Monday, July 12, 2010

Sinkhole

I never posted pictures of our "oasis" on the side of our house. We spent two days...sweating, shoveling rock, and arranging it perfectly.

We enjoyed one night in that area. The next day a huge gust of wind came and blew our 4 day old gazebo across the lawn and bent it completely out of shape and to the point that it could not be recovered....THEN,

After we were able to enjoy a few days of it while my in-laws were here, we noticed a small dip in the ground....

Well, that "dip" is a huge hole approximately 3 feet deep. The landscapers never bothered to fill in the hole from where the rain created a huge river through our backyard. They simply placed the material over it and poured rock over it. So, as the rain poured down it created this huge hole.

So, needless to say, all of our work has been a huge waste. We are now going back to the original idea of building a deck off the back of the house. This will most likely happen next summer. Now we just have to find out how to fix this hole and prevent losing a dog in that huge hole.

Weekend RoundUp

This weekend was alot of fun. It was quiet. It was a ride. It was spent with great friends. It was completely laid back. Just what we needed.
Friday night Jeff decided he was going to meet some of his buddies at the race track...well, I wanted to spend time with him so I offered to go. Only catch was....I wouldn't get on his bike. I gave in. For the first time ever, I rode on the motorcycle. My stomach was in my throat, my hands gripped so tightly I was white-knuckled. At each turn, each hill, and each speed increase....I prayed for my life! Not to knock Jeff's driving skills, but I feared for my life. literally. Only because I have never ridden on the back of the bike and it was a scary experience. Will I do it again? Probably not. It was fun though.
Saturday we spent all day at Amanda & Daniel's. Literally. Amanda & I went to the Farmer's Market in Canon City. I got a fresh loaf of Focaccia bread (which I will share later), fresh Pueblo grown peaches, fresh onions, and the most delicious salsa. While we shopped, the guys fished. they fished 3 times. Sadly, the fish weren't biting.



The delicious, well worth the $9, homemade salsa. (Jeff isn't a fan, so it's all mine.)

I also picked up this awesome iced tea pitcher for future parties. I can't wait to serve lemonade, iced tea, and sangria.
After the farmer's market we went back to their house and munched on all kinds of food until dinner time. The guy's fishing trip was rained out a few times, so they worked on the horse arena. My video gaming, Ameri.can E.agle wearing soldier WORKED ON THE ARENA. I didn't get to see him, but I heard he had a blast. He's turning in to a country boy yet! We enjoyed a great day with them and always look foward to hanging out with them.

Jeff hanging out with Tips & Sparkle


Sunday I caught up on my sleep (accidentally missed church, ignored alarm clock) while hubby had yet another day of staff duty. After sleeping (almost half the day) I finally started dinner. Here's where the focaccia bread comes in....
I made chicken tomato basil bruschetta.
Check the bottom of the post for the recipe.

There was a victory this weekend. I have always feared Daniel's dog, Cyrus. He's a trained guard dog so he's not a fan of peppy girls. ha! The first time I saw him I said, (in a sorta high pitched voice) "HI CYRUS" and he growled. Each time they would let him out of his room I would stiffen up and just avoid eye contact.

Well, this weekend not only did he come up to me begging for me to pet him...he even saw an opportunity where my foot was hanging off the couch and begged for me to pet him with me feet. Ha! I thought it was hilarious. I was probably shaking like crazy, but I think I made a new friend. :)

And today, this is what our outdoor thermometer is reading....so this is what most of us are doing today......


I'm not a cook so excuse the poorly written recipe.

Bruschetta recipe

What you need.....

1.Boneless, skinless chicken breast (I used two pieces-one small, one medium) I marinated in garlic and olive oil for about 2 hours.

2. Half of a tomato (cut in to small chunks)

3. 1 tbsp. of basil

4. Olive Oil

5. Garlic Powder

6. Focaccia bread or Italian bread (cut in to small bite-size squares)

7. Fresh mozarella cheese (shredded or cut in to small pieces)

What to do....

