Let's be random, shall we?

 Today, I just feel like posting.  So, enjoy that random rantings.  Huzzah!

Above photo, Harvest Landing.  I have taken the dogs and Jet there in the mornings a few times.  GORGEOUS in the fall. WOW!  The river is even bluer.  But, Jet is a hit or miss with taking the dogs out.  Sometimes he has the time of his life.  We had a major puddle stomping session the other day.   (reminded me of you, Erica, remember?)  We were such crazy free-spirits, I only hope someone was watching, because that would have made my day seeing people act like they were in a musical, in real life.  But then there are times that don't work out, like when there are tractors at Dorris Ranch, and he's horrified the whole time, and says "TOO LOUD" for an hour straight.  But, it's get us outside, and that's good.  

 Here's Jet being a goof at the mall.  In the past month, this guy has gotten 5 times goofier.  I would not be surprised if he's the class clown one day.  He goes around the house in his Iron Man mask, with a giant sword, and a golf club bag.  He sits in laundry baskets.  All kinds of random, hilarious stuff.  He gets timid around other kids, so I'm taking him to the mall more.  He's getting much more confident.

 Here's my little ode to fall. 

 Darn this tree!!!  2 and 1/2 hours of raking yesterday, and that was only half of it.  Curses!  Plus, it drops sap on our car, so we can't even park in our own driveway.  It's gotta go.  Sorry tree.  You're gorg, but such high-maintenance.  You're the trophy tree that's too hot to handle.  We're just not ready for you.

 OUR EMBARRASSING MOUSE STORY.

I'll try to make it brief.  So, to start where I left off.  I set a humane trap, and caught a mouse.  HURRAH!  Chad let it free for me, even though he wanted to keep it.  So, we thought we were done.  Nope.  New mouse doody found.  CHARMING!  So, I set the humane trap.  3 days.  NOTHING!  Move the trap, new bait, yadda yadda. NOTHING.  Mousy isn't falling for it.   I start having dreams about mice invading our house, and other scavenger like creatures ruling over me.  Very planet-of-the-apes-esque.  So, I set some inhumane traps.  After all, they could take over the world!  I caught one in a few hours.  I set the trap all by my lonesome, and disposed of it too.  I couldn't not tell Chad.  He was highly disappointed in me, saying it was an innocent creature etc, which I agreed with, but not when we can't catch it any other way.  So, we're done.  No.  Please don't think we're trashy, dirty people.  It's our first winter in this house, and we're learning how to keep these buggers out.  So, a few nights later, we're putting Jet to bed, and I see a mouse scurry into his closet.  Long story short, Chad amazingly caught it in a bowl.  That's the above picture.  We set it free.  It was fun watching it for 5 minutes.  So, Chad was happy.  We didn't hurt it, it was free.  So, the next day I spent hours sanitizing everything.  UGH!!  Then, I find a fresh turd.  ARG!!!!!  I want to get rid of these things.  I set inhumane traps.  5 minutes before Chad gets home, there is a mouse caught, but only by its leg.  Its leg is broken.  I feel terrible.  This is just what Chad didn't want.  I go set it free outside, and it barely hobbles along.  I can't kill it.  What do I do???!!  Chad comes home, I'm crying, and I HAVE to tell him.  It may sound crazy that I was crying, but I felt SOOOO TERRIBLE.  He goes and rescues the mouse, and makes a little home for it in a plastic container.  The next day Chad got a real mouse cage.  We had a pet mouse.   It was cute, I'll admit, but I haven't posted about it 'til now out of embarrassment.  I felt good about saving the poor thing.  Chad even called the vet, and researched painkillers for it...lol....such an animal softie.  The mouse would either live or die, and there wasn't much we could do.  A few days later, I couldn't find him in his cage, so I lifted the lid, and spotted him.  I put the lid back on, but couldn't get all the clamps down.  It was still really tight, so I didn't worry.  The next day, Chad went to clean his cage, and he was gone.  LOL!!!  Broken leg and all, he made it out of that thing.  Obviously, it didn't like our hospitality.  Sorry hun.  So, after all that work of trying to catch mice humanely, and it TOTALLY backfiring, Chad finally agreed to inhumane traps.  We have caught two.  None of them looked like "Lucky" (yes, Chad named the mouse (before he escaped)).  And we haven't caught any more since.  Oi.  No planet-of-the-mice dreams lately either.   

And, I finally got a picture by this lovely.  yay. 

Nicole, I need your expertise

 My sister has a degree in interior design, and I really need her help.  I put this on the blog because it's the easiest way to share photos and info.  So, here's our house.  We moved in late last Spring, and it doesn't feel like our style yet, but we're very grateful and definitely enjoying it.

