Exterior Siding

As always, this project was more involved than originally expected. We are so glad to be done, though!

Before: 

(If you look closely you can see the termite damage on the bottom of the wood.)

 We started by removing some of the jungle.

 We ripped off the paneling only to find a live termite

 and another layer of paneling.

When the termite guy came to treat again he had us rip off the last layer so he could treat the studs.

 Then it waited like this until the weekend.

 We tried to get all the little pieces out that were nailed in behind the brick.

 This was my catch of the day. It was the only section that came out whole.

 Then we primed a base piece and nailed it in

 John's first cut with his new baby, DeWalter. 

 Saturday we started putting up sheathing. This picture makes me nervous because John's hand isn't in position, but the kid's face that was passing by is hilarious. He was enthralled with the saw.

 Many measurements, cuts, and nails later we were almost done with the sheathing. John went to Idaho for a few days and the wall waited patiently for the weekend.

 We chiseled the excess mortar off the bricks to make it even, then nailed in flashing. The elders came over because Elder Jarman was looking for something to do

 since his companion, Elder Oakeson, broke his wrist. One rested while the other helped put up tar paper. 

 Finally it was time to start nailing in the paneling.

About four hours later, it was done!

So beautiful! One wall down, one to go! 

(Don't remind John or he'll cry).

Voila!

This easy meal is an imitation of these frozen dinners. Kind of like a broth-less chicken soup.

Simple ingredients: pasta, veggies, chicken, garlic*

We cook the chicken and noodles, then add in broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and garlic.

It simmers covered until the veggies are soft then we eat!

*For even lazier days, we use garlic powder and frozen veggies instead of fresh. And we've tried all types of noodles. Pretty much whatever's on hand.

Mortensen Wedding

We tried to take some pictures since the view from our dinner table was amazing, but this was the best we could get.

The ones of the couple were all blurry, too. So we'll call it a year-and-two-thirds-iversary post.

Lauren for Dinner

We invited our friend over for dinner while her husband was out of town, but naturally only took pictures with her new baby. 

We were working on some the 5 S's Lauren taught us. (side, shh and suck or something)

I think they are so cute!

Jewelry Craft

I saw these guys online and wanted to try something like them for my jewelry.

 I started with this Goodwill beauty and some cross stitch fabric.

 I painted the frame

 then glued and stapled the edges in the back

 I sewed some button extras I had that came with clothes. (Hopefully I don't need them one day.)

John bolted it to the wall and I added the jewelry.

I don't wear jewelry very much, but I'm hoping having it out for me to see will help remind me to put something on. Plus, it frees up some coveted dresser-top space.

Delishush Chicken

Rick and Jess took us to the Cheesecake Factory before they left and John and I had the crispy chicken costoletta. It was so good he wanted to replicate it. So he did.

John here. Using my expert taste buds I tried to determine what was in the breading that cheesecake factory used. I decided it had to be garlic flavored croutons. They used really thin cuts so you get more breaded flavor with your chicken. I thought maybe they pounded the chicken flat, but after my own attempts at pounding chicken flat and seeing it fall apart, I'm thinking next time I'll just slice the chicken breasts in half like a fillet. I crushed some croutons (I like using garlic ones) into powder to coat the chicken. First I dipped the chicken in a saucer of milk to get a coating of liquid for the breading to stick to. Then coat in breading. Then fry up in pan with some oil. I squeezed some lemon over the chicken when eating it. It seemed easier than making a lemon sauce and was still really good.

Tech Museum

Science museums for John are like bookstores for me. Although he likes books and I like sciencey things, too. So it works out. Karen is out of town again so we took Alan to help distract him from missing her.

 John was good at directing this jet pack simulator, perhaps because of muscle memory:

 The robot knows John's name!

 Our buildings for the earthquake simulator did not stand up to the '89 Loma Prieta.

 I crawled through the exploration tubes like a little kid.

 John went into outer space.

 Then we designed roller coasters. Mine was nice and mild and we tried it out in the simulator afterwards. John's was deemed "too dangerous" to ride.

 Then we pedaled energy for lights and fans. It was a lot of work.

We had a fun day playing and will have to go back when Karen comes home.