And ten minutes in? We saw two bears! They were courting black bears. After much fits of laughter, we headed further into the park and saw another black bear off the side of the road. Then a fourth bear! The fourth bear was climbing the side of the hill to cross the road after watering at the small stream below. The log jam of cars and large crowd of people caused the ranger to scare the bear back down to the stream. This was not working well, as the bear moved along the hill to try and cross again, by us. I threw in the towel and made Bryan do so as well. We went around the next bend and there was bear number five! The crowd here kept talking about a Grizzly with cubs so we ventured on. Bear six, seven and eight were Grizzlies, that happened to crest the hill right after we stopped. In all, we saw eight bears in an hour! Happy with our sightings, we finally started the trek home. On the edge of Jackson Lake we ended up behind a yellow Chevy Aveo that was driving like a maniac. She would dart to the edge of the road as though to stop and then take off again. I kept telling Bryan to pass her, but an opportunity never presented itself. Luckily the car went straight when we turned to go to Jenny Lake. The parking lot for the lake was packed, so we drove down a ways and took pictures from a new location. We stopped in Jackson Hole for dinner at New York City Sub. While waiting for our sandwiches to be made, another customer came in to order. The gal at the register said they only had one half of a foot long left. After her order, the sign for 'just ran out of bread' was hung. Did we luck out or what! The drive through Jackson Hole to Bear Lake was uneventful and long. Just before we entered Logan Canyon, Bryan stopped to get one last picture. It was a quick one, as the mosquitoes were out and biting fast. Bryan loves the road through Logan Canyon and had a blast hauling as fast as he could until....a small yellow Chevy Aveo stopped us. It was just like Guy Ritchie's movies, but we didn't have any funny jokes to tell. And we wouldn't have been able to any ways as we were laughing too hard.

More Montana

2010-06-26T23:09:00.000-07:00

Montana

2010-06-26T23:02:00.000-07:00

We decided to drive to Montana this weekend to check out some potential locations for our future. Here are some pics from the road so far.

Fat kid gets skinnier at "Aggy's"

2010-06-09T19:35:00.000-07:00

Aggy's is a sports bar that opened in the building formally belonging to the Iggy's that went under. When Iggy's shut down I turned to my wife and said let's open a sports bar and do it right. Well someone had the same idea but they failed. They call themselves a sports bar but when you walk in they have make-out music playing and they have gay modern metal sculptures. The menu appears solid but when the waitress brought our food it was lame. First the appetizer, the spinach dip tasted like a frozen dinner form Wal-mart, the pita or tortilla pieces that accompanied it were so stale it was nasty.... Then there was our beverages, a bar needs to have GLASS mugs or beer glasses. This place rolls with PLASTIC mugs?? Iggy's had changed to this right before going under and it probably contributed to their failure. Also the quality of the soda was quite low, the benchmark for soda still remains Hamilton's in Logan Utah. Then came our food, my Reuben had barely one slice of meat and WAY too much 1000 island dressing... FOR THE RECORD a true Reuben has Russian Dressing which contains horseradish NOT sweet pickle relish like 1000 island. My wife's sandwich was supposed to contain mushrooms and instead it had three tiny little rubber things which could only have come from a can claiming to be mushrooms. IF YOU MAKE ANYTHING WITH MUSHROOMS YOU MUST USE FRESH MUSHROOMS! The fries were ehh and the service was so so. For a new restaurant you think they would have stepped it up. So I would have to take 2 fingers from the head chef on this one. The moral of the story is sports bars need big TV's with the volume turned ON, No gay music, and the food has to be good, greasy and giant portions. You only put one thing in a plastic cup and it's not a cold beverage.

What Was I Thinking? Oh Wait...I Wasn't.

2010-06-09T15:37:00.001-07:00

Yesterday at work I received a phone call from my hubby, asking if I would help out his coworkers by pitching in to play some softball (I couldn't resist!). After much whining, do I have to run?, I'll look stupid, I'm no good at sports Bryan finally convinced me to go. I then spent the rest of work getting worried. What was I going to wear? And I didn't have a mitt, nor remembered how to hold a bat properly, or what exactly the rules are. The game wasn't until 8 pm, so the dreaded event took up my whole evening. I finally decided to wear one of Bryan's work shirts with it knotted in the back. For some reason I think it looks cute, but I'm sure the gargantuan sleeves do not. I chose a pair of running sweat pants I have that are completely splattered with paint. I didn't want to wear my one pair of ghetto plaid shorts as my toothpick legs are covered in bruises from all the work on the yard. I put on sunglasses, and actually remembered to bring a water bottle. I even put the keys on a lanyard as I didn't have a pocket to keep them in. I showed up on time and bravely walked up to Kerri and said hi. Funnily enough, none of them knew my name, I'm just Bryan's wife (which is fine by me). After all the hellos, they found a shirt for me with a number and I sat on the sidelines ready to puke. After a couple of innings, I started to get antsy. Why had I come? They weren't short on players, so I could leave right? But no, my pride wanted to try it out. My patience paid off and I was asked to play right field. Easy peasy right? Uh, no. After borrowing another person's mit, and standing out making flower bracelets, Danny warned me the upcoming batter was good and to give wide berth. I went several paces back, and that's when the ball was beaned right out to me. I went running to catch it (you know, impress all of Bryan's coworkers) and what do I do? I misjudge it and run right underneath it, which caused Danny to miss it. Oops. Once we finally got the team out, it was my turn to bat. I had to go first? So I hiked up my elbows and choked the bat the best I could remember. I struck out on the 2nd pitch. How the hell? Oh well. The next time I batted, I struck out again. Dangit. The last time I got to bat, I was hell-bent on making something happen. Oh and I did. I smacked the ball with one strike left to go. It bounced right over to the pitcher, who threw it to second, got Danny out, then they threw to first and got me out. And that was the end of the game.
Surprisingly enough, I find myself thinking if I bought a glove, bat, and better softball clothes I might actually be able to play. But then I'll have to practice. And maybe even run.

It's a sad day when one of your kids leaves the nest....

