Conversations with LMS

My dad came for a quick visit this weekend, and Friday afternoon before he got here, we had the following conversation.

LMS: Why does Opa call me squirrel?
Me: Why do you think?
LMS: I don't know. I'm not a squirrel, I'm a human!

I don't know, she looks kind of like a squirrel to me!

Master Bedroom Progress

I've been busy working on various projects around the house, but the problem with that is that none of them are quite done yet, so it's hard to show the progress I've made. I've finally done enough work on our bedroom that I can post some photos, even though the room isn't finished yet.

Apparently I'm really bad at taking before pictures, since I just searched through all my old photos and can't find any since we moved in. Here's a photo from when we looked at the house. The color in the photo looks kind of yellowish, but in person it was more apple or lime green with a cream sponge job to tone it down a little. Not terrible, but not what I'd put in a bedroom.

This is the view from the hall door. The first thing I did was take down the hideous old fan (apparently no picture of that, either, but it was very large and ugly- wood fan blades, greenish metal faux finish on the rest, ugly glass lamp shades) and paint the ceiling flat white (my favorite color for ceilings)- it really lightens the room up after the drab beige that was there. I then installed a new white fan that is much less obtrusive. In general, I don't love the look of ceiling fans, but out here they're a necessity, so we looked for the least offensive style. I then painted the walls a light blue-gray that I mixed myself from paint we had. I was able to take in a sample and get it color-matched when I needed more. I installed crown moulding and painted it semi-gloss white and touched up the trim around the windows and doors and the baseboards. I also painted the doors- closet, bathroom, and hallway, because like everything else in the house they were builders beige. I love how crisp and clean and bright the white looks!

This view is from the bathroom door, on the same wall as the hall door. We used to have the bed on the wall on the left side of the room, but we're trying different arrangements, anticipating the day we'll need room for a bassinet (not that we know when that will happen, but you know me, just being ocd and planning ahead). I don't love the bed being in front of the window, but the room does feel more roomy.

Mr M and I designed and built this bed about 7 1/2 years ago, in the parking lot of the apartment building we lived in. We got a lot of comments from the other tenants- mostly amazed that we would even try such a thing. We love it, but we have had to tweak the original design a bit. We didn't want to use bolts to hold it all together (they look ugly), but quickly realized we had to do something to keep it all together. So we went with eye hooks and cables, which turned out uglier than bolts would have been, but you know what they say about hindsight. All these years I've been meaning to make some sort of cover for the cables, but never got around to it. That is on my list of things to do to finish off our room, as is a bedskirt and nightstands. 

I'm not convinced I like the dresser/hutch combo where it is. I might move it to the other side of the bed, or get rid of it entirely, replacing it with two nightstands rather than just one. If we keep it, I'll put different knobs on the drawers and get rid of the scalloped trim on top. I think the wood works well with the log bed, so I won't paint it. At least not right away :) The blue bench that you can only see a corner of in the lower right corner of the photo is a work in progress- it needs a cushion still, and I might end up repainting it now that the walls are done- I'm not sure I like the two blues together. I'd like a rug for the floor, but haven't yet decided on color, size, etc. The green bins on the shelf are pretty close to the former color of the room, and I'll paint them eventually. I'll also change out the lamp on the dresser- I like that it's a touch lamp, but I'm not fond of how it looks. But it was a wedding present and has been useful over the years.

The white fuzzies under the bed posts are pieces of carpet that we stuck to the bottoms years ago to protect the wood floors of the house we were living in.

I love how our room is much brighter and calmer. I actually want to spend time in here now :)

11th Anniversary

Not too long ago we celebrated our 11th anniversary, where we kept up our long-standing tradition of Mr M being out of town for our anniversary. Yep, it happened again :)

Good thing we don't get hung up on missing things like birthdays and anniversaries. Instead, we try to celebrate when we are all together, whether it's before or after the event. We just go with the flow and make the best of it.

Do you celebrate events when they happen, or when you get around to it?

Super Yummy Nightshade Free BBQ Ribs

ok, so they don't look pretty, but they taste good! we served them with steamed broccoli and mashed roasted cauliflower. Yum!

Ribs are easy to prepare, but BBQ sauces have tomatoes and peppers in them, and rubs have paprika and cayenne (also peppers) in them. Since nightshades and I don't get along, that was a problem. We've been doing some research, and after some trial and error, we've come up with some ribs that are yummy and don't have the offending nightshades.

