A Few of My Favorite Things

Randomness to follow, I will use each pic as a starting point for blabbing about something else... why you may ask??? I don't know, this is how my mind works.
So some of my favorite things...
Embroidery! - I went on a wonderful weekend trip to visit my friend Teresa in Madison. They have a fantastic farmers market, friendly people, bike lanes everywhere, lakes on both sides of the city, and some really cute crafting boutiques. Others who have been there would certainly agree that this is one of the great Midwest towns. While there I picked up this great Craft Pad by Jenny Hart of Sublime Stitching. You can iron these patterns onto anything (multiple times never-the-less) which means Kevin and I finally have some reusable napkins. I think those little guys are partridges. Either way I love them and I aim to make more.
Rugs! - With a home filled with hardwood floors and winter (plus cuddly baby) on the way... I know we need to be looking forward to more floor comfort. The rug above started with a t-shirt I bought Kevin in college that had been completely worn out. I have torn it up and used the long cotton strips as yarn. I will continue with old t-shirts we have lying around the house until this guy is big enough to put somewhere. The only challenge for me is the coloring. It matches nothing, but all that cotton underfoot does feel pretty nice. I am considering this rug, for the baby's room. Oooh I love color.
Baked goods and fresh food - This is related to the last trimester of pregnancy. I can't get enough fruits. I crave them in baked things, frozen popsicles, fresh, in desserts... any way I can have them mostly. With the plethora of fresh picked blueberries we gathered in august we made some awesome muffins from this book (perfect, not too sweet) and I could still continue to eat a handful every morning on my way to work until about a week ago. If you are also craving some delicious fruity baked goods, please go to the farmer's daughter blog. I have made her strawberry pie and her apple walnut bread. Simple, straight forward, and stinking delicious.
First Generation Prius! - Yep, a car... for all my discussion of sustainability, being outside, spending quality time with others, making and creating... I was kinda in love with a car. I generally hate cars... the quickly loose their value, are costly with repairs, cost you monthly fees for insurance (or car loans), and you almost have to have one if you are living in Michigan. Public transit is nowhere where it needs to be. Well this little guy was driving like a new car with 171,000 miles on it when a flashing light came on my touch screen. After the repair shop told me it was nine grand to repair this bad boy, I had to cry a little and pass it on to the next person. The summers were getting us 50 miles per a gallon! I just hate that I have to invest in another car so soon (spending money sometimes makes me sad). Hybrid parts are way expensive to replace. I don't care what anyone says, it feels great to drive those cars.In-Laws and Alcatraz Prison - I enjoyed another extended weekend in San Francisco with my husband's family to celebrate Melissa and Larry's wedding. Two words to describe my in-laws - giving and fun... all of them! If you make it to San Fran, you have to go on a night tour of the old Alcatraz Prison, it has the potential to be completely touristy, but the parks service there makes it an amazing experience. Stepping onto the island felt like stepping into a post apocalyptic video game, with an old rusty water tower, abandoned and crumbling buildings, and graffiti. A well put together audio tour makes you feel like you are there with the prisoners and the island offers a beautiful view of the city skyline. Really, go there.Intertidal Species! - Some of creation's (meaning evolution's, mother nature's, God's, whatever your belief system's) most amazing organisms. I studied these a lot while in New Zealand and everytime I get to be near an ocean it is time to show a little appreciation for these critters. They're amazing in that they can live in salt water... high tide comes in and they are submerged in it. Sure many things live it salt water, but do they live outside of the salt water as well? Intertidal plants and animals can also live in fresh water (when rain fills in little pools during the low tides) and in straight up dry conditions (with some California beaming sunshine)! They are adapted for all three living conditions and yet barnacles are often passed quickly over as boring. Don't even get me started on limpets. They feed by scraping a little teethy tongue over the rock face to collect algae, but then return to the exact spot from where they came from. Their shell actually grows to fit this shape of the rock crevice so when that beaming sun comes down, they can seal themselves to the rock and stay moist and alive. This seal is incredible. A human can not pull this 2 cm creature off the rock with their hands alone. For lab when collecting a few I had to carefully attempt prying them from the rock with a knife. Scientists are still trying to figure out how they can find their way back to that one spot... complex pheremones? internal compasses? Lots of hypotheses... no answers. Enough biology for the day. Time to rest this cold away.

Baby girl...

Anyone who danced through highschool in the late 90's will struggle saying "baby girl" without immediately saying after "better known as Aaliyah". Thank you Timberland. And thank you Aaliyah for reminding me why I love belly chains so much (everyone else thought I was crazy, but you make them look so sexy*).
This rockin michigan tee (you can't tell, but trust me, its awesome) was purchased at the comerica city fest in detroit from 323East. There is a lot of local art so check it out.

Okay, back to bellies... I am 20 weeks along this week and it has really popped! My belly and unfortunately my back, yikes. But with some Arika therapy and some chiropractic tapping the spine is back where it should be. Hopefully it stays there.This is my baby girl! I just saw her looking not like a cumulonimbus cloud for the first time with some first time grandmas. It was very exciting seeing her move around. She also has all her limbs. I am more than pleased.

Here is my other baby at 10 weeks (I can't be the only one in all the photos). And last, but not least... check out what could be our newest cloud.

