Dogs Against Dinosaur Bullying

I bought these guys from the dollar bin at Target for an upcoming project and took them outside to paint. Of course like any good fangirl, when I had 2 plastic dinosaurs and an open area I just had to re-enact the scene from Firefly. Because what else do you do with plastic dinosaurs?

This is a fertile land, and we will thrive. We will rule over this land, and we will call it...This Land.

I think we should call it...your grave! 

Ah! Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal! 

Hahaha! Mine is an evil laugh! Now Die! 

So I'm sitting there posing these dinosaurs, taking pictures, and laughing hysterically to myself because I'm a geek and this is funny, when Sitka comes out of nowhere and decides she's had enough of this dinosaur violence. 

It's particularly funny because my dog is a rescue who doesn't really know how to dog. She doesn't understand the concept of dog toys and doesn't chew on things. So the fact that she just wandered over and decided to take the evil dinosaur is random and pretty funny to watch.  

She took him back to her lair, to feast on him later. Or to completely ignore him after 20 seconds and instead give me her best "I am not amused" face. On another note, I was going to say "help I've fallen and I can't get up!" as a t-rex quote, but that got me thinking - how would a t-rex get up if he fell over and ended up on his side like this?? Thought provoking questions. 

I love this dog.

(No plastic dinosaurs were harmed in the making of this post. T-Rexy doesn't even have bite marks on him, because Sitka is a delicate lady.)

4th of July

I hope everyone had a great extended 4th of July weekend! We spent part of the time with friends, which involved swimming, eating too much delicious food, and some pretty intense guys vs girls Sequence battles. Sunday we headed up north to Cottonwood to escape the valley heat. Joke was on us though, because impending storms meant the heat and humidity was worse than home. Not to be deterred, we wandered around the old main street part of town and did our fair share of wine tasting. Definitely making plans to go back there. 

A New Direction

This quote is all over Pinterest as "inspirational". I'm like - hehe it's a Tolkien quote you fools! 

You may have noticed it's been quiet lately. Aside from Valley Fever I haven't been feeling very motivated to post. I felt like this blog was lacking direction and I couldn't keep running the rat race. So I did some thinking and decided to get back to what really interests me, as a person and as a blogger. I want to do and post about things that I like. And if that means I don't fit into any one category - so be it. I'm never going to be one of those bloggers who has perfect photography or posts every day. I work full time and have to run most of the household due to my husband's wonky work schedule. I don't have the energy to make this blog full time, and quite frankly, I don't have the inspiration.  So that leads me to a new direction for the blog - getting back to my interests.

Eat - mostly recipes as before, possibly a few restaurant reviews

Read - more literary inspirations and a few book reviews

Make - all sorts of diy projects - home, sewing, randomness

Travel - This will probably be fairly rare as I don't get to travel as much as I'd like, but this will be for adventures both near and far.

Not everything I post will fit into these categories, but I figure that should cover about 85%. Last year was a crazy year - what with the moving across the country, buying a house, and getting a dog. But now things are slowing down and I'd like to focus more on what makes me happy and sharing some of that with you. I hope you'll stick around for the ride.

I'm not dead yet, I'm getting better!

Well that was a longer hiatus than originally planned. April and May were pretty much riddled with illness that left me feeling like that one scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The "I'm not dead yet! He says he's not dead! I'm getting better! No you're not, you'll be stone dead in a moment. I feel happy! I feel happy!" one.

Long story short I came down with Valley Fever, which is apparently an actual thing and not an 1800s pioneer superstition. It's basically a fungal lung infection that's common in the southwest from breathing in the dust. What's next, cholera? dysentery? consumption? Shooting 289 pounds of meat but only being able to carry 162 pounds back to my wagon? (Bonus points if you got the Oregon Trail reference). It's a boatload of fun, let me tell you. I only had it mildly and it was debilitating, I can't imagine what people who get serious cases go through. The last two months have basically looked like this:

- Randomly my left upper back started hurting to the point where I couldn't lay down
- Slept in a recliner in our living room for a week because I couldn't actually make my body go into a lying position
- Finally went to the doctor to get some pain meds. Because I had exercised 2 days prior to the pain starting, everyone though I had just sprained a muscle
- Got a nice shot of something and some muscle relaxers to help with the pain
- Had an allergic reaction to either the shot or the muscle relaxers and was covered in hives and a rash on top of the muscle pain (later discovered I didn't have an allergic reaction, that it was all part of the valley fever. But we didn't know that at the time)
- Went back to the doctor to get treated for the allergic reaction
- Developed a hacking cough which I completely ignored because, hello, other big issues going on here

So that all happened within a week and a half. The next week my back slowly stopped hurting, my cough started going away, and I was able to sleep in my bed again. I thought it was a random but unfortunate series of sicknesses and that I was on the mend.

