Summer Favorites

Since I seem to be horrible at blogging consistently, I've crammed June, July and August's favorites into their own post. Here's what I have favored these past few gorgeous months in Washington!
 
 
 

• Plain greek yogurt. Once I tried to add fruit to it and eat it as regular yogurt. Sick. Don't do it. I do however use it for a VARIETY of other things and it is SO GREAT. Instead of butter, sour cream, cream cheese, heavy cream, basically anything that is bad for you, but tastes good, try greek yogurt instead! I've recently even made chocolate muffins with greek yogurt instead of butter and eggs and milk. They still turned out yummy!

• Check out this uke. Decided to pick up this new lil hobby with one of my favorite friends, Kim. This month I had one of those times in life where I was forgetting about the big picture; getting caught up in petty drama of small-minded people. So Kim and I took a day to watch the sun set behind the Olympic Mountains, listen to waves crash and have ever-so-philosophical conversations about what was really important in life. Somewhere in these talks, we pictured ourselves forming a ukulele band, playing on the beach. One week later, ukuleles were purchased and I can now add it to my jack of all trades list :) I'll let you know how this goes....

• An herb garden that actually grows stuff! Yes friends, it is true. We grew plants from seeds! I harvested one batch of parsley and cilantro and have been using fresh basil leaves and green onions while I cook. How Northwesty is that??

 

•  Washington summertime in general. Filled with warm days, temperate evenings, Mariner's baseball games, grilling, long walks, fresh smells, local produce and if I'm lucky, experiencing those things with my husband. Maybe I'll be luckier in autumn? Keep your fingers crossed.

Until next time.....

Cheers,

KB

 

N is for Not a Jewelry Box

I said in my eloping post I would explain the story of how we ended up with a cat the day after we got married. So here is special little tale of how we acquired Meownt Rainier Barrier.

Husband likes to play this game called "guess the present." I believe I have explained how incredibly talented he is at this game, or maybe it is how incredibly bad I am at lying. Either way, as we were discussing a late birthday/wedding gift for me, he started to give me clues about what he was getting me. Maybe he was trying to get my skills up to his level, let me win the game for once. Didn't work. I was still wrong. Way wrong. Let's go through what he told me, versus what went through my head.

A: "I need you to help me go pick it out, there's lots of options."
K: (There are lots of different kinds of kittens!)

A: "The price range is anywhere from $70-$700."
K: (Kittens have a wide range of prices!)

A: "It could be made of leather, or wood."
K: (...........he's going to make me pick out a cat carrier FIRST! Then go get a cat!)

Yes I know. I am not aware of anyplace that would ever construct a cat carrier out of wood. Outdoor cat house? Leather could have been like a leash and a collar or a variety of accessories! I get a one track mind sometimes.

Fast forward to our romantic brunch after our lovely beach ceremony. Celebrating with a glass of champagne, I was on top of the world, smiling from ear to ear, wanted to tell everybody at the tables around us, we had just gotten MARRIED!

He starts secretly looking on his phone for places in the area where this gift could be browsed for. Let me say I was pretty damn confident up till this point. Secretly basking in my glory of guessing. Then he wants me to tell him what my guess is. I didn't want to do it, I just wanted to wait it out and see if I was right, not hear it! I told him I didn't want to guess. I told him! So he starts guessing for me. Bad move brosef.

A: "It's not jewelry....."
K: (I got my rock.)

A: "It's not a new purse...."
K: (I'll buy that for myself.)

A: "It's not a cat....."
K: (..........................................)

K: *crying at brunch*

I TOLD YOU I DIDN'T WANT TO GUESS!

After a boggled new husband questioned me on how.in.the.world. I deduced that I was getting a cat from the hints he gave me, he got out the trusty phone again, and to save his backside, found the nearest pet store.

For anybody who knows me well, knows that I'm more of a dog lover than a cat person. But some family friends of ours used to have this cat, called Marley, who was an exotic shorthair. A Persian face, but with short hair, so the grooming is majorly cut down. I loved him. He was so....unique! and as I later learned in life, expensive! My need to be "not the average joe" can be costly! AB would never pay such a large price for a cat. A grill or an electronic device, perhaps. Never a cat.

