MIA

Sorry I've been laggin in my posts!  I started this blog during the summer, when I had pretty much nothing to do.  It was great because I was able to share some stories I hadn't told a lot of people!  Now, however, school has started back up and I'm working two jobs!  To say I'm not busy is an understatement.

One of my jobs is working the front desk at our local CrossFit box.  I really enjoy working there, and working out there!  The people are amazing and it seems most of the time I just laugh through my shifts.

Regardless of my excuses though, I promise I will be better at posting updates of our lives!  We have a few exciting adventures planned and I can't wait to share them.

Quote of the day

Weekend so far

This weekend has been pretty entertaining so far. This is the first time I've spent more than a dinner with Andrew's brother and its been quite a riot. Andrew had to come down to the cabin to help finish off his parents deck and decided it would be nice to drag me along. I thought it would just be me and the two boys (them working and me being left to my own devices) but it turned out Andrew's parents would be here too.

I was very happy to find this out because it meant that my soon-to-be mother-in-law could spend some girl time together. The poor woman...she's the only female in a house of men. Don't worry too much because she can more than stand her ground, but somedays you just need a girls day. 

After a morning run (I ran almost 4 miles!) and some delicious breakfast, Donna and I headed out the door. We first stopped off at the cutest bakery. 

It was filled with some of the cutest candies and cupcakes! 

Beer & pretzel flavored cupcakes! And you didn't have to be 21+ to buy! 

French toast!

Homemade toffees! 

After we picked up some delectables for dessert we made our way to the village. After what seemed like an eternity cruising the parking lot, we were able to stalk someone and snapped up their spot! 

After strolling around and running into a million dogs (seriously, everyone and their mother had their dog out with them today) we walked into the Coach store. It seemed to be our lucky day because they just opened up a bigger, better store and were offering 50% your entire purchase! With savings like that we would be foolish not to buy something! 

I've been looking for a backpack for quite a while, but was never able to find one that I totally loved. In the clearance section I found a super cute leather backpack, just big enough to fit an iPad. I convinced myself this purse would work perfectly for school. Who needs a backpack to actually carry your books right?! 

Well I was walking around the store and we crossed over to the men's section and that's when I saw the most beautiful backpack ever! A dark military green waxed canvas bag...I was smitten. And this is actually a bag I can carry things in. You know like folders and books and snacks.

I love it, and will post a pic soon!

The Drive, The View

Sometimes I forget just how beautiful the landscape near our little town is. Seriously gorgeous. We live in the high desert and when the monsoon roll in everything turns green! 

Our drive yesterday was no exception. Just beautiful landscapes (for the majority of the trip)! 

 I was even able to capture this awesome image from the side mirror of the clouds reflecting off the car windows! Now that's a cool shot! 

Weekend Getaway

I'm so excited, Andrew and I are going on a last minute weekend getaway! We're not going anywhere new, and Andrew will likely be working the whole time, but still, a weekend out of town is fun! 

Everyday Ballet

Just ran across these photographs by Jordan Matter and instantly fell in love!  He has photographed ballet dancers in random situations.  There are many amazing photographs, but here are my favorites!

You can check out more photos here, and if you want the whole collection you can buy it here.

Laugh of the Day: Liberal Arts Students

To anyone who has attended a Liberal Arts school knows that there are some students who you can't help but laugh at.  Well, my school is certainly no acception, and now I've run across this twitter feed that posts ridiculous things Liberal Arts students say.

Professor- "Everyone PLEASE remember to wear shoes on our field trip to the zoo."
— Liberal Arts Wisdom (@LiberArtsWisdom) September 6, 2013

Professor- "Introduce yourself and tell us about your summer." Barefoot Bobby- "I recently took up birding."
— Liberal Arts Wisdom (@LiberArtsWisdom) September 6, 2013

Professor- "What did you do this summer, Hanna?" Hanna Homesteader- "I read ecopsychology books and contemplated what it means to be human."
— Liberal Arts Wisdom (@LiberArtsWisdom) September 6, 2013

Gretchen Granola- "They should invent coffee that stays hot." Me- "Maybe if you didn't drink coffee from a mason jar, it would stay warm."
— Liberal Arts Wisdom (@LiberArtsWisdom) September 6, 2013

Just amazing.  Go check out more of these fantastic tweets @LiberArtsWisdom 

Lactose-free Yogurt

Andrew is lactose intolerant and as such I'm constantly trying to make the same foods he's used to but in lactose-free form.  This is much harder than either of us anticipated and it also doesn't help that he's an extremely picky eater!

A few months ago I became obsessed with making my own yogurt after reading the incredible book, "French Women Don't Get Fat" by Mireille Guiliano (you can buy the book here).

I immediately went out and bought myself a yogurt maker because...why not!?  (For those of you interested, I own this one.)  I found out that Andrew loves yogurt, or at least loved it when he was able to eat it without feeling awful.  So, I did a quick online search and found a few non-dairy yogurt recipes.

They all sucked.  Mainly it was the consistency...most were almost Jello like, gross!  But some just didn't even taste right.  I must have gone through 4 different recipes until I just told Andrew to bite dirt, I would only make real yogurt.

And real it was.  It was a perfect consistency and flavor - everything you want out of homemade yogurt.  And it was so much simpler...literally you heat a quart of milk to 180 degree, let it cool to 110 and then pop it in the yogurt maker for 8-10 hours (depending on your patience and whether or not you like your yogurt thicker).

