updates

I need to get back in the groove of blogging. We're still trying to figure out a daily/weekly rhythm to life here in Alameda. I just got back from Florida and started my new summer job today... so while we're pretty much settled here and things are shaping up around the house (have to put up stuff on the walls, hang curtains), it feels like new things come up and life is always busy and changing. All good stuff though! 

So, all that to say, I'm going to give updates on our life here in bullet points and random pictures:

• Penny is talking more. Words include change diaper, tunnel/bridge (she gets them confused), Jonas, uh-huh, pigeon, watch, smoothie and other random words I can't remember right now.
• Jonas has ruined his perfect complexion/skin with scratches and scabs and scars. Ok, not that dramatic and really not that big of a deal but he's been scratching at his face while falling asleep (see photo below) and it DRIVES.ME.CRAZY. It's hard to make him stop because he does it when he's falling asleep in his bed.
• Jeff got a bike! Now he needs to learn to ride it. (More posts on that to come.)
• I went to Florida for the Gospel Coalition's Women's Conference. It was awesome. DA Carson, Kellers (Tim and Kathy), John Piper, Harry Potter.  Almost went to Red Lobster. :(
• I started a new job today. I'll be teaching adult ESL in Oakland, working with refugees from Bhutan, Burma, Somalia, Ethiopia. Everyday, Monday to Friday, 9am to 12pm, Jeff will be at home with the kids. It'll be interesting... like Freaky Friday. :)
• Mmmm... we're getting used to the sun and warm weather. See photo of Penny in one layer of clothing below (and if you know me at all, that's a big deal.)
• Countdown begins now. Jeff says we can get IPhones next April! YAY.

The REAL happiest place on earth. 

This lady was really great. Learned a lot from her. Talks faster than the micro machine guy.

i still cook, i promise.

It's been a really long time since I've posted a recipe.

Not because I haven't been cooking (some days I feel like all I do is stand in the kitchen and make food), but because I haven't been making anything new.

But I realized that I actually have been making something I haven't shared on the blog, and because it's Jeff's favorite chili, I thought that it'd be an important addition to my blog archives.

White Chili with Ground Turkey 
(from allrecipes.com)

• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 pounds ground turkey
• 2 (4 ounce) cans canned green chile peppers, chopped
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ground cayenne pepper to taste
• ground white pepper to taste
• 3 (15 ounce) cans cannellini beans
• 5 cups chicken broth
• 2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Directions

1. In a large pot over medium heat, combine the onion, garlic and ground turkey and saute for 10 minutes, or until turkey is well browned. Add the chile peppers, cumin, oregano, cinnamon, cayenne pepper to taste and white pepper to taste and saute for 5 more minutes.
2. Add two cans of the beans and the chicken broth to the pot. Take the third can of beans and puree them in a blender or food processor. Add this to the pot along with the cheese. Stir well and simmer for 10 minutes, allowing the cheese to melt.

I buy those huge things of ground turkey from Costco once a month. Totally worth it because we eat ground turkey a lot. And, I also will double this recipe and freeze half of it because it's really convenient to have in the freezer when you have to whip up a meal really fast. (Sometimes, I don't even defrost it, I just stick the big ol' frozen chunk of chili into a saucepan and "melt"/cook it.)

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Totally and completely unrelated, pictures of the kids eating breakfast at our counter. I love having a big counter in the kitchen! It's so easy to feed the kids when you don't have to walk back and forth between the kitchen and dining room!

we made a table (aka my third baby).

I don't hate moving.

In fact, there are some things that I actually like about moving. I love going through all of our stuff, purging and cleaning out the things we don't need, and selling stuff. And, I really enjoy getting new pieces of furniture. (I'm quite fickle in my furniture taste/decor style.)

We got rid of a LOT of stuff as we prepared to move to Alameda: our bed (it was broken), two couches (we got a new one), shelves, tv, coffee table, etc. etc. One of the things that we were really sad to let go of was our new-to-us West Elm dining table and benches. I decided that it was too heavy and dark for our new place (I really wanted to buy things that would brighten up our ground-level apartment) and sold them right before we moved (and made a profit!) 

I really wanted a simple, kind of rustic, kind of modern, kind of industrial dining table. I was looking for ones like this (but not so dark) and this but on a very, VERY limited budget. I scoured craigslist and thrift stores and furniture consignment stores... and almost found what I was looking for but nothing was quite right. 

I did some internet research and found this tutorial and felt inspired. I did some more research and found an even more detailed tutorial and Jeff and I decided to give it a go...

Little did I know that I knew very little about building a dining table. 

It all started with a trip to Home Depot. I thought I was buying 3 pieces of beautiful red oak for $7.50 a piece. Turned out I was buying 3, 7-foot pieces at $7.50 per FOOT. Yes. I thought I was going to spend $24 and ended up spending almost $160 on the wood for the tabletop. 

But we got through that, got our $10 table legs at Ikea, and got to work...

(Jeff was really excited, can't you tell?)

All was going well until we lifted the table after glueing and drilling on the pieces to hold it together on the back. Apparently, I used too much glue and it seeped through a LOT.

It dried up like the picture above and I had to scrape/chisel it off. With a cheese knife. Yes. That was not fun and we were just about ready to give up. But 3 hours and 3 scraped knuckles later, it looked ok and we pressed on...

And, TA-DA!

We LOVE IT. Seriously. I feel like this table is my third child. It was that much blood, sweat and tears to get it finished.

If you're thinking of making your own dining table, I say go for it. Just go easy on the glue, plan to have an outside-ish space to work on it (I was high from the polyurethane fumes for a whole day!), and DON'T BUY RED OAK! 

Now I'm thinking of making a little desk for myself... :)

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I'm hoping to blog more of our new place soon. Working on getting things on the walls, making curtains, buying some last pieces of furniture, making it feel like home. So far, we love Alameda! More on that to come soon too...

Happy 4th Birthday Jonas! (late, I know.)

Jonas, a simple boy with simple wants.

I've been swamped with moving and unpacking and settling in. So much so that this year, I had to let go of one of my favorite things to do: throwing my kids birthday parties. :(

Jonas didn't mind though. In fact, when I asked him what he wanted to do for this birthday on the day before, he said, "I don't want a birthday party. I already had a party. Remember umma? At the restaurant?"

So, this year, as Jonas turned 4 (!!!!), we went out for birthday breakfast pancakes, took a Target trip so that he could pick out a toy of choice, had mac-n-cheese for lunch, and Jeff took Jonas out for burgers and shakes for a birthday daddy-date. We ended the day with chocolate ice cream.

And our little-big boy was happy.

...

Jonas,

You wake up each morning, singing some obscure pop song that your music-snob daddy has taught you to love. You give the biggest hugs and smiles and when you say "Good morning Umma! Good morning Daddy!", it really is a good morning. You are a beat-boxer, almost as good as Biz, and there's always a song in your head; we know because you're constantly buzzing and humming with melodies. You are the most enthusiastic person we know; a yes is never just a yes, it's usually a wholehearted "Sure!" or "You're right!" You love Penny and she loves you, we know this from the ways you guys share secret laughs and giggles over secret jokes that parents aren't supposed to be in on. You are a monster at eating sweets, though thankfully, you'll still eat vegetables without complaint. You love to read and Frog and Toad and Babar and George and Little Bear are your dearest friends. You love to love, sometimes so much so, that I worry about your heart being broken in the future by some mindless cruel girl who won't see how awesome and amazing you really are. But that's ok, because God knows and I can't keep you in a umma-shaped bubble forever. You surprise us everyday, in good ways and bad. You give us loads of joy and teach us endless lessons on being patient and gracious. You are our favorite boy and now you are 4, officially no longer a toddler... (no more T's in your clothing sizes!!!!)

We love you Jonas Clayton!

(Stop growing up so fast, please?)