Some of our favorite ornaments

As Mark and I have slowly built our life together, we've collected a few ornaments along the way. From the tiny airplane with moving propeller that he gave me when I flew to FL with them our first Christmas while engaged, to the glittering silver droplets my mom gave us for our first tree married, to our new ornament commemorating Dane's first year with us, they represent many great moments in our lives. Even on nights that Mark's away, I love sitting in our living room with the tree shining in the corner and just feeling warm knowing how lucky we are. It's been so lovely to be reassured over and over this year that God brought Mark and I together for a reason; we hope to have many more trees together and continue to add ornaments representing all the times we will cherish with each other. What ornaments mean the most to you?

My alma mater makes me proud

Holiday deals

Mark and I have always loved a good bargain, and we hit the jackpot again this weekend with a trip to the Crate and Barrel outlet. We had both sides of the family over for Thanksgiving this year and with our first real dining table, it was time to find some things to dress it. When we got there, we made a beeline for the clearance shelves and bins in the back. I had been looking for a great tablecloth, but the ones not on clearance were still over $60 bucks, so we decided to pass that up. While sifting through the bedding bins, I found a beautiful king-size duvet cover. It ended up being the perfect table cloth, and for only 24 dollars, we had a much more elegant table. We used some old drawer pulls we'd rescued from a defunct dresser for placards, a candelabra and candles left over from our wedding. Finally, I bought real napkins from Target and a bracelet from Kohls that we made eight napkin rings from. All in all, we had a great time making our own non-traditional, traditional-looking Thanksgiving table. At C&B, we also found a bin of ornaments for .95 each. Every one was different and beautiful. To unify them, I stuck to a palette of silver. We'll make use of these soon, as Christmas is quickly approaching!

Bedroom Style

You always hear that when a house is being renovated/redecorated, the bedroom is the last place to go. Whether that's because no one sees it but you, or it's too much of a hassle to tear apart your place of rest, it definitely seems to be true. It certainly has been true in our apartment. We've painted and arranged, searched craigslist for our first real dining table, contemplated colors, etc, until finally, we feel like we're home. During this flurry of activity, however, our bedroom has become more and more decrepit. First, it was just disorganized. Then we actually bought matching side tables. But the old ones are still living in the room. We craigslisted an ikea coffee table for the living room and now the previous one is taking up residence at the foot of the bed. While painting the other rooms and hanging frames, all the extra materials were conveniently set in our room, out of sight of guests, never to leave. I'm so tired of having to sidestep coffee tables, old blankets from college, piles of things for goodwill and other projects, as I'm just trying to get into bed at night. The one time I can truly feel relaxed and like no one needs me. The clutter and junk is like static in my head. I think it's time to clean it away and make our bedroom as comforting as the rest of our house. Accordingly, I've been working on what I want it to end up as, and have decided to do a neutral space for the first time in my life. I'm a huge fan of color and pattern, of bold and big. For our room, though, we really need peace. We see so little of each other now, and sitting in bed at night is our true moment of zen each day, especially on the ones Mark's home. I want our room to reflect that. I also want it to be warm and enveloping, our own little cocoon, that is (at least we can pretend) free of all the usual stressors (ie the moniter...). Hence, I think we're going to go with a darker color on the walls, which I've also stayed away from in the past. I've also been on a Hollywood Regency design kick lately, loving the chinese-inspired details and the general poshness of it all. I'm not sure Mark will go for foo dogs, but we'll see. I found this site this morning, with lots of fun ideas. I'm in love with the wallpaper, which we won't be able to do, but perhaps I can figure out how to do it with tape and paint. I also really love in the bottom photo how they've used a lot of traditional Regency elements, but still allowed it to be eclectic and fun.

Fair Madison

Our little family recently took a great trip back to Madison (which we still sort of see as our hometown) to visit Mark's parents. It was wonderful to see them and also wonderful to know that they were as eager to hang out with Dane as we were to let them have him! Mark and I spent the whole day together on Saturday, something we get WAY too few chances to do these days. We started the morning by heading to the last Farmer's Market of the year at the Capitol. We enjoyed some of the best pumpkin nut bread I've ever had and a strawberry-rhubarb hand pie while walking around the Square and checking out all the late fall produce and crafts.

