Resplendent Fall!

Just some lovely pictures taken from my backyard... and a quote to match...

Have a wonderful Autumn everyone!

(sorry I've been away so long.... the days seem to fly by...... trying to catch my breath!)

Oh No! Retirements Looming! Where To Put Down Roots? Consideration # 1 Spokane Washington

Retirement........
I'm still trying to get over the fact that I'm turning 50 next year and then this old age stigma looms in the near future!  Oh no.... AARP is knocking on the door!  Not sure how to feel about all this!

We as a family have pretty much lived the nomadic life... not living in one place for more than 4 years at a time.  The military life has been good to us, I must admit, they have taken good care of my family for many years now.  They pay for our moves, send people to pack up our household and unpack us at our new home, give us long transition vacations and put us up in nice hotels along the journey.  We have excellent insurance and housing allowance.... they've just about done everything but wipe our snotty noses through the years and now that it's time to cut the apron strings.....  I think I'm getting a little nervous. 

So!  It's time to find a place to put down roots!  You'd think it would be relatively easy, I mean, you pretty much should have an idea what kind of house you want, towns you like etc..... but no..  I've lived in many towns across the US and not one of them fit all of my criteria for the perfect retirement location!  That's not good!!  OK... I have approximately 2 or so years to figure this out!!  Where to begin.....

I guess a good place to start would be to make a simple list of my "must have" requirements for a perfect new home.

Must haves:

Must be on the West Coast!  It's were I'm from... and plus, I've seen the other side and I don't think I could do it long term.

Must be near a relatively large city and near a fairly major airport.  I don't want to live in the city but I want to be close enough to take advantage of all that it provides.

Must be "military retirement friendly".  It can vary from state to state for the military retired when it comes to taxes and health care so that would make it a major factor on my list.

I want to be near beauty!  Meaning trees and parks and mountains and flora and fauna... you know, the great outdoors.  Places to hike and just breath in the fresh air!

This is a big one for me...  Must not rain for months at a time without a break!  I grew up in Oregon so I know rain, and this California native can't take it anymore!  Ok, I know it's necessary, and I don't want to scorch the earth but.... enough already!  Just give me a place that I can count on sunshine for most days in the summer and I'll be a happy camper!

Must have good shopping!  I've lived in places that have the best malls and great stores (including an Ikea which is one of my favorite places to just browse), places to go antiquing and, oh yeah, must have craft stores! And then I've lived in places where Walmart was considered the "mall".....  I prefer the aforementioned please!

Blah, blah, blah,  I could go on with this list forever!  Let's get right into it shall we! 

First place my husband and I are considering is Spokane Washington!!  Anyone know anything about Spokane??  Cause I know next to nothing about it.  My husband came home one day and said "why not Spokane, people at work tell me it's great!" and I said "It's part of Washington and Washington has more rain then Oregon!"  But apparently not, at least not this part of Washington.

Spokane is considered the sunny side of the state of Washington.  Spokane's annual rainfall is 18.8 in. as opposed to say Astoria Oregon, (where we previously lived), is 67.13 in. a year.  CHECK!  It averages about 174 sunny days a year.  Portland Oregon only 68.  Not bad!  It does get cold and snows in the winter but I don't mind that so much.

In my research of Spokane I went to a forum where someone else asked the question "What's it like to live in Spokane?".  Well from what I read, quite a few responses were negative.  The city is dirty... there's lots of crime... the economy stinks.... there's no nightlife.... it's too hot... it's too cold.... there's no work.... there's nothing to do!  I was starting to get discouraged and I got close to discounting Spokane all together.  Then another person who retired in Spokane and has lived there for 5 years just loves it!  Couldn't say anything bad about the place!  Hmmmm maybe the negative people are trying to steer us potential invaders away so they can keep Spokane to themselves!!  HA!  It's still on the table then!!

Here's a few pictures I found from my research of the area to give you an idea what it's like.

Hmm, looks decent.  Typical mid-sized downtown.

 

Traffic doesn't look bad at all!

 

Now that's a river!

 

Mount Spokane State Park.  Beautiful!

 

River Park Square mall looks pretty nice too.

