Second Line Dance

B and I did a second line dance with our guests at the wedding. I promised a friend I'd post a picture, so here it is! It was different and fun (I thought), though B and I had to be careful not to poke any of those lanterns with the umbrella. And yes, that is white fringe. The red on the umbrella is actually sequined. :)

22 days and why I love B

There are 22 days until we move into the new house.

19 days till the lease begins (at which point we may be close to camping at the new place out of pure joy of finally having a place together).

3 more work weeks of no B to come home to. :(

We are both so stir-crazyily ready for this separation to be over. It's cute and ridiculous. I look at the clock when I'm at home on the evenings and think that in 2.5 hours from now, I could drive and see him.

I love that he calls me every day before he goes to work, and several times throughout the day. I love that he's busy selling wedding stuff through ads I posted on craigslist. I love that he calls me up just to tell me that he is THIS close to going mad because the cat monsters were being curious little beasts.

22 days.

We have a lease!

Last night we met at our midway point. Man, it really doesn't seem bad at ALL when you only have to go half (or less than for B) the distance you normally go! I kept telling myself as I drove from B's to my town that "oh, this is where I would stop..." but when you're not actually stopping it doesn't hit home as much. Now we only have to count from 1-50 rather than from 1-100 (or, if B's going past my work to my place, 1-130).
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Woo!

The rent is good, but still: choke cough, first and last months' rent. Deposit (gave that 1.5 weeks ago). App fee (for background check-- we gave this 1.5 weeks ago). Cat fee.

Ewwwwww.

But: We found out that we would likely get approved if we want a 15-30lb dog. Wooo!!

B and I have talked it over, and we're going to wait a bit. Yes, we really want a bigger dog (see golden retriever photo at top), but we also realize that we may need to live in an apartment for a brief time if we change cities ever again, and the likelihood of finding a "big dog" apartment isn't too hot. Plus, big dog sort of seems like somethign to do once we make the jump to home ownership.

So we're going to wait a bit. And, we're likely going to get a young, but full-grown, already mostly trained, dog.

Our thought is that since we will have a commute, it is not the time to also try to train a puppy. It just wouldn't end well. We'd have to be careful and make sure the dog gets along well with the monsters, but that's our plan for right now. Settle in, get approval (6 mo-1year from now), then start to look.

We're thinking something like a Corgi (maybe Pembroke) or a mini (not toy) Australian Shepherd, but the energy level and personality would have to be spot-on. No crazy wild nutto shepherd, no yappy corgi. We've been reading upon breed traits, can ya tell? But we're patient. What's our hurry, right?

Name change woes and wine racks

When I filled out the marriage application with B almost a month ago, I was trying to decide between names. Switch out my middle name for my maiden last name? Just switch out last names? I went with the switch out middle name for maiden last name.

But after pondering, I don't like how it sounds. Plus, if I say all three names, people mistakenly think I've chosen to hypenate. No no no... Basically, both our last names end in -er, so it sounds really not good.

Sigh.

But, I discovered yesterday that to change from what I have on the application to what I want will require an OFFICIAL NAME CHANGE. As in courts and everything.

Part of me doesn't want to care, but then the other (larger) part of me says that this is my name and if I don't care about that, then what do I care about?

Sigh again.

To change it with the court, I need to have my drivers license say the application name. Once I change my DL, thought, I suddenly risk not being able to pay for things by credit card, etc due to my card name not matching my DL. My car's registration is also currently in the process of being renewed, and I don't want to screw that up by not having names match.

So, we've decided to wait until after the move. After the move, B will be nearby, so he can cover some expenses while I do the name change. I'll change my DL (thus have identification for court), do the 14 day hearing wait and then 14 day posting. That will change my name legally. Then I'll change my DL again (sigh). With that DL, I'll have proof of the new name change and then I will change EVERYTHING over into the name I want. That saves me having to change it all twice.

What a pain, right? Can you believe all of that just because of a line on an application?

At least we have a gameplan now and a way to handle it. It will be a little easier too since when we move I will have a bank branch also near me. The one up here closed and yesterday was just a day of things taking 14 times as long as they should.

On happier notes, today I'm meeting B in our new city (halfway between both of us) at 6:30 to sign the lease with our new landlord. I have an errand to run beforehand, so pray for no traffic.

After that, we're meeting a guy a little further south to buy a wine rack. We've wanted a bigger, modern one for a while. No, we don't booze, but we both like wine. I like having it on hand for cooking, and we do like grabbing a bottle or two that we like and knowing we can store it well. We really like this one, and it is a craigslist find, so we're saving a bunch of money from the (hideous) original cost.
Honestly though, I'm just excited about seeing B tonight. I miss him so much during the week.

On other notes, God grant me the strength not to lose my cool with my secretary today.

Camping and Thank You Notes

Camping went ok. Traffic was bad getting out of town, so I didn't get down to B until 7:45. Ugh. Come 10pm, we decided to find a motel somewhere and crash there. Just wasn't worth trying to find a campground and a camping space in the dark. I think our friends were disappointed, but I think it was for the best. Both B and I were in a good mood the next morning, which I suspect would not have been the case had we gotten in at 11:30, finally gotten to bed around 12:30-1:30, and then been woken up around 6/7.

