Good Afternoon All,

First thing this morning Mark, Amelia and I headed up to Hood River to get some cherries! The stores around here sell cherries for more than $2.00/pound and even some of the produce stands sell them for $3.50/lb over in Hood River... crazy prices! Years ago my parents found this little orchard that sells them for under $1.00/lb so that is where we went. I wanted a lot! 40 pounds will do just fine for cherry jam and some breads, among other things. Amelia and I have been pigging out on them... delicious! 

I have been so incredibly anxious to sit down and write this post. Sunday morning Amelia and I headed out bright and early on an adventure to meet up with Kati, an incredible new photographer that I have known for quite some time. I was excited about having Amelia's pictures taken, it had been quite some time and she has changed so much since the last time they were done. Kati is so very talented and we ended up with some amazing pictures! Below is a picture extravaganza of our beautiful girl!!!!!!

Please check out Kati's website! She is a stay at home mom who has taught herself how to capture some beautiful memories for people. Click her on her business name Creative Juices to see her page.

I realized this evening that I have been MIA around this place. Work has been so busy lately that when I get home all I want to do is lounge and sleep. Our weekends have been jam packed, but that seems to be the norm for us lately. First off I will update you on how I am doing on the Lose a Marathon challenge... So far in the 2 weeks that I have been participating I have lost 3 pounds. Not quite as much as I had hoped, but at the same time I was not surprised. I have not exercised this entire week. I hate what stress and exhaustion does to me! I am a crazy stress eater and even though I have been trying to be good lately, I slip up every now and then. Now moving on to the latest and greatest that is going on in my life.

Last weekend was awesome! I spent Saturday snuggling and playing with Amelia, catching up on Netflix shows and watching movies I hadn't seen in a while... such as Dirty Dancing. It drizzled rained off and on all day and I wasn't going to complain about having to hang out at home for a change. Sunday was a wonderful day. Around 11 o'clock I called up Grace's boyfriend Chris to see if they wanted to journey with us up the Columbia Gorge Scenic Highway, and of course they were up to it. We headed out around 12:30 and had a blast. For those of you in the area who have not driven up there, I recommend it! Here are a few shots from our day.




Our Fourth of July was very relaxing this year. Usually we go to Molalla for the parade and then hit up the Buckeroo but this year was different. We did make it to the parade and Amelia loved it, but I just wasn't feeling up to going to the rodeo... which is surprising because I never miss it. Instead we headed into Portland and had a BBQ at my Grandma's house. I snacked way too much and paid for it later but the food was good and spending time with family was the best part.

Foodie Pen Pals is a program that was started by Lindsay over at The Lean Green Bean. Every month she has people sign up from all over the United States and Canada to join the Foodie Pen Pal program. At first I wasn't sure about it, but then after reading posts from participants I decided to sign up for June... and I'm so glad that I did. When this program was started there were about 30 participants, and it has now grown to over 1000. If you are interested in learning more about the Foodie Pen Pal program, please click the link above.

So, the thing about Foodie Pen Pals is that you send to someone completely different than who you receive your package from, and that changes every month. On the 5th of each month you are given your pen pal's name and have 72 hours to contact them for a mailing address, any food allergies and to ask them if there is anything they do not like. Then, you have to go out and shop for them. The items can be store bought or homemade but your bill must stay around the $15 limit. You must mail your package no later than the 15th of the month and it must include something hand written in it. It was a really fun experience and I am looking forward to July. Now on to the package I received...

I can't believe how anxious I was for my package to arrive; I get excited to when receiving any mail but packages are especially wonderful. My package came from Moses Lake Washington and was filled with yummy goodies.

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My first Foodie Pen Pal experience has been fantastic with the help of my pen pal, Ashley, from over at http://ashley-to-awesome.blogspot.com/.  Ashley did a great job picking out different goodies and treats that actually fit my tastes perfectly.  Only two of the items she sent me were foods I have had before.  I’ve had Cliff Bars and tried one of the Complete Cookies at work in the past.  So far I haven’t gotten into my Cliff Bars, but I have tried a few of the other goodies.  

My boyfriend, Nick, who is rather fond of cookies, polished off the Complete Cookie for me.  Together, Nick and I, had the Quinoa pasta for dinner the other night though, and it was pretty good.  We didn’t do anything fancy, and just ate it with olive oil basil tomato sauce.  It tasted just like regular pasta, but had a better texture, which was more firm.

For lunch at work the other day, I had the soy ginger ramen.  I’m a huge fan of the general ramen, but I try to stay away from it since it isn’t the healthiest.  This ramen, though not that healthy, is a healthier alternative with an amazing flavor.  It was nice and easy to make too since the noodles are actually soft, not a harden cake.  I think you could get away with just soaking it in hot water for a bit, if that gets it to the eater’s desired temperature.  I did actually microwave mine for the 1:30 directed time.

Soy Crisps are much like Quaker Rice Cakes, but they have a less crunchy texture.  They are much less messier than Quakers which is nice.  The Soy Crisps have a higher caloric value, but since they’re made of soy they have a higher protein count.  Lightly salted, they have a great flavor.

The Feng Shui Nori Seaweed crackers are amazing!!....if you like the taste of fish, which thankfully, I do.  They do not exactly taste like fish, they just have a hint of fishiness to them.  It makes me think of the taste I sometimes get in my mouth after taking my fish oil vitamin.  I think they are delicious, but my co-worker, that does not like fish, was not a fan.

So far, these are the only items I have tried, and I have enjoyed them immensely.  I’m sure everything else will be just as great and I cannot wait to bust into them.  It was really exciting for the package to come, it felt a bit like Christmas morning! I want to say another huge THANK YOU to Ashley for being my first Foodie Pen Pal, and doing a phenomenal job! I can’t wait to see what next month brings.