An Introduction

I'd like to introduce you to something Wes and I have been very excited about.

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Our very own, individual, blogs. Before I say anything else about them I want to assure you that these blogs will not be replacing this blog. This blog is my baby and I will be forever thankful for having our marriage documented in such a way. With that said, these new blogs are strictly for hobby/interest related purposes. It just so happened that as I was thinking of starting a blog, Wes was too; and so together we have been dreaming, designing, and writing our own separate little projects... and here they are:

Katie's Blog:
My blog is affectionately titled "My Paper Airplane." You can view it by clicking on the link or by going to katiespaperairplane.blogspot.com
The decision to start this blog stemmed from my decision to take my wedding/career dreams seriously. For quite a while I was in the pattern of getting excited about weddings and then forgetting about them (out of sight, out of mind). After having some conversations with Wes about what my goals are, I've been extremely motivated, hopeful and... well... lets be honest, sort of obsessive about wedding/design blogs, my wedding magazines, and my sketchbook. I feel inspired, and it feels good, real good. This blog is really about documenting my journey into the wedding industry- hence the title "My Paper Airplane." Get it? you know-- airplane... journey....
Then just add in my love of paper and it all makes sense! Please visit the blog to learn more about it.

Wes' Blog:
Wes' blog is hobby related. Our WesandKatie blog clearly turned into my project; and although Wes does contribute to and reads this blog, I think he has only published three posts. So, with that said I was quite excited about the idea of him producing his very own. Wes' blog is called "The Whiskey Intelligencer." Click the link or go to: thewhiskeyintelligencer.blogspot.com
On his blog, Wes will feature: reviews of cocktails, whiskey tastings, or "anything else that suits his fancy." As previously mentioned, Wes' interest in whiskey is comparable to one's interest in any lovely, handcrafted thing. Whiskey goes through a process just like wine, beer or coffee does. Its quite interesting, so go have a look if you ever find yourself wondering what an Old Fashioned is suppose to look like (and taste like).

So without further ado...

Friends, meet our new blogs.

New blogs, meet our friends.

Thank you for your infallible support, we appreciate you!!

Our 3 Year Anniversary

We have been very busy up here in the NW. School ended for us last thursday and we hit the ground running:

Friday- celebratory dinner at Avignon Bar
Saturday- shopping, dinner at Cha Cha Cha, and Movie: Super 8
Sunday- 3 year anniversary celebration began with breakfast
Monday- Come home from our celebration and have a friend over for dinner
Tuesday- work, dinner & bowling with Caleb, Nina, Aunt Tracy and friends
Wednesday- errands, Birthday dinner for Caleb
Thursday- finally a home cooked meal.
Friday- Here we are at coffee. For the fun of it!!! Imagine that??!?!?

We've been enjoying every minute to its fullest potential and our camera, fortunately, accompanied us. So, on to the good stuff!

June 14th marked our three year anniversary. On year one we surprised each other: I planned half the day and Wes planned half the day. On year two we took a trip to Seattle. And this year we spent one night at Mcmenamin's Edgefield. Overall we had a really nice relaxing time. We both felt though that the service was at times disappointing but that wouldn't be a first for Mcmenamins. Aside from that we really enjoyed our stay and were happy to celebrate there.


We started off our anniversary celebration with breakfast at Slappy Cakes. I've shown slappy cakes on the blog several times before. This is the restaurant where you can make your own pancakes at your table. Wes had never been so we thought it would be something fun and different to do. Then we arrived to an hour long wait and instead decided to sit at the bar and order "grown-up" food. We'll have to try making our own pancakes next time I guess. Our food was DELICIOUS. I was actually quite surprised. We had a blast sitting at the bar:
I got an O.J. mimosa, and eggs benedict. Wes got a Grapefruit mimosa with eggs, and biscuits/ veg. gravy. Starting the weekend off right! ha ha



We arrived to Edgefield and had a bit of time before we could check in so we walked around through the gardens and peeked at the winery and distillery.


