l i f e = c o m p l e t e

She's mine. MINE! My friend Leah sent me this deal yesterday. Of course I couldn't go for the small 4.5 quart white one. I had to go all out. I got the Artisan 5 quart mixer in Imperial Gray. It ended up being $244 with the shipping surcharge and tax, but then they sent me $40 of Kohl's cash (Kyle you want some new work clothes?) bringing the total down to $204..and THEN I get to pick a free gift...! Glass bowl with lid, meat grinder attachment, or shredder/chopper attachment. I am choosing the glass bowl- a $70 value, for sure! I am so so so so so excited. Thank you, Leah!

If anyone is looking to get a KitchenAid mixer, this is the best deal I have found...and believe me, I have been looking for a LONG time :)

O u r v i e w :

so. peaceful.

o n e l e s s

My computer won't even turn on anymore and I'm not buying a new one. Kyle and I spend far too much time on the computer so I am hoping by only having one it will cut down on that. We still have his little netbook too, so if we both NEED to be on there at the same time, we have that option (and I also have a work laptop, but I am going to try to stay off of that). I think it's going to be g o o d. I will think about buying a new one next year after I buy my new car (maybe).

Apple picking post to come...it's hard when I don't have a computer to upload my photos! gulp.

L O V E R

"Home is where I'm alone with you."

O l d o l d fa s h i o n e d

On my mind lately. . .

I'll turn off the TV
It's killing us, we never speak
There's a radio in the corner
It's dying to make a scene
So give me soft, soft static
With a human voice underneath
And we can both get old fashioned
Put the brakes on these fast, fast wheels
Oh let's get old fashioned
Back to how things used to be
If I get old, old fashioned
Would you get old, old fashioned with me?

Put the wall clock in the top drawer
Turn off the lights so we can see
We will waltz across the carpet
1-2-3-2-2-3
So give me the soft, soft static
Of the open fire and the shuffle of our feet
We can both get old fashioned
Do it like they did in '43
Oh let's get old fashioned
Back to how things used to be
If I get old, old fashioned
Would you get old, old fashioned with me?

So give me soft, soft static
We won't need no electricity
If we both get old fashioned
We won't have to rely on our memories
Oh let's get old fashioned
Back to how things used to be
If I get old, old fashioned
Would you get old, old fashioned with me?

D O N G L E

Well, I just browsed the 2011 Ikea catalog while Kyle was recording his podcast. It really made me realize how much more we need to do to our house/stuff we need (ok, stuff I want).

I have decided to compile a list of everything we need to do and also a list of stuff I want to buy/replace.

House projects (I'm sure I will think of more later):

-Kitchen backsplash (anyone want to help?!)

-Kitchen ceiling

-Paint hideous railing on the front porch/carport. We already bought the paint...just haven't gotten around to it.

-Repaint pretty much all of the ceilings (want to hire someone to do this!)

-Paint bright blue room in basement

-Paint ping pong room in basement and possibly cover wood paneling with bead board (or something else)

-Repaint/remove paint from front porch floor. It's cement- not wood.

-Paint Kyle's desk

-Finish painting the old metal crib that was turned into a love seat that my mom gave my sister who gave it to me. Just need to touch up the paint and make seat/back cushions and side pillows.

-Make the last curtain for our room (2 down, 1 to go)

-Fix the coffee table where Maggie chewed it up or get a new one (Kyle's grandfather made this one, so probably repairing this one)

-Landscaping the yard- fix the weed whacker & plant pretty things.

-Organize closet by dining room.

Edit- I remembered more:

-Replace/fix faucet in bathroom

-Paint cabinets in bathroom under sink

-Get ugly tiles glazed

Things we need to replace/buy:

-Replace couches. NO MORE SLIP COVERS

-Replace chair that's currently covered with a tapestry (uglyyyyyyyy)

-New side lamps by our bed. I want the kind that are attached to the wall

-Make/buy a headboard for bed

-Somehow make Kyle's dresser not as ugly (heh)

-New rug for under Kyle's desk

-Some sort of storage for our office supplies. The plastic storage drawers just are not cutting it for me anymore. We also need a small fireproof case of some sort to store our important papers. Maybe this for the office supplies:


-Get this for the dining room (or something similar)


-Get me a wardrobe. Our closet is TINY and we have to share it. The guest closet is already full of my dresses. There are lots of good ones at Ikea.

