Category Archives: Random

Phoenix really has grown on me over the last 3 years we’ve been living in the valley.  I love that it is always sunny.  The rainstorms are incredible … when we do get them!  I love that it feels so central, even though it isn’t.  I love the area we live in – it’s out of the big city hubbub, yet close enough that we can reach the hubbub when we want to.  I love the mountains that surround us.  I love the sunsets.  And I love our house!  We really have made it our own and when I think about the day we end up moving, my bottom lip pouts a little bit knowing how much I will miss our home.

And this last week I added one more thing to the list of things I love out here.

Our garage.

I’ve written about our garage before and posted several pictures of how we’ve spruced it up and the time we spend in it.  We have furnished it with an air conditioner, epoxied the floors, insulated the garage doors, built a pretty awesome multi-purpose work bench, and we keep it pretty neat and tidy.  We have often joked that somebody could absolutely live in our garage!

Well, two weeks ago, our joking became a reality!  And we were the somebody!

Two Sundays ago, our AC decided to go kaput!  Although it wasn’t miserably hot outside, it was still in the low 100’s and we had no desire to sleep in a home whose temperature was quickly rising!  We called up our Home Warranty people right away hoping that we’d be able to get somebody out that night to fix things – besides, AC companies work around the clock, right?  Nope.  They sure don’t.  The best the Home Warranty company could do was get somebody out the next morning between 9am and 12pm.

So we weighed our options …

We could have stayed inside the house.  We could have booked a room at a hotel.  We could have stayed with family.  But why?  We have a lovely air-conditioned garage that has plenty of room for a mattress and a port-a-crib!

The next day was Labor Day, which added an extra wrinkle into our plans as the part we needed could not be ordered until the following day due to businesses being closed on the holiday.

So, we rearranged things to be more accommodating to ‘living’ in the garage instead of just sleeping!

When all was said and done, we lived in our garage for 3 nights!  And it really was quite nice! … but it was even nicer to finally move back in the house once the AC was fixed and the house was cooled!

I used to be so good at writing things down here on my blog.  I have no clue what happened!  There are many days I think about sitting down and writing something – only to convince myself that I’ve got nothing to write about!  Or it’s just not worth the time! … which, I do realize are both pretty sorry excuses.

As a little incentive, I just pulled out the blog books I’ve printed – all three of them – and thumbed through several pages.  I used to write about lots of stuff – my husband, running, dinner, work.  And a whole lot of nonsense.  But, wow, I sure have enjoyed reading everything I’ve thumbed through!

And it made me miss documenting my life’s adventures.

As I sat down tonight to compile my latest blog book I need to get working on – my 2011 year – it made me sad to realize that I might as well compile 2011 and 2012 as I’ve got 41 posts for 2011 and only 11 for 2012.  That’s not even one a month!

Getting everything lined up for print (which, I’ve still got a long way to go!), I realized just how much I love the pictures.  And the stories.  I love the insight.  And the spiritual enlightenment.  I love my quirkiness.  And I love how I’m able to read just how much my life has changed.  How much I have changed.  And grown.

And as I sit here swaying back and forth with my 8-week-old son wrapped tight against me in his favorite carrier (my Moby wrap – I love this thing!), I realize I do have stuff to write about.  Lots of stuff.  In fact, I feel there is a very strong need to write about it.

I’ve got a lot of ground to make up for as it is already June … but, I’m determined to make 2013’s blog year much more presentable than 2012’s!

Besides, I could always use another reason to post pictures of this handsome little boy!

Oh goodness … September is almost over!  I can’t let another month slip away without getting something written down!  Not that it’s a competition … so it really shouldn’t matter …

At any rate!

Here is a short list of (random) things that make me happy:

1 – Having no e-mails in my work inbox.  I have a funny (and perhaps over-obsessive) way of managing my e-mails at work.  On nearly every e-mail I send, I blind copy myself.  This way, any e-mail in my inbox – whether it be an e-mail I have sent or an email sent to me – is an item that requires follow-up.  A to-do list, really.  Once an issue/email/task has come to completion, the e-mail(s) get filed away.  And nothing thrills me more than having an empty inbox.  (Oddly enough, my personal e-mail does not get this same compulsive-organizational attention!)

