Day Trip: Golden and Silver Falls.

Yesterday I took Jake and our dog Jewels on a little trip I've been meaning to go on since we moved here. The weather has been horrible lately but the past two days it was just absolutely beautiful so off we went. Golden and Silver Falls are only 24 miles away and the drive is beautiful. I think I was born to live off in the country tucked away somewhere, quietly, with a big garden and roaming chickens. Anyway, we made it to the falls and decided to just check out Golden and leave Silver for a future trip.





I feel like if I had some crochet going in my lap this would be an awesome photo. Maybe I should just find some super cheesy clip art and add it in.









We love hanging out in nature. We saw mushrooms growing on trees, all kinds of pretty flowers and even some pretty weeds, a lizard, fish, gorgeous birds, and even a tick. I love seeing big damp rocks covered in moss and flowers.

Washi Tape as Canning Labels.

My Aunties use masking tape to label their homemade applesauce and to label canned food with an expiration date. I have 8 jars of peanut butter they have given me with these homemade labels. While the labels are useful, they are hideous. I finally bought myself some washi tape for my birthday and I thought it'd be a cuter, updated label for my jars.

I didn't notice it at the time but this jar of jam made for a great little mirror. 

It's true, there are many companies that make labels for canning jars, or you could even design and print them yourself. My issue with those labels is that they are a giant pain in the ass to later remove from your jar when you want to re-use it. It requires lots of scrubbing, the use of oil, or a razor blade. The washi tape is easily removed, and you won't end up with Madonna arms from all the scrubbing.

I've been...

I've been hanging out with this little cutie who is visiting. I have to get in all my night-night kisses while she's here!



I've also been listening to this band at the recommendation of one of my friends. I'm digging them.

Savings Jar / Piggy Bank Alternative.

My Aunties gave me several boxes of their canning jars and in one of them was an old glass mayonnaise jar. While some glass jars that aren't regular mason style jars are safe to can with, the glass mayo jar just didn't seem like the right kind of glass to me so I decided to be safe and use it for a little craft project instead. Jake and I have change in little piles all over the house so I wanted to make one central place for the change to reside. I guess you could call it a little home for our pennies.



First I chose my background paper and rubbed the letters onto the card stock and then I added embellishments until it I felt it was properly bedazzled and called it a day.



The 12 inch paper didn't quite wrap all the way around the jar so I used a little piece of fabric to cover the gap.



I even dug out some fabric tape that has been in my ribbon drawer for years and some flowers that my mom bought at least 6 years ago. It feels good using up old stuff that's just been sitting around all this time.



I added some mini pom ribbon to the top. I love how the jar turned out but Jake said it's too girly. Of course it's girly, I don't keep a supply of manly ribbon and flowers on hand. Lastly, I got a little scrap of paper and wrote down some of the things we're saving for on it and popped it inside, in case we get the urge to spend our pennies, we'll be reminded of just exactly why we're saving them.

Plant Sale!

On my birthday my mom and I went to the annual plant sale at the mall put on by the local Master Gardeners group/club. I'm not sure how they refer to themselves. It was nice to be able to get some plants that had already been started as I didn't have time to plant anything this year with all of the moving/house stuff. I got some herbs, some vegetables and a "miscellaneous succulent".







My mom also gave me some wooden tulips to add to my collection. Tulips are my favorite and she usually gives these to me for my birthday because they don't wilt and die. I love them!

Doing Well.

Yesterday Jake told me that he feels like, "this is the place where I could get better." It felt so good hearing that sentence. Since moving here, we've had a really great experience with the local VA. The doctors and nurses have gone out of their way to help us. They've set Jake up with a therapist outside of the VA who specializes in PTSD, they have given us information on local peer groups and have even offered to give Jake's phone number to another vet who is looking for a bass player to jam with. In other cities, it always felt like he was just some random patient but here they really try to help.

I think I mentioned back in February that we were applying for a new VA program for family caregivers for vets injured post 9/11. Jake qualified for the program, I took a bunch of online training modules, we had our initial home visit and now here we are. The program pays me a monthly stipend which, for now, enables me to stay home with Jake. I'd like to find a part time job but only if it's the right one. I still need to be able to go to Jake's appointments with him due to his poor memory. The program also gives me basic health insurance, which is such a relief. Now I feel like between this program and living near my family, in addition to Jake having a support system, so do I, which is important for both of us. PTSD is hard, every single day, and it's imperative that we both have people we can lean on for support and encouragement, even if they don't realize they're providing it.

Sometimes I get emotional when I talk about or think about PTSD and our life with it. When I say PTSD is hard, I'm not joking. It can be draining, frustrating, confusing and heartbreaking. Sometimes I feel helpless because I can't help Jake with his headaches or some of his other problems. Seeing someone you love in pain and struggling and not being able to immediately fix it is really frustrating. All I can do is be there for him and support him and I find so much hope and relief in finally having a VA center that is going out of their way to help him too.

