rearranging (the living room) and stuff

January and February flew on by with indecent rapidity. I mean, those are my two least favorite months of the entire year, but I swear: I blinked and now it's March. I mean...how did that even happen?

Nothing too exciting has happened in my life over the past week. (Which further astounds me: how can life rush on by with nothing to report?)

Anyway...here's what's going on, according to Blanche. (Blanche is my iPhone, by the way. I sometimes like to name items I use frequently (we all know my car is called Handsome Rob), and I was going to call my phone a boy's name, but then I thought, "Hmm...I ask my phone very personal stuff that I'd not normally ask a guy, so I decided on Blanche. Not sure what thought process brought me to that name, so don't ask.)

*Katie and I rearranged our living room.
I took these pictures and sent 'em to my folks,

because Momma was curious.
*story to follow the pictures, hold tight

I know, the grainy quality of this photo is breathtaking and jealousy-inducing.

Can you tell that the skull and crossbones area makes me feel sad?

This area will be taken care of as soon as we can get our hands on a stud-finder.

See? I told you I don't love this area. 

Although I do believe that "less is more," I also believe that
this area is just far too naked.

I kinda like this view (but maybe with a clock or picture above the basket?

I was talking with my Mumsy on Friday night shortly after Katie and I had finished rearranging, in the midst of my newly acquired "naked wall" conundrum, and Mom was all, "I have some ideas." And I was all, "I do not." And she was all, "I could keep my eye peeled and let you know where to find them." And I was all, "Ooooor you could come up and visit me this weekend and take a look at the space in person and we could go shopping together," or something like unto it. And she was all, "Maybe. I'll have to talk it over with Dad." 

Aaaanyway, due, in part, to the bare state of the area between the living room and the dining room, I was able to talk my folks into coming to visit me this Saturday. (I win!)

*The story as to why Katie and I rearranged our living room in the first place? My folks gave me a DVD player for Christmas (plus some other stuff, dear folks). When Michelle moved out a few weeks ago, I set up my TV, TV stand, DVD player, etc. And I set up a Netflix account. Because my DVD player is rad and you can watch Netflix with it. There's no phone jack anywhere near the place where my TV was set up before. Nope, the nearest one was on the other wall, and Katie and I weren't about to run a cable from one wall to the other, because NO. Also, I love The Netflix, because the first two seasons of Sherlock is on there. Katie introduced me to Sherlock a few weeks ago, and I have very efficiently become obsessed with that darned show. So...yeah. I've been watching a lot of Sherlock in the past few weeks. And by "a lot," I mean to say all nine episodes. I know I just got on this Sherlock train, but I'm super annoyed that there are only 3 episodes per season. And also I'm annoyed that, I hear, season 4 won't happen for something like two more years. (That's my only beef with the show, though. It's just so darned good.)

Also on Friday (the last day of February), the weather looked a little something like this:

Isn't it lovely? I didn't even wear a jacket when I was out and about.

March 1st happened on Saturday, and it looked like this:

In like a lion, right? The snow has since disappeared, but it provided slick roads all weekend long.

I saw this just 1/4 of a block from my house on Saturday night...

Also this weekend, my dear friend Tracie put together my DVD shelf thingy. And I helped. I had full intentions of doing it all by myself, but I was immediately overwhelmed the moment I dumped all the parts out of the box. Tracie showed up and was like, "Can I put this together?" And I was all, "Umm, noooo! That's not why you're here!" (She came over to watch Pride & Prejudice.) And she was all, "But I like doing projects!" And I was all, "Okay, then. You're a dream." And then she put it together. And I helped.

It wasn't even that hard. (Thanks, entirely, to Tracie.)

Aaaand, according to Blanche, I ate this for dinner last week sometime:

BBQ pork salad.
I know, right?!

Aaaand that's all for now, folks! 

time marches forward...

...and this is what i've been up to in the last week or so:

I read this book. It was pretty good. That NieNie is an amazing lady.

I've participated in a Cameron/Tracie Olympic Games.
They've been ridiculous but fun. Plus, I won a silver in the Biathlon with my teammates, KJ and Adam.

...and these games culminated in a peanut-buttery kiss from Cam.
All in the name of getting peanut butter on MY face.

Valentine's Day happened. With nothing to report.

I made a pork and veggie soup. It's taken me days to eat, and I've loved every bite.

Whilst making said soup, I misplaced my thyme...

I also made some apple cinnamon quinoa for breakfast sometime. Maybe it was Saturday...

Also, Brooker came to town for the weekend, and we played in Jackson Hole for a bit. I like Jackson Hole, and I loved visiting with Brooke one-on-one for a good portion of the day.

It must be said, though: hanging out with her in a cute resort town full of fun little shops can be a dangerous thing. Because she is a supportive friend, I suppose; if she sees you eyeing a certain book or huckleberry treat or a neat book-turned-journal thingy...she'll be like, "Oh, look at that! That's so great and wonderful for all these reasons! Don't put it down, it looks good in your hands! Oh, MY! Buy it. BUY IT ALL!"

I mean, I wouldn't have bought it if I didn't have the money for it, but you catch my drift, right? (Love ya, Brooker!)

The drive to Jackson was beautiful! And the camera on my phone was slow to click...

Here we are in the candy shop. We smile, because we like candy. Doi.

When we told Allyson we saw a moose, she (of course) asked for a picture, but we were too late.
So instead, we took a picture of horses, just to see if she'd notice the difference.
She did, by the way. She's a smart one...

Isn't Swan Valley lovely?

When we got back to town, we met up with Carl at The Thai Kitchen for some dinner.
It was delicious.

So. That's what I've been up to the past week-ish. 

Golly, my life is exciting.

2014 so far: mostly mundane

Nothing exciting to report, so I'll fill you in on the mundane. (You're welcome.)

I've been trying to rid myself of a cold I caught from my baby brother over Christmas. It started out harmless enough, then morphed into  a nasty head-cold that left me feeling a bit like I was hovering just above my body. Weird. And uncomfortable. I drank lots of fluids and went to bed early, and skipped out on a fun ski trip, because the thought of snowboarding in my "hovering just above my body" condition was frightening unto me. 

What can I say? I'm old at heart, and "safety first" has been my motto for longer than I care to admit. 

In the meantime, I've cooked a few delicious meals (that end up feeding me for a week or so). I've been "catching up" on House MD (because I have all eight seasons, but had only watched through season six until last week; I've since finished season seven and will begin the final season this week, I'm sure). I've been trying to get to bed early in order to nurse myself back to full health. I've been reading: I finished HP and the Deathly Hallows, I've read The Tales of Beetle the Bard, I've read Divergent, I'll finish Insurgent after work, and start on Allegiant this evening. I made a Valentine's wreath, people: I crafted; it was my own idea and everything. I've been doing better at reading my scriptures. And I've thought about maybe starting some sort of exercise regime thingy. (Thinking about it is the first step!)

I've taken less pictures than usual, but here's what I've got so far:

I was sad to leave my family in Utah, but kinda loved this view welcoming me back to Idaho.

I can hardly believe that I crafted something without being forced into it.

Chicken pot pie pasta. Yum.

Snuggling up in the afghan I purchased from a sweet old lady at a craft fair last year whilst reading.

Last night's sunset as I left work. Stunning.

Basically, I'm not complaining about my mostly mundane life.