The Beach at La Push is beautiful. (Even more beautiful than it is described in Twilight. Heh!) I think it was my favorite part of Olympic, even though I think it's technically just outside the park. We saw three eagles and a seal. And we stood there and let the wind blow through our hair. A perfect day.
I can breathe deeper in these places where everything is lush and green and mountainous...
We woke up to this view a few Fridays ago. And then I ate the best pancakes of my life: sweet potato pancakes with vanilla bean butter. There are no words.
Phew. Busiest Saturday ever. I started early and baked some bagels...
Bagels are my JAM right now, as I explained in my last post, and these are the pièce de résistance. If you don't like asiago cheese bagels, I don't want to be your friend. They've been my favorite kind of bagels since... the moment my first asiago cheese bagel touched my lips.
I love the process of making bagels. It's one of the most fun things ever: you make dough, let it rise, form the bagels themselves (it's like playing with play dough!), poach them & then you get to "decorate" them with ingredients.
I want to make all of the different kinds of bagels! So far I've just made: garlic & herb, whole wheat & asiago. That leaves me about a million other variations to try out, and I can't wait.
My new goal in life is to open a bagel shop....unless I turn out to be a concert pianist.
This piano came to live with us today! Which makes it sound a lot easier than it actually was.... We had to drive to Albany; pick up a trailer, which Aaron's boss very generously let us borrow; pick up our friend and helper, Dean; drive back to Corvallis; load the piano into the trailer; drive to our house; load it out & into our house; drive the trailer & Dean back to Albany... Phew. The moving process went much easier than the three of us anticipated, but It's so worth it. I can see the piano now from where I'm sitting, and it just makes our house seem more lived-in and homier.
And, of course, I plan to play it...the little bit that I can.
Another new thing that came today was our Canon 7D, which we won on Ebay over two weeks ago! I'm glad it came in time for our trip next week, and I'm still figuring out all of the settings & getting better at shooting Canon....
Yes, this one is out of focus. Black dogs are hard to shoot in low light, but I thought this was too adorable not to share! These are where the pups sit when they're waiting for their meals. :)
And here's a shot of our pizza dinner...yup, sourdough pizza dough was also on the docket for today. So delicious! Such a happy day!
So, I know I said I'd blog more... But, the problem is, I still don't have a camera. BUT, I don't think that will not be the case much longer, so I thought I'd go ahead and jump the gun, and show you what I've been up to for the past several months. If you follow me on Instagram already, this might be kind of boring. If not, I'm @calliebellez. Get to following...
On January 1, we picked up the dogs from their holiday stay at the Muddy Dog Ranch. They were very tired and very happy to be home. So was I!
I was sick over the holidays, but started to feel better, so we took a Bouldering trip to Bend over MLK weekend where I climbed the tallest boulder problem of my life. For a girl who doesn't like heights, this was a big deal. We also drank a lot of amazing craft beer and ate delicious pub food. Oh, Central Oregon, how I love thee.
After the trip, I started to feel crappy again - a relapse from my earlier ear infection/cold. I drank lots of tea and took lots of baths and struggled to do daily activities let alone climb or go to the gym. It was the worst. I almost never get sick, so this knocked me back big time.
I never lost my appetite, though, and this fajita meal was one of my favorites so far this whole year. It was delicious. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.
And then we had snow.... lots of lots of cold and snow. Thankfully, that has passed by now. I feel sorry for the Northeast, still getting covered by it.
The snow cleared in time for me to head up to Vancouver for a work conference. It was my first time in Canada, and my first time at a professional conferencey event! I wrote about it here.
One of my New Years' resolutions was to walk the dogs more. And I'm happy to say that we are succeeding with usually at least two walks per week. Sometimes they are around our neighborhood, but other times, we go for fun hikes together. I love this photo. It's the background of my phone right now. :)
I competed in my first climbing competition! At The Crux gym in Eugene. It was a total blast, and I'm glad I did it! I finished fifth in my division. Not too shabby.
We went cross-country skiing for the first time and had SO much fun!
I made bagels for the first time, and they turned out better than I ever could have imagined. EVER. They're better than any bakery bagel I have ever had in my whole life. I may have found a calling: bagel baker. Just kidding. If I did that for a living, I'd weight 300 pounds. But, I will make more.
I was, as usual, surprised at how easy it was. I was always intimidated by the poaching step, but it wasn't bad at all! Here's the recipe I used! I highly, highly suggest the cookbook.
I think next, I'm going for a doubled recipe of whole wheat bagels. Om nom.
That's it for now. See you soon!
This post is random, but I'm selling my old iPhone 4, and I wanted to make sure I had all my photos & everything moved off. Cue reminiscing about this time last year...
Here's to you, 2013, and some moments that never made it on to Instagram or Facebook or even this blog.
Boone says, "WTF; you guys are making me move AGAIN?"
Pretty sure this was one of our last trips to HP40: the only thing we miss about Alabama....
And then we moved. And the trip was AWESOME.
In Oregon, we found new routines.
And went on new adventures.
As soon as we landed at our new apartment, we started receiving lovely wedding gifts!
And before long, we headed home to get married. It was a bit of a bumpy trip...
Of course our wedding was awesome, but so was our rehearsal dinner.
It was so good to spend time with friends!
After the wedding, we stayed in the cozy carriage house of the beautiful Empress of Little Rock B&B.
And then, the adventures continued...
Happy 2014!
So.....I'll be a better blogger in the New Year, or after someone buys my camera so I can upgrade.
But, in any case, today marks the first snow since we've been in Corvallis. There are several inches on the ground, and it's still coming down. I enjoy weather events when I can stay home, but there's stuff to do today: a hair appointment, a holiday party. And besides, I'm completely OUT OF BOOKS! Tragedy. It will all get done, and THEN I'll sit on my couch by the fire.
UPDATE: In the middle of writing this entry, I decided to reschedule my hair appointment. Everyone gets to see my roots for two more weeks, but I'll look fresh & cute for our trip home!
Anyway: The snow. It was our new pup Charlie's first snow. He was timid at first ...for a couple of seconds before he started BOUNDING through the yard. It's funny to see the lab in him come out that way. And, as always, Boone hates it. He did his business as quickly as possible so he could rush back in and curl up into a ball on the couch.
UPDATE: The library just decided to close at 1 p.m. So no books either. I might have to download a Kindle book to make it through the storm....
Or I'll just watch my dogs play. They are pretty entertaining....
