Sunday, January 28, 2018

Life in the "Kind of Slow" Lane

For two "Empty Nesters" who claim fairly boring existences, the month of January has just flown by!

On January 9th Darryl and his crew inflated the first dome for the Yamhill/Carlton schools. This is the Career, Trades and Education Dome

It had rained for a week and they had been continually pumping water off of the air form, but as you can see, there was still a little water on it when they inflated. Made for a fun show.

I had my last check-up with my Foot and Ankle Dr. and he declared me good as new and I was able to resume all my activities. I celebrated by walking just over a mile in the rain!

I decided to try my had at painting people.

I am going to need a lot more practice, but it was a fun experiment.

We celebrated Shiloh's birthday on January 13th by taking the train into Portland and exploring the town. We found Chinatown. 


And VooDoo Donuts!

We visited Powells Books and then PORTLAND OUTDOOR, 
Probably the oldest Outdoor Store still operating this part of the country. 
Darryl found some beautiful wool vests and coats.

I loved all of the Pendleton Wool Sweaters, skirts and slacks. I miss going to western stores and farm stores. I do love that rugged, warm feeling of what it takes to survive in the great outdoors surrounding me.


On January 15th, Coming back from work one afternoon, I was able to get a good look at Mount Hood. It's a little shy this time of year as it spends most every day shrouded in clouds.

January is usually known as a month of beginnings, but for me it had some significant finishes. The most significant was that I finished reading the Old Testament in Chronological Order. I had started in January of 2016 on a 1 year reading plan, but it was sidetracked after J.J.'s accident, and several other family interruptions.
 I picked it back up again reading every week, sometimes daily, sometimes only a couple times a week, but on January 16th, after 2 years and 16 days, I have finished. I learned so much and I will continue my study of this wondrous and inspiring book of scripture.

I also took a watercolor painting class at an art studio in Portland. I have never painted with Watercolors before and I really enjoyed it! 

Everything was done in stages and I was amazed at how much water we used on the paper.



It was a fun time and I made some new friends. I will definitely be going back.

We sure enjoy feeding the missionaries and having them in our home. They bless us in so many ways. Elder Blackmer has been transferred to his last area somewhere in Portland. He was a joy and a good servant of the Lord.

Also in January I learned to make yogurt in my Instant pot, and I now make 1/2 gallon of yogurt once a week. I figure this saves me about $20 or so a week. (I was buying the all natural, no Preservative, no sugar yogurt, so it was expensive.) 

Here in Hillsboro we live across the street from the Regal 13 movie theaters. Sometimes you just need to get out and go on a girl date with a friend.  Robyn and I can highly recommend "The Greatest Showman"! It was worth the ticket price.

I am learning how to use my Instant Pot to make delicious meals. Cami gave me her recipe for this delicious Chicken Tangine recipe, and I have made chili in just over an hour even though the meat was frozen solid. I love this thing!

We go out to eat about once a week. This week we had Thai Food, and for dessert we had "Bananas on the the Beach!" Bananas deep fried in Won Ton wraps and served with ice cream and a mint sprig! YUMMY!

It's now the last Sunday of the month. Where did the time go?

We haven't changed much, we keep thinking of  you all and missing our kids and looking forward to what February will bring. 
See you soon!

Thursday, January 4, 2018

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2018

Depending on our location and the proximity of family or friends, New Years Eve is one of those holidays that you either go all out celebrating or you sit quietly at home, reflecting on the past year and the joys, sorrows, laughter or trials it brought to you and humbly thank God that you were so very blessed to be a part of it. 
I ended the year of 2017 by getting a "New Do" on Saturday night.

Darryl ended 2017 by wearing one of his favorite ties to Church.

December 31, 2017 was a quiet Sunday evening for us. We read a little, watched a movie, and laughed at videos on our phones at the fun our children and grandchildren were having ringing in the New Year! I tried to stay awake but succumbed to sleep about 10:30 p.m. At the stroke of midnight Darryl came in to wish me a Happy New Year with a kiss and a glass of Sparkling cider and wishes for a wonderful 2018! 


New Years Day
January 1, 2018
A brand new year with brand new goals and adventures to look forward too.
Although much of the nation was in the single digits due to an arctic cold snap, here in Hillsboro, Oregon we were fairly warm at 27° F. and it warmed up into the 50°s. I woke up at 6:00 and started on my day. I fixed our "semi-traditional, almost legendary" breakfast of sausage, black eyed peas and cooked cabbage, all symbols of good luck, good health and prosperity for the New Year (not that I believe in it, but it's a fun tradition). I do throw in scrambled eggs so it resembles a breakfast. Then we packed some blankets and a picnic lunch and headed to Tillamook, Oregon.


As we drove through the Tillamook State Forest we had to stop and take pictures of the glorious trees wearing their beautiful coats of green moss.





It is such a mystical and otherworldly feeling when you see this forest with almost every tree trunk, branch, twig or sapling covered in a soft blanket of green. It's so quiet that it evokes a feeling of reverence. 


The feathery ferns grow right out of the moss on the trees and all over the ground.









This large fern leaf was nearly 4ft. tall as it snaked its way up the trunk of the tree.





As we left the sun came up over the neighboring mountain and peeked through the trees..


Darryl said he liked these pictures because they looked like my "Spring" painting. I liked it because it reminds me of this beautiful and glorious world God has given us to inhabit and take care of.




The highway through the forest.

 Our first selfie pictures of 2018!

Tillamook, Oregon is known for their cows and their cheese and ice cream. So much so that they had to build a visitor's center to accommodate all of their fans.



Darryl checking out the cheese samples. The answer to the question you are thinking is YES, We sampled them all.


We headed south out of Tillamook stopping to look out over the Pacific Ocean at the Winema Wayfinding Point just outside of Neskowin, Oregon.






From there we drove into Neskowin and walked to the beach for a picnic. There was a specific reason we did this.

New Years Day of both 2016 and 2017 found us on the Atlantic coast of Key West Florida.

What better way to ring in this New Year than going to the beach and seeing the ocean 3503 miles away on the opposite side of the nation.



As the sun crept across the sky we thought about all the blessing and adventures of the past year ....

And we look forward to all our Heavenly Father has in store for us in this New Year of 2018.

Sparkling Cider, the beach and the one I love. 
What a perfect way to start this year.
In 2018 - 
May God's blessings on you be many, may you be surrounded by family, delight in good health and have all that you need.