My favorite recipe - July 29, 2010

Jul 29, 20100

Meet Yve Wight, Pullman

Yve Wight believes that everything is a spiritual issue. If you can really listen to people, you can find an opportunity to help them. With turning her downstairs into the Cougar Bed and Bagel, she has many opportunities to listen to people and help them.

“I love working with people,” she said. Yve worked as a purchasing agent at Washington State University for 28 years. Prior to that she managed a bookstore and Hallmark store in Pullman.

Before opening the bed and bagel, Yve rented out the two bedrooms, one bath, kitchen and living room downstairs. She loves to entertain and have people over, so rather than deal with rental nightmares, she decided it was time for a change.

Using the space for a bed and breakfast seemed like the perfect fit. Yve tweaked the idea to be a bed and bagel, noting that when families come to visit students at the university, they usually go out to eat with them anyway. Instead of serving a full breakfast, she offers guests food she has on hand, like fresh fruit or donuts.

Yve shopped at Ross, yard sales and second hand stores to get the bed and bagel remade and primed for guests. It was, and still is, a lot of work, but she believes attitude makes the difference whether a job drains or energizes you and her attitude is one of energizing.

Yve joined Bed Finders which is a booking agency. She gives them her available dates and they fill those dates. The Pullman Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center have also referred people to her door.

“The resources in this community are amazing,” Yve noted. She has been to the Small Business Development Center to work on a business plan and vision and that has been very helpful.

The idea of a bed & breakfast had been something Yve played with for some time. She recalled one incident that really gave her the desire to open her home to people. One year she and her son were traveling to Leavenworth and had not made reservations. They priced B&Bs in the area, but couldn’t afford any. At a sports shop she asked one of the staff if he knew a place they could stay for $39.95—the price Yve had anticipated for lodging. Another staffer overheard and said he was going out of town for the weekend and they could stay at his place for that price. Yve said she will never forget that someone would trust total strangers like that.

“It was so wonderful to be provided for so spontaneously,” she added.

Because of that experience, Yve always tries to have the Cougar Bed and Bagel ready for last second guests. She tells of past guests and their incredible stories in which she is grateful to have had a small part. Yve enjoys getting to meet the variety of people who stay and most are very appreciative of her hospitality.

Not all Yve’s time is spent entertaining guests. She is an active member of the Red Hat Society and is involved in the Pullman senior center and mission work.

Yve first started attending senior center trips when a friend of hers suddenly canceled due to health problems and gave Yve her ticket. She really enjoyed that trip and has been on several since. She also coordinates student volunteers from WSU departments to teach classes.

Twice Yve has left the country on mission trips through the Presbyterian Church. The first was to India where she taught computer skills and accounting. The second was to Guatemala where her group worked getting water systems on-line for outer villages. Although she didn’t speak Spanish, she could usually understand what was going on without an interpreter.

“You don’t need to speak the same language to communicate,” she said. She is also active in the Pullman Regional Hospital’s Chaplaincy training program.

Yve’s other passion is books. She joked that if the name hadn’t been so long, she would have named it the Cougar Bed, Bagel and Book. She collects certain books and makes sure there are a variety of books available for her guests from children to adults.

With people constantly coming into her home and Yve’s ventures into the world, she stays active. She believes the more life you live, the more people you meet and the more opportunities are presented to you. If that is the case, a new opportunity appears each time the door opens for someone to come in or her to go out.

A favorite quotation by Albert Einstein:

There are two ways to live your life...

One is as though nothing is a miracle,

The other is as though everything is a miracle.

Recipes:

Potato Chip Cookies—1970’s

Cream together:

1 cup butter

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Add:

2 cups sifted flour