Domestic Diva

German I: Week 2

2012-01-31T15:03:00.000-08:00

So, German class is still awesome! Starting this week, part of our homework is to write a short German composition. This is, unfortunately, the extent of what I know how to say in German... but after only 2 classes... yay!

Ich heisse Mary Beth. Mein Nachname ist -----. Ich wohne in NC und ich komme aus NC. Ich arbeite für IBM. Ich bin Programmierer (?). Mine Mann heisst Jacob. Tschau!

I can also spell. I got a "Very Good" this week after spelling my very long name and my very long city. I practiced the alphabet really hard. No one is going to catch me off guard with a "Buchstabieren Sie, bitte?"

German Breakthrough and Memory work

2012-01-26T10:58:00.000-08:00

Today I had a major breakthrough. After halfheartedly trying to expose myself to German for about a year, I saw a German sentence that didn't look completely foreign. In fact, I thought I could translate it. And with a little help from google translate, I discovered I could! This is the first time that German hasn't looked completely unapproachable to me!

I've also been reading the German Way - a website for expats in German culture. Today I read a post of tips for suriviving the metric system (with a much more thorough explanation for each) I'm trying to memorize as much as possible before I go. The more I learn now, the easier the transition should be, right?

So things I'm trying to memorize this week:

Celsius * 2 + 30 = Fahrenheit
Kilometers * .6 = Miles
Meters * 3 + 10% of meters = feet
Liters / 4 = gallons
Liters = 1.05 quarts (A liter bit more)
Kilos * 2 + 10% of kilos = pounds
5 cm = 2 inches
Liters /100 km -> mpg? You're just out of luck.

wohnen (to live)

ich	wohne	wir	wohnen
du	wohnst	ihr	wohnt
er/sie/es	wohnt	Sie	wohnen

heissen (to be named)

ich	heisse	wir	heissen
du	heisst	ihr	heisst
er/sie/es	heisst	Sie	heissen

sein (to be)

ich	bin	wir	sind
du	bist	ihr	seid
er/sie/es	ist	Sie	sind

Drinking from the Fire Hose

2012-01-25T12:14:00.000-08:00

I have often wondered if I should carefully keep this blog about my domestic endeavors, or if it's okay for my personal life to trickle in? Well, I have hit a brick wall in my brain, so here comes the personal stuff.

Jacob and I never do change halfheartedly. 3 years ago, it was "Graduate, start a new job, move, get married, adopt a dog." And while I think that time of life will be hard to top, we are certainly coming close right now.

In the last month Jacob and I have changed churches (which was difficult, complicated, and emotional...) and I started a new job. So by day, I'm absorbing training materials and shadowing sessions until my brain is about to explode... and then at night we're learning -either in a Membership class at church, in our new German class, in our new small group at our new church...

Forget domestic diva - I'm never home to domestic ANYTHING! Right now it's a bit more of drowning diva. And as much as I am loving my new job and my new church, it will truly be a wonder if I survive the next few weeks.

German!

2012-01-24T12:16:00.000-08:00

Jake and I took our very first German class last night. The professor is absolutely delightful and aside from learning a smattering of German culture - I can now say all the letters in the alphabet (for spelling outloud), pronounce their sounds, and I can say: Ich heisse Mary Beth. Ich wohne in die USA.

Whee!!

Looking Forward

2012-01-13T11:11:00.000-08:00

My very wise mother always tells me that everything in life is a tradeoff.

I chose to get married young, which means I get to "grow up" with my husband. But at the same time I miss being a young single professional woman in her 20's. I'm not saying one of these is better or worse, they're just different. And you always have to choose something.

Previously in my life, all goodbyes have been looking forward. I said goodbye to high school friends because I was looking forward to college. I graduated from college and said goodbye as I was looking forward to entering the professional world and getting married. But today, for the first time, the goodbye was bittersweet.

While I am looking forward to my new job, today I left an entire team of wonderful, smart, and fun coworkers and friends who I will deeply miss.

I will miss our silly lunch conversations. I will miss the absurdity and the geekiness. I will miss the love and the care. I will miss seeing them each day. I will miss their collaboration. I will miss their support.

And while I am looking forward to the new opportunity that life has presented me, I am also keenly aware that I am leaving behind something wonderful.

