the dixon story

food blog help...(votes please!)

2009-07-12T21:55:00.003-06:00

So, I've been spending much of my summer redesigning my food blog, and I'm just about finished. Now, comes the tricky part (cue my indicisiveness...)

I've narrowed down background choices down to three (for now). I'm taking votes... help! Leave a comment with a vote and/or suggestion... I'm open. Very. Open.

(If you want a closer look, you can double-click on each photo for a close-up.)

1. Plain background

2. Blue and green poms

3. Blue dots

***Anna, I just noticed this is similar to your background (I got it from scrapblog)... If it's the popular choice, would you mind if I used it?

Weekend with the Lynns

2009-07-12T08:46:00.004-06:00

Still no pictures, and we didn't even take any because of the camera situation, but we had a FANTASTIC time nonetheless.

My parents and sister Jordan drove down from Utah to spend a few days with us. It was HEAVENLY! It was also a HUGE act of love because my mom h-a-t-e-s the heat. And it is July. In Arizona. During monsoon season. Which means it's over 100 every day. This weekend, we had our hottest days yet--106 and 108--during their stay.

Wednesday

Lynns drive a VERRRRRY long day in the car to arrive in Tucson.
They make great time and we enjoy a light dinner of salad and cornbread with a dessert of strawberry trifle (with homemade vanilla-almond custard and pound cake)
We chat for a while, I show them all my sewing and craft projects, and we all go to bed.

Thursday

Everyone comes over for breakfast. We eat warm honey pecan sticky buns and bowls of strawberries and blueberries. It is so delicious.
We take a drive around Tucson to show our church building, our favorite bunny park, the coolest cactus we've ever seen, Michael's work, and an airplane boneyard my dad probably wishes he could have seen from the inside.
We eat lunch, go swimming, and play games (SO FUN!)
We watch What's Up Doc and head out to dinner at a local Mexican place that was good-not-great.

Friday

We go bowling, crossing off #32 on our list. I recommend doing what we did: bowl 1 real game and 1 joke game. We took turns making up silly things to do (bowl hopping on one foot, left handed, with your eyes closed, etc.) It was a BLAST!
Ate lunch at local favorite Eegee's (famous for their "grinder-style" sandwiches and fruit slushies). It was delicious and we know why they are a local favorite.
Swimming for another few hours. HEAVEN. (The water is lukewarm, so there's no adjusting period)
Form an assembly line and made potsickers to eat for dinner. Everyone folds like a professional.
Watch Stranger Than Fiction and play some games.
Eat potstickers and Thai pineapple fried rice for dinner.
Play games, chat, and enjoy salted caramel popcorn for dessert.
Send everyone off to bed and hug goodbye.

It was SUCH a fun weekend, and we really enjoyed it. That was TWO weekends in a row we got to see family, and we felt so blessed to have the visits.

4th of July weekend...late.

2009-07-12T08:27:00.004-06:00

So... we are in Tucson this summer. For the past week, however, our camera has been between a few couch cushions two hours away in Mesa. Hence a complete lack of cool posting and/or pictures. (confession: even when we get it back, there aren't LOADS of pictures. I'm sorry. I'M SORRY!)

Also, my parents and sister Jordan were in town with us this weekend, so I spent my Friday with them instead of on the computer. And also, the Friday before, we were in Mesa with Michael's parents and sister Stacy (whose couch cushions so dutifully guarded our camera). Here's what we did sans pictures...

July 4th weekend:

Thursday Night -

Michael has one of his long weekend, so we drive up after he gets of work.
Dixon parents arrive from Colorado
Our plan is to help Stacy move all her furniture/earthly possessions to her new house Friday all day long.
Stacy surprises us by having moved EVERYTHING the night before with her old roomate. Keep in mind this involves all kinds of couches, a closet FULL of food storage, a PIANO, kitchen, multiple beds, etc., etc. Two girls moved EVERYTHING. Fewf!
We rejoice that it's all moved!

Friday -

Since Stacy moved everything already, we start unpacking, breaking down boxes, painting, and making small repairs.
Much rejoicing over Stacy's hard work.
Various projects tackled (tv hookups worked on, repairs made, numerous Lowe's trips are taken, and Michael and I build a big beautiful desk from IKEA.
More rejoicing.
Enjoy delicious local pizza.
Eat some delicious frozen yogurt from The Golden Spoon.

Saturday -

Bookshelves are built and loaded (Stacy has a real LOVE for reading, and had glorious shelves packed with books. I imagined 9,026 ways to arrange books if I had that many...Stacy is a lucky girl)
Kitchen is packed, stacked, organized, and looking beautiful.
Dad figures out the TV situation and we enjoy The Music Man. Love it.
We eat some SWEET fish & chips from Pete's, and have DELICIOUS BBQ takeout from a local favorite.
Brave crowds and bugs for a fireworks show. It was LOVELY and SO fun!
Crash after getting home and enjoy more Golden Spoon treats. Sweet Suzie, I loved mine (Heath with Heath pieces). Camera likely slips out of Michael's pocket into camera cushions.

Sunday -

Meticulously check and double check that we didn't leave anything in the bathroom, bedroom, or kitchen.
Forget to meticulously check if couch cushions are holding our camera.
Hug loved ones we will miss!
Drive home to get to church on time.

fallen princesses exhibit...wow.

2009-07-07T17:41:00.002-06:00

I grew up LOVING Disney princesses as much as the next very-most-especially girly girl growing up. I took a class my last semester of school taught by a borderline/not-so-borderline feminist professor and read a book that talked about how bad the princess stories are for girls. I didn't really buy the arguments, but meh.

