Christmas video

Merry Christmas!

This is my first attempt to upload a home video to the blog... does it work? We went to our favorite park for a little vacation celebration with Conrad. Speaking of vacation... yes! It's upon us! 2 blissful weeks of no work at Calvin. We went to a new Grand Rapids restaurant to rejoice... it's called The Green Well. We give it 4 yule-logs (out of 5). Especially because of the amazing cauliflower-coconut milk-curry soup. Not to mention, all food is locally raised/grown. In Michigan, that means duck is on the menu. It's not too bad.

In other news, Daniel's first batch of beer turned out really great! We were a little freaked to try it, but it's a good first time attempt. It's a bit on the flat side, but good nonetheless. I'm getting better and better at knitting too. I would post pictures of my accomplishments, but they may be under the Christmas tree of a few family members, so I don't want to tip my hand.

Our friend Joy let us borrow her bread machine for a little while. The first batch: herb bread with our wonderful dried home-grown oregano and basil. I made the bread (well, the machine made it) last night and the loaf is almost gone. This could be dangerous. :) No Atkins diet around here! Winter always becomes soup-season for us, so now we will have amazing bread for sandwiches and toast!

decking the halls

This looks like a really fun decoration. I have to be careful not to do too much because then the house looks really cluttered, but I think I could hang a couple of these in the window... click here for instructions.

joy joy joy

deck the halls of 1039 griswold!! we found a great family-owned and operated tree farm in Allendale - complete with hay-rides and popcorn balls! It was a little muddy, but we had a flurry of big snow flakes to make it feel more like a Midwest holiday season (oh, and not to mention a recently shot deer hanging from a tree... yikes. some Midwest traditions I could do without).

And look at what we came up with! Daniel found this beauty of a (douglas?) fir and we got a little carried away with the height, ... what a Christmas tree!!

happy thanksgiving!

gobble-gobble all the way through the weekend! Our wonderful friends Chris and Lisa shared the day with us, and what a day! Lisa is an amazing chef. and Chris shares my love for all things Christmas, so he snuck some Christmas music into dessert before we all watched "Elf". Conrad's cousins, Bella and Peanut, are visiting for the holiday, so we have a full house!! Daniel and I have so much to be thankful for, we are bursting.

granny erin

Just call me granny... I'm learning to knit. :) Yes, it's true. When you live in Michigan, and you know you have at least 5 months of nasty weather ahead, well... crazy things start happening. You develop a taste for the $7 red wine from the corner store (instead of opting for the lovely reds from the specialty store 7 blocks away), the tea-kettle becomes your best friend, the first 20-minutes of your day are spent looking for slippers, weekends revolve around movie times at the discount theater, and projects - particularly the crafty type - occupy your mind and hands.

I really love the changing of the seasons here. And I love the chance to do some different things like knitting in the winter and gardening (well, weeding really) in the summer. We've had a few fires in our fireplace, but this fall has been so mild, just now we are actually feeling the cold. The garlic I ordered from Seed Savers finally found its place in our backyard today... apparently this is the time for that, and it feels like an appropriate ending to a warm season. Seeing as I've never planted anything other than houseplants, I thought something with the name "hearty" and "German" might have the best chance of success. We'll see, I guess.

As far as knitting goes... I'm just beginning. Maybe I'll ask for some books for Christmas. For now, I hope my family is ready for all the scarves coming their way. If only I knew someone who was having a baby... baby blankets would be a good step-up.

autumn in GR

This past weekend through tomorrow (tuesday), Daniel's brother and sister in-law are visiting from Lima, Peru! We have had quite the busy time with them. First, it rained... actually, it poured, on Friday (their first day here) which wouldn't seem like much more than an inconvenience to us, but because it never rains in Lima, they were amazed by the weather. It was their first time experiencing rain in 5 years! We did some major shopping and went out to San Chez for tapas and sangria.

Saturday was so beautiful and 70 degrees out, so we took advantage of it by strolling the farmer's market and enjoying Meijer Gardens. I cannot believe I don't go there every weekend... well, it's $13 to enter, so maybe that's why. But what a lovely treat to visit that place. Sunday we took them to our church - which probably was very strange for them as they are not used to a liturgical service - and had lunch at our favorite Gaya Cafe. We walked through Plaster Creek park with Conrad and soaked-in some of the fall colors then shared a very "autumn" dinner of root vegetables, butternut squash, chicken, and apple pie with our friends Emily and Jeff.

so, it's been a very fun and invigorating time!! All of the seasons are so gorgeous here, but I really believe Fall is the very best. The food, the colors, the air... it all comes together. We've had a good time catching up and hearing funny stories about the family, very sad stories about the earthquake and the aftermath, and showing them our life here at Calvin and in Grand Rapids. It's been a nice little break in the midst of the semester to remember how to enjoy the place we live.

