the goose loves tuesday's ten (#17)

We spent one whole half of one whole day in the car this weekend, driving to Spokane for my cousin's wedding. It was a grand family affair, and reuniting with all the close and extended family members was awesome. Having a few drinks didn't hurt either. Here's my ten favorite moments/photos of the weekend.

1. We drove my parents and brother from Portland to Spokane (about 6 hours) on Friday, just in time to shower and change for the rehearsal dinner. Here's Billy and Liam, post-dinner, enjoying beers at the Blue Spark, one of the only bar open past 10pm. [Fun fact: from their website, I learned their motto is "no crap on tap."] Good beer, but weird dance/music/stage/white trash vibe.

2. We rented bikes from the hotel Saturday morning (yay for winning the one with the unadjustable-and-way-too-low bike seat!) and rode the mile to the wedding reception site to check it out. The groom requested a "water feature" for the ceremony so they were wed in front of a waterfall.

3. After a cloudy morning, the fog burned off San Francisco-style and the sun came out for the afternoon ceremony. Here's the wedding party (and officiant) all lined up!

Adorable flower girls.

4. And the bride! My cousin Alison, escorted by Uncle Jim. So gorgeous.

And the photographer, about to fall into the pond.

5. Here's the Spokane Dempseys. Uncle Jim is my dad's brother, so they have the same last name as us; when they moved to Spokane years ago, we were differentiated by our cities. Allison's three sisters and one brother were the majority of the wedding party, and they were adorable!

6. Allison married Timmy / Jian Liu, who she met in China when she studied and taught English there, so the reception was decorated with chinese lanterns and symbols. Love the red!

And the first dance...

7. The reception room had this great balcony overlooking some area of Spokane (generally just grass) but it was great for some sun and fresh air. We took the opportunity to update some family photos.

 I should probably lighten these up...

Family of 6!

8. The former bride and groom, happy to make way for the newest married couple in the family!

9. Lucy power! The cutest little flower girl, my cousins' cousin on the other side, was also named Lucy.

10.  We left my parents in Seattle with Monika, and drove back to Portland with Liam. We had rented a car to avoid car trouble in our somewhat-unreliable Expolorer, only to encounter an awful screeching noise from the back right tire, about an hour outside of Pasco.

Twenty minutes later, the Enterprise in Pasco switched us out for this hot ride. Catastrophe averted, and Liam got to the airport with plenty of time to spare.

the goose loves tuesday's ten (seattle style!) (#14)

What is full of rain, inhabited by seahawks and mariners, and 180 miles away?

Seattle!

Billy and I drove up to Seattle on Friday night for the weekend - he had a pipe band competition, I had a conference there on Monday/Tuesday, and we figured we could visit Monika while we were there.

1. While Billy was at his pipe band competition on Saturday, Monika and I had a girls day! We had indian food for lunch (SO GOOD!) and when she ordered a vodka seven, they brought her a glass with vodka and a glass with 7-Up, separately. She mixed them in her mouth instead.

2. We then went to the Pacific Northwest Ballet Company showing of Coppelia, which is about two lovers and a doll maker. Sounds weird, yeah. But it was good. And our cousin's cousin was one of the dancers!

3. No girls outing is complete without getting pedicures. Thank you, Monika, for treating me!

4. That evening, Monika went babysitting and Billy was still in Bellingham for the competition, so I took the dog for a looooong walk. After spending the first hour sniffing/peeing/trampling nature, he found a stick. And at that point, it was full-speed ahead. Despite passing two dogs and a bunch of people, he sped right along, gripping the stick with all his might. I was practically running to keep up with his pace.

Here's the end goal: a nice long stick-chew session.

5. Once he got over the stick, he decided to attack the fence, which borders the sidewalk of a busy street. Anytime he heard cars or people go by (i.e. always), he'd run up and down the fence, barking/howling, and then would start jumping up, even though he was at least 4 feet too short to actually get anywhere. It took me probably 34 pictures, but I finally got a mid-air leap.

6. Then Billy came home in all his Scottish finery. Loving that skirt kilt!

7. After some delicious crepe action in the morning (thanks, Monika - your crepe pan rocks!), we drove out to Redmond, WA (about 30 min east) for some picnic action.

8. Our next destination (less than a mile from the park) was the Mac and Jack's Brewery, which is famous for theirfrican Amber. It's just a brewery and small shop - no food - but the free tour was pretty sweet. And free.

