year twelve in music

holy woah.

how in tarnation is it already december?

(yes, i just used the word tarnation)

so this happened today. the yearly family tree outing.

<3

minus dad and eric. boo. but we all sang 'call me maybe' in the car and joe and i busted out 'gangham style' dance moves and we got some fambam pictures. so all in all, a fabulous day.

 

so i wanted to document the music i purchased this year, cause somehow i feel like music is a reflection of where i've been this past year. so here goes:

 

artist/album

the bird and the bee/ray guns are not just the future

esperanza spalding/radio music society

of monsters and men/my head is an animal

alabama shakes/boys and girls

jason mraz/love is a four letter word

eric hutchinson/moving up living down

gotye/making mirrors

alex clare/late lateness of the hour

god help the girl/god help the girl

abba/greatest hits

justin beiber/believe

walk the moon/walk the moon

piney gir/geronimo!

rihanna/talk that talk

childish gambino/camp

joshua radin/underwater

john mayer/born and raised

will retherford/walk

two door cinema club/beacon

brigitte/et vous, tu m'aimes?

noisettes/wild young hearts

mumford and sons/babel

gungor/beautiful things

various artists/holidays rule

she and him/a very she and him christmas

adele/21

lana del rey/born to die

taylor swift/red

any albums that stood out to you this past year?

 

recipe: peanut sauce

(via)

 

eric and i went on a lunch date on monday to sivalai thai restaurant.

our roommates had recommended it a while ago, so we finally went to check it out

annnnnnnnd...

it was AMAZING. 

like forseriously AMAZING.

it's a family restaurant, a bit quaint, but the food and the service!

the food was amazing. super filling and delicious. thai iced teas for a buck. that alone means i'm sold.

plus, they brought out a free appetizer for us annnnd a free mango sweet rice dessert,

which in eric's words were "i could eat this for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and fourthmeal."

so you know it's legit! 

bahaha:)

the appetizer came with peanut sauce.

and i was slightly embarrassed when i was caught eating alone it with my fork.

i think the waitress's words were,

"good peanut sauce, eh?" 

uhhhhhhhhhh. yes. :)

 

so that brings me to this recipe for peanut sauce found at the amazing thai food blog she simmers.

  it pretty much tastes exactly like the stuff in the restaurant. 

and it's super easy.

and i made some yesterday and it's pretty much all gone already.

good sign of a 5 star recipe.

so go here for the goodness of shesimmers easy thai peanut sauce.

her website has a really nice printable version of the recipe and other tasty thai yumminess! :)

 

note: i didn't have massaman curry paste, so i just used mostly yellow curry paste with 2 tbsp of red curry paste and it was just right for me: mostly mild with just the right amount of heat. i had marinated chicken in a whiskey ginger marinade and cooked some rice. it was a super tasty hit.

different together

i love being married to eric.

he's awesome.

and kind.

and the most helpful & humble person i've ever met.

and he's super different than me,

which always makes things interesting.

:)

this is eric's lab.

he designs, builds, solders, creates, and 3D prints cool stuff down here.

and he listens to people all over the world with his Ham radio.

this is ellen's art space.

she creates, designs, sews, hot glues, and makes pretty things up here. 

and she has dance parties when she needs a break.

and as much as we like our own things, 

i'll be honest:

sometimes our differences are frustrating.

sometimes i want eric to go dancing with me.

sometimes i want him to go to an opera with me.

sometimes he wants me to play strategy games with him.

sometimes he wants me to learn Morse code. 

 but thankfully we can laugh at how opposite we are.

and know that God did that for a reason.

i think it's so that we get outside our boxes and learn and appreciate things that are different than us.

so we've been trying to say yes to each other more often when activities are suggested. 

also, we're both incredibly blown away by each other.

last night, eric designed an circuit board to control the temperature of a project he's working on.

yeah, and it only took him a few hours. bam. 

and he was pretty impressed with some sewing kits i assembled for the girls i'll be hanging with next week. 

all this to ask,

do you have any suggestions for activities/projects that we could do together?

i mean, i'm pretty sure we could rule the world, but since that's not really an option for date nights, a little help would be awesome.

:)

thanks!

pinterest for dinner

i'm being honest.

cooking is not my favorite thing. 

if i'm inspired, yes.

but if i get home and am tired, blech.

so my newest technique?

peruse pinterest for a meal. 

and hope that i have most of the ingredients on hand.

then run run run across the street to safeway.

and come back with a dinner inspiration. 

phew!

 but it seriously helps me so much! 

so here's a list of tasty things i've made in the last couple weeks via pinterest:

1. cauliflower aged white chedder soup

 (via)

2. oreo chocolate chip cookies

(via)

3. pumpkin pie almonds

(via)

4. cranberry-pecan clusters

(via)

these next two recipes are in cue:

1. garlic rosemary & lemon potatoes and brussels

(via)

2. cranberry-lime vodka

(via)

and i totes recommend the oreo chocolate chip cookies. they are incredibly delicious!

catch up: part 2

(just a bunch of resident crazies...i mean my family) 

so this one time, i went to maui for my uncle's wedding and my whole family went.

oh wait, that was two weeks ago.

annnnnnd it was AWESOME. 

here's some pics to prove it. ;)

 top-bottom l-r

1. flying into maui

2. nathan and i after 10 months of him being gone in australia

3. "the ocean is my bathroom"

4. joe post shaved ice

5. cliff jumping!