2 –  I love – like, a whole lot – how Aaron will push the buggy whenever we go to a grocery store together.  Or any store that requires a buggy being pushed around.  He has done this since the very early days of our marriage … and I really couldn’t even tell you why.  If I ever made a comment to him that I’d rather not push the buggy, I have long since forgotten.  I’ve always just chalked it up to the very gentleman-like man that he is.  To me, it’s in the same category as him opening my car door – which he still does, mind you.  Every time we get into a car together.  Or, shoot, even when we’ve met someplace and we have two cars there – he will open my car door first and send me on my way before he gets in his car.  Between buggy pushing and car door opening – what more could a girl ask for?

3 – When someone acknowledges my ‘thank you’ wave.  I know the windows on my car are very tinted – so it may be hard to see – but I will often thank the car behind me for letting me in.  And I always watch in my rear-view mirror to see if they acknowledge and give the ‘your welcome’ wave back.  And when they do, it makes me smile.

4 – Using an umbrella.  It is such a rare occasion here in Arizona – but that doesn’t keep me from always having a big ol’ golf umbrella in the back of my car.  When that one-day-a-year comes along, I want to be prepared – and covered!  Listening to and watching the rain fall are two of my most favorite things – and what better place to experience both than being outside in the middle of it!

5 – When I’m filling up my one-compartment-for-each-day-of-the-week container of vitamins and I pour out exactly 7 vitamins into my hand from the main jar.  It really is quite funny how proud I am when that happens!

When we moved to the valley, we were told that the first summer was going to be the worst in terms of the never-ending, unrelenting, inescapable heat.  And, if I’m to be quite honest, that just didn’t make sense to me.  120° is 120°, isn’t it?  Which would mean, through some very thorough deductive reasoning, that 120° this year should be the same as 120° next year, right?

But, as we are now mid-way through our third summer here, I find myself giving this same advise.

The reasoning is not faulty.  120° is 120°.  But by the second year, your expectations are more realistic.  And, because you know you can’t run away from it, you find ways to put up with the heat.  It’s still unrelenting.  And it’s still inescapable.  But what we have come find out, is that it is manageable.  You just have to get creative.

And this year, creative we got …

It sounds very odd to many people – we know – but Aaron and I like to spend time in our garage.  A lot of time.  We do keep both cars parked in it – but, with it being a three-car garage, there is plenty of elbow room.  For me, it’s a great place to do craft projects.  For Aaron, it’s a great place to tinker and do man-stuff.  We bathe the kitties in the sink out in the garage.  We both enjoy washing and keeping our cars clean – which, just this activity alone, keeps us in the garage quite often!  And, for those odd days that a storm passes through, one of our favorite things to do is to roll up the garage doors, sit in our camping chairs inside the garage, and just watch as the rain falls.

Unfortunately, during the summer, it is the hottest place in the house as it does not get air-conditioned.

That is, until this year …

Aaron has been wanting to get an air-conditioner installed in the garage for quite some time – long before it even started getting hot.  After several months of researching what brand/type would be the best for us, finding a price that worked with our budget, and putting on his best salesman charm – he finally sold his wife on the idea too.

And that beautiful number in the bottom right of the clock is now what we get to enjoy when it’s 115° outside – at the expense of cooling down only one room instead of the whole house!

It has been quite easy to find many more reasons to spend time out in the garage.  In fact, that’s exactly where I’m sitting now as I type this post!  In a set-up that looks very much like this …

Two camping chairs, a lap top, music streaming through the in-ceiling speakers, and three TV trays – one for me, one for Aaron, and one for our Yahtzee game!

All while enjoying 79°.

It’s our little slice of heaven.

What do you get when you mix Pinterest and Instagram!?

A hot Collaged-T-Shirt-Quilting mess!

Several months ago, I saw something on Pinterest (an online pin-board for sharing lots of cool stuff) that I felt I just had to make.  A quilt made out of old T-Shirts!  I figured it was guaranteed to be comfy … and most definitely had to be cheaper than buying all the fabric to make a quilt of the same size!

Plus, I had never made a quilt before – and the thought of doing so was quite intriguing to me!

