Thankful for...

I met Jillian in my freshman year of high school, while she was still in middle school. I believe that it was around eight years ago, but that seems like such a long time, so I'm not sure!

We were part of the same bible study (led by Kristine), and through that group we started doing fun things like "kidnapping" friends for their birthdays (I had to change that wording a few times so it didn't seem like we were actual criminals), Smallville marathons and coffee shop outings. This was the only picture I could find from that time, and it should probably be destroyed (early 2005).

The fall of my sophomore year of high school, Jillian and I joined two others for a writing class, which would end up creating amazing friendships that lasted beyond high school. We did a lot more than writing, including putting on plays, which was the setting for this picture (2006).

In 2007, the writing class ended. We'd been through three years of "cold writing" prompts and essays on historical figures. This was taken a few days before I graduated high school, at a sort of farewell to high school dinner for me/end of class.

That fall, I stayed in Beaufort for another year. One thing led to another, and Jillian and I began co-teaching the junior-high girls' Sunday School class with our good friend Erin (we're all in the middle in this picture). It was a year full of growth and trusting God, but this was an incredibly fun experience. (2007-2008)

In 2008, Jillian and I were roommates in China for a few weeks, where we helped with a Vacation Language School. Christina and Katherine were our other apartment-mates and the four of us had an excellent time. Here we are in Tienanmen Square in Beijing.

In January of 2009, Jillian finally got to go to my beloved Ukraine with me and she fell in love with the people as well. We went with a small team and stayed in the orphanage. We three girls on the team certainly didn't get any style points while we were over there but we did our best to stay warm, being from South Carolina and all. We went ice skating, threw snowballs, shoveled snow, and were basically freezing the entire time, then we were off to the Netherlands for more adventures.

Later that summer, Jillian was the first person to rush over after hearing that I was engaged. She made the drive in a record 5 minutes (it usually takes more like 15).

 In early 2010, she broke another record for speed with her short engagement, and married on Valentine's Day. Emily and I celebrated with her with many tears (a first for me). 

Three months later, the two of them stood up with me as I married Carson. 

In 2011, Jillian was able to come and stay with Carson and I for nine days. You can read about that visit here. It was refreshing to spend time together as married women for the first time, and to show her the place I called home for four years. 

And this year, just a few weeks ago (October 21st), Jillian welcomed her first child, Miss Graceanna Lynn. I love her name - it means "double grace" and I love that Jillian is experiencing this first out of my close friends.  I hope to get over to Virginia and meet this little one soon, although technically we were introduced about two weeks after her birth, thanks to the internet. 

Pretty sure she waved hello. 

All that to say, for many years, I've been blessed with Jillian's friendship. It's been fun and silly, meaningful and serious, encouraging and challenging, so many things. I hope that one day we'll share the same zip code again, but in the meantime, I am so thankful for enduring friendships with new seasons and stages. Love you, Jillian!

Cozy and Warm.

Today, I'm thankful for our home. We've been incredibly blessed by this place, which was found on Craigslist and could have been a mistake. It's bigger and nicer than we'd expected to find with our little budget, and we're excited to have a place that will fit the friends we're hoping to make and the family and friends who will hopefully come and visit. It's fun to have a whole house to decorate, and I'm amazed that just a few square feet more than what we had can put us in awe of this mansion (for the record, it's just over 1000 square feet).

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It's been cold, which means nothing coming from me, but there were a few snowflakes one day. Anyway, we decided that it would be the perfect time to light the first fire in our fireplace. No couch still, but we sat on a cozy blanket and played Yahtzee. 

I made a huge pot of potato soup. It was a Crockpot version using this recipe. It was good, but it calls for FIVE pounds of potatoes, which was our slow cooker's max capacity.

But it was yummy and warm and perfect for fall. It fed us for a week (and Carson for a bit longer - he took a lot to school).

Recipe:
5lbs washed, diced, not peeled Russet potatoes
1 yellow onion, diced
5tsp minced garlic
8c/64oz chicken broth
16oz cream cheese
3tblsp. seasoned salt (or more)
bacon
cheese
green onions

- Put first four ingredients in crockpot for 6 hours on high or 10 hours on low. Set out cream cheese.
- Add cream cheese. You're supposed to use an immersion blender but I don't have one so I cubed the softened cream cheese and mixed it as best as I could.
- Garnish and serve!

Before you add the cream cheese, I bet this would freeze well.

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Another recent thing: I've made this recipe before and it's a favorite, so I made it again. We had grilled chicken frozen from my sister's wedding and decided to use that in this and it was perfect. We had it with fresh broccoli, which I've always loved and which for some reason, we've been buying a lot and loving lately.

Recipe (serves 4):
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup chopped cilantro (I recommend more)
3 green onions, sliced thin
2 tablespoons sour cream
2 tsp. hot sauce
3 cups shredded, cooked chicken. I recommend grilled but I've boiled chicken for this and it's good too.
2 cups shredded cheddar
tortillas

- Mix first six ingredients together.
- sprinkle cheese on tortillas and arrange chicken mixture in the middle of the tortilla. Roll like a burrito. I've left the ends open and shut and it doesn't matter. Your preference.
- Heat a skillet for a minute. Place wrap seam-side down and cook until golden, then flip. Serve when they're finished and enjoy.

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And Carson hung up our red shelf. The lighting in the kitchen at night is strange, so it looks orange here, but I promise that it isn't. I love that we finally have something over the stove instead of a blank, empty space.

Thankful for Date Nights

Date nights with Carson are things that I am thankful for. We try to have a date night every week, and they vary from free meals at home and game nights to dinners out and exploring the area. They're a fun thing to look forward to each week, and more recently, I've made a jar with slips of paper for date night activity ideas, just in case our creative juices aren't flowing. 

Here's a recent one. We went to Chipotle for dinner, which is right around the corner (it shares a shopping plaza with my job). It was tasty as always. We both got burrito bowls, which we agreed offer more food than an actual burrito, which means food to take home for lunch the next day or the option of sharing one. 

We noticed that Petsmart had opened nearby, so we walked over to see if there were any animals to look at. We didn't see any cute ones, so we went to the back and watched them feed the lizards (it was disgusting, but slightly fascinating). A whole store dedicated to animals is a little crazy, but we enjoyed mocking the dog apparel, pricing goldfish (we're not sure if we're ready for a $0.13 commitment) and finally finding the cats up for "adoption". They were cute and we were tempted although I'm an anti-cat person, but our landlord doesn't allow animals, so we just enjoyed their cuteness through the glass.

After that, we made oreo balls and nutter butter balls. We enjoyed incorporating making something together, plus they were really tasty. We watched "The Amazing Spiderman" as we enjoyed these.

Home Is Wherever I'm With You

I was going through pictures of the days surrounding our move and made this video. 

Carson thought it would be fun to share it, so here you go!

Included:
the few weeks before we moved, the endless packing, the goodbyes, the final adventures and sights in Spokane, the road trip, some commentary on the drive, and pictures of when we first moved in!
Enjoy.

My Weekend Plus House Pictures

So, more on that weekend I spent alone recently. Basically, I took pictures and recorded almost every moment because I didn't really talk to anyone the entire time.  

I went to Wal-Mart (for toilet paper and a dowel rod), to Jo-Ann's for their Halloween/Autumn clearance and to the grocery store for food. 

I ate things like this. Those noodles are pumpkin shaped, by the way. I think the shaped ones taste better than the regular ones.

I also ate this, with sprinkles because I love them. The sprinkles were better than the ice cream, because it was mostly just plain chocolate, instead of the nuts and caramel it promised on the carton.

Our organized back entry.

I took this so that you could see the strange colors in this bathroom. Look at those tile colors - gray and terra cotta? I used the bathroom things that we've always had because buying a new shower curtain to "match" this color combo seemed pointless. And those lime green towels are courtesy of my poor taste from my first apartment, when my decor theme was "colors of the rainbow". See here for proof.

