We had a busy October and I have fallen behind once again. I've been trying to be a better housekeeper. I do well for a time and then I slack off and I'm trying not to slack off anymore.

The weather is turning cooler but the sun arrives each morning and it does get a little warm in the house, still. However, this last week we have enjoyed our pellet stove in the evening. Gus seems to be enjoying it too. He just plops right down on his bed and falls asleep as the warm air blows down on him. He is not a fan of the cold-my little sun worshipper. In the mronings he finds a little patch of sun that is streaming through a window and just lays there.

We went to the pumpkin patch last month, but because of the storm we had the week before we did not get to enjoy the fun of the corn maze. It was more than a disappointment. It was a short trip. We went in, picked our pumpkins, paid for them and were gone.

We had the Dane Cook show on the 24th with Robert Kelly opening. Robert was hilarious! Dane was good too, but this particular show isn't my favorite one. There are just too much sex commentary and I didn't find it all that funny. Luckily there is stuff in the show that is not on the album and it made it better. Before the show, there were people going around exchaning regular tickets for front row tickets-a couple was chosen directly behind us. It was kind of a bummer. When Dane came out, he took off his hoodie and through it into the crowd. At the end, he left the arena and came back out about 5 minutes later for another 20 minutes. It was a good show-traffic sucked getting out, though. Jarom and I picked out a beenie for Jenna, Jarom got a long sleeved shirt and I got a sweatshirt.

My Dad and Mom were in Santa Cruz this same weekend for a wedding. I decided to drive down Sunday morning for a short visit and stayed until Monday afternoon when they left for the airport. It was a nice little visit.

The following and last weekend was Halloween and we were back to Santa Cruz. I had a blast. Uncle Dustin and Aunt Tracy's house looked great for the party in daylight and even better at dark. I made a taffy apple salad that tasted like a candied apple, but not much was eaten. I think a lot of people thought it was potato salad-I had a feeling I should have had a little sign telling people what it was. I also make Yummy Mummy Calzones-one veggie and one with turkey pepperoni-they were devoured. Both recipes came out of a Halloween cookbook I have that I have misplaced somewhere-I wanted to put the recipes on my food blog and make the apple salad for Thanksgiving, too.

Coley and Victor were Mario and Luigi. Aunt Teresa and Uncle Paylor were Vikings. Uncel Dustin and Aunt Tracy were a dead bride and groom. Jenna a Pirate, Jarom was Casanove and I was the crazy cat lady. In the costume contest, Coley won third place, Aunt Tracy 2nd and Uncle Paylor 3rd.

Last weekend, Jarom and I moved Jenna back to Prineville. We left Friday morning. I didn't sleep at all Thursday. I was up cleaning and then cooking dinner and baking cookies. I made Oatmeal Cranberry, Chocolate Chip and Iced Pumpkin. I packed up some for us to snack on on the ride as well as a couple containers for the family. We left as 6am and rolled into town just after 2:30pm. There weren't any plans for the weekend so it was nice and relaxing...well until we tried to come home Sunday.

We had a nice little breakfast Sunday and then packed up the truck before heading out. We got to Powell Butte and before I knew it we were pulled over and Jarom was disappearing behind the truck. I went to check on his and the poor guy was tossin' his cookies...so we turned around and went back. He was still tired and not feeling too good but we left Monday, anyway.

We his snow in Bend and it was present all the way to the border. Since I was driving, I was a bit nervous. Having a new truck, I didn't know how it handled in the snow and learning how to use the four wheel drive. It isn't exactly my little all-wheel drive Subaru. All was fine, but it was a long drive.

This week, we have just been trying to get well after this little flu bug. This weekend has been very lowkey and relaxing.

This past weekend we went to Watsonville to visit my aunt and uncle. It was nice, relaxing weekend. We visited for a short while after we got there around 9pm. It shouldn't have taken so long to get there, but we stopped at Casa De Fruta. Jarom wanted some garlic pickles and I got some yummy pistachios and a variety of flavors and some salt water taffy. Then we were stuck in traffic because someone's car caught fire-it was totally gone. I just hope nobody was hurt.

