TRADER JOE'S

I forget how much I love this store. I always forget about going here but when I do I always find such unique items. Also neat entertaining meal ideas. Today I found my favorite Honeycrisp apples. At our local grocery store they are $2.99lb and to buy three of them is almost $4! Here I found a bag of them for $3.69. Can't beat that price! And what I also love is you don't see the standard name brand items. I really need to go more often.

Diesel got his 1st haircut!

I finally got Diesel in for his first Schnauzer cut. And no I didn't keep a lock of his hair! I think she did a great job but I really didn't recognize him, he looks so different. I attached a before picture but that was taken a month ago so you can only imagine how much scruffier he was getting. I still like him all messy but the new clean cut looks good too. The lady said besides being afraid of the loud noises he did very well.

After

Before

25 years

Congratulations to my brother Randy and his wife Dena. They celebrated 25 years of marriage this year.
Here they are with their sons Tony and Tim. Also Rachel, Amanda and their granddaughter Paisley.

Reality Star Sighting

So here near where I live we have the Roloff family who are on the TLC show Little People Big World. The other day I was driving by a place and saw a 2 man film crew filming someone and it was the father, Matt Roloff. Of course I drove slow just to see if I could get my car in the shot. ha!
I saw their 2 older kids in a muscle type car with their Mom and they were headed out of the parking lot. The camera crew got in their van and followed and then the dad got in his car and whipped around and followed behind. If I had been pointing in the direction they left or not on my way somewhere I may have followed them. But I know where they live which is a bit of a distance from where I was and my luck they were probably driving home.

Diesels First Boat Ride

I'm not sure what was going on here but Diesel looks like he has no desire about coming in the boat. I don't blame him.

Kypton from the Bachelorette

Look who one of my best friends ran into this evening. Bachelorette runner up Kypton! My friend lives in Carlsbad, CA and so does he. She was at the Del Mar horse track this evening and there he was. Actually her husband spotted him first. My friend Gabby actually told him that 3 of her friends bet on who Jillian would pick and Gabby told him that she had won because she picked him. And he asked how did that make her win and she said because she had picked the one that went the farthest. She said he laughed about that one. When her husband asked if he was going to be the next Bachelor he could not confirm. He said something is in the works but it hasn't been determined.

But she said he was very charming, funny, very polite and had girls all over him. My friend was even a little giddy when she called me about it. I seem to recognize his shirt from the show and it seems a lot of celebs are wearing that shirt these days.

She has also met Andrew Firestone and recently when she was here in Portland she met Timothy Hutton while he was here filming. She cracks me up!

Overly Airbrushed?

Yes I admit. I follow Celebrity gossip. Depends on what it is of course and this article caught my eye. People are apparently saying that all Kelly Clarksons curves were airbrushed off for the cover of Self magazine. The above picture is a recent picture of her on good morning america. And below is the September magazine cover. Self magazine admits it did airbrush the singer, but no more than they do every other cover model. The editor-in-chief argued, "Our picture shows her confidence and beauty."

Man, I certainly wish I could be airbrushed to look that good!

Window Picture Frame

On my way to grab lunch last week I walked by an antique store and saw a couple old style farmhouse windows for sale. When I saw them I instantly wanted to put pictures behind them and hang on the wall. I went back 2 days later to buy 1, maybe 2, and here is what I came home with. I'm very excited and I can't wait to see how it turns out. I can't decide if I'm going to keep it the way it is or paint it a fresh new color. Stay tuned.

BIG BUMBLE BEE!

This picture doesn't do this bumble bee justice. He was one big mondo bee! There were a lot of bumble bees on the other flowers but they looked like flies compared to this one. I even tried to catch him in my daughters bug container but I got him in there and of course panicked before I could slide the lid shut.

Local Fair

I took this picture yesterday of a young girl showing her cow. I grew up on a farm and I joined 4-H in the 6th grade and showed beef cattle through my senior year of high school. It was a lot of hard work, dedication and discipline but it was also a lot of fun, I made a lot of friends and I learned a lot. I think that is why I love being around the barns and animals more then anything when I go to the fairs.


Walking through the aisles of the barns I saw these 2 young girls sitting by their cow. We used to do this too. You're there all week and you're caring for your animals who you truly love. It's a very comfortable seat.


Super hot day and these 2 pigs we're trying to keep cool the best way they could.

Family Time at Manzanita

Taking it in

Here was the view of the sunset the other night from our house. The colors were sooo pretty.

Local Turtles

4 on the log

Our local lake has turtles. Of course no one believes us. Surprisingly they are fast. You can't get very close to them. They will poke their heads up and will bail off into the water if they see you getting close. Now that they have been lowering the lake my husband was able to snap some photos of them sunning themselves on the logs yesterday. At work I had some bets going and of course now it's time for them to pay up. Ahhhh, sometimes it is so good to be RIGHT.

What Jeff Foxworthy has to say about Living in Oregon...

If someone in a Home Depot store offers you assistance and they don't work there, you live in Oregon.

If you've worn shorts, sandals and a parka at the same time, you live in Oregon.

If you've had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed the wrong number, you live in Oregon.

If you measure distance in hours, you live in Oregon..

If you know several people who have hit a deer more than once, you live in Oregon.

If you have switched from 'heat' to 'A/C' and back again in the same day, you live in Oregon.

If you install security lights on your house and garage but leave both doors unlocked, you live in Oregon

If you can drive 75 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard without flinching, you live in Central, Southern or Eastern Oregon.

If you design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a 2 layers of clothes or under a raincoat, you live in Oregon.

If driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow and ice, you live in Oregon.

If you know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter, and road construction, you live in Oregon.

If you feel guilty throwing aluminum cans or paper in the trash, you live in Oregon.

If you know more than 10 ways to order coffee, you live in Oregon.

If you know more people who own boats than air conditioners, you live in Oregon.

If you stand on a deserted corner in the rain waiting for the "Walk" signal, you live in Oregon

If you consider that if it has no snow or has not recently erupted, it is not a real mountain, you live in Oregon.

If you can taste the difference between Starbucks, Seattle's Best, and Dutch Bros, you live in Oregon.

If you know the difference between Chinook, Coho and Sockeye salmon, you live in Oregon...

If you know how to pronounce Sequim, Puyallup, Abiqua, Issaquah, Oregon, Umpqua, Yakima and Willamette, you live in Oregon.

If you consider swimming an indoor sport, you live in Oregon.

If you know that Boring is a city and not just a feeling, you live in Oregon.

If you can tell the difference between Japanese, Chinese and Thai food, you live in Oregon.

If you never go camping without waterproof matches and a poncho, you live in Oregon.

If you have actually used your mountain bike on a mountain, you live in Oregon.

If you think people who use umbrellas are either wimps or tourists, you live in Oregon.

If you buy new sunglasses every year, because you cannot find the old ones after such a long time, you live in Oregon.

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!

This flag is in a nearby town. It's extremely large and has raised quite a bit of controversy and the picture doesn't do it justice. It was flowing so pretty on my way home the other night I circled around the block so I could take a picture of it.

I love the 4th of July. I think I prefer it over Christmas. Going to the parade, lighting fireworks, watching fireworks. The warm weather (hopefully), the bbq's and block party's neighbors are having. The real patriotic feel. Seeing men and boys remove their hats when the flag is marched through the parade. Thinking about the soldiers over there right this very moment protecting our country.

And I’m proud to be an American,
where at least I know I’m free.
And I wont forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me.

And I gladly stand up,
next to you and defend her still today.
‘Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land,
God bless the USA.
-Lee Greenwood 'God Bless The USA'
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It's a high school prom
It's a springstein song
It's a ride in a chevrolet
It's a man on the moon
And fireflies in June
Kids sellin lemonade
It's cities and farms
And open arms
One nation under god
It's america
-Rodney Atkins 'It's America'