things i did this weekend

I feel like I haven't stopped since 2012 began!  It seems like there is always something to do, whether it is work, having fun, meeting up with friends, cleaning the house, knitting, or working on reading my next book club book.

So instead of a "real" post, I think I am just going to make a little list of the things that we did this weekend.

Friday night of course meant work, which was SUPER slow and that is an understatement.  The night felt like it went on forever because of the snowstorm.  No one was out, even though we live in Cleveland and it snows here all winter.

Saturday morning Ben went to the market to get some meats and cheeses and delicious bagels and bacon for breakfast.  After enjoying some bagels and coffee we ran lots of errands and then headed back to work which was much busier, which equals more fun and more money!

Sunday was the perfect day.  We went to church in the morning and then took a quick trip to Earth Fare which we just can't get enough of.  Then we headed to Tap House for brunch with some of my absolute favorites.  The bloody marys were delicious and the breakfast pizza Anthony had was way better than my omelet, so I know what I am getting next time we head up there.

We came home and I really wanted to use the new Kitchen Aid mixer that we got for Christmas and I had this desire to make homemade dog biscuits so I tried out this recipe and they were great.  (at least I think so because I did not try them but Breckyn seems to love them!)  It was a fun recipe and I am glad I got to use the mixer.  Plus I bought two new cookie cutters since I didn't have a dog bone cookie cutter and I had to use them since I went everywhere to find them.

I also made this to take over to my moms for dinner and it was a hit.  I altered it a little because I could not find peanut butter chips or regular rice crispies at Earth Fare, so I used a little extra peanut butter instead and puffed rice cereal.  It makes it a little bit harder to bite into, but it is great with a little bit of milk in the microwave for about 30 seconds.

I ended the night hanging out on the couch with Ben watching Chef Jonathon Sawyer from The Greenhouse Tavern cook up a few great meals on Iron Chef America.  Even though he did not win the battle, it was a great way to represent Cleveland and lots of fun to watch.

What a great weekend!  Let's hope this week is just as good!

holidays, hocking hills, and a little lack of blogging

So I'm a little late on the 2011 recap and the 2012 new year's resolution posts.  I also haven't posted anything in over two weeks!  Yikes!

With the holidays, then a short vacation, then the new year, I just haven't taken the time to sit down and spend time writing.  I know I need to get better at that.  Hmmmm...maybe a new year's resolution right there!  More for that later though.

Christmas flew by so quickly this year, as it usually does.  It was a wonderful holiday and I enjoyed every second of it.  Ben and I were able to spend all of Christmas Eve and Christmas day together which is exactly what I wanted.  We spent time with both of our families and enjoyed just being with everyone.  I am so thankful for the wonderful holiday we had.

On Tuesday after Christmas we took a little trip down to Hocking Hills with our friends Melissa and Anthony.  We spent 3 nights in a little cabin with Breckyn and had a great time.  We ate, we drank, we slept in, we hiked, we ate and drank more, we played Phase 10 too many times, and even exchanged some Christmas gifts.  It was a great little break from all of the holiday 'hustle and bustle.'

Ben and I spent New Year's Eve at work, which was better than spending money right?  That's what I am telling myself at least!  It was fun to be with our work friends, but after midnight I was able to go home and did so quickly.  Today we spent some time with my dad's family for the annual New Year's Day potluck lunch and now we have the rest of the evening to hang out and relax.  What could be better than that?

Since I did not take one single Christmas or New Year picture, I have lots of Hocking Hills pictures to share.  We didn't do very much, but we did got to Old Man's Cave which was beautiful.  I still have no idea how to put pictures into a collage, so unfortunately I will just be adding them one at a time and this will end up being an extremely long post.  Any help with this problem would be much appreciated!!

pierogies step one

working so hard

ready for cooking

ready for eating!

a cabin is not complete without a massage chair

very serious game of Connect 4

Melis and Anthony on our hike at Old Man's Cave

Breckyn, Ben and mysefl

some serious tree roots

Phase 10

a very serious game that is addicting

everyone has a different definition of clean

There is never enough time in the day/week/month for me to feel like my house is truly clean.  Of course it is livable and I think by many peoples standards, it's really clean.  But I live in it, so I know where all the dirt is and what should be getting clean.

