Brokaw tidbits

I Love You Because...

2012-01-27T07:56:00.000-06:00

So I'm sure most of you have seen this idea on Pinterest, but I thought I'd share my version of it this morning. I made this for Josh for our 10th anniversary last month. I think the frame was $3 at Walmart, and I already had the paper and dry erase markers- so easy! It has been fun writing things back and forth to each other. It's funny how much I look forward to seeing what he writes. This could make a great Valentine's gift!

Anniversary Trip to Ouray

2012-01-11T12:13:00.000-06:00

December 29th was our 10th anniversary. We made it to double digits!! To celebrate and get away for a few days, we left Titus with my Mom in NM and headed to Ouray, CO. If you've never been to Ouray, you should totally go. Summer or winter, it's a great place to play and relax. I think the brochure said the town is 9 blocks long and 5 blocks wide. There is one main street where you'll find most of the hotels, restaurants and shops. Some stuff is closed in the winter, but it's still fun.

We spent one entire day cross-country skiing. This was my first time on skis (yes, I know, I grew up in NM) and Josh had a little experience from WA. We went to a nordic trail area which turned out to be a little more technical than we expected. We fell a lot, laughed a lot, and found a bunch of new muscles. There was lots of grunting as we tried to get up and celebration when we made it through a tough spot without falling. We had to climb hills, cross creeks, shimmy across narrow bridges and avoid ditches. Hard, but tons of fun. Oh, you can't beat the scenery either!

Our second day in Ouray included some time on the sledding hill, watching ice climbers, hiking around Box Canyon Falls and swimming in the hot springs pool.

Again, more pictures and videos on our Flickr page. We had a great trip!
Oh yeah, one last picture. This one is for my brother- one of the shops in town had a leg lamp in the window. I just had to get a picture! It's hard to see because of the reflection, but it's there.

Christmas 2011

2012-01-09T16:42:00.000-06:00

Before we left for NM, we had an early Christmas with Josh's family in Abilene. I think we're a pretty good looking family!

We arrived in NM to find lots of snow at Mom's house. There were even drifts as tall as Titus. We had to dig a tunnel so he could get to the yard. That's a frisbee in his mouth in case you were wondering. It's our go-to snow toy since it doesn't get lost easily.

We made a tubing run in Mom's backyard and had lots of fun taking turns flying down the hill

My cousin Bryan brought his family to NM the day after Christmas for a few days

Some more family shots:

Josh looks really tall because he is closest to the camera. Really, the rest of us are not that short!

There are lots more pictures on our Flickr site as well as a few videos- go check them out!
We hope you all had a wonderful holiday season with your families!

Homemade Christmas Gifts- Part 4

2012-01-08T17:25:00.000-06:00

Back when I made tie wreaths for myself and Mom, I knew I wanted to use a few ties and make something for my brother as well. But what do you make for a guy? Certainly not a wreath! My brother has his house decorated in black, grays, and red. Dad had 3 ties in this color scheme, so I just made this little shadow box display. I'm not completely happy with how it turned out, but I was going more for sentimental value anyway.

One last little handmade item that makes a great stocking stuffer is a pair of handwarmers. I saw this idea on Pinterest (of course). You just make a little pouch of rice. It is heated for about 45 seconds and can be used over and over. I made little fleece covers for mine so they could washed. Super easy and useful for anyone with cold hands! They are also a great use for fabric scraps.

Homemade Christmas Gifts- Part 3

2011-12-31T08:07:00.000-06:00

I also made my mom a rag quilt for Christmas. Mom was the recipient of my first rag quilt several years ago when I was just experimenting with them. I thought she needed a newer version. Of course she was my guinea pig again because this was my first rag quilt that I did with stripes instead of blocks. I think it turned out pretty cute. Plus there were fewer seams to sew and snip, so it went a little faster.

Smooth side

"Rag" side

I love this fabric!

Homemade Christmas Gifts- Part 2

2011-12-29T17:52:00.000-06:00

I made Mom an apron for Christmas too. This one is made from 2 of Dad's old shirts and is reversible. A couple of years ago, I saw an apron in Macy's that inspired the tie part for this project. There are just simple loops on the sides that the straps go through before they tie at the waist. The pictures will make it more clear.

Front 1

Front 2

Backside with normal tie (sorry for the off-center, poorly tied bow)

You can also criss-cross the ties if you want

The fabric flower pins that I made to coordinate

Titus Photo Shoot

2011-12-21T11:30:00.000-06:00

While Josh and I were taking pictures for our Christmas cards, I decided to try and get some decent shots of Titus. He didn't really want to cooperate, but I got a couple of good ones eventually. I think he's such a handsome pup!

"I don't want to look at the camera!"

"Can you please let me go explore?"

"Ok, let's get this over with."

"Hurry up! The sun is in my eyes!"

Totally out of focus, but it was our best shot.

Homemade Christmas Gifts- Part 1

2011-12-20T12:22:00.000-06:00

I only had time to make a few homemade Christmas gifts this year, but I'll share them here as I give them.
In Josh's family, all of the siblings and spouses draw names and buy for one person. This year, I drew Josh's youngest sister, Debby. She recently did some cooking at our house and loved my grandma's smock-style apron that I have. So I decided to make her one using one of her dad's old shirts. I added some lace, a pocket, and some fun buttons, but it was still missing something. I decided to try making a fabric flower and consulted Pinterest for inspiration. Here's how it came out:

I'll share some more crafty posts after Christmas.

Cookies and Snow

2011-12-05T12:47:00.000-06:00

This weekend I reminded myself why mixing, rolling, cutting, baking, and decorating sugar cookies is NOT one of my Christmas traditions. I needed to make 2-3 dozen UNdecorated cookies for a church event. I found this recipe that said it would make up to 4 dozen small cookies. I thought, "Perfect! I'll have enough for church and a few left over for me and Josh." Well, 70 cookies later I told Josh I was tired of making cookies. He suggested making the rest into one big cookie so I did. For the record, these cookies are GREAT! They are thick and soft and taste wonderful. So if you're looking for a good sugar cookie recipe, this one's a keeper. I rolled mine to 1/4" using these gadgets and did not grease my parchment paper. 8 minutes was the perfect amount of time, and I was lazy and used store bought frosting.

The giant cookie. I'm calling it a tree skirt!

This morning we woke up to snow! I think it was only about 1 1/2 inches, but it was enough to get Titus all excited. Plus, it was that perfect snow that sticks to every tree branch and makes everything look really wintery- so pretty! Titus and I played longer than normal and tried to get some pictures once it got light enough outside.


Still a little dark

After a good romp in the snow, every dog (and their owners) should enjoy a nice warm up by the fire.

Thanksgiving Weekend

2011-12-02T12:53:00.000-06:00

We had such a wonderful Thanksgiving this year. My brother, Adam, flew into NM on Monday and then drove with Mom to our house Tuesday evening.
On Wednesday, Josh smoked a Turkey and we had an early Thanksgiving meal with just the 4 of us. We did this so we would have leftovers for the rest of the week. Josh and Adam also did a bunch of work around our property while Mom and I started our piefest.

On Thursday, Mom and I finished our pies- chocolate cream, banana cream, apple-cranberry, coconut cream, pumpkin, pecan, chocolate-pecan, and lemon. Yes, 8 pies! Then we joined Josh's family and some in-laws for the big Thanksgiving meal.

Mom and I did a little midnight shopping, but Abilene does not have much to offer.

Friday morning brought more visitors! My cousin, Bryan, brought his wife and 2 of his daughters to our house. It was great to meet little Reagan for the first time, and most of Friday and Saturday were spent rocking, feeding, and playing with her.

After church and lunch on Sunday, all of our company was gone and the house felt very empty. We were so blessed to spend so much time with family and hope you had special times with yours as well.
MANY more pictures are posted on our flickr site (click link on top right corner).

Catching Up- Family Campout

2011-12-02T09:12:00.000-06:00

Goodness, I've been neglecting this blog lately. Usually that would be because nothing exciting had happened, but we've actually had some fun stuff going on lately.
Let's backtrack 2 weeks to the weekend before Thanksgiving. This weekend is set aside for fun times with Josh's mom's side of the family. Her sister and 2 brothers all live here in TX as well as most of their children (Josh's cousins). Last year was our first year to join the gathering since we had been living so far away before. This year we met at Inks Lake State Park. This park has a lake that is maintained at a constant level even in drought years. That meant that we could take our canoe! We also camped at the park and used a group picnic area for our gathering.
I wish I had taken more pictures, but I'll add more when I get them from other family members.

Fall colors on the lake

Titus relaxing in the canoe. He swam and swam and swam all weekend- heaven for Titus!

Exploring the lake

Josh's sister, Debby, and our nephew, Ben, checking out the canoes

Josh and his brother, Jon, learning about plants

Sadly, that's all the pictures I took. Once everyone else showed up, I got distracted and never picked up my camera again :(
Up next... Thanksgiving weekend!

Pitiful Pup

2011-11-18T11:59:00.000-06:00

T-pot is at work with me today. I'm working at my computer, and he thinks if he positions himself in just the right spot then I'll pay attention to him. This pitiful face is just too much for me sometimes!

Roller Coaster Weeks

2011-11-14T16:43:00.000-06:00

A roller coaster is really the only way I can think to describe the last few weeks around here. We've had ups and downs. There's been joy and then scary moments too. I'll just do a quick summary and try to spare you too many details.
The downs:
1. The ACU bus accident- if you haven't heard, 16 precious lives from Ag department were involved in a horrible bus accident on November 4th. We lost 1 student and others have very serious injuries. There were 12 students, 3 faculty and a spouse on board. ACU is a tight-knit family, and this has affected all of us. We knew most of the students and all of the faculty involved. Josh's uncle is head of the Ag department and has spent a great deal of time ministering to families and students. Please continue to pray for healing and quick recoveries for all involved. We still have 3 in various hospitals in TX.
2. The ACU budget- ACU has fallen on hard times and has had to make some budget adjustments. This involves cutting positions, reducing salaries, and reorganizing departments across campus. For a while we were quite unsure how we would be affected and how safe our jobs would be. At this point, we think Josh is safe, and I'll be taking a 20% cut in salary and time worked.
3. The holidays are coming- yes, this can be a down sometimes. We're about 4 weeks away from the 3rd anniversary of my Dad's passing. Some days are still really, really tough- especially this time of year.

The ups (let's end on a happy note):
1. We have 2 nieces or nephews (or one of each) on the way! Josh's brother and his wife are expecting in May, and 1 of Josh's sisters is expecting in July. Both couples live in Abilene, so it will be fun to be around for these pregnancies and births! It will also be fun to watch these cousins grow up together.
2. We have jobs and are so thankful for God's provision. This 20% cutback will actually be a blessing to us (other than the decreased income.) Basically, starting June 1, I'll have a more flexible schedule and will be able to take more time off (unpaid of course). This means Josh and I will hopefully have more time together between semesters, and I'll have more time at home to work on projects and pursue other goals.
2. The holidays are coming! This means we get to spend a lot of time with family. Family has come to be more precious to me than I could ever imagine. Every minute we get to spend together is such a blessing. In the last few weeks, I have spent some time with my Mom, brother, aunt and uncle from WA, and my grandpa. In the coming weeks, we will spend a weekend with Josh's family, see my Mom and brother 2 more times, and hopefully get to see my cousin's family (including a new baby!)

So that's what is on my heart today. I am trying to be more thankful during this season and focus on all the blessings in my life.

