Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Delish!

I really, really enjoy food blogs, especially when they're well designed and simple enough to carry out on my own without a billion ingredients!

Lately I've been reading smitten kitchen and I enjoy her regular posts AND the ability to easily search the archives based on certain ingredients. Tonight I tried the apple pancakes/latkes. Oh my, they were delicious. They were a great opportunity to break out the new cast iron skillet I got for christmas!

Sunday, December 27, 2009

knit tastic!

I have one more glorious week of break left, YES!
and then it's back to the working/learning world for me...

until then, i've been trying to get back on track in the knitting department. although my camera sucks and this hat wasn't everything i ever wanted it to be, i'm still happy that i got something cranked out beyond tara's bag!

i'm hoping to start on some socks soon w/my sock club yarn!

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Xmas w/the fams!

We made it back to see the fam and are already back home!

It was great to see everyone, but it's also great to be home and to have a bit of a break! Our trip back was a bit of a whirlwind tour--since our parents are divorced on both sides and we only had five days, each parent got one day with an extra day for travel. I got most loved ones squeezed in on this trip, but hope to get back again next year (for the fair, perhaps??) before the holidays.

We had a great time with the in-laws. This year, christmas coincidentally fell on grandparent audition day--miles' cousin needed a babysitter in a pinch so MIL volunteered to watch 3yr (4? I'm pretty sure he was 3) Ethan, who was a total doll.

We quickly put him to work passing out, then helping us open, all the gifts.



He helped me open my birthday gift as well!
Favorite quote of the night, (sharon), "I don't know if you've noticed, but MIL would make a very good grandmother....and I'm getting older and would like to be a great grandmother someday...you never know if my next fall will be my last!". I like all all pretense of subtlety has faded. My FIL, on the other hand, instructed us to decorate our home with the avoid the stork coasters from the bar. I think between the sides we got a measured perspective, although I'm not sure how both parties will up the ante for the next holiday season!



Then Sharon gave me a sweet snuggie to do some studying in. I'm pretty excited to break it out.



Jas and I had a couple hours, and some tacos :), together. It was great that our trips back overlapped. Love you Jas!



We hung out at lunch, then at my dad's place, where he got to open some of his presents a bit early. I really like snapping inappropriate candids of people when they don't know I'm taking their pictures. My dad, however, is NEVER surprised. It doesn't matter how sneaky I am, he always poses! He's so good. It was nice seeing him, and we're hoping he'll come to visit before we move again in 5 years. (He needs a bit of lead time).



Before seeing my dad and jas, we had xmas with the boys. (I forget that the photos always upload in the opposite order you select them, so we're moving backwards)

Some indivdiduals, ahem *ballerina*, enjoy mucking up photos. I finally got one decent-ish one, but when I asked them to pose nicely, this is what I got. Jerks.
Oh well, I think this pretty much sums them up.


Speaking of people who easily tire of photos....can you tell who's slightly tired of me following him around? I think I may have interrupted a saber battle at this point and had to quickly scoot out of the way.



Andrew, however, is much more tolerant of photographic opportunities.
And, he looks more and more like his dad everyday! (sorry christobel, i meant to get a group photo and totally forgot!)....however there is a pic of all of us on your camera that i'd LOVE for you to send to me!!



In all, we had a great time back and we miss you all. However, it is nice to have our own xmas thing up here as well :)

Monday, December 7, 2009

Fun Weekend Before My Impending Doom

So this weekend was amazing! We went and chopped down a tree...and by 'we' I mean I chopped down a tree! The place was very dog friendly and just a lot of fun. They give you a little hand-cart-turned-wagony thing to pull behind you--I momentarily thought about having Percy ride in it, but I didn't think he would enjoy that experience.

