moving.

Moving is stressful. I don't think there has ever been a move in my life that has been stress free. There is organizing, packing, cleaning, loading the car/van/moving truck, traveling, unpacking, more cleaning, more organizing, and finally settling into a new place. That's a lot of stuff to do in a short period of time.

Alex and I have made two big moves. One when we left California and moved to Idaho for me to finish school and the second when we left Idaho and moved back to California (southern California this time).

The first move was dicey. There was only one car and we didn't have any money for a moving truck, so we shoved and stuffed and roped and taped and compacted as much stuff into our little Jeep as we could and we drove the thousand mile journey. It was not pretty. And it was a testament to how much we were still in the honeymoon phase of our marriage (being married for all of two weeks at the time) because it was hard. But we did it! And we vowed to never do a move like that again.

The second move was hard, but easier than the first. We had a truck this time and the ability to pull our Jeep so we did not have to drive separate. The truck was spacious and had plenty of room for our stuff. We took our time loading it perfectly and it was much less stressful. Except that we then drove, for 16 hours, through the night, with an 18 month old puppy, in little cramped two-seated truck. Rex was a gem for 97% of the drive. He slept, he chewed bones, he looked out the window, he cuddled, and he stayed calm. Except for the few times he whined and moaned and made us stop earlier than we wanted and then wouldn't go to the bathroom when we needed him to. But a great majority of the time he was wonderful.

This move is just as stressful. Regardless of the fact that we are hiring a moving company to move our stuff for us (not because we are too good to move our own stuff but because it is really the cheapest option we could find), that we have most of our stuff already packed and in storage just waiting to be loaded on the truck, that packing what we do need to pack could realistically take me only 4 to 5 hours to complete, and that we still have two weeks before this all needs to happen, it's still making me into a big ball of anxiety. Which is always fun to be around.

But it is all happening like it should. We are organized, we have the money saved, we have all our paperwork completed, and Alex is still able to work through all of this. There have definitely been blessings during this time for which we are truly grateful.

But the next two weeks will be filled with final preparations, actually packing the things that need to be, organizing for the moving guys, saying goodbye to Southern California, and soaking in the last of any sunshine the sky wants to give me because who knows when the sun is going to shine in Portland!

garlic chicken and spinach with pasta.

I've said it before but it still rings true: pasta is my comfort food. It seems like whenever I need to just cook for myself, I make pasta. And this one was especially delicious. I found a chicken recipe online and started seriously craving chicken and pasta, so I made this one. It's for sure a winner.

garlic chicken and spinach with pasta

6 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 chicken breasts, sliced thin
3 tbsp olive oil
3 cups fresh spinach
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1 lb pasta (any shape)
Salt and Pepper

Boil a large pot of water and cook pasta according to the directions. Reserve 1-1 1/2 cups of the pasta water before draining the pasta.

While the pasta cooks, heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. When the oil starts to ripple, add the garlic and sauté for 1 minute until it starts to brown and become fragrant. Season the chicken strips with salt and pepper and add to the skillet with the garlic. Toss the chicken in the oil and cook until the chicken is no longer pink inside. When the chicken is cooked through, add the spinach to the pan and toss it with the chicken to wilt it, about 2 minutes.

When the pasta is finished cooking, reserve some cooking water and drain the pasta. Add the cooking water to the pan with the chicken and spinach and toss around. Turn the skillet's heat down the low, add the cooked pasta, heavy cream, and parmesan cheese to the pan and toss well. Let the pasta cook for 3-4 minutes on low to thicken the sauce and combine the flavors. Taste, add more pepper and maybe salt if necessary. Serve immediately, with more parmesan cheese if desired.

book shelves.

I love books. I am unashamed to admit that fact as well as the fact that I own a lot of books...including many books that I have not yet read. Again, totally unashamed.

I love how books look and feel and smell. Old books, new books, used books, books right from the printer. Books that have stains and torn pages and broken bindings and pen markings. Books with crisp pages and the bindings uncracked and no finger smudges. All books.

Alex promised me before we got married that one day he would build me a library in our home with floor to ceiling shelves and a ladder and portraits of great authors and maps and globes. I haven't stopped dreaming about it since he made that promise.

I have also started to fill that library, even though it is not built yet. I buy a lot of books. I am poor so I buy a lot of used books but they are all beautiful. But because I buy a lot of books currently, I need a lot of shelves. I have compiled some inspiration pictures for my library as well as for the shelves we will need when we move. I love book shelves.

sources:
1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9

pillows.

I love throw pillows. I love bed pillows. I love being surrounded by pillows all the time.

I am big on comfort. And pillows are highly comfortable. So without regard to my husband or how he feels about 8 billion pillows, I am having 8 billion pillows in our new apartment.

Only fun pillows allowed! I found an amazing place to get pillows too: Society 6. You will not be disappointed. Feast your eyes on some of my favorites:

apartment decorating.

I am currently unemployed.

It feels so weird to say that but I tend to say it often.

The good thing about this though, is that I have a lot of free time to spend planning for our move (which is now only 22 days away) and plan for our apartment.

