Roasted Chicken, Butternut Squash & Cranberry Salad

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #HelloNutchello #CollectiveBias

Happy Leap Day everyone! We had a good low key couple of days this past weekend. We spent Saturday wine tasting with new friends and binge-watched the new Fuller House series with the kids. Noah has officially started spring soccer and I am still trying to grasp the fact that we are already entering into the month of March.

Yesterday afternoon was a blustery day, but we had some nice breaks of sunshine in between the showers. The flowers on our plum trees are beginning to bloom and it excites me; I’m ready for spring.

A Trip to the Timberline Lodge

Last month for Emma’s birthday she decided to have an overnight trip to the mountain with family instead of a birthday party. She had always wanted to go up into the snow so this year I made it happen and we drove the two hour drive to Mt. Hood and stayed at the historic Timberline Lodge.

If you are from Oregon I’m sure you’ve heard of the lodge, which was declared a historic landmark in 1977 and has nearly 2 million visitors a year. Timberline is also the hotel that was filmed in Stephen King’s movie The Shining.

Strawberry Lemonade Cake

Happy Monday my friends! I feel as if I have left you hanging for a week - and I guess it’s been nearly that long. I spent half of the week working at my on-call nursing job and I always seem to struggle with keeping up the website when my hours are devoted there…..I’m trying to get better at that though.

How to Stay Connected While on the Road

A few weeks ago I attended an event with AT&T, during which we visited the Portland Auto Show and got to drool over all of the amazing new vehicles and all of their cool features.

Up until recently I haven’t kept up very well with the latest trends in autos - probably because I spent the last decade of my life with a baby or toddler by my side. Now that the kids are getting older I’ve been interested in learning more about the latest technology - in and out of cars. With a growing family I have to keep up with the kids so they don’t surpass me on the tech knowledge. ;)

My First Time at a Monster Jam®

Last weekend we did something that for some might seem a little unusual for Valentine’s weekend - we went as a family to see Monster Jam®.

Living Locally: A Fun Live Event for Marvel Fans

I love taking my family to fun events that come to town - it’s a fun way to entertain the kids as well as make fun memories together. Introducing them to a variety of shows and experiences is just another good way to also teach them about many different fun careers that are available out there.

Next month we are going to head up to the Moda Center for an exciting evening to go see Marvel Universe LIVE. It’s the first show of its kind - a live stunt show with everyone’s favorite Marvel Super Heroes including Spider-Man and the Avengers (Iron Man, Black Widow, Hulk, and more) plus menacing villains that come to life in an action-packed extravaganza! It’s going to be in Portland, Oregon March 3rd-6th!

Grilled Vegetable Salad + Semi Homemade Croutons

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #MangiaTonight #CollectiveBias

  

With everything that has happened this last week, between my friend’s accident and many other ‘bumps’ in the road I haven’t had much time nor energy to cook many meals. Even with a scheduled monthly meal plan in place I just haven’t been able to follow it or frankly, even care about it.

I stayed at the hospital Monday night and my family came in and brought some take out so we could still have our family meal together. I left the hospital yesterday afternoon and stopped by Fred Meyer on the way home to grab a few things for dinner that the kids could help prepare. They always want to help out in the kitchen and I thought now would be the perfect time to let them.

Italian food has always been my favorite cuisine to eat, so I picked up a couple Bertolli meals in the freezer section for some quick dinner options as well as some fresh produce for a salad, and artisan garlic bread that I found in the bakery section.

3 Reasons to Visit Your Car Mechanic Routinely

I will be completely honest with you - in the past I wasn't always good with taking my car in for routine maintenance and checkups, but over the years I've realized how important it is for the life of your car. Regular visits to your mechanic are the difference between you having a car that runs great and one that is constantly being worked on. Yes, these visits will cost you money. However, they will actually be saving you money in the long run because of the large repair bills you will be able to avoid. The trick is setting up a maintenance schedule for yourself and sticking to it. For many people, this is much easier said than done. You must not skip any scheduled maintenance appointments just because everything seems to be working fine on your car. In many cases, a serious problem could be developing that you do not discover until it is too late. 

Here are some reasons why preventative maintenance is the key to keeping your car running smoothly.

Life Changes

I’ve been writing on here for nearly four years. Most of the time I love to share tips and ideas related to inspiring you to make memories and celebrate life. I write about our life, our stories, local events, recipes, etc…. but sometimes I write personal things. I share feelings and moments that don't necessarily relate to anything else on here - but they are something that I just need to share.

Snow Tubing at The Mt. Hood Ski Bowl

A couple of weeks ago we took my Dad and the kids on an overnight adventure to Mt. Hood for Emma’s 8th birthday. None of us had ever spent much time at the mountain (which probably sounds crazy to Portlanders) and I was trying to figure out exactly what we could do and where we could stay. We ended up staying at The Timberline Lodge (more on that in the future), but stopped at the Mt. Hood Ski Bowl to do some snow tubing first.

Zip-lining For the First Time

Have you ever zip lined before? Honestly it wasn’t something that I had given too much thought to until last September. I had heard of people doing it and enjoying it, but it had never been something that was presented as an opportunity for me, and I never went out seeking for it.

While I was touring the KOA in Ventura County though, we were offered the opportunity to check out two of their 3 zip lines - and I couldn’t refuse. I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect, and there was definitely mixed levels of bloggers, from experienced to novices like myself.