It's been a while...

So much time has passed that I won't even attempt to catch up... suffice it to say that many many things happened since my last entry. Well maybe a list of highlights would be fun to do, you know how I love my lists!! Let's give this a try:

List disclaimer: while I will certainly endeavor to make this list in order of when things happened, there is very little chance it will actually follow an accurate timeline

1. Got a second kitty
2. Bought a truck 
3. Sold said truck
4. Sold our Nissan, bought a Prius, which we absolutely love to the chagrin of some family members
5. Josh and Tami move to Washington!!
6. Remodeled our second bedroom 
7. Build giant desk in said room
8. Build giant Custom Kingdoms shed
9. Built new stairs to the upstairs deck
10. Added 6 feet of counter to the kitchen
11. Bathroom Remodels!!!
12. Cut down several trees on our property 
13. Finally took our cruise to Alaska
14. Many weddings, babies and sadly funerals
15. 6000 piece puzzle!
16. Many many many! plumbing disasters
17. Sharon moves to Portland!!
18. Utah trips, Missouri Trips
19. Tons and tons of sushi
20. my ill-advised and very short-lived Mary Kay adventure
21. Scrapbooking galore!
22. Dana's next business venture....3 yrs in the making
23. Many doctors appts
24. etc....

Well, that is quite the list... so many things have happened... picture time!!

Here's our newest kitten,  Jaeger

The new back stairs

The great desk in the second bedroom

Tree Removal

Defiance Point

Downstairs Bathroom remodel

Upstairs bathroom - Before

Upstairs bathroom - After

Alaskan Cruise May 2016

View from the Deck of the Westerdam

Musings of a Rambling Mind

If you were looking for a post to inspire you, this is NOT it.... If you were looking for a post to stimulate your mind, this is NOT it.... heck, if you were looking for a post that makes sense!! This is still NOT it....  All this is going to be is a wildly zigzagging trip into the consciousness of my mind.. and maybe subconsciousness as well..

It occurred to me that I wait till I have wild stories and awesome pictures to post on my blog, which is all fine and dandy, except that I started this blog as sort of a journal and sadly my life is most definitely not made up of wild stories and/or pictures!!! It's the truth!! I have a million pictures of my cat (I know it's scary, but deal with it!!) and about 0 pictures of myself and Dana for the past "I can't remember the last time we took pictures of ourselves" months.  So every so often I am just going to ramble on about different things on my blog! After all, isn't that what a lot of people do in their journals?!? And yes, I do realize that this is public domain, so not to worry, nothing too personal or sensitive in here... I hope.

TANGENT 1

Speaking of journals..... A couple of months ago, Dana and I were at Walmart, I think, or some other such store; and we walked by this display of awesome journals, you know the kind: hard back, gorgeous designs and that magnetized flap that makes you feel all important and secretive!! Or at least it does for me. As we walked by them I coveted one! As Dana indicated that I could indulge myself, I spent close to 10 minutes undecided then finally picked the "perfect" one! Not sure why it mattered so much, but there it was. I bought it with the intention of finally starting my personal journal (there are some things you just can't share on a blog!!) It's now a few months later and it still sits untouched by pen or pencil, in my bookcase. As I thought about why that was, I realized that I don't know how to journal.... does that sounds weird and/or stupid? When I have tried it in the past, it either reads like the final act of a really bad tragedy, where everyone dies, after stabbing each other in the back or the greatest spiritual "cheese fest" of all times!!! Why is that?!?! Why am I so dramatic on paper?!?! Is this some latent tendency that I ruthlessly suppress in my daily life and that spews forth when pen meets paper?  Is there a "Journaling for Dummies" out there? I do feel that it is important to keep a journal and I really want to, but I'd like it to be something that could be passed on to my grandchildren and great grandchildren without making them depressed or rolling their eyes in disgust!!! Any thoughts?!?!  I'll have to think about this more.

