Christmas 2010

The Light at the End of the Tunnel

I should probably title this post is anyone still out there...but I think I know the answer to that by now. The movers are set to come a week from today and I can finally see the light at the end of this moving tunnel...of course...it may be the train about to run me over but at this point that is probably ok too. I really had plans to be blogging these past couple months about what was going on but what I didn't anticipate was how busy we would get and how draining the whole process is all around....we are never moving again...that's right I said NEVER.

Don't worry you haven't missed much...unless you consider hearing about an agent who isn't worth the money they get paid, broken pendant lights, and chair fabric drama worth reading....in which case...I'll have to fill you in later. I still may as we are still dealing with all three...in fact here is an update on that first one...our agent...I woke up this morning to the following e-mail...

"{Insert Buyer here} would like to do her final walk thru tomorrow, Wednesday, at 9:30 a.m. Don't worry if your house is in disarray "

Umm....lady not only is my house in disarray it looks like it came straight out of an episode of Hoarders. I may as well be buying the house next door to store all this stuff in...{have you seen that episode?} Oh and lets not forget the tumbleweeds of dog hair rolling around in my house...or the fact that my vacuum is currently being serviced so its not likely to get better before tomorrow morning...sheesh.

So there is your little glimpse into life right now and don't worry I will be back as life starts to settle...I'll leave you with my "happy place" that has helped me keep my sanity amidst the craziness...I imagine myself sitting here on our new back porch...in silence...without a box or tuft of dog hair in sight. The only problem now is finding someone to build this for me...that and banishing tufts of dog hair when you have 3 dogs...wait what was that I was saying about the light at the end of the tunnel?

Ramblings

Rather than stress myself out over having to come up with a unified blog post about something, I thought I would just ramble about lots of things...things that I probably could have written a unified post about...I just didn't do it at the time and now its time to catch up.

I have managed to drag myself out of bed for two weeks now {T-TH}at 5:15am to go to work early and use the gym. It's the new hair cut...or possibly that there were no big pay raises this year so I figure I'll take the perks where I can get them...two things I have concluded...ok maybe more {getting up early really makes me reflect on life}.
1. Don't expect to lose any weight only working out for two weeks...in fact the scale tells me I have gained some...It's muscle I say....MUSCLE! 2. I'm pretty sure the people in my office complex think I live out of my car since it previously and currently contains the following items...a gym bag with shoes, a hairdryer, flat iron, and other necessities sitting in the front seat...a patio furniture cover laying across my backseat..which could be mistaken for some sort of palet....a bag from Publix...a bag from Hobby Lobby...some hangers...and various water bottles strewn about my car...oh and lets not forget the roll of toilet paper wedged next to my emergency brake...it comes in handy when your nose starts running while your driving...but looks ridiculous to Joe Schmoe walking past your car. 3. People who are not service/delivery people park in the reserved parking behind two of our buildings and it really ticks me off (I work in property management) and you know what I have to say to you people...what makes you better than everyone else to think that you deserve a spot behind the building and if the building burns down and the fire truck can't get to the hydrant because everything is blocked don't come suing me....

Let's move on because that topic gets me really worked up...Happy Thoughts...Things are finally starting to bloom around here and it thrills my soul...my seasonal depression was really getting out of control with all the cold and rain and darkness...the most exciting addition is the peony bush that finally bloomed...they say it can take a couple years to start and I had given up hope since we will be moving this summer...but one surprised me and I got to see the fruit of my labor. My grandparents had them everywhere at their house and they have become my favorite flower for that very reason. I'll be planting some of their peonies at the new house and can't wait.

I bought a lemon tree and a lime tree...while this may not be exciting to some it is to me...and this is my blog. Lemon trees were in full bloom during our trip to Italy last year and I promised I would get one...and I have...promised fulfilled...I bought the lime tree just because I love margaritas and other various frozen drinks that you would put limes in and thought it would be fun...we will see how it goes...they are little twigs now...but I have high hopes for them...and the things I can create with their fruit...this just in...while I was looking for the link to the lime tree {they must be sold out} I discovered they have a pomegranate tree...watch out...I may have an orchard on my patio...