 

Ahh and there's the airport! 

 

 

 

Well.... It looks pretty nice to me!  But any place could look nice in pictures.  I guess the next step would be to take a little trip to Spokane and actually experience it first hand.  It's only a few hours from where we are now so it would be an easy trip. 

So the hunt for a permanent home begins!  I think it's going to be tough to decide, but the first prospect looks promising already!  Wish me luck and I'll keep you posted on future location choices!

And Now....... A Moment With Maru

This cat makes my day........

Boy....... Where does one find a pet that's cute, cuddly and has personality out the wazzooo.....

Shorty... you used to be cute... What happened?? 

Nuts For Nuts 'N More!

I was looking on my facebook newsfeed page the other day, sifting through the usual mundane posts when I came across someone's "like" page that had an advertisement of a product that caught my eye.  All I saw was the word "peanut butter" and I had to click on it since I'm pretty much a big fan of the stuff. 

Peanut butter isn't known for being the most healthy food, it has saturated fat and salt, blah, blah, blah... but this product claims it is fortified with protein, has no sugar added, no sodium, high in fiber and lots of other stuff that sounds to good to be true!  Well I had to jump on that!!

http://www.nuts-n-more.com/

 

I did a little research and found that the Nuts 'N More company was founded by fitness and nutrition experts looking for healthy sources of protein and they came up with these nut based butters.  So I decided "what the heck, I need a healthy snack food that'll help curb my sweet tooth and maybe this will fit the bill!"  The flavor choices are peanut butter, chocolate peanut butter, almond butter, chocolate almond butter, chocolate coconut almond butter, and their newest flavor, cinnamon raisin almond butter.

I decided to try the chocolate peanut butter and the chocolate coconut almond butter, just to see what they're like.  I ordered them from their website here and after a few long weeks they arrived at my doorstep.

I couldn't wait to dig in!

My first thought was "YUM"!  The chocolate peanut butter was not really that chocolatey tasting but it was smooth and creamy and reminded me a bit of Nutella, a healthier alternative though (I had an unhealthy addiction to Nutella a while ago.  Darn you Costco for the mega containers of the stuff!!).  It was also nicely sweet.  It doesn't contain sugar but it has Xylitol, a natural sweetener which they claim has many health benefits as well.  The consistency is a bit looser than normal peanut butter but if you refrigerate it it thickens up nicely.

The chocolate coconut almond has a bit of a grainier texture.  I'm not a huge fan of almond butter but this one has coconut and chocolate and who could refuse that combo!  My husband said the flavor was like a cookie and I could agree with that.  The new cinnamon raisin almond butter sounds intriguing and I might have to try that next, the site claims it is a new favorite flavor for their customers.

I've been enjoying these two treats these past weeks, so much so I think I will order more!  They are both good for dipping apples in for breakfast and sometimes I eat a spoonful for a pick-me-up snack between meals.  A great source of protein, omegas and fiber.... what more can you ask for from peanut butter!  Thanks Nuts 'n More!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Little Classical Chill-out Interlude

Do you ever have those days when you just want to forget your day.... the details of it.... what you did, what you have to do, what you'll never have time to get done...  You just want to stop the chaos!!!


Well if it's that kind of day for you then I invite you to chill out with me and enjoy a little interlude for your day.  As you've probably guessed from my previous posts, I love art, namely the classics which you will find in abundance at the Web Gallery of Art .  One of my favorite stops on the web for taking in some of my favorite fine art pieces!  One of my very favorite artists is Jacques-Louis David, a French painter from the Neoclassic period.  Talk about fantastic stuff!  His paintings tell a visual story that's dramatic and stunning to look at! 

I also have those days when I want to listen to music that is also dramatic and beautiful to the ear, just like the art is to the eye.  I have a favorite song that I have on my music list that fits the bill!  It's called "En Aranjuez con tu amor" by Fernando Lima.  I've heard it means in Aranjuez with you my love, a place of dreams and love... and so on.  One of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard!

So here is your interlude....  Sit back and relax, play the song, and feast your eyes on some beautiful art, check out more at the Web Gallery of Art!  The stress will just melt.......... away............................

