This post is probably more aptly titled “the day I met Nickel Creek…and other awkward stories.” Let’s start from the beginning. Nickel Creek is a straight up awesome bluegrass band that has been together for 25 years (minus that recent 6 year hiatus: the dark years). They started performing together as 8 and 12-year-olds, which…
quinoa and berries.
What did we learn today? Quinoa doesn’t photograph well. For real. It looks gross. Particularly when combined with yogurt. But we’ll get to that later. As you know, we’ve been eating berries like they are going out of style (or like they will start molding quickly, which is far more likely). We’ve been working them…
things we’re digging this january.
First of all, can anyone believe that January is already halfway over? How does this happen? I guess I’m still adjusting to being back in Oregon and starting a new year. Anywho, I thought it would be fun to kick off 2013 with a list of things we’re enjoying this January. 1. Landscapes like this….
a mini-vacation (day 3).
Our final day of vacation started with another enormous breakfast from Chef Jerry (almond belgian waffles, Canadian bacon, scrambled eggs with swiss cheese, and fresh fruit) and a walk on the bed and breakfast’s grounds to take in the amazing views. The B&B is home to a flock of sheep and chickens, as well as…
a wrap up of this week’s best.
Here are a few great things that happened this past week: 1. “Safety Not Guaranteed.” We really wanted to see this movie when it came out in theaters a few months ago, but since it’s an indie film, it wasn’t showing in Kentucky at the time. But now it’s in Redbox (woo!) and we finally…
halloween with the ringers.
We’re having a pretty low key Halloween this year. We live in an apartment complex, so there are no trick-or-treaters. We don’t have any Halloween festivities to attend. We didn’t come up with any clever Halloween costumes (but I did enjoy all of the employees in costume at the grocery store this morning). Instead, we’re…
a little autumn in eugene.
It turns out that Oregon is pretty nice in the fall. It’s been a bit rainy lately, but the sun pops out every now and then, making for some lovely afternoons. The photo above is from a running trail down the street from our apartment. I enjoy running by all of the colorful trees there,…
wine country.
Saturdays are “Ally days” around here. This means that Eric abandons his homework for 24 hours and we get a full day of dating. On this particular Saturday, we headed to wine country. There are a ton of wineries only 20 minutes from our apartment, so we just picked one that we had heard of…
the perfect dinner party.
While staying with our incredible host family, we have had the opportunity to meet a lot of really fun and interesting people. We met a majority of these people at a dinner party on Friday night. It was, by far, the most impressive dinner party I have ever had the pleasure of attending. From this…
news from the northwest.
Good news! We have a place to live! After an exhausting apartment search that involved literally driving every street in Eugene, we signed a lease on Friday afternoon! We’ll begin the moving process on Monday once our pods of stuff arrive. Unfortunately, Monday is also the day that Eric’s 2-week prologue begins, so I’m not…
the oregon trail: day 4 (hiking in the grand tetons)
There are two things that you need to take away from this post: 1. We saw a live moose in the wild. 2. We hiked 10 miles in the Grand Tetons. If either of those interest you, keep reading. Let’s start with a recap of the night before. We camped at Gros Ventre Campground, where…
the oregon trail: day 2 (kansas city, missouri to fort collins, colorado)
The playlist for today’s drive: -“Born and Raised”- John Mayer -“Bossypants” (the audiobook)- read by Tina Fey We covered a lot of ground today. Six states: Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, and Colorado. Wow. In the Smith family, we have a little friendly competition to see who can visit the most states. We call it…
going away. way away.
The journey to Oregon begins tomorrow (or today, by the time you’re reading this). Crazy. Absolutely crazy. Our absolutely wonderful small group threw us a going away party last Sunday. They may be some of the best party throwers around. It was Oregon themed, with blue and yellow decorations (apparently Oregon’s state flag is blue…
an olympic party.
It’s Olympic season! I must say that Olympic season is the greatest season of all (well, second to Christmas, I suppose). It’s a season to celebrate the triumph of the human body. It’s a season for the whole world to come together to enjoy competition. It’s a season to cry at inspirational Olympic commercials. And,…
tonight’s plans.
Tonight in the Ringer household, we’ll be reading this book aloud. Don’t get too jealous. -Ally