I Make Stuff!

Being unemployed (hopefully not for much longer!) gives me a lot of time to do stuff during the day. "What stuff," you may be asking? Well...I'll tell you! I even have some pictures!

For starters, I've been cooking a lot. I don't have any pictures of this stuff, because hey, this isn't a food blog! Plus my camera is lame, and Dad's nice camera lives with him now. But anyway...on to the list of things I've made recently:

- More tiny jar pies (I've been sharing the tiny jar pie wealth...it's a good deal)

- I roasted garlic and made garlic butter and garlic infused oil. I haven't used the oil yet but the butter is UNBELIEVABLE. If you haven't roasted garlic before, please stop reading this and go do it. It's so easy! And so delicious! And if you want guidance, I'd recommend going here.

- Roasted Red Pepper and Black Bean soup. It's cheap, it's spicy, it's filling, it's unbelievable. I found the recipe here, and I made some cilantro yogurt sauce to go with it. Just put a few generous scoops of plain yogurt (I used greek yogurt, 'cause we had it), the juice of half a lemon, and a big 'ole bunch of cilantro in a blender and give it a whirl. You can thank me later.

- Salsa Verde! I love the Trader Joe's kind, but it's not worth the commute to the nearest TJ's. Ken and I have been tweaking our own to get it right, and I think we're close. 

- The easiest, most delicious tomato sauce known to mankind. Three ingredients: tomatoes, butter, and an onion. Give it an hour of simmering and enjoy. If you don't believe me, take Smitten Kitchen's word for it because she knows what's up!

I've been doodling a lot lately, too, which resulted in  a Valentine's Day Comic (which I never got around to sending to anyone...whoops.)

I also found and fell in love with the comic My Cardboard Life which is easily the most charming comic on the internet.

Finally, I have pictures of the room transformation that's been taking place over the last couple of months. I think I can say it's finally finished for reals as of today. 

For starters, here's one of my walls mid-repainting...ahhh I do not miss that pink.

...isn't that pink carpet nice? I don't miss it, either.

I think this brown is a little more...grown up. I'm a fan.

There's the same wall, as of tonight. I hung some of my paintings, put out some little wee candles, and I'm enjoying some good 'ole Ikea furniture. 

But really, all of this is kind of old news. I've been done painting for over a month, I've had my carpet about as long, and the furniture has been here since January as well. What's been occupying my time this week has been painting a design on the wall over my bed, which is FINALLY finished as of today:

Ta da! I'm really quite proud of it. I painted some big abstract flowers on Anna's walls at my parents' new house in Boiling Springs, and I got inspired to do the same on my own wall. And there it is! I'm kind of disappointed that it's all over, because it's been a lot of fun this week, making thumbnails, doing scale drawings, and finally getting to the painting part of it. So if anyone out there wants something painted on their wall...just let me know! I'm all experienced now, so I'll hook you up. 

So that's what I've been making! How about you? Create anything awesome as of late?

Where has the time gone?

It's already February! What in the world? I know I shouldn't be too taken aback at that, but I feel like January flew by in a whirlwind of paint, errands, and cleaning. Lots of cleaning.

My brother and I are alone in the house these days, since the rest of the family migrated to Boiling Springs to be closer to my step-mother's new position as a itinerant teacher for the visually impaired students in the south central part of PA. Anna, the dogs, and our couches got packed up and shipped out at the beginning of January. Since then, I spend most of every day sorting, scrubbing, and otherwise restoring the house to it's proper state.

I started with my own room, attacking the teddy bear border and pepto pink that plagued my walls and carpet since fourth grade. Now I have an accent wall with green, surrounded by a nice warm brown on the other walls. Last Friday I said PEACE to the pink carpet and in came some nice beige carpet as a replacement.

So that's the work I've been doing...other than that? God is blessing this time over and over again. For one thing, I'm kept pretty busy between cleaning, hanging out with my family, seeing friends who are close by, Community Chorus, church choir, and helping my dad with the musical set. But even more than that, I'm in awe of how much the Lord has been making his presence known. I feel so in touch with Him right now, which is such a relief. I'm at peace with where I am, and I'm enjoying the work that I'm doing.

I'll have to take some pictures of my room, my house, and some of the other projects I've been up to. Included on the list of stuff I've been doing? On Monday I made some jar pies for my brother and me. What's a jar pie? Well, you can go here to see what inspired me, and later I promise I'll take pictures of the ones I'm making and post them. They just didn't quite last long enough for me to take pictures last time!