St. Patty's Day...kind of.

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Confession. I didn't wear green today. On the rare occasion that I come up with a cute outfit, I have to go with it (because I can wear scrubs to work and trust me, if I had more than 2 pairs, I'd wear them EVERY. DAY). So I decided to actually try to look put together (curse working in a department of all women who dress up). As a result I got pinched even after trying to explain that because I have Irish blood, I should get a free pass from pinching (Dude. Hello. Red hair and freckles. Need I say more? Well. Apparently that's not good enough. Lame). 

Also I realized that I didn't have any idea what I was making for dinner tonight. I mean I have about a zillion dinner ideas pinned on Pinterest but nothing "St. Patty's Day" appropriate. And, I don't do corned beef and cabbage. I am just not a huge fan. So I was zipping through Pinterest seeing what everyone else had pinned and whattayaknow but sister pinned shamrock pasta with pesto (thanks B!). GENIUS. So I decided spinach pasta with pesto and chicken topped with fresh parmesan cheese it would be! Friends. The smell of pesto. That aroma. Oh yummmmmm! So my impromptu-thrown-together dinner actually turned out well. And can I just say how much I love garlic bread? Holy catscans I could've eaten the whole loaf by myself. Whoever thought of garlic bread, thank you, you rock my taste buds's world.

I needed a break for a few minutes today and googled miniature schnauzer puppies for sale and I found THIS ADORABLE guy. For sale. In San Antonio!!! Have I mentioned how badly I want a miniature schnauzer?

OHIWANTHIM!!!!!!!!!! I died from his cuteness. I just want to squeeze him he's SO cute!!!

*sigh* Anyway.
Last Monday I came home from work early because I felt horrible. I was reading up on some blogs I hadn't read in a while and I happened to be reading this post from NieNie where she talks about comfy, soft leggings from The Jean Girl and I don't know if it was the cold medicine or the exhaustion but I decided to check it out and all of the sudden I realized that I had bought leggings. What? Here's the thing. Crazy, patterned leggings are a stretch for me. Women who wear them amaze me because I just think it's too much for me. I tend to keep my style conservative. But since I've gotten married I have discovered I'm a little more bold and risk taking with clothes. I guess being married gives me confidence. So when I got home I had a lovely package waiting for me! 

NO joke. They are WICKED comfortable. As in I could wear these 24/7. I even made Mark feel them. So I bought them with the intent that I could work out in them, ya know like yoga, but I think they may also be my new favorite lounge-wear. I don't know if I'm brave enough to wear them out. Yet. Or ever. I just don't know. I mean what shirt do I wear? And what shoes? Friends I'm not a fashionista. I guess I can go google what to wear with leggings. I mean do you dress them up? Heels, really? Really? Eh...I don't know. But anyway, I'm so in love I bought--eh hem--3 more pairs. Check them out. You won't be disappointed. 

 Next.
For Christmas I got Mark a drawing table. Mark is an INCREDIBLE artist. He's drawn me a few pictures and they are amazing (and I have several more for him to draw; I keep him busy!). He's too modest about it and far too critical of his work, but he's truly talented! So I walked into the room to see what Mark was doing and he was sketching away. I love to watch him draw. Oddly, I find it very relaxing. And cool to see him at work. 

Off to bed! Cheers!

Yay it's May!

So. 

Let's recap. 

This may be a long post BUT it has lots of pictures (and yes, a lot of food pics. Don't pretend to be shocked)!!! That means it'll mostly be pictures with my commentary. Muahaha!

Ye have been warned. Birthdays are kind of A HUGE deal for me. The bigger I can make it, the better. My pal Amy had her 24th birthday on the 23rd and the day before I had brilliant ideas poppin' out of my brain cells. I couldn't wait. These are the results:

*Eh hem* FIRST of all friends, let me just say I made my own caramel...WITHOUT a candy thermometer. WHABAM! And it was great! The author of the recipe said I could do it and she was right. Boy I felt like a million bucks. Also I'm glad because otherwise I would have had to make a late night trip to Wally-world (eh...) for caramels to melt (aka the cheapo way). Well, thank goodness it worked. 

