Family Visit

This month Rob and I had the wonderful priviledge of hosting some of my family members for a visit: mom, dad, Jeff and Christie!! I kept asking before they even made their plans why on earth would they ever want to come in May - for god sakes it rains the whole month of May in Oregon. Still, they went ahead and booked it and wouldn't you know: in some freak twist of fate it was sunny the entire time! Let's stop and contemplate this for a minute. They were here for a whole week in May and IT DIDN'T RAIN ONCE. Hallelujah! Praise (Buddy) Jesus! We had originally planned that if we had just one sunny day, we would take the fam up to Mt St Helens, but we ended up being able to spend every day outside. I want to reiterate to my family (who now LOVE Oregon and want to move here - you know you do...) that it is not normally this nice in May. IT RAINS. Anyway, what they experienced is more like the amazing summers out here, but I won't elaborate on that at the risk of making it seem too nice here and convincing too many other people to move here, hence crowding out the Oregonians(kind of like you Massholes who move up to New Hampshire - you know who you are. I'll admit, I'm one of them).

Anyway since we had such glorious weather, we tried to give everyone a taste of the best of Oregon: a ride through the wonderful town we call home, a hike up Multnomah Falls, the Evergreen Air & Space Museaum, the Saturday Market, skiing @ Mt Hood, superstar seats @ the Roller Derby All-Star game, Mt St Helens, wine tasting in the Willamette Valley (for mother's day - love you mom!!), the fish ladder @ the Bonneville Dam and a walk through both of the mythical gardens (after talking up the Japanese and Chinese gardens for a whole week, we ended up finally going on the last day - they DO exist!).

Rob and I were also enthralled to find out that our dog Sheena will now stay in her crate without destroying everything inside it - thanks to Rob's genius creation we like to call "The Peanut Butter Solution" (in which he coats the inside of her hollowed-out bone with a small amount of peanut butter - not to be confused with the 1985 movie). It keeps her busy for hours and she no longer needs day care when we need to go out for just a few hours. We also found out that she loves my mom - she hearded her to the inside of the path all the way up to the top of Multnomah Falls (well, almost the top, the last section of path was washed out - go figure) and slept in her lap the whole way to and from the Bonneville Dam.

It was so great to see everyone and to be able to take advantage of the nice weather. Now we just have to get Joe and Kristen out here! Take a look at the family vacation pictures on my Flickr page.

Homemade Oregon

It all started with yogurt. I don't know how it came to me. Maybe it's the exorbitant amount of yogurt we eat every week, or the suggestion from my friend Wendy years ago that popped back into my head (that I could use some of her yogurt culture). I had never really looked into it before. Recently, I came across a recipe for homemade yogurt and I laughed to myself - could it really be that easy?? So Rob and I got a gallon of milk and a new cooler. We followed everything in the recipe, all the while scratching our heads saying, "Are we really making yogurt right now? It can't be this easy!" But the next day, voila! 9 jars of thick, creamy yogurt in our fridge! Here is the break-down: for the cost of a $3 gallon of milk, 20 minutes in the kitchen and 3 hours waiting, we could make enough yogurt equal in cost to a third of what we would have spent in the store - and it tastes BETTER than the store-bought yogurt!! Go figure! The new cooler has since been designated "The Yogurator" - Quite an appropriate name don't you think?

So each week, we go through this process now and it's so satisfying. Each time we make a new batch, it tastes better and better. Last weekend we made our second batch and with that, we started thinking - are there other things that are this easy that we could make ourselves? When we had our farm share in New Hampshire years ago, I used to use the ridiculous amounts of basil we got every week to make homemade pesto. Did you know you can freeze pesto? You can put it in a zip lock bag and break small pieces off when you need it. It thaws in about 5-10 minutes. Anyway, we didn't make pesto (because fresh basil isn't out yet) but I made my first attempt at homemade wheat thins and homemade hummus. Both came out amazing! Who knew it was so easy to make wheat thins? Or hummus? What's the best part about making homemade wheat thins? You can roll the dough a million times and it won't fall apart and you use a pizza roller to cut the little squares, which makes it fun! What's the best part about making homemade hummus? Um hello, do you have to ask? Instant gratification, of course! It whips up faster than baking cookies from a Nestle Tollhouse log. Here's the entire process: Add ingredients to food processor. Press button. Done.

Rob and I also happened to buy 3 horseradish roots at the grocery store last week. It was inspired by my sister-in-law Kristen, who had made incredible horseradish a few years ago. It was also inspired by our frustration with all store-bought horseradish options - not one horseradish at our grocery store is made without high fructose corn syrup. What's the point of adding HFCS anyway? I don't get it! Anyway, Kristen told us her story about how she accidentally leaned over it after she ground the root and it stung her eyes so badly - it's about 1000x worse than cutting an onion. So Rob and I were very careful. After grinding the horseradish root in the food processor, waiting 10 minutes, then adding the remaining ingredients (we also had the kitchen fan and 2 other fans going in the house), Rob donned his old gas mask - that's right people, he put on a GAS MASK - in order to transfer the completed horseradish into the jars. It's one thing to put on a gas mask in the kitchen and another to put it on and actually need it. And let me tell you, he needed it! I had to leave the kitchen because the air was so spicy-hot. It was all worth it though, because now we have horseradish without the HFCS and is also hotter than the gates of hell, which is how horseradish should be if you ask me.

