celebrate

For those of you who haven't heard, I found out on Tuesday that I will not be laid off!!! Of course I am over-the-moon excited to get to keep my job, but it is still bittersweet having to see some of my friends let go, and getting assigned to new Reps. It will seem like an entirely different job for awhile; but it will be fun, and challenging, and I already know 2 (of 3) of my new Reps are great (the other is a freshman, so unknown), and it appears I will only be a few doors down from my old Rep.

The impending switch/ move around the office has definitely motivated me to start purging through old files and emails to get things ready for my member's new LA, as well as start planning how I want to organize my Reps come January. But before I get immersed in those projects, I plan on doing a little celebrating this weekend. At this point that  might just mean going Christmas shopping without having to feel guilty about how much I spend, as we have a full weekend with Monster Jam on Saturday, and plans to paint the bathroom and accomplish a few other projects around the house before we whip out the Christmas decorations. Don't worry though, we did go out for drinks on Tuesday night to celebrate, so if we don't get to do dinner, I did get a little merriment in:)

Happy Friday everyone! Have a fantastic weekend!

christmas wishlist, part 2

A few more things I wouldn't mind finding under the tree on Christmas.

1. Leopard Belt 2. Red Leather Gloves 3. Pixie Pants 4. Thick Leggings 5. Navy Pencil Skirt 6. New Blazer

running

I started running again last week. It had been almost 4 months since I had last gone on a run (last run = 5 mile trail run from hell in Grand Marais... my running shoes were in fact still muddy with gross socks tucked in them), and 5 months since I had been regularly running.

The good news: I forgot how enjoyable short runs can be (the last time I was regularly running I was training for a half-marathon, and I did not find 11+ mile runs in 90 degree weather fun), and I hadn't lost it (I managed 2.5 miles at my normal pace just fine).

The bad news: I was sore. Really sore. For multiple days. I couldn't go up and down the stairs without whimpering (and we have a lot of stairs at our place). But that was probably my fault for not stretching after I ran.

Lesson learned: always stretch after you run, and don't go 4 months between runs.

what i wore wednesday

A few outfits from the past two weeks:

Outfit #1

Location: Work

Cardigan: H&M/ Chambray: thrifted/ Belt: Ross/ 
Skirt: Old Navy/ Boots: DSW

Outfit #2
Location: Work, job interview

Blouse: New York & Co (thrifted)/
 Skirt: Banana Republic (thrifted)/ Heels: BCBG (thrifted)/ 
Not pictured: suit jacket

**And for the last time, ignore the scraggly hair- 
I know it's bad, and I finally got it cut the day after I took this pic! 

Outfit #3:
Location: Family Thanksgiving(s)

 Scarf: gift/ Tunic: Marshalls/ Leggings: Old Navy/ 
Boots:DSW/ Watch: Coach

  

take your dog to work day

Not an official day here at the SOB (State Office Building), but since our furnace isn't working at home, and the high yesterday was only 21, I thought Winston might be a little more comfortable here rather than shivering in our apartment, so I brought him to work with me. (I would like to throw this little note in there, that even though the temp has been in the 30s, and we don't have storm windows on half of our windows, we have been able to get the apartment up to at least 60 each day with our trusty little space heater, and the decision to bake 1 thing a day (and plastic on some of the windows). In fact, the apartment was 55!! when I got up yesterday, I just feared it might spend most of the day in the high 40s without the space heater on, which is definitely too cold for Winston. Don't worry, the temp is supposed to be back to the 50s by the weekend, and we plan on calling the furnace guy around then, hoping not as many people will be having work done when it's warmer out.) 

So, in summary, I got an entire day at work with a little space heater on my lap, who growled at passers by and gave me kisses whenever he woke up from a nap... every day should be take your dog to work day, think how much happier places offices would be. And honestly, happier employees = more productive employees... so allowing dogs in the office really seems like a logical step. I move for nationally practiced take-your dog-to-work day at a minimum!!

Despite how obvious the pictures look, Winston was so discrete, only 1 other person knew he was here, and that was just because I told her! I  could  bring my dog to work every day if I wanted to apparently...

thankful

So what if I am 5 days late with this post? Better late than never. 

First, before I forget, I want to say I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday, and got to spend time eating lots of good food with good company. I know I did.

