Valentine's day and House Guest

What is Valentine's day with Doug without more frozen flowers!?

Last year Doug surprised me with roses put on my car, and they froze. This year he left the rose in the garage so I wouldn't see it, and it froze.

Also a nice card, m & m's and chocolate covered strawberries.

Doug had a couple surprise places for me, the first this awesome new mediterranean place.

this is an 'I have food in my mouth' smile

We got these $5 humongous chicken shwarma pitas stuffed with veggies, hummus, tahini, and a side of the strongest garlic paste, yum! but my eyes were watering! We ate lunch at 1pm, and were full until 8pm!

Then we went to the new aquarium

It was in one of the local malls and we saw a booth where you can make your own cd, we didn't do it, but had fun taking this pic of rocker Doug. He's was probably belting it out again about food.

Help me please! I want to be free in the sea!!

I don't know how I feel about aquariums, pretty much like I'm sure they'd rather have a free, fulfilling life in the ocean, even if safety not guaranteed versus endless laps in a small pool and people 'petting' them day after day.

Alas.

And then we went out for a late dinner at a delicious Thai place. Mmmmm.

Oh my gosh I wish I could make this.

I did make this for Doug the night before Valentine's

I think he's happier I can make a homemade pizza rather than the delicious curry. He kept saying I can't believe you made this for me :)

Also this weekend we had a house guest

This little Romeo

In typical Becks fashion he was more concentrated on the possibility of dropped food versus any awareness at all of his surroundings. The first night we kept watching September stalk him, it was like, have some care for your own life Becks!!

September was always more curious, she kept approaching him

And eventually they would snuggle on separate sides of us

Good food, library movies, it was a really nice relaxing weekend.

fuds

the microwave decision is still unmade, and hence remains on the counter taking up 1/2 the space. Hopefully we will decide something soon.

Recent eats. I made refried beans in the crockpot the other day. They were really good. Easy recipe.

Topped with sauteed onions, green pepper, cheese and salsa for me, and just cheese for Doug. Bake until cheese is bubbly, and easy, delicious tostadas

I also made another batch of favorite vegan blog girl's Walnut Lentil Loaf. It has onions and walnuts, and yet Doug eats it and likes it! Score!

This thing takes some time to make, but it is good. This time I made the lentils in my rice cooker and when I was done chopping and sauteeing the veggies, they were ready to add.

It doesn't look great, but bakes into a very tasty loaf

you make a sauce from ketchup, applesauce, maple syrup and balsamic vinegar

It does take awhile, but it makes a big loaf and could be enough for 2 people to have 2-3 dinners. After dinner I wanted Doug to have a blindfolded taste test to see if he could tell the Aldi store break and bake cookies from my delicious ones.

First he guessed the store one was mine, and later when I asked him which was my favorite, he picked my cookie. I mean come on, this:

is no store cookie!

In other news, I went up to my parents house the other day and mom and I cleaned my wedding gown. The bustle had come undone and dragged all over the dirty concrete floor all night and I thought it was hopeless. But it came out! So now I can see if anyone on CraigsList wants it. It's so pretty, I wish I could wear it again somewhere!

In annoying cat news this has been happening:

She loves to play in the garage for some reason. These thousands of little paw prints made me laugh.

But this doesn't make me laugh. That plant was there for months and all the sudden she started dipping her paw in the dirt and scooping it out to put on the windowsill. So annoying. And biting big leaf petals off. WHY!?! I have another plant in the kitchen I am rooting, and it's been there, a stem in a big vase of water, again for a month or so, and now all the sudden September is using it for another drink bowl. So finally I wised up and put a piece of saran wrap over that so she can't drink out of it. I may have to try the saran wrap trick with my plant too, at least to get her to keep away from the dirt, but she'll still be able to get at the leaves. I got some cat training books at the library today, maybe she can get under control!

