Since Europe…

26. August 2010 · Write a comment · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , , , , , , , ,

I’ve been holding my friend Michelle’s camera hostage since my trip and have been taking advantage of it like crazy over the past week before I give it back to her.  Since I’m back to using my old computer and don’t have Steve’s super duper nice Mac, I don’t have much editing capability.  BUT!  I don’t pride myself on keeping a photo blog, so I have an excuse ;)

Here are some pics of the things I’ve done, people I’ve seen, and food I’ve made since I returned from Europe…

Mom and Dad came down for the weekend for the annual Anne Amie Wine Club BBQ.  Before heading down to wine country, I took them to the food carts on 43rd and Belmont.  We’re all about sharing/family style dining so we all got something different and sampled each others.  I got vegan sweet potato/lentil/spinach balls atop polenta, topped with coconut curry sauce.  DELISH!  Dad got a mole burrito.  Typical for him but still very good.  And mom got Korean BBQ, which I hear is all the rage.  Hit and miss on hers. Overall, great local experience though.

My beautiful mother and the beautiful sunset and from the vineyards at Anne Amie.

Steph and I worked at Pottery Barn together and have become great friends through our love of wine tasting.  She joined the  club a couple months back and we have had so much fun clubbin’ it together.

This is all of us.  Clockwise from L: Steph, my dad, my mom, Allison, Shirley, Agnes (she joined the club too!) and me.

The sunset has been so beautiful every year.  Not a bad way to end the evening.

On Sunday night, Anthony’s mom, LaDonna called to tell me they found his remains on the Reid Glacier.  I dealt with it pretty well until Tuesday when the news started hitting the headlines again and I started getting emails and texts asking if I was okay.  After having a min-meltdown in the stairwell at work, I asked my boss if I could leave early and decided to take a self-care day and go to Cannon Beach on Wednesday.  I grabbed my friend Cheryl and her dog Sadey and had a lovely day full of sunshine, sandy beach, and a picnic.

Loved these sand blasted chairs outside the Sleepy Monk in Cannon Beach.

Today, I had a hankering to make raw zucchini pasta.  With the help of my friend Lindsay (who has a great food blog: Rosemarried) and some other recipes I found, I pulled together what I had left from my multiple trips to the farmers markets last week and made this…

Raw Zucchini noodles with vegan pesto, walnuts, heirloom tomatoes, and andouille sausage served with my favorite Pinot Blanc.  Man, it was SO good!  So healthy, and filling, and flavorful, and amazing.  I could eat this everyday.  Michelle came over and we enjoyed this meal outside together.  I can’t wait for the grass to turn green again!

My best friend Zoe is coming down this weekend and I’m certain I’ll have more photos and more thoughts to share.

One last (but certainly, definitely not least…actually, maybe even the greatest) photo to share…

I stumbled across this pic of me and Anthony from our trip to Montana in 2007.  4 wheelin’, shooting at little critters, and getting eaten alive by the feisty Montana mosquitoes. Holy crap we had fun.  MISS YOU SO MUCH RIGHT NOW ANTH!

Wine with Swine

17. August 2010 · Write a comment · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , , , ,

I just love her!  This makes me so happy…

It’s Good to Enjoy Wine with Swine by Clare Carver at Big Table Farm

Day 9-11: Switzerland

17. August 2010 · 1 comment · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , , , , , , ,

You know that feeling of finally getting somewhere you want to be and the all the weight that has been on your shoulders just melts off and you feel light again?  That’s the feeling I had when we arrived in Interlaken, Switzerland on Friday.  A nurse at Steve’s hospital matched us up with her husband, Scott and their friend Bryan for a weekend hiking trip in the Swiss Alps.  Steve checked the weather and told me to pack for rain, but I packed for August sun and was very ill-prepared.  Luckily, Scott’s wife, Shelley had enough gear for me to sport on our hike.  (Thanks Shelley! You are a life saver)  The only glitch: my feet are bigger than Shelley’s so I resorted to wearing my somewhat new, hardly broken in Chacos.  They were champs though with a little help from some big band-aids.  The hike was easily the hardest hike of my life, and could easily stay that way.  We’re talking seriously quick elevation gain, rough terrain for part of it, and a lot of rain at the beginning and end.  I don’t mind cloudy with a little chill in the air, but a straight up downpour can put a damper on the day real quick.  The bulk of the middle, however, was beautiful!  There’s no feeling like the feeling you get at the end of a arse-kicking hike when you can finally sit and have a beer.  Man, that felt good.

