officially summer break

FYI... its officially summer break. Hell yeah. Matt and I get our grown-up lives back.... so we went out and bought some cruiser bikes to kick off a summer full of yard-fun (not yardwork... we love it), projects, more nesting plans, cooking, hobbies... its here. I want to relish in every minute of it. And I think I will...and you should too!

Yes... we bought matchy-matchy bikes. It wasn't our plan in the beginning but these were so incredibly within our budget...that we had to get them. Plus they fit our styles... matt with all black- man's style bike and mine the girly white. And the deal is that once we have one of these...

and one of these...

 ...matt has to pull them on his bike. So he better love the way that bike feels.

So our first cruiser ride was to the reel food fish market..where we buy our sushi grade fish. Then we went to the park to throw the frisbee, boy we are out of shape!...then to the co-op to buy some beer, bread, and chocolate- pretty much the basics. And matt had this great idea to stop in at the wine co-op shop to see if they had any wood boxes to sell us... and they did!

This beauty was $6!! I plan on attaching it to my rack, when it comes in. I am going to do a little sanding and put a urethane finish on it and then I have a one-of-a-kind wood bike basket for our summer outings. So more on that project later.

We enjoyed the dogs, the beer, and our yard on this fine spring (summer to us) day.

Matt got tired of me trying to take pictures of us...the super fun extended arm- type of shots. Well turns out its super tricky with a heavy DSLR camera. But I think we will get better at it, whether Matt likes it or not.

{after this shot I said..."okay now...matt...this time smile!"}

{after this shot I said..."matt... put the beer down...and smile!"}

{after seeing this shot...I was laughing hysterically....}

{and while laughing hysterically I wound up with this shot...I'll take it & call it good.}

reminiscing...

Last year on this weekend I had the most fantastic bachelorette weekend in coastal california- shell beach to be exact with my girlfriends. It was a perfect weekend full of wine, great food, laughing, girl talk, some happy tears, sweet gifts, wine tasting with a picnic, pina coladas on the beach, and best of all being with my girlfriends from college-sister included. We are all craving another girls weekend, so this fall we will be doing a shell beach trip again...I can't wait. It's very much needed.

[beer, guac, humus, bread... who could ask for more?! all of us stayed at jamie's house the long weekend]

 [all of my super creative girlfriends wrote a haiku in which I had to guess who wrote it, then I would get a gift from them...we did one gift at each vineyard we went to...yes of course I cried reading their sweet words]

[of course each gift was was lingerie or something just as seductive... so I subjected all of the other wine connoisseurs to the little lacy numbers...and my tears of  utter embarrassment] 

[this beautiful wine country is where we all met and went to college together, these wine tasting trips would be just a normal weekend for us back in the day]

 [my sister made me this adorable flowerchild-esq veil for my head, it was actually just my style, I loved wearing it. I felt so special and loved this weekend]

 [jamie with a wino-dog, who happend to be the cutest thing ever]

[tracy who is currently in new zealand living the life!]

[sara and my little sister, kelsey...both who live in boston working on becoming nurse practitioners]

[all of us at the honeymoon cafe in pismo beach...just adorable coffee shop]

 [andrea-a great friend that I met from semester at sea who lives in San Fran]

[ jessica (of barefoot designs) who took all of these lovely pictures (minus this one of course)]

[the amazing spread of trader joes goodness]

[ a short walk (like 4 house widths) from jamie's house to the beach]

[the beach next to jamie's house where we enjoyed wine and incredible conversation]

wanted: fun chair.

I want a chair to blog in... I think after two blogs...and two years of dedicated blog posting I deserve one right?! These people have some adorable, fun, and inspiring chairs. We don't have much space, which is probably the #1 reason we don't currently own a fun chair. With a small house and three large dog beds with accompanying dogs...the floor space is at a premium.

So it might be the adorable baby in the monthly-photos over on making it lovely, but this eames rocking chair is to do die for. Also who wouldn't want a mini-library?!

...super fun side chair in this totally awesome A-frame house...

...a "rescued chair" from Apartment Therapy. I have to get the library idea out of my head....

...fun red print chair on re-nest.com...

...amy butler print chair AND wood AND modern...amazing... from designsponge.com...