I think the house needs to be vacuumed everyday, especially with one of these hanging around.

She is covered in hair and seems to shed all year long.  She sits on the couch and sleeps on the bed, which means her fur is EVERYWHERE.

Does it bother me?  Of course it does.  But do I really have time to vacuum the house everyday?  Not if I want to have fun, relax, get papers graded, or work a second job.  I have learned to live with the fact that sometimes there will be dog hair on the bed, on the couch, and on my clothes.  I do my best to vacuum as often as possible, but I'm getting better at just not doing it too.  It is not a matter of life and death, so sometimes I just have to give it up.

The kitchen and bathroom are my pet peeves.  When those are clean, I really do feel like the rest of the house is clean, even if it is not.  I always clean them once a week, including swiffering or shark mopping the floor.  I often wipe them down throughout the week with a Clorox wipe just so they feel extra clean.

To me, this makes all the difference in my house being clean.  Some people probably think this is to much, while others think I'm not clean enough.  I try my best, and Ben is really good at helping me, especially when we are having people over.  That is the exception to me trying to be calm about cleaning.  When people are coming over, I flip back into crazy mode and feel like it has to be absolutely spotless.  On a typical week though, it is just light cleaning with some maintenance throughout.

What are you cleaning musts?

a day for family

What a beautiful weekend!  The weather we had in Cleveland could not have been any better.  The sun was shining, there was barely a cloud in the sky, and the air was the perfect crisp fall type of air.  It was wonderful and I could not have been more thankful.  Beautiful weather like that just makes you happy and puts you in such a great mood.  Especially when we know snow is just around the corner!

Ben and I spent the day visiting family.  This morning we got up and headed to the eastside to visit with his mom, grandma, and brother for brunch.  We took Breckyn with us and she got to run around on their property and play with his grandma's puppy Abby.  I like Abby because she is a bad dog, and she makes Breckyn look like a good dog!  I know that is so bad, but it makes me feel like I'm raising a half way decently behaved dog (is that really the right way to say that?)

His mom showed me some new knitting projects that she is working on and even gave me 2 pieces for the project that I'm working on with Knitting Club at school.  I can't wait to show the kids Tuesday and hopefully it will help to motivate them to get theirs going.

We headed back to the westside, ran some errands, and then headed over to my parents house for dinner.  We left Breckyn at home even though my sister's dog would have loved to see her.  She was plenty tired and could have used the rest. 

We caught up with my parents and had a delicious dinner.  Of course there is never enough time to sit around and talk and laugh, because we ALWAYS have something to do!

Ben headed to his Chapter meeting and I headed to JoAnn Fabrics for some crafting stuff that I'm going to motivate myself to work on, which means I have to get off this computer now.

Hope your weekend was wonderful!

Breckyn turns 2

Two years ago we began searching for a little Siberian Husky puppy.  We were lucky enough to find a breeder who lived about 75 east of Cleveland who had just had a litter of puppies.  We were so excited and could not wait to go see them.

About 3 weeks later we headed out and found the cutest little puppies we had ever seen.  It was so hard to decide which one belonged to us, but after playing with them for awhile, one just kind of seemed to stick around.  She seemed like the perfect little puppy and we could not wait for her to be big enough for us to take home.

 

We got to pick her up in the middle of December when she was 6 1/2 weeks old and there really hasn't been a dull moment since.  To call her a spoiled dog is an understatement.  She knows exactly what to do to get us to cave in and give her what she wants.  She knows that I feel bad for leaving her in her crate all day while we are gone.  I swear sometimes she knows exactly what I mean when I'm talking to her.

Yes, I know she is just a dog.  But if you have ever seen her listen to you and turn her head and look at you right in the eye as if she wished she could give you a response, you might think otherwise.

She has torn through two couches,  killed a few birds,  found a few dead squirrels, eaten her fair share of garbage, and still has not learned that it is not polite to jump on people when you see them.

But she is our dog and she is so sweet.  She is always happy to see you when you come home and it's the best when she sits next to you on the couch after a long day.  She loves to sleep at your feet in bed, which is much easier to do when only one of us has gone to bed but proves to be a little more difficult when we all get in there!

