Another 2012 Post

I have committed myself to relaxing a little and getting caught up on a few things today.  I need to mentally prepare for THE WORST night of the ENTIRE year for any casino employee.. 
I am not ready.
At all.


We found a great ornament to represent our year:

A great reminder of all the fun days we had crabbing at the bay!  We got it off etsy from this shop:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/dosdamasdesigns
They have a lot of other really great designs as well.

For Christmas this year we ended up doing most of our shopping online.  We also tried to focus on buying things from other artists on etsy.  You find a greater selection of unique gifts and I love giving my dollars to an actual human being instead of a giant corporation.
We had to work Christmas Eve but thankfully, we were off Christmas Day.  We had a relaxing day and kept things very low-key.  We watched Christmas movies and munched on cheeses and breads.
Skott did a wonderful stocking for me (again) this year.  It was full of all sorts of crazy things like bacon chapstick, bacon hot sauce, bacon toothpaste (haven't been brave enough to try it yet), a sriracha hot sauce lollipop, chocoshots (like an asthma inhaler, only it shoots chocolate vapor. Mmmmm), some juice shots (something you add to a bottle of juice to cause a chemical reaction that makes it alcoholic.  Intriguing), and an aero press coffee maker (like a french press kind of).  Oh yes, and how could I forget!-a coffee plant!  Yesssss!!!! If all goes well, in 4 years I will be harvesting my own coffee beans :)

I did a sort of "steampunk" theme for Skott stocking.  I got him a tshirt, some steampunk craft pieces, a wooden watch, and a no-spill coffee carrier.  One of his gifts I couldn't figure out how to wrap, so I sewed his package! hahaha I was pretty proud of it

 

 

The geekery came out in me and I couldn't resist getting Skott this:

"Tardis" bathrobe from the show Dr Who

Skott got me this amazing terrarium (another etsy find):

hahaha my eyes are so puffy

Our sweet pug was being incredibly photogenic Christmas morning:

 

 

Grateful for family and friends!  Had a wonderful holiday and hope you all did as well. 
Now that I have this storage issue fixed, I will be back to blogging better.

Loves to you all

out of space

Ugggghhh!
I want to explore online storage options first, so until then, no pictures.  It is that crazy time of year where my mind is going in a thousand different directions so I don't know when I will get this sorted out.
Hope everyone is surviving the holiday season so far!

Our new etsy shop

one of my faves

We finally got our etsy shop opened!
I plan to have a blog devoted to it, but that will come in time.

We will be adding more items weekly and eventually we will get some bigger pieces on there as well.  (As soon as I quit coming up with "honey-do's" for Skott.  The latest idea I hatched involved completely rearranging our media center and computer room, repurposing some pieces, selling others, and ending up with a new computer desk built out of reclaimed barn wood and copper!)

I have never had so many creative ideas swirling around in my head.  Time is my enemy.  I have to keep breaking it down into baby steps.

If you get a moment, please follow this link and check it out. 

http://www.etsy.com/shop/beachwalkerz

Any feedback, positive or constructive, is greatly appreciated :)

Beware!

(First off, let me be clear that I am not trying to slander the company.  I am just VERY disappointed and slightly apalled that they are allowed to continue to sell their product.)

The last week of September I had my dental cleaning.  I take very good care of my teeth and had very little tartar and no stains or anything.  For being a coffee drinker, I have very white teeth.  I don't do any whitening strips, I just brush, floss, and rinse 2x a day.
The dental hygenist stongly suggested that I switch to Crest ProHealth fluoride mouthwash since the water isn't fluoridated here.  I had been using the Crest ProHealth 3D whitening toothpaste for the last couple months so I decided to switch from my ACT mouthwash, to the Crest ProHealth.

When I was reading the label to see how much to use, I saw something that I thought was odd, but I didn't really think twice about it at the time.  I have highlighted it in yellow below:

It reads:  "In some cases, rinses may cause surface staining to teeth.  This is not permanent
or harmful, and may be prevented by adequate brushing or removed at your next dental visit.

The first thing I noticed right away that I did NOT like was the way it "gelled" up in my mouth.  I would be swishing away and these nasty, gelatin-like clumps would collect.  The texture of them almost gagged me.

Then, about a month after using the mouthwash, I noticed these weird brown stains inbetween my lower teeth that I have NEVER had before

Nasty, right?
I tried flossing better, paying extra attention and time when I brushed, etc but they just kept getting darker and darker.
Then I remembered what the label said.  I did a trusty google search and found out that this staining is something A LOT of people have encountered!

