. . . for grateful sake!

I found a few pix from Ross' travels to the Grand Canyon (almost two years ago). The turkeys are wild! They hang out at Phantom Ranch, the lodge Ross and his group hiked to. So, as I continue to think about the many things I am grateful for, here are a few of my favorite images from his trip and, my very small way of showing how grateful I am for such an amazing person in my life . . . i love ross!

We made it!

"this is our outdoor garage sale . . . last minute kids' items for Christmas shoppers."
--Jon snapped this photograph hanging in a Paris museum. It is so fitting! (click on the photo for a clear view). I love it!

And we made it with our sanity (and this was questionable early on--poor Ross, the trooper, is so sick!) and a lot less S-T-U-F-F! Our ongoing tradition is that our friends, Bill and Jon, bring their yard sale gatherings over and we spend the day chatting and bartering! Our day was pretty successful. We all had a few big things we wanted to rid ourselves of and we did just that. Glad it is over! Though I am quite positive we will carry on our tradition of hauling our stuff together again . . . but not so soon?!

Neighborhood Yard SALE!

We are having another yard sale! Even after I swore I would NOT participate in another one for at least three years! But, our neighbors want to have one, our very good yard sale pals, Bill and Jon, are willing participants--so we are in. Plus, we have some larger items, due to home improvements, that we need to pass along to the willing masses. If you are nearby, come on over!

YES, there are other cute dogs!

And here they are! I showed Ross my latest blog-(up)date only to hear a reminder that little E is "not the only dog!" I KNOW! And I feel horrible . . . all of our doggies are loved and adored for many different reasons and in every way you can imagine. We like to believe they are adored equally, but how do you really quantify that? We just know! So Brooke, our sh-lab, is our eldest dog and she is what Cesar Millan might refer to as the "Alfa" or "pack leader." Though I think Cesar does suggest that myself or Ross is to be the pack leader. Hmmm . . . I do think Cesar makes many great points and I applaud his work, I just do not get into the whole human is #1 thing. Can't we all be #1? With that said, Brooke, (really our pack leader!) is so attentive and really takes such great care of us. Our little Bogart, Ross named him (also see sidebar "Bogart’s Coffee House"), is such a little dear heart. He really is in sync with our emotions and has become very vocal about his! Then there is Emme. She likes to pal around with Brooke while secretly believing in the whole "pack leader" thing, for one reason, she believes she IS the leader. Those dogs! They will dream up the darnedest things!

can there be a cuter little dog?!

Of course there can be a cuter dog . . . if you have a dog, it is your dog. And that is exactly what I think! So say it, "actually, my dog is cuter!" This is little Em looking out of the study window, in her darling way, and longing to run around out there - - - but there is a street out there :) However, I will soon post pictures of little Em and her sibs running around our new backyard! We are beside ourselves excited about the changes and, believe me, the dogs LOOOOVE their new yard! so cuuuuute!

our newest favorite find . . . check it out!

OK, I have been watching the online liquidation prices at Linens n' Things . . . specifically a particular Cuisinart Grind & Brew Thermal Coffeemaker (a mouthful--but it is lovely!). Anyway, I had grande' visions of the price dropping to well below the $75 mark, though I did consider buying it at $98! But I just could not bring myself to do it since I seem to be running about trying to find the next best thing . . . but then, I would think/rationalize aloud that I would stop once I had that next best thing (I mean a grinder in a coffeemaker that I would set to grind and brew before I even wake up!). Anyway, I went online one day to do a little Linens n' Things obsessive-Cuisinart-hoping & thinking and what did I find--SOLD OUT! OK, breathing in, I did not get upset and I just figured it was not worth it anyway. THEN, this past weekend, me and Ross were out cruising around and decided to venture to Fountain Hills (Ross' idea--he thinks of all the cool stuff). We went directly to our fave Goodwill (for a little goodwill hunting!) and found that it was 50% off day! We venture in where we begin hearing "all of the good stuff is gone"--really?! It's 10 am! Ignoring idiotic comments, I head directly to dishware's and Ross is wondering around when he says "come see this" and there it was . . . my Cuisinart Grind and Brew Thermal Coffeemaker!!!!! It was there!! In practically brand new condition (I told you Fountain Hills merchandise rocks!). So, to be not-so-couth again . . . $15 was the final score!! See, the LNT clearance price was NOT worth it.

Also in my picture are the mugs I have dreamed about holding for months. They finally went on sale at Starbuck's. Also pictured are paint samples for the room we are giving a makeover to (our room! woo-hoo!) along with my very favorite Clementine oranges. If you will, please overlook the smudges on my new Cuisinart Grind and Brew Thermal Coffeemaker . . . still need to wipe it down and run water and vinegar through it :) Can't wait!

p.s. last week was the hugest week ever! Tons and tons of home improvement work going on, which I will post pictures as we progress . . . and I will soon post pictures of my new rod iron bed!! I also have a story about that--a good deal story not from Goodwill!!!

my brother michael, the soldier . . .