Patroclus 1780

Portrait of Antoine-Laurent and Marie-Anne Lavoisier 1788

The Intervention of the Sabine Women 1799

 

                                                Leonidas at Thermopylae 1814

A Little R & R at the Folks House!

Sometimes it's just good to spend time with the two people that brought you into this world!  I spent a whole week with my parents the week before last and I had a great time!

We didn't do much... but we didn't really have to!  It was just nice to see how they were doing, we don't talk too much during the week so I needed to catch up on what's been happening in their daily lives....

My Dad, who's an avid reader, turned me on to a series of books he'd read that I'm really enjoying!  The best part is there's a whole lot to read and he gave me just about every book in the series!  Nothing like getting lost in a good book, and this series will keep me going for a long time!  The author is Daniel Silva and I started with the one I deemed to be the first in the Gabriel Allon series "The Kill Artist".

http://danielsilvabooks.com/about-daniel/faq/

Click on the link below the picture to get the info on the complete series.  You won't be disappointed with this author, I'm hooked already! So I had a good book to read when I had the time, and we had lots of siestas during my stay, so I got in a good amount of reading!  Thanks Dad!

It helped a lot that Oregon is having a stellar year for weather!  Oregon is known for it's wet weather, even during the summer months, but this summer we've been treated to a beautiful summer right from the beginning!  And you don't know how much we needed it!

 So my mom and I would head to the hills for a little hike in the woods, one of our favorite things to do together!  It gave us a chance to do more catching up, (she also tried to scare me by throwing things in the brush cause she knows how much I get freaked out by snakes and other such things, one of her favorite things to do on a hike! But don't worry, I got her back good... another story!)

Mom and I have always liked the scent of lavender, so we checked out a local lavender farm to get some sweet smelling treats! 

 

My wonderful mom

It smelled heavenly, and it was so beautiful!  Such a lovely way to spend time with my Mom!

During my stay we also ate some of my favorite meals that my Mom has always made throughout my life!  She is Hispanic and she makes the best refried beans and tortillas and a dish we call savory meat... mmmmmmm the best comfort food you could ask for!  Of course I've tried for a long time to get her recipes down on paper so they don't get lost forever, but she can never give me exact measurements, it's all instinct, dishes that were taught to her by her mother,  all done by feel and taste.  So me, having no instinct for cooking at all, I watched and jotted down every ingredient, and every stir and how much time it took, and I rolled out dozens of tortillas.... hopefully I will preserve some of these precious recipes that would be lost forever if I didn't take the time to write them down!  Thanks Mom for the fun cooking lessons!  Here's the recipe for Mom's Savory Meat if you'd like to try it.  I haven't tried it since I wrote it down that week so let me know if it works or if it needs tweeking!

The rest of our time we spent watching movies, laughing and joking as we've always done as a family.  I went through old photographs... remembering my life as a kid, all good memories.  And when the sun went down we took our evening walks, enjoying the warm breezes, the colors in the sky, picking blackberries and sweet plums, watching the airplanes and birds fly by through binoculars...


But really our time that week was spent just enjoying each others company, which is something we don't tend to do as much as we should.... especially with our aging parents.  I consider myself very lucky to have my parents, they gave me a good life and brought me up right and I want to spend as much time with them as I can!

My only regret that week is that my brothers weren't there to share it with us, that would've made it complete!  Oh and I didn't take more pictures!!  I'll leave you with my all time favorite picture of my parents!  Newly married, young and happy...... just like they are today... just like they taught me to be!  Thanks Mom and Dad! 

 

 

 

Joyous Summer!

Took a little sunset drive last night in my husband's convertible..... top down, warm breeze blowing in our hair..... that herbal smell from the flora and pine trees.....

Got a picture of Seattle over the water in the distance on one side......

 

 

And Mount Rainier on the other.....

 

All while listening to the cool sounds of some great music like "Snowbound" from Donald Fagan

 

 

(Ok so it's the wrong season... who cares!  It's a sweet song!)

 

Enjoying the peak of the summer with great songs, great views, and in even greater company....

Good times my friends...... good times!