Its all fun and games until somebody gets prediabetes

It's time again for my workplace's annual health screening. In the last 2 years, my cholesterol has dropped exactly 50 points. My HDL is up. My triglycerides could not be lower. And my hemoglobin A1C came back at 5.7. Excuse me? What?
Now, the HgBA1C is kind of a new test, so let me explain. LESS than 5.7 means you are just fine. 5.7-6.4 means you are "prediabetic". Greater than 6.4 is diabetic. And >8 is an out-of-control diabetic.
It's an average of how much glucose your red blood cells have been bathing in for the last three months. They tend to hang on to it.
I used to think this test was the bomb. It wasn't supposed to come back like this.
Now, I happen to know my fasting blood sugar is usually 82. I also know that a pre-diabetic fasting blood sugar is 100-125.
I also know that, based on my "elf" tendencies discussed earlier this year, I prefer sugar to food. Generally always. Like the tray of rice krispie treats with chocolate chips in them I put away for breakfast and lunch last week.
Even an awesome pancreas can't hide the fact that sometimes I treat my red blood cells to a sugar bath at least a couple times a month.
Today I ate a piece of peanut butter and jelly toast with pomegranate seeds instead of jelly.
And a whole wheat gyro with a side salad of tabouuleh.
And did not eat any "yogurtland"
And I'm about to go enjoy some salmon and a nice caprese salad.
Ahhh....life as a "no I am not prediabetic but I'll keep telling myself this if it keeps me out of a sugar coma."
Oh, and I ran 2 miles.
p.s. If my insurance reads this blog post, I'm gonna be so pissed....

Snack Pack Anyone?

Last Friday night I went on a date with a guy from my ward. It was my first formal "first date" in quite awhile, but it was awesome, and we totally had a great time.
First off, we went to sushi at a place that serves everything on a conveyor belt, so if it looks good, you grab it. They charge you by what color of plate it's on at the end. I felt like I ate so much, but it was totally delicious and very fun. (That stack of plates, by the way, is not mine. They belong to the random dude who got his arm in the picture. I ate a lot. Not quite THAT much.)
The sushi was great, but I grabbed "Today's Special" which was conchi. I have since googled this and determined that it must have been meat from a conch shell. I will tell you this: it was the worst thing I have ever ever eaten as far as I can remember. I almost could not swallow it. Consider this your warning- do not eat this stuff!!
But my favorite part of the restaurant was absolutely this:

Just in case you need a snack pack to go with your sushi, it's there for your enjoyment. I laughed every time it came around. And then I ate some cream puffs.

Part of That World....

I think all of you know me enough by now to know that I do not have a particularly remarkable singing voice. That may be an understatement.
I once was told by a boy that I had a nice singing voice. Candice said he was lying because he liked me.
Emily Inglet once asked in awe how I could be so dang good at singing Alice in Chains when I was so bad at singing hymns in church.
Vanie, however, did, say I was an awesome karaoke-er.
And RockBand totally thinks I can sing.
Did I mention taking a month of voice lessons is on my list of 100 things to do in 1001 days? I thought I didn't have time. I thought I couldn't find a teacher.
This is my teacher:

Her name is Emily Williams. She teaches at the Mesa Arts Center and you get 7 private lessons for about $100. So I signed up. And on Saturdays at 1:00, I can be heard singing louder and better than I ever have before. In a room with only 2 people and a piano.
And now I know how to warm up my voice and I sing "Part of Your World" and "Angels We Have Heard on High," and it is much much better than before.
I won't be singing any solos in church. And I'm not trying to compete with my sister's awe-inspiring incredible voice.
But at least I have a glimpse into that crazy music world. And it's been really fun :-)

Thanksgiving at Home

So Thanksgiving at my home involved was on the Saturday night BEFORE Thanksgiving and only included the people who mean the most to me:
Vanie
Taylor, new 18 year old roommate
Kaitlyn, new 21 year old roommate
Xavier, 21-year old roommate's fiancee

John
and of course, my beloved brother Brad. I was there, too.
This year I had a fabulous idea. SELF magazine had published these 6 healthy and fabulous side dishes. So everyone was assigned two recipes while I made Rachel Ray Turkey Cutlets Parmagiano, the only turkey I still have ever made. Kaitlyn opted to make her own mashed potato recipe. Taylor made chocolate cream pie. EXCEPT that....this was Taylor's first time cooking it away from home. The instructions read, "cream together sugar and butter until sugar is dissolved." Taylor thought to herself, "Well the only way to get sugar to dissolve properly is to boil it." Which means, we drank the chocolate cream pie because, even after 9 hours in the fridge and 1 hour in the freezer, boiled sugar does not set. It was still delicious (just like her mom's was the week after!).

