Soon, soon…

Living on tropical islands for three years, this Midwestern girl really missed snow.  When I found out that we were moving to Alaska last year, I was excited because we were guaranteed to get some snow.

Did we ever!  In January 2009 alone, we got just over 75 inches of the white stuff.  Thankfully, I am not in charge of the shoveling, DH does that.  And he refuses to buy a snowblower (imagine that).

Conn and I have been watching our mountains out back for the snow to be coming down the mountain…as each day passes, the snow gets a little bit lower and lower.  So very exciting to an almost 3 year old and his snow loving Mama.

Imagine our surprise when we woke up on Saturday to a nice dusting of snow on the ground!!  Yippee!  It was a booo-tiful way to start our Halloween day.  Too bad it all melted by the end of the day.

Oh well, there is more on the way, that is for certain.

Peace.

Randomness

I had a pretty good night’s sleep last night.  I think that I only woke up twice, which is unusual.  I am at the point in this pregnancy where sleeping is starting to get difficult.  Pillows are my BFF, as is not consuming liquids after 3 pm, ha ha. Hard to believe that I only have 8 more weeks until I can hold this little creature that is growing inside of me.  Secretly, I think it is a boy.  And I thought that BTH was a girl, so that means that this one is probably going to be a girl.  Which is okay…we have names picked for either gender.  And lots of gender neutral newborn clothes from BTH.

Lots of random things to share…

• The Election:  No, I won’t gloat.  Actually I became very quiet in the last month or so of the campaign…I was tired of dispelling rumors, falsehoods and half-truths to people I know (and many I am related to) until I was blue in the face.  I decided that I wasn’t going to change people’s mind, just like they weren’t changing mine.  I am proud of our country.  While I do think that John McCain is a fine person and has proudly and selflessly served this country much more than I ever will, I knew the deal was sealed when he chose his running mate and we learned more about her.  I am interested in where this extremely ambitious woman’s political future lies.  I don’t know that she can be content with being our Governor since she has had a taste of the political spotlight.  Anyway…enough about her.  I am so happy that I had the chance to go vote.  And DH voted for the first time in his life, go DH!

And he let me finally put the sticker on my Odyssey about 8 weeks ago, whee!

• The House:  Yeah, still working on things.  The best part is that I have my craft room 90% put away.  DH just have to get the other half of the room done, the office part.  You can be sure I will be showing pictures.
• Knitting:  Did I tell you I finished my Clapotis?  I did!  Here she is…

Pattern:  Clapotis by Katie Gilbert

Yarn:  Noro Kureyon color 150, just barely 7 skiens

Needles:  Knit Picks Harmony Interchangeables size 7

Okay, so this pattern was sucking my brain out of my head.  I think that it took me a total of 5 months to do it.  4 of which it was shoved in my bag, being ignored.  The pattern is simple, I just was freaked out that I would mis-count again and have my dropped stitches be off.

• Random Cuteness:  BTH has managed to learn how to drink the left over milk in his bowl when he is done with his cereal in the morning…too cute!



Peace.

I What?

I have a blog, ohhhh….yeahhhh.

I swear that this house is a huge time (and money) suck for us.  We spend almost every waking hour working on projects around here and slowly things are really coming together.  There have been a few instances where I have cursed our decision to buy this place and the previous owner, but it seems that when we get a big project completed, my love for this house is renewed.  Like this weekend…we had our new carpet finally installed in the upstairs.  All 4 bedrooms, hallway and staircase.  Our unpacking had been on hold until that was done, so it is a huge relief to be able to haul everything up there and work on getting settled.  Want to know what the running list is so far with projects accomplished?  Remember, we have been in the house since September 15, so not too long…

September 2008

• Changed deadbolts and door handles on all exterior doors.
• Primed & painted guest bedroom (warm sunshine).
• Bought tile and supplies to replace foyer flooring.
• Replaced wall sconces in main living room above mantle.
• Primed children’s bedroom.
• Pulled up vinyl in foyer and scraped backing off floor.
• Bought hardwood flooring for main living room.
• Ordered new carpet for entire upstairs.

