Weekend Wrap Up

Another weekend has come and gone without a single thought of remodeling. I spent most of the week photographing state parks for a project, and the last two days were consumed with designing and building a kiosk and other aspects of said project. For those of you hankering for some home-improvement-shots, your time will come. In the mean time, here are some moments from yet another day spent in a Georgia park.

And for those of you curious about what Jeff has been up to:

It is almost ready for water -- and I can't believe I'm about to say this -- but I can't wait to buy our first frag.

Ryan

Almost-Vegan

This post is in honor of Lauren and Matthew who bought me the Forks Over Knives cookbook a couple of weeks ago. Yes, they are possibly the most thoughtful people on the planet. Love and thanks to you two! 

On Friday night, I attempted to make vegan white bean chili from scratch. Spoiler alert: I ended up ruining the vegan component by dumping a handfull of mozzarella in the bowl before I ate it, but it was a pretty decent effort.

I diced almost-all of the vegetables by hand and minced some fresh garlic, while simultaneously talking Dad through a complicated iPhone procedure. So, Lauren, that's why my the onions aren't all in perfect squares -- I can almost hear you gasping right now. 

I cheated by adding canned tomatoes and pre-packaged vegetable broth. Don't judge me.

 

I rinsed the beans (yes, I added black beans to my "white bean" chili), and noticed there was a rogue kidney bean in the mix. I don't know about you, but I am going to go out on a limb and say that is some kind of good luck:

And then I mixed it all together, and let it cook:

The result was nothing short of ah-mazing. I am attributing much of the success to the lemon juice and lime zest:

Oh, and the cheese, of course.

Here's to eating almost-vegan-homemade-chili alone on a Friday night and writing a blog post about it. Procrastination is a beautiful [and delicious] thing.

Ryan

Weekend Wrap Up

It is getting to be that time in the quarter where I eat, sleep, and breathe school. While we did not so much as pick up a hammer this weekend, we did make a trip to Fort Yargo -- the purpose of which was to gather images for an upcoming project. Here are a few moments from the day:

Here's to a productive week, and may "R.O.T" never end up on any of our tomb stones.

Ryan

Home Sweet Construction Zone

I lovingly refer to our house as the 'construction zone'. I've gotten quite accustomed to weaving through boxes on my way to make coffee, and keeping all of the doors closed, so the cats don't accidentally rub against a saw, or step on a razor blade, or swallow a screw, etc. However, I have to say that I am excited for the day that I can have guests over without having to give the 'our-house-is-a-construction-zone-please-don't-judge-us' disclaimer. It gets old, and even I am getting sick of hearing myself say it.

And no, I did not stage the above shot. I was photographing the formal living room this weekend, and almost leaned back on this death trap. Jeff claims that he was testing the nail gun on this scrap piece of wood, but I'm hard pressed to believe that it took him ten tries to figure out that it was working properly.

Anyhow, the whole living-and-working-in-the-house-you're-remodeling thing is not as glamorous as HGTV led me to believe.

Literally, every corner of the house is being occupied. Be it a rug, a curtain rod, or a power tool -- there is something resting in every available nook in this house. It is nerve racking as I constantly feel that any one of the numerous piles-of-stuff that we have stacked to the ceiling could come crashing down with one false move.

Anyhow, in less dangerous news, something else I've noticed about living in a construction zone: I can't live without my iPad. It is, hands down, the most brilliant product I've ever owned (besides the mothership, of course) -- and I don't know how people survived this whole remodeling process without being able to carry a beautiful baby TV with them from room to room.

Let's not even talk about the carport. I dream of the day that our cars will have shelter from the rain.

And yes, I'm pretty sure our neighbors can't wait for that day either. 

The thing about remodeling a house that you just moved into is that everyone wants to "come see the new place", or "come see what you've done so far" -- and let me just tell you, it ain't pretty. Half of our house is covered in construction-grade paper, the other half is holding the furniture and stuff that will eventually go on top of the floors that are currently cover in construction-grade paper. It's a mess, people; and it loses it's charm after about 10 minutes when you realize there is no where to sit down -- because, apparently, every chair we own is also occupied.

I don't want this to discourage any visits as I have gotten really good at "giving the tour" when people come over -- not to mention, I started a blog to document the remodeling process, so I obviously don't have any secrets. However, if you want to come visit, you must (1) bring alcohol and/or your working gloves, or (2) take us out to eat ... which we've discovered is our parent's trick -- and. it. works. every. time.

Here's to our home, sweet, home construction zone. Happy Thursday!

Ryan

The Mothership

The mothership arrived last week, and Leo and I are in iHeaven -- just thought you should know. 

Happy Wednesday, all.

Ryan