What the?! Is that the SUN?

Oh Yeah baby! This weekend we had sun! And did we take advantage of that? 'Course we did! What Oregonian didn't? Seriously, everyone was out. And so we took a little drive to one of our favorite spots, Ankenny (one of the Finley Park Nature Reserves). Boy oh boy- those birds were out in numbers. We went for nice walk and ran into other nature watchers (we just happened to ALL be breaking the rules, going past a fence to get some extra views). That sums that up.

ANYWAY....the rest of the weekend was just us. Hanging out, being dweebs(<-- hahaha, remember that...dweebs? Haven't used that word in a while). When you're married with no kids, you kind of run out of stuff to do sometimes, but not us!

Behold: GLOW STICK PHOTOS!

And that's what boredom+digital camera+glow sticks from the Dollar Store will get you folks! One night of seriously fun, goofy picture taking! Good times, good times. But really- they are kinda cool huh?

Well, dinner (homemade pizza) is awaiting. That's my exit.

But first, check out this video- and make sure you have the sound on. Greggors caught it on his phone on our little nature walk. Lots and lots of birds!

On a drive on a rainy day....

Sunday, Greg and I did go for a drive. It was quite relaxing. Rainy. But there were some really pretty clouds and I even felt inspired to snap a few pics. That is what you see here. For some reason that day, I felt like dressing up, and donned my most favorite heeled booties, holey jeans, black shirt, and a beret. It must have been quite the site standing on the side of the road, in the rain, taking photos as the sun was setting. You couldn't even tell there was a sun that day though!
Some rainy days are just fine with me. I love to watch the huge clouds rolling over the valley, the sounds rain can make on the roof, the puddles and unexpected lakes that appear from the unrelenting rain. Some days, I love that I can stay in and watch 24 all day and night, or movies, and not feel guilty about it because, hey, it's raining outside!
Today is not rainy- yet, but very cloudy. Grey. I'm kind of sick of grey. Only 6 more months to go for sunshine! I'm counting down.

At least the grey can make some really beautiful images...well, at least beautiful to me.

Rainy Day

Today is a very rainy day. I woke up wishing it was a day like the picture above. I wanted to be outside, soaking up the sun. Maybe go on a picnic and a hike. Or something of that nature. But it will be a few months (if lucky) before we get that kind of weather again.

So, on this rainy day, we went to see a movie. Naturally. What else is there to do? Especially when trying to avoid the chores awaiting at home. We went to see the latest Harry Potter. Pretty dang good. Can't wait for the next one to come out. Wish we didn't have to wait a whole year for it, but, such is life. Before the movie,We had lunch at Market of Choice. That place still blows me away. The deli is a mile long, and it always takes me at least 10 minutes to decide what to eat. We landed on a huge roast beef sandwich on Ciabatta bread. It was delicious! Then, we did a little thrifting and I found a great deal on some fun scrapbooking paper. Not that I do any scrapbooking, but I do like to make stuff with such cool patterns and colors. It was a pretty good day, despite all the rain.

Tomorrow, we might go for a drive or something. Search for some sunshine! (yeah, probably that won't be too likely, but I can dream) But even if we can't find any, I'm sure we'll have a lovely day, just like today.

Before I go, I was going through some old photos I had, and stumbled upon this one of my sister, Kristi. I edited it a bit, and really like it. Miss ya sis.

2010 Wrap UP

It's gone. 2010 is gone. Happy New Year! Oh thank heaven for 2011. Isn't that how it goes? Ok, well, here are some photos of happenings. This covers the last two months, including visiting with some very special peoples! Happy New Year everyone!

I hope it is fantastic, joyful, prosperous and filled with love.

November here was gorgeous!

Silver Falls

Diane and Geoff came to visit us in November. It was a blast!

We took them to Silver Falls- it was beautiful. We even got some sunshine!

Greg and I learned how to make sushi. Easy peasy japaneesy.

All of a sudden Christmas was upon us. We decorated with what we had. Not much, but we felt the Christmas spirit anyway.

We gifted ourselves The White Stripes on LP, and got another one from J & K. Sweeet!

Here is Greg and I with my Mom's side of the family after brunch on Christmas morning. Yup! We got to go visit the family(ies) in AZ for Christmas. I didn't take my camera anywhere with me. So, not a lot of photos this trip. But we had an AMAZING time and were so happy to see everyone we were able to. Of course, we never have enough time to visit everyone :(, but hopefully next time we're there we can make some more rounds. We really need to take longer trips.

