From My Recipe Box to Yours: Bread Salad (Panzanella)

First off, I must give Brittany credit for giving me the idea to make this for one of my dinners this week. She also gave me an idea of what is in the salad, then I went onto FoodNetwork.com to enhance my search for ingredients and how to change it.

Panzanella is basically like macaroni or potato salad, but the main ingredient is bread (bet you didn't see that coming). You have to use rustic bread so it can stand up to the dressing. Then you mix a whole bunch of vegetables with it, drizzle vinaigrette over it you have a yummy salad! I made this as a main course, so I added some meat to it, but it would make the absolute perfect side dish for a summer steak dinner. Why? This particular recipe calls for grilling everything. You just have to grill the vegetables and then cut them up into bite size pieces! While you are doing that, the other cook can grill up the steaks and voila, you only used one pan (or an actual grill), some cutting boards and a knife! Simple, easy, and very light. Yummy!

Alright, here goes!

Dressing, mix all together and set aside:

Olive oil (about 2 tablespoon, extra virgin)

Balsalmic vinaigrette (about 2 teaspoons)

Lemon juice (about 2 teaspoons)

One clove garlic, minced

Salt and pepper to tasted

Vegetables:

Olive oil for brushing

3 tomatoes, cut in half

1 red bell pepper, quartered

1 medium zucchini, cut in half lengthwise

5 scallions

About 2/3 of a 1 lb ciabatta loaf (or other rustic bread)

1/2 c parsley and basil combined (whatever ratio you want, or substitute any of your favorite herbs)

Grill the vegetables and bread until desired flavor, brushing with oil before placing on the grill. Set aside to cool slightly. When cool enough to handle, cut everything into bite size pieces and place in a bowl. Toss with the herbs and dressing. Enjoy!

Oh, What to Write About?

I wish I had more to write about, but I really don't. So for the next few weeks (ok, maybe months), you'll probably only hear about Jack. And Matt once he starts UPT in August.

Right now, my life is full of floor wiping and hands smelling like treats. We are going through paper towels like they're oxygen, but that's life with a puppy, I guess. He's getting much better with the potty training, he's able to signal at the door now and he usually goes in the same spot in the garden. That's definitely a nice bonus, since it's not my yard, technically, and I really only care about the flowers I planted and the veggies, I don't care all that much where he goes. Good that it's in the dirt instead of the grass, though.

I wish he was better at crate training, though. Jack still whines at night. He's currently in the living room because we don't want him to wake the doublex neighbor, but maybe we'll try moving him into our bedroom again and see how that goes.

Jack is a pretty smart puppy! He knows sit, down, shake, and he knows to wait for his dinner, although that's REALLY tough for him. He does know kennel means to go into his crate, but he hardly ever goes in there on his own. He would much rather sleep at our feet. In fact, he usually follows us around and will crash in whichever room we are in. I'm going to start working on leave it, drop, and bed, which is an Air Force blanket that I hope to use to make him get out from under foot. I'm also hoping that we can use that in the future for when guests come over or if I need to clean something. Currently, whenever I have to clean up a puddle, he finds my paper towels extraordinarily awesome to try and kill.

He's pretty good on walks, too. We don't walk him to far, but so far he doesn't pull to much. That only happens if he sees something he wants to put in his mouth. Goodness, I hope the chewing phase stops soon. EVERYTHING goes in his mouth. Even all the bushes in the yard. Like I said, I could care less about the bushes since I don't really like them anyway, but I don't want him eating something that could be poisonous.

It's really nice having Matt home from IFS. He's currently on casual until he starts UPT in August, so he only occasionally has an office job to report to. This week he was given Urine Analysis. Basically, he sits in the medical office where they conduct the random drug testing and he gets to watch people to make sure they don't see. Yes, that means exactly what you think it means. AWKWARD. He's glad that it's almost the weekend and will not have to do that again.

And now I must stop staring at the computer screen, I woke up with a headache this morning and it hasn't really gone away.

Training Has Begun!

