Waffle-filled Weekend

Do you ever get just the silliest notions in your head of random things you want to accomplish before you die? One of my many silly notions that I've never been able to let go of is that I wanted an orange cat, male preferred, and I would name him Waffles.

On Saturday morning, Brian and I both woke up craving waffles. But being the lazy millennials we are, we refused to prepare our own waffles. Therefore, we got dressed and took the motorcycle over to our new favorite local spot, The Waffle Iron. I went with a sweet waffle and Brian went with savory. We shared a little.

A while after consuming our gourmet waffles, we decided to wander on over to Petsmart to check out the adoptable cats. We've been doing this lately, toying with the idea of getting a second cat if we just so happened to meet the right one. Well, on Saturday the stars aligned because there were adoptable KITTENS. And there was the most adorable, playful, clumsy, ORANGE, MALE one. I looked into his sweet green eyes and then turned to look at Brian. That's when we both whispered in voices of utmost reverence, "Waffles . . ." 

We then held him and played with him for a bit and it was settled. This cat was my silly notion coming true. He was meant to be Waffles Weller. And of course, I'm telling my side of the story here because it's the only side I know, but I think Brian was even more excited about taking Waffles home than I was. He grew up his whole life thinking he didn't care for cats. He's making up for his lost childhood of being surrounded by evil barn cats. Anyway, I filled out the paperwork and Brian shopped around for some toys and kitten food. Just like that, Waffles was ours.

If you are in the Cache Valley area and ever see the cats at Petsmart, they are actually cats rescued by an organization called Four Paws Rescue. This is the same organization that we adopted Munch (our dog) from. I can't say enough good things about Four Paws. They care about the animals so much. They're a no-kill shelter and they do their very best to get all their animals foster parents. This way the animals can flourish and be around other pets and people before going to their forever homes. I highly recommend adopting from Four Paws if you are searching for a pup or cat to love on.

It's only been a few days and Waffles is already right at home. He's a social thing. He also hasn't developed his coordination very much yet. That whole idea that cats always land on their feet? Yeah, I don't think that's true with kittens. Luna, our firstborn cat, had a much more difficult time adjusting to Waffles being on her turf. But hey, we didn't even warn her. We just came home with a new cat that just so happens to attack her tail 24/7, so I can't blame her for being a little prissy over it. We've basically rocked her whole world. The first day she basically just followed him around and hissed at his butt, but I'm happy to say she is now back to her normal self. The two of them have started playing together and even cuddling. Luna also tries to bathe him when she gets a chance (such a good big sister).

So . . . we are officially the creeps that have more animals living with us than people. My friends are all having babies right now. Me? I adopt cats. You can't leave a baby home alone or expect it to use the litter box. Cats are easy stuff.

Sunday Best: Pro-Leggings As Pants

top: Smith's Marketplace, cardigan: Smith's Marketplace, leggings: AdornIt, scarf: AdornIt, boots: TJMaxx 

I've heard a lot of debate lately on leggings and how they shouldn't be worn as pants or worn at all, because apparently men turn into brutish beasts at the very moment they see the female specimen sporting these tight bottoms. 

Okay, I'm being a little sarcastic. But I think I liked how some random thing on Twitter put it best: 

Dear Leggings-Aren't-Pants-People, 

We know. That's why we wear them. We don't want to wear pants. 

So really, stop getting your panties in a bundle over those of us who wear leggings. At least we aren't nude. If you don't want to wear them, that's great! But we have bigger problems to tackle in this world besides worrying about what another person chooses to wear.

Since I'm a wild child, I've posted some pics of my legging-wearing booty above. I sported this outfit for a laid-back Saturday of errand-running . . . because leggings are the best for that. I'm also getting really edgy and wearing skull shirts now. But only if the skull is smiling and has heart eyes. Oh, and wait until you check out my socks. They are super controversial . . . 

