Save the CATS!

You GUYS! Please, PLEASE do NOT waste another moment! READ THIS:  THIS IS SERIOUS LIVES are at stake!

The worst part? IT IS TRUE! Cats DO kill billions of poor, innocent cute animals every year. We should BAN them immediately! Yup, you got it right... I am calling for CatControl. Action must be taken like, five minutes ago! We must rid our cities and streets of these lethal, crazed animals. Feline lunatics, I tell you!!

What? You think I am insane? Did I have crazy pills for breakfast? No. I am just following suit that when something in our society is linked to lives lost or destruction (or anything "unpredicted"), we just wipe it out. So, according to what much of our government is insisting, we need to get rid of the Kitties! It's not at the hands of the irresponsible people who own these murderous four legged weapons who recklessly let them out of the house to feed on small rodent prey...no, let's not look at those individuals as the problem. It is the CATS. The CATS are responsible for the lack of human control (and sanity).

OR....WHAT IF.....Instead of trusting these vicious nine-lifed fur balls to just ANYONE on the street (or the crazy lady who seems to have a serious feline addiction), do you think we should just teach people how to care for their cats in a responsible manner? Keep them indoors, where they are safe and out of harms way? Don't let them run rampant through the alleys, searching for mice and other small rodents? How about we encourage responsible ownership over these cats? Maybe make it a little more strict to obtain a cat, instead of just banning all cats for EVERYONE...? *Some cats will still be permitted. If you're a law maker/senator/congressman/President, etc... YOU still get to have Cats in your house. You make the rules, and you need to have cats so you can stay in reign and keep the rodents away.* 

I mean, what if one day, the rats and mice join forces and try to overrun the people?! And we  have no cats to serve as protection to save our lives...and liberty? then what happens? I will tell you what will happen...RATS will run our great nation! (bigger rats than we have now, believe it or not!) They will take over!! We have no means of keeping these pesky rodents under control once our cats are gone. The only people who will be exempt from this attack are the people who still have cats protecting them and their families. The law makers, the President...why do they still get to have protection from the rats, when we, the people who make up this nation, are not granted the same protection and rights!? It's my belief that these rats and mice (and the like) are held at bay because they know there ARE cats on the prowl. As long as there are cats, these rabid, disease-carrying rodents will remain in the sewers and alleys, where they belong. And once other countries know we no longer have our cats to keep us rodent-free, they too will send their rats to invade and destroy us!

Does anyone get what I am saying? Anyone see how crazy it is to just take something away, from everyone, just because some people don't know how to manage themselves and their belongings in a responsible manner? Taking one thing away from everyone will not solve the problems. Violating the Second Amendment will not prevent wacky people from hurting others. Has anyone seen "Speed," with Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves? What was the threatening "weapon" in this seemingly outrageous movie? A bomb-carrying BUS! Yes, a BUS, even one that is not armed with a bomb, can be used as a lethal weapon and harm and kill just as many people as a gun. and maybe more! My heart definitely breaks for ALL victims of senseless shooting at office buildings, stores, schools, etc... but it's only at the fault of the mentally ill people who STEAL the guns (just as they can STEAL a bus, make explosives with household items, etc). For every nutso who gains access to a gun, there are dozens of SANE and RESPONSIBLE people who would never, ever dream of playing ANY role in harming another person. So why punish them? Why punish the good, for the small percentage of evil?

And if "we the People" cannot have guns, then why would the President's secret service still get to have guns? Why would his family be allowed to be protected by armed forces, when WE are not granted the same?? Is his family more important than ours? 

It seems to me that since "Gun Control" has become such a hot topic (Sandy Hook shooting) in the media, they've been reporting many more gun-related assaults and deaths. People, think about it! Mentally unstable people harm and kill innocent people every day by stabbing them, running them over with cars, baseball bats, torture, you name it! Why are THOSE crimes not reported?? Because the liberal, one-sided media wants to SCARE the public into thinking guns are bad, for everyone. Please don't be one of those mindless zombies! THINK FOR YOURSELF. Do some research! Apply your critical thinking skills. Taking away guns is not the answer. All it will do is shift the resources for the mentally-ill individuals who want to harm others. Instead of a gun, they will make bombs. they will burn down buildings. they will FIND a WAY to carry out the destruction they want to cause. Just think about it.

