What Matters Most Now

Together Every Step of the Way - stay connected via regular hiking dates

hike. more. together.

 

Together Every Step of the Way...

and with this fluffy guy.

 

Did you know that America has over 200,000 miles of trails? These trails allow us all access to the natural world for not only recreation but exploration, inspiration, solitude, and education. Who doesn't need an opportunity to escape from reality, to unplug, breathe in fresh air and get your heart pumping?

 

According to Ignacio Malpica, a certified fitness instructor and personal trainer in Boulder, Colorado, “Hiking exercises your body and your mind and nourishes your imagination.  It creates awareness in your eyes and ears and the rest of your senses.”

 

We are so lucky to live in a breathtaking part of the country that is home to numerous scenic and special places. It's impossible to go on a hike and not return feeling refreshed and renewed, not to mention connected.

 

Take advantage of the outstanding scenery in your neck of the woods by heading out for a date with your mate.  The romance on the trail can come in the form of a captivating sunset, a surprise encounters with wildlife, a smooch underneath a waterfall, the discovery of a memorable natural object, a cuddle overlooking a ridge, or the opportunity to tune into your heightened, engaged senses.

Note to self...just don't make your first hiking experience together one in which you try to conquer an active volcano, with an elevation climb to 8,000 plus feet, or a super strenuous feat, such as our grueling hike up Mt. St. Helens in Washington.  Make your first hike a romantic or creative surprise vs. a sweaty, 10-hour plus challenge.

Prepared to hike Mt. St. Helens

Pre-hike.

During. 

During the arduous hike...

Yes, we had to scale boulders - mountain goat-style.

 

Pick your first hike to a romantic spot like this...

I love hiking to waterfalls best.

Resources to help:

Map My Hike - to track your hiked miles, map your route and share your favorite hikes with others.

All Trails - great reviews of hikes near you, often less traveled. Provide info on dog-friendly trails, trails with waterfalls, trails with beaches and even have a map. Track your tracks and trails.

All Trails Hiking & Mountain Biking Trails App - a great free app with GPS Tracker and Offline Topo Maps.

American Hiking Society - includes a state directory of parks and forests with current conditions.

Backpacker magazine - the authority on all-things hiking and backpacking via magazine and online website.

How to Pack for a Backpack Trip- A thorough resource from Jen Reviews, for preparing and packing for backpack trips of various lengths of time.

 

 

Happy romantic trails to you!

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The absolutely BEST Grilled Salmon recipe you will ever try - paired with Salmon Fishing in Yemen Date Night

I'll never forget visiting with a retired doctor while at a wedding and newly pregnant. He grabbed my hands and looked closely at my fingertips to determine the health of my pregnant body.  He quickly asked me if I was eating salmon regularly. Because I was pregnant with my first child, I happily answered that I was consuming salmon often as it was a favorite craving. This sweet doc went on to extol the amazing benefits of salmon consumption from strenthening muscles, tissues and the heart and emphasized that my regular consumption would make this baby-in-the-making "brilliant" (thanks to the Omega-3 fatty acids)!

I didn't need to hear much more. I already loved salmon so I set out on a mission to propel my interest in salmon to a new level of passionate consumption.  I tried recipe after recipe, experimenting. Most were good until I found the grand champion of salmon recipes from Ina Garten.

This recipe, hands-down is the best. Honest. When my hubs and I met, he was not a lover of seafood, especially salmon. I couldn't fathom how he couldn't like seafood and made it my quest to teach him to love it.  This recipe did the trick!

Salmon's health benefits include improving memory, helping your brain strength and funciton better; protecting your nervous system from the deterioating effects of aging, serving as a natural anti-depressant; lowering your risk of developing Alzheimer's and Parkinson diseases; lessening your chances of having strokes; speeding up your metabolism and lowering your risk of developing diabetes. Salmon's Omega-3 fatty acids and selenium also bring healthy skin (great for teenagers), shiny hair and bright eyes along with a full day's required amount of Vitamin D - (in the Pacific NW where the sun rarely shines in the fall-winter-spring, we crave our Vitamin D). Seriously - do you need more benefits?

Pair this recipe with the sweet and charming romantic comedy, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen for a perfect date night.

Quote from the 2011 movie's character, Fred Jones "When things get tricky in my life, I talk to my fish."

