2011: A Year In Review

I love to take this time of year to look back and evaluate the past year as well as make new goals for the coming year. Here is a list, in no particular order, of some of the events that have happened in 2011: (I might share some of my goals later, we'll see.)

-Miss Fifi has learned lots of words. She now says: Hi, Mom, ruff (sometimes it's "oof"), moo (all animals, according to her, say ruff or moo), Da, "ot" (hot), out, and "ut-ut" (uh-oh).

-Rory worked really hard in school. He received and associate's degree in Pre Electrical Engineering. Now he is looking forward to attending the University of Utah to finish his bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering.

-Miss Fifi has also learned a lot of signs. She knows: all done, milk, I love you (it looks like something else...), change (for diaper change), book, and please (she rubs her belly for that. So funny.) She also started folding her arms for prayers and pointing at her mouth when she's hungry, I didn't teach her that one but I'll take it.

-In true Jones form: We're moving again. (Oh, the stress to be had.)

-Miss Fifi turned one.

-Rory quit his job so we can move.

-I learned to enjoy homemaking more. I always knew that I wanted to stay home when I had kids, but I didn't know it would be as rewarding. I know it isn't for everyone, but it's for me.

-I knit a bunch with my spare time. Here are photos of some more things I knit and crochet. (I did the red blanket, headband with the crochet red flower, diaper cover, and the crochet booties. Isn't Piper adorable!?)

Another thing I like to do is look back at our finances from the past year. This year was... well... Let's say: this year was modest. (That's a nice spin.) Between me staying home to be with Miss Fifi and Rory working part time to go to school, we had to make some sacrifices. And, I wouldn't have changed a thing. I consider us very blessed that we were in the financial position we were in when this year began. One thing that I am proud of is that at one point during the year we had a fully funded emergency fund! It lasted about a month before we had an emergency and had to dip into it, but still, I feel like we did a pretty good job this year.

Call it luck, call it blessings, call us the recipients of wonderfully charitable acts; all in all, I'd say we had a pretty good year. This year had it's stresses and un-fun days. But looking back I'm so grateful for how 2011 turned out. I'm also looking forward to bigger and better things that 2012 may have to offer.

I wish everyone a happy new year!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

We did this a couple of years ago (to a different song) and we had a few requests to do it again. So, here you go:



And, because Miss Fifi doesn't make an appearance in the video:

Christmas morning 2010

I hope you Christmas time is less stressful than ours!

My Gradmother's Dress

70 years ago, today, my Grandmother and Granddad were married. Times were uncertain, being that they were the days immediately following the attack on Pearl Harbor, but my Grandmother and Granddad decided to follow through with their plans. He had been working as a welder for a pipeline company in California. She would travel by bus to meet him in Reno. They would be married by the Justice of the Peace followed by a dinner with my Granddad's boss and boss' wife, if I'm not mistaken. It was a simple and sweet wedding followed by many years of happiness and love.

Weren't they a good looking couple?

My Grandmother wore a dress she made, with the help of her mother, on the sewing machine that sits in my parent's home.

My mom recently found the dress among some boxes photographs she has been scanning. Considering the fact that it is 70 years old and made of wool, it has held up fairly well. My mom wanted me to wear it... like out... While I was afraid of handling the dress too much, I decided to wear the dress once for my mom.

If I weren't afraid of something happening to this heirloom, I would definitely wear it... like out...

Pin It

Isn't it a beautiful dress?

Hair and makeup by So Very Fabulous. Go like it.

Photos by Rory Jones. (under my indecisive yet picky direction)

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What I'm listening to: Christmas Style

Artist: Vince Guaraldi

Album: A Charlie Brown Christmas

This is probably my favorite Christmas album. I never really listened to it until Rory introduced it to me after we were married. But, now I can't really get into the Christmas spirit until I listen to it. (Funny how that worked out.) It is definitely a much needed break from some of the pop-y, Mariah Carey-esque Christmas music you hear at the mall.

My favorites are Christmas Time Is Here (Instrumental), and Guaraldi's renditions of The Christmas Song and What Child Is This. Check it out.

Miss Fifi's Blanket

I forgot to share photos of the blanket I made for Miss Fifi. I finished it long before her birthday, but I spaced sharing them with you.

I got the pattern here, but I modified it to make it bigger. It measures 56 x 36 inches, which is the perfect size for her crib.

I also had some left over yarn so I made a couple of other things for her.

The pattern for the leggings here. They are really simple, but the turned out pretty cute.

For the hat, I got the pattern for the Celtic Cables I used for the sides, here. Then I made up the rest.

Not too bad for improvising, right?

