Happy Moments

This is the cable bridge in Tri-cities Washington. Tri-cities is Kennewick, Pasco, and Richland. There are 3 bridges in this area. David listened to me mention on our first date that I enjoyed bridges. I have never lived around bridges. They fascinate me. I admit I have a favorite bridge in Portland, but I am not sure I have a bridge obsession. What is perfectly wonderful is that David takes the time to make sure I see the bridges. Because of this I have loved the bridges!

The cable bridge at night. It was raining and the water was running off the cables. It was impressive driving on the bridge! Perfectly amazing!

This is the blue bridge. The metal framework has been painted blue. I loved the American Flag flying on the bridge. This bridge spans the Columbia River.

Me and the bridge. I was lucky enough to be taken to a park so I could get a side view of the bridge and a little dose of geese. The park had many geese and ducks. There was also a lawnmower show. I was not even tempted to test drive a mower.  

Here we go. . . over the blue bridge!

Blue bridge is amazing!

This is the bridge spanning the Columbia River. We were leaving Washington and entering Oregon. I have been on this bridge before with Dan. It was way more fun with David! He slowed down so I could get pictures! David cared so much about what would make me happy that he drove out of his way to make sure I saw all these bridges this weekend.

Blissful indulgence!

David did the sweetest thing this weekend. On our way back to Portland he pulled off at Cascade Locks where the Bridge of the Gods is located. A few weeks ago David and I stopped and had the best soft serve ice cream cone at a little place called Eastwind Drive-Inn. David stopped yesterday to get me an ice cream cone just to watch my face enjoy it.

I got the cone in a cup because they are so large. It was raining and cold and due to the no ice cream in the Challenger rule we were sitting outside on a bench enjoying the wonderful soft serve. I was so happy! I realized Dan didn't even care if I ate. I had to fight (literally) him to get me food (no wonder I was skinnier when I was married). And here is this wonderful man getting me ice cream. It was cold in the rain. I started shivering but would not put down my ice cream. David soooo kindly allowed me in the car with my ice cream. So I enjoyed my lovely creamy twirl ice cream with the seat warmers on high! It was a blissful moment! I cannot believe that I was given allowance to bring the potentially messy food into the Challenger. I am so spoiled!

Awww LOVE

Meet David's Challenger. This black 2009 Dodge Hemi piece of power is what I get the pleasure of being passenger in. This car is fast and powerful. David drives it expertly.  

The shiny black finish tops off the black interior. The interior is very nice. I still love the seat warmers more than I love the satellite radio-which many of you know my love of music. That is how great those seat warmers are. I love this car.

David was generous enough to drive me to Yakima Washington to attend Emily's wedding. It was raining in Portland-big surprise! As we crossed into Washington we climbed in elevation and experienced some snow! Luckily the Challenger was recently fitted with new wheels and tires and handled the road with ease. I love the snow. David loves his new tires.

David and I arrived at the LDS chapel in time to change and for me to point out the idiosyncrasies of the LDS churches. We had the ceremony in the cultural hall. It was a building with the chapel and cultural hall in the center and the classrooms and Bishop offices on the outer edge of the circle. The cultural hall was carpeted. I tried to convince David that Mormons play basketball on that carpet. I even pointed out that we were sitting in the key. I showed him the retractable basketball hoop and he believed. . . . I love the LDS religion but I am struggling loving being good right now.

Emily Adams-from WSU 2007 class of Dental Hygiene-married her patient Ray Warnstadt. I will always remember him as Red. Emily was lucky enough to know him professionally. I remember her telling me about this hot patient she worked on who was red headed and made her blush and turn red. I find her story to be one of the best and truly most romantic stories. I dont have permission to tell it and I am not going to ask her today---she is in Hawaii getting some long deserved lovin!