Super Yummy Nightshade Free BBQ Ribs (adapted from a recipe found here)

Baby back ribs
Fauxmato BBQ Sauce
Sweet Dry Rub

Remove membrane from back of ribs. Place ribs on a sheet of foil on a cookie sheet and sprinkle dry rub on one side, then rub it in. Turn over and do the same for the other side. Let sit for 15 or 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees while ribs are resting. Spread bbq sauce on both sides of the ribs. Place a sheet of foil on top of ribs and fold over all sides, sealing the ribs into a packet. Bake ribs in oven for at least 2 hours. We've baked them for 2 1/2 hours and they've just fallen apart before we even got them on the grill. Experiment and see what works best with your oven. After removing from oven, carefully open foil and spread more bbq sauce on the ribs. Throw (or gently place) ribs on the grill for about 10 minutes each side. Be careful not to have the grill too hot or to leave them on too long as the sugars will burn instead of caramelizing. Remove from grill and enjoy!

This recipe is gluten free, dairy free, egg free, corn free, peanut free, nut free, coconut free, soy free, as well as free of tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, sorghum, tapioca, and shellfish. Always check labels before using to make sure the ingredients and/or manufacturing conditions haven't been changed.

Nightshade Free Sweet Dry Rub

When I made ribs this week, I first had to make the BBQ sauce and the dry rub.

BBQ rubs usually have paprika in them, but paprika is made from peppers and I can't eat it, even in small amounts. Because of the lack of paprika and the presence of black pepper, this rub is a bit peppery instead of spicy.

Sweet Dry Rub (adapted from a recipe found here, other ideas are there as well)
6 Tbl brown sugar
3 Tbl Sea salt or Kosher salt (you want a coarse salt that won't soak into the meat right away)
3 Tbl ground black pepper
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp mustard powder

Mix ingredients together and store in a cool, dry place.

This recipe is gluten free, dairy free, egg free, corn free, peanut free, nut free, coconut free, soy free, as well as free of tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, sorghum, tapioca, and shellfish. Always check labels before using to make sure the ingredients and/or manufacturing conditions haven't been changed.

Fauxmato BBQ Sauce (Tomato Free)

I made ribs this week, which meant I finally sat down and tried to figure out our BBQ sauce recipe. This version tasted close to the one Mr M made awhile ago (but didn't document) that we've been trying to re-create since. This sauce gets a Korean BBQ sauce flavor from the sesame oil and ume plum vinegar, but it's not over-powering. In the past we've used a bottled Korean BBQ sauce that was really good that contained whole sesame seeds, so you could easily add a tablespoon or two of whole sesame seeds as well.

Fauxmato BBQ Sauce

4 c fauxmato sauce
2 tbl worcestershire sauce (recipe found here, mix together the ingredients below)
     1/2 c cider vinegar
     2 tbsp coconut aminos
     2 tsps water
     1/4 tsp mustard powder
     1/4 tsp onion powder
     1/4 tsp ground ginger
     1/4 tsp garlic powder
     1/8 tsp pepper
     1/8 tsp cinnamon
1 tbl sesame oil
1 tbl ume plum vinegar
1/3 c brown sugar
1 tbl coconut aminos (soy sauce substitute)
1 tsp fish sauce
1 tsp molasses
1/4 tsp tamarind paste
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 bay leaf

Simmer for about half an hour. Remove bay leaf and use sauce. Freeze or refrigerate leftovers. Great on ribs and chicken.

This recipe is gluten free, dairy free, egg free, corn free, peanut free, nut free, coconut free, soy free, as well as free of tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, sorghum, tapioca, and shellfish. Always check labels before using to make sure the ingredients and/or manufacturing conditions haven't been changed.

Road trip with my sister

One of my sisters is in her 3rd year of residency and is trying to decide where she wants to target her job search. You can only learn so much online, so the best way is to visit potential places and see what they're like. She had some time off that coincided with our end of term break, so LMS and I got to go with her on her exploratory trip. Mr M had to work- we're saving his time off for a couple trips we have planned for next year, so it was a girls-only trip.

We did spend lots of time in the car, but we checked out some good potential neighborhoods and added to our respective light house lists.

Our first one was actually a pair of lighthouses on Fort Henry. The striped one is in use and you can't go up it, but you can climb the older brick one.

The view of both lighthouses from a pier not too far away.

We tried to see the Bodie Island lighthouse (we saw it last year), but this is what it looks like right now:

I thought perhaps it had been damaged by the hurricane last fall, but apparently it's several years into a reconstruction project, which should be finished by the end of this year.