Miss Fifi loves this hat. She will bring the hat to me so that I can put it on her about 5 times a day. I'm so glad she likes it.

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What I'm Listening To:

Group: The Lower Lights

Album: Come Let Us Adore Him

We got a surprise at our door last night. A friend dropped this by for Christmas. What a great way to start the Christmas season? It is calming and sweet. I highly recommend it. The instrumental version of O Little Town Of Bethlehem is probably my favorite of the album. Check it out.

Body Image: Revisited

First of all, thanks for the response. My readers have wise words. Some of those words, I was going to share with you (other thoughts are new). So, if you read the comment from my last post, I hope this isn't redundant.

Second, like I said in my last post: I don't want to sound preachy. If you have different parenting philosophies, share them. Also, remember that I've only been a parent for a year. That hardly makes me an expert.

Third, most of these ideas won't make much of a difference to my 1 year old, but if I think about these things long before she gets into jr. high we hopefully won't have a dilemma on our hands.

So, without further adieu, here are a few of the ideas I've come up with and read about giving my daughter a healthy body image.

1) Lead by example. If I spend a lot of time in front of a mirror every day or talk a lot about how I wish I had the same body I had before Miss Fifi was thought of, what would that say to my daughter? It might give her the impression that looks are pretty important. If I spend a lot of time telling my daughter how pretty she is and very little time talking to her about things that she has learned. She might possibly think that what she looks like is more important than her knowledge. Instead, live what you want to teach your children. If you don't want your daughter to hate her rear-end, don't be self-conscious about yours. If you want your daughter to love learning, love learning yourself, for example.

2) Focus on health. Instead of counting calories, talk about what healthy food does for our bodies. Get in the habit now to eat healthier meals. This is difficult, but over the last couple years, Rory and I have slowly changed some of our behaviors. (In full disclosure: we've got a long way to go.) If my daughter understands why eating good food is necessary, hopefully she will have a healthy relationship with food. (i.e. Not look to it for comfort or even see it as an obstacle.)

3) Compliment them on their behavior, intellect, and accomplishments more than their looks. This is one thing I learned (and whole-heartedly believe) from my mother's example. A few years ago my sister pointed out that my mom didn't often compliment us on our looks. Instead, she made sure to compliment us on how smart we were or our talents or when we were kind. When asked about that, my mother said something along the lines of: "Well, I always knew my babies were the cutest but I didn't think they needed to know that." This is one thing that really helped me. I feel that I got enough of a sense of the importance -in the world's view- of looking beautiful outside of the home. I am so grateful that it wasn't reinforced at home.

In Cinderella Ate My Daughter by Peggy Orenstein (referenced in my last post) she talked to Catherine Steiner-Adair, the director of eating disorders education and prevention at the Klarman Eating Distorders Center at McLean Hospital in Massachusetts, about this. Catherine said, "Well, 'You're beautiful' is not something you want to say over and over to your daughter, because it's not something that you want her to think is so important. That said, there are times when it is important to say it: when she's messy or sweaty, when she's not dressed up, so that she gets a sense that there is something naturally beautiful about her as a person. And it's also important to connect beauty and love. To say, 'I love you so much. Everything about you is beautiful to me--you are beautiful to me.' " I thought this was interesting.

Orenstein also wrote about doing research for a previous book by interviewing eighth grade girls. She said that she noticed that she would greet them by "commenting on some aspect of their appearance: their earrings, a new shirt, their hairstyles." She decided to stop. She would ask them "how a play rehearsal was going or what they were reading in English class." She said, "It felt surprisingly forced: physical compliments grease the conversational wheels among women and girls." I decided to do this myself, asking my niece about the sports she is involved in and my five year old primary girls about school. I have to admit, it is more difficult. I'm sure I'm not making some profound difference in these girls' lives, but for my own benefit, I want to get into this habit.

As Cali mentioned, as long as we are aware and conscious of these things, Rory and I will probably not have to be overly concerned and obsess about these issues. But I feel that the earlier we have this discussion, the less complicated things will have to be.

Your thoughts?

I'll try not to make my posts so long-winded in the future. Thanks for sticking with me on the last few posts.

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What I'm Listening To:

Artist: The Black Keys

Album: Attack & Release

I'm not sure if I've talked about the Black Keys before, but they are worth repeating if I did. (I should start keeping a list of what albums I talk about.)

Attack & Release made it's debut in 2008. My favorite song is probably I Got Mine which was number 23 on Rolling Stone's list of 100 Best Songs of 2008. The whole album is worth listening to.

The Black Keys are releasing their seventh studio album on December 6th called El Camino. (This would be an awesome Christmas gift. hint, hint) Their first officially release single is Lonely Boy. Listen to it. You won't regret it. I'm looking forward to what this album has to offer.

