Off I go!

I'm helping out Purple Moon at the Jamboree this weekend. It'll be fun to make coffee again for a weekend. Its been 2yrs! I miss it. See ya there! I'm also excited to see Tim McGraw and LeAnn Rimes. Oh, and Jessi-ca-ca!

Mid Week Fun

Phil had the night off. Great Surprise. The city shut down his project for the Benton County Fair...so like good Corvallisites we went. And the best part of the fair is always the food! Phil had a Gyro
and I had a chicken sandwich from Cart De Frisco MY FAVORITE! When I was a kid my grandparents used to take us to the Lane County Fair every year. When they would ask us what we wanted to do first I would always say, "Lets eat at Cart De Frisco!" What a weird child...I think most kids would say "Lets get an elephant ear!" I think Jim Roe III should open a Cart in Corvallis!Diamond Rio was playing that night. Super Fun.

Poor Sad Me. My icecream fell out of the cone when I was draining the melt. It was the least smart thing I did last night.This poor Lemur was either drunk or handicap.

Hey Yoplait....Nice Work

So I can only watch this commercial so many times before my stance against allowing commercials to influence me crumbles....
last night I went to Safeway and they were almost sold out...they only had 3 Key Lime Pies left! But let me tell you, it is so so delicous! The texture is so delicious...but don't be fooled. My 4oz container of frozen whips compared to 4oz of my chocolate icecream has the same calories...the less fat is replaced with more sugar.

Big Mistake

Yesterday I had the option of sneaking away to The Bain's beautiful River house near Waldport where it is 20deg cooler. I was going to hide out for a few days and work from there. But I chickened out and didn't want to go by myself.
So instead I chose this?I still might change my mind and go today.....

Bad News, Good News, Bad News

Bad News: Its too hot for my dogs. Too hot!
Good News: We have AC in our bedroom.
Bad News: We dont like the dog hair on the carpet.
Good News: We have a big enough hallway that I can block off the entrances and put a baby gate at our door so it chills the hallway for the dogs. Apple sat nicely at my office door. Cute lil' girl.
Bad News: I thought Ruby and Lewis' room was closed shut but it was just cracked and Apple ate Ruby's flip flop.
Good News: Ruby gets new flip flops (sorry boo)
Bad News: Im not sure if it is from the heat or what but Apple got explosive diarrhea! I was cursing the dogs and Phil (who was at work) while i was scrubbing the floor AND wall.
Good News: It was contained in the bathroom.
Bad News: Dogs got put back outside.

Garden Update

I havent shared much about our garden. Its been PRODUCING! I love going outside to "pick my dinner"!
Our one red tomato. We have tons of green ones!
Lots of gold, red and purple potatoes. The bushes are starting to die. I was told you harvest once the bushes are dead but you can steal from the sides until then.
OUR CORN IS HUGE! I guess I didnt realize it can be 10ft tall?!

its been a battle keeping the slugs out of the cabbage!

Lots of lettuce and greens. I already blanched and froze a bunch of collard greens. I figured I could through them in soups and stirfry this winter.Tons of green beans. My very favorite when fresh. We have yellow ones too! The green and purple are Oregon Giants. The seeds are from my Filipino grandpa that my parents continue to keep alive.

Purple Potatoes. So fun.

My dinner. I just smothered a frozen piece of chicken breast with cut up onion, potato, carrot and thyme from the garden drizzled with olive oil, salt, pepper and balsamic. 375deg 45mins. So Easy.
also in the freezer are my sugar peas and snow peas.

Momma Kirkbride

The Beautiful Kayla Kirkbride had her Corvallis baby shower on Sunday...and a lucrative one might I add!
Kayla SCORED! Not in the Photo was her surprise present once the boys came home from Nana K. and Bumpa.THE BOB! I don't have babies but I DO KNOW about the BOB...Phil even knows about it... ha ha ha. When Brandon and Kayla got their stroller Phil said "Oh, the Bob....its great because it has a swivel wheel"...ha ha ha.
I made Kayla a diaper cake with flowers out of tights and bows out of leggings. I hid presents inside each layer. It was so fun to make and so sad to tear apart.
The food was so good...I had thirds! D'ann (Kayla's mom) got the cake from the Coop. Yes, they take cake orders and they are so so organically delicious!