Little Jack has been with us for less than 48 hours and he is learning so fast! He caught on to "sit" fairly quickly, and he knows "come here!", but his response time to that isn't always the best. Puppies apparently have ADD and sometimes sniffing that flower is WAY cooler than any attention I can possibly give him if he comes. It's a learning process, though, I'm sure he'll get better. Matt has also taught him the always-present-but-completely-useless-trick-at-the-present "shake." He has done "down" a few times as well, but it's not completely grilled into his brain yet, but in another day or two we should be golden. He also knows that I always ask him to sit before I feed him, but this morning he was so excited/hungry that he jumped up from his sit and banged his head on the bowl, thus resulting in the food going everywhere on the floor. He didn't seem to care. We'll have to work on him sitting a little bit farther away. Meal time is apparently a great motivator and it shouldn't take him long to pick up "sit, waaaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiit."

We also need to work on "leave it" and "drop it." Jack currently thinks the rug under my coffee table is a wonderful chew thing, so that will need to stop. He also enjoys my flowers, and naturally has enjoyed eating the purple one the best. Grrrrrrr. That WILL stop, dog! These commands are definitely harder, not necessarily for him, but for me, since it takes a lot more patience to teach these. And it's so enticing to continue chewing/play with whatever he is doing at that moment.

Definitely the hardest currently is crate training and housetraining. I did not realize that puppies have such SMALL bladders. He has to go pee AT LEAST every hour, sometimes every half hour. Jack's pretty good if we keep up with it, but puppies are SO GOOD at sneaking around the corner and going the one minute you're not watching them. I caught him this morning just as he was about to go, so I think we'll be getting there shortly. Fortunately it's easy to tell if he needs to go poo (and easier to schedule, since Jack only eats three meals a day, unlike water, which is always down for him), so we haven't had any of those messes to clean up yet. I used to hate the hardwood floors in this house (I much prefer carpet), but now I'm kind of liking the hardwoods.

Crate training hasn't really started yet, we are currently only crating him at night since one of us is always home. The noise/cry that comes out of this puppy at night is HORRIBLE! It's the saddest, most heart-wrenching sound (not to mention sounds a wee bit like nails on a chalkboard) I have EVER heard. I feel SO bad for him since he's so sad in there, but we DO NOT give in. We will try and talk softly to him from the bed to calm him down, but we don't let him out or go over and play with him through the bars, we mostly just ignore him. It feels like I'm being a bad mommy, but I know he will eventually get over it and settle down. The first night and last night lasted about the same length of time, I'm hoping tonight is a little bit shorter. I so hope my neighbor isn't too upset by it, but it should calm down soon.

While I'm away in Tupelo today with Cari, I'm going to have Matt feed him his lunch in his crate and keep throwing treats in there. He never sleeps in there except at night so I'm hoping we can get him to associate good things- like lunch!- with his crate. I'm also definitely going to pull his water at 7 tonight to alleviate the slight chance that the horrible cry emitting from Jack at night is because he has to pee. He woke me up at 4:45 this morning, but I don't really blame him. He did need to eliminate himself - pee AND poo - and I was stirring, so that probably excited him, too. He also might still be slightly on Atlanta time, which is an hour ahead, so I will only give him that excuse for a few more days. Until he's completely crate trained I don't want him to associate his crate with bad things, which is his current state of mind (crate = I'm locked in here without mommy and daddy! And no siblings!)

Judging on what little I currently know of his personality, I have a feeling he would sleep all night with us on the bed. That is NOT going to happen. At least right now. Besides, Matt and I only have a full bed, so there isn't even much room for the two of us, much less a puppy. And I really don't want him peeing on the bed. So far he hasn't peed in his crate, which is the large size, but I don't think that would happen on the bed. Bed privileges must be earned and not granted. He's also a little too small to jump off the bed quite yet, so in the crate he stays! Pray that he eventually catches on, I am 3 days sleepless and this isn't cool.

Puppies are easily twice - if not more!- the work of cats, but with less than 48 hours under my belt, I wouldn't give Jack up for anything. I will definitely miss the small cuteness/fuzziness/playfullness as he grows older, but I won't miss the long nights/early mornings, or the hyperness, or the constant need to pee. ;)

All hail puppies!

