September Favorites

Ahhhhh, FALL IS IN THE AIR! September and October are my favorites in and of themselves- the weather, the smells, that one dressing up holiday, the sweaters, the rain boots. Lighting a pumpkin spice candle is my happiness. I suppose I can highlight some more specific favorites so you can try them out as well....

• Newest career adventure. That's me....working. Yep. Rough. Dog training is something I will be able to take with me wherever we are stationed, unlike zoo keeping. **Eventually I see myself doing private lessons, and once we settle down, I would like to run a kennel to take care of the beloved fur children of military men and women when they deploy** I work with an extremely supportive, amazingly talented team, who have taken me under their wing and want to teach me as much as I can soak up! What a blessing! Have any dog questions? Ask and I would love to give you some pointers

• I would like to be a yogi. Last year I was intrigued by a 70 year old woman who strolled into the gym, quietly took a spot in the corner and for the next hour, proceeded to stand on her head, stretch her leg up to her ears, and bend over backwards with the greatest of ease. Holy moses. When I say 70, I mean at least 70. She could have been 80 or 97 for all I know, but she was amazing. Not wanting to miss out on the benefits of being a future elderly bendy person, I tried something new. I neglected to add it to my bloggery, but throughout July and August, I was taking an introductory intensive to the world of Yoga. Originally I had thought it a way to battle my severe case of self-diagnosed exercise A.D.D; it would be a new and interesting way to work out. Ehhh, almost. More like a stretchy, breathing, wooo sahhhh, soul workout. The way I feel after a yoga class is, in a word, taller.Yes a very relaxed tall person. I must admit, I am not good at practicing yoga on my own. Something to work on though!

• There we are, walking into an eternity of fun. Reception time is eerily close. Tough to believe all the planning will actually come together! No matter what the weather is like, how many candles are lit, or how the cake tastes, it will still be a glorious celebration of our new baby marriage. Ok, the cake tasting good is actually important, never mind that one. Friends and family, food, booze, dancing, fancy clothes, pre-reception beer olympics. I don't think there is anything better to be excited about! Our wedding reception just so happens to be the same weekend as my Alma mater's homecoming......hmmm....all I have to say is SORRY SOUTHWESTERN, your 12 months of scrupulous planning will pale in comparison to the party we're about to have. Good luck with the football game and all, but, yea, our wedding parties alone are crazily awesome, so you add some lively wedding guests, and that's an unbeatable combo!     :) for us            :( for you

• Febreeze "Falling leaves and spice." I am not sure who concocted what a leaf smells like when it falls, or why it needed spices added to it. Nevertheless. If you love fall, buy it, spray it, love it. It has to be good, it made the list.

That's all I've got for now. I'm gonna go SPEND TIME WITH MY HUSBAND! Returned home safely from saving the world, just in time to embrace me and my obsession with this season. See you next month!

Cheers,

KB

I is for Impatient Winos Eat Grapes.

Working together for a year created one of the closest friendships I have ever known. We get into trouble together, grow into adults together, support each other, and LAUGH. All the time.

My little love, Laurel and I enjoy spending our time dishing out one-liners, inappropriate jokes, and reciting Mitch Hedberg quotes, verbatim. But when I moved to Washington, we had to change all of our friendship activities into textual conversations and Skype chats.

As an engagement present to themselves, Matt and Laurel came to visit us! (OK so maybe it was to see their family who just so happened to live in Washington, but whatev to that!) (And it takes too long to call you Laurel and Matt, so I'm getting a head start: you are now and forever The Stacys. Better start accepting it now.)

 Sometimes when you haven't seen a friend in a while, it might be weird to get back in the swing of things, and other times you pick up where you left off :) That's how you know you've got a keeper! Here's some photographic deets on our time together...

Days filled with food, drink, ocean, and shooting virtual animals trying to kill you. HELLOOO, what else is there to do in life?

Laurel and I smashed the scores of our husband and future husband. Apparently, military men and cops do not use Cabela's Big Game Hunter to practice gun skills.

 
Welcome to our backyard you little engaged love beasts!