 I felt it completely necessary that I "taste test" some so I put it atop some leftover brownies I had in the freezer and then thought, "what the heck?" and topped it with some sea salt and whipped cream, or "keem" as my darling nieces used to call it. Delish friends, DEE.LISH.

Now the point of making the caramel? Well, Amy's favorite candy bar, or one of, is Twix and I had pinned (I will admit, I am a Pinterestaholic. Yup. *no shame*) a homemade Twix recipe months ago and now had a reason to make them! YES! So I made 'em, cut up in attempt to make them kinda, sorta look like Twix bars and then got all crazy (this is what happens when I am scheming, the ideas just FLOOOOOW. It's amazing) and decided to wrap them up so they looked like candies. 

AND THEN. I decided that Twix bars weren't enough, because, like I said, I like to go ALL OUT on birthdays. I decided to make some peanut butter pudding cookies. Amy and I had made these together months ago and I remember us both devouring them so I thought these would be a hit. Instead of peanut butter chips, which I didn't have because I kind of decided to make them on the fly, I just used Reeses Pieces, peanut butter M&Ms, and chocolate chips. 

SOOOO YUMMY! And you know I taste tested that dough about 5 times. I gave her 24 cookies and she was kind enough to share. Mmmmm! 

THEN. And this was the AHA! moment I had right before I left work on Monday and decided to gather all my goods to super surprise Amy on Tuesday: decorate her desk/half of our office. Oh I was bursting with excitement! I got to work super early and decorated and was so nervous she would come in extra early (she always beats me) and I would be in the middle of decorating. Well, as it turns out she was running late and ended up getting in loooong after I had finished. Thank goodness. She was surprised and I was pleased. 

Now we decided to throw a birthday bash on Saturday and I got all crazy and made spinach dip (from a packet but it was from Mark from this fabulous store in Texas!) with homemade pita chips, and, now this is a big deal, guacamole. For the first time. By myself (which means without the guidance of Mark, who showed me how to make it). Now I realize it's not rocket science but I'm a baker, ok? This means I like specific amounts with specific ingredients and clear cut instructions. Cooking is a little more lenient in amounts and ingredients so I was a little nervous making this for the first time, and for a party no less. Fortunately, Mark is amazing and walked me through about 5 times. He even Skyped with me while I made a test batch. Yes he is that awesome. And yes I am pathetic. It's the curse of perfectionism. 

THEN. In my attempts to get back into making dinners more consistently that are a little more wholesome than a PB/honey sandwich, cereal, or a Greek yogurt, I found a super easy salad recipe which involved black beans, corn, romaine lettuce, cherry tomatoes, and a homemade cilantro-lime dressing. Friends, it's off the hook good. I added some spicy tilapia and whoa buddy it was good. YAY for leftovers! 

This shouldn't be anything new but I just am not feeling running as of late. I don't know why. Actually I do. April, well, after April 10th, April and I were not on good terms. No siree. Work sucked the life out of me (you work 3 weeks straight sans a day off and tell me how you feel. Yeah that's what I thought), I was recently asked to be the director of a girls camp my church does every year and usually the director is given this assignment months ago and I have kind of been thrown into the whirlwind of planning (with a mere 2 months to go until camp) while trying to get myself up to speed, plan, etc. etc. etc., while trying to maintain my personal sanity. This is no small task. I believe many of you would say, "Welcome to being an adult" or "Welcome to reality. Yeah well...fine. At least hand me some more cheese for my whining. Provolone preferably. Or sharp Havarti. 