Otherwise, the weekend wasn't too exciting beyond our putting-up-the-tree experience: we bought a tree and miles bought a 'tree bag' for it--since the person in line told him to buy it. so, he buys the bag, and then you have to put the tree IN the bag and then in the tree stand. so, we do that and then decide that it isn't going to work because how will we water the tree? i ripped enough of the bag to poke the tree through the bottom so it can get water. miles goes to get a pitcher and fill the base up. he wasn't paying attention to what he was doing and is just pouring away. suddenly, he hears a weird splash. he thinks to himself how odd that splash sounded and, of course, kept pouring water. only THEN does he realize that he's actually been pouring water into the bag and overflowing the base! so, now our floor and the bag are covered in water and pine tree needles. *sigh* it was hilarious in an i-cant-believe-you-are-nanie sort of way. ahh, marriage :)

Now, it's the end of the semester and the stress is ON! I have three more papers to write and none of them are in any condition to show to others. AND only EIGHT DAYS until we head back to visit the fam. YIKES. Better get rolling on this one...

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Dec 2

Ok, week 1 of the new plan obviously failed.

However, I feel my excuse is pretty good: we were in the BAHAMAS!

We did fun things like sit in giant chairs,


swim with sharks (except me 'cause i'm a chicken),


and be generally lazy while boating around!


hope your turkey day was equally fabulous!

also, my bday was spectacular. it was great waking up in the bahamas, even if it was to catch my flight back!

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Nov 22

Trying something new--more frequent updates!
My goal is to post at least once a week as a way to keep a journal of my life and the happenings up here. So far, that plan has failed.

Anyway, the week looking back:

Today was fun--the choir had our big celebration/advent kickoff today. I had a lot of fun and am particularly happy that we don't have this to worry about in the later holiday season. The piece we did was challenging, but I like that my brain is being forced to go in different directions than usual. Music, particuarly when you're average, can be challenging! I feel like the other choir members are all ex-choir directors and professional musicians (while this isn't true of ALL of them, many certainly are!). But, it just gives me incentive to push myself harder. It's OK to be average among greatness I say.

Yesterday was amazing house-cleaning, fall/winter-preparation day. We insulated the attic (involving a rented truck from Lowe's, a machine that chops the insulation up and spews it all around the attic, and 20 bags of insulation!), miles vacuumed the yard (yes, that's right...to clean up all the gunk from the machine), we cleaned the house, I INSTALLED A NEW THERMOSTAT!! (i'm really proud of that one...we now have an automatic thermostat that is on a schedule!), put up holiday lights (to be turned on in 1 week), and worked on a few items from our to-do list. Of course, the list is never-ending, but we crossed off a couple things!

I also finished a gift for tarakins, but more on that later :)

Friday, miles got back from being in Indianapolis for job training. it was good having him back. turns out i missed him!

Tues & Weds & Thurs were pretty uneventful. Ditto last Monday. I've been trying, and failing, to work ahead on classwork. However, the end is in sight! Then next semester starts!! I'm excited for the course offerings next semester, so that's fine by me. Should be a good time.

Saturday, November 21, 2009

thankful

i'm excited to spend time with family as thanksgiving is my FAVORITE holiday--all you do is sit around, eat good food, and talk. no stress, no shopping for gifts for everyone. just good, simple food. should be fun :)

as I'm thinking about thanksgiving, i'm thinking about all the things that are great in our lives.

we have a house (that's been re-insulated as of this AM!), jobs, i'm able to start a grad school program and focus on things that are interesting to me, and we're able to live comfortably.

now, i just need to focus on this instead of how much i *don't* want to write the FOUR papers I have coming due! we'll see how that goes. i think the temptation to complain is always there...

as promised, here's a pic of percy in his new duds.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

There IS such a thing as a free lunch!

Today there's a free lunch at the grad school, catered by a local ethnic restaurant.
Free? Local? Ethnic?

I'm in.

Monday, November 16, 2009

sucking at this whole blogging thing

funny story, for awhile I was in a blogging group just for introverts. it was boring though, b/c no one posted. i think that sums up my blogging life. i check other people's blogs daily. but my own? never. so. weird.

anyway, things are going well. just trying to make it through until thanksgiving. I promised myself I'd have at least ONE paper finished by thanksgiving, let's see if i can make good on that promise. hubs is gone over the next couple days (more on that later), so there should be ample time for homework (hahaha, doubtful...but i remain optimistic).

in other news, p-diz got a new coat for winter. pics forthcoming. i think he likes it. he gets excited when we get it out. i'm not sure if it's because we (I) keep the house kinda chilly or if he's just the weird kind of dog to just like clothes. either way, it suits my purposes.

i'm really going to try and make a concerted effort to update more. (and include photos :) )
cheers!

