Lunch Date with a Dear Friend

This afternoon I drove down south a little ways to have lunch at Applebees (our usual spot) with my dear friend, Andrea, from college. We used to meet every month for lunch, but unfortunately haven't been able to be as consistent in the last year or so. I am thankful for any time that we get together especially since they are far and few between these days. Andrea and I had quite a bit to catch up on to say the least! We had so much fun talking and venting about various struggles in the past few months. I'm so glad that Andrea is one of my "bookmark friends" -- you can go for long periods without seeing each other but it is like nothing has changed. Thank you Andrea for being such a wonderful friend! Can't wait to see you again! (also -- I do hope the waitress won't spill dressing on me next time -- crossing my fingers it comes out of my blazer that I haven't ever washed before. What an afternoon!)

The road getting to Applebees was interesting! I got stuck behind a caravan of 6 large tractors moving at snail's pace.  There aren't many places to pass on part of this drive so I just had to deal with it. This is what I get for taking the backroads during the beginning of harvest season! Oh well! On the plus side I got to enjoy the scenery and listen to some good tunes. 

I couldn't pass up the Apple Pie on the dessert menu. Couldn't finish it though -- very sweet.

On the drive back...  The Willamette Valley is beautiful!

So pretty! Also confirms an odd occurrence while driving. See that  SUV (it has a U of O sticker on it)? At one point it turned off near an orchard then I was able to go a bit faster. I happily jugged along with no one in my way and then I caught up with a car.... pretty much the same darn car with the same darn sticker. I am SURE it was a different driver but it made me question my conscious brain. haha Strange coincidence!

Good friends help us to learn how to be like this... :) As always, good advice from Yogi Tea!

Happy Wednesday folks! (go figure it is Wednesday with some Wackiness)

Another Good Day

This has been a wonderful weekend! I have enjoyed spending time outside, having my brother-in-law home (he's in the Army), eating good food, and also being productive. I'm loving these fair weather Spring days!

Finally, vacuumed and wiped the insides of my car! She looks like a beauty now :)

Weeded for a little while today after cleaning my car. Got two buckets full! That makes 6 for this weekend! The yard is looking much better but we have a ways to go.

Weeding = Instant Gratification ... A little way to add value to life. Felt so good to be smelling the dirt, hearing the funny sounds of people outside, sun beating on me, cool breeze... very satisfying.

Cheese Puff was very funny this afternoon! He looked so cute wherever he chose to snooze. I call him "Resourceful Cheese" in this picture with the wood block. He loves having a place to rest his head!

Also, finally planted my Cat Chia Grass (my first Chia Pet LOL- it was a Christmas gift). Hoping this will bring some joy to my indoor kitty. She has been going crazy having the windows open, sensory overload this weekend. haha Will be fun to watch these seeds grow!

Here's to a good week!!

FPC, Day 26: Night

February Photo Challenge

Day 26

"Night"

I wasn't sure what to do about the picture for today but then the thought came to me as I was watching the Oscars. Why not take a picture of my bed? It's something I look forward to pretty much every night.

Sunday has been a good one:

-- Slept in late around 9:30AM, snuggled up with my big Cheese Puff

-- Attempted to make waffles but they turned out so-so. Need to get a good recipe for ones made from scratch. Think I'll see if I can buy a mix from Bob's Red Mill.

-- Did a little cleaning to prepare for a fun visit from one of my dear cousins :)

-- Enjoyed chatting with my cousin for awhile and relaxing

-- Had some lunch, took a shower (yes moved super slow today, didn't get in the shower until about 2:30PM!)

-- Went off to the library to meet up with B and get some class work done

--Finished an assignment and got home around 6PM

-- Had dinner and watched the Oscars with Mom, Sarah and Coco Chanel on my lap

-- Watched an episode of "The Bob Newhart Show"

-- Took my picture for the day

-- And now I am about to brush my teeth and head to bed :)

Hope that you have all had a wonderful Sunday!!! Here's to hoping the week is one with lil joys!

Snowy Sunday in Pictures

Today has been a very low-key kind of day. Just what I needed as I am still not totally well yet (and you are fine in asking me why I am still up! haha I tend to stay up later than I should...). We did get some snow showers; they were more like squalls. Snow, then sun break, snow then sun break. This quite typical mild Winter weather in the PNW until you finally get the right combo that makes it snow for hours... I hope we get one of those good storms sometime this year!

I am quite pleased that we got some of that "white stuff." At one point we got a decent burst of snow which lasted probably 45 minutes from start to finish (as in melt rapidly!). I took advantage of the beauty and snapped several pictures. I'll share some with you...

Beginning of the short snow "storm" haha And not my greatest picture but hey it's lazy Sunday and I'm sick ;-)

If you look closely (might have to click on the pic), you can see geese flying overhead :)

Towards the end... the only time when I don't like to see sunshine and blue skies appearing!

If only my camera could capture what I saw through my eyes--  the snow melting created large drops of water on the branches and they glistened in the sunshine. They looked so pretty as they fell fast to the ground. Just one of Nature's many treasures :)

Good night!!

TGIF!

Sunrise was pretty this morning- I did a lil Instagramming :)

I can't tell you how glad I am that it is Friday. This has been a crazy, long week and the last two days of it were not that great. I started my reading practicum on Monday, which has turned out better than I expected. The challenging part of the week that I am referring to was the sub job I had on Thursday (subbed in a 3rd/4th grade split in the morning and then a 1st grade in the PM- it was an "off" day at the school and I didn't feel good) and then today. After two days of battling a headache, I woke up this morning with sore tonsils and a runny nose. Oh, kids, they are lil germies!

