Snow Dusted Daffodils

After several days of beautiful, almost warm, weather, things took a turn. I won't say for the worse because that sounds pessimistic and negative and makes it seem like I'm not thankful to be living in Montana, which I certainly am. But.....it's COLD again! And cloudy, and snowy, and it rained last night so it was damp today, which means it's doubly cold.

Even my pretty daffodils were caught off guard.



Okay - it obviously wasn't a lot of snow - but it was still cold! 29 degrees, while all my GA and FL friends are soaking up the 85, 90 degree weather. Ahh, but soon it will be summer...nice 70 degree summer.

Tasty Tilapia

Today's lunch menu: Lightly Blackened Tilapia topped with diced tomatoes and advocado....YUM! And super easy: the Tilapia cooks really quickly, toss the tomatoes and advocado in the pan to warm them up a little, and wahhlaa - a tasty, quick lunch!

Next time I might add some rice or some other starch, just to make it a little more filling.

Snow!

I must have jinxed something with my 'Springtime is Here' post......Last night it snowed. Big, fat, wet flakes. This is what I saw this morning. My Redneck Riviera was frozen and my trees had grown cotton balls!

Oh the things we do....

At times I find myself just having to laugh...at myself. The things I do sometimes are really ridiculous, or odd, or dumb, or whatever you call it.

It's only 1pm and I've already had to shake my head at myself twice.

First, I sprinkled powder sugar on my leftover hushpuppies for a nice, sweet treat. As I was sifting the sugar I thought it looked a little odd but didn't think too much of it. Big mistake - always follow that soft voice in your head. Before biting into my nice sweet treat I tasted the sugar........ick! Apparently during my move I mislabled the ziploc bag. Powdered Sugar was really...Baking Soda! Ick!

Second, I decided to vacuum (no that's not the dumb thing). I used the vacuum cleaner that was in the house when I moved here, it was my first time. As I was vacuuming I noticed the smell of dust and a cloudiness in the air, then turned and saw a pile of dust in my just cleaned spot. My mistake: I assumed (always a mistake) that it was a bagless vacuum cleaner. So now, my cute living room is covered in a thin coat of dust. Ick!

Here's hoping there are no more dumb moments today.

A Little Bit of Home Cookin

So I attempted to make fried catfish, hush puppies, and black-eyed peas for dinner last night. Now before you jump to conclusions and say "Well how hard is it to dump peas out of a can?!?" I'll tell you that the peas were 100% homemade. I bought the dry peas from our cute Cafe Regis (aka Regis Grocery), soaked them overnight, added some bacon and sent them cooking. They actually turned out pretty tasty, which is a good thing since I now have four bags in my freezer!

Second item was hush puppies. As a child, I made the BEST hush puppies. It wasn't just me that thought this, everybody that ate them loved them. Sadly, I have apparently lost either the gift or the recipe, I'm going for the latter. Overall, last night's shut-up dogs, as some folks call them, were good although I didn't quite have enough onion. And for all those Perry, FL family members I was missing the key ingredient.....that's right, Guava Jelly. (For those that have never tried it, don't knock it until you do - it's a little bit of heaven on a plate.) I'm headed to the grocery today on a search for the all important Jelly of a Guava. I'm naively optimistic that I won't turn up empty handed, especially since we have this fancy, gourmet grocery called Babcock and Miles. They claim to be a 'Merchant of the Delectable'. Well, Guava Jelly, is definitely delectable.

Third item was of course the fish. I purchased the farm raised catfish from the frozen food section of the Good Earth Market in Billings. (You know, when I 'go to town'.) For me, that's a perfectly acceptable (and affordable) way of buying fish. The key though - defrost COMPLETELY! I dislike putting fish in the microwave to defrost because it normally ends up slightly cooked (ick!) So last night I tried thawing the old-fashioned way and must not have fully accomplished my goal. After coating my fish in the corn meal/flour mixture and letting it sit for a bit I tossed it in the pan (with the oil from my hush puppies....I wasn't counting calories). All in all, it turned out edible, but just okay, with one end still a little chewy (this end is now sitting in the bottom of my fun but practical trash can). Some lessons learned: Thaw COMPLETELY, rinse the catfish (aka bottom dweller) very well, and figure out why my corn meal/flour coating didn't stay on very well (as you can see in the picture above)...I'm thinking I needed more flour, or milk, or something.

All in all - my meal was a 6 out of 10. I'll be taking a break from fried foods for a while although I do have a bag-o-pups to finish. (By the way, have you ever noticed that the word 'fried' and the word 'friend' are just one letter apart? A coincidence? I think not.)

