Why I Chose to be a Stay-At-Home-Mom

Here is the second article from a couple weeks ago.

5 Lessons of Homeownership

Here is one of two articles I published a couple weeks ago, but I've been too busy and scatterbrained to share them!

Duhn-nun… Dunh-nun, dunh-nun, duhn-nun… Ay Ay Ay...

It's safe to say it's been a pretty hectic couple of weeks for this Emerald City girl. Between school, kids, family, and random life stuff, I feel like I've been going 8 miles a minute lately.

(Yes, that's a Bob Seger reference)

(And yes, it's okay to combine Ozzy and Bob Seger references… I encourage it, actually)

Winter quarter is winding down in a few weeks, which means that everything is due all at once and none of the instructors seem cognizant of the fact that we have more than one class. So that's fun.

On top of that, this happened:

This was her first night here. She wouldn't leave the door mat!
Now she's my shadow.

Meet Luna!

She's an 8-month old German Shepherd mix that we adopted from the Cheyenne Animal Shelter. She's the sweetest pup ever. Now, I'm not really a dog person, but the kids have been dying for one for a couple of years now. We were waiting until our little guy was big enough (and potty trained enough), and began keeping an eye out for dogs in the last couple of months. Then, through some sort of kismet, we met Luna.

Her first few days with us she was very quiet and timid, but she has warmed up really quickly to us, and in some sort of ironic twist, I have become her favorite. She's adorable, and we're buds, and she's already super protective of all of us.

Maybe I can be a dog person after all…

Then this happened:

New couches!!!

Leather. Reclining. Need I say more?

Finally, this happened:

Yep. I got braces. My top teeth have been crooked my whole life, and I had sort of resigned myself to it. I felt like it would be ridiculous to get braces as an adult. I felt like I'd lived with my teeth the way they were for this long, I might as well just let it go. (Or try, at least)

Then I changed my mind. I think part of it had to do with turning 30, and deciding to take charge of things that I had the power to change. Like working out regularly again. Pursuing writing more. Getting more involved politically.

And getting straight teeth.

High Altitude Baking Tips

Here's an article I wrote discussing some tips for successful baking at altitude. As I discovered the hard way, baking at high elevations is… well, tricky. Things either get too fluffy, or not fluffy enough. Or both, oddly enough.

If only my breads came out as pretty as this!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cake

I know I haven't blogged much lately. Life has been exceptionally busy and random lately, but I'll be back soon, I promise!

Until then, here is my latest Yahoo! Voices article. It was for my favorite baking recipe, and I chose one of my childhood faves.

Give it a try, I know you'll love it!

Latest Yahoo! article

Here is an article I wrote a few months ago as part of a project for Yahoo! homes. I was actually beginning to lose hope about it being published, but apparently when they say "future project", they take it quite seriously. Anyway, here it is!

The Zen Veggie

By the way, I started a new blog called The Zen Veggie.

Check it out!