Christmas Gifts Part 2: Aprons

2012-01-07T11:42:00.000-08:00

The other craft I attempted to do for Christmas this year was this "One Hour Apron".

One hour my foot.

I have attempted to sew in the past. My mom has taught me enough that i could sew a button back on by hand... and I made a dress in High School...

Here are the things I learned

1. Patterns written by people who know how to sew, are usually written FOR people who know how to sew. Not being one of these people proved to be a problem.

2. Pinning is your friend. Pin EVERYTHING. Thoroughly. I pulled apart these aprons dozens of times, because fabric slipped, bunched, or otherwise moved while sewing.

3. Sewing is the smallest part of sewing. Most of it is cutting, ironing, pinning, scratching your head, ironing again, re-pinning... all for a glorious 15 seconds of pushing the pedal on the sewing machine. Then you're back to the squinting, scratching, pinning and ironing again.

4. Don't be fooled by the above fact. Go slow for all that is good and right in this world and do all the ironing and pinning and squinting, and even basting before you stitch. Or else, you too can pull everything out over and over and over and over again.

In the end, I learned a lot, and I still have to finish one stinking stitch on my sister's apron. (Mom has had me pull that single stitch out at least 10 times.) But I ended up with 3 nice looking aprons and I might even attempt to sew something again in the future. Well... maybe.

20 Questions for a 2011 New Year’s Reflection

2011-12-31T16:44:00.000-08:00

1. What was the single best thing that happened this past year?

Adopting Jasmine and watching her and Tölpel learn to love each other.

2. What was the single most challenging thing that happened?

Losing a sense of security that everything would be ok - between the tornado and the pitbulls, I really felt like I lost a childhood innocence of safety that was really hard for me.

3. What was an unexpected joy this past year?

Promotion at work!! :)

4. What was an unexpected obstacle?

Some depression unexpectedly made an appearance this year. I'm moving past it, but it was difficult just realizing that something I thought I conquered 4 years ago was coming back.

5. Pick three words to describe 2011.

growth, change, surprise

6. Pick three words your spouse would use to describe your 2011 (don’t ask them; guess based on how you think your spouse sees you).

growth, mother (of the dogs), peacemaking

7. Pick three words your spouse would use to describe their 2011 (again, without asking).

graduation, job, change

8. What were the best books you read this year?

A Song of Ice and Fire books 3-5... Or The Wheel of Time books 1-4. I've really enjoyed my fantasy novels this year.

9. With whom were your most valuable relationships?

my sister, my mom, my husband. And several dear friends from church.

10. What was your biggest personal change from January to December of this past year?

Making the decision to leave the church that I love. While we haven't fully transitioned to our new one yet, letting go of a place we love so much and don't want to leave, and surrendering to where God seems to be leading was really hard for me.

11. In what way(s) did you grow emotionally?

I'm learning some determination and perseverance.

12. In what way(s) did you grow spiritually?

I'm learning to pray and trust God. I like control, but I'm slowly learning that it's really better when He is in control.

13. In what way(s) did you grow physically?

Out, around the waist, mostly. :)

14. In what way(s) did you grow in your relationships with others?

Several good friends have moved away (or already lived far away) and I feel like I've done a little bit of a better job keeping up with those friends and treasuring them.

15. What was the most enjoyable part of your work (both professionally and at home)?

Professionally - when I have a really difficult bug and I finally solve it. There is no greater feeling. At home, cooking a really delicious meal.

16. What was the most challenging part of your work (both professionally and at home)?

At work, dealing with frustrations brought on tight deadlines, miscommunications, and never working face to face with people. And home... finding the time and motivation to keep the house running etc.

17. What was your single biggest time waster in your life this past year?

facebook

18. What was the best way you used your time this past year?

learning to do some creative things in my freetime (gifts, webdesign). I'm very much learning, but enjoying the right brain outlet.

19. What was biggest thing you learned this past year?

What other people think is not the most important thing.

20. Create a phrase or statement that describes 2011 for you.

The difficult things are the things that taught me the most, so I shouldn't run from them.

Christmas Gifts Part 1: Personalized Mugs!

2011-12-30T16:13:00.000-08:00

This year for Christmas, I decided to make my gifts. Having recently discovered Pinterest.com, I had plenty of ideas... I just needed time and patience. So craft number one was these awesome personalized mugs! They have names on one side, and chalkboard goodness on the other.