Saturday and Sunday we pretty much just visited, played games and watched movies. Monday we went out to Salinas to the Harley store so Uncle Paylor could look at the bike he wants and get teh 2010 catalog, but they are closed every Monday. Since, we were closy we stopped at the mall to walk around and have lunch. Then it was time to load up the truck and the dogs and head home. We came home to a few presents on our bed-Minnie had pooped and peed on our bed.

I tried to make her an outdoor cat, but she was always quicker than me and ran in before I could get the door closed. Well, then she decided to pee on the couch again and I just had had it last night. I had to chase all over the house and finally had her cornered in Jenna's room which I then put her in the cat carrier for Jarom to surrender her to the SPCA. It has been really hard on me. I feel so heartless, but I've tried everything to break her from the bad habit and nothing has worked. I hope that she can find a new home though and stop her bad habits. I think maybe she needs to be the only kitty in a home.

Monday night brought a big storm that continued into Tuesday. I loved listening to the rain and wind but the storm created quite a mess all around. A tree across the street split into fourths and one of the windows in the kitchen we had fixed last year leaked like a sieve. I had to keep swapping towels out until the rain stopped later in the evening.

Today, I'm just trying to recap on the first section of my CBEST study book and trying not to think of Minnie too much because it just makes me sad.

This past weekend was a busy one. It all started out with me not really sleeping Friday and I was really kind of on edge because I knew we'd have a long day at the High Tech and I didn't want to be dragging all day. Luckily for Jarom and everyone else involved, I kept busy the entire time and didn't have a chance to slow down get real tired.

There was a big conference at the High Tech for family services of the Army and the High Tech was asked to thinka bout providing lunch and coffee for all the attendees. At last year's conference there wasn't coffee, snacks or lunch option. I did the leg work on what brands and prices and figuring out if it would be a feasible project. We talked about serving, hambrugers and hot dogs with chips, cookies and a soda/water, in addition to coffee. By the time the weekend arrived for the conference, they added baked beans, donuts in the morning and candy bars for snacks and the hot dogs were 10" polish dogs. Friday night, Jarom and I cut up tomato and onion for the burgers and chopped onion for the hot dogs. We were at the high tech by 8am and I prepped the lettuce by washing and breaking it down into burger size pieces. Jarom was all about doing this and that, while George and Paul went out to pick up ice for the drinks and Dale ran the breakfast concessions table. I had about 30 minutes of free time at one point but I was quickly back to work getting everything ready and setting up the food table for lunch. We ran two lines, one from each side with Dale and Cindy's dad, Gene taking the money. Cynthia kept the lines going by dishing up the hamburger patties and hot dogs and I was running back forth replenishing the buns and condiments. By the time I finished replenishing both sides, it was time to start the process all over again. Jarom, Paul and George ran the barbeques and running the meat back in.

Lunch was busy but everyone was grateful and kept telling us thank you and what a wonderful job we did. All of us were just getting things cleaned and wrapped up when they main speaker called us all back out to thank you. I was kind of embarrassed, I don't like being put on the spot, even if I am with a group of people. But, we received quite a big standing ovation and it was nice to know that our hard work was appreciated. We got a free lunch out of it and after everything was paid off the High Tech made almost $400. I think Jarom and I finally left around 1:30pm.

We got home and showered and then Jenna and I met Leanne and the kids at Kohl's to take advantage of the big sale and Jenna's associate discount. Leanne was so excited. She loves Kohl's! All I found was one shirt but I had a limit of $100 and Jarom needed a new pair of khakis, underwear and a few shirts. I obught exactly what he asked for, sizes and everything and I heard was the shirt is long sleeve, the pants are too long, the underwear are boxers. I just felt like I was taking one blow after another and that he wasn't grateful that I even looked for him. Leanned got quite a few really cute things and she didn't even spend $80. Everything she found was on clearance in addition to the sales and Jenna's discount. Jenna found some things too. Oh, I found a frame for my Ansel Adams photo that I've had since last Christmas and still hadn't framed. Jaorm and Jenna left right away to go back to Kohl's and exchange everything but the shirt. He thought he'd make it up to me by buying me some new Pyrex, which is nice. Dont' get me wrong, it was anice gesture, but I think I would have rather had the money to go somewhere else to look for new shirts like Target. However, I have put that new Pyrex-ware to good use since I got it on Saturday.

