Flu

Source: tumblr.com via Alana on Pinterest

I've spent the last 4 days laid up with the flu. 

I don't remember ever being this sick in my life. 

I couldn't stand for more than a few seconds without getting nauseous and dizzy. I have been laying down since Saturday afternoon. getting off the couch pretty much only to move to the bed and back, and a quick trip to the doctor yesterday.

I've had a fever hovering around 102 and a cough that hurts my chest like nothing else. Oh and the body aches, they were awful, my legs hurt so freaking bad.

I've lost more than 5 pounds because I couldn't stand long enough to prepare my own food, and I really have had no appetite. (I had to fend for myself because husband was away for work, but he's back in town to take care of me now)

I went to the doctor yesterday, and she confirmed that I do indeed have the flu.

But last night my fever broke, it was a glorious feeling and I knew that it was a good sign when I woke up drenched in sweat three times last night. 

Today I am able to sit upright without being nauseous, and I think I may even be hungry. 

I have a whole new respect for the flu, I've thought i've had it before, but I have not. The flu sucks and I don't wish it upon anyone! 

PostSecret

Via PostSecret

My husband is currently on Recruiting duty and this made me sad. Recruiting is hard, especially in rural areas like where we are. He really cares about his recruits, he takes what he does very seriously. He is totally honest and won't lie to get kids in the Marine Corps. I respect him for that, I see that finding qualified kids is hard, but he does. My husband busts his butt every day working often 7 days a week, sometimes 16 hours a day and I don't expect everyone to welcome him with open arms but the idea that people may want to do harm to him makes me sad.

Sew Cute!

Since I created my doggie gate stopper thing I have been sewing a few things.

Some have been failures, but I have had two, very useful successes.

 

I made this with some scrap cloth from the dog gate, it's one of those microwave heat pack things. It's filled with rice. I can nuke it for 2 minutes and it stays warm for a while, it's great on my back and the dogs love it too.

And then I made this cute little purse.

I was inspired (and mostly followed this pattern: Easy Zippered Purse)

The only mods I made were a wider strap I did 3.5 inches I think, I also made the strap longer so I could wear it over my shoulder and across my body. Also the overall dimensions are bigger I made it 9x9.5 instead of 7x7.5 so I had to use a 9 inch zipper.

I think the fabric is adorable.

I didn't finish the seams on the inside very well but I plan to eventually.

I plan on making a few more, but I think I will make them 9.5 x 12  so they are longer, also I will reinforce the strap with interfacing.

Wordless Wednesday

leaving tucson last tuesday


new haircut


Aiko (piggy pie)

Polar Bear Pounce

You know that thing Polar Bears to do break though the ice to get to the seals so they can eat them?



where they rear up on their back legs and pounce down on the front legs with great force?

Well, My naughty doggie Renji like to do this to unsuspecting humans, He gets great amusement from doing it to Paul and crushing his balls.

Funny shit.

Forever Home

I have been thinking quite a bit lately about my Forever Home. Paul only has a few (8ish) years left in the Marine Corps and then we will need to settle down somewhere. How do you decide that? We are not from the same city, state, or even coast. So really we get the option to go wherever we want, that sounds exciting! But then we have to decide where we want to go... well maybe it sounds scary too . We could live somewhere that we have family, this would be nice for several reasons, free babysitters, free in-person moral/emotional support, family dinners, big holiday festivities. But what if we don't want to live where we grew up. I don't exactly want to live on the East Coast, and Paul doesn't really want to live in Tucson, (neither do I for that matter.)

 I have given a lot of thought to the things I want.

Before living in Montana, I wanted seasons, I wanted four beautiful seasons. I grew up in a place that sort of skipped winter. Tucson, has winter for about a week. Maybe two, where the temp drops below 40 at night. But after those two weeks usually in January the temps go back up to 60's and 70's. Oh, and mountains, I want mountains and wildlife.

I was totally set on Flagstaff, Az. Seasons, mountains, wildlife, a big college, small but not tiny like Helena.

Source: webweevers.com via Alana on Pinterest

Source: flickr.com via Alana on Pinterest

Flagstaff looks so pretty, and it's in the mountains and has even more mountains as well as plenty of trees, and I've been there, I liked it.

But...

