Answer Me This

I am a latecomer to Kendra at Catholic All Year's blog link-up, ANSWER ME THIS, in which, I well, answer things. And so does she. You should check her out, she has a great blog!

1. Do you have a smart phone?

I do. I am on my third iPhone. Unfortunately, I cannot live without it. I remember the first time I ever saw an iPhone. My friend Kevin in college got the very first iPhone. The thought of a phone that could do all those things and all that stuff was just incomprehensible. It was in a thick, clunky plastic case, but it was in there alright. I remember touching some of the apps and thinking, "well, I will never have one of these, that's for sure." 

AT&T fixed that problem for me by making them pretty affordable if you signed a new contract. So, here I am, on my third. I really like smartphones. I am surprised I'm not one of those people who admonishes them, but I think they make modern life in American really convenient. Plus, I get lost a lot. And I have a cute case.

Photo courtesy of Best Buy, where I purchased this super cute iPhone case.

2. Which is your favorite meal of the day?

This is a tough one to answer, because I love all of them. 

I like breakfast on the weekends when I can linger over my coffee and maybe spend the time making egg sandwiches, breakfast burritos, or even pancakes with peanut butter for the two of us. Nobody has to rush to shower and get dressed and get out the door. These breakfasts are heaven.

I like lunch on weekends, too, when I can try a new restaurant with my husband, my mom, or a friend. I do not quite care for lunch during the week. I get tired of sitting in the office lunch room day after day, eating packed food I don't really like that much. I mean, honestly, who really likes salad that much? But, I am totally and completely blessed that Tim gets up early every morning with me (earlier than he needs to for his own job) and packs my lunch for me. This allows us to have a little more time together in the morning and the evening together, because he makes it while I am getting ready anyway.

I like dinner when I get a chance to try a new recipe, which I did tonight. I made shrimp scampi over a brown rice and quinoa blend. It was delicious.

3. Shower or bath?

A few times I month I do really enjoy a good bath. Our house came with a whirlpool tub. It's fun to put the bubble bath in and turn on the jets to make an enormous amount of bubbles! But, I prefer  baths as a treat to help me relax. On the average day, I prefer a shower. I always feel cleaner when I shower.

4. Think of a person you love. How many days have you been in love with that person?

I have been in love with Tim for 693 days. I told him I loved him on July 12, 2012, so I'm counting that as day one. We were at the Taste of Chicago seeing Death Cab for Cutie perform. I don't remember what song was playing, but I'm sure it was romantic! Tim said it might have been "I Will Posses Your Heart." Yeah, I think that was it. I was saving up the "I Love You" for a good moment, so I'm sure I picked an apropos song. That's just how I am.

5. What's the best church you've ever been inside?

It is a tie: the Munich, Germany cathedral, called the Frauenkirche, and a teeny-tiny church I went to on a Hawaiian mountain.

I went to Germany on a senior-year field trip in the summer of 2006. Luckily several people with me were also Catholic, so I had the amazing opportunity to attend mass at the Munich Cathedral. It was a Saturday vigil mass. 

The Frauenkirche in Munich, Germany (Photo courtesy of Wikipedia)

It was an experience that taught me to really appreciate the universal quality of the church, because even though I did not understand German as well as I probably should have (after studying for four years), I could follow the mass. It was also the first time I received communion on my tongue while kneeling. That was a very humbling experience!

Lucky me, just a few weeks after I returned from Germany, my mom and I traveled to Hawaii to visit my aunt Helen who was living there at the time. While we were there we went to a Sunday morning mass in the smallest, friendliest church you could ever imagine, nestled right in the tropical mountainside of the Big Island. 

At the end of the mass, they asked if there were any visitors that day. I'm sure they get a lot being in Kona, Hawaii. We raised our hands and the congregation warmly welcomed us. An older woman came over to us and brought us hand-crocheted leis for us to wear in honor of being visitors. It was so sweet and genuine of a welcome. I will certainly never forget it.

Unfortunately, I can't recall the name of the church, but I will update when I find out what it was. It might have been this one!

Holy Rosary Mission Church in Kailua-Kona, HI, where I might have gone to mass once. (Photo courtesy of the Diocese of Honolulu)

6. In honor of last Saturday's feast of the Visitation: has anyone ever come to help you?

Sure! Lots of times. I have been blessed with a wealth of family and friends who help me whenever I am in need. The first thing that comes to mind is all the times people have helped me, and later Tim and me together, move house. I have moved nearly once per year since I graduated from high school in 2006. I moved into and out of two dorm rooms, three apartments, one rental house, one purchased house, and my parents' house several times in between. In fact, I'm not sure I am actually moved out of there as I write this. I have a lot of stuff in my old room. Thanks to everyone who has helped me move! 

First Quilting Project: Dresden Plate

I finally finished my first creative project of the year! My dresden plate!

