The Happy Wives Club

This was our book club selection for the month of January? February? I honestly don't remember. Anyway, despite not actually finishing it in time for our book club meeting, I did finish the book a few days later. And I have a conflict of interest with what to write about it.

Here's the deal. Part of me wants to whole-heartedly endorse this book and recommend it to all my friends (female or not--the message of the book can be applicable for both sexes). In fact, I really want to pass my copy of the book around to others and share the message with them. But then I start to worry about how I would go about recommending it to my friends. I'm afraid that if I say, "Here, I think you should read this book about how to be a happy wife and have a wonderful marriage", all they'll hear is "Here, I think you should read this book because you seem terribly unhappy in your marriage and I think it could use some work". Even if I just think they should read the book because it's happy and uplifting and a positive book about marriage (for once!), I'm afraid there's no way to avoid my recommendation sounding like I think their life and marriage need improvements.

Here's my other hang-up with the book. While I loved the "secrets" the author uncovered about a happy, successful marriage on her journey around the world, I didn't truly find any of them earth-shattering. And, to risk sounding like I'm tooting the horn of my own marriage, I felt like Darrell and I already embodied most of them:

--Take divorce off the table. Never once has divorce been thrown out as a threat after a fight or particularly trying event. And it never will. We decided before we even got married that once those rings were on our fingers it was for good, and we would work at and do whatever it took to keep us together. Having parents who have never divorced certainly helped instill this mentality in us, but it was a decision we made together and we plan to stick to it.

--Laugh together every day. Please. Have you ever spent any time around my husband? Sometimes I wish he took himself and things more seriously. But only sometimes.

--Date your spouse. I don't exactly remember exactly when we started this ritual, but we make it a point to go on a date, just the two of us, once a month. We usually pick the night at the beginning of the month and plan something special, even if it is just dinner at a nice restaurant. We took a few months off right after William was born, but it's been especially good for us now to get back into the routine.

Those aren't the only "secrets", but I figured there was no sense in giving away the whole book because I do recommend this book and I do think lots of people should read it, regardless of their happiness level in their marriage. Because let's be honest--no one (and no marriage) is ever perfect.

National Pancake Day?!?

So I was all excited to blog today about the awesomeness of National Pancake Day, and was super proud of myself for actually having a pancake recipe to share, only to discover that today, in fact, is not the only National Pancake Day. In fact, today is truly not about pancakes at all, but rather about the end of Mardi Gras and the beginning of Lent. And traditionally, today--also known as Fat Tuesday--was just a day to use up the richer, fattier staples such as milk, butter, and eggs before the fasting of Lent began. And it just so happens that pancakes happen to be a quick, easy, delicious recipe that use all of those ingredients. In fact, according to Food.com, National Pancake Day is actually not until September 26th. How disappointing is that?!?

But, since IHOP recognizes today as National Pancake Day by giving away FREE pancakes (yes--even your local IHOP is probably participating in this giveaway), I'm going to follow suit. And, just for fun, I'll probably celebrate again come September 26th. Because really, any day with a built-in excuse to eat pancakes is a good day in my book.

Buttermilk Pancakes
(recipe originally found here)

1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla

Whisk together dry ingredients. Add the wet ingredients, folding to combine. Batter will be lumpy. Cook pancakes on a preheated pan or griddle (approximately 300 degrees) until bubbles begin to form (three to four minutes). Flip and cook another minute or two.

If you need a quick substitute for buttermilk (because who really keeps that stocked in their fridge?), pour one tablespoon lemon juice into a measuring cup and fill to one cup with milk. Let stand for five minutes before using.

Oh, and fingers crossed this works as my shelf-stable dry pancake mix! I mixed up a few extra servings of the dry ingredients in a storage container and hopefully I'll be able to just scoop out a cup or two whenever Darrell and I want to make pancakes. Granted, we'll still have to measure out the correct ratio of wet ingredients, so it won't be quite as simple as those "just add water" mixes, but they should definitely be way more delicious. As long as the dry ingredients stay homogeneously mixed and don't get clumpy. I'll check back in after a few weeks/months to let you know how the experiment is going.

