I'm going crazy! In a good way!

Hello, my name is Mrs. Centner and I'm a pinterest addict.  Actually, I've become a pinterest/recipe blog/organizational blog/interenet-in-general addict.

I don’t even have time to blog myself because I’m too busy discovering all these other amazing blogs!  Perhaps I shouldn’t tell you this because you’ll start doing the same and then I’ll just be writing to myself online!  Ok, so before you read this post keep in mind that you like…no, LOVE my blog (I’m just assuming here….) and I REALLY appreciate you being a loyal reader so don’t forget about me once you start checking out the other blog fishies in the sea.  Okay?  Nothing like guilt, right? 

At times I get a bit overwhelmed by all the amazingness that’s online - the blogs, the FREE recipes, the craft ideas, the millions of funny YouTube videos.  It’s just crazy.  I’ll find a site and think, “how did I ever live without this?  It’s a goldmine!”  Then I’ll find a couple more of these and that’s when the overwhelming feeling hits.  I feel like I’m missing out on so much good stuff online.  Think of all the sites I don’t know about!  Think about all the recipes (FREE ones!) I’ve never tried!   Think of all the blogs that are amazing but I’m not reading yet!  Crazyness I tell you!!! 

A few months ago I signed up for pinterest.  What is pinterest you ask?  Well, half of you ask, and the other half are probably thinking “oh yeah, I totally knew about that like forever ago”.  If you’re in that last half category then WHY THE HECK didn’t you tell me about this awesome site?  Anyhow, back to pinterest.  Basically you have different “boards” (think of a bulletin board) and you “pin” what you like on there.  You can follow people and see what they pin, or you can just look at everything which I’m assuming is the most popular or most recent or has some criteria like that because it’s not every single pin ever pinned.

I finally created my account last week although I got the confirmation email months ago.  Oh.  My.  Gosh.  This site is crazy.  It’s addicting.  It’s showing me all of this awesome stuff in internetland that I didn’t know existed.  And, it’s making me feel overwhelmed!  I currently have about 30 wreaths to make.  I’m a bit worried about where I’m going to PUT all these wreaths.  I don’t know about you but I don’t have 30 doors.  I don’t know if I even know 30 people to give these to!  So, if you haven’t already, you need to stop whatever you are doing and go to pinterest and SIGN UP RIGHT NOW!  You’ll actually have to request an invite and THEN you can start pinning like crazy.  Before you go, I would like to apologize in advance for all the productive time you’ll most likely lose after you start pinning because you may not be able to pull yourself away from your computer.  BUT, it’s helping me to use my time to wisely make crafts, organize, bake, try out new dishes on Mr. C, and find some awesome Christmas gifts for myself.  Oops, I mean other people.  Happy pinning!

Beautiful Balboa Island

Monday morning we packed up and headed to Balboa Island for food and a bit of shopping.  Initially we took the ferry to the island but then we realized that we were in the residential area. Since we didn't feel like walking to the other side of the island, we decided we should drive over ourselves.  I didn't even know the island existed until I stumbled across some info when I was planning our trip.  This little island may have been my favorite place in the world.  The houses were quaint, unique, decorated for the holidays or surrounded by beautiful flowers.  Each house looked different but each had the same feeling of a laid-back life.  Patios were full of flowers, tables, cute plaques, and random stuff I’d never leave out in Phoenix for fear of it being stolen.  Windows and doors were wide open.  I think I began to drive Mr. C crazy with how often I kept saying the place was amazing.  When I got home I realized how few pictures I had...I was just too busy looking around, being amazed of course!

We found our car and drove ourselves to the other end of the island.  This is when I began to worry about my dream of living here (like that was even an option) because it was ALL parallel parking and I really suck at parallel parking.  When I took my driving test it was 9am in our little town and the instructor told me to parallel park.  When I told him there were no cars to park in-between he said that he guessed I had it easy.  So, my parallel parking included stopping on the side of the street basically.  I’ve managed to pretty much avoid it until now.  Mr. C drove us to Balboa Island and proceeded to tell me that he had NEVER parallel parked.  EVER!  We don’t exactly make the best driving team.   So, for the first time EVER, Mr. C parallel parked.  He did a pretty awesome job.  He only hit three cars.  Just joking!  He did accidentally honk at a guy on the sidewalk, momentarily scaring him, but that was pretty minor.

