Monday, November 18, 2019

RIP Mansourkhan

Omid's dad passed away this morning in Nashville. He was 87 years old. 



I will remember the way he said Hello (Hallow!), his black French beret hat, his love of red wine and how he requested that we keep romaine lettuce on hand for him to feed Remy when he visited. I know Remy is eating a lot of romaine lettuce tonight in Heaven. 


1968 wedding photo

At Arezou & Evan's wedding

The famous French beret






Together in Heaven drinking red wine & good Scotch


Cheers in Heaven, Mansourkhan!
Until we see you again. 

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Believe

I went to a memorial service yesterday for one of the nicest people on earth, Dan Beeler.



Dan was my dear friend Fay's husband (49+ years!). The testament to how many lives he touched: There were well over 300 people in the room.  Also of note: it was the most beautiful service I've ever attended. Definitely the blueprint of how a Celebration of Life should be.

As you know, I'm a big believer in signs (11:11, songs, etc). My dad and Remy regularly answer me with both. Just yesterday at the service I received a sign that I asked for.

I usually talk to my dad and Remy when I'm in my car. I have their Soulbursts glass hanging from my rearview mirror so I always have a part of them with me. Friday night was no different.

I told my dad to say hi to Dan for me.  I told him that I was going to attend Dan's service the next morning and would love a sign that they are together.

At Saturday's celebration, Dan's daughter was speaking at the podium. Someone's cell phone started ringing.

I looked around to see who it was and saw several people checking the ringers on their phones to make sure it wasn't them.

My eye caught the phone of a woman seated next to me and I saw the time read 11:11 a.m. That was the sign I asked for! That was Dan!!

I showed my friend Sandy the time on my watch. She totally understood what I showed her. Sandy's listened to countless stories of signs from my dad and Remy when we worked together.

My heart was so happy!

Thanks for the sign Dad and Dan! 🧡🧡🧡






Saturday, September 7, 2019

A Recipe and A Sign

My sister B called me today asking if I had a specific recipe our Dad used to make. I looked through my recipe box and was unable to locate it. I remembered that whenever I wanted to make this recipe, I would just call our Dad and ask him how to make it.  I was so sad. One of his signature comfort food recipes and none of us written it down.

Thankfully, I thought to look through this blog index and wouldn't you know...I had written it down and shared it on the blog!

Better yet, our Dad had left a comment. He passed a little over two years ago, and to see this today was such a gift!! #signfromabove



This recipe isn't healthy, but it is delicious!

Super Duper Chicken
4 chicken breasts
1 can cream of chicken (or cream of anything soup)
3/4 soup can of white wine
4 slices Swiss cheese
croutons
slivered almonds (optional)

Grease a 9x13 Pyrex. Place chicken breasts in Pyrex. Put Swiss cheese on top of chicken. Mix soup & wine together. Pour over chicken. Sprinkle croutons & almonds. Bake at 350* for 1 1/4 - 1 1/ hours.

NOTE: I always make my own croutons for this dish. They taste much better! Use lots of butter if you make your own.

Sunday, April 7, 2019

30th Anniversary, Paint Your Pet & Make This!


Three posts in one!


On March 30, we celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary! Yay us!
Friends Tom and Katie were in town. The four of us ate at El Gaucho.
So much food, so much fun!
Fun fact: the four of us are WSU love stories! GO COUGS!


Chocolate crème brulee and bananas foster for dessert

Tom & Katie brought us a beautiful bouquet for our anniversary.

We extended the visit to brunch the next day. The weather was so nice, we spent the entire day outside.

Naseem stopped by for a quick visit between trips. We had always wanted to go to a Paint your Pet night at The Loaded Brush. Lucky for us, one was happening during her visit.
It was worth every penny and did not disappoint. 

You just email photos of your pets, they are pre-sketched and you do the rest.
Sweet Pea!

Look at that face! #Remykins

I really didn't want to paint over the sketch, as I thought it was perfect with just this green background.


The instructors did a great job of capturing Remy's personality.

Artist hard at work!

I asked for help (several times).
The instructor, Nathan, was awesome! He really encouraged us to try our best 
and stepped in when asked and fixed mistakes.


#artists
We loved this class so much, we will definitely do it again!!!!


Nas and I always bake something when she visits. Omid and I are trying to cut down on sweets. I decided we should try to make arepas for breakfast.  They were super easy! We followed the recipe on The Minimalist Baker's website.  I found the arepas flour at Walmart. We doubled the recipe so Matty could have some to take home (they are not only gluten free, but Vegan too).

Just mix warm water, corn flour and salt.  The dough should resemble sugar cookie dough. The dough has to rest for 5 minutes. Pat out into desired sizes.