 So Nicole, we're just focusing on the living room now, so we don't overwhelm ourselves, but if you have ideas for the other rooms, let me know.  If not, no bigs.  We moved the piano to the spare room to make way for another chair, and because Chad thinks it looks cluttery.  I'm not sure.  It is nice to have the piano out of the front room, because that's where we watch tv.  If it stayed in the LR, I would paint it.

 Here is what things look like now.  Nice-ish....but SNOOZAROO!  It has no pizazz.  There is no fun going on.

Here are our ideas.  Chad really wants get new mid-gray to dark gray carpet, that's less shaggy, because this stuff has lots of stains, and Chad hates it now.  I'm hesitant about the dark gray.  There are stain-proof carpets, but I wonder how stain-proof they really are.  We want carpet, but something that can withstand the dogs and Jet. 

 We move the dog beds to the bedroom at night, and when guests come.

I really want to paint this wall (fireplace wall) charcoal gray.  I would LOVE to do chalkboard paint and draw cool frames and stuff in chalk, but then I have an idea for the other walls, and it would be too much.

We don't like the color of the tiles.  Dingy.  But there is nothing we can do about those.  Wish they were white.  Ol' well.

 Ottoman, ick.  We were thinking two small white leather or leatherish ottomans.  Again, we like low-maintenance fabrics, and we love to put our feet up.  Maybe I could recover this one.  Eeks.

 View from the front door.  Too traditional.  We need more fun.

 This "media center" is warped and chewed.  We want to get a credenza (st. vincent) and paint it a fun color (orange, peacock blue, something fun).  We're going to start using our smaller tv.

On these walls (the one with the tv, and the wall perpendicular to it)  I was thinking of doing large horizontal stripes, in a light gray.  But then I also like the idea of doing horizontal striped curtains, and that's just too over the top. 

We love this mirror.  We love distressed wood.

So, I invited you to my pinterest...but I don't know how it works.  I just want you to see my inspiration boards, so if you need my username and password, let me know.  I'm loving charcoal lately.  SO PRETTY.  I love the mustardy, muted light yellow that's going on right now.  I like black and white.  Anyway, it's just so much easier if you see my boards. 

If anyone else has any ideas, bring 'em on. 

Halloween Festivities

 Trunk or Treat. 

Jet was the BIG BAD Wolf, Chad was the Woodcutter, and I was Little Red Riding Hood.  At first, Jet was just a bad wolf, because he didn't want to wear his tail or hat.  I have learned that he doesn't like fur.  Whoops, bad costume choice!  I worked around it.  We tried to sneakily pin his tail on, but he caught us, and said "Tail, Tail, Tail" in a sad voice all the way to the church.  Once the games started rolling, he finally just had fun.   

 Okay, I know Chad's shirt is supposed to be a costume, but I actually really like it.   

 

 Detering Orchards.  We always went here as a family when I was little, so it was so awesome going with my parents after so many years.  LOVED IT!

 Kara, I see why you loved this sweater so much.  It's so charming.  Thank you!

 The next night, we carved pumpkins at Chad's parents.  For some reason, extracting pumpkin gook was really relaxing this time. 

Halloween night was great.  I was The World's Greatest Teacher.  (I got this awesome vest from my mom-in-law's friend)  We were both actually really productive, and it felt like we were playing house.  It was so fun.  Chad was organizing his tools in the garage, I was baking pumpkins seeds, and doing laundry, Jet was playing with the dogs.  Every once in a while there would be a trick-or-treater, and we'd rush to the door to see their costumes.  Our twinkly lights were on, resting on the mantel, our pumpkins were lit, the house smelled like yummy dinner and sweets.  It was warm and cozy.  The combination of all these little things made for the perfect night at home. 

It was such a great weekend!

Crazy Animal Lovers, but one is crazier than the other

Yesterday, I saw a mouse scurry across our kitchen and dining room floor.  After the initial freak out, I thought he was actually really cute.  Maybe I've watched Ratatouille too many times, I don't know.  I've never had that reaction before.  But really, it was so small and fluffy and cute, and had a bounce in his step as he scuttled along.

Last night, I told Chad the news, so that he could set a few traps.  I'm sure if I set one that I'll snap my fingers off, so it's his job.   In our almost 7 years of marriage, we have had to kill 3 mice, and I have set 1 trap, and it was mega-scary, and I think it was a fluke that I made it out safely. 

Well, Chad's animal lovingness has reached new heights.  It has soared above the eagle's nests, over the Amazon treetops, and way out of this atmosphere.