This is me being obsessed with the ivy covered wall.
After walking for a bit we found our selves relaxing in one of the many bars Edgefield has to offer.
We checked into our room, changed into our suits and headed straight for the soaking pool. The soaking pool is a heated, salt water, paradise. I know this might sound dramatic but for a split second I felt like I was in a pool in Hawaii- minus the palm trees and ocean view. And I guess we should all take into consideration that we haven't been swimming pretty much since we lived in California. But still, it was amazing and so relaxing. Add in the poolside "Tea Bar" which serves up handcrafted tea-cocktails -- good times.

Wes being the "whiskey-man" he is these days, knows what a good Old Fashioned should look like, taste like and smell like. Heck, even I know all of those things now. So when I went to pick our drinks up at the bar and saw that is was pink/orange I knew we'd have a good, we-know-how-to-make-a-better-old-fashioned-than-you-do, laugh.
My black tea mojito was quite tasty though!

Just a small section of the soaking pool and that building is the Ruby Spa where I had my massage the next morning. Its a full-blown salon in there, and they have what looks to be the cutest (and comfiest) mani/pedi area.
That night we saw the movie Source Code which Wes had been wanting to see. It was entertaining. This is the movie screen (definitely not as impressive as the Kennedy School theater).

The ceiling was painted like the night sky.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Mcmenamins loves details. I would argue that that is one of the things that Mcmenamins does best; their attention to detail really makes their venues special. Here are a couple of examples:

This was painted on the door in our room:

And this was in a random crack out in the hallway:


Breakfast the next morning- can you tell we look a smidge tired? We had a rough night sleep. The people above us partied until 3 a.m. and some small kids next door woke up at 6. Then after this I went and had a massage while Wes relaxed for a bit. We met up at the soaking pool afterward for a little bit.


Then randomly as we were roaming Edgefield one last time before departing we asked if we could have a tour of their distillery. If you haven't heard already (or you couldn't tell from the looks of Wes' Christmas loot), Wes has a healthy love of whiskey. Much like the way his father loves wine (well, we love wine too) Wes loves whiskey. He reads about whiskey for fun. So, because of this hobby I've learned quite a bit about the distilling process as well and therefore we were both quite delighted to get our own spur of the moment little private tour.

It smelt incredible in there and the guy showing us around was really nice. I think Wes and I both find the physics of the whole process fascinating. There is something to be loved about all things handcrafted, and so... add whiskey to the list! It's quite interesting really to learn about the way a Still works and the chemical reactions and such that occur.


After our tour we went to the gift store to take home a bottle of the whiskey we had just learned so much about.



It was great seeing you Edgefield! Another year of marriage down, boy how time flies. Thank you all for joining in on the ride. This blog has really given back to us in so many ways. I'm so thankful to be able to look back at posts written just after we got married until now. Thanks for tuning in and we are really looking forward to this next year!

Enough Said...

Sweet little Flora, our complex's only eight-year-old loves chalk. Most days out of the year we come home to welcome notes, flowers, arrows, and smiley faces. Most recently their have been some very funny blurbs written on the sidewalk entailing a complaint note from "Ms. worm." ... or something like that.

Anyway after a late night walk home from Palios we arrived to this little gem:

"YOU CAN DO ANYTHING"

"Open-hearted
Radiant
Extraordinary
Great
Optamistic
Nicest Place
EVER
OREGON"

We agree Flora, we agree.

Blue Birds

If you're friends with me on facebook you may have heard me mention a couple times now the bluebird nest we have sitting directly outside of our kitchen window? If not, I'll explain. Last month sometime the neighbor who lives directly across from us (his window/front door faces ours), knocked on our door to let us know of "the unique opportunity we have" and that a nest was being built right-up-there-yonder- (no-he doesn't talk like that). For the following weeks we saw the proud bluebird parents in our complex quite often, collecting twigs and other quality nest making materials. We were surprised by how quiet they were. We would walk by the tree, take a peek at the nest and be surprised to see mama bird patiently sitting and waiting. We the number of cats that frequent our complex we were worried this wouldn't last, but so far- it has! A couple of weeks ago I was coming in from doing the laundry and heard the tiniest of chirps. BABIES!! And now we only hear them come feeding time. The other morning I was just lucky and happened to be pouring myself a cup of coffee as I saw mom and dad land in the tree. I kept watching and all of a sudden it looked like this:

