Recipe of the Week

Every summer, it happens here in Southern Indiana. People harvest their gardens and find that they have grown a bumper crop of tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, and zuchinni. After the joy of eating the first few home grown meals has worn off, the panic sets in... what to do with all these vegetables?!? Around here, people give away squash and zuchinni like crazy to anyone who will take them. Everywhere you go, someone has brought in a plethora of vegetables waiting for hungry bellies. After receiving a bunch of squash from my mom, who got it from our church's food bank, which is overloaded with said vegetables that are threatening to go bad before they are given away, I decided to try out a new recipe.

Squash Casserole

6 cups of diced yellow squash (it took about 3 medium sized ones)
Vegetable oil
1 large onion, diced
4 T butter
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup grated cheddar
1 cup crushed Club crackers
salt
pepper
garlic powder

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Saute the squash in vegetable oil over medium-low heat in a skillet until the squash has broken down (about 15-20 minutes). After it looks pretty mushy, pour the squash into a colander lined with paper towels. Squeeze all of the water out of the squash and set aside (I used the bottom of a cup to squeeze it out. I don't think I got all of it out, but it didn't really matter, just try your best!) While squeezing, saute the diced onion in 4 T of butter for about 5 minutes, until soft and transparent. Put the squash and onion into a greased casserole dish and add 1/2 cup sour cream, 1 cup cheddar cheese and salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste (I probably used about 1/2 T of each). Mix it all together, then top it with 1 cup of crushed cracker crumbs. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the crackers are a goldeny-brown color.

Mmmm, delicious! It's my new favorite casserole recipe. It's not too cheesey, not too creamy, not too squashy... just right. So if you too have had the squash (blessing? curse?) bestowed on you, give this a try! Yum yum!

Busy Busy

I've been a busy girl the last few days.

This weekend we headed up to Indy for my baby cousin's baptism. She is such a cutie. The ceremony was very nice and they had the best cake I've ever eaten at the reception. That cake alone was worth the trip up there! We got her a book of Bible stories with fun little pictures that her big sister and brother can read to her. You can tell that we are a couple of teachers because we always end up giving kids books as gifts. Best presents ever, I think, although the kids may not agree!

While we were up that way, we visited our friend, Sarah, who just moved up there a couple of months ago. We checked out her new place, watched a movie and caught up with each other a little bit. After an accidental drive through the ghettos of Indy, we found our way to Bloomington where we stopped in to see our other friend, Nick, rode in his new car and got Mother Bear's Pizza. We took a new way home, missed our turn, got a little lost...the usual. I don't think we've ever been on a car trip together without getting turned around... one time Mike was driving us back to Indiana from Kentucky while I was sleeping. When I woke up, we were in Tennessee... go figure that one. It does keep us on our toes and the car rides interesting!

Today I went with Andi and Jacob, along with a whole cheering section of brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, to her ultrasound to see the new baby and find out whether Miss Sophie was getting a little sister or brother. Turns out that it's a healthy, unmistakeable little boy, with the name Keegan Levi. After the ultrasound, my mom, sister and I grabbed some donuts (I dreamed about them all night long), then headed over with my mom to babysit Sophie while Andi went to work, Let me tell ya, I love that little girl. She was in a great mood, despite some sniffles, and wanted to play all day. I can't wait to meet the new little guy in a few months.

After that, I came home and took a much needed nap and have been pretty lazy the rest of the night. Ahhh, feels nice.

Best. Thing. Ever.

Those of you who know our dog, Scout, knows that she is practically a walking muscle with a tail. She is the strongest dog I've ever met. Despite our training efforts, it is almost impossible to take her for a walk without being pulled along like an Iditarod champion or having our limbs ripped out of socket. Needless to say, Scout hasn't been for a good long walk in quite a while.

Yesterday at Target I was browsing the pet section when I came across the Gentle Leader Head Collar. It caught my attention because it advertised itself as the #1 vet recommended collar that stops pulling and jumping. With nothing else working for our beast of a dog, I decided to give it a go and shell out the $20, thinking it better be worth it. Being the skeptical person that I am, I decided to hold on to my receipt so I could bring the "miracle collar" back, mangled and shredded, and laugh as I read the product guarantee to the poor sales associate in order to get my money back.