October 2008

• Painted children’s bedroom (primitive hedges).
• Primed & painted office/craft room (cold draft).
• Installed cable outlet cover in office/craft room.
• Leveled foyer floor.
• Painted exterior of French doors and laundry room door.
• Primed & painted master bedroom and closet (fountain of youth & ultra white).
• Primed & painted storage closet doors upstairs hallway (remember the Alamo).
• Had pellet stove inspected.
• Primed & painted main living room (remember the Alamo).
• Primed & painted dining room (sweet sage).
• Primed & painted stairway (ultra white).
• Primed & painted wooden stairway trim (remember the Alamo).
• Replaced mercury thermostat upstairs with digital thermostat.
• Primed & painted fireplace surround and mantle (ultra white).
• Replaced kitchen sink faucet.
• Replaced & rewired outlet on top of mantle.
• Installed wooden blinds in MBR, LR & Den.
• Pulled up carpet 4 BR’s, hallway and staircase.
• Replaced piece of subfloor in spare room.

November 2008

• New carpet installed in 4 BR’s, hallway and staircase
• Replaced light fixtures in MBR, kid’s room, office/craft room, spare room and above staircase.

Are you tired yet?  Cause I am pooped.  There is still more to be done, but we are kind of on the home stretch.  Still have to install the tile in the foyer, lay down the new hard wood floor in the LR, replace the light fixture in the den and in the kitchen….and then DH has grand visions of gutting the master bath and remodeling.  I am not too sure about that one, but we will see.  He is kind of OCD with projects…the guy can’t sit down and relax.  I guess it could be worse, at least he isn’t a slug that sits on the couch watching tv all the time.

******

We had our first snow accumulation last weekend (it is gone already) which was pretty awesome.  I have missed snow for so long…3 years in Southern Louisiana and then 3 years on Pacific Islands…a little rough on this Midwestern girl.  DH shot this picture standing on our back deck.

BTH really enjoyed going out and playing in the snow with the dog…and the dog, well…she is a boonie dog from Guam so she had never seen snow before but she went ape-shit.  Completely lost her mind running around like a lunatic.

**********

BTH & I have been enjoying craft time.  We drag out the crayons, coloring books, scissors, glue (lesson learned-glue sticks are best for a curious toddler), construction paper, safety scissors, yarn and anything else that catches our eye and have lots of fun.  Well, at least I have lots of fun.  Ever since we decided to become parents, I was pretty darned excited to look forward to doing simple crafts with our kids.  So, now when we go to garage sales or thrift shops, I always scour the craft items and snap up things for our “crafty cupboard”.  Yes, I have a “crafty cupboard” with stuff in it suitable for little ones.  My craft stuff has its own room and then some.

Last week, we made a pumpkin puppet and a ghost mobile.


When I was in 2nd grade, we had an assignment to make a tree mobile around Christmas time.  I remember it fondly… Mom helped me and I was at a loss as to how to decorate my tree.  She got out some felt and a hole punch and made “ornaments” which I happily glued on.  She then cut thin strips of felt for “garland”.  To my 6 year old eyes, it was beautiful.  The thing was, she saved that mobile.  For years.  Every year I would roll my eyes when she would start decorating for the holidays and here was this childish (so I thought) decoration that was totally uncool.  I wanted everything to be silver, white, sparkly and glass.  I thought that was the epitome of chic decorating.  Not some construction paper, yarn,  and felt creation made in 1983.  She still had it the last time I was home for Christmas in 2004.  That was the last Christmas that I got to spend with Mom.  So, when she died last year, her husband let me have pretty much anything of hers that I wanted.  I put off going through her Christmas decorations until this summer while we were at home.  I always knew in the back of my mind that I wanted that tree that she helped me decorate.  I could see it in my mind and knew that it belonged in my house now that she was gone.

So, we went home this summer and I went through the rest of her things and of course, the Christmas decorations.  My heart sank as I opened box after box, only finding a few things here and there that I knew were from my childhood, or ornaments that she had painted (that was her tradition…she painted an ornament for us every year).  I couldn’t find the mobile, along with a handfull of other things that I knew she had kept.  Unfortunately, their basement isn’t finished (like many midwestern basements) and water got in it and many boxes had been thrown out that year because they got soaked.  I am guessing that the mobile was in one of those boxes.

