ch ch ch changes

It seems like everything is changing (I have a hard time with change) and I'm just trying to stay positive that these changes will bring about better things. I have a week left at my job and 2 weeks until I start school. T left his job earlier this week and I'm really proud of him for knowing that he doesn't have to take shit from anybody. I must say, it is nice having him at home knocking out projects left and right. He starts some new money makin' ideas later this week.

I haven't done a lot of cooking in the last little bit but the garden is growing every day and tons of food should be coming out soon. Other than that, I'll just work on keeping my shit together and try to enjoy on the current leg of the journey.

help wanted

I have worked at this job for just shy of five years. I'm leaving in 3 weeks and 2 days. So. Weird.

A week and a half ago I wrote the ad for craigslist for my replacement. Today, I watched applicants come in for interviews. As many of you know, I have the best boss anyone could ever ask for. My father died when I was very young and this man has been one of the few father figures in my life and I have nothing but warmth and respect for him. The family environment he has created here, the respect I receive (despite my age), the casual atmosphere...all of these things and more have contributed to a really positive experience working here. Part of me is really going to miss this place.

I am still kind of in denial that my world is gonna change a lot by this time next month. I want to go blow a bunch of money on cool pens and pretty notebooks. Oh, back to school clothes shopping would be nice too.

Food weekend

Wow, I really need to get some photos of our kitchen on here. We aren't quite finished yet and I bought the new floor tiles last weekend so perhaps when we get the floor done I will get some photos up. I swear I cleaned the kitchen 7 times this weekend, as we used the shit outta it. Thursday night I made citrus zucchini spaghetti and it was fresh, summery, and really good. Spaghetti was merely the noodle, no red sauce included.

http://www.rookie-cookie.com/2009/09/birds-citrus-zucchini-spaghetti.html

I'm kind of obsessed with rookie cookie if you can't tell. And I feel like all I write about these days is what I had for dinner...hmm. I'm infatuated with using the kitchen (but not the doing the dishes).
We also had a noodle-less zucchini lasagna on Saturday night. My bff found the recipe from an Italian g-ma somehow. It was hearty and good. I also made a noodle-less zucc lasagna a week or so ago BUT it was in a tart pan with a tart crust. Sooo good. Recipe was from 101cookbooks.com A new favorite vegetarian cooking blog, ya know, now that I can cook and bake :) Ok, last food thing I'll talk about: I picked up some basil at the farmer's market on Saturday morning. 1/2 pound, $5. Score. Made pesto, 'tis good. The End.

T had a friend over for some trench diggin' on Saturday, because uhh...we're going to have sprinklers!! Finally. We will also hopefully have some grass in the next few weeks. I will be over the moon when my weekends are spent in the kitchen (duh) or reading (novels, not textbooks) or napping in the hammock. I think I can almost see the finish line.

I start school full time (no job included) August 25th and I still don't really think it's happening. T was insistent that I take 2 weeks off work before I start school to do some transitioning for this big life change. Time off...two weeks...to do what?!? Long story but in the end we agreed on 5 days. My last day at work is August 19th. I am really excited but a little nervous at the same time.

Cookin' with gas

T finished hooking up the gas line yesterday and I'm proud to say we had NO LEAKS! I have been lusting over Rookie Cookie's recipes and made two of them last night. For dinner we had baked pasta with eggplant, sausage and tomatoes. http://www.rookie-cookie.com/2010/01/baked-pasta-with-eggplant-tomatoes-and.html

The veggie gardener heads out the door at about 7:20 so breakfast is a challenge for him. I made these whole wheat, flax and berry muffins to ease his early morning hunger pains. http://www.rookie-cookie.com/2009/07/whole-wheat-berry-muffins.html

It was so familiar and relaxing to spend the evening cooking and cleaning in the kitchen together. I love the team effort with the reward of delish food at the end. I'm SO happy that we have a kitchen to cook in complete with OVEN and our new KITCHENAID MIXER!! Smith's marketplace had them on sale. The artisan mixer was $330 and on sale for $300. The ultra power mixer was $300 on sale for $200. So we sacrificed 25 watts and 1/2 a quart in our mixing bowl.