Given that I currently have Crafting Level 1, It was a massive battle of trial and error. Armed only with a picture on pinterest of a vase and an idea of the mug in my head, I set out.

Version 1 - First, I tried Elmer's glue. However, Elmer's glue is no where near thick enough, and I ended up with a droopy mess. I washed the mugs and then I wrote the names on with a glue gun. Then painted over it with chalkboard paint. They took awhile (I kept having to redo the names) but eventually, I came out with a beautiful product. Until Jacob took his to work. The heat from the coffee melted off both the glue AND the paint!

Back to the... er... chalkboard.

Version 2 - I did a lot of internet research (the very best kind.) And found that you have to cure a ceramic - this entails putting a painted mug into a cold oven, heating to 350, baking for 30 minutes, and then letting it cool. Ok, problem one solved, but a hot glue gun is going to certainly melt off during the curing process. I tried it just to make sure - and yes. Big melty mess.

Jacob had some ideas but in the end, after much trial and error, and a little exasperated sighing (ok, I was screaming something about "stupid mugs, why did I even think I could make something?!!!") we used puffy paint! (aka fabric paint).

I was very pleased and I hope all those who received them liked them. Plus, I leveled up to Crafing Level 2!

A Guest Post: Couponing 101

2011-12-06T10:24:00.000-08:00

Last night, my friend Erika taught a Couponing 101 class to my sister and I. My sister is a complete newcomer to couponing and I have tried previously - even having some small success at a Harris Teeter Super Doubles. But we both learned a lot! I asked Erika to write a guest post for the blog. Thank you so much Erika for teaching us your couponing ways!

Here's what I've shared with others who have asked for help. Isn't cut and paste a wonderful time saver? :) There are a few things you have to learn in order to make coupons work for you

1) Don't buy something just because you have a coupon for it.

If you're not sure you'll use it don't buy it. Also make sure that the store brand isn't cheaper than the name brand even after the coupon.

2) Learn all your local store coupon policies.

Some stores here have double coupons (give you twice the face value off) up to a certain amount. A lot of times that means that even though that particular store is a little more expensive, the items still work out cheaper since the coupon is worth more.
Also know how many of a particular coupon they'll take. There's nothing worse than digging items back out of the bags because they won't take more coupons. Here, Harris Teeter and Lowes double up to $0.99 face value (so a 75 cent coupon is worth $1.50) and Kroger doubles up to $0.50 face value coupons. Harris Teeter and Lowes will also only double 20 coupons per day. None of the other local grocery stores double coupons that I know of. Harris Teeter takes 3 identical coupons (if you buy 3 items obviously), Lowes Food takes 4 and Kroger only takes 2.

3) Learn the store's sale policies.

When items go on sale for buy one get one free, most of the grocery stores in let you buy just one at half price instead of having to buy two. Plus, because you are paying for both of them instead of one being free, they'll let you use a coupon on each item if you do buy 2. This particularly saves waste when it's an item that you just can't use 2 of.

4) Always try to match up the coupons with sales.

That's the way you can end up getting lots of items for under $1. Granted, if you're out and you have to buy it, use the coupon, but it obviously will save you more if you can buy the items on sale as well. For me this does mean that I might visit 3 different stores in a week, but I'm only buying a few items at each store that are on sale and am in and out in 20 minutes or less.

5) The biggest way to save money is to try and build a stockpile.

Almost any item that you buy will go on sale every month or two. So, if when a non-perishable item is on sale for a good price you should buy enough to last you a month or two, so that you won't have to buy it again until it's on sale. It's took me several months and a bit of extra money up front, but now I rarely buy things that aren't on sale except milk and some produce.

6) Be willing to try new things/brands.

While I do have certain items that I'll only buy a certain brand, when I was willing to start trying new brands of soap, deoderant, shampoo, etc I was able to save a lot of money by buying what was on sale. The drugstores make it fairly easy to get most toiletries for under $1 each if you match sales. Also be willing to try new types of produce. What ever is in season is soooo much cheaper than everything else. You just have to be open.

