Summer

 This morning and I Jim rode our bikes to the Saturday Market.  I usually have a standing date to do this with my girlfriend, but Jim was a pretty fun fill in.  This dahlia was only 75 cents. 

 The doggies seem to be having a nice summer slumber party.  We went to a different dog park each night.  Sadly Oliver goes home tomorrow.  They are currently sharing a bone. 

I also bought a few heirloom tomatoes and basil to whip up this bruschetta up tonight.  (Mix em up in some olive oil, garlic, and sea salt, and spread over a baguette.)  O.M.G.

TGIF

If you are wondering, our house seems to be cat scratch fever free thus far.
We are excited to be having a doggie slumber party all weekend long!  Trooper's BFF Oliver is staying with us until Sunday night!  Get the Cool Ranch Doritos and "Clue" ready. 
Tomorrow is my LS's 12th birthday!  I am not sure what we are going to do, but I plan on taking her a cupcake, mylar baloon, and birthday button.  (I try not to buy her anything other than food as I don't want her to associate me with money or material objects.  I also don't want to show her mom up.  But I think a few birthday treats are in order.)  Hopefully she has a good day!
On Sunday I am volunteering at the Museum of Natural and Cultural History on campus.  What do I do there?  I am an exhibit hall guide.  I greet visitors, walk around the exhibits, and answer any questions guests may have.  (I still have a lot to learn about Oregon's cultural history.)  Last weekend was really quiet, so I spent most of my time reading about Oregon history.  It's a pretty fun service activity, and most weeks I can ride my bike there.  Not too bad.
Okay, gotta get back to getting ready for a fun weekend with my husband and two doggies. 

Al-Cat-Da

We continue to be under siege.  Another terrorist attack last night: Vash, the Siamese cat.  It came up to our screen door to taunt the doggie, and when Jim tried to nicely escort it home, it bit him!   I feel like there should be a meme of a Siamese dressed like Bin Laden somewhere out there....

Stuffed Poblanos

This invention was not actually "stuffed."  I had this epiphany last week and made it come to life (with some help from the interwebs).  What did I do?  First, I halved poblano peppers and broiled them for a few minutes.  I intended to stuff them, until I saw that parcooking them made them collapse.  So I made a poblano casserole.  The second layer was a mixture of cooked chicken (I bought a rotisserie), chipotle peppers and adobo sauce, black beans, and sauteed onions.  All topped with shredded pepperjack cheese and cooked until melted.  Garnish with avocado and plain Greek yogurt (or sour cream, I guess.)  On the side: rice cooked with chicken broth, lime juice, and cilantro.  Yum! 

Trooper and I had a nice little Sunday.  He went to the groomers while I volunteered at the museum and then this evening we went to the dog park with his bestie, followed by wine and jig saw puzzles for moms while the doggies played.  We just miss the Legal Beagle.  (Wah, come back!) 

AZ

 Pics from Wednesday's Ems game.  I posted this even though I was highly critical of my appearance.  I blame Western culture. 

I am seriously obsessed with this dog.  But can you blame me?

Last night I took my LS to the BBBS pool party.  She had a blast!  In the fall we will have reached two years together.  We have had a few challenges, but she's a good kid at heart and any issues she has are not her fault.  Mentoring with the program has been one of the most rewarding things I've done with my time.  I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to give back. 

In other news, Jim made it safely to balmy Arizona.  (Highs in the 100s!)  I'm glad he can spend this time with his family before school starts again.  (Blech, is it almost August?!)  Puppers and I have had a jam packed day: running, Saturday market, walking, dog park, shopping (well, not puppers), dog park, Pet Smart, and now watching tv together.  Okay, back to the wine and tv for us (me).

Dawg Days

We are taking Trooper to a baseball game tonight!  The local minor league team plays across the street and the stadium is having a fundraiser for the local humane society.  Doggies are allowed in the bleacher area.  (After signing a waiver, of course.)  I'm not much of a baseball fan, but it will be fun to take the dog and drink a beer for a little while. 
The Legal Beagle was supposed to go to Medford (southern Oregon) for work on Friday (will now be travelling there instead of Bend), but luckily his trial was rescheduled.  I have a BBBS pool party that evening and he leaves for Arizona in the morning, so it will be nice to have him around the homestead.  Luckily a nice gal offered to drive him to PDX early Saturday morning so I can sleep in with the doggie.  He'll be gone until Tuesday and the dog and I have a full agenda: catch up on Glee reruns, drink wine, craft, etc. 
It's hard for us to believe that there's a horrible drought/ heat wave in the rest of the country!  It is currently 67 (in the afternoon) and we've had rain throughout the day.  Stay cool everyone, or come visit us and cool off!

