Memorial Weekend

I finished my book early this morning. I loved it and didn't want it to end. Thankfully I have books on my shelf that have been waiting for me to read them. I started Cormac McCarthy's The Road. I think it will be a quick read.

What I'm listening to - Bright Eyes
Reading - The Road
Thinking - I should be reading
Wanting - new shorts for summer

I dusted the house on Friday. The guy from dish network came out and I was so embarrassed because when he went to check the box there were dust bunnies everywhere. So I dusted the living room and then the bedroom. I swear out house gets so dusty in just one day.

We don't have any other plans for the weekend. Just lounging around and relaxing. Only 7 more days of school! Yippee!

Wasp Catcher

Now that we have Oscar (puppy) we hangout in the backyard more. Every time I'm out there trying to enjoy my sweet tea the bees and wasps try and get my drink! We bought this wasp catcher at Target today. I think it's really pretty even if it doesn't work. We will put sugar water in it tonight and see how well it works. I also want to get some patio furniture so we can sit and relax out there. Right now all we have is four plastic chairs. Maybe we can find some at a garage sale or something next weekend.

This weekend was very relaxing. We went to my twin sister's house for an early going away party for my brother in law and played Pictionary. The girls won! Woo-hoo!

I also read a lot this weekend. I started The Time Traveler's Wife and love it. I don't want to put it down.

Update on me

Currently listening to : A Fine Frenzy

Reading : History of Love

Watching : Nothing

I really don't have time to watch television during the week. Between dinner, cleaning up, playing with the puppy, and downloading all my songs to my ipod I just don't have time!

Saving money

Now that I may half of what I used to we really need to cut costs. One of the things we decided we needed to cut back on was eating out and junk from the grocery store. We used to spend $250 - $280 every two weeks on groceries and that was just too much. Our goal was to spend $150 when we went yesterday and we did pretty good because we spent $172! Instead of throwing anything into the cart we wrote down meal plans and stuck with it. I think our problem before was that we always bought too many snack foods and not enough meals for the week. I feel really proud of us. We also took all our canvas bags to the store and didn't need to waste more plastic bags. Go us!

Playing outside

IMG_2129, originally uploaded by House on the Corner.

We are still trying to potty train Oscar but he is doing great so far! He loves being in the tall grass and is such a great joy to have.

The house projects are on hold right now but hopefully the floors will be next.

Oscar again

IMG_1981, originally uploaded by House on the Corner.

I just love his little tongue. We took him to the park yesterday and had a great time.

New family member

New dog, originally uploaded by House on the Corner.

Meet Oscar!

Good Friday

This is the first Good Friday I think I've ever had off. It felt wonderful to be home. Oliver napped on my bed and the Stinker lost a tooth.

Tomorrow morning we have pancakes with family.

New free tree

New free tree , originally uploaded by House on the Corner.

The city gave out trees to help shade the neighborhood. We got a tiny bur oak. Hopefully it will make it. It reminds me of Charlie Brown's Christmas tree right now.

Moving filing system

Moving filing system, originally uploaded by House on the Corner.

We went to the Container Store (one of my favorites places on earth) tonight and bought this rolling filing cart. I love it because I can put it away in the closet whenever I want. I have three colored hanging folders so we each have a set. It came with with two baskets on the bottom. In the top one I put thank you cards, stationary, and bday cards. In the bottom one I have bags and other gift stuff. Now when I need to send a card or write a letter I know where to find all my stuff!

I have a few more pictures on my flickr account.

M.

Vacation is over

On the ride to Denver leaving Breckenridge, originally uploaded by House on the Corner.

Well the holidays are over. After Christmas we flew to Colorado until after New Years. It was a beautiful place but I am really happy to be back home with warmer weather. My first day back at work is tomorrow so I'm sure it will be a long day. Today we finally bought some cabinets to finish cleaning the garage. After work tomorrow I hope to clean more and take pictures.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Year. My new project will be do redo my son's room during spring break. I want to paint and clean out his old clothes and toys. Now that will be a huge task!

Getting ready for Xmas

Getting ready for Xmas, originally uploaded by House on the Corner.

I am slowly getting the house ready for the holidays. Our stockings are my favorite thing to put up so they always go up first.

Hopefully this evening we will finish and I can take more pictures.

M.

