Sweet Hearts

Nothing could be finer that spending a sweet weekend with the most wonderful man on Earth.  We started the weekend with Valentine's dinner with Daryl at the house on Friday night. Connor grilled steaks and mushrooms; plus we had baked potatoes and salad.  Eece's (or a variation of) Mississippi Mud Pie for dessert.

Started Saturday with a reading of The Valentine Bears in bed.  We literally reenacted the book! Hilarious. Seriously, read the book. It was me and CT. <3

Next, we headed to Portland for breakfast at Jam, fun in a farmer's market, and The One Motorcycle Show.

Back at home, we went for a lover's stroll (actually Connor was practically running for all 4 miles...I couldn't keep up!) and visited my favorite little curly-haired goat!

Lots of love felt from so many. Chocolates from Dad/Neana, flowers and coffee from Daryl, so many Valentine wishes that our hearts are forever taken.

And, it will be so fun to literally wrap some hearts around this sweet baby later this week!

Our thoughts and prayers are with so many... we hope you felt our love on Valentine's Day and every day. xox

Off to a good start...2015

2015 is well under way, and January has been a good month for us.  A few quiet weekends... lots of long walks... some delicious meals.... and plenty of excitement to keep our hearts hopeful for the year to come. 

Most exciting perhaps is the idea that Connor's bars (Pastime and Franks) are now listed with a commercial real estate agent (since late December) and there has been a lot of activity.  So... we are really anticipating an offer sooner rather than later. To pass the time, Connor has been honing his sewing skills...I have several new totes, aprons, and other lovely items to show for it. :)

Of course I love to talk about all of our dinners to remember...

Picking plate...

Roasted cauliflower with cheese sauce.

Citrus/avocado salad and arroz con pollo.

Shrimp with NC grits.  (Thanks to a sweet NC gift package from friends!)

LOVE Saturday breakfasts! This was Equadorian-inspired hominy/scrambled eggs.

All month long we have been making an extra effort to be more active.  We have our "big loop" that we try to do a few times each week... and we have our smaller route that we do when it is raining or we just don't have the energy.

The Adna railroad tressel.

But, on Saturday the 31st, I was in the mood for something different. We took a ride out to one of the county trails, and began our walk through beautiful fields and over old railroad tracks.  We found ourselves in the middle of a sheep pasture - actually owned by a friend who has Black Sheep Creamery.  There was lots of activity as we witnessed two mama sheep have two lambs each!!  The kids who were working the pasture needed some help getting the lambs to the barn, so we decided to get dirty and have some fun! Connor grew up seeing animals give birth and has worked on a farm as well... but I was in total awe of all that we witnessed.

This is about 15 minutes post-delivery!

We had to coax the mamas along...by showing them their babies and letting them lick them along the way. It was a long 1/2 mile walk to the barn!

The pictures we took don't show all the cute little lambs. Most are less than a week old since lambing season just started.  If you go to the webpage link, you can see better pictures on their site.

We are trying to live simply and treasure what we have each day.  Our cats try to remind us to slow down and take a nap...

They are so happy when we sit down that they both try to hold us there for a bit...

...and they usually get jealous of whichever one is in the better position.

Poor Lefty got chased by some dogs and landed himself 15 feet up a tree... on a very thin limb.  Poor fatty ended up falling out but luckily his Daddy was there to catch him.

We mostly just want to keep moving down the path that will lead us to our Big Farm dream...whatever that may be!

Connor hopes to use this image for the base of his logo one day... this is his favorite tree on Papa's Big Farm.

Family Time in NC

There were a lot of good things from our time with family in NC. We didn't capture everything on camera...so some memories will have to live on without photo documentation.  (I'm thinking the Mark/Matt potty training story... the FL Loves QT story...)
It is odd that while we were growing up, we spent almost every Christmas in Marion.  This was our first family Christmas there in quite a while...and it was special in that it was our first Christmas there since Mom and Dad took residence on Love Dr.  We hated missing Matt/Ashley, but they were often in our thoughts and prayers as they focus on Matt's healing ankle and the coming baby.
In our usual blog style... we will let our favorite pictures display some of the highlights from the holidays in Marion.
The weather was generally gorgeous... we spent Christmas day outside catching up on yard work.  

Moutain walk.

Chopping wood.

Pruning blueberry bushes.

Decorating the house was fun - especially for the family party!

Martha's Charlie Brown Christmas Tree

Fun way to display favorite cards.

Simple kitchen window decor.

Gotta have candles, pinecones, oranges...

Food, pretty platters, ribbons, Christmas lights...

Candles on the mantle.

All of the family contributed to the holidays in so many wonderful ways.

Ugly sweaters.

Mamberk and Gigi.

Brad keep us all laughing.

Family dinners every night!

Time with Mara.

She loves her Granddaddy!

Martha's birthday - a cheesecake with sparklers thanks to Aunt Debbi!

Uncle Willie loves Mara.

...and the cousins do too!

It is hard to believe that the holidays are over. They went too fast as usual.  We hope that 2015 will be full of blessings for all of our family and loved ones.

Holiday Hustle

This is a Milliren family quilt...Pat always has the room looking like a B&B. I loved how festive this quilt looked/felt.

Fresh greens on our bedside tables...

It is no secret that I crave quiet nights by a glowing Christmas tree...cookies baking in the oven...candles burning.  Lots of moments of holding onto my Connor-Crush.  All the cozy, peaceful aspects of the season. But, then there is real life and the holiday to-dos. I did bake some ginger molasses cookies last week during a storm and found time to write my Christmas cards too... but I need more nights like that!

 
This past weekend Connor and I took time for a quick holiday visit to Port Angeles to see Aunt Pat and Uncle Alan.  We had a lovely time. Our visit to the recently removed upper dam of the Elwha River (part of a restoration project) was such a treat. 

The overlook from the dam still remains.

But, looking down, you can see where they removed a 200+ foot deep dam.

And, looking back, you can see the old dam from the bed of the once Lake Mills.

After that, we stopped at Madison Falls - just a short walk and a bend in the trail reveals this amazing waterfall!

Pat and Alan striking a pose.

I haven't been writing about food...but that doesn't mean we aren't eating well!  Here are a few meals that I found to be delicious.

Dutch Baby (a pancake that you cook in the oven!)

We sliced it and served it with lattes and nectarines/blueberries.

Pork Carnitas...guac, corn, rice, refried black beans... queso fresco, salsa, homebrew. YUM!

Braised short ribs...jasmine rice, arugula... (A WCT masterpiece!)

Lots of things to do before our venture to Marion this coming weekend. We can't wait to spend some time with family.  I better get back to work...before my 30 lbs of fat cats climb on me again...

Does this make me look like a crazy cat lady? 

Hoping that your holiday hustle is bringing you joy and fulfillment!