Days of My Life

Abundant Harvest (for you, Mom)

2011-11-15T17:41:00.001-08:00

This is for you Mom. I don't mean to rub it in or make you jealous or anything, but you're always curious to know what's in my weekly Harvest box. so, here it is:

3 beets

1 bunch red leaf lettuce

1 bowl of spinach (bowl not included)

2 small heads of broccoli

1 large head broccoli

1 bunch of sage

1 bunch of something that looks like grass (it sort of tastes like garlic)

2 small Sweet potatos

1 large Sweet potato

5 Fuyu persimmons

1 small bunch of carrots

2 large apples

1 small apple

3 large Russet potatos

the box as it looks from the truck

the unpacked produce

I Meant to Take a Picture

2011-11-13T19:33:00.001-08:00

So, tonight was the annual Calvary Chapel Family potluck. I signed up to bring stuffing and green bean casserole. My goal was to not go to the store for any ingredients. So, in the freezer I had a half bag leeks, a bag of artichoke hearts, and multi grain artisan bread. In the refrigerator I had two leftover sausage patties from breakfast on Friday, a half eaten sweet potato, one roasted acorn squash, fresh green beans from my weekly delivery of organic produce, toasted pumpkin seeds, shaved Parmesan cheese, a half can of chicken broth, a quarter box of vegetable stock and some leftover honey butter I took home after eating breadsticks at the local pizza joint. In the cupboard I had some Panko breadcrumbs. I started with the stuffing.

"Leftover" Potluck Stuffing

2 Tablespoons butter
1/2 bag frozen leeks
3/4 loaf of multi grain artisan bread cut into 1 inch cubes
1/2 baked and peeled sweet potato cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 small roasted acorn squash cut up
2 small pre-cooked sausage patties
3 Tablespoons toasted pumpkin seeds
vegetable or chicken stock
sage, rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper

cook off the leeks in butter
add the potato, squash, sausage, seasoning and spices
warm through
add stock
add bread
warm through
transfer to a large bowl
add pumpkin seeds
mix well
taste
add more stock or seasoning if necessary
transfer to
a prepared 9x13 baking dish
dot top with honey butter
cover
bake at 350 for 30 minutes
remove cover
add more stock if it seems dry
bake another 15 minutes or until top is browned

Carrie's Green Bean Casserole

2 Tablespoons butter
1 bag frozen Trader Joe's artichokes, defrosted and chopped
1 lb. fresh green beans
2 cups seasoned bechamel with nutmeg and red pepper chili flakes added
2 Tablespoons butter
1 cup Panko bread crumbs
1/3 cup shaved Parmesan cheese

cook off artichokes in butter
set aside
parboil green beans
set aside
make bechamel
add the artichokes and green beans to saucepan
warm through
transfer to a prepared medium sized casserole dish
set aside
melt butter
set aside
put Panko and Parmesan in a bowl
add melted butter
mix well
spread breadcrumb mixture over the top of green bean and artichoke mixture
cover
bake at 350 for 30 minutes
uncover
bake another 15 minutes or until golden brown

Both recipes turned out really well. Green beans and artichokes do seem an unlikely combination, but it worked! They were very tasty and I almost reached my goal. The only thing I needed from the store was milk for the bechamel. I love challenges like that and I like them even better when they work out. :)

I Love You Guys. <3 <3 <3

It Only Took Two Days

2011-11-06T13:48:00.000-08:00

It seems I've been lobbying to have this gargantuan tree removed from our backyard since the day we moved in. The day finally arrived (nine years later). Last Tuesday Drake from Ridgecrest Tree Service was hired to remove the enormous Eucalyptus tree from our backyard. And he was successful.

Here he is on the first morning of his arrival sizing up the monster tree and calculating his plan.

He brought his wife and son to help. They're on the ground. Drake is in the tree. This was taken a couple of hours after they began.

This is the end of day one.

This is the end of day two. Bye-bye tree. Hello warm winters. We had a friend come by to take some of the wood. He filled up the back of his full sized pick-up and the piles look exactly the same. That is a lot of wood!

You Have a Mouse on Your Head!

2011-10-27T21:25:00.000-07:00

Natalie decided to get in on the action.

There's Natalie with her Dillon's Candy Store shorts on.

Of course a Pokeball

and Speedy!

More Practicing

2011-10-27T21:06:00.000-07:00

I spent some more time practicing painting for Monday night.

Fat Headed Snake-ee Poo. I did some touch-ups later on. It looked a bit better. Greener.

Princess Crown Mask. Imagine John as a little girl. =P

Harvest Pumkin

Butterfly

Butterfly too.

Face Painting?

2011-10-26T22:15:00.000-07:00

John and I volunteer every year to help out at Calvary Chapel's Harvest Festival that we host every Halloween. Last year we manned the cotton candy stand. By the end of the night we were covered in pink sugar!

This year we are manning the face painting station. I started practicing tonight. Here's what I have so far.

Dyed Eggs

2010-04-02T18:50:00.000-07:00

These are not Martha's eggs.

Vegetarian Chili

2010-03-26T17:02:00.000-07:00

I've been craving chili for some a couple weeks now. I don't eat beef so . . . I looked for a vegetarian recipe online, but was not satisfied so . . . using a variety of recipes I came up with this one that turned out to be totally satisfying for me.

Here is the recipe for you:

Vegetarian Chili

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 white onion - diced
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 red bell pepper - diced
1 green bell pepper - diced
1 large carrot - diced
1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
2 15 oz. cans kidney beans - drained
2 15 oz. cans black beans - drained
3 cups water
2 teaspoons Bisquick
1 teaspoon cornmeal

in a large pot
cook diced onion in heated oil until soft
add spices
cook until spices are toasted a bit
add diced vegetables
cook 3-4 minutes
add crushed tomatoes
warm through
add drained beans
warm through
add water
simmer for 10 minutes
in a small dish
combine Bisquick and cornmeal
add hot liquid until "soupy"
add the Bisquick mixture to the pot
if needed whisk to remove any lumps
simmer for another 10 minutes or until desired thickness is reached

suggested toppings: grated cheese, sour cream, green onion, cilantro . . . yummy!

Bonus~

This cornbread recipe was learned from a Country Cooks show with Chris Kimball on Create (a public television channel). It's a Southern cornbread recipe (the kind with no sugar added); which, in my opinion, is hard to find so, I wrote it down. And made it.