 

 

 

Asian Grilled Salmon

Recipe adapted from the Barefoot Contessa, Ina Garten

Ingredients:

4- 6 Tab. olive oil (I typically go on the light side here)

3 Tab. soy sauce

2 Tab. Dijon mustard

1/2 tsp. to 3 spoonfuls of garlic (I go heavy on the garlic personally)

1 side of fresh salmon (Wild Alaskan is our favorite), skin on but boned

1 lemon cut in slices, optional, for grilling the salmon on

Instructions:

Whisk the mustard, soy sauce, olive oil and garlic together. Don't miss this part. Put half of the marinade on the salmon and set half aside to drizzle over the cooked salmon.  Let the marinade soak into the salmon for 10 minutes. (It won't hurt it if it marinades longer.)

 

The absolutely BEST Grilled Salmon!

 

 

I learned a little trick to slice up a lemon or two and to position the slices on the grill. Plop the salmon directly on the lemon slices and the lemon infuses your salmon while it grills. This also prevents the salmon from sticking to your grill.

The grilling time truly varies, depending on the thickness of your salmon. We grill at about a 375-400 degree level but we use a Traeger Grill/Smoker. The original recipe suggests grilling for 10 minutes but I have found that it typically needs closer to 20 minutes. Keep in mind that the salmon will continue to cook as it sits, off of the grill. A good rule of thumb is to check if it flakes with a fork prong poke.

Drizzle the reserved marinade on the salmon and let it sit for another 10 minutes.

 

Grilled Wild Alaskan Salmon

 

 

“Faith is the cure that heals all troubles. Without faith there is no hope and no love. Faith comes before hope, and before love.(Sheikh Muhammad ibn Zaidi bani Tihama)” 

― Paul Torday, Salmon Fishing In The Yemen

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around here...right now

Right now...

Admitting I love fall best. Summer you are wonderful but fall is my true love.

Loving using Evernote. It is rocking my organizational world. Get it.

Practicing vulnerablility and putting my thoughts out there for the world via this blog. Scary.

Eating Honey Crisp apples and Sin Dawg bread. Oh. My. Yum. (and it's good for you!)

Wearing skirts and flip flops...and grateful that the weather permits such comfort clothes.

Feeling anxious to refinish (sand and stain) four more dining room chairs to match the dining room table/chairs I finished last month and for the hubs to finish our new patio before the impending rain. Promise I'm not nagging. ;)

Writing many pieces of many grants...feeling a tad bit overwhelmed having so many "unfinished" projects.

Experiencing a deep sense of gratitude for my life, as crazy as it can be some days. Especially thankful for smooth mornings - we've had a good week. Phew.

Taking photos every day. It's hard. Making myself. Taking a little class.

Loving my return to my Club Dance class, Group Power class and working out again! Need this for my sanity and my body.

Remembering to drink more water. The difference between a plum and a prune.

Listening to country music and admitting it! I usually get into country music during the summer months but perhaps it's the extended summer weather?!? I'm loving:

• Jerrod Nieman's Shinin' On Me
• Josh Turner's Time is Love
• Dustin Lynch's Cowboys and Angels 
•  Zac Brown Band's Colder Weather

Enjoying  this music now too: 

• Jeremy Passion's ukelele version of Lemonade
• Crosby, Stills & Nash's Southern Cross - a lifelong favorite
• Sara Bareilles' Hold My Heart
• Owl City & Carly Rae Jepsen's Good Time duet  
• Eat Dirt by Susan Justice
• David Guetta & Sia's Titanium - from my dance class
• Taylor Swift's piano version of  Forever & Always
• Little Too Much via Natasha Bedingfield
• 5 O'Clock featuring Lily Allen and T-Pain
• Jules Larson's You Know It's True
• Brighter Than the Sun via the SMASH cast
• Modest Mouse's Float On
• Third Day's Sound of Your Voice

Watching so much football...my son's team, our local high school team and my favorite college football team - the number two ranked Ducks!

Driving to orthodontics appointments, soccer, football, school functions, meetings, the high school, the middle school and the 4-6th grade school every day and realizing I spend so much time in my car but feeling grateful that I live in the country and my kids experience growing up in a rural community.

Needing the air conditioning at night - shocking for September!