My 26th Birthday!

Yesterday was my 26th birthday and we had a nice quiet dinner at my mom's house complete with my favorite chocolate cake. On Friday my dad took Jake and I out to dinner at a little local restaurant called The Coach House. When I made the reservation I asked to be seated outside. They have a covered area outside full of pretty greenery and flowers and it's even complete with heaters shaped like lamp posts so you won't freeze your bum off in the cool coastal weather.










My dad got the filet mignon wrapped in bacon and shrimp kebabs. Jake had the halibut and I had fettuccine with fresh vegetables. The food was delicious and it was a nice quiet way to celebrate my birthday.

Learning to be 26.

Sunday will be my 26th birthday. Last year I made a 25 before 26 list and I don't think I even completed half. To be honest, I'm not even interested in doing some of that stuff anymore. The capacity for change that we possess as humans is amazing. Every year I feel grateful that I'm not the person I was the year before. Each new year comes with new challenges and experiences and I find myself looking forward to them, even the really difficult ones. I enjoy learning new things and I hope I continue to learn throughout the rest of my life. So for my next year I am going to focus more on the process and less on accomplishments, more on the journey and less on the end goal because the journey is what it's all about.

Blisters & Blog Friends.

Today I had to run into town and get my driver's license renewed since my birthday is this weekend and my license will expire. As you can see in this photo, I have a sunburn blister on my nose. It looks a lot worse in person. I've been putting aloe vera and apple cider vinegar on it (thanks for the tip, Jen). I was only outside for a couple of hours and I have never had a real sunburn in my life. I've turned slightly pink once or twice but never full on red with blisters. It's been almost a week since I've had the burn and most of the redness is gone except for my nose. Hopefully it wasn't too prominent in my dmv photo! 

If you look behind me, you'll notice that we have not finished unpacking. The place is a bit of a mess and we have our quarterly home visit next week for the VA program we participate in so I'd like to make a bit of headway before that. I have started organizing my craft space which feels really good. 

Do you see those cute earrings I have on? My friend Cristie sent me a little package for my birthday and they were one of the things in the box. I put them on immediately, they are my new favorites. Thanks, Cristie! She is the best and if you haven't checked out her blog, you definitely should. 

Trees of Mystery.

We made a quick stop at the Trees of Mystery on our way down Hwy. 101 last weekend. Jake had never been down the coast before so of course we had to stop and say hi to Paul Bunyan and his blue ox Babe. I've driven by Paul Bunyan hundreds of times with my mom and brother as a kid on trips to visit my Aunt but no matter how many times we had seen him, we always made our mom promise to wake us up when we passed so we could wave at him. I still can't help saying hi to him when I drive by. Next time we want to stop and take the tour through all of the redwoods.

Sometimes a guy inside the building/museum will make Paul wave or talk to people. It's really fun when Paul points out specific people and waves at them.

Also, I'm pretty sure most males of a certain age have a photo of themselves groping Babe's balls, I know my brother, and now my boyfriend both do. 

Vintage Canning Lids.

I asked Jake to get me canning lids in bulk for my birthday. I had even put them in my shopping cart on lehman's but just before I went to order them, my Auntie called and told me not to buy any canning lids because she had some she was going to give me. Little did I know how awesome they were going to be. Last summer she gave me 100 jars. I love knowing that someone else in my family once shared my love of canning. 

One box has 12 of these beautiful lids with matching white rings. I'm pretty sure I will end up keeping these forever instead of using them. Why don't they make pretty lids like this anymore? They should, they are a million times cooler than the boring silver colored lids.

We're Home!

We made it home after a wonderful weekend spent with family. My aunties even managed to stop and get everyone some cha siu bao from their favorite restaurant/bakery. My family loves this bao, it's a family tradition and whenever I see a pink box, I don't think of cake, I think of bao. Cha siu bao is a Cantonese barbeque pork stuffed bun. My aunties managed to snag a box of veggie bao for me because they're awesome like that.

I got a major sunburn this weekend, which doesn't happen to me very often. My right arm and right side of my face are bright red. My nose has a blister on it which is just lovely. My dad has a giant aloe vera plant so I was able to put some aloe on it when we got home which helped with the sensation of my face being on fire. My birthday is next weekend so I have to get my driver's license renewed this week which means getting my picture taken. Here in Oregon they zoom so far in now that you don't even have a neck in your picture anymore, so I really hope this sunburn clears up a little bit before I have to go down to the dmv.