Oh and I haven't posted about our fun & modern light from IKEA in our living room.... so a modern, streamline chair would go wonderfully in there. You get the point... so now I am on the lookout for a cheap vintage chair to welcome into our life.

our living room

Our newest edition...the IKEA light hanging. Behind me, taking the picture is our big brown couch, door to the left is our bedroom, then the front door straight ahead, matt's office/movie room/guest bed is up stairs...small space I tell ya.

...I think the new chair could go right where Colby is so peacefully lying and my dad's beautiful wine rack...somehow...somewhere squeezed in there...right?! please?!

happy mother's day!

Happy Mother's Day...to all you moms out there...and especially to my mom and new mother in law.

...my lovely mom, making all of the beautiful flower arrangments for the wedding and managing to have a smile on her face. My mom has always been there to support my dreams whether its going out to sea, moving to colorado, or marrying the man that I love. Thanks mom...

...my wonderful mother in law pinning the fabric flowers to my wedding dress, that she made for our special day. Thank you for accepting me into your family with open arms. I knew I had found a great family to join that one Easter about three years ago, when I met the whole fam. Thank you...

These are incredible, strong, and loving women in my life. I can only hope to be such an amazing mom one day.

tiny needles...

So... I think I'm going to try acupuncture folks. I am pretty excited about it actually. Back in my teaching days, during my student teaching phase, I was so stressed out by my lead teacher that I had huge TMJ issues. My jaw just would not open. I went to the TMJ specialist...his only option was for surgery- and it sounded like once you screw with that massive joint it will never be the same. So, I opted for acupuncture and deep tissue massage instead to take care of the heart of the issue...my stress levels. I alternated every week between the two. I was a teacher...so I had no medical insurance and relatively no income (ahhhh, teaching days).... but thankfully I was in Boulder, Colorado. They had the most wonderful acupuncture school next to the massage school so my treatments were extremely affordable- and wonderfully relaxing. Within about 2 months I was better than ever, and more importantly I was able to recognize when my body starts to tense up and figure out how to better deal with my stress levels.

Now, here in Idaho, my medical insurance does not cover acupuncture (not too shocking) and those froofy acupuncture treatments are a little pricey (unlike the more-liberal Colorado, where acupuncturists are on every corner)...but I think it could do wonders for me. I found a practitioner (is that the right term?!) who specializes in women's health and fertility. Perfect right?! I will tell you all how it goes this Tuesday, but from her website and information it all sounds great. I think I am a little stressed out. I don't feel stressed but I also have a crazy hectic schedule that probably takes a toll on my body and more specifically my ovaries. And if that wasn't too much information, this will be... I think with my cycles being anywhere from 23-52 days....I need some de-stressing and getting more in-tune with my body. I know I am nowhere near having "fertility problems" but why wait to de-stress my body and get rid of this "dis-harmony"? If I can at least get more regular that would be exciting! I think I need to train my body how to just be, without the synthetic hormones from 8 years of birth control pills.

Here is a little information on fertility and acupuncture from her website that I liked...
•Acupuncture stimulates and influences hormonal activity, thus regulating menstruation, ovulation, and pregnancy. Acupuncture triggers the release of prostaglandins into the bloodstream, which in turn lead to the production of a substance that transmits messages to the hypothalamus.
•A 1996 Swedish study reported that acupuncture increases blood flow to the uterus and ovaries. Decreased blood flow through the uterine artery correlates to lower pregnancy rates and acupuncture’s ability to increase pelvic blood supply dramatically improves the outcome of ART techniques.
•Acupuncture helps to reduce stress and decrease the hypersympathetic nervous system response, relaxing the neuroendocrine system and regulating hormones. Studies have shown that high stress levels decrease the likelihood of conceiving.
•Acupuncture has been shown to stimulate chemical changes within the uterine lining, thickening the endometrium and preparing the uterus for implantation.
•Research shows that acupuncture normalizes dysfunction of the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian (HPO) axis.
•Acupuncture helps to decrease uterine contractions and improve implantation outcome. Increased uterine contractions at the time of embryo transfer of an IVF procedure negatively affect implantation outcome.
•In men, acupuncture can improve the concentration, volume, and motility of sperm.

My first appointment is Tuesday. After our talk on the phone she recommends frequent treatments (I'm all for spoiling myself a little), perhaps some herbal supplements (sounds fun), and the basal body temp (which I already told her that I don't want to do it....so we will see if she changes my mind. I work three night shifts a week...that throws off any consistent temp sensing in my opinion- and she informed me that night shifts may also effect my cycles, fertility, & health- super...right?! These little needles are going to have to compensate for a lot). So... I'm game!! And I'll keep you posted.