Lining the street were some very unique shops and the cutest restaurants.  On our way to lunch we were sidetracked by a store that was selling Toms and Flojos which are the best flip-flops EVER!  The woman, who I assume was the owner, was very friendly and helpful.  It reminded me of being home.  When we finally got out of the store we were pretty hungry and found a little place called Wilma’s Patio.  I fell in love.  The restaurant/café was very welcoming and had been decked out with fall decorations.  Every single table had a fall tablecloth and all the pots had little scarecrows in them.  I wish I had pictures, but I was trying to look not too touristy and I was busy taking in the place.  We both had some of the best fish tacos and left pretty stuffed.  We made one more stop to an artsy store with very unique gifty items.  We had to leave before it got dangerous because everything was just so cool.

It was such a relaxing day which made it difficult to go home.  On the way home I looked up home prices for the area.  Since I don’t have a minimum of $1.5 million lying around, I’m thinking we’re not moving to Balboa Island anytime soon.  I suggested to Mr. C that we move and he could bike to work, I would stay at home with the kids (hypothetical kids here) or find myself a part-time job in one of the little shops or as a surfing instructor (I have no clue how to surf and I’m terrified of sharks) but he didn’t seem to like that idea.  He actually laughed at me!  I guess he has become accustomed to eating and having electricity or something.  Either way, dreaming is always nice, and if I win the lottery I know just where I’m buying a home!

Day 2: Disneyland!

On day #2 of the trip we woke up early, excited for Disneyland!  Ok, maybe it was just me that woke up excited for Disneyland.  We had a quick breakfast and speed walked our way to the gates.  For some reason, Mr. C let me pick the line to wait in for tickets and everyone in that line was crazy slow.  We paid for our tickets and the people in about 1/8^th of the time it took everyone else.  I’m not exaggerating here!  But, it’s the happiest place on earth so I soon forgot the frustration and was overcome with happiness once I saw the Pluto and Mickey pumpkins waiting for us at the gate.  The place was all decked out for Halloween, complete with a HUGE Mickey pumpkin.  I need to get me one of those.

Our ride-planning was a bit different this time due to it being crazy busy.  Luckily we had an app on our phones that told us how long the wait at each ride was and this was about the most amazing thing EVER!  It saved us a lot of waiting and walking just to check times.   If you’re planning a trip to DL EVER, I highly recommend this.  Apps are just the best.  And I’m rambling again so let’s get back to the crazy busyness of DL.  For one, Space Mountain had a 60 minute wait by 9am.  We did end up riding this twice though, the first time Mr. C and I were the only ones on the little car and I was not a fan of this!  The ride was transformed into a scary phantom theme for Halloween and it scared me a bit, especially when something jumped out at me at the end!  Not cool!  Since we were alone the first time I wisely used the time to scream a lot.  Mr. C just laughed at me…I think he may have been crying he was laughing so hard.  Obviously he wasn’t too concerned with me being freaked out during the ride!

I’ve realized that I’m not a fan of afternoon Disneyland.  Morning is good and evening/nighttime is amazing, but afternoon is just long wait times and lots of crazy kiddos.  So we ended up driving over to Anaheim Gardens where we had a leisurely and delicious lunch at California Pizza Kitchen followed by a much needed nap (we’re getting old you know).  By 4 we were ready to head back to use our fast passes and each some churros (you HAVE to have a churro in Disneyland, it’s really not even an option).  We watched part of Fantasmic and I surprised myself with how excited I was to see Beauty and the Beast.  I think I literally yelled out when I saw them!  Luckily there were some kids around so I’m hoping everyone just thought the outburst came from one of them!  We took off before the show was done and lucky for us, we were on the thunder mountain right as the fireworks started which meant that we had a perfect viewing spot.  These fireworks are where Mr. C asked me to marry him 5 years ago so they hold an extra special place in my heart.

Somehow we ended up with 3 sets of fast-passes to be used between 10:30-midnight and somehow we got a second wind that allowed us to use them all and ignore the throbbing in our feet.  Unfortunately we lost the second wind when it was time to walk home.  It’s amazing how that always happens.  Miraculously, we made it, although I would have been willing to pay someone to carry me home that night.  We slept like logs and in the morning when I jumped out of bed I remembered how bad my feet hurt.  Without a doubt, it’s always worth it.

Up next is day #3.  I’m not telling you what it’s about though…you’ll have to hope your anticipation doesn’t keep you up tonight!