After living here , I'm over winter, and okay with skipping it. Or at least having a normal winter, that.. you know.. doesn't last 8 months. But I am leaning towards a mild winter. I also miss the beach, I miss the water, as crazy as it sounds I miss humidity. I also want a big city, I don't have to be in it, suburbs are fine, but I need options, food options, clothing options, dining, grocery, farmers market, movie theaters, activities and education.
We are also getting to a point where having babies is maybe going to happen soon. So I have been thinking about kids, going further out I am thinking about schools. So many things to consider when thinking about where I want to live. The opportunities are endless.


I went to FindYourSpot.com and my number one spot was Las Vegas.... no thanks. Number two? Portland, Oregon.

Source: aaronaikens.com via Alana on Pinterest

I have been researching Portland, and it seems like a pretty cool place. Lots of arts and entertainment, It's right on the ocean so fresh sea food (SUSHI!!!) plus a suburb called Beaverton (and if you know me personally, you know I want to live there.)

Source: google.com via Misti on Pinterest

It's a big enough metropolis that Paul shouldn't have much trouble finding a job, and I (hopefully will be done with school) should also be able to find work right away.  

Of course realistically we will go where the job is, if he finds a good job somewhere like Iowa, we'll go there, But we can get our hopes up right?

Making Friends

Moving every 3 or so years is hard enough.

When you are military and you move to another military instillation you are thrust into an environment where many other families are doing the same thing. Hundreds of families move between military bases all the time. All of these families need to make new friends. Most of them are starting over with a clean friendship slate.

I think making friends in this instance is fairly easy because there are so many people who need friends as well. Also you are all sort of in the same boat. You are all military families, you understand the long hours, the late nights, the unexpected working weekends, drills, exercises, and deployments.

Moving into the civilian world is very different. Over a year ago we moved to Helena, Mt. I can honestly say I have no friends in a 40 mile radius. The only people that I could maybe call friends are a few people I work with who I am 'facebook friends' with, but don't see outside of those walls.

I've survived this because I am very introverted, I don't mind sitting at home, all by my lonesome, surfing the net, knitting, sewing, crafting, reading, blogging, playing with the dogs, working out, doing housework (oh who am I kidding) watching reality TV.

But today I went to get a pedicure, and after hearing my (pathetic) story about living in Helena for over a year and not having any friends the woman doing my nails invited me to her house tonight for a Pure Romance party (naughty toy). I was extremely hesitant, not because I am awkward about the whole toy thing but because I am awkward when it comes to making friends. Even after I decided to go, before I left the house I near had a panic attack, the first one in months. I had to take an anxiety pill for the first time since before christmas.

Alas I pulled myself together and I went and had an amazing time. I met some really cool people and got invited to another party in two weeks. I gave my phone number to a few girls and I hope to hear from them soon. I am so happy tonight, perhaps happier than I have been in a while. I don't think I realized how much I missed woman companionship until I got to hang out with a big group of ladies tonight.

Photo-a-day

I fail at this. I didn't complete January and I've already been slow starting February. But you know what?I don't care. I take the pictures I want, when I am inspired, and I think that's what it's all about.

My view:

On this day I went to the chiropractor this was my drive by Carroll College

Words:

a blog, full of words

Hands:

Aiko and I held hands before we went to sleep

Stranger:

The reflection in the mirror on this day is a stranger to me.

10am:

I was asleep at 10 yesterday, but today I was at work, doing clearance stickers on about 200 DVDs

Dinner:

Ramen. Except I had chicken. I just threw it away before this was taken so I had to use a stand in.

Homesick for Okinawa

I shouldn't try to hide it. I've been a little down lately. I really miss Okinawa. I miss the whole island lifestyle. I miss living a mile from the ocean. I miss the big shopping centers. I miss the fresh fish. 

I miss the whole thing. 

There are good days and bad days. But I still have days where I miss it as much as I did the day we left. 

I hope that we get to go back. We've got a little less then two years left on recruiting duty. We are both hoping that after we will be given the opportunity to move back to Okinawa, Japan. 

I find myself constantly looking at houses for rent. 

I know what I want, and occasionally I find a house or two that are everything (on paper) that I am looking for. 

The other day I found the Maekawa House. 

I have naughty little doggies.

