'Tis the Season

It has been a bit since out last post- let's catch up!

We are finally unpacked and moved in. Our house continues to feel a little empty but we are slowly decorating, getting organized, and envisioning more projects for ourselves. We love our house. And to reflect on the holiday season, I must restate how very blessed we are. Danny and I never imagined to have a home this early on, much less a home like ours. We originally intended to be in our apartment for two years and then look to buy a home. However, the stars seemed to align and with the blessings of Danny's job going very well and me being given the chance to leave Regence and start my career at Boeing, we got lucky. I was simply miserable at Regence but God had bigger plans and I trusted them. Things have been wonderful since!

Outside of adjusting to the house we have been busy hosting friends and family. It's felt nice to share our home and break it in. Along with that we are distracted by the usual busy-ness that attaches itself to the holidays. Christmas shopping is almost done; I am lagging on my end but at least I see the end. We bought our first Christmas tree and hung some lights and although we won't be here for Christmas, we simply couldn't resist. 

Danny recently finished his second quarter of his MBA program which proved to be much tougher than the first. His financial class was the hardest class in the program and he did very well! It is nice to have it out of the way and winter break has been welcomed with open arms. Overall, his classes are going very well and he is enjoying the challenges.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving in Portland with Danny's family and are headed out to Spokane for Christmas with my side of the family. While there we are planning to rent skis and hopefully survive a day on the mountain. Danny has skied before but it has been a while and neither of us have been up to the mountain in a couple years. I have always been a snowboarder so this whole skiing thing will be fun... Wish us luck!

Since I doubt there will be any posts until after Christmas we wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Please travel safe!

Making our house a home

We made it! We have finally closed on our house after four months and it is SO exciting. We are falling in love with it all over again and have realized that the result was worth the wait. The day we got our keys we set up an air mattress in our bedroom and spent the night. We quickly realized it was a little boring with no furniture, internet, television, fridge or anything to cook with. But nonetheless, we love it and we continue to get excited about it every time we walk in.

Maddie is adjusting. She will usually wait at the bottom of the stairs instead of following us up and down. We are pretty sure she is just lazy. She also doesn't like that she can't see us from any room and watching her on the wood floors is hilarious. I sat on our stairs and she would check if I was okay and then sit beside me, and then check on Danny - she is the best dog! Although we have a small yard, she loves sniffing and exploring everything and I can promise our yard will be squirrel free.

Our house will be quite empty for a bit since we have moved from a one bedroom apartment to a four bedroom house. We have everything we need to live with, everything else is stuff we can buy for fun or get to eventually. Packing is going well and our big move is in two weeks, the weekend before Thanksgiving. Danny and a good friend of ours installed the garage door opener last weekend (the first home project)! It is so different knowing this will be our last move for quite a while, but such a great feeling. We can finally settle in and just enjoy our home. I am so excited about decorating for the holidays, and making it home. I never had this feeling in apartments  I always knew they were just temporary and never put much effort into decorating.

We also went to a corn maze and pumpkin patch with some friends before Halloween. This is becoming a yearly tradition...we all have just long enough to forget how frustrating the mazes are. We spent about an hour finding our way through the maze in the deep and very slippery mud (this beats last years record by an hour)! Despite the obstacles, we really do have a good time! Plus, all the mazes are not far from our new house so next year we will most likely have an after party at our place. 

Here are a few pictures. I you would like to see more of the inside, please email one of us!

Food Stuff.

Food is good.

Most of my cooking is done by finding a recipe online, or taking a recipe and making small changes to it. This is great, and since I am by no means a qualifier for Top Chef I am usually quite pleased with what I make. Danny and I have really been trying hard to stick to budgets lately. We use Mint.com to track all of our spending and our bills. It works pretty well but there are a few things that are hard to stick to, one of them is food for which I blame myself mostly. Cooking is a hobby to me- I like to try new things and these recipes sometimes involve food that may be slightly out of our budget. We also like to do happy hour with friends, or just grab dinner with them. It is fun to go out and since we are all "growing up" we are no longer in the same neighborhood. Traffic in Seattle is always terrible so it is easiest to meet in the middle and catch up with friends. We are not really into going out to bars anymore. Basically, we are old and get tired too early to drink much or stay out late.

