Cute Vegan Website

I know it has been awhile since I have posted anything. But this seems like an appropriate post, it being Advent and all. I found this cute, and potentially good, vegan website. I especially like the drawings accompanying each recipe.

www.theveganstoner.blogspot.com

Bad Words

Levi is in the process of writing a story. He usually asks me how to spell words and if I think a particular plot is a good one. Today he asked me if he could put bad words into his story.

"What kind of bad words?" I asked.

"Well," he replied "not the real bad words like 'idiot' or 'stupid.' But maybe just the kind-of bad words like 'nincompoop' and that kind of thing."

A Solution?

Want to know how I spent my day today? I will give you one guess, based on my last post. That is right! Re-arranging!

Thank you for all the constructive criticism or praise in regards of switching the breakfast nook and dinning room. Ultimately I liked it, but not enough to defend it to the husband or to make the necessary changes to make it work (changing the light fixture, etc.)

So I switched it back today and also rearranged the family room. I am really liking the new arrangement! I moved some shelves into the dining room, trying to make the room a bit more functional.

Here is the new set up:


I bet you are wondering what I did with the breakfast nook, right? Well here is that photo:


Bwah ha ha! Those BIG plans are being started tomorrow so stay tuned! You're gonna love it!

I Need Help!

I have often heard, that the first step is admitting that you have a problem. So I will accomplish that and profess that I have a problem that has, until now, not been much of a problem. My problem? I love to rearrange. I love to reorganize. I love to redecorate.

Notice that there is a predominant prefix in the above sentences. Yep, the initial decorating, or organizing is not that much fun to me. What I really love to do is tackle problems. Clean out the cupboards and find a better way of storing things.

The same can be said for rooms. I love to rearrange furniture in any room. We have only lived in this house for a bit over a year, and I have already rearranged the family room about four times. The living room three, dining room twice and the bedrooms about half a dozen.

Normally I just use whatever was already in the room (furniture, art, etc) to come up with a new layout.

Not yesterday! I got this crazy idea. Hear me out.

We have a dining room. We also have a nook next to our kitchen that we were using as a breakfast nook. I had some big shelves in their for storage, but they always got cluttered and messy looking. Here is what it looked like:



We also have a dining room, it looked like this:



So I got to thinking... do we really need two eating areas? It seemed kind of wasteful. So I did the ultimate rearrange. I moved the dining room table into the eating nook and then moved the breakfast table (now more of a desk) and shelves into the dining room.

I thought it looked great! I was totally excited to show Hurricane when he got home! But, I had to take Slim to taekwondo and Hurricane got home when we were gone. I got the following text from him last night:

"Why did you do this to the house. Does NOT work. Needs to go back to how it was."

The next text said: "I need salsa."

Ok. So the hubs doesn't approve. We debated a bit and ended with him saying "nobody in their right mind will think it is okay to turn the dining room into a catch-all junk area."

So that is where you come in my dear friends.

I have included a few pictures to show how the two rooms look now. I do know that a couple adjustments need to me made to the former dining room. For one, the light fixture needs to be moved to the new dining room. Also, I think a rug (circular?) needs to be on the floor. Those two things will really improve the room, and make it not look like a dining room.

Also, give me your honest opinions! I can handle being told that it looks terrible, that I should put it back, or that (gasp!) the husband is correct. It will not hurt my feelings, promise.

So, first the new dining room:


And the new office/junk/catch all area:

One thing I already know that I love is this:
It is a fabric art wall hanging that I made this afternoon. Ikea fabric baby!

The Love of a Podcast

Once both my my kids entered school I became slightly obsessed with something. Podcasts. I am hooked and addicted.

My previous addiction, NPR, has slowly faded and has been replaced by the constant "refreshing" of my i-tunes podcast page, anxiously awaiting some new episodes. Of course, a lot of those podcast are from NPR. Go figure.

Podcasts are great for a variety of reasons. You can listen anywhere and while doing anything. I listen when I clean, fold laundry, run, and mindlessly search the Internet. With the house being quiet four hours a day, having somebody talk to me, whether it is about politics, religion or in french, is a welcome addition.

I have been wanting for a while to post my favorite podcasts, just because I love them so much. So here we go!

Freakonomics

Did you read the book? Well, the podcast is another amazing and extremely interesting economical view of the world. One of my recent favorites is about hitchhiking. The stories are fascinating, the facts are astounding and the production is entertaining.

Left, Right & Center

A political podcast which discusses various current events from all political spectrum's. This show is only produced once a week and my only complaint is that I wish it were longer. The 30 minutes allocated for the show never seems to be enough time to adequately hear all sides, but still a good program.

To The Point

I love this podcast. It is hosted by Warren Olney who is such an intriguing interviewer. Luckily for me, it is a daily show so I get to listen to Olney's gruff and sexy voice often. This is a must on any i-pod.

