Pictures and some words

I am sick. I have been sick for a week. This is not ok. My immune system needs to get its rear in gear. Cary got the same thing I did and he's been better for like 3 days! What gives! It is this horrible cycle of staying up half the night coughing my lungs up and swallowing snot (you're welcome for that TMI) and then being so dang tired all day that all I want to do is lay on the couch and read Calvin and Hobbes while eating half of a box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch right out of the box. Today I decided that I needed to do something productive so I woke up, did the dishes, folded the laundry and fed the dog. It is now 7:47 in the morning and I want to go to bed. Boo.

But the good news is that my camera, camera charger, and the cord that connects it to the computer are all back together in one happy family. I knew they'd work it out. And now for some random pictures of some recent events.

 We decorated our tree right before we left for Thanksgiving break! It is beautiful and it makes me very happy. I was going to post the picture of both of us in front of the tree, me in my festive holiday attire, but we were both looking reeeeeally special and I don't want our friends back home to think we've gained a collective 500 lbs and suffered debilitating brain injuries.

Abby went swimming for the first time! It took her a while to figure out that she can, in fact, swim. It was hilarious watching her stand on the edge and whine and try to get in and then run back out. But she finally figured it out and was one happy dog. She was in heaven chasing chickens and goats and discovering horses. She is probably bored out of her mind now that we're back home, except for a little dose of excitement on Sunday. Remember the strange yellow thing she barfed up while we were driving? On Sunday she barfed up an entire toy, made of the same yellow stuff. We never gave her this toy. That means she has had this toy in her belly for weeks! It was disgusting. But she seems to be feeling much better and is wolfing down her food as we speak. Dogs are gross.

 Now here is a scary picture. I look like I am into my third trimester of pregnancy. I ate a big lunch, okay! And also, I am holding a gun! I shot a gun for my first time and it was super fun. It took about 5 minutes of coaching to get me to actually pull the trigger, but once I overcame my little fear of the recoil, it was sweet.

 We had the amazing experience of going through the temple with Cary's aunt and uncle and then watching them be sealed to their sweet kids. It was incredible and I am so glad we got to be there! The Dallas Temple is very interesting looking... But it was great to be there. We got there super early and went to go eat Chipotle while we were waiting, which was also a wonderful experience.

To close, here is a picture of a horse rolling around in the dirt. I had never seen such a thing. It was bizarre and I felt that I should share it with all of you. You're welcome.

Snickerdoodles that will make your husband love you and do the dishes.

Hello, lover. Also, sorry I am not a good photographer.

These snickerdoodles are so delicious. I made a gigantic batch and I was counting them to see how many I made and I couldn't figure out why I didn't have as many as it was supposed to make. My husband found them. In his belly. He ate 7 of them before they were even cool. And then he did all of the dishes and swept the floor. These cookies are magical. They are from allrecipes.com, which is one of my favorite recipe sites. I've found many a great recipe there, so y'all should definitely check it out if you haven't already. So if you've got a husband, make these and he will love you forever. And if you don't, make them and maybe they'll snag you one.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2. Cream together butter, shortening, 1 1/2 cups sugar, the eggs and the vanilla. Blend in the flour, cream of tartar, soda and salt. Shape dough by rounded spoonfuls into balls.
3. Mix the 2 tablespoons sugar and the cinnamon. Roll balls of dough in mixture. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.
4. Bake 8 to 10 minutes, or until set but not too hard. Remove immediately from baking sheets.

Trailer Trash

Greetings from our luxurious trailer in Glenrose, TX! Considering that our other option was to sleep in sleeping bags on the living room floor with Cary's little brothers, I am feeling very grateful for our temporary abode. We're staying at Cary's aunt and uncle's house for Thanksgiving and they were kind enough to set up their trailer for us. Actually, this trailer is pretty dang sweet. It's got a nice big bed, it has a working toilet and shower, nice and cool, and most importantly, there are no seven-year-olds sleeping on my face. It's parked underneath a big tree, and aside from the momentary terror that jolted me awake and caused me to hallucinate people with guns breaking into the trailer every time an acorn fell on the roof, I slept like a baby. 

In exciting Abby news, on the way up here she barfed up a giant chunk of yellow rubber, origins unknown. She didn't have any toys back there, and she'd been sleeping the whole time, and suddenly she yacked up this giant hunk of something, looked very pleased with herself, and zonked back out. Freaky animal. She is in heaven up here. Tons of room to run, and lots of wild cats that get in the trees and taunt her. And yesterday we discovered the joys of Abby chasing around a laser pointer. Hilarity. 