Or – maybe it was the thought of emptying Aaron’s T-Shirt drawer that intrigued me the most!

You see, Aaron’s T-Shirt drawer has magical powers.  If you take one shirt out … two more grow in its place!  It really is quite amazing.  And seeing how his drawer has not changed in size over the years to accomdate for such growth, it is always stuffed to the brim – or, as it is on most days, overflowing with T-Shirts!

So, I set out to fix this problem.

Only to have Aaron’s T-Shirt drawer laugh in my face!

I told Aaron I needed 20 shirts.  I was able to get my hands on 10.  After figuring I’d just cut up some fabric to fill the other 10 spots I needed to fill, Aaron proposed we go to Goodwill and pick up some cool shirts to fill said spots.  I thought that was a great idea – until I realized there were just as many T-Shirts in the buggy that were for him to wear than there were for me to put in the quilt!

And we were back to square one.

Both of us happy as clams – Aaron with his new (old) shirts and me with the early makings of an awesome quilt! – but still back to square one.

At any rate, after lots of cutting and sewing – and a few dedicated weekends later – the quilt is now finished.  And I think it turned out fantastic!  Especially for my first ever attempt at making a patch quilt!  And just in case I decide to make another one way off in the future, I figured I should document (at least the Reader’s Digest version) of what steps to take:

Steps 1 & 2:  Carefully select what shirts you would like to use and then cut them up with a 12.5″ x 12.5″ quilting square ruler.

Steps 3, 4 & 5:  Lay T-Shirts out in the order you would like them to be in the quilt, sew the 3.5″ sashing and cornerstones to each piece, and then sew all T-Shirt/Sashing/Cornerstone pieces together so that they resemble the top of a quilt.

Steps 6, 7 & 8:  Draw quilting lines with chalk (it would be good to have two different colors on hand – for light shirts and dark shirts), pin together the quilt top, batting and backing with safety pins, and then quilt the quilt.

Steps 9, 10, 11 & 12:  Take out all the pins you just put in, admire the beautiful quilting lines, sew the border to the quilt, and cut off all the excess batting and backing.

Step 13, 14 & 15:  Hand-stitch the border so it looks all pretty, hand-stitch your unique signature – with the year (so that you never have to catch yourself saying, ‘When exactly did I make this!?’), and smile as you Instagram your finished maserpiece.

 The finished quilt …

The signature and the border …

I think this shirt is just too funny … and just so happens to be one of our Goodwill finds …

Aaron’s favorite and most memorable shirt …

At the rate I’m going, I think I’ll be lucky to get in 12 posts this year – one for each month!

So, February – before you run away – here are three noteworthy (random may be a better descriptor) highlights from my day.  Just for you.

1)  I put a little love note in Aaron’s car this morning.  Right above the steering wheel.  It was my little (out of the ordinary) way of letting him know how much I love him.  It made me smile.  And made my heart happy.

2)  Last weekend, Aaron let me buy an exercise spinner bike.  I wanted a treadmill.  He wanted an elliptical.  We settled for a bike.  I’m sure that makes sense to someone somewhere.  And you know what?  I’ve loved having it!  Far more than I thought I would.  Especially now that we have a padded seat for it!  I’ve ridden almost every night since we got it – in fact, I just finished getting cleaned up after riding tonight.  It does a great job at getting my heart rate up, it makes my legs burn (in a good way), and it’s convenient.  What could be better?

Me.  The bike.  And American Idol.  It’s something I could get used to!

3)  I’ve been needing to update my profile on our work employee management system with a picture since the day I started.  For some reason, it just hasn’t been a priority for me!  But, this morning, our HR Manager asked that I get to it lickity-split …

So, before even taking my shoes off when I got home tonight – I set up our lights and had Aaron snap a few shots.  And this is what we came up with …

Do I look professional enough?

You know, I said three highlights, didn’t I?  Well, February, you’re so lucky – you get a bonus random notable!