 When I painted, I got it on my face and all over my arms and legs. No idea how I accomplished that, or why I decided to kiss my reflection.

It rained all weekend, so I definitely drove to work. A coffee shop in the rain is the perfect place to work.

I worked on Friday. Update on that: I not only know what I'm doing, I'm also getting to be faster at it and I ask fewer questions. Yippee!

My somewhat organized dresser. I wish I were a person who had a nice clean dresser, but since I must have my things accessible, organized works for me. There are bobby pins in that "pearls" container.

I think I took this late at night.

Here's our room right now. I added a lamp on Carson's side after this picture, and our landlord keeps promising to change that window (you can't tell, but it's terrible) and with it the blinds (those are worse) AND the trim upstairs so those are exciting changes we anticipate.

I promise that when I measured, my holes were in the same place. I'm blaming the frames for this one.

I switched out some pictures. Love this shadowbox so much. 

Although we usually use brown or white towels in here, this is the bathroom. Crooked picture and all :)

I love having a mantel! I keep changing it, even though no one ever goes in here to see it, since we still don't have a couch. I bought that sign at Jo-Ann's on super sale and love it - it's tin. On the bottom right here is a basket of children's books people have given me (I guess I could say I collect them) and some I loved as a kid and found on Amazon.

The mantel again, complete with Peter Rabbit books, a coffee-filled hurricane, fake gourds and a clock still on Pacific Standard Time.

Halloween 2012

We didn't really do anything for Halloween this year. Sure, I've decorated the house in pumpkins and leaves, lit the orange, fall-themed candles. But I'm not really the kind of person who decorates with fake spiderwebs and creepy tombs on my front yard (neither are our neighbors - whew). I like fall and I like costumes, but don't really get into the holiday all that much. 

But we could dress up at work, and let's be honest - black and khaki get old quickly. So I decided to be Rosie the Riveter. Only one other co-worker dressed up, and his shift ended not that long after mine began. Thankfully, I didn't choose anything too crazy, although red lipstick is still a departure from my usual look. 

I wore a denim-like button up and jeans. I tried to find a red bandanna, but I think that it was another casualty of The Great Move a few months ago, because it wasn't where I'd imagined it would be, so I used a red ribbon instead, which was fine. Oh, and I wore boots.

Here's another picture to give you the effect of the boots. All my non-skinny jeans were't wide enough to go over these things, so these had to do. Now maybe you see why I don't like hiking - I look like a clown.

Oh, and the constant rain we've been having from Hurricane Sandy (yes, it's affecting us even over here) must have caused this fun Halloween "trick!": one of our front closets developed quite the leak. Carson discovered this while looking for an umbrella. This was one of those moments where we're thankful we rent and don't own.

So I worked in my Rosie costume. Only my co-workers gathered that I was dressed up, which was strange to me, since I wasn't wearing black or khaki. Someone thought I was a lumberjack, which really made sense, given the clothes I wore. And then Carson showed up to pick me up from work wearing his favorite hat. He bought it while we were engaged and LOVES it, so it was really the perfect occasion.

And when we got home, we took a couple of self-timer pictures in the kitchen. Not the best backdrop, and I forgot my red lipstick, but oh well!

We usually carve pumpkins on Halloween night, but since I worked, we forgot. If we find some on sale, we plan to carve away, so maybe look forward to that?

Happy Halloween!

My Productive Weekend.

This weekend, Carson went to Michigan for a conference. After I dropped him off at the airport on Thursday morning (his flight was at 6, so we left at 4:30am - yes, I was a bit grouchy), I realized that I had an entire weekend ahead of me and only one day of work. So all weekend I worked on things I'd been meaning to do. I took pictures of some of it (you probably didn't need a picture of mopping or laundry, so I didn't take one) just to remember what was probably the most creative and productive weekend ever. I re-arranged, organized, brainstormed, decorated, baked and shopped (mainly for groceries) until I left for the airport again on Sunday morning. I'm pretty proud of my accomplishments, so take a gander: 

1. I painted my nails. Bright pink, since it was a rather rainy and gloomy afternoon.

2. I wanted something to hold my stud earrings, so here's what I did: I snapped the top off one of these pencil boxes. I think I could still use it again if I wanted to, but it was empty and had been sitting around with my craft stuff since approximately 1998. I then folded burlap accordian style and put it in the box. My burlap didn't go all the way to both ends of the pencil case, plus it was a little ugly, so I cut two pieces of paper to fit over that. It looks better than I'd anticipated, and now my vast collection of pearl studs is sorted out and not one big mess to sort through.