Lab Quote Friday: Word of the Week- Flocculent

2011-11-04T13:35:00.000-05:00

This week in lab, the students did an experiment where they made alum (see picture) from coke cans and then tested it as a flocculent. Aaah- spell check doesn't know the word flocculent! Well, neither do the students. Do you know what it means? I'm betting a lot of people have never heard this word much less know its definition. So today we are going to expand our vocabulary!
Here's what Wikipedia has to say:

1. "Flocculation, in the field of chemistry, is a process wherein colloids come out of suspension in the form of floc or flakes by the addition of a clarifying agent."
In our case, the clarifying agent (or flocculent) was alum.
2. "Water treatment- Flocculation and sedimentation are widely employed in the purification of drinking water as well as sewage treatment, stormwater treatment and treatment of other industrial wastewater streams."
We used our alum to purify some simulated dirty water in the lab. Students got to see the impurities come out of suspension and settle to the bottom of their test tubes. Cool!

So, there you have it. See if you can use flocculent in your conversations today :) Oh, you need an actual lab quote today too? OK!

Lab girl: Is flocculent even a word?

2011 Garden- Part 9, Frosty Weekend

2011-10-31T12:31:00.000-05:00

Well, we had our first frost last weekend. The garden has been winding down over the last several weeks, but we still had a bunch of green tomatoes on the vine. We covered the ones with the most fruit and let Mr. Frost blow through the garden. We really only had okra, green peppers and tomatoes left anyway. The only camera I could find at home that was charged was the iPad. I'm not impressed. Oh well.
Here's a look at our sad garden Saturday morning.

Okra post-frost

Green peppers post-frost. So sad and droopy.

Tomatoes post-frost, just hanging on the cage

Here are the tomato plants we saved. They don't look great, but you can see why we tried to save them- they're loaded with tomatoes!

Here's our last big harvest of the year. We've got lots of green tomatoes in the windows now. Hopefully some of them will turn.

Do any of you still have stuff growing?

Tie Wreaths

2011-10-26T15:54:00.001-05:00

Well, I finally got around to making something out of my Dad's old ties- wreaths! I got the idea from this website a long time ago, but I just kept putting it off. For Mom's birthday, I decided it was time to give it a try. Mom had a favorite tie, so I used it for the bow and didn't cut it. While I was at it, I made myself one too. I think this will be a sweet reminder of my Dad.

Mom's tie wreath

My tie wreath

I have lots of ties and parts of ties leftover, so I'm sure I'll be making other things too. Check out this Pinterest page- it has some fun ideas (and crazy ones too)!
Update- 11-2-11: I'm linking up to the Young House Love Pinterest Challenge too!

Fall Break in NM

2011-10-25T16:06:00.000-05:00

My Mom's birthday fell just 2 days before our fall break this year. It just happened to be one of those BIG birthday years too, so we knew we wanted to do something special. My brother flew down from Colorado on Thursday, and we drove over from TX on Friday.
Mom has been working at the McCall's Pumpkin Patch for 3 years now. She manages payroll, answers emails and phone calls, handles reservations, and all that good stuff. So we met Mom at the pumpkin patch Friday evening and spent the rest of the night there. We had yummy food and braved the haunted corn maze and haunted barn. Of course you also have to shop in the country store and see all the animals too. (There are lots of other things for kids to do too, but we skip those things since we don't have kids.) One of the new things this year was a giant rocking chair. We just had to take advantage of the photo op.

Me and Josh


Mom and Adam

On Saturday, we took advantage of a rare lazy day and just hung out together at the house. For dinner, we headed into town to eat at The Melting Pot. What a treat! After 2 hours of eating, we left with full, happy bellies. I tried to take pictures, but it was a little hard.

First course- cheese fondue with bread, veggies, and chips.


Third course- meat and veggies that you cook in pots of simmering cooking broths (2nd course was salad- no picture)

Fourth course- CHOCOLATE with fruit, cake, brownies, rice krispie treats, marshmallows, and cheesecake!! We pounced on this stuff and ate most of it before I remembered to take a picture :)

Stuffed and happy!

After church on Sunday, we ate lunch and hit the road back to TX. Our time together as family always passes too quickly, but I enjoy every second of it!

Lab Quote Friday- A Lesson in Colors and Reactions

2011-10-20T07:55:00.000-05:00

I know today is Thursday, but it's really our Friday due to fall break. Hooray for a long weekend!

The first quote from this week comes from a TA. Yes, that's right, sometimes our teaching assistants also make me laugh. I just had to share this one.

Male TA: I have to give everyone 2 extra points on their lab reports.

Me: Oh yeah? Why is that?

Male TA: Well, on the flame test, everyone wrote down lavender for one their answers. I thought lavender was pink. I eventually Googled it and learned that it is really purple. That was such a guy thing to do!

The second quote comes from a lab where students were testing reactions of different metals.

Lab group 1: Are any of yours reacting?

Lab group 2: No, they're all just bubbling.

A few minutes later...

Lab group 1: Did you see a reaction yet?

Lab group 2: Nope, still just bubbling.

Lab group 1: Yeah, ours too.

This and That

2011-10-19T13:01:00.002-05:00

First of all- Happy Birthday to the best Mom a girl could ask for! Mom, you are such a wonderful part of our lives! Just had to get that out of the way :)

I just thought I'd share a few pictures from my recent activities.
I've done a little baking...

White chocolate chip pumpkin spice cookies- recipe found here

Soft pretzels made from Sam's Club pizza dough- yummy!

Pumpkin roll (I've made 3 lately)- recipe found here

And a little crafting...


More TP pumpkins

I'll share another craft project next week. It's still a secret for now!

Lab quote Friday will be coming a day early this week because we have a birthday to celebrate in NM. Stay tuned...

TP Pumpkins!

2011-10-06T13:05:00.000-05:00

Let's change the topic from snakes to something much more fun- fall crafts! I have been wanting to make these for months, but had to wait for some seasonal fabric to show up in the stores. These little pumpkins are made with rolls of toilet paper. Here's the original link that inspired me.
I found the newspaper more useful when I crumpled it up a little and wrapped it around the outside securing it with tape. The taller pumpkin is made from a empty paper towel roll, cut down a little and wrapped with newspaper. You can really make any size you want and use all kinds of cute fabric. The "fall" fabric and the owl fabric are just cloth napkins I found at Hobby Lobby. So cute, cheap and easy! I'll probably be making more soon. These are sitting in our downstairs bathroom at the moment.

Rattlesnake Roundup- Brokaw Style

2011-10-06T08:03:00.000-05:00

So most of you already know that Josh and I had a rattlesnake in our driveway last night. Most of you also know the outcome. Here's the long version of the story.
We've only seen 1 other live rattlesnake on our property in the 2 years we've lived here. It was a baby one out on our road and Josh refused to run over it. I was not happy about that. My snake philosophy is that snakes are fine and I'll leave them alone as long as they're not poisonous or in the house. If they're poisonous or in the house, they need to die. Period, end of story.
On nights that we get home after dark, Titus and I go for a short bike ride instead of walking. I figure it's safer for me and the quicker I wear Titus out, the better. So after our bike ride last night, I put the bike in the shop and headed back toward the house. I saw something move on the driveway and immediately shone my flashlight on it. Yep, a snake. Check the tail. Umm, that's a fatter tail than our usual snakes. Yep, that's a rattler. I knew Josh was outside somewhere, so here's how it all went down.

Me: JOSH???? Titus, stay back!

Josh: Yeah? I'm right here.

Me: We've got a rattlesnake in the driveway!!

Josh: Ok.

Me: Can you come over here quickly? He's headed into the garage and I don't want to lose him. I've got to keep Titus away. Titus, no, get over here!

(Josh came around the corner and positioned himself between the snake and the garage.)

Me: What do you want? A hoe? A shovel?

Josh: Umm... I don't really know.

Me: Titus, come with me. Titus, come. NOW!

(I start walking toward the shop with Titus. I'm already getting a little annoyed because the tools we need should be in the shed next to the driveway where they belong, but I know they didn't get put away and they are somewhere in the shop. Plus, I already know Josh is not going to want to kill the snake based on previous situations.)

Josh: It'll probably be fine if we just move it.

(See, I was right. Now I'm really annoyed)

Me: I don't need you to be a scientist right now, I need you to protect our family. Do you want a shovel or a hoe??!!

Josh: I don't know if either of those will really work.

Me: Am I going to have to kill this snake myself? What tool do you want me to get?

(I really was worried I was going to have to take matters into my own hands. The snake might not have been the only one in danger!)

Josh: I guess a hoe.

Me: A blunt-end one, right?

Josh: I guess. If we have one.

(looking, looking...)

Josh: Oh!! A shotgun! That's what I need! I need my shotgun!

(All of the sudden, Josh is interested. Of course, a gun. Why didn't I think of a gun?!?)

Me: I don't know which one the shotgun is or where the bullets are.

Josh: Yes, I definitely need my shotgun!

Me: I don't know which one it is. You'll have to get it.

Josh: Yeah, you come here and keep an eye on the snake and I'll go get the gun.

Me: Hang on. Let me get a long stick so I can keep my distance in case it moves.

(I grab the broom)

Josh: You'll just have to keep moving around so he doesn't get in the garage.

Me: Take Titus inside with you.

(Josh leaves me with the snake and heads inside. The snake and I have a stare-down. I didn't move. He didn't move. Josh comes back with his shotgun.)

Me: Wait! Let me get inside before you do anything!

(I go inside... BANG... BANG... BANG... I go back outside. I need proof that the snake was dead. I still wasn't quite sure Josh was going to go through with it.)

Me: Are you done?

Josh: Yeah.

Me: You didn't blast any holes in the driveway, did you?

Josh: No, I moved him before I shot him.

Me: Is it dead?

Josh: Mostly. It's harder to kill than I expected. It's still wiggling around some.

(Josh heads back inside, I don't know why. I start taking pictures of course. The snake was still moving a little. Josh came back out with a different gun. He tells me it was a .22 rifle if that means anything to any of you. He shot the snake a couple more times. I went inside to check on Titus. When I came back out, Josh was removing the rattle. Trophy I guess. Titus was pretty interested, but scared at the same time.)

Josh (with rattle in hand): Here, hold this while I get rid of the snake.

Me: I don't want that thing!

(Josh hands it to me anyway. Gross, but a little cool at the same time. I showed it to Titus, but he was more interested in where Josh was taking the rest of the body. I took some pictures of the rattle since the camera was handy. Then my camera battery died. Then Titus came back and wanted to eat the rattle. Then I went inside. The End.)

In my dream world, this is how it would have happened.
Me: Josh, we have a rattlesnake in the driveway!
Josh: Are you ok? Don't get too close. Go inside with Titus, and I'll take care of everything.
Me: My hero!
The End.

The snake was about 3 feet long. The black and white stripes are just before the rattle.

Josh's trophy rattle

Maybe we'll handle the next snake better. This was not our finest marital moment! Still adjusting to life in the country...

Roughin' It At Home

2011-10-03T08:24:00.001-05:00

Friday was Josh's birthday. Several years ago, Josh and I started the tradition of camping for our birthdays instead of giving gifts. We're not always great about making it happen, but we did ok this year. We were camping just outside of St. Louis for my birthday in July, and this weekend we camped out at home for the first time. Some of you may not see the point of this, but we thought it was fun.
We threw our iPad, tent, sleeping pads, sleeping bags and some stuff for Titus into the back of the truck and headed out to our designated campsite. We've had this spot picked out for quite some time. It's a spot on our property where you can't see our house or any of our neighbors' buildings. There are trees all around but none directly over the campsite. So why did we bring our iPad? For stargazing (and music)! You see the tent we used is all mesh on the top- perfect for looking at stars! We found a great little app called Star Walk that is really fun to use. You just hold the iPad up in any direction and it tells you which constellation/star/planet you are looking at. It also gives a bunch of info about each one. Fabulous! It was a very romantic/nerdy night :)

The red line is the horizon

Our campsite

Titus loves this tent. He just sits and looks around waiting for something exciting to happen...