Whew…that was a long and round about way to tell you that the ghost mobile was inspired by that Christmas tree mobile made so many years ago.  It is basically a design cut out of construction paper (you do two, front side and back side), then cut into 3 strips (or more I suppose) horizontally.  You take a long piece of string and one of the sides and glue it on, then lay the other side on it, sandwiching it.  Then decorate as desired…like ornaments on a tree or eyes on a ghost.  Let it dry and voila!   A fun mobile to hang.

You can be sure that we will be making our version of the tree this holiday season.

********

BTH was a lion this year for Halloween.  I luckily found a costume at the thrift shop that was thisclose to being too small for him, but I figured for one day, it would work out.  And it was only $2.

The only problem with the costume is that it was missing the tail.  Good thing Mama has a BFF that came to the rescue with the idea to knit him a tail!  I whipped out an i-cord tail lickety split with the yarn held double.  Kinda cute in my opinion.

And keeping with the feline theme…we carved one of our pumpkins like a kitty this year.  I was a bit rusty this year since I haven’t carved a pumpkin in I don’t know how long, but I plan on being better next year!

********

So, speaking of knitting…there has been knitting happening.  When ever I can steal away a few minutes here and there and many times before bed, I try to put a few stitches in.  I knit up this cute little hat for BTH in one evening…

Pattern:  Meathead Hat

Yarn:  Vail Homespun Bulky

I also started a pair of socks.  Well, I started a couple of pairs of socks, but this one has seen the most action lately.  It is the Through The Loops Mystery Sock-along.  I am using Dream In Color Smooshy, the color is called Strange Harvest.  I miss using my Socks That Rock Mediumweight, but like how these are turning out.  I don’t think that I will buy this yarn again though.

I have also been spending lots of time looking at knitting books.  Our library has a fabulous selection of knitting books and my holiday wish list has grown immensely.

I have also started a sweater for BTH using some fabulous Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Worsted that my Aunt T. sent to me.  I had never actually held this yarn before and hoo-boy is it ever luscious.  I adore this colorway, it is Edgewater.  The pattern is the Toddler Tunic, an easy top down raglan.  Which in my opinion is always aces.

So, I think that is it for tonight…I am pooped and it is almost bedtime…no knitting tonight.  I am not participating in NaBloPoMo this year, but I know that Kendra is, so go check out her blog.  I haven’t had a chance to see if anyone else is…I have 1000+ unread blog posts in my google reader to try to catch up on!

Peace.

Settle in, I have a lot to say.

Where do I even begin?  I have started this post 3 times now.  Our lives are in such a state of transition lately that there are times when I feel overwhelmed and just want to bury my head under the pillow and stay there all day.  Baby steps, right?  Okay then.

Pregnancy:

Things are going great.  I am 27 weeks.  The baby is finally moving around all of the time.  I am just starting to get to the “almost” uncomfortable stage.  I started Prenatal Yoga and love it.  No, we are not having an ultrasound to find out the gender.  In fact, there are many tests that we are electing to not have.  Either because I am not at risk or because we feel it is too stressful for me & BTH #2 (gotta think of a better blog moniker for it).

BTH:

This guy is amazing.  Everything is so new, and every day is a learning experience.  It is amazing to watch.  His vocabulary is expanding, as I said before.  He loves to say, “Sure Babe,” “Are you kidding me right now?” “Are you sure about that?  I’m sure of that,” and his favorite swear word (at least I think that is what he is saying) is “Damn it!”, but he puts a “b” at the end of “damn” so it sounds more like “Damb it”.  It is all I can to do tell him that isn’t something that babies say before I have to look away while biting the inside of my lower lip to keep from laughing.  He loves to sit and play with his blocks and little toys and chatter away to himself, and he absolutely loves being read to.  He has a pretty good collection of books and we go up and read books in his room once during the day to pass time, then he gets a book read to him before his nap and at least 30-45 minutes of book reading by either me or Papa before bed at night.  I hope hope hope that he turns out to share our love of books.

Alaska:

It is gorgeous here.  Chilly, but gorgeous.  They already have snow in Fairbanks and have had snow in Anchorage.  It is only a matter of time before we get it.  And judging by the rate it is covering the mountain, it won’t be much longer…it is slowly making its way to lower elevations.

