Getting in the Holiday Spirit

A few weeks ago Michael and I went to Target after dinner. We always cruise through their dollar bins up front because sometimes they have some cool stuff (and really good stocking stuffers!). Well, I found some awesome stuff, I think the pictures will speak for themselves.

This is Missy in her reindeer outfit. It would fall down over her eyes so she would just stand there until we fixed it for her, it was hilarious.

Petree Turns 2!

This is pretty late but better late than never. Petree turned 2 on November 6th and we celebrated with some puppy cookies. Ever since we got Petree he has had a pretty sensitive stomach. We have taken him to the vet or emergency clinic way more than once because he would have these episodes where he would start throwing up and wouldn't stop. He would get so dehydrated that they would have to put him on an iv drip to get fluids into him. The episodes got less frequent so we figured that it was just a sensitive stomach and that he was growing out of it. Well, about a month ago he started throwing up and wouldn't stop so Michael took him into the vet where they kept him all day and gave him an iv. That afternoon they called to tell us that they had tested him for pancreatitus and the levels of whatever they were testing were through the roof, higher than the highest number possible on the test. I'm so glad Michael took him in, I'll admit I just figured it was another one of his episodes and he'd be fine in a bit. So now he is on a low-fat diet and we are hoping that he will be ok from now on. I'm glad we finally know what is wrong with him so that we can take care of him better. I love my bub. Here are some pictures of his birthday:

And one for posterity:

White Chicken Chili

Man, it has been a long time since I last posted! It has been really busy since we moved into the house and Michael made some changes to my computer, so it has been awhile since I have been able to download pictures. My goal is to catch up with everything (blog-wise) next weekend. But for now I have this awesome recipe for white chicken chili, it is SO good. I have made it twice in the last week. And Michael doesn't like it because he says it's too spicy, so more for me!

White Chicken Chili

1lb boneless, skinless chicken boobs, cut into small chunks
1 med. onion, chopped
1.5 tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp oil
2 cans (15.5 oz each) Great Northern Beans, rinsed and drained (you can use white navy beans if you can't find the great northern beans)
1 can (14.5 oz) chicken broth
1 can (4 oz) chopped green chilies (you can add two if you want it really spicy)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
0.5 tsp pepper
0.25 tsp cayenne pepper
1 cup sour cream
0.5 cup whipping cream

In a large saucepan or pot saute the chicken, garlic powder and onion in the oil until the chicken is done. Add the beans, broth chilies and seasonings. Bring it to a boil and then reduce the heat and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the sour cream and whipping cream. Garnish with fresh chopped cilantro if you're into that (I love it). You can serve it with tortilla chips, although it's good with cornbread, too. Makes about 6 servings.

I found that the whipping cream and sour cream made it really thick and it tastes delicous. However, to make it a little bit healthier you can just add the whipping cream and then after the chili is dished up put just a spoonful of sour cream in each bowl or skip the sour cream altogether. If you want to make it without sour cream and whipping cream, add 3 tbsp of flour when you add the beans, chilies, etc. this will thicken it up a bit without adding the calories of the whipping and sour cream. Try it once with the sour cream and whipping cream, it is good!

"Vacation"