Southern Cornbread

2 1/4 cups yellow cornmeal
2 1/4 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
4 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

on a large baking sheet toast cornmeal until slightly browned
in a large bowl combine toasted cornmeal and buttermilk
set aside
in a cast iron skillet heat oil until hot
add butter put back in oven until melted
reserve 2 tablespoons of oil/butter mixture
add remaining oil/butter mixture to the cornmeal/buttermilk mixture
also add combined baking powder, baking soda and salt mixture
then add eggs
whisk to combine
add reserved 2 tablespoons of oil/butter mixture to warmed skillet
pour completed mixture into heated/prepared cast iron skillet
bake for 10-12 minutes

cool, turn out, cut, enjoy!

This bread has so much corn flavor it's unbelievalbe.

Try it, you'll like it.

First Day 2010 ~ Pasadena ~ Burbank

2010-01-01T20:20:00.000-08:00

Left home 5 AM.
Arrived in Pasadena 7:30 AM.
Watched the parade through it's entirety.

It's a Goodyear!
All ready?

Arrived in Burbank 11 AM.

Watched Avatar 3D through it's entirety.

Pandora Lives!

Love you.
Too.

Tennessee Family Christmas

2009-12-28T21:07:00.000-08:00

This Christmas John and I spent the week in Tennessee with my mom, grandpa, sister, brother-in-law and neice and nephew. Whew! We had a super fun time playing, eating, shopping, laughing and exchanging gifts and good times.

I love you guys and miss you already.

Natalie Turns 15 Today

2009-12-18T07:40:00.000-08:00

Isn't she fierce?

We Love You Natalie!

It Speaks for Itself (Literally)

2009-12-17T23:23:00.000-08:00

Isn't it beautiful? It's much better than my old, clunky, virus ridden one.

Merry Christmas Cheesecake

2009-12-17T22:31:00.000-08:00

It turns out that blogging is a really valuable habit. I used my blog recently to find out when in my life certain things happened. (When I write that it sounds so pathetic since this blog is only three years old). So, since I haven't blogged in awhile, I'm going to start again and I'm going to start with a picture of this beautiful Christmas Cheesecake. It's a Christmas Cheesecake for no other reason than I made it last night and tonight we had Christmas ham for dinner with the kids and presents afterward.

I took a cooking class with a friend in town a couple weeks ago and the agenda was cheesecake. The one in the photo is a classic NY, but we learned to make savory cheesecakes as well. I thought I'd made one before, but the process didn't feel familiar. So, I'm considering this my first of many Christmas Cheesecakes to come. It will be my tradition along with Christmas lasagne (which I made a veggie whole wheat lasagne this week for a potluck that was really good - even the die hard meat eaters liked it).

Call it beginner's luck, but seriously, that cheesecake pictured is the best I've ever tasted. It was moist, smooth, creamy and will be remembered for a long time.

Merry Christmas!

and THANKS Patrice!

My Favorite Fruit

2009-10-31T14:32:00.000-07:00

The park across the street has two mature pomegranate trees growing in it. This year I harvested a bunch instead of only one or two. I'm been making pomegranate juice and giving them away to friends. Happy Autumn!

I <3 LUSH

2009-10-16T07:49:00.000-07:00

Happy Anniversary to Me!

On the way back from Canyon De Chelly we drove through Las Vegas. The motivation for me to go this route home was to shop the LUSH store there at the Mandalay Bay to buy some hair conditioner. Instead I left the store with . . .

3 Bath Bombs
2 Bath Melts
1 Bubble Bar
1 Massage Bar
1 Bar Solid Hair Conditioner

The car smelled deliciously intoxicating the whole way home.

The Bath Bombs are in the front; the big yellow ball, the big pink ball and the thing that looks like a big pill. The Bath Melts are behind the Bath Bombs; the white cupcake and the peach bar. The Bubble Bar is the raspberry swirl bar back there. The Massage Bar is the oval bar left of the Bubble Bar and the Solid Conditioner is in the box with the tag on it (they sell it by weight).

So far I've had two baths this week (in addition to daily showers of course). I used the Honey Bee Bath Bomb and the You've Been Mangoed Bath Melt. Both soothing, relaxing and fun. Looking forward to using the rest of the yummy purchases (especially the Bubble Bar), inspired to make my own Bath Bombs and blessed with a thoughtful husband who kept quiet when I filled my bag and abused the credit card on such decadence.

The main reason I wanted to stop and shop was to try the Solid Conditioner. I like the concept of using products without a plastic bottle to manage when it's all done. I know I can always recycle, but I like to reduce and reuse. The Massage Bars are cool for that reason too, they can be used as a daily moisturizer (no plastic bottle to manage). I've been using the Solid Shampoo for about a month now (my first LUSH purchase) and it's really nice. So, being free of plastic shampoo and conditioner bottles makes me happy and the Bath Bombs, Bath Melts and Massage Bars are a big bonus.

I'm new to LUSH and am HOOKED! It's addictive so, WATCH OUT!

7 Years

2009-10-09T07:07:00.001-07:00

John surprised me this morning with a replica of my wedding bouquet from 7 years ago . . .

Happy Anniversary to us!

Another Place Mat

2009-07-01T22:41:00.001-07:00

Another set of place mats I made was with this blue and green striped stuff. The package on top is John's birthday gift.

If you look closely you can see my handiwork at tying the Fisherman's knot.

I learned it in mountaineering class.

It's Mine Now

2009-07-01T22:35:00.000-07:00

It's a vintage Taylor Smith & Taylor plate. I found it on ebay. There's another one coming from Etsy. The pattern is called Break O Day. I'm looking forward to eating my breakfasts from it. The place mat it's sitting on is what I made last week. I've been wanting some place mats, but wasn't able to find any to my liking so I made some with fabric I had in the garage.

Since Robin Asked . . .

2009-06-07T20:31:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we went to a wedding. One of Heather's friends got married.

Here we are all dressed and ready to go.

Heather was a bridesmaid.

Here is a picture of Heather and her friend.

And finally . . . the bride.

Fun in the Morning

2009-05-02T14:01:00.000-07:00

I saw this product in the store last night and had to try it. It was fun and tasty.

This Is It For Awhile

2008-12-14T15:38:00.000-08:00

I wanted to share my newest and most favorite Christmas tree ornament. I got it for Christmas last year. I'm excited because this is the first year I'm getting to enjoy and appreciate it.

Kevin Marching in the Band

2008-12-14T15:33:00.000-08:00

Here is the Burroughs Marching Band in the Christmas Parade. Kevin is the very tall one in the middle playing the drums.