Thoughts

I don't usually share my political views on the internet, but I'm becoming more bothered by the polarization of politics. Here are my thoughts:

As many know, quite a bit of the news media is bias or slanted. (I've read a couple of great books about this topic. First, The Culture of Fear by Barry Glassner. Second, Bias by Bernard Goldberg. I recommend both.) I'm constantly amazed by how often I find it and how little some people I talk to seem to mind. For several years I've gotten into the habit of getting my news from several sources to make sure I get the big picture before forming my own opinions. I don't claim to be well informed necessarily but when I do form an opinion, you can guess that I've done a bit of research.

I'm getting particularly annoyed by generalizations of the protestors taking part in Occupy Wall Street. I won't share my view of the actual movement, but I'm sick of all the bashing that is happening on both sides of the issues raised. The people in Zucotti park are getting more angry as well as those opposing them. Because of all the negativity going around, has any real progress been made?

In this opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal, Doug Schoen talks about a poll he conducted October 10th and 11th in Zuccotti Park. He contradicts his own survey of the protestors by concluding that; "What binds a large majority of the protesters together—regardless of age, socioeconomic status or education—is a deep commitment to left-wing policies: opposition to free-market capitalism and support for radical redistribution of wealth..." For one who conducted a poll such this, one might assume that he has a clear view of who the protestors are, making this statement sound like it might be legitimate. But, that isn't what the numbers say.

When I took a look at the actual poll, I found a different story. When asked "What frustrates you most about the political process in the United States?" Only 3% mentioned the "democratic/capitalist system." The largest portion of respondents (30%) said "Influence of corporate/moneyed/special interests." Not quite so outlandish, right? The part about "radical redistribution of wealth" also sounds pretty extreme, until you read the actual poll and find that when asked; "What would you like to see the Occupy Wall Street movement achieve?" a meager 4% said "Radical redistribution of wealth." The kicker: this was the only time any kind of redistribution of wealth was mentioned in the 5 page survey. I'd say four percent hardly "binds a large majority" of them.

Granted, Schoen's piece in the Wall Street Journal was presented as an opinion, but one might think that someone who cares enough about facts and numbers to conduct surveys of this sort would just let the facts speak for themselves. But no, he feels the need to draw conclusions that negates his own poll.

This is the kind of slant on facts -which is all over news outlets, and not just in the opinion pages- has reinforced my opinion that I can't depend on any one source of information when it comes to my own political views. If you think about it, how can we expect America to progress when we can't even agree upon the facts?

A copy of the entire Douglas Schoen poll is here.

So please, before you vote tomorrow, do your research. Make sure you have all the facts.

Late October Stuff

Get ready for some super flattering photos of me.

Last week was pretty eventful. Among other things that happened we all got sick, which put a damper on our Halloween festivities. Miss Fifi was the first to get sick and honestly, if I had gotten sick first, I probably would have had more sympathy for her. Poor thing. She acted like her normal self -aside from the runny nose and cough- for the first couple days. When I got it, there was a sore throat and all around grossness in the mix.

About three days in, though, Miss Fifi's breathing wasn't sounding right. She was wheezing and working a little harder for her breath. Rory had asthma when he was a baby, so we thought it would be best to take her in for a doctor's appointment that afternoon. When we were heading out the door, we could see her stomach contract with each breath. It was so sad. They did a nebulizer treatment which helped. (Despite the fact that she screamed and wiggled like a bag of eels the whole time. How long are those treatments, anyway? 'Cause it felt like it took an hour.) Anyway, the doctor wrote a prescription for Albuterol MDI. It's basically and inhaler with an attachment that goes over her mouth and nose. It only takes a few seconds, so it's much easier to make her hold still for it. She's gotten better since those treatments. The poor girl still has had some coughing fits, but she is doing better. Anyone else had babies with asthma? Any tips for a newbie parent would be welcome.

Anywho, on to the rest of the post: We went to a pumpkin patch to get some pumpkins a week ago. I'd never been and thought it would be fun. I think it's going to be a new tradition.

Miss Fifi had fun.

Our friends throw a fun Halloween party every year and as per tradition Rory and I threw together our costumes no earlier than three hours before. Let's take a stroll down memory lane to remember our other half-hearted efforts at costumes, shall we?

Halloween 2008: Sarah Palin and Jemaine Clement (See what I mean about flattering?)

Halloween 2009: Pumpkin (borrowed from his childhood) and scrounge up old dance costumes and see what you get (Don't worry, it's a thing.)

