Counting Down the Days

As we get closer and closer to the end of my residency and the end of our time in Oregon, I'm getting more and more excited about coming home to Wisconsin.

Of course, I'll miss some things in Oregon - and there's so much I feel like we need to do and see before we make the trek back (that's a blog post all it's own). What I'm most excited about right now is Sasquatch! Tim and I decided it was worth the big bucks and will be spending the 4 days of Memorial Day weekend in George, Washington at the Gorge Amphitheater listening to some amazing music and camping. That's right - we're buying a tent and a sleeping bag for me and everything! Real honest to goodness camping. I can't wait for it to get here!

In the meantime I'm hoping we can take some day trips or weekend trips to the coast, etc before we hit the trail back to the Midwest.

Any suggestions for what should be on the Oregon/Pacific Northwest Bucket List?

Greatest Mom

My Mom is the best. She sent me flowers today - for no reason other than to let me know she was thinking of me. It's little things like that that brighten the day. Thanks Mom!

Shepherd's Pie

On St. Patrick's Day Tim and I found an Irish pub near our apartment to have a few beers and enjoy an Irish themed meal. After waiting roughly 30 minutes for a table we had prime seats to watch March Madness begin to unfold. We got some good beer and a shot of Jameson for good measure. The only problem: they were out of their "cottage pie" which is a their variation on a shepherd's pie. I was disappointed to say the least and had to settle for fish and chips (definitely not irish, although I read somewhere recently that shepherd's pie is actually an english dish, but that's not the point of this post).


I was still disappointed on Friday and Saturday so I decided to try my hand at making it myself. We had all the necessary items (veggies, meat, potatoes). After a quick google search I settled on Rachel Ray's 30 minute version because I was hungry. My only changes to her recipe would be to make sure you've got plenty of the gravy because it is delicious. If I ever made this dish again I would probably double the gravy for good measure. That, and corn is a good substitute for peas if you happen to not like peas. All and all it turned out pretty tasty (and looked gorgeous). I would definitely make this again.