The Gift of Brussels Sprouts

Last weekend Sam and I went to Costco and bought $200 worth of groceries. I felt so awesome working out the budget and making sure we got things we needed instead of things we wanted. It was really fun. I decided we would get our produce and dairy at the regular store since it didn't really make sense to me to buy it in bulk when we're both only just starting to try to eat more fruits and vegetables (you'd never believe we were in our 20s, would you?).

And then it dawned on me: the long-ago mention of some produce basket co-op where you can get lots of fruits and vegetables for a fraction of the cost (as in $15 instead of $50). So I did some googling and discovered Bountiful Baskets. I then spent the next couple of hours doing research, reading reviews, and looking at pictures of what people typically get. I then ran it by Sam and we talked it over, finally deciding hey-ho, let's give it a go.

So this morning at 7:50, I arose, bleary-eyed, and asked Sam if he was coming (to which he replied "Would it kill you if I didn't?" of course), hopped in the truck, sent myself on a wild goose chase (who knows west from east, really? Pff.), and finally found the elementary school where the pickup was held. I went inside and some guy asked me for directions. I gave my standard "I just don't know," with raised eyebrows (which I'm starting to think some people might interpret as being rude, but sometimes...you just don't know). We then wandered around together until we found the auditorium, waited in line, showed proof of "contribution," the ladies made fun of my IKEA bag (have they seen how big those things are?), and kindly gave me a box to take my produce home in. I then made my way speedily home (there are surprisingly few people out and about at 8am on Saturday), singing to myself "It's eight o'clock in the morning; my husband's home and he's snoring..." (sung to the tune of that weird song on the radio right now).

Anyway, this is what we got:

I'm pretty excited to use this stuff in the near future. Some of it, like the corn, I will be cooking and freezing for later. We plan to get the baskets every other week (I think eating all that in one week would be a little over-ambitious, don't you?). Obviously some of it I can't eat because of my health issues, but Sam can.

What am I supposed to do with the Brussels sprouts though? We've both had them before and agree they are not delicious. Does anyone want them? Or something? Help?

PS I promise you I've written a nice long exposé on our wedding, but I'm waiting to post it until the photographer gets the pictures to me (which was supposed to be yesterday. I'm trying to be patient). So try holding your breath just a bit longer.

2012 Goals

I know this is a few weeks late for New Year goals, but I promise you I've been trying to write it since the 1st of January. Tomorrow Sam and I will have been married for a month. And quite a good month it has been! It's given me cause for reflection, and I've come up with some personal goals for this year.

Toilet train the cat

This one is already in progress. I'm pleased to inform you all that my cat is en route to being one of the awesomest cats around...by the beginning of March, he will be able to use the toilet instead of the litter box, and we will never have to deal with litter, smells, or excess germs ever again!

Complete every room in the apartment to the vision of what I want it to be

This goal is already in progress too; it's nearly complete as a matter of fact. The living room is well on its way to being exactly how I want it (we have 6 huge bookcases in here...don't judge). The bedroom is finished. The second bedroom is nearly finished (it's only missing a few bits of furniture). The bathroom is pretty much done. The kitchen is also well on its way. I'll have to do a post of a house tour once it's all done the way I like.

Read 25 books

I'm already 1.5 books down for this goal. I'm keeping track on the sidebar on this blog. I think it will be a lot easier to read more come summertime.

Do something out of my comfort zone (something big...for me)

So far the thing I have planned for this goal is to run the waterfront at a cub scout camp, rife with little boys. If you know me at all, you know this is kind of a big deal thing for me to do. Boss little boys around? Ha! We'll see how it goes.

Graduate from college

Hopefully this semester will be my last. However, I'll still be finishing up my two Independent Study classes in Spring term (and possible taking one last GE class), but my goal is to graduate in the middle of June. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Go to the temple twice a month, every month

So far we've failed at this one, but I guess January is still a couple of weeks away from being over, so we could still do it. Hooray!

Stick to a budget, and never be overdrawn

This means that we will have to be frugal with our food purchases and work as many hours as we can in order to be able to make rent and bills at the beginning of every month. I also have a goal that we will be able to pay for summer rent by the beginning of the summer so that we can go to Connecticut for July and part of August without having to worry about the apartment. This goal is probably the biggest for me, since I don't have the best history of saving money, but hopefully with food now stocked in our cupboards and pretty much everything we need already set up in the apartment (THANK YOU wedding gifts!!), we won't have to spend money on much and we'll be able to save up some.