The stars aligned and fate stepped in because this pet store we walked into, just so happened to have a Persian rescue organization based out of it!!!!!!!! I walked in all like......

WHAAAAAAA!?! In my head, still giving AB credit.

K: (He's so smart! He planned it this way as a SURPRISE! He knows these are what I want! Oh my gosh look at the one over there. Any second now, he's gonna point to it and say "That's yours!!")

Nope. A coincidence only. An amazing one though!! I saw Rainy first and was in love. Then I learned she loves to be brushed, which was one of my three requirements of a cat. #1 You will be cute. #2 You will be cuddly. #3 You will let me brush you without attacking my hand. We put in the application that very day, and after some talking, thinking, and phone interviewing....it was decided she would be ours! The next morning we picked her up and its been (mostly) happily ever after since then!

She cuddles with me most of the time, follows me around, and we chit chat a lot. Rainy is a Himalayan, meaning she is part Persian, part Siamese. Siamese cats talk more than any other breed. Who knew! I've gotten used to it, and just ignore her when it's excessive. Sometimes its cute like when she is answering my questions (don't judge, it's just the two of us most of the time!). I don't think she is the smartest of things, on account of she runs into screen doors and jumps off 2nd stories and wanders into empty rooms just to meow at the wall, but she lets me train her because she LOVES food. If I fed her every hour she would probably still try to burglarize her treat bag. If I wandered the streets for weeks, I would probably want to stock up while I could as well.

Here's some pictures of our sweet fur child!

 So fuzzy.

 So not fuzzy.

" I enjoy hammocks!"

 "And boxes."

"My own namesake"

And here are the first few behaviors I've taught her!

Until next time....

Cheers,

KB and MRB

R is for Rustonians

In May we left the big city of Seattle for some new scenery. Our lease was up and with my new job in Tacoma, we were both commuting almost 2 hours every day. Not fun. And not my choice as a way to spend 12% of my day.

So my lovely husband (still adjusting to using that word!) found a quaint little joint in Ruston, Washington. Basically Tacoma. It's a "town" encompassing about 5 by 3 blocks on the shores of Commencement Bay, in the Puget Sound. It also, coincidentally, is right across the street from my workplace, only 20 minutes from base.

The most SPLENDID part is that traffic noise...Light Rail dings....earsplitting mariachi music....and unsolved shootings, are no longer a part of our every day lives! Our former apartment complex was lovely, don't get me wrong. Brand new. Great amenities. A couple blocks from Lake Washington, and our favorite, Seward Park. But NOW! What a difference! We sit with the windows open all the time, no longer in fear of our neighbors getting upset that our TV is up loud, because, God forbid, we should be able to have fresh air and watch Wheel of Fortune at the same time. Our balcony at our Ruston abode is about 4 times smaller than our Seattle deck. We've already spent 29438732 more minutes on it, because who needs all that space to listen to car horns and cursing drivers when you can have less space and look at the water in perfect serenity? We live in a park yo. Or very NEAR a park. Parkside.

 The Waterfront of Ruston Way

 Shoreline of our "backyard"

 Rhododendron Garden

 Iris Garden

 Miles of running trails

 That's us!

 Pleasantvilley

That last one is our baby balcony. Complete with a cat fence and hammock. Truth: There is no room for chairs on account of the gargantuan grill table Andrew made, but there is always room for hammocks.

Since we last spoke through this little bloglet, we have completed deployment #3. As well as very recently started deployment #4. I kind of wear those numbers like a hidden badge of honor, but come on, back to back is not how I planned on rackin them up! It is what it is, and we shall persevere like we always do. I just wanted to do the whole husband and wife thing for more than 2 weeks at a time. I suppose now is not our time. An email marriage it shall remain for the next couple of months. If the military was a person, sometimes I would slap it across the face.

Until next time. Don't worry, next time will be sooner than 2 months from now. Not like I have husband hang outs to go to or anything!

Cheers,

KB

Cheers