Thursday, August 30, 2007

Dear dragon-slayer,

Thanks for the dance this morning.

I low you

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Back to my roots

Every Monday night the ear doctor and I try to plan a small activity to do together after work instead of collapsing onto the couch and watching TV.

Last night it was my turn to plan.

I decided that I would show him how to re-pot plants into larger pots. My little herb starters that I got in July have really started to outgrow their pots.

The first step was to go to Home Depot. I love going to Home Depot with him. We walk around for a couple of hours just thinking about all the cool projects we can do. He spent 20 minutes picking out his favorite riding lawn mower...a John Deere of course (keep in mind we have no yard) and I wandered around the garden center.

The second step was to come home and set everything out on our patio. In order to set the mood I popped in my favorite bluegrass CD.

After soaking the new terra cotta pots in water (a must for all pots) we transplanted the little herbs into their new homes.

With the quite happy picking of a banjo in the background I felt such a sense of secure joy. I felt so centered to be out with my babe in the cool blue light of dusk, hands covered in fresh fragrant dirt.

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Finally

So I've sort of been dragging my feet through the wallpaper trend. I just can't see myself ever wanting to go to all the trouble to put it up only to want to rip it down in 3 years. However, I've found a piece that I would REALLY like to buy.

Check it out.


Instead of actually putting the paper up in my rental, I think it would look cool to get a piece and hang it in our bedroom over our bed like this:


The only thing is I'm not sure how to do this and not have it look ghetto. Any ideas?

Totally cute

Yesterday the ear doctor and I marked a significant milestone.


It was our 2 month wedding anniversary.


I made him cookies...


and he got me a box of saftey pins. (I can never find any and ask him almost daily if he knows where any are)


That's pretty much true love in my book.

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

As was heard in our car this weekend:

KT: Hey, those shoes are looking a little worn out, it might be time to find you a new pair of white shoes.

EarD: Yeah, they are looking a little bad.

KT: It's too bad we didn't buy two pairs of those shoes when we found them.

(Aside: They really are cool because they were off-white to start with instead of rip-you-eyes-out-of-the-socket blinding white)

EarD: My feet do weird things to shoes.

KT: Huh.

EarD: They do.

KT: Yeah, I guess they kind of get really flat.

EarD: My feet are really wide so they end up spreading out.

KT: My grandpa's feet do that to his shoes because he had bunions.

EarD: Bunions seem really painful.

KT: I know. I'm a little worried about getting them when I'm older.

EarD: Don't worry, I'll rub your bunions when we're old.

(Pause for a moment while I get a little overwhelmed by how much I love this guy)

KT: Really?

EarD: Sure.

(A minute of silence goes by)

EarD: How do you spell Bunion? B-U-N-Y-U-N?

KT: Like Funyons?


EarD: I love Funyuns. I ate them all the time in middle school. Lets get some.

KT: Gross.

The End

Monday, August 20, 2007

Yeah, but she cheats

Hands down, my little sister gave my mom a better birthday card this year...















But using your adorable baby girl isn't really that fair...

Friday, August 17, 2007

Props to me

I just showed up to work today and my boss informed me that they were giving me a raise.

I love this company.

The ear doctor is an only child

The other day the ear doctor and I were out on our morning walk around the neighborhood. We found a new path that runs between a small, beautiful creek and the back yards of rich people. Cool. This way we could enjoy nature (I love Colorado) and snoop a little (my favorite pastime).

We walked up to one back yard and noticed that they had your garden variety swing set in their back yard.


We both paused for a minute and pointed to the teeter-totter type swing and said in unison, "I like that kind of swing."


Then the ear doctor looked at me sheepishly and said, "It's nice because you can do it all alone"


What a cute, sweet, amazing, fun, rad only child.

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Life long goals

After getting married the ear doctor and I switched churches. The one we were going to before was geared toward single, college aged people. We both decided that it was time to grow up a little a join a congregation with families and older people.

Last night we had an appointment with our new bishop (that's what we call the pastor/preacher/leader of our congregation). He wanted to meet both of us and get to know a little more about us. I thought that was pretty nice.

Anyway, he asked the ear doctor what he likes to do in his spare time.

The ear doctor paused, looked off into space in his characteristic, "I'm really thinking hard" face and then said:

"I really want to become a grill master"

I just bust up laughing. The bishop just kind of laughed in surprise at the comment from left field. It was a pretty classic moment.

The thing about him is that he doesn't really have that far to go.

Last night he made us dinner. (BTW, doesn't dinner just seem so much more awesome when you aren't the one who made it?!?) Anyway, he decided to make beer can chicken in his new grill.

It was awesome. Juicy, perfect meat just dripping from the bone. Absolutely amazing.

Then only thing is we now have 5 cans of Bud in our fridge and not a clue what to do with them. Is it weird to come into work and offer your co-workers your leftover alcohol?

Be still my beating heart

Surely, I will never do anything good enough to warrant a gift like this desk set from Elum Stationary.



Yet I still yearn for it.

