Long Time, No See!

I'm back!

Sorry it's been so long my friends, however I've been keeping busy. As you may know, my brother and my sister-in-law came to visit. They arrived early (according to MY calendar, haha), we showed them everything there is to show around here, we watched plenty of March Madness, and then of course, they had to go home. Booooo. Time always flies when you are having fun.

We spent a lot of their trip relaxing. My brother and his wife are both teachers, and my brother is a varsity boys basketball coach at the high school he teaches at. It sounds like they'd had an insanely busy last couple of months, so lucky for us, relaxing is what they wanted to do :) While the boys laid around watching basketball and playing video games, my sister-in-law and I were able to squeeze in going to the gym and on a couple of runs. We even ran a 5k! We both got PR's, and my sister-in-law came in 2nd in her age division, and 18th overall! I finally got my time under 30 minutes, arriving at 28:51. It was a feat for me! I was really excited and proud, and now I'm ready for my next goal- placing in my age division and getting one of those medals. I know I can do it. 

It seems the kids flew into Kentucky on the last heels of winter. The day they flew in is the last day we got a coating of snow. It was a little rainy and overcast for most of their trip, but we did get a couple of days of "shorts" weather. We definitely took advantage of this, getting outside for walks, hiking to the back of the hubby's grandfather's property, and sitting outside splitting a bottle of wine. 

All in all, their trip went so fast! We blinked, they were here, we blinked, and they were gone. So much fun though! I definitely had a couple of melancholy days after they left :)

So I will be moving back to my food blogging. I'm slowly getting things back to normal around the house, and that means planning recipes to blog about. The weather has not been conducive the last couple of days for photography. I had dark thunderstorms moving in at my peak photography times on both Thursday and Friday, for which my workaround is not taking pictures at all. Today is shaping up to be lovely though, so I expect to take lots of pictures when I get back from a long run.

In other happenings, I've got some new visitors in the yard-

This brown squirrel shows up every day around 4 pm.

The chipmunks have settled in. I've seen at least 5. They are so dang cute. I just love them.

The American Goldfinches didn't move in until we put up a black oil sunflower seed feeder.

Unfortunately, these Brown-Headed Cowbirds have started showing up. I'm letting them be for now, but I'm not fond of these "arseholes of the bird world".

A Big, fat, clumsy Turtledove. They crack me up with their seemingly clumsy movements.

Gizmo would get them all. If I would let him :)

I'm going to rap up this ramble-y post by talking about the latest book I'm reading. I picked up a non-fiction to read. I do that occasionally. 

Image source: Amazon

I'm just fascinated by ghost stories. I have been since I was a kid. I'm not really a believer in anything supernatural, but that doesn't mean I don't like to read about it and imagine things. I love that this book contains "true" stories. True in the sense that strange things happened to random people, not true in the sense that I believe ghosts exist. I get a kick out of the reading the stories, because a lot of them probably do have just weird explanations behind them. A weird explanation that may not have been plausible at the time of the happening (most of the stories are from the 1800's). Overall, I'd say it's a very dry book. It reads like a book that a professor would have you read for a class- if that class were "Haunted History" or something of that sort. I'll probably read an easy fiction after this book (in fact, Divergent is sitting next to me right now!) since it is so matter-of-factly written. If you are a ghost story lover, you will enjoy this book!

I hope everyone is having a relaxing weekend. I'll be back tomorrow with new recipes, yippee!

And I just have to say, GO CATS!

Kentucky will be playing in the national championship tomorrow!

We have a happy hubby in this home :)

Hey, It's Ok... Fantasy Football Edition

Image source: NFL

So, I guess I could be considered a girly-girl. I like clothes, makeup, shoes, purses, shopping, hair, etc. However, this girly-girl loves football. I grew up in a football-centric household. If there was a football game on TV, the TV would be on that channel. No if's, and's, or but's about it. No negotiations. My childhood home was a football dictatorship run by my mom. Yes, my mom. Maybe I inherited my love of football from her? It's hard to say. All I know is I was raised in a household where when my brother brought home a girl from the Bronx, New York, she was completely flabbergasted that my mom and I were at a college football game, and my dad was home cleaning the house and cooking us dinner. I look forward to football season every year, it's like Christmas time for me. I love Saturday's spent watching college football, Sunday's spent watching the NFL, and Monday night's with pizza, beer, and MNF. And one of my favorite parts of football season? Fantasy football! This could be why I like fall so much... Nevertheless, here is my fantasy football edition of "Hey, it's ok..."

