Salzer Snippets

little squeals

2010-07-06T11:51:00.002-04:00

another year

2010-06-30T18:23:00.003-04:00

it was my birthday the other day

and i just want to say

thanks for being born

and being the best birthday present

ever.

i love you anuhea! x

An Introduction

2010-06-18T10:03:00.003-04:00

So, it's been a while since I've posted on here, I guess you could say I temporarily fell off the 'blogging bandwagon'. Well that break is over. I'd like to take a moment to introduce you to the newest member of our family! YES you read right...we pushed a baby out. :-)

Anuhea Grace Kehaulani Salzer
4.14.10
9:15am
8lbs 5.2oz
20 inches

Sorry for the literally-just-came-out baby photo! Lollers. I just loved this moment of meeting Anuhea and finally seeing her little face. It seems like months ago when this took place! I love to look at it now and again to remember what a special day it was for us.

We named her Anuhea because it means Sweet Fragrance or Cool Mountain Breeze. We like to think her life is a sweet fragrance to the Lord. Luckily, she came out smelling rather sweet so it worked out.

Today she is 9 weeks and 2 days. She is such a smiley baby who loves to talk up a storm! She would much rather chat to us than play with any toy, I guess she's a people person! Justin and I still can't believe she's ours and is here to stay. I know babies are born ALL THE TIME and have been for MILLIONS OF YEARS, but when it happens to you it's like it's never happened before.

Family time in Houston Town

2009-10-05T11:13:00.011-04:00

So we got on a plane and flew to Texas!

It was a short trip to see Daddy and the family. There was lots of singing and playing 'I Spy', as well as competitions that only Alice could win. Justin had a hard time letting go of that.

off we went to dinner...

even 3 year olds have dogs in their handbags

walking with davey

cheers goiyz!

'do you want any? er no thanks, not in my current state. they look delicious though. (puke)'

oi oi! who's this cute fella? (beads courtesy of alice)

We headed over to Kemah down on the Galveston coast for the day. There are rides, restaurants and millions of mosquitos! Oh did they have a party with my flesh. I'm just glad they saw ME as special.

alice has a couple babies that came with us. today they were in the buggy but sometimes they're in her tummy. she doesn't always know how they get in there.

here's alice on the high speed getaway train! actually it wasn't really high speed OR a getaway train, but there were bandits that tried to take charge and kidnap everyone.

the babes

lunchtime with davey

time for more explorations...way up high!

this cute fella again!pirates?!

windswept

this was on the plane home. both boys were very uncooperative models! i had to fire them instantly.

Katharine Hepburn's Brownies

2009-09-21T12:58:00.009-04:00

Apparently this is the Hepburn family's brownie recipe. So I thought 'oooh fancy!' and wanted to try it out. It's the simplest and quickest brownie recipe I've tried so far! The results are delicious.

ingredients

1 stick boodah
2 squares unsweetened chocolate
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tspn vanilla
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tspn salt
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

1. Melt together 1 stick butter and 2 squares unsweetened chocolate and take the saucepan off the heat.
2. Stir in 1 cup sugar, add 2 eggs and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, and beat the mixture well.

3. Stir in 1/4 cup all-purpose flour and 1/4 teaspoon salt. (In the original recipe, 1 cup chopped walnuts is added here as well.)
4. Bake the brownies in a buttered and floured 8-inch-square pan at 325°F for about 40 minutes.

This was the only bit of mess I made!

If you want to smarten up your act you can put a square of brownie on a plate with a little blob of créme fraîche and a scattering of shaved chocolate.

There aren't any left in our house!

Make this now people!

It's Raining!

2009-09-21T12:37:00.006-04:00

It's been a while since I've entered anything on here but I do have good excuses, I promise!

I had been saving for a DSLR since my birthday in June. J-man & I were asked to run video & camera at a local church's production of Godspell which boosted those savings quite nicely! I picked it up back in August and have been figuring it out ever since.

Then there's the reason why it's taken so long to figure it out...my brain is mush! It's mush because all its energy is going to building a person!

WE'RE PREGNANT!

I'm almost through the first trimester which is a BLESSING let me tell you! I just about wanted to give up on everything and sleep for England. I just feel so ill all the time. Hopefully in a couple of weeks I'll get that super energy boost that all the prego ladies talk about. I dream about those days!

It's all very exciting!

P.S. The reason I titled this 'Raining' is because it really is raining down here! And has been for the past week. The next week will be rain every day too. Am I back in England for real?

Waking the Dead

2009-08-09T18:51:00.001-04:00

Waking the Dead: The Glory of a Heart Fully Alive by John Eldredge

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book has changed my life. The underlying theme and goal of Eldridge is for us to 'think' with our hearts. The heart is the central engine of our lives as human beings. It's the part of all humans the enemy attacks first and then continues to on a consistent basis. Eldridge backs up his theories with quotes from the bible and paragraphs from sources such as: G.K. Chesterton, A.W. Tozer, William Gurnall, George Herbert, George MacDonald and many more. It makes for a more appealing read.

As well as a book it is also a guide/step-by-step on how to guard your heart, heal hurts that keep you back and how to let more of God in. God wants us to have so much fullness! He has so much to fill our hearts with. Yet we are unable to receive because our hearts are covered with 'scars' such as people-hurts, disappointment, lies we believe about ourselves etc.
There is also a rather all encompassing prayer you can pray everyday (quite long though!). I shall probably keep this one on hand to reference back to.