6. i can't keep track how many shaved ices i ate. nom nom nom.

1. more reunion pics!

2. see above

3. "...."

4. meagan with hula pies!

5. little morning reading sesh

6. me and the boy with more shaved ice

7. bamboo forest 

8. the kiss!

9. fambam

sarah, seth, thomas, joe, me, and nathan.

one of the days we took our really fancy rental cars...

 (yeah buuuuudy)

and drove around the east side of the island to hana. 

after a hike through the bamboo forest,

and some quick cliff jumping in the venus pools,

we ate some delicious thai food in hana,

and drove like maniacs

to catch the sunset at ho'okipa lookout.

  oh. and we went snorkling...

  and good times were had by all!

so long maui, until next time...

<3

      

catch up: part 1

 ladies and gentlemen,

it's been a while. 'nuff said.

here's catch up pics from the last 2 months via my instagram feed.

above: started ballet classes! 

 went to grant and jen's wedding in nampa, idaho.

far right: best friends from high school!

 labor day at the beach with the girls.

aunts, cousins, beautiful weather, oh my!

couldn't have asked for a better time:)

top-bottom, left-right

 1. columbia river gorge from washington stonehenge

2. remnants of my birthday party weekend

3. dad teaching me how to sail

4. my lover sleeping soundly

5. color run with my in-laws and their neighbor

6. packing for hawaii

part 2: hawaii!

it's never too late

(via)

today i did something i've been wanting to do for a long time.

i signed up for a ballet class. 

back in the day, when i was a little person, i actually did ballet. but it didn't last too long because apparently when i was that little, i wasn't very graceful or flexible. so my parents did what many other parents would have done.

the signed me up for soccer.

soccer was awesome for me, but there has always been something about ballet.

now that i think about it, it's honestly something more along the lines that i need to prove to myself that now that i'm an adult, i am able to be graceful and ladylike and i can make my hands do that fancy position.

(via)

yeah, like that...

 and signing up for classes means i can cross one more thing off my bucket list.

  :)

two years down

our little getaway was just what we needed this year.

finally finished up collecting the things to go camping.

it's only taken us 2 years to do this...:)

so we packed up and headed to forlorn lakes, wa.

it was a lovely time: 

setting up our tent for the first time

zipping sleeping bags together

flame cooked marinated steak ftw 

sleeping in

meeting friendly birds

and being right next to a lake

with my wonderful husband

plus:

 got to look at all the pretty windsurfers in hood river, or

stopped at full sail brewery for lunch

devoured some delicious ice cream at mike's

had a beautiful view of mt adams

and only got lost a few times on all the (very poorly marked) forest roads

:) 

and so begins our camping addiction.

 in the last week and half we've gone camping 3 times! 

 a very good anniversary to say the least.

cheers to many more years, my love! 

born and raised

its my last day. 

and i've spent it in pasco, wa.

sleeping in, swimming in white frothy linens and cloud-like pillows.

running a long bath and listening to john mayer.

sitting out by the pool reading one thousand gifts. (thanks kat!)

and reflecting on my time at this job.

as i was reading, i read over this particular sentence a few times and then had to say it out loud:

"to behold one more moment pregnant with wonder"

i think this is really all i want to do: to be so fully engaged in the present that i am able to see all the beauty around me. the book is really making me reflect on my happiness project.

and i'm starting to understand that being happy is more about being thankful.

-------------------

today i finally purchased john mayer's born and raised.

and as i was listening to the title track, i couldn't help but feeling content knowing that this transition is good for me and the people around me.

"and all at once it gets hard to take
it gets hard to fake what i won't be
cause one of these days i'll be born and raised
and it's such a waste to grow up lonely

  i still have dreams, they're not the same
they don't fly as high as they used to
i saw my friend, he's in my head
and he said, "you don't remember me, do you?"

and i just want to remember

:)

explorer status

l-r

1. roomies picked 30lbs of blueberries

2. little art piece i made

3. fudge covered rice crispy

4. girl date with lauren at the delicious salt & straw
(and we totally saw wentworth miller at petite provence on alberta!) 

