The Weekend Post

Are you getting used to these weekend only posts? ;) I definitely have lots to say but just not as much time to write about it all. Luckily I took Friday entirely off of work since I'd already worked over my hours for the week and it made for a great three day weekend, although there's been grading of exams and prepping for this next week still going on. Hub's been in our hometown attending our high school's football game and going hunting for deer with his best friend. Beyond grading/prepping, there's been lots of enjoyment going on between the critters and I though! One of my favorite gals came over Friday evening until late, the dogs and I finally ran twice last week, and all around we've been enjoying fall. Here are some more fabulous things from this special season:

Two of my favorite indulgences of fall: hard apple cider and pumpkin beer. I've also taken a hankering to red table wines--especially the one by Middle Sister which my mom (who ironically doesn't drink alcohol) turned me on to....although it's definitely a bit more north of my typical wine price range....

Major's been spending nights cuddling up between hub and I during the week. Usually we don't let the cats sleep with us, but he's been so still (and cold!) that we've let him just hang out curled up in bed while we sleep.

The leaves are changing colors everywhere and its completely gorgeous!

I spent an afternoon mowing the lawn, reseeding some grass, raking pine needles, and putting one of our raised beds "to bed," so the chickens had the opportunity to finally free range. The dogs love following them around the yard, but man were those ladies difficult to catch this go around ;) Took me 15 minutes of chasing them before I finally had both of them back in their home!

Hub and I headed downtown to one of our funky favorite breakfast diners on Friday. It was neat to enjoy some delish breakfast together and led to a conversation about how we both, at times, wish we lived closer in. Even though we live 8 miles from my work, it takes 30-45 minutes of driving in order for me to get there and it's an hour commute for hub to get to campus downtown using public transportation. We love our rental and usually don't mind the 'burbs, but if we end up staying longer than I'm envisioning in the Portland area (it's definitely where the jobs are and hub could potentially have a grad program to go to after his undergrad degree.....) then we will probably want to re-evaluate where we are living in relation to my job and to downtown.

When hub and I got married as quickly as we did, we didn't really have the finances nor time to really think about rings. At the time I bought a simple white gold band that I wore and then added another ring about a year ago that symbolized my family when I was gifted a family ring with a unique stone from Granny. In my mind I always assumed that someday I'd get a different ring and after watching Blood Diamond (& getting into sustainability/simplicity), I've been against the idea of buying a new ring/diamond for myself. Hub and I hit some rough spatches this summer and one thing that came out of it all was my realizing how much I want us to have at least a few of the more "traditional" things, ie rings, dishes, etc that we didn't really do due to our chosen marriage route. While hub doesn't want to wear a ring (don't ask....), I've had it in mind to find a more traditional ring for myself. Yesterday I took my baby cousin (who actually just got engaged to her high school boyfriend who is training for the Army) to one of my favorite areas downtown. After looking at a couple other cutesy stores, we went into Gilt, which is a vintage and estate jewelry store. There were two rings that I equally liked but the one I chose felt more like a lifetime ring and I have to say....I LOVE IT! I love that it already has history (it's from the 1950s) and I love the swirl. While I usually try not to be too attached to things..it seriously makes me happy every time I've looked at it in the last two days......

The bedroom still isn't done but I thought I'd finally at least post a picture, as I don't know that we'll decide what we want on the walls anytime soon. I love how cozy it is and that it's a mix of new, organic, and old. The paint is low-VOC and is sort of a taupe color. The bed itself is the Sumatra II from Pottery Barn and the low footboard is perfect so hub's long legs can hang over still, the new mattresses from BedCo continue to be amazing, and we purchased the bedside tables for $20 a piece from our local Bimart. The lamps are ones I've had for years now that I got for $6 at Goodwill. The four panels of curtains are some I got on clearance at the evil store (Wal-Mart) and they were in our living room in Louisiana. Hub doesn't like extra decorative pillows so we only have regular pillows and we almost always have two down comforters. The patterned duvet is organic cotton from West Elm. Since we haven't really turned the heat on yet, I've got one regular sheet and one flannel fitted sheet on the bed currently ;)

I hate to admit that I haven't really cooked or baked in.....months. Yesterday morning I made banana french toast, and then this morning I made baked oatmeal using a recipe sent out by Two Frog Home via her newsletter.

Her Recipe is this:

Baked Apple Oatmeal

• 2 Cups Oatmeal
• 1 Cup Peeled, Cored, and Chopped Apples
• 1/3 Cup Chopped Nuts
• 1/4 teaspoon Ground Cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon Ground Allspice
• 1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
• 1 1/4 teaspoon Baking Powder
• Pinch of Salt
• 1/2 Cup Unsweetened Applesauce
• 3/4 Cup Milk or Milk Alternative
• 1/3 Cup Sesame Seeds
• 3 Tablespoons Sugar

--Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9" Pie Plate
--Combine all the ingredients in a bowl, mixing until thoroughly combined and well moistened.
--Pour and spread into prepared pie plate. Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, the oatmeal will have puffed and be browned on the edge.
--Serve with extra milk/milk

I substituted dried cranberries and dried cherries for the apples, flaxseed for the sesame seeds, and I used shelled sunflower seeds for the nuts. It was a bit drier than other varieties I've tried but I liked that this version doesn't use eggs, and I ate it with organic vanilla yogurt so it was great!

 

The dogs have been pretty cooped up in the house and yard the last few weeks since we've been so busy so this weekend not only did I make sure to run them, but they got to go on several car rides. We drove the back farm roads looking for farms that would have decorative gourds this afternoon and then made a couple other errands the last two days. They always LOVE IT!

And I'm stoked because today I got to indulge in one of my favorite fall looks. :) Ballet slippers, beat up old jeans, tank, hoodie, and my poofy down vest.

