Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Incredible Beauty
A friend of ours and his wife just recently returned from a vacation in Bora Bora. He shared the most beautiful pictures of the trip, and I thought I'd share one of them with you. I think it's one of the most incredibly beautiful places I've ever seen. What do you think?
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Guest Bedroom
Okay - I know it's crazy, but...
I've already decorated the guest bedroom of our new house. Yep, that's right - the house we don't even own yet! Well, at least in my mind I have. And I've collected a few things - paint chips for the wall color, a few accessories (hey, they were on sale!), and the sweetest little writing desk you've ever seen (thrifted, of course, so a wonderful price!). When I first thought about the room, I envisioned it as very cozy (read: small), and both very comfortable and functional. And I think that's exactly how it will turn out. The colors will be a pale blue and chocolate - with creamy accents. I've collected a few of the 'Cottage Collection' accessories (see photo) and I even found a pair of thrifted valances that are the perfect color! ...now all we need is the house!
I've already decorated the guest bedroom of our new house. Yep, that's right - the house we don't even own yet! Well, at least in my mind I have. And I've collected a few things - paint chips for the wall color, a few accessories (hey, they were on sale!), and the sweetest little writing desk you've ever seen (thrifted, of course, so a wonderful price!). When I first thought about the room, I envisioned it as very cozy (read: small), and both very comfortable and functional. And I think that's exactly how it will turn out. The colors will be a pale blue and chocolate - with creamy accents. I've collected a few of the 'Cottage Collection' accessories (see photo) and I even found a pair of thrifted valances that are the perfect color! ...now all we need is the house!
Happy Anniversary, Mom & Dad!
It isn't often that one has the priviledge of congratulating a couple on celebrating their Golden Wedding Anniversary -- but two weeks ago, we had the honor of doing just that.
As requested, we kept the celebration small and very low key - just close family at a wonderful restaurant, celebrating an amazing milestone.
Congratulations, mom and dad! You're an inspiration. Thank you both for being such wonderful role models. I'm so proud to have you as my parents. Much love always.
As requested, we kept the celebration small and very low key - just close family at a wonderful restaurant, celebrating an amazing milestone.
Congratulations, mom and dad! You're an inspiration. Thank you both for being such wonderful role models. I'm so proud to have you as my parents. Much love always.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Update on the house...
Wow, it's been quite a while since I last spoke about this subject. It's nearly the end of April and our house fund continues to grow. Yay! We've done extremely well with our savings plan and are currently at 45% of our goal -- way ahead of schedule! Originally we were thinking that we would like to begin looking for a house in March or April of 2009; as it stands right now, we're thinking that we'll begin looking in earnest in September/October of this year. The change is due, at least in part, to the fact that we are way ahead of our schedule in savings, but also the fact that housing prices have been coming down at a pretty phenomenal rate. It's both an exciting and frightening prospect. Neither of us has ever bought a home so we've been trying like mad to educate ourselves on the subject. There is so much to learn! The nice thing for us is that, to date, there has not been one offer on the house we're renting. Again, YAY! Because the rent is so incredibly low (at least for our high COL area), we'd really like to be able to stay there - and moreover, paying the same rent - until we actually buy our home and move. Keep your fingers crossed for us!
Sunday, April 06, 2008
The Dodgers, the Red Sox, the Weir's, the LaLa's ...
the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum...and 115,300 of our closest friends! Holy moly - I've never seen so many people all in one place in my entire life. Yes, there were lines. Yes, we had to wait. Yes, it was cold. Yes, the food and drinks were expensive. But all in all, a GREAT time was had by all and we wouldn't have missed it for the world. And, oh yeah, we'll be in the Guiness Book of World Records as the largest crowd in history at a baseball game. Making history is fun!!
Friday, March 21, 2008
Easter morning breakfast kits
I thought the nicest gift we could give my parents, mother in law and sister and her family would be Easter morning breakfast kits. Breakfast will be easy! Wake up, heat it up and ENJOY! Each kit contains a handmade Easter card, a bunch of sunny yellow daffodils, a spinach/sauteed onion/jack cheese quiche, lemon blueberry scones, cherry almond scones, and maple sausage links. I think they're adorable - the perfect gift! Happy Easter, everyone! 
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Bake me a cake as fast as you can
(Okay, so not really fast, but...)
