Alien in my House

I know, I know. If anyone reads any personal blogs this is the usual theme...so sorry I haven't blogged in a while.

Moving on. Quick updates: Asher is good and well. My dad has retired (happy retirement, Daddy, like, months ago). My brother is engaged (Congratulations, Lauren and Jarod!)! Still in grad school on class #3. The new expansion pack in World of Warcraft was released and it is so cool! We got a new kitchen table and a little bookcase that we're hoping become family heirlooms (thanks Harry and Melissa!). I think those are the high points.

Hunter, one of my dogs, got sick, we thought he might die sick, but then he got better. Will keep you updated on his recovery. I think we need to visit the vet again at the beginning of next week to make sure all is headed in the right direction since he is still so skinny from getting sick.

Ok, to the point of this blog. Did I ever tell you how we think JJ is an alien? It's true. I'm pretty sure when we told my dad the reasoning behind our thoughts and he laughed, he laughed in such a way as to seriously consider how true it may be.

First, JJ's alien name is Megular. If I can find the audio that originated that name, I will. Just suffice it to say Brandon and I thought it was funny and as soon as he heard the name Megular, he knew in his heart of hearts that JJ's alien name was Megular. JJ plays it cool when we call him Megular, but he still has this sort of scared hint of recognition, as if he cannot figure out how we know his true name. His eyes definitely hold a different light in them when we call him Megular versus when we call him other names on purpose.

Our theories about JJ being an alien stem from just how smart we feel he is. He is too smart. Our theory is that the aliens wanted to learn more about the human race so they placed one of their kind on Earth, but in the form of a dog, so the alien could easily infiltrate a family and learn from them. JJ is clearly an other.

Evidence against him is more prominent the more time you spend with him, but the fact that he seems to clearly understand English (and I'm not talking about the usual, or even less than usual, commanwds but ALL English spoken around him) is the biggest. Of course you could argue his "understanding," but we feel it is very apparent. Especially when he changes his pitch, length, cadence and amount of barks at you when he's trying to get a point across, we realize he cannot speak English, but he most certainly has a language and it is our stupid human faults for not figure it out yet.

Example: JJ was out in the yard at my parent's house staring at God (and the aliens) knows what. My mom wanted him to come inside so she yelled at him, "JJ, come back in the house already!" JJ responds by turning his head quickly, looking her right in the eye, replying "Bark!," (a very short, staccato, forceful response), and turned back to whatever held his attention. Mom came inside, dumbfounded, and said, "I'm pretty sure he just told me to shut up... Yep. He did. He was busy gathering information or sending a report and had no time for our human insistence to come inside.

Also, Brandon feels that his transmitter (you know, so he can stay in touch with his mother planet) is located in his paws. He has always had a severe and unnatural fear of having his paws touched, so much so that he can't have his nails clipped unless he is sedated (like the vet won't do it anymore unless he is sedated, this wasn't my decision!) and he will growl and snap at you if you touch his paws too much or even pretend to use a nail file on them. (mind you, I've NEVER hurt him when I clipped his toe nails!) It is clearly a protective mechanism for fear of his transmitter being damaged.

And, really, have you ever seen a dog with such clean feet ALL the time?

So, needless to say, we harbor an alien from outer space. The only dog who almost never uses the bathroom in the house. Who prefers his comforts of a bed over a couch, a couch over a mat on the floor, a mat over the ground. Who fears when the weather gets bad. But rarely does exactly what we want for fear of being too obvious.

We're on to you, JJ. And aliens.

This was only written in jest to highlight my wonderful JJ.

...sorta.

Owning a Home, Always an Adventure

First, I want to talk about my cake baking skills. Ahem, I mean lack of skill. Well, I guess it is more of a need to be more patient and not pressed for time when it comes to fancy cake baking. How about that?


Anyhow, I found a recipe (via Pinterest, duh) to make a Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake. The pictures were so pretty and mouth watering and I could not wait to make it. Granted, I was a little nervous. Making something so pretty seemed daunting and some of the ingredients I had never used before in baking. I hadn't baked many real cakes (just mixes), but I had baked plenty of cookies and brownies over the years so facing sour cream and distilled vinegar as ingredients just made me think I was making something really weird. 