They brought the Oklahoma sun with them! One of the hottest days of the year while they visited. (90 is HOT AS HELL for Tacoma)

 
Stacy Family beginnings. All you need is Jadepup and some fancier clothes and that's a straight up wedding photo no?

The Underground Tour in Seattle is a great, and humorous history lesson about the city. I was glad to go on the tour for the third time, because they were there! Oh ya Andrew too :)

 
Vonn's in Downtown Seattle. A favorite spot for people who like to get drunk for $3. The place is famous for their house martinis...but the girls got the $10 drinks instead of drinking diesel fuel.

 
I asked her to show off her ring and this is what she came up with....

We look ridiculous. Too busy to slow down and smile normally.

Andrew and I had a magnificent time with the Stacys, however my excitement only increases with each passing day since we will be reunited in Kansas SO SOON. To wrap it up, here are some closing words/explanations on Laurel and Kelsey's Greatest Hits.

1) Have you ever heard of Mitch Hedberg? If not, get on our level. He is the silver lining to cloudy days, the umbrella to our tropical drink, the duck to our Subway sandwich. Want some of our favorite jokes? Here. *Warning: It's best to hear Mitch, because his comedic timing is...just perfectly awesome. Too bad he died.

I was gonna get a candy bar; the button I was supposed to push was "HH", so I went to the side, I found the "H" button, I pushed it twice. Fuckin'...potato chips came out, man, because they had an "HH" button for Christ's sake! You need to let me know. I'm not familiar with the concept of "HH". I did not learn my AA-BB-CC's. God god. Dammit dammit.

 

I met a girl who works at the Double Tree front desk, she gave me her phone number. It's zero. I tried to call her from here and some other woman answered. I said: "You sound older!"

 

My hotel doesn't have a 13th Floor because of superstition, but c'mon man...people on the 14th Floor, you know what floor you're really on. "What room are you in?" "14.01". "No, you're not. Jump out of window, you'll die earlier!".

 

Imagine being killed by a bow and arrow. That would suck, an arrow killed you? They would never solve the crime. "Look at that dead guy. Let's go that way."

 

I mostly included that because I know Laurel is sitting at her computer reading those out loud in her best M.H. voice. I even included italics and bolds and underliners so you, too, can put the emPHAsis, on the right syllABle.

 

2) I have loved James Taylor since the day I was born. I remember watching him on Sesame Street. One day while reminiscing about the days of yore we YouTubed one of his old school performances, and could not stop laughing.  JAMES WHY ARE YOU SHUSHING THE CHILDREN?

 

3) THIS little monkey made such an impact on the Stacys while they were here, that they wanted their very own! I didn't know Rainy had so much power over others. Must be the hypnotizing eyeballs. Oh yea, and the new cat's middle name is JellyManKelly. Win. 

 

 

Until next time.....yakka yakka yakka

 

Cheers,

 

KB

Summer Favorites

Since I seem to be horrible at blogging consistently, I've crammed June, July and August's favorites into their own post. Here's what I have favored these past few gorgeous months in Washington!
 
 
 

• Plain greek yogurt. Once I tried to add fruit to it and eat it as regular yogurt. Sick. Don't do it. I do however use it for a VARIETY of other things and it is SO GREAT. Instead of butter, sour cream, cream cheese, heavy cream, basically anything that is bad for you, but tastes good, try greek yogurt instead! I've recently even made chocolate muffins with greek yogurt instead of butter and eggs and milk. They still turned out yummy!

• Check out this uke. Decided to pick up this new lil hobby with one of my favorite friends, Kim. This month I had one of those times in life where I was forgetting about the big picture; getting caught up in petty drama of small-minded people. So Kim and I took a day to watch the sun set behind the Olympic Mountains, listen to waves crash and have ever-so-philosophical conversations about what was really important in life. Somewhere in these talks, we pictured ourselves forming a ukulele band, playing on the beach. One week later, ukuleles were purchased and I can now add it to my jack of all trades list :) I'll let you know how this goes....

• An herb garden that actually grows stuff! Yes friends, it is true. We grew plants from seeds! I harvested one batch of parsley and cilantro and have been using fresh basil leaves and green onions while I cook. How Northwesty is that??