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Still here!

Sorry, this first month has been a bit rough!!
But, no worries. I'll be back again soon with an update.

FYI: today we went to a cider mill, 'cause we wanted to 'do something fall-y' :)

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

School TIME!

Today was the first day of class and I think it went pretty well.

My first FIRST class was a seminar on graduate school life, specifically the department and the state of the field. I think it should be pretty interesting.

The second course is on foreign policy and I'm REALLY excited about it. The readings seem good, the prof seems knowledgeable/engaging, and the material sounds like fun. I'm excited for next week!

I'm still pretty nervous about the rest of this week--I'm worried (what?! that's new and different...not) about my workload. We'll see.

On the plus side, got to meet the university president today. Two other students and I went over during an open house :)


More later :)

PUPPY!

We've decided to do schnauzer rescue because I like puppies and who wouldn't want to help them find their forever homes?!

I am pleased to introduce Cain:

I think Percy looks like imitation schnauzer next to him:

Percy is also a bit jealous of the attention Cain's getting...but once Cain finds a family and moves on, I think Percy will understand the name of this game

Monday, September 7, 2009

Back from Canada!

Had a great weekend and now I'm preparing for my first week of GRAD SCHOOL! Wish me luck!!

Also, here are just a couple pics from the trip:
Coming in to the city:
Out on the lake

out for dim sum (YUM) with friends


of course, the REAL reason I agreed to come along :)

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

This is IT!

My last week before GRADUATE school! Math camp finished up today--I'm glad I went to meet the other incoming students, but most of it was review. However, it was nice to feel like I actually know *something* !!

Later this week I'm heading out to a conference, which I'm pretty pumped about. I like conferences for some reason, although it'd be nice if I could knit while there :)

As I'm getting ready to start classes, I'm trying to get everything together and organized for the semester and beyond. My knitting/xmas list has definitely suffered as of late, so I really need to get the ball rolling. I thought that I'd knit myself one more selfish thing before I started on my xmas list, but I'm definitely stalled!! Oh well. I'm hoping inspiration will strike soon.

I'm not quite sure how I feel about starting this semester. I'm glad I was here for the summer to get used to the area and settled in our house, but I'm a bit nervous for classes to begin. At first, I thought graduate school would be the mental equivalent of rocket science, but so far my summer courses have seemed very manageable. Not easy, but definitely something I could do!

I'm hoping to post semi-frequent updates about life over the course of the semester. I'm still trying to figure out exactly what I want to study and what type of career I think would be right for me. This will be a start to a long journey...wish me luck!

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Back in Action

Had a brief visit from the in-laws this weekend, which was pretty fun. Hit up Ikea and a bunch of other stores in town, including Trader Joes!

I'll put up pics, including those from the fair soon...I'm taking a lazy day today. Pdiz and i are napping on the couch, eating fruit pizza. It's a rough life, but someone's got to live it :)

I'm excited to go visit one of my new friends later this afternoon--she lives down the street!

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Nearly Fairtastic

Leaving on Saturday for the fair and I *cannot* wait!
SOOOOO excited. hope to see you there!

:)

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Dinner Date

So, our neighbors apparently have a rib bbq about once a month that you can 'preorder' from....we have two plates of ribs coming our way Friday night!

YUM.


On other news, i've been knitting my *very first* pair of socks and they're coming along nicely :)

Sunday, August 9, 2009

the final frontier

check out the sweet new desk we (I) got. Also know that there's a knitting supply zone behind my chair/along the wall :)

there are still a few boxes in here to unpack. but i'm not counting them in the official box tally.
i also need to figure something out with the sewing machine. there's obviously not enough for full blown crafting zones, but i think i can make it work.
how exciting!

duh, duh, dunnhhh: MANCAVE

Beware, all ye who enter here...

Where we've been hiding some man boxes...this is the music zone. and the bar (hidden under some manly power tools).


Ahh, man-tainment: guitar, classy chair and a sweet tv.

the man himself:

(caption: why are you in here?!)

Kitchen REVAMP (part 3!)

So, a couple changes: new dishrack (hello counterspace!) and a sweet knife magnet to keep them organized and out of the way (but still accessible).


