Outtakes

Jon looks like he's posing for a sculptor. ........Aaand, if this is really how I look when I laugh, then I'm never laughing again.



See the good ones here. (If you want. No pressure.)

WEEKEND WITH MY MA

For five glorious days I had my mom all to myself. Among the things we did, in chronological order:

• Had Sonoran hot dogs WHICH SHE LOVED SO I DON'T WANT TO HEAR ANOTHER WORD ABOUT IT

• Ate a delicious authentic German meal called rouladen - it was always one of my favorite meals growing up so I specifically asked her to teach me to make while she was in town. And yes, I just now learned how to spell 'rouladen' after 23 years of demanding my mother make it for me. This meal also included asparagus and "crash hot potatoes".

• Watched Kung-Fu Panda while tickling each other's backs. Jon did not participate in one portion of this bullet point.

• Went on a drive through Saguaro National Park. Jon and my ma made up a delicious lunch of egg-salad sandwiches, oreos, bananas and Pepsi while I was at work and we took off right when I got home.

• Went to the dog park (twice - once when there was hardly anyone there, and again the next night when it was packed).

• Went to Frost, our favorite gelato shop. Twice.

• Watched highlights from So You Think You Can Dance, season 3.

• Caught a Saturday matinee of Coraline in 3D. I encourage you to do the same.

• Ate lunch at Pei Wei. Mmmm. Honey seared chicken. Mmmm. Rejuvenation. (see previous post)

• Fed the ducks and saw a turtle at Agua Caliente Park - a desert oasis only 10-15 minutes from our apartment.

• Skipped out on most of church to go to the Horses in the Sun show that is currently in Tucson of all places. It's a fairly important equestrian event that travels from city to city. We caught a Grand Prix showjumping competition with a $25,000 purse. It was SO much fun, though Jon later admitted his disappointment that only one person got thrown into one of the jumps.

• Made corned beef, cabbage and potatoes for dinner. Another one of those meals that I grew up on.

• Watched Mamma Mia. Sang along. (but we didn't put it on the "sing along" version of the DVD, so that counts for something, right?)

• Went to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. It's more interesting than it sounds, I promise. It's like a zoo and a museum and a botanical garden all wrapped into one. We were there in time to catch a live demonstration of hawks in flight. We were in the perfect location and even had to duck a couple of times when the hawks dive-bombed through the crowd. The old lady docent hawk-expert that was narrating the demonstration was shocked and appalled when two wild redtail hawks came out of nowhere and mated right over our heads. She was right in the middle of explaining the courting behavior between them when WHAM! Poor female bird never saw it coming. I'm pretty sure some children's eyes got covered. Jon summed it up when he remarked, "......that was definitely PG-13". Anyway, we were in T-shirts the entire day and came home sunburned. Jealous?

• Last but not least, we made rice krispy treats.

PICTURE TIME! But there are only three so don't get too excited. My mom took more than me so maybe I'll post some of those later.

Our picnic in the park:


And at the horse show:





Um, weird ending. But that's all I've got.

unREAL.

Check out the amazing fortune Jon got at Pei Wei:

Made you look

It's been a while since I last posted, and since I'm not planning on blogging while my mom is here these next few days (!!!), I figured I'd throw another one out there. No real reason. Just cleaning off my memory card.


This is a delicious dinner I made about two weeks ago. Typically when I make dinner, I don't enjoy actually eating it. A mixture between being a terrible cook and being turned off from the whole idea just from smelling it the entire time it was cooking. This crockpot recipe was a rare exception. It was delicious. Corn, chicken, black beans, and salsa slow cooked for five hours. We shredded the chicken, added cilantro, and ate it with tortilla chips for three days solid. AND IT ONLY GOT BETTER EACH TIME. I'm making it tomorrow so we can have it for dinner with my ma when she gets here.




Last weekend we went out shooting again, and this time Penny came with us. She ran around for the first fifteen minutes or so, but after an encounter with a prickly stick-like shrub she plopped down in the dirt with our gear and would not be moved. I pulled burrs and twigs out of her ears for hours afterward while she acted like I was attempting to kill her, so I can safely say that it was perhaps the last time we will take Penny exploring in the Sonoran Desert. Here's a picture I snapped on our way back down the mountain. It looked better in real life. We are in severe need of a new camera.


After being such a sweet husband and dying my hair for me on Saturday, Jonathan decided to dye his beard with what was left over.

....Yeah.



Last and least, this morning Penny took full advantage of the pile of freshly laundered blankets in our bedroom. Because sometimes a feather duvet on top of a memory foam mattress just isn't soft enough. Ignore the condition of our bed. It has since been made.



Have a super great rest of the week. I know I will, because my MA IS COMING TO SEE ME!!! Three cheers for mothers.


OH, and PS - You know how some people have blog rolls on their sidebars? Lists of all their friends? You know how there's a setting that will publish the title of each person's most recent post underneath their name? I am LOVING the thought of scandalized-yet-curious people coming to look at my blog from seeing the title of my last post on their friends' sidebars. HAHAHAhahaHAhaHAhaHAHA

No more Cosmetic Gynecology

So, as it turns out, vaginal rejuvenation and breast augmentation surgeries aren’t priority for women whose homes are going into foreclosure, and as a result, Jon was let go from his company in their most recent round of lay-offs. We found out on Monday and BEFORE YOU FREAK OUT let me say that it’s really not THAT big of a deal. Srsly. And I’m not just saying that in a “We-don’t-like-to-talk-about-it-because-we’re-staying-positive” type of way, I mean, for real. I’ve still got my job (which is a great job with some of the best benefits in the industry) and we’ve gotten by solely on my income before (and that was two raises ago..) and we’ve been super smart with our savings (which we probably won’t even have to dip into) so, really – all this means is that Jon is looking for another job that hopefully involves quite a bit less travel than his previous one. Which is good news for me. Maybe this will even give us the chance to move closer to family. Maybe. In the meantime, we’ll keep not buying cars and not buying houses just like always. And that’s all there is to say about it, I guess.

In conclusion, I’d like you all to imagine my disappointment when, the other day, I eagerly tore open a box of one of my favorite candies TO DISCOVER THE FOLLOWING ABOMINATION:





Apparently Swedish Fish, Incorporated has been affected by the economy as well. I demand a refund.