Black Bear Diner

Last weekend I took myself to the Black Bear Diner. It was everything I wanted it to be. It was a rustic diner with Bear tracks on the sidewalk leading the way into a black bear wonderland.

Just in case you do not know...I love black bears. My grandfather used to tell me stories about a special black bear. His name was Greasy Bear. He had many adventures. Thanks to family and friends I have many black bear figurines.

Needless to say I love the black bear.

Black bears aside the food was like my beloved Market Grill in Cedar City, Utah. Except these were the best pancakes I have ever had at a diner. They were definitely not the typical 'mix' pancakes. They were so sweet and tasted of cream. Another thing about me...I love breakfast food. I love eating it for dinner. So any place that serves breakfast all day long is in my favorites list. Add to delicious pancakes is homemade sausage. I love fresh made sausage patties hand pressed --not frozen in some pre-formed perfect circle. Then to top it off they serve Pespi products....my favorite....It is a happy place. I am so glad I went there; even going solo was great. Oh did I mention their menu is in newspaper form. It was rustic and charming. I loved everything about this diner. I might have to go back this weekend.

Well, I made it to my first anniversary. It has been a journey for sure. Dan got me a great card and a box of candy with nuts (I hate nuts) I have given him crap about that all week. I think it is in his head forever now that I prefer not to eat nuts. As for what I got him...nothing. What does this say about us? I am not sure. All I know is this week I am so happy being married to him. I think he is exactly what I need.

Went to church. It is a pretty normal ward. A good spread of old and young. Funny thing was today they sustained 4 people to be nursery workers. Soooo maybe Sunbeams??? We shall see.

Party of One...The Loner's Manifesto

November 1 is my anniversary. Today is Halloween. I am being an introvert today. I would rather spend time by myself today. Well really not so much but me is all I have. My friends are with their children my husband is at work until 8 pm. He has been there since 6:30 am. I am not dressing up. I did not purchase any candy to give out. I am not going to answer my door. I think I will take myself out to dinner....

Tomorrow I will be attending my new ward for the first time. I am taking opinions on if my first calling in this ward will be in the nursery/sunbeams. I have been called into this position in every ward I have moved into for the last 12 years. I don't have hopes of breaking the tradition but we shall see. I have not even been to the ward. I am not sure what the demographics will be of this ward. It should be interesting.

The Move

As you know Dan has a 12 year old daughter. She spends every other weekend at our house. Due to that fact we needed to get a place with 2 bedrooms. I found a place near the max (public transportation that I take to work into downtown Portland) near Dan's work, 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and cheaper price and less utilities. It's drawback is that it is an apartment. A third floor apartment. But there is a fully functioning work out room and indoor pool so I am not too upset. There is no garage for Dan to tinker in. I am sad about it. But he works as a mechanic and can do tinkering there if needed. He sacrificed the garage to get a bigger and cheaper place for his daughter. What a good dad.
After the final cleaning of that little house I was locking up and I started to cry...how ridiculous! But it was the place I spent the first hard year of my marriage. I am glad the first year is over but I am sad to leave it behind. I hope the little house treats someone else good.
As for packing my stuff. Well Dan and I have opposite schedules right now. So I packed my stuff and moved it by myself and he packed his stuff and got a friend and moved his stuff and some of the heavy stuff. Even though I did my share of the heavy stuff :) I put away my stuff and Dan took care of his. Our marriage is still very segregated. I am sure it is because of me.

Cake gone wrong

It has been a long time since I have posted. I have moved. Packed up my stuff and moved into an apartment. It is bigger than my little house. So I have been busy and have not had the gumption to post. I still have boxes and stacks of stuff everywhere. Luckily the boxes are mostly empty.

Well it is autumn. I have been craving a pumpkin cake. I luckily knew a woman who makes the most delicious pumpkin cake I have ever eaten. I got the recipe. I tried to make it yesterday and failed. If you see the picture the cake is not cake. It is like pie. It is about 1/4 inch thick. It did not raise. I guess my baking powder is bad or my cake 'fell' or the altitude is an issue. I am perplexed. I have not failed at a recipe too often. I will give it another go in a few days. But until then I have a thin dense cake up for grabs as well as some boxes.

Local C Supplier

This group of deliciousness are cinnamon devils. While I am a dental hygienist I must admit that I love cinnamon chewy candy. I love cinnamon bears...not covered in chocolate though. My only problem with packaged c-bears is that they have the potential to be old. I LOVE fresh candy in bulk.

I grew up measuring time through the holidays. I worked at the local grocery

store in Delta....Quality Thriftway. This store introduced me to the cinnamon candy world.
I moved away from Delta and then started counting time between Valentines day where cinnamon lips were available to Christmas when cinnamon santas were ready in stock. Luckily the holiday candy companies have added cinnamon bunnies and cinnamon devils so my only dry spell is the summer.

I have been in Oregon for almost a year and have missed the cinnamon candies. My mom did send me some lips but my dry spell has been long and dehydrating. I was doing some quick grocery shopping and behold my surprise when I rounded the corner near the halloween section...which I was going to bypass since I was in a hurry and it was crowded, but I spotted the c-devils!!! I got about 2 lbs. Dan laughed at me but promptly took a handful. I am so excited that I have my own local source of fresh soft sticky cinnamon candies!!! Life is complete.

On another note; yesterday I had lunch for the first time with Kristie. She was a RDH student at the same time as me. She lived in Washington. She found me via this blog. We have kept in touch ever since that one mean post I had in 05 half way through school. We met yesterday for lunch in Vancouver WA. It was a lot of fun talking about the differences in offices and getting to know each other. She is a kindred RDH. Her sister and her niece are/will be RDH. It is in her blood. She is a full restorative RDH. I am quite jealous of that. Not that I want to do restorative but knowing that there is a license that is one step better than mine is stroking my competitive nature....

Best Toy Store

Why am I showing you a picture of Finegan's? What is Finegan's? This is a large toy store. It is a wonder emporium of toys, games, stuffed animals, activity sets, cars, dolls, trains and all things kids! Finegan's is one block from the dental office I work at in downtown Portland. It is a wonderful place....how about those offices on the second floor? How great would those be? Still cannot beat the view from my office.

I am not doing a post about Finegan's. I want to direct your attention to the trees outside the store. Yes those are Christmas lights....what else can I say.