Last week was a really crazy busy week, I am so glad it's over. I got the keys to the house on Friday the 23rd in the afternoon. Michael was at work so I did a walk through by myself to see what needed to be done and holy crap, it was overwhelming. The house looked really cute when they had all of their stuff in it and decorated but when it was empty it was just ugly and I realized I needed/wanted to paint pretty much everything. They also left the house really dirty which was dissapointing and just added more on my 'to-do' list. So the first three days of my vacation I cleaned and painted as much as possible. Kayte was a huge help and came over on Sunday and tackled the kitchen, it was so gross, the fridge was filthy, it honestly looked like it hadn't been cleaned ever. And we got to experience the joy of homeownership for real on Saturday when it was really windy and rainy and the sliding door started leaking- inside the house! Yeah, not cool. Luckily I know a contractor, he oversaw the addition/renovation of the hotel and he is a really cool guy. I called him and he came right over to check it out and hooked me up with a sub-contractor who is going to fix it as side work which means it will be a lot cheaper. Turns out they installed the sliding glass door wrong and the piece that is supposed to go behind the siding was put in front. Smart. So that was awesome, I will admit I panicked for a moment. I ended up getting the master bedroom, hallway and living room completely painted, but didn't touch the second bedroom, bathroom, kitchen or upstairs so there is still a lot to do. Tuesday was moving day and it went great, a lot better than I had expected. Michael asked a couple of his friends to come help and they were great. We got the biggest U-Haul truck they had and it took one full load and about another half to get everything moved. We started about 11am and were done by 5, so it worked out really well. Then on Wednesday we went back to the place we were renting and cleaned everything. It only took us a couple of hours and it was so nice to be completely done with that and not have it hanging over our heads. The rest of Wednesday and Thursday was spent cleaning, unpacking and running back and forth from Lowe's for supplies, I think they know me by name now. Friday was a shopping day, Kayte and I had decided earlier in the week to make a trip to Portland and hit up Ikea, Chipotle and the church book store. We left about 630am and got to Ikea about 915 only to find out that it doesn't open until 10. Oh well, they opened the doors about 930 so we started shopping, we got a lot of good stuff! I got a new dresser for the master bedroom, tv stand, new light fixtures, curtains, curtain rods, end table, silverware, hanging lights for the living room and a whole bunch of other smaller stuff and I only spent a little over $600, it was a good trip! We did take a little too long at Ikea, Kayte wanted to be home when the kids got out of school, so we hurried through lunch and the bookstore but still didn't get home until about 6. It was a long day but lots of fun! Saturday was spend at the last soccer games of the season (yay, it's over!) and more unpacking and Sunday was more of the same. I was so glad to come back to work on Monday, it was an exhausting week. I am so glad we are in the new house, we love it so far and the puppies love love love the backyard. We are unpacked for the most part, but there are a few more boxes to go through and some more organizing that needs to be done. I took some before/after pictures so I will post those eventually. I have a huge list of things I want to do and I have to keep reminding myself that its not going to all happen immediately. OH, we really want to replace the carpet (ugly blue) with Pergo (or Prego as Michael calls them) floors and were hoping to get the 8k first time homebuyer credit before we moved so that we could do that. I had amended my 2008 taxes so that I could get it now instead of waiting until tax time next year and I sent the paperwork in not long after we closed on the house. The check didn't come and didn't come and I had started to think I did the paperwork wrong, but then I checked the mail the morning of the move and of course, there it was. I asked Michael if he wanted to postpone the move and do the floors instead, but he didn't like that idea. So we are stuck with the blue carpet for now and eventually we'll move things around so we can get the new floors. I think we're a little tired of moving stuff for the time being, maybe next spring when it gets warm again.

And so it begins

A marathon week of cleaning, painting, cleaning, packing, moving, unpacking, cleaning, organizing, etc. I talked today with the people we bought the house from and they will be out by tomorrow evening, perfect timing! After work tomorrow is the start of a week of vacation that I am taking. We are not actually moving our stuff until Tuesday, so that will give me 3 days to get it ready and maybe paint a little. I like the paint colors that are in the house now, they did a good job with those, but I do want to paint the bedroom and possibly the kitchen. Our utilities are all getting switched over on Monday and our new washer and dryer will be delivered on Tuesday. If all goes according to plan, we should be staying the first night in our new house on Tuesday.

Wedding Bells Part II

Surprise! Michael and I are engaged! After talking about it, looking at rings, etc. it has finally happened. He told me on Monday that he was going to make a special dinner on Tuesday and wouldn't give me any details. I bugged him and bugged him and he still wouldn't tell me anything, but I had a pretty good idea of what he was up to. I can count on one hand the number of times he's made a special dinner in the past two years. The only thing he would tell me is that I couldn't come home until 630 because that is when dinner would be done. Normally I have soccer on Tuesday which goes until 630 but it freezing cold and there was freezing rain on and off throughout the day so we cancelled practice. I think he went into a quick panic when I told him. I stayed a little late at work and then went to our new house to pick up my mail that they have been holding for me and got home about 620. Here is what was waiting for me:
Oh yes, that is all sushi, he knows the way to my heart. He went to one of my favorite places and got 140 pieces of sushi so that he could spell this out. I will admit that it took me a minute to figure out, looking at it from above it is pretty obvious, but from the side (it is a tall table) it was a little more difficult. I think I was stunned by all the sushi. I of course said yes, and then ate a lot of sushi! I was so full I couldn't eat the cheesecake for dessert. Oh, and the most important part, the ring. I don't have it yet, it is getting sized and should be done in about a week, hopefully sooner! I am so happy and so excited to start this new part of our life together, once we get moved into the new house the wedding planning begins!

