Just a Few Things I'm Loving Right Now

Just thought I'd let you all in some secret things I am adoring right now:

1. My 7" Santoku Knife that my brother and sister in law got us for Christmas! This thing will cut through anything, 'like butta!' Tomatoes cringe, potatoes cut themselves when they see it coming, and my garlic pleads with me, promising to never make my hands stinky again!

2. My Cuisinart Electric Pressure Cooker.

So far, this thing has cooked any of my vegetables from green beans to carrots to potatoes to a PERFECT...hmmm...perfect what? Perfect texture? Al dente? Well, whatever the word is for perfectly cooked veggies, this does it. Not to raw, not to mushy! It does stews, meats, chicken, and more! So far, the longest cook time has been 8 minutes! 8 MINUTES! Talk about quick and easy! (Once again, thank you to the brother and sister-in-law for this gift as well!)

3. My Zune MP3 Player and the long lost MP3's Justin found backed upped on his friend's computer that we thought he lost years ago! I take this thing everywhere with me. Some of you may be wondering, 'Is she crazy? Why is she boasting about an MP3 Player?' Well, it's been a very long 2+ years since my first one broke and so now I'm like a kid with a new toy! Thanks to my sister and brother-in-law for this little gift.

4. I guess from reading the posts above, I must include as #4 that I am loving MY FAMILY! Ha! If it weren't for my fabulously older (and wiser) brother and sister, I would not be secretly loving anything! In honor of them, I came across this pic from forever ago!

That's me on the left, then my brother Bill, and then my sister Shelly. I must say we actually all look related in this picture...partially due to the fact that we all look really crazy! What happened is that we were posing for a picture at my Grandpa's house and at the last minute, Bill (who had his arms around us) grabbed us and violently starting tickling us! This caused us all to drop our chins, open our big mouths, and laugh...which is apparently the 'missing link' pose to tie us together!

Well, that's what I'm secretly loving this week!

*gasp* What is this?...

...an award? for me? Yippee! One of my favorite sayings is, 'it's the small things Pete.' (Sometimes I call Justin, 'Pete', for reasons unbeknownst to me any more. We seem to disagree as to the origins of the name but my story is that it started with 'stinky', then went to 'stinky feet', then on to 'stinky pete' because it rhymed, and then shortened to 'pete')...however, I digress.

It's the small things such as this virtual award that really just make my day! I must thank my very good friend Beth Ann over at Life With Us In KS for tagging me with this special award, especially since she was the force that pushed me off my duff into getting this blog started. Cheers to you BA!

So here is the deal. I am supposed to pass this on to 6 other beautiful bloggers as well as tell you all beautiful readers 6 things that make me happy.

First, the formalities:

1. Bryn over at Newlywedisms by Bryn

2. Jessica at The Everyday Adventures of Me in the City

3. Design*Sponge

4. jannypie

5. pixieprincss at Green Thoughts

6. 'd' at All Things G&D

Now for the fun stuff! 6 things that make me happy:

1. Justin and planning our wedding...and not so much the planning part (I procrastinate like something TERRIBLE...ask the person that gave me this award...a month ago!)...but more the fact that every time I do sit down to 'plan' it, I get all happy knowing we will spend the rest of our lives together forever...sigh (I had to, it was gushy...it deserved a sigh).

2. My 'kiddies' as I call them. That would my niece and nephews: Madison Grace (almost 3); Jude Xavier (2...and my godson!); Kai Daniel (just turned 1).

3. Trying out a new brew and LOVING it! To name a few memorable ones:

- Old Speckled Hen (Props to my brother for this one. We had it at Churchill's Pub & Grill in Chandler, AZ with our 'quintessentially British' Christmas dinner there. I highly recommend both.

- Jack Whacker's (It's a nice wheat beer brewed at Tommyknocker Brewery out of Idaho Springs, CO. And while you're there, you must eat at Beau Jo's Pizza...thanks to Uncle Tom for that one!)

- Of course, I must give some love to the locals and mention Boulevard Wheat as well as O'malley's Festival Ale from O'malley's Pub in Weston, MO.

4. My down comforter in the winter...I don't know what I would do without it!

5. Anything that is purple really.

6. My puppy doggy! It's a love, hate relationship really...but for the most part she makes me happy. Okay, so I did catch her drinking water out of the toilet this morning and I do make fun of her for being deathly afraid of the Vick's humidifier, but she is a good snuggle bug...and adorable!

Reasons to Like My New Job

This week marks the first week at my new job and I am loving every minute of it. I thought I would post a list of reasons why I like it so far:

1. The bathrooms are exceptionally clean and somehow acoustically built as such so that you cannot hear much in the other stalls...you never know when a poo attack will hit you!

