It really tied the room together...

Clint and I have been brainstorming ways that we can make our cavernous rooms and bare walls look more homey. Well, a good place to start would be to get some color and warmth into the room, right?

Today's project; the media room. We have a 8' sliding door (actually, every window in our house is 8', well, 94" actually) that is a like a huge glaring hole into our TV room, and quite frankly, it's creepy at night. So our first project was to get some curtains. We decided on solid curtains, and them maybe some day we would get a patterned area rug to tie the room together and make it look more finished.

So off to Bed, Bath, and Beyond we go. (To Jenni's, AND BEYOND!! per Alissa.) We found some great waffle-like textured, dark brown curtains that we loved. So we threw them into the cart and were off. But wait! They were having a special on a 7'9" x 9'6" area rug that matched our colors perfectly! (We must have chosen some trendy colors; brown and green.) For the low, low price of only $99, you get an amazing rug, plus two bonus rugs! You also receive a FREE 2' x 6' runner, and a 20" x 30" area rug!

So, we bought the rugs, too. And fortunately for us, we had a 20% off of one item coupon that we applied toward the rug.

We get home, iron and hang the curtains, unroll the rug, then step back to take a look. Oh my gosh, the room looks awesome! What was a cavernous, sparse, open room now has a feeling of warmth and is quite inviting. It is amazing what a difference the colors and textures of a few accents make upon a room.

And, now nothing creepy can look in on us at night time. We LOVE it!

Lentil sausage soup, and the dsicovery of my new favorite appliance!

I made lentil sausage soup tonight, and it was yummy! I asked my mom for the recipe that she has used in the past, and she laughed. "Recipe? You don't need a recipe for that!" And to be perfectly honest, I don't usually follow recipes for non-baked goods anyway, so I'm not sure why I wanted it. but I copied it down nonetheless, and then mostly ignored it while cooking my soup last night.

Ingredients that I had on hand:

• 1 lb. breakfast sausage links
• onions, bell peppers, carrotts; chopped
• garlic; minced
• 1 cup dry lentils
• 1 can tomatoes (stewed or diced) with juice
• liquid to 5 cups
• seasonings

Here's what I did:

• Brown 1 lb. breakfast sausage links, set aside. Keep about 3 T fat in the pot.
• Add chopped onion to pot and sweat until almost translucent. Add whatever other veggies you want (I added carrotts, red and yellow bell pepper, green onions, and roasted garlic.) Mom's recipe calls for parsnips, but potatoes would be good, too!
• Simmer until softened, about 5 min. Add chicken broth, water, or whatever liquid you want, about 4-5 cups. Clint likes his food salty, so I added homemade chicken stock and 2 bouillon cubes.
• Add 1 cup dry lentils.
• While that's simmering, I sliced my sausages into little pieces and added them back into the pot.
• Add 1 can tomatoes (mine were stewed, but diced works, too) with juices.
• Season to taste and let simmer 20-30 minutes, or until everything is sifficiently hot and lentils are soft. I added: Bay leaf, sage, thyme, oregano, Frank's Red hot, salt, garlic powder.

I served the soup with fresh, hot biscuits. which leads me to the other part of this post; I discovered a new favorite appliance! My toaster-oven! Yes, I made my biscuits in my toaster oven! Clint, who was te driving force behind registering for a toaster oven in the first place, sent me this great article yesterday about 10 great uses for a toaster oven, which inspired me! I figured, eh, what do I have to lose besides about 10c worth of flour and butter and 0 minutes of sticky, gooey mess?

So, I popped my biscuit dough under the element for about 10 minutes, and my buscuits came out great (not to mention the cost and energy savings by using the toaster-oven instead of the conventional oven)! I can't wait to try more things in there!

Click here for the article referenced above:

http://lifehacker.com/5380566/save-energy-and-get-more-mileage-from-your-toaster-oven

On my mind...

For some reason I want to start a blag about what I make in my kitchen. It's probably because I now have a kitchen and am starting to cook and bake once again, and I am LOVING it! But seriously, why do I need another blog just for the things that I make? Maybe I'll just have a section of this blag that's all about food. Why shouldn't I? I love food, and eating! And it's best when I'm eating food that I've made! Wowee!

Visitors, the practice round.

