January 2nd

With some of our Christmas money, we decided to go to one of the local breweries that everyone keeps telling us to go to: The Green Dragon. It was across the river, and the beer was indeed delicious!

January 1st, 2010

Some of our very good friends, Heidi and Erica, came down from Washington to celebrate the new decade in downtown Portland! It was a great time, and I took far too many pictures; but here is one of my favorites! It had to be after midnight, since it was the 1st, so my options were limited. We walked home in the pouring rain, and as we all had to pee, Heidi walked the fastest, as her boots were giving her feet utter pain.

New Year/New Location

I've completely dropped the ball on the blog, not that anyone is looking, and expecting to have me update this... but anyway, much has happened since I last posted. Rather than updating, I'm just starting fresh. I, in particular, have had a difficult time adjusting to living in Portland, and since it's a new year, I thought I would start fresh, and not look back! For Christmas, Aaron and I got a new camera, and one of my resolution, is to take one photo a day and post it. I realize there may be some days that I may skip, but I thought I'd do the best I can. It would be interesting to look back on (hopefully) 365 photos as a journal to what we were doing that particular day during the year. Enjoy!

Bruschetta

Okay, so I just whipped this together for a get together tonight. I received over 25 tomatoes from my aunts garden, and didn't want them to go to waste, so I made a bruschetta. I never made it before, and didn't peek at a recipe, and it turned out pretty good!

Chopped tomatoes, depending on the size, but about 4 or 5 cups worth. Seed about 1/2 of the tomatoes

1-2 T. of Olive oil

3 garlic cloves, chopped

1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped

3 T. of chopped chives

2-3 tsp. of kosher salt

Shredded fresh Parmesan cheese to taste

1 T. of red pepper flakes

Mix it all together, and top it on toasted Ciabatta bread!

Prom and Pride!

This year, after some convincing on my part, Aaron and I decided to go to the annual adult prom that was held at the Orpheum. We had a blast, and saw almost everyone we knew in town. It's a time where you can dress up in ANYTHING you want, and dance to those cool 80's and 90's songs that were ever so popular at prom, mixed in with the oldies classics. Although, the night was a bit of a blur, because prior to that Aaron and I played disc on the mountain, went to a going away party, went to a Poker tournament... and each of these events alcohol may have been present. The following weekend we went to Pride in the Pines. Nicole basically makes us go to show support, although we would go anyway. I saw a lot of my students there, one of which ran up to me and said, "MS. CLARK!!! I DIDN'T KNOW YOU WERE GAY!?!?" Then followed quickly by... "Wait, don't you have a husband?" Needless to say, it is a bit funny to watch Aaron get hit on by men. I guess if he were gay, he would be considered a "bear". A bear by definition: A male homosexual who shows no outward appearance of gayness, instead, seeps masculinity. Learn something everyday!

Grand Canyon Crew, minus Joe (Rachel aka Swaziland, Shey aka Fruit 'n Nuts, Cyndy)

Chicken Marinade

Okay, so I found this online, but I tweeked it! I had a Passion Party for a consultant of mine, and it was at my house, so Aaron had to be kicked out. He went over to Nicole and Michelle's house to BBQ. He wanted me to pull some chicken out of the freezer, which I also marinated for him. It's garlicy, and we were expecting leftovers, but needless to say he didn't come back with any. Everyone ate it all, and it was demanded from Nicole that I make this next time we go camping. I haven't even tried it yet...

Juice of 2 lemons

1/2 cup soy sauce

5 garlic cloves, chopped

1/2 cup white wine

3 sprigs of rosemary

1 tsp Kosher salt

1 tsp ground pepper

2-3 Tablespoons of Thai Chili Garlic Sauce (the more you add, the hotter!)

Marinate in chicken for 2-5 hours. Grill, eat, enjoy!

Lewis & Clark College

Visiting Lewis and Clark again was great! Especially since it was on my birthday and the weather was beautiful. We walked around the entire campus with Nicole, Michelle and Aaron. They really enjoyed it!