To end, here is a video of me hitting the Gong at the MIM (Musical Instrument Museum) in north Scottsdale. I highly recommend any music enthusiast going to check it out. By the way- hitting a gong on a daily basis would be very fun. You can't imagine the vibration that thing gives off, and I barely hit it!!

Random

Ok, so I know my blog is boring because I rarely share anything personal, and I'm real slow to post. BUT, since this blog is called "Royal Randomness" here is a random picture for you.


It's from the trip we took to say goodbye to Grandma Jolley. The sky was so beautiful for our whole trip. Maybe I'll just randomly put our sky shots up.

Here's to hoping your Tuesday was great.

Hunting and Gathering

If a tree falls in the Forrest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? I don't know. What I do know is that delicious mushrooms litter the Forrest floor. They make for quite a find if you know where to look.

Last weekend Andrea and I, along with Justin, Kaitlin, and her dad Todd, went mushroom hunting in the near by woods. We got up early Sunday morning and headed out just in time to see the sunrise. It was a brisk 40 degrees when we arrived at our hunting grounds. We were prepared though, with multiple layers we were ready to battle the elements. With Knife and brush in hand we set out down the hill. The prey that day were Chanterelles. Like fleshy orange flowers, they rise up from the soft Forrest floor. The good thing about Chanterelles are that no other fungi really look like them, so you can pick them with confidence. The tricky thing about them is that they like to hide. There camouflage skills were no match for our desire to find them. With in an hour our so our buckets were growing heavy with our finds.

This was the first time Andrea and I had gone mushroom hunting but we're already planning our next hunting trip. There is nothing better than being out in the woods alone with friends enjoying nature. Plus the excitement you feel when you find a big mushroom patch just can't be found any where else.

Here is Andrea showing of her fungi finds.




Isn't she beautiful when she smiles. As you can see Chanterelles are not small mushrooms. Some we found were almost two hands wide.


We found so many that we had to dry them for storage.

You would be surprised at how long it takes to dry mushrooms. This was an all day process.

We have been trying all sorts of new recipes in an attempt to use up
all the fresh mushrooms. Mushrooms gravy, fungi fritters, and mushroom leek soup are the most memorable. However my all time favorite is mushrooms sauteed with butter and onions.

And the final product!

Now history shows us that 90% of you reading this will think that it's a little weird to go pick mushrooms in the Forrest. Some of you may even be worried about poisoning. Well if that's you, all I can say is your missing out. With a little research it's easy to tell the good fungi from the bad.
It's even easier if you go with someone who has been before. Soon you will be on your way enjoying delicous mushrooms. Best of all their free, which is always fine by me.

We hope everyone has a good October and can't wait to see everyone
at Christmas.

Kids Zone at the Corvallis Fall Festival

This year I volunteered on the committee for the Corvallis Fall Festival (September 25-26, 2010). We've been planning since March. I got to be part of the Kids Art Zone. It was a lot of work, but so fun. The Fall Festival is the biggest festival in town and the artists that come are amazing. The Kids Zone helps nurture the young creative spirit. There's even a kids vendor zone, where little budding artists can sell their hand made goods. And then there are the activities kids can do.

We had Spin Art machines (so classic!). Greg fixed them up so kids could spin paint on paper and we had frames there for them. It was only 50¢ for with out a frame, and $1 with a frame. Kids could also miniature golf all day long for 50¢. And then, there were the free activities provided. Journal making out of recycled paper and materials, lantern making (I totally made one), wood block sculptures, card making, materials to just go to town with, pinwheels (promoting wind energy- Blue Sky donated the activity), hair braiding and styling - yes you heard that right- on mannequin heads, names written in different languages, and there was more but you get the idea.

Next year is going to be even better! You know, I have to say that I always wondered how these festivals were put together..and now that I'm a part of it all, I know that it is truly an amazing thing. So many people volunteer, come together, work together without even knowing each other, just to make this amazing event happen where anyone can come out and have a great day.

Here are some photos for your viewing pleasure:

Above: Me, Amy, Caron and Sarah- all of my co-chairs on the committee.
They are amazing women!

Above: My pretty lantern I learned to make.
Seriously, I think some of the parents had just as much, if not more, fun making stuff!

Above: Kids Zone under the tent.

Above: The Kids Stage- these little dancers were so dang cute!

Above: The kid vendors selling their goods.

Above: Wood block sculptures!

Above: Some of our volunteers busy at work cutting paper.

Last but not least, me, Greg and Chad.
I'm so glad Chad and my Dad came to see us on Sunday. :)

PS. For those of my readers (most of you) who have children, I would be especially interested to know what you, as parents, like and don't like about activities provided for your kids. Also, any thing that you would especially like to see at such events, would be very helpful in our planning. Thanks!!!