Visit to Iowa
John, Max, and I made a trip down to Iowa this weekend to visit sister Jen and her husband Jerod and their new (old) house! It was a quick but very relaxing and enjoyable time. They sure spoiled us rotten with all homemade meals and a beautiful home. I love the old charm of their house and neighborhood. Although our house is new and will probably not have as many problems spring up over the years, there’s just something so unique and cozy about old houses that I’ll always love. Max spent most of the weekend in their basement or outside so that he wouldn’t tumble about and ruin their beautiful original hardwood floors and many breakable pieces throughout the house, but he actually probably got more walks and exercise than he usually does at home! We probably won’t bring him there again though until he’s a little older and calmer and has learned not to jump and sprint when he’s excited. Someday, I hope!
So now we’re back home, which actually really feels like “home” for the first time, I’d say. I have the next three nights off (including tonight), so I hope to use it wisely to get some things done around the house. Like paint the second and final coat in our big living room and then maybe, just maybe, paint our kitchen GREEN! I’m excited to have some color in our kitchen, but I am a little nervous with the color we got, that it might be a bit too bold. It’s called ‘green energy’… so we’ll just wait and see. I’ll try and post pictures this week after I get the rooms all done. We’ll probably be painting our cabinets white/cream eventually (I know many of you don’t want me to but we just really like it a lot better than brown!), so the picture won’t be of the finished look. We are also hoping to update the hardware on the cabinets eventually. So many little projects which can easily feel overwhelming, but we’re trying to just take it slow and enjoy it!
Speaking of enjoying things that usually stress me out, after spending time with Jen and Jerod and seeing how much they enjoy and try to cook fresh meals at home, I am truly inspired and encouraged to do more of the same. I’ve already got a couple of my very underused cookbooks sitting on the kitchen table for me to look through tonight and plan a couple meals for these next few days. I’ll admit, with all the convenient meals (which aren’t fresh but are usually still much healthier than fast-food) that I find at places like Trader Joes, it’s sometimes hard to get my lazy self to cook up homemade meals. Also, with only two people to cook for it sometimes seems pointless. And let’s face it, I struggle with laziness (don’t we all? please say you do too!). But I’m challenging myself to cook meals from scratch more frequently so that I can eventually cook without feeling clueless and stressed when I do cook. I want it to become second nature to make things like omelets and stir-fries. Plus, I hear it’s also better for you to cook at home with fresh ingredients?? :)
Well, I better get to work with all these goals I have for myself! Hope you all had a good weekend!
(As a side note, I should be getting a new computer soon! Then I can blog more often AND post pictures! My laptop won’t even upload pictures anymore, it just freezes up. Looking forward to being able to again!)
On Hold
Well well, haven’t been on here in months huh? Just stopping by to let you know that I won’t be updating this much for awhile. John’s back in school full time and as for me, still working full time and trying to keep house while also keeping tabs on a hyper clumsy pup. My computer is slowly falling apart and since John uses his school laptop just about all the time now, I really don’t have means for blogging or much else computer related. We won’t be buying a new computer for some time, so for now the blog is kinda on “hold” until then. I’m sure you’re all devastated, right? ;)
lessons learned at home
We’ve been living in our new house now for a month and a half. There’s so much that I love about living here- the space, the quietness, the independence, the ability to be more organized, the ability to decorate. God has really blessed us!
He’s really using this experience, just like any other, to show me my sin and to point me back to Him. I’ve seen some nasty parts of myself surface since moving in here and even before we got the house. Things that I’ve been struggling with for months and years, at least. Envy, greed, jealously, discontentment, unbelief. That’s what it all comes down to, my unbelief- my lack of trust in my loving Creator to provide for my ever need, for the desires of my heart.
Just about every day I sit down and scroll through craigslist classifieds trying to find the next (this) or (that) for our home, or I search through overstock.com for the next good deal. Something we surely need or I’m sure we just won’t be happy here. The living room doesn’t look right because there’s no side table. The couch we just got really could use an accent chair. The walls really need to be painted to bring out the throw pillows. Etc… etc… the list just goes on.
I’ve found myself losing sleep (as if I really needed another reason beyond my ridiculous job hours!) over this and I can see how God is using this experience to show me just how much I’m lacking in my enjoyment of HIM. Not in decorating or making our home the perfect looking home. It’s okay if we have ugly shrubs outside. It’s okay if there are weeds taking over our backyard. It’s okay that the light fixtures don’t go together or that the windows have no curtains. It’s okay that there is nothing up on the walls yet!