LOVING FALL and hoping you are too!

Clean Food

So just in case you're wondering what all we're actually eating......Here are some photos of two meals per day as I didn't think you'd need that many pictures of smoothies, water bottles, fruit, or tea cups. :)

Clean Cleanse Food: Day 1

Breakfast: Blueberry, spinach/romaine lettuce, almond milk smoothie

 Dinner: Quinoa with stirfry of broccoli, beets, carrots, and cauliflower (salt & pepper, olive oil, & a lil lime juice for cooking)

DAY 2:

 Lunch: leftover quinoa tossed w/ black beans and chopped up cucumber, radish, carrots, and garlic (salt & pepper & sesame oil to taste)

Dinner: Cucumber, spinach, & pineapple smoothie w/ coconut milk

DAY 3

 Lunch: Brown rice w/ zucchini & onion saute over top (cooked in sesame oil & balsamic vinegar w/ salt & pepper) and acorn squash puree (agave, olive oil, & sea salt)

Dinner: Mango, pineapple, papaya w/ coconut milk smoothie

So far we've been doing mainly separate meals but the hub has concocted lamb skewers w/ millet & onions, lamb steak w/ sauteed greens, and tilapia w/ watercress, red onion, & mango salad for his lunches. Not bad for being on a "diet" !!!

Photo Project Day 18: Liquid Sunshine

Finished weeding the flower bed, but while I was out there in the last few hours of sun I decided to also make sun tea.......threw about 5 tea bags in an old large glass jar, filled with filtered water, and set it in a sunny spot....In this picture it was about half way done....Delicious!

Welcoming Major!

I am a huge fan of cats. My husband is a big fan of dogs. My husband and Anna have taught me to love dogs...and he's hoping I'll learn to love football. I taught my husband to love wine.....and maybe, just maybe Major is teaching him to love cats too.

Last Friday we drove to the nearest large town in order to spend part of a day away and to attempt to find new running shoes for the husband. While there we ventured over to Petsmart to comparison price dog food and to look for toys that the dog wouldn't be able to chew up quite as easily. And I'll totally admit it...I wandered into the cat adoption center...and fell in love...with Major. He was much larger than the other cats there (although he's supposedly only 9 months) and his personality reminded me so much of our dog--somewhat independent and able to entertain himself, yet he demonstrated his love to me by chewing on my hand. He officially won me over when he spent a good ten minutes playing with nothing more than a big feather. However that day we left the store empty handed and I have to admit, I left the store rather heavy hearted.

When I woke up the next morning still wanting him, the husband decided we should go back for him. So I put in a call to Petsmart to make sure he was still there, and the manager broke the rules and put him on hold for us to guarantee we could get him after our 50 minute drive. We also brought the dog along, hoping we could see how they would interact before bringing him home for sure. While probably not the most financially or environmentally savvy to drive all the way back to pay the "donation" fee for a humane society cat, we have thoroughly enjoyed having him here. When we really thought about it, his donation fee covered his neutering, all his shots for the year, and a month's worth of flea and heartworm medication---which was probably over $100 cheaper than paying for all of that ourselves by picking up a stray cat. We also saved money by transporting him home in his covered litter box and therefore didn't have to pay for a carrier or $9 for a cardboard box for that purpose. (Luckily both animals travel really well--something that will be very worthwhile on our eventual move back to Oregon.) And there's something nice about adopting shelter pets and providing them with a home, especially when we've received so much entertainment and love in return.

The two critters continue to get used to one another. Anna's got a little more playful tendencies than Major might like sometimes, but he's often the one who is egging her on. So as much as there is increased silence in our house due to the fall season, there are also moments full of barks, purrs, hisses, and yelps! We're still adjusting to litter box mode (my childhood cat had been primarily outdoor and always let us know when she needed out in order to go), although since that's my job the husband is much more inclined to clean up after the dog! ;-) For the most part I try to do it all in one swoop every day to cut down on the amount of baggies we're throwing into the trash, and I'm hopeful I can look into some more environmentally friendly cat litter options.

While I'm still on the animal post, I thought I'd share the link to Rhonda of Down to Earth's great dog biscuit recipe. These are the ones I made for Anna before going on my trip and I'll need to make some more this coming week. I used peanut butter for the flavoring which she seemed to enjoy. Since we didn't have powdered milk, I used a lil bit of regular milk and then had to add more oats and flour to the mix in order to get it to the right consistency. My cookie cutters are quite large so I just cut out little squares and triangles for her that were about the size of the other dog biscuits we'd been giving her.

I'm wanting to look into other natural pet recipes, bathing, and treat ideas. One of the articles my husband and I read lately discussed the lack of regulation over pet products and how independent testing has shown a decent percentage of said products contain toxins. While I recognize that my dog is only estimated to have a 7-10 year lifespan, I don't really want to be doing too many things to damage or lessen a happy and healthy life for her. Currently we are using the pet shampoo that the humane society gave us for free for the dog, but I wonder if anyone has any "natural" suggestions? Or does anyone know of any books that discuss this stuff?

Happy petting to all of you from all of the craziness here in our household!

Happy Halloween!

So I'm slightly later than usual this year, but I still was able to enjoy myself today:

A black cat crossed my path...and is now laying near my feet on the porch...
My pumpkin got carved, the extra flesh was cleaned and saved....
And the seeds were washed, spiced, and roasted. This year I tried something new and cooked them with olive oil, rosemary, and garlic salt...delicious! Give it a try!

I'm not sure if we'll have any trick or treaters tonight or not. I bought a bag of candy just in case and we'll give it out until we run out if kids do come. The weather predicted rain but after morning showers, I'm currently sitting in a big ray of sunshine on the back porch, so who knows what the evening will bring. Hope you all are enjoying a beautiful day!