TANGENT 2

Smart Phones.... are they the devil? or are they the best thing to ever happen to mankind? Well, it's been about a month since we made the switch and I can tell you that the blasted things hasn't left my sight in all that time... I think the furthest away it's been from my hand is probably 5 feet... maybe 4!  And now I know that I was right to resist for all these yrs!!! There are games on it.... texting is super easy and there are all sorts of apps and things to explore!!! it's like an endless Christmas gift... everyday there is something new and shiny to find!!! I think I need therapy!!! Anyone know a good doctor? I need to work on this new found dependency of mine... (takes quick break to check on the phone)

TANGENT 3

I like to think of myself as a fairly well adjusted person, but there are a few things I just cannot be rational about no matter how hard I try: heights, small confined spaces and the dentist!  While for the most part I can safely go about my life avoiding the first two, the last one is a necessary evil we all must face. Now don't get me wrong, it's not the dentist I hate, it's the irrational fear that by going to the dentist, all my teeth will fall out! it doesn't make sense, but there it is.
For the past 10yrs I have unwisely avoided going to the dentist, any and all excuses have been employed in achieving this goal! But alas, the time had come when the rational mind takes over the irrational one and makes you go to the dentist, because "hey, if you wait any longer you may end up losing all your teeth!!" So off we went. Now, I have been blessed with having a dentist in the family and he is amazingly good at his job and one of the nicest people you will ever meet. So we made our appts, made our way out to Idaho and went in to do the deed. Apparently the Lord new I was going to need a lot of help with this and blessed me with fairly good teeth; after all the neglect they suffered I only had 4 cavities to fill! What a relief! Oh and let's not forget the deep cleaning... my favorite part.. NOT! Anyways, when all was said and done I was feeling relieved and was hopeful that the recovery wouldn't be too painful. Guess I should have really waited for the anesthetic to wear off... it's been over a week now and I still can't chew with the left side of my mouth... my teeth are super sore and extremely sensitive and even with my steady diet of ibuprofen, the pain won't go away or even lessen.
I am struggling to find the moral of this story, is it:

A) You should NEVER go to the dentist again

or

B) You should NEVER wait this long to go back again

I can't quite decide......

TANGENT 4

Spring time is just around the corner!!!!! Since we bought this house, I am determined to get some planting done this year!! I think I am going to start with my herb garden.... basil, rosemary, sage, mint, thyme, chives and so many more!!! I think tomorrow I will visit my old friend, the Home Depot, and spend a small fortune on everything garden and start potting my herbs!! Can't hardly wait! Cooking with fresh herbs kicks cooking with dry, store bought seasonings in the teeth!! Big Time!! I just hope I get enough sunlight thru my "forest" to be able to grow them... also, pray that I don't have a black thumb!!!

TANGENT 5

Laundry... is there anything worst?!?!? Of all the house chores, doing laundry is the bane of my existence!!! I hate it, not that I don't like clean clothes, because I REALLY do, I just hate the process to get them that way!!! If there is one thing that I am a champion procrastinator at, is doing laundry... I am so good at it, that laundry is the only chore Dana will do of his own volition, mostly when he is out of socks! I wish they would come up with a tube that you could walk into, fully dressed, that would clean your clothes while you were still wearing them!! Somebody please get on it, stat!!

While I wait for that to happen though, I am proud to admit that after yrs of therapy, or more accurately years of internal debates, browbeating and ridicule,  I have come to the conclusion that doing laundry is a lot easier than coming up with new and inventive reasons why I CAN'T do laundry that day and then dealing with the subsequent guilt about not having done it, while still having piles of laundry undone!!! Now I simply get up once a week, declare it Laundry Day and go about washing, drying and folding clothes... no hassle, no internal debates, no guilt.  Why did I not think of doing it this way before?!?!? Score one for Corinne... now if only I had thought to put this on my New Years Resolution list..... :)

Well, I think this concludes my ramblings for the day, now off to be productive! P.S. is my punctuation as bad as I think it is?!?!?

Till next time...

The Kitchen Remodel.... and the 25 receipts

I am still trying to catch up, so bear with me!

When we bought our fabulous house, unfortunately it came with a truly unfabulous kitchen! (is unfabulous a word?!? well if it isn't it should be!) and it was one of the things we had promised  each other we would fix right away! So here is the story of that...

First, let's give you a visual of the problem

 

 

First things first... it's ALL BROWN!!! who does that?!?!? Second, I know it's kind of hard to tell, but the tiles are not flat, they are a bumpy mess! Third, that, ladies and gentlemen, is a one bowl sink, that is rusted with a leaky faucet!!

 

THE PLAN:

Replace counter tops with granite tile, replace back splash, install new double bowl granite composite sink and new faucet.