We walked on the beach. Watched our friends' crazy dog race around in the COLD surf and sand, had fun, etc.

I discovered curry lentil tempeh. Oh yum yum yum.

I was the fire-creator. Go me. Though on the coast the wind changes pretty frequently, so I constantly got smoke in my face.

We drove back up the coast, just in time to make it into B's town in the middle of a few great thunderstorms. Yikes! Oregon doesn't get too many of those, so it was pretty darn neat.

We went by the humane society because we'd never been to the one on the west of town. Eh. Not very impressive.I think a lot of people go there (good thing), so it had this "animals don't stay here for long so eeh on conditions" feeling. Well, at least for the dogs. The cats were all in one big room (for the most part), and I didn't like how the peopel could go from one room to the other without having to disinfect their hands (the stations were there, but not well-enforced). And there were not FIV positive cat rooms, which made me nervous. Oh well.

We're not getting another animal too soon, but we like to know where we want to someday go. I'd rather go to a lesser-known private adoption group than a popular city society. Both sources have "shelter animals," but if one's more popular, we'd rather go to the lesser. We'll see.

We ran a few errands. I had to hunt to find gas for my drive up this morning because the power was out in a bunch of places.

When we got home we watched "Inkheart" where the dad (Brendan Frasier) can make books come to life when he reads them. It was pretty good! Then we opened the rest of our presents. We got so many lovely things that we cannot wait to use. Silverware! Beautiful glassware. SNOWSHOES!

But now I must write thank you notes. B said he'll help. I told him I'll give them a go for starters and then he can pinch-hit. He was very satisfied with this. I have married such a wonderful man. Really. I can't wait to live with him. It breaks my heart every Monday morning to have to part for the week.

Camping

Tonight I get to sleep on the ground. We're going camping.

I love camping. Normally I'd look forward to it. But there's a DRIVE for us. Our friends made the reservation. I'm not quite sure if this was the last spot in Oregon or if she was just aiming for the coast or what, but I think she forgot that I work where I do and B works until 5. The place is a little over 3 hours from where B is at, so that means it's right at around FIVE hours for me.

Oy.

It's not that I'm not excited... I am. I'm just not happy at the thought of driving for FIVE hours after a long day at work. Our friends get to leave town much earlier, so they'll actually enjoy themselves tonight. They better not kick and shake our tent tomorrow morning! I have this sneaking suspicion I'll be a total GRUMP tomorrow morning...I may just grab B and go for a walk on the beach so I don't say anything stupid.

Don't get me wrong... I love our friends, but I'm kinda grumpy about the five hour drive thing... but I can suck that up for a weekend of fun with them. Just there'd better not be a 5am wakeup call or comments about us "FINALLY" getting to the campsite.

Anyway.

For the trip, I used a TON of our leftover dried cranberries from the wedding and made granola bars. They were SUPER EASY.

3 cups oats.
1 cup chocolate chips, white choc chips, mini chips, etc.
1 cup coconut
1 cup almonds
1/2 cup (I increased this a bit) cranberries
1 can condensed milk.

I 5x the recipe, but I only had 4 cans of the milk, so I used 1/2 can of coconut milk (mostly the frothy creamy stuff, not the clear liquid) to add to it. Worked fine. I had 3 quarts leftover, so I froze it. We'll see how that eventually works out.

Put into a greased pan (yay olive oil spray!). YOu can also use a cookie tray if it has 1/2" sides. Actually, that worked SUPER well. Cook for 20-25 minutes at 350.

YUM! They're chewy and delicious. I wrapped them up and we're using them this weekend.

Dressing & a visit!

B came up to visit me last night. Poor guy! Drove 2.5 hours, then got up this morning at 4:30 and drove back. Gosh I love him. And I cannot wait until a MONTH from now when I live with him. FINALLY.

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Last night I made raspberry vinaigrette. I picked raspberries and blueberries the day before. It was really simple, actually. 4 cups crushed raspberries, 4 cups white wine vinigar, 1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup honey. I divided it up into 3 large pint jars. You let it sit in a dark place for 3-4 weeks, stirring or shaking every 2-3 days. Then, you strain out the raspberries through cheesecloth, heat up the mixture, and can it up! Voila, raspberry vinaigrette dressing. B was excited and thought the jars looked pretty. I'll have to take a picture at some point; he has the camera right now. He also had fun smooshing the berries. :)

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Last night I also bought a FANTASTIC new briefcase. I've been needing one BADLY, but I didn't want a fugly one or a nasty one. I also refused to pay $200+ for a bag that will get pen marks in it, stuff smashed into it, scratches, etc etc. I found this one, BRAND NEW, believe it or not, on craigslist. On a whim on Tuesday night I decided to do a search. LOVE IT. It's exactly what I'd buy if I was loaded with cash and didn't have to worry EVER about money. I should also add that it has lots of space inside (so it's practical) but not TOO much space (so it's bulky).

