Ellis & Olive

Crud. I keep forgetting to get better pics of Dunbar.

Sorry.
But to tide you over... I've got some great pics of [the dogs].

Wait - the third member of this groups isn't a dog. He's just my brother.
But, it was definite bonding time. They loved him!

These dogs are so dirty. They need baths in a major way. Their dark coats show every speck of dust, dirt and crumb.

Anyone want to do the honors?!
Anyone?

Day Two

Okay - my take on day 2.... I think I am going to like this disc, once I get more strength. My favorites? Heismans. I like the stuff happening around the 33 minute mark. I had time to only do half the disc this morning. I will, after my morning meetings, finish the second half AND go for a long bike ride. I did try every single move, but let me tell you... my knees are old. I am old. There's a lot going on up in here. lol... What I couldn't finish, I would do the Heisman or lunges across the room. Bottom line, I kept moving.

I am now eating breakfast (multi-tasking during a meeting, lol)... 1/4 cup egg whites, 2 handfuls of spinach, 3 large mushrooms (sliced), and 2oz of chicken (left over from last night). YUM!!

Day One

My brother showed up in the middle of my workout and had to show me up (for those that don't know, he's in the Army - 18.5 years)... AND then he proceeded to video tape me trying the AB workout. I know it's going to end up on YouTube (he's mad that I posted pics of him on FB and this blog). I was loud, I was crying. I gave everything I could. I was smart and modified where I knew I had to.

My push-ups suck, but I did 10 of my kind every single time they did push-ups. I at least TRIED everything they did, and then modified. Bottom line, I kept moving, did my stretches, etc. I got started early... but almost ran out of time due to an early morning meeting. But I made sure to take 10 minutes to make breakfast. I've already drank more water today then I did all of Friday, Saturday and Sunday!

Love is in the air....

Just getting a start on things around here...
I am sure there will be more to come as the day gets closer.

Here's a little tour...

I made a new wreath on Sunday morning before our guests arrived. It's with burlap garland ($5 at Michael's). I love it.

Because I still LOVE my "A" wreath - I have that hanging around.

 

Here's the front door area....

And my dad in the window.

But he's outside.

Kinda like an illusion.

Magic.

A view of the formal living room...

Another shot... regular color.

A glance at my other faux mantel.
The couch is going bye-bye. We were borrowing it from my parents, but they need it back.
So, we will need to decide what we want to do in there [finally].

That's it for now...
I lost my camera for 3 whole hours this weekend.
Not fun.
It was on my counter behind my Kitchen Aid mixer.
Silly me.

LOVE,
me.

[linking to COM and Itsy Bitsy Paper - links to the right]

What a Whirlwind of a Weekend

Jess' visit has been fun. We've spent a lot of time reminiscing...
and fact checking...
and "in your face"ing.

On Friday night we went out to eat Wings at Native New Yorker, just us.
I *love* this picture of my dad, my brother and my husband.
What you can't see is that while my husband has his hand on Jess' shoulder, Jess has his hand on my dad's BEE*HIND. lol... Those boys.

We had a birthday dinner for mom on Saturday night.
It would be rude of me to type it out right now - telling you how old she is. I am not rude.
Here is a gift we gave her though:

Oops. I guess now you know.
Oh well. She will always be 42 in my eyes.
[which is awkward since I am now 35]

We spent a lot of time looking at Jesse.
That happens when you don't normally get to see someone that often.

On Sunday, Marcos had to work... but we were able to invite the rest of the family over to get some Jesse time. It was a blast.

I got a little camera happy:

Me & Dad

Me & Mom

Me!

Me & Dad again

Jess & Abby

Me & my OLDER bro

[This is the 4th picture Jess and I took. Each one sillier than the next. And he would kill me if I posted them. Who am I kidding?! When he finds out I posted *this* one, he's going to kill me. Will you make a pact to miss me when I am gone?!]

Of course, it mostly occurred after people left. I need to take more pictures of other people. Not 176 of me. Trying to find the best one. lol...

