Note to self...

become the First Lady. Then you will always look cute and NEVER have to shop again! Just look at how fashionable you'll be...

Mrs. O

Sesame Street turns 40!

Has anyone else enjoyed the Sesame Street Google Doodles as much as I have this past week? My most favorite is Cookie Monster, and Oscar, and Count Dracula, and Bert and Ernie, and Big Bird, and... Yeah, I still might have a lot of growing up to do.

Trunk or Treat 3.0

Here it is. The moment everyone has been waiting for! Okay, that's not entirely true. I'm pretty sure that everyone, besides Wyatt and me, couldn't care less about what we dressed Wyatt's truck as for Trunk or Treat this year. Even so, I'm going to share our hard work with the world. (This is what happens when two people don't have any kids or pets to dress for Halloween.)

Clearly Wyatt was too exhausted from decorating his truck with a giant (homemade) octopus, he couldn't muster the energy to dress-up himself. I was a lone scuba diver that night...navigating the sea alone.

I jetted off to Utah the next morning for a long weekend of visiting friends and family. I helped my brother Harold and his lady friend (aka: wife) Jeanna ring-in their 4th decade in life. That's right, my oldest brother is 40! Yikes! :)

"40 Sucks"

If I look as good as these two do when I'm 40, I'll be ecstatic!

Jeanna's birthday was on Halloween so we spent the entire day celebrating! She made sure that every trick-or-treater over the age of 12 that graced her doorstep sang Happy Birthday to her. She is a smart lady.

We also carved pumpkins. I have to give a shout out to my creative niece and nephew. Their pumpkins are the Reese's and "burning sun" pumpkins. Compare their talent to my simple smiley face. And to think I stared at my blank pumpkin for a good 15-minutes before I came up with that one. I'm pathetic.

And if you're super observant, you'll notice something different about me...

WANTED: Summer Jobs

Wyatt and I have the opportunity to take advantage of our 'no kid' status next summer and embark on an adventure. However, we're not sure what adventure we are going to embark on. So I thought I'd reach out to my bloggy readers and see if any of you knew of any summer job opportunities for 2010. Yeah, that's right. We're going to throw caution into the wind and be totally irresponsible, impractical, and irrational!

Please contact me if you know of (or know someone who knows of (or know someone who knows someone who knows of (you get the picture...))) a seasonal summer opportunity that includes the following:

an income (even if it is for peanuts)
an job/income for both Wyatt and me
something that includes free room (or inexpensive housing)
something out of the norm and exotic (moving to Utah Valley is not out of the norm - think NYC, San Francisco, Idaho ranch, fishing charter in Alaska, Central America, Europe, Asia, Africa, etc.)

Thanks in advance!

On a different note, Wyatt and I went to Hood River yesterday! I am feeling extremely smug because we were blessed with PERFECT weather (it rained ALL day Friday and today but not a cloud in the sky yesterday)! Happy day! We went to our favorite cookie shop to purchase an array of tasty cookies. Then headed over to another fruit stand for their Edelweiss Festival. I had such a pleasant time. Something about eating German sausage beneath the canopy of fruit trees, feeling the warm glow of the afternoon sun on my skin, and listening to the sounds of the accordion drift through the air. It was quite dreamy. I just love our little tradition of going to Hood River each fall to enjoy the colors and fruits of the season!

apple pick'n

wagon full of apples

engagement picture mockery

Mom is Rad

My mom is rad. Let me explain…

My friend (and old roommate) Liz from Chicago got married in Boise this past weekend. Ever since I received the news that she was getting married I wanted to go. Boise is a mere seven hours away, so I felt like it was doable. However, as the date drew closer, the more I dragged my feet on committing to the occasion. You see, Wyatt has school and work on Fridays. And the wedding was scheduled for Saturday morning…which means I would need to:

a.) have Wyatt drive to Boise with me leaving Portland at 2am (an hour added for time change)
b.) leave Wyatt behind and comfortably drive to Boise on Friday
c.) not go

The answer seems clear, doesn’t it? B. Did I mention how much I hate road trips alone?