Halloween 2010: Rory (Not Pictured)I don't even know what he was but involved sparkly armbands and a welding mask. I (again, not pictured) was "pregnant" (This was three weeks after I gave birth... I thought it was funny.) Miss Fifi was a ballerina. (If only she could get her parent to be as on top of things...)

Halloween 2011: "Lame" (he came up with it himself), Raphael, and a Japanese girl.

And... what good is a ninja without any cool poses?

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What I'm listening to:

Artist: Damien Rice

Album: O

This album has a lot of meaning for me. Besides being the kind of album that I could listen to every day for a month and still want to hit repeat, this album was the topic of discussion on my first date with Rory. In fact, we listened to a lot of Damien Rice for the first couple months we were dating.

Beautifully written. Beautifully produced. Check it out.

Miss Fifi is Big in Japan

This post has the potential for being very long. You'll get over it.

Miss Fifi's birthday party was last week and I promised that I'd do a party post. As for the theme, I figured that adults would outnumber kids at this party, so I thought that I might as well make it fun for me to plan. I also just wanted to have an excuse to make fun rice crispy treat sushi. I settled on Big in Japan. Many people asked me about what it means. According to Wikipedia it is, "a phrase to describe Western celebrities failed in the Western world, but more successful in Japan." Funny, right? Just go with it.

If you follow my boards on Pintrest, you may have seen a number of photos that inspired this party. I worked within a budget and pinterest is a great resource for cost saving ideas.

So imagine that the stack of mini chairs and the chalk board aren't in the back ground and it's at a park on a warm fall day. That's what I had in mind when I planned this but you've got to roll with the punches sometimes.

We had fortune cookies I found in bulk at Winco for $.06 each. I dipped them in chocolate a couple days before. They were yummy.

White cake pops dipped in milk chocolate, topped with coconut. I made them with my trusty cake pop maker I got a few months ago. It's a time saver. I recommend getting one if you are in the habit of making cake pops.

"Swedish Nigiri" Rice crispy treats topped with swedish fish and wrapped in green apple fruit roll up.

Wontons filled with cream cheese. Rory also made his famous Thai dipping sauce. I'll try to post that recipe soon.

"Twinkie Roll" Twinkies cut and topped with cut gummy bears.

"Zinger Roll" Zinger's cut and topped with gummy bears.

Funfetti Cake with cream cheese frosting. 'Cause that's how we roll.

We also served Miso Soup, Samurai peanut mix (a Winco find), and the "Miss Fifi Roll."

The Miss Fifi Roll didn't photograph well. It was mango, strawberries, and kiwi with rice cooked in coconut milk and wrapped in a chocolate dough. To save myself from stress I made it the week before and froze it. If I could do it again, I'd make it fresh. Recipe is here. I cut back on the salt in the chocolate dough, and if I made this again, I'd also cut back quite a bit on the sugar. It was awfully sweet.

My tips for saving money while planning a party:

-Spend money on things you can reuse. The cake plater that Miss Fifi's cake was on is a great example because I will always be able to use it. If I bought a green and yellow one to match the theme, I'd be very limited on how I'd be able to use it in the future.

-Plan far in advance. Some people thought I was crazy to start talking about her party in august. Starting that early gave me time to brainstorm and think outside the box. I had time to shop around and not feel pressure to buy because I knew I had time on my side if the price wasn't right. I also had time to make things that I wouldn't have time for if I'd started two weeks before.

-Shop around. I ended up buying much of the food in Winco's bulk section. (If you've never been there, I implore you to go. I've had bad luck with their produce, but their bulk section is marvelous.)

-Make your own food. You might think this would add more stress in the end and might not be worth it, but I was able to spread out what I needed to make over a few days. It turned out to be pretty easy. (The cake I made three weeks before, I wrapped it up really well and froze it. I pulled it out of the freezer the day before and it was just as moist as the day I made it.)

-Borrow. I borrowed the tablecloths, a drink dispenser, a cake pan and the platter that the big cake was on.

-Repurpose. The bamboo that was on the table was actually meant to be a blind. I found it at Big Lots on clearance. It was the exact length of the table, so I used it as a table runner. It added a lot to the over-all affect, yet it only cost me $3.

-Craft. The serving platter the little cake was on I made myself using thrifted plates, dollar store candle stick holder, and some epoxy. Here is the tutorial. It cost me a whopping total of $6.75. I also spent $4 on cardstock and had my sister show me how to fold paper cranes. (*I don't recommend using cardstock for origami. You live, you learn.) I also made the "lanterns" for decorating the cakes. They cost me about $3 to make.