God has provided me and my husband a place to call our home. Our temporary home that should be focused on bringing glory to Him. Not to say a beautiful home can’t do this, but that is not the main way. Rather by opening up our home to others as a way of serving them and thus serving the Lord. A home overflowing with joy and not things. A home characterized by peace not only externally (i.e. piles of paper floating around) but mostly internally. A home defined by love and not by style.
The only way I know that I can find this joy, peace, and love is from Jesus and from what He has done for me already on the cross. My focus must be on Him first and then second on my husband and our new home. I will never enjoy this place and it will never bring any glory to Him (or even ourselves) if this focus turns onto worldly things and means.
“But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15e.
Maybe that should be the first thing to go on our walls! :)
Bittersweet
As most of you know, our little puppy Lucy passed away a couple weeks ago. She developed (they think) aspiration pneumonia from having some impairment of her larynx and within a day of her becoming sick she died. :( We were very very devastated and still miss her terribly. Looking at any pictures of her just about always brings tears to my eyes. She was only with us for three short weeks but we had already bonded and grown attached to her. Saying goodbye to her while she was in my arms was one of the hardest things I’ve ever gone through. Sounds crazy since she’s only a dog, but it’s true. Thinking about how great of a dog she was already becoming and what could have been, it was heart wrenching to let her go so soon and so suddenly. I know that God had reasons for everything happening as it did and that I have grown and matured some from the experience.
For the last three weeks we’ve been keeping busy with unpacking our things in our house (oh yeah, we did move into our house at the end of June too, by the way!), visiting with family and friends, and just trying to regain some normalcy after we lost Lucy. After looking at many dogs at different shelters and rescues, we did eventually get another dog tonight! It’s just as exciting as it was with Lucy but also there’s definitely a part of us both that aches for our lost puppy and that hopes that this time it’ll turn out differently. God gives and takes away, and I know that he deserves glory and praise no matter what happens. But we are hoping that we can be blessed with more time to enjoy this new puppy even more than the last. He is a 7 month old german shorthaired pointer that was a stray. He’s been living at a foster home for the last couple months, getting the love and care he deserves! He’s a beautiful chocolate brown with a white spot on his chest, already about 50 lbs, and he loves to run around and play with his squeeky cloth toys! He also loves to point… at birds especially! It’s pretty amusing actually, and he would really make a great hunting dog, but he’ll more likely become a great running partner to my husband! His name was Trooper but we decided to rename him Max… we hope he grows to like it!
Anyway, I will try and post some pictures of our new puppy Max and also some great pictures that my sister took of our Lucy before she died. Amazing how much pets become so beloved by their owners… and we have only begun!
We really don’t slow down… maybe we will now?
Well well…. so much to update on and so little time! I’m bored at work at the moment, so this will be my little post for you all. All my patients are sleeping soundly! A rarity around here! :)
If you haven’t already found out via facebook (or good ol’ live human conversation!), we bought a DIFFERENT house in Hudson about a month ago (to move in at the end of June) AND we got a puppy 5 days ago! We’re crazy, we know it, but so far we are loving the puppy and are very excited about living in our first house, all three of us! The puppy (Lucy is her name) will probably be just as excited as we are. Hardwood and tile floors and a big grassy backyard (with lots of sticks!) will be like heaven to her, especially since she now is confined to a little carpeted (stains?? ahh!) apartment. Only 13 more days!!
So the house is a 1970s rambler with 3 beds, 1 3/4 bathrooms. Nice yard, updated main level, totally dated basement, and in an absolutely perfect location. Within walking distance to both the high school AND the middle school (think John’s future career as a track coach and special ed teacher)… not the forget it’s within walking distance to the YMCA too, and our church if you feel like it! There’s a nice little walking trail that goes through a grassy/woodsy area as well. Cannot wait to live there!
And so the puppy, the cutest little puppy that ever has or will be (haha, sorry). She’s a boxer/weimaraner mix, red/rust color, little floppy ears, big front paws (she’ll probably be 50-60lbs as an adult), oh and she’s only 10 weeks old! As John says, she’s our little turkey! Here’s a picture for ya:
Isn’t she adorable? I can’t say she doesn’t sometimes drive me crazy, or that I’m not totally sleep deprived, but I can say that she’s been a great puppy so far and we’re really looking forward to the future with her!
Alright… back to work I go. Only 2 hours left!
“Moving” On… Hopefully soon!
So I might have forgotten I even had a blog! Sorry!
We have been very busy since we started looking at houses. Most of you reading this probably already know that we found a house in Hudson, made an offer, and are in the process of finalizing our purchase agreement now that our inspection is done. It’s a lot of work! I’m already learning and seeing how being a home-owner is like like having kids or another job or… you get my drift.
