Socializing

This week really did me in. I don't know what, maybe a full moon or something like that. Regardless, I still managed to spend some time with coworkers past and present.

A few people at my school wanted to get together to shoot balls at Topgolf. Since I missed the last little social, I decided to go and spend sometime with a handful of my coworkers. In case you've never been to Topgolf, it's like what would happen if a putting green and a bowling alley had a baby.

There are tons of clubs to choose from! We found out the silly way that the evens were on one side of the bay and the odds were on the other. It was silly because it took us a hour to figure it out.

The view of the green from our two bays.

It was nice to get together outside of work and just hang out for a little bit. I feel like we are always on the go and never have a minute to just sit and talk unless it's about students or ordering supplies or any pending catastrophes. The only other time I'd been to Topgolf was with the Elmers on one of our last Arizona visits. Maybe it's time to register at the local Topgolf and play more often.

By the time the weekend rolled around, it was time for a lunch with Amy and Heather. We met up at Red Lobster on Saturday afternoon and had the chance to catch up and indulge in a few ship specials. I had shrimp skewers and grilled chicken with a side of french fries.

I love how we've been able to stay in touch ever since I left working at the U. This fall it will be 5 years since we all met and became friends.

On another note, we lost our soccer game last night. The other team was merciless. In one half, I saw someone get hit in the groin, hit in the butt, and then I got hit twice, once in the chest and then my back. We lost by less than half :( Next week is our 11pm game and we are NOT looking forward to it.

Game #2 and other tidbits

We had our second game of the season yesterday, and The Scientists won 5-3. Not bad considering our game didn't start until 10:20pm and it had been snowing a lot earlier in the day. I was especially exhausted because I had to play the duration of the game without subbing out. Our soccer league has a rule that all coed teams must have at least two girls for each team on the field at all times, and Deborah and I were the only girls who showed up to play. I did however hit 11k steps on my Fitbit and logged over 60 active minutes for my Saturday. 

Check out our sweaty post-game selfie, can you tell how tired we are? 

We (Sam and I) are getting better, but we both want to feel more confident on the field, so we bought our own soccer ball and will be using date night as an opportunity to practice more. I know I was bummed about being so inexperienced at our first game, but that is something I'd like to change.

Princess is 7 months old now! She is teething again and as a result has been destroying her rope toys. Additionally, she has become much more confident when it's time to go outside in the snow. It's funny to watch her boldly walk across frozen snow piles and sniff around, when she refused to leave the porch when she first saw snow. I think she might actually be afraid of my phone, which could explain why she isn't too keen about taking selfies. She is still a good girl, and very much a spoiled rotten, but beloved doggy daughter.

I've been trying to experiment with new recipes lately. First I learned how to make cheese sauce a la white sauce to make our homemade mac'n'cheese taste cheesier. Second, I found a recipe for noodle kugel, a Jewish dish that I'm sure Bubby would have taught me to make if she were still alive. I like the kugel recipe I found, but I already have some ideas on how to lighten it up and pump some more protein into it.

Check out my practically picturesque kugel!

I've Never Played A Sport In My Life

I'm an artist, not an athlete. I'm an evil-genius, not a soccer-player.

Yet, I somehow let my adorkable husband convince me to play a season for an indoor soccer league. His friend recruited him to play for a team called "The Scientists" and he managed to get me onboard as well. I was floored that it was his idea, since he has a vendetta against any kind of exercise-like activity. But he was so excited, and I wanted to be supportive, so we became the new team members.

The extent of my soccer knowledge is the Disney flick The Big Green, so I understand a good amount of rules and strategy. But theory and application and two very different things.

Our first game was on Saturday night, so we scrambled to buy shin guards and soccer socks during our regular errands so we were ready for the game.

