job searching and such

so, i didn't get the job in vermont. you know what, one set of tears is enough. today i applied for four more jobs. two in connecticut, one in virginia, one in austin, texas. i also saw two in new york that i can apply for by the end of this week.

i will be in a classroom ... soon ... i just feel it!

now, on to more pleasant things, like ... food porn! as always, it's a busy time in my cozy kitchen.

love and light,

k.

wonderful news, shared

I interrupt this blog with a very important announcement:

It's actually been this way for a while. Most people on his side found out at a funeral. We told my parents tonight at dinner (they are here for a day to visit). There's no ring yet. The proposal was totally spontaneous and therefore the truest, most emotionally laid-bare question I've ever been asked. Who cares if we weren't traditionally prepared? It was the right moment. We are fairly non-traditional people. And one thing I'm learning (sometimes the hard way, truth be told) is that the older you get, the more you have to just let your expectations go. Remold them. Make them your own. Or, even, just (gasp, those who know me) be in the moment in the most loving, emotionally present way you can.

We are not rich. We won't have, don't want, a lavish day. I see Mason jars, candles, wildflowers, nature, loved ones, children, friends. Simple elegance. All we want for our lives is a happy home, a happy family, and to be rich with the love from friends and family that we can share at suppers, camp fires, what have you. There is only one life to be lived, and I want to live the width of it, not just the length.

I told my parents (married 35 years) I wanted their wedding month because it was lucky. They both teared up. My dad said, "Welcome to the family."

I haven't known my fiance long, but we were instant best friends from the moment we met at grad school (I was complaining about the library being "too modern" ... we wound up pairing up for partner assignments and working in the only Tudor-style building on campus). He is a wonderfully nerdy type. He listens to historical lectures while walking the dog. He loves Downton Abbey. He geeks out to some computer game where you make your own civilization and try to survive. He is a total morning person (I am a total mess in the morning) and makes me coffee and doesn't remind me what time it is. He washes the dishes and compliments my cooking. He teaches me how to use Netflix on the TV. When he came to visit me in the fall after finishing our respective masters' theses, we had two magical days together and ... I just knew I was coming back east with him. And I did just that. I could go on and on but you get the gist.

Suffice to say, this blog will surely have some wedding-related chat over the coming months. Sure hope you don't mind that mixing with the food porn from time to time!

hope you're having a lovely weekend. oh, i did finally locate my camera charger so pictures are coming very soon!

love and light,

k.

just monday.

sorry, i've had my camera charger lost for quite a while now and the battery finally died.

so, no pictures for a while until i can find it!

we are going through a transition here, john starts a new job tomorrow. he works monday-friday but i scored saturdays off at least for a while, so we'll have one day a week together and i'll have a day to myself. it's a bit exhausting now planning his lunches but really they're just leftovers with some healthy snacks thrown in. just more planning, which i'm good at, anyway.

tonight i started potato salad. it was nice to hang with john. to do this i chopped in the living room -- potatoes, celery, green peppers, red onions.

then i parboiled the potatoes and hardboiled eggs. all kinds of boiling!

this morning i made us breakfast - eggs, bok choy, trader joe's hash browns, and pastured bacon. yep, you read that right. amish-produced bacon from a wonderful shop in redding terminal market that sells locally grown/produced products. i mostly burned the bacon and really didn't try it. i haven't cooked or eaten meat in almost five years. i'm still struggling with this decision and might write more about it later. right now it's late and i'm waiting for lunch napkins to finish in the dryer so john can have one with his lunch tomorrow.

this week i plan on making cranberry-orange pecan quinoa, two pizzas with goat cheese, mushrooms, and onion, homemade baked beans (to go with the potato salad) and veggie dogs. and a raw berry cheesecake. the whole foods workshop is heading past the halfway point. i'm so glad for its presence in my life. quiet and steadfast.

i reorganized the kitchen a bit tonight after john went to bed to make things more "user-friendly."

oy, i'd better go and get some sleep ....

how's your week going so far?

lunch

my honey got a job! any ideas for some eco-friendly lunchboxes and containers I could get him? I like the ones with compartments but I want to make sure the containers fit in the bag, don't leak, and he has enough food to eat.

all suggestions are welcome.

I will also need to figure his lunches into my weekly menu plans. ....hm. suggestions here are nice, too. of course, there is the whole make leftovers from dinner the night before thing.

I'm off to the park for a long walk with my dog. Not to worry, most homemaking duties accomplished for today: grocery shopping at four stores, hummus made for lunch wraps, pinto beans cooked to freeze, homemade iced tea and banana bread made, pizza dough defrosting for from-scratch pizza for dinner. Might make either homemade granola or honey-miso tofu for the week.

Friday is my next day off. Might spend part of it knitting and have an evening at the art museum.

have a lovely, blessed week. and if you're on the eastern seaboard as i am, enjoy the warm spring weather we're going to have this week!

love and light,

k.

sunday.

roasting potatoes for a late breakfast and listening to jazz and trying not to let the time change affect me as it always does (especially after a rare night of poor sleep). i have to work again today, but alas tomorrow is a day off and a grocery shopping day and those always make me happy! If the weather is nice I plan on taking the dog for a long walk in the park.

this week or next i hope to get started on my homemaker's recipe binder and at some point I'd like to start a day book (handwritten) just detailing little things like the weather each day and documenting the changes in life from season to season. i love the idea of my little children or grandchildren coming upon it one day!

hope you all have a relaxing Sunday. enjoy the pictures.

in the kitchen.

food porn, why not??

loving the whole foods workshop and a return to my sunny kitchen after last week's stresses.

restorative.

hoping to make a batch of dry beans to freeze when i get home from work tonight .....

love and light,

k.