I love Emily. She was at my marriage ceremony. She was there for me in many ways over the years. she is completely beautiful. I love her choice of dress color! David and I have talked a little about weddings and he would like a white dress. I feel weird. I have been married before and think white is not appropriate. Emily pulled her dress off with such beauty. The whole ceremony was wonderful. I am so thrilled that she kept true to her covenants and beliefs and got a great man in Ray.

I know Emily loves Ray! And Ray loves Emily!!!!!!!

WTF----Why the Flowers?

This is my thumb. On Friday it started hurting like I had a hang nail. I dug around and did not find anything. It continued to swell and hurt. The inflammation response was in full force. It hurt so bad. It hurt to fasten my bra, button my pants, and the 1,000,000 other things our thumbs do. Tuesday I worked and it was hard to hold my mirror all day what with all the twirling I do. A small green/yellow spot started to appear on Sunday. Today it is full blown green. Like a bugger! Like pus! I kinda want to pop it but have not dared for fear of making it worse. So here it is all mean and green and less hurty.

Now to the real story---this is for my journaling purposes and is a dumb story.

These colorful and fragrant roses were delivered to me at my office on Tuesday. I thought they were from David. I was so happy to have them. 2 dozen lovely roses. After treating my patient I looked at the card and it said

"Because in my heart i still love you and miss you lots. Hope you find what your looking for and it brings you happiness and joy. Love Daniel"

Yes, Dan. WTF?

Why is he doing this? Why care about me now? Why love me now? Why send me flowers now? Why care about my happiness?

I had emailed him telling him that I was seeing David. Then days later I get flowers. I find it to be manipulative and selfish on his part.

I feel he is messing with my mind and heart. Why? I dont know. He has repeatedly told me that I am not going to be in his life.

WHY THE FLOWERS?

My heart hurts.

Real Genius

Last week I had read my friend Lizi's blog. She had a great cookie post. I read the article she had linked to. It was fascinating. Maybe I am easily entertained or maybe it was complete genius. Either way I decided to take the recipe and experiment. I made the dough as described. It was lovely tasting dough and I thought well....I am not sure this dough will last the full 36 hours until this experiment is complete because it was absolutely wonderful cookie dough. I put on my mental block and erased all memory of the heavenly tasting cookie dough and put it in my fridge. After 12 hours my memory came back and I baked one pan of cookies. David and I ate one right away. It was wonderful. David tried to encourage me to bake the rest but without the sea salt on top. I resisted.

These are the first cookies at 12 hours.

I went to bed once again thankful for my selective memory which allowed the cookie dough to remain untouched for another 12 hours. At 11 am I baked another pan of cookies.

This cookie was more flavorful and richer. I still used the sea salt because the recipe said to and because I kind of liked it. David still did not like the sea salt but thought the cookie was wonderful.

I then experienced all the things in the previous post thankful I was not home to pick at that tempting but now drier dough. Sitting for 24 hours had made the dough drier than I am used to but still wonderful. In my brain I was imagining the egg molecules soaking up the flour particles and merging in blissful coexistence, creating the perfect dough and cookie

After 34 hours I was tired. It was 9 pm and I was ready for bed. I am old and had a big day without a nap! It was a miracle I was still awake. So I cheated and baked the rest of the dough 2 hours early. I am ashamed I am not the experimental genius I know I could be. I veered from the plan and made too many variables so the results are now tainted. I guess I will have to eat the results and try the experiment again.

Ha! While I did fail to wait the full 36 hours I feel that the result after 34 were satisfactory. The dough was dry yet still formed a ball very well. They baked up lovely. The dough part of the cookie was impressively toffee like. It was soft and chewy in texture but the flavor of the butter and sugar had melded together to make a lovely buttery toffee flavor. The cookie was wonderful. The chocolate complimented the cookie. I used 60% cacao chips vs the regular 43% in semi sweet chips. They were divine. The occasional salt crystal offset the chocolate and made it a wonderful cookie. I would recommend and even duplicate the 36 hour waiting period. It is definitely worth the wait.

Overall the experiment was great fun for me. I know it was not completely scientific.

