Adventures at the Dog Park!

Anyone who has a dog (especially a dog who loves water) should take their dog to Cosmo Dog Park (on Ray between Greenfield and Higley). This was so much fun! Zilli had the best time ever!

I actually found out that the dog park was recognized in 2007 as the best dog park in America! Pretty cool! And it lives up to it!

The park is big and wide and open, plenty of room to run around, but it also has some areas that are fenced in for dogs that are more shy, or for specific training or classes. There is actually even a little obstacle course built in part of it. Plus there is a giant lake (with fish!) for the dogs to swim in with a beach entry as well as docks to jump off. Up the hill there's a playground for children of the human variety.

We honestly didn't even have to bring Zilli's ball. As soon as we got close to the water, she realized that someone had the audacity to leave a tennis ball floating in the lake, and she wasted no time to jump in and "rescue" it.

Then, after depositing it safely on land, she turned around to realize that another ball had floated by! This could not be! Before long, we had a bit of a collection of these "rescued" tennis balls.

Such a good little momma dog, making sure all the tennis balls are safe and sound on land, haha!

She was so pleased with herself though! She was so excited she didn't know what to do! We could tell she was starting to get tired from all the jumping and swimming, but she didn't want to stop! We even tried giving her some taco bell - her own taco and everything, what dog wouldn't love that - but she was too excited to eat it and actually spit it out! The only time I've ever seen her happier is when Anthony's mom is around. And even then its a pretty close match!

I think the best part of the experience, for us anyway, was the fact that she got a free bath at the end. There's all these little shower stalls around the park with hoses, and we brought some shampoo and lathered her up nicely.

Even I got pretty hot and sweaty from the experience (c'mon, it was only something like 110 degrees out that day!) But I did notice that I got a freaking flip-flop tan on my feet!

And here's Zilli after the experience was over. Still as happy as can be.

Unfortunately, when we got home, first of all, the cat was freaked out of his mind (he couldn't recognize her smell) and started hissing at her like crazy, and also our house smelled like wet dog the rest of the day. Yummy. I bet you are SO jealous!

Bitterness

I was supposed to have some really cool things to blog about right about now.

We were supposed to be in Utah this week for my husband's family reunion doing all sorts of fun exciting things.

But his dumb work decided at the last minute to not let him have vacation time.

Who even does that?!?!?!?

Anyway, so we're just sitting in stupid stinky hot AZ for the week instead. By the way, when did it decide to get so ridiculously hot?! It was so nice up until a few days ago, and then the weather decided to change its mind last minute too. And now it is both unbearably hot and humid.

Yuck.

Well, I'm not THAT bitter.

Really, I'm not.

Maybe I still can have something cool to post about soon. Maybe...

Just tapping the potential...

Ok, ok, I know my last post was about my new toy, but I just downloaded the drawing software that came with it (instead of just the standard paint that comes free on any computers) and I am so excited about what I can do!

It's like having my own art studio right here, but I can ERASE when I make a mistake! So COOL!


Here's the same picture I drew before, but done in the new program:




Scroll down to see the old version. Slight difference.

Yeah, I really want to learn how to draw now! So many possibilities!

New Toy

So, the other part of my birthday gift came in the mail yesterday - a tablet to go with my new mini laptop! It is just like an electronic mousepad that comes with both a mouse and a pen and hooks into my USB drive.

The main reason for it was so that I could sign all of my real estate documents electronically and not have to go into the office to print out everything.


But, I can also use it for PHOTOSHOP!


Now, I don't have photoshop on this little computer, but I do have Paint...and check out the picture I drew with my tablet:

Yeah, I know it isn't any work of art or anything, but I thought it was pretty cool how I could do that! I'll have to practice on photoshop - I'll be able to make some really cool stuff now! Oh, and did you see that I got my signature on it too?! Pretty freaking awesome.

I'm excited.

Makeup Madness!

So my darling husband, even though he hates it when I wear makeup, found this fantastic website with really cheap makeup!

There was an email that went around talking about how a Nordstrom makeup line was getting rid of all of their inventory to reinvent their line, and so all the makeup was only $1! Well, that turned out not to be true...its ALWAYS only $1!

I read several of the reviews (unfortunately, I didn't learn the truth until after I bought everything - I thought if I didn't buy it right away then the inventories would disappear) and they said all of the different products were kind of hit or miss, but hey, I got a ton of makeup for really cheap!

Now, I haven't bought new makeup, other than the occassional powder, foundation, or mascara and maybe a small neutral eye shadow for many, many years. I think some of the blush and eyeshadow in my makeup box has been around since high school. Kinda sad. I just never use much.

So my wonderful husband allowed me to spend $75 on new makeup. This should last me a lifetime! Plus, because it was so inexpensive, I was more willing to try daring colors.

