legendary!!!

 This is for all of the How I Met Your Mother Fans:

During one episode, Robin freaks out in a restaurant when she mistakenly thinks Ted is proposing to her after she receives a champagne glass with an engagement ring at the bottom. When Ted tells her "That's not mine", another gentlemen at the table behind them says "It's mine", then proceeds to propose to the woman at his table. The proposal between the man and woman was real. The man set up the whole scheme with the show's producers, and told his girlfriend that they won a contest and got to be extras in a HIMYM episode. Instead, he proposed on camera, and the proposal will live on forever as part of the episode.

Making it officially the best proposal ever, and completely LEGENDARY!!!!!

brilliant

Hey!  I have a brilliant idea!  Let's take a REALLY long movie that just barely got out of theaters, say James Cameron's Avatar.  Then let's put it BACK in theaters, and add 3D and nine additional minutes.  Seriously, what the hell?!  How does that make sense?

go to sleep

It's super awesome when you're awake in the middle of the night, and at least half of that is because your cat won't stop:
A) licking the bottom of your foot
B) using your foot as a body pillow
C) wrestling with your foot (this includes claws!)

Fun stuff, right?!  Love you Luna.

Yay bike!

You like how Finley managed to get in on the photo too?  He's so cute.

Awkward is...

When someone walks up to you and says "how far along are you?", and you have to truthfully respond, "Umm, I'm not pregnant."  Yeah, it is officially time to go on a diet.

Oatmeal Cookies (with a healthy-ish surprise!)

Ok, so I did not create this recipe.  I got it from Deceptively Delicious.  And I KNOW it may look weird on paper, but the cookies are yummy and moist and very much like muffin tops, not cookies.  Plus, they have oatmeal in them so I can tell myself they're healthy and eat a bunch.  :)

1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 cup oats
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon (I love cinnamon, so I used about a tablespoon...)
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
6 tbsp margarine
1/2 cup banana puree
1/2 cup zucchini puree (no that is not a typo)
1 large egg white
1/2 cup raisins (optional)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Total time involved: 35 minutes
makes 2 dozen cookies

 Note: don't use an electric mixer because it will make the cookies tough.  It's not difficult to stir by hand though, I have zero arm muscles and I did it just fine.

Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Coat two baking sheets with cooking spray, or line with parchment.
Combine the flour, oats, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon, and stir to mix.  In a large bowl, beat the sugar and margarine with a wooden spoon until just combined; do not overmix.  Add the banana and zucchini purees, and the egg white, and stir just to blend.  Add the flour mixture, raisins, and walnuts, if using, and stir to combine. 

Drop the dough by heaping tablespoonful onto the baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches in between.  Bake until golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes.  Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 4 to 5 minutes, just until they are firm enough to handle, then transfer to a rack and cool completely.

Matt's Last Day

So in honor of Matt's last day in California before moving to South Carolina for a few months for school, we went to Napa for the afternoon.  Jeff, myself, Matt, and Julia met up with Matt's parents and his sister Sarah.  We had fun (of course) doing two tastings.  My favorite was at Parduxx (where these pictures are from).  So much fun!

so pretty!

keep in mind all these glasses were for about three of us...

I just wanted to pick a few bunches and eat them right there!

brand spanking new

I know, I know.  I already posted about twenty posts already today, but hey, it's the weekend and I'm bored.  So... I decided (obviously) to change my blog up a bit.  Hope you like it!

ah ha!

It's a wonderful thing when you think you are out of tomatoes and you really want one in your sandwich, and then you realize you have fifty million (no, I'm not exaggerating) fully ripe tomatoes in your garden.  Yay!

I give you fair warning: this will be long

I take about a million pictures of Luna every day (to the point where I'm a bit frightened how overboard I might go picture wise when we have kids!), but there's all so darn cute, I just have to share them.
So, to start out, here's a reason why (in pictures of course) it takes me so long to crochet ANYTHING.

And of course, she wants to take a nap on the blanket I'm trying to make... because now since she's been up for an hour or so, it's nap time...

but she can't just sleep in the same place all day, she has to wake up and sleep somewhere new every few hours...

(sometimes Jeff needs a nap too...)

but of course, with all the super comfy places to sleep in the house, she repetitively picks a cardboard box.  Weirdo.

And that is a photo diary of a typical day at our house.

breakfast of champions

All hail Jeff!  King of the (cinnamon) waffles!  But seriously, yum!

on watching Bones

I was having a mini marathon, and the one line that stuck with me was randomly, "What?  He imprinted on us like a baby duck?"

 Besides the TV, I've been working on my insanely huge king sized blanket that I'm crocheting.  The yarn I just added is so fuzzy and well, baby duck-like that now I just want to make blankets for everyone.  Share the fuzzy blanket love!

pictures

It is a little sad when you've taken about 150 pictures on yor camera, and they're all of your cat.  Yup, sounds about right.

I can't help it though.  She's so cute!

happiness is...

crocheting a blanket without Luna attacking the yarn (because she's busy sleeping in the sun), hanging out with Jeff, drinking mint tea, and having a Leverage marathon.  All at the same time.  Yay!

meteor shower

So there was a meteor shower that Jeff and I watched two nights ago.  I had never really seen one before.  It was actually pretty fun, and meteors are so cool.  But I have decided that the only real way to watch a meteor shower is how we did it.  You need a large trampoline and a million blankets and that way you can look straight up at the sky AND not freeze to death (we watched it at around midnight).  But I have to say, the trampoline/ blanket-ness of it all reminded me of a certain sleepover (Tova), and I was kind of afraid that any second the sprinklers would go off and make it deja-vu.

only me...

