Dear Wichita,

Dear Wichita Drivers,

Please do not drag race your car at 2 am and 3 am on Kellogg in front of my apartment.  While am I sure your car is very cool and manly, being woken up by the roar of your engine is ridiculous.  Not to mention that drag racing on a busy road at night is dangerous.

Sincerely,
Sleepless in Wichita


Dear Office Manager,

Can you please do your job.  One of our two elevators has been broken for months now, and the other one constantly breaks down, bounces, and rarely comes to the floor when you push the button.  According to the elevator repair man, it is beyond fixing.  I know I need more exercise, but walking up to the 11th floor is not what I had in mind.  And now that Summer has reared her ugly head, it is so hot in our office that you can't think strait.  Please fix these issues or you can kiss your rent check goodbye.

Sincerely,
Hot Under the Collar


Dear Union Protesters,

What are you protesting?  I see you at every major construction project with a "Shame on You" sign.  Are you protesting economic development in a downtown that desperately needs it?  Are you protesting a project is employing hundreds of people?  I don't get it.

Sincerely,
Downtown Neighbor


Dear State Building Patrons,

I understand you are down on your luck, and coming to receive you government assistance, but can you please put some clothes on when you do it?  Walking in to work, I don't need to see you in your pajamas, I put clothes on to go out in public, you should too.  And now that it is hot outside, can you cover up a little?  A little left to the imagination would be nice.

Sincerely,
Person with Eyes


Dear Downtown Grocery Store,

Why is it always a train wreck when I go to the grocery store near downtown?  There are always a million screaming kids running around, people always look lost, it takes forever to check out.  Forget "People of Walmart" I am starting a "People of Dillon's."  I really don't want to start driving farther to a better grocery store, but I can't take it anymore.

Sincerely,
Hungry, Hungry Hippo

The B&B is Closed

The unofficial Bed and Breakfast at our home, is now officially closed.

Let me explain.

Last weekend I hosted my Sister-in-law's bridal shower at our house.  Most of my husband's family is from out of town, so they all came to stay with us last weekend for the shower.  I had 8 people staying at our house (plus two couch crashers Friday night, and one Saturday night).

It's a lot of work to host 8 people in your home.  At least for me it's a lot of work.  I come from a very small family.  We didn't have family come and stay with us very often, we didn't have anyone stay with us very often growing up.  If we had someone come stay with us, it was kind of a big event.  My husband on the other hand, has a large, close family.  It doesn't phase my husband at all to have a house full of people.

I am slowly learning to relax, and enjoy having company, and not stress out over every little thing being perfect.  I am learning to except the help that is offered from my in-laws.  To think I can cook and clean up after 10-15 people at a time and still enjoy their company is insane.  I love to entertain and throw parties, but I tend to go overboard, and get stressed out.  I am learning to cut back, and go simple.

When we bought our house, I never thought we would use the 4 extra bedrooms.  But every so often they fill up with our family and friends, and it's nice.  I am learning to enjoy being the unofficial B&B owner.

I-35 Observations

I spend a lot of time on I-35.  It's a highway I have come to know and love, and sometimes loathe.

Today on my weekly I-35 trip I made a few observations.

Kansas is windy.  I know this is not a new revelation, but man it was bad today.  I felt like I got a workout just keeping my car on the road.  No, fellow I-35 drivers, I am not drunk, it just looks that way every time the wind gusts and my car swerves all over my lane.

"Jock Jams" is awesome and horrible all at the same time.  Spend enough time on the road, and you will listen to some interesting music over time.  Today the 90's on 9 graced me with the 90's mash-up hit that was  "Jock Jams."  In case you forgot about the awesomely-horrific nature of this song, feast your ears upon this.

Spring has Sprung!  Well, almost.  The farther south I went today, the more the snow has melted, unlike the piles of snow that still grace my front lawn.  And in some of those defrosted fields, they were starting to turn green, or sprout green?  I am obviously not a farmer.  I am though, excited about the prospect of Spring being here.  I love Spring, and I am ready for my house to not look like this anymore.

Or this.

That's it for this addition of I-35 Observations, drive safe!

