Make This!!

Have you checked out Nom Nom Paleo's site for recipes yet? If not, DO! We tried two new recipes this week from her site and both were very good.  We don't eat Paleo all the time, just incorporating a few recipes here and there.

This is her recipe for garlic cauliflower 'mashed potatoes.' They look, but taste better than mashed potatoes (to me). Omid didn't like them at all, Matty was on the fence, but I loved them! I love mashed potatoes too, but these were so different and very tasty.

The other recipe we tried was spicy tuna cakes. Oh my gosh, these were amazing!

I used the tuna we canned back in August and added some cayenne pepper for more heat. The only thing was...the kitchen smelled like tuna fish for hours. Thankfully, it was a nice day and I had all the windows open to let in the fresh air.

 

If you are looking for new & healthy recipes to try, try these two or check out Nom Nom Paleo's website for lot of ideas.

 

 

January Heat!?

Yesterday we hit 61*. It was so beautiful & sunny out. I opened all the windows in the house to let out the stagnant air & welcomed in the fresh winter air.

On the news last night, the weatherman predicted the Oregon Coast would hit 72* on Sunday. On the news this morning, another weatherman said the same thing. We believed him, & took the chance and headed south to Tillamook to soak in the sunshine & heat!

This was foggy Camas when we left this morning.

We stopped in Netarts to pick up two dozen fresh oysters, then to Tillamook to feast on grilled cheese sandwiches at the Tillamook Cheese Factory. YUM!

After lunch, we headed south to Pacific City and the temperature outside at 12:30 p.m. was 70*!!! NO JOKE!

PROOF!

I brought sweaters & jackets with me to the coast, because 9 times out of 10, even in the heat of summer, the coast is windy & cold. Not today! There wasn't a lick of wind at all & it was a balmy 70*!  ☼

We decided to hike this hill, along with everyone else.

Here we go!

Halfway up the hill. ☼!!!!

We may not have made it to the top...as we noticed a brewery at the half way mark (no signage facing the beach!!)  & headed back down.

Proud of ourselves for making it halfway, we treated ourselves to an IPA each. I got the Silverlight IPA & Omid got the SeaHops IPA. Both were yummy!

5 minutes outside of Pacific City...and we were back to fog.

So thankful that we were able to get a little taste of spring in January!!! ☼

Fun with Friends!

Goodbye iconic PDX Airport carpet! You will be missed! In case you haven't heard, the PDX Airport carpet is being replaced with a new design. This carpet is so famous, it has it's own Facebook, Twitter & Instagram pages. No joke!

Saying goodbye to the PDX carpet + picking up travelers too.

Now for the real reason for the post: Don't you just love catching up with old friends? We sure do! Especially when they live on the other side of the world! Last week, I stopped by the airport, to pick up Omid, our friend Daniel (Germany) & Jeffrey (Singapore).

Even Remy wanted his photo taken with Daniel & Jeffrey!

After an evening of catching up since the last time we were together, we got up early the next morning and took our guests to the Woodburn Outlet Mall, Costco & the Troutdale Outlet Center.  Next time we'll skip Troutdale! Woodburn is a 100 times better! It was a marathon shopping trip and we were all exhausted.

The next day, Omid took our friends shopping again, while I went to work. Did you know private universities are exempt from taking Federal holidays off? Yep, I worked not only on MLK day, but Veterans Day too. Interesting!

Monday evening, we gathered again at our house, so Omid could cook dinner for not only Daniel & Jeffrey, but for Phil & Elena too.

Waiting for Phil & Elena to arrive.

We had a lot of fun by listening/singing to our favorite tunes from the past (ABBA, Modern Talking, Depeche Mode, etc.).

Remy enjoying his new bone that Daniel & Jeffrey bought him! ☺

 Matty getting in on the fun!

Fun fact: Matty transferred from WSU Pullman to WSU Vancouver.

Omid cooked up an amazing dinner of salmon, tri tip, rib eye steak & his famous Oriental green beans!

 International friends:

Daniel, Omid, Phil, Elena, Jeffrey & Me.
 

We had a great time while our friends visited and can't wait to do it again soon!☺

Happy New Year!

This post is three weeks late. Sadly, this blog has become a casualty of working full time.
Free time priorities have changed, so the blog has been pushed way down the list. At least it still gets updated! I gave up writing for The Columbian months ago.

On January 2, 2015. Omid, Ward & Jeff decided to roast another pig.

I was scheduled to go back to work on the 2nd, but took the day off.

I texted this photo to my team and told them this was how I spending my day. ☺

Because it was so cold outside, the pig took 12 hours to cook. We were all starving by the time it was finished. It was tasty!!

This little piggy tasted soooo goooood!!

Everyone went home with roast suckling pig, and I even took some in for my team.

The next day, Omid, Matty, Alysa and I attended the UP vs. Gonzaga basketball game. My boss graciously gave us four tickets to the game AND four passes to the Pilot Club!

We got to mingle with the UP Adminisration (Omid even met the President of UP!), and eat lots of good food. There was even a full bar for the 21 & over crowd.

Though we were rooting for UP, Gonzaga won. The Gonzaga players were just amazing to watch! At the time of this game, they were ranked #6, this week they are ranked #3!

New Year, New Word

Happy New Year!!

I don't make new year resolutions anymore. It was too easy to forget about them after a week or two. Last year, I read about One Little Word challenge. Instead of focusing on a resolution, focus on one word. The word I chose for 2014 was GRATITUDE. There is so, so much to be thankful for.

Gratitude was such a powerful word for me last year, I am tempted to use the word again this year. I am still choosing between three words and hope to commit to one this week. Try this challenge, it's much more effective than writing out a resolution!