Fun with the Out-of-Towners

2009-08-06T09:00:00.000-04:00

Cristina, my good friend from Pensacola days, and Lindsay came to visit Atlanta this weekend as their husbands work down here, off and on. We took the opportunity to hang out and go to the Imagine It Children's museum right by Centennial Olympic Park.

Let me say that simply being there watching everything you lose weight - I think I lost ten pounds in two hours! It's a crazy place FOR SURE, but goodness do the kids love it. Makes it all worthwhile.

here is lindsay's baby lily, all smiles as per usual

not-so-baby Mia squirming to be released from her chair! 'can i come too? please?!'

'ok, i'll sit here with the balls which i can barely hold with my tiny pudgey fingers...'

'so many! which should i hold first...? how about i juggle! wheeeeee!'

'what's this here contraption? i must get on it!'

team work! go girls!

'alrighty there folks, this here be my tractaw'

'you wanna ride?!'

'i'm in charge here'

portion control by chloe

some tasty green plastic

what has happened to the standard of our drivers these days? isn't the point to be able to see over the dashboard?

the girls were not impressed by his 'women drivers are rubbish' speech

'hello mummy?! see my hand is raised! doing the right thing here! ANSWER ME!'

i got the baby! i got the baby!

evan took a portrait shot of himself, he grabbed the camera from me and just fired away! he's like a month old!

i must go lay down now. children are very busy people.

Night out with Bob Dylan

2009-08-05T09:48:00.008-04:00

Bob Dylan is my brother's hero. He has loved him for about 8 years now - loved his music, lyrics, even his crazy voice! He's hardcore about Bobby D. When it was announced that The Bob Dylan Show would be here in Alpharetta, Cowboy Dave flipped out. He was in Orlando at the time and was miffed as to why he hadn't been informed! Why hadn't they called to tell him?! Wude.

Here is some documentation of the night (historic night cowboy dave might say).

pleased to see some recycling receptacles!

filling up nicely. we were front row!...of the lawn.

debbie & danny, the funky hipsters

look at our positioning - we could throw our rubbish from our seats! Can't beat that.

willie nelson! he played first as his bedtime is 8:30pm.

jim, joan & their very awesome binoculars arrived just in time.

joan has some super cute feet! mine are like giant flat feet.

so i don't feel insecure here is my foot compared to cowboy dave's. hmmm, my angle makes them look the same size! I did not mean for this to happen! Mine are at least two sizes smaller. AT LEAST!!!

here is Mellencamp. I'd never heard of him but he can rock the stage!

picture of a very happy person

dusk

brother no eyes.

DYLAN!

DYLAN AGAIN!

DYLAN!

At this point of the evening cowboy dave was no more. He had passed out from shock, joy, amazement, giddyness and a whole other bunch of happy emotions.

It was a great night!

Trinity Softball! Blue vs Red

2009-08-04T13:20:00.006-04:00

This year Justin signed up for the church softball league. They play every Tuesday night and all skill levels are welcome to join. Being a churchy thing the idea is to have fun and socialize rather than compete agressively (although a lot of the men wish differently!)
I got out there this past week as their game was at 7pm which gave me enough time to get home and in bed by 9:30pm! I don't really know anyone who goes to bed at 9:30pm except for some seven year olds. I just praise the Lord above for inventing Tivo.

here's our player - numero 6

here's Eliu - a sweet & lovely person but right now, the enemy

ready to make the reds cry like babies

OH YEAH!

homerun people!

here's andy - our trusty pitcher

'they're all animals these softball players!'

not really - i just wanted to shout it out as the picture says.

here's cowboy dave laughing about my shouting earlier

he's not a very good model though - wouldn't look at the camera

see, here he's thoroughly embarrassed by my antics

look at the homerun stud, just hanging out. 'this is my home!' he declares.

i hoped for some kind of numeric melody here. number 19 messed the whole thing up.

thanks for nothing 19!

cowboy dave tensely grips the fence

baby pascal volunteers for next play. he doesn't realize there is a height restriction.

sorry to squash your 18 month-old dreams.

at least he knows which end the handle is!

number 6 deeply assessing the play
baby pascal shouts advice from the sidelines
andy & j-man - the wonder team
i dare say that was a rather spiffy play! ratherrr!
till next time folks!

Justy's Birthday!

2009-08-03T15:16:00.003-04:00

It's the honey-bum's birthday today and what birthday would be the same without a little Hoops n' Yoyo?! Here's a fun e-card for the birthday boy created through Hallmark's Smilebox Creation software. You can download it for free on the website and then used templates from existing users or Hallmark's own library. Pretty fun tool for a crazy person like me!

'Gimme the birthdays so I can make millions of e-cards!!!'

Make a Smilebox greeting

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HONEY BUNCHES!

True Jeans dot com

2009-07-28T15:23:00.004-04:00

So I'm a curvy girl with a little bit of pa-dunk-a-dunk going on in the back there (or maybe it's pa-donk-a-dink for you?) and I find jeans really quite unflattering. I'm either left with a unibum or muffin top, neither of which are particularly delightful.

Also, my wishes, dreams and manipulating prayers for the transference of large bum mass up to small boob area haven't worked either. You'd think that would be an easy fix really, I mean it's seems like quite a simple procedure!

Today I stumbled upon http://www.truejeans.com/ to look at some Little in the Middle jeans (LiM). Well already I was excited about LiM jeans as they describe themselves as being created for

'women with small waists and curvy hips. These jeans are a natural fit for pear and hourglass figures who desire form, fit and fashion. No more gapping at the waist!'