One dinner I made recently with absolutely no recipe was an orange honey ginger glazed pork loin (See? I am getting better). And it was delicious. I served it with a spinach pear feta salad and a home made poppy seed dressing- so good! I realized that that we can save money by making our own dressings. They are so easy and most of the ingredients consist of things we already have. I am REALLY trying to work with what we have on hand- it saves us money and makes me a better cook (or at least I like to THINK it does. Danny may just be an awesome husband and tells me to food tastes great- thanks!).

We are taking a Cajun cooking class at some point in Seattle just need to schedule it. I am a huge fan of southern food and culture, so this class will be right up my ally. One of our favorites is jambalaya. It is pretty easy to make and great for lunches the following day. Another fun recipe is bacon wrapped shrimp and grits with a spicy poblano pepper sauce. Sooooo good, and I am not big on spicy food by my love for southern food surpasses this. This recipe is a lot of work but worth it in every way. 

I will try to get better at writing recipes down...I am normally adding here and there and spontaneous about it all so it is tough while I am cooking.  But someday :)

Keeping It A Surprise

Riss and I grew up with fairly different perspectives on the building of a house.  She grew up with new rooms being constructed, walls brought down, repairs being made to drywall, and a variety of other construction projects in her family's house.  For me, we didn't really do all that much structural changes which meant I never got to see framing constructed, drywall go up, floors get laid, etc.  To say the least, getting to see all of this happen step by step has been incredibly fascinating for me.  Our house has reached a point where all of the aesthetic features we chose out (cabinet layout and color, stone choices, paint color, etc) are now going into the house and its becoming exactly what we had imagined.  This last visit was a huge change from the physical structure vs. the things that begin to make a house a home.

The next time we see the house, it will be for our structural house inspection and everything will be almost completely done! We are going to TRY to hold off visiting it until then...

Almost completed fireplace

Cabinets

Dining and living room with lighting

Glance of mill work around doorways

The "Un" predictable Future

I feel it, fall is here and I love it. The only reason why fall is not my favorite season is because it is too short. That makes it the runner up to summer, but it's okay, the two are almost tied. Darn you fall, but thank you for bringing so many of my favorite things! 

When I started this blog, I didn't intend for ALL of it to be about our house, but alas, these things happen and it seems to be the topic of many of our conversations. We DO have other things going on, I promise. For example, Danny started his second quarter and it is already proving to be harder than the last. That is partly because he is taking two classes, but also because they are both more intense than the last class. I opted out of this quarter, I knew the motivation was not there, at all. So I didn't do it. 

Work has been steady and Danny is traveling to Japan in October for about a week. We have plans to visit Leavenworth in late October with some friends and if you have never been there, I highly recommend taking the adventure. It is a fun little mock German town with gorgeous mountains, fun festivals, good beer, and great food. There is also a lot of outdoor stuff if you are into that. In fact, we went rafting on a river near Leavenworth about a year ago- tons of fun!

Many of you who know us well know that Danny is the planner in this marriage. To the "T". He plans most things. He makes excel sheets of basically everything, strangely accounts for EXACTLY how much time it will take to get from A to B (no joke, he is good, it's weird, but awesome - I rely on this a lot), and always examines the process of things. He is fantastic about keeping the calendars updated.

I however, am not a planner. At all. This is probably the same reason that I would have failed any attempt at becoming an event planner for my career (which I did consider). I would have been great for about a year, and then not. I am getting better though, and in some situations, I really enjoy it. Google calendar is pretty cool and Danny just got me away from the old school calendar on the fridge thing. 
So where does this lead? As with many couples after they get married, and especially when they buy a house, the question most married couples get or at least the one that is on everyone's mind is, "When are you having kids?" The assumption by many is that since we have a house (almost), we must be pregnant. That is not the case. We DO want kids though, we promise. But first, we would love to take one last big trip to Europe, Asia, or South America, but we will see where life leads us. 

The kiddos are in our future. While we may not be able to tell you a precise time, when that time does come, we will be so very excited, loved, happy and know that we have the best of family and friends surrounding and supporting us.

Stay tuned! Also...as a side note: Danny and I are terrible about taking pictures of anything but the house. We are hoping to get better at this so we can post some of us and other things.

Walls up, siding done!

The annual Schlaich camping trip over Labor Day Weekend was a blast and an appropriate subtitle encompassing the weekend would be "Dogs Gone Wild."  To say the least, having four different dogs in one campsite, two of which were less than a year old, made for some entertainment. We were definitely able to feel fall in the air as nice sunny days turned into chilly nights. 

We also had the opportunity to meet Matt and Bri's exchange student from Thailand. She was very friendly and we hope she had a good time! It was her first weekend in the U.S and I am not sure camping is what she had in mind, but it is how we live and it is  great opportunity. She later commented on how Americans eat a lot. I would have to agree...but in some fairness, camping is not the best example. It does make us think that so much of our culture revolves around food, as do many cultures. Danny and I try to eat healthy, and eat less, but we are not perfect. The fact is, we ENJOY food, and we like to eat, but because of that, we are more careful of how we eat, when we eat, how much, and what it is. I will never say no to dessert, put simply, it is delicous and I enjoy it. But I account for it in my meals and what I eat all day and am careful to not overeat. At some point, I will write more on this topic on a different post.


Moving on to the house :)
As has been the trend, we have continued to visit the house twice a week but there hadn't been much visible change (mostly electrical, plumbing, HVAC, etc).  Well... we made a visit on Friday and were surprised to find all of the siding up and drywall done!  Talk about really seeming like a house now, not being able to look through all the walls anymore.  Here are some of the pictures from that visit.  Whether it's because of all the nice weather or just everything going smoothly, our closing date was moved up from Nov. 15 to Nov. 2.  We will be doing our pre-closing orientation walk on the 19th which means we are only 30 days from seeing it all finished!

View of pantry and kitchen area

View of family room and fireplace

View of formal dining room / living room

View of top of stairs, spare bedroom, master bedroom door

Summer is Closing

Summer is coming to an end, and as sad as we are to think about the rain and cold temperatures that may bring, we also can’t wait for the fall. With fall comes pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin beer, corn mazes….and so much more. And, to top it all off, our house is getting closer and closer!

Life has been busy but fun lately. I keep wondering why it doesn’t feel stressful, as we have lots going on with my classes coming to an end, Danny beginning the next quarter soon, and our jobs. But life is simply trucking along, and it is great- stress has just passed by. I think we have done so well at keeping things in perspective, and keeping our priorities in line. First and foremost, Danny and I, and our relationship come first. Whatever that means, and whatever it takes, we are first. We have always had this mind set and I think because of this, everything seems so easy. Even if work is demanding, or finances are being pulled, cars break down, or whatever, we place our relationship and time together as number one. Everything else can wait. If we are good, life is good. Whatever comes our way, we tackle it, brush it off and move on.

We are heading to Spokane for the weekend to attend a wedding of a good friend of mine, Andrea, from high school. I can't wait to see her and maybe others from high school. It will be a great time! Unfortunately we will not be there long and time with the family will be little, but we are gearing up for the annual, (a whole two years!), Schlaich family camping trip over Labor day weekend.

Within all of this, we have still managed to visit the house twice a week and are amazed how quickly things are coming together. We have a roof! And windows! And showers and tubs! Very exciting. Here are some more pictures:

House with windows and roofing!

Our amazing master bath soaking corner soaking tub



Window right above living room, should let in lots of natural light



Skylight above upstairs hallway and stairs

Fireplace in our family room

Picture of kitchen, pantry, and greenbelt outside.

Things are flying by now...

As has been the case the last several summers, things sure are busy for the two of us during the summer.  This last weekend consisted of going to Professional Bull Riding, The Great Urban Race (see pictures on Facebook), a brief chance to see the house, and finished with us going mountain biking for our one year wedding anniversary.  For those of you who haven't heard of The Great Urban Race, it is the local equivalent to The Amazing Race.  We were provided 12 clues that were either mental or physical challenges that took us all over the city (we ran all of it).  To say the least we were exhausted at the end, but had a ton of fun throughout the race.  We ended up placing 27th of 162 teams so in our opinion we did pretty well.  :)

On Sunday when we were able to stop by the house and were pleasantly surprised to find a huge portion of the framing already completed.  In just a week it went from the foundation to the entire first floor framing done and a portion of the second floor.  Below are pictures of most of the main rooms and we plan to go to the house again on Wednesday to see just how far it has come.  With the progress already made, we expect the second floor to be done and more pictures will be posted then.

View from the front

View of formal living room/front door

View of formal dining room

View out of dining room window

View of staircase from formal dining room

View of pantry in kitchen

View of kitchen

View of family room with fireplace

View of garage from utility room

A Delicous new Recipe

I am always looking for new things to cook, techniques to try and food to eat. I am by no means a great home chef, but I love cooking. Lately it has been tough with school and the new job but I did manage to find some time Sunday night to try a new recipe. Shrimp seems to be one of our staple foods- we buy the frozen bags of jumbo raw shrimp and always have them on hand. This recipe was DELICIOUS and if you like shrimp, try it! It's a panko breaded shrimp with toasted couscous and a ginger orange sauce. This will be one that we will make for guests. Pair it with some white wine and appetizers and it makes for a great host dinner.

