Cheese Making

Yesterday, my mom and I took a Mozzarella cheese making class at a farm in Yamhill. It was really fun and very interesting. I had no idea it was so easy to make cheese! I should rephrase that because cheese making is actually not all that easy. There are many different things that can go wrong, but it is easier than I had imagined. For example, I never would have thought that I could make fresh mozzarella in my own kitchen! The mozzarella that I made yesterday did not turn out great. I did not stretch it long enough so it still had some whey in it. I also did not salt it enough. But it takes practice. I think my mom is a natural because hers turned out pretty good. I bought frozen raw milk, rennet, and citric acid to make cheese at home. When I do, I will post pictures of the process! I want to make an oil and herb brine for the fresh mozzarella balls. Maybe I'll experiement over the furlough week or spring break. Here is the farms website if you are interested in checking it out or taking a class: www.kookoolanfarms.com

Our New Guest Room

If you have been to our house than you probably remember our guest room upstairs. It was memorable because it was hideous! The room is a small 9 x 9 looking out onto the backyard. There is a nice white chair rail that ran around the room. The bottom portion was painted a deep, loud, cobalt blue while the top was a blinding, neon green. It was obviously the choice of a young boy but made the room unbearable to go in. When we first looked at the house last May, I said that the first thing we were going to do is paint the room. I didn't even want to move any furniture into it or hang anything on the walls. Eight months later, after painting the exterior of the house and the office we finally got around to painting the guest room.

I spent most of last week painting two coats of primer on the walls. I was determined to make sure that the green and blue would not shine through our paint choice. Erik and I both love color and we both love orange. My parents had some paint that they ended up not using on their house called sun-baked earth. It is a lovely dark brownish orange. We decided to paint that under the chair rail and went with a warm light orange called pumpkin bread for the top. We were a little nervous about our color scheme but figured anything would be better than what we had. I am so happy and grateful that my mom was able to come down and help me paint the first coat of color in the room. It would have taken me so much longer and it would not have been as nice without her. As it was, it took Erik and I almost all of Saturday to paint the second coat.

I really like how the room turned out. To me it feels warm and relaxing. I can't wait to decorate the room. I have a beautiful Indian tapestry that goes perfectly in there as well as some other eclectic pieces of art. I will post decorated pictures of the guest room as well as the office when they are finished. Now I just need the mantle for the fire place and to get the African tapestry in hanging condition for our bedroom!

Before...

This picture does not do it justice. In reality it was much brighter!!!
Getting ready to paint...

After! (one coat)
I wish I would have taken a picture with my mom in it
Rilo soaking up the sun while we were painting the top portion. We kicked her out when we painted the bottom and she sat outside the door shrieking and howling the whole time!
Erik's going bald!
Just kidding, it's paint. I warned him not to lean against the closet wall :)
Finished!!!
Just needs decorating!

Great News!

I must say that I was a little disappointed when it came to subbing in December and January. I had gotten used to working multiple days in a week and many weeks in a month. December was very slow mainly due to the break and so far January has been even slower! I keep checking online to see if I can pick up any sub jobs but none have been posted. On Monday night my phone rang and it was a teacher that I am friends with that works in Carlton. I was thinking to myself, yes one more work day. Instead she gave me even better news. She is going on maternity leave at the beginning of March through the end of the school year and the principal and she decided to have me take her maternity leave position! That means that I would be teaching first grade from March to June! It would be amazing experience, I would be working with my mentor teacher from last year, and I would get a regular pay check! I am so excited, anxious, nervous, scared, etc. I am so thankful for this opportunity and that Erik found a book on report cards that we bought because I will be doing the end of the year report cards and grading!!! I still can't believe it. There is a possibility that I may start as early as the third week of February so I am trying to get done all my last minute projects, review teaching books, and practice getting up early!

Around the house we are working on cleaning the garage. We just loaded my car completely full of Goodwill donations and made a little space. I would really like to paint that upstairs room and get it all set up before I start working. I have lots to do but now I am motivated!

Stockings

The Holidays were so busy that I have not posted what our stockings looked like. This is a month late but here they are: