We are Moving

It is now officially out in the open.

We are moving. 

It only became official when I casually mentioned it in a recent blog post. We had been avoiding telling people about it because 1) we don't know where we will be living exactly and 2) we have really grown attached to the people and the weather here in San Jose, CA. 

But it is something that we have thought long and hard about. We have been fortunate enough to afford trips to see our family every three or four months since moving to Cali, but those visits are too few and far between, not to mention expensive. So our biggest motivation in moving is to be closer to relatives. The second is the cost of living in California is outrageous. We really want to buy a house with interest rates so low. We have been saving quite a bit of money for some time, but what we have isn't enough for anything more than a town-home in San Jose. 

Honestly, I'm a little nervous about having our family grow up in Utah. Utah Mormons are weird! Haha. (but I love them!) They can be cliquey and slightly unaware and generally different than anywhere else (as a Utah Mormon, Peter signs off on this statement :) ). And they can be because there is such a high concentration of them. Utah has a unique cultural atmosphere that makes me a little anxious. But all the same, I'm excited to be a part of it. It's just always nerve-racking for me to break social barriers and become an integral member of pre-existing cliques.

Another weird thing, for me, about moving to Utah and buying a house is that we are planning to live there in the exact same location for 5+ years! I haven't lived in any place for more than 4 years since I was 15, and before that it was only 5 years in one place. Living here in San Jose has been the longest I have been in one home for the last 5 years. I have moved at least yearly since I was 19. (Yeah, I'm only 24.) But here in San Jose we are going on 21 months! By the time we move we will have lived in the same place for 2 whole years! (and one month.) 

So where will we be going?

We will go from this little star:

To somewhere here:

Peter will continue working for his small company. Peter will work with one other person who is already living in Lehi. Peter's office may be somewhere near the red star. 

All of the arrows are towns/cities we are considering living in. We want to be closer to SLC, but not too far away from work.

Beginning this winter, Utah's Frontrunner train will run from Ogden all the way down to Provo. Up until now it turned around in Salt Lake City. So obviously we have to live within a reasonable distance of a station or bus stop so that Peter can commute to work by train. A dream come true. Now all we have to do is find our dream house! 

So any ideas on considerations for house buying in Utah county or south SL County? There are a lot of really nice houses to look at, but unless we decide to build, it's still a little bit too early to actually be making firm decisions on what house to buy. Right now we're just chugging along and trying to get a feel for the market. 

Low on Stock

After making these delicious pancakes this morning,


I am now completely out of this:

And this:

I am also very low on all-purpose flour and out of powdered sugar. I had to MAKE my OWN powdered sugar using my spice grinder for this recipe this morning because I only had 1 tablespoon of prepared/store-bought powdered sugar left in my can.
With the height of baking season upon us, what is a girl to do? I'm moving in FOUR months (lame announcement, I know) and I'm trying to use up, not buy more, of my food stock. I thought we would be moving at the end of this month, but we extended our lease and I did not stop going through our sock of food, so now we are out! Our pantry feels so comparatively empty. I don't think I've ever simultaneously been out of so many items. So with an impending move upon us do we just forego baked treats and goodies this holiday season? Or buy more, bake more, weigh more, and move more? Is it worth it?

So what do you say folks?

Did you know?

Marks-A-Lot permanent pens

are Non-Toxic!

It is CLEARLY printed on the label!

(sorry about the rotated pictures. Blogger is "helping" me by rotating them. Great. Any tips on how to get Blogger NOT to rotate the picture automatically? Or how to change it back? I already tried in Picasa, and the picture on my hard drive is rotated correctly. I've never had this issue before. Oh well)

So yesterday I was sitting at the computer finishing some budgeting math while Claire acclimated herself to being awake after her nap. This individual play time lasted probably about one and a half minutes before she was at my knee begging to sit with me at the desk. So I picked her up, and she immediately reached for her usual desk entertainment, the can of pens. I took out the sharp things and put her and the can on the floor while I hurried to finish. She banged around for a little while and as I wrote down one last note, I noticed that it was a little too quiet. I called Claire's name and I hear a cap click. I hurry to look under the desk where I find Claire sticking the tip of the marker in her mouth only to pull it right back out again accompanied by a sour face.

As far as I could tell, she only managed to mark her toes and her fingers. Her toes probably as she pulled the marker out of her mouth and her fingers when she tried to put the cap back on. She may have gotten the shoulder of her onesie, but the marker is fading, so it's not really noticeable unless you know it's there.

Basically, it can be scary when it's quiet at my house. Except this morning I was really tired and I was trying to get Claire to want to take a nap. She was playing with an oatmeal box/can/tube thing that I stuffed fabric scraps in, and I was laying on the floor beside her. I must have fallen asleep because then next thing I knew was that she was in my face trying to kiss me because I was sleeping. Awe! She's adorable! And now she's awake again. It never lasts.