TIME ALLOTTED:

2-3 days

BUDGET:

As little as possible!!

 

 

So Friday morning the demolition begins!!



 Got my tools ready

 





With an "able" assist from the kitten

 

Ugly back splash down!

 

So, the back splash is down. At this point I stopped and waited for Dana to get home from work to help with the removal of the actual counter tops.

 

When he got home we decided to go get the materials first and finish the demo later so we could beat rush hour traffic. Off we went, to a granite tile store to pick up/ pick out the tile! We figured it would be pretty quick as we had been looking at their website and thought we knew what we wanted! Wrong.. it took us about 1hr to find one we liked that also had chair rails. We then spent about another 40min or so trying to find a back splash that we liked and that matched. We finally found one we absolutely loved only to realize that they had none in stock and it would take 7-10 days to get it in... also it was $75.00 per sq./ft ouch! So we said goodbye to our dream back splash and figured we would find something at Home Depot.

 

Armed with our tiles, chair rails and the tools and mixes necessary, we left the store and headed home. While in the car battling Seattle traffic, I was double checking the receipt to make sure we had gotten everything, when I realize they had forgotten to give us the thin set! thankfully we had only managed to get 2 block down the road, so we turned around and went back. Crisis adverted!

 

When we got home, we got to it. Operation counter top removal included a lot of grunting and brute force (all coming from Dana) as I stood by the sidelines and watched him manhandle the counter tops off!

 



The kitten always so helpful!

Counter tops, sink and backing off

 

It is good to note here that at this point we had gone out to stores 3 times:

 

1. Lowe's the night before to buy the sink and faucet

2. Earlier in the day to pick up the tiles

3. Late that day to pick up the oscillating saw to take down the backing.

 

Once we finished the demo, we decided to call it a night and start fresh in the morning.

 



 

 

At this point, we sat down and tried to make a list of all we would need to pick up tomorrow at the store. Once we got that done Dana called up his dad to get some pointers and clarifications. It was good that he did as his dad gave him the best advice we had ever gotten "buy pre-mixed thin set and grout" Let me just say that I will be eternally grateful for those 5 words, as I can honestly say I am not sure we would have finished the job had we had to mix the thin set and grout... it was that bad!

 

Saturday morning plan:

Go to Home Depot and purchase all materials needed including a back splash, rent tile wet saw and rent Home Depot truck to haul everything back home.

Install counter tops and Sheetrock

 

So off we went, with our list, a granite tile for matching, and the firm belief that today would be a great day!

 

We spent 3hrs at Home depot, gathering materials, debating on back splashes and filling out rental agreements! By the time we got home, after having returned the rental truck, we were so tired and hungry that we decided to take a quick lunch break, sure that we had gotten everything we needed and could relax a bit.

 

Energized by the food and excited to get this done we started with the sheet rock... now it is important to point out here that Dana is the most even-tempered, laid back person I know, he is always cool, calm and collected, so you can imagine my surprise when, within 2 minutes of working with sheet rock, he was swearing at it and cursing the heavens! Apparently he HATES sheet rock!! Good to know for future projects....

 

After many threats, bribes and turmoil the sheet rock was finally up.

 

 

 

 

 

Next step was installing the 3/4" plywood. That seemed to go pretty quickly until we went to grab the sink template and found out that the sink was broken in two pieces, cracked straight down the middle. So we stopped everything, packed up the sink and ran back to Lowe's to exchange it. It took us about 1 hour and a half as we found all the replacements sinks were broken as well, and had to pick a different sink all together. By the time we got home it was almost 8pm. It is good to say at this point that we had gone back to Home Depot about 3 times throughout the day for little things we had forgotten/ didn't know we needed. So we got some dinner and then resumed. (dinner was mostly reheated items in the microwave, which was currently residing on the floor of our living room!)

 

I have to admit at this point that it looked like we were going to be in for a really long night. Also, I need to give credit where credit is due, Dana did most of the work, I was just his "fetch this" girl!

 

So moving on. Plywood down, with appropriate sink hole cut out

 



 

Onto the cement board! Now this was truly nasty work, the cement board stinks like nothing else I have ever smelled... also it crumbled everywhere when we cut it...yuck! the worst part of the process in my opinion. And this is also where we ran into problems... the screws we bought were too short! And because of the sink fiasco by the time we realized this all the hardware stores were closed! NO!! we now had to run to the store on Sunday morning in order to be able to return the tile saw in time!