Show Sam every day that I love him

People say the first year of marriage is the most difficult. I'm determined not to let that be true for us. I love him, so it's easy for me to be good to him, especially since now we're married and we're always together. But there's going to be a lot of patience, understanding, and patience (did I mention patience?) required, so it will definitely require some work.

SCUBA dive somewhere outside of Utah

Hopefully I'll be able to check this one off when we take our honeymoon (finally) at the end of April. We're probably going to be in Hawai'i, so it'll be fun to dive there.

Blog more often and be more open

I feel like I barely blog anymore, and when I do, it's usually something lame like a video I like or a song or something. I'm trying to resolve to be a little more personal on here, and write more often. This blog often takes the place of my journal writing, so I'm trying to make sure that I do it often enough, and still get the emotional needs from it that I would with a journal. I'm not that worried about people reading it because I need to be honest anyway, and not that many people really read it. I think it'll be a good year for the blog.

Here's a picture of a path that I took in Hampstead Heath in England a couple of years ago (wow, I can't believe it's been that long). Think of the path as a metaphor for my goals or something. Mostly I don't want you to feel like you've been visually gypped.

Hooray!

We got a cat! Also, we got married, but more about that later. More importantly, check this out:

His name is Brozhy (the "zh" is pronounced like a French "j"-- as in "je ne sais quoi"). I think he thinks his name is What though, because every time I see him I say "What?" and he squeaks at me. Anyway, this cat is cool. Besides not responding to his name, other things he can do are run crazily along the couch, attack his feather toy, do spinning jumps, fetch (occasionally), eat a ton, kick litter everywhere, and purr louder than any cat I've ever heard. And he's really easy to get to purr, too. I just look at him or say "What?" and he purrs.

Check out his new trick:

He's too small to jump onto the chairs, and he wants to be with us when we eat (heck, he wants to be with us all the time) so he's trying to figure out another way up there.

Also he has 26 toes. Yeah, I told you he was cool.

Hoot

I'm getting married on Saturday. Hoo boy. I also have finals this week (meaning outlandishly long papers...thank you archaeology major). But I'm bored of writing right now, so I thought I'd take a break and show you my awesome craftiness.

I made an advent calendar of sorts for Sam. Just for him, nobody else.

Each envelope (Day 1-25) has either a fun thing to do (ie driving to look at Christmas lights, decorating a tree, drinking hot cocoa, going to a movie, etc) or a special message from me to him letting him know what I like about him, or what I appreciate that he does, or whatever.

I saw it on a website of a lady that has kids, but this advent calendar is just for the husband, not for the kids, so it makes him feel special and appreciated. I know that (even though we won't be married or living together for another 5 days) Sam has really enjoyed opening an envelope every morning and reading what's inside.

Some people (like the aforementioned lady I stole the idea from) make it all scrapbooky and crafty and complicated, but I just wrote on 3x5s and put them in envelopes that I drew on. And really, the hardest part about this project was coming up with a different picture for each envelope. The messages came really easily.

So yeah, happy holidays and all that. Have a good week! I probably won't write again until after the wedding. And I will be a married woman! Wahoo!

Progress for the Sake of Progress

I have a framework for my 15-minute presentation (I only lack numerous colorful photographs to accompany my super intelligent speech on Anasazi red ware sherd distribution in Fremont sites).

I have 9 out of the required 15-20 pages of my paper on the symbolism of the Greek goddess Nike (and I'm not perturbed that I stole it from a paper I wrote for another class at another university).

Progress! This deserves a little break to watch this video (but mostly to listen to the song) for the five-billionth time (and maybe work a little on wedding stuff?), and perhaps get the lyrics out of my head (no, nope, I don't think it's possible, they're too much fun):

Blargh School!

Did you know that if you take the letters in the word "school" and remove the "schoo" part, and replace it with "evi" that it spells EVIL??? IT'S TRUE!!!

Sometimes professors apparently forget what it was like to be a student. I think they also forget that all their students are taking more than one class (usually). I'm only taking two classes (that matter-- two others that don't really) this semester, and I'm still getting overwhelmed. I have two major essays and a major presentation due soon. And a massive test to study for (read: relearn everything I was supposed to learn this semester).
The days of this phenomenon are upon us:

Oh PS Happy Veterans' Day. Hug/email/text/call your various veterans and thank them for what they do/have done.
PPS It's also 11/11/11. The world still isn't ending.

It's Happened.

Winter. It is here. I have to wake up earlier to scrape ice off my car. I get to wear the same shirt I sleep in because I wear 209,367 sweaters all day and no one will see it anyway.

Lose/Win?