Something about Claire

Claire is 14 months old now.
She loves to run around outside just as much as she loves being held by mom.
She loves to sit in your lap to read books or eat treats in the kitchen.
She loves stacking rings and blocks as much as she loves tearing apart and throwing puzzle pieces.
She talks to us all the time but only manages to make a couple of sounds: "buh," "mama," "da," and "dis."
She never actually says "up" but will instead throw her head back with her mouth wide open and grin audibly.

She has all sorts of games and routines set in her head:
When we change her diaper she likes to play "stinky feet" where I have now added a hand wave as I say "P.U.! Stinky Feet!"
She remembers to say prayers in the mornings, evenings, and before meals and to read scriptures in the morning.
When she wakes up she points to the window to let us know that we should open the curtains because she doesn't want to go back to sleep.
When she is tired and wants to sleep, she points at her crib and whines for her Binky.
When I am putting my makeup on Claire thinks that she needs to pull all of the brushes out of my drawer.
When anyone goes into the bathroom Claire thinks she needs a square of toilet paper that she then proceeds to tear to shreds and throw either in the toilet or garbage.
When we go outside she points to the keys and opens the drawer where we keep the garage opener because we almost always bring both of those outside.


She thinks that if she gets her shoes out that she will get to go outside.
She likes to get up on the couch and lay back on the pillows and sigh, then get up again and walk around to some new place to try out. This is all before she throws all the "throw pillows" onto the floor.
She now laughs at EVERYTHING. She laughs when we laugh, she laughs when she sees us. She laughs when we look at her. She laughs when she wants us to look at her. She just laughs and it's adorable!
She likes to wear hats, our shoes, and hair accessories all of which come out moments after successfully putting them on her.
Her absolute favorite toys are books. The first thing she pulls out every day is her box of books.
She likes to empty and then sit in boxes. Size does not matter.

She will now actually help clean up! Sometimes she gets sidetracked, but most of the time she thinks it's great fun to run back and forth between her crushed cracker bits/torn up paper/onion paper pile and the garbage.
She also likes to use the little dust pan broom and wipe counters/bodies.
She likes to use the little blue snot sucker... weird, I know!
She absolutely LOVES vegetables and fruit! With her 8 front teeth and 4 molars she happily munches on:
Zuccini/Italian Squash
Summer Squash
Crinkle cut Carrots
Fresh/Frozen Green Beans
Black Beans
Broccoli--sometimes
Cauliflower--sometimes
Grape/Cherry Tomatoes (but only the insides)
Olives (black and green)
Peaches
Pears
Apples
Grapes
Strawberries
Raspberries
Blueberries
Bananas--sometimes


I don't know what happened to my little girl to make her change so VERY much in just a month, but oh my goodness! I'm grateful! Each day of the past couple of weeks has been a pleasure! It doesn't always start out that way though. It's just nice that my complete exhaustion in the evenings is now due to fun having rather than battling. But please note, Claire does still scream a lot. And she's found the perfect pitch that vibrates you ears with it's intensity and piercing tone. My right ear will never be the same :(

We love our quirky & spirited little girl!

My Life in Projects

I am addicted to Pinterest.

I admit it freely!

I love finding new tips and better/faster/cheaper ways to do anything and everything I may or may not have thought to ever do!

I also like to think I can do EVERYTHING! I try to do EVERYTHING. I like to bake, read, watch, and create--in a crafty non-writing sense.

I also like to organize and have things clean.

I have a 14 month old daughter.

I CANNOT do everything! I only have 2.5 (that is 2 POINT 5, not twenty-five) hours every day to do everything I want to do without a baby clamboring and clawing at my knees begging to be picked up and part of the "fun."

I also blog sometimes.

So my first problem, obviously, is time management.

This is where Pinterest becomes a problem. No matter how awesome the Pinterest idea is, it does me no good if I don't allow myself time to complete the projects or do the fun things. 

I resolved about a month ago to forego using Pinterest until I had completed 10 of my projects. If any of you follow me on Pinterest (which you can by going HERE), you may have noticed that I haven't really kept to that resolution. Meal planning went to pot and budgeting also took a small dive for the month as I tried to do projects and maintain our home without a plan in place. 

One of the most consistent things that I've done to help structure my life has been inspired by Pinterest. I pinned THIS daily/weekly/monthly cleaning schedule. I thought it was a genius idea, but the actual schedule didn't quite work for me. So I created my own and switched some of the tasks around.