Brad did an awesome job on green beans with blackened sage and hazelnuts. AND pomegranate pear stuffing.
John rocked Butternut squash with cherries and apples (even though it took at least twice as long to cook as the recipe said it was supposed to....)
Vanie made awesome sweet potato biscuits and cherry cranberry sauce (the biscuits weren't whole wheat, but whole wheat biscuit mix does not exist in this state!)



Here's everyone with their masterpieces. I'm so grateful for good friends who humor me in this craziness!


(Real Thanksgiving was spent at our former bishop's house and was also delicious and wonderful and perfect. But I didn't take pictures.)


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Trust

Sometimes I think I just might trust people too much. Take today for example. I trusted my roommate Vanie that it would be just fine to get chemical peel done before I went to work tonight. Sure. She said. It will be fine. I'm going to work like this tonight. And I'll be peeling for 5 days. And I can't touch it or it will lead to hyperpigmentation. Awesome.

The things we do for youth....

I PLAYED FOOTBALL!!!

So in the midst of everything, I went on a bike ride. My friend Meagan was at my house getting ready for Powder Puff football practice (she's also my roommate's sister). I mentioned to her that I had wanted to play, but I really couldn't make practice and life was so crazy, blah, blah, blah.
Turns out practice was right then.
Turns out I had the night off.
Turns out one girl had dropped out.
Turns out I really like playing defensive line.

I mean, how often do we girls get to ram into each other and let out our buried aggression? Huh? Never, right?

Here's some pics for your enjoyment:

(p.s. It was a mid-singles 25-35 year old event, hence, the cougars versus the gold-diggers. I didn't have any idea how uncomfortable I would feel wearing something that looked like it was from BYU. I felt like a traitor to every school I've ever gone to.)

Fashionable

Our friend Polly has taken to posting what she wears everyday. That's how fashionable she truly is. About once a month I'm really pleased with my outfit enough to do such a thing. Here's my two.


The sweater and weird green shirt are from Target. The shirt is a maternity shirt that was on clearance for $3.
The white shirt and sweet necklace are from H&M, which store I totally hated the first time I went (it's generally made for girls littler than me). Vanie and I decided that basically this necklace makes everything go from boring to cool in 3 seconds flat. It's awesome :-)
(As a side note, all my boots circa 2004 are completely worn out and this is the absolute worst year ever to find good high-heeled boots. They are either all scrunchy or over-the-knee, leaving me 3 inches of bootless thigh.....terrible)

And John is 28.

Then John turned 28 two weeks later. (Of course, Candice turned 29 3 days earlier, but that was up in Idaho, and I wasn't part of that :-( ).
We wanted to make John's party totally awesome, but, I, of course, am not so good with ideas.
Luckily, he is.
We all went bowling at Lucky Strike, a club/bowling alley that is basically awesome. They have a couple in LA and it's basically sweet ambience, delicious food, and a little bowling on the side. It's perfect JVizz birthday. And we were so caught up making sure everyone got there and could figure out where it was (it's brand new here in Phoenix, and, well, everyone was late....), that I completely forgot to take pictures. So here's the link.
http://www.bowlluckystrike.com/about/photos/
You can just imagine us all there :-)

Then off to the Vig, basically another just really delicious restaurant where I previously had nachos bigger than my head. (And who make chicken sandwiches seem like masterpieces....)
And thanks to Caitlin, who took the only picture of the night.

Love you, John! Happy Birthday!

Brad is what....26?

So Brad turned 26 on October 10th. It's a little beyond me that my little brother could be 26. He seems to be creeping up on me rapidly in age (which really only means that I'm rapidly creeping older and older.....).
We went to Geisha-a-go-go; a sushi/karaoke place. We rented out a room that they said was good for 10. For a fancy-schmancy Scottsdale place, it was more than a little creepy and a little claustrophobic.

Yep. That's the whole room (plus a TV on the other side). But the sushi was great, and we did have a blast singing group karaoke to classics such as:
"Yesterday" by the Carpenters
"Sweet Caroline" Neil Diamond
"You Oughta Know" Alanis
and a bunch of others I should remember.
Honestly, it was pretty awesome. Even if our waitress looked somewhat terrified everytime she walked in. And even if she was a little confused how or why 10 people wouldn't imbibe the alcohol at a birthday party.....
Happy Birthday Brado!
p.s. can you find the matching cardigans in the picture? yep, that wasn't planned.