... and sometimes something exciting does happen. This is seconds before Titus took off to see the neighbor's llamas. See that little white spot to the left of the zipper? That's one of the llamas.

On Saturday morning we packed things up and headed back to the house. Just as Josh was about to cook breakfast, we heard a POP and we lost our electricity. A squirrel had electrocuted himself. We know this because Josh found the half-paralyzed squirrel laying on the ground by one of our electrical poles. We called the electric company, Josh put the squirrel out of its misery, and before long our power was restored.
The rest of our weekend was pretty typical, but we did end it with an apple-cranberry pie. Josh's favorite!

What did you do this weekend?
*FYI- We thought Star Walk was a really fun app. I could see it being really fun/educational for kids too. They have it for the iPhone and iPad.

Lab Quote Friday- Stupid Questions

2011-09-30T08:28:00.001-05:00

As part of our safety overview at the beginning of the semester, we have the students do a scavenger hunt. They aren't collecting anything, but they have a map of the first floor and have to find locations of things like the fire extinguisher, safety shower, eye wash station, etc. Because the science building can be a little confusing, we also have them mark where the classroom is and where the gender appropriate restroom is. The restrooms are in opposite corners of the building and not well marked, so it's good for them to learn where they are.

So I'm in the lab when Lab BOY approaches his TA: So for the appropriate restroom, should I mark the MEN'S restroom?

Poor young female TA didn't quite know how to answer his question. She glanced at me with a bit of panic on her face and I just laughed. Eventually she muttered, "Um, yeah, that's fine."

I probably would have come back with something like, "You're not getting credit for this assignment if you can't even figure out which restroom to use!"

Another reason I'm just a lab rat and not a teacher!

In a different lab the students were mixing hydrogen peroxide with yeast and measuring how much gas was produced. As I'm sure you can imagine, the more reactants you use, the more gas is produced. Simple, right? So I'm walking around the lab making sure everyone is doing ok. One group was looking confused.

Me: How are you guys doing?

Lab boy: We don't know what's going on here. We are getting a lot more gas this time. What did we do wrong?

Me: Did you use more or less hydrogen peroxide than your first experiment?

Lab boy: More

Me: So should that produce more or less gas?

Lab boy: Oh!! It should produce MORE gas!

Lab Quote Friday- Thermometers

2011-09-23T09:24:00.001-05:00

Sometimes the simplest things cause the students the most trouble. Take thermometers for instance. Sometimes we use temperature probes hooked up to a computer, but for simple experiments we just use good ol' mercury thermometers. You know, the glass rod containing mercury with a temperature scale printed on it?

Well, it's sad to say, but students no longer understand such simple tools. We had 5, yes 5, groups using their thermometers while they were still in the protective tubes this week. I have to admit that I love seeing the looks on their faces as I walk by and say, "Make sure you take the thermometer OUT of the case to get an accurate reading." It's quite hilarious! They'll often say, "I knew something wasn't right." Yeah right, you had no idea!
But this week I overheard a comment regarding thermometers that I have never heard before.

Lab boy (getting quite frustrated): I just can NOT read this thermometer! How am I supposed to read this thing? Where is the red light? Isn't it supposed to have a read light? I don't see it!

I have no idea what red light he was looking for, but it was pretty funny. His lab partner eventually saw the mercury line and all was right with the world. Crazy how a simple thermometer can frustrate these tech savvy kids!
*On a nerdy side note, only one thermometer broke this week (which is way less than normal) and I got to use a new mercury clean up tool I bought. Yes, I was excited about it and it worked great. One of the professors is now calling me Mercury Queen :)

I have other stories from this week, but I'm going to save them for weeks when I am lacking good material. Here's the freshman story I alluded to last week. It doesn't involve the lab, but you might enjoy it anyway.

Freshman (clearly lost and getting frantic): I am never going to find this class on time!! I don't know where this room is!

Me: Can I help you find something?

Freshman: I am looking for room 135.

Me: Um, that room doesn't exist in this building. Are you sure about the room number?

Freshman: Oh! Maybe it's 185.

Me: Well, that's the Pchem lab, so that's probably not right either. Can you pull up your schedule so we can make sure you're in the right building? What class are you looking for?

Freshman (pulling out his iPhone to look up his schedule): It's calculus class.

Me: Ok, you're in the right building, but you need to go upstairs. Did you find the room number?

Freshman: It's 205!! The course number is 185.

Me: Well, that makes sense. Room 205 is upstairs at the front of the building.

Freshman: Thanks. Yep, I'm a freshman, just your typical freshman.

Me (thinking): You said it, not me!

2011 Garden, Part 8- Patience Pays Off

2011-09-21T12:17:00.000-05:00

I think we're finally going to get some tomatoes!! We've been hoping that if we kept our plants alive long enough, the weather would cool down a little so they would start producing. We hadn't bothered to put cages around the plants, so I attempted to do that last weekend. We tried to do it earlier in the summer, but the wind was causing our little plants a lot of damage as they knocked into the metal. Now the plants are big enough that they aren't blowing around so much, and I think they will need the extra support if we keep getting tomatoes. So far, the tomatoes are pretty small, but we'll keep being patient and see what happens. Look! We already have a little red one!

I also got tired of walking through knee-high grass in the ~~garden~~ jungle, so I went a little mower crazy. Here's a little before and after for you.

I left the grass long in the back row because I didn't want to run over these:

Yep, we have about 5 watermelon still growing as well as a few cantaloupe.
We also still have lots of okra and a few peppers. Cucumbers keep trying, but they sure are ugly and we aren't willing to eat very many of them.

So I guess we're not quite done with our 2011 garden yet. Does anybody else still have anything growing? I'm sad that we won't have any home grown pumpkins this year. We'll have to work on that for next fall.

Lab Quote Friday Returns!

2011-09-16T08:41:00.001-05:00

Well, I can't promise any consistency at this point, but we'll give lab quote Friday another go.
This week in General Chemistry lab, the students were experimenting with volume, pressure, and temperature. The equipment they used involved a 3-way valve. I have discovered that 3-way valves are very confusing to a lot of people, even when they have a podcast that explains it very well. On top of that, the lever that turns has an arrow and the word OFF printed on it. Common sense (and the podcast) should kick in and tell you that wherever the lever is pointed is the direction that is turned off. Well, some people just don't get it. Here's a conversation I had this week.

Lab girl: "Nothing is happening here. No matter what we do, the pressure stays the same."

Me: "Ok, let's look at your set up here." Me thinking: Of course the pressure is staying the same, you have the valve turned to where OFF is pointed toward the pressure sensor! But of course we want the students to try to figure things out, so I try to help a little: "Take a look at your 3-way valve and tell me why you have it set the way it is."

Lab girl (not even looking at the valve): "I don't know."

Me: "Ok, do you know what the blue lever is doing?"

Lab girl: "No."

Me: "What does the blue lever say on it?"

Lab girl (not even looking at the lever): "I don't know."

Me thinking: LOOK at the lever and READ what it says!!!

Me: "Look at the lever. What does it say?"

Lab girl: "Oh! OFF!"

Me: "Yes! Now, why isn't your pressure reading changing?"

Lab girl: "I don't know."

AAAAHHHHH!!!!

Me: "What is turned OFF right now?"

Lab girl: "The valve?"

Me (I've lost all hope for this girl at this point): "The valve is turned OFF toward the sensor right now. That means that no matter what you do to the rest of the system, the sensor is not detecting the change because the valve is closed in that direction."

Lab girl: "Oh!! So, do I need to change that?"

This could be an interesting semester!

On another note, I am sitting in on the Gen Chem lectures this fall. I never actually took this class because I started out an animal science major, and they take a different entry level Chemistry class. So, I may have some good quotes from class this semester too. So far, I've just observed how little algebra they know. It's sad really.
One funny thing did happen this week though. Some kid walked in right before class started and looked totally lost. After several seconds of confusion, he said, "Oh, I think I'm in the wrong class." This is the THIRD week of class! Really, he should know where his classes are by now. AND he's not even a freshman. Oh, speaking of freshman, I have a good first-day story to tell. I'll save it for next week :)
And finally, this is for Shelly, courtesy of the West Texas Fair and Rodeo that we went to last night. I thought you might like this! (Shelly loves animals snoots)

Bathroom Reveal, Part 2

2011-09-08T12:02:00.000-05:00

Here's our updated half bath. (If you missed the post from earlier today, go back and see how Josh's bathroom turned out.) I'll include 'before' pics again.

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

No, those are NOT tile floors- just vinyl. We plan to update all of our downstairs floors in a couple of years, so we stuck with something pretty cheap for now.
So there you have it. We are very pleased with the results, and I especially look forward to easier cleaning in the days ahead!

Bathroom Reveal, Part 1

2011-09-08T07:59:00.002-05:00

Our bathroom remodels are done!! We are quite pleased with the results. Again, we didn't do anything too fancy, so don't expect some magical HGTV moment here. Things are just fresh and updated a couple of decades. We still need to add some things to the walls since they seem so empty now, but we're still deciding what to do for sure. I find it hard to decide what kind of 'art' is appropriate for bathrooms. Any thoughts?
We'll start with Josh's bathroom since I'm most excited about these changes. I'll include some 'before' pictures for reference. Sorry these aren't the best pictures. Using a flash in this tiny room makes it hard to get colors just right. The walls are all the same beige color even though they look like different colors in the pictures.

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

After - with a few accessories

After- a little lived in

A little better, don't you think? I'll post pictures of the half bath around lunch time. It's very similar to this one. We like things simple and neutral so we're not stuck with something we regret later. Plus, we can have fun with accessories and easily change them out too.
If you thought the bathroom looked better before, please don't tell me :)

They Had To GO!!

2011-09-02T13:16:00.000-05:00

We are right smack in the middle of having 2 of our bathrooms remodeled. I thought it would be fun to show you exactly what I disliked about each room. I think you'll understand why they had to go by the end of this post.
We'll start with Josh's bathroom upstairs. What? "Josh's" bathroom? Yes, we have separate bathrooms in this house. None of our bathrooms are attached to bedrooms, so we don't have a master bathroom at all. I totally wouldn't mind sharing my bathroom (and I have tried to), but Josh just likes his better for some reason. We were kind of forced to redo my bathroom early in 2010. (You can read about that and see pictures here, here, here, here, and here.) Since that time we have been saving up for the other 2 bathrooms. Anyway, here is Josh's bathroom before:

What I dislike: 3 different tiles- walls, shower walls, shower floors

What I dislike: Blue flower vinyl tiles, unsafe gas wall heater, toilet paper holder that only holds regular-sized rolls (they are not that easy to find anymore!)

What I dislike: low ceiling in shower, cave-like shower, TILE shower- ick!

What I dislike: low, wobbly vanity with cameo door knobs

What I dislike: Old light fixture

What I dislike: 2 towel rings (why 2 for a tiny vanity?), outlet in weird location

What I dislike: blue flower wallpaper panels (almost like stuff they used to put in trailer houses)

What i dislike: LOW shower head- poor Josh had to duck every morning

So what DID I like? The cabinet over the toilet in the first picture. It was the only real storage in the whole room. It's not coming back, and I will miss it because it held so much stuff. We may have to install a new one if our new storage system doesn't work out- more on that in another post. The only thing returning to this bathroom is the toilet. The rest had to go!
Now onto our downstairs 1/2 bath.

