Going to the Beach!!

This Friday morning (really early!) we are going to head over to the coast - my first view of the Atlantic Ocean! I am sooo excited! Growing up out West, I have been to the Pacific Ocean a bajillion times (at least!) but this will be my first time to the Atlantic. I think it will be weird to see the sun rise over the ocean, instead of setting into it!



We are going to spend one day and night on Chincoteague - unfortunately, we couldn't make it for Pony Penning - but, just to be there will be a thrill for this girl who grew up loving horses and reading the "Misty of Chincoteague" stories! If only I could bring home a pony as a souvenir! Then we will head to Virginia Beach to do the touristy thing.... Kiwi has only been to the Oregon Coast, which is absolutely beautiful, but generally pretty cold - so, she's never actually swum in the ocean. I am really excited for her to get to play in the waves and lay out on the beach in the blazing sun like I did growing up in Southern California.



The weather forecast calls for a 30% chance of rain, but that doesn't mean we won't still get plenty of sunshine and heat... I am really looking forward to the trip!

My dog rocks! (and so do I)

Friday I had to take Merry dog to the vet for some vaccinations. This was our first time seeing a vet here in Virginia. About a year and a half ago, Merry dog had to have knee surgery for a torn CCL (like an ACL in a human). At that time, the vet told us she needed to lose some serious weight in order to protect both the repaired knee and the other knee... I suppose for other health issues as well. So, we have really cut back on how much we feed her. Now, she is a Lab - those dogs loooove their food, and she is certainly no exception! She has gone from about 115 lbs to 73. I was actually concerned that maybe she is a little too thin, so I asked the vet about it. She said to me "Oh, gosh, your dog could be the poster child for "Perfect Weight for a Large Breed Dog". Hahaha!!! If only someone thought I was the perfect weight!! I have a lot more poundage to lose before I am as beautiful as the dog, lol. But, I too, am on my way to slender.

:-)

Looks like I need to take a more current picture....

Moving, Again

Well, here we go - again. Yep, we are moving. That part gives me a sheer panic attack. I don't like moving. Let me rephrase that - I despise moving. I've done it waaay too many times for someone not in the military! And of course, the longer we've been alive the more stuff we've accumulated, so it just gets harder and harder. I see these cute little UHaul trucks come in and out of the apartment complex, and Scooter and are are like, "hey, remember when all our stuff could go in a tiny little truck like that?" Sheesh. No longer.

The good news is that we are moving back to Idaho! Yeah. Guess the East just isn't for us. The West is - in my blood I suppose. I'm not sorry we came... I mean, I don't regret the year here. We've gotten to see and do some stuff I probably would never have done if I'd always lived in the West. It's been hard, don't get me wrong. We've been poorer than we've ever been, Kiwi has been miserable without her friends back home... oh, she's made a few connections, but it's been way harder than we thought it would. But, there will be some good memories of our time here.

I guess the best part of this move is that we realized something. You see, of all the places we've lived, Idaho isn't really our "all time favorite". There's not a lot to do there; the weather can be less than ideal; it's sort of in the middle of nowhere.... and yet, we've realized it's where we want most to be, because the people we know and love the most are there. I wonder why we are so thick-headed we had to move cross-country to figure that one out.... Okay, we did need a job - but, we are going back without one. Yeah, it's sort of scary. But we have a job here, and still can't make ends meet, so what-ev, I guess.

I've been trying to sell a bunch of stuff on crai**list that we don't need, but that's going slower than I'd hoped. Get a lot of 'scam' emails, but not as many actual buyers.... what we really need to to have a yard/garage sale - but I don't know how you'd do this when you have no yard (or garage), so that's probably not going to happen. Urgh. Apartments. Except for the pool; I am loving that right now!!

Wow, where have I been?

Sorry - I've been totally AWOL. Gonna try to remedy that. Not sure what direction to take this blog - like, should I make it about something? Dunno.

Lots going on in my life right now, I will be back to post more later, but just wanted to pop on to let folks know that I'm not dead.

Uhm.... not much to say

Just another day. At least it's not snowing!

Making Snow Ice Cream

Growing up in Southern California, this wasn't something we ever did! My grandma was also a Californian, so I don't have childhood memories of making this at her house, either. (I do have great memories of making 'Shake-A-Pudding' at her house though... anyone else remember that stuff??) But I digress.....

Since we had 4 feet of snow, I figured we ought to do something fun with it. Well, besides sledding and hucking snowballs at each other, which we certainly did plenty of! Somewhere, on someone else's blog - and I don't remember who, or I'd give you credit! - I saw 'snow ice cream' and since I adore homemade ice cream, I figured this was for me!

I found more than one recipe for it, but since I also adore sweetened condensed milk I decided to go with that one. It was incredibly sweet and rich, and no one could finish their bowl of it. Well, except me, because I could probably eat a whole can of sweetened condensed milk just plain. Gross, I know. But still.

So here it is - I sent Kiwi out with a big metal pan that I had stuck in the freezer to get good and cold. She got 10 cups of clean, fresh snow.

Then we added one 14 oz. can of sweetened condensed milk and a couple teaspoons of vanilla.

As you stir it together, the snow really condenses down... it looks kinda... chunky... but it's not. It was nice and creamy. I wonder if it's different with different types of snow? Ours was a very light, fluffy, dry sort of snow.

Then we dished it up and ... yummmm! I have to admit, this was more like 4 - 6 servings, not three.....

Snowmaggeddon?? Lol

Yeah, that is actually what they are calling it around here. Which I find hilarious... I mean, yeah, it's a whole lot of snow in one storm, a lot in an area that isn't used to it, I guess... but sheesh! This would be a typical winter in so many places that it seems silly that folks are freaking out about it. As one woman said when she was interviewed "It's just snow - it's not like it's attacking us." I suppose for us, living in an apartment, it's not such a big deal since I haven't got sheds to worry about caving in, or animals that need to get out of the weather, or a long drive to shovel out or whatever... but, still.


Yet, I suppose you know it is pretty bad when the snowplow gets stuck... he's trying to dig it out here...




Here is a pic of Merry dog enjoying the freedom of a snowed-in parking lot. (the lumps on either side are cars)

Here's my family enjoying the snowfall - the big pile just to their right is our car!

Checking out the sledding hill.... we made dad do it first!

The path after it'd been plowed

Tennis, anyone?!

We thought this one looked like a hippo face! Can you see it?

Hmmm, bummer....

Look how beautiful it was the next day!! Gorgeous! Makes a person happy to be alive.



Hope the weather where you live is pretty too!