How Sweet It Is!

So the reason to take an actual camera (in my case one that is 6 years old) to a place that involves water is: you drop your camera in the water=sad, drop iPhone in water=END OF THE WORLD!!! Actually, I didn't drop it. I was frolicking in freezing cold ocean water and it jumped out of the shallow pocket I had foolishly put it in so I wouldn't drop it. However, all is well again in Meg's world. Lesson learned. I was able to get my phone fixed for less than Apple sending me a new one. They told me to try not to drop it again. HA. Obviously, they do not know that gravity has me on its daily hit list. It did end up wiping all my info but I had most of it saved on the computer. I was a little traumatized, but am much better now. Whew!

With all the confusion and drama I completely forgot to include the most fun part of my trip, the candy store and the farmer's market! I wish I would have taken pictures of the whole store and not just the things I got, but oh well. But first, a little treat I baked up to bring to my family!

That's right, Andrea's Blueberry Crumb Bars!!

These were soooo easy-peasy to make. They are do DIE for. Heaven made in 45 minutes. I highly, HIGHLY recommend making them.

Here's the T-shirt I bought for Jeremy at another shop in Newport.

The candy store was in Newport and we oohed and ahhed over all the fresh salt water taffy. There were SO many flavors! I don't even remember all the flavors I bought.

Pineapple, Buttered Popcorn (I know this is a love it or hate it flavor, but I LOVE it!), Grape, Cheesecake, Chocolate Coconut, Peanut Butter, Orange Cream, Buttermint, Pina Colada, the list goes on and on.

I also got some truffles. I've already thoroughly enjoyed the hazelnut and raspberry.

This one is amaretto. All of them were huge!

We also stopped at a farmer's market on our way out of town. They made fresh donuts (which had strawberry and blueberry in them!) so we had to try a sample. They were light and tasty and not full of preservatives.

We thought for sure, after not spending a lot the whole trip, we'd spend our life savings at this place! I ended up buying some apple butter.

And since we did so much walking both days we were there, I actually lost a few of the pounds I had been complaining about! :)

To celebrate the recovery of my precious iPhone I went for another sweettart sno cone.

Grape and pink lemonade bliss. :)

Who am I kidding though, I would have made the excuse of painting my toenails to go get a snocone. Though they currently do match my favorite flavor of the summer:

Hope no one has a problem with feet!

Aaand this afternoon, I will be going to see Eclipse! Though I don't particularly care for Robert Pattinson. I wouldn't call myself a Twi-hard, perhaps because it makes me think pre-teen with a unrealistic celebrity crush on either Robert Pattinson or Taylor Lautner. I've already been in that phase over 10 years ago thankyouverymuch. I have read and enjoyed all (aka all four in a week) the books. I'm currently reading The Host which is also by the same author Stephanie Meyer.

Anyone else a Twilight fan?

What's your favorite flavor of salt water taffy?

Have you ever dropped your phone in the water?

What a Long and Fantastic Weekend!

I know you all agree: the best weekends start on Thursday and end on Monday. :)

So Thursday morning, I got up, packed my truck and drove down the street (literally like 7 houses) and picked up my best friend Audrey for an 8+ hour road trip from Boise, ID to Keizer, OR. We probably stopped to go potty 4 times each way. Given, Audrey is about 23 weeks pregnant, but we both have small bladders already. TMI. Onward we go.

I wasn't in the food photographing mood, but definitely had some yummy eats and great adventures. Thankfully, I had transferred my pictures to my computer before my iPhone decided to call it iQuits. I know saying that is so cheesy and not exactly original, but hey, I am easily amused. There might be a lot of random tangents in this post. I'm a little tired from driving at least 18 hours in 4 days. You've been warned. You can't blame me. ;)

That night, after dinner we went for a walk with my mom around the neighborhood and I took these two shots:

Calla lilies just don't grow like that in ID.

These people took an interesting twist on their fence.

Our first day there, we went to see some iris and rose gardens. My mom is a big gardener so I grew up around lots of flowers and planting. (Unfortunately, I didn't inherit much of the green thumb, just a little) Most of the iris were done blooming, but there were lots of other flowers to see too.

Then the rose garden.

This one is called Playboy. It was so bright and cheerful!

My cute little mommy. :)

This rose is called Blue Girl. It's my favorite because of the lavender color.

This one is as big as my hand!

A rose named Margaret. (which is my actual full name) :)

After some lunch, Audrey and I struck out to make the drive out to Silver Falls State Park. There's lot's of trails to hike on to see the waterfalls. We saw a few of them but since we got a late start (and were stopping every 30 feet to take pictures) we turned around before so we wouldn't end up hiking back in the dark.

The coolest part was that we could actually walk on the trail behind the waterfall.

Look at all the moss and greenery!

Then we came across this awesome stump.

Fall #2

Tons of moss on a tree near the fall.

If you look closely, you can see the dots of people on the switch backing trail.

Back at the first fall.

We went to this pizza joint called Home Place in Silverton on our way back. No pictures. Oops. The pizza was really good though!!

We started Sunday morning with Yaquina Bay lighthouse.

Here's a view from the lighthouse.

The original lighthouse floor. Boats would come up from California, and then dump all this brick at the beach and so the builders just picked it up and carried it up the hill to build the lighthouse.

Then we went to lunch at this little place on the side of the road. I split a halibut and chips and a bowl of clam chowder with my mom. Yum.

Then we went to the aquarium.

Isn't Audrey the cutest pregnant lady?? :)

We met this lovely albino python. I actually touched him, and he was soft like leather. He still gave me the heebie jeebies though.

