Strawberry Jam

For those that have requested an update:

It was not a smooth process - cupfuls of boiling strawberries had to be decanted into a second pot mid-process, and my first test spoon was way too runny and required firing up the heat for another 5 minutes of frantic stirring. But, eventually.... I made jam!  And it tastes good! We are eating jam and butter toast all over the place here.  Since I'm lazy and not up for canning, I put 4 jars of jam in our basement freezer chest, gave one to our daycare provider for PB&Js and am committed to gobbling up the tupperware tub full in our fridge before next week.  Looking forward to trying this process with raspberries later this summer!

8 years

Today is our 8 year wedding anniversary.  We went out for a casual dinner together on Saturday night to celebrate early.  Every wedding anniversary we celebrate, I mentally add a 1 to the front of the number of years to mark the number of years we've actually been together, married + unmarried.  Which means we've been together for 18 years.  Lived together for 13 of those.

This blows my mind on so many levels.  I mean, it would have been so easy as teenagers to listen to almost everyone around us and break up when Jeff went to college.  But we were so, super duper in love with each other.  Sometimes it feels like Jeff and I spent our entire lives waiting to be in our 30's and rather suddenly, we're halfway through them (some of us slightly more so than others). 

Jeff and I candidly made the observation at dinner this Saturday that our relationship is in a really good place these days. Which is such a RELIEF!  Because being successfully married is pretty hard work.  And being parents is real hard.  And 18 years is long enough to know that things aren't always as good as they are right now.  But it's also long enough to know that even when things get hard, we'll be able to hack it.  And come out the other side stronger for it.  

It often feels like so many blogs celebrate anniversaries by toting that they are 'best friends!' and every day married to each other is like 'living a dream!' and I wonder "Who ARE these people?"  Because seriously guys - every now and then, being married is like living in a living nightmare (in the words of Jack Handy) - like the kind where you have to talk about your feelings, accidentally say asshole-ish things to the person you love, admit that you're wrong and apologize and compromise and you can't eat apples even though they are a healthy alternative to cookies because the sound of you eating apples is like nails on a chalkboard for your partner and whew!  Hard, right?  Don't get me wrong, Jeff totally IS my favorite human. But it's so lovely to have struck the balance that we have at the moment.

And what kind of lame dreams are these people having about loading the dishwasher and daycare drop-offs?  I mean, I'm dreaming that Jeff is carrying me like a princess all the way home in the moonlight after strutting me around the dance floor like a pro and then serenading me to sleep with a super sexy romantic ballad, Moulon-Rouge-style.  But, hey!  At least it's JEFF in my dreams, right??

Lastly, I leave you with this quote from a card Jeff gave me (not an e-card, but an honest to god, paper card) in 1994:

"I bought this card today, because, once again I was doing what I thought I wanted to do, but when I finally got the chance to do it, all I could think about was being apart from you."

I must have inserted a note in the envelope before putting it into the giant trunk I keep of Jeff souvenirs that says this card was left on my doorstep after he'd spent a night in Seattle visiting his aunt and uncle. We'd been together 3 months.  

Just your average Monday night

Oh you know.  Just makin' jam.  From berries I picked myself.  Cause that's totally how I roll.


Don't mind the bravado.  I'm actually scared shitless.  Strawberries are everywhere, I'm unsure exactly what a "rolling boil" is when describing molten liquid strawberry.  And who knew strawberries would expand approximately 500% when heated??!!

Wish me luck please.

March 2012 (part 3)

This post will actually carry over into early April as we took an Orcas weekend with friends Gillian, Dom and their son Finn, who at the time was just about to turn One on March 30th. 

On our way to the ferry line.

In the ferry line.

At the ferry terminal in Anacortes.

On the ferry.  Irish much?

I believe she was "just making a quick call."  She pretended to have a full convo with Gramma and Grampa.

Sorting beach glass at the cabin.

Cold March day on the beach.

We had the nicest, relaxed evenings in which we would eat lots of fancy cheese and drink adult beverages while feeding the kids dinner.  Then eat our own leisurely dinners after tucking the kids in.  Except for the one night that Finn decided not to go to sleep in a new and scary place and made a reappearance mid dinner, but still... I love big heavy meals at the cabin when it's chilly, dark, and raining outside and that's exactly what we did - Beef Bourguignon and boiled potatoes (made by our UK guests) one night and pork chops the next.

Obsessed with these marbles at Orcas, getting them out of the apple juice jar, and decanting them into an empty egg carton.  

Crab.

Tide pools

Rock skipping.

Surprise sunny afternoon on our last day.

We found a ladybug on the beach.

Just eating some olives with my 80's shades on.  What?

After this last photo, our camera battery died and we had forgotten the charger in Seattle.  Oh well.   Needless to say we had a fantastic weekend and come to think of it, I don't think we've been back since. 4th of July here we come!

This post wraps up March and takes us into early April.  I hope to post April pics soon so stay tuned. 

March 2012 (part 2)

March was a big (huge) month for Legos in this family.  We inherited a beat up box of duplo Legos from a friend in January, but Edie really took to them in March.  Every night she'd ask Jeff to help her make something new and crazy, and every night he'd figure out a way to at least try and create something resembling her request. 

It all started one night when she decided she wanted to make a tower that utilized every single one of her Legos.

And the next morning we recreated it in color blocks.  And added a Lego elephant.

This photo doesn't do it justice, but this castle was AWESOME.  Her Sesame Street friends lived in it for 2 days.

I think this was a "pig"?  I believe we are looking at the tail end but I can't be sure.

Pirate ship.

Ta

DAAAA!!

Robot family.

Quick rest with Minnie before.... drumroll....

???? I have no idea.  A dog maybe?  The drumroll really should have been for the robot family - aren't they cute?

Snail.

And lastly, a rainbow.  Which was later turned into an entire family of rainbows in all sizes, but uncaptured on film.

March 2012 (part 1)

Miscellaneous photos from early March.

Accidental nap post shower.  I tried to wake her, but it was useless.

Much of early March was spent fussing over our front door, which Jeff's Dad had taken to Bellingham and restored over the course of the winter (during which time we had what we called "Frankendoor").  Here Edie is "helping" Grandpa restore the door.

Post-puzzle completion high five with Grandma Fifi.

New door!  This photo doesn't do it justice, but it's beautifully finished and shiny black. 

A rare moment of quiet between Edie and Maurice with Edie passed out on the couch (also rare).

I think these were taken the day she got her first real hair style - she's rocking the bob indefinitely at this point.  I think it suits her little moon face.  So does her Snow White costume that Heidi sewed her.

I came downstairs one weekend morning after sleeping in and found this.  Pretentious.  But cute, no?