Sperms & Eggs

I'm a little overwhelmed by the thought that I have 2 months to catch up blogging with. But, of course, I'm quite obviously overwhelmed with everything if I've neglected my blog for 57 days. (I've tried to keep up with y'all's!) Graduation is in T minus 11 days and it seems like more and more stuff keeps cropping up that has to be done before I graduate. A poster that I think I've edited 12 times is the first thing that comes to mind and might be driving me crazy. Or the final that I almost forgot and had to do after night shift and before date on Friday. I don't remember graduation being quite so complicated the first 2 times around...(or 3, I guess....).

Anyways, there have been some fun things, like....
I actually got to see these eggs removed from a woman. Then "washed" off. Then fertilized, needle-style, by these sperm. We got to choose the best sperm for the job and then hope for the best.
I got to see one lady cry (for a million reasons, I'm sure), as she held her husband's hand as 3 little embryos were placed inside her for safe-keeping.
And that was all in one day.
The rest of the semester consisted of switching back and forth between nights for work at the beginning of the week and days for clinicals at the end of the week. My other clinicals were somewhat more routine and consisted of GBS swabs, fetal heart tones, and ultrasounds, but the point being, my hours are DONE!! I still have to take boards in a couple months, I still have to find a job (hopefully more on the GYN side than the OB side; I can't deliver babies, so it's a little anti-climactic to do pre-natal care; I'd rather replace your hormones and fix your menstrual cycle and control your diabetes.....) but we'll see where the next few months lead. I am going to continue on with my "Doctor of Nursing Practice," but that degree won't really change anything as far as career goes. 4 more semesters, here we come (but holy cow I am ready for this break!)

To Live and Die in LA....

Ok, this is just about "livin' in LA," but "To Live in LA" is not a song. And "To Live and Die in LA" is. So there. Anyways.
Last week John and me and his roommate Quinn took a little roadtrip to LA. The thing is, for all John's LA love and all the things he's talked about showing me there, in the last two years, we've never gotten to go together. Until this weekend.
Oh, did I mention MUSE was in town?
So, of course, we were there.
Originally, we were going to head out at about 4, but Quinn had some Elder's Quorum situation stuff to do, so we left at 9. P.M. And pulled up to John's parents house at 4 AM. The trip was fun, actually. First, we stopped at QT. QT to me has historically been just a gas station, but many people love this place. It is, actually, the Ritz Carlton of gas stations. Our snack list included:
A Ham & Cheese Sandwich
A cup of delicious purple grapes
A couple yummy cookies
A 52oz. vanilla diet coke (I think; it was Quinn's. The important part being that you can flavor any soda you want with any flavor you want.)
Trail Mix
AND
A peanut butter filled chocolate frosted doughnut. Yup. That's right. A peanut butter doughnut. Kinda weird, but good.
We all talked the whole way there, and it was nice to have two people who were so nice to talk to for that long.
His dad got up and talked to us for like an hour, which was nuts. Then John & Quinn slept in the living room and I slept in John's sister's room.
We slept until 9:30 when his parents woke us all up for breakfast. John's dad was super-excited to make me bacon that was about 1000 times better than the bacon I made for him in May. We also had delicious pancakes and fruit salad and it was so sweet of them and so much fun.

Then we went to the Getty. The Getty is basically the prettiest museum I've ever seen and it's HUGE. We spent 4 hours there, where I got in a little trouble for touching a dresser that may have been 360 years old. I loved loved loved the fountains all around and the garden and the photo exhibit. It was just all really perfect. And, if you're wondering, it's also totally free. So it felt like a huge beautiful service project to the world, and I loved it.

Then, off to Wahoo Tacos. Where we got 5 fish tacos, an energy drink, and chips and salsa for $10 bucks. And they were delicious. And I was too hungry to remember to take pictures. Oh well.

Next, Diddy Reese. Diddy Reese is like the cookie king of LA. They sell 6 cookies for $2 and 12 cookies for $3.75 and they taste exactly perfectly homemade. And even though the line is like a million miles long, it only takes 15 minutes, because they can make an ice cream sandwich in about 5 seconds. Oh, those ice cream cookie sandwiches? $1.50. mmmm.....so yum. (This is also in the neighborhood of LA where I stayed a couple years ago. It's beautiful.) Then we drove through some beautiful canyons and houses and stopped on the beach for 10 minutes just to breathe in the ocean (yes, this was my idea).