So I found out firsthand that if you accidentally spill some soup that is currently cooking on the stove onto your wrist, you can get second degree burns.  Yeah, I'm just that awesome.  Who knew?  But it's ok, because my soup rocked.  Eh, might as well share...

Corn Chowder:
chicken broth
lots of corn kernals (I scraped mine from the cob)
yukon gold potato chunks
pepper
red pepper
salt
thyme
diced onion (or powder, which I used, cause I ran out of onions)
milk

Add whatever amounts you want of each ingredient (except leave the milk), stir on medium for 45 minutes or so.  I like my soup smoother, so I used an immersion blender on it near the end.  Take it off the heat and pour in a cup or so of milk and stir it in.  Enjoy!

pasta salad

This is the best pasta salad ever!  Basically just add whatever ingredients you want, add some Italian dressing, and you're set!  I add:

whole wheat pasta shells
red bell pepper
broccoli
black olives
edamame
shredded carrot
corn
peas
tomatos

plus whatever I happen to have around the house.
I swear, this pasta salad makes my mouth water!

Luna? Spoiled? Never!

Sorry for the multitude of (crappy quality) Luna pictures.  I finally got my phone to upload some without a fight.  But she's just so freakin' cute that I had to post a bunch.  Hopefully I'll find some interesting non-cat related things to post soon.

nosy much?

unicycle

I'm very curious how many people actually buy unicycles from Walmart.  The fact that they sell them at all is kind of awesome.  The only people that would probably buy them are the one weirdo at each college that rides one, and my dad.  Well actually, my dad wouldn't buy one because he already has one.  I know, right?  So not a shock.

for the lazy, impatient, or those in need of groceries

One serving microwave chocolate cake

Ok, I know what you're thinking, "Ew, it can't be good if its made in the microwave."  But really, if you want chocolate cake NOW or don't have the ingredients for a whole cake, this isn't so bad.  It is chocolate, after all.  Plus, less dishes to clean.  You literally dump all the ingredients into you mug (I use a big one because I'm always afraid it will overflow a small mug, and then I'll have to clean out the microwave, which I hate doing), mix well, and microwave for 3 minutes.  Eat it warm straight out of the mug.  Awesome, right?

All you need is:
3 tbsp flour
3 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 egg
2 tbsp milk
2 tbsp oil

That's it.  If you want to make it awesom-er, you can also add chocolate chips, vanilla, cinnamon, etc.

late night

You know you are going to bed late when your cat is already in bed and half asleep.

Puppy sitting!

The cutest baby brother ever!  And yes, He is Luna's supposed uncle.  I know...it's weird.  Just go with it.

things that make Luna unhappy

Well, that list is actually kinda long, but #1 would definitely be Finley spending the weekend with us (so my parents could go to Boise Idaho for the weekend.  No, I'm not kidding).  Finley is super cute and cuddly and scruffy (see picture from several days ago), but he thinks its perfectly acceptable to jump up on the bed with me (only after Jeff gets up though.  Its so weird.  And he does it every day even though we both make him get down right away) and curl up in Luna's spot while Luna glares at him from her safe place on our windowsill.  Finley also takes her place on the couch, and she likes to sit on the floor in the next room and glare at Finley, even though he doesn't ever notice.  He's too busy sleeping, smacking and licking.  Three inches away from Jeff's ear.

temp

you know your husband did a great job putting insulation in your house when in the middle of summer you are so cold that you have to wrap a blanket around yourself and drink a cup of tea.  And then of course, an hour later you are so freaking hot!!!  So I have decided to move to England where the temperature doesn't change as much.

total nerd alert

Today on my way home from work I drove past a Prius with what would normally be a bike on a bikerack attached to the back of the car, but in this case was a Segway on a Segway rack.  Wow...  My next thought was "where do you drive to that you bring a Segway with you?"

cutest brother ever!

Seriously, how cute is Finley?  I just happened to be stopped in the lane next to my dad, and Finley stuck his head out to say hi to me.  I know he madly needs a haircut, but he's just sooo cute!

Cutest Kitty Ever Pictures...again.

Sorry for the upchuck of photos today.  I always forget to upload new ones onto my computer, and then I do it all at once.  Anyway, the first two I love.  It's the "Oh, ignore me.  I'm totally not taking a nap in the bag of yarn you brought out to use."  I don't have a picture of it, but at one point she fell asleep with her front paws stretched straight out and the whole front half of her was asleep in the bag.  Luna seriously LOVES yarn.  I would get her her own skein of it to play with, but I'm afraid she would attack MY yarn even more, and we're getting to the point already where I can barely crochet because she could be asleep on the other side of the house, but hearing yarn and a crochet hook (which makes like no sound) will wake her up, and she will come running, pounce on the yarn, and yell "Mine!", and then try to take a nap on the yarn.  Every time. Grr. The second two are what happened after Jeff begged me to read the paper so he could spread it all over the place and give Luna a "playground" (his word).  The first playground picture is a "spot the kitty" picture, but I like the second one, because she looks confused (and therefore she looks like she always does) Burn!  Anyway, how cute is Luna?!  Our cat is SO not spoiled.  Yeah right...

I am farmer, hear me roar

Ok, not so much.  But anything that I plant that grows, and/or doesn't look disfigured I am super excited about!  Especially when the first vegetables of any crop are ready to pick, like for instance, my zucchini and Roma tomatoes.  Yay!  All veggies shown were picked within the last week.  Now it may not look like much, but it is if you've seen the size of our garden, which is rather small.  I feel like Jeff and I should get matching farmer overalls to make our farmer-ness more official, but that really wouldn't go down well with, well... either of us.  :)