We decided to test it today by walking to my parents house and to our disbelief, it worked! She struggled with it for a few minutes, trying to get the strap off of her nose, but soon realized her attempts were futile and gave up. When we started walking, she tried to pull her old tricks, but again, realized that it wasn't going to happen. Anytime she would start to pull, we'd put a little tension on her leash. That would pull her head slightly to the side, discouraging the pulling. After 5-6 times, she figured it out and walked like a proper lady dog. It was the most peaceful (and least painful) dog walk I have ever experienced! That was very impressive, but what sold it for me was when she saw another dog off in the distance. Usually that triggers an arm dislocation, but this time, we just put a little tension on the leash and watched as she walked calmly beside us. A miracle!

I would recommend this to anyone who has a crazy dog like Scout, who likes to pull or jump or bark a lot. I was totally surprised how well it worked, and how quickly it worked! Definitely worth the money to us! Yay! Now we can go for walks again without the fear of losing life and limb. Truly, the best thing ever!!

Question?

Does anyone have trouble reading my blog because the text is set on the dark green background? Mike's computer doesn't have the white behind it but mine does. I need to figure out whose computer is messed up, his or mine! Please let me know! Thanks a million!

EDIT: It's Mike's computer that is messing up! Thanks for your help everyone... I love being able to prove him wrong :o)

Free Kittens are Never Free

Marley and Ringo: Best Buds!

I have learned many of life's lessons over the years, but there is one that I just can't seem to grasp and understand: the myth of the free kitten.

We got Marley Cat a few weeks ago from a family friend's litter of about 800 kittens. We picked out Marley because he was cute and fluffy and also had no price tag. After we got him home, we fooled ourselves into thinking that he was a healthy little cat that didn't really need to see the vet at all!

So fast forward about 2 weeks later. I was cleaning up the house when I heard the most bizarre meowing sound. When I found the little cat, he was mid-vomit, standing beside a little pile of digested kibble and wriggly worms. EWWWWW! I immediately called the vet and made an appointment ASAP.

So today we took him in to see our favorite vet (I used to work there and wouldn't take my pets anywhere else... she is sooo nice!) to get dewormed and have his first shots done. When we got there, we decided to also have him tested for feline leukemia and FIV to make sure he wouldn't give any diseases to Ringo. Marley was deemed a very healthy, disease-free, wonderful cat for a price of a mere $88.54. And he's due for 2 more sets of shots next month. And we still have to have him neutered and declawed in a few more months. Yikes! Our free little kitten isn't so free anymore. He's actually going to run us somewhere around $250.

In all reality, I should have known better, I really should have, because I did the exact same thing with Ringo. Mike was blindsided by it though... he was not happy at all about the expense. We had our first real finance-based fight today (a newlywed initiation of sorts?). He still had delusions of the free kitten. Oh well, in the end, I feel that it's worth every dime to know our animals are happy and healthy. And maybe, just maybe, I've finally learned that there is no such thing as a free kitten.

So true...

Zucchini Bread and Job Applications

I made zucchini bread for the very first time ever last night. It was going great until I realized I read the directions wrong and put all of the ingredients in the bowl in the wrong order. I do that all the time... you'd think I'd eventaully learn, but noooo... I guess I'm just too impatient! But I figured it all gets mixed together anyways, so I just continued on my way and baked two loaves. It came out so yummy! I feel like a real Southern Indiana wife now that I've made my own homemade zucchini bread!

Job search update: I turned in 3 different applications for aide jobs in at the school corporation office today and am on the lookout for more. My first pick would be at the school I did my student teaching at, but at this point I just really hope I get an interview anywhere. I'm more than qualified for each position, but I've come to terms with the fact that it's more about who you are and who you know, rather than what you can do that counts in this county, which is rather unfortunate. Oh well... I'll just keep plugging along until something comes along. Things will happen when they are meant to happen. And if I can't find anything this year, I'll just keep subbing and look again next year. Only 17 more days of summer! Gotta enjoy them while I can and worry about all this stuff later!

