Putting it to Pen: My 2011 Goals

Many people set resolutions, but I prefer to set goals. There are many things I hope to accomplish in 2011, but I will--come hell or high water--at minimum do the following:

1. Overhaul the Downstairs Bathroom: When I first moved into Spring Maples 2 years ago one of the first things I did was rip the ugly wall paper off the bathroom walls; however, that is where the bathroom remodeling ended. The downstairs bath isn't huge, and I already have some ideas in mind (which Garnet Hill seams to read, but that's OK because they're having a HUGE sale), but I'll post more on that once I commence renovating.

2. Go Vegan One Day Per Week: I'm doing this for two reasons--first, for health reasons (I am a cheese fiend and actually consume far too much) and second, to expand my cooking horizons. I love milk and cheese and butter, so don't worry, I'm not actually giving them up for good.

3. Run a 10K and Finish a 5K in Under 30min: I love running and can actually run decent distances, but boy am I slooooooow. I have a plan, though, really I do! I bought a digital watch with a timer, and I've started keeping a training log on RunnersWorld.com that's pretty nifty. I've also set some reward points  for myself (don't judge) i.e. if I run [insert number] miles in January, I can treat myself to a new piece of running gear from Lululemon. Hey, we all have our own motivators--most of mine involve shopping!

Throughout the year, I'll blog about my progress as I deem it relevant/interesting. For instance, today is my first Vegan day! So far, so good. I had some Silk soy milk with my espresso this morning, an apple & peanut butter for lunch, and I have a Larabar for a late afternoon snack. For dinner tonight I'm going to make my friend Katie's Amazing 7 Can Soup with just a few tweeks. This soup is delicious, filling, and it re-heats beautifully. Below is the recipe and how I've adjusted it to be Vegan-friendly.

Katie's Amazing 7 Can Soup

1LB - Ground Meat or Soy Crumbles (I didn't use either)
1 Package - Taco Mix
1 Package - Powdered Ranch Mix ( I also left this out and just added chili powder, cumin, garlic, and basil
1 Can - Rotel
1 Can - Corn
1 Can - Diced Tomatoes
3 Cans - Beans of Your Choosing (I used Kidney, Cannelini, and Pinto)
1 Can - Water

- If you're using some form of meat or soy crumbles, brown them in a large stock pot and when cooked sprinkle with seasoning packets.

- Dump in the rest of the ingredients.

- Bring to a slight boil, reduce to medium-low and cook for about 20 minutes or until thorougly heated.

- Top with crushed tortilla chips and shredded cheese if desired.

Mini Kitchen Makeover=New Ceiling Fan and Pink Cabinets

I don't quite have the funds yet to totally overhaul my kitchen, but I figured there had to be SOMETHING I could do in the interim do spruce things up.

As I sat staring at the orangish-brown cabinets, I remembered that I still had 3/4 of a can of "cherry blossom" aka pink stain left from an earlier project. Hmmmmm...I had always planned on painting the walls an apple green, and my Kitchen Aid appliances are all pink, so why not go all out with the pink and green kitchen concept and have pink cabinets too?!

I immediately got to work:

Taking it all apart

I took all the doors off and removed all hardware, placing the hardware in Ziploc baggies for safe keeping. Then came the sanding, and sanding, and sanding some more. Whatever had been on those cabinets was an absolute nightmare to remove!

Sanding

After almost wearing out my sander and about 5 million sheets of sandpaper later, I decided to try a varnish remover on the doors (obvi this part was done outside). At first I followed the instructions: dabbing a cloth, rubbing in circles, blah blah blah, it's supposed to come right off--yeah right. I decided that just pouring the remover on was a much better method. I poured some on, sat back ,and watched the varnish bubble up. After that I just took a scraper and removed the "skin" but don't worry, there was still MORE sanding to do ever after that.

***I dont recommend this project to anyone who doesn't like sanding***

Staining

Old socks work great for applying stain! You'll definitely want to wear rubber gloves for this, or else you'll end up with a lovely stain covering your hands (I still have pink stain under my fingernails). I ended up doing 3 coats of stain and then 2 coats of the semi-gloss clear coat: oh yeah and make sure everything has dried before your next coat. Also note, that "drying time" varys with temperature and humidity.

Putting it all together

I decided on one of my 50 trips to Home Depot for sandpaper, that I wanted new hardware--easy enough right? One problem, the holes for my old handles were slightly off from my new handles. Luckily my grandfather was on hand to help with the rather tedious task of measuring and drilling new holes. Putting the actual cabinet doors on, was also a bit more difficult than I'd estimated. Since the cabinets are old (early 1900's) and handmade, things don't exactly fit as nicely as you'd like them to. I had to unscrew several doors, and drill new holes just to get everything back to how it had been.

Et Voila!

(that wallpaper is on the list, for the next phase of the kitchen makeover)

Let's not forget my new fan!

Ceiling fans are actually very easy to install if where you're putting is already wired for a fan. Note, that I highly recommend buying a fan without a light and doing your own light kit: you have SO many more options, and they're much better than the ones that come with most fans.
I must admit that for awhile, this whole kitchen project was reminiscent of Humpty Dumpty; I thought I was going to need all the kings horses and definitley all of his men. However, once I realized that things weren't going to happen overnight, I took my time, did it all (almost) by myself, and I couldn't be happier with my pink cabinets!
P.S. I love colored stain, and I've learned that a $14 can of stain can last you, a washstand, 3 picture frames, your kitchen cabinets, and you'll still have some left over!!!

Home Renovation: Where to begin?

So I recently became a homeowner; I bought my grandparent's house in West Virginia! I hope to have some pics of the actual house up soon. I'm super excited about the house, but there's a whole lot of work to be done. I hope to do a lot of it myself, which should prove entertaining to say the least. Obvi, I'll document this renovation project so y'all can learn some tips and laugh at my mistakes.

Also, the purchase of this new house means I can have a real garden!!!

Anywho, before I get to start the "fun" stuff like painting and decorating, all the wiring needs to be updated. Don't you agree?

How it all Began

Being from West Virginia, I thought I knew a thing or two about gardening. This spring when I started my very own garden (of the container variety) I quickly realized how little I actually knew about gardening. Despite hours of online research, no one told me that a monsoon might hit at 4:00 a.m. and I would have to run outside in my pajamas to save my little seedlings from drowning. Nor did I think that due to the aforementioned rain, I would spend much of the spring with my bathtub filled with waterlogged plants. And I most certainly was not told that I would spend many a morning chasing squirrels around my backyard in my bathrobe...