tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-79295242821824607652024-02-21T00:19:40.305-08:00Working Less, Living MoreUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger79125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7929524282182460765.post-83793160164861012142017-05-09T12:53:00.000-07:002017-05-09T12:53:06.187-07:00El Nina Visits Central Oregon<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Bend was pummeled in snow this winter - the most snow in 100 years! We were expecting it, since last year was El Nino, but we ran out of places to put the snow. For this Chicagoan, I was reminded of my adolescence with all the constant shoveling. Sometimes, Mike and I were out there 5 times a day just to keep our driveway and sidewalks clear.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the chickens were snug, thanks to their well built coop.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">It made for an amazing season of snowboarding, and Mike and I tried out quite a few new activities...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Snowshoeing, which is a very good sport for beginners. It's basically wide legged walking and a great way to get out and enjoy nature. You can pack a lunch and hike off just like in the summer, but without any bugs or people, and with lots of quiet and solitude. Good snowshoes, however, run around $300.00, so we rented and may have to save up for our own pair...</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Josh snapped this pic while we were on the trail</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Can you see Mike? He's smack dab in the middle of the pic.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another "Where's Mike" pic - you can see the top half of his body;<br />
he's lifting his trekking poles up.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Cross Country Skiing - NOT a good sport for beginners. I think I fell down like 25 times this day in 5' deep snow, which sounds soft and fun, but is like getting yourself out of quicksand. On the bright side, I probably burned off enough calories to justify eating a whole cake. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">at least we could say it was beautiful.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">As you know, Mike likes to "Go Big or Go Home," so we cross country skiing amateurs took a backcountry trail THREE miles from Mount Bachelor to Todd Lake. All I can say about this day is - I survived.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the mountains peeking through the trees.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hope you don't have to use the restroom!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mike breaking a path across the lake.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The funny thing is, you'd think 3 miles into the wilderness in the dead of winter would be a deterrent, but in Bend, it's a challenge. There must have been at least 50 people out there, on snowmobiles, snowshoes, cross country skis, and ski skates. And many, many of these people were older than us. It's so inspiring for us to stay fit and stay active.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br />We also went dog sledding with a friend from work, who let us drive the dog sleds ourselves. It wasn't as easy as it looks - at first, the dogs had a mind of their own, and took Mike far, far away from the trail. That's him below, in the center of the picture, driving the team!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At least I got this cool shot!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">All in all, it was an awesome winter - tons of snow and lots of new experiences. It went by super fast and one day, the snow was all melted. Here in Central Oregon we don't get a spring, really. It goes from freezing cold and snow on the ground to shorts and flip flops. But we're not complaining - it's gardening season! I'm knee deep in dirt, plants, chickens, and flowers right now, and loving every second. I've got my chickens hopefully hatching some new friends, and we're back at work on our yard remodel. Garden pics next! </span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7929524282182460765.post-1814228781218569862016-10-01T12:20:00.000-07:002016-10-01T12:20:32.325-07:00Where Did Summer Go?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This summer flew by for us! We spent tons of time improving our yard, hanging with the pets and hanging with each other. It was nice to make a home and not travel, and I think our pets loved it too. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An afternoon spent with my mini chicken, Notorious B.I.R.D.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Mike and I also celebrated 10 years together this September. It was a reminder of how old we are getting (haha). It feels like we just met the other day, but we're both getting gray hairs...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We decided to do something special but local, so we rented a decommissioned <a href="http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/r1/recreation/?cid=fsp5_030855" target="_blank">fire lookout </a>here in Oregon. It's about 7 miles into the forest, on rutted out roads, and you definitely need 4 wheel drive to get there. Our 18 year old Subaru performed like a champ!</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mike spotted wild blueberries on our way there, so we stopped to pick some.</td></tr>
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<br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The fire lookout was located on top of a butte (that's pronounced with a long "u") and was used in WWII to spot enemy aircraft. We were at about 4600 feet elevation. Since we live at 3500 feet elevation in Bend, we didn't feel any difference.</span><br /><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The forest service road on the way there.</td></tr>
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<br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We did have to hike a bit at the end of the road, pretty much directly uphill! It was a thigh-burner, for sure, but only about 3/4 mile. As usual, you can't even see Mike in the pictures because he is so far ahead of me...he likes to get the tough parts out of the way fast, and I'm a sloooow but steady hiker. </span><br /><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The single track trail to hike up to the fire lookout. Mike nowhere in sight!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mike was waiting for me at the lookout.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The lookout had glass windows on all 4 sides, with a catwalk that wrapped all the way around. 360 degree mountain top views - for $60/night. You can't beat it! We could see <a href="http://www.summitpost.org/mount-washington-oregon/150570" target="_blank">Mt. Washington</a>, <a href="http://www.summitpost.org/mount-jefferson/150576" target="_blank">Mt. Jefferson</a>, and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Sisters_(Oregon)" target="_blank">Three Sisters</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It was the perfect place to spend a day, sitting, chatting, and reflecting. Clouds moved in and out, covering Mt Jefferson. We were treated to a gorgeous sunset and a gorgeous sunrise. Pictures (especially my pictures) just can't do it justice.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The lookout was immaculately clean and had a twin bed, a few cots, a two burner propane stove, and a little wood burning stove for heat, with a woodshed nearby. The outhouse was the cleanest outhouse we have ever seen - without one single scary spider or bug! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The fire lookouts are maintained by volunteers and the guests that stay there. But not every guest sees the bigger picture, and in the journals/logs (they go back several years), some guests reported seeing vandalism, gunshots through the woodshed and outhouse, and trash. But hopefully those very few incidents will motivate future guests to try even harder to help, or to educate the ignorant. We did our part and cleaned the lookout, Mike cut a bucket of kindling, and we made a donation to the Sand Mountain Society when we got home.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The cute little woodstove! It was so tiny it went out twice throughout the night.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mike enjoying the morning view.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In other summer news, we got our house repainted (special thanks to our friend Dylan) and gave it some personality. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Circa May 2015 before we had the trees removed</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Circa June 2015 - after getting rid of some dead trees</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">September 2016!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It's a light aqua color (tropical spray), with a coral colored door (coral reef). We removed the shutters and got new industrial looking lights to try and modernize the house a bit.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We are still working on the yard but I am more than a little excited to see what pops up next spring! I've got tons of perennials and wildflowers that I reseeded, and tulip bulbs in the ground. And don't even get me started on the backyard...I'm completely addicted to this new hobby!</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7929524282182460765.post-78984860982232794632016-07-22T11:45:00.000-07:002016-07-22T11:45:01.020-07:00Yakkity Yak, We Bought A Kayak<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Bend likes to brag that it's got world class everything: climbing (Smith Rock), snowboarding/skiing (Mt Bachelor), mountain biking (pretty much anywhere), hiking, waterfalls, beer...the list goes on and on. If you ever make it up here, you'll also see kayakers and paddleboarders daily - floating on the river, navigating the rapids, or just cruising around the lakes. They also get to listen to concerts for free (<a href="http://workinglesslivingmore.blogspot.com/2014/09/local-living.html" target="_blank">this old post</a> has a pic of floaters during the Jack Johnson concert).</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">kayakers during the Ben Harper concert.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Mike has been wanting a kayak for awhile now, but since they run anywhere from $300-$1000, of course I was hesitant to invest. Snowboarding is already an expensive hobby, and don't even get me started on snowshoeing (I mean really, it's just walking).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Of course he found a way around my veto, by trading some Subaru work to a kayak salesman. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">So we recently found ourselves the new owners of a bright orange kayak, which was promptly stickered up and set afloat.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Kayaking is pretty good exercise! You have to use your core muscles to paddle yourself around, and it's much more fun than going to the gym, with beautiful scenery as an added bonus. We have dozens of lake options off the Cascade Lakes Scenic Byway, all within 30-45 minutes of the house. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paddling around <a href="http://www.fs.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsinternet/!ut/p/c5/04_SB8K8xLLM9MSSzPy8xBz9CP0os3gDfxMDT8MwRydLA1cj72BTSw8jAwgAykeaxcN4jhYG_h4eYX5hPgYwefy6w0H24dcPNgEHcDTQ9_PIz03VL8iNMMgycVQEAIzTHkw!/dl3/d3/L2dJQSEvUUt3QS9ZQnZ3LzZfME80MEkxVkFCOTBFMktTNUJIMjAwMDAwMDA!/?ss=110601&ttype=recarea&recid=72024&actid=42&navtype=BROWSEBYSUBJECT&navid=110190000000000&pnavid=110000000000000&pname=Central+Oregon+-+Devils+Lake" target="_blank">Devil's Lake</a>, about 30 minutes from our house.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The water is super clear; you can see the bottom in the deepest part.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">We took the S.S. Beesch out for her maiden voyage. It's a little inflatable boat that Mike's mom Michelle had gifted us when we moved to Bend. Michelle passed away this February, so it was nice to relax and remember her in such a pretty place. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me and my finger toes in the SS Beesch with Mike pulling me around</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The boat requires two paddlers or you're just spinning around in circles, so Mike tied it to the back of his kayak and pulled me around the lake. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Next time I'm going to bring a book and some snacks...I could get used to this! </span><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7929524282182460765.post-7604705806545372982016-07-02T16:54:00.000-07:002016-07-22T11:38:45.835-07:00Summer Stay-Cation<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Summer is here, finally! You may laugh because I bet it's warm where you are. Well, in Central Oregon, we still got below freezing nights <i>all the way up until June 20th</i>. Yeah, you read that right. About two weeks ago, I was still wearing a beanie and puffy jacket in the evenings. But we're holding steady at 80 degree days and 50 degree nights now, and it's blissful to get outside and get some Vitamin D.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Us at a concert on June 13th - heavy sweaters, scarves, and beanies.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">We're relatively far north, and this means loooong summer days. It's light from 4:30am to almost 10pm. You can get a whole lot accomplished (apparently not blogging, though - haha) in 16+ hours of daylight. It's very motivating! A siesta and a couple cups of coffee don't hurt, either. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Here is our original front yard! Two dog-pee-burned trees blocking the front door, a dead tree in the middle of the yard, and patchy, scratchy grass with weeds and clover; all of which cost a ridiculous amount to water in the summer.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Water costs to maintain this grass ran us at least $50/month in the summer!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">We got rid of several trees, took down the front porch railing, and put in a new, more modern fence. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The scraggly rose bush in the foreground eventually got ripped out as well.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">We went and picked out some boulders and flowers...</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The fence color is accidental...and now sanding the fence is on our to-do list!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">...and added some woodchips and a large dead stump we found while hiking...</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Behind the stump is a baby apple tree with 5 different kinds of apples grafted to it!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">...and now, I pay only $15/month to water our drought-tolerant, food-and-herb-providing, pollinator-friendly front lawn! Some of the things we've got here: an apple tree (which will produce in about 2-3 years), blueberry bush (already producing!), sage, 2 kinds of lavender, peonies, Icel</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">andic poppies, 2 kinds of elderberry bushes (with which you can make wine and syrup), sunflowers (to feed the chickens), catmint (similar to catnip), rhubarb, and a Nanking cherry bush. They'll all grow in a lot more next year, and hopefully the yard will look a little closer to how I imagine it in my head. Plants definitely require patience.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Meanwhile, in the backyard...potato boxes/towers are all the rage on the internet. Since we have the space, I thought I'd try one. The idea is that you cover up the bottom 6" of the plant continuously as it grows, encouraging it to put out extra roots (and therefore, extra potatoes). You stack it up higher and higher, and ideally you should be able to harvest insane amounts of potatoes. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Potato box at the 4th level. This was about 1.5 months into growing.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The potatoes at 5 levels high...we had to build more!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">We used to be able to get German Butterball potatoes easily, at the Hollywood Farmer's Market. They're small and creamy and so good! While potatoes grow well up here in the Pacific Northwest, I haven't seen any of that variety at the markets, so that's what I'm growing in here.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">We didn't know how well they'd do but we had to double the number of levels we had! It's only the beginning of July and we have at least 70 more days to go in the growing season. If this works, we will definitely build another one for next summer.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Our backyard was disgusting when we bought the house: it was basically a gravel dog run, with weeds, unkempt bushes, and a broke-ass fence in the back. The fence is the builder original, from 1992.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">We got rid of all the gravel, weeds, and since we're on a slope, decided to put in a sunken patio, to help make the yard areas more level. We also replaced and upgraded the fence.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We had professionals put in the patio, since it involved heavy machinery.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The first night the patio was done, we ran out and bought a firepit! It's the perfect little space to relax in, although I hope to get some actual patio furniture in the future, rather than our camping chairs. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; text-align: left;">All the backyard work means the chickens no longer are free range. They have the entire side yard, though, with compost bins and a pear tree, so I don't think they're sad about it. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of our three compost bins starting to sprout some "volunteer" squash.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The compost bin and squash just recently - it's doing REALLY well!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Our little baby chicks turned out to both be girls, and their rapper names (Tupac/Two-Spot and Notorious B.I.R.D.) stuck. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The chicks at 2 days old.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At 5 weeks old, they still lived in the house with us.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At 8 weeks old, when we finally knew for sure they were girls.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">They are now 10 weeks old and almost completely feathered out!