Brewing

Last Christmas, I made the choice to encourage the hubby to have a hobby. He is the type that always feels the need to be improving himself and learning, and had shown an interest in brewing beer, so when Christmas rolled around, I ordered a Cooper's home brewing system I had read would grow with him in his brewing endeavors. It was one of those spur of the moment purchases that wasn't quite spur of the moment because I took a couple hours researching once I decided that would be his Christmas gift.

Well almost a year later, I don't regret that choice for a moment. Now there is even talk of eventually opening our own microbrewery, and a name for our microbrewery has even emerged. Here are some pictures of the most recent home brew in the making. It is the first all-grain brew made with the newly build mash tun and our giant new pot.


And the true proof that it is a home-brew, the beer fermenting in our master closet.

Sleepovers

Every month or so, Josh and I have the pleasure of having our niece and nephew over for the night. We were just so lucky this past Friday night.

We enjoyed getting Krispy Kreme doughnuts.

I had to go bring a DVD back to the library (didn't want to get fined), and when I got home apparently my husband had been cooking the children in his new home brewing pot.

Having a grand time sticking her brother in the pot.

Realizing being closed in the pot isn't nearly as fun as putting other people in the pot.
Children stew! Seriously though, a giant pot was the greatest toy. They kept wanting to sit in there for everything.

Happy Birthday Liesl

Our sweet puppy is celebrating her first birthday, or at least this is what we guess to be her birthday based on how old she looked when she was brought to Animal Control in Yuma. Last October I was looking at dogs through animal rescues on craigslist (even though we had decided it would be best to wait to get a puppy in the summer, when I would have some time off). One Sunday morning, I came across http://vjranchaz.com/rescue.aspx. As I scrolled through the list of dogs that were available through the rescue, I couldn't help but stop when I saw this girl.

She was a Rottie/Shepherd mix listed by the name of Cash, and she was officially the sweetest looking puppy I had ever seen. I talked to Josh about her as if she was already ours all day. I kept calling her random names from Harry Potter... ie. "Minerva is waiting for us to come adopt her." He just laughed at me, but I eventually wore him down and we started talking seriously about adopting her. Finally Josh said it was silly to keep talking about her unless we knew she was available and that I should just call. I left a message, and the waiting game began. Valerie (who runs the shelter) called me back and told me she was still available, and that her brother had just been adopted when I was leaving a message about her... it was fate, right?

We made the drive to New River, AZ (about 1 1/2 hours), and were amazed at the herd of dogs running around. I never knew that many dogs could get along so well. We were looking at a puppy though, so she was in a separate area. I picked her up the second I saw her, and she dug her little nose into my neck. Love at first nuzzle! She was a bit docile compared to some of the other puppies. Josh loved this lab mix that was chewing on his shoe (didn't seem like a recipe for success to me). But he agreed after spending some time with her that she was the puppy for us.

We brought her home and had fun surprising people with the newest Kinnaman. My sister was actually on the freeway at the same time as us, and first saw her through the window as we were driving 70 down the 60E. That was funny! After much debate (and Josh refusing to let me name her something Harry Potter-ish) we decided to stick with her German roots and name her Liesl.

And after many demolished toys, shredded carpet, numerous escapes from the backyard, and a whole lot of other craziness, this docile little puppy who was turned into animal control with her mom and brother has become a huge part of our family.(Picture after being admitted into Animal Control in Yuma)

(Graduating from Puppy Training, though few would believe it... lol.)

(Picture after hopping in the shower with me. Looks pretty proud of herself.)

(Enjoying her birthday present)

Happy Birthday my Sweet Girl! You have changed my life, only for the better.

Big Project

Ever since we moved into our new home (been almost a year now), I have been telling Josh I want a spot for my craft stuff, especially my sewing machine. I've had it for years, but haven't done much with it. I love creating things. It is one of the best feelings to me. So I went out the other day and bought some patterns at Hobby Lobby for $1 each. It was amazing! One of which was a pair of pajama pants. Josh, being relatively tall with a small waist, has a difficult time finding comfy lounging pants. So we went out and he chose some fabric, and I called upon my wonderful grandma-in-law Donna to help me make sense of the pattern.

