Day 6 - A photo of an animal you'd love to keep as a pet.

Day 5 will be coming...once I'm able to find a picture of me from two years ago that will copy onto blogger!

Animal I'd love to keep as a pet realistically of course is a cat. I love them they're cute, cuddly, purr, and sometimes moody. Dogs are great...but cats at least know when to be independent and do their own thing! All of you know by now I'm in love with Etsy. Best website! If I had a weaker sense of self-restraint I'd go crazy on it. In looking around I found the cutest cat who happens to be a short-haired kitty. I can't handle long haired cats...too much to vacuum!

 

Sassy Sangria Pet Sombrero

Best part about this PamperedWhiskers creations is a portion of the proceeds go to animal charities.

PaperedWhiskers even does hats that suit dogs or cats. Yes realistically I know no animal is going to keep this on for any length of time...but at least for halloween maybe? lol One of my other favorites is this number:

 

The Crown Jewels pet crown hat and collar

The cat looks like he's going to kill someone any minute. Goes perfectly with the crown in my opinion! 

If I could have any type of dog I would either go for a Shetland Sheep Dog or a Labrador retriever. But I lean more towards getting a cat at the moment. ;-)

Day 4 - Your favorite photograph of your best friend

I'd say the below photo kind of says it all:

Paul with his big white lens at Biopark Light display. It was 9 degrees that day...really cold!

When I think of Paul I think of his photography. He was just really getting into it when we met. If you were to look at our living room normally you'd see his mini-studio set up with the umbrella, flash stand, and tripod for camera ready for his latest project. I guess growing up with two sisters who are photographers I'm used to it. Luckily now I have my Nook so if he decides to take 20 minutes photographing flowers I can plop down and enjoy a good book! :D

This weekend we're going to the Trinity Site 2 hours south of here. They open it up to visitors on the 1st Saturday of April and the 1st Saturday of October. We keep saying we're going to go see it (because how often do you get to see the place where they exploded the first atomic bomb!) but last year Easter was that weekend, then in October we had balloon fiesta.

Also I promised pictures of our couch. It's darker and a little bigger than I remembered it but I think it goes well as we have a lot of black furniture with Paul's sound system and our TV.

I like the pillows with it...but I think a solid sunflower yellow might also look really cute. Only problem we've had is the couch is a static magnet! I already have a ton of hair all over it and whenever you sit on it you can hear the static. I'm hoping it will go away in a few days cause sitting on your couch should not be a shocking experience! lol

I also like these pillows I found on Etsy (Becca got me addicted to the site!) but Paul thinks they're silly:

 Cozy pillow cases

Aren't they adorable? :D

Day 3: Your idea of a perfect date

My idea of the perfect date...that's a tough one. Sadly our internet connection has been horrible these past 6 months and right now it's not letting me upload pictures...so I might post them later! :-D


I know one of my favorite dates Paul and I have been on actually happened when I was sick. Around Christmas I got the flu really bad and was at home for a good week. On day four of the week I was feeling somewhat better with major cabin fever so we decided to go to Outback Steakhouse and looking at Christmas lights at the Albuquerque biopark gardens. Very pretty at night and the temperature wasn't too bad out. I regretted the outing the next day, however, because I felt horrible again.

Another recent date we went on happened in February. We were bored and decided to drive through the Jemez Mountains. They hadn't had a lot of snow at all this winter so it was easy sailing. Bummer part was the snow they did have had turned to ice on the side of the road so I couldn't pelt Paul with snowballs...mwhahaha! We then stopped at Tomasita's in Santa Fe as we continue our loop back down I-25 to Albuquerque. Tomasita's has a limited menu but they do an amazing job at what they offer. I'm normally not a fan too much of red Chile but theirs was really good.

But if I could pick the perfect date I'd say seeing a musical and going out for a good steak/Italian food would be at the top of my list. Musicals on my list to see are:
- Fiddler on the Roof (coming to town April 15th - 17th)
- Grease (May 13th - 15th)
- Westside Story
- Wicked (it came in January but we didn't get to see it)
- The Lion King
- American Idiot (only out of curiosity I must admit I've never listened to Green Day much but the idea sounds fun)
- The Phantom of the Opera
- Spamalot

Day 2 - A photo of something you ate today.

So I totally spaced and didn't take a photo of the lovely food July and I had at lunch yesterday. We went to Orchid Thai Cuisine (an awesome place good pick July!) near the UNM campus before dropping her off for class. Fun times and great lunch. I had the pinapple shrimp while she had the pinapple chicken. Both looked fantastic and I was glad we said medium spice because it was just enough kick (made up for the Martha Stewart Greek Salad the night before lol)!

Afterwards I continued on the apartment hunt...the ones we really want have a wait till July at the earliest so it's a no go for them. Found some other options and decided I needed an afternoon snack. In keeping with my tropical theme I got this:

It is a Tropical Tango smooth from Dairy Queen's Orange Julius. I'd never heard of this off branch of Dairy Queen till coming here so it was a welcome surprise to have Dairy Queen type treats here in New Mexico.