3. I found this little key rack at the craft store, so I just painted it and put it on the wall by the door we use most frequently. Now I won't run all around looking for my keys, only to discover that they were in the tiny pocket in my purse the entire time.

4. Our kitchen was needing some curtains. I didn't really care if they were pretty (that's why they aren't), but since that window looks right into our next-door neighbor's window, and since that window provides a great view of the stairs, which we descend in our early morning hair-everywhere-sloppy sweatpants, I thought that a curtain might not be a bad idea. We only want those neighbors seeing our best side. I made these to hang over the cabinets with no doors in our Spokane apartment (click here for a glimpse...it's photo 12) since it was the largest amount of fabric I had, and they were the right length for this window. I used a dowel rod to hang these up, and they're way too full, but it's unlikely that it will bother me enough to make new ones.

5. I used glitter nail polish on my keys. Why? Because it's a beast to get off, and now I know which key goes to which lock.

6. I painted these to go over our bed. I finally solved that dilemma. It's not what I wanted, but it was my cheapest option (four frames from the $ Store and paper and paints I already had).

7. I've had this empty frame sitting around with intentions of making an earring holder for over a year. I finally did it this weekend! I just stapled burlap to the frame with a regular old stapler, painted my first initial in the middle, and hung it up. Easy - I should have done it a year ago!

8. I made these when Carson came home. It's a Crockpot Chicken Caesar sandwich recipe I found here. I added bacon, since we had it and since most Caesar sandwiches have bacon - excellent addition. We'll make this again for sure. Very easy, not very healthy, and makes great leftovers.

9. I found this old shelf at Goodwill and painted it red. It will go above the stove in the kitchen (as opposed to the one in the bedroom?). It's not the prettiest, but that space needed something and I think a shelf will do the trick.

10. I don't think any non existent guests will have trouble finding it, but just in case, I hung these up on the door. I felt like making a sign of some sort and this was the only option that came to mind. I received the tags as a gift and LOVE them. If I had more, I'd label everything. I really enjoy labeling.

11. Our fall table. It's evolved a little bit, but these branches of fake leaves were $0.50 so I stuffed three of them in my pretty blue mason jar.

12. Hung this up in the bathroom. I'll show a picture of the whole room soon so you can see where it is, but I  wrote this C.S. Lewis quote on a piece of paper and cut burlap as a mat. Very simple. And by the way, yes, I did have a ton of burlap on hand.

13. I made breakfast sandwiches to freeze. The eggs were baked in muffin tins, which I'm for sure trying again (I had visions of exploding egg on the side of my oven, but had no problems) I haven't tried one, but I doubt you can go wrong with English muffins, cheese and egg. I may fry a little of that bacon to put on top. These will be great to grab and go.

14. This isn't going to stay on the wall, but we have a long, empty wall in the living room that just looks so WHITE and sad. So I grabbed a bunch of pictures and made a collage. It's too cluttery to keep forever, but the pictures are fun to look at, and it was free. Eventually, I'd like a big painting here.

15. I cleaned my makeup brushes using vinegar and Dawn dish soap - it worked better than brush cleaner and they're so soft now!

16. I made pumpkin bread. I'm actually not sure if this is cake or bread, but here's what I did: a spice cake mix, a can of pumpkin, one egg and a dash of milk. I threw it in the oven at 350 for 30 minutes and it was perfect! I hadn't baked in a long time and this was so easy that I'll probably do it again!