Found treasure

It started off just like any other Saturday morning

Sleeping in, quick farmers market trip, plotting the next project

When all of the sudden, 

Why yes! We would love a free loveseat thank you very much.

We've been plotting the state of our living room,

Knowing it doesn't function how we want it to

Not really finding anything we love

     Or at least love enough to drop serious $$$ 

Just waiting to be inspired

Now our weekend agenda shifted

Yes we still need to finish the gutter

And clean and pack and finish those pesky work projects

But that list is not nearly as exciting as rearranging furniture!

One of us measured and plotted and busted out graph paper

One of us tugged and shifted until everything fell into place

Tada!

Still wanting a rug and 

quite frankly a new couch to match the fab new love seat. 

But this space feels much much more like us

Now I feel ready to fill the walls with art and pictures and all those things that make our house feel like our home.

An unintended project

It began as most evenings do this time of year
Cocktail hour on the front porch
Dear friends due to arrive momentarily for an evening of firepit fun

When all of the sudden...
Disaster Struck:

     PS when I read books to my kiddos at school I use storytelling liberties

     several times in each reading, a gasp, a subtle: but then dun dun dun

     it makes me feel better as I read the same story over and over and over

     this week it's Pig's Can't Fly, a good book the first 3 times I read it

Note to self:  sitting on the 'good side' of the swing won't work

you will still fall

We made a plan, a goal really

Can we have it fixed by next weekend?

Yes it can!  Thanks to my awesome handyman

And the hardware shop down the street for the multiple trips it took

Sometimes it's hard to remember the piece of wood and the bolts

We had contemplated painting the swing anyhow

Picking out this paint color was the bright spot in the day of my car getting crunched

Painting a porch swing is very tedious work

But it totally brightens up our porch 

and complements the turquoise rocking chair exquisitly

I love my car

A lot

It's carried me on spontaneous road trips
It's housed all my belongings as I moved back and forth across the continental divide

I know where I was while rolling over 50k and 60k and 100k
     driving the coast highway on my way to work, cruising through Utah, and returning 
     from a spontaneous St Louis adventure (right after their epic flood)

My car has driven me to Cali and Wyoming and Colorado and Montana and Minnesota and New York and Maryland and Tennessee and dozens of places in between

My car has inspired big detours: a dirt road in Montana because it was the most direct line between 2 points

And little detours: wait? Did that sign say wine tasting today?
My car and I have seen amazing things

My car prefers taking side roads instead of crowded freeways

My car knows how to find the closest jack in the box at any given time

My car always gets its kicks on Route 66

 
On any given day in my car you'll find lotions and hand sanitizer and crackers and rain boots and winter coats and blankets
Some may say I kinda live out of my car, multiple times I actually have
It drives Jesse crazy, but I love it

We've had the discussion always more hypothetical than reality
One day this will not be my car
One day ill have to say goodbye and get a new one

I've warned that this will not be easy
I will be sad and emotional and delay it as long as I possibly can

Well, driving into work my car had a moment
It's always the young drivers who like to crunch their cars with mine
Not a good way to start a Monday

I am fine
My car? Much less so
It just got new tires and its belts are all tight and fabulous
And now it is all crunchy

We had a conversation, my guy and me
What's the chances they'll be totaling my car?
Cause as much as I love her she is getting up there
And not everyone loves her as much as I do
This is going to be a long process
Should I start preparing myself?
I don't want to be caught off guard
My guy knows me well: he took a deep breath, said yes maybe so
And honey, order yourself a bottle of wine

3 days later and my car is all fixed and getting itself a fresh new coat of paint!
Yay for insurance companies (who though I'd ever say that)
Yay for getting my car back
Now i'm itching for another adventure

Just a few weeks late

But who's counting

A New Years tradition with dear friends
Jotting down the yucky stuff from the past year
Tossing it into the fire

Now it's gone
It can't haunt us anymore
Starting the new year free

I completed most everything from last years list
(Even a couple things from the previous year)
     I finally took a ballet class and it was uber intimidating and challenging and fun!