So here's what I got for my $75:

My favorite part was that they had mineral makeup for only $3-$5 as well!

Oh, and I got a full set of makeup brushes too! I haven't ever had a good set of brushes. And again, each one was only $1!

And there were several incentives as well on the website, including free shipping (hence the $75 order) and I got a little makeup box with sample size makeup in all sorts of different colors FREE! Almost all the makeup I do have is sample size, and it lasts me forever, so I was beyond thrilled! And the colors are great too - not just bright red or neon pink like what comes in some free kits.

Yay for makeup!

If you want to check it out as well, go to www.eyeslipsface.com - its always $1!

Happy Birthday to ME!

So I'm officially 25! I wasn't too excited about the whole thing - I kinda liked being able to say I was in my early twenties (now it has to be mid-twenties....). Plus you're supposed to have most of your life figured out by the time you're 25. That's old enough to know what you're doing. If you accomplish anything major, its just expected. Even at 24 though, you're something special. But 25 is just normal. But anyway my darling husband made everything just great for me.

He threw a great party for me with all of my friends and made some fantastic steak! That's one more thing that I just love about my husband - a BBQ is almost never just hamburgers! No, we had filet mingon steaks for everyone (thank you Costco!) with grilled squash and asparagus, mashed potatoes, salad, some amazing punch, and then our awesome friends Drew and Sara brought homemade cheesecake for dessert!

I love my friends so much! It was such a great time! I had all of my best friends there (at least the ones that live in this state) and even a couple new friends. There's this amazing couple that lives a few houses behind us - they actually bought the house that we fell in love with and made us decide we really want to be in this neighborhood. They're just too cute! It was really the first time we'd done anything together, and Lizzie brought me a little birthday present - a reusable shopping bag that zips up! She saw it was one of my goals on my big list of things I want to do. Isn't she the cutest thing ever! I'm so glad that they bought the house instead of us so we can have them as neighbors!

Here's me making my wish on my cake...can you guess what it is? I can't tell - or else it won't come true!

Look how excited Shelbie is! I love that little girl to death! She wanted so much to help me blow out the candles. She's so awesome - so much love and excitement for life.

And of course, my husband bought me just what I wanted! A new mini laptop!

I'm using it right now to type this! It's so crazy how small it is, but its perfect to take around with me and use out on the road. I have mobile broadband internet too, so I have full internet everywhere I go! I love it!

My husband is the best!

Thank you for a wonderful birthday!

Blessed are those who hunger after righteousness...

The Savior says that we should hunger and thirst after righteousness and that if we do so we will be blessed.

However, I must say, my dog took that a little too literally.

Besides, what does she have to worry about? All dogs go to heaven anyway!

Especially mine.

New Project!

If you know me at all, you know I love lists, I love checking things off lists, and I love making and achieving goals.

So when I saw this project idea, I just had to do it!

I ran across this on some random blog a couple months ago, and I've been waiting until my birthday to start it. I always like to have a specific starting time that feels right in my mind - it gives me a sense of organization. But I have 6 days left until my birthday, and a Monday on the 1st of the month works for a good starting point as well.

I am going to complete 101 goals in 1001 days!

So here it is!

Check out the blog here: tamaurosgoals.blogspot.com

The Husband Quiz

Here's a chance to see how well you really know your husband. Cut, paste and fill in the answers.
The real challenge is to send it to your husband to see how right you really are!

1. He's sitting in front of the TV, what is on the screen? It could just be some random thing on TV to have background noise, but often lately its National Geographic Channel - he thinks it makes him smarter!

2. You're out to eat; what kind of dressing does he get on his salad? Ranch, but on the side

3. What's one food he doesn't like? Anything from the ocean, unless it is fress from Hawaii

4. You go out to eat and have a drink. What does he order? Generally water with lime, but sometimes a coke

5. Where did he go to high school? homeschool - he graduated at 16 yrs old!

6. What size shoe does he wear? 11, but I think his feet are still growing somehow

7. If he was to collect anything, what would it be? sports equipment, expensive toys (dirt bikes, monster trucks, cars, quads, boats, etc)

8. What kind of sandwich does he like? leftover turkey from thanksgiving dinner and mayo

9. What would he eat every day if he could? Pizza, but only if it is slightly undercooked with extra cheese and fresh tomatos on the side if possible

10. What is his favorite cereal? he's not a big cereal eater, but he goes through phases - captain crunch, cheerios, honey bunches of oats, honeycombs

11. What would he never wear? I honestly don't think there is anything he has never worn. He doesn't get embarrased. At all.