YIPPPPPEEEEEE! I have never found a pair of jeans specifically for white females with the small waist & wide, large, baby-birthing hips combo before.

So that was an exciting moment.

THEN - get this peoples - I realise the website I'm on (http://www.truejeans.com/) has a mantra of finding your 'true fit'.
'Buy Jeans that Fit'?! Not a concept I am used to.

I measured myself with their PRINTABLE measuring tape (yes I said printable!) and plugged in my info. So far they have paired me up with several $150.00 jeans. So now we know the truth - it hurts the chequebook to be beautiful. As soon as signing up they sent me a 10% off coupon code to use within one week. I guess that's something!

At least I know which styles to look for on clearance now! Thanks True Jeans!

Anyway, if you're someone who has a bit of trouble finding jeans that flatter, try this place out - it could be life changing!

Love Gracielicious

P.S. For all you males out there - don't feel left out! They want to help you find your perfect fit too.

Homemade Deodorant

2009-07-25T22:38:00.008-04:00

When I saw this post on Lifehacker it perked my interest! I'm always looking for a non aluminium deodorant and the ones available can be quite pricey and not particularly effective.

With the option of adding any kind of essential oil, the possible combinations could be endless!

To start you will need the following:

1/4 cup corn starch

1/4 cup baking soda

2 tbsp coconut oil

2-3 drops of essential oils (optional)

2-3 drops vitamin E (optional)

empty container for new deodorant

Start by mixing the cornstarch with the baking soda.

Then add your choice of essential oil - some good options are teatree, sandalwood, lemon, lavender & neem. Of course if I would add vanilla & chocolate flavours if they had them, i mean who wouldn't want chocovanili scented armpits?!

Now add 2 tbs of coconut oil and a few drops of vitamin E oil (for skin softening purposes). They mention on the website to buy coconut oil with the high melting point rather than the medium kind.

Mix up the ingredients until they start to form a lovely silky mass, sort of like melted white chocolate (most my analogies are to chocolate, fyi).

I felt my mixture was a little toooo silky so I added equal amounts of cornstarch & baking soda to thicken it up.

At this point I was ready to pack it into my container.

And you're done! How easy was that?! You can make personalized deodorant with the items in your pantry. Allow this to set for a couple of days before using.

Don't forget to add a label so your deodorant is easily recognizable!

'Help for Grace's Stinky Pits!
apply liberally...often!'

For the original article please follow this link.

Chai Tea Latte

2009-07-25T09:40:00.013-04:00

So I really quite enjoy lattes.

Chocolate is divine, English penny sweets are delicious & salt n' vinegar crisps make my mouth water.

But, hot drinks are my weakness!

On the Samovar website they had a step by step on how to make homemade lattes.

Right up my street! Tea-street that is.

So today I'm going to make my own and try this out. It seems really quite easy as there are only a few simple steps.

First off, I chose my tea. You can use tea bags as I am, or loose tea. I went with tea bags so I didn't have the extra step of straining out the leaves.

Then I combined equal parts of water & milk. If you're going to make a 16 oz latte then you want half that to be liquid. When you blend ice with the mixture it will end up being 16 oz. Therefore, you'll need 4 oz water & 4 oz milk.

Also, feel free to use whatever kind of milk you like. I chose regular milk as these lattes will also be partaken by my husband who would instantly sniff out Almond Milk if I used it.
I mean the thought of using Almond Milk! How dare I.

I decided to make a big batch to last the weekend, so went all out with 16 oz of each. I know! Wild & crazy up in this here kitchen.

So next I combined the liquid and brought to a boil in a saucepan. Then I added the tea bags to stew for about 5 mins. Stewing times may vary depending on your personal preference of tea strength. (Did you know that some really strong teas offer bodyguard protection?)

Then I added the sweetener (which can also be done before you add the tea).

My personal sweetener of choice is Stevia.

Where's waldo!

When I felt happy about the strength of my tea, sweetness levels etc I whipped out my little frother and went to town!

So I stopped there as I fancied a hot latte. But at this point you could pour over ice or blend with ice to make a frap!

So go save yourself $4 and make some of this stuff right this second!

I demand it.

If you want to check out the original article please follow this link

Namaste

The Giver

2009-07-24T07:58:00.001-04:00

The Giver by Lois Lowry

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I LOVED THIS BOOK! First off it's short and sweet and really easy to read (a nice break from the deep soul-searching stuff I've been reading lately). The twists at the end almost knocked me over! AND I would have cried if my brother and husband weren't in the room with me. BUT, having said that I almost cried at the latest American Express advert on the tv about Entrepreneurs, so take that with a very large truckload of salt.

Thanks Amanda R. for sending it my way! x

View all my reviews >>

Emotionally Healthy Spirituality

2009-07-20T09:47:00.001-04:00

Emotionally Healthy Spirituality: Unleash the Power of Authentic Life in Christ by Peter Scazzero

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I learnt so much! Having come from a cult where my view of the Lord was so warped and twisted, this book really straightened me out. Helped me to see the way people use the Word for their own benefit and how the church can pretty much make things up! It also helped me to heal the hurts I had endured but also take responsibility for my part in joining a congregation like that; one where God isn't given the glory He deserves. Like a counseling session wrapped up between two hard covers!

So very thankful to Jane for sending it my way.

View all my reviews >>

My Birfday!