 

•  Washington summertime in general. Filled with warm days, temperate evenings, Mariner's baseball games, grilling, long walks, fresh smells, local produce and if I'm lucky, experiencing those things with my husband. Maybe I'll be luckier in autumn? Keep your fingers crossed.

Until next time.....

Cheers,

KB

 

N is for Not a Jewelry Box

I said in my eloping post I would explain the story of how we ended up with a cat the day after we got married. So here is special little tale of how we acquired Meownt Rainier Barrier.

Husband likes to play this game called "guess the present." I believe I have explained how incredibly talented he is at this game, or maybe it is how incredibly bad I am at lying. Either way, as we were discussing a late birthday/wedding gift for me, he started to give me clues about what he was getting me. Maybe he was trying to get my skills up to his level, let me win the game for once. Didn't work. I was still wrong. Way wrong. Let's go through what he told me, versus what went through my head.

A: "I need you to help me go pick it out, there's lots of options."
K: (There are lots of different kinds of kittens!)

A: "The price range is anywhere from $70-$700."
K: (Kittens have a wide range of prices!)

A: "It could be made of leather, or wood."
K: (...........he's going to make me pick out a cat carrier FIRST! Then go get a cat!)

Yes I know. I am not aware of anyplace that would ever construct a cat carrier out of wood. Outdoor cat house? Leather could have been like a leash and a collar or a variety of accessories! I get a one track mind sometimes.

Fast forward to our romantic brunch after our lovely beach ceremony. Celebrating with a glass of champagne, I was on top of the world, smiling from ear to ear, wanted to tell everybody at the tables around us, we had just gotten MARRIED!

He starts secretly looking on his phone for places in the area where this gift could be browsed for. Let me say I was pretty damn confident up till this point. Secretly basking in my glory of guessing. Then he wants me to tell him what my guess is. I didn't want to do it, I just wanted to wait it out and see if I was right, not hear it! I told him I didn't want to guess. I told him! So he starts guessing for me. Bad move brosef.

A: "It's not jewelry....."
K: (I got my rock.)

A: "It's not a new purse...."
K: (I'll buy that for myself.)

A: "It's not a cat....."
K: (..........................................)

K: *crying at brunch*

I TOLD YOU I DIDN'T WANT TO GUESS!

After a boggled new husband questioned me on how.in.the.world. I deduced that I was getting a cat from the hints he gave me, he got out the trusty phone again, and to save his backside, found the nearest pet store.

For anybody who knows me well, knows that I'm more of a dog lover than a cat person. But some family friends of ours used to have this cat, called Marley, who was an exotic shorthair. A Persian face, but with short hair, so the grooming is majorly cut down. I loved him. He was so....unique! and as I later learned in life, expensive! My need to be "not the average joe" can be costly! AB would never pay such a large price for a cat. A grill or an electronic device, perhaps. Never a cat.

The stars aligned and fate stepped in because this pet store we walked into, just so happened to have a Persian rescue organization based out of it!!!!!!!! I walked in all like......

WHAAAAAAA!?! In my head, still giving AB credit.

K: (He's so smart! He planned it this way as a SURPRISE! He knows these are what I want! Oh my gosh look at the one over there. Any second now, he's gonna point to it and say "That's yours!!")

Nope. A coincidence only. An amazing one though!! I saw Rainy first and was in love. Then I learned she loves to be brushed, which was one of my three requirements of a cat. #1 You will be cute. #2 You will be cuddly. #3 You will let me brush you without attacking my hand. We put in the application that very day, and after some talking, thinking, and phone interviewing....it was decided she would be ours! The next morning we picked her up and its been (mostly) happily ever after since then!

She cuddles with me most of the time, follows me around, and we chit chat a lot. Rainy is a Himalayan, meaning she is part Persian, part Siamese. Siamese cats talk more than any other breed. Who knew! I've gotten used to it, and just ignore her when it's excessive. Sometimes its cute like when she is answering my questions (don't judge, it's just the two of us most of the time!). I don't think she is the smartest of things, on account of she runs into screen doors and jumps off 2nd stories and wanders into empty rooms just to meow at the wall, but she lets me train her because she LOVES food. If I fed her every hour she would probably still try to burglarize her treat bag. If I wandered the streets for weeks, I would probably want to stock up while I could as well.