Wedding Bells

This past weekend we got up early and drove to Portland for a wedding- Michaels sister was getting married. We met most of Michaels family at the Pittock Mansion for pictures before the wedding, the Mansion is way up on this hill so it had amazing views of Portland. I think we saw two or three other wedding parties getting their pictures at the same time, so it's a pretty popular spot. After the pictures we were going to go to Hooters because I haven't had it for over a year, so we went to the Hooters in Beaverton and it was CLOSED. I was SO bummed. We didn't have time to drive to the other one in town so we grabbed some fast food (barf) and went to the hotel to shower and get ready. The wedding was really pretty and I loved the colors. The ceremony was short and sweet and the reception was beautiful, lots of candlelight. And they did bbq for dinner- the ribs almost made up for not having Hooters. :) I got to meet a lot of Michaels family that I hadn't met before and he got to see some people that he hasn't seen for a long time. Overall it was a really fun night, we left about 9pm and drove back home. Our puppies had been pretty much alone all day so they were really happy when we finally got home. Thanks to Kayte, Chad, the kids and Michaels friend Trevor for stopping by and checking on them!! And congrats to Michele and Jeremy, the new happy couple!

It's beginning to look a lot like...

October?! Yesterday it snowed through half of our soccer game, yuck! I figured it was just a fluke since the sun came out and it warmed up quite a bit a little after it was done snowing. Wow was I wrong. This is what we woke up to this morning:
The leaves on the trees haven't even started falling off- they've barely started to turn colors!! I really hope this isn't a sign of how this winter is going to be. Maybe this will be the only time it snows for the rest of the year, I'd be ok with that.

Finally!

We have a moving date, sort of. The people that we bought our house from finally heard back from the bank on the house that they are now buying (they are buying a short sale, which can take forever). They got the home inspection and appraisal done yesterday, so really all thats left is to get their financing squared away and they say that their loan should be done by next week. Since we agreed to let them rent back for 60 days they will be out right around the 25th-26th of this month, and then we can move in! I am still waiting for my $8000 credit, hopefully we'll get that before the end of the month so that we can redo the floors before we move in. Only a few more weeks before I can use the awesome new steam washer and steam dryer that we bought, we bought them almost a month ago but are waiting until we have moved to have them delivered and set up at the new house.

Welcome to the Jungle

I got the most awesome stools/ottomans, whatever you want to call them off of Craigslist today. I have been checking craigslist every so often because I have a list of stuff I want/need for the house and I don't want to pay a million dollars for it. I really want to find some dressers that I can refinish for the bedroom. I have found some I like, but I think it would be best to wait until we actually move in and see how everything fits. But I had to buy these stools, they won't take up much space. Michael thinks they are ridiculous but he is a guy, so I suppose that is expected. He can't see my vision. Plus, when I asked him how he would decorate the bedroom he said he would paint it all black so that it would be dark. Enough said, he won't be decorating anything.

I got two of these for $60. They are from World Market, I looked them up on their website and they sell for $120 each, so two for $60 is a good deal! They aren't worn at all, they look pretty new. I am thinking about sanding and painting the wood black so that they'll match all the other bedroom furniture. We'll see...

Mmmmmmm....

As most of you know, my favorite food in the world is sushi. I could eat it every day if I could afford it. I really wanted it for dinner tonight, but didn't want to go to the restaurant to get it, lazy I know. Instead, I went to the store and picked up a few essentials and made my own and I impressed myself! It was really good and I will definetly make it again but right now I'm so full I don't want to think about eating again. I made the basic rolls, Philly Roll, Spicy Tuna and California. Then with the leftover tuna I made nigiri and sashimi. Here it is in all its glory:

Models for a Day

Well, more like an hour and a half. Our realtor, who is AWESOME, asked us if we'd be willing to take some pictures with her for some new ads that she is doing. We said yes, partly because she is so awesome and partly because then I would maybe get some free professional pictures of us in front of the house. It was fun, quick and easy, and I got to meet the wife of the couple who we bought the house from, so that was cool, she is really nice. We took Petree with us and he got to be in some of the pictures, too. He also got to check out the front yard of the house and the dog of the sellers, so he was excited about that too. :) The photographer showed us a few after he was done and they were really cute, I will post one up here when I get some copies, she said she'd send me some! After we did the pictures at the house we went to her office to take some shots there. Now back to our list of things to do before we move...

And Again

I found another quinoa recipe, and now it is my new favorite. The chili's give it a little kick and the lime juice makes it even better. I found it on delish.com, which is one of my favorite recipe sites.

Quinoa with Latin Flavors
1 cup(s) quinoa,
2 teaspoon(s) canola oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 can(s) (4 ounce) chopped green chiles
2 clove(s) garlic, minced
1 can(s) (14 ounce) reduced-sodium chicken broth, or vegetable broth
1/4 cup(s) pepitas, toasted (pepitas are pumpkin seeds)
3/4 cup(s) coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 cup(s) chopped scallions
2 tablespoon(s) lime juice


1. Toast quinoa in a large dry skillet over medium heat, stirring often, until it crackles and becomes aromatic, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a fine sieve and rinse thoroughly.

2.Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring often, until softened, 2 to 3 minutes. Add chiles and garlic; cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Add the quinoa and broth; bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to maintain a gentle simmer, cover and cook until the quinoa is tender and most of the liquid has been absorbed, 20 to 25 minutes.

3.Add pepitas, cilantro, scallions, lime juice and salt to the quinoa; mix gently and fluff with a fork.

Spiders again?!

Michael called me yesterday while he was on his way to work to tell me that he had just had a really traumatic experience. He had been working on his truck the day before and had left the hood unlatched while he was waiting for it to cool down so I asked him if he had forgot to latch his hood and it flew up while he was driving on the highway. I would have laughed really hard if that's what it was, but it wasn't. He said he laying in bed, he had just woken up, and he went to swallow, yawn, whatever. He closed his mouth and tasted something sweet. So he coughed and out came..... HALF A SPIDER!!!!!!!!!!!! Gross, it makes me want to throw up just thinking about it. He said he thinks it bit the inside of his throat because his throat felt sore, and I said it was probably just the spider crawling to get out. Ew. It makes me want to tape my mouth shut at night so no spiders can crawl in.

It's Official! (and soccer)

We're finally getting an Olive Garden in Bend!!!! I have been hearing the rumor since I moved here, but nothing ever happened. Well, they broke ground quite awhile ago and the sign out front says "Olive Garden Coming Soon" so I am inclined to believe it this time. I love their strawberry lemonade. Although we probably won't go for at least the first month after it opens, I have a feeling it will be packed for quite awhile after the grand opening. Anyways, talking about Olive Garden being official really isn't the point of this entry, it just happened to fit in. What is also official is that we OWN A HOUSE! We signed papers last Friday and it closed yesterday, so it's official. Since the sellers are renting it back for up to two months I am going over to meet them at some point so that they can show me the details and such about the house, like mail days, garbage, how to set the thermostat. All the fun things that you usually have to kind of figure out on your own, so that will be really nice. We have been sort of packing and getting things ready, but now we'll need to step it up since they could move out anytime now.

So our first day of soccer practice was this past Tuesday, it was fun but could have been a lot better. I had woken up at 5am that morning not feeling well and spent the majority of the morning throwing up. I went to work but only managed to stay for a couple of hours and then went home and spent the rest of the day in bed until practice. So poor Chad had to coach pretty much the entire time since too much movement on my part would make me throw up. We are coaching Paiges' team, so it is 12 third grade girls and I think it will be fun, all of the girls are pretty cute. Our games start the 12th so we have a lot of work to do before then!