Second, I want to go on record saying I have a lot to be thankful for. Even though today or tomorrow I will find out if I am laid off from my job, I can't help but feeling blessed. I have had 2 great years working at a job I look forward to everyday, with good coworkers and the best Representatives. I have been able to learn a lot about politics and state government and acquire new skills for my next job, whenever I get there. And even if the worst happens, I can't complain, knowing I am in a better situation than a lot of my coworkers- with spouses back in school, new babies, health problems etc. And if all that wasn't enough to make me feel fortunate, I am lucky enough to have an optimistic husband, who works hard at his full time job, and part time jobs, to provide financial security if something like this happens. Of course having an apartment  we just rented out helps... didn't I say I had a lot to be thankful for? 

And just in case I happened to forget about the abundant blessings in my life, the sermon on Sunday practically hit me over the head with a not-so-subtle reminder about my numerous blessings, and where they come from.  "A man can receive only what is given him from heaven," John 3:27. Always a good thing to remember, but something I will be sure to keep in mind these next few weeks!

Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!

Morning by morning new mercies I see;

All I have needed thy hand hath provided-

Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth 

Thy own dear presence to cheer and to guide;

Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,

Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!  

   © 1923. Ren. 1951 Hope Publishing Co., Carol Stream, IL 60188

© 1923. Ren. 1951 Hope Publishing Co., Carol Stream, IL 60188

Source: http://www.hymnal.net/hymn.php/h/19#ixzz2DLz0K42F

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thy own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

Source: http://www.hymnal.net/hymn.php/h/19#ixzz2DLvuB1eI

Source: http://www.hymnal.net/hymn.php/h/19#ixzz2DLvuB1eI

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thy own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

Source: http://www.hymnal.net/hymn.php/h/19#ixzz2DLvuB1eI

dinner tonight

Leftover split pea soup and homemade bread. Perfect food for a cold winter fall evening.

Split Pea Soup recipe:

Ingredients:
- 1 lb bacon*
- 1 16 oz bag of split peas
-56+ oz chicken broth/ water
-3+ carrots
-1 large onion
-2ish cloves of garlic
-2 bay leaves
-salt and pepper
-optional, rosemary, marjoram, paprika, potatoes, celery, etc.

*I prefer to make this soup with a ham bone, but I don't often have one of those floating around, so for the other 5 times a year I want split pea soup, I use bacon.

Instructions:
1. Fry up bacon, removing grease as necessary, in a large pot.
2. While bacon is frying chop up onion and carrots, mince the garlic.
3. Leave 2 tablespoons of bacon grease in the bottom of pot- toss in onions, carrots, and bacon. Salt and pepper to taste. Saute for a few minutes, until carrots start to get tender.
4. Add chicken broth, split peas, bay leaves, and any desired herbage to pot. 56 oz of liquid will give you a very thick soup. Soup that will turn to a solid after cooling. I usually add about a cup more water, and I like pea soup thick. If you like thinner soup, add more 1 cup or more liquid now, or you can always add it when you reheat it if needed.
5. Simmer for approximately 60 minutes, stirring occasionally. You know it's ready when the peas are broken up, and you are looking at a tasty pot of green mush.
6. Remove bay leaves and serve.

This is honestly, one of my and David's favorite winter recipes (and keep in mind David doesn't really count soup as a meal by itself)- it's cheap, healthy, filling, and easy! And it usually sometimes gives us lots of tasty leftovers, so we can enjoy it for a few days.

free-for-all bread

That is what the bread I made last night should be called, it was that easy, and seemingly that indestructible (read, I did whatever I wanted and it still turned out ok). We had homemade split pea soup for dinner last night, and the perfect accompaniment to that is a crusty homemade loaf of bread. This is my go-to recipe for easy, tasty, perfect-for-dunking-in-soup bread, but it had been so long since I last made it I forgot it has to rise overnight, so I had to move on to plan B if I wanted to have bread with dinner. That is when I stumbled upon this recipe. It seemed easy enough, and forming it into a baguette seemed like a fun alternative, so I decided to give it a whirl. And I am definitely glad I did, it was just as easy as promised.

I got together my ingredients and set out with the best intentions to follow SK's instructions. It wasn't long however before I had to improvise. For starters, I did not have either "stone-ground wheat flour" or  "coarse ground whole wheat flour," I had only "white whole wheat flour." So I opted to use a little more "white wheat" than all purpose and for good measure I used a quarter cup of wheat germ instead of tablesppon to make it taste, and be, a little "healthier," and besides, SK promised you could not break this bread...

I stirred em all up in a bowl then let the KitchenAid do the hard part...

