Spring has Sprung!

my peas are up!! i am so excited! to see new life spring forth from the earth is so rewarding. it reminds me that the innate wisdom of the earth and universe work so perfectly together... definitely more perfect than my egg cartons and grow light for sure!! when comparing my spindly little seedlings that i tried in vain to keep alive (only the peppers are still alive...) to these little pea shoots that have broken though the crusty soil (and it is reaaally crusty for some reason!), i am in awe, and have great respect for the perfect symphony of life that is so powerful in the springtime.
spring has also rewarded us with the opportunity to use its power to help us with the chores! my first load of laundry hung out to dry in the wind made me so happy, that i was actually a little surprised at how good i felt!...doing laundry! it brought us back to a time when things moved slower, and i think maybe it really does help time to move slower. to methodically place each item of clothing on the line forces one's body and being to slow down and breathe for a change.
the other evening, with a load-and-a-half still on the line, i was tempted to just leave them there for night, and do some other things on the not-so-important to-do list in my head. i must've felt at least a little on edge, or crabby, because after i decided that maybe i really should take the clothes off the line, my whole body, mind, attitude-everything felt so much better! i could physically feel myself lighten! the to-do list didn't go away of course, but the need to stop, and be present, and feel the breeze on my face reminded me that just being, and enjoying every moment, is what really counts.

Mayonnaise from Scratch, and a bit of Egg-y Wisdom :)

this is one of the things i ended up making last weekend with our friends, and it has been requested that i share the recipe. i can't remember the exact source to credit, but i believe jordan found this on the internet one day a while back when we decided it would be cheaper, and much better for us to make mayo from scratch. despite all i've heard to the contrary, i've never had trouble getting the perfect consistency. ...with the exception of last weekend (of course)...i had to dump the whole thing out, and start over! actually, we've saved it, hoping to make hollandaise out of it...we'll see. i don't know if it was because i used all apple cider vinegar (from the bottom of the jar, no less) instead of part lemon juice like i usually do, or because i dumped the last 1/2 cup of oil in all at once (like the recipe says) instead of gradually... like i usually do... i guess playing hostess is distracting to me? haha! anyway, here it is:

using a food processor or blender, blend together:
*1 egg
*1 tsp dry mustard (or just a scoop of regular mustard of your choice, that's what i do)
*1 tsp salt
*dash of cayenne pepper (adjust to your spiciness preference)
*2-4 cloves garlic (again, adjust to your level of love for garlic)
once blended, add:
*1/4 cup olive oil(this CAN go in all at once)
then add SLOWLY:
*1/2 cup olive oil
once blended add:
*3 Tbsp vinegar or lemon juice (as stated above, i do a bit of apple cider vinegar AND lemon juice
then add SLOWLY (although it doesn't have to be as slow as the first bit):
*1/2 cup olive oil (your total amt of olive oil comes to 1 1/4 cups)
*make sure it's all blended well, and it should be a really nice mayonnaise :)

**a note on eggs:
notice that this recipe does call for a RAW egg (although, the vinegar and lemon juice does CURE it). i must point out that all eggs are NOT created equal. I advise using a healthy, hearty egg from a happy (preferably local) chicken that is able to express her chickenness by living a happy life outside, in the pasture, eating bugs. :) this is not the same as cage free, or even "free-range" that you can get at most grocery stores nowadays. i urge you to be aware of where the eggs you buy are coming from as most large "farms" that label their eggs as anything "free" generally have a small door at the end of a huge building, inviting the chickens to step outside, if they wish- most do not think to take advantage of that priviledge. these chickens are not near as healthy and hearty as true "pastured" chickens, and the eggs of such chickens are compromised as well (e.g. they may not be as able to keep undesirable bacteria from proliferating).
several years ago, we made a good friend quite sick by feeding him a lovely dessert with raw eggs. back then, we shopped mostly by price, so i assure you, they weren't the best money could buy... so i whole heartedly believe that all eggs are not equal. that's my soapbox for the day, do with it what you will. :)