Space Shuttle Fun

2008-12-14T12:52:00.000-08:00

The Sunday after returning from Massachusetts John took me to Edwards Airforce Base to watch the Space Shuttle land. If you look very closely you can see the tail of the thing on the ground. You'll need to blow up the picture first though. I think you can do that by double clicking.
Have fun searching.

The best part about being there in person was the double sonic boom. BOOM! BOOM!

More Early Christmas

2008-12-14T12:44:00.000-08:00

More early Christmas goodies.

This is my brand new sewing machine. I've never had my very own brand new sewing machine. This one is extra special because it has an automatic needle threader! Love it.

This is the first project I made with my new toy. It's a Christmas stocking for the newest addition to the immediate family. Nathan Scott Boberg. It seemed to actually take less time to make than the others I made on the "old" machine. Thanks John!

Christmas Came Early to Our House

2008-12-14T12:42:00.000-08:00

Thanks Mom!

Glug glug.

Natalie's First Concert

2008-12-14T12:38:00.001-08:00

Natalie's first concert. There she is on the right with the saxophone.

Yea Natalie.

It's Really Real

2008-12-13T21:38:00.001-08:00

Friday before we left for home we went to the Science Museum to see the new Triceratops exhibit. It's a recent installation of a fully excavated dinosaur found in one of the Dakotas.

Roar!

Thanks for a great visit Rideouts.

Thanksgiving Thursday

2008-12-13T21:23:00.001-08:00

Kickball, Boston and Turkey. Oh, and Monopoly.

Thanksgiving morning was spent playing a rousing game of kickball with Robin's neighbors. It was the kids against the adults. I'm not really sure who won. It really doesn't matter since we had so much fun.

After that John and I went into Boston on the train. We did a little more shopping. Even though it was Thanksgiving Thursday we were able to find some bargains in Chinatown.

Here's the honored turkey cooked.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Britt and Beau made yummy yummy pie.

We also spent part of the day playing National Parks Monopoly. The kids let John win. He walked away with all the money, all the tents and all the ranger cabins.

Strategy Pays Off

2008-12-13T20:53:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday in Cambridge Robin took us to the schools so we could watch the boys participate in Turkey Trots hosted by the schools. Casey's brilliant plan (adopted from his older brother) was to start out slow, let the other boys burn out then pass them all during the second half of the race. It worked!

Here he is coming around the last corner of the race.

Here's the homestretch.

Casey crossing the finish line.

This clever strategy payed off with a first prized turkey. The second place winner was given a pie and third apple cider. Here's a shot of the winners.
Here's a shot of Beau on his THIRD lap around the school's field. We love you guys.

Wednesday night we went to the ice rink and watched hockey practice. Busy busy family. Oh, we also went out for Himalayan food. Yum.

Harvard Anyone?

2008-12-13T20:22:00.000-08:00

John and I visited Robin, Britt, Beau and Casey in Cambridge, MA for Thanksgiving. On Tuesday John and I went into Cambridge to do a little Christmas shopping while the boys were in school. Before the spree we strolled through the old Harvard campus. Here are some pictures to delight your senses. Yes, that's rain. Lovely rain.

Here's the library you must be a student to get into.

Here is looking across Harvard Yard from the Church.

Here is a shot of the ceiling outside the front of the Church.

Hmm.

Kern River Valley Nature Preserve

2008-10-26T19:16:00.001-07:00

John and I went on an outing this weekend. He wanted to see some Fall leaves so we headed over to Weldon on the recommendation from someone at work. We visited the Kern River Valley Nature Preserve and went for a short hike. For those of you who know me know I don't love to hike. So to clarify it was more of a walk. Here are some pictures of the day.

The colors are starting to turn a bit. Pretty sky huh?

Here is a shot of what the trail looks like.

Not as pretty as Tahoe, but "Fally" non-the-less.

Driving out through the cow pasture.

The cows are home.

Matzo Ball Soup

2008-10-12T19:46:00.000-07:00

It's a special occasion. John and I celebrated our sixth wedding anniversary today. Last week we were in Los Angeles. We stopped for lunch at Whole Foods Market (we really like the hot food there). Anyway, I got Matzo Ball Soup. I've never had Matzo Ball Soup before that day. It was delicious. So, I found a decent recipe online and recreated it for tonight's dinner. I simmered the chicken practically all day and made my first Matzo Balls from a box. I was surprised they plumped up so much. I'll have to work on that and find a way to make them a little denser. Overall, the dinner was a success. I served the soup with a green salad with a lemon vinaigrette sprinkled with Herbs De Provence. We shared a store bought cupcake for dessert (it was the most weddingy cake we could find). And that's it. Oh, and Ginger was there. He likes Matzo Ball soup too.

Blueberry Ice Cream

2008-09-07T13:06:00.000-07:00

I've been getting these really good frozen blueberries at Trader Joe's for my morning smoothie and decided they would make really good ice cream too and they did!

Here are the ingredients to making blueberry ice cream minus the sugar, vanilla and salt. I actually used heavy whipping cream and milk, but this is all I had left in the refrigerator for the picture. I think, though, that next time I might just use half and half because the ice cream using heavy whipping cream and milk was kind of heavy.

Cooking the blueberries and sugar.

Blending the cooled cooked blueberries and cream mixture.

John cooling the blended mixture so we could freeze it faster than waiting for it to cool in the refrigerator.

The freezing step. There is Kevin's hand on the stove top and reflection on the stainless steel bowl. He's anticipating the blueberry goodness. After the freezing step we put it in the freezer to freeze the rest of the way while we all went rock climbing. Upon our return we ate some and then we ate some more.

Ta-da! The final result. Pretty lavender colored ice cream that tastes like blueberry.

My First Blue Box

2008-09-05T22:18:00.001-07:00

I'm not much of a jewelry wearer. So when I saw a gift had been sent to me from Tiffany's I was a little perplexed. It all became clear however when I read the letter sent along with the gift; it's a three year commitment appreciation pen from L-3! It took me a while to find it, but there is the logo at the top. Very subtle. I wonder what they'll send for my five year commitment . . .

BTW ~ it was three years in May . . . does that make me a bad blogger?

It's Vegan

2008-09-05T21:51:00.000-07:00

I was listening to a radio podcast the other day. It was a food show. The host was interviewing someone who went on a cupcake expedition. It was her goal to find and eat artisan cupcakes on a trip across the country to see where the best one is located. Her favorite was a vegan chocolate cupcake from where I don't remember. Click here if you want to listen or read about Violet Whipps (the girl with the cupcake fetish) and to find out where in the world that coveted vegan cupcake lives. That bit of information about the really great vegan cupcake peaked my interest enough to make my own vegan cupcake right here in my Ridgecrest home kitchen. I found a recipe online and viola! Here it is . . .