I was talking to Amy, who is running a marathon this weekend and another in Philadelphia in November. I was telling her I didn't really want to run the Myrtle Beach mini-marathon (half marathon; I don't know why they call it a mini-marathon because there is nothing mini about 13.1 miles thankyouverymuch) in October. I didn't like the course and, I donno, just wasn't feeling it. Amy suggested I run the half marathon in Philly when she runs the full. 

DONE. I am slightly more motivated though probably not until after the chaos of June is over. But still. Now I have a goal. AND it's my first distance race. We're making a little trip out of it and driving up with a group of friends, a few others who are running the half and a few coming to cheer us on. I am pumped! And you better believe I will be running up the Rocky stairs! 

Next month this cutie will be back in NH to live with my brother and sister-in-law permanently. I'm a little heartbroken because I love him so, but I think it'll be better for him: more room to run around and two people to care for him. So I busted out his dreaded carry-on bag to get him ready for the flight home. I can already feel my stress level rising. 

Per the request of Amy, I made rolo cookies for her because this week has been a bust for us both. Like I'd turn down a request for cookies and the opportunity to bake. NEVER! 

And now for today. I had yesterday and today off. Yesterday was devoted to errands and today was my fun day. I let my mane go free--and it was windy so I looked like a human Mufasa--and busted out my mint cords and loafers, and you know that means I'm in for some serious fun. 

The fun started with Iron Man 3. Dude. First showing of the day cost me a whoppin' $4.75. That pleased me GREATLY. And hooooooly catscans it was a GREAT flick. Robert Downey Jr. is one of, if not my favorite actor. This role was made for him. Go see it. You will not be disappointed! Then I went to get froyo for lunch. It's been awhile since I had some. I got hazelnut, chocolate, and vanilla froyo and topped it with--ready for this??--chocolate chips, brownie bits, chocolate-covered pomegranate seeds, cocoa puffs (why not??) and topped it off with chocolate jimmies (or for those of you not from New England, chocolate sprinkles). Ooooooh yes I loved it! AND this makes me SO excited to go home in June to a) see Heath and Emma and my New England family and b) go to Lagos, the best ice cream place EVER. I'm drooling already. OHMYLANTUSIMSOEXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Then I decided to "pop in" to Anthropologie. Right. Pop in. Ha. I don't shop at Anthro for their clothes. Not quite my style, though cute. I shop for their kitchen stuff, sometimes home stuff, and random books/literature/note pads/writing stuff. I honed in on this cup and plate (pictured left) when I walked and I ended up walking up with that plate because I have an obsession with nautical stuff and therefore I had to have it. I also loved these little ceramic sailboats (pictured right), but what would I really do with them? Eh. Not worth $24. But still cute. 

LOVED this tape dispenser.  

And my eyes popped out of my head a little when I saw these AH-dorable sticky notes. And hello! There were 480 in there! But I told myself I have enough stationary/sticky notes (For now. But that's a lie. It was a tactic to talk myself out of them and it worked...this time). 

 Then I got home and the top I had ordered for my new bathing suit had arrived!!! My new suit is ready! Now, woman to woman--or hey if you're a man, woman to man but let's face it, what I am about to tell you is probably more exciting and understood by a woman--I had to order a smaller size in my bathing suit bottom. Yeah. I almost died with happiness. You know that feeling right? Oh yes. AMAZING. 

Now. May I please just tell you how much I adore my brothers. I can't even tell you. There are no words except to say I am the luckiest sister ever. I love and adore and admire these fine men. They are some of the best friends I will ever have. 

Heath (on the left) graduated from Brigham Young University the end of April in Electrical Engineering (WAHOO!!!!!), was accepted to the University of New Hampshire's law program, and got a scholarship. I am SO freakin' proud. And I get to see him and his fabulous wife in a month. We're going to have some serious sibling time. I CANNOT wait. 

Dane (on the right) is rockin' and rollin' as a missionary for our church--The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He is doing very well and I am SO proud of him. You can read about his experiences and adventures here.  

