back to my roots

About once a year (typically during the winter) I grow tired of my highlights and opt for a dark look instead. This past Friday when I went in to get my hair did, I was SOOO done with my highlights! So, we went dark.

Before

After


I'm sure I'll grow tired of the dark in a few months and slowly start adding back highlights, but for now I'm loving my dark do.

my latest addiction

I recently joined Pinterest and now understand what all the hype is about. This website is amazing. Maybe too amazing, I just might need a pintervention real soon.

Some confessions:

• So glad I didn’t know about this site when I was planning a wedding. To think of the time I would have spent searching for ideas and inspiration is just scary.
• Pinterest makes me want to have children just so I can dress them up and do all the cute crafty things I see on there. Probably not the best reason to have a child…
• I am not a crafty person at all, but this site makes me want to run to Michael’s and a scrap yard and start DIY-ing all day long!
• No matter what mood I’m in or what sort of day I’m having, Pinterest makes me feel so happy.
• I get really excited when I see someone repinned my pin.
• I’m often torn between the fitness inspiration and delicious looking high cal food/desserts. I’ll pin “get fit in 30 days” and then immediately pin a recipe I have to try like “homemade peanut butter chocolate balls” or “oreo covered chocolate chip cookies.”
• I’m pretty sure Pinterest is making me a more interesting and stylish person.

Do you pinterest?

trees

This past weekend we had someone come out to the house and cut down two trees on the property. Both of these trees were leaning a bit too close to the rental units and Luke decided it was probably best to just cut them down before they did any serious damage to someone or something. It was quite a show watching the tree guy do his thing. He was like a squirrel the way he maneuvered around the trees, dropping limbs one by one as he made his way to the top and then cut down the trunk of the trees in pieces. Luke’s parents came over and we all pitched in making fast work of cleaning up the brush and organizing the wood. We even put Luke’s new toy, I mean tool, to work!

Luke and Greg watching the show

Tree man hard at work

Down she comes

Firewood anyone?

MLK and MJ

We spent the holiday weekend up in Arnold. It was so strange being up there mid January without a speck of snow anywhere. On Saturday we took the dog on a nice long hike behind the cabin and then decided to pop into the local brewery and catch the last quarter of the 49er game. Neither of us are huge football fans, in fact, this was the first game we watched all season. What a game! It was fun cheering on the niners and drinking some beer with the entire bar – which was packed full of red jerseys. The game got pretty stressful towards the end and I really didn’t think the niners would pull it off, but they did! Hopefully they can do it again this weekend and go to the super bowl.

Our friends also happened to be up at their cabin in Arnold so we met up with them to watch the game. They told us about some ice skating up top near Bear Valley ski resort that they were going to check out on Sunday so we decided to join them. What a treat! This is about the only positive thing to come out of this dry winter we’ve been having. Because there is no snow, we were able to skate on Mosquito Lakes which was frozen (but usually covered in snow). It was so much fun and we got a real taste on how it is on the east coast.    

  

I’ve been wanting to try this dr. pepper pulled pork recipe I’d seen and we gave it a try at the cabin. Talk about easy and so tasty! We threw everything in the dutch oven after breakfast on Saturday, went out and enjoyed our day, came back 6 hours later and dinner was ready. We ate pork for the rest of the weekend. 

Ingredients:
1 whole large onion (cut into wedges)
1 whole pork shoulder 5-7 pounds (ours was 4 pounds and worked out just fine)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 can (11 ounce) chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (we used a 7 ounce can and that was spicy enough!)
2 can Dr. Pepper
2 tablespoons brown sugar

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
Generously salt and pepper roast.
Put onions in the bottom of a dutch oven, lay roast on top of onions.
Pour in chipotle peppers and sauce, dr. pepper, and brown sugar.
Put lid on dutch oven and place in oven for 6 hours, turning roast 2 or 3 times in cooking process.

Head over to Pioneer Woman to check out step by step process.
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2011/03/spicy-dr-pepper-shredded-pork/

Wonderful weekend at the cabin, we didn’t want to leave! Then on Tuesday evening, my mom treated me to the Cirque du Soleil Michael Jackson Immortal tour down in Oakland. We got down there with enough time to do a little tailgating before the show. My mom made us a picnic dinner and I brought a bottle of wine. The show was amazing. It was two hours of nonstop MJ music and music videos showing in the background, with dancers, body contortionists, lights, fire, and excitement. It made me a little sad that Michael’s life was cut so short. He was so talented and had such a profound impact on the music and entertainment industry. Thanks for a great show, Mom!