(Craft cont.) With the help of my mom, I also made Miss Fifi's Kimono. I found fabric on sale at Jo-Ann fabrics. It actually inspired the color scheme, too. Cost $10. I plan on using this for her Halloween costume too. Two birds. One stone. Holla! (I'm sorry, I'll never use that word again.)

Another photo of Miss Fifi just for kicks:

The budget was about $80. I went over by a few dollars, but I think it was worth it.

Food: $28

Serving plates: $16

Paper goods: $15

Decor: $15

Fabric: $10

Invites: $2

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GRAND TOTAL $86

I think $86 dollars isn't too shabby for a fun party. Am I right?

If there is anything else you'd like to know about Miss Fifi's party or any other ideas on saving money on parties, let me know.

Miss Fifi is One!

Miss Fifi turned one last week. We were planning on having her party at a nearby park, but the weather wasn't looking too great and our two bedroom apartment would put Miss Fifi's family and friends a little too close for comfort. We decided, last minute, to have it at our church. We partied it up in the nursery since there were already miniature tables and chairs for the kiddos. It worked out, but I wasn't able to decorate like I wanted. She had fun. That is what matters.

I still can't believe she is one. I can't believe I've been a mother for a whole year. After she was born people kept asking me if I felt like a mother. I'd always answer; "No, I just feel like I have a little friend following me around." In fact, the first time I actually felt like a mother was about a month ago when somehow I just knew that she was about toss her cookies. Maternal instinct must have kicked in because I grabbed a shoe box lid for her to do her business. I held my sick baby and a shoe box lid filled with throw up, it was then that I felt like a mother. Strange. I bet you never knew throw up could be so profound.

Her hair is starting to make her look like a ragamuffin. I should probably start doing it, huh?

In an upcoming post I share more about her party and some tips I learned about throwing an awesome party on a budget (around $75 actually), complete with recipes, links to tutorials, and cost saving ideas. Watch for the post on her Japanese themed birthday party soon. For now, you can see this little gem:

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What I'm Listening To:

Band: Jet

Album: Get Born

I know this album has been around a few years, but this is my blog and I can do what I want. Their other albums are great too, but Get Born is just my favorite.

My favorite song on the album is a toss-up. I love Rollover DJ, Get What You Need, and Are You Gonna Be My Girl.

I knew a boy that could sing like Nic Cester. We went on a date once. It was super awkward. In full disclosure: this was a couple weeks after I met Rory. The poor sap never even had a chance...

Guess what, I Am Not A Robot

For our anniversary I got a couple of necklaces. I got this robot one:

Isn't it cute? Did you ever think robots could be this cute? Miss Fifi likes it, too. Sometimes I worry that she will like it too much and pull off a leg or something.

I also got this necklace:

Yes, they ARE rhinestone studded ear buds. Thanks for asking. Rory and I think they are just so tacky, it's cool. What do you think? Be honest, I won't be offended if you hate them.

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What I'm listening to:

By this post title you should know that I'm listening to Marina & the Diamonds, of course. I Am Not a Robot is probably my favorite song of theirs. My sister-in-law introduced me to them. In fact, I "borrowed" the album The family Jewels from her for like a year... Sorry Nat. (I returned it, don't worry.)

An Ode to Rory

This post has the potential for becoming cheesy; bare with me. But some things are worthy of cheese.

Ahh... Rory. Where to begin? I absolutely love this man. Three years ago today we were married in the Salt Lake Temple. It was a beautiful day. A wonderful wedding. We had our reception the night before. (*Gasp* I know! Untraditional? Yes, but it was a brilliant idea. [Trust me, we had to fight certain traditional family members for it. They later said that it was a great idea. Go figure.]) So all we had to worry about that day was the luncheon, ceremony, and pictures. Everything lead up to the ceremony. It was perfect. He looked dashing in his tuxedo, I wore my white gown and Grandmother's necklace. I was lucky enough to wear my mother's wedding dress (which she made) for the ceremony. Have I mentioned that it was perfect?

We weren't very nervous. You were nervous when you asked me to be your wife, but on our wedding day, we just felt... right. I only cried after I saw my sister crying (happy tears). Sisters have that effect, you know. Other than that, I felt fairly calm, considering it was our wedding day. We felt right.

We held each other's hands so tight that day. I remember vividly. All day. It was perfect. We were so happy to start our life together. The way he looked at me that day made me weak and want to jump up and down hip-hip-hooraying all at the same time. The way he looks at me still makes me feel that way. And I sometimes see him look at our little girl with that same amount of love. I can't think of a better way to describe how that makes me feel other than: pure joy.

