Home improvements

~ laura

Jason and I finally painted our kitchen.  It is the same color as our living room (light tanish yellow) so not that big of a difference, I just really can’t stand the white.  We usually lock the cats out of our painting area (or they were still at our apartment) but since we couldn’t they had to be in on the action.  Here are a few pics:

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Rufus trying to figure out how to climb the ladder.

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Success!

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Ginger’s turn.

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Painting is hard work for Rufus, apparently.

***Rufus is no longer coned, in case you were wondering!

Eco friendly product review

~ laura

I want to review the many eco friendly products I try regularly, to let everyone know what I like.  The first product is Gudonya Too, a bath and body product company, available on etsy.com.  First, I must explain my new obsession with etsy.  If you have not heard of etsy, let me explain.  Etsy.com is an online marketplace for handmade and vintage items.  Like, basically anything you can think of, and more.  I will say that the website isn’t the most user friendly, and it can be difficult to find things you are looking for, if you sign up for the daily email, you will find lots of cool things!  I’m not a huge online shopper, but most of my EF products were found on etsy.  Now back to Gudonya…

Now, Gudonya doesn’t outright claim to be an “Eco friendly product” it definitely has minimal ingredients and no parabens.  I’m definitely not an expert on which ingredients can be  harmful to your health, but check out www.cosmeticsdatabase.com for products and individual ingredients.  The product I tried was the salty dawg shampoo.  The product itself is very unusual, as it looks more like face scrub then shampoo.  But let me tell you, I’ve been using it for a few weeks now and I’m completely addicted.  Not only to the amazing smell (I have Mayan Gold and Spa Fusion) but it has completely cleared up my scalp problems.  Every time I go back to another shampoo my scalp breaks out in an itchy rash!  Another cool tidbit is it is actually made in Indiana!  So, I HIGHLY recommend  you check out gudonyatoo.com and buy some salty dawg shampoo!

Up next…. Crunchy Clean laundry detergent

Outdoor living

~ laura

Jason and I have been enjoying the beautiful weather here lately.  We decided to get a grill now that we have a balcony and have had lots of fun with it.  The first night we grilled, Jason forgot to put the wheel brakes on and it blew across the patio!  A storm was blowing in, but luckily the rain held off, because we had the best rib eye steaks we’ve ever had in our lives!  We also had several friends from church over this past weekend for a cookout and that went very well.  We (Jason) made a great grilled pork tenderloin.  We also made some yummy grilled pizza.

Here are some pictures of our outdoor festivities.

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Grill master

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The cats love sitting at the screen door Jason put in for us.  Sometimes they even run right into it because they think the door is open!

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Baby peppers.  My garden is getting a slow start, but miracle gro is helping!

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My herbs are doing the best.

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Our view of the newly constructed Primrose School.

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….and our view of the playground.  I’m hoping this doesn’t get too annoying.

Ft Lauderdale!

~ laura

Jason and I spent last week on a much needed vacation in Ft Lauderdale.  It was our first vacation since our honeymoon and my first vacation from work.  It was very relaxing.  We spent a lot of time in the sun and ate a lot of good food.  Here are some highlights:

Our hotel was right across from the beach

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We were upgraded to a suite – King Size bed, separate living room with kitchenette, huge bathroom with separate tub and shower, and a balcony with ocean view.  The hotel was awesome.

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The weather was awesome – in the 80’s and breezy

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We took the water taxi to get around the intracoastal water way – there were a ton of huge million dollar houses and boats.  All of the houses had interesting stories.  We saw a house built by Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, a house built/owned by the founders of Taco Bell, Firestone, Kohl’s, local car dealers, and others.  We also saw a lot of boats owned by big corporations like Yankee Candle (the boat was named Parafin), Amway and others.  I think the most amazing boat was a 130 million dollar yacht owned by “the mexican Ted Turner.”  It was amazing.

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I was fascinated by the draw bridge (we don’t have those in Indiana)!

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This house is being built by the CEO of Circuit City! (His boat “megabyte” is parked next to the house)

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Huge sailboat

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We had a great time, but we were ready to come back to our house and our kitties.  They have been very clingy every since we came home.  Luckily our wonderful friends Christine and Stefan took great care of them!

Ginger and Rufus update

~ laura ~ 2 Comments

So, Jason said I wasn’t allowed to let my blog be all about the cats, but they are very entertaining so I have to share. Rufus is currently healing from yet another total body wound break out. He had been good for several weeks, and then I gave him some treats (not venison and pea treats) and a few days later I found some scabs, so I’m more convinced that it is a food allergy. That was about 2 or 3 weeks ago, and he is almost healed. The weird thing is this time, he has open wounds on his arm and belly (previously the open wounds were only on his head), and the one on his face cleared really fast. He keeps licking the ones on his stomach, so Jason and I decided to re-cone him for a few days so they could heal. And, every time I put antibiotic ointment on them, he licks it off, which doesn’t do us much good!

Here are a few pictures/videos of our kitties.

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Face wound – at least he didn’t lose whiskers

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Arm wound

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Belly wound

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Rufus, reconed. He got stuck on the cord.

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I, of course, laughed and took pictures before I unstuck him.

This is a video of ginger being crazy on top of the cabinets.

