I am so stinkin' tired.

It’s been a little while since I blogged. A lot has been going on lately and though I’m sure most of our world has heard the news I bet there is someone out there that hasn’t.

Back in December, after several months of dabbling around the utahrealestate.com website John and I decided that it was time for us to buy our first home. It was kind of a spur of the moment decision, but not really. It just sort of happened. Several months ago the house next door to us went up for sale for $80K and we thought that it was something we could afford so we decided to look into it so we called a friend of the family that had helped both Lariann and Rachel buy their homes, and thus began our adventure with Troy Starkey. Let us just say, that Troy was awesome. He talked us through stuff and got us on our way and into a home we love without a lot of bother and technical stuff. It was so easy to work with him, and we enjoyed it immensely.

Enough about Troy.

Anyway, at that time Troy gave us the number of his mortgage guy Dave Young we took his name and the recommendation and then sat on it for a few months when suddenly one day John says to me. “We need to call that mortgage guy and see what we could qualify for.” I agreed, and the ball started rolling. We went in and talked about our incomes what we could and couldn’t afford, and where we were at financially.  Turns out that we are better off than we think and we decided to go ahead with the house searching part.

Well, it was the end of the year and with Christmas and New Years we didn’t start our officially house hunt until the first week of January. But when we did we went full boar. We looked at 18 houses over two outings with Troy, and fell in love with two of them. Our house #1 choice was cute and in John’s sister’s neighborhood, but unfortunately it fell through due to the hassle that it would have been and the uncooperative sellers. So we fell back to house #2. And let me just say, I’m glad that we did. House #2 has turned out to be our home.

We contracted for it on January 13^th. By January 25^th everything was good to go, and our closing was scheduled for January 30^th. We moved in on February 3^rd. We didn’t really tell anyone we were moving until the last few days because in our minds we weren’t really sure this was going to happen. When it did everyone was surprised when we said “We’re moving on Friday.”

Now we’re almost a whole month in our new home and WE LOVE IT. It still doesn’t really feel like it’s ours yet. It’s like we’re just hanging out in someone else’s space for a little while.

It’s a not-too-big split level that is only .47 of a mile from where we were living. Yet far enough away that we have moved out of the Park Ward and into the 4^th Ward. We’re just on the wrong side of the street to have stayed in the Park Ward. We can see the houses of our friends in that other ward from our living room windows.

The house has green siding… or maybe yellow. It depends on what time of day you look at it. It’s got a pretty large yard, though a lot of it is taken up by trees, and a garage that we love beyond belief.

The upstairs has been completely refinished in the last few years, with wood flooring in the bedroom and kitchen and shag carpeting in the living room and on the stairs. The kitchen is a bit smaller than I had dreamed, but it’s just the right size for us. The master bedroom on the other hand is the product of knocking out the wall between the two bedrooms that used to inhabit the space. It’s pretty awesome. It’s given us the space to put our bed on one side of the room, then a futon, the dressers, and the television on the other side of the room and it still feels like we have extra space. Now, if only the upstairs bathroom were attached to the bed room it may be perfect. The walls in main living area are a nice butter yellow. The bedroom is pink. The bathroom is white (too white. I’m going to have to paint it.)

The basement is nearly finished. There are two bedrooms down there, both painted beige, as well as a bathroom, a laundry area, and a family room. All of which are currently filled with boxes. The family room is the unfinished part. It still needs drywall and carpeting, but it’s livable as it is for now. That’s a down the road project.

 

We’ve been sick. Here I thought I could start out a new year feeling well and just get on with life… but no. I caught a cold the weekend before we moved. I spent a lot of time packing while doped up on Nyquil. That was fun. I have yet to get to the boxes that were packed that way so we’ll see how they turned out when I find them.

We’re still sick. So that stupid cold I just mentioned. Yeah, I still have it. Six weeks later. Stuffy runny nose. Coughing, sneezing. More mucus than you think could come out of one body… ick. To say I’m done with it is an understatement. John has it too. He ended up with it the weekend we moved. Ever since then we have shared in out misery, and been through many boxes of tissues together. It has been suggested that we should go see a doctor about it, but it is the way our life goes that if we did make an appointment the doctor would just tell us that it’s a cold and it will run its course. Because that’s the answer he always gives us. So you can understand when we say that we don’t want to pay out for him to tell us there is nothing he can do. In the mean time we drink plenty of liquids, eat oranges, have some Nyquil and try to get sleep where we can.

We are so tired.

 

On top of that it was discovered shortly before Christmas that I may be lactose intolerant, and as the weeks have passed that’s been a confirmed problem. I have spent far too many nights puking instead of sleeping and other unflattering body rebellion that comes from the consumption of dairy products. Sucks for me.

