So, I've been a little MIA because I just couldn't think or write a word without spilling the beans. You see, when Mr. Big Dog asked me for forever, I screamed YES from the rooftop. Yes to being with him for all my life and yes to being is other half. But the more we talked wedding plans, the more my stomach knotted and all plans seemed overwhelming and expensive. Not to mention all for show, and not really for us. Don't get me...
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Monday, December 12, 2011
Up with the moon
We have been so busy around our house. I was working consecutive days up until Friday and Mr. Big Dog was out of town twice in the past week. The dogs even seem confused as to if we are coming or going lately. This weekend I got our house Christmas-fied for our first real Christmas together and I must say between my mom's creative assistance...
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Round 2 or the Right Round?
Mr. Big Dog and I definitely share a lot of interests. We both like to be challenged physically, we are both very capable independent people, and in general we like a lot of the same stuff. We are starting to mind read each other, like some couples can:) But one thing we both share that not everyone does is the club of divorce. Yep, there I said it. Big ugly, pink elephant, but worked through it, tough stuff divorce. And I think...
Thankful
It's raining hard here this morning, it sounds like someone it throwing rocks at the windows. The dogs are all lying around my feet as I have my morning blog fixes and coffee. I look back over the past year and I am so thankful for so much.2011 Thankful List:I have a consistent great job, wait I have two:)I sold my house in a week and didn't loose my shorts on it:) I didn't make much either but it was painless. I rode 100 miles...
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Just can't get enough....pumpkin cupcakes
Where is this year going? Wasn't it August just yesterday? I can't believe Thanksgiving is next week!!! I will be at work on the holiday and I am planing on bringing my soon to be staple pumpkin cupcakes with maple frosting:) I've made them twice now and had rave reviews:) Mr. Big Dog definitely liked them, but he's so sweet I think he'd eat anything I make. I did eat them myself so I know they are tasty:)I got the recipe here...
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Having Faith
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Saturday, October 29, 2011
Big day of detective work
Well for awhile now I have had migraine headaches. Awhile being since 2000. I remember my first one, it was in college and it was horrible. But I always blamed it on something. Stress, eating habits, college alcohol ingestion, lack of sleep, not drinking enough water, too much sugar, no coffee, coffee, etc. You get my drift. But as the years went on the headaches continued. And I tried to cut things out that may be causing them,...
Sunday, October 23, 2011
This is why I love Mr. Big Dog
I love how we can act like ten year olds on a Sunday night, ending our weekend carving pumpkins:)I have to admit I stole the heart shape idea off Pinterest:) My latest addiction. Now our porch is lit with little personality on this crisp autumn nigh...
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Where have I been?
Well I don't really know the answer to that question. Life gets busy. Busy with important things, and busy with unimportant things. And then you realize it's been a month and you haven't gotten your toes done with your good girlfriend or posted on your blog:( Life can do that. I can not believe it's October. I can not believe I have sold my house and moved in with my wonderful Mr. Big Dog. I can't even believe I have a fiance...
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Unrealistic expectations?
Well I am not going to lie. I have unrealistic expectations most of the time. There I said it! This is a good and bad quality. For example, I always think I can do more than I can and end up disappointed that I didn't get it all done. But on a positive note, I am a little too optimistic with this as well (which is sometimes nice). I know everyone can not always be on their best behavior me included, and I give forgiveness quickly...don't...
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Alarming oven = no baking;(
Well, with the big move into Mr. Big Dog's house, we together have found a couple "need to fix" projects. Ever since my first time over, the oven has been on the fritz. Now for a single bachelor this might not be a big deal, but you know I like to bake and cook...so it has become kind of a sore spot in our eating habits. You don't realize...
Friday, September 9, 2011
A sister to be proud of....
I know being the older sister, I am suppose to be the more mature and really be that have your stuff more "together" one. However, in my family it has always been my sister who has been the more sensible, organized, planner, and realistic one. I'm the more scattered, take the hard road with all the red flags screaming stop, and speak before I think one of the family. She has been not only my sister but my best friend for years....
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Autumn in the air
Even though the weather is still in the nineties here in the beautiful pacific northwest, you can feel fall coming. It's just a different smell, a different kind of wind, a little colder air in the early morning:) I don't know what it really is but you can just feel it. I remember back to the past falls and I have to say I wasn't' really...
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
We survived
So our Hood to coast was a success! Our team of 12 completed the 200 miles in just over 33 hours. It would have been about an hour faster but we had a slight mess up with a hand off on the last 6 legs. Oh well;) we survived and have spent the past 48 hours recovering, mainly from the sleep depravation. This picture is right after my first...
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Smaller than a bread box
Well if you know me, you know I can be immature and I think I am hilarious sometimes. Yesterday just happen to be one of those days. I was at the dollar store and I found these little matchbox cars.Now, Mr. Big Dog and I have been talking about the kind of car I dream about for awhile. One of my besties has one and his good friend has a car...
