What's New in the Life of Him, Her and the Dog??

Well it has been an awful long time since my last post which practically makes me the worst blogger EVER! Life has been so crazy and we have been up to so many different things that I hardly have a second to myself to even think about blogging! And if I do end up with a minute to spare, it's usually spent on the couch with Goldfish or some other snack and a disc of Friends. (If you don't know me at all, then you don't know how much I LOVE the TV show Friends!) But I have a few minutes to spare today, Darin and Macy are both asleep on the couch. After church we came home and I made lunch followed shortly by a little adventure around this pond/lake thing in the woods by Target. However, there is a sink full of dirty dishes that are trying to guilt trip me. But do not despair, I am committed to recapping the events of the last month!

So after our hike to Muddy Fork, which is chronicled in my last post, we took a little trip to California to visit my family. It was a last minute trip but super fun! We got to spend time with my parents, my brother, my sister-in-law, my niece Evie and my nephew Aaron. We also got to see some of my extended family which is always awesome! Also, I met up with my high school friend Rachele and her husband for some fro-yo. I can't believe it has been over 6 years since I have seen most of my high school friends! I didn't get a picture of me and Rachele, I can't believe I forgot! But here are some of the pictures I did manage to take on our trip!

View of Crater Lake from the plane on our way to Sac-Town

Darin and Aaron

Aaron and Grandpa

Darin and me at a River Cats game

Darin in his cute pink life jacket

Aaron and Grandma

Aaron and his Tia :) I love this boy!

Me and Aaron on the Tube

 We came home from Sacramento on the evening of the 4th of July. So we hurried home and then took off again to find somewhere to watch the fireworks. We managed to find a good spot near a high school that is famous around here for putting on a good show. Macy is surprisingly well behaved when it comes to fireworks so she got to tag along and cuddle up on our blanket!

Waiting for the show to start!

That same weekend we made plans with some friends to hit up Ski Bowl. It's a smaller ski resort in the area but in the summer they have some awesome activities. We found a Groupon for half-day admission so we took full advantage of that! They have an Alpine Slide (SO FUN!), rock wall, mini golf and all kinds of other fun things to do!

Darin and me on the lift at Ski Bowl with Mt Hood in the background

Alex and me waiting for the rock wall

The next fun thing we did was a trip to the beach! Some of Darin's school friends had been talking about going surfing and Darin really wanted to try it out. I surprised him and got a hotel for us so we could stay the night before surfing and have a nice, relaxing weekend by the ocean. We drove out to Seaside on Friday afternoon, went to the beach for an evening stroll, got fish and chips and just relaxed. The next morning we got up early to go rent Darin's wetsuit and surfboard then drove down to Short Sand Beach, which is known as a pretty good spot to surf! We invited some other friends too so we ended up as a pretty big group at the beach. Macy got to chase seagulls, run in the water, play with some kids and other dogs. She was so tired but she couldn't stop playing, it was just too much fun! Then after a long day at the beach, we took some friends and got pizza in Cannon Beach.

Here is Macy perched up in the window at the hotel

At the beach with Macy digging a hole

One of Darin's friends decided to help Macy dig!

One happy, tired and sandy puppy!

Heading out to hit the waves

Macy wanted to go out surfing with Daddy!

Darin found a crab out in the water

Darin paddling!

Macy and Darin playing the freezing water!

Crazy Macy!

Darin and his 9 1/2 foot board

Family Picture!

I hoped you enjoyed the little recap of the past month. We have been so lucky to be able to get out and do so much! Summer is such a fun time of year and we are loving our first summer here in Portland. Up next for us: Our 5th wedding anniversary (yep, FIVE!!), we might be going camping, Labor Day festivities, and who knows what else! Until next time, Cheers!

Welcome to the Yucatan! With a Hot Bowl of Lime Soup on the Side

This past summer Darin and I took a much needed vacation to the Yucatan, specifically to Cancun. For those of you who live under a rock, Cancun is in Mexico. It was partially to celebrate our Four Year Anniversary (has it really been that long!?) and also to get some R&R before Darin started his chiropractic school journey. We scored an AMAZING deal on a hotel (thank you Deal Chicken!) and off we went for 8 days and 7 nights of Caribbean bliss. We invited our friends, Kurt and Shea, to come with us and it was an absolute blast!

We had tons of amazing food on our trip and among one of my favorites was this delicious, hot, refreshing, limey soup. They call it Sopa de Lima, aka Lime Soup. It is a rather creative name... (sarcasm anyone?). However, it was one of my favorite dishes I had while in Cancun. It was one of the dishes I set out to recreate almost as soon as we got home. Sopa de Lima originates from the Yucatan portion of Mexico and one website calls it "the Yucatan's verison of your grandmother's chicken soup." As for me, I call it the Mexican version of chicken noodle soup. It's great when you're feeling sick. As a scoured recipes, I found a lot of different versions that were not what I has experienced. Some had tomatoes, some had red or green peppers, others had cilantro. So instead, I just made my own and I must say, I actually like it better than what we had in Mexico. Here is the moment of truth, Ladies and Gentlemen, I present: Lime Soup.

Ingredients:

1 medium onion VERY thinly sliced

2-3 cloves of garlic, minced

1-2 jalapenos, seeded and minced (I used canned jalapenos this time)

2-3 teaspoons of dried oregano (Mexican oregano would be preferred)

Salt & Pepper

2 chicken breasts cut into chunks

12-14 cups of chicken broth/water (I used about 4 cans of chicken broth, and used water for the rest since I'm stingy and didn't want to use a whole case of broth)

1/2 cup of lime juice

Avocados, limes and tortilla strips for toppings

Directions:

Heat a large pot over medium-high heat. Saute the onions, garlic and jalapenos in a little oil with a little salt to bring out the moisture in the onions. Add in the chicken pieces and brown. Deglaze the pan with a little of the broth and add S&P to taste. Then add the rest of the broth. Let it simmer 30+ mins over medium-low heat (the longer the better). Take the chicken out and shred it. Return chicken to the pot. Add lime juice and cook for 5 mins more. Serve with fried corn tortilla strips, diced avocado and lime wedges to heighten the lime flavor. You could also top it with some queso fresco for a little creaminess. 

When I made this soup today, I made up an alternate method. I bought a rotisserie chicken from the deli and took all the meat off the bones then made my own broth by boiling the carcass in 14 cups of water. I strained all the bones and other chicken pieces out of the broth then followed the recipe as usual just using my homemade broth and the shredded meat I got off the rotisserie chicken. The soup was just as good, but took a little longer than the original version.

Sorry my picture isn't fancy. I decided last minute that I would write a post about the soup so I didn't have time to make some fancy presentation. If you like beautiful pictures of food, you should go see Hot Cookin Mama. Those pictures are yummy looking and will make your mouth water.

I hope you make this recipe soon and let me know what you think of it! Enjoy your own little trip to the Yucatan with this delicious soup that is refreshing and light enough to enjoy all year round!