Puppy Pep!

Puppies are funny little creatures. I think we actually got SUPER lucky and ended up with an extremely mellow little guy. He chills out, gets a little pep, and then goes right back to chilling out. He's not terrorizing the house and has not been a big challenge thus far in the potty training department. I'm also home with him though and I'm sure that helps out a TON! The thing with puppies is they like their sleep, or at least ours does. He'll play for a while and then wham-o he's down for the count for a good hour+ nap. Sometimes this even happens at weird times, like right in the middle of playing!

Don't you wish real life was like that? You're just sitting there at your desk working away and then lay the head down and take a little snooze! I think we would all actually work alot better if we were allowed little puppy naps.

By the way, the pup does have an official name now! We've settled on Whisky. My husband likes to sip on whisky so that was part of it, but I also felt it was appropriate seeing how he falls asleep like a drunk in the water bowl. You can actually see this for yourself on a little video I made that's on YouTube. Please disregard the ridiculous narration (like you couldn't figure out what was going on) and please lay on your side while watching so the fact that it is the wrong direction won't matter. I tried and tried to flip it, but had a little trouble in that department and finally gave up!

Prepare for cuteness!

I bet you thought that was going to be a puppy picture didn't you? Well HAHA I tricked you. This is a photo of Melissa's son Myles. Photos of Myles makes my uterus hurt!!!

Water dog!

I've caught on fast that this dog is going to LOVE the water! Yesterday he would go over to his water dish and put his whole face in and just lay down. He loves sleeping by the water dish! Then we went outside and Bill was using the hose and he went over to where it attached and just put his face in the spraying water. I'm going to have to get him a kid pool for the backyard so he can cool off.

Happy Birthday Mom!!

Hope that you have a wonderful birthday! Wish I could be there to help blow out your candles!!

New member of the family!

Today Bill and I went and picked up our new kid! Aren't puppies just amazing! I'm sure there will be times when I'm not saying that, but right now I just want to bathe in puppy breath and soft ears. I'm super excited for this new member of the family and I hope you are excited too because there will be lots and lots of blog posts about this dog. We don't have a name yet, but as you know Bill is typically pretty good in the naming department so we're going to give it some time until something comes to him. If you have any suggestions, please send them along! There are more pictures on Flickr if you feel like you need some more puppy love!!

Make me a supermodel!

Today Bill got to be part of a photo shoot for a Java City brochure. I of course had to go down and take a peek because there are only going to be so many times when my husband is a model. Then again, this could be the big break and the phone calls could start rolling in! I better get offline right now so I don't hog the lines! Ha ha, remember those days when the computer used to block phone calls...and it took 10-15 minutes just to get it fired up? That's going to be one of those things I can use with my grandchildren, "I remember when your grandma had to listen to a bunch of beeps and block the phone line just so she could go online."

Anyway, here is a shot of he and Meghan. Unfortunately they didn't want a gimp in the photo so we'll just call Meghan Bill's pseudo wife.

Sorry Megs, I had to post the picture. You know you wanted to be on the blog though!

Attack of the Killer Moth!

This morning when we opened the front door we were surprised to see a giant moth on the screen. I of course had to get a picture of it, cause I of course had to blog it, cause I of course am an idiot! Hey, when you are home most of the day you have to find your blogging ideas anywhere you can. I actually find this moth to be very pretty and only hope that it will become an even more beautiful butterfly. Isn't that what happens to moths? I sure hope so or I'm an even bigger idiot then previously mentioned!

I loooove it!

I've always had a deep liking for Becki's camera. It has this cool feature where you can play around with the color. You can have the camera just pick up certain colors. I never got her camera cause well, I have a camera and it was a little pricey. A couple weeks ago Bill dropped his backpack in the river and lost his wallet and our second camera (the one that he carries.) Today I went to Target and they had a camera, just like Becki's and it was on clearance for under $100!!! It is a different model, but the only difference I can tell online is that the screen size on the back is different. It's been just a couple hours and I'm already having so much fun with this feature. I guess I'm going to have to give Bill my old camera to carry around so I can play! I went in the backyard to play with it, this is my favorite image so far. You can see more of these on my Flickr account.

