Everyfrog's Blog

A Simple Life – The Rule vs. the Exception

March 12, 2013 at 5:12 pm · Filed under Uncategorized

I used to think my friend Kevin’s life was The Rule – he works a regular 7-4 job during the week, focuses on chores, house projects and volunteer work in the evenings, then takes off to the mountains for the weekend to ski or backpack.

Sounds great, doesn’t it?

I thought it was “the” life a single 30-something should have living in the Pacific Northwest. I wanted to be a mountain girl every weekend, getting views of mountaintops rarely seen in person and fantastic wildnerness adventures.

I tried it. I was exhausted. And I realized I’m not Kevin. In fact, assessing the lifestyles of my other friends, none of us are “Kevin.” He’s The Exception.

While we both have common interests, mutual friends, are homeowners with plenty of projects and are volunteers in the community, even for the same organization, I’ve realized I just lead a different life.

I definitely not just sitting at home waiting for someone to ask me to go hiking. I find myself booking girls weekends, planning hours-long bike rides on Saturday mornings, using 16 hours of sunlight in July to work in my gardens, or popping over to the city in the evening to visit friends. I’ve realized that I’ve chosen to do these things because I enjoy them as much as I enjoy the mountains.

So why do I feel so guilty for being so busy? Why do I feel like I should be there instead of here? Read the rest of this entry »

Permalink Comments (3)

The Tomato Soup(s) Experiment

December 17, 2012 at 9:43 pm · Filed under Food

I don’t enjoy thin brothy soups, except when I am sick. I like stews – thick liquids with lots of vegetables and meat. Something I can chew on.

So tomato soup, especially from a can, has been out of the question. It seemed like a watered down version of tomato sauce. I love me some spaghetti and sauce but thickness is key.

A few years ago, I tried a tomato bisque at a cafe near the office. The server described it as creamy and thick with lots of herbs, including basil. I was surprised by the texture and the flavor – hearty and savory.

But it forever changed my opinion about the salmon-colored soup. The flour and cream adds the texture I like, plus it leaves an interesting dry after-feel in the mouth, much like tannins on the tongue after drinking wine.

Earlier this fall, I had a hankering for tomato bisque, so of course I want to make it from scratch.

Pioneer Woman’s Hearty Tomato Soup

I first started with a recipe from Food Network. Then I heard Tom Douglas’ simple recipe on The Splendid Table radio show. A Facebook cooking group posted one from Cooks Illustrated. Then I perused my Pioneer Woman cookbook and found hers. Over the course of four weeks, I made each of these. Here are my notes. Read the rest of this entry »

Permalink Comments (4)

Things I’ve Learned Recently

October 29, 2012 at 5:28 pm · Filed under outdoors

Green bell peppers do not belong in a beef stew that cooks for 8 hours in a crock pot.

I really need new running shoes, a haircut, my eyebrows waxed, my fingernails buffed, and a new muffler on my car.

Hell, I just need a new car. Stella’s getting up there in age, at 245K.

I would really like to pull a Lorena Bobbitt on the next legislator who decides to voice his opinion about how the government should rule my uterus.

You can be mad as hell at the universe for something not working out (even though on paper it should) but it still doesn’t change anything. So, you move on.

I’m not grossed out after gutting and cleaning a whole fish.

On that note, as much as I try, no matter how fresh it is, I still can’t get as excited about eating salmon as I do shrimp, oysters and geoduck.

I tried to de-gear my home office by moving it all to the garage; however, after a week of being gearless in the house, I found that I go through it all on a regular basis (both for work and recreation) more than I thought. So, back to the office it goes.

Next organizing option: Get rid of desktop set up and upgrade to laptop, thus removing huge table in office. Replace with shelving.

Once again I am reminded that I am a technical writer.

Grumpiness this time of year seems to be easily remedied by purchasing pumpkins and cornstalks and decorating my porches with them.

I am hibernating and nesting way more than usual this year. No, I’m not pregnant.

If I’m at home on Sundays, I really like having the NFL on the TV as background noise, as well as the ability to pop in, watch a few plays, yell at the TV, then go back to my house project.