And then it was time for Muse. We went home, changed, and met up with Heather, a girl from LA who also served in John's mission. And then we rode the LA subway. Didn't know LA had a subway? Neither did I. But now I've ridden both LA's and New York's, which is just sweet. This is us trying to capture the moment: It's clean, and nice, and well, it's a subway.
Muse was sweet. Passion Pit I felt like I couldn't really make out the words to, but maybe that's because I don't know any of them. (I do like them on CD, but that's all I know....)
Isn't Muse's (Matt Bellamy) suit the best?
And to round out the day, we went to Pink's. Even at 12:30, the line was an hour. We were completely exhausted, but I might have been hearing about this for 2 years, and I needed some protein. So we happily stood in line and enjoyed these crazy hot dogs:
We ate them. We went to sleep. We went to church the next day. We took three hour naps. And then we drove home.
Ahhh....LA. Love you.

CAMPING!!

I know that camping is not a novelty for plenty of you, but, unfortunately, it is for me. I have some great memories of camping as a child, mostly in Florida playing horseshoes with my dad (except the horseshoes were plastic flowers; I would love to have those again). My happy memories also involve hiking with my high school friends, roasting apples over the campfire, eating blueberry pop-tarts for breakfast, and, of course, listening to Green Day with the Ashcrafts in Lake Texana over Thanksgiving. Not to mention Suzette and I spraying each other down with bug spray at Camp Karankawa.
The only time I've camped in Arizona was at Lake patagonia, which was beautiful and very fun, but was more than two years ago.
So when our ward announced its ward campout, I cleared my schedule. Time to play!!! (I really, really needed to get outside.)
The night before, I went shopping for the essentials. Which included a tent. Because at some point even if a girl doesn't camp all that much, she needs a tent. In this case, she bought a tent for her future family. Which looks like this:

I found this tent earlier online and fell in love with it. And then I went to four different stores until I found it on sale at Sports Authority for $60 off 15 minutes before they closed. Whoo-hoo!!! Also included as camping essentials were: a first aid kit, a camping chair, a flashlight, a hammock, and marshmallow roasting sticks. Perfect, right?
Back to the tent, which received several nicknames during the campout. "Tent house" "Taj Mahal" "Best of Show" and
"The Palace" were my favorites. Mostly, it was just really fun. And it was easy to set up, which made all us girls very cool. And then we helped the guys set up theirs.
I went with 3 girls, 2 of whom are new in my ward. One, Annette, is 30 also. She's the one with short brown hair. And we talked nonstop for 3 1/2 hours all the way there. I've learned fairly recently something about 30-year old single girls. We have a lot of good stories. And we talk a LOT. (There's another girl in my ward that I had the same experience with.) Anyways, Annette is fabulous and I totally love her. Megan (the other blonde) is 29 and also totally cool. She just got back from her mission in Chile and is a nurse. She also always talks like she might just be a little bit high, which might just make me like her even more. And the girl with long brown hair is JoAnn. She moved here from Texas and is Megan's friend and is 33, but likes to say she's 25.
And she is very fun, too.

The thing that you may have noticed is different about this post than other ones is that it involves friends of mine that are GIRLS. I know this is a novelty, but it's something I'm really trying to cultivate. You know, girl friends who don't only live 600+ miles away. And this was such a fun way to get to know each other.
So anyways, we drove a million miles to our campsite, which was beautiful but had only 1 toilet for 100 people and magically did not break. We ate smores and talked and looked at stars with the iphone app that tells you exactly what you're looking at. In the morning, I (of course) slept through breakfast and got up feeling fabulous. Annette, me, and JoAnn went on a hike to a spring that we found out didn't exist, but which was good for working off the Pop-Tarts anyways. This is what Megan did while we hiked:
I also broke out my hammock afterwards and ate Wheat Thins and Easy Cheese like I used to do at girls' camp. It was awesome. This is the view from the hammock:

And then, we packed up and went home. And the tent even fit back in the bag. Which I have to admit, I was a little nervous about.
So the trip...
It was quick. It was fast. It was beautiful. It was perfect. Ahh...

The Importance of Watching TV

I need to watch more TV. I've come to this conclusion only recently, but I'm quite certain it's true. The fact that I've been paying for cable since July and have yet to watch a complete show is starting to get to me. Despite all the negative effects of watching too much TV, I'm quite convinced there are some excellent benefits of watching just enough. For example, it makes you happy. How I Met Your Mother, the Office, and, of course, What Not to Wear. It helps you bond with people. And it makes you smile.