Either way, the cake was actually very rich and yummy. Even with a couple of mistakes in baking (the batter ended up actually being thicker at the bottom of the pan and I didn't realize that until too late and I ran out of powdered sugar for the icing, oh, and not using parchment paper). The cake sections were very fluffy and light, but rich. Because the cakes were so light, I really should have followed the recommendation to freeze the cake in the pans before trying to remove the cake from the pans. So, because I didn't use parchment paper, and, due to the delicateness of the cake, getting a perfect round out of the pan didn't happen. Which led to the cake collapsing on one side later, after putting some of the icing, lacking some powdered sugar, on the cake. Anyhow, mom ended up having to make the glaze for me because Asher became demanding of my time, and she and Brandon made executive decisions on how to glaze a collapsed cake. Well, here is a picture of the cake.

And here is a picture of what one of the slices of the non-collapsed side looked like. Not too bad, right? It still tasted great. It actually tasted better after being refrigerated because the chill to the cake made it feel less delicate and just seemed to mesh better with the cake as a whole. Oh well. I may not try it again. Not because it was too much for me but because we prefer the torte that I made to the cake, so, if I'm going to pour my time into a dessert, might as well pick one we freaking loved versus liked a lot.

This is the torte we love so much.

Moving on to home ownership. This year we have a lawn mower, weed eater, and edger of our own. Actually, our weed eater and edger are all one machine, you only have to switch out the end section to change the function. It is pretty sweet, to tell you the truth. Since Brandon is very allergic to freshly cut grass, most of the time I'm taking care of the yard (I don't mind! It is exercise, sunshine, and a sense of accomplishment!). Wow, have I had to learn a lot. I had to learn how to use the choke on one of those 2 cycle engines, how to start them, mixing gas and oil, and I can now tell you what a lawn mower sounds like when it is about to run out of gas! However, my yard is pretty awesome. It still has some weeds to it, but it looks pretty trim. I'm having to maintain it weekly (which is expected, honestly) but it is so much cheaper than paying someone to do it. And better for us, really. We just need to add some dirt to one side of the house since the rain has washed it away from the foundation and add some to the back yard to even it out. We are also venturing into a little gardening. Our parsley (2 different versions) seem to be thriving. It is too early to tell on the other stuff.


Also, our garage door broke. Sigh. I can't stand when things break. No worries, I thought. We still had that home warranty thingy from buying the house since it hasn't been a year yet. Oh, it doesn't cover the garage door. If we would have opted in for a special coverage, we would have had the door opener covered, and I think she told me there was some special coverage that would have covered the door, and if the electrical system broke we would have been covered, but not for the actual door. Turns out, the pulley system failed and one of the cables got loose, which made the door get lopsided and the roller pop out...making the door not functional. Luckily, my dad is awesome and was able to come and fix it for us. He can't figure out why the pulley system failed and thus caused all the trouble, but, for now, the thing works like a rock star. We almost had to spend money! Gasp!

Lastly, I'm trialing a daily chores set up. I found some links on Pinterest of people who had put together little game plans of chores to take care of every day so the house is basically always clean, but instead of torturing yourself in one day, you do little bits of maintenance and cleaning every day to create an altogether clean house and not killing yourself in one day. I would post them, but I think I'll post my finalized one that works for us when we have created it and feel that it works. For an example of why I think one won't work out for us is I don't understand why someone would separated deep vacuuming and mopping/swiffering the floors by like 3 days. I see no point in mopping or Swiffering the floor if you hadn't vacuumed first. I do understand asking someone to do both of those in one day, plus working and cooking and whatever else, is too much, but you should follow deep vacuuming day with Swiffering and mopping, in my opinion. That way the floors are still mostly clean and you won't be just mopping around the dirt. Also, not on the lists I've found, is wiping down cabinets and the fronts of your appliances, like the refrigerator, dishwasher, and oven. Even in the bathroom the cabinets seem to get dirty from toothpaste or shaving cream and such. Our refrigerator is stainless steel, so when it's dirty, it is extremely unattractive (of course when it's clean, you feel like the kitchen is sterile!). Point being, we're working on managing our lives of work, play, home maintenance and cleaning, child rearing, and dog ownership. I would like this to work out with me managing graduate school and little projects I like to take on, like Pinterest projects or finally unpacking or organizing the left over boxes in the garage since I've finally recycled all the other boxes. 


