Thirty Point Lunch

So today was my first Domestic Violence Fatality Review meeting of the new year. Since we usually have about 15 DV cases each year we only review for the first half of the year and take the rest of the year off. The meeting is at the Medical Examiner's office so we often go to the Corner Bakery for lunch. Which is a good choice for my new lifestyle. They do have some truly sinful things (Think Cinnamon Creme cake at 770 calories per slice!) From their website:

"Our signature rich, golden cake swirled with ribbons of cinnamon, topped with crumbly cinnamon streusel and powdered sugar. Available in Large, Medium, or by the slice."

but they also have some tasty salad and sandwich choices. However, after some pressure, we ended up at Ye Olde Spaghetti Factory instead.

I have no idea what I was thinking. I guess I was thinking, how many calories can a little mizithra cheese have? Even if it is tossed with spaghetti and browned butter? Well let me tell you - A LOT!!!!! Between that and the "salad" I used up my entire allotment of nutritional intake for the day and will now be eating celery dipped in water and a diet pepsi for dinner.

What kind of wine goes with dog hair

I have a special place in my heart for dogs. They are such sweet companions. I have 3 dogs of which only one is really mine. And Max is only mine because his mother was hit by a car several years ago and he was just too skiddish and awkward to start over in a new home so he became my dog. Yuki our old basset/husky mix is actually Hannah's dog that she left here for me to take care of. Amaya, our Husky/Malamute, has been here for almost a year - and was Kylie's contribution to our house o' mutts.

I do love dogs. I don't love the fog of flying dog hair that is floating around at any given moment. After a week of the dogs sleeping on my bedroom floor I can fill my vacuum canister twice with their dog hair. It's unreal.

Tonight I had plans to do laundry, make dinner, work on some honey jars - but instead I vacuumed my bedroom, bisselled the hard wood, erased the couches with the pet eraser, changed the sheets on my bed and dusted my bedroom. Maybe I can actually get dressed in my room tomorrow morning... ick!

Declutter and Dehoard!

This is a link to the de-clutter calendar that I will be using this year to get rid of the massive amounts of junk that has accumulated in my house. I put off getting organized and cleaning because it just seems to be such a daunting task but I think I can stick to it if I just take it a day at a time. Who knows? Time will tell!

http://www.mysimplerlife.com/2012.htm


My before and after pics - not enough light in my bedroom but you get the idea!

A Life Mulligan

So, since I have this almost new life with some new additions to my family, I thought it only fitting that I round out (pun intended) my life mulligan with an improved body and psyche. I avoided a Calendar-New Year resolution mostly because of all the negativity surrounding it and the fact that I have yet to stick with a New Years resolution. So starting today (the Lunar New Year), I am going to start chronicling my journey into a more healthy place - spiritually and physically. My first step today was re-joining weight watchers - a small step but one that I know will work for me. Today, I really am the best person I have ever been - but there is soooo much room for improvement and growth (spiritual growth not physical! ha ha) and I think I am finally in a place that I can take it on! So wish me luck! :)

A Memorable Year

It was a memorable year. We had some disappointments, some losses and some gains but mostly we made lifetime memories. Here are some highlights:

I bought a new car - well new to me anyway. Since then I have spent THOUSANDS fixing it and it still isn't running!
We became acquainted with the Weber County Justice system - could have done without that one.
We lost Rodney's Aunt Dawn who he was very close to. She was way too healthy and way too young.
We gained two beautiful new babies in Rodneys family.
We got married!
I met my father-in-law for the first time.
We went to Alaska.
We saw Whales and porpoises (in the wild - that was for you Jenny)
We started remodeling our house - it's still not done ;)
Rodney's youngest daughter, Tiffany came to live with us. We gained one but we lost a couple.
I started a home business selling customized honey jars.
We traveled to New England and ate Maine Lobster, Maryland crab, ceviche, and french toast with real Vermont maple syrup.
We went to Bangor and took pictures of Stephen Kings house.
We spent the night in a beach cabin in Maine.
We went to Cape Cod and took pictures of a lighthouse.
We got stuck in through traffic in the Bronx for over 4 hours.

We have wonderful family and friends. We wouldn't trade a one of ya!

