Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween from a very sad lion and two hippy parents.

We tried to do a retro Halloween with the lion coat and the 70s clothes but it just isn't working.  BB hates his costume and we have NO IDEA WHY.  He loved his facepaint (which is just brown eye liner) but as soon as that coat goes on LOOK OUT.  Hopefully he's not too traumatized and no permanent damage has been done.  

Recipe: Stuffed Pumpkin

Here's a recipe I adapted to fit my needs, inspired by A Couple Cooks..  I hope you enjoy this!  It's stuffed pumpkins for two!

You Will Need
A small pumpkin (about 2 - 3 pounds)
1 cup quinoa (white, red, or mixed)
1 medium leek
2 cloves garlic
¼ cup fresh thyme and/or sage
3½ tablespoons olive oil (divided)
½ cup slivered almonds
Kosher salt
Fresh ground pepper

Roast the pumpkin:  Preheat the oven to 425°F. Cut pumpkin in half, and scoop out the seeds with a spoon. Drizzle ½ tablespoon olive oil over the cut side and season with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper. Place the halves cut side down on a baking sheet, and roast for about 20 to 35 minutes, until slightly browned and easily pierced with a fork.
Make the quinoa: Cook the quinoa using about 2 ¼ cups water and 1 cup quinoa.
Prepare the fresh ingredients:  Chop off the dark green stems of the leeks, then slice them in half length-wise. Place each leek half cut-side down on the cutting board, then chop it into thin slices.  Prepare your fresh herbs.  In a skillet, heat 1½ tablespoons olive oil. Add the leeks and cloves of garlic, and saute but do not let them turn brown. While you saute the leeks, toast the almonds – place them in a small skillet and toast over low heat, until slightly browned.
BaddaBingBaddaBoom:  When the quinoa is done, stir in the sauteed leeks. Then add the herbs, almonds, kosher salt, and fresh ground pepper. Taste, and add more salt or pepper to taste, as well as a drizzle of olive oil if desired. When the pumpkins are done, spoon quinoa generously into each half.  Serve immediately!

I was so hungry the only photo I got was this camera photo.  We ate them with baguettes and it was GOOD!

I Need Ideas!

I need some ideas.  What are we supposed to do with this active, curious kid all winter long?  It rains here - A LOT - and, in about a week, Daylight Savings Time will bring about a 5pm sunset, thus (probably) ending our evening walks through the neighborhood.  The children's museum has a "pay as you will" program which means they appreciate any donation you can give them.  So, we would like to add that to our routine and visit it weekly.  What else?  Any more ideas?

We can only build so many block towers.  Please help!

Autumn Confessional

My only fall decorations.

I think I've made it pretty clear that I love summer.  My birthday is in the summer, I love wearing tank tops, I love wearing swim suits, I love having a tan.  For me, the end of summer in the Pacific Northwest is a sad, sad thing.  Autumn indicates the start of the rainy season.  In just two short months we transition from hot, long days to cold, short days.  I like a crisp fall day, but not as much as I love a warm summer night.  Remember this quote from Sleepless in Seattle:  "Seattle?  It rains nine months out of the year in Seattle!"  Um, yeah, Niles Crane.  It does.  It really does.

Don't get me wrong, I love sweaters and pumpkin spice lattes and things that are orange like of the rest of you.  But I'm not crazy for fall and it's mainly because of the weather and the holidays.  Which leads me to part two:  Halloween or Thanksgiving.  As far as Thanksgiving goes, I told you last year why I don't like Thanksgiving.  How un-American, right? Sorry.  Well, what I remember of Halloween was trick-or-treating with my dad and uncles and friends - which was the only cool part - and being sick from eating too much candy.  I was always cold and I usually ended up wearing a rain coat over my costume which defeats the whole purpose... MOM!  Here's a Lindsy-ism for you:  If I'm cold, it's automatically a bad day.

I do want BB to have wonderful memories of every holiday, though.  So, I'm trying to get excited about Halloween. (Except we haven't even gone to a pumpkin patch yet! Whoops!)  We've purchased him an adorable lion costume and I will be taking photos at our church while Dan and BB will be doing whatever people do at church Halloween parties.  We dont have Thanksgiving plans yet, although, last year we went to the coast and ate Mexican food and I was very pleased.

Here are my fall-inspired Instagrams.  Thanks for reading my rant.

Happy fall from BB!