...but that didn't work out quite as well as I expected, so I dumped it out and started kneading by hand. (Note, at this point I was not very optimistic about how this bread was going to turn out, at no point did it have a very elastic texture. Also note it is very hard to knead dough with one hand, while taking a pic with the other- I do not recommend it.)

Once I had what seemed like a smooth ball of dough, I floured it up, and put it back in the bowl (not a warm one, like advised) and covered it with a towel. Here again, I decided to stray from the directions. SK says to place in a cool, draft-free place- I set the oven to 350 and let the bread rise in there (simply because our house was around 55 degrees yesterday). Not sure if the bread would have turned out better if I left-out that step (maybe 55 degrees is a good "cool" temp for bread), but I let the bread sit in the oven for 5 hours (I turned it off once it pre-heated) before I kneaded it again and let it to a quick second rise. I think I let it sit for an hour before I took it out, kneaded it again, and rolled it into a baguette shape. I didn't get any pics of the shaping process, but check out the original post on SK if you want step by step instructions on how to form a baguette. At this point in the process, I was quite skeptical of the outcome, as I felt I barely followed the instructions, but I had nothing to lose by baking it, so in it went...

I baked it at 450 for 30 minutes and then turned the temp down and ended up baking it for maybe another 3, it was getting a little too done on the top for my liking (in the future I might start it at 425 so I can bake it a little longer, the center wasn't quite done enough, and the bottom was definitely too done... it had to be cut off).

I've decided I need a little practice with my baguette rolling, the seam in the bottom got a little unruly, but over all it was a good first attempt at this recipe. I will be trying it out again in the future when I want some homemade bread with my soup and don't have time to let the dough rest for 12-18 hours.

scatterbrained

Last night I left my camera at work, and this morning I left my laptop at home... which means you won't be getting much of a post. I had wanted to share with you what I wore to my interview on Monday (but I can't get the pics off my camera) and the haircut I got last night (but I couldn't take a picture of it) and the project David and I tackled on the downstairs window this morning (but again, I couldn't take a picture). So you are just going to have to use your imagination and know that I wore a new blouse to my interview, chopped a few inches off my hair, and David and I frosted the bay window in the small bedroom this morning.

We opted to frost the bay window using this, simply because custom mini blinds were too expensive, custom curtains were going to be too time consuming for me to make (and they did not in fact make rods small enough for the side windows, so I was going to have to jerry rig something), hanging cheap blinds like the past owner looked horrible, and I do not trust the tenants to hang their own curtains/ blinds and not put more holes in my wood trim. It was a pretty simple process, although a little tedious- it took David and me 45 minutes to do 3 windows. We are so happy with the results we think we might do it in our upstairs bathroom once we paint up there (currently we just have a towel tacked in the window...), but of course, I will let you know what we decide.

So that's all I have for today. If I am not back tomorrow, have a Happy Thanksgiving everybody!

La Crosse

We spent the weekend in La Crosse, WI visiting my cousin, Sydney. This is the third time David and I have visited her at college, and like usual we had a blast. We spent the weekend testing out new restaurants and lounging in the hotel/ hot tub. And, since no trip to La Crosse would be complete with out a trip up the bluffs, we did that too. Here are a few pics I snapped.

Winston enjoying his first night in a hotel room

Lunch at a Bodega Brew Pub- known for having over 400 varieties of beer to try.

Fam pic on the bluffs

Winston got a little chilly

Me and Syd

Napping on the car ride home

spare time

Now that campaign season is over with, and the apartment is rented out (more on that later), I have finally had some spare time to organize/decorate/ clean up our apartment. I decided to tackle a project I found on pinterest, seen here.  

Step #1: Procure the supplies. This proved harder than I thought, as my first stop was Michael's and they did not have paper mache letters (even though the woman I talked to thought they did). And my next stop- Joann's- was just craziness. But, luckily they had the letters I wanted (but barely, supplies were low).

Once I had the letters safe in my hands- I moseyed to the paint aisle to find the perfect copper shade. It took a few minutes of searching through the brands, but this is what I finally settled on.

I hurried to the checkout line because I was more than ready to get out of there- it was a zoo- and I get to the front of the store and the line is 38 people long. Apparently everyone had Monday off for Veteran's Day too? The line is inching along and I realize I forgot to get glue. I wasn't about to get out of line, but luckily they have this sitting right by the register- crisis averted:

Step 2: Painting the letters. Pretty self explanatory. I did not take any pics of this process, but I did take a pic of the painted before gluing the pennies on. Oh, and I did two coats to get rid of any streaks, like recommended.

