Crisp

While many of our loved ones watched snow melt or rain fall this past week we here in Yuma were lucky enough to enjoy a crisp fall(ish) weekend.

Heading into this holiday weekend Chris and I had big plans. We had assembled our Halloween costumes and planned on going to a party on Friday night and Saturday night. As we settled into our Friday evening, dinner eaten, dogs playing happily, TV lulling us into comfortable relaxation on the couch, it became apparent that neither of us wanted to leave the house. So we didn't, we stayed right there and deepened our butt prints on the couch!

Saturday greeted us in a lovely manner, at 9am, which is equivalent to sleeping until noon in our house. We made a delicious lazy breakfast of egg-in-a-hole and sipped on steamy cups of hazelnut coffee (my idea of a treat is flavored coffee on the weekend...plain old breakfast blend Monday thru Friday). The dogs spent time outside, alternating between frolicking in the crisp morning air and napping on the sun baked concrete.

Midday we roused ourselves and headed out to see a movie at the local multiplex. Being the economically aware pair that we are we stopped at Target stock up on snacks that would be smuggled into the theater in my bulging purse. Early movies are the best because you get your pick of seats and can talk through the previews. We were seeing Zombieland in honor of Halloween. 90 minutes later we exited into the bright sunshine after enjoying a comedy about killing zombies, I thoroughly enjoyed it and I am very picky about my horror movies!

Next stop ....Kohl's! Chris and I usually go clothing shopping a couple times a year (I, of course, add my own trips in between) and get new seasonal clothing. It is a lot of fun and we always have a good time picking out stuff for each other. Knowing that we didn't need winter clothing we shopped for Crisp fall weather clothing. We both left with several new items and since we "shopped Kohl's" our total savings was over 50%! Awesome!

We headed home and we were almost immediately sucked in by our oh so comfy couch... Can you see where this is going? Yes, we stayed on that couch all night and played hooky from yet another party. We watched food network instead...yummy yummy!

Sunday was another beautiful Crisp fall day complete with sunshine and wispy clouds! I took Chris out to breakfast (love having my own paycheck now!) and we had a Fort Collins flash back as we sat on the patio of the bakery to eat with our puppies leashed to the table. We continued our flash back day at the brand new Yuma dog park. Honestly these should be mandatory in every town. We were spoiled rotten in Fort Collins with several dog parks within a 10 minute drive of us. In Virginia we were starved for dog parks....the Internet told me the nearest one was 90 minutes away! The park here isn't the biggest we have seen but it is awesome to have one. We love watching Loki run full speed (he gallops like a horse) and Koda (who never leaves her big brother's side) running as fast as she can only to wipe out because she can't stop herself very well.

Sunday afternoon Chris left for some training in San Diego and I bought myself a new toy. Yes, I am now the proud owner of a Bissell HeatPro 2X carpet cleaner! The carpet in our dinning/living room is now cleaner than when we moved into the house! Hooray!

And that, my dearest friends, is how to have yourself a relaxing Crisp fall weekend! Hope all of yours were just as splendid.

Scrumptious

There are a lot of things in life that I consider scrumptious, these things to me are always needed in large amounts and you never get tired of them.

Topping my list of these things are a few of the following items
(see also...these are a few of my favorite things...)

Popcorn
If you know me at all this comes as no surprise. Rarely does a day go by that I don't enjoy some. I like it buttered and salted, or oiled with Old Bay Seasoning on it or occasionally caramelized. I am not really a kettle corn girl but it will do in a pinch. I love the sound of it popping, the different shapes it creates, the way it melts in your mouth and how topping get stuck in the crevices. And no, I don't mind the kernels in my teeth...that's what dental floss is for!

Really Soft Fabrics
As my Grandma always says, I shop with my hands first and my eyes next. If it doesn't feel good I don't care how amazingly fashionably it is I am NOT wearing it. I like soft, cozy things and this doesn't include wool.... Blankets, sweaters, shirts, scraps of fabric for projects...it has to be pleasing to my skin or it goes in the scrap pile. Such is life.