I’ve been looking at my straightened and clean house lately and wondering, ‘Um, what do I do at home now?”

Salami is no longer an option as camp food.

Permalink Comments (1)

15 Minutes: Homesick

August 1, 2012 at 7:28 pm · Filed under 15 Minutes, Hiking, outdoors

2:25 p.m. July 30, 2012

I want to be at home. I want to be at home RIGHT NOW. I am SO done with this trip.

That was my first thought when I woke up at Camp Site 11 in the Seven Lakes Basin in the Olympic Mountains Sunday morning.

It’s rare for me to think that when backpacking. I typically relish in waking up snug in my little tent, with the sun starting to brighten the bright green walls that kept me warm and dry during the night. I woke to the rustling of my campmates starting to pack up and get ready for the day. It was probably 5:45 a.m. I knew we needed to get up and not dwaddle as the organizer of the trip had a long day planned, which included an attempt to climb Mt. Carrie. I was going to be hiking back to the trailhead instead but had a long day too – an 11 mile-long hike out.

I apparently wanted to leave this place quite badly.

Having that nagging thought really bugged me though and made me a cranky camper Sunday morning. Usually I’m pretty bright-eyed and content, looking forward to the day’s adventure and enjoying the chores of a camp morning. I even had a restful night of sleep, only waking up briefly but didn’t need to heed to nature’s call. I thought my unusual sourness was brought on by feeling rushed, knowing we had to get up and get going soon. And I was upset with myself having these negative thoughts. Were these the last days of my time in the mountains? Did I not enjoy camping anymore? Was I burned out?

Wait, I thought. I hadn’t been in the mountains like this in six weeks. I hadn’t been out nearly as much as I had wanted to be this summer. And this particular trip I’ve been dying to do for years. What happened? Read the rest of this entry »

Permalink Comments (4)

15 Minutes: But Not Really.

July 27, 2012 at 8:41 pm · Filed under 15 Minutes

1:15 p.m., Friday, July 27, 2012.

I’m going to see what I can conjure up in 15 minutes but I’m pretty sure I could write all afternoon. I haven’t updated this thing since March. My personal journal in which I actually put pen to paper, maybe six times since March.

It’s been bugging me that I haven’t written much. My job doesn’t involve as much writing as my previous life as a journalist. My coworkers and I are all former journalists and they seem to keep regular blogs (one is a photographer and constantly posts her pictures on FB). I… I don’t as much. My father’s bleating throbs in the back of my head: “Write every day. It will make you a better writer.”

Earlier this month, back in Ohio visiting family for 12 very long days, I found myself in my mother’s basement on Day 11, going through old college essays. Good lord, what bad writing. Lots of ideas, crammed into a small space, not thoroughly drawn out like they could have been. It was a bad habit I had in high school, college and still to this day, I feel I do cram too much into one space. Much like the lifestyles of many. Read the rest of this entry »

Permalink Comments (1)

15 Minutes: Online Dating, Stalking and Links

March 20, 2012 at 7:23 pm · Filed under 15 Minutes, outdoors, Seattle

11:55 a.m., March 20, 2012

It’s been way too long and I’ve been craving this post for a while now. So, once again, an unedited, unabashed, all guts out 15 minute writing exercise. I love it because my hands are sweating… what absolute nonsense can I muster up in 15 minutes?

I think this will be a very link-y blog. I’ve been on a link-y browsing kick lately. This morning’s finds can be categorized under a few things: Sad Music, Psychology and Random Crap.

Sad Music: Oddly enough, I’ve been pretty damn happy lately. A year ago, it was pretty dark. Life threw bullets the previous, oh 18 months, and Jan-March 2011 had me at rock bottom. But I didn’t know until someone gave me a slap to the face that made me recognize how bad things were. However, it was the trip to Australia in March 2011 that gave me the chance to recharge and I actually came back from this undeserved but much needed vacation relaxed. It was a strange experience, coming back from vacation not exhausted from some sort of climbing/camping/backpacking trip.

But I digress – THE MUSIC!

These two songs have captured my attention recently: Read the rest of this entry »

Permalink Leave a Comment