I have two blogs that I follow and both of them will tell you what's on sale for good prices where and what coupons line up with the deals. It means that I don't have to actually go through all the fliers each week to find the deals. The majority of the work is done for me.

I use the Smartshopper on the WRAL website
and the Centsable Saver Blog on the N&O website.

I will also say that I get 3 papers every Sunday so that I have lots of coupons to use when there is a sale. I know it sounds a little excessive, but since I only pay a little over $2 for the first copy and the extra copies are only $1 each, it's very easy to have them pay for themselves. I only have to average one coupon a week from each of the extra papers for them to pay for themselves. I don't know if you currently get the paper, but it's where I get a majority of my coupons. You can sign up for the extra papers for $1 through the N&O website and they come delivered to your door with your other paper.

Well, I know that was a ton of information and I hope it helps. If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask.

"Hey MB, what type of music do you like?"

2011-12-02T18:10:00.000-08:00

This is a tough question for me. I grew up with a Justin Timberlake shrine in my bedroom... and then rebelled against my "pop queen" self and proclaimed loudly that I really liked "Hard rock, like Metallica and stuff." As I got older, I determined that my tastes are pretty specific, but generally, my go to answer is "I like music with really interesting lyrics." This is easier than elaborating, but I thought it would be kind of fun to elaborate here on some of my "interesting lyrics".

So without further ado, a sampling of MB's all time favorite music:

Silly

Profanity and Unicorns by Rhett and Link (0:57)
Stuck Inside Your Head by Jeffery Dallas aka Julian Smith (2:04)
Word Disassociation by Lemon Demon aka Neil Circierga (4:06)

Sweet

Gracie by Ben Folds (2:40)
Nothing Matters When You're Dancing by Magnetic Fields (2:56)
Two Become One by Bill Mallonee (4:20)
The H azards of Love (the entire album is a beautiful and deeply symbolic story, but this is the beginning) by The Decemberists (4:19)
Long Legged Guitar Pickin Man by Johnny Cash and June Carter (2:38)

Moo Cows

2011-11-30T17:29:00.000-08:00

In our home we have two identical "moo cows". They both have equally had their stuffing ripped out of them, and have equally bit and chewed. It matters not, because this always happens.

They fight over every thing, but the "moo cow" thing is the most funny/frustrating (depending on how I'm feeling.) Even if I hand them each one toy, they both want whatever one the other one has. Oh my doggy children.

Anti-Microwaves: How to Reheat Pizza

2011-11-27T11:29:00.001-08:00

I hate microwaves. I hate microwaving food in general. Its one of the reasons I rarely eat leftovers and we have the constant struggle of whether to take or buy lunch. Microwaves leave food gross. So when I find a suggestion of how to reheat food, not in the microwave.... I take it!

I found this on (take a guess, yup!) Pinterest! I would add, that when he says "on Medium heat" he means it. I put mine on high because it was taking several minutes and i was HUNGRY.. and I got a little burned.

But I also got deliciously melty crunchy pizza. Delightful!

So go here to the foodwishes blog for great instructions on reheating pizza.

Recommended Blog: Pansies!

2011-11-21T09:01:00.000-08:00

Tracy, the wonderful florist who did my wedding flowers has a great blog post out about potted pansies. Even though the holidays are here, winter always leaves me longing for green grass (or weeds in our case), flowers and fresh veggies in the garden. The idea that it's time to plant pansies makes me very happy!

Read away! (And hire her if you have a wedding coming up. She's excellent!)
http://springwellgardens.blogspot.com/2011/11/diy-for-spring-weddings-think-pansies.html

Amazing Frosting Tip

2011-11-17T18:17:00.001-08:00

I am a new convert to Pinterest.com (and I adore it).

This means that I see lots of neat ideas, crafts, tips, and articles each day, and I share them there. However, i just saw a video linked from Pinterest that needed immediate sharing on my blog. If you use frosting tips and bags EVER... watch this video. (Here's the source)

Cross Culture at Home

2011-11-11T14:53:00.000-08:00

Last weekend, I went to a bridal shower for my friend Keerthi, and thrown by my friends Niha and Gagan. It was an amazing experience! I have learned so much about India from Keerthi and several of the other friends who were at the shower, but this felt somehow different. Well, mostly, because of all the beautiful saris!!!! I love clothes from India!

