what jen does

Life, home, and a little travel

Month: February 2018

  • homemade veggie ramen
    recipes

    homemade veggie ramen

    The weather today screamed for soup – and so I made ramen. Saturday was a completely gorgeous day. I checked out two trails, had a turkey sandwich picnic, and cleaned out the garden. Home run of a day. But today I woke up to gross sleet hitting the windows followed by copious amounts of rain. …

  • TV in the bedroom?
    home + reno

    TV in the bedroom?

    We are knee deep in the electrical phase right now …. and as part of that figuring out where everything might go. One of those “might” items? TVs. My parents are of the mindset that you should just wire for them all the time because you might need them. I am of the mindset that I…

  • week 21
    home + reno

    week 21

    It feels redundant to say that “lots of things happened” at the house. That is pretty obvious at this point. Every day there is something different – but the thing is, the decisions are becoming real and permanent. It’s pretty wild – and also a bit stressful. Sure, getting another electrical outlet added in 6…

  • Meet: Richmond
    home + reno

    Meet: Richmond

    After an embarrassing amount of over-thinking and research, I have finally made the tub decisions. It is a sense of relief and satisfaction that is probably not exclusive to just me. I feel like everyone in my life has been patiently listening to me talk about tubs, look at tubs, tell people that I’m going…

  • The Last 5 Months!

    The Last 5 Months!

    I honestly thought I was being better about taking these pictures each week – but alas, not all of them have the same angles. The back of the house has undergone some equally dramatic changes but I know that I’m missing probably two months of pictures. The house was backed so close to the back…

  • seared tilapia with parmesan prosciutto crumble
    recipes

    seared tilapia with parmesan prosciutto crumble

    I was headed to the grocery store this weekend rather casually and figured I should grab something for dinner. In an effort to prevent a lot of aisle wandering and salty snack purchases, I grabbed a sticky note to make a list. And in that minute I dreamed up this recipe for a seared fish…

  • week 20
    home + reno

    week 20

    Consider this the official five month mark! When we were first getting construction quotes, the timeline ranged from 4-9 months… who knows where we will end up but it’s been a busy five months so far. This wasn’t the easiest week in the book. Lots of discussion around plumbing and electrical. The hardest part of…

  • Introducing: Bathroom #2
    home + reno

    Introducing: Bathroom #2

    Just like many areas of this house, the hall bathroom has undergone several transformations to get where we are. And when you look at the floor plan changes…. you might just chuckle to yourself at the end result. Why? Because it’s going to be exactly the same as it was for the first 70+ years…

  • week 19
    home + reno

    week 19

    It feels like we are on a roll of super productive weeks. After those incredibly cold weeks in December and early January, things are happening… every…. day. Even on Saturdays. I’m telling myself it’s because I’m such a joy to work with that people want to spend their Saturdays with me. The more realistic option…

  • lentil meatballs
    recipes

    lentil meatballs

    I will always be a meat lover – but I do enjoy the challenge of crafting good meals without any meat. And meatballs have always been one of my favorite meals. There is something so incredibly comforting about meatballs for dinner. They used to be one of my favorite “after work, when I lived in…