Tomorrow our couch gets delivered!!! I'll post pictures for sure when it is received! ;-)

Day 1 - A photo of yourself and a description of how your day was.

So since yesterday wasn't entirely finished I decided to post Day 1 today. I'll also do Day 2 since I'm going out to eat with July today. :-)

 At Geeks Who Drink from Right to Left counter clockwise: George, Jessica, Mark, Paul, and me.

Yesterday was the first day I've had off (other than being sick which doesn't count) since October so it was very nice. Paul was a tad loud getting ready so I didn't really sleep in as planned, but instead watched part of the Today Show before getting bored. I then started reviving my long dead blog and decided this challenge would be a good idea.

I read some more of a wonderful book I'm reading by Pope Benedict called Jesus of Nazareth where he is examining parts of the Gospels breaking them down bit by bit. Crazy thing is he says this is his first volume and hopes to live long enough to complete the rest! I'm thinking after only reading 100 pages excitedly there's more?! He's a wonderful author and I'd recommend the read for any Christian as a meaty dig into the life of Jesus especially during Lent as we prepare for Easter. One part he goes into is the temptation of Jesus in the desert for 40 days and how Satan at the second temptation says:

"For he will be given his angels charge of you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone" (from Psalms 91:11)

Jesus replied to this by saying:

"You shall not put the Lord your God to the test." (From Deuteronomy 6:16.)

Benedict goes on to explain our modern day lesson from this exchange to be the following:

"The issue, then, is the one we have already encountered: God has to submit to experiment. He is "tested," just as products are tested. He must submit to the conditions that we say are necessary if we are to reach certainty....We are dealing here with the vast question as to how we can and cannot know God, how we are related to God and how we can lose him. The arrogance that would make God and object and impose our laboratory conditions upon him is incapable of finding him. For it already implies that we deny God as God by placing ourselves above him, by discarding the whole dimension of love, of interior listening: by no longer acknowledging as real anything but what we can experimentally test and grasp. To think like that is to make oneself God and to do that is to abase not only God, but the world and oneself, too."

The beauty of how Benedict breaks down the Gospels makes you pause at moments otherwise cast aside. I don't believe in the above statement Benedict is saying doubt is wrong but rather he is challenging us that not everything can be grasped and tested.

I also cleaned a good deal of our house as it was in desperate need of it. We kind of got lazy this past week and didn't do much as far as cooking or cleaning so I planned out a menu. On tap for dinner was a Greek Salad with chicken and chickpeas. Sounded good in theory as I saw it on my new favorite magazine Martha Stewart: Everyday Food (who knew I'd get into Martha Stewart right? lol) but the chickpeas weren't all that good in the salad and it kind of lacked pizazz.

After dinner it was off to our weekly meeting with our two friends Jessica and Mark for Geeks Who Drink, a trivia game at a local pub. We split our favorite desert there a chocolate fudge brown with ice cream and walnuts while savoring Merlot for Paul and Strawberry beer for myself. The trivia night is composed of 8 rounds of 8 questions each where you work in groups of up to 6 to answer the obscure questions. Round One for example was all about Germany. Did you know Munich is not the second largest city in Germany? Bonus points to whoever can tell me the correct answer! lol ;-)

Our team ended up coming in 1st place which hasn't happened in the past 3 weeks (we've been missing our teammates due to work and writing papers). It was nice to have the Fab Five as we called ourselves together!


Now it's off to exchange pants we bought Saturday with a hole in them already, rent a good movie, eat lunch with July, play at the Apple Store, and get my toe nails done! :-)

Getting back into blogging

So it's been a while...more like over 6 months but who is counting lol! I could probably think of a lot of excuses as to why I haven't been blogging but truth be told life is crazy at times and I was too busy to compose a worthy blog.

Paul and I have been good in that time though. Not as much spontaneous traveling around as we'd like, but hopefully summer will change that. We're hoping to go to Colorado Springs some time this summer...although we currently only have 3 free weekends to do it in! It's only March and already our summer is booked!

I have a new job I start April 4th which will be nice for a lot of reasons. It was a good change to make. Paul commented to me last night he hasn't seen me this happy since before I took my now previous job (my last day was Friday March 25th). I guess I hadn't realize how much a toll some of the stresses of that job were taking. I'm excited for this new opportunity as it will be closer to home and with a more structured work environment. I'll be working as a dental receptionist...not what I went to school for but I enjoy working with children and I'm very comfortable with dental terminology.

I've kind of almost given up on finding the perfect teaching job. They just aren't out there and the ones that are have been taken by people making teaching a second career. Our life is about more than finding the perfect job and I've decided if I had stuck it out at my previous job waiting for that perfect teaching job it would have never happened.

I have a week's vacation thankfully. This morning I'm still in PJs (something I haven't done in months!) and taking it easy. So with this new job I hope to get better about several things including blogging. Sometimes it's the only way I can keep track of some of y'all. I'm starting a 30 day blog challenge which I think will help me with this goal.