I mostly spent time with some new friends, Vedika and Marisha who are the wives of two of my coworkers. We had some really fun conversations. Vedika is a Hindu, Marisha a Muslim, both born and raised in India, and me a Christian, but from the US. We had some really fun conversations about religion and culture. And of course, about the difficulty of being in a new country away from all your friends. As I start trying to figure out what the future holds for me, I start really empathizing with these sorts of conversations.

Then we ate a giant plate of delicious Indian food. I proudly went to tell Keerthi how brave I was and how I didn't even cry because it was too spicy. She said "yeah, I told them not to make it too spicy." :p Oh well! It was delicious, even if I wasn't as brave as I thought!

Then, after some really fun shower games, Arti sang some beautiful songs for Keerthi to celebrate this time in her life. They translated them for me too so I'd understand, but I was just overwhelmed by the beauty of her voice filling the room, unaccompanied. Then there were some mild attempts at dancing... now... I'm not good at American dancing, but Indian dancing requires a grace and confidence that I simply do not possess. But boy was it fun to watch the others!

It was quite possibly one of the absolute coolest things I have ever done. Thank you Keerthi for letting me part of this day!

My coworkers

Carpet Magic!

2011-11-07T17:59:00.000-08:00

This weekend I came home and the whole house smelled like dog.

Jasmine had an accident, but more than that. The whole bedroom just smelled like dog, the living room smelled like dog, the couch smelled like dog... And I was just not happy about it. Especially since, now that we're treating Tolpel's allergies, he actually smells like a nice regular dog instead of a stinky dog.

And it had been a long weekend, so there was much crying and sighing as I looked around unhappily.

I've been reading a lot of blogs and articles lately about natural cleaners (including Heather's Natural But Normal blog), so I thought "Hey, let's see what some baking soda and vinegar can do." Amazing things. That's what it can do.

Amazing thing number 1: Stink remover!
I sprinkled baking soda on my rugs, on my carpets, and on my couch. Then I sprayed the couch down with a half vinegar, half water solution and rubbed gently with a cloth. For the floors, we had borrowed my mother in law's wet vac (and still haven't returned it, oops!), and so I put vinegar in the "soap" part and wet vaccuumed the floors. My house smelled like vinegar for about an hour, but afterward, everything was neutralized and my house looked great!

Amazing thing number 2: Spot remover!
I had 3 main spots areas I was concerned about.
- A food spillage spot on the couch that had been there since we got married (so 2 years ish)
- A previously sticky spot that was on the rug when we moved in (and had resisted a whole slew of cleaning chemicals)
- A dark spot on the carpet where mud got ground into the rug and carpet cleaners didn't help.

All I did was rub some baking soda into the spot, spray thoroughly with vinegar/water solution, and watch it bubble. Then I scrubbed a little with an old toothbrush and MAGIC, all gone! No discoloration of the fabric, but perfect spot remover. I was honestly stunned.

Anyway, I share these things because I am NOT Martha Stewart. I haven't bothered to clean my carpets since we moved in, and I only vacuum when I have to. I hate cleaning, I hate knowing what cleaning supplies I even need... Having a spotless house is a large and impossible waste of time. So when I figure out something quick, easy, cheap, that works on stains that I haven't bothered to get out in 2 years... well, that's something worth sharing with the larger community. :)

Kitchen Tricks

2011-11-03T17:34:00.000-07:00

As much as I love cooking, I can get easily overwhelmed by complicated meals. I have started doing a few things that I'm sure every cooking 101 class covers... but here are my favorite cooking tips!

1. Read the recipe first. Not all recipes are equal. Sometimes they aren't obvious that the 2 tbsp of butter are divided. Sometimes they have that treacherous word "meanwhile". *shudder*. A quick read of the recipe before you start makes sure the "meanwhile"s don't defeat you.

2. Prep the food! If you need 1/8 cup onion chopped and 1/2 cup bell pepper chopped, chop before you start! I only recently started doing this, and the onions would start burning while I furiously chopped peppers.