2. My second day on the job and I was already taking a 3-hour road trip with my coach, Stephanie, and co-worker, Mike. Once we got to the job site, I met a fourth co-worker, Rick. Rick is the very 'vivid' person in the pic below. They are all a GREAT group of people though (minus the smurf suit, Blublockers, belt, and yes...that's a dog leash around his chest that he has fashioned, rather cleverly I might add, into a strap for his clipboard). (I am on the far right sporting my 'Doc Marten' boots that I now call my 'on site work boots' and are from like 1999 and the oh so beautiful hard hat!)

3. People that actually talk to you AND seem to care what you have to say.

4. Said people from #3 that ask you to eat lunch with them in the cafeteria as well.

5. Said people from #4 that are so fun they managed to get a stranger to hug them in the elevator on the way to lunch.

6. Every other Friday off and jeans days!

7. Wonderful coaches, mentors, supervisors, and co-workers who are eager to help you learn and succeed!

I think I'm going to be okay here!

The Two Year Mosaic is Done!

Okay, so I stopped by this mosaic shop two years ago on a whim one beautiful fall Saturday feeling rather creative after having just sipped on some java at Starbucks while reading a book and basking in the sun. And by 'reading a book', I really mean eavesdropping on a conversation two artists were having over their friend's painting.

Artist 1: Oh my god, did you see what she tried to show last night?
Artist 2: Horr.id

Artist 1: Tell me about it. And she says she's an artist!

I couldn't help it. They were talking loud and that conversation soon led into how much they drank at said art show, then what they did after said art show, and really it goes down hill from there! None the less though, it made feel...'inspired'!

Okay, so I wonder into 'Mad About Mosaics' to check it out and discover a rockin' world of art I never knew about. It was love at first sight really! The freedom of breaking glass into little pieces, cutting it, making something out of nothing, watching it transform yet again once you grout it. LOVE. IT. So I decided to start a 16" X 16" landscape for my brother and sister-in-law as a Christmas gift for them. Easy enough right?

Now, looking back on the grandiose idea, I do admit that perhaps I bit off more than I could chew for it being only my second piece and all (I did do a stepping stone for Justin's parents prior to that, but it was an outdoor piece). But I am generally of the 'Go Big or Go Home' philosophy when it comes to arts. For instance, I took up knitting over crocheting because someone once told me it was harder to learn how to knit and because making a sweater intrigued me more than a pot holder (I have since learned they should be equally respected and that my 'stereotypes' were a bit skew...especially if you could see what I have (not) knitted so far!)

Well, Christmas One and Two went right by and every November I would blow the dust off my project and start on it again with a ferocious appetite thinking that this year was THE YEAR! I would magically find more free time and dedicate it all to the mosaic. Rrrrright!

Then came Christmas '08! Mwah-ah-ah. I blew the dust off the mosaic, found all the old tiles, unclogged the tip of my glue, took out my nippers that now had cracked plastic around the handles, and got to work. I realized that my brother was coming here to visit and that if I could get this done, I wouldn't have to pay shipping and handling on the beast! (Oh yeah, and the fact I owed him some major back-ordered gift giving for him and his wife!

So...

in all her wonder...

I present to you:

(and yes, I did have 3 band aids on one hand at the same time)

...drum roll please...

THE MOSAIC 2008 (minus the grout...I'm still waiting on a good pic of it with grout)

(it helps to scoot back and look at it from a distance!)

One Year Old(er), One Day Late!

HOW EXCITING! My 'Baby Kai' (nephew) is a whopping ONE YEAR OLD as of yesterday! In honor of Kai, here are some beautiful pics of him I snapped at Christmas!

I must say that he has the MOST innocent big baby 'I didn't do that'/'Who? Me?'/'Please give me a cookie' eyes/expressions ever! I'm sure he rules his 'crib' back in Phoenix!

Well Hello 2009!

First, I must apologize for my absence of blogs lately. My blogging immune system was attacked by the 'Family in Town, Christmas, Birthdays, Travel to Colorado, Plan a Wedding, Start a New Job, Get a Cold' virus. This is a terrible virus that literally consumes your every waking hour. Once it has shut down your life, it then attacks you in your sleep as well.

So I am bypassing the, 'A Few of my Favorite (and not so favorite) Things' Christmas blog, the 'What Happened to Dick Clark?' New Year's blog, the 'Still on a Diet for my Wedding' New Year's Resolution blog, and then also the random ranting of 'I DO still love my dog?' blog.

I promise to give you in 2009, more up to date blogs that are better than ALL of last year's combined! (snicker, snicker)