Jotting down a few ideas, a few plans

Stopping for a moment to dream of what the next year will bring

Coming next

A month of veggies
Many successes
    Kale Pesto Pasta declared the winner, mostly cause it was made 3 times in 4 weeks
A few recipes that will soon be forgotten (for good reason)
And a clearer understanding of the food I want to be feeding my body

I think I could very easily maintain a 90% vegetarian lifestyle
     (with the admittance that I really love bacon)
My body thinks it could sustain on a diet of simply pasta and cheese
     luckily I know better

So while I found it easy to cut meat out of my diet,
I struggled more with adding in more veggies.
That is what I want to focus on.

More veggies in my cooking
not just a side dish of brussel sprouts
     although these were very tasty
Rather a main dish of veggies and a side of the pasta and cheese that my body craves

Dabbling with the idea of a whole foods diet: getting rid of most of the processed junk. My pantry isn't too shabby full of rice and beans and whole ingredients. But there is still pasta and granola bars and crackers.

Maybe a goal could be a couple whole foods only meals a week?
Combined with a couple vegetarian meals
Keeping the meat to once or twice a week

Yep I think thats the plan

completely admitting that i've already failed the goal of meat once or twice a week, but when I asked Jesse what he wanted now that he can eat meat again he said, shrimp and some yummy fish and chicken.  Much better than when he talked of a 5 meat dinner.

the secret awesomeness of toddlers

There is this balance of being a teacher: never knowing what the day will bring vs the chance to start fresh every morning.  Each morning is a brand new opportunity for awesomeness, for discovery, for laughter (ignoring the days filled with tears and wailing, frantic fire putting outing and constant conflict negotiation- do they give peace prizes for toddler teachers?)

Only a handful of times I've walked into the classroom, counting on my kids to pick me up and pull me through.  The morning a dear friend was deploying to war, one last conversation on my drive into work.  The morning I decided to pack up and move cross country again, still not entirely sure it was the right decision.  And today.

At least I sort of know what I'll be walking into.
I know that the GREAT BIG INSPECTOR will be here
We've been prepping for this day for a year

She may or may not even look in my room, may or may not even look at the 300+ items I pulled together showing off all the awesomeness that we do
Torn between wishing she doesn't observe my room (hello stress) and wishing she does, just so the work we've put in to the last year is recognized

I'm counting on a chorus of chants announcing my return to home school.  I'm counting on hugs and kisses and snuggles and hands tucked into mine.  I'm counting on laughter and silliness and smiles.

Grateful for the distraction.  For something concrete to think about.

Cause today my nephew is having surgery.  Nephews should never have surgery.
Knowing the once I walk into my classroom I won't have time to wonder/worry.
By the time I get to take a breath, drink some water and check my phone, he'll be done, starting the road to recovery.
1:30 can't come soon enough

This is the story

Of a small shiny object that got hopelessly lost (and the adventure of finding it)

It begins during the day o'fun. Declared so as a way to embrace the amazingly warm January day. Ignoring the upcoming disappearance of one Jesse Stout.

Brunch and downtown strolling followed by yard work and planting of the Christmas tree.

We have this idea to plant all of our Christmas Trees- I know that they'll lose their glittery coating, but I'm so excited to remember- oh that was the first tree in our house- awww

Someone may not be as excited as I

The afternoon was filled with cleaning gutters and last minute target runs.  It was then that someone noticed.  Crap, I don't have my ring.  (spoiler: not me)

You see, when we first moved into the house, we created a ring cup.  

A shot glass on the microwave for holding our shiny bands while we engage in the grimy tasks of home ownership.  

Occasionally rings have been misplaced for a moment.  

This time, it was more than just a moment.

The search commences.

Armed with flashlights and rainboots

     cause now its dark and muddy

We scour the flowerbeds, the roof and the yard.

Convinced its buried along with our tree, poor little tree is yanked from the ground.

After an hour I call off the search.  

We'll check again when its daylight.

