This 'n That

I don't really have a lot to say today, but I feel like I haven't blogged in a minute and I don't want to lose you dear readers (all 3 of you!)!  So what's new you ask?  Welllll...
Top 10 'Things that are New Since My Last Post'
10) Dexter!  We are finally all caught up!  We watched all of season 6 online because we have crappy Comcast and couldn't watch On Demand (don't get me started), but man was it good anyway...all annoying buffering and bad picture quality aside, it was awesome!  I'm waiting on Leigh to catch up so we can discuss, I've already called my Mom to talk about it and I've pestered Fabio to death over it, so if anyone else wants to talk about the ending - CALL ME!  I can't wait for Season 7 - we WILL have Showtime by then (watch yourself Comcast)!
9) LEAP Day!  Yeah!  Happy Birthday to all the kids who only get to celebrate on the actual day every four years!  I hope someone got you a cupcake :)
8) Bike Stuff - we're still looking for a cheap used bike for Fabio, but I did manage to get him to the velo swap at BRC and watch him spin around the parking lot testing out a used bike...it's small, but it's progress!  I also got my own lazy ass out on the road a couple of times recently, and can I just say that it was TOUGH!  I could tell I'd lost some ground to say the least (see #7 below) ;)  It was fun being out with my homies and I'm glad I got to enjoy some beautiful weather and give the Specialized a little love...I even got some sun on my pastey self last weekend - whoo hoo for 65 and sunny (don't worry all you nervous nellies out there - there weren't any sunburns this time)!  42 miles at 40 fpm was about all I could have done, so we'll see what happens in a couple of weeks when we do the 66 mile Lake Anna route ;)
7) I was sick.  Yeah, we're talking 5 straight days of not leaving the house, showering or doing any activity more strenuous than moving from the bed to the couch.  Fabio is a saint and I'm even more convinced that he loves me and will be a good husband, because he put up with my whining, told me I looked cute when clearly I didn't, brought me ginger ale and demonstrated a high level of patience and kindness all around (especially considering that being sick didn't stop me from trying to talk his ear off, even when I was losing my voice).
6) That's right, it's Brewdog Season.  There's a scrimmage tonight and I think they have their first game next week, so that officially starts the clock on the 8 or so months of softball widow-hood we get to endure while CFabs and his buddies strut around trying to recapture their youth and milking any excuse to get out of the house and drink together once a week :)  I kid!  I don't mind softball season...the boys get to do their thing and I get a weekly excuse to see the ladies and play with the babies - everybody wins!
5) The mustache is back!  Yes, ladies of Charlottesville beware - Craig Fabio is loose on the town and he's sporting a mustache even Tom Selleck would envy!  I'll need you to stay back at least 3 feet at all times, unless you want a black eye from this lady...I know the 'stache is irresistable, but he's taken!
4) & 3) Yeah, I got nothin...did you really think I could come up with 10 THINGS???
2) I got an iPhone!!!!  I got an iPhone!!!!!  I got an iPhone!!  Well, I ordered my iPhone anyway...it should be there when I get home today and I can't wait!  Which reminds me...I need to wrap this up and get outta here...and the number one thing going on since my last post IS......
1) MARCH MADNESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Need I say more??? (If you didn't know this is what I was going to put for #1, then you don't know me AT ALL, haha).

xo dear readers, til next time!

