lovely

I'm up in the Columbia River Gorge having a fantastic first day off. Drove from Gresham around the back of the mountain (Mt. Hood) and into Hood River. Went to the Gorge White House and picked blueberries and did a yummy wine tasting :D The weather is perfect and splendid and just wow. Yeah, just wow. I'll have to post about the blueberry yumminess i bake when i figure out what i'm gonna do. LOL Now I'm up at my grandparent's house celebrating their 54th wedding anniversary :D I love life right now. Yeah, there is some stuff I'd like to change and certain things I am missing but for the most part my life is pretty damn fantastic!
Tomorrow I'm hoping to go hiking at Triple Falls with my brother Jesse and then hopefully get over to my friend Katie's house to discuss some custom made jewelery. She's the creator of Whimsy. Gorgeous jewelery, wonderful lady. Tomorrow looks like it will be a fantastic day as well1

YUM

Man, seriously am LOVING the raspberries i've been picking at my mother-in-law's house. Made a custard/berry/shortbread cake thing that I'm gearing up to taste in a few minutes, Tim made amazingly yummy raspberry crepes and I have plans to make a lemon/raspberry or lime/ raspberry(haven't decided yet) meringue pie as well as lemon raspberry scones. YUM, YUM, YUM! I really enjoy the lovely fruits of summer :D They make me happy.

Relaxing Raspberry Weekend

Well, had a fabulous two days off from work after a annoying 6 day work week. Course i can't really whine about that too much because i did agree to it...why do i do these things? LOL Anyhoo...spent a really nice evening with my gram and gramps on Tues night. Super yummy dinner, got to see my brother(and meet his new "girl"), got to visit with Charlie and Bree, and got my butt kicked at Progressive Rummy. It was really good to just sit and talk with my gram. Sometimes, you just need to do stuff like that to feel normal ya know? Wednesday I went to the Decorette shop with Tim's mom Miriam, then back to her house to raid her raspberry bushes. Picked over a gallon of raspberries!! YUM Made a delicious almond-raspberry quick bread that night. Didn't get a pic of it, whoops, my bad. So, ya'll just have to use your imagination ;) Today Tim made some amazing raspberry crepes for breakfast, and then I just puttered around the house. Cleaning the kitchen, doing laundry, watering plants and just relaxin watching some TV and playing with the dogs. After doing a little shopping for myself and dinner items(mmm mexican meatloaf, mashed potatoes and swiss chard) I made some triple chocolate raspberry muffins. OMG they are AMAZING!!! Seriously, the capital letters and exclamation don't convey how yummy they are. Basically they're cupcakes without frosting, but calling them muffins makes me feel better about eating them for breakfast as planned ;) LOL and now...here i am typing this up. Life, is pretty darn good.

Bread goodness and good days

Well, today was a pretty good day! Got a good night's sleep so I wasn't a walking zombie today..well, less of a walking zombie at least(thanks to the allergy medicine). Got home and started some bread in the bread machine since i don't have to work until 11 tomorrow :D Making me some "Peasant Bread". I'll have to let everyone know how it turns out. I'm pretty excited about it. Also, I don't have to make dinner. Tim is currently in the kitchen doing that ;) I got myself a good man, let me tell ya! Well, don't really have much on my mind tonight so i suppose I'll leave it at that. Night all!

Blog import

Hey all...just importing a post from a previous blog of mine "Inside the mind of a Starbucks Barista". Even though I no longer work at Starbucks (Thank you GOD!), I still think it's a relevent post, and, if i do say so myself....fairly entertaining. :D Enjoy!




Hello there! So you wanna know what goes on in the mind of a Starbucks barista? Well, I can help fill you in, but beware...it's not all sunshine and flowers behind those smiling faces handing you your coffee. You have been warned!

