Miscellaneous

Getting lost sucks!

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So I have had an exhausting few days. On Sunday my daughter had to be taken to Girl Scout Camp which felt like I was driving to Timbuktu! It was over 3 hours drive time to get there.

I drove through Tahoe originally there and then drove home through Reno. Since my daughter was only there for 3 days, 2 nights it meant I had to do that awful drive twice in 3 days!!

My daughter had to be picked up from Camp between 10:30 & 11:00am on Tuesday.

Since the Reno drive was nicer coming home I decided to go that way, instead, when I had to go back and pick up my daughter.

My mom and I hit the road around 7:15am. Stopped and filled up the car. Drove about 2 hours to Portola, CA made a bathroom stop and then jumped back into the car for what I thought would be another hour arriving at the Camp around 10:30am.  WRONG!!!

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My Washington DC journey…..

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I had a fun time in Washington D.C. despite the humidity and down pours of rain. Even though this was my 4th time in D.C. this was actually my first time staying over. The rest of my visits were just day trips with family. I was looking forward to all the things my husband and I were going to do over the course of 11 days.

We originally, during the conference, stayed at a hotel in D.C.’s Chinatown for the first 6 nights and then when the conference was over went to a vacation house for the next 3 nights with several of our friends. Then we stayed one night in Alexandria at another hotel closer to the airport the night before we flew back home.

While we were in DC we were able to visit several of the Smithsonian Museums, which included the American Art Museum, National Museum of Natural History, and the The National Zoo. We were able to see many of the Monuments around the National Mall as well.

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Where not to eat in Alexandria, VA

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Last night we took the ferry ride to Alexandria, VA and thought we would be able to visit all the cute little shops. Well how mistaken were we. It started to rain and rain and rain and then rained even some more! I had to buy an overpriced umbrella to stay somewhat dry even though my shoes and socks were a different soggy story.

Two places down from where I purchased my umbrella was Pizzeria Paradiso. Our friends took refuge there because 1. our friends were hungry and 2. since being indoors kept you warm and dry. Nevertheless, we decided it was a very good idea especially since our phones all went off alerting us of flash floods in the area till 11:30pm.

I ordered a nice hot cup of tea to warm up with when I noticed on Pizzeria Paradiso’s menu it stated they had homemade gluten free 9” crust for an extra $2. Not pre-made, cool!!!  Now that really sounded great and prompted us to place an order for their Blanca Pizza which consisted of White Sauce, Roasted Cherry Tomatos, Baby Arugula, Basil, and Speck (very thinly sliced smoked prosciutto). I asked for them to put the Speck on only 1/2 the pizza since my husband is allergic to msg and sodium nitrates.

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Eating Gluten Free in the Chinatown district of Washington D.C.

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Eating out with a gluten allergy or intolerance can be totally challenging and that is putting it mildly. Let’s just say I am a research queen before I even leave for a trip just so I can find where my best options will lead me. I usually search the internet for local restaurants that serve gluten free entrees as well as which ones are walking distance from my hotel.

The first leg of our trip we stayed in the Chinatown district of Washington D.C. until July 2nd. The following restaurants were in this area and walking distance from our hotel.

$ = $10 & under
$$ = $11-$20
$$$ = $21-$30
$$$$ = $31-above

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MyFEDBenefits helping you have fun

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So I am in Washington DC at a Conference for the next several days. While I was downstairs in the conference center I met Brandon Nicol and a couple of his co-workers from MyFEDBenefits. They were reeling in people with their dice game for some lucky person to win a $25 visa card and while they were making it a lot of fun… I was sadly losing. I convinced them to let me to have one last throw of the die for the hopes to get a roll higher than 28. But of course the odds were stacked against me, and I lost once more.

But I want to send out a shout to say how wonderful and funny these gentlemen were. And if you need help with benefits these are your guys.

So what is it that they really do? Here is a blurb off their website:

At My Fed Benefits it is our primary goal to help Federal Employees throughout their careers to take advantage of the great aspects of their unique benefits package, help them to identify and avoid wasting money on benefits they don’t need, and assist them in getting to retirement with the standard and lifestyle they have earned and deserve.