Day 1 - A photo of yourself and a description of how your day was.
Day 2 - A photo of something you ate today.
Day 3 - Your idea of the perfect date.
Day 4 - Your favorite photograph of your best friend.
Day 5 - A photo of yourself two years ago.
Day 6 - A photo of an animal you'd love to keep as a pet.
Day 7 - Your dream wedding.
Day 9 - A photo of the item you last purchased.
Day 10- A photo of our favorite place to eat.
Day 11 - Your favorite book.

Day 12 – A photograph of the town you live in.

Day 13 – Your favorite musician and why?

Day 14 – A TV show you’re currently addicted to.

Day 15 – Something you don’t leave the house without.

Day 16 – Your celebrity crush.

Day 17 – A photo of you and your family.

Day 18 – Something you crave a lot.

Day 19 – Random Day!

Day 20 – The meaning behind your blog name.

Day 21 – A photo of something that makes you happy.

Day 22 – A letter to someone who has hurt you recently.

Day 23 – 15 facts about you.

Day 24 – A photo of something that means a lot to you.

Day 25 – What’s in your purse?

Day 26 – A photo of somewhere you’ve been to and somewhere you want to go.

Day 27 – A picture of you last year and now and how have you changed since then?

Day 28 – Your favorite movie.

Day 29 – Something you could never get tired of doing.

Day 30 – A photograph of yourself today + three good things that have happened in the past 30 days

It's almost July! Really?!?!

So once again life has gone crazy! Literally this is the first weekend since April that we're doing absolutely nothing! Well I say absolutely nothing but that's not quite right we are celebrating our anniversary! This past weekend June 20th was the official date, but we decided with all the craziness it was best to celebrate it this weekend. So on Saturday we're going to see Toy Story 3 and eat at St. Clair Winery and Bistro. Pictures to come! :-)

So here's a few of the happenings for this past month:

June 3-6: Mom/Grandmother visit

- My Mom and Grandmother decided to come in town to visit for a few days and they just so happened to pick one of the hottest weekends of the month! We hit 100 degrees plus every day so it was difficult to do anything outside but we still had a blast though. We went up to the Sandia Mountain twice once at sunset which was really pretty. The second time we took the tram because my Grandmother wanted to eat at a restaurant at the top called High Finance. Wonderful food all around and a great view. And of course we couldn't pass up going shopping! ;-)

June 11-13: Young adult retreat

- Our young adult group through St. Thomas Aquinas Parish had a retreat up at the Glorieta Conference Center in Glorieta, NM. It was great to get away from life for a few days and just focus on becoming better followers of Christ. The weekend was about rejuvenation, forgiving others, forgiving ourselves, and making a better examination of conscious. The conference area was lovely. They have houses that people live in year around and I kept telling Paul it would be wonderful to live there. Then I remembered they're in the mountains that means they'd have really cold winters (with lots of snow!) and you have to drive one hour to get to Santa Fe, which is smaller than Abilene! So no we will not be moving to Glorietta it is off our list of places to live! lol

June 17-20: July's wedding shower/Mary's visit

- Mary, Paul's mother, came into town for July's wedding shower on June 19th and we had a lot of fun. We spent several evenings just sitting out in the backyard talking. I do enjoy having a backyard to enjoy summer nights in. That Saturday was July's shower and as usual her family knows how to throw a nice party. Plenty of fun meeting new people. Sunday was our anniversary so we decided to dig into our one year old wedding cake. Whoever packaged it at the reception must have thought the flowers were fake because they didn't remove them from the cake. So we opened up the box to discover a half frozen molded flower topper. Needless to say we only took two small bites each before determining it was more fun to slam cake into each other's faces. The cake tasted like frosting, amaretto, and dead flowers. Not a good combination so we went out afterwards for ice cream at McDonald's with Jeff and Skye. We were going to drink some champange we received a year ago but it was chilled in the freezer a little too long and became a popsicle!

Other events of significances:

- We bought a new car! Zoom Zoom 1.0 (my 2000 Ford Contour which had its transmission replaced 2 years ago) needed its transmission replaced AGAIN so we decided it wasn't worth fixing. For Zoom Zoom 2.0 we decided upon a 2010 Honda Fit 1) Because of the gas milage rocked, 2) Because of the cargo room and easy, one-handed fold down seats, 3) Because of the consumer report ratings, and 4) Because the sales associate didn't try to hassle us like all the others (a sales tactic I know). Paul says I could be their spokesperson but it's true we love our new car! Just this weekend I was able to fit all of July's wedding gifts into the car with no problems!

Note: Hair will not be this long after Saturday because I finally decided to get a hair cut!

- We went to a Isotopes Baseball game with Jeff, July, and her family. I got a mega big margarita after being Paul's foot model for a good portion of the game. It was yummy!!!

So that was June in a very big nutshell! Hopefully July will calm down a bit...but I'm doubting it!