We are so happy. We have had a running joke that the only reason we want to get married is to get a Kitchenaid. Now the joke is that we are never getting married since we already have it. I guess there will always be the attachements and a food processor :p

Hot hot heat

Our swamp cooler has been on the fritz. T was pretty sure the motor was going out because it would hum when you would turn it on but it wasn't blowing anything. For a few days we would take the side off and turn the giant wheel to get it started. Yeah, that only worked a few times before it died for real. It's been in the 90s in Salt Lake City and without the cooler going it is 80 degrees in my house when I wake up in the morning.

Friday night Trev came home BEAT and slept on the couch for a few hours (didn't even eat the dinner I made him! must have been tired...), showered and slept some more. I could handle the heat no longer and asked him to work his magic with the wheel to get it to turn on. Didn't work - SO we went to our home away from home (home depot) and picked up a new motor for $80. I helped him install it by handing him tools and holding the motor while he connected parts, disconnected parts and swore a lot. Those motors are HEAVY! My shoulders are still sore from it. As I was getting mildewy swamp cooler water dripped all over me, and my arms were burning from holding up the motor (our ladder has disappeared, if you borrowed it without asking, please just return it) and rust flakes were flying into my eyes and down my shirt I thought to myself "I HATE HOMEOWNERSHIP!!!" Friday at midnight is for drinking beer or playing wii or sleeping.

It took until the next day to fix it but it's working great now. I LOVE LOVE LOVE having a man who can fix things. Without him I'd be roasting hot, wouldn't have brakes on my car, no garden tomatoes, no NEW KITCHEN (I'll put photos up when it's totally complete) and so many other fantastic things.

Can YOU tell which is the old motor???

Moab

I went to Moab last month with two girlfriends. We had so much fun and giggled in our tent like we were 10 and having a sleepover. We snagged an awesome camp spot, got yelled at for the above mentioned giggling, hiked, swam, DUTCH OVEN'd and drankalottabeer. I also nearly shit the sleeping bag when a raccoon was walking by our tent and then started digging through our trash bag. I kind of have irrational fears of bears, mountain lions and the like.

We are hoping to make a girly camping trip an annual event.

Too busy

Life in the last 6 weeks:

Camping in Moab with girlfrends
TONS of yardwork
Good times with friends and family
Garden salads
Got my acceptance letter for this Fall
New flowers in the yard :)
2 years of home ownership this Friday

We also have a busy weekend ahead, we are going to T's sisters wedding in Midway. Better updates and photos soon.

xoxo

Mo' Spring

Wish I could say I planted this stuff :) I never really loved Spring until we had this beautiful yard. It's really exciting seeing our old friends come back.

5 weeks

and 1 day with no kitchen. I miss cooking.

Spring!

Pretty tulips

Sunbeam naps


On a side note, my car died last night. Horrible screeching noise. Sounds like death. I'm going to meet my car savior in a little bit and find out what is wrong. I'm scared!

Pro window washer

BACKGROUND: I washed my windows on Saturday morning, they are much more pleasant to look out of. I found a recipe online that used vinegar, lemon juice, dish soap and water. Trev came home from camping and got a shower, then it was nap time. I hadn't done much cleaning since I attempted to hike to the living room with Kenz, Dex and Luna. We left at pretty much the hottest part of the day -I think it was about 77- and our old, BLACK dogs didn't like the heat too well. We made it about half way and turned around. I think as the season goes on we will get them more in shape and probably leave earlier in the day too.

OK - I was vacuuming the chair by the front window and THUD something smacked the window above my head. I thought Trev threw something at me because he wanted me to stop vacuuming but was confused because he said he didn't care and that is kind of unlike him...
I looked down on the dog bed right below the window and there was a BIRD crumpled up :( I guess my cat brought it in the house and it thought it was making a get away through my clean clean clean window. I thought it was dead because it wasn't moving. I woke T up from his nap and (my hero) he picked it up and it bee lined straight at my head. I ducked and screamed like a little girl and went running out the front door. I thought since it was injured it was gonna fly right into my face. I walked back in and heard "out you go!" followed by the back door being shut. T said it flew off and Lily walked around the house meowing deep throaty meows...I think she's mad at us.

Here is Luna cooling off in her pool after our hike.