Wow...this post is growing longer than anticipated...and we really didn't cover a whole lot...maybe I'll be back soon for ramblings part two...I know you can't wait.

Once Upon a Blog

So there used to be this blog I wrote...back when nothing was going on in my life worth blogging about. Then all of a sudden, my life was thrown in to complete choas...work decided to majorly pick-up, house was going, going, has gone on the market, and my husband made me leave the house to be social...so on the rare occasion that I had five minutes to myself...I usually chose sleep. I have high hopes to return to blogging. Work has slowed down, the house is finally on the market, and my husband has decided to run off and travel all the time for work...although he usually takes his laptop with him...so that doesn't help you any.

Anyway...I have delcared my New Year's resolutions late this year...I have...drug...or is it dragged...I never know...my lazy butt out of the bed to work out at 6 am now for two days...so we're on to something. I discovered my first stretch mark!S! on my thighs this weekend and it was both highly traumatic and highly motivating...nothing against stretch marks I just don't have a child to show for it...just a lot of carbs...margaritas...and sitting. I'm also getting my hair cut for the first time in 7, yes, SEVEN months and I'm ordering a fresh batch of ProActive because at 26 my face, unlike my body, has decided it is 16 again....oh how I have let myself go...and this blog but enough about that...I am making a change I am making the effort to revive myself and this blog...and hopefully between those two things my husband and my readers won't leave me...well my reader(s) may have already left...so Happy Tuesday...See ya Soon!

For Your Viewing Pleasure

Everyone needs a little humor in their life and this is especially true on a Monday morning...so to get things off to a happy start...we'll start from the end of our trip to Utah. After three tiring and stressful days of skiing...tiring because I am so out of shape that I was practically out of breath just from getting on and off the ski lift and stressful...because lets just say SOMEONE got put on a blue approximately one day after completing ski school by SOMEONE's husband who wasn't paying attention to what ski lift they were getting on...he says he knew which one we were on and that it was the wrong one but it was just too late to say anything because we were already at the front of the line {hello: I would I mowed someone over to get to the right ski lift had I know what was coming...but I didn't realize we were on the wrong one until we were already on it and in case you were wondering there is no turning back once your are on your merry way up the mountain {Thanks for looking out for me honey}. All that to say...we needed something easy at the end of that last day...to make us remember that we all loved our spouses despite what they had put us through...so at the suggestion of our gracious host, we packed up and hit the tubes...snow tubes that is.

 I have to say I was a little skeptical when we pulled up and it looked like this place was the Chuck E Cheese of Utah...kids were everywhere and most adults at least had a child with them...but there we were the six of us adults ready for some fun. We all grabbed a tube and got hooked on the conveyor belt as it drug us up the side of the hill... My mother-in law, sister-in law and I decide we better latch on to each other rather than taking our lives into our own hands as our husbands chose to do, but after the initial run we were hooked and already discussing what our ensuing runs would consist of...backwards...spinning...and maybe even head first. We had lost our minds..and returned to 3rd grade.

There is no way that this event could have passed without videoing it and there is no way that I could not share...please excuse my shrill screams because I was staring death in the face while I trusted whoever was holding my tube and I had no earthly idea which way was up and which was down...nor could I see where I was headed...it was intense...if snow tubing can be intense...also excuse the drunken chant of the frat boys that gave us a push down the hill...they said we made fun of them when they busted it at the bottom of the hill so they had it out for us...so without further ado...Happy Monday!

Meet Bernadette

This is Bernadette:

and she is having a bad hair day. You see, where Bernadette is from it has been extremely cold and dry...thus making for very static-y hair drying. As if the flaky skin and breaking nails weren't bad enough now Bernadette's hair has joined the revolt. Bernadette isn't sure she or her body can take another minute of this dreary, cold winter weather....I feel you on that one sister!