Dolphins, Whales, and Sea Lions. Oh my!

I began writing about our recent CA trip and somehow it turned into a VERY long post, so it’s now a 3-parter so you don’t fall asleep in the middle :)

This weekend Mr. C and I took off for California for a short but much needed vacation.  I think I, especially, may have been a bit stressed and “short” the past couple weeks, so I was very glad to get away.  Usually a CA trip includes one day of Disneyland, something a bit more relaxing for another day, and lastly we tend to hit the beach the morning we leave.  This trip followed that plan mostly, but it felt very different than other trips because it was a bit more unpredictable.  We had so much fun but unfortunately it was also so much harder to come back this time. 

We began our drive early Saturday morning a bit later than planned.   I wonder if it’s even possible to leave on time for a road trip.  In my experience it’s just not possible, no matter how hard you try.  We still made great time though and arrived at Newport Beach around noon.  By the time we got there, I was so very carsick, worse than I’d ever been actually.  I could barely eat my lunch, and you know there’s an issue then!  The restaurant we went to was along the boardwalk and the food (the little I ate) was great.  They had the most amazing homemade pickles and everyone knows pickles are just the best.  We wandered around a bit and then bought our tickets for whale watching.  I’m the sort of person who likes guarantees so I struggled a bit with the idea of floating around in the ocean just waiting for a whale to surface.  But, we’ve wanted to go whale watching for awhile so it seemed like the perfect time.

Getting on the boat wasn’t exactly what we had planned.  First of all, even though we got there about an hour early, it seemed that we were the last ones on the boat because pushing to the front seemed to be the theme for the day.  By the time we got on the boat there was only standing room outside and the idea of standing for 3 hours didn’t seem too appealing.  We found a booth inside and loaded up on Dramamine (I took a second pill once I saw the big metal sign about getting sick outside instead of in the restrooms, leading me to assume that getting sick was pretty common).  We hadn’t been on the boat long when the captain announced there were a slew of dolphins ahead so we rushed out to the deck.  A few seconds later there were more dolphins than I’d ever seen in my life.  They raced along the side of the boat, blending into the waves at times and jumping out of the water at other times.  They were so beautiful and it was unlike anything I’d seen before.  They swam with us for quite awhile, allowing us to take a ridiculous amount of photos.  Here’s a few of my favorites.

That was all the excitement for awhile.  Then we just drove/floated around looking for whales.  We hadn’t seen anything for awhile and I began to think that maybe we’d be one of the unlucky groups to not have a whale sighting that day.  I prayed for a whale, any whale, to swim over to our boat.  God must not have been too busy that day because a few minutes later a blue whale was spotted!  We saw it blow and that was about it, but shortly after we saw 2 fin whales, a mother and her baby.  They stayed around the boat and surfaced every 10 minutes or so.   It would have been great if they had just jumped out of the water so I could get a really great look at them, but from what I saw they were huge and I really appreciated them giving us a show!

The blow from the Blue Whale, this was all I got of him

Back of a Fin Whale

As we headed back the sun was beginning to set.  Mr. C and I stood on the deck for the ride back, enjoying the breeze.  When we were almost back to port we spotted some pelicans and these super cute napping sea lions.  The sea lions looked like it took every ounce of their strength to stay awake and stare at us.  What a life!

We finished our evening by driving in circles (in a car this time) until we found a great Mexican restaurant to try out.  The restaurant shared it’s name with the last name of a couple of our favorite people so we figured that was a sign :)  It must have been because dinner and our margaritas were pretty great!   I’d love to post a picture of my dinner but you know how that goes….I get my food and the idea of taking a photo is the last thing I’m thinking of!

Next up: Disneyland!

A TV watching time of year

I don’t consider myself a huge TV watcher normally, however this time of year I am. I get excited about the new shows, although I know in time my favorite ones will inevitably be cancelled (per past experience). This year I enjoyed a summer of reading, elaborate cooking, relaxing, and movie-watching. The new shows signal that it’s time to get back into the swing of things. Busier schedules, more work for Mr. C, things picking up at work for me, and just a feeling that the laid-back feel of summer is over. Less relaxation and more work, although I’m not sure how more TV fits into the less relaxation part of this. We don’t have cable anymore because we simply couldn’t justify the cost of it when we weren’t watching TV THAT much. We do have Hulu though, and I love being able to pause things and watch them whenever (thank you TIVO for ruining me for live TV). Unfortunately I really spend way too much time this time of year watching TV. Because of the change in weather I also spend a lot of time walking with Mr. C and Coconut, so maybe that evens it out?

