We're looking at front doors. People, there's an absurd amount of options available. I have a feeling the doors I like won't really match with the brick house, but we've also been talking about raising the roof (literally) and maybe changing the facade of the house. The existing front door drives me bonkers, it's wood, but has three tilted rectangle glass panes that I really, really dislike. I'm pretty sure the door is something like 20 years old too, so it's faded and worn and weathered. It also lets cold air and snow in at the bottom threshold and that's a no go for this winter. We're not doing that again. So, I've been staring at books, brochures, magazines, websites, photos, and aisles of doors at Home Depot and others. I'm not kidding when I say there are options upon options. And yet, I find myself drawn to the old school, craftsman style, rustic or bungalow styles. Bottom line, I want a wood (or wood looking) door, with some window up top, but not enough to let people see inside when I'm deciding whether I want to pretend to be not home. This might be my favorite front door. If only it was in stock. I'm on the hunt. But this might be a close second. I could always stain it if we decide we like the darker look better, which I'm pretty sure I do. But I also like the simplicity of this one. And here's another. Might be more glass than I want, but could also use a different style of glass. Maybe this one with a different glass style. I love this for our back door, which is also getting replaced since it has the same draft and snow problem. And a tricky lock. And no window. And it's worn, weathered and ugly. But I think I love this one more. What do you guys think? I'm going for the perfect door for our house without breaking the bank.
What does a front door say to you? Happy weekend everyone!
We've had some very busy weeks around here, cleaning, installing landing steps, tearing apart cars to rid them of mice, looking for new front doors, long work days and I ran off to Missoula to see my all time favorite Virginia-band, Carbon Leaf. But I found a few things I love online and wanted to share with you. Starting with another gorgeous print from Audrey at Oh So Lovely at the top of this post. Remember how much I love fall? This cover of All About That Bass. I'm officially obsessed. I'm going to listen to it all.the.time. And this one too, which is a great version of the song I play on repeat when I get nasty emails at work. It's been too long since I visited my dear friend Alicia's blog, but catching up over there has been a joy. You need to read her lovely writing. Can't lie, it took me awhile to read this story all the way through and while I'm no where near as big a blogger as some of these ladies, I can relate. I say that as I've been slacking on the blog lately. Sorry, not sorry. This one renews my faith in the fact that good journalism is truly valuable and people really do want it. I've never been to Lourdes or any place that is thought to be a site of a miracle within my Catholic faith, but this story makes me want to go to a place where you can practically feel faith seeping from the stones. Lately, I've been on a reading bender. I'm spending huge amounts of time plowing through books and magazines on all kinds of things and I'm loving it. I may be blogging less, but spending some quality time flipping pages old school is good not just in terms of a break from technology, but it improves my writing, gets my brain racing about all kinds of things and weirdly, motivates me to read more. So, I love this list of a book for every state. So excuse me while I disappear into more books. AND! Did I mention that I created an entirely new website for the ice rink? It's still being tweaked and more is coming, but check it out and if you catch a typo, let me know! I've got lots of big community programs coming up, I'll share more as they develop! Happy weekend everyone! What good reads have you found online lately? It feels a bit like fall here in Montana.