2009-07-02T20:56:00.011-04:00

I am now 26.

Over that hill and on my way to that place called '30'.

Ooooooweeeeeeee.

To celebrate I violently took the weekend and made it all mine!

To start, we went to Matilda's in downtown Alpharetta. It's an art gallery where every Friday night they have live music. This week was bluegrass! It was so great! They had a upright bassist, mandolin, banjo, guitar & violinist. They all squeezed round one mic and harmonized. We went with Debbie, Danny & Jim from my old job in Roswell.

Oh and not forgetting our mate Clevenger who joined us for the evening (Kimmy was visiting family in Chicago)

For the last song they moved out into the crowd for some jigging and jiving!

Saturday afternoon saw Davey, Justin & myself in the theatre to watch Transformers!

We LOVE movies!

Then, folks, oh my...the following pictures might stir some emotion (some tasty food). We went to Roy's Hawaiian Fusion for my birthday dinner from Daddy (he's currently in Australia working a project)

During the course of the evening I experienced different levels of emotion.

Original Hawaiian Martini - GLUG

Shrimp Lumpia - HMMMM, YUM

Justin's Filet - MELT IN YO MOUF

My Pecan Crusted Trout - SPEECHLESS

Chocolate Souffle - COMPLETE DISILLUSIONMENT

*grace started questioning who she was, her name, where she was, what was she doing etc*

This is Molten Chocolate Souffle. I don't know how to say this without coming across a bit strong:
IT WAS ABSOLUTELY BLOOMIN' DELICIOUS!

Dave and I, the chocolate lovers, were wondering how we were to go on with our lives having just experienced something so DELECTABLE. I mean Roy, come on, you just can't do that!

Here's my lovely Macadamia Nut Pie. TOISTY.

After this we rolled on out of Roy's and made our way home.

Chocolate covered twinkie time!

After lunch at West Egg on Sunday, Annie & Brenton took us over to Atlantic Station for my birthday treat.

Yep, they've done it. Made the most rich, sickly sweet dessert in history.

One bite is all it takes.

Then, Sunday night, the girls and I went out to the Clay Cafe in downtown Roswell. We painted and chatted for a few hours - it was the greatest!

All in all, probably one of the best birthday weekends the world has ever seen. It could only have been improved if my Mumma could have been there!

Palm Trees, Hugs & Road-Trips!

2009-06-21T17:58:00.011-04:00

On Friday I flew down to Orlando to spend the day with my lovely Mum! She picked me up from the airport and we went to the shops and generally just enjoyed being together. Eating at The Colombian in Celebration was delicious along with our walk round the lake. Oh and not forgetting drinks at Starbucks. It's just what you do down there. Davey finished up school, packed his truck up and headed over to spend the night at Mum's as well. It was a fun little family reunion!

Mum & I having a squeeze

...or two (got to get as many in as possible!)

Dave's a bit sleepy (6 weeks of summer school under his belt), but a great hugger!

ah-hem, dave's truck. PACKED!

the truck bed also!

the singing, happy, truck driver

he wouldn't let me switch! drove the whole way.

the 7th hour of driving and going a little cross-eyed & crazy.

but we made it.

Weekend with Pammy

2009-06-21T17:02:00.005-04:00

Our old friend Pam came to visit us last weekend. She lives in Apollo Beach Florida and is a 5th grade school teacher. She's the best! She's from our ah-hem ...cult church in Pensacola. She has such a sharp wit that when we're together it's one never ending sarcastic joke. Justin is like her younger brother so when they're together all these pop culture references come up and I'm always stumped. Stumped like I just stand there all cylindrical looking.

We went to the Vortex for a late lunch. The Vortex is a bar/restaurant filled with all kinds of random memorabilia. It's in Midtown Atlanta and is where we take people who've never been to the ATL. Some pretty tasty fried zucchini!

Once we'd finished lunch and our pouting photo shoot we headed over to the Burn n' Brew at Annie & Brenton's place. These Burn n' Brews started as men only where the gents gather to cook meat and burn things. Anything can be burnt! I guess it's somewhat therapeutic in a manly way. Girls were allowed to this one so along with the meat came an ICE CREAM bar filled with glorious goodies like gummy bears, reese's pieces, oreos, butterfingers etc... Balance came to the universe once more.

This is Brenton showcasing his new, home brewed beer. Pretty tasty stuff! It's the Double Wanda IPA - made with a whole lotta love.

I love Doors

2009-06-10T16:04:00.011-04:00

It's been so long! But now I'm back and want to share with you a photo project I gave myself while in Europe so I could focus on something other than our ugly mugs! I really love doors and the deeper meaning of what they can represent. An open door can mean a new opportunity, new places, new people, new culture etc. A closed door can be somewhat negative, relating more to an end of an era or loss of opportunity. But on the flip side closed can be positive (buh-bye school! buh-bye loser friend!) and an open one can be scary. I know this from all the scary movies Justin watches - the music intensifies, breathing gets heavier, and as the door opens, BOOOM! The big scary monster comes to getcha.

Also, my Mum has always loved pictures of doors so this is sort of a tribute to her (hey Mumma!).

These beauties were in Florence; the first was a building right before the Ponte Alle Grazie, on our way to the greatest Gelateria in the World! The second was where we ate one night in Florence; and the third is a door we saw in Roma after visiting the Coliseum.

