Spring is here... and almost over

I love this time of year in Arizona, the weather is beautiful. It is just starting to warm up but still cool enough at night to leave your windows open.  A few months back I posted about getting our backyard "in shape" for this time of year, you can read about that here:

Gladiolus Time

Well, the Gladys and Freesia are close to sprouting beautiful flowers, we found a canopy top that fits (target online for the same price) and have planted some flowers to replace the few I killed over the winter.  Our grass is still going strong, although some patches are stronger than others, so we have a few more months before we switch to summer grass.

I just love having a pretty space to hang outside and enjoy the weather.  Also, being in my backyard reminds me of my mom.  She loved to have a patio full of flowers and would sit outside every night and read for hours.  (My mom could finish novels in a day, it was crazy how fast that woman read books)  Anyways, here are some shots of our current backyard before the triple digit heat kills everything in sight...

Oh canopy, you are much less skanky with your top on!

The Gladiolas are the tall guys, they will grow another foot or two as the blooms come in.

The little Freesia are sprouting flower buds, yeah!!!

Some other random flowers I have out there...

Of course, dog laying in the grass

Even our Orange Tree is getting into the spring thing!  (We bought this tree almost two years ago from Costco and it has yet to grow any taller.  I have no idea what kind of dwarf tree they sold us but it was not what I expected, that's for sure... and of course it hasn't produced any fruit)

Anyway, loving the backyard right now!  I will post pics of the Gladys when they bloom!

Enjoy!

Wow!!!

So I know that I have been ignoring my blog a little bit but until I saw "last post 5 weeks ago" I didn't realize how lazy I had gotten!  Oops...

Well, life has kind of been turned upside down the past few weeks/months.  Would you like to hear about?  (I thought so)  Well, I am pregnant!  I have a ton of projects lined up that I can't wait to share (such as the nursery decoration, painting, cooking, etc.) but I have completely lost my mind.   Baby stuff is scary and overwhelming and I am not the "typical" mom type so when the pregnancy tests, yes there were more than one, screamed positive at me my mind ran for hills.  (Along with my energy, appetite and any chance of having booze to calm my nerves)

Although my life has been a whirlwind it has been one of the coolest surprises my husband and I could have asked for.  We had an ultrasound at 11 1/2 weeks and they had guessed that our little nugget was going to be a girl.   We were pumped and I let my planning, first-born brain go CRAZY with ideas.  Well, this past Monday we got surprise #2 (thank the LORD it was not that we were pregnant with twins, that is one of my fears but we can talk about that weirdness later) our little girl was actually a little boy.  Apparently he was very excited to show off because he flashed his junk our way multiple times.  So once again, my little snow globe of life has been shaken up.

I am currently 18 weeks preggo and finally feeling less hijacked-by-baby and more like myself.  I can't wait to share all of the upcoming things as I feel like the next few months are going to be insanely busy and wonderful.  Now that I am back in the blogging world I will share with you how we found out, how to survive Buy Buy Baby (if I can figure that out myself) and all of our inspiration for the nursery.  There will be plenty to share and talk about so I guess I really have no more excuses for not blogging.  (PS - one of my best friends just got engaged and is planning her wedding in 10 weeks so I am sure there will be some great DIY wedding stuff to post about as well)

So, as I feel the little guy swimming around in my belly I figured I could at least leave you with a picture or two if you one of those "baby people" who care to look....  :)

 That is little nugget at 18 weeks, he likes to keep his hands up by his head, like he is covering his ears from my bad singing to Britney Spears or something!?!

A little close up of his face

And the whole she-bang.  That is what I am currently growing, weird right!?!?

Happy Valentines Day

So once again I have been MIA from the blogging world for a few days, sorry.  I have noticed that I jumped into this with two feet, used up all of my favorite recipes and now have very little to blog about.  We have started attempting to save money again, meaning home projects are on the back burner and I am not very adventurous in the kitchen so no new recipes for you... and that pretty much sums up why there is nothing to post about!  :)

BUT, I wanted to wish everyone a Wonderful Valentines Day and hope that you all get to spend the day with someone you love.  Below are a few pictures of my wonderful Valentine and I:

Our Wedding Kiss

The day was a wonderful whirlwind

First Dance at our Wedding

Enjoying two of our favorite things, cold beer and....

SEA WORLD!

(Yes, that is my hubby arm wrestling the Starfish Statue)

Watch out, those starfish will get you! :) Absolutely love it there!!!

New Years Eve

Cardinals Game

We have gotten to share so many fun times together and I feel truly blessed to be married to such a great guy.  This past year has been filled with ups and downs and he has faithfully stood by my side supporting me and loving me through all of it.  

I do promise to have more posts soon.  We have a project in the works, a room re-do if you will that I will share soon.  We are still trying to get our ideas together and the funds to complete the transformation.  Any guesses on what room we will be making over???

Happy Valentines Day

Sweet Fruit Salsa with Baked Cinnamon Chips

This is one of my favorite and most used recipes from Our Best Bites.  They give a great tutorial on all of the options, how-to's, etc.  Please swing by their website to check it out, I just wanted to share it with all of you as it is delicious and turns out wonderfully!

www.ourbestbites.com - Sweet Fruit Salsa and Baked Cinnamon Chips

I made this for my friends baby shower this past weekend and out of all the options available, I used:

• 1 pint Raspberries
• 2 Mangoes
• 1 Smaller Pineapple
• 6 Kiwis
• 1 Pint Blackberries
• Handful of Blueberries
• Brown Sugar
• Juice from 1 Lime

This made a HUGE portion and after feeding 20 people at a baby shower I still have plenty left.  All you do is chop up your fruit, add a sweetener (I chose brown sugar) and some extras (I chose lime juice and some mint as garnish.) 

Here are the pictures Becky took for me of my Fruit Salsa:

Here are the pictures from Our Best Bites:

Pretty comparable, right?!?!?  For sure give this a try sometime, you will not be disappointed!  Oh, and here is a picture of "my girls."  We have been friends since middle school, some since elementary school!

(From Left to Right)

Ashley, Teresa, Becky (Host of the shower), Lindsey (Mommy to be), Jenny, and I