what have we been up to?

I've been seriously spoiled. first there was the european honeymoon extravaganza. then the first anniversary costa rica adventure. how could the second anniversary even compare?!

well, thank you peter for the best anniversary present ever: the new house.

I can't even imagine what next year will bring.

{more photos + stories to come}

knit or die!

am taking my first knitting 101 class tonight


I hope I'm as tough as THIS girl

fall casserole

there is nothing better than a meal full of fresh goodness. abundance from the land. in this week's csa note, heather borski left a little recipe. how convenient that everything the recipe called for was in this week's selection. well, except for the chicken or seafood fillet. for that I just substituted zucchini.

I pulled together a garden variety salad to go on the side. one quick note about that: has anyone else discoverd the goodness that is raw corn cut from the cob in a salad? oh. my. love. I think if you put dressing on it, though, it would muddy up the sweet taste. this is best enjoyed with a squeeze of fresh lime.

needless to say, everything turned out quite deliscious.

onion | potato
zucchini | tomato

fall casserole recipe
layer:
sliced onions
1/4 inch sliced potatoes
chicken or seafood fillets (or zucchini slices)

top with:
sliced tomatoes

drizzle:
olive oil

salt + pepper to taste

sprinkle:
bread crumbs
parmesan cheese

bake:
325 degrees for one hour

cover:
if top is browning too fast

americana folk rock love

have you ever had one of those blah days? the kind where nothing bad happens per se {except for that unnecessarily long phone call with the cell phone company; fifty years of my life and three reps later the issue is still left unresolved.} but you just feel a little off. your head hurts and your body doesn't seem happy for some reason. and amidst all of this you remember something that you love, something absolutely fabulous that you had forgotten about and it makes you smile.

today it was leslie and the badgers. {I know I've mentioned them before, but please go check them out. I'm sure they will make you as happy as they make me.} more specifically airliner. and my tears are wasted on you. and all of their other fabulous songs, really. I've been listening to them all evening. now go. please. check them out.

{and dear sister, for some reason I totally thought of you while listening to them online today. I think you would fall in love with leslie and her badgers too.}

the csa

peaches
zucchini
potatoes
onions, red + yellow
tomatoes

television in the animal kingdom

I was watching the rachael ray show today and learned these two very important things:
gorillas are 1) very smart, and 2) get bored easily. so with this in mind, what did the memphas zoo introduce to our dear friends the gorilla? television. yes, that's right. television. maybe we can make our primate friends just as fat and lazy as we are?

{and just so you know, the large gorilla pictured here, mwelu, is quite discerning. he dosn't like just any television program, he loves rachael ray.}

twenty-nine

01. he loves cold + dark 02. his favorite season is obviously winter 03. he is a champion for the earth 04. and an advocate for all things efficient 05. he dances like no other 06. and is my guitar hero 07. his smile melts my heart 08. he tickles relentlessly 09. he is a creative genius 10. and a computer wizard 11. he gets a little carried away on the equality of food 12. he's a jeans + tshirt kinda guy 13. he is kind 14. compassionate 15. giving 16. he has an innate sense of direction 17. if I were stranded on a desert island I would want him by my side 18. if I were stranded anywhere I would want him by my side 19. he's creative in the kitchen 20. he has the wanderlust 21. he is spontaneous + crazy 22. in the game of scrabble, he is expert 23. he's on the swimteam 24. he gets high on elevation 25. he has an inner cowboy 26. he's cute when he's asleep 27. he hiccups randomly 28. he loves his jetta wagon tdi almost more than me 29. he knows the value of hard work, in any aspect of life

I live and breathe for this man.

special birthday surprises were had this weekend. unfortunately no surprise party, but a semi-surprise jaunt up to meet my bloggy friend, jen {she is a cute runner blogger and has a cute family blog as well!} and crash her peach days bbq and ride her horses. let me tell you one thing about pete. he loves horses. loves them. I had no idea until that fateful day in costa rica. his inner cowboy spilled out and he's been dying to get back on and ride ever since. they say he's a natural. it was a fun little adventure and I'm glad jen and her family were so willing to share it with us.