She is awesome and we love her.  Do we spoil her? Yes.  Do we talk to much about her?  Probably.  Does she give us a reason to go on long walks and bike rides?  Yes.  Would we change anything about her?  No (okay well maybe it would be nice if she actually listened to us, just maybe).

Happy 2nd Birthday Breckyn!

her first Christmas present

first snow!

her ears look huge...dumbo?

so important in the passenger seat

hanging out on the front porch

playing with her new birthday present

Ok, enough about my dog (at least for a little while!)

borderline and fall cleaning

What a lovely little weekend I had.

Friday was back to work since the power was back on and back to working doubles since I had a shift at MGB after a long day at school.

Saturday Ben and I went to our absolute most favorite breakfast place, Borderline Cafe in Lakewood.  They serve breakfast and lunch from 7am til 2pm Wednesday through Sunday.  Most of their meals have a southwestern flair and I almost always get the Southwestern Omelet but decided to branch out and finally got something different.

I ordered the breakfast wrap with bacon and it was delicious.  It came with chips and salsa and chipotle mayo.  I was definitely glad I branched out and got something new.  Ben got the special which was a breakfast style taco and it was equally delicious.

I spent the afternoon working in the yard and trying to get it ready for fall.  Most of what I wanted to get done I did but I am still trying to figure out how to get rid of all the crab grass and weeds that just do not seem to stop growing!  Big pain in the butt.

I spent the evening working again, came home and crashed.

Today Breckyn did a great job of waking me up super early even though we could have slept in.  So I spent some time couponing and then got to the long list of cleaning.  Yep, cleaning.  Not very exciting but the house is spotless and all decorated for fall.

helping out

Breckyn was trying to be nice and help out.  Really she has just been a pain today but how can you not help but love her?

Ben got home after a night away with friends, we grocery shopped and had a nice dinner.  I'm going to spend the rest of the night getting ready for school tomorrow and hopefully reading a good book.  I just finished this and am still deciding where to go next.  Off to the bookshelf to decide!

ok cleveland, enough with the weather

Well school is back in full swing which means it is much harder for me to sit down and crank out a little blog.  Especially because not only do I have school but I also have work on the weekends because I am crazy.  Yep, I said it and admit to it.

Since it has been a few days, I have to recap what has been going on with the weather!

Tuesday afternoon I was almost ready to leave school for the day.  Almost everything was ready for the kids first day, just a few finishing touches on my room and lesson plans and then my last night of freedom! (which unfortunately began with a dentist appointment, but that's a whole other post)

All of a sudden I thought I was going to fall out of my chair do to a fainting spell or something.  I was so dizzy and the room was spinning and I was like what is going on?!?  One of my fellows teachers said, "I think the room is moving.  What could that be?"

Of course everyone in the room is like, no, no, the room can't be moving can it? Maybe it is! Oh my gosh it is moving!  We don't have earthquakes in CLE, someone must be on the roof. 

Then it was over and we went back to our work.  Until someone can on the PA and said we had to leave so the fire department could come check the pipes.  Yep, it was an earthquake.

Ugh!  Way to put a wrench in my day.  After sitting outside in the hot hot sun for 25 minutes we were let back in the building and all was well.  Everything was finished and the first day of school went as smooth as it could have.  Yay, success!

The second day of school began with getting called off because we had no power!  Awesome right?  Not really.  It was only the second day of school.  I much prefer these days in January, February, or March when no one really wants to go to work anyway.  Then I sat in bed and thought of all the stuff I could get done on my to do list if I was going to be home.  Ok, I said to myself.  I can deal with a day off.

Except I didn't have any power either.  for. the. whole. day.  Now, this should not have ruined my whole day because there are plenty of things you can do without power.  But, I surrendered to the power and decided the only thing I could do was enjoy the sunshine and read a book.  So that's what I did.

Now I'm trying to play catch up this weekend because I didn't get my chores done all week!  Procrastinating is never the answer!

a wonderful little Sunday

The end of summer (at least the summer break that I am lucky to have) is never a very good day for me.  It is usually one of the worst cases of Sunday stomach that I get the whole year.

