DePhoMo: 8 - 18

8. Our hallway frames.


9. My parents-in-law at Tempe Marketplace.


 10. Sneakers.


11. Scotty and Raiden with Christmas crackers.


 12. Dessert one night. (Click on the image for instructions!)


13. Chris and Alicia's Christmas card photo.


14. Raiden and Scotty.


15. Some of our holiday decorations.


16. Loki in my hoodie.


17. My mom and stepdad's dog Ruger.


 18. My brother PJ with Raiden in his pocket.

DePhoMo: 1 - 7

Every December I like to try to do the DePhoMo project, which is one photo every day during December. Here's what I have for the first seven days in December...

1. Our new puppy Raiden (post on him coming soon!) playing in his room. Yes, he has a whole room to himself at the moment.


2. Raiden with a toy.


3. Looking in our front window.


4. Raiden in his sweater, wondering why he has to be outside.


5. Loki being chill.


6. The chair Scotty's grandfather made for him - only temporarily being used to keep the cat food away from the puppy.


7. Raiden.

A Spooky Trip to the Phoenix Zoo

On Halloween, Scotty and I both happened to have the day off. We took a trip to the Phoenix Zoo. I thought I'd share some pictures from our visit.

I love all zoos that are focused on sustaining wildlife and preserving the lives of animals around the world. The Phoenix Zoo is currently undergoing some renovations and there's construction around, but it was a really fun visit nonetheless. I was particularly excited to see the komodo dragon babies they have visiting from San Diego Zoo!

Making friends with a komodo dragon.

 

A baby - they live in trees when they are young to avoid predators (including adult komodos!)

An aldabra tortoise.

A cute cow in the petting zoo/farm area.

An iguana munching! I wish Loki would eat her greens with this much excitement.

The stingray tank!

Recipe: Cake Mix Cookies

I love these cookies.

I happened to have a box of devil's food cake mix in the cupboard and a hankering to make cookies, so when I spotted this recipe online I knew I had to give it a try. It's incredibly easy and the cookies come out so well!

The best thing about this recipe is that you can add whatever you like to the cookies and use whatever kind of cake mix you like. For these particular cookies pictured, I used a devil's food cake mix, about a cup of dark chocolate chips, and maybe a quarter of a cup of leftover chopped nuts.

Cake Mix Cookies
1 packaged cake mix, any flavor
2 eggs
1/2 cup oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine cake mix, eggs, oil, and any additional ingredients you would like (chocolate chips, nuts, etc). Spoon by tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet(s).

Bake for 10-12 minutes.

--

Once these were done and cooled, I put them into my new cookie jar! My family gave this to me when they came over last weekend for breakfast. Isn't he adorable?



<3

Recipe: Cheesy Chicken Supper

I made this for dinner last night and boy was it good! My picture didn't turn out, but I thought I'd share the recipe. 

Cheesy Chicken Supper
1 package frozen broccoli, thawed
4 servings cooked rice
1 teaspoon canola oil
2 cups cooked chicken breast, cubed
1 can broccoli cheese soup, undiluted
1/2 cup milk
Shredded cheese to preference
French fried onions to preference
Spices (salt, pepper, etc)

In a large skillet, add oil and cook broccoli until crisp and tender. Add the chicken, soup, milk, and spices, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, 5 minutes or until chicken is heated through.

Add cheese and onions. Remove from heat and let stand until cheese is melty and yummy-looking. Serve over rice.

Halloween Decor

One of my favorite things about having a house is being able to decorate it! No kidding, this is one of the things I was so excited about during the buying process. However, I'm limiting myself to not buy a whole lot, and try to be creative and fun. I don't want to go overboard or spend a lot of money. I thought I'd share what I have so far for Halloween, one of my favorite holidays.

The front door... with our basketball pumpkin and welcome sign!

A spooky bottle from Michael's and a cute little ghost from Target.

Martha Stewart's Wriggling Snake Wreath craft project... not its permanent home yet!

And finally, vinyl bats on the garage door! This great idea was from Melancholy Smile.

Two printables

I made these graphics this past week when I had the sudden urge to fill some empty frames.

I found printables online for these, but a lot of people who make printables don't give them the right resolution or DPI/PPI, so they look pixelated or blurry when printed out, so I made my own versions!

If you'd like to download them, you should be able to do so by following the download link under each one. Just right-click and save, then print.

(download)

(download)

Keep your attitude bright

I love my job, but I don't always love the "customer service" aspect of it. My job is working as a library clerk at a public library. I love so many things about it and I'm really happy with the niche I've worked out over the past five years there, and the projects I get to do. About half of my time each week is spent working at the public desk where I check out books, take fines, help with reference questions, etc. A million and one things to do. And people are not always happy. I'm an introvert myself and I find it difficult to speak to so many strangers every day, but it's part of my job so I do it. I get talked down to, yelled at, sworn at, and treated like basically any other person people think is below them.

Saturday was like that. After three people all in a row who were very unhappy - one I had to call a supervisor out for, and two just generally miserable people - I was feeling fairly unhappy myself. I've heard everything about how they must be having a bad day, but I don't take it as an excuse. No one needs to push their bad day onto someone else, and making someone else feel bad does not help anyone feel better.

Towards the end of the day, I was still feeling pretty down, but just trying to get through. Then an older lady came to the desk, talking away, chattering on about this and that; she wanted a library card. I got her signed up for one, and she kept chattering. I couldn't really hear her very well, so I smiled and nodded, and tried to listen as best I could. She told me about always losing her wallet, how she was going to the movies with her sister, and how her sister was insisting they go out to eat and she hardly ever goes to restaurants anymore. Then she said, "Oh, there's no charge for a card? Well, at least let me give you this."

We can't take tips and the majority of what patrons give me is either trash (without a word of explanation!), candy, or religious brochures or cards trying to convert me. This wasn't, though. It was a simple little poem printed in the same design as the business card she had handed me that showed her address on it. (A lot of winter visitors or RVers have business cards printed up with contact information to pass on to people.)




I liked it a lot and thanked her, and she told me I have a great attitude and a wonderful smile.

It was just what I needed to hear that day and I put the card up in my cubicle.

Sometimes all it takes is a little bit of kindness and it helps someone feel so much better.

Camping on the Rim

Scotty and I spent this weekend camping with family at Woods Canyon Lake, a bit north of Payson, Arizona, on the Mogollon Rim. It was fun; we played games, sat around the campfire, hiked to the rim, gathered acorns, and played frisbee.

The downside came at the end - as we were driving away the car hit a rock and punctured the oil pan and probably the transmission pan. This is the second time it's happened. Last time was in my in-laws' neighborhood after a big storm about a year ago.

My mom and stepdad were lifesavers and towed us home. Now we need to get the parts from the dealership and my awesome stepdad will fix Prudence up for us.

I wish it hadn't happened - but the weekend was a lot of fun, anyway.


Our campsite


Alicia's dog Pepper


Us :)


The Mogollon Rim






Morning light

Introducing: Isis

I just realized there's a new member of our family I haven't posted about yet.


Her name is Isis. She's a beautiful, small, black and white kitty who made herself known at the end of last month. I think she was living as a stray around our house at least since we moved in, possibly longer, since I had seen glimpses of a tuxedo cat before. She could have been left by the previous owners of the house.



I saw her outside one morning, got her close enough to pet her, and left some food and water out for her. The next morning she was in our backyard on the porch, meowing at us. Our screen door is missing the lower half of the screen, and when I opened the back door, there she was, practically already inside the house.



I wasn't sure about keeping her at first and asked around for anyone else to take her in, not really wanting her to go to the humane society or animal control. Pretty soon, though, it became apparent that this was her home, and so we decided to keep her.



She's been to the vet, and has probably already been spayed (she has a scar where it would have been done). She's a good cat, the only problems coming from our other, jealous cat, Sneakers. He's an old man and is grumpy sometimes, but we're working on it.



I'm glad to have her here.

Learn Something New Tuesday 9/13/11

 
 

 1.  Are you shopping for Christmas already?
Sort of. I am keeping an eye out for things I know people will like, but I haven't actually bought anything yet.

2. If you are married, do you get along with your inlaws?
Yes :)

3. What is the last magazine you read?
It's been a long time since I've read a magazine but I guess it would be Sky & Telescope. I was flipping through it the other day at work.

4. Do you play any video games?
Yes! I love video games.

5.would you rather donate one million dollars or keep it?
Well, of course I would rather keep it. I'd probably donate some of it but yeah...

6.How many tickets [if any] have you gotten?
Let me think... I think two. It's been a long time since I've gotten a ticket. One was for an accident and the other was a red light camera when I judged the distance to the intersection a little wrong.

Love Summer.