Wood Shop 101!

KR's brother is the wood shop teacher at the high school they went to growing up.
Because his brother is SO nice and has all these AMAZING resources, KR thought it would be really neat to make our kitchen table! I of course agreed (if anyone knows my dad, uncle, grandpa, knows wood working runs in the family and that's how I have always viewed how a "husband" and/or "dad" should be haha).

In between studying, we've been going to the shop a lot. Whenever Jon, his brother, has to be there anyway, he lets us come along and he has helped SO much!

Our table has been coming along and finally is beginning to take shape!! We can't wait!!

We laid all the wood out to choose the pattern for our table top. I was surprised at how opinionated I was about this. At first, I just thought, um it's all just wood. . . but then I was so bossy about it! But it's going to look GREAT!
Also, if you're wondering why it's so massive, it's because A) it will have a leaf in it and this is shown with the leaf in. . .technically haha and B) This is our table and we hope for it to become an heirloom! So it needs to be big enough to last us lots of kids and guests!

Here's the most recent and updated version! We have all the main parts done, and here they are just sitting in place, roughly. Still a lot to do but it looks practically done (nothing is attached except the boards that make the table top).

Another project was the picnic table. KR decided to refinish it for a Father's day gift. He worked hard on sanding that puppy down. (Ok so I KNOW I have a picture somewhere where it's half sanded and you can see the before and after, but I can't find it! In the meantime, just look at the legs!)
Meanwhile, I've picked up turning on the lathe! Jon has been teaching me and I am NO good! But it's fun and I'm learning to make a secret and awesome object that I will post about at a later time!


Oh and we've made ebelskivers! It's a family joke but then Marissa got us a set for a wedding gift and we love it! As soon as we have jobs, we are buying A) this cook book from William-Sonoma with TONS of awesome and delicious ideas and B) all the ingredients needed to try all the awesome and delicious ideas! For now, we make pancake mix and even throw in some chocolate chips! Yum!!!

Look. . .

. . . what I made!! I am sorry for being prideful and bragging but I am pretty dang impressed that I made pillow shams without any pattern or help!

Our bedding is still not complete; more to come as I make progress.

But basically we have all white bedding with the color just in throw pillows. That way we can always change it if needed, plus the white looks so light and airy and clean (more so in person...)

We have shopped around everywhere for plain white pillow shams and finally KR's mom said they would probably be easy to make. So she had some fabric, and I winged it (I am not a wing-it type girl, all the reason I am so impressed haha. I always need a pattern or recipe or list of to-dos). I looked at an old one off KR's bed and I copied it. Woo hoo!! Next come the home-made throw pillows! Stay tuned!!

MCAT=Shopping!!

Today, KR took the MCAT! Yay! We are so excited he's got that behind him! As most of you know, or if not, may be wondering, KR would like to go to OHSU for medical school (here in Portland).

He applied last year and made it all the way through the process and even made it to the waiting list!! Basically the numbers sort of look like this:
Of about 45oo applicants who are asked to submit a second application, only about 500 are asked to come for an interview. Of those 500, only about 100-130 or so make it in. And then a certain number make it to the waiting list, so if enough people decline their offer, they move to the waiting list. So that being said, KR is awesome! He made it SO far and achieved so much especially considering the following:
1. While he was applying, he was still doing his undergrad work; most medical students don't make it in their first year out of their undergrad. Several take multiple attempts.
2. He was taking 19 credits while taking his MCAT last year. 19! You have to have special permission to pass 18, which is the max load! That's a lot of work!
3. His MCAT was scheduled during FINALS week! That's a bunch more work added on top!
4. We were still dating and that's even more work :)
So. . . considering everything, I am extremely proud and I brag about it all the time.
But, he still has to reapply :(
So, he still really wants to go to OHSU. Not only does he have a history with the school (his father was the head of the Radiation Department, he was born there, he's had his eye appts etc there), he has residency in Oregon so the tuition is a lot cheaper (which is still relative haha. I don't know if the words cheap and medical school can be in the same sentence).
He is going to reapply for next Fall, but also try out some other schools as well. We're not quite sure where, but that's the plan.
Well, since we haven't been able to find jobs yet, he's had lots of free time to study, now that the apartment is more settled and there is no more wedding stress! haha.
So he's been working hard and finally took the MCAT this morning. . . back to my original reason for posting:
I got to go shopping while I waited.

We live within walking distance of the mall and Target and I had a few gift cards to spend at places he would definitely not enjoy tagging along with. So after making him a scrumptious breakfast and packing him a lunch (I felt like such a wife haha I loved it!) I headed over to Washington Square.
These are my awesome finds!!

I promised myself: NO BLACK. I love black because A) it's slimming, B) it's classy and C) you can pair it with almost anything and add color, any color you want so you get more use and wear out of it. BUT. It's summer! and I need to lighten up :)

Two cute white tops- one with some fun flowers on it and one just a simple white tshirt to go with. . . .anything :) White is just as versatile as black, even more so maybe. It's just not as slimming.

Since the wedding, I have found that when you don't live by the beach and aren't living in your swim suit, you wind up wearing shorts and you have to have shorts long enough. . . If you want to know why, check this article out :)

Can you tell what my recent obsession is??

Story about those pink rose earrings dead center:
I found some on Etsy and became OBSESSED! They were only 12 dollars but that's 12 dollars too many to be spending on luxury items when we're unemployed. So, I have kept the web page open in my browser for over a week. While at Forever 21 (my faaaaavorite, even if I am now 24), I found them!!! I had to get them! and then it snowballed! Hey, it's a gift card, it's allowed!! Aren't they SO pretty?? SO feminine and classy and simple but beautiful!