2010-06-03T14:36:00.000-07:00

I always knew the day would come when I would have to let my silver truck go. I purchased this truck because of needing the 4wheel drive when we moved here. It had such redneck character, from the piles of unspent shotgun shells under the seat to the bullet hole through the door. This was a full size Chevy truck but it only had a V6 and lightweight components. It was so light that it would ride on top of snow and mud making it unstoppable in the rough mountain terrain. After one morning of duck hunting I dropped my brother off at the parents house and began my trek home. When I was climbing the long hills through the canyon it began to lose power and then it started smoking. It had put a hole in the #6 piston..... It was but 310 miles short of 200,000 miles and it's life was cut short. I parked it on the side of the garage and planned to rebuild the engine. My needs for a truck had grown to towing and so I purchased the monster 454 "Mad Max". I planned to put some larger tires and lockers in the silver truck and with a rebuilt motor it would have been the greatest off road machine I could think of. Sadly life changes and we will soon have to move. The reality is it isn't reasonable to keep this truck and move it across the country. So today I placed an ad on the internet and within 10 minutes I had a phone call. Two hours later it was driving away and the new owner had a big grin on his face. I know it wasn't logical to dump 2 or 3 thousand dollars into this truck just to have an offroad toy, but a small tear crept into the corner of my eye as it pulled away... I guess I'll have to make the best of my other FIVE vehicles :) 5 is the least number of vehicles I have owned in a long time.

:c

Made in the USA

2010-06-01T16:50:00.000-07:00

OK, I am sick and tired of people dogging American car companies...... I was a mechanic for some time and I worked on many brands of vehicles from Honda and Toyota to Ford, Chevrolet, and Dodge. The BMW, Volkswagen, Audi, Mercedes' of the world are by far the worst... Sure when they are new they are amazing, they drive nice, have lots of power, and they have all the luxuries you may or may not want in a car. Now stop and think about the cars you see on the road every day. Why is it that you don't see any these brands older than 5 or 6 years old. The fact is as these vehicles age they turn into money pits, lots of extra parts to fail and when they do you better cash in the 401k because these parts are expensive. So people just don't own these cars after they are out of warranty, this means they end up in junk yards. Well the EPA doesn't allow cars to sit on the junk yard lots for very long these days so that means they take the engine and trans out at the wrecking yard and crush the rest. Now allow me to digress, the EPA does this so there aren't affordable parts to keep older cars running. They WANT you to get rid of your old car and buy new technology. This really makes me angry because not everyone in the world can afford new cars and they have made it almost impossible to fix a car and have affordable transportation. So by purchasing the Audi, BMW's, etc. you are consuming massive amounts of natural resources. What, where are the tree huggers on this one? (by tree huggers I mean extremists, calm down, I am a conservationist and love trees) Now let's look at Honda and Toyota, most of the vehicles from these two companies are very dependable cars and I would recommend them to anyone willing to pay a premium price. Just make sure you buy a model assembled in the USA so that some American workers benefit from the purchase. My biggest beef with these companies is they don't build cars that I can ride in comfortably, I'm a big boy and these cars kill my back. Now some of you are saying, Ohhhh but what about the Toyota recall??? well chill out, every manufacturer has had these type of recalls and MANY of them. Why did the government and media make such a big deal about this one? Well Toyota doesn't have unions, so the big powerful unions and the liberals that support them sicked the dogs on Toyota and hope you don't remember the Ford tire recall or the cruise control cable recall or the many fire related electrical recalls, so and so forth.

Now to the big three, these companies build cars that are less expensive, more comfortable, just as dependable(finally) and in many cases get better fuel mileage(i.e. Chevy Cobalt XFE 37mpg). Oh but the socialist powers bailed out GM and Chrysler..... The government gave 6.7billion in pure loans to GM, which have been paid back in full. There was another 49 billion that the government purchased in equities, basically stock in the company. This isn't up to GM to pay back this is up to the government to sell. There is currently no public stock offering for the new GM. There is a bill "auto stock for every taxpayer" that might pass and instead of the government selling the equities you would get stock to do with what you please, CALL YOUR CONGRESSMAN. So the money that GM can control is PAID BACK! Now currently GM employs 250k people and another 500k are employed by dealers and then there is the parts manufacturers, just one example Delphi employs 150k people and there are LOTS of parts manufacturers. So if you buy American you pay the salaries of AMERICANS.... and they spend money where YOU work. If you have a problem with GM or Dodge being bailed out fine, BUY A FORD! I don't like ford because of personal ergonomics and style but they are a good car. The other way to help these manufacturers is to call your Congressman and tell them to vote no on "Card Check". This bill will allow unions more power and control. Unions drive up the cost of goods and they are FOR PROFIT organizations. So the moral of this rant is buy American.... Go to www.americansworking.com to find made in the USA products. The only way out of this economy is temporary isolationism, buy American, employ American, build America.

Bliss

2010-05-27T19:14:00.000-07:00

Good-bye to work gloves, to the sawsall, cordless batteries, dust, the shop-vac, ponytails, caulk, sanding, and paintbrushes. Good-bye to the early mornings and extremely late nights. Good-bye to heaving loads of debris out the front door. Good-bye to exhausted muscles digging, pulling, banging and ripping. Good-bye to bugged eyes from concentration. Good-bye to headaches over the how, when, where, what, and why.
I went downstairs and found myself wanting to stay down there for the first time. It's no longer the dark dungeon it has been all these years. I can pull clean laundry out of the dryer straight onto the floor and not worry. It's serene; warm and clean with lots of head room. The paint looks great, and the carpet goes well. We've worried all month about the color and if we picked the right one. The stairs are soft on your feet, and the pattern in the carpet looks rich. The bathroom glows and the slate tile looks sharp. The laundry area is spacious and the small room which started out as the 'rental' room, turned into storage is now an inviting space. There's not much left to this small house. A few fixes here and there, along with two last big fixes. Just need a railing for the top of the stairs and trim for the garage. It's been a long road, with many pot holes, diversions, and pull offs. It's been the scenic route; areas that you want to savor forever, then the bits that zoom by. And the moments that drag on to find the beautiful hideouts. It's been well worth the heartache, blood, sweat and tears. I had always hoped to enjoy all the hard work we've put in, yet I know we'd never be happy with laziness. There'd always be something we'd find to do, which would lead into a giant project that would involve a major remodel. It's time to call it quits. To find a new place for our vision.
But I think I'll savor this small moment for a while.

Too Much Repeat?

