Big News!

Yes, I am pregnant! This ultrasound (baby is the greyish blob inside of the dark black blob on the left side) was taken about 2 weeks ago, so I am almost 10 weeks along.

I will post more as I go along, things are okay right now. This is my first pregnancy, so everything is very new and weird, but my first trimester symptoms are not too bad. I heard they can be awful, but mine are mostly mood related. Skin is in awful shape, moods are all over the place, I sleep all the time, I'm hungry every hour, peeing all the time, and more headaches. It reminds me of puberty all over again. NOT what I had expected, but, oh well.

Oh, and TONS of unsolicited advice from "well-wishers." Mom told me to just say "go fuck yourself," to the offenders, but that could get me in trouble at work. So I have been taking a bathroom break when I need to get away.

And my allotted one cup of coffee in the morning has been a huge help. I may crack if I had to give up all caffeine, on top of the alcohol, soft cheeses, and sushi I can't have.

A bit of advice for those who find out they are pregnant, and are somewhat anti-social, like myself. Keep it to yourself for as long as you can. I know it is hard (which is why we let spill the beans so early), but it would have saved me some sanity at work.

Basic info:
Due Date: end of September, like the 25th.
Sex: not known yet, but I will post it when we find out in May
Names: will figure that out as we go. And don't make that face when you find out. I hate that other people (strangers, even!) insist on knowing what you will name the kid, then they (of course) hate the name you have thought about for months and make that awful face like I just farted two inches from their nose. It's not your kid, leave me alone.

Okay, getting moody, must go eat again.

Bedroom Remodel

Before pictures:

Our room was painted a blah, ugly, dirty off-white. I scrubbed the walls, then painted EVERYTHING with primer before we started. It looked tons better even with just the primer.

During the remodel:

We used Glidden paint, in Soft Sage and Dove White for the trim. We used Cafe Mocha for the closet.

After pictures:

Behold! Our finished room (except carpet and repainted ceiling...please ignore those for now):
Closet is from IKEA, furniture is MALM from IKEA, and most of the accessories are either Target or IKEA. We will be doing the nursery (wink!) in the same green color.

The husband and dog.

The closet: which is one of my favorite parts.

Pictures!

Witness me in my uber-nerdy outfit! Since I don't ski/snowboard/or hang out in the snow very often, I just have a snow bib I found in the kids' section at Sears and a boys' waterproof jacket. What is the point of buying expensive, trendy stuff if you only wear it once or twice a year? Anyhows, I kept plenty warm and dry. Jay got a little moist and bruised, but we had a blast. As you can see, the weather was perfect. This was the day right before a big storm came through.

I really liked this picture of Jay. He looks like one of those jack-ass skiing jocks from an 80's movie....

Yes! I could stay upright the entire ride down! We even mastered the chair lift (after only one extremely embarrassing fall when the operator had to stop the lift so I could move my fat ass)!

I do, however, snowboard in a weird, squatting, position. Oh well.

I think Jay was very tired here. He fell on his ass a lot.

It has been a long time since I have updated this blog, but I promise to try to write at least every other week for now on. I have some big news that I will write about in the next post, and the remaining posts will follow along my new journey.

In other news:

The husband and I attempted to learn how to snowboard in January, which was a blast. We rented equipment at Sugar Bowl and even took the introductory classes with Rick-the-snow-boarder-dude. We fell (not as much as I anticipated, however), acquired lots of bruises, and ended the day with a much-deserved cocktail. All together, a great day. I will post photos soon of our ridiculousness.

We just finished remodeling our bedroom (except for the flooring). Our home is a condo in the Sacramento area, which, for a long time, was a rental. So you could imagine how much work the place needs. Most of the large and expensive items have been replaced/repaired, such as the windows, the water heater, the dishwasher, and the entire HVAC system. The main bathroom has had everything replaced and repainted, except for the bathtub and bathtub fixtures. It is still on the to-do list.
So in the bedroom: We repainted the walls (light green), the baseboards, trim and door (dove white), the closet (light mocha), and installed a new IKEA organizer for the interior of the closet. All of the bedroom furniture was replaced with the MALM series, in a birch finish, and we hung new photos and art work. Again, I will post photos in the next post. I still need to get off my lazy butt and download them.