-_-

Trev worked ALL day Saturday, choppin' logs and doing other things that match his beard. I stayed home, knitted like crazy and watched Keeping up with the Kardashians. Shh! don't tell anyone, I'm embarrassed that I watch it, but not embarrassed enough to stop! (yet)

I have forgotten how much I enjoy down time on the weekends. I'm looking forward to having more of it once we get these last few projects finished. I finished a gift for a birthday this month - check me out gettin' stuff done early - and got a decent chunk of a gift for a June birthday done. Feels goooood.

So tired

We saw Spoon on Wednesday night and it was better than I could have imagined. I was blown away by how good they sounded live. No studio magic on Britt's voice. I saw Queens of the Stone Age a few years ago and haven't been able to listen to them since. They were so terrible live. So it was such a pleasant surprise that Spoon sounded as good as they did. They also played for almost 2 hours and when they came out for an encore they played 4 more songs. Wednesday night I didn't go to bed until 1, and then got up at 6:30 to drop my car off for another of it's issues. My mom found out a few days ago that they wanted to do surgery to remove her thyroid. She had it removed yesterday morning and I wasn't able to come see her until 8:30 last night. I made it home at about midnight and am soooo tired. I'm going to sleep like crazy tonight and tomorrow morning. I filled Lily's food dish with dog food (she's a cat), and poured orange juice into my coffee cup. I probably shouldn't have driven myself to work today HA.

Also, just because this is awesome, watch this video of Spoon live. This isn't the show we went to, but the drunk chicks arguing in the beginning is really funny. "There's a scooter here!" hahaha

On track?

As of right now I'm not sure if we are going to get our sprinklers in by the end of March. But looking at my post, what I wanted to do was measure and figure out what it is going to cost. We measured, I can't decipher it so I need Trev to go over it with me. We did however, do great with the front yard. Better than I expected. :) I will get some photos up when stuff starts blossoming and looking and smelling awesome. We have also decided that we are going to lay sod in the backyard instead of trying to do seed again. With a cat, a dog, and a garden that needs tending it will be really difficult to stay off the seed for 3 weeks. I found a place that does grass specifically for the local climate for $.28 per square foot. We should be able to do the yard for about $175. Yesssssss.

I am looking forward to April and being done with the kitchen remodel! I have 4 recessed lights in my front room and I believe our cabinets are nearly finished. Once the kitchen, lighting, sprinklers and sod are in I will be a very happy camper. I am not planning on doing any other "big" projects on this house. Homeostasis will be nice.

Shitty morning of shittiness

Let me give you some background:

Last Friday my mom called me to tell me she has nodules all over her thyroid and while odds are in our favor for them not to be cancerous, it is still scary to me. They did a needle biopsy on Monday and the results were sent to her Dr first thing Wednesday morning. He didn't call all day to give her the results so she went to his office this morning. The result: inconclusive. We will hopefully know more soon. According to statistics, even if they are cancerous, thyroid cancer is not very deadly. This is all in the back of my mind and probably blowing other things out of proportion.

We moved everything that belongs in the kitchen into the living room, so it wouldn't get covered in drywall dust. My house is a fucking mess. I don't function well in chaos. I gave my house key to Trev's dad so that he could get in and work on the kitchen and let the electrician in and what not. Trev and I have been sharing 1 key between the two of us, so it isn't on a ring or anything. We lost the key in the chaos last night and have not been able to find it. I had one of those mornings where you have to go back into the house a million times (I think 6 but that counts as a million to me) because you keep forgetting shit you need to bring. Getting into the house without a key is a major pain in the ass.

After I am finally on my way to work (LATE), my check engine light comes on for probably the ____th time (I don't even know anymore) since I've had that car. Can I just have a do-over of today? I seriously feel like I might scream at some point. Maybe it will feel good if I do.

Dusty

We had such nice weather last weekend and both spent ALL day Sunday working in the yard. I was so sore and tired by the end of it, don't know how Trev does it all day every day. But we got the leaves raked out of the front flower beds and I dug the grass that's growing in them out with a shovel. I did this last year and it also sucked then, but since we had put a layer of bark down, it was easier this year. Still sucked though. We are nearly done touching up the front yard for the year, though. I'm very happy about that since now we will only have to do maintenance type stuff on it for the rest of the season. It's nice to pull up to a nice looking front yard :D Here are Dex and Lily helping.