2010-04-27T16:23:00.000-07:00

Whine. To utter a plaintive, high-pitched, protracted sound, as in pain, fear, supplication, or complaint. 2. To complain or protest in a childish fashion.... This is an action I may participate in too much, and lately it seems to be my most favorite activity to do. Our final home renovations and impending move consume all my thoughts. We're so close to being finished, and new things keep popping up. It took over a week to get all of the sheet rock hung between our spring thunderstorms and freak snowstorms. Saturday was spent getting the first layer of mud put on. As the day progressed, Bryan became crankier and crankier. Sometimes I find this funny, and other times I find it extremely frustrating. By the time we were finished, I had my hoodie over my nose to keep Bryan from hearing my giggles. Unfortunately, by night time he was complaining of a dry throat, runny nose and the fever shakes. We went to the store to get flu supplies, and the truck decided to start acting up. We couldn't get it to stay cool, as the bubble in the coolant line was the size of a Zeppelin. And the new injectors that had been installed were acting up. Bryan went for more power with the new ones, and the computer is not capable of fixing the mixture of fuel and air. Compound this with the overheating, and we had a sick truck too. We limped it home amongst new snowflakes. I forced Bryan inside the house and told him it could wait until the next day. Sunday Bryan woke up to a cold that was 10x worse. I got him comfy on the couch with a pillow and blankie and played nurse all morning. Around mid-day the snow had finally melted and Bryan went out to diagnose his truck. Just low on coolant, WHEW! We went on a long test drive up Providence Canyon (mostly for me). Once home, Bryan was worn out, so back to the couch for him. When we finally went to bed, we stopped to check on the mud's drying progress. Due to Bryan's sickness (and crankiness) the first mud did not go on as smoothly as planned. We'll have to do an extra sand to fix the faux pas. Bummer. And unfortunately, Bryan came home from work sick today. My original deadline to be finished was April 30, and that day has come and gone now. My new day is now May 15th. I really do think we can finish the mud, trim, paint, carpet, and entire yard in twelve days.

Rub the sand from your eyes

2010-04-14T08:12:00.001-07:00

When I go to work in the morning I typically have to be there at 5am and sometimes 4am. This means by the time most of you get up I am ready for lunch. But being up early does have it's benefits. Nearly every morning I can walk to the front of the building and watch some of the most amazing sunrises. I often find myself wondering why I don't take my camera to work with me. This morning I decided to show you all a little bit of what I see every morning. Today wasn't as amazing as some but it wasn't a disappointment.

Our 'Still' Life

2010-04-13T17:47:00.000-07:00

With spring finally in the air, we find ourselves in a mad dash to the finish line. We're more than ready for new adventures in the great USA with Lowe's and can hardly wait to literally, move on. Our home is so close to finally being complete. Just a few more walls to paint, several trips back and forth picking out carpet, and the many odds and ends to tie up loose ends. Then we can kick back on our deck, sipping tall lemonades and watching the sun set.

"We're Going Wabbit Hunting"

2010-03-08T20:54:00.000-08:00

In the habitual close up shop, bedtime routine, I went to feed the dogs and let them in for the night. As we work on the basement, I've been feeding them on the back deck, instead of downstairs. Tonight was no different. After I doled their food out, and Nivia hurriedly scarfed down her bit, she wandered out to the grass. Jax finished his food, and I went to let them in. Jax rushed inside, the wimp he is, but Nivia wouldn't budge from the grass. I yelled for her to hurry up, and that's when I noticed a lump. Huh? I went out to investigate and found what I thought was a duck. I came back in and told Bryan what I'd found. He got dressed again, put shoes on and found gloves to only come back to the door needing a shovel and flashlight. This was no duck. It was a pheasant. Somehow, our baby girl caught a vicious pheasant, killed it, and with Jax's help ate the guts, breast and head (SICK!!). Nivia was extremely proud of herself; she was preening downstairs. You could see in her eyes how badly she wanted acceptance from us of her achievement. Unfortunately for them, the basement was cleared up and a small space was fenced up for them to sleep in. No shacking up in the master bedroom tonight with bird germs microscopically lurking on their fur. Hopefully they'll only suffer from some upset tummies from their big feast.

Stressed

2010-03-01T19:13:00.000-08:00

Over the past six months, life has become stressful in every corner for me. It first started with Bryan being gone (as if you couldn't tell from all my bloviating). Then came the expected, but unwanted load of my coworker moving on to bigger and better things. This one unfortunately came with all the works. I now had all of my job, his job, and what my boss needed done too. And it all came at the busiest time of year for us, with no extra help from others. It's been three months now, and the pace hasn't slowed at all. Plus the problem of being asked to do three times the job with no perks. The new year came, and Bryan came home, but that particular stress was replaced with now finishing the home we've made out of our 1949 house. There's the unexpected horrors found under sheet rock (like plumbing pipes to nowhere, the occasional electrical box stuffed to the brim with live wires, and a few mouse turds), then the horrors turning into emergency fixes like the regulation valve for the water last night, which brings the costs to new all-time highs. Here is where I stress most: money. I always worry about what's in the bank, and if we really have the cash there, or did I imagine it? Then I don't want any debt, and that creates problems, as there's not enough truly saved to finish the house, and as I want to move soon, push will come to shove on that one. This brings up the next load, moving. I can't wait to start this adventure, but besides selling our home, there's the many cars we've collected that have to find a way with us. Then there's our dogs. How do you safely move them without hurting their health, or putting too much stress on Jax who's now an old man? And to top this all off? Health. Over the past year, each time I've had my blood pressure taken, the nurse has asked me if I'm usually that high. I say no, as I've always been told I've got perfect blood pressure. But this past month, I said maybe. And the doctor totally ignored the numbers, as they thought I was excited I may be pregnant. And this depressed me, as if they had even looked at my chart, they'd see I was prescibed for continuous birth control to keep my endometriosis pain in check and was there to get a new prescription for the next year, not a pregnancy test.
My research found that I might have prehypertension, which means you'll most likely end up with high blood pressure. As I don't drink enough fluids, I've been hell-bent on changing that. Then last Friday, I came down with strep and had to go to Instacare. Once again, I was stressed, as I worried about how I was going to get better in 2 days to be back at work on Monday to continue working on books. The nurse who took my BP asked if I was usually high. I said I was starting to think so, and that's when Bryan said I was 152 over 91! Now I'll have to see a different doctor (as the other one's an idiot in my mind) and find out what else I have wrong, like high cholesterol, or foot and mouth disease, or my nose is falling off (although there's one bit of my nose I wouldn't mind, the weird bump that I got from the Brits). All of this has mixed together to where I can feel my heart expanding, my eyes bulging, all the nerves going weirdly numb and my blood's pumping beats would put a bass drum to shame.
All day I've been trying to think of something (or way) that I can help relieve my stress besides all the water, but I keep drawing a blank. I need something small and quick, so when moments like this morning happen again I can breathe deep and calm myself to keep my heart from exploding. However, every time I do this, I start again the cycle of this to that to that to this, and I end up back where I was. I don't know how well I'll be able to cure this obsessive-compulsive problem, as I always feel the impassioned need to be in control of everything.
Turning 30 sucks.

