Big TV Night Review!

Well I managed to stay up for the royal wedding early Friday morning. I didn't just get up for the wedding I stayed up all night. I was concerned I wouldn't wake up in time for the wedding so I ended up staying up all night. It was fun to watch! Nice little memory I made in my apartment. Not only was I tired during the day on Friday but so were the boys. I kept hearing their choruses of snores while I watched the wedding so it didn't seem I was disturbing them too much. However, by the time Friday afternoon came they certainly required some extra sleep just like me!

So the mystery has been solved concerning my mom's clue on the Cardinals Draft day deals. My boyfriend solved the mystery. He found out the Cards are attempting to sign Marc Bulger a veteran QB(another former Rams QB, gee that sounds familiar, lol). So she must have been confused, Bulger is not in the Draft but yet is apart of the Cards plans, as the ability to sign him affects their moves on Draft day. Overall I was pretty happy with their picks. Overall we were happy with the Cowboys picks. Except slightly skeptical that the Cowboys would draft another injured player this year. It worked out last year for them so hopefully the injured player they drafted this year will be ready to go with no setbacks if the season ever starts.

The draft is fun to watch but it loses a ton of it's sparkle when there's a labor dispute going on. Gotta love how the NFL found a way to halt the lockout for a few days. Halted just long enough to get the glitzy glamour 1st rounders picked during primetime. Then the lockout was suddenly back on by the end of Friday. I knew it! I just knew something like that was going on behind the scenes. I knew the lockout wasn't over when they said it was. How did I know because I'm not an idiot! Because I know enough about court proceedings to know that the line of bologna they were suddenly feeding to the public early this week about the lockout being over didn't make sense!!!!!!! Such a ploy! But you've got to hand it to them, they figured out a way to halt it just long enough to get interest back into the primetime first round.

Woo-hoo the Mavs made it past the Trailblazers! First time in a long time that they've made it out of the first round of the playoffs. Up next is the Los Angeles Lakers. Yuk! I'm already preparing myself to get very irritated during this next series. Oh and down went the Spurs last night at the hands of Memphis. Who would've thought that would occur? A Suns ex-player and assistant coach is the Memphis coach...Lionel Hollins. Interesting! I was cheering about the Spurs going out, my boyfriend wasn't quite as excited as I was since he hated to see a Texas team go down so soon. He's not a Spurs fan per say, but if they are in the playoffs then he has more tolerance for them since they're representing TX. Although his tolerance would fade super quick if they happened to play the Mavs in a playoff series. Hmm, I wonder if that's ever happened? Not that I can recall.

Big TV Night!

Well there is no shortage of TV viewing options for us tonight. Plus to cap it all off the royal wedding is in the middle of the night. We are anxiously awaiting the NFL Draft and the Mavs game. See what I mean...plenty to watch!

The Cards pick 5th. They better get someone good. I just spoke with my mom trying to get the inside scoop on the Cards pick. All I got from her was a name I'd never heard of and her assurance that the guy they want has a last name that starts with the letter B. So much for the inside scoop! LOL! The Cowboys have the 9th pick. However there's been some rumors that they plan on trading down. We'll see what they end up doing.

Between the Draft, the Mavs game late tonight, and the royal wedding in the wee hours of the morning I'm sure getting in lots of TV time. By the time tomorrow night comes I'll likely be tired of TV and ready to play some games with my boyfriend. I'm not a huge TV viewer. If shows depended on me to watch only about 3 would get ratings. Sports and syndicated sitcoms is what I watch mainly.

At this present moment I plan on being one of those crazies that gets up at 3 AM for the royal wedding. No guarantee I'll actually be able to get up but I'm going to try. I know it's being repeated later on, I really want to watch it live.

Easter and Crazy Weather!

Our Easter went well. We had a good time out at my boyfriend's granny's farm. The rain stayed away long enough for the Easter egg hunt. Besides a few sprinkles in the day it didn't start raining until much later in the evening. We have plenty of Easter candy left too so I will be eating some chocolate eggs and bunnies in the coming days!

