Things of a Home: Dog Baths & Leather Sofas

When I woke up today next to a big, furry cuddler with her nose in my hair, I realized something:

She smelled like a hamster. I love my dogs, but in the hustle and bustle of moving and everything that came with it, I couldn't remember the last time I gave them baths. It immediately went onto the agenda for this evening, and much to their dismay, it happened. They are clean.

And they were adorable while it happened. I exploited every second I could between soapy hands and the girls doing that whole-body shake that every wet dog does exactly when you don't want her to.

pre-bath...
... looking at me like, "wwwhaaaat did we do now?"

From there, they spent about 10 minutes each looking like sad, soapy little propane tanks on table legs as they took turns standing in the tub being jealous of the other who was just outside. We flipped a coin and Sasha landed first turn..

mawmmmm.. my nose is wet!

stella bella... looking so forlorn!

We somehow completed two baths without getting mom soaked with trying to shake the water out, and while I toweled off most of the excess, I knew I needn't worry about final drying. They are each other's detailers...

clean girls!

They just wanted answers after that. I may have had to do some light bragging with dog treats to coax them both into the bathroom, so I spent a few minutes afterwards on trial about my misleading them to a fake yummy food feast that was actually a scary, sudsy rainstorm.

sorry girls.

Luckily for me, our pups are forgiving souls, and in no time were back to romping around in the living room waiting for Rob to get home.

 

.. And when that happened... we did what every couple does after work on a Thursday: buy a couch.

before & after

before & after

The dogs of course, still jaded about their forced showers, made sure to photobomb our pictures, but they are more a part of our home than any couch will ever be, so I suppose it's fair. Rob on the other hand deserves an award for putting up with me tonight as we [more like I] fumbled our way around the house with the sections of the couch unloading it into our living room. The biggest disadvantage of Rob transferring to Cincinnati is for certain the absence of his friends. He misses them, of course, but on nights like this and a couple other instances thus far, it wouldn't have killed us to have a bit more brawn than I can offer to help move our stuff around. I've managed, sure.. but I'll just say I'm okay not doing this stuff for a living ;)

 

Eventful day, that's for sure.

Tomorrow's FRIDAY! [wootwoooot!] If I'm right, it's gonna be a pretty good day.

 

Let's see if I'm right (:

 

xo | cmd

Snowy Sushi Run

This weather has been something. The Farmer's Almanac this year didn't lie in predicting harsh conditions this winter. We had planned yesterday to go out for a sushi night with Becky, but after watching the sleet come down in waves and settle over everything, we all voted it an unsafe venture and rescheduled. She wasn't available tonight, either, so Rob & I hopped up into the diesel and made a break for Fuji over in Eastgate. 

goooood call!

Yyyyum. It's been ages it seems since the last time I ate there, but it was a good decision tonight and I think we've found a hibachi home here. Win!

And yes, the snow is still coming down. It's everywhere.

Be safe out there, friends!

xo | cmd

Recipe Hack : Chicken Alfredo!

Hiiiii, blogbots!

I was in exceptionally good spirits today, partly due to the fact that it's becoming clear that our months and months of working towards the goal of Rob moving to, living in and working in Cincinnati have all come to fruition... but also because I had my heart set on sticking to the menu we planned out over the weekend. Tonight was decidedly Alfredo, and I wasted no time trying out a new, easier way to make it. I will be the first to say that this is DEFINITELY a good hack! No, it's probably not the healthiest way to do it, but if you're planning to eat Chicken Alfredo, you're probably not overly concerned with your carb or calorie count... at least not at this sitting ;)

Anywho.. This barely took any time at all, and was delicious. I'm adding this to the books of must-makes for company and for Sydni, when she's here, too.

Here's what I used. Feel free to alter based on your time & preference!:

* 1 lb chicken
* 1 box Linguine noodles.
* 1 can cream of chicken soup (or mushroom, if you're into that kinda thing) - I used Campbell's.
* 1 bag of frozen broccoli florets (the kind that steam in the bag in the microwave work great!)
* 1/2 cup milk
* 1/2 cup parmesan cheese (grated, shredded, pulverized in the plastic can, whatever)
* 2 tbsp butter
* Salt & pepper

HOW TO:

1. Cook pasta according to directions. It takes about 10 minutes or so. Add some salt and just a LITTLE oil to the water if you'd like, to season and help the noodles from sticking together, respectively. Microwave your frozen broccoli. If you use fresh broccoli, the recipe I have said to add it to the last 4-5 minutes of boil time for the pasta. I don't know if/how that turns out. Drain pasta when cooked and set aside.

2. Heat a flat pan over medium heat. Add butter, then chicken. Brown it on both sides, until cooked through. Don't be impatient; let it cook at medium heat!

3. Once chicken is cooked, start stirring in milk, cheese and cream of chicken soup. Stir it gently until it mixes down together. Add in noodles.

Honestly, that's it. Serve with bread or whatever side you'd like!

nom nom nom!

Rob has promised he'll try this one next time [making, that is; there was no problem eating.. haha]. I certainly won't complain if this dish hits our house again.

We are still plugging away at this house-settling thing... hopefully by the end of this week we'll have decided on a couch for the living room. The rest has all fallen into place, so I'm not too worried.

Stay tuned ;)

xo | cmd

Yeah Yeah, Monday... Yeah Yeah..

Getting out of bed today really wasn't that fun. Sasha made it very clear that she would not be the first one moving this morning. 

sasha vs. mondays.
.. not happenin', mom.

She had the right idea. It was definitely a Monday morning, but there was a lot of productivity throughout the rest of the day, so I didn't mind it that much.

