She's my Cherry Pie....

Remember the song from the 80's glam rock band Warrant?... "She's my Cherry Pie...." I sing this song all the time - who knows why? I usually sing it to our dog Opal...she likes it. Maybe its because I LOVE Cherry Pie. I could eat the filling straight from the jar. We have two big cherry trees in our yard. Wookie likes to eat the cherries that fall to the ground. The other day Trevor was talking to our old man neighbor who told him that they looked like pie cherries. Excuse me? Do you mean to tell me that the yummy goodness of the cherry pie is growing on a tree in my yard? Its been there for 7 years? Well that sounds like a challenge old man....
I found a recipe online for pie made from cherries picked from your own tree - it had pictures and the cherries looked like ours, so I figured they wouldn't kill us. I put Trevor to work....

You can see Opal helping him here - I think she is singing..."I'm mom's cherry pie."
I have the best husband in the world...he is even inspecting them to make sure we get the best ones.
Somehow I convinced him to pit the cherries too.
"Dad....I'm mom's cherry pie"

Here it is....ready to be put in the oven. Here it is. Just out of the oven.
Okay, so we cut some pretty big pieces.
Added a little bit of whipped cream and had at it.

This pie was so amazing. The idea that it came from something that grows in my yard makes me incredibly happy. I want to pick all the cherries and freeze some. That way I can make a homemade cherry pie for Thanksgiving dessert! I could also make turnovers and muffins and jam and who knows what else.

Even better...we have blueberries that are just about ready. We think they would be good on ice cream. We also have apple trees that have about another month before they are full of apples. The possiblities are endless.

Trevor tells me we'll plant a garden next year and then I'll have all kinds of fresh, healthy yumminess. I know I'll dream of this tonight...if I can stop dreaming about eating the rest of this cherry pie.

Warrant was right when they said..."cool drink of water, such a sweet surprise". Regardless of what they were talking about....this cherry pie ROCKS!

8 years!

It has been 8 years since Trevor and I had our first date. So hard to believe. We went to dinner last night to celebrate. We took our obligatory anniversary picture. We have one from every year framed on our coffee table. Its a great way to see where we have been. This year is a good one I think.

We had a fabulous dinner and spent our time talking about what the last year has brought and what we expect to accomplish in the next year.

This morning was our mini triathlon. During this past week, Trevor got some pedal clips for his bike and readjusted his seat height. These two things have suddenly moved Trevor into the number one spot of bikers in our household. Last week I was basking in the fact that I was better than him...at this one thing. Now I am sad because its all gone. He's better at this too. I spent quite a bit of the ride feeling discouraged and then realized that how he does has nothing to do with how I do. We finished up the ride, finished up the run and enjoyed the feeling of accomplishment that can only come from a 90 minute workout on a Sunday morning.

Pictures of Final Day in China

The day after the run - in our rickshaw.
We can't go anywhere without finding a Starbucks.
Tea Ceremony

One of the best parts of our trip was this guy - our guide Bing. A sweet, generous man. We will never forget him.

Pictures of Great Wall Marathon

A villager hard at work, while we were playing.
This hill was a nice surprise around mile 9.
I hope I don't break my ankles on this.
So happy - this was before we started.

Proud finisher of The Great Wall Half Marathon.
I'm proud too.
This is the home stretch - Trevor kept running up ahead and then turning around and taking my picture!
These two did not seem to be impressed by our performanace.

China pictures

In front of the Bird's Nest - the Olympic stadium that is being built. We are only about a mile away. Nice air quality.
Locals praying at the Lama Temple. They were probably praying for the tourists to go away.
If I had no job and lived in Beijing - I would sing with this group at the Temple of Heaven. They were not very good. I would fit right in.
These are the 750 stairs I mentioned - this was how we got from the wall, back to the square.

In front of the sign that says, "The Entrance of the Great Wall".
There was a bit of a traffic jam here....see the stairs ahead of us.
We had just come down some stairs that looked like what we are about to go up.
Trevor on the wall during inspection day - on the right of him is a drop off - nothing but down.

More Pictures from China

Me at the Emporer's Palace.
Trevor at the Emporer's Palace.
Trevor in Tiananmen Square - he blends right in.
The summer palace - right before the pouring rain began.
This was one of the better toilets....and I am not kidding....

Pictures of China

Trevor on our run the first morning in Beijing. That fog looking stuff...its smog.
Good news...I could get a newspaper job in China, if we decide to move here....
Me, after our run - in front of the largest building in Beijing.

This was how it looked when we were waiting to go through Immigration in the Beijing Airport.