Homemaking 101

I would say in the past, prior to marrying, I was not very homemakerish if that is even a word. I come from a home with a very talented mom. Our home was always beautifully decorated and she cooked lots of yummy foods. My sisters all seemed to have developed these skills long ago and I am slowly trying to catch up. I think they took advantage of having a wonderful mom who could teach them and I must have been too busy dancing around practicing routines or maybe I was just too distracted by some high school boyfriend. Needless to say, it's never too late to start. So this past year I have been trying to work on honing some of these skills. So periodically I will post some of my newest projects that make me feel crafty or homemakerish. This blog will display my projects like a mother's refrigerator displays a child's art projects. (They are about that caliber of work.)

David pulled some chairs out our condo garbage a couple of months ago and I decided to take on the task of recovering them. I forgot to take before photos, but here is the final product.


I also had a friend come over the other night and we made freezer jam. I asked her to teach me how to do it and then was embarrassed that I thought I would need help. Who knew it could be so easy and so delicious.




We made lots and lots of Raspberry Jam, Blackberry Jam and some combo jam too.

Little Critters

The other morning while I was showering I noticed some movement near the edge of the tub. I promptly grabbed the shower head, aimed and washed that little critter right down the drain. After it was gone from sight and there was no hope of resuscitating it, I felt guilt. Not guilt because I had killed the bug (Portland hasn't rubbed off on me that much), but guilt because I realized I would much rather have my life squashed out in an instant then to sputter under water until I could no longer gasp for air at which point my lungs would be screaming for one last gulp of fresh air. From that point on I decided: I will just squash it and put it out of it's misery.

Visit from Mama Bailly

Two weeks ago Mama Bailly packed up her suitcase full of crafts and came to visit. We have never had the chance to have Mama Bailly to ourselves for one whole day let alone a whole week. We loved every second of her visit. While David was at work, we worked on craft projects (Beth multiple ones, me just one. I guess I'm slow). When David was home we went on walks through beautiful parks and on beautiful trails, hit happy hour at the Portland City Grill so we could check out the Portland skyline at night, stopped by to pick up some Voo-doo donuts, went to the Temple and stopped by my favorite Coldstone's ice creamy (you have got to try the Oatmeal Cookie Dough Ice cream with graham crackers, it is so scrumptuous), and met some Vietnamese guys in the hot tub at 24 HR (since David speaks Vietnamese, we tend to meet a lot of them), and then got hooked up with lunch at their Vietnamese restaurant.
It was a great treat to have Beth come to visit!

Plug for the Farmer's Market in NW portland: You can pick up a bouquet of these flowers for just $5.00. They are PERFECT!

Happy Birthday Sophie!

I don't generally dedicate a post to each of our nieces and nephews since there are 23 between David and I, but my brother Kenny's youngest, Sophie, deserves a special little post.
Last year Sophie was born on September 19th weighing 2 lbs 13 oz. She was born several weeks premature and was in the NICU for about a month. She was so tiny and precious when she was born. It is amazing to see her today (at least in photos since I haven't seen her in person since she was few weeks old.) She is a little miracle and we love her!

Happy 1st Birthday Sophie!

Isn't she a doll!

I GOT IN!!!!!

Last Friday I found out I got accepted to a nursing program in St. Louis at Barnes-Jewish College. I was thrilled for a couple of reasons: 1. I want to become a nurse and I began the process of taking pre-requisites and preparing to apply for programs last fall. 2. My parents are in St. Louis and my older sister and her family live only a few hours away.
Now the catch... we somehow have to make arrangements for David to finish his last year of training in St. Louis. I am keeping my fingers crossed that it will all work out and we can move to St. Louis!
Otherwise, I will apply for programs in Portland, but I can't send those applications in until January.
Wish us luck!