Posing with the soon to be pants with only the inside seam stitched.

At work on the sewing machine

And after about 8 hours of work turning a piece of fabric into a functional pair of pajama pants, my handsome husband modeling. :-)

I hope to make a habit out of this whole sewing thing. Now to save money for fabric...

Crazy Cat

When Josh and I first got our kittens Ruki and Khelana, I knew we would also one day get a dog. After a year of just the cats, we introduced Liesl into the mix. I hoped the introduction would go alright, and really it did. But about a month into having Liesl it became very apparent that Khelana was not her biggest fan. We tried to take Christmas pictures, and Khelana would not stopping batting and hissing at the newest Kinnaman.

Exhibit A: Take a look at that face (kitty on the left)
Exhibit B: Mid-Hiss, and ready to attack

We have come a long way since then. Khelana is still at the point of mainly just tolerating Liesl, but she has taken to spending a lot of time sleeping in Liesl's crate when it isn't occupied, and drinking out of the water bowl in there. In fact, she is cleaning herself in there now, so she can't possibly detest her as much as she used to.

Cute Pet Pics

Ruki... sticking his tongue out, as usual.


Liesl turning it in last night. We stayed up past 10, so she went to bed without us. :-)

Cleaning

I'm sure it's not just me that goes through this. I spent a couple hours vacuuming and mopping the floors in our house. During this time Liesl gets banned to the backyard, and sometimes the cats do too.

The floors look great. And it never fails... when I finish, I ultimately end up looking around, and say to myself, "This is what my house could look like without pets."

In a world without them our house would be sparkling, we would have more money, we wouldn't have to replace sprinkler heads every month (and by we, I guess I mean Josh), our carpet would still be in it's better days, and we wouldn't buy Costco-sized amounts of lint rollers. We would also have a much easier time dropping everything and doing what we want, when we want.

But in a world without them I would have no one to sleep on my chest at night, and sit on my legs as if they were a tree branch (thank you Khelana).

I'd also have no one to whine at me to throw his toy (yes my cat plays fetch), and play with the laundry while I fold it (thank you Ruki).

And there would be no one to bark at the evil vacuum (which is obviously trying to attack me), and no one to look at me with those big brown eyes like I am the greatest thing in the world (Thank you Liesl).

Yeah... I guess I'll keep them, :-)

A Beginning

I've always wanted to write a book, but I have never known how to start, or for that matter where to go from there. I have had the exact same experience with starting up a blog. I'm pretty sure I started designing this blog over two years ago, when Josh and I got married, but then I never knew how to start.

I thought back to high school and college English classes... Who is my audience? What is my purpose? It was these types of questions that have held me back these last two years. I love expressing myself through writing, but what do I really have to offer? At this point, I am not sure. I look around my house from the computer desk, and I see Ruki (our boy cat) peering at me from under the desk. Khelana (Ruki's sister) wandering the room, and Liesl (our 9ish month old puppy) playing with a demolished scrap of toy that I am pretty sure was once a plush, squeaky bear.

Despite this farm we have created for ourselves (we actually have three chickens in the backyard in addition to the two cats and dog), I'm listening to the hum of the refrigerator, and the sound of the ceiling fan pull tapping on the glass light bulb cover. I have no idea what today is going to bring, but I am looking forward to it, and I feel that way about life right now too. I am content and enjoying every moment of our life together, but I can't help thinking about our future and how every small occurrence in our life could change the course of our little family's life forever.

I guess I am getting a bit strangely deep for a post entitled 'A Beginning.' In this blog I hope to share our celebrations, our sorrows, and most likely a lot of random everyday moments. So here's to a beginning. It may not be a masterpiece, but if it gets me to start something I have always wanted to do, it served its purpose.