5. morning shot of calgary

6. late summer nights chilling with couch surfers

7. ubber feminine outfit

8. a fabulous interactive book

9. got our wedding mosaic picture hung in our room!

also exploring all my options for the next chapter of my life.

contemplating photography/graphic design/dance classes.

we'll see!

p.s. i've been searching for a program to create mosaics for my instagram pics, finally found it here!

chapters and changes

there's been much on my mind the last month or so. 

lots of sorting and debating and i knew i had a choice to make.

and i chose to close one chapter and open a new one.

so i'm closing the chapter of my life that i was a flight attendant.

it wasn't an easy choice by any means. i have loved being a flight attendant! it's been such a great job for me and quenched my thirst for adventure. 

i have loved traveling and working and having new experiences all over the place every day!

but i have given up a lot with this job too.

and i've written all about that already here and here.

when i first signed up for this job, i signed up to be based in seattle or portland.

and 3 weeks into training i found out i would probably being going to medford, or,

which was a deal breaker.
(plus i'd be gone again for 5 nights a week).

and that happens at the end of august, so i put in my two weeks yesterday.

and it was scary.

scary because i don't have have anything else lined up yet.

but i've been super blessed to have a very supportive husband and family who believe i'm making the right choice. and i believe i am too. as much as i have loved being a flight attendant, i realized that it was not allowing me to be as involved in my family and community, which for me, is a very high priority.

so the fun begins again as i start looking for a new job. 

two potential craigslistings thus far:

1. professional dog runner

2. dance instructor (no experience needed!)

(and i'm kinda serious about the dance instructor) 

so thus far i can cross off:

nanny

after school assistant

social worker/youth mentor

flight attendant

i'm actually kinda excited to see how many random awesome jobs i can add to the list,

so any suggestions are very welcome:)

36 hours

i love new books.

eric and i went to powell's the other day and i found this book.

and it's beautiful! 

it gives you the basics of what to see/eat/do in 150 cities around the us and canada.
according to the review, it offers "dream weekends with practical itineraries."

and with my job, 36 hours is most of the time what i have to work with:)

so i bought it.

and eric bought this book.

yup. modern javascript: develop and design.

oh, i love us.

:)

p.s. just a little shout out to my momma cause today's her birthday.
love you momma!

party dress

 

image via xtabay vintage

in my perfect fantasy world, people would still dress up in gorgeous gowns

attend balls

and dance and drink often.

but alas, i am far removed from that lifestyle.

but a girl can dream, no?

and this sparkle tulle dress would be my number 1 choice for some fancy soiree:

image via ktjean

love the lines, cut, femininity, and sparkle.

fancy fancy:)

colored tips

there is a rogue part of me

that wants punk pop colored tips 

a few months ago i read this dyed tips tutorial and fell in love with the idea of colored tips:

image from the beauty department

but unfortunately with my job, i have to look a tad more professional than that

and can't have anything super permanent

so that's why i was super excited when a cup of jo posted this chalk tipped hair tutorial that makes it easy to get the dyed effect without the dye!

top image and these from a cup of jo

so now i can indulge my wannabe punk rocker nature

and use super bright crazy colors to tip out my ends

now i just wanna grow out my hair.

:)

happiness update

i realized the other day that its almost june! which means im almost to the halfway point in my happiness project year.

i have been trying to decide if i'm happier than when i started the happiness project and...

i think so.

i've been thinking more about spiritual things.

i've been better about eating healthier.

my marriage is going very well.

i've been better about trying to keep things clean and organized.

anne and i started a beth moore study.

and i just set up an ira for eric and i yesterday. :)

i think i'm still so 50/50 on my job that it's holding me back from feeling definitely more happy.

and that's just the truth.

i love flying. i love meeting new people. i love helping people. i love hearing about other people's adventures. i love getting flowers from passengers (yes, this really happened!). i love believing that most strangers are friendly, helpful, and interesting. and plus, i love traveling to new places and exploring!

really, the only downside is being on call 5 days a week in a city that i don't actually live in. 

aka being away from eric for 5 days a week.

that is a bummer.

but that all might be changing just around the corner:)

other than that, i know im happier. 

i've accomplished a lot in the last few months. 

of course they've been mostly little things.

but the little things end up being the big things in the end.

<3

pics that make me happy

oh, it is love

me and my love at butchart gardens

2012 has and will continue to be a big year for eric and i.

she: left her social work job
she: got a job as a flight attendant
he: left intel
he: got a sweet job at a start up company
they: celebrate 2 years of marriage in august
they: both turn 25 this year
he: finishes his masters in electrical engineering

we have gone through a lot of transitions since we've been together,
(more than i ever thought we would)
but the change has helped us stay on our toes and recognize that marriage is fluid.
yes, sometimes that means it's crazy and stressful and hard to keep up with learning about ourselves together and individually, but its been awesome to be together and watch how we've both grown and changed, and still love each other more than ever.

i stumbled across some wonderful marriage advice this week:
love, dad from a former president
marriage secrets for 15 years of happy marriage

oh, it is love
<3

your pretty little...

 

hairbows

 

hats

 shoes

 

 surfboards

dresses


finding pretty things on the internet while i sit at the airport. yup.