Weekend Update

TGIF everyone!  I guess it's time for another update from my own personal little soap opera...through the sands of time, these are the days of our lives ;)  Haha!  I know, that was bad, but I had to!  Actually - thinking about soap operas makes me a little nostalgic for my college days...I think the last time I watched a soap opera was over 10 years ago (yeesh, longer than I care to acknowledge!) - I was living at the DG house and would go home for lunch and watch soaps in the TV room with my ladies until it was time to go back to class (grudgingly I'm sure).  Good times :)  I have to say, I LOVED college...I loved having 90 room mates, walking to campus on a sunny day, men's basketball games at Allen fieldhouse, tailgating before football games, beers at the Wheel, Rock Chalk Revue, our sweet little house mother Mom Bonn...all of it!  I even loved class...well most of them (not that you'd be able to tell from my grades)!  So many good times, funny stories and sweet memories...makes me smile to think about it :)  Maybe some day I'll do a post about my top 10 favorite things about my KU days, but not today...that's not something that can properly be done on the fly ;)  I wasn't even planning to write about this when I got started today...funny how one thing can lead to another and so on (was this a weird glimpse into how my mind works?!)!  Now my Jayhawks just need to punish Mizzou tomorrow and my walk down memory lane will be complete!  RCJKU!

So, what I was actually going to write about today, before that lovely tangent, was a mixed bag of updates since my last post.  First, I thought I'd post a couple more pics of our projects...

Before exterior work:           

                                            

After exterior work:

I do feel like I need to say that this comparison really isn't fair...I mean the before picture was taken on a sunny spring day when all the flowers were in bloom and the after was taken on a gloomy winter day with scraggly bushes out front and sneaky pug trying to get in the picture (yep that black spot at the bottom is her curly tail running out of the shot).  But you get the idea - bye bye retro shutters and dirty door!  Hello fresh paint!  Also, welcome new door knob and front light...not that you can really see that stuff, but I know it's there and I'm giving them a shout out!  We still have some work to do - that porch needs some help - but it's progress!

Next up...some kitchen pics...more progress from our recent project-ing :)

New dishwasher with counter top that wasn't there before (please ignore the fact that it doesn't match the neighboring counter top):

New back door (pre-knob installation):

And my last project pic - the framing of the entertainment hole in the living room (yikes - 'entertainment hole?!' That sounds bad, but I don't know how else to describe it!  TV and gaming/sound/DVD/etc. go in there - it's a hole for entertainment stuff to go...blurg, I better just stop now...):

And to nearly conclude my post, some general updates...I was hoping to have everyone over last weekend for a little dance party action (photos from which would have been posted here for your enjoyment), but it wasn't meant to be, so stay tuned - I'm not giving up the idea!  I also got called for jury duty this week, for the first time EVER!  I may be one of the only people (except my Mom) who WANTS to serve on a jury, but of course, as is often the case...it came at the worst time ever.  We were in the middle of some very busy and intense stuff at work, so having to leave early Tuesday to report for jury instruction was not cool.  Luckily it was brief and now I don't have to do anything until March 26.  That's the first of 2 dates I have to report, and if I'm lucky it will be on a quiet day and I'll get called just to serve for the day...so I can have my juror experience w/o making too many sacrifices in my personal life.  HA!  And maybe then I'll win the lottery ;)  Otherwise, it's been a quiet week - but I'm hoping to get Mr. CFabs out on a bike this weekend, so that could result in a blogger goldmine of photos and stories...keep your fingers crossed for another post soon!

And last, but not least...and to end this post on a high note...some photos from my day with my baby niece Jane and her parents - my favorite brother and sister-in-law Hart and Annie:

If she isn't the most adorable thing you've ever seen then there is something wrong with you.  Seriously.  Unless you have your own kids, and then *I guess*  it's ok for you to think they're the cutest.  Or whatever.

My caption for this one is: "Dad is the best horsie ever!" Haha...that smile is THE BEST!  I mean, look at her little pony tail and tell me you aren't melting...in the words of Rachael Zoe - I die.  Her cuteness is BA-NAN-AS.

The Altavista Avenue Project - Valentine Edition

So, I know I'm always talking about our 'projects' without REALLY talking about our projects...and today I thought I'd shed a little light on what we've been doing over on Altavista Avenue and give a shout out to my fabulous fiance who has done SO MUCH work over the last year+! I'm so lucky to have a guy as creative, smart and handy as he is...even despite occasional bad judgement, sometimes crazy, whacked-out solutions to minor problems, and loads of profanity, he's a keeper (and hot to boot!) ;) Love ya CFabs :) (I know, I know...I'm giving him his props on here even though I'm 83% sure he doesn't read my blog, haha.)