I also know that while I talked about the cookie scoops I saw at Bed Bath & Beyond and I regretted not having the scoop to make completely uniform balls for complete scientific excellence, it was not until the 34 hour mark that David pulled out his scoop for me to use. He had been holding out the entire weekend! Ha ha ha! What a great scientist I am!

Bridge of the Gods

Pictures sure say 1,000 words. I heard this pic saying many things. I will later discuss that I did not take this picture.I wont even talk about my negative views, but yikes! Instead I will focus on the Bridge of the Gods. That is the steel bridge in the picture. It spans the mighty Columbia River, separating Oregon from Washington. This bridge is located in Cascade Locks in Oregon. David and I stopped there after driving by the waterfalls on the scenic historic highway. We stopped for lunch and perfectly delicious soft serve ice cream!

Washington shores. The day was quite rainy while we were at the waterfalls but here the day turned out very nice. Maybe it was the after glow of the ice cream or maybe it was the company or maybe it was the miraculous seat warmers the Challenger has. Whatever the reason I had a wonderful drive and lunch!

 
As we crossed the Bridge of the Gods there was a barge hauling logs. It was amazing to me and I took the pic. Completely useless but I had to include it for my memory. The logs were quite impressive. I love bridges. They are a little fear inducing for me but in a good way. It is a thrill to drive over the big river every time I get to.
I am completely spoiled. I am very lucky to have the chance to go out and sight see and try things. I am also happy to have a picture on here that I didn't have to take myself. David took it. It was so wonderful just having someone to share the day with. I remember many times when I was married that I took pictures of myself at the coast or a waterfall or a hike or a tree etc. I was alone. It is really nice to have someone to hang out with. I am pretty excited for next weekends adventure. . . sneak preview---Emily Adams wedding in Yakima Washington followed by meeting David's mother.

Sock !

I crocheted a sock! I am now officially a crochet-er. Now this sock is not perfect by any means. Now to make a pair!

4 EYES

Here I am showing off my new glasses. I have had a lot of dilemma choosing new frames. It has taken me 2 months and trying on of many many pairs of glasses. I am trying to like these. I see well out of them. I think I look a bit silly in them but my vision is better than my old frames. It has been a saga acquiring them. Now my mission is accomplished!

David and I hung out all weekend. He took me home this afternoon after spending too much time with me. I had filled his Mair quota for the weekend. I had an enjoyable weekend. Friday we had dinner and a movie at home. Saturday David made us a lovely omelet. It was very tasty.

We then went to see Battle: Los Angeles. I had a hard time with the movie for 2 reasons. 1. I was nauseous. 2. It was military focused and my mind went to Dan quite a bit. It was hard.

Overall my reaction to the movie was pleasant. The characters were endearing and I cared when something happened to them. I liked the story. I liked the movie.

After the movie I got my glasses WHEW

Then David and I went to dinner with his friend Walt and Wendy and their kids. Walt grilled pork chops to perfection. I mean perfection. I love the pig. It is my favorite animal to eat. I was still nauseous and was sad i could not partake in the deliciousness of the brine soaked grilled pork chops. The roasted carrots and sweet potatoes were perfect and while the broccoli was crunchy it too was delish. I cannot even begin to tell you about Walt's home canned applesauce. It was the most flavor packed applesauce I have ever had. The texture was chunkier than store bought and was absolutely wonderful. I understand why Wendy married him-his cooking and AMAZING blue eyes! Wendy just so happens to be a dental hygienist. What are the odds? She graduated in June 2010. Her class of 19 has only 6 employed. That is quite scary! I know the job market is tight but that is extremely tight.

I am thankful for my job. I am thankful I have a house and an earthquake has not hit my area yet. If it does know I work on the 7th floor of an old building and that I love you all ha ha ha.

I am truly truly truly blessed. I think about where I was one year ago. I was a mess, I was so sad. I am much better this year than last. I hope I can say that in one year from today.