This weekend she is going to have Mr. Becks come visit while his mom is away. I'm hoping they will be best friends! But we trimmed September's nails just in case.... we'll see!

home edition - microwave dilemma

So the microwave we ordered in January came yesterday

Oh man, this thing is anything but 'micro'

Our stove didn't have a vent fan and so we wanted to get something to get rid of smells and stuff. But now I'm wondering if it's such a big deal. In the summer we can open a window, and now that it's been all closed up in here, I haven't even noticed it being such a problem. We researched a lot between vents and microwaves w/ a vent, and felt like the microwave was a good option. Then we could free up a bit of counter space from where our old microwave was, and the new microwave has a strong built in charcoal filter vent fan to filter out cooking smells. If the filter option didn't work, we could always vent it out the roof later. But the Lowe's guy said he had the same one and he loved it and didn't need to vent it out.

But I don't know, it's so monstrous. Here is the space it's supposed to go in

And today I taped up lines where the microwave options will go.

So the slightly smaller blue square would be for if we built a little U shaped cabinet to "build in" our smaller countertop microwave. There would still be extra space around it according to the manufacturer installation guide. And the bigger square would be for installing the new microwave.

Hmm, I just don't know. Part of me thinks that huge monstrosity would dwarf our little kitchen. But I don't know, maybe we'd just get used to it. And would appreciate the vent fan on more odorous dinner nights.

It's so hard to even lift it into place to imagine it, I can barely help Doug helf it up there. Maybe it's time for a good ol pros and cons list to make the decision.

catching up

We've been busy with lots of little things

This was the original wood thing above the kitchen sink, with a light box but no fixture. The popular facebook vote was that it should come down.

So it did

After many a trip to Lowe's, we decided on this simple pendant light

Doug wanted that old timey Edison bulb, but when it dies I want to replace it with just a white bulb. It does cast a sort of amber light in there. We didn't really *need* the light, the kitchen is actually pretty well lite, especially during the day from that window. But I like it.

Doug and I have a list going with one kind of bigger project per month. Last month was to replace our countertop microwave with an above-the-stove built in vent one. (we are still waiting on delivery). For this month we did the kitchen sink light and the bigger 'home project' (very loosely deemed) was home security, in the form of a shotgun.

So Saturday off we went to Cabela's an hour and a half from here to get the gun Doug had been researching. The best part of the trip was lunch at some Michigan Lakes Bar and Grill

I had this delicious grilled cheese burger on chipotle swirl bread with a side of fried pickles. A heart attack never tasted so good! And outside Cabelas was a food truck selling fresh made apple cider donuts. Yum.

Anyway, now Doug and I are packing.

I never wanted to have a gun in my home. But I figure a shotgun would be harder for little hands to pick up and actually shoot someone, and we still have time to research safes and stuff like that. It does have a lock too.

The other home project for February was getting our piano tuned. My parent's neighbor gave me his wife's old piano, and I am excited to have one in the house to play. I think it would be fun to take some lessons again. We'll see. This piano tuner was pretty cool, within minutes it was obvious he was a Christian. He sat right down at our piano and bursts into singing a hymn. I left to go to Jill's shortly after he came but Doug said every couple notes of tuning he would burst into song again. He also gives this timeline of kings and prophets in the Bible up until Jesus's birth. Pretty cool way to share his faith.

That afternoon I went up with Jill to her mom's house for a bonfire. I thought I had tossed all my old Andrew stuff last month when I was sorting, but I forgot I had a box of old letters and such I had left at Jill's for that very purpose- to burn it! Next time. We had a good time burning her stuff, drinking wine, and eating s'mores. On the way home we saw a rabbit run out in front of us, and then heard something under the car. Jill (nor I really) wanted to go back and look at it so we called her mom to go on a mercy killing trip. Later we called her mom again to check up and she said there was no bunny there! The next day Doug was joking the bunny was in rehab and he did an impression of the bunny doing alternating leg lifts and pausing for a bite of carrot. I hope that's what really happened! Sad :(

I bought this hair thing at the dollar tree. I really like my hair when it is those loose curls but its hard to get it to look like that without twirling it around my finger for hours, I hoped this would be the magic solution

It was working! But then it all went away with the swipe of a brush. Alas.