Jogging with my new [used] BOB stroller.  Note the fall leaves.

I made stuffed pumpkins! (Recipe coming soon!) 

Warm soup from Tacoma's best (only?) soup joint!

Pretty fall leaves (in the bitter cold).

Link Up: Tattoo Stories

Tattoos are strange because they're private and public. Private, because they often have deep, personal meaning; and public because they are art exposed on your skin for the world to see. Most tattooed people prefer not to talk about their tattoos. I’ve always found that strange. Tattoos are personal, meant to be enjoyed by the body they cover, and yet they are there for everyone to see.

The tattoo culture has always fascinated me. When I was a kid, it seemed as though tattoos were reserved for the military, prisoners, and rock stars. I dumped a guy I was dating in high school because he said he wanted sleeve tattoos and I couldn’t imagine myself with someone with sleeve tattoos. I did not want to be white trash. And, now, here I am a decade later with more tattoos that I can count and a husband with a three-quarter sleeve (and Abraham Lincoln on his thigh).

What I find interesting is that the tattoo culture is no longer a sub-culture. Soccer moms have tattoos, grandparents are getting fresh ink, and it feels like everyone has one or everyone wants one.  Readers, do you have any tattoos?  Do you want tattoos?  Share them here with my first ever LINK UP!!!  If you have a post about your tattoos already, share it.  If you want to write a new post about your tattoos, share it, just for me, please!!!  If you want to blog about why you don't have tattoos, share it.  If you want to blog about what tattoos you would get if you could, share it!

Dan and I, our first tattoos.  Photo by ©Jaquilyn Shumate Photography, 2008.

To enter, click below on the blue text:  Click Here to Enter and follow the instructions.  It's that simple!  Include our little button on your blog, if you will.  Thanks for linking up and sharing your stories!

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Narnia

"All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: in which every chapter is better than the one before." - C.S. Lewis, The Last Battle

Well, anyway, I looked up and saw the very last thing I expected: a huge lion coming slowly towards me. And one queer thing was that there was no moon last night, but there was moonlight where the lion was. So it came nearer and nearer. I was terribly afraid of it. You may think that, being a dragon, I could have knocked any lion out easily enough. But it wasn't that kind of fear. I wasn't afraid of it eating me, I was just afraid of it - if you can understand. Well, it came close up to me and looked straight into my eyes. And I shut my eyes tight. But that wasn't any good because it told me to follow it.” “You mean it spoke?” “I don't know. Now that you mention it, I don't think it did. But it told me all the same. And I knew I'd have to do what it told me, so I got up and followed it. And it led me a long way into the mountains. And there was always this moonlight over and round the lion wherever we went. So at last we came to the top of a mountain I'd never seen before and on the top of this mountain there was a garden - trees and fruit and everything. In the middle of it there was a well. “I knew it was a well because you could see the water bubbling up from the bottom of it: but it was a lot bigger than most wells - like a very big, round bath with marble steps going down into it. The water was as clear as anything and I thought if I could get in there and bathe it would ease the pain in my leg. But the lion told me I must undress first. Mind you, I don't know if he said any words out loud or not. “I was just going to say that I couldn't undress because I hadn't any clothes on when I suddenly thought that dragons are snaky sort of things and snakes can cast their skins. Oh, of course, thought I, that's what the lion means. So I started scratching myself and my scales began coming off all over the place. And then I scratched a little deeper and, instead of just scales coming off here and there, my whole skin started peeling off beautifully, like it does after an illness, or as if I was a banana. In a minute or two I just stepped out of it. I could see it lying there beside me, looking rather nasty. It was a most lovely feeling. So I started to go down into the well for my bathe. “But just as I was going to put my feet into the water I looked down and saw that they were all hard and rough and wrinkled and scaly just as they had been before. Oh, that's all right, said I, it only means I had another smaller suit on underneath the first one, and I'll have to get out of it too. So I scratched and tore again and this underskin peeled off beautifully and out I stepped and left it lying beside the other one and went down to the well for my bathe. “Well, exactly the same thing happened again. And I thought to myself, oh dear, how ever many skins have I got to take off? For I was longing to bathe my leg. So I scratched away for the third time and got off a third skin, just like the two others, and stepped out of it. But as soon as I looked at myself in the water I knew it had been no good. “Then the lion said - but I don't know if it spoke – ‘You will have to let me undress you.’ I was afraid of his claws, I can tell you, but I was pretty nearly desperate now. So I just lay flat down on my back to let him do it. “The very first tear he made was so deep that I thought it had gone right into my heart. And when he began pulling the skin off, it hurt worse than anything I've ever felt. The only thing that made me able to bear it was just the pleasure of feeling the stuff peel off. You know - if you've ever picked the scab off a sore place. It hurts like billy-oh but it is such fun to see it coming away.” “I know exactly what you mean,” said Edmund. “Well, he peeled the beastly stuff right off - just as I thought I'd done it myself the other three times, only they hadn't hurt - and there it was lying on the grass: only ever so much thicker, and darker, and more knobbly-looking than the others had been. And there was I as smooth and soft as a peeled switch and smaller than I had been. Then he caught hold of me - I didn't like that much for I was very tender underneath now that I'd no skin on - and threw me into the water. It smarted like anything but only for a moment. After that it became perfectly delicious and as soon as I started swimming and splashing I found that all the pain had gone from my arm. And then I saw why. I'd turned into a boy again. You'd think me simply phoney if I told you how I felt about my own arms. I know they've no muscle and are pretty mouldy compared with Caspian's, but I was so glad to see them. “After a bit the lion took me out and dressed me –“ “Dressed you. With his paws?” “Well, I don't exactly remember that bit. But he did somehow or other: in new clothes - the same I've got on now, as a matter of fact. And then suddenly I was back here. Which is what makes me think it must have been a dream.” “No. It wasn't a dream,” said Edmund. “Why not?” “Well, there are the clothes, for one thing. And you have been - well, un-dragoned, for another.” “What do you think it was, then?” asked Eustace. “I think you've seen Aslan,” said Edmund. -- C.S. Lewis, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader – Chapter 7