What I really wish is that I had taken more before and after photos starting about a year ago, because even though we still have a long way to go, we've already made a lot of progress. Here are some of the highlights...

Re-Painted Living Room

This room had blue primer on it for at least a year, so we finally painted it right before I moved in. We still need to brighten up the trim, but that's coming.

Updated Downstairs Bathroom

This little gem had some nice gold crackle paneling which I *sadly* did not capture on film before we tore it down. There was no vent, no window, NO electrical outlets (helloooo, how's a girl supposed to blow dry her curls in this joint?!?)...and one overhead light that flickered like a rest stop bathroom. It needed help. So CFabs hung dry wall, installed a fan, new outlets, shower light, new vanity, new toilet, cabinet over said new toilet, painted, MADE a light fixture for over the sink, cut and stained trim, put down new flooring and other things too many to list!

Here are a couple of before and after shots...the 'after' doesn't really do it justice b/c the before was taken too late (and it's kinda small, so it's hard to get a good pic), but if I find others I'll be sure to share.

New Bedroom Door and Closet

If you've been in our house then you know that it's laid out a little weird...a good amount of square footage, but distributed in a way that makes it hard to get good use of it all (in my opinion!).  There are 3 rooms upstairs (laundry room, guest room, office), in addition to the living room and a full bathroom...then there are 3 rooms downstairs (kitchen, dining room, other room...read on) and a full bathroom (see pictures above).  Fabio's bedroom was in one of the downstairs rooms before I moved in and we decided to keep that our bedroom - BUT it had originally been a downstairs den, so there was no door and no closet.  One of the walls backed up to a storage room, so Fabio decided he would cut a hole in the wall, section off part of the storage room, then frame it and hang dry wall to make us a closet.  Sounds easy enough, right??  He's nothing if not ambitious when it comes to projects, I'll say that!  So he went about putting up a bedroom door for me - a nice old farm door I found at the Habitat store, with an antique glass door knob I bought on eBay (eventually all the doors in our house will have them I think...let's say I went a little bananas over antique glass door knobs on eBay about a year ago and now I have more than a few! haha).  The closet project has taken a little longer, but it's mostly done now...walls are hung and painted, door has been cut and the Allen + Roth organization system we bought at Lowe's installed, so all that's really left is to put up some shelves, hook up ceiling lighting and hang a mirror, etc.  Sorry about the crappy picture of the closet...it's long and narrow, so hard to get the whole thing in one shot.  Once it's totally done, I'll post more :)

Laundry Room

Another lovely thing about our little fixer-upper is that the washing machine was in the kitchen and the dryer was in the storage room...and the washer was about 80 years old!  As an engagement present, Sherrie (Fabio's Mom) gave us $ toward a new washing machine, and we decided we were going to move the dryer upstairs and turn Jim's old office into a laundry room.  This room also is still a work in progress (needs painting, window treatments and a more permanent solution for the dryer vent, etc.), but I already love having this space set up this way!  Eventually we'll set up a sewing table too and get even more use out of this room.

New Applicances!
This part needed an exclamation point, haha...since I moved in we've gotten the new washer, a new gas oven, new microwave, and a DISHWASHER (thanks Mom & Dad!)...all stainless, which looks much better (and I think totally falls under the category of home improvement projects).  I'm hoping we can add 'new refrigerator' to the list sometime this year, but we'll see...we're also pondering just putting chalkboard paint on the existing one :)  The kitchen is a whole project unto itself; one that we may not get to in 2012 (and you should read 'may not' as 'definitely won't' LOL!).  I can't find a pic of the dishwasher, but here's the oven;

(Clearly this was taken around Xmas with the nice Nutcracker dish towel.)