Aside from the hike, Interlaken is a charming little town with mountains towering on every side, a jade colored river running through the middle, tons of hostels, and swarms of paragliders overhead.  15 minutes away (by car) is the town of Grindelwald, which is where most of the hiking starts.  It’s nestled into the Alps and is your typical Swiss village with red and white flags, Swiss Chalets, and green hillsides everywhere.  Loved everything about it.

This trip was exactly the breath of life I needed and will remain the highlight of my time in Europe.

Balmer’s!  This is the hostel we stayed at while we were in Interlaken.  What a cool culture and feel.

Scott and Shelley are big wine drinkers so he packed a couple bottles for us to enjoy.  After we got settled in at Balmer’s, we walked into town, grabbed some Swiss truffles, and opened a bottle of Cote du Rhone at the park in the middle of Interlaken.  Loooovely.

This is pretty typical of us: poking fun at each other.

Swarms of paragliders all over the sky in Interlaken!  They start from a mountain top on the other side of the river, glide down, and land in this park right in front of us.  Next time in Interlaken, I’m doing it!

Grindelwald is where we started out hike.  You’ll see some aerial photos of it from our hike…

Scott, me, Bryan, and Steve at square one.  We’re heading up into those mountains behind us.  I have no idea what lies ahead of me…

Where are we going?!  Ask these Magellan’s.

There were so many of these chalets on the way up.  This one marks the start of our ascent up the Eiger Trail.

We enjoyed a beer way up on the mountain after a tough elevation climb.  Rugen Brau is a local brewery in Interlaken.

The rain stopped and the clouds cleared to reveal this amazing mountain peak!  We’ve only just begun. Grindelwald is in the background.  Scott, Bryan, me, and Steve.

Eiger Trail…

Up we go…thaddaway.

I couldn’t help but think that God is a pretty creative creator.  Majestic!

We weren’t sure what these pilings were for, but they were all over one part of our hike.

Tons of waterfalls along the Eiger Trail from all the glacial run-off.  Crystal clear and freezing cold.

I’ve always wanted to do this!  Easily the best drinking water on the planet.  Bryan kept on calling it “giardia water” and wouldn’t drink it, but he missed out!

We spotted this waterfall down where we had a beer and were so glad to finally be there!  Objects on the mountain are closer than they appear.

I love the ruggedness of this shot.

I had to do it!  But by the time I remembered my jersey was in my pack, we were pretty socked in from the fog so the shot of the rock was all I could get.  Who knows, maybe it’ll get me on the big screen at a game!

It’s getting foggier…which means rain is a comin’.

More cowbell!  There were so many cows with bells around their necks towards the end of our hike.  Such a sweet sound.

TThe trail down to Kleine Scheidegg took us through some cow pastures and many a cow-pie.

After 7 hours, 3,500 feet (gestimate), rain, sun, clouds, tight calves, and a couple stops to treat some low blood sugars and to eat lunch, we made it to the train station at Kleine Scheidegg.  We had a celebratory drink while we waited for the train to take us back down into Grindelwald.  It felt SO good to warm up and sit down.  We were all beat, but happy that we made it to the top.  Steve said that with a little training, I could easily summit Mt. Hood!  I would love to summit with him and his dad to see what Anthony was so in love with.  What an experience that would be.  Next year :)

Day 3-5: Roma!

10. August 2010 · 3 comments · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , , , ,

Oh boy, Rome was quite a whirlwind!  We got up at 3am after having only slept 2 hrs to catch our Ryanair flight and hit the ground running once we landed.  When we finally checked into our hotel, we all feel asleep for almost 3 hours without stirring!  But then it was go go go from then on.  Rome in 3 days is tricky but I think we hit nearly all of the main attractions.  ”When in Rome?” and “Rome if we want to!” were common catch phrases during our time there.

It didn’t take long for me to realize that I really needed to pray my way through the trip.  Lots of insecurities came to the surface for me being in a high-fashion country where the words “practical footwear” don’t not exist.  I was all about my Chacos while I was there, which put a big “American” stamp on me.  All the women were wearing the cutest sandals and high waisted skirts.  And ALL of the girls my age were super skinny and super tan.  Neither of which would be good descriptors of me.  So I prayed by butt off that I would stop comparing myself to these girls and just be content with the body I have and confident with my health and progress.  Not sure I would have enjoyed Rome at all had I been insecure and comparing myself the whole time.  That would have been AWFUL!  But, I did okay for the whole trip and got some good fashion tips out of it :)

My travel buddies for the trip were Steve (of course) and his friend Frank.  Frank is an Army nurse at the same hospital as Steve and he’s been wanting to head to Rome for a while.  Three was a great number and I definitely felt safe with two Military guys.  We all traveled really well together and I can say confidently that I didn’t get sick of either of them.  Hopefully they can say the same about me!

Alright, take a looksey at some of the highlights.  Some of these are from my camera and some are from Steve’s much nicer camera.  You can probably tell which is which.  And I’m not an expect photographer but you’ll get the picture (punny!!):

We’re in Rome!  We’ve been up since 3am with only 2 hours of sleep, but we’re in Rome and eating breakfast!

A lovely view of St. Peter’s Basillica and Vatican City from the top of Castel del San Angelo

Not a terrible view from our hotel room (yes hotel!  no hostel for us)

Mar and Steve in front of the Fountain at the Piazza Navona

I love the street cafe scene in Rome!

Team Jacob?!  Anyone? Anyone?

LOOOVE this place!  Red checkered table cloth, a lovely Dolcetto d’Alba, Bruschetta, Meatballs, deliciousness…

Piazza Navona at night.

Opera singer at the Pantheon

Trevi Fountain at night!  SO many people here and SOOOO much Gelato!

I’m at the Colosseum!  This was actually a really cool sight to see.

Tired kids at the Forum.

Trevi Fountain by day.

Like I said, TONS of people!  Our tour guide for the Vatican said they collect 80,000 Euro of coin each month out of this fountain.  That’s almost $105,000 USD!

Swiss Guard at the Vatican.  So cute ;)

Our fabulous tour guides for the Sistine  Chapel and Vatican City, Allie (far L) and Susan (middle R).  We paid a little extra but didn’t have to stand in line for 4 hrs!

Inside St. Peter’s Basillica

Favorite part of Rome: The bustling cobblestone alleys.

I ate it…and loooved it!  What’s Rome without Pizza and Chianti?

This is the most insane Gelateria I saw in all of Italy.  I think they probably had 50+ flavors.

Piazza del Popolo at night!

Day Two: German Wine Road, Obernheim-Kirchenarnbach

10. August 2010 · 1 comment · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , , , , , ,

Here a just a couple of photos to commemorate the day:

I went into Kaiserslautern for the morning and found a great little cafe.  Sat here and read, wrote, and people watched for quite a while.

This is part of the German Wine Road!  We drove up to Landau and Godsramstein for a wine festival that wasn’t actually happen.  Props to Steve for the effort!  The drive was beautiful though so it made it all okay.

This is the little village of Landau where the wine festival was supposed to be.  I could have easily stayed here for a looooooong time.

During the drive, Steve randomly pulled over to make a phone call and we just so happened to pull up to this fruit stand.  This was my favorite thing that happened all day.  The day was feeling very crisp and fall-like anyway, the this stand was selling fresh crop apples that were the best I’ve ever tasted.  We also bought cherries, nectarines, a bottle of Riesling for 3 Euro (about $3.50) and a bottle of local red wine made from the Dornfelder grape.  Less than impressed but then again, it was only 3 Euro.

Ok, really?  We’re cruising around Germany in a Mini Cooper, eating delicious fruit from a local fruit stand and it feels like fall outside.  I had to rock the head scarf!

This is Steve’s village called Obernheim-Kirchenarnbach.  It is SO charming!  It’s in a little valley and probably only has 150 houses.  There are cows and sheep and grassy fields all around it.  Very picturesque.

