Life is good. Seriously.

As some of you may know, I have been working night shifts for about the last 8 months. As some of you may have noticed, it kinda sucks. I'm tired. REALLY tired. And perhaps a little grumpy. I have found it more difficult to do the things I love while working nights, like get coffee with friends, run, go to yoga and run errands (my favorite of all activities). I have had to let a lot of things "go" and remember that they never really mattered to begin with (mowing the lawn, using coupons, getting a deal...for example). Also, I have had to ask Dashel for a lot of help as well which is probably pretty annoying for him since the things I want help with are the things that don't really matter (mowing the lawn, using coupons, getting a deal...for example). It's hard.

But today I felt awesome. I worked all weekend. And I work this weekend as well. And every weekend for 4 wks. BUT I WORK DURING THE DAYTIME!! OMG! I get to go to bed AT NIGHTTIME!!! And guess what? Working full-time is NBD (no big deal...my new favorite abbreviation). I can do it. As long as it's during the day or evening. Whew. I actually thought I was crazy or having a quarter-life crisis but it was only mild sleep deprivation and narcolepsy.

I am currently training for a longer-than-normal race (at least for me!!!) and have been spending quite a bit of my free time in the mountains jogging around. Yesterday I was at Cougar Mountain for 3 hrs and I managed to see: snow, a friend from work who just lost her dog, three deer all within 20 yards of me, two older men training for a long hike in the Andes and lastly, the part about me that I like the best, the happy part. I found myself smiling at the strange fungi on tree trunks and talking myself through the hilliest parts of the trail using positive commentary ("yee-haw, girl, you got this hill, go big or go home!!") instead of the yucky language ("You are a morbidly obese, clinically depressed sloth...no wonder you can't run up that hill") that I found myself using over the last 8 months. Thank goodness for day shift.

Today I was running on the nice flat cement around Lake Washington and found myself tearing up, over and over again, over the silliest things. It wasn't because I was sad. It was because Kanye West's song "all of the lights" is so goddamn good. I mean seriously. I started running faster the harder I cried. I also smiled bigger and bigger every time I thought about singing it at Karaoke.

And than it got it worse. This amazing moth episode came on...it was about food and relationships. Two of my favorite things. I cried. I loved every second of it. It made me love my sweetie even more. Ugh. This is disgusting. Perhaps I should go back to "nights" after all...

(find said episode here: http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/take-a-break-with-adam-gopniks-rare-romance-welldone-marriage-podcast-160260)

And even worse...Macklemore's "Aberdeen Washington". Who the hell cries listening to a song that's meant to be a joke? Someone who is so happy to not be working nights...that's who.

I seriously love life right now. Whew. Off to work. I will likely be over this tomorrow. Thank goodness.

Happy 7 Year Anniversary!

Curly hair...2nd attempt

How to have curly hair without any work!

So I have really straight hair that is thick and difficult. But this amazing thing happened. I read this blog....
http://thepapermama.blogspot.com/2011/07/hair-tutorial-no-heat-curl.html

And I followed directions (first time for everything!)...

And my hair was kinda curly!!

Breakfast!

Baby eggs from my teenage hens!

Peas, Radishes and Onions!

This is what I look like when I make dinner

Our House!

Is coming along!

Date Night!!

Fig tree

Chickens!!

Our new fence!

My sweetie Dashel built this guy! All on his own!

5 out of 6!!

Our First Egg!!

Keller's roasted chicken

What nurses eat for dinner...

It's raining, overcast and cold. I'm depressed.

Someday I will be back here.

This is what I look like with pneumonia

San Fran

Senior Center Bingo

It just keeps getting more depressing each time we go...but I can't stop. It's incredible.

Why I am not so stressed...

Dashel is the sweetie on the left (I'm the sweetie on the right). He is never stressed. In fact, he is great at just sitting around and relaxing. He could read political blogs on the couch, drinking a gin and tonic (OMG, I just bought him these!!) while there was a small natural disaster occuring and not even budge. I would be packing up family photos, preparing a loaf of homemade bread, dehydrating tomoatoes and other perishables that may go bad during the disaster, organizing our book shelves and making the bed all while pacing around the house at an incredible speed (I should totally wear a pedometer). Dashel is great. I am stressed. Sometimes we both take it a little too far.

A is for Apple

Favorite things from blog.2modern

I like everything about this room.




I want to use old wine boxes for these.

I don't like the color of the kitchen but I do love the cabinets

AND MY FAVORITE THING OF THE DAY:

http://blog.2modern.com/2010/12/woodsy-wallpaper.html

Favorite things...

I want everything from this etsy store.





These cabinets are exactly what we need at the end of our long hallway for storage. From Catherine Boardman.






Reading nook. I WANT A READING NOOK!! From Catherine Boardman

















This Kitchen. I don't love the cabinets but I do love the counter tops and shelves. Found at Bliss.



