My birthday
I had a birthday, but the best part was we went to the Caps/Penquins game and the Caps pulled it off. Here we are: I'm sure you'll agree, we look good. Besides we had to travel the beltway to 66 to the Ballston Metro and then the Metro to Verizon Center for the game. But it was worth it.
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A Weekend Vacation
This weekend Kelly and I took our friends Jeremy and Tiff to our favorite place in the world, Joseph, Oregon near the Eagle Cap Wilderness Area for a weekend of outdoor adventures. We left Friday afternoon and had an uneventful drive down and made our first stop at Terminal Gravity Brewing for dinner and drinks. Its hands down our favorite beer in the world and they didn't disappoint. This time on tap was a delicious Festivale at a strong 8.9%. It was dangerously good. After dinner we checked into our cabin and settled in for a night of Super Mario Brothers on the Wii.
The next morning Kelly and I had to continue our marathon training with a 12 miler. It was perfect weather for that, low 30s and dry. So we ran along the side of Lake Wallawa and enjoyed the views as we trodded through our training run.
John running along the lake
After our run, we hung out for a bit and then went for an afternoon snow shoeing. The snow wasn't that impressive near the lake so we headed out to Salt Creek about 30 minutes away. There the snow was 1-3 feet deep so a good amount for snow shoeing. The clouds started to part and the views were great.
John and Kelly somewhere awesome of course
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Free to Good Home
Alexa and I have been steadfast proponents of our CSA* for many seasons now. We just love getting that bag full of unknown farm fresh goodies. It has been a great way to introduce us to delicious things we’ve ignored all our lives (like beets), as well as delicious things we had no idea existed (like kohlrabi). But as the winter draws in, Alexa and I are faced with unexciting truth that not much is growing on the farms these days. The last 2-3 bags have been nothing but mixed salad greens, kale, and the like. Which is fine and all, but getting a little old. I guess the farmers knew this and wanted to spice things up with our latest shipment. Since they were stuck with giving us cabbage, they decided to give us GIANT HEAD CABBAGE!!! Not a giant head of cabbage but giant head cabbage - seriously this thing weighs like 10lbs and is bigger than my face. What on Earth are Alexa and I supposed to do with this thing! It’s not like we know how to make halupki, our have enough children and grandchildren in the area that could polish off so much cabbage. Oh well, I’m sure a solution will present itself, right Ted?
* CSA : community supported agriculture – you pay a fee at the beginning of the season and get a portion of what the local farmers grow. Check out localharvest.org for one near you.
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My Mustache Growing Has Ended
Thanks to everyone who donated to the cause. My first ever attempt to grow a mustache has been interesting. What I have noticed the most, is that I look pretty insane with one.
The final day of mustacheiry
I can't wait to shave this thing off my face. Kelly is safe in knowing that I will never have the desire to have facial hair.
Keep reading to see the extended mustache gallery!
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John Grows A Mustache!
So my friend Jeremiah sent me an invite to raise money for prostate cancer research by growing a mustache in the month of November and I decided to take him up on it. As most of you all know, facial hair hasn't been one of my defining characteristics or even the ability to grow facial hair except on my throat. So this blog documents my attempt to grow a stache!
My last full face shave was on October 31st, 2009 using my trusty Gillete Fusion Razor. Extra blades for extra bleeding!
I shaved my face on the first and second except for my upper lip.
2 days of growth
As you can see, its pretty much like the day I was born above the lip. My throat beard can't be stopped!
If you dare want to see what I look like after 13 days, click below!
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Feet, don't fail me now
The days are getting colder, the Farmer's Market is over, so it must mean one thing--winter is coming :( Our local, seasonal eating continues, with squashes, beets, potatoes, and pumpkins filling our kitchen. With the help of visiting friends Kathy and Jim, we even tried our hand at homemade cheese making with milk from local cows (blog to come later). It turned out awesome! We are actually looking forward to raiding our freezer for all the stuff we made and froze this summer. And, of course, to busting out the crockpot, a warm necessity for the many cold nights to come.
Our next adventure: the Marathon! We've signed up to race in the Breast Cancer Marathon in Jacksonville, FL this February. My mom, dad, sister, and brother-in-law all plan to participate by walking the half-marathon. John and I decided we would try to go for the whole thing (and its a good excuse to get out of the Palouse in February). After reading the book 'Born to Run', we were impressed by how members of a group of people in Mexico were able to run ultra distances with nothing but flimsy sandals on their feet. The book (a recommended read for anyone interested) goes into how modern day shoes are actually the cause of many of the problems people experience (knees, feet, achilles, etc) while running. Since we both have issues ourselves while running, we wanted to try out some 'barefoot' running to see if it was true. We purchased some Vibram Fivefinger shoes and absolutely love them so far!
Kelly went with the grey/palm Vibrams
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Virginia Visit of 2009
Kelly and I just got back from our visit to Virginia and what a great time it was. Our flights were perfect, going there and coming back. No long layovers, and no delays. That alone makes any trip perfect.
We arrived at National around 4ish on Tuesday and jumped on the metro to ride into Springfield for our chauffeur, dad. He brought along his driving buddy Madeline. She was almost as excited to see us as we were to see her. After a quiet ride back to the metro, we noticed the grand entrance to the Casa de Doroshenk. What a nice porch. Inside, Mom and Mary were there to great us. And then finally we made our way upstairs to see Alexa and Declan. What a cute new addition to the family Declan is.
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Celebrating the fruits of our labor
This past Labor Day weekend, the Idahoroshenks decided to break out the tent one last time for the season. We decided to head down to the Eagle Cap Wilderness in Oregon, one of our favorite places to go. We wanted to try out a different section of the forest along the Lostine River, one of the many National Wild and Scenic Rivers in the US. We left early in the morning and scored a great free camping spot in the Wallowa Whitman National Forest, which encompasses the wilderness area, near Two Pan trailhead. After setting up our trusty tent, the two- and four-legged Doroshenks went out for a short hike towards Maxwell Lake. Since it was getting dark, we decided not to trek it all the way up to the lake (about 4 miles away), but instead hiked in about 2.5 miles and got some awesome views of the river canyon and Eagle Cap Mountain. We headed back down the mountain and settled in at the campsite for some reading, eating, and fire watching.
The peak way in the back is Eagle Cap Mountain
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Bigidy Bagel Bananza
The greatest thing Kelly and I recently discovered was how easy and delicious it is to make home made bagels. Right now, they are my go to bread for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. These are whole wheat bagels and last time I made them I threw in some garlic powder to kick it up a notch. Would probably work great if you adding dehydrated garlic or onion. Sorry for the poor picture quality, Kelly has the camera in Japan, so I'm using my cell phone.
Homemade Bagels with Homemade Blueberry Conserve
The recipe is after the jump
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Welcome Baby Declan!
The Doroshenk Family is proud to welcome Declan Theodore Neckel into the world! He arrived around 10:30 pm, yesterday, August 13th, weighing an impressive 10 pounds, 11 ounces! We're all so happy for his safe arrival! Alexa and Nate sound wonderful, and little Declan is off to a great start in his young life!
Declan Theodore Neckel
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