(I took this picture this morning while standing on our back deck)

Little things in life thrill me.  Like last week when pumpkins arrived at the grocery store.  I promptly picked out two to sit in the rocking chairs on our front porch.  DH grabbed one of them and proclaimed that it wasn’t big enough, and replaced it with a bigger one.  Because we lived overseas for the past 3 years, we haven’t had pumpkins and this just thrilled my little heart to be able to have them once again.  And seeing frost on said pumpkins when we get up in the mornings, a sure sign that winter is indeed on its way.

The animals are having a hard time adjusting to the chilly weather though.  They are all from Guam, so they are used to tropical temperatures.  One kitty spends 85% of her day laying thisclose to the monitor heater in the main living room.  The other one hides somewhere warm and cozy until about 10 pm when she comes out for some attention right before we go to bed, then she settles back in her cozy spot for the night.  The dog though…oh boy.  She refuses to go outside until almost 3 pm.  When I open the door to let her out to pee, she runs the other way.  And she is snuggled into her bed for the night by 7pm.  Her name is Lady and I have started calling her “Old Lady”.  We used to let her out right before we went to bed, but lately, she just barely opens an eye in recognition of us talking to her and offering her one more chance to pee for the night.  Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that she is fine after being shot by a porcupine.  She really only had a half dozen or so quills or whatever they are in her face (one in the gums, ouch), so she was lucky.  She let us pull them out with a pair of pliers.  This is the culprit as we caught it sneaking under the fence.

The House:

This is the part that is the most worrisome.

When we bought the house, we knew that we wanted to make major improvements.  The carpet throughout the house is old and repulsively stained.  There was question as to the pellet stove insert’s ability to work.  The vinyl flooring in the foyer looked original to the house (built in 1967).  The exterior doors are dusty rose-pink.  Almost every room needs a new coat of paint.

Then there are things that aren’t exactly necessary, but would make it how we want it.  Like remodeling 2 of the baths to update / or add a bath tub.  Expanding the back deck covering to extend the length of the deck to increase its functionality.  And add a rail around the deck.  Tons of re-working the yard and landscaping.  Changing all of the exterior locks & doorhandles from cheap-o brass ones to more decorative ones that all match.  Finishing off little things in the kitchen that were skipped when the previous owner remodeled it.  Repainting the garage.  Having an energy survey completed and acting on the recommendations.  Painting the oil tank outside.

So far, we have:

1.  Repainted the guest bedroom from deep lavender with plum trim to a warm sunny yellow (Warm Sunshine is the name, actually).  They had even painted the ceiling lavender.  It is now white.  And all of the trim is white.  Much, much better.

2.  Painted the kids’ bedroom from a light peach color to a green hue…darker than celery, but lighter than pea soup.  It is called Primitive Hedges.  White ceilling also.

3.  Purchased paint for the rest of the rooms.

4.  Replaced all of the exterior door handles and locks (there are 5 exterior doors!).

5.  Painted the exterior of the french doors off the dining room and the exterior door off the laundry room from dusty pink to forest green (we have light yellow siding).

6.  Purchased the tile for the foyer.  Pulled up the vinyl and particle board in the foyer.  DH is working on getting the floor level, then the tile project will be fast-tracked.

7.  Had the carpet guy come out and measure the entire upstairs for carpet.  Picked out carpet and ordered carpet.  Should be here and installed by the end of the month.

8.  Bought hardwood flooring for the main living room (we have 2 living rooms and this is the big one at 375 sq ft).

9.  Had the pellet stove insert cleaned professionally.  Learned that it may not be functional and if it is, it will require repairs and updating to the chimney to make it efficient and use-able. The repair guy is on his way here as I type this, keep your fingers crossed that it can be fixed and for little $$.

Now comes the worrisome part.  We bought the house for $50k less than the original asking price.  It had sat on the market for over a year.  We bought it with the intention of making an investment into our future.  And we knew that we would rent it out when we left, as long as we could get a tenant in here that would cover the majority, if not all of the mortgage.  We figured that in the 4 years that we would be here, we could get these things done and have time to enjoy our first home.

It is not to be.

We got word recently that DH made the cut to advance in rank, which means that we will be transferring again next summer because there isn’t a position available here for him.