Dumb Things My Dogs Do - Vol. 4

It's been a while since I've posted another installment of Dumb Things My Dogs Do.  Trust me it is not from a lack of activity, I've just been slow to update you.

I will start off with the best story.  When my husband and I went on vacation for a week this January we left Cooper and Derby at doggy daycare.  It's a place where they don't stay in kennels, but get to run and play in a big room with other dogs.  They love it and have stayed there many many times.  So imagine our surprise, when just a few days into our trip we get a message from my sister-in-law that Cooper got sick. . . and had to be taken to the emergency vet. . . and she was now going to watch Cooper and Derby for the rest of our vacation.  Our theory was that Cooper didn't want to be left for a week without us, and made himself sick to get him and Derby out of doggy daycare and to stay with Aunt Krista.  When we finally got home, the doggy daycare called us and said that Cooper was not the only dog that got sick and something was going around.  Nothing like coming home to some awesome vet bills.  Everyone on vacation with us had a good laugh at Cooper's expense.

It has snowed over a foot here, and to watch Derby walk through the snow is the funniest thing.  He is very careful of where he steps, and if he can help it, he will step in my footsteps so it is easier for him, I have never seen a dog do that before.  Other times he will tear around the yard like it's a game.  He also will pounce chunks of snow and ice and then try to eat them.

When we came home last Friday I parked in the street so I could shovel our driveway out.  The dogs had been outside with me helping.  When the snow plow was coming through our street I went to move my car, and was stuck.  So we put the dogs inside while my husband and I and the snow plow driver and our neighbor all worked to get my car unstuck.  A few minutes in, and both dogs are trotting down the driveway to see what is going on, so we put them back inside.  A few minutes later, and they are coming down the drive again.  My husband finally put them inside and wedged a broom in the door handle so they couldn't get out again.  It really is no longer a challenge for Cooper to open the door, he just does it when he wants out.

We have a big hill behind our house, and with the recent snow, it is a very popular sledding area.  For the past week there have been at least 30 people on the hill at all times.  The funny thing is the dogs will fall asleep in the living room and when they wake up they start barking at the sledders all over again.  Last time it snowed they would run out to just they edge of the hill to check out the sledders, this time the snow is too deep so they watch from a far, preferably from their chairs inside.

Just a Little Sunshine

If you haven't heard, Kansas has been hit by the one-two punch of winter storms Q and Rocky.  I enjoy watching the snow fall, but now I wouldn't mind if it would stop.  The piles of snow are getting so tall I don't know if they will ever melt, and I don't know if my back and arms can take another round of shoveling the driveway.

My husband and I have had the good fortune to spend most of January in much warmer climates like, Phoenix, Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, and Houston.  So to remind me of sunnier, warmer days, I will share a few of our trip pictures.

First up, Phoenix, Arizona to watch the K-State Wildcats in the Fiesta Bowl.

Unfortunately, the Cats lost, and to top things off I got food poisoning and spent a whole day in the hotel (I won't explain further).

Before we caught our flight home we had a few hours to kill, so we stopped by this old historic house (I can't remember the name) that was one of the first in Phoenix.

Next we were off to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.  We spent a week at an all-inclusive resort with my parents and 8 other family friends.  We had a blast, and I wish I was back there now.

My adorable (and maybe drunk) parents.

The rest of the group (sorry it's a little dark).

Finally, we went to Houston, Texas for a work convention.  It was a lot of long days, but the weather was great, and we got to see a lot of friends we haven't seen in a while.

I hope these photos help Spring to come a little sooner.

Christmas In February

My in-laws were supposed to come stay with us for a few days after Christmas, but stuff came up, life happens, and they weren't able to make it out to our house.  Fast forward to last weekend, and they came up for the weekend to help my sister-in-law plan her June wedding.  We finally got the chance to exchange Christmas gifts with them, hence Christmas in February.

And check out what my mother-in-law got me.

It's a purple scarf with a blingy power cat on it.  My parents will hate it.  I can't wait to wear it to the up coming Big 12 men's basketball tournament.  I think it will look good next to KU crimson and blue and OU crimson and cream.

Worries

Last week a 16 year-old girl from my husband's home town was killed in a car accident.  The driver of the car swerved to miss a deer and then over corrected and rolled the car.