haircut time

These are some of my favorites... right now my hair is longish in the front and mulletish in the back due to lack of hair cuts for almost 3.5 months. yikes. so, the cuts that are shorter are more realistic... and the long red hair is just too cool not to put on here. If I had long hair and lots of money to keep up with dying it, that would be what I'd LOVE to do!

worker ants

Daniel and I are like worker ants, storing things up and preparing for the Michigan winter! We've canned peaches, pears, and beautiful heirloom tomatoes from Trillium Haven Farms (our CSA). We've chopped and frozen all the eggplant and peppers we couldn't eat now. Daniel built a beautiful fence in our back yard so we no longer have to chain Conrad up or shiver in our snowy slippers while waiting for him.

It's been fun and busy! I think we both feel like real homemakers now. All the little changes and improvements - from every day cleaning to new hand-built shelves in the office - make 1039 Griswold feel more like it's ours. Of course, for every project that we finish, we think-up about 12 new ideas for more we can do! That's where I'm actually really thankful for the four seasons here... we get breaks from taking care of the yard. yay!

chairs

I could buy lots of chairs. Especially lots of these.

late summer turns to Fall

I'm not going to lie; it's been a very tough couple of weeks and these past two days have been a very tough couple of days. Today is the first day where I have caught my breath. In the vein of being honest, I'm not too crazy about my job lately. It's felt more like babysitting than creative programming and empowering students. But I still have hope that this semester will get better and better. sigh.

So my fun in life has been to find releases to distract and encourage myself at home. The latest project? Canning! Peaches are done. Pears were canned last night (and the house smells so amazing). Next comes tomatoes. I'd love to try green beans, but I'm afraid the season will end before I can get to them. Maybe I'll try apples... are canned apples good? Daniel has been doing this with me, and we have a lot of fun. The pears were slippery and a little mushy, but they look great now.

We had a wonderful Birthday party for Daniel last weekend! It's so nice to hang out with friends and relax. I made a special dinner and desert, and we all had a good time. Daniel and I have challenged each other to find projects outside of work because it's healthy to have, you know, a life. Mine are both really typical: cooking (LOVE IT) and knitting - I know, such the wild one! Both are actually really calming. Daniel's is his birthday present from me - a home brewing kit! Our basement will soon be known as the Witches' Brew when he and our friend Wolpa start their concoctions. So, soon we'll eat our canned fruit while drinking our basement-beer and wearing our homemade sweaters. Then we'll have to find new things to learn!

community garden

this summer I've been working a little with Lori, a colleague here at Calvin, on a community garden she started. It's called Everybody's Garden located in Hudsonville area, and the primary intent is to offer a community project for the special needs young adults group (including Mel, her daughter), Ready For Life. So far things have been amazing; God has blessed all of us in so many ways through this simple little project.


Here's Mel watering with her makeshift sprinkler. this was at the very beginning, before Evergreen Ministries surprised us with their donation of a sprinkler system!


these are the most recent results from 2 days ago! the yellow ones are pear shaped and taste like no other tomato I've tried. Incredible stuff.

all is well

Thank God, Daniel's family is safe! They were in Lima during the earthquake, and they said it was scary, but they are just fine with no damage to their homes. We were very relieved to find that out. Please pray for the many people who have lost loved ones.

stacks

I've been trying to find ways to decorate the walls in our house without cluttering up the place or hauling in anything bulky - huge and complicated do not translate well in a small, 1940s city-dwelling. I really like these ideas though...

barefoot in Alger Heights

Recently my wonderful family bought me a birthday present - the kind of gift that keeps on giving...



this cookbook is amazing. As a Ina Garten fan, I am constantly aware of the unfairness that the food network is a cable channel not included in the most basic Comcast package (well, that package only includes like 20 channels - 2 of which are CSPAN: thank God for bookTV!). But my days of "Barefoot" deprivation are ended because I have this cookbook. First recipe on tap? 40-garlic chicken. How can you pass that up??

what a summer it's been so far. Daniel and I just returned from about a month of travel. We spent 3 wonderful weeks in Peru (2 of those with Eddie), where we ate so much amazing food, traveled to Punta Sal up North, danced some Marinera, and just had a blast with the family there. Everyone sends their love to the family and has wonderful memories from the wedding last year. Daniel had eye surgery, so now he can see perfectly without glasses or contacts! Amazing stuff.


one of the meals we shared... risotto marisco. que rico!


daniel's mom and dad walking on the beach - so romantic


at costa verde

after returning from Peru, Daniel and I celebrated our 1-year anniversary! My family drove up and recreated the wedding dinner for us. they are the best. we are so thankful for the blessing of our family.

sisters, sisters

all the girls were in grand rapids this week! Katy, Ellie, and Laura (and Bella!) all drove up to spend some time with us. Of course, we got right to work painting the town red.