It is fabulous for DH professionally.  He has a sort of timeline of goals that he wants to achieve in the next 3 years and this is the first step.  I am so happy for him.  We didn’t expect him to make the cut this year, and it definitely puts a kink into our home-remodeling plans.  We are going to continue on with the things that we have to do, and the things that we have already purchased (paint, flooring, etc).  But we will not be doing all of the landscaping we had planned, nor expanding the deck covering, or remodeling the bathrooms.

Hopefully we can get a nice family in our house that will love it and take care of it for the time of their lease.  We plan on buying another house where we go next as well.  Speaking of, this is the list that we will be submitting.  Basically a list of where we want to go.  Keep in mind that we don’t get to “pick” per se…it is always up to the Detailer ultimately.  This is just what they call a “dream sheet”.  I am so keeping everything crossed that we don’t end up back in Guam.  Because it is open again.  Ugh.  Anyway, in order of our personal preference:

1. Tie between Anchorage, Alaska and Portland, Maine
2. Paducah, Kentucky
3. Duluth, Minnesota
4. Milwaukee, Wisconsin
5. Cincinnati, Ohio
6. Buffalo, New York
7. Seattle, Washington
8. Louisville, Kentucky
9. St. Louis, Missouri
10. Detroit, Michigan
11. Wilmington, North Carolina
12. New Orleans, Louisiana (which I would love to move back to someday)

We are putting many Midwestern stations on our list so that we can be within driving distance/short plane flights from the majority of our families in northern Illinois.  We just found out that Portland, Maine is on the list today and have yet to discuss if it will be #1 or #2.  I dream of living in the northeast almost more than going back to south Louisiana.  If south Louisiana got snow regularly, it would be even more of a competition between the two.  Anyway.  We have to submit our list by the end of the month I think.  And if we are staying in Alaska, we should know before Christmas.  Otherwise, we probably won’t know until spring where we will be calling home next.  They say that you should put as many choices on your list as you can…you have a better chance at going somewhere on your list if you submit 12 vs. if you only submit 5.  Good thing that we are pretty flexible.

But damn you, Murphy, and your stupid Law.  Just when things were going great.

Knitting:

When my life feels like it is going in a million different directions, I tend to not focus on what needs to be done now and instead daydream of crafty projects.  So, it isn’t a wonder that in the past week I have started 2 pairs of socks and a basic hat for charity.  I still have to finish my Clapotis and BTH’s longies made from the yarn that I thrifted and dyed.

I decided to participate in the Through The Loops “Mystery Sock KAL” (there’s even a Ravelry group) for Socktoberfest…

I am using Dream in Color Smooshy in the Strange Harvest colorway from my stash.

I also started another pair of Monkey socks…

These are a long overdue present for a certain someone and I had to shoot it in black & white so that said person wouldn’t know by seeing the colors of the socks.  Although she probably knows anyway since I have asked her about her foot measurements.  I meant to do the no-purl Monkey version, but totally spaced it out when I started and only remembered when I was about at the second repeat of the lace pattern.  Next time.

The longies that I am knitting for BTH are really almost making me lose my mind…

This has to be the most complicated pattern I have ever attempted (Itchy Fingers Longies free pattern).  And it isn’t the math…I got that figured out just fine.  It is just the instructions in general.  There are parts that I can’t get my mind wrapped around.  I am positive that I am making it harder than it is, as usual.  So, for now they sit unfinished in the knitting bag.  Plus they are turning out kinda huge looking (even though I measured BTH and did the evil gauge swatch), AND a little more pink-y than I wanted them to be.  *sigh*

Did I ever show you my finished Monkeys?  I don’t think so.

I adore them.  Blue Moon Fiber Arts, thank you immensely for giving the world your medium weight Socks that Rock yarn, it is fabulous.  And to my friend, Phoe, thank you for introducing me to this heavenly yarn.  (By the way, check out Phoe’s new blog…I dare you not to love the header and the fabulous pictures.)  I try to wear them at every possible moment and think that everyone should have some nice hand-knit socks.  That means that everyone needs to learn to knit, my queue is full : )

Well, the pellet stove guy is here and I should really pay attention to what he is doing & saying, so ciao for now.

Peace.

