Ready to do a new do

Tomorrow I have an appointment to get my hair cut and highlights.

I'm excited.  I'm ready for a new and exciting  haircut.  Looking forward to my upcoming trips and wanted a new fun and easy hairstyle to go with it.

Found a website on the internet that lets you try different hairstyles on a picture of yourself. 

The next few pictures are guaranteed to make you laugh out loud.  That was my reaction too.

 Nope.....don't think so

Don't think this one is going to work either.

 

 Even if it was the right color.....still not right

 Nope.  Not this one either.

 Okay.....now we're getting weird

Oh hell no!

Well this was a big waste of time.  Guess I'll go tomorrow and just see how it all works out.

IN OTHER NEWS......we went and picked out the shingles, gutters, siding, and shutters today.  Now we just need to decide on the color to paint the siding and the trim.  Decisions.  Decisions.  This job will begin around April 4th.

We also met with the plumber today about re-piping our entire house.  We sprung another leak in Paul's office and these old galvanized pipes just aren't going to make it anymore.  We will be having all the pipes in the house replaced with Pex pipes.  That job will begin on March 21st.

Can't wait......our house is going to look brand new inside and out.

And last but not least......we cooked steaks and Pierogies last night for dinner.  Our first time eating Pierogies.  I made a Cilantro and lime sour cream to dip them in.....oh my god, that was the best sour cream ever!

Now it's time to try and get a little work done.  Spent the whole day doing other things and not able to get stuff done.  Oh well.

Have you figured it out yet?

Have you figured it out yet......we are a boring and nerdy couple!   I can't believe the things that we find enjoyment in.

Here's another installment of random pictures that we took the last couple of days.  If you didn't figure out yet that we are boring and nerdy.....here's another chance:

This picture was taken and sent to Aaron and Shay to show them that I loved my Christmas present from them and found a place to hang it!

 

Having problems with the video loading....in case it doesn't....

here's a picture of it (you can also find it on my Facebook page)

 

 

This is Paul trying out his new Kanga Boots.  No words necessary for this one, except I hope that he doesn't break his neck!

 

The next few pictures are of our project of gluing and framing our awesome puzzle. 

Why in the hell did I even take these?

 The old Pizza Zone gift cards worked amazing at spreading the glue

into every crack and crevice of the puzzle

 Here it is......all framed and ready to hang in our exercise room!

(or the room that we hope to have finished and finally turned into an exercise

room and a place for Paul to use his Kanga Boots)

 

 Found these in the grocery store the other day and had to share this picture with my

Cheeze-it loving son.  I think they finally made my FAVORITE flavor of Cheeze-its!

 I also sent this picture to tempt him with these crunchy squares of cheesy goodness

 When we were in Las Vegas in January, we ate at an Irish Pub in Mandalay Bay and tried something new.....Cauliflower Au Gratin.  Well, it just happened to be one of the most delicious things we had ever eaten.....so Google found me The Barefoot Contessa's recipe....and last night I made it.

 This is Wrigley.  She is always right under my feet when I'm doing anything, so I decided to take a picture of her last night while I was cooking.

 Here's the cauliflower ready to go in the oven. It had Cauliflower, a white sauce made with Gruyere Cheese and Parmesan cheese, and topped with shredded Gruyere and breadcrumbs.  Can you say delicious?

 This was all that was left after dinner.  We ate simple last night....Cauliflower Au Gratin and Baked Sweet Potatoes......awesome dinner.

And last, but not least, these are the kinds of picture my husband sends me.  We have a catering order Wednesday morning of Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo and he was showing me how many servings fit in the catering tray.

Yes.....we have a strange and weird life.  But I seriously wouldn't trade it for anything!

Progress has begun

As we've been wrestling with our decision whether to buy a new house or stay.....we finally made the first step towards getting this place back in shape.