Ok, first things first. I know that everyone out there is busy, and in a hurry and so on...but what is so hard about giving the person serving you a smile? Seriously? I know I go out of my way to smile at you all when giving you your daily dose of caffeine...whether I feel like it or not. But it makes you feel good doesn't? The friendly smile, the simple "How are you"? Well, it goes both ways people. I hear people complaining all the time about how poor the service was at such and such a place, or how rude the servers where at some restaurant..but we just tend to give back what we get. So the ruder you are, the ruder we usually are. So take a hint, and some advice from someone who knows...Take a second to smile and say "thanks" to the person giving you your coffee(or food, or whatever)...and next time you'll probably get even better service.

Also, please don't try to order your drink while talking on your cell phone. Like driving and talking, it's just not a good idea. Plus, it's rude. Now, I know that I myself have been guilty of doing this and i'm not proud of that, but it really just complicates things. Cause what happens is that you think that you ordered something..but because you are on the phone, your cashier or barista can't verify that it was correct...so you run a high risk of getting the wrong drink. And then you'll complain...which is really not a great idea, when it was your fault in the first place for not paying attention to what you ordered. Plus, complain too many times, and that triple grande latte is gonna be a decaf one. Trust me, don't mess with people who make things you're going to ingest...just not smart. We have our little ways of getting back at people. Remember that. So please, next time you order your morning coffee just finish your conversation first. It will just make everyone's day a little better!
That's all for now...check back for more later. I promise, you may not like everything I say...but you'll probably find it entertaining nonetheless.

Food, sun and scenic views

Blissed out right now. Had an amazing day today let me tell ya. Went over to Vancouver to visit my lovely Ma and took her out to lunch. Went down to Beaches Restaurant and enjoyed a beer and a yummy lunch while enjoying the beautiful weather. That in itself would have been perfect but it got better. Proceeded to go home and water plants, play with the dogs and just enjoy my home. Then, after Tim got home from work we relaxed a bit then Tim had this amazing idea to take a drive. So drive we did! Took a lovely scenic drive up to the Vista House through the back of Gresham while listening to country music and chatting it up. After a couple lovely picture taking moments we headed back down into Troutdale and went to the Troutdale Airport to continue relaxing. Sat and watched planes for a bit (long enough for Tim to smoke a Black & Mild) then picked us up some El Pollo Loco for dinner and headed home. Now, here I am typing this up and contemplating heading to bed on account of the fact that I must get up at 5 am for work. All in all a pretty fabulous day! Here's a couple pictures to accompany this post. Enjoy!

Had a beautiful and fabulous 4th of July up at my Grandparent's house in the Gorge :D The weather was perfect, the food was delicious and the company was fantastic too! My cheesecake and pie went over really well, so well in fact there was none to bring home :D makes me feel really good to make something that other people enjoy so much. Didn't see too much of my brother, as he has other things going on and other stuff to do. But, that's ok. I did get to spend a little time with him so I'll take what I can get :D All in all was just a nice, relaxing day with family and friends.

Happy 4th of July!

Alrighty :D Cheesecake is done, coconut custard pie is done and I'm ready for the 4th! Really looking forward to just enjoying my 3-day weekend and hanging out with family. Have a safe and happy 4th of July everyone!!!

Here are the blackberry cheesecake and coconut custard pie pics I promised :D You may drool now, it's allowed LOL

Beer, cheesecake and the 4th of July

Well folks, it's the 4th of July weekend! Also, it's sunny! How amazing is that?! I'm sorta in awe of how wonderful the weather is being and should continue to be. So, in honor of summer actually being here....I bought beer! :D So very yummy. It's the Kona Brewing Company's Wailua Wheat Summer Ale and its pretty much amazing :D I'm sorta addicted to it...so if you like beer, by all means try this one. Trust me, you won't be sorry.

Also, because it's the 4th of July weekend i'm in the process of baking all sorts of yummy goodness. Currently in the oven.....Blackberry Sour Cream Cheesecake. Yes, it IS as delicious as it sounds ;) I'll be sure to post a picture of it when it's done. Going to be bringing it up to my Gram's house for the 4th of July BBQ/Bonfire/Dessert Extravaganza that we like to have their every year. Will also be making a Coconut Custard Pie to take up as well. That will get done tomorrow and will most certainly post a pic of it as well :D Yes, it is in fact my aim to make you hungry and also a little jealous. Is it working? LOL