This Joy Filled Life

this summer has been so full and busy, its a wonder i'm having time to sit down and write this!  we just got back from maui on monday night and already we're thrown back into the busy life we left for a week.  with a bbq on saturday and parties, showers, babies, and work, i feel like i already need a break!  perfect time to start a new hobby? sure, why not.   i've talked before about my desire to kick my butt back into shape, and for the most part, i have succeeded in maintaining my not-so-svelte-as-it-used-to-be figure... not bad, but i am going to do something crazy, something i've never done or had any interest in before- running.  now i am not training for a marathon or anything, like some of my crazy friends.  my goal is realistic; i found a website that gives a training course to go from the couch to a 5k in about 2 months. i am impressed that it is actually working, so far anyways.  when i started, (this is a little embarrassing to say) i coul...

it's been a while since i last blogged.. and that is because we've been across the country visiting the east coast.  we figured now would be the best time to see some of this beautiful country, so we packed up and hightailed it over to Boston, New York, and DC.  sort of an "our nation's old and interesting places" tour.  It sounded like fun, and it really was, in Boston and New York.  lots of sightseeing, walking, eating, walking, sleeping, walking... but by the time we got to DC it was more like this: sweating, walking, sweating, walking, sweating, eating, sweating, walking, sleeping, sweating, walking, sweating... you get the picture.  at 90+ degrees and around 100% humidity, i am not really sure how people who live there deal with it!!! I was so hot and sweaty i literally sweated through a few shirts.  gross.  so, needless to say, DC was not as much fun as i had hoped.  my feet were tired, we were hot and sticky, and we (nick) were beginning to...

spring has sprung, and it has been very nice (by northwest standards).  we've been working in the yard a ton, and our efforts are beginning to pay off.  all the plants we bought as tiny starts are beginning to mature, so now our yard doesn't look so sparse.  my goal in the end is to have a lovely full, lush garden, not a whole lot of empty space... so, we're getting there. in addition to working in the garden, maybe spring has affected me in other ways.  i've been exploring other blogs that focus on cooking and entertaining and i found a little gem of a blog called " not so humble pie."  on this blog Ms. Humble tries out all sorts of recipes, mostly sweet things, and blogs about them.  this week i tried her recipe for fluer de sel caramels, and i have to say i really impressed myself!  on to bigger and better things from here?  we'll see.  here is a look at what i made: delicious, really.  they were soft and chewy, with the salt o...

we just got a new digital slr camera...  i am so pumped to be able to use it!  we actually got it for free, if you can believe it.  our checking account acquires points as we spend money and over the last few years we accrued enough to "buy" this bad boy... so we did. i haven't actually had a real photography lesson since 7th grade in mister gernon's photo class, and my last photography class taught more the composition of a picture than how to actually use the camera, but i think i might take it up again as a hobby.  if anything i hope to be able to take fun pictures of my children (when i have children--i'll be practicing, so when the get here i'll be ready). i think the best part about this camera is experimenting-- the last slr camera i had was not digital, so i never really knew what i was getting until the film is developed.  now i am able to see instantly how much i suck... but also learn immediately how to correct the problem.  this is especial...

let me just say that i love LOVE bloggers new template stuff.  i can do way more than i really know how to do and look cooler doing it now that there are all sorts of picture and layouts i can choose from.  i just got inspired by some of the patterns there were so i changed up my blog.  prettier, don't you think? i do. i've been reading a lot lately, both actually reading and listening to books on CD.  the library is my new best friend.  i haven't been this excited to go there since i was 7 and my mom let me pick out 5 books to bring home for a week.  i have a closet book fetish (whoops, out of the closet now).  i love books, but i realized i cannot afford a new book every week or so.  thus, my bi-weekly (or more) trips to the library.  more than just a place to pick up something i've requested, i find that the library helps me to decompress  after a long day at work... well not so long as most people's days, but for me... eh. i'll sto...

lately we've been working on fixing up the house. by lately, i mean since we moved in, and by fixing up the house, i mean beginning with one project that leads to another project that leads to another project.  for example: we (nick, not i) decided we needed new interior doors in the house. ok, fine. but because we needed new doors we needed new trim. ok, fine. but because nick got the trim in halfway before i got home, i made him take it out and do it again with another type of trim (that covered the gaps in the wall). ok, fine.  when the trim went in we began the process of finishing the work by caulking, sanding, etc.  who knew home depot would give you false information??? we made a mess of one section of trim and gave up. ok, fine.... until 6 months later i could no longer stand looking at unfinished trim. i threatened to hire someone, which, in turn got us motivated to finish it. ok, fine. trim is done, but we decided that if we are going to finish and paint the ...

I just looked at my last post and got a little depressed... just an update, after that I cleaned the house, the dog got her walk, and well,  I didn't work out, but like I said, my life is a work in progress.   And hey, two out of three is pretty good, if I do say so myself. But in all seriousness, I SERIOUSLY need to get into better shape.  Over the past, say, two years or so I have gained some weight, and well... I've gone soft.  Conveniently two years ago is when I got married, so it must be Nick's fault right?  Not all the four course meals I slave over in the kitchen striving for wifely perfection.  The main goal right now is to be healthier. Back in April we bought P90X, which is a set of work out DVDs.  I know, I know... from TV? REALLY?  Because I am being SERIOUS here, I will tell you that it is a hell of a work out, and for the one month that we did it I really saw results.... then life caught up and we got distracted and didn't finis...