KooKooBirdies: Fresh Start

After a brief reprieve, I'm back.

Let's recap the past month:

Mamapalooza (I'm still waiting for the photos we took with my mom's camera...)

Juli (my mom) was on a mission to get her daughter's garden's looking respectable. We worked hard and got it done... however, not before Francie showed up. We had hoped to finish before she arrived so that once she got here it was all play time, but she was a trooper and pitched in and helped us get it done. And I must say, it really looks beautiful!

We got some play time in as well. We had some delicious meals together and did some sightseeing and some shopping. Juli and I got feathers in our hair, which made me feel like a rock star. My sweet husband informs me that it takes more than a few feathers in my hair to be a rock star, but I think they look cool.

I took both the moms antiquing one day and we ended up at this really cool antique store called 'The Shabby House.' I felt like I was witnessing something out of a movie... circus meets gypsies meets??? My pictures don't really do it justice, but it was really funky:

After Juli left, Francie and I did some downtown Boise exploring and we ended up raiding the sales racks at Anthropologie and she got some of the cutest outfits for her big trip to Spain... I'm excited for her to wear them... she looks so great my father-in-law will not be able to take his eyes off her.

Unfortunately, I bought both our moms tickets on Priceline.com and Francie got royally screwed on her trip home... I'm so sorry Francie! She left at 4:30 in the morning and didn't get home until midnight- after having gotten caught in a storm in Houston, TX. I felt horrible, and I appreciate that she was such a good sport about it. I will not be using Priceline.com again anytime soon, that's for sure.

We love our moms with all our hearts, but boy were we wiped out by the time they left! We did have an absolutely wonderful time, however, and are looking forward to the third annual Mamapalooza in 2012.

Projects and 5 Reasons NOT to get DishNetwork

After Mamapalooza ended David decided we should re-arrange some furniture in out house. I must admit I was hesitant, and definitely dragged my feet, but I have to admit, he was more than right. It looks and feels amazing now. I love how much more open and clean the house looks- plus its so much more classy and grown-up. Bravo David on your incredible vision!

We also decided to take the old-fashioned awnings off the windows on the south side of the house. Which not only gave the living room more light, but when I stand in my house I feel like I can see the world in a different way. It gave such a new perspective to our view and out street. We are planning to get some shutters to match the ones on the front of the house to finish it all off, but we haven't gotten that far yet.

House with Awnings

House without Awnings

As for the 5 reasons not to get DishNetwork:
1. They don't arrived within the 4 hour window they say they will arrive it.
2. Unless you get to a "Loyalty Manager" their customer service sucks.
3. They constantly charge you for things you don't receive... i.e. HD TV.
4. We've had 5 technicians out to our house in two weeks and its still not working right.
5. How many times can I tell them I've been through all the steps and it still says, "Complete Signal Loss"?

To sum it up, the minute our contract ends, we are canceling and signing up for Hulu.com's Hulu+. It's so much cheaper and more reliable, and I'm crossing my fingers that by October when our contract is up it will be available for streaming on Wii so we can use it like we use Netflix.

Gluten Free

I was officially diagnosed as being allergic to Gluten. I knew I had a sensitivity to it, but my self- professed blindness to that sensitivity has turned it into an all out allergy. Bummer. This allergy has contributed to the Ulcerative Colitis I suffer from, and after learning that it can also cause infertility, I have immediately gone completely Gluten Free.

It's really hard to do. I LOVE bread. I could live on bread and cheese. Thankfully the restaurants in Boise have embraced this incredible movement of Gluten Free living and even the pizza joints offer Gluten Free options. And they even taste good. I've had a few relapses- like during Mamapalooza- but other than that I've been doing really well, and I must say I'm enjoying the results.

Our good friends Andrea and Rodney invited us to dinner at their favorite pizza place Cassanova's a couple weekends ago, but I didn't think I could go because of my allergy... Andrea suggested we try another place, Flatbread, that offers gluten-free options for all of their bread-based foods. It was amazing! Our friends were kind enough to order Gluten Free as well so we could all try everyone else's pizzas, and WOW... it was really amazing! And I was so grateful to our friends for being so understanding.

Also, after talking with another friend about my passion for bread and how I was struggling to be good, he suggested I get a bread machine and make homemade Gluten-Free bread... what a terrific idea! Thank you Scott. I am currently looking into one that would work for us.

I will definitely be posting more about my Gluten Free experiences later.

Cecil's 21st Birthday

One of my favorite people in the whole world is my friend (I usually refer to him as my cousin) Cecil Wilcomb. He's like a little brother to me actually. On May 24th he turned 21 and to celebrate his parