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!