Song of the Week - Clover, our Angel =)

So like I said in my last post, you may have heard we are now living in Portland. And now you also may have heard we added a new member to the family. No, I definitely wasn't pregnant, but the stork did bring us something pretty cute!


This is Clover, the new love of our lives. We'd been talking about getting a dog for quite some time, but being in school has really taken up a lot of my time and we didn't think it would be possible to raise a puppy in the middle of all of that. Then we found ourselves in Portland for the summer and the opportunity presented itself on a silver platter. The last two weeks have been a roller coaster of so many emotions. We read so many books, forums on the internet, got advice from friends, but nothing really prepared us for what has unfolded. But I can tell you that I feel so much love for this little ball of fur that it's really quite overwhelming.

There are a lot of stories I could tell so far, but most of them involve her potty behaviors, and I'm sure ya'll don't care about that as much as we do! I wanted to post my song of the week for Clover because it's my favorite memory with her so far. The first weekend we got her we were exhausted beyond belief. It seemed like every second we were either running, playing fetch, trying to get her to eat and go potty, and it all had completely obliterated us. So we decided to go out to dinner for a couple hours Saturday night in hopes she would just take a little nap and settle down. We got home from a great dinner only to find that she had an accident in her crate and stamped it all over herself and her blanket. We went into operation panic, disinfecting everything, putting clover into her first bath in a total frenzy with water going all over the bathroom, and her howling at the top of her lungs. After "operation restoration" was complete I laid down on the couch and could only cry because I felt like the worst caretaker alive. I can't even imagine what it feels like to have a real child, but that was a first taste of what it means to be responsible for another being's happiness and I felt like I was doing a terrible job.

Then in the background I heard this song playing on the iPod and it just calmed me. Clover is our little angel... there is no limit to how much she loves us. I can feel that from her every time she falls asleep in my lap, and every time she gives me kisses when I come home to play with her at lunch. Adding her to our lives feels perfect and I can't believe how much she is changing us in the two short weeks she has been here. There are a lot of things we had to give up in the beginning, but when looking at the big picture they seem like itty bitty grains of sand compared to how much better our life is with her.

Jack Johnson
"Angel"
Sleep Through the Static, 2008
________________________________

I've got an angel
She doesn't wear any wings
She wears a heart that can melt my own
She wears a smile that can make me wanna sing

She gives me presents
With her presence alone
She gives me everything I could wish for
She gives me kisses on the lips just for coming home

She could make angels
I've seen it with my own eyes
You gotta be careful when you've got good love
Cause the angels will just keep on multiplying

But you're so busy changing the world
Just one smile can change all of mine
We share the same soul
Oh oh oh oh oh ohhh

We share the same soul
Oh oh oh oh oh ohhh
We Share the same soul
Oh oh oh oh oh ohhh
Oh oh oh oh oh ohhh
Umm umm umm uhhhhhhmm

Homemade Granola

So now that I am alone during the day and a big open kitchen is staring me in the face all the time, I am in a baker's paradise. I have been cooking and baking and feeding my Griz and friends for several weeks and have loved it. It is fun to be able to have this kind of freedom.

My first project was a homemade granola. I know, I know, Portland is turning me into a certified hippie! I made this with all organic ingredients and only used natural sweeteners. So it's a great way to get a bunch of grains in the morning with breakfast, or a boost before a run, or a delicious treat served with yogurt, fruit or ice cream.

I had a really good time reading about natural sweeteners, as I am really committing to not buy products that have high fructose corn syrup in them. I have to spend twice as much time at the grocery store in order to avoid those products but it so worth it. It amazes me that foods marketed as "health food" still have this substance in them. It is frustrating just how many things we never even "think twice about" and use on a daily basis have high fructose corn syrup.

High fructose corn syrup was a government subsidized sweetener because it was easy to use, twice as concentrated as other sweeteners, and stores and ships easily. But now we see that it is destroying the average American's health... leading to diabetes and heart disease. It causes a quick rise in energy and brings you down just as fast. So we are enjoying seeking out foods that are free from this addictive and terrible substance. It is more expensive to buy foods without high fructose corn syrup, but truly, in the end you pay double in health care for any lack of investment you failed to make in your health. This is a concept I am just beginning to grasp.