“It isn't Narnia, you know," sobbed Lucy. "It's you. We shan't meet you there. And how can we live, never meeting you?" "But you shall meet me, dear one," said Aslan. "Are -are you there too, Sir?" said Edmund. "I am," said Aslan. "But there I have another name. You must learn to know me by that name. This was the very reason why you were brought to Narnia, that by knowing me here for a little, you may know me better there.” ― C.S. Lewis, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader 

“I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now...Come further up, come further in!” ― C.S. Lewis, The Last Battle

Christmas Card Family Portraits

Have you made your appointment yet?

[I Think] I've Made a Huge Mistake

Lindsy and I quote obscure TV shows and movies on the regular so I apologize to anyone who knows me and never realizes that 90% of what I say is a quote you've never heard and I sound like a crazy person.  Thus, the title of this blog. [Arrested Development, anyone?]

Lindsy and I have wanted a motorcycle for quite a long time now. We've owned one before and we also owned a Vespa, but it's been about 3 or 4 years. Well, the reason we haven't had a bike is because we are cheap.  We don't spend a lot of money (except that random one or two times a year that we get the bug to go on a 24 hour spending frenzy! Which I'm sure no one else ever does). Well, as cheap as we are, we found a motorcycle for only $500 and we bought it.  Today! It has a clean title and just had $800 worth of work on it and it came with a helmet. But now I'm nervous. Did we make a good choice?  I know our moms will say "no, you did not!". Well, I guess time will tell.

Hello, open road! Good to see you again, old friend!

-Dan

Budgeting

Surprise!  Dan and I are not rich.  He makes a decent salary for a touring musician and I have a good job but we're not rich.  We worked hard to pay off debt the past couple of years and we are so happy that all we have left are a couple of small student loans. Since our debt has been gone, we've been saving Dan's paychecks and living off my income because we'd like to buy another house someday.  Here are some ways we've been able to save on a pauper's wage:

CARS
One of our best financial decisions was selling our newer (2005 Chevy Malibu) that we were still paying off.  This left us with an '87 BMW.  Some people scoffed, thinking it was foolish to keep the older car but, between the payment and the extra insurance, it saved us nearly $400/month (which have been saving, not spending).  Inevitably, the beemer needs some work.  It goes into the shop tomorrow for a pricey tune-up but we're not too upset because we've saved ourselves thousands this year by only having one car.

(So, YAY!  Dan's back.  Welcome back, Dan!  You get to figure out how to get our dead car to the shop.)