We had much better luck at Cape Hatteras lighthouse, which we got to climb up. This is a cool lighthouse that was moved further from the waterline a few years ago. They moved it intact- jacked up and rolled about a quarter mile or so (over three weeks) to it's current location. Apparently it's the tallest brick building to be moved in the US. Very cool. Despite being still in use, they do allow people to climb to the top.

view of the original lighthouse site- the sand spot that's above and to the left of the parking lots- taken from the top of the lighthouse

We also saw the lighthouse on Ocracoke Island. It was quite short, especially compared to the Cape Hatteras lighthouse. It wasn't open to visitors either because it's still in use. We were less than impressed with the tiny parking lot in a residential neighborhood.

We got to ride a couple ferries during our trip, which was fun. I took the opportunity to take some photos of LMS.

One night we stayed very close to the beach, and while the water was too rough to go in, we did enjoy walking up and down the beach at sunset. We had a fun time!

Dragging Through More Food Issues

LMS with creepy googly eyes. Ick!

We've been having food issues again. I had to stop buying the pre-made guacamole because the peppers in it were giving me problems. Nobody makes guacamole that doesn't include hot peppers. It's not a huge deal, but it was convenient to have packets of guac sitting in the frig for whenever I wanted to use it.

Along the same lines, the paprika in BBQ rubs is also a problem. And every store bought rub and recipe I've found all include paprika. In case you were wondering, paprika comes from peppers. Grrrr.

We've also had to eliminate most rice products. LMS has been in denial about this for months now, but I noticed some time ago that our weekly pasta night was giving her intestinal issues. I've also noticed that pasta and rice were triggers for her- she would ask for seconds, then thirds of whichever was being served. Since she doesn't do this with other foods and I react the same way when I eat trigger foods, I was able to recognize it for what it was. I was also reacting after my morning bowl of gf rice crispies mixed with rice granola, topped off with rice milk. Yeah, it was a lot of rice.

We still have our gf rice crispies mixed with rice granola, but now we top it with hemp milk. I'm not super fond of the taste of hemp milk, but I'm not reacting as much and I still haven't come up other breakfast options. We've stopped eating rice and pasta and are substituting with cauliflower rice, spaghetti squash "noodles", and zucchini noodles. I have a package of kelp noodles and one of shiritake noodles in the frig, but we haven't been brave enough to try them yet. Some day soon....

We're doing better now that we're limiting the amount of rice we're eating, and I think it's helping me lose weight. Yay!

Over the last couple years as we've tried to figure out these food issues, I've noticed just how much what I eat affects how I feel physically and mentally. The physical part is fairly obvious, but the mental is the hardest to deal with, I think. I hate the fuzzy thinking, the memory problems, and the heightened anxiety levels. My motivation to do things plummets and my ability to focus and get things done also disappears. Combine that with my recent illness and we have the reason why I still haven't finished my current painting projects.  Thankfully I'm finally feeling better all around and have started making progress again. Now if I can just keep the status quo from getting disrupted....

Deck Furniture

Sometime in the spring we were at Lowes and found some patio furniture we really liked- solid build (not thin and spindly) and thick, comfy cushions. Unfortunately the price was higher than we were willing to pay.

So we've been waiting. And researching. And waiting some more.

Our boring, under-used deck

Apparently this particular style of patio furniture is pretty popular and never goes on sale. I kept watching the sales, and other patio furniture went on sale, but not the ones we wanted.

Then last week an email from Lowes popped up with info on a sale on patio furniture. I clicked over to their website and checked the sales items on the off chance that our patio furniture would be included. It wasn't, but I searched for them so I could double-check the price.

I found our furniture, and though it wasn't marked "on sale" or "clearance", the price was lower! So I wrote down the prices so I could compare the online price to the in-store price.

We stopped by Lowes later that day to see if the price was the same there. We wanted to buy in-store so we could use our military discount, which we wouldn't get if we ordered the furniture online. But the price in-store was the same it's always been. I was disappointed, but thought to ask an employee about it. The lady who helped us looked up the furniture online, confirmed that the price was indeed lower, and said they'd match the price.

So she went with us to the checkout, and lo-and-behold, it rang up at the lower price! The lower price was in the computer, but not on the shelf. We saved almost $300 by being patient and asking about the online price.

While it might seem counter-intuitive to buy patio furniture at the end of summer, we'll actually get more use out of it in the next month or so than we would have all summer. The heat, humidity, and bugs here make summer the season to stay inside. Spring and fall are much more enjoyable.

Our deck is finally looking like a livable, useable space.

Look how thick those cushions are!

They're made of Sunbrella fabric, which is supposed to stand up to outside weather conditions- I'm curious to see if it lives up to its claims.

I've thought about getting an outdoor rug to go underneath, but I don't think it's a very practical idea with our climate. Though I might do it anyway if I find one at a good price...