 

Let's just say we went to bed on Saturday night feeling a little defeated and very sore.

 

Sunday morning came and we ran to the store, bought the screws and a few other things we thought we would need and ran back home, we knew we were going to have to work like crazy to be able to return the tile saw on time! We secured the cement board and got down to the business of installing the granite tiles... once again, I have never been so grateful for any advice as much as "buy pre-mixed thin set and grout!" Installing the granite tiles actually went a lot quicker than I thought

 



 

When we went to install the nosing we ran into a bit of a problem as it wouldn't stay put long enough for the thin set to dry and hold it in place... we tried taping it with little success and in fact broke one piece all together when it just fell off! Finally we just used screws under it to hold it up. at this point we were about 2 hrs late on returning the tile saw but at least it was done. As Dana ran it back to Home Depot, I snapped a few more pictures.

 



 

 

 

 

 At that point I felt like we were finally on the home stretch! We would install the back splash that afternoon, get it all sealed and then on Monday we would just have to grout, install the sink and we would be home free!

 

So Dana got back home and we decided to take a much deserved break. Oh did I forget to mention that I had the flu this whole time? And Dana wasn't feeling all that great either as he was fighting a bug as well.. So we took a nap and got up around 5pm.

 

Back to work! Let's get this done! We got the back splash out and went about figuring out the layout we wanted since we had bought an accent border. While we were laying it all out we realize that we hadn't bought enough of the accent border as it wasn't 1foot in length, so Dana ran back to Home Depot to buy more. Thankfully we had realized this before the store closed!! Another disaster adverted! Phew!

 

So we are installing the back splash and we feel pretty good, we are almost done and doesn't this look pretty awesome?!?!? So we are patting ourselves on the back and figuring, well it will take us an extra day to finish it all than we wanted but that's not too bad! so we get to the last foot and I reach down to grab the last piece.... where is it?!??!

Apparently we can't count, and were one piece short! NOOOO!!!!! the store is closed!!

 

 

How does this happen?!??!

 

So Day 3 ended not as well as we had hoped. Having mis-counted meant that everything would be pushed back 12-24hrs because of drying time!!

 

 

Day 4. One more trip to the Home Depot. Install the last of the back splash, wait several hrs for the thin set to dry. The seal everything... wait a few more hours for that to dry. It's now Monday evening when we can finally grout everything. Grouting the back splash was pretty awful... it took us forever, both Dana and I were sweating profusely, Dana more than me ;) , but we got it done!  But wait... do we have enough grout left over for the counter tops?!? Of course not! And obviously with all the time we had to wait the store was closed by the time we realized it!!! So Day 4 ends and we have yet to finish the grouting or install the sink and faucet!

 



 

 

Day 5. Run back to Home Depot.. at this point we are on a first name basis with all of their employees... they thought it was hilarious! Got grout! woot, let's get this done. So we finish grouting and move on to installing the sink. Our sink came with one hole already punched out and three more available for you to punch out if you so needed, which we did. So we go about poking out one more hole for the soap dispenser.... we follow the instructions and the hole that comes out is WAY too small..... we go back to the instructions and it says to file the hole to the desired size... and we are thinking this is going to take forever... also do we have a file?!?!? nope, once more into the breach...err, Home Depot I mean. So there we are, filing away at this little 1/4" hole that needed to be about 2".... 1hr passes and we are still filing away... at that point, I KNOW we are doing something wrong, I mean, how could this possibly be the right way to do this, so I turn to the trusted Internet and what do you know, we managed to turn a 5 minute project into 1hr and 5 minutes!!! Moving right along... hole punched, let's get this show on the road. We install the sink and realize that since our drain is in a stupid place, we don't have the right PVC fittings!! GRRRRRRR. Once more to Home Depot. Come home, install PVC fitting, turn water back on.... it works!!! 

 



 

We look up and realize that we still need to mud the sheet rock above the sink and paint it... Dana and I looked at each other and figured no one would care if it wasn't painted... that's a project for a different day!!

 

 

So we installed the outlet covers, awesome ones we found that match our faucet.

