Tuesday, March 24, 2015

DWTS Prediction Review


As you'll recall, I made a few predictions about the new season of Dancing with the Stars. It's time to start analyzing how good those were.

1. Rumer Willis dances to Rumour Has It by Adele at some point.

Yes! She danced to Rumour Has It for My Jam Monday in week 2.

2. The first show features Sugar by Maroon 5 in some way.

No. As soon as Lips Are Movin' was used for Willow Shields' first dance I was wishing that had been my "popular, catchy, mainstream new song that came out after the last season of DWTS ended" choice instead.

3. Derek Hough and Nastia Liukin are phenomenal but one of them has to overcome some sort of injury during the season.

Yes to the phenomenal part. Neither of them is injured... yet.

4. RedFoo is entertaining but not a good dancer (which makes him a perfect partner for Emma Slater).

Yes! I found RedFoo to be quite entertaining, but he was the first star eliminated from the show.

5. Mark Ballas is really tired of getting teenage partners.

Probably. And I'm sure as Mark watches Derek paired with an Olympic gymnast it's not helping the situation.

What I didn't see coming:

Left Crab and Right Crab were BRILLIANT. And honestly, I didn't even notice Charlotte or Keo while the crabs were dancing.


Can I vote for Left Crab as Season 20 champion?!

Monday, March 23, 2015

Spring Things


We are thoroughly enjoying the start of spring. The daffodils and tulips aren't quite up yet, but thanks to Trader Joe's importing some from Ireland we have them in our kitchen.


The warmer temperatures, sunshine, and increased time outside has been good for all of us.



And now that snow isn't getting tracked inside I've put my new steam mop to the test. It passed with flying colors - our tile looks like new!


Now I'm wondering how I ever lived without it.

Sunday, March 15, 2015

DWTS 20


Dancing with the Stars Season 20 starts tomorrow night. I'm excited!

Until then, my all-time favorite dances from the show will hold me over.

1. The Rotating Room:


2. Classic Hollywood:



My predictions for the new season:
1. Rumer Willis dances to Rumour Has It by Adele at some point.
2. The first show features Sugar by Maroon 5 in some way.
3. Derek Hough and Nastia Liukin are phenomenal but one of them has to overcome some sort of injury during the season.
4. RedFoo is entertaining but not a good dancer (which makes him a perfect partner for Emma Slater).
5. Mark Ballas is really tired of getting teenage partners.

Thursday, March 12, 2015

Farewell, Henry


With mixed emotions, we'll be turning Henry Honda over to his new owners this weekend. He's been a great car for many years so we're sad to see him go. However, we feel good that our friends from church will be his new owners and they are very happy to be getting him. This ended up being a win-win situation because when we were looking to sell, they were looking to buy (while I was on my way to the bulletin board to post our 'for sale' flyer, I was stopped and asked about it!).


Kudos to J for the cleaning, care, and maintenance he's performed over the years. When the new owners had their mechanic look at the car, he remarked about what excellent condition it's in and didn't find a single thing wrong.


As I'm writing this post and looking for car photos, I'm remembering that Henry was the car we drove away in after our wedding. He's also the car we drove to pick up Allie and bring her home for the very first time. Aww.


Farewell, Henry. We hope your new family will have as many good memories with you as we've had.

Monday, March 9, 2015

Walks and Hats


I am so excited that we have good weather again for walking the dog. We did our best to get Allie exercise during the winter, but she never gets as much exercise as when the weather is nice enough that we actually WANT to be out in it.

While I was walking Allie on our street, a lady getting her mail stopped me and said, "you have a really cute dog, but I really want to tell you how cute your hat looks. It really suits you!"

Maybe this woman decided for Lent to give someone a compliment each day, or maybe she actually likes my hat that much. Either way, it was a really nice thing to hear. Thanks, random woman, for making my day.


I guess this is a good reminder that just taking a few seconds to pay someone a sincere compliment can really mean a lot.

Sunday, March 8, 2015

Spring Happens


It's here!

Spring has finally come!

We had a sunny day and reached a high of 58 degrees!

There's still a layer of snow on the ground melting off, but I think Allie has the right idea. Soak up the sun while staying cool on the snow.


Thanks to a garden hose that isn't filled with ice this time (the last time we tried to rinse road salt off the cars while it was still cold our hose was frozen shut with ice), Fozzie got his first full wash and wax.


Time to start making plans for spring! There are vegetables and herbs to choose for our garden and new plants to be added to the side yard.

Hooray for spring!

Friday, March 6, 2015

Smarch Snow


Spring was definitely not paying attention to my last post begging for it to arrive soon. We got just under 6 inches of snow yesterday. It started falling mid-morning and stopped right about sunset.




There was, of course, some playing in the snow with the puppy.


Allie loves to jump on the picnic table when it's covered in snow. She was very surprised to have J join her up there!


 

It was nice to have a snow day off from work, but hopefully this is the last of the season!

Sunday, March 1, 2015

Spring, Can You Hear Me?


March is here which means spring is coming... right?! We're doing our part to help spring come sooner.

We put a new bird feeder in the backyard.


Allie has started inviting area birds for "lunch."


We've done our best to soak up the recent sunny days.


We got Allie some stylish new shades.


Come on, spring, work with us here. Although tiny ice pellets are falling from the sky as I write this post, I still have hope that spring will be here soon.