UTILITIES
Here in this part of Washington, our summer days are long and not too hot so there's little need for electricity at all.  We don't even need air conditioning.  But once the days get shorter and the nights get colder, our bills skyrocket.  Our gas bill is $25 in the summer and up to $275 a month in the winter.  Since I work from home (and Dan does, too, when he's not on tour) we keep the heat running all day long.  So, I figured it would save us almost $10 for me to shut down the heat for 8 hours a day and work from a coffee shop so I'm going to try and do that more.  We've also been heating our bed rooms with energy efficient oil heaters.  They keep our bedrooms nice and toasty while the rest of the house is frigid and we're saving tons of cash by doing this.

FOOD
We love good, quality food.  We used to go out to eat or buy all of our foods at fancy markets but that's not a good use of our money.  Groceries are a big deal now that we have a tiny man who can eat almost as much as I do (Where does he put it all?!?).  I've cancelled our weekly delivery of organic vegetables and vowed to stop by the local fruit and veggie stand that I pass ALL THE TIME but never shopped at because I was fancy and got my vegetables delivered.  Times are tough and I can save us quite a bit of money by buying my own produce.  Also: Winco and Grocery Outlet have saved our lives.  Grocery Outlet sells overstocked items at about half the price and WinCo is just cheap.  They're kind of like a non-member Costco because they have a lot of bulk and overstock.

CASH
I'm really bad at this but I would like to take cash out on paydays as a way to budget.  If I promise not to use my debit card (or leave it at home) and just use the cash I have, I will make MUCH better choices.

So, fingers crossed, we'll make it through the cold, rainy season (and the Christmas season) and still be able to save.  What are some creative ways that your family has saved?

Juggling

On Sunday, I told Dan that this week was going to be boring.  That was before I remembered that I had a MILLION things going on!  Sometimes I forget.  (The whole, living one-day-at-a-time thing.  Like I've said, it can be endearing but usually it's just insane.)  This week I've had two baby swim lessons, a parent meeting, a much-needed oil change in my car, tonight a mega concert, and a major tattoo session this weekend.

I feel like I am juggling so many things when Dan is on tour.  Honestly, I don't know how I do it all.  I just do.  BB is still going to daycare while I work but there's still the cooking, cleaning, laundry, shopping, emails, photo-editing, a social life, and so on.  I know I'm doing okay when I see how happy BB is.  And I remind myself that he doesn't need to be constantly entertained or held.  He needs independence, too.

I'm even more exhausted after writing this.  Sometimes writing helps me process but in this case I've just realized how many things I'm juggling and how tired I am! AH!  I have nothing planned tomorrow or Friday night. I really need to figure out how to relax....

How cute is this face!?!?  I love this little ham.

Baby Book

I remember these baby books from my childhood that were really pastel and tacky?  My mom had one for each of her four children.  I think that was the thing to do in the 80s, record milestones in a really pastel, really expensive book that no one would ever look at, ever.  Then, in the 90s, moms got into scrap books.  Oh, Lordy.  I got into scrapbooking.  I have a high school scrap book filled with  stickers and die cuts.  Scrapbooking parties?  Are those still happening?  I have the most two-thousand-and-three of wedding scrapbooks and I DO love it but, I am so over scrapbooking.  Who has the space in their homes and the funds to buy all that junk?  (Besides my mom and mother-in-law who both have scrapbooking shrines rooms... love you guys!)

Maybe moms still use baby books and scrapbooks.  Or, maybe moms just have blogs and Facebook to record their kiddo's milestones and memories.  Obviously I blog about some of these things but that doesn't feel like enough.  I want to have something tangible, something we can cuddle up with on the couch as I flip through the pages with the boy once he can understand what he's looking at.  I want hand written notes from the day I went to get him, the first time he rolled over, his first time eating solid food, the first time he slept through the night, when grandparents came to visit.  I've been journaling since 2007 about the process to start a family and you know that I take a million photos.    (We have 1,500 photos of BB on our computer and a few hundred on our cell phones).  Our walls are filled with artwork so I cant frame every photo I print but I wanted a reason to print my photos in the first place.  That's why I was thrilled when I finally got a Smash Book!  From the website: These aren't just your ordinary journal pages, they're covered with images, designs and captions to make design a snap. Includes 40 pages and a SMASH pen and glue stick. Book size is 7.75" wide x 10.25" high.

