Sit right down and stay a while...

It's time to bring this blog back from the dead.  A few people have asked me to post more things, and so I shall not disappoint.  I took a look at my last post, from way back in October.

A lot has changed since then, so I will try to post some interesting things that happened to me, but I'm not even sure where to begin.  Recipes?  Cat stuff?  Here goes.

Zach and I spent a really nice Christmas Day with friends in Silverton, which is about an hour south of Portland near Salem.  We went to see Silver Falls in a gorgeous park.  There is a pretty great looking hiking trail in this park that we plan on returning to some time in the future.

Freyja got big.  And then she got bigger.  There was an entire fiasco surrounding her spaying that I won't go into.  I assure you it was emotional and expensive.  But she is ours.  And she is better now, and back to eating both food and non-food items such as candles, envelopes, boxes, yoga mats, yarn, etc.  She is almost full-grown now, and she'll be turning one sometime in the spring.  All my cats still hate each other.  It's noisy here.

Fishtown neighborhood in Philadelphia.

Pizza face in the floor.

Austin

Baby Jesus

Natasha

Then there was my epic trip East.  I flew into Philadelphia, PA to stay with a friend from library school who lives in a hip neighborhood with her husband (above) and two lovely kitties.  I had missed winter for the last four (yes FOUR) years, but it snowed plenty the last day I was in Philadelphia.  The true irony of this situation, of course, is that while I was away, Portland got their first snowstorm since 2009.

Somewhere outside of Harrisburg

Horseshoe Curve

I had planned my trip so that I could ride the train from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh.  It took about 8 hours, but as there is free wireless internet on Amtrak these days, I really had few complaints.  Did you know they also sell beer and mini bottles of alcohol, too?  Really, if you have the time I totally recommend train travel.  Yes I know it's 2014.  

I also stayed with my grandmother for what is probably the last time.  She is, for now, going to live with my Aunt Linda in Orlando.  While I think having someone to take care for her is going to improve her situation,  I am not entirely convinced she should live by herself in PA anymore.  Actually, I will probably never live in PA again myself.  

It was sad and also amazing.  In a way, even though I was helping her this time, I felt like I was 13 again.  I never realize how much I miss family until they are right there with me.  We just watched TV and looked at old pictures.  A few nights I went out with friends from high school, but mostly I just knitted and cooked at got away from my own life for a while.  I needed it.  I also got a lot of old photos of myself as a baby, and family members at various stages of history.  I currently have them all in a photo album, and I may try to take pictures of them and put them up at some point.

Sean

Amon Amarth

Some pictures of the show I went to in case you were interested.  This was literally the reason I chose to go home the week that I did, and I wasn't disappointed at all.  Portland doesn't get too many metal shows, and the scene can be kind of miniscule.  Lots of Canadian doctors, though.

CCAC Boyce

When I got home, everything was the same, but then it wasn't.  Something happened to me on that trip that I just really can't put my finger on.  I feel like a different person.

I've still been cooking...This was the Lobster Colorado that I made for Valentine's day.  You will notice on that recipe page that there is literally no review of this recipe that is less than four stars.  There is a reason.  While this was expensive to make, and it's something pretty seriously fattening that you shouldn't really eat every day, I can say that it was totally worth it.  The best filet mignon I've ever had was the one I made myself.  

Our Valentine's Day weekend took place after the fact.  We went snowshoeing again up on Mt. Hood. This time, we took the wrong path and ended up snowshoeing for about 5 hours.  Ouch.

I've also been working on my hula hooping.  Why? 

That's why.  

And only in Oregon would there just be a goat on my neighborhood run.  Well, maybe also in Russia.

And Andrew finally just got his Oregon Driver's License!  He moved here the same year that I did...

That's all for now.

The end.