TheKnot

TheKnot

Proposal

Monday, October 4th was my birthday. For my birthday Rodney made plans to go to Boise and spend a long weekend, which I thought was the perfect present. I would much rather have birthday experiences than a present any day. So last Thursday I took an early day from work and we headed to Idaho.

We were pretty close to the Idaho border when my engine light started flashing. Feeling dejected we headed back to Brigham City to have Autozone read the computer code on the car computer. We had just had the head gaskets replaced and since then there has been a slow oil leak and it smells of burnt oil off and on but we havent had a chance to take it back to Steve to look at it. The codes read that cylinder 3 and 4 had misfired so we drove the car back home. Luckily, I have a super sweet sister who let me use her car for the umpteenth time so we could continue our birthday weekend.

We had a wonderful drive to Boise. I don't know what it is about the cynergy between Rodney and I but we just truely enjoy being together. He cracks me up. So we chatted and teased and he had me laughing almost all the way to Boise.

He had kept our accommodations a secret. So when we get into town he heads downtown. We pull up to the hotel and the first thing I think of is that it looks like Dexters apartment! Ha ha. We park in back which looks a tad sketchy and then we head through the back into a very cool and cosmoplitan courtyard. We check and head to our Suite. It was the coolest room! We stayed at the Modern Hotel and Bar and it was the perfect room for us.

We ended up getting into Idaho pretty late because of the fiasco with the car - I seem to have car fiascos a lot. So we headed downtown and picked up Indian take out. At that point Rodney told me that he had plans for Friday night and that we were going to see a Gaelic band at a downtown concert venue. We ate and fell asleep pretty quickly.

Friday morning we slept in a bit and then headed out for breakfast then spent the day shopping and seeing the city. We headed back to the room early so I could shower and get ready for our night out on the town. We ended up eating at an Irish pub just half a block from the "Knitting Factory" which is where Gaelic Storm was playing. If you remember the movie Titanic, Gaelic Storm is the group that plays when Leo takes Kate down into the belly of the ship and they dance.

Gaelic Storm was AWESOME. It may have been the best concert I have ever been to. The only reason the concert loses points is because the bar stools we sat on in the VIP section were a tad uncomfortable for a 2 1/2 hour concert. Otherwise the night was PERFECT!

We walked back to the hotel, hand in hand. It was a romantic, lovely, beautiful night and I didn't think there was anyway that the rest of the weekend could even come close to equaling that first night in Boise. Ha ha, was I wrong.

On Saturday we got up early-ish and had a continental breakfast at the hotel and then walked to the downtown farmers market. What a fun morning! We took our time wandering through all of the booths. We bought some cheese and some zebra tomatoes and some diving pine nut brittle.. mmmmm! We walked back to the hotel and decided we would check out a movie. The movie didnt pan out because without putting it anywhere they cancelled that time slot so we wasted half the day waiting for a movie to start that never started.

So we decided to head back to the hotel and relax and get ready for dinner later that night. Instead of getting off at our exit, Rodney kept heading into town. We ended up by the River at Julia Davis Park. Julia Davis Park is an 89.4-acre regional park located near downtown.

"The home of Zoo Boise, the Boise Art Museum, Idaho State Historical Museum and Idaho Black History Museum, Julia Davis Park is the cultural and historic heart of the city. The park also features a formal Rose Garden, two reservable picnic shelters, a six-court tennis complex, playground, duck pond, restrooms and a section of the Boise River Greenbelt. This beautiful park was created thanks to a donation of 43 acres of land in 1907 by Thomas Davis as a memorial to his beloved wife, Julia."

We ended up parking by the Rose Garden and decided to wander through. We got to a gazebo in the middle of the park and I wondered aloud if they permitted weddings in the gazebo. It was just perfectly located in this beautiful garden and beautiful park right by the river. I then noticed a paper hanging on the wall of the gazebo and went over to see if it was a reservation sheet. It was. I said, again aloud, "Ha ha, I am so good! They do permit weddings here!"

From behind me, I hear Rodney say, "Hey baby look at this beautiful rose." I turn around and Rodney is down on one knee holding my ring!! I started crying and at some point sat down on a bench in the gazebo. Rodney started looking concerned because I guess I hadn't answered him. Of course, YES. YES YES YES!!!

The rest of the weekend was beautiful and we had lots of fun planning the wedding but nothing came close to that moment in the Julia Davis Rose Garden!