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The baby chicks are Mottled Cochins, a Chinese breed that is hardy in the winter, with their little feathered feet! They are the sweetest things and are about 1lb each. They're almost full grown and will stay tiny. For comparison, here's a picture of our regular sized chicken in the background, and these two in the foreground:</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Those are plums from our neighbor's tree all over the ground. </td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">So, that's the domestic side of our life right now. It's sort of amazing how much we can get done by staying home (and admittedly, working part time with a short commute - that sure helps as well). That travel bug itches pretty bad, though, so we've got some small trips planned at the end of the summer to visit friends and family, and a big trip in the works for the end of the year. But for now it's nice to <i>make</i> a home, which makes us want to <i>stay</i> home!</span><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7929524282182460765.post-81107120042119157702016-05-09T19:52:00.003-07:002016-05-09T19:52:51.621-07:00Spring Has Sprung...A New Dude and New Chicks!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Spring is a fickle season in Central Oregon. Sometimes it's sunny and blossoms are blooming, and other days it's flurries and frigid winds. Either way, we're taking advantage of it - on snow days Mike hits the mountain, and on warm days we get busy exploring or working on our yard. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">One new addition to our house is our friend, Josh, who has temporarily taken over our guest room. He is now an enthusiastic Bend resident, and the first, but hopefully not the last, of our friends to move up here! </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Josh and Mike discussing fat bikes while we run errands.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />It's nice to have an extra set of hands around the house. We have a million and one projects left to do, and about half of those involve the yard. We got zealous and ripped up all our grass, and installed boulders. It was so expensive to water the grass that I paid a couple thousand to have rocks dumped on the yard. Makes sense, right?</span><div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One day, our yard will be covered in drought tolerant flowers.<br />It just might take about 3 years for them to all grow in.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">One other bonus of having Josh here is that it makes us appreciate our neighborhood more, and reminds you of things you've gotten used to seeing. Although, I'm still in awe when we go hiking in places like Smith Rock.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The view as you walk into the canyon.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Walking along the river trail.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Loved this "balancing rock!"</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The sun setting; you can see the "balancing rock" on the right.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There's people to the left behind Mike up on "Misery Trail" for scale.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">One new "spring" experience we're going through is that our favorite hen went broody. Basically, she wanted to hatch out some babies and she refused to get off the nest. Even when we pulled all the eggs out, she'd just sit on an empty nest and get all irritated if we opened the nest box door. The problem with a broody hen is: we don't have a rooster. So our eggs aren't going to be hatching anything. </span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">After a month of her refusing to get off her nest and eating minimal amounts of food every day, we started to get worried. She was losing lots of weight and looking awful. We finally gave in and bought two baby chicks at the feed store. She immediately perked up when she heard the peeping and took them in as her own! She is the best momma hen.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the babies - "Two Spot (Tupac)" at one day old.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's hard to tell but this is the other chick, "Notorious B.I.R.D."</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It's been a fun experience with the chicks so far, and we don't have to do a thing except feed them, give them clean water, and make sure predators don't eat them at night (hence the reason they are in a cardboard lined cage). Otherwise, the momma hen does everything. We are crossing our fingers that at least one of them is not a boy...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Chick update in the next post...We should know by then if they're roosters or hens!</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7929524282182460765.post-43338234349749102402016-04-07T11:10:00.003-07:002016-04-07T11:37:35.508-07:00A Very Delayed Japanuary Post<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">We've been on the road more than we've been at home this year, and while we have loved every minute we've been with family and friends, we are really looking forward to a full summer at home in Bend. These last 4 months have been pretty hectic and rough, and though we weathered through it pretty well, we're ready for some down time.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif;">That's not to say we haven't had the most awesome time traveling - we love, love, love Japan. This time around, we only spent a few days in Tokyo and we spent a majority of our time up in Hokkaido, the northernmost island of Japan, close to Russia. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">"I can see Russia from my hotel!"</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Signs in Japanese, English, Chinese, Korean and Russian.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Hokkaido has some of the best snow (powder) in the world - or as Mike likes to refer to it, "Japow." Mike and our friends Ray, Tanya, and Josh all went snowboarding and skiing, while Bernice and I went to the Sapporo Beer Garden, sampled a couple bowls of local ramen, spent hours in a Japanese photo booth, and stuffed ourselves with Japanese pastries. Sure, they were snowboarding/skiing on waist deep, world class powder. But, I'd venture to say Bernice and I had more fun!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mike, Tanya, Josh and Ray ready to shred! Photo by Ray Gilman.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mike on the slopes. Shot by the professional photog - don't know his name</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bernice and I grabbing breakfast at the bakery.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The Japanese bakeries are some of the best in the world. They take inspiration from the French and the Scandinavians, perfect it and then package it up a thousand times cuter. I think I visited a bakery every single day we were in town - and sometimes twice.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">yes, that's a soft boiled egg INSIDE a savory doughnut topped with takoyaki sauce.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Outside the Sapporo Beer Garden</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sampling Hokkaido style ramen with miso broth</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">One of the best things we found was a Japanese photo booth. There were literally dozens of them on one floor of a shopping plaza. Each booth did something different - you can dress yourself up, write on your pictures, smooth out your skin, add make up, whatever. One booth had some weird looking Barbie-doll faced girls on it. It turned out this booth enlarged your eyes. I couldn't stop laughing. Even though everything was in Japanese, we dumped 100 yen coins into that machine until we figured it out. It took us hours but it was like a trip to the gym - my sides and abs ached from laughing so hard. We looked like anime characters!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">We had so much fun we had to bring the guys back the next day.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mike is such a good sport!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">We ended the last few days of the trip with a major bonding experience - getting naked together in an onsen, and then getting thrown out of said onsen. The Japanese are unrelenting when it comes to tattoos. UNRELENTING. If Japanese people can be rude, that was probably the closest we got to experiencing it.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">photo courtesy of Japanistas.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">We then took a once in a lifetime trip to see the snow monkeys at the Jigokudani Snow Monkey Park. Although it took us a whole day to travel there, it was well worth the trip. We got to experience the infamous <a href="http://english.jr-central.co.jp/about/" target="_blank">Shinkasen</a> (the Japanese bullet train) and pretty much every other form of public transportation on our way.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The snow monkeys keeping warm in the hot springs. Photo by Ashley DeLuca.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A mother and her baby crossing the river.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">monkeys, monkeys, everywhere!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn60AWzVD-z3ZCeP2PjJf5O_AUS1m_7SiVtFjsGuXHjmCmXii2uMwAQ1fur3YwtUQutWWjCTwYDSPKIScf0zOxyUpoz3Vs3puSK2XkfC_cPNOeiW5kTS5-zAdEI4PvqA5OpB-CccwgPuI/s1600/upload_-1" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn60AWzVD-z3ZCeP2PjJf5O_AUS1m_7SiVtFjsGuXHjmCmXii2uMwAQ1fur3YwtUQutWWjCTwYDSPKIScf0zOxyUpoz3Vs3puSK2XkfC_cPNOeiW5kTS5-zAdEI4PvqA5OpB-CccwgPuI/s400/upload_-1" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You think they're staying clean and grooming each other, but there's poop in that water.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Mike and I really love Japan, and I'm sure we'll go back sometime soon, since we still have lots of stuff on our bucket list to accomplish there, like climbing Mt Fuji! But for now, we are glad to be home and back to our pets. With spring in the air, we can't wait to fix up the yard and continue on creating our mini pseudo "homestead." Maybe this will be the year I actually grow some plants!</span><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7929524282182460765.post-41945982116961909602015-12-30T11:38:00.000-08:002015-12-30T22:27:11.296-08:00Happy New Year!<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The last 2 months have been a crazy blur - we went to the SEMA convention in Las Vegas for Subietech (our first business trip ever!), made some wonderful new friends to spend the holidays with, took a little vacation to Palm Springs and Los Angeles, and then I got sicker than sick with Stevens Johnson Syndrome (don't google it, it's disgusting). I was laid up for weeks, and I'll be recovering well into 2016. On the bright side, it has given me a new zest for life, and a lot of time to reflect on things we would like to do in the new year!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">SEMA is pretty boring if you don't like cars...</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Red Rocks National Park - a.k.a. what I did while Mike was at SEMA.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">When we first moved to Bend and changed our lifestyle, we imagined we'd have lots of land and be starting a homestead where we worked to feed ourselves. A year and a half later, we realize that our idyllic daydreams were A: unrealistically ambitious for an urban couple, and B: not what we really wanted. What we really wanted was to live lightly on the earth (as much as possible in the modern world) and to know exactly where our food comes from (grow/raise *some* of it), while living reasonably close to culture/fine dining, an airport, and a hospital. We still want to travel, play with our pets, have afternoon tea, and take naps (that last part is all me). If you own a true homestead, there is no time for any of that. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And, we actually cannot afford a farm. Farmers are secretly rich. Seriously. Farm equipment and buildings are crazy expensive.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Homesteading: the dream</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Homesteading: our reality - pets, camping, foraging, and the pear tree.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We accomplished a lot in 2015 towards our goals - we remodeled our fixer upper with all eco-friendly appliances, got <a href="http://workinglesslivingmore.blogspot.com/2015_08_01_archive.html" target="_blank">the compost bins built</a> (reducing our trash), <a href="http://workinglesslivingmore.blogspot.com/2015_05_01_archive.html" target="_blank">tidied up the yard</a>, put up a fence, and started keeping chickens. I also found all sorts of local sources for <a href="http://juniperjunglefarm.com/" target="_blank">produce</a>, honey, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/villagebaker/" target="_blank">bread</a>, and <a href="http://ddranch.net/" target="_blank">meat</a>. Of course there are lots more things we can do better, and we will definitely keep trying to do so. For one thing, I'm going to can and preserve a bunch more food for winter 2016, and figure out a place to store it.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our new bunnies - just pets, not meat.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We also added 6 new family members! Introducing LDP, short for <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001617/?ref_=nv_sr_1" target="_blank">Lou Diamond Phillips</a>, the big dark bunny on the right, and Momo (which means "peach" in Japanese, or "dumpling" in other languages, either of which is appropriate!), our little gray bun on the left. They are in a temporary pen on some very temporary linoleum in our living room, until we can build them proper, modern living quarters. LDP is part Flemish Giant, and is larger than the kitties, which amuses us to no end.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The other 4 family members are of course, the chickens, who live in <a href="http://workinglesslivingmore.blogspot.com/2015/10/feathering-our-nest-with-chickens.html" target="_blank">a very expensive coop</a> in the side yard. In retrospect, however, the expense was well worth it. They've been snug, safe, and warm all winter, and while we watch those who built cheaper coops and runs struggle with snow, predators, collapses and fires, we are grateful we splurged and built something extremely sturdy and insulated. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One major goal for 2016 - clear this demolished deck and make a patio!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What does 2016 have in store? Well, I finally got my sewing machine unpacked, so there's a world of curtains, quilting, and other things to get started on. We are having the yard excavated and spring will bring us a blank slate to begin building on. We'll be planting a new fruit tree, a variety of berries, and building raised beds from our demolished deck pieces...and then there's a patio to learn (i.e. Google how to) to pave. Not to mention gardening, round two - I hope to redeem myself from 2015's failures. While we do have trips planned, I think 2016 will be a year where we concentrate on staying home and feathering our nest. We're starting to get more involved with things in Bend, and we're meeting people with the same ideas and values that we have. There's definitely something to be said for creating a little home to be happy in, and building a community to be happy with. Wishing everyone happiness and fulfillment in 2016!</span><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7929524282182460765.post-60343067555928663652015-10-30T09:53:00.000-07:002015-10-30T09:53:38.039-07:00Oregon is Ridiculous.<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'd never been to Oregon, or even looked at pictures of Oregon, before I moved here last year. I think that Oregonians do a really great job of keeping this place a secret. It is just unbelievably beautiful here, and since we live pretty much smack dab in the middle of the state, we can be anywhere in Oregon in about 3 hours.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It's chanterelle season, and our schedules allowed us to plan a random Wednesday off to go mushroom hunting. This is our second chanterelle season, and we are slowly learning what type of environment these mushrooms favor. Of course, I usually get totally distracted from hunting, because the forest is just completely surreal. I feel like I'm in some contrived movie set. It's cool and quiet, there are no bugs (seriously!), and everything is soft, lush, and green. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Imagine being completely surrounded by this, no other humans in sight.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I wish I could share the smell. Fresh, clean, totally oxygenated.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I found the first chanterelle of the season, and it was a big one! I was pretty proud of myself.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Chanterelles are a weird mushroom in that they like a little bit of sun. A lot of times we find them on slopes, or in a bare patch of ground, but always near trees, and usually in groups. They are social that way.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The un-cool thing about them is that they have these gills that just trap dirt. It's a lot of work to clean them, cook them, and freeze them when you get home (this is one mushroom that is awful dehydrated). But hey, that's better than paying $38-$40/pound for them, fresh.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another pretty forest shot!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We met a little forest friend on the way. It's a rough-skinned newt, which are really common on the west side of the Cascade Mountains (the rainy side). They're lethally poisonous, but only if you eat them. They're safe to pick up and are super cute with orange or yellow bellies. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Golden chanterelles - my favorite - poking up out of the dirt.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We hit up Proxy Falls on our way back to Bend, which is only accessible from late May to late October. The trail to get there is about 1/2 mile. The full trail is a loop, takes you past two waterfalls, and is only 1.5 miles in total. Completely worth it, and an easy hike.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We looped to the right, which ascends through a cinder rock field, covered in moss.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Next was an old growth forest, with a well maintained trail.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We weren't really prepared for what the falls looked like. They were STUNNING. And so much larger than we could have imagined. And just....well, magical. We were hungry and tired from hiking 5 miles that morning, and we still sat there for a good 30 minutes, just breathing it all in.