Hey, it's ok...

-if you've had one too many gin and tonics on draft day, and your first round draft pick is Mark Sanchez. Quarterback's not an important position, right?

-to call your commissioner and tell them that your hot water heater blew up, taking out your electrical grid, and causing a massive power outage, which stopped you from setting your lineup and could they please just unlock the lineup so you can set it?

-to hastily add that the hot water heater also took out your wireless internet, so you couldn't even set your lineup on your phone.

-if Week 6 you are desperately searching the waiver wires for a wide receiver after Reggie Wayne just dropped his millionth pass of the season.

-if you have an epic meltdown (complete with screaming, tears, and snot) after Reggie Wayne scores more points than he ever has the week after you drop him.

-to ponder if you are bipolar after your defense (the Broncos) intercepts a ball late in the 4th quarter, and instead of a pick 6, Danny Trevathan drops the ball at the 1 yard line. You've never gone from so elated to so pissed so fast.

-if you win your league, and believe you own bragging rights for the next 5 years.

-if you picture laying waste to your spouse in your head when they take Peyton Manning before you, even when you told them that's the only person you cared was on your roster.

-to make your spouse sleep on the couch for their audacity in participating in this Manning-gate.

-to secretly cheer for your team's division rival because you have their quarterback and tight-end. Even when they are playing your team. Just don't admit this one out loud.

-to be apprehensive about watching football around children, the elderly, or your in-laws, because you are actually afraid of what might come out of your mouth after downing a 6-pack of beer.

-if you go into a deep depression followed by a drinking binge when football season is over. Now who will you scream and throw your beer can at on Sunday's??

Superbowl 2010

Happy Hump Day! :)

Written in Stone

The yard is a huge work in progress.

We've got almost 2 acres of property, and it seems at times that the majority of the property is overgrown in vegetation. The hubby does as much as he can, but the weeds grow fast. Needless to say, the hubby is weed eating on a lot of his days off. Last weekend, he cleared the weeds from the this retaining wall on our property to find a blast from the past.

The hubby said he remembers the day that his family built this retaining wall on the property (obviously in April of 1995). FYI- That's not my name on the wall, the hubby's sister's name is also Jessica. Weird fact, but true. And no, the hubby doesn't have a brother named Adam, Adam was the hubby's childhood friend who he is actually still friends with today. I told the hubby that he must have been sure him and Adam would always be friends if he was willing to write it in concrete :)

Here's where the hubby's mother wrote her name.

I think it's super neat to have this on my property. What an awesome memory to keep around.

The hubby was a little saddened by the discovery. He mentioned it was obvious from the discovery that his parents had planned to live at this property with their family, and it's sad that that never happened. Life happened instead, the hubby's parents are unfortunately divorced now. Still- a little piece of history is left in our care.

Time for some FANTASTIC news!

The hubby and I have booked our annual Oregon trip. We are going to be in Oregon October 25th- November 25th. I'm so excited! I can't wait, and of course, I'm hoping I'm better with my camera this time and remember to take some pictures. Or at least remind the hubby to take some pictures :)

I hope everyone is having a great week, happy Hump Day!

Random Thoughts: 6/12/13

1. Grass!

Our lawn is coming along quite nicely! We've still got a few "bald" spots, but overall it's looking like an actual lawn. We've been having afternoon thunderstorms all week, so we've had free watering service. Free water is always the best. The side lawn is starting to look pretty seamless with the existing lawn. You can still see the line of demarcation on the front lawn, but the front lawn is about 2 weeks behind the side lawn. I'm loving the look of the grass along with the white porch. The house is starting to look like it's not straight out of construction. I really can't wait until we pour concrete for the front step and a pathway, and then eventually, landscaping. Baby steps though, as this stuff is all expensive.