Dresden plate made from Moda April Showers fabric

I've had kind of a peripheral interest in quilting that began when I viewed the Midwest Folk Art exhibit at the Peoria Riverfront Museum in Peoria, Illinois, several years ago. I found the quilts in particular to be beautiful and fascinating. They are a cozy and somewhat haunting grip on the past, since people tend to hang onto them for so long!

Fast forward to March 2014. My husband's mom is an avid quilter and she noticed me asking more and more questions about her quilts when we would be at their home. She invited me to her quilt guild's biannual quilt show. It was there that I really got a taste of how much precision and skill this craft really takes, yet at the same time how it allows people to be incredibly creative and expressive. I have always had an interest in fabric arts, yet it was always the first thing to fall away when something else came up. And, going through high school, college, dating/being engaged to/planning a wedding with/buying a house with Tim, I've been pretty busy for the last...oh, ten years.

So, anyway, at the quilt show, after viewing a hundred quilts and a hundred more patterns for quilts, I saw the pattern for this little thing. For the first time that day I thought, I can make that! 

However, I was not convinced I really wanted to try until I spotted Moda's fabulous April Showers fabric charm pack. April Showers is TO. DIE. FOR. I mean, it has tiny umbrellas on it, for heaven's sake!

Moda April Showers. (Photo by Missouri Quilt Co.)

With the help of my mother-in-law, I started learning how to measure, use a rotary cutter, sew a standard 1/4" seam, and strip-piece. According to my Instagram records, I began this project on March 18, 2014.

After creating each of the little arrow pieces, I had to sew them together into a circle. The center piece was created with a perfect circle template, which was a fascinating process that involved starch spray and drawstring-style stitches. I attached the center circle to the arrows with invisible stitches. Finishing the dresden plate was a triumph in and of itself! But then it was time to do the rest.

I attached the dresden plate to navy blue wool felt with more invisible stitches. This was the most time-consuming part, which took a few episodes of Mad Men, one Boardwalk Empire, and almost the entire Star Wars Episode IV to complete. Phew!

The stitches around the edge were by far the most frustrating part. I had to resort to YouTube and WikiHow tutorials, but I managed to master the blanket stitch and get it done.

Close-up of my careful blanket stitches. Those stitches were b....

I completed this little project on May 25, 2014. So, it only took me a little over two months. Not bad since I work full time and have a million other things going on!

But, what is it? I have no idea... it's pretty. And has tiny umbrellas on it! The pattern calls it a "candle mat," so maybe I will put it under a candle, or possibly just dress up my night stand. I briefly considered making a matching set. HA.

I am now making a chevron-patterned baby quilt out of the confidence gained with this project. More on that another time!

Happy Housewarming Amy!

Tonight we are celebrating my friend Amy who is moving into a new apartment in the city. 

We are going out to a little wine bar to celebrate by eating cheese!

I got her a baby succulent plant as a housewarming gift. I hope she likes it! And I also hope she doesn't read this until later because she hasn't gotten it yet!

7 Quick Takes Friday

--- 1 ---

We are leaving for Hilton Head Island in a few weeks! I have actually never been to Atlantic Ocean, so I am particularly excited. I’ve flown over it twice (to Europe and back again), I’ve swam in the Pacific Ocean in Hawaii, and I’ve swam in the Gulf of Mexico when visiting Florida’s west coast. But I’ve never technically been to the Atlantic Ocean, and that’s been on my bucket list for a while.

While we are visiting Hilton Head Island, I am really looking forward to renting kayaks. We are planning on doing a sunset kayak tour of an estuary. As excited as I am about going to the ocean, I am not planning on kayaking in it!

And, I can’t wait to eat the food. I have been looking up Carolina lowcountry cuisine restaurants and I have a list of places I am hoping to try. On the top of that list is A Lowcountry Backyard.

--- 2 ---

But really what I am most excited about is the drive. Yes, we are driving! It’s about fifteen hours from our house. My husband and I have never been on a road trip together and it’s something I particularly enjoy. For me, roadtripping is a struggle between wanting to get where you are going as quickly as possible and my desire to shunpike it. (A “shunpiker” is someone who shuns the turnpike—highway—while driving long distances in an effort to find lots of neat places to stop along the way.)
We decided to split up the planning. I was supposed to plan the trip down, while he planned the trip back. We have been using a really cool website, Roadtrippers.com, to find fun things to do. We had a few awesome places picked out, but the indie bookstore I planned to hit up in Indianapolis has apparently closed (the customer service reviews on Yelp were pretty bad, anyway) and the Biltmore Estate is not something you can really tour and appreciate in just a few hours. So I think we’re back to square one. Maybe I can convince him to get off the interstate and see what turns up on the state routes that wind through the Smokey Mountains.