I can swim!

Today I went to the gym for the first time and hopped in the pool. Well, I actually slowly went down the stairs while holding firm to the handrail, but who really cares? Once in the pool I started just walking around. It was amazing to me how normal that I felt in the water. I didn't have a limp and I didn't feel any pain. Then I decided to try actually swimming some laps. Guess what? I can swim like a normal person! This was important to me because swimming is something I've always been able to do well and I just wanted to still be able to do it. I can't flip turn and push off the wall quite yet but I am content with the laps that I did and will be back doing them again this week!

Earth Day Craft Show

Today I joined some of my mafioso ladies and set up a table for an Earth Day Craft Show. It was super nice to be outside for a change and I managed to keep my leg up most of the day. My table came out cute, I was super pleased by what I had to offer thus far. I'm happy to say that things went well! I didn't make hundreds, but I made enough to cover my supplies and cover the cost of my table. This means that the next time I have a table the millions that I make will be millions in my pocket!

And the winner is.......

Debie! Congrats, you just one the Pay it Forward contest. You were the first one to leave a comment AND the one who got me to do it in the first place. Does that mean that this should have been called Pay it Backward? Who knows! Thanks to everyone that entered....you four people know who you are.

Deb: You get to pick one item from my Etsy store. There is one small condition though! I did a show today and therefore have to update my Etsy store. So, please don't pick your item until Monday! I'd hate to tell you that I don't have it :o)

The Adventure Ends

Welp, this is going to be the final posting in my pictures from the past extravaganza! We've had some good times and some embarrassing times. I'm going to end with a picture that kind of captures both of those times.

There we are, me and Bill. Are you taking a double take? I promise that is not Bill with a previous svelte lady. Nope, that is me when I previously used to be a svelte lady. It's crazy I tell ya. Pictures like this are the kind that need to be mounted on my refrigerator! This was after my first very successful adventure with Weight Watchers. Well, successful in the sense that I took all the weight off, not so successful in the keeping it off department. I'm about 135 in this picture.....I won't even begin to tell you what I am now but I potentially ate this girl :o)

I started back with WW yesterday, so I'm going to keep looking at this picture to get motivated. It's going to be hard this time around with the knee and all, but there really hasn't been a time when it hasn't been hard. Well, except for the time that I did it before this picture. That time was easy, but I was young then.

Wish me luck!

Laserific!

Here it comes, are you ready? Like I said yesterday...this one is going to be a doosey. You may want to be seated with an empty bladder, don't say I didn't warn you.

Ouch! I think that hurt me more than it hurt you. There is so much going on in this picture. First off, we have a laser background. I remember that this was an actual option and you know what...I picked it. Heck, I not only picked it but I wore a Bongo shirt that actually matched it, and hoop earrings that matched that. Heck, if we could get close on the rubber bands around my braces I have a feeling they would be purple as well. Plus, I also had a fresh perm which allowed me to perfectly tease my bangs up in some sort of gnarly wave that probably took an hour and an entire bottle of Aquanet to perfect.

On a side note, today is National Cheeseball Day and I think you are celebrating it perfectly by reading this blog posting. Enjoy!

*sorry this is late, I know some of you have been dying for this pic. Internet problems aren't good for blogging.

And then it started to go bad......

The hair was still uncolored, but it sure as hell wasn't unstyled! I wonder how much time and hairspray it took to get this look?! This was roughly in 7th grade (late 80's) when this picture was taken. I can only guess cause it sure wasn't highschool and I didn't have braces yet. Heck, it may even be 6th grade. The little dog in the picture is my first dog Muffy. Yes, you read that right, Muffy. I really wanted to name the dog Barry Manilow so really it got lucky with the name Muffy. You also cannot beat the checker print background. Did I perhaps know that I would one day be a race fan? No, I think I was just an idiot! The picture that you will see tomorrow just goes to prove that fact. Stay tuned, it's going to be a doosey!