A new friend

So this weekend has been spent pulling weeds, a lot of weeds. Right now my hamstrings are strung tighter than a banjo. We didn't have just any weiner weeds, we had weeds that we have let grow for the past two months, huge bushes and trees of weeds. Seriously, in the back yard the wind was blowing the weeds really gently and it sounded like big pine trees creaking in the wind. And they were a good foot an a half taller than me, so yeah, lots of fun. Anyways, I was moving our trash cans to weed an area and saw the BIGGEST spider. I had instant heebie jeebies, but grabbed a jar out of the recycling and caught him. Then I came inside to try to figure out what kind he was, but looking at pictures of spiders that up close almost made me want to barf, so I just took a couple pictures of him and then I let him go far away from the house. ***I actually have found out that this is a female hobo spider, so I apologize to her for calling her a he.****

Petree's Spot

This is Petree's new favorite spot outside. Comfy and in the shade. He will love it when we have a hammock at our new house! And grass, we are really looking forward to having grass.

Awesome Dinner

As much as I like having Michael around, sometimes I like it when he works nights because it means I can cook whatever I want for dinner. He doesn't exactly like to 'branch out' , so I make my 'weird' food when he's not home. Tonight I made Sautee'd Quinoa (keen-wah), it was so good, I think I am going to make it a lot more often now. And I will make Michael try it, he might like it without the mushrooms. If you have never had quinoa you should try it. It is called the grain of the gods because it is practically perfect nutritionally speaking. It has an almost ideal protein balance, so it's really filling and really good for you. Anyways, there are lots of ways to make it, but here is the recipe I used:

Sautee'd Quinoa

1 C. quinoa

1 C. water

1 C. chicken broth

small onion, sliced

6-8 mushrooms, sliced

clove of garlic, crushed

salt/pepper

butter

Bring the quinoa, water and chicken broth to a boil and then cover and reduce the heat. Simmer for about 15 minutes, or until all the liquid is absorbed and the quinoa is soft. While the quinoa is simmering, put the onion, mushrooms, garlic and butter in a pan and saute. When the quinoa is done, add it to the mixture in the pan and cook on low for another minute or two to let all the flavors mix in. Serve and enjoy.

I let my vegetables saute until they were a little brown and crispy on the edges and it was really good. It would probably also be good with other vegetables, like zucchini, but I grilled my zucchini instead. I also used all chicken broth instead of broth and water. I only made a half recipe and as you can see from the picture, it makes a lot!

I'm getting old

So I turned 26 about a week and a half ago, I am so old!!! Feels like I was 20 just yesterday. My birthday was very relaxing this year, it was on a Sunday and I spent all day Saturday cleaning so I spent most of Sunday watching a 'The Office' marathon. I can't wait for Season 5 to come out! Anyways, after Michael got home we went to a sushi dinner. I think I have had sushi for my birthday ever since I moved to Bend, it's my favorite. Michael was supposed to make me a cheesecake for dessert, he has been going to make one ever since he could do it better than me. However, he chickened out after he read the recipe, so we went to Fred Meyer so I could pick out my dessert. This is what I got, how cool is it?! You can see it sweating, it's always hot on my birthday and after we got home we got the coolest thunder and lightening storm!

Sinners...

The dogs are kind of like kids- if you haven't heard them making noise for awhile they are probably doing something they shouldn't. I decided to clean all the carpets today because I figured it was so hot that they would dry really fast. Well, when I was just about half way done with the living room our power went out because of an awesome thunder/lightening storm so I took a break and the puppies and I took a short nap on the dry side of the living room. All the doors and windows were open and it was so awesome to watch the storm, I'm glad it doesn't make the dogs freak out. Anyways, the power came on and I started cleaning again and the puppies all ran down the hall. The carpet cleaner scares them, but really loud cracking thunder doesn't? I had put a baby gate up so that they couldn't get into the bedroom because I had piles of clothes all over the floor for laundry. I decided to check on them so I turned the cleaner off and called them, and only two came. I walked down the hall and turned the corner and this is what I found:

Yeah, those are my underwear. Don't ask me how he got them on, I have no idea. I think Raider is jealous because he got stuck with the pink ones and couldn't figure out how to put them on. I couldn't really be mad at them after this, Spike just sat there and wagged his tail while I took pictures.

Garden

I finally picked all of the lettuce that has been growing in my garden, I thought it was a lot, but it only made about 3 salads. Hopefully it will grow back really fast and next year I will have to remember to plant more. I also have some banana peppers and bell peppers that are just about ready to pick and my tomatoes are getting ready to explode, I can feel it. My zuke's and butternut squash are growing pretty well, too. I wish I had planted corn, maybe next year. Although we did get some from costco that is pretty good.