Anyway, photographer Dina Goldstein has an exhibit in the works (scheduled for October of this year) I recently saw a preview for called Fallen Princesses--in essence, it's a sometimes gritty look at what could have happened to the princesses if prince charming hadn't swept them off their feet or they hadn't lived happily ever after.

I still love swooning over happy endings, but the exhibit looks like it will be really interesting. Get a sneak peak here.

We need some new pictures...

2009-07-02T16:04:00.002-06:00

Michael and I have been noticing that all our pictures are...from when we were engaged. We need something NEW!

please bless I win...

i. ate. ribs....twice.

2009-07-01T08:15:00.005-06:00

So, as many/most of you know, the Lynn family wasn't much for meat growing up. We'd do chicken occasionally, and fish every once in a while, but beef and pork...only on rare occasions. So, I've had very few experiences with things like steak, etc. In fact, I can count on three fingers how many times I've had steak, and, until this summer, could count on maybe two fingers how many times I've had ribs.

Some people may call this a travesty, but I really don't particularly care for steak and ribs. I will say, my third experience with steak WAS delicious. Last Fourth of July, my in-loves grilled some DELICIOUS steaks and made a yummy sauce to go with them. It was delicious and I understood why people like them. But with ribs, I just tend to find them really fatty and hard to eat.

But! I have had them TWICE this summer! Michael loooooves ribs. A lot. And when a nearby grocery store had a sale for "buy 1 get 2 free" for baby back ribs, we jumped on it. We got something like $60 of ribs for $20ish. You just can't beat it!

Our first go round was with the missionaries. We figured they'd be good eaters of ribs and probably don't eat them a lot. Having no grill or smoker, I had to get creative with our rib-cooking. I followed a method by Food Network's Alton Brown (who usually doesn't let us down), and let's just say...things ended up a little dry and a little tough. And I was pretty sad about it. The missionaries never complained, and they tasted good despite texture issues.

But we had 1 rack left, and this was the weekend for them. I thought long and hard about what to do without a grill. I finally decided to slow-cook them for tenderness and then to pop them under the broiler with extra sauce so they could get a caramelized-ish top with a good texture.

It. Was. Great. And also, not as fatty. And I loved it.

This is us enjoying the ribs... (please note, this was after a day of swimming)

And this demonstrates how fall-off-the-bone they were.

For full method details, you can check out my recipe blog, but suffice it to say...I think this is the way to go with ribs. If you don't have a grill.

five fact friday part 4

2009-06-26T06:58:00.001-06:00

Me, Michael, and our children, Bobbie Sue, Sally Anne, and The Beaver.

Michael
1. Michael's first merit badge in scouting was in swimming and life-saving. He totally dominated that badge. He is still a great swimmer and beats me whenever we race or play games in the pool.

2. Michael could eat the following foods and never get tired of them ever: hash browns, chocolate pudding, pizza, burritos and tortilla chips among others.

3. In junior high, Michael played the saxophone. He also got to wear a sweet mandatory white pants/maroon polo combo to play that saxophone. (Liked the saxophone, hated the uniform)

4. He can eat a chicken wing in one fell swoop--pop the whole thing in holding the end and pull it out clean.

5. Michael would love to go to India some day. He says that he'll probably die there because he'll wait to go till he's old, accidentally drink the water and keel over. I am against this method of dying and will be packing enough underwear and socks for the trip, and the rest of our suitcase will be water.

Emily
1. I wish out loud on a regular basis that Americans used more British phrases and words. A (very small) sampling of my favorites include: saying someone is "dotty," "come off it," "brilliant," saying someone or something is a "right old" anything, "Oi!," and saying something's been "nicked" instead of taken. Don't even get me started on the much more cool spellings of "colour" and "flavour."

2. One of the best compliments I've ever received was given by my mother-in-love who said, "you know, Emily, I think you would have done really well in Pride and Prejudice times." Sigh...Pride and Prejudice...so romantical.

3. I can watch movies I like over and over without getting tired of them. My current list: Stranger than Fiction, Sense and Sensibility, The Holiday, Wall-E, and Father of the Bride II. Don't ask me how that last one got on there. I couldn't tell you.

4. My (female, fiction or blogging personality) heros include Rosie the Riveter, Chuck from Pushing Daisies, Katie (from Katiedid), and Ree Drummond (aka The Pioneer Woman), and Hermoine Granger. Honorable mention to Ina Garten and Dorie Greenspan (who are neither, but who cook really deliciously beautiful things).

5. I find sometimes that I have more non-resume talents than resume talents (meaning somethinig that you can't really put on a resume or do in a talent show). One of my non-resume talents is doing the laundry without losing pairs to socks.

things I like: recipe calculators

2009-06-24T12:10:00.002-06:00

As part of my internship last school year, I would conduct and evaluate 3-day nutritional intakes for my clients to evaluate what they were eating and what their nutrient intake was. This gave us a great starting point in working with them to set goals and to see which areas are low/high/unbalanced.

We used high-end nutritional software used by nutritionists and dieticians, but did you know that it's not very difficult to calculate the nutrition facts of your own recipes at home?

One method is to count up all the calories of all the ingredients you added to the recipe and divide by the number of servings with a calculator or with pen and paper. To make things easier, though, and to help you with ingredients you may not know the calorie count of, SparkPeople has an excellent recipe calculator tool that can do the work for you.