{Editor's note: Please excuse the fact that I have totally lost my mind...because I have...my seasonal depression is out of control these days...and so I needed to paint something to make me laugh...and that Bernadette she makes me laugh...or maybe the fact that I named her. I'll be back with a Utah post but Blogger and I had a disagreement about my video this morning...apparently it doesn't appreciate my large HD video files...Happy Friday and here's to a warm weekend!}

Be Right Back

I'm here....I'm here. I had full intentions of getting some kind of update on here today but I ran out of the house without my camera...and what is an update with no pictures. So I pledge to be back soon with SOMETHING...if there is even anyone left out there reading....I don't blame you if everyone has given up hope of an update.

We made it in late (relative to my 10pm bedtime) Sunday night and I am ashamed to say my suitcase is still not unpacked. I merely pick the things out of it I need each morning while it lays hazardously in the middle of the closet floor....waiting for me to break my ankle...but in my world that would be less painful than unpacking my over the weight limit suitcase....

Now that I think about it...I don't even think I posted where we were going or that we were going anywhere...wow...we have a lot to catch up on...we went skiing...in Utah...and it was an adventure...like I said I'll be right back with more soon...

...and just because I can't stand a post without some kind of picture...and I truly believe spring will never get here...here is a picture of Max....in the grass...when it was green...did you know that grass can be green?? I think I have forgotten and all I know is they better be right about those 60 degree temperatures this weekend or I may not survive...my dry, pasty skin has had all it can take of winter.

Dear Martha

Dear Martha,

Yes you Martha Stewart. I just needed a minute to let you know you've let me down....I have been lusting over these lights since I saw them in my This Old House magazine months ago.

I have dreamed of having a place to put them...and now that I will actually have a kitchen island over which they can hang...you have gone and discontinued them...and not even ebay can save me from my grief...I am now left searching for a light to fill the SoHo pendant void in my life....and I have a feeling that the milk glass diffuser is going to be hard to get past...but I'll try to move on... it helped a little when I logged onto Home Depot's website in search of a replacement that I discovered they are now carrying your outdoor furniture and closet organiztion...I thought I was going to have to forget about you completely but now that you are going to be at my local Home Depot I guess we can still be friends....if you can help me with my closet organization needs.

I'm still upset about the milk glass diffuser,
Ashley

Square One

I have 2 posts currently sitting waiting to be finished...or should I say begun....I just can't do it. The constant rainy and mostly cold weather has rendered me all but useless. We had a slight change in house plans...we aren't listing until April which is somewhat of a relief so I will have two more months to live like a person who lives in a house...with all the dirty laundry I can stuff in my hamper...which has been welcomed back with open arms into our closet for all the world to see. Not to mention, I can actually come home and sit on the couch without the nagging pressure to throw something away. I am pretty sure I didn't get out of bed to shower until 11:30 on Saturday...disgusting I know. A life with no responsiblilties....we may never have kids.

I have also taken up projects {project} that were {was} long ago cast aside {read ruined from frustration} remember THIS project? I belive it started in the warm sunny month of August and then was quickly forgotten when my SAD kicked in about mid-October...all the sudden painting a green tree reminded me that is was cold and rainy and dark outside and I couldn't handle the memories of a warm green summer spent at the lake, or staring at the sun past 3pm...I also got mad because in theory a tree is easy to paint....until you try it and then it is infinitely harder than it appears...and taking on the mindset of a 3 year old who didn't get the stuffed bunny from Target they wanted for Easter {true story} and smearing the green paint all over the canvas did not magically make my creation look like a tree like I thought it would...ok I really didn't think it would...but you get the point...so there it lie...lay...sit...sat...a hideous monstrosity...never to be touched again until one day {Saturday} something came over me...maybe it was the realization that not only do I not have enough  furniture to furnish our new house...I have nothing to hang over the fireplace...which contrary to poplar/convential wisdom will not hold our tv...so I was off to Michaels for more paint to get me back to square one....so here it sits...lies...lays...

Back at square one...minus the tree trunk...never mind is has 926 pounds of paint on it and it will take a crane to get it over the fireplace...and its a far cry from this....

But I still have lots of work to do and just as much procrastination...and...whoever said I was a professional artist anyway...not I...on second thought I probably shouldn't have posted the two next to each other...I may have to take another 6 month hiatus on this one to go find my self esteem....