The tour comes with a free pint glass and four taster tickets, so we walked out with two pint glasses to add to our collections and about a pint of beer (in separate tastes). The amber is delicious, the IPA, not so much. And it was all so worth the price of free.

9. Then Billy took off for Portland with the dog, and left me with the devil my sister, who would take me to my conference that night. But first, we made a very important dinner-delivery stop to Monika's friends Jess and Tyler, who just had the most adorable little baby (besides Brennan!) last Tuesday. Here's little Easton James:

Happy 1-Week Birthday, Easton! You are too cute.

(See that UP onesie? Yeah, I totally made that. Earned me baby-holding rights for at least 25 minutes, which was awesome.)

10. Then it was off to a two-day National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI) conference for me. Complete with really unnecessary cool swag. Just wait til I show you my poncho-holder.

11. (What?! Eleven?! Yes - this makes up for me only giving you 19 last week...)

The sun-setting on Seattle, as seen from my hotel room on Monday night.

Thanks, Seattle - you were a good trip.

the goose loves tuesday's ten (#12) - on friday

Just ignore that Tuesday's post is three days late and that Friday's Garden post is nowhere to be found. Yet. Just enjoy what you're getting when you get it.

1. SUNSHINE. Yes, for a whole freaking-ly awesome week. YES.

Sunshine = painted toes and cute sandals. Painted those babies myself, mind you - still saving the big bucks for loans. Pretty sure that when we're done paying loans, I'm getting monthy pedicures and manicures. Take that, budget.

2. Sunshine = dogpark. Let's play where's Waldo Bentley again.

Found him!

3. Easy = ideal. Curried goose goose cous cous. The longest part of this dinner prep was finding the craisins in the back of the pantry and toasting the pitas. Yes it was that easy. (Looking to make some of your own? Boil your water, then add to cous cous in a bowl, let steam for 5 minutes covered. Mix curry (or other spices) in a cup of plain yogurt, mix into fluffed/cooked cous cous. Add toppings. Eat.)

4. Warm nights = party on the town. I ignored my 74-year-old ways and stayed up past 10pm, and it was so worth it. Hung out with Carolyn, Caryn, and Caryn's cousin Jenny from Michigan.

That was a delicious pitcher of McMenamin's Ruby Ale we shared.

5. Dog + dock = summer. We went with Billy to his drum lessons at Willamette Park, and enjoyed ourselves on the dock at the boat launch. Bentley almost got the geese.

He also almost jumped into the water.

I stopped him, before he grew an extra tail from all the contaminants and diseases in the Willamette River. Even though two tails could be useful, I guess.

Go grab your sunglasses before my pale skin blinds you.

6. Quinoa=TASTY. Want to put in slightly more effort for dinner than the curried cous cous above? Make quinoa (20 min) and then add salsa (0 min), feta (0 min), pumpkin seeds (0 min), and sliced avocado (1 min). The taste to effort ratio on this one is perfect.

7. Sunshine = BBQ. After having a fabulous craft day with the girls (Allison - send photos!), we let them stay for some BBQ action. Billy mastered ribs, and we also had chicken, corn, bread, pasta salad, and a little lot of alcohol. Here's Monika and her bf Josh. At least one of them is happy in that relationship...

And the gang. Allison loves the food, Carolyn is wondering where the dessert is.

The ribs were devoured pretty quickly.

8. Bentley = weird. Who sleeps like this? I do love that his relationship with Moose has left the agression stage and is entering the cuddle-buddy stage.

9. Bentley = psycho. Look at those crazy eyes!

A. We finally bought more dog food.

B. No, we don't usually let him eat dinner like this, even though he loves it.

10. Heart Walk = Success!

Thanks to many generous donations from you all, we've surpassed our goal! Big shoutout of gratitude for a generous $500 from Dad & Mom, and to Carolyn and Allison for raising $$ and walking! And to family members Peggy & George, Monika, and Grandma & Grandpa, for your generous dollars too!!!



Also a big thank you to my coworkers for helping me raise $300!

I spent Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday night making 75 chocolate chip cookies and 50 red-velvet-cheesecake-brownies, and sold them at work on Wednesday and Thursday. I roped in $250 in cookie sales and another $50 from generous coworkers.

Here are the brownies:

 And the packaged baggies:

It was lots of fun, and I probably only spent an hour (between the two days) peddling my goods. Cookies may not be entirely heart healthy, but they sell FAST!

We're gearing up for the walk first thing tomorrow (Saturday) morning, so think of us and walk in your own neighborhoods in support! Photos will follow...