  Really though, aren't they the cutest? I'm that weird lady who loves holiday socks. Brian gave these to me last week and you would have thought he surprised me with a dream vacation or something. I mean . . . socks + terribly bad puns + cute animals = my fave. 

Have a great week! Do not judge a girl by the leggings on her legs but by what's in her heart. I'm deep, I know. 

Trespassers

Our long weekend was a good one. Brian and I spent the entirety of our Saturday out in our yard. It was an exhausting day of planting, digging, mowing, and running into plenty of tree roots with our shovels (I'm convinced that our whole yard is just an entanglement of tree roots). We went to bed that night tired but happy. I love yard work. I would do yard work over house work any day of the week. We also put in a fire pit, which I was very excited about. So excited that I posted about it on Facebook.

On Sunday after church, we packed a bag and went to my in-laws. We would spend Memorial Day with them, visiting graves and getting our first rays of sun out on the boat. On Sunday night, I got an Instagram notification. I had been tagged in a photo. Apparently a couple of my high school buddies decided to drop by the bungalow, wanting to burn stuff with me in my new fire pit. This is the photo they tagged me in . . .

Captioned: Visiting our pal Kelsey! #probablyshouldacalledahead #watchdog #didntevenbark #cantfigureoutthethreehousedoor #wecametoburnstuff #stillchillinontheporch #munchthepooch

I was pretty distraught I missed my dear friends, more distraught that my dog makes friends with complete strangers who sneak in our yard, but very amused by the photos.

Then on Monday morning, I found this lovely on Facebook . . .

Not only do they sit on my porch and befriend my dog, but the next day they meet up with MY family for breakfast (this was completely accidental, they did not plan it).

Finally on Monday evening, we made things right with a weenie roast in my yard. Good friends are the best. I hope I can always stay in touch with these hooligans from my high school years.

Now . . . who else wants to come over and burn stuff?!

Team Munch!

Last weekend, we ran a dog-friendly 5k. All the proceeds from the race went to Four Paws Rescue, which is where we rescued our Munch from. I was pretty upset because days before the race, I caught a really terrible cold. If I were better at resting when I'm sick and paying attention to my body, I wouldn't have run the race. But I'm not good at resting. I'm the most terrible at resting. I can also be really stubborn. So Friday night, I was set on running and nothing could change my mind.

Brian and I got really festive and made our own race shirts that had Munch's face plastered on them. With how cute the shirts turned out, I'm thinking we need to start making and selling Munch merchandise ;).

Saturday morning, I could hardly breathe. I ran the slowest 5k of my life, but I finished and didn't finish last, so I'm okay with it.

It was such a good time to see other dog lovers come out to the race with their canine friends. There was a man with the most beautiful German Shepherd that I wanted to dognap, but I controlled myself. It was also a lot of fun because Munch basically had a fan club. All of the volunteers from the shelter recognized Munch right away. He was pretty happy to see all his old friends.

Now I think we need an excuse to make a Luna shirt.  

Love Week

Valentine's Day of 2014 was my favorite to date. I'm finally to the point where I love Valentine's Day. I always thought it was corny (which I guess it kind of is). I think in the past, I had the wrong idea of what Valentine's Day meant. I always thought it was just a day for lovers, and that is how it is widely and popularly celebrated. However, I realize now it's not just a day for your significant other. It's not a day meant to make those without feel lonely. You don't have to be shot by Cupid's arrow to enjoy Valentine's Day.

This year, for me, it was a day to really notice all the people I'm surrounded by who I love and appreciate. And I'm so blessed to be surrounded by so many. It was a day to celebrate my husband, my family members, friends, co-workers, my cat (we can't forget my cat). I even started to realize my appreciation for strangers. I was kinder and more talkative to my cashier at the grocery store; I caught myself with a giddy smile plastered on my face as I watched the crossing guard guide the middle school kids across the road near my home. Love is not just for lovers. Love is for every single one of us. You deserve to be loved. I hope you allow yourself to love and be loved not only on February 14th . . . but each day throughout the year.