Dislike: Vinyl tiles that are shifting, HUGE towel bar (seriously, you just need a hand towel in here), again a toilet paper holder than can only be used with regular-sized rolls

Dislike: Tile walls and vanity, peach base cabinet, old light fixture

Dislike: Cracked, rusted sink

Dislike: speckled wallpaper that got wet and dirty around light switch and was peeling in various places

So what's staying in this room? The mirror, toilet, base cabinet (w/new paint), and the faucet is moving upstairs. The rest had to go!
As you can tell, I HATE tile. I mean HATE!! All those grout lines full of decades of dirt and muck really gross me out. I like smooth surfaces that are easy to clean, especially in bathrooms. I can't wait to see the final results of this remodel. Both bathrooms were stripped down to the studs and popcorn ceilings were taken out. Josh's bathroom is also getting a whole new floor, wood and all. We are not changing the layout of either bathroom, just drastically updating them. Currently we have new insulation, new flooring upstairs, and new walls and ceilings that are textured and painted. I love coming home each night and seeing major progress. The work is supposed to be done on Monday- yippee! Lots of pictures to come...

Titus and Hurdles

2011-08-30T10:06:00.000-05:00

I always thought Titus would enjoy agility training. In Washington, there weren't any courses nearby, so we settled on teaching Titus how to jump hurdles. Josh built 2 hurdles from PVC pipe- 1 was adjustable and could be raised to different heights and the other was a fixed height. We honestly didn't use them all that much, but Titus really seemed to enjoy them every time we got them out.
Here in TX we have a bunch of old partial fences around our property. One of them meets up with our mowed pathway and is the perfect hurdling height for Titus. I try to make him jump it every night as we are out walking. Sometimes he gets really excited and will jump multiple times without any command. Sometimes he's not interested at all. I have recently contacted a local trainer about use of her agility course. If it's affordable, I would love to train Titus to run the whole course. We'll see. For now he's just fence jumping.

2011 Garden, Part 7- Garden Guessing Game Answer

2011-08-26T08:26:00.000-05:00

It's a...

CUCUMBER!!
Here are some other cucumbers that Josh found- not so pretty!

Speaking of not very pretty, here's a look at our weed invested garden these days. Just keeping it real here, folks. Maybe we should start calling it a jungle instead of a garden.

Titus says, "This place is a mess. Do I dare go in?"

Titus is the only one doing any weeding!

At least the okra is taller than the weeds.

Remember what the garden looked like a couple of months ago after I weeded? Sigh...

I took a short walk through the jungle this morning. We still have tomato plants blooming, but no fruit. Peppers are doing ok- we need to harvest a few. I found some cantaloupe that should be ready soon, and of course the okra is still going crazy. Josh says there are watermelons out there somewhere, but I didn't see them (I wonder why!)
So it has definitely been a hard year, but we are learning and will hopefully improve next year. At least we know we can grow weeds!

2011 Garden, Part 7- A Garden Guessing Game

2011-08-25T08:44:00.000-05:00

Well, we are still getting a few things out our garden. Okra and cantaloupe are still going strong, and we get other things occasionally too. Sometimes the produce is not very pretty, like this guy:

Anybody want to guess what this is? I'll be back with the answer and more pictures tomorrow...

Doggy Splash Day, Part 2- News coverage

2011-08-22T16:15:00.003-05:00

So here's the video that was on the news last night.
I feel the need to explain the situation that was caught on camera. This was at the very end of our time at the pool. In fact, we had already decided to leave when this young boy took a liking to Titus and wanted to play with him. How could I say no? I had put his big blue ball away and we were using his retrieving stick at this point. The stick has a rope attached to it that makes it very easy to throw. The boy tossed it for Titus a couple of times before this video. In this video, the boy is standing next to Titus outside of the pool. He throws it and Titus jumps in after it. The problem was that he threw it clear across the shallow part and into the deep water! With all the dogs and people around, Titus couldn't see it. On top of that, I didn't want Titus crossing the buoys and rope and risk getting tangled up. So what did I do? I sent Josh swimming after the stick.
So in the video, you see the throw, the jump, and then Titus looks confused as Josh takes off swimming. Oh, and I'm the one itching my nose- nice. Not our best moment of the day. Maybe we should have left 5 minutes earlier :)

Did you catch how the news anchor pronounced "dachshund" at the end? Haha- that's still cracking me up!

Doggy Splash Day- My Favorite Non-holiday Day

2011-08-22T09:05:00.003-05:00

Well, yesterday was Doggy Splash Day here in Abilene. It is officially my new favorite non-holiday day of the year. I love swimming and I love dogs. Combine them and I'm in heaven!
My goal for this year was to get Titus on video jumping off the diving board. He did it a few times last year, but Josh was not around to run the camera. This year, Josh stayed with us even though he does not get nearly as excited about this day as I do.
Titus has noticeably aged in the last year, so I wasn't really sure how enthusiastic he would be this time around. Last year, he swam for the entire 2 hours. This year he only lasted about 1 hour and 20 minutes, and he was beyond wiped out. I know he had lots of fun, but he definitely let us know when he was done. He took his toy over to the area where our stuff was, dropped it, and then just looked at us as if to say, "Ok- I'm ready to go. Come get our stuff now."
Josh didn't take any pictures this year, but here are a couple videos of us in the shallow end. Titus cannot get out by himself, so I have to help. Let me tell you, pushing a 95 lb dog out of the water is a great work out! These videos were taken early on before a lot of people arrived.

After a little time in the shallow end, it was time to try the diving board. Here's a breakdown of his jumps:
Jump 1- Jump on the diving board, jump off the diving board, jump on the diving board, get to the end and refuse to jump. I had to push him in. I accidentally deleted that video before I even got to watch it- so sad :(
Jump 2- Much better, but Titus went to the side of the pool too far away from me so I wasn't ready to help him out, a little struggle to get out of the pool. Note: pushing him out of the pool is much harder in the deep water. I have to hold on the side and get enough leverage to lift him up. It's hard work! (Video 1 below)
Jump 3- He was a little more excited this time. More graceful pool exit (Video 2 below)

Notice Titus refuses to use the dog ramp they have set up. One big jump is all he needs. Also, please ignore pasty white girl in all videos :)

A little while later, we went back to the diving board.
Jump 4- a pretty normal dive
Jump 5- Sneaky Titus waited until I was up on the diving board then he jumped off the side onto the pool deck and jumped into the pool. Little Stinker!
So that was our fun at the pool yesterday. All 3 of us did make it on the news last night, but the video is not very flattering for any of us. If I get a copy I'll share it and explain the moment they caught on film. (Here's last year's news video)
I'm curious, do you have a favorite non-holiday day of the year?

Baby leggings and other fun crafts!

2011-08-18T14:09:00.001-05:00

Sometimes I think I should go into business selling baby stuff. Seriously, I get such joy out of making things that are so stinking cute! So my latest project involves baby leggings. A friend of mine was looking for some affordable leggings or tights for her soon-to-be-born baby girl. A friend of hers sent her a link on facebook for making your own baby leggings. So easy and so cute, so I volunteered to make them. I'm so glad I did because this is a gift I will go back to over and over (and hopefully improve on!)
Basically, you just lop off the foot of a sock and sew around the edge. The foot can be used to make a cuffed bottom if you wish. Here are the tutorials I followed:
http://cally-cruze.blogspot.com/2009/03/baby-legs-tutorial.html
http://everythingyourmamamade.com/2008/01/21/make-your-own-baby-leg-warmers/

Here are the leggings I made. Yes, I went a little overboard and made 13 pairs. This little girl is going to be stylin'!

I only made cuff bottoms on 3 pair- I just really really liked the lettuce edge better.
Some tips if you make your own:
1. Find cheap socks. I found mine at Kmart. I used girls' knee high socks. I also looked at Walmart, Target, the dollar store, and Kohls- they did not have cute socks for less than about $6. I paid $1.99 for most of these pairs but found some on clearance too. It averaged out to $1.40/pair!! Online these leggings go for $10-12. I'm sure when it's not 105 degrees outside, more stores will have knee high socks stocked. Toe socks would also work quite well I imagine. (Ooh, Christmas leggings!)
2. The name brand leggings are 21cm long for newborns and 33cm long for their regular size. Mine all came out different sizes depending on the socks, but they were all in that range.
3. Next time I will make the cuffs a smaller diameter than the legging part. I just didn't care for the way they turned out.
4. When doing the lettuce edge, go around twice. It just makes a nicer looking edge. Each pair takes about 15 minutes total (including cutting and sewing). Super easy!

Ok, so then I had all these extra sock pieces left. What to do, what to do. An idea hit me! I'm sure this has been done before, but I seriously came up with this on my own without looking at any tutorials. It actually worked too! I decided these leggings would look super cute with a jean skirt, so I whipped one up using some of Josh's old jeans, some elastic, and one of my old tank tops for the waistband. Then (and here's where the wheels started turning) I added a button on the front and made interchangeable appliques to match the leggings. Each applique has a button hole so you can swap them out! I'll let the pictures explain:

Jean skirt with button

Little pink flower applique


Little heart applique

Here's a look at all the appliques I made. Not all of the socks could be used, so I made a simple white applique from the tank top so there is always something to put over the button. I basically stuck to 3 simple shapes since this was my first try and I had no idea what I was doing. The butterfly was a bonus shape since all I had to do was sew around the design on the sock.

Here are some outfits put together

So cute, right? So easy!! Don't you want to whip some up right now? I'm not super satisfied with the jean skirt itself, so I'll probably make another one with ruffles or something. Of course, you could just add a button of the same size to any skirt and voila, 13 new outfits! Overall, I guess it wasn't too bad for a whole bunch of first-time projects.
I also made 2 hooded towels and a pacifier clip like I have done in the past.

So that's what's been keeping me busy lately. What projects have you been working on?
(Funny side story: Josh is so super smart, way smarter than I could ever hope to be. His vocabulary is wonderful, while mine is stuck in about 5th grade. Get this, I taught him a new word this week- applique! I was quite proud of myself!)

Titus' Latest Discovery

2011-08-16T08:58:00.005-05:00

As we were leaving for our evening walk last night, Titus stopped dead in his tracks. Then he started jumping back and twitching- you know, going into freak out mode. He was near some tall grass, so all I could think was snake. When I caught up with him, he had indeed found a snake- well, part of one anyway. It was just the skin again- a very large skin. I ran inside to get the camera and Josh. We stretched it out in the driveway and measured it. Yep, just shy of 80 inches!! So we have an 80 inch snake somewhere on our property. Luckily it's not a rattler or I would be worried.
Of course we took pictures! Sorry they're so dark. We walk as the sun is going down.

Titus was very concerned about the snake skin.

Titus: "Do you see how long this thing is?!? I can't believe I found such a big snake!"


Titus: "Mom, I don't like that head. It worries me. I'm just going to hide behind you if you don't mind." Me: "Yes, T-pot, you should be worried about that head. It is not a toy!"

Just shy of 80 inches! See, no rattle.

For the rest of our walk, Titus was on high alert. He even stopped and went into freak out mode again. This time it was just a stick, a stick about 12 inches long and the thickness of a pencil. Oh, how this dog cracks me up!
Snake count for 2011- 6 alive, 2 skins

In other news, my craft room has been in this condition for a couple of weeks. I've been working on another baby gift. I'll post pictures in the next couple of days (as soon as the parents open the box). I'm super excited to share some new craft ideas with you!