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Farm Fresh Delivery

~ laura

For several months now I have been receiving most (if not all) of our produce from a service called farm fresh delivery.  Every other week (or every week if you choose) they deliver a bin of food to our door.  It is the perfect out of food for us.  They also have a variety of pantry items and perishables, including Traders Point Creamery products.  Also, the majority of the food is either organic, locally grown, or both, so I know I’m getting good quality, healthy food. It is a great way to try things I would never try and always have fruit and veggies around.  Here is how it works: On Thursdays, I get an email remind me I have a bin coming the next week, so I can go online and see what I’m getting.  If there is something I don’t like or want, I can just substitute it for something else.  I am very excited that it is getting closer to spring because the variety and selection is increasing.  This is an example of what is in my bin this week: asparagus, braising mix, jalapenos, kumquats, strawberries.  I will probably make a frittata with the asparagus, a mexican themed soup with the jalapenos, and chocolate fondue with the strawberries (I hope they are in season and ripe!)  I have no idea what I will do with the kumquats!  The email suggests a recipe with chicken and kumquats, so maybe I will try that.  So check out farmfreshdelivery.com and sign up yourself!

Our house, part 1

~ laura

It has been well over 6 months since we moved into our house, and I still haven’t put any pictures online. Mainly because everything is still a mess and I’m a perfectionist and I don’t want anyone to see our less than perfect house, but I’ve had some requests, so here is what we have so far (this is for you Julie!)

Living room

Living RoomLiving room 2

Dining room

Dining room

Bedroom

Bedroom

Ginger is modeling the sunny spot on the floor

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We still need a few more accessories in here.

Bedroom 3

Closet

Closest

Jason built the shelves with his bare hands.

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Spare bathroom

Bathroom

To be continued…

Our new church

~ laura

After several months of talking, praying, and pretty much being in denial, Jason and I have decided that it is time to leave E91 and find a church closer to home. This was obviously a very hard decision for us, as we have been attending E91 for over 5 years and been attending Cor 13 (our ABF) for over 3 years (we started when we were engaged). After we moved, we continued at E91 with our normal commitments, and God slowly showed us that indeed, he had something else for us. First, I work almost every Thursday evening, and therefore can no longer attend the Rising. Well, I can attending the rising once every other month, which doesn’t really do it for me. As most of you know, I’m an all or nothing type of person. Those of you who are involved with the rising know how much time and effort I put into it, especially during the Jeff to Daron transition. So going from complete control to, I attend every now and then and have no idea what is going on is really hard for me. I mean don’t get me wrong, I think Daron is doing a great job – he doesn’t need my help. Its just hard being a spectator.  Cor 13 is also going through a lot of transition, and the future seems uncertain.  Attendance has been low, and it seems to me like the church is doing everything but telling the class “no, you can’t meet anymore.”  So we feel like if there is a good time to leave, it would be now.  We have attended Traders Point Christian Church a handful of times, knowing that it would be the closest to E91 on our side of town.  I have to say, we definitely didn’t walk in the door and say, “yes, this is where we are supposed to be!”  It is so weird to go from a church of 4000 knowing tons of people, to go to a smaller church knowing no one.  Our first impression was average.  The music was, well, let’s just say it wasn’t the Aaron Pelsue Band.  It wasn’t bad, just not what we are use to.  But we really liked the lead pastor, Aaron Brockett.  After going a few more times (and Jason listening to a few previous sermons on itunes) we were confident that the church, theologically, was consistent with our beliefs.  All of this back ground info to say this…

So, today Jason and I went to the “young married couples” sunday school class (sound familar?).  We knew this could be a deal breaker, so I was a little nervous.  We were the first ones to arrive (besides the leaders) but slowly people started trickling in (starting 15 mins after it is supposed to – this sounds familar).  After the customary name tags, information cards, and meet and greet, there was breakfast (also familar), and a time of teaching and discussion.  There were around 15-20 couples, 4 of which were new.  Basically, it was so similar to Cor 13, it was scary – in a good way.  It was very comfortable, and everyone was so friendly.  And we didn’t feel like we were way too young for the group (which we sometimes felt in Cor 13).  We are really excited to continue to go and build relationships!

This being said, it will be very difficult to leave E91.  We have spent countless hours there and have amazing relationships with a lot of people.  We just hope that our E91 friends won’t be too mad!

There are so many things I learned and got to experience at E91 that I will never forget.  Here are a few…

1. I’m not the only person in the world who has a mom obsessed with cats, kidney stones, AND a recent love of almond joy.
2. High School girls are such a blessing, and have way more complicated lives than I did just 7-ish years ago.  I hope to have the opportunity to work with them again.
3. Being a part of a ministry is really, really hard.  Emotionally and spiritually.  It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.
4. I have been to so many Cor 13 baby showers, I can pretty much buy a gift off the registry at Babies R Us with my eyes closed.  Also the registry printer is very fickle.  Take each paper off as it prints or they will be all out of order or might fall into the metal box the printer is housed in (so sad, I know).
5. Be grateful for all of the people who volunteer at your church.  It takes a lot of people and  a lot of time to get everything accomplished!

Rufus is healed!

~ laura

No more wound

As you may or may not know, Rufus has had a 6-week wound battle.  It started as a small open wound in front of his left ear, and ended up circled his whole ear.  He had to wear a cone for over 4 weeks.  He is very happy to have it off!  He had many tests and the vet couldn’t figure it out, but they think it may be a food allergy.  He is now on a venison and green pea diet… yummy!  Hopefully he won’t have any more wounds!