Well, we had our first round of visitors at the house this past weekend! It was hugely motivating to get the little things around the house finished up, like actually removing the empty boxes from the living room floor and vacuuming the stairs!

Misty and Pat, who so very graciously helped us move three weeks ago, asked to be thanked by coming over and having us cook them dinner (instead of my suggestion of taking them out to dinner). The request; Spaghetti alla Carbonnara. Now, Misty has been around long enough to know that when you go to the Smith house, you request Carbonnara. Anything that is good enough to be reserved exclusively for birthdays and special occasions HAS to be what you request, right?

Clint and I planned out the whole evening; Double Tomato Bruschetta and Luambrusco for appetizers, Bomb Salad and Carbonnara for dinner, and finishing off the night with homemade Tiramisu Ice Cream. Delicious!

Misty and Pat arrived and things got started just as we had hoped. The Bruschetta was amazing; the addition of the sun-dried tomatoes to this traditional Italian finger food really kicked it up a notch! We layered that on top of French Baguette with a thick slice of fresh Mozzarella that had been slightly bubbled under the broiler. Yum!

Then, it was time to make dinner! For those of you who have experienced Carbonnara, you know that this is the fun part of the evening! The pasta must be hand made and fresh, or it's just not really worth having! Clint whips out the KitchenAid stand mixer, forms the dough, and connects the pasta maker attachment. This is SO COOL! It has the flat squisher rollers and two sizes of pasta cutters! Clint and Pat and Misty all take their turns working the pasta while I(and Misty, at times) work on the sauce. Sauce? I mean bacon, cream, butter, egg and cheese gooey goodness! This is why it is nicknamed the Heart Attack Special!

The pasta is cut and goes into the boiling water for a whole three minutes! Fresh pasta takes a fraction of the time to cook, as it hasn't been dried out and on a store shelf for months. The pasta comes out of the water and into the special warmed ceramic bowl with melted butter. Then goes the cream sauce, topped with the eggs and cheese. Stir together, and prepare: your arteries have no idea what's coming!

Dinner is AWESOME! Holy cow, I have eaten this a fair amount during my life, but I strongly feel that food tastes better when you make it yourself! Wow, it was good! Misty, you choose well!

After dinner we play some Crokinole, a Canadian board game that requires flicking little wooden disks at your opponent's discs, while still trying to get your disc to land in the highest ranking circle of the board possible. As you can imagine, combine this silly game with full bellies and full wine glasses, and much laughter ensued! Ice cream!

Now this is the part of the story that isn't quite as awesome. We received an ice cream maker for our wedding that we were really excited to use! Only problem is that we didn't remember to put the freezer bowl in the freezer until mid-afternoon on Saturday, which didn't give it enough time to freeze completely. Now combine that with my accidentally (I swear it wasn't on purpose) adding twice the amount of rum that the recipe called for, and well, we had milk shakes instead of ice cream. Not to mention the mocha ripple that should have been made in advance to let it chill in the refrigerator for at least several hours. It was a sticky, rum-y, runny mess. Oh well, 3 out of 4 recipes turning out awesome isn't so bad!

So, we learned several things:

1. We love to entertain!

2. We should carefully read all recipes well in advance of attempting them to make sure all items are sufficiently prepared.

3. Misty and Pat are awesome company (well, we already knew that)

4. The house is ready for people!

Thank you, Misty and Pat, for your awesomeness and for being the reason that we had such a fun night!

It's been a while...Let me catch you up!

Wow, it has been forever since I have posted a blog! I really should get on this much more as I had previously promised to do.

So, here's the quick and dirty on what's been happening:

1. June 20, 2009: Clint and I got married!

2. September 10, 2009: Clint and I bought a house!

3. September 19, 2009: Clint and I moved into said house!

So, in more detail...

1. Yes, we tied the knot! For those of you who were not there, it was a beautiful day and everything turned out really well! We got incredibly lucky with the weather and made it through our minor hiccoughs. We had a cocktail hour preceding the ceremony where we mingled with guests, ate and drank. It was cool. The ceremony was fun, laid-back, and iconic at times. We said the "I do"s, we kissed, Clint sang a song. It was my favorite part of the day! Then we had an awesome reception with amazing food (thank you Cabbage Patch), Champagne cake that my amazing sister made (thank you Jillian), and silly dancing (thanks to ALL)! There are pictures posted at http://www.flickr.com/photos/39100691@N06/.