The cupcake is delicious. It's not too sweet, but the frosting is GROSS! All I had to use in place of non-hydrogenated shorting was coconut oil which should have worked because it's a solid at room temperature or so I thought . . . It's actually really oily and the taste is too sweet. I think I might add cocoa powder to it to see if that will help. I doubt it.

It's cute though right?

Me and Huell

2008-06-13T14:36:00.000-07:00

Here we are at Maddie's Cafe together. I was there for a working dinner with visitors from Virginia and Huell Hauser! walked in shortly after. He was kind of working the room so I obliged by getting up and having my picture taken with him. Jerry Bradley had his iphone so we actually had a camera to follow through with plan. He wouldn't say why he was in town. I'll have to wait and either read it in the paper or watch the show.

Seattle 2008

2008-06-11T21:16:00.001-07:00

The weekend after my birthday John took me to Seattle. Our first stop was dinner with Uncle Ron, Aunt Joanie and First Cousin Once Removed Jazzmarilla. We took a land taxi to the restaurant. We had just gotten off the plane and checked into our hotel when it was time to leave. We ate at Salty's across the bay from Downtown. It was a good choice because we had the Downtown Seattle Skyline as a backdrop view instead of sitting in a downtown restaurant looking out.

Here we all are at Salty's.

Downtown Seattle Skyline.

Here is a picture of water taxi we took back to Seattle then walked back to our room. John and I took a taxi from the airport to the hotel and from the hotel to the restaurant, a water taxi back to downtown, the monorail for fun, and a shuttle from the hotel back to the airport and that's it. The rest of the weekend we were able to walk everywhere. Seattle is awesome that way. We even walked to the flagship REI store from our hotel not at all far away.

Infamous Pike's Place Market.

Produce displayed inside the market.

Fresh fish for sale.

Fresh dried pasta. Is that an oxymoron?

Everyone in the market had a bouquet of these fresh flowers. Gorgeous!

The flagship Seattle Starbucks Coffee Shop featuring the original logo which they are migrating back to mainstream.

The main reason John and I were in Seattle that weekend was to see Cake play music at Paramount Theatre. Here is a picure of that theatre.

Here we are after the concert.

John flaunting his concert t-shirt.

We also saw fine art while we were there. We visited SAM (Seattle Art Museum). This tree is part of it's public art installation. Can you tell it's made of metal?

Prom Night

2008-06-10T21:16:00.000-07:00

I know . . . these are out of order. What can I say?

Here are Brent and Albert before the prom looking handsome as usual.

Here is a picture of Brent with his date, Albert's sister (can you see the resemblence?) at the prom.

Graduation Season

2008-06-10T20:51:00.000-07:00

Heather graduated from Cerro Coso with her Associate of Arts. She will transfer to UCLA in the fall.
Kevin promoted from eighth grade at James Monroe Middle School to being a freshman at the High School.

And precious Brent graduated from Sherman E. Burroughs High School. He will begin classes at Cerro Coso Community College in the fall.

Brent Turns Blue

2008-06-10T20:44:00.001-07:00

The weekend after prom Brent decided for fun to dye his hair blue. So, being the good mom that I am I helped him.

We first bleached it so the blue would be ultra bright.

It worked.

Happy Birthday to Me!

2008-05-07T22:34:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Erin I have a recipe for Coconut Cloud Cake (my favorite). So, for my birthday, I made one. It took about 2 1/2 hours from start to finish. It's got a meringue frosting and lemon curd in between the layers. Thanks again Erin. I know this cake is going to be so good. I'm looking forward to sharing it with the family tomorrow. Wish you all were here!

Canoeing on the Owens River

2008-04-27T22:29:00.001-07:00

Saturday John and I spent the day canoeing with friends. We started with breakfast at the Ranch House Cafe in Olancha then made a pit stop/bread run (we also sampled the gelato) at Schat's in Bishop before we got on the water.

That's the Owens River with the Sierra Mountains in the background. We paddled about 3 miles in about 2 hours. Very fun. I'm already looking forward to doing it again.

It's Called Desert Calico

2008-04-27T22:08:00.001-07:00

John and I went back to that canyon to rock climb some more. This time I took a picture of that flower I mentioned that looks like a miniature orchid. I found out at the fair's wildflower exhibit on Thursday night it's called Desert Calico (Loeseliastrum mattewsii).

Isn't it sooo cute?!

California Poppy Reserve

2008-04-20T19:23:00.000-07:00

We took a trip on Saturday to the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve. The Poppy Festival in Lancaster was this weekend so I thought it a good idea to go see the poppies. We did not go to the festival. After visiting the Reserve we instead went to see the new Jackie Chan movie, Forbidden Kingdom, starring Jackie Chan AND Jet Li. It's the first movie ever featuring both martial artists and yes they do combat each other. It was a fun movie. I love Jackie Chan.

Thousands and thousands of poppies.

Can you tell it's windy and cold? Brent and Kevin went too, but they took a separate car with some friends so most of the time we spent with them was after to movie at Trader Joe's.

Speaking of Orchids

2008-04-18T23:35:00.001-07:00

Mom gave me this orchid a couple of years ago during one of her visits. It was blooming when she gave it to me and look, it's blooming again. I didn't think it would bloom again, but I got a surprise. Thanks Mom.

It's Springtime in the High Desert

2008-04-18T23:02:00.000-07:00

I love the desert. It's so pretty this time of year with the wildflowers blooming all over place. The diversity of the plants is imense. The plants range from crazy big sunflower type plants with matching yellow blooms to scraggly shrubs with deep indigo blooms to little itty-bitty barely there plants with pink spotted blooms that look like mini miniature orchids. It seems every color in the rainbow is represented in wildflowers; yellow, orange, blue, purple, pink, hot pink, white, red . . . I love the desert.

John and I revisited Indian Wells Canyon. The last time we were here it was snowing, I said I was going to climb those rocks. Remember? Well we've started rock climbing. Last weekend we went to Bishop, got some climbing shoes and started climbing rocks over there. And then on Monday we visited Wagon Wheel and climbed some rocks there. This morning we just climbed some easy stuff here in Indian Wells Canyon, nothing major. We're still breaking in our shoes and developing climbing feet. We want to climb the more difficult rocks, but we really should have ropes to do that. We don't have ropes yet.

I get so excited when I see this cactus flower bloom; it smells just like watermelon and the color is so vibrant.

Hi!

Calvary Chapel Ridgecrest Biker Blessing 2008

2008-04-18T07:44:00.001-07:00

This little Honda Rebel belongs to a friend of John. He borrowed it so we could participate in the 3rd Annual Calvary Chapel Ridgecrest Biker Blessing. Each year we invite bikers from all over to participate in a short ride, BBQ, fellowship and concert. This year Darrell Mansfield was the entertainment. Nearly 300 bikes and their riders showed up for the event of which John and I were two. The volunteer police department stopped all the traffic as we breezed through Ridgecrest, down Highway 178 to Inyokern and back via Brown Road and Highway 395. Riding with that many bikes was like being in a parade; one long continuous stream of bikes for as far as the eye could see. I understand now why bikers like to ride together. People were spotted on the streets to behold the curious site cheering and waving. It was a beautiful day.

Just Like Mom Used to Make ~ Surprise!

2008-04-05T14:30:00.000-07:00

Muffins that is. Remember when Mom used to make surprise muffins? I don't know why I haven't made these before until now. Yummy! There weren't any leftover.

Spaghetti Squash Bake

2008-04-03T20:41:00.000-07:00

In the fall I bought a spaghetti squash because I never had had one before and it was inexpensive. It sat around the kitchen for awhile until I decided to cook it and store it in the freezer. I just wasn't feeling inspired. Earlier this week I decided I was going to make something of it; I was tired of it taking up room in my freezer. So,this is what that squash became ~ Spaghetti Squash Bake. I shopped around online for a recipe and found this one. Put the cooked squash in the bottom of a baking dish, cover it with a jar of spaghetti sauce and cheese (in this case I used fontina because I had some left over from the butternut squash lasagne and Parmesan; same thing) then bake it at 350 for about thirty minutes (covered then uncovered) until it is bubbly and the cheese is melted and a little browned on the top if you like that sort of thing. Oh, and I sprinkled the top with fresh parsley to make it look nice and because I had some left over from the salad. I wasn't expecting much, but WOW it was really surprisingly good. Kevin even ate some and Mom had seconds. It tastes like lasagne and so easy.

It Must Be Poetry Season

2008-04-03T19:49:00.000-07:00

Natalie brought this poem home from school today. I thought it was appropriate to post because of my last entry and because Robin just posted some of her son's poetry. I especially like the cat with the bunny tail. It even has Ginger's nose. So cute!

Me and Ginger the Bunny Cat Dog

2008-03-30T19:37:00.000-07:00

I call Ginger my bunny cat dog because he's soft and cute like a bunny (he's actually my surrogate bunny because I want a bunny but John won't let me get one; he thinks the cats will eat it), but he's really a cat that acts like a dog. For instance, this afternoon I spilled some chicken broth on the floor and he came right in from the other room and lapped it up off the floor just like a dog! In this picture he's purring which is rare. I wanted to get a picture of it. So, here it is, Ginger the purring bunny cat dog.

Sprouts Man!

2008-03-30T19:23:00.000-07:00

Something else I've been doing lately is spouting seeds. Here in the windowsill are lentils on the left and mung on the right. Yum! I've been eating them in green salads. Supposedly they're really really good for you. If you want to learn about sprouting visit the sproutman and sproutman.com.

Another New Recipe . . . Butternut Squash Lasagne

2008-03-30T19:12:00.000-07:00

I ran across this recipe on a video blog I download onto my ipod and watch during long car trips. It's made with bechamel, no boil noodles, fontina and Parmesan cheeses, and of course roasted butternut squash. It too was alright. Good enough to have the first and second days, but not the third. If you're interested or think you can improve the recipe (if you do let me know) here is the link. I really really wanted to like this a lot. Maybe I can improve it somehow . . .

Flourless Chocolate Cake

2008-03-30T18:54:00.000-07:00

I was reading some random blogs the other day and ran across one written by a girl who savors flourless chocolate cake in the afternoons. She was kind enough to publish the link to the recipe so I made one. Here are the pictures to prove it.

Here is the cake almost right after I took it out of the oven. Right when I took it out of the over it was so puffy it looked like it was going to flow over the sides.

It looks just like real cake.

I ate some too.

It was alright. I liked it enough to have a second piece the next day, but not a third piece on the third day. It was best when it was still warm out of the oven. I may or may not make this recipe again.

Rock Climbing - Joshua Tree National Park

2008-02-24T20:24:00.000-08:00

Last weekend John took me to Joshua Tree to go rock climbing.

Here I am practicing on a boulder. "Warming up".

Gearing up for the big rocks.

Ready to go.

Here I am belaying someone on the rocks.

This is not a picture of me, but a shot of someone else at the same spot I was on the highest part of my climb. John's hands were full of the ropes supporting me to get photos of this climb. It's about 80 feet high. I climbed three different rocks that day, four if you count the boulder.

Cool huh?

Happy Birthday Heather

2008-02-10T20:05:00.000-08:00

Heather turned 20 years old today. Instead of cake I made Mom's chocolate mousse recipe from years ago. Everyone loved it. Thanks Mom! For dinner I also served another one of Mom's old stand bys; chicken enchiladas. Thanks again Mom. Love you.

Happy Birthday Heather. Love you.

OOOs and XXXs

I Found the Gun

2008-02-09T22:07:00.001-08:00

The last couple of times John and I have been out in the desert hiking or what not shooting his gun seemed like a fun thing to do the only trouble was John could not find his gun. I've never been shooting with John, I've never even seen his gun, but I knew he had a gun because he's taken Kevin out shooting before and I've seen the gun case with the gun in it just not the gun itself. Even though it was misplaced I knew it was safe because John keeps it locked while in storage and he knew where the key was just not the gun. I got another itch to go shooting this weekend and the weather is perfect right now so I looked for the gun yesterday and what do you know? I found it! I also found Robin's old turn table that Mom has been storing for her and a wine rack which is something I've been wanting lately. John drove Kevin and me to a nearby, well known shooting area which I knew existed but had never been. I was surprised by the great number of shot gun shells littering the ground. What a weird sight; all the different colors and sizes. We set up some targets (we came equipped with empty soda cans) loaded a couple of clips with little 22s and fired away.

Here is Kevin having a turn.

Here I am having a turn with the gun.

Sort of fun; not as fun as I thought it was going to be; not a disappointment; don't need to do that again any time soon.