Last night we tore out the rest of the wall that is leaving in our kitchen. DUSTY! I put some plastic up on the doorways and it made a big difference. I'm really hoping to have this kitchen done by the end of April.

!March!

I have worn short sleeves for the last TWO DAYS and I'm going skiing on Friday! Gotta love Utah season transitions! I haven't seen any flowers come up yet but I am really looking forward to it. I have some pics of the first phase of wall removal but I don't have my camera with me today. I'm hoping hoping hoping that we are done with the kitchen remodel by the end of April since garden season really starts to take off after that. Here are some of the things I would like to get done this month:

Sprinklers -- Measure them (and not lose the paper like we did before) and figure out how much it will cost. Trev recently went to a sprinkler expo too so hopefully this will not be such the daunting task we have been expecting. I'm also sick of not having any grass in the back yard. White tiles, dog door, 8 paws...you get the picture.

Front yard -- Rosebushes need pruning, dead stuff needs to come out of the beds. With this warm(ish) weather I have really been dying to get out there and do it but we have been soooo busy. We have added A LOT of mulch to the beds to try and keep the weeds (mostly grass) out of them and there is really only one spot where it's coming back. Ugh and the dreaded blue flower stuff that spreads LIKE CRAZY with roots like small trees. Hopefully one truckload of new mulch will do the trick!

Exciting stuff

I'm even wondering if I should write this down, as that might jinx it...but what the hell!? We are finally starting to tear out our McDonald's from hell kitchen! We have since painted it "Charlie Brown," yellow walls and dark brown cabinets, but it is time for Charlie to go too. Trev is supposed to tear out the wall this weekend and the electrician is coming next week to move our electrical box (currently on wall that is getting torn out) downstairs. Trevor's dad does cabinets for a living so we've picked out some really neat wood and have measurements for him to start building the boxes. The electrician will also put new lighting in the kitchen and front L-shaped room. Soon I will be able to see when I knit or read! Really exciting stuff but holy $hit! It's a leetle scary to fork out so much of our cushion but I think it will be worth it and it means we are nearly done remodeling this place. The only other projects I have in mind for the future are putting in sprinklers and painting the exterior. Trevor recently went to a sprinkler expo for work and he is feeling a lot more confident about doing the work ourselves (like how I throw myself in even though I don't know anything?). The exterior paint job is also pretty minimal since our house is brick and we only need to paint porch railing, window trim, etc. We are getting there!

Spring is in the air

"Jade" (clever name for a jade plant) soaking up the sun this morning. Can't wait for this Spring!

Gorgonzola

So I made a delish pasta last night and it was refreshingly different than pasta we normally eat. It called for gorgonzola dolce, which I am assuming is Gorgonzola cheese? *googles gorgonzola dolce* Damn! It is different, and I quote...

"Dolce Gorgonzola is a younger, therefore milder, version of aged Gorgonzola. Dolce, by nature of its shorter aging time, is wetter and more ivory colored than Gorgonzola Naturale, which is drier and whiter and tends to have bluer streaks."

Well anyway, I bought a triangle of gorgonzola and after I used it all in the pasta I let Dexter lick the container. Partially for his enjoyment and partially for mine. It was funny to watch him chase it around while trying to lick every last bit. His face stunk like stinky cheese. A little bit later he started itching his face LIKE CRAZY and his chin and eyes were all pink, so I guess my dog's face is allergic to gorgonzola. Good to know. I washed his face to end the torture and it seemed to work.

Here is the recipe, it was seriously one of the best pasta dishes I have ever made.

• 1/2 cup(s) sun-dried tomatoes packed in extra-virgin olive oil, drained <--didn't drain 'em
• 2 clove(s) garlic, thinly sliced crosswise <--garlic press bitchez, and MORE garlic!
• 1 pound(s) whole-wheat spaghetti <--1 box, I didn't weigh it
• 1 cup(s) walnut pieces, finely chopped <--the more walnuts the better, the tomatoes and cheese are strong flavors
• 6 ounce(s) Gorgonzola dolce, cut into small pieces, at room temperature <--gorgonzola dolce does exist!
• 1/3 cup(s) flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon(s) freshly-ground pepper, shredded <--how would one shred ground pepper? I'm interested