Exterior Painting

Ok, so that label might be a bit mis-leading...we haven't painted the outside of the house yet (as much as we might want to!).  But this weekend we did work on the curb appeal of the house a little by painting the front door and the shutters.  I'll give you the before and after of the outside of the house next time, but here are some shots of the work in progress:

Sanding and cleaning outside

Finishing painting inside b/c it got too cold (if throwing down plastic sheeting makes me think of Dexter, does that mean I've been watching too much??)

I also had some pics of Fabio and Roxie out in the yard while we were working, but alas I've reached the end of my patience with Blogger and they won't upload...so that's something for you to look forward to next time ;)  I also didn't take any pictures of myself, but I can assure you I had a sweet 'work outfit' on...imagine me in some of CFab's old pajama pants (that I fished out of the Goodwill pile), old gym shoes (also from the Goodwill pile) and a white Hane's hooded sweatshirt with a hole in the pocket.  I know it's Valentine's Day, but it's ok if you're fantasizing about me and not your significant other right now ;)

Have no fear, this is just post one of surely many related to our projects...as I mentioned, we still have LOTS of projects (like the kitchen) ahead of us...ripping up carpet and re-finishing hardwood floors upstairs, painting rooms, making pillows and window treatments, re-upolstering chairs, organizing the office, re-doing the upstairs bathroom, replacing our bedroom carpet, putting up new blinds, organizing Fabio's work room, new flooring in the dining room, making several trips to the Goodwill, etc.  Imagine all the un-mined Fabio stories just waiting to happen!  And with that I say, Happy Valentine's Day!  Until next time....

More Health Food Experiments

One of my favorite blogs to read belongs to Bethany Good:
http://blog.bethanygoodphotography.com/

I don't know her personally - she is a friend of a friend - but I stumbled on her blog a year or so ago and was hooked.  She has such an amazing outlook on life - I find her blog to be so inspirational, funny, and REAL.  And not only is she a great photographer, but she often posts good recipes too!  The thing I love is that they are usually the perfect combination of healthy and tasty...just what we need around the Fabio house ;)

I've totally stolen her green smoothie recipe (drink one every day thanks to CFabs and the Ninja blender he got me for Xmas!), AND one for some amazing chicken enchiladas (goat cheese, cilantro - what's not to like!?)...which I plan to make again this Monday for our weekly BBBN.  I'm totally going to post the links here so you can ALL share in the bliss of good food that is also good for you, but want to be sure to give credit where credit is due ;)

Green Smoothies
http://blog.bethanygoodphotography.com/green-smoothies-high-hopes/
*I usually make mine with non-fat vanilla yogurt, coconut milk, frozen bananas and mixed frozen berries (plus frozen spinach and fresh parsley)...play with the amounts until it is palatable to you (I like mine to be green and earthy, but with enough sweetness so it doesn't taste like I'm drinking a grass flavored milkshake).

Chicken & Cheese Enchiladas
http://www.ccmillerphotography.com/blog/?p=6213
*I got this one from Bethany's blog, but I think the recipe actually came from a friend of hers on another blog.  We usually serve it with lime cilantro rice (think Chipotle-style)...soooo good!

Recipe for the rice if you want it too:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/lime-cilantro-rice/Detail.aspx
*Tastes better with white rice, but probably if we're going for healthy, could try brown rice instead ;)

And I have to be honest and say that eating healthy doesn't always come easy for me...this girl LOVES some pizza and soda and ice cream!  And candy and pastries!  Oh My!  (great, now my stomach is rumbling, haha)  And my a$$ has paid the price for my taste buds' decisions (and my general lack of self control where food is involved)...just ask Mo, my trainer at the gym (and hair stylist, but that's a topic for another blog post).  I've nearly puked in public thanks to the workouts he's put me through after a bad week in the food journal (think giant tires, burpees, lunges with w/50 lb. weights, sprint drills, etc.).  Don't get me wrong, I love a tough workout, and always deserve those beat downs...but holy cow, if I can find a way to satisfy both Mo and my food cravings, then halle-freakin-lujah!!