*Thien, I couldn't write this without thinking of you and highschool dances. I hope you are doing well :)

Stairwell Before and After

Inspired by The Alabama Stitch Book and this beautiful Heather Bailey fabric (thanks KEVIN!), I finally made a basic window covering for my stairwell. Naturally, my favorite part is the least noticeable (bottom left), some decorative stitching placed with a wing needle to add that slight heirloom stitching feel.
Just enough covering to stop TV glare and still allow light into that beautiful entryway. It had been kinda fun creating a house that balances Kevin and I's complimenting styles. He likes modern and bold, while I think I am more attracted to a cottage look, a crafty look, and an eco look all at once. I think they can balance each other.

And because I love before and after shots, here are a few of the entry way after the home sat in foreclosure a year.
BEFOREBEFORE

AFTER

As we begin to slowly add to the house, I find that I am loving our home more and more. Next entry to come... bedroom before, during, and after.

For Arika

A reminder from Arika today... "post some belly pics!" Thank you Kevin for taking and cropping. I actually did not know that I was actually this big today until the picture was taken. Yikes! Blowing up like a blimp as they say... Are you supposed to show this much this early? Maybe not, but my baby does what he/she wants!

At ten weeks a few close friends started noticing, so we took a picture to mark the occasion.

I am very excited to have a little one in my home soon. Last weekend I was able to entertain two friends for most of the weekend and it was so nice. I really enjoy having a full house. Kev and I also went to visit some grandparents from his side of the family. I enjoyed an evening of looking through family photos, what a beautiful family he comes from.

This past week Kevin and I attended a meeting held by the MDEQ for public comment of some severe groundwater pollution working it's way east through AA.
If you are from Ann Arbor please focus in on the Gelman/Pall Plume. This 1,4 Dioxane plume (carcinogen) is already present on the west side of ann arbor and has the potential to contaminate Barton Pond (also where 80% of Ann Arbor residents get their drinking water from). Kev and I live at the tip of the plume right now and are hoping our representatives get their act together and require proper clean up from Pall Life Sciences, before it hits us too.

If I may rant for one moment, Michigan has an abundance of fresh water. The world population is increasing. We need water to live. It isn't a free comodity. There is a limited amount of clean water available. In michigan we have it, but we are polluting it. We have huge aquifers capable of providing clean water to many, but we are polluting it. I say we because it isn't one company. Many companies discharge to the ground. We buy their products, because we expect people to be honest and righteous and understand the impacts of their actions. But when they don't, we don't hold people accountable in the manner they should be. There are plenty of brilliant people out there who can help prevent this and effectively remediate some of the damage already done. I know this for a fact because I work with some of them. Bad companies... please pay the scientists to make your liability go away. It will save you the bad press and the money, not to mention the ability to sleep at night knowing you are doing the right thing.

That is my opinion of the evening. On a positive bedtime note, I would like to say thank you to the CARD group for all of your unpaid efforts to keep our water clean and to keep the public educated. It was wonderful to see so many passionate intelligent people gathered on Wednesday night!

Kitchen Remodel

I think I will slowly post the house remodeling pics, room by room so I can have a log of what we did and so you guys can see the results. We are very pleased with how everything turned out. This is Kevin and I's first home flip. We worked with Old School Construction (out of Ann Arbor) and a whole lot of friends and family (Thanks JONES', BENSONS, ROBBINS, Emily, Brenna, Caroline, Teresa, and Steve).

Before - All appliances removed, cabinetry sloppily put together, linoleum floors, the only entrance into the kitchen is the one you are looking at, strange staining all over the walls, chimney behind multiple layers of plaster and drywall, no ventilation

During - Three separate layers of floor removed to even floor bottom and add to space, all plumbing was found to be out of date and needed replacement, while walls where open - new insulation added and electrical completed, windows were replaced and chimney was cleared off, wall to the left taken out, new entrance added to living room, and ceiling opened up as well.In this pic a ventilation hood is still not connected, but above the stove is where it will go... with Kevin's cooking it seemed like a good idea to add one. Cork floor is added here, and appliances are moved in. Chimney is clear.

New windows and new trim thanks to some serious assistance from my mom and uncle rick, concrete countertops are added here. Water from sink is heated by a tankless water heater for energy efficiency.


Woodblock used for areas that we would like to be warmer.
Open shelving located just above the dishwasher for easy after meal cleaning. And the entire thing painted a lovely shade of purple! We love it.

A Belly Shot

So here is what I can tell you so far...

At five and a half weeks I have a rice grain baby that has a healthy beating heart!
As small as the little guy/gal is, it is growing in my uterus and not my fallopian tubes or anywhere else where it or myself could get hurt.

I am bulging already... not because of the size of the baby, but because of the uterus that has doubled in size the past few weeks. I did not expect to show so soon. I am not eating as healthy as I would like because most foods sound awful to me, and I just keep sleeping. That is the news in baby world.

News!

Baby on the way!  This is where I would like to upload baby belly pics, some ultrasound stuff, and info on the baby. 

This will have to come next week as I am in San Francisco right now with Kev's sister and fiance (great times), but for now check out how creepy this little embryo is.

Baby at Seven Weeks