The four of us (with poor Daniel doing his best to help but not get trampled) made some exquisite meals, if I do say so myself, including strawberry soup, farmer's market salad, fresh carrot-beet-grapefruit juice (not so popular) and apple-lemon-strawberry juice (very popular), quesadillas.... and just after we were so healthy, we ate lots of ice cream. We did some serious second-hand shopping, resulting in a painting for Ellie, a $5 silk prom dress for Kates, and some fun shoe-trying-on for me and Laura. We went for a walk/hike at Plaster Creek and watched two Indian-family films, randomly enough. Bend it Like Beckham and Monsoon Wedding... both come "highly recommended".

so, now poor Conrad is twitching in his sleep, dreaming of all the crazy playing he and Bella did, and my head is ready for a glass of wine and a pillow! It was sad saying goodbye to the ladies today, but the great thing about summer is we get to see each other a lot more than we expect. I would post pictures, but I need to wait for Katy to send them.... ahem. until then!

back from outer space!

so it's been a little while, huh?
I am officially in SUMMER mode now! This past Wednesday was my last day of work, and I have to tell you, I can't believe I made it. what a year. and now it's DONE. Thank God.

But just today I've actually begun relaxing. Thursday, Daniel and I drove a big van to Ikea (near Detroit) in order to pickup an entire kitchen for a new show some Calvin students will be shooting this Fall. I didn't exactly have to go, but I'm not one to pass-up a chance to shop at Ikea.

Then Friday and Saturday we went camping at Warren Dunes State Park with Conrad. That was a blast, but between our makeshift sleeping bags (a couple of blankets on the ground), Conrad being protective against every noise in the park, and a surprise rain shower about 3:00 am, it was a sleepless adventure. Saturday we ended up driving to my parents house and hanging out all afternoon.

So, finally today, we ended up taking almost a 4 hour nap this afternoon! And I'm still sleepy tonight! But I think we're off to a great start. Here's some pictures of our fun times for now...

Color me beautiful

I'm a sucker for these little quizzes... This quiz tells you "what color" you are. Apparently I'm Green: "You are a very calm and contemplative person. Others are drawn to your peaceful, nurturing nature." Sounds like me on a GOOD day... wonder what color I am on a bad day?

working weekend

We have spent the weekend working all over the house and yard! Daniel is organizing the basement right now, but I'm taking a little break... after a nap... after a lunch. Sooooo, yeah.

School is over for the summer! I work until June 15 and then it's adios for a month and a half! Talk about a deal. Becoming a teacher is looking more and more desirable. Between the benefits and vacation time, it's hard to complain. I'm staying busy wrapping up and planning (already) for the Fall, but it's so nice to have a very easy job for about a month. Not too long so I get bored, but long enough to keep me sane. This spring was just too busy for me and Daniel. We are READY for a break.

In other updates, we've sold the Honda Element (sniff, sniff) and bought a lovely Toyota Camry station wagon. This car is sweet... it has one of those backwards-facing seats and lots of leg room. Craigslist is amazing; we found this car in Chicago for $5000 and it has 60k miles on it! When I test-drove it, it felt like a new car. So, tomorrow we will go pick it up and hang out in Chicago for the night. Daniel has AVID training all week in Chicago, so Calvin is paying for a nice hotel room. yay! I've always wanted to stay in a nice hotel downtown. So, while he's in his training on Tuesday, I'll go for a quick swim on the roof, and then I'll be going to the "Art Institute" (a.k.a.: the Camper shoe store, American Apparel... I'll try to steer clear of Anthropologie, but I can't make any promises). Actually, it is the free day at the museums, so I will probably be there where the Michigan Avenue inflated prices cannot reach me.

So, a quick outline of our summer plans... In June I'll end work, we'll go to Philadelphia for a wedding, and we will be speaking Spanish only in 1039 Griswold. That's because July 15 we fly to Lima, Peru with Eddie for 3 weeks! I have to prepare! Right before that, we're going to try to get out to Maryland for the annual summer trip to the ocean, and I'm going to try to get a whole list of projects done! Daniel has a project he's working on for the Grand Rapids Community Foundation, and I'm helping with a community garden for developmentally disabled young adults. I guess we're going to be super busy! But it's fun busy because it's all choices. And I'll have more chances to blog and post pictures!