So in one weekend, we made yogurt, wheat thins, hummus and horseradish. We had so much fun in the kitchen together (and everything was so easy) that I had to blog about it. We aren't always this industrious by the way...

First hike at Latourell Falls

Today was one of those rare days in the spring in Oregon when the sun shines all day long and the threat of rain becomes a [somewhat] distant memory. We decided to take advantage of the beautiful, sunny & warm day by going for a hike in the Columbia Gorge. Rob picked one that was relatively short because it was our first hike of the season, and it was awesome! We went to a lesser-known place called Latourell Falls, off of the old scenic highway. The hike was about 2.5 miles and has an elevation gain of 520 feet.

We took Sheena along and she loved every second. She sniffed everything along the trail and was good when passing other people [I'm a proud dog owner!!]. Trillium was in full bloom all along the trail - the most I have seen since we've moved out here. The trail is a nice loop. We hiked it backwards - starting from Latourell falls, under the scenic highway, then up a steep climb to the first viewpoint. From there we hiked down to the second waterfall, Upper Latourell Falls. Then it loops back to the first waterfall where we started.

It was cool because unlike other waterfalls I've seen since we've been here (maybe around 20?) Latourell Falls has distinct basalt columns. The entire cliff is made up of the basalt, which is incredibly thick. I've seen basalt around the Gorge before, but not in the columnar structure like Latourell Falls. This is the same type of rock you can see in the famous "Giant's Causeway" in Northern Ireland. Basalt gets pretty crumbly over time - which is why falling rocks are a hazard in the area and the cliffs aren't entirely safe. We saw a group of people standing at the top next to the falls - on a cliff that was detached underneath from the crumbling basalt.

This is a hike I will definitely return to again. It's just as cool as Eagle Creek, without the obnoxious visitors and steep drop-offs along the trail, which is better for Sheena's safety too! We had an awesome day. Check out our photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamers818/sets/72157629400788860/

Sheena Queena

I love our dog. As some of you may know, we adopted our dog Sheena in August 2011 from Out West Pet Rescue in Prosser, WA. This is my first time owning a dog and let me tell you - I am in love. She is so sweet and we have so much fun with her - we are truely lucky to have her! Rob tells me I have no idea how lucky I am to have her as my first dog. I really don't I guess. We didn't have to house-train her. She isn't dog-agressive (in fact, she's overly friendly!). Her nickname suits her perfectly - she certainly rules our lives! She loves to play. She doesn't chew furniture and she doesn't want to eat the cats. She would love to be firends with them, but our two cats Onyx and Tabby have not been very accepting. I think Tabby and Sheena might end up as friends, but Onyx still hasn't left the spitting and hissing stage of their relationship yet.

At the risk of sounding like a crazy pet lady, I am starting a pet photo album on Flickr for our 3 furry family members, or our "minions" if you will. Why not? They are part of our lives and I think it is imperitive to document all of their crazy antics. Sheena - soaking wet in the Oregon spring rain, tongue hanging out the side of her mouth, happliy trotting back to me with her precious ball. Tabby - laying on her back with her legs spread wide (not very ladylike by the way) with a dumb look on her face as if she is thinking in her walnut-sized brain "everything looks so funny when I'm upside-down". Or Onyx with her silent meows - begging for "ups" as we call it - she needs her shoulder time! And there are questions to be answered. Why does Tabby wake us up at 3am every night? How much of what we say does Sheena actually understand? Is Onyx really that sweet, or is she just using us to stroke her and feed her? The world may never know.

One thing I do know is this: I love these animals, and they love us.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamers818/sets/72157629711416699/

New year's resolution 2012: More Blogging

I was sitting on the floor at the Nantucket house with Sheena snoozing at my feet and Rob watching American Pickers. I took a puzzle piece from the box and connected it to the matching piece on the table. Rob glanced over and said "That's sick!" I have always been good at puzzles. I can't tell you how, but I finished this 1000-piece puzzle in about 4 hours then started and finished another one in the same day. The thing is, that was the first time I've even thought of puzzling in the last year and a half - since the last time we were on Nantucket!!

We had an amazing year in 2011. Happy to say mostly positive memories - a new and exciting job in a beautiful place, adopted a beautiful sweet pup Sheena, took amazing international trips together, and had some amazing adventures on the West Coast too! This year we even got to see both our families for the holidays. Now it's 2012 and I'm excited for this year. Doing the puzzles and the general relaxation of this trip made me reflect on all the positive people, experiences, and things I have in my life. Now I'd like to share more of that through blogging rather than Facebook. In 2011, Rob made the choice to remove his Facebook account. I also hate the ever-changing profile and security settings, the negativity of so many of the posts I read, and the overall addiction I had (thinking "This will make a great profile picture" when I'm standing at the castle in Brno, Czech Repiblic looking at the sunset over the cathedral - that's sick). Even though I still have my Facebook account for now, I think blogging will be more positive for me personally. I also decided to start a photo-a-day blog on Flickr (more on that later).

This year, I am definitely going to keep the positivity going with some resolutions. My mom will laugh at me, but I'm seriously trying to stop biting my nails (3 days so far!!). I'm going to re-visit P90X since I liked it so much a few years ago and I'm preparing to hike Mt St Helens. We are also starting a small garden and continuing our healthy "mostly" meat-free eating habits. So I hope you will follow us on Blogger this year - here's to a great new year 2012!