our patio

You've come a long way, baby.

summer...

Time has passed by and I'm a little confused how we got to July so quickly. I'm glad we are finally seeing some sunny weather here. One thing I've been filling up my days with is reading. It is my current obsession. Here is my summer reading list (minus "White House Nannies", which I started and threw off my list, because it was too disturbing.) I've already completed Nicky and Zora and Monique and the Mango Rains.



Lance and I are reading Mountains Beyond Mountains outloud... and we started Life of Pi that way, but it got overshadowed by Peter Farmer's true life adventure.

I'm saving Eat, Pray, Love for the plane ride to North Carolina next week.

Maybe it is just that there have been too many crazy things to think about. Maybe it is that we don't have the internet at home (or "the email"), but whatever it is, it is my way of escaping for now.

I'm thankful for friends lending me books and for my patio that I can finally read on. There truly is no better way to spend a sunny afternoon at home than out on the patio with a good book... and a glass of white wine.

Fried Chicken

One of Lance's coworkers, Rob, came over for dinner last Tuesday. He is originally from New Orleans and during dinner we peppered him with questions about growing up and of how he ended up in Seattle. He told us about learning to cook from his mom when he was kid and about her fantastic food. Somehow that led to him giving us recipes (from memory) for red beans and rice and fried chicken. Rob said he'd given his recipes to several friends in Seattle and no one had ever actually made them that he knew of.

We thought we would show him that the Hoffmans follow through... so Lance decided we should make fried chicken, red beans and rice, and cornbread Friday night. So we did. Just the two of us... and it was good. We took pictures of the food as it cooked and sent them to Rob. He was impressed. We asked him what kind of food he it is... creole? soul food? cajun?

He said "Monday night in New Orleans" food. According to Rob, if we peeked into the households of families living in New Orleans, many of them would be eating chicken and red beans and rice on Monday night. "Beans go a long way," Rob said.

Long Awaited House Pictures...

Our house is the little green thing peeking through in the back.



TADA!


Living, cooking, eating place





Right when you walk in the front door on the ground floor...



The top floor... minus a bathroom and second bedroom...



And my favorite thing currently: the view of the trees through the little window by the stairs. This is what I look at when I'm on the couch curled up with a book.

snapshots of fun, fun, fun...

We've had some great times the past 2 weeks. We went to Oregon to celebrate our niece's first birthday. We had lots of fun playing with Caleb and Tana and catching up with Randy and Cole.




Then this past weekend we were up at Whistler with Joni and Otis. The highlight for me was riding to the peak of Whistler with Lance--we snowboarded under a beautiful blue sky for the majority of Saturday. I truly believe it is one of the top 3 most beautiful places I've ever been. Pictures can't capture it, but they give you a little taste. I feel blessed that I've been able to have the resources and opportunity to get to the top of a mountain. I think there are few things as refreshing in the world as taking in the view from the top. We filled our 3 days there with Mario Super Party on the Wii, nearly the first season of Arrested Development, watching the Masters, eating good and enjoying the Big Air competition at the Telus Ski and Snowboard Festival. I know it won't be our last visit to Whistler.

craigslist, coupons and homeownership

I would like to report that to date Lance and I have $155 extra dollars in our pocket due to the somewhat annoying, but none the less useful process of selling things on craigslist. It really is all due to my handy dandy new phone--the blackjack II. Yes, there is nothing like being able to check your email all day anytime (that is to be read with sarcasm). There is nothing like feeling the pull of the little "ding" that goes off every time an email comes sailing into my inbox. I imagine it would be better for my work life balance to turn the "ding" off, but I kind of like it. Makes me feel important... unfortunately it is definitely a false sense of importance, because half the time it is Target or JCrew telling me I get free shipping if I purchase over $50 worth of pajamas or rubber rain boots. What I've been wondering is when did I buy something online at JCrew? When is the last time I EVER bought anything there? And how in the world did Barnes and Noble get my email?? Can I file for identity theft because so many stores are sending me their garbage? Someone obviously has stolen my numbers and is posing as me--and making the box stores of America very happy. In reality someone, our escrow service, title company, loan officer--I don't know who... someone obviously sold our new address off to about a hundred places. We have received more "welcome new home owner" coupons than one could use in a lifetime. Yesterday we got a coupon for Bed Bath and Beyond that had a checklist on the back that detailed all the things we apparently need in our new house. It was kind of funny. I wonder if all the employees of Bed Bath and Beyond have all the items on the list. We've heard you can get a good price if you sell your 10% off at Lowes coupon online (it is good for up to $500 off), but it says specifically on the bottom void if sold. How would they know? I told Lance that if he sticks to his no burning cds rule that we can definitely not sell this coupon online. It is all hilarious.

anyways... I leave you with one picture of our new place... in all its glory. Just kidding.

3 great things this week

1. I finished a great book, "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian" by Sherman Alexie. I couldn't put it down. It technically is classified as young adult fiction, but really the only thing that puts it in that category for me is the fact that it is about a high school student who is a cartoonist, so there are sketches every 25 pages or so in the book. Very well written... shocking, because I believe it is the closest I've ever been to the inside of a 9th grade boy's brain and that is a scary thing. Still it made me think deeply about life, racism, stereotypes, hope and friendship. I'd suggest it to anyone who cares about teens and is willing to be honest about the things teens deal with.

2. Watched the movie "Hairspray"... in 4 segments, unfortunately, but it still brought me to tears. Yes, a musical about the 60's brought me to tears. I loved it. I hadn't seen it and didn't really know anything about it... and I had no idea it had such a great cast. John Travolta, Michelle Pfeiffer, Queen Latifa... they were all great. You definitely have to enjoy that type of film (music, dancing, etc), but if you can get past that hurdle, it was a fun 2 hours.

3. And most importantly... I saw a baby be born. Yep... Merrell, our housemate from our old house gave birth, at the house last night. She had invited Kate and I to be there with her, Jay and the midwives during the process. We were there for the last couple hours of active labor and the final hour before little Isaiah Cacka came into the world. It was an amazing thing to witness... Merrell's strength, Jay's steadfastness, the midwives' patience. I was awe struck. I've now had the privilege of participating/watching a birth in both a hospital setting and at home. I can't say what I'd like to do myself if I was in that situation, but it will be an interesting discussion when we get there.

Lance and Mike would probably have been in the room if they could have... but instead they settled for sitting in our old bedroom directly below where the birth was happening--listening and searching for birth videos on the Internet. I believe Merrell was a bit embarrassed when she learned that is where they were all night, but I think she has forgiven them. The amazing wrap up to this story is that Isaiah came into the world at 11:35 last night and we still had our scheduled "house" brunch at 10 am this morning, in Jay and Merrell's apartment. We had quite the spread... chocolate filled croissants, a farmhouse scramble, grapefruits (perfectly sectioned by lance), bran muffins and coffee. It was a feast... and Merrell joined us. What a delight our new friendships in this house have been--and even after we've been in our own place for a week and a half now. My heart is thankful for these people.