Long hair!

Well, this is probably the longest that my hair has ever been! I think in highschool I even got it this long once and then I hacked it all off. I like to do that, grow it out, hack it off and so on and so on. The reason this is my favorite picture of my youth is my hair color! This was long before I started tampering with it and what I would give to have that color now. Why is it that is now costs us ladies hundreds of dollars to try and get the beautiful hair we had when we were kids?!

And then there was me.....

Now that I have put a bunch of unknowing family members on the internet it is time to start humiliating myself. Well, I'm a baby in this one so really my parents should be more humilated for the clothes that they are wearing in this shot. Actually, only my Dad should be embarrassed. My Mom looks sexy in her red shirt with the little navy scarf around her neck. Dad on the other hand needs a little help. There is no doubt in my mind that shirt is 100% polyester! I guess you have to give him credit though because this picture was taken in 1976 so I'm sure at that time this shirt was 100% hip, jive'n or groovy. I'm sure one of those words would have worked back then!

One hot mama!

This is my favorite favorite picture of my Mom! I remember when I saw this picture for the first time and just thought Wow, that is my Mom. I have no idea how old she is in this picture, but I definitely hadn't popped out yet so she was in her 20's. My Mom is going to have a birthday soon, but we won't say how old she is going to be now. She's going to kill me already just for putting this picture on the internet for the world to see. This picture is the reason why the "Stacy's Mom" song was created!

Thank you Pink Petunia!

My girlfriend and fellow Craft Mafia sister Debie had a little Pay It Forward contest on her blog and lucky me....I won something! This is actually the second time that I have won something recently, is luck on my side perhaps? Should I start playing the lottery? I'm super excited to see what I get from Debie. She's been drawing me little pictures since we were in highschool together and she still is amazing at all her crafts.

Now it is my turn to pay it forward for you! Here's the deal. Leave me a comment with the answer to this question: If you were laid up at home for an extended period, what would you do to keep yourself from going crazy and throwing the tv remote at Oprah? Poor Oprah! I do like her show sometimes, but when one is laid up at home and doesn't have many options at 4pm one does realize just how much Oprah can be taken in before one goes a bit bonkers.

For those of you that are still having problems figuring out the comment, you can just go the easy anonymous route. Keep in mind though that you NEED to put your name somewhere in your posting text though because I'd hate to have anonymous be the winner! I'll pick a winner at random and this person will win their choice of one item from my Etsy site Bouton Blue. Cutoff for leaving a comment is Friday the 18th at 12:00pm. The winner will be announced shortly afterwards on my blog so stay tuned.....it could be you, or you, or you, or maybe even you!

My favorites!

Some of my most favorite pictures in the world are the ones of my Mom and her Dad, my other Grandpa. I'm not sure why, but I have always been drawn to my Mom's Dad. I never got a chance to meet him as he passed away before I came along. To me he always seemed like a cool guy, a real man's man. I also think he is dreamy looking, which I hope I am allowed to say without sounding creepy! Anytime I ever fill out any type of about you survey that includes one of those questions that says, "Who would you most want to have dinner with?" My Grandpa is always my answer. Through the stories that my mom tells he just seemed really intriguing and talented. I also sense that he could be a real hard ass.

I did get to know his brother a bit, my Uncle Holland, and he was always hilarious. He was a guy that most everyone liked and when my Uncle Holland passed away you could tell that by how many people showed up for that funeral....it was HUGE!

Here's another picture of my Grandpa. I absolutely love this one! If you're out there gramps, I can't wait to get a chance to meet you someday!!

Where to start.....

I've had soo much fun scanning a bunch of old photos that it was hard to decide which one to go with. So, I've decided to start at the beginning. You'll get the oldest to newest. The whole purpose of the scanning has something to do with my Grandpa. I can't get into specifics cause there are some of you family members out there that I don't want to spoil it for.

When my Grandpa Keith passed away he blessed me with his old photo albums. There are incredible pictures in there of his childhood! This first one was taken when he was a baby and is dated 1915.

