A Month Outdoors

So I was going to make an effort to update once a week, and I thought I was doing okay until I noticed that it had been a month since I wrote in here. Where does the time fly? I can't complain, because apparently my last month has been fun, or it wouldn't have passed me by so quickly. I think it's probably because the weather has been so wonderful, and we're outdoors so much that I'm nowhere near my computer.

I have finally accepted that Fall is here. I'm trying not to be too depressed about my amazing Summer being over, and instead I'm focusing on all the wonderful things about Fall that are coming up. I love this time of year.

Since it has been the perfect crisp weather in the evenings after work, we've been spending a lot of days on the patio, and outside. Both at our house, my parents house on Saturdays, patio nights with friends, baseball games, long walks, skating (I didn't die) and the end of Summer Breeze.

Just sitting....







Having a drink (or four)...



Watching the sunset...











Admiring my parents yard....



This was the little pot I made my Mom for Mother's Day.
It has a tail, now.









The frogs are finally here! No more watching the tadpoles every week so see if they've grown legs. They're officially full grown frogs.







Kathleen, it's a praying mantis!! She has recently had the best luck with them, and I've had praying mantis envy. I want one as a pet, but I know it would be ripped to shreds the minute I brought it into the house, thanks to my rambunctious killer kitty. So I just enjoy them in the wild, like this one I found at Ashley's house. Right before five barefoot, cold, keyless girls managed to lock themselves outside of her house ;)



One night that we had a few people over, I ran out of time to cook, because on my way home I spotted the huskies. They lived caddy-corner behind us, and every day they'd peek at me through the fence. I always talked to them when I was working in my garden, and then one day, after two years, they were gone. The family moved and my biggest heartache was that I didn't get to say goodbye.

So imagine my surprise over a month after they left and three college guys moved in, when I round the corner and see them in the old front yard. I had a car-full of groceries and everyone was supposed to be over in thirty minutes. So I knocked on their door and the guy said that they'd been there all day, thirsty and collarless, with no identification whatsoever. Needless to say, they went straight home with me.





Aren't they adorable?

So instead of making any dinner for our guests, we got them fed and watered, and all settled in. I threw together a nacho bar, which was super fast and easy. In case any of you are in a guests-coming-over-in-ten-minutes hurry, take notes.





Queso, chips, shredded lettuce, ground beef, chicken, tomatoes, onions, beans, olives, jalepenos, and sour cream. I set out some tortillas, too, so people could make soft tacos.

We sat out with the dogs, and they loved the attention. Fortunately we had a batch of animal lovers, over.



Considering the dogs smelled like skunk, wet dog, and fecal matter, I have to give Sean credit for giving them love.

Ashley named them Cleo and Chloe for the night, and we noticed that Cleo had a bloody, infected ear. So I cleaned her up while Michael gagged.



I don't know why I'm laughing. Her smell was no laughing matter.

In the morning after Michael called around, we finally got their owners number after they'd left it with the city shelter. I was sad to see them go. I really could just buy 20 acres of land and have a giant rescue organization set up. But I already ran this by the husband and he was less than amused with my passion for animals. So two cats and a dog, it is!


Ps.....we ate nacho bar all night. It also makes the best leftovers. If I have time to actually cook and don't waste my time picking up stray dogs off the street, I'll make the traditional cookout food.



But that's for days when we have ten or more people over.





I always end up entertaining Ashtyn.



Or my uterus just cries over baby Dylan's cuteness.





I don't really remember okaying her crawling at five months, I kind of want her to stay a lumpy blob of cuddly baby forever.



But all my wishing didn't really stop Ashtyn from getting older and witnessing the heartbreak of watching her dance with a boy this Summer at her Aunt's wedding.



SHE KISSED HIM. I'm not even her Mom and I wanted to have a talk with that boy about keeping his hands to himself.





I don't know what's funny, I ruin every picture.





I adore these two.



My favorite outside times are night ones.



Like the night of the meteor shower, when we opened a bottle of wine and sat outside for hours, only to see three meteors. But it was worth it.

Or cozying up under a blanket.



Or walking to the grocery store around midnight to get cheese so we could make a batch of queso with Erin and James.




And sometimes our perfect patio nights get twelve inches of rain dropped on them.





So we just grilled our steaks in the garage, and we ate with Jake and Amy in the living room with the windows open, instead. Amy made the best dessert.





I could go for a huge batch, right now.

When we spend evenings outside, all the animals love it. It's the only time that the cats get to step foot outdoors, and they explore for hours, eating grass and puking it up and eating some more.



Fig gives me dirty looks when I tell him it's time to go inside. His outdoor time has been limited since the night that he managed to catch a mouse in my garden. I wasn't amused, and also not the least bit surprised. I'm mostly more surprised that he didn't have it killed, skinned, and stuffed by the time we caught him.


He's a jerk, but he's pretty adorable in the process of being mean.





Olive is a priss, so she always complains to go in after a few minutes.











She'd rather spend her time indoors, in her basket.



Hunter loves when we're outside because it's an endless game of tennis ball throw for him. If you're busy when he gets back with the ball, he'll sit and stare. And stare. And stare. With the same big oafy look on his face.









He also LOVES popcorn. If we go somewhere that has it, we always make sure to bring some home to him. So one night when we went to the movies, we brought home our extras for him.



He was pretty cute scarfing it down, until five minutes later when the most disgusting thing in the world happened.



We learned that Hunter being really excited that we were home + popcorn = popcorn vomit pile on the floor. We cried. Well, I cried. Michael gagged, I gagged, we both dry heaved, and I cried. IT SMELLED LIKE POPCORN. It was so sick.



A few pictures around the yard:



My garden.





My built in tomato killer. He was HUGE. I walked up to my garden one day and I swear I heard him say "you gonna eat that?" As he finished off one whole tomato. Needless to say, he had to go.





A couple peppers from my garden, and the tomatoes that fat green bastard didn't eat.

Since it's also skating weather, Michael has been on his longboard, trying to teach everyone how to not break their femur's. I tried. But considering I never even learned to rollerskate, I wasn't that great at the longboard.



The neighborhood kids had better luck.





We tried to get Hunter on it, but he was about as good as me. He just likes to run.









Even his new school backpack has a place for his board.



We still spend a lot of days driving around in the middle of the country.



Which almost always results in something dead, and a body of water for Hunter to chase sticks into.







A lot of times we'll drive around until it gets dark, and open up all the windows and listen to the locusts and toads chirping past our windows.


We're still grilling as much as we can. I was a vegetarian for a few years, and being married to a carnivore like Michael has been a huge adjustment. For the most part I maintain my vegetarian breakfast and lunches, and settle for some sort of dead animal at dinner. On seafood nights I get a break and I can make my own food, because I don't eat anything fishy.





My grilled portabella, and Michael's swordfish.

One night I made the most amazing enchiladas, I've been dreaming about them ever since. I am kind of a recipe snob and barely ever use them, and I have an even harder time trying to put them together for people. All my measurements are eyeball, all my cooking times I play by ear. So I will do my best, because these need to be eaten in households all across the country.



They were hideous, this I will admit. I haven't gotten the aesthetic part of them down, only the flavor. But since it was my first try, I thought I could make them a little prettier next time.


Ingredients:

-tortillas
-corn
-fresh spinach, ripped up
-fresh cilantro, chopped
-tomatoes from my garden, chopped
-onion, chopped
-shredded cheese
-sour cream
-salsa

I threw together the tomatoes, cilantro, onion, & cheese. The mix tasted like pico de gallo. I rolled that up into the tortillas, and topped it with a mix of corn, sour cream, salsa, ripped up spinach, and the rest of the pico mix. Then I baked it all for twenty minutes. It's really simple and easy, and it tastes so fresh and wonderful. The topper mix is amazing as a dip, too. I dipped chips in the leftovers.



Like I said, this is a face that only a mother could love, so by all means, find any way to make it prettier on your own.


I've been craving sushi like crazy. I said earlier that I don't eat fishy things. Sushi is my one huge acception. Of course I only get cooked things, and almost every roll I get has spicy mayo, which makes everything taste good. I'd probably eat a shoe with spicy mayo on it.





The raw, pink stuff is Michael's. Mine is the one under a heaping pile of spicy mayo.

Also, I met a tomato with a tail.



I felt really weird eating it. I ate around the tail. After I touched and probed at it.



It's finally cool enough to go on our hikes.













Where we always find more dead things. I always make Michael do the dirty work and hold them while I take the pictures.


There was a little art/craft fair in town that I really loved. It's been a long time since I've been to something like that where I wouldn't have to sell my eggs to afford the artwork. I went with Erin, and then back again with Michael.









