30.9.11

a song for your weekend

tonight as i was driving home this song came on the radio - it was just what i needed...



"I know the weight of this world can take you down like gravity and I know the current of yourself can take you out, out to sea but hold on, hold on 

                                                                      And he'll break 
open the skies to save 
those who cry out his name 
the One the wind and waves obey
is strong enough to save you"



Tenth Avenue North - "Strong Enough to Save" 

26.9.11

a reminder + a song

i was checking in with one of my favorite blogs and this was the post:   what i want women to know

women - check it out - it's a good reminder

we have been so busy for the past couple weeks and my computer has been on the blitz and still isn't 100%  so... hopefully back to good soon

until then - enjoy one of my favorite songs: (don't forget to turn off the sidebar music first)




11.9.11

when we eat out in the summer...

**warning -- the following has absolutely nothing to do with healthy food - unless you count the delicious factor (which you may not believe unless you tried it as it doesn't really seem appealing in the pictures)...**  


...it looks something like this:

tuesday is tomato soup day at the cafe
jon orders it with two grilled cheese, i order it with egg salad (and a few potato chips for crunch)
the picture is not a lovely one and the plate doesn't come fancy
we love the soup - it's creamy, full fat, homemade yum that i'm glad i don't have access to most of the year 

dinner salad at the bar
(yes, we eat out at the bar back here-- it's just about the only place you go for dinner and they are family friendly)
now i consider this particular salad to basically be junk food
but
 my-oh-my do i love it

 shredded ice berg lettuce, chopped onion, tomato and cheese with crushed saltine crackers
+
ranch dressing
(jon adds thousand island too)
(the boys get it with chicken -- you can get it grilled or "****" style (little fried pieces) -- it really does say that on the menu too -- i still blink (or maybe suppress a laugh) every time hear it ordered that way

see that big white bottle of ranch
that's how it comes back here
they don't ask you if you want it
they just bring it to you
in a squeeze bottle
to eat with everything

oh yes, it is very dangerous

nobody does ranch dressing like montana 
- except maybe jode's homemade -

p.s.
these are my vegetarian options (almost always) back here (within an 1-3 hour radius) - with the addition of a baked potato or grilled cheese, and sometimes pizza 
 (there is a mexican place 90 minutes away that is delicious when we get over there)
but
there is always 

ranch dressing
ice cream 
(and potatoes- deep fried any way you can think of...but that's a whole other post)

who really needs anything else to eat in the summer?

don't answer that
-and if you do-
--remember i really like to cook--



9.9.11

pictures: anniversary jaunt

we only had about 24 hours, but decided to make the most of it and take a quick trip over to red lodge, montana and the beartooth highway  -

 "It is one of the highest and most rugged areas in the lower 48 states, with 20 peaks reaching over 12,000 feet in elevation. In the surrounding mountains, glaciers are found on the north flank of nearly every mountain peak over 11,500 feet high. The Road itself is the highest elevation highway in Wyoming (10,947 feet) and Montana (10,350 feet), and is the highest elevation highway in the Northern Rockies." 
-- quote + more info can be found here --

breakfast at red lodge: we walked around downtown and our noses found fresh, delicious doughnuts...

 our hotel clerk advised two breakfast spots: Prindy's Place (for bacon+eggs at a good price)  and Cafe Regis (if you like granola and bagels) -- our hungry bodies found Prindy's first, a cute green and yellow diner - we sat at the bar and had sweet cream pancakes+ a veggie omelet -- it was delicious and gave us our fill of butter for the day)  -- funny breakfast moment - i am thinking it was the owner-- was telling a customer (in my non-remembering exactly words) that they were the basic bacon+eggs kinda place and if you wanted something healthy and fancy that you'd have to go around the corner to Cafe Regis -- jon and i had to smile, and we had to go around the corner to satisfy our curiosity... we found a cute cafe, shelves of natural products lining the perimeter, with a lot of charm and what looked like a good menu - as we were stuffed with our good pancakes+eggs breakfast from our cute diner - we opted for some drinks+danishes to-go.

                                                               
beartooth highway:
at the bottom

almost at the top

the top- that pole (jon and i estimate they are about 20 ft) is for measuring the snow and marking where the road is so the snow plows don't go off the edge - yes - the snow gets that high

 so beautiful

this was our blackberry+cheese danish from cafe regis
to was the best i can remember having
which is why jon is giving me the - "you really think i'm sharing" look
but he did
because he loves me

at the top - too bad it doesn't factor in the wind chill
(we started out in the high 60's at the bottom)

coming down the other side

we went everywhere, but cody 
we even went a few miles into yellowstone
until we got to the pay booth
--no time for that park jaunt today--

we're obsessed with these little things

amazing water, rushing so fast

they had a huge landslide a few years ago - 
i told jon to drive quick over that section of the road...

candy store in red lodge - this is only part of the taffy section 
and doesn't show the hundred other baskets they have of hard candy or the fudge section


downtown and where we ate dinner - which was warm comfort food - wild mushroom lasagna, shepherds pie, and a shared beet salad...  it was pretty tasty.  our waitress had had a long day i think.  she wasn't very friendly - she was trying, but it just wasn't working well...it's ok, the lady in the next shop we went to made up for it - she was very perky and very friendly and i bought pink striped, knee high, smart wool socks for $5 (super duper deal)...   and then we drove home.  the end.



happy weekend-ing to you!