2011 Garden, Part 6- Survival of the Fittest

2011-07-26T12:54:00.000-05:00

Well, here we are on our 47th day of 100+ degree heat in Abilene this year. We are setting a new record today, and by the looks of it we could easily hit 60 days of triple digits if not more by the end of summer. So obviously this has not been a great year for our trial garden. However, we do have a few lone survivors.
Our okra is doing pretty well. The plants are healthy and continue to grow, and the insects do not seem very interested in them. Our cantaloupe is great! We have harvested 5 or 6 so far and I counted another 17 growing yesterday. We are letting these plants sprawl as far as they want since there's not much else growing. The fruit doesn't taste amazing, but it's not bad at all.
Other stuff is alive but not producing. We still have tomatoes, cucumbers, a few peppers, and some squash plants that we're hoping hang on and produce some fruit if we ever get a break from this heat. The pumpkins all died this week. The corn produced but it mostly got eaten. It was outside of the fence, so it's not too surprising.
Speaking of the fence, it has done it's job quite well. We never even hooked up electricity or made a real gate, but as far as we know Titus has been the only large animal inside the perimeter.
I would show you pictures of the garden, but the weeds have taken over most of it and it looks horrible. Maybe Josh can mow them down a little soon (hint, hint).
Oh, I nearly forgot- we still have watermelon growing too. Josh picked one tiny one this week, but it only had about 4 bites of edible flesh. It was yummy though. I don't know if we'll get any more before the plants die- here's hoping!

Some okra, cantaloupe, and our tiny watermelon

Summer Vacation 2011 - Part 3

2011-07-21T13:22:00.000-05:00

Day 6- July 14th
- We left St. Louis and drove to our next campsite in Pittsfield, IL.
- After we set up camp, we drove around and showed Mom some of the Brokaw farm and surrounding area
- Dinner at Red Dome Inn

Our lakeside campsite- Pine Lakes

We got to hear bullfrogs a lot at this site

Campground speed limit- made me laugh.

Day 7, July 15th
- We took Mom back across the Mississippi River to visit Hannibal, MO, the childhood home of Mark Twain.
- We hiked 244 steps to the top of the lighthouse
- We toured the museums and houses that Mark Twain and his friends lived in- the setting for some of his books. I need to go back and read Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn at some point (probably won't ever happen)
- Josh's grandma fell and broke her hip a few weeks ago. She has been in a rehab facility since then. We spent a couple of hours with her on this day before heading back to Pittsfield.
- Dinner with some of the Brokaw family. We had 13 gather for pizza (a small group for this family).

Mark Twain roadside picture greets you as you cross the Mississippi

Me and Mom getting ready to hike to the top!

Mark Twain home (on right)

Mark Twain's home and fence that was whitewashed (click to read sign)

Riverboat chugging up the Mississippi River

Day 8, July 16th
- We needed to waste some time this morning, so we drove around some more. Josh had been looking for some local landscape photographs, but we weren't having any luck. As we were driving around, we spotted a sign about a wildlife photographer. We ended up at the home of a nice man who took pictures exactly like we were looking for. We purchased several pictures and a couple of his homemade frames too. One of the pictures featured a nearby creek and bridge, so we went and took some of our own pictures.
- In the afternoon, we took Josh's grandpa to visit grandma in the rehab center.
- Dinner was a birthday party for Josh's grandpa that ended with a cake for him and a surprise cake for me too!

We are trying to find a way down to the water that doesn't involve poison ivy!

Another picture of us by Mom

Exploring Dutch Creek. We found a safe place to enter the water!

Day 9- July 17th
- 14 hour drive home, pick up Titus, unpack as little as possible, go to bed
- Well, we did make one stop on the way home. You can't pass up this opportunity!

Springfield, MO- flagship store!

Mom, watch out behind you!

That pretty much wraps up our trip. Thanks for reading along our journey. All pictures are now on our flickr page. I've included a bunch from Mom's camera too. Enjoy!

Summer Vacation 2011 - Part 2

2011-07-20T13:02:00.000-05:00

Day 3- July 11
- I turned 31!
- Josh was at the conference all day
- Our car had been making some funny noises. We decided the tires were the issue, so I bought us new tires for my birthday. Sadly, this didn't fix the problem. More on that later.
- Mom and I shopped at St. Louis Mills. I didn't buy anything, but Mom found a few deals.
- We also stopped by Union Station to shop and look around.

Stained glass inside Union Station

Grand Hall in Union Station

Outside Union Station

Day 4- July 12
- Josh was at the conference all day
- Mom and I visited the Cathedral Basilica, Cahokia Mounds, and did some more shopping :)

Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis

Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis- standing at the rear looking toward the front

Looking up at one of the domes- all of the mosaics are made from tiny tiles that are about 1 cm square. It was amazing!

All made from those tiny tiles!

Again, mosaics from tiny tiles.

A close up of one of the swirls from the picture above- maybe this will help you understand the intricacy of the tile work. I think we learned that 40 millions tiles were used in the cathedral.

The main dome (all in tile)

One of the scenes made from those same tiny tiles

Another scene- guess what it's made of. Tiles! The whole building was just amazing.

Looking toward the rear of the cathedral. All tile except for the flower stained glass window.

Cahokia Mounds- Monks Mound- We climbed 154 stairs to get to the top.

View of downtown St. Louis from Monks Mound

Day 5- July 13
- Josh was at the conference all day
- Our wonderful mechanic from WA told Josh that we probably had a bad wheel bearing. Mom and I took the car and got the bearing replaced. Hooray, the car was fixed! Thanks, Jeff, for diagnosing our problem over the phone and saving us tons of time!
- Mom and I spent the rest of the day shopping (we did a lot of shopping on this trip!) Our greatest find was The Container Store. We probably spent 2 hours in there and came away with some fun stuff. That is totally my kind of store!
- No pictures from this day :( You can check our flickr site for more pictures from our trip up to this point.

Summer Vacation 2011 - Part 1

2011-07-19T14:03:00.000-05:00

We just got back from 9 days in Missouri and Illinois. Josh had a Botany conference in St. Louis which gave us an excuse to goof off a little and also visit some of his family. About a week before we left, my mom decided to join us! We already had camping sites reserved for the whole trip, so she agreed to sleep in a tent for the first time in nearly 40 years. What a trooper! She was an excellent navigator in the car, and it was fun to have an extra person along. Another benefit of having Mom along was that we actually have pictures of both of us together on this trip. That rarely happens. I'll break up our trip into a few posts since there are so many pictures.
Day 1: Drive to Dr. Edmund A. Babler Memorial State Park, set up camp, go to bed

Our campsite- very peaceful

Me and Josh at the campsite

Day 2: Missouri Botanical Garden - $8 for all 3 of us since Josh got in free with the conference and we had a BOGO coupon!
St. Louis Cardinals game - free hotdog and drink with our seats saved us nearly $30
Pizza at Imo's - had to try St. Louis style pizza. It was pretty good!
Trip up the Arch - Josh and I had been before, so I took Mom up while Josh went to the conference

Botanical Garden

Busch Stadium

Another picture of both of us- it was very hot this day, but our seats were in the shade.

Pujols came back early from being injured, so we got to see him play!

Pujols batting

Little kids got to run the bases after the game

Notice the arch is mowed into the field- I loved that!
By the way, Cardinals won 4 to 2!

The Gateway Arch

Mom and the arch- had to use panoramic to get it all in one shot, not perfect but ok.

The itty, bitty pod that you cram into to ride to the top of the arch

Looking west from the top- the sun was setting so there was a lot of glare on the windows

Looking east from the top

At the top!

Ok- that's enough for one day. I plan on putting all of our pictures on our Flickr page, so check there if you want to see more as we go along. This link should take you to the pictures for this trip- I'll update it as I post about each day.

Making room for...

2011-07-05T12:56:00.000-05:00

more gear! Josh and I bought this Focus wagon back in 2006 so that we could haul more stuff on camping trips and other vacations. We have made several trips since then where stuff was stacked to the roof, blocking all windows, often with stuff falling into the backseat on to poor Titus. Sometimes we just have too much stuff to bring if we're camping or canoeing with the dog and all our gear or if Josh is taking students on research trips. So we decided to make things a little safer and more comfortable with a new cargo carrier. Can't wait to try it out soon!

The car is taller than the truck and doesn't fit in the garage with our new cargo carrier in place!

2011 Garden, Part 5- First fruits

2011-07-04T12:16:00.000-05:00

Somehow our garden is managing to produce a few things in spite of all this heat we've been having. We got to pick our first fruits this weekend!

Zucchini ready to pick

Okra ready to pick

Cantaloupe are getting closer! We have at least 9 growing right now.

While Josh Was Away

2011-06-27T12:52:00.001-05:00

While Josh was away for 3 weeks, I tried to get a few projects done that I had been putting off. Here are some things that kept me busy.

I made cinnamon rolls- a 7-8 hour process well worth every second.

Cinnamon rolls rising in the laundry room

Baked and cooling

Vacuum packaged and ready to freeze

Almost ready to eat

Pre-gobbling!

I made some play crowns for my adopted niece.

My 2 favorites- I love the polka dot felt and "jewels"

I made one boy crown so that there can be a king during playtime.

The backs were just fabric covered elastic. Super easy!

Close-ups. I had way too much fun with my Grandma's sewing machine. It has some great stitch patterns!

Princess Bailey and her favorite crown. The girl has good taste- this was my favorite too!

I straightened up the garage a little.

Before

After

Before

After

I whipped up this drawstring bag made from bandanas and filled it with cinnamon rolls to give away.

I also weeded the garden (which took several days)

So that's what has been keeping me busy lately. Have any projects you want to share?
PS- I'm on Pinterest now if you are interested in checking out my page. You'll find the inspiration to most of my craft projects along with other stuff too. http://pinterest.com/als88nm/pins/

2011 Garden, Part 4- The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

2011-06-23T09:35:00.000-05:00

I realize it has been quite a while since I gave a garden update. Josh was out of town for 3 weeks, and I wanted him to see the garden before I posted pictures.
In general, I would say this is a horrible garden year. The few things that are surviving this terrible heat are growing so very, very slow. A lot of things have died for various reasons, and we're still not sure if we'll actually get to eat anything from the plants that have survived. So here are some pictures from last weekend:

Overlooking the garden- lots of "dead" space :(

The Good!!

Various squash plants are slowly growing and have many flowers

Cantaloupe! If you look closely, there are 2 green fruits toward the bottom center of the picture.

Pumpkins- no fruit yet, but very healthy looking plants

Okra has decided to start growing and blooming!

Corn has its tassels out!

The Bad:

Bell peppers- these look great in the picture but have since died (we think I over fertilized)

Tomatoes- not dying, but not really growing either. Covered in flowers, but no fruit

Green beans- hard to see, but they're dying.

The Ugly:

Unfortunately, we have several plants that look like this

So there you have it- our first TX garden seems to be a flop, but that's ok. We knew this year would be more of an experiment than anything else. We have learned a lot and hope to make some significant improvements next year. Hopefully your garden is growing better than ours!

"Dad's Stuff"

2011-06-21T08:53:00.001-05:00

Growing up, Sunday evening dinners were pretty casual. Dad often made bacon and egg sandwiches or his signature recipe, "Dad's Stuff". In honor of Father's Day, I whipped up a batch of "Dad's Stuff" last weekend. I have never made it before, and I can't even remember eating it in the last 10 years, but it's a taste I will never forget. So here's what you need:

Light corn syrup, peanut butter, butter (imitation is just fine), maple syrup (imitation is just fine), and honey

Note- this is not a very healthy recipe!
So you pretty much just throw a little of everything in a bowl. I don't have amounts, helpful huh? I just put 2 spoonfuls of peanut butter, 1 spoon of butter, and a squirt of each syrup and the honey.