Over the last three years I can safely say that we've fallen more in love. Rory understands me better than anyone I can think of. He even loves me for my quirks that he doesn't understand. Like the way I totally throw myself into new things/hobbies/ideas/what have you, my unexplained fetish for socks, the way that I can't stand when pajama pants ride up exposing my ankle to cold air, but I can wear shorts to bed just fine. (Man, I'm coo coo.) I love his little quirks too. Always experimenting and putting ketchup on random food (the man is easy to please), beat-boxing with Miss Fifi, forgetting his keys, the way he says things that don't make sense to be funny, his excitement over Yo Gabba Gabba. He's just so cute.

I love all the sweet things he does for me too; rubbing my feet nearly every day when I was pregnant, helping to roll me out of bed when I was REALLY pregnant, listening to me talk his ear off about my new hobbies or things I learn, taking the pink toothbrush because I like green better, watching Project Runway with me, offering to take pre-natal vitamins with me because he knows how much I hate swallowing pills, going to the store at 3 am for a medicine (Again, while I was pregnant.) then being able to give me a blessing after, letting me talk him into an uber-extreme money plan that some friends and family think we are crazy for, changing most of Miss Fifi's diapers (unprovoked) when he is home. Isn't he sweet? I couldn't have imagined a better fit for me. And, I wouldn't trade our conversations for $1,000,000. Rory is wonderful.

Rory-

I've told you this many times, but it seems to become more true every day: "I'm so glad I married you." After three years of marriage, but still very much at the beginning of our marriage: I love you, Rory.

-B

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What I'm listening to:

Today, I'm listening to our wedding songs. We had two. (We love music, what can I say?) In no particular order:

Reasons to Love You by Mieko and

When She Believes by Ben Harper (Grooveshark doesn't have the rights to any Ben Harper, so you're stuck with a poopy video from youtube.)

*Photos courtesy of Raquel Acevedo.

Ch-Ch-Ch Changes

So, don't be alarmed if my photos on my blog disappear for a few days. I'm getting in the process of renewing my smugmug account which all my photos are linked to and I'm making some changes to the account...

Anyway, long story, don't worry about it. Hopefully I'll get things switched over soon...

Miss Fifi's Mobile

Miss Fifi is crawling now. She started pulling up to standing before she could crawl, so not much is holding her back from getting what she wants, nowadays. So far she's managed a few feats which I will share with you.

-Learned how to open cupboards. (Thanks Rory. I could have done without you showing her.)

-Pulled my cooling -but still hot- straightener down from the bathroom counter. (This was a close one. I was standing right there and quickly got it away from her before she got hurt.)

-Turned on our Bluray player then pressed eject, making the disc tray come out. (I pulled her away before she put her weight on the tray, which she was reaching to do.)

-Pulled our lightest weight acoustic guitar on top of her. (Didn't cry, just acted startled. This might not have been the case if it were any of our other guitars.)

-As I type this, she just learned to open a drawer. (Oops, fingers. Hold on... I'm back. For my mom's sake: she's just fine, didn't even cry. I think it just startled her.)

-Managed to get herself out of her Bumbo twice. (For those not well versed in baby gear lingo; The Bumbo.)

Wow, reading all this makes me feel like a bad parent. Sometimes, I just like watching her work through things (ready to pounce if things go awry). It's fascinating to watch. Needless to say; we will be doing some more baby-proofing this weekend. As for the blueray player, (since we don't have doors on our entertainment center) Rory said he could disable the bottons on the front so that we would need the remote to make it work. (I love having a tech-savvy husband.) That is fine by me. I hope it will be a while before she figures out how the remote works... or hides it. Maybe, we will get a kid-friendly entertainment center for Christmas...

I love her.

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What I'm listening to:

Right now, Death Cab for Cutie is on the ipod. Someday you will be loved is the song. Plans is a great album. I agree with Rory when he said that Owl City kind of turned him off of the Death Cab, Postal Service, and Owl City vibe for a while. It's unfortunate that a totally different band can have that effect. Poor Ben Gibbard. I don't know, maybe we're just snobs. Actually, I know we are snobs. But are we alone? Anyone?

Anyway, we just recently started listening to them again. It's kind of refreshing, listening to something you love but haven't heard for a while.

We've Been Crafting

Rory crafts like this:

(Image source: http://gizmodo.com/5812627/your-minecraft-obsession-now-irl)

I craft like this:

I made this because I started meal planning a few weeks ago. It's been great so far and I want to keep it up. I didn't think it would have much of an impact on what we eat, but I feel like we eat a lot better and I put less effort into meals. I don't have to scratch my head, trying to figure out what we have that can be turned into some sort of dinner. Anyone else been there? I'm also spending a lot less on groceries since food doesn't go bad before it's used and I'm only buying what I'm sure we will be eating. Go figure.