I've never played a sport in my life, mostly because I'm afraid of getting hit. So when I was playing defense for the team, they told me to block the other team by getting in their way and trying to steal the ball. That's all fine and dandy unless your opponent is two feet taller and has a good 50lbs on you. I got smashed the first time I tried to go for it. My head absorbed most of it, and Sam was trying to determine if I was showing signs of a concussion. Since I wasn't showing signs, we decided to rest easy. It shook me up though.

We ended up losing 5 to 4, but not bad considering Sam and I had no idea what to do!

Making a Dream House

Due to the fact that we spent the last two weeks in our house all day and not at work, we were finally able to talk about some of the home projects we want to do and some of the updates that we need to make. After trolling the house and taking notes, we heading out to Home Depot and Lowe's to do some research and price check a few things. Of course I made a list!

Project #1- Basement Windows

When we bought our house, we were thrilled that the windows were all new, with the exception of three in the basement. We need to get quotes from a few different places so that we can make arrangements to have them upgraded during the springtime. I'm super psyched, but only because our current basement windows are only single-paned and don't have screens. I know this will be the priciest of the upgrades, but it will be worth it.

Project #2- Porch Lights

We have flood lights for porch lights by the front door and the side door, but they need to be replaced (the fixtures are hideous). At first, I wanted to completely remove the flood lights and install regular porch lights, but having Princess has helped me see the value of flood lighting. I hate turning on the porch light and leaving it on for any stretch of time, so I told Sam that I wanted our flood lights to be motion-censored. I can't wait to choose a fixture that isn't quite as outdated, but still lights up the yard for Princess to do her business.

Project #3- Rain Gutter

Our front rain gutter has a low point, which has now made several icicles. Actually, the rain gutter just needs to be replaced completely. Additionally, our downspouts need to be adjusted to Sam's liking (plus Princess loves licking the water that falls off of the house). So yeah, hopefully we can take care of it when the snow is gone, but before spring showers start.

Project #4- Doors 

Our storm doors suck! They are old and clunky and I can't wait to see them go. I found a door style that I really like, and I also want to replace our back exterior door as well. I'm really happy that we can not only keep our front exterior door, but we can give it a makeover by frosting the stain glass for more privacy and giving it a fresh coat of paint.

Project #5- Side Fence

Our neighbors don't really take care of their yard, which explains why they've let the side fence become so run down. Part of it collapsed during November's snow storm, but Sam and Bob reattached it with some new wood pieces. Since then, we've been trying to decide how to deal with the fence as a whole. We've finally decided that we would reinforce if with brand-new two-by-fours and finished enclosing the backyard.

Project #6- Paint House

Our house is made up of light tan bricks and light blue siding. The blue just does not work with the tan brick, so I found a nice dark red color the paint over the blue (now the house will look more like a barn!). I am convinced that it will make our house that much more special because there are no other red houses in our neighborhood.

These are a mix of smaller and larger projects, but I can't wait to get started and see just how beautiful we can make our house. It really will be 'our' house when we've finished these projects.

This and That

During our holiday vacation, I was able to do this and that. I wasn't able to do all the fun outings we had planned because I hurt my lower back/hip flexor area, but we still managed a few stories. 

With the Dunn's in town, we were able to get together and go bowling. That probably was not the best choice for me since I was already hurting from my injury, but how can you say no to those two cute faces? I got at least five strikes over the course of three different games. I kept the hurt under wraps because I wanted as much family time as I could get, and I was very pleased with the opportunities I had despite the aches and pains.

We got together with Sam's cousin Kelsey, her husband Matthew, and baby Brentlie for a dinner/game night activity. Seriously though, check out this sweet little munchkin face! She's just about the cutest little babe ever.

