Almost Merry Christmas!

Are you ready for Christmas??

I am!

This is the first Christmas in years that I've been this excited.

Why so excited?  I got Jack an aweeeesome gift (that I'll share after the Big Day).  Plus, we had loads of film developed (from Disneyland and our wedding) that we are waiting to look at.

I admit, I did take a little peek at the Disneyland pictures.  Just one picture.  And it was amazing.  I used my relatively new Holga camera with 120 film. 

Since I'm a newbie, I haven't taken any pictures with the camera since Disneyland, because I didn't know how they would turn out.  And, the one I saw?  INCREDIBLE!  If the rest are like that one, I will be toting that cheap little Holga camera every.where. 

Jack and I have made our plans for the coming year.  I love me a good new year.

Here are some images to give you a little taste of our 2014 plans... can you guess what they are?

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The spelling nerd in me cringes at this poster, but the idea behind it -- lose the fear -- is one I need.

 

 

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 (no, this is not an announcement)

 

 

 If I don't have a chance to blog before, Merry Christmas to you and have a very happy New Year's!!!

cozy

Happy Thanksgiving...a little late.  We had a marvelous time in Vegas with family (though we missed Darrell and Angie).  A whole week of play, play, play.  My goal this year was to take pictures, specifically of humans.  Whenever I'm in Vegas, I'm having too much fun to remember my camera.  I was better at taking pictures this year.  Not great, but better.  I'll share those soon.

We had a big snowstorm here right after we got back.  It is COLD here.  Our animals are pretty snuggly because of it.  One in particular...  :)  Tuna and I have had a rocky relationship, but I will always welcome kitty snuggles.  She's been so lovey lately that she even brought us a gift.  Dead bird.  Poor bird.

Christmas is coming!  Jack and I had a little too much fun for Black Friday, so I don't know if we'll be getting gifts for each other (besides all the random stuff we already bought...mixing bowls, a griddle...oh yeah, we know how to have a good time).

Christmas lights on, music playing, snuggly cat...it is one cozy night.

Back up and running!

Jack and I broke down and bought a computer that will ACTUALLY handle my pictures.  HURRAH!!!  I'm back up and running.

So, here are a few pictures from my thirtieth birthday.  We went to Caspar Beach near Fort Bragg and it was GLORIOUS.  The best birthday ever.  Seriously.  We read, explored the beach, popped popcorn, built giant fires, played games, and just spent time enjoying each other and our beautiful surroundings.  I may request to go there every year.  Simply wonderful.

This is literally just a taste.  I took a billion pictures... and I will likely share more soon.  Because I can.  :)

I want to be there right now.  Like, RIGHT NOW.  *sigh*  The ocean!

Mayo Clinic Diet

Yes, yes, I am putting myself on a diet.  But I don't really view it as a "diet" since those always seem faddish.  (Hello Paleo?! Atkins?!  etc.)  It really is about eating healthy and making good choices.

I was recently told I have hypothyroidism.  That, in combination with the weight, is the reason I can't get pregnant right now.  I'm not necessarily READY to start a family, but I'd like to be able to have the option.  So, change must occur.

This is the book and I would recommend it:




http://www.amazon.com/The-Mayo-Clinic-Diet-weight/dp/1561487775/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1378694468&sr=8-1&keywords=mayo+clinic+diet


The first two weeks you focus on 5 good habits, 5 bad habits to change, and 5 additional habits.  After that, you just start eating to the food pyramid (and watch calorie intake and portion sizes) and continue exercise.

The 5 good habits:

1. Eat a healthy breakfast
2. Eat vegetables (4+ servings) and fruits (3+ servings)
3. Eat whole grains
4. Eat healthy fats
5. Move for 30 min.

