SANTA! I know him!

Look, I promised you a post about Santa. And I'm giving you one.



Yes, I am aware that I look like a complete freak. My forehead was so cold!



Paige, Rosie, Andy and Helena getting excited for Santa!



Sarah and me.



Obviously we didn't get all that close. Santa, a beaver (wtf?), gingerbread men and reindeers broke through the crowd and moved it to the stage



We broke through the crowd and headed over to my Aunt Margie's house for some turkey durango.



Turkey durango is turkey fajitas/tacos using leftover turkey from Thanksgiving.



My aunt also made a delicious salad with olives and fritos. YUM. (There was more to the salad than that, I'll have to get the recipe!)



Here's my taco/salad/corona combination. Seriously a winner. The turkey combined with cheese, sour cream, and veggies tastes nothing like your typical Thanksgiving leftovers.



I was super excited to find Ruby Red Squirt in the gas station in Sunriver. California (at least my neck of the woods) does not carry Ruby Red Squirt. It was my favorite when I was an overweight teenager. Needless to say, it's way too bubbly and did not sit well with me. I think my soda drinking days are over. Unless it's carbonated italian sodas or carbonated juice.

Does your family have any Thanksgiving traditions? Do you make anything special with your leftovers?

EDITED: I lost 2 lbs this week! 2 exactly? How did I do that? I'm excited!

Deschutes Brewery in Bend, Oregon

After our lovely tea at Townshend's, my family walked over to Deschutes Brewery for some lunch and brews.



My sisters Sarah and Emily with my aunt Margie and my cousin Wally. Wally is such a sweet kid. I can't believe how big he's getting. (I'm noticing myself saying that a lot regarding my cousins. I think that means I'm getting old.)



Being the insane glutton that I am while on vacation, I suggested we split an order of Garlic Blue Cheese Fries. These were delicious. And not overly blue cheesy which Andy liked. Andy is NOT a fan of stinky cheeses.



I cannot understand this picture for the life of me, so here is Emily looking slightly demonic with my beer. Don't worry she didn't drink any! Emily is 18 years old. Emily has never tasted alcohol in her life, right Em? (Please keep fooling me that you are sweet and innocent...) Also that man in the background looks thrilled to be included in my Oregonian recap. Hi sir!



Aw, I feel better now. (Can you tell I am struggling with this "aging" thing? I think I'm struggling more with my sisters, brother and cousins aging than with myself aging!)



Speaking of which. Here I am with my bearded husband. We are old.



Insert beer into the picture and we look youthful and joyous instantly. Funny how that happens.



For my entree, I ordered french onion soup with a portobello mushroom sandwich. The sandwich had a plethora of creamy goat cheese. I tend to think goat cheese is way too tangy and this sort of was. The grilled onions were pretty good though! And that soup...french onion is my favorite! I love the melty cheese and the hunks of toasty bread.



Andy ordered an elk burger with sweet potato fries. I just asked him, "how was it?" and he said. "Delicious and amazing." The man is short and to the point. If wild boar, elk or bison is on a menu, Andy will order it. Man loves his meat. I am not so adventurous. I did snag a sweet potato fry from him, however.



Emily ordered spicy mac and cheese. I stole tons of bites and grew jealous. Spicy mac and cheese FTW.



My lovely sister Sarah sent a slice of her pizza over. Pizza is rarely bad. This was good! (I prefer thick Chicago-style crust so no raving over this pizza for me.)



My eight year old brother, Daniel insisted that I take a picture of his meal. Mini corn dogs and tortilla chips. The boy has a palate that would shame the hell out of Julia Chila. Sigh. One day he'll learn.



And after our delicious meal of food and plenty of sharing (Don't worry I didn't finish mine!) we headed over to Powell's Sweet Shoppe. Andy and I purchased some candy for later. It's still in our candy bowl surprisingly!

Stay tuned for a Santa Sighting, Turkey Durango and more road trip wonders.