2. Dog Central

We're watching the mother-in-law's dog while she vacations in Florida this week. We've had him since Monday, and its all been... eventful. I discovered on Monday (after having the dog for a couple of hours) that he was covered in fleas! I was not ok with having fleas in my house for a week, so I went straight to the vet to get a pill that killed all the fleas in 24 hours. It appears the problem has been eradicated. I checked the dog several times yesterday, and didn't find a single flea. I vacuumed the whole house from top to bottom yesterday, and washed everything Barney (the pup) had touched. I found lots of dead fleas, but I haven't seen a single live one. I'm crossing my fingers we don't have to bomb the house. Barney, on the other hand, has gone on a hunger strike and likes to sleep most of the day under our bed. I'm hoping he comes around after he settles in.

My pups are dealing with a little bit of jealousy and neediness at having an extra dog in the house. Gizmo is bringing me toys a hundred times a day, and I've even caught him guarding the water bowl. Apparently, he doesn't want to share his water. Haloti likes to sit around, and stare at me with puppy dog eyes all day. I'm hoping they too will calm down after a couple of days.

3. Life is Short

In sad news, the hubby's uncle passed away yesterday. About 2 months ago, he was diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer, and shortly after had a series of strokes that left him unable to walk, talk, or eat. We've known for the last 2 weeks that he wasn't going to make it much longer. It's just unthinkable, and so sad, that this man went from perfectly healthy 3 months ago to passing away. It definitely gives you a moments pause to think about just how short life is, and how it can end so suddenly. It really highlights the necessity of seeing the doctor on a regular basis, always getting your yearly physical (or however often is recommended for you), and trying to live a healthy lifestyle. It's all just so horribly sad.

Well, I apologize for leaving this blog entry on a somber note. However, life is a series of ups and downs, and the downs are just as equally important as the ups.

Where The Green Grass Grows

Such a procrastinator am I.

It's been about 5 days now that I've been saying to myself, "I should blog today". Before I know it, it has almost been a week since I posted! How do these things happen?

Time flies when you are having fun. The hubby's cousin and his wife were in town for the weekend, so we spent a good amount of time hanging out with the fam. They came in on Friday afternoon, which means the drinking of cocktails commenced at about 5 o'clock at the hubby's aunt's house. At some point in the evening the hubby and I, the hubby's cousin and his wife, and the hubby's aunt wandered over to our house. We played Rock Band, (we are so cool, aren't we? *eye-roll*) and honestly had a dance party until 3 am.  I haven't stayed up that late in many years (I'm old). The hubby has a flashlight with a strobe function that he turned on, which has resulted in our house being renamed "Club Jarrell".

As you can imagine, the hangover was intense on Saturday. After a morning of subsisting primarily on Pedialyte, the time came to imbibe in cocktails once again. People once again ended up at our house, but we only stayed up until 12 am this time. Needless to say, I'm drying out this week :)

Moving on.

The hubby has been hard at work on the yard the last couple of weeks. We've finally got our first patches of grass coming up! I have never been so excited for grass. Well, at least the kind of grass that you call a lawn :)

In other house news, carpenter bees started eating our porch. Bastards. We discovered their holes yesterday, and now I've got the hubby out painting the porch so they'll leave it alone (they only eat untreated wood).

On the plus side, I'm really liking the look of the porch painted. We were always planning on doing it at some point, that point just came sooner than it was initially prioritized.

To round up this very ramble-ly post, I've got a picture of the exhausted pups after the busy weekend:

You'd think they were the ones drinking on consecutive nights :)

Hope everyone has a fantastic week!

Weekend Wrap-up: 4/21/13

Spring is in full bloom!

Pretty tree in our yard.

The traditional Red Velvet Cupcakes for my mother-in-law's birthday.

Bros.