Breakfast! I just couldn't believe the scrawny little necks and how wide they can open their mouths. Quite exciting don't you think? And now, mom and dad just fly around the complex keeping a watchful eye over all who enter. This was them yesteday:


And this was taken through our kitchen window so I don't know if you can see it very well. But see that mess of twigs?

Lamb Tagine with Couscous

You are looking at a girl who is officially on summer break! I have been on summer break now for about 20 minutes and oh boy does the freedom feel good. Though, I'll be honest-- this quarter was about the easiest I've ever had in my life. So, this past 20 minutes hasn't felt too much different from this past week. Wes on the other hand has had a difficult quarter (as usual), with library books stacked to the ceiling and 20 page papers to boot. So, with finals week upon us he has been having study sessions, one of which being on Monday night. Monday night I was alone and had that strong desire around 3 in the afternoon to plan something delicious for dinner. Somehow I decided I wanted to fix lamb with couscous. I've only fixed lamb once before and that was of the lamb-meatball variety (which turned out very yummy if you're curious). So I searched through some lamb recipes and came across this perfect marriage of said ingredients. Lamb Tagine with Couscous, and boy-oh-boy is it a winner. If you don't like lamb I suggest substituting your favorite meat of choice because it really is a great recipe. If you are open to lamb I urge you to try it. So so flavorful and so easy to cook! You can view the recipe below or here at REAL SIMPLE.

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 1/2 pounds lamb loin, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 medium yellow onion, thickly sliced
• 4 carrots, peeled into thin strips
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
• zest of 1/2 lemon, grated
• 1 32-ounce container low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 10-ounce box couscous
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves, roughly chopped
• 1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, roughly chopped
• 3/4 cup kalamata olives, pitted and halved

Directions

1. In a large resealable plastic bag, combine the paprika, turmeric, cumin, cayenne, cinnamon, salt, and 2 tablespoons of the oil. Add the lamb, seal, and shake to coat. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 12 hours.
2. Heat the remaining oil in a Dutch oven or large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and carrots and cook for 15 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
3. Add some of the lamb to the pot and brown on all sides. Transfer to a plate. Repeat with the remaining lamb. Return the lamb to the pot along with the onion and carrots. Add the garlic, ginger, and zest and stir.
4. Add the broth and bring to a boil. Stir in the couscous. Remove from heat, cover, and set aside for 10 minutes. Stir in the cilantro, parsley, and olives. Divide among individual plates.
   

June Birthdays

SO MANY June Birthdays, so little time...

I know of at least one birthday happening on every week of this month. Crazy! Happy Birthday month to all of you who will be celebrating! I know of two people (including myself) who will be turning 24. (Shout out to my twin!)

And now, for a video that is strangely addicting, and will surely get stuck in your head... enjoy!

We Love...

FAGE

(Pronounced "Fa-yeh")

What is it? Plain, Greek Yogurt

We dip carrots, crackers, pita bread, and tomatoes in it. We use it in place of sour cream on our baked potatoes, chili and Mexican food. Did I mention we love the stuff? If you're still not convinced here is what it says on the container:

" FAGE Total 0% Greek Strained Yogurt is fat free. However, it provides that distinctive creamy taste and thick texture unique to authentic Greek Strained yogurt. Being fat-free is also perfect for your waistline. It is totally natural... it can be used in cooking pasta dishes or preparing spreads, sauces, smoothies, and desserts as an alternative to cream and mayonnaise. Mix it with fruit or honey for a delicious breakfast or dessert."

And don't think for a second that all Greek Yogurts are the same, FAGE is far better than the other greek yogurts you'll find at your super market. We get ours at Trader Joes. Try it! You won't regret it, I promise you!