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">For perspective, Mike is sitting on that log at the bottom of the falls, in a dark plaid flannel shirt. You can just barely see him to the right of the middle of the picture.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The moss to the left of the falls kept making me think there was a rainbow in my picture!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Close up shot, standing under the falls.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Oregon continues to amaze us, every day. There are so many places we still haven't seen yet, but we're knocking them off the list, one by one. It'll take us at least a few years to see everything in this state, so we might be here for awhile!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Three Sisters mountains, seen as we passed over Mt Washington on our way home.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7929524282182460765.post-59971237389233333592015-10-15T11:28:00.001-07:002015-10-15T11:28:45.321-07:00Feathering Our Nest - With Chickens<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">One of my daydreams, once I had a yard, was to get chickens and have fresh eggs. If you have researched anything about </span><a href="http://www.motherearthnews.com/homesteading-and-livestock.aspx" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;" target="_blank">homesteading</a><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">, then you know that almost everyone has chickens (if not goats, sheep, cows, pigs, ducks, geese, etc.). So we jumped on the </span><a href="http://www.urbanfarmonline.com/urban-gardening/backyard-gardening/backyard-gardening-topiclist.aspx" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;" target="_blank">urban-backyard-farmer/homesteader</a><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> bandwagon and started building a chicken coop. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Luckily, we have awesome friends! Josh and Bernice pitched in to help us build our ambitious coop and run, which turned out being a lot more expensive and labor intensive than we realized. But it was a great lesson in construction. We situated it in our side yard, in between the compost bin and the pear tree.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Building the frame - after a whole day of digging the foundation.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Working on the floor of the coop</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Harvesting pears while the guys are working on the coop</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In case you're wondering how we figured out how to build a coop, we solved that as we solve all our problems - by Googling it. I researched the hell out of coops and chickens, learning as much as I could about their needs, health problems, climates, etc. After hours upon hours of staring at the computer screen, I concluded that it was well worth the $30 to pay for plans - so we bought the "<a href="http://www.thegardencoop.com/" target="_blank">Garden Coop</a>," which you can find online. It's very well designed and super easy to alter, customize, and make to suit your space and budget. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mike made it all pretty with cedar siding, to match the fence.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Part of the roof and wire up, and Bernice staining the wood</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We got all fancy on the inside - painted the walls a cheerful yellow and insulated them with styrofoam packing stuff (so proud of repurposing the styrofoam from all our boxes!). We also cut way bigger doors than they proposed, and laid vinyl parquet tile floors, for ease of cleaning. Turns out this was great foresight, because I clean the coop every day. I can't stand poop.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">The inside of the coop after we laid the vinyl tiles and painted</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Almost done! We got a proper lock for the human door and finished the roof<br />and the siding on the coop wall that faces the run. The chickens also get<br />to forage around the side yard, pear tree, and compost bins every day.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Learning about chickens has been fun and life-changing. Chickens can be nasty. The term, "pecking order" really has meaning now. Their hierarchy isn't a pyramid; it's a linear line. There is one top chicken, and everyone else falls in line below, and there truly is a bottom chicken on the totem pole. It took us a little bit of time (and some re-homing of a little tiny fluffball chicken we named "Death Metal" because she was so mean) to get the balance just right. We still have one "bully" chicken (the 2nd to last on the hierarchy), but no one is bleeding and for the most part, they like each other.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Upper left is our best layer - about 5 eggs/week. The white is the sweetest,<br />the silver (lower left) is the mean one, and the littlest one (lower right) is the smartest!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'm not sure if we'll end up naming them. Chickens are weird little creatures - pretty closely related to dinosaurs, actually - and although ours are all friendly and you can pet them and pick them up, there is something really primitive and savage about them. Did you know they can cannibalize each other and their eggs? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Regardless, we do nothing but the best for them. I clean their coop and run every single day, we spend hours playing with them in the backyard, and we sprout and ferment all their food. Everything they eat is organic, whole grains or veggies, non-soy, non-corn, and real (I don't believe in those pellets, crumbles or "feed" you buy in the store - it looks too much like kitty litter). </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Fermented grains in the jars, and sprouting mung beans, lentils and wheat.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Despite all this, Mike is still weirded out by the fact that the egg comes out of a chicken's butt. The first egg tasted like tuna fish because I had been feeding them tuna (high protein) to help them through molting season. After that, we switched to an all vegetarian (plus bugs) diet, and they get greek yogurt, peas, lentils and sprouted beans for protein, plus these disgusting mealworms that I've been raising in a bin - I won't gross you out with a picture of that. The eggs taste MUCH better now. But Mike still isn't a fan because now we know how dirty chickens can be, and we see how eggs are produced. I'm slightly weirded out but less so (I've eaten some pretty crazy stuff in my life), and even though I think bugs are THE WORST, chickens can turn earwigs, spiders, and mealworms into some pretty yummy eggs!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Seeing where our food comes from makes me believe that if we got more involved, like raising a pig, goat, sheep, cow, etc, it'd be pretty easy to go vegetarian or even vegan. It's so easy to eat something that's packaged pristinely in the grocery store. You never see the poop and the blood and the feathers and the fur. There's a lot of labor, and life, and sweat and dirt that goes into making a meal. If it's this disgusting on an organic-free range-happy life level, imagine how gross it is on an industrial-battery cage-stockyard level.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We've had the chickens about one month now, and our conclusion...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It's been super educational, in terms of getting to know your food and learning about the care of another animal. We'll have to have chickens for at least a year or two to "re-coop" expenses (see what I did there?), but they're relatively inexpensive to maintain, even doing all organic, non-soy, non-corn, *true* free range. I'd say that our 4 chickens probably cost about $20/month. This just about breaks even for what I'd pay in the store for free-range organic eggs ($4.50-$5.00/dozen large), but I have peace of mind knowing exactly what is in my eggs, I can control the nutritional content of the eggs through what I'm feeding the chickens, I know the chickens are truly happy, safe, and loved, and they are really fun to have. We'll see how we feel after a year! </span><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7929524282182460765.post-24933849543283749862015-10-13T15:14:00.002-07:002015-10-13T15:14:29.772-07:00Living That "Bend" Life<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It's been a crazy fall involving more than a few camping trips, chickens (that's for a later post), and our never ending house and yard remodel. We've been making a conscious effort to enjoy the "<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/travel/bend-ore-the-city-youll-love-to-hate/2012/10/04/9a7e2f10-042e-11e2-91e7-2962c74e7738_story.html" target="_blank">Bend Life</a>," and get out there to do what we couldn't do when we were working all the time. Sometimes I still feel anxiety about not being "productive enough," or getting things accomplished around the house or yard. And I do still stress about money. But then I remind myself that our house projects will still be there tomorrow, and I can always go in to the office a few extra hours if I want. Life is short and precious, and what's important is getting out there and enjoying it!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">With that in mind, we took advantage of Bernice and Josh's visit over Labor Day weekend to go camping at <a href="http://www.nps.gov/crla/index.htm" target="_blank">Crater Lake</a> in Morty. We loved it so much, we went back the following weekend with our local friends. It's a gorgeous and well maintained National Park that is only 1.5 hours from our house, and their <a href="http://www.nps.gov/crla/planyourvisit/campgrounds.htm" target="_blank">campground</a> has flushing toilets, showers, a restaurant and a camp store.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Crater Lake was smoky from the wildfires. That's Wizard Island in the middle.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The smoke didn't detract from the gorgeous turquoise water!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mike and Morty enjoying the view.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Mike purchased another vehicle, a <a href="http://jalopnik.com/5949767/you-need-subarus-versatile-little-sambar-pickup-the-jalopnik-review" target="_blank">Subaru Sambar</a>, a right-hand drive tiny truck from Japan. It's mostly for work and has been helpful for the house, but it's also a fun little truck that </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">we can take off-roading and camping. To say that Mike loves this truck is an understatement.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All set up with the hammock to watch the blood moon eclipse</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">good perspective pic of how small the Sambar is! Pic by Ken Bethe</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">A peek at Broken Top from our campsite</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Sambar all set up for sleeping in the back!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Snowing! pic by Ken Bethe</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We were lucky to catch snow already this season - we woke up to big fat flakes! The pic above shows some of the people we went camping with; other local shop owners and van enthusiasts. I'm in the black puffy jacket and winter hat - Mike and I are always prepared when it involves winter camping, and we were toasty despite sleeping with just a tarp over us.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And since it's now fall mushroom season, we got out there for a couple scouting trips. It was gorgeous and even when we find only a few mushrooms, we still get a nice walk.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hiking around Suttle Lake</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mountains, forests, and lakes - we never get tired of this view.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some super cool volcanic rocks covered in moss - that's Mike at the top!</td></tr>
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<br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I've been watching the weather reports so hopefully I'll target the right place at the right time and we'll find ourselves some chanterelles. </span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Stay tuned for our next post when I introduce our new little chicken friends!</span><br /><br /><div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7929524282182460765.post-38012267124592859512015-08-15T15:18:00.001-07:002015-08-15T15:25:00.274-07:00What We Did On Our Summer Break<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I can't believe how fast the summer went - my last post was in early June and it's already mid August! Whoops. I guess we just got wrapped up in home life here in Bend. Although it doesn't feel like we're getting much done, when I look back on the last couple months, we have been moving forward, slowly but surely.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We've taken a little break from interior home remodeling and moved our attention to the outside, which is really refreshing. The inside stuff started to feel like homework.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mike mowing the lawn with our new lawn mower.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We put in an all new fence, which you can see was desperately needed! The old fence was original from 1992, had never been taken care of, and the posts were just plain wood, so it blew down in a storm we had in February (our neighbors put up the lovely black plastic to show where their property line is). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Mike did all the work of clearing the yard, getting rid of the weeds, raking up the gravel, and supervising the fence guys (who we found off Craigslist - we never learn). They weren't the most professional, but hey, they did the heavy lifting. And now our yard is a blank slate to start designing!</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Back yard and fence, after</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">One thing I'm working on is making our whole yard edible. In with food - out with grass (mostly). We will have one little area of grass in a shady spot in the backyard, where the cats can lounge. But I'd like for everywhere else to have native plants or fruit/veggie/food bearing flora, and pavers/woodchips/etc. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We have a good starting point with our fruit trees. We've got three - red plum, large crabapple, and Bartlett pear. The plum tree is being strangled by an aspen, and our neighbor hates the crabapple (and keeps bribing us to remove it), but the pear tree is doing well.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the plum tree in the background and the one delicious plum I ate!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the crabapple tree - I'm going to attempt crabapple jelly.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the pear tree in July</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the first pears I picked, in mid August</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'm already learning so much about pears - for one, they have to be picked unripened, because otherwise they ripen from the inside out, and get all mealy. You turn them 90 degrees and if they snap off the tree easily, they're ready to be picked. Then you put them in cold storage, and after that, take them out as you want to ripen them. Whew! If you want to can or preserve them, that's a whole other process (which I'm going to attempt here in a few weeks).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In the meantime, we have lots of fallen, wormy pears and crabapples, so we got going on our compost bin. Mike built it from all the scrap wood and leftovers we had from the fence.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Having a garage is the best!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Framing it out - these are leftover 2x4 scraps.</td></tr>
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Creating sides with leftover fencing strips</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">repurposed the old fence for slats in the front, which slide in and out</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I love that the sides and the top are all thin slats, I think it gives what could be a very rustic and disgusting compost bin, a little bit of modern urban flair. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mike in his handiwork!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In the backyard and ready to be filled!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We still have to get some chicken wire or something for in between each bin, but I have already started filling box #1. I saw this method online and it sounded awesome - basically you start with one box, and once it's filled, move on to box #2. At some point, you can shovel out box #1 and dump it into the next empty box (hence the sliding front pieces). This way it gets turned/aerated, and composts faster. Once you're done filling box #2, the first box you aerated should be done composting and you can empty it into your garden. Then just repeat!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Hopefully by next growing season, we'll have some nice compost for our raised beds. It's pretty awesome to have this box for our veggie/fruit/coffee/egg/paper waste. We're cycling stuff back into making our food, which is way better than having it sit in a landfill somewhere. Our garbage has already reduced by half.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Now I'm off to go chop up some of our tree trimming pile to throw in my new bin!</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7929524282182460765.post-45768709387629988352015-06-09T15:34:00.001-07:002015-06-09T15:34:38.096-07:00The Morel of the Story<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Every season we learn new things about our new hometown, Bend, that will make <i>next year</i> even more awesome. For example, I found out too late last year that <a href="http://www.bendbulletin.com/newsroomstafflist/2468443-151/video-and-slideshow-pick-your-own-apples-for-free" target="_blank">this orchard down the street</a> has 100%-totally-free apple picking. This fall, you can be sure I'll be all up on that, and we'll be canning apple sauce, apple butter, and making apple fruit leather for weeks.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This spring, we've been learning about morel and bolete mushroom locations. I've started keeping a list, and maybe next year we'll find enough to share! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">If you're interested in mushroom hunting, I strongly advise you join up with a local mycology club, rather than buy a slew of mushroom books or apps. Trust me, we did both. It's just SO MUCH EASIER to have a bunch of nerds show you what to look for. They've already made all the mistakes, and also, seeing the right and the wrong mushrooms in person makes more sense when you can touch them, smell them, cut them open, etc.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">a peek at Wickiup Reservoir through the trees.</td></tr>