Live Wire

Portland quirky-ness, meets Saturday Night Live, meets radio theater. Throw in some funky and current musical artists and you have Portland's equivalent of A Prairie Home Companion.

Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me

I kind of think this show does not need an explanation. Am I right?

Real Time With Bill Maher

Don't hate me because I like this show. It is a total guilty pleasure. If you don't like cussing and making fun of everybody under the sun, this show is not for you.

Science Friday

Who doesn't love Ira Flatow? He has a voice that was made for radio and I love his quirky-ness and laugh. This is a weekly show (duh, on Friday's) that deals with all things science related.

Slate Magazine

Ok, so Slate publishes a variety of podcasts, of which I enjoy most of them. I love the Culture Gabfest and the Political Gabfest, but one of my favorites has got to be a new one called Civil War Stories. It is freaking amazing. They only produce one a month, so you have got to be patient. Everything about the Civil War Stories podcast is great: the music, the narrator, the stories. Totally worth listening to.

Search the Scriptures

I got hooked on this podcast about six months ago and shortly after, found out that the author was coming to our church for a lecture. She is such an intellectual and gifted woman. I love her frank and honest talks. Her research into the Scriptures, from the Father's point of view, is so refreshing and interesting. I only wish she did not work, was not so busy, and only had time to podcast. My life would be better if hers had more free time.

What is great about this podcast, is that Presvytera Jeannie started her Biblical review from "In the beginning." Amazing. VERY worth listening too.

Teach Me Thy Statues

Another Biblical overview, but with the New Testament.

Worship In Spirit & In Truth

Who knew Fr. Hopko was so funny? He is wildly entertaining and I love listening to him explain the Divine Liturgy so clearly. A wonderful listen.

Food, Faith & Fasting

The author of this blog covers a lot of basic information, but with an Orthodox twist. I also like her sweet voice; it is a fun and short podcast with good information.

***

All Done! Now you all know how I spend most days: cleaning and listening! All these are free podcasts, I am not sure I could bring myself to pay for one!

If there are other great podcasts out there that I should be listening to, let me know! I would love to add them into my rotation.

November 2010

Here is what was happening last November.

Visiting Grandma Kay in the snow

Peaches was still obsessed with purple hair

Peaches' God-family came down for Thanksgiving (& cleaned)

Slim lost his first tooth

A trip to the zoo and a rare family photo!

Indroducing...

The newest member of the Knight family... Pippin! Yep, we took the bold step of getting a puppy. He was eight weeks old when my brother and his wife shipped him from Alaska down to us. The kids were SO excited to have a pet, and, for the most part, have been really great with him.

Pippin is half black lab and half weimaraner. His mother, Katie (weimaraner), belongs to my brother and his family in Alaska. They typically breed her, but this one time, she got loose and well, she met the wrong breed of dog. A couple months later, bam! Eleven mixed puppies. My sister-in-law is basically a dog freak, so she knows everything there is to know about them. She watched the litter, kept her eyes open for the best mannered dog, and reserved him for us.

So far, I think things are going great. This is my first time having a puppy and they are definitely a lot of work. Basically like having another baby. Except this one I can leave at home unattended for a couple hours at a time!

Since Pip is half lab, he is very active. He LOVES going on hikes and long walks, then comes home and crashes. It is so cute! He is extremely soft and cuddly, sometimes falling asleep in my lap on the couch. He is getting very attached to Claire, following her every move on our walks. If she walks circles around a tree, he does. If she has to balance on the curb, he is mimicking her perfectly.

Since he is a puppy, he tries to eat everything. Seriously, everything. The good thing about this, is that it is really encouraging myself and the kids to keep things off the floor and put away. I have not had Legos all of the living room for a week now! My feet love it!

The above pictures were all from the first couple of days with Pip. He has already grown since then! We have only had him a week and a half!

This picture is from Forest Park, one of our favorite places to hike. In fact, it is where we are off to now!

SO Much Better Than Last Year

Exactly one year and three days ago, I was standing in church listening to the massive rainfall that morning. It was October 10th, 2010. I remember being amazed at the pounding and pouring that morning. I also remember not paying too much attention during Liturgy that day; and feeling very sorry for myself.

You see, a few weeks before that, I had developed a stress fracture in my left foot while I was training for the Portland Marathon. The stress fracture was so bad, that my doctor instructed me not to run the race and to basically stay away from running for 2-4 months. I know my inconsistent training is how I developed the injury. Training for a marathon requires a lot of 8+ mile runs, something I could not do with children and Hurricane's unpredictable work schedule. So, I ran on the weekends and then ran more consistently when the kids started school in September. My foot obviously did not like that, and protested the best way it knew how.

