So, we weren't going to start our vacation until Tuesday but Russell has a new job and we're itching to get out of Boise. Last minute change and we're headed out Saturday morning! Yay! But wait, all those things I had the whole weekend to take care of before our trip, now I have to do them... TOMORROW! Everything! Wish me luck. I'm excited and we're doing the sort of fly by the seat of your pants kind of thing so I would tell you where we'll be ('cause I've heard that's a good idea when you're camping and such) but we don't know.

Some more good news. My books are only $124 next semester! How sweet is that?

Also, Dylan's mixtape idea sounds like it would be pretty rocking. So, if you are interested, comment will you?!

This morning I was thinking, I haven't posted an Otis picture in a while. Sometimes after work Russell and I will sit outside. My friend Katie asked if I knit and Russell whittles wood while we sit. We don't. We laugh at our dog. I make a little squirrel noise and he runs back and forth and all over the yard. Entertaining. And cheap. Free to be exact.

Well, it's been sort of busy around our house lately. Russell may have found a new job. It's been very slow for new homes around here and he hasn't had very much work to do. The new job is with a fencing company. I think he's giving it a bit of a test run right now. I wish he didn't have to do such hard work. I think he should go to school to be a botanist, then I can call him "scientist" like on Half Baked.

I'm getting really excited about our vacation next week. It looks like we're leaving on Tuesday and heading up to Glacier National Park, we're going to camp there and hang out a little bit on Wednesday and then drive up to Payne Lake for the reunion. I still have to get our grocery list together, wash our sleeping bags, give the dang dog a bath and clean up the house before we go (because we all know there is nothing worse than coming home from vacation to a messy house).

We made this for dinner this week. The chili was good but not really our idea of chili. You know. Spicy. Meaty. We won't be replacing our recipe. The cornbread, though. Dang. It was good. I even busted out my cast iron skillet. Tasty.

Does this potato look like a butt or is it just me?

I haven't showed you any updated garden pictures in a while. In the row on the left we have zucchini. I think we're going to have a lot of it. The leaves are starting to get huge and we had some flowers sprout up.

Here is the tomato. There is more than one now but this is the big one. Can you tell how big it is? I don't think you can. Trust me, it's big.

I'm really excited about this! This is our basil that we started from seeds before we moved out of our apartment. It's growing really well outside now and it is WAY stronger than grocery store basil.

Anyway, the family reunion is next week and Russell and I have started planning our road trip. I have the whole week off and we're going to take our time getting up there and camp a couple of places along the way. We're driving through Montana and we're hoping to be able to camp in Glacier National Park. I'll post the plans once they are a little more complete. I'm excited.

Russell and I made these delicious muffins on my lunch hour today. Don't you hate it when you go to the grocery store and you still feel like you have no food? I needed a snack. Big time. The recipe was a first-timer and it turned out awesome! You can find it here if you are interested. The recipe says raspberries but I opted for blueberries this time. Next time, I'm trying blackberries.

Help me out here will you?

I work with this crazy lady. She is in charge of the Classic license plate program. Instead of having a mileage restriction on this particular plate (like every other normal state) Idaho imposed a "use restriction" and there is really no way to enforce it. They can't use the vehicle for regular transportation because basically they don't pay registration fees. Anyway, this lady is INSANE. She gives all the customers the third degree and if anyone else in our office issues a classic plate - watch out. I call her the plate Nazi. My boss heard me today and scolded me! He said I need to "be careful." So, my question to you: Do you find "plate Nazi" offensive? Really. Tell me.

I love trying to get my chores typically reserved for the weekend taken care of during the week so that I can have my weekend for relaxing. It's Russell's birthday weekend (we like to extend the celebration as long as possible) and we're not doing anything. We were thinking about going to the Cherry Festival in Emmett and then I bought Russell a few flies for fishing so we were considering doing that but in the end, we opted to stay home and sit around. We will probably end up watching PBS most of the day. Anyway, I thought I would share a recipe we tried this week. This one is courtesy Rachael Ray 365: No Repeats.

Zucchini and Bow Ties

salt
1 lb. bow tie pasta
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
6 cloves minced garlic
2 medium zucchini
pepper
1 cup grated Parmigiano
1 cup fresh basil leaves

Cook your pasta and reserve a few ladles of the pasta water. Heat deep skillet over medium. Add extra virgin olive oil and garlic; cook for 2 minutes. Add zucchini and cook about 8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and add ladles of pasta water and cooked pasta. Turn off the heat and toss with the cheese for about 2 minutes or until the liquids are absorbed. Serve with shredded basil on top.

We are trying to stick pretty close to our grocery budget and this one was inexpensive and really tasty. Next time, I think I'll add more zucchini or maybe try asparagus.

Happy Birthday, Russell!

I'm really glad you were born.