Dry Ingredients:

5 cups rolled oats (you can also use a combination of rolled grains)
2-3 cups of raw almonds or pecan halves (or other nuts)
1 cup raw sunflower seeds
¾ cup sesame seeds
½ cup wheat germ (or ground flax seed)
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp sea salt

*Other Possibilities: ½ cup dried fruit (add after cooked) –date pieces, cranberries, cherries, apricots, mango. Did not use fruit this time but will try it next time with cranberries or dried cherries.

Wet Ingredients:

¾ cup unsweetened applesauce
1/3 cup or brown rice syrup (can also use agave nectar)
1/4 cup honey

2 Tbsp safflower oil

Preheat the oven to 300°F.

Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Mix the wet ingredients together, and then stir into dry ingredients. Stir well to mix thoroughly.

Spread the mixture into two baking dishes. Bake for 35 – 40 minutes, or until evenly golden brown. Stir every 10 minutes to ensure even browning. Stir again when removed from oven to keep it from cooling into a solid mass. The granola will crisp as it cools. If you use fruit, stir once it is cooled. If you want more big clumps in the granola like I did, skip the last turn so it is more of a solid mass and it breaks up as you pick it up.

Store in the refrigerator in a large zip lock bag or other airtight container.

Makes about 10 cups.

Transformation of the Tempe Condo

So these pictures are a long time in coming, I know, I know. But at least they made their way onto the blog. Later is better than never right??? :)

This kind of chronicles the last semester and the work-in-progress that is the Griswold/Porter condo. The first picture starts at the beginning, October of 2008, Dan buys condo. Moves in.

December of 2008 starts the next chapter, Val moves in.

March 2009, updating begins. We take trip after trip to Lowe's, write out plans, budgets, etc. We decide to do everything in pieces. Family room, dining room, kitchen, then bedroom. Before Portland all we have time to accomplish is family room and part of dining room.

Val starts project on spring break by priming & painting all the doors, trim, doorways, etc.

At the end of spring break, Yurea comes to paint family room. He is a Croatian contact of Dan's friend Sinead at work. He does an EXCELLENT job!

Things are looking good! This is pre-blinds.

We pick out wooden blinds for the window in this room, as well as the two entryway windows in the foyer. We choose vertical screens for the sliding glass door.

Take note of Dan's ceramic frogs at the end of the stairs. He loves them so much ;)

We really love the vertical panels because we can see the green from the trees outside. The light is just filtered so it doesn't shine directly on us, but still provides a good, balanced light for the room.

After painting we start updating the hardwares and light fixtures. We replace both outdoor light fixtures, which had pretty much ceased to exist, the hallway sconce, and the big hanging light you see in a few of the pictures. (Which used to be a long, hanging HUGE grey disco light ball, which Dan has decided to keep in the bedroom for when it "comes to him" about what this ball's purpose should be. I am actively plotting every minute of my life to destroy said ball)

New doorknobs, no more gold fixtures!!!!

And there you have it! Next item on the list is painting the dining room a deep red, and finishing the tan color into the kitchen. Also next on the list is getting another couch! We survived the first 6 months of living together with one couch, and I must say it was quite the feat. I feel pretty proud of us. There's nothin' like "together time" all the time ;)  So we are rewarding our efforts with a matching love seat from the set. Also we didn't get around to putting our pictures back up, so that is on the list as well. We are looking forward to purchasing some art while we're up here in Portland to bring back to the newly painted walls.

We have enjoyed improving our living space, and our life together along with that. Like everything, it's a work in progress! This project taught us a lot about working together. Looking forward to many more improvements...

Song of the Week

Band of Horses
Detlef Schrempf
from "Cease to Begin" - 2007
____________________________________________

And take a little walk when the worst is to come
When I saw you looking like I never thought
And say you're at a loss or forgot that words can do more than harm

The town is gonna talk, but these people do not
See things through to the very minimal
But what's it gonna cost to be gone?
If we see you like I hoped we never would

When eyes can't look at you any other way,
Any other way, any other way
When eyes can't look at you any other way,
Any other way, any other way.

So take it as a song or a lesson to learn
And sometime soon be better than you were
If you say you're gonna go, then be careful
And watch how you treat every living soul

My eyes can't look at you any other way,
Any other way, any other way
When eyes can't look at you any other way,
Any other way, any other way.

Port!