Since all the artwork was local, there was a lot of Oklahoma stuff. I love Oklahoma. A lot of people hate it, but I think life is what you make it. And I appreciate my state for all the crazy things that make it what it is....like mullets. Dirty bodies of water, lots of bugs, 100% humidity, racism, allergies, ice storms, and low pay for teachers. And those are just the good things!

I got an Oklahoma shirt!



It's from American Apparel, so it's super soft and long. I love a good fitting tshirt. When I find a tshirt I love, I buy it in fourteen colors. I wish I was exaggerating.


We had one of the best Summer Breeze concerts in the park.







We ended up buying the band's cd.


We also went to a baseball game.



I'm not a huge sports fan, but that also comes with my general disinterest with anything that has to do with television. Going to games is another story. Especially when they are serving green hot dogs, that night.





















After the game, Michael wanted to go get a beer, and we went to a place close to the stadium that keeps over 90 beer on tap, and a 100 different kinds in bottles. Out of all that I figured I had to find something I liked, and that night, I was introduced to this beauty:



Oh yes, Framboise. The Raspberry beer. It is AMAZING. I thought it would be beer taste with a little bit or raspberry. N-O. It's raspberry juice with a hint of amazing. I was in love.





Success. I found a beer I could drink like water.


At work we did an event for all the freshman coming into college, and set up a booth for our salon.



I call my coworkers- "The Blondes." ;) I kind of stand out like a sore thumb. Lauren (far left) actually just went dark, she was a blonde before, too. Oh well, there always has to be one black sheep in the family!



That night we got together a group of friends and rented a room at my favorite bar. I think there was probably 30 of us in there. I probably had too much wine. Normally "too much wine" isn't a phrase that registers with me, because I have never once drank it to the point of a.) throwing up. b.) having a hangover. I have had pretty good luck. That night......not so much. Around the time that a diaper got passed around to me and I put it on, I decided that I had found my Polka Dot Riesling cut-off. Apparently that cut off is at one bottle + one additional glass - dinner = an ugly result.











Oh, the shame.



I wasn't the only one wearing the diaper. That diaper got around that night.




On the day of the city wide garage sale, after driving around for awhile and making our stops, Michael decided that an unjust travesty would need to end that day. I had never in my life had "ice cream" from an ice cream truck. I use the term ice cream loosely, when referring to what I ate that day.
As a child, I was not allowed to eat anything packaged, sweet, fried, or potentially dangerous. At Halloween, we'd mope back inside after hours of working those streets, and hand over our stashes to my mom. Who would throw away the questionable, and then ration you one small piece every few days until she thought we'd forgotten about our candy, and then she'd throw it away.
Although I was depressed and sugar-hungry at the time, I do owe her one big fat THANK YOU now that I have no interest in any sort of dessert, ice cream, candy, or bad food period. Sure I like a big ass corn dog every once in awhile, but for the most part, I will never have to deal with any sort of addiction to "fake food" as I call it, thanks to her. In our house. dessert was a fresh cantaloupe that they cut open after dinner.

So obviously I had never had anything that was handed to me out of a truck driven by a potential child molester out on probation. Michael thought it was time, and I got my first ever "ice cream" treat from a creepy guy in a van as I browsed the garage sales.



I got Ninja Turtle, and Michael got Pink Panther.

AKA-- E.T. after some serious lick-downs.



It was...interesting. I use the term ice cream loosely because it wasn't. It was some sort of frozen mystery substance. I might have lost a few years off my life by eating it. I'll stick with cantaloupe.



Since Michael is back in school full time now, I thought I'd make things easier on him and brought him home a surprise one night. After hiding it under a blanket, of course.



This is the part where you praise me for being a good wife. I also had dinner ready (the amazing enchiladas) the house clean, and candles lit.

It was then that I discovered the beauty of something so simple and entertaining as a webcam. Yes, a webcam.










And then I introduced it to my family.



Grandma got to fly in a spaceship. Grandpa was confused and stared. And my Mom was ....shocked?



I decided I am quitting any sort of side jobs I have been doing, for now. I have been getting so stressed out, especially taking pictures for people. And honestly it's almost more stressful for me to think that I only have one job, because I have to stay busy doing fifty thousand things. But until I can figure out a way to manage and balance multiple projects all at once, I have to stop everything else I do to spare my sanity. Our kitchen needs to be remodeled, I need to finish the guest room, and do a few more things around the house. Next month we're going on vacation for our anniversary, I'm throwing my sister a baby shower, and then Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the new baby will be here right away. So I am taking some more me-time, and trying to appreciate things I have been missing the crap out of.