I love fall. Montana fall is different than my treasured Virginia falls, but I'll take it. Lately it's been a mix of cold days with some snow, then hot and blue skies forever. It's basically impossible to dress for the weather ever around here. I'm almost always too hot or too cold. So it goes. We're supposed to have some nice weather for the next week or so, but I know winter is looming and once it takes hold, it won't give up until oh, somewhere around May. So I'm doing my best to soak in those moments of fall. While I'm thinking about it, here's a few of my favorite fall things and what's happening here as we prepare to hibernate for the long winter. + Sweater weather. I've only pulled out a heavyish sweater maybe twice so far this fall, but I'm ready for it. Who doesn't love a cozy, comfy, chunky sweater? I know I do. + Scarves. Honestly, I only just got into scarves in the last few years. I have yet to master the art of making scarves look all cool and classy, but I love them nonetheless. I have a hangar full that I've accumulated over my non-scarf wearing days and yet only wear three or four of them faithfully. So more closet purging is in my future. + Crisp mornings. When it's sunny and clear, but cold and I can see my breath. When I can go for a run and not have heat stroke if I wear a sweatshirt. Mornings when there's a bit of frost on the fields, even if it did kill the rest of my tomatoes and my finally (FINALLY) growing peppers. + Changing leaves. Because it's just gorgeous. + Walking downtown with a cup of hot chocolate, or a peppermint mocha. Sorry folks, I just can't get into the pumpkin spice latte craze, but a peppermint mocha owns me. + We're getting the last of the tomatoes, prepping the chickens for winter and finishing the last of our must-do outdoor chores before we move to indoor chores, like finally renovating the mudroom, then one or both of the bathrooms, the kitchen and maybe now the fireplace has been added to the list. + We're on the market for a new front door too and I'm weirdly excited about it. Hopefully it will spruce up the front of the house and also get rid of the draft and snow that creeps in under the door. What are your favorite fall things? Do you do anything to prep for winter? For the last few weeks, I've been playing a game of cat and mouse with these mobile traffic lights that are relocated daily on the five or so miles of my road that is under major construction.
If I still lived in D.C., I'd just route around it and be on my merry way, but this is the only road to our house. The construction will improve the road, it will be a good thing, and I refuse to be one of those obnoxious people who complain about everything (right as I typed that, I spilled my coffee all over the couch and myself). But there were a few days when the pilot car just forgot about me after I'd been waiting for 30 minutes. The next day, they forgot about me again and it took me 45 minutes to even get past a spot about a quarter mile from my front door. On those days, I was no where near pleasant or concerned with the feelings of others or patient. I was mad. I was late, I was trapped, I was wasting a huge chunk of my morning because I had been forgotten. I am not a patient person. It's true. You can ask my mom. Or M. They know my dirty little secret. I have developed an ability to be calm under pressure (most of the time) or keep my cool when late flights, missed connections and travel misery is threatening to get me down, but it's largely all a coping mechanism for my lack of patience. It's true I can mind over matter my way through lots of things, but that doesn't always mean I'm not tearing myself up on the inside. In a world of wanting things and wanting them now, it's hard to be patient. Part of my impatience I think stems less from my wanting things from other people as my wanting things from myself. Like lose 10 pounds...now. Read a stack of books...now. Learn to knit...now. Be able to run 5 miles...now. Grow a bountiful garden...now. Renovate a house...now. And when I can't do these things right away, I tend to be tough on myself, even when there are many external forces working against me. It's a character flaw for sure. So this road construction slowing me down hasn't really been great for my mood every morning, but they have reminded me that patience is not something that comes naturally to me and it's something I have to work at. Not just because patience is a virtue but when I start losing my patience, pretty much everything starts to stress me out and I cannot get anything done. The road construction situation is improving as the work nears completion, but there will always be some roadblock, something that tries my patience. Lately there are many things in that realm. I haven't figured out exactly how to best handle such things, but I'm trying to treat these construction delays as a lesson. Instead of losing my patience and getting upset do things like put my always connected smartphone to use and get some work done while I sit idling. Take a deep breath and think about my day, plotting out what I need to get done and how best to use my time. Looking out at the mountains or the vast expanse of the sky that earned Montana's nickname, Big Sky Country. So I'll be over here trying to not get stuck at all these red lights and exercising my patience skills. It might be awhile. How about you, are you patient? How do you manage those moments when you're running out of patience or are just straight out of it? I will openly admit that there are times when I do not like my town, or whatever environment I'm operating in, whether it