When in Florence we visited the Duomo. If ever I saw a beautiful door it was here! And there are many doors on this building. The Duomo is the cathedral of Florence, designed by Arnolfo di Cambio back in 1296. It remains the largest brick dome ever constructed. The exterior of the cathedral is faced with polychrome marble panels in various shades of green and pink bordered by white and has an elaborate 19th century Gothic Revival facade by Emilio De Fabris. All in all, stunning!

Here are some doors from Cinque Terre (Chin-qweh Teh-rey). I love how rugged they look. I imagine them to be part of Mamma Mia or the like. The entire place looked like that movie which made us sing abnoxious ABBA songs the whole time we were there. You know the locals were like "Bloomin' tourists!"

Here is an amazing door located in Zurich. It is the main entrance to the Grossmunster – a large (and tall) church in the heart of Zurich. The reformist Huldrych Zwingli (born 1484) was the pastor and tried to reform the Catholic Church during his time there.

The inscriptions on each square represent (from top) the Ten Commandments, important biblical men and important biblical women (bottom row).

My FAVOURITE doors were in Venice. So old, beat up & rustic, yet you can see the beauty that once existed. The architecural design, the curves, the iron work, etc. Our gondolier told us that when it floods the water can rise upto 5 feet which is why there's such water damage to the lower parts of the doors. No one lives on the ground floor anymore because of this.

And the grand finale is quite fabulous. I'm sure it's the REAL location of Jesus' birth.

This is a real door! Ridiculous!

My little ear lobe

2009-04-25T21:07:00.005-04:00

I've been having trouble with my right ear lobe - whenever I wear earrings it bleeds continually and then scabs over, swells and is quite painful. I had a biopsy done and they said a foreign object was residing in there. What with a whole bunch of scar tissue, it made for one big ear lobe party.

This is what my ear lobe looked like about one week ago with foreign object and scar tissue embedded.

Kinda pink, kinda chunky - definitely not your average looking lobe.

I will admit there has been some repenting of serial ear-lobe envy.

The surgeon's assistant asked how I would like my bandage shaped and obviously I requested a Yoda ear.

Oooh lovely.

Frankenstein Returns?!

Cleaning daily with hydrogen peroxide and then slathering up with Vaseline.

The bathroom counter is looking particularly busy. Rush hour traffic.

Don't laugh.

It took me ages.

And ages.

I get the stitches out on Monday. Maybe people will stop pointing and staring as well as hiding their small children from me?!

Just kidding. That hasn't been happening.

Honest.

Reunions, Starbucks & 'Brilliant'!

2009-04-11T20:21:00.022-04:00

My lovely friend Ami moved to Atlanta, December of last year. We knew each other in them there olden days when we both lived in Eastbourne. When I left England to move here I didn't really think I'd ever see her again.

Well life happened and Ami went to Australia (y'know, how you do) met her love and got married. Ami & Steve moved to Atlanta, chosen for its somewhat central location - a direct flight to England and a short drive to North Carolina where Steve's family live.

*grace takes needed deep breath from short history catch-up*

So, when Ames moved here it was the most amazing thing. Especially as we thought we'd never see each other again. (We obviously had forgotten about plane travel and video calling).

Then to make it even more exciting, her parents came to visit! We rendezvous'd at Starbucks mid way between our houses for an hour of joy and giggles.

This post is to document our reunion.

A Mother-in-Law/Son-in-Law moment
(Jilly was very excited about the photos she was taking without wearing glasses. They were 'brilliant'!)

Ames, me & Mum Jilly

Pensive Dad McLachlan

This picture may look completely pointless but it's not. I wanted to show you that Starbucks has a mini library. Isn't that cool? And there's no fee, you just replace what you take with another book. And when I say 'take' I mean the 'take-to-your-house-and-keep-forever' kind of 'take'. Yes, believe it.
It's called the Starbucks Exchange.

Here we all are! It was so wonderful to reconnect with these lovely people. Ooh and if it works out we'll be able to stay with Jilly & Ian on our leg to England. YAY!

Sending love to Ian, Jilly, Ames & Stevie!

3106 Woodland Lane

2009-04-11T15:15:00.003-04:00

We finally got it together! Our home is up for sale. :-D

Do I have any takers?!

(I just realized we don't have any pictures of the outside...where's the darn 'pictures-needed-for-selling-your-house-video' checklist?!)

Magic with Magic Erasers

2009-04-10T21:39:00.002-04:00

A lady at my work revealed a very interesting bathroom tip.

It had to do with Magic Erasers.

And...nothing else.

I questioned her morality, but she didn't faulter.

I asked if she was being paid by the Magic Eraser man on the box. She said 'No'.

I just couldn't figure a way she would be backing a Magic Eraser as one of the greatest bathroom cleaning tools in the history of bathroom cleaning tools.

Unless of course extortion & conspiracy were involved.

Don't tell my co-worker this but I tried out her ludicrous claim. With, I might add, great restraint morally, politically, emotionally, religiously...

And?! It was magic!

My eyes were enlightened, my heart skipped beats.

I had love-hearts for eyeballs.

The scum was...wait for it...MAGICALLY ERASED!

There wasn't a cleaner out there that could get this junk off. Bleach would be the only option but not really as it's no longer a word in my eco-friendly vocabularly (I had to whisper it just now).

I used it on the tiles and sinks too with great success!

I didn't believe, I didn't know it was possible to clean green like this.

I want to thank Mr. Clean for being so tan and wearing such whitey-whites.