It's Official, Spring is Here!

We had a fairly significant rain last night, including substantial (okay, what I consider substantial) sized hail. I'm not sure if you can see it in the picture but the white spots are the gumball sized hail. The chair and tiny table are my own 'redneck riveria'. (You can take the girl out of South GA but you can't take the South GA out of the girl.)

My grass of course loved this and is growing nice and green. (Not that you can tell from the picture)



When I came home from work today, two nice springy surprises were waiting for me. Daffodils! It looks like I'll have a few more in the next week or so. Aren't they pretty!

Man's Best Friend?

I came home for lunch today to check on Shelby and grab a bite. As I pulled up I noticed she wasn't in her normal look-out spot at the window but I didn't think too much of it. As I unlocked the front door I noticed she wasn't sitting in front of it waiting for me...this was my clue - she'd done something wrong. Through the window I saw my evidence: thin wood pieces on the rug. Have you ever played this game? The goal: identify your once intact belonging without any hints from your canine companion.

The victim today? My recent knitting project and the associated bamboo needles.

I'm not sure why but I really take it personally when my playful pooch decides to munch on my belongings. It's as if she's become a traitor, none of my two legged best friends would ever try to digest my stuff. Of course I realize she's just a dog who confuses her plethora of toys with items left on the floor or too-short tables and all-in-all she is ultra-loving and super forgiving.

Ahh the joys of owning a dog. 98% of the time she's great.....sadly, today I laid to rest a few more items into the grave of her 2% badness (right next to my favorite pair of shoes, a new kitchen rug, and a book I'd yet to finish).

Pizza!

My first attempt at homemade pizza was a 6 on a scale of 10 (10 being top). The crust needed more flavor although it was crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, which was nice. Toppings were tomatoes, onions, Italian sausage, garlic, basil, and mozzarella cheese. (No sauce). When I try again I'll add more tomatoes, put the basil under the cheese, and add more salt to the crust.

Roadtrip

Friday afternoon we headed back to Bozeman to pick up some lumber for work. Here are a few shots from the quick overnight trip.

Barnes & Noble and the mountains - two beautiful things in my opinion. B&N was my local hangout when I was in high school, ok and college (yes, I am a dork - it would have been my local hangout in Valdosta if they had one.) I love the smell, I love the books, and I love the coffee. So to see a B&N with such a fabulous backdrop was great for me (I'm easy to please). For those interested, I bought two books both hardcover, both on the bargain table, both only $5.98 (BARGAIN! and there's no sales tax in most Montana towns) The Last Summer (of You & Me) by Ann Brashares, the same author of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. I loved the Traveling Pants movies. Although I never read the books, I figured this one should at least have potential. I've started it and it's pretty good so far, a little hard to follow....I'll share the full review in a later post. The second book is a novel called True Colors by Kristin Hannah who also wrote Firefly Lane, which I think I read several years ago. It's about three sisters, and since I have an amazing sister I thought it would be a good read.

Wal-Mart and the mountains - the only thing beautiful about this is the mountains (sorry Wal-Mart fans) and to be clear, we didn't go in, it was behind a gas station we stopped at (Cracker Jacks are great roadtrip food!). But, to give Wal-Mart credit, the did a great job of utilizing local architecture rather than corporate architecture. So for all my planner friends, if Wal-Mart (or Target to be fair) or CVS or Walgreens or any other box store says they only have one prototype - you show them this picture. It just proves that they can be sensitive in their design if the City (Elected Officials and Staff) will make them.

And this one I just thought was funny - it continues to show that states can have super classy places and then....places like this. Deli, Guns, Gifts, and Liquor....what more could you need since this was also a gas station. And according to a very reputable food critic (my Dad), this place also has the best deviled eggs. Sadly (or not) we passed on that delectable treat and instead enjoyed wonderful veal marsala and swordfish at The Grand Hotel in Big Timber.

All in all, another eventful trip to Bozeman. 2.5 hours of great scenery and fun stops along the way. Now that the weather is warming up (at least today) I hope to add more weekend road trips to my calendar. Stay tuned for updates!

Doctors and Vitamins

I went to the Doctor for the first time in Red Lodge a few weeks ago. It was an interesting and surprisingly pleasant experience. Here's a brief rundown....see if you notice any differences from your typical dr.appt.

1) Walked in to see a sign in the reception area "For the benefit of our patients privacy and to promote a healthy environment, please wait here until the receptionist is available." the sign was probably 10 feet from the receptionist's counter - giving you plenty of privacy and no need to worry about Joe Blow hacking up his contagious lung on you (since the last thing we want to do is go to the doctor to get sick.)