Back to School Outreach

Yesterday was my church's annual Back to School Outreach. This was my first year to help out with it, and I got to see just how much of a difference our little church makes to our community. At the outreach, parents and their kids could come in to get free backpacks, lunchboxes, haircuts, and all the school supplies needed to start out the school year. They also found information about Hope Central (the Education Center, Food Bank and Women's Clinic our church is starting up). It was a really good day. My job was to give out supplies like pens pencils, paper, etc to each student off of their school lists. It was definitely chaotic at times, but the end result was well worth it. The kids were so proud of their new backpacks and haircuts, and most parents were very appreciative of all the help we were giving to them and their family. It was a great way to give to a wonderful cause and I can't wait to do it again next year!

Potter Pictures!

So here they are... pictures from the Harry Potter book release!

Cast of characters:

Me as Bellatrix Lestrange and Sam as Narcissa Malfoy... evil witch sisters!


Mom and Dad as Mr. and Mrs. Weasley


And Mike as the relucant Harry Potter


What a fun family, huh?


Here's me and Sam again. We're so cool... or so we thought after our initial embarrassment of being in public like this wore off (also note the nametags we made... we wanted to make sure everyone knew who we were... such neeeeeeeerds!).

At Barnes and Noble, we spent most of our time people watching. Sam kept pointing out different people who were dressed up, saying, "Look at that freak!" I kept having to remind her that WE were the freaks that night. We had some of the best costumes there, if I do say so myself. Random people even took our pictures because we looked so awesome.


Here's our very staged picture of me and Sam waiting in line a few minutes before midnight. Really, we were way too excited to sleep. Borderline giddy, in fact.

While we waited in line forever, the boys were doing this.

Dad was such a good sport... he wore his goofy costume the whole time. Mike was happy to spend his time playing nintendo in a comfy, cushy chair.

Around 12:45, we finally got our books!


We love Harry!


I'm not quite sure what we're doing here... Harry disco party? I told you we were giddy!

We all rushed home and read until the wee hours of the morning, then woke up, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, ready for more. I think we all finished well within 24 hours of getting the book and enjoyed every second. And it was A-MAZ-ING! Best book of the whole series! I won't say anymore because you need to read it yourself.

It was such a fun night, and really I have my entire family to thank for that... it's one memory that I will remember for the rest of my life. We may be crazy and TOTAL dorks... but isn't that what life is all about?

Radio Silence

Well tonight is the night! At approximately 10pm, my whole family and I will be at Barnes in Noble, in full costume, awaiting the release of the very last Harry Potter book! I CANNOT WAIT! My sister and I have been working on costumes all day... complete with wands and everything. We've even talked my dad into dressing up! I'll be sure to post some pictures later this week after I finish the book, but until then, there will be complete radio silence. I will be disconnecting myself from the real world until at least Sunday, holing up in my house and reading my little heart out. I hope that the ending lives up to all my expectations and that it will be a satisfying ending to a wonderful obsession series... I guess I'll find out soon! Until then, over and out!

It's Me!

It's me, Simpson style!

Cool, huh? Gotta love the hair!
Go to the Simpsons Movie Website to make your own!

Cartoon for you

Stumbled over this little gem on Savage Chickens. I thought it was hilarious!

This and That

Update on Mike's job... he likes it! Hey Mikey! (haha) Anyways, he is just training in this week, but has already started some of the tutoring. He says the teaching part will be a breeze, he's just concerned about the paperwork aspect of it (he's not what you would call an organized person). Aside from that, he believes this job is a really good fit for him, plus will help him out on his resume when he's applying for teaching jobs this fall. Hooray!!

No landlord news yet (surprise, surprise). Getting very annoyed. Sigh.

We finished painting the inside of one of our storage closets. It used to be a very 1970s pale sea foam green, so lovely. It now has white walls and brown shelves and trim. It took a lot longer to do than I thought it would take, but it looks really nice now. One down, only four to go!

We got a new toilet seat. It's wooden and fancy. It may not seem exciting to you, but hey, it was big news for us. We had to get a new one because our old one ripped in half. I blame that on Mike (haha).

Marley Cat has definitely made himself at home and has hit his mischievous kitten stride. We've been thinking that we should have called him Diablo. He loves to climb everything and march over our heads while we are sleeping. We'd think he was evil if he wasn't so darn cute.

Well enough rambling.

