Justin Has Taken Up Smoking

Even though I am the star of this blog, every once in a while I'm willing to step out of the spotlight so that I can feature the handiwork of my crazy (and by crazy I mean incredibly motivated, capable, and talented) husband. So this is an ode to Justin.

His most recent project: a smoker. No, he's not violating the Word of Wisdom (although it may encourage us to eat meat more than just "sparingly"). He found a foodie blog for engineers that showed how to build a ceramic smoker for less than a hundred bucks (compared to $800 for a big green egg) using terracotta flower pots and a hot plate. He seemed very excited about this construction project, so I only laughed quietly to myself when he brought home all the supplies. I laughed a little less quietly and not entirely to myself when I discovered that he could have purchased an electric smoker for the same price as the supplies for the one he was building himself. Apparently, there is some satisfaction to be had in making something yourself...

He started by getting out all the tools he possibly could. Okay, maybe just the power drill and set of masonry drill bits, but it seemed like a lot of tools.

Then he drilled holes in the bottom of a 14" flower pot (for the hot plate connectors to go through). It made the weirdest ringing noise. I'm sure that our neighbors hate us.

Next up, he had to take the hot plate apart and rewire it so the element was inside the pot and the controls outside the pot.

Like so.

Then you add a cast-iron wood chip holder box (where you put hickory wood or mesquite wood or apple wood, depending on how you would like to flavor your meat) and a grill thingy for the meat to sit on.

Put a lid on it, and the smoker is done. I'd like to point out, that Justin is standing in his official "summit" pose. I think he's pretty proud of his handy work.

And when he pulled this hickory smoked chicken out of that thing, I must admit that I was pretty proud of him too. (We'd also like to give a special thanks to Em and Dan for the Chuck Norris t-shirt.)

And what was I doing all this time? I was making a lovely Quiche Lorraine for dinner. It was exceedingly delicious.

Mmmm... Bacon...

Welcome Home (Part II)

When we found out that we would soon be joined by a new little friend (we're assuming the baby will be friendly), we began considering our options:

1. Allow the baby the middle portion of our walk-in closet. Babies are small and can't possibly take up that much space.
2. Put padding in the bathtub to double as a crib and use that for the baby's room.
3. Move to a bigger apartment.

After I pointed out to Justin that there is a lot of paraphernalia associated with having a baby, and I reminded him of his tendency to not be able to handle clutter, we decided that option 3 was probably the best choice. To ease our transition, we thought it best not to move too far. So we have moved downstairs in the exact same building.

It only took four of us about 8 hours to paint the whole place (thanks Jen and Matt!!!!), and since we realized the hellish nature of painting apartments back to white, we have decided we will stay here for the rest of our lives (or until we are rich enough to pay someone else to paint it back). Here's your virtual tour:

This is the view when you first walk in. It's a very LONG apartment. The baby's room/bathroom is immediately to the left from where I'm standing.

The laundry room was just to the right. I had to include this so you could see what a great job we've done of maximizing storage space in here. Justin added two extra rows of shelves. He's so tough and manly.

One feature we really like is that there's a built in desk with a big vent right next to it. The vent actually works perfectly as a bulletin board. Aren't we so clever?

And here is our kitchen. Yes, it looks exactly the same as the old kitchen, although that is not surfer blue. It's something like bayside. It is quite lovely.

This is the view from the kitchen into the dining/family room. Note the orange flowers on the table. Justin got those for me just for fun.

Here's a closer shot of the dining room.

And here is our cute new media stand! Actually, we already had the two side pieces, so we just added something to put the TV on. My favorite part, if you look closely, is the apple we have sitting on top of two books about Eve.

Here is our bedroom. We finally decided to break out the new duvet cover we got for our wedding. Again, you make think the bedroom is the same color as before, but it is clearly a much different shade of green.

More orange flowers! Justin is so sweet. (Okay, so they're the same flowers, but matched the orange on the bed, so I brought them in for the picture.)