My husband latter told me that his biggest worry is that I will do the same thing, and swerve to miss hitting a deer on one of my many trips back and forth from Wichita.  I promised my husband, that if a deer crosses my path while I'm driving I will hit that deer head on.  Not sure that was the reassurance he was looking for.

I like to think I am a very independent woman, and that I can handle anything.  But sometimes it is nice to know that my husband worries about me.

Wannabe

I enjoy cooking, and I like to write (although you wouldn't know that by the lack of posts on here).  And some days I like to think I could be a food blogger.  I could write funny antidotes about my cooking and show you beautiful pictures of the finished dish.  But then I come back to reality, and realize that I am just a food blogger wannabe.

My favorite food blog is thepioneerwoman.com.  Her writing is witty and funny, and she will easily make fun of herself in the kitchen.  She takes the most beautiful food photos, that make you want to lick your computer screen.  Most importantly, her recipes are all things I would like to eat.

Here are the reasons I will never be a food blogger.

1.  I don't own a camera.  Every picture seen on here was taken with my iphone.  And while cell phone cameras have come a long way, I don't think I will be winning any awards anytime soon for my iphone photos.  I am also not very good at setting up that mouth-watering shot.  I am lucky if I push everything else on the counter out of the way so you don't see what a disaster my kitchen is when I cook.

2.  I don't write my own recipes.  Almost everything I make comes from the internet, okay really it all comes from Pinterest.  I am a little bit addicted to that website.  Now don't get me wrong I will put my own spin on things every now and then, but for the most part I am just remaking what I saw online.  And if you have ever read any of the other wannabe food blogger's pages, if you don't credit back where you found the recipe (and rightfully so), the crazy food blogger women of the world will come after you.  I don't want to run that risk.

3.  It would be a sad, small food blog.  I haven't found the time recently to blog on here, let alone add food.  And the amount that I cook recently seems to be limited too.  Between travel and eating out, cooking is only on the weekends.

After all of the reasons why I will never be a food blogger, I thought I would show you a few of the items I whipped up in the kitchen (months ago) and finally pulled the photos off my phone and posted them to this blog.  Enjoy!

I made Shrimp Bisque from scratch using a recipe from Bon Appetit.

These are cookies I found on Pinterest, I think the plastic container adds to the yummy factor.

www.happygoluckyblog.com/2012/05/cool-whip-cookies-with-sprinkles.html

And finally, Egg Pizza, or the only items in my refrigerator so I threw them on a pizza. 

iPhone Clean Out

Since writing a blog post appears to be too taxing for me.  I thought I would update you with a few photos from my phone (because I don't actually own a camera).

I decided to be a little crafty the other day and made these lovely items.

Derby also decided to be a little crafty with the left over yarn.  

You're right, having the yarn neatly in a ball was boring.

Is this not the most beautiful cake you have ever seen?  Congrats Annela and Marcos!

My dogs made me some artwork on the kitchen floors.  Don't ever buy dark hardwood floors.  

You have been warned.

Check out the new "toy" we got at the office the other day.

I stopped by Baker University, and finally saw the new sidewalk my sorority put in for our 100th anniversary.

Synchronized sleeping is a real event.  Rio 2016!

Derby in is his K-State jersey.

Check out those guns!

Dumb Things My Dogs Do - Vol. 3

My life just wouldn't be what it is without our dogs constantly doing crazy things.

Let's start off with Cooper.  I bought a house when I was single, and we still own it today and are trying to rent it out.  We had some perspective renters coming to look at the house, so we took the dogs with us to show the house.  I am standing on the back patio of the house, showing the prospective renter the backyard and answering questions.  Cooper runs to the middle of the yard and starts throwing up neon green slime.  Thanks Cooper, nothing says "rent our house" like dog vomit in the backyard.

(Cooper is fine, we think he ate something in the yard and then promptly threw it up)

Just in case you were still wondering, Cooper is still crazy.  Don't be fooled by the many times I have said recently that he is much better and can be left alone now.  We were in our work apartment, where we normally muzzle and kennel the dogs so they can't get into trouble.  I had to run back to the office to pick up my car, so we just put the dogs in the kennel with no muzzles on.  I was gone 10-15 minutes max.  In that short time frame Cooper managed to completely shred the comforter that was in their kennel.  Nothing like fiber fill everywhere.  Derby decided to spread the mess all over our apartment.  We are trying to move to a new apartment, and fiber fill clean up was just what I needed.