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
365 really feels more like 20
I am looking forward to September since we will be done with the last of our events. I am ready to really settle into our first home together and start thinking about when I will change my last name. It's interesting and lovely to think about the past year. Mr. Big Dog and I met a year ago tomorrow...geeze how time flies. We were actually looking back over the past year of our relationship by our version of love letters, also...
Sunday, August 21, 2011
You can't pick your family
Family is not a choice. There really is no freedom in it what so ever. I mean, I know you can love people like family but really I am talking about immediate- born into-share a name-family. I have been thinking about this a lot lately. And I think we are born into families for a lot of different reasons. One reason is to have a concrete attachment to people. An attachment that no matter how hard you try or how far to move, they...
Saturday, August 6, 2011
The silent roar of the crowd
Forgive me now for my scattered brain with this post.....it just wrote itself, which maybe an insight to my attention span lately;)
I think I have mentioned Hood to Coast a couple times this year. But did I forget to mention I am the "team captain" again this year too? And did I just say Hood to Coast is the last weekend of THIS month? Oh my where has the time gone? I have done little to no exercise since the big bike ride. Call...
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Words like steel
Well I am a woman of my word. I think that is the one sentence I could honestly use to describe myself. This is a gift and a curse. My words are as strong and dependable as steel. If I say I am going to do something, if I verbalize I am going to do something, then it will 100% of the time happen. For instance, the 100 mile bike ride. Well even when I was falling apart with stress and physical exhaustion.....when I had so many...
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Bittersweet
I am getting ready to move and give my little cottage to a new owner. I kept thinking it's just a house, it's just a material thing. But the closer it has gotten the more emotional it has become. It is the ending of a chapter in my life. It is a very purposeful step away from my old life. I have spent the last five years in that house. I didn't want to live there in the beginning and actually not for the first couple years. I...
Rain isn't always bad.....
It is pouring here. I mean tsunami wet with liquid sunshine. It is July. Has anyone told God it is July, was the first thing I thought this morning. It is usually warm and sunny by now and in some areas unbearably hot. But then the sound started to wash over me. The sound of rain is beautiful. Refreshing and relaxing. It is like God is washing everything. Washing it clean and making it new. Nourishing the ground, plants and all...
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Much slower the third time around
I gotta tell you, depression and stress really helps with running. And so with this epiphany, I have found I am too happy and stress free to run at the moment. I have to get moving and pick up my mileage for Hood to Coast. This will be my third Hood to Coast, and I would like to think each year would get easier and faster. However, I have only run twice in the last week and it was pain-ful!!! I mean I am slow and it's more of...
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Need I say more?
He is so stinking cute!! And he is growing so fast!! He told me his mom's name is Mommy Roberts and I am Auntie Roberts. I explained to him I did not have the same last name and actually it would be Auntie Rios soon. He tried to say Rios but somehow a T got added.....Auntie Ritos...which was close enough:) Mr. Big Dog met up with us soon after and he tried to call him a Roberts too. I'm sure he'll get is soon, but for now it is...
Saturday, July 9, 2011
How many motel chairs can you fit in your car?
I am looking for yard furniture for our new house and I like older stuff. I am sweet on vintage well loved things. I love chippy paint and mismatched stuff. So when I was on good old Craig's the other night and I saw these I fell in love. I figured if they didn't work out for me I can take them to the Barn House craft fair...since I will...
Friday, July 8, 2011
New to me home......
Well......I am going to be officially homeless at the end of July. It's bittersweet because I love love love my little cottage. But it was never to be my forever home. I renovated every single corner of it back to a newer version of it's 1940's charm. I put a lot of love into her over the past 7 years and it actually just started to be complete...
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Lab partners for life
Mr. Big Dog and I were talking....we actually talk a lot. We talk about nothing and we talk about everything. And I think talking is so underrated. People should make it bold, highlighted, and neon lit when making something a priority in a relationship. Just TALKING.We talk about the past, present and the future. We share everything. And I know to some people that may seem normal, easy and just mundane but I think for us it is...
Monday, July 4, 2011
Some Big News....
Just click on the link to see what Mr. Big Dog has put together.....he's pretty handy with the camera and computer;) http://www.vimeo.com/25952444then type in the password: 2ofusSorry I've been away for a awhile....I have been super busy, put my house on the market....oh and it sold in a week!!! All while balancing work and extra work....so to say I've been busy is an understatement. But now I am distracted by Mr. Big Dog more...
Monday, June 27, 2011
Reckless with responsibility.....
Sometimes I have these fleeting thoughts and moments where I just don't want to be an adult with responsibilities anymore. I want to play, have someone else cook for me, and not pay a single bill. I want to run off on vacation and not worry about whose going to watch my dogs. I want to let go of everything and just take off. Today for some reason I really had this urge...and for some reason I was missing Reno. Missing the hot...