Cat Tree

2008-02-09T21:50:00.001-08:00

I've been wanting a cat tree to put in front of the front window in the living room for our cats for some time now (they like to lay around on the couch in the sun in the mornings and sleep and I don't really want them on the couch cause they leave dirt and hair all over), but every time I shop for them I am discouraged by the price. Tall two tiered cat trees are around $100 which I don't want to spend on that so, I decided to make one yesterday. With my determination and imagination and help from John we were able to build a decent cat tree with materials we already had in our garage. I measured with a tape measure, penciled lines with a square, cut lumber with a circular saw, drilled holes with a cordless drill and set screws with a power drill as did John (we took turns; it was a true team effort).

Here is John in the garage with on of the drills we used.

Here is the finished product. The original plan was to cover it with carpet (we also have spare that in our garage), but we haven't gotten around to doing it yet. The cats seem to like it.

Ta-da!

December 8 and 9, 2007

2008-02-07T19:58:00.001-08:00

If you hadn't figured already John and I like to travel around on the weekends. We were running out of new places to visit that are close enough to get to on the weekend when some friends said we should visit Solvang; so, we did. We drove over on a Saturday, stayed two nights and drove back on Monday.

Once we were in town and shopping (cause that's what you do in Solvang) everyone was talking about the Nativity Pageant being presented at the local amphitheater that night; so, we went. There were live donkeys and goats and really really pretty music. Glad we did that. If you ever get a chance to be there for that be sure to bring a blanket; it was very cold.

The church we found to go to on Sunday was in Los Olivos; that's how we found Los Olivos Cafe where I had the best salad I've ever had in a restaurant (see above). It's a roasted butternut squash salad with dried cranberries and goat cheese with a balsamic vinaigrette. The only thing it's missing is purple pansies. Super delicious.

After lunch we walked through town and passed a park where there was this turkey. I don't remember exactly what it was doing there. It's the first one I've really seen up close and also the wild turkeys I have seen are not this breed. I thought it was kinda cool being so big and beautiful and everything and just hanging out at the park.

What you expect to see in Solvang; windmills.

The Hitching Post was visited for a light dinner.

Someone at one of the shops talked about the roasted artichoke they serve and how good it is; so, I got it. It was delicious. It's roasted over an indoor open flame barbecue and served with roasted tomato mayonnaise or something like that. I had a glass of their red "it goes good with food" wine to go with. Funny. Good.

December 13, 2007

2008-02-03T20:57:00.000-08:00

Thursday night party favor preparation.

Here Natalie and I are diligently making favors for the upcoming party celebrating her thirteenth year.

Sampling the candies to assure their freshness.

Ta - da! Gummi Pops.

December 15, 2007

2008-02-03T19:45:00.000-08:00

Natalie turns thirteen. A tropical party.

To start, John served the girls fruity drinks complete with paper umbrellas and pineapple.

Kiss kiss sweet daughter.

Baskin Robbins white cake and French vanilla ice cream stuffed with Gummi Bears.
"This is the best cake I've ever had!" - Chara

Johnette and Natalie taking pictures of the birthday cake with their phones.

The girls after their scavenger hunt in the park.

December 22, 2007

2008-02-03T19:16:00.000-08:00

The Saturday before Christmas John and I drove to San Clemente to visit Dad, Carol, Robin, Britt, Beau and Casey. We spent the afternoon visiting and eating cheese, crackers, pan forte and wine. After the snack we walked down to the beach before the sun set. Here I am posing with John and Britt wanting to be in th picture too. Hi Britt!

Here we are at the beach. We did take pictures of the rest of the family, but they didn't turn out that well so I won't be posting them here.

December 24 and 25, 2007

2008-02-02T20:10:00.001-08:00

John and me on Christmas morning. We spent the holiday in Fremont with David, Michelle and Nathan.

"It's Christmas Eve and even the dishwasher is ready for Christmas."

Merry Christmas!

January 1, 2008

2008-02-01T20:12:00.000-08:00

We started off the year with a trip to Pasadena for the whatever number Annual Tournament of Roses Parade. We left the house around 4am arrived in Pasadena with just enough time to park the car and find a decent spot of sidewalk to stand and watch the parade.

John served hot chocolate to keep us warm.

Emeril Lagasse was the grand marshall! That definitely was a surprise (we did not read ahead) and is a highlight of the year so far. If you open up the picture to full frame and look very closely you can see the back of his head.

Afterward we went ice skating in Santa Monica. Every year they set up a temporary outdoor rink. I think the temperature that day was about 65 degrees.

Natalie and I sat out while John skated with Kevin and Heather.
Happy New Year!

Kiss kiss

January 19 and 20, 2008

2008-01-31T20:44:00.001-08:00

Death Valley
Me on top of the valley. First stop of the trip. We came in the back way through Olancha.Lone desert flower. Some sunflower thing. I used to know it's name. Feeling ambitious? Look it up.
Amargosa Opera House. This opera house exists because of Marta Becket a ballet dancer from New York City. She moved out to Death Valley Junction in the mid forties because of this building. Her vision was to move from New York and turn it into an opera house and perform all her original art here. So, she did and she does. Throughout the years she has performed every weekend her original shows, mostly one woman shows. She is 83 years old now and performs a show called the sitting down show. She doesn't dance anymore because of a back injury. She sits on stage now relating her life story and how she ended up in Death Valley Junction and sings songs from various shows she performed througout the years. Oh yeah, she's also a painter. The video displays the murals she painted on the inside walls of the opera house; an audience of sorts. Very ambitious, prolific, determined, creative, talented, brave woman. Check out the link above to the opera house and read all about her yourself. You should also look up Death Valley Junction on a map; it's out in the middle of nowhere.
Marta Becket's mural art.

Scotty's Castle
My first trip to this place as an adult. John at the top of Ubehebe Crater.
The last stop of the trip besides Stove Pipe Wells Inn for dinner. John hiked to the bottom of the crater while I waited in the warm car and watched Shawshank Redemption on my ipod.
The only two spots in Death Valley I have left to visit are the Racetrack and Eureka Sand Dunes. It probably won't be until we get a four wheel drive; they are both about thirty miles of dirt road to get to them.

That's all folks.
Bye for now.

I'm Baaaaack

2008-01-26T08:41:00.000-08:00

It doesn't just snow in Boston. Here I am in Indian Wells Canyon yesterday. Upon my request John brought me up here to hike in the snow. We actually hiked into some weather; big fat snow flakes softly falling from the sky. See those rocks in the background? Later this year I'm going to learn to rock climb and climb those rocks. After the hike we went into Inyokern had breakfast at Taqueria Bernardino's and shopped at the Country Feed Barn and Inyo Dreams. I may go back today to get a nice little Indian basket they had there, but we didn't have any cash or checks and she doesn't take Visa. If I do I'll post a picture of it for you.

Lae - ta!