I haven't officially chosen a color scheme for our kitchen but I wanted the frame to match our plates. I'd say, it's pretty close. I added the cork myself and had Rory paint "Menu" and the letters of the week. (I'm always scared to write permanent things and he has much better handwriting, anyway.) I'm happy with how it turned out.

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What I'm listening to:

Right now, I'm listening to Passion Pit's album Manners. They are electronica-licious. I can't listen to them without being happy. They are so fun. My favorite songs on this album are probably Sleepyhead and Little Secrets. I can't remember where I found this band. It seems like it was on some music show on hulu. I don't know, ask Rory. He might remember.

I Want To Go To There

A Tale of Two Dressings: Updated

Do you know when you realize something about your growing up years was uncommon but you didn't know it was uncommon at the time? It's not a bad thing by any means, just different. Well, last week I realized something like that. In my parent's home you will find, at any given moment, between 10 to 15 different kinds of salad dressing. I'm not exaggerating. Did you even know that there were that many varieties? We always had several options. I never even knew Paul Newman was anything other that a salad dressing maker 'til I was in high school. I guess you might call some of my family members condiment connoisseurs. I just never realized that having 12 varieties of dressing on the table for dinner wasn't commonplace. I was just talking to Rory and he said that he only ever remembers his family having ranch dressing. They always had it, but that's all they ever really had. It made me kind of sad. During our conversation I mentioned that I'm generally a 1,000 Island girl but I do love a good Italian Dressing. To that he said he didn't think he ever tried Italian Dressing it until he was like 21! Now that's just crazy! I'm so glad that I had several options besides Ranch growing up otherwise I probably wouldn't have liked salad. I've grown to appreciate it now, but I hated Ranch as a kid. Am I crazy?! I thought I'd just share that with you...

Anyway, after sharing my Italian Seasoning Revolution, I went back to Winco and got all of the spices and herbs to make Italian Dressing Mix and Ranch Dressing Mix. I tried them out over the weekend and brought them to a few family/friend festivities along with a salad, of course. Both were very simple but turned out pretty well. I thought I'd share the recipes.

The first was Ranch dressing mix.

The Ranch Dressing Mix Recipe:

1/2 cup Dry Buttermilk

(I couldn't find dry buttermilk, so I replaced it with lowfat instant milk. I found out later that regular powdered milk isn't the best substitute for dry buttermilk... Oops. It worked out okay though)

1 Tbsp Parsley

1 Tsp Dill Weed

1 Tsp Onion Powder

1 Tsp Onion Flakes

1 Tsp Salt

1 Tsp Cilantro

(the recipe didn't call for this, but I love me some cilantro.)

1/2 Tsp Garlic Powder

1/2 Tsp Ground Pepper

Here is the recipe for the dressing:

1 Tbsp Mix

1 Cup Mayonnaise

1 Cup Milk

The dressing tasted good but turned out a little too runny for my taste. Rory and I tried to thicken it up by playing around with the proportions and adding a couple things but to no avail. I think it was worth it to try though.

Next was the Italian Dressing.

The Italian Dressing Mix:

2 Tbsp Oregano

2 Tbsp Salt

1 Tbsp Garlic Salt

1 Tbsp Onion Powder

1 Tbsp Sugar

1 Tbsp Parsley

1 Tsp Black Pepper

1 Tsp Basil

1/2 Tsp Thyme

1/4 Tsp Minced Onions

For the dressing itself:

2 Tbsp Mix

2/3 Cup Canola Oil

1/4 Cup White Vinegar

2 Tbsp Water

The Italian Dressing turned out really well. I loved it. If you are going to try one of these recipes, I recommend this one.

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What I'm listening to:

Right now, I'm listening to Dan Auerbach's album Keep It Hid. When The Night Comes is probably my favorite song on the album.

Dan Auerbach is the singer for the duo The Black Keys. If you haven't heard of them, I pitty you. I LOVE them. They are so bluesy, raw, and brilliant.

Italian Seasoning Awakening

Those who know me well, know that I've never been a good cook. Up until a few years ago the only recipes in my repertoire were Chocolate Chip Cookies, Rice Crispy Treats, and Top Romen. No kidding. I've been learning a lot though, especially in the months since I haven't been working. I can now make a decent meal. Ask Rory.

I have a love/hate relationship with spices in general. I always forget about buying those dang packages of Taco Seasoning and Italian Dressing Mix when I'm at the store. And I get Italian Dressing mix confused with Italian Seasoning a lot of times. I know that they are different but one recipe will call for the dressing mix and another recipe will call for the seasoning and I can never remember which it is. Also, the dressing mix costs $1.22 for a pack which will only be used in one recipe. Really? It's kind of ridiculous. But the thing is; food would be so bland without spices.