Settling In

We have been in our house for just over a week now.  And I am so in love with this house, it is unreal.  Is it normal for a first time homebuyer to love a house this much?  And I love the fact that the house is 10 years older than I am.  It has amazing creaks and clanks going on throughout the day as it goes about its business of giving us shelter and being our home.  Makes me wonder about the families that lived here before us.  What memories did they make in our new home?  What milestones did they or their children reach in this house?

The only downside to the house is that we wake up every day with new things to add to the “to do” list.  This weekend we primed and painted the guest bedroom, just have to finish the trim.  We also changed all of the exterior deadbolts and handles (all 5 of them!).  We bought new tile to put down in the foyer to replace the grody linoleum and also discussed laminate for the main living room.

We are still living amid a chaos of boxes.  But they are mostly my crafting things, our book collection and dvd collection.  DH has to build shelves for us, you know, because his list isn’t quite long enough : ) He built us a great book shelf while we lived in Guam.  It is Mahogany and is tall and simple.  He basically wrecked it for me and store-bought bookshelves.  Our old house in Saipan had cheap-o shelves in the living room that were the brackets and piece of board kind that we used to put our dvd’s on.  Hey, they were there when we moved in and it was a rental, so we weren’t going to go about changing things.  They worked for the year that we were there.

One of our neighbors came and introduced herself to me tonight and brought me the prettiest bouquet of daisies, carnations and gerber daisies.  So sweet.  She seems like one of those people that you just want to sit down and have a pot of tea with and get to know better.  But I was a dunce as usual and didn’t invite her in.  Social ineptness, check.  I always think of the proper thing to do after the fact.  Sometime I will invite her over though.  In my 13 years of living on my own, I have never had a neighbor come and introduce themselves to me, let alone bring me flowers.  I am lucky, this seems to be a great neighborhood.

Speaking of the neighborhood, we saw a juvenile black bear walking down our street about a block from the house one day.  It was cute and ran right into someone’s yard and up to their porch when it realized we were behind it.  The neighbor lady brought it up tonight and asked me if I saw “our yearling” wandering around during the day.  I am not too concerned about the bears right now…they are pretty fat and satisfied and have hibernation on their minds.  But come this spring when they wake up, I will be much more cautious.

And since a blog post isn’t much fun without pictures, I will share a cooking adventure that BTH & I had last month in the vacation house.  Anyone that knows me well knows that I adore chocolate and think that chocolate + peanut butter is about as close to heaven on earth as you can get.  Especially when eaten in a nice bath while the baby is sleeping. I have found that my favorite chocolate/peanut butter combo is made by Hershey’s.  They come in giant bars and also as filled Kisses.  Reeses is good in a pinch, but the peanut butter isn’t nearly as smooth as Hershey’s.  For a while there, I was eating a bag of Kisses every other day.

Yeaaaahhhhh…

I decided that I needed to do something drastic to help curb my craving.  So, I set out to make massive peanut butter cups, like the kind you get in the gourmet candy shops.  I figured that I would beat my craving into submission by overdose.  I am so smart.

Basically, I just took cupcake liners (I couldn’t find the mini ones) and melted a small amount of milk chocolate chips and spread that into the liner to make the bottom and side shell of the cup.  I stuck that in the freezer for the time being while I made the peanut butter filling.  For the filling, I took peanut butter (we use the kind that you grind at the store.  If your store doesn’t have a peanut grinder, you can get a jar of all natural peanut butter), then I mixed in a bit of softened unsalted butter and some powdered sugar.  I didn’t measure amounts, I just mixed until it was smooth and tasted good to me.  I then plopped that mix into the shells that I made before and smoothed the top.  Then back in the freezer.  I then melted some more milk chocolate chips and poured that on top of the peanut butter cup, sealing it in.  Then I let them set up in the freezer for a bit. I looked for recipes on different websites but most were pretty strange and included adding wax to the chocolate.  Eww.  I wanted something simple and straightforward.

They were good, even BTH got a few nibbles.  But don’t tell DH.  And please don’t mention to him that I have more chocolate chips on my mental shopping list for tomorrow.  Because I haven’t had a peanut butter cup in at least 10 days.  Guess my plan of conquering my addiction didn’t work.

I might be scarce for a bit…our new internet plan has limited internet usage and we need to get a good idea about how much we are online before we have overages.

Peace.