On my way back to work from lunch...

When we lived in Virginia one of us got a Barbie RV for Christmas. I think it was Bride but I can't really remember. This picture is the closest thing they have to it now. A brilliant idea stemmed from this particular Christmas gift. Bridget and I decided that when we were grown up and married with kids, we were each going to buy RVs and that way we could always be neighbors, we would go everywhere together. I told Russell about this last night and he asked if Bride was buying the RV (I thought that was funny). Anyway, I think we have a new plan. Someday we'll have a bakery (and we'll name it PattiCakes for Mom) and then we'll get to work together and try new recipes all day long. Ah, heaven.

Why is this so hilarious to me?

This is totally random but Russell and I have a weird grocery store tradition, I guess you could call it. We always make the grocery list and then guess how much it's going to cost. He was right on this week. Right on! I told the checker and she said, "Really? Usually it's the guys that get it wrong." I guess we're not the only ones.

Ah, this weekend. Where do I begin? First, the good news. Russell bought me a Macintosh apple tree. It's a twig now but someday I'll have some delicious Macintosh apples and I can't wait - it's my favorite kind of apple.

So, Friday night is our night to irrigate. I went to bed and Russell turned it off after our two hours was up. Something got stuck in the bottom of the pipe so it looked closed from the top but it was open on the bottom. I woke up in the morning in the mood for some poached eggs but I couldn't remember if you are supposed to boil the water or when to turn it off so I went to get on the computer. The computer in the basement. The basement that was flooded. It's still not dry. And it stinks down there now. Oh, and get this. Sunday, it rained all day long. I swear it hasn't rained like that since we moved here.

Everything turned out okay because I made a loaf of cinnamon swirl bread for a little treat on Sunday night. I know it's weird but I had to take a picture. It was so good. Is that a perfect swirl or what? And some of the sugar ended up on the bottom of the pan so it was all sticky and good. I love my bread maker.

I saw an ad for this in my last Food Everyday magazine. I've been wanting it ever since. Russell doesn't like to eat corn off the cob but sweet corn on the cob is so good and so cheap here. Well, I was wondering where I was going to find it and went to the Williams Sonoma website and found it, the exact one in the ad. I called and they don't have it in the store here. If I'm going to order online I might as well make sure I can't think of anything else I need. A good bread knife is an absolute must, right? How about one of those silicone pastry brushes? I've heard they are much easier to clean. Holy crap. I have a problem. I also like to browse the recipe section. This lemonade looked so good to me. I wish I could stay home and try new recipes all day.

Russell and I went to Blockbuster last night. We haven't been in forever (thank you Netflix). Playing in the background was Nacho Libre. Is this movie quotable or what?! I've had this line stuck in my head all day:

"they don't think I know a buttload of crap about the gospel, but I do."

It is most definitely worth a rental.

Russell is really excited. He has a tomato growing out back. I never would have guessed that he would be so psyched about this. Every day he tries to get me to go out there and look with him.

We noticed some crops, I guess you could say, in our across the street neighbor's yard. We're curious.

I ate a cupcake for breakfast this morning. I decided, last minute, I better bike to work to make up for it. I flew into a swarm of gnats. One got stuck in my eye. Then, my earbuds slipped out of my ears, got stuck in my bike tire and totally broke. All together a pretty good start to the day, wouldn't you say? I'm eating another cupcake when I get home.

This morning I had to get a physical for school. Does anyone else think that is a little weird? Yeah, me too but that’s not the point. Every time I go to the doctor they say something about my dry skin. Every time, without fail. Enough already! I put lotion on when I get out of the shower! What else am I supposed to do? The last two times I've gone, they've recommended baby oil. BABY OIL. Yeah, after you shower, douse yourself in baby oil and then pat dry. Question: What is the dang point of showering? Could you ever possibly feel clean after that? Another question: Wouldn't you have to wash your towel after one shower every time? I felt like slapping that lady right across the face.

When we lived in our apartment, I used to take Otis to this little school and I brought his rope toy with me every time. I don't know why, he never played with his rope toy. He played with the other dogs who were usually trying to play with their own rope toy or frisbee or tennis ball. Anyway, our neighbors have a dog and we will frequently catch him with his entire head under the fence on our side. Weirdest thing. Otis totally ignores him. Russell suspects that they play all day long when we're gone... We couldn't get a spontaneous picture, we had to coax the other dog over - that's why Otis is right there. He does ignore him. I swear, okay! Sheesh.

We found out this week that we have water rights. I can't even tell you how excited we are about this. We get to irrigate now! We took a little walk over to the manager's house and she assigned us Thursday from 10am to 12pm. I asked if we could switch to another day (hello? does anyone else have to work around here). She said Friday night was open but that's usually not good for people. Russell and I said, practically in unison, "we'll take it." Sad.