Simply go here, add ingredients, and type in the number of servings sizes. It will then calculate the calories and nutrition facts for your recipes. Sometimes they don't have the exact ingredients or amounts listed, so you have to choose something similar, but usually they are pretty good!

You have to be a member of SparkPeople to save your recipes, but anyone can do one-time calculations as many times as they want, which is what I do.

Anyway, I just love this tool and thought I would share!

When I think of my dad, I think of...

2009-06-21T19:26:00.003-06:00

Michael's Dad

From Michael:

I think of Saturday morning. I remember waking up to "name that tune" and watching my dad's love for music and his family together in those moments. I remember him working SO hard in the yard all day, and knowing how tired he must be, but knowing how dedicated he is.

One of my most influential memores with my dad was during a "Fathers and Sons" campout when I felt really down and alone and I was moping by my dad. He said "hey, let's go on a hike" and we hiked and hiked and while we hiked all my sadness and concerns just melted away. We made up Indian names. I don't remember for the life of me what they were, but I remember how close I felt to my dad. We strived for this closeness year after year, and I felt like we achieved it.

One of the things I really love about my dad is all the quirky stuff he does--balancing water bottles on his head, naming everything, waging war against ants and pigeons, and his bright, crooked smile.

I can't ever remember my dad giving a talk or lesson where I didn't feel his deep love for what he was talking about. I love watching how contagious his zest for life is.

He loves people. He sees the world as a collection of people he's trying to get to know and love. I remember walking into a store with my dad that he had only been in once before and having all the cashiers say "Hey, Dave! how are you! What's going on?"

From Emily:

Dad Dixon is such a people person. Last Christmas, he was showing me pictures of several locations he had visited for work. He could identify which location he was looking at, not by the surroundings in the pictures (although they varied), but by the people in the picture. It went something like this: "okay, where's this? Oh, there's Pat, she's the receptionist, this is Cleveland."

Dad Dixon was my bishop in my teenage years. He LOVED the youth program. He was so dedicated to understanding everyone and where they were coming from. He really connected with our ward and with the teenagers (and there were a LOT of teenagers).

Dad Dixon is rarely sad or depressed. He's one of the happiest people to be around. He always has a joke or something funny or amusing to share.

____________________________________________

Emily's Dad

From Michael:

Recently, I've been reading Harry Potter, and when I think of Dumbledore, the person I envision being Dumbledore is Dad Lynn. I'm sure he has flaws, but he always strives to act on wisdom, righteous principles, and seeks only the best for everyone around him, putting others before himself.

From Emily:

I can't remember a single time in my life where my dad has raised his voice above conversational tones, except when he would coach one of our softball teams and have to call to someone across the field (always amiably). When I was little, the most "I'm in trouble" he ever sounded was when he would say (again, in conversational tones), "Emily..." or (worst case scenario) "you're in deep grease." He's the most even-tempered, level-headed person I've ever known.

My dad always taught me how to make decisions. He'd help me weigh pros and cons, research alternatives, compare prices, wait till the end of season sales. He taught me how not to be rash, and I've never regretted it.

My dad has never turned away and opportunity to serve or give. He always scoops his serving last at dinner, and when there is a line for something, he nearly always lets everyone go ahead of him. He never takes the last cookie, and rarely makes requests for things. He's just happy with whatever he has, whenever he has it, no matter what the circumstances.

He does everything out of love. He isn't always verbal in expressing love, but he never fails to show it. I swoon every time he does something sweet for my mom.

He has neat handwriting. I know this may seem silly, but I always think of his handwriting when I think of him. Neat, crisp, and smallish. Impossible to misread.

five fact friday numero 3

2009-06-19T12:09:00.005-06:00

Michael

1. Michael likes anything toasted or cooked (toast, bagels, pancakes, waffles, etc.) on the very most especially blonde side. However, when it comes to hot dogs, Michael likes them so incredibly well done that they are charred completely and often split somewhere. As Michael puts it, "I like them cooked so much that there is no trace of bologna flavor left."

2. Since a very young age, Michael has love love loved broccoli.

3. When Michael eats something that is too hot, he turns his head to the right. It's adorable.

4. At the urging of his teacher, Michael entered the state math competition and tested in the top 10% of the state! He got a sweet $20 at an awards assembly. He sweetly rolls his eyes and turns pink when I bring this up, but I think it's great. Probably because I am a really big nerd and it makes me happy when we share academic interests.

5. Michael has a habit of making up his own lyrics to popular songs.

Emily
1. Up until I was about 16, my favorite color in all the world was red. When I was a baby, I would escape from my parents at church and toddle over to anyone wearing red so I could touch whatever red item they were wearing.

2. When I was little, I had dreams of being an artist, a writer, an illustrator, a Broadway star, a fashion designer, a ballerina, a politician, and a teacher, among other things.

3. I graduated as valedictorian in high school.

4. My favorite guilty pleasure snack is chips and dip. I love chips. So much. So. Very. Much.

5. I have dreams of taking a fencing class.

to switch or not to switch?

2009-06-18T13:39:00.002-06:00

I've lately been unsatisfied with my Blogger template for my recipe blog, My Muffin Thursdays. It's fine for basic work, I just don't know if it's...nice enough. I don't really know how to explain it.

I've been toying with the idea of buying a domain name or trying to turn it into an actual website. Mostly, I want a streamlined, very minimal look that's clean. I want a bit more memory space, and I love the idea of having multiple tabs at the top of the home page, rather than a very cluttered sidebar.