Dog Kisses on my Toes
I do not like to have my face licked but I think that having your toes cleaned by a dog that thinks you hung the moon is pretty special. I mean really, how many people in your life think that licking your feet is the best way to show affection? Loki loves to lick my toes and I love to let him. Actually Loki loves to lick any part of you and Chris maintains that it is his way of "petting us back". Too cute.

Books you can't put down
I love to read. I always have and I always will. I will read just about anything but the true joy comes in when I find a book I just can't put down. There have been a lot of them in my life. The books that got me in trouble for reading during class or under the covers late into the night, the books that help pass hours of travel and the books that fueled my imagination for years to come. There have been thousands. Yes, I am a book whore (Sorry Mom). So many in fact that on more than one occasion I have gotten a few pages into a book only to realize I have read it before. Some have been read and re-read, my personal copies worn around the edges and dog- eared to death. Watership Down. Jane Eyre. The Golden Compass. Anything Jodi Picoult. I love finding new favorites to add to the list.

Which brings me to the reason for writing this post about things I find Scrumptious.

A little while ago my book loving sister recommended a book titled Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Well, I trust her opinion a lot and so I suggested it for my book club out here in Yuma. I knew it would be a quick read from my sister's glowing review so I put off buying it until this week so that I wouldn't have to wait too long for book club next week to discuss it. What I didn't know was I would only need one day to consume this book. And I do mean consume. I started at 6:30 in the morning on Wednesday and was done by 5 pm (taking breaks to feed, change and play with the twins of course!). When Chris walked in the door he didn't know what hit him. I immediately told him he MUST read this book and that he needed to hurry up and eat dinner so we could go buy the next book in the series. I spent Thursday reading Catching Fire, the second book in what will eventually be a trilogy. Now begins the torturous wait for that third book to be released.

So, to pass the time I am doing a little PR for Suzanne Collins. You MUST read these books. They are young adult fiction so it doesn't take long to read the 370ish pages in each book. You will be sucked in quickly to this tale of a civilization that exists where North America used to be. The plight of societies that must once a year send one girl and one boy to join the 22 others and fight to the death in a large arena. For me it was a somewhat futuristic view of something that is close to the gladiator games of ancient Rome but with hauntingly attainable attributes. We live in a society fractured by people's unwillingness to compromise, deadened to shock by reality television and driven to desperation by desire for physical perfection. When (and I say when not if on purpose) you read this book I hope you will see how easy it would be to make the jump from where we are to where this book lands. The characters are easy to love or hate and the landscape is easy to imagine.

I could go on for days about this but I won't because I know you have busy lives and need this precious time to run to the book store and get this book. Do it. I will wait here until you are ready to discuss it.


And yes, it is Scrumptious.

Razzles

Razzles...first it's a candy, then it's a gum...

This seems like the appropriate candy to choose for a post about changes. Much like Razzles this blog started out as one thing and is about to change into something a little different. When I began writing it was solely because I wanted a place to let out the silly little snip-its that come into my mind at random intervals. However, as our life continues to change and become ever busier and crazier and more unpredictable it seems like a good idea to shift the focus of the posts. The plan is to write more about our day to day life in order to keep all of our loved ones, who are scattered with the wind, updated.

Since I (Jen) am the one who began the blog it seems likely that I will be the one who does the posting, but we will see if we can corral Chris into jotting down something every once and a while.

At the moment we are enjoying the changes taking place as fall creeps into Yuma. The temperature is no longer shooting into the triple digits and we are finally able to appreciate the perpetual sunshine. It is now walk weather, Barbecue weather, jeans weather and my favorite-sitting on the back patio and playing with the dogs weather! As I hear more and more about snow and ice in Colorado it is nice to open the garage door each day with no concern for shoveling. Our big black dogs are so relieved to be able to venture outside for more then 5 minutes at a time without needing to scurry back indoors to gulp water and pant heavily.

One part of fall that I do miss is the leaves. Watching them change color as they cling to the bare branches, floating slowly to the ground and creating a blanket of hues over the dead grass. Here we don't have many leaves but oh well, do you have cacti? Didn't think so!

As you enjoy your crisp fall day, perhaps sipping the requisite Pumpkin Spice Latte or Carmel Apple Cider, just know that we wish we could celebrate fall with all of you!