2) Was greeted by a very friendly, warm receptionist who gave me one simple form to complete. The clinic had called the week before to 'pre-register' me since this was my first visit, which means less time and less paperwork at the doctor office.

3) Was called back to the doctor probably no more than 10 minutes from arriving.... (lady taking me back was the only 'somewhat unfriendly' of the morning)

4) Doctor arrived, surprisingly young (my age), and very friendly. I explained to her some of my history, reason for the visit, etc. Her immediate recommendation regarding my cholesterol (for which I take medicine due to my fabulous family history) was to take Fish Oil. She also gave me a list of recommendations for women's health, which included taking Vitamin D, Calcium, and a Multi-Vitamin. I think I can count on one finger the number of a times a doctor has recommended taking vitamins, especially for a specific cause. She also proceeded to explain the reasoning for each vitamin.

5) Completed blood work (lab guy needs some more practice - ouch!)

6) Paid co-pay and checked out but not before working with another nice receptionist to have all my records transferred from Valdosta. She was super helpful and friendly.

7) One hour later - received a call from nurse at doctor office "You forget to get your vaccine, it's free, come in some time next week at your convenience and get it."

8) Four hours later - received a call from THE DOCTOR herself! "Hi, just wanted to let you know your results are in".....proceeded to explain results as well as a reminder to take the vitamins. Now keep in mind, my results were 100% normal so it wasn't like she was calling with bad or important or urgent news. She was just calling.

9) Two days later - received a physical copy of my blood results in the mail with handwritten notes by the doctor commenting on each of the results and a written reminder about the vitamins.

So, needless to say - my first experience with the Dr. in Red Lodge really couldn't have been better. Now I'm not naive, I know it won't always go this way and I know the doctor here is able to provide this type of one-on-one attention due in part to the small population of the town...a great benefit for me!

Okay so a quick thought on vitamins. My ultra-wise mother has always tried to get me to take one multi-day vitamin a day....and I would for a while but it never lasted. Now, I'm taking four vitamins in the morning and three in the evening. And these are BIG. (Think Horse Pill) I'm realizing that I receive two major benefits from regularly taking my vitamins. One is obviously the nutritional value of the vitamin itself. Two (and almost more helpful for someone like me) is the discipline and structure required to take vitamins. As our regular vitamin takers know, you can't just pop these things on an empty stomach....you have to eat first. So, in order to fulfill my goal of eating healthier and overall just living healthier I should eat a good breakfast and a good dinner. Knowing I have to pop a handful of large vitamin-rich pills helps achieve this goal. And (although this could all be in my head) I'm feeling better already! I encourage you to do something good for your body today - whether that's adding to your diet or taking away.....we only have one body and we should take care if it, if we don't, who will?!?

Lunch!

One of my goals for my time in Montana is to do more cooking. I've done okay so far but I haven't really pushed myself to try new things. Today for lunch, green leaf lettuce salad topped seared tuna topped with sliced, toasted almonds. Yum.

Spring is here! Or is it?

I saw these little guys in the tree outside my kitchen window today. I've seen quite a few birds here that I've never seen before, which is a nice surprise.

So is spring here? Well since it was only 36 degrees today I'm not 100% convinced, but it's on the way!

Easter Sunrise on the Ski Mountain

I haven't really taken to skiing like most of the Red Lodge residents but that didn't stop me from heading up to the ski mountain bright and early this morning. 6:45AM and I'm riding the lift up the Miami Beach ski run. Already at the top are about 100 other folks that must really love Jesus to get up that early when it's as cold as it was. (COLD!) I didn't check the temperature then, but since it's only 32 degrees now at 9:30AM I'm thinking it had to be in the low 20s on top of the mountain at 6:45. But, if Jesus can die on a cross for me, I can surely put on my ski clothes (that I've used only once for skiing this year) and head up the hill to worship him.

Service was lead by Pastor John. His wife Joy sang beautifully. She gets major points for being able to carry a tune on top of a mountain in frigid weather. They even had a small group of kids sing 'Jesus is the Rock' hand motions and all. The message was about how so many people try to fill the void in their heart with money, things, drugs, alcohol, etc. instead of the one true thing that can really fulfill them - Jesus. Pastor John encouraged us as we go through this life to remember that if we trust in Jesus, He'll be with us at every stumble in order to walk with us across the finish line.

What a great way to start Easter Sunday, sharing in the Holy Spirit's presence surrounded by God's natural beauty.

P.S. For those of you wondering - I was able to ride the lift down. It was like a ride at Disney World. (Okay, a kiddy ride.)

Saturdays....