 



 

Cleaned up and put away our tools, removed the screws from under the chair rail and we were DONE!!!

 



 

One week later we got around to painting, and I really love this color!!

 

 

 

Now I'll admit we are not 100% done yet, we still need to get some trim for under the cabinets and under the counter top but it's finished for all intense and purposes and it's amazing!! We absolutely love it!!! But to be honest with you, if I had to do it again, I would just pay somebody to do it!! just kidding, we would be so pro the second time around!

 

When we rounded up all the receipt to get the final number, I was very surprised at the number of receipts..... I had 25 of them!!... I guess that's where we spent half of our time, at the store!!! lol

 

 

Till next time...

2013...really?!?

How can it be January 8th, 2013?!?!? Where has the time gone?!?! I swear sometimes I feel like I just graduate from high school... and then I remember what it was like back then and am so GLAD that I am not back there!!!

However, how can I be turning 30 this year?!?!?  Is it bad to feel like I am still in my mid twenties?!? Does that make me immature?  I certainly don't think I am immature... but then again would I be able to tell if I was?

Lots has happened since I last blogged. So it will take me a couple of posts to catch up. Wouldn't want to do it all in one blog post... it would be like the Never ending story! So first things first:

WE BOUGHT A HOUSE!!!!!

It certainly happened a lot faster than we thought. So here is how it all came about...

We all know my obsession with house browsing on the Internet. I can ,and sometimes do, spend hours just browsing all sorts of floor plans, houses, apartments, for rent or for sale, it doesn't make much of a difference to me. I just love to see what is out there. All this browsing though comes with a price: itchy feet. That is why in the almost 8yrs that Dana and I have been married we have moved 7 times....

Anyways, since I am always looking at houses I started seeing that prices where becoming a bit more reasonable up here... mind you, still pretty high dollar in the most convenient and populated areas, but I could see a glimmer of hope on the outskirts. With that in mind, Dana and I talked about possibly looking into buying a house in the next 6months or so. This was back in July/August 2012. Then we started talking with people who were looking to refinance their current loans because interest rates were so cheap.. and that got us thinking, shouldn't we try to get in on this low interest rate bus?

So we made an appointment with a mortgage broker just to test the water, see what our credit score was and if we could qualify for a loan, and if we did, how much could we qualify for? August 30th was our apt. We went in, really not knowing what to expect since we had never checked our credit scores. It was a much more pleasant meeting than I had prepared for, the guy we met with was super helpful and explained to us the things we needed to know and what we should look for. Since the numbers looked good, Dana and I decided that we might as well test the real estate waters and go see a few properties here and there, just to get a feel for what we were really dealing with... pictures are great, but you really need to stand in a home to get the feel of it... not to mention, picking the right neighborhood can be just as important as the house itself.

 And off we went in search of a house... totally thinking that it would take us a while to find something we wanted/liked and could afford. We expected to not only have to wade thru a lot of properties to find the one, but also that we would have to put an offer on a Short Sale home, which would then result in a wait period of 4-6 months before anything really happened.

So much for best laid plans.... Apparently, house shopping is my drug of choice...if you thought the Internet browsing was bad, you ain't seen nothing yet!!  Once we got started it all spiraled out of control... I had this mad glow in my eyes and scheduled house viewing for every available moment we had... which fortunately, I guess, was only Saturdays! lol... anyways off we went, armed with several properties to visit on every outing. Our first meet with our Real Estate agent was on September 8th and two weeks later we had already seen 9 properties..  maybe that's not a big number but it sure felt like a lot to us.. and certainly to my Real Estate Agent... whom probably dreaded the phone ringing for fear it was me wanting to add properties to our list... and oh btw, the reason we saw only nine, is because 5 or 6 other properties on my list weren't available to show when we could go by.

Anyways, on September 22nd I was up at 5am scouring the Internet for more picks when I found IT!!! I swear there were angels singing in the background... and it stopped raining! I had to do a double take... I couldn't believe that this house met our requirements and our budget and it was a regular sale AND looked this awesome!!! A-frame cabin in the woods! need I say more?

As I grabbed my phone to call my Real Estate Agent I realized that it was still only 6am... good save on my part. So I waited patiently for a decent hour and then called. We were able to go see it that same morning.. and already when we got there, other people were circling it like vultures!! Thank goodness we were the only ones that brought a Real Estate agent thus being the only ones able to go inside at that time!!

