Evening Exploration

Since it's a holiday weekend, the hub was able to take me back into the area of the woods where he spends a lot of time working. Thought y'all would enjoy some pictures from our excursion: dogs riding in the truck, wild horses on the landing zone, dogs playing in a creek, and one of my favorite trees down here because it reminds me of Horton Hears a Who! ;) We also saw wild turkeys, insect moltings, a dead water mocassin, and I saved a lil minnow flopping around outside the creek :) We were surprised that the dogs were unsure of the horses, although the horses wanted to come over to check them out.

Home and Life as of Late

Beyond work, the house seems to be the primary thing on my mind as of late. My mother and granny are coming to visit in August (exciting!), which has also influenced me to have the house situated before they get here.  Luckily, our financial plan was based upon getting the new bed and sectional during these summer months.  As I've mentioned before, we've had much difficulty with delivery to our current location.  Our primary couch we ordered last summer from West Elm took an unexpected extra 3-4 weeks due to our location, and while we enjoy their style we've opted to no longer do business with them due to their unwillingness to alter delivery options. Macy's will not deliver to this side of Louisiana, but allows for scheduled furniture pickup from the Houston warehouse. Penney's guaranteed delivery within 4 weeks to any continental US location, but 2 months after ordering our sectional our delivery date had yet to be determined. We have a very modern taste that is difficult to find in most stores, but we've definitely been wishing for the ability to find a store that would allow for furniture to be purchased and picked up in the same day. 

Hence one of the reasons we decided to purchase a king bed from.....Ikea. Definitely not the most environmentally friendly option, but since Ikea is 3 hours away we were able to purchase and set up our new modern style, king bed in the same day.  Add on to that the fact that we purchased a new bed set w/ two night stands, mattress, and almost all organic bedding (I've been purchasing sales for months) for about $1000, and I'm definitely happy we decided to go this route. I have no doubt that the particle board, veneers, and new mattress are off-gassing all sorts of chemicals, but in this case the cheaper, easier method won out.  Ikea did offer a natural/somewhat organic mattress but in the end we went with the regular one.  I will tell you that the enlarged sleeping space has been amazing, although the dogs aren't too happy about being relegated back to the floor! We won't always have walk-in closets so down the road I'd like to get the matching chest of drawers also.

Also at Ikea we purchased this great picture of a lime tree that is hanging in our kitchen.  I know that reproduced big box artwork isn't exactly the greatest, but it goes with our kitchen and we both love it.

Last weekend I painted my childhood chest of drawers, shelf, and night stand in the same brown spray paint I used on the end table.  It's amazing what a new coat of paint and some new hardware can do! All of these will be used in the guest room. Our neighbors have been wanting to increase a mattress size also and will swap out our queen size mattress set for one of their full size sets.  As long as this queen set is comfortable for them then they won't have to purchase a new one, and we'll make the swap official. We also will return their extra futon that we've been using as an extra bed in our spare room.

This is the current living room lay-out after rearranging due to the TV.  If you haven't noticed, we keep ourselves occupied by rearranging furniture! ;) In this room we swapped the lay-out so the table is at the back end of the room and the sitting area is near the front.  The furniture placement will change slightly next weekend when the hub picks up the Macys sectional from the Houston warehouse. At that point our futon will move into the extra kitchen area, and people will have a more comfortable place in there to sit. In the above photo, you can see the lil' quilt that my gal's sister made-to-order for me!  Eventually we do want to find a second hand buffet/bar and a better desk option, but for the most part our furniture buying is now complete! 

Feels like a lot of purchases, but I know they're budgeted for, well researched, and are items that will serve us for years to come. We still have some special touches with art work, etc, but altogether I'm so glad with our lil' home.

We didn't take any pictures of our recent trip to Houston as I forgot the camera, but one of the things we made sure to do on this trip was to drive through part of downtown.  It reminded me a lot of Portland to be honest and was very pretty.  There are a lot of things that the hub and I would love to check out in Houston, but honestly after this next trip for the sectional I'm not sure we really want to head back due to the insane traffic we always face while there.  Traffic jams galore and crazy drivers definitely decrease our desire to explore and check out the wonderful museums and the like that are there. Houston would be a great place to check out if you direct flight into it and easily transport downtown, but I have yet to meet a single person who enjoys driving in it.

Links: May 30

What a great idea! Sippy cups w/o as much plastic! Granted I've heard from some mom's that their kids would break the glass, but a safer alternative overall and better than an open glass that will lead to spills. Mason Jar Kids' Cups by Love Made the Radish Grow.

Hitting close to "home" here in Louisiana: Gulf Spill Exclusive, Treehuggers Slide Show.

The Eco-Myth of Trader Joe's presented by Utne Reader. I've always had mixed feelings about Trader Joe's since so much of their food is processed and/or individually wrapped in plastic. Thus it was interesting to learn about this lack of transparency by Trader Joe's also.

If you're short on time and space or want an easy gardening method: Start a Quick and Easy Food Garden presented by Mother Earth News. Not overly thrilled about the plastic bag eventually breaking down, but a good short term resource and a great way to begin starts.

Something I've discussed numerous times: Babies Are Polluted at Birth New Report Says.

It can be done: Learning to Live a Self-Sufficient Life as published in Mother Earth News.

Two other notable individuals who walked across America and wrote books about it: Peter Jenkins and Peace Pilgrim. Interesting reads if you've never checked them out. And now here's another person slowing it down and taking it one step at a time: Adventurer Leaves NY Career to Walk Across US via NYT.

Mario Bros is Our Couples Therapist

I know, I know...video games.  To be honest, I'm not a huge fan and it took me a long time to get on board with the whole Wii, but then I actually asked to receive a Wii from my parents for our wedding gift when we got married.  Strange maybe, but it's turned out to be a really good thing! 