So, after a lot of looking, I'm not thinking that I'm going to worry about getting a website designed or anything, but I might be interested in switching hosting services.

What I've come up with is Wordpress.com. They have a pretty simple interface to use, comparable to Blogger, but with a bit more memory, a few more options, and the tabs at the top of the page. I'm using the free version, and (like Blogger) I have the option of purchasing a domain name from the host, if that makes sense.

ANYWAY, technical mumbo-jumbo aside, I'd like to turn the vote over to YOU--my friends, family and acquaintances--for a vote.

I've created a mini-version of my site at wordpress, and I, obviously, have my regular site up and running. On my wordpress site, I have a bunch of survey polls and sample posts to give you an idea what it would look like. Please look through the pages and see what you think.

Feel free to give lots of comments and feedback. I want honest opinions--there's no point in switching to wordpress if you don't like it as well as blogger. Thanks!

To visit each site, click on the appropriate link:

1. Current site: www.mymuffinthursdays.blogspot.com
2. Possible future site: www.mymuffinthursdays.wordpress.com

picnic at the park

2009-06-15T11:41:00.010-06:00

Michael had one of his long weekends this past weekend, and we took full advantage, enjoying lots of time together and relaxing. We decided to go for a picnic at a school park near our church building, and it was fantastic! The weather was perfect, since we ate in the shade, the sun was on its way down and a breeze was blowing. Heaven! We took along a frisbee (thereby crossing off numbers 90 & 35 from our list)and I wasn't as bad as I thought I would be! Michael was patient to let me practice a lot, and I was finally able to throw it almost-consistently straight to him. It was fun to play, and enjoy what was around us.

After frisbee, we took a break on our picnic blanket and snapped some pictures. It was really fun and we were glad to finally take some pictures in Tucson! Here are a few favorites:

One other perk of this park: every time we drive past, we see TONS of bunnies. Cute little white-tailed gray and tan bunnies, not ugly skinny ones. We counted that night while we were at the park and we saw 23 bunnies. 23! The next day we saw 17 as we drove past. It was NUTS!

five fact friday

2009-06-12T21:59:00.000-06:00

Welcome back dear readers...HAPPY FRIDAY! Michael has the day off, which means we get to have a fun day together. Sigh...so romantical.

Michael:
1. Michael is mildly allergic to ants

2. His favorite way to play when he was little was to play superhero, spending most of his time developing the plot and repeating favorite parts.

3. Michael has never broken a bone, but when he was in first grade, he managed to zip his eyelid into his winter coat. It was stuck in the coat for about an hour. No permanent damage to the eye, and we still have the zipper.

4. For a talent show, Michael once performed "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer" by chomping tortilla chips.

5. Michael L-O-V-E-S to come up with names for things. For instance, if he were ever a pirate, he'd be Captain Blowfish of the Slippery Sail.

Emily
1. I was a cheerleader for a year in high school

2. My favorite way to play when I was little was to build a huge Barbie house with Jordan that took up all our floorspace. By the time we finished the house, we were ready to be done playing.

3. I've never broken a bone, sprained an ankle/wrist, or been stung by anything (bee, scorpion, wasp, etc.)

4. My first dramatic role on the stage was in the third grade, as a singing stegosaurus named Delbert.

5. By the age of 18, I'd moved 9 times, if you include an out-of-state move to college.

#14: Finish the Starry Night Puzzle

2009-06-11T14:40:00.007-06:00

It's been a fairly low-key week. I stewed about the quilt a bit more, figuring some things out about borders. Michael's been working his way through some books on tape during his commute and we also have great news...

We finished the Starry Night puzzle!

Michael and I really enjoy doing puzzles. They are so fun and just the right amount of challenging for me... Not like those Sudoku puzzles. Bleh.

Me + Sudoku puzzle = small explosion, much frustration, and minor death. Of my happiness.

Me + regular puzzle = pleasant-to-look-at fireworks, relaxation, and rejoicing.

The reason this particular puzzle made The List is because the FIRST time we tried doing it during the school year, we stopped after 2 hours and knew it would take a LONG time to finish. I mean a L-O-N-G time.

Why, you may ask? What? You didn't ask? Oh. Well, we're gonna tell you anyway.

This puzzle is known as a photomosaic, which, roughly translated, means "a million billion little teensy tiny blurred pictures that when put together have a rough resemblance of a famous painting."

Behold:

Other translations, include "OHMYGOSH this puzzle took us a month and it was so hard I seriously thought about quitting every time I did the puzzle up until the last few days we worked on it" and "I don't think I will ever do this puzzle again."

I believe during the doing of the puzzle, Michael was heard to say "the completion of this puzzle will be the culmination of my life's work." Good news, after completing it, we still feel like he has a lot of life left.

In fact, this is how great we feel about finishing it.

The question now is, what do we DO with it? It's been finished on our floor for days. We don't want to crumple it back up, but we don't really want to decoupage it or glue it because we think it's a little tacky to hang puzzles on your wall (no offense if any of our readers do that...kind of like how fur rugs looks great in IKEA stores but we never want to own one)

Well? Suggestions?

In the meantime, our suggestions for serious puzzlers:

1. Listen to or watch something while you work. I LOVE listening to Harry Potter books on tape. The same guy (Jim Dale) who narrates Pushing Daisies reads them and he's delightful. This is coming from someone who hithertofore HATED books on tape. I repent. I love listening to Jim.

2. Otter pops. Lots of otter pops. And also popcorn.

happy birthday lovey!

2009-06-08T09:22:00.004-06:00

Today is a wonderful day. A special day! A wonderfully special day!

My little sister Jordan (who I call Lovey) turns 20.

Oh-my-gosh-my-little-sister-is-20.

That's about what I've been saying to myself over and over this morning. I can't believe it! Oh gosh, how old am I turning this year? Woof.

But it is SOOOO wonderful. Jordan and I are both sort of birthday grinches, meaning we don't LOVE people to make a big deal out of our birthdays (so sorry Lovey if this is too big a deal). I just wanted to write a few little somethings I love about my sister on her birthday...

1. She is THE most patient Lynn. Ever. Of all time. The End. Amen.

Jordan and I had the chance to share a room for 14 years growing up. Having skillfully been taught the art of manipulation and older sister trickery by my older sisters, I was about the bossiest, least-fun person ever to share a room with. I would do things like "hey Jordan, let's play the 'see who can pick up the most the fastest game'" when my mom would invite us to clean our room.

This usually meant that I walked around the room in slow motion picking up one or two of the easiest-to-put-away things while Jordan angelically went to work, cheerfully putting things away and enjoying every minute of it and never complaining.

Also, her summer job last year was to work with roughly 9,246 children under the age of 2. And she still wants lots of children. Bless her.

She also never complained when I pulled the "hey Jordan, if you let me play with the brand-new birthday Barbie that you opened 10 minutes ago, I'll let you play with this crusty old Barbie that's missing half of her hair from a misguided attempt at playing hairdresser... eh? eh? eh?"

And she'd let me. And she wouldn't complain. And I'm revealing too much about what a crummy big sister I am.

2. She is THE funnest girl in the world to be in the car with.
Jordan LOVE LOVE LOVES music and we have basically identical taste in music. Consequently, whenever we're in the car together, we crank up the tunes and sing our hearts out and it's the best.

There are soooo many songs that INSTANTLY make me think of Lovey. A VERY small sampling includes anything from the Hairspray or Mama Mia (or any musical, really) soundtrack, "Single Ladies" by Beyonce, "Big Girl, You Are Beautiful," and "Some Kind of Wonderful" by Grand Funk Railroad (Can I get a wit-nes?).

3. She is the best girl in the world to watch movies with.

If watching any movie with romantic tension or intense moments, Jordan and I have a tendency to talk at the television.

Romantic Tension movies (i.e. Persuasion): OHMYGOSH, RUN! RUN! GO FIND HIM NOW! JUST TELL HIM HOW YOU FEEL! OHMYGOSH THEY BETTER KISS! IF THEY DON'T END UP TOGETHER, I QUIT THIS MOVIE FOREVER!

Intense movies: "OHMYGOSH! STOP! DON'T OPEN THE DOOR! WHAT'S BEHIND THERE? OHMYGOSH, WHERE DID THAT GUY GO? IS HE HIDING? OHMYGOSH."

It can tend to be obnoxious in large groups. Thank goodness I married someone who doesn't mind that I do this.

4. She has the best laugh in the world and she is SO FUN-AY!
In our house, it is pretty much a general rule that if watching a funny movie (Abbott and Costello's Naughty 90's, anyone?) and you can get Jordan laughing, there is a universal eruption of laughter. Because usually it goes something like this: Jordan starts giggling out loud. Dad laughs at how cute Jordan's laughter is. We all laugh because it's so funny. We stop. Next funny moment happens. Repeat.

5. She can carry on a conversation entirely in movie and tv quotes.

This is a unique, quirky characteristic of Lynn sisters. It sometimes drives my dad crazy, but we love it. Nacho Libre, Pushing Daisies, Gilmore Girls, any old movie or musical ever made... she can quote it. She can pretty much remember lines from anything she's seen once and if she's seen it twice, watch out.

(Jordan, I can't help telling you right after writing that first sentence, I thought of 'quirky and weird are two very different things' from Runaway Bride).

I could go on and on, but I'll spare her any sheepishness that might happen if I continue. Seester, I luff you so much and I'm glad you put up with me! You are THE BEST!

Introducing 5 Fact Friday

2009-06-05T08:21:00.004-06:00

To jazz things up a bit (because we're so cool around here that we say things like 'jazz up'), I've decided that at least when we remember, we're going to do 5 Fact Fridays during the summer. This means we'll list five facts about ourselves, our week, our childhood...whatever we feel like, really. Some of them we may have already shared elsewhere on our blog, some are new.

We're going to try really hard to come up with cool 5 pictures too, although I didn't get one this week.

Anyway, here are five facts about each of us:

Michael's Five Facts:
1. Michael had braces for five years. He got them off weeks before I moved into his ward at age 13, so all I ever knew was that he had GREAT teeth. Now I know why.

2. He prefers the edge pieces of the brownies best.

3. His favorite movie of all time is Mission Impossible (the first one).

4. Michael had surgery at 9 months old and has a four inch tall, one-and-a-half inch wide scar to prove it. Talk about battle wound!

5. He LOVES to make up games wherever we are and no matter what we're doing. Last week, for instance, we played the "which supercompany makes this product?" We learned that Frito-Lay is going to take over the world. And also that Hunts makes Snack Packs.

Emily's Five Facts:
1. I have read the Harry Potter series start-to-finish four times and have read several of the books more than four times. I'm not ashamed to LOVE the best series ever of all time period. Because I do. Love it. If you haven't read it, start.

2. I like going to bed and waking up early. When I was little, I would ask my parents if I could go to bed at night. They'd probably not like to talk about my getting up early habits. Let's just say right NOW, sleeping in usually means I wake up naturally at 6:45. You do the math.

3. My favorite part of lasagna is the burned/browned parts. Don't ask why, I don't really know.

4. I could live a VERY happy existence without ever eating beef again. I don't like meat to TASTE like meat.

5. I have never had a cavity, but I have had a root canal. When I had braces, they caused trauma to a nerve in my tooth. Root canals themselves are no big deal. It's the before and after that are tricky.

Thanks for tuning in!

p.s. this is some progress on my quilt. I should finish the rest of the pieces today.

sometimes...

2009-06-05T08:13:00.002-06:00

Sometimes it feels like there are never enough dresses in life. Like now, for instance...I would do simply anything to be twirling around in one of these dresses...sigh...

Oh, Shabby Apple, how I wish you weren't so expensive...I would buy all your dresses.

couch to 5k

2009-05-30T07:16:00.001-06:00

(This picture isn't of anyone I know or have even thought about knowing, but it's how this post makes me feel inside. And it's a really cool picture. And also I bet my sister Elisabeth could replicate it without much trouble and with more clothes)

As I'm sure everyone who reads this blog knows, I would probably never be able to come up with a good idea without inspiration from Anna.

Oh, dear blog-friend Anna, we really are so meant to be friends in real life.

Anyway, I gush.

I am not a runner. At all. This is the primary reason I didn't really excel at sports growing up. Sure, I played slow-pitch softball as well as the next girl on the league's worst team, but that's about as intense as I've ever gotten.

Despite my ineptness at team sports, I do love exercise and fitness. Hence my health major in college. Most of my favorites just don't involve running: yoga, pilates, power walks with my mom...I've just never been able to run.

A few years ago, I came across the idea for a Couch to 5k plan and thought it sounded great. It's a basic running plan for people who don't run. The Ultimate Beginner's Guide for the Couch Potato. Sounded perfect.

And then I promptly forgot about it, since anyone I knew who was interested in running was already good at it and therefore was of no help. My conversations with these friends usually went somthing like this:

Me: Hey, I'm trying to start running. Do you run?

Person with more skill than me: "Yeah, I LOVE running! We should go sometime! I should warn you though, I don't go that long. I just go for about 4-5 miles in the mornings without breaking a sweat at a pace so fast that you'd never be able to keep up and I'd totally run so far ahead of you that you'd get hopelessly lost and preyed upon by some sketchy homeless person. Want to go together?"

Yeah...no. I can't. At all. I was always one of the slower kids running the mile in school (I never did manage to climb the rope either...ultimate dishonor).

But I've always wanted to be.

Enter last year, when I happened upon Anna's blog and found out she had actually DONE the Couch to 5k plan WITH SUCCESS!

It was kindred spirit at first read.

So I put completing the Couch to 5k plan on my 101 things to do list, and, since I have a consistent (aka completely flexible) schedule for the first time since elementary school, I decided that this summer would be the perfect time.

I'm hooked, and am a total believer. I kid you not, I'm NOT a runner, but I'm becoming one. What I love about the plan is that you mix walking and jogging, slowly building up until you can jog consistently for a 5k. Genius! That way, I don't fall into the pattern most of us non-runners do when we get motivated to try running: push myself so hard that I get frustrated right away and give up. You also only have to commit to going 3 times a week for 20-30 minutes a session, which is the recommended amount of cardio we should all be getting minimum anyway.

The plan is also flexible. If you follow it to the letter, you can complete it in about two months, but if, like me, you find that one week is particularly challenging, you can certainly repeat that week again and then move up at your own pace. I've loved it. I've felt proud of myself for switching my walking for walk/jogging and for going usually 4-5 days a week. It's nice to see progress!

To find a complete description of the plan, go here. I promise, you'll love it!

sewing progress

2009-05-29T10:07:00.005-06:00

So, I mentioned last week that I'd made a little baby blanket (not an announcement) last week, but that I hadn't taken any pictures.

I repented.

It's SO hard to see in the picture, and I have exactly zero photo editing software or skills, so what I could get is what you get to see.

Basically, it's a white and baby blue stripe fabric that I sewed so that each square is perpendicular to the one next to it. So, the stripes go vertical, horizontal, vertical, etc. It's going to have a baby blue backing and baby blue ties someday when I find someone who has the equipment to hold the blanket taut so I can tie it.

I've also made a lot of progress on my big quilt, which is why my blog posts have been so few and far between. I've basically been working on this for 5 hours a day most days during the week, and so I'm sure I should be farther than I am, but it's my first real quilt, so give a girl a break.

Here are all my completed squares. To finish the quilt, there will be fabric in between all the rows and columns with little keystones at the intersections. Then I'll add two borders, the back of the quilt (duh), and the edge. Still lots of work ahead, but the hardest part (I hope) is over!

p.s. sorry the lighting bites the big one. I had to do it with a flash. Bleh.

go green: dixon style

2009-05-28T21:36:00.002-06:00

I think I've mentioned a few times before, but I started college as an interior design major. I was in a VERY competitive program and had extremely demanding teachers (as in, they'd literally tear up a project you'd been working on for 14 hours if they didn't like it and just tell you 'start over. I hate this'). It was an intense way to start school, which is probably why I switched majors. Almost all the teachers sucked the fun right out of the classes and were so perfectionistic, I saw tears almost every day in my classmates' eyes.

One of the things we started research on was sustainable or renewable design--things like carpets made from recyclable fibers, linoleum made from plant resins, bamboo and cork flooring, less-toxic paints, natural fibers, etc. I spent dozens of hours listening to lectures on sustainable design and writing research papers on teacher-selected themes, such as "why is green design important?" and "my committment to renewable design."

That was four years ago, and I've been shocked just how mainstream the green movement has gone. To be honest, if I'd stayed in interior design in that program, I'm almost certain I'd be a RABID green design fanatic, primarily because of all the propoganda we were presented and all the research I did on the subject that year.

Having been away from that intensity for a few years, I've had the chance to explore the green issue on my own, and I've basically come to the conclusion I had a few years ago: green design can be really cool. I love the idea of things like solar energy and bamboo flooring, I was raised to avoid being wasteful, and I think it's a great choice to make informed decisions.

I do NOT however, take the green movement to a super-extreme. I took enough nutrition classes to learn that organic doesn't necessarily mean healthier, that the standards for organic differ depending on the wording on the label, and I'm not only going to wear or use fabrics made from 100% organic cotton, for instance.

But, ther ARE a few things I like to do, mostly out of convenience and also to be less wasteful:

1. I use reusable bags almost all the time.

This was one of my 101 things to do in 1001 days. I like the idea of reusable bags primarily because I don't end up having 5,246 plastic bags floating around under my kitchen cupboards or in a closet somewhere. I do occasionally get plastic bags so I can use them to line my trash bins or carry wet things, but by and large, I now mostly use my reusable bags.

BONUS: Every grocery store I've used reusable bags at gives you a small discount on your grocery bill, usually something like 5 or 10 cents per bag. Also, you can fit more in a reusable bag. I can fit 6 plastic bags' worth of groceries in 3 reusable bags without damaging any of my produce, eggs, or bread.

2. Reuse paper.

I love having scratch paper around, and when you're in college, it seems like you have ENDLESS amounts of homework and essay papers lying around that you'd toss at the end of a test or a semester. Instead of tossing things, I shred any sensitive or personal information, but cut up the rest of the papers into quarters and make small notepads to keep with me. This way I have something to write down an address or grocery list on wherever I am.

You can get really creative with these, but here are a few simple ones. I like freehanding the cutting for an uneven edge. I think it looks great when it's bound together. You can even use paper bags for your covers if you want.

BONUS: You can recycle them after you're done re-using them.

3. I buy phosphate-free dish detergent.

I became interested in this concept after a group of my classmates did a huge semester-long project on reducing phosphates in the water. Why are phosphates bad? They increase the food available for plants like algae that can over-bloom on the surface of the water, blocking light for the plants below. These lower plants then die, and you have pretty unhealthy water leftover. Most of the phosphate use comes from agriculture run-off and industrial waste, but it's a small thing you can do to help.

BONUS: I buy it when it goes on sale. It is usally the same price or less than the regular kind.

i am a picture bum.

2009-05-24T12:09:00.004-06:00

I haven't taken any pictures other than food ones this week. Or the week before.

This doesn't, however, mean I have been lazy.

This week I...

1. Made homemade barbeque sauce for pulled pork sandwiches
2. Sewed a top of a little baby blanket with fabric I've had since I was 16 or 17. (Not an announcement, just a project)
3. Decided officially that I want to do more craft projects
4. Made brioche honey pecan sticky buns
5. Made half a dozen cards
6. Blogged on my recipe blog
7. Cleaned our apartment head-to-toe and did lots and lots of laundry
8. Worked on an impossible puzzle and read more of my three books.
9. Invented a recipe for cherry crisp using fresh sweet cherries. (It was delicious)
10. Had a wonderful visit from my mother-in-love and our sister Stacy.

So there. Those are 10 things I've accomplished despite a miserable lack of pictures.

In other news, Michael got his other interns in this week, which he was very excited about. He's been hopping busy from one thing to another all week long, and as the head finance intern was glad to get the other finance interns in so he could work with them a bit. He's really loving the experience and I've been really happy for him.

things I like: katie did

2009-05-21T11:52:00.008-06:00

I am seriously in love with this website. The author is a very hip, mormon, NYC mom named Katie with two adorable blonde little girls named Eve and Ruth (called Ruthie) and one ridiculously cute baby boy named Charlie.

Why am I in love with the website? Well, she's amazing. She and her husband are both artistically minded and she is an incredible seamstress and photographer.

Here is a small sampling of my favorite pictures.

She makes all these clothes. Herself.

Beyond that, she MAKES UP THE PATTERNS.

She also thinks of creative things for her kids to do, like putting on Kid Zones where kids get to get messy and play with all kinds of things and watch soda blow up and get swallowed up in bubbles. Like this: (I laughed out loud at the picture)

Let's just say, I want to be her when I grow up. And I want to grow up right now!

in my free time...

2009-05-17T08:18:00.010-06:00

Because we share a car, Michael has been using it to make his 30 minute drive to Raytheon every day, which means that we've opted to have me stay home for the summer. Even if I just dropped him off each day, that would be about 2 hours in the car, which isn't the most efficient thing we could do. Especially when jobs are scarce.

Which means, I get to spend the summer in heaven. I will probably never have a summer like this again until my future children are all grown up.

So far, I've re-read a much-loved book, started three others (I'm almost halfway through two of them), made several cards, moved us in, "decorated" (i.e. put all our things in place...we don't have decorations), tried new recipes, blogged a bit, and then have been working on THIS...

It's a quilt. Well, let me rephrase that, it WILL be a quilt. For graduation, my mother-in-love (the quilter extraordinaire), gave me all the things I needed to make my first quilt. I am over-the-moon excited and I've been loving it. The colors are blue, green, and brown, and I just thing it's adorable. I've finished the inner squares, and it's been really fun!

Here are a few sample squares:

I still have outer squares, binding, keystones, etc, to do, but for now, I'm just soaking up my progress and loving the fact that I'm in no rush to finish.

It's been heavenly.

p.s. this is my next reading project:

Michael got it for me for Mother's Day (even though I'm not a mother) and I can't wait to read the novels I haven't read, and then the ones I've already fallen in love with again.

Life Event, Part the Third: We moved into our Tucson Apartment!

2009-05-14T11:56:00.032-06:00

550 square feet.

May not sound like much to some of you, but let me just say, it feels palatial to me!

Michael and I arrived safely in sunny Tucson after a quick visit with our sister Stacy in Mesa. It was fun to see her and spend time with her!

We had a day till we could move in, so we spent that time getting oriented, relaxing, and seeing the first 3-D movie of our marriage: Monsters vs. Aliens. It was cute! ...but not as cute as we are in our super cool 3-D glasses!

We found our apartment complex, checked in, and, hand-in-hand, walked up the stairs to our new apartment, with one of us (which in almost every case is me) swooning over the sheer romance of it all..., when Michael turned the key to our summer apartment and opened the door as we looked lovingly into each other's eyes.

That is, until the smoke smell hit us like a ton of bricks. Followed by an anvil, a cruise missile, atom bomb, and a leaky canoe.

We were crushed. We hadn't even thought to ask whether or not the previous tenants were smokers. Woof.

We quickly opened all doors and windows, turned on the ceiling fan, cranked up the air conditioning and hoped for the best in the airing out department. The movers arrived shortly after we did and were done unloading our things in less than two hours. That's the way to move in.

It's taken almost two weeks, but after having the maintenance staff clean our air ducts, change our filters, add an air conditioning freshener, vacuuming using a special powder, and distributing dryer sheets around our apartment, the smoke smell is nearly entirely gone.

And this is how we moved in.

DAY 1: Boxes are moved in. Utter chaos ensues.

NOW: Everything moved in, pictures, hung, etc.

Living room/family room/home office/craft room/sitting room/parlor/conservatory

Bedroom (we can walk on both sides of the bed! Notice our summer bedding (quilt made by Michael's mom). There is something romantic about having summer and winter things. It makes me happy.

Bathroom (notice under-sink storage)

Kitchen (at least 4x the counter space, a DISHWASHER, etc.)

Views from our balcony

Storage closet

and... my favorite feature...

We're really pleased with it, and I'm sorry it took so long to get pictures up!

Live Event, Part the Second: we had a really really small old apartment.

2009-05-13T08:17:00.004-06:00

By way of building suspense--after all, it's not like two weeks of me not blogging about it did anything in the suspense department--I am here to show you, and my future posterity that Michael and I did, indeed, live in a small apartment.

Granted, it was not a studio apartment, but it is, I daresay, the smallest apartment I have ever been in otherwise.

This baby was born (and by born I mean built) in about the 1930's, legend has it. Although there have been some re-wirings, lead-free painting, and kitchen remodels, it's structure is that of the 1930s.

By small, you may think "eh, stop whining you pansy!" But, let me explain. These are some of the not-so-great things about our old aparmtent.

1. Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Kitchen.

For a girl who loves to cook, having a small kitchen was a bit of a sacrifice. But I did it. Even when it meant that I had to turn a cookie sheet over on top of my sink so I had more "counter space."

Just how small was it? Well, because we had our dish drainer on the counter (no dishwasher), I had approximately 20" x 20" of counter space to work on.

I'm not kidding.

This is not a lot of space.

But, lest ye think I'm a quitter, I did do a LOT of cooking in this little kitchen, and, no matter where I live in my life, I'm pretty sure I'll have more room in it than in this little guy.

2. The Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Bathroom

This is the first bathroom I've ever been in that hasn't a single outlet in its walls. Not one. This could be because the apartment was built an eternity ago, but this meant that I couldn't ever do my hair in the bathroom unless I was doing it wet, which I try not to do that often.

Also there is no bathroom counter. Which is really woofy.

The good thing about this bathroom was a plethora of storage by way of two little deep cupboards that squeeze between the tub and the toilet.

3. The Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Bedroom

When we went to look at this apartment, the tenants had a desk, dresser, bookshelf, bed, and nightstand in here. They had approximately 3.7" inches of floor space, and Michael and I just looked at each other with a "psh! This room is going to be, like, SO roomy without ALL this FURNITURE in here!" look.

Little did we know how full this room was with our two pieces of furniture. I hope never again in my married life to have to push the bed against the wall. It is the worst!!! Please also note that this picture was taken on moving day. Consequently, we didn't actually make the bed and we'd pretty much given up on everything else.

Anyway, we really did love this little apartment, despite its quirks and daintiness/coziness/ohmygoshthisissosmall-ness. It was our first abode in marriage, gave us a great deal on rent, allowed us to save money, put us in an INCREDIBLE ward, and made us grateful for a lot of little things. Like counterspace. And outlets in the bathroom.

It's amazing how much bigger 550 square feet feels when you've been living in 400.