The current tag going around

I've seen this on quite a few blogs and wasn't going to do it, until I realized that I haven't posted any pictures of our little house. So I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone.

Keeping It Real
(The rules are, take the picture--no fussing, no fixing it up--just a snapshot of your life, today, as is.)

**I might've broken this rule a little, only because I'm using this post to show my house as well. It's not that far off anyway. There's not many people to mess this place up. I probably put away two things. Anyway, I like breaking rules that don't matter.

1. Kitchen sink: My kitchen is pretty fun. I like the yellow walls and all the sunlight the windows let in when I'm cooking. I didn't have much of that in basement.
There's a little screened in porch out this door. We haven't really paid much attention to it, though I'd love to put it to use. It would be so nice to close out all the mosquitoes.
All of this is extra counter space I didn't have before. I call it my baking station. The left cupboard is completely filled with baking supplies. And another great feature, is a swinging door. It really comes in handy with a loud dishwasher.
2. Inside of the refrigerator: I'm constantly annoyed with trying to organize my fridge. I try to keep certain things on each of the shelves but things tend to get put in the wrong place. And I get annoyed that we have so many condiments and little containers. I guess I just have to get over it.
3. Your shoes:This is what my feet looked like while I was taking pictures...
but as soon as I leave the house I'll put on these. Gotta love the Hawaii sandals. They are totally comfortable. But if we were to get into what my favorite shoes are, that's another whole post. I could talk about shoes all day.

4. Your closet: These little cheverly houses are funny about their closet space. We've had to split our clothes among three. This is one of the closets in our room.And this is another closet in our room. (a lot of the closets are way to high for me to reach. We had to invest in some steps stools.) The cool thing about this closet is that the light comes on when you open the door automatically.
And we are using the guest room closet for our church clothes, since we use them the least and the other closet didn't allow us to hang anything longer than a shirt. You may call our closet situation annoying, but we call it more-space-than-we-had-before, so we are grateful.

5. Your laundry pile: We try to keep them in three separate compartments , but they all seem to run into each other. Also take note of the lovely rose colored walls we are graced with as we enter our room ever day. (Not my choice, believe me.)
6. What the kids are doing: I guess this will suffice. It was almost as if he was posing. He stayed very still as I was taking the picture. If only real children behaved so well.

7. Your favorite room: If you are not already, you will probably get bored during this one. There are some fun features in this room and I want to highlight them. I'm not offended if you don't care. I just happen to have a little pride in some of my finds.


This is the entry way. The fish is on the right, out of the shot.
This is what we like to call the "nook". It's great storage space and had a charming little cottage feel about it. And cool track lighting.
The couch is probably where I spend a majority of my time. It is my computer station, where we usually watch Lost online, I also love taking my naps here, it has a bowl with all my necessities (lotion, hand sanitizer, chapstick, remotes) right next to it, and it's so nice and bright in this room with all the windows. (This fact has actually been detrimental to my nap times. It's forced me to buy a sleeping mask to be able to sleep during the day when I really need to. I suppose I could nap on my bed.) I'll get to the dining area in a bit.

More of the living room. We don't pay much attention to the fireplace. I think the window borders are pretty cute, even though it's not much my style. Apparently, a previous owner was a carpenter, hence all the wood detail around the room.
I just had to say a little about this bench I found. It's my little splurge and I absolutely love it. I fits perfectly as a window seat and it makes me smile every time I see it.

At a separate store, I found this cool pad that happened to fit perfectly. I love the detail.
I also am very happy to have found this set of end tables. There are two, one slightly bigger than the other. I love the detail, the price was right, and even though I wasn't quite sure what I wanted, they seemed to be just what I was looking for. Don't you love when that happens?

So, the dining room. Our landlord left the piano, which we don't mind at all. It's a nice little setup. All the rooms are quite separate, yet they create a very open feeling if you want to have a crowd over.
And one more angle to give you the full virtual tour. Also take note of the blue chairs I spray painted. I thought we needed a little splash of color. And the little hallways that leads to the bedrooms. Yes, that is a pull down attic. I am scared of it.
8. Your toilet: Our bathroom is considerably smaller than the one downstairs. But it's average I suppose. I really like the black and yellow antiquey detail on the walls that you can barely see on the left. It continues all the way into the shower. I also love that there is a big window in the shower (with the shades drawn when it is use, of course). Can you tell we've been deprived of natural light. I feel so rich with so many big windows.
9. Fantasy Vacation: This question is so out of place. All the other questions are about things you are doing right now around the house. Dumb. I'm skipping it.