An invitation to have dinner with Kevin's uncle Ron and his family ... 'Randa MUST bring one of her fabulous desserts!' Hmmm....what shall I make? I know -- let's try a *brand new* recipe! What on earth was I thinking?? Luckily, it turned out even better than I could have imagined. It was a big hit with everyone, seconds were even requested. There was not nary a crumb left on the plate. Apparently, orange chiffon cake was an excellent choice! (for those interested, the recipe is in the March issue of 'All You' magazine)
An invitation to have dinner with Kevin's uncle Ron and his family ... 'Randa MUST bring one of her fabulous desserts!' Hmmm....what shall I make? I know -- let's try a *brand new* recipe! What on earth was I thinking?? Luckily, it turned out even better than I could have imagined. It was a big hit with everyone, seconds were even requested. There was not nary a crumb left on the plate. Apparently, orange chiffon cake was an excellent choice! (for those interested, the recipe is in the March issue of 'All You' magazine)
Paddycake, paddycake, baker's man...
For some reason I've been in a baking/cooking mode for the last month or so. I got it in my head that I want to learn how to make a wonderful loaf of bread from scratch. I was talking to some friends about this (hi Bev and Ken!) and they asked if I wanted some sourdough bread starter. Sure! Though it's something of a time consuming process - feed the starter, let it sit, scoop some off, feed again, let it sit, THEN actually make the bread, let it rise, shape the loaves, let it rise again (don't forget the second rise, mom...) - it was well worth the effort. Two loaves of delicious, homemade sourdough bread. Kevin's words: 'THIS is a winner!' 
Back by popular demand
Wow! I can't believe it's been over a month since my last entry. Apparently I've been a very busy girl. What have I been up to? Oh, nothing - just a lot!
Kevin and I are still saving our pennies for a house. I'm happy to report that as of this entry, we are at 28.88% of our goal -- this after saving for less than three months! We're terribly proud of ourselves. We keep looking at houses, but it's truly just looking at this point as we really aren't even considering making any sort of purchase until the end of this year or beginning of next. Hopefully, not only will home prices have fallen even more by that time, but mortgage rates will have followed. For some odd reason, though housing is going down, mortgage interest rates are going up. Go figure.
Anyway - in the meantime we've been making plans here and there, looking at buying a few pieces of furniture or things for the new place. Last week we bought a matching nightstand for our bedroom set. We already had one nightstand but thought that two gave the whole suite a more finished look. As luck would have it, the furniture we have was still available so we were able to buy the matching nightstand without a problem. Well, techninally there were problems however, they were more customer service fiascos (of the losing the furniture variety) -- but that's another entry for another day. We also bought a new comforter set for the bedroom. Though we love the one we have - bought for a fabulous price five years ago when we painted the bedroom - we decided it would be nice to have another one to swap out from time to time. Where the older set is a deep, rich burgundy color, the new one is a taupe/green color with burgundy accents. We put it all together tonight and dressed the bed. We think it looks terrific, even if we do say so ourselves!
Kevin and I are still saving our pennies for a house. I'm happy to report that as of this entry, we are at 28.88% of our goal -- this after saving for less than three months! We're terribly proud of ourselves. We keep looking at houses, but it's truly just looking at this point as we really aren't even considering making any sort of purchase until the end of this year or beginning of next. Hopefully, not only will home prices have fallen even more by that time, but mortgage rates will have followed. For some odd reason, though housing is going down, mortgage interest rates are going up. Go figure.
Anyway - in the meantime we've been making plans here and there, looking at buying a few pieces of furniture or things for the new place. Last week we bought a matching nightstand for our bedroom set. We already had one nightstand but thought that two gave the whole suite a more finished look. As luck would have it, the furniture we have was still available so we were able to buy the matching nightstand without a problem. Well, techninally there were problems however, they were more customer service fiascos (of the losing the furniture variety) -- but that's another entry for another day. We also bought a new comforter set for the bedroom. Though we love the one we have - bought for a fabulous price five years ago when we painted the bedroom - we decided it would be nice to have another one to swap out from time to time. Where the older set is a deep, rich burgundy color, the new one is a taupe/green color with burgundy accents. We put it all together tonight and dressed the bed. We think it looks terrific, even if we do say so ourselves!
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
I'm in the mood for...
CHOCOLATE!
Today one of our parents was going to bring in cupcakes for an after-school event, but at the last minute, changed her mind. Well darn it, I could almost taste those chocolate cupcakes! I had my coffee all ready to go with it. So when we got home, before starting dinner, I made just a half batch. Kevin and I each enjoyed one for dessert with a glass of cold milk. YUM!
Today one of our parents was going to bring in cupcakes for an after-school event, but at the last minute, changed her mind. Well darn it, I could almost taste those chocolate cupcakes! I had my coffee all ready to go with it. So when we got home, before starting dinner, I made just a half batch. Kevin and I each enjoyed one for dessert with a glass of cold milk. YUM!