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Simple goodness
I love the sound the wind makes through the trees in the backyard, it's like this gentle wave of comfort. I love a big beautiful full moon, especially enjoying it at 2 am. I love how the moon lights up the whole earth and everything looks more romantic and calm washed in the bluish moonlight. I love mornings, early having coffee in my robe with my dogs dancing around my feet. I love how smart my herd of dogs are, and how they...
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
What in the world did I do before the internet?
So I have been noticing my dependence on the internet a lot lately. Of course for directions, then sometimes for movies on netflix, and recipes on the foodnetwork. But then I realized just how handy it is for those "how to" questions. The other night I wanted to a kiwi, but I always butcher them and mess them up so bad they just don't look nice and it's a mess. And a pineapple was also a purchase I have been dreading cutting up...
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Ain't nothing gonna break my stride, nobody's gonna slow me down, I gotta keep on moving....
Today is the day I am flipping to running. Gotta get ready for Hood to Coast. This year is the 30th anniversary and there is a documentary out about it. I highly recommend watching it. Really good, and not just about running. It's about WHY people run and what pushes them. For me, running has been about as therapeutic as this blog. I have really gotten over a couple hills this past year and I thank god my legs work as well as...
Monday, June 6, 2011
Home Sweet Home
I came. I saw. And I conquered. The ride was by far one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life. The weather made it more of a challenge but the route was one I knew very well from my childhood. As I road in 42 degree weather with rain and wind, I remembered my winters as a kid skiing at Tahoe. I rode past an old camp site where my family spent a rainy memorial weekend once upon a time. I rode past a cabin my family...
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Inspiration when I needed it most
I am embarrassed to say I was having a huge pity party for myself this afternoon here at Lake Tahoe. The weather has been horrible. And I mean horrible. Portland horrible. I have trained the past 18 weeks to be completing this race in nice weather people. I have been fantasizing, especially on my extra wet hard rides of tsunami rain. Dreaming of me in shorts getting an awesome suntan while on the bike, how easy it will be with...
Friday, June 3, 2011
Getting on a jet plane
I have a big bad not so secret to share. My sister knows it, I know it, and if you ever travel with me you will discover it. I CAN NOT PACK to save my life. I procrastinate, am indecisive about what I will possibly want to wear on the trip, and I always forget something. I started my packing last night. But as you can see, there is not rhythm...
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Long time no talk
I don't know how it happened but it has been awhile since I last blogged. Life gets so busy sometimes. So I am still here for the record......I am getting ready for my ride, yes my big 100 mile ride is THIS weekend. I have been training for this since January, thinking about it since last November and talking about it constantly. It is finally here. I have trained in lots of rain, wind, ice and even hail all thinking about this...
Monday, May 16, 2011
Babies are such a nice way to start people.-- Don HerroI love this quote, because it's so true. Babies are wonderful little butterballs of cuteness! I have another good friend in labor this morning. She is my second friend to keep the gender a surprise for everyone, including herself and her hubs. I don't know if I could do it.....could you? I mean not know what you're having...... Kind of fun;)Well for now I am sending thoughts...
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Crystal ball round two.....
"No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who have loved him" -1 Corinthians 2:9I read this a lot the first couple of months into my new life. I had faith that everything happens for a reason and there was something much much better waiting for me at the end of this journey...... but with...
Friday, May 13, 2011
I am sad to say Number 507 didn't make it:(
I am starting a long stretch off from my big girl job, thank goodness. So my first day off I want to start plowing though a much too long do list so I can really enjoy having nothing to do. Cleaning my house, cleaning out my car (which lately is filled with so much junk it' s like my second home), run errands, bake an order of cupcakes for a baby shower, and Saturday ride 75 miles. So with all great intention I began my morning...
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Do I have a need for speed?
Can I just say I have always been fast. Fast to think, fast to talk, and at times a fast driver. I am one of those people who does not read directions before putting something together and I don't read things entirely but try to understand by skimming. I am busy and rush through a lot of things, this is my nature and it is not a good thing. I do not recommend this quality to anyone. I have always been a little lead footed, speedy...
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Ferdinand the Bull
Between Mr. Big Dog and I we have four dogs between us......yes I said four. Anyways, Mr. Big Dog's dog Jay (now that's a tongue twister) is in my opinion the best behaved gentle giant our of the pack. He's just lovey and mellow:)Whenever I am out in the yard with all of them, Jay just hangs and lays by the trees. So it was funny when Mr....
Saturday, April 30, 2011
What doesn't kill me can only make me stronger....right?
Well I am proud to say: Today I rode 66 miles for leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma, and Hodgkin's with my team. But I really can not believe how hard this is and has been. I think this is the hardest physical thing I ever done. I mean ever. And mentally as well....you know the saying "do something everyday that scares you." Well I think that goes hand in hand with this training. I am not being dramatic, I am not exaggerating. I have...