2012 hello and welcome

Happy new year!

We rang in the new year camping by Lake Oroville. We hiked, biked, sat by the fire, sipped on wine and coors light, read books, and played cards. Camping on new year’s might just become a new tradition.

2012 Resolutions:

Practice more yoga – strive for healthier body and mind

Bring your lunch to work (at least 3x a week)

Be more appreciative of your job

Visit Grand Canyon and hike Havasu Falls

Floss floss floss, like every day or almost every day

Try new recipes in the kitchen – don’t be scared

I could keep going, but I think this is a good start. Here is to a happy, healthy, and unforgettable 2012!

reflection

With the start of a new year right around the corner, I find myself wondering where did 2011 go? Before I make any 2012 resolutions, I want to take a moment and reflect on this past year. There was death, new life, love, and of course, lots of adventures.

I started the year by joining the smart phone world. I don’t know how I stayed away for so long.

2011 will go down in the books as the winter that wouldn’t quit! We loved the long ski season enjoying powder days after powder days after powder days. I’ve always dreamed of getting snowed in on a Sunday night in Tahoe and this year it actually happened! Hwy 80 was closed and we literally could not get home to go to work on Monday so we sucked it up and stayed the night in Tahoe, getting fresh tracks with no crowds the following day :) 2012 winter doesn’t look like it’s shaping up to be the same, but we’re still hoping the snow shows up.  

As is the cycle of life, we had death as well as lots of new life this year. We lost my grandmother in the spring. She was my last grandparent which seemed to make the loss more difficult. She was such a loving, caring, and beautiful woman and is missed by us all. We also welcomed 5 babies into the world – my boss became a father, my cousin had a baby girl, my sis-in-law had a baby girl, and two of my dear friends had babies as well. There are already a few more on the books for next year too as more of my friends and family are pregnant with their first.

We celebrated some milestone birthdays with my mom turning 60, my golden year (turned 28 on the 28th, although most people had never heard of a golden birthday until I told them) and Luke turning the big 3-0! Mine was spent in the mountains and ended with a marriage proposal on top a snowy mountain, and Luke’s was spent at 11,000 feet in a blizzard on Mt. Shasta. I don’t think either of us will forget our 2011 birthdays anytime soon!

We managed to get to a few concerts – Tim McGraw, The Band Perry, Luke Bryan, Thompson Square, Dierks Bentley, Florence and the Machine, Mumford and Sons, and Green Day.

We attended a wedding in Texas, a local one in Sebastopol, and then of course, our own wedding in Healdsburg. The second half of the year was filled with wedding activities – planning, crafting, showers, bachelorette and bachelor parties, bridal shows, dress shopping, cake tasting, and finally the beautiful day. Next came our honeymoon in Kauai, and we finished up the year with the holiday season in Sonoma County and Carson City, NV.

Oh, I almost forgot! This year we got a new addition to the Blank Road family - a tractor! Luke is very excited about his latest tool and has big plans for the property in 2012.

Those were my highlights. The year sure flew by. I hope you had a great 2011 and take the time to reflect on your year as well. Enjoy the last few days of 2011. See you next year!

happy holidays

It's December. I thought I should remind you all of this fact because you surely forgot if you were out and about in Sonoma County this past weekend.

Shorts and t-shirt in December

Luke and I figured that since it wasn't snowing, we might as well take advantage of the sunshine and go for a bike ride. We ended up riding from our house in Sebastopol to Santa Rosa to Lake Ilsanjo in Annadel State Park, and back home to Sebastopol. Over 42 miles when it was all said and done, not bad considering we were on mountain bikes. We tried out some of the great bike paths in Sonoma County - the Joe Rodota Trail and Spring Creek Trail - which were a welcome change to the busy streets of Sebastopol and Santa Rosa.

The tree is up and it is beginning to look a lot like Christmas around the Young household. Merry Christmas and happy holidays from our house to yours!

Ellie, Luke, Gracie, Katrina

Looks like Gracie found a new place to sleep!