Life Lately

1.) We discovered that a local grocery store carries our ultimate favorite, the splendidly delicious Henry Weinhard's Root Beer (and cream soda!).

2.) Dan ran a Halloween 5K, along with 3,749 other people, or thereabouts. He dressed up as a Chilean Miner. He did an awesome job, especially when you consider that he hasn't run since his half marathon.

This picture isn't focused on Dan because I was really taking a picture of the Star Wars dude behind him. As I took the picture, though, I realized Dan was right in front of me.

3.) You know you've lived in Wisconsin when you think that PacMan is really a hoop of cheese with a wedge cut out of it.

4.) This costume was creepy, but strangely eye-catching.

5.) I liked the bouncing udder in this costume. Added some verisimilitude to the costume. Poor cows. (Once, during college, my friends and I went to a diary and helped do the milking. It was quite the experience!)

3.) We're dog sitting this weekend. I'm pretty sure the other dog is going to be sick and tired of Lander's incessant play. I get a little freaked out -- those teeth! those yips! those jumps on top of each other! -- but I'm doing my best to remain calm until Dan gets home. Then I am off duty.

Sister Sister!

This post is for one of the bravest people I know, my little sister. Although she probably wouldn't characterize herself as brave (after all, she doesn't like rock climbing or heights!), she certainly goes out of her comfort zone. She's been in more countries than I have and regularly tries things that scare her silly -- like zip lines in Costa Rica. Fresh out of college, Joanna decided to use her gift for teaching and her big heart to volunteer with AmeriCorps, in the heart of inner-city Buffalo. She is working at the King's Center and when not at school, she is reaching out to her neighbors. She lives in Buffalo with a group of Houghton alum, and these individuals gather together for shared meals frequently. Yesterday she bought a slew of chicken to make into White Chicken Chili (yum), and I told her that this might be a cheaper way to feed her friends. So this post is for her.

Cheap Chicken

Start with a fryer chicken, which cost 89 cents a pound for me. If you want the chicken and broth to have a little more flavor, you'll also need an onion, some celery and a carrot.

I peel the skin from the onion but otherwise leave it whole. I don't peel the carrot, but I do lope off the top, and the leafy inside stalks of the celery are apparently great for soup.

Next, fill a large pot about 2/3s of the way. Rinse off the chicken (I guess this is an optional step, but sometimes there is gross syrupy stuff that has been injected into the chicken and comes oozing out, so I do it), and make sure you dump out the stuff that they shove inside, like the heart and gizzards and a sheet of fatty yellow fat. (I forgot that once in Belfast!) I'm not sure if one should drop the innards into the pot with the chicken, but yesterday I did (but not the fatty piece). Then throughly wash your hands and bleach the sink.

Then toss in the carrot and celery and onion, and bring to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, set the time for an hour and fifteen minutes, and reduce the heat to a gentle simmer. As it starts to cook, you'll notice some yucky scum on the top of the pot. I use a spoon to skim it off and I did not take a picture of it. It was yucky, as I mentioned before.

It'll boil happily on your stove, and your apartment will start to smell like chicken noodle soup. Yum.

Once the timer goes off, take two big spoons and wrestle the chicken onto a plate. You'll have to let it cool there for about an hour. Otherwise your hands will be really hurting as you try to shred the chicken. You could always use rubber gloves if you were in a big hurry, but I'd recommend waiting for awhile.

I shredded the meat, discarding the skin and throwing the bones back into the pot of broth. (I continued cooking the broth for several hours with the bones, onion, carrot, celery, and a half tsp of salt to make stock. I probably should have added more water, as I probably made a rather condensed stock, but I forgot. Oh well. Currently it is sitting in the fridge, waiting for me to skim off the fat that has risen to the top, and then it'll be ready to freeze or whatever.) As you can see, I got about 5 1/2 to 6 cups of chicken from a 5 pound chicken, plus at least 2 quarts of chicken stock.

Shredded chicken can be used for a whole variety of quick meals, freezes well, and can be defrosted very quickly. So... do it to it, sister! Love you lots. :)

Things I'm Considering...

I already revealed my deep desire for my house (or currently, our apartment) to look like it belongs in magazine. It still looks pretty much like it did a few weeks ago and will stay looking like that for the foreseeable future. But, having a lot of time on my hands, I can't help but plan what I might someday buy for our apartment. So here is the current list, with items picked from stores which I would, in reality, probably buy from. Although I absolutely love looking at expensive pieces in magazines, catalogs, and in stores, it won't happen, at least not now.

A cart for our television and DVD player. Our set-up is such that to be watchable, the t.v. has to be pulled out from the wall, in the living room space. However, it looks ugly when you walk in, and blocks the flow of the room. I'd like to buy some sort of rolling cart that we could easily wheel in or out, depending if the t.v. was in use or not. There are plenty of expensive carts, but this one is pretty economical.

Fabric Cubes for Storage: Dan made an inexpensive solution to our kitchen storage issues by screwing together several pine boards into shelves, which we then painted white. My crockpot, rice cooker, food processor, kitchen aid, and cookbooks are all stored there, as well as other kitchen essentials, such as ziplock bags, light bulbs, and paper towels. I need some baskets in order to hide some of the essentials that don't look quite as nice as the appliances. I'm thinking these (but perhaps not in bright green):

Shoe Rack: I have a cute, hot pink, back of the door shoe storage thing to corral my shoes. Dan does not. He (we) need something to control the shoe chaos, both in our closet and by our door. This would do the trick.

Sheer Curtains: Some privacy, please! Our apartment is on ground level, so it is really easy to see directly into our apartment. It's only the dog people that are out back, so it's not like we're on a major highway, but I'd still like to have a little more privacy without always having to keep the blinds down. Curtains can be super expensive, but I think these are pretty (and in my price range!). I'd need to hem them, and perhaps would still pair them with a heavier curtain, but it'd be a start.

Carpet: Let me just say, for a brief moment, that I have seen this area rug a couple of times in different magazines, and I just love it (in blue multi). Just do. A rug would help define our living room space better, but I'm pretty sure an $800 rug is out of the question. So, what about carpet squares? I could reconfigure them when we no longer live here, and in any case, I like Martha's take on them.

I also like the look of this for under our table, which is located on carpet, again defining the area for eating.

Any opinions on these choices? My only concern is that our apartment has a very neutral wall color and all of our pieces are in pretty neutral colors -- is it going to start looking boring? Or did I pick enough color in the carpet to help spice it up? Just a query.

And now, I need to stop dreaming, and perhaps start looking for a job. Otherwise, our apartment is going to stay exactly as is. And if does, that's fine: learning the lesson of contentment is ultimately much more valuable than furnishings.

An (unsuccessful) Interview

Even if you have earned a Masters of Arts in Teaching and (as my Grandma B points out) you have some experience, which is wonderful, moving as the school year begins isn't fortuitous for finding a teaching job. As of yet, I'm still unemployed and half-heartedly searching. It's a half-hearted effort because my Praxis score won't be available until 10/19, so I can't get certified to teach quite yet, so I'm not actually very employable. In light of that, I took my mom's advice to look up the closest Ann Taylor store. I happen to love Ann Taylor's clothes -- well made, versatile, and a perfect staple for a teacher wardrobe. Lo and behold, I found one about 20 minutes away, and they were actually hiring!

I drove over about 2 weeks ago and discovered that it is located in one of those new-fangled shopping areas, designed like a small town and with limited (parallel) parking spots which are all metered. Not only can you shop there, you can live there (gasp!) so you can shop whenever you want.

Not exactly my cup of tea, but a job is a job. And the associate's discount is 50%. So I was pretty psyched.

