My trip last week was fun, fast, and furious! (in other words - a whirlwind of excitement)
But it always feels good to be home once again. Good Old Idaho = Home Sweet Home. (even if it is freezing cold for months on end . . . )
On Monday, the last full day of my trip, the day was as packed as it could possibly be, filled with as many visits and activities as possible, ha ha. I got up early to exercise and get ready for the day, hurrying to pick up breakfast items for me, Mari, Ana, and my Dad. I met them over at Charmaine's house after she had already left for work.
We talked and laughed and visited for about 2 hours before I needed to take care of a couple things prior to heading over to Mom's for the afternoon.
It was hard to start saying goodbye though.
I had been meaning to drive through the old trailer park where my Grandma Zoe used to live (my dad's mother). The trailer park was literally a stone's throw from my AirBnb lodging. I figured this was as good a time as any.
Here is a short video of me driving in and pausing next to her old trailer. (47 seconds)
I have many, MANY fond memories of visiting her here. And I miss her ferociously.
Soon, I drove over to Mom's house so that we could go on a hike together at Low Gap Park. It was mostly cloudy, at about 58 degrees, but it felt nice and refreshing to be outside.
The expansive park is right across the street from my old high school (Ukiah High School).
We chose one of the trails closest to Orr Creek, enjoying hearing the sounds of the rushing water as we moseyed along. It was really lovely in the woods and on the hillside.
Here is a short video (27 seconds) of a creek trickling over some big rocks on one of the trails.
I thought this sign, posted as we circled back to the bridge at the start of our hike, was especially entertaining! :)
After our walk, we ordered some lunch from our favorite restaurant, Ellie's. I ordered their Butternut Squash Soup and Mom ordered a BBQ Chicken Salad. We brought it all back to her house and ate lunch there so that I could do a little bit of laundry in preparation to pack up sometime later in the day.
We talked, and laughed, and cried as we shared tender stories that were near and dear to our hearts. It was really nice.
Eventually, it was time to say goodbye though.
From there, I took Mari on a couple of errands and then we went back to her house for dinner. They made the most delicious homemade tomato soup and the tastiest grilled cheese sandwiches I've ever had!
I snuck a quick photo of them cooking in the kitchen, while I sat in the rocking chair in the family room and just relaxed.
I think what made the sandwiches so tasty is that Mari buttered the sourdough bread and then added some garlic salt, paprika, and pepper to the buttered bread. Then, when I bit into the gooey and melty sandwich, I could taste the seasonings on the outside. It was SO GOOD!!
After dinner, we watched a quick episode of "Stay Here" on Netflix. It's a series about two experts that help to fix up someone's AirBnb lodging with the intent to make it more appealing for potential buyers. It was really cool! Charmaine really wants to have some sort of AirBnb to rent out when she retires, so that she can supplement her income in retirement.
And then, sadly, it was time to say goodbye. Always such a difficult time.
Charmaine and me
Mari, Me, and Ana
I hurried back to my lodging to get all packed up and into bed ASAP. I set my alarm for 5:00 a.m. in order to be on the road by 5:45 a.m. I had a long drive down to the Bay Area and needed enough wiggle room to navigate through traffic and still get to the airport in a timely fashion. However, the garbage man outside woke me up at 4:30 a.m. with all the racket. With everyone having 3 trash cans each, the super loud crashing sound of each can being slammed down, one at a time, made its way to my ears - in spite of me sleeping with ear plugs everywhere I go.
Turns out I didn't need to stress so much or worry I wouldn't get down to the airport in a timely fashion. Maybe it was because I left early enough that I DID get through all the worst places before any traffic jams could happen. Either way, I got to the rental car return by 7:45 a.m. and was through security at the airport just a few minutes later.
I was pretty bushed by the time I got on the plane and got settled in. The flight was only about 25% full, so I was eventually able to sprawl out on the extra seats next to me to rest during the 90 minutes we were up in the air.
The SLC Airport has been under some massive renovations for a couple years now. This trip allowed me to step foot in the new airport for the first time. The old terminals are being demolished, as seen in this photo below. But the new terminals are really clean and fancy, even though it was about a 20 minute walk to get out to my gate (Southwest Airlines). All the Delta gates are closer to the place where you check in your luggage, probably because they helped chip in millions of dollars to fund the new airport.
Jacob picked me up after I landed, and then we drove over to drop him off at the Front Runner train station in downtown SLC. As a student, he can ride the train for free back down to Provo!
On my 3 hour drive north, I stopped at my favorite odds and ends store, Smith & Edwards, just north of Ogden, Utah. You can pretty much find anything there. Things I love to shop for here are: emergency preparedness items, toys for the grandkids, gadgets and gizmos for my kitchen, and sometimes camping equipment. The prices are GREAT, the selection is HUGE, and the uniqueness of the items is second to none.
About an hour south of Idaho Falls, I carefully took a couple pictures while I was driving. I feel like I am pretty good at it - I make sure nobody is in front of me or near me on the interstate, I am focused on looking forward and concentrating on the road in order to drive correctly, and then I just hold the phone and take a couple pictures, hoping that I get a good one! :)
After being up since 4:30 a.m., I finally got home just before 6 p.m. Scott helped me unpack the car, while I enjoyed all the hugs and welcome homes! After a simple dinner, Scott was wiped out. He had just gotten the second vaccine for COVID-19, and over the weekend he felt really lousy. He sat down on the living room couch and was OUT. Poor thing.
