Hide and Seek

So I decided a couple days ago to keep my camera ready to go on my desk should anything fun and interesting come quickly along that I want to be sure I capture. Well, since we don't have children yet, this usually involves my dogs. Most of time when things happen, I don't have my camera ready, so this should solve that!

Well, Ace and Summer are very spoiled by their dad by both of us. This often includes getting giant bones and raw hides from the pet store. If you wondered whether or not they miss them when they're gone, ask Ace. The second Sean gets home, he goes straight to the cabinet where we keep the treats out of reach. It usually goes like this... *whining* "Ace no" *more whining*, "Ace not now"... eye contact.... *sits down with smug look on face saying- I know they're in there* Sometime I ignore him, sometimes Sean we cave and give them their bones. Both take them and try to get as far away from the other. Summer is a little more food dominant, and doesn't like when Ace gets near her with her bone. On the other hand, Ace is the least food dominant dog I know and will let Summer stare him down. he'll move because he hears something and she'll promptly jump at the chance to steal his bone and hoard it in her spot.

Today, I think Ace had enough and was searching for a spot to hide while eating, without the threat of our little sneaky one. Today, as I sit at my desk, I've realized he's set up camp in my office behind the papizan chair.

Still keeping a watchful eye of course

Later when he decided he was done with the bone, he decided to find  a new hiding spot.

How bout in their play tunnel?...

decided against that fast.... can you see the look of contemplation on his face?

The final resting place? Well, I'd tell you then I'd have to kill you, he decided that under my desk by my feet would be the best bet. With mama guarding, Summer won't steal it there!

Eat Your Veggies...

This weekend was a fun, eventful, busy weekend. But not busy in the way where you feel exhausted, busy where you feel like you did a bunch of amazing things, and look back on Monday thinking, I wish that weekend could have lasted longer! Friday night was an impromptu date night. We decided last minute to get tickets to see Shrek the Musical at the Orange County Performing Arts Center. We ate dinner first a delicious little gourmet pizza place nearby called Pizza Ortica. We experimented with some Bruschetta that had ground lamb, white beans, and tomatoes- delish! I had some yummy raviolis and Sean a pizza. After dinner we walked over to the Performing Arts Center.

excuse the crappy phone quality and bald head in front of us, it was the only picture I had of the night

I love anything live- musicals, dance performances, music, anything. Shrek was too cute and kept the audience laughing the whole time- kids and adults alike!

Saturday my mom and I did a quick stop at the fire department's open house to say hi to Sean who spent the day cooking up a boatload of hot dogs for the kiddos and families that came out to see the station. Then, my mom and I explored a nearby home goods store, and went to see my cousin Elise's soccer game. It was great to hang out with my mom and Aunt Kathleen whom I adore, but don't see enough! Then I whipped us up a yummy dinner of halibut in a tomato and artichoke broth with a side of onion potatoes and salad.

Sunday we tried to go to church but got all discombobulated with the service times (they recently added a service, and this weekend was baptism weekend, so times got all switched up and changed up again). So we came home, Sean went surfing and I went and bought some veggies for our at home veggie garden I'm going to attempt. Sean built these awesome planters for me, so we'll see if my green thumb kicks in! I bought strawberries, lavender, red and orange bell peppers, scallions, chives, and seeds for carrots and mixed baby greens. A little herb garden portion and more veggies to come.

strawberry jar

lavender and red bell

Orange Bell and Chives and Scallions

That night we went to a friend's 30th birthday and had a great time with friends, eating some delicious carne asada steak tacos and too many desserts including cookies, avalanche bars, and Sprinkles cupcakes. Sunday ended with happy memories and full bellies! Here's to another week.

Pistols, Pizza, and Pumpkins

This weekend was fun, mellow, but still eventful. Thursday afternoon after work I had done a little cleaning in my office- went through our bills and organized them on a due date calendar, went through my "accounting" for my business, and went through a little bag we had of random gift cards. Some of these gift cards are years old, and have just accumulated from Christmas Gifts, birthdays etc. Normally we grab them and put them straight to our wallets, especially if we know we want to use them right away, but sometimes we will forget to put them away and I'll just grab them and put them in this bag. We had a TON of $$ worth of gift cards in this stash- movies, food, shopping, gas, you name it! Being dorky and trying to be organized, I created a little spreadsheet that I'll keep on my desk with an inventory of these gift cards, along with certificates from discount sites that we've purchased. By organizing them, and then keeping them in their own separate wallet in my purse, I think we'll be more likely to use them. I decided Friday would be the perfect date night to put these to use. We went to the Himalayan Grill (one of our favorite Indian Restaurants, and used a certificate that we had purchased through Living Social. Our friends Jeremy and Sheen joined us, and after dinner, we went to the movies using a certificate for 2 free tickets that we had gotten. We saw Machine Gun Preacher- which was pretty good, but not exactly a feel good movie. We all walked away feeling conflicted on how we felt about the movie's main character, but it was still a nice night.