My tuesday morning...

Well its been forever since I have actually had a day off during the week....to relax. Its been incredible. Clinicals are over...even though I enjoyed pretending to be a real nurse with my own real patients it is nice to have my time back- 2 twelve hour shifts a week mind you, on top of my 3 twelve hour shifts in a hospital that I work a week already. So this Tuesday morning I was able to make waffles, and they were so amazing I wanted to share the recipe with you. It's not really my recipe...its from allrecipes.com that I tweaked a tiny bit. And as you'll see by this incredibly long post I was actually able to reflect on a lot this Tuesday morning. Amazing what a little free time will do.

Side note.... Dad...if you're reading this, I love the dishware you gave us for our wedding gift (see picture above). This is a Japanese set of stoneware that my dad bought as his first "really nice set of dishes" as a 30 year old...way back in the day. I remember growing up using the plates to make my favorite homemade nachos...then I just didn't see them again, until our wedding. We love these dishes, they make me want to take a picture every time I use them...they just make me smile. To think of you meeting mom, using these dishes for your first homemade dinner together makes me happy. Thanks Dad.

Super Tasty Waffles (aka "waffles I" on allrecipes.com):

2 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Lots and lots of strawberries- from costco, super tasty...super affordable.

1.Preheat waffle iron. Beat the heck out of the egg whites in large bowl with hand beater until fluffy- super fluffy, almost peaking. Beat in flour, milk, vegetable oil, sugar, baking powder, salt and vanilla, just until smooth. Then fold in egg yolks.

2.Spray preheated waffle iron with non-stick cooking spray. Pour mix onto hot waffle iron. Cook until golden brown. Serve hot.

Enjoy!!

Matt and I went to a wedding on Saturday- Alex and Amber's wedding...and it was lovely. We had a blast...and at the end of it I was able to take home some of her beautiful flowers. So now we have fresh flowers in every room after I split up the huge bouquet into my jars and dispersed them...

...the beautiful flowers in the bedroom, on our nightstand...

...And talking about our bedroom... I don't think I ever took a picture of this. It's the dried flower/curly twig arrangement that Matt's Mom and Aunt made for above our heads in our wedding in the corral (seen here & here). I love seeing it everyday. When we put it up over the window above our bed, a few days after our wedding week was over, I just started crying. I had a flood of emotions, just the same as walking down the aisle beside myself in tears of happiness. So now we love it in our room...

another prego movie...

We are constantly looking for good movies to watch, and we are constantly being let down. So these days we turn to netflix's documentaries, the watch instantly variety. Last night we watched Pregnant in America. I loved the Business of Being Born, so I thought this one would fall short....but it didn't! It showed the downsides of having a baby in the hospital and at home, the always better national healthcare system in other smarter countries, our alarming c-section and epidural rates, the benefits to nurse midwives, but what I loved to see most of all is that the women were supported to have natural childbirth, free from drugs, free from fear, and empowered. I will not know how I handle birthing a child.... but what I want most is Matt to support me in my choices. To understand why I want to do it myself, without medications. The movie also showed the risks to mother and babe of epidurals and c-sections, which I appreciated because I couldn't remember from my classes what specifically they were.

I know that the movie was biased and the main guy was a little bit of a tool but we liked it. It spurred some great conversation afterwards also. After each one of the prego-movies we watch Matt says... Ok... lets have a baby at home! We can do it!! No!! I really and truly don't want to (plus...you read about stories like John and Sherry's over on Young House Love and couldn't be happier for hospitals...if you read it have some tissues on stand-by). So even though all of my ideals line up with home birth; I feel comfortable in the hospital setting, I want it, I need it for my sanity. I just need him to help re-enforce my choices. Like for example....no suction, no forceps, no episiotomy...I'd rather rip that little ray of sunshine out myself thank you very much.

Also, something the movie brought up is how some women feel out of control with an epidural, and for the first time I realized I think I would actually and literally freak out with one. I hate feeling out of physical control of my body. If I couldn't feel my legs, I think I would not be a happy camper, I'd want a reversal agent STAT. Then there goes $2,000. Have you ever done that game as a kid...where one kid tells a story while you close your eyes...your legs are being held up high...then they lower your legs slowly and it feels like you're going below the ground. That your legs just aren't yours any longer?!Yeah. Not my favorite game.