Other things I love:
Indoor swings: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/at-email/how-to-build-a-simple-indoor-swing-for-winter-074054

30 Day Cleaning Schedule

I found this great cleaning schedule on Apartment Therapy (I love Apt.therapy so much. So much I could just die). The goal is to complete 20 min of cleaning everyday (x 30 days!).

1. Surface clean living room and kitchen (pick up stray items, dust, sweep, vacuum)
2. Clean bathrooms (toilets, showers, floors, walls, mirrors)
3. Surface clean bedrooms (put away toys, clothes, dust)
4. Surface clean "extra" rooms (basement, office, play room)
5. Surface clean living room and kitchen
6. Clean bathrooms
7. Clean all interior windows (white vinegar and newspaper works great and is cheap!)
8. Sweep and vacuum all floors in the house (don't forget stairs)
9. Surface clean bedrooms
10. Deep clean living room (mirrors, baseboards, dust artwork)
11. Clean bathrooms
12. Clean out closets (hang up clothes, mittens, jackets, hats)
13. Surface clean "extra" rooms
14. Deep clean bedrooms (organize drawers, check under bed, tidy closet, dust artwork, fans, lights, mop)
15. Surface clean living room and kitchen
16. Deep clean bathrooms (clean inside drawers, inside of trash cans, tops of mirrors, tile, mop)
17. Clean all door knobs, phones, entertainment equipment (remote controls), switch plates, banisters and other things that are repeatedly touched.
18. Clean out the refrigerator, take stock of food, organize pantry
19. Clean entryway, sweep porch (if you have one), clean out car (because they're often our home away from home)
20. Surface clean living room and kitchen
21. Surface clean bathrooms
22. Surface clean bedrooms
23. Sweep and vacuum all floors in the house
24. Clean linen closet, straighten towels, sheets or regular closet if not applicable
25. Surface clean living room and kitchen
26. Deep clean kitchen (scrub appliances, wash trash cans, base boards, wipe down and straighten cabinets)
27. Surface clean bathrooms
28. Surfaces clean bedrooms
29. Clean one item you've been meaning to get to and haven't (deep clean your stove, wipe down all light fixtures, tackle a particularly unruly area)
30. Sweep and vacuum all floors in the house



I made it into a word document as well and I'm going to hang it someplace handy in hopes that I actually follow through...

Next project

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpvN-20KWzgD2-OXv4fx8kYUcu2gWVflNbPfyrxkioeytXRi4OBZhI8bOwTJmBDrm4Ev11r4JZpTmFmk_k_aq6QJPyZqlpPE72b1hVw2Ahr9Ds0wIfbbGwnpoR3pUD6D1l4tNdd5I8Staf/s1600/122210-jewelryorganizer1.jpg

Favorite things...

From tights to knee-highs: http://roubidou.squarespace.com/roubidou/2011/1/16/a-bit-of-a-stretch.html

My favorite comforter on the cheap: http://todaystoptwenty.blogspot.com/2011/01/blanket-tutorial-kojo-designs.html

Embroidered portraits? I think so: http://www.countryliving.com/crafts/projects/how-to-make-embroidered-portraits#fbIndex1

Kinda healthy cookie? Not really, but sounds great: http://www.cakespy.com/blog/2011/1/17/stick-it-chocolate-covered-fig-newtons-on-a-stick-for-seriou.html

Yardstick Table, bowls for lights, fork curtain holders, spoon door pulls, etc.: http://www.countryliving.com/crafts/projects/green-crafts-0309

This article about mormon blogs: http://www.salon.com/life/feature/2011/01/15/feminist_obsessed_with_mormon_blogs

It's been a while...

I've been thinking about so many things the last couple months. There are always about 10,000 thoughts circulating in my brain. Here are a few of them.

Starting a tumblr account to keep track of all of the pictures I like on the internet...maybe just house pictures.

All the things I want to buy with my REI dividend (which isn't all that much money so I shouldn't think about it so much!)

My new job in the Harborview ED as an ARNP. I can't stop thinking about how my co-workers are going to see my cry three+ times/shift

Races. I want to run in way too many races. I have added about 25 races to my calendar for 2011. I don't want to train, just run in races. Is that reasonable?

Speaking of races, I have a long race stuck in my head that I want to try but doubt I ever will. I'll talk more about this later when I feel less nervous.

Seeing so many friends and family members. I wish I had more time in a week. I want to reestablish relationships with so many people.

Getting rid of so many things. I have a binge-purge problem. Big time. Well, mostly purge and never binge. It's hard being my roommate to say the least.

Bike camping. So much fun. Can't stop thinking about it along with skiing.

I want to move to Boise. And Antarctica.

Bathroom and kitchen remodeling. I think about this as frequently as I think about my tax return.

I also can't stop thinking about arm warmers. Lulu Lemon size small arm warmers for running. I will never, ever find them. It's so depressing.

Fireplace inserts, new sheets, framing prints, tearing down walls, planting starts, shelves in garage, goodwill runs every week, new shower curtain, trundle bed vs couch, storing musical equipment, new coffee table, safe, curtains, new tires...you know, the usual...