I Rearranged the Living Room

2007-11-13T06:51:00.000-08:00

We've replaced the TV cart since this video and got a new lamp for behind the couch.

Can You Say Still Life Cafe Baby?

2007-11-12T15:53:00.000-08:00

Potato Leek Soup and Salad with Steamed Beets, Goat Cheese, Pinon Nuts and Oranges covered with French Vinaigrette.

Oh yeah . . . and crunchy bread with cold butter . . . and wine.

Happy Veterans Day Everybody!

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

2007-11-02T17:12:00.000-07:00

Charles Frank Wood b. 1919

Sushi Rolls

2007-11-02T12:03:00.001-07:00

My First attempt at sushi roll rolling. Mom's here visiting this week. She made on too. It's the basic California Roll roll.

Ta da!

Halloween 2007

2007-10-31T22:23:00.001-07:00

Every year on Halloween Calvary Chapel Ridgecrest hosts a Family Fall Festival for the community. They provide games, food, and drinks. Every year John and I contribute with the rest of our chruch family to the production of the event. Last year John cooked meat and I rolled out Indian Fry Bread dough. This year I cooked meat and John fried dough. Doe!

Here I am behind the BBQ. See all those people behind me? They all ate a hambuger or hot dog. We served up around 1,600 hams and dogs. The guy on the right is cooking up tri-tip.

See the flames? That's me stoking the fire with hamburger grease.

Natalie dressed as a pirate. Arrrrh! In her right hand is her bootie bag full of candy.

Kevin sporting BLING and long blonde hair. Gangsta Yo

I Did Finish This

2007-10-20T14:49:00.001-07:00

It was fast, easy and fun. It even kind of fits.

Sock Update

2007-10-20T14:45:00.000-07:00

Six months later and I'm almost done. By next May I should have a pair!

It's Official

2007-10-19T23:40:00.000-07:00

I own twenty pairs of shoes. Twenty-one if you count the shoes I wear for yard work (not pictured).

I almost forgot to picture these . . .

Happy Anniversary Blog.

Happy Anniversary to Us

2007-10-12T17:53:00.000-07:00

John and Carrie Boberg married October 12, 2002

Refrigerator Update

2007-10-05T21:44:00.000-07:00

And Beef Stew

2007-10-05T21:32:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow I'm going to make lentil soup.

Gingerbread

2007-10-05T21:24:00.001-07:00

I also made gingerbread tonight.

Morro Bay

2007-10-05T20:58:00.000-07:00

A post of some recent activity so you don't think I dropped off the earth. I think I got out of the blogging habit because the last three day weekend I had I didn't do anything but lay on the couch. Seriously. So, I had nothing to post. It's either that or all that picture uploading of the Catalina adventure took a lot out of me and turned me off to blogging for awhile. Or . . . it could be that I've been cheating on my blog by using MySpace . . .

We drove over to Morro Bay a couple weekends ago. The invation came from Michelle and David and Nathaniel. We got together for a short family visit and some ocean bay kayaking.

A view from the house where we stayed.

Here we are ready to get on the water.

We rented kayaks off the boardwalk there in the little town of Morrow Bay.

Here's Kevin getting fitted into his boat.

Natalie looks like a natural.

Brent is beautiful as usual.

Pink Cake

2007-10-05T20:46:00.000-07:00

My meager attempt at cake decorating.

Yummy

Happy Columbus Day weekend!

Did You Know . . . ? Warning - Kinda Geeky

2007-10-05T19:46:00.001-07:00

Did you know one cup of sugar costs approxiamtely 25 cents and one serving of Kool-Aid costs 6 cents?

I've been wondering that for awhile so I finally did the math.

There are 7 and 1/4 ounces of sugar in a cup. Sugar comes in 5 pound bags. One pound equals 16 ounces; that's 80 ounces to a bag. Eighty ounces divided by 7.25 ounces equals 11.03 cups of sugar in one 5 pound bag. A five pound bag of sugar costs approximately $2.50. Two dollars and fifty cents divided by 11.03 cups equals 22.6 cents per cup of sugar.

A Kool-Aid packet costs about 20 cents. A 20 cent packet of Kool-Aid plus a 25 cent cup of sugar amounts to Kool-Aid costing about 45 cents to make. One packet of Kool-Aid makes eight servings. Forty-five cents divided by 8 servings equals six cents (if you round up). By the way, the per serving cost was a spur of the moment thing I figured out just now. So, if you were wondering . . . one serving of Kool-Aid costs about 6 cents and one cup of sugar costs about 25.

Birthday Update

2007-09-27T19:56:00.000-07:00

I finally spent more birthday money. I "splurged" on this minty-green bathrobe.

Thanks Mom!

Music Addition

2007-09-18T21:53:00.000-07:00

I've added a stand alone player with many of my favorite songs for your listening pleasure while checking in on Days of My Life. If you like the songs so much and want to continue listening even though you're done perusing, leave this page open while continuing to surf on another tab!

Finding new good music is kind of a newly formed hobby for me. It's taken me about a year to create a decent collection of songs I liked so much I actually purchased them from iTunes. There are about 75 songs in my collection so far, not all are included in this stand alone player. I either haven't added them to this playlist yet or they are unavailable for this sort of thing.

So, there ya go.

Euro Metro Man

2007-08-26T09:42:00.001-07:00

Brent got a make-over while he was in Germany under the direction of his girlfriend Lara. All the things he would "never" do before he went to Euprope: wear jeans, a collared shirt, those "ridiculuos" oversized sunglasses, a bracelet, oh and cut and dye his hair.

We Also "Did" the Queen Mary

2007-08-26T09:41:00.001-07:00

Pictures to follow.

Island Adventure Cont. Stuff We Did

2007-08-24T14:55:00.001-07:00

Camping at Hermit Gulch

Swimming to Diving Dock in Avalon Bay

Sitting on the Dock

Lover's Cove

Grey and White Pelicans at Lover's Cove

The Blanche W. (Wrigley Jr.'s grandaughter's boat) for a Flying Fish Tour

Getting Wet on The Blanche W. on the Way to Two Harbors

Two Harbors

John and Carrie Touring the Ups and Downs of Avalon Via a Rented Golf Cart

Natalie and Keving in the Back Seat

Avalon From Way Up High

Private Beach We Later Visited ($2 admission)

Back Side of the Casino.