Making Attempting a Comeback

Surprise! I have not fallen off the face of the earth. I am going to try to pick this back up but we will see how it goes...bear with me over the next week it may be a bumpy ride. Our big stressful news is...  we are buying a new house! It was all finalized last week so I guess its safe to say ready or not we will be moving at the end of June. Don't worry its not far, in fact, it is very near where we live now...its just a bigger more family friendly house that has a better school system...no there is no baby...but there will be one day and we figure now will be a good time to make the move.

With that said, life since January has been a flurry of activity. I went to my first Atlanta market and it was everything I thought it would be and more {post forthcoming}, we had a FABULOUS long weekend at the beach {another post forthcoming}, I went to Oklahoma City for work {trust me there will be no post on this} and we have had numerous after work, Saturday morning, Sunday afternoon meetings with Real Estate agents trying to figure this whole thing out...oh for about the last 4 weeks or so {or this}. That doesn't include the 687,321,875 hours we have spent cleaning JUNK out of our current house. I don't know how we accumulated so much junk...oh wait yes I do...our parents told us to come get our childhood stuff out of their houses. {note to parents: it is not necessary that you keep every Barbie doll your child ever played with...they don't need counseling for that later...they need counseling for the above mentioned hours spent cleaning their house}

We are making the last final push to get things in order before the house goes on the market Friday, but I have come to the conclusion that people are just going to have to deal. They are going to have to deal with the fact that in reality my bathrobe and towel hang outside the shower because I use it each and everyday...and hiding such things under the bed or in a far away closet is extremely inconvenient for someone who has just taken a shower and is freezing. They are also going to have to deal with the fact that I enjoy having no less that 326 bottles of shampoo in the shower...sometimes I feel fruity sometimes I like coconut...so sorry. Isn't it enough that I made sure all my Pyrex and Corningware is stacked neatly in the cabinet, or that I may never find any of the other stuff that I had to stash away somewhere...that I will probably be finding pot holders in my nightstand for years to come? Oh and while I'm at it one last thing...we do have dirty laundry believe it or not and I do need to have the hamper in the closet lest I throw my clothes in the bathroom floor never to be picked up again...so you'll just have to imagine how big the closet is without a hamper...since of course you the buyer will not need a place for things such as dirty clothes....ok I think I am done...apparently I was correct about need counseling over this...how I have missed this little blog.

So I will be back...with some more fun posts...with pictures...I just don't want to risk it since I still have no luck uploading them on this computer anymore...and I am done trying to figure out why.

I Have a Good Excuse

I have several actually....

1. Blogger and I still disagree about uploading photos with posts...it isn't taking too kindly to them and I haven't had the time or patience to deal with it

2. I have to go out of town again for work....but will then enjoy a long weekend at the beach

3. There have been LOTS of things going that have totally disrupted my daily routine....well really one...I had a picture to share as proof but refer to #1 on that one...and no it is not a baby...I'll share more if and when the decision is final...if I don't have a stroke before then.

I'll be back I promise with pictures...I'll just have to blog from home...my work computer kicks me off blogger when I upload pictures...I'm pretty sure its a conspiracy...Have a wonderful week. I'm off to Oklahoma City!

Labor of Love

**Editor's Note Blogger and I had conflicting ideas about when this post should be posted...I have been trying since last Thursday...it decided that today would be more appropriate so enjoy...I promise I am not this much of a procrastinator on wrapping up Christmas...its the post that is the labor of love...the other was super easy...promise

I'm just going to go ahead and wrap up Christmas...otherwise it will be March 12th and you'll be getting a picture of my Christmas tree. The weeks leading up to Christmas were such a flurry of gift buying, gift wrapping, candy making, tree decorating, stressing, packing, one fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish....that I probably could drag it out that long to everyone's pain and misery. Instead, I thought I would share something that is so easy...that I can do it....and it makes a great gift...at least I think so....you may have to ask my 873,482 family members and co-workers who received some.