Today was much different though and I could not be happier.

We started the day with a delicious brunch at Luxe with two of my favorite people, Melis and Anthony.  Since Melis is still living in Cbus (but will be here soon!) we always try to see each other when she is in town.  Of course working the weekends at MGB makes that a little hard and that is why brunch is perfect.

We sat on the patio, even though it drizzled a little and had some delicious food.  They even have a 2 for 1 drink special from 11 until 1 on Sundays, which is awesome!  We had lots to talk about and catch up on and made sure to do so over a few breakfast cocktails.

The afternoon was spent lounging around in the yard with Breckyn enjoying the sunshine and relaxing.

We then met up with my dad and sister for an early (of course) dinner at the one and only Gene's Place which is so authentic it doesn't even have a website.  I can't even begin to count the number of times I have eaten at this restaurant and it never gets old.  I will take my children (which currently are not even in existence) there someday and absolutely look forward to doing so.  Nothing says family time like a family owned diner with delicious food and awesome staff.

Ben and I came home and have been relaxing ever since.  It was a wonderful little Sunday, and even though I'm never ready to go back, I feel pretty prepared to start work tomorrow.

Here's to another great, and hopefully quick, school year!

breckyn goes for a bike ride

A few weeks ago Ben finally bought himself a bicycle. 

I bought one last summer and love to ride it but it just isn't as fun alone.  Why, I'm not sure because we don't talk while we're riding, but it's just nice to have someone there.

Tonight we took Breckyn with us for the first time.  We knew this would be a trial run and were basically prepared to turn around at the end of our street if we had to.  But she did great!  She's used to longboarding with Ben and I think to her this was basically the same thing.

We just did a little loop of the neighborhood and I'm sure we will do that a few more times before we venture farther or to the Metroparks but it was awesome.  She loved it and now she is panting away lying on the floor with what I like to think is a big smile on her face.

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures because there is no way I was going to take my camera with me when there was a very good chance we would all crash and burn.  Maybe next time!

a jam packed weekend of fun

It's already Wednesday and I have had no time to even recap my weekend.  I thought summer was about relaxing, catching up on all the stuff around the house that I didn't do during the school year but have time for now, for reading all the books on my list, and spending time with my puppy who is not a huge fan of this heat.

I wish that was what summer was about.  But instead I got a job, taught Safety Town, decided to teach summer school and am babysitting two days a week.  Yep, that doesn't leave much time for all of that other good stuff.

This past weekend was the 4th of July holiday weekend and it was a great time.  Here is a little recap:

Friday: work at Market Garden Brewery where we were completely packed which is awesome since we've only been open a week!

Saturday: Jillian and Tim's wedding!  Ben and I drove down to Akron to share in this special day and it was so much fun.  The wedding was beautiful and the reception was a blast!

Sunday:  Family party all the way out in Aurora with lots of good food and good drinks, then back to the westside for fireworks with my mom at Crocker Park

Monday (the 4th!): a little shopping with my mom in the morning, then out to Ben's moms with the dog for the day to cookout and swim

Wonderful weekend, wonderful family, and wonderful friends.  I am one lucky girl!

A Dog's Life

As I sit here watching Breckyn relax on the couch (yes that's right, my dog is a furniture dog), I randomly think how awesome it must be to live a dog's life.

Now don't get me wrong, I love being a human and consider myself to be an extremely happy and blessed individual.  But to lay around all day, have someone clean up after me, take me for walks, play with me in the yard, go for long car rides where I get to stick my head out the window and enjoy the fresh air...well all of that sounds pretty good.

Today we went for a walk in the Metroparks, which is something we do as often as possible once the weather breaks.  Of course when you live in Cleveland that means it has to be at least May if not June for that to happen, so we snuck in a walk while we had the chance.

She LOVES walks, and walks in the Metroparks are like the best thing ever.  She thinks everyone she sees is a friend and wants to play.  Today we were walking past the golf course and she was staring down two guys that were on the green putting.  I'm pretty sure she was wondering why they weren't throwing the ball to her so that she could play.

