Dogs and Dogs

Lately I have not been blogging as you can see. I just haven’t felt inspired lately to write much of anything. But as I was walking my dog last night I felt inspired to write all kinds of things dog and animal related. If you don’t know me I am a total animal lover. Dogs are angels with fur to me. So what else has been going on in my life? Well if you don’t know I recently found a Male Collie roaming the streets of Lakewood dangerously. Luckily a lady saw me attempting to catch him but failing in fear he would run back in the busy street. She was able to go up to him and start petting him and he immediately rolled over for belly rubs – why didn’t I think of that? I ran into the Petco ( yes he was in front of Petco, what luck) borrowed a small leash from the groomer and was able to get him safely into my car. He hopped right in with no problems and was an absolutely sweet dog.


Now for the scary part was telling my husband that I was coming home with a dog. Although Mike was not looking forward to this crazy night it was about to become, he was really great. It look about an hour in half for us (mostly Mike) to get an employee to stay at the shelter so we could drop him off since it was closed and our dog was going to tear him apart. So by 8 PM we had him at the shelter.

I have to say that last two days have been first stressful, then tiring and emotional for me. I was stressed from the night I found him, and then was feeling absolutely scared and terrified for him. I started to have nightmares of terrible things happening to animals and feeling sick to my stomach.

But today things are starting to look brighter. The Collie Rescue I contacted has stepped in and they are planning to take this little guy in if nobody claims him by October 1st. I guess legally they have to stay at the shelter for 10 days. I am so glad I contacted them and I really hope they can find the home he deserves.

Till Next Time!!

Paradise

Today I came across and really wonderful sentence. We have to find bits and blocks of paradise within our everyday lives. What does this mean? Well for example the new movie Eat Pray Love. A women travels to Italy, Indonesia and Bali in hopes to find inner happiness and self-discovery. First of all if I could take a long trip like this I would find some inner happiness and self discovery myself – just kidding. Some people do get the opportunity to take exotics spiritual trips. But a good majority of us are unable to due to lack of money, time, or priorities within our family or workplace that don’t easily allow for this type of thing to be done. In that case it makes this sentence very Very important to incorporate into everyday life “We have to find bits and blocks of paradise within our everyday lives.” So what are your bits and blocks of paradise? Think about it….

Have a great weekend!

Dog Attack and then some...

So.. good news. Or actually you probably don’t know. A couple weeks ago Guinness was attacked by another dog while on one of our walks. Yesterday Mike was able to find one of the people that assisted me during the attack and find out where the dog lives and all the other people that were involved in helping. What Luck!! Mike is going to have some words with the owner soon. I want to make some Thank you baskets for the people that helped. I will probably put a bottle of wine, chocolates, and maybe some flowers?? Not really sure yet, it is two men and two old ladies I believe. So the baskets may be a little different.


On another good note Mike’s brother got accepted into a nursing program early. He has been really working hard into getting into this program – yippee!

I was reading my favorite blog today and this sentence suck out for me. It would be so wonderful if we could all go beyond the limits of our religious beliefs, and just be people. To me this is so true. Why can’t we just be people and accept our differences. Accept what works for one person doesn’t for another. We need everything to be different in this word. Imagine if we were all the same.

That is all for now! Cheers!

Random Thoughts of the Day, Plus Mango Salsa

Have you ever felt like picking up and taking off? I mean quitting your job and just leaving for another state or another life (with your family of course). Lately I have felt like that, I just want to pick up and go sometimes. I am sure most people feel like that from time to time. Things get repetitive with work and daily life and you somewhat get board of it all. I think I lost my mojo. How do you get back in the groove of things?
Well one way might be to try doing different things during the week. Last night instead of doing the regular eat dinner, walk G, blah, blah, blah. Mike and I watched a movie. We watched Shutter Island. I can’t even believe I stayed awake long enough to watch a movie but I did. We also plan to go to the movies Thursday to watch Inception on the IMAX screen. If you have not watched the movie Captain Ron (I know it is really old) you should. That is what I feel like, taking off on a sail boat with a crazy captain. I guess this is the rebel side in me that is speaking out.

Today I was reading one of my favorite blogs. Today it talks about change. If you want change in your life it has to start with you. Once you change your life you will see change in your family life and the change leaks into the world around us. That makes sense right?