Here is our closet. The average human being would not be able to reach a row of shirts hung up so high, but fortunately, I am no average human being. Which is really good because otherwise I don't know how we would have fit the dress AND my shirts in the closet. Justin also added another row of shelves in here.

Here's the view looking back from the bedroom into the family/dining area.

And last, but not least our garden. Justin just received a packet of seeds in the mail, so hopefully we will get enough sun down in our little corner of the courtyard to actually grow something!

As you can see, we have a comfy little place, with lots of room for friends to come and visit!!!

Results Are In!!!

And the verdict is...a BOY!!! He was none to shy in showing off his manhood. We plan on working with him on modesty when he comes out of the womb.

Place Your Bets!

We have an ultrasound scheduled for next Monday (March 9), at which time we will hopefully find out whether it is a boy or a girl. As for me, I am 50% positive that it is a boy. What do you all think? Here's a picture from two months ago to remind you what the baby looks like...

Hail to the New Chief

People around the country seemed to be very excited about the inaug- uration of Barack Obama. I mean, excited to the point that they were actually flying into town to be there for the event. Excited enough that they were willing to pay $1,500 to stay in someone's apartment for the week. (Now, I can't actually confirm that anyone actually paid that amount, but I happened to be looking for a new apartment before the inauguration and saw hundreds of people trying to rent out their apartments for such ridiculous rates.)

Most of the Virginia/DC/Maryland natives that I talked to were not so excited. In fact, many were flying away for the long weekend to avoid the crowds. Justin and I were not planning on going anywhere near downtown until we got a call from our friends Nate and Ashley Morris on Monday night offering us their tickets to the event the next morning. How could we possibly pass that up? We couldn't. So despite the fact that I did not have the day off, we went downtown and participated in history. And then, we walked home on the HOV lane of 395. It was pretty sweet. Thanks Nate and Ashley!! And good luck President Obama!!!

We were pretty darn close to the Capital. (About 20 feet behind the reflecting pool.)

Way closer than all those people back there...


And on the way home, we took a couple lovely pictures from the side of 395. It is such a fantastic view of the Jefferson Memorial, but there are usually cars rather than pedestrians on this part of the road so this particular shot is not normally available.

But wait! This blog is not over!! Obama is not the only new chief in our lives...

Coming in July, this little kumquat will no doubt take over everything. We are very excited to announce the expected arrival of baby #1 sometime around the 26th of July. Wahoo!!

I'm Sooooo Exciting

I saw this first on my cousin Allie's blog, and then when it showed up again on her sister Brooke's blog, I decided that I should go ahead and fill it out for myself. I figure it is just more proof of how truly exciting a person I am. The idea is that if you have done something you put it in bold, and if you haven't, then it remains regular text.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band ....at school (I would like to emphasize that I was IN the band, not OF the band)
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland /world
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped

12. Visited Paris

13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch (cross-stitching/quilting counts, right?)
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill (stupid over-developed sense of guilt...)
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse (does the moon count?)
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community (does being in the general vicinity of an Amish community and seeing the hitching post at the gas station count? Not quite sure why you'd bring your horse-drawn wagon to the gas station, but there was a hitching post just the same...)
36. Taught yourself a new language (I'm totally counting my mission language)
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing (Oh baby, have I gone rock climbing!)
40. Seen Michelangelos David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person (how have I not done this?)
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible (Don't let my seminary students know...but I gave up on the Old Testament in Exodus...)
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating (not yet, but knowing Justin, it is only a matter of time)
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone's life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake (again, how have I not done this?)
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day



So there you have it! Oh what fun it is to be me. Feel free to copy into your own blog if you feel so inclined (or if you are still having issues with your camera, Margaret...)

Justin decided to cook the turkey in pieces this year in order to avoid the over-cooked dried out turkey breast, which involved him hacking apart a 20 pound bird. (When you go grocery shopping the night before Thanksgiving, you can't expect there to be a lot of selection left...) Once he got the legs cut off, he realized that the remaining carcass bore an amazing resemblance to an alien's head...