Well, not that much, I suppose.

mondays are monsters.

I'm being diligent, as promised, on my commitment to full-body fitness, so I dragged my lethargic self to the gym after work and am now feeling that very familiar noodle-like sensation of happy but exhausted muscles.

PLUS, Rob started work today! It's going to be a little while before he feels entirely comfortable in this new skin that is Cincinnati, but when he came home tonight, it was like we picked right back up where we left off when we were both still living and working in Illinois. I'm a very fortunate girl.

This week's off to a good start, I'd say.
Have a wonderful week!

xo | cmd

Superbowl Shenanigans

We started off the day with our weekly dose of SonRise message, which, as always, was entirely applicable to the every day decisions and lives we live. That church is really growing on me, and I'm pretty excited to see how we can involve ourselves as the year moves on.

After church, we took off on a short journey to check out the drive time to Rob's new work! He starts tomorrow, and since his work is a block from one of my old soccer hangouts, I helped out with the navigation and we were there in no time. From there, it was breakfast at First Watch and some furniture shopping before we headed back home.

I left Rob to unwind for a little bit while Sydni and I tackled the weekly grocery list. Once that was out of the way, it was back home for some quick R&R before we loaded right back up to head over to Brittany's for the superbowl.

And no... in case you're wondering... no. No, we didn't really care who won the Superbowl. I wasn't that vested into either team this year, and although I do like Peyton Manning, I'll go ahead and admit that the final score didn't phase me all that much.

I wasn't alone. Sydni quickly made friends with Daisy, Brittany's dog.

syd & daisy ♥

such a sweet pup!

While she was doing that, we took to our usual get-together habits of finding other ways to entertain ourselves:

planks on planks on planks

First it was planks. We got comfortable after that and launched into a pyramid..

pyramid problems

And how do you properly finish a gameday basement workout?
Wall sits. The answer is wall sits.... apparently.

just.... yeah.

All the physical activity aside, we finally squeezed in some "normal" pictures for the albums. (:

adore this.

^^ Go ahead, get all your Charlie's Angels jokes out of the way. Beth's hair really isn't that red, but aside from that yes, we know we could easily pull this off for Halloween. And of course, the mini photo-bomber, who is clearly learning that art from me, but it's ok ;)

my absolute favorites.

^ My little family. We are a tiny bunch comprised of very different walks, but we're all together now, in the same city, under the same roof.... together. I sat back tonight after we got home and let myself be reminded how blessed I am to have the friends and family that I do.

Oh, and for all you Broncos fans out there : Reaaaally sorry about the game.. I hope you at least enjoyed the commercials! (:

xo | cmd

♥ Hello, February ♥

Ah, February.... Je serai poète et toi poésie ... or something like that. I'm not quite sure I buy fully into February being the dictated month of love and all things ooey gooey romantic-like, but it is no less February FIRST... today. Where is 2014 going?! Wasn't it just Christmas?! *Sigh. Slow down, '14... haha.

Anyway, to celebrate the new month, we can proudly announce that we are OFFICIALLY moved and settled [well, settled for the most part] into the new house! That means all of us.. together.. under one roof. I'm a happy girl.

Today's big ticket item on the agenda was decorating the wall above the mantle. With what, you ask? Sixty inches of plasma, to be precise. We'll surely enjoy it, but Sydni quickly pointed out that this entire scenario was devised solely for her cartoon-viewing pleasure. First world problems, kid.

I took to the ongoing process of homing miscellaneous things throughout the house while Rob busied himself readying the wall mount. He is so handy. I love that.


my project man!

And after we both carried and lifted the itty bitty "decoration" [don't ask me how I keep lifting and carrying all these things. It's a miracle I haven't broken myself or my things.. haha].

bam. 60" of over-mantle decoration. done.

It's starting to feel, one inch at a time, like a home. I will be elated when the last random item is shelved and we can kick back without a thing on the list. Maybe we'll have more time to do things like this: 

weight lifting with meatballs.
works, huh?

Haha.
Happy Saturday, and Happy February FIRST!!

xo | cmd 

TROF!

It's FRIDAY! Twas a good day for an office selfie... so I figured why not.. 

happy friday!

Now, I am all about acronyms. Today we implemented a new one to go alongside the classic TGIF adage:

TEXAS ROADHOUSE ON FRIDAYS!

 

And that we did. That.. we.. did.

Actually, let me rewind first to today at work, when we ordered in Naked Pizza [traditional Friday lunches, mind you!]

smokehouse chicken + spinach salad? i did not hate this.

And the ensuing digestion-slash-self-shaming time...

yeah, only 3 people ate here. i know, it looks like we just fed a family of 12.

^ Sorry not sorry.
Now back to TR night! Rob mentioned earlier this week that he wanted to get over there, so he and I, along with Sydni, made a big date night out of it. I had the best dinner company in the whole place; I'm certain of it!

date night out with these two! ♥♥

she's always busy. so busy. she can't even stop to tell me how busy she is.
... she's that busy.

we'll just call this one, "awkward meat[s]"

And of course, a post-dinner selfie session with the mini. She took a couple of her own selfies and I have to admit, she's not half bad. Uh oh.. haha. 

she is.. everything. ♥
p.s. - check out syd's 'selfie arm'!!!

^ And in posting this now, I just realized Sydni's got the selfie arm on point! Haha. In case there was any question before that she might be my mini... add that to the list of reasons. How's it possible to love such a tiny thing so.. stinkin' much!? ♥

Our bellies are full and Sydni passed out on the way home. That's a good sign it's time for bed.

xo | cmd