I filled out an application and completed an online survey to determine my "hirability" (their words), and soon after got a call from a manager to come in for an interview. Sweet, I thought. I'll wear some nice (AT) dress pants and the job will be mine.

On the day of the interview, I arrived about 10 minutes early and then flubbed parallel parking. I think I need to go practice with my Dad again. Then I only had one quarter, which only bought me 15 minutes, but I figured it'd be a pretty quick interview. After all, it's a job in retail. It is not rocket science. The customer is always right. That's the main rule, correct?

The first part of the interview was filled with typical interview questions. Tell me a little bit about yourself, tell me about a time when (insert scenario). All of the questions were relatively easy to answer. Although I wasn't thrilled about committing to work the day after Thanksgiving or the week of Christmas, I was cognizant of my need for a paycheck and the perk of filling out my wardrobe.

And then the interview took a turn for the worse.

Interviewer: Imagine a valley-girl, cheerleader*, ditzy voice. "And to work in retail, you have to be a fashionista. So, now I'm going to ask you some questions about your style."

Me: Seriously? Fashionista is a made-up, pop-culture word, you dummy. Okay! Great!

Interviewer: In two words, describe your style for me.

Me: Shoot! I'm not trendy, for sure, and I really only wear comfortable things. Ok, comfortable is a decent word. Comfortable, like, I don't like to wear heels and um..... Oh no, what else can I say? Should I say modern? But that's kind of a lie. What other words describe style? Ugh. Outdoorsy? No no, that's not a good word for AT. How about like organic or natural? Natural! Noticing the woman's strange look, I attempt to explain. Like I like organic fibers and not a lot of synthetics. Sort of. Whatever. That was so the wrong answer.

Interviewer: Slowly says, Alright. Now, where do you find your fashion inspiration?

Me: Inspiration? Oh no. Well the Internet, of course.

Interviewer: Like where on the internet?

Me: You know, websites. And also magazines.

Interviewer: Which ones?

Me: I used to flip through People. Only at Grams and only because it was on the table, but she doesn't need to know that.

Interviewer: Okay. What is your favorite cosmetic product?

Me: Oh gosh, I don't know! I don't really use that much makeup and I just buy whatever happens to catch my eye and use it until it runs out! The only really branded thing I have is... My Clinique moisturizer. It's just so great, lamely attempting to give my answer some merit.

Interviewer: What is one style that you've wanted to try but just haven't had the guts to?

Me: What style? Seriously? I don't know! What IS in style? Anything, Hilary, think of anything that is in style. You haven't tried any of it. Like a flow-y dress with a wide belt around the waist. I think it looks really great on other people but I don't know how it'd look on me. Oh, that answer at least got some recognition. Yes. Maybe I'm redeeming it after all!

Interviewer: What is one product that you never home without putting on?

Me: Oh dear. Back to the slippery slope. I have lip gloss in my purse, or maybe I should say mascara because I do wear that when I do wear make up, but I really leave the house without it a lot of times. Like 90% of the time right now. I don't put anything on to take the dog out, and I sometimes see people out there. I just can't help but say the honest answer.... Chapstick!

Interviewer: Giving me a pitying smile, and no longer even trying to respond to my answers. What are you favorite stores to shop at besides Ann Taylor?

Me: Looking around the room, desperately attempting to recall some stores that are cool and that I own something from. Anything from. The only store I can recall purchasing anything from is Old Navy and Kohls, both of which are kind of like Wal-Mart when compared to AT. Even in my despair, I recognize that these are not stores I should admit to purchasing clothes from in this interview. I remember walking into Gap recently, and in the past I have purchased clothes there, so Gap! it is. And where else, let's see... Hmm, I can't even remember buying new clothes since I've been married**. Oh wait, I did buy something on super sale from Eddie Bauer, and that pops out and then I sink into the floor and disappear and relieve myself from finishing this embarrassing interview.