So I know I've been a slacker. No need to dance around that. But I have been busy! Also, you may have heard I'm in a new city and wondering what the heck I'm doing there... which is also true. I have not been a good communicator as of late, so my apologies. No internet here yet, so once I escape the coffee shop 10 minutes a day to check email trap, I shall update you on life in the rainy city.

It is beautiful here!

We have had many adventures just in the week we've been here, and many more to come.

First highlights:

*Getting stuck in parking garage of the Civic with no key (building we moved into) and thinking I had been deserted forever by Dan and would have to live off of rats until someone found me. Estimated wait - 10 mins. Quite the scare.

*Seeing Joshua James (provo folk artist) at the Aladdin Theatre in downtown. Very cool to see a familiar face! I also got to catch up with his wife who I met years ago in an english class at UVU.

*Walking everywhere!!! We've only had to use the car once since we've been here. How amazing is that? We're starting to think that even bringing one car was a mistake :)

*Getting WORKED OVER in the blue chair salon by the most amazing hair ARTIST I have ever seen in my life. He completely transformed both of our hair styles. I have never seen anyone approach hair as an art form quite like this man. Estimated time in salon - 3 1/2 hours, Dan really had no idea what he was getting into!

*Just waking up every morning and wondering what the new day will bring, and it is always wonderful! Hope everyone is enjoying the beginning of summer, I miss and love all of you!

Recipe of the Week

Fresh Ginger StirFry

Beef stir fry meat, already cut up into pieces (from Sunflower market)
Teriyaki Ginger Sauce (also from Sunflower market)

Marinade meat in ginger sauce for about an hour prior to cooking, takes about 1/3 cup of marinade. Chop 2 cloves of garlic.

Heat wok with 2 tbls. peanut oil. Add meat and garlic to oil. Cook meat until no longer pink on HIGH heat.

Vegetables:

1 medium sweet onion, chopped
1/2 red onion, chopped into bigger pieces
3 stalks of celery, cut in half, then cut into angled pieces
1 big carrot, cut into bite size pieces
1 green bell pepper, cut into bigger pieces
1 red bell pepper, cut into bigger pieces
2 cups of fresh green beans, trimmed and cut in half
1-2 crowns of broccoli, cut into bite sized pieces
Fresh ginger, peeled, minced, about 2-3 tbls.

Add these vegetables to the wok on high, cook for about 5 minutes, constantly stirring around. Keep on high heat until cooked sufficiently, but still crunchy and firm.

Add 1 cup sugar snap peas at the end, because you want them extra firm, not soggy at all, just heated through. After stirfry has finished cooking, top with a handful of roasted peanuts and serve over hot, brown rice.

Delicious! Tastes even better the next day for lunch after the flavors have soaked into the vegetables all night. It takes quite a bit of time to prepare all the vegetables for this stir fry, so if you have time on a Sunday afternoon, you can chop all the veggies and store them in an airtight container overnight. Then when you are ready for stirfry it will only take 15 minutes to put this healthy and delish meal together.

Medical Mystery in Tempe, AZ

So if you've heard from me in the past couple weeks I've been either a) out of it, b) screaming in pain, or c) being my normal self, or d) a combination of all three. I have had a little bout of seasonal allergies as spring has sprung in AZ. I got some kind of viral infection with the cough from hell, but instead of getting better I just kept getting weirder and more unexplainable symptoms. So after my first "pain attack" on Monday night, while I was making dinner, Dan took me to the Urgent Care, where they could only do a few things for me because we were self-pay. We basically had a 400 dollar visit to get a pain pill to stop my stabbing pain. The doc surmised that I bruised my rib from coughing all the week prior.

Then I took it easy, rested, just like he told me to, but last night another attack came on. I was at sushi with Melanie, and the pain stabbed me again... this time much worse. It is like someone is taking a knife and stabbing you in the chest repeatedly so you can't breathe. So Dan being the "enginerd" (engineer+nerd if I need to point that out) that he is, consulted his best friend WebMD. After an hour he was convinced I had pancreatitis, my splean had ruptured, and that my gall bladder needed to be removed.