Finally, OneRepublic came out with a new album in March and friends, it is AAAMAZING. I LOVE IT. Michael Buble also came out with a new album in April, but, to be honest, I like OneRepublic's better, at least right now. And I found a really cool recipe for homemade rosemary soft pretzels. I think I'll give 'em a try tonight. And I thumbed through a macaroon recipe book at Barnes and Noble today (and used my iPhone to snap some of the recipes; does that make me a bad person? I did't want the whole book!), and I think I might try to make some macaroons tonight, or tomorrow. Hmm...baking and listening to OneRepublic? Yup that sounds like a swell evening to me!

Today is the day of lists

I'm a list person. I have To-Do lists, a bucket list, shopping lists, to-get lists, lists of books to read, music to get, places to go, lists of birthday present ideas. I like lists.

So, alas, a list:

1. I'm about to get on my soap box for 3 minutes. Three. That's all. I walked into a patient's room today to ask a quick question and the patient told me they were a nutritionist. Now, I mean no offense to nutritionists. You are great people, I am sure. But it does make my blood simmer a little when I encounter some nutritionists. SOME. NOT ALL. It's like a med student vs. a doctor. Sure you know stuff and have learned stuff and have researched stuff, I'm not discounting that. But please don't diss my hard work and my credentials that I worked wicked hard to get. You see, anyone can claim to be a nutritionist, but it's against the law to claim to be a dietitian without the proper schooling, training, and credentials. I worked hard for this so don't discount that. It was interesting. That is all. And now I am done. *steps off box*

2. This is what I wanted to do today:

Yes, face plant into a pillow and go to bed. It was a long day. A stressful day. Not a bad day, but just a tiring and exhausting day. Scotty is a cutie isn't he?

3. Hi. I'm 25 and my favorite afternoon snack is peanut butter and graham crackers OR graham crackers and applesauce. Just stick me with the toddlers; we'll get along great. 

BUT. Check THIS out!!!! Twice this month I randomly broke my crackers (for better dipping of course) and randomly got these shapes:

  

Vermont and New Hampshire!

This made me a little bit homesick for New England. Gosh I miss that place. I love it so.

4. I have an obsession with anchors. It might be kind of silly but they've become a symbol to me. They remind me of home, of my beloved New England--there is something so majestic and captivating about that placec. I have an anchor necklace and I wear it almost every day; it's a little piece of home I have with me and it just means a lot. Anchors also remind and motivate me to not only stand but to be anchored in holy and good places. And, they just make me happy. I saw this on etsy and fell in love. Had to have it!

5. I am going to attempt to knit a blanket/throw and my friend let me borrow her knitting needles that she used to make one. These are the biggest knitting needles I have ever seen. IN MY LIFE. 

And now, a funny story. I got the needles from my friend right before I had my staffing meeting so I quickly grabbed them from her and tried to stealthy walk into the meeting with the needles in my lab coat pocket. Yeah, well, I couldn't exactly be discreet with 16 inch needles protruding from my pocket so I slide into my seat and tried to hide them in my lap only to hear Dr. W say, "Uh. Gabe. Are you planning on hunting vampires?" Bahahaha! The meeting stopped and I had to explain myself but don't worry, for the rest of the meeting (which lasted about 2 hours), the topic of my stakes, er, knitting needles persisted. And let me tell you, Dr. W was in fine form that day-the jokes! 

6. Confession. I rarely indulge in retail therapy. Rarely. And if I do, I don't go crazy, honest. And rarely do I buy clothing. Usually shoes. Or hair stuff. Or, my favorite, cooking/baking-ware/home goods. Today, however, I had an unplanned, though much needed, therapy sesh. I went to Williams-Sonoma looking for a kitchen gadget...but sadly they had run out of it so I decided to just (riiiight) check out Anthropolige. Well. Check out I did! I can honestly say I have never purchased an article of clothing from them but I do like their home goods section, specifically their dishes. I was wondering around the bowls and cups and all of the sudden I spotted an oven mitt with anchors on it. HAD TO HAVE IT. AND THEN! I found a matching apron. Done. I also found a cute bowl to add to my collection and a new hot chocolate mug that I fell in love with.  