Glass Bottom Boat Tour

Saw Some Fish

Kevin and John Snorkeling (these two saw a sting ray)

Me Too Snorkeling (my new favorite thing to do)

Natalie Holding a Shell Harvested From the Bottom of This Ocean (unfortunately, we had to put it back; there was a hermit crab living inside)

Island Adventure Cont. Mini Mobiles

2007-08-24T14:14:00.001-07:00

Island Adventure Cont. - Catalina Tile

2007-08-24T10:00:00.000-07:00

Island Adenture Cont. - Some Places We Ate

2007-08-24T09:40:00.001-07:00

Our first dinner was at Antonio's Pizza.

The bench in front of the campground eating leftover Antonio's pizza

Lloyd's of Avalon for our daily dose of ice cream and candy

The best fish and chips I've ever had

Sally's Waffle Shop for what else - waffles and omelettes

Coyote Joe's for a light lunch of shared chicken nachos

This was our last stop for breakfast before getting on the boat to go back to Long Beach. That's our stuff piled up by the wall.

Island Adventure Cont.

2007-08-24T08:51:00.001-07:00

Did you know the definition of casino is a building or room used for social amusements and that the casino on Catalina Island was never used for gambling?

Happy Couple
Natalie with her first "island drink"
Kevin waiting for breakfast
Happy Family

Catalina at night

An Island Adventure

2007-08-24T06:37:00.000-07:00

John and Kevin climbed up Mt. Whitney two weeks ago. With Brent in Europe, that left me and Natalie with a day to ourselves - no boys. While I was searching around for something for us to do I ran into the Aquarium of the Pacific online. I thought, "that would be fun", but I didn't want to go so far away with just Natalie I wanted to go with the "whole" family and since it is the launching off place to Catalina Island I planned a whole trip around it. We left on Tuesday night, met John in Woodland Hills (he was on travel) left early on Wednesday morning for Long Beach. Our goal was to arrive at the aquarium when it opened, tour it, then head off to Catalina for four days. And that we did. We arrived on Catalina early enough to set up our campsite then go back to town for dinner. It's about one mile to town. We didn't pack any food; just sleeping bags and tents and of course toiletries and clothes. There were showers at the campground so we were all set. We stayed three nights. Every morning we left the campsite and didn't return until after nightfall. We saw all kinds of wildlife on those walks; deer, woodpeckers, quail, and squirrel. The walks back were very relaxing; a nice way to reflect on the day and have intimate family time. So, needless to say, Natalie and I did not go to the aquarium that non-boy day. That day, Natalie and I went to Lancaster to see the newest Jackie Chan movie then to Palmdale for lunch and back-to-school backback shopping. I don't have any pictures from that day.

Here are some choice pictures out of about 300 from our "non-boy day" inspired family vacation. Oh, by the way, Brent is safely home from his European vacation. I have yet to take an after picture, but I will and I'll post it too. He does look different.

The Aquarium of the Pacific

Here's Natalie taking in her favorite of all the sea animals, the sea lion.

John touching a sea ray.

Kevin touching a sea ray too.

An adult sea ray with a leopard pattern. Cool and weird.

Seahorses.
Did you know male seahorses have a front pouch they use to carry around fertilized seahorse eggs and when they hatch the male is the one to tend to the hatchlings while the female seahorse has simply left her eggs and gone off somewhere?

Family photo.

Catalina

Getting there; a picture of "the boat".

On the boat.

On the boat too.

In Case You Were Wondering . . .

2007-08-20T21:24:00.001-07:00

This is what the inside of my refrigerator looks like right now.

Any questions?

Pink Flamigoes

2007-08-20T21:12:00.000-07:00

This morning John and I woke up to find plastic pink flamingoes covering the front lawn.

It's a fund raiser for the local girls soccer team for tournaments and what not throughout the year. They were "sent" to our house by some friends who knew we would be generous enough to donate money to their cause. $5 to have the girls remove the birds and $20 to have them "sent" to someone elses front lawn. As far as I know they are still outside. We called one of the team members at lunch to have her come and get them, but they have not shown up. School starts tomorrow, maybe they are too busy getting ready for that. Hmmm . . . am I the new proud owner of twenty some plastic pink flamingoes.

Great idea for a fund raiser. Hint hint Robin.

Here's a Better One

2007-08-19T09:38:00.001-07:00

of them dressed like vegetables.

And that's all I'm going to say about that.

I promise.

"Here's a Blondie For Your Trouble." ~ Nancy Drew

2007-08-13T21:13:00.001-07:00

Seriously. Have one.

Toby Mac

2007-08-13T20:34:00.000-07:00

Toby Mac played at the Anaheim Angels Stadium last Sunday with the Harverst Crusade. I was excited about seeing him live, but was less than enthusiastic about the venue.
I'm glad we went but . . . yeah.

Here is a picture of him from the big screen after he took off his beautiful white blazer.

Oh, another treat from the concert was seeing Dennis Agajanian.

Here he is playing guitar.

The one below is a video of Toby's fancy footwork.

One More Thing About That

2007-08-13T20:31:00.000-07:00

The Ditty Bops concert we went to a couple weeks ago was the first performance of their Farm Tour. To honor the farmers they dressed up like vegetables! Amanada was dressed as a carrot

and Abby was dressed as an artichoke. Here she is holding a vegan cupcake singing up a dream.

Awesome!

Third Stop

2007-08-06T22:06:00.000-07:00

After the museum we went to another favorite dining spot for lunch. Can you guess where?

After the satisfying fare it was home again, home again.

Next stop . . . TobyMac.

The Nex Day

2007-08-06T21:16:00.001-07:00

The plan was to see The Ditty Bops, stay over night and in the morning eat at our new favorite breakfast place in the city, Du Par's. After breakfast no one was quite ready to go home so we visited the nearby Los Angeles County Museum of Art. I'm so glad we did. I was introduced to Dan Flavin, an artist of fluorescent tube art. I was so excited by the exhibit I wanted to walk through again and again. What a nice surprise.

Here are some examples of his work.

Isn't it so pretty?

So . . . The Ditty Bops

2007-08-06T19:51:00.000-07:00

I first heard The Ditty Bops on XM radio last Fall. A song called Fish to Fry caught my ear. I have since discovered more of their songs to Love. They are two very creative and talented girls with a mission to inspire and entertain. Check them out at the link above or here.

While poking around the internet to learn what I could about them I realized I could see them live. And see them live I did at the lovely Henry Fonda Music Box Theatre in Hollywood. I arranged an overnight trip for the whole family; John, Kevin, Natalie and Me. We stayed the the Beverly Garland Holiday Inn in North Hollywood and ventured to the venue via the Metro. Fun! John admits to coming to the show with me out of humor, but was pleasantly surprised by their flawlass musical engineering.

We'll see them again when we can.