Thrifting
This past Saturday was girl's day at Deb's house. We decided to go thrift shop hopping -- and I'm so glad we did! I found some wonderful treasures, and we had quite the adventure. I found an adorable dark cherry wood table that stands about 1 1/2 feet tall. It will make the perfect plant stand. I also found a beaded lampshade that is brand new, and a lamp with a wonderful shape ('I know you can make it look nice.' -- thanks, Deb!). But the most wonderful find of the day had to be the two matching cabinets I found at the Goodwill. Someone was just in the process of dropping them off for donation...and I ran right in and bought them! Two beautiful cabinets for the low price of just $160.00 for the pair. But wait, there's MORE. As it happened, all furniture was half off on Saturday, so I got the set for just $80.00!! I love thrifting!
My mother in law (hi Vicky!) was kind enough to volunteer to house the cabinets in her home until we find a new home and move these treasures with us. What do you think? Pretty nice, huh?
The real adventure came AFTER the guy at the Goodwill got them loaded into the van. Driving back to Deb's house over a steep grade, with the van door just bungee corded over the cabinets. YIKES! But we made it.
Oh, and here's Deb modeling the latest in hatwear for spring. Silly girl!
My mother in law (hi Vicky!) was kind enough to volunteer to house the cabinets in her home until we find a new home and move these treasures with us. What do you think? Pretty nice, huh?
The real adventure came AFTER the guy at the Goodwill got them loaded into the van. Driving back to Deb's house over a steep grade, with the van door just bungee corded over the cabinets. YIKES! But we made it.
Oh, and here's Deb modeling the latest in hatwear for spring. Silly girl!
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Greeting Cards
I've been thinking about, and planning, a greeting card making day for about two years now. I've been gathering and collecting papers and embellishments for a long time. I also happened on some greeting card kits and purchased a few of them to add to the mix. So...today was the day! I gathered up all of the goodies and headed up to mom and dad's where mom and I began this fun - but somewhat overwhelming! - project. All told, I made 30 cards and mom made 12. Deb couldn't be there for this round, but there are still PLENTY of cards to be made. They turned out so cute! I can hardly wait for a special occassion to roll around to pop one of these gems in the mail.
Orange-Cranberry Bundt Cake
I've been meaning to post this recipe for about two weeks and I just keep forgetting. Shortly after Christmas I had about three quarters of a container of orange-cranberry relish left over. I didn't want it to go to waste, but wasn't quite sure what I should do with it. We tried it by itself and on biscuits, but it was a bit too tart for our taste. Well as luck would have it, I was thumbing through the December issue of Woman's Day magazine one last time before I passed it along, and I found this recipe on the last page!
I changed it a bit -- added a bit more of this, a bit less of that -- and I made a substitution so that I could use the cranberry relish instead of regular cranberries. I also made my own glaze topping instead of the one they had printed in the article. It was fantastic! I was so pleased - and surprised! - at how well it turned out. Try it as is, or dream up some substitutions of your own. Either way, it's a delicous afternoon pick-me-up with a nice, hot cup of tea.
Orange Cranberry Bundt Cake
Cake:
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons grated orange zest
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 container (about 10 ounces) orange-cranberry relish
Glaze:
2 cups confectioners' sugar
2-3 tablespoons fresh orange juice
1 tablespoon grated orange zest
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter and flour a bundt pan, shaking out excess flour; set aside. Cake: Combine butter and sugar in a mixing bowl; cream until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and mix well, scraping the sides of the bowl after each addition. Add vanilla and orange zest. Mix well. Combine the flour, salt and baking powder on a large sheet of wax paper. Add half to the butter mixture in the bowl, stir; then the cranberr relish, stir; then the remaining flour mixture. Mix well to combine. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake at 350 for about 45 minutes. Reduce temperature to 325 degrees and bake another 15-20 minutes until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove to a wire rack to cool. Glaze: In a medium sized bowl, blend confectioners' sugar, orange juice and zest. Stir until smooth. When cake is cool, spoon glaze over cake allowing it to drip down the sides. YUM!!
I changed it a bit -- added a bit more of this, a bit less of that -- and I made a substitution so that I could use the cranberry relish instead of regular cranberries. I also made my own glaze topping instead of the one they had printed in the article. It was fantastic! I was so pleased - and surprised! - at how well it turned out. Try it as is, or dream up some substitutions of your own. Either way, it's a delicous afternoon pick-me-up with a nice, hot cup of tea.