Jess has a few more days here... but he headed back to my mom's tonight.
We are sad to see him go. But we are hoping that as soon as he retires from the Army (18 months), he will move back *home*...

We had a lovely weekend!

I am exhausted and ready for bed.
And it's only 6:30.

Man, brothers can wear you out, huh?!
Doesn't matter -wouldn't have changed ANY of it.

Why?

If you've seen ANY of my pictures on my QOTC blog, the reason is obvious.
But to add to the excitement, my cousin Darryl is a Beach Body coach.
He once was a skinny minnie. Now he's a BUFF skinny minnie.
The dude's got abs.

So, there are 12 of us in a private FB group that have decided to kill ourselves over the next 90 days. Three of them are my cousins Jason, Chell & Brianne. Which means, I am committed. There's no backing out.
[help!] They are ALL starting out WAY smaller than me, so I KNOW there will not be THOSE kind of results for me in my 30, 60 and 90 day photos.... I told them that version P90X76 would be released before I could finally see THEIR kind of results. But, they are family - they don't care. They love me no matter what I look like.

Interested in learning more?! Visit my cousin Darryl's blog - he's *my* Beach Body coach!

Jesse's Girl

Showing my age with that title...
but really...
here she is....

Someone looks a little happy today. Wonder why.
Why, Abby?!!? Why are you so happy?!

OHHH! Well, that makes sense!!
My brother, Jess, got home from Iraq in December and came out here to Arizona as soon as his schedule would allow. We haven't seen him in 4 years... it was the last time he was home. Nic's 1st Birthday party.

Of course, Abby's saw him back in May and June.

Today... we are hanging out. Going to celebrate my mom's birthday tonight. I've made shredded beef tacos, homemade rice and beans. Marcos made an awesome pico de gallo. I made a butter cake with homemade coconut butter cream frosting.

I've never made homemade frosting. It was soooo easy. I also made some chocolate cupcakes for those that don't like coconut. [raises hand]

While we are waiting for my parents to arrive.. Jess got out Abby's guitar.
That boy can play.
And sing.
I cannot.
Do either.
And crap, I just gave him a compliment. Two really.

He played some Tom Petty, Niel Young, -- it was fantastic.

And some of this:




After the guitar was put away, Nic took it upon himself to make a memory of his own:

1) Look at that face.
2) Nic is going to be into photography one day, I can tell.

Our hearts are full. Abby is feeling a little bitter sweet (she doesn't want to have to say goodbye come Wednesday), but we are all happy that we get to spend some time my parents' oldest spawn.

Love ya, Jess. Glad you came home to see us all!

I Swear I am not really a Hater...

But I do kinda like elephants more... especially about certain things. I am not political at all really, so don't leave. Generally, I see both sides. Pinky promise.

Won't go into details (don't want to lose the 2 readers I have, lol! - unless you like elephants too! then we can be best buds)...

I posted this on FB on Tuesday night...:

Trying to protect my elephant loving friends... with all that grayness.

So after that post... this is what happens THIS afternoon.

Alex is like, "Mom - there's a big plane overhead."
Hmmm. I see planes all of the time. Not sure what his excitement was about.

We live 4 miles from a smaller airport.
And I guess B to the O decided to fly in there.

I do not *hate* B-Man. Promise. Just like I don't *hate* G-Dub, Lewinsky's main squeeze, or any of the other main men. Even JFK, Jimmy & Ronnie Boy have a place in my ♥.

I was just being silly on FB.
Cuz it's not like I have anything else to do around here.

xoxo,
me.

[donkey's are cute too. in az, we call them *burros*]

Photo-a-Day Challenge

As I was surfing...
in Australian waters...
I came across a new blog.
New to me. Not new to Chantelle.

I've decided to take her up on her challenge {now that I've found my camera's battery charger}.
So beginning in Feb, I will be posting a photo a day... based on her schedule below.

Obviously... I have other things I will want to blog about, so I will create a space on the blog designated to the 29 photos (thumbnails, if you will)...

Just trying new things, people.
Join me?

It's an Itsy Bitsy Paper V-Day Link Party...