his birthday dinner was a special surprise as well. I cooked fish. yes, you heard me. I cooked fish. this is a first for me. remember? and it was surprisingly easy + delicious. I'm not so scared of cooking fish anymore. the meal was rounded out with some long grain and wild rice, roasted vegetables, and steamed cabbage. of course there was the traditional red velvet cake. what birthday is complete without that?

as always, click to enlarge | adapted from THIS recipe

the backpacking bust

it's never a good sign as you're driving down the road to look out your window and see smoke coming from a mountain in the distance.

especially as you realize that the course you're driving is going to lead you straight to that smoke eventually.

and that's when you know that your backpacking trip is in serious jeopardy because the trail head might be on fire.


so as it turns out part of the bridger-teton wilderness was on fire this past week. perfect timing for our wind rivers trip. this is beginning to be the trip that never was. twice. last year's trip was canceled due to scotty, who forgot that med school started that week. this year's trip was canceled due to wildfire.

we're planning for mid-july '09. let's see what happens next year.

so instead of backpacking it was car camping. we tried to salvage the trip by going to grand teton national park. the tetons are amazing. but not quite the same trip when you're camping in a national park. {especially since you're not planning on spending money} at least you have bear lockers to put your food in and you don't have to worry about hanging bear bags.

{click to enlarge}

speaking of bears, we saw one. we saw one about ten feet away from the trail we were hiking on. I don't know if anyone else out there has ever snuck up on a bear, but it's pretty freaky. and quite dangerous. luckily he didn't notice us, or I might not have a face right now.

speaking of not having a face, on the other side of the lake we told everyone we hiked past to make lots of noise once they got near the bridge, that we had seen a bear. everyone was excited. nobody was worried in the least. hello, a bear. where is your healthy sense of fear? this thing could eat your face off. maybe they didn't realize it was that close to the trail. I guess I would be excited about seeing a bear from a distance. a safe distance. like at the zoo or something.


so as it turns out there's not much hiking at grand teton national park unless it's around lakes. {or unless you go backpacking, of course} and as it also turns out peter doesn't really like hiking around lakes--he needs elevation. but my friend really wanted to hike around lakes. total conflict of interests.

so to save the relationship {trust me, things could have turned ugly very quickly} we headed home early. it was probably a good thing because my friend said she was beginning to feel like she was on our family vacation. and nobody wants to tag along on someone else's family vacation.

goonies never say die

sometimes in life all your plans completely fall through and you are left to fend for yourself. luckily, on some such occasions you will happily stumble across the midnight flick at the tower: the goonies. and life will feel complete again as the film rolls by on the big screen.

upward lift

we were traveling down wyoming state road twenty-six, the landscape zooming beyond the window, my thoughts swirling. talk of the fallen arch filled the car. it's sad that future generations won't get to see it, she said. they'll all be gone someday, I responded. but new formations will rise. it's the same song and dance that has been going on since the beginning of time. through various forces, rocks rise. until time, erosion, gravity pull it all downward. it is a cycle. the sacred interplay of rebirth and renewal, of rise and fall.

quickly, I wrote these words down; putting pen to paper before they were forgotten:

the upward lift of rock to heaven
like hands held up in prayer

I held on to this imagery as we kept speeding past the tetons. I thought of these rocks, these mountain spires pushing up toward the sky. prayers unto heaven. hoping one day I, too, could be strong like the mountain.

m. phelps, the early years:

{has always been the fastest swimmer in the pool,
in world record time, of course}

csa: week nine

the goods:

01 cantaloupe
06 peaches
01 eggplant
02 garlic
07 assorted peppers

rode the bicycle to the csa pickup today. don't have to work and feeling free.

