Patio renovation...part 2

Well, it's been over a month since I last blogged about our patio renovation, and the more you get to know me, you will come to understand that I am a prefessional procrastinator who is married to a professional procrastinator.  To our credit, we have had a lot of things going on but I'll keep it real and tell you the truth:  we have been to busy with work (him) and having fun (both of us).  But now, we must get serious!  Procrastinators unite!  Tomorrow.  Ahem.

So far, the flagstone is clean and has a polyurethane coat on it.  I want to get a second coat down this week.  My husband and I painted a bunch of the wood we are using since we are sloppy painters and didn't want to make a mess on the stone or the screening.  Also, the framing for the screening is partially done.  Maybe the next time I blog about it, it will be finished!  Who am I kidding?

Here are some pictures:

So far, so good.  Let's just hope it keeps going that way!  For any of you working on home improvement projects, you are not alone.  Don't watch too much DIY network or HGTV.  That stuff will just lead to more projects that will inevitably lead you to ask yourself the question, "When did I become such a grown up?"

Patio Renovation...Part 1

My lovely husband likes to keep me on my toes and his latest way of doing that is to start a home improvement project.  I can tell when he's got an idea cooking because he folds his arms and squints a little and starts a sentence with, "What would you think if we..." and we end up doing something crazy like remodeling something or opening a book store.  I decided long ago to just go with it because it usually ends up pretty cool.  If it was left to me, nothing would ever change.  Ever.  But, that's not how it is, or even how it should be, so I guess it's quite a blessing we ended up together.

If you are not into home improvement projects, skip this post because it is completely eaten up with it.

Stage one in the renovation was to clear out all the junk on the patio.  Dog houses included.  This thoroughly confused one of our dogs and I watched her sniff around where her house had been and she looked at me as though asking for help.  I showed her where her house was and she huffed about it for a minute before going in.  We had a TON of stuff out there, man!  A literal TON.  Well, maybe a half ton.  Okay, a quarter ton.  That's still a lot, right? 

The next step was to power wash the flagstone.  I always thought it was pretty, but with it being outside, it was hard to keep clean and I never noticed how dirty it really was.  Here is a  5-year-old picture of the flagstone before washing it.  Also, our patio is now covered.  And I am no longer that thin.

And, a picture of the flagstone with a dog sitting on it:

I couldn't help myself.  She's just so darn cute. 

So we got all the stuff off the patio and now our yard looks like Sanford and Son set up shop there.  I am a bit of a neat freak so it is vexing to say the least but my mantra since starting this project is, "It will all be worth it in the end".  Actually, I have a lot of mantras lately but this one applies to a whole mess of things in my life.  Maybe you should try it too! Or "Count to 10" or "Take a deep breath" or "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it, people like me".  Give it a try.  Or don't.

More on the renovation in the coming weeks.

Endless love

Well, in my last post I announced my upcoming anniversary.  We took a great little trip to a spa resort called Ojo Caliente in New Mexico.  We got to walk around in our robes and a heat induced daze for 2 nights and 3 days.  Our stay included two 50-minute massages and since my husband doesn't "do" massages, I got to have his!  That means two massages in as many days!  My favorite masseuse there was a lady named Laurian who uses hot stones as a part of her regular massage.  She had a wonderful touch and her room was very warm.  Just know that if you go to her, she is very hippy-ish and talks about energy and grace a lot, which was fine with me, but some people think that's weird.  Anyhoodle, here are a few pictures of the place.

                               

Above is the view of the front of the plaza cottages.

                                           

View out the back door of the plaza cottages.

                   

This is my lovely husband ordering some delicious food from the Artesian Restaurant at Ojo Caliente.  Yummy!  And the food, too.

The first night we were there I had the pork osso buco, with grilled polenta, and a roasted tomato and a red chile pozole sauce.  Good stuff!  My husband had the enchiladas, topped with traditional green chile, New Mexico style with a fried egg on top.  It also came with a side of jicama peanut slaw.  He said the enchiladas were good, and I'm sure they were, but he'll eat anything.  The jicima peanut slaw was so good, I was trying to dissect it so I could make it at home.  So good I got it again the next day. 

One more thing about the food:  if you eat lunch there and you like fish, you have to try the Ojo fish tacos!  I almost died they were so good!  All the flavor combinations sent me over the edge.  Can you tell me likes me food?!  It had mango salsa, red chile sauce, mahi mahi, cabbage, lime, cilantro all wrapped up in 2 corn tortillas...oh, the humanity!  I also had some more of the jicima peanut slaw and ate until I felt my gut pop.  Then it was naptime.  Then it was sauna and steamroom time.  Back to being dazed and confused.  It was wonderful.

Sorry I didn't take more pictures of the resort. I couldn't really think all that clearly. Remember that heat induced daze I told you about?

As we left beautiful sunny New Mexico, we headed north to Moffat, Colorado to Joyful Journey hot springs.  I'm a big believer in omens and this what lay ahead of us:

Just a few minutes after I took this picture, there was a loud ***POP*** followed by a few expletives, a panicked look on my husband's face, and some expertly executed maneuvering of his part.  We had a blowout 2 MILES away from our destination.  TWO MILES!!!  We got pulled over, where there was no shoulder and my husband changed the tire.  It was windy and cold, but I had to stand behind the truck to make sure everyone saw that we were stopped and didn't plow into us and, you know, kill my beloved.  That would've been very bad.  Anyway, we got the tire fixed and went on our merry way.

We just stayed one night and really only went to meet up with two of the cutest people I've ever known, my husband's cousin, Jessica and her husband, Dusty.  I sure wish they lived closer so we could hang out more.  We soaked in the springs a bit, but after Ojo Caliente, I wasn't quite able to handle the heat for very long and we all decided we should go out to eat.  Yay!  My favorite hobby!  We went to eat at a place I cannot for the life of me remember the name of where I made the mistake of ordering the spiciest dish I have ever attempted to eat.  Note: attempted.  It was chipotle chicken with gorgonzola and bacon.  I thought my mouth would blister!  In Oklahoma, if you order chipotle anything, it's a little smoky and a little spicy, but flavorful and enjoyable, but apparently in Colorado, chipotle means BURN YOUR FACE OFF.  I don't know about you, but I don't like burning my face off. 

We had a great time and left the next day.  As we hit the open road, we noticed our truck riding a little rough and putting out smoke.  We thought maybe it was an issue with altitude, but soon realized it was something major.  We burned through 8 quarts of oil and buckets of sweat on the way home.  Got it checked out---engine's blown.  Great.  Vacation is over!  To top it all off, my hormones decided to go out of control the day after we got back.  Please keep my huband in your prayers beacause he is a great guy and is amazing at dealing with me and my insanity at the least convenient times.

Since I didn't take as many pictures as I would've liked, the links to Ojo Caliente and Joyful Journey are listed below:

 http://ojocalientesprings.com/index.php

http://www.joyfuljourneyhotsprings.com/

In Spite of Ourselves...

This month I will be celebrating 10 years of marriage to my best friend/arch nemisis.  He is turning out to be a better man than I ever thought he could be.  In recanting our first meeting, my husband informed me that he thought my best friend, Laura and I were a couple of bitches.  Hot bitches, of course, but bitches nonetheless.  My husband and I were a hot mess when we first got together, and sometimes we still are, but have learned to roll with it and not to take anything too seriously.  We share a most excellent country life together that I never would have pictured myself in, but I wouldn't trade it for the world.  One thing I've learned in being married to my husband is that if you don't have bad intentions, you can't go wrong.  Oh, and to expect the unexpected.  He has turned my life into quite the ride.  In celebration of our "wuv...twoo wuv", I give you our song.  Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwJ2IzQTnhI