Lobster

I think there's no avoiding it-- I'm going to need to live near the ocean. The last video I posted, plus this one... Man.

The Perennial Plate Episode 77: Lobster Pie from Daniel Klein on Vimeo.

Oh, and if you're wondering where I find all these day-in-the-life food-related videos, they are from The Perennial Plate.

Des Momies!

After a year of research and work and trials and tribs, the mummy case in the Learning Lounge in the MPC (where I work) is finally completed. I invite you all to come and see it and be proud of me. This project isn't over yet, it will eventually become my senior thesis, and I'm submitting to a couple of research symposiums. Wahoo!

Tumult

I really like this video, even if I feel like some of what he says is just strings of philosophical hubbub. It made me happy. I miss the ocean.
A Day in the Life of a Seaweed Harvester:

The Perennial Plate Episode 76: Seaweed Man from Daniel Klein on Vimeo.

Fixer-Upper

We're too poor to get nice furniture for the apartment. Instead, I've been perusing KSL and Ikea and Craigslist for dills and sells (that's Utah speak for deals and sales for those uninformed) and buying things little by little.

A couple of weeks ago we bought this table for $20. The chairs were $25 each, and we got 4 so we can entertain guests or something.

I call the color something in the neighborhood of puke green.

Then last week we bought this a-mazing dresser for $40 (it was originally $50, but there's no way I'd pay that much for this beast). Those are glow-in-the-dark red stars. Just fyi.

Anyway, clearly these needed fixing. So we went to Lowe's where we had a coupon for 10% off everything and bought paint and hardware for the drawers.

And then the great project began. We sanded everything (I took stalker-y pictures of Sam working)...

Here are post-sanding pictures:

Then painted the table a "lovely green"

Then painted a gray base coat on the dresser

Then painted it turquoise and sanded some more to make it look sort of antiqued

Et voila! The finished product!

This was my first experience attempting antiquing of something. It turns out it would have been loads easier had we rubbed a candle on parts of the base so that the top coat would have come off a lot easier. But you live, you learn, right? And I think it looks pretty dang good for a first attempt.

P.S. These are crappy pictures taken at night with my phone and/or Costco camera. It looks a lot cooler in person, promise.

Win It Nao

Since I was one of the first three commenters on my cousins' cousin's blog the other day, I am obligated to post this too as part of the winnings. But I'm actually really excited about this. So here it goes:

Here are the instructions: The first 3 people to respond to this post will get something made by me! However, there are some rules, which are:

1. I get to decide what it is.
2. But I will keep you in mind and it will be personalized. I'm not going to make you a teapot if you don't drink tea. I wouldn't make a teapot anyway, I have no clue how.
3. You'll probably have to wait until after the wedding. I'm too insanely busy to get it done beforehand. That ok?
4. It can be anything. Maybe I'll paint you a picture (on canvas), maybe I'll embroider something for you, maybe I'll bake you something...It all depends!

The catch is that you must re-post this on your blog and offer the same to the first 3 people who do the same on your blog. The first 3 people to leave a comment telling me they will win it forward get a fabulous homemade gift by me! Oh, and if you have a blog, be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it.

Muse

I feel like I haven't talked about my real life in a while, aside from the post I wrote in the hospital.

This has been an interesting semester so far. Between the numerous doctors' appointments and blood tests and diet changes and the veritable pharmacy I carry around with me everywhere I go, my health has sort of taken center stage. I don't like it that way. Not at all.

Another thing is the whole being engaged thing. People tell you planning a wedding (and carrying out those plans) is a menace, but they often forget to mention all the learning and growing you and your partner do. That, my friends, is a process. It's rather time-consuming. It makes me forget that I have a life outside of Sam, that my friends are still my friends. But if I'm going to spend the rest of my life with Sam, we need to work out the kinks and learn to be together, and not act as though we are two people, or single people living together. I'm not sure I got that point across, it's complicated.

And of course, as far as school and work goes, I have (typically) bitten off almost more than I can chew. Well, it's more like one of those enormous bites you take where you have to cover your mouth for a while to prevent things from flying out until you can get a handle on everything you've shoved in your mouth. Yeah, nice image. I have four research projects this semester, two of which I volunteered for. And the display case I've been working on putting together at the museum is finally almost up. And yet, the inevitable things are going wrong.

That's something I've learned to deal with better (at least I hope so) lately. Sometimes things don't go the way you plan, and as hard as you try and push to make it work, the universe (or people...) push back. Nothing will ever be perfect, not in this life. It's part of my growing experience to learn to be truly flexible and learn that not everyone, no matter how kind they can be or how well-meaning they are, will act according to plan.

