D&W Lake

Isn't this beautiful?

This is my view around 5 pm every evening from our living room. Gorgeous.

You know what else is gorgeous?

My cheesecake! With leftover cranberry sauce! It was absolutely DELICIOUS :)

Meat Meat and More Meat!

So billy complained, very sweetly, last week, that I was starting to push his limits when it came to eating vegan food. His requests: Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo, Hamburgers, Pizza, Chicken Fried Steak and several more equally meaty meals. So after some unfortunate reluctance at first, I decided to happily oblige. He's been so wonderfully supportive about me being vegan and to show my appreciation I'm on a spree to refuel his endurance :)

This was dinner last night:

Since this obviously isn't vegan, Billy ate mine too :)

I used ranch seasoning in the patty, grilled up some onion and bacon and topped it with some local cheese... let's just say it wouldn't been all that difficult to tempt me to take a bite, thankfully my husband has shown no desire to turn me back into a carnivore :)

On the menu tonight for Billy is a bacon wrapped fillet with scalloped potatoes made with real cream (instead of the usual almond milk), and this for desert: 

I know it doesn't look very impressive, but it's my first vegan cheesecake, and I'm really excited about it! Hopefully it tastes a lot better than it looks. I've had some really amazing vegan cheesecakes at different restaurants and I would love to make one that measures up!

Thanksgiving Weekend!

We had such an incredible Thanksgiving weekend!! Thanksgiving dinner was wonderful, and we were so happy to have family with us :) I have never hosted such an extravagant meal, but everything turned out exactly as I hoped! Except for my pumpkin pie crust, which burned, but the filling still tasted yummy.

Billy surprised everyone by getting really into Black Friday shopping... and I mean really into it. We went out Thursday to hit up target after dinner and came home with bags of electronic goodies that we got great deals on. Friday we went out again, only this time to the nearby outlets where J. Crew had 50% off everything... it shouldn't be hard to figure out which one of us wanted to go there :) And then Friday evening, after spending the afternoon playing with the new PS3, we went out and got billy some much needed tools. I feel like we should be set for all of next year!

Saturday we went to Chicago and waited 2 hours (one in line, one at the table) for this: 

It was totally worth the wait. 

After lunch we went to the Museum of Contemporary Art. I love looking at art, but I have to admit, I feel like a lot of modern stuff is so over my head! This definitely had some interesting stuff in it, and it was fun to be there with Billy. Who decided to wear these:

Yes, these are actually gloves specially designed for art thieves. Ok not really, he actually wears them for work, but that's what they look like! And he kept them on the entire time we were inside!

This was one of the things I couldn't figure out (just ignore the man about to lean on the artwork). Is it significant because cardboard boxes usually go under the tree?? If anyone has any insight, fill me in!!

This was a description from my favorite exhibit, a musician that used VERY unconventional methods of creating music. 

After the museum we did some shopping downtown and then went to a restaurant that had live jazz music. 

We went back to Chicago on Monday after spending the entire day on Sunday hanging out inside, in our pjs, watching movies, eating leftovers and playing Settlers of Catan :)

We went to the Museum of Science and Industry and could've spent all day there if we had had the time. 

They had an awesome WWII exhibit. This was the U-Boat they had on display

This was in the Space exhibit, Billy as an astronaut.

My favorite room was the one dedicated to storms. 

These are of Billy in the 80 mph wind simulator:

I think he might have been dramatizing it a bit...

After the museum we went to the navy pier where Billy, Liz and Porshe all went on the HUGE ferris wheel (I was too chicken and cold). But they had a great view from the top!

It was so sad to see our lovely guests go, and Billy headed back to work today, but we only have a few more weeks until Christmas and more vacation time!!!

Land of Lincoln

We made it to Illinois!

Although the plan was to stay in Chicago, there were no parks with the water on! It was crazy, Billy and I must've called dozens of places and finally a park in Champaign, IL (2 hours south of Chicago) gave us some good news. It actually worked out well because the town is closer to where Billy will be working, and the campground is really beautiful, plus there's a winery just down the street :)

On our way we drove past the Mississippi River! This picture (taken out the window while we were driving) does not do it justice, I've never seen a river so big!

Our last days in Omaha, NE were also spent really well. We ran a lot of errands, did some shopping and hung out at our favorite place in Omaha: Havana Garage, a cigar bar with a humidor :)

I also had my first Moscow Mule and it was amazing to say the least, I think it's my new favorite cocktail. 

We weren't as crazy as we look... :)

Today was spent getting some stuff ready for Thanksgiving. I roasted almonds, made cranberry sauce and gravy and poached pears in a cranberry, citrus syrup. We also took a little break to check out the winery here and it was really interesting, I didn't recognize any of the grapes of the wine they made and came to find out that they have to use hybrid European grapes and native grapes out here, because types like cabernet franc and merlot don't grow well. 

Tomorrow we pick up Billy's mom and sister in the evening and are planning on getting our Black Friday shopping kicked off early (possibly even before dinner)! I've never gone out early, but Billy and I have a few things we want to try to pick up so we'll get to experience the craziness first hand! And we'll likely be back out again Friday for some Christmas shopping!

Happy early Thanksgiving everyone!!!

New Belgium Brewing Co. Tour

Billy and I had so much fun at the New Belgium Brewing Co. yesterday! The beer was fantastic and the company was wonderful :) I am such a fan of this brewery and am so glad the experience did not disappoint! We headed out in the afternoon to Fort Collins with a few coworkers/friends and had a very tasty and informative tour, then hung out in the Brewery's bar for a little while to try some more seasonal beers and then headed out for pizza!

We're packing up our home tonight to head off to Omaha tomorrow. It'll likely be a verrryyy long day as the guys are going to try to hit some sites on the way there, so they don't have to double back later on. So pray for safe travels!

On another note... I am getting so excited for the holidays!!

Back Home!

I realized for the first time yesterday that this trailer is my home. I know that doesn't sound very significant, but it's actually the first time I've ever called a place home other than my mom's house in Red Bluff. And it feels so good to be sharing it with someone I love! I had such a wonderful time on my visit back to California but it feels very, very good to be home. :)

We're just outside of Loveland, CO which is just outside of Denver, CO. It seems like there's a lot to do here (mostly shopping) and it's right next to several interesting cities. Tomorrow we're headed to the New Belgium Brewery in Fort Collins for a tour and free tasting and I am SO excited! I looked into doing it when we were in Cheyenne but Billy only ever had weekends off and tours fill up weeks in advance on Saturdays and Sundays. I can't wait!!!

And there's even more excitement! On Thursday we're driving over to Omaha, NE (one of my favorite cities) for a few days and then it's on to Chicago!!! And I know you're probably reaching your limit for good news, but there's more... Billy's amazing mom and sister are coming out for Thanksgiving!!! I am so looking forward to the next month!!!

My Vacation

It's definitely been a fun couple of weeks! I drove from Rawlins, WY to Long Beach, CA in one trip! In a car without cruise control! It took me almost 16 hours but it was so worth it to not have to stay in a hotel. I had a lot of fun visiting my dad and my friend Rachel. It was just an awesome time filled with relaxation, shopping and good food :)

After a little over a week down there I made the 9 hour drive up to Red Bluff on 99 so I could have lunch with another friend in Modesto. It felt so good to finally get to Red Bluff, I can't believe how much I always miss this place! The whether has been amazing and I've been able to get a lot done and see a lot of people while I've been here. I am so looking forward to reuniting with my husband this Saturday though.


This was what welcomed me outside when I went to pack up the car:

Pictures from the beautiful drive:

And the sun!!!

Rachel making us some DELICIOUS vegan donuts :)