So I explained my predicament to my mom and she offered to drive the seven hours with me to Boise. Yipee! So she flew into Portland Thursday night and drove to Boise with me on Friday. That is why my mom is rad. Other details on why she is rad include:

• It was her vacation from work - she could’ve very well spent the time relaxing at home
• She overlooked my tendency to talk about myself nearly the entire trip
• She and Louis (her husband who flew into Boise to meet us) treated me to dinner at the Cracker Barrel (one of my favs! (I think you may have just created a new opinion of me with that bit of information.))
• They treated me to a 3D movie, “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatball” (I highly recommend!)
• They let me stay for free in their hotel room
• They did a temple session with me
• They took me to buy a pair of red shoes on Friday night and spent half the day Saturday driving around Boise to try and find a cheaper pair of red shoes…(I settled on a pair of $7 plum pumps instead)
• Tolerated my grumpiness on Saturday after a restless night accompanied by a chorus of snoring…
• They filled my car with gas
• She let me eat half her crispy burrito at Taco Time without batting an eye
• They let me pull the “youngest child card” even though I am 27 years old

It was a fantastic trip! I’m so grateful that my mom is rad and was willing to sacrifice her time for me. (Oh, and it was really good to see Liz too! But you know how weddings go…I didn’t really get to spend much time with her at all.)

Thanks momma! I love you!

Moto Momma

in case you were wondering, that's me on the back of the bike. we traded bikes with Wyatt's dad so I could have a more comfortable ride. Wyatt's real bike is the black one parked next to us.

I got to be Wyatt's Biker Momma last weekend. What a blast! Wyatt and I were both so excited the night before our trip, we had a hard time falling asleep. We took a short tour of Eastern Oregon with Wyatt's Pa, brother, and friend from church. I don't have much to say about the trip, just some singular thoughts:

I like Eastern Oregon, it reminds me of Colorado.

It got pretty steamy in our full moto gear cruising around in the hot, hot sun. I can't complain though, I had some eye witnesses tell me that Portland didn't see the sun until 2pm the whole weekend. I was feeling pretty smug for dodging the clouds. HA!

I like riding on the moto. It's fun to just relax and enjoy the ride.

Sometimes I wish Wyatt wasn't such a stickler about wearing full moto gear so I could feel the wind on my face and fully enjoy the sunshine.

I'm always grateful that Wyatt makes me wear full moto gear because it means he loves me and wants me to be safe. Even if I don't want to follow his rules sometimes...

I'm glad my shower on Friday morning was hot. It made it easier to take a shower Saturday morning knowing that the water was hot...even though the shower tricked me on Saturday morning and it was really FREEZING cold!

I like breakfasts at "taxidermist dinners". The biscuits and gravy, pancakes, and eggs were really good.

I like Wyatt's dad a lot. He makes me smile.

I like going on moto trips with Wyatt when he doesn't have any classes to worry about. I just wish his "summer break" lasted longer than four days.

our first and only camping trip of the year.

i LOVE waking up to clear blue skies!

Things I Have Made Recently That Isn't Rice Pudding

I think I'm pretty predictable. By now you've probably figured out that one of the most reoccurring themes of my blog is food. As of late, not only have I been into eating food but I've also been into cooking/baking food too. And that, my bloggy readers, is what brings me to the subject of this post: "Things I Have Made Recently That Isn't Rice Pudding."

I have mentioned my favorite cooking blog Smitten Kitchen a few times thus far. I think the reason I love it so much because she provides pictures. Not only pictures of the final product but the various steps along the way. The pictures make the recipes seem doable. Not to mention I love her commentary. (I told Wyatt that Deb (aka: The Smitten Kitchen) and I would probably be bff's if she lived next door. We do share one major thing in common and that is our love for food. I could actually relate to her excitement for tomato season. I too drool at the thought of the delectable Sun Gold tomatoes Wyatt's dad plants for me each year. I can hardly contain myself as I count down the months until I get to eat them again. I think it's the feeling most people have about Christmas.) Okay, major tangent...