My Smash Book has photos, messages from me and Dan, memories, ideas and love notes. It usually sits on the kitchen counter and I can grab it and write something down anytime I feel.  There's no timeline and the pages are inspiring and fun.  I'll never regret taking too many photos or journalling too much, but I will regret the opposite.  Therefore, the Smash Book is really easy way for me to record sweet little memries that I want to hang on too and, as I mentioned before, gives me a reason to print some of our millions of photos.

I don't know why, but I've always loved photos.  I love to record things everything.  I've always been a journaler, a keeper of photos and artifacts.  Now that I have this precious child, I am doing everything I can to record everything.  The other day, Dan said to me, "You know what's funny?  I feel like we don't have enough pictures of him."  We both laughed at how ridiculous that was.  And then I added, "Me neither."

Signed,
A Photo-Hoarder and Journaler

Excerpts from our Smash Book:

Holiday Special: $75 Photo Sessions

Hello, locals!  Now is the time to get a family photo.  For just $75, you will get a 30 minute time slot with myself AND Grace, from Grace Loves the Beatles.  Two photographers for one low price.  Your package will include three digital images of your choice.  Prints and canvases are available for purchase.  We also design Christmas or Holiday cards!  So, email us now and we'll pencil you in.  We'd love to work with you!

Happy Holidays! (It seems too early to say that, doesn't it?)  Sincerely,

Lindsy & Grace
LMR Photography

DIY: Antler Necklace Display

I had some antlers lying around and I have always wanted to mount them on something.  I found a little key-holder for $6.99 at a craft store and the project began.  And, it was surprisingly quite easy.

YOU NEED: an electric drill, drill bits, antlers (I got these from a friend whose dad hunts), wooden plaque, and screws.  Spray paint is optional.

1)  Drill a hole in the end of each antler.  Keep in mind what angle the drill hole should be at so that they attach flush to the plaque.  These suckers are tough - animals use them to fight! - so you might want to start with a little drill bit and work your way up.

2)  Drill into the plaque in the place you'd like the antlers to be.

3)  Using the corner of a table, screw in the screw so that it just sticks out the other side of the plaque. Attach the antler (I'm making that sound a lot easier than it is.  It will take a few tries, trust me.)

4)  Paint it, let it dry, hang it up!

Politics Schmolitics

To quote Mike Herrera (of MxPx...obvi), "Politics schmolitics, it's too confusing."

#21 on my 30 before 30 list was: Make an informed vote this November. While I'm still a little very behind in the presidential campaign, I have gotten involved with a local campaign to reject a tax increase that will supposedly help out our local transit.  I dont think my (mostly) happy, little blog is a place to preach my politics.  I am most concerned with how fired up I have gotten over a proposition.  Wow.  If you heard my rants, you'd be scared.  Dan is a sweet man for listening to me.

Gosh, who am I?  A woman who is about to become 30, I guess.  And, I'm crossing #21 off my list because I think getting a political letter published in the paper counts as being informed.

I am feeling empowered.  And scared.  Mostly scared of the stress I will surely feel if and when the opposition comes after me.  I like to argue when I'm sure I'm right.  Regarding this issue, I am sure I am.  I've done my research and I am sure.  So, to my opposition, I welcome your ignorance responses.

Instagrammed

You were right.  I love Instagram.  I'm a little obsessed.  I post about 2 - 6 photos a day and I have no plans of stopping.  It's just so fun!  Here is my week in Instagrams.... a.k.a. My Instaweek.

We passed this ship and I was like, 

"STOP THE CAR!  I HAVE TO INSTAGRAM THAT!!!" 

And so, that's what we did.

I cut my own bangs.  They're ok, I guess.  

I'm just glad I'm not growing them out anymore 

...because that was the opposite of attractive.

We got BB his own little baby toothbrush and baby toothpaste and he loves brushing his teeth.  

If you REALLY want to read more about this, see yesterday's post:  HERE.

I got some new shoes. 

Dan  has been writing music in our basement lair.

I took this by accident.  I was in the backyard, shielding my screen from the sun.  

Dan and I were having a discussion about our future.  And I said, verbatim, 

"I just want every day to feel like Saturday and unlimited amounts of cash in our bank account."  

DUH.

This toothy grin is the most amazing sight!  I love this boy!

This was our pre-coffee, coffee.  

We went out for breakfast but I made espresso before we left.  

We are kind of addicted.

So, that's a glimpse at our life.  Follow me at @LMRphotos if you wish to see more!