Give Thanks

Give thanks each and every day. Eat fabulous meals, drink expensive wines and be thankful for all that you have. One thing I miss most about traveling with my two suitcases and working the most strenuous job ever is that I was able to live with less and appreciate more. I literally made around $5 US dollars per hour, worked 12 hours a day in the utmost undesirable conditions: lightening, rain, cold, dark, CO2 and still left with a smile on my face. I met some of the coolest people from around the world, learned all about wine and saw some of the most beautiful places in the world!

It seems as though I have been caught up in stuff and truly forgotten what matters most. Journey through life and live each day like it is a holiday. Set your table with your most expensive china, call up an old friend or write a letter just because it is Tuesday, wear your new shirt, but most importantly give thanks each day.

Monday, Monday

Monday 9:50 AM PST (I-Phone ringing): Hi Mom. Yeah I am working. You did? And? Really? Okay. Well...you seem to be taking this too well. Are you really okay?

Mom: I cannot change anything. Maybe I am in shock.

Monday morning my mother called me to let me know she has breast cancer. My...mother... has...cancer. It kind of numbs you. It is too early to really know what is exactly going on or what will need to happen. My mother is a firecracker just like me.

Up to this point, I know I have lived my life to the fullest. Whatever I do, I do with passion. This week I take back control of my life and what I want to do. That is the firecracker in me.

Snow day

Yesterday I decided that I am a fair weather commuter. Pouring rain, big trucks and zero visibility = NO FUN! Then this morning I woke up and there was snow and ice on the ground. Sorry Wisconsin, I definitely don't miss the snow. Yes. I know I have a bumper sticker on the back of my two wheel drive Nissan Xterra that says "I love snow", but that is really just me being sarcastic.

This morning I got ready for work, jumped in my car and started on my way to work. Let's just say I would have been better off throwing on my hockey skates and skating to work. About a half a mile down the road my car slid through a stop and decided to do a mini doughnut. I took that as a clear sign that I should just stay home.

I find it funny that when it snows here, people go outside and take pictures. In Wisconsin, we go outside and shovel.

Stay warm and safe.

Becky Rochester

Watch out...here I come

Somedays I wish I could just pack my suitcase and head off on another adventure around the world. What is stopping me? Lots of things...but the thing is this--you never know where life may take you. I mean I never imagined that one day I would live in Oregon, and here I am.

I have always been an adventurous person. Growing up I was not afraid of the outdoors or of getting dirty. I found myself rolling down hills inside a rubber garbage can (for fun), repelling out of my second story window of my house on a homemade rope made entirely of belts (my mother finally caught on when she saw us coming in the house but never going out), riding dirt bikes on the farm--and sometimes on the roads when we weren't supposed to, taking off to Germany between my freshman and sophomore year of college on a summer study abroad all by myself, with only one semester of German, two HUGE suitcases and a German phrase book, and the list goes on and on.

Lately life feels so routine; something I promised myself I would never let happen. So what am I going to do about it? Time to shake it up a bit. Adventures...here I come.

Mining wine diamonds

What do you get when you combine a 2005 Brandborg Syrah with a Venturi? The perfect tool to mine wine diamonds. After uncorking the Brandborg Syrah, I started to jump up and down and scream. I found wine diamonds. Let's just say I gave Brent a good laugh.

What are wine diamonds? Scientifically speaking potassium bitartrate or in baking terms cream of tartar. But to me, wine diamonds are an amazing thing to discover inside a bottle of wine.

How do they form? Wine diamonds sometimes form if a wine is not cold stabilized. Cold stabilization is when a wine is chilled so that potassium bitartrates form and drop to the bottom. When the wine is racked, these wine diamonds are left at the bottom of the tank. Cold stabilization has its disadvantages as it can also take away structure and flavor in the wine.

Wine bling. It's the new thing. Diamonds are a girls best friend.

Never drink and eBay!

As some of you may know I love cowboy boots. About a month ago I was bored and started to search on eBay for cowboy boots. It had been years since I shopped on eBay. In fact, the last item I bought was a San Jose Sharks jacket when I lived in California. So I decided to bid on a few pairs of boots just for fun. I mean who loves a good deal. I set my bids low and crossed my fingers that no one else on cyber space would outbid me. There were a few pairs of boots that I really, really wanted. Over the next few days I just patiently waited for emails letting me know whether or not I had been outbid or if I had won a sweet pair of boots.

So I admit that during my eBay search I had enjoyed a few glasses of wine. Back to the story...In just one hours time I had bid on over 10 pairs of cowboy boots. One week later I received via email notification that I had won two pairs of boots and one of them I would receive by November 5th.This morning on our elevator ride down to the mailbox, I told Brent that I was expecting a package. I opened the mailbox and inside was a tiny white box. It was addressed to Becky Rochester and was from the eBay merchant. There must be some mistake I told Brent. There was no way a pair of size 8 women's cowboy boots could fit in this box! Maybe they were boot slippers?

I opened up the box and inside was (see below). I somehow missed the ruler on the left, the title of the eBay post ONE (1) ~AMERICAN COWBOY COLLECTION~ ~COWBOY BOOT~ NEW!, and the price being $3.32+shipping. Duh! Now I have myself a sweet little boot (singular) decoration and a good laugh.




Standing just 3 inches tall, this boot is not made for walking.

  














Boot smaller than a wine bottle. Don't drink and eBay!

 

This is the package I received in the mail.
Smaller than the Oregon Wine Press.
I knew something was wrong.