I do think I have lost a little weight as a result of it all. (silver lining?) Now we have to re-evaluate our eating and see what needs to be cut out. Milk definitely. That is the fastest way to make me sick. But what else? I seem okay with some cheeses, and Ice Cream hasn’t been terrible... but when it comes down to it I probably should just avoid it all.

I don’t mind the taste of Almond Milk. I haven’t tried Soy yet. Apparently I can cook with that stuff too so that’s going to be an interesting trial.

 

What else…

 

I started a new blog. It’s called “I Make Cakes” you can find it here: http://lizevansmakescakes.blogspot.com/ I figured I’d like to have a place where I can showcase some of my cakes that I have made. They’re not spectacular or anything, but they have made the people they were made for happy.

I’ve already made several cakes this year and have loved every one of them. Who knew I’d be a cake person. I don’t know that it was ever on my list of things for Liz to do. I had never really thought that any one other than John would like my cakes, but I guess I was wrong. I’ll make a cake for you if you want. I’m pretty good at giving a good price, and I love making them so I don’t see why not.

Rules that would apply:

I need at least one week notice and the design can’t be changed with in 3 days of due date.

Price depends on size and the effort I put into it, what supplies I need.

If I can't do the cake design of choice I always have the right to say no.

I guess another stipulation I need to put on these is that they can only be delivered locally. Probably to Davis, Salt Lake, Weber, and possibly Utah counties. (So within an hour from my home) And the further I have to drive to get your cake to you I will impose a delivery fee. You can always come pick up the cake if you want. I’m totally okay with that.

 

And finally…

 

We’re going to Disneyland next February. It’ll be awesome. Yes, we are starting to plan now. The sooner the better. We’re taking our friend Holly for her first Disney adventure, and if we’re lucky John’s sister Rachel and her family will be coming too for both Kira and Cooper’s first times. Sure, Cooper will only be 1.5 years old, but that’s okay. Between five adults Cooper won’t be too left out of the party.

 

I think this is all I can blog about for now. I have a million things that need to get done so I’ll leave off here for now.

Eating with Liz 2012 - Zuppa Toscana

This is what I made for dinner last night. It was really good. And with just me and John to eat it I have 2 more servings each of leftovers. Nom Nom Nom!

I found it on this website: www.tuscanrecipes.com

I followed the recipe pretty much exactly... I did only use 1 tsp of Crushed Red Peppers because neither of us do well with spicy food. Other than that this recipe is perfect as is. Enjoy!

 

Olive Garden® Zuppa Toscana

Makes: 6-8 servings

 

Ingredients

 

o       1 lb ground Italian sausage

o       1½ tsp crushed red peppers

o       1 large diced white onion

o       4 Tbsp bacon pieces

o       2 tsp garlic puree

o       10 cups water

o       5 cubes of chicken bouillon

o       1 cup heavy cream

o       1 lb sliced Russet potatoes, or about 3 large potatoes

o       ¼ of a bunch of kale

 

1.      Sauté Italian sausage and crushed red pepper in a large pot. Drain excess fat, refrigerate while you prepare other ingredients.

2.      In the same pan, sauté bacon, onions and garlic over low-medium heat for approximately 15 minutes or until the onions are soft.

3.      Add chicken bouillon and water to the pot and heat until it starts to boil.

4.      Add the sliced potatoes and cook until soft, about half an hour.

5.      Add the heavy cream and just cook until thoroughly heated.

6.      Stir in the sausage and the kale, let all heat through and serve. Delicious!

 

Ten years ago today....

I married the bestest friend I have ever had.

 

 

Thanks for ten wonderful years John. I love you!

Eating with Liz 2012 - Chicken Noodle Soup

It's time for another recipe. I have been bad at this so far this year because we have been in the process of buying a house… We found a house. We love it. We're looking on closing on it by the end of the month!! Stay tuned for more information. Here is a recipe for you to try out this week.

 

Classic Chicken Noodle Soup

 

1½ c uncooked egg noodles

Rotisserie chicken, meat pulled off in bite size pieces

4 c water

2 c carrots, sliced thin

2 c celery, chopped

1 T salt

½ t sugar

dash of pepper

4 chicken bouillon cubes

 

Cook noodles as directed on package. Heat all ingredients to boiling; reduce heat and cover. Simmer, stirring often, until vegetables are soft; approximately 30-45 minutes. Add more water if needed.

 

 

This is our recipe for this week. It was really good. Here is what I did differently.

1 T salt is A LOT. I only used 1 tsp. When I make this again I wont add any salt. The bouillon is salty enough.

I used about 6 c water instead of 4. After it was cooked and eaten and I was putting way for lunches I added about 1 c water to each Tupperware. This evened out the flavor on the leftovers nicely. Next time I think I'll just start with 8 cups.