I'm so excited for momma Kayla and Daddy Brandon. Its always so special when close friends have their first baby. I keep getting teary eyed!

Early Birthday Surprise!

I love my husband, I love my husband, I love my husband!

Next sunday is my ACTUAL birthday but I'll be going to the Jamboree all weekend and Phil will be working. To make up for it

Phil woke me up Saturday morning and made me crawl from my bed to the front yard where a brand new Women's Globe Vienna 3 was parked outside with a new helmet. I haven't had a bike since 2nd grade. There wasn't a place to ride a bike on the farm. Phil and I have both been wanting bikes so we could ride together so he also retrieved his dad's old bike from 1979 and replaced the tubes and tires.


So after a quick shower we rode to the Saturday Market. Busy and Fun as usual.
Sat at the fountain with our drinks from Purple Moon and watched the kids at the fountain. Everyone, Purple Moon has the BEST Organic ORANGE JUICE! They squeeze it fresh right in front of you, go get some!


I started calling friends to have them come hangout at the waterfront because I thought that was the end of my Birthday-Day, Phil had me cancel my calls because it was only the Beginning! Next stop, Willamette Park.After a quick stop at a garage sale and brisk ride to the park we found Peter, Jenny and Bad at the park with a beautiful picnic of all my favorite things!!!!! I was so surprised! I LOVE SURPRISES!!!

And my NEW FAVORITE thing. Delicious cookie sandwiches Jenny made. So So good. I want one now!!!! Jenn also made hand-squeezed lemonade...she must really like me!
The spread. Extra garlic bruschetta (Jenn knows how I love garlic), brie, goat cheese, roasted red peppers...SO GOOD!!!!!!Pete even got the dogs. Bem had fun walking Apple. She just kept cracking up. I guess its really really funny to hold a dog leash.
Classic picture of Bem. "peas nu-nu" Thanks again Pete,Jenn and Bemma. Such a great birthday present!
After another shower and a nap we started Phase 3. A pleasant drive to the breezy Oregon Coast. We first had dinner in Newport at Saffron Salmon (Whitney's wise suggestion, you were right Whit!)



You have to try it. It is in the Historic Bay Front Area at the very beginning of the strip and at the end of of the pier. I had never seen it before. We usually go straight to Moe's and the sea lions. Since it was my birthday we decided to splurge and order a bottle of wine.

We shared this INCREDIBLE crab cocktail. I could have had a few of those and been completely satisfied. So So good!
Their chowder was also good. Sorry Moe's but you're no longer my favorite.
Phil got the Seafood Pasta. I was so impressed with the huge chunks of crab.
And I of course had to order the Saffron Salmon. Loved it! Best Salmon I have ever had!
I just love that guy!Our dinner ended around 8pm and we weren't quite ready to go home. So we drove up to Lincoln City and played at the Casino. We left even, which was good!



Great DAY! I'm so thankful for a wonderful family and a wonderful Husband.

Friday Fun In The Sun

Friday I got off work early and went to Timberhill's out door pool with Jenn and Bem. Its a great place for kids. The cute lil' kiddy pool goes down to 1/2 a foot. How adorable.

They also have a mini version of the waterfront fountain.
Emma's at this stage where its impossible to take a picture of her. She wants to the camera the second I take it out. At least she is smiling in this one even though her eyes are closed.

They also have a fun outdoor menu. Popsicles, shaved ice, burgers, hotdogs and BEER. I don't like beer but I keep trying to advertise BEER to get my husband to the gym. "Babe come to the gym with me and you can have a beer", that just doesn't sound right.


Emma got lucky and had 2 shaved icies... how can you say no to such a sweet face?! Especially when she says "peas, nu-nu"

My Poor Dogs!

Bulldogs don't do well in the heat!
10-day Forecast

Monday: 103
Tuesday: 107
Wednesday: 105
Thursday: 95
Friday: 92
Saturday: 90
Sunday: 89
Monday:89
Tues: 87
Wed: 84

Make It Stop

The last couple of days my half Asian eye has been twitching! It happens when I get excited or stressed. Whats going on?

I hope this isn't the begining of hemifacial spasms!

Fruitful Results

The Papaya


I don't usually buy papayas or mangos unless im making fruit salsa. I decided to do some research on our tropical friend and it turns out the Papaya is my new favorite diet-fruit(oranges come in a close 2nd place).

1cup fruit Papaya Mango Apple Peach Nectarine Banana Orange Calories 55 107 65 60 63 134 81 Carbs 14 28 17 15 15 34 21 Fiber 3 3 3 2 2 4 4 Sugar 8 24 13 13 11 18 14 Protein 1 1 0 1 2 2 2
numbers based on info from www.my-calorie-counter.com
delicious when sliced on top of plain oatmeal w/ cinnamon sprinkles. no butter or sugar needed.

The J.L. Kelleys

A few years ago Pete and Phil Kelley decided it was ok to marry girls with similar names. So far it hasn't really been a problem except for the fact that our father-in-law occasionally calls us the wrong name(love you Chuck!), and Pete once got a card addressed: To Peter and Jenna but other than that things havent been too confusing.

This month:
-I got a call from Jenn's doctor, I had to tell them I'm JennA Kelley not Jenn Kelley.
-THen I purchased Jenn's Photos from Fred Meyer by mistake, once again I had to tell them I'm Jenn-UH Kelley. I wouldn't have minded keeping cute photos of Emma.
-And finally I discovered that I have been getting Emma's playroom charges at our gym?! I had to email the business office and once again tell them I'm JennA Kelley not Jenn Kelley.

Dear Jenn,

If somehow I get mistaken as you and win something cool or get an awesome tax refund I'm keeping it and I'm not telling you!

House Guests

Meet Paul and Zac...my house guests last night. These young lads are running from Mexico to Canada...yes running. They are running a marathon or more every 3or4 days with 1or2 rest days. With family/friend connections they have mapped out homes to stay along the way. Paul was one of Wubby's(cousin Caleb) old roommates. I was happy to host them and listen to their stories. It also motivated me during my, in comparison, small small 50min workout today as they left this morning to...well...go run another marathon!

Check out their website:

www.blessthecoast.com

A Funny Weekend

Phil of course worked all weekend again but his early sunday am shift got changed to pm so we had an evening and morning together. First time falling asleep with someone in my bed in the last few weeks!

Saturday when Phil woke up from his night shift we made plans to go to the coast and relieve the dogs from this heat wave. As we started getting ready Phil got called into work?! I've been pretty tough this summer but this time I started crying...I can laugh about it now, its pretty funny. But it turned out Phil just had to monitor a pump at the job site that needed 24hr attention so I went with him!
So nice to just hangout and talk to my husband...wow! Oh and take our profiles.

Knife River was a Linn Country Fair Sponsor so Phil and I got some tickets to the concert that night..butt-rock, so loud and boring but fun to hangout with Phil's bosses. Such fun/funny guys. We hung out at the usual Bailey's in downtown Albany.

Sunday Phil got to come to his first and probably last Sunday Tribe at the Kirkbrides. Mark led and did a great job. We had a yummy burrito bar. For those of you who dont go to Dox our church community is meeting in small groups on sunday mornings and having our large gathering Tues nights at Avery Park. Its a really cool change. This is a deer at the Kirkbride's who host our Tribe, that Phil really really wanted to....put to sleep. Look at how close it got to him?

I was feeling crazy Sunday night so I went back to work with Phil. We stayed out there until about 6am. I was exhausted last night!!!!! But I still managed to have an impromptu bbq. I realized we haven't had people over allll summer with Phil working nights. Boo! But if people come over 3-5 they'll get a quick glimpse of my hardworking guy.