30 Before 30: Update

Well, here I am, a year and a half away from my thirtieth birthday. I'd make some quip about how quickly the time flies, but now that I have a kid, I'm pretty sure that this "fast" pace is actually just normal. So, with a mere eighteen months left for me to accomplish my 30 before 30 goals, I figured it was time to check in and see how my progress was coming.

As you may recall, I created four 30 before 30 lists to highlight four of my favorite past times: cooking, reading, crafting, and running (and because I'm an overachiever and couldn't settle on just one list). Here's where I stand on each list:

Cooking: So far, I have blogged about two recipes that Darrell and I have added to our permanent collection. I make the distinction of having "blogged" versus "made" because in reality, I've probably made ten or so recipes that we are going to add to our collection, including three or four from the list of recipes I wanted to be sure to master. I just haven't gotten around to blogging them. Because in order to blog them, I want need a picture of them. And in order to have a picture of them, I need to remember to take a picture of them. And in order to remember to take a picture of them, I need to not be juggling three other things, including feeding my son (who does not wait patiently for his food, mind you). So, while I think that I am pretty on pace to meet of goal of thirty new recipes by thirty, it seems the new challenge is going to be getting all those recipes blogged.

Reading: According to the blog I have read eight of my thirty books. That number seems low to me, though, and I feel like I've read some that perhaps never made it to the blog (which is very likely). However, I'm still not doing too poorly in terms of being on pace to hit my thirty--the only catch is that I gave myself a list of five that I wanted to be sure to read and I haven't read a single one of those. Guess I need to start convincing my book club friends to pull out some classics, eh?

Crafting: I'm actually surprised to see that I have six craft projects on the blog (since I started the challenge). I would have thought it was half that many. Granted, I still have a long ways to go to hit thirty in the next eighteen months, but William is becoming better able to participate in crafts, which will make it much easier for me to get them accomplished. And you'd better believe I have some more cute kid crafts on Pinterest in the back of my mind that I can't wait to try.

Running: Can we just pretend I never made this goal? Ugh. I don't think I've ran a mile since William was born, let alone an actual road race. Even though thirty miles of road races is only ten 5ks (approximately), that's quite a bit to squeeze into the next eighteen months. Especially considering I don't think I could actually run a 5k right now. Good thing my brother's fiancé is getting into running and is on board with doing some road races this summer before their wedding. I will desperately need some running buddies to help me get this goal accomplished.

So there you have it. Overall, I'm not quite as far along as I'd like to be, but considering I've spent the majority of the past twelve months finishing out a pregnancy and learning how to raise a child, I'd say I'm not doing too poorly. And it can only go up from here, right?

Easy Valentine's Day Craft

I know, I'm not really giving you a whole lot of time to do this craft before Valentine's Day is actually here, but don't worry. This craft can be pulled off in no time at all. In fact, I actually spent more time prepping for and cleaning up from the craft than it actually took to complete the craft itself. But if you aren't crafting with a ten-month old, then you probably won't have to worry about taking some of the precautions I did (or cleaning up some of the mess I had to deal with).

All we used was some tape, paper, and red paint. If you are feeling really artsy you could easily mimic this concept on any medium (I'm thinking you could make a pretty awesome canvas this way!)  but until I have an artist a little more reliable (and interested in the crafting) I'm going to stick with paper.

The most tedious part of the prep was tearing the tape into pieces and making the design I wanted on the paper. In honor of Valentine's Day, I opted to write "LOVE" and use a heart shape for the "O". (And if you are crafting with a little one like me, I'd also recommend taping the paper onto whatever surface you'll be using--in our case it was William's high chair tray.)

Then cover the paper with paint using hands, feet, brushes--whatever works.

(Don't let his look of concentration fool you. He actually had very little interest in any of this process. I ended up doing most of the painting while he just watched)

Once the paint has dried, peel off the tape (carefully!) and bask in your beautiful masterpiece. Easy peasy!

Christmas Jars

This is going to be a short and sweet book review. Not only do I feel goofy writing about Christmas at the end of January, but this book also did not stimulate very much conversation at our book club meeting--in fact, it was only mentioned in the final few minutes as we were all leaving (and it wasn't for lack of time; we hung out for well over two hours! We just found plenty of other things to talk about and the book didn't exactly leave us dying to talk about it).