We also added a new potholder rack/shelf above the stove. I think it completely changes the look of the kitchen (for the better!)...the stove seems more of a fixture than an afterthought. Notice the cool wine rack next to the fridge!


We are soo happy with how this turned out (some of us more than others :) ).

We can see the light!!

The boxes in the livingroom are UNPACKED!!! that's right. what you will see below is the livingroom as it shall remain (ok, there may be tweaking and other shuffling about, but no more unpacking!).

Below is the new bookcase. we left the back off so you can see the sweet wall color behind. We've also relocated the couch and will have to adjust the pictures :)

Check out the added artwork and shelves! PLUS, the lamp and lights on the piano turn on when you flip a light switch! (I'm very, very proud of this fact).

Finally,
The whole shebang:


The view from the kitchen. notice how it's not clutter-tastic (yet).
It feels gooooood.

Thursday, August 6, 2009

...and guess who got a haircut!


isn't he the cutest?!

psbtw: our neighbor across the street is a math teacher if I haven't mentioned that yet. YAY MATH!

Kitchen, pt 2!

Our cabinets look a bit dated, so we've decided to update the hardware. (and maybe paint. or not)
Check it out! Thoughts?
ps. i know the wall under the cabinets looks awesome. it's on the list.
Watch for more kitchen updates. we have plans!

Livingroom: now inhabitable!

Check out our nice livingroom. The boxes in the pic are the ONLY UNPACKED boxes in the house (this isn't to say that some boxes have been opened and are still lying about :) ).

We've started putting up artwork and have gotten rid of a TON of stuff!! Things are getting sorted and put away nicely. Our place is really starting to feel like a home!

Above: couch, coffee table and cool artwork. It looks really small in the picture, but i think it looks ok up close.


Check out our piano situation. Again, things are still a bit haphazard, but they're coming along!
One week till I go back for the fair--our unofficial deadline to get things done!

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Our Street



Still working on our yard and the front of the house....I think things will look shabby until next summer :S But, no worries, I'll still put some up as preliminary pics :)
Above is our street (shot from the bus stop). We live at the top of the hill....if our house were taller, we'd have a GREAT view of downtown....however, it's still a great neighborhood, even if our views are limited!


Monday, August 3, 2009

This is how we do bedtime

I went up to bed last night and this is what was waiting for me.
Sometimes pet ownership is just makes your heart happy :)


KITCHEN :)

Ok, it doesn't look like much...but it's coming along....we've got plans in the works!

above: door leads to outside and you can go down the stairs to the man cave (photos forthcoming)

below: sink and cupboards. they're surprisingly spacious!

below: better lighting on the cupboards! (notice my sweet mixer!)

entryway to the kitchen (livingroom behind me) (percy hanging out in the doorway)

this is our table nook/eatery area. this table is really cool--it has leaves that slide out...no picking them up, storing them etc!

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

BATH!

Here's our crazy bathroom. It's a bit intense, although some of the punch hasn't quite been captured in these pics. Imagine it a bit more orange and less drab.





NOTICE the floor. Handcrafted by miles and i. (a mental breakdown may have occurred in the process...)

However, don't look too closely.
Also, sorry it's sideways. I tried to fix it once and it didn't work. you can just tilt your head, right?

bedroom

This is what our room looks like (obviously, it could have used some staging...and I really don't like the lamp in the corner, but oh well).

I'm standing in the doorway and this is how the room is set up: bed in corner diagonally


To the left. Dresser and window
To the right: (miles' closet (our closest are soooo small. they're one per person ;))


You'll notice rooms aren't overly spacious here...they're just big enough. BUT. that's fine by me.

Photos of the mancave to come. And also the kitchen!

Livingroom ...with furniture!

Ok, this is what the living room looks like--as you can see, there are still boxes all over, but we're working on them. they're the last of the boxes!!!
I'm standing in the doorway...so from this perspective, to the right (past the closest stack of boxes) is the hall and to the left is the other half of the living room (below) and then the front door. Directly behind me is the kitchen.


This is the other half of the livingroom. Notice the stack-o-empty boxes on the front porch!


also, check out our sweet rug! (and furniture, assembled by yours truly!)