My Grandpa grew up in Modoc County on a big ranch. The family were cattle ranchers amongst other things. There are many pictures of him doing "ranching" activities: on large bails of hay, on large horses that look like they could trample him, working in a garden. This is by far one of my favorites:

This photo is actually in my bathroom and can also be found in other bathrooms of members of my family. The classic bathtub shot! I just love the look of all these old pictures. Seeing what life was like in the early 1900's. I love how dressed up the little boys would be in their baby pictures. They really look just like little girls!

My Grandpa was an amazing man and the list of things he did in his life time would take up a life time of blogging. Most importantly he was an amazing Grandpa and I miss him dearly.

Feeling nostalgic.....

After all the recent posts about things from my past I guess I started getting really nostalgic. I'm starting a little project (that I can't post about) but I can tell you that it involves the need for a scanner to upload some old photos. I borrowed a scanner from Eric and am now going crazy scanning all sorts of ridiculous pictures. I decided that I will be sharing these with you over the next week or so. Actually, this could go on for months if I don't stop scanning!

I thought I would start with the piercing since it was mentioned in a previous post. See, when I was 18 I got a little wild. Well, not really, but I like to think so. I was always the "good girl" not getting into trouble, getting good grades, hanging out with the good crowd, not doing drugs, not drinking (too much) and NEVER drinking and driving if I did have a beer or four. I guess when I got to my senior year of high school I felt a bit like a stereotypical good girl. So, what did I do? I robbed a liquor store. No, just kidding. I went and got my first tattoo. Are you ready for it's gloriousness?

Yep, there it is. The tattoo took all of 5 minutes and in a matter of 5 years ended up looking more like a mole and less like a ladybug. Don't I have nice feet though? If you've been reading this blog for a while, or if you know me, then you will know that this ladybug is now a fish. It evolved and shit.

After the tattoo I was feeling really hardcore. I mean come on...a 5 minute ladybug made me a rebel. I now grew up on the other side of the tracks! I was going to date guys on motorcycles and really go wild. So, what did I do next? I got a job at The Gap....yep totally hardcore. It was during this time that I decided that I wanted to get my nose pierced. This was going to be big. It was really going to put me over the edge. This was 1994 people and there just wasn't alot of piercing going on back then. It just so happened that my friend Nicole's sister in law Cindy was a piercer and was going to be doing an upcoming article for the Sac Bee. She needed volunteers and I signed up. The night before my needle extravaganza I was at The Gap, I'd been working there about a week, and it dawned on me....what if The Gap didn't allow pierced noses? I went and asked the assistant manager, you know, cause I was so hardcore. She told me a big fat, "No!"

I panicked. The whole event was supposed to take place the next day AND it was for the Sac Bee. This was huge! I couldn't flake on Cindy! I decided that I would go anyway and would just modify things a bit. When I walked in I told Cindy that this wasn't going to work for my job so she could pierce me anywhere as long as I could hide it and it didn't have anything to do with genitalia. She said, "Ok, let's do your septum." The septum would be the little piece in the middle of your nose, you know, like what bulls have? I went with it. I hated it! It didn't hurt, but it was god awful ugly and took me to a level of hardcore that I was not expecting. The Bee wanted to do a photo shoot with my friend Amy and I so I left it in until the photo shoot and then promptly took it out. I then forgot all about it.

A couple weeks later I was reminded because the spread in the Bee took up the entire front of the Scene Section. I got phone calls like you wouldn't believe. My grandmother was convinced that I was suffering from depression because I looked so sad in the picture. It was all kind of funny really. Needless to say, I no longer have any hardware in my nose and made it through my hardcore stage. Deep in my heart though, I still like to think I'm bad ass!

I'm famous!

