Discovery

Thanks to my roommate Chelsey, last weekend I was introduced to a new favorite spot.  It's called Discovery Park.  I'm going to call it an urban hiking oasis because once in the park you'd never know downtown Seattle is only a quick 10 minutes away.  Seriously, where outside of Santa Cruz can you find an escape with legitimate hiking trails, beautiful ocean views, and scenic greenery all around?  OK fine, this probably exists outside of northern CA and WA, but where ever else that might be I've never been so it doesn't count yet. (Side note: the views of the "ocean" below are actually of the Puget Sound. Pretty much the same :))  Anyway, three of our four roommates went on a mini adventure to explore the trails that lead down to the water.  We cataloged almost every step of the way, including the moment when Katie and I attempted to do a yoga pose on a wet, sandy log which lead to her almost doing a face plant as she fell.  As you'll see below I too almost tumbled off in extreme laughter.  Had she been hurt, it wouldn't be funny.  However, since she wasn't seriously injured I still break out in uncontrollable laughter every time I see the series of pictures.
For numerous reasons I can't wait for summer. Discovery Park is now apart of that excited anticipation.  The park will likely be crazy busy, but I'm thinking/ hoping convenience will out weigh crowds and result in continued discovery.

Greta

Back in November I got a phone call from Kyle, the husband of my good friend Greta, who like all good husbands was brainstorming what to get his wife for Christmas.  He was tossing around the idea of surprising her with a trip to come visit me.  Not only was I totally on board with the incredible thoughtfulness of his gift, but it also meant I was going to get some quality time with my friend.  Complete win, win.
The last weekend of February, in a typical dreary and water logged evening, Greta arrived.  It was her first trip to WA and my first time playing tour guide, which made for moments of undecided wondering and what I considered great fun (I hope she did too :)).  Highlights of the weekend include exploring Pikes Place downtown, walking Green Lake with coffee in hand, the Theo Chocolate Factory tour (which ends in their sampling shop!), and meaningful conversations that accompanied our activities.  I'm so thankful for Greta, for her faithful friendship, for her compassionate heart, for her desire to serve well, and for our time together.  Thanks Kyle for making our weekend of tourism and catching up possible!

Kitchen

Generally speaking, I know my way around important aspects of life.  Not to toot my own horn, but I have a pretty good sense of direction.  In a business or workplace setting I’m fairly comfortable in knowing how to navigate the politics.  Need a good coffee shop? I’m happy to give you my list of favorites.  The blueprint of my local Target I know like the back of my hand, as well as the best route for sampling during lunch time at Costco.  However, one spot I feel out of place is the kitchen.  Not because I don’t know the difference between a spatula and zester, but because I just don’t spend much time using them.  It’s like having all the equipment to be great at baseball and never playing because learning how to play is work.  Can you see the catch 22 predicament I find myself in?  And it’s not like I haven’t been taught the basics.  I definitely spent time in the kitchen as a kid making cookies with my mom, peeling carrots or potatoes for dinner, and just being “available” to help if needed.  If fact, I even took Home-Ec. class in jr. high.  So you’d think all that would lead to knowing my way around a kitchen and enjoying the process of meal making.  However, since I’ve made it clear my childhood training doesn’t result in pure excitement for dinner creating, I’ve decided that maybe practice will help.  In the spirit of “starting somewhere” I’m going to make at least three new meals a month.  You’re probably thinking, “only three!, does she ever want to learn?”.  To which I would respond, 1) I’m starting small and plan to build on that number as time goes on, 2) I cook for one person (and sometimes a couple roommates) so I usually end up with leftovers for days, 3) Most of this kitchen experimentation will happen on the weekend and there are only four in a month, and 4) Unless you’re volunteering to come teach me on a regular basis, I’m going to move at my own manageable pace. 

Websites picture of dinner

Now that we have all that out of the way, I’m here to report on my first new recipe.  It happened to require a crock-pot.  I’m aware that crock-pot meals are sort of “the easy way out”, however all the food prep is the same so we’ll just say I was practicing my dicing and chopping skills.  Also, I had all the ingredients for that recipe which is what really won me over. The title of the dish is “Crock Pot Chicken” and I was expecting more of a “burrito filling” type appearance in the final product (probably because of the picture).  Instead I ended up with a closer resemblance to chicken chili, which may actually be the way it’s supposed to turn out because they say to make rice with the meal (and I ate it on a bed of spinach).  I was just anticipating something else.  Regardless, it’s delicious!  I won’t say it was a total success, but not bad for recipe number one.  Next up, sweet potato hamburgers :)

My picture of dinner

(Note:  I don’t plan on posting about all of the meals I make.  That would be boring.  At least it would be for me.  If you’re at all interested in the recipes I try, there is a 99.9% chance I found them on Pinterest so feel free to check them out there.)