On another, less ranty-note, I would like to send a shout out to the hottest couple in town on this sweaty day (it's currently NEGATIVE 1 degree fahrenheit outside. no joke)...

Happy ONE MONTHIVERSAY to Rick and Jill Hardesty!

Congrats on your first month of BLISSFUL marriage!

Mother Nature has a great sense of humor!

it's winter time in Minnesota. January typically brings what I call a "cold snap." well, I think (and hope) we just experienced out annual January cold snap. we had a couple days of crazy gusting winds and highs that did not even reach ZERO DEGREES Fahrenheit. DO you know what that feels like?? no, you probably do not because of the 2 people who read this blog, I doubt either of them are in a climate so similar to mine in Minnesota. BUT in case you DO know what less than zero degrees feels like, for the HIGH, then you get what I am saying! While walking Nash, or even while walking from the car into Target, my lungs start to hurt and feel tingly because the air I'm taking in is that frigid. The little hairs in your nostrils will quickly freeze, and if your scarf is pulled up over your nose and you're out long enough,your eyelashes and eyebrows develop tiny icicles from the moisture of your exhale being directed upward on your face because the scarf is blocking your clean exhale from your mouth. Yeah, it's cold and you feel it everywhere! 

Now, although that may sound like a complaint, it's actually NOT. It's not necessarily a bad thing to experience this type of weather. the key is being prepared for it, both mentally and physically. Dig out the big ol' parka, the moon boots, heavy duty choppers (mittens, not motorcycles), and do NOT forget the scarf and hat! with the proper equipment, and the right attitude, everyone is fine. another plan many people choose to take is to stay indoors. simple enough! do you REALLY have to go out side for very long, anyway? probably not. Monday I had work off (MLK day!) so I decided to celebrate the -14 degree temps all day by plastering some of my walls that were in need of a little touching up. Ain't no thang! I know people who had to work outside all day, and even they said as long as they kept moving, they stayed plenty warm. seems like a no brainer to me! 

if people do choose to venture into the near-tundra like outdoors, perhaps to walk their dog, they are sometimes rewarded with witnessing some pretty unique sights. what do I mean? well, let me demonstrate with the image, below...

think about it.

Yah. James saw this little (....erm, big??) gem down the street from us, outside the cleaner's dryer chute thing. 

what is it? really, you have to ask? 

a penisicle, of course!

is this rare? I think so! I've never seen anything like this - and I am thankful James was brave enough to take his hand out of his glove long enough to snap a pic of this amazing piece of frozen condensation! seriously, could anyone look at this and not instantly giggle? laugh? at least raise an eyebrow?? ha! Mother Nature, in all her humorous glory!!

We drove by this Tuesday and saw that it was already gone. James and I are both pretty sure someone else saw it and didn't have a camera (or realized that a picture just was NOT enough) and stole it. No worry for us, as another one is already forming. I wonder if it will form to this same shape again? Will we ever witness such a piece of natural artwork again?

(And Jill, THIS is the surprise we were talking about on Saturday night... we thought you'd get a great kick out of this. :) Be sure to bring Brutus down to visit it and check in on it's, um, development?) 

too funny. 

so there you have it...it looks like we got a couple good chuckles out of below zero weather for a few days, after all. it's not all that bad!

enjoy your Hump Day today! the weekend is already creepin' in. creep. creep.

when the shoe's on the other foot...