As for the rest of the week . . .
I spent a day or two getting settled back in, unpacking, cleaning, etc. It was nice to slow down a bit after putting so much energy (and fun!) into my CA trip.
Amber helped the girls make a couple of sock puppets one day, including this one - intended to be a replica of ME! :)
Meet Mimi, the Sock Puppet (can you see the resemblance?)
Scott and I went out for lunch on Friday, to celebrate Valentine's Day together. We went to my favorite restaurant, Abracadabra.
I ordered the pecan encrusted salmon with a bourbon/maple glaze, along with their delicious zucchini casserole with cheesy sauce and a caesar salad. Scott ordered the breakfast nachos on top of hash browns, instead of chips. It had just about everything on it that you could possibly put, including diced jalapenos! He loved it so much he said he wants to try making this at home sometime soon. :)
He is feeling much better now. He still gets tired early in the evenings, and still has a lingering cough - even though it's been a MONTH!! But at least his energy is back up and he's feeling pretty good.
I decided to go all out for my young women's class for Valentine's. For my monthly cupcake delivery, this time I made everything completely from scratch. No box mixes or convenient frosting in a container. The cupcakes turned out amazing! They were the best cupcakes I've ever had!
Here is the recipe for the dark chocolate cupcakes with raspberry buttercream frosting:
And this link takes you to the actual frosting recipe:
The cupcakes didn't take long to make. The frosting, however, was a little tedious. But it was SO GOOD!! I think I would have to say it was worth it.
First you put the raspberries into a food processor to puree them. I used a combination of frozen (unsweetened) raspberries with a little bit of fresh raspberries. (The fresh ones were so expensive this week!!)
After processing them, you mash them through a strainer to separate the seeds from the rest of the puree. This was the most tedious part, I thought. Press, shove, press, push, etc.
Next, I had to cook it for a while, to evaporate some of the moisture. THEN, it needed to cool outside in the 20 degree temperatures that we are so fortunate to have this time of year in Idaho.
Finally, I was able to mix the butter, powdered sugar, vanilla and the raspberry puree together.
And then it was time to frost some cupcakes!! Hooray!!
I bought a new tool to help me frost better and easier with a tip. I got it for under $7 at Hobby Lobby and it is AWESOME!! 'Twas easy to fill, easy to work with, and did a phenomenal job! It made the process go a whole lot faster, which I really appreciated after spending all that time making the frosting. :)
The frosting recipe instructs you to place a raspberry on top of the cupcake, then frost on top of it - to give it some lift - then place another raspberry on top for the garnish. Such a clever idea!
After all the cupcakes were frosted, I went out to deliver. That's the best part of all. The girls really felt loved when I handed them a homemade creation in the form of a cupcake. And that's what I wanted them to feel. :)
I also FINALLY finished painting the trim in our master bathroom this weekend.
I painted around the door trim, the window trim, the actual door itself, and the trim above and below the wainscoting. The reason why it needed painting is because the window and door were of an older white paint genre, also known as yellowed white. Blech. So I spruced them up and unified everything with a nice crisp white primer paint. No tint. Just the bright white primer. And it looks fabulous!
Scott has been updating all the doorknobs and hinges upstairs lately, too. Everything looks really nice! We are going to start working on our tiny little walk-in closet tomorrow by beginning to build a customized organization for the limited space that we have. Pictures will be available next week.
Today I got an email from my mom, sharing photos of Grandma Doris on Valentine's Day. She looks SO GOOD for being 99 years old!!
Benson and Kylie were able to join us for our weekly Zoom chat this morning. Benson was starting to get sick with something, but he managed to pull off a cheery conversation in spite of it. Kylie recently got a little puppy - for herself. :) When I asked her the motivation behind getting a 4th dog, she said something along the lines of, "After constantly working with 3 high energy and high maintenance dogs, I needed something more mellow for me." She has wanted a French Bulldog for a long time, and finally found one!
Meet Maui . . . (a girl)
Kylie added, "I needed a dog that if I throw a ball a couple of times, they're good for an entire week!" ha ha. Maui won't get very big, maybe around 15 lbs or so.
Plus, they found another home for Enzo, the blue heeler puppy. It just wasn't working out, and I hear that he was trouble with a capital "T". He's on a big farm in Italy now, and is happily romping around outdoors.
Instead, 2 days ago, they got a red heeler puppy named Maverick.
He seems to be adjusting well and enjoys playing with Maui, since they are similar in size.
Meanwhile, Mocha is about as big as Benson, but she still enjoys being picked up and held like a baby.
And here are a few screenshots from our Zoom chat this morning that I was so sneaky to grab . . .
Amber
Weston
Jacob, sans the infamous beard he's been sporting for a while. He had to shave it off for an on-campus test yesterday. (BYU dress code rules and all) In spite of the ordeal, he's already growing some stubble back in its place. He looks so young!! But he is handsome either way, with the beard or without. I think he would prefer to have the beard though . . .
And here are Maverick and Maui cuddled up on Kylie's lap together. So. Cute.
Happy Valentine's Day! Appreciate those you love on a daily basis. Take the time to show them you care, do the little things to serve them, write thank you notes to them, and hug them whenever possible. I know I will. :)
One last thing: Scott shared this commercial that aired last week as part of the Super Bowl. A friend in our ward mentioned it today in her Sacrament meeting talk. It is really incredible and makes you think a little deeper about the things that matter in this great land we call Home.
Click here to watch Bruce Springsteen narrate the video:
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