Sauce:

• 1 cup orange juice $
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro $
• 2 tablespoons reduced-fat mayonnaise
• 1 1/2 tablespoons fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon grated peeled fresh ginger
• 1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper

Couscous:

• 1 cup uncooked couscous
• 1 1/2 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
• 1/2 cup orange juice $
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup chopped green onions $
• 2 tablespoons sliced almonds, toasted
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter 

Shrimp:

• 20 jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined (about 3/4 pound) $
• 1 large egg white, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh cilantro $
• 1/2 teaspoon grated peeled fresh ginger
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 2 cups trimmed watercress

Preparation

1. To prepare sauce, bring 1 cup orange juice to a boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat; cook until reduced to 1/4 cup (about 10 minutes). Remove from heat; cool completely. Stir in 1 tablespoon cilantro and next 7 ingredients (through red pepper); set aside.
2. To prepare couscous, place couscous in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat; cook 3 minutes or until toasted, stirring constantly. Add 1 1/2 cups broth, 1/2 cup orange juice, and 1/2 teaspoon salt; bring to a boil. Remove from heat; cover and let stand 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork; add onions, almonds, and butter, stirring until butter melts. Keep warm.
3. To prepare shrimp, combine shrimp and egg white in a large bowl, tossing to coat. Combine the panko, 1 teaspoon cilantro, 1/2 teaspoon ginger, and black pepper in a large zip-top plastic bag. Add shrimp to the bag, and seal and shake to coat.
4. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat; arrange shrimp in a single layer in pan. Cook 2 minutes on each side or until done.
5. Place 3/4 cup couscous on each of 4 plates; top each with 1/2 cup watercress and 5 shrimp. Drizzle each with 1 1/2 tablespoons sauce.

Enjoy!

Tickin' Away

It has been a few weeks but life has continued to be a whirlwind. We think it is beginning to slow down but I am sure things will pick back up. I started my new job at Boeing and although only one week into it, I am really enjoying it. It has been great to carpool with Danny in the mornings- I think it adds that extra little perk to getting up and commuting in. It is also great getting to see each other first thing when we get off work. We are loving it. 

As for the house, there has been some progress. We have been driving up every week to see the changes, and they have laid the foundation. Nothing too exciting, but it means things have started! Originally the foundation was to be set back on the property but we were able to catch it soon enough and ask the builder to move the foundation forward to give us a couple more feet of backyard. It is already a fairly small yard so we want every inch possible. The two homes next to us are well on their way and moving quick. As soon and our house begins the building phase, we will be driving up twice a week. 

Looking down the main street of our neighborhood. This picture doesn't show it, but Mt. Baker is in the distance.

Looking down main street again.

This is our neighborhood park. This will make up for the lack of a backyard :). It is only a block away from our home.

Our foundation! Not so pretty, but we are excited to see it!

Enjoy the pictures!

New Beginnings

Where to begin? Our lives have been a whirlwind lately, but full of wonderful blessings. I was recently offered a new job at Boeing and will be working in the building right next to Danny (yay for carpool!). We are both very excited about this. And as a result of this job...drum roll please...we bought a new house! The house is in Snohomish, an absolutely beautiful city north of Seattle, and somewhere we never saw ourselves living. But as life goes on, we roll with it and this is where life has taken us.

Our house will not be finished until November since we bought it as a pre-sale. It will be a gorgeous four bedroom, two and a half bath house that has a big 'ol kitchen and a wonderful area to entertain friends, host family, and eventually raise a family. For any of those who have experienced the home buying experience, there were so many things to consider and it was not an easy decision. No, we didn't get everything we wanted in a house, but I am not sure many people do for their first home, or even their second, if there is a second. What is important is that our house is beautiful, we have wonderful neighbors that we have met already, we have a beautiful view, great school district, and an amazing future to look forward to.

We will be taking pictures throughout the building process and keep everyone updated.
 

This shows some of the view from our neighborhood. We will try to get more picture of the view on a day that is not cloudy.

Where our house will be. Hi neighbors!

The greenbelt to the left of our house. This is part of the reason we chose this lot.