I first contacted the dentist, who said they had never heard of this, but would be happy to clean my teeth for free and try to remove the stains (My appointment is Monday,  I will keep you posted).
I then contacted the mouthwash company.  Their reply was horribly scripted, -which tells me that they have gotten enough complaints that they actually had to write a script for their customer service agents to spew back at us.  It contained bullcrap phrases such as "This is an indication that the product is working" and "It is cosmetic only and will not cause damage to your teeth" and "All ingredients in the mouth wash are FDA approved".  The lady was very nice and took down a lot of information.  They are refunding me for the price of the mouthwash and asked me to contact them if "further medical treatment is neccessary".  Whhhhaaaattt?!

So instead of reassuring me that they are looking into the problem, they just "shut me up" with a refund.  Needless to say, I have thrown away ALL Crest ProHealth products in my house and I will NEVER trust them again!

Mini vacation

We took a little mini vacation to Berkeley/San Fransisco for 5 days.  Neither one of us had ever been there and Skott has a cousin who lives in Berkeley whom he was very close with growing up. 

After dropping Confuscious off at the doggie-sitter, we drove to the Portland airport.  We arrived in Oakland and were greeted by sunshine and 75 degree temps.  Lovely!  We almost had a piece of our luggage stolen at baggage claim.  Luckily, we happened to be very near the people who picked it up.  They were going to leave with it until I said something to them.  They claimed it looked identical to theirs but hmmm, funny... when I saw the actual luggage that they left with, it looked NOTHING like ours.  Makes me wonder if they stole someone elses or if they were just crazy.  Anyways, I'm glad it didn't get taken because it happened to be the suitcase containing all of our shoes and toiletries (Yes, we are a bit obsessed with shoes, enough so that we had an entire suitcase devoted to them!).

Skotts cousin, Hap, made me a suprise cake.  It was amazing -rich and chocolatey!  He also made homemade pumpkin ice cream.  Yum! (I was especially grateful for the one candle on top of the cake! hahaha I'm only 29, right?!).

On Monday we walked around Berkeley, drove to some neat shopping districts, and visited Hap and Peters store -The Cactus Jungle.  We found a great coffee shop and enjoyed wonderful conversation and people watching:

 

Monday night we went out for pizza.  I wish I would have taken pictures -the pizzas were HUGE and very delicious!  I loved all the unique combinations of fresh, organic toppings available.

Tuesday we spent part of the day driving around with Hap.  He showed us some sights, and we drove out to the "country" a little bit.  It's amazing how compact the city is against the bay.  We only had to drive about 20 minutes before we were out in the middle of nowhere.  We saw a cool old C&H sugar factory and a couple oil refineries.  We had lunch at an authentic mexican cafe.  The food was all organic and there were a lot of fresh salsas to chose from.  We hit the grocery store on the way home and picked up a bunch of cheese and some breads to have for dinner.  Side note:  Acme bread company= Best bread I have ever had in my life!

Skott and Hap

Wednesday we decided would be the day we would go across the bay to San Fransisco.  Hap and Peter were both busy working their store that day so we went alone.  Our original plan was to drive to the Bart station (Bay Area Rapid Transit) and take the subway across the bay, and then just take busses and trains around the city (parking is a nightmare in this area).  We headed to the station and couldn't find parking.  Went across the street to their overflow lot and the car in front of us got THE LAST parking space.  We drove around both lots for awhile but nothing was opening up.  We drove across town to the other Bart station and the parking lot was full there too.  We were getting somewhat frustrated at this point, as time was wasting and we weren't even to San Fransisco yet.  We decided to drive over and park somewhere and still just bus our way around town.  We headed across the bay bridge and accidentally took the wrong exit to get to downtown.  We meandered our way through side streets and got where we needed to be.  Got the LAST parking space at the first lot we came upon, and decided to go for it.  It was a bit un-nerving as the cars were PACKED in this little tiny lot.  No rows, no aisles, nothing! You just drove in, got a ticket from the attendent, left your keys in the ignition, and that's it.  Once again, I should have taken a picture of how the cars were all packed in there.  No wonder they told you  you couldn't pick up your car until after a certain time... There would be no way to get your car out if you were in the middle of all that mess!  As we left the parking lot, we started seeing A LOT of Giants baseball fans.  Then we heard the music of bands warming up.  As we got closer to the main downtown area, we finally figured out that the day of the parade to celebrate the SF Giants winning the world series was that day!  No wonder it was so crazy!