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<br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The leaders of the forays are dedicated. They scout out locations the night before, so that we're pretty much guaranteed to find <i>something </i>the next day. They brought us near Wickiup Reservoir, one of the many lakes off the Cascade Lakes Scenic Byway. </span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A cool thing about mushroom hunting is that you are generally in a beautiful spot, enjoying a nice long walk through the trees. So whether or not you find something, it's still a winning situation.</span><br /><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I was standing at the actual spring that feeds the reservoir.</td></tr>
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<br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I sort of spent the first 30 minutes just wandering, because I'm more of a lucky mushroom hunter, not a good one. Mike is much better at actually spotting them. I rely on the stumbling method, as in, I sure hope I stumble into one. </span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And stumble I did! I was the first in our whole group to find a morel. Once you find a mushroom, you're supposed to stop and look around carefully. Mushrooms are social and like to hang in groups. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My first sighting! Looks sort of like a blonde pinecone, so they're hard to spot.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Sure enough, there was a second right nearby. Mike ran over and we found about 5 more.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">a second one!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mike picking a morel, coral mushroom, and amanita mushrooms.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I felt a little guilty leaving at the end of the day, because you usually do a potluck after a foray, and share all your findings. But since this foray was in Bend and we live here, we just headed home with our goodies...</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beginner's Luck!</td></tr>
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<br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We found more than the whole group that day. Go team! Did you know these suckers are like $40/pound? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">An added bonus - we learned how to find and identify boletes, another mushroom that is prolific in this area and very popular with those in the know. I cooked one up for us and although it was tasty, it tasted just like a regular mushroom. The morels, though - they were <i>tasty</i>. It might have been the butter.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">King Boletes. According to the book, they are "edible, and choice."</td></tr>
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<br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The true test will be next spring, if we can find morels all on our own. If we're successful, I know a bunch of foodie friends (and relatives) who are going to be super happy!</span><br /><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7929524282182460765.post-9845659058280510212015-06-02T10:39:00.002-07:002015-06-02T10:39:45.336-07:00Water, Water, Everywhere....and Beer<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It's close to impossible to find a couple where all four of you get along amazingly well - and not just the girls getting along, and the guys getting along, but where you get along with the other person's spouse, and they get along with yours. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">That's why we know that we're lucky, because Bernice and Josh (you met them in our Tokyo posts <a href="http://workinglesslivingmore.blogspot.com/2014/09/arigato-gozaimasu.html" target="_blank">here</a>, <a href="http://workinglesslivingmore.blogspot.com/2014/10/tokyo-is-winning-at-food.html" target="_blank">here</a>, and <a href="http://workinglesslivingmore.blogspot.com/2014/10/sayonara-tokyo-until-next-time.html" target="_blank">here</a>) are that couple for us. They are our favorite travel buddies, hiking buddies, and just-sit-around buddies. We know their personality quirks and food preferences, how late they'll want to sleep in and what they'll want to see. They adore our fur babies and we have the same vices. Planning for their visit was less about "what should we do?" and more about "how much can we cram in?"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">They arrived late night on a Wednesday, and we picked them up and headed right out to Deschutes Brewery. Mike and I hadn't been there yet (shameful, I know!), despite living here for a year. So it was cool to discover that the breweries here have some pretty good food!</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Josh and Bernice. We were there til closing - a good start!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">They brought us an awesome housewarming gift, too...</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">A few years ago, I had asked Josh if it was possible to recreate this chandelier I loved from</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><a href="http://shop.iacolimcallister.com/category/lighting" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;" target="_blank">this designer</a><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">, which was an insane amount of money (especially for our humble abode). Well, he was able to weld something very similar, and schlepped it up to Bend in his luggage. So we now have light in our dining area!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Please excuse the crappy pic and unfinished trim on our sliding glass doors!<br /></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The next morning, we hit the trails. We started off local, on the </span><a href="http://bendparksandrec.org/.docs/park_id/10077/pg/10463" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;" target="_blank">Deschutes River Trail</a><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> and got in a few good miles.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Josh slipped and fell...just kidding!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The next day, we took a lap around Todd Lake, usually one of our favorite spots. Right now, however, it's still got snow and the normally gorgeous wildflower field was super muddy and swampy. We all got serious wet sock, except Josh, who was only one who wore proper footwear. After the wet field, we had to tramp through knee deep snow on the shady side of the lake, so as you can imagine, our wet feet were frozen solid by the time we got back to the car. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bernice and I searching for the driest route through the field.</td></tr>
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<br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So for the next hike, we decided to do something with a clear cut trail. We took them to Sahalie Falls, one of our favorite spots. It's easy to get to, just off Route 126, and clearly marked with signs. </span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This time, we hiked further down, rather than just hanging around by the waterfall. The trail was beautiful! You feel so far away from civilization.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bernice and Josh on the trail!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A shot of the McKenzie River from the middle of a bridge.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The trail leads you past Koosah Falls, which I think is even more impressive than Sahalie Falls. It's not one raging fall like Sahalie, but more intricate. While Bernice and I were taking pictures, Josh disappeared down the ravine. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Koosah Falls</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We all scuttled down after him, grabbing tree branches and crab-walking the steep hillside.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The view from the bottom was stunning. Super misty and ethereal, and on a sunny day, I'm sure there's rainbows. The moss covered rocks and vegetation make it feel so lush! You could even see the spring, where the water comes up from the underground aquifers. The water here is so crisp and clear, it's turquoise in places.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">to the left of the waterfall is the tiny spring, pouring from the lava rock.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">On the walk back, we got viewpoints we missed on the way there, which were well worth a photo op.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The best part about Oregon is that you're never more than an hour away from a good beer and a good meal. After gorgeous scenery like that, all we had to do was drive about 30 minutes back to Sisters, Oregon, where we stopped in at the Three Creeks Brewery and had ourselves a snack!</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">a root beer float the size of Josh's head.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bernice tasting all the brews on tap that day. The chocolate porter was my favorite!</td></tr>
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<br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It was a short but packed visit, and we miss them already. But we'll be keeping busy this summer, exploring more and more of the area...our new goal is to complete every hike in this new book we bought. It might take us a couple years, so wish us luck!</span><div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7929524282182460765.post-87310762809263502452015-05-19T19:29:00.002-07:002015-05-19T19:29:58.530-07:00The Scourge of the Neighborhood<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">You know that neighbor with the overgrown yard, peeling paint, and crumbling front porch? The one that's a total eyesore and is dragging down property values? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Well, hello! That's us. While we've been busy prettifying the insides of our so-very-humble abode, the outsides have been a bit neglected. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It's not entirely our fault, since the former owner never laid eyes on the place or took care of it. And I'll ask for a little leeway since we did just move in, in January. But now it's May, and everything is in bloom, including our lovely dandelions, which we are growing for market. You didn't think we were just letting random <i>weeds</i> grow in the yard, did you?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Here's where I post some embarrassing pictures of our yard:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Those two fir trees on the left are just the worst - half dead, and I'm pretty sure the 25+ years of dog pee that they've experienced hasn't helped anything. The birch (white trunks), while pretty, has a trunk that is leaning into our roof and needs to go. And that tree in the foreground? It's dead. Yep. We figured that out after it refused to blossom this spring.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Our side yard is just as awful, if not worse:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The fence is from the 90s, part of it blew down in a recent storm (where you can see the neighbors trashy - pun intended - temporary "fencing"), and we have a disgusting mixture of old gravel and random weeds growing out of the ground. But you know what this is? A blank slate! I'm imagining a sitting area, strawberry beds, and a fire pit...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I found an arborist doing work at the house next door, and scheduled them for the following week. For $400.00 they cut down no less than 7 trees in our yard and hauled them away. For another $75.00 they came back and dug up the stumps. Worth every penny.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the arborists at work and a glimpse of our crappy backyard.</td></tr>
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<br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The front of our house now looks so much better...you can actually <i>see</i> the house now! </span><div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Before</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After</td></tr>
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<br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">See that crazy storm cloud in the "After" picture? Mike had to hurry and get our roof patched up - it's been leaking in the garage. We're planning on replacing the entire roof, but probably it'll happen later this summer. In the meantime, my super handy husband took care of it himself:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A house is definitely a labor of love. It's never-ending, and while rewarding, it's also exhausting. I'm happier than ever that we bought a small house. Less to maintain, less to clean, less place to store useless "stuff." Less is more, for sure.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">While we'll continue our daily mini-projects and figure out how to haul away all our yard debris, it's time to take a break. We're excited for this upcoming summer, and we've got lots of hikes and local vacations planned, starting this weekend. More to come!</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7929524282182460765.post-25671028964740516612015-04-26T14:49:00.001-07:002015-04-26T14:49:42.500-07:00Every Day I'm Hustlin'<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">OK, so we're not hustlin' as hard as <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JU9TouRnO84" target="_blank">Rick Ross</a>, but making that "To Do" list on the last post really made us accountable for our actions. I highly suggest stating publicly (or on Facebook, because that's practically the same thing) what you're going to do, because wow, is it motivating. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh81LVd34GFBIg2x5gPBBHJJOeteYKqeRAbqSt6-R1ToRein5EUDnzJQYpa0aA3k4DgQ4kKiErsjU2Bpqzif-aYkosZn2fFUQurT7LNr8IbZDdnDiU-qcgeMGRIpykLbJohrjAHynysJTQ/s1600/tomorrow-noun.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh81LVd34GFBIg2x5gPBBHJJOeteYKqeRAbqSt6-R1ToRein5EUDnzJQYpa0aA3k4DgQ4kKiErsjU2Bpqzif-aYkosZn2fFUQurT7LNr8IbZDdnDiU-qcgeMGRIpykLbJohrjAHynysJTQ/s1600/tomorrow-noun.jpg" height="320" width="228" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'm still learning how to do new things with the remodel, and on this particular day, it was electrical wiring of our outlets. My boss, who is an electrician, told me it'd be simple - just pull out the old outlet and look at how things are wired, then just pull out the wires and plug them into the new receptacle the same way. Sounds easy enough...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I pulled out the outlets (after turning off the breaker - that is the most important step!), and there were yucky cobwebs in some, the wires require some muscle to get out and push in, and there would be any number of wires, from 3 to 7, that might be connected to any particular outlet. I managed, with a lot of help from Mike, to figure out how to do it, but it took me about 2 hours to finish six receptacles. I also electrocuted myself because I forgot to test the outlet before touching it, and it was wired to a different breaker. I am officially the worst electrician ever.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My electrical outlet progress and Mike installing the trim.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Mike worked on the trim all afternoon, and got the living room mostly completed (minus wood putty and paint). It got difficult around the bullnose corners, but we'll figure that out another day. For now, it's enough that we're making progress.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I also got some seeds started for our "garden" this summer. Our yard looks like...well, it looks like the yard of a house that's been a rental for 25 years. So it needs a lot of back-breaking work. Since we're already toiling away on the interior, with a guest bathroom, roof, and siding to finish this summer, we're putting off the yard until next spring (which, if climate change continues on this path, may be even earlier next year). This year, I'm growing food in pots, which will give me an opportunity to work on my atrocious gardening skills. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">you can see my successful regrown green onions at the end of the sill.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I repurposed some old egg cartons for the seeds and planted lettuces, mâche, yellow strawberries, eggplants, and little Mexican cucumbers. Everything is specifically for this climate and ordered from <a href="http://www.rareseeds.com/" target="_blank">Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds</a>. We'll see what sprouts and what I can keep alive! If all goes well, I'll be able to transplant these babies into pots in a few weeks.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In preparation for our DIY landscaping, we've been checking out garden centers around town. This one, <a href="http://tumalogardenmarket.com/" target="_blank">Tumalo Garden Market</a>, was so unbelievably cute! They had greenhouse kits, beehives, tons of fruit trees, and even a mini "canyon" you could walk through, to get ideas for your yard.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">this place was like a garden amusement center - loved it!</td></tr>