The 5 bad habits to lose:

1. No TV while eating
2. No sugar (except fruits)
3. No snacks except fruits and veggies
4. Moderate meat and low-fat dairy
5. No restaurants (unless you follow the plan)

And the 5 additional good habits:

1. Keep a food journal
2. Keep an exercise journal
3. Move more (60 min.)
4. Eat "real" food
5. Make daily goals

I tried it last year right before Thanksgiving and couldn't get back to the gym after the "big day" so I fell off.  I was VERY strict in following it last time, and I did see the weight come off.  Almost 10 pounds in 4 weeks.

I'm not AS strict this time.  I've only got 30 minutes to spend at the gym a day, so I try to fit in some other things at home.  (Cleaning counts!)  I'm not seeking out sugar, but I'm not avoiding it either.  (For instance, I will eat the applesauce that is "natural" but still has sugar.)  I've been more flexible with my veggie and fruit intake as well.  No carrots so far, and that is a good thing!  They KILL my stomach.

I am drinking A LOT more water, which helps quite a bit.  I haven't felt deprived at all.  Okay, only once when I really wanted a slice of zucchini bread. Yum.  

I wanted to share a recipe I love, which, coincidentally, is completely against this diet.  But I'll eat it anyway, with a large salad. :)

Crescent Chicken Bundles... SO EASY to make!

http://megduerksen.typepad.com/whatever/2009/12/cresent-chicken.html?cid=6a00d8341c469c53ef0120a72ddf6d970b#comment-6a00d8341c469c53ef0120a72ddf6d970b

Home

View of my little valley from the mountain by my house

I went to Vegas this weekend to see off my brother and his family who are moving to India TODAY.  (Crazy.)  As I flew over Reno, I could pick out the park and homes and places of my happy memories.

And now, after 10 years in this northern Nevada valley, it finally feels like home.

P.S. Still no working computer in the house, so posting will continue to be sporadic.  BUT, with my recent decision to quit facebook, I think there will be more blog posts soon.

I will not give up...

We have no "real" working computer in our household right now.  Jack has a laptop, but it's terrible and all my pictures are on the big computer that is broken.  :( 

I still take pictures and I still alive and I still want to blog and I still create blog posts in my head.  And, gosh, isn't this supposed to turn into the camping in Nevada blog hotspot?  hahaha... yeah, right.

It's summertime!  Lots of updates...

• Jack became a massage therapist again and is absolutely loving it!
• Our garden is pretty much almost fully planted.  (Last weekend I went a little overboard on tomato plants that are MUCH bigger than my tiny seeds.)
• I turned 30!!  30.  I freaked out.  But it was the loveliest birthday spent camping on the coast.
• My dogs... are... well.. *sigh*  They almost ate our neighbor's dog (that came into our yard).  That was huge drama.  But Jack solved the problem, and hopefully our neighbor will make sure his dog stays out of our yard.
• We've had many trips to Vegas!  Lots going on in the Crowther and Laub families!
• I'm finally getting some health help, which is pretty exciting to me.
• IT'S SUMMERTIME!  Time for lakes and the cabin and more coast camping and smores and warm nights.... I just love summer.

 Right now I'm staying late at work waiting until Jack can pick me up.  It's almost time to go home, which is very exciting to me.  I like home.

Peace out.

Bloglovin..

Google reader is going away and it's sad!!  How am I supposed to keep up with my blogs?  (Can we say first world problem?)

I found something that will hopefully work instead.  It's called bloglovin.  And I have to post this in order to "claim my blog". Whatever.  

Hopefully it will work!

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

House Renovation - Guest Bedroom

The massage room has turned into the guest room by request.  Probably because it's so relaxing.  ;)  (I think, really, it's just because it is dark.)

This room became a dumping ground during the demolition... as you can see.

Jack worked really hard to clean out this room, remove the old flooring, and lay down the new stuff... all while I was at work.  This was the first room to get the new flooring and we LOVE it!  It's rich and colorful and pretty!  But it was a lot of work to put in.  

 This was also the first room we put in baseboard and we really like it, too! 

