Monday, April 30, 2012

Pizza Garden

We went to Home Depot this weekend for some paint and sandpaper. We came home with a tomato plant, potting soil, a giant terra cotta planter, a basil plant, a hose and sprayer, some paint, and sandpaper. We are now container gardeners! And painters.

We only have 2 containers, but we're 2 containers closer to becoming full blown farmers. 































































I know nothing about growing tomatoes and basil, but I can google! Also, I can't wait to make my first margherita pizza. All I need is a mozzarella plant!

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Weekend Adventure: The Fishing Pier

Yesterday was the most beautiful Southern California day in my short stint here. The forecast said that today was supposed to be just as beautiful, but when we woke up it was really cloudy. We wanted to test out our new umbrella/tent at the beach, but by 10 am, the clouds were still thick and dreary. We decided to walk to the fishing pier close to our house instead.



















































My girlfriends and I have been walking to this pier a few days a week for the past month or so. It's great exercise, we get to be near the ocean, and the kids love watching the fishermen. Today we brought our husbands. It was fun!


























There were lots of folks fishing.



















































On previous trips, we have seen sea lions swimming around the pier. We didn't see any today, but we did see the largest, most disgusting starfish attached to the pier's pillars. They give me the heeby jeebies in epic proportions. Why are they so fat???


























One of the fisherpersons (fishergirl?) caught one. Barf.


























We also saw birds. They must feast on giant starfish all day because they were not interested in the peanut butter crackers we offered them.



















































Since we had our husbands there, we took advantage of the extra pairs of eyes and hands and let the big kids out of their strollers. After they got looking over the railing at the water out of their systems, they checked out all of the fishing stuff. Who knew buckets of dead fish and grimy nets were so cool to a couple of 2 year olds?












































































By the time we walked home, the clouds cleared and the sun was shining, but we didn't go to the beach. Our walk to the fishing pier was all the adventure we needed.

Did you adventure today?

Aly's Bloggity Blog

Friday, April 27, 2012

Ombre

It's really hard to get dressed for the day in SoCal. Because we live on the coast, there is almost always a constant breeze causing milder temperatures, but if you find yourself in a really sunny spot, you will soon feel like a baked potato. I have learned that dressing in layers is the answer to all of our wardrobe problems. If we are going outside (which is basically everyday), we layer up and strip down as the temperatures adjust.

Because I dress in layers, I have the strangest of tans. The area from my knees down is extra brown since they see the most sun everyday. About 2 inches above my knees is a little lighter, but still pretty tan. 6 inches above that is slightly lighter, but noticeably so since I don't wear super short shorts these days. And about an inch above that is not as white as the skin that has never seen the light of day (aka, my bum), but pretty close to it. This scandalous tan line manifested after wearing my super short running shorts on a walk and picnic today. I like to call this multi-colored look my ombre tan.


Back home in Tennessee, this would be considered a farmer's tan. But I'm a California girl now and since ombre is all the rage with hair, I figured it would be pretty cool on my legs too. Not that I got this ridiculous tan on purpose or anything, but still, I'm pretending that it's not as stupid as it looks.

It looks pretty stupid.






































Something tells me this look is not going to catch on...

Monday, April 23, 2012

Smoke, Fire, Blood, Guts, and Debris

I had my root canal today. I didn't really know what to expect. JD told me I would be in so much pain, I would be in bed for 2 days. I imagined the worst: blood, guts, and torture devices being crammed in my mouth for 2 hours. I was scared. And because I was scared, I saved the google searches until after the procedure because I didn't need to know the truth.

I arrived at the dentist first thing this morning. I was nervous, but trying not to think about what was to come. The dentist prepped me for the root canal by giving me the novocaine shot, then left me alone for several minutes with nothing but my fears and the instrument table. It was not a good moment. I got myself pretty worked up for what was to come. He returned and as he was reclining my chair he said, "let the smoke, fire, blood, guts, and debris begin!" Then he chuckled as he drilled a hole into my tooth and extracted the nerve. Ummmmmm.........what?!

The rest was a blur of, well, smoke, fire, blood, guts, and debris. There was the drilling, then quite a bit of extracting (it felt like he was flossing my tooth from the inside out, eek!), some cleaning, packing of my tooth with rubber, then he lit a match and stuck a flame in my mouth. Hand on a Bible. Something about trimming the paper cone thing precisely level with my tooth. I don't know, but it was weird. I kept my eyes closed after that.

The whole thing was somewhat painless. I felt the shot, a lot of tugging and pulling of tooth guts, and pounding some rubber filling into my root. At one point, I caught myself moaning and breathing like I was giving birth. It was a very weird sensation having my tooth emptied of its contents. Which by the way, was completely evaporated. My tooth was deader than a doornail. 

After the procedure was finished, I had the dentist recap everything he did. I like knowing the hows and whys to medical stuff after the fact. Never before. It was pretty interesting and I think he liked that I was so into dentistry. He told me to expect some pain, but so far, I have had none. My jaw and mouth regained feeling a few hours after I got home, but I haven't had any pain yet. I'm hoping and praying that I can still say the same tomorrow.

I still have to get prepped and fitted with a crown in the coming weeks, but hopefully the worst is behind me. Even though it wasn't as terrible as JD predicted, I really don't want to have another root canal for the rest of my life. One flaming match in my mouth is enough to last a lifetime.

