A Good Idea

Shortly after Glenn and I moved in, we switched out the old thermostat with a new programmable thermostat. I am SO glad that I thought to take a picture of the wires before I unhooked them because maybe if you hook it up wrong and then have the coldest day of the whole year, you will wake up to a 50 degree house the one night you have overnight guest. Apparently, that little white wire turns on the auxillary heat. I'm just saying, that might happen and then your sad little puppy will look like this. 

Mirror, Mirror

I needed a mirror to hang over the vanity, but I didn't want to spend a lot of money on it. The decorative mirrors at Target were in the range of $50. No thanks.

Norfolk has so many thrift stores so I thought I'd see what I could find. It must be all the moving military or something, but there are at least 5 in a mile radius from our house.

For only $10, I came home with this beauty. It was even on sale. Originally $35. Glenn was surprised that thrift stores even have sales, but they do! One of my favorite places to look for furniture even has 20% off military Thursdays.

A little sanding, filling and spray paint and I have a new mirror. I also moved the hanging hardware on the back so that I could hang it horizontally.

It's not the most beautiful thing in the world, but I like it! I might eventually paint the top white, but I haven't decided yet.

Loungy Sunday

Just hanging out before Glenn leaves for a bit.

A Little Vanity

Since we moved in two months ago, we have had our old tv stand sitting in our master bedroom. Our new house has a fireplace so we've mounted the tv above that and we didn't have any need for the tv stand.

Here it is in our Japanese apartment.

I got the idea in my head that I wanted a vanity since we only have one sink in the master bath. It would be nice to have a place to put on my makeup while Glenn is getting ready and we wouldn't have to do the shuffle as we attempt to move around each other.

I drew up a few plans,  Glenn looked at me quizzically, but he agreed to help. First, I removed the castors and we removed the middle section of the bottom.

Next, we cut 4 2x4s into 3 different lengths to form the sides of two cubes. The height of the cube was 16" and the sides were 14" and 12".

We attached the two cubes to the bottom of the tv stand. See where I am going with this now? The cubes are slightly less wide than the top so that we could take off the bottom, attach the cubes and still attach it to the uprights again since there are bolts that attach the bottom. If that makes sense...

 

Cute right? Oh wait, not done yet.

I bought some fabric and some Decor velcro. The Decor part means that the hook side is sticky backed and the loop side is made to be sewed on.

I used iron on hem tape to hem a few rectangles of fabric and to attach the velcro.

I created 4 different panels. One for the side/front on each side and one for the inside sides since it looked less than pretty where we cut the middle section out.

 Ta da!

And the velcro makes it so I can access my makeup or whatever else I put in there, but I still need to find a mirror before it is actually useful as a vanity. It only cost about $50 for the 2x4s, screws, velcro and fabric!

Spring Cleaning

It's in the 70s today in Hampton Roads and I am loving it in a McDonalds sort of way!

I'm cleaning the windows (what? Who does that?!) because I realized they were nasty when I went to open them. They had saw dust and construction dirt all over them.

While doing so I realized that I have the kind that flip in to clean them! Do all new windows come like that? Either way, I am happy!

Oh he joys of a jobless house wife!

A New Record

My semi-weekly tradition of applying for jobs online after Glenn leaves for work, led me to this today.

REALLY?! One thousand, four hundred and twenty three people have also applied?! FMN.

New Projects

Glenn and I have been working on a few new things over the weekend. Here are a few sneak peeks!

Missing Japan: Recreating Shinshinmen

If you were a Liberty Bell in Japan, you went to Yokohama-Ya. It was the squadron's favorite ramen restaurant and Glenn's as well. He has especially been missing his favorite food so we attempted to recreate it this week and I think we got pretty close!

Step 1: But this instant ramen. We're not recreating the wheel here.

Step 2: We took a few hints from Alton Brown here and soaked the raw, 1/2 lb of ground pork in a mixture of 3 oz soy sauce, 1 tsp cornstarch, 1 T rice vinegar and 1 T of asian hot sauce. We let it sit on the counter for 20 or so while we prepared the noodles.

Step 3: We cooked the ground pork in a skillet and added 1/2 of the 4 green onions we chopped up.

Step 4: We followed the directions on the package for the ramen and then topped it with the pork and the rest of the green onions. Delish!

And of course, it wouldn't be the shinshinmen experience without gyoza! We used the other 1/2 pound of groud pork and added to to it:
- 2 chopped leaks
- 1 grated carrot
- 1/2 T of minced ginger
- 1 T of brown sugar
We sauteed everything in a pan, added the pork and then let it cool.

 I used prepackaged wonton wrappers and filled them with about 1 T of filling. I think we made about 30 gyoza with the 1/2 pound of meat.

 Glenn pan fried them in about 1/8 inch of oil and we let them drain on papertowels.