Blurg! ....by the way, NetFlix has all of the previous 30 Rock seasons on instant watch.....awesomeo!!!!

Fall Recipes

Since the weather has turned, here in Sacramento, I have been craving comfort food. Looking in my pantry, I found sweet potatoes, sweet onions, and arborio rice, so sweet-potato risotto was born! With some fresh goat cheese on top, this is one of my favorites recipes this year.

Sweet Potato Risotto with Goat Cheese

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of arborio rice
• 1/2 onion, chopped well
• cup of white wine (one you like to drink), preferably chardonnay or sauvignon blanc
• olive oil
• butter
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated or shredded
• at least 4 cups of chicken or vegetable broth
• 1 small to medium sweet potato (or yam or 1/2 cup pumpkin)
• 2-3 oz. fresh goat cheese

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Briefly scrub the sweet potato and stab a few times with a sharp knife. Place in oven on a piece of aluminum foil to prevent your oven from getting gross. Cook for about 30-40 minutes, depending on how big your potato is. You can always throw it in the microwave for a few minutes at the end if you take it out too early.

2. After your potato has been cooking for at least 15 - 20 minutes, get started on the risotto. Risotto takes about 22-25 minutes to cook, and you will need to add the cooked sweet potato after 22 minutes, so time things carefully.

3. Pour your stock into a medium sauce pan and heat it on a back burner until almost boiling. Keep a ladle (or a measuring cup) handy to transfer stock to your risotto pan as you cook it.

4. Heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. If you use a non-stick pan, you won't need as much oil or butter. Add the chopped onions and saute until they are translucent (no color).

5. Add one tablespoon of butter and the rice, stirring well to coat the rice in butter/oil. Saute for a minute or until the rice's outer coat looks clear. DO NOT COLOR THE RICE!!!

6. Add the cup of white wine and stir well. Add a ladle of stock and stir well.

7. Keep a close eye on the risotto as it absorbs the liquid. Add more stock as it cooks, one ladle at a time, making sure to not over-stir the rice. Stir it gently and often. The rice should be in individual grains, and not breaking apart or mushy. As it cooks, it creates a creamy sauce.

8. It will take about 20 minutes of stirring gently and adding more stock for the rice to finish. Taste the risotto and season with salt/pepper to taste. If the rice still tastes too firm, keep adding stock. (If you run out of stock, add hot water)

9. Open the cooked sweet potato and remove the peel. Roughly chop it and add to the risotto at the end of cooking. Stir gently, using the the back of the spoon to mash some of the potato into the sauce. Remove from heat.

10. Add the Parmesan cheese and fold it in gently.

11. After you have put the risotto on plates, add crumbled goat cheese on top. It will melt slightly.

*SERVES 4 PEOPLE AS A SIDE, OR 2 PEOPLE AS A LARGE MAIN DISH

My husband and I ate this entire dish. It was so good!
Sorry for no photos...maybe next time.

Doggles and Elephants

I just posted a new elephant on the etsy site (see side link). I will also be working on the pdf soon to put up on etsy. When I was looking at elephant designs in the past, I had a hard time finding one I really liked, so I made one up myself. It turned out pretty cute, if I do so say so myself!


We also just received a gift for our dog, Wally. My mother-in-law dropped off a pair of "doggles," so we had to break out the camera!

From the start, Wally did not like his doggles. He spent most of the time rubbing his face on the ground to get them off; but we managed to get just a couple photos (in focus) before he got really tired of them. We plan on trying them out next time we take him swimming, although it doesn't look like they are water-tight. They remind me more of little motorcycle goggles. That would be cute.

Inspiration

After visiting some of my favorite blogs, I was inspired to make a granny-square blanket. Attic24's (http://attic24.typepad.com) use of color was so pretty, that I tried to imitate it with the yarn that I could afford (acrylics, but soft ones from LionBrand) before I start work again. I really like how the individual squares look, and I think the light pink is my favorite color: it looks very antique-y. I have started to put them together and outline them in lilac, but I am unsure which color to use on top of the lilac.....pale blue? another purple?

My squares, once joined into groups of four, also look a little wonky. I hope this is normal and will start to go away once I add more yarn and start connecting even more of them together.