So, standby for all of that! 


Thanks for stopping by!

Ribby (and you can see JJ on the left and Hunter on the right) chilling

If you look close, you'll see Ribby's nose. He still fits under the bed!

Blogs + Me ≠ Frequent Updates

Ya, ya, broken record, blah blah blah. I've been busy!


But, speaking of being busy, things that have happened since my JANUARY post (oh my, I suck!). Lets see...I went back to work on the dreaded DAY SHIFT! It's not so bad, really. It is sorta nice and weird to feel and see the sun again. Everyone on day shift is wonderful, but I have to admit seeing the night shift at report time is bitter sweet because they were my friends, support, and teachers for three and a half years. But this is a good change, honestly. I'll be around with Asher and can take him to day time activities, I'll be able to more easily do graduate school, and there are many more learning opportunities on day shift. Here is to moving in the right direction!


Speaking of work...I might change how I work. I'm considering moving to the weekend program, where I work weekend days only. The positives are that I will get 10% increase in pay, have a set schedule, and will get weekend shift differential most of the days that I work. I had been considering going part time for it, but I really think I'm going to be able to do full time for it (thanks only to my Momma and Daddy for being willing to baby sit for me). Also, since I'll be staying full time, I can reapply for tuition reimbursement through my hospital and get them to pay for some of my schooling (win!). All I have to promise to them is that I'll work for exactly one year after I receive payment. Done! So, we'll see what plays out. I'd be excited to be home with Asher 4 days in a row during the week days, so I would be able to do activities with him and such, as well as it will make it easier for me to do graduate school (maybe I can up my schedule to part time instead of less than part time like I am right now), and can still always pick up extra as needed. Also, whether Brandon actually gets moved to night shift again or not, I think it'll be the best way to spend time with him (as it is, we get maybe one day off together every 2 weeks, but we get nights together). The cons of it is I would never be able to go to Sunday morning church, nor would I be able to start Asher in a Sunday school when it is time. Also, I am DEDICATED to those days. Come hell, high water, holiday, whatever, I need to be there. I get less wiggle room in sick days and such as well. Right now, I think I'm ok with this. Maybe as Asher approaches 3 or so, if I'm still on the weekend program, I'll consider leaving so I can get him in church. For now, I think this is a good plan to be with my little buddy, take care of my personal life, progress my professional life, and enjoy life at the same time. We'll see how this goes!


Hmm, my first test for the semester went alright. I could have done a tad better, but I really can't be too upset with how I performed. Here is to doing a little better next test!


I've learned to mow and weedeat! My dad has had to help me a lot to get the danged contraptions started, but it was pretty satisfying doing it! Now, this thing called milk weed...I shall declare war on you! You are evil, ugly, sticky, prickly, and just not welcome in my yard! Hopefully I can have positive updates on this war. The first battle is a small one and I don't expect many results, if at all, by the weed and feed we just put out. But you have to start somewhere. That little skirmish is just to fool the milk weed that we are weak. Just wait...I'm building my arsenal. You shall PERISH!


Oh! Projects! So Pinterest has helped me to try to add some decor and less boringness to my home! I used a combination of links to basically use foam board, ribbon, spray glue, and velcro to hang prints of pictures of my family! It isn't as perfect as I'd like, but, honestly, I could fix it. I just haven't done it yet. But what do you think of my wall? It was huge and bare and now it has a personal touch!

Oh, how do you like this flipping awesome tart I made? Yep, Pinterest helped me find the recipe. It was ridiculously easy to make and holy crap, yummy! It doesn't last very long around here... I have a cake I hope to make soon to show off, too.

Also, Momma and I got some curtains hung in my living room. Not a whole lot of sunlight came through those windows anyway, so we added some color to the room. Sorry this picture is not of just the curtains, but I didn't feel like taking one lol. Why would I when I have this cute one to show off!? (sorry it is a little yellow, I seriously hate the iPhone flash, so, no flash + indoor lighting + ignorance in photography = yellow picture)

We planted a little herb garden. No pictures yet as it is really only some green crap sticking out of some dirt right now. I hope to have herbs and peppers to show off before too long. This is really Brandon's project, but it is nice to have little projects like this. Something that we can work on and hopefully get results out of! If it goes well, we plan to expand next year.