And of course there's always eating going on around here

I made this avocado/banana chocolate pudding

It was good

We shared this delicious fried banana split at the place where I won the free tacos. It had chunks of mango and a strawberry-kiwi salsa, it was good. I feel like winning this free taco thing was a bad thing. Every time we go we eat huge baskets of delicious chips and salsa, and then one person gets the free tacos and one has to buy a meal. So you think you're getting a great deal, but I didn't used to buy dinner every week- so already it makes you spend more money. It is good food though. Lately Liz and I split up our coupons so that they can both go a week, then she gave me a coupon so we can both go a week, and both couples eat free (plus tip of course!). But cheaper, and less overall eating chips, score!

I made a stirfry

and tried my hand at fried bananas, mmmm

spending our evenings with September

Last night we went to Doug's aunt's 60th birthday party. It was in a restaurant so we thought we'd just get getting our own meal, no big deal. But they had appetizers passed around, and a choice of 3 dinners, delicious bread and salad, and birthday cake. And then they had a magician! It was really fun. Such a nice treat. And that's been about it!

Anne, R.N.

Today I was all prepared to blog about the nursing job that I got. But I very wasn't excited about it. It had been my last choice of my 3 interviews, but they were the only offer I had, and I was starting to wrap my head around working midnights. Except, this morning I got a phone call the that job I really wanted - wanted me!

I felt really bad making that phone call to tell them, in essence, 'nevermind'. I hadn't started the new job yet, but I did go in yesterday for the pre-employment physical. And I had emailed the manager that I was excited to be part of the team. And honestly I was getting a little excited about it.

But I am more excited to work during the day and to be working for such a great hospital. They say new nurses always get stuck with midnight shift, but that it's good for them too because there is a little more time to spend with your patients and get a handle on what is going on with them. The day can be very busy with tests, meals, families, etc. I just really hope I can do my best and take great care of people. I had originally prayed that I would get just 1 offer so it would be clear, but then I was upset it wasn't the offer I wanted. And just yesterday I had accepted that God had opened the door for me, and decided to make the most of it. And then today, the second offer. So I don't know what to make of it. But Doug and I decided that I wanted day shift eventually, and I wanted that hospital eventually anyway, so if I was being given the option of now vs. eventually - I should take it now. So I did.

There is still a full month before I start orientation though. It would probably be a good idea for me to go over my books some, as now it will be 5 months since I got done with school!

I saw one of those things on facebook the other day about the best career for your Meyers-Briggs personality type

It's a match! I really hope I can be a great nurse.

snow day

Who thinks of these little snow sayings? Last year was Snomageddon, this year Snow-my-gosh. Haha, this made me laugh

Luckily all I had to do was go to the doctor this morning, and they called me to say they weren't even going to try to attempt to make it in, so I got to stay in too. Well then I spent 45 minutes shoveling the driveway, ahhh, homeownership.

September was unfazed

What, 3rd highest snowfall in Detroit history? That ain't no thing, I got fur!

marriages need Jesus

We have several people we know right now going through absolutely the lowest lows of marriage, and our hearts are breaking for them. It feels really helpless to just sit there and watch people singlehandedly destroying their life and their spouse and family. I know God is the only one that can bring true change and redemption of these marriages. Oh how I hope these people will open their eyes to Him. We have been praying and I sent one friend some Bible verses that really helped me when I felt alone, scared, and so unsure about the future.

Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. Psalm 23:4

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. Isaiah 43:2

When my spirit grows faint within me, it is you who watch over my way. Psalm 142:3a

The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. Deuteronomy 33:27a

I love the Lord, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live. Psalm 116:1-2

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Phillipians 4:6-7

Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him. Psalm 34:8

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:2-4

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10