Changes

*Disclaimer: This post will most likely be a quite mishmoshy. Read at your own risk.*

Change #1: You may or may not have noticed that "I Heart This!" has been absent recently. I've decided to let it pop up at random rather than force it to appear every Thursday. To be honest, my heart hasn't really been in it the last few weeks.

Change #2: The Anderson family is finally moving to Portland!! 

Twenty days ago the hubs received the life changing news that he had landed a new job, and they needed him to start June 14th. We have ten days until he's scheduled to stroll into that new office and still haven't found a place to live. 

One week after learning the good news we made the 4.5 hour drive north to look at houses only to find they were all in shady neighborhoods. We've traveled up twice since then, each time going up and back all in the same day with toddler in tow, and we're still homeless. Since we don't have a place lined up, I've been living in denial, and haven't packed a single box. *gulp* To say I'm a bit stressed out is an understatement.

Today, while we wait to hear the status of a rental application submitted on the one decent house we've found, I find myself in a bit of a funk. While I'm SUPER excited to be moving, I'm thrown by how hard it's been emotionally. A myriad of things have taken me off guard ... finding a place to live, the financial blow to our barely there savings, leaving our first home to become renters again, how much I'm going to miss people, and leaving family. Oh, how I wish I could just pick up my house and relocate it with my mom inside!  

Since that's not really possible I have A LOT of work to do in the next week. I hope you'll forgive my lack of blogging as of late, and my absence over the next little while. I know my blog is still in it's infancy, but my little handful of readers mean the world to me. I would really appreciate it if you'll just stay tuned. <3

I Heart This! my cat Alex

I don't really have a lot to post today, and not because I've been super lazy with this feature (which I totally have), but because I'm simply too sad. Yesterday I had to send my cat of almost 20 years off to a better place. Basically he was just old and deserved better than to be tortured with procedures in order for me to avoid the inevitable, but that certainly doesn't make it any easier. 

My cat Alex: 

Alexander Nicholas Bluepoint was a Himalayan that Santa Claus brought me when I was twelve. We lived in two states and 13 different houses together. I have cuddled him through every heartbreak I've ever had, and he was often where I'd turn when missing my father. He was the perfect heating pad and could say a handful of words including my name. Except for decorating every environment with a hairball, and shedding so much it looked as though he'd exploded, he was perfect. I heart this cat and will miss him so.

Perkier posts to come! <3

I Heart This! Oregon Coast

Jeezy creezy. The universe does not want me to post this. First the power was out at La Casa de Anderson, then blogger was being all sorts of snarky, and now my internet is throwing a fit because of the lack of electricity. It's been a weird week. 

The hubs treated our little family (including my mom) to a weekend trip to the coast for Mother's Day. If you've never been you should put it on your bucket list. It's quite lovely. 

Oregon Coast:

Some fun stuff:

 

Our cute rental:

That's all I have for today. In the last 48 hours we've received some really exciting news and some not so fun news. Once I get all my thoughts organized I'll be back with bells on. ;) I hope everyone has a great weekend! Happy Friday! <3

I Heart This!

This week I'm going to be a little repetitive, a little informative, and a bit inappropriate. ;)

Teavana.com:

Tea accessories, infusers, and appliances! Oh my! If you like tea, you'll love this website. It has all sorts of delicious looking/sounding teas, swanky sweeteners, and oodles of other fun stuff. It's also overflowing with useful information. Suffering from allergies? Did you know there are teas that can help? You can learn all about them on the website (or perhaps in a store if you're lucky enough to live near one). I am loving this site. A BIG thanks to Megan from File Me Away for telling me about it. <3

P.S. Here's the link for the yellow submarine infuser for anyone who's interested.

Apple Crisp:

Over Easter weekend the hubs and I bought 10 pounds of apples for $5.00 at a local market. Then, because she's a toddler, ELA lost all interest in anything containing our abundant little fruit (even though she'd been inhaling them the week before). With apples up to our eyeballs I went searching for a way to make a decent sized dent in the pile. I don't bake pies, so I adjusted a crisp recipe instead.

Filling:

• 10 cups all-purpose apples, peeled, cored and sliced
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup water

Topping:

• 1 cup quick-cooking oats
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup butter, melted

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degree C).
2. Place the sliced apples in a 9x13 inch pan. Mix the white sugar, 1 tablespoon flour and ground cinnamon together, and sprinkle over apples. Pour water evenly over all.
3. Combine the oats, 1 cup flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and melted butter together. Crumble evenly over the apple mixture.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for about 45 minutes. 

