from house to studio

the house we've been living in:

the new studio:

since we have not yet closed on a house, and our lease has ended in our current house, we've had to find a place to rent month to month. we've found one option. it is a motel-turned-studio apartment complex a few miles from campus. so this weekend we moved everything we own into storage and put the rest in the studio.

it is not the ideal living situation, but we are so blessed and so thankful to have found a place that would take us month to month and with a dog.

it's pretty tight but it is also good motivation to keep searching for a home. unica is not liking it and keeps jumping in the car every chance she gets. she wants to leave. :(

luke's 1st day of school!

today is luke's first day of school in his 2nd year as a ph.d student at msu!

this semester, on top of all of his studies, he is teaching two spanish classes back to back at 8am and 9am - every day of the week! we're sorry to say goodbye to the lazy days of summer, all of our wonderful slow mornings of getting up and making smoothies together, little and big vacations, and having time to hang out.

cake balls... hmmm.

I'm not sure why I choose to try a new recipe every single time we go to a pot luck. It's always such a gamble...

School is starting soon for Luke and his department had a party yesterday. I decided it was the perfect time to try making cake balls! I'd seen them online all over the place and wanted to impress Luke... but by the time he came home I was way behind and he had to help me with the chocolate and the dipping and the cooling and the decorating.

I baked two cakes, crumbled them and mixed them with icing, rolled them into balls, and dipped them in melted chocolate. It was SUPER messy. And looked it. I didn't love them, but there were only 3 left after the party so I guess that is good.

Sorry the photos are out of focus. :(

m & m engagement session

today we met a gorgeous couple for their engagement photos. we will shoot their wedding next april. he is from costa rica and she is from michigan and they were so good together!

here are some of our favorite shots from the day:

our second house search day/ the three finalists

today we saw 5 more homes! all were in the same area as before, all were lower than $75k. we also went back to see our favorite home from Tuesday. we've narrowed it down to three. the plan is to mull it over this weekend, walk through the three on monday morning, and put in offer immediately. we feel so blessed to have found an area where we can afford such beautiful old homes.

house #1: (3 bed/2 bath), 65k

- farthest away from msu
- the only home with a master bath
- nice inside
- one lane joint driveway shared with the neighbor
- quiet street near a school

house#2: (4 bed/1 bath), 65k

- lots of old charm (built in 1900)
- beautiful hardwood floors
- some carpet we'd have to remove
- kitchen is small and would need updating before we could sell
- old furnace (which costs 2-3k)
- backyard is literally on display for 4 other homes facing it

house #3: (3bed/1 bath), 75k

(more photos posted previously)

- beautiful inside
- original details remaining
- hardwood floors throughout
- updated kitchen
- needs deck
- needs finished closet

our first house search day

we saw four homes today all around the same area. the neighborhood seems super friendly and community-focused. we're really into that.

here they are, with our thoughts:

house #1:

this one is a no... cute on the outside, super nasty on the inside. that's all i guess we need to explain, we don't need to go into cigarettes left over and pink and purple paint and most importantly, buckling walls.

house#2:

we loved this house - hardwood floors, three stories, 4 bedrooms and a super sweet loft on the top. unfortunately... it is on the corner of one of the busiest (and loudest) streets in lansing. so we've crossed it off our list.

house #3:

we were excited about this one. it is the closest to school, freshly painted, has a big yard and hardwood floors throughout. unfortunately, after a little research, we noticed that it is exactly right in the middle of a floodplain. they don't even let people build there anymore. yikes. so, another one crossed off.

house #4:
we love! it has 3 bedrooms, hardwood floors, lots of kitchen counter space, and has been kept up really well.
it has a fireplace and so many original details, like french doors and really intricate knobs and vents.
so many gorgeous windows and we wouldn't have to paint anything. the only negatives are 1) it has no deck, just a back door hanging above 5 feet of air and 2) a giant unfinished closet upstairs. but we could do those things together, right?

overall, i think we did alright. it felt good to cross things off the list and narrow it down. i feel like we aren't asking all the important questions. we're doing more research before we see more homes on thursday.

(now we are the) house hunters

we have a mortgage approved! we found a realtor!

tomorrow she will show us some houses in lansing. lansing is just west of where we live now, so not as close to school. luke would have to ride 2 miles instead of 1 to work, and take the bus or car in winter. we would be in a good spot though - with downtown real world on one side and everything university on the other.

the good news, after doing our research, is that housing in lansing is mucho mas affordable than in east lansing near msu. in our neighborhood now a 1 bedroom home sells for 12ok+. the houses we will see tomorrow in lansing are all 3-4 bedrooms with basements and are all 75K or less. amazing. we'll see tomorrow...

yummiest smoothie ever

we've been slightly smoothie-obsessed since spring when the fruit started showing up naturally ripened and cheaper at our market. we've had them almost every morning for breakfast. this one is my absolute favorite.

i add whatever fruit we have in the kitchen, but here is the basic ingredient list:

• 1 banana, cut in chunks
• 1 cup grapes
• 1 (6 ounce) tub vanilla yogurt
• 1/2 apple, cored and chopped
• 1 1/2 cups fresh spinach leaves

even if you are skeptical about the spinach, try it. sooo good. our bodies crave it now.

3 weeks!?!?

so we've finished our 12 month lease and we were told we could continue living in our current home and rent it month-to-month. our landlords have changed their minds. their daughter is moving in... in 3 weeks. they told us today. we have 3 weeks to find a home and move out/in.

we were hoping to buy a home since we will be here 4 more years. can that happen in 3 weeks? the rentals around here were filled the past two weeks. so we're exploring both options. and hoping. and praying. and trusting God. and hoping. and praying.

homemade coasters

luke and i needed coasters to go with our new matching desks. i have been trying to learn how to sew lately so i looked online for an easy project for possibly better-than-usual coasters. i wanted something a little retro and funky. i found this one. they took me 3 hours. for two little coasters. but we really love them.

i used fusible web to apply all the features. does anyone know how to sew an applique on? i want to learn.

please forget you saw these since they may be your Christmas gift!

rosemary bread

today i made rosemary bread to go with a salad we were having. it was my first time but it worked out and it was great. we both really liked it. crusty on the outside, moist and chewy on the inside. i baked it on a stone and i think that really helped.

our (18) new aquisitions

we live in a student neighborhood surrounded by college students, right across from msu, locally known as the "student ghetto". this is a great thing since we never have to drive and love to ride our bikes everywhere. it's kind of loud with the party-ers on warm-windows-open weekend nights at 3am, but overall, we like it here.

so this week the students are moving in and out for the new school year. they have left so much junk on the side of the road. in two days, we've managed to collect the following:


(usually) we are big on living simply and minimally, but we had to grab this junk. plus we weren't the only ones trolling around the neighborhood, so we didn't have time to really think about each piece. i think with a little soap, water, and paint i can fix this stuff up. and if it doesn't work out, we can leave it by the side of the road for someone else.

we are especially excited about the black swivel chair and the funky red and gold chair.

i also grabbed an black ikea desk for luke that is identical to mine. it wouldn't fit in the car and luke was at work so i carried it 3 blocks home with unica trailing happily behind. it's already in use so it isn't pictured above.

here's to us

here's to us trying to keep track of where our days go and keep everyone informed with our life. we are just beginning our second year living in michigan working, playing, cooking, and trying to live simply.