That being said, it is still a good book and definitely worth the (quick!) read. The biggest issue we had with the book, though, was that it seemed the author took a great idea--a Christmas Jar--and built a story around that (A Christmas Jar is a jar of money--loose change--that is collected over the course of the year and then gifted to someone in need). At times, the narrative seamed far-fetched or stretched to keep the novel from getting too long and thereby distracting from the concept of the Christmas Jar. And truthfully, I don't exactly fault the author for doing that--I think the world would be a much better place if every family implemented some version of a Christmas Jar--but just know that the book seems to be more about the idea than the story at times.

One serious pro about the novel being on the short side and not overly bogged down by "extra" narrative details (since I feel bad about possibly sounding a little judgmental in the previous paragraph)? It would make a great Christmastime read for a family with teenagers/pre-teens. Easy enough to read a few chapters a night, and a great way to foster a discussion about reaching out to those less fortunate. And now that I've written that out, I'm seriously considering buying the book so I can do that as William (and potential future kids) get older. Definitely sounds like a great family tradition--and truthfully, it would probably make a good tradition for any person or type of family. There's nothing like a quick, heart-warming read to keep you in the spirit of the season.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

You know how they say that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover? Well, it's also true that you shouldn't judge a book by its title. I'd heard nothing but good things about this book since it came out, and I knew it had made it on to many bestseller lists, but I just couldn't bring myself to read it (or even put it on my list of "books to read"). Why? I was intimidated by the title. It was just so long. What good would it do me to read a book that I couldn't even remember the title of to tell people what I was reading? And besides, if the author couldn't pare down the title of her book to something smaller than a mouthful, it seemed to me that the rest of the novel would be full of other lengthy and seemingly superfluous details and descriptions.

Well, although I don't like to say this very often, I was wrong. About as wrong as I've ever been about a book. I loved this book so much that it's now on my "will buy" list if I see it at a secondhand store because I would absolutely love to read it again. And again.

And honestly, I should have assumed that I would enjoy it--crazy title and all. After all, it is set during one of my favorite time periods to read about: WWII. And I know I say this about almost every WWII book I read, but the perspective of this book is a very unique one--and it is made even more so by the writing style. The book focuses on an island in the English Channel that was occupied by the Germans during the war, and subsequently cut off from all contact with the outside world. After the war and occupation are over, one of the islanders begins a correspondence with an author in London, and the entire book is written as a series of letters (and if you are worried that that would be confusing--as I was--don't be. It is wonderfully executed and easy to follow). There's bits that were humorous, bits that were sad, and even a little love story thrown in for good measure.

If I haven't sold you on this book yet, here is most telling bit of truth about how good this book is: the (fictional) author in London who is corresponding with the (fictional) residents of Guernsey decides that she would like to write an (fictional) article and then (fictional) book about their (fictional) story. On more than one occasion I found myself wanting to know what the name of that book was going to be so that I could read it next. That's how believable the characters are and how well written the novel is. And sadly, the author died before final publication of this book happened, so it's impossible highly unlikely that she will write any sort of follow-up novel. All the more reason to go out and read this one!

Birthday Craft

Someone special in William's life celebrated a birthday earlier this month, so we decided to do a little craft in honor of the occasion!

Now, if you are thinking that it's a little bit of a stretch to call that a craft, well, you are probably right. But--it required inspiration from the internet, the use of craft paint, and cleaning up a mess afterwards--so I'm counting it as a craft in my book. Plus it was super cheap--also a win. That being said, I've seen lots of cool artwork ideas using hand/foot prints, but I won't count each of them as individual crafts for my 30 before 30 project. Although I do hope to try a lot of them out, especially as William gets older and a little bit more cooperative.

The Light Between Oceans

Lately, it seems like all the books I've been reading have been about babies and families. Or maybe I'm just more likely to notice those aspects of books because I have a baby of my own. Regardless, there is no denying that this book is centered around babies, families, and being a mother. One mother--after three failed pregnancies--would do anything to have a child of her own. Another mother--after the disappearance of her daughter and husband--would do anything to have them back, or at least have some answers to their fate. One man find himself wedged between the lives of the two women, and his own life becomes a wreck as he finds himself stuck between a strong sense of morality and the desire to be loyal.