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<br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'm hoping we'll keep up the hustlin' into this upcoming week. But today, we're headed to the movies! Fast and Furious 7...and I'm bringing a box of tissues.</span><br /><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7929524282182460765.post-27354335910376002642015-04-22T13:08:00.000-07:002015-04-22T13:08:04.033-07:00A New Tradition<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">On April 10th, we were reminded that it had been one year since we first set foot in Bend. I was so excited about our new hometown that I took this picture and posted it:</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">April 10, 2014</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We decided to start a new tradition for our new town, and we went back down to Drake Park and took the exact same picture:</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">April 10, 2015</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">While it was a bit overcast, and the pond looks a little murky without all that gorgeous blue sky reflected in it, it was still a crisp spring day, and a great way to mark the passage of one sporadically frenzied, life-changing year. And thus, a new tradition is born!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We've definitely been doing a lot more wandering since it's been warm lately. It's just so refreshing and beautiful outside. Everyone seems to have fruit trees, and the streets are popping with color.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">our plum tree in full bloom</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We took Morty out for a little spin, down some farm roads, with no particular destination in mind. The sun was shining, we passed sheep and cows, horses and goats, a few llamas, and finally ended up at Tumalo Reservoir. You can just barely see the Cascade mountains peeking out in the background. They're still completely snow covered, but this year our snow pack was only about 30% as deep as normal. This means it will melt off too quickly - the trout and salmon will suffer, because the rivers won't be as cold, which equals less oxygen. A hot, dry summer is in the forecast.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Morty at Tumalo Reservoir</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Note to self - shooting into the sun sucks.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It's getting harder and harder to stay inside and finish fixing up the house, but like homework, it hangs over our heads every day. Some days, I just unpack a box or two (we're close to done, only about 10 boxes left) and consider that "remodeling." It does help, though! This day, we got two art boxes unpacked and hung up some of our Audrey Kawasaki favorites on the living room wall.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4fRJ5HtyUlG9dDhplJ-taYA_pb9EajefxQwdXcLznpl5-SkbC1f00OKsAfG63rIb8aKPWpGg-Lj4WknSfOmVMR1XZpholQMxPIzpsjEZzmGj2NHyIJY4M1S1Jey6PU85R8H1dqzOF5VQ/s1600/20150412_150442.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4fRJ5HtyUlG9dDhplJ-taYA_pb9EajefxQwdXcLznpl5-SkbC1f00OKsAfG63rIb8aKPWpGg-Lj4WknSfOmVMR1XZpholQMxPIzpsjEZzmGj2NHyIJY4M1S1Jey6PU85R8H1dqzOF5VQ/s1600/20150412_150442.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">maybe the art will distract from the fact the trim's not done...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And while the kitchen cabinets are still a pain to open since I didn't put the handles on yet, the kitchen is fully functional and I've been cooking up a storm! I made butter poached, local wild caught rockfish with saffron sauce, a deconstructed pastichio (it's sort of a Greek eggplant lasagna), consommé, and completely-from-scratch-pierogis. I also made stuff Mike could eat, like chili. Ha! </span><div>
<div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ELx8m8s8t1Y/VTPSaZaOd9I/AAAAAAAAKwQ/eRLY80bv0PA/s1600/20150416_175201.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ELx8m8s8t1Y/VTPSaZaOd9I/AAAAAAAAKwQ/eRLY80bv0PA/s1600/20150416_175201.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">not all cooking goes right! eggplant explosion on the grill.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Life has been quieter these last couple weeks, as we've gotten into a groove of just living here in Bend. It's a nice thing to enjoy, since looking down the summer pipeline, we've got a lot of plans. Time to get motivated to finish our list! While there's tons more to do, if we could only get this stuff done, we could relax for a bit. Let's see if writing it here helps us get it done before the next post (wishful thinking...).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Things to Do:</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">finish replacing all electric receptacles</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">finish trim</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">hook up kitchen and bathroom exhaust fans</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">reframe all windows and kitchen sliding glass door</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">hook up hallway pendant light</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">hook up office light</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">install bathroom door</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">paint office</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">finish unpacking/storing away all boxes</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7929524282182460765.post-3467901124482852962015-04-08T19:25:00.000-07:002015-04-08T19:25:33.245-07:00Our First Visitor!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Having a visitor was one of the best things to happen to our house, because we now have a mostly completed guest...bed. I hesitate to say the bedroom itself is done, because it's still pretty bare. We didn't get to put up any art or decor yet, and we still need window treatments. But the window is framed out, and believe me, that was a pretty big accomplishment.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8YFRE3nBXX0/VRcPCGwQVII/AAAAAAAAKnk/0Ejt3WTS53s/s1600/20150324_183609.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8YFRE3nBXX0/VRcPCGwQVII/AAAAAAAAKnk/0Ejt3WTS53s/s1600/20150324_183609.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">we did gouge the paint a bit while putting up that window...add that to the punch list.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The first day in town, it was too warm to go snowboarding, so we took a walk along the river, and saw a group of deer having breakfast! This is one thing that Mike and I miss from our old rental. There are a lot more deer on the west side of town, because there's less fencing between properties. Fences suck!</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zAh3LEm4vh4/VRcPTDX9yrI/AAAAAAAAKn0/ToWHhDBHhiQ/s1600/20150325_114629.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zAh3LEm4vh4/VRcPTDX9yrI/AAAAAAAAKn0/ToWHhDBHhiQ/s1600/20150325_114629.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We christened the new kitchen and I taught Mike's niece to cook a few things. We made steak, teriyaki salmon, baked potatoes, brussels sprouts with pancetta, and a creamy mushroom sauce (with our foraged chanterelles from last fall).</span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HekATaO1lD8/VRcPeXddyJI/AAAAAAAAKoE/09WquQ4YuiM/s1600/20150325_183529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HekATaO1lD8/VRcPeXddyJI/AAAAAAAAKoE/09WquQ4YuiM/s1600/20150325_183529.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">cooking in the new kitchen!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-n1EMq-15B7Q/VRcPvkDqwtI/AAAAAAAAKoc/lVBIa4BxAko/s1600/20150325_183559.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-n1EMq-15B7Q/VRcPvkDqwtI/AAAAAAAAKoc/lVBIa4BxAko/s1600/20150325_183559.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">caramelizing the brussels sprouts with pancetta</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It got up to 73 degrees here in Bend! So the next day, we headed to Tumalo Falls, where we discovered that the road was closed. What would normally be a half mile hike to the falls, ended up being an 8 mile hike, but at least it was a gorgeous day. </span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wUrn0nmBXk4/VRcP77ntriI/AAAAAAAAKoo/9vrupk8Cc_o/s1600/20150326_130707.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wUrn0nmBXk4/VRcP77ntriI/AAAAAAAAKoo/9vrupk8Cc_o/s1600/20150326_130707.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Still a tiny bit of snow on the ground.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Since we weren't planning on a long hike, we didn't bring water or snacks with us. But we made it there and back without too much trouble, and it was nice to know that we're not entirely out of shape - we weren't even sore the next day.</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0VdC-7Akps0/VRcQSdsjgkI/AAAAAAAAKo4/-zRq0_Vsg9Y/s1600/20150326_132430.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0VdC-7Akps0/VRcQSdsjgkI/AAAAAAAAKo4/-zRq0_Vsg9Y/s1600/20150326_132430.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tumalo Falls</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">After our visitor left, we got sort of lazy around the house. I mean, it's livable, although a little chaotic and haphazard. So after about 10 days of not remodeling a thing, we got back into the groove. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Our new resolution is to do one remodel activity every day, even if it's a small thing. This way, we'll keep moving forward, even if it's sloooowly.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9I1kUmsp7bk/VSXc2qDetFI/AAAAAAAAKss/GUWcHu3sbzI/s1600/20150408_150256.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9I1kUmsp7bk/VSXc2qDetFI/AAAAAAAAKss/GUWcHu3sbzI/s1600/20150408_150256.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Got a door handle put on...still need to fill those nail holes in the trim, though!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3354CMdmxIpvefneRVBYIFEcTCMVFeIbUgG2kVnFHXCMWcion-P-f1eJt4WYhJb8LiviruUFOrIR1GNu2R02ej82h4QVDh3kvWNNf78s_-wem7GVAt2JRw2UUXvwrH3d-bR8Zw_kHEPc/s1600/20150408_150036.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3354CMdmxIpvefneRVBYIFEcTCMVFeIbUgG2kVnFHXCMWcion-P-f1eJt4WYhJb8LiviruUFOrIR1GNu2R02ej82h4QVDh3kvWNNf78s_-wem7GVAt2JRw2UUXvwrH3d-bR8Zw_kHEPc/s1600/20150408_150036.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mike putting on the kitchen receptacle covers. No chore is too small!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Sometimes it seems endless, but we're just going to keep chugging along, and little by little, we'll get it done! </span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7929524282182460765.post-80579921445761863132015-03-24T12:38:00.000-07:002015-03-24T13:52:08.637-07:00We're Really Not This Messy<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">When I was little, I used to hate when my mom made us clean the house for guests, "But they're our friends! They'll like us no matter how the house looks!" </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Now that I'm older, I totally get it. It's not about whether or not your friends/family will still love you, it's about pretending you <i>don't</i> actually wallow in your bedsheets for 2 weeks, let your cats climb on the dining room table, and have a constant competition with your garbage can to see exactly how much trash it can hold. It's about showing you know how you're <i>supposed</i> to be living - somewhere in between sanitary conditions and Martha-Stewart-organized, and hopefully a little closer to the latter.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWWfOKAWthobOoGPiFbEs4HgzQAsy3RLQ8flX89vi_92kJWedNxLCO93-smxM24VzRxvrgCg8K-NN0RLPi0ZdQqFgZb7G9K3H36OXKQxRutAShbQGfWGBkqwykro6hPqcQZRszcvB4eCA/s1600/929221_369691383178480_912821578_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWWfOKAWthobOoGPiFbEs4HgzQAsy3RLQ8flX89vi_92kJWedNxLCO93-smxM24VzRxvrgCg8K-NN0RLPi0ZdQqFgZb7G9K3H36OXKQxRutAShbQGfWGBkqwykro6hPqcQZRszcvB4eCA/s1600/929221_369691383178480_912821578_n.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Since we have exactly T-minus 8 hours until Mike's niece arrives tonight, we've been on high alert, hyper aware of how our home appears to the objective eye. I organized the chaos in the office so we could cram all our other boxes in there, basically making the office the "under the rug" area. Don't open that door.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And we got all crazy in the guest bedroom, trimming out the window, finishing most of the baseboards on the floor, and setting up the new bed.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nTQUjMmMI0Y/VRCvkkpD3OI/AAAAAAAAKl8/UNKcH-hUboY/s1600/20150323_172444.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nTQUjMmMI0Y/VRCvkkpD3OI/AAAAAAAAKl8/UNKcH-hUboY/s1600/20150323_172444.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nail guns are one of my favorites! I also learned they are<br />
responsible for 150,000 emergency room visits a year!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We hustled in the kitchen - Mike got the shelves up, patched, sanded and stained them, and I unpacked our dishes. He even put up the kitchen hood! Here's a shot in progress:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIneRhxuj9BxwQBdUnmAhwCq1FSVggjB5DnXQb6fEMvqdkEDVqBK0vAYYargXzRQnlWo_36hRBrFtUYzeMiuHzaLa4t4BWMoNSsgCk2AnJJLLBtCVphQYFpCTEl8EIny436Q_m7HkrtNw/s1600/20150321_104621.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIneRhxuj9BxwQBdUnmAhwCq1FSVggjB5DnXQb6fEMvqdkEDVqBK0vAYYargXzRQnlWo_36hRBrFtUYzeMiuHzaLa4t4BWMoNSsgCk2AnJJLLBtCVphQYFpCTEl8EIny436Q_m7HkrtNw/s1600/20150321_104621.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">before staining, with the kitchen hood partially up</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNdnhhyphenhyphenXWH4YiUIn0JSIT9H0tikdd4lcYGR5YP1eSKiIpmN2ZBMueoWP6bHjYsBg6Igyf_e8vogRktVTjIskbKrOy8aFTyjcwB12euCkyXk9ICosum5P1bi3Jrc0CR66FvHaZaSeqJuFM/s1600/20150323_161406.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNdnhhyphenhyphenXWH4YiUIn0JSIT9H0tikdd4lcYGR5YP1eSKiIpmN2ZBMueoWP6bHjYsBg6Igyf_e8vogRktVTjIskbKrOy8aFTyjcwB12euCkyXk9ICosum5P1bi3Jrc0CR66FvHaZaSeqJuFM/s1600/20150323_161406.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">completed shelves and installed hood - we still need to remove<br />
the protective plastic. The hood is actually stainless steel.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH5DuyTE1DC_bMq5cM7fuHMaRzrIBNeTxURPAFlcEJNdHZK5c8fC0Jd7dGmddj5KMIYW0RwF6qRRvsysWtPVd6BkL6i3Da-nshbsE-PIvV1NIk5fmA6BrHdnV48gEdyjEJoPL-_NaS2uc/s1600/image1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH5DuyTE1DC_bMq5cM7fuHMaRzrIBNeTxURPAFlcEJNdHZK5c8fC0Jd7dGmddj5KMIYW0RwF6qRRvsysWtPVd6BkL6i3Da-nshbsE-PIvV1NIk5fmA6BrHdnV48gEdyjEJoPL-_NaS2uc/s1600/image1.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">close up of the kitchen shelves</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I think by the end of the day today, we'll have a kitchen sink and dishwasher, and I'm crossing my fingers....hopefully a stove! If not, at least we'll have our grill, a waffle maker, and a crock pot to feed Mike's niece with. Mike also pulled a late night countertop sealing session:</span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cdhiV9Nowhc/VRG2qVSjBuI/AAAAAAAAKms/Qwdv5T8AlSM/s1600/20150323_203117.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cdhiV9Nowhc/VRG2qVSjBuI/AAAAAAAAKms/Qwdv5T8AlSM/s1600/20150323_203117.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">step by step, we're getting stuff done...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Our master bath vanity, pendant lights, and mirrors were installed (thanks, Mike!), and although I'm second guessing my mirror choice and we're looking for a large rectangular one now, this will suffice for the time being. I also finished painting the ceiling in the shower area and could finally properly place the shower light. It really made a difference; the shower feels super glamorous when you're in it, and I can't stop staring at my 2" hexagon tiles. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2s6aTxjouCU/VRG2sfWRWpI/AAAAAAAAKm0/eRJI1h5YHX4/s1600/20150323_162518.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2s6aTxjouCU/VRG2sfWRWpI/AAAAAAAAKm0/eRJI1h5YHX4/s1600/20150323_162518.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">vanity shot on the left, shower view on the right</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The glass in the shower area hasn't been installed yet (or even priced out), but to be honest, the shower is so huge that the water doesn't even hit the back wall, much less the area where the glass would be. This is awesome for two reasons - no rush to get the glass, and when we finally do get the glass - it won't get too many water spots. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I think the thing we're most excited about with our niece's visit, is not that she's got us motivated to finish up some lingering projects; it's that we have an excuse to go out and do stuff for the next few days! We made a whole list of hikes to go on, waterfalls to see, things to show her...we can't wait to get out and do something other than remodeling. Fun starts now!</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7929524282182460765.post-45968951703161754302015-03-20T17:03:00.000-07:002015-03-20T17:03:00.757-07:00Into the Dust Pit and Back Out the Other Side<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It is more difficult than you would think, living in a house that's going through a full-out remodel. If you have the means, I would highly recommend moving out of your home, if you ever take this on in the future. Our house is constantly dusty; anything you wash gets dirty within minutes, and we don't have a working kitchen or even a kitchen sink. I have a whole new level of appreciation for deep sinks with a proper faucet and garbage disposal.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We just made it through a week of grinding the countertops, which created an atmosphere in the house close to what I imagine working in a quarry feels like. Despite our best efforts to tarp off the kitchen and blanket our belongings, our entire house and our very own lungs got coated in a thick layer of concrete dust. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ltc1x70mZOY/VQSspr9pHrI/AAAAAAAAKec/nj-4U6epN2E/s1600/20150312_170008.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ltc1x70mZOY/VQSspr9pHrI/AAAAAAAAKec/nj-4U6epN2E/s1600/20150312_170008.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our kitchen looks ghostly with all the plastic and tarps up!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We had to live only in the master bedroom (due to all the dust), and I sort of wish we had drugged the cats for those few days, since all 6 of us were cooped up in the room together. It was impossible to use the toaster oven, and we did carry out and fast food, sitting on the floor of our bedroom, eating off a cardboard box. I kept reminding myself it was like camping, but without the beauty of nature, it's hard to keep a positive attitude.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But after a few days, we made it through the grinding and polishing, and then we moved on to tile, which was considerably less dirty. I picked this beautiful ice white glass subway tile, which makes the kitchen look incredibly clean. The picture below doesn't quite do it justice, but when the whole kitchen is done, I hope to get a better shot!</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IScj_x_oOo4/VQxmL061HPI/AAAAAAAAKjU/H-QT5lm9CKo/s1600/20150314_195129.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IScj_x_oOo4/VQxmL061HPI/AAAAAAAAKjU/H-QT5lm9CKo/s1600/20150314_195129.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mike celebrating after day 1 of tile.</td></tr>