In the beginning we used our Wii to play games when we had other couples over in the first few months that I was here.  I also used the Wii Fit to do some "work-outs" on some of the hottest days last summer so I could still be inside. The Wii has provided hours of competitive and fun entertainment with our friends, although I will admit that several times I'd wondered whether it was the right investment for our wedding present. (I'm really not a huge fan of the TV and video game systems overall.)

Then the TV was no longer functional and the Wii sat on the shelf for a few weeks. About a month after that our neighbors down the street had asked if they could borrow it when they had friends coming over one night, and there it lived and was used until this month when I finally broke down and agreed to let the husband get a new TV. Now the Wii is back in our house and we've been putting it to use for about an hour each evening playing Mario Bros before the hub worked his night shift.

And that's when it dawned on me that in a lot of ways Mario Bros is sort of like a great couples therapist--well at least for us. Marriage isn't perfect and we've definitely had our fair share of ups and downs in the last year. So I found it comical the night it dawned on me that this false world held in a childhood game has truly been a lil blessing in disguise in our lives for the last few weeks.

So what you might ask, does Mario Bros teach us? ;) Well growing up, my sibs and I never had a Nintendo game system, so this means that the hub has to teach me all sorts of tricks and basics on a continual basis(such as what the A button is for and that holding down 1 makes me run faster, etc). I have to count on him to teach me what I need to know, and we're both constantly having to remind me to push the right button at the right time (sometimes my brain doesn't retain lil details--haha).  Knowing that its just a game lets us not freak out about the simple mistakes, and I willingly always am Luigi and let the hub take the lead as Mario(somewhat of a miracle for this control freak). When I die 5x in a row, the hub doesn't mind but tries to get us through to the next round and praises me for trying anyway. And then he always brings me back to life for the next try. We work together as a team to get prizes and let each other know what hazards are coming up. I'm learning to let the hub go off on his exploration missions attempting to get us more goods and he's learning to let me blaze out in my own way on the screen even if it might mean the end for poor Luigi and getting in the way of poor Mario. The hub realizes that his outbursts at the TV impact me, but ironically I catch myself yelling at the bad guys sometimes now too! ;) At the end of each level/test/whatever you want to call it, we always end up giving each other a supportive word or five, because we just accomplished something together! ;) Pretty much this boils down to the following: increased appreciation, flexibility, trust, fun, and the ability for us to express ourselves individually while still working toward the same end goal. 

Who knew that Mario Bros would make such a good therapist---and without talk therapy?  All for the price of one game and part of the CPU (cost per use) of the total cost of the Wii, from the comfort of our own home.  I think we're money ahead and happier for the bargain.

So am I ready to endorse video games......uh, not exactly......but I will tell you that I'm becoming a more accepting, supportive, and compromising wife and individual---and I think that's a step in the right direction.

Demand a strong Safe Chemicals Act

As received yesterday from Oregon Environmental Council, I encourage you to sign on...

Right now, our nation has the best opportunity in decades to ensure that you and your family are not exposed to toxic chemicals. We have a real, fighting chance to make sure that everyday products are not harming our health.

When our federal lawmakers pass the Safe Chemicals Act of 2010, we must get it right.
Your congressional representatives need to hear that Oregon voters care about this issue, we are following it closely, and we want to see common-sense protections included.

Sign our petition today to demand a strong Safe Chemicals Act.

Let your congressional representatives know that we won't settle for less than a law that makes sure chemicals are safe before they reach the shelves, that the most dangerous chemicals are phased out fast, and that safer alternatives replace cancer-causing and other dangerous chemicals.

Thanks for your support.

A Day In the Life

There are some bloggers who give a wonderful snap shot of their lives on a regular day each month and I always enjoy getting to peak into their lives.  It's even more wonderful when that regular day is accompanied by pictures.  While I don't have pictures, I still thought it might be interesting to get a written snap shot into what one of our regular days looks like, especially since I tend to get a lot of questions from friends and family about that very thing! :)

Disclaimer: While I trust the individuals who do frequent this blog, just in case of others trolling for prey: We lock our house at all times and have dogs....beyond being on a controlled military post.

5am hour: Give kiss goodbye to hub.
Between 6-6:30am: Roll out of bed, turn off fan, let dogs out, and start coffee on stove.
6:30-7am: Wash face, apply make-up, let cats in, put out food for all animals, turn on computer.
7am: Let dogs in, pet cats while eating breakfast/checking email/reading headlines.
7:15am-Let dogs out again. Get dressed. Grab some sort of lunch for the day.
7:30am-Let dogs back in for final time. Final touch-ups, grabbing coffee cup, etc. Head out for work.

Next 8 hours: Check email, brief small groups of soldiers, enter client notes and send welcome emails, call clients who no showed for various appointments, 30 minute lunch break onsite, answer questions and refer soldiers to various resources, answer emails, assist 1-2 clients with resumes, enter notes, chat with coworkers briefly. Head home.

5:15-6:30: Greet hub and dogs. Check mail. Change into workout clothes and precede to run and/or exercise dogs. Water container garden. Discuss dinner options with hub. Shower.

6:30-7:30: Assist hub with dinner prep and feed dogs. Eat and clean-up. Chat with hub.

7:30-9:00: Water lawn and pick up after animals. Run errands or clean up around house if needed. Ready coffee and get organized for next day. Talk with hub about day. Play Mario Cart/watch games/movies/read/blog/check email/play with dogs.

9:00: Get ready for bed. Let dogs out. Discuss tomorrow's schedule.
9:15-9:30: Let dogs in and put up. Put cats out. Go to bed.

Pretty routine, but it works! :)