Recipe of the Week

When we use to live in Bloomington, we would go to Kilroy's at least once a week for their happy hour specials. $2 cheeseburgers, at least 15 different flavors of Long Island Ice Teas and cheap hot wings... what more could a college student ask for? Anyways, the wings always came with a delicious blue cheese sauce that I could never get enough of. After we left Bloomington, I learned how to make some pretty good wings, but what about that wonderful sauce? Store bought Blue Cheese dressing? Bleeeeh. Ranch? Bleeeeeh. Wings by themselves? Bleeeeh. After I had given up hope on finding anything remotely close to Kilroy's, I randomly came across a recipe online for such a sauce. While it might not be exactly the same as the kind in Bloomington, it's darn close, and is really easy to make. So here it is, my favorite home-made Blue Cheese Sauce! Enjoy!

3/4 cup sour cream
1-1/3 cup mayo
1 tsp worchestershire
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt (I use a little less just because the cheese and worchestershire is so salty)
1/2 tsp black pepper
4 oz blue cheese, crumbled

In a large bowl, whisk together sour cream, mayo, and worchestershire. Season with dry mustard, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Stir in blue cheese crumbles. Cover and refrigerate for 24 hours before serving. (I don't ever wait that long. I stick it in the fridge to get cold while I make the wings. The longer it sets the better though.)

While we use it just for wings, I bet it would be really good as a salad dressing, veggie dip, or topping for a burger.

Unlikely Friends

Happy Birthday Nana....

Happy Birthday Nana. You were such a strong, courageous, amazing woman and you have inspired my life in so many ways. I think about you every day and miss you more than you could ever imagine. I love you.

Waiting and waiting and waiting....

Oh yes, we're still waiting on our landlord to get us the contract for our house. Two weeks ago, she told us that she was waiting on her lawyer to finish up the contract and would drop it off to us within the week. She also said to hold off on paying July's rent so that it would go towards the payment of the house. Mind you, that was two weeks ago. Tired of waiting on her, Mike called today to see when we could expect to see a contract. Apparently she hasn't even gotten it started because doesn't want to pay a lawyer $300 to make one and wants us to pay July's rent before we sign anything because she's got bills to pay. Hmmm... funny how much her story has changed...

So the newest story is that she's having a friend write something up for her this weekend and she'll try to get a hold of us on Monday so we can look it over. I hope she follows through this time, although I'm not really holding my breathe, but I guess we'll see. We're starting to get really irritated with this. We started this whole process in May, were told we'd have things done by the end of June, and it's now the middle of July and still no progress. She's just made one excuse after the other about why things haven't gotten done, and while we've been very patient and understanding about the situation, we're getting kind of fed up and frustrated because we are soooo ready to start working on things before the hectic school year starts up again.

Grrr. I suppose it will happen when it's meant to happen, but dang it, I'm too impatient for this! Our plan of action now is just to keep calling every few days until we annoy the bajeez out of her enough to get something done. Please pray that this deal happens quickly and without much more hassle... hopefully we'll be homeowners by the end of the month!

Harry Potter Happiness

Today some friends and I went to see the newest Harry Potter movie in 3D at the IMAX and it was AWESOME! So very very awesome. It's without a doubt my favorite of all the HP movies so far (although I still like the books better, of course). Seeing it in 3D was definitely worth it too... I highly recommend! It fueled my Harry Potter excitement even more, so my sister, my mom and I spent a good chunk of the afternoon discussing theories for the next book. Sam found a really good site with interview quotes from JK Rowling about the whole series that got us thinking even more, check it out, if you are a fellow nerd : )

In case you were wondering...

Ahhhh!
Can't wait!!!

Grrr...

I've been dabbling in html in hopes to fix up my blog with a fancy new template, but I have miserably, pathetically, totally failed. I think I understand what I did wrong, but who knows. So back to the drawing board... and don't be too alarmed if everything looks messed up for awhile. Hopefully I'll get a super awesome looking page up here soon and I can feel like a internet wiz once more!

EDIT: I got sleepy/frustrated and finally just copied one off of a free hosting site. I don't know how long it will let me keep it though. Oh well, at least it still looks cool for now!

Mike got a job!!!!

Hooray!! In search of a job in the education realm, Mike interviewed at the Sylvan Learning Center, hoping to get hired on there as a tutor. After two long agonizing weeks, he got the call today offering him the job!!! He accepted, of course, and starts his training on Monday! After they get done breaking him in, he'll be tutoring 2-3 students at a time, teaching different subjects that the students struggle with. As of now, it looks like he'll be teaching some high school algebra and a course on organizational skills (ha, those of you who know Mike will get the joke!). He'll be working about 20 hours a week, with a decent hourly wage, plus he'll get more hours and higher pay the longer he works there. I think he's pretty excited that he finally found a job that suited him. Way to go Mike! I'm so proud of you!!!

Newly Employed Man.... oh yeeeeeah!

The Bald Eagle has landed...

My dad arrived home safe and sound from Puerto Rico today! He sounds like he is very glad to be home, and it seems that it was actually a worthwhile trip for him and his company. We'll be going over to see him a little later after he catches up on some sleep.

Nothing else to report really... Mike and I have waged war on the house for the past two days. So far we have the bedroom totally clean and prepped to paint, we've wiped down all but two of the (horribly gross) window blinds, and have thoroughly vacuumed the the floors and baseboards. Tomorrow we are taking our ever growing pile of junk in the basement to the Goodwill Store and I still need to work on cleaning the kitchen and bathroom really well, but after that we should be ready to get to the real work as soon as we get the contract for the house. We still haven't heard anything else about it... I think Mike is going to call our landlord this weekend if we don't hear from her this week. I really hope everything goes as planned... I'm starting to get very anxious about it. But what will be, will be, I suppose. At least we have a super clean house either way! Wahoo!

And in Marley news, he's made friends with Ringo and Scout and acts like he's just one of the herd. Scout loves to give him kisses and Ringo likes to play hide, seek, and attack with him. Looks like it was another successful animal adoption!

It's Marley!

So Mike won this one. But that's okay, in exchange I won exclusive rights to naming our future children. He'll be sorry when I name our kid Crookshanks instead of the cat.

One last note

My dad had to fly out to Puerto Rico today on business. He got there this evening with no problems and has 2 fun-filled days of safety meetings to look forward to. He'll be back on Wednesday afternoon. Please pray that he avoids the banditos (really!) and returns home to us, safe and sound.

Our new addition...

After months of debate, we finally got a new kitty today! Isn't he cute?!? We haven't decided on a name quite yet, but we are narrowing it down. Mike wants Charlie, Merlin, or Marley (a mixture of the two), and I want Crookshanks, Voldemort, or Hagrid (Harry Potter names!). Any other suggestions are quite welcome! So far he's getting along quite nicely with the other animals. Ringo is pretty indifferent to it all and Scout just isn't sure what it he is.

Here are some more photos; your dose of cuteness for the day!


Hiding out


Snuggling with Mike


What a cutie!


Nap time!

Thunder over Petersville

Yesterday, Mike and I took a trip up to Columbus to see his family and to join in the fun at the


We spent a little time with Mike's folks and visited his friend, Tim. We rode his giant 4 wheeler and went through creeks and stuff (without getting muddy, woo!). After that, we headed over to his sister's house where Thunder over Petersville was being held. The party was complete with food, fun games, and of course, the fireworks. Mike's dad contributed quite a few big ones while all the other guys there had some to add too. After "warming up" with the lighting of the bottle rockets, they commenced to the big, sparkley ones. They were actually quite impressive! There were only a few stray shots into the crowd, and one particularly exciting misfire into a pile of unlit fireworks that got all those manly men a-running! Good times!


Mike and I getting ready for fireworks!


Kaboom!

Nothing new to report....

So how about a recipe? Inspired by my Grandma Nancy, I've been making my own personal recipe book like she kept throughout her life. I've been keeping one for the past two years now in the hopes of one day publishing my own book, so I'm always trying out new recipes. Last night I made a baked spicy chicken for the first time. It said it was a Indian chicken recipe, but I thought most Indian food used curry. Maybe it used cumin instead? I dunno! Whatever it is, it's a pretty good recipe, especially if you like super spicy stuff. Since we usually like our food a little on the hotter side, I decided to really slather on the spice, using all of the rub on only 2 chicken breasts instead of the recommended 4. Bad idea because we just about burned all of our tastebuds off. After the first couple of bites we topped it with some sour cream just to cut the heat a little. Next time I'll definitely use a lot less rubbing mixture then I put on it, just for our tounges' sakes. Even though it was hot, I still really liked it.

Here's the recipe:

4-5 chicken breasts
3 T oil
1 T cumin
1.5 T paprika
1.5 tsp cayenne pepper
1.5 tsp black pepper
3 tsp salt (less if you're not a huge salt fan)
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped & smashed
6 T lemon juice (I used lime)

Mix the cumin, paprika, cayenne, salt, pepper, garlic, and lemon juice together. Pat the chicken dry and cut several deep gashes in each breast. Rub the mixture into the chicken really well, making sure you get some into the gaps. Place spiced chicken into a casserole dish and set aside for 3 hours (I skipped the 3 hours and cooked immediately).

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Brush the tops of the spiced chicken with the oil. Bake the chicken for 20 minutes, then turn and bake for another 25 minutes, until tender. Baste the chicken with any drippings and serve. (I think you could grill this too, you just wouldn't have all of the drippings.)

Yum yum!

2nd Annual Stars and Stripes Spectacular Extravaganza of Joy and Joyness

To celebrate the 4th of July, we spent the day yesterday enjoying the festivities at my parents' house with lots of friends. The day will filled with many activities... swimming, a slip & slide, hillbilly golf, a costume contest, a homemade boat race and finally, a patriotic-named food theme. It was a blast! Everyone was very creative in all aspects of the day. I won the costume contest with a firework costume (woo!), but I was followed closely by a Son of Liberty dressed for the Boston Tea Party, the Declaration of Independence, the Statue of Liberty, a Homeland Security Officer and a singing, dancing troupe of kids with props and everything! Everyone also had some really cool boats and appropriately named food items (Firecracker Fajitas, Star Spangled Spuds, No Taxation Without Representation Trifle, American Revolution Cannonballs... you get the idea). And the slip & slide... there is a reason that thing was made for children. In the midst of the slipping & sliding, I banged my knee so hard that it immediately bruised and swelled up to where I couldn't bend it or walk very well, which left me with a bag of frozen okra on it for part of the day. (Today, the knee is better, but I'm pretty sure every single muscle in my body has gotten sore. I've been walking around like a really stiff zombie, getting no sympathy from others... come to think of it, they openly laughed at me). We concluded the day with a trip to Fazoli's with friends, postphoning the fireworks for tomorrow night when everyone is rested up and ready for more fun! It was the perfect way to spend a lovely 4th of July! PS- Stay tuned for some pictures, I'll be posting some as soon as my sister sends them to me.


The Indian and the Firework!


Mike, little Sophie and Carly

Happy 4th of July!

Today was such a great day! Food, friends, fun... can it get any better than that? But that's not the real reason for the post tonight. Sometimes I think that people forget that the freedoms we have today come at a cost. My uncle, Bill Frakes, was a Marine that had to make the ultimate sacrifice for his country. He was killed in the line duty on July 4, 1970 while in Vietnam when he was only 19 years old. 19...I can't even imagine. Although I never got to meet him, I hear the stories my mom tells of him and it makes me proud to know that he was brave enough to fight and give his life for his country. Today, take a little time to remember those who risk their lives daily for our continued freedoms and for those who have come before us to do the same. Happy 4th of July!

Just call me Martha...

Or not, in this case. Tired of complaining about the inch wide gap underneath our side door in which our precious air conditioning likes to escape, I decided to get down to business and do some research online. After googling a bit, I came across this nifty little site called NotMartha.org.

It has a how-to section to make a few easy improvements to your home. That's where I found step by step directions to make the door draft stopper. So with a few bucks and some determination, I bought some pipe foam, rummaged around in the basement for an old pillowcase and borrowed my mom's sewing machine and got to work. Surprisingly, it only took me an hour to make... just 20 minutes if you take away the time it took me to figure out how to thread the sewing machine (I'm definitely not Martha...). Needless to say, my little draft stopper may not be as pretty or as technically sound as the one on the website, but it does the job and will be saving us a little $$ on our electric bill. With that project successfully completed, I now have visions of making a shoe rack for Mike's closet sometime in the near future.

My furry little babies

Since I have nothing especially compelling or clever to say today, I decided to put the spotlight on the funny little creatures that make my life a lot more interesting.



These are my furry little babies, Scout and Ringo. They are pretty much the light of our lives (yes, I'll admit, we're those crazy animal people who treat their pets like children).

Scout is a 1-1/2 year old lab/bulldog/beast mix. We adopted her in April 2006 from an animal shelter near Bloomington as a birthday present for Mike. She is truly a gift that keeps on giving! While she may look calm in this picture, it is safe to say she is a very spirited dog. Her favorite thing to do is play. And play. And play. Whether it be a never-ending game of fetch, swimming in my parents' pool, or playing tug of war with "Uncle Buddy," my family's slighty neurotic Sheltie, she is always up for having some fun. And while she looks big, strong, and to some, a little intimidating, she has the sweetest personality. She loves everyone- adults, kids, dogs, cats... it doesn't matter. When she is not romping, she loves to snuggle and beg for food. We love our Scouty!

We also love Ringo. We got him in 2004 for my birthday. He came from a friend's family farm in Mike's hometown. He is cute and fluffy and extremely spoiled. When he's not perched in a window looking at birds or sleeping in his favorite yellow chair, he is meowing at us to pet him while he eats his food. I don't know why he likes it so much, but we are usually happy to oblige! And while it took him a while to get used to Scout, they get along pretty well. This picture is a rare sight in our house. Usually Ringo will walk in front of Scout, swishing his tail wildly until she takes off after him. They'll run around the hall until Ringo hides behind the couch and bats at Scout's face. This happens several times a day. He also like to stalk our resident gerbil, Homer. He sits ominously on top of his cage, but I think they might be friends too. Homer's gotten out 3 or 4 times, and each time we've found him, Ringo is crouched beside him, meowing, and Homer is safe and sound without a scratch.

So I might be a little biased, but I think we have the best pets in the world. They make us so happy. I know that without them, our life wouldn't be complete. Now if you'll excuse me, I feel the need to go cuddle a certain dog and cat!

Soon to be homeowners??

When Mike and I moved back to my hometown after college, we began renting the house we live in now. It's a nice little 2 bedroom place that has been just perfect for us. Sure, the basement floods anytime we get a big rain and the window glass is so thin that we can feel the wind gust in the winter, but that's all to be expected in a rental house. Well about a month ago, our landlord made us an offer on the house. A very good offer to be exact. She wanted to sell us the house on contract from her for $70,000, no down payment, with payments of $600/ month (our normal rent payment now).

At first we didn't think it was possible for us. But after she made us the offer, it was amazing how we began to look at the house differently. The horrible orange carpet in the bedrooms could be replaced easily... the roof could probably hold out one more year before we had to reshingle it... the basement could be changed from "the punishment room" to a decent utility/laundry area. With a little TLC, we could make this slightly ghetto house into a home! Plus no down payment or bank loan! That's the only way we'd be able to even think about buying a house for the next few years! With the outlook that this might be the opportunity we have been praying for, we contacted our landlord and got the ball rolling.

So in anticipation of getting the house, Mike and I have been doing a few fixes here and there. We put in the new mailbox that has been sitting in the basement for who knows how long, we've pulled up the rotten linoleum underneath the sink and sealed and repainted under there, and have been doing some serious cleaning and reorganizing throughout the whole house. We've held off putting any real money into the house until it's officially ours, thinking that this is all just too good to be true. But now we've heard that the contract is being written up by a lawyer and aren't expected to pay July's rent until we've signed so it will go towards the $70K. So if all goes well (and please please pray that is does!), we should be signing the papers sometime this week and be homeowners by the weekend!

Hello Blogland!

So I've finally entered blog land! Hooray! I've thought about blogging for a couple of years now, but have always come up with one excuse or another to not go through with it. But on a whim, I've decided to actually start one up. So here goes nothing!

I decided to call my blog "Tales of a Newlywed" because I am just that... a newlywed! I got married just about a month ago to a wonderful guy named Mike. We met about 3-1/2 years ago when we were both students at Indiana University (Go Hoosiers!). First we were neighbors, then friends, then we started dating. We got engaged in Dec. of 2005, moved back to my hometown in 2006, and got married on June 2, 2007. I feel so blessed that I can say I married my best friend!

On top of getting married, I recently graduated from college. I received a B.S. in Elementary Education from IU and am in the (long, frustrating) process of finding a teaching job. So there is a lot of change going on in my life at the moment. Sometimes I feel like I'm doing a great job with the transition, other times I feel like I am barely keeping my head afloat. But through the good, the bad, and the ugly, I have my supportive husband, my loving (and eccentric) family, some awesome friends and my faith. And for that, I'm the luckiest person in the world.