We'd love a new house with a pool, but for now we're going to wait and see how much we love our house after we get it all fixed up.  We are so close to having the house paid off, we hate the thought of starting another mortgage.  We've also discussed doing minor renovations and renting out this house and moving.

But as of right now......we've started moving this house out of the 1980's and into the 2000's.

We had two different companies come out today and quote us to do new siding, new roof, new gutters, windows, and a new storm door.

Once we've picked the right company to do the job.....we begin the process of picking colors, picking siding, picking shingles, picking the type of gutters, picking out a storm door.

 

Can't wait to see it once we're done.  This will pretty much take care of the entire exterior of our house.  We'll have to work on some landscaping after that and get rid of the ugly backyard.

After all that is done......we begin the task of 3 bathrooms remodeled, all rooms painted, new carpeting upstairs and the stairs, kitchen remodel, new tile and wood floors downstairs, and new furniture.  Don't have much on that list at all......NOT!  We're pretty much going to have a brand new house once we're done.

So many things to do and so many decisions to be made both personally and professionally.  Sometimes I just don't want to think about anything important.

Well.....back to work

Waffles and a Puzzling Update?

I have a confession.  I have always wanted a waffle maker.  But I've never really eaten many waffles, nor have I ever made them at home.

While out shopping for stocking stuffers at Christmas time......I ran across this little waffle maker that makes 4 waffle sticks at a time.  And.....it was only $10!

I thought "what a deal" and if I find out I don't like making waffles.....I don't have that much money invested in it.

So last night I decided waffles and bacon for dinner.  I even tried cooking the bacon in the oven for the first time.  I've been cooking it in the microwave, but it was still a little time consuming.

Checking on the waffles and I was surprised at how nice and fluffy they were.

Mixed up a little butter with cinnamon and vanilla......and they were incredibly delicious. 

Verdict:  I'm going to keep my little cheap waffle maker.....these were perfect!

We finished our puzzle the other night.  Now I just need to glue it together with puzzle glue and frame it.....and it will proudly hang in our exercise room.

While I was at the store buying the glue......I also found our next two puzzle projects:

 The perfect puzzle for two bookworms (and it was marked down for clearance....what a deal!)

And the perfect puzzle for my license plate art obsession (and our map obsession)

.....in addition to being another puzzle marked down on clearance!

 

Now......need to find the spare time to get these puzzles built!

All things dog related

It was awesome to find someone to take care of our dog while we were gone to Vegas and Tucson this month.  I hate boarding places.  I wanted her to have a place where someone would love her and she would feel like she was safe and could run around.  We got lucky and found the perfect person.

She even sent us lots of pictures while we were gone so we could see how much fun Wrigley had while we traveled.

I got pictures of Wrigley making friends with the family and enjoying a day at the park

 I got pictures of Wrigley getting a belly rub

 

 I got pictures of Wrigley taking a nap after her walk to school

 I got a picture of a dog in a Target ad that looked very similar to her. 

 I got a picture of her being spoiled and getting to take a nap on Vanessa's lap while she studied

 And I got a picture of the little girl enjoying her new dog I brought her back from Tucson so she wouldn't miss sleeping with Wrigley every night.  (I really love how Cherry Nose the dog already has a new name and a new hat)

I'm so glad we have found someone to watch her when we go out of town.  I don't have to worry about her.  Of course, it was perfect to have Cris stay here and take care of her.....he was free :-)

And since this is a story about the dog.....I am sharing what she did the other night while I was making dinner.....she tore the stuffing out of a comforter and put my shoe on the sofa (??? not sure why she grabbed the shoe???)

Well as if she hadn't had enough fun the first night, I walked out of the kitchen to this............

Yes.....this time she tore the stuffing out of a quilt and once again put a shoe on the couch (????).  I'm not sure why she keeps putting a shoe up there, however, this time she had to go and get the shoe out of the box I keep them in so she won't get them. 

Seriously, our dog has a problem.

