Summer 2015

I seem to fall off the face of the earth each summer and this year was no different.  I’m excited to be returning to blogging and have some exciting posts planned including some new recipes.  I hope you had a great summer filled with friends, family, and making lots of great memories.  I have always hated summers in AZ.  I’m still a bit unsure of why I ever thought that moving to the desert was a good idea for someone who hated the heat with an intense passion.   This summer I decided to just embrace the heat and it ended up being one of my favorite summers.  For my first post back I’m sharing some highlights of my summer.

Almost every weekend we spent at the in-law’s house swimming.  While the pool was of course great, we really enjoyed just hanging out and spending time together with family. 

This was my fist summer at the new job and in addition to being able to wear jeans all summer (my most favorite thing EVER!!), I also had an altered work schedule for 2 months that allowed me one more day each week to spend with Mr. C.  That in itself was amazing and it allowed me to spend one day swimming and still get everything done during the weekend I needed.  It was like having an actual summer break every week.

We gave up sugar and severely limited our refined grains at the beginning of the summer as a lifestyle change and we've both never felt better.  The other day I had a small bite of a truffle and was satisfied with just that bite sized amount.  Never before would I have not inhaled the truffle and wanted another.  We were conscious about what we ate before but when I look in our cart at Sprouts each week I’m so proud of the food we’re putting into our bodies.  We’re still discovering new foods and I’m enjoying trying new recipes and revising old ones.

We finally made it back to the Phoenix Art Museum for the Warhol exhibit.  There was also an amazing firefly exhibit but pictures didn’t do it justice.  A church burnt down and this picture is an exhibit created with the pieces that were left.  This was one of my favorites. 

We didn’t spend the 4^th of  July in NE as we traditionally have, but we still made it back for a summer visit.  It was wonderful spending time with my nieces, seeing my sweet grandma, catching up with some friends, and being surrounded by so much green again.

I continued to take tons of pictures of our animals because they are so darn cute.

This summer was pretty great, even amongst the 117 degree, record breaking days and other life frustrations that tested our patience.  I’m still counting down the days until fall but I’d put this in the books as one of the best summers yet.  I can only hope next year will be even better!

What was the best part of your summer?

Summer 2014

It’s been FOREVER since I’ve blogged and I’ve missed it so much.  Seriously, you guys have no idea.  I feel like there’s something missing when I’m not writing, even though half of the time I’m not doing anything with what I am writing.  In any case, my heart has missed this place.

How have you been?  You should totally tell me in the comments below, but since you can’t answer me now I guess I’ll continue this semi one-sided relationship by sharing what I’ve been up to in the last few months.

First off, my happiness project didn’t go quite as planned.  Shocking, I know!  While I did make some great changes, I am not getting 8 hours of sleep a night and my closet is still a mess.  I have organized some areas that I had been putting off and it’s great.  If you have something you need to organize you should totally do that after you finish reading this post that I foresee being quite long.  One of these days I’ll work my way up to the closet but for now I’m happy with the little wins and I’ve had lots of those.

Mr. C and I went to Nebraska for10ish days in July and it was amazing as always.  

I got to catch up in person with one of the best friends ever.  It’s amazing how we never run out of things to talk about and even across 1,329ish miles, she’s always there for me.

We spent the 4^th of July with my family and my youngest niece, who still thinks her family is cool, sat by me at the fireworks and said the funniest things you could never think of.  One of my favorites was her explanation of why Miley Cyrus’ songs were no longer played during the fireworks display.  My previously mentioned amazing friend joined us too and was lucky enough to get in on the commentary. 

While we were there we got a rental car and drove to Lincoln to see a few friends.  I do not at all believe in those crazy rental insurance fees they try to rope you into so when we were asked if we wanted the extra insurance that would cover our co-pay if something happened, I only hesitated for a moment after saying no.  The girl said there wasn’t hail in the forecast and it was only one day so that just confirmed that I did not need their crazy insurance that was really just a way for me to pay 40% more.  The drive to Lincoln was great.   Playing some games with my friend and her daughter was great.  The rain clouds were not so great, but it was ok.  Dinner was great.  The clouds that kept getting darker were getting less and less ok.  Our mini tour of their game collection and suggestions was great, until we heard the sound of hail.  That was definitely not so great.  Mr. C ran outside to move the car but it didn’t really matter.  Lucky for us, there was no damage, however I learned a very valuable lesson about sometimes buying that dumb insurance.   The night was still great, and so much fun that I forgot to take any pics.  I guess that means we have to go back! 

We spent the night (not like that!) and next day with a couple other friends and there was more game playing and eating and fun had by all.  It was a very low-key, easy going trip and it was great.

I love how green it is.  You don’t appreciate the greenness of it all until you live somewhere that has brown dirt and rocks as front yard décor.   We left Lincoln as the sun was setting and I couldn’t help myself from trying to capture the beautiful sun hitting the fields.  The pictures just aren’t the same.

The night before we left we went for a walk and my dad talked us into crossing the street to look at this amazing family.  We stood at the fence for a bit and eventually the mom ran up to us and let us pet her.  I can’t look at these pics and not smile.

I saw a friend I hadn’t seen in years, spent some time with my sweet grandmother, played some games with two of my amazing nieces, visited my dad's huge garden, had some girl time with my mom, did lots of cooking, some project finishing, and just hanging out.  Someone told me awhile ago that eventually I won’t want to go home anymore.  I simply can’t imagine that happening.  A little part of my heart remains there and although I love the home Mr. C and I have made, Nebraska will always hold that little part of my heart. 

Back in Arizona, Mr. C and I are getting back into the swing of things.  I’ve lost my house-husband since Mr. C went back to work, and it’s sad to think that I cannot leave the kitchen full of dishes and come home the next day to a clean kitchen, but I’m hoping Coconut may start picking up the slack.

Right before we left for NE I became a Jamberry Independent Consultant!  If I’m being honest, I was hooked about 2 minutes after I heard about the product and before I even tried a sample, but I tried to contain my enthusiasm.  They’re non-toxic nail wraps that are made in the U.S.A. and last for up to 2 weeks on fingers and 6 weeks on toes.  You get 2 manis, 2 pedis, and some extras in each package and  I LOVE them!  I tried painting my nails with normal polish after I took off my 2^nd set of wraps and it was horrible!  I’m not sure I’ll ever go back to normal polish!  You can check out my site at: http://jencentner.jamberrynails.net and if you’d like a sample I’d love to send you one!  I’ve done a couple facebook parties and my first home party a few days ago and I’m having a lot of fun.  Mr. C has been super supportive even though he refuses to wear one on his nail.  He’s no fun sometimes.

This month I was planning to focus on my blog and etsy shop for the August happiness project goals with a sort of entrepreneurial/outside ventures theme and that seems perfect with my new Jamberry adventure.  I’m revising the month to work on growing my business, refocusing on this little blog I’ve missed so much, and finally listing some of my crafts on Etsy, although with things gearing up at work I may have to put off that last one a bit. 

I hope you’ve had a wonderful summer!

Happiness

Sometimes we overlook the little things that bring us joy.  Sometimes we miss out on moments of happiness because we’re too busy to realize we’re in them.  Lucky for us, we have a couple furry creatures that remind us to slow down and enjoy the moment.

This weekend we took Coconut to a “green” (it was really brown) area of our neighborhood and let her run around.  I sat at one end of the grassy area and Mr. C sat at the other while we called Coconut’s name.  She ran back and forth between us, almost knocking us both over a couple times because she was THAT excited.  Mr. C got some great photos of her.  The look on her face is pure happiness.  With the busyness of the Christmas season, we all need to take a little time to do something simple that makes us remember what life is all about and count our blessings.  For me, ten minutes in the park with my happy puppy and smiling husband were a great reminder. 

    

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.

My Puppy needs a friend

As I’ve mentioned before, we’ve somehow become those crazy dog people who have a million toys for their dog, dress her up for Halloween, buy her Christmas gifts for her stocking, believe that she truly understands what we’re saying when we talk to her, and basically think that we couldn’t survive without her.   We may have even been known to cover her up with her own blanket on cold nights.   We live in Arizona so it’s important to remember that it’s not the arctic here.  Basically my point is that we have a very spoiled, but very happy dog who we like to think is fairly well behaved. 

My parents have 2 cats and while they (the cats, not my parents) didn’t exactly love Coconut (i.e. they couldn’t stand her), she still had fun with them.  She mostly chased the newest one around because he was scared of her and she mistook his running away for wanting to play.  She always gets a little sad once guests leave or when we come home from being out of town with her, so it was to be expected that it’d take a couple of days for her to get back to her normal self when we got back to AZ.  However, since we’ve been back she seems depressed.  I know, I know, I’m saying my dog is depressed.  I don’t think they offer doggie Zoloft unfortunately.  We take her for walks and play with her, but I think she needs a friend.  Another dog seems like too much to take on, but I think a kitten sounds like a good, wait – brilliant, idea!  First of all, who doesn’t love kittens?  A kitten would most likely adjust better, we could train it (or attempt to), and they are fairly low maintenance. 

Mr. C thinks my idea is nuts (this seems to be a common occurance) and that Coconut is just fine without a friend because she has us.  I guess he thinks we’re awesome or something.  I have to admit there are a few cons to the cat.  I do worry about having people over with a cat since there are people who are highly allergic, and the cat hair and idea of cleaning a litter box aren't exactly my favorite things.

I’m torn.  My mom isn’t even on my side!  But, my blog readers are awesome (mom, you’re still awesome even though you dropped the ball on this one) so I’m asking for your opinion.  Readers, what do I do?  Am I crazy for thinking Coconut is depressed and needs a friend?  Or do you agree that Coconut (and I of course) would be better off with a kitty to love :)  Thanks for your input!

I'm not sure why the picture of Coconut's sad little face is huge.  I totally had no part in it............