At the end of novel, one of the characters admits that it wasn't until she had a child of her own that she could fully understand the decisions both women made. And although I never read this book childless, I honestly feel like I can say the same. While at times I morally disagreed with the decisions both women were making, I tried to imagine being in their shoes--and found myself wondering if I would have had the courage to do the right thing. Would I have had the courage to ask my husband to lie for me so that my prayers could be answered? Would I have been able to give up the life and child I had dreamed of to bring the child--my own flesh and blood--happiness?

While this book may be a tough read for anyone who has dealt with infertility/pregnancy loss and/or the death/disappearance of a young child, it is a beautifully written novel that truly captures one of the fundamental debates of humanity: doing what is right for someone else versus doing what is right for yourself.

Baby "Suspenders"

When we got dressed up to go to the Speakeasy last month, we needed a cute mafia-esque costume for William. I started by perusing Amazon, and found some definite winners.

Can anyone say Mafia boss? All he is missing is a semi-automatic rifle

I think this is awesome--mafia party or not!

However, $20+ was a little more than we were looking to pay for something William would pretty much only wear once. And since Darrell wasn't planning to do anything too extreme for his outfit (black pants, white shirt, suspenders, tie, and fedora), we decided we could keep William's outfit simple as well--black pants, white onesie, and suspenders. Rather than buy a pair of suspenders (that again--he'd probably only wear once), I figured this would be a good opportunity for me to do some crafting; it didn't seem like it could be that hard to create a pair of suspenders fit for William. And you know what? It wasn't!

Here are the only supplies I needed:

A yard-ish of strap material from Hobby Lobby, black pants, and my sewing kit (with needle, thread, and hook and eyes)

All I did was sew the strap inside the front of the pants and the eye in the back, and then I put William into the pants and pulled the straps over him to figure out where I should sew the hook. Easy-peasy! And super cute when finished!

Although the suspenders worked plenty well, I would definitely do a few things differently if I were to do something like this again. For starters, I would get straps that had some elasticity to them; it would have been nice to have been able to sew them a little short and then stretch them to fit so that they stayed on his shoulders better through the night. On a similar note, I wish I hadn't bothered with the hook and eye at all; safety pinning the straps to the back of his pants would have guaranteed a much better fit, and I doubt the pins would have been uncomfortable for him. Live and learn, though--I'm still pretty new to this whole crafting business!

The Night Circus

I'll be totally honest, when this book was picked for our book club to read back in July, I was a little skeptical. Sure, I have nothing against a good love story, but fantasy and some sort of magicians' battle? Meh. Not really up my alley. In fact, fantasy has never really been my thing (except for Harry Potter. I definitely got sucked into those). However, I ended up loving this book. It was so fascinating and captivating and most of the time I actually forgot I was reading a "fantasy" novel. The characters (even the ones with "magical" powers) are all humans (as opposed to centaurs or something), the story takes place in real locations (primarily London and the American Northeast), and even the whole premise of the "night circus" is something that could realistically exist without any magical enchantment.

Unfortunately, aside from saying that there is a love story, a night circus, and a "battle" between two magicians, it's really hard to say much else about the plot without giving anything away. However, I can say that the book is beautifully written; although I'm always wary of books being made into movies, I think this book would make a spectacular movie. The word choice was so vibrant and descriptive that at times I found I was actually playing the book in my head like a movie while I was reading (although I know the images I was creating in my head were certainly not doing justice to what the author was describing). Of course, we all agreed that it could not be a low-budget production, because then it definitely would be disappointing.

I think the only complaint people really had about this book was that a few of the girls missed that different chapters (within the same section) of the book were set in different years. The author did include this information in small text under the title of the chapter, but unless you knew to read it carefully, it was really easy to miss that the years were jumping around (especially because in one section of the book they jump back and forth between the same day, but different years). And since some of the girls were reading the book on their Kindles/iPads, it wasn't exactly easy to flip back a handful of pages to check the year given under the chapter title. Perhaps a nuisance, yes, but in the grand scheme of things, it's definitely not a reason to refrain from picking up the book (in fact, it was inspiring many of the girls to want to read the book again and pay closer attention to those--and other--details. A sentiment I definitely agree with).