Below is a Mango Salsa recipe Mike and I just love. Enjoy!!

Mango Salsa

1 Mango Cubed

¼ Cup Red Onion Sliced Thin

¼ Tsp Finely Chopped Jalapeño

Juice of half a lemon

• Mix all this together and serve on top of your favorite fish.

Serves 2

• I like to double this receipt because I am a big pig and this is so refreshing and wonderful.

Favorite Things

I first start off my day by reading a few blogs that I absolutely love. They give me inspiration to be super crafty. I also enjoy looking up my dreams each day to find out what the meaning or message is behind them. I would like to share them with you and hopefully you will find some joy in them too.


Crafty Chica

http://thecraftychica.blogspot.com/

The Craftaholic

http://theconfessionsofacraftaholic.wordpress.com/

Dream Dictionary

http://www.dreammoods.com/dreamdictionary/



This past weekend I made homemade Mac and Cheese. Sometimes there is nothing like the Kraft blue box. But on occasion I like to make it a little more gourmet. I didn’t snap a picture because I was tired but Mike told me this is one of the best I have ever made. I did not use any recipe, just winged it.

2 Cups of pasta (whatever you like ex: elbow)

1 Cup Sharp Cheddar Cheese cubed

1 Cup Monterey Jack Cheese cubed

1 Stick of butter \Cubed

Panko or Bread Crumbs

¼ Half N Half



1. Cook Pasta as directed

2. In sauce pan add Half N Half, ½ cup of both cheeses, and half a stick of butter. Melt till smooth

3. Place cooked pasta in a medium baking dish spray with Pam for no sticking

4. Pour melted mixture over baking dish with pasta

5. Layer remaining cheese and butter cubes on pasta.

6. Generously cover pasta with bread crumbs

7. Bake at 350 until brown and bubbly ( around 20-30 min)

8. Enjoy!

Spend a Day in the OC

Life has been so busy lately. It looks like Mike and I might get a little rest this coming 4th of July Weekend but then again you never know.


Just a couple weeks ago Mike’s Cousin Laura came out to visit and we had a blast. We spent two days Wine Tasting. Let me tell you I have not done wine tasting in such a long time, it was a lot of fun. One of the days we went on a trip out to the World Famous “The Hat” This little fast food joint has great pastrami sandwiches and much more. I really enjoyed that they were not fatty or greasy. After filling up our stomachs to extreme capacity, we went on down to “OC Custom Wines”. This is a little warehouse nestled in an industrial area. Don’t let this warehouse fool you though! Once you enter you will be greeted and get a chance to see their wine tanks (not sure what you call them). Then relax and wine taste in a beautifully decorated room of wood and rustic tones. The tasting cost ten dollars and at the end of the tasting you can customize your own wine by blending the ones you like. Not only do you get to make your own wine, but you can take a personalized picture for your bottle. It is a great day to spend with family and friends. Mike and I joined their wine club (we had too much wine). We will get three shipments a year of four bottles. During this time we can wine taste for free, anyone up for it?? I can’t wait to do this trip again, same plan no changes. I suggest you try it out one day. Below are the websites for you to check out.

http://www.thehat.com

http://www.occustomwine.com/wine/

Cheers!

Make a Fairy House

This past weekend I attended the Renaissance Fair. My mom and I stumbled across a class to make a tiny fairy house for only $15. We were in, they are so cute! The class came with the house already assembled. It basically was a round piece of wood with a toilet paper looking tube glued to it with tiny round pieces of wood for stepping stones to the door of the house and had a mushroom top roof. How Genius!!


We sat in some cool shade and worked away covering the house with rose petals, moss, dried flowers, sticks, mini pumpkins, and tiny shells. You can use a bunch of different kind of things. It is all glue and some imagination. I added a tree to mine and a tiny fairy table the teacher made for me. My mom’s turned out excellent as usual, mine is a bit too much. It is really hard to stop adding stuff once you get going. The last and most necessary step is to spray your entire house with spray can glitter and some little star flakes.

One of my future projects is to do some more fairy houses and see how they come out. These are so fun and when you have everything ready to go it only takes like 45 minutes. Stay tuned for more crafty things. I am working on another shrine this week.

Stay Crafty!