NASCAR Nationwide Car of Tomorrow Needs Some Rules From Yesterday

2010-02-20T16:38:00.000-08:00

National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, NASCAR.... The "Stock" part has gone the way of the DoDo. In the original days of NASCAR a guy went to the local dealer and bought a car, stripped it down and went racing. Obviously safety has played a big role in the changes in the cars but at a certain point the name has to change to National Association for Fabricated Car Auto Racing. There is absolutely no part or design that carries to the production versions of the cars. In the old day if you won a race on Sunday then the manufacturer sold cars on Monday! That was because you could buy the same car. NASCAR wonders why their ratings are down, well nobody wants to watch a bunch of cars that you CAN'T buy drive in circles. Oh boy Chevy got another win with their car YOU CAN'T HAVE!

Enter the modern muscle car wars, the big three all have a car in the new horsepower wars. Now Ford and Dodge have opted to use their muscle cars as the new Nationwide Series stickers. I say stickers because that's all they are. The cars have to be identical so they put stickers on them and call them their own. Chevy has opted not to partake in this offensive lowering of the bar for their muscle car. The Camaro has wide hips and very angular edges which would not work with the "template car".

So I say to NASCAR, and you should LISTEN! Remove the body rule from the Nationwide series and let the big three shoot it out and bring back the ratings. Require the safety standards but allow the skin to be just like production models and the engine to be available to the consumer and BANG! Win on Sunday Sales on Monday! People would watch the Nationwide series just as much as the Sprint Cup and it would generate excitement again.

So who's going to help me start my own racing series? Because you know the Bill France family is too dumb to do this.

Oh and I must add, the Camaro is selling so well that Mustang is cutting production and Challenger is barely hanging on. Camaro outsells the other two combined!

Nowhere Utah

2010-02-12T11:44:00.000-08:00

What I've Gained with Ten

2010-02-05T20:14:00.000-08:00

Ten years ago, I walked down the aisle and made the best decision of my life. I said Yes. With that answer, I've conquered many goals which would have been next to impossible alone. And what exactly have we accomplished? Maybe not what was planned that day, like a 1970 Camaro that is parked in our garage or the small home that we had hoped for on Davis Blvd. No, we've done more than that. We bought our first brand new car before celebrating one year, and our first home before two. We've started family traditions, like visiting Yellowstone every year in May, going up Green Canyon every fall to see the leaves, celebrating Thanksgiving in style by ourselves, and sleeping in until 10:30 every Saturday and Sunday possible. We've traveled beyond the small confines of our state, and even country. We've seen the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic, the North Sea, and the Irish Sea. We have just about fully remodeled a home with no expert's help. We had Kit, and now Jax and Nivia, who fill our lives with happiness. We've had our ups and downs, but mostly reflect on the ups, mostly. We were soul mates from the day Bryan called me Babes. And now have a strange sense of knowing when the other needs us. We've shared many laughs, few tears, and the occasional melt down. We've shared each other's passions, Bryan's for cars and photography and mine for traveling and crafts. We reflect the best in each other.
I've enjoyed the small moments; the silly dancing to Pulse and the 'slow' dancing to those magical songs that make time seem still. The endless giggling to silly anctics, and the smile it gives my heart when I know he's thinking of me. The meals spent together, whether next to each other on the couch, or out to dinner. The door that is always held open for me, car, house, store, wherever. And the big moments; like when Kit passed. When Nivia and Jax were placed in my arms, squiggling balls of joy. When we finished the upstairs bathroom and could use a shower again. When I stepped off the plane in Sacramento and ran to find my soul mate.
We've made many decisions, like deciding to retire the mechanic's toolbox for the big box. What to do when the dreams of a larger family were not going to happen.
Next week, the usual traditions of flowers will be given to me, and my sentimental card will find its secret way to Bryan, and we'll go out to dinner, but I've gained a happiness I would have never known by myself, and I look very much forward to every ten to come.

Steak & Ale Pie

2010-02-05T17:36:00.000-08:00

During our UK trip in 2005, we drove through Wales. Our adventure had us spending a night in a very small Welsh town. It was a bed and breakfast that had an onsite restaurant, which was closed the night we were there. The owner of the inn suggested a couple different pubs to eat at. The first we couldn't find, and for fear of being lost in the Welsh countryside, we decided to go to the second which was easier to find. This pub was up on a hillside, overlooking the banks of a river. It was close to dusk when we ordered, and we decided to eat outside to enjoy the view and get away from the haze of cigarette smoke inside. I had a chicken & leek pie which was amazing. But Bryan had the ultimate: steak & ale pie. I had a sneak bite and it was wonderful.
Once we were home, we had to figure a way to make this pie. We tried a few different recipes, and this is what we have decided is the tastiest replica.
stewing steak, in cubes
chopped onion
flour
dijon mustard
Worcestershire sauce
thyme, chives, basil, parsley, majoram, bayleaf
salt & cracked black pepper
beef stock
ale
diced mushrooms
diced potatoes
pastry
If you have the ability, grind the stewing steak into ground meat. If not, buy ground steak. In a large skillet, heat some oil. Add the chopped onion and cook til translucent. Add salt and pepper, then the stewing meat. Brown the meat, then turn down the heat. Stir in about a tablespoon of flour and cook until browned. Add 1 T mustard, 2 T Worcestershire sauce, and herbs (do these amounts to what taste you like best; I usually do about a 1/2-1 t of each). Slowly add about 2 cups of beef stock and about 1/2 of a can of Guinness. Add in a few of the diced mushrooms. Bring to a boil. Add all of the potatoes and simmer for about 15 minutes, then add the rest of the mushrooms. Simmer for about 15 more minutes. Just before pulling from the heat pour in another 1/4 of the can of Guinness (you now have a 1/4 left; for those who like beer, drink the rest. But for those of us who can't stand the stuff, pour it down the drain). While the 'filling' simmers, make up the pastry. I do the traditional easy recipe, 2/3 c of shortening, 2 c of flour, 1 t salt, and 6-7 T of COLD water. Use half to make the bottom and blind bake in the oven during the 15 minutes of simmer with the mushrooms. Pull out and pour in the filling. Top with the rest of the pastry, with slits for steam escape on top. Cook in the oven at 400 F for about 35-40 minutes (until it's nice and bubbly and the crust is golden). You have to make this pie with Guinness. We've tried a few others (some cheapies usually) and they have all turned out horrible.