be co-workers, family, volunteer organizations, circles you run in, whatever. And really, I don't think it's realistic to love everyone all the time (see post on my solution to this problem). But, all that said, I believe in community. I believe is community is a powerful thing. The kind of thing that can move mountains. I've always had strong communities where ever I've been. Through school, church, sports, music, activities, family, military, travel, work, journalism, blogging. Some of them were communities I was born into, or forged through shared experiences like college, but most, I've built myself. Slowly and steadily. The more I move around, travel, age, the more I realize how lucky I've been to have all that. I went home over the summer for my sister's baby shower and to see my grandparents. One of my grandfathers passed away in April and it was killing me to be so far away from loved ones when all of that was happening. While I was visiting my grandmother in New York, she took dad and me to a graduation at a community school for children with cerebral palsy. My grandmother had helped with their garden and so had my grandfather. They didn't know those children, and still they helped make something beautiful for them. Parents and families went wild with applause throughout the ceremony. I found myself tearing up as I watched the staff and the families celebrate what these kids had accomplished and that my grandparents had been some small part of it. That was community. People coming together for a common cause, a common goal, to serve, to help, to support, to encourage. Now I'm in my second year of living in a new place. Where I don't have family, other than M. Where I don't have 10-15 years of life spent in this town. Where people don't know my past, my skills, my love of community. I'm rebuilding my community. In a new town, with new friends, new job, new connections, new culture. I won't lie, it can be tough. But, i've also seen what community can do. Rally after tragedy, offer support in tough times, come together to build something wonderful. There will always be days when I don't love my neighbor, but I hope I never stop believing in community. How do you build community? '); Because of crazy work schedules and being down a few people, my normal work week is all kinds of off. That left me with a day off in the middle of the week last week. And on top of that, I woke up to snow and it was cold. (Not as much snow as the photo, it's not thaaaatttt wintery yet) I had grand plans to get lots done. We're talking ALL.THE.THINGS. kind of productive. But, uh, I did none of the things. Instead, I finished the season of Rizzoli & Isles. Met M for an unhurried lunch during which he let me blather on about certain problems that I tend to always circle back to, and he continued to remind me that I have the power to affect positive change. Seriously ladies, find a guy who believes in you and when you think you can't, he knows you can. But, this post is about lazy days, not boys. After lunch, I thought I might pick up a few things since I was already in town and our road is under major construction so it's a pain to make multiple trips. I hardly ever shop anymore just to browse and see what grabs my attention. But it was kind of fun to just look around, with no list of supplies to find, no beating the rain or sunset for projects, and not being at the hardware store. What did I buy? + New shampoo. Organix is my favorite these days. + A book. I only just started reading the Hunger Games. Don't judge. + Five chick flicks. Yeah, I said that. Five. For $15. But then I got bored of shopping and tired of navigating the kinds of people who seem hell bent on always being in your way and not caring that they almost ran right into you. I came home to watch Morning Glory (one of my very favorite movies and not even one of the 5 I bought at the store) and I watched Letters to Juliet as I wrote this post. With as much work I need to get done at the office, around the house, the garden, chickens, the rink, blogging, running, I feel a teeny twinge of guilt that I did none of it. And yet, a lazy, chick flick filled day, was just what I needed. It also made me think of Erika and her love of chick flicks. I'll turn around and watch something about spies and war histories, so you know, my interests are diverse. The last few weeks have been more exhausting than most and I've been waking up every morning already exhausted. Weekends are usually full of projects and work with M so they aren't especially relaxing either. Sometimes, a girl just needs a break. When no one is needing you to do six million things, you aren't constantly being interrupted, people aren't making you want to scream but you have to maintain your game face. Heck, I only put on pants to go to lunch and came right back home and put my pjs back on. So maybe I didn't check much off the to-do list, but I got the rest I needed to reboot and get back at it refreshed and energized. Things aren't getting any less nutty, so a free day should be on the to-do list every now and again. What would you do with a free day? AND! While you're thinking about a free day, you still have time to enter this fun giveaway from my pal Kate and company! Target Giveaway And now - a Target giveaway! I've teamed up with some of my awesome sponsors to bring you a $20 giveaway to Target. (PS - want to join in the next one?) This runs from 9/15/14 12:00 AM - 9/19/14 11:59 PM. Good luck! This has been nagging at me for quite some time now. And it might expand a bit beyond the actual definition of respect, but these things are interconnected.
