in case you care

Posting here on this blog has been sporadic lately. I’ve actually been spending most of my time over at my other blog. Sorry- I like to change things up sporadically and skip around and start over at a whim and all that jazz. I’m not going to close this blog- I’m kind of playing with the idea of just using it for personal, family type updates (and making it private) and moving all my cooking, crafting, fashionising, and decorating posts to the other blog. Haven’t really decided yet. But for now you can find me HERE if you care to see what I’ve been up to. Yeah, I know- I find myself frustrating at times as well. I just can’t ever sit still.

As a favor to me…

would you please take the time to watch the FRESH VIDEO. It’s something Andy and I care a lot about. I know it’s rather long, but it’s so, so important.

This video is only available to watch for free this week.

So watch it while you can! Then go HERE for more information.

A lot of people make the mistake of thinking that caring about what you eat and eating healthy means becoming a vegetarian. That’s not what this is about at all. It’s about making healthy, smart choices for our environment and our economy.

It’s not always possible for us to buy local or organic. But when I can, I do. Yes, buying local and/or organic is more expensive. That’s a fact. But I will gladly pay the extra dollar or two, when I’m able to, because that money comes back to me in a multitude of healthy benefits. I can shave the budget in other areas. I won’t compromise our healthy lifestyle. Organic and local items are infinitely healthier than processed food and chemically treated food. There’s no argument there. So why don’t we make that choice more often? I want to live a long and healthy life and that’s what I want for my family too.

My little contribution is not little. It helps our local economy and it helps my personal well being. So thank you for watching. It never hurts to educate yourself and consider the alternatives. Andy and I are not perfect, but it sure feels good when we make the choice that points to a better future for ourselves and a better future for our beautiful Earth.

After a few weeks

Oh, hi there! At the end of December I took some time off for family and celebrating holidays. We had a very nice Christmas (Christmas Day was our six month wedding anniversary.)
Christmas Day

Andy’s dad made us these nightstands for Christmas. We’re still deciding what color to stain/paint them. The lamps were IKEA purchases- we both agree that it is soooo nice to have bedside lamps and tables.
This is the tripod lamp that Andy made me for Christmas. I could have peed my pants I was so excited to get this.
We had a nice little New Year’s celebration at home together too.

New Years Eve

Our New Years Eve dinner with pink champagne

Andy and I are really enjoying this married thing. We’ve made a few married couple decisions lately like buying a new to us car:
(not our actual car- I was too lazy to go outside in the snow and take a picture of the real thing)
We love, love it. It’s our ‘family’ car- big enough to fit Ash and a stroller. Got to plan ahead!
…and selling our green couches and buying a new gray one (arm chairs and side tables to come.)

the new couch

It is really so nice not to be in school. I decided last minute not to do the Master’s of English program. I just wasn’t feelin’ it- at least for right now. Andy has two classes left of his master’s but he’s taking this semester off. It was the right choice for a variety of reasons. I’m looking forward to nights with my hubby without homework. Who knows how much more ‘alone time’ we will have. I have the baby fever bad and I think Andy’s caught it as well.

Anyway, the first week in January, my grandfather went to the hospital with pneumonia and difficulty breathing. So that accounts for my never coming back to blogging after Christmas. I just preferred to spend my time with family as much as possible and I really enjoyed it. I even considered not coming back at all. Grandpa was buried today after a very nice service. I’m very sad he’s gone but he has missed my dad so much all these years and in the hospital he kept saying that he was ready to go and be with him.

My grandma and grandpa on my dads side- never saw my grandpa without a smile. He will really be missed.

We are now at home and sitting on our new couch surrounded by our beasts. The snow is falling outside and life just feels so good. I decided to come back and say hello now that things feel kind of peaceful. We went to the bookstore yesterday morning, so I think I may start my new book tonight. But first I’m going to make roasted nutmeg seasoned cauliflower and baked maple salmon. We are getting bountiful baskets this winter every couple of weeks. Here is our haul from last week.It is so much fun because you never know what you are going to get and then we get to figure out new ways to use everything. That’s about it for now. Wow, guess I had a lot to say after my hiatus!

