Broomball

Not just for college kids anymore!

Ryan joined a broom ball league with a local church after being invited by one of his co-workers. He was so excited to play that he invited me along to watch. I was nervous about standing in a crowd of people that I didn't know and shivering while we sipped hot chocolate, but we had a great time.

Sadly, Ryan's team lost, but I got to have a great conversation with a few of the other wives/girlfriends of his team members.

Ryan will be playing each Sunday evening until the end of February. As much as I'd love to go and watch each game, I think cheering him on in the inaugural one was good enough :)


Chatting with his team mates before the start of the game

IN ACTION! (Ryan's the one with the ball)

Curiosity Killed the Cat...

I'm sure you've heard the term Curiosity Killed the Cat. But have you heard the term Curiosity makes silly dogs get into precarious positions? No? Oh well, then I just made it up.

Since Lola is now such a big girl at 1 year old, Ryan and I decided to take out the small barriers (cork board and picture) that were keeping her from going behind the couch in our family room. See when Lola was a puppy she liked to find the smallest places and just lay down inconspicuously, and sometimes we couldn't find her! But since there are cords behind the couch we didn't want to risk her biting the cords and getting electrocuted, but she's far too large, weighing in at 58 lbs nowadays, to get back there.

Or so we thought. As we were watching TV one night we noticed Lola wasn't lying in her normal spot. And after looking to the left we noticed she had shimmied her way back behind the side table to check out what was behind the couch.

I have no idea how she got back there. But getting out was quite the process. Let's just say that the lamp barely survived and the glass of water was no more.

The very next day I took Lola with me to PetSmart to get her some more food. As we were walking down the aisle, she abruptly stopped and stared at these birds. She could've been there for hours if I'd let her. She is one curious pup.

Mom's Best Friend

Last week I showed you how Lola and Ryan were best of friends. But I must admit that Lola has a tendency to want to be with Mom sometimes too :)

One weekend morning, I decided to go lay down on the sofa in our fireplace room. Not more than 30 seconds passed, and I had a friend join me on the sofa. She was quite pleased with herself in how she wiggled in past my legs and up against the backrest.


And then she layed down on my leg. Bliss.


Have you seen a happier dog? Hanging on the sofa with mom lounging in the sun light, it just doesn't get better than this.

Avocado & Corn Salad with Cilantro Vinaigrette

THE LOVE AFFAIR WITH PINTEREST CONTINUES!!

I cannot tell you how often I am checking Pinterest, because it is always. I think Dr. Suess would have described it like this:

I will pin while I walk
I will pin while I talk
I will pin on the pot
I will pin cold or hot
I will pin, yes of course I will
I will pin up or downhill
I will pin day or night
I will pin with all my might
Pinning, Pinning all day long
With Pinterest you can't go wrong

Ok, now that I've got that out...I have to share with you a recipe I made via Pinterest.

Avocado & Corn Salad with Cilantro Vinaigrette. This was so yummy!!!


Not only is it healthy for you with all that vegetable goodness, it was also a snap to make. Literally from start to finish it took my 15 minutes. However I can't take credit for this goodness, that goes to the lovely blog of Authentic Suburban Gourmet.

I took a few liberties with the recipe to make mine even faster:
* I used canned corn instead of the grilled corn she recommended (but this summer, I may just tried the grilled!)
* I used only red cherry tomatoes
* And I used dried cilantro rather than fresh cilantro for the dressing

Amberly Tested, Husband Approved

Family Calendar

After grossing you all out with the pink eye story from yesterday, I figured I should play it safe with some calendar shots today. This Christmas I made family calendars for the Thomas side, every sibling and my mom and dad received one. I tried my best to make sure that the pictures inside were relevant to the month that they would occur, and I added in special dates like birthdays and anniversaries.

My sister started this tradition a few years back and because she needs to focus on baking that little baby girl, I decided to take over the calendar making. It was so fun to see/hear them all open up their calendars and look through the many pictures and many months of family love.

Even though we don't all live in the same city let alone state, we can still feel like we're together when we catch a glimpse of our calendars.

I placed mine above my computer at work...



...and Jared did the same.



:)

Pink Eye

Its the worst.

I have never had pink eye before this lovely occasion. I remember my brother, Jared having pink eye when he was younger, I think about 6 or 7. That memory sticks in my mind, because he woke up one morning and was screaming and crying. His left eye had crusted shut and he was so scared.

My parents took him to the doctor and he got some eye drops prescribed. And I'm sure as any parent knows, little kids don't like taking medicine especially medicine that goes in their eye.

I'm not quite sure where I got pink eye, but I hear that its highly contagious, so once a kid touches his eye and then the shopping cart at Target or the hand rail in the elevator, and you're the next one to touch it-- you're the lucky winner of a brand new, swollen, irritated pink eye. What does she win Ron?

Last Friday I noticed that my lymph nodes were quite swollen and my eye had started to swell. I figured it was just some allergic reaction to some new makeup I had purchased. I called my mom quick to hear about Jared's symptoms when he was younger and I called my mother-in-law (who is a nurse) to see if she thought I had pink eye too.

When I woke up the next morning with a crusty, swollen and itchy eye- I knew it had to be pink eye. yuck. Thankfully, after a quick trip to the quick care center and some eye drops later, things are getting better. Thanks to this little guy...


...oh Sulfacetamide Sodium Ophthalmic Solution how I love thee.

Man's Best Friend

a little math for you...
1 adorable puppy + the man that you love = heart melting

I caught this moment the other night while we were lounging about doing nothing in particular. Ryan was sitting on the floor and I was laying on the couch behind him. Lola came back from eating her dinner to sit right next to him. And not more than 5 seconds later, Ryan's arm was around her and they were watching basketball together. A man and his best friend.

I am so incredibly glad I had my phone on me to take this picture. It makes my heart smile every time I see it.