If you're interested in healthy, tasty meals (and most are quick and easy too since you know I'm no wizard in the kitchen), check out the links and let me know what you think...or if you have other recipes that fit the bill and you'd be willing to share :)  I'm officially on the lookout now, so I'll keep the good ones coming ;)

Here's one more from last night - hungry-girl.com's turkey meatloaf in a cupcake tin...portion size already measured for you, less than 145 calories each, and tasty as heck! (And yes, I did find this recipe in last week's People magazine - don't judge - I like to get my celebrity gossip on!)

http://www.hungry-girl.com/show/comfortably-yum-turkey-and-veggie-meatloaf-minis-recipe

*Our cupcake tray held 12 instead of 9, so the portion size/calorie count/etc. was smaller (which means I ate more of them, haha!).  We also used non-stick spray instead of muffin cups, but if you're serving them for a party, I'd definitely go with the cups...easier to handle and eat I'd imagine.

(Served here with steamed green beans and roasted red potatoes)

Fabio and Sherrie insisted they were good, and I was worried I wouldn't be able to win over my red-meat and bacon-loving fiance w/ground turkey and broccoli slaw...but I did, so even if you have picky eaters, this might work ;)

TGIF!

Just Dance

If you're my friend on Facebook, or follow me on Twitter, then you already know that we got an Xbox Kinect bundle this weekend...and more importantly, that I bought a dance game.  But what you may NOT know is how freakin' fun it is, or how totally obsessed I am with it!  Well, maybe you do, but either way...I highly recommend running out and getting one - it is SO.MUCH.FUN! 

We had our usual Black Bean Burrito Night (BBBN) dinner at the house last night, and it was an even better time than usual this week...first, because we had some special guests - Ian, who was a first-timer for BBBN, and Sherrie, who will hopefully be able to come to dinner more often now that she's in town :)  And second, because we've been gradually trying to make BBBN healthy, in addition to being tasty, and last night we made what I think is a big step in that direction by replacing the light sour cream with non-fat Greek yogurt.  It might sound like a small thing, but if you know Fabio, then you know that he resists all things healthy and was actually making fake puke sounds at the mere mention of the substitution.  So, I consider it a great success that everyone tried the yogurt and, for the most part, ended up being ok with it....and really, it's a win win, b/c I do the grocery shopping, so from now on, that will be the only option...and if people are choosing between non-fat Greek yogurt or nothing, then I think we're all winners!  Hahaha...

*Quick sidebar: I'm trying to expand my domestic skills, so you might find the odd entry here or there about me trying to cook, or sew, over the course of the year....I'll thank you to keep your snorts of laughter and derisive comments to yourself!  And please send your positive vibes to my team of coaches (Mom, Leigh, Fabio, Sherrie) so that they keep their sanity and don't give up on me!

But back to last night's BBBN...(and the single biggest reason why this week's BBBN was so fun) after dinner, we decided to fire up the ol Kinect dance game (Dance Central 2, which I picked based on music selection alone).  I wish I had made a video of us just trying to set the thing up...we had 5 intelligent, and *I thought* fairly tech savvy, adults, and we could NOT figure out how to gesture to get the commands to work.  Imagine Will Ferrell from Talladega Nights when he was on camera and didn't know what to do with his hands...we were flailing and waving, we tried squatting down to get in view of the sensor, we bumped into each other, jumped up and down and finally used the Xbox remote.  It was a fairly pathetic showing, but in the end we got there ;)  And then the REAL fun began!  As you may know, I like to laugh...a lot.  Mouth open, head back, loud laughing is the best (and no, there's not a TWSS in that sentence anywhere!).  Sometimes I laugh hard, but it's not frequently that I get a good, doubled-over, stomach-cramping, tears-down-the-cheeks, belly laugh like I did last night.  And we did...we fell over laughing at the sight of each other dancing along with Bodie and Emilia, our avatars with the Rip Curl dance crew.  And you know what might be even better than that??  The Kinect captures images of you while you're playing and then shows them to you at the end of the round...and magically captures you at your goofy-awkward-dancing best; mouths agape, arms askew, with your friends all laughing in the background.  It was priceless.  All I can say is, watch out once I figure out how to upload the pictures! (Which, based on how well the set-up went, might be never.)