Tweaks I made/recommend:

• Mixing apples with sugar mixture in a bowl before placing in pan.
• Only using about 1/2 - 3/4 recommended sugar mixture and water.
• Doubling topping so that you have plenty of crunchy goodness. You could even spread some along the bottom of the pan first. 

We ate ours with vanilla ice cream and it was super yummy. :P

Baby Trashes Bar in Las Palmas:

I know this is totally wrong, but sometimes things that are inappropriate are also hilarious. Just ask my husband who taught our darling daughter to "walk like a pimp" with the baton I snagged at a garage sale. ;) 

Hope this livens up your Thursday! 

I Heart This!

I have been a super lazy blogger this week. So lazy in fact, that I didn't really have anything selected for today's post. I think it's because my mind is currently obsessing over possibility (some changes may be happening for the Anderson family, but they're not a done deal yet). Fortunately I was smacked with inspiration just in the nick of time.

Spice Tea:

I've been obsessed with spice tea lately. It started when I finally cracked open a special holiday blend I bought from Harry and David, and just snowballed from there. Right now I'm working my way through a bag of Spice of Life Orange Spice which I bought at a local market over the weekend, but I find the Private Selection brand from Kroger pretty darn delicious too. I'm pretty sure you can find an orange spice in any brand and it would be tasty.

Tea Infusers:

Since I just purchased my first bag of loose tea I also had to buy an infuser. When I went looking for a photo (mine is in almost constant use and therefor not camera ready), I ran across these. If my tea addiction continues I may end up with quite a few - they're so dang cute.

ROBIN HOOD!!!

Wondering what to do now that you've brewed some yummy tea? Go watch Robin Hood! I discovered this show on Netflix and fell head over heels. I love it so much I've avoided watching seasons two and three because I don't want it to end (the BBC cancelled it after three seasons and why is a spoiler of sorts). It's actually funnier than the trailer makes it appear, and when Robin winks at Marian it kills me. Guh!

Happy Thursday!  

P.S. A very special thanks to Mandy who informed me that the complete series is on sale today. My copy can't get here fast enough. ;)

I Heart This!

I love surprises (as long as they don't cause me to become the center of attention), and this week was full of them.

Heartsy.me

My super cool sister-in-love (we're connected by love, not just the law) posted a link to this little website on Facebook last week, and it has been feeding off my checking account ever since. It's Groupon for Etsy. Seriously, does it get any better? 

Red Vines Drawing Contest

Tuesday I found this at the bottom of my Red Vines. Apparently this snazzy little doodle won third place in the Teen: 13 to 18 entrant category. If you'd like to see more winners you can find them here, or go buy a box of these tasty treats and be surprised.

Parking Lot Carnival!

I have no idea what this is actually called, nor do I care. All I know is that for the last few years a little carnival has magically popped up in our mall parking lot, and I love it. I've only actually attended twice. (The first time my friend dissolved into tears after I convinced her to get on a ride, and this year the tot developed a carousel addiction.) I'm just happy looking at it. How much more fun would the world be if more carnivals just popped up in random places? A ton! It would be a ton more fun! :)

I hope you've made some delightful discoveries of your own lately. If not perhaps the Easter Bunny will bring you some treats this weekend. Happy Thursday!

I Heart This!

Often times I find myself trying to explain something I've recently discovered to someone with a kid on Christmas level of excitement. My body starts manufacturing adrenaline as I try to accurately explain the specifics, and those around me dissolve into fits of giggles in order to counteract the information overload. Since that's not exactly the best way to enlighten others I've created the I Heart This! My plan/hope here is to post something every Thursday that I feel the need to rave about or recommend. It could be a gadget, a website, a service, or almost anything, but it will always be something I believe needs a little love.

Cinnamon bears

While we were in Sunriver, soaking up some much needed family time, my brother, sister-in-law, and myself shared a small bag of spontaneously purchased cinnamon bears. Bryan hates cinnamon, so I hadn't had any in quite awhile. They were delightful. In fact, they were so tasty there are currently a few in my pantry.

Cookie scoop

I purchased this a few years ago at a Pampered Chef party. I bought it because I'm the person who always attends those stupid parties and feels guilty if I don't purchase a little something. Fortunately, this was money well spent. I've used it to scoop cookies, muffins, and, earlier this week, cupcakes. It's a handy little sucker.

COUGAR TOWN!!

This show is hilarious. When it first started Bryan would always find something else to do and I'd be sitting on the couch cracking up all by myself. Eventually I convinced him to sit through an episode and I've been gloating ever since. There are a lot of running jokes (or maybe inside jokes), so sometimes things don't immediately make sense, but the hubs is proof that you can catch on quickly. It airs Wednesdays at 9:30 on ABC, and it's definitely worth 30 minutes of your time.