Like a clean house, cozy couch, open windows, candles and incense lit, music on....



And a big heaping pile of nachos.



I make a mean nacho plate. Chopped onions, tomatoes, and spinach make a perfect combination. When your husband is a big carnivore...you have to sneak in his daily serving of veggies any way you can.


I've also been reserving thirty minutes every night for something else that I used to live for and never seemed to have time for, anymore.



Ahh....bath time. I leave our bathroom door open and let the lavender oil in the tub seep into our bedroom, because lavender helps you sleep and relaxes you. I don't need any extra help, I'm comatose the minute I hit the sheets, but Michael has trouble sleeping, and I like to think that I secretly have the natural remedy for anything.



Speaking of finishing the guest room, I think I have everything together and figure out, I just need to get started. These are my favorite bedroom inspiration pictures:



Light and pretty. I think I have for sure decided to paint the furniture light and antique it a smidge, but I am still going back and forth. Either way, the bedding and walls will be light like this.



The picture rail. I'm kind of over putting holes in the walls, so I just want a rail wide enough to put a few frames on.



These colors are perfect. I have a few baskets, some creamy bedding, and visions of this board and batten in my mind. I already know the wood details will make me wish for death, because we have to rip off all our baseboards to do this. But it's a project I'm willing to tackle because I love the look of any sort of architectural detail. Living in a house that was built only six years ago, I've had one hell of a time trying to make it look "old."



I love everything about this picture. Mostly the neutral colors and the picture rail.



It's a nursery, I know this. But once again it's got the board and batten on the walls, and it's neutral. Our guest room will one day double as our nursery, and I am not doing it twice. So we're going to have a gender neutral room, because I'm anti pink or blue, anyway.

A couple weeks ago we went to Pottery Barn so I could get my fix, and I came home with this pillow that I love.



It was the only thing I could afford :( Poor, pitiful me. I guess that's what I get for going on three vacations this year. Maybe I could have had a couch to attach to this pillow if I had used my money in other ways!
Anyway, I love it. It will go right in the middle of the bed. Who knows when I'll actually finish this room. My goal is before the clock strikes 2010. We'll see.

Around the house, I rearranged the dining room. There's only so many ways you can put the table, and I have had it all of those ways. One day I just came home and decided it needed to be at an angle, in the corner. It's weird, but I love it.





It freed up so much room, and I like the way it feels.

I got a new candle that I'm obsessed with to the point of hoarding fifty of these candles. I LOVE love love the smell of tomato plants. Any gardener will tell you the same, and if they don't, they're crazy. So imagine my excitement when I found a TOMATO LEAF CANDLE.



It's wonderful. I really love this brand of candles. At $27, they're a little pricey. But they burn really well. I've had mine lit every night for almost a month and barely made a dent in it.



I also stuck up some old art on the fridge, like a proud parent.



The bottom two Michael did in high school, and the top one is mine. Honestly, that's probably one of the last times I ever painted. It's weird to think that ten years have passed since both of us did those. I think we're going to start making some time to make art together, since that was something we did long before we knew each other but never did together.

I put together a big grouping of pictures I took in Colorado to have blown up and matted. I got them printed 20 X 30 each, so this collection grouped together is huge.



So pretty.


And,



I dyed my hair back really dark. I was trying to let my natural color grow out, and then I realized I'm a hairstylist, and it's illegal to not dye your hair. Even if it's a boring shade of really dark brown.





My hair is getting really long, and I'm bored with it all the time. Any suggestions? Shave it?
My Mom said it's time to cut it, but I always end up regretting it when it's short.
Michael gave her a drum lesson ;)



She was pretty cute. Bad hair advice, or not.
My sister's 30th birthday was a couple weeks ago, my Mom made her a pretty cake.







Grandpa loves cake. He sits and eagerly waits for it to be cut.





Michael is also obsessed with cake. A couple weeks ago we went to see James' stand up-





And a woman walking by with a giant box of her birthday cake at the restaurant fell prey to him. He asked her if she had cake, and not only did she offer him a piece, she left him the entire box. Which he proceeded to eat. He would.


The walnuts we found last month next to Michael's parents yard turned out to be a bust. Grandma and I opened a few and they were nasty. I was so disappointed because fresh walnuts are so good.





We forgot to tell Michael that you have to wear gloves. These stains stayed over a week, and got darker every day.