So then I though...well, what if I just try using Lactaid milk and a non-dairy yogurt starter?  It worked!  And I'm very pleased to announce it's delish!

Here's the recipe:

1 quart / 4 cups / 1 L of Lactaid Milk
1/16 tsp Yogurt Starter - I used GI ProHealth

Measure it out

1. Warm Lactaid to almost boiling - 180 degrees F

Our super sexy oven from the 70s...literally. 

Get that milk hot

Take it off the heat when it says 180 degrees fahrenheit

2. Take off burner and let cool to 110 degrees F - I would suggest pouring the milk into a container and placing that container in a cool water, such as in the sink.  It will cool down faster (like 10-20 mins) compared to just leaving it (like almost an hour).

3. Once Lactaid is at 110, pour 1 cup into another container and whisk very well with yogurt starter.

This turns milk (or in my situation, Lactaid) into yogurt.

4. Pour the cup of yogurt starter and Lactaid back into the main container and mix all the Lactaid very well.

5. Pour into your yogurt containers and set the timer - I set mine at 9 hours.

The cutest containers ever - you can always put the yogurt into 1 big container, which I do from time to time.

6. Wait an excruciatingly long time.....

7. Timer is done - you now have yogurt.

Note: The yogurt will still be warm, so I suggest you leave in your fridge for 8 hours before consuming.  If you must eat it, you can try it after 3 hours.

Weekend Getaway

Now that I've started back up at school I have this strange longing for Summer again!  Of course it still feels like summer (hello mid-80s and monsoons), but the spontaneous Summer trips have come to an end.

I am particularly nostalgic for a specific weekend Andrew and I shared with a couple friends.  It was such an incredible weekend!

Arrived at our favorite airport.  Seriously, avoid LAX whenever possible!

A fabulous weekend would be nothing without getting off to a great start on the Friday evening.  Andrew's parents spoiled us kids by inviting us to join them in their box at the Hollywood Bowl to see none other than Willie Nelson!

I took my Nikon in to get some good shots of the gang and the stage, but they stopped me at the gate and said I couldn't bring in my snazzy camera.  Well jokes on them because I have an iPhone 5 that happens to take incredible pictures too!

Being silly at dinner

The whole concert was just incredible.  Lyle Lovett & His Large Band opened and Willie played his entire album Stardust.

Hollywood Bowl

Lyle Lovette

Willie Nelson

Willie Nelson

The next morning we got up bright and early (no hangovers in this crowd, but that can't be said for everyone who attended the concert) to drove up to the cabin.

The drive was stunning, as always, although this time the mountains were trapping the smoke that was coming off a huge fire in Southern California.

We then proceeded to spend the rest of the weekend lounging and playing around on the boat.

Friends from New York enjoying the California summer!

Andrew, our fearless captain.

All smiles in the water

Kirsten being her stunning self

Half of the fun of playing around on the lake is perving on all the beautiful homes that surround the water!  This one isn't nearly one of the biggest lake-side homes, but I love those huge windows!

The only picture of Andrew and I.  This is the sad reality of always being behind the camera!

What a handsome devil!

We only had a few hours to play on the boat on Sunday, so water skiing it was!

This is before he realized how cold the water was!

Showing off

Gotta keep that flag up!

You can check out the rest of the photos here.

Closet Upgrade

Slowly but surely I'm going to make this little rental house our home, but I got a swift kick up the bum last week when my parents called to say they were coming to visit!  I don't know about you guys, but I work much better under pressure, so I saw this as the perfect opportunity to make a few changes in our house.

Mainly I just needed to do a general clean around the house.  Unfortunately our second bedroom has been used as a storage facility for all our crap, so that was the first thing that needed to be done.  I managed to purge the closet of 2 full garbage bags of give away clothes, and 2 full bags of trash!  After getting rid of all that junk I realized that the room is actually pretty nice, except for the horrible sliding closet doors.  They're so ugly and junky I had to get rid of them.

Horrible. Ugly. Had to go!

Luckily Liv came over and we made a Target run to get a few things I needed to upgrade the closet (as well as a few pieces for the rest of the house).  We wound up finding these curtains at a bargain so I jumped on it.  I wasn't sure how the colors were going to fit in with the bedroom (the owner has pink curtains on the windows...), but it actually came out rather nice.

I wasn't sure about the color at first, but it looks fabulous in the room!

Yay!  I love saving money!

In total, the whole thing cost only $35.  Not too bad for a quick upgrade!

Excuse the closet mess, still have to clean that up!

So much nicer than those ugly wood sliding doors!

Wedding Wednesday: Our Very Own Monogram

I am spoiled by the friends I have made in my short lifespan.  Seriously, I have the most incredible friends any girl could ask for.  It's in small moments that you really see who people are; what they are capable of and what they can become.

Well one of my best friends in the whole world (and I mean that literally!) happens to be one of the most incredibly talented designers I know!  She has her masters in architecture, but has essentially taught herself how to be a graphic artist.  And what an artist she is!  That's why when I came up with the idea for Andrew and I to have our very own monogram for our wedding I instantly thought of having her design it.

I know designers hate doing things for free...I see that now, that I better understand what goes into designing something.  Man it's hard work!  So I am even more grateful to this amazingly, beautifully, talented friend of mine that she did this work for free!!  What a gem.

And now I would like to share this amazing gift with you!  This beautiful monogram will be featured throughout our wedding and I couldn't be happier!

Designed by the wonderfully talented Liv Caughey

If you want to check out some of Liv's other work, you can visit her Etsy Shop: OliviaCaugheyDesigns