I’ll post photos from Rome very soon!

Things That Make Me Swoon

13. July 2010 · 2 comments · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , , , , , , , ,

To piggy-back off my last post, here’s a visual ode to who I am…

Having dinner in a beautiful natural setting with some of the best food, best wine, and best people sounds like Heaven on Earth to me.  These photos give me goosebumps, bring tears in my eyes, and create a serious longing…

I wish I was one of the gals in the cowboy hats in the photo above!

Crimson Clover field near Big Table Farm.

The photo above looks exactly like where I grew up.

Pinch Me.

16. June 2010 · Write a comment · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , , , ,

It hardly seems real that I’m going to Germany in 7 weeks.  But most of you don’t know that because I haven’t really shared the fact that I booked my flight on Monday to anyone.  In fact, I haven’t shared much of anything with anyone lately.  I met up with a girlfriend of mine yesterday after work for a beer, but mid-afternoon I got a text from her that sounded very familiar: “I totally want to still have a beer w you today but i have one request: could we not talk about me? lets talk about you or anything else. :) ”  I think I actually said the very same sentence to a different friend a couple weeks ago.  Although, as we drank through a bottle of Pinot at a fabulous little neighborhood Italian joint, I caved and we eventually talked about me a little.  But last night over a beer, my friend and I talked about the weather and thing that didn’t really matter too much.  And it felt good and light.  I guess we talked about my Europe trip a little but not much.  Maybe because she and I both subconsciously think that I’ m crying wolf.  Like I said, I hardly believe that I will actually be going in 7 weeks.

I need someone to pinch me and wake me up so I can feel something good.   I need to feel something.  I’ve just turned most of it off.  My body/mind/heart are protecting me from being overwhelmed by all these negative emotions.  And now that I have something to look forward to, it’s still hard to access the positive emotions.  So someone pinch me please!  I would really love to feel excited about this upcoming trip.

Stirred

21. March 2010 · Write a comment · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , , , , ,

I’m going.  I’m actually going!  It’s actually happening!

On Friday, April 23rd, I’m hopping on an airplane and flying to Germany for two weeks (not long enough if you ask me).  Anthony’s younger brother and good friend of mine, Steve is an RN at the Ramstein Air Force and has been stationed there since September. When I saw him in December, he told me a lot about where he lives and invited me to come.  And after a lot of praying, asking God for the the time to go, and very clearly being given the time off, I booked my flight and will soon be on my way to what I think will be one of many trips…short and long.

Not only am I excited to go visit Steve (and hopefully his best friend Caleb will still be there when I come), I’m excited to take a side trip while I’m there…details to follow.  Steve says he lives in a village near the AFB, or “in the economy” as they say that looks much like the quaint village in the movie Chocolat.  I’m already in love!  I don’t know many other details about Germany or even exactly where he lives but I know that being there will really stir my soul.

Ever since I was a little girl, maybe 10 or so, I’ve always had an affinity to vineyards and wine country.  I remember taking a road trip with my family down to California and stopping in Napa and Sonoma and falling in love with it.  And whenever I close my eyes and envision my Eden, I always end up on a vineyard somewhere.  This affinity to vineyards became even more real when I got a job in a tasting room at a winery in the heart of the Willamette Valley wine country here in Oregon where Pinot Noir is the premier varietal. Pinot Noir is also known as a red Burgundy and Burgundy is the wine growing region in South Eastern France…4 hours away from where Steve lives in Germany!!  Hence my side trip :)   Not including my travel days, I will be in Europe for 12 days and my hope and goal is to get out and spend 2 or 3 nights in a town called Beaune which is in the heart of Burgundy.  There I will taste amazing wines, see gorgeous vineyards, meet local wine makers, eat delicious food, entice all my senses, let the weight fall off my shoulders, sit in the sunshine, walk everywhere, stroll down cobblestone streets, feel the sunshine, forget about everything, fall in love with the quaintness of life there, and possibly never come back.

So beware friends and family, Germany and France might steal me away.  After all, I could get a job in the French wine industry, have my health care needs taken care of, go visit Steve all the time, travel all over Europe, and just fahgettaboutit!

I CAN’T WAIT!

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