We had a great time exploring the city that day!  Never enough time and there was SO MUCH more that we wanted to see.

loved all the old brick buildings built on the hill

coffee break

Neat graffitti art

We ended up in a hippie district around 3pm.  The crowds were starting to get a little "rough", as it was also Halloween.  We decided to take the connecting buses and subways back to the parking lot and try to beat rush hour traffic across the bridge.  I have never been on a subway before.  The ones in SF are very clean!  I expected worse.

We made it back, got our car, and made it back across the bay to Berkeley with no delay.  Later that evening as we watched the news, we realized just how lucky we got.
1.1 million people turned out for the celebration parade that day.
ALL of the freeway exits CLOSED just minutes after we took the wrong exit to downtown San Fransisco.  Had we kept on going, we would have been stuck sitting on the freeway, unable to exit at all until after the parade was over.  It was a blessing in disguise that we didn't find parking at the Bart station in Berkeley.  People were still waiting in line to get back across the bay at 8pm that night and they were packing them into the subway like sardines.  Not good for my claustrophobia.

One of the highlights of our day was stumbling upon a Biscoff coffee shop.  Biscoff spread is SO AMAZING!  I resisted the urge to buy the gigantic gallon size bucket of it :) and got a really neat coffee mug instead.

A truly amazing trip!  I really enjoyed all the talks with Hap and Peter.  Loved their adorable whippets -Benjamin and Jason.  Loved all the different plants.  Truly enjoyed exploring a new place with Skott and having time to relax and people watch together.  I was reminded of how much I am truly loved when I overheard two women talking on the bus back to the airport terminal.  One lady said to another "Oh girl, let me see!  How much does your husband love you?  Let me see the size of that ring!".  It really made me sick to my stomach -that people think the size of their diamond is somehow a measure of their love for eachother.  I'll take breakfast in bed, a wink across a crowded room, a hug, an opening of the door, or a simple note letting me know he's thinking of me ANY DAY over diamonds and jewels.

All in all, it was a great trip.  I'll leave you with a few more pictures...

Some succulents at Hap and Peters house:

Sunset walk

We usually miss the sunsets... as we are at work by that time.
We took a sunset walk on our day off.  It was absolutely beautiful. 

 

 

Storms and Sunshine

We have been VERY fortunate to have one of the best summers (weather-wise).  We got our first fall storm over the weekend.  It was the kind of stormy day where you want to curl up with a good book under a warm blanket.  But alas..... we had to work.  And it was busy!

Today it is sunny and absolutely GORGEOUS outside.  We plan on taking a long beachcombing walk later on this evening.

We finished painting the fence.  My bulb order arrived so as soon as the temps dip a little more, I can get those put in and hopefully have some color next spring and summer.

Before we moved in

pressure washing

Finished.  We color matched it to the tree, and in reality, it is more
 of a deeper color like the leaves on the tree. 

We also got the trellis built and painted.  Planted three fragrant honeysuckle.  I'm excited to see what it looks like next year after filling out a bit.

(Ignore the neighbors hideous lawn behind it)

Cracked Wheat Fried Rice

I got on this kick where I was making my own granola cereal for awhile.  Thanks to the Amish markets, I could buy gigantic bags of cracked wheat, wheat germ, etc at crazy low prices.  All well and good until two scoops into what seems like a 5 lb bag of cracked wheat, I got burned out and stopped eating granola.

I am a firm believer that the "guidelines" printed inside the lid of your freezer are just friendly suggestions. -clearly not meant for someone like myself who stashes a big bag of cracked wheat at the bottom and forgets about it.  The good? sad? scary? thing about moving is you have a pretty definitive idea of how long you have had something in your freezer, pantry, etc.  For example, I purchased my cracked wheat at an Amish market in Wisconsin, meaning it is at least a year old (and if I really probe, I seem to recall buying it while I was still attending college.).  Really?  Seems as if I just bought it yesterday....

I saw a recipe on foodgawker where a lady made an indian fried rice using cracked wheat instead of rice.  I was intrigued.  Yesterday I got brave and gave it a go

It turned out really good!  It was really close texturally, more like a short grain rice, but still good.  And the flavor was spot-on.

So, for those of you with giant bags of cracked wheat in their freezers, here is my (vague) recipe:

Start out by lightly scrambling your eggs.  I used 4 eggs and seasoned them with granulated garlic, a little hot curry, and some mesquite seasoning.  Don't cook them too long, and try to leave them in bigger chunks. Set aside.

In a fry pan, I diced 1/2 onion and chopped up about 4 smoked garlic cloves.  I fried them together with a generous amount of olive oil until onions were translucent.