With the ever-changing environment in the government employee sector today, it is confusing, complicated, and frustrating job for an employee to squeeze the most from the benefits they are offered.  With the maze of websites, forms, forums, hotlines, etc, and the trend to reduce or eliminate human resources as a viable place to get assistance, obtaining reliable information in a user-friendly format is a thing of the past.  That is where we come in.

Brandon Nicol is a Chartered Federal Employee Benefit Consultant — if you need information please give him a call or email.

PO BOX 1509
Jacksonville OR 97530
Cell: (541) 610-7843

BNicol@MFBHelp.com
MyFedBenefitsHelp.com

1 year anniversary… that went by fast!

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I can’t believe June 17th was my one year anniversary of Small Town Living in Nevada!! They say the first year is the hardest. Hopefully, it will be smooth sailing from her on out!

Thank you to all my followers via WordPress, Facebook and Pinterest. Without you I would just be writing out loud to myself.

OneYear

I am in a Photo Contest and need your VOTE, please!

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Hi everyone —

I really need your help…. My photo is tied for 2nd place at 18 votes, yet trailing by 3 votes from being in 1st place.

Please vote for my Carson Valley Days photo that I submitted to the Record Courier’s Newspaper contest at: http://recordcourier.upickem.net/engine/Details.aspx?p=V&c=177176&s=78035164&i=1&m=X&sort=SORTORDER

It is photo #7 of my kids and of my friend Autumn’s children on the Wipeout ride during the Special Kid’s night.

You can vote everyday until voting closes on Tuesday June 30th.

Thanks in advance,

Michele

Special Kid's Night during Carson Valley Day's | Small Town Living in Nevada

Washington D.C. here we come….

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My husband has a conference in D.C. and since our anniversary is just days after the conference ends we decided to stay 11 days for an anniversary getaway.

This will be the longest I will be away from the kiddos. Hope I and they survive the separation.

Since we will be in Washington D.C. for the July 4th I am totally looking forward to seeing the fireworks display; should be spectacular!

My parents will be house, animal and kid sitting for us the whole time for us. I hope my parents don’t hate us by the time we get back since 11 days is an awful long time for grandparents to be watching an 8, 6 and 4 years old. We shall see when we get back!

No real point to this post other than to ramble. Now off to wash clothes and start packing Saturday will be here before I know it!

Turkey 5 ways

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Last night I cut up a raw 22 lb turkey so I could get 5 meals out of it plus made broth to stock up on from this turkey this week. Even though the turkey cost $24, it is very economical to cut it up and basically use every bit you can.

Last night I diced up one of the breasts and made Chinese Orange Turkey with Fried Rice.

Chinese Orange TurkeyThen I took the caucus and placed it into a stock pot with a bunch of veggies and made turkey broth. Had it on the stove all night and then my husband turned the pot off this morning before he headed off to work. I canned all the broth, removed all the bones and veggies and had 2.5 lbs of shredded turkey left over to make Turkey Salad for sandwiches. However, for lunch I stuffed an avocado instead and it was YUMMO! Recipes will be coming out later this week!

Turkey Salad stuffed in an avocado

Beach, sand and sun at its finest…

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Seacliff Beach

So yesterday my husband, kids and I trekked many hours across the the sierra mountains to the shining sea. It was around a good 5.5 hours to get to the beach.

My kids and myself love the beach, sand and the wonderful sea air and try to get to the beach once or twice a year if our schedule permits. But in all reality I try very hard to schedule a vacation months in advance.

Nevertheless, we are here having a fabulous time for a few days. However, I am tired and the sea air seems to make it seem more so to where I just want to lay down for a nap soothed by the thunder of the waves.

We arrived in Aptos, California around 2:30pm. The kids were instantly playing down on the beach. They took a break for dinner and then were back on the beach again until night fell.

Seacliff Beach

The moon came out and was a day shy of being a full moon. It was a spectacular site shining over the Cement Boat the SS Palo Alto.

Sea cliff Beach with Moon

The next day was gorgeous. The sun was shining and everyone was having a wonderful day.

Seacliff Beach

We rode bikes to the Cement Boat and took a look inside the Visitor’s Center.

Sea cliff Beach's Cement Boat

I have been coming to this beach since I was a child and love that I can bring my children here. It is one of my favorite places and am very lucky that we are spending our vacation here with my parents and generous Aunt JoAnne.