-New desk chair for Kyle

-New light fixtures pretty much everywhere. Goodbye ugly fans.

-New sheets & sheet to cover our bare box spring. I couldn't handle the bed skirt one more second so I took it off.

-KitchenAid mixer. Preferably imperial gray or Martha Stewart blue with the bigger glass bowl. I'm picky. I couldn't keep that off the list :)

Wow, that was long. (twss)

PS: Kyle just said something about a "dongle" on his podcast. It's his favorite word :)

G O A T C H E E S E

Last week I made up a meal that is somewhat healthy so I thought that I would share. Eggplant Parmesan with goat cheese and spinach. I made my own marinara out of some canned tomatoes - it was delicious and cheaper than buying jarred sauce (which you could do for this recipe). I really like this recipe because it's very easy to change the quantity of how much you make. I used 3 eggplants for Kyle and I - but they were VERY small & we also had leftovers. You can change the amount of spinach and goat cheese depending on how much you have on hand or how much you like a particular ingredient. I put more goat cheese on my half of the dish because I LOVE goat cheese and Kyle only somewhat likes it. Sorry I didn't take any photos!

Eggplant Parmesan with Goat Cheese and Spinach

Ingredients
Eggplants washed and sliced into rounds (I prefer this method to long strips)
Egg whites
Bread crumbs (I used Italian style)
Marinara sauce (or whatever sauce you prefer)
Spinach - steamed and patted dry
Goat cheese
Mozzarella cheese
Parmesan cheese for serving
Optional: red pepper flakes

Preheat oven to 375. Dip eggplant slices into egg whites and then into bread crumbs and place on baking sheet. Bake for 10-15 minutes; flip and cook for another 10-15 minutes or until slightly golden. Add a layer of marinara to the bottom of your baking dish. Use whatever size depending on how much you are making. Add a layer of cooked eggplant slices. Add more sauce. Add a layer of spinach. Add a layer of goat cheese and mozzarella. Add more sauce and eggplant. Continue layering, ending with a layer of mozzarella with a few pats of goat cheese on top. Bake for 30 minutes or until it's all melted!

Serve with lots of red wine ;)

O O P S > > >

It's been a while...here is what I have been doing lately:

*Preparing the hill by our driveway for a vegetable garden- terrace style. This includes raking all of the leaves off, digging up grass/weeds/tree roots. It takes longer than one would think. Tomorrow I'm going to shovel up some free mulch and compost with my sister.

*Painted our bathroom and the little hallway area by all of the bedrooms.

*Fixed Maggie's bed (again)

*Had Easter lunch at our house. We had fish and chicken tacos...my family is weird.

*Went to Charleston last week to do some wedding planning/"mother of the groom" dress shopping for my cousin's wedding. I got to see a lot of my family that I don't see too often which was nice.

*Made some hypertufa planters last Sunday. We get to remove the molds tomorrow..I can't wait to see how they turn out!







One of my best friends is coming in from Texas on Thursday. A group of my friends rented a cabin for the weekend in Tennessee, so Kyle and I will be heading up there Friday. I can't wait!

R E C E N T H A P P E N I N G S

A lot has been going on since my last update...

I bought and installed a really long leash-type thing for Maggie. No matter how much time I spend with her outside, she immediately looks out the front windows and whines to go back out as soon as we are inside. Here she is basking in the warm sun in our front yard after spending some time chewing on that huge stick:


Then she saw me peeking through the blinds taking her photo:


I have also taken a few interesting photos of our little lamb:

Or is she a bat?




Then it snowed and I took Maggie to my friend's house to sew a pillow:






He hated it.




Here are some treats I made:
Apple pie


&&& red velvet cake balls!


I finally got a photo of one of the stray cats that lives around our house. They always curl up in the leaves like a little nest! So cute!

I went to Jo-Ann yesterday with my sister and bought some fabric to make our bedroom curtains (maybe I'll post a picture when I am done)...here is what Hinson did right after I took the fabric out of the bag. What a fool.