Anyway, here is how I spent my Friday evening... I was curled up in the green chair with a blanket and didn't do a whole lot. I suppose I should have eaten Chicken Noodle soup, but heck, it's Friday night.... I earned the splurging ;-)

Thankful for this 3-day weekend! There is talk of snow in our area but I am highly skeptical. Whenever the newscasters yak about snow it usually ends up being a bunch of rain. I am hoping though!

Welcome, Fall!

"Autumn, the year's last, loveliest smile." -- William Cullen Bryant

Today is the First Day of Fall... It has been a grand one too! We have been blessed with a warm 80 degree day, full of sunshine.

Here is what happened around home today...

Mom left for a work-related trip to Singapore - I don't have any pictures but that took up most of the morning.



In the afternoon, Sarah, the cats, and I lazed around. Coco ran window to window spying on squirrels, birds and sometimes Cheese Puff. While I relaxed on the couch, she came to visit and take a breather. She was kind enough to smile for the camera. Such a diva!

Unfortunately, I am sick (again! Erg!) but with more symptoms this time. I was able to scare off my cold a week or two ago and hardly noticed it. Today I am quite stuffy and runny and have a slightly scratchy throat. Hoping Cold Eeze will reduce the gunk. It did the trick last time. I love natural remedies.

Sarah and I watched some "Friends" episodes while we relaxed. This show always makes me laugh! haha We watched a few from Season 2. I love it when Chandler tells Joey, "You have to stop the Q-tip when there's resistance!"

Some of us spent the whole day wandering in the yard and lounging. This is where I found Cheese Puff in the evening. Now that is one happy smiling boy! He is so much like me, he needs the sunshine as much as possible (preferably every day!).

Our fun outdoor decorations blew gently in the breeze :)

This is something I probably won't see too much in the next few days (or who knows how long! Ahhh!). Fall is going to be showing its naughty attitude soon... yes the 'r' word is going to happen. By the 'r' word I mean liquid sunshine... Sigh. Such is life in the PNW!

The day ended with having dinner with B. We got to sit outside and enjoy our meal as the sun slid down the sky... very relaxing. Now I am home hearing the football game going on! GO WARRIORS!

Hope you had a great First Day of Fall too! What did you do?!

Lovely Beach-y Weekend (2)

As promised, here are the other days of the time I spent at the beach. It was so hard to leave on Monday!

Sunday, July 3rd:

We heard about this great pharmacy in a small town (with a soda fountain) only 2 miles away. This was some of the countryside on the way there-- it always reminds me of pictures of Europe. Sadly- when we arrived in the lil town we realized the pharmacy is closed. They take Sundays very seriously in that town- not a soul was out. haha

Mom & I took a walk on the beach (different part of it) in the afternoon. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and was in awe of the beauty. Ya know, I just can't get enough of that seafoamy green- you see it when the waves crash over.... 

I put my feet in the super cold water! On the far left you can see I'm going "AHHH!" Yeah, I couldn't feel the bottoms of my feet for quite awhile. No joke either! I loved it and did put them in several times after these were taken. The ocean says "come to me, come to me...". I swear, it does. ;-)

I love the lacey edges of the waves as they spread out thinly....

Someone had quite the time building this sand castle. They were quite serious about it too, moat and all.

The day ended with a spectacular sunset... I took about 60 pictures ;-)

There's nothing like the colors in nature. Wow

Monday, July 4th:

On Monday, Mom & I headed home. Granny stayed with an aunt and cousin for the next few days.  Anyway, this is a picture of the flags on the bridge in town. 

We had to stop in this town of Sheridan (which we say with a long rolling 'r' because of the show  "Keeping Up Appearances") to get DQ. I had a Vanilla Carmel milkshake. Ooo yum. So unhealthy but so good!

Hope all of you had a wonderful, safe and happy 4th of July weekend! :) I'm thankful this year's 4th was much better- I can't believe it has been a year since we put down our cat Chatty. Crazy how time flies. 

Ah... so much to remember, and in all of that there is so much to be thankful for....

Lovely Beach-y Weekend (1)

I love how it is now Friday and I'm finally getting to write this blog post- seems like as soon as Tuesday arrived the week came in full force. I've been very busy with my school work trying to get as much done as I can. However, I didn't turn on my computer at all yesterday because I was giving my room a major overhaul (yes this will be discussed in another post!).

With that said... I am going to share my lovely beach weekend with Granny and Mom. You'll learn about it through a [unedited] picture walk!

Friday, July 1st:

Mom & I left on Friday on a beautiful Friday afternoon. On the way, we got a great view of  Mt. Hood.

Took a quick visit to the beach in the evening.

Granny got to walk on the sand for the first time since her fall (s)! She got along fine with her cane and the help of  Mom's (broken wrist) arm. 

Saturday, July 2nd:

In the afternoon we checked out a trendy gifty shop in town (never a trip to the beach w/o going there it seems!). I have been craving citrus-y fruity smells lately... and I came upon this. Candle? $31.95. :( It was also eco friendly and amazingly good smelling.... so sad.

And then I came upon this line (by Thyme)... Loved the lotion.  $18.95. Did I mention this store is a lil spendy? 

And then I saw this. Be still. My Heart. GRAPEFRUIT! Let me tell you, I love this smell! I don't like eating grapefruits but their scent is heavenly. Unfortunately, this too was expensive. *sigh*

Later in the day we sat on the deck and I admired Granny's hands.  Imagine all the work they've accomplished in 99, soon to be 100 years...

At night we watched the city's big firework show from the beach house (love our view!).

Since this post is quite long I will continue in another one... :)