September Happenings

A couple Fridays ago, a friend called me to ask what I was up to. She wanted to invite me to go to our high school's football game with her. My response was, "Sorry, I'm on my way to my in laws to make grape juice." She laughed. "Is this how you spend your Friday nights?" she asked. She's often giggled about my weekend festivities. Hers usually involve local bars, and she finds my Mormon ways sans alcohol humorous and interesting. I love that Chad and my idea of a good time involves food and family. Here are some photos of our recent food-fabulous activities:

Personal Pizza Night--

On this occasion, each of us created our own personal pizza from quite the assortment of toppings. It was a lot of fun and very tasty.





Homemade Grape Juice--
Our sweet neighbors have grape vines, and when we asked if we could use some to make grape juice with they generously shared.


As you can see, we only got four jars, but it was a lot of fun, and extremely yummy.

Last night, we went to the Lenoir County Fair (it's got nothing on the Grant County variety of my childhood. . . sorry, Kinston) and feasted on a greasy funnel cake, then went to Joy and Bruce's for more food. Bruce grilled a couple quick steaks, we threw some frozen pizza things in the oven, and I made Brazilian lemonade (recipe from Our Best Bites, of course). It was all quite delicious, although I'm pretty sure Cameron's date thought that between our eclectic food choices and strange card playing we were all insane.

In other news, we finally finished our sun room TODAY! My favorite room in the house is now use able, and I couldn't be more happy about it. I finished the last coat of paint on the trim this morning, and my wonderful father-in-law came over this afternoon to help install the ceiling fan. I've got to give the built-in about a week of drying time before I can stack it with books, but for now, this is what it looks like:



Chad and I have managed to steal yet some more furniture from our very generous in-laws, so we'll have some wicker stuff in here for awhile until we can afford to buy furniture of our own. I'm going to paint it this week, so I'll post pictures of the room again once it's furnished.

That reminds me. I don't think I ever posted pictures of our front rooms with furniture, so here are some (the pictures aren't the best, but at least you can get an idea):

This is the sofa that we bought pretty soon after moving into our house. It's one of the only pieces of furniture we've actually bought. It's very comfy and looks a lot nicer than our previous 1980's sofas. The first sofa of our marriage was provided by The Branbury Apartments, and the second one was inherited from Meredith and Adam's apartment complex--they were apartment managers and their complex was throwing away furniture, so we got a sofa and love seat for free. Yes, we inherited furniture that was deemed garbage by a PROVO apartment complex. That should tell you what it looked like. One arm was completely collapsed, so I stuffed it with pillows underneath our slip cover. It was a gem, let me tell you. Anyway, I love this little leather number much more.

We're going to recover these wing backs eventually, but for now they're in Chad's grandparents' original baby blue. I love a good wing back, and I've already found a really fun striped fabric I'd love to use. The drop leaf end tables were theirs, too, and they are absolutely beautiful. I love them.

Super comfy recliner that we also inherited from Chad's grandparents, and the rug I bought at Ollie's (oh how I love giant Big Lots-esque stores):

The dining room furniture that we inherited from Chad's parents. (Are we sensing a trend here? Man, our house would be so empty without family finds. Thanks so much, EVERYONE!)

I love our little house. It's getting closer and closer to being finished. We worked on finishing off the counter tops in the kitchen today, and once we get a couple of drawers built, that room will be done, too. Progress is so beautiful. I love it.

How to Ensure Use of Your Entire Wardrobe

1. Don't do laundry for two weeks.

We usually do laundry once a week, and usually Saturday becomes laundry day. Last Saturday, Joy's washing machine broke down while she was mid-load, so she came over and used our washer and dryer to finish up. I figured we'd do our laundry on Monday or Tuesday, but instead it sat in the hamper and accumulated more dirty camisoles, polos, and pajama bottoms as friends. We finally did laundry THIS Saturday, but that meant two weeks of getting really creative when it came to wardrobe selection. Friday I wore a pair of jeans that had previously been put in the "work wear" section of the dresser. It was time.

2. Refuse to iron for a few months.
I hate ironing. I detest it. Nay, I utterly loathe it. If I could, I would hire a maid whose sole job was to iron my clothing. The thing is, as much as I hate ironing, I adore tops and bottoms that seem to require it. You know, tops with ruffles and pleats, made out of fabric that looks gorgeous when it's crisply pressed, but looks disastrous if you just pull it out of the dryer. I have not had a real "ironing session" for a very long time. After we do laundry, we hang everything up that is supposed to be ironed in the guest room closet. The idea is,we'll iron it and it will be put away in the right place. This hasn't happened since summer vacation started (Joy, if you are reading this, I hope you haven't had a heart attack). It is now September, if you don't have a calendar right handy. Now, I have been forced to iron a couple of pieces between then and now, but for the most part, I've adjusted my outfits and just haven't worn anything that requires my least favorite chore.

I have been wearing clothes I forgot I had! This probably means I own too many clothes, and that it's time to clean out my closet, but whatever. Seriously, this is a terrible thing to confess, because now you will all know how incredibly lazy I am. Honestly though, it has been amazing how many different outfits you can come up with when you're forced to really analyze the only things left in your closet.

I finally had to suck it up and iron a few things last night-I was running out of wrinkle-free options. I make no promises as to when the ironing will resume. As Lauren would say, "Don't judge me."