Pool House, also known as Cori's House

My sister, Cori, is moving in with us this weekend. This will be the fourth state that she has moved to and lived with us at least part of the time. She's a lot of fun to be around and shares my "make do" attitude when it comes to silly things like extra bedrooms, and we decided to convert part of the pool house into a bedroom.  First, let me say that building up there in the photo can be an oven inside. It's nothing but a metal shed with a plywood floor. There is a decent chance that Cori could wake up with a gecko in her bed. We're doing what we can to avoid that though. There is no insulation in there, so this would be impossible to do in the summer time without major interior renovation. Fortunately, the weather is mild now and will be for a few months at least. I imagine pretty soon it will be getting quite cold at night and that could be a problem as well, but if you think of it like summer camp, or a beach side cabin, you can make it work. I think. And yes, if worst comes to worse, we can make room for her in the house, but this is where she'd prefer to stay. This is what it looked like to start. (forgive the foggy "before" photos. They were done with my cell phone)

Like I said, a metal shed with plywood floor. And a lot of stuff stored in there and more likely to come (as we are still unpacking). There's pretty doors in the front, and sliding glass doors in the back that can be opened for ventilation (still working on getting some sort of screening up). We decided to consolidate most of the stuff at the back end of the pool house and do the best we could with extra stuff and stuff stored in there already to at least make it look more like a living space. This is what we came up with.

We started with a couple of area rugs that we weren't using anymore, and some off-color green carpet squares (indoor/outdoor) that were in the pool house. We used the extra fencing and paneling as "walls" that could be decorated in various ways.

For the sitting area, we used our Albany porch furniture. It's a little faded, but that makes it "distressed", right?

I got that little green table out of the trash in Albany one day, and I was almost embarrassed that I had the movers bring it. I love it though and am glad there's still a use for it. The bedding is actually Cori's from when she lived in Albany with us. I think it would be cute to clothespin some photos or something to the makeshift "headboard". I don't know. There's a lot you could do there, and I'm sure Cori will want to change things to make it her own.

Mazzy decorated with paper butterflies and flowers. The two "shutter" doors on the right actually go to the kitchen, and Dax and I have already talked about hanging them back up. I'm not sure when that will happen though, so in the meantime I used them to hide an ugly corner. I also placed them upside down so the slats go upward. I thought maybe it would be a good place to hang earrings, jewelry, photos, etc.

I hung the calla lily photo by tying an polka dot scarf (again, Cori's from when she lived in Albany), through the hook in the back and then hanging it from the fence panel.

Another view of Cori's bed. It's an air mattress for now, but it has layers of sheets, sleeping bags, and the nice blanket on top. The shelves there were the kids' changing table (there's an extra piece that you attach to the top). I have no idea where the curtain thing came from, but I found it in the garage. It's pretty shabby looking, but it does the job of camouflaging the metal shelves with the the pool supplies).

And finally, one last look. It may not be year-round livable, but for not spending a penny, it's pretty cute.

Morning

I'm loving the new house, and mornings especially. We have this great Florida room (or as my sister and I call it, the Flo Rida room. lol)
and in the mornings especially, it makes a terrific little "internet cafe" kind of spot to drink my coffee, surf the web, and start my day.

I probably spend more time in this room than any other in the house, at least now while the weather is still mild. This room doesn't have central air like the rest of the house, so I know when it's hot again, it's going to be miserable in there (although there is a window unit, but I bet it would be really expensive to cool). For now though, it's the perfect place to be. Almost outside, so I can keep an eye on the kids if they're in the pool. I can work on editing. I can grab a hoop and practice with online tutorials. We have all of our board games in here and can sit at the table and play cards, put together a puzzle, or do some homeschool work. Best of all, I sit around all day in swimwear just in case I need a quick dip to cool off. Or if I just don't feel like putting on real clothes. :)

Moving on.

I've officially been an Orlando resident now for 3 weeks. So far I like it here a lot, and am enjoying the sunshine to the fullest. I will miss Albany though, and all of the great friends I made there. My last week there, I had a great girls' night dinner with some of the best ladies I've ever met! I have a hard time making friends sometimes (stupid shy), so this meant so much to me to have such a great group of women who were going to miss me and were sorry to see me go. I've moved several times over the years, and while it doesn't get easy, I do get a little used to it, but I'm always surprised when I do move, the number of people that care that I didn't really expect contrasted with the people I thought would care, but certainly didn't seem to. Regardless, it was a great week of catching up with friends and dinners out!