4)  The behind-the-scenes footage of my portrait is the best part.  I just had to share …

Starting from the left: Aaron’s golf clubs – with his Grumpy head cover I got him for our first Christmas together.  The wicker basket with blue Balfour towel resting on top – Kala’s favorite place to get her beauty rest.  The (bright red) Craftsman stool that is kept – and often used – in the garage.  It was the perfect tool for the job – just the right height and no back!  The flourescent green automotive masking tape holding up the backdrop.  Not seen in this photo is me ironing the backdrop before putting it up since it was full of wrinkles!  The Stig on the far right of the photo (sitting on top of my great-grandmother’s Singer sewing machine cabinet – with sewing machine inside) sizing up the umbrella, guessing whether or not it can handle his weight.

Which, he would later prove, it can’t.

I could have told him that.

Adjusting to my new life of working in an office full time has brought about many changes for Aaron and I – but only one noteworthy change that seems to bleed into all facets of my life …

I don’t feel I have enough hours in my day!

(Oh – and I can never seem to get enough sleep!)

But, other than those, I really can’t complain.  My new life as a full-time-in-the-office worker is nothing like I anticipated.

And in a good way.

I had great stress leading up to my first day on the job – I was anticipating hating every bit of having to work in an office again.  But, the reality is quite the opposite.  My job has been very rewarding and fulfilling right from the start.  There’s been a lot to get caught up to speed on, there’s been little stresses over making sure there’s enough food to feed everybody in the meeting, there’s been more travel arrangements and changes to travel plans than I care to even count.  But, for the most part, everything has a solution.  It’s just a matter of finding what that solution is.  And that’s what’s so gratifying for me.

But, my biggest challenge seems to be keeping time moving at a regular pass!  Not on fast forward!

My alarm goes off by 6:15am (sometimes earlier if I’m feeling ambitious) to make sure I get in the office a little before 8:00am.  [With a boss who ‘strongly suggests’ everybody be in the office (working) at 8:00am (Not 8:05am!), I figure I should start out on the right foot!  Which, funny enough, as strict as that may seem, it’s about the only thing he is up-tight about!]  I fix my hair – like, for real – every day!  [You don’t know how big of a step that is!  Even when I was in Austin, there were many days I’d go to work with my hair wet.  Nope – Not now.  I fix my hair and put my face on – every morning!  Huge accomplishment!]  When I get to work, it seems I’m already moving before I even sit down at my computer.  There are so many times throughout my day that I will look at the clock and wonder just where my day has gone.  [Which, of course, means that most of my days go by extremely fast … causing days to start blending together and weeks to end before I feel they’ve even started!]

And by the time I get home, I have to fight every urge to crawl into bed and crash for the night.

Instead, I have to stay focused on keeping my eyes open so I can make dinner, be a good wife to my husband, keep the house looking presentable, wash/advance/get annoyed with/fold/put away the laundry, [did I already mention be a good wife to my husband? – and not just by way of regurgitating all the events of my day?] and snuggle with the kitties.  My evenings at home with Aaron have become so valuable to me.  Heck, we don’t even need to be at home.  Just spending time together.  It’s certainly something I took for granted before now …

Often, the last thing on my mind is pulling out the laptop to keep up with Facebook, re-pin a cute post on Pinterest, comment on other blogs, or even write another post on my blog.

Which, isn’t the end of the world.  I suppose.

But, hopefully life will slow down to a manageable pace soon enough.

[Aaron:  Shaking his head, ‘I wouldn’t count on it.”]

Shucks!

A girl can hope …

… Got my butt kicked by Jillian Michaels while poorly completing Level 2 of her 30 Day Shred work-out video.

…. Discovered I have 13 burnt orange shirts in my t-shirt drawer.  To which my husband’s only comment was that I need one more to support the Longhorns every day for a full two weeks.  It seemed totally normal while living in Austin.

… Pulled the thermometer out just to measure how hot our cold water is coming out of the faucet.  151*.  Yup.  That’s coming out of the ‘cold’ water faucet.  Thank you, Phoenix.

… Was reminded of just how much poop three kitties can poop.  And consequently, the only thanks I get for cleaning the litter box?  Is more poop.

… Goodwill-ed all but 5 of my burnt orange t-shirts.  Is that still 4 too many!?

… Ironed 12 dress shirts.  Which inexplicitly proves I must love my husband!

… Determined my little niece looks a lot like Shirley Temple when her hair is curled.  Wouldn’t you agree?