2013 Recap

Gosh I'm so late to the game on these, but whatever - this is a fun recap of what went down in 2013.

I'd say the biggest highlights of my year were the five trips I took and BUYING MY HOUSE!!

January:
I went to the YMCA trivia night with my dad (right before my brother left for DC) and made brownies.  I also did a bunch of other random things like switch my work schedule, hang out with my family and start hanging out with my cousins more.

February:
I was still reading back then (man totally forgot that was 2013).  We went to Mardi Gras.  And I had an awesome Valentines Day.  We also did things like Motorcycle Racing on Ice and Roller Derby. Michelle and I also started our Fantasy Reality TV game.

Mardi Gras

March:
A big month - Dan and I celebrated our one year anniversary.  We saw Book of Mormon at the Fox.  I also celebrated my 29th birthday!!  Mom, Lindsey and me went to visit Keith in Washington, DC (Getting There, Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4)

WWII Memorial

April:
We had a big party for Dan's 30th Birthday.  I made him a pie (my first!)  We also went to a trivia night and concert.

Rhubarb Pie!

May:
We hung out with my cousins a bunch.  We went to Art in the Square.  Celebrated Mother's Day.  And went to a Gateway Grizzlies game.

Cousin fun at Hot Shots

June: 
I went shopping and got pedicures with a friend (um this happened a lot last year).  I celebrated Father's Day with my dad.  Mom and I went to Wait Wait Don't Tell Me.  I also began the house buying process this month, although I didn't blog about it.

Dad and Me on Father's Day

July:
We celebrated Fourth of July by watching fireworks.  I announced I was house hunting.  Lindsey and I took a trip to Daytona.  And I put a contract on the house!!!

Reading and enjoying the beach from afar

August:
Dan, Kyle and myself took a trip to Colorado (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3).  I took a trip to Chicago with my dad (Part 1, Part 2).  I gave Susan the baby blanket I'd worked on for her.  Oh and I purchased a house!

Dan and I in Colorado

September:
Dan and I started to get settled in the house.  Bought some couches.  I started thrift store shopping more.  I went to a wedding.

Selfie at Debra's wedding

October:
My friend Melissa came to visit.  Went to a Cardinals playoff game.  Went to Rocky Horror Picture Show.  And I hung out with a my family.

Mel and I at Botanical Gardens

 

Cardinal's Playoff Game!

November:
I blogged everyday for the month of November.  Lindsey and I got tattoos together.  I went to a football game with my dad and friend Michelle.  We went to Omaha to celebrate Lindsey's birthday. (Part 1, Part 2)  We celebrated Dan's sister - Amy's wedding.

Omaha Zoo

 

Dan and I at Amy's wedding

December:
I got to put up my Christmas decorations for the first time in 2 years.  Went to a Blues game. And enjoyed the Christmas season!

Christmas tree!

A quick plug

I wasn't really sure what I wanted to write about today, and while I could/should be writing about my fabulous weekend I just don't want to admit it's over quite yet...

So... what to write about... nothing was really jumping out at me... but here's something I've thought about writing about for awhile...

In my recent years I've never been one for painting my fingernails... my toenails - absolutely... but fingernails just never dried correct (I was impatient) and chipped way too quickly for it to seem worth it.

Then I decided on a whim to buy this Sally Hansen stuff... I think I just liked the color... and I'm hooked... I have several bottles of it at this point... the stuff is Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure. 

They say it can last up to 10 days... although in my experience it's been about a week while it chipping just a bit (in places where it doesn't look bad if it does).  What's also wonderful about this stuff is it had the base and top coat already in it - so there's no need to worry about that stuff - which makes it super easy.  It also has a pretty great brush.

This is now my go-to nail polish just because I know how well it works for me.

My hand looks monstrous

Here are all the colors I have... from left to right - Jaded, Greige, Pedal to the Metal, Water Color, Rosy Outlook and Kook a Mango.

These bottles usually run me about $7 - but to me it's worth it. 

I'd highly recommend this nail polish!! 

Restaurant Rave/Date Day

Yesterday I had the day off work. And since Chad is working a new schedule, we aren't getting to spend as much time together, but yesterday we got to. It was super exciting to be able to lay in bed together and not have to wake up. Luckily weekends will be this way too :)

Anyway I asked if we could try out a new restaurant, and suggested The Shaved Duck. I've been hearing good things about this place for quite awhile, so I had some pretty high expectations... and this place did not disappoint. I ordered the pulled chicken sandwich with mac and cheese (I've been hearing how amazing their mac and cheese is for awhile and I LOVE mac and cheese so honestly this was one of the main reasons I wanted to try it out) and Chad ordered the pulled pork with mash potatoes with caramelized onions.

The food was amazing. My chicken was so good and it was really nice to have 3 choices of BBQ sauce. Chad's pulled pork was also too. You could just tell that the meat was quality. The buns the meat was on were perfect. The sides were amazing too. Chad's mashed potatoes had some real onion flavor to them, but they made you want to come back for more. My mac and cheese did NOT disappoint. So yummy and cheese and they put these breadcrumbs on top that add this bit of crunch... SO GREAT.