When we were in Idaho, we both knew that we weren't going to be there for long (same when we moved to Simi Valley, though we have been here a lot longer than we anticipated), so we didn't really take too much time to decorate or buy nice furniture or really settle everything into a place. But we have decided that Portland is going to be a settling place for us for the foreseeable future. Maybe not this exact apartment for the whole time but we don't plan on moving too much outside the Portland area.

That idea really excites me because I love to decorate and I want us to make a real home. So off to Pinterest I went. Obviously budget is an issue. We can't be blowing all of the money we were finally able to save on super expense items. So DIY and thrift stores is our best option.

One thing we will not have an issue with is art for our walls. Alex is so talented and I am very lucky to be able to display a lot of his art on our walls. The only problem is, we have A LOT of it. Paintings, drawings, pictures, nicknacks, you name it. So I have adopted the idea for a gallery wall. The floor plan of our apartment shows so really good wall space that won't be inhabited by furniture (because we don't have much) so we can do a really cool gallery wall. In Idaho, one thing everyone commented on when they came into our apartment was the art on the walls; how unconventional it was and how refreshingly different our apartment looked (granted, every married couple in Rexburg has the same wedding pictures, the same "families are forever" carved wood pieces, the same monogram letters, and the same chevron curtains. We knew we would never fit into that mold so we went way outside the box with our maps, orc paintings, and portraits). I want this same thing to happen in Portland, though I think we will fit in a lot better, mainly because there doesn't seem to be a mold in Portland.

Here are some inspiration pictures I have been drooling over:

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I like when the wall is full. Like really full. And when different textures are incorporated. I also like the lack of cohesion. We have plenty of things to hang on these walls, now it's just a matter of getting there and getting hanging.

happy new year.

happy new year!

I spent most of the day yesterday reflecting, like all people do on new years eve and I came to the conclusion that 2014 was ok.

Just ok.

Not super-duper fantastical like I wish every year was. But not disappointingly disgusting and poopy like it could have been.

Here are my favorite highlights:

~ Rex. We started 2014 right by finding and being saved by this precious little cupcake of a pit bull. He definitely saved us as much if not more than we saved him.
~ We survived the frigid winter in Rexburg.
~ I graduated from college. Finally. With a bachelor's degree. yay me!
~ We left the icy tundra of Idaho for the beautiful beaches of California. (or close to the beaches)
~ Alex and I both got jobs relatively quickly after moving at Geekatoo and Target respectively.
~ I got the chance to spend a lot of time with my mother-in-law and just soak up the amazingness that she exudes. She's great. I'm lucky. I always laugh at things on the Internet that talk about "How to deal with your mother-in-law" because mine is fantastic.
~ We significantly decreased our debt and successfully figured out how saving money will work for us (trust me when I say that saving money works differently for everyone and we finally figured it out).
~ We had our first anniversary! I just love this guy so much and we went through a lot of crap during that first year that brought us much closer together.
~ We took a lot of trips. I went to Sacramento for my sister's bridal shower, Alex went to San Luis Obispo to visit friends multiple times, we both went to Sacramento for my sister's wedding and then to Texas to visit Alex's nana, and Alex went to Portland to scout out the city for our move.
~ We finalized our feelings and plans to move to Portland (even if it was just in our own minds and not on paper, it was still a good feeling).
~ We got to spend all the holidays with family.
~ We road-tripped to Reno to spend a Christmas weekend with my family and had a blast. We were pretty spoiled by everyone.
~ I quit my job at Target. It was a blessing.
~ We found an affordable apartment in Portland and signed a contract just three days before the new year!

There is a lot of not so good stuff that happened too, like running out of money and not having jobs for a while, but this good stuff is actually really good.

So here is to making 2015 a lot better and with a lot more adventures!!

yesterday.

My guys during our road trip for Christmas

Yesterday I did something that I have wanted to do for about a month. It was something that I've never done in my life and never thought I would do.

I quit my job. Without notice. Without putting in my 2 weeks. Without shame. Without guilt. Without caring what this meant for my employer. Without finding another job to take its place.

I pride myself on being a really hard worker. I always give a full effort at everything I do while on the clock. I am always the one who looks for something else to be done when it is slow. That is why I never imagined myself quitting on the spot without giving 2 weeks notice.

But I was done. I was frustrated and fed-up and annoyed and angry and stressed out and tired.

A part-time, minimum wage job should not bring up all of those feelings. A salaried career? Maybe. But not working as a sales floor team member at Target for $9 an hour.

So I quit. I talked it over with my husband, weighed the pros and cons of not having my (minimal) income for the next little while, and we both decided that my sanity and health are worth more than the few hundred dollars I would have made if I stayed another month or even a last two weeks.

As we drove back home from dropping off my resignation letter, Alex started humming the song "I Gotta Feeling" by the Black Eyed Peas. It was sort of prophetic song for him to choose because within hours of that car ride, we signed a contract for an apartment in Portland and solidified (finally) our move up to Oregon. So it was a good, good night for us. And a good, good day for us too.