Oh wait. That didn't happen. Instead the interviewer explained to me that they like to be a "really genuine stylist" for their customers, making sure that they don't only have the top, they have the bottoms and the scarf to make the outfit and so on and so forth. (People actually buy entire outfits in one go? They don't just buy what they need to have a decent wardrobe? Hmmm. Maybe I won't fit in here.) She then ended the interview by saying, "I still have some other people to interview, so I'll be in touch." And then, as I picked up my brown purse, her eyes saw it and my black shoes and I was toast. Just like that.

It's been a week, and I still haven't heard back. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that my stellar interview really sealed the deal, and Dan no longer has to worry about me spending my entire paycheck at my place of employment.

*Just stereotyping, sorry if it offends.

**I really have purchased new clothes in the past three years. T.J. Maxx baby! And a couple of times I've visited various outlet malls and found some good deals, but none of this sprang to mind.

Moral of the story: When interviewing in retail, attempt to be current with something. Anything. It might not help you get the job, but it will save you some glowing red cheeks and laughter/tears as you explain your interview to your hubby.

Staying Busy

Dan is about three weeks into his new job, and he is really enjoying it. (Praise the Lord for that!) He's been working some pretty long days, as fall is a busy season for his organization, so I've been trying my best to stay busy. We've pretty much finished settling in, so I've been doing quite a bit of reading. Our public library is a 15 minute walk from our apartment so it's close enough to go as often as I need new books! However, I've also been re-reading from my stash of books in our hallway (no bookcases yet), attempting to convince Dan that many books = happy wife. Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House books are some of my perennial favorites, and while I was working at the HC campus store, I snagged full color collector set copies of 4 of the first 5 books. (I still need to find Farmer Boy in the same edition; I love Almanzo's adventures growing up! And I see that the publisher has some of the later years in the same addition. This is going on my Christmas list!)

Anyways, Dan has never read them, so I can't wait until we have some little girls and we read them out loud on a family adventure. I really think he'll be impressed by how ingenious and industrious Pa was. The stories are so amazing. They had so little but they were so happy and content with what they had. And Ma was an amazing wife. She never failed to support Pa, no matter if they were sick or smashing grasshoppers or doing chores in a blizzard. So very many lessons to learn from the Ingalls family.

One thing I've adopted in my effort to make time pass quickly while Dan is at work is by completing a chore a day.

Ma's chores went like this:

"Wash on Monday,

Iron on Tuesday,

Mend on Wednesday,

Churn on Thursday,

Clean on Friday,

Bake on Saturday,

Rest on Sunday."

I decided to modify a bit:

"Bills on Monday,

Kitchen/Living Room on Tuesday,

Grocery Shop on Wednesday,

Laundry on Thursday,

Bathroom on Friday,

Bedroom on Saturday,

Rest on Sunday."

I guess one could say I'm a person who thrives on schedules.

(Becoming) Home

I love looking at people's homes in magazines. I love admiring how they've decided to arrange their rooms, the curtains they chose, the art displayed on their walls, what the color of their teapot is, and how their quirks are expressed. In my ideal world, my home would be of the caliber to be featured in a magazine -- with a housekeeper to keep it neat and tidy.

Our apartment building totally has potential to be in a magazine. It's an old school building near downtown Dayton, and some of the rooms have some of the original school-house architecture, like the stage for the auditorium or blackboards that used to be on the wall. Our apartment, however, used to be the bathrooms for the kiddos, so most of the original got ripped out (thank goodness!). To me, though, our apartment is perfect, but I hate to admit how much time I spent trying to ready our apartment for a few pictures. Besides the regular straightening up to make it picture worthy, I also needed to wash the windows. We're in the basement/ground level, and the windows were filthy with dirt and dust. The smudges wouldn't have been visible in the pictures, undoubtedly, but when you aspire to magazine greatness, you have to be pretty picky. While I washed the screens and the windows (both inside and outside), the light from the morning passed me by, so I was left to take pictures in the darker afternoon.