(if you click on any picture you can see it larger)

Cranberry cream pie recipe

Here is the recipe for the pie we made last night. It didn't firm up as much as it should have so it was more like a pudding than a pie but maybe if someone else makes it they can figure out where I went wrong. It seemed like the gelatin didn't dissolve well so maybe that is why it didn't harden as much as it should have. It was delicious anyway. We had a pie of it today but had to but it in a bowl instead of using a plate, haha!

I plan to try it again since I still have all the ingredients. This time I may add more gelatin. Oh, and we bought the crust to save on time and it was a good thing since we plan to try it again tomorrow.

This is taken from the Real Simple site:

1 cup fresh orange juice
1 cup sugar
5 ounces shortbread cookies
1/2 cup (2 1/2 ounces) roasted almonds
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 8-ounce package frozen cranberries, thawed
1 1/4-ounce packet unflavored gelatin
2 cups heavy cream

Special Equipment: 9-inch springform pan

Warm the orange juice and sugar in a small pot over low heat until the sugar dissolves. Transfer to a large bowl and refrigerate until just cool, about 30 minutes.

Pulse the cookies and almonds in a food processor until finely ground. Add the butter and pulse to combine. Press the cookie mixture evenly into the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan.

Clean the food processor, then add the cranberries and 1/4 cup of the cooled juice and puree.

Sprinkle the gelatin over the remaining juice and let stand for 1 minute. Stir until the gelatin dissolves. Add the pureed cranberries and stir to combine.

Beat the cream in a medium bowl using a whisk or electric mixer until soft peaks form. Fold the whipped cream into the cranberry mixture until well combined. Pour the cranberry cream into the crust. Place on a rimmed baking sheet and refrigerate until set, at least 4 hours.

Tip: The Cranberry Cream Pie can be made up to 2 days in advance and kept in the refrigerator until serving.

Real Simple recipe

Real Simple recipe, originally uploaded by House on the Corner.

This is the first pie I have ever attempted to make. It is the cranberry cream pie recipe from the November issue of Real Simple. If it turns out good we will take it to my husbands family for Thanksgiving.

Tomorrow we are going to make a pumpkin pie. I've never been a person that liked to cook or bake but now that i will have more time at home I really want to start.

I'll let you know how it tastes tomorrow.

M.

Twins hands

IMG_0597, originally uploaded by House on the Corner.

This was taken on our last camping trip. I feel very fortunate that my twin sister and I can enjoy time outdoors with one another. We used to go camping with our mom when we were young and still love doing it.

If you click on the picture you can see it enlarged.

New project - Clean garage!

So we started cleaning out the garage today. We took everything off the shelves and put it in the center of the garage. The shelves had been up I think since the house was built in 1984! They were particle board and just crumbling away. We will buy some metal shelves and hopefully keep the garage organized from now on.

Hopefully this project will be done in a week or so.

PS. Thank everyone for all their kind replies to my previous post. It really made me feel good about my home.

M.

Camping trip

We took a small break away from the home and went camping this past weekend. It was really nice to get away and enjoy this cooler weather.

Camping trip photos here

Nobody loves my house but me

I posted before and after pictures of my house in another community and was really shocked that nobody had anything nice to say. They all seemed to love the ugly old fake wood siding and ugly 80's baby blue trim. To me it looked out dated and "country". It looked like the kind of house that had duck pictures hanging in the kitchen and rosters everywhere. Now, I'm not saying anything bad about that stuff but it's just not me. I know I shouldn't worry about what other people think but it did hurt my feels. We have spent a lot of time and money on the house and I guess I expected others to see the new change as a good thing. Lots of people hated my blue door and said we should go with red but ALL my neighbors have red doors and I wanted to be different. Oh, and this is not the door we plan to keep. We want to buy a new one with new locks and knobs. We just thought it needed to be painted since the old one was peeling and totally didn't go.

Maybe I just don't know whats "in" these days and people prefer bad siding that's cracking and ugly wood shingles where siding should be,

Anyway, rant over...

The house is done

The house is done, originally uploaded by House on the Corner.

It's done. Many pictures on my flickr page. (you can find my link on the right column)

They painted the doors green and we originally wanted them white

They painted the doors green and we originally wanted them white, originally uploaded by House on the Corner.

So we have until tomorrow morning to decide what to do. We had said we wanted the french doors the color of the trim of the house but my husband kinda likes them green.

Gah, decisions....

This is what they were before.



I can't wait until that ugly baby blue trim color is gone! Tomorrow they should finish.

Oh, we have a blue door now. We need to replace the ugly lock and handle but for now this is a HUGE improvement.



EDIT: We are going to have them paint the french doors the cream color again.