Bringing Puppy Home

Well folks, it is 5:30 in the morning on a Saturday. This must mean only one thing: Little Jack is now home! What a trip that was! Even though it was one of the most rewarding things I have ever done, I hope to never, ever do that again. God really wanted to make me work for this dog, and boy, did he ever.

I started the trip out super nervous, mostly because I was afraid of what was to come and I felt so bad for my puppy, sitting in a tiny carrier for 300 miles. Oh, and the fact that Atlanta is gigantic and I was driving through Friday afternoon insanity. Anyways, I made it through Atlanta fine, the AC was working (THANK YOU!) and I even felt good enough that a stop at the Alabama info rest area was not needed. Home free!

Not quite. I don't quite remember where the construction started, but I do know that was east of Birmingham and lasted FOR EVER. The entire state of Alabama is apparently under construction. Anyways, on the 4 lane divided freeway, it dropped down to one lane. I will never understand why they felt this was necessary during Friday afternoon rush hour, but whatever. There were miles and miles of cars backed up and at times we were just sitting there, on the asphalt in 94 degree Alabama heat. Yay. And I had to pee. And no exit in sight. As it turns out, it was prematurely becoming one lane. About a half mile before the actual lane closure, a semi truck had flipped onto it's side which brought the cars to one lane, too. . Once I passed that, I calmed down a lot. No matter the stress I was under- and my dog wasn't even making a noise!- that driver and his companies definitely had it a lot worse than I did at the moment. I pulled over at the nearest exit to use the restroom and then we were off again.

I got off about 40 miles after that to fill up at my usual place and take the dog out. As it turns out he needed to both potty and poo, so that was a great spot. He likes to follow me around and stay by myself. After filling up and letting Little Jack romp around for a bit, it was back in the carrier for him and onward.

I made it through Birmingham without any problems, then about 15 miles east of Tuscaloosa I stopped at a rest area to let Jack out again. He LOVED it. He ran around around with me, went potty, and just followed me around. Then it was homeward bound: only about an hour left of the trip!

West of Tuscaloosa, I wanted to really keep going, that there was this awesome obstacle in my way: scattered rain. And when I say rain, I don't mean Seattle like steady rain. I mean the skies opened up and the angels are spraying each other with fire hoses. I have never seen that much rain fall from the sky before. It was insane. I hate driving in rain, and I absolutely loathe driving in that downpour. Hydroplaning is now something I am very familiar with and understand how it feels, because I was sure doing a lot of that. Even after slowing down. The drivers here do not hesitate to slow down in torrential downpour which I commend and love. (Now I just need them to speed up during Seattle-like rain, you don't have to slow 20 below for that). Everyone gave everyone space (ok, all 3 of us, but hey, it's a small town) and kept the same speed.

And then it was home! This whole trip, Jack didn't make a single noise- I could not have asked for a better puppy. In fact, he only made noise when we put him down for the night. It lasted about 10 minutes, but he eventually calmed down. I did have to put an oscillating fan on him in the middle of the night, we were really hot and he was panting really hard. After I did that, though, I think he was able to sleep soundly because I didn't hear him panting so hard.

That trip certainly tested me. Many times I had to hold back tears and breath slowly to calm myself and tell myself over and over "you're ok, you're ok, you're ok." Talking to Jack helped, but at the same time I felt foolish. I hated everything about that trip except my puppy. He's such a good puppy.

And now he's up at 5 am. Georgia is an hour ahead, so considering he didn't wake up until 6 am his time, I'd say that's awesome. And after watching the guy pee his guts out when I took him out, I'm surprised he didn't start whining earlier than that, really. So this is my life now, up at 5 am and taking a puppy out to pee after not sleeping at all. Such is life. But now, I don't think I would change this at all. Every time he looks at me with that adorable little face, my heart melts.

Welcome home, Jack!

US Traveler

In honor of my boredom here in my Atlanta hotel, I am going to make a list of the all of the states I have not been to. Traveling to all 50 states is one of the only things on my Bucket List, so this isn't completely out of the blue.