Every time we have this meal, I go back to the memory of sitting next to Bryan on a picnic bench, watching two Welshmen fish the river, listening to Welshmen cheer to football inside the pub, and watching the beautiful golden-blue Welsh sunset.

Bob Seger?

2010-01-26T20:06:00.000-08:00

My house feels alive again. The past 13 weeks while Bryan was gone, it felt like a morgue. I'd come home to no lights, no noise, and not much warmth. The TV stayed black, nothing moved randomly out of place, and I stayed confined to the one corner of the house that had everything I needed. Now when I come home, the lights are on in almost every room, the TV's blaring with music, the counters are a mess, and Bryan's slaving away in the back corner room. We started into the final upstairs bedroom a week or so ago, and just finished painting the walls. Painting is extremely relaxing for me (no it's not the fumes that lull me into a hazy dream world). I like the rhythmic rolling of the brush and the time spent thinking away while accomplishing a mundane task. But it's even more special spending the time conversing with Bryan. I love his silly comebacks to every question I have. Like where's the stepladder? "If it was up your bum on fire you'd know!" Or the quacking ducks and barking spiders that have returned from their hiding places. The best random comeback he had was "At the breadstore". This was used for everything back in the day. Then while he was in Sacramento, he found a place called "At the Breadstore". We laughed our heads off and went there for breakfast when I visited, because now we had officially been 'at the breadstore'. The sound of his truck yelling its way home is wonderful. And the final tap of the throttle right at our pine tree as he downshifts to pull into the driveway is comforting. There's also the telltale signs of his scattered clothes all over the house; from where he was sitting on the couch working on the computer (more like finding every possible image and commentary on the Camaro), to his dirty painting clothes in the kitchen, just outside the bathroom where the unmentionables lie, to the socks from the night before lying next to our bed. Then there's the dirty oatmeal breakfast bowl sitting in the sink, where I've asked him to put it, but not rinsed (which is really weird, because the mornings he's almost late for work it's rinsed, but not the days when he has til noon). And there's the countless water bottles stashed everywhere, and the random piece of garbage in the recycling bag. The best part? Having him on the other end of the couch, like right now while I blog. A house needs life, and I wasn't hacking it. Neither was Bob Seger.

Resolution Steps

2010-01-13T17:43:00.000-08:00

I hate when I get the itch to blog, but then have writer's block. How does that happen? I have all these ideas in my head, but they all step back at the same time, as none want to take the lead to start the flurry of thoughts.
Bryan finally completed SMTP and graduated. He only missed one answer on the final exam. And it was one of those questions that is philosophical, such that every answer works. There's not even one that trumps another. Disappointing. Now that this is finished, the next step is to complete the renovations on our home. We want the most equity possible, and adding a bathroom while finishing off the two bedrooms and open basement area will net us five figures. On top of this, we want to complete all of this by March, as the turnover of stores is usually higher at this time of year and we'll have a larger pool to choose from (fingers crossed). This will bring us to our next step, moving. We've lived here for over eight years now. This is the longest residence I've ever had in my life which is really strange to an Air Force brat. I will be sad to turn in the key and walk away forever from this home, but in the same breath I'm excited for new adventure. On top of all these aspirations, we also want to become healthier. Now that we're into our thirties, all the steps we should have taken in our twenties have become brazenly obvious. I'm finally an acceptable weight, but worry that I'll tip the scales the wrong way if I'm not smart. And Bryan needs to rein in his health as I expect him to live to 90. Then for the tippy top step, I've decided to try out my entrepreneurial side, and begin an extremely small business. I don't expect much gain from this venture, other than experience and maybe some courage to jump off these steps into a larger business one day. We'd be good at this, but unfortunately (maybe?) my realistic side keeps my hand gripped to the staircase rail.

More Hawks

2010-01-09T15:17:00.000-08:00

We were out driving today and noticed a massive hawk on a post. It was the biggest I have ever seen, about 18" tall while on the post. As I got out of the truck it took off and hid in the field. We then went about a mile down the road and came across another hawk not near as big. It had an injured leg and didn't move much. He moved from one post to another not far away and I was able to get a few shots. I love these birds.

The Christmas Gift

2009-12-26T15:50:00.000-08:00

A few years ago I fell flat on my face when it came to giving my Christmas present to Bryan. I thought I had found the perfect gift and was overly excited about my idea. When Christmas morning came and the surprise was a podometer Bryan was disappointed. He had saved money from several side jobs and had bought me a Kitchenaid mixer. I was devastated. How could I have been so far off?
Since that Christmas, I spend every November racking my brain for ideas and have been successful in coming up with the perfect gift. Then this year, I was at a loss. I had gotten him a bow, medium format camera, and a fixed 200m lens for his camera and didn't know how I could trump them. When Bryan was home a couple weeks ago, we went Christmas shopping, and stopped at Al's to pick up the gift idea we had for my brother. While we were there, Bryan had to make the usual stop at the gun counter. This time, he only looked at the .22 rifles. Usually he looks at the shot guns, hand guns, specialty guns, and so on. When the guy at the counter told him the price, Bryan swallowed and gave it back. Little did he know that his gulp gave me an idea. I was lucky (?) that he was going back to California for training, and would have plenty of time to get his gift. I went on one of my lunches, so he wouldn't be suspicious if I wasn't available after work. The guys at Al's thought I was a wonderful wife. And the background check was a little interesting, as I was born in England, but am an American citizen. I even had enough time to make a really nice card, wrap up his present perfect and drop it off at my mom's the next time I picked him up at the airport. My brother happened to notice an extra gift under the tree several days later, and asked my mom "WHO'S GETTING THAT?!" I also bought some ammo and a bore snake for the new gun, and wrapped those too. This way, Bryan would have no idea that his gift wasn't really at home, and wouldn't be able to guess his gift due to the weird shape it was.
Christmas morning finally came, and as we passed all the presents out, Bryan came across the 'true' present and couldn't believe what I had done. I even had written a special note inside the handmade card, but as he started to read it (with me looking over his shoulder) he stopped about 2 lines in. Both of us had tears in our eyes. The gun wasn't the real gift. It was the fact that he was home, finally home. It wasn't too hard to hide our tears, as everyone was happily ripping into Christmas gifts, but my mom noticed. She took a picture of us in a tight hug, smiles from ear to ear. I don't think I'll ever be able to trump this Christmas.