The weather here has been rather interesting the last week or so. Very little sunshine. Lots of clouds. We've had some thunderstorms and tornado warnings in recent days. It's been a daily concern for about 4 or 5 days in a row. Today the weather doesn't look so promising yet there's no rain in the forecast. It's cool and breezy with dark clouds in certain directions. A tiny bit of sunshine tries its best to peek through every now and then. We've certainly had some booming thunderstorms lately. It's so much fun trying to keep 2 pugs calm while the thunder booms so loud that it shakes the windows and the building! Wink-wink! Holding them works the best!

I think Dallas is the first place I've lived where the thunderstorms can be so intense car alarms are going off in parking lots and windows/buildings are shaking. Storms like that may have come around once in a blue moon if ever back in Phoenix. As for Seattle a thunderstorm is actually a rare occurrence. They have cloud cover that produces light rain but thunderstorms are not the norm there.

I remember one time a friend of mine had come to Seattle to visit me. She was driving a car she had rented during her visit and a thunderstorm started. She, being from AZ like me and not used to wet weather, freaked out about driving in the thunderstorm. We had to pull over so I could drive instead. I kept telling her though that Seattle doesn't have a lot of thunderstorms so me driving instead was only going to be a slight improvement. Although with all the wet weather Seattle does have, I was definitely more comfortable in the conditions than she was. And now after living in big D...geesh, stormy weather isn't a big deal at all. But I do admit I don't go out in it unless I really have to.

Happy Easter!!!!

Yay Easter is here! Long wait this year! Weather outside looks somewhat unpredictable. Seems it could rain at any moment. But it's nice out. Not too cold, not too hot.

I made an apple pie and spinach dip to take with us to my boyfriend's family gathering. The apple pie was supposed to be a peach pie but I couldn't find any peaches. Apparently it's not quite peach season...good to know! Lol!

We colored some eggs last night. Just the right amount as we wanted the process to be low-key. Our eggs were too big for the wraps. My boyfriend managed to carefully squeeze one egg into a football wrap. Man, did he have a lot of patience with that process!

I'm looking forward to today. Hope all of you have a wonderful Easter! Eat a chocolate bunny! I plan to!

K's Recipe Corner (part 2)

It's time to share another recipe. I've looked over many of my recipes in recent days as I decided on what to take with us as our contribution to the Easter get-together this Sunday. I'm not actually preparing this particular appetizer I'm about to share but I've prepared it many times before. It's a crowd-pleaser! It's excellent for any pot luck! You can prepare it the night before, put the finishing touches on it the day of and simply take some chips to go with it. Easy-Breezy!

Seven Layer Mexican Dip

Prep time is about 15 minutes.
Chill time is anywhere from 4 to 24 hours(I always make it the night before)


Ingredients:
1 9-ounce can bean dip
1/4 cup pace picante sauce
1 8-ounce container of refrigerated guacamole
1 8-ounce container of sour cream
1 cup of your favorite type of cheese(I normally get the already shredded stuff because it's shredded thinly)
green onion
sliced black olives
2/3 cup of chopped and seeded tomato

serve with tortilla chips of any kind

step 1: Combine the bean dip with the pace picante. Spread the mixture into the bottom of a 2.5 quart casserole/baking dish.

step 2: Carefully spread the guacamole and then the sour cream over the bean dip mixture.

step 3: Next top with cheese, the green onion and then olives. Cover and chill for 4 to 24 hours.

step 4: Before serving, sprinkle with chopped and seeded tomato. Then enjoy with tortilla chips.


my notes:
*I use my 2.5 quart round corningware dish when I make this. It's the right size in all ways especially in depth. Plus I like that it's round and has it's own lid! Other types of good dishes to use would be a square 8x8 or 9x9 baking dish. Anything bigger than those dimensions will be too large. It does need to be a baking dish that has some depth to it so you can layer the ingredients.