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
2. Cut tomatoes into thin strips; combine with 3 Tbsp of marinating olive oil from the jar and garlic in a large nonstick skillet over low heat. Cover skillet and sweat (slowly cook) mixture 10 minutes, stirring once or twice, until garlic is tender without browning. Remove tomatoes and garlic with a slotted spoon to a pasta bowl, and cover.
3. Meanwhile, add spaghetti to boiling water and stir a few times; cook according to package directions. Drain spaghetti, reserving about 1/2 cup of the cooking water.
4. Add walnuts to oil remaining in skillet and cook, stirring constantly on medium-high heat, until nuts are fragrant and lightly toasted, about 3 minutes.
5. Add spaghetti to skillet and toss with walnut mixture over medium heat until pasta is hot and evenly coated with walnuts; transfer to pasta bowl. Add Gorgonzola, parsley, black pepper, and reserved cooking water(d'oh didn't reserve cooking water! it turned out great though); toss again until cheese starts to melt. Serve immediately.

http://www.delish.com/recipefinder/spaghetti-walnuts-gorgonzola-tomatoes-recipe?click=recipe_sr

Mmm MM

I just wanted to post one of my favorite dinner recipes, happen to be making it tonight :0 I love this recipe because the prep work is easy, it doesn't have a lot of ingredients and it cooks quick.

We cook a lot of vegetarian meals even though neither of us are vegetarians. We just love veggies!!! Here is a link if you'd like to read it without my commentary http://www.delish.com/recipefinder/penne-yellow-peppers-sweet-onion-2363?click=recipe_sr

Penne with Yellow Peppers and Sweet Onion

Ingredients
* 1 package (16-ounce) penne rigate or elbow twist pasta
* Salt <---I never add salt to anything, I copied this list
* 2 tablespoon(s) olive oil (I don't usually measure)
* 2 medium yellow peppers, thinly sliced (I usually use more like 3-4, they cook down and I love leftovers)
* 1 large sweet onion, such as Walla Walla or Vidalia, thinly sliced(I use 2! and I still get a smooch later)
* 1/4 teaspoon(s) coarsely ground black pepper (who measures black pepper?)
* 1 tablespoon(s) balsamic vinegar
* 1/2 cup(s) chopped fresh basil leaves

Directions

1. In large saucepot, prepare pasta in boiling salted water as label directs.
2. Meanwhile, in 12-inch skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat until hot. Add yellow peppers, onion, black pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook until vegetables are tender and golden, about 15 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove skillet from heat; stir in balsamic vinegar and chopped basil.
3. When pasta has cooked to desired doneness, remove 1/2 cup pasta cooking water. Drain pasta and return to saucepot. Add yellow-pepper mixture and reserved pasta cooking water; toss well.

Not so used to this

We have had so many positive changes in our lives lately and I'm feeling like I'm just waiting for something bad to happen. Does anyone else ever feel this way? Then I get anxiety as if my waiting for something negative is actually going to cause it...I need therapy HAHA. But all in all things are going really great. Trevor got a new job as gardener for this rich dude (really awesome guy, deserves a better title than "rich dude") about two weeks ago and he officially starts it full time on Monday! He will be gardening indoor (greenhouse) and outdoor gardens, so it will be year round. He also is responsible for maintenance on the commercial building. We are healthy, the pets are healthy, the house is healthy...I really couldn't ask for more. I will try to focus on being more grateful for where we are at and where our lives are headed than feeling anxious about what could happen.

Something to look forward to

Feeling kind of bummed out this week and am really only looking forward to picking out yarn for this knitting class I'm taking toward the end of this month. I am also looking forward to lounging with the cat and the dog and hoping that Trev brings home some fries tonight. The title of this is also a Spoon song and I heard on KRCL this morning that they are coming to town on April 7! Trev and I drove all the way to Red Rocks in Colorado in 07 and just missed them. Them coming to town is definitely something to look forward too.

Longer term I am looking forward to the garden! (Fuzzy baby tomato to help me visualize) I'm actually looking forward to both the flowers and the veg this year, seems like we get a little better at it as each season goes on. I made pasta primavera last night (zucch, yellow squash, broccoli, red bell, onion, tomato...all topped with fresh parmesan of course) and it really made me long for the garden fare.


I have two posts written but haven't had my camera handy to put the corresponding photos on too. Maybe tonight will be the night?