Anyway, here are some of the things I've made as of late:

Nectarine Galette
I have NO idea how to pronounce the latter word of this dish but could hardly resist the need (yes, I mean NEED) to make this. It's so beautiful. Plus it seems like nectarines are always overshadowed by their sister the peach when it comes to desserts. I had to bring them to the center stage. I've also been looking for the opportunity to brush-up on my homemade pie crust making skills.

The result was, well, if you'll excuse my pride - STUNNING! I have NEVER made a pie crust so perfect in taste and texture. The secret - I used a cheese grater (yes, cheese grater) to grate a frozen (yes, frozen) stick of butter into the flour mixture. I got this idea from the local newspaper the Oregonian. What a BRILLIANT idea! That was my huge issue before - trying to get the mixture to look like "coarse corn meal". Grating the butter into the flour automatically makes it like corn meal! I also learned that the less you mix/handle the pie dough the better the crust.

(the perfect pie crust - may have to enlarge to see the full effect)

The final product was, I'm sad to say, good. Just good, not great. The pie crust was perfect, the almond/sugar mixture was very tasty, it was the nectarines that didn't shine. Perhaps if they were more ripe... I don't know. Perhaps this is why peaches seem to get all the attention?



Next up, Ratatouille
Ever since the movie about the cute little chef rat came out I wanted to make this. Who knew that a cartoon could make something look so good? My oldest brother Harold served his mission in France said that it was in fact, not good. I dismissed his opinion since he has a reputation for not liking vegetables; and since he told me not to order the pizza while we were in Paris (which he did end up ordering and RAVING about as I tried to choke down my cooked brie pasta).

I decided now was a better time then ever since I have accesses to all the vegetables from Wyatt's parent's garden. As much as I hate to admit it, Harold was right. Despite it's array of colors that make it so appealing, it does not taste good. I tried. I really tried to like it. I wanted to, desperately! But leftovers don't lie and they sat in the fridge for nearly a week without any desire from Wyatt or me to polish them off. I can't tell you why exactly I didn't like it. I like all the ingredients otherwise. Maybe it's the combination of them?

Last, but not least: Tomato and Corn Pie
I've never had (nor heard of) tomato pie before. Again, it was the pictures that sold me on it. Plus the abundance of tomatoes that I have access to (Wyatt's dad planted 14 tomato plants this year). I again took the opportunity to improve my pie crust making skills and successfully made my very own tomato pie! Again, the crust turned out perfect (I love my frozen butter cheese grater trick!) and the final product was delish! Well, except for the part at the very end when Wyatt asked me if I used "old" cheese because he had a bite that tasted like old cheese. My heart sunk. I swear the cheese looked (and tasted) fine to me!

(Wyatt's winking. Not giving pirate face.)

Other recent food adventures include the Sun Gold tomatoes that I roasted (I knew I should've took them out of the oven when I checked on them!) and proceeded to char. What a disappointment when the air is filled with tomato-garlicy goodness, only to discover the culprit of the wonderful smell passed its prime 45-minutes prior. My only redemption is that I have two more weeks of tomato season.

I also spent nine-hours canning salsa with my friend Phoebe on Friday. "I'll be home at 5pm Wyatt." 6pm that night, "Um, do you want to come over to Phoebe's and have pizza while we finish canning?" We finally left at 11pm. It was quite the adventure and my it was my first stab at canning using a canning pot. Sorry I trashed your kitchen Phoebe...you've got to admit, it was fun! Too bad we didn't take any pictures to document the day.

If you've made it this far, I'm sorry I'm always talking about food. It's just something I think about all the time. Even as I'm drifting off to sleep... Hopefully for your sake I'll have a kid some day and dedicate my blog to life as a mom and not as a pseudo chef.