A List of Recent Things

1. We dog-sat my dad's dog over the Christmas holiday. He's an extremely nervous/neurotic Chihuahua-mix, who is a rescue dog several times over and has rescue-dog-type "issues". But, he is also probably the most cuddly and affectionate dog I've ever met, and is really good at playing and allows you to dress him up in cute doggy sweater vests. Win-win!  Oh man, Ben & I are dog people. We would go out and buy a dog today if we were allowed to have one in our apartment. We had to get special permission from our landlord to dog-sit for 3 weeks. When we gave the dog back, we were (and are) really sad about it.  REALLY sad. Sigh. Needless to say, we will own a dog sooner than later.

2. I have recently purchased a Philips Wake-Up Light. Oh, glory be! This little contraption has changed my life. Seriously! If I had owned this thing when I was growing up in Ohio, I think my adolescence would have been a lot different (in a good way). In the winter, my body will absolutely not wake up on its own. Unless the sun is out, which only happens about once a week for a few hours if we're lucky, I can go to bed at 10pm and sleep until 10pm the next night if I didn't set an alarm. Seriously, my body will just not wake itself up unless it senses the sun. But, with my new light, I set it to go off at a certain time, and 30 minutes before, it starts gradually turning on, mimicking the rise of the sun. By the time the alarm is set, it has brightened the entire room, and I'm usually already awake! Brilliant! It definitely makes my mornings earlier, and a lot easier! Yessssss! Don't confuse it with a S.A.D lamp, it's not that kind of lamp, but it is amazing, nonetheless. I recommend it for anyone who lives in a place that gets little sun, especially in the winter.

3. I have also recently purchased an Artograph Tracer Projector. One of my goals for the year is to paint one portrait. I really like painting people, and I wanted to get back into it, but it's been a long time since I've painted people, and my ability to mimic facial proportions is not what it used to be. I used a projector in high school, and it was really helpful, and I thought it would help me build my painting confidence again, so I bought one for myself! This one looked a little basic compared to ones I've used in school, but those run in the thousands of dollar range, and I just don't have that kind of disposable income. But, I did have 50 bucks of Amazon money (thanks mom!), so I bought this one. Before I purchased it, I did a lot of research, read a lot of reviews and even tracked down a demonstration of it being used on youtube. It seemed like it would meet my needs. I don't need to project colors, just basic lines and positions of facial features, so I thought it would be good enough. It came in the mail today, and it is more than good enough! It projects very clearly, is easy to focus and enlarge, and the color projection is pretty crisp too! Well worth the $50 I didn't actually spend! I'm excited to start painting again!

4. I'm getting 3 more piano students! That bumps me up to 4 students, total! That's almost enough to make them have a recital. Mwa ha ha ha! 

Whew!

Oh man, it's been a busy couple of weeks. And it's going to get even busier! But I just wanted to let you all know a few things that are going on.

1. I'm blogging for Diabetes Awareness Month again, on my other blog http://theinsulincrowd.blogspot.com/.  I wanted to do it daily, but that is just not going to happen this month!

2. I'm going to be driving to North Carolina on Monday all by myself! That's a 7 hour drive, and I'm a little nervous, but it's for a good cause. I'm headed down to High Point to help out my mother-in-law after she has surgery (don't worry, it's nothing life threatening, she just will need an extra hand for a few days).  Ben will then join me the next week for the week of Thanksgiving. So, I'll be playing nurse in High Point for a week, all by myself! I get along great with my in-laws, but it's still unnerving to be away from home for a week, helping someone else out. But, if anyone is dying to have a really long phone conversation on Monday as I drive down there, during which I can guarantee your call will be dropped a million times as I wind in and out of the Appalachian Foothills, I'd be happy to oblige.

3. Did I mention I'm teaching piano lessons now? (only like a million times already, right?) I love it! I'm going to be missing two weeks when I'm in North Carolina, and I'm actually sad about it.  As my friend "M". would say "I think I missed my calling."  Seriously, I actually enjoy this, and I get paid for it. Granted, I've only taught one highly gifted and motivated Brazilian kid, so who knows what it would be like to teach an over-programmed, bratty, privileged American kid who doesn't practice? But, right now I'm reveling in it. Sometimes I second guess my career choices (especially when I'm not actually working), but I think if I had studied how to be a piano teacher in school, I'd probably hate it. That's how I roll.