I'd only been to their townhouse once before, and Sam had never been at all, so we only got lost twice before we actually walked through the door. Kelsey made a yummy pot pie and we brought a chocolate lava cake, and after dinner we played a game called Disney Pictoria. The game shows you images and then asks you trivia questions based on the pictures. The game was a fine choice because Matthew and Kels are Disney die-hards and it made for a healthful competition. I finished the game first, and Sam finished last, but it's not like we are really keeping score ;)

 A member in our ward offered us a larger dining room table, and we were eager to snatch it up. Our old table only sat four people, but this new one sits six! We were so excited to have a larger, sturdier table, which means we can actually invite more than two other people over for dinner. We christened our new table by making a Hanukah-themed brunch of potato pancakes and turkey bacon. The recipe I found for the pancakes is a bit healthier than the latkes I've made in the past, I didn't have to use nearly as much oil to make them this time.

Overall, it's been a pretty decent break from work. Sam heads back to the grind tomorrow, but I still have a few more days before school is back in session. I think I'll spend some time on painting and see what kind of inspiration strikes my writing. 

So far, 2017 isn't off to such a bad start, injury and all.

Starting 2017

Our New Years Eve was pretty low-key, but it encompassed our preferences in so many ways. We didn’t really want to go out and be in large crowds of people, so we opted for a night in with another couple. For dinner, I made Shepard’s Pie (mashed potatoes, cheese, beef, and corn) and for dessert we had chocolate raspberry Milano cookies.

Following our meal, we played a game called Dominion. It took me a whole game to figure out what to do and the best way to strategize, but once I connected the dots, we were in business. We played three rounds before attempting to watch the countdown in New York City. When I say attempt, I mean we missed the countdown by about 10 seconds, so we performed a countdown redo just for our own amusement. We popped open a bottle of sparkling cider and ‘cheers-ed’ our way into 2017 (and only two hours early!).

After our friends left, we talked for a bit as we got ready for bed. I know, I know, going to bed at 10:30 on New Year’s Eve is lame, but it was exactly what we needed. I mean, what else did we need besides a game night, a good dinner, and family snuggles with our puppy?

As we turned off the light to go to sleep, the hamster in my mind decided to jump on the hamster wheel and keep me up for another 30 minutes. I began thinking about lots of things that I am looking forward to in this new year. I’m excited for so many things, especially investing some time and effort into our house.

We were at Lowes the other day looking for stickers numbers for our brand-new locking mailbox, but for some reason we got hung up in the door section looking at new storm doors. You see, the storm doors we have are quite old, they are heavy, clunky, and look incredibly run-down. I was determined to check out what some of our options would be should we decide to upgrade with new, more modern doors.

I was immediately overwhelmed by the selection in front of me. There were so many styles and colors (and price points!), how in the world was I supposed to narrow it down?

After a good stroll through the choices and finally ending up on the aisle to get the numbered mailbox stickers, I was pretty sure of how to proceed.

When we arrived back home, I scoured the internet and came to the conclusion that Home depot had the same selection as Lowes, and would most likely honor Lowes coupons if I asked them. I learned that it would cost just as much to install the doors as it would to purchase them. Suddenly, my $600 purchase turned into $1100.

However, we could install the doors ourselves and save some money there. Lots of choices.

I originally wanted to replace our front door, only because the glass design is totally see-through and I want the option to stand in the kitchen in my underwear without my neighbors seeing me ;) Our friends had suggested simply frosting the glass from the inside either with contact paper or frosted spray paint. I checked out Michael’s to see what they had, and sure enough they had a decent spray paint product that would meet my needs. Suddenly, I no longer desired to replace our front door.

Doors aside, our rain gutters need some updating, and I’m determined to turn our light blue house with tan brick into a red house with tan brick. Now I get to start searching for a handyman who can help us with some of these tasks. If you know anyone in the greater Salt Lake Area who you’d gladly recommend for some of these jobs, please let me know.

Honestly, I think these three projects will increase the curb appeal of our cute little house exponentially, I just need someone to teach me how to actually do these household improvements and I’ll have it made.

Like I said, there is so much to look forward to in this new year, and our home is merely one item on my list of things to be excited about. I’ve made commitments to my art and my body this year, and I’m ready to test my dedication. I’m determined to focus on ‘me’ for the remainder of the school year, and see what comes of it.

Happy New Year!!