I don't know when it will be, but our next party absolutely MUST be a Kinect dance party...and we're already scheming about projector screens on the back of the house and dance offs in the yard at the 2012 Fabio's Haunted House of Horrors Halloween party!! 

Leigh and I were texting at 7:30 this morning about how we were still laughing about last night...which started my day with a smile, and I love that, so Happy Tuesday everyone ;)

Goosebumps

I'm pretty much ALWAYS proud to be a University of Kansas alumni...ask anyone, I've made friends with random strangers just because they're wearing KU gear (yes, this includes children who then run away scared of the crazy lady), have a vanity plate proudly displaying that I'm "1KUJHWK" and will expound on KU's place men's college basketball in history to my last breath...but this...THIS gave me goosebumps, so I had to share:


This will get him pretty close to understanding what I'm talking about, but I swear, I MUST get Fabio to Lawrence for a KU home game STAT!

This Saturday at 2 we play Iowa State - Beak 'em Hawks...Rock Chalk Jayhawk! K UUUUUUUU!

Really? REALLY?? Really.

Really Kate? You make this New Year's resolution to blog more, subject people to practically a 100 page freakin entry and then drop off the face of the Earth?!  Yeah, so really....that happened.  I guess I'm not so good at the blogging, but I'm trying!  Doesn't the fact that I'm writing this entry now mean I haven't totally failed?!?  How about I add a silly photo of CFabs to get back in your good graces??

This is my handsome future hubby on his 36th birthday with the cupcakes I commissioned from DGB and the Star Wars toppers I found at Williams Sonoma...you're welcome! 

So yes, some things that went down since my last post:

• Fabio got older - we celebrated
• I went to a bridal expo - that happened
• My future nephew Andreas turned 6 - we celebrated (pirate-Star-Wars themed parties = good times!)
• I spent a weekend w/my parents and got my hair did while Fabio got some projects done (trust me, this is noteworthy - I need to post a whole entry about PROJECTS! Queue up the before and after photos!)
• My brother also got older (lots of January bdays in this group) - I sent a funny card (we'll celebrate when we see him in Feb - a visit that will surely result in an entire post about my baby niece Jane)

Things we're into right now:

• DEXTER!  Just finished Season 1 and LOVED it!   FACT: I actually increased my Netflix plan to 3 DVDs at a time solely for the purpose of watching this show. 
• Snow - I need one good snow day before the winter of 2012 is over! PLEEEEEASE!
• Dr. Lawson - Jimmy's back in the 'ville! Yay!
• Wedding Planning - trying to get the catering figured out so I can check that off my list (and do the tasting - yummy!), and I guess I need to create some sort of wedding website or something (just don't hold your breath for that to happen).
• Finding CFabs a bike so I can force him into some tight shorts and out onto the road with me - I just want us to do something active together, but what he hears is: "Go to the gym and get less fat so you can ride a bike with me." (We all know I would never actually say that.)  So if you know of an inexpensive used bike that would fit a 5'11' man, give me a holla.

Hopefully you found this interesting enough to keep reading my blog, or you accepted the picture of CFabs as sufficient compensation for my tardy post...either way, I promise I'll try to keep the posts coming and I'll endeavor to make them an enjoyable read for those who stick with me this year ;)