pesky vermin

Dear Squirrels,

This was a once happy-go-lucky tomato, growing freely (and alone) on its vine. It did nothing to you. Don't even look at me with those "innocent" eyes, I know you're to blame. I know you heard me talking to Isaiah about eating it with dinner the next night. I can almost see the wheels turning in your pea-sized brains... the perfect plan to ruin my evening! I admit that we have had our share of ups and downs, but you have to admit that you started it... remember my precious grape vines that you ripped to pieces? They were defenseless against your ruthless clawing! I did strike back; chasing you guys down with super soakers was the highlight of my summer. Now that the dreaded acorns are ripe, you've found a weapon of your own, but you know what... You're aim sucks! And guess what else... I used pesticides! Yeah, that stomach ache isn't from all the acorns... who's laughing now?!

the tortoise and the hare

Yesterday Isaiah and I completed our final benchmark run before the marathon. We completed 21 miles. Yeah! A lot of people wait until that run before they sign up for the race, but not Isaiah and I... we were committed before we knew we could complete all but five miles of the big run. Anyway, we did make it. Isaiah finished at 3hours 15minutes and had a 7-8min/mile pace.... show off. I finished at 4hours and 15minutes with an overall pace of 11-12min/mile, BUT I had plenty of energy to pick up my pace for the last mile (passing up 9 people) AND I did get stuck at a train crossing for about 5 minutes. So there you have it, I now believe that I can complete a marathon.

We celebrated with a BBQ complete with burgers, cheddar-beer chips and Corona... Bring on the calories! I got a little fancy with the camera, take a look...

grow little garden grow...




With the recent and unusual string of warm sunny weather it seems my pathetic little garden has been given a second chance. Our single tennis ball sized tomato is turning a lovely shade of red and our green beans are creeping their way up the pole. We've already picked and eaten our banana pepper (approximately the size of my pinky), so can Isaiah and I officially call ourselves "gardeners" now?

Happy Anniversary to US!

Since Saturday we have been married for 6 years! It is so exciting to know that over these six years of marriage we have only grown closer together. The celebration started on Friday after work...

We headed into P-town for happy hour at Carlyle, known for their unique bartending. Afterwards Isaiah surprised me with a trip over to Doug Fir to get tickets for the Music Fest NorthWest to enjoy a unique line up of bands (none of whom I'm familiar with). We did manage to sneak in a bite from the Greek Deli next door because it just sounded sooo good, and it was. The first few bands were great and different in their own way, but my early five o'clock morning wake up was catching up to me. (sorry, I don't have a single picture of this part of the weekend)

On Saturday morning I woke up to the lovely aroma of smoked salmon cakes with a poached egg topped with creme fraiche and dill... yum. We took our time eating and then got ready to go into Portland again for a wine blending class at Urban Wine Works. I never realized the science behind wine tasting and blending, it was so fun! We blind tasted three separate reds and compared the difference in taste when mixing two together then three... Our instructor let us play with the percentages until we found a blend that we liked best, then mixed our own bottle. Afterwards we did a little shopping, grabbed some much needed food and then went home for a relaxing afternoon napping, reading, biking and watching a movie. Isaiah had planned on making a big dinner that night with salmon and other yummies, but we were too full, so we had it for lunch on Sunday.

Any ideas on what to make with leftover salmon, potatoes, various cheeses, asparagus, artichokes and dill?

Anyway, Thanks for the amazing weekend babe! Loves to all, Rachel