The weekend after

A week after our reception we were looking forward to just relaxing. The weather had a major change of heart and was amazing, if even a little too warm for us.  Saturday morning Jay and our pal Jordan went for a bike ride to Harrisburg.  The two of them are planning a ride to the coast pretty soon, so this was a good warm up for them.  After they took off, I packed Shep in the car and we headed out to the forest.  We took a nice hike down through the Old Growth Forest and then made a loop of about 6 miles.
  The guys made it back a little while after I did - they logged 62 miles!!  That's enough to work up an appetite for some grub...and a little beer!  Well, wouldn't you know it, Saturday was Septembeerfest in Corvallis!  Back on the bikes!
The three of us met up at the Benton County Fairgrounds and waited in line for admission.  There were quite a few beer vendors on hand and a few food ones as well.  We started with a few samples and enjoyed some nachos and a big pretzel during our afternoon.  Before we could leave we were sure to use up all our tokens (purchased bottle caps).  We were even lucky enough to be given two tokens by a nice gentleman who was leaving early - that's a free 8 ounces of beer!  (The guys took a few snapshots during our time at the fest, and when I get ahold of some of those I'll update the blog).
  We hopped back on our bikes and rode through campus, with Jay and Jordan pumping their fists in the air and giving a hearty "SeptemBEERfest!" in their manliest tones to all we passed.  I was sure to ride ahead a little ways.....  We then stopped at a local pub downtown for a more substantial meal while we caught the last of the Beaver game...we have high hopes for the rest of the season!
  Sunday was a super lazy day.  The weather switched back to gray and wet and catching up on our favorite shows online proved to be much too tempting.  What a great way to celebrate our first week of marriage!

Cookin' with Sunshine

Our CSA shares have continued to be bountiful and provide us with new produce to try.  Last week we received a very pumpkin-esque squash - the Sunshine squash!  I decided to prepare the squash last night, and luckily our CSA providers type up a handy sheet of cooking suggestions for us.  I just cleaned the outside of the squash, put it on a baking sheet, and it sat happily in the oven at 350 degrees for about an hour, though it probably would have done well with a little less time.  I took the squash out and cut it open - it looked like a pumpkin inside, too!  The squash is very tasty and palatable.  We didn't need to add any seasonings to enjoy some sunshine.

We're back!

After a hiatus to prepare for our recent wedding celebration we are back to blogging!  The recent rains have gotten our weeds growing like crazy and the flowers in our community garden bed have been doing great!  Shep is still adjusting to less time outside, right after he got used to having the backyard to himself.  And we are still recuperating from our wedding weekend and enjoying photos of the party. 
Stick with us as we get back into our blog-groove!

Labor-free Weekend

Over Labor Day weekend my mom came down to visit us and relax for a few days.  On Sunday we drove over to the coast, first heading up to Lincoln City.  We stopped by the location of a beach house that Jay spent quite a bit of time at as a kid.  Unfortunately, the house burned down a few years ago, which Jay had heard about from Sondy.  We spent about 20 minutes there, as Jay walked around the area, reminiscing about summers at the house with his Grandma.  The area was quite overgrown and it was difficult to discern where the house had stood.  Jay noted all of the new homes in the neighborhood and the changes that had taken place in the 10+ years since he had been there.
  We then drove down the highway a few miles to go to the beach.  It was one of the most beautiful Oregon beach days I believe I've witnessed.  We walked down the beach and back, then made a quick stop at the Outlet Mall.  On our way further south we stopped at Depoe Bay to window shop amongst all of the Labor Day Weekend tourists.  We tried to grab lunch at the Rogue Brewery but were met with a long line and wait, so we headed back home.
  We had a great dinner that night at Brynn & Robert's house and eased our way back to reality on Monday.  My mom headed home mid-morning after breakfast in downtown Corvallis.
  That afternoon I went into work for a few hours and Jay rode his bike out to see me!  He was feeling so good that he made it a round trip, logging 37 miles!  Great ride on flat, paved roads to help continue the rehab process!

It's working!

After Jay returned a little early from his trip to let his body heal he made an attempt at mastering the sprinkler dilemma.  Thanks to my research (aka failure!) Jay had a little more knowledge going into it.  The process still took a while but was considerably more successful than my efforts. And then some rain came! After just a little bit of rain we started seeing some weed growth!  Never would you think that weeds would be such a welcome sight, but it was great to know that we were just a little bit closer to planting our grass seed.
  Jay sprayed our little weedlings with RoundUp, and the next day we had more rain!  So now, about a week later, we have lots of little weed buddies growing all over the yard!!
  Jay will soon be out in the yard to spray again and this time he will take no mercy!