Then Easter weekend I woke up with little red marks on my knees and ankles that looked like bug bites. So that kicked off the next series of freak outs which takes us through the rest of April and into May:

- spazed out because I thought a bug or spider was in my bed and bit me during the night
- "bites" swelled to the size of golf balls in the next 2 days and more show up going all down my legs
- back to the doctor once again who diagnoses it as erythema nodosum which is apparently Latin for "large red swollen bumps on your legs that we can't do anything about and they'll go away on their own in 4-6 weeks and oh yeah they hurt like the dickens and will probably cause joint point so severe you can't walk. Have fun."
- doctor offhandedly mentions that this can be linked to valley fever and you haven't been coughing recently, have you? Uh yeah, crap.
- Get blood test for valley fever done. Results come back inconclusive
- Get xray done because valley fever shows up as little spots on the lungs
- Stupid knees and ankle joints hurt so bad that I'm basically useless and walk like a zombie for 2 weeks
- Consider trying out as an extra on The Walking Dead because I've got the walk and moaning down
- Have spots on lungs. Make appointment to see pulmonologist
- Go to Disneyland! I put myself essentially on bed rest for 2 weeks whenever I wasn't at work so I could prep my legs for all the walking at Disneyland. Thankfully at this point a few weeks had passed since the leg issue started and they held up just fine! It was awesome.
- Got another blood test and xray done to confirm if I actually do have valley fever since I don't appear to be sick anymore
- At this point I'm pretty much feeling better but I still went to the specialist to check that everything was ok
- Specialist said yes I did have valley fever, but I'm about 80% recovered on my own so thankfully I don't have to get any treatment (nasty anti-fungal meds)
- I check in again in about 6 weeks with them to make sure it's fully in remission

Still with me? So now that you know more than you ever needed to about valley fever (I still think it sounds like something you'd find in Oregon Trail) I hope you'll excuse my absence. I'm still recovering but I feel about 95% better. As soon as I can shake the tiredness I'll be back to normal. Unfortunately I had grand plans for DIY projects and home redo stuff during April and May which obviously didn't happen. However, I did read a bunch of good books, so maybe I'll branch off into some book reviews? Wesley, I might be asking you for advice!

Afternoon Tea

This past weekend my good friend and old roommate Leanne came to visit  and the weather was gorgeous so we tried to spend every second that we could outside. We packed our weekend with girlie things such as 1920's lady detective shows, British costume dramas, exploring local towns, and high tea on Saturday afternoon at the English Rose Tea Room in Carefree. We're talking a full 3 tiered stand of deliciousness and pots of tea. The scones especially were incredible and we spent the afternoon catching up and drinking our tea on the patio. It was all very tasty and civilized with little golden spoons and mismatched tea cups. Everything was great, but I would recommend this place for its scones alone. Ah-mazing.

Girl's Best Friend

Let me introduce Sitka, the newest member of our little family! We adopted this little (or big!) girl two weeks ago and have absolutely fallen in love. She's a 3 year old rescue who is the sweetest girl I've ever met. She was beaten, abandoned, and starved when they found her (which make me so freaking angry that a person or people mistreated this wonderful girl) and came to us incredibly timid and unsure of herself. All she wanted to do was please people, but she didn't quite know how. It took her a few days to even look at us. Her ears were always down and she slinked around as if she had just gotten in trouble.

After a week and a half she's started to come out of her shell. She's still a little unsure and shy, but she's starting to show her personality. She dances when we get up in the morning. She tosses her head like a horse when she's happy. She loves belly rubs. If she could do backflips I'm pretty sure she would bust those out at mealtimes. I've never even heard her bark because she's so chill. Every time one of us talks her tail starts wagging. She sits by our feet while we watch TV and just likes being in the same room as us. I was a bit unsure about owning g a dog. They're a lot of work, don't get me wrong, but my heart is just growing because of this sweetie's love and devotion to us. I think she and I are kindred spirits. I can't wait until she's truly comfortable in her forever home and we really get to see her personality. So expect to see her a bit more on here - if she'll stay still long enough for me to capture her!

Catching Up

Well it's been a while, hasn't it? Moving across the country has been quite the adventure. But not the cool kind that makes for good blog posts. More like 'where did I put my last credit card statement so I can prove residency?' adventures. Not quite as fun.

But! This happened:

We bought our first house!!!!! And we signed the papers in a Dunkin Donuts...which meant I got a house and a donut! Best day ever!!!

A sneak peak of our kitchen. It's huge!!!! I am SO EXCITED to have our own home. I can't wait to show pictures of the before and after once I get my hands on all sorts of crafty and DIY things. This is going to become an ongoing topic around here.

At the same time that we closed on the house, we also took a weekend trip to Las Vegas for my sister in law's bachelorette party. Much fun was had, and many drinks were drunk. That's all.

Can I just say how much I'm loving all the Mexican food down here? I never grew up on Mexican food in the midwest, so I'm learning to expand my horizons and sloooowly go from totally bland to a bit of spice. 

AZ living. I'm loving it.

And last weekend was my sister in law's wedding. It was incredible and so much fun. I can't wait to share more pics from it! 

Posting is still going to be a bit sporadic for the next few weeks. I have a garage full of boxes to unpack and a spare bedroom full of empty boxes that I don't know what to do with. Still, I've missed blogging and it's good to be back! 

Checking In

I tell you, I take a month or two off to move across the country and start a new job and suddenly this happens:

My Cirrus Duvet DIY is featured as number 8 on this Buzzfeed list! Welcome to all those who found my blog through the site, and I hope the tutorial has proven useful!

As for me, there's been a lot going on in real life that I don't want to mention quite yet. Things are still in the works and I don't want to jinx it! June is super busy this year, so please excuse my lack of posting for a bit longer. I'll be back in July!

Westward the Tide

Arizona has been amazing so far. Of course it's April so the weather is perfect, and I'm at home since my new job hasn't started yet so my view might be a little skewed. But still. One thing I just didn't expect was the vast variety of landscape and temperatures in the state.

I always just assumed Arizona = desert and hot. But we stopped for a night to camp in Flagstaff before we finished our trip to Phoenix and it was a beautiful 50 degree day with pine trees and a gentle wind off the mountain. It was like something straight out of a book. I would have thought I was in northern California if I had not just driven over the state line earlier that day.

We grilled trout over a fire, sat and took in nature's beauty after driving 1600 miles the past few days, and - my personal favorite - got to live out my dream of being Laura Ingalls Wilder in a log cabin for the night. True, our log cabin had electricity, a mini fridge, and a tv, but close enough!!

Yep, I've gone western. Now all I need to do is find me a hat, boots, and start saying ain't and y'all. Oh and figure out what on earth to wear when the temperatures start hitting 115 degrees in summer....

Notes from the Road

I'm back! We arrived in Arizona safely and are finally starting to settle in to a somewhat normal routine. I even managed to land a full time job right away that starts in 2 weeks. I'm absolutely loving the southwest so far, but I wanted to recap a few photos from our trip down here.

We rented a 16 foot truck, had 10 of our amazing friends come out Friday night to help us pack, and left Saturday morning. We were so blessed to have our friends help, there's no way we would have been able to get everything in there ourselves. It was also a very sobering experience to realize just how much stuff we have. We ended up leaving quite a lot of furniture here because it wouldn't fit. It's all in storage now, but once we unpack I want to go through everything and get rid of half of it. It's a bit humiliating to see all of the utter crap we've collected over the years. A purge is definitely required.

Most of our trip looked like the above photo. Lots of flat plains and trucks. I almost wish we had some interesting story from our drive, like we blew a tire or saw something crazy, but I'm really really thankful that we didn't! We made it from Wisconsin to Kansas City the first night and visited with Kacey's grandma who lives there. Then it was on to Amarillo Texas the second night. I have to say, Kansas, Illinois, Iowa, most of Oklahoma, and the panhandle of Texas look almost exactly the same. Sorry midwest, but you're a bit boring when it comes to landscape.

But then this happened in Amarillo:

And it restored my faith in the ridiculousness that I was hoping Texas would be. I sort of love it with all my heart. We can be friends Texas, although next time I'm there can you keep at least one BBQ restaurant open? I was pretty disappointed I couldn't try it this time.

When we rolled into Arizona 3 days later, it was beautiful and sunny, and perfect. We had a crazy week where we bounced around from place to place until we could move in to the place we're renting for the summer. Phoenix seems awesome and I can't wait to explore everything that this new city and state have to offer! First up, some Mexican food! Somebody get me a burrito, because I need to clear out these sinuses of mine. They haven't quite adjusted to the blooming desert yet.

Moving On

It's been a bit quiet on here. That might be the understatement of the year, but it started because I was tired. Tired of blogging, where you not only have to have a perfect wardrobe, but be a perfect photographer as well. Where you need to be able to take shots of recipes in perfect lighting, and heaven forbid your pictures have a tinge of yellow to them because you actually make dinner at 6 pm like the rest of people because you work all day and it's dark by the time you get home. Tired of work, which has been incredibly stressful for the past 3 months. Tired of the cold, dreary weather and well into the throes of of midwestern winter and seasonal depression. I felt like I needed to start over. Like I needed an adventure.

But then in the beginning of February Kacey and I went on a mini vacation to Boise, ID. I was going to use it as a time to revitalize and really get back into blogging. Instead, while we were there we got one of those phone calls that change your life forever. Luckily, it was one of those rare wonderful calls, that changes everything for the (hopefully) better. We were driving in the foothills when Kacey got the call offering him the job he had applied for in Phoenix, Arizona. It was a mini promotion in his company, and could we move down for him to start in March? So we're moving to Phoenix in a week and a half! After we got home from vacation it was a frenzy of packing and seeing friends before we leave. Posting is going to be pretty scarce to non existent around here until we get down there. I have to figure out how to fit our 2 bedroom apartment into a 16 foot uhaul truck. This is going to be interesting.

I snapped the above picture of Kacey while I was killing time when he was on the phone. At that point I had no idea our lives were about to change. And I can't wait! I've loved Arizona since I was a little kid. Have you ever had a place that just calls to you? And when you're there your heart just aches because you feel like you belong, and yet you know you have to leave? That's how I've always felt about the west, and I can't believe we're finally going back. I'm going off to discover those far blue mountains, and my heart just can't wait!

Achoo

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Oh 2013, I don't know what to do with you. I had great plans, you know. This was going to be the year. I was going to really evaluate who I am and start making the little changes in my life to make me happier. I've been feeling stagnant and this was going to be the year all that was going to change. I was going to get back into my hobbies and interests and start spending my time doing things I love instead of just staring at the TV. Then you laughed and threw the flu at both me and Kacey. So instead of finding my inner goals and resolutions for the new year, now I only care about finding where I put the Theraflu. And then the Packers lost last night. Well played 2013, but just you wait until I'm better. Then I'll be back with a vengeance and ready to dance and sew and start a new adventure and you won't even know what to do with me. Until then.....I'll be in bed with a box of kleenex.

Merry (Belated) Christmas

I guess I sort of fell off the face of the bogging earth for a while there. I certainly wasn't intending on taking a long break, but it was worth it! Christmas was fantastic, full of family, friends, food (so. much. food.), and wonderful times. My birthday was fairly uneventful except for the huge snowstorm that stranded us inside our home and knocked out the power for a few hours. But we survived and had a lovely Christmas. I'll freak out about being 27 and officially in my "late" twenties some other post. In the meantime, here are a few festive outfit photos from Las Vegas that I've been meaning to post. Merry belated Christmas everyone, hope you all had a lovely time! 

shirt & pants: Forever 21, shoes: Also, bag: Coach, necklace: Bloomindales, watch: Michael Kors

Viva Las Vegas

So remember that one time two weeks ago when I said we were going to Vegas for Thanksgiving and then never mentioned it again? Well, it was pretty awesome and fun. 

We stayed with Kacey's relatives most of the time and had much fun, cheese, good wine, and an amazing Thanksgiving dinner while catching up with them. We also stayed on the strip for a night at the Venetian, which had the nicest bathroom I've ever seen in my life (see above, isn't it crazy?) We got together with some friends who we haven't seen in a while, saw a show, ate good food, and walked around to take in as much as we could. Neither of us are big gamblers, but we played a tiny bit and lost of course. Although I'm pretty sure we made up for any money lost with all the free drinks we had!

On Thanksgiving we started the morning with brunch and then drove around the red rock area of western Las Vegas with Kacey's family to see the gorgeous dessert mountain landscape. I know most people think it looks barren and dead, but I think it's beautiful. So Vegas, you're pretty cool in my book, but don't take any more of my money, ok?

Happy Thanksgiving

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Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. I hope your days is filled with loved ones, amazing food, and enjoyable times. I have so much to be thankful for this year. My new amazing husband, friends and family that are scattered across the country, and being able to spend time this weekend with those we don't get to see very often.

I think there need to be more days like Thanksgiving. Times where large groups of our loved ones come together and enjoy a good meal and even better talk.  Also, more excuses for pie.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

Kacey and I are off to Vegas for the weekend to celebrate Thanksgiving with his family. I've never been to Las Vegas before, so I'm pretty excited to see it for myself. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone!

Ballerina Dreams

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I started taking ballet classes pretty much before I could walk. I was pretty good at it too, but as a 12 year old I couldn't have cared less about dance and quit - right before I went en pointe. Stopping dance is probably one of the only things I really regret. I've been talking about taking a dance class for years, but I always had excuses: I didn't have time, the studio was too far away, I had been away from dance too long.

But a few weeks ago I finally bit the bullet and started taking an adult beginners ballet class! It was terrifying to walk into that door, but it's amazing! It's actually more of an advanced beginners class because most of the students are like me, we took classes way back in the day but have been out for a while. So while we don't remember the words for everything, once the teacher demonstrates how to do a movement it comes back pretty easily. It's incredible - I can have a super stressful work week, but just the thought of going to my next class is enough to make me happy. I know I'll probably never go en pointe, but for now I can't get enough of these classes and how happy dancing makes me feel!

Goodbye Summer

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You've been pretty awesome as summers go. I got married, went to Hawaii, moved into a new place, and have had a great time all around. However, we must now part ways to get ready for my favorite season of all - autumn. I'm more than ready for cool nights, cozy sweaters, warm drinks, Packers football, and hearty stews and soups. So here's to you summer, now bring on fall!

Weekend Recap - We Ate A Lot

This weekend was exactly what I needed after a crazy long work week. Well, except for the part where I locked myself out of the apartment for 2 hours. We caught up with friends, looked at our newly arrived wedding photos, grilled much food (seriously, so much food), and started writing thank you notes from our wedding. 

Our photographer sent our pictures in the cutest packaging! 

We kicked off the weekend with bacon wrapped steaks, oregano green beans, and chimichurri on the grill. Everything was amazing but think I put too much garlic in the chimichurri - we were breathing it all weekend.  

Then on Saturday one of Kacey's friends came over and the guys proceeded to make beer can chicken on the grill. This was also amazing. Recipe will be coming soon! 

This is a sneak peak of the stemware rack that Kacey and I made. I'll be doing a DIY tutorial on it, but first a story. All I wanted was to go outside and glue the top of the shelf to the bottom rack part. I had gotten home early from work on Friday so I grabbed my camera, the glue, and the wood pieces and stepped outside to our porch. It was warm out so I closed the door behind me to keep the cool air conditioned air inside - simple enough, right? As it swung shut I suddenly realized that I hadn't unlocked it after I got home and frantically grabbed at the knob and threw my weight against the door...just as it clicked shut and locked. 

So fantastic, I was now trapped outside with nothing but 2 pieces of wood, glue, and a camera, wearing a pajama tank top, jeans, and no shoes (thankfully I had had the presence of mind to change out of my pajama shorts and into jeans before I went outside). I had no cell phone, no keys, and not even a bobby pin in my hair to attempt to pick the lock. I went over to my car desperately hoping I had forgotten to lock it, but to no avail. I tried the house windows, but since we're so paranoid about people breaking in, everything was locked down securely (however, I can now sleep better at night knowing that people aren't getting into our house, that's for sure). We had discovered a few weeks ago when Kacey did the same thing that our landlord doesn't have keys to our place, and neither of our neighbors were answering their doors. I was stuck. All that was left was to sit and wait, praying that Kacey would come directly home after work and not stop somewhere. So I glued those 2 pieces of wood together, attempted to occupy myself with my camera and sat there for over an hour while I waited for Kacey. Thankfully he did come right home after work and let me back into the house. And that was my Friday evening. 

On a happier note, we got photo thank you cards printed! I love how they turned out, but now we actually have to write them...

And finally, attempting to be a little healthier to balance all the manly grilled meat. This went perfectly with old movies and blended peach daiquiris. How was your weekend?