Sunday when Sean was off again, we went to church in the morning and then met Jeremy and Sheena, along with Jer's brother and sister-in-law for brunch. Then we took a nice lazy nap and cleaned a little before my brother and his fiance came over. The four of us headed down to the gun range for a bit.

Then while the boys cleaned out our pumpkins, Nicki and I prepped everything for dinner. We made Bobolis' which were delish! I haven't had one of those in a LONG time! Then once we were done eating, we all carved out pumpkins. Nicki and I opted for more traditional Jack-O-Lanterns, while Josh was feeling patriotic, and Sean got super fancy and whipped out the power tools to create his octopus. 

I did a Stash on mine in honor of Stashtober!

After the proud unveiling of our handwork, we ate some homemade ice cream sandwiches with chocolate chip cookies and vanilla ice cream and watched Scream 4. It was a great night, and I even made us some pumpkin seeds this morning! A couple of the seeds were sprouting, so I saved them, wrapped them in some wet paper towels, and am trying to find a place to experiment planting them. Maybe next year we'll have pumpkins from our own yard :) We had such a fun time, that I think we're going to make a tradition out of it- can't wait for our second annual pistols, pizza, and pumpkins!

Rainy Days....

This happens to be my favorite time of year- and days like today are my favorite- especially now that I can work from home on days like today. 

Outside it looked like this... 

Inside it looked like this...

Side note- summer isnt much of a model- no posing for pictures.... she would much rather be sticking her face in the lens, hence the only shot of her I could get was munching on her bone- nothing will take her away from that!

Dear Santa...

Source: pdffun.com via Christie on Pinterest

Is it weird that I've already started my Christmas List? I'd be lying if I didn't have a sticky on my computer already tallying up my selfish desires since September (or maybe August). Don't judge....

October Resolutions

                                                                                                 Source: Pinterest

So I've decided in the tenth month of this year, to make some resolutions. Sure they are normally reserved for the New Year, but why not make resolutions whenever you want? I've decided on a few resolutions/good rules to live by:

• Make your bed every morning- this goes back to being a kid and having my mom tell me to make my bed. I get it now, having a bed that's made in the morning just makes your room look better and more appealing, not to mention its much nicer going into a made bed when it's time to go to sleep.
• Always get up when your alarm goes off (do not hit the snooze button!). This is going to be extremely hard for me. I love my snooze button. The thing is though, is laying there through hitting the snooze button 2 or 3 times, doesn't really give me more sleep! It goes off again in 10 minutes, so I'm up, what's the point? Ask me tomorrow how this goes, I have a feeling I'm going to have a long struggle with this one.
• Work out in the morning- this is going to be hard for me too. Ever since hours and hours of dance after school, I've found it easier to work out in the afternoon. Here's the problem- when you are an adult and have a job and other things to do, it's hard to get motivated to go to the gym later, when all you want to do is veg on the couch after a long day. I'm going to try to do it in the morning, before I get ready, so that I have no excuses....we'll see how this goes.
• Actually get ready for the day- the thing about working from home is that it's easy to stay in your pj's till noon, or all day! I find though, that not only do I stay in my pj's, but it actually makes me sleepy all day. Get up Amber, and get dressed! I don't need to get fancy, but actually getting ready makes me not only presentable should someone knock at the door, but I actually feel ready- ready to work, ready to get things done!
• Always floss- I don't floss everyday, I'm not going to lie. So I am going to try to floss every day (perhaps my appointment reminder for the dentist that came last week is responsible for this one).
• Always use a coaster- no one like rings on their furniture
• Put the laundry away- I'm guilty of piling the clean folded laundry in our room, or out of site in the guest room, to the point that's ridiculous. If I put it away right after I fold it, it will take me less time then trying to put multiple piles away at the same time, not to mention makes my house look clean, and not like a slob lives there.
• On that note- put everything away when you're done with it! No just setting it on the counter, leaving it on the table/chair, or leaving on the floor- put.... it.... away. Again, it saves time in the end, and makes my house look nice!
• Drink more water- good for your health and good for your skin....done.
• Hand-write thank you notes, and send a note to say hi every once in a while. I don't know anyone that doesn't like receiving a letter in the mail box. It's thoughtful, and shows that you care enough to spend a little extra time, and a few cents on the postage.

What are some good life rules that either you practice now, or could resolve to do now? 

Goodnight moon...

Source: guardian.co.uk via Amber on Pinterest

It's midnight on a Sunday, and what am I doing still awake? Cleaning. Ever since I was in high school, late nights would randomly induce cleaning kicks. I guess there are worse things I could be doing up so late, but now that I am done and look at the clock, I think- Why in the world am I still awake? Oh well, at least I'm going to bed with a clean office, clean laundry, clean dishes, cleaned coffee pot, Halloween/Fall decorations, and a tidy house. Good night world, and hello Monday morning. I'm sure I will be one grumpy lady in the morning when I get up for work.