The recipe says to cook noodles separately. This I didn't do. I let the chicken and veggies cook for about 30 minutes. Then I added the noodles directly to the soup. This saved time, and pans, and the noodles were able to absorb the chicken broth rather than just a pan of salty water for cooking pasta.

 

I baked some Pillsbury Croissants that were in my fridge and put those in the oven when I added the noodles to the soup. This timed out perfectly.

 

The soup was good the first and second time, and I think this recipe will be added to my recipe book for use again one day.

January so far.

What has been going on with the us for the first two weeks of the new year?

 

Logan and Jenny are getting divorced. There is really no other way to say it. Then to say that we’re disappointed in the actions and events that have lead to this would be a complete understatement. It’s heartbreaking actually. It has been stated in our house that it’s like having a set of our own parents getting a divorce. It’s made for some very frustrating days, broken hearts, anxiety provoked sicknesses, and lots of frustrated cleaning. One never knows how the choices that are made effect the people around them. Sure, immediate family more than others, but friends and relatives, and people who have looked up to you are effected too. And for us, It hurts. I’m sorry for everyone involved, I’m sorry that a hero has fallen, I’m sorry that the damage has been done, and overall we’re the most sorry and sad for their kids.

 

That being said I have done a lot of frustration cleaning over the last few weeks since we found out. The house needs a good cleaning anyway…

 

We’ve gotten that extra bedroom livable again without too many sacrifices. The bed is cleared, the floor has been vacuumed, and all the stuff has been neatly piled in the corner. It is now habitable. Sure it’s not cleaned out like I want it to be cleaned out leaving only the bed, the desk and the cupboard… but that’ll have to wait until we move some where with more storage.

The Bathroom has been SCRUBBED. I have lamented over cleaning that tub for years. It just gets dirty and there are days when I don’t think anything is going to get it white again, but then I make an effort. I’m happy to report that the tub is clean and white. What did I use to clean it? Comet. Yes, the old standard cleaning scrub and some mussel. I funneled all of my anger into that poor scrub brush, and lo and behold it worked wonders. I guess all that extra money I spend on cleaners isn’t really worth it when all I really need is some Comet, some Borax and a steam mop. I think I’ll put some effort in to going back to the basics when we move into a new house.

The Living room also got a thorough vacuuming the other day. Floors and couches. I think I need to work a bit harder on the curtains, but those can wait. They probably just need to go in the washer.

What’s next?

Probably the kitchen. It got a good deep cleaning not to long ago, but it still needs some work.

 

Lets see…. John FINALLY got a job title change and a raise at work. He is now titled “Senior Clerk” it’s about time. He’s been a “Janitor” for the last 8 years and four of those years he’s been working exclusively as a shop clerk, making sure the men and computers are working properly. So this has been a long time coming and it is good that it has finally happened. He’s referred to a lot as the expert with their computer system, but with the title of “Janitor” it didn’t help him out very much when it came to promotions or applying for new positions. We’re hoping that this job title change will be beneficial in a lot of ways.

 

It’s not a secret that we’ve been looking at buying a house. We’ve seen a lot in the last two weeks. 14 to be exact, and we have liked two of them. Well, we actually kinda loved one of them, but it has another offer on it, and even though we’re still interested, and may be putting an offer on it anyway, it may not happen that that is our house. But our #2 choice isn’t so bad either.

Our real estate agent is a nice guy. Troy Starkey, I’d recommend him to everyone. He grew up in John’s ward in Kaysville, so he’s considered more of a family friend. And as an agent he has been spectacular. He’s funny and opinionated, but we don’t let his opinions sway our choices, he wouldn’t want them to. The only real complaint I have about him is his down play of small homes. We’ve looked at a lot of houses that have small square footage that we haven’t not liked.

The thing is… John and I don’t have kids… we *can’t* have kids. It’s not like this is something I want to tell our realtor. Some days it’s more than I even want to admit on my blog that no one reads. All we need is a little house. All we want is a little more room. So him being so down on “small square footage” houses is a little annoying to me. Besides, more space in a house is just more room I have to clean.

 

We’ve been ultra busy between time with friends, working, house hunting, and all the other things going on. It’s hard to find us at home. We will definitely be happy when February is over.

 

My Birthday is Friday.

Andrea is coming to stay at my house for the weekend.

My Grandma turns 90 on Friday and there is a big party for her on Thursday. (At least that’s what I have heard I haven’t really been invited to it yet.)

I’m making a Captain America Shield cake for my little buddy William Brand over the next few days to have it for him by Saturday.

We’re putting offers on a house or two.

We’ll celebrate 10 years of married life on the 25^th.

 

I think that’s it for now.