Nesting for fall by organizing the office and kitchen cupboards, baking more, decorating with leaves and pumpkins and filling my home with the smells of the season. Cupboards desperately needed help.

Laughing at the kids' pumpkin they affectionately coined, "The bum pumpkin" as it looks like a rear-end. #tween humor

Giggling that Miss Bella tasted the crust of the cooling apple pie before I could take a photo and then realizing what she had done, covered her "bites" with some cut apple slices, then proceeded to tell me that she thought that the pie needed a "little garnish". From the bite of crust to the garnish...she is so my daughter.

Watching our pup mourn the kids' return to school on a daily basis. I can relate. Here he is sulking...

Linking up with Ali Edwards in her challenge for others to report on what is happening right now, around here. She is an amazing "memory keeper" for modern times and serves as great inspiration.

Reading this article on 15 Ways to Stay Married for 15 Years. Good stuff.

Focusing on what matters most. Just read this thoughtful post written by one of my favorite scrapbookers/bloggers in reflection after attending her brother's funeral (he lost his fight with colon cancer). 

Focus on what's truly important. Soften our hearts. Let go of grudges. Reach out to others in service. Cultivate stronger families. And love unconditionally. - Becky Higgins

Our Family Fall Favorite Pumpkin Apple Streusel Muffins

 

 

Fall's Favorite Pumpkin Apple Streusel Muffins

 

This fall favorite welcomes the changing of the leaves, the crispness in the air and the need to be nestled inside.  

These are a hit with my whole family and make for an easy breakfast paired with these green smoothies or these yogurt, fruit, granola parfaits.When the kids were younger, I used to tell them I made them "cupcakes" (healthy muffins) and "milkshakes" (smoothies) - oh, the days when I could still "trick" them into making healthy food choices.

These are delicious and make your house smell of the spicy goodness that fall brings each year.

Pumpkin Apple Streusel Muffins

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

Topping:

1/4 cup sugar (I've used both white and brown successfully.)

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

4 tsp. butter

2 Tab. flour

Batter:

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 cups granulated sugar

1 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice (I have created a mixture of nutmeg, cinnamon and allspice as a sub.)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2  teaspoon salt

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 cup oil

2 cups peeled, cored and chopped  apple 

 Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. Mix together 2 1/2 cups flour, 2 cups sugar, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, mix together the pumpkin and oil. Add pumpkin mixture to flour mixture, stirring just barely to moisten (a lumpy batter is desirable with muffins).  Fold in apples.

3. Spoon into muffin cups,  (my favorite are Demarle flexipan muffin trays as they don't need to be greased or lined with paper liners and bake evenly)  muffin trays or muffin tins that are greased or lined with paper liners.

4. For streusal topping, mix together 2 tablespoons flour, 1/4 cup sugar and the cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over muffin batter. 

5. For regular muffins, bake for 15-20 minutes, until toothpick inserted, comes out clean. 

Makes 24 regular muffins.

As a variation, you can spoon the batter into a 10 inch greaased tube pan, sprinkle the streusel on the top and bake at 350 degrees for just under an hour for a coffee cake version.

 

 

Picking Pumpkins

 

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On loving unconditionally...just like my dog.

loving unconditionally...like a dog

My dog, Buddy, thinks I am the bee's knees.  He is SO elated to see me when we have been apart (even after he's merely gone outside to relieve himself in the morning for a few minutes).  He loves unconditionally (even when I forget he's outside relieving himself and he sits patiently waiting in the rain for me to notice him).  He easily forgives (he's quick to love up against us if we accidentally stumble on him).  He showers us with affection (kisses and licks are distributed to all).  He finds great happiness in the simple things in life (his blue raquetballs or tennis balls). 

He's the first on the scene when someone is crying to kiss away tears.He asks for so little and is thoroughly appreciative and grateful when he gets even the slightest crumb or moment of attention.  He never complains.  He politely brushes his paw against you when he wants a little treat or nibble.  He jumps through hoops to please us.  He looks up at me with the happiest of hearts.  

 

Wouldn't it be it be fabulous if I could be the kind of person that my dog thinks I am?  (The best!)

Better yet, I wish that I could be the kind of person that my dog is to me to all those that I love and care about - loving freely, forgiving easily, loving with excitement and showering those I know with affection, showing appreciation,and loving unconditionally.