He told me that he wants to trap it humanely, and keep it as a pet!!!  He thinks it would be so fun to watch it.  He said that after awhile, we could set it free in a big field.  Then he immediately started researching it online, and found out what we would need, what we could feed it, what treats it likes, and that many other people do this.

Chad, NO!!!  Seriously?  You expect me to say yes?

He said, "Well, I'm not catching it if I can't keep it."

GASP!  NO!!!!!

I can't set a trap for this thing.  I feel too guilty.  The last time we trapped one, it took it a few minutes to die.  It was horrible.  It was wheezing, and its eyes were bulging.  Ha ha TMI.  So, I'll be buying some type of humane trap today, and hopefully I catch it before Chad does.

I just had to share because I know my family will laugh their heads off because this is SO CHAD!    

Chad, I love you.  But sometimes, I think you're the crazy one.



  

Redeemed by R.R.

So, a few months ago I wrote about how I'm a bad cook, mostly saying that I have to rely on good recipes to make good food.

First off, I have redeemed myself....according to myself and Chad.

Second,  I have totally misjudged Rachael Ray.  When we got married, I got one of her cookbooks, I tried one recipe (mostly because the ingredients were spendy) and it tasted blah. (probably because I really didn't know what I was doing at the time).  Then, a foodie friend of mine said she didn't trust Rachael Ray's cooking because of her weird food pairings.  Then I watched a few episodes of 30-minute meals, and it always sounded like she had a cold.  So, I unofficially decided that she wasn't that great of a cook.

WRONG.

Over the past few months, I have been getting her magazine at the library, picking out the cheapest recipes, and making them.  Every single one (I've tried about 15 now) has been delicious.  So, delicious, I don't want to stop eating when I'm full.  Chad is so impressed too.  It's by far the best cooking I've ever done.  She just adds a few things that other recipes leave out, and it makes a HUGE difference!  I don't have to be scared about trying a new recipe, worried if it will be terrible or not.  They're all good!

Sorry Cooking Light, your recipes have failed me too many times.  I love that you're healthy, but hubster no likey, and even I admit that I've only eaten 1 delicious recipe out of the 20 that I've tried. (amazing crab cakes)  I've learned I'd rather have a recipe be a little bit fattier, and taste great, than light, and taste okay to me, and almost bad to Chad.  You just have to eat a little less.  Fat isn't bad if it fits within a balanced diet.

Rachael Ray, your food rocks.
 
Mom, I would LOVE a subscription to Rachael Ray magazine for Christmas, so I don't have to make tons of photocopies before returning it to the library every time.

On the 28th, our ward is having a chili cook-off, and I think I'm going to win.  The Bishop will be dethroned from his 3-year chili-king title.  I'll let you know if I get a crown.   (seriously, it's the perfect mix of sweet and spicy, with tons of fresh ingredients.  All Chad's coworkers said it was the best chili they had ever had)  We'll see!  Last year, I made it, but I got the date wrong, and no one was at the church....lol.  The real night, I burned it because I was trying out a new pretty pot.  I hate stainless steel....give me Teflon any day. 

BRING Home and Garden Tour

About 2 weeks ago, my mum and I went to a local garden tour hosted by BRING recycling.  Here are some highlights.

That's an outdoor shower.  After seeing this, Chad desperately wants one, and I too think it would be AWESOME!

Someday I would like a shady, lounging spot, with much foliage abounding.

This is was a cob building.

 The gardener used this wood for growing mushrooms.

 HONEYBEES.  Chad will have honeybees at some point in his life.  There is no question.  I learned that if you join the local bee club that you can use the honey extratractor thingy for free!!!

 I LOVED this idea for succulents etc.  It's just plain ol' cinder block, filled with plants that brim over the edge.  They used it on the outside of an outdoor building. 

 This garden also featured a natural house.  I don't know the details, but it was cool.  I felt like I was in Star Wars IV.

 This house was very intriguing.  The front walkway was lined with all these funky, recycled art pieces. 

 But then it got WEIRD.  They had a huge shed full of....what should I call it....tacky junk?  It was creepy, bridging on inspiration for a horror movie.

 My favorite piece was the rake with the barbie heads.

 This is all the same house.  They're very quirky.  I LOVED it, but there was a bit too much going on, and Mumsie and I were getting worried about these people's sanity.

The coolest fire pit ever.  Chad said I shouldn't share this pic with anyone, because he didn't want anyone to know where we got the idea when we totally copy them.  Sorry hon, had to share, it was my favorite part.

Outdoor oven.

The rainbow of drying clothes.

Guest yurt. 

Outdoor cooking yurt thingy.  My mom and I didn't get it.  Why?  It was roasting in there.