Next up on the schedule was Ultimate Frisbee, something Mark and I used to do every Saturday morning. It was so great to get there and see all of our good friends from Blackhawk again. Although the game seemed to go on forever (given our current fitness level, not a surprise), it was too short a time to be with them and catch up. Such a blessing though, to be out playing frisbee on a gorgeous fall day at the zoo! Next, Mark and I took a quick trip back to his parents' house to clean up and check on the little bean. He, of course, was great, because of all the attention being lavished on him by his grandparents! We showered and stopped at Jimmy John's for some lunch, then headed out to the Pheasant Branch conservatory, where we've been checking out some houses online. We're not sure we'll end up in Madison yet, but it's been fun to dream about it anyway! From there, we drove out in the country surrounding Middleton to look at a few more homes and make a quick stop at Appleberry Farm. After dinner with the Andersons, we got dressed up and went out on a real date. After walking up and down State Street to wake up a bit (we haven't been up until 10 in a LONG time), we hit the Ivory Room, a piano bar. We put in our request for some Ben Folds and finagled ourselves a loveseat. While we sipped on cocktails, we sang along, did some people-watching, and just enjoyed being ourselves, alone, together. What a treat, and how it makes us remember why we need to enjoy these moments when we have them!

It's the clothes that make the man

Well, in this case maybe it's more like the clothes make the mom...happy. I met a couple friends from work for lunch a few weeks ago, from all spectrums of mom-hood. From one with older boys, to a new mom like myself, to a pregnant mom, to a maybe-mom-down-the-road. During our lunch, I was talking to the mom of the older boys, who became a very close friend while I was at Tyndale. She's given me great advice and been there to laugh and cry over all the craziness of the last year with me. I had dressed Dane up for the day, but typically, when I was at home, had been in the habit of just leaving him in his footie jammies. It just didn't seem worth it to get him all dressed up only to have him spit up or wipe snot across the new clothes minutes later. My good friend said something along the lines of, "I bet you're getting fun clothes for him!" To which I replied, "Well, yeah, sort of." It made me think though, about how I sometimes have been so caught up in the basics of taking care of him and keeping him well, that I forget to do the fun little things that make all the harder stuff more bearable. I talked to Mark about it and we decided it was time to buy some clothes for our little guy, clothes that I liked and picked out especially for him. We truly appreciated all the hand-me-down stuff that we've gotten, but it was so much fun to go to Target and BabyGap with Dane, and actually choose a few outfits. From a grey, green and orange striped onesie with little green sweatpants, to a bright red polo with a neat elephant printed on it to the bright orange chenille jacket below (that accentuates the orange hair), we've really enjoyed seeing our little man look so grown-up. Some days, we swear he looks like a toddler to us! All in all, thanks, Babs, for the reminder to enjoy the little things that we can do right now!

AND...relax...

The perfect snack, with Dane napping and the cold wind whipping the trees outside, for getting caught up on blogs and emails. Natural super chunky peanut butter and a banana.

Eating my feelings

So, one of the things I've realized since I started staying home with Dane is that when I'm stressed, I eat. When I'm lonely, I eat. When I'm bored, I eat. NOT good combined with more time sitting on the couch while Dane naps. I've always loved sweets, etc, but have really realized how little self-restraint I have when I'm alone and not busy. It's been frustrating to realize what's happening and still feel like I have no ability to control myself. In my past life, when I've been busiest, it's been easiest to keep in shape. When I have a schedule full of other people, I focus on that and eating isn't on my mind. Hence, I've realized that in my current life, one in which my visits with other people are few and far between, I'm filling that void with food. Does a rice krispies bar make me feel better long term? Not at all. But for some reason, it makes me feel decent in that moment. While I haven't been outwardly gaining weight, I have been feeling slower and have had much less energy than normal. Some of that is due to the lack of sleep lately (Dane's sick again, for the fifth week in the last three months), but I know that all the sugar isn't helping either.

I recently visited my sister in Miami, and one of the things she observed, just from talking to me, was that she thought I was alone too much. With Mark working between 60 and 90 hours a week this year, he can't be the support I need in that area. With all the craziness of Dane's birth and development, I've had trouble meeting other moms. I have a few friends from Tyndale, but my days are mostly spent keeping Dane happy. I've made a point to work out 4-5 days a week, and while I've met a few people at the sport center, I haven't actually been going long enough to make friends yet. So basically, I'm realizing how important community is for me to be the happiest I can be. It truly affects all areas of my life. I'm thankful God is making this apparent to me, never more so than this weekend, when I was able to spend some quality time with my best friend in Madison. The real challenge now is to do something about it. Since my good friends are now spread out all over the country, but not nearby, my goal is to make close friends nearby. Everyone needs to share their life with others. I'm going to start praying more about it, and would appreciate your prayers as well!

