Weekend in Silver Lake

We traveled to Silver Lake over the past weekend to visit with my in-laws, Al & Kim Espinola.  We had a wonderful time visiting and I wish we could have stayed longer.  Funny that I wanted to stay longer b\c I am really a home body.

We got a late start Saturday morning and we only had about 85 miles to go.  We stopped in Lapine to pick up a craigslist item I had been begging a man to hold for me .  We also stopped at Subway to grab some breakfast which was totally yummy!

We eventually arrived and visited most of the day; only stopping to eat some fruit salad and cheese with crackers.

Saturday night we went to dinner at Cowboy Dinner Tree.  

Ariel Pic of Cowboy Dinner Tree

http://cowboydinnertree.net/  We got a nice salad, melt in your mouth dinner rolls, beans or soup, baked potato, a 26 oz. steak or a whole chicken and a berry cake desert.  Of course it was too much food to process so we had to take it home in a baggy.

Kim & Al know everyone that works there so we met all sorts of interesting people.  Al was just filling everyone in on Triple E Promotions too – thanks for all of the advertising!  You just never know when you will land a job

Here are some pictures I took while we were out to dinner.

This is the gift shop.  The actual restaurant is off to the left but I didn’t get a picture of it; the building is similar to this one.

Here is Warren & Hunter Standing in front of the cook shack.  All the meat smelled sooooo good!

Factoid:  Al built the chicken cooker a long time ago and they are still cooking away on it.

Here is Kim!  She is usually a blur in photos b\c she is always in a state of movement!  This time I got her and the only thing blurry is her earring that is still moving.  She is visiting with a longtime friend in the gift shop.

And here is a picture of the boys in the gift shop.  3 generations of Espinolas standing there.  I think Hunter is just about the same height as Papa Al !

We went into have our dinner after all the visiting and it was dark by the time we came out.  I did get one picture of an outside wall that had a bunch of neat antique implements on it.  It looks like old tack and maybe a bed warmer there in the middle.

That’s all for now – more on our visit with Kim & Al tomorrow.

Ummmmm...Yuck!

So it’s all about getting “retrained” these days.  I am no exception to the rule.  I took a QuickBooks class online first and then that lead to an Electronic Medical Records course.  I am now working on Advanced Medical Terminology and I am not the least bit thrilled with it.

I have had a lot of memory issues over the last couple years and this class just frustrates the crap out of me!  Not only do I feel like I am a little “slow” but it ticks me off that I am not pulling the “A” grade that I have become accustom to in the past.  Grrrr!  I need to work harder on this so I can get past it and stop looking at these books!

I don’t know if the next section will be any better since it is Medical Coding.  Hopefully I am onto a memory fix that will get me back on track.  I will post more about this later.  In the meantime, I will just continue to hope that I don’t truly have a “learning disability” .

And Now for Something Yummy…

Do you have a craving for something really yummy and really easy?

This is so easy that I took all the ingredients and make this out camping!

I am not big on cooking so this was right up my alley.  I have eaten this at one of those “big name” restaurants several times and I finally decided to make it myself.

How about Chicken Caesar Wraps?  Or you can also make them Ranch Wraps!

Here is a picture of the ingredients you can use for this really simple recipe.

Take the cooked chicken (ground, cubed or strips and BBQ, baked or fried) and put it in one bowl or two.

My chicken is BBQ and it was shredded in a “Ninja” blender.  In this case I used two bowls since my husband prefers ranch dressing instead of Caesar. 

Squeeze in enough dressing to taste that you prefer and mix.  I just made it like I make tuna for sandwiches.

Now the hard part is over!  Take your tortilla and line with a couple pieces of lettuce.  Spread the chicken mixture on the lettuce, top with tomatoes slices and sprinkle with shredded parmesan cheese.  Wrap, add a soup, chips or just eat alone.

Enjoy!

Bloggin’, bloggin’, bloggin’–keep those babies blogging…

Just popped into my pointy little head that “Rollin’, rollin’, rollin’….keep those babies rollin’ – rawhide!” would easily work for my title if I just adjusted a bit.  If you don’t remember the song then just carry on.  For those of you who do…..I hope it isn’t stuck in your head all day .

I have actually been thinking about blogging but I have not found the time until now.  There are so many things to get completed before school starts and one of them is to get back to blogging.  Even though I think that daily blogging is a little beyond me b\c I am just not that witty or interesting, I do want to blog more often.  Keeping up with my incessant picture taking would be a small feat for me but it would be awesome.