2. We bought a house! Finally! You can ignore every single other post I have about houses, as the one we bought is none of those. Yes, we had previously tried to purchase a couple of houses, the last of which was under way for 6 1/2 months. At the end of July, we decided we were tired of being handcuffed to that house, and we walked away. The next day we hired a new agent, and four days after that, we found our house! We knew almost immediately that this was our house; it just felt right! We made our offer after sleeping on it, it was accepted the very next day, and all was groovy!

So about our house: It is located on the edge between Mill Creek & Bothell, sandwiched between Mill Creek Town Center and Thrasher's Corner. It's about 2.5 miles from where our wedding was. : ) It is a 1979 tri level with 3 bedrooms plus the master. Here's a brief description.

Main Floor (where the front door leads in): Straight ahead is the kitchen. Immediately to the left of the Front Door is our Pub Room with a slightly recessed floor. This room has high, vaulted ceilings with a fireplace at the far end and 3 floor to ceiling windows. In the far corner between the kitchen and the pub room is the dining room with a slider leading outside and real hardwood floors. Walk through the kitchen and to the right are stairs to:

Downstairs: Coming down the stairs alongside the kitchen leads you into the TV room. There is a slider leading to the patio grill area. The TV room is huge. Walk through the TV room to the hallway that has doors leading to the laundry room/bathroom, garage, and 3rd bedroom that is our office.

Now go back to standing in the front doorway. To your right are stairs going upstairs to the bedrooms. The first door on the right is the Multi-Purpose room that will be my craft room and Clint's music room. The second door on the right is the guest room. At the end of the hallway is the guest bathroom, and to the left is the Master bedroom.

Our backyard has evergreen trees that tower over the neighborhood, and therefore shade our back yard making it impossible for grass to grow. I don't think any of the previous owners ever did anything with the back yard, so we have 30 years worth of growth to take care of. A project for next summer...At least we have a front yard with grass!

Here are a few pictures from the previous owners. It will look a lot different with our new paint colors & our things, but at least you can get an idea until we get some new pictures, or even a video walk through!

Engagement Photos!

Go here:

http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=522049008/a=29419058_29419058/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish

Weight, STP, etc.

There are just under 13 weeks until the STP, and I'm nervous! Clint and I went for a nice ride a week ago; we did a very easy 30 miles with a couple of women that he works with. It was a beautiful day, and we rode along the Burke Gilman Trail. We are registered to ride the Lilac Century in Spokane at the end of this month, on the 26th. We did this ride last year, and had a blast. It is beautiful, it was warm, and the sun was shining! We are looking forward to it!

We went snowshoeing this past Saturday; finally! We bought snowshoes on Valentine's Day at REI's "Garage Sale." I am so glad that we finally got out to use them! But with all of the new snow that Steven's had lately, it was no easy task. Even with the snowshoes, each step sank down at least a foot, sometimes up to our knees. We were the first people on the trail since the big snow, so there were no tracks to follow. And the trail was not very trail like, in my opinion. I was expecting something like the x-country ski trails we were on at Sunriver, OR. But no, we were literally walking right through the thickets of trees, around branches, pu and over stumps, etc. The only "trail" part about it was that every now and again there was an orange flag tied to a branch to let you know you were going the right direction! It was very hard work, but we had a blast!

When we got back to the rental shack, they were selling off their ski rentals for wickedly reduced prices, so Clint and I each got x-country skis, boots, poles for next winter!

And last comment for this post; Clint and I have been making a really big effort lately to eat right, choose healthy foods, and reduce our calorie intake. I have been trying to stick to around 1,500 calories per day, and I think I'm coming in pretty close to that. Since we began this on March 2nd, Clint has lost 15lbs. and I have lave lost 9 lbs. We are both feeling a lot better about ourselves, we have more energy, and our moods have improved! The sunshine may have helped that last point, but either way, it's great. It's not very fun sometimes, like when we want beer and a burger, but we have scheduled "cheat meals" when we can eat whatever we want, guilt free. We have a cheat meal every 2 weeks, and it's amazing how much we look forward to them! We talk about what we want to eat for our cheat meal almost as soon as our last one has passed. It's just a little motivation to stick with the part that sucks during the week so that we can indulge (moderately) every now and then. It helps keep us going through the weeks.

