Where is all the hot air going?

We bought a very old house, which naturally need some updates.  Where to start?  With an energy audit of course.  Oregon Energy Works is a program to help homeowners figure out how to make their homes more energy efficient.  They came to visit on a lazy saturday and climbed all through the house.

 Then set up a fan, turned off the heat and showed me where all that cold air is coming from.

 Cool new devise to show drafts.

 Lots of air coming from the attic...

 and this storage in the unheated closet above the vast open space that is our deck.  It is FREEZING in the closet right now!

The Handy Man was not amused as the audit fell on the same day as the Broncos game.  The house got very cold for a while there. and it didn't help that the game didn't end well.  More info when we get the report.

Children

No we don't have kids, but we did take in some friends while the dorms where closed this past two weeks.  Their rent, make a meal!  Look at these yummy quesadilla's!

 It also happened to be the day the wise men arrived so we had some king cake, or what is it really called?  I cannot remember.

 It was accompanied by some hot chocolate.

 And look who got the little baby jesus in his slice, of course.

I didn't get any photos of the fantastic lasagna what was made by Molly a week later.  Shoot!  Made with beef right from her back yard!

Sorry the last few posts have been about food.  It's kind of a big deal.

How to take care of your aging house

There is a lot we need to learn about our house and all its very old quirks.  So we started with a trip to the Build, Remodel, and Landscape show.

 Three hours later, we were very tired, had a million more projects to do, and had a lot of fliers.
I of course got distracted by this fine product, the Wine Slushee.  It was delicious and now I want to try to make my own.

When we got home, I noticed that there are some bulbs growing by the front door.  Surprise.  I wonder what they will be!

A special visit

My dear friend Shenannigans decided to come visit from Vancouver BC.  I of course showed her the rops with champagne...

manis and pedis (not pictured)...

and a roaring fire.

Odds and ends

New year, new house, new possibilites.  Look what we came home to!

 Cutco from our mortgage lender.  Presents are presents and always exciting.

Then I decided it was time to be a grown up and roast my very first chicken.  It was of course a success.  Delish!  Now if only I could figure out how to cut one with out destroying it.

Want

I bought a small one of these during a Thanksgiving sale.  It's luscious and warm, but too small!  I'm saving up for one of these.

Best Christmas Present EVER!

The Handy Man gave me this!  The key to our first house, painted and mounted onto a map of the city.  There is a small red dot where our house is but you can't see it in the photograph.  I absolutely love this gift!

Thanks to pinterest for the inspiration...

honestly I think this one turned out best.

End of Days

As everyone knows, the world was supposed to end on December 21st.  My dad decided that it was the perfect time to build a pizza oven and celebrate.

 Molly practiced her throwing skills in the morning.

 Look how pretty it is.  Did you notice the 5 circles.  Yeah, it's a theme in our family.

 Careful, it's very hot.

 Dad bought a lot of peels, which I called pulls all night.  Whatever.

 Now the grill has a companion and a marble top, fancy!

 There was much preparation to do.

 Here is all the dough.  Someone was worried we would run out.  Notice the bubbly in the corner, very necessary at this point.

 These were just the toppings we had prepared.  It doesn't even include the toppings everyone else brought to the party.

 We played a very appropriate movie in the background.  Ever feeling apocalyptic?  I highly recommend: 

Apocalypse 2012: The World After Time Ends

it was the perfect imagery to have in the background. 

 Look how beautiful the pizzas look!

The Handy Man tried his hand at pizza oven duty, his pizzas turned out perfect of course.

Home, the other one

We got to go home for the Holidays.  It was fantastic: lots of sister time, champagne drinking at all hours, jacuzzi, and of course lots of eating.

 We watched many football games.

 Celebrated Molly's big birthday.

 The Handy Man had to have his very first Takah Sushi experience.  He loved the special dessert.

 Some Christmas Day traditions: Orange Cinnamon Rolls...

 and undercooked monkey bread, Oops.

 Family Shenanigans

 And we braved a trip to the top of the mountain with some friends.

 It was cold and VERY snowy, we couldn't see much.

 But that didn't stop the fun times,

  attempts to live dangerously,

and clowning around.

Day bed on a sick day

I was not feeling well.  Exhaustion?  Cold?  Flu?  I'm going to call it all three.  So I took a sick day to sleep and rest.  I forgot one important thing.  The day bed was scheduled to arrive on the same day!

 This made me feel better!

But it seems every time I look in the living room, the Handy Man is settled in and cozy.