Now she is just hanging out relaxing and soon we will be headed to bed.  She will jump up on the bed and stretch herself out completely across the bottom, or middle, or wherever she feels like laying for the night that is an inconvenience to you.  Then she will look at you with those cute blue puppy dog eyes and fall asleep.

It's the best and I don't mind sharing bed space with her at all.

stretching out on the couch

there's those puppy dog eyes

enjoying a car ride

snow

Yesterday I saw the Sun!!

Aren't four day weekends wonderful?  Mine started off Thursday after work with a happy hour stop at the one and only Prosperity, which happens to be my favorite stop in Tremont.  They always have Blueberry Ale in the bottle and their Good Samaritan (Dirty) is the best dirty martini.  Happy hour with work friends is always a good time and a way to catch up with things that have nothing to do with work.  It was great!

Then I made a stop at ABC The Tavern in Ohio City to meet up with the boy for a drink.  I had never been there before and it was quiet for a Thursday night.  I had a nice Apricot Ale which I enjoyed and then we headed out.

We decided to hit up pretty much every little neighborhood possible and headed over to ABC's sister XYZ The Tavern.  The food was great and it was very busy which is a lot more fun!  We got a nice spot at the bar, enjoyed some more adult beverages and a good meal.  All in all, it was a good Thursday night!

Friday I did something stupid and got the itch to paint.  There is only one room in my house that has not been painted, so I figured why not.  After painting the woodwork and the ceiling, starting to paint the walls and realizing I did not have enough paint and then making a third trip to Home Depot in two days, I remembered how much I hate painting.  It's almost done though, and as soon as I finish this post that is what I will be doing!

I attended my last Friday Fish Fry of the season with the parents this week.  We switched it up and went old school to a good old fashioned church basement fish fry.  It was a nice way to end the fish fry season.

Saturday in the midst of painting the sun came out! Yes, the sun!!  It does exist here in Cleveland still.  So I took a break from painting and went outside to soak up some much needed Vitamin D.  Since it was so nice out and we don't get to go out Saturday night together, we got take out lunch from Melt.  If you have not been there yet I highly suggest you going, like yesterday.  And don't worry, they are opening a new one in Independence soon that used to be a huge Winking Lizard, so hopefully you won't have to wait 2 hours to sit down!

After a nice long walk in the Metroparks with a very happy dog I did a little more painting and then called it a night.

Now off to more painting and then a Sunday night out just because I don't work tomorrow!

Happy Easter!

Brunch and Shrub Shopping

Since Friday and Saturday date nights are not an option for the boy and I, we chose to spend Sunday morning/afternoon at a Sunday Funday brunch.  We headed to Market in Rocky River and had a wonderful time.  I had dinner there recently with my mom and saw that they had a brunch menu that was right up our alley, so we decided to start our Sunday their.

We sat at the bar and had a nice time chatting with our bartender who just happened to be from London.  He was great and lots of fun.  I started with a Mimosa and he started with a Bloody Mary that you get to add all your own toppings to using their Sunday Funday Bloody Mary cart...very awesome.  After tasting that I realized I needed my own and quickly enjoyed my drink so that I could join in the fun.

We had a Pigs in a Blanket appetizer and I ordered the Eggs Benedict (a go to breakfast for me whenever it is on the menu) and he had one of their Market Skillets.  Great food, great service, great time.  We will absolutely be going back and hopefully sitting on their patio in the sunshine.

Drinks!

Eggs Benedict

Market Skillet

We then spent the rest of the afternoon shopping for shrubs.  There is this garden in the backyard that I just cannot decide what to do with.  I love flowers and I love gardening but I am indecisive and really wish I could just have someone come in and say put this here and this here and it will look fabulous.  Ok, that's not exactly true because I do like putting things together and feeling as if I contributed and helped to accomplish something.

Today we got pretty far though.  A very nice salesman at Petitti's showed us some things that we liked and he said if we bring in a picture of the space with dimensions they can help us plan things out.  Exactly what I wanted to hear!  So we left with four red planting pots for the front yard and enjoyed the ride home with a little dog in the back seat who loves the sun and car rides.

Happy Sunday!