On Sunday, we were kind of lazy. We didn't do much, but I was still really tired as I didn't really sleep again Saturday night. I was going on 48+ hours of now sleep. Jarom worked on reorganizing all my kitchen cabinets. I made sirloin steak with Moroccan onions and after getting all cleaned up I headed out to the grocery store. It's always easier to go really early in the morning or late at night. I don't have to deal with the crowds that way and I don't feel rushed to find exactly what I want.

We dont' have much planned this weekend, but I think we should do something like bowling or Apple Hill, something. I guess we'll just have to wait and see how the week goes and what the weekend brings.

We haven't been up to too much but hanging out and I have been cooking and baking a lot. I have always enjoyed cooking and baking since a young age, but I am rediscovering since my depression. I'm not afraid to try new things, so I have been cooking a lot of different things-recipes that I find in my magazines (Everyday Food, Martha Stewart Living, Real Simple and Cooking Pleasures).

Since I started my food/recipe blog in July, I have been keeping it up with all the new and what I think are exciting recipes that I fix for my family...and neighbors on occasion. I haven't been so good about taking pictures in the last few weeks of everything but that is because I carry the camera to and fro so it isn't always there when I need it.

Last Thursday, Jarom and I went to the visit the Roseville Auto Mall, leaving at 5pm not ot return until after 10pm. We ended up looking at some full-size trucks and test driving a couple Dodges. We came home with a Dodge Ram 1500 4x4 truck almost fully-loaded with the off-road package. It is new used, a 2003. There wasn't much there to look at in any of the dealerships that were four wheel drive. Most everything was two wheel drive, but this is a very nice looking truck with low miles. It is a beautiful blue color. Finally, after almost of 11 years we have graduated from little pick-ups to a big boy pick-up. The room is nice since we got the crew cab. We will have to get some running boards. The exhaust is starting to rust so we have to think about doing that at some point, but considering the price, I'm fine with that. We got this truck for a little more than what we paid for the S-10 six years ago.

Jarom's New Toy


This afternoon, we hung out with the neighbors and I played with Madison and Trenton. Tranton kept running down the driveway wanting to go into the street so we turned it into a game running on opposite ends of the truck. When he'd get near the end he'd see me and just laugh. It was a workout but a lot of fun. At one point I was istting on the ground and Miss Madison came running up and jumped on me. SHe caught me off guard and I fell all the way backward. I thought I'd cuaght myself and then my wrist gave out and I want all the way back. I just had to laugh, but I'm paying for it a bit this evening with a bit of a stiff back. Jarom cut up some watermelon and borugh it out. Trenton was in heaven with it and got upset when the leftover rind was taken away from him. When he opened his eyes he saw that there was another piece there waiting for him and he was happy again.

I had a nice time making dinner because Jarom helped me. I had him fry up the left over potatoes from Saturday's Fish & Chips dinner while I put together the Zucchini Ribbon Pasta and prepared the pork for the BBQ. After the potatoes were done, Jarom put the pork on the grill. He helped me clean up after dinner too and then he got the dry ingredients mixed together in a bowl for my Banana Trail Mix muffins.

Front End


Passenger Side


Driver's Side

I can't believe it's been almost two months since my last entry. We haven't been all that busy, but I somehow haven't found the time to update everyone. Summer is almost over, but I'm quite positive that our very warm summer weather will be sticking around for awhile. We just can't seem to get out of the 90's and 100's. It is just awful miserable.

We started August off with a beautiful wedding. Aunt Tracy and Uncle Dustin were married on August 8th in their backyard and it was just beautiful. I still can't believe they got everyone back there but they did and it was comfortable. It was nice to have a mini family reunion, too. Aunt Tracy look so pretty in her wedding dress as did Aunt Teresa and Coley in their bridesmaid dresses. The food was absolutley delicious-kahlua pork, rice, salads, rolls, chicken skewers, and so much more that I can't even remember. They have four different cakes for thier wedding cake-chocolate chocolate, cheesecake, carrot cake and I think the other was lemon, I can't remember.