Hmmm. SO this bothers me a little bit. I mean it, but not whole heartily - this is more just me venting one of my latest thoughts...

the Superbowl Committee is racist.

yup!

who is singing the national anthem? Alicia Keys.

who is the half time entertainment? Beyonce (and maybe the other 2 Destiny's Child chicks)

now, when the National Anthem singer is white and the half time show is white, people cry that there is no diversity, it's a racist production, etc... however when it's all black entertainment... crickets. no one can squeak out a complaint or accusation.

just for fun, let's look at the Presidential Inauguration that's coming up... also racist! black president...who's singing? Beyonce. of course. plus, Beyonce and the Obama clan are BFFs. so i guess that makes sense. 

why don't we make these things more racially diverse?? it sure doesn't look like the USA is ruled by rich, white old bigot men...looks like the opposite, to me. I am really disappointed in the LACK of diversity in these two upcoming huge national events.

While we are talking about Beyonce (who, in my belief, DID FAKE her pregnancy!!), what the hay is up with the "White House" removing the petition from their website that wanted to remove Beyonce from performing at the inauguration?!?! She just signed a huge deal with Pepsi and it's a "conflict" with what Michelle Obama is shoving down every one's throat about obesity and healthy eating, therefore a large amount of people have signed this petition saying the White House is being hypocritical. Which, I AGREE!! If Michelle and her family want to be all high and mighty and push their own menus on to Americans and our public schools, then they should set good examples in EVERY public appearance and practice what they preach! They are showing their support for a person who is the new face of one of the leading contributors (SODA) to our obesity problem in this nation. But no. the Obamas would NEVER shun Beyonce!! 

ughh. it's ridiculous. if ANY of these instances were Republicans or all white, our liberal/mainstream media would be having hissy fits left and right!! go figure.

do NOT even get me started on the Wayans Brothers stupid "White Chicks" movie. YES, I AM offended. anyway... I will leave it at that.

so there is my rant. 

tonight at the Cabooze should be an awesome set... a Johnny Cash tribute show! http://www.cabooze.com/ check it out! even though we have a gym class at 6:45 tomorrow morning, I think we might have to check this out!

it's a Ring Of Fire type of day. 

welcome to the weekend!

public displays of TAILS?

Seriously? a tail. this silly boy is really wearing a tail at the mall.

what is this world coming to? or at least, this generation? he was about 15 years old. anything for attention, I guess. what an idiot. yes, i am judging. I've done some stupid things that i thought were cool, but nothing quite like this. stupid.

so anyway, I don't have anything positive to say about this pic and this kid. yuk.

other than that, the week has been kind of slow. except for when Nash decided to play "jail break" and busted out of his kennel yesterday while I was at work!! i don't know how he did it, but today I tied the door shut with a ribbon (of course it looks adorable) after making sure all the locks were in tact. I don't know how he did that!! amazing. he might be too clever for his own good! stinker.

we are supposed to get a little bit of snow on Friday and maybe Saturday too. yay! we need a new pretty dusting! 

have a great day...why? because today is trash day, which means -- it's almost FRIDAY! hang in there!

animal print, out of control!

Ever see something and you just cannot stop looking at it? Something...maybe like a sweater that looks like some sort of animated animal face? You saw that too? You mean this one??

I cannot stop looking at this! and laughing at it. 

I love this sweater thing! It is hilarious and honestly I think it would be really entertaining to wear it - in public, obviously - just to see what peoples reactions to seeing it would be. I don't even know where I saw this pic, but I had to save it. Go ahead, keep looking at it. The eyes...I wonder what they are made of? Can you slouch the neck to look more like a cowl neck? would the sweat look more like a red box with a white pattern on it? could you hide the eyes? I bet there are many fun different looks you could come up with for this sweater. with a face. the faced sweater. on your chest. ha. gotta love fashion.

and now, maybe because I don't have any kids or too much personal excitement in my life, I must be one of those people who talks about their pet nonstop. yes, this is pretty much all the thrill and intrigue I have in my life lately. my amazing wonderdog, Nash. don't judge me. he is worth every single post I will ever make about him. boast post, one might call it. so deal. thank you.

Good news! Nash finally met Brutus...and they are going to be BFFs! I mean, look at them pooping together. the fellas that poo together, stay together. right?

oh shoot, I just realized this is the wrong pic...