House Pictures

Here are a couple pictures of the house. I have a few of the inside, but since it's technically not ours yet I don't think it'd be a good idea to post those. Right now we are waiting to hear back from the sellers about the things we've asked them to take care of that were found in the inspection. Nothing major, we just want to get a couple things checked out and a couple of things repaired/replaced so it should be alright. Now it is just a matter of waiting until closing and then waiting until they move out, we have agreed to let them rent it back after closing for no more than 60 days so it could still be awhile before we actually move in. Isn't the backyard awesome for the dogs? And I can plant a big garden next year in the back corner, we're excited!

We'll take it!

A couple months ago Michael mentioned that we should buy a house and I'll admit I shot him down pretty quickly about it. I figured we had too much debt and not enough income to get a house. Then I met with Kayte's financial planner (who is now my financial planner as well) a couple months later and he mentioned that a house is a good way to increase your net worth and he thought that considering my income and debt that it was really feasible. I had just moved positions at work which resulted in a bump in my salary so I figured 'what the hell', no harm in checking. So I met with a real estate agent who was nice enough to spend an hour with me and go over some things and then she gave me a couple of names for mortgage companies. Michael and I went to the mortgage company and we were approved, but due to credit scores and such it made more sense for just myself to be on the loan. This was a week ago and today we found out that a house we had put an offer on was accepted and if everything goes according to plan we will be homeowners for real by August 26th. The house is really cute with a great yard and it will be nice to get the 8k first time homebuyer credit so we can make some changes and improvements, I already have a pretty long list. So for now we need to get inspections and all that and then wait as patiently as possible for closing day.

Fathers Day

I know, it was a while ago but we have been busy. For Fathers Day I made Michael an amazing breakfast, biscuits and gravy, scrambled eggs, sausage, hashbrowns and orange juice. I worked really hard on it and then went to go tell him it was ready. It was about 10am and he was still sleeping but I figured he'd be ready for breakfast. WELL, I told him I had an amazing breakfast for him and he got really grumpy and said "it's only ten am, I don't want breakfast" and rolled over to go back to sleep. Talk about a jerk! So I left the room and went to eat breakfast by myself. Lucky for him he had a change of heart and realized what a butt he had been because a minute later he came out and apologized and then we had breakfast. I say lucky for him because even though I didn't tell him this, I was going to eat what I wanted and then I was going to throw the rest away. That would have taught him! I need to work on being less spiteful... Anyways, after breakfast he got his present from the puppies. I was pretty proud of it, although he still hasn't hung it up yet. I tell the puppies it's because he doesn't love them. Won't we make great parents?! :)

More Pictures

Missy is telling Harley that the collar isn't SO bad to wear. Harley still doesn't like it.

Trying to find a way outside:

I'm trying to sleep!

Watching it rain and thunder:

Snips, clips, tags and pulls

We took all four of the puppies in to the vet on Thursday morning to get fixed. They were so nervous and scared as the vet helpers put a collar on each and took them into the back and put them in their own seperate kennel, everyone was shaking. But everyone made it out alright and we went back that afternoon to pick everyone up. In addition to getting fixed they also all got micro-chipped and some teeth pulled. Scooter lucked out and only had to get one tooth pulled but poor Harley had to get 6 pulled. So we have just been hanging out at home the last couple days while everyone recovers. The boys have it the easiest (big surprise :)), they just have a couple of stitches that will eventually dissolve since their incisions were tiny. Since Harleys incision is way bigger she got stitches that will have to be removed later. Well, like mother like daughter, I ended up taking her back to the vet the next day because she had chewed out 3 of the stitches. Missy did the same thing (twice) when we had her fixed. We even had a collar on Harley but she was still able to reach past it and get to the stitches. So now she has a couple of staples and a hard collar that she has to wear for the next two weeks until the stitches/staples come out.

This looks x-rated but Spike was dead asleep on Petree until I came over with the camera, he

likes to use the other dogs as pillows:

See, Spike isn't the only one who does it, Harley decided to flop down on Raider one afternoon: Michael had to run to the store one evening and Petree was so sad he waited by the front door until he came back. I hope he doesn't do this everytime we leave! :(

How does your garden grow?