And of course it wouldn't be fair for me to be the only one to get all these new goodies! I had a gift certificate for See's from over 3 years ago and I thought it would be the perfect surprise after taking a long 5 hour test. Yum! I hope he shares :) haha

Mowin' The Lawn

Rose Festival!

Ok, so I am really behind, but back in June, we went to the Rose Festival! As you may know, Portland is the Rose City (or City of Roses? I am not sure the official title) but anyway, they have a Rose Festival every year and we had to go since I am a foreigner and a newbie! Most of their festivals and fun stuff is held on their Waterfront Park; along the Willamette River. (You'll probably remember seeing pictures of when we took a walk along the Waterfront on my birthday-Get used to seeing them, we'll probably be going there several times this Summer)

First, we saw this:

A 100 year old bridge lifting up for a boat to cross. I've never seen a drawbridge like this! It was pretty dang cool and the engineering has to be amazing!

All traffic has to stop on both sides. It's so neat to just sit and watch. Luckily, they have several bridges that cross the river, so the entire city isn't stuck if a boat has to cross. I thought that was pretty smart.

Before we got in to the festival, I saw this guy and just had to answer. Yes, there is an after life!

Then, we were finally in!! It was mainly a carnival or fair. But hello! Those are the funnest thing and a classic Summer activity!

My delicious fried fair food! KR got the noodles in the background! So yummy!

Ok, look at this! THIS is an ELEPHANT EAR! In Portland, they make them them life size apparently!! Oh my gosh! and it was only like 8 bucks, which is a great price for fair food, considering most things are 6 bucks and this would feel the whole family! So cool! Yes, I stopped the random girl to take a picture of her food!

Tie-Dye in Portland=understatement!!

Our elephant ear! Not quite as big. . . haha

So not only was it the Rose Festival, but because it was Saturday, they had the Saturday Market too. Boy was it busy! I loved it!! There were tons of performers and just kind of nutty people out!

If you can't read the sign he's holding, it says, "We need to feed our monkey." Hahah

Then there was this lady dancing with her hula hoop along with the band. She was definitely happy and care-free. . .

This girl had "Free Shiny Rocks" and I overheard her telling another girl about this one she found, that her response to was, "Whoooooooooooaaaaaaa."

This guy was missing half his arm but he was still jamming on the guitar! How awesome is that?

There was so much going on; it was SO fun!! It was definitely different than what I am used to, but it was such a cool experience.

Ya, Oregon has a ton of rapid transit/train type stuff everywhere. You actually get paid to ride your bike. So we're walking through and the previous picture I took as we were walking. As soon as I got the area in front of those cards and pillars, I turn around and this is in my face! Um, is that safe? Where's the yellow line to stand behind like at Disneyland?

Such a cool day. I loved learning about the new city I'm living in. As much as I miss California and home and my family, I am trying to enjoy Oregon while I am here. It really is so pretty. I took the rest of these on the walk back to the car.

This is a little off subject, but it's a picture taken from the front door of KR's parents' house. It's taken at my favorite time of day and from my favorite view of their beautiful property. I love the warm sunshine coming through the red tree and then whole scene is just one that you have to stop and just sigh. Life is good.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cupcakes!!!

Ok so I made these quite a while ago but I still really wanted to share the recipe (especially since I promised to). They are SOOOO good! Oh my gosh!!!!

If you like peanut butter and chocolate combined, you'll LOVE these!!
I found the recipe on one of the many cooking/baking blogs I follow and decided to give them a try, on an impulse. SO glad I did!!

Now, something to think about:

The main thing about these cupcakes is the frosting and the candy on top; the chocolate cupcakes are pretty basic and you could probably use any recipe you want or have. My opinion was two fold. The recipe is definitely different than I am used to, and it wound up not being very sweet on it's own so 1) First I thought it as a good thing because the frosting is so sweet, and add candy on top, it's a good balance; and 2) they aren't really "chocolatey" and don't satisfy that craving and need us girls have for chocolate. SO knowing that, use your best judgment and go off your own preference. If you'd prefer the balance, this recipe is definitely tasty. But if you want a real CHOCOLATE cupcake, I would probably try something else. I think next time I'll try something else, just to compare.

But anyway, here is the recipe!!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

makes 24 cupcakes

2 1/4 cups organic all-purpose flour

2 cups organic cane sugar

1 cup organic unsweetened cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon organic vanilla extract

2/3 cup organic canola oil

2 teaspoons organic white vinegar

2 cups cold water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two cupcake pans with paper liners and set aside.

In a large bowl, sift the dry ingredients together. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the oil, water, vanilla extract and vinegar.

Slowly whisk the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients being careful not to overmix. The mixture will be quite wet, but that's ok.

Pour the batter until the cups are two thirds full and place in the oven for 20-24 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cup comes out clean.

Cool in the pan for 10 minutes then place on a wire rack until completely cool before frosting.

Peanut Butter Frosting

enough to frost 24 cupcakes

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup creamy peanut butter

3 to 4 cups powdered sugar (depending on your desired consistency)

1 tablespoon milk (or water will do too)

In the bowl of a stand mixer fit with a paddle attachment, beat butter and peanut butter until creamy and virtually no butter lumps remain. Scrape down the bowl. Add three cups of powdered sugar and beat on low for 1 minute. Add milk and beat on medium high for 1 minute. Add the remaining cup of powdered sugar if you'd like your frosting a bit thicker.

Slather frosting onto cooled cupcakes and top with coarsely chopped peanut butter cups.

Again, if you lie the PB&C combo, you'll love these, so try them!! Oh my gosh, I just might go make some more right now!! I love having a husband for my excuse to bake fun and yummy things!