I believe we had a smaller portions since we went at lunch time (we also had a discounted price, holla!!) But the sizes to me were perfect, enough that I ate everything but didn't feel so full. Chad would have liked a little more food. We wondering if the sizes were indeed smaller at lunch b/c we'd like more food if we were paying full price, but other than that we didn't have any complaints and would totally go back.

After lunch we went over to Chad's friend's automotive shop to get some decals for a motorcycle club that he's trying to join. And the we headed back home, but first stopped and got some Dairy Queen. We ate our ice cream outside on the tailgate of his truck. It was a really nice day. It was fun spending time together outside the house.

Cardboard with Ketchup

Have you seen the new Dominos pizza commercials about their new pizza?

Here's what they've changed...

"Our new cheese is made with 100% real mozzarella flavored with just a hint of provolone"

"Our new tomato sauce has a melody of herbs and a red pepper kick"

"Our new garlic seasoned crust with a rich, buttery taste is baked to golden brown"

We decided to try it last night... I've always enjoyed Dominos but the commercials intrigued me. Chad on the other hand didn't like their pizza and usually orders Chicken Kickers.

I've got to say the pizza was REALLY GOOD... I very much enjoyed it!! The surprising thing was Chad loved it to!! The crust is super duper yummy and the sauce had the hint of spice. I really didn't notice the cheese, but I will be ordering another one of these pizzas!!

On a side note, we had our friend Michelle over and she got her half of the pizza with pineapple. I've always said that I find it weird that you'd put pineapple on a pizza, but I tried a piece last night (I didn't realize Chad would eat 2 pieces of my side of the pizza...) thinking I could just pick off the pineapple if it was horrible... but it was really good, I really enjoyed it... the pineapple tasted really good mixed with the sauce... mmm I'm getting hungry thinking about it.

So... in conclusion, Dominos new pizza tastes yummy... go out and get one today!!

Dog Toys

This is a silly posts... but it's about dog toys!!

I finally have a dog that actually plays with dog toys!! It's so much fun to go to the store and pick them out. Rowdy is more of the toy lover, but Bozley plays a fair share too. So here are our favorite toys for the dogs.

The dogs seem to enjoy stuffed toys the best... but they would rip them to shreds in a matter of an hour so we needed to find more "heavy duty" toys... Since this epiphany we have found some toys that work well for our dogs.

First up we have "giraffe" - Kong Braidz
When it's new it looks like:
Ours looks like this... well worn (the head was about the first thing to go...), but still a great toy
Next up we have the "pig" - Tuffy Pet Toy Polly the Pig
New:
This was the first "tuffy" toy we bought and were very happy with it. Chad cut the tail off before we gave it to them... and Boz chewed off the ears, but it's lasting. I just happened across this at PetsMart, when we realized how much we liked it we went back to get another, but they were sold out... and how adorable is the pink and flowers?? Here's what ours looks like now
Next up we have "dragon" - Go Dog Baby Dragon
New:
This one is nice b/c there's no stuffing in the body (head yes) it's also got a weird netting on the inside that's suppost to make it more durable... but he's floppy which Rowdy seems to like... plus how freaking cute is a dragon!!
We have a rope and other Kong toys too, but since you've probably all seen it before then there's no reason to post pictures of them...

Finally we have "ring" - Tuffy Ultimate Ring
New:
We are way happy with this toy... it still pretty much looks like it's brand new. We like it b/c we can play fetch with him and also tug of war... it's pretty strong!!




(see Rowdy's new collar in this pic? He's pretty BA)

FitFlops

A few weeks ago I was pretend shopping... this is something I do to try to trick myself into believing I'm actually shopping. The other week I happened to be doing this on Victoria's Secret dot com. When I stumbled onto the fact that VS sells FitFlops.

Now FitFlops were brought to my attention a couple of months ago. You can read about them on their website above.

One of the things that FitFlops claims is they are specially designed to work out your calves, thighs, and butt while you walk. I don't really believe that shoes will tone my butt or anything... so please don't think I bought them for an "easy" work out.

So why did I buy them? Well look at them... they look like one dang comfortable flip flop. I waste money each year on flip flops that just end up hurting my feet... these looked super comfy and quality made.

VS had them backordered until the end of June... so last Friday they came. I was so happy... they fit good (I normally wear a 9.5 but I ordered a 9 and they fit great) I was super happy with my purchase... while they do give some height, I feel like I could walk long distances in them and be good.

I ended up taking them off where I take off all of my shoes... the dogs have NOT been chewing on my shoes for awhile now, so I didn't even second guess it (maybe you see where this is going...)

About 2 hours after they came Chad asked me why one of my shoes was in the middle of the floor, he picked it up and there on my brand new, less than 2 hour owning shoe one of the dogs had chewed the strap...

I was livid!! The dogs (by this I mean Bozley) only chews on my new expensive shoes!!! (I don't normally spend much on shoes)

Well Chad playing peacemaker between me and my hatred for the dogs offers to stitch them up... I really didn't think that he would be able to, but he did a very good job. He even said that if it doesn't hold up I can get a new pair (or is there anywhere I can buy just one shoe?!?)

It's now Tuesday and I've worn them everyday since I got them and the stitching is holding up very well. My feet feel great, they don't cause any pain... I can't attest to a slimmer butt, but if that happens... well it's just an added benefit.

I'm very happy about putting my stamp of approval on these bad boys.