Step 3: Gluing on the pennies. Also self explanatory. I put a generous dot of glue on each penny and randomly glued them down. I tried to mix the shiny ones in with the dull ones, as well as heads in with tails, so the letters would not look too uniform. Unfortunately I only had enough pennies to do one layer, so the pic below is not quite the final product. (I used about $3 worth of pennies for the first layer alone).

So that's as far as I've gotten into the project. Once I get the last layer up, and the letters on the wall, I'll put up another pic. I'll also let you know how the glue holds up. Hopefully I'll be back soon with the update. Here's the cost breakdown of the project:

$13.47 paper mache letters (3 at $4.49 a piece)

$1.89 acrylic paint

$.99 paint brushes

$4.00 E6000 glue

apprx $4.00 worth of pennies

Total = $24.35

And now here is a sneak peak of another project I have been working on around the house:

what i wore wednesday

I decided to forgo the knee-holding, couch rocking for the evening, and instead come up with another post. And lucky for me (and you) I had this one outfit pic ready to go from last week.

I had to dress up at work last Friday for New Member Orientation. It was supposed to be a fun day where we met all the new Representatives we would be working with. Instead it was depressing- seeing all the new people that are taking the seats of our current co-workers (and ultimately costing us our jobs). One of the things that makes me sad about (potentially) leaving my current job is that I might end up at an office where no one dresses up, and half of my wardrobe will go unworn. I know in the scheme of things that's silly, but I can't help thinking about it as I look at my closet half-full of business attire. Sigh.

Outfit #1

Location: Work

Sweater: DKNY (thrifted)/ Blouse: Gap/ 
Pants: Old Navy (thrifted)/ Heels: Guess (thrifted)

** Disclaimer for those who follow the blog and don't know my current work situation, I actually do wear business professional clothes half the year (when the Legislature is in session), even though the pics you have seen suggest otherwise (we are in the Interim until January).

lies

So I said I would return to regularly scheduled blogging, but apparently that only lasted a day. You see I was busy applying for jobs today.  I sent in 5 applications. And bookmarked a handful of others I am interested in. And of course I had to to other things- like attend meetings where we learn about unemployment and "offer day"- which doesn't sound like it could be any worse. (After interviewing, on some unspecified day in the future when they are ready to make staffing decisions they call ALL staff down to a room, one at a time, and they let you know your fate- either offer you a position, or tell you you are let go. There are 3 other people in the room. Then you are expected to go quietly back to your desk and not talk to anybody else about what they said to you in the room for the rest of the day. The. Worst.) So I was a little preoccupied. Maybe I will be back later tonight with something more interesting, then again, maybe I'll be working on more job applications, or maybe I will just be sitting on the couch, holding my knees, rocking back and forth, dreading offer day.

winston's christmas wishlist

I already have one gift ready for Winston, but here are some others I think he would like, and a few he wouldn't like that much but I am considering anyways...

1.Treats, variety pack  2.New Collar  3.Boots for our walks in the snow  4.Long Johns to stay warm in our cold house  5.A baby brother/sister to snuggle with while I'm at work

return to regularly scheduled blogging

Last week was a little hectic, to say the least. But now the bad news has had a chance to sink in and I will return to my regularly scheduled blogging- whatever that was/is. In the wake of potentially being laid off, our HR person, who used to be a headhunter for national corporations, hosted a resume building/ interview workshop for us. I thought I would share a few pointers from it, as some of the things I had not heard before.

-You must have a 1 page resume = lie. The 1 page resume of a skilled person looks the same as a 1 pages resume of someone who was not good at their job, there is only room for a bare description of the duties performed- so don't be afraid to have a longer resume, just make sure you are filling it with worthwhile information.

-Instead of just putting a job description under each job, put the description in paragraph form and then...

-Under that paragraph put bullet points that list your accomplishments, skills, etc. Brainstorm accomplishments before you work on your resume- try to save 1 to 2 pages, and swap out bullet points as necessary for the job you are applying for. Use the rest of the accomplishments you don't use on your resume in your cover letter or interview.

-When answering questions in an interview, use the StAR method- Situation, Action, Result. Start with a situation, and then progress through the acronym. This will ensure you give complete answers to their questions, even if you get a bad interviewer who only asks yes and no questions.

-Practice a firm handshake.

-Call a day or so after a job application is closed to be sure they got your application.

-When interviewing, ask what the process is so you don't become a stalker who calls every day if you don't hear back right away.