It was weird.. and gorgeous... and very wonky! It could not have been any more perfect...well, on second thought, the kitchen had the most hideous tiles I had ever seen so I guess that could have been improved but we were in LOVE!!! We had one more house to see that day so we left and went to check it out... it was a beautiful house, and one we would have certainly put a bid on  had we not found this one. So we stood in the kitchen of the "almost" house and worked out the details for the bid on the "I can't believe we found this" house.  I have to admit I blanched a little when they asked me for a $2000 check right there on the spot, but I recovered quickly and handed over our hard earned money with a straight face....

Waiting to hear back was agonizing... then ,when we finally did hear back, it was only to find out that they had received 3 other offers along ours and would need an additional day to decide... then my REA suggested we write a letter to the sellers to let them know how much we loved the house.... that seemed very strange to me, but apparently this house was built by the sellers and they were very sad to have to let it go. So I put pen to paper... or fingers to keyboard (technology has killed the romance of so many sayings...) and endeavored to be a skilled enough writer to convince them to sell it us. Apparently my puny efforts were enough as we got the call that they had accepted the offer and that our letter had been the deciding factor. Go figure!

This was on Monday night, September 24th. We proposed to close on October 25th...
What ensued was a whirlwind of activity as we raced against the clock to get everything taken care of:
inspections, appraisals, underwriting for two loans, MCC something or other, we had to take a 4 hour class to qualify for an FHA loan... and all sorts of other crazy things...

Well, we didn't make our October 25th deadline but we only missed it by 2 days. We signed the papers for our loans on Saturday, October 27th in a McDonald's Fast Food restaurant in Seattle. It was kind of surreal to sign away the next 30yrs of our lives, or more accurately our livelihood, while munching on some fries and a McFlurry but that's how we roll. We moved in the weekend after that.

And that's how we went from "let's just test the waters and maybe buy something at the beginning of next year" to "whoohoo we bought a house in less than two months from start to finish!!"

Well we've been here now for a little over two months and we are SO SO SO happy to be here! Even with the million big and little projects we have planned and a few that we have already executed... but that is a different story/post all together!

Keep checking for more of our House Adventures.. as there have been many already and there are so many more to come!!

Till next time...

That's Pinteresting!

Pin it! That's the new thing isn't it? You like it? You want to remember it? Find it again? Share it with your friends? Pin it!  So many wonderful things out there... maybe too many!! I could spend hrs perusing the endless pages of "pinned" things.. and sometimes I do! It's almost like a drug.. how did we EVER live without it?!?!

 Best thing about Pinterest for me? you mean, besides all the amazingly adorable pictures of animals? All the amazing recipes!!!  I am always, always on the hunt for new ideas in the kitchen, who wants to eat the same things over and over again?  And the thing I love the most about Pinterest recipes is that these are not "cook book" recipes, with weird, hard to find ingredients that you will only use once and then throw away. These are easy, tasty, everyday recipes that you can usually whip up with things you already have in your cupboards! So I started pinning like crazy... ooohhh that looks so tasty!! - oohhh that looks so beautiful and fresh!! - ooohhhh I NEED to eat those cookies RIGHT NOW!!!   and so it went until I looked and saw that I had pinned dozens of recipes and hadn't tried any of them!!! At that point I told myself that before I would pin anything else I would try the ones I had already earmarked... or at least a lot of them!!

Here is a compilation of the ones I've tried thus far and my thoughts on them.. some even with pictures! ;)

String Cheese Mozzarella balls - Super fast and easy, fairly tasty. Really, as tasty as the string cheese you buy. We buy the low fat string cheese which lacks a little bit of flavor so I seasoned the bread crumbs with fresh parsley and minced garlic. It helped a lot! I would definitely recommend this one if you want a little snack or an easy appetizer.
Corinne's Rating: 3 out of 5


Mini Tacos - Now these are amazing!!! I LOVE anything that lets me use a muffin tin! I added a few diced potatoes to my taco filling to stretch the meat a bit more and I used mozzarella cheese instead of cheddar, a lot less grease and fat that way. Only suggestion I would make is to cook it for a few minutes longer in the oven than it calls for, to really get that crunch on the won ton wrapper. And hey here is a picture of the ones I made!