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The empty horizontal spaces are where the open kitchen shelving will go. I don't remember if I mentioned it before, but because we found mold and had to ditch the old kitchen cabinets, that left us with an extra cost we didn't anticipate in the remodel. The solution? We only purchased lower cabinets, and on top, we're putting open kitchen shelving. It works perfectly for us for several reasons: we love the open airy feel, it updates the traditional style of this 90s kitchen, the kitchen feels bigger, and our everyday dishes are all white, which makes them ideal for displaying!</span><br /><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-I1CM6ulEldY/VQxkkba9FJI/AAAAAAAAKis/8u-KxKb7br8/s1600/20150315_122904.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-I1CM6ulEldY/VQxkkba9FJI/AAAAAAAAKis/8u-KxKb7br8/s1600/20150315_122904.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Adin from Artisan Tile laying the last tile on the back wall.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Adin knocked out the tiles in 3 days, and then it was on to building the shelves. Mike found a blog online where this girl built her own shelves, and he decided to go ahead and make ours!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mgv0j70m7JQ/VQxml7r_LiI/AAAAAAAAKjk/5MRh1euatQE/s1600/20150318_163813.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mgv0j70m7JQ/VQxml7r_LiI/AAAAAAAAKjk/5MRh1euatQE/s1600/20150318_163813.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The frames for the shelves and a glimpse of the unsealed counters.</td></tr>
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<br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">After all the kitchen insanity, and because the office looks like the picture below, we really felt a serious need to organize and clean.</span><br /><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_YafBaUyO8nCD_YImaX7vjWihs5tMJlVnlMrfDhdEQXF-DjJAoQrKduCgP0CHEP-VyeleF7_dcSdGaOKG-K-tBiFiIx1Aq0fu1KRJzvP21tUR1l_wRin7mrLCmHcnNfgMV5onDcOWsRA/s1600/20150315_121832.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_YafBaUyO8nCD_YImaX7vjWihs5tMJlVnlMrfDhdEQXF-DjJAoQrKduCgP0CHEP-VyeleF7_dcSdGaOKG-K-tBiFiIx1Aq0fu1KRJzvP21tUR1l_wRin7mrLCmHcnNfgMV5onDcOWsRA/s1600/20150315_121832.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One day, hopefully not too far in the future, this will be my office.</td></tr>
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<br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In a way, chaos in your house reflects the chaos in your life and mind. There is a real level of peace I get from not only organizing my belongings, but paring them down. One $99 closet organizer and an afternoon will buy you this sort of inner calm:</span><br /><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-auMIvdk47d4/VQygD5eYmdI/AAAAAAAAKkM/vCk-4eVkbZk/s1600/20150320_124449.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-auMIvdk47d4/VQygD5eYmdI/AAAAAAAAKkM/vCk-4eVkbZk/s1600/20150320_124449.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is everything we've been wearing the last couple months!</td></tr>
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<br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Sure, there's like 2 more boxes and 3 more bags of clothes, but I was pretty happy to find that we've pared down quite a bit from our previous lives, and we picked out even more things we can donate. I think I jettisoned about half my closet once I quit corporate office life. I still have my collection of LBD (little black dresses) over there on the left, though. There's a level of practicality that speaks to keeping those around.</span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We're hoping to get out of the house more this coming week - we miss our nightly walks and just exploring around Oregon. Not only do our lungs need some fresh air, but spring is here, whether we're ready or not! Usually, the last frost is in May here in Bend, and I'm a little bit concerned for our plum tree. Should it freeze again, the blossoms will fall off and we won't get any fruit this year. Sad face (for potential lost plums and climate change).</span><div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeOnDG613HaffbnXUC_4ezeET-P4PBo2rkKZGHnNp9TAohJLJFW-WvXfBkxhB5SVMlLPoaSCn5sEUVLcdE0nmBtg7QhyphenhyphenLQCDzMv3u5iMbpBOHi64sOx96l-1_aFIqRazdX6l3kTEivQVc/s1600/20150318_163655.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeOnDG613HaffbnXUC_4ezeET-P4PBo2rkKZGHnNp9TAohJLJFW-WvXfBkxhB5SVMlLPoaSCn5sEUVLcdE0nmBtg7QhyphenhyphenLQCDzMv3u5iMbpBOHi64sOx96l-1_aFIqRazdX6l3kTEivQVc/s1600/20150318_163655.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Enjoying the beautiful plum blossoms while we can...</td></tr>
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<br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Mike's niece is coming up on Tuesday and we are so excited to show her around our little town. More to come!</span><br /><br /></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7929524282182460765.post-33858009144431432842015-03-12T12:08:00.000-07:002015-03-12T12:08:53.597-07:00Chicago, LA, and Home Again<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We wrapped up our super busy February with a move into our not-quite-completed home:</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qRCtGC9uCy4/VP5q26z9QtI/AAAAAAAAKZU/8g4XKX_sX1k/s1600/20150221_123408.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qRCtGC9uCy4/VP5q26z9QtI/AAAAAAAAKZU/8g4XKX_sX1k/s1600/20150221_123408.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">we hired professional movers this time to save our backs!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It's a little awkward to live in a home with no stove/kitchen sink/dishwasher/master bedroom/washer-dryer. We can't actually unpack things, because some walls still need to be painted, we don't have interior doors or trim, we're still missing light fixtures, closet doors/systems, and the kitchen is still under construction (counters need grinding, walls need tile). But it's such a relief to be in a home we own, with no worries about the landlord finding out about our (four!) cats, and knowing we can change anything we want.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gjLPJprDYpM/VQDq3m129kI/AAAAAAAAKdU/m03N6rWOK3o/s1600/20150311_182327.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gjLPJprDYpM/VQDq3m129kI/AAAAAAAAKdU/m03N6rWOK3o/s1600/20150311_182327.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the current state of the living room</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jXpn92ZcfgU/VQDrDn_qfdI/AAAAAAAAKdc/j_FANmZVLVE/s1600/20150311_182334.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jXpn92ZcfgU/VQDrDn_qfdI/AAAAAAAAKdc/j_FANmZVLVE/s1600/20150311_182334.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our current "kitchen" - toaster oven, coffee pot, and hot water dispenser.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It's not all under construction...the flooring is in, and our toilet is awesome.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Xjte6ujx0Ts/VQDqsTI0jiI/AAAAAAAAKdM/mxZKG_-ju58/s1600/20150310_221054.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Xjte6ujx0Ts/VQDqsTI0jiI/AAAAAAAAKdM/mxZKG_-ju58/s1600/20150310_221054.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Princess approves of the new floors!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9PV5zJxVFMIhaC7cFEs3OG8AWLWOkcJcEyUdwz0yD8nkR_GILOOIfchT3k2tsGfizwDjTz5ozlqWgtUBOlrvPxA5-_dq-aC0OvRWqxF7x-zlUaWoyPl5EjmvkkU-exji2mFq5fsEPnQ4/s1600/20150310_153157.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9PV5zJxVFMIhaC7cFEs3OG8AWLWOkcJcEyUdwz0yD8nkR_GILOOIfchT3k2tsGfizwDjTz5ozlqWgtUBOlrvPxA5-_dq-aC0OvRWqxF7x-zlUaWoyPl5EjmvkkU-exji2mFq5fsEPnQ4/s1600/20150310_153157.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">our fancy toilet, with the heated seat and "nightlight."</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We moved the kitties into the home, then 4 days later, took off for Chicago for Wedding Reception Round 2. It was actually really nice to see people I hadn't seen in a long while, and catch up with old friends. I was so busy with friends and family, I didn't even take any pictures!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmsgVz0o-vF3pL0OWhU3_4eaBLqz0LGiGDg67z6CRQxmvjI5apxG06adwCLSNRjJRnqh_3ZQw4Jx6ki1khL_PaFBq8gCLnZv72tp38zrnqGHFGzL0Te_OLH1El0_rEuoW-4dSbWw7jLP0/s1600/wildfire1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmsgVz0o-vF3pL0OWhU3_4eaBLqz0LGiGDg67z6CRQxmvjI5apxG06adwCLSNRjJRnqh_3ZQw4Jx6ki1khL_PaFBq8gCLnZv72tp38zrnqGHFGzL0Te_OLH1El0_rEuoW-4dSbWw7jLP0/s1600/wildfire1.jpeg" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And then we were off to LA, where we ate our way through the first few days. We had been daydreaming about the food - so we cruised around, alternating running into restaurants and eating in the car. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MtlY1nRqMkU/VP5rbUEGUiI/AAAAAAAAKaE/5qJLlT72WAo/s1600/20150305_115553.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MtlY1nRqMkU/VP5rbUEGUiI/AAAAAAAAKaE/5qJLlT72WAo/s1600/20150305_115553.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cook's tortas! It's on Atlantic and you should really go.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LjGEFKfQNWw/VP5rRhAnxeI/AAAAAAAAKZ0/qUkenuTg1do/s1600/20150304_215525.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LjGEFKfQNWw/VP5rRhAnxeI/AAAAAAAAKZ0/qUkenuTg1do/s1600/20150304_215525.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Donut Friend in Highland Park - I got mine with dulce de leche, bananas and whipped cream.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bQsiVT73LOE/VP5sNIwBpII/AAAAAAAAKac/kRid-XI3HZ8/s1600/20150306_133831.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bQsiVT73LOE/VP5sNIwBpII/AAAAAAAAKac/kRid-XI3HZ8/s1600/20150306_133831.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ceviche at Guisado's in Echo Park.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid5upBjiV2fh6z_DjZ5-i3Srt2gBkftfi5C5Pr8QAd0rm1Mwsyxab87d90bwC9RMA1346Fs1YPKwE6YBewXi7FY994zHc6uf2FPXaEiBZPTcBTrkOOPPzW9XW9YyChQppRXdwv2efwpSs/s1600/20150306_133834.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid5upBjiV2fh6z_DjZ5-i3Srt2gBkftfi5C5Pr8QAd0rm1Mwsyxab87d90bwC9RMA1346Fs1YPKwE6YBewXi7FY994zHc6uf2FPXaEiBZPTcBTrkOOPPzW9XW9YyChQppRXdwv2efwpSs/s1600/20150306_133834.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mole tacos and Bistek en salsa roja at Guisado's.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-G5z4JZzvfds/VP5tGhPHsKI/AAAAAAAAKa0/4Jqntt9vdu4/s1600/20150306_193557.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-G5z4JZzvfds/VP5tGhPHsKI/AAAAAAAAKa0/4Jqntt9vdu4/s1600/20150306_193557.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the charcuterie platter at Bestia, where we also saw Gordon Ramsay!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We stayed in a super creepy mansion in Echo Park's historical Victorian neighborhood. The homes are all from the late 1800s and are very well restored and maintained. However, that doesn't detract from the scary factor. This is a pic of the home from the outside:</span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-snCYi4blkFs/VP5wJY3o8WI/AAAAAAAAKb8/cWewARPrWZU/s1600/20150308_074331.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-snCYi4blkFs/VP5wJY3o8WI/AAAAAAAAKb8/cWewARPrWZU/s1600/20150308_074331.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I was pretty nervous every time we came home late, convinced I'd see a ghostly apparition standing at the top of the stairs, or around the corner....or at the side of my bed. But it did have a nice view:</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3TzYZ9GOdPc/VP5u43UiZtI/AAAAAAAAKbc/GkvZvT9q1fk/s1600/20150306_223748.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3TzYZ9GOdPc/VP5u43UiZtI/AAAAAAAAKbc/GkvZvT9q1fk/s1600/20150306_223748.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The view from the 3rd story balcony</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Honestly the location was ideal for our jaunts around town. We could be back in our old 'hood in 10 minutes. In fact, it was so close to downtown, that one morning Mike ran out and brought me back breakfast in bed!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HCoNWrxaB2M/VP5vsSer5iI/AAAAAAAAKbk/G4KXw92KXJU/s1600/20150307_081917.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HCoNWrxaB2M/VP5vsSer5iI/AAAAAAAAKbk/G4KXw92KXJU/s1600/20150307_081917.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the coddled egg from Eggslut in Grand Central Market - breakfast is served!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Our LA Wedding Reception Round 3 was just as wonderful as the Chicago one - but imagine having everyone you love in one room, with like 45 seconds to talk to each one. It's overwhelming! I wish I could spend a whole day with each one of our friends and family...and even that wouldn't be enough. I think another trip to Chicago and LA is in order for this year.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But while we're home, we're chipping away at the house projects, one by one. Today, we finally got the carpet installed in the master bedroom, and I'm finishing up the paint so we can move in. Completed "after" pic of the master bedroom coming up soon!</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-i5LojJDGw6k/VQDxZNPIlyI/AAAAAAAAKdw/Gtl_ZvLAUck/s1600/IMG-20150311-WA0001.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-i5LojJDGw6k/VQDxZNPIlyI/AAAAAAAAKdw/Gtl_ZvLAUck/s1600/IMG-20150311-WA0001.jpeg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Adding a little drama to the master bedroom with the dark accent wall!</td></tr>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7929524282182460765.post-23546599416307486912015-02-19T20:31:00.000-08:002015-02-19T20:31:35.928-08:00The Never-Ending Story of Our Renovation<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So we're officially in week 7 of remodeling, which was sort of our deadline, and we sort of met it. I say "sort of" because while we are technically going to move into our house this coming Saturday, it's not entirely functional. But let's look at the bright side, shall we? At least we have a place to live!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This week and last has been focused mostly on the kitchen. We had to get the cabinets installed and pour the concrete countertops. We chose concrete for a couple reasons - we love the look, and it was waaay cheaper than going with quartz or granite. For comparison, the "absolute black" granite that we would have chosen would have been $2K just for the granite, then add in the cutting, polishing, and installation, and it would be just ridiculous. And there's very little we could do to reduce the cost and DIY. The concrete, on the other hand, was about $500.00 for the molds, countertop kit, and concrete, and then it's just a bunch of labor and a giant learning curve.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-e_ZSvoeeIiQ/VN9mG7-MyDI/AAAAAAAAKTQ/n1Ykd8-K6co/s1600/20150211_104913.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-e_ZSvoeeIiQ/VN9mG7-MyDI/AAAAAAAAKTQ/n1Ykd8-K6co/s1600/20150211_104913.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Installation of the cabinets</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xOZGR8C-de0/VN9mg1uIn3I/AAAAAAAAKT4/Yute_1fLzbQ/s1600/20150212_170738.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xOZGR8C-de0/VN9mg1uIn3I/AAAAAAAAKT4/Yute_1fLzbQ/s1600/20150212_170738.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The cabinets with Durarock and countertop molds screwed in.</td></tr>
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<br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We used the counter kit from <a href="http://www.concretecountertopsolutions.com/" target="_blank">Z Counterform</a>. Their videos make it look easy. Warning: it is not. It is also extremely messy! Monkeys throwing wet concrete around would have been only slightly worse. I just walked out of the room while Mike was dealing with it. I couldn't watch.</span><br /><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvAT7BJ8CdUazkpu4lgvGpJ3qhWSG_ThpIPDqHsQ4w4VYIRdJrTrc15ANmCGxatu1n8BTFLhd3JemyTf68QSJMQtrck_9DRSOmz3WM-OCkFA8up4nEoFzYwob5rE-Sl_1F0atZ_S1pA-o/s1600/20150213_153434.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvAT7BJ8CdUazkpu4lgvGpJ3qhWSG_ThpIPDqHsQ4w4VYIRdJrTrc15ANmCGxatu1n8BTFLhd3JemyTf68QSJMQtrck_9DRSOmz3WM-OCkFA8up4nEoFzYwob5rE-Sl_1F0atZ_S1pA-o/s1600/20150213_153434.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You have to put wire inside the concrete to give it something to adhere to.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UDb7Neoli2c/VOT7Nc-pUjI/AAAAAAAAKVA/-_xxeuFGyhY/s1600/20150215_133703.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UDb7Neoli2c/VOT7Nc-pUjI/AAAAAAAAKVA/-_xxeuFGyhY/s1600/20150215_133703.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mike screeding the concrete....right onto the floor.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Screeding is when you level the concrete by drawing something across it, and it has to go somewhere. In our case, it went right off the counter onto the kitchen floor, which thankfully wasn't installed yet. So it landed on the plywood subfloor...still very upsetting for me! But concrete doesn't stick to flat surfaces, so Mike was able to clean it all up in a matter of minutes, and we are no worse for wear. It was a great exercise in just letting things go and believing it will all work out in the end! Seriously, who needs couple's therapy? Just remodel a house.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-huKGAAwehgM/VOT7fKrhqlI/AAAAAAAAKVo/lBgxqM6QwoA/s1600/20150218_082437.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-huKGAAwehgM/VOT7fKrhqlI/AAAAAAAAKVo/lBgxqM6QwoA/s1600/20150218_082437.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">breaking off the molds to reveal Mike's handiwork!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-65LBtOjMvtM/VOT7k6G905I/AAAAAAAAKV4/nNVe5atECsw/s1600/20150218_105234.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-65LBtOjMvtM/VOT7k6G905I/AAAAAAAAKV4/nNVe5atECsw/s1600/20150218_105234.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">at this stage, the counters need to cure for a few weeks.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The concrete goes in super dark, but dries a beautiful light gray color. It's modern, industrial, and fits our aesthetics perfectly.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUFeVMnrPxlEOKiUfLHoA-2crwasqplIshbLxKMTTaGDYbbOXvr4pWQs-d7rhi6ndijxg2_p2c9qfPsltYiekJ-Sv_4VxMyZfUxYVJI9VAPKJuTxdPYmctmmV_bio0MlMx3EnoIV9Kcf8/s1600/20150219_171115.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUFeVMnrPxlEOKiUfLHoA-2crwasqplIshbLxKMTTaGDYbbOXvr4pWQs-d7rhi6ndijxg2_p2c9qfPsltYiekJ-Sv_4VxMyZfUxYVJI9VAPKJuTxdPYmctmmV_bio0MlMx3EnoIV9Kcf8/s1600/20150219_171115.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">close up of the edge. We may leave the pits, I think they add character!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AUWw2LdhplI/VOT7iMZr5lI/AAAAAAAAKVw/2VIgz7AbRVc/s1600/20150218_093916.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AUWw2LdhplI/VOT7iMZr5lI/AAAAAAAAKVw/2VIgz7AbRVc/s1600/20150218_093916.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yep, we did an undermount sink on a poured concrete counter.</td></tr>