My post today is really about the post of another. With her permission, I have taken Mandy's lead (my wonderful sis-in-law) and her picture, and ask everyone to go to her blog for the most thought provoking AND meaningful blog about our military and their families. My brother and his family are SO amazing. I am tearful writing this. I am understanding things in a way that I never have. Thank you Mandy for sharing your experiences. Thank you Michael for serving all of us. i love you!

this is a cake! THE guinness cake . . .

Lately I have come across tons of pictures . . . instead of writing my thesis! I have not posted a thing about that particular project have I? I will in this upcoming week. You will see :)

I found this picture of the cake I made for Ross' surprise party last February. I am not a great baker but I have to say this was one of the funnest cooking projects ever! As a little background, Ross likes the occasional Guinness and so I set out to make a Guinness cake. I loved it and I think everyone else did too! The idea started from one of Nigella Lawson's cooking episodes, though I decided not to use her recipe because she utilizes metric measures and her recipe required A LOT of conversions--especially since I wanted to change the recipe a bit. Anyway, I remember giggling while I was putting everything together--all three layers! It came out a little tilted which ended up being the perfect way to make it look like an Irish pub stout. Just one of those fun moments!

Em and her mum Maggie!

I found pix of Maggie! Hooray! You can hardly tell them apart. Just for clarification, Em is on the couch she is not supposed to be on (we are such the enforcers by taking pictures-aren't we?!) and Mag is quite simply posing. She does not get in to the whole performance thing. C-U-T-E!

WHAT!?!?!?! Nathan wins Top Design . . .

OK, so this has been a week of bittersweet voting surprises. On the mediated entertain-ment front, I am quite the fan of Bravo TV as I am very fond of a few of their shows, specifically Project Runway, Top Chef and Top Design. I feel cooky admitting that, but maybe I am cooky (and I can vote for that!). So, last night I recorded Top Design and I just finished watching it--the best way to watch any show is scrolling past ALL of the commercials! So I just found out that Nathan WON. I so appreciate all of our different styles and tastes but, Nathan was my 3rd preference. Preston, in the black shirt, is absolutely my favorite. I just want to call him and say "ADORABLE, SOPHISTICATED STYLE MAN . . . YoU RoCk!" But he will do great things and design amazing spaces. My 2nd choice, Ondine, has this amazingly whimsical style and I love it! SO, congrats anyway Nathan (like he is reading this)!

Oh, I just got back from my hair stylist. I did say YOU ROCK to him! Because he does . . . I walked in this morning almost apologizing for my appearance (which I SO do not like to do) and he said, "I am glad you are here, and this is not a fashion show." It may not seem like a feel good moment, but it was!

Carry on! (Gunn, Tim. Project Runway.)

and so we vote . . .

Please! GO VOTE!

I volunteered at the phone banks yesterday and, once again, a very enlightening and hopeful experience. I happened to sit next to a girl, a Sr. in high school, who was there fulfilling 5 hours of volunteer work for her US Government class. We talked a little bit about some of her coursework which included some analysis of the presidential debates and the different media coverage, specifically the way the networks "bias" (her words) their coverage. She said "like on Fox, I think it is channel 10 or something, they really like Republicans and channel 12 (NBC) seem to really like Democrats. Oh, and have you heard of that one channel, um C-N-N I think. They also like Democrats." I told her that it sounds like her teacher is asking students to take a critical look at media in politics and that is really very good for everyone. I asked her if she had heard of BBC and that she might want to ask her teacher about their coverage of US news (since BBCA is the US affiliate). Needless to say, she offered a breath of fresh air into the way younger students are being asked to think, as individuals, about their political views.

SOOOOO, I voted his morning! We managed to get in during a bit of break; there was no waiting in line. Funny enough, the person, that is ME, who has been calling about when and where to vote did not realize that our polling place has moved. Thank goodness I had my sample ballot with me and, there it was, our location. We found it and woo-hoo--we voted!

NOTE: For those who might be interested . . . vote and Starbuck's will give you a Tall coffee for free, today only. It's true! All you have to do is order and say you voted. We did it, so I can say it is really true!

I am going to lay low today, with the news on, and clean. Strange what being on pins and needles will do for (to) me.

Have a great day and go vote and have a nice brew when you are done :)

happy halloweeny!

OK, I am posting a picture of little E, taken this summer, not last night! But I thought she would be a great stand-in for her mum Maggie :) To explain, after we finished handing out candy, but first, I would like to say that we had TONS of candy and not enough little visitors this year (though we had several adults, older than me and one was inebriated--fun times). Even our neighbor came over and we found out that his grandkids took most of their candy so we gave him a lot, and we still have candy left over! We had great candy, too! Moving on, we came in with our leftovers and were getting ready to settle in for the evening when I heard a little noise at the door . . . before the dogs even heard! I opened the door and there she was--MAGGIE! I said "Ross, do we have any candy left? We have a late tricker-treater!" Ross, I could tell was irritated, came around the corner and there was Maggie! I said "TRICK OR TREAT!" . . . we are fun dog folks! Needless to say, Mag stayed the night . . . another little sleep over!