2011 Reading List in Review

One of my goals last year was to read five books for fun. I knew this would be hard to do with all the required class reading I had to do but I’m happy to say that I accomplished this goal! Here’s my reading run down for 2011:

Books Read for Fun:

• Valcourt Heiress by Catherine Coulter
• I Wonder by Marian Bantjes
• Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
• Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
• Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
• Fablehaven by Brandon Mull
• The Genesis Secret by Tom Knox
• The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
• The Great Hunt by Robert Jordan
• The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson
• The Girl Who Played with Fire by Steig Larsson
• The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest by Steig Larsson
• Dune: House Atreides by Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson
• A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin
• The Distant Hours by Kate Morton
• Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen
• You Can Heal Your Life by Louise Hay
• The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton

Books Read for School:

• The Three Empresses: Catherine, Anne I, Elizabeth by Philip Longworth
• Centuries of Childhood by Philippe Aries
• Concerning the Spiritual in Art by Wassily Kandinsky
• The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
• Because of Winn Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
• A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park
• Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
• Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
• Joyful Noise by Fleischman
• Hundre Dresses by Estes
• Devil’s Arithmetic by Yolen
• Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
• The Cay by Taylor
• The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Speare
• The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley
• The Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsberg

*Can you tell I took a children’s lit class? I read other text books and several small children’s books but nothing else worth noting. I think it’s safe to say that I blew my goal of five books for fun in 2011 out of the water!

See ya next year!

My family makes homemade ornaments every year and then exchanges them with each other. I love this tradition because every ornament on my tree was made with love by a family member. It’s so fun getting new ornaments to add to my collection each year. This cute little wreath is my contribution this year. I followed this tutorial.

Yesterday we met my family at The Roll Up for brunch to celebrate my sister’s birthday. That afternoon Andy took me to the matinee of Ballet West’s The Nutcracker. We did some shopping and headed over to Trolley Square for dinner at The Rodizio Grill.

Today we spent the morning at the book store and then had lunch at our favorite Korean restaurant. Now we’re packing up the car and going to Andy’s parents house for Christmas. I’m going to enjoy my little break and I don’t plan to be blogging again until after the new year!

So Merry Christmas!

It’s just her way…

Tags

all about me

When I’m cleaning the house:
Top knot bun and ear buds playing techno.

That’s the way I like it.

xoxo-Kimberly

Coming home

Tags

animals pets

Coming home to these mugs sure makes my day!!!

xoxo-Kimberly

I can finally stop obsessing…

Tags

school

…grades have been posted and I did indeed, graduate.

It just feels so great to end on such a positive note and I’m trying hard not to beat myself up about not getting all A’s. It’s not that I have to have all A’s but I probably could have done it with just one or two more late nights. I’ll admit it, I got lazy toward the end. But I’m still happy with how it all came out and now I can stop obsessively checking my student account to make sure that I actually passed all my classes. It’s over! Fini!!!

xoxo-Kimberly

Holiday Party Time

Tags

fashion, holidays

Around here people’s idea of getting dressed up is putting on the same thing you would wear to church- typically a skirt with a cotton shirt and some conservative flats. Sometimes I dream of living in New York where you really get dressed up for your holiday work party. Or is that just on TV? In any case. I feel very stifled fashion-wise (and in many other cultural ways) a lot of the time living here.

I feel like I can’t really wear the things that I like because then I’ll stick out like a sore thumb amongst all the jeans and t-shirts. It makes me sad. But if you’re lucky enough to live somewhere where dressing up actually means dressing up, then maybe this look would be perfect for your holiday party! You can send me photos of your elegant party and then I can just live vicariously through you, okay?

xoxo-Kimberly

Dress
$78 - modcloth.com

Pumps
$45 - heels.com

Wet Seal strap bag
$4.25 - wetseal.com

Ring
£28 - debenhams.com

Lipstick
$30 - barneys.com

Eyeshadow
$32 - barneys.com

Polish

$15 - rickysnyc.com

Champagne Centerpiece
$50 - crateandbarrel.com

yesterday was pretty cool

Tags

all about me, school

Yep, I finally got my bachelors degree. Everyone kept asking me if I was excited and to be honest I wasn’t. But not because I didn’t think it was freaking awesome that I was graduating. It was because I wasn’t allowing myself to get excited. My college years have been riddled with bump after bump after bump in the road, all threatening to throw me off course- and at times succeeding. Call me superstitious but I was really afraid that if I got too excited about graduating that I would jinx it. I even imagined that right before walking out someone would come take my tassel away and say, “yeah, you’re not actually graduating,” due to some clerical error or some crap like that. So I didn’t dare get all hyped up until they’d actually called my name. When I walked up and shook the Dean’s hand and took my diploma- that was the first moment that I got all jittery inside.

So now the day after it actually feels real….and really good!!

xoxo-Kimberly

PS- My family, Andy’s parents, and Andy were incredibly supportive and encouraging to me. They are a huge reason why I was finally able to make this happen and I really love them for that.