In other news, this is what I woke up to this morning:

It made me incredibly thankful for my day off- I heard the commute was a beast. And this means Christmas is basically right around the corner which is a plus, although it is going to make cleaning up the rest of the leaves in the backyard a little difficult. 

what i wore thursday + update

A day late with the outfit pics due to a day of grieving after the elections.

Outfit #1

Location: Work

Sweater: Gap (thrifted)/ Chambry: thrifted/ 
Leggings: Old Navy/Boots: DSW/ Belt: Ross

Outfit #2

Location: Work, Election Night Viewing Party

Blouse: Target/ Jeans: Express/ Shoes: Target/ Scarf: gift

Yesterday was definitely a somber day around the office. Not only did Romney lose the election, but my caucus lost the majority in my state- which means we are going to have cut staff by about 50%. I'll be busy brushing up my interview skills and fine-tuning my resume in an attempt not join the 12 million other unemployed Americans in January. So if you know somewhere I should be applying, let me know! Now I'm off to schedule at least a dozen doctor appointments.

election day

Well, it's finally here. After a looong campaign season, and too many political ads, the day we get to vote on the leaders of our city, state, and country has arrived. I wrapped up the campaign season with an overnight trip this weekend. We hit St. Cloud, Ortonville, Moorehead, New York Mills, and made a pit stop in Fargo, ND, all in 24 hours. It was exhausting, but hopefully it will prove to be well worth it- I already know it made filling in those circles at the poll box this morning even more satisfying. 

I'm off to do a little grocery shopping to get supplies for the dishes I am going bring to my work election-night party. I plan on bringing some mini pot pies, and pumpkin spice puppy chow. The latter is a new recipe, so we'll see how it tastes- although I am sure any and all food will be appreciated in the wee hours of the morning when we are still waiting for the results to come in. 

Have fun watching the results tonight, and if you haven't already, go vote!

tgif

Is it Friday already? This week flew by. Probably because of the amount of duplex showings/ phone calls and campaigning that were crammed into it. And the campaigning isn't going to stop with the weekend (although hopefully the apartment showings will)- I'll be going out for a few local candidates on Saturday, and then heading up North for an overnight trip Sunday and Monday, and then back to vote on Tuesday. Four days 'til elections!

Hopefully you all enjoy your weekend more than I do, but it will be worth it come next week when I attend our caucus' victory dinner and buy myself a you-won-the-majority-and-still-have-a-job-present  (here's hoping positive thinking helps). Not sure what that present is going to be yet, but I am leaning towards these, this, or another one of these (even though 2 of those appeared on my Christmas list, don't wanna make things too easy for David):

 

...or maybe I will just go out for a nice dinner with David and celebrate renting out our downstairs apartment and having a job next year. I'll let you know what I decide, but either way...Happy Friday and see you again on election day!

happy november 1st

Apparently to some people November 1st marks the first day you can start listening to Christmas music (at least this is what my coworkers tell me). Like I said, I have already been listening to it, but to celebrate the beginning of the Christmas-music season, here are a few tunes to brighten your day. So go ahead and make some hot chocolate and queue these up, or pop in your own CD of favorite Christmas tunes, and start wishing for snow.

1. White Christmas
2. The Christmas Song
3. O Holy Night
4. Home for the Holidays

checklist

Thanks to Eric we have been able to cross a lot of little things off of our master to-do list for the downstairs apartment, including:

-switch locks
-hanging the last mini-blinds downstairs
-installing a bi-fold door in the basement bedroom closet
-installing brackets to hold a shelf in above closet
-pretty-ing up the back stairs with brand new thresholds
-fixing the closing mechanism on the front door
-fix the ceiling fan in the living room
-caulk the kitchen counter
-moved the box spring into the attic (we opted to go through the window, for those wondering- we did not have to break down the box spring)

Meanwhile, David and I have:

-finalized the application
-finalized the contract
-put up a sign in our front yard
-been fielding lots of phone calls about the apartment (apparently in this neighborhood a sign is better advertisement than an online ad and we should have put the sign up from the beginning)
-scheduled showings
-actually shown the apartment :)
-put up the last smoke detectors
-put up light fixtures
-touched up paint in the front porch
-put the kick plate on the front door
-screwed on the mailboxes
-snagged a free dresser/ nightstand for our apartment


There is very little left on our master list, and I can finally say, if we rented out the apartment tomorrow, that we got all the necessary stuff done (even though David would say we got the necessary stuff done weeks ago). Bring on the six showings we have today! With any luck we will have a contract signed by the weekend and finally be ready to focus our energy on our apartment upstairs.