Hawkeye

2009-12-23T14:25:00.000-08:00

I was letting the dogs out when I saw this massive hawk in the neighbor's tree. It was so big that while it was sitting in the tree I thought it was an eagle. I ran inside and grabbed the camera. when I went out it saw me and immediately took off. It circled around me screaching over and over. It was staring right at me but never got close enough for a good shot. These are from about 75yds. The pics are terrible, no filter, no time to set up, wrong iso, etc. It's wing span must have been about 4ft, biggest hawk I have ever seen.

Day 61

2009-12-18T16:59:00.000-08:00

It's been 10 long weeks of driving to the airport every weekend to drop off and pick up Bryan. It's an hour and half drive one way, and longer when I come home by myself to face a week of loneliness. The past couple weeks have been extremely difficult. My coworker quit; him and I were the backbone to the small business I work for. And now I'm alone to do his job and mine. It's been a struggle, as I tend to stress a little too much at times. Without my best friend to give me hugs, take me to lunch and reassure me each time I panic, I turn into a dreaded 'bagel'. But that's all behind me now. The end is in sight. California is finished; no more worrying about Bryan being stabbed going to work, or having his rental car stolen, or dying in a freak air crash. I've missed his presence here. He is my happiness. Last night when I picked him up at the airport, I was too excited. I hurridly cut off several SUVs in my tiny white Honda, to screech to a stop at the curb. I actually remembered to pop the trunk as I flung the door open and ran to hug him. The drive home was happy for once, as I knew he would be here for two weeks, before the final week is to be completed in North Carolina. I was so animated and couldn't stop chattering about anything and everything. I'm sure Bryan was overwhelmed, but his smiling face, and death grip on my hand let me know he had missed me as much as I had him. Even though it's cliche, the time apart helped us learn how much we rely on each other.
When I was a child, and my sisters and I had hurt my mom's feelings, my dad would sit us down and talk about how we had hurt his best friend. How would we feel if he had hurt our best friend? Those conversations stuck with me. The idea that my dad saw my mom as his best friend was wonderful. And I couldn't wait to find mine.
I found more than a best friend in Bryan, I was given a soul mate. And it's been difficult being apart for so long. I'm glad my best friend is finally home.

Climate Change Summit

2009-12-12T20:09:00.000-08:00

The current discussion of global climate change in Copenhagen has inspired me to repost the only sensible solution to global climate change. This was a posting from september of 2008.

Our recent experience with "global warming" has compelled me to stop and re-evaluate my position on the matter. This entire year has seen temperatures below normal highs in our area including snow just last Monday. Maybe there is something to this "global warming". When I was a kid CFC's from moms hairspray were going to tear apart our ozone layer and kill us all slowly with skin cancer, then came Hydro Carbons that threatened to combine in our atmosphere to create disaster for our ozone once again. Now a new threat has emerged since the others failed, and our end is near. Carbon Dioxide an inert gas is going to sneak in and slow cook the earth while we sleep. Well I for one am not going to stand here and watch the world go to hell in an easy bake oven. As mammals we take in oxygen and exhale the earth raping, baby killing, destroying angel, "Carbon Dioxide", sometimes referred to as CO2 in demonic worshipping circles. My solution is simple, if you feel that it's time to do your part to save the earth from CO2 then you must remove yourself from the earth. Devoted earth savers can band together and board ships to jettison into space preventing the poison gases from being released on earth. If you can't find anybody as faithful as you or can't find a way to get off the earth then maybe you should just hold your breath until they come up with a new way for the earth to fall in to peril.

Please go to the following link for a video presentation, it might just change your life.http://www.fubiz.net/blog/index.php?2008/09/18/2229-global-warming-quercus

Bridges

2009-12-01T15:46:00.000-08:00

I had hoped to shoot a ton of pictures while in Cali' but unfortunately there hasn't been much that has caught my eye. The one thing that keeps turning up however is bridges. We found this old covered bridge, although difficult to shoot as it is surrounded by tall trees and mountain sides. The shots that we did get were great and we were glad to get the opportunity to see a preserved covered bridge.