10. A self-portrait: My freckles are really presenting themselves now that it's so summer.

So there you have it. More picture of my house than you ever wanted to see. I didn't even give you a tour of the guest, bed, and workout/office rooms, but I guess you'll survive. We love our quaint little home (despite a few of it's old fashioned details) and are excited about another year in Cheverly.

Oh and, yeah, whoever wants to be tagged, tag yourself.

My hands are tied!

This is serious torture. My oven is not working. We love our new living space, but a lot of the appliances are old, but have been very taken care of. The previous tenant didn't bake much, so she probably didn't notice that it was finicky. I was ready to bake our dinner the other night, only to find out that when I went to check if it was preheated, it was still stone cold. Luckily what I was going to bake only really needed a couple minutes in the microwave, but what if it was meatloaf or something? That would've been a disaster. We talked to the landlord who told us to search out the manual and if we didn't find anything, to give her another call to figure it out. Well KC sent off for the manual but I don't think it going to be that simple. And what's worse is I'm having one of these kinds of days. I have a need for something sweet, and it will only be fulfilled with exactly what I want. Today it is a big piece of cake with lots of frosting (Turns out Melody was craving the same thing recently. The twin powers are at it again). Not ice cream, not the delicious dark chocolate bar that is in the cupboard, but a nice, moist, delicious piece of cake. How am I supposed to achieve that without a working oven? Maybe it's all for the best. I think I'm going to resort to no-bakes, which is actually sounding pretty good since I can't remember the last time I've actually made them. But even that sound incomplete without a big scoop of ice cream to go with it. Now I'm just being too picky. And hopefully the oven is fixed before the craving really takes over and I do something crazy like actually buy a cake.

This is called a truffle cake and was a regular on the brunch menu that I prepared when I worked at the hotel. It's a dark chocolate dense cake with two layers of ganache and raspberry filling inside topped with dark chocolate ruffles. THAT is what I'm talking about.

One more thing to note

Cami did a good list of other things about my dad that make me smile (or laugh hysterically). Check it out.

I'm so glad when daddy comes home...

KC's not a dad yet, but since he is the man of the house, we celebrate Father's Day anyway. The Turpins joined us for dinner. We had spice rubbed pork tenderloin with mustard bbq sauce, grilled peach salad with feta and bacon, and couscous. I must put this on EE soon. Cooking Light had so many fun ideas this month, I had to try some out. We also had a nice light dessert of frozen berries with a hot white chocolate ganache glaze and granola crumbles. It was fun to have family come over to our house. This has only recently become possible and we are delighted to have them over anytime.


As for my dad, even all the way over here in Maryland, I feel like he is always thinking and caring about me. I just can't believe all that he's willing to do for his kids. Now, being an adult, I'm starting to get an idea of what he sacrificed for his kids: sleep, money, time, personal space, and I think everything else is wrapped up in those categories. I am proud to say that my dad and I have a lot in common. I've inherited a lot of traits from him that have made me the person that I am. I know I am an early bird because of him. I remember countless times that we watched tv together before anyone else woke up, or going to get donuts in the morning together. I also remember him always being so kind and affectionate to my mom. As a child I would always cringe and giggle whe they would hug and kiss in front of me, but I appreciate that even more now that I am a wife. He taught me how I should expect to be treated as one (and of course I succeeded in finding someone more than suitable). And of course, he is always making everyone around him laugh. We kids happen to think he is particularly funny, but we all have a lot of inside jokes. (Remember the prayer at the family Christmas party?) We love you dad! Please come visit soon. We'll have a blast! (Another inside joke.)

I am also pleased to have had another dad enter my life a couple years ago. As short of a time as that is, I can easily see what a loving father KC's had in his life. My experiences with him, paired with KC stories make me so grateful for the example KC had in his life. I'm sure I owe most of KC's wonderful traits to what he learned from his Dad. I'm constantly grateful that they had a good relationship. I can tell that he has sacrificed and is still sacrificing so much for his family. We honestly can't say thank you enough for all he's done for us. And he's practically famous. (Did anyone see his segment with Katie Couric on the Today Show?) We love you Dad! We'd love a visit from you anytime as well. Enjoy the picture I took at the wedding. I think it turned out rather well, don't you?