I am so pleeeeeeeeeeased!!!!!!!

I love the colors, the patterns, everything!

And then I suddenly felt much better. Aaaaah nothing like a good retail home goods therapy. I was tempted to go home and bake something BUT, I had other things to do. 

So, that concludes the end of my list. For now. This girl is off to do some packing for a weekend trip! Yay!

My day in pictures and stories

This post may be all over the place because that's kind of how my mind and my day has been today.

For starters I'm pleased to tell you the cookies I mentioned from the last post actually came out pretty well. Just don't eat them fresh out of the oven (which I don't like doing anyways. Hot cookies? Yuck.). I substituted half the butter with Greek yogurt (one of my favorite substitutions) and the peanut butter with PB2. The PB2 isn't as sweet as regular peanut butter so the cookies, therefore, weren't as sweet as I've known them to be. It's not bad, just different. I ended up adding about 1/4 cup of regular smooth peanut butter to the last 2-3 batches and those ones tasted better. Anyway, the staff liked them a lot. And they were healthier. And soft. And moist. Yum. Score!

Now yesterday I came home from work and fell asleep for about 50 minutes and woke up to my neighbor's obnoxious chihuahua barking. And not just freaking out barking but he would bark three times and pause for 2 minutes and bark three times. I wanted to kill him because a) it was annoying as ever and b) caused my dog to whine, whimper, growl, and bark as he ran around my apartment in frustration. Grrr......So I walked outside to make sure everything was ok and I think my neighbor and his girl were arguing. Ooooh a little drama next door! (Maybe?) After about 40 minutes the stupid dog stopped. I was NOT happy. And I think I got overheated when I was napping so I felt sick. Sad day. And I really wanted bread but I didn't have any, at least none that I wanted. I wanted french bread. 

So. I showered, felt better, and then made some bread. 3 hours later (@ 11:45pm), voila!, I had bread.

YUM. French bread=a very happy Gabe

Next.

When I was in college my roommate Emily (hi Emily!) had this great conditioner that made her hair look and smell AH-mazing: Matrix Sleek and Shine. So I tried it and I loved it and then for whatever reason I decided to move on to a different brand. I think I'm always looking for the brand that makes me hair look, smell, and feel amazing. Well, years later after being unsatisfied with most of the products I've tried, I one day had the brilliant idea to go back to this brand because so far, it's been the best. Well, this stuff is hard to find. 

No matter.

Amazon has everything AND I got shampoo and conditioner for the price of one. Score! 

And they arrived today. Good thing because when I washed my hair last night, I was sad. My conditioner is almost gone and I don't like my shampoo and my hair needs some TLC. 

Next. I checked my mail today and almost threw this out. 

What's this?. Another frozen yogurt place near me that I have a 50% coupon to and just have to go try?  Well darn... 

Then I went to yoga. I love Fridays because it's my yoga day and I think it's a swell way to end the work week. I had a really hard time concentrating tonight. I couldn't focus on anything, I found myself forgetting to breathe properly, and my quads are aching and I don't know why. It was a great practice but geez it was hard mentally. You see I was thinking about Clary and Drew and Noah today and how I can't wait to see them hopefully in the near future. And....

I met with my manager today because I've decided we need to revamp our patient menu and include more gluten free stuff so I pitched a few ideas to her. I'm excited. She's letting my take the reins on this. BUT she decided to take the time to go over my goals since our annual reviews are coming up (....).  Apparently she thought I hadn't met one of my goals, which technically was ok (according to her) since I can still play the "I'm-a-new-dietitian" card (muahahah). The goal is to do an activity each month with the rehab patients I work with on one of the floors. Little did she know I had completed my goal. Apparently I am supposed to tell her every month when I do this. I couldn't tell if she was surprised that I had done it and not mentioned anything to her or if she was slightly annoyed that I had done it and not mentioned anything to her. I didn't realize I was supposed to make a big deal out of it. Once again my independent nature works against me. Curses.