I have been doing this schedule since the end of June. I stick to it pretty well and it really helps me keep calm about cleaning. I am the SLOWEST person in the world! What takes normal people 10 minutes to do takes me 20-25 minutes, as my dear mom can attest! (I like to say I am careful, precise, and meticulous!) So each day I clean for about 15-20 minutes instead of an hour and a half or more on one day. And if I miss cleaning on one day, I can catch up if I want to or just wait for it to come around again the next week. The swing day helps me clean things that only need occasional maintenance.

Things I don't usually do:

Wipe bathroom counters/sinks each day (ends up about twice a week)

Dishes (Peter does this :D )

Laundry (I usually do it every other day)

Sweep the kitchen each night (once a week)

By doing a little each day, I feel like my house always feels clean, not tidy, but clean. And cleaning doesn't always seem like such an overwhelming task or take up a whole nap time (that's valuable!)

So this has worked for me. Feel free to copy/download/use this 5x7 picture if you want. I do!

Other things I've done inspired by Pinterest:

A fun and festive summer wreath made using half of a Styrofoam wreath and drink umbrellas. Cutting the wreath in half was a Pinterest find. TIP: use a serrated knife for cutting! And the tutorial for the wreath was HERE. I just left the toothpicks long, but it did scratch my door a little if we weren't careful while opening and closing / going through the door.

I made this picnic quilt / blanket with the help of a few tutorials on Pinterest. I had already had the idea on my own to use a tablecloth on the back of a quilt as a DIY picnic blanket like the $30 ones they now sell (like this JJ cole one for sale on Amazon). The total cost was probably about $20, but it was fun. And as Peter says, "we chalk it all up to experience!" It's not always about the results, but more about having fun doing something new. I kind of used THIS tutorial for how to put the quilt together, but not for piecing the quilt. I had only ever made ONE quilt (for claire, a small 3x3 squares quilt with 6" squares) and with that one you sewed the squares into rows and then sewed the rows together matching up the points as you went. In that tutorial she did something different sewing in fours and I didn't want to try to figure it out. I still have to tie it together. But it's mostly done. And usable!

I'm very proud of this one! I love the way it turned out! It was kind of expensive though! The hydrangea flowers from JoAnns are not cheap! Even with a 50% off coupon! I paid about $3 for each flower. The wreath was also $3 and the letter was $2. I think I paid about $20 for everything. I painted the letter a custom off-white because the flowers aren't quite white. It was really easy though. I snipped the stems of the flowers and stuffed them through the grapevine. I painted the letter "l" and put heavy duty staples in the back with some twine threaded through which I used to attach it to the wreath. And then I tied some twine to the top as a hanger. HERE is the inspiration. She was selling them on Etsy. She also uses house numbers instead of initials. 

And the one last project that I am going to share is a cake.

For the  General  Relief Society Women's Conference our stake asked each ward to provide 5 cakes as center pieces for the dinner. I volunteered because I really wanted a reason to make this delicious looking cake I found on Pinterest. It was the first time I had ever made a cake completely from scratch and I'm really proud of it and the way it turned out! It was really moist because of the sour cream. And it was rich and delicious! Claire woke up when I started using the mixer so it took me about twice as long as it should have to make it, but that's not really abnormal for me anyway! You can find the recipe HERE. My ganache did not set very well, and today I learned that one way to get it to set better is to freeze it! Genius!

That's the picture from the original blog post. The ganache looks much better in hers. A bit more appetizing. But I think mine tasted just as good. Definitely rich. It's also a dark chocolate type of cake. Lots of chocolatey goodness!

In another Pinterest note, I hung a shelf using a Pinterest tip and it was AWESOME! I used painters tape to "measure" the distance between two saw edge picture hangers. I then put the tape on the wall where I wanted to hang the shelf and put the nails in at the ends. The shelf fit perfectly and hangs strait. Measure once, nail once, hang perfectly! It works!

Looking back to Claire's birthday, I also made her birthday tutu via THIS Pinterest tutorial. Which turned out super cute, but a little too big. It hangs on her hips/diaper.

I'm also working on a skirt right now and I tried to make this dress found HERE, but it was NOT a good look on me. OH MY GOSH! I wish someone would have warned me that this should be reserved for skinny people! It could have been creator's/wearer's error, but I felt like I was in a nightgown and it looked really awkwardly frumpy. So I don't have a picture of this completed look because no one should see that on me, and they won't!

So when you wonder to yourself, "I wonder what Melanie is doing right now?" This is it. I'm probably looking at Pinterest, cleaning, trying to create something, or reading/singing to Claire. And if I'm not doing any of that, I'm watching TV because sometimes you just need to not do anything! Unless it's the end or the beginning of the month in which case I'm probably blogging! Happy Pinning!