After the bag place, it was on to the store to get ingredients for my granola bars I'm making for this weekend's camping trip, as well as to make the vinaigrette (see above) and to can up the pounds of blueberries currently living in my fridge. Then, I stopped by and bought...

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CHAIRS!

Our chairs are currently HORRIBLE. Two are literally falling apart. They have these slats on the seats and they've fallen off a few times when we've sat on them! Four are these little (uncomfortable) stools from a set B bought when he first came out to Oregon. But, they've moved so many times since then that they are now SOO wobbly that I can hardly sit on them, let alone stand on them.

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With us moving, we needed something a bit more stable, to use for sitting and as a stepstool. These are really sturdy. Plus, we figure that with these, we can make our old tables work as a dining room and desk for a while, permitting us to build up bank accounts and whatnot (recovering from wedding and student loans and new homes and moving) before we look slowly to buy new furniture.

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Whew. So that was last night! Oooh, and we opened three wedding presents.

Post-married life.

Really, it's much the same as before. I suspect the big change will be when I'm finally living in the same place with B. We've only lived in the same place for about 1 crazy month, then with new jobs and whatnot, the double rent began again.

We've always lived near each other, until the last 5.5 months. That's when the 130+ mile gap entered the picture. I miss him so much. And now that we're married, it really enters the picture.

So the move really does take center stage right now. I can't wait to move and be with my man again! Plus, life in general will be a lot simpler by the sole fact that all our stuff is in one place. Right now, between our two places, our two cars, and our two works, who knows where anything is at.

I've been squirreling away boxes at work. I collected another 11 today. WOO! It would be delightful to move everything in the boxes from work. Lovely legal boxes that can stack 8 high and have attached lids. BLISS.

On other notes, we've still only opened about 1/3 our wedding presents. We had two days off post-wedding. One was devoted to family and the other to house hunting. And it was pretty sad to open gift and then have to rebox them because you weren't living together and who knows when you'll see them again. Plus, we were only together on the weekends, and we've had a total of 3 weekend days since the wedding where we were in the same place as the presents. We are so grateful for the gifts though. Now that we have a place lined up, we are both REALLY looking forward to opening the rest this weekend. We're now truly building a home! I also REALLY need to get started on thank you notes!

I should comment though that I did have time to do a project with B and friends this weekend: CHERRIES!! Long story short, I met a family a few years ago with a farm, and we can pick as many cherries as we like from their trees. We have to give them some, but that's the only "payment" required. LOVELY. And they're gorgeous Queen Anne cherries too.

We picked two gigantic rubbermaid containers full. Like, the 2x3' containers, not sandwich boxes.

My friend and I made 48 half pint jars and 37 pint jars of goodness. Spicy jam, cherries in rum sauce, cherries in brown sugar sauce, and cherries in apple juice. The spicy jam is just good on anything. The rum sauce cherries will be great chopped anthrown in as a marinade or into breads. The brown sugar ones will be great as a glaze, and the apple juice ones are the preserves; they maintain the cherry taste the best and we can thus use them for just about anything.

It wasn't that bad. We had enough pits to fill an entire shoebox. Crazy! We got these great pitters from Bed, Bath, and Beyond and it was easy breezy.

Yesterday I escaped from work a little early and made it out to a farm near where I live. I went with another friend and picked about 25lbs of blueberries and raspberries! Not sure what I'm goign to do with them yet, but we'll soon find out!

We got the place!

Just found out tonight. Woot woot! Lease starts 8/4. We move in on 8/8 and 8/9.

Wooooo!

House photos!

Here are photos of the hopefully new home. I'm calling the LL today to see how we're doing. It was a holiday weekend, so you know... gotta give him some time. I did a credit check recently, but it doesn't mean something's snuck in there. Finger's crossed.

As for the STUFF in the photos, that's all the current tenant's. EVERYTHING will be out when we move in, carpets cleaned, that sort of thing.

Anyway, for those of you who are interested, here are the photos!

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Half of the pantry off of the kitchen.

Front door (see, the plants really have grown).

View of front door from street.

Front of house from street.

Master bedroom CLOSET! (drool).

Master batheroom cabinetry

Windows in master bedroom

Fireplace! (gas, not wood-burning)

Second bathroom-- good storage space here.

Closet in bedroom 2. we'll use this space as an office or for all our many, many books.

Bedroom 2. We'll use this space as an office or for all our many many books.

Bedroom 3. We'll use this space as an office or for all our many many books.

View from living room into dining room into kitchen.

Deck off of the living room.

Deck off of living room.

Main entrance.

cabinetry in kitchen (our fridge will be a normal, freezer-on-top one; this one is the current tenant's.)

Rest of kitchen and cabinetry.

One half of the laundry room. The machines will leave with the current tenant, so we have to decide whether to buy our own. It's a decision to make at some point LATER on.

Inside of garage.

Outside looking into garage.