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<br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The counters will be curing for about 30 days (whoops! we sure didn't do that on the right timeline) before we can have them polished and then seal them, but they're hard and not susceptible to dents or dings, so we can move in and not worry too much about it. </span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Next things to do - paint and put in the floors. </span><div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGpkrEsFOoYbc76dAN1XW4Kig2MR29iPvDy4M4GOXtWEuNJC8pozO5nKAvohIlmKWB-jSYj8opuD3t9T8rBXDU2lVrk-V58lTn_i6YC6PN_aPtq7O80NzNQRVit30e4WwTU3XcPGNPNmE/s1600/20150211_092316.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGpkrEsFOoYbc76dAN1XW4Kig2MR29iPvDy4M4GOXtWEuNJC8pozO5nKAvohIlmKWB-jSYj8opuD3t9T8rBXDU2lVrk-V58lTn_i6YC6PN_aPtq7O80NzNQRVit30e4WwTU3XcPGNPNmE/s1600/20150211_092316.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">painting with the new neutral - gray.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx6CviVryA89RnXfitvCCsnmdY2BqlEpGf_MdW_TZ6FPT2gsLGcRX2RFlDnzJhBksS0GiQzPziPUCDTtwIa7DU0Ty4uaCOr84WzAlcFmr8dZQK5ddW3hqP5EH_ezTLr6A6ifd6KhC3woM/s1600/20150211_103208.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx6CviVryA89RnXfitvCCsnmdY2BqlEpGf_MdW_TZ6FPT2gsLGcRX2RFlDnzJhBksS0GiQzPziPUCDTtwIa7DU0Ty4uaCOr84WzAlcFmr8dZQK5ddW3hqP5EH_ezTLr6A6ifd6KhC3woM/s1600/20150211_103208.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">painting walls with vaulted ceilings is a lot of work!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I wanted light floors and Mike wanted dark. Since we wanted to go cheap (no one in the neighborhood has hardwood, so it didn't make sense to go all out), we went with a nice dark laminate that mimics hand hewn wood. Laminates have come a pretty long way since the first days of Pergo! As Mike and Tyler (our new BFF contractor friend) did the floor installation, I couldn't imagine how much dust hardwood floors would be to install, if laminate kicked up this much dust.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6_pkru-_T6A/VOapG-P_kSI/AAAAAAAAKWo/S3ttuOf1HAc/s1600/IMG_5181.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6_pkru-_T6A/VOapG-P_kSI/AAAAAAAAKWo/S3ttuOf1HAc/s1600/IMG_5181.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">installing the floors in the living room.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNbPzHQAVGEKl61jxWJ_YwHWNPETLJt2jGlzJXVyB4T6_BxfJmiBNzlPr8ScysL2yAyXZOU870QNiU40lCIt-LlHYl4ZW1YNgxqWAQnngBrHbpUQUS35B2ZSfNGC_gfSbCh_Z-ynuO31M/s1600/IMG_5259.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNbPzHQAVGEKl61jxWJ_YwHWNPETLJt2jGlzJXVyB4T6_BxfJmiBNzlPr8ScysL2yAyXZOU870QNiU40lCIt-LlHYl4ZW1YNgxqWAQnngBrHbpUQUS35B2ZSfNGC_gfSbCh_Z-ynuO31M/s1600/IMG_5259.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mike cut and installed all the underlay on the floors.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-at8Oz8aEtqM/VOaqWSflsvI/AAAAAAAAKW8/o5wjAtwd3Lw/s1600/IMG_5260.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-at8Oz8aEtqM/VOaqWSflsvI/AAAAAAAAKW8/o5wjAtwd3Lw/s1600/IMG_5260.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kitchen floors installed. Please excuse our dust.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">One major cost cutting factor in our remodel is the electric - my part time job is for an electrician, so we are getting parts at cost, and a big discount on labor. We installed six super nice, adjustable recessed LED lights in our living room. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAH0OBccyqwrd5wCroAYcP0wEghihtl2rFLhsN6p2lt2JKosv-LSmujHc7UtapfvkkMcwadLK2_CWl6G5A3FSK3OD8o_i9VweTSaby9NPCS0Tdt7gyiYaYVy5Wk_fgs3xqNc4uUuHCJrM/s1600/20150219_171058.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAH0OBccyqwrd5wCroAYcP0wEghihtl2rFLhsN6p2lt2JKosv-LSmujHc7UtapfvkkMcwadLK2_CWl6G5A3FSK3OD8o_i9VweTSaby9NPCS0Tdt7gyiYaYVy5Wk_fgs3xqNc4uUuHCJrM/s1600/20150219_171058.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">four of the six lights installed.</td></tr>
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<br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Finally, a glimpse at our almost completed bathroom! The tile is all in, the vanity is half installed, and I've got a first coat of paint on the walls. We may be living without the glass wall or door for a little while, as we're off to Chicago and LA next week, and we're strapped for time. I never thought I'd ever say this, but I can't wait to stop traveling and just stay home for a few months!</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">two views of the new bathroom</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">a peek into the shower from the vanity area</td></tr>
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<br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We move in this weekend and while we're living there, we'll still be finishing up all sorts of projects - installing the mirrors, pendant lights, and rest of the vanity for the master bath, all the trim, new doors (or possibly painting the old ones), kitchen backsplash, hood, shelving, closet organizational system, full remodel of the guest bathroom, and oh yeah - a secret reading area hidden by a swinging bookcase. And did I mention I bought a bunch of heirloom seeds for our not-yet-created garden and raised beds? It's going to be a busy spring!</span><div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7929524282182460765.post-31744787002079658962015-02-11T13:22:00.000-08:002015-02-11T18:18:11.401-08:00Iceland<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">While parts of the US have been getting pummeled with winter storms, we spent the week in.... Iceland! Our weather there was actually nicer than the east coast.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Iceland is very stark and beautiful, and the culture is fascinating. They were discovered by the Vikings, colonized by the Norwegians and the Danish, used as a strategic military outpost by the British and the Americans, and finally, given their true independence. The US Navy base closed recently, in 2006, and was turned into what is now their international airport and a university. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">outside the town of Fludir</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We did our best to eat local Icelandic food for every single meal. They eat a variety of things that come from the sea, like whale, shellfish (especially langoustine), various local fish such as trout, arctic char, salmon, spotted catfish, and ling cod, and meat, in the form of sea birds (puffin, cormorant, goose, duck), lamb and horse. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4L1aVn-sMmE/VNB9JSCMErI/AAAAAAAAJ6E/QkB7ldRTfyY/s1600/20150202_103633.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4L1aVn-sMmE/VNB9JSCMErI/AAAAAAAAJ6E/QkB7ldRTfyY/s1600/20150202_103633.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Arctic Char, a local fish. Similar to salmon, but lighter and creamier!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">smoked salmon and hardboiled egg on a croissant - ate salmon every day!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">minke whale. it tastes just like tender, delicious beef.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The Icelandic horse is one of the cutest horses I've ever seen. They're super friendly, fuzzy, and come in so many different colors. Once an Icelandic horse leaves Iceland, it can never come back. They are one of the purest breeds in the world. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Icelandic horses</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Mike and I had one day to ourselves where we drove around the island a bit. I got to go to a wool factory and get some yarn and raw wool to bring home for felting and crocheting. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The wool factory!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We also stopped at this beautiful natural swimming pool - Iceland's first, from 1891. It is filled from a hot spring right next to the pool, so it was extremely warm, like 100 degrees Fahrenheit. The whole place was quiet, steamy, misty, surrounded by snow, and completely surreal. We got there before it opened and had the whole place to ourselves. It is probably the most romantic thing Mike and I have ever done together. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.secretlagoon.is/" target="_blank">The Secret Lagoon</a></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Secret Lagoon GoPro selfie!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We also got married! Our friends and family flew in and spent 5-6 days with us, touring Reykjavik, the Golden Circle, and the Blue Lagoon. It was a little stressful, but thanks to <a href="http://www.pinkiceland.is/" target="_blank">Pink Iceland</a>, and Hannes, our wedding planner, everything ran smoothly and we had a memorable wedding. I am excited to see our Icelandic wedding certificate. We also have my wonderful cousin, </span><a href="http://www.denniskwanweddings.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;" target="_blank">Dennis Kwan</a><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">, to thank for the following pictures documenting our trip!</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJfeaI9Bg2p6SBSm9y4ehR6XmDglwgWrZNrMCLs-Z3yZP9DcMIh7Ad23zSa7gxlo6PF4IWi95vO0p5g6OmN98B1_xtLi25v_vFaVXKow1pjC0sk7FNmL6z-q6MoaHsWty4lTPlI4O5W5E/s1600/10891531_10100661017068301_235508340734218177_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJfeaI9Bg2p6SBSm9y4ehR6XmDglwgWrZNrMCLs-Z3yZP9DcMIh7Ad23zSa7gxlo6PF4IWi95vO0p5g6OmN98B1_xtLi25v_vFaVXKow1pjC0sk7FNmL6z-q6MoaHsWty4lTPlI4O5W5E/s1600/10891531_10100661017068301_235508340734218177_n.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The <a href="http://en.harpa.is/" target="_blank">Harpa Concert Hall </a>- it is gorgeous!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me in a vintage 70s Icelandic cape, and Mike in an Icelandic wool handknit sweater.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the cold, windy ceremony. we had all the elements - earth, fire, water, and wind.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">toasting!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcpfhcPcTP3GGVtAy33PAZEflbmsVC1o3pNXX5uzp_L7DjzJP_oTF8sgTFma8xzbz2mid3HPxjW9eaZI6EeGAxG_1jhweKI__vZ1pPO79Pu87NE6sZ-1GlZiW4HqFOaSPRjT3L2RtqiNc/s1600/10947189_10100661022232951_5900165082026995963_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcpfhcPcTP3GGVtAy33PAZEflbmsVC1o3pNXX5uzp_L7DjzJP_oTF8sgTFma8xzbz2mid3HPxjW9eaZI6EeGAxG_1jhweKI__vZ1pPO79Pu87NE6sZ-1GlZiW4HqFOaSPRjT3L2RtqiNc/s1600/10947189_10100661022232951_5900165082026995963_n.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">after the ceremony, under the stars</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYmbjznX4P4bf3tPey2461DBmd64LyYrv6yrjCvtsDiU0XxPDVWyaGj4u3hcia1MOLxWfnmLXk4hFpWDYn6o4JNmDqfQ-EaAgEx9fbqzGs_yQgi9sDCNVHq4GxVbWlmzA5eH07J8f9lDc/s1600/10955201_10100661022796821_3662070153468368230_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYmbjznX4P4bf3tPey2461DBmd64LyYrv6yrjCvtsDiU0XxPDVWyaGj4u3hcia1MOLxWfnmLXk4hFpWDYn6o4JNmDqfQ-EaAgEx9fbqzGs_yQgi9sDCNVHq4GxVbWlmzA5eH07J8f9lDc/s1600/10955201_10100661022796821_3662070153468368230_n.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">at <a href="http://www.gullfoss.is/" target="_blank">Gulfoss</a> waterfall</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghve862axKECXT9Bw0HlMGEQrJzE4U7qWzL8dShqNeVzqW-cyG6lPkAHDSgMozA7U-WA3sOILemM060GEQM6MaLHvkVUq9F_Xbqwxr0A9Kz0TDmP9LAFJjxw7gl1dFiqkfEFm6PdGFmgo/s1600/13595_10100661023789831_2160888212127238578_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghve862axKECXT9Bw0HlMGEQrJzE4U7qWzL8dShqNeVzqW-cyG6lPkAHDSgMozA7U-WA3sOILemM060GEQM6MaLHvkVUq9F_Xbqwxr0A9Kz0TDmP9LAFJjxw7gl1dFiqkfEFm6PdGFmgo/s1600/13595_10100661023789831_2160888212127238578_n.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the <a href="http://www.bluelagoon.com/" target="_blank">Blue Lagoon</a> - like an enormous milky hot tub.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsGJ6hdzbJbPBwAYTnFyeV15e6GBhfJFYG2LETBxDT-ua0gezkrBjyNXR41GeMwpJTF5-Dfl73g4OWHWG-NgrV17vyzA-Oy9THKW8su7C_lQIY29naL8kVaheGVQhGacAz552RM-RNlDQ/s1600/10941904_10100661024164081_6920704733632628769_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsGJ6hdzbJbPBwAYTnFyeV15e6GBhfJFYG2LETBxDT-ua0gezkrBjyNXR41GeMwpJTF5-Dfl73g4OWHWG-NgrV17vyzA-Oy9THKW8su7C_lQIY29naL8kVaheGVQhGacAz552RM-RNlDQ/s1600/10941904_10100661024164081_6920704733632628769_n.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">getting in-water massage treatments at the Blue Lagoon.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ4gVWItnRpUrd2dLkJTBBtUsIf5soX_PVw_QYMWGsXKvqf4vy1cdm3AlaQSkwgjj0taiTzIblckSwG-nTF_kg7p2H6oof2q7Crvfufguu3niSvQnpXn61gwVaZ7-C21z34M44v2HIiGA/s1600/10984281_10100661023250911_6692429309761297686_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ4gVWItnRpUrd2dLkJTBBtUsIf5soX_PVw_QYMWGsXKvqf4vy1cdm3AlaQSkwgjj0taiTzIblckSwG-nTF_kg7p2H6oof2q7Crvfufguu3niSvQnpXn61gwVaZ7-C21z34M44v2HIiGA/s1600/10984281_10100661023250911_6692429309761297686_n.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">at <a href="http://www.thingvellir.is/english.aspx" target="_blank">Thingvellir National Park</a>, walking between the Eurasian and North American plates.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsaJlSfnnBBKY5GZtts25JnSHhEA9ReQANz79XwqqKYve4HvYuBCm32Sw9-lpYUeJoCC2oKTMhagE29LcP5i8yQGI1gMq1zwxbnjN6GkvUWyhcBfQcCOUQXO8uERjhcArqPWThpyjnH_g/s1600/10989264_10100661018071291_6341294404094094464_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsaJlSfnnBBKY5GZtts25JnSHhEA9ReQANz79XwqqKYve4HvYuBCm32Sw9-lpYUeJoCC2oKTMhagE29LcP5i8yQGI1gMq1zwxbnjN6GkvUWyhcBfQcCOUQXO8uERjhcArqPWThpyjnH_g/s1600/10989264_10100661018071291_6341294404094094464_n.jpg" height="282" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hallgr%C3%ADmskirkja" target="_blank">Hallgrimskirkja</a> church, and that's us, the tiny couple!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Since we've been together so long, we thought the wedding would be sort of anti-climactic, but it was really special. We feel like we've renewed our commitment to each other, and it was really nice to have that break in the middle of the renovation stress.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And now we are back in Bend, refreshed and busy at work on the house again. We'd like to move within the next week or so...it's a rush to the finish! Updates in the next post!</span><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7929524282182460765.post-63489018938945153012015-01-31T15:20:00.000-08:002015-01-31T15:20:52.236-08:00Renovation Round 3<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WdKpIPA9xU8/VMktNguMa0I/AAAAAAAAJ10/97_r1Y8VyNg/s1600/20150127_125332.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WdKpIPA9xU8/VMktNguMa0I/AAAAAAAAJ10/97_r1Y8VyNg/s1600/20150127_125332.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mike preparing to climb into our attic space.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWBf5hQEw6iL_ORudwo68sEHtE4i4sNDz-hfkO9OjJ-Ej9OE_l1O_k6pHFW0S55bpTWNIylhBryP6tnnlXkYBwq8m_i-pwqvBH-gUDjjAIA2DT0A7e4vkzqnpY_R3n_k5fmUBLqV3nHc8/s1600/IMG_4899.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWBf5hQEw6iL_ORudwo68sEHtE4i4sNDz-hfkO9OjJ-Ej9OE_l1O_k6pHFW0S55bpTWNIylhBryP6tnnlXkYBwq8m_i-pwqvBH-gUDjjAIA2DT0A7e4vkzqnpY_R3n_k5fmUBLqV3nHc8/s1600/IMG_4899.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Skim coating the walls - it never ends.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It may not look like it from the pictures, but we are almost done, I swear. OK, OK, we do still have the floors to install, kitchen cabinets, sink, countertops to pour (we're doing concrete), backsplash, paint...and don't even get me started on the yard...but the bulk of the skim coating is done.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It's been a labor of love and/or hate. To give you a price comparison on skim coating, it would have cost us at least $2500 or so, in labor alone, to skim coat all the walls and ceilings. Eek! We did a huge chunk by ourselves, but our friend Dylan is helping us with the final bits, thankfully.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bPjB5gxhkh8/VL20ZsCbz2I/AAAAAAAAJ0c/pmljLrql28E/s1600/GOPR0229_1421718091058_high.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bPjB5gxhkh8/VL20ZsCbz2I/AAAAAAAAJ0c/pmljLrql28E/s1600/GOPR0229_1421718091058_high.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Using power tools to mix compound to the right consistency!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The picture below shows the wall next to the window frame. The farthest right (closest to the wood) is what the walls looked like with one layer of joint compound on them. A little over to the left is with two coats, and the furthest to the left is with three coats and a light sanding. After that, you wipe down/vacuum the walls, primer, caulk the corners and anywhere the walls meet, and then finally, paint.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLN4ZJus6glLbcvj3kf9Gh1yjkvx2RNOSmNBByHnj3swv5Dq4X1A6GjHpAebtrkWjzHLzEsQXE5xBLH3c3mRZ1ESPRzvX37b1IOOSwNdjKOLYgoh1vHof7p6Yvx6faj5g5JSoMBkUNuUw/s1600/20150126_120311.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLN4ZJus6glLbcvj3kf9Gh1yjkvx2RNOSmNBByHnj3swv5Dq4X1A6GjHpAebtrkWjzHLzEsQXE5xBLH3c3mRZ1ESPRzvX37b1IOOSwNdjKOLYgoh1vHof7p6Yvx6faj5g5JSoMBkUNuUw/s1600/20150126_120311.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A section of wall that shows how much work we've done.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our beautiful, smooth, flat, white walls, ready for paint colors...</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Our other giant project, which we've needed professional help on, is the master bathroom. We spend tons of time hovering and asking questions from the tile guy, plumber, dry wall guys, and the general contractor, to learn as much as we can (so hopefully we can do this ourselves in the future).</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7V1nLm69SXk/VL20DpGdAzI/AAAAAAAAJz8/Ea5AAlU7XhM/s1600/GOPR0177_1421718367582_high.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7V1nLm69SXk/VL20DpGdAzI/AAAAAAAAJz8/Ea5AAlU7XhM/s1600/GOPR0177_1421718367582_high.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The bathroom framed out.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Mike can hang dry wall, move a few electrical switches, and put in insulation, etc, but it's nice to have guidance on the other things, like framing (and things you have to be licensed for). This is also a great way to learn how much things cost, and how much actual labor goes into each step. Spoiler alert: it's a lot. Pay those guys.