Food for Dane's imagination!

Especially in the last couple weeks, as Dane's been teething, I've realized the superiority of wood over plastic. Dane's favorite teether has not been all the bright, fun-shaped plastic freezer toys, but a plain, wooden spoon, carved by one of our parents friends. We made sure it was incredibly smooth, with no chance for splinters, of course. He loves it. We wrap toys around it, put bright socks on the end of it, and he bangs away, or chews the heck out of it depending on the day. Hence, I've been looking for more wooden toys with a little more lasting power than some of the other stuff we've gotten and I found these amazing German toys. Made by a company called Gluckskafer, they're beautiful and simple, things that will spark Dane's imagination rather than creating scenarios for him. Check them out!

Room for Color contest! Please vote!

Hi everyone - guess what? Mark and I entered our apartment in a Room for Color contest on a blog we follow, ApartmentTherapy. We chose to enter our great room, including the living and dining area. The photos were posted as of noon today and are already getting great feedback. If we get the most thumbs-ups, we'll move on to the finals. Please check it out, and vote for our house if you like it. Thanks:)

Fall Cookies!

During Dane's naps over the last couple days, I managed to make sugar cookie dough, then roll and bake it the next day, then finally, frost it a couple days later. I used my grandma's excellent, easy sugar cookie recipe. As I baked (and tasted:)) the cookies, it brought back many great memories of working on cookies with my mom growing up. Not too sweet or too bland, I always snuck a few of these when mom wasn't looking and probably liked eating the dough just as much as the finished cookies. Making these will be especially fun once Dane gets old enough to enjoy playing with dough and making his own art while decorating them. I've included the cookie recipe below, and the basic royal icing recipe.

Grandma Moyer's Sugar Cookies

1 C shortening

1/2 C margarine

2 C sugar

2 eggs

1 C sour milk (1T lemon juice, 1 C milk)

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. vanilla

6 C flour

Cream shortening, butter and vanilla, add sugar and eggs. Mix dry remaining dry ingredients together, combine with creamed mixture and sour milk. Mix until a soft dough forms. Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled. Roll out and cut; bake on a non-stick or lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for ~7 minutes.

Royal Icing

1 lb. confectioner's sugar

2 egg whites

1/4 to 1/2 C water

Combine ingredients until well-blended and smooth. Thicken with more sugar, thin with water until desired consistency is reached. Let dry for up to a day.

All the While

Earlier in the summer, my great friend, Andria, took Dane's first professional photos. He was still young enough that he couldn't hold his head up, so she got a lot of shots of him lounging. We decided instead of doing more traditional baby photos that we would focus on color. Although he only gave her about 20 good minutes of awake time, they turned out beautifully, so I wanted to show them off here. You can check out her blog The Prettiest Teacup to see some more of her amazing work, much of it of her own new bundle, just a few months older than the Dane-bear.

Plotting his evil "no sleep for mom and dad" plan for that night


Practicing his freestyle a bit

Kinderware?

Mark and I took a morning walk on Saturday to the Farmer's Market in downtown Wheaton. In one of the booths, we saw some adorable dolls that looked like they were handcrafted, but were apparently by a brand called Kinderware. Many of the dolls are made up of colorful felt or fleece balls, and I'm wondering how easy it would be to make them at home. For 24-50 dollars a doll, I feel like there has to be a way to create them for less. Anyway, if I can figure it out, I'll pass along the instructions!

Cool Rubber Totes

Thought this was pretty neat - I've realized I need bags that are more rugged now, as I'm not able to be as careful with stuff while also toting the munchkin. Check out these recycled tire bags - definitely not a typical "green" bag and I'm SURE they're more rugged than my current canvas purse. It does make me wonder what they smell like though; I could definitely do without that fresh rubber smell.

Craving a change

What do you think of the brown? On a whim today, I decided it was cold enough to get rid of the bleached out blond from the summer and go dark. Over the last year, I've become much more comfortable changing up my look. After dyeing my hair for the first time last winter, I realized that it's a much less life-altering decision than I had previously felt. And it's a fun change:) What little things do you do to indulge the need for change in your everyday life?

Calzones at home!