Okay, later peeps.

We walked.

And walked, and walked, and walked for the ADA Walk to Stop Diabetes this Saturday, and it was LOADS of fun!

Ben's Battelle team had tons of walkers that came. We had so many that we even got our own "team tent"! Woot! We got all kinds of free stuff, too. Ben scored 4 free t-shirts, and I even came home with 3! There were lots of diabetes-oriented vendors there, too, who were handing out tons of free (mostly useless and mostly gross-tasting) stuff too.

But, in the end the whole experience was really positive. We ended up raising over $300 bucks between the two of us. Ben's co-workers really ponied up the cash there at the end, it was amazing. It was great to go to an event like that and be around "my people," who all kind of understand what each other is going through.

Thanks so much to everyone who donated to this cause! We know everyone is pinching pennies these days, and that makes me even more touched by all the generous donations that everyone gave. So, here is a big fat thank you from me.

THANK YOU!

Updater-tron

Just a small update:

Both Ben & I reached our fundraising goals for the ADA walk! Thanks everyone who donatd/wanted to donate/donated in spirit! If you still want to donate, you are more than welcome to, as well. We'll gladly take your money. :)

So, I've been gluten free for several months now, and let me tell you what I'm noticing. First, I have more energy! Which is amazing, considering this is the time of the year when my energy usually nose dives because of the weather. I've been getting up earlier, and it hasn't been a challenge! What the what?! And, I'm even (gasp) enjoying it a little bit! Who knew life could be like this? Also, another added benefit is that I've lost 5 lbs without even trying! My doctor even said something about it! "Oh, you've lost a little bit of weight?" I told her that I hadn't changed anything except taking gluten out of my diet, and she said "We see that a lot when people stop eating gluten." So, I'll take it!

And we're gettin' our Halloween on here in the Carper house. This is probably my favorite holiday, tied with Christmas. We have purchased a pumpkin (from a pumpkin patch!), have decorations up in our yard (two dollar store styrofoam gravestones leftover from last year, that was a good$2 investment, those things hold up in the weather!), and are working diligently on our costumes which will hopefully be even as cool as last year's.

OK, life is good friends, hope all is well in your neck of the woods!

So Busy.

Somehow, it's only Monday, and it's already been the busiest week ever. And it's just going to get even more busy! Oh well. Next week promises to be less crazy.

One thing of note: I have a piano student! I was supposed to inherit a bunch from another person at church this school year, but for some reason that never happened, but I just had one randomly fall in my lap the other day, and we're starting his lessons tomorrow. I'm a little rusty, but I'm excited to be back in the teaching mode. I taught flute in high school to some kids in the ward and really enjoyed it, so I'm excited to start teaching piano, an instrument I'm even more comfortable with!

Also, it is just a fabulously gorgeous fall this year! So much better than the last few! The trees are amazing! Sometimes I think it's amazing that colors that bright occur naturally. God sure knew what He was doing!

Ok, Erin out.

Walk to Stop Diabetes!

Ben & I have signed up for the ADA's Walk to Stop Diabetes! If you want to come walk or donate some cash money, check out my page for the walk.

Yay!

Another Success!

Another gluten free success! I've been craving some serious baked goods lately, and our local GF bakery, which has very odd hours, was not open when we went by on Saturday. They make the most divine chocolate cupcakes. Seriously, so good that even Ben loves them. Mmmm.

But, alas, they were closed, so I made my own! With this recipe from Gluten Free Mommy. Oh, my goodness, they were SOOOOOOO good. I happened to have all the ingredients on hand, except for the buttermilk, but I just did the milk+lemon juice substitute for it and it worked out just fine. I topped them with my mom's fabulously tasty chocolate frosting, and they were the perfect Sunday night treat. They also ended up being the perfect way to help lift our spirits after being sorely disappointed that Masterpice Mystery wasn't on tonight! (seriously, PBS, why would you show a documentary about prohibition, when you could be showing more Misterpiece Mastery?!)

Mmmmm.