May is becoming my least favorite month... RIP Boomer

RIP Sweet Kitty

Back on May 3rd the hardest decision of my life was made.  Boomer was ready to leave my side and go play with the all the heavens have to offer.  All he can eat catnip, mice to chase, cheese and yogurt galore...

You don't need details... because simply, the details are not important.  His health was declining and rather than selfishly keeping him around and pumping him full of drugs and other crap, I decided it was time to move on.  The vet supported my decision and told me that cats don't show pain like people do and he was likely in pain.  Hard to hear, but a no-brainer as far as the decision.

He was my little buddy for 14 years.

It's been 3 weeks to the day and I'm still fucking distraught over it.  I went to the vet alone to talk it over, knowing the whole day it was coming... Steve came and I explained everything and we agreed.

It's so different losing a life that is part of your everyday.  You still look at the floor when you walk to give him a good pet or to make sure you're not going to step on him.  You still look at his food dish to make sure he's eating.  You still think to give him fresh water all the time.  You lay on the couch and wait for him to jump up and cuddle with you:

I've been in a downward spiral... drinking more than I should be, not working out, not having any real motivation for things in general.  I weighed myself this morning and I'm 0.8# away from hitting the next weight class {up} in weight... so hopefully I can go home and run tonight.  I can't cross back into that weight class.  I think that working out routinely will help boost my mood, as it has before, so I need to find the energy to try.  Even if it's just a short run, I need to do something.  I need out of this funk.

Last year on Mother's Day (May 10th), my Gma (and my best friend) passed.  3 years ago on May 22nd, 10 days before our wedding, Steve's mother passed.  Before I was born, on Mother's Day (May 12, 1972), my grandfather passed.  It just seems like May is quickly filling up with sad dates.

Update via pictures

I figured since I really have nothing to write about I should go through my phone camera and post some of the stuff we've been up to, in NO particular order!

First and foremost, in case you don't make it all the way through this post, I'll post the most important thing first.

A couple weeks ago we took a bottle of Stoli vodka and a pineapple.  Cut up the pineapple placed it in a big drink dispenser poured the vodka in and let it sit for just over a week.  Now some just drink this on ice (called a Stoli Doli), but we had other plans for it.  There is a restaurant in Duluth that makes a drink (which name escapes me) - it's a muddled cucumber, a shot of pineapple infused vodka, sprite and a splash of soda.  Sounds odd, but it's seriously amazing, especially for summer - extremely refreshing!  My brother made a variation of it by putting soda with a splash of sprite (less sugar, great idea!).  He said it was probably the best drink he's ever had... and coming from my brother, that is saying a lot!

You should probably get off your ass and give it a shot.  You don't even know you're drinking, it's gold.

What else?  Have I told you that Steve and I celebrated 3 years together?  I think I mentioned it was coming, we'll it's come and gone.  On our anniversary (it was a Friday), I went downtown Minneapolis and we had food truck lunch, yum!  We went to Solera that night for dinner, a first for both of us, and delicious.  We also stopped by a little restaurant for a rhubarb dessert sampling - I'm a sucker for rhubarb anything.

We also tried a new burger at home - Steve is in love with Pizza Luce pizza's... so he wanted to see if we could make a burger to taste the same.  This burger has garlic mashed potatoes, tomatoes, scallions, and feta on it.  It was good, but the pizza is WAY better.  Yes, garlic mashed potato pizza.  I need a Pizza Luce fix!

This past weekend we spend a fortune on a number of things - we got the items pictured below - 2 floor lamps that look like the top pic, and 2 boxes of tiles (second pic) to make a backsplash in our kitchen.  Both items were normally very expensive - we got the lamps for $50/each (Tiffany lamps) and the tiles were normally $28/sheet, we got them for $5.00/sheet - SCORE.

We also purchased (not pictured) 7 sheets of Oak veneer - which will hopefully be enough to fix the oak table we have along with the newest item we've added to our collection of antique family pieces (the picture is when it was still at my aunts house with stuff all over it, but you get the point of what it is) - it's an Oak buffet, which may or may not go with out oak table, no one knows if they are a set - BUT these pieces were in the house my dad and aunts grew up in for their entire lives... and now I have them both.  The best part is hopefully we purchased enough veneer to restore them both to their original beauty!