Even if you think this book is a little "outside of the box" of what you usually read, I seriously recommend picking it up anyway. Give it a chance--you won't regret it!

Bossypants

Isn't that a great cover? I sent Darrell to pick up this book for me at the second-hand store by his office, and he promptly called me after retrieving the book and asked "What kind of book are you reading?" I'm not sure what answer I gave him at the time, and I'm not sure I could give a succinct answer to that question after having read the book. Marketed as an autobiographic comedy by Tina Fey, there is so much more to the book than just that. There are reflections on childhood endeavors, notes about entering the "working world", serious points about the ever-changing role of women in the workplace--especially in positions of authority--and even some anecdotes about being a mother. All wrapped in with some bits from Saturday Night Live, 30 Rock, and just being famous in general.

Personally, I would say that I liked probably half to three-quarters of this book. I've never watched 30 Rock, and most of the Saturday Night Live I have watched was during the Chris Farley era. So a lot of the references to those shows (including little snippets from specific episodes) were lost on me. However, I very much enjoyed the narrative style (and dry, sarcastic humor) of the book, so for the most part I could get past the references that were lost on me.

While there were definitely parts that I enjoyed (especially the comments about parenting), this is probably not a book I'll hang on to. If you are a Tina Fey/30 Rock fan, then I would definitely recommend this book, otherwise you're probably better off passing this one by.

Breast Milk Storage

Even though I stay at home with William and don't have a huge need to have a supply of breast milk built up in our freezer, I've still pumped enough to have a small stash so that Darrell and I can get away for an evening if we want to (or if I have to go on some medication that prevents William from nursing). However, since we aren't constantly using it, storing it was a little bit of a pain, especially since whenever we did want to pull some out we wanted to make sure we were using the oldest milk. So, with a little resourcefulness, we built our own storage container/dispenser, which will always ensure that the milk we grab is the oldest, plus it will keep it organized in our freezer. And guess what? I even remembered to take pictures of the process! They're like the crappiest pictures ever because I was too lazy to make sure I had good lighting, but I suppose they are better than nothing.

One of the best parts of this project? I didn't have to buy anything for it and it took me less than thirty minutes to complete. Of course, if you aren't a nursing mother, this craft probably isn't very useful, but maybe you can be creative and find something to do with it besides storing breast milk ;)

Supplies Used:

A shoe box that is the size of your breast milk bags (or slightly larger)
Duct tape
Box cutter or small knives to cut through the cardboard
And obviously frozen breast milk (which I opted not to include in the picture--if you don't know what it looks like then you probably don't care about what it looks like)

Step One:

Cut a piece out of the bottom of the lid. This is where you will dispense the milk from.

Step Two:

Cut off the other end of the box. You will put the milk into the box from this end.

Step Three:

Tape the lid to the rest of the shoe box (you could probably tape the lid on first, but I figured it would be easier to do the cutting without the lid attached).

Step Four:

Fill with milk!

Now, whenever I pump, I can just put the bag in at the top, and whenever we need milk I can just pull it out from the bottom and I know that it will be the oldest stuff. Not too shabby for a mere thirty minute investment of my time!

Homemade Tile Coasters

So far, this whole attempt at being crafty has been pretty successful. Not only are the crafts turning out well, but they are also pretty darn cheap to create, which definitely increases my satisfaction with them.

We made these coasters as favors/prizes for my sister's bridal shower, and they were super easy.

Supplies used (all but the tiles, which we found at a hardware store for twelve cents!):

Cork, Mod Podge, Foam Brushes, and Waterproof  Clear Acrylic Spray. You'll also need scrapbook paper or whatever you plan to decorate the tiles with.

Directions (sorry I don't have pictures to go with the steps; we were a little rushed the day we were making them!):

Glue cork to the back of the tile (I suppose I should have included super glue as one of the supplies. Whoops!). I just glued a small square of cork to each corner, but if you could do as much as you feel is necessary.

Cut your paper to fit the tile--we found that it worked best to cut the paper just slightly smaller than the tile so that we didn't have to deal with excess hanging off the edges.