Day 32

2009-11-19T09:27:00.000-08:00

We are finally halfway through Bryan's training program; 4 weeks done, 4 more to go. It's been extremely difficult spending time apart, especially in the evening. You don't realize how much you depend upon the other person until they're not there over and over again. Every morning Bryan 'wakes' me with a Good Morning text, and I look forward to it every day. Some mornings he's running a little late and it takes longer, which gets me antsy, as I inherited the worrywart gene from my mother and start thinking of all the horrible things that could've happened. We spend all day sending short messages back and forth, even though we really shouldn't even have our phones out while at work. However, many of the short flurries of conversation are over life-changing decisions. Bryan's already been made a couple of offers for positions that would set him up to be the first pick of a new store. As I drive home from work, I always get a text, reminding me to call him as soon as I'm home. And I do just that. We usually spend 45 minutes talking, and then 'head' our separate ways for dinner and evening activities. We spend most of that time still texting back and forth, and then by about 9 pm I can't stand it anymore and have to hear his voice again. It's really hard to hang up on him. I now understand why my Ginger Nannie keeps saying "I love you, God bless" over and over again and literally makes my mom hang up the phone. She doesn't have it in her heart to hang up on her daughter. Most nights, I get a surprise text telling me good night and to sleep well. These small words always make me smile. :)
This past week none of this has happened, as I've been in California with him. The days actually go by pretty quickly while he's at work, and it's been nice having lunch with him again. I've been working on a couple projects that I haven't had time to get to, and I've actually completed quite a bit of both. We've also taken time to do some 'sightseeing' here in the Sacramento area, but honestly there's not much to see. I tried Googling some info, and I found a blog that had the comment "Round Table Pizza has been awarded the best pizza in Sacramento award 6 years in a row, if that tells you anything." For those who don't know, back in 2004 we did a trip of the west coast. After a long day of driving from Lake Tahoe, through San Francisco, and up the coast of the Redwoods, we finally arrived at our destination in a small town called Arcata. We saw a Round Table Pizza and decided it was a safe bet. Not really. The place was a little dirty, and we waited forever for our order. While we waited, Bryan noticed there was a salad bar, and was bummed as we hadn't realized when we paid. But then we saw something that made us glad we hadn't. One of the employees, who was really dirty, was filling the salad bar fixings with his bare hands. He then stopped, wiped his really runny nose and continued. We about died, and almost left, when our pizza showed up, hand delivered by the manager. She saw the same thing, and went over and proceeded to yell at the boy and tell him how that was inappropriate. But to our horror, the salad bar was not changed out!
Now that you have some background, you can see why there's nothing to do here. On Monday, I had the idea to drive around Folsom Lake. In the beginning it was a stupid drive. You can't see much of the 'lake' (reservoir), as the man made walls go higher than the road (you're at sea level here). We did cross a bridge that gave a good view of the dam, but nowhere to stop and take pictures. As we continued along, we saw a road labeled with signs for the lake, and it was called Salmon Falls Road. Bryan wondered if there would be a set of falls, so we started along it. We had a Corvette behind us early on, that blasted past. The road was curvy and beautiful, and would've been awesome in a hot car like that. But we're in a Dodge truck with horrible suspension. There was one part of the road where you could see car tracks that went off and it made us somewhat squeamish. And then a stupid little white car took a blind turn wide, and almost crashed right into us. It would have sent us off the road (luckily in an ok spot), but he would've been sent barreling off a ravine. Our hearts were racing forever, and we cursed him, hoping his heart was worse. We then rounded a corner and spotted a deer! He actually hung around long enough for us to get some shots. We then realized we were so far along the road, that it was best to continue on, rather than turn around. This is when we found a river with a new bridge, where you could see the remains on either side of the old bridge. The signs around the area warned of sudden flooding due to a dam further up that occasionally opened up. There was also another bridge high above, spanning a good distance that we took pictures of. As we headed out to wind up the 'mountain' road, we then saw the best bridge of all. Just around the bend was the old highway bridge, still intact! I made Bryan go back (as I knew he'd be upset if he didn't get pictures). And boy was I right. The pictures turned out wonderful! So somehow we ended up finding a stupid small drive, that had surprises everywhere, along with some of our favorite architectural features to photograph!
Last night we had a 'date' night and went miniature (pronounced men-e-ah-chure) golfing. It's the first time we've done this together, and it was fun. We actually got a little into it, trying to be perfect, but after skipping hole 18 to do another 17 rounds, we started messing about, winging the ball everywhere. At one point, we were next to the road, when Bryan got a hole-in-one. The kid crossing the road there yelled out 'HOLE-IN-ONE! YES!!! WOO-HOO!'
It's been really nice spending this week here, and with Thanksgiving next week, Bryan will be home all week, instead of a quick 2 days. It will be extremely difficult taking him to the airport the following Sunday. I just wish teleporting existed. Maybe when we're old someone will have finally figured that out.

Day 29

2009-11-16T11:15:00.001-08:00

For any training that Bryan has to do, the company always changes his schedule to M-F, 8-5 pm with every Sat and Sun off. I wish this could always be his schedule, as it would match mine and we would have more than 3 days together each month. We decided to go to San Francisco on Saturday, one of our most favorite places. We headed out early, and took a northerly route, as the Bay Bridge had been shut down earlier in the month for repairs. On our new route, we accidentally found Infineon Speedway, which is one of the tracks NASCAR races on each year. It was only 30 minutes from San Francisco. We will definitely plan a trip around this race in the future. It was a nice day Saturday, but not quite as clear as the previous time Bryan had come out. We stopped and took pictures on the hills north of the bridge, and then set off to find the beach that has views of the bridge. I've seen many pictures and couldn't wait to have our opportunity. We did find it, and it is called Baker Beach. It was beautiful, and we walked all the way across to the cliffs to get our shots. On our way, we saw a naked man. Luckily, he was laying face down, sunning his backside, which was hairless. There were also a group of boys trying to surf a little; seemed kind of funny after hearing all about my mom and dad's trip to Hawai'i and the north shore. We then went up the steepest, sandiest staircase possible, which happened to be next to the naked man. He was now turned on his side, giving full exposure. It's amazing how difficult it is to keep looking straight ahead and to the right, even when you do NOT want to have a looksy. He knew this behavior was getting him attention. He was so vain, he put Narcissus to shame. After hiking up the side, we headed over to a lookout of the bridge on top of the cliffs. I can't wait for Bryan to finish developing these pictures to post. I'm sure they are postcard worthy as usual. It was then time to find our Greek restaurant and have a delicious lunch. This turned into a horrible adventure. We spent 2 hours driving all over the city in a Dodge truck (this week's rental) trying to get to where we wanted. The biggest problem was unexpected road work and one way streets, with no left turns allowed anywhere. We finally were able to find it, and got lucky with a parking space about 3 blocks away. The food was wonderful! Just like I remembered it. We loved it so much, we ordered again with food to go. We spent the rest of the day taking pictures of the bridge down by Crissy field, and then went to Coit Tower again and took the ride up and got some night pictures. A word to the wise; make sure to go with an empty bladder. The facilities there are not for the weak, or the germaphobic. We left the city and took one last look at the viewpoint parking lot on the north side. I will miss her til the next time we come back.
Sunday we spent in Sacramento. There is not much to do here. I had spent time Friday afternoon finding places to go, and could only come up with the governor's mansion, the Stanford mansion, and the city cemetery. The mansions wanted $5 entry fees for each of us, so we bypassed the tour and just took pictures of the outside grounds. The Stanford mansion was ostentatious to the max, but I still loved looking at it. There were several pieces that interested us, and we'll need to remember them to include in future home improvement ideas. The grounds also had a persimmon tree, which had hardly any leaves, and the fruit were in season, with a few on the ground smushed. It looked like something out of a Tim Burton movie. We'll definitely post pictures of this once we can. The cemetery was beautiful. All of the plots are separated into smaller plots for families (or specific groups) and are surrounded by bricks or concrete, with the inside raised up from the surrounding pathways. There was a Masonic plot, a military plot (filled with mostly veterans from the Civil War), a fireman's plot and several mausoleums. One grave was of the third governor of California, and he was buried in the Mason plot. Another was a gentleman who had started out in the US, moved to Canada and got involved with the uprisings against the British empire, and then had to escape back to the US and ended up here in Sacramento to live out the remainder of his life. There were also many workers in the cemetery, who kept looking at us funny, especially at me. When we got back to the truck, there was a sheriff's van that drove in, with Work Release Prisoners on the side. Oh. Time to leave. We then came back to the hotel to get all dressed up for dinner. We were going to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, and were not going to make the same mistake as last time in San Francisco. We ended up being a little fancier than most of the patrons, as the Roseville location seemed a little more relaxed. Our waiter was a little loud and obnoxious, but he provided the same great service we had received the previous time. When asked for drinks, I inquired if they had flavored lemonades. He said no, but that the bartender could probably make up something. So I asked for a strawberry lemonade, and got the best concoction I've ever had. Our steaks were great, and Bryan could have been in seventh heaven with the fries. We even got dessert, which was scrum-diddly-umptious! I thoroughly enjoyed our special date night, as we had dressed all up like the old days. We should do this more often.
Well, off to more adventures this afternoon once Bryan is off work. I wonder where (and what) we'll find next?