The house is an old one, from 1922, but is in pretty good shape. It has it’s issues, but for the most part, is an amazing place for our first house. It’s near the main street in town and only another block to the river. We’re hoping it all works out, but man, we have my work cut out for us now! All the little projects are adding up on the list already: from things like fixing random electrical outlets, plumbing pipes, painting rooms/windows, replacing a couple beams in the basement (this may need to get fixed before we get our loan, actually, but we’ll see), changing some of the light fixtures, putting in a fence in the backyard, etc., etc…
We (that’d be John and I) are very excited but almost just as exhausted. All the forms, meetings, emails, phone calls, faxing, it get’s overwhelming pretty quick. But we’re making it through and so far we really haven’t had anything go awry. Our real estate agent has been great. Super helpful, patient, timely, knowledgable, friendly… you name it! Our mortgage broker has been great too… he’s not quite as friendly, but with a job like that, I don’t know how friendly you can be. He does his job well though! Our inspector did an extremely thorough job. My friends, coworkers, parents have been really helpful as well. So I really can’t complain about the whole process one bit.
It will definitely be nice to eventually, and hopefully soon, be able to settle down somewhere and not have to move every year. I haven’t been in one place for more than a year since I was 18. To be able to decorate our “home” without thinking that it’ll get de-decorated in only a few months. To be able to organize well and try and live more efficiently (less stress!). To have our own dishwasher and washer/dryer!!! SO excited about that. And a porch, a deck, TWO full bathrooms, storage space, a garage!!…
So anyhow, the next couple months, if everything goes through with this house, will be busy ones, and since we aren’t going to get internet this summer (but we will have local coffee shops!), I may not get to update too often. But then again, I’ll probably get excited and want to take pictures or ask for advice (sooo many questions!), so I really should take advantage of this great networking tool called blogging.
Stay tuned!
Next Step… a house?
As John and I come up to the end of our rental lease here in St. Paul, we’ve been pretty set on the idea that we’ll find an apartment in Hudson for a couple years tops while we save up for our first home. I’ve been pretty stubborn about this idea and haven’t even considered the idea of going ahead and looking at buying a house instead.
Well, this has changed these past couple days. John and I drove around Hudson the other day, before we visited a church there that we’ve heard some good things about from members of our current church, and we drove by a seemingly bland and small little house. Needless to say, I had already been looking around the internet real estate listings (ok, I’ve been doing that for months now, but not too often) and had already seen how darn cute the inside of this house is. The price seems okay, but then again, what do I (or John) know about housing prices? We just keep hearing “Now is the time to buy!” and have been trying to block it out of our minds.
I don’t know when exactly the shift happened, but I’ve been praying about this whole moving-to-Hudson-to-who-knows-where situation for awhile now and one after the other we have been unable to find an apartment place that’ll work for us in the area. We really don’t want to move any farther away from the cities (Hudson is about 15-20 min east of St. Paul) because that is where pretty much all our family and friends live, plus I do still have to go to work in St. Paul three times a week. But then again, we don’t want to move anywhere closer to the cities and away from John’s school in Menomonie, WI (an hour east of St. Paul) since we don’t know just how many times he’ll need to be driving there a week each semester. We’ve been blessed that he only has to drive twice a week for now, but we know that this most likely won’t be the case every semester. And we’re talking at least 2 1/2 to 3 more years of this.
Then we considered possibly renting a townhouse for awhile so that we at least have a little more space but still aren’t buying anything out of our budget… but then again, this seems a little contradictory because those townhouses cost quite a lot to rent and that’s a lot of money that could be going toward a mortgage. Doesn’t sound too wise… so we nixed that idea.
So… I’m sure you catch my drift… we are now looking into the possibility of buying our first house. There are many perks to buying in this market and also being that it’ll be our first house. We hope and are earnestly praying it’ll be in Hudson for many reasons. We really like the downtown area and it’s nearness to the river. We already know some people who live there. Like I said earlier, it’s still close enough to the cities that visiting family or friends does not necessarily need to be an overnight ordeal. John loves the closeness to the St. Croix River and the endless outdoor possibilities that this brings, while I love that it is a smaller town just outside the city (like what I grew up with, basically) and that we’ve already found a possible permanent church home for us. Also, I know some people who grew up in Hudson and I think they turned out awesomely. Not that this is a direct reflection on the town itself, but it sure does help! Can I also add that our car insurance premium would drop significantly by not living in the city!? Those little pluses do add up!