It's hard to believe, but I've been in Red Lodge for 5 Saturdays now and no two have been the same. Here's a brief run down:

3/6 - My first Saturday in Red Lodge and I wasn't even in Red Lodge! My dad had some lumber, rocks (okay boulders), and stone to pick up in Bozeman (about 2.5 hrs away) so we headed there Friday afternoon and spent the night. We had fabulous drinks at Plonk and great sushi at Dave's. So my first Saturday as a resident of Montana was spent in a fabulous restaurant called the Cateye Cafe for a wonderful breakfast, in Schnee's shoe store buying a pair of Danskos (the majority of my southern shoes are useless in the snow), and then driving back to Red Loge.

3/13 - My second Saturday I slept late, unpacked for a few hours, took a nap, unpacked some more, and went to bed early. I felt super lazy and couldn't figure out why - and then it hit me: the Altitude. It's amazing how a few thousand feet, okay 5 thousand feet, difference in altitude can really affect you. It took me almost three weeks to get used to the dry, thin air.

3/20 - My third Saturday in Red Lodge I made my first trip to Billings (the closest 'big' city to Red Lodge, about an hour away). Living in Valdosta I always chuckled when I heard people say they had 'come in to town' to go shopping. Now I'm one of those people! Here in Red Lodge we have an IGA (independent grocery store) and.....well that's about it. Don't get me wrong we have several cute, swanky stores with what some may consider 'necessities'. But I'm on a budget folks! So off to Billings I went for quite a productive trip if I do say so myself. I hit up all the necessities: Kohl's, Target, Lowe's, the Girl Scout Cookie table in front of Lowes (okay - not a necessity), and the Good Earth Market, a co-op grocery store full of healthy choices and locally grown food. (All part of my plan to eat healthier and detox my system from the years of southern food, which is oh-so-good, but not always oh-so-good for you.) Hopefully, I won't have to go back to Billings for at least another month while I bunker down here in Red Lodge. No more five-minute away runs to Target for me - which might be a blessing to my bank account :)

3/27 - My fourth Saturday in Red Lodge I finally went 'downtown' (one block over) and visited the cute shops. Saw lots of great things but only bought some lollipops from our old-fashioned candy store, the Montana Candy Emporium (a little kid's dream). and a fun little thing for my mom, which I can't share here because she reads this (or at least she says she does). Headed to the Bridge Creek for a nice lunch where I met up with the family. We then went to the Lost Village Saloon where I felt like I was back in the south bellied up to the bar, sipping my beer, watching the people (some who had enjoyed themselves a little too much).

4/3 -My Fifth Saturday in Red Lodge - Today. Woke up with a craving for french toast and a good coffee - but had no milk. Off to the IGA for milk, syrup, and a movie (yes, our grocery store is also our movie rental store, with surprisingly good selections - I got Blind Side). Back to the house, started a fire, and enjoyed breakfast. Now - catching up on blogging and watching the snow fall. I'm realizing now that the new snow scraper/brush my dad got me to use on the outside of my car is INSIDE my car. A lot of good that will do. Oh well, there's always the trusty broom. Yes, I am that girl with the Georgia license plate brushing the snow off her car with her red house broom.

A picture of my cozy house with the fire going:

SNOW!! A Winter Storm. In April

No, this is no April Fool's day joke. :)

As I was getting up this morning I heard the radio announcer say a winter storm was in the forecast for Red Lodge. I had heard similar forecasts before but they never really came to fruition. Sure we had received snow, but it was certainly manageable (even for a southerner like me)

So when I heard this forecast I didn't give it much thought and headed for work. As I opened the front door I realized we had received quite a bit more snow during the night than I realized. That's the thing about snow - it's quiet. It snowed ALL night and I was clueless. If it had rained all night, I would have expected huge puddles and soggy yards. Not so with snow - you don't know what you got until you look out the window.

After brushing off my car and letting Shelby have her Snow Play Time (she LOVES it) I headed to work. At my office we have a great big window.....so I can watch it snow all day, which it proceeded to do. Below are some pictures. The top two are of Broadway Ave (main street). The bottom one is out the back door of my office (my car is in the back, my dad's BIG truck is in the front). Let's just say when I walked to my car tonight, the snow was about a foot deep.

But, in spite of it all, it's beautiful and, like being in a new relationship, I'm still infatuated with it. At least for now. It's snowing as I write this and doesn't look like it's planning to stop anytime soon. I'm enjoying the fire in my wood burning stove and sipping coffee. April is supposed to bring quite a bit of snow, it's yet to be seen if my flame of love for snow melts away or remains until next year.