And let me start my saying, I'm not perfect. I can be disrespectful, inconsiderate and downright obnoxious sometimes and I know it. Sometimes I know I'm doing it and simply don't care, but sometimes I'm just unleashing emotions that I've lost control of for a (hopefully) brief moment after being pushed too far or being stretched too thin. But having worked/interned in a variety of newsrooms, nonprofits, museums, hockey teams, bagel shops and also volunteered for more nonprofits, there are some general themes and regular occurrences that are guaranteed to drive me bonkers. That said, I believe in respect. At work, at home, at play, everywhere. It doesn't mean being nice to someone just because they exist. But it does mean recognizing that there will always be someone smarter, faster and better than you. Learn from that person. It also means that respect is not given out like cookies. It has to be earned. I come home whining about this a lot lately and M keeps telling me that I sell myself short. He reminds me that I may not be the oldest person in the room, but I have experience, skills and expertise in certain areas that make me someone legitimately able to wield some influence and that it's truly my duty to do so in order for things to improve. I remember being a young journalism student, then intern, then rookie reporter. There were plenty of things I thought could be done better. But instead of telling those who had been around longer than I had how to do their jobs, I watched, learned and took all of that to inform the kind of journalist I wanted to be. Instead of telling others how to behave, I first made sure I was doing my best work, quickly and without complaint. And I can promise you, that alone began to earn the respect of my peers and those who had been in the business far longer than I had. Then I kept doing it. It's also a little of letting people do their work. I don't think I understood this so much as a rookie, but when I'm up to my neck in work and am putting out fires left and right, it's not a good time to pester me with something that you can easily Google, or nonsense that is not at all relevant to the tasks at hand. And for the love of all things, don't respond to a very detailed email that has answered every possible anticipated questions with a single line asking something that I just told you. And a little bit of realizing that not everyone around you wants to choke on the perfume you apparently bathed in or listen to your recap of American Idol or whatever else you did last night. Once in awhile, fine, be loud, laugh, goof off, but if that's all anyone ever sees you do, I guarantee you, I will not respect you. I might eventually throw a box of paperclips at you. There's always that old saying "on oversight on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part." I believe in recognizing how much you don't know. I know a lot about what I do, but also feel overwhelmed on a pretty regular basis with the sheer amount of things I don't know. Hell, there's plenty out there that I don't even know exists, let alone know and understand. Work to know as much as you can in your field, be confident in your knowledge, but don't assume that race is finished. Keep learning and getting better. I believe that always talking about how much you know will usually expose just how little you actually know. I believe in admitting that you're wrong, or just deferring to the person who knows more about a particular thing than you do. Or go really big and learn from that person. I believe in thanking those around you for a job well done when deserved. On the flip side, don't complain, criticize or be otherwise a jerk when you were not the person who did all the work. If you know how to do something, do it. If you don't, let those who do get it done and then say thanks. I believe that "reply all" is very rarely a good idea. I believe in learning the lay of the land before starting a crusade to shake things up. But when things really need to shake up, learn it fast. I believe that sometimes you have to work within an imperfect structure to get things done. Complaining about the imperfections won't get the work done any faster. At some point, you have to roll up your sleeves and DO something. Talking about ideas is great, complaining about everything that's going wrong is fine sometimes, but if you really want my respect, get to work. Put those ideas in motion, start fixing those things that are wrong. Really, above most things, I believe in being good at what you do and letting that speak for itself. I used to tell my college news staff all the time, "Don't tell me that I'm wrong, prove to me that you're right." If you want me to think you're good at what you do, don't tell me, show me. Lately, I've been super busy with all kinds of projects at work, the rink, journalism organizations, and more. I can't say I've been super on top of it and gotten everything done that needed to get done, but if I'm digging in and devoting my time to raise the bar, my irritation with everything listed above tends to go through the roof. So perhaps I'm being judgmental and intolerant, but I'm having a very hard time understanding why such simple things seem to be so hard. And I have an even harder time just letting it all go and carrying on with my own awesomeness (which is usually M's advice). If you want respect, earn it. When others earn it, respect them. What about you? What do you believe it when it comes to respect or professional life? What are you pet peeves? Oh thank goodness it's Friday!