The veneer is like 60 years old (both pieces are older than that), so we're hoping it will look right on theses pieces.  This stuff retails for upwards of $30/sheet... we got it for $10/sheet!

So we spent a lot this weekend, but saved a ton too!

Pam's shower and bachelorette party were a success - obviously, if I'm involved in planning, it's bound to be a success!  Here is the bride and her ladies:

Lastly, I'll leave you with a photo of my adorable kitty snoozing on the couch (yes, I'm aware he is overweight):

That's all for now people!

Valentine's Day + Random

I'm crabby right now.  So I'm going to post about something that made me happy.

My valentine's day last week.
I got flowers at work:

Then I got home to a boyfriend... who left work early to surprise me!

Then, we made salt roasted salmon, my choice, and it was delish!  Steve said his didn't get all the salt brushed off, but I thought it was amazing.  Basically, you crisp the skin of the salmon in a hot pan, cover it with salt, and stick it in the oven to finish it off.  Yum!

This weekend my kitty was sick again - he had a bad episode on Friday.  I took him in on Saturday... so I was kind of bummin' all weekend and stayed close to home for the most part.

I met up with some ladies that I've been meeting with for the past couple months; Kristi, Dana, Heather, and Tanya... we went to brunch and I pretty much stuffed myself.  Not the good kind of stuffing though.  Is there a good kind?  Dana has a photo or two of us... I'm waiting to see it before I post anything, but we basically burned off all the calories we consumed just in laughs while trying to take this picture.  I make it sound epic, but it might suck.  Stay tuned.

I turned my facebook off on Thursday ... and I've re-activated it again today.  Call me weak, call me stupid, whatever you want.  I like having a way to know about the people I care about, facebook gives me that.

I'm gonna go back to being crabby now.

Year 2011 in Pictures

If you've been with me for a year or more, you know that I've taken to review my years in photo form.  Click these links through to see my photo reviews from 2010, 2009, and 2008.

So... prepare yourself for a long and picture heavy post!

First let's look at the trip Steve and I took to Hawaii back in February - what a beautiful place!

Then let's talk about great friends and great times:

Linnea's bachelorette party

Milwaukee and Six Flags with Krysten and Izzy

Jeff and Linnea's wedding!

Amanda and I at the Vikings game

Shotgunning my first beer EVER!

Second annual pumpkin carving

Monthly girls dinners with my best friends from way back when (me, Amanda, Pamela, and Abbie)

Dinner's with these wonderful ladies (some more than once this year!!)

My best friend, Pam, being preggers and throwing her a wonderful shower!

Natalie Marie - born 11/14/11

Continuing to develop a close friendship with my cousin, Shannon

Steve buying a house shortly after returning from Hawaii and him asking my to move in with him:

One of many shopping trips to Home Depot for the house

First big project - taking down wallpaper in the bedroom and painting it to suit us

painting our dining room a BEAUTIFUL shade of deep red

under cabinet lighting!

My wonderful brother and sister-in-law - and their amazing daughters, my nieces:

Doing a boudoir photo shoot!

Random photos of my year:

Diamond earrings for my 30th Birthday

One of my favorite photos of the year - taken along the North Shore of Lake Superior.

Found me a nice little red barn to photograph

Grand Marais Lighthouse

Winning first class tickets to fly somewhere!

My sweet kitty Boomer, though he had a bit of a rough patch, I feel like he is doing well now, he eats bland food only, but at least he's eating and keeping it down.

Cuddling on the couch

Fun drawings on the white board wall:

Getting a new baby brother - Wyatt Lewis, born 10/19/11

Good times with my amazing outcast cousins

Saving the best for last - this year of my life has been simply incredible and I owe that entirely to one person; Steve.  He has been my rock when I've broken down, he has loved me without question, he has expressed his love for me in ways I never knew possible.  If 2011 is any indication of how the rest of my life with this man will be, then bring it on!  My dear sweet boyfriend, I love you with all of my heart and soul; thank you for being with me and sharing in my joys and sorrows all of 2011.  I know 2012 will bring some difficult times, as we're already preparing for, but together I know we can get through it - you lean on me and I'll lean on you.  In the end, we have each other, and that's a lot.  I love you Steve.