Spring is coming

This is a nutria. It is a beaver like animal with a rat tail. They are kind of a plague. I have seen them in the marshy areas. Yesterday this one was munching on something as I walked home from the train. He was hogging the grassy knoll the geese like. I stopped to take a picture. It turned out to be a ridiculous event. It was raining, I was holding my umbrella (thanks Jo), and my phone rings. I know it is David. I try to answer but forget my headphones are in. Right about now I am wishing I had a third arm. This is not a new thought for me. Frequently I wish I had another arm when I am cleaning teeth and need additional suciton or cheek retraciton or tongue maneuvering. I finally answered the phone, took the pic and did not drop my umbrella. This hazy picture of a nutria is what I got. I did not get the tail in the shot, but you get the idea. I know you are fascinated and wish I had cute children to show here instead of a rodent. The irony is hitting me about now.

While waiting for a traffic light change I looked up and noticed a tree in bloom. The picture looks disorienting but it is turned the correct way. What I want to focus on is the blooms. It is true spring is coming. Plus the time changes in 3 days-a definite sign of spring.

I thank every one's thoughts in regards to my previous question.

I think my life is pretty wonderful right now. My job satisfaction is through the roof right now. I am so happy with my patients and my relationships with them. I am thrilled to work for Dr M. I am honored to work with Betsy and Kym. They are not perfect but are wonderful for me. I am trying to be a good woman and follow my heart. I am having fun and enjoying dating David. Life is fun and I am not sure where it is going to take me.

I am so spoiled

David and I went to the coast yesterday. David is a computer programmer who works for Macafee. He is the oldest of 3. He has never been married. For some reason he likes me. We went exploring lighthouses around the town of Tillamook. We also went to the creamery. He had never been. He had also never had squeaky cheese (cheese curds). He is now a fan of the creamery and cheese making apparatuses and the cheese!

The light house near Oceanside. It was a beautiful day. No rain.

The rocks out in the ocean. We could hear seals or sea lions barking. I really need to learn how to differentiate between the two.

This was a cliff that had some perigin falcon nesting on it. I wont even try to explain where they are nesting but a cute couple had their scopes out and pretty much insisted that we take a look. The falcons were just sitting there relaxin. Out on some other rocks a pair of bald eagles. The woman told us how territorial the birds can be and how they fly after each other to protect their eggs. It was pretty educational in a super passionate fun way.

After our bird adventures David searched for a nice restaurant on the beach. He found a great one! It was one of those fancy places that decorate the plates and the food is simply amazing. I had crab cakes with a citrus mustard sauce that was freaking wonderful. David shared his quail. I had never eaten this bird. I am ok never eating it again ha ha ha. I took this pic in the bathroom. The women's bathroom was so inviting with that fireplace and decor. I had to laugh AND snap a pic. David laughed at me for taking the pic. He is just learning how silly I am.

These are the dozen pink roses with a dozen tulips David brought to my door when he picked me up yesterday. He is spoiling me completely.

I have been really angry lately. Todd has taken the brunt of my anger. I keep arguing with him about our religious beliefs. I am truly frustrated with men. Today in Sunday School we were discussing the Sermon on the Mount when the class took a turn to the BYU honor code violation of a team player. I guess ESPN has been critical about the honor code, stating that it is absurd to require someone to live life that way. I am irritated. 1st this is AMERICA a school has the right to require it's students anything. We all jumped through hoops to graduate-this is no different. Each BYU student is interviewed by their bishop and agrees to follow the honor code of their own free will. If they don't want to live the honor code don't go to school there. 2nd what is wrong with living an honorable life? I mean really? What is wrong with having morals, virtues, standards?

I have a question for you LDS readers. If I choose to marry a non-LDS man and have a wonderful happy mortal life, if I am true to the gospel and keep all the commandments-except the one to be sealed with the everlasting covenant-will I be denied exaltation? I know righteous women who have not had the opportunity to marry in this life will get the chance in the next and will have exaltation. But will I if I choose not to make that sacred covenant?