The next challenge we face, though, is trying hard not to lose sight of the fact that God will bring about a house for us if he intends us to buy and that no matter what, HE will take care of us. I mentioned a particular house earlier in this post and I’ll admit for both John and I, we are already struggling not to get too excited and attached to this one. It’s pretty small, but it has been updated extensively inside and it is only a couple blocks from the river front. BUT- we don’t need the latest and prettiest home with all the updated appliances (though I’ll admit, this would be nice!). We don’t need the three car garage or central AC or a fireplace or whatever… (which that house does not have, by the way) the list goes on. We know that if we are searching for joy in STUFF, in the perfect house, that we will only be left dry and hungry for something else to fulfill us. No house will ever compare to what He has prepared for us in heaven!
We are just striving to do what we know will bring glory to HIM, hoping that a decision to buy a home versus continuing to rent will be a better investment of the money He’s entrusted to us. And, that it would also help our family to grow both physically (yes, we’re talking kids here!) and spiritually in a way that brings more glory to Him. It’s definitely an exciting time!
Soup and Fajitas
I ended up making a couple things after my last post that were great and helped me use up some of those ingredients. One was Heidi’s potato soup, which was amazing! Funny thing is that my Papa (Grandpa) asked me for the recipe (on facebook, even more funny) and he accidentally put 3 cups of flour instead of 1/3 cup… oops.
So tasty though, when made right! Thanks Heidi!
I also tried making my own homemade pasta sauce using canned diced tomatoes, fresh basil and parsley and a couple other ingredients. These weren’t really on my “list”, but it was something I had been meaning to try for awhile. It came out runnier than I would have liked, but it was much more flavorful than I would have imagined it to be. I even got to use my immersion blender that my mother-in-law got me for Christmas. Yay! That’s definitely going to come in handy over the years.
And to top it all off, tonight I made fajitas for the very first time with my new-ish cast iron skillet. You have to understand, this is my husband’s absolute favorite meal, so he’s been nudging me to make them for a while now. I’ve always been afraid to for some reason. It was so easy! I used a recipe from allrecipes.com and used these cute mini sweet peppers that I picked up from Costco with my mom. All in all, great quick meal.
Husband was VERY pleased, and even more pleased when I did the dishes right afterward. Sometimes it’s amazing how I forget to do those simple things to bless him.
His response? “I also really like ice cream and beer…” Oh dear.
Lonely Ingredients
So I have cupboards full of random and seemingly necessary ingredients that, of course, I haven’t used much of, if at all. I really hate to waste, and I love the feeling you get when you know you’ve used what you’ve bought wisely, but for some reason, I’ve struggled to find use for so much of what I’ve invested in over the last year and a half (since getting married and having a kitchen!).
So, please, help me out. Take a look at my list below and then take a second or two to tell me any ideas you may have for me. Any recipes you know of or just simple ideas for integrating them in simple meals or snacks, or. . .whatever!
PLEASE. I BEG OF YOU. HELP!
And thanks. :)
Now to the list:
Dijon mustard
Hoisin sauce
red wine vinegar
white wine vigegar (I blame my sister for these two items! Hehe, love you Jen!)
cooking wines- white, sherry, and (I think) red
Hot sauce, both Chalula and Tabasco
Chicken stock/broth
Beef broth
Cous cous
Corn meal
Dry ranch dressing mix
Old Bay seasoning
Wild rice
Brown rice
Various pastas (like ziti)
TONS of frozen veggies- broccoli, corn, mixed veggies, peppers
Canned items like:
diced tomatoes
black beans
red kidney beans
whole kernal corn
tomato sauce
tomato paste
tomato soup
And a few more perishable items that need to be used ASAP:
Russet potatoes
Carrots
Onions
Celery (this will get used up anyhow, it’s so good with peanut butter!)
Sigh.
I think that’s it. This feels a little embarrassing to post, and kinda makes me feel like the spoiled foolish newlywed, but whatever, I’m calling out for help! A lot of the sauces/broths/wines were needed for a single recipe, but now I’m left clueless on what to do with them, not wanting to make that one recipe a gazillion times.
So go ahead. Brainstorm and give me some feedback.
THANKS!
An Early V-Day
This was awhile ago now, but who cares!
My wonderful and thoughtful husband treated us to a surprise night out at a hotel in Minneapolis (see here) the week before Valentine’s Day. Thank you, priceline.com, for helping us get such a good deal! It was a great time to get away for a bit and enjoy not thinking about work or cleaning and daily life. The funny part though? We get up to our room and see that we got two double beds! Whoops.
Since this place was on Nicollet Mall, we could just walk a couple blocks to some well-known fancy shmancy restaurants. We decided to go here, and boy was it yummy! We both ordered the corn tacos and really enjoyed them. The way they presented the food was really beautiful too; the plates were so pretty and cute!
Even though we tend to go “out” to eat pretty often these days, we haven’t been to a nice restaurant in a long time, or ever even. So I’m hoping my husband and I can do these little date nights out more often. It was great!