So that fateful Sunday morning, while the rest of the competitors were running in the massive downpour, I was bemoaning the fact that I spent $140 on a race that I would never run. I stared at the shirt and bag that falsely advertised my athletics. Humph.

In January 2011, things started feeling better. I did a 5K race with my sister-in-law and started running low mileage about twice a week. I registered for the Portland Half Marathon at the end of the month and by the middle of summer was in a consistent training schedule.

And boy, did it pay off!

This past Sunday, the 9th, I did the half marathon with my girlfriend who flew up from Utah. It was amazing!

Speaking of amazing, I have to brag a bit about Nicole. So, Nicole. She is pretty much the funniest person you will meet. Not only does she have a wonderful personality, she also has a positive attitude and a lot of courage. You see, she only started running this year. That is right! This year! Like me, she signed up for the half at the end of January. Like me, she started with a consistent training in the summer. However, unlike me, she did all her training on a treadmill! She only ran outside 4 times before coming to Portland for the half! She even did the longest training run, 10 miles, on a treadmill! How crazy is that? Pretty crazy!

But wait, maybe it was not so crazy when I tell you how much she rocked the half. Her first one. Ever. Well, here are her stats:

Half Marathon official time: 2:01
Official Pace: 9:18/mile
Overall Results: 443 out of 2272 (top 19%)
Women Results: 210 out of 1668 (top 13%)
Age Group Results: 29 out of 205 (top 14%)

I am SO proud of how well she ran. It was so much fun having her here for the extended weekend. I loved running with her and I cannot wait to do the next one!

Here are some pictures from the weekend:


Claire loved having someone around who actually knew how to fix her hair:


Hanging out with Claire at the LDS Portland Temple grounds Friday afternoon:

Another Build

Remember Slim's room? It was literally a sea. Dark blues, browns, and light blue on every wall, with various sea animals painted everywhere.

Here is what it looked like the first time we walked into this house, back in January 2010.


Cute, but not almost seven-year-old-boy cute.

Finally, back towards the end of August, I was ready to tackle his room. I know what you are thinking. "August? The end of August? You mean immediately after you were physically, emotionally and financially drained from finishing your back patio and tree fort?"

Yes. You are correct. A mere days after we totally finished our back yard projects, I started feeling that feeling. That feeling you get when you want something changed and you want it changed now. This seems to be a constant struggle of mine. Finish one major project only to start another.

But this one was fun. Slim was ready for his room to be painted and I also promised him a bunk bed.

Since starting to build earlier this year, I have been dying for a bigger project. My desk was fun, but I wanted a more complicated challenge. A bed for Slim seemed perfect. This summer, in Alaska, Slim and his cousin slept on his newly build loft bed that my brother had made. This seemed like a great option. Only, unlike my nephew's bed, I did not want Slim's bolted into the wall.

Also, since my kids still like to sleep together, a loft bed seemed like the perfect fit. Peaches' bed would just go underneath, then, in the event she is ready for her own space, her bed can move and Slim still has a ton more space for Lego building.

I found some decent plans online and modified them to fit what we would need. Since I am cheap, I also bought build-grade lumber, which is only sanded with about 80 girt. Since this was a bed, I had to hand sand (also 'cause I am cheap & did not want to invest in a sander) all the wood for the bed three times. That is a lot.

Then I had to prime and seal the wood before I could paint it.

So, in between sanding, sealing, and painting I worked on the room itself. I primed the walls. I primed the ceiling (yes, they painted the ceiling! WHY?) I put up new trim and base boards. Because I wanted Slim's room to match Peaches', I hung chair rail and decided to paint the walls two colors.

Total the room took 10 days from start to finish. I also painted Slim's desk chair to match the bed and re-upholstered it with fun fabric. I bought individual shelves from IKEA and painted them to match the walls. They each have a reading light by their bed.

All in all, I think it turned out perfect. The only thing left to do is curtains. I have the fabric (a duvet cover from IKEA's 75% off bin) I just have to sew them!

Take a look at the progress!

Here you can see where I sample colors. You can also see the blue ceiling that I had to paint over!

Decided on blue and grey!
Ready for chair-rail, trim, and base:

Base, chair-rail, and trim up!

And voila!


Future fixes? Wood floors, new windows, new light fixture and the closet! But that will just have to wait...

Japanese & Rose Gardens

On what now is to be considered our last sunny summery day in Portland, I decided to take Peaches out to have some fun. Since she is most likely going to start full-day school in January, I am trying to make a conscious effort to spend quality time with her in the short time we have before Slim comes home.

Some days are better than others. This day, was perfect.

We got our Cultural Pass from the Library which covers admission for 2 adults and 2 children to various places in Portland. We decided on the Japanese gardens, and we invited a friend. Since the Japanese Gardens are right next to the Rose Garden, we enjoyed that too. Portland is the Rose City after all!

Here are the pictures: