Tank

If you’re not a dog lover this may not be the post for you… In January we drove through Cedar City to follow up on an ad on Craigslist for a darling teacup Chihuahua… After 5 minutes of play time and a little money exchange we drove away with this:



As hard as my mother has tried to convince me that dogs are stinky, hairy, loud animals, I fell in love. How could you not with that face! Tank has been our little pride and joy. He is bright, curious, happy, and SO FUNNY! He thinks it is great to knock his toys under the oven when you play fetch with him because then he can jump on your back when you lay on your stomach to get them dislodged. He is a crazy little ball of energy that will calm down to: eat, snuggle, or stay up with Michael all night when he has work to do.

That being said, the other night I went grocery shopping and, as per Michael’s request, left most of the groceries in the trunk for him to bring up when he got home 5 minutes later. It was a gorgeous evening so in waiting for him I left the front door open with our little doggie gate blocking the doorway so that Tank couldn’t get out. As expected, 5 minutes later Tank heard Michael’s voice as he approached our apartment and started barking excitedly for Daddy to get home and play with him… Unfortunately Michael was talking to our landlord at the time and we are not allowed to have dogs in our apartment complex (we have been hiding him since January). The landlord looked at Michael with a confused expression and Michael hurried up the stairs. Last night we got a call letting us know that Tank had to be gone by Sunday. They could have evicted us so we are grateful that they didn’t… but we are heartbroken. Poor Michael is so worried about him. We will be able to have him once our contract is up in 9 months but until then… we’re not quite sure yet. I’ll keep you posted.

Sloppy Joes, Slop, Sloppy Joes

As far as food goes, this week has been wonderful so far! We had a successful Hamburger Monday, a fun makeshift Tuesday, and big plans for... Sloppy Joe Wednesday. I apologize to Michelle, who hates sloppy joes, and to all other naysayers that may doubt the class of the tomatoe and ground beef (even if it's fake) mixture that is tossed on a whole wheat bun with the pure intention of staining beautiful faces everywhere. I'm sure I have had a sloppy joe at some point in my life but because I just recently decided to succumb to trying fake ground beef it hasn't really been an option these past 10 years. So all day I pondered as to how my face would look with a little tomatoe-based sloppy joe smile, getting more excited by the hour.

When the time came to take the plunge, however, I just couldn't find it in me to strike up the oven and lead the kitchen in its nightly concerto (performed by a beginning orchestra). I stood there in the kitchen with my favorite vegetarian cook book in hand trying every mind game I've been taught and just couldn't make myself do it! And then... I just said it. "I don't feel like making dinner tonight Honey!" It wasn't whiny, it wasn't rude, it just was...

And to that, my dormant husband sprung to his feet, delicately plucked the cook book out of my hand, set me down on the couch, and tuned the coconut cooking oil. After a matter of minutes onions were dicing and fake meat was grinding (appropriately). I smiled and watched as my sweet hubby poured extra love into the pan of mush that was perfectly simmering on our stove top.

I don't know exactly why he decided that tonight was the night to make music in the kitchen but I think he was glad he did. Something in me just lit up like a light bulb! The meal was absolutely amazing, the tomato smile was perfect, and something about him got about 2 million times more attractive. The kind of thing that made me: eager to do the dishes, prompt him to flip to ESPN, talk about computers, and... end the night deservingly. Thank you Michael, thank you sloppy joes, thank you Adam Sandler.

It's the Honey...

I have had an over abundance of love, gifts and blessings throughout my lifetime that I will never be able to repay to those that have given them to me. The biggest one: it's the honey. He sometimes says to me "so what is it that you wanted to talk to me about?" It always catches me off guard because I feel like I am talking all of the time and that I don't often postpone conversations if I decided to begin them... It is those moments that he knows I've got something to talk to him about. Whether I know it or not, there is always something and he just seems to know. Just one of the many reasons I can't get enough of the honey in my life.

Simple Pleasures

So sometimes you just have to give in to life’s simple pleasures. I love fresh flowers, and the smell of babies and all of those wonderful things but today… Glee. I have NEVER had a series of my own but today is Regionals and I can hardly wait. My living room will be adorned with everyone from Puck to Emma and topped with blue slushies… You just have to let it make you happy!

Watch This:

http://www.hulu.com/watch/153716/glee-finale-sneak-peek-faithfully

Hamburger Mondays

My good friend Dani (Lewis) Stoneman and her family have a tradition of eating hamburgers every Monday night. This is a sweet weekly occurrence that reminds them that no matter where everyone is, they are all doing something together. I have always appreciated this tradition that Dani loves, though my vegetarian eating habits haven’t ever allowed me to truly participate… Until now! Many of you may have tried your lot with Boca Burgers. Whether out of curiosity or force, you have also probably discovered the unavoidable desire to spend the rest of the night over the toilet puking it out of your system. They are nasty. I hope that if you have only made one attempt at Vegetarianism that it was far from the world of Boca and close to the world of Morning Star. Morning Star vegetarian meat substitutes are a vegetarian’s one shot at summer BBQ normalcy! Just unwrap it before stepping into the backyard, have a good friend distract the man with the tongs, and slip your patti on the grill – no one will ever know! Needless to say, when I announced our family’s upcoming participation in Hamburger Mondays to my carnivorous husband last night… We’ll just say it was a good night…

Surprise Treat!

Ok!! This is going to break my 2-month streak of not posting on my own blog!! My sister-in-law (Savanna) responded to this post on a friend of ours' (Collette) blog and ended up with a homemade lemon meringue pie! After stealing a bite I decided that I needed to be one of the first 5 to respond to her post and see what she comes up with!! Here's to you!!

The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you.
This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2. What I create will be just for you.
3. It'll be done this year. (I'll try to get it done soon)
4. You have no clue what it's going to be.
5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.

The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must re-post this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog. The first 5 people to do so, and leave a comment telling me they did, win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me!

*Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it!*