Jellyfish

Anemone and Sea Star. We got to touch them and the anemone feels kind like a cat tongue. The sea stars feel sort of hard and bumpy and also soft and slimy.

Sea otters are my favorite. They've got so much personality!

There's a part where you go through a tunnel and can see the sharks swim above you.

After we left, we went to a cafe and saw all these sea lions hanging around on a dock.

Then we went to the beach, where I got my phone wet and it started freaking out, which made me start freaking out. :(

We went to dinner and I had halibut again with a salad and rice and some sauteed vegetables. The fish was so good, it cheered me up a little bit.

That's where it ends since my iPhone was on strike and I have to take it in today. But all we did was drive back yesterday. Oh and we stopped at Multnomah Falls on our way back.

Sneak Preview

Sorry to keep everyone hanging with such a downer of a last post. Thanks for all the support and encouragement. I DID feel better the next day and had a wonderful weekend. Luckily, I uploaded my photos before my iPhone went iDead. I'm hoping someone will be able to fix it or I will be in iTrouble. Ok, I'll quit with the cheesiness and explain what happened. Tomorrow. I gotta make the 8ish hour drive back home today. But for here's a quick peek of what's to come!

I'll tell the whole story soon! Happy Monday!

I Am Feeling Fat

Ok, really. I know I'm not. You've seen pictures of me so you know that's not the case. It makes me sound vain, shallow and kind of pathetic. I know I should be grateful for my body. I know that my struggle to lose a couple unwanted pounds pales in comparison to someone needing to lose 50, 100 or 150 lbs. Told you I was vain and shallow. Just for today. I'll return to myself tomorrow.

I don't even really feel fat. Until I get dressed in the morning. Even then it's more depressing and surprising than thinking clearly my pants have just shrunk. You see, when you're 5'4", there isn't a whole lot of space for 5 lbs to go. In my case, it goes to my hips. Which means my pants still fit fine at the waist, but the hips just sit there stubbornly and laugh at me. And today is just one of those days where my hips laughed a little too much at me and it brought me down to where I am now. I've been running, weight lifting, pilateing, walking and nothing will budge.

So I guess I'm just a little frustrated. I talked to my best friend Audrey about it tonight. She used to be a trainer and is always really encouraging. She said well, increase your intensity, or your time, and be more careful about what you eat. I know all THAT. It's just that I hate denying myself. I hate counting calories, avoiding sugar, eating salads to excess, and considering doing two Body Pump classes in one day. (Don't worry, I won't actually try to do that. I am so dead sore from the one class yesterday). I hate the feeling of not being able to cook anything "fun" for dinner because I'm on a "diet". I'm really good at maintaing. Not so much at losing.

I know I probably didn't need to eat two eggs and that bowl of cereal after dinner last night. Probably didn't need 5 extra handfuls of pretzels before dinner last night. Probably could have had strawberries with yogurt instead of with ice cream and two flavors of syrup. Food and I aren't exactly friends at the moment. Probably shouldn't have spent the majority of my week laying on the couch mindlessly watching tv. :( To be honest, I feel a little unmotivated. Unless I'm in a class or with a friend, I don't seem to want to push myself. I'd rather give up before I try. Sit and feel sorry for poor little me.

Attempting to pull on my pants (my shirts and I are still getting along), I think how did I get here? When did this happen? I know I'm exaggerating a little. I can't help a little melodrama, it's the PMS talking. I'm going to go walk Hunter and think about it all.

Best Things About Summer

Well, now that it's mid June and the temperatures have FINALLY decided to dip above 70 it actually feels like summer. I guess yesterday was the official first day of summer but it's about time. I actually even got up at 9 this morning.

This happened yesterday but it was so worthy of sharing. Sweetart. That's pink lemonade and grape flavor. It was the best snow cone of my life! No lie. I didn't catch a picture but I think I'll go get another one today.

And I made a yummy personal pizza.

Toppings were tomato sauce, spinach, mushrooms, chicken, marinated artichoke hearts and fresh mozzarella.

Despite falling asleep at 2am, I got up at 5am and went to Body Pump at 6 am. (it continues to shock me the number of people in the gym that early...) It. Was. Awesome. I mean I do some weight training on my own, but it's always good to have a total (very nice and encouraging) stranger push you to your limit now and then. And push she did. Everything is sore (in a good way) today. Especially my butt. Just in case you wondered. :)

Hunter looks as tired as I felt afterward:

Then I took a 3 mile walk with my friend Audrey and my doggie Hunter. Sorry, no photograph of my sweaty, red face. It was getting hot and Hunter acted like he was going to die. (He's kind of pampered anyways) He looked pretty happy after though.

Had a snack of Dave's Killer Spelt bread. This label is so funny.

You can't see it but it says say no to bread on drugs!

Planted some Zinias. Aren't they pretty?

Oooo, and look what bloomed!

Ate one of the Scott's Loaded Granola Bars

They have a really pure flavor so you can really taste the flavors of the oats, sunflower seeds, berries, pistachios, and flaxseeds to name just a few of the ingredients!

Broke all previous beliefs and tried "the belt thing". Got these two for about $26!

The pictures aren't the greatest, so I'll try to get a picture wearing it this weekend.

Ate some mushroom angolotti with alfredo sauce.

Today I need to plant these:

Cosmos

Penstemon

And think about mowing the lawn. Nhhhh.

Oh, this weekend I'm taking a road trip with Audrey to Oregon! We're going to visit my parents who live in Keizer (45 min North of Salem and 1 hour South of Portland). So I promise I'll have lots to tell when I get back. Maybe I'll even dig out my real camera instead of taking pictures with my iPhone. Maybe.

Have a fabulous Thursday everyone!