And, my husband, of course deserves a tribute on this holiday. All I can say is that I won the jack-pot. I really couldn't ask for more. He still give me butterflies when he comes home from work, he still shows appreciation for such simple things, and he proves to me every single day that I am a truly lucky girl. I have always felt that we just fit together so well. He gives me strength when I really feel like I have nothing left. I hope I can do as much for him in our lives as he's done for me. And all of these things show me that he will be a dad that our children will be able to look up to, laugh with, and ask for help from. I have no doubt that he will exceed his fatherly responsibilities, and make our family as wonderful as it can be. KC, ICSHMILYED. (KC used to give me acronyms to figure out all the time. We'll see how well he does on this one.)And honey, you can REALLY come visit anytime you want.

Aright enough sappiness. It's rare that I go into sap mode on the blog, but the occasion was right. Until next year, happy Father's day.

Classic summer night

I love the barbecue aspect of the summer but I do get a little tired of all the meat. Sometimes I'm just not in the mood. I've been wanting to grill pizza for a few weeks. It's all the rage on all the cooking shows and cooking segments on morning shows because people think it's new or something. We had a great time doing it last year, but with all the tips and tricks I've learned lately, we just had to do it again. And I am so glad we did. It was extremely delicious. Much better than last year if I remember correctly (the more olive oil, the better). We devoured our pizzas as we guzzled root beer, ate veggies and dip, and had chocolate mint ice cream cones to finish off. We were happy to have the Millers join us. Andrew commented that this was such a classic summer meal. I'll agree.

Here's easy directions if you want to partake in this activity. It will definitely become a regular meal for us this summer:

Place you well olive oiled , and rolled out pizza dough straight onto a hot grill. Close the lid and wait a minute or two until the dough starts to bubble and the grill side is nice and golden.

Turn the crust over to grill the other side. Place any toppings you like on the grilled side. The grill marks make a nice trough to hold all the good flavors.

Close the lid to let all the toppings warm up and the cheese melt.

Go play with the cute baby inside until your pizza is ready.
And soon enough you'll have a delectable pizza to enjoy. I think next time I'll try margarita style.
Definitely have some ice cream on hand after. KC wouldn't make a straight face for the picture. I took several, and this is what you get.
After dinner we were looking through our decidedly small collection of DVDs, and I talked them into speed watching Newsies with me. It is one of my FAVORITE movies, and for some reason had the songs stuck in my head that morning. KC gave me the DVD for some birthday or something and I haven't had an occasion to break the seal, until last night. We watched and sang along to all the songs. I even tried to do some of the dance moves that I've watched them do so many times. Those boys seemed to look so much older when I watched the movie as a kid. I was almost giddy watching it again. Baby Nathan was even mesmerized by the talented young actors dancing away. Anyone who wants to have a Newsies sing-a-long, feel free to stop in any night. Our DVD even had the words of the songs on the bottom of the screen if you want. We finished off the night with Rummikub and Wacky Six and all had a good laugh. Summer nights make me feel so free and easy. I guess I can look past the unbearable heat every now and then to enjoy this nice time of year.

Wanderlust

n 1:very strong and irresistible impulse to travel. [syn: wanderlust, itchy feet]

While talking with my mom on the phone today, she used this word to describe something we were talking about. As far as I know, this is the first time I'd ever heard the word, or the first time I chose to pay attention to it if I had heard it previously. Now, does this ever happen to you: you hear a word for what you think is the first time, and immediately hear someone else say it that very day or very soon after? Well today I was watching an episode of Law and Order with the title being indeed "Wanderlust." Weird huh? Maybe it is a word I hear everyday and just haven't known it. But the funny thing is, this isn't the first time this has happened to me. Sometimes when I find out something new, whatever it is, I begin to hear it over and over as if it was just invented the day I heard it the first time, when in fact it wasn't. Maybe I'm just in a weird mood today, but I'm pretty sure I've had these thoughts all my life.