1. Cook chicken on stove top and cut in to small chunks

2. Mix tomato chunks and basil with two tbsps of olive oil

3. Bake bread pieces at 350 degrees for 15 minutes flipping once until dry and lightly brown.

4. Warm olive oil and garlic on stove top. Place bread pieces in olive oil and flip once. Do not submerge the bread in the oil just lightly cover it in the oil/garlic mixture.

5. Mix the tomato, basil, and chicken all together.

6. Place the mix on bread pieces.

7. Sprinkle each piece with fresh mozarella cheese.

8. Broil until cheese is melted and lightly browned.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

My New Favorite....

BLOG! I know....two blogs in one day? What!? I just discovered a fellow southern gal who blogs. This blog is my new....favorite!

http://littledaisymay.blogspot.com/

I don't know her personally...but I like her already :) Maybe it's the fact that she's a southern girl...who loves God...who loves to blog....who loves fashion....oh, and has the most adorable furbaby too :)

Time Out

Let me apologize in advance for the spacing issues on this blog. I have no idea what is wrong or how to fix it. I tried. I apologize.

So I took a little time out from blogging and now I'm back! Hopefully, I will have more to blog about in the coming weeks. It's been a fun-filled summer so far and I have lots of pictures to share. I think I'll share new pics with each blog. First, I'll share a few things we did while my mother-in-law and sister-in-law came to visit. They were here for two weeks and we tried our hardest to stay very busy and make the most of their time with us. We visited so many places and explored our new home turf! I love Colorado more and more each day. But, I am beginning to miss Hawaii more and more as well...well, I miss the beaches and my girlfriends. I made some of my best friends while living there.

Anyway, back to their visit. I'm sorry if these posts are a little out of order; who am I kidding, you guys have no idea what days we did what and frankly, you probably could care less :)
The last weekend they were here Jeff's little sister and I went to a Keith Urban concert. This was my first KU concert and Leslie's 4th...no 5th...maybe 6th? That girl is IN LOVE (total understatement) with him and is a member of his fan club...you should see her room. If only I had taken a picture of her room when I was there during Easter. Well, here are a few of the better pictures from the concert.
We waited in line for nearly 6 hours in the RAIN!

















Then, once we got in the arena we had to stand in mud the entire concert!



























Leslie & I waiting on KU
Leslie worked her way up to the second row!
Istayed back in the fourth row as I was afraid of being beat up by the crazy KU fans!












This was the best pic all night in addition to about 150 other pictures! No editing was done to this picture...it just came out perfect!
















We did so many other fun things, but that's for another day........
As for Fourth of July, I went to church while Jeff slept after a 24 hour shift. That afternoon we went to Amanda & Daniel's for some yummy hamburgers, brats, corn, beans, and angel food cake. This was day 4 of nausea and complete feeling of helplessness. Until today, that meal was my last full meal that my stomach could handle. Thankfully, I'm ALL better now. Then, we enjoyed not one...not two...not three...but four fireworks shows right from the comfort of their pasture...well, not really but we were accompanied by their horses :)
So today I spent a few hours at work preparing for our new school to open in a few weeks. Then, I went to the Jeep dealership to have an issue looked at (nothing major...thank Goodness) and I spotted a South Carolina sticker on the back of a truck with a Pennsylvania plate. You know the one....like this....

So we struck up a conversation and turns out he lived in Greenville for several months and then moved to Myrtle Beach and now he's living in tiny little Pueblo. Small World! I didn't give him too many details, but he stayed in the exact same hotel that Jeff & I had our wedding in 2006. It made me miss my roots and good friends in good ol' SC.

So, I've been having a great time catching up on all of my favorite blogs. One of which, I highly recommend you read, it's one that I've mentioned on here before. No one can tell her story better than she can. Her life is truly a testimony to her faith. Anyway, she just gave birth to her first baby and his a micro-preemie. I encourage you to read her story and pray for her son. I absolutely love her blog. You can't help but continue to wish the best for her growing family.
http://http//our-journey-to-parenthood.blogspot.com/

I hope you all have a great Thursday and come back now ya hear!