(This set actaully made me gasp in awe this morning!)

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Cute jacket?

Should I get this coat? It's only $80...

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Smile from ear to ear

This afternoon as I drove around doing errands on my lunch hour I saw a really cute couple slow dancing without music at a bus stop.

It made me really happy.

Walter

The ear doctor and I are considering getting a pet.

We want to catch a prairie dog from the vacant field just down the street from our house. Then we are going to build him a tall, clear plexi-glass terrarium, fill it with dirt from the vacant lot, and place in out on our small balcony by my tomato plant. Then we are going to enjoy watching him dig tunnels in the terrarium...like a really cool big ant farm.

It will be great.

And we're calling him Walter.

Now I just have to go hone my prairie dog catching skillz....

Monday, August 13, 2007

Happy B-day Mom!

Today is my mom's birthday, and since she's pretty much the coolest mom a girl could hope to have, I thought I'd send her a nice little blogger, birthday wish.


Friday, August 10, 2007

Cool or Tacky?

I saw these on Etsy and thought they were really cool.



The second one would be really perfect for the colors in our front room!From what I gather, the artists paints, collages and woodburns onto/into a piece of .5" wood. My question is this:


Would it be dorky if I had a "C" one hanging on my wall?


(our last name starts with a C)

My 5 lives

Today Rachel Jones was the quest blogger over at Design Mom and she wrote a post that really interested me, and it's been something I've been thinking about for quite a while.

So often I've heard that you should always strive to achieve your dreams. That you should always be working toward your ultimate goal, to fulfill your dreams.

This has always made me a little uncomfortable. Why? Because I've never had an ultimate "dream" to achieve. I've never been the kind of person who has one ultimate dream that is so definable and focused that they can say in one sentence what they dream of being. If you do, you're lucky.

I have lots of dreams and lots of things I love, but because I don't have a single aim the charge to "live my dream" has always made me feel...kind of...well...bad.

Which is where Rachel's' post comes to play. She suggests that you write down what you would do if you had 5 different lives. Then you should look at the list and make sure that you are actively pursing elements of the 5 lives in the 1 life that you have to live. This idea appeals to me like you wouldn't believe. It seems so simple, clear and totally do-able....but then most good ideas are that way.

So here, in no particular order are my 5 different lives and how I'm living them all at the same time.

1 chef I love cooking. I love it so much I surprise myself sometimes. My favorite part of every week is sitting down and making out a weekly menu for the ear doctor and I. I sit in the middle of our living room surrounded by my favorite cook books and think of a weeks worth of meals. I like to vary the protein, the style, the origin and the ingredients all week long. I find a thrill in the challenge of creating variety, trying new foods and cooking techniques while also using similar ingredients so that we don't waste things or throw any excess away.

2 landscaper Sometimes as I'm coming into work I see the grounds maintenance people at our office and I get jealous of their job. There are very few things in life that bring as me as much pleasure as a well designed garden. Seriously, just walking around an old established garden is sheer delight. Whenever the ear doctor and I go on walks through neighborhoods we critique the houses and I critique the landscaping. I love getting up early and weeding a garden. Going to a nursery and picking out the perfect plant for a spot in a garden is a personal treat. Right now, since we don't have a yard I have plants inside. I grow my own herbs (a must for someone who really loves cooking) and I have a little cherry tomato plant.

3 Interior Designer Every year the ear doctor and I go to the parade of homes. And when I say we "go" to the show, I mean we set aside hours so that we can slowly, methodically take in each space. I love to notice the details of each house, which hardwood the designer chose to go with, which shade of paint looks better at which time of the day. I love it. Sometimes I think the ear doctor gets a little bored by my molasses pace of walking through these houses. Right now this is probably the area that I am the least active in. It's hard (for me) to design my apartment space. I want to paint walls, change out flooring, get a freakin backsplash of little square tiles in my kitchen but I can't because it isn't mine. As a stand in for the time being we watch a lot of HGTV.

4 Book Store Owner The smell of a new book is intoxicating. I've always loved books. When I was in elementary school and we'd get the book order form I'd excitedly go page by page through it and circle about 20 books that I wanted my parents to order for me. I've always loved reading. I'm lucky to have a mom who is as much a book lover as myself. I don't think we ever left a Waldenbook without a heavy sack of new books tangling from our arms. Now I go book stores and just wander around for fun. I read whenever I have the chance. Almost every night I'll leave the ear doctor alone on the couch so I can curl up with a book. Some of my best friends are my friends because of our shared literary love.

5 Talk Show Host Except, I'd love to be a little different than your average talk show host. I'd love to interview "normal" people. I love meeting people and getting to know them. I love finding out their stories. I'm not really good at talking about myself, but I love to hear about other people. I mean, sure, probably no one would watch my show if I didn't have George Clooney as a guest, but I think it's a neat idea. In my current life I love to get to know people. That's a major reason that I read blogs...to meet new people and get to see a little picture of their life. I figure that as a talk show host I could potentially get paid to do it.

So there are my 5 different lives.

What would yours be?