* I didn't put an amount for the black olives or the green onion. It's all about your own preference. For the olives I use roughly 2 tablespoons. Buy the smallest can available and be sure to buy "sliced" olives...much prettier laying on top than the chopped olives. As for the green onion cut one or two and sprinkle it on, you can add more if it doesn't look like enough. For me I want the green onion to be present but not overpowering in any way(it adds great color).

* Don't try to make your own guacamole. It needs to be pre-made guacamole that you buy at the store because it has more preservatives in it so it doesn't turn brown. They have it in the produce section by the Marie Calendar's dressings here in TX.

* When it comes to the assembly process of these layers it's helpful to have the sour cream and guacamole sit out for just a bit before you start using them. It makes it easier to spread if they aren't super cold and straight out of the fridge. This is certainly true for the sour cream!

Our Complex (part 2)

I'm a very understanding and patient resident. Not meaning to brag about myself but I'm not the type of resident that ever complains to the office. Our complex has had numerous water issues in recent weeks. For 3 weeks in a row the water was turned off all day for at least one or two days out of the week.

Well when I returned home from vacation it was obvious the water had been off while I was gone. My complex sent us notices telling us they have fixed all they can fix within the complex now it's the city that must complete the work. The city has dug a hole the size of a medium sized swimming pool in front of the complex taking up the walking path in the process. I've never seen such a large hole that wasn't dug to become a swimming pool. Not to mention the massive equipment the city has out there. As we walk by this large hole everyday this week Cody can't help but stare. He is so curious! He actually walked into Simon the other day because he had no clue Simon had stopped in front of him. Cody was focused solely on the hole not on where he was going. LOL! They crack me up Simon sees only the ground in front of him when he's on his walk and Cody sees everything but the area directly in front of him.

Obviously I have no idea what the issue is with the water but I hope they get it fixed soon! I would like for things to return to normal! Including our walking path!

Easter is upon us!

Well Easter weekend is upon us. I love Easter! I love the significance of Easter. I love the time of year that Easter occurs. And there's just something about it that makes me slow down and relax. I need that gentle reminder to slow down once in awhile. Oh and I like decorating eggs! I got a sports enthusiast egg coloring kit this year. I know my boyfriend will have fun making a perfect football egg!

Today I went to Petsmart to get the boys and Storm a little Easter gift. I got a blue bunny for Cody. A yellow and orange chick for Simon(he loves anything with some bright orange). And a cute pink pig for little Storm. I'm not sure if Storm will be all that impressed with the pig but we'll see. She loves very simple things like an empty box or tissue paper. I plan on giving her a brand new sheet of tissue paper as well for Easter. I know Cody will love his blue bunny. As for Simon...we'll have to see if he lets it stay in one piece or if it's torn in two in 2 seconds flat.

It started off raining this morning. The boys and I walked in a lovely misty rain. It's been a little cooler the last couple of days. The forecast has rain in it all the way up until Monday. So chances are it could rain on Easter. Which is fine by me. As long as the rain isn't too drastic no hail please.

Simon is back!

Okay that might be a somewhat confusing title for this post. But Simon hasn't been eating his rawhides. Yes, my garbage disposal/hungry hippo pug has turned down rawhides lately. Back when Cody turned down rawhides he had a cracked tooth that needed attention. So I instantly assumed Simon might have a mouth issue going on. But after purchasing some new rawhide he's back to eating them. I wonder what the problem was with the other rawhide? I kept offering him the same rawhide 2 nights in a row which he had no interest in both nights. Maybe that other rawhide is tainted in his opinion? He has turned down "boring rawhides", ones that are plain with no extra flavoring. But typically when he realizes that the boring rawhide is all he has coming than he'll soon decide to eat it. That didn't happen this time though.

Anyway for now I think I can quit worrying about him. He's been perfectly happy in all other ways even when he didn't want the rawhide I kept recycling for him. As of tonight he's eaten new rawhide for the last 2 days. He's back!