Mine is doing pretty good, thank you to Michael for putting up a fence for me. The dogs kept getting into everything, they ate a cauliflower and brussel sprout plant before the fence got put up. And it happened while Michael was 'watching' them, he probably did it on purpose so he wouldn't have to eat the cauliflower or brussel sprouts. Don't worry, there should be plenty of brocolli and squash to make up for it. :) I have three pepper plants, a banana pepper a bell pepper and a jalepeno pepper plant, they are doing awesome, especially the banana peppers. My tomato plants are growing really well too, shouldn't be too much longer until I am over run by cherry tomatoes

And here is half of our backyard, Michael really wants to plant grass, and so do I, but not in the middle of summer. So for now we are running a weed farm, it's ugly but it helps cut down on the dust and it's hilarious to watch the dogs chase eachother and bunny hop through them.

Tiny Teeth

The puppies are almost 6 months old now, which means its almost time to get them fixed and time for them to lose their teeth. We found quite a few of Missy and Petree's teeth but until the other day we hadn't found any of the puppies teeth, they probably ate them all. The other night there was something on the floor that they all kept sniffing at, I picked it up to throw it away and it was a tiny tooth. They have almost all of their big teeth now, except for Harley who has her 'shark teeth'. Her front two teeth haven't fallen out but the new ones have grown in behind it. They'll get pulled when she gets fixed, poor girl.

New House

I finally took some pictures of the new house, just of the living room and kitchen, but the other rooms are still under construction. We still don't have any of our pictures up on the walls, what can you do?

High Roller Dogs

We have noticed that the dogs love it when we fill up their water bowl, and not just because they don't have to go thirsty anymore. Scooter especially loves the 'fountain' of water that comes out when we fill up the bowl. So what a better idea then to get them a water fountain?!

I saw the sign... I opened up my eyes and saw the sign!

So lots has been going on lately. We have moved, almost completely done. Still some small stuff and cleaning to do at the old place. Trying to get most of it finished before I leave on Tuesday to go to California for four days for work. I also moved into a new position at work, which meant my salary increased which is totally awesome, especially with the way the economy is. But for the important stuff... Kayte asked if I wanted to go yard sale-ing with her since Chad and the kids are out of town and she wanted to find some 'yard art' for her gardens. And oh, did we find some art. We went to this crazy place just north of Bend, its a cross between a yard sale, antique store and a dump. I wish I had gotten a picture of it. Anyhow, I found THE COOLEST 'yard art' anyone has ever had. And it was only $5! Chad, you can thank me later when you get home and experience Frieda first hand. After the crazy place we went to the candy store (amazing) then cruised through the Saturday market along with the hippie market across the street (complete with bongos, hula hoop lessons and some lady waving around an incense stick) and grabbed lunch at the Pita Pit. Then we went to a couple awesome stores near downtown, Kayte scored some cool wire gates for her garden and a half door that will look awesome when she's done with it. I got a really cool hummingbird feeder and these champagne glasses that have no bottom and are kept in a vase, I'll have to get a picture of them, they are pretty awesome. Enough suspense, though. Here I give you 'Frieda', the coolest yard art in the world:

We're Moving!

But before you get too excited, we're not moving out of town. We have been wanting to move for awhile and we found a place the other day that's probably less than a mile from where we're living now. It is smaller and older than the place that we're living in now, but it has a big yard and it's a house, so no more sharing a wall with the neighbors who stomp up and down the stairs at all hours of the night. Now we will be able to take the puppies outside without being swarmed by tons of little kids. AND, it's within walking distance to the Old Mill so we can walk to movies or concerts and not have to worry about parking. The place that we're in right now is really nice, but its in a neighborhood that is all duplexes really close together. And since we live in a culdesac it feels like we live in a fishbowl, when you walk outside it's like EVERYONE can see you. So we are looking forward to having a house with neighbors that aren't as close (and hopefully not as annoying) and having a little more privacy. Whoever said a good fence makes a good neighbor was onto something. And the rent is cheaper so that is always a bonus. The carpets are getting cleaned on Friday and then we'll start moving in this weekend or early next week. Oh and the back yard is big enough that I can turn a section of it into a garden, so that will be awesome too! So, who wants to help us move?

