Tag Archives: family

obsessed with tradition – and here’s a good one

13 Dec

i don’t know about you, but i love hearing about a friend’s family tradition around the holidays.  but never have i actually been a part of a family’s tradition and – felt so honored.

here’s the tradition

so ever since they got married and had their first child – a son – they made the decision that at thanksgiving, they – as a family – would design an ornament.  between thanksgiving and christmas they would make the ornament and then one would go into a box for their son and then they would have a certain amount to give to people that had an impact on their lives throughout the year.

ok stop.  how cool is that?

then they had a daughter and they continued the tradition.  so at the same time:

1. the children get a box when they get married (or older, whichever comes first) of meaningful ornaments from EVERY YEAR they’ve been alive.  that the family thought about and made together

and

2. they get to give away a certain amount of ornaments to people and friends that meant something to them.

i love this.  ya know why?  i got one!  and i treasure it.  and i can’t tell you how much i’ve thought about this tradition.  mostly because i’ve thrown out all my ornaments or they really didn’t mean anything.  but since this is the first christmas that is just my wonderful husband and myself – i want to start something that affects us and others.

it’s never too late to start this tradition of your own.  i think rof and i need to do it. but it may have something to do with either marinade or holiday spirits.

what is your holiday tradition? 

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appreciate: the northwest & the roe’s

15 Jun

i love my family  

and not just my immediate family but all my cousins and aunts and uncles.  it is such a shame we are so spread out across the country.  from steve, brad and lori in oregon to britt and kirsten in southern cal to clay, lindy and sally in columbus, ohio are all such great people to hang out with whenever i get the chance. 

last year, ROF and i went to portland and got the opportunity to stay at my cousin brad’s house with his wife jane and their two adorable boys.  this was the view from their house (i’m not joking):

 and that is not a fake.  that is mt. hood and that is the heaven that they look at every day.  what a treat to even spend one night there!

jane, brad’s wonderful wife, sent me one of her family’s favorite places for dinner.  so read on and if you’re ever in their neck of the woods, be sure to check it out!  thanks jane.

Here are some pictures of my favorite place:  Char Burger, in Cascade Locks.   I’ve been going there since I can remember.   When my parents & I would take a trip to Portland to come visit my grandma, we would stop for lunch or at least an ice cream cone.
The view is beautiful & there are many indian artifacts hanging on the walls including many other old time farming memorabilia and cowboy things.   Now, we only live about 1/2 hour away.  We went recently for Mothers Day ….  our favorite thing is probably the cream pies or berry pies.   Mexican burger or the swiss mushroom burgers are great too!

this is my cousin brad – jane’s husband!

look at hayden’s strawberry pie! wow!

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most unbelievable week in review

23 Dec

boy, i’m a very loved person! 

what an incredible week i’ve had to say the least.  if it seems like i’m bragging a little bit, i am.  full force bragging. 

the week started on monday, like most weeks do, but this was not an ordinary monday.  first off, it was raining like the dickens.  not a gentle pour, mind you – the kind of rain where every last leaf fell off the trees and there was a river flowing down our street.  typically, my birthday week includes some sort of girls get together with friends and family from everywhere.  but i didn’t have that going on this year.  why?  maybe i’d grown out of organizing big parties for myself?  nah.  i knew ROF had a lot of tricks up his sleeves so i just didn’t do it.

have no fear – suzanne is here

thanks to suzanne, she put together a small get-together with friends megen, jamie, katie and the 5 of us dashed through the storm to jamie’s new house.  which is an unbelievably beautiful house – and oh so close to mine!  we had crock pot meatballs, cheese, crackers and vino galore.  got some good loot too – a great wine glass, book i’ve been eyeing and an awesome necklace that i had pinned on pinterest.  lucky girl!

 

and that was only monday

flash to wednesday and this was my first day off of work until jan 3rd.  what complete bliss.  but of course i worked, but it just doesn’t seem like work when you’re laying on your stomach on your bed peddling away on the laptop.  that night…ROF surprised me by taking me out for a pre-birthday dinner at the petroleum club in downtown dallas.  just so you know where this place is… it is on the 40th floor of the building with the big hole in it – chase tower.  this is a private club – you don’t even pay, dahling…you just sign for it.  it’s been around since 1934 primarily for oil men (cue the music from the dallas tv show)  ROF’s friend is a member and this was the second time we went there – the first being the night we got engaged.  here are some pics I snapped.

our table was snug right up against the window and the view amazing.  ROF started with a salad, me with my favorite – escargot !  then i had boston scrod in a lobster sauce and goat cheese polenta, side of lobster mac & cheese and mushrooms.  ROF had lamb and side of sauteed spinach and asparagus.  truly, we were spoiled!  and an excellent bottle of vino as well.  after that we went from high atop dallas to our favorite local dive – louie’s on henderson.  just for a nightcap cuz that’s how we roll.

thursday was the actual birthday of me and the festivities started while i was still in the pjs.  ROF gave me a beautiful new purse  and the new cartier perfume.  spoiled.  rotten.  and loving it.

and i got some fabulous cards (thank you prendevilles & karen!!)  and facebook messages (isn’t that fun?) but then ROF took us both to get deluxe manicures and pedicures at my fave salon down the street.  it was PACKED solid in there.  these little twerps, i mean, adorable kids kept saying:  “MOM WHAT IS A BOY DOING IN HERE?!” which made us giggle.  some people need to realize that not everyone thinks their kids are as cute as they think they are.  geez.  i did snap a pic of ROF with his hands all wrapped up in towels but thought i’d have to run for cover if i posted it.

then we headed over to henderson to go to the porch for lunch.  we love that place.  it is like someone opened up their house to a whole bunch of people for lunch.  we sat at the bar and had a lot of fun together.  we love to laugh and talk.  he’s the best.

then i took a nap.

but the real fun was just going to be underway.  mom and katie came over and we did our christmas with them since we wouldn’t see them on the 25th.  as a surprise, ROF ordered steak and all the fixings from a very awesome steak place in dayton, ohio.  it was a place mom & dad went to a lot in 1967 and 1968 before they had any kids.  imagine the look on mom’s face!  plus the steak was absolutely outstanding.  but wait…back up… first katie’s job was to bring an hor d’oerve.  and she made this from barefoot contessa.

this would be puff pastry with guyere cheese and pepper salami.  seems too heavy but it is not.  it was heavenly.  we had that with an apple martini to start the evening.

and we had steak, noodles with green onion, salad with pine club dressing.

and then as a special surprise to me…  german chocolate cake with amaretto frosting… best cake i’ve ever had….

lastly, was fooling around with a new app and took some pics of the house:

thanks for letting me brag on my most fabulous week this year!!  thank you ROF !  and mom, katie, suzanne, jamie – everyone.

Happy Holiday!!  XXOO

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