Corinne's Rating: 5 out of 5



Peanut Butter & Garbanzo Beans Chocolate Chip cookies - I was a bit skeptical about this recipe... garbanzo beans?!?!? in cookies?!?!? But this recipe has no butter, no flour, no sugar, no oil... I had to try it. Well, this one came out a little wonky... mostly my fault though. I accidentally overcooked them, it's kind of hard to tell when they are ready. Also, usually when I use a recipe that calls for peanut butter I always use crunchy peanut butter, I just love the extra little bit your get with the added crunch. However, I would not recommend it for this recipe, it really needs the creamy stuff to make the dough softer. You don't get the crunch anyways since you make this dough in the food processor. Even with all of that, we still ate all of them! Pretty tasty.
Corinne's Rating: 4 out of 5


Pizza Muffins - Once again, does it get any better than using a muffin tin to make your meals? And this recipe calls for the mini muffin tin!!!! Awesome!! These mini muffins are more mini quiches than muffins, but who really cares. I substituted the pepperoni bites with roasted turkey, much lighter that way. I didn't serve them with sauce but used them more as dinner rolls, they are so tiny and cute! It takes absolutely no time to make the dough and they are delicious!! Definitely something to try! Oh, and I have a picture of the ones I made!

Corinne's Rating: 5 out of 5


Chocolate Chip cookie in a cup - Sadly this one was not as good as the Brownie-in-a-Mug. The dough is pretty good, but once you cook it in the microwave it becomes weird and somewhere in between a cake and a cookie.. sounds good right?!? Unfortunately it's more like a super dry cake meets an overcooked cookie. Not so good. But the dough is good so it's still not a zero.
Corinne's Rating: 2 out of 5


Triple Chocolate Chunk Muffins - Ok, so let me start by saying that the name of this recipe is misleading, triple implies that there are 3 different types of chocolate involved. Not so, there is only 2, the cocoa powder and the chocolate chips. That being said, this actually turned out pretty good. Mine don't look anything like the ones in the picture, and they were very pudding like. Not sure where I went wrong, however they were still super good! and strangely addicting! You definitely needed a glass of milk with them though! Oh so chocolaty!! Yeahy! I am going to try making them again soon and see what I do with them this time!! I would definitely recommend trying this recipe.
So yummy! and here is a picture of the ones I made!

Corinne's Rating: 5 out of 5



Salted Caramel Pretzel Bark -  This was my one failure, and it was heartbreaking because it tasted so good, it just didn't set up! I haven't tried it again but I think there is something wrong with the way the recipe tells you to make the caramel... that's not how I have made it in the past. If you get the caramel right though, this bark is fantastic!! even though it didn't turn out for us, and it was stuck to the tin foil, we toiled and toiled to get even the smallest of morsels peeled off.. it was that good!! Definitely will try this one again... it could be one of my favorite sweets ever... I just love the contrast of sweet and salty in my desserts!
Corinne's Rating: 2 out of 5 with a possible 5 out of 5 pending retry



Creamy Avocado Pasta - Two thumbs up all the way!! This sauce is super fresh, nothing cooked besides the pasta. Tangy and rich at the same time, in the healthiest way possible. The creaminess of the avocado makes for a thick irresistible sauce which is enhanced by the citrus elements. I didn't have limes so I used lemons, also skipped the basil (only because I didn't have any :(  ) and the Parmesan cheese. This sauce is so awesome there are no words to describe it!! I bet it would be fantastic on grilled chicken or even grilled fish. Can't wait to make it again!!! oh and I do have a picture, not the best quality picture but hey, it's better than nothing

Corinne's Rating: 6 out of 5!



Well that's it for now, I have only made a small dent into my list but at least it's something! Next on my list you ask? On deck this week is Mini Meatloaf Cupcakes and Pancake Bites!! I can't hardly wait!!


Till Next Time...

Where has the summer gone?

July 25th, 2012.... 9:30 am .... 65 degrees warm.  Where is my summer?!?!?

Apparently there was a vote back in the spring about whether or not we would have a summer here in Washington this year... I was not aware of this vote and I am not sure how I would have voted back then but I know how I would vote now! YES we want summer!! I guess not enough people were of that opion so summer has been voted out. What are we left with? Unpredictable cold/warm weather. Rain and even some hail... not to mention days where the temperature doesn't even reach 70 degrees.

