Random Thoughts: 3/3/14

1. Weekend in Cincinnati

Warped Wing Brewery, Dayton, OH

Hola! It's a very snowy Monday morning here in Kentucky. The hubby and I made it back from Cincinnati just in the nick of time yesterday! We had a fantastic weekend. Friday night, the hubby's cousin and wife took us to my favorite Mexican restaurant near their house. The gods of fate must have been smiling on me, because we only ended up at the Mexican restaurant because there was a 2-hour wait at the restaurant we'd originally planned on going to. Mwhahahaha. Did I send the population of Cincinnati to the original restaurant so I could have Mexican? The world will never know :)

Saturday night, they took us to fabulous little steakhouse near Dayton, OH called The Oakwood Club. The food was fantastic! I ordered the lamb chops, and I'm so glad I did. They were perfect. I compare all lamb to the best lamb I've ever eaten, which was at Texas de Brazil in Las Vegas 6 years ago. This lamb was so close to what I had in Las Vegas, I was just in heaven. Perfectly medium rare, pink, tender, the crust crisp with salt... Uh oh, I'm drooling again. After dinner, the hubby's cousin had picked a couple of brewery's for us to try in the Oregon District (I just love that) of Dayton. Needless to say, after a couple of drinks, the cameras whipped out-

Drinks at Newcom's in the Oregon District.

Cousin's wife and I.

Hubby's cousin, wife, me, and hubby :)

I had to include this pic because I love my face. I have no idea why I'm making it.

We woke on Sunday morning to about a quarter inch of ice on the ground. We were surprised as hell, the storm was supposed to hit late that afternoon. We grabbed our stuff as fast as could, thanked the hubby's cousin and wife, and hastily ran for the car. What an awful drive! The cousin's house is NW of us, so we had to travel about 40 miles east through the ice storm. Among the calamity we saw were a couple of cars sliding off the road and a flipped semi. Not fun.

Sheet of ice covering the road and the front of our car.

Once we got started heading south, we started to outrun it. By the time we were an hour from our house, we were driving in rain. Still, we came home and did not leave! We'd had enough, thank you very much. Until the snow came, which leads me to my next random thought...

2. More birds!

We got another 4 inches of snow last night, which means Casa de Jarrell is the most hopping' bird bar in NE Kentucky!

Seriously. When I opened the blinds this morning, there were flocks of birds in the backyard. Granted, we have 5 feeders, but wowsers! It was, by far, the most birds we've had yet. 

I love this sassy cardinal :)

I might be obsessed with cardinals...

Our latest feeder, a suet basket. Shockingly, the hubby only put it up at 7:30 am. For the 1st time, and they've already found it. I think that's a new record.

It's going to be a great day for birdwatching here on the homestead!

3. The Oscars

Image Source: The Oscars

The hubby and I managed to finish all the movies up for Best Picture. We put "Philomena" on at 4:30 pm yesterday, and powered through. We finished all the movies for the acting awards as well, however we were only able to catch an hour of "Blue Jasmine" before the show started. I felt we got a good idea of Cate Blanchett's performance, though. How'd we do? Awful. Jerame picked 4 out of 24 right, and I got 5 right. I really thought "American Hustle" should have won best picture (I thought it was the most interesting, seamless, well-acted movie we watched), but "12 Years A Slave" is also good choice. It was a very important, well-done movie. I think the only thing I'm flabbergasted by is that Meryl Streep didn't win Best Actress. This is an absolute robbery in my opinion. Her performance in "August: Osage County" is brilliant and awe-inspiring. Yes, Cate Blanchett did a fine job, but her performance didn't hold a candle to Streep's. Of course, this is only my opinion. I also thought Ellen did a great job. I love how her humor is not mean-spirited. And how much does everyone adore Jennifer Lawrence after last night? I can't believe that poor girl fell again. She handled it with such grace and good-humor though, I think I fell in love with her a little bit more. Which I didn't think was possible :)

That's it for today folks. I'm not sure what to do with myself right now, as I'm housebound. Monday's are usually my shopping day. However, the roads are really bad today, so I've relegated myself to being a hermit. I'm trying to summon the energy for a workout, but I've been fighting a losing battle with that all morning. I think the snow is lulling me into a nap. I'm so ready for spring!

Happy Monday everyone!

Track Town USA

Last week, the hubby and I headed down to Eugene, OR aka Track Town USA. Eugene is where I spent 4 very important years of my life, attending the University of Oregon. People always say youth is wasted on the young. I'm finally starting to understand this. The hubby and I decided to start our morning off running the Pre Trail (named after Steve Prefontaine), which I'd never even walked before. How could I have lived there for 4 years and never even stepped foot on the trail? It's just sad, I tell you, sad.

Running by Autzen, where the University of Oregon football team plays. We picked a perfect morning for a run, sunny and cool. The trail is just about 4 miles, along the millrace that winds through Eugene and past gorgeous scenery.

I heart this view of Autzen Stadium.

A Blue Heron.

The bark is Pre's Trail. The Mackenzie River flows through the background. At this point in the run, I was seriously kicking myself for not knowing any of this beauty was here when I was.

We finished! I'll admit, we got passed by what appeared to be dozens of student athletes. It did cross my mind at this point that I'll probably never run that fast in my life :)

After we finished the run, I (of course) had to go see the ducks. I love the ducks at Alton Baker Park. Alton Baker Park is where the trail starts and ends after looping around.

 Margarita time! Sometimes there's nothing better than an early afternoon margarita.

Oh, El Torito. My favorite Mexican restaurant of all time! I'm not sure why this picture came out kind of blurry, but you get the gist of the deliciousness that was devoured after that run.

I apologize for the sporadic blogging, but I'm having too much fun to care :)

Sunday in West Virginia

Hubby and I continue our quest of trying new things....

We got a tip from a fellow runner to try running in Ritter Park, which is located in Huntington, WV. The hubby and I had never heard of this park, so we decided to find it. I'm so glad we did, the park is just gorgeous! The park is immaculate and well-manicured. Miles of gravel track loop and wind through the park, where numerous runners huff and puff their way around. There were ducks and squirrels everywhere. This was the place to run. This was my third day running in a row, so I was a bit tired. I'm looking forward to going back when I'm more rested, this is the perfect place to get lost in the beauty around you.

Not the most attractive duck, but I found him charming :)

A long flight of concrete stairs in the park lead to this rose garden high atop the park.

The rose garden even has banquet rooms you can rent for events. The view was just amazing.

The weather was perfect for running. It was about 68º, sunny, no breeze.  I just love fall around here.

More selfies!

A perfectly shaped rose.

Stairs leading to the rose garden, creek below. The creek winds through the park.

Ducks in the creek! 

Leaves beginning to change color...

For lunch, the hubby and I headed about 15 minutes from Huntington to Lesage, WV. There's a little restaurant in Lesage that was featured on the Food Network's "Diners, Drive-In's, and Dives" called "Hillbilly Hotdogs". It was time to try it. It's quite the site to check out.

Cold beer is a must after a fall run. I chose a Pumpkin Hard Cider, which I liked. I definitely wouldn't be able to drink a 6-pack of the stuff, but it was a refreshing change. 

The picnic table we sat at outside was covered in license plates from all over the country. I, of course, had to find the Oregon one. Visitors can sign the plate from the state they are from! I decided that since technically I live in Kentucky, I couldn't sign the Oregon one. But if we bring my parents back here, they sure can! :)

License plate tree.

Splurging on beer battered onion rings.

I chose the Spicy Chicken Sandwich. Yum! The hubby had a HUGE Bacon Cheeseburger, which was gone before I could even take a picture. LOL.

Checking out the grounds. 

Riding the Hillbilly Express.

Pondering how they actually got that van up there...

It was a fun Sunday :)

Happy Monday folks! Have a great week!

The Parental's 2nd Kentucky Trip

Wow, it's been awhile since I've blogged!

I'd fully planned on getting a couple of blog entries in while my parents and my aunt were here, but alas, even the best laid plans go awry at times.

Their visit flew by! It went by almost as fast as the hubby's and I's October Oregon visit. And the week that my aunt was here? Ha. It seemed like 1 day. It was sooooo much fun having my family at the new house vs. our Ashland rental from the days of yore. Actually, it's more like, the days of ick.

If you thought I might be getting better at remembering to take pictures, you'd be wrong.

If you thought I wouldn't just count on scrounging together photos that my family took, you'd be wrong.

If you thought I'm old enough to know better, well, you'd be wrong.

The important thing is I do have a few photos to share from the last 2 weeks :)

Myself, Mom, and Aunt Marilyn, upon our reunion as a fabulous trio :)

The hubby's Aunt and Mother came down to the house to visit with everyone.

Dad, Aunt Marilyn, Myself, Mom, and Hubby. Man, I need a piece of art for that wall :)

Gizmo thoroughly missed his Grandpa.

Lunch at the local brewery.

Unbeknownst to me, this stadium near us was home to one of the 1st NFL teams. I can't believe I didn't know that!

Appetizers we had for a small party which included my parents, the Hubby's Aunt, Uncle, and Mom, and some of the Hubby's high school friends.

We finally had one sunny, warm day on the day before my parents  left. At least we had one day where we got to sit outside in the sun!

The Hubby and my Mom. That's our house in the background!

Also, we did a million other things that I did not take pictures of, including: A trip to Huntington, lunch at the Black Sheep Restaurant in Huntington, a wonderful dinner at the Hubby's mother's house, watching 5 million hours of the NCAA tournament, drinking countless gallons of wine, and dining at an Irish pub in Cincinnati. 

In the meantime, I must be getting old, because I'm so tired from their visit! And it was a relaxing visit. Oy. I can't imagine how 40 is going to feel if 30 feels like this :)