Jake, my brother, and I shared a motel room this weekend in a really sketchy motel. Since it was graduation weekend at the University, all of the hotels in town were sold out and we managed to get a room at the Motel 6. They jacked up the price to double what it normally is which wouldn't have been so bad if there were any sort of amenities at all but this place didn't even have a little tiny bottle of shampoo in the room. There wasn't kleenex either, just a bottle opener bolted to the counter by the sink.  The walls were paper thin and people were yelling and screaming all night long. It might have been entertaining if I hadn't stayed up until 4 a.m. the previous night trying to finish up the present I made for my cousin. Oh well, at least tonight I get to sleep in my own bed and cuddle with our pups who missed us, I know this because they won't stop following us around the house. It's cute, but annoying.

Did you guys have a nice weekend?

California Bound.

Photo stolen from my sister

And we're off! At the last minute we decided to ride with my mom down to California which I'm pretty excited about because I absolutely hate driving. I can't wait to see my family, I think we're going out to dinner tonight at some Chinese place, as usual.

Have a great weekend! 

Graduation Gifts.

Myself and two friends celebrating after the last day of classes our Senior year. 

Jake and I have been having the most difficult time deciding on a graduation gift. My cousin graduates from college this weekend and Jake's little sister graduates from high school later this month. I usually really enjoy gift giving but graduation gifts are more difficult than birthdays or Christmas, especially when it comes to high schoolers. It seems like traditionally people give graduates cash but we want to actually help set her up for her future, not give her some money to buy beer and candy bars with. I also don't want to get her junk. I mean, who needs a beanie baby with a grad cap on or another picture frame that says something about graduation or high school being the best years of your life? Most of us don't even know where our high school diploma is, let alone have it framed and hanging prominently in our house. Flowers are pretty but not useful.

After talking to one of Jake's other sisters, I've decided that the best thing to give a grad (other than cash) are items for a house or dorm. At 18 most kids are either moving out on their own for the first time or going to college. At least, that was true before the economy tanked and everyone moved back in with their parents. So perhaps some kitchen utensils, grocery gift card, or extra blankets might be in order. Not the most glamorous of gifts and perhaps not the most appreciated but they are practical and helpful.

What do you guys give as graduation presents? 

Family Time!

This weekend my cousin is graduating from college so we'll be heading down to California to celebrate her achievement. I am so incredibly proud of her! I'm really excited because a lot of my family will be there so it will be like a mini family reunion. Family reunions mean a lot to me because I don't get to see my Aunties very often and they are getting up there in years. One will be 96 this year, the other 86. So I can't wait for this weekend, where I'll get to spend time with these two amazing ladies and all of my other awesome relatives. I wish all my family lived closer, maybe not on the same block but in the same town would be cool. I miss them!

I wonder if my Auntie still has this fabulous dress and I also wonder if it would fit me. It's pretty amazing. 

Super Cool Cabinet.

Our apartment is super awesome but has very limited storage and I really needed someplace to use as a pantry/closet. We will eventually have a small linen closet in the bathroom but it hasn't been completed yet and so far it's just a hole in the wall. My dad scrounged up this beautiful cabinet for us. I am pretty in love with it, despite the hideous color. My dad's house was a school a long time ago and he thinks this cabinet is from those days. It was stored up in the attic. It was probably used to house books or school supplies. Two of the windowpanes have bb gun holes in them, that's very likely courtesy of my older brother during his teenage years. 

I wiped out the inside, washed down the glass, and got to work wiping the dust off all of my jars. I think we did a pretty good job of eating through most of what I put up last year, just in time for canning season. 

The other half will be used for linens and blankets, once I've unpacked them all. The bottom shelves will be used to store my empty jars. Now that I've found the perfect cabinet, I just need to find the perfect color to paint it. Any suggestions?

Also, for anyone else who is missing picnik, I edited the last photo with picmonkey. It is pretty awesome and has all kinds of fun tools to use. 

Strawberry Peach Jam.

When I was trying to decide on a third strawberry recipe Jake suggested using some of the peaches I had canned last summer. I thought it was a great idea, I had canned 22 lbs. of peaches and Jake promised he'd eat them all but has fallen behind so I opened up a jar and got to work. I love how this jam turned out, I'm not a huge strawberry fan so this had just enough peach in it to even out the strawberry flavor and make it taste light and summery.

4 c. hulled and chopped strawberries
2 c. peeled and chopped peaches
4 c. sugar
2 T. lemon juice
1 packet powdered pectin (this is all the local store has, if you prefer liquid, follow instructions on packet)

Some notes before we go on. The sugar quantity I listed is for fresh fruit. Now, if you pick up a box of low sugar pectin, you can use less sugar. Alternatively, there are sugar substitutes you can use such as honey or splenda.

The easiest way to peel a peach is to blanch it. If you don't know how to do this, I've found this handy and short video to help.