So that whole incident was playing through my mind. I don't know if I feel embarrassed, sheepish, or stupid. Either way, I did what I was asked so lesson learned. Be more vocal. (Still feel stupid).

So after yoga I decided to hit up World Market to browse and pick up some Ghiradelli chocolate chips because I am sick and tired of having to use low quality chocolate chips in my baking!!! NO MORE. Two bags of 36oz. Ghiradelli chocolate chips later and I am a happy woman. And so is my chocolate chip jar. 

As I was browsing I stumbled upon a few things I just had to have: 

*The Republic of Tea's Apple Cider Tea

*Zhen'as Gypsy Tea's Firelight Chai Herbal Red Tea (which I am sipping on now with a dash of milk and 2 packets of sweetener. Its' goooooood)

*THE BEST chocolate chips (one bag 60% cacao and one bag semi-sweet. Hallelujah!)

*Ginger

*Maple leaf cookie cutter

If you couldn't tell...

I am SO ready for fall.

I have decided that I have created a fall challenge for myself: make a fall-themed meal and dessert every weekend. Bring on the pumpkin, butternut squash, and apples (Macintosh please!!!), among other delicious things. 

Jeepers I can't wait for fall. Too bad tomorrow it's supposed to be 91. Gross.

And tomorrow is September 1st. My birth month. Let the month long celebrating begin!!!!

(The month long celebration idea started in college with my dear friend Shawna who celebrates her birthday the entire month. Brilliant! So I have adopted this practice and let me tell you, I am a fan). 

The Best Saturday... and other things

This past Saturday was one of the best ever: sleeping in (kind of), farmer's market, beach, frozen yogurt, minor league baseball game, and pizza at 10:30 at night. Great, great day.


Having Scotty here is wonderful. I am, happily, forced to get to bed at a reasonable hour (around 10pm) because I know I have to take him out around 6am. We go for a little jaunt around the neighborhood and he does his thing and then I have a nice leisurely morning to get ready and get to work. I like it. I think mornings are my favorite part of the day. Early mornings, before most people are up. However, Scotty doesn't share my desire to sleep in on the weekends so up at 6am sharp we were on Saturday morning. I went back to bed but it takes me forever to fall back asleep. I did manage to get in at least another hour though. Yay! I met my friends Allie, Marissa, and Jen at a farmer's market where I got some blueberries and tomatoes. Yum! I like tomatoes from farmer's markets much better than the store because they seem to last longer. At least that has been my experience. 


Then we headed to the beach. Now, let me just tell you it has been BLIMEY hot here. In the 90s + humidity so the heat index is in the 100s. It's suffocating. If I'm outside for longer that 2 minutes I start sweating. Gross. No one likes the feeling of sweat trickling down your back from just standing. Sick. I was unsure how long I would last at the beach, especially since I heard that the water around these parts feels like bath water. Nasty. Well, I met my pals there and we raced into the water.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah refreshing!!!!

Basically perfection. It was cool enough to refresh us but warm enough for us to bob, swim, bodysurf, and play in for a couple of hours. Despite copious amounts of SPF 50, I got burned. AND. Ooooohmylantus the amount of freckles that popped up on my face was incredible. I bet by the end of the summer (because I'll be back at the beach soon), my face will look like one giant freckle. I took my sunglasses off in the car and looked at my face and gasped. I haven't had this many freckles on my face since high school (when I actually had time to go to the beach more than once). Rock on! This was also my first time at the beach all summer. Pathetic I know but I blame working for several weekends in a row and rain on the weekends I had off. 