Ta-ta, for now!

STP 2009

I am officially registered to participate in the 2009 Seattle to Portland bicycle ride; 204 picturesque miles along the I-5 corridor during the second weekend in July.

This will be my fourth time participating in the STP, and I am looking forward it more that before. Why? The last time I rode, I didn't finish. It was very bittersweet, completing 150 miles in just one day is, to this day, my personal record. However not finishing the ride was a huge dissapointment.

This year we are riding over the course of two days, which will be much more enjoyable. Trying to push through and complete the ride in one day meant missing out on a lot of cool stuff! Over two days, you have the luxury of time, of rest, and of better food. One day was just too stressful and took a lot of the enjoyment out of the ride.

I have 5 months to get in shape, which means lots of seat time! Building up muscle is one thing; preparing your rear end for torture is another.

So if, in the future, you notice that I am walking a little funny, instead of laughing, give me a big "Way to go!"

Appliances!

Clint and I bought our new appliances today! We purchased a new Maytag 3000 Series washer and dryer in crimson red, and a Kitchenaid French Door refrigerator! They are so beautiful! The washer and dryer are just like the series that has the TV commercial with the monster truck driving over the washer and dryers, just without the steam! We purchased them from a local store here in Everett; they will hold them for as long as we need until they can deliver them! And we got a great rebate for purchasing all three pieces together! Here are some pictures, and new pictures of the outside of the house! Doesn't the Jeep look perfect in front of the house? Love it!

House of a Different Color...

OURS! That's the color! Clint and I accepted and signed a contract on a house last night! This house has everything that we were looking for, and more! It's going to be a great house for us! Here are some pictures!

New Year's Resolutions

While I have never really made resolutions in the past, I feel like this is a good year to start. Below are the things that I want to challenge myself to do in 2009:

1. Stop complaining about things that don't matter. I like to hear myself talk, and I like sympathy. But complaining is boring and gets me nowhere.

2. Stop swearing. There are much better and more clever ways to convey a point than resorting to foul language. It's unbecoming, and it makes me sound stupid.

3. Utilize my friends. I am fortunate enough to live within about an hour of most of my friends, yet I seem to find all kinds of excuses to not see them. "I have to wake up really early." "An hour is a long way to drive." We say so often that we should spend more time together, yet we never do. I want to change that. I want to stop being comfortable making excuses and propose ways to spend time together. So when I call you to see if you're available, help me out and point out flaws in my plan that will hold me back.

4. Stop being lazy. Clint and I ask each other frequently, "What do you want to do today?" And more often than not, the response is "I don't know." This inevitably leads to doing nothing and wasting the day. There are so many things to do if only we could break out of our rut and do them. Instead of the usual "I don't know" response, I will provide several options. They may not all appeal to us at the moment, but I refuse the path of inaction. There are parks for hiking, snowshoe rentals, bicycle trails, and museums all within reasonable distance from us. Wouldn't it be nice to make a list of the places we'd like to go, and then actually work on crossing them off? All it takes is a little creativity and motivation. This leads me to my next challenge;

5. Become more active. Because I am comfortable with my sedentary lifestyle, it is difficult to imagine anything to the contrary. But I remember a time in my life not too long ago when I was active; I would hike with my family, ride my bike, and just get out and about. Again, I need to utilize the resources around me and make a conscious decision to MOVE IT, MOVE IT!

6. Branch out my craftiness. I make cards. That's about all I make. And while I thoroughly enjoy making cards, and my cards are nice, I have the tools to do more. I want to be more creative and try new crafty things like scrapbooking, or making jewelry. How cool would that be? Handmade cards AND gifts! Just kidding. Mostly. I see a lot of things that I like that make me think, "Oh, I could make that!" But I never do, even when the parts and pieces are waiting for me. I should try it!

7. I want to complete a sprint Triathlon. SWIM - BIKE - RUN. This will become my mantra while training for a triathlon. I have dreamed of completing a triathlon in the past, but never done anything to get myself in shape to do it. A sprint triathlon is a 1/2 mile swim, 12 mile bike, and 3 mile run. There are several in the Puget Sound area in this coming year, and I want to complete at least one of them. How awesome would that be? Now I just need to find a pool to use for the swim training.