Speaking of Derby, my husband and I are convinced this dog is part billy goat.  He will eat, or attempt to eat anything and everything he comes in contact with.  Fiber fill from dog toys or blankets, yum!  The other day I saw him eat a sticker/burr; that has to be good for the digestive tact.  We all know he ate razors.  Any and all trash we come in contact with on walks must also first be tasted.  Sometimes I will just see Derby walking up to me chewing something, it's always swallowed by the time I get to his mouth.  If I had a dollar for every time I said "What are you eating," or "Don't eat that." I would be a very rich woman.

Dumb Things My Dogs Do - Vol. 2

I have been asked to post another addition of "Dumb Things My Dogs Do," so I thought long and hard, and here is what I came up with (actually just stuff they did this week).

Cooper has decided that his dog bed is no longer a viable option for sleeping in at night.  He starts out in his dog bed and after we get in bed he stands up and starts "fluffing" his bed.  Really he just wads the whole thing up into a ball, so that no one can sleep on it and then climbs in bed with us.  As if to say, "See, I can't sleep on that any more, it's all wadded up.  So I have to sleep with you."

When getting ready to leave in the morning to drive to Wichita for the week, Derby likes to add a little extra to my already busy morning.  Last week he puked three times on the carpet 10 minutes before I was ready to walk out the door.  Just what I wanted to clean up right before I leave town.  And I was dressed up for a meeting that day.  This week, Derby went outside to do his "business" with Cooper first thing in the morning and then disappeared for 10 minutes.  I got to stand outside like a crazy person in my pajamas at 6:45 in the morning yelling for him to come back.  I am positive my neighbors love me.  Later, I left the back door open so the dogs could go out one more time before we left while I was doing dishes.  My two dogs and the neighbor's 100+ pound Mastiff came in the house, party at our house!  The party quickly got busted.

By the way, my neighbor's 100+ pound dog is named Grace.  She is the sweetest dog, plays with our dogs, very friendly.  Makes Cooper look tiny, and he rarely looks tiny.  Here is the sad part, I know the dog's name is Grace, I have not a clue what the actual neighbor's name is.  There is the "Neighbor Lady" on one side and "Grace's Family" on the other.  That is how my husband and I keep it straight.  Sad, very very sad.

It's Fall and the squirrels are back in our yard.  They crawl on the fence, they crawl on our deck, they climb trees, and they climb up the side of our stucco siding.  And since the entire backside of our house is windows, they drive Derby bat-shit crazy.  Every time he sees a squirrel, he looses his mind.  He thinks he is going to catch one, but he is the worst hunter on the planet.  Instead of stalking his prey, he cries and wines and runs as fast as he can, making as much noise as he can towards the squirrels.  They always make it up the tree way ahead of him.  They jump from tree to tree and Derby follows on the ground crying.  Dumb.

Now for an addition of "Dumb Things My Husband and I Do To Our Dogs."

Derby is so squirrel crazy, that he has learned the word for squirrel.  So, we one of us says "Squirrel" he starts running around the house looking for one.  My husband and I may have been teasing him a little too much with this.  The funniest part is when we say "squirrel" in our windowless apartment in Wichita, he still freaks out, but there is no where for him to look for squirrels.  I know we are mean.

Finally, yesterday my husband found this dog toy that looks like a squirrel.  We bought it and brought it home.  We snuck around to the back of the house and positioned the toy on the deck.  Then when we went in the front of the house.  The dogs finally saw the toy on the deck and freaked out.  We let them out and both rushed at it.  Cooper got it first, and was very successful in "killing it."  It only took a couple of hours, but we now have two squirrel toys instead of one, squirrel body, and squirrel tail.  Nothing last long in our house.  And as I walked out the door this morning, I saw that someone had lovingly placed squirrel body on our bed for us, how nice.     