3. Relatedly, the most amazing "prep bowls" in the world - a muffin pan! Isn't this ingenious?! Only one dish to wash!

4. When measuring multiple scoops of something, count while pouring each scoop clockwise. Let me explain. Say you need 2 TBSP of sugar, but you only have a tsp clean. Fine. You need 6 tsp. No big deal. But inevitably around tsp 4... Or was it 5? Oh no, you've lost count. When I do this, I put tsp 1 at the "12 o'clock" and the second tsp at "1 o'clock" in the bowl. When I lose count, I can actually see where I am by where I just dumped my last tsp. Brilliant!

Does everyone already know these? I feel like I'm the last one coming to this party. And share your awesome tips with me!

Dinner Diva

2011-11-01T17:22:00.000-07:00

That's right, I'm back!

Just a little sampling of the meals I have made in the last few weeks. Apparently I am completely sick of fast food and have really missed cooking, because I was pretty adventerous the last few days. Here are my last 3 from-scratch meals:

1. Pineapple Southwest Chicken (previously blogged about.)
2. Stuffed Portabello Mushrooms
3. Chicken Fettuccine, homemade savory herb bread, fruit salad

Monday's meal was pretty involved for me, but the fruit salad was extremely quick and the perfect end to the heavy (delicious) fettuccine.

Mary Beth's Fruit Salad:
Yields 8 servings:
1 apple (honey crisp or other sweet variety), chopped
1 orange, chopped
1 cup pineapple, chopped (leftover from my southwest chicken)
1 TBSP agave nectar (a low glycemic index sugar substitute that is the consistency of syrup so it sticks it all together.)

Stir. Enjoy.

Nutrition
- Calories: 33
- Fat: 0.1g
- Carbs: 8.4g
- Fiber: 1.4g
- Sugars: 6.5g
- Protein: 0.3g

Kinesthetic German

2011-10-27T16:29:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, I decided to learn some German words through experience. I made German food!

Einen Sauerbraten - sour meat or sour roast which I have been marinating for 2 days. (It can marinate up to 10.)

Eine Kartoffelklöße - potato dumplins. "Kartoffel" must some how be related to potatoes or mean potatoes, because there is Kartoffelsalat, Kartoffelpuffer, Kartoffelsuppe...

It was DELICIOUS. Although, 2 people (one from Berlin and the other who has German parents) recommended that in the future I purchase Panni brand mix for the Kartoffelklöße. I think I;ll try that, because they turned out kinda wet.

Anyway, if this is what German food all tastes like, I'm going to be just fine there. Yum!

Good Fences make Good... Pet Owners

2011-10-24T16:23:00.000-07:00

Jake and I have rescued two neighborhood puppies now. Fortunately, both dogs knew where their house was, so I just walked near them, and they showed me home, and then I knocked on the door. Both owners were totally startled that their little babies had gotten out. I have to say.. this kinda shocked me.

Jacob and I have had 3 dogs. Our first, Tölpel, was adopted him from the pound right after we got back from our honeymoon. He's the sweetest dog in the world. But he was a runaway. They found him on the side of the road, and after trying to find an owner for a year, they finally turned him over to the pound. That's where we found him.

Then we got Kunos. He was a Basset-hound-Labrador mix and he could just steal your heart away with his adorableness! Also a runaway. We took him to try to find the owners so he didn't have to go to a pound or rescue. I posted information on every website, every shelter, I could find to find this dogs owners. Unfortunately, he ended up eating a large amount of fabric and we couldn't save him, but he warmed our home (and brought quite a lot of excitement, having two male dogs in the house!!) for a time.

And now, of course, we have little Jazz who's mommy wasn't taken care of... she was in a 100% kill shelter before PawfectMatch rescued her and then gave her to us.

But with respect to the first two dogs - both were runaways. Or in the case of Tölpel, I suspect he was a wander away - he doesn't really run unless there's a rabbit. Both of those sweet sweet dogs should never have come to our home. Both should have had long lives with their original owners. And how many dogs in our own neighborhood have almost had the same fate of life in the pound, hoping someone would rescue them?

Jake and I chose to get Jazz from a rescue instead of the pound. When we realized how many dogs are euthinized, we thought a going to a rescue would really save 2 dogs, because now they have room for another one.

I guess the point is, not everyone wants pets. Pets are not people. I get that. But if you're going to go through all the trouble to HAVE a sweet and loving pet...