Second, it makes you feel normal. Kind of like laundry. The sound of the washing machine and the sound of the TV is kind of soothing; Being in a house with the TV on makes you feel like you're in a normal-people house. And you know what's going on in the world.

Third, it makes homework less monotonous. Working at night + doing online school = a lot of quiet time & a lot of time in front of the computer. Computers don't talk back unless you're on youtube. The TV does. Some people listen to music while they do their homework. I watch mindless TV. It makes me feel like I'm socializing during the hours I'm spending in front of the computer researching vestibulitis.

It is, of course, how I got through college round 1. And I just realized it's time to watch TV.

Milk Snob No More

Those of you who may have spent some QT with me in my 20's know that I can be kind of a milk snob. Somewhere along the way, in reading all those articles about growth hormones and girls starting puberty at age 10, I decided for the sake of my health that organic milk was worth the cost. (And, unlike organic chicken, I could almost afford it.)
So on my server "salary," I drove about once a week to the Boise Co-op and paid $5.29 for this organic milk. Besides me thinking it was great knowing the names of the cows that it came from, it seriously was the best-tasting milk I have ever had in my life.
Moving to AZ, I have been able to come across some organic milk, but I avoid Horizon because I heard once they aren't "really" organic or something like that, and fresh & easy's milk is cheap and seems just fine if I can't find a good local one.
However. We have reached a new level. A lower one.
See, I've been quite busy lately. And our fridge is pretty crowded, so my roommates and I share milk. And they've been buying it, and I split the cost.
And last month I drank Food City milk. Food City is a good store for buying avocadoes, yucca root, and bell peppers. And for learning Spanish. I don't go there generally because I like to speak the same language as my cashier as a general rule. I don't buy my milk there.
But Gina did.
And I drank it.

Now, a little bit about Great Value. I will buy Target brand iron, paper towels, and even feminine hygiene products. I simply do not think, in general, that the "Great Value," or Wal-mart brand makes a lot of "Great-tasting" food. This is maybe just my stuck up white people-ness. But also I think it's true. And apparently they do to because they just gave it a massive overhaul. Which is good because it makes me feel like it's not all in my head.
And because apparently I now drink their milk. (In my blueberry-pineapple-kale-chocolate protein smoothie as I write this.)
Just for the record. Yes, I can tell the difference. And yes, I'm going to start buying my own stinking milk.

Vegetables Part II- Annoyed

So in my last post I wrote about how much fun it was to eat so many awesome vegetables. And how nice it was to lost 3 pounds in 2 and a half weeks. That seemed like a nice little reward for how good I was feeling.
Then I ate out this weekend. 4 times. Once I ordered a vegetarian meal with a little chicken on top (and ate a little dessert). Next time it was 1/2 a hamburger and 1/2 a milkshake and quite a few zucchini and sweet potato fries (bet your butt I counted them as vegetable #4 and #5). Next was pumpkin bread french toast (amazingly indulgent) and a little bit of omelet. Lastly, I went with seared ahi tuna and a caesar salad.
What do I get for this? Would you like to know?
a) feeling like everything is fitting tighter
b) weird dreams about my nightgown not fitting
and
c) a weight gain of 4 (FOUR!) pounds. It has only lasted 2-ish days, and I did get mad and make chocolate chip cookies and eat a lot of them yesterday, but REALLY? is that fair?
I think it's terrible. And I need to do homework and go work out. But I'm hungry and mad.
So we'll see what I do.
(And yes, I've still been diligently trying to get the veggies in. Really.)
p.s. One nurse I just met (yes, I complain about this to a lot of people) said, "You know what's happening, right? Your body is just holding onto it." Really body? Do you think we're in a famine? We're not. We're doing just fine. You're well-fed! Stop overreacting! You're not going to die! Let it go already!