Apply a thin layer of mod podge to the tile. If you use too much mod podge at this step the paper will curl as it dries (you could also use a spray adhesive for this step, but I opted not to because I didn't feel like buying another item if I didn't need to).

Place your paper on the tile and cover generously with mod podge (don't worry if it makes the paper look a little milky-colored; it will dry clear!).

Allow to dry, then coat with waterproof acrylic spray.

That's it! Super easy, reasonably cheap, and totally customizable! The possibilities are endless; I even had guests at my sister's shower sign extra pieces of paper so I can turn her "guestbook" into coasters. Hopefully I'll get that done before her wedding (which is next week already!), but I'm not making any promises.

Light on Snow

So this is another book that I read way back during William's first weeks home from the hospital. And like The Deep End of the Ocean, I read it mostly during the middle of the night. So my review on this probably won't be the most accurate/reliable, but I'm going to share it anyway because this is my blog and I can do what I want  :-)

My biggest issue with this book (and it's something that has happened with other books as well--Suite Francaise comes to mind) was that I formed a preconceived notion of what I thought the book would be and it ended up not being that way. Which, for whatever reason, when that I happens I have a hard time getting into the book because I keep waiting for it to do what I'm expecting it to do. Obviously this isn't a flaw of the book itself, but just my understanding of the book and how I interpreted the synopsis.

In short, the book is about a father and young daughter who discover a newborn abandoned in the woods. And while there is plenty of excitement and anticipation with that discovery and the immediate resolution of it, things more or less fizzle out on that front pretty quickly. Instead, the focus seems to shift to how this discovery impacts the relationship between the father and daughter--a relationship that is developed through periodic flashbacks (flashbacks that seem, at times, random and disconnected from the development of the story).

Like I concluded with Suite Francaise, I think I would enjoy this book much more the second time through because I would have a better understanding of what to expect and wouldn't be waiting for something that was never going to happen. But even with my false perception of the book it was still enjoyable the first time through--the daughter was an entertaining character, the narrative style was easy to follow (aside from a few somewhat random flashbacks), and the plot was certainly interesting and unique.

The Deep End of the Ocean

To keep myself entertained (and awake!) while nursing William at night and then rocking him back to sleep, I've been reading through a few books that have been on my shelves for months. Of course, I wasn't very intelligent when I picked this book as the first one to read; the story is about a family (primarily the mother) and how they cope with the disappearance of their three-year old son. Great choice to read while I'm nursing my newborn :)

The clear disparity between my life circumstance and the book's plot aside, I actually enjoyed this book for the most part. It felt like I was following a news story about this boy's disappearance, complete with an inside look at the family life (and maybe it's just me, but I always get sucked into those kind of news stories. Remember those three missing Ohio girls who were found alive years later? I must have read every news article about that story. And I still occasionally Google for updates now that the story is out of the limelight). I liked how the characters seemed very "human", and acted in believable and realistic ways. I also found myself able to commiserate with the mother quite a bit, not just because I am now a mother, but because in stressful situations, I also tend to be more of a "flight" than "fight". And for about ninety percent of the novel, I enjoyed reading about the trials and sorrows of this family trying to cope and adjust to their "new" life.

However, the last ten percent of this novel seemed rushed and disjointed to me (bear in mind, I was reading this in the middle of the night, so perhaps that affected my judgement a little). You know how sometimes when books are made into movies parts are cut out or shortened to keep the movie from getting too long? I felt like that's what happened at the end of this book. It was like the author was quickly approaching her deadline, or felt like the book was getting too long, so she just hurried up and ended it. While there was still resolution to the conflict and an effort to wrap up loose ends, parts of the ending were just weird at times (at least to me) because it felt like the book was jumping from point A to D without any clear explanation as to why.

I would probably recommend this book (but maybe not to people who just had their first kid!), and I think I would even reread it myself--just not in the middle of the night.

Painted Vases

One of the craft projects that I was eager to try for my sister's bridal shower was DIY Painted Vases. It seemed like a really easy concept--cover some vases with painter's tape (in whatever pattern you want), spray the vases with any color paint, peel off the tape, and bam! Done.

And you know what? It was pretty much exactly that easy! Granted, I can't really take much credit for these particular vases because my brother's fiance Macy did all the work on them... But I'm confident I could mimic her efforts and create them myself.