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The master bath with some of the insulation and drywall/tileboard up.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4UXGkOTRZ1ZQEjxSqHn3gUFFYBo6ij6b96nbYD1AQjeDiAAIRlauVQTQAUUuZ0JeS14Rl5FLXEa4zLyDMu1silUJX_DvD9bq1eQdDndFoZ5E3e3qwjJm9H_escKsYUkqEDE0sNXN0_1Q/s1600/IMG_5074.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4UXGkOTRZ1ZQEjxSqHn3gUFFYBo6ij6b96nbYD1AQjeDiAAIRlauVQTQAUUuZ0JeS14Rl5FLXEa4zLyDMu1silUJX_DvD9bq1eQdDndFoZ5E3e3qwjJm9H_escKsYUkqEDE0sNXN0_1Q/s1600/IMG_5074.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The tile guy, Adin, graciously let me lay the first tile!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Tiling the bathroom was super exciting, because we could finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. Once some of the tiles were laid, we were able to envision how gorgeous our brand new bathroom would be! Adin, who owns Artisan Tile and Stone, was our super cool tile guy who was nice enough to tell us what he was doing, every step of the way, so we could do it for ourselves in the kitchen.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguR2Ug9E1hUiZkCJ_ttIX1JhouFEndLJHCqDlN9JD4-xzeOZaR0Nu8d4DOhRQE7foW1Kjhw8ZjQkIgWt8ifdkS5rEkumWFpOurLmFmz-xvHru367mDNKHH2EUh7k_CRQOm2psj5D9wW_o/s1600/IMG_5084.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguR2Ug9E1hUiZkCJ_ttIX1JhouFEndLJHCqDlN9JD4-xzeOZaR0Nu8d4DOhRQE7foW1Kjhw8ZjQkIgWt8ifdkS5rEkumWFpOurLmFmz-xvHru367mDNKHH2EUh7k_CRQOm2psj5D9wW_o/s1600/IMG_5084.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The shower with most of the tile in.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ-e0Nwx4zMuWPk99lKeV6RAGmnwvhzefKHSx0UZt2jZnfLheoxxwEsU1jFRuKyKYx4B_HdCJhp5GpoynkUFA2JIjVXSxvrOCaPMuYgOVp92pernpOWtafQSrhhnXStr4W5edrK9MlZyE/s1600/IMG_5088.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ-e0Nwx4zMuWPk99lKeV6RAGmnwvhzefKHSx0UZt2jZnfLheoxxwEsU1jFRuKyKYx4B_HdCJhp5GpoynkUFA2JIjVXSxvrOCaPMuYgOVp92pernpOWtafQSrhhnXStr4W5edrK9MlZyE/s1600/IMG_5088.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The shower shelf/cubby for shampoo and what not.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I picked that awesome hexagon tile above, because my current fascination is bees! I have been following @girlnextdoorhoney on Instagram, and I just love her feed. Anyways the shower cubby is my new favorite thing in the house, because it looks like a little beehive. The soap cubby and the shower floor will have the same tiles - 2" white hexagons. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Here's a remodeling tip: the two most important rooms in which to invest your remodel money, are the bathroom and the kitchen. This hexagon tile was the most expensive thing we've used so far, at about $7/sq ft (which, if you've researched tiles, is still pretty dang cheap). Try to use your "expensive" stuff in a small visible space, so it "pops" and makes the whole room look expensive. With the bathroom floor, walls, and shower all in the gray tile, the shower floor, the cubbies and our little vertical accent strip of white hexagons will really stand out!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Aside from skim coating (which I got lots of compliments on - yay, add it to my resume), I am also very good at putting together IKEA furniture. So, I tackled this project:</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVXpAGgivvP5ms-INgxCEMJomYqqf5ifpFgQUvSS47t8jbkk1XsVe9gl0lR7nJ5R7wXjxUdAqV5Ut1B9fiW3Q_oVb-NreZ-1J63SfsBls7vS-nc4eOjv2JRh29gvfZeV2XUb4vWk8Rojg/s1600/20150127_150418.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVXpAGgivvP5ms-INgxCEMJomYqqf5ifpFgQUvSS47t8jbkk1XsVe9gl0lR7nJ5R7wXjxUdAqV5Ut1B9fiW3Q_oVb-NreZ-1J63SfsBls7vS-nc4eOjv2JRh29gvfZeV2XUb4vWk8Rojg/s1600/20150127_150418.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">IKEA furniture - gives you a sense of accomplishment once you're done!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">...which will eventually be our bathroom vanity. I like to use IKEA for a few things here and there - mix it in with your regular stuff and it's an affordable way to upgrade your look.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And now, we interrupt our remodel to go on vacation! We are sooo excited to share this vacation with you, so check back next week for a sneak peek!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Can you guess where we're headed?</td></tr>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7929524282182460765.post-20316683671091367692015-01-15T12:11:00.002-08:002015-01-15T12:11:08.003-08:00Bare Bones<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">For the last week, we've been demolishing the house for the remodel. It started off innocently, like, "let's paint the cabinets and redo the floors," and turned into a full out gut down to the frame. This is the point when someone would say that perhaps we've bit off more than we could chew. Thankfully, two good friends, Ray and Josh, flew in from LA to help us out.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Together, the four of us got SO much done! With lots of coffee and loud music, we tore that house apart.</span>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeE6EEl1nN2AI-uQibcvNceDwlVd-EVMInfOpnOZvdnF3WMyV224cpmhKpTEacAh-LdaKzmNcjgRL3qSxdcAdEsY0irHghuRw0o6Rz_rJEqWvmd2p4jYzwF8Hc-59zUueD-WvM5WftR9I/s1600/20150108_162020.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeE6EEl1nN2AI-uQibcvNceDwlVd-EVMInfOpnOZvdnF3WMyV224cpmhKpTEacAh-LdaKzmNcjgRL3qSxdcAdEsY0irHghuRw0o6Rz_rJEqWvmd2p4jYzwF8Hc-59zUueD-WvM5WftR9I/s1600/20150108_162020.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">this used to be the utility closet and master bathroom.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVqsK2k9gNlMzP6S0iGWu3nOBu8ZKDNQPFlV2_sA3VYeVu8L_65gtCBZQOM8wOZfdKMN8m-vbVdW7AmSuKaQG0A7pqJoiab2yM805NRkhtYqg11dxIl9gqqvQ69zTaDCPqbV-EU5II5gU/s1600/GOPR0146_1421118423654_high.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVqsK2k9gNlMzP6S0iGWu3nOBu8ZKDNQPFlV2_sA3VYeVu8L_65gtCBZQOM8wOZfdKMN8m-vbVdW7AmSuKaQG0A7pqJoiab2yM805NRkhtYqg11dxIl9gqqvQ69zTaDCPqbV-EU5II5gU/s1600/GOPR0146_1421118423654_high.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me (in the coveralls on the left) and Ray tackling the nasty textured walls.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Anb3wxjjvfY/VLSPg_hXarI/AAAAAAAAJww/nCdA5OvORoo/s1600/GOPR0143_1421118433909_high.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Anb3wxjjvfY/VLSPg_hXarI/AAAAAAAAJww/nCdA5OvORoo/s1600/GOPR0143_1421118433909_high.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The dining area and living room area, in the middle of demolition.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">After removing the first layer of kitchen linoleum, we found another layer of linoleum, and under that...a layer of particle board, and then the sub floor. We (and by "we," I mean Mike and Josh) had to use a crowbar and rubber mallet to pry off the upper layer, piece by tiny piece. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Q9aS5syDjQ0/VLIUfw5YYCI/AAAAAAAAJwE/ErVIcg1X3Kg/s1600/20150110_165637.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Q9aS5syDjQ0/VLIUfw5YYCI/AAAAAAAAJwE/ErVIcg1X3Kg/s1600/20150110_165637.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Linoleum was glued on top of linoleum, on top of floor, on top of subfloor.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We took off the kitchen backsplash to find black mold behind it. Ewww! So we had to remove the cabinets to figure out how bad it was, and remove some of the drywall. During the cabinet removal, I was SO relieved to have Josh and Ray there to do the heavy lifting. I imagine if it was just Mike and I, we'd have some injuries, and there'd be quite a bit of yelling.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The black mold behind the kitchen sink. Eeek!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">But it wasn't all work! We got in a couple days of play, too. It was so fun to show our friends a little bit of Bend.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">hot waxing their snowboards...</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qYnPWjRJL3M/VLSPalB5yvI/AAAAAAAAJwo/Fxpwg1dzDUU/s1600/GOPR0127_1421119068587_high.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qYnPWjRJL3M/VLSPalB5yvI/AAAAAAAAJwo/Fxpwg1dzDUU/s1600/GOPR0127_1421119068587_high.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A view from the top of Mt Bachelor.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I joined the guys on their last day in town to go snowboarding. It was only my second time on a snowboard, but we took one of the big kids' lifts! I managed to stay upright most of the day, and definitely realized how fun it could be...once I master turning and carving. Hopefully by the end of the season, I'll have it down.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEFl11b5XRtODTakuSlz7OfnGuRE8MFzgZQNyuYJGR4xlbBXrIcskG4B-UUKyHayJRBm41K0jy5pRVQvVKoLHxcz7qrjxC4BxOEtl3GWc-3OR_0IZ0EyOPss46CDM2O2tHj_GMUps84-A/s1600/GOPR0156_1421118621695_high.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEFl11b5XRtODTakuSlz7OfnGuRE8MFzgZQNyuYJGR4xlbBXrIcskG4B-UUKyHayJRBm41K0jy5pRVQvVKoLHxcz7qrjxC4BxOEtl3GWc-3OR_0IZ0EyOPss46CDM2O2tHj_GMUps84-A/s1600/GOPR0156_1421118621695_high.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I love this pic, because I look like I know what I'm doing!</td></tr>
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<br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Now that the demolition is finished, we're building the house back up, piece by piece. This involves framing out our new utility closet and master bathroom, redoing the plumbing (since we moved things around a bit), and shellac-ing the floors to seal out all those decades of renter pet and child yuckiness.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mike demonstrating where our new toilet will go!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A peek into our future master bedroom.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It's really cool to see the house completely empty and white - it's like a giant blank slate. I spent 30 minutes just standing in my future office and daydreaming. Sure, it could be the fumes from the shellac, but I think we're going to love our new space!</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7929524282182460765.post-26617492869119065272015-01-04T20:24:00.000-08:002015-01-04T20:24:58.713-08:00New Year, New House!<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Mike and I have been living in Bend, on and off while traveling, for 8 months now, and we know that this will be our home for the forseeable future. So, we bought a house! It is a great way to set the tone for this year, since it's a fixer upper.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Houses are much, much less expensive here in Bend than they are in Los Angeles. You can buy a home - like an actual house, with a yard - within the city limits for somewhere between $150K-$300K on the low end. It's close to the downtown area and there's lots of couples like us, families with dogs, and tons of Subarus. It was also the smallest home we could find; there seems to be a trend of huge homes here, like 2000 square feet and up! We wanted one the same size as our loft in Los Angeles - 900 square feet or less. We had to settle on this one, at 1200 square feet. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicfY9XiMkiH6g8X4OXUAXhTR8_Iu-cjhLq1iTt8AHf0vMJ56B4QnUFXZ1etJhwbDiRO04E-yN2Itol0RE0Z-CKVvyfosOmHdUnngIGKJ8fX8Qn3Ien_zbg-NiP0PWmdUstNPXuzrDTWQM/s1600/20150103_162138.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicfY9XiMkiH6g8X4OXUAXhTR8_Iu-cjhLq1iTt8AHf0vMJ56B4QnUFXZ1etJhwbDiRO04E-yN2Itol0RE0Z-CKVvyfosOmHdUnngIGKJ8fX8Qn3Ien_zbg-NiP0PWmdUstNPXuzrDTWQM/s1600/20150103_162138.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mike about to walk in to our new home!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I like small homes for the intimacy, and the fact that it keeps us from accumulating a bunch of junk. Also, they're more environmentally friendly because they take less to heat/cool and less to maintain. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My favorite part about this house is that it has a yard and an apple tree! It's pretty gross right now because the former occupants used the yard as a dog run. But we'll get it cleaned up this spring/summer and post some pics. I can't wait to grow our own food.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The house was a rental for 20+ years and as you can imagine, it is used and abused. And it smells like dog pee. The first day after escrow closed, we went and bought floor sealant - we're ripping out all the wall-to-wall carpet and shellac-ing the floors, then putting in dark wood.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mike standing in the stinky living room.</td></tr>
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<br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, so plenty of room for our guests and family. And like all homes I've lived in my whole life, it has vaulted ceilings, which I just love.</span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The house was built in the early 90s and I'm pretty sure not a thing has been changed since then. In fact, during escrow, the furnace finally died and the seller had to replace it. Lucky break for us!</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The totally 90s kitchen with the original appliances.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Since I love to cook, I'll be installing a gas stove in the kitchen, among other things. And we'll be redoing the whole kitchen ourselves. I'll be sure to post about our successes and failures/learning experiences along the way, of which I imagine there will be many...I've never done a single remodel or construction project in my life, other than painting a wall. Thankfully, there's always Mike and Google.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Getting down and dirty, pulling off the baseboards.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The very first night, we were so excited, we started pulling off all the baseboards. I'm obsessed with getting rid of the floors (and the smell) ASAP. Luckily, we don't have to live here while we're renovating, assuming we can get it done in the next 7 weeks...HA.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">One of my first projects today was to get rid of the disgusting texture on the walls. Seriously, who takes a perfectly good wall and then ruins it with texture?! It boggles my mind. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WQonxJntK7E/VKjLPPqC5WI/AAAAAAAAJmk/bpdsiN24OFU/s1600/20150103_171005.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WQonxJntK7E/VKjLPPqC5WI/AAAAAAAAJmk/bpdsiN24OFU/s1600/20150103_171005.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is known as "<a href="http://drywall101.com/articles/texturegroups/splatknock.php" target="_blank">splatter knockdown</a>," and it is horrid.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So you have 3 choices with textured walls - remove the wall and get new drywall, live with it, or go through the awful, time consuming and labor intensive process of covering it up. We're going with option #3, after hours of watching YouTube videos like <a href="http://sawdustgirl.com/2013/04/26/how-to-get-rid-of-ugly-wall-texture-skim-coating/" target="_blank">this</a><span id="goog_157623266"></span><span id="goog_157623267"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a> and <a href="http://www.diynetwork.com/how-to/how-to-remove-texture-from-the-wall/index.html" target="_blank">this</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Those videos weren't kidding because the process sucks. You're basically filling in the dents with plaster. This is the wall after 1 coat of joint compound. 2-3 more coats to go, then sanding...</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT5vS88Rh_lZNefZUizRlQgOToGjF38sBEIIu4ham1yE5nZhiK8IXVaG859z2vQrmJ6fVdGXMByYRwOgOo__0VHf1oKAPhx34YcKQ6o-UBFottLi-YfwBTxsbgY-uyW3VfozBtgkThe3w/s1600/20150104_133541.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT5vS88Rh_lZNefZUizRlQgOToGjF38sBEIIu4ham1yE5nZhiK8IXVaG859z2vQrmJ6fVdGXMByYRwOgOo__0VHf1oKAPhx34YcKQ6o-UBFottLi-YfwBTxsbgY-uyW3VfozBtgkThe3w/s1600/20150104_133541.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Honestly, this is much improved. I have hopes for the next 2 coats!</td></tr>
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<br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">There are lots of things that Mike and I do together, that could be considered really good relationship training. Obviously, there's travel and road trips, which will for sure test your communication and patience. And then there's remodeling. It's a whole other beast. We're learning that it's best if he works on one job, and I work on another. Then you can encourage each other and compliment a job well done...allowing each individual to get that job done however they want (and without supervising). In other words, just let a person do the damn thing. It's all the same at the end. That's my relationship advice, anyway.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So while I was finessing the textured walls, Mike was making a bunch of noise, blasting his music, and using his tools in the most manly way possible. Before and after shots of our master bath:</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qRM9jEXsnOE/VKoJnAiUagI/AAAAAAAAJpc/PfOANrTh20s/s1600/20150104_194109.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qRM9jEXsnOE/VKoJnAiUagI/AAAAAAAAJpc/PfOANrTh20s/s1600/20150104_194109.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Removed the dated vanity, toilet, and all the fixtures.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We're completely gutting the bathroom. Yes, this is a very ambitious undertaking for two people with very little renovation experience. What can I say, we love learning new things!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Mike knocked down the wall in the bathroom to reclaim this weird, underused back space in the utility closet. That new space will be a larger, rectangular walk-in shower that extends to the vanity. The former shower space will be the toilet alcove.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9fk-lnkLDs0/VKoJgt4gPSI/AAAAAAAAJpU/dxo4hZsN5JI/s1600/20150104_194638.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9fk-lnkLDs0/VKoJgt4gPSI/AAAAAAAAJpU/dxo4hZsN5JI/s1600/20150104_194638.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">got a little shot of his hair in the "after" photo, whoops!</td></tr>
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<br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Not a bad day's work! Now we just need to find a plumber...</span><div>
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