Lesson learned: if you find a lower price online, and the price is higher in-store, don't be afraid to ask an employee to price match. And being patient can save you a lot of money.

Four Mile Race

Saturday I ran the four mile race that I've run the previous two years (2011, 2010).  I was a lot slower this year at 47:19 than in previous years (43:55 and 42:32), but considering I was flat on my back two weeks ago, I'm not complaining. Two weeks ago I barely managed to slowly walk the .4 mile trip to the mail box and back before collapsing on the couch.  Saturday I ran 3.3 miles and walked .7 miles at a good pace. I think I did pretty good :)

In previous years the weather has been quite hot, but this year it wasn't too bad because it rained lightly most of the time. Of course, the rain tapered off (and it got really muggy) just as I hit the uphill portion (miles 2.5 to 3.5ish), but then the rain picked up again a little as I headed down to the finish line. I anticipated the rain and wore a lightweight hat (which I don't usually do), so my glasses stayed mostly dry and the run was quite enjoyable.

And then I went home and fell asleep on the couch because I was so tired.

I may be feeling better, but my energy levels are definitely not what they were before I got sick.

My next 5k is in 8 weeks. I'll be better prepared, but I'm not expecting a PR. This is the race LMS wants to run, so I'll be going her pace and encouraging her. I can't wait to see how her first 5k goes!

August Goals Re-cap

Anyone else remember jelly bracelets? I found these at Target recently. I guess the 80's really are making a come back.

Since I wrote down some new goals, I thought I should track my progress at the end of each month. So here's how I did in the month of August:
(July's progress report can be found here)

(June's progress report can be found here)

A few goals under Health:
1. keep strengthening my knee and start running for longer periods of time/distance
LMS and I have started a modified version of the Couch to 5k training program. She wants to run a 5k in October, but I told her she had to train properly for it. I didn't increase my distances as much as I wanted to because of the flu, but I am making progress.
2. train for and run at least 4 races by the end of 2012 (at least one half marathon)
No races in August, but my four mile race was Saturday morning- third race of the year. After evaluating my training progress and the available local half marathons, I won't be running another half this year like I wanted. I'll focus my training on the Disney Half in January, which I've signed up for. I have 5k's planned for October, November, and December, so I'll definitely hit my goal of at least four races this year.
3. be more careful with my eating and lose some weight
I lost 8 pounds this month (the flu was good for something!), for a total of 11 pounds lost so far. I'm still focusing on portion control as well as researching our dietary options (leaky gut, GAPS diet, etc- that's a whole post by itself though).

A few goals under House:
1. finish painting all the rooms
I didn't make as much progress as I wanted to because I've been distracted by other projects and things. I did finally get the crown moulding put up in the basement- pics to come on that one!
2. do the family room ceiling
The paneling is still sitting on the family room floor, waiting. I need to finish the trim and clean up of the rooms I've started painting, then I can move on to the ceiling.
3. finish building built-in shelves in the library
The shelves are half-painted, need to finish painting them and then wait for the paint to cure for a couple weeks before putting the books on the shelves.

A few goals under Homeschool:
1. stick to the schedule I've worked out, as much as possible
Despite getting the flu, we did pretty good about staying on schedule. We used one of our vacation weeks so LMS could go to the Irish music day camp. This week is the 6th (and final) week of our first term, then we'll have another week off before starting our second term. 
2. be more consistent with violin practicing
Since we started school we're doing much better because it's in our school schedule.

A few goals under Habits:
1. practice the piano more frequently
No time yet, hopefully in September...
2. index several batches every week for FamilySearch
Didn't get any done this month- the tiny amount of free time I have has been spent working on our adoption blog, trying to get posts written for potential birth mothers to read.
3. have more meaningful daily scripture study (start journaling as I read)
I have almost finished reading the Book of Mormon. Once I finish, I will start a topical study schedule that doesn't go straight through.

How did you do with your goals this month?

Conversations with LMS

at the splash park

Last week:

Mommy, you need to make some pea soup for lunch tomorrow.

Oh? Are you sure?  {I'm thinking she means split pea soup, and I really don't think she'll like it}

Yes. This is how you make it: you take a bag of peas {she means the bags of sugar snap peas that we buy} and you grind it all up. Then you take another bag of peas and chop it up with some carrots and onions and stuff and then you mix it all up. And then you eat it.

Don't you have to heat it up?

No, you just eat it cold.

Hmmm, ok. {doesn't sound super appetizing to me, but she had the whole thing pretty well thought out- A for effort!}

Have your kids shared recipes that they were excited about but you weren't?