Seedling Disaster

argh! so, i got so excited a month and a half ago about being able to grow my own food from scratch that i put all my seeds nicely in egg cartons, on the top bunk in our spare bedroom complete with grow lights... now, i realize and admit that several plants were started too early, even for this mild climate of ashland, oregon, but i thought, "oh, they'll just get a little bigger here inside, and i can have a nice early crop of some yummy produce"! ...apparently these little seedlings have a time limit on how long they enjoy egg cartons... and they're still really really tiny! not sure yet what i did wrong, but the majority of them have keeled over and wilted- their leaves have fallen off, and their gangly stems are laying flat on the dirt.

so, yesterday, being our day home from the office, i attempted to do some damage control. broccoli, cabbage, one cauliflower (that's all that was left, from two whole egg cartons!), leeks and onions (what little onions still looked viable, i plan on putting some more seeds directly in the garden this weekend) have gone into the garden to face the elements, for better or for worse. herbs have gone into a large herb pot we have sitting on our front sidewalk (and forgot to take inside last night, hope they survived!) even though they are still sooo small! tomatoes, melons, and peppers (which apparently i wasn't supposed to start until APRIL, and i started them in FEBRUARY!) have been transplanted into all the larger pots i could find, and put back up on the bunk under the lights, along with celery, which still looks ok in the egg carton, and a few flowers which may be a lost cause... i may lose most of my tomatoes, but hopefully it's not too late to start some more seeds, i hope to have tomatoes coming out my ears this fall so i can have lots of canned and frozen tomato goodness to last us through the winter. :) ugh, so this is a rather dramatic start to our food-independence story! I'm sure it's not the end, stay tuned for more entertainment! =D

Weekend Review

so, we did have a wonderful time with jenny, don, ava, and danica while they were here... the weekend went entirely too fast! i cannot believe how much ava has grown since we saw her last-she's 2 1/2 months younger than elle, and she speeds right past her when crawling! it's so fun watching them together! i wouldn't say they play with each other, but rather they observe on another... and tend to want whatever toy the other has in her hand at the moment. it was great to catch up with jenny and danica well, can't leave them out of the equation, but i have to admit most of everyone's attention was on the babies...and danica's oh-so-cute baby bump! :) can't wait to meet her little one!!

Monday at the Office

not too much happening this lovely monday morning, but we did have a wonderful weekend with our friends! will post a couple pictures of our babies together later. :)

for now, i thought it would be a good time to put up a few pictures of our office. they are all on our flickr site, but a couple on here will be nice as well. so far, every single person who's walked into our office has loved it, and exclaimed how inviting and comfortable it feels, which is exactly what our intention was when designing it-yay! it makes me so happy when others can see and feel the very thing we wanted them to feel :)

photo for our brochure...wanted to show you the view from our window

don't mind the self-portraits... :p

reception room ...

jordan's desk

"resting and integration room"

some photos of our office, Wellspring Centre for Body Balance.

A great way to start the weekend

so i'm on my way to a play date and lunch with a lovely lady i met at storytime and her little guy oscar! i'm hoping to make a bit of a habit out of play dates-elle is becoming quite enchanted by other people her size. :) later, i have a massage scheduled with a guy that jordan tried out the other day as a business connection. said i must go, and i won't refuse a good massage! busy evening on the books as well, as some dear friends are coming down from portland to spend the weekend with us, and i plan on having a great dinner waiting for them with flourless chocolate cake for dessert, my favorite! :D

Here Goes....

so, here i am, starting a blog about our life. i'm hoping that this will be an easy way for our families back in the midwest to keep up-to-date on our goings-on in life. :)
a little bachground: me, my husband jordan, (who's more than i could ever have asked for) and my little baby girl elle have recently settled in ashland oregon. jordan (i should call him "doctor") is a new chiropractor and i am fortunate to be a full-time mama and help him build his practice at the same time. has made for incredibly busy days since the middle of december! but, we are finally seeing a few clients, so things are coming together wonderfully!
on top of all that, our vision is to become virtually food-independent. i've got my seed for the spring starting in our spare bedroom, and a few perennial plants started outside already. we've got quite a teeny lot, so it will be interesting to see where it all will fit! the great thing is, elle LOVES to be outside in the dirt; specifically, she loves to get as much as possible into her mouth! it makes for an enjoyable time in the garden :)
all for now, it'll be interesting to see where this blog takes us! heidi