Ok, Ok, I know I might be pushing it on the whole "fame" part but I'm still excited to be part of something pretty special. Back in December I became a member of the Sacramento Craft Mafia as a way to get my crafts out into the big wide world and to hopefully meet some nice ladies along the way. At one of our last meetings the Sac Bee was there to do an article for the paper about the Mafia. That article came out in the paper yesterday on the front page of the Scene section. Not only that, but I have a little blurb in it. It's just one little line, but exciting none the less. I'm super excited to be part of this group and know that there are only good things to come of it. Yippee!!

For some of you, you will remember another time that I was on the cover of the Scene section. In fact, that time I was actually photographed on the cover with my friend Amy. We were young, we were hip and we had piercings. That's all I'm going to say about that. (It was just my nose people, settle down!)

Blast from the Past

Ok, let's just start by saying that when these fellas first came out I was a naive, young and goofy 12 year old that pegged her pants into her multi layered socks. Oh, and sometimes those were MC Hammer pants! That was the time when I myself wallpapered my bedroom, not with traditional wallpaper though. Instead I used pics from Teen Beat and any other "crush" magazine that I could get my hands on. Or, maybe it was Tiger Beat?! Needless to say.....I LOVED the New Kids on the Block. They were dreamy, their music was awesome and they were dreamy! I had every stitch of music that they released, every picture ever published and attended every single concert that I could. They were the N'Sync of my era....and oh how I squealed when I saw them. There were a group of us lovely ladies that loved them and we all had our favorite. I still have a lovely picture of Kim gazing lovingly at the tv screen at Joey who was perfectly captured on freeze frame. We were total dorks, we were total 12 year olds!

When I heard that there was going to be a reunion, the first thing I did was laugh. Then I got nostalgic, then I laughed some more. The one thing I do know, is I have to go to the concert if they tour. Completely ridiculous, but that's why I have to go. It will make me feel young again, and lord knows after walking with a cane and walker in the past 6 months feeling younger is something I desperately need! Keep your fingers crossed that they come to my town because that is sure to be a great blog post. Also, keep your fingers crossed for Bill that I don't take up wallpapering again!

Since I know you're curious I will go ahead and confess which one of these guys were my favorite. Are you ready? Think of what Bill looks like and make a guess. Did you guess the taller guys, maybe one of the Knight brothers? Nope, you would be wrong! I liked Danny. He would be the one on the far right of the above picture. The one that is short and kind of looks like a monkey...yeah, I had good taste when I was 12!

It's Official!

I finally have a new nephew! My sister has been fostering children for a couple years now and Ethan has been in our lives for almost two years. My sis and her hubby decided that they wanted to adopt Ethan and it has been a long long drawn out process. Finally today at 8:30am Ethan became Ethan Massi! Wooo hooo! Congrats Tami!!

How much is that doggy in the window?

It's official, we're going to get a dog soon! After all the dog watching Bill and I have decided that we miss having a dog in our life. Plus, I can get around just a bit better to deal with a dog. I won't be the one taking it on long walks yet though! After much looking around, we have decided on going with a chocolate lab. I know, very different than what we have previously talked about! Bill is a real outdoorsy guy, and I wanted him to have a dog that matched his personality better. I tend to like the lazy dogs! So, we're going to get a lab now and then maybe in 5 years we'll get another dog and it will be a basset or maybe even another english bulldog. So, stay tuned for pictures cause as soon as we get that pup I'm going to drive you crazy with puppy posts!!

Can I get a smoke?

I've become slightly addicted to The Pioneer Woman website. Not only are there great posts and cute cowboys, but there are also delicious recipes. You may remember my post a while back about the yummy noodle salad and if not, then you have some catch up reading to do. It's been a while since I've really been useful in the kitchen and since I'm getting around a bit better now I decided to have "my other boyfriend" Chris over for dinner. Bill was there too people, don't go getting any smart ideas! What was on the menu.....The Marlboro Man Sandwich and The Best Chocolate Cake Ever. Both recipes from Ree, The Pioneer Woman.

I started first with the cake. I have some cake making under my belt and I have to admit that this was one of the easiest from scratch cakes that I have ever made. It's made in a jelly roll pan so comes out a bit like a brownie. I couldn't wait to try it...but was trying to be pc and saving dessert for after dinner.