(By the way sir, have you been using Magic Erasers on your baldy head? You do have quite a 'glow'.)

I dare you to try out these magical white blocks for yourselves. Prepare to fall head-over-heels.

Love,

The girl who NOW loves to clean bathrooms, for now and evermore...Amen.

Castles, Pizza & Silly Faces in North Carolina

2009-03-31T13:33:00.021-04:00

The J-man & I just got back from visiting some of the loveliest people you'll ever meet. They reside outside of Charlotte North Carolina in a small town called Concord in case you were wondering where lovely people live. I knew Cristina (pregnant lady in middle of picture below) in Pensacola during my school days. Talk about laughing till your face falls off! Oh my. Did we ever.

Here we all are in Jon & Cristina's living room. Let me introduce you:

We have lovely Aletha & her husband, my Jordie-English mate Simon. Jordie means you're from Newcastle (pronounced Noo-cassell if you're Jordie). Cristina (prego with third child, a little boy) & her husband Jon (brown-sugar-with-butter-on-toast extraordinaire)

Simon & I share the red-head gene. Did you know it's recessive?

Meet Ms. Chloe. She's three.

We decided to pull faces the best way we knew how.

Check out the skillz

Tongue face

Tilted-head with tongue-face and itchy eyebrow action shot

Pixie face

The J-man and I in front of the Enchanted Castle.

Taken by 3-year old Chloe.

By far the best photo taken so far. That's ok, I can take being beat by a three year old. No really, I CAN.

This is Baby Mia

Soooo, you got me.

Wispy baby hair, pinchable cheeks...

Big brown eyes & pizza on the face?

Ohhh, you've got me so good

Great. Now come the cute dimples

The torture

Ok, that's it. Put a fork in me. I'm done.

The cuteness is too much

By the way, baby Mia is the best head banger out there. Especially when riding in the car. Something about sitting down and being strapped in really helps the technique. She's only 15 months old. A natural for sure.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was such a fun weekend seeing all these people! It really felt like no time had passed, yet somehow Cristina has two babies and one on the way. I think she's secretly an optical illusionist. Makes sense.

Of course we HAVE to visit again so I can return purple bunny to Ms. Chloe (more to follow on him in the next post).

Thanks to Cristina & Jon for showing us such wonderful hospitality! We love you guys.

Sweet Potato Chips

2009-03-24T10:40:00.018-04:00

So today in Grace's Cooking Class we are going to attempt to make homemade chips (or crisps if you're English. Chips are actually Fries to us, thus you understand why the clarification was needed).

To start you will need a beauty of a sweet potato, similar to this:

Then you'll need to choose your tools carefully. This was an experiment for me so I started out with a cheese grater, small knife and fruit/vegetable peeler.

**Broadcast Interruption** Here is a nice portion of portugese sausage for you to feast your eyes on and salivate a little.

Next you want to peel your potato. Now I chose a sweet potato because I had some on hand. You could also try a regular potato, turnip or squash. And if there are any other root vegetables out there I missed, you could use them too.

There was a lot of action peeling this sweet potato.

Whoosh. This is like an action movie.

Once peeled, you need to slice very thin pieces of the potato. I started using the small knife. Only thing was I yielded quite thick pieces/chunks of the potato.

Then I tried the cheese grater, which wasn't bad, but the pieces were quite thin and scraggly.

Then a genius moment happened (they don't happen often which is why it was so momentous). I cut the sweet potato in half and used my fruit/vegetable peeler to slice the pieces. As it was in half I was able to get a nice chip shape AND have better handling of the sweet potato as well. With the knife and cheese grater I was slightly concerned about chopping my thumb off. I defintely recommend using the peeler.

(Can you see all the scraggly pieces cut by the cheese grater?)

Then you want to give the 'chips' some flavour so I did a mix of salt, Pepperman and Carl's (a very southern all purpose seasoning given to us by our friends Brush & Reesey - thanks guys!)

(Just to clarify that is J-Man in the background not a cheeky monkey. It's an easy mistake to make)

So spread out your 'chips' so they have enough space between each other.

Another item to add is a sprinkling of oil. Either that, or a spray of PAM would work too.

Set your cooker to 200 or 250. You'll have them in there for about 30 mins, 45 mins or even an hour depending on how thick you cut your 'chips'. They cook slowly like this so they get thoroughly dried out and 'crispy'. (So that's the English connection. Crisps are called as such because they're CRISPY! Oh the revelation is too much).

Keep an eye on them just so they don't get burnt round the edges. It's also good to turn them over frequently.

Here is the final result! A nice collection of crispy, salty, homemade chips.

These chips are a lot healthier than those you find in the shop AND you can cater the flavour how ever you fancy. The time consuming part is slicing the vegetable, but other than that it is an easy option. A great way to con those kids ('kid' also encompasses fully grown hairy husbands).

Have fun experimenting!

Love Grace

CITIZEN GRACIE

2009-03-10T20:08:00.017-04:00

So the day came, oh so quickly! I went for my interview and exam yesterday afternoon. When I completed both and passed, the interviewer asked if I was available today for the official swearing in ceremony. I paused, took a moment and said 'yes I think I am!' Typically I would have had to wait at least two months to receive a time & date of the ceremony.

waiting, waiting!

the sign says we're in the right place

sitting next to chin liu lee, who is styling the beginnings of a neatly manicured asian flat-top

the officialness was almost too much

these folks were overtaken with excitement

I would like to take a moment to apologize for my white-pasty-opaque-ness, you see it was 80 degrees today which gave me no time to prepare for a dress, not even time for spray-on tan.

we were all shocked (and in absolute awe) that they actually played a video to the sound of Lee Greenwood's song 'I'm proud to be an Americannnn', it was hilarious!

