Thursday, December 31, 2009

On to a New Year

I'm not the kind of person who usually makes resolutions for the new year, but this year I might make an exception. I need a kick start in a variety of different ways. Exercise and eating healthy, of course. Spiritually - definitely. Managing Time - absolutely. So I'm going to try a few new things. For example, one of my goals is to make a vegetable at every meal. Why is it so hard to get vegetables in my diet? Well, besides the fact that I don't care for too many of them. :)

I think one way I can achieve some head way in those areas is to make specific goals. A friend on Facebook mentioned something about it in a status update, and it really got me thinking. I don't really make concrete goals for myself. So I think my first order of business in 2010 will be to make an actual list of goals I want to achieve and in how much time. And post it somewhere I will see it often. (Maybe above Noah's changing table - ha! :))

Now for something completely different...

I got my prize in the mail!! I love it all. It's the best kitchen equipment I've ever had. Stainless steel measuring cups and spoons. A really nice silicon spatula. A large whisk. Silicon pastry brush. Stainless steel rolling pin that can be filled with cold water to reduce sticking. A large batter bowl (that I can't wait to use to make pancakes tomorrow morning). A really nice pastry cutter. (Is that the right name??) Anyways - here is a picture. Thanks Apartment Therapy!!


So far I've used the measuring cups and spoons and the spatula. Like them alot. I used the spatula to brown hamburger - it is quite counter intuitive to use rubbery seeming tools in a hot pan... but it worked. :)

Hope you all have a wonderful and safe New Year's!

Friday, December 25, 2009

Merry Christmas!


The Reason our family celebrates:

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14

Monday, December 21, 2009

Finally




I love this time of year.

Monday, December 14, 2009

Feeling Lucky

In all my years I've entered quite a few random draw contests. And usually I don't win a thing. I don't remember winning anything until about a year ago when I won some really cool Haba blocks on a blog, which I can't recall the name of at the moment.

So I sign up for most of the giveaways I come across online - especially since most of them don't require much effort except for commenting or filling out a form. But I'm usually not very optimist. And now I have one TWO things in the past week. I'm stoked!

The first thing I won was through Steph's Cup of Tea blog. I didn't win her main prize, but I got to pick some loose leaf tea from teaflection.com. I received the package in the mail on Saturday. Tried a cup that night. I don't have the most discerning taste buds, but I like it. I got the Japanese Sencha Green Tea.

Then I got an email today that I won something through the Apartment Therapy sites. They've got several giveaways every day since the beginning of December (I think). They have had a lot of really great things, so it was fun to find what I had won. I won a 7 Piece Baking. As soon as I get it I will let you know what I think about it. :) I can't wait!

I'm pretty sure that there are still giveaways going on on Apartment Therapy, so go over and toss your name in the hat! You might just win something. :-D

The Blue Bathroom

A long time ago - 3 and 1/2 years actually - I picked out paint colors for our new house. I spent hours staring at paint chips and trying to decide which colors I liked. I also had a husband to run these colors by, and he can be a little picky. Most of the house would be in a cream color. The future kids' rooms would be very muted colors (you can't even tell there is color there...) Our room was a nice light blue. The kitchen, oh the glorious kitchen, was to be a wonderful wine redish. And the bathrooms were the only other bold colored rooms. The color I chose for them was Aqua Smoke.

So the colors were chosen. Then something amazing happened. I gave birth to our oldest son. It was a wonderful, yet very tiring time. And did I mention we were building a house. The way our builders work, is that you have a certain amount of time to get things done before they need to move on. And they can't call the work done, until every thing is done. So if you want to save money and paint walls and stain trim yourself, you have to do it within a strict timeline.

The paint was bought. Then paint day came. We had about a weekend to get all the painting done. Then they would be bringing in all the trim and doors and wanting to put in the carpet. Paint Day was September 23rd - Ohlen was born September 6th. He was just over 2 weeks old. Ok, we were INSANE! Truth be told there was a group of wonderful, amazing people who came and painted the day away for us. I brought some food over at one point, and did paint a little, but I didn't do much. It all looked great.

Except something was wrong with the bathroom paint. I mentioned it to my husband. It was pretty much - If that's the color on the wall, that's what color it is going to be. (Did I mention the strict deadline + the 2 week old baby...) It turns out that the paint mixer mixed the correct color, they just had the settings set for a pint, when it should have been a gallon. So Aqua Smoke was incredibly washed out. So I was disappointed, but I had more important things to worry about.

Now finally, 3 years later, one of the two bathrooms is close to the color I wanted it. I got the paint at a different store, so I didn't get the exact color, but I think it is close. Here's the before and after: (And if you got through the crazy long story, I commend you. :)) Oh and I was here staining trim and doors too many hours at a time with a 4 week old... And moving in with a 7 week old. Those were crazy crazy times.


Ok seriously, here are the pictures. Oh and no this is not of the same bathroom, but my camera wasn't here to take a before picture, but the other bathroom was the same exact color.




And tomorrow (or the next day) look for a post about my crazy giveaway winnings - fun stuff!

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Comparisons

Someone mentioned I needed more pictures on my blog, so here you go anonymous person. :)

Can you pick who is who??











1st picture- Ohlen Noah
2nd picture - Noah Ohlen
3rd picture - Ohlen Noah

I can definitely see differences in them, but they are definitely brothers. :)