2103 Year in Review

First of all, let me say that I realize there has been a terribly long lapse in posts on this blog.  I was talking to Brad the other day about things, and he said that I need to have a blog where I can just post about our life in general.  And I thought, "Wait, don't I already have a blog like that?"

We ended 2012 on a rough note, and 2013 was better in some ways but worse than others.

Here's a brief review of our 2013 highlights:

January

• Brad in physical therapy for herniated disc
• Find out Brad had nerve damage in lower leg due to disc

February

• Brad has microdiscectomy (back surgery)
• Brad leaves his job at MSI
• April's grandmother passes away

March

• Trips to San Antonio and Jacksonville/Tyler
• Brad starts new job at M&I

April

• Brad starts another new job at Dragon Products
• April starts new job with HF

May

• Moonlight Madness bike ride with April's dad, Robbie, Lauren, Taylor

June

• Trip to Waco
• Uncle Richie passes away

July

• Trip to San Marcos with Brad's family
• Trip to Galveston to see Young Frankenstein, stayed at Tremont House

August

• School starts, April leads her first trainings

September

• Trade in Brad's truck for a Ford Escape

October

• Anniversary date at Kirby Hill House, mystery dinner theater

November

• Thanksgiving trip to Hattiesburg, MS with Brad's family

December

• Brad's birthday and Christmas with family (and NO back pain!)

I don't know why I wrote that in third person.  What a year!  I think 2014 should have less career-changes, vehicle-changes, and surgeries (fingers crossed).

House is Home

We're on another adventure.  This past year has been quite amazing, but I have that old feeling that bigger and better things are to come.

Brad and I started renting at our pink corner house nearly a year ago.  I spent my very first teacher summer (a freakishly hot one, thanks a lot, geriatric AC) here.  We both figured out that we were totally unhappy with our first real jobs.  We then found new, much better jobs, thank God.

And we feverishly continued house-hunting, a mania that brought us to Old Town and is now sending us to a quieter neighborhood.  In the beginning of 2011, we nearly bought a beautiful old house in Old Town near an apartment complex.  We ended up renting a house nearby, and after 11 months of trains, loud bass, and neighbors all up in our space, I'm SO thankful we didn't buy in Old Town.

Around November of 2011, we started the house-hunt again.  Our ideas and intentions veered all over the place.  From buying a small plot, building ourselves and living off the grid to buying a new construction home in a Lumberton subdivision.... We considered every viable option, or so it felt.  We were glued to real estate listing sites like Zillow.com.  Brad knows nearly every recently listed or newly sold house in Beaumont, or at least every house that I ask about.  Hundreds of listings, and dozens of hours later...

Our sights are now set on a modest 1953 ranch style home in Beaumont.

The rent house we currently inhabit is drab, slightly dirty, and dark (we keep the windows and curtains shut for privacy).  There is a tiny patch of a front yard which is mostly taken up by a sidewalk.  Behind our house is a driveway that we fight over with the renters next door.  Neighbor children and random people meander across our property on their way to somewhere else.  And so forth and so on.  Don't get me started.

But our HOME.  Our new place has a fenced backyard!  It has space between our windows and our neighbors'.  It's quiet and secluded and traditional and quaint and nearly everything we could want.

I never thought that I'd actually be excited about living in town, but we've grown to love our city.  And I honestly think we like it more because we're allowed to go "home" (Fannett, Hamshire) and escape it whenever we like.  But living in Beaumont has been a great adventure, and we'll continue to explore it on our bikes.

None of this would have been possible for us if it weren't for the real estate crash, low interest rates, and the good fortune and prayers that allowed us to have good jobs.  We have the BEST real estate agent, James Callas.  And our families have supported us at every turn.  I'm sure they're grateful that we've ended up choosing this house.

We close tomorrow.  Moving will be gradual, but by the end of April we should be settled.  And newly minted (indebted but grateful) homeowners.

Back at it!

It's been quite an adventure since I last posted.

MANY many updates to come.

De-cluttering our house in prep. for our move.  Feeling very accomplished, and rewarded with a gift card with $12.85!

Pothos Rehab

I felt guilty for diligently tending my little herbs while my houseplants withered and died, so I bit the bullet and looked at the darn things. 

Let me say, I do love one of my plants.  It was a housewarming gift from my dear friends Robyn and Travis, and it used to live in our window seat at our old apartment.  It did super-well there, but I put it outside once we moved here, thinking that the sunshine would be good for it.  DUH, it's a houseplant.  So it got all yellowed and shriveled-looking, and sure enough, it said online that it can suffer from too much sun.  

Here it is on the floor of my studio (yuck, sorry about the terrible picture).  I looked at some similar plants at Home Depot and deduced that it is a pothos.  It is currently living happily indoors, producing lots of new leaves and runners.

"I used to be dark green!"

This poor specimen was a gift from a parent who spoke very harshly to me and made me cry.  Sweet gesture, but it brings up bad memories.  I hadn't watered this smaller pothos, and it behaved accordingly.

"So thirsty..."

 After really looking at it for the first time, I decided to take out all of those dead leaves and stems.  It's quite a bit smaller now.

No more dead leaves.

I thought that this one might be a goner, but I watered it anyway.  Doused it really, soaked the roots.  And about three hours later, this is what I got:

Much better!