Alright, I'm sure there are other things, but I'm going to cut this off right here.

What's Been Going On

Since I last wrote was NOVEMBER, I have a tad short of 2 months to account for, so here we go.

Christmas was wonderful! We were really blessed by our families who definitely did too much for us. I'll have to see if I have enough pictures. If I don't, I'll come back and show them off later.

Managing being at home with Asher has been interesting. But the house stays relatively clean, the yard scooped of poop, the dogs happy and hyper as usual, although Bella is still with the parents, and way too much tv watched. I try to watch Jeopardy and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire because I figure trivia shows will turn my brain to mush slower than the other ones I might get in to. Also, I watch Paranormal State. Stupid and silly, I know, but it entertains me and I don't mind deleting one if I never watched it.

I just recently got over being sick again, though I think it was an almost mastitis issue. I felt CRAPPY! But, feeling better is always good.

School starts Jan 18th. I have to attend class that day and 3 other days (those days are for the exams for the class). I'm scared crapless of this class. Did I mention the books I have are the same ones my brother used for medical school!? Scary!! So, wish me luck and pray for me if you think about it. I'm sure I could use it. On that same note, I'm considering changing my major. I'm currently under Acute Care Nurse Practitioner, and I'm thinking of changing it to Family or Adult Nurse Practitioner. I think now that I'm officially a mother, I'm not going to want to be in the unit of a hospital all the time. I love it...but I do love being home with my dogs and my son and my husband a lot, too (not in that order). I'll have more freedom of choice of schedules, I think, if I change my major. I'm a little sad about that because I would really have loved the Acute Care side, but there are so many opportunities and experiences as an FNP or ANP that I'm sure I'll never look back once I get there. Also, since I want to change majors, the only reason I really seriously pursued going to UTA was because it was the only school in the area that provided an Acute Care Nurse Practitioner degree. If I change majors, I could possibly attend TWU, which would be closer (especially if they have classes available in Denton...it would be WAY closer!). I need to make this move like, NOW, so I know, if I am going to change schools, what school I will be in come Summer or Fall. Otherwise, switching my major will be a tad of an issue remaining at UTA, but less of a problem, especially since I'm doing it so early in my degree. But, that is what is up with school.

I go back to work Sunday. Maternity leave is finally over. I'm sad. I've really enjoyed being home. I know it sounds lazy, but it has been nice. At least I only work 3 days a week. 3 long days...but three days nonetheless. I am considering moving to part time come May, which is driven by a couple things. One, Brandon may be moved to night shift, again. I could easily move back to night shift, but then I'd have to worry about changing my baby's sleep/wake schedule. It sucks enough doing it to yourself. I do NOT even want to consider doing it to an infant! Also, school will quickly become more demanding (required attendance, clinicals, etc), so part-time will be more beneficial in that avenue as well. The main hang up is money. We need some bills paid off and to lessen some of our bills to even make this work. I'm nervous about it, but hopeful. I'll have to have this decision made soon, though, I think, because I just can't wing it last minute like I do some things.

Other than that, I'm enjoying that stupid website Pinterest. I've made a couple recipes from there but have a couple projects I'm still working on. I need some better ink for one project, and I'm waiting on feedback from a family member for another. I'm going to attempt home-made wipes tonight! I'm excited about that since they're sorta expensive (lovely, but expensive). Making them at home would be so cool. I'll let you know how all that goes with links to where I found the instructions. I'm really excited about some shelving DIY I just found today. It'll involve my dad's assistance, but, as my mom just told me he's turning in his retirement letter, maybe he'll have some time to help me after a few months! Hello, shelving in Asher's room

Ok, picture time! I hope I didn't make this too long!

Baby's first Christmas ornament

My new wall decorations. I have 2 of them.

Playing with the camera and my 2 big boys

Our new robot vacuum! I love it more than you could ever know!

Getting some Bella cuddles while at the parent's

Some JJ love. Yes, I'm wearing Brandon's boots and VS pajama pants. I have serious style.

Why our baby gates aren't very effective.

Our garage! It's almost clean! Maybe we can fit 2 cars in before summertime!