Anyway, some of you may be giggling at the fact that I'm not familiar with a word that is probably spoken very frequently, unbeknown to me. Well I've actually been thinking for a while that I should expand my vocabulary and I have found a way that I will be able to do it effortlessly, and a way that it won't slip my mind. I have subscribed myself to the Dictionary.com word of the day mailing list, in an endeavor to ameliorate my dearth of vocabulary (hehe). I check my email daily, sometimes several times, so it is the perfect way to remember each day. All too often I find myself at a loss for words with a yearning to elaborate. Some days it's worse than others depending on what's occupying my mind or how much sleep I got the night before, but still I think there is much improving to be done. So you might every now and then hear a new word pop up in my posts, and maybe it will be one that you heard from someone else for the first time that day. Then you will be right where I am.

I don't claim to be a health freak, but

I just finished a smoothie with flaxseed, fiber, fresh spinach, and tofu added into it. It had fruit and juice in it too, but I had all those other things, so I decided to see what it would do. It was actually quite good. A banana always cuts through all the other flavors, so I didn't mind the other things at all. It was just an experiment, but it would probably be good for me to get in a habit of this.

This does lead to something I've been wondering. This is not exactly in the same vein of the previous paragraph, but anyway, I went to an organic market the other day. I seriously never go to these types of stores. I'm sure they sell great things, but it's just not my type. I just needed one thing that doesn't seem to be found at my regular stores, so I went there. The woman in front of me in the line to check out had a tiny cart full of stuff filling maybe three bags (probably her own re-usable bags of course, not that there's anything wrong with that) with her total adding up to over $150.00. It was like one green pepper here, and a bottle of juice there, and it came to that total. I just don't understand how people can use a good chunk of what our food budget is, on a few little groceries just because it claims to be organic and that their "#1 priority is to restore the environment to the maximum extent we are able"(straight from their website). I'm all about healthy eating habits. Our country obviously needs more of that. I also love that more and more companies are making things with less or no sugar. That can't hurt at all. We try to be very balanced with our diets. But do people honestly think spending triple the amount will make a different in their bodies and the environment? They could seriously go across the street to a perfectly good grocery store with way better prices. They are being robbed and they think it's all to better the earth, and their bodies. I think we are doing just fine by eating our fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and even flax seeds (and, YIKES, the occasional bag or chips, or ice cream) without a huge ORGANIC stamp of approval on it. I don't want to come across as angry or anything. I'm not. I just thought there was a whole economic crisis with the gas, and food prices going up and up and up. And still people are willing to fork it over on some principle that doesn't even make sense to me. I guess my inherited sense to get the most bang for my buck (Thanks for the training on studying price labels, Dad. I can't buy anything before looking at the price per 100 or price per lb.) is more important to me than supporting the little health food chains. I'm just a little confused.

You've probably already seen this, but I thought it went along with this topic I've been ranting about. I think it's hilarious.

Quick and Easy Cookbook

While sorting through all our books, I came across this little item.
It almost made me teary looking through what I'd venture to say was my first cookbook. I even think the old dried residue of ingredients on the cover adds to its charm. I'm sure I poured over it as a kid. It just reminded me that even from a young age I loved the kitchen and still it remains. The recipes are so cute. Like egg salad, peanut butter filled apples, or ice cream sandwiches (aka flying saucers--below). I think I'll bring it babysitting with me sometime. The would love it. It might even be something I'll pass on to one of my children. The one who I can see would appreciate it the most. One of them is bound to have the same love for the kitchen as I have, I hope.

What is the use.

I have given up on doing my hair here. I haven't really tried to actually do it since I came home from Utah. I know what will happen. Anyway, I've developed a little curl even when it just air dries due to the extreme amounts of humidity in the air, so everyday I'm tempted to just let it do its own thing, despite it's un-kept look. Or put it straight from the shower into a wet bun. I think I'm turning into a Marylander after all. I understand now why it's very common to see people here with very limp wavy hair and with very little or no makeup. It all just melts away anyhow. It's 100+ degrees today and I just got home from extremely uncomfortable errands. It's even all over the news that it's a heat advisory with all these warnings about drinking certain amounts of fluids, and wearing a certain type of clothing if you absolutely must leave the house. So, Maryland, here I come. I'm finally giving in to the look that I've made fun of since I moved here. I apologize, and completely understand now, after 4 years.

Invalid data entered

I have started and frustratingly saved three separate posts because I simply can't find the words I'm looking for as I write them. I feel slightly dyslexic at the moment and thought I'd vent. It's so annoying when over and over you are stuck in the "what word am I looking for" phase. And what's worse is that morning is my brains best time of day. I'll be surprised if I read this later and it makes any sense at all. I guess I'll wait a while and see if my brain picks back up. Until then, I'm practically useless in the blogging world.