You know what my favorite part about blogging is? Not having to transition from topic to topic. I can just jump right on over to discussing Christmas. I made Cary decorate the tree with me on Friday and I donned my festive Christmas pajamas pants with accompanying grandma-sequined christmas sweater vest. I found my camera charger, and I have a photo, but the cord that plugs my camera into the computer apparently needed to take a break from being a part of my life. He'll come back... they always do... Anywho. I am trying very hard to get the Christmas ball rolling, but this is my first Christmas season that I have worn shorts for. It is still hot in Del Rio and that is messing with my Christmas state of mind. But the Christmas tunes are pumping, the tree is decorated and we have tickets to fly to Utah to ensure that I get my white Christmas.

I really like my life. I have an amazing family, I married into an amazing family, my husband is cute, even when he is snoring, and I am so incredibly blessed. I love Thanksgiving. I should hop on the bandwagon and make a list of all of things I'm grateful for, but this blog is already very lengthy and boring, so I'll save that one for another day this week.

I really don't have anything monumental to post about. As usual I woke up insanely early on a day that does not require doing so, and as usual my husband is happily comatose in our bed as I try to pass the time until he can wake up and entertain me. Maybe I'll just go stand over him and stare until he wakes up. 

Dog Ownership, Take 2

Sorry for the bad cell phone pics...

After the whole freaky and insanely hyper puppy incident, we decided to go with a more seasoned canine companion. Cue Abby. Abby is a 2-3 year old yellow lab and she is great. She loves to go on walks and chew her toys into tiny pieces. Her most impressive accomplishment yet is the complete destruction of a golf ball in 2 minutes. She is tons of fun and such a nice dog. When people come over, she gets all crazy and hyper, but you can usually find her sprawled out on the floor, snoozing away. We call her our interactive floor rug. We like her.

Snoozing on the way home from Colorado

But I do wish Abby would refrain from her nightly it's-3 a.m.-look-how-many-annoying-and-loud-noises-I-can-make session. She has all day to lick her paws, snort, sneeze, pant, roll around, and grunt, but she still decides that 3 a.m. is an excellent time to engage in all of these activities. We keep trying to get her to sleep in the living room, but instead she crumbles into a pathetic heap outside of our door and whines all night. Dogs. I like her anyway.

What is that? You'd like to hear another hilarious anecdote about Abby? If you insist. We hook up our computer to the TV to watch Netflix, and every time the cursor moves on the screen, Abby lunges at the TV and tries to eat it. When the cursor disappears, she goes to look for it behind the TV. We thought this was hilarious until we noticed all of the dog slobber and nose prints on our TV. Live and learn.

P.S. I still think it's funny.

We made Cafe Rio burritos and salads on Sunday when some friends came over for dinner. I made tons of it and we had lots of leftovers. That means we've been having Cafe Rio leftovers for the last 3 days which= all of my pants are very tight.

I like to think that I am not a horrible cook. I have a few tasty things I know how to make, and I am usually competent enough to read a recipe. But for the life of me, I can not nail chocolate chip cookies. This week I spent an embarrassingly long time scouring the internets for the perfect oatmeal chocolate chip cookie. Satisfied that I had found THE recipe, I set out to make them. And guess what. They are not that good. My cookies are always either super flat or super cakey, neither of which is desirable. It pains me to say this, but thus far my favorite chocolate cookie is the kind that come from refrigerated cookie dough. All I want in life is to be able to make a bomb diggity chocolate chip cookie. Is that too much to ask?

Keys to Successful Living

1. Never drink a 64 oz Diet Coke right before you begin the 4 hour stretch of your drive with no bathrooms and not even anywhere safe to pull off because you might end up needing to pee so bad that it physically hurts and you might even start crying which makes you and your husband laugh which makes you need to pee even more and your husband might have to coach you to stay on the road and not hyperventilate and you might have to waddle, not run, into the gas station to finally make to because if you run you will actually pee in your pants and the workers at the gas station just might laugh at you.

I'm just guessing that something like this could happen to someone, someday.

... Or not.

Milo went back to the Dumb Friend's League today. And I cried. I have only known the dog for a week, and I cried! He is just such a heart breaker. He is so sweet, and it killed me to have to give him back. But the fact of the matter is that he needs much more than I can give him right now. I am not a fan of dogs with any kind of aggression issues, and he was a pretty dominant little sucker, and had taken countless chomps at my hands, which is no bueno in my book. He also had this nasty little habit of peeing in the house just to tick me off, because he was fully potty trained. And then there was his little issue of humping everything in sight and going ballistic on me all of the time. But his precious puppy dog eyes and the way he melted when you stopped to rub his belly were just so darn endearing.  I took him to the Dumb Friend's League today and met with a behavior specialist to tell me more about the breed and give me some help training him, but we both kind of felt like he just wasn't the breed for me. She told me she'd make sure he found a home with everything he needs, and I cried as I left my little pooch in her hands. I know we'll both be happier and he'll find a great home, but that guy sure reeled me in for the week I had him. Cary and I aren't quite done looking for a dog, but I think we'll shoot for an older dog that is a little more user friendly.

Even though he drove me absolutely bonkers for the week he was here, I'll miss that little booger.