At times I have been known to get a bit into a TV show or two. When I was in college I began watching the O.C. I was a bit behind the first season, but once I started watching I was hooked. I own all of the seasons, with 2 sets of season 3. Don’t ask. Anyhow, after the end of one season they killed off one of the main characters, Marissa. They killed her off in a season finale in a way where her fate was semi-questionable and could have been easily reversed. I, and the other fans, knew the truth though - she was gone. I was distraught. It just wouldn’t be the same without Marissa!!! I, along with thousands of other loyal viewers, signed numerous petitions to bring Marissa back for the next season. Yes, I’m serious. It didn’t work though. I'm sure you're shocked. It was never the same without her, although I stayed a loyal viewer until the very end.

Here are a few of my new favorites. I love half-hour shows because without commercials they end up being super short and then my night isn’t wasted sitting on the couch! I’m hoping there won’t be any petitions needed for these, although I can’t see myself ever doing that again.

The New Girl – Mr. C told me that if I was nerdier, this would be me. I wasn’t sure how to take this, but it makes me laugh. Corny, yes, but also heart-warming at times.

Whitney – I’ve only seen one episode, but it was pretty good, although I’m not so sure this show is here to stay.

Up All Night – midly funny, in the sense that I can relate to parts of it, such as when the main couple was dancing crazily in front of the windows because the husband guaranteed that the neighbors could not see them due to the light reflection. The neighbors could see them perfectly.

And of course, there are the shows that I love and amazingly, have not yet been cancelled. Woohoo for that!

How I Met Your Mother – I discovered this a couple seasons ago and fell in love. I want to live with these people! Of course they’d have to stay in character all the time, but that would be okay with me. If I could only watch one thing for the rest of my life, this would be it. I like to think Mr. C and I are a bit like Lily and Marshall, but not as cheesy. I'd totally sign a petition for this if anyone was killed off. Heck, I might even LEAD the petitioning....

Big Bang Theory – This show makes me thankful that my nerdy husband isn’t really all that nerdy. I laugh more watching this than anything else. Sometimes I wonder if the neighbors can hear my cackling laugh! What could be better than a bunch of nerds, their totally unrealistic girlfriends, and my favorite character, Sheldon? It's also a bonus that Penny is from Nebraska.

Modern Family – Also makes me laugh a lot. Phil reminds me of Mr. C sometimes, and apparently my personality coincides with that of Claire. I love the entire family dynamics, and Cam is just the best. I want him to come live next to me as well.

Greys – Need I really say anything? I didn’t think so.

Yes, I realize none of these are educational at all and teach me nothing interesting/important. This is why I love them. I spend enough time catching up on the news, reading books, having intellectually stimulating conversations (ha ha, just sometimes on that one), and being serious, that when I sit down to do something totally unproductive, I’m going to make it as unproductive as utterly possible.

I am not a reality TV fan at all, although my college roommate had a way of getting me sucked into her reality shows. I’d go from making fun of her at the beginning of the season to being next to her on the couch for the shows I said I’d never watch. Never say never I guess!

So, what are the shows you just can’t live without? Any new ones I just HAVE to check out?

Committment Issues

I think I may be becoming a flakey person. Not flakey good like those amazing crescent rolls that taste oh-so-good, but flakey bad as in one of those people who says they’ll do something and then instead just flakes away. I don’t think you can use the word you’re defining in the definition. But, on my way to get the dictionary I decided I didn’t feel like it.



I’m scared of a lot of things….sharks, the dark (sometimes), being abducted, roller coasters (sometimes), spiders, and the list goes on and on. There are also a lot of things I’m not scared of and I like to think of myself as a very functional, very responsible, very organized, realistic person. I like to think of myself this way, until last week that is when I realized that I have commitment issues. Looking at my life, you’d think I’m just fine with commitment. I’m married to a wonderful man, something I didn’t doubt for a minute. I never once thought about running back down that aisle, although since I got lost on the way up, I may have gotten lost on the way back….. Back to the point though, I have the cutest little dog and a cat that I’ve committed to taking care of, and I have a job that I’ve been pretty darn committed to for a few years. From the outside, it all seems to be copasetic.


Unfortunately, I discovered this outside view is all a sham. Remember that photo post I did? The post where I committed to posting a picture every single week on the nifty page I created just for that reason? Well, first of all it started out as a 365 day photo challenge but that seemed like too big of a um….commitment, so I went with the 52 week challenge instead. But, if you haven’t noticed, I haven’t posted a single photo! Last week I was making plans with a friend and as we were discussing a date, all I could think was, that fact that I had to be at a specific place at a specific time and what if something else comes up that day? It’s not that I don’t love my friends, because I do. I just don’t love commitment. I can handle a bit at a time, but too much and I feel like I’m going crazy.


It’s interesting because I hate not planning ahead or being organized. So, wouldn’t it be logical to think that I would LOVE commitments? Commitments are set, they can be written down and ultimately lead to planning (something else I love).


Foster the People (amazing band, if you haven’t heard of them then you need to check them out) came to AZ the week before my birthday. I was so excited to see them! But, I didn’t buy tickets early because what if something else came up? I mean, I was dying to go to the concert, but I figured I’d hold off on the tickets. The idea of buying them was just scary because then I was locked in, although that was ultimately my goal… Finally I sat down to buy the tickets to the amazing show for the band I love that’s been selling out concerts. Guess what. The concert was sold out. I knew shows were selling out, but I didn’t really consider this when I was busy dealing with my crazy-person commitment issues.


This past weekend I went to a class about joining the church I’m attending. I’ve been attending off-and-on for about 7 years, pretty regularly for the last couple of years though. 7 years is a very LONG time! As we sat in the class and went around the room talking about how long we’d been attending/involved in the church, I felt very….slow...and non-commital! I was, by far, the person there that had been attending the longest, and let me tell you, the gap of time between the person attending the second longest and my time was a BIG gap! It’s not that I wasn’t involved or unsure, I just didn’t see the need to commit. That’s probably because I have issues.


We are renters, something that’s worked perfectly because we weren’t sure we were going to stay in AZ and what’s the point of buying if you’ll need to sell in a year or two? Now we’re looking at settling down somewhat soon (somewhat soon= a year or so, so it’s not even THAT soon) and the idea of picking an area of town to live in is crazy scary. What if we pick wrong? What if we don’t like it? Totally freaking me out. When we buy, we’re stuck in that house. FOREVER! Ok, forever until we sell, but with this housing market, it could be FOREVER FOREVER!


There are just too many signs that point to me being commitment-phobic. Adding this with the fact that I like to diagnose myself with medical things, I’m declaring myself officially commitment-phobic. I think anyhow. Maybe I shouldn’t though. What do you think? Do I really have commitment issues or is this all normal? I’d look on WebMD regarding this but I don’t have the app. I just wasn’t sure if I was ready to allocate a spot on my iphone specifically for WebMD. I mean, what if something better came along? Seriously, Mr. C put it on my phone and I deleted it.

Coconut and an Oreo

I’m sorry I’ve been MIA for a bit!  I’ve been busy enjoying our new furry addition.  I was a bit worried that my dream of Coconut and Oreo actually being friends would never come true.  Yes, I do understand that we’re talking about a cat and a dog here and historically cats and dogs are not BFF’s.  Mr. C tried to tell me this.  I argued back that I get email forwards with pigs and dogs being friends, monkeys and tigers sleeping together, and elephants and cats that have become inseparable.  He gave me that “my wife is crazy” look and then told me that the emails are sent because the instance is RARE.  I still didn’t give up though.  Guess who was right?  Me of course!  Do you really think I’d write about it if I was wrong??? 

I think we can now say that Coconut and Oreo are friends, or strong acquaintances.  Coconut loves having a friend and she really doesn’t care too much about her toys anymore since she has a live one now!  We’ve caught them sleeping close a few times although usually Coconut gets freaked out when Oreo tries to lay down next to her.

We don’t watch as much TV anymore.  This is partly because Oreo chews through cords, leaving us with no way to watch TV, but also because Oreo and Coconut are pretty darn entertaining.  They take turns chasing each other, although neither of them has a clue of what to do once they catch the other.  Lately Oreo likes to run after Coconut and chew on her tail or paw.  He also likes to clean her.  See, BFF’s. 

Today’s post is a little less writing and a little more watching.  Here are a couple of our favorite videos since adding Oreo to our family.  If you came to our house we’d make you watch them.   Yes, MAKE.