My gift and Jarom's as well as Tiff & Steve's gift to them is going to be a quilt when I get it finished. It is going to be pretty big-bigger than anything that I have ever made. I picked up some white 100% cotton fabric and cut them into squares. I cut 60 squares, so I'd have enough for everyone. I picked up some oil pastels and at the wedding went from table to table telling everyone what I was doing and asked them to help me out. Each person or couple, however they wanted to do it, designed a square to add to the quilt. I have 43 squares, all designed by wedding guests with messages, pictures whatever they felt inspired to do. Since it is an uneven number and some are only half the square, I'm going to pick a few pictures from the wedding that family took and print them on fabric to include in the quilt. I have quite a variety of fabric quarters in design and color that I am incorporating into the quilt along with some tropical/Hawaiian fabrics (the groom and groomsmen wor Hawaiian shirt with khakis). I'm really excited about it. I can't wait until it is done. I'm trying to remember to take pictures as I go too. Once all the squares are sewn together, I will go pick out a fabric for the packing. I think I'm sold on this pale yellow with little hearts on it, but we will see.

In case your wondering, to get the oil pastels to set without rubbing or washing out-you place a piece of regular white paper over the top of the fabric that is drawn on. Set your iron on the cotton setting, no steam and place it on top of the paper. Hold it there for about 10 seconds, pick up the iron and move to the next spot until you covered the entire drawn image. Be careful not to glide the iron over the paper, this can smudge the unset pastel image. Yes, after the wedding, we went back to our hotel room and ironed each square. I didn't want to risk them being smudged and ruined on the way home.

The week after the wedding I fixed a week's worth of meals for us and our neighbors. Leanne, had to have an emergency hysterectomy for possible cervical cancer and I really wanted to do something. Something that would help them out and take a little stress off them. She had the procedure Friday afternoon and was back to work on Monday, she was even doing a light workout at the gym, but despite all that I still wanted to help out. I did a Greek night complete with gyros, tahziki, karbohnahrah and pohtahtas; chicken rolls another night, citrus pork chops, mini Guam feast and oh, I can't remember the other one. I even did desserts-glazed tropical fruit salad, pineapple-cranberry minis, individual baked alaskas, chocolate malt shoppe ice cream pie and chocolate cherry cheesecake. I just love cooking and now that there is more than just me and Jarom, it doesn't go to waste and Wallace said that he would never refuse a meal.

Since then, we have been doing some cleaning and more cooking of course. I'm not afraid to try anything. Last week, I had a bit of a rough week. I was so tired and spent most of the week in bed. I don't know if it was allergies or a sinus infection trying to latch on but all the rest helped me kick its rear. :o) I did some research for Jarom as far as pricing items and whether or not it would be worth the money and time to run a snack shack on 9/26 for a conference being held at the high tech. It would be well worth it and they are expecting about 160 people, so we are doing coffee in the morning and a lunch plate in the afternoon. I said I would help and if Jenna doesn't have to work we are going to try to recruit her. We are going to BBQ hot dogs and hamburger and included with the plate will be chipc, cookies and a soda. It took some time to track down everything and them I had to list the price and quantity in everything and piece price everything and figure out what the plates would cost us to put together and discuss a price to charge. At $3 a plate they would make their money back plus another $1.50.

This weekend, we don't have plans but I might help our Wallace and Leanne by watching Madison and Trenton for awhile. I'm excited to spend time with the kids. They are so cute!

Last weekend, Jarom and Jenna went to a double feature and the drive-in. They saw Funny People and Inglorious Bastards. I didn't want to see Funny People and it's a good thing. Jarom said it was pretty lame and he wasn't very impressed with Inglorious Bastards. Sunday evening, after dinner, the three of us had a game night with Scattergories and Cribbage. Last night, we got in some exercise with some bowling. At the end of October, we are going to go see Dane Cook live at Arco Arena. I'm really excited for that. I've been wanting to see him for a few years now.

It sure seems like we have been really busy and up to stuff, but we really haven't. The dogs are good and just thier fun selves. Hope and Minnie play a lot. Minnie has rediscovered one of her toys-the circle with the ball in the middle. She plays with it a little during the day and most of the evening if her and Hope aren't chasing each other.

I do hope everyone has had a great summer and Happy New School Year!

