how does your garden grow?

I went out to my garden the other day to find these little babies peeking out, looking for some sunshine.

I was ecstatic.

 

living room update

This post is primarily about the pictures (and proof that I have been working on the house). I've spent the last several months working on the place, but at a snail's pace. Some things here and there when the urge strikes. But I'm okay with that. Well, sort of. On one hand, not stressing myself out over it and switching from task to task as the mood hits keeps me happy about doing the work. On the other hand, I wish it were flippin done already! I just have to remind myself to take deep breaths. Enjoy the process. Crank some music up and paint, paint, paint. Or move some furniture around and watch my vision for a room come together. I do think the process of it is much more gratifying than getting someone else to do it. I like to look around the house and know that I gave those walls a face lift. We knocked those hideous beams down. We ripped up ALL the stinky carpet and druuuuuuug it outside. I like this process and it's okay that it's taking me a lot longer than I anticipated. But where am I going with this? I promised you pictures!

Boyfriend finally got the pool table he's been wanting, and I got the living room/dining area I've been wanting. If you'll remember, I showed you how desperate things looked right before we moved in (here). I also have the before, before photos of when my dad first moved into the house. (He lived here for a couple years before we did)

There are many things I am still hoping to accomplish soon:

• Replace coffee table with two storage ottomans
• Replace temporary art above table with a secret project
• Fill the fireplace with candles (like the one here)
• Get Boyfriend's desk organized (in two shots you can see it in the corner)
• Do something about the curtains. I don't know what.
• New chairs for the table
• Paint the inside of the fireplace where it's all dingy?

That's enough of a list for now! Any suggestions for my evolving space? Please don't be to critical, I'm not sure I can take it yet. ;)

real food confession #2

I cheated big time. On purpose. And I do not regret it one bit. So there.

Last night, my friend Sarah, who I affectionately call Care Bear and sometimes refer to as Soulmate Sarah (because she is), and her boyfriend Taylor came over for movie night. Traditionally our movie nights are chock full of junk food and we PIG OUT. It's so much easier to do in your own home without the shame of carrying five boxes of candy, popcorn, hot dogs, and sodas past snickering movie-goers. Ok so the snickering may be a part of my imagination. Movie night at home brings welcome freedom where we can eat an entire bag of Nacho Cheese Doritos dipped in bean dip. We can shove handfuls of Sour Patches, Reese's Pieces, and gummy bears in our mouths. I can open the ice cream I bought to follow my rules and pour Reese's Pieces in the carton and eat it straight out of the pint, with no one to shame me except for Boyfriend who is too busy scarfing sour licorice to notice.

Mind you, I actually prepared for movie night with a boat load of real food. I did start out on the right foot. (I accidentally typed food there first...) We had roasted chicken, quinoa, hominy, and green beans. I bought ice cream that follows my rules (Haggen Dazs, people) in hopes of staying away from the boxes of candy I knew Sarah would have with her. But then she surprised me with the Nacho Cheese Doritos and bean dip. You guys. This is one of my favorite junk food pairings of all time. I blame Jennifer. She introduced me to the  duo in the fourth grade when we went to Corpus Christi with my family. We stopped at a gas station on the way, and that's what she bought for her road trip food. My life hasn't been the same since. Enter Sarah last night with what she knew to be one of my most beloved snacks. It was a sign. Divine intervention with the very clear message that we should of course continue to bond over junk food and silly movies. I obliged.
(Plus, I knew I was doomed when I noticed myself saving room for chips and dips while preparing my dinner plate)

So we ate. And ate. And ate. And ate. We also screamed A LOT. Sarah and I sat hugged up on the couch for 2 hours and watched Elizabeth Olsen become a terrified crying mess while locked in her own house and tormented by a creepy little girl and and some kind of swamp creature man. That movie scared the mess out of us. We loved it. The boys said they liked it too, but they never screamed so I don't know if I believe them.

Sarah and me at the Twilight marathon and Breaking Dawn: Part One midnight premiere. You better believe we had our fair share of food this day. 12 hours in the theater! It was so awesome.

real food confession #1

[written 9/10/12]

I'm hungry. ALL THE TIME. I thought cutting out processed foods, and what I'd call fillers in dog food, was supposed to leave you feeling satisfied longer. I am insatiable. Especially at night. Last night I ate dinner twice. That's two times people. Uno, dos.

Between 6:00 and 8:30 I ordered two plates of food at two separate locations. First I had a big bowl of bow tie pasta with eggplant, basil, tomato, garlic, and marinara sauce. Supper yummy! Two hours later I was ravenous. AGAIN. So I ordered street tacos (from a restaurant). And, oh yeah, I cheated. Though I'm pretty confident the corn tortillas pass my rules, they tasted far too delicious to have simply been warmed up. I'm fairly certain they were coated in grease and essentially fried on the griddle before being filled with, oh I don't know, 1/2 pound of shredded brisket. GAH. Did I mention like any good street tacos, they were piled with cilantro and onions.Then with my heavy hand, doused in tomatillo sauce. So good.

I also tasted a teeny tiny bite of the cilantro lime rice that came with the tacos. Not so good. A few weeks back I made cilantro lime rice I ruined so bad I cried, and it tasted better. Ignoring the mound of flavorless white rice was not very difficult. Thank God because I'd already cheated on purpose about 7 hours earlier. And that rice was worth it. Scold me if you must--I don't care.