Nonetheless….We are on the road to Silver Lake, Oregon to visit with my in-laws.  Warren is looking forward to seeing his dad, Hunter is excited about seeing Grandma Kim and Papa Al and of course some exciting sage rat hunting.  Myself – I brought some stuff to make cards with Kim and I looking forward to visiting and getting some cards made while we visit.  We are all looking forward to going out to dinner at the Cowboy Dinner Tree tonight.

Hopefully I can process some blog content when things get quiet and while we are on the road.  If nothing else I will be taking pictures and creating lots more items to blog about .  Until next time….

A little bit of the past…

I HAVE STARTED BECOMING NASTOLGIC FOR ITEMS FROM MY PAST.  I THINK PART OF IT IS READING ALL OF THE POSTS ON THE FACEBOOK PAGE ABOUT BEING FROM PRINEVILLE.  PEOPLE OF ALL AGES ARE POSTING THEIR MEMORIES OF THINGS THAT USED TO BE IN PRINEVILLE OR OLD HAUNTS THAT WE ALL HAVE GONE TO OVER THE YEARS.

I HAVE A PILE OF REALLY GOOD MEMORIES FROM ALL MY YEARS SPENT IN PRINEVILLE.  THE MEMORIES ARE OF PLACES, PEOPLE AND WELL CALL THEM PERCEPTIONS THAT ONLY SOMEONE WHO LIVES IN PRINEVILLE COULD UNDERSTAND.  I LAUGHED MY ASS OFF WHEN I READ THE POST ABOUT ….YOU KNOW YOU ARE FROM PRINEVILLE IF… YOU KNOW WHAT “IT MEANS TO BE A STANG”.  YEPPERS – THAT IS DEFINITELY A PRINEVILLE THING!

I WAS TRANSPLANTED TO PRINEVILLE IN SEPTEMBER OF 1972 ALONG WITH THE REST OF MY FAMILY.  MY PARENTS USED TO COME TO THE AREA TO VISIT MY AUNT & UNCLE AND GO HUNTING AND LOVED THE AREA.  ONE DAY THEY DECIDED TO QUIT THEIR JOBS AND MOVE TO OREGON TO HAVE A BETTER PLACE TO RAISE THEIR KIDS.  THEY ENDED UP BUYING A HOUSE IN THE MIDDLE OF TOWN AND THEY ARE STILL IN THE SAME PLACE ALL THESE MANY YEARS LATER.  AND, THEY ENDED UP BUYING A SPORTING GOODS STORE.  HERE IS A CLIP FROM THE LOCAL NEWSPAPER.

I WASN’T EXACTLY 3 YET BUT OTHERWISE I THINK THE ARTICLE IS PRETTY ACCURATE AND THIS PICTURE IS OF MY DAD WORKING ON SOMETHING AT THE STORE.  NOTICE THAT THERE ARE NO CABLES THROUGH THE GUNS, THE MANTLE BOX HANGING ON THE GUN RACK AND THE CROSS BOW HANGING OFF THE SET OF HORNS ABOVE?

   I REMEMBER MOM WRITING UP HUNTING LICENCES AND TAGS LIKE IT WAS YESTERDAY.  I ALSO REMEMBER THE BIG FLOOR SWEEPER THAT WAS AS WIDE AS THE ISLES AND ALL OF THE PEOPLE THAT USED TO COME IN AND TELL THEIR HUNTING AND FISHING STORIES.  ONE OF THE BIGGEST THINGS I REMEMBER IS GETTING TO GO A BLOCK DOWN TO BANK DRUG TO BUY PENNY CANDY AND MAYBE A SODA FROM THE OLD SODA FOUNTAIN.  BANK DRUG WAS ALWAYS FULL OF SO MANY THINGS TO LOOK AT AND IT WAS SUCH A TREAT TO GO IN THERE.