Our last couple of weeks....some good times & some bad times

The last two weeks have been crazy.

And I'm so glad to be back home after so many days sleeping in different cities.

 

Aaron and Shay left to go home to Albuquerque on Sunday.

We left for a 5 day trip to Vegas.

 

The first 3 nights were spent on the strip

This was the view that we discovered in the shower when we arrived at the Flamingo.

 

They responded quickly to our phone call and came it cleaned up.

However, this is why we chose this particular hotel.........

The view of the strip!  We loved laying on the bed with the lights off and watching all the action below.  That's Caesar's Palace right across from us and the fountain was just a little to the left.  The curtains opened and closed with a switch next to the bed......so we could wake up every morning and open the curtains from bed.

 

The Flamingo Hotel had an awesome outdoor area with, of course.......Flamingos!

We saw a show each evening beginning with:

 Cirque de Soleil: Beatles Love at the Mirage

Raiding the Rock Vault at the Tropicana

V: the Variety Show at Planet Hollywood

After 3 nights on the strip......we shifted to stay downtown at the D Hotel.  We had a 32nd floor corner room and the view at night from two sides was unbelievable.

We spent the last night trying to earn back some of what we'd spent.

We didn't get it all back......but we each had a lucky streak that gave us some of it.

We hopped on the plane at 12:30AM to fly back home.  Our plane was set to land at 5:30 am.  Needless to say, we slept on the plane. 

However, our trip to Vegas this year did not give us much excitement and fun as past trips.  We got the news of Phil and needed to make plans to get to Tucson.  It was nice to get home and spend time with the family again, however, there was also sadness for the reason we had to go.

Our family loved Phil.  The highlight of every trip was the time that we would get to spend hanging out at their house.  Many more words to write.......but not ready to put them down yet.

Three days in Tucson was well spent, but then I needed to get home.  I was ready.

I sure did miss Pizza Zone pizza.  Paul made me this Muffaletta for dinner this week.  Had too much work to try and get done when I got home.

We sampled a Cherry Pie Pizza.  I can't describe how delicious this was.  I think it's going to be featured in February and a temporary item.  It's Washington's birthday month.....get the connection?

This is my house 3 days after getting home.  I still had 3 suitcases to unpack, a travel bag to unpack, Wrigley's backpack that she took to "camp" with her, and boxes of stuff that got delivered:

There's also the stockings from Christmas and a bag of wrapping paper (wth????) sitting in the living room that needs to be put away.

And of course it's the first of the month, W2 time, end of the quarter, tax time, and all kinds of other time that are just taking up too much of my time.

Oh yeah......and then I bought this thing online to work on when we got home from all the trips. 

Yeah right.......we're going to try and do a 1000 piece puzzle in the no spare time that we have.
We started it last night.

And the last thing we discussed last night was........working out the preliminary details to see if we can go to this in March:

I need to get my butt in gear

Some good news revealed -- but endings still unknown

Well Paul and I are not having a baby.....so no secret surprise news revealed there.

All news this week is related to Cris and Aaron and all are career related.

Cris got a visit this week from one of his higher ups and invited to post for an open position.  It's another Assistant Manager but at a 3x busier and bigger store.  That means more money and potentially bigger bonuses.  Nice news is.....it's even closer to where he just moved.  Only a couple of minutes from his house.  Sounds like a good step up for him.

We'll have to wait and see what happens.

Aaron posted for a Sales Rep job that opened up in Albuquerque.  He has an interview on Friday.  He really wants to take this next move in his career, as being a sales rep is one of the steps necessary in future "big wig" manager jobs.  Plus, it would be a lot closer to home for him since he wouldn't have to commute to Santa Fe every day.  Another plus is they provide him with a car and this job would involve taking customers out to eat a lot and getting to play golf a lot.  Sounds like his kind of job.

We'll have to wait and see what happens.

Lots of good news from the kids.  I'm a proud mama this week.