 A little taste of Japan hear at home! We are definitely going to have to make this again!

Timing

I've been thinking a lot about timing lately. Moving. Orders. Schedules and babies.

Glenn and I are approaching our one year mark of attempting to start a family. I know for some, that is not a long time, for others, that is a very long time. For the impatient planner in myself, that is a very long time. Once I had the idea in my head, I wanted it to happen. Yesterday.

Japan had mediocre medical services at best so after a few tests at the clinic there, we were resigned to the fact that we would have to wait until we returned to the states for further help. That was fine with us, moving around the world without a place to live, a family could wait until we were more settled.

So I waited. Two weeks after closing on our house, I was in the doctor's office with a specialist and finally received the diagnosis that I had foreseen coming. A family can happen, maybe, but with a little assistance and medical intervention.

I bring this up because several weeks ago, I was at a spouses' club fundraiser and of the 4 of us volunteering at the time, all four of had or were undergoing fertility treatments. One woman called her son her $40,000 baby. Another quit her job recently because she couldn't stand working in a preschool after suffering her third miscarriage. It happens to so many, but so few talk about it.

So I came home with a list of further procedures to complete and fast forward another month, and I've got a drawer full of drugs to take.

And they sit in the drawer still. Why? Timing. The Navy is sending my husband away for several weeks which means that we wait. Again.

I was annoyed, but then my husband, as he does so well, gave me a little perspective. A fellow coworker who check in only a short time after Glenn, was assigned to be on the short-list of a potential IA. Meaning rather than be an instructor here in Virginia, like he signed up for, was being told to wait and see if he was going to be sent to Afghanistan for 7-9 months. Lucky for him, the job went to someone else. With the Navy, it's always about timing. Career timing.

So I wait. This time, for time to pass quickly.

Made my day!

I received a card and pictures in the mail from my Japanese friend Mayumi today and it just made me smile!

I miss Japan and my students so much!

Thanks Mayumi!

Done! (almost)

I've been painting for the last 5 days and I'm finally done! On Wednesday, I painted the ceiling and went to bed at 7:45 pm because my body was so tired. I don't plan on doing that again, ever. Well, until I muster the courage to paint downstairs.

I painted the ceiling, trim and the walls and I love it. The couch and carpet look so much better against the new wall color. I chose Sherwin Williams Halycon Green but used Benjamin Moore paint which is so dang expensive, but the store is 5 min away vs. 20 to HD so it worked this time but next time I'll stick with the H Dizzle.

Here are a few pics!

Oh and when I said almost that is because I still have to tackle the almost 20 foot stairwell and ceiling. I'll have to get the extension ladder out for that and perhaps a little supervision.

Happy Friday!

My uniform.

A job? No. Well, a job that pays nothing? Sure. I've been wearing this at least 3 days a week lately. And yes, apparently I went to bed with paint on my arm.

My new BFF

Well...painting BFF that is. Edging along the carpet is going fast! Amazeballs!

Edging

I spent an entire day edging the bedroom yesterday. Seriously, ALL day. From when Glenn left for work at 10 am until he got home at 6. I still haven't even done the baseboards or door frames yet! Yikes. My goal is to be done by the time our friends come to stay on Saturday.

I absolutely love the color though. I can't wait to be done!

Back at it...

I took the weekend off from painting, but now I'm back at it. This time it's a little more ambitious. Hopefully my new power roller comes in the mail today! That is going to help the painting go much faster I hope!

Happy Birthday Dad!

My wonderful, handsome father turns 59 today. I know that 2012 has a lot in store for you and it is going to be the best year yet.

My father spends a week of every February, or has for the last 3 or 4 years, at "Boot Camp Tennis". A week of Florida sun, 8 (or maybe 10 now that they are getting older and need a few spare players) friends and tennis fanatics and their own tennis pro for the week. They come back sore, a little worse for wear, but with lots of stories of good matches.

He heads out a few days after his birthday for Boot Camp. Have fun, Dad! I can't wait for you to come visit!

These are just a few pictures from my parents last visit to Japan in July. When is our next adventure? I can't wait. I love you!

I cannot stop!

While I had the white paint out from painting the cabinet, I painted the stools as well. I'm making another trip to the paint store today as well. More paint. I'm excited now but I have a feeling this motivation is going to wear off at some point.

The stools are hand-me-downs from Glenn's mom's old kitchen. Then they moved to Florida with Glenn and us to Texas and then to Virginia, Japan and back. They've never really matched our furniture so I finally decided to paint them.

I wish I had had enough leftover fabric from the bench to recover them. Perhaps I'll go back to Joann's and see if they have any left.

They look a little country painted white but I do like how they look against the dark cabinets.

They are white for now. I might repaint them another color in the future or just buy new stools some day!