I start craving apple butter sometime during the first week of October...it just happens...something about the crispness in the air reminding me of the crispness of an apple....I don't know...it just hits me. So this year, instead of sitting around moping about how I won't get to go to Huber's in the fall I decided to take action and do something about it. I Googled appler butter and decided I would make my own. I'm not sure how it happened...divine intervention maybe but I found what sounded like a foolproof recipe. Go figure it was over on Darby's blog. She does all sorts of great homemade things...and she has three kids....and I just have three dogs so how hard could it be?

Crock Pot Apple Butter {yields 5 pints}

16 peeled, cored & chopped apples
1 1/2 C white sugar
1 C light brown sugar
2 T cinnamon
1/2 t ground cloves
1/2 t ground nutmeg
1/2 t kosher salt

Place all ingredients in crock pot and stir so all apples are coated. Cook on HIGH for 1 hour. Reduce to LOW for 8 to 10 hours; stir occasionally...but really walk away for 8 hours...I think I forgot the stir occasionally part and it was just fine.
 
A few notes. I used a variety of apples. I read that the best apples for making apple butter are the baking kind, or the ones that have a firmer texture, so I used some granny smith, gala, cameo etc...Also, before adding the dry ingredients to the crockpot I dumped them in a bowl and mixed together so that everything distributed evenly and there wasn't one apple piece that tasted like a clove.

Before
{You should really put the cover on your crockpot at this point but I was too busy trying to take a picture to be distracted by details}

After

{notice the stay warm light...it was probably more like 9.375 hours...I had things to do}

I used a ladle for soup to scoop out the soft apples into a blender with a little of the juice. That way the apple butter stayed pretty thick when blended. I pulsed it a few times in the blender and wah-lah! The first batch I made I put juice and all in the blender and it was fine...it was just a little thin for my taste. It also yielded 10 1/2 pint jars just as the recipe says...using less juice only yielded about 7 1/2 pint jars so I had a few extra batches to make...don't mind the spatters of apple butter you will see...I am still finding them in my kitchen.

After blending the mixture, I poured it into the jars {I had already sterilized them...or in my case put them in the dishwasher...same difference....right???} I had the water boiling for the water bath and once I sterilized the lids I put them on, screwed on the tops and dropped them in...

Gan came through and saved me with a pot...apparently they don't make stock pots as deep as they used to and Wal-Mart has decided no one cans anymore and has done away with the canning section...not to mention my glass top stove {they are NOT cool no matter what anyone tells you}refuses to make a normal water bath canner boil....but I digress...I boiled the jars for 10 minutes...in water...not real impressive. Then I put them aside until I heard them tink...or whatever it is they do when they seal...if they didn't I had to take the lids off and start over but only a few dared defy me...by the 3rd batch none of them did...they must have known I was at my apple butter making end.

The final step in the process was the label...in my search for a water bath canner online I came across canning pantry. They have a new design service that lets you customize labels in all shapes and sizes and their designs are way cuter than the standard old lady label...no offense old ladies.

I was going to get really fancy and put fabric over the lids with a spreader tied to it...but that was a little much to ask mere days before Christmas not to mention everyone and their mother decided to buy every Christmas spreader in the Birmingham area...and coordinating fabric with labels was never my strong suit...coordinating fabric with anything is not my strong suit. So I am sorry family...I did not go all out on your Christmas gifts...maybe next year I'll start in May...so you can have fabric on your apple butter.

This was SOO easy I encourage everyone to try it...and it was foolproof...I mean I did it...and as far as I know no one has gotten food poisoning from it...The longest part is the peeling and the coring and the chopping of the apples...after that it is a breeze. High 1 hour....Low and walk away for 8 or 9.375....blend...pour... boil...I think it took about 30 minutes total to can {boil} each time I made a batch {about 7 jars}. Really you could skip that part because most people are going to finish their jar before it goes bad...I just wanted to pretend I lived in 1932 in a rural area and that I was going to have to survive on apple butter over the winter so I canned it. Try it please...you won't be sorry if you do...you will if you don't...

Hope everyone had a very happy New Year and hopefully Blogger and I can make amends even though it got off on the wrong foot with me....