I had so many great experiences last week. Since I'm lazy and don't want to write a novel, here's a bullet point list of some things I loved about Love Week.

• I hosted Miss USU and each of the girls were wonderful. Not only that, but I met tons of nice people after the show who came and said hello to me. Oh, and I got a delicious loaf of cinnamon bread as a thank you gift for emceeing. 

• For Activity Days, we learned about budgeting and had a banana split bar. The girls all received an amount of play money and then had to buy everything from their bowl to their ice cream toppings. I planned the whole activity and it was fun to see it all come together and watch the girls enjoy it. Then my heart melted when one of the girls didn't have enough money to buy an Oreo, so another girl gave her one of her dollars. I tell ya, my heart was a puddle. 

• I spent "Galentine's Day" with my mom and grandma. We went out for lunch and antique shopping. My grandma, who is the sweetest, also bought me an antique ring. 

• Pizza and cookies at work on Valentine's Day. I love it when I don't have to plan lunch. 

• I won an awesome Valentine's Gift Package from the Cache Valley Mall. I'm now a firm believer in those silly Facebook giveaways. 

• I got to read a bunch of hilarious awkward date stories from our VFX listeners. I haven't laughed that hard in a while. 

• Brian didn't get me roses on Valentine's Day. He totally surprised me with tickets to Ellie Goulding's concert! I almost hyperventilated. As if things couldn't get better, he put them inside of a cat card. 

• We had a quiet and romantic Valentine's Day evening by getting Chinese takeout and running off to the family cabin. 

• My mother-in-law is the most thoughtful person and left a basket of goodies and movies at the cabin for us, complete with a plate of chocolate-covered strawberries in the fridge. Love her. 

• Oh wait, she also prepared us an epic brunch the following day. Waffles with whipped cream, fruit, sausage, orange juice. That woman needs to open a bed & breakfast.  

• Sleeping in. Enough said. 

• Free Olive Garden. 

• Hot tubbing with friends.

• Waking up to Brian carrying in a tray with breakfast on it (he knows food in bed is the way to my heart). 

• Winter Olympics. 

Love is nice. I think I need to work on celebrating it more every day. 

Shuffle

It's nice to be sitting at my own computer at home. Not only that, but I'm facing a window and the tree in my yard is making me smile. The green leaves are starting to glow yellow with autumn. I'm beginning to feel at home in our new place. Things are still in boxes and it will be a long while until we are completely settled, but I have a bed to sleep in and I finally went grocery shopping so all is well.

The past week has been a whirlwind. My computer was packed up so I was unable to blog. I was so busy at work too that I wouldn't have had time to blog whether my computer was in a box or on a desk. I am also going out of town with my mom all of next week and I don't even want to think about the packing. The trip will be nice. Packing, not so much.

I'm looking forward to a weekend filled with catching up and relaxing. Conference Weekend is always a goody. Things will be even better if USU beats BYU tonight.

I've decided to do this new thang called "Shuffle". Since I am a radio deejay and all, I figure I should incorporate some more music into my blog. So, here's the deal. I put my iPod on shuffle. The first 10 songs to come up are the ones I share here. Although I deejay on a Top 40 station, my taste in music is very broad and random. Hope you find something below that makes you want to sing in the shower.

1. Almost Lover - Fine Frenzy

2. Mrs. Robinson - Simon and Garfunkel 

3. The Quiz - Hello Saferide 

4. Corona and Lime - Shwayze

5. Sweater Weather - The Neighbourhood

6. Love Is Blindness - Jack White

7. Typical - Tickle Me Pink

8. Angel - Aerosmith

9. Begin Again - Taylor Swift

10. Give Me Everything - Pitbull (feat. Ne-Yo, Afrojack & Nayer

How was that for random? Well, gotta go dress in more layers and head off to the football game. Let's go, Aggies!

Unplugged

Last weekend, we hiked to what is believed to be the oldest tree in the state of Utah (Jardine Juniper hike). It's basically in our backyard! It was a long 12 mile hike, so we decided to camp near the trail head so we could get an early start.

When Brian and I first got married, we were super paranoid about becoming that couple. You know, the kind that drops off the face of the planet and never does anything with anyone else but each other? We were constantly doing fun things, but never wanting to do them without a group of people to join us. We wanted to do everything with friends. It's nice to have friends and I feel like we've been blessed to have such an amazing support group. But I'm beginning to learn that it is more than okay to have fun alone together, just as a couple.

Brian and I are also pretty attached to technology at times. I hate to admit that, but we are. Our jobs often times force us to be. I'm constantly checking twitter, news websites and Facebook to see if there is any local news I need to get on top of, and Brian often is replying to customers via email. The world can get so loud and distracting at times.

We needed this weekend to truly have "us" time. No other people. No cell phone service. No internet. It was amazing to completely unplug and pay attention to what was happening around us, in the moment. On Friday night, we huddled around the fire and just talked about our relationship and our future. Then we went to bed in our little tent, the sound of churning water in the riverbed nearby put us to sleep.

Then there was the hike. I'm telling you, being in the mountains is the cure for just about any problem. We walked, talked, laughed, slipped a few times on loose rocks, ate Scooby Doo fruit snacks, and often times we just stopped in awe of the landscape that surrounded us. This world is a beautiful place. Even that twisted and gnarly old tree is beautiful. Actually, it's especially beautiful.
 

Five Feel Goods

Just wanted to spread the joy of five things that have been making me feel good today (besides the fact that it's the start of a long weekend). 

1. I've had this obsession with listening to 70s Folk Music on Pandora every morning while I get ready. Through doing so, I've fallen in love with Fleetwood Mac. Two of my favorites from them are The Chain and Landslide.

2. The "Meow Loafers" from Delias. I'm googly-eyed over the black ones. I could wear Luna shoes everywhere I go.

3. The messy bob sported by Kate Beckinsale. Pretty sure it's a faux bob but I think it would be a cute actual bob too.

4. Munchkin is this strange card game that our friends introduced to us recently and I think we will buy our own in the near future. If you love board and card games, look into this one!

5. A quote I discovered a couple nights ago on Pinterest and something I want to ask myself regularly. Wouldn't it be great to do something for the first time every day?

Enjoy your weekend! Mine will be full of hiking, shopping and hopefully some boating too!

Best Photobomb Ever

Meet my aunt Amy; marathon runner, dessert-making master, and pro goofball.

Have a great weekend. I'll be spending mine with BWell, celebrating two years of marriage. We're old fogies now.

That time I almost met Robert Redford

One of the many pretty views at Sundance Resort

Okay, not really. But a girl can dream. A couple weekends ago, Brian won a weekend getaway to Sundance Resort since his Allstate agency is doing such a grand job. I was proud of him, and way stoked to get away for a couple of days to stay in the mountains. We drove through Park City on Friday night where we stopped for dinner. By the time we got to the resort, it was pretty late so we went up to our cozy cabin and decided to watch a movie. Luckily, in the lobby there was a library of Robert Redford movies (he owns Sundance Resort) so we checked out Butch Kassidy and the Sundance Kid. 

The next morning, we went to a big breakfast, courtesy of Allstate. All the other agents who won the trip were also there. We enjoyed fruit, waffles, and biscuits with gravy out on the deck of the lodge where we enjoyed this view:

Everything was so peaceful until a lady who works with Brian often approached us and said, "Did you see Robert Redford last night? He's staying at the resort this weekend. I saw him."

At that point, my heart started racing and I had to stop myself from freaking out. I love Robert Redford. Even though he's now old enough to be my grandfather, I think he's one of the loveliest men in Hollywood to ever live. Just sayin'. I immediately started interrogating her, asking where he was, what he acted like, how long he was staying, what he was wearing . . . you know, just your typical stalker questions.

Needless to say, I kept my eyes peeled for the remainder of our stay, but saw no Mr. Redford. The best I could do was the collection of DVDs from the front lobby.

But we did go on an epic hike to see a waterfall instead. That lightened my spirits quite a bit. A popular hike for the area is the hike to Stewart Falls. Except the majority of people pay to ride the ski lift most of the way up, so I'm not sure if you can really call it a hike. BWell and I are cheap wads, so we searched the forest for the unmarked trail. We wandered for quite some time, but eventually got on track and made it to the falls. It was scorching hot that afternoon too. So after being covered in dust and marching our way through the high 90 degree weather, we gladly hiked up to the higher fall and took a little dip in the pool. Talk about an instant cool down. Ice ice baby. That's how cold the water was.

I'm still thoroughly convinced I live in an area with some of the best hiking in the country (and the best part is that no one else has caught on, so I get most of the trails to myself), but I'll admit that this hike was pretty darn cool. Provo Canyon, you got me. And BYU peeps, you really ought to start bragging up this Stewart Falls hike over that whole climb to the Y. I would much rather see a waterfall at the end of my hike over getting to look at Provo City. But that's just me and I'm weird. But seriously, Stewart Falls was breathtaking..

Sunday Best: Sundance Style

fedora: Delia's, vest: Smith's, top: Head Over Heels, skirt: Alloy, sandals: Head Over Heels necklace: Buckle

After a stressful week at work, a weekend getaway at Sundance Resort is just what the doctor ordered. It was nice spending time tucked up in the mountains with my main squeeze, BWell. We stayed in a quaint cabin where we watched Robert Redford movies late into the night. Most of Saturday was spent in hiking clothes, getting filthy as we hiked up to Stewart Falls (it was gorgeous). However, into the afternoon, I cleaned up a bit and we headed into Park City where we hit up the outlets. Brian was in great need of clothes (he only owned two pairs of shorts before our outing) and I needed new running shoes. Then we came back to the resort and had dinner. The only way the day could have ended better was if we met Robert Redford (he was staying at Sundance this weekend too!). 

Have I ever mentioned I have this big fat celebrity crush on Robert Redford? Yeah, he's old enough to be my grandpa. But seriously. Plus, Jeremiah Johnson is one of my very favorite movies.

PS- Follow Little Bird on bloglovin if you know what's good for you. Google Reader is getting the ax TOMORROW and I really don't want to lose track of you and your bad self. Or if you are my friend on Facebook, I'm constantly annoying everyone by posting links to every latest post. Have a happy week and a grand Independence Day (probably my second favorite holiday after Christmas). Peace.   

Brave Girls Club

Over the course of the last few months, my mom has been taking online art classes. The classes are about much more than just making art though, it's also about finding the everyday beauty in your own life and in yourself. My mom has been making friends all over the country, sending and receiving art in the mail, and she even started her own Etsy shop.

The organization that puts on the art classes is called Brave Girls Club. They also put on art retreats for women. My mom just so happened to win a personal art retreat in an auction, so she invited me and my aunt to join her for a weekend with the Brave Girls.

It was such an enjoyable weekend to get away and go to Boise, spend time with lovely women, eat good food, and make art. Walking into the adorable turquoise "Art Barn" was a dream. The inside was decked out with art. The walls were plastered with colorful and uplifting paintings. When I walked in, I felt like my troubles were swallowed up by the colorful patterns on the walls, ceilings, and floors and in return, I was bombarded by happiness. I felt like Katie from the cartoon of Horton Hears a Who . . . "In my world everyone is a pony, and they all eat rainbows and poop butterflies." If you've never seen Horton Hears a Who, you have no idea what I am talking about. Also, you are missing out.   

I came home feeling inspired, radiant, and uplifted. I highly suggest you get familiar with the ladies at Brave Girls Club. They are doing wonderful work. Their organization is about creating and putting beauty out into the world, and in the process, helping you find your own inner beauty. What could be better than that?

Thanks, Brave Girls! We hope to pay another visit to the Art Barn in the future.