Bag Lady

I think all our traveling (living in two cities) has turned me into a bag lady.  I would like to think of myself as a very stylish bag lady, but bag lady none the less.  At the current time there are 5 suitcases and 3 or more tote bags sitting in our master bedroom.  Why have storage space for all your luggage, when you can just leave it all half packed in your room? 

Between packing a small bag every week for work, and the couple of recent trips we have taken our bedroom has gotten out of control.  Why use the same bag, when you can just drag out another one?  Our room literally looks like the baggage screening area at the airport, and the guards have riffled through our bags.  It is starting to stress me out a little.  I am very lucky to have a husband who hasn't said a word about the mess yet, he also hasn't done anything to fix the mess.  Hmmm, maybe that is why we are so compatible? 

I blame this disaster on my inability to pack light.  What is that?  Who does that?  I need options when I travel.  What if the weather changes, or I don't like what I packed (more likely)?  When I travel in car, and don't have the rules and restriction of the airline industry, I now travel with a minimum of 3 bags.  One for my clothes, one for my shoes, and one for my toiletry items.  My husband on the other hand, packs only what he needs and not an item more.  From the look on his face every time I pack for a trip I can tell that he is very impressed with my packing skills.

This weekend I vow to de-clutter our bedroom, and return all of our luggage to a more suitable storage space. . .at least for this week.  Agggg!

Forgetting Something?

I think living out of a suitcase is starting to get to me.  This week I forgot to pack pajamas, but that wasn't a big deal, I just slept in my work-out clothes.  But this morning I was really on my game.

I was completely ready to go for work, all I had to do was take the dogs out to do their business, put them in their kennel, and leave for work.  I am outside in front of our apartment walking our dogs when I suddenly realize, I am not wearing a bra.  How did I get completely dressed and ready for work and forget to put on a bra!?!  Luckily I figured it out before I truly left the house.  That would have been fun making it all the way to the office, only to turn around a put a bra on.

I think I need a check list in the morning.  Underwear. . .check, Bra. . .check, clothes. . .check.  Uhhh!

Dumb Things My Dogs Do

I am starting to think that I should rename my blog "Dumb Things My Dogs Do," because I feel like that is mainly what I write about on here.  With that being said, here is another installment of. . .

"Dumb Things My Dogs Do."

If you don't know, or haven't caught on yet, we have two places we live.  One is our lovely home in Kansas City, and the other is an apartment in Wichita.  At our lovely home, we leave our dogs out when we have to leave.  They have gained our trust, and for the most part cause no problems while we are gone.  At our apartment we put them in a kennel and muzzle them so they won't bark (or rip the kennel door off).

Well last weekend, since our lovely mutts have done such a good job at home we decided to leave them out at our apartment.  We did a couple of trial runs, for a short period of time and they did great.  So Saturday night when we went to dinner with friends we left them out.

Fast forward to 11:00pm, and I get a phone call from our apartment.  Here is how it went.

Apt Lady: "Are you home?"

Me: "No"

Apt. Lady: "Well, I wanted to let you know your dogs are howling."

Me: "I am so sorry, we will be home soon to stop them."

Apt. Lady: " I think they are scared from the storm, because I have never heard them bark before."

Me: "Yep, that must be it, the storm."

It was not the storm.  1.) You can not hear a damn thing in our apartment, because it is an inside unit and we have no windows.  So they could not have heard the tiny storm that came through. 2.) You have never heard  them bark before because they are always muzzled.  I didn't want to tell the Apt. Lady this.

We say goodbye to our friends, and run home to find the following:  The door was unlocked when we arrived.  Cooper had pawed at the door enough that he unlocked the deadbolt.  Luckily, the door is too heavy, or he would have been running the hallways.  When we get inside the apartment, Derby has torn open a bag of cotton balls, and they are all over the living room.  Someone (no one would fess up) peed in the living room.  And to top off their little adventure.  Derby ate several disposable razors.  That's right, my brilliant dog ate razors, he's hard core like that.  Luckily, he didn't really eat the blade part of them, he more chewed the handles.  We found all of the razor blade heads, mangled around the apartment.

Just to add to the fun, a day or two later I was picking up Derby's poop outside, and what do I see.  Plastic razor handle pieces in his poop.

Everyone survived this little tantrum.  But now they are both back to kennels and muzzles, for their safety and ours.