When we first started dating, we went on a trip to Florida and spent a few days on the beach. It was the year Hurricane Katrina hit, and we got the tail end of the hurricane and ended up stranded there for a few extra days. Which wasn't a bad deal considering it was beautiful and sunny there after the actual storm. We saw some of the most amazing things washed up on the shore, including a blow fish that I would have saved...had it been souvenir store crispy, and not just-died wet and puffy.



Needless to say, we got some amazing shells on that trip. Shells that you only see sold in stores. I found them in my parents attic while rummaging around in there, and I can't believe I've forgotten about them for so long. I'm about to put away all my summer decorations and replace them with pumpkins and pine cones, but when next Spring rolls around, I will have a whole new batch of shells. I have a basket on our coffee table that's full of shells, candles, and incense ash. I stick the little sticks of incense in holes in the shells, and when all the dust from the burnt ones gathers on them, it reminds me of the beach, and how the sand puts that cloudy haze over all your little treasures.



Here are some of my shells:









It is so okay to be jealous.

I'm sad to be taking down all my bright summery decorations. Goodbye to my light blues, beach pictures, and seashells.







Summer mantle- You really served me well. Every time I looked at you, you made me smile. But now Fall is here, and I must replace you with orange and red shades, pumpkins, and pine cones.

This weekend I'm getting out my Fall decorations, I'm always so excited to get them out. I have this looming unhealthy obsession with pumpkins, last year I spent almost $100 on them. But in my defense, I always get GREAT pumpkins.



I already bought my first three of the year. One of them weighs 50 pounds. No need to adjust your screen, that says 50 pounds. And for only $9! Where else but Sam's Club? Where everything is bigger.

Mostly I've been waiting to start my mantle when I got my main inspiration piece. I'll find one small thing like an ornament, chair, swatch of fabric, or frame, and decorate an entire room off of it.

My favorite blog belongs to Layla at The Lettered Cottage.
Every once in awhile she'll have a giveaway but I never enter because I never win anything. With over 2,000 followers, and who knows how many more anonymous contest enterers, I never stand a chance. But my luck turned around, and somehow I managed to win the large cake stand from her store, Lettered Cottage Home. This must have been a contest for the most faithful stalker and admirer, because her house and design skills make me one big fat green eyed monster. I love the beautiful home she shares with her husband, who is equally as passionate and motivated about their home as she is. It's so inspiring to see two people dream up these visions and then put them to life so beautifully.

Here is a tour of her house, with some before and afters. The kitchen is one of the most inspiring things to me, because that IS my hideous kitchen. Hardwareless oak cabinets, and all.

So anyway, when I got my cake stand in the mail, it was like Christmas morning.



After 45 minutes of not being smarter than a cardboard box and trying everything short of chewing through the box to get to it, I found my cake stand. It's perfect. And since I have never made a cake in my life, it's going to become my new favorite piece on the mantle, and the one thing that inspires me to decorate everything around it. I think I'm going to plop a big fat pumpkin right in the middle of it. And it looks so pretty with a lot of things I already have in the house.





So thank you SO much Layla! This Oklahoma reader is seriously appreciating this wonderful gift.


Oh. And Fig also wanted me to thank you for sending him lots of newspaper and this marvelous cardboard box that kept him entertained for quite awhile.







Over this last month I learned to spend time for me. That also means not being so busy that a month goes by before I get to sit at my computer and show the world pictures of all the things I love. This last month we spent so much time with our incredible friends and families, getting to do all the things we enjoy the most. For some reason typing all of these things into a blog box, and sharing all these memories with everyone around me that's willing to read them solidifies all the happiness I am feeling right now. I love when I am having a gloomy day, and I have a client come in that tells me about something new and exciting they did, or will do. I love all the stories I get to hear about, and I honestly think over these last five years of doing hair and getting to meet hundreds and hundreds of people, I have really shaped into a happy person, thanks to all these wonderful memories they've chosen to share with me. Hopefully for as long as I can keep this blogging hobby up, I can share a few of my own happy memories with people all over the world. My only wish is that maybe I can inspire someone in that same way.

To get to be around a person that can change your outlook on life just by being alive is such a privilege, I wish we all strived towards being that somebody for someone else. What an impact we make on the people around us every day....hopefully we all have chosen for that impact to be a positive one.

"The happiest people are those who think the most interesting thoughts. Those who decide to use leisure as a means of mental development, who love good music, good books, good pictures, good company, good conversation, are the happiest people in the world. And they are not only happy in themselves, they are the cause of happiness in others."



Happy Fall, lovelies!