Now, I love me a cool summer, I mean who wants to be hot and miserable for 3 months out of the year... but still... can't we go somewhere in between??!  I can probably count on both hands the number of summer days we've had.  Oh well... I am sure Finnighan is enjoying the cold summer, poor baby, if it was any hotter he might have expired from it, can you imagine having all that fur on while it's 90degrees?!?!

Other downside to a cold, rainy summer? We still need to mow the lawn every week!!! Where is the dead grass, I ask you?!?!?

It's a Priming matter.....

So... I am not going to start this blog by stating the obvious, apparently though, I developed early onset Alzheimer's and forgot I had a blog!

Quick recap of the past 6 months.... The move went well, we are enjoying our new place even though we wish it was a little bit bigger. The Shed (and yes I capitalized because I LOVE it that much!) has been absolutely life changing for us... just the fact that the majority of our business is now out there and not dominating our living space has made a huge difference in my stress levels! It's nice to be able to turn work off when we are trying to relax! Two thumbs up for my Shed!!

Here it is!!! Isn't it beautiful?!?

Custom Kingdoms continues to keep us busy, very busy... sometimes too busy! I keep waiting for the time when all this will come to a screeching halt and we won't get any more orders... so far it hasn't happened. We have been running strong for 20 months straight now and it consistently amazes me. We have been so blessed, we now find ourselves in the akward position where we need to figure out what we want to do with this business as we really can't get any bigger without making some serious changes... also, do we want the time sink?!? Dana does love his career and I don't think he would want to put that on the back burner to do this... we'll have to see where this goes.  For now we are just so grateful for its success and for the extra income that helps us pay our bills and put food on the table!

Speaking of Custom Kingdoms........
One of the steps in our process is priming! Now priming is a dirty job and my least favorite duty. It's messy and dusty and I think it's going to give me cancer one of these days. The primer fumes alone are enough to make one want to swoon!  Priming has always been the worst part of setting up our shop... where to prime? There is the constant rain, so it needs to be a covered space, also it needs to be enclosed so we can prime even when it's windy. How can we reduce the amount of black dust that gets tracked into our house... and can we keep it separate enough so not everything around it get covered in primer dust?!? We have had low to moderate success in setting up our priming station and here is a quick evolution of it over the years:

1. At first it was a rickety old card table that would blow over if you sneezed its direction that was situated on the balcony of our first apt here in Washington. It was messy, unstable and made our balcony basically unusable for any other purpose... not to mention the primer dust levels in our apt were pretty high.
2. Then we moved into a house and after we threw the card table out we downgraded to a box in the middle of our garage covered with newspaper! Our two car garage was constantly covered in balck dust from wall to wall no matter how many times we would clean it, sweep it, hose it down. Plus, the downstairs was practically unbearable for the first 20 min after I primed. Yuck! After over a year of this I had a small break down and Dana built me a priming station made of the finest materials! .... PVC pipe and cheap plastic sheets! Still in the garage though... not the best
3. When we moved out of the house and back into an apt we set up our fancy priming station on our back porch which was nice and covered and provided shelter from the wind. That was to this point the most successful set up. It minimized the amount of dust spread around it and coming into the house as well as the fumes. We did have a few wind storms that managed to knock it down but for the most part we were golden.
4. Then we moved again into our current dwelling. It's a duplex, which is lovely, it has a Shed (have I mentioned that already?!?) and a nice backyard. Only problem is that the priming station was just standing out there exposed to all the element which meant when it wasn't knocked down by the wind, I still couldn't use it because of the rain. It has been a trial, I have had to prime inside the Shed (horror of all horrors!!) inside a box, and totally gave up on the priming station as it would usually find it's way back to the ground within a day of me putting it back up. On good days, meaning when it didn't rain, I would cart the box outside and prime there.

All this brought us to last Saturday when I had another small break down and basically demanded that Dana fix the Priming issue. My man is the very best and he totally took care of it! (even though this was not the first time I had asked... maybe the break down is what did it!)  And since pictures are worth a thousand words here are two that will explain everything!

BEFORE

AFTER

Need I say more?  We are now ready for anything! Speaking of which... I have the next order ready to prime..... I am looking forward to using this bad boy!

Till next time.....