Are You Ready For Some Football!

Our house is more than ready for football season to start.  Fantasy Football leagues are getting organized again, new K-State tickets have been selected, and Cooper has been working on his form.

That's right, Cooper full on, tackled me to the ground in the middle of the yard today.

I was standing in my backyard with my parents discussing some work we needed to do to the house, when all of a sudden I see Cooper out of the corner of my eye.  From the neighbor's yard Cooper is sprinting as fast as he can towards us.  By the time I see him, it is too late for me to do anything.  Cooper knocks my feet out from under me and I land flat on my back (and kind of on top of Cooper).  I am laying there on the ground trying to process what just happened, and making sure I didn't break any bones.  Cooper just trots around to me and looks at me like "Wasn't that fun."  I scrapped up the palm of my hand, and had a cut on the back of my leg, but other then that, I think I am okay.  I am sure I will be a little sore tomorrow.

Nothing like having a 76 pound dog run at you at a full sprint.  I case you haven't heard, Cooper has finally gained some weight, and is now 76 pounds.  His new nickname is the "Ol' 76er."

After four days of working on my house, and an impromptu tackling practice with Cooper, I am feel every bit of my 30 years.

I'm Feeling Blue

I'm seeing blue too.

Want to know what happens when your husband leaves a blue pen in his pants and you do laundry?

The ink ends up mainly on your stuff, not his.  Ugggg!  This has happened before, but usually with a load of jeans, and I know how to get the ink out of jeans.  I don't even know where to start with white pants.  And it is everywhere! Not just in one spot.  I don't even know how much time I want to waste on this, or if I should just chalk it up as a loss and throw them out.

I don't even know how the pen got past me.  I always check all pockets, because this has happened before. I even found a dollar in one pair of pants.  To top it off, I dried everything before I noticed the pen.

If you need me the next couple of days, I will be scrubbing blue pen out of a load of laundry.  I will except any and all suggestions.

As American. . .

. . .as Apple Pie!

My husband baked this apple pie on our grill/smoker, and it was scrumptious!  The best part was he thought of the idea, looked up a recipe, bought all the ingredients, and made the pie all by himself (I helped crimp the edges).  One of the many reasons I love him.

Into the Wild

I am going to start this post off by saying, I live in the city.  The suburbs to be exact.  But I do not live in the country.  You wouldn't know that from all the wildlife I have been around lately.

Yesterday morning I all of a sudden hear Derby howling at the window (he howl/barks, it's the beagle in him).  I didn't see anything so I just think Derby is crazy.  But he keeps howling at something, so I finally look out the window a little harder to see what is going on.  And what do I spy, but this little fella.

Yes, that would be a little skunk in the picture.  It looks like a baby skunk, so I am sure there is a mama skunk around somewhere too.  I didn't go outside and didn't let the dogs outside for quite a while, and I guess he wandered off.  I just hope I don't end up with a skunked dog anytime soon.

To add to my animal adventure birds have been attacking both my house and my rental house.  This morning I came outside to a dead bird on my front porch.  I don't do well with live animals, let alone dead ones.  So I got a shovel and moved him to a better "final resting place."

At my rental house, a bird flew down the chimney and must have been flying around the inside of my house for quite a while before he final died.  Luckily I had my husband with me that time, so he got to move the bird outside.

The two dogs are enough for me.  I could use a few less encounters with nature.

Magnetic Nails

Check out my nails!

They are purple and swirly.  And I did them all by myself.  It's this new magnetic nail polish.

You paint a thin coat on all of your nails.  And then one at a time, you paint a thicker coat of polish on and then hold a magnet over your nail for 10 seconds and you end up with the cool wavy design.

The top of the polish has a magnet in it that pops off the brush that you can use.  Just don't get your nail too close the polish (like I did) or you smudge it and have to start over.

I think I am in love with my new Summer Swirly Nails.

1 Year

Today, my husband and I are celebrating our 1st Anniversary.  It has been one amazing year.  I am looking forward to many, many years to come and excitement that each year brings. Will, I love you so much!

Here are a few pictures from our wedding last year.  (Yes mom, I will get pictures printed soon!)

And one funny one.