U! SSSSS! AAAAAA!!!!

So it's done! I'm official! 4.5 years' worth of forms, fees and waiting. What a huge blessing. :-)

Pork & Sweet Potato Skillet Meal

2009-03-04T19:25:00.013-05:00

Hey all.

So I found this very quick and easy recipe in a Whole Foods money saving newsletter. I thought I'd give it a shot! We're always trying new things to make it interesting. And also because I aspire to be a chef of iron man proportions.

This is meant to be a very inexpensive recipe especially when you buy the items listed. I, however, in my great culinary wisdom, purchased pork TENDERLOIN at $8.99/lb. Thus this meal is not $2.89 per serving as quoted in the newsletter, instead $6.00 per meal.

____________________________________________________________

canola oil
1/4 cup of chopped onion
2 pork chops cut into cubes
sweet potato
1 cup white wine or water
1/2 tsp dried thyme
salt
pepper

chop up the pork and sweet potato into cubes

the pork was looking a little 'blobby' today

coat the pork in the salt and pepper

i used our favourite seasoning, pepperman

it's at whole foods and you really should buy some.

pop the oil, onion and pork in the skillet

once nice and brown, pour in the cup of vino

add the sweet potato and thyme then cover to simmer until the potatoes are tender (approx 20 to 30 mins)

this angle made my first 3 fingers look the same length. i would like to clarify that they are not. each are at least 1/4 inch different in size to each other. i measured.

the juices will then combine and thicken

your entire house will smell lovely

as there is wine involved in the recipe you may as well play some classical music

when ready, just serve as is. you could add a salad or maybe bread.

the j-man had a cornbread muffin to compliment his meal. that's how he rolls.

Before and After: Garage as Quilters Paradise

2009-03-02T09:53:00.007-05:00

I saw this post from Lifehacker.com, a blog I follow. This crafty lady converted her garage into a fantastic quilting studio! It took $1,200, five-friends and 3-days to complete the project. To have a crafting studio to put all my knitting, painting, jewellry, cards etc in would be a dream! It would be like I was an official crafter. I could almost make it my job and quit my day job! Well almost. (Don't panic J-man - I shan't be making any rash decisions here even if it is a Monday). :-)

Here's how you build a workable full-time quilting space from a living room and garage packed with moving boxes, giving 3 generations of east-coast family some breathing room in their newly-combined west-coast home:

• 3-day weekend
• 5 friends
• $975 worth of TROFAST storage from Ikea: 8 tall shelf units, 6 short shelf units, 51 small buckets (perfect for small fabric squares), 30 medium buckets, 8 large buckets
• $150 dumpster rental
• 4 levels of 6-foot Elfa shelves (already in the garage)
• 2 existing bookcases (for decades worth of quilting magazines and books)
• 36 squares of FLOR carpet, "bright stripes" and "bright solids," on wicked clearance sale, less than $15/6, found by scouring 5 different Target stores in Southern California
• 1 existing Koala sewing table

The end result of all the labor is both highly functional and visually appealing. It wasn't a dirt cheap or simple fix, but the final product definitely shows that real effort, planning, and investment was put into the project.

The completed quilting room keeps 50+ years of quilting materials all in one space, with great indirect light from the garage door and spot lighting at the sewing table ... Privacy for the quilter in the garage. Safety for the pre-schoolers in the house. Sanity returned to the family.

Snow Day!

2009-03-01T14:28:00.009-05:00

So we left church this morning and much to our surprise it was snowing hard! We snapped some shots on our phone to document the momentous moment. If only this happened on a weekday instead! :-)

Hmmm, a bit of 'snow-druff' there...

The snow driver ready to face it!

The car became a cave!

Snow in the courtyard

Now we're at home drinking hot chocolate and watching Wall-E! Nothing like being snuggled up and cozy when it's cold and snowy outside. :-)

P.S. Wall-E is a really sweet movie, definitely recommend it!

Happy Sunday all!

The Hills is back! Season Preview

2009-02-27T09:04:00.004-05:00

Great news everyone! The Hills is coming back this spring! Judging by the just-leaked trailer a lot is supposed to happen this season. Just watch the preview and see for yourself. Maybe I should give up this show for Lent?! Hmmm, I'll just dvr them all and save them for Easter!

http://best-damn-blog.blogspot.com/2009/02/hills-new-season-preview.html

Apparently though, Season 5 is Lauren's last season. She gave MTV a deadline and said 'I have to quit even while it's good just to keep my sanity!' I can't imagine wearing a mic and being followed by a camera crew 24/7, that is not my kind of fun.

Anyway, enjoy all you fellow Hills fans!

Mint.com

2009-02-24T09:45:00.004-05:00

Hey all!

In an attempt to be a good steward of our money, I researched a few programs where I could really knuckle down and see what the J-Man and I were spending each month. The one I came across that was the most highly recommended was http://www.mint.com/. It has been named the best online personal finance tool by Money Magazine, PC Magazine, and is PC World’s Editor’s Choice.

You can add in as many checking accounts, savings accounts, loans (car, mortgage, school), investments (401K, college funds) you have by entering your login details for each account. Mint.com then syncs up with these websites and the information is now all in one place. It is far more efficient and time saving than going to each website, logging in and checking, logging out, going to next website...etc.