Before...

After!

A few pointers. For one, be careful with curved vases. Macy found that it was difficult to get the tape to lay flat along the concave part of the vase, which left some of the lines not quite as crisp and straight once the tape was removed. Nothing terribly noticeable, but a consideration nonetheless. You may also want to consider doing multiple coats of spray paint, depending on how opaque you want the paint to be. We opted to finish the vases with a coat of waterproof clear acrylic spray just to give them some extra protection, but that step probably isn't necessary if you are going to use the vases strictly for decor and not actually put cut flowers in them. Oh, and the easiest way to spray them so that you don't get paint inside the vase? Turn them upside down. You're probably laughing because that seems like such an easy and obvious solution, but Macy and I both struggled trying to figure out how we would keep paint from getting inside the vase. Thankfully my mom was there to solve our problem.

Best part about this craft (besides how awesome they look)? Dollar store vases, $3 spray paint, and painter's tape that we already had on hand. Boom! Nice and cheap.

Gone Girl

At our book club meeting at the end of March, we were debating what book to read for our gathering in April. Thanks to my dear sister-in-law, I happened to have Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn sitting around my house, and pulled it out as a suggestion. After reading some reviews on it and a brief synopsis, we reluctantly agreed to give it a shot.

Why, you ask, do I say that we "reluctantly" agreed to read it? Well, as we were looking up information on the book, the things we were reading made us a little nervous about what we were going to be getting ourselves into. Here is just a sampling of some of the reviews/comments about this book:

"Marriage can be a real killer"
"[Flynn's] work draws you in and keeps you reading with the force of a pure but nasty addiction"
"Gone Girl's toxic mix of sharp-edged wit and deliciously chilling prose creates a nerve-fraying thriller that confounds you at every turn"
"Compulsively readable, creepily unforgettable, this is a must read for any fan of bad girls and good writing"
"An ingenious and viperish thriller"
"Burrowing deep into the murkiest corners of the human psyche, this delectable summer read will give you the creeps and keep you on edge until the last page"
"[Flynn's] most intricately twisted and deliciously sinister story"
"Gone Girl is a dark, satisfying, psychological thriller"

I could go on and on, but I think you get the point. Lots of references to "dark", "thrilling", "psychological", "creepy"--you can understand why we were a little unsure about picking this for our book club selection. Especially since not all of us were thrilled about the prospect of a book that would keep us up at night. The final verdict, though? We LOVED it. Yes, it's definitely dark, thrilling, psychological, and creepy, but not in a "there's a serial killer lurking outside your window" kind of way. Of course, it might still keep you awake at night, but only because your thoughts will be so consumed by how disturbing and dysfunctional this couple is that you won't be able to sleep. But at least that's not nearly as traumatizing.

I don't really want to say too much else about the book because it would be hard to go into any more detail without giving away some of the twists and surprises. So I'll just end by saying that you should definitely read this book. And be prepared to be blown away.

Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas

When Darrell and I find a recipe we love, we stick with it. We don't look to improve it, we don't look to find one that might be better--we stick with what we know works and call it good. So imagine Darrell's surprise when I suggested trying a new chicken enchilada recipe. He knows that I love our chicken enchiladas and was shocked that I would consider changing or replacing it. However, I quickly assured him that this recipe would do no such thing--it would be a second chicken enchilada recipe (can you ever have enough Mexican recipes? I think not). These two recipes are so different that there is no way to pick one as being better than the other. Our "original" recipe is much more traditional, with salsa and pepper and some cream of chicken soup for extra creaminess. But this one? The chicken is marinated in a sweet/spicy honey lime sauce, and the enchiladas are covered in gooey Monterey Jack cheese and green enchilada sauce. Wildly different flavors from our other enchiladas--but equally delicious. So delicious that Darrell and I have made it twice in three weeks--and considering it makes two to three days worth of leftovers, that's a lot of enchilada meals. And we're not even close to being sick of them. In fact, we're already looking forward to making them again--I'm thinking this will be a good one to whip up once baby arrives: easy prep for a delicious meal with lots of leftovers. Definitely a win in my book!

Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas
(recipe originally found here)

3 tbsp honey
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1 tbsp chili powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 lb chicken, cooked and shredded
8 tortillas
16 oz shredded Monterey Jack cheese, divided
2 10 oz cans green enchilada sauce
1/4 cup heavy cream (half and half would probably work here as well)

Mix the honey, lime juice, chili powder, and garlic powder together. Pour over the shredded chicken and stir to combine. Marinate for at least thirty minutes. Preheat oven to 350*. Spray a 9x13 pan and then pour a little bit of enchilada sauce on the bottom of the pan. Fill a tortilla with approximately an eighth of the chicken mixture and a few tablespoons of cheese (set aside at least one cup of the cheese to sprinkle over the top of the enchiladas). Roll up the tortilla, place in pan, and repeat until all the tortillas are used. Mix together the cream and remaining enchilada sauce. Pour over the top of the enchiladas (it may seem like a lot, but it isn't overly sauce-y after baking). Sprinkle with the reserved cheese. Bake uncovered for 30 to 35 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

Apricot Chili Pork

Honestly, this recipe deserves a big, grandiose introduction describing its incredible deliciousness... But all I can muster right now is TGIF. Because that's really all I can think about. And truthfully, even if I did try to tell you about how wonderful this recipe is, I'd probably come up short because there is no way for words to capture the magnificence of this meal. So please, allow me to revel in the fact that it is (FINALLY) Friday, and just try this dish for yourself so you will know how truly fantastic it is.

Apricot Chili Pork

(slightly adapted from here)

2 pounds pork tenderloin, fat trimmed

Spice Rub:

1 tbsp chili powder

1 tbsp garlic powder

1/2 tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Glaze:

1 1/2 cups apricot jam/jelly

1/2 cup barbecue sauce

1 tsp grated fresh ginger

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp hot sauce

2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

2 small limes, juiced

Mix together spice rub in a small bowl. Spread over the tenderloins (or place into a bag and toss to coat). Cover and refrigerate two to twenty-four hours. Preheat oven to 375*. Place the pork tenderloins in a roasting pan (or 9x13 pan lined with foil and lightly greased). Bake for 15 minutes. While the pork is baking, melt the apricot jam in a saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat and stir in the remaining glaze ingredients. Set aside half of the glaze to serve with the pork. When the 15 minutes is up, remove the pork and brush it with the apricot glaze. Bake for 15 more minutes, then brush again with the glaze. Bake an additional 10 minutes or until the pork reaches 160* internally. Remove from the oven, tent with foil, and let rest for five minutes before slicing. Serve with the reserved glaze.

30 Before 30: Crafts

So the last of my 30 before 30 lists is the one that is probably going to be the most difficult for me to complete. Mostly because by nature, I am not a creative, do-it-yourself kind of person. Not necessarily because I don't want to be, but because I tend to talk myself out of attempting projects due to a fear of failing (I'm a little bit of a perfectionist). And with the possibility (or likelihood) of the project ending up a disaster, I usually reason that it makes more sense just to go out and buy the product (or pay someone else to do it for me) so I don't have to waste my time making an unsuccessful attempt (plus then I don't feel like a failure).

Darrell, however, is soooo not this way. He's always up for trying some new project (whether it's building bookshelves for the nursery or a patio for our backyard), and he isn't afraid to just dive right in to the task (sometimes I actually wish he'd put a little more research into what he is doing, but he's been successful with all his projects so far, so I suppose I can't complain too much).

I've decided that the attitude I'm going to have to take toward crafting is the same one that I've been working on accepting as a soon-to-be mother: I know that as parents Darrell and I are going to "fail" plenty of times, but that doesn't mean we can throw in the the towel and give up. We have to learn to adjust, maybe redefine our idea of "perfect", and take pride in what we have. Easy enough, right?  :)

Since I'm not very in tune with this whole crafting thing I don't exactly have a laundry list of projects that I'm dying to attempt, but I have stumbled across a few that I think might be fun. Especially as I work on planning a bridal shower for my sister. So we'll see how this goes--here's to hoping I can (successfully!) get through thirty projects in thirty months!

Homemade Tile Coasters
Yarn Eggs
Tiered Snack Stand
Ziploc Bag Book