Thursday, August 09, 2007

My lasting shame

In the fourth grade I got out of a spelling bee on the word "robin" as in the little cute bird with a red belly. I spelled it R-O-B-B-I-N. I figured it would have two B's like ribbon, a word I was very good at spelling.

Wrong.

Since that day I've never been sure of how to spell robin correctly.

There are a bunch of words like this that are seemingly easy words to spell but I cannot for the life feel confident in their spelling. Here is a list of my nemesis words:

awkward
completely
conscious
conscience
abrade
sentence
message
and many more...

It's so bad that I actually reword phrases just so that I avoid using these words. In fact, I just reworded the preceding sentence so that I could avoid using the word sentence. UGH!

Is there anyone else afflicted with my malady?

A new goal

I've been living in my new apartment with the ear doctor for a month now, and there are STILL boxes stacked up to the ceiling in my bedroom!!! That is UNACCEPTABLE! Seriously, why am I such a lazy bum.

It's actually getting so distracting that it is bothering me while I am in my cubical at work...that's pretty bad.


So, my new goal is this:


While the ear doctor is feverishly studying for the second part of this comps exam tomorrow I am going to go whirling dervish on that stack.


It must be defeated. It will not take over my thoughts and invade my solitude for one more day. It will not best me at my own devices.


I will be master of my own domain!!!


Plus the majority of the boxes are stacked in a corner that is just begging to be filled with this chair:




Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Wish him good luck

Right now my ear doctor is taking the first half of his clinical comps test for his AuD. Be sure to send him some good vibes.

I hope his hand doesn't cramp up with all that writing!

Friday, August 03, 2007

Ear Doctor Q&A

Guess what, I write about the ear doctor an awful lot. (understatement of the century)

Those of who have been reading for a while probably wonder what he is really like. You probably stay up at night pondering things about his him. You've probably said to yourself, "if I could only meet the ear doctor I'm sure we would be instant friends." You've probably become so intrigued by him that you can hardly stand it.

Well, lucky for you Jef suggested that we do a Q&A with the ear doctor! Just leave a question for the ear doctor in the comments to this post and he will answer.

His answers will make all of your dreams come true, so you should probably do it.

A sleeping problem

Our new apartment has the loudest air conditioner on the planet. It wouldn't bother me if it was a constant sound all night long. Unfortunately, it clicks on and off and wakes me up all night.


After a month of trying to live like that I've turned into a sleep-deprived raving beast.

The ear doctor came up with a solution to use the A/C less and get a fan that we could run all night. That way the low level white noise could hummmmm me to sleep and he could stay cool. Sounds like a great idea, right?

Well, I'm a little bit picky about what we use in our house. The thought of getting a big, plastic oscillating fan makes my skin crawl. So, I've been looking for cool, vintage/antique looking fans.

We found one at restoration hardware that looked great, but it cost over $100 and the salesgirl went on and on about how quiet it was. Well, guess what, we are looking for something that makes some sound! Quiet is not what we want.

This morning I've been looking around and I found Darryl Hudson's S. Carolina website. He masterfully restores old fans and his work makes me drool! What he does with them is BEAUTIFUL! Just look:




Now those are worth paying money for!

Thursday, August 02, 2007

A little update

I thought I'd update the ole blog template this afternoon. These are the same colors we're using in our front room. I really like the light blue/almost teal color with shots of bright red. We don't have any pink anywhere, but the red and teal looked way too intense for a blog, so I toned it down a bit.

I think the ear doctor would drop dead if I tried to bring some pink decor into our house...and rightly so.

Recent thing I learned about the ear doctor

He loves fruit.

I know, I know. You are probably thinking, "well, Katie, who doesn't?"

He really loves fruit. Last week we went grocery shopping and I was pretty much SHOCKED by the shear volume of produce in our cart. Here is a list of everything we got (be prepared to be amazed):

15 peaches
4 lbs of blueberries
3 lbs of strawberries
2 cantaloupes
1 honeydew melon
3 lbs cherries

And that was only for 1 week!

Does anyone else find this staggering?

Wednesday, August 01, 2007

I love live music

Last night the ear doctor and I went to a really awesome show. My old fiddling teacher just moved back to Colorado from Paris and put on a concert. First of all, she is an amazing musician. It is really rare to hear someone who can play the jazz violin. Jazz is all about laying back on the beat and for some reason it's just hard for violins to do that.

Not for her.

As we sat in the corner of the dark coffee shop and took in the amazing tunes created by 5 very talented musicians I once again was amazed. I'm always so shocked that there are SO many people who are truly talented in this world who never end up as famous musicians.

It kind of makes me annoyed that people who have no talent and get so much attention.

Grrrr

Last night they played an amazing rendition of a song I'd never heard before. It is called Goodbye Pork Pie Hat. The way they played it last night, it is one of the saddest, most beautiful songs I've ever heard. I found some versions of it on youtube, but they really sucked in comparison to the arrangement that my old teacher, Katie Glassman, wrote and performed.

I love music that can make me really feel.