Here is the tour:

This is our entrance to the building, with beautiful potted plants lining the sidewalk. One of the residents loves to garden, and we get to enjoy her labor!

If you skip down six wide concrete steps, turn to your left, and then open the door on the right, you'll most likely be greeted with Lander, making sure you're acceptable.

Our door opens into the living room-kitchen-eating area, but because I don't have a wide-angle lens, you'll get it in stages. Here's the living room:

Notice the couch we bought before leaving Pittsburgh. It's pretty big, but it works really well in this space! Also, notice our t.v. sitting on a chair. I'm pretty sure I've never seen that in a magazine, but you know what? Works well for now.

Also notice the presence of an exercise ball. Where do people put their exercise balls when their house is being photographed for a magazine? I bet they throw it in their basements. Me, I leave it out. More real that way.

Another really neat feature of our apartment is the two foot deep windowsills. They are marble or slate (it varies), and so beautiful. They are also south facing, and I'm hoping to keep my herbs alive all winter. Our windows look into the backyard -- something that Lander particularly likes. It allows him to keep tabs on when the other dogs go out to play. I'm thinking that we could use some sheer curtains, especially as our dinner was interrupted yesterday when Lander and a yellow lab had a stare off.

Our kitchen is just dandy. It's pretty simple, without tons of cupboard space, but what we sacrificed cupboards for was a dishwasher! I love it. To supplement the kitchen area, Dan let me use a shelf that he built for his backpacking stuff (behind the table in the previous picture). We're going to add another couple of shelves and paint it white, and then it will look a bit more polished than it does now. We'll also try find a couple of stools or tall chairs for counter, but right now our shoes are happily living there.

Our hallway is lined with books -- we need to buy another bookshelf. If you peek in the door on the left you'll see the bathroom.

(Boring!)

On the right you have our storage room -- and theoretically a guest room. It's where Lander sleeps, our off season clothes reside, our chest freezer freezes, and our outdoor gear lives. Give us a few days before you decide to swing by. This room needs some work.

Our bedroom is at the end of the hallway. If I were a designer, I'd make some snooty comments about needing a headboard to give the bed some weight, some more art on the walls, etc. As is it's fine for sleeping in. And it has a nice big closet (no picture; I was tired of making things neat and tidy).

I'm still waiting for the magazine stylists to arrive, with accessories in hand, but until they do, I'm happy with our lovely apartment. I'm sure I'll make small changes -- rugs, curtains, pillows -- but you'll have to come see them for yourselves! We're excited to be settled in Dayton and even more excited for all of the adventures that lie ahead.

accepted a job and moving to a place we have never been to...

Since I was once told that Facebook was the easiest way to communicate I have decided to write a blog post about this to prove him wrong, but link it to my facebook account, so I have decided to use two dimensions of the electronic digital world.

I found a job, probably close to 150, I applied to a lot of them. For this specific job I interviewed via Skype webcam, I gave up hope, I was wrong. They called me, they told me they decided on who to offer the job to, they told me the offer was for me. I was excited, a bit bewildered with the humor of Christ. I accepted the job, and then cancelled 4 of the interviews I had lined up across the country. I went to one of the interviews that was local: the reason, to wear my new suit that I picked up the night before.

Hilary and I will be moving to Dayton, OH.

I have accepted a job as Outdoor Coordinator-Cycling for the Five Rivers MetroParks.

I will be coordinating, planning, running events, activities, trips, etc. I believe I will help with all aspects of the Outdoor Recreation department, but my focus is cycling related.

We don't know where we are living or anything. We have never been to Dayton, so details will be forthcoming if you want to help us move. Hilary hopes to get certified in OH to teach, so she'll be busy doing that.

If any of you have been to Dayton and have suggestions of what part/area to live in, that would be great. We are driving out next week to check it out.

I start in around 2-4 weeks.

Thank you for your prayers if you have been praying, keep it up...lots of people desire employment.