HERE IS ONE OF MY OTHER FAVORITE HAUNTS – THE A&W!  IT USED TO BE WHERE MCDONALDS IS NOW.  AND YOU CAN SEE THE OLD BLUE STAR MOTEL IN THE BACKGROUND…

THIS IS ME WITH THE A&W BEAR & OLAN FORD.  OLAN OWNED THE A&W AND THAT COOL CAR.  I HAD A DEEP LOVE FOR BABY BURGERS, COLE SLAW AND THE LITTLE TINY BABY ROOTBEER FLOATS.  WE WOULD PULL INTO THE DRIVE IN AND I WOULD PLOP DOWN THE JOCKEY BOX DOOR BECAUSE IT ALSO SERVED AS A LITTLE TABLE AND I WAS ALWAYS READY FOR THE CAR HOP TO BRING ON THE YUMMY FOOD.  OH LOOK – I ALSO HAVE MY SALT WATER SANDALS ON.  I LOVED THOSE SHOES AND I GOT A NEW PAIR EVERY YEAR.  I CAN’T REMEMBER IF WE BOUGHT THEM AT ERICKSON’S DEPARTMENT STORE OR AT THE TOWN & COUNTRY STORE THOUGH.  I ALSO REMEMBER GOING TO THE EMPIRE ROOM FOR MEALS AND HARRIS GEE ALWAYS BEING SO FUNNY AND GIL SCHNIDER COMING IN FROM RUNNING THE PAST TIME TO SAY HEY TO EVERYONE.  FUNNY HOW THINGS COME BACK TO YOU WHEN YOU START THINKING ABOUT ONE THING AND IT JUST LEADS TO SEVERAL OTHERS.

AND WHO COULD FORGET THE GRIZZLY BEAR?  CERTAINLY NOT ME!  WE USED TO GO DOWN AND HAVE BIRTHDAYS FOR ME AND MY TWO COUSINS.  WE ALWAYS GOT A MARISHINO CHERRY ON TOP OF THE PIZZA TO HOLD THE CANDLE.  I ALWAYS LOVED GOING IN THERE, ESPECIALLY WHEN THE GAS FIRE PIT WAS RUNNING.  TOTALLY YUMMY PIZZA TOO!

IN CLOSING I HAVE ATTACHED A PICTURE OF MY SISTER & I.  CHECK OUT THE DRESS AND THAT LONG LOVELY HAIR!  I REMEMBER THAT JUMP SUIT I WAS WEARING TOO; I THINK MOM MADE THAT AND I REMEMBER THAT BEING ONE OF MY FAVORITES.  BEHIND US YOU CAN SEE THE OLD FIREPLACE AND THE MANTLE WITH THE GINORMOUS MIRROR.  THAT LOOKS LIKE SPOCK ON THE TV AND I USED TO LOVE STAR TREK AND DISNEY MOVIES ON SUNDAY NIGHT.  I AM ALSO WILLING TO BET THAT MOM STILL HAS THAT VASE YOU SEE ON THE TV; I WONDER IF IT IS STILL FULL OF PHEASANT FEATHERS FROM ALL MY DAD’S HUNTING TRIPS WITH BUFFY?

SIMPLIER TIMES AND VERY GOOD TIMES!  PRINEVILLE WILL ALWAYS BE HOME AS LONG AS MOM & DAD ARE THERE.

A Chuckle for Me This Morning

We were off to get another rather large load of wood again this morning so I decided to take my laptop along.  It is high time I get back to blogging since it is something I really love to do.  I also need to get back in the saddle because my pictures are piling up and time is passing so quickly.  On that note, there are a lot of things I need to get back to that I love to do.  I saw a sign yesterday that said something to the effect of “You make time for the things you love to do.”  I have definitely been slacking on that part of my life lately.

I think I finally have a new lease on life and I hope to get back to the person I used to know.  I remember she was very organized, could remember not only the right words to describe something but she could also recall dates, times and names of people.

My new lease on life?  I call it my “snorkel” .  I think it helps Warren out a bit also since he does not have to listen to the persistent freight train coming through the station all night long.  I apparently have pretty severe sleep apnea.  It has been an exceptionally long time between diagnosis and treatment but I think I am starting to feel the effects from snorkeling every night.  I can testify that it is wonderful not to have a headache greeting me each morning when I drag my self out of bed – there is also a little less “dragging” myself out of bed which is kind of nice because I used to love my mornings.

And back to my title about the chuckle….

We have  huge black cat by the name if Pipper and he thinks he is one of the dogs.  I really enjoy him but Hunter, well, we will just say “not so much”!  Pipper jumps up on the back of the couch to take his nap and Hunter will move a seat down from the cat because he looks at him this way.  It is totally funny and so predictable almost every night.  I get a chuckle out of it and this picture reminded me and gave me a chuckle.