I have another one that shows both of them "crouching" (you know, assuming the position) at the same time. It was so funny to witness. and I have a feeling this will not be the last time this team effort happens! at least they feel ultra comfortable with each other already. 

leave my undies alone, Nash!

lastly, Nash was a dear and decided to help me with the laundry over the weekend. and by help me "with" the laundry, i really mean help me from NOT getting my clean laundry folded. seriously, every time i sat down to fold my clothes he would plop down on my lap and demand that i pet him and give him undivided attention! what a rascal. I must admit that I failed to resist his adorable charm and I totally gave in to him 100% of the time! Something about his eyes...his little ears....wagging tail...and him constantly pawing at me. you just can't say no! too much fun.

at least the weekend yielded one sweet victory: he is now trained to saunter on in to his kennel after we just point to it and say "Nash, kennel." poof! no more WWE happening in my living room to force him in there! no joke, it was really a wrestling match to get him in there the first few days! we hated it! we'd feel so bad cramming him in when clearly he did NOT want to go in there! At least once he is in, he is totally fine and relaxes. it was just getting him to that point that was a physical (and emotional!) struggle. but, no more! I am so proud of him! good boy, Nash. :)

it's been a busy week so far and I am looking forward to hitting fast forward till Friday. That can happen, right? sometimes I wish my life had a DVR setting. ha!

James gets his finalized Christmas present (from me!) tonight, via UPS. It's a Coach briefcase that he has been pining over for a very, very long time every time we'd go into the Coach store. I am so happy to have gotten it for him finally! it was the highlight of Christmas in 2012...I couldn't wait for him to open it and am pretty impressed with myself for waiting until Christmas to share it. I guess there really are some parts of me that I can control...I just might be a real adult, after all! (don't hold me to that just yet!)

So, Merry Christmas AGAIN to James! Finally you will have your briefcase in the exact color of your dreams!

cheers to all!

animals and candy = extreme happiness

Please click this hilarious link, below. 

 Why I love Lee Valsvik!

at the very end, Lee (a local deejay who has been in Mpls since I can remember! she is the BEST!) squeals into the mic "I'm OK!!!" its so funny. poor Lee! good thing she is such a great sport!

i forgot to include a fun pic in an earlier post of one of James's mom's horses in Oklahoma. This is Sam. BIG Sam!

trust me. he is pretty big! Gray Boy is behind him...

So anyway, we saw Sam and Gray Boy over the long weekend in Oklahoma. I would sure love a horse, but am quite content with my doggie for now.

I mean...seriously. most adorable furry man, ever.

Speaking of adorable furry men, I cannot wait for Nash to meet our neighbor Brutus. Brutus is a Weimaraner and is the lovechild of Rick and Jill HARDESTY (emphasis on the last name because they are now married! holla!). Brutus is super cute and funny and I have high hopes that he and Nash will be BFFs. I know it might not necessarily be that way, but I am crossing my fingers. like, all ten of them.

Last night James and I ran some errands and ended up zipping into Kowalski's, which is the most wonderful grocery store around. Why do I give it such a stellar review? Because of this:

from the front

and the back

Yep, look at all that beautiful candy in all it's magnificent glory. it's a beautiful display. it's damn near irresistible!! I might start going to the gym twice a day, just so i can (over) indulge in this most wonderful part of the food pyramid. I like to think that there is a candy pyramid within the food pyramid. the base would be the most sugary of candies, and of course my favorites - the gummy, fruity flavored candies! this is what I would consume the most. the next, smaller tier would be the nutty/protein category. nut rolls, chocolate covered peanuts & pecans, heck we can even throw in some trail mix. the next level would be chocolate covered fruit, such as Queen Anne chocolate covered cherries and even the chocolate covered frozen bananas. sharing that tier is dark chocolate. rich, rich dark chocolate - but also has many health benefits such as....i don't know, making headaches go away and enjoying with red wine to satisfy sweet cravings? whatever, it's not important. what IS important is that it is a category of it's own awesomeness. finally, the top level would be chocolate on it's own or combined with peanut butter or nougat. these are to be consumed the least amount of all the candies, but are typically so rich that they are better in smaller qualities. So now that we are settled on my candy pyramid, I will share one last pic of why i love Kowalski's...