--- 3 ---

Tomorrow officially marks 4 months since we bought our home, the Midwest Manor. It has been a nerve-wracking and expensive couple of months. I am really hoping that we have worked all the kinks out of the house now, as there was nobody living in it for a couple of years before we moved in.  I have a few more projects to finish up, but I am planning on posting a house tour as soon as possible!
Nevertheless, I am starting to fall in love with the place. Yes, starting. I really really liked the house when we first laid eyes on it, but it wasn’t until recently that I started to understand what it is like to really love where you live. It had a lot to do with 3+ feet of snow finally melting so I could see my backyard for the first time, a lot to do with seeing it grow and begin to bloom. And a lot to do with walking to Sunday mass on a bright, sunny morning because yes, we’re that close.

--- 4 ---

My number one goal before we leave for vacation is to hang up a curtain over the picture window that looks into our backyard. Or, the window that looks into our dining room, depending on whether you’re in the house our in the yard.

Luckily our backyard is somewhat private, so I don’t worry too much about people being able to see into our house. We went on vacation one week after moving in (yeah, that was not planned well—it’s a long story!) and I taped black garbage bags to the windows because we didn’t have any curtains up over the two large picture windows in the front and the back of the house. Here we are, four months later, and we still only have one window covered. I told my husband that the ONE thing we have to do before leaving for vacation is cover that window. Like grown ups. Not like with garbage bags.

We bought the curtains ($3.99! Ikea!) and the curtain rod (that cost a lot more…) but now have to find the time to put it all together.

--- 5 ---

Anyone remember those baked potatoes I mentioned on Monday? I made them in the microwave. My brother said they were therefore oxymoron potatoes, because they were not, in fact, baked. They were surprisingly delicious!

Here is what I did:

Oxymoron Potatoes for Two

• 2 small Yukon Gold potatoes
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Anything else you like on your potatoes, to taste

1. Prick potatoes with fork.
2. Place in microwave safe bowl.
3. Sprinkle with as much salt and pepper as you like on top. Turn the potatoes and sprinkle with salt and pepper again to cover the other side.
4. Microwave for 3 to 5 minutes (depending on your microwave and the size of your potatoes). Turn potatoes over. Microwave again for 3 to 5 minutes.
5. Cut in half and dress as desired (salt, pepper, butter, sour cream, chili, whatever you want).

--- 6 ---

I painted my step stool!

Last summer, my husband and I went to Ikea and purchased, among many things, the Bekvam Step Stool. You've probably seen one; it looks like this:

Ikea BEKVAM Step Stool

We bought it because even at 5'6, I was not tall enough to reach the cabinets in our last rental house, the 1926 house. (Our current home, the Midwest Manor, is the 1938 house. More on that someday!) When we picked it out at Ikea, adjacent to the brightly colored children's furniture, I had brief weepy visions of us putting this little piece of furniture together before we were even married and our children using it in their playroom someday, and all kinds of other misty thoughts you have when you're counting down to your wedding in weeks rather than months.

Little did I know that assembling Ikea furniture, even this little guy, was not the best idea mere weeks before our wedding! At any rate, building the little stool was a fun and valuable conflict resolution exercise.

Behr Americana

I've been meaning to paint it since the day we bought it. I was going to paint it bright yellow when we were using it in the 1926 house. When we moved, I was going to paint it apple green. We ended up buying Behr Americana, a nice colonial/cornflower blue. It was looking a lot lighter than I had hoped when I was painting it outside in the afternoon sunlight, but I think once it dries and we start using it indoors the color might appear darker. I will post photos when it's done!

--- 7 ---

I was wondering all week if I'd make it to number 7! I am hoping to keep this seventh quick take as a space to write about what I am doing to further my faith, my spiritual life, and my interiority. I am hoping to make talking about these topics a large part of this blog, as I am also trying to make it a large part of my life.

Lately, Tim and I have been attending daily mass, or at least trying. We have not yet made it a full five days in a row (in fact, last week, it was 0 out of 5) but we have found that we really enjoy going. It creates a solid frame for the rest of the day's activities and I feel like have better days when I go rather than when I don't go.

Have a great weekend!

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Meetaversary

Today, my husband and I are celebrating our meetaversary: the anniversary of the day we happened to meet.

Two years ago on May 19th, my very good friend was having a bachelorette party. Since she shared a lot of the same friends with her husband-to-be, it happened to be a joint-bachelor-and-bachelorette party. So, it was a bachelorette party with dudes.

Mr. Manners happened to be the only guy at the party whom I hadn't met yet. He caught my eye in a very dramatic way. He pursued me relentlessly.

Six months later, he proposed. I accepted.

Nine months after that, we were married.

Four months after that, we bought our Midwestern Manor. Our first home.

It is hard for me to believe that it has been two entire years since the day my life changed course. But at the same time, two years feels like just a tiny sliver of what we have ahead of us - a whole lifetime of adventure.

So, now that I am finally feeling "settled" for the first time in two years, I feel like blogging about what comes next.

Stay tuned!

Tonight's Menu:
Sirloin steak on the grill
Baked potatoes
Pinot Grigio

There I am! The night we met!