While this room needs some cleaning and clearing out, I bought new curtains, anyway.  They were only $25 on clearance at World Market and, you guessed it, I like it!  :)  Pretty.

 

This room does need some work.  Cleaning out, as I mentioned.  We need to fix some of the baseboard-- some were cut too short.  BUT, we're sooo close!  YAY!

House Renovation - Piano Room

You may be asking, "Piano Room?"

Piano room.

We had this brilliant (BRILLIANT) idea to put our piano in the front bedroom.  Holy smokes.  That was not a good idea.

And thus that room will forever be the piano room.  If we ever move from this house, the piano is staying.  That, my friends, is truth.

This is TRULY where it started.  Bulge in the wall?  Water.

 

So much water they had to tear out everything.  Everything!  This room was the worst.

Here we go!  New drywall!

Fan back in, walls painted (though you can't tell very well).

And here I am!  Safety is key!

The floor is in in this room.  We need baseboard, door trim, windowsill... this room needs a lot of work still.  BUT it's housing all the stuff we don't know where to put yet. 

So, the "after" or in progress picture will wait.

House Renovation - Hallway and Bathroom

Is this exciting to you?  It's exciting to me.  It means we're making progress.  Slow, very slow.  But progress none-the-less.

The hallway and guest bathroom still need a loooot of work.

 Here's where it aaaallll started.  The mess I came home to when Jack called to say our house was flooding.  All these towels.  Soaked.

Fans and no floor.

Prep work to lay down the floor.  We're getting there!

This was where the dogs were relocated.  hahah.  :)  And behind them you can see all the sawdust tracked throughout the house.

 And here's where the bathroom started.  Walls gone, floors gone, and more fans.

 

This is the first floor we started with... and we were THRILLED.

 

 

 Can you tell how thrilled we are??

 

The toilet and sink are back in and there's not anymore tree branches in the tub.  :)  We have baseboard and door trim to put up and then this room is done!

The hallway needs baseboard and closet doors to go back in.  And then the hall closet needs to be cleaned out again.  It's sad how quickly we become cluttered again.

House Renovation - Kitchen

The kitchen was my worst nightmare.  Is?  Was?  I don't know.  It's still a work in progress.  But, we're getting there.  Most of our food and dishes are out of boxes, which is super nice.

Our Before:

Then they took out our cupboards, which was when our life got complicated.  Gross, huh? (The flooring was taken out, too.)

The walls were painted, which made a huge difference in the gross department.

Then, we had them move our center island and cupboard against this wall to open up the kitchen.  We like the change!

We put the kitchen flooring in and this shows some of the patches on the wall.  

The "after"... kinda.  We added some shelving from Target and we like it a lot.

We still have to finish putting cupboard/drawer pulls on, plus those cupboard doors above the oven.  There are some little things to do on the cupboards, plus baseboard, floor transitions, paint touch ups on the ceiling, etc.  But it's usable, which is awesome.  :)

House Renovation - Living Room

We are not ANYWHERE close to being finished with our house.  But, if anyone was interested, here are lots and lots of "in progress" pictures.  :)

Someday I will share legit after pictures.  With flowers in vases and all the socks picked up.  Promise.

It may be many years from now.

Should I start with the living room?

Yes.

Right after they took out the flooring:

And I found this under the flooring from our 2009 renovations... awww:

 Flooring ripped out... well, partially.  I was making slow progress.

Our "shop" in the livingroom. Everything was covered in sawdust.  It was awesome.

 Aaand then there was this:

Here we go.  Progress we can actually see.

Jason came up for work and ended up helping us in our time of need... we just couldn't put in flooring anymore.

FLOORING IN!  :)

And here's where we stand.  Baseboard. 

We're almost finished with this room actually.  We just need to put in a couple boards, put in some floor transitioners, and move in the rest of the furniture.  Then decorate!  I still have Christmas art hanging up...