I love my doggies, but they are naughty little creatures and can't be let to run amok through the house. We have an upstairs and downstairs, the down is rarely used except as access to the garage and the laundry room. The upstairs is the living, dining, kitchen, bed, computer and one bath. But confining the dogs to the upstairs for supervision isn't even enough. Renji has a bad habit of eating EVERYTHING. Really anything he can get in his mouth he will eat, paper, plastic, fiber, cat litter. Aiko has a nasty habit of sneaking off down the hall and doing her business instead of asking to go outside, especially when it's cold.

So the dogs are constantly confined to the main living area of the house. We do this with baby gates. But those things are hard to step over, and we trip over them constantly. Well earlier this week I tripped on one and demolished it. I had to come up with a better solution, something that would be stationary but not as tall. I decided that I would sew a little divider and keep it in place with tension rods.
And here is my divider:


well hello there Renji!

and from the other side:




I have only replaced the gate I broke. The other one we move every night from the end of the hall to the bedroom door to keep the dogs in the room at night. Tripping over this one happens less because it is on a level surface, not on the stairs.

This divider was super easy to make, I sewed two coordinating fabrics together, and hemmed up each raw side. Then I figured how big of holes I would need for my tension rods and sewed another hem on the right side of the fabric a little bigger than my rod.

I have fallen in love with sewing. I am already washing my fabric for my next project!

French Onion Soup

I love soup. I am a huge fan of soup in all shapes and sizes, creamy, brothey, thin, and thick. I have a special place in my heart for home made soup. I like to make soup, I think soup made from fresh ingredients tastes so much better.

French Onion Soup

4-5 med sweet or yellow onions
2 cartons of beef broth
2 cups of white wine
bay leaves
thyme
french bread
gruyere
olive oil
kosher salt
3 tbsp butter
dash of sugar

You need to start with a thick bottom pot, this will help distribute your heat better, especially if your stove is a piece of shit like mine.  Melt your butter on medium low heat.
Cut your onion in half then thinly slice it.
Add your onions to your pan and sprinkle with about 1 tbsp of salt. Drizzle with about 1tbsp of olive oil and stir up to coat well.

getting ready to hang out while you pour yourself some wine

Now you need to cover your pot and let all that stuff sit in the pot for 15 min. It needs to hang out and don't worry about stirring it or burning it, just leave it alone (you should still be about med/low heat)

oh, now we're all sweaty.

After 15 min your onions are ready for your constant attention. They should have produced some milky liquid. Now you need to sprinkle in about a tablespoon of sugar, stir it in well. Then crank the heat up. 

it's getting hot in here!

Now you need to keep it moving, you need to stir your onions every few minutes. Best bet is to not leave the kitchen. I am sure there is something you need to do in there. Like the dishes. Or clean out the fridge. Or organize your pantry. 

10 min into cooking

After these guys started to get a little softer I added in a bay leaf and covered it in the onions so it could get soggy and pass on some flavors. 

20 min 

at about 20 minutes I reduced the heat to just a hair below medium.

30 min

mmmm yummy brown

now you need to make sure that you are paying attention. This brown goodness that is accumulating on your pan? well you need to be stirring that up and getting it all over your onions. You may have to put some elbow into it but it's what holds all your glorious flavor. 

45 min

Optimum color has been achieved 

Now pour two cups of wine and add it to your onions giving it a little stir to get all the brown goodness up from the bottom of the pan. 

Add two more bay leaves and let go for about 10-15 more minutes, or until it's reduced to a syrup consistency. 

I could just eat it with my fingers.

Now we are ready for rest of the liquids. It's about to get easier. And we are almost done.

Add your broth and let it all simmer for about 30 more minutes. Or in my case an hour, because the husband was very late home from work. 

When you are ready to ingest set your oven to broil. move the oven rack to the top half of the oven. put a few slices of toast in to get a little toasty. 

see how those onions, how convenient they show up there... 

someone may be trying to stage her food shots better. 

Ladle your soup into the bowls and shred a little cheese. Then put our toasty bread on top then top with more shredded cheese. 

Broil until cheese has reached desired melty-ness. I like mine to be just bubbling. 

Then eat it, and eat more of it, then a little more. 

I used these links for inspiration: 

Alton Brown

Smitten Kitchen