Memorable Weekend

  

We went to Neskowin, OR for Memorial Day weekend and spent the weekend with our friends at their beach house.  It was a perfectly beautiful weekend - no rain and only 1 day with dark clouds - simply amazing.

Amelia loved the giant "sand box".

And playing in the water was fun too . . . sorry for the poor quality video-ing.

 We tried to get a decent family picture, but Amelia was just interested in looking for more cool sticks.

Amelia thought the "chariot" ride back to the house was almost as fun as playing in the sand.

The one day it was cloudy, we went for a small hike to the top of the cliff.  The flowers were beautiful,

and the view was spectacular.

 On our way home on Monday, we stopped in Tillamook so that Amelia could get her first "squeeky" cheese and Tillamook ice cream experience.  She didn't like the cheese as much as I thought she would, but she couldn't get enough of my ice cream.

Randomness

* I'm getting too bulky around my middle to be down on my hands and knees weeding.  So much for helping Ken with the yardwork this summer.


* One of our neighbors has "planted" artificial flowers in a plot of dirt near their house.  It makes it look like a cemetery plot.


* Amelia finally has a tooth, and I think I see a 2nd one approaching.  Yeah!


* So looking forward to this weekend.  A long weekend at the Oregon coast with friends.  I don't even care if it rains . . . which will most definitely be doing, at least 3/4 of the time.


* May is Ride Your Bike to Work month, and Ken has ridden his bike every day - in rain, or clouds, or a lot of rain, and sometimes even in sun.  I'm so impressed.


* I accidentally put my hand-made wool sweater in the dryer and of course it shrunk.  I keep wondering if I washed it again, could I possibly stretch it out a bit?


* Two more weeks until we find out if this baby is a boy or a girl.  Either way, we are quite clueless on names, and I'm a bit in denial about all the things we need to do before it arrives.

War Zone

     We live less than 10-miles from the outskirts of a military base.  When we first moved here 6+ months ago, I couldn't figure out what all the banging was.  Then it dawned on me that it was artillery that I could hear.
     Ken didn't believe me that I could hear it from where we live . . . until last night.
     Starting about 8pm last night, the explosions started.  Thank goodness they stopped around 10pm, but they started up again this morning at 6am.  6AM - really?  Apparently preparing for war knows no courtesy.
     Every time I hear the "bombs bursting in air" I can't help but think how scary it must be to live in a real war zone.

Sunny Day

Amelia loves to be outside . . . playing in the dirt . . . and the water . . . and finding the two of them together - too much fun!

A few of my favorite things . . .

I'm not very good at writing them down, and even worse at sharing them with others, but here are a few of my favorite things that Amelia currently does.

* She points the remote at the TV whenever she can get it in her hand, but she always looks a bit confused about why nothing happens.  

* Although a bit inconvenient sometimes, I love the fact that Amelia likes to play at my feet - whether I'm cooking or sitting at the table.

* And while she is at my feet, she is quick to notice and pick up anything that I might have dropped.  I always thank her for helping me pick up the garbage.

* I love that she has learned how to walk . . . and that she always gets back up when she falls down.  I have included 2 short little videos of Amelia walking, which are probably only entertaining to her grandparents ;)

* Amelia has 2 stuffed animals that are almost bigger than her and that she loves to cuddle with.   Now that she has started walking, she likes to carry them with her.  I giggle as I watch her struggle to carry both of them and walk.

Food, Glorious? Food

Upon Ken's suggestion, I've been reading a book titled, "Death by Supermarket" by Nancy Deville.  It's rather depressing - if you like eating.  The author's purpose is to explain why people  have so many health issues, by blaming it on the additives in foods that have been processed in a factory (and even things like meat, milk, and eggs).  Additives like high fructose corn syrup, soy, artificial Omega 3 . . . and the list goes on and on.


I'm pretty moderate in most things.  I'm not obsessive or even concerned about eating all organic.  Most of the time I give little thought to where my food comes from.  I don't eat a lot of junk food, or box mixes, or processed foods, but neither do I avoid these things if a recipe (or my cravings) calls for it.


In the meantime, completely unrelated to reading the book, Ken and I have been researching buying our vegetables from a local farm (I think in some areas it's similar to "Bountiful Basket"?).  It sounds great for multiple reasons: supporting the local economy, knowing where the food is coming from, getting it fresh and ripe, and getting a variety of vegetables without having to plant a huge garden.


On the other hand, it does have its drawbacks.  The cost is more than what we would pay in the store - but the quality will surely be worth the extra cost.  The other drawback is that for someone who likes to plan meals in advance, I'll have to wait for the food to arrive before I can plan my meals around what we received.  Oh, and then there is the high likelihood that we'll have to spend more money to buy fruit and vegetables to supplement what the delivery doesn't include.


All in all, Ken and I decided it was worth it and have decided to give it a try this summer.


But then after reading the "Death" book, I feel an increased interest to buy our meat, milk, and eggs from a local farmer as well.  The only problem?  Money.  We can only spend so much money on food, and right now, I don't think we can afford it.  Who could afford $5/lb chicken or $5 for a gallon of milk?  I've said it before and I'll say it again - eating healthy costs a lot more money than eating poorly.


Maybe, instead of getting that pig that Ken keeps dreaming about, perhaps we'll get us some chickens and a cow.  We've got a big back yard . . . that will work, right?  :)

Shock-n-Awe

I've been craving junk food lately - blame it on pregnancy.  Every time I'm in a grocery store, it's all I can do to not buy candy bars, donuts, cookies, etc.

Today while I was shopping was no exception.  But then I thought, "hey, it's Mother's Day this weekend.  I deserve a treat, right?"  

So I broke down and bought a brownie mix.  But I was trying to be sort of good, so I spent $4 on a gluten-free mix, instead of $1.50 on a regular mix.

And then I got it home and read the ingredients.   The first ingredient:  sugar.  Really?  For a brownie mix.  Isn't flour (of some sort) typically the first ingredient?  Okay, so I kept reading, thinking flour would come next.  But no.  The second ingredient:  chocolate chips.  The third ingredient:  cocoa.  Can you believe flour was the fourth ingredient on a brownie mix?

I didn't even dare look at the fat and calories after that.

But, they taste good (for gluten-free brownies) and they satisfy the craving :)

RSVP

Does this mean anything to anyone anymore?

I'm hosting a party of sorts to attempt to get to know more ladies at church.  The problem?  I sent out 14 invitations and have only had 3 RSVP - 2 polite no's and 1 yes.

Do I assume that only 1 person is coming?

OR

Do I guess that more people just don't RSVP and will actually show up?

Ken suggested that I politely remind/ talk to these women at church, but I don't really have a chance to interact with people due to my calling.  And I barely know these women - hence, the party to get to know them.

Ugh!  I hate the unknown.

How does YOUR garden grow?

It's been a little over a month since we planted our garden, and I thought I'd give a garden report.

* Tomatoes - frozen and dead.  We covered them every night, but when we were in Portland for Ken's birthday, no one was home to cover them, and they froze.  We'll replant soon.

* Peas - growing, but look kind of dead near the base.  I guess we'll wait and see what happens.

* Spinach/ Chard - The slugs have eaten half of them; the other half are growing slow, but steady.  We probably need to plant more.

* Rosemary/ Parsley - Growing great and already using them.

* Chives/ Basil - We planted these as seeds and have been growing them in our window.  They are doing great and need to be re-planted into bigger containers and perhaps outside soon.