Nothing But a Hound Dog

I was recently able to catch some of the many sounds of Zoe on video. She definitely has certain barks and sounds for various occasions. She will allows bellow and carry-on when her toy or chewie gets stuck under a table or somewhere she can't reach.

I also wanted to pass along one of my other favorite dog things- the Amiglo blinking dog collar that Zoe wears every morning when we run. She runs off leash in the park, in the very early and very dark hours of the morning. The darker it is, the more I can see her blinking collar- sometimes up to several hundred yards away. I've had them for years, and they've really lasted through all the rough wear, bugs, sweat, water and dog garbage.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: We're so lucky to live near a nice park with rabbits and ducks and a great jogging trail.

Office Inspiration

I must confess that my desire for an aqua/teal and brown office was inspired by a pair of rugs. Now, I've had a thing for aqua since I planed my wedding, and I just can't seem to get past my love of the color. It must be the new pink ;)

The top rug is one of four from our hallway, and the one just above is the run from our bathroom.

I spent time at Home Depot gathering every color of blue/teal/aqua/turquoise I could lay my hands on, and then began agonizing over which ones. The actual one I chose was in the garage with all the supplies, but it's in the range of all of these above.

So- dark blue on the bottom with the white lattice and lighter blue on top. Currently, there is some hideous fake wood flooring in the room that will just have to go away very quickly. I intend to replace it with a dark shades of longer boards instead of squared.

I searched all over for just the right desk. I tried to get something smaller, but H talked me into the bigger corner desk. I decided to go with white to match all the trim work, and to complement the darker wood floors.

I also purchased a convertible lounger. It will be a great place to sit and read books or catch a quick nap. I'm hoping to get flooring to match this shade of wood and add some blue throw pillows to jazz it up a bit.

Finally (for now) I also picked up this matching drawer/table to set next to the lounge chair. It will be in white to match the desk, and will probably have a light for reading.

The only thing I'm undecided upon is what to do for shelving on the walls. I really liked this arrangement for wall shelves from the Container Store, with the white shelf tracks and the dark brown shelves.

Or this set/style, which has silver tracks with white boards. I'm so torn! Any thoughts or suggestions?

I'm super excited! I can't wait for it to all come together really soon!

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: We're headed to Austin to visit some friends today.

Bye-Bye Pretty Pretty Princess

This is how the front room looked when I bought my house 3 years ago.

This is how it looked last week. A Saturday without plans is a dangerous thing in my house- I'll just make up a project. I was finally tired of my pink office, and ready to re-decorate. That's the same desk & table set I've had since my first house. My pink papasan chair from my pink bedroom, and leftover wedding stuff sits in the orange container. Some cheapo shelves and a dog add the finishing touches.

Let's not forget the desk chair I've had since college in Austin, circa 2000. Or the lovely angel painting H gave me for our first Christmas together. Or the random Christian wall decoration I received as a house warming gift, hanging in a random left-behind nail in the wall. I'll find a good home for it one day, but I just stuck it on the wall to get it out of the way. ;)

I assume some little girl loved her room, with the ballet shoes, stars, pink crown and flowers. It really didn't bother me, as I'd obviously been fine with it for years.

However, H had been nagging me to re-do my room and make it look "grown up". So Saturday- we headed to Home Depot and I picked out some color samples.

I spent Saturday afternoon prepping the room by cleaning out a few things, wiping down the walls and taping off the chair rails and crown molding.

Sunday after church, I put primer on top of the pink since I'm going with a lighter shade over the bright pink.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Mom is coming over today to help me finish with the painting.

Soy Glazed Salmon

I was so happy I decided to push myself to cook more and give salmon a try on my continuing quest to improve my cooking skills. It's my favorite fish & it is so freaking easy! I can't believe I've never baked it before.

I grabbed a fresh salmon steak from the grocery store, and threw it in a pan.

I added the topping mix below, which took less than 5 minutes and smelled yummy. Throw it in the oven for a few minutes while I prepared some sides.

It turned out SOOO good! I loved how easy it was. I will be coking salmon again soon, but will probably be trying a different topping or sauce.

Taking the recipe this time from Martha Stewart.



1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
4 salmon steaks (6 ounces each)


Heat broiler, with rack set 4 inches from heat. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil; set aside. In a small bowl, whisk together soy sauce, honey, and ginger.
Place salmon on prepared baking sheet; brush with soy mixture. Broil until browned on top and opaque throughout, 5 to 6 minutes.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Today is like Friday! Yea for 4 day work weeks!

Garden Week 12

I'm waaay late on last week's garden update. I've been swamped with photo things & paint things. We've had some wild weather around here & one corner of our shade broke, but I was able to fix it. The plants all look like they are doing really well on the cages.

The watermelons are still getting bigger.

We enjoyed some of our cucumbers. We harvest 2 more for a total of 5 cucumbers so far from our garden.

I don't think the new cilantro are going to make it. I'm about to give up on the whole potted garden idea.

We've got tons of other cucumbers coming in, and they are neat to watch change from flower to pepper looking to a final huge cucumber.

Huge like this one!

We also started getting some flowers on the tomato plants, so they might be bearing fruit soon too.

This is on another row of tomatoes. We've got 3 rows, with 5 plants each.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: We bought tickets to the soccer game in 2 weeks.

Little Clicker

While recently scanning more old photos and albums, I ran across this little gem of a photo that I instantly loved. Me & mom cuddled up. Christmas decorations out. Hideous old orange curtains. Matching red nightgowns. Polaroid photo laying around. Box fan to keep cool- even in winter.

Camera in my hand.

I also recently dug out all my APS photos- which were circa mid-high school days though college. I would love to have those digitally and be able to share them and write about the stories behind many of them. Last week, I sent 58 rolls of APS film to Scan My Photos to turn them into digital files I can share with everybody. They offered a great deal for $5/roll plus free return shipping. Can't beat that price for priceless memories ;)

I received all my photos back in less than 2 weeks- all photos burned to a disk and scanned at high resolution. They even included a little note explaining why they couldn't scan 3 of the rolls. I'll be spending the next few weeks strolling down memory lane and hopefully sharing some fun, old photos from days gone by.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: I love, love LOVE digital photography!

Haley's Recital

Last weekend, Haley had her dance recital at the Hobby Center. You never really realize how much light your camera needs (wants) until you go to a really dark place and try to shot some action shots.

She was in 4 routines- tap, jazz, ballet and hip-hop (modern). I sat through about 21 acts in the first half, and she danced all of hers in the second half. We were sitting waaaay back, but I snuck up into an empty seat to try to get some better pics of her.

I took TONS of photos, and even got a few good ones. This was her tap routine. She's been dancing for at least 9 years, and really enjoys it.

I made the total rookie mistake of running out of memory! I'd filled up my cards with crazy brides that morning, and forgot to check that I might fire several hundred photos during her dance routines.

This was her last dance, and I liked it the best. Pretty flow-y dress that was night and bright for my camera. :)

I learned a lot photographing this event, and I'm sure I'll be back at it again next year.

Instant flashback to November of 1999. I must have been home for Thanksgiving and went to pick Haley up at her dance studio. She would have been a little over 4 here.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Yea for July! Fun stuff coming this month- painting my office, weekend in Austin, Dynamo soccer game, Harvest Festival at the winery and much more!