For the past 2 days I have been in the mood to write a blog post and I figured I should sit down and write it before the mood passes and it is December. We have been having a great summer! In June and July we were home for 1 weekend. That was it, and to be honest it might have only been a Friday night. It was lovely but after 8 weeks of this, I was ready to be home for a little while and enjoy our house in the summer.
I started a new job which means I now have to work 5 days a week (I know, you are all feeling very sorry for me), but seriously if you can get a job where you can work less than 5 days a week, do it! I miss my 4 day work weeks. Between my new schedule and our out of town travels, our house was kind of a disaster.
Last weekend we were home and we cleaned the garage. I know, super exciting. It was to me though because when we moved in, it was December and we just threw everything that needed to be in the garage out there and shut the door. Then we renovated our first floor and it became our workshop. We have a 4 car garage and for part of this, zero cars were in the garage, and most of it just one car could fit in the garage. I am happy to report, after a trip to the dump and the hazardous waste disposal (the previous owners of our house left 7 cans of car oil, 10 cans of paint and various other chemicals in the garage) and a lot of elbow grease all three of our vehicles are in the garage again. It is awesome.
This weekend we were home again, which was nice, especially since it was raining. I HATE rainy days, but it made me feel less guilty about spending the day cleaning, organizing and making a huge goodwill pile. Ben spent yesterday and today putting up trim in our first floor and it is looking good. He is almost done, then I begin my part, filling the holes and doing the touch up paint. That part of the project will likely get pushed off until fall.
The most exciting things that have happened to us lately have involved spending all kinds of money. First we bought a new sectional for our family room! Oh wait, it isn't exciting because we ordered at the end of July and it isn't supposed to be here until September 18, SEPTEMBER 18! Seriously it is ridiculous, but we haven't had a couch since February 1 so what is another few weeks. Next we bought a king size bed. Life changing. We both sleep so much better! Finally, on Friday night we went to Costco to get milk, and we found a dining room table that we both really liked.
The dining room table has been a point of discussion for months. I wanted a big table that could easily seat 8-10 people. I tried to guilt Ben into building me one for my birthday but since we hadn't finished the renovation that didn't happen. Then we were going to buy one, I couldn't find one I liked in our price range, then I was going to have someone else make one, then we were going to buy one, then just last week I convinced Ben to make me a table again and we even picked out plans. Then we went to Costco and our problems were solved, a table we liked, for a great price. We picked it up last night, did some minor assembly and now we are loving it!!
The new table!
From the Kitchen
See that nice space right there, the sectional is going to look great there.
Hopefully it is delivered before Christmas. :)
The trim is not quite done in this part of the room.
The other great thing that happened this weekend is I got to cook a ton in my kitchen. It also means I got to do dishes about 10 times, but as long as I don't have to do them in the bathtub I am grateful.
Here is what I made this weekend:
Fresh salsa- no recipe, tomatoes, onion, garlic, bell pepper, jalapeno peppers, whatever random peppers I get in the farm share, lime juice, and cumin. Put it in the food processor and magic fresh salsa! This batch was so spicy it makes my nose run.
Potato Soup- perfect for a cold day like yesterday! I added carrots and zucchini to this as well.
Coconut Zucchini Bread - Really good but it did not have enough coconut flavor for me.
Pizza dough- I can't find the link the recipe I use but I made a double batch and froze some so we can pizza on a weeknight.
Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas- One of our favorites! Ben requested these since we haven't had them since this spring. So yummy!
Also, I didn't make these this weekend but here is my favorite recipe I have discovered this summer. Chili Lime Tacos with Grilled Pineapple Salsa. Seriously delicious.
Now after 2 weekends at home, I am ready to be out of town again. :)
Cheers,
Ali