Here's some pictures of our sweet fur child!

 So fuzzy.

 So not fuzzy.

" I enjoy hammocks!"

 "And boxes."

"My own namesake"

And here are the first few behaviors I've taught her!

Until next time....

Cheers,

KB and MRB

R is for Rustonians

In May we left the big city of Seattle for some new scenery. Our lease was up and with my new job in Tacoma, we were both commuting almost 2 hours every day. Not fun. And not my choice as a way to spend 12% of my day.

So my lovely husband (still adjusting to using that word!) found a quaint little joint in Ruston, Washington. Basically Tacoma. It's a "town" encompassing about 5 by 3 blocks on the shores of Commencement Bay, in the Puget Sound. It also, coincidentally, is right across the street from my workplace, only 20 minutes from base.

The most SPLENDID part is that traffic noise...Light Rail dings....earsplitting mariachi music....and unsolved shootings, are no longer a part of our every day lives! Our former apartment complex was lovely, don't get me wrong. Brand new. Great amenities. A couple blocks from Lake Washington, and our favorite, Seward Park. But NOW! What a difference! We sit with the windows open all the time, no longer in fear of our neighbors getting upset that our TV is up loud, because, God forbid, we should be able to have fresh air and watch Wheel of Fortune at the same time. Our balcony at our Ruston abode is about 4 times smaller than our Seattle deck. We've already spent 29438732 more minutes on it, because who needs all that space to listen to car horns and cursing drivers when you can have less space and look at the water in perfect serenity? We live in a park yo. Or very NEAR a park. Parkside.

 The Waterfront of Ruston Way

 Shoreline of our "backyard"

 Rhododendron Garden

 Iris Garden

 Miles of running trails

 That's us!

 Pleasantvilley

That last one is our baby balcony. Complete with a cat fence and hammock. Truth: There is no room for chairs on account of the gargantuan grill table Andrew made, but there is always room for hammocks.

Since we last spoke through this little bloglet, we have completed deployment #3. As well as very recently started deployment #4. I kind of wear those numbers like a hidden badge of honor, but come on, back to back is not how I planned on rackin them up! It is what it is, and we shall persevere like we always do. I just wanted to do the whole husband and wife thing for more than 2 weeks at a time. I suppose now is not our time. An email marriage it shall remain for the next couple of months. If the military was a person, sometimes I would slap it across the face.

Until next time. Don't worry, next time will be sooner than 2 months from now. Not like I have husband hang outs to go to or anything!

Cheers,

KB

Cheers

E is for Eloping !

It wasn't a destination wedding. It wasn't a secret. It was simply what we wanted to do.

Just the two of us seemed like the most romantic way to become husband and wife. So we did it.

After a whole month of being engaged, we got married on the shores of Puget Sound, in front of a lighthouse. The morning was quiet and peaceful.

We were alone on the beach with the exception of a few kayakers...and a park ranger....who almost put a large kink in the day by letting me know, despite purchasing a way overpriced permit, we were not in a permitted marriage spot. Sorry lady, but there will be a whopping five people here. In the scope of your life, this 15 minutes means absolutely nothing to you, but to us, it is the rest of our lives.

Apparently, there has to be at least one thing that goes almost terribly wrong on wedding days. I'm lucky my "one thing" looked the other way for a few minutes. I'll stop blabbing and let the pictures tell the rest of the story...

 Rings and red shoes, what else do you need? A husband.

 A wine box with love letters we wrote to each other, to be opened "in case of emergency," or on our 5th year wedding anniversary

 It is official!!

 Super cheese!

 Our sweet officiant, AnnMarie

The amazing witnesses and great friends



 And they lived happily ever after....

 Kansas Blvd told us it was meant to be that we got married at Discovery Park

:)

Until next time....

Cheers,

KB