You can also enter any assets you have like jewellry or vehicles or maybe that flashy boat you have parked in the driveway. Mint.com then adds up all these items and cross-checks them with your loans to come to your current net worth. It's rather interesting and could be a nice surprise!

One disadvantage to the application is that it is web-based so all your information is out there on the web - even if it is a secure one. However, Mint.com uses bank-level data security verified by Verisign and TrustE which means you’re anonymous; you don’t share your name, address, social security number or account numbers. You can save money (through their suggestions and ideas) — but you can’t transfer money.

Before Mint.com I was checking about five different accounts online. Now I go to only one. To make it even sweeter, they have an iPhone application which is also in line with the money-saving efforts as it's free. So now I can check my balances anytime, anywhere.

Take a moment to get acquainted and over time you might find it's your very own bail-out plan!

http://www.mint.com/about/

Trip to Watercolour, Florida!

2009-02-21T22:10:00.019-05:00

We got invited by our great friends, Annie & Brenton, to go for the weekend down to Watercolour Florida over Valentine's. Their friends in Atlanta own this beautiful home which is located in the town right next door to Seaside town, set of The Truman Show.

As it was a long weekend we got to stay 3 nights which was bliss! Having that extra day really helps the body relax fully. I say that 3 day weekends should be instated!!

In Watercolour you can bike ride everywhere - to the beach, Publix, restaurants, shops, so it's a really active community. It was a small taste of life in England where you don't have to rely on cars nearly as much as out here.
We were the biker gang taking over and taking names. :-)

As it was Valentine's Day on Saturday we all planned to do something special. The girls got up and cooked a yummy breakfast (if I do say so myself :-P) and then the gents went out and got flowers and ingredients for our evening dinner. It was all so romantical & lovely!

What better way to spend Valentine's than with the ones you love eating all day long! NOM NOM NOM!

We had some time getting out and about and pretty much just being silly. We played on the beach with Lulu (A&B's almost-grown-up-puppy) and then took a bunch of really silly pictures mainly because we had 3 photographers in our party.

So all in all it was a wonderful time. I'm still wishing to be back riding my bike and soaking in the hot tub!

Thanks Annie & B for making it such a fun weekend. We love you guys!

Food is where the heart is...

2009-02-12T16:37:00.006-05:00

With Valentine's Day falling on a Saturday, it leaves us time to cook something special for our beloveds at home, rather than shelling out on a set menu in a crowded restaurant. One of my favourite food websites is the www.bbcgoodfood.com which has some fantastic traditional english recipes, as well as twists for occasions such as Valentine's Day.

For starters, how about mixing up a Raspberry Champagne cocktail and then nibbling something light, such as the Simple Seafood Platter with dill & mustard mayo (see website link below for recipes).
Follow with crisp sea bass, or for meat lovers, a perfectly cooked steak and homemade béarnaise sauce.
Then indulge in dessert, but not one that leaves you undoing your buttons for the wrong reasons - try elegant Lemon & raspberry baskets or French classic Crème brûlée. YUM!

And if romance isn’t in the air this weekend, how about spending the evening with fellow singleton Bridget Jones and a few of your mates, tucking into a messy Mexican – they’ll forgive a bit of salsa on your chin. :-)

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/content/recipes/occasions/valentines-day/

Did you know....?

Oysters are meant to be the ultimate aphrodisiac along with a gorgeously gooey chocolate pud following close behind. But what about sneaking some less celebrated aphrodisiac ingredients, such as fennel, ginger, horseradish or chilli into your seductive supper? Chickpeas too are apparently a powerful aphrodisiac for men. Houmous anyone?

Mambo Sprouts Health e News

2009-02-12T11:09:00.000-05:00

It’s February, so you know what that means. No, not chocolate candies, roses and other Valentine’s gifts. It’s Heart Health Month!

Heart Health Month isn’t celebrated as much as Valentine’s Day, but it certainly should be. Regardless of race or sex, cardiovascular diseases, including stroke, are our nation’s number one killer.

Top 5 Ways to a Healthier Heart

1. Follow a Heart Healthy Diet
Limit intake of trans fats and hydrogenated oils.
Limit refined sugar.
Add Omega-3’s to your diet. They’re clinically proven to improve heart rhythm, promote healthy circulation and improve overall function of the heart muscle.

2. Exercise Regularly
Get your heart pumping and try to exercise 3-4 times per week, for at least a half hour at a time.

3. Lead a Healthy Lifestyle - In addition to following a healthy diet and exercise regimen, you should also try to do the following:
Stop smoking and avoid second hand smoke.
Limit your intake of alcohol - excessive alcohol can deplete your body's supply of vitamins and other nutrients.
Try to reduce stress and anxiety - they can lead to high blood pressure and other health conditions.
Keep your weight within recommended limits - obesity is a leading cause of heart disease.

Who says resolutions have to be made in January?! Even if you make one change this month to your lifestyle from the list above, it will make a big difference to your overall heart health in 2009 and the years beyond. :-)

I am a blogger!

2009-02-12T11:04:00.000-05:00

Hi all!

I've started this blog to share some of the fun things I come across each day through my news feeds and email subscriptions. I also want to keep you all up to date on the things Justin & I get up to! Blogging is a great way to stay in-touch without really doing much! All you need to do is be sure to visit us regularly by bookmarking this page.

Lots of Love to you all,

Grace xxx