This week was better than last, so that's something. But, I love this Teddy quote and always love From Scratch. It's a concept I've been trying to put into action the last few weeks. There's a lot to accomplish, with limited time and resources, but it really all comes down to doing what you can with what you have and starting now. It's becoming my mantra these days. Joining in with Karli at September Farm again for this week's linkup. So here goes. 1. It snowed this week. The second week of September. So as much as I'm excited for some fall weather, I'm not ready for winter just yet. I wore a summery dress on Monday. On Tuesday it got cold and on Wednesday it snowed. I love scarves and boots and crisp mornings as much as anybody, but I need just a bit more warm weather before we return to the frozen tundra. Hopefully my tomatoes survive. 2. Mice are back in the cars and between the floors. Probably because the temperatures dropped. We're trying all kinds of things to get rid of them. Other than a cat. We're going to need a barn cat. 3. I had a big interview with a top-level military commander, spent the morning of 9/11 with airmen and firefighters and wrote this for our weekly staff editorial that ran today. 4. Still putting the final touches on the new rink website, but it's just about ready to launch. I'm feeling pretty good about getting all of that knocked out. 5. Booking a flight back to D.C. for a military reporting conference in a few weeks. It will be great to get out of town for a few days, even if it's work related, and get back to one of my favorite cities in the world and see some old friends. What are you up to this week? Hard to believe the chickens were these baby chicks just 7 months ago. But now they're big and spend the day free ranging around the minifarm. For awhile they were living in our mudroom while we built the coop. Then they were in the coop with a fenced in area. Then they free ranged during the day and went into the coop each night. But for now they've stopped laying eggs (I'm told this is perfectly normal when the seasons change/days get shorter/colder) and now we need to get their permanent coop ready in time for winter. To do that we had to dig a bunch of post holes, which was miserable. We rented an auger, post hole digger thing, We kept hitting roots and rocks and compacted soil. I ended up with a giant bruise when we hit something in one hole and I lost my grip on the handles and got whacked. Hard. Oh my gosh it hurt. But, we got the poles in the ground. Then we had to dig little trenches for the fence. This photo was from trench digging that might have been done on Labor Day, but I already forgot. M did all the measuring and math and planning, I was just a worker bee. Not really even a good one since I'm nowhere near as strong as M. But I helped! And last weekend, it was finally moving day for the chickens. Here's a look at mid-tear down of the old fence since we needed to make room to wheel the coop out. Last weekend we got the fence finished so the chickens are now able to basically free range within the very large fenced area out in the windbreak. That allows them to have all kinds of fun in their kingdom and the dogs can have the backyard back , plus our garden plan can start and we can reclaim our deck, free of chicken poop. To do all of this, we had to first clear the tall grasses and weeds in the rows between the wind break, which is basically four rows of trees/bushes in an L-shape at the back of our house and between the giant shop (aka M's man cave). That took forever and then I had to clear a few of those trees/bushes for the fence so then I was all about pruning the trees and clearing out the dead limbs. Call me Paul Bunyan. And as we were sweltering through most of these projects, I was wishing it would cool off. This wasn't what I had in mind. On Sept. 10 Who wands to ship me some sunshine and fall temps?
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About MeI'm Jenn, a globe-trotting, East Coast girl making a home in Montana. Read more here. SponsorsArchives
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