Seattle

 Trooper LOVES car rides!  Especially ones that take him to see the love of his life, Debbie.  We left for Seattle a little later than we'd hoped on Friday and a five hour drive turned into a seven hour drive!  Blech!  Luckily we had good company (each other).  We were also able to see Mt. Hood, Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Rainier.  We also drove through a thunder storm.  (Did you know that we don't get thunderstorms in the Pac NW?)

 Our wonderful friend has an awesome new girlfriend who is a pastry chef.  (Yum!) We visited her work but I forget the name of the restaurant.  Check out their awesome stained glass in the window.

We had a great weekend visiting one of our fave friends and Trooper LOVED being with Debbie.  (She, on the other hand, got a little annoyed with his crazy puppy ways.)  As usual, it's always nice to be back home.

Summer Photos

 The maintenance guys at our apartment complex are kind of amazing.  We bought the supplies and they built us this bamboo shade for our (very hot) balcony.  We have finally had some summer weather and it gets a bit toasty.  This shade and the window tinting we applied to our living room window really help.

 Another thing that helps is Jim's new iced coffee obsession.  I would provide you with a recipe, but he doesn't tell me what it is.  I think it's top secret.

 It's nice to be married to a coffee and beer snob.  I like the benefits.

 From this past weekend at Alsea Falls.  It took us about an hour and a half from Eugene.  This hike is in the coastal range. 

 Trooper loves contemplating nature. 

 So regal!

We thought these leaves were cool because they are so big.

Off to Seattle this weekend!  Will try to blog more next week.  XOXO

PS I just heard the Legal Beagle on the phone using the words "your honor."  Such a little lawyer!

The Great Chicken Bone Incident of 2012

I can now blog about the Chicken Bone incident, as we are (hopefully) in the clear.  On Sunday afternoon, I cleaned some chicken for sandwiches and was going to throw the bones in the dumpster on the way to the pool.  I tied the bones in a bag and left them on the counter and put Trooper in the kitchen (with said bones) and walked down to the pool, forgetting the bones.  I wasn't gone 10 minutes when I remembered the bones and ran back upstairs.  The bag was on the floor, empty, and Trooper was wagging his tail.  He'd eaten four large bones (half a chicken carcass) that were covered in spices and BBQ sauce!  I called Jim and then the emergency vet.  The vet said that there's nothing to really do except wait for them to pass.  (If they throw them up they can cause more damage.)  She said that if he throws up or has further issues (I won't discuss the gross details) to bring him in.  The main reason you should not let your doggies have chicken bones (cooked ones) is because they can cause internal damage to their digestive systems/ internal bleeding/ etc..  But the good news is that dogs have really acidic tummies and often digest them with no problem.  I was pretty upset and felt like a bad doggie mom.  Jim stayed up all night on Sunday watching Trooper.  (What a good dad.)  The incident was on Sunday at 3pm and the vet said that after 72 hours he should be fine.  And he is!  My poor dog.  (He is really just his normal happy self.)  Moral of the story: dogs are dogs and they will eat anything yummy looking. 

Alsea Falls Video

I know I promised a blog post on cold pressed coffee, but here's a fun video of us at Alsea Falls.  Enjoy!

Happy Fifth of July!

A midweek holiday really throws a gal off!  We had a nice day off yesterday but it's back to the coal mines today.  (Glad tomorrow is Friday!)
Yesterday morning I ran in the Butte to Butte 10k.  It's a really fun run.  I finished at around 55:30, putting me at an 8:53 mile!  I was pretty excited to be under 9:00.  The best part of the run is that Jim said while he and the doggie were waiting for me at the finish line, someone that he didn't even know yelled, "Hey Trooper!"  Our dog is kind of a local celebrity.  (We still have no idea who that was.)
In the afternoon we had people over.  My lovely hubby made home made BBQ sauce for grilled chicken and potato salad.  One of our friends is dairy free, so I made these awesome Frozen Peanut Butter Pies.  (I made a few changes such as omitting the dairy free whipped cream and margarine.  Margarine scares me.)  They were really good!  I made them in muffin papers so we each had a frozen treat.  If you like coconut milk and are dairy free, I highly recommend them.
Tons and tons of fireworks were going off in our area.  Eugene/ Springfield folks are really into home fireworks.  (And cannons judging by some of the noise.)  The official (legal) fireworks went off right next door to us, so we were able to just stand on our balcony and watch.  Poor Trooper was really anxious about them.  (He's currently sleeping off his July 4th hangover.) 
In my next post I plan to tell you about the new Iced Coffees that are being made by my barista (husband) every day.  Get ready to hear about the cold pressed system!