After about a week and a half, our stuff finally arrived! We kept all of the boxes in the garage, to try and make the rest of the house stay someone organized, and it's working so far. The tough part is trying to navigate the boxes in the garage when we're trying to find something "important". For the kids, that is TOYS! I've enjoyed watching them work together to find their things and get unpacked. I'm sure they wish we grown-ups would move a lot faster with this unpacking thing though!



If we moved any faster though, we couldn't spend all of our extra time in the pool! I never realized just how much I would love having a pool, and this is in October when it's starting to get cool even! I can't imagine how invaluable it will feel next summer when I'm cursing the Florida heat.

Other than unpacking, and poolside fun, we also took some time to Occupy Orlando. It was a great turnout, a gorgeous day, and an awesome civics lesson for the kids!








Finally, this past Saturday we went to Cocoa Beach. Dax and I were reminded a lot of our honeymoon in Ft. Lauderdale 15 years ago. That was the first time we decided that Florida was the place for us, and it looks like that is true!









The kids enjoyed their first day at the beach too. They'd both been before in California and in New Hampshire, but neither really remembered it. They hated the salt water, and much prefer swimming in the pool, but they liked playing in the sand.

However, they complained for quite a long time after about all the sand they had in their hair. hmmmm....why would that be?

It was a lovely day at the beach though, and I'm enjoying our lovely new life. Change is good.

Juice Fast

See that picture below? That is one of the many foods I turned down last night because I'm in the middle of a juice fast. (on Day 5!) Yesterday was my toughest day by far, and mostly because of the event I photographed last night. I always get fed at weddings, but I don't always get my own place card at a table with other guests, and I rarely get to have cake or dessert. Not only was I offered so much wonderful stuff, the bride approached me several times to make sure I had gotten something to eat and didn't need anything. She was so amazing and nice! I'm very blessed with the brides I've worked for, but this was definitely above and beyond, and not only was I sorely tempted with all the great food, I felt the social pressure to be polite and eat what was offered. We had even discussed the menu before, and she had asked me if I like Mediterranean food, which of course I love! There were kabobs and hummus and everything smelled great and was presented beautifully! (Shoutout to Elegant Touch Catering!). I really wasn't sure if I would stay strong, but I did. I told the bride that I was under unexpected food restrictions and wouldn't be having anything. Sweetie that she was, she said she wished she had known so she could have made accomodations for me, but I assured her that I had food in my car (food being a thermos of apple-straberry juice blended with one banana...my "cheat" to make it through the night).

I can't tell you how proud I was for sticking to my plan. I have gone so long feeling a little helpless about my weight and my health, and through this fasting process, I feel I've really tapped into some inner strength that I thought might not be there anymore. I feel like I will be able to go back to a "regular" diet with much better confidence and strength. I will be able to make better choices more consistently. I will be able to resist small temptations. You know why? Because there will be a world of things I can eat, and if I can turn them all down now, I can surely turn some of them down then.

Wining

It's been a long time since I've stayed up late with my good friend, Wine. This is cherry wine that Dax made. It's pretty good, but it's still going to give me a headache. I'm getting sick too. Not sick sick, I don't think, just a cold. Just enough to make me feel sluggish and blah.

I don't know where my head's at tonight. Probably counting up all the wrongs I've done in my life. I know that makes me sound unhappy, but I'm not. I'm nervous. I'm anxious. I'm excited. I'm melancholy. I'm motivated. Maybe I downplay stuff and no one realizes what a big deal it all is. Maybe I overplay it and don't realize it and they're all just sick of me. Maybe I just don't make the impression I thought. I don't really think it's any of that though. I think people have their lives and they don't really think about anyone else's. I hope the people that I value know that they are valued. I hope they feel the same about me. I'm going to miss a lot of people when I leave here.

What's in a blog?

I think my blog is the online equivalent to the bajillion journals I've started over the years....something that occupies my thoughts for a good long time, then I shift gears, want the journal to shift gears too, but it feels like I'm always starting over so I stop. And then time passes and I start a new journal. So....I'm NOT doing that, but I am shifting gears a bit. I'm still focusing on losing weight, and I'm also focusing on getting better at hooping. I'm being a bit more proactive about it right now, and I like to have a place that I check in with that to keep me motivated, so I hope that will be here. I realize it's a public blog, but as far as I know, the only person who reads is my best friend, and I would want to share this stuff with her anyway, and sometimes facebook feels far too public!

