March Madness

Yes - today is the start of March Madness, but that's not what this post is about.  The title is also an appropriate description of what's going on at Casa Tingey. Maybe I should have titled it 'February/March Madness!'

What have the Tingeys been up to that has kept Sarah from dutifully blogging their adventures? Well, let's see:

- We just wrapped up another Whole 30 challenge (strict grain-free, sugar-free, (+ more) paleo eating) which we did with Anna this time around. And yes, I said 'we' - Thor did it to this time AND we even went coffeeless this time around. If you've ever travelled with T and I you know we love our coffee, so this was a big deal. Keeping up with the meal planning and cooking kept us busy

- We're remodeling our house. We started with just the upstairs (putting in a bathroom to turn top floor into a master suite) and then thought "oh what the heck- everything's dusty already - lets embark on the kitchen too!" As though we have SO much extra time. So we're squeezing in tile tear-down and selecting fixtures and paint colors and appliances and hanging Sheetrock.  I need to give a special shout out to Thor here who has been a rock star and really carried the weight of the project on his shoulders. Turns out I would be a terrible GÇ/interior Designer. :) But I'm a good little jr. carpenter if you give me a specific task to help with!

- Since we didn't have much going on I enthusiastically committed us to participating in a 20-day Minimalist challenge with our friends Sarah and Scott. On day 1 you get rid of 1 item, on day 2 you get rid of 2 items, and so on up to day 20. (Technically it's supposed to be a 30-day challenge, but Sarah (the OTHER Sarah) had the good sense to suggest shortening the challenge a bit. Smart lady!) I'm happy to report I successfully combatted my hoarding tendencies and we took a whopping load to Goodwill last weekend. 

Okay! Here are some pics to give you a taste of these activities:

pear, fig, apricot, goji berry winter salad for a brunch we went to at Laurie & Dans

Paleo yum! Elk burger, roasted Brussels sprouts and sautéed chard with currants and almonds. 

Red beef curry with yams in the crock pot - Thanks for the recipe mom! 

Kitchen - tearing down that hideous lavender backsplash. 

Our attic - gutted. 

Thor will love me ever so dearly for this picture: hanging new Sheetrock. 

Day 2: ooooold glasses

Day 13: bathroom clutter

Day 3: college plywood bookshelves and falling apart baskets that scuffed our porch tile (hmph)

Day 14: old dog toys, t-shirts, etc

The whole haul off to Goodwill!

Colorado Trip Part 2: Sheri's in Mancos

After Christmas we headed to Mancos to visit Sheri and we had an awesome time. More Nordic skiing, some hiking, playing Settlers of Catan, good food at Absolute Bakery, hanging out, and an evening of ballroom dancing! Also we met Daphne's new boyfriend, Ryan, and he is great!

Afternoon hike behind Ryan's house. 

Thor - very excited to be skiing despite the fact that we were both very tired after skiing 5km uphill!

Thor and I had a mini race around a 1 km loop. I won! but boy was I heaving afterwards!! and I sounded like a smoker I was hacking so badly afterwards. clearly it has been a LONG time since I've done a hard effort in cold air!

relaxing on Sheri's porch

night view from the porch

soaking in the sun our last afternoon in mancos. we didn't want to leave!

View headed north back home towards Portland

January Sun and Winter Mountain Biking

This past weekend we had amazing, sunny, clear weather. Adele was passing through town - so of course we had to go mountain biking!

Saturday Adele and I went riding with the Coalition crew. These peeps are on the enduro team that we'll race for this summer. 

I miss my riding buddy!

I stole Thor's new custom titanium Vulture SS for the day. What a fun bike!!!

Alas - Adele had to roll south Saturday night, but that did not stop us from getting out on Sunday! Thor, Laurie and I headed to Surveyors Ridge to ride. That trail should be under three feet of snow right now, but it has been so dry we were able to go. 

View of Mt. Hood

Me - clashing my colors. As usual. 

Panorama! You can't see them because of my zoom, but all four big peaks were visible:Hood, Adams, St. Helens and Rainier. 

It got a little chilly so I had the opportunity to test my new wind breaker that Fred gave me for Christmas. it's awesome!

And this shot is from Monday on our way to dinner for our anniversary. Just in case you're wondering what we look like seven years later. 

Snowpocolypse 2014

We got snow on Portland about two weeks ago - probably about 6", and then an ice storm on top of it! The biggest tragedy was that it happened over the weekend - so it didn't really affect work at all. Darn!

We had a great cozy weekend at home watching the Olympics and hanging out with our friend Kristy who was down visiting from AK.  

House view from the street - so pretty!

Thor made a game out of sweeping snow up onto Laea. I think he enjoyed the game more than she did. 

Then the ice came. Everything was covered with about a 1/2"

View through our windows. It was like living in an ice palace. 

We had a mini driving adventure out to the gorge and got to see some of the amazing ice climbs that only come in every 5-6 years. Beautiful!

A Wee Gnome Hoody for Becky & Josh

Just finished a hoody for our good friends Becky and Josh. 

The pattern came from a book of my mom's, but I can't remember the name. 

Yarn: Madeline Tosh, sport weight,

Color: Faded Parka

Happy Valentines Day!

Hello all my lovelies! Here is the stack of valentines day cards I bought 3-weeks ago with the best of intentions to write and send out little love notes to everyone.  le sigh. sort of like how I was going to do christmas cards this year too. well. anyhow - I'm sure none of you are shocked. :)

We're off to a great dinner at Ox tonight (a good excuse for a delicious dinner being the best part of this holiday) - Happy Valentines Day and hugs all around!

xoxo

7-years! Time for Wool!

It's our 7-year anniversary! I'm so lucky to be married to this guy - we have great adventures together!