Title: Better _o_es and Gardens

This was what the Wheel of Fortune board said when a man with a trip to Belize, a wild card, and was the only contestant with any money (and quite a bit as I recall), rolled again and guessed a C! The other two women had rolled bankrupt or lose a turn and were probably jumping out of their socks. One of them won with 400 dollars or something when the guy missed the letter. Tough break for everyone involved.

It's funny what will amuse you when you have 4 channels.

It's all fun and games...

Until the rain you just admitted that you love turns into tornadoes, trees falling on cars, and people without power for days. We had another doosey Wednesday. Thankfully we're okay, and with power. But I just found out that our friends but a mile away have been without power for over 24 hors and they think will be out until the 8th or something crazy. And when it's not raining it about 90 degrees with humidity this weekend. It was so deceiving by starting out as the hottest of days, turning into a horrible disaster. I'm a little ashamed that I was asking for the rain. So many people are adversely affected and I feel bad for them. Hopefully everything picks itself back up and it all turns out okay. Be careful what you wish for. Here is some of the short-lived, marble sized hail that we were graced with. Delightful, huh?

Do we ever...will we ever...

This is the game I like to play as we're unpacking and putting things away. Do we ever use this, or will we ever use this, putting them in piles accordingly. I usually don't have a problem getting rid of things, but KC like to keep things around. I am slowly making my home into a project-less space. I sorta lost my momentum yesterday so I'm trying to buck up and get the rest of the nitty gritty done. I think I've finally narrowed down a couple more pieces of furniture that will really make our living room whole. I can't wait to see it all put together. I haven't ever really liked the home decor type stores until now. I still have a hard time in them sometimes because I am totally out of my element. If I had all the money, I'd hire someone to do all this for me. But it's actually been fun to find pieces that show our personality and serve a purpose at the same time. And it's also kind of nice that this is a very lived in old house that has really been put together well. All the hooks and shelves in the right places, curtains and blinds I actually like already up, and huge area rugs on the gorgeous hard wood floor. It's not all exactly how I'd make my own home, but I can't complain as a renter on a budget. It's a huge help.

There have been some other things I thought I'd mention.

We had impromptu brauts on the grill with sauerkraut and THE BEST watermelon with the Millers last Friday. I have been eating the watermelon all week, each time being so thankful for how perfect it is. I get a little anxiety picking out watermelons. I have a pretty good grasp on how to choose most fruits, but I'm still leaning with watermelon so I hope my techniques worked next one is equally as good. I'm sure everyone can agree that there is something so irresistible about an ice cold watermelon. The small barbecue was a nice peek into a fun summer.The next day there was a MAJOR rain/thunder/lightning storm. It was Saturday and we were doing odd jobs around the house, so it was actually quite fun. I do love a good rain storm. This one was torrential. I couldn't resist going outside and I was actually shocked when I stepped into the warm rain at the impact it had. I was soaked within seconds and just in our walkway, I was standing in water up to my ankles. I was a little frightened about the constant lightning, so I stayed close to the house, but I felt so rejuvenated when I came inside a few minute later. We're expecting more rain tonight. Sweet.

And last but not least is the mention of Jane's blessing last Sunday. She looked so adorable in her elegant dress. We got to be entertained by the boys during sacrament meeting, and later, after our church was over, went back for dinner and the traditional "nightmare" (A huge bowl full of ice cream and toppings for those not in the know. It's a family thing. Melody found out the origin in the comments from this post). It was delicious.

The contents (minus the water and lemonade)...
The masterpiece...
And the reason.

We even got to spend some of the celebration with the a few other family members via web cam. It was great, almost like they were really here (I feel so at home when Drew does his ugly face).
It was a great celebration and I should've taken of picture of the nightmare after we ate it, although I think we'd all be rather embarrassed at how much we scarfed down. It was worth it. Thanks Turpins. Cami put up a lot more pictures of the blessing day. They are so cute. Have a look.

That about does it for last weekend. I guess, it being summer and all, the picnics, barbecues, and homemade ice cream will start full swing. As much as I'm not looking forward to the hot -beyond-all-reason days, I am looking forward to the outdoor eating in the evenings (Barring I use lots of mosquito repellent. I will be prepared this year.) Bring on the parties.