Turn heat down to a medium low and add your seasonings.  I added:
2 Tblsp. garlic chili paste
2 Tblsp. Hoisin Sauce (thicker version of teriyaki sauce basically)
dash of Mongolian fire oil
2 Tblsp. Sesame oil
dash of liquid smoke

I realize that these aren't exactly common ingredients.  I would say it is critical you have atleast a teriyaki or hoisin, garlic, soy sauce (if you prefer), and either sesame seeds or sesame oil.

Once you have seasonings blended into your oil/onion/garlic mixture, add cracked wheat and water.  I added cracked wheat first, then slowly added in water.  I did almost equal ratios and ended up using 2 cups cracked wheat and 2 1/2 cups water.  Take into consideration the amount of water your veggies will have in them.  Turn up heat to at least a medium, cover pan with a lid and stir fairly often (but not constantly).  Once cracked wheat has softened, add veggies.  I just threw in a bag of frozen mixed vegetables.  You can add ham or bacon at this point to, if you wish. Then add your eggs.  Cook until veggies are soft.

I served mine with fresh chopped tomato and a sprinkle of sesame seeds.

Now, if I can only figure out how to use the equally huge bag of wheat germ.....

It started with a simple google search....

Skott and I both bought eggs on the same day while running our various errands.  So I decided to boil a dozen to have as snacks, etc.  I wasn't sure how long to boil them (hahaha don't laugh).  Normally I just boil the crap out of them until I'm sure they're done.  But this time I had limited time and wanted to try and get them done before work.

*cue google search*
(I must mention something very creepy though -I went to google on my phone and started to type "How long to..." at which point it auto-filled "...boil eggs".  I'm not kidding!  It creeped me out.  Even stranger, later on in the day when I was talking to Skott about something completely unrelated, I went to my trusty google search again and it auto-filled the correct question again.)

Who knew there was so much information about boiling eggs?  I found this link fascinating:

http://whatscookingamerica.net/Eggs/BoiledEggs.htm

I liked the part about overboiling and cooking all the proteins to a rubbery consistency.  Hmmmm, that would be me.
And a grey ring around your yolks?  That's not supposed to be there?  Ooops!

I especially liked the hint about turning eggs on their sides a couple days before making deviled eggs to "center" the yolks.  Fascinating!  Who thinks of these things?

And speaking of eggs, Skott is making Popovers for breakfast :)  Yum!

A Pep Talk in Every Drop?

A very annoying co-worker came to work VERY sick last week.  Instead of keeping quietly to herself ,she was her usual in-your-face talking, snotting, sneezing, coughing, disgusting germy self.  No wonder that in the next few days 5-6 other people got sick, including Skott.  I have managed (so far) to fend off most of it except the raw sore throat and slight sniffles.

I don't get sick very often (thankfully), but when I do, I want nothing more than a hot cup of chai tea, my fizzy Alka-Seltzer meds, a blanket, and a little sympathy.  The last thing I want is to see this:

I don't want a cheesy "pep talk" on my cough drop wrappers.  I want to be miserable and lose myself on the couch in a huge pile of blankets.  This wrapper ranks right up there on my annoyance list with the outrageous slogan "Always" uses for their commercials and panty liners: "Have a happy period". 
Seriously?
This was obviously written by some poor man in a last ditch attempt to cheer up his hormone crazed monster/wife.  I'm pretty sure no woman in her right mind would agree to telling another female (whose uterus was on fire) "have a happy period".  There is nothing happy about feeling like a sobbing psycho who just wants to  curl up and die for a week....

I think I shall invent my own "pep talk in every drop" wrappers that say things such as:
*Go take a nap
*Sleep it off, you'll feel better
*Forget the laundry
*Cereal for dinner is ok
*Indulge in some hot chocolate or chai
*Pajamas are acceptable if you're not leaving the house

...anyone else care to add to my list? :)

To try and sum up my past week with a simple blog title left me staring at the screen for a full five minutes and not typing a single letter....

Today is one of those days where I feel just a little bit crazy, -like the thoughts in my head are going so many different directions and as much as I would LOVE to pinpoint just one thing to blog about, I cant.