You just mix it up and slap it on some bread or eat it straight out of the bowl. I did both. At first it didn't have the taste I remembered, so I ended up adding more honey and maple syrup. It was just right.
You'll probably never make it, but I just wanted to share one of the foods that reminds me of my Dad and takes me straight back to my childhood. Mmm mmm- "Dad's Stuff"

One Last Video of Titus and Constance

2011-06-20T14:22:00.000-05:00

Constance went into a hyper barking fit and Titus decided to join in- you may want to turn down your volume!

Titus and Constance discover a snake skin

2011-06-17T09:18:00.000-05:00

So we occasionally come across a snake skin on our property. Titus always reacts the same- like it's going to bite him if he touches it. Constance didn't seem so intimidated at all. In fact she quickly lost interest and found the nearby plant and dirt much more intriguing. Titus stuck with it for another 10 minutes after these videos (when I finally took it away from him) while Constance and I watered some plants and played with sticks. Titus could not understand why Constance wasn't more interested in his great find.
(Again, not great videos, but it's fun to see how differently these dogs act.)

Meet Constance

2011-06-16T15:07:00.002-05:00

This is Titus' new girlfriend, Constance. She's a 5 month old golden retriever that we're getting to puppysit right now. She's so full of energy compared to our boy, but he's hanging in there. They like to share Titus' nylabone, but only a certain one (he has 3).
This is how it goes:

Constance tries to sneak in from behind and steal the bone- no luck, Titus is on to her.

Constance tries a more forward approach, but she's not too sure about those 2 big paws she has to get past.

She moves in closer while he's distracted and...

... steals it right from under his nose!

Titus is really quite good with this youngin'. He gladly gives up whatever toy she wants. Even when they have a good game of tug-of-war going, he eventually lets her win. What a gentleman! Just don't jump in his face or bite his ears- his patience only goes so far.
These 3 videos are just of them playing tug-of-war. Nothing too funny, I just think they're cute.

Productivity...

2011-06-10T13:29:00.000-05:00

You know I've been productive when the craft room looks like this:

I can't say what all I've been working on just yet; it will be a few more weeks before I'm able to share. Just know that I've been having tons of fun playing with my Grandma's sewing machine. It can do all sorts of things my other ones can't. Plus, I feel extra crafty having 2 sewing machines out at the same time!
Other than working on secret projects, I've also done less exciting things like replacing elastic in shorts and turning jeans into capris. Nothing photo worthy there, but it's nice to have some of those maintenance projects done too. I've got a list of 16 projects that I'm slowly checking off. It feels great! Have a wonderful, productive weekend!

7 Years Ago...

2011-06-02T09:15:00.000-05:00

... this adorable little chocolate morsel was born. *sigh* Of course we didn't meet him until a few weeks later, and the rest is history. He has been one wonderful pup.
Prepare yourself for some serious cuteness!

When was he ever this small?

Titus learned what the kitchen was very early on.

Still Titus' favorite part of the day

His dog house seemed so huge when we first got it.

I don't know why other buyers didn't want this droopy-eyed pup.

We learned pretty early that the camera flash + Titus' eyes = crazy yellow-eyed dog.

Total sweetness!

After his very first swim ~10 weeks old.

"Just hanging out with some toys"

And my absolute favorite Titus pic of ALL TIME...


Homicide puppy- anybody have any chalk?

Happy 7th birthday to Titus, Mr. T, T-pot, Stinkpot, Mr. Merryweather (Titus' middle name), Trail Blazer, Little One, Bub, Poochy Pooch, T, Bud, Pig, Horse, Cow, Silly Willy, Arthritis Titus, Old Man, Sweet T, and officially (according to AKC) Brokaw's Titus. It's been a fun 7 years!

6 days in NM

2011-05-25T17:33:00.002-05:00

I just got back last night from 6 wonderful days in NM. Josh was on a research trip and missed out on all the fun. The main reason for the trip was a friend's wedding, but we also celebrated a belated Mother's Day. Here's a breakdown of my trip:
Thursday- drove to NM, dinner with Mom, evening at home
Friday- Picked up my brother at the airport- a total surprise to Mom!! We had been planning this for a few weeks and were so excited to pull it off. We ran a couple of errands, relaxed most of the day, then had dinner and a family walk.
Saturday- breakfast out with a few girlfriends, back home to relax, then a super fun western wedding
Sunday- church, lunch at Dion's, trip to cemetery, more relaxing
Monday- brother back to airport then I spent the whole day with my dear friend Becca and her daughter Bailey. I attended my first Gymboree class and enjoyed sweet songs from a 2-year-old as we drove around town. We also met our friend, Kendra, at Dion's for lunch. (Yes, I ate there 2 days in a row- it's that good!)
Tuesday- a little shopping with Mom then I blew home in a cloud of brown dust

A bunch of pics from the trip:

Lynette and Beau's wedding

Such a sweet couple

Family shot- love all the denim and cowboy hats!

Bailey being silly during the awesome brisket dinner

Super cute cake topped with a tractor. Notice the groom's cake is a dart board- fun!

A few members of our church youth group from the '90s. It was like a family reunion!

Father/daughter dance- hard to watch, but so sweet

First dance as husband and wife

Zach (bride's nephew) charming the ladies

Papa Tom and Bailey dancing

Me with Mom and Adam. Being with these two makes me smile very big!

Lifetime friends- ignore the guy in the background :)

Me with Becca and Adam

Me and Becca with the bride

Doing a little dance we made up decades ago!

Party crashers!

Who invited this guy?

Bailey at Gymboree

Exploring

The theme for the day was "cowboys and cowgirls," so here they are on a chuck wagon ride.

Bailey riding the "bull"- Yeehaw!

I had a really great trip- what a great way to kick off summer!

Snake Year

2011-05-18T13:35:00.000-05:00

The year that we moved to TX (2009) was a snake year. We saw several snakes around our property including one baby rattle snake, a ringneck snake, a huge bullsnake, and the snake in our bathroom. Last year was much different. I saw one in the garage and Josh found a couple when he was digging around with his tractor. We never saw any on the road or trail around our house, and we walk the property nearly everyday.
I think this year is going to be a big snake year again. I've already seen 3, nearly stepping on 2 of them. Last night I came within 1-2 feet of this one while walking around the yard.

Fortunately, the snakes around here don't seem very aggressive (unless you have them cornered in a bathroom). Usually they lie perfectly still or slither away very quickly. Still, last night reminded me again to be more aware of the ground as I'm walking. The hard part is finding a balance between being alert and jumping every time I see a stick lying on the ground :)

2011 Garden, Part 3

2011-04-29T08:32:00.000-05:00

Just thought I'd share a little garden progress with you this morning. We have most of our plants in the ground, but they aren't very impressive yet. We are attempting to grow various peppers, tomatoes, okra, squash, cucumbers, watermelon, cantaloupe, corn, and green beans. In other parts of the yard we have blueberries, blackberries, apples trees, peach trees, and persimmons. We were very excited to see that all of the trees we planted last fall survived the winter!

Tomato

Bell pepper

Row of peppers and some okra

Rows of corn and beans

Our blueberry bushes

Lab Quote Friday #13- Three important lessons

2011-04-15T16:52:00.002-05:00

I don't think these really count as lab quotes, but these are the things that have made me laugh lately:

#1. A lesson on the correct use of your common test tube holder
This is how a test tube holder SHOULD be attached to the ring stand

A view from above

This is how NOT to use this equipment

Maybe this view will illustrate the problem more clearly

Do you see it now? I don't think I need to explain what happens when you tighten a screw into a glass test tube, but here you go

#2. A lesson on improving your grade- ALWAYS take free points when your professor offers them!

Josh was short on quiz material one day, so he included these 2 questions:
9. Free question
     a) correct
     b) incorrect
     c) incorrect
     d) incorrect

10. Free question
     a) correct
     b) incorrect
     c) incorrect
     d) incorrect

TWO students choose "incorrect" on both questions! One student chose "b" both times, and the other chose "d" both times. Lucky for them, Josh was feeling generous and gave them the points anyway. Me? I would have counted them wrong!

#3. A lesson in paying attention in class
Josh had a student tell him last week, "I think I've taken this class before."
Keep in mind, we are about 3 weeks from the end of the semester.

2011 Garden, Part 2

2011-04-04T08:06:00.000-05:00

Well, we're definitely making progress with the garden set up. Here's what we accomplished this weekend.

We brought home the last of the mulch and Josh plowed it all with his new toy.

We repositioned the old garden entrance and put up our electric netting. We just lack a gate now.

A close-up of our electric netting. This should keep out most of the critters we're concerned about.

Titus enjoying his last opportunity to lay in the garden before he gets kicked out.

I dug the trenches and Josh laid out 5 rows of soaker hoses (some rows got double hoses).

We still need to run the electricity to the fence and build a gate. Oh yeah- I guess we need to plant something too! Stay tuned...

Baby crafts

2011-03-25T13:08:00.001-05:00

Two posts in one day- we're just such exciting people!
Some friends of ours are about to have a baby girl. Their nursery is yellow, black and gray. What a cute combination! (Of course, anything involving gray is wonderful to me.) I considered making one of my flannel rag quilts to match the nursery, but I didn't have much luck finding enough patterns I liked in these colors. Well, I found some, but they were way too expensive. Between all of the baby showers, our friends' registry was pretty picked over. So I decided to make a few items I thought would be useful to them and their baby girl while coordinating with their colors. Here's what I've been up to:

A taggy block

Pacifier clips

A nursing cover

2 hooded towels


Trim on the towels made with my new bias tape toy

Here are the links to the tutorials that inspired me. I didn't follow all of the directions exactly.
Taggy block- I used way more ribbon and sewed the blocks together in a different pattern. I also put a jingle bell in the middle to make it sound like a rattle.
Pacifier clips- I didn't use interfacing or a serger. I should have followed the tip about sewing the velcro on before sewing the material sides. It would have looked much better.
Nursing cover- I only used 1 piece of fabric so it wouldn't be too hot. I added my pocket as a triangle in one corner. Also, I used D-rings instead of velcro to make the adjustable neck strap.
Hooded towels- easiest project ever! I used adult sized towels so they can be used when the baby outgrows those tiny hooded towels that you can buy in the stores. I also sewed across the point of the hood and cut off the extra material so that the kid doesn't look like a elf. I made single fold bias tape for the edge using this fun new toy. They sell machines that make bias tape, but I found this $4 contraption (w/coupon) did the job perfectly! I can't wait to make more bias tape (a fold down the center and a quick ironing gives you double fold bias tape in no time!)

I also attempted to make a wipeable changing pad, but my sewing machine was not cooperating. By the time we reached a compromise, the project was a flop. Here's the tutorial I was trying to follow. I think it needs to be bigger. Maybe I'll try again. I learned that sewing with vinyl takes practice and patience (and tape on the bottom of your presser foot.)
So what projects have been keeping you busy lately?

2011 Garden, Part 1

2011-03-25T08:43:00.000-05:00

I've decided to do a series of garden posts as this season progresses. Josh and I haven't had a garden in a couple of years due to moving and lack of time, but we're jumping back in this year! I sure have missed home-grown goodies. We're planting a variety of stuff this year as an experiment to see what can survive. I think the biggest obstacle will be bugs, namely grasshoppers. Anyone have any brilliant remedies for this?
So here's a quick look at our garden prep so far. Josh has been very busy!

Our seedlings in Josh's new growth room at ACU

Bringing in compost- $6/load at the recycle center!

Our garden area- we're hoping to fill a 50x30' space this year

Our well finally has a working pump in it!

We just HAD to get a tiller for the tractor to help us out.

