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- Details
- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Life
I realized leading up to this vacation that I use the word home for both the house I grew up in where my parents still live, and for the apartment that Matt and I share now. It is strange to be in this situation, and I have noticed how hard it was to come "home" to Scarborough after such a wonderful time in Victoria.
It was interesting to notice that I did not feel home AT ALL when we landed, or on the drive home, although I do love how comfortable and familiar I am with Terminal 3 and the 401. When we got back to the apartment, I felt familiarity and comfort, but not really rest. My parents' home is a place of rest and safety and belonging (and I know it will be, even after my bedroom gets repainted/repurposed :P). Our apartment is... a shell I think. A home when we are living in it, playing games with friends, chasing the dog around, cooking meals, watching movies. I am fond of this place, bugs and all (so many dead bugs when we got back lol). But nothing happens here that couldn't happen somewhere else.
- Details
- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Life
Something new that I decided to try while I was on my own in July was to make my own granola. My verdict is that it was a raging success, and Matt agrees it is delicious and he would happily eat it! The one thing I will do differently next time is not add any dried fruit to the granola before I bake it. Most of my craisins turning into little cranberry rocks.
I used a recipe from thefrugalgirl.com that I would link to but it's a huge post because she has tons of pictures and a give-away on the same post. It boils down to:
Mix these ingredients together:
6 cups oatmeal
1 cup chopped nuts
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup dried fruit
Combine the below ingredients on low heat in a small pot, stir together and pour over oatmeal mixture:
1/2 cup oil (I used coconut oil as recommended. Pricey but healthy.)
1/2 cup honey
3 tbsp brown sugar
3 tsp vanilla
Spread the entire mixture out on baking sheets and bake at 300F. Stir after 15 minutes and every 2-5 minutes after that until golden brown.
- Details
- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Life
Matt, Esther and I enjoyed the civic holiday on Monday downtown exploring Kensington market. I do not have pictures because we were too busy enjoying our day! We wandered and window shopped in Kensington, had Mexican food for dinner, and spent the evening down at the water front. We sat on the boardwalk with our feet in the water and watched boats, and there was a really funny busker. It was a gorgeous day, and we wore sunscreen, so no regrets!
UPDATE: I found this picture on my phone. How could I forget the sun visor/welding mask Esther stubbornly refused to buy?
- Details
- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Life
With an unknown length of time before Matt and Esther get back from their two week mission trip, I decided it would be wise to attempt a blog post since this might help me get back in the swing of things for August.
Nimoy and I have been toughing out the heat, and we had a couple cool days this week to give us a break. Today is hot again, although nothing like last week. I managed pretty well since I ran the air conditioner and fan in my room at night, but now that Esther will be back, it seems fair to put the air conditioner in one room and fan in the other. We'll see how that goes, lol.
- Details
- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Life
And tomorrow has been forecast to be the hottest day yet. So after taking Nimoy on his nighttime walk and taking the stairs up (one of the elevators is broken and I skipped kickboxing because it was so HOT), my sweaty self taped aluminum foil to our west-facing windows.
Dining room above, kitchen below. Now from outside, we look like crazy people who don't want aliens or government satellites reading our minds :P But we are not the only ones, and I am praying this makes the apartment slightly less of an oven to come home to (and wake up to, sigh)
For the record, the blinds will also be down, so from inside I think everything will look pretty normal. There are a few girls coming over for small group tomorrow night, and I don't want to scare them off!
- Details
- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Life
Dear family and friends and random readers, if you exist.
Due to my sister visiting, loving outside and gorgeous weather, and possibly moving this blog to my own domain in the next month or so, posts will not be as frequent as they have been the last few months.
I hope you will continue to check back/keep me on your blog reader to see when there are new posts, and hopefully Moving With God will have an awesome new look in the near future.
I'm not taking an official break, just slowing it down for the next month or so and wanted to give y'all the heads up why posts are not as frequent.
Much love! Until next time,
Alyssa
- Details
- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Life
It has been an amazing (and busy!) couple of days - June ended, my sister arrived for a 40-day visit, Matt turned 25, and I worked an 11 hour day to catch up from the long weekend mail.
SO I made it through June without using shampoo (although I was tempted once or twice) and am going to stick with no-poo for the time being. I have occasional greasy-hair days, but I have been tweaking my baking soda mix and experimenting with how long I let it sit in my hair (sometimes no time, sometimes a few minutes), so for now I think it is worth it for healthier hair and scalp plus its dirt-cheapness.
- Details
- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Life
I have been using the Oil Cleansing Method to wash my face pretty consistently for the last few weeks and am happy with the results! One of the girls at youth group was telling me she heard that it can be good for your skin if you rub ice on your face after you wash it to close up all your pores... Maybe now that we are finally having some hot weather I will try that! (Oh Esther, the fun we shall have when you come to visit!!!)
I have also been flirting with the idea of trying out No-Poo. I haven't used shampoo or conditioner since.. Sunday? So I just started, but so far it's going good.
Oh, the OTHER thing is using baking soda paste as deodorant - totally weird, but good enough for me! I put it to the test with a sweaty kickboxing class this afternoon and did not smell. I'm not swearing off deodorant for life, just exploring my options, and when I work out, part of what I want to do is sweat. So rather than find a separate deodorant that is not also an anti-perspirant, I can slap some baking soda up in mah pits and be good to go :) Probably TMI for many of you, but there you have it.
If you try any of these crazy things, let me know in the comments with what you think! Mom, you can count making kefir even though it's not hygiene-related.
- Details
- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Life
Me, graduated!
My proud supporters: Grandparents, Mom, Matt and Marie! - Dad's taking the picture
And after graduation...
We got down to business attacking every cockroach hideout we could discover in our kitchen!
So bugs died in every direction... disgusting, but gratifying. We are still seeing them every once in a while, but the cupboards are clean and we have hope that with a few final seals and caulking (and maybe, worst-case scenario, a new fridge?), we can enjoy our second year of this apartment without the bugs!!!- Details
- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Life
Some of you didn't know that I was invited to my pals Will and Kate's wedding celebration at the end of April, but I was there and finally got some pictures back. Here I am with my trend-setting fascinator!