But I have a lot to be grateful for. I'm actually grateful for all these experiences, even if it means I can't have my wedding precisely the way I want (note to the world: if it's not your wedding, it is NOT your wedding), or that I have to redo the labels in the display three times over and over, and get cut by a razor in the process, or that I live from meal to meal, wondering how everything I put in my mouth will affect me. And I'm grateful that I have friends who have offered support and anything they can do to help me. And I'm grateful for family, who constantly make me laugh and provide an outlet to really be myself. And I'm grateful for Sam, who will one day be my family, and who already understands me better than anyone else, and will do anything for me. We will work through the years ahead together, and I feel more confident knowing that he'll be by my side.

Fall Has Fallen

This past Sunday after church, Sam and I hopped in the truck and drove up to Sundance to look at the Fall colors in the leaves on the trees, since I've never driven through a canyon or anything to do so (I've only even had two other real Falls before, and I missed it both times).
Needless to say, it was a beautiful drive. I wanted to do more, but we ran out of gas. Such is life.
On another, completely irrelevant note, I bought new mascara the other day and used it this morning for the first time. I've read about Maybelline's Great Lash for years-- all magazines everywhere rave about it. I've never tried it, but this time I was attracted by the neon-colored bottle. When I pulled out the brush from the bottle this morning, I noticed how small the bristles were, and frowned a little. Surely it would be ineffective.
But wow. It worked like a dream. Absolutely zero clumping of eyelashes or anything! I literally said "Wow" to myself when I saw the results. So here's my plug: go try it. Seriously. I got it in waterproof in blackish brown.

Coming Soon: Our apartment is starting to take shape! I'm starting to actually like spending time there because it doesn't seem trashy any more. Ha!

Lying in Wait

Everything for the wedding is planned. This sort of happened by accident because of the whole anticipated-trip-to-Italy thing. Alas, we all know that that didn't happen because of the illness.
Anyway, it has been nice not having to make serious decisions every day about wedding things, and all that's left is putting the plans into action, which is infinitely more fun and less stressful! And I really am looking forward to some of the stuff that I can't do until later, like decorations and baking and getting a marriage license and taking bridals and... yeah. And getting married.

I'm excited :)

P.S. I read this morning that they are building an Avatar theme park at Disney World in Florida. If you've read my rant, you know exactly how I feel about this.

Engagements!

This afternoon Sam and I got our engagement pictures taken. I was really nervous that I wouldn't be able to be myself, but Sam kept me laughing, as he always does, so it was actually easy.

Anyway, I'm super excited to get proofs of all the photos, but in the meantime, our wonderful photographer has posted a blog post with a few of her favorites. I hope she forgives me for borrowing the one I'm reposting here...

Anyway, go here to see it (and the rest of her amazing work).

Le Weekend!

Ladies and gentlemen, I have officially made it through the first (for me) week back at school! Hoorah! I can tell I'm going to enjoy attending only part-time this semester, even if it does funny things to my tuition since I can't have my scholarship anymore (boo).
I'm living at my grandparents' house for the semester and loving it so far.
Aaaand...I'm trying to adjust to the new doctor-prescribed diet that will hopefully keep me out of the hospital for months to come.
Anyway, since it's Friday, and I'm lazy at work, here are some things I've found across the intranetz that piqued my interest:

Things to do with paint chips (the tufty one looks really cool)

Cool fingerprint rings (although reading the backstory is way more interesting)

Swallowable perfume? What the...

Ghetto hack for sous-vide cooking? I'm intrigued...

P.S. The photo is from a sunrise trip to the west side of the lake two years ago. I'm hankerin' to go back.

A Truth Universally Acknowledged

Surprise (not)! I got engaged this week.

To be honest, I'd known it was coming for weeks, but the fact that Sam was in Connecticut for the summer made it a little hard to make it "official" any sooner. And then there was the whole hospital debacle, which made it harder because I refused to be drugged up with a tube up my nose when he asked me. Anyway, can you imagine? The nurse comes in to check my vitals: "Hold out your finger for the ox meter...Woops! Here's your engagement ring! Surprise!"

Nope.

Anyway, I was discharged from the hospital on Tuesday after 10 days, spent the day in lethargy and nausea, and was eternally grateful that Sam was still waiting (but was it ever going to come?). The next day I felt better, but I still had the tube in. We went up past Sundance in the truck and looked at the stars-- tres romantique, except for the feeding tube and the electronic pump I had with me. Still no ring, phew.

Thursday I pulled the tube out in frustration (only slightly against doctor's orders, don't worry) around 5pm and felt an exponential increase in my happiness. Woohoo! I knew it could come at any moment, but I was hoping he would wait until Friday so we could have some neat-o date first.

We went to Ikea to look at furniture (I told you we'd known it was coming for ages), and then stopped at Ihop for some dinner (where I was forced to eat fat-free...this whole pancreatitis thing sort of sucks). Sam proposed we make another drive up the canyon, but I shot him down, saying I was too tired (it's hard walking around when you've been lying in bed for two weeks, let me tell you). So we drove back to my grandparents' house, where we're both staying at the moment. We parked in the parking lot near the club house and got out of the car. I stared at a cat sitting in the sprinklers on the lawn near the lot while Sam gathered his belongings from the truck. Then he came up to me and gave me a hug.

"There's a cat in the sprinklers over there," I said.

"Oh really?" said Sam.

"Yeah, that's kind of weird."

"Shannon, are you serious?"

"About what, the cat?"

"About this. About us."

I looked him in the eye. "Of course I am."

"Then you need this." He put the ring on my finger as I said something to the affect of "Le gasp!" (not really)

Lots of hugging and laughing (that sounded like crying-- um, what?) ensued.

"I take it that means 'Yes'?"

"Well you still haven't even asked me!"

"Will you marry me?"

"Yes, I will, of course!"

(More sappiness)

Then we walked back to the house hand in hand and showed my grandparents and my mom, none of whom noticed the ring really before noticing the absentee feeding tube.

It wasn't incredibly romantic, but it was simple and nice. I don't care that it was Thursday, or that I was tired and sick, or that it was in a parking lot by a strange water-loving cat, or that we ate at Ihop. Because that's life, and I love it.

On December 17th I get to marry him. And that makes me happy.

Allow Me to Be Sappy For Once

Maybe it's the narcotics they're giving me, or the fact that I'm going to be alone for the next couple of hours of the day, or maybe I'm just having one of those days, but I feel the need to say this:

Since I've been in the hospital for the past week, I've come to learn a lot. I've learned a lot about patience (and I always thought I had enough of it-- I'm learning that still isn't true), about hope, and also about love.

I'm grateful that my mother is in town, by my bedside nearly all day, entertaining me, talking to me, rocking me when I get so frustrated or can't deal with the pain. I'm grateful that I have a man in my life who always tries to make me laugh when I feel depressed as I lie in bed, who massages my feet so they don't atrophy, who thinks that I'm beautiful despite the voluminous hospital gown, messy hair, and feeding tube up my nose; who is patient with me when I take my frustration and cabin fever out on him, who walks me through the hallways at a too-slow pace like a 95-year-old woman, and who cries a little from frustration when there's nothing he can do to help me (don't tell him I said that last part).

I'm grateful to my siblings who come to visit me almost every day, for the good friends that I have that come to visit and talk about food so I don't forget that all there is in the world is gross broth and a chemical mixture they shove through your nose; and who come and talk and laugh with me about normal things so I don't feel like an invalid in a hospital.

I'm grateful to the countless nurses I've met over the past week who get to know me, who seem concerned for my welfare, who see me still here a few days later and are sad that I haven't been able to go home yet, who are vying for me to be able to go home so I can do all the exciting things in my life I have coming up.

I'm grateful that this is only a case of acute chronic pancreatitis, and not anything more like the other poor souls in this ward who have cancer and deal with much greater pain than I do now.

Thank you to all of you who are praying for me, who come see me-- to all of you, I love you, and I'm so glad to have you in my life at this time.

Have a good Saturday :)

Un Mistero

This is not what I normally write about. Forgive me.

Ok, here's something a little random. This is a picture of me in May of 2006, right before my 17th birthday. The part that I want you to notice-- not my strange pose or the glowing eyes of my cat-- is my belt. Yes, I know it's very difficult to see...but just know that it was an awesome belt. I stole it from my Dad's closet (now you know where I get my skinniness from), as he hadn't worn it in decades. It was one of those ones with the leather buckle-y part, and the rest was cloth-- it had blue, green, and yellow stripes. It was a sweet belt. I literally wore it until it fell apart.

Anyway, as much as I love the belt I use regularly now (which has awesome dogs and birds):

I'm ready to diversify. And I have found myself thinking back to that old belt I wore religiously in high school (with terribly light pants...). I want one like that again-- something subtly colorful, but still normal enough to be able to wear every day if I want to. Something like this maybe:

Minus the weird flag shirt. And the light pants again. And the phone necklace.

Keep your eyes peeled for me?