Back Home in Big D!

I definitely planned on making this post before now. What can I say? I just get busy sometimes. We were glad to go on vacation to Phoenix. It was so good to see all of those that we visited. It was a good time of the year for us to be there too. It wasn't too hot for me yet!

It was definitely nice to show my boyfriend the city I grew up in. I knew he would like seeing the mountains. One thing he noticed is that Phx isn't as commercialized as Dallas. There are smaller businesses that are surviving in AZ. It was also yummy to indulge in some AZ Mexican food. Both of us struggle to explain the difference between AZ and TX Mexican food but believe us there's a difference. The most notable difference to me is the sauces. AZ has green or red. TX has a plethora of options. My fave since moving here is the sour cream sauce.

On our way home we discussed how we didn't think we ever got completely off "Dallas time". Now after returning home we have needed some time to readjust to our time zone again. I was fine through the weekend then on Monday I was drained.

All in all it was a good trip! Glad we decided to go to Phx. Nice to visit Phx however this is home now! It's very good to be back home! The boys and Storm were excited upon our return as well! Simon ran all over the place while Cody tried to keep up. Storm meowed as the boys jumped and ran around . She was completely calm not a bit annoyed at their excitement.

Guess What........

We are coming to Phoenix! Yes, you read that right! We are coming to Phoenix. And soon! My boyfriend and I will be arriving in Phoenix in a few short days. Not completely sure when we will leave from here but tentatively we have discussed arriving in Phoenix on Sunday or Monday. Some of the details still need to be figured out. As I type this bit of news I'm overhearing the news about gas prices going up again. So hopefully that doesn't dissuade us. It's vacation time for us! Unsure if the boys will be making the trip as well. They travel well and they sure would love to see their Grammie's backyard...oh and their Grammie of course. It is a little extra hassle with the boys along so we'll make the decision on the boys coming or staying by tomorrow afternoon. This will be my boyfriend's first time in Arizona. Hopefully the weather is nice this coming week and not too hot. We also hope to get a day trip in to the Grand Canyon while we are there. I guess we will be seeing many of you very soon! P.S. I hope this post is a pleasant surprise to my mom! Get ready because we are coming to the valley of the sun! Oh and mom...last time we talked that's why I was so nosey about what days you had to work next week! :)

Cody and his pet grape!

This is funny! The boys never get table scraps. I vowed I would never feed them like that and I've kept to that. Of course from time to time they get something that falls on the floor. The unavoidable mishaps is what they get in on. Well last night we dropped a small bowl of grapes. Simon was of course right on the spot. He has radar detection that tells him to get to the kitchen pronto when anything drops. So when the bowl of grapes dropped Simon got 1 possibly 2 before we picked them all up. Not wanting things to be unfair we gave Cody a grape. Now after eating out of a dog bowl for his whole life and getting only the occasional lick of peanut butter and chunk of banana when he's handed something foreign to him he's suspicious. At first he gave the grape a dirty look. Then the grape was laid right in front of him he soon ate it but after some deliberating. When this morning rolled around the small bowl of "floor" grapes still sat on the counter. I decided to give each dog a grape after all no human is going to eat them. Simon gobbled his without tasting it and looked at me to give him another before I even had time to give one to Cody. When I gave one to Cody I put it in his mouth. Which you can easily do with Cody and not risk losing a finger! Upon receiving the grape Cody went over to lay on the floor. He licked it. He looked the grape over than just sat there with it between his paws. But didn't eat it. When he needs to get up and follow his mommie into the next room he brings the grape along. It's been hours now and he just keeps taking the grape from room to room and keeping it close to him. He's keeping it so close to him that Simon doesn't have a chance at getting it. The grape is like his new little pet! He's hilarious!

Our NCAA bracket!

My boyfriend and I each made our own NCAA bracket and then we did one bracket together which he entered into a pool at his work. I'm happy to report that our combo bracket won! Yay for us! So not bad this year....one winning bracket together and we tied with our individual brackets.