Last weekend we went crabbing and Skott's iphone took a fatal dip in the ocean when he went out after one of our traps that had broke free.  He feels awful, and I feel awful for him. So, we either pay $199 for a new phone/repair OR we sign a new 2-yr contract and pay $199 for the brand new iphone5.  We have been waiting to just sign a new contract anyways, when ours is up next month.  So Skott is without a phone for a few weeks.  It's weird how much you come to rely on technology.... and slightly disturbing at the same time.  I like to think I can function just fine without it, but truth is, I would go NUTS without my lists, calendars, appointments, email, etc. available at the touch of my fingers.  We also use the icloud feature of our phones which means we can share grocery lists, calendars, photos, etc and everything is also uploaded automatically to our computer when we are home (documents, photos, email).  When something like this happens, it always makes me think of the book "Alas, Babylon".  It's an easy read but makes you think about the things we have come to rely on and take for granted.

I had a crazy old lady fill out a complaint form about me last night.  It upset me because these things go in our files, regardless.  And lately management has been on a suspension/firing spree and you never know who they might chose to make an example out of.  Anyways, said crazy lady (you know, the crazy hair and bright red lipstick smeared waaaay outside her lip line crazy) kept playing with her bet, touching her cards, etc.  Two big no-no's.  I kindly (and discretely) asked her three times to stop and the third time she got all indignant and said she was just sitting there and she was NOT doing the above-mentioned things.  I smiled sweetly and said, "Yes, as a matter of fact you were.  Now I am asking you nicely, but the next time it happens, I will have to call my supervisor and they will not be as nice about it".  Oh boy, did I ever cross the line in her book.  She got all upset and left the table and made sure to make a big scene about getting my name and how to spell it, etc.  The rest of the table was appalled.  We were all having a good time up to that point.  The rest of my players all talked to the boss and gave me compliments but still, talk about a fart in a carload of people....

I tried my first attempt at sewing with my new machine (thanks for the early birthday present babe). 

I still need to hem them, but this is one of the curtain panels I made for my sister Josie.  It is all out of extra material I had. I am enjoying this new creative outlet and now that I seem to have finally mastered correct bobbin threading, I think I will enjoy it more :)   I am currently drying the lavender from the pots on my front step.  When its dry, I am going to make some lavender dryer bags.

Skott has been working on driftwood bottle toppers.  He has some beautiful ones completed already!  Our biggest challenge has been finding some kind of sealant that won't darken the wood. Any ideas???

Skott is battling a horrible cold/sinus/sore throat while I am tyring to fight back a terrible-horrible-no-good-very-bad-day...  I woke up and started heating some chai for myself.  Decided to make scottish oatmeal for breakfast.  I switched over the laundry while cooking the oatmeal in the microwave (cuz all of the stovetop pans were dirty).  I was being careful and stirring it every minute so it wouldn't overflow.  Got the toast going, got my first sip of hot chai, turned around to stir the oatmeal and when I opened the microwave, half the oatmeal was exploded all over the place.  I take it out, tray and all and when I set the tray down on the counter, I bump my 20oz mug of chai over and it swamps the entire counter and then proceeds to run off and fill the drawers and one of the cupboards, not to mention soaking the front of the stove and dishwasher and the rug!  Take a deep breath and start cleaning up sticky mess.  Ignore the burned toast and try again.  Clean the microwave and tray, transfer remaining oatmeal into a bowl, and proceed to heat up more chai.  After chai is done, I attempt to make more oatmeal.  This time I use a bigger container and decide to cook in 30 second increments.  I leave the room to go get another load of laundry going and when I come back, yep, more oatmeal all over the microwave.  This time, I did NOT spill my chai when I removed the tray :) and I decided to hell with the oatmeal, I 'll just have toast.  The bright side of this story:  My cupboards, counters, and drawers are sparkling clean and my sore throat was soothed by the chai.  Here's hoping the rest of my day goes better!

I saw an awesome bumper sticker that has become my sort of mantra lately.  It was a palm tree and underneath it it said "No bad days".
On days like today, I repeat that over and over in my head -"No bad days at the beach".  It helps me shake off the "small stuff" and keep the bigger picture in focus.  Despite all the crap things life throws at us, we will always have eachother and our walks on the beach to keep things in focus.

One year already?!

Sunday marked the one year anniversary of the day we made it to Lincoln City.
Wow!
I can't believe it has been a year already.
-Can't believe it's been a year since we've seen my Wisconsin family....

-Can't believe it's been a year since I've had any deep fried cheese curds :)

So much has happened in this last year both physically and emotionally. 
I feel contentment and peace. 
I feel inspired and creative.

To commemerate the day (since we were working), we made our coffee to-go, grabbed Fucie, and drove down to the beach. 
We walked a short distance and found some rocks to sit on and enjoy our surroundings.  We had a lovely reflection of the past year and reminded ourselves how blessed we are.