Please don't leave them unsupervised in the backyard where they could possibly dig under a fence or run through an electric fence. Know where your dog is. I'm not saying none of ours have ever made a bolt for it. But we were there and went and found them.
Please keep your dogs up to date on their vaccinations and microchip them. That way if they do ever get away, they can be returned to you and won't end up in a pound!
If you are thinking of getting a pet, please consider a shelter. In this area, I know of http://catangelsnc.org/ and http://www.pawfectmatch.org/ which are both great shelters, but there are so many great shelters and so many wonderful pets needing a home. And it's in these shelter's interest to find a pet that matches your personality and activity level, because they want this to be a permanent arrangement.

Blog posts on the cutting room floor

2011-10-20T15:58:00.000-07:00

I often start blog posts and never finish them. I don't like the way they're going, or I might rewrite them a day later... I just went through and deleted all my drafts out of blogger. I thought you'd might be interested in the blogs that never came to fruition.

CAAAAKKKKEEEEE
Yummy and cheap-ish foods
Grocery Mission
work work work
Pathetique!
Age
Just a day in the life
Random acts of Culture
Mawwiage... that dweam within a dweam
Saving Money
Too much Structure!!
Life and Death
What?? An earthquake?? Here??

Unplugging

2011-10-17T15:49:00.000-07:00

I've been considering unplugging once a week... It seems like such a good idea. No facebook, no twitter, no obsessive texting. I am ALWAYS online. Here are the main reasons why I'm hesitating...

1. I need my computer and the internet for my job. I'm a programmer for crying out loud. This means unplugging could only potentially happen Saturday or Sunday.
2. I use the internet for EVERYTHING. I don't even have people's phone numbers. I facebook message or email. I actually get kinda nervous if I have to use the phone.
3. I love asynchronous communication. I love that I can say something to you and you'll respond when you get a chance. No awkward pauses, no feeling like you're interrupting someone. I am terrified of giving that up.
4. How could I do anything? I use my gps to go everywhere. I use google to find where I want to go. I only cook out of recipes online. I only watch shows that are online. Even when I'm camping, I use my phone to track how long I walked so I can plug it into my diet tracker... and speaking of.. I use weightwatchers online!

But with some proper planning and determination, I still might be able to work around these issues. I don't know... Would you unplug once a week?

Southwest Chicken Recipe

2011-10-15T15:35:00.000-07:00

I saw this recipe on FrugalFlambe, which I *highly* recommend. (click "FrugalFlambe" to go to the recipe) It's one of the food blogs I read regularly and the recipes are easy and tasty! I have a few modifications and notes.

Firstly, this recipe really wasn't expensive. We even used fresh pineapple and fresh cilantro but you could easily sub canned pineapple (which the original recipe actually calls for) and dry cilantro.

Pineapple substitutes: Either 1 (15 oz) can of pineapple or one cup of fresh diced pineapple.
Cilantro substitutes: 2 TBSP of fresh cilantro or 2 tsp of dry cilantro

Secondly, it was really tasty! A really amazing combination of sweet salty and spicy. Jacob rates my dinners on a scale of "once a week", "once a month", "occasionally" and "wasn't that a nice experiment". This recipe got a "once a month" because he felt that the novelty of the combination would wear off if we ate it more often.

Thirdly, and this is very important in my house... no leftovers! Well, technically I had like one chicken tender left over but I ate very light tonight. Normally this would have been just perfect for us. I will note, I would either half the chicken or double the salsa. The full chicken recipe would yield 4 servings. Even with it halfed, I was still wishing I had just a LIIIIITLE more salsa. Yum!

New puppy!

2011-10-14T20:46:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't been so domestic diva-ing lately. (but will be coming back soon, I promise!) To be honest, I've been just trying to survive. Jacob started a new job a few months back, and then his softball season picked up as well as several other responsibilities... and then we got a new puppy!!

Everyone, meet Jasmine. Or Jazz as well call her.

Having a puppy is a very new experience for us. Suddenly we have middle of the night potty breaks, lots and lots of chewing, and puppy jealousy! Tölpel, who has always been very obedient and somewhat uncaring of toys now wants whatever toy Jazz has. And she will take whatever he has out of his mouth if she can. Even when she has an identical bone already. But they are so loving and we are really enjoying it. And the two of them are really starting to get along. They play together and even cuddle sometimes.

And "mommy" and "daddy" are loving it!