So with that helpful bear griz diagnosis we went to my doctor in the morning and explained all the weirdness, to which he replied "you have pleurisy." Dan yelled out, what about her splean? What about the appendix? Don't we have to dig them out of her?!!! Well no, sir, she has an infection and we need to get it under control. Simple as that. We just walked out of the office the happiest people alive. This has been a bizarre couple of weeks. Pleurisy basically means the lining of my lungs has become inflamed, and instead of gentle friction of the pleuri against the lung like silk, it has become sandpaper, and an infection has resulted. I asked him, isn't that what pioneers died of? Yeaaaah. OH - and Nate Dawg - Lebron James just had pleurisy so bascially we're pleurisy buddies. Pretty awesome.

So now we're at home, nerding it up, resting, relaxing, and I'm going to get better soon!!! Yay! And pictures of the progress on the condo will be coming soon, just need to download them.

Dan you're the best caretaker and you saved me from getting more sick and miserable! I love you!

Song of the Week

Alexi Murdoch

All My Days
Time Without Consequence, 2006
_________________________________


Well I have been searching all of my days
All of my days
Many a road, you know
I’ve been walking on
All of my days
And I’ve been trying to find
What’s been in my mind
As the days keep turning into night

Well I have been quietly standing in the shade
All of my days
Watch the sky breaking on the promise that we made
All of this rain
And I’ve been trying to find
What’s been in my mind
As the days keep turning into night

Well many a night I found myself
With no friends standing near
All of my days
I cried aloud
I shook my hands
“What am I doing here?”
All of these days

For I look around me
And my eyes confound me
And it’s just too bright
As the days keep turning into night

Now I see clearly
It’s you I’m looking for
All of my days
Soon I’ll smile
I know I’ll feel this loneliness no more
All of my days

For I look around me
And it seems you found me
And it’s coming into sight
As the days keep turning into night
As the days keep turning into night

And even breathing feels all right
Yes, even breathing feels all right
Now even breathing feels all right
‘Cause even breathing
Feels all right.

The Facelift Has Begun

No, we aren't getting facelifts but our condo is! This week marked the beginning of project plastic surgery on the condo. We are officially DIY'ers!!!! We are painting, replacing hardwares, and basically sprucing it up one room at a time. We have one week to get all the baseboards and doors painted, hardwares and electrical outlets replaced, because we're having someone come paint the living room - we decided to not buy a 200 dollar ladder that we couldn't store afterwards, and I would probably fall off of and die, only to do a so/so job ourselves. So we gave ourselves the motivation of not having to do that big room and entryway with valuted celings, and just do the more manageable rooms ourselves, as well as the small details. He is coming to paint next Sunday so we've got quite a bit of time this week to work on all the small projects one at a time.

This weekend we've cleaned the spaces, washed all the walls with TSP, moved all the furniture into the bedrooms, and taken off the doors and hinges. Tomorrow I sand and paint the primer before going to work! Wish me luck! Oh, and hope you love our nerdy pictures - safety first with Intel work glasses!!! Dan got them out when we had to break a mirror off of the back of one of the doors. Hopefully we're not doomed with 7 years of bad luck. P.S. safety glasses are not really fun to wear over existing glasses!


Total Madness.

Song of the Week

Adele
"Daydreamer"
19, 2008
______________________________

I just went to this show on Wednesday with a few good girlfriends I've made in Phoenix. Adele was so cute, and it was really neat to see her just a month after she won a grammy for Best New Artist of 2008. We had a blast all night... and best of all we only had to go half a mile to the venue and Dan drove us there and picked us up =) I thought about him when Adele played this song and it reminded me of all the times I've daydreamed about the person I want to be with, and how he is finally in my life. Cheesy I know but I love this song and I love him too =)

Daydreamer, sitting on the seat
Soaking up the sun he is a real lover,
Making up the past
And feeling up his girl
Like he's never felt her figure before.

A jaw dropper
Looks good when he when he walks,
Is the subject of their talk
He would be hard to chase,
But good to catch
And he could change the world
With his hands behind his back,
Oh.

You can find him sitting on your doorstep
Waiting for a surprise.
It will feel like he's been there for hours
And you can tell that he'll be there for life.

Daydreamer, with eyes that make you melt
He lends his coat for shelter,
Plus he's there for you
When he shouldn't be
But he stays all the same,
Waits for you, then sees you through.

There's no way I could describe him
What I'll say is, just what I'm hoping for

But I will find him sitting on my doorstep
Waiting for a surprise
It will feel like he's been there for hours
And I can tell that he'll be there for life

And I can tell that he'll be there for life.