12. What is his favorite sports team? Phoenix Suns or Brazillian soccer

13. Who did he vote for? Palin

14. Who is his best friend? Jonathan, Drew, Quinn...oh, and ME of course!

15. What is something you do that he wishes you wouldn't do? sit on the computer while watching TV instead of cuddling him

16. What is his favorite color? baby blue

17. You bake him a cake for his birthday; what kind of cake? No cake. He'd much rather prefer his Dad's brownies. And I probably wouldn't be making them.

18. Did he play sports in high school? Um, yeah, everything. Mainly soccer, basketball, swimming, and at least a little of everything else.

19. What could he spend hours doing?playing basketball

20. What is one unique talent he has? he can break the zipper of every pair of jeans or shorts he owns. I don't know how he does it, but I literally have a stack of 4 pairs that need repairing right now.

Congrats, Grad!

Just wanted to give a quick shout-out to the husband of my best friend since jr. high - Brett! He graduated from ASU yesterday, with a degree in mechanical engineering.

I saw his homework a few times...I didn't know math could have more letters than numbers!

Their family has been there for Anthony and I on many occassions, and we are so grateful to have them as friends. We love them so much, especially their little ones!

Here's me with Kinz. She's such a little cuddle bug!

Oh yeah, and I got glasses. I've been wearing my contacts a little too much. You can sleep in them, but I kind of took it to the extreme. But I haven't had any glasses to wear, and every time I tell myself to remember to take them out for bed, I forget. And I can't see without them, so I try to remember for the next night, or the next, or never. So when I went to the optomologist, he took one look at my eyes and said I needed to have glasses or I might have serious permanent injury.

So, now I have glasses!

Anyway, the graduation was great. Well, ok, honestly, it was just as boring as mine! LOL!

But we were so glad to share the night with the Glenn's!

Love you guys!!!!

This is your garden....this is your garden on drugs

Yeah, so miracle grow really does work. My zucchini's have shot up like a rocket recently.


Check it out...


This picture we'll call DAY 1:

This picture was taken only 24 hours later:

And then just 10 days after that:

Oh, and look at these tomato plants! I took pictures of them only 3 weeks ago, and now this is where they are:

I'm so excited for the fresh vegetables I'll soon be having!!!

BBQ

We've been procrastinating the final project in the yard - the BBQ. There's a built-in set-up that came with the house, but unfortunately, the empty spot that was left open when the house was looted was too small for our grill. Too small for any grill we could see in the stores, actually. So we had to make it bigger.

Another reason why I love my husband.

He can do things like this.

And how cute is this?

Well here's where we are. When the concrete dries, we can slide the BBQ in place!

He looked pretty dang hot out there swinging a sledge hammer, bending rebar with his bare hands.

Yeah, that's my husband!

Photo Shoot

So now that I'm going to be a Realtor, I needed some good pictures to use on my business cards. So I called Elisha, the amazing photographer that took all the pictures at our wedding, and asked her to do some headshots for me.

Isn't she so talented?

Staring Death in the Face

Yeah, this bird has some real cajones.

And Prinx is soooooooo mad!

Baby bugs

I just found this little guy in my garden. I have no idea how I saw him - he's about as big as the tip of my pinky nail. Crazy, huh?

How does your garden grow?

Mine apparently grows fast. I'm loving having a garden so much! I'm out there watering it every day. When we had a "garden" in queen creek, we had it on a drip system, and I would forget to go out there to weed it or pay attention to it at all, and it...um...died.

But now I go out there at least once a day and pull a few weeds and make sure each plant has enough water and is still looking good.

Yeah, a few have died - this is my first attempt at a garden - but look at all the success I've had!

Tribute to the love of my life!

My sexy man turned 27 today! He's not to thrilled about it (and neither am I...because it means that in just a few short weeks I will be 25, and no longer able to say I'm in my "early twenties"...) but we had fun just the same.

Anthony got his major present last month, but I did manage to find a couple little things I knew he would just love:

Yep, Oakley's and an Anchorman t-shirt. Can life get any better? Well, for Anthony, it would be wearing the shirt and glasses while driving his truck. That's utopia right there.

And to celebrate, we went to BJ's Pizza so he could get his free Pazookie. And he ate about 90% of it all by himself. He was like a little kid! Well, until he got to the end, and then he was like a sick little kid...

But as a tribute to Anthony, here are 27 random reasons why I love him so much!

1. He can cook. I mean, what other men can do that, and love doing it, and do it so ridiculously well? I'm dang lucky, I tell you!

2. He lets me be me. I don't have to act cool around him (even though he's the jock and I'm the band geek...). We can just be goofy and crazy and do whatever and just have fun!

3. His hands are like a freaking gorilla. And this is a good thing for various reasons - he can massage or scratch my entire back without hardly moving, he can open anything, he could probably kill any intruder with a single hit, and he can take things out of the oven without oven mitts. It's amazing.

4. He is skilled at pretty much everything he does. He cooks (as mentioned above), he has an eye for design and color, he works out in the yard, can build just about anything, fixes cars...I mean, I think I've got him figured out, and then he says, "well I'm going to try this now" and by golly, he's already an expert at it!

5. I think it is hilarious to watch movies with him because he always gets so involved - telling people what they should or shouldn't do, etc - and then if its an action flick (ie. Jason Bourne, Taken, 24), it's pretty much a guarantee that he'll dream about being the star assassin that night. We're convinced he was an assassin in another life. It is the only logical explanation.

6. On the other hand, he loves chick flicks too. And he'll be the one to suggest a chick flick to watch. And he'll even cry during them. We just watched Marley & Me - yeah, we both were a mess.

7. He can make me laugh whenever, wherever, no matter what. Wait, was this the list of things I hate about him? That might go there too. This is a dreadful talent for him to have whenever I'm mad at him.

8. He is very stubborn. Sometimes this is a bad thing, but I know that once he makes up his mind to do the right thing, there's no persuading him otherwise. Besides, I like to debate, and if he only did the right thing all of the time, there would be no need to argue. Boring!

9. There have been several times that we have been together 24 hours a day for several days on end, and we never get sick of eachother. I just crave being around him even more!

10. How he just loves to cuddle before going to bed, and he sometimes tries to wake up just a few minutes earlier than he needs to so he can cuddle me for a few minutes before getting out of bed. How can you have a bad day after that?

11. He puts up with me. Enough said.

12. He's always the first person to apologize. Yeah, he's probably the first person to be upset too, but he certainly knows how to say "I'm sorry." And he does it sincerely.

13. Even going grocery shopping together can be an adventure. Whether he is ballroom dancing with me down the aisles or we make the whole experience into a competition to see who can get everything the fastest, we always have fun.

14. He never hides anything from me - we talk about everything all the time. He probably talks more than I do! I'm actually pretty sure of it!

15. Yeah, he's dang hot. I love his sexy body!

16. I put him through a lot during our first year of marriage when I was traveling for work all of the time, and we made it through. He's amazing just for that! I don't think I would have been able to be home alone all those nights.

17. He can fall asleep in about 10 seconds - and I think it is so cute how I can tell the exact moment he falls asleep, because his body will relax, but twitch ever so slightly, and then he'll start to snore just a little bit, and then he'll reach over to make sure I'm still there. (Or he'll have an assassin dream and he'll reach over to hit me in the head, and never remember a thing in the morning...).

18. He sees more potential in me than I think I ever could.

19. I love catching him describing me or something I did (photos, home renovations, etc) to his friends - he always makes it sound so much better than it really is, but I feel great inside just the same.

20. Sometimes he'll try to impress me by using a really big word and it just won't be quite the right word and it makes me smile. I always know what he means anyway!

21. He is very polite and always grateful for everything. He makes sure all of our friends know how much he appreciates everything they do for us and how much we love them. He is never afraid to share his emotions.

22. He can walk into any room with anyone in it at any time and by the time he walks out, he's made at least 3 new best friends. I don't know how he does it. It is incredible.

23. His rule is that nobody leaves until an argument is resolved, the problem is fixed, and everyone is all better. Sometimes I want to strangle him for this, because I just need my space, but in the end, I'm relieved to not be angry anymore.

24. Just feeling him next to me comforts me in so many ways. With his arms around me, I feel like nothing could ever hurt me. I know he'll protect me. (Sometimes he expresses this very violently - "If anyone ever hurt you I would....[very graphic details]....and then kill them!!!").

25. When he gets excited about something, he's just contagious. You can't help but be excited too!

26. He knows exactly how he can embarrass me, and from being around him, I've learned to really expand my comfort zone. I wouldn't have tried half the things I've done in the last few years if it weren't for him!

27. We're going to be together for eternity and I'm beyond thrilled to be able to spend my life with him!

So cute...they get their own post!

Ok, now my main goal in life is to have kids as cute as these. I mean seriously, can there be cuter kids?!

Meet Easton and Nelyana.

They are the adorable little boy and girl of some of Anthony's friends in St. George. I just fell madly in love with both of them!

Nelyana is just to die for. She's this amazing little oreo cookie baby! I can't get over how entertaining she is - so happy, so excited about everything. We all sat and watched her play with bubbles and easter eggs for probably an hour before we left on Sunday. Ambre has her heart set on having a little brown baby now. If I could produce one, I'd probably try it too...but alas! There's only white in me. :(

And then Easton is a complete crack-up. He calls his dad by his first name, but really only when he's mad at him. It is downright hilarious. Levi will pick him up to throw him around and he'll be all, "Levi, no. Don't do it Levi!" I really hope my kids aren't that funny, or I'm going to have a very hard time punishing them...ever.