Tonight, Mark's bro, Steven, visited us and we made delicious calzones. Good for a crappy rainy day! They're easy when you use Rhode's bread dough for the crust. The "recipe" is below, if you can call it that, as they're so simple to put together. Nothing like calzones and some Funniest Home Videos on the couch:)

Home Calzones - makes 4 calzones 

1 roll of Rhode's frozen bread dough

pizza sauce

any pizza toppings you like

oregano, basil, pepper

Plan on 5-8 hours for thawing and raising the dough

Put a frozen loaf in a pan you've coated with cooking spray. It will end up growing about 4 times it's original size, so use a 9 x 13 pan, especially if you're doing multiple loaves.

Cover with wax paper or saran wrap coated in cooking spray.

Allow to rise for 5-8 hours.

Once the dough is ready, split each loaf into 4 even balls (or fewer if you want larger calzones)

Stretch until about 6-8 inches in diameter.

Fill one half with cheese, sauce, toppings and spices; seal by folding the other side over and pressing the edges together.

You can also add an egg white or milk wash for a nicer golden brown. 

Bake at 375 degrees until golden brown, about 20-25 minutes.

Enjoy!

Excellent (super easy) soup recipe

For all of you that like the ease of crock pot cooking, I finally tried a great recipe from one of my Tyndale friends. It takes about 10 minutes to put together and then after about 6-8 hours, is awesome. Mark and I make it without the green chiles, as he's spice-averse:)  It's an excellent recipe for freezing and reheating, and since it's so simple, great to make a double batch and enjoy for weeks to come. It would also be tasty with a nice batch of corn bread. Which will be especially nice now that the cool, crispness of fall is on it's way.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

4 chicken breast halves

2 15-oz. cans black beans, undrained

2 15-oz. cans Mexican stewed tomatoes, or Rotel tomatoes (I use regular diced sometimes, too)

1 cup salsa (mild, medium or hot – whatever you prefer)

4-oz. can chopped green chilies

14½-oz. can tomato sauce

Tortilla chips

Grated cheese

 

1.)  Combine all ingredients except chips and cheese in large slow cooker.

2.)  Cover.  Cook on Low 8 hours.

3.)  Just before serving, remove chicken breasts and slice into bite sized pieces.  Stir into soup.

4.)  To serve, put a handful of chips in each individual soup bowl.  Ladle soup over chips.  Top with cheese and green onions.

MMMM.

 

Mad for plaid (walls)!

My project today, and for the last couple weeks has been painting our foyer walls in a wild plaid to brighten up a naturally dark and boring space. Well, it definitely won't be boring after this. 

Along the way, we had some problems with the underlayer detaching from the wall. Not much we can do about that, but at least the mirror on the wall covers the entire torn up patch. It's hard to see all your hard work falling apart! 

I started with the same blues we've used in the other rooms in our house, and then layered on a black stripe. 

Which I hated. Crap. I didn't want to make it look like a jail cell...so after our incredibly busy last couple weeks, we finally went out and decided on a new color. It's called Ashwood, and is gorgeous! We originally wanted to go with grey, like in the rest of our house, but I decided that I wanted something a little warmer, so we went with a warm, almost taupe-y grey. We originally bought it for our bedroom, but I realized that the lighter shade would be a great fix for the jail bars:) We ended up with a much more neutral, monochromatic scheme. Love it, finally!

Our first real vacation!

Mark and I have been way out of the loop the last couple weeks due, in part, to our first vacation without Dane. It was definitely something we considered for a while before doing, but with Mark's limited schedule, it ended up being now or in a few months. We've both been feeling a little stir crazy with our very repetitive and lonely days lately. My mom and dad were kind enough to take the little man for 6 days, with our Aunt Laura filling in a for a few days. I know it wasn't a huge burden for them to take him, as they loved every minute. I really thought I'd be perfectly fine, but about 5 minutes after we pulled out of the driveway to start the trek to MN, I started crying. I guess when you put what seems like 24 hours a day for 6 months, you get a little attached:) As Dane's personality comes out more and more, we both fall more and more in love with the happy little guy he is. His giggle is the best part of many of our days:)

So after Mark doing a great job of calming me down, we continued on to New Hope, MN to visit some of our great friends, John and Jodie Swee. We met them through fun stuff at Blackhawk Church in Madison, like Frisbee and small groups, and have realized over time that they're like our couple double in many ways. We had some great times, including a delicious meal at Burger Joe's, a wicked game of Settlers of Catan, and even a barfing kitty, thanks to our housewarming gift. Ooops! It was a very good, relaxing time together and with them, something much needed for both of us. Mark was even sweet enough to run out and find a pharmacy for me at 11 at night when my allergies kicked in for the first time in years.