A friend of mine gave me the idea of mixing my own seasoning. She presented it in a way to make them more healthy by only putting healthy stuff in it. (as far as onion soup mix is concerned) I could care less about that, just give me a way to avoid having to pay a dollar plus for seasoning for one meal and let me stock up so I don't forget it when I'm in the middle of making dinner and I'll be a happy camper. I don't know why it was such a novel idea to me, but it was a huge awakening. She also opened my mind to Winco's amazing spices that they sell in bulk. If you haven't shopped there for spices/oats/soup mixes/nuts/trail mixes, you should check it out. They sell things buy the pound and it's super inexpensive. So I decided to make Italian Seasoning. (Not Italian Dressing Mix, I'll get to that one later.)

I had some of the spices I needed already but I headed to Winco for the rest. I bought 4 spices. Guess how much I paid... 35 cents! The most expensive spice I bought was dried cilantro at $8.80 per pound. Do you know how much cilantro you'd need to make a pound? A whole lot. I got about 2 1/2 tablespoons (which was more than what I needed) and it cost me a whole 9 cents. 9 cents for a spice? I could get used to this.

In my search, I saw many variations of Italian Seasoning recipes and since I can never follow one recipe to a "T", I used ideas from a few of them. Here is what I ended up with:

Bridgett’s Fancy Homemade Italian Seasoning Recipe

(I also included the cost of the spices that I purchased)

2 tbsp. Basil

2 tbsp. Oregano $.03

2 tbsp. Rosemary $.03

2 tbsp. Cilantro $.09

2 tbsp. Thyme $.20

2 tbsp. Parsley

2 tsp. Garlic Powder

2 tsp. Black Pepper

1 tsp. Dried Red Pepper

I'm really happy with how it turned out.

In the next few days/weeks I'm looking forward to mixing lots of seasonings. Taco Seasoning, Ranch Dressing mix, and Italian Dressing mix will be the next on my list. I think I might buy everything at Winco just to compare the cost of making it myself to buying it pre-made.

*I think I'm going to start sharing what I'm currently listening to with each post.

Right now, I'm listening to Mercury by Bloc Party from their album Intimacy. It has such a great breakdown.

A Confession and a Breakthrough

I have a confession. You may have known this about me, but maybe not. But, if you've been around me especially in the last few years, you quite possibly have never seen my feet. Why? Because I HATE being barefoot. The reasons are two fold; 1) I don't like feeling like my feet are dirty and 2) I think it's just uncomfortable. I know that some people find joy in taking off their shoes to bask in shoelessness. I just don't get it. I can't stand being barefoot. To me, it's poopy. I avoid having my feet bare. In fact, if you've even seen me wearing flip-flops in the last few years, it was probably because we were going swimming. It's not because I'm embarrassed of my feet in any way. I actually like my feet. I just don't like the feeling of being barefoot.

If I ever walk around my house without socks on my feet for more than ten minutes, I feel like I have to wash them before putting on socks. We try to keep our floors clean. (WIth an eight-month-old rolling around, we have to.) We are actually a shoe-less household and keep our shoes by the door in order to avoid tracking in any dirt. I just always wear socks.

Rory likes my feet, too. He always tries to get me to take off the socks. In fact, we have an ongoing deal. If he rubs my feet, I will go barefoot. It works a lot of times. He gets to see my feet, I get a foot rub. Win-win, right? I never tell him that ten minutes after having my feet rubbed, I'm thinking about where my socks went.

I always sleep with socks on, too. Winter time, summer time- it makes no difference. Rory has challenged me in the past to sleep the whole night barefoot. I'd never been able to do it. I would toss and turn for hours before giving up. I just couldn't stand it. After putting my socks on again, I'd be asleep in minutes. Weird, right? I've never felt uncomfortably hot even on the hottest summer night sleeping with socks on my feet.

A few weeks ago something happend though. I was sick for about five days. I got a fever every night before going to bed. It was awful. I would get so hot. My feet were so uncomfortable, that I would take my socks off. I'd never really felt so hot my feet were uncomfortable, but once they were off it actually felt pretty nice. I would sleep off the fever and wake up in the middle of the night, uncomfortable again and put on my socks. It wasn't the whole night, but it was a start. After I got better, I started wearing socks to bed again. But, last night, I tried sleeping without socks. I was able to sleep the whole night without them. Breakthrough. In fact, it's 9am and I'm still barefoot as I write this. See?


(Don't look too close; my nail polish is chipping off horribly.)

Pat me on the back.

Okay, I'm probably going to put my socks on now. Don't hate me.