So, if anyone knows why I want to eat like a horse now, please share. Also, let's not be too hard on me about the rice. And tortillas. This week is going to be much better. (As long as my mom doesn't stock the office candy jar with Snickers. Geez.)

the REAL FOOD challenge

I was trying to think of a clever way to start this post. Apparently writing in the morning, before breakfast, isn't the best idea. So you're stuck with this. Besides, I'd really rather cut to the chase and tell you about my self-imposed challenge this month.

For a few months, I have been declaring running goals only to fail miserably by the end of the month because I hadn't run once. Well, ok, I ran once in August. For approximately 12 minutes. Far from my goal to increase my run time to 30 minutes. So instead of issuing yet another running goal, I turned to food. This is the month of real food. Originally I was calling it clean eating, but I'm vaguely aware of reading a clean eating menu once and it mainly consisted of grilled chicken and vegetables. While that sounds appealing for a meal, an entire month of it sounds horrible. So, real food it is.

My basic rule is this: if I could make it, I can eat it. That's not to say I have to. Take Triscuits for example. The box lists three ingredients: whole grain soft white winter wheat, soybean oil, and salt. I don't have a clue where to find whole grain soft white winter wheat, but as none of those words appear to be foreign, and I can pronounce them all, I deem it passable. If you'd like to dispute this, you can go ahead and try, but I'll probably tell you to make your own rules and break them, and leave mine alone. ;)

So far I've made everything I've eaten. Sort of. This is the part where I would normally insert photos. Unfortunately for you, the meals I prepared looked so delicious that I scarfed them down before I could remember to take a picture. Sorry. I will try to remember to snap some photos as the month goes on. For now, you'll have to make due with the images in your head. Also, I didn't start this challenge on September 1st. Boyfriend and I were in East Texas with my family, and I was not about to miss my aunt's pea salad (which is loaded with Miracle Whip), ramen noodle cole slaw, or the ranch dip for veggies. I started Monday, September 3. Officially, it will be a four week plus one day challenge. It's good enough, people.

What I've had so far:
Monday: coffee, grapes egg salad (made with greek yogurt instead of mayo), spicy shrimp pasta
Tuesday: coffee; boiled egg; apple; spicy shrimp pasta and salad; roasted chicken with green beans, green chile mashed potatoes, and corn on the cob
Wednesday: coffee; boiled egg; apple; roasted chicken with green chile mashed potatoes and corn on the cob; nachos made with blue corn tortilla chips, cheese, black beans, green onions, tomatoes, and shredded chicken.

I've just realized that while the ingredients on the chips pass, they break my other rule of no fried foods. Hmmm. Well, I forgot, okay? So sue me.

For accountability purposes (and let's face it, so I don't forget again) here are the rules enumerated:

1. Fresh food (easily found by sticking to the perimeter of the grocery store)
2. If it comes in a package I have to be able to identify the ingredients and they cannot include: enriched, hydrogenated, or high fructose corn syrup.
3. No fried foods

I basically eliminated fast food, sodas, and "easy" snacks, which had become a regular part of my diet. It doesn't sound too difficult, but I've already cheated at least once. Hah! Wish me luck.

ps: I also remembered to take all my reusable grocery bags when I went to the store, so I got an extra pat on the back.

THE list.

You guys. I thought when you cross things off a to-do list, the list is supposed to shrink. Mine is growing. Seriously growing. Anyone know where I can find a team of fairies to come to my house and knock out all the items on my list? I make a mean chocolate cream pie, and I'm willing to trade.

If you don't know any fairies, perhaps you can just write me sweet messages of encouragement on a daily basis. There won't be any chocolate pie, but I'm sure you'll get a warm fuzzy feeling for thinking of me.

rut.

(fair warning....this was a stream-of-consciousness-get-it-all-journal-entry type thing. that is to say, it's a bit jumpy and might be difficult to follow. so...sorryforya.)

I started this blog on a whim. You've probably never read this, but that's where it all started. Brilliant piece of writing, I know. I wrote sporadically...when an idea hit me...generally on a monthly basis. What I really loved to do was stalk other blogs. I'm in love with YHL, Kendi, and Sydney. I mention them in casual conversation as if they're friends of mine (that's not creepster, right?!). There are a handful of others that I adore, but I keep coming back to those three no matter what. They inspired me to do more. So I did. For a little while. I fancy myself a writer so I thought it'd be easy to keep coming up with wonderful things to write about and I could really let my creative juices flow. You know what? It's not. Life gets in the way. I'm still in a rut if you want to know the truth. I've had writer's block for about nine months. Maybe you just thought I was prego and on a mommy hiatus. I'm not. Nor was I.

What I am is a creator. A crafter, wanna be writer, photographer, designer, jill-of-all-trades. Whether I'm writing, sewing, gluing, cutting, painting–I create. It's what I do. And I've been ignoring that. Don't you do that? You know you're happiest when you eat well, exercise, make time for the things you love...and you just don't do it. I've complied list upon list of thing I want to make, and my lists just keeps getting longer. I've done very little, and I think it's time for that to stop. But here's the thing. My "space" looks like this:

and I'd prefer it look like this:

There are a few things I need to accomplish in this room.

• A general cleaning is in order
• I need space for crafts
• Space for my sewing machine and related projects would be nice
• And of course, space for items from mary&nell

It certainly doesn't sound too hard. Maybe Santa will bring it for Christmas.