P.S. I ran 2 miles today without any knee pain. Running for 3 minutes and walking for 3 minutes really works for me!

Why do I do these things to myself?

This morning, I got a strange e-mail from my old best friend's ex boyfriend. It was completely unexpected and quite frankly freaked me out a bit. I don't deal well with losing friends and losing my best friend was tough on me. I've tried several times to reconnect with her but no such luck. Her ex's email to me got me thinking and of course I emailed her again. WHY? I wish I didn't need closure so badly.

Anyway I hate to get so personal and mushy on here. But there you go.



Back to the Oregon recaps. While in Bend, Andy and I REALLY wanted to try out a brewery. But no, this post is not about that. This post is about the teahouse we stopped at while waiting for delicious food and beer for lunch.



Here's my baby brother Daniel and my cousin Wally. They kept themselves entertained while the adults ordered tea.



There were tons of varieties to choose from.





Ignore Andy's big red eye. Andy's eyes got so red and dry. He looked kind of scary. Love you husband!



Is that better? Not really...moving on.



Isn't this teahouse so cute? I love brick walls.



My aunt Margie was smart and didn't order hers to go. She got her tea in a fancy glass cup.



I wish we had teahouses near me. It was so nice to sip a warm glass of pear and pomegranate black tea while waiting an hour to eat lunch. Especially on a cold snowy day.



If you ever get to downtown Bend, I would suggest trying this place out!

Do you like hot tea? What's your favorite flavor? I'm partial to fruity black teas. Do you have a teavana near you? I love buying loose leaf tea from there.

Oregon Recap #2

Where was I? My aunt Carolyn put out tons of yummu snacks for us to munch on. Including the best sesame cashews I've ever tasted!



And sweet pickles.



And of course Benny Ben enjoyed. Poor guy is teething!



After snacking, we bundled up in our winter clothes and set out on the Family Walk. This is a tradition my grandmother on my dad's side started. You take a walk before you chow down!

(Helena is such a good aunt to little Ben!)



Here's Ben with his mommy.



We fed some lovely geese. Ok. I actually HATE geese. My dad took me to the park once to run with him and a goose chased me down the entire way. Since then I have decided that I am not down with geese. Not down at all.



I tried not to throw frozen buns at their faces.



Emily, and cousins Paige, Sam and Patrick.



My hairy wildebeast of a husband tried to eat the duck food.



Ben was not amused.



In fact I think we pissed him off quite a bit. We just wanted to compare his size to a 30lb turkey.



Dixie tried to cuddle with Andy. (Andy is not a fan of dogs or cats. He's weird.)



Meanwhile food was being set out. Yummy apples with cranberries.



Sweet hawaiian rolls.



Asparagus.



And a 43lb turkey of course.





Oregon has tons of beer. Reason # 34567 to move to Oregon.



We actually visited Deschutes Brewery with my Aunt Margie, Uncle Kevin and cousin Wally. I will post soon!

As for the November Challenge we did alright. I decided to "not count" several things because I was worried about how they'd affect the challenge. Looking at my tracking on Mint, I see that we spent $104 in groceries and $65 in restaurants and $11.75 in Starbucks. $180.75 (including the things I opted to "not count.") I can't be too upset with us. I'm actually quite proud. In October we spent...$255 in Restaurants. $56 in coffee shops and $253 in groceries. $564 in October and here I was thinking we did great. If nothing else, the challenge taught me to look at things differently. To realize that it's worth it to clip coupons, to make bigger portions and actually save the leftovers for later, to not buy frozen yogurt daily, to invite friends over for dinner instead of going out and to always appreciate what we have. From now on, I will be mindful of what I am spending my money on.

That said, I totally spend $50.01 on groceries immediately after the challenge ended. I missed buying tons of fresh veggies!

NOT BAD! I actually have money at the end of this month. I'm going to dream up a new challenge now. Did you participate in the November challenge? How did you do?