I was so excited to go to Watsonville for the weekend to celebrate Uncle Paylor's and Coley's birthdays, but I went alone. Jarom went camping; a trip he has had planned for months and Jenna had to work so she had to stay behind. Although I was alone, I had a great time as I always do.

I left at 3pm Friday afternoon and what should have taken no more than two and a half hours took me almost four to get where I was going. Once, I could get off 805, I headed through Gilroy to bypass all the traffic. Poor Uncle Paylor was starving by the time I got there after 6:30pm. I didn't mean for them to hold dinner for me, but they did and we had grilled chicken and green salad. We watched Ghost Whisperer and then Knowing, before we all turned in for the night.

All the festivities started around 3pm. We had chips and dips plus fruit and chocolate fondue as snackies before dinner. Fondue is definitely something I need to do sometime. We had dinner about 6pm and we had salad, veggie kebabs, teriyaki skirt steak and potato salad. Dessert was delicious...there were 3! Chocolate swirl cheesecake, carrot cake and chocolate chocolate cake were present and accounted for. So yummy!



We visited around our little bon fire until about 11pm before everyone started to head home. There was a lot of laughing and it was just an all around great time.







I left Sunday around 3pm to head back home and traffic was slow on 17 until I got to 205, so it was about 6pm before I got home. I was run off the road passing throuhg Stockton. The guy didn't signal or look, he just started coming over. I was lucky that there wasn't a lane or guard rail on my left side or I'd have been toast. It was really freaky.

I got home to a quiet house; both Jarom and Jenna were both sleeping, so i put my stuff away and came down stairs to catch up on the shows that I missed.

It was a nice weekend and I had fun.

Friday afternoon, Jenna and I drove up to Oregon for a quick weekend trip. Jenna had a wedding and since she didn't have to work wanted to attend. I made a promise to my mother-in-law that I would make sure she got up there safely. After dropping Jenna off in Prineville I continued on to Troutdale to my parents' home.

Saturday while Jenna attended her wedding in Prineville, I was helping and showing my mom how to use her Cricket machine. We had fun playing with the different settings and now I'm completely sold on having one, the one that will cut fabric so that I can applique items onto quilt and pillows, etc. I was able to see my Aunt Stephanie, who I haven't seen for about 4 or 5 years. It was just a quiet and relaxed weekend for me, until Sunday morning when I left to drive back over the Mt. Hood to Prineville to get Jenna. We left Prineville around noon and hit the border about 4pm where we learned that they just closed Hwy. 97, 5 miles south of Macdoel because of a fire. Jenna and I had been watching the fire grow as we got closer. We drove down to the where they were turning people around and told we could wait it out, but we decided to go back across the border to hit the Lake of the Woods Hwy which eventually leads to Hwy. 160. Hwy 160 connected us to Hwy. 62 into Medford and from there we were able to hit I-5. It added four hours to our drive and we didn't get in until 11:30pm, but it was beautiful and an adventure. We noticed as we drove back over the border that you could see the fire from I-5 and it was even bigger. We even saw the copter that was dumping water come back for a refill. He are a couple pictures I took just after we were turned around:





It turns out that, I was glad we didn't wait it out. Jarom came home from work Monday and told me that the highway still shut down.

Monday was Jenna's 19th birthday and she had a couple friends over to swim in the pool and have some cake and ice cream cake. Yes, there were two cakes. I made her favorite rainbow chip cake with rainbow chip frosting, plus we picked up a chocolate fudge crunch ice cream cake from Baskin & Robbins. I didn't do a very good job, but I managed to write "Happy Birthday Jenna" on the ice cream cake.

Next month, we are going to treat her for her birthday, a little late, but just coming back from a trip to Oregon we needed to wait. Next month, we have it planned to go out to Roseville to Golfland Sunsplash for a round of evening miniature golf at 5pm and the enjoy a night slide that starts at 7pm.

Ice Cream Cake with Colored Flame candles and a Singing Candle








This weekend, I'm headed down to Watsonville to celebrate some more family July birthday while Jarom goes camping with some friends up at Meadow Lake. Jenna wanted to go to Watsonville with me but she has to work this weekend, so she has to stay home. She really want to go down the the Santa Cruz Boardwalk and the beach, so she is a little bummed, but I told her there will be plenty of time and opportunity to do that, so she gets the house all to her self.