Here is the list, in alphabetical order (since I'm doing this from a country road map), of states I have not been to:

-Alaska

-Arkansas

-Delaware

-Florida

-Hawai'i

-Indiana

-Iowa

-Kansas

-Kentucky

-Maryland

-Michigan

-Missouri

-Nebraska

-New Jersey

-New York

-North Carolina

-Ohio

-Oklahoma

-Pennsylvania

-South Carolina

-South Dakota

-Tennessee

-Vermont

-Virginia

-West Virginia

States that I have technically been to, but should do more visiting:

-Illinois (I have only been in O'Hare Airport, which technically counts, but not)

-North Dakota (we drove through here on the way to Minnesota from Seattle once, but I was 3 years old so I don't remember it at all.)

-Wisconsion (did this on the same Minnesota trip, but again, too young to remember)

If you count the states I have technically been to, I have been to exactly half of the 50 states! Excellent!

Little Jack pictures!

Here are pictures of the puppies, but of course most of them are of little Jack!

Here are two of Jack's sisters!

Feeding time!

It was really humid that day, so one of Jack's sisters decided not to drink the water but sit it in!

And here is little Jack!

His sister getting water!

Come on little Jack you can do it!

My all time favorite picture! And it's of Jack!

Hi little buddy!

Quick Post

This post will be quick since it's past midnight, I drove 300 miles and I'm exhausted. Visited the puppies, they are SO CUTE! I will post some pictures up tomorrow. It's definitely hard to take good pictures of puppies since they're always moving, but I tried.

Didn't measure squash plant on Day Two, but measured him tonight when I got in. In jut two days, the leaf grew and inch! That's insane. And the mustard greens I planted as seeds on Sunday are already coming in. How insane is that??? Things grow out here! It's weird. My basil did start dying, but I pulled all the leaves off and now it's coming back. I think you just have to keep the plant harvested. The rosemary is starting to die, I'm not sure why, I might try pruning that too and see if that helps. It might also be getting too much water, so I might move it under the eaves too.

Ok I am going to attempt to read before bed in hopes that that helps me actually go to bed.

Chillin' in Atlanta

Today I drove 294 miles to Buford, GA (northeast of Atlanta) so I can pick out our puppy Little Jack tomorrow. Exciting! I like lists, so here are just a few of the highlights of today's trip (also some lows):

-One would think that WalMart would actually be ok at 7 am. All I needed was some oil for the Jeep and some snacks. However, less cashiers = lazy cashiers and customers with gigantic cart fulls, so not fast at all. I would use the self-check out, but I absolutely loathe those things. I can never get the stupid weight sensor to work in my favor so an employee always has to come help. Errr. Oh, well. On a happier note, I checked the oil and added oil all by myself! This might not seem like a big milestone, but I have done this very before, but not this time! And I was also able to finally shut the hood all the way. Last time it went a week until Bryan came and did it for me. You have to slam it at just the right speed or it won't lock up. Super lame.

-On a different note, if you know anyone who wants Harry Potter 6 on blu-ray, I accidentally bought it and opened it before I realized. So I'm not sure if I can return it or not. I think the PlayStation can play blu-ray, or an updated XBOX. I'll have to see if our XBOX plays it first.

-So I'm driving along the freeway (two lanes each way, grassy median) and I see a simple road sign that says "Aircraft Use." Ummm... WHAT? I mean, I know this isn't I-5 or anything, but there's a decent amount of traffic on it. And there are forests on either side of the roads, so I know it's not landing parallel to the freeway. So I'm trying to figure out what this road sign means. Sweet Home Alabama.

-There are Cracker Barrels everywhere. Super yummy, but super bad for you.

-Atlanta. Is. Enormous. I thought Seattle was big. Holy cow. Seattle metropolitan area has about 3 million people. Atlanta has 5 million. And the freeways here are constantly at least 5 lanes. I got lost a few times, but THANK GOD my GPS corrects for me once I do that and will guide me another way. I was stressed out while driving by downtown, but I made it. There were cars everywhere and it was only 2 in the afternoon. I will be heading for home right as rush hour starts, I'm debating whether or not to leave then and just inch slowly through traffic (while annoying, going slow is good for my stress level) or if I should just hang out at the mall until 7 or so and roll into Columbus around midnight. I have to go about 20 miles around Atlanta, so either way I probably won't get out of the metropolitan are until later anyway. Guess that's another question I can ask the breeder tomorrow! And hey, if I leave late, it will actually justify the Starbucks I will inevitably buy.