Someone has to be at the airport at 8:00

Sunrise is at 7:52

In the first beginnings of dawn we trudge through the mud

One last hopeful search 

Putting on a brave face as we discard our muddy gear for more appropriate airport clothes

     yep, mine were jammies

I have a secret plan: continuing the search.

First time climbing on a roof- this was my fake brave face before I climbed the ladder

Didn't realize how much I don't like heights

     including the height of a one story roof

I may or may not have crab crawled around that roof

After making it back down

Digging through the mud

Inch by inch searching the path we trudged post tree burying/unburying

Giving up and trying to decide if I should just order him a new one, 

Knowing it might get back here before he does

Getting on with my day and declaring, we'll just have to go back to Hawaii

Turning out the light to climb into bed,

Wait?  What's that shiny round thing on the floor?!?!

The working theory?  It fell out of someone's pants pocket when they're pants where haphazardly thrown on the floor

Thanks to the postal system (even if they did lose it for a day)
The ring is back just where it belongs

A beginning

So excited for what is coming next

Upcoming

This next year I want to...

Create more:
The sewing shop down my street and I have a love/hate relationship. I love love love that shop. My budget, not so much.
They host workshops. Excited to learn new tricks, excited to figure out my machine.

     Sewing list:
     Baby gifts (cause friends keep making em!)
     Pouches to replace ziplocs, cause someone has a nasty habit of using like 3 a day
     Getting through my mending stash, I miss my favorites!

I've fallen into a cooking rut. The plan? Starting with 31 days of veggies. Making a concentrated effort to try new recipes. Hoping by the end of winter to feel refreshed and inspired in my kitchen.

Speaking of refreshed in the kitchen! Our thinking? Spend 500 and give the kitchen a whole new feel to tide us over until we do our big dramatic (tearing walls down) makeover. Newly painted walls, cabinets and countertops will go a long way to making the space feel new.

Do something after dinner. Too many nights I get pulled in by the food coma and TV. Instead I want to accomplish something after dinner. Starting small with some laundry or a project. Perhaps adding in some yoga or (heaven help me) cardio.

Keep an open book on my nightstand.  During the move we got into the habit of watching TV in bed.  Now that we are settled I want to get back into the habit of reading before I fall asleep.

First week

And someone (coughjessecough) has already cheated. Not to worry I told him, we'll just add some more days at the end bwah ha ha!

Favorite recipe this week?
Kale pesto pasta minus the shrimp and loaded with lots of fresh veggies...yum yum

A close second?

Vegetarian Jambalaya

Although Jesse called it right, this is yummy but not really jambalaya.  Probably due to the lack of 3 different kinds of meat

Some filler recipes
ie: recipes we've made a million times, easy meals we can pull off after a long day of work
Breakfast burritos...I do love me some Mexican mmmm mmmm

Beans & Rice and Quesadillas

Cause did I mention, I love Mexican?

Most disappointing recipe this week?
The meatless hopping John: annoyed because I followed the recipe and it just didn't have much flavor. Usually I go rouge and throw in a bit of this and that. Lesson learned. Trust my cooking instincts.

Excited to see what next week will bring!
Including the challenge of cooking for my Father in Law who declared
No meat?  I'll bring my own!

there were times of no dryer

no dishwasher

no power

there were picnics and festivals

and spontaneous roadtrips

and stopping for tacos at 4am

there was dressing up and cheering

     glad for access to bells and whistles and paint and glitter

the year was full of ordinary moments
and then there were some pretty big moments too

an incredible vacation that we had dreamed about for years
the sun, the sand, the adventure!
I still think about this every day

the phone call that began with, so I may have hurt my knee
followed by yep, torn ACL
surgery, trying to keep down pain meds, a long (bumpy) car ride home
and finally pulling out the last stitch 6 months later (must have gotten lost in there somewhere)

looking, looking, looking for a house
getting excited, then disappointed
then walking into our house and pulling the trigger

fixing up and filling up the house

     yay for family expertise

     yay for flat packed furniture

It has been an incredible year

I can't wait to see what 2013 brings!