In a few days, our electric fencing will arrive. It should be able to keep out everything from rabbits to deer. Again, any advice for grasshoppers?
This has nothing to do with the garden, but it made me laugh. Our neighbor's llamas enjoyed watching Titus play ball last night. I think they wanted to join in!

Stay tuned for a post about what's been keeping me busy while Josh has been prepping the garden...

Play Kitchen

2011-03-17T09:22:00.000-05:00

Once upon a time, when I was 2 years old, my Dad made me a play kitchen. It was yellow and had a sink, a stove with burners that turned red when you turned the knobs on, an oven with a rack, and a refrigerator/freezer. Mom stocked my kitchen with mini sized cups, plates, and silverware. I had play food, a tea set, and cookware. I even had a blender, a toaster, and a mixer.
Guess what? I have all of these again! I also have a doll wagon and buggy, a high chair, and a tiny cradle. My Mom has been bringing me a bunch of kid stuff so we have things for little ones to play with when they come to visit. It has been so much fun going through the boxes of my old toys- so many memories! I'll have to get some more boy stuff eventually, but I figure they can play outside and get tractor rides from Josh for now.
My kitchen has been moved several times over the years and has suffered some wear and tear, but I love it and think I'll keep it in its "well loved" state.

Skunk update

2011-03-15T13:23:00.000-05:00

When we got home on Friday the skunk was gone. Josh found it on Saturday- dead. He buried it. Titus hasn't found it yet. The end.

Look who was waiting for us...

2011-03-11T08:15:00.000-06:00

Titus and I went out to play this morning and look who was waiting for us. Do you see it?

Here, let me get closer for you

Pretty sure this skunk was either sick or dying or both. He didn't move much. We'll have to see if he's still there when we get home. Josh may have a fun chore on his hands!
On a better note, my craft room project is complete! I inherited a bunch of my Grandma's sewing things and I just didn't have any space for everything. So I just HAD to do create more storage. My camera was dead when I went to take "before" pictures, so just imagine this table completely piled with clutter and no room to work.

And now it looks like this

I know it's not a huge change, but I love it. I bought 2 unfinished kitchen cabinets from Lowe's, painted them white, and added handles. Then I covered a piece of plywood with my fabric and wrapped that with vinyl. You can see that my table top is now at least 6 inches higher too, which will make my back sooooo much happier when I'm cutting fabric. I might add a stool in the future, but I really don't sit much when I'm crafting unless I'm at the sewing machine.
I think the biggest organization chore was sorting through Grandma's spools of thread. She had 2 racks completely stuffed.
I started by sorting her stash...

Then I added my spools

The end result is 3 nearly full racks of thread beautifully sorted by color (sorry, no picture). I may never have to buy thread again! Oh, and see that small pile off to the right side of that last picture? Those are spools that have just a tiny bit of thread left on them- maybe enough to sew on a few buttons, but nothing more. I put all of those in a box with a clear lid and stashed them in one of my new drawers. That left me with just a few pegs left empty on 1 rack just in case I need to add something later.
I feel so much better now that things are organized and out of sight. Time to start some new projects...

15 Favorite dog products

2011-03-07T14:41:00.000-06:00

I can't believe I haven't done a post about dog products before! We have found some really fun, useful items for Titus over the years that I would love to share with you. In no particular order...

#1- Jolly Ball- Titus' favorite water toy
This toy was originally designed for horses, but now they make smaller sizes as well (just in case your dog is not the size of a small horse!) We love this ball because it floats, has a handle, and is incredibly tough. Titus gets really excited when we get this ball out because it means he'll soon be in the water playing. He can get his mouth around this 10" ball and squeeze it, but it can't be punctured. The handle, on the other hand, can be torn up if chewed on for a long time (a dog we were dogsitting chewed up the the handle on ours, so now it is wrapped in duct tape).

#2- West Paw Zisc - Titus' favorite frisbee (and other products)
This is Titus' all-time favorite frisbee. We've tried several brands and materials, but this one is the best. It's soft for catching but made of durable "zogoflex" material for durability. Again, we don't let Titus sit and chew on this toy, but it has held up to years of playing and we use it nearly every day. It's particularly perfect for snow play since it's easy to see and lands on top of the snow instead of getting lost in it like a ball.
West Paw also makes other toys like the "hurley" and "huck." These are great chew toys and endure tons of gnawing without any tooth marks at all!

#3- The Raquetball - Titus' favorite indoor ball
You would think that raquetballs would be too small for our 97 lb beast, but he absolutely loves them. Again, great for chewers, but I've seen tiny dogs enjoy them as well. We've only had 1 destroyed and that was because it was left out in the sun and rotted. For this reason, we try to keep these as indoor balls (except for when using #13). These are also great because they don't get full of slobber like tennis balls do, they have great bounce, and are easy to clean.

#4 and #5- The Chuckit Ball Launcher and Whistler Balls - Titus' favorite outside balls, my most used launcher
The Chuckit launcher is great for outside play. No more touching slimy, muddy balls! I prefer the shorter version, but we have the longer one as well. The tennis balls that come with the launcher are worthless- Titus chews them in half in a couple of bites. However, the whistler balls are wonderful! They kind of whistle as they fly and are made of durable rubber of some kind. So far Titus has not destroyed them. Warning: after years of using the ball launcher, you may not be able to throw normally ever again. I have such a "girl throw" now. Also, make sure the balls you buy match the size of launcher you have- they come in several sizes.

#6- Elevated dog bowl - Titus' favorite place in the house!
This is a must for tall dogs. There are tons to choose from, but I like the ones with storage. This is the one we have. It can be adjusted to 2 different heights.

#7- Rubbermaid collapsible bowls- Titus' favorite travel bowl
These bowls are great for vacations or day trips. They pack flat, have a lid, and come in a few different sizes. I love them.

#8- Leash saddle - Titus' favorite walking accessory
Most people have never seen one of these. It is a little saddle for your retractable leash that has 2 zippered pockets and 2 velcro pockets. It is the perfect size for your keys, ID, poop bags, etc. Totally a must-have in my book.

#9- The Nylabone - Titus' favorite chew toy
These are great for heavy chewers. Get the size and durability appropriate for your dog. We have 3 different styles and love them all.

#10- The Sunglo collar- Titus' favorite water accessory
This is a must-have for swimming dogs. The nylon is coated with polyurethane which means the water and dirt cannot penetrate. Translation: no stinky collar after swimming!

#11- Rinse Ace pet shower products- Titus' favorite bath accessory
If you don't have a hand held shower head, this is for you. Rinse Ace has several designs to choose from. We have one that quick connects to a junction at our shower head and one that connects to the sink faucet. Either way, I prefer the style with an "easy-lock clip." It's similar to the clip on the nozzle at a gas station and saves much hand fatigue while bathing your favorite pooch.

#12- Baby gate - Titus' least favorite item
Great for containing dogs as well as babies! Yes, Titus could easily jump over the gate, but don't tell him that!

#13- Hyper Dog ball launcher- Titus' favorite sling shot
Ok, this toy is more fun for the owner than the dog- seriously. I like to use raquetballs instead of tennis balls due to the slobber factor. A wet ball just seems dangerous to me, and who wants to sling drool everywhere!?! I also hold the ball instead of the pocket for better control.

#14- Gloves - For me, not Titus!
I wear these anytime I have to touch dirty toys- particularly when playing with #2 and #13. Get them in the winter for $1 at most stores.

#15- Outward Hound dog backpack - Titus' favorite hiking accessory
Yes, we make Titus carry his own food and water when we're backpacking. It's a rough life. There are tons of styles available, but this is the one we have. It has worked well for many years.

So there you have it, my top 15 dog products. Do you have something to add? I would love to hear about your favorite pet finds!

Lab Quote Friday #12

2011-03-04T11:38:00.001-06:00

Just one for this week, but it made me laugh.

"How much ethidium bromide would I need to be exposed to to become Spider-man?"

I totally love the kid that asked this. He's only a freshman, so I'm sure he will be the source of many more lab quotes in the future.
Hope y'all have a great weekend. I have a craft room overhaul in the works- so exciting!! I'll try to remember to take pictures...

Lab Quote Friday #11

2011-02-25T08:08:00.000-06:00

I broke a promise. I said I would start up lab quotes again in the spring. Well, here we are finishing our 6th week of class and I haven't delivered. Here are my excuses-
1. I haven't spent as much time around the students this semester
2. When I have been in the lab, I haven't witnessed too many funny things
3. The funny things I have seen have already been blogged about

So while I'm obviously not going to be able to post every week, I promise to post whenever I get some good material. Like today!

Lab Boy: "I know propyl means it has 3 carbons, and butyl means it has 4 carbons, but how do they look different?"

Lab Girl sees me carrying a large container of acid into the lab to refill their supply: "Dude! Did you see that huge jug of acid!?! I could, like, smell it way over here."
Me thinking: It wasn't nearly that exciting and no, you could not smell it. I don't want to know what you were actually smelling.

And this is a repeat, but it still cracks me up every time. 2 groups of students were trying to use their thermometers while they were still in the cases, and 1 group had theirs upside down. Somehow their experiment just didn't work as expected!

In other lab related news, our mascot is getting old. On top of a graying face and balding belly, Titus now has arthritis. His new nickname is Arthritis Titus. Poor pup!

Remembering Grandma

2011-02-23T16:20:00.000-06:00

Thank you all so much for your kind words you have poured on our family during my Grandma's loss. We had a good weekend with family and a short service at the DFW National Cemetery on Monday. It was fun to look through old pictures as we put together some picture collages for the viewing. I thought I would share these 2 pictures with you.
This first one is proof of something I mentioned in my previous post. This is Grandma wrestling with my Dad and brother back in 1990. Notice I was not involved.

This second picture is special because I think it is the only other time I ever made cinnamon rolls with Grandma other than last October.

Flash forward a few years. Grandma getting dirty, me adding flour, same positions, different house. Great memories.

Sweet Grandma

2011-02-16T11:34:00.000-06:00

It's so hard to believe that just a few weeks ago Josh and I were eating, playing cards, and visiting with my grandparents. It still hasn't quite sunk in that Grandma passed away yesterday. Everything just happened so quickly. Our family is so thankful for all of your prayers and encouraging notes.
Grandma was such a fun lady to be around. If you ever knew my Dad, you should know that he got all his goofiness and laughter from his mom. I remember the 2 of them wrestling when we were younger and being worried that Dad might hurt Grandma. She would just laugh and scream. For most of my life, my grandparents lived on a lake east of Dallas. We always looked forward to fishing with Grandpa and then eating a huge dinner of bass, crappie, or catfish prepared by Grandma. And I just loved Grandma's cooking- cinnamon rolls, cookies, big breakfasts, banana pudding, fudge, fish, etc. It's sad to think we will never enjoy another meal prepared by our Grandma.
Over the last 2 years since my Dad passed away, Grandma has told me countless times how much I take after him. Well I think that he took after her, so I must have a lot of my Grandma in me. I definitely inherited my Dad's nose, but can you tell where I got my eyes?

July 2010

I also got my Grandma's big toes. I won't share that picture. You're welcome. Let's just say my brother calls them "paddle toes" because they are the shape of ping-pong paddles. I don't really care. When I look at them I think of my Grandma and smile.
Here are a few recent pictures. Sweet Grandma, we will miss you.

July 2010

Making cinnamon rolls- October 2010

November 2009

Apron questions answered

2011-02-09T13:29:00.000-06:00

I have had several people ask about the aprons I made last week. Let me clarify- I did NOT come up with this idea, I am certainly not that creative. My sis-in-law sent me this link that I pretty much followed. I thought the directions were a little confusing, but it was such a good idea. Basically you just cut off the front of the shirt and use an apron that fits you as a pattern (adding in a seam allowance). I used the flounce pattern from this tutorial and adjusted the pattern to fit the bottom of my pink apron.
The reversible apron is made from the backs of 2 shirts. It's the same size as the pink one, but the top is cut off and replaced with straps. Just sandwich all your straps and ruffle facing inward between the 2 shirt pieces that are right sides together. I sewed the ruffle and all the straps in place first so that they would stay in place and be reinforced. Sew all your edges leaving an opening at the top for turning inside out. After you have turned the apron right side out, iron the apron and top stitch all the way around making sure you close up your opening at the top.
I was just experimenting with these 2 aprons. I hope to make some much cuter ones in the future. I have some other ideas for reusing some of Dad's clothes too, but I haven't found the time to work on those projects yet. Stay tuned for more...

Six-Day Weekend!

2011-02-07T12:46:00.001-06:00

Due to a thick layer of ice, several inches of snow, and below freezing temps, school was canceled for 4 days last week (Tues-Fri). Several people suffered from cabin fever, but I was perfectly content. Here's what I did to keep busy:
Day 1- Tuesday:
We jumped in the car (outfitted with snow tires) in the morning and headed out to take pictures at Fort Phantom. Here are some of my favorites.

After pictures, I whipped out my sewing machine. This day would have been my Dad's 60th birthday, so I worked on a little project in his honor. This apron is made from one of Dad's dress shirts.

Day 2- Wednesday:
I stayed in the sewing mode and whipped up a 2nd apron from a couple of Dad's dress shirts and scraps left over from Tuesday. This apron is reversible.

Refusing to leave my craft room, I decided to play with one of my favorite Christmas gifts.

My Mom gave me this wonderful set of presser feet for my sewing machine. Now I can make buttonholes, sew on buttons, do serger-like stitches, make blind hems, make 1/4" rolled hems, apply zippers, etc. I am so excited!! I spent several hours experimenting with my new toys and even hemmed 2 pairs of dress pants with a machine stitched blind hem. Josh even got in on the fun and helped me figure out a few of the functions. Fun fun!!

Day 3-Thursday:
On this day, I tried out another Christmas gift. I received this beautiful pasta roller attachment for my mixer from my brother.

Using this roller was so much fun! I had 2 large sheets of pasta rolled out in a matter of minutes. I think if I hadn't run out of eggs, I could have kept going all day!
The rest of Thursday was like Spring cleaning. I did some of those chores that I only get around to about twice a year like vacuuming the blinds and baseboards.

Day 4- Friday:

I did a little more cleaning and Super Bowl food prep, and then we ventured out to see if we could make it to town. Roads were clearing up, so we ran a few errands. Hobby Lobby was one of our stops and helped me on 2 more little projects. Josh discovered this as we were looking for hooks for my new aprons:

It was perfect for our kitchen! Now our aprons have a pretty spot to hang.

We also picked up a piece of scrapbooking paper and a picture frame so that I could get my great-grandmother's handwritten cinnamon roll recipe hung. Now my kitchen feels more complete.

Day 5- Saturday:
Bath day for Titus. I also did my normal weekly cleaning, and our washer drain pipe finally thawed so I could catch up on laundry.
Saturday night I went out with a couple of friends. We ate at Carino's and saw The King's Speech. It was great!

Day 6- Sunday:
Church as usual then Super Bowl party! We hosted a party at our house this year and invited young marrieds/singles. We had a really great time and appreciated everyone braving the weather (it rained and snowed again) to join us.

So that was our 6-day weekend. Josh kept the fireplace going which kept us nice and cozy. Of course we went outside and played in the snow and took walks around the property every day as well. Titus is wiped out, and I think he was glad to see us leave for work this morning. Now he can get back to his regularly scheduled 10-hour naps.

December picture update

2011-01-05T13:23:00.000-06:00

Now that it's January 5th, I figure it's about time to fill you in on our activities from December. We had Christmas with Josh's family on the 23rd and 24th here in Abilene. Then we headed to Albuquerque and spent 9 days with my Mom and brother. I uploaded a bunch of pictures and a few videos to flickr, so click on the link to the right if you would like to see them all. There are about 2 pages of pictures to look through. Sorry to send you hopping around- I'm just too lazy to upload to 2 different places today. Enjoy!

Chili, everywhere

2010-12-21T12:17:00.002-06:00

(I am using PW-style writing for this post.)
I made chili for dinner yesterday. It had been in the crockpot all day long and the house smelled so good when we got home. Josh wanted to get a few things done outside before it got too dark so our meal was delayed a bit and I was really hungry. As I picked up our bowls of hot chili to take them to the dining room, I dropped one of the bowls. Chili. Went. EVERYWHERE! Of course Titus was at my feet so he had one entire side of his body covered as well. I dropped the bowl right by the sink, and chili made it all the way across the room to the opposite wall. Josh ate by himself as Titus and I cleaned the kitchen. Yes, I let the dog help me clean.
Then I cleaned him.
Then I got my carpet cleaner out.
Then I realized just how much I hate the fact that we have carpet in our kitchen.
Then I ate.
Then I cleaned some more.
I was in a really bad mood all night long. I thought a cookie dough truffle would help. It was delicious, but I was still grumpy.
Then I went to bed.
Then I woke up and found even more chili on the wall that I missed last night.
Then I ate another cookie dough truffle.
Titus loves chili.
The end.

Yum, yum, and yum

2010-12-20T09:27:00.001-06:00

If you don't have time to bake a ton of holiday goodies, these tasty little morsels will fill in just fine.
Nutter Butter Balls
Oreo truffles
Cookie dough truffles
(side note- I used almond bark to coat all 3 types)

What kind of gift wrapper are you?

2010-12-15T09:50:00.000-06:00

As I was wrapping some Christmas gifts last weekend I began to wonder what all of my friends thought of gift wrapping. So this is your time to shine or confess, maybe a little of both. Here's what I want to know:
1. Do you love or hate wrapping gifts?
2. What kind of wrapping do you use? Do you like regular paper, foil gift wrap, kraft paper, fabric, newspaper, etc?
3. Do you coordinate the gifts under your tree (use all the same wrapping paper or a few that coordinate) or is everything just mixed?
4. Do you love ribbons and bows? Do you make your own?
5. What about gift tags? Do you use the stick-on ones, use a scrap piece of wrapping paper, make your own?
6. How much tape does it take for you to wrap a gift? Do you use tons or can you wrap an entire box with only 3 pieces? Do you use stickers as tape sometimes?
7. How do you feel about gift bags?
8. What do you do for the gifts you have to ship?
9. Are you a skilled wrapper or do your gifts look like a 2 year old wrapped them?
10. How do you prep the gift inside the box? Do you use fancy tissue paper to pre-wrap the item or do you just stick it in there and call it good?

I'm really very curious about how each of you wrap. I guess I should confess my techniques as well. Please don't think less of me after this post.
1. I do not particularly enjoy wrapping gifts, but I don't hate it either. It's just something that has to be done.
2. I usually buy my wrapping paper on clearance after Christmas. I have way too much and could probably last 10 more years without buying more. I can't pass up a bargain. Foil wrap frustrates me even though it is so pretty. I should confess that I sometimes use those boxes that have pictures on them and don't use any wrapping. Yes, I'm that lazy. For small items, I like those pretty little boxes that are printed on the outside and inside. I think they're cute. I would like to use something more creative like fabric but I never have. Maybe someday...
3. My gifts are totally uncoordinated. I do however try to use more masculine paper for the guys and girly stuff for the girls.
4. Please don't hate me... I kinda gave up on ribbons and bows years ago. I have a big box of bows, but I rarely use them (except for kids' gifts because sometimes the bow is better than the gift.) We usually travel for Christmas and it is just too much trouble to deal with squashed bows. Presents stack better in the car and under the tree if you don't have to worry about bows. Without bows, ribbon seems silly to me. There is one exception to this- see #5.
5. Gift tags- I can go 2 ways on this one. I like to cut up Christmas cards and use them as gift tags. If I do this, I punch a hole in the top and then use curly ribbon on the present to attach the tag. My other option (again, don't hate me) is the stick-on kind. They're cheap and easy.
6. I probably use a lot more tape than the average person. I'd say about 8 pieces per box. I don't tape the boxes shut unless they are busting open (due to me choosing a box that is too small.) If the box requires packing tape to stay shut, I try to remember to fold one end of the tape as a "courtesy tab" so it can be easily opened.
7. I use bags for odd shaped gifts mostly. I'm not the best with making tissue paper look pretty and again, they don't travel very well.
8. Gifts that ship are pretty much like all my other gifts.
9. My gifts probably look like a 12 year old wrapped them. It could be worse, but it could definitely be better. I did not inherit my Mom's skills at making packages look beautiful. I hope she comments and tells you all about how she wraps (hint, hint.)
10. I usually pre-wrap the item in tissue paper. If the tissue paper is patterned or colored, it's probably been recycled from a gift that we received. Occasionally I will buy colored tissue paper, but only if it's a good deal.

So that's my confession for the day. Basically I'm cheap and lazy when it comes to wrapping gifts. Thank you to those of you who get gifts from me and love me anyway. Please share your approach to gift wrapping. If you don't comment for yourself, I may feel compelled to do a separate post on how you wrap based on gifts we receive.
Stay tuned for confessions on Christmas shopping and gift OPENING.

Brokaw tidbits

I Love You Because...

Anniversary Trip to Ouray

Christmas 2011

Homemade Christmas Gifts- Part 4

Homemade Christmas Gifts- Part 3

Homemade Christmas Gifts- Part 2

Titus Photo Shoot

Homemade Christmas Gifts- Part 1

Cookies and Snow

Thanksgiving Weekend

Catching Up- Family Campout

Pitiful Pup

Roller Coaster Weeks

Lab Quote Friday: Word of the Week- Flocculent

2011 Garden- Part 9, Frosty Weekend

Tie Wreaths

Fall Break in NM

Lab Quote Friday- A Lesson in Colors and Reactions

This and That

TP Pumpkins!

Rattlesnake Roundup- Brokaw Style

Roughin' It At Home

Lab Quote Friday- Stupid Questions

Lab Quote Friday- Thermometers

2011 Garden, Part 8- Patience Pays Off

Lab Quote Friday Returns!

Bathroom Reveal, Part 2

Bathroom Reveal, Part 1

They Had To GO!!

Titus and Hurdles

2011 Garden, Part 7- Garden Guessing Game Answer

2011 Garden, Part 7- A Garden Guessing Game

Doggy Splash Day, Part 2- News coverage

Doggy Splash Day- My Favorite Non-holiday Day

Baby leggings and other fun crafts!

Titus' Latest Discovery

2011 Garden, Part 6- Survival of the Fittest

Summer Vacation 2011 - Part 3

Summer Vacation 2011 - Part 2

Summer Vacation 2011 - Part 1

Making room for...

2011 Garden, Part 5- First fruits

While Josh Was Away

2011 Garden, Part 4- The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

"Dad's Stuff"

One Last Video of Titus and Constance

Titus and Constance discover a snake skin

Meet Constance

Productivity...

7 Years Ago...

6 days in NM

Snake Year

2011 Garden, Part 3

Lab Quote Friday #13- Three important lessons

2011 Garden, Part 2

Baby crafts

2011 Garden, Part 1

Play Kitchen

Skunk update

Look who was waiting for us...

15 Favorite dog products

Lab Quote Friday #12

Lab Quote Friday #11

Remembering Grandma

Sweet Grandma

Apron questions answered

Six-Day Weekend!

December picture update

Chili, everywhere

Yum, yum, and yum

More holiday questions to answer

What kind of gift wrapper are you?