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Still Kicking

Today is the ol' bloggity blog's birthday. I'm celebrating with a big piece of cake.






































2 years in and the blog is still kicking. Just for fun, I created a little poll to see why you visit this space on the interwebs.



  • I think your posts are funny/witty/relevant to my life
  • I am in your family/I know you in real life
  • I have been reading for awhile and feel attached
  • I think a lot of your posts are lame, but I've been reading for awhile and can't cut the cord
  • I honestly don't know
  • Furry chicken


No worries, I'm not thinking about pulling the plug or anything. As long as it's fun and I have something to post, the Bloggity Blog will live on! It's been great to have a creative outlet and place to share our happenings. Sometimes I read old posts and think, "what the heck was I thinking?" and other times I think, "that was brilliant and I am really awesome at blogging!"

Thanks for reading, whatever the reason! Happy birthday, blog!

Friday, April 20, 2012

4 Years

My wedding was really spectacular. That's dancing, by the way.

The week leading up to the blessed event was filled with big family dinners, late nights with out of town relatives, and celebrating. The whole thing really taught me a lot about the importance of supporting other people during their big life events.






































Every single person that came and helped me prepare for the biggest decision of my life made an everlasting impact on me.


























I still think about the well wishes, kind words, and tidbits of wisdom we received from people that love us and believe in our marriage. Some were a bit more excited than others. 



























Weddings are a big deal. I had no idea how much of a big deal they are to everyone that loves the bride and groom until I experienced the excitement and love during our big day. What a wonderful thing!


























I've been thinking about these things lately. Our anniversary was yesterday and the thing I remember the most about our wedding was the way our friends and family loved us. Maybe it's because we are so far away from that support group that it stands out in my mind, but 4 years later, it still means a lot to me.


























Love you guys, thanks for making our day special. Oh, you too honey.

Sunday, April 15, 2012

I Was Too Busy Cleaning Up All Of the Stuff I Broke This Weekend To Go Adventuring

I really like my everyday dishes and glasses. I have French porcelain dishes and heavy, handcrafted glassware. They are in the top 3 of my most prized kitchen possessions. First place goes to my All-Clad pots and pansI like them a lot and take very good care of them.






































That is until the other day. I was washing the dishes from the night before and one of my beautiful glasses slipped out of my hand and onto the tile floor.






































I don't swear, but a 4-letter word flew out of my mouth like a knee-jerk reaction. I was pretty upset and I didn't know what to do. That handcrafted glass shattered into a million tiny pieces. I was barefoot, so I leapt to safety and found the vacuum. All the while, trying not to be upset. It was just a glass. Worse things could happen, blah blah blah.

Just when I started to not care as much about my beloved highball, this happened.






































I didn't cuss, but I did stomp around and feel sorry for myself. Oh, and I blamed JD. He was supposed to do the dishes the night before, but left them in the sink for me. This is all your fault, honey! 

I'm pretty bummed. The thought of only having 11 place settings in a 12 piece set really aggravates me. Plus this stuff isn't very cheap ($30 a plate) to replace. Ugh, why must my floors be so hard and my precious tableware so delicate? And why can't JD do the dishes???

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

My Favorite Animals

This is a furry chicken.






































It is my favorite animal. I actually didn't know this beautiful chicken existed until 3 years ago. My sister in law, Jamie, and I were at a summer festival and walked by a petting zoo with a dozen or so of the fancy birds pecking around. I had to do a double take because I had never seen a chicken covered in fur before. I was pregnant with Beatrice at the time and already showed major signs of pregnancy brain, so my lovely friends took it upon themselves to make me feel ridiculous for thinking such a species existed.

I knew what I saw and it wasn't a pheasant or partridge like they tried to convince me. I went home and googled "furry chicken" and lo and behold, they are real. You better believe I texted those naysaying scoffers immediately.


























Aren't they spectacular? They are actually called silkies and are just as soft as they look. Google says they make excellent pets. JD says not on my life.

This is an alpaca, my second favorite animal.

























They are prized for their soft fleece. They also make excellent pets (and can be a great source of income). But mostly, they are proof that God has a sense of humor. Check out that awesome hairdo!


























Furry chickens and alpacas for President!!

What can I say? I love a funny-looking furry animal.

Monday, April 9, 2012

Weekend Adventure: Easter Extravaganza



























We had a glorious weekend hunting eggs, petting chicks, and celebrating Jesus. I am exhausted.


























We started the weekend off at the neighborhood egg hunt. Beatrice had a blast collecting eggs, but once she realized there was candy as far as the eye could see, she started eating the treats instead.































































After the egg hunt, we went to the petting zoo. Beatrice kept introducing herself to the animals. "Hi, what's your name? Goat? I'm Beatrice. I love you." Presh. It was actually a sheep. She could have been named Goat though. 



















































The girls were flipping out over the giant hop hop, so we said hello.






































We checked out the other fun things happening before we went home for a nap.




































































































Sunday was a whole new day of Easter fun. We went to church, opened gifts from Grammy and Pops, and ate ham until our pants didn't fit.













































































































































It was an exhausting, glorious, emotional weekend for our crew.


























Did you adventure hard this weekend too? Link up in the comments if so!

My bladder is not what it used to be...

Aly's Bloggity Blog