8.9.11

thursday thanks

for family:  my parents were able to spend a day with us awhile back.  it was wonderful to have them back here - to take my dad and andrew to mount rushmore for the first time (and fuddruckers too), to see my mom.  it was short, but oh so sweet.  












jon's parent's came too -- it was great to have both sets of mom+pop with us for the day!

7.9.11

on our way

"Happiness keeps you sweet, sorrow

 keeps you human, life keeps you

 humble, success keeps you glowing, 

but only God keeps you going."






messin' with the camera remote on our anniversary jaunt

-quote found on a friend's facebook status-



6.9.11

today i heart...

melanie&marco  + frozen grapes (they're the best sweet treat)

i finally finished the season -- so great - definitely one of my favorite shows from now on -- but i don't know if the next season can compare to this one - we'll see


autumn mini book goodness

since fall is in the air - i've decided to begin the welcoming process by purchasing my seasonal mini book - the past two years i have made my own, but this summer i bought elise's summer mini book and loved it (especially the fact that it was all made and ready to go -- which was good -- because i might have started working on it at the end of july...)  so here we go again with autumn.  hooray!

find the book here:  autumn mixed paper book
find more paper goodness at elise's shop: elise joy
find elise's blog: enjoy it    --- this has been my go-to blog-first-thing-in-the morning this summer -- love it!

a little promo of the fall goodness -- can't you just smell the holiday latte's...


autumn minibook promo from elise blaha on Vimeo.

5.9.11

crisp air + crisp rice



this morning felt a little chilly
perfect opportunity to wear a hat+sweatshirt
however,
in an effort to still retain some summer
flip flops+cold cereal were in order
rice krispies to be exact
i like them the best in the form of rice krispy treats
but,
those are not a safe breakfast option
except on a holiday, which i guess it is today...
anyways
i ate two bowls of rice krispies for breakfast today
(yesterday i had two bowls of coco krispies for snack)

we are laboring today on the labor day
must take the honey off while the sun shines
this week is most likely our last week of 80 degree weather
almost good bye summer
are you making the most of these last sunshine-y days?
for more ideas on embracing the last bit: click here

p.s.  found this little goodie when i went to take my picture this morning
my funny little brother with his bee-stung eye
makes me smile big



4.9.11

it takes a village + the flowers i still dream about

it takes a village (or almost one) ...to plan a wedding - especially in less than three months and when the groom is out of town all summer and the bride is working over full time and begins her student teaching the week before the wedding...

jon and i were blessed to have so many wonderful people make our day happen and make it special - people who will never know the extent of how thankful and appreciative we are for making our wedding dream come true --- we love you and thank you once again for all you did!

one of my (many) favorite aspects of our wedding was the flowers -- they were amazing and made even more special by the fact that they were put together by katrina and my second momma, carolynn.  they were more than perfect...  

-- if you are in need of fabulous wedding flowers - you can find katrina here: bashful botanical

just a taste (i only have a few pictures with me in montana):











wedding photography:
kimberly miner: kimberlyink





2.9.11

cupcake wars audition tape

let yourself smile for five minutes while watching this little cutie - then go find a cupcake!



Sweet Tooth Fairy Cupcake Wars Audition from Collin Kartchner on Vimeo.



p.s.  one day i am going to drive to utah so i can have a photo/video shoot with collin kartchner -- i'm thinking maybe next year might be good...  you can also see more of his work at: collinkartchnerstudios

p.s.s.  we're off to celebrate still loving each other (and even liking each other most days) for 5 years and counting -- happy weekend -- you celebrate too!  - - not our marriage silly -- well i guess you could -- but i was thinking more along the lines of it's the weekend...eating cupcakes...enjoying the last bits of summer... ok.  off with you...  off with me...

1.9.11

lulu


the other day i walked into the trailer after being gone for a bit
 -- this is what i saw --
...she let me take the picture- didn't even move- which almost never happens...

----
our dear little lulu

she's such a spoiled dog 
i held strong the first month and she didn't get on the bed
then one day jon let her up on the bed for snuggle

now the snuggles happen on a daily basis
---and i change my sheets a few times a week---
(which is really ok because clean sheets smell and feel so good)

anyways.

lulu likes to do things in 3's
one of those things is going to the vet
(i kid you not - seriously this is the 3rd set of 3's)

last month she greeted our new county vet with a yeast infection/uti
(it was his first week on the job - fresh out of school)
--one--

last weekend we took her for a walk on saturday 
apparently she didn't like that too well cause she went didn't want to get up the next day
two days later we thought all was well
wake up thursday morning and she is totally lame on her back left leg
call the vet (but he was out with the cows)
friday morning to the vet - but on the mend 
arthritis maybe?
--two--

tuesday at lunch
pet lulu
feel bumps (or lumps) all over her left side in various sizes and some on her right
call vet (but he's out with the cows again)
call another vet about an hour away
drive an hour
visit vet
lulu has hives
lulu is allergic to something (who knows) 
or was bit by something
(jon found a dead spider in her bed last night?)
lulu gets a shot
lulu gets a prescription for steriods (two weeks)
lulu gets her ear checked too
lulu gets another prescription (ear goop)
lulu gets a treat
lulu goes home
--three--

lulu on steroids
drinking water every two minutes
peeing a bucket every two hours
luckily this time she's not mad starving trying to take apart the stove to get to one little biscuit between the appliance and the wall (hello prednisone)

that was three.
we should be done now.
thank goodness

(last time this happened to the tune of $600, this time we are happily settling for $75)

don't worry though...
this "little girl"
(our lu-lee belle)
---also known to respond to "lulu stinky butt"--- 
she's priceless for sure