Valentine's Day is such a fun holiday...
I love looking at all of the crafts and decorations...
And as much as I enjoy Pinterest...
There's something about an ol' fashioned Link Party that really revs my engines.
If I had engines, that is.

Just found this blog... and I love it.
And look at the link party going on...

Go submit something...
better yet - check out all of the eye candy.
Get it?! Candy?

xoxo,
me

Science Projects...

Isabel has a big one for the upcoming fair...
Alex had a little one, but it was oh so much fun.
At the last minute.
You know how that goes.

And no... that's not a cantaloupe. lol... It's a Styrofoam ball!
lol...

Imagine all of the fun we are having in my house this time of year.

L.O.V.E. and other things...

I decided to jump on the Valentine's Day bandwagon.
{as I started to write this post last night, my husband was waiting for me to join him to watch a movie. money ball. sigh.}

So far, I've only decorated our mini*mantel.

Here is a reminder of what our "mantel" looked like for Christmas...

I don't have a fireplace in the house... so I am all about fake, mini and faux. lol...
We are all still talking about mantels, right?


I cannot wait to paint this small radio cabinet white/cream/something-not-brown-ish.

For New Year's I had a picture of my grandparents in color... but I thought the colors were all wrong (for my V-Day theme) so I made a black and white copy {regular paper} and put it in a red frame I had on hand {IKEA}.

• The red stem thingies were clearance at Walgeens for a buck... they were in the Christmas aisle, but I thought that they'd go perfectly for the month of LOVE.  
• The "Love" vinyl is from Hobby Lobby, I think it was $3... and it says "Love is just a word... until someone comes along and gives it meaning."  <---- Love that!
• I found the birdies in the spring section of Hobby Lobby...30% off, both less than $2. The candle sticks were a Goodwill find $1 each. The grass plant... IKEA $3. I added the polka dot ribbon - from ribbon I had on hand.

Another IKEA frame on hand...I added two different types of ribbon and then took a foam heart I had leftover from project that didn't happen from last year.  {I'm Wild About You! No, really. I am!}

The apples are in a red, heart-shaped dish. The apples are from my fridge. The heart-shaped dish was a Goodwill find - fifty cents. :D

And finally... a simple red wreath for the front door...

I still have the bigger fake mantel to finish up... hopefully I will get that done today...
But for now, I am beginning to feel the L.O.V.E around here.

Speaking of LOVE!!! --- big shout out to my momma.
It's her BIRTHDAY today!!
Note... this picture is *not* from today... She's out celebrating and I am here blogging when I should be cleaning.

xoxo,
me

Linked to COM, Itsy Bitsy Paper, & Funky Junk (buttons on right) 
and Skip to my Lou

Just in time {New Wreath}

I've finally completed the wreath for my front door. I think it will be the one that will stay there for 2012, except for when I have my holiday ones hanging.

I love it.

Of course, I've hung it up just in time... to take it down.
Because of V-Day coming up.

May I will decorate for V-Day *next* weekend. I know, behind everyone else.

I've even added a little teal/aqua to the seating area (which I gave you a sneak peak of last week)...
I just need something to add to the table.
Baby steps, people.

My cousin Chell gave me a new-to-me lamp today, so I think I am off to go find some ribbon to work on the shade.
At Hobby Lobby.

Didn't last a minute, did I?
Grrr.

Speaking of Hobby Lobby... it's where I found the fabric for the wreath... I just cut it into strips and then wrapped them around the hay wreath. Then I added a canvas bow that I made (from a drop cloth)... and then I took a letter "A" {for our last name} from Hobby Lobby and spray painted it Espresso.

The wreath I had. FREE!
The fabric was $3.99 a yard.
The canvas was $5.99 for a 5x10.
The letter was $1.99.

Less than 12 buckaroos = something very pretty!!

Linked to COM (button on the right) 
and Skip to my Lou

Stop the Clock!

I am so tired of my boogers getting bigger.
And older.
And wiser.

Who, exactly, is giving them permission?
Heck, even Olive {the dog} is getting bigger.

I know Alex has been 16 for a few months now...
but I think it's finally starting to sink in.

Sob.