Then we continued back to Madison to see a close friend whose father had passed away after fighting through brain tumors. I've been so inspired by her strength and hope in God, given all the difficulties they've been through this year.

The following day, Mark's dad got us tickets for the Badger game, which was awesome. it went into double overtime, but fortunately the Badgers still prevailed. It was great; excellent seats, only in the sun for the last quarter, so not too much of a bad sunburn:) We had then planned on going to our friend Lucas' law school grad party, but for the first time in our lives, we had to get back to the little one. It was truly a wonderful week, and we made it without any disasters, so that was encouraging. 

Bleeding for light?!

I was just checking out some of the fun stuff on a blog I follow, and what the heck did I find?! Not sure I love this...but I guess if it really would make people be more frugal with their energy use, it's not such a bad thing:) I wonder how many people would actually USE the lamp once purchased. It's an interesting idea.

Step 1!...or, wait, I guess this is step two...

Finally, I started the process of working on the stuff I want to put on Etsy! Dane gave me a great 2.5 hour nap on Monday and hence, I had time to start the chair project. I was able to find a number of old magazines around the house and started cutting. While this is as good a place to start as any, I still need to find a chair and without the chair, well, it definitely won't be a chair project:) If anyone knows good places to find old wooden chairs for super cheap (my last one was on the side of the road), let me know! I was so excited at how ideas started flowing once I got started...I remember now why I loved this so much!

Yummy Salad

I just wanted to put up this super easy salad/dressing recipe that I saw on the Rachel Rae show. So simple, but you can vary depending on what fruit you have around the house that day. The great thing is the dressing. We've done strawberry, but are going to try doing an apricot jam with mandarin oranges next.

Salad - fresh spinach, or baby lettuce mix, sliced fruit, pecans, granola, whatever you like (we've done bean sprouts, trail mix, dried cranberries as well)

Dressing - 3 tbs. extra virgin olive oil, 3 tsp. balsamic vinegar, 2 tsp. jam or jelly, in these proportions to whatever size you need. Whisk until well blended, drizzle over salad.

Yay!

New pair of running shoes, happy little bug babbling on his mat, Mark's not on call this weekend! It's going to be good:)

Ch...ch...ch...changes

I had the pleasure of having lunch today with a few of my good friends from Tyndale. During lunch, they all asked how things were going being at home and it made me reflect a little bit on all that's different in the last few weeks. It's been amazing to not be torn between work and work at home; I love that I'm starting to learn more about Dane and how he operates. It's great to know the difference between an "I'm hungry" cry and an "I'm tired" cry. I also get the pleasure of being around during his happy times, when I was previously at work. I now have time to plan our dinners better and do more stuff around the house, creative and just cleaning-type stuff. Overall, I really think this was the best choice we could have made for this time in our lives. However, I was at a complete loss today, as I filled out the box for "occupation" on a passport application. What am I now? I realized how secure I'd been in my ability to have a good job and pay my way. Now that I no longer have the  typical "job" I was used to, I don't really know what my occupation is. However, if it consists of what I do all day, my title will NOT fit in the box provided. I'm a comforter-bottledeliverer-burpcloth-decorativepainter-householdchef-masteroflaundry-casualphotographer-juggleroflife who collapses into my intern husband's arms on the nights he's not overnight at the hospital...how life has changed! And let me remind myself here that my value comes not from all that I'm learning to do and love, but from the One who first loved me. If I can just keep this in mind, I'll be able to enjoy this time of our lives for all it's worth.

The colors of our house

When we just moved, we decided to switch things up a bit. This is something that, as long as I'm not an interior designer with other people's homes to decorate, will continue happening to wherever we're living. We've gone through a change for each home we've lived in since getting married, going from teal and various reds,

































to teal, red and various greens,

































to teal and various oranges/reds. I love being able to constantly change up our surroundings. It keeps things interesting (at least for me) and gives both Mark and I a creative outlet, which we're sorely lacking in this stage of life.

Our most recent addition to this scheme was a desk we found by the dumpsters, just right for our printer and a few office-y things. We did a quick cleanup and added a new drawer-pull, and voila, free desk! That matches our stuff! Here are some of the colors and textures that we currently have in our living room.