After pan frying for 3 minutes per side, bake the arepas for 15 minutes (to cook the insides).
We made arepas benedicts. Arepas, pulled pork, avocado, poached egg, lime-cumin crema sauce. They were not only delicious, but so filling too! Make them! You won't be disappointed!

Saturday, February 2, 2019

Dog Songs - Mary Oliver

The Poet Mary Oliver passed away last month (January 17, 2019).

While I didn't read her volumes of poems, I loved lines from many of them.








I was so surprised to find that she had a book of dog poems (35 poems & one essay!). I immediately searched for it and located it at a local library.



Two poems particularly spoke to me: Little Dog's Rhapsody in the Night



and The First Time Percy Came Back.


I especially loved the second one, as it reminded me of Remy. This poem was just validation for me of the blessings I've received. I tried to read it aloud to Omid, but could only get half way through. He read the poem out loud and thought it was pretty great too.


Sunday, January 20, 2019

Hello 2019!

Hello! Its been six months since I've updated this little blog. Is anybody still reading?

Here's what we've been up to:

January 2019:
We visited the Rose City Classic Dog Show. It did not disappoint. We got to see our favorites, the Vizslas (no surprise there!). Remy's breeder wasn't there, but her daughter was. We spent some time chatting with her and it made my heart so happy that she remembered Remy. He left his mark on everyone.

LOVE!

Front row seats for the Vizslas!


Matty turned 23! We hosted a birthday party for him at our house. He is vegan now and has lost about 25 pounds. We had vegan and non-vegan dishes for the guests.
Happy 23rd birthday Matty!!


December 2018:
Naseem was lucky enough to have PDX layovers on both Christmas Day AND NYE! For Christmas, she invited the crew to join her at our house for Christmas dinner. We had a great time and hope the crew did too! We couldn't bear the thought of them having room service for Christmas dinner. Our friends the Kelloggs also joined us. Sadly, we were having so much fun, we only took a few photos.
George (Pilot), friend Margaret, Laura (FA), Matty, Johnny (FA) & Naseem


In December, I also turned the big 5-0! Naseem was able to be in town for that too! Lucky me!!

Omid converted our garage refrigerator into a kegerator! He installed two taps. We've had pFriem IPA, Deschutes Fresh Squeezed, 10 Barrel Apocalypse IPA and Fort George Vortex IPA. So far, pFriem IPA is our favorite!
Come over for fresh beer!!


November 2018
We hosted Thanksgiving dinner. My entire family, plus our friends the Stevens were here. My mom brought her new (to her) toy Poodle. His name is Otis and is super cute. His story: he was found roaming the streets of CA with a Chihuahua.
Matty & Otis


October 2018
I spent a weekend with my sisters in Westport. We visited the town of Seabrook. So very cute! If you haven't been, you should go!



We also skipped the annual WSU pumpkin for Halloween, and carved a Vizsla pumpkin in honor of Remy.


Remy loved Halloween! He always went to the door with us to greet the trick-or-treaters.


September 2018
We travelled to WSU for a football game. This year, Omid and Ward drove over and Lin and I flew (ON THE WSU PLANE!!!!!). That was very cool! We flew into Spokane where Omid and Ward picked us up. We met up with our friend Katie for breakfast, then drove into our favorite town in the state. The Cougs had a GREAT season with Gardner Minshew II as their quarterback and we won the game. I hope to get a selfie with that kid someday!



Pullman has the best sunsets.


The lattes at Zoe Coffeehouse have school spirit!

Victory selfie! GO COUGS!!!!!
#3 for Tyler Hiliski


Over Labor Day Weekend, we travelled to Miami to see Naseem! She lives in a teeny-tiny 350 sq foot apartment that is attached to a house. We had a super fun time and tried to pack in as many adventures as we could.

Nas picked us up from the airport. We took our first ever red eye flight.
I don't think we'll do that again. #sotired

Nas' teeny tiny apartment.

Yummy mojitos on Ocean Drive.

South Beach palm trees


Wynwood

#LOVE

Stone crabs at Monty's
 I really, really wanted to visit Key West since we were so close. We took a day trip there. I loved it & wish that we had spent more time there. It's so cute!
Key West, FL

August 2018
We took our friends Lin & Ward butter clamming near Netarts Or.
We got some really big clams! Its fun and dirty.





July 2018
Matty and I attended an outdoor concert at The Shire in the Gorge. Hunter Noack played the piano. It was very cool. Everyone got headphones. If you wanted, you could wander around the property and listen. If you ever get a chance to see him in concert - DO! We found out about him on OPB's Oregon Art Beat.

Matty and I took a picnic dinner (vegan of course!).
I ate it for Matty's sake, but am happy with my meat & dairy products.
Hunter Noack






I hope you enjoyed reading about what we've been up to! 
I hope to try to get back into the blogging mode again.