Final Days of September

.......ah, the final days of September........

Melissa (oldest of our two daughters) is now a Mary Kay Beauty Consultant!  If you need or want to order anything from her (help support her family!) you can order directly from her website and it can be shipped directly to your home. Here she is setting up for a party last night:

Here's she is during the presentation (with one of guests):

Jessica (younger of our two daughters) is officially the Cupcake Queen! She's just got the talent it takes to make cupcakes both taste yummy and look great! Here's a photo of a batch she's taking into her work today for a surprise shower:

Here's a photo of Jessica on Saturday when she was able to stop by home on her way to an event (with her new camera from her husband!):

Now....hang on to your seats....Mark and I went salmon fishing on Saturday...

(the Coast Guard cutter came in right next to us)

(the seaplane took off next to us)

(the bay was calm)

... and guess who caught her very first salmon? 

Yep, I did!  It was so exiting. It measured at 31 inches but we forgot to weight it.  We had fresh salmon for dinner Saturday night, then froze the rest in packages. 

Another September event, I ran my first "official" race!  It was our local Prefontaine Run, a 10K race (6.2 miles).  My goal was to place in the top 5 of MY age group, and I did!  I placed 5th.  I ran 8:48 minute miles on a somewhat difficult course, it has several "agony" hills! 

I am really loving these early autumn days.  A few of then were "Indian Summer" days, and now today the rain has returned!  And I am spending a little too much time "pinning"...LOL  Here's one I found, you can print out and frame:

And another:



Fall Blessings to you all!  Hugs, Heidi

Pinterest and my flop!

Just keeping it real here, girls.  I love Pinterest.  I've made several recipes from Pinterest links, with great results.   Until this one, Strawberry Lemonade Bars.  This one took a couple weeks to make, as each time I set out to make it I would be short an ingredient.  So finally this week I got my act together and made it, carefully following the "test kitchen" recipe.

(these were not mine, but from the K&K Test Kitchen blog)

I had made these to take to my ladies Bible study, but had to leave them home! Yep, not even sprinkled powder sugar was going to make a save:

I'm not sure if I should try again or not?  Have any of you made this recipe yet?  Maybe I should just stick to lemon bars!  And eat my strawberries with plenty of whipped cream on the side!

If you'd like to take a look at my "Baking Corner" board on Pinterest, you can see my collection here:

Heidi's Baking Corner

I really want to make the Texas Roadhouse Copy Cat Rolls next......hope my yeast doesn't let me down! 

Back to work now....I'm painting sign orders, and also packaging up "Vintage Scrap Packs" for Jenn's event next month, "Once Upon a Dream", which I am a sponsor.  I'm sure the girls there will have fun, Jenn's got lots lined up and she throws an event like no other!



Blessings, Heidi

 



Natural Love

When you live on the Oregon coast, where we get so much rain, you MUST not miss any opportunities to enjoy nature when it doesn't rain!  Hence the reason I have not posted a blog in a month!  Lakes, mountains, rivers, oceans, runs, biking, swimming and more have filled my days (when not working!).  I have a million pictures to share....(seems like a million).

Today is a very special day.  It's the 10 year anniversary of our oldest daughter's wedding to her high school sweetheart.  They met in junior high, and were married in September, the year she graduated from high school.  Kris is the hardest worker you'd ever meet, always the first one to help anyone in need--he's perfect for our Melissa! They have gone through tragedies (the death of Kris's brother and cousin), crisis, times of joy and so much more, but have always kept their eyes on God, both focused on Him, therefore always having their heads and hearts in the same place.  They now have three children and live on just under 20 acres out in the country.   They'll celebrate with a weekend trip to Newport, to take the kids to see the Newport Aquarium!

Kris and Melissa on September 15, 2001

On Sunday, September 18, our younger daughter and her husband (we have two) are celebrating their 1 year wedding anniversary!  They met while in college, Corban College, and had the love of God, sports and movies in common!  Craig is the most easy going guy you'd ever met---perfect for our Jessica.  They also have already experience great sadness in their first year of marriage, the death of Craig's sister, as well as the joy of  new family members (Craig's sister's baby, and Melissa's baby).  We wish they lived across the road, but are thankful they at least live on the west coast just 4 hours from us.  They'll celebrate this weekend with a trip to Seattle, where Craig had proposed to her!

Craig and Jessica on September 18, 2010

Jessica and Craig's reception was held under a big canopy on our front pasture, the evening was magical:

(magical, with soft rain pattering on the top...)

Now a quick photo of our recent vacation...





Sunset....our canoe awaits us....this is just the cove of the beautiful Waldo Lake.

Waldo Lake is worth finding!

Hugs, Heidi