This past weekend I decided to make a hoop video and learned a lesson about vanity! The first video I made was awesome. I felt like I pulled out almost all of my tricks and nailed them all, BUT upon rewatch, I couldn't get past how fat I looked in the video. I changed clothes and tried again and again throughout the evening, but never could match the first one. I had already mentally committed to this project and knew I wanted to post a video on Facebook, for all of my friends and family who don't really know what I mean when I say I hoopdanced for an hour. So I had a big decision to make between two very disctinct kind of vanities. Do I post the kickass hoop video where I look like I have decent flow, but I can't take my eyes off of my big stomach, or do I go with the "alright" video where I think I look better. Looking better physically won out over looking more hoop proficient. I suppose I still have some stuff in my back pocket for a future video, but I'm a little disappointed in myself that I'm not braver. or more self-confident or something.

This is the video I went with. Regardless of anything else, I am proud how much I've finally progressed. I feel like I'm turning a corner with my hooping, even if I'm not making better strides with weight loss. Hopefully that will follow!

On a lighter note, immediately after changing my clothes into the "more flattering" ensemble, I made this video. It's full of mistakes, and I quickly realized it was going to be a bad video, so i just went for it and got my silly on. In some ways, it is my favorite of all of the videos I shot!

Moving Forward

Not long after my last post, my husband lost his job. Things have been a little hectic since then, getting used to having him home, settling into a new routine, etc. One benefit, though, is dinnertime. We take turns cooking and we often are inspired to out-do one another, so for the most part, I've really been enjoying the food around here! Another interesting bit of news is I have lost 10 lbs over the past year. Now, this is not a huge weight loss by any means, but considering I have been able to get my weight to budge that much in the past three years, and the only thing different this year is that we now eat a lot less processed foods, I'm pretty darn happy! I'm not a "clean" eater yet by any means, but we do really limit the processed foods we consume and really like making things from scratch. Anyway, the weight loss as a result renews my faith that it is possible to actually lose some weight. Dax and I have also started working out semi-regularly together, and I have my hoop group I go to.

In other news, I also noticed that in my last post, I mentioned that my stomach had been bothering me. It continued longer than I was comfortable with so I finally saw a dr and then a gastroenterologist to see if I could figure out what the problem is. They started with a colonoscopy since my mother died from colon cancer. After a week of a low-residue diet, and then a day of nothing but clear liquids and a long evening of "prep", I had my first colonoscopy this morning. The prep wasn't as horrible as everyone said it would be, and the colonoscopy itself was as easy as everyone said, but the week of the low-residue diet was torture. I felt like garbage all week and had constant migraines. Normally a month supply of Imitrex (9 pills) lasts 2 months for me, but I went through this months' supply in a paltry 6 days. I don't have all the results from the colonoscopy yet, but they found 3 tiny polyps (less than 5 mm) which they're testing, but aren't worrisome (but good to get rid of!). I'll find out more about that in a couple of weeks. During that 2 weeks I'm supposed to eat dairy-free to see if I've become lactose intolerant, and then after that we may do more testing for things like gall bladder issues and gluten intolerance or Celiac. I'll just take it one step at a time though and focus on the dairy-free thing. I enjoyed a post-colonoscopy dairy-free dinner of chicken lo mein. I am also head-ache free for the longest stretch since last Thursday. I'm hoping that lasts because I don't get any more meds for 3 weeks!

Now, even though I can't have it right now, I wanted to share an incredible chicken tikka masala recipe I tried recently. It's so amazingly good (and really quite easy), I have made it twice so far. It makes a ton of leftovers too, which I love. http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/06/chicken-tikka-masala-by-pastor-ryan/

My variances from the recipe:

*It always took at least twice as long as they suggested to broil the chicken. That was no big deal, but worried me the first time.

*I used 1 tsp. ground ginger rather than fresh (I already had the ground).

*I used crushed tomatoes instead of diced because I like a smoother sauce.

*I did not add the optional ingredients of cilantro (Dax doesn't like it) or chili peppers (I didn't want it spicy)

This meal was easily the best thing I've eaten in a long time, and I really hope I'm not lactose intolerant so I can have it again really soon!