Vegetables

I don't know what got into me, but the other day I decided I needed to eat more vegetables. Maybe it was not going to the gym very much. Maybe it was trying to calculate if there was ever one day a week where I didn't eat a little too much saturated fat combined with knowing our family heart history. Maybe it was hanging out with single girls who didn't seek out cookies at every opportunity. Or maybe it was something I read from someone in Glamour. Probably all of those.
But I did. I started eating vegetables. A lot.
My goal is 5 servings a day. It's been two weeks, and I've done it almost everyday. There have been a few days of 3 or 4, but that still counts as a massive improvement over my previous routine.
There are three main benefits to this:
1- Things don't go bad. I have always bought a lot of vegetables. I just don't always EAT them. I never throw away my salad anymore. This happened way too much. The carrots and celery from big Sunday dinners don't go bad, and I actually eat my tomatoes while they're still good. AND I eat enough cauliflower and peppers to finish off my hummus for the first time in a year.
2- I've tried lots of new recipes and new foods. Like eggplant in miso sauce (from Brad's garden), pork chops with sauteed kale, and salmon with edamame sauce. And I also put kale in my smoothies, which tastes just fine actually and makes me feel like a rock star. AND I ate a turnip for the first time (with sweet potatoes and turkey sausage for breakfast), which was cool.
3- My health, of course. I feel pretty good eating all this good stuff instead of dessert. It makes me actually look for vegetables everywhere in order to get them all in. One day I was starving at 5pm and hadn't had a single one (this has also happened on more than one occasion.) So I went to Whole Foods and got 3 "salads" from their deli: brussel sprouts, sweet potatoes, and kale. And it was delicious! And I've lost a couple pounds, which is, of course, very nice.
Speaking of which, I really need to go to the grocery store!! I'm out of everything!

Chase Field

A few weeks ago I got invited spur of the moment to go to a baseball game. Now, I really like baseball live, but the Diamondbacks aren't having a great season, and, well, I've never really been asked to go. So me and the roommates and a few other people went. Absolutely nothing happened for four innings and then with two people on base, 2 strikes, and 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th, the D-backs scored two runs to tie the game. I went crazy; it was so great. And then we won in the bottom of the 10th (against the Colorado Rockies.)
It felt so good to be there. Afterwards, there was a fireworks show (the stadium is pretty sweet; it's air conditioned and the roof opens up) and I ate Cracker Jacks while Brad Paisley played on the PA system.
What a great Friday night.

Do colors make you feel friendlier?

My roommate Vanie wears a lot of black. I mean a LOT of black. And she knows it. And jokes about it.
This is her closet:

The picture might seem a little dark, but that's just all the black.
Now, Vanie is not a depressed or "goth" individual. She actually is pretty happy, and laughs more easily than pretty much anyone I know. But, being a convert, she likes to feel like she "fits in" to this whole mormon culture thing, and wearing all black doesn't always seem to help. So on Sunday, she pulled out her only pink skirt and wore it for the first time. This is her with our other roommate Laura. From Provo. Who has no trouble fitting in to the whole mormon culture thing. (Vanie is not in stripes.)

Vanie was so impressed with herself and so excited to wear her white shoes and white purse for the first time.
But the best part was the quote that came from down the hall.
"Christin, I feel friendlier. Do colors make you feel friendlier?"
I almost died.

New House Pictures

Bridget's been on me forever to do this, but between having Brad's stuff in the "bonus room," school, and, really, a ton of other things. It didn't happen. Until now. Today my house is pretty much as clean as it's going to get, so here you go!!
The front:

(no, those are not my windchimes)

The living room (view from the door)



The kitchen: The best part of the house, I would say.


The "Bonus Room" aka the room with no air conditioning. Try that in 115 degree weather. Want to guess what our power bill was this month? (The "office" is on the left"; the "dining room" is to the right")



The laundry room/storage room. It's a little cramped, but at least I found a place for all my ancient kissing pictures! (p.s. Brad and I installed that shelf last night. We got it from IKEA. I love it, and it makes a big difference.


The hallway


One tiny bathroom


My bedroom!!! It's on the right at the very end of the hall. The little nightstand with the fan on it was also a last night IKEA purchase. It is basically the reason we now have these pictures. Because my hair dryer and the fan that keeps me alive while I get ready are no longer on the floor posing a tripping hazard for everyone who walks by. I also finally found my extension cords so all my lamps can work from the area of the room that I want them to. It finally feels finished!


The view from my bed:


The bathroom. I know I complain about this more than I should. Really. I do. But I finally measured it. Because I feel claustrophobic in it every single morning. It is 49.5 inches wide and 100 inches deep. It has two tiny drawers. And it is hot. But at least I have company.

This is Squeakers, the gecko that lives on my bathroom window at night. He likes the little moths that like the little light.
And this is my bathroom. I do love the tile.


I almost forgot our backyard!! Someday it will have "decorative rocks" and a storage shed. I'm not sure what my landlord's definition of someday is. Note the solar powered lamp courtesy of IKEA as well. It was on clearance for $10, and come on, everybody needs a solar powered lamp. Right? right?


It's more like a solar-powered night light, but I'm thinking it might be good for the ward camping trip!