Happy Mothers Day!

I have been making comments to Michael for the past week about today being Mothers Day, and he said I wasn't getting anything because I'm not a mom. I told him I am too, we have the puppies. He said I didn't give birth to them so that means I'm not a mom; I asked him if that means that people who adopt aren't moms. Well, it worked because this is what I found when I got up this morning. :)

My flower pots.

We don't have much garden space here, so I have been wanting some pots for the front door. I found some really awesome ones at Costco, along with some cool flowers, so here they are. I also got some really cool solar lights to line the driveway and they were up for about two weeks before the jerk face neighbor kids broke one. Why were they in our yard? Jerks. They are the most annoying kids, ever.

Sunday's Special...

So one of my goals this year is to try new recipes/foods. Since it's too crazy during the week I've decided to make Sunday my 'try out a recipe' day. Today I decided to try another crock pot recipe, so here it is:

Chicken Tortilla Casserole

-4 chicken breasts (I used the frozen ones from Costco) cut up into 1" pieces, cooked. (Reserve 1/4 C of the broth chicken was cooked in)
-10 6" flour tortillas (I used whole wheat), cut into strips about 1/2" wide x 2" long
-2 medium sized onions, chopped (I didn't have regular onions so I just used two bunches of green onions, I think 2 whole onions would be a little much)
-1 tsp. olive oil
-10 3/4 oz can fat-free chicken broth
-10 3/4 oz can fat-free cream of mushroom soup
-2 4oz cans chopped mild green chilies
-1 egg
-1 c. low-fat shredded cheese

1. Spray your crock pot with non-stick spray then put the reserved chicken broth in.
2. Scatter half the tortilla strips in the bottom of the cooker.
3. Mix everything else together, except the second half of the tortillas and the cheese.
4. Layer half the chicken mix, top with second half of tortillas then put the second half of the chicken mix in.
5. Cover. Cook on low 4-6 hours or on high 3-5 hours.
6. Add cheese to the top of the dish during the last 20-30 minutes.
7. Uncover and allow casserole to rest 15 minutes (it's worked really hard)

So, typing the recipe here has made me realize I did it way different, but not on purpose. I got half way through cooking this and realized that its almost like a 'chicken enchilada' recipe that Kayte and I like. Not only did I not put the egg in (I realized I forgot it after everything was in the crock pot) but instead of the 10 3/4oz can of chicken broth, I put in a 10 3/4 oz can of cream of chicken soup. I thought it turned out alright though, even Michael liked it enough to go back for seconds. It was a bit runny, but that's probably because I forgot the egg. Although I think the can of chicken broth would make it super runny. I think I like my version better. Tasted almost just like the recipe Kayte and I use, but this was a lot easier and less time consuming.

Our Raider Boy...

So we learned awhile ago that if we say "Oh Petree, what a good boy" over and over that Petree would just go crazy and start whining, it was pretty funny. Well, recently we've discovered that one of the puppies, Raider, does the same thing. But better, and more funny. So watch the video, I think it's hilarious. Make sure your sound is turned on and up. Warning: my voice is pretty annoying but it's totally worth it.

Deliciousness

My contribution to Easter dinner was cheesecake. Delicious, and not nutritious, doesn't get better than that. I found the recipe online and started it about 9 at night. Only when I had it all mixed and in the oven did I see someone had left a comment on the recipe. Yeah, they said that the cooking time was way off and that it took closer to three hours to cook than the hour that the recipe said. Well, there was no way I was staying up that late so I just cranked the oven up and cooked it until I thought it was done. Turned out pretty good if I do say so myself. I cut up some fresh strawberries to go on top, too. On our way over to Kayte's I made a comment about how the top of my cake wasn't all flat and smooth like the cheesecakes in restaurants. Michael said it's because they know how to cook and claimed that if he made one the top would be all flat and nice. I have challenged him to prove it but so far he has yet to do so.

Spring weather...

So when the puppies were little they weren't big enough to go outside when it snows. Lucky for us it has snowed throughout almost the entire day (sarcasm). So here are the pictures of the puppies first time in the snow. They actually liked it, Scooter thought it was tasty.