What Gizmo has 99% of the time- the Blue Monkey :)

Me and the Giz.

Couponing haul for 4/21/13.

One of the hubby's crafty projects- A non-headboard headboard.

New products I'm currently testing.

Fun, purple Springtime pedi.

The Parental's 2nd Kentucky Trip

Wow, it's been awhile since I've blogged!

I'd fully planned on getting a couple of blog entries in while my parents and my aunt were here, but alas, even the best laid plans go awry at times.

Their visit flew by! It went by almost as fast as the hubby's and I's October Oregon visit. And the week that my aunt was here? Ha. It seemed like 1 day. It was sooooo much fun having my family at the new house vs. our Ashland rental from the days of yore. Actually, it's more like, the days of ick.

If you thought I might be getting better at remembering to take pictures, you'd be wrong.

If you thought I wouldn't just count on scrounging together photos that my family took, you'd be wrong.

If you thought I'm old enough to know better, well, you'd be wrong.

The important thing is I do have a few photos to share from the last 2 weeks :)

Myself, Mom, and Aunt Marilyn, upon our reunion as a fabulous trio :)

The hubby's Aunt and Mother came down to the house to visit with everyone.

Dad, Aunt Marilyn, Myself, Mom, and Hubby. Man, I need a piece of art for that wall :)

Gizmo thoroughly missed his Grandpa.

Lunch at the local brewery.

Unbeknownst to me, this stadium near us was home to one of the 1st NFL teams. I can't believe I didn't know that!

Appetizers we had for a small party which included my parents, the Hubby's Aunt, Uncle, and Mom, and some of the Hubby's high school friends.

We finally had one sunny, warm day on the day before my parents  left. At least we had one day where we got to sit outside in the sun!

The Hubby and my Mom. That's our house in the background!

Also, we did a million other things that I did not take pictures of, including: A trip to Huntington, lunch at the Black Sheep Restaurant in Huntington, a wonderful dinner at the Hubby's mother's house, watching 5 million hours of the NCAA tournament, drinking countless gallons of wine, and dining at an Irish pub in Cincinnati. 

In the meantime, I must be getting old, because I'm so tired from their visit! And it was a relaxing visit. Oy. I can't imagine how 40 is going to feel if 30 feels like this :)

The Never-Ending Story...

That I desperately want to end.

Many angry, frustrated tears have been cried into my sauvignon blanc. And my Screwdrivers. And my Bloody Mary's.

The hubby and I are thisclose to hitting the limit on the amount garbage we can possibly put up with, specifically with his mother. It's very hard, very hard (as I've discovered) to live with your mother-in-law. If they don't finish this project soon, I will personally drive myself to their headquarters in Circleville, OH and chew someone's butt like a Great Dane with a ham bone.

Countertops were finished and installed on Friday. Mirrors were placed in the bathrooms. Wire racks were installed in the closets. That's it. I think that's a total of about 5-6 hours of work for last week. The complete lack of efficiency is driving me batty. All I can say is that if I had worked this inefficiently at my former job at a large corporation in Oregon, I would have been fired within weeks. Possibly days. How is it that this project manager doesn't want to get my husband off his back? Because my hubby calls this dude everyday. Every single day. That's not an exaggeration. We are so close to the end that all that needs to be done is installing the sinks and toilets (the plumbing is done, all they have to do is put said-items in the house, and hook them up) and install carpet. That's it! Probably 2 days worth of work. I'm so frustrated I could scream at someone! Argh!!!!

Ok, I've finished my rant. I feel somewhat better. I'll post the pictures of what was done last week.

Kitchen counter.

Kitchen.

Master bath.

Guest bath.

Master closet.

And go back to my beer :)

Pics From the Day: 6/20/12

Vanilla Caramel Cream in the K-Cup. And catching up on reading.

Beachy waves.

WTF?

It's 93 degrees outside!

Brutus is hot too!

Love that tongue.

Buds.

It's a rough life.

Dinner. Pulled pork hash with a side of strawberries.

The hubby helping with the landscaping.

Beautiful sunset