I LOVE cinnamon flavored anything...and

cinnamon + jelly candy + rolled in sugar = complete happiness!

This IS what I love about Kowalski's AND about Valentine's Day candy and the fact that this favorite candy of mine falls into the largest portion of my candy pyramid, so i must therefore consume this exquisite piece of sugary miracle in the largest portions. it's my not only my right, but also my duty.

aside from the candy, i don't have much else going on. just looking after Nash and trying to keep him happy and teach him a couple new commands. we are still working on getting him into his kennel without a full on wrestling match, but I am confident that will come in time.

enjoy the weekend! it's 40 today and the highs for the next two days are around 15. go figure!

we made it through the Christmas season! Happy 2013!

so much has been happening lately - i haven't had a moment to blog about a single thing.

first things first: two extremely awesome holiday prizes...

1. james very unexpectedly gave me the most amazingly beautiful -and perfect!- diamond stud earrings for Christmas. He gave them to me on the Friday night before the whole Christmastravaganza kicked off, so that would be Friday, Dec., 21st. We were having a little happy hour at the W Hotel when he pulled the gold box out of his pocket and I almost slid out of my chair because I was so excited! I was honestly so speechless, i couldn't even formulate the proper, and much deserved, "thank you, you are the most awesome person evahhh!" I will try to get a pic posted of them.

2. over this past weekend (Jan. 5th), after a couple days of stalking this poor creature, we got a dog!! We rescued this spunky young thang from the Golden Valley Humane Society and so far I am MORE than pleased with how amazing he is! I think we are naming him Nash, which is short for Nashville...which is really where James and I started our whole "adventure" in life together. cute, huh? Either Nash or Eddie or Archie. So far he seems to respond well to Nash. Anyway, I will also try to include a pic of him. The only background information we have is that he was sent to Minnesota from a shelter in Alabama, he is a shepherd mix and is about 2 years old. Once we brought him home we found him to be house broken (YAY!), pretty obedient (he knows "sit," "no," and "down." he also walks very well on a leash - hooray!), and is super cuddly! so far he has been a lot of fun and really seems to just want to be loved. OK, I can do that!!

so aside from the earrings and the new doggie, we've been busy with three or four Christmas celebrations in Mpls, one road trip to Oklahoma to see James's family, and now we are just trying to recover from all of the mayhem we've been trying to live through over the last three weeks. I think we made it! 

now I have my eyes set on training Nash to not jump on the couch (sadly!! I like him up there, but really it's not sanitary!), I would like to teach him to run with me on a leash (this may be better off waiting until Spring), and fetch. so far he isn't too thrilled with any of the toys i've brought home for him. he loves to move my gloves and boots around the house, without chewing them, of course/thank God!, but he doesn't like the ball or rope toy or stuffed animals. what's up with that!? 

another fun thing we have on our horizon is heading to Fort Myers in early March to celebrate my Grandpa's 80th birthday! OWW! I cannot wait!!! secrets: i already umm, accidentally bought a new swimsuit for it! it's just from Target, but...I could not resist! We are really excited - I probably am way more pumped than James, but that's because he has never been to Ft Myers so he doesn't know what to get so excited for, other than the beach! My grandparents are SO cute down there and have such wonderful neighbors - it is just a blast to hang out with them and let them show off their home to us! Love them so much.

I'll post a few pics from the last couple weeks. Hopefully I can get better ones of Nash - all the ones I have are either really dark or blurry!

thanks for hangin' with me during my extended absence. Happy 2013!

me and auntie gail at their new fire pit on christmas eve

me and olivia - she photo bombed our pic!

here he is! NASH!

sleeping beauty

New Year's Eve 2012

Grampa and me, Christmas Eve

what a terrific Christmas season!! so blessed.