To cool off, because once we were 50 feet away from the water the temperature rose about 10 degrees, we headed to a new frozen yogurt place that opened up on Saturday: Orange Leaf (hello 14 flavors of goodness AND amazing toppings! HECK YES!). Let me tell you, this is the 3rd best frozen yogurt place I have been to in my life (1st is this aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahmazing place in San Diego and 2nd is this awesome place in Boston down by Fenway. I can't remember the name but I could take you there by memory). I had wedding cake, coconut, white chocolate, and chocolate peanut butter. I know. I know. A crazy mixture of flavors, but it was ooooooooooh sooooo good! Topped with chocolate chips and KitKats. I was one VERY happy girl. I will be a regular here. I went today after work...for dinner...BLISS!

Photo from here

While we were at the beach, some guy advertising for the minor league team the Pelicans came and gave us 4 free tickets to that evening's game. We decided to head home and shower and then we'd head to the game. I headed to Wal-Mart to get some groceries and necessities (including cherries on sale! SCORE!) and then Jen came over to meet Scotty and we met up with Allie and Marissa for the game. It was A BLAST. I can't wait to go again. We munched on Red Vines, Twizzlers, and sunflower seeds but after 4 hours we were starving so we headed to this great pizza joint called Mellow Mushroom and got a really good pizza: Cosmic Karma which is basically pesto, sun-dried tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, some feta. Oh yum! Yum! Yum! 

Then Jen drove me home and she put the top down on her convertible. Basically the best day ever.

Next. Let's talk about Scotty! He's had a lot of firsts in the past week. I gave him his first bath on Sunday. He took it like a trooper. He's not really a fan of baths but he never whines, just stands there irritated and a little apprehensive but he's squeaky clean, his coat is shiny and he smells good. He even let me trim off some of the knots he had in his coat and brush him! Scotty met some of my neighbors (older women) who oooohed and aaaaahed and cooed over how handsome and precious he is. He loved it. I don't think my neighbor with the chihuahua likes Scotty much buuuuut...I don't care. Scotty's better (I'm biased, I realize, but Scotty really is cooler. Just ask the neighborhood animals. They'll tell ya). Two nights ago Scotty woke me up at 2am. He does the sneezing thing over and over again to a) either get your attention or b) because he wants to go out. Because Scotty has not had an accident in the apartment (*fingers crossed it stays that way*) and not wanting to break the streak, I took him out...an outing that lasted for 20 minutes. Then I couldn't get back to sleep for about an hour. I was a little peeved when my alarm went off at 6am and Scotty wanted to go out again. He tried getting me to take him out at 2am again last night but that is one habit I am NOT supporting. Never in the 4 years that I have been around that pooch has he needed to go out at 2am. Not happening. Nipping that attempt in the bud. Nice try though.

And in other news...I am comfortably running 4-5 miles almost daily. I was going to run 7 miles last Saturday but the day's festivities dismissed that. I was going to try to run the 7 on Monday but my shoulders are burned and the thought of having a sports bra rub my burnt skin didn't appeal. AT ALL. I'll try again this weekend. My goal is to be able to run 9 miles but the end of the month. I got this. 

Now I must get to bed. 6am gets here faster than you think! 

My Guy Scotty

 Scotty has arrived. 

It's been quite a week!

He arrived Tuesday afternoon and my manager (who is AWESOME) let me leave early Tuesday to be there to meet him. Then, because I had worked ahead, she told me if I finished all my patients, I wouldn't need to come back. Fortunately, I finished early and was able to stay at home for the rest of the day. I'm so glad because I think he was a bit traumatized from the move and coming to a new place. It took him a few hours to get back to his normal self. I went crazy and bought treats and toys for him and he wasn't interested! For the love. I took him for a few walks and it was the cutest thing watching him trying to learn to hop down the curbs of sidewalks. You see, he's mostly blind. Well, according to the vet he's completely blind but I disagree; I think he's still got some peripheral vision because he stops himself justintheknickoftime before he runs into sprinklers, small trees, and other things. He was exploring like crazy but he's a blimey genius dog. Now when I say "let's go home" or "let's go inside" he knows where I mean. He's brilliant. He catches on quick!

So let me tell you, I love having him here. It's nice to have him to look forward to when I get home. He does the most darling snort dance and smothers me with kisses and yelps of joy. It melts my heart every time. Wednesday was a rough day for me though. I was fretting and worried sick about leaving him alone by himself for the first time. I left ESPN on and the AC so he would have "some company" and be cool (because it's, you know, in the 90s this week and with the humidity the heat index is somewhere in the 100s). I almost cried when I left Wednesday morning because I felt so bad. You want to see a puppy face, just tell Scotty you have to go and he shatters your heart. Boy I felt like a horrible person. So I rushed home and he was fine. Whew.

And he's been accident free so far! Then, I took him for a walk and he was great. I had to leave for a church youth group where I would only be gone for about an hour and half and I teared up. I just felt terrible leaving him alone! I'm betting I'm going to be one of those moms who cries the first night I go out with my husband and leave my first child with a babysitter. 

I still have a hard time leaving him to even go to the gym in my complex. It's going to take some adjusting but I hope he's happy here. Thank goodness there are a lot of grassy areas around my complex for him to run and sprint and I bought a long leash so he has some supervised freedom. He's used to at least an acre of land to run around care free in so I feel bad that he has to be leashed every time we go out. He does well with it.  

Among the many fun things I love about have Scotty are the little quirks he has. He likes to hide his treats so when I come home he might have one shoved behind a couch pillow or in between cushions. I went into my bedroom to change and in the corner of my room he left his treat. He's so funny! 

He's a great cuddle buddy.

He took a nap on me yesterday. 

And now when creepy old men hit on me at work, I can tell them I have special guy in my life. He's got salt and pepper hair, beautiful eyelashes (legit, they look like the late Amy Winehouse's eye lashes), he smothers me with kisses when I get home, and we go on long walks together. Sounds pretty grand right? He is. 

And They Will Live Happily Ever After

The festivities of June 2012 have nearly concluded. 

Let's recap, shall we?

Week One: Dane's graduation

The beaming grad. Yay!

Madre and Me

Week Two: Mom and Dan's wedding in California

Awww the cute love birds! 

My *parents*!

Week Three: Heath and Emma's wedding in Washington (state)

This is my fav ^

My brothers right before Heath left to help with the final wedding preparations. 

I love my brothers. 

Dane and I dressed and ready to go!
I secretly hated that dress. Bad decision on my part.

Nick and Heath: childhood best friends

Nick flew all the way from NH to attend Heath's wedding. If that isn't the epitome of a best friend, I just don't know what is. 

Week Four: Scotty arrives...on Tuesday!!!! T-minus 2 days

I got off the plane yesterday and headed straight to the pet supply store to get a leash, a proper walking harness, food and water bowls, and some starter treats. I am SO EXCITED!!! I got off the phone with our neighbors who are sending him off tomorrow morning and they gave me an excellent report. He's ready! 

I am so excited for my little "luce"!

Now. Today is Sunday and I'm jet-lagged upon jet-lag so I was feeling very lazy. But then I remembered that I have to make some good rolls for Wednesday because I'm teaching my church's young women youth group how to make a quick, yummy roll (because we're talking about our divine rolls...haha, get it??! Sorry, couldn't pass that one up!) and to do that I needed a good, easy recipe. I thought I found one a few weeks ago, buuuuut I wasn't satisfied. I was about to give up the hunt when I spotted a homemade French roll recipe.

 French bread? 

Say no more. 

Done and done.So I read the recipe (easy) and off I went!

DIVINE.

I pulled them out of the oven and didn't even wait for them to cool. I popped one steaming hot piece in my mouth. Crunch!, followed by a tender, chewy inside. I put a little buttah on it and oooooooooooh my lantus I was in heaven. So I had another. And then polished off a third and told myself that was enough. 

DIVINE rolls indeed!