Day 26; In Cali and Loving It!

2009-11-13T15:58:00.000-08:00

I figured out when would be the best time for me to take a vacation and head out for a week and stay with Bryan while he was training in Sacramento. Unfortunately, we ran behind a little at work with getting our recent contest all typed in, and I spent many, many hours at work this week, hurrying to get everything in, folded, printed, prepared, metered, and on and on so I could head out Thursday for my vacation. And everything fell into place and was completed. But one piece of misfortune was added to this week. One of my coworkers, Nick, is quitting and his last day is December 4. Me and him do the majority of the work; all the printing and coordinating of sending out a finished contest, the same for marketing of our contest announcements, and the beginning to end production of books. And now I get the demanding task of trying this all on my own. It's daunting, and my vacation could not come soon enough. I'm so glad this worked out, as I will definitely need this week to recup from the past one from work and get ready for the next few months of a hellaciously ginormous project. At least I like being an overachiever...right? Maybe it's just insanity.
(Oh, and I'm ecstatic to be here and see Bryan again; he is my happiness :)

Golden Gate Bridge - Black and White

2009-11-08T10:37:00.000-08:00

Medium Format shots of the Bridge. Digital is nice but there is a feeling you only get with film.

The Palace of Fine Arts

2009-11-02T19:36:00.000-08:00

If you're ever in San Fran you must see the Palace of Fine Arts both in the daylight and at night, it's amazing.

Sights From California

2009-11-02T19:31:00.000-08:00

The Story of Day 13

2009-11-01T09:05:00.000-08:00

Luckily, the program that Bryan is currently training in allows for two extra trips home that the company pays for. We chose this weekend as it was Halloween. Last week I had bought a pumpkin, ready to take to my sister's home to carve; part of the many activities I had planned to keep me busy. When that changed for my weekend flight, I decided to save the pumpkin carving for Halloween when Bryan would be here. It was nice to be able to leave work early to pick up my hubby. His smile was from ear to ear when I pulled up in the truck. It was wonderful to see him so happy. We decided to stop and have dinner at our favorite Chinese restaurant, Ho Ho (it's in Woods Cross). We have become regulars even though we live 1 1/2 hours away. We order a very special dinner, and when it was brought out to us, the owner came out to say hi and see how we were doing; that's how often we stop and eat here.

We decided to have Halloween breakfast instead of dinner. Usually we have a dinner date to help make the night go by quickly, as we're usually sad that we didn't get to make costumes and go trick or treating. But I had special plans for dinner. We had New York steaks with baking 'baked' potatoes (they're so much better than the bulk potatoes in a bag). And we carved my pumpkin. We each drew pictures and chose what we liked best of each to carve onto the face. We then loaded it with 10 or so vanilla candles and set him out on the porch around 5 pm. When we went to bed later around midnight, the pumpkin was still aflame. We walked out to the street and were amazed at how awesome he looked! Since I had picked such a large pumpkin (it was originally 25 lbs), it allowed us to carve a gigantic face, which glowed brilliantly with the candles. I hope it made Halloween more fun for all the kids who were out trick or treating last night, as it definitely made our Halloween a much happier holiday.

Day Nine

2009-10-27T21:21:00.000-07:00

Or should I say day one again? This first week was very trying for us. It's the beginning of what seems like such a long time apart, and the end seems to be no where in sight. I had made plans for the weekend, to help keep me busy. However, these all quickly changed when Bryan needed me to go out to Cali for the weekend. And I gladly went. I love to fly, and love any excuse for a 'vacation', even if it's just two unplanned days to help my hubby wick away some of the home sickness. Friday night was a flurry of texts and then me on an airplane to hop the 1 1/2 hours to see him. It was hard not to run off the plane and out the airport to his parked rental car. My smile was huge and his relief was felt in return. It was wonderful getting in an early sneak 'peak', as originally I would've had to wait til this Friday. The flight home was long and I wasn't nearly as eager to jump off the plane, but the cold of SLC got my butt moving. This morning I awoke to about a quarter inch of snow, which has been added to all day long, but stayed at a quarter inch. And now it's frozen to everything. This should make the morning commute interesting (I'm glad it's only 5 minutes away).
And finally for all those who have been waiting so patiently. This picture isn't a very good one, as I did take it with my phone, but the digital camera is with Bryan while the computer is with me. But at least everyone who's wondered what the house looks like can get an idea.

Day One

2009-10-19T20:23:00.000-07:00

It is now officially 24 hours since Bryan left for training in Elk Grove for three months. It was hard to drive away from the airport, watching him become smaller in the rear view mirror, and even harder in his truck (that vehicle is all him). I kept the music down low so I wouldn't miss any phone calls or texts. And good thing I did, as he texted to let me know his flight had been delayed. Last night was a little sleepless, as I stayed up half the night waiting for the call that he had landed safely, and then the second call that he had arrived at his hotel safely too. But I didn't mind. When I finally did go to sleep, it was to bright windows which reminded me of his comment the night before of the moon being extremely bright. When I let the dogs out this morning, I noticed the outside light on the back of our bedroom was on. Oops! Definitely a bright moon for the neighbors. I even drove his truck to work today, as it felt like I would be spending time with him. The girls at work all asked me how I was faring so far, and it made me smile. It's only been one day. Nothing to worry about yet. At this point, it seems like an adventure, not loneliness.
But I do miss him. The sweetheart buttoned everything up for me before he left. We finished the siding and soffit, got the Camaro winterized, and even found time to dig out the flowerbed on the east side and lay down stones instead to create a spot for the garbage cans. I even have Christmas lights up, all ready to go for when the season is here. He worked so hard, that his weary bones gave him a claustrophobic scare on the plane and made his waning cold come back a little. Poor guy is in a hotel room with no one to help take care of him. And believe me, for him this is weird as I'm an overbearing caretaker who will get everything and anything for you, no matter the cost or time involved. I hope he starts feeling better soon, as I'm sure all my texts of what may help are making him wearier.