Our house is a very, very fine house....

This past spring (I think it was early May, the first Wednesday in May) we awoke around 4:00 in the morning to an awful smell invading our house. A smell so bad that you could taste it. Now imagine that for a minute....being deep asleep and waking up to smell you can't escape. Our home had been sprayed by a skunk. I covered my head with our comforter and tried to go back to sleep, thinking that it would soon clear out. Fast forward a couple hours and the smell is still strong. We go to work and and 8 hours later we are back trying to rid our home of this smell. By about 10:30-11:00 that night we have pretty much gotten most of the smell out. All is good until early that Saturday Saturday morning when again we are woken up by the smell again. Not as strong but still there. We (I) go back to sleep and Shane calls the landlords to tell them that he thinks when they boarded up a small hole in our front porch that past Wednesday of the major spray, that they may have unknowingly trapped the skunk under the porch. They set a trap the next day and within a few hours we have a skunk....caught in a trap. Call the landlords to tell them and they come over to get trapped skunk. They ask Shane for one of his guns. I tell them (because, yes, I have researched this) that if they kill it the skunk will release all it's nasty spray and it will invade the house again. They kill it anyway. Right where the trap was. Right in front of the porch which is right where our bedroom is. A few minutes later the house is in fumes again. We move out for the night to air it out. We move out another night and call to get the house purified. Exactly one week from the first spray we can finally move back in. That evening Shane decides he hates the house and we are moving. We decide to become our own landlords and buy our own home. 1 week and 22 homes later we have a contract on a home. 3 days later we break the contract and look at 2 of the previous homes we had already toured. We make an offer on a home. Offer is accepted. July 22 we finally closed on the house and began cleaning and moving. We are now home owners! Thanks to the skunk, we are the happy owners of a 3 bedroom, 2 bath home in town with a top of the line kitchen, beautiful fireplace, and real hardwood floors in the kitchen and entry way. I guess the skunk was a sign from God that we needed to take the leap and get a mortgage! We've already began making some improvements and making it our own style/taste. We have 1 room painted and have major painting plans for next weekend. 

Snicker Salad

 Last month we were going to celebrate our parents anniversary and I was in charge of dessert. My sister had requested Snicker Salad, but before I could make it, we had a change of plans due to the weather. For Mother's Day today, we are again planning a family dinner at my sister's house and I am in charge of dessert. Since my sister (and brother in law) are to thank for my most favorite little person ever, I decided that I would attempt to fulfill her wish of Snicker Salad. So I searched Pinterest and semi followed this recipe http://junkintheirtrunk.blogspot.com/2011/08/snicker-salad.html?m=1

Here's my version:

3 large Granny Smith apples chopped with skin

16 oz Cool Whip (I used the Walmart brand)

1 bag mini Snickers chopped (I chopped them in my Nija food chopper. Best thing ever!)

1 pack vanilla instant pudding

1. Chop apples with skin on (I used lemon juice to keep them pretty).

2. Chop up the whole bag of mini Snickers. 

3. Mix apples and Snickers together. 

4. Pour dry pudding over apples and Snickers. 

5. Add cool whip. I bought the 16 oz size because the recipe I followed didn't say. I didn't use all of it. I think it just depends on how much you want.

6. Refrigerate for an hour and serve. 

I had my husband be the official taste tester (before refrigerating) and he liked it, so it must be good because he's picky. 

Happy Mother's Day!

Spank!

For valentines day....in January....Shane gave me two tickets to the play Spank! The Fifty Shades parody. This past Friday, my mom and I drove to the beautiful historic Midland Theater in Kansas City to watch the play. It was fabulous! We were the third row from the stage and missed nothing. From start to finish we both laughed the entire time. After it was over, we were able to meet (the cast of three) and have our pictures taken with them. When Shane gave me the tickets, I was unsure of what to expect. As soon as the play started, I knew hands down that this was one of the best gifts I have ever received from him! I didn't want it to end because we were having so much fun watching and laughing!!! After the play, we walked down to Power and Light and in front of the Sprint Center so my mom could see what they looked liked then we headed home. Yesterday I checked online to see if there was anywhere close by the play would be performing again and saw that in June it would be in Springfield so I'm hoping for an encore! If you have the opportunity I highly recommend seeing it!

The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire

***This post may seem out of sorts, but there's a lot I can't say due to ongoing investigations and safety concerns, but I wanted a somewhat account of it just so I could remember. What I can say is that precautions have been made and local law enforcement is monitoring our home, work, etc. until they find who did this.***

Last Wednesday morning, I was awaken by Shane jumping out of bed yelling "the building is burning down!" Not the best way to wake up. The building he was referring to would be his office...Probation and Parole. After a very nerve wracking day, which included my school being watched by the police all day due to me being there and safety concerns, and deciding if leaving our house for a couple of days (which in the end I made the call that whomever had set Shane's building on fire would not keep us from our home), we made a trip to survey the damage and see if any of Shane's personal items had survived...mainly his extensive University of Texas Longhorns collection that had decorated his office.

Real Time Adventure

Real Time Adventure with my parents yesterday consisted of price comparisons at different stores for a Shark floor steam cleaner, a mattress salesman at Sears thinking I was my Dad's wife...even though I clearly referred to him as "Dad" numerous times, a lady asking my dad twice if he worked at Kholes, and being along for the ride as the bought a new car and gave me the honor of driving my grandpa's car aka the widow maker back home. Life is never boring.

Change

Change is scary. This past week the thought of change has made me feel excited, scared, panicked, sad, unsure of myself, and confident. No matter what, change is coming, and I have chosen to embrace it no matter the outcome....or maybe not. Sometimes I just need to give myself a pep talk. Whatever happens happens and maybe by writing this, I can look back in a few months and hopefully ask myself, "what were you so scared of?"

Show Us Your Singles!

Caitlin is one of the sweetest girls I know and I am truly honored to have her as a friend. I adore her personality and upon meeting her for the first time I knew she had to become my friend.

Her sense of humor never fails to entertain me and she goes out of her way to be helpful. For instance, when I pondered if Jesus was a popular name back in the day, she helped me find the answer where as my husband just looked at me like I was crazy. She has an amazing personality and is one of the kindest people I know. When meeting someone for the first time, Caitlin might come off as shy or reserved but once she gets to know you she is anything but shy!

Caitlin has an adorable, witty 7 year old daughter who she adores as does everyone else who meets her. Family is very important to her and is looking for a man that is also close to his family.

Caitlin has a passion for teaching. She is an amazing elementary teacher who gives 110% to her students but also enjoys her summers off!

Caitlin loves Jesus (and if you were wondering if the name was popular around the time of his birth,thanks to Caitlin, I can assure you the answer is yes), and is looking for an educated, good Christian man who likes kids and would also like to have children of his own.

Caitlin's a great catch and the man that lands her will be lucky to have her!

Please let me know if you are interested in connecting with Caitlin by either leaving a comment below or email me at garritysauntie@gmail.com

Thanks for stopping by!