Orange Cranberry Bundt Cake
Cake:
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons grated orange zest
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 container (about 10 ounces) orange-cranberry relish
Glaze:
2 cups confectioners' sugar
2-3 tablespoons fresh orange juice
1 tablespoon grated orange zest
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter and flour a bundt pan, shaking out excess flour; set aside. Cake: Combine butter and sugar in a mixing bowl; cream until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and mix well, scraping the sides of the bowl after each addition. Add vanilla and orange zest. Mix well. Combine the flour, salt and baking powder on a large sheet of wax paper. Add half to the butter mixture in the bowl, stir; then the cranberr relish, stir; then the remaining flour mixture. Mix well to combine. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake at 350 for about 45 minutes. Reduce temperature to 325 degrees and bake another 15-20 minutes until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove to a wire rack to cool. Glaze: In a medium sized bowl, blend confectioners' sugar, orange juice and zest. Stir until smooth. When cake is cool, spoon glaze over cake allowing it to drip down the sides. YUM!!
...the gang's all here
Hail! Hail!!
It's been a wet, wild and wacky weather week here in southern California. During just this past weekend we had far more rain than we had all season last year. We're drenched! The pipes in the front and back yards are still being worked on so the trenches are filling up with water. Who knows when it will be dry enough for them to complete the new pipes...
...and on Wednesday...HAIL! Now that's a true rarity here. Not to mention all of the snow that topped the San Gabriel mountains. It is just beautiful!
It's been a wet, wild and wacky weather week here in southern California. During just this past weekend we had far more rain than we had all season last year. We're drenched! The pipes in the front and back yards are still being worked on so the trenches are filling up with water. Who knows when it will be dry enough for them to complete the new pipes...
...and on Wednesday...HAIL! Now that's a true rarity here. Not to mention all of the snow that topped the San Gabriel mountains. It is just beautiful!
Monday, January 21, 2008
Off to a good start
Well, we're a little more than three weeks in to January - a little less than three weeks after we found out the landlord is going to sell our house - and so far, we're doing quite well! We've set a goal of how much money we'd like to have saved by the end of this calendar year to put towards our house. We are thinking that we will start looking for a house around March or April of 2009, so we'll have several months next year to save for this goal as well. As it stands, we have so far accumulated 6.8% of our goal!
Additionally, we've been educating ourselves about buying a home. We're finding information at every turn - the business section of the newspaper, our credit union, real estate magazines, online articles. Every time we turn around we find another piece of interesting and useful information. We have a lot to learn before we make our purchase -- thankfully, we've got the time to learn. Everything we read indicates that the housing market will fall even more this year and well in to next year. That's a benefit to us.
Patience is the hard part.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
A burst of color
It was so nice to see this burst of color on the front porch Saturday morning in an otherwise gloomy front yard. As you could see in the photos (see other post), we're having a bit of a plumbing problem - or rather, I should say our neighbor is having a bit of a plumbing problem. Since our water pipes are connected somewhere, the plumber is digging up our yard to find the connection. Not fun - and certainly not attractive. Something about that yellow caution tape is a bit off-putting - don't you think? Anyway, it was nice to see this beautiful fuschia color glimmering in the sunlight.
Who's the handsome man behind that drum kit...
Kevin had a gig this past Thursday night at a small venue called 'The Bulldog Pub'. It was with a 'new' band made up of old friends and former bandmates from various bands. They were fantastic! ...especially that drummer ;0)
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
General Thoughts
Well it's hard to believe, but we're already in week two of 2008. A new year brings new opportunities, and we're so looking forward to them! Last Wednesday we found out that our landlord is putting our house up for sale. While not a complete surprise (it's a very old house that has not seen it's share of required structural maintenance -- and is now making up for lost time), it's still a bit of a shock. We were offered the first opportunity to purchase the property; however, in light of the many maintenance issues pending, declined the offer. Because there are two units on this property, it's listed as investment property so, according to the realtor, in all likelihood, we'll be able to stay on as tenants in the home we currently occupy. That's good news! And, while we do plan to stay on for a while (about a year and a half, God willing), we will be squirreling away as much money as possible to take the plunge -- buy a house of our own!
With these changes on the horizon, we are looking forward to a year filled with creative opportunities to save money and enrich our lives. God is good and I know He will be with us every step of the way guiding us on our journey. Your good wishes and prayers for our journey are greatly appreciated! We're keeping our eyes on the prize...
With these changes on the horizon, we are looking forward to a year filled with creative opportunities to save money and enrich our lives. God is good and I know He will be with us every step of the way guiding us on our journey. Your good wishes and prayers for our journey are greatly appreciated! We're keeping our eyes on the prize...
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