A lot perkier, but still brownish.

It's growing new leaves everyday.

My two houseplants are recovering quite well, now.  Both are growing new leaves.  My mission now is to avoid over-watering them.  I'm also trying to propagate new plants from cuttings in water.  I'll let you know how that goes.

Gluten-free Shepherd's Pie and Berry Smoothie

Once again, this is from last week when I was really on a roll with the whole cooking thing.  I bought cauliflower because I was determined to mash them and see how they compared with potatoes.  After brainstorming, I figured that shepherd's pie would be simple and easy to add veggies to.  It was delicious, and Brad enjoyed it, even with the veggies mixed in.

I also made an anti-oxidant smoothie based on the ones that my aunt Joani used to make when she was fighting breast cancer.  I didn't use a recipe, and it ended up separating in the fridge.  I probably did something wrong there, but I like it.  Brad, sadly, didn't.  And that was after I strained all the berry seeds out of it for him!  (Well, he didn't know I was making it for him, and I didn't ask if he liked smoothies. My mistake.)

I'm not a food stylist, so this was the best shot I could get.
 Not really a pretty food.  Tasty, though.

Gluten-Free (Healthier) Shepherd's Pie

Potatoes (I used leftover red potatoes, about 6-8 med.)

1 head cauliflower, cut into florets (organic)
3 carrots, cut into small pieces (organic is best)
1 lb ground beef (all natural, organic if you can)
1/2 stick butter
1 cup milk (I used water)
Fresh veggies and herbs to taste, but I used:
Tomatoes
Broccoli
Onions
Red Pepper
Basil
Rosemary
Garlic 


Add carrots and potatoes to large pot of boiling water.  Boil for 15 minutes or until tender. 
In a lidded saucepan over medium-high heat, melt 1/2 stick of butter.  Add cauliflower, stir and cover.  Let braise until very tender.  Stir often.
Brown beef on the stove top.  Saute all other fresh vegetables with garlic and herbs until softened.  Puree with food processor.  Pour browned beef into a greased casserole dish and mix with pureed veggies.  Top with cooked carrots. 
Place cauliflower, butter, and potatoes into pot and mash until smooth.  Top carrots and beef with mashed potatoes.  Broil in oven until potatoes are browned.


I used this video as a reference for the mashed potatoes and cauliflower.  And the overall recipe is adapted from a Rachael Ray recipe.  And you really couldn't taste the cauliflower.

Anti-oxidant Berry Smoothie

blueberries
raspberries
blackberries
Knudsen's anti-oxidant juice
apple-sauce
silken tofu
soy milk
fruit yogurt
*Use however much of each tastes good to you, but more liquids than solids.
Blend berries, strain.  Blend remaining ingredients.  Chill and stir before serving.

Failure

Failure is supposed to be a learning experience, but I'm often too anxiety/shame-ridden to take in the life lessons that are undoubtedly there.  With the whole garden thing, I'm relaxed and have little money or time invested.  And it's a solo-venture.  Therefore, my first failures have provided large amounts of learning for me.

Growing like a champ?

Oh, my leggy darlings.

The microgreens, which sprouted quickly and even said "quick and easy" on the label, have proven to be almost too easy...  The tall, fast-growing sprouts that I was so proud of are, in fact, signs of poor lighting.  The  sprouts are too tall, growing as fast as they can in order to reach the light they need.  My remedy was to move all of the Dixie cup babies to the window sill which faces east (south is best).

They seem to be doing better with one large exception.

I've been careful to water all of my seedlings frequently, but for some reason ALL of the microgreens that were planted in the peat cells dried up and withered into little, sad strings.  The good news is that I wasn't really looking forward to eating all of those greens, and now I don't have to.  A few of the lettuce and one or two chive seedlings have gone the same way, alas. 

Now, I check to make sure that any new sprouts are growing upward and developing strong stems and leaves.  The soil that the dead microgreens were planted in is currently being reused for more lettuce and one experimental apple seed.

 

Gluten-Free Turkey Spaghetti with Red Sauce

This is a meal I made last week.  I had some gluten-free pasta and a jar of dollar store tomato sauce, but I jazzed it up.

1 lb Jennie-O lean ground turkey
1 pck gluten-free spaghetti
1 jar tomato sauce
1 can sliced carrots
garlic
onion
red pepper
zuchinni
broccoli
basil
oregano
(add vegetables and herbs to taste)


Cook turkey until opaque and somewhat browned.  (I have no idea how long that is.  About ten minutes?)


Slice and saute all fresh vegetables in olive oil on medium heat.  Cook until tender.  Puree cooked vegetables in food processor until smooth.  Puree canned carrots.  


Cook spaghetti as per package instructions, do not overcook.


Mix pureed fresh/canned veggies with 1/2 jar of tomato sauce in a saucepan.  Add about half of ground turkey, mix well.  Save leftover turkey for meatloaf, dirty rice, etc.  Mix in drained pasta.  Top with fresh basil.


This was so simple, but I got some extra fiber and nutrients in there with the carrots, zucchini, broccoli, and red peppers.  My husband thought the sauce tasted "spicier".  It seemed fresher to me.  I put some goat cheese on top of mine, too.  Excellent.