this boy

this boy
wanted some brownies
so badly
he even resorted
to sneaking a bite
straight from the pan
in the oven.

the brownies that were
for the funeral.

the brownies that had
to be cut up instead
of being given in the pan to
the neighbor
because of an unsightly
baked-in hole.


this boy just really likes
his treats.

you like?

then please vote.

this photo really says, summer. no? so please go vote for my lil' sis: the summer fun photo contest | #15 mary elizabeth. tell your friends. you know you want to. all the cool kids are doing it.

ps: if you vote and/or vote + blog the link, you can be entered in a fabulous giveaway a la miss mary elizabeth herself. what a sweet, giving person. so selfless like that. you should really go vote for her. really.

taco tuesday

it's back. taco tuesday is back! {for a special appearance this week}

you just cannot go wrong with the taco bar. what with all the taco meats and the cheeses and the special fixin's and all. I like to avoid the hard taco shells entirely, so I suggest using the tortillas you get from costco. you know, the ones you cook yourself. and an addition of fresh cut corn off the cob is a summertime treat. and who doesn't love the taco suicide mix at the end of the night? all the leftovers go in the bowl for one super taco salad.

oh how I love and miss the taco tuesday tradition.*

maybe next time we'll even invite the old crew back.

*for all you single ladies out there, instituting your own taco tuesday tradition amongst friends is a great way of snagging the man you have your eye on. especially if you have a friend with a pool. friends + double decker tacos + swimming + cute boys is a recipe for sure eternal love. especially if he also brings a kayak.

{not my tacos}

csa update

okay, you will all be glad to know we did not get any green beans in the csa today. I am about done with those things. I mean, they're tasty and all, but a couple pounds every week? two people can not eat them fast enough! {good thing my mother + sister gave me the brilliant idea of blanching them and then freezing them for later. duh--why didn't I think of that weeks ago?!}

so without further ado, here are the goods:

zucchini
yellow squash
corn
peas!
yummy peaches!
. . . and that may or may not be all.
oh, and potatoes.

so I'm pretty stoked on this week's variety. really I'm just glad we didn't get any beans. and I'll probably make some zucchini bread again with one of the zucchini's, which is always a good thing. and can I tell you how good that peach was? delightful.

merry christmas, grandpa + venna.

wanted:

a little secluded getaway with loved ones.

found:
a little secluded getaway with loved ones. plus some rummikub.

bonus:
one truly fun ride with the larisch through the oakley/kamas valley.

double bonus:
one monstrous burger at the road island diner + michael phelps on the television.

conclusion:
thank you g + v for letting us pay out our christmas dues in style.

LoVes and avalanches

e + p + p we are missing you already
now who will we go to hire's with? every. single. time.
have the most fun in georgia you could ever have
but don't worry, we will be there someday to run with you on thanksgiving
we love you!

we survived

yes it's true, we survived. what trip to lava hot springs is complete without a float down the portneuf? {well, probably a trip with the olympic-pool-diving-platforms-giant-water-slides and/or the hot pools. or even the diy triathlon, the lava monster.} now this section of the river, the one that flows through town, is quite deceiving. I have seen many people come out bleeding and in need of urgent medical attention. this is why I like to affectionately refer to it as the river of death. so you will be glad to know that we all made it out alive. even my 85 year old grandpa. though we did see some tubers do some pretty stupid things and in turn get pretty beat up. this section of the portneuf is not to be taken lightly.

{click to enlarge}

so much goodness

we had our co-op pickup for the month yesterday. this time around we did the harvest share, meaning more produce and no meat (all the meat from last month's pickup has remained untouched in the freezer). we have so much goodness packed into our fridge right now between the csa and the co-op it's unreal. now I'm just worried that we won't be able to eat it fast enough.

but in an effort to use up some of the goodness, we've made a special little peach dessert for the family get-together tomorrow. so get excited.