-YAY MALLS! My hotel is right across from the Mall of Georgia. It's ENORMOUS and AWESOME! Since I got into Atlanta before check-in time, I just wandered around, ate dinner, and did some shopping. I bought an ice cream scoop and lime juicer at Williams and Sonoma (limes are a pain in the butt to juice by hand), two pairs of shorts at JC Penny's, and I bought a book on Thai food at Barnes and Noble (I had to go there, of course). I also enjoyed my first Starbucks in months. Yummy. And since I ordered a tall but the barista charged me for a grande, I got a venti. YAY! I will hang out at the mall again tomorrow, after check out and before meeting with the breeder. I do so love malls. If I get too bored, I can always just go up to the Starbucks in B&N and read my book. That's not too nerdy, right? I don't have a mall in Columbus, but I also don't want to put huge dents in the checking account.

-Get to meet the puppies tomorrow! Super excited! I can't wait to pick one out and meet the breeder. I will probably stop by a PetSmart on the way home just to buy more stuff for him (especially food). I think he has enough of the basics, but I might stock up on more training treats and a few more toys, like some kongs.

Alrighty, I'm getting tired of staring at the computer screen, so I guess I will leave it at the above list. I'll be sure to post some pictures of the puppy, if not tomorrow, then FOR SURE the next day!

Squash-tastic!

Alrighty. There is an actual positive side to the insanely hot weather here... things grow. WHOA! So my bored, unused brain power has decided that I'm going to start a project.

I swear, every time I look out the window, one of my four squash plants is bigger. Seriously. This thing is growing ridiculously. In a tupperware bin. So I thought I would take pictures and chronicle how big it's getting. I will be measuring one of the leaves every day (in the pictures, the one on the far right) to see if it actually is getting bigger every day, or if my eyeballs are just messing with me. So here goes!

Day One: July 10th

Measurements:

-length: 6 3/4 inches

-width: 8 inches

The Drivers of Mississippi

As most of you know, I hate driving. I would much rather have someone else do it for me, not because I am a bad driver, per say, but because I am afraid of other drivers. I didn't drive anywhere in Portland, except Fred Meyer, the laundry mat, and work. Drivers in Portland are insane, really. They are SO aggressive, or slow and have no idea what they're doing most of the time. This might not be entirely their fault, though. The roads there suck. I mean, really suck. They have the weirdest intersections and the roads are full of pot holes and it's usually raining. So there's a lot stacked against them. I did not mind driving in Idaho (or Eastern Washington). Most of those drivers have been driving tractors since they were 5, and there are less people and the roads are in better shape.

Now on to Mississippi. One would think it's better driving here. It's flat, less people, and uncrowded roads. So Mississippi, I'm not sure what you're problem is, but dude, LEARN TO DRIVE. There is absolutely no excuse for your stupidity in driving. Here are some tips:

-There are speed limit signs for a reason. Follow it. If you can't manage to drive 35 mph, get off the freakin' road. Seriously. Then there's the other extreme. If I'm already going 5 over the speed limit, please don't tailgate me. I'm not sure why it's necessary for you to go 15 over.

-Believe it or not, your car CAN go around a corner over 5 mph. I'm serious. I even mean you, giant raised Cadillac with chromed out rims. If my Jeep can turn a corner going 20, I'm sure your car can.

-I understand the roads here don't have grip like they do in Seattle/Portland, and I know the oil build up on the roads can be slick, but really, you don't need to freak out when it rains. Pull over onto the side of the road or a parking lot. There's no shame in that, I would do it do if it gets really bad. But you need to know it's dangerous to be driving 25 mph in a storm when everyone around you is going 45.

-Please use your blinker. Self explanatory.

-If you are at a four way controlled intersection and those 90 degrees to your right are turning left, it is ok to turn right. Yes, even on a red. It's called a "free right." Please use it. I know the other cars 90 degrees to your left are going to go straight and that's scary, but hello, if the cars to your right are turning left, that means they have a green arrow. Which means you can turn right safely. And you should. Because I'm getting very angry behind you.

So there you have it folks. I was scared to drive in Portland/Seattle, but here in Mississippi, I just get plain mad. They can't drive here and there is absolutely no excuse for it. Sad day.

Independence Day

Yesterday I hosted my first party in my house! I had multiple people over at our tiny tiny apartment in Portland, but I never had to organize everything to entertain people, really. They did all the grilling, and I had Matt helping me (except the dishes). This time, since Matt was gone, it was all up to me and I did most of the planning! Yay! I enjoyed it, too, because for the first time in a few days, I had an actual reason to tidy up the house (not that it's ever dirty or anything). I also got to make a ton of food for people, my favorite thing in the world to do! So I enjoyed myself.

I invited Cari and Ryan, and Bryan over. I also invited the neighbors that I just met and their friends, but they were all busy. Everyone chipped in for food. I provided macaroni salad (requested by Cari) and I also made dessert, a coconut-lime granita that will soon find it's way onto the blog for all you coconut lovers. I also made homemade potato chips, which were apparently very yummy as they disappeared before I was able to take a picture of them. And Cari made my mom's strawberry Jell-O recipe, which will also find it's way onto the blog shortly. Cari and Ryan also provided hamburgers and hot dogs, and Bryan provided salad and beer. And he found Widmer beer (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)! It's from Portland and just so happens to be my favorite beer. Thank God for Bryan ;) Unfortunately, I could only drink one bottle, since I am 434 rider for the entire base at the moment and must remain sober for my entire week on duty. Yay.

(For those of you who are unfamiliar with the "434 rider," it is a designated driver program for Airmen to use. Used as a last resort option, if a military member finds him/herself too drunk to drive home, they can call "command post (CP)." CP then calls me, and I will go pick the person up and bring them home. Don't worry, I do have to check ID before the person gets in my car, but I cannot look at the name or the rank. Honor system. Unfortunately, 2 people, a male and a female, have to pick up the person. Matt is obviously my "partner," but he's in Colorado. I'm hoping beyond hope that I do not get a call before my shift ends on Wednesday, I really don't want to have to call Bryan at 3 in the morning if I get a call so I can have a guy with me. It's a great program to have available for everyone on base, I just wish more people would use it. There have been 2 DUIs since I've been here).

The food was delicious, Spud was entertaining, and the time with friends is priceless. I did end up meeting one of my neighbors (finally!) so that was the cherry on the sundae. After dinner we played an exciting round of Apples to Apples, my all time favorite board game. If you have never played it, you should definitely check it out. And the best part about it is that it is super fun sober, but it would be even more fun with a few beers surging through your bloodstream.

If that didn't get our adrenaline rushing, we did throw some poppers and light some sparklers. We didn't want to do too much, since fireworks aren't really allowed on base. But Bryan got some really cool pictures of us drawing various objects with our sparklers.

All in all, it was a great Independence Day! And my first hosting of a holiday party! It can only go up from here!

DIY Project Nightstand: Completed

Well, y'all, I have finished my project! And it turned out purdy dern good, if I do say so myself. You can't even really tell that I did it! As it turns out, I have discovered that I like brushes better than rollers and painting anything white takes a lot more coats than one would think. I have a feeling painting something black would have gone way faster. But it would not have looked nearly as cool.

So here are some pictures to entertain you for the next few seconds:

Before I showed this nightstand who's boss

The finished effect. Goes nicely with my comforter.

Love the new handles! Antique looking while being modern at the same time. Aka contemporary

Now I just need some more furniture to paint. I found it very relaxing. Although I do hate sanding.

From My Recipe Box to Yours: Macaroni Salad

Ah, the typical Independence Day picnic food. I'm assuming most of you don't want to spend hours making this, because you'd rather be having fun and have so much other stuff to get ready. You could buy macaroni salad from the store, but you can't take credit for making it, and if you're like me, you actually can't stand deli macaroni salad! Do I have the recipe for you! It's fast, super easy, super cheap, and you probably already have all the ingredients in your pantry. Double yay! And it's the ultimate lazy cook's recipe: it's easy to adjust and you don't have to measure anything! I bet once you try this recipe that I grew up on, you will never turn back.

Ingredients:

-Small noodles, like macaroni

-Mayo (or your favorite substitute)

-Pickles (dill), diced

-Olives, sliced

-Cheese, diced (I use Colby Jack, but you can use whichever type you want)

Directions:

Boil the noodles until done. Strain the water and wait until they are cool before you add the other ingredients. Once cool, mix in the mayo until your desired consistency. (When using an entire box of noodles, I used two heaping spoonfuls of mayo.) Mix in the other three ingredients until you have your desired ratio. (If you want less cheese and more pickles, do it! Nothing's set in stone with this recipe!) Refrigerate until ready to eat.

Cook's Notes:

-My mom also adds celery to the salad to add an extra crunch. I don't add it because I don't like celery and I just put extra pickles in it. Crunch away!

-If you're worried about the fat content from the mayo, try substituting some of the mayo with mustard. I haven't tried this, but I bet it would add just a little kick. A little bit of ground pepper would also probably go a long way.

-You are not limited to just olives, pickles, and cheese! Try mix and matching cheese, or adding some red peppers for a bit of color. You could also swap out the pickles for the celery, and then add basil and tomatoes and you've got an Italian style macaroni salad!

-If you're really crunched for time, buy pre-sliced olives. If you have a few extra minutes, just buy whole and slice them yourself (plus it's a little bit cheaper!). You can dice the olives as large as you want that way!

-This salad holds up really well in the fridge, so feel free to make it the night before or in the morning before your dinner. My family has eaten this for several days after the picnic and it still tastes just as good as it did before!

Happy Eating!

Mr. Spud

So here is a picture of Spud, aka Spudley, who I puppy sat while Cari and Ryan went and played at a water park. He is SO cute! If he looks tired, it's because he is. I wanted to the dishes without him whining at me, so I took him for a "long" walk. Well, it worked. And he had already had a walk in the early afternoon and played around with the neighbor dog in both the morning and before he left with his mommy and daddy. (According to Cari, he passed out in the car on the way home and when they walked through the door to their apartment, to walked straight to his crate and crashed). I'm such a good puppy-sitter! I spoil your dog AND make him tired for you when you take him home! Pat on the back for me!

Anyways, what Spud doesn't realize is that I'm using him to do my dirty work- and he either doesn't know, or doesn't care. Score! What kind of dirty work could I possibly have? Well, he helps me meet people! He came over the previous night because Cari was bored, so we took him on a walk and in the process he met about 6 dogs and 7 new people. The next day I puppy sat, while we were outside I met my neighbors and my other neighbors' dog sitter (Erin is one of them), and thus I will now be less shy and introduce myself on Sunday when the real neighbors come home and I have Erin to introduce me. Plus, Erin has already texted me with the idea to go and get lunch! People to hang out with! Yippee! And it's all because Spud decided to run over to their fence when they let the dog out. I can't wait until I get my puppy so I can use him! Thank you, dogs- and currently Spud- for being the greatest ice breaker for me!

Why Columbus Is Boring

Welcome to Columbus, a Certified Retirement City! YAY! (Yes, there is actually a sign in town that says this). Maybe this is my problem. Because I'm not retirement age, I actually find the heat super annoying so I have to stay inside with air conditioning. Let me enlighten you on why Columbus is boring (at least in the summer).

-It is just too damn hot here. All you have to do is stand outside for 5 minutes and your shirt is already glued to your back. So you better really like watching TV, or doing handy crafts because if you're not, there are a lot of boring days ahead of you. Now I like doing hand crafts, but I don't like doing them for 16 hours every day, ergo I am now bored. And after doing crafts every day it loses it's appeal VERY quickly.

-Speaking of handcrafts, there isn't even a decent place to get scrapbook/yarn/cross stitch stuff. There isn't even a Michael's or JoAnn's here. I have to settle with WalMart. I haven't checked out the KMart for this kind of stuff, but I have a feeling I'm going to be disappointed either way.

-There are a lot of rivers and lakes around here. However, they are more like swamps. So you can't swim in them. What the hell. What good is a lake if you can't swim in it? And even if I did fish, it would still be way too hot to hang out on a boat all day. And let's not bring up the whole alligators and mosquitoes/other biting bugs problem. I'm sure once fall rolls around it will actually be fun to go to the parks by the "lakes" for some good fun and BBQs, but until it cools down, that has no appeal whatsoever.

-The mall here is tiny. Think Palouse Mall tiny. But even smaller. And all the cute little boutiques downtown are closed after 5, so when it does get cooler and you actually want to walk around outside, everything is closed. SUPER LAME. And because you've already seen everything, you know what they have, so going "shopping" just to window shop isn't appealing because you know what every store has already.

-There are only two coffee shops and they close early. By early, I mean one closes at 3:30 (granted these are summer hours, but still, what coffee shop closes at 3:30????) and the other closes at 6. So you can't really spend all evening sipping cappucino and internet surfing. What I like best about coffee shops is that they are all different and they make great meeting places with new friends. But with only two, everyone's already been there.

-There are no cool bars to go hang out with people, either. I don't think there's any bar here, actually, that isn't a restaurant. At least I get to work on my hosting skills, huh?

-I have to drive about an hour to get to a decent sized city. Which means I have to drive about an hour to get to any decent store, like a PetSmart or a Barnes & Noble, and most importantly, a Starbucks.

-There is a bowling alley on base, but that's about it. In town there is a movie theater, but everything else to do is community based, like farmers markets and the "concerts" at the river walk. It's great that there's so much to do outside, it's just so dang hot to do all that in the summer.

-Even the locals complain about the heat and humidity. Hello, you're used to it! I am from Seattle, where we freak out if it gets above 80! I used to think 80 was hot! Don't complain, I HAVE to live here.

-There is nothing cool geography wise to go to. No mountains, no cool gorges or waterfalls, not even hills to go hike up. Just swamps and forests.

-So far, I don't have too many people to hang out with. I have Ryan and Cari and Bryan (and Matt, of course), but that's about it. I have met a few people through Cari and thanks to puppy sitting for her, I have now met my neighbors. There is even a girl here who seems happy she met me and is eager to hang out with me. Yay human contact! I'm looking forward to Matt's UPT (undergraduate pilot training) welcome BBQ so I can meet the other guys - and their wives/girlfriends/fiancees! - in his class. Instant friends! In that case it's kind of a sorority, but hey, we need each other. They're the only other people that understand how stressful life as pilot's wife can be.

DIY Project Nightstand Days Two, Three, and Four

Well, much to Rachel's disappointment, I am not done with the nightstands yet. I had planned to be done by now, but it's taking longer than I originally thought. This is mostly because I have been taking time to hang out with Cari and Ryan and Bryan, which I would rather be doing than painting anyways since I have a serious lack of people to talk to at the moment. So never fear, the nightstands will be done!

They currently have a coat of primer on and the first coat of paint. It's looking good, but you can still see brush strokes and primer, so I will need at least one more coat. I have no idea how I'm going to finish it without showing streaks in the paint, but whatever. I'm hoping with enough coats that will eventually go away? Lol I really don't have any idea what I'm doing, but it's fun anyway. I get to blast my musical soundtracks and sing along while I work. Yesterday was Wicked, tomorrow I will probably put on Mamma Mia. Yay for ABBA!

I would put a coat on today, but I'm puppy sitting for Cari and Ryan and really don't want to have to multitask painting with white paint and watching a black dog at the same time. So the craft room door will remain firmly closed while I wear this puppy out for the day.

On a completely different note, does anyone have any anti-itch cream like Benadryl? I have never had this many bug bites (or whatever the hell they are) at a time and they are driving me insane! Since Matt has been gone I think some bugs have moved into my bed and I highly disapprove. Especially since one of them bit where my flip flop straps comes into contact with my skin. NOT FAIR. Oh well I'll somehow survive. Somehow.