Me and Maggle hung out while Hinny was in the bag in our room. I hadn't had wine in a month and was a little tipsy 1.5 glasses in..oops


This happens pretty much every night:

Every so often these birds show up in our front yard. They rustle around in the grass/leaves for a bit and then move on to the next yard...so strange.


Take that Christmas wreath down ASAP. kthnx.


What I didn't have any photo proof of is how sick I have been for the past month. I am finally well! No more staying up most of the night coughing...yippie! I didn't feel that sick - just super tired. The worst part was that I couldn't eat any cereal since the milk made my cough worse. I also have no idea how I got it, since I hardly ever leave the house. Evil grocery store? I hate you Kroger.

H m m m . . .

I have been giving a lot of thought to what my dream job would be. I HATE HATE HATED sitting at a desk all day. Just thinking about it kind of makes me want to die. I mean that job was probably the absolute worst thing that ever happened to me (well, pretty much anyways). I got offered 2 jobs in one day, and needless to say - I chose the wrong one. Or rather, I was offered more money and pressured to take that job. My uncle worked there too, so that made it hard to say no. I can't help but imagine how different my life would be right now if I took the other one.

I have always been pretty crafty. My friends in high school used to always make fun of me because I was always saying "let's make something." I made some purses my senior year of high school and random people would stop me and ask where I got it. When I told them that I made it they would ask me to make them one. I didn't make any - I didn't want a bunch of people at my high school to be walking around with the same purse as me! Sadly, I don't have a sewing machine anymore because my mom gave mine away. I think I am going to ask for one for my birthday from my dad, or buy one with my tax return (which is going to be enough to pay of my credit card with some to spare - Yippee!)

Anyways, I think my dream job would be making something. I like to do things on my own time. I was miserable when I had to be at work at 7:30 everyday. I fell asleep almost every night on the couch before 10. It was great getting out of work at 4:30, but if you're too tired to do anything after work - what's the point?

The only other job that I think about a lot is being a speech therapist for kids. That would be pretty neat and something that I could probably still do once I have kids, but it would mean going back to school & student loans. I was lucky enough to live in a state where my college was free, but I am the kind of person that gets really stressed if I have any debt at all. I wasn't ever going to even have a credit card, which didn't really work out since I lost my job and had to buy food.

Here are some things that I saw on design*sponge that I wish I thought of:

My favorite: Granola and honey. For some reason I really want a honey pot and wooden dipper (that's apparently what it's called! I looked it up). Perfect for hot tea!


Seeds with a cute pot and instructions on how to make them stay alive :)




Tea: my recent obsession



Another thing I would really love to do is sell things that I bake. I have been altering recipes to make them healthier (using flax seed meal instead of butter, oil & eggs) and I recently bought some chia seeds that I plan to make a batch of banana bread with soon. I think a lot of people are starting to realize how bad a lot premade foods in the grocery store are and I believe a lot of changes will be made soon. I don't know where I could sell these things or how much money I could make doing that, but it's something to think about.

Maybe I will just buy a plot of land and start growing my own tea plants and sell those... hehe I will figure this all out soon.

In other news, I want to take a pottery class.

I hope everyone has a good weekend! Love,

Hinny


and Lamby

O V E R I T !

My birthday is in a couple of weeks, so I have been thinking about what I want to do. Number one on my list at the moment is: Nothing. And by nothing, I mean go out to dinner somewhere good, maybe see a movie? Go have a picnic for lunch or at least go somewhere pretty during the day? Kyle's never been to Kennesaw Mountain (not that it's that great). My birthday just doesn't seem as special as it did when I was a little kid. Any other ideas?

Here I was on my 21st bday:


I wish I still had that hair...I'm never dying my hair again! Until I get grey hair ;)

F I N A L L Y

My dreams came true and Mates finally released Long Way Home for purchase - even if it was on some lame Starbucks Valentine's Day sampler. No more listening to youtube live versions over and over! Definitely worth 99 cents.

Get it here

D R E A M E R

I'm just a dreamer
I dream my life away
I'm just a dreamer
Who dreams of better days

Your higher power may be God or Jesus Christ
It doesn't really matter much to me
Without each others help there ain't no hope for us
I'm living in a dream of fantasy

Thanks, Ozzy...yes Osbourne!