I moved onto the Marlboro Man sandwich, also a super easy recipe! I used some of my own creative skills and whipped up some pesto pasta (skills being jar of pesto and cooked pasta) and steamed artichokes. By the time the sandwiches were done the house smelled delicious and the guys were drooling.

The sandwiches were INCREDIBLE! Both of the men loved em and I had a sweet love affair with the sandwiches myself. Chris actually said he felt as if he needed a cigarette after eating the sandwich and both of them helped themselves to a second sandwich. Bill then started coming up with all the other recipe options he could using the meat. Marlboro Man Rice Bowls, Marlboro Man Tortilla Wraps, Marlboro Man Egg Scramble.

Since both of them ate so much for dinner, they had no room for cake. Lucky for me, I did! This cake is sooo yummy and since it was soo easy to make it was definitely the best ever! I took a picture of the cake, which does it no justice so you'll just have to go the the PW website and appreciate the beauty of her photos!

Now I have my second PW meal under my belt which means I'm going to be even more addicted to this website. If you haven't checked it out yet....it's a must. If you cook, make some damn recipes!

Such a sucker!

I'm such a sucker for fun stuff at the grocery store. Well, I guess I wouldn't just limit it to the grocery store actually, but that's the only place I seem to make it to these days! We have a little store called Compton's by our house and it's definitely a favorite. It has the feel of a small town store that is really trying to carry cool stuff to rival the big town stores. I was in the store today and noticed this with the butters.....

What is it? Well, it's really just a little ceramic crock of butter....but again I already started this post by saying I was a sucker. I got it cause the crock was very nice and cute and I thought it was something I could use later for salt. I figured I'd pay just as much in a kitchen store for a salt crock and this one was prefilled with butter! The store actually has the butter refills too, so I guess if I end up hooked on this butter then I can refill the crock.

I know, I'm an idiot!

April Fools!

I really didn't plan to do this post today, it just happened that way. I can assure you that this is not an April Fools joke. This is not a lick and stick! I got another tattoo last week. Each time that I get one I think that I won't get another one, but after all this experience with my knee I really wanted to have something designed to mark my strength through it all. I met with a tattoo designer and told him all of the aspects that I wanted in the tattoo. Those were: a wave, a crutch (or two crutches as long as it didn't look like the Jackass logo), a "summary" word and some blood. More than just the blood that I would bleed getting the tattoo. The blood would stand for the blood clot and the surgery.

When I went in to get the tattoo the sketch was all drawn up and it was PERFECT! This made me super excited to sit for three hours and get it inked on my body. I decided that the place to put it would be the right leg. I was a little worried about traumatizing the leg again, but felt that it was doing well enough to be able to stand it.

The experience was AMAZING! This was soooo unlike any of the other tattoos that I have because it really had some strong meaning behind it. It was one thing to just put something that I liked on my body, a whole other thing to put a custom piece of work that would be symbolic of what I have gone through in the past 5 months. I know I have said it before, but it would be really hard to get another tattoo because just getting something that I like doesn't seem significant anymore.

Now, I know some of you out there reading may not be tattoo people. I've always liked tattoos. On the other hand I also like the beauty of clean skin so I won't be covering my body. I think even if you don't like them you really have to appreciate the artwork that goes into them. Someone drew this and then using a needle and some ink were able to put it onto the skin. I know the first thought is.....what if I don't like it when I'm older? Well, I'll wear pants! I'm not going to be putting any that can't be covered and honestly I'm just not that concerned. I already am more concerned by what my breasts and thighs look like now! In fact, I already have tattoos that I don't necessarily "love" but I'm not that worried about them. This piece just has so much meaning behind it for me and I never want to forget about it.

So, here you go! Sit down if you must first. It's a bit new so I'll have to post another picture once it's peeled and healed. I hope you like it, or at least appreciate the art, as much as I do. A big thanks to Alfredo at Modern Body tattoo who is the genius behind the design and the talent that went into this!!!