Before you start cooking your jam, fill up your water bath canner and turn on the burner, it takes awhile to bring it to a boil. Wash your jars in hot soapy water or on the sanitize cycle of your dishwasher. Put your lids in a small pot and warm them up on the stove so the rubber becomes soft, do not boil them.

Add fruit and sugar to a large non-reactive pot. Stir so the sugar mixes with the juices from the fruit (it will look like a thick pink mess at first). Bring to a boil and let cook for 15 minutes. Be sure to keep an eye on it so it doesn't boil over or burn. Strawberries especially like to foam alot. Sometimes it's helpful to add a pat of butter to help keep the foam down.

Add pectin and let jam boil for 5 minutes. It should be a "rolling" boil, where even if you stir, it's still boiling.

Turn off the burner, skim the foam from the top of the jam and fill your jars, leave 1/4 inch headspace.

Wipe rims, apply lids and bands and process for 10 minutes. When your 10 minutes is up, remove your jars from the canner and wait for the little "pop" that they've sealed. If any of them don't seal (it shouldn't take very long to know if they haven't) pop them in the fridge and use within a few weeks.

What's Goin' on in Our World.

Our floors are in! We're finally able to unpack and we have been slowly working on it. It feels so nice to be able to hang out in the apartment and not be cooped up in the bedroom anymore. Once we get things picked up a little I'll try and get a few pictures so you can see how nice it looks in here. The floors are the laminate snap lock kind. Do any of you guys have these? How do you keep them clean? We have 5 pets and there is tons of dust/pet hair on them. A broom works well for the hair but not so great for the dust. I got a microfiber mop type thing and it works alright but not the best. I'm opposed to using a swiffer because they are so wasteful.

We also went grocery shopping. Usually that's not very exciting but since we didn't have a fridge or pantry for the last couple of months, the only food we had was stuff I've canned and about 8 jars of peanut butter. We went to Costco and went a little crazy. I'm so happy that I can cook all kinds of deliciousness again.

My cousin is graduating from college in 2 weeks and I'm so proud of her and excited to go down to Northern California. It's going to be a mini family reunion. I can't wait to see everyone. I wish we had family reunions more often. Not too often because they're kind of stressful, but more often than once a year or so would be nice.

What's going on in your world?

Christmas Jam (Strawberry Cranberry Jam)

I bought some strawberries at the store the other day at a pretty good price. I split them up into 3 batches and made traditional strawberry jam with the first batch. I don't particularly like strawberries myself so I sat down to think about what I could do with the other two batches and remembered I still had cranberries my uncle got me last fall in the freezer. I decided to make a batch of strawberry-cranberry jam. After considering ratios of fruit and sugar for awhile I went ahead and began. I decided to google it to see what other people had come up with and found that this is called Christmas Jam, the name made me smile.

I haven't been canning for 40 years but it's not my first time either and this was the very first jam I ever let boil over. I made a mess, and I mean a huge mess. We had to pull the stove out so I could clean up all of the jam kind of mess. I think it's time I bought myself a proper pot for cooking jam, the ones I use are a little small for my liking. Half of my jam ended up all over the floor and stove but since it wasn't burned, I was still able to put up what was left in the pot and man was it tasty. I figure everyone is bound to make at least one giant mess when canning in their life, right?

So, here is the revised version of my recipe, for a smaller batch, so hopefully it won't end up all over your floor too:

4 c. hulled and chopped strawberries
3 c. cranberries (you can cut in half but most tend to "pop" open when boiled)
5 c. sugar
Pectin (optional)
I had to let this cook down for a long time to get it to the gel point so you may want to consider adding pectin to help it along. Strawberries are naturally low in pectin but cranberries are high in pectin so you can get away without adding more pectin if you want.

Before you start cooking your jam, fill up your water bath canner and turn on the burner, it takes awhile to bring it to a boil. Wash your jars in hot soapy water or on the sanitize cycle of your dishwasher. Put your lids in a small pot and warm them up on the stove so the rubber becomes soft, do not boil them.

Put strawberries in your pot, add sugar, stir. Heat on med, stirring until sugar is dissolved, you want to be careful not to scorch the sugar on the bottom of the pot.

Add cranberries, bring to a boil. As it boils, the cranberries will pop open, releasing juice. Boil until it reaches the set point. A good way to do this is by having a small plate in the freezer, put a little drizzle of jam on it, once it's cooled, if it's wrinkled and not rolling around your plate, it's ready to go.

*If using pectin, follow directions on the box for proper boiling times and when to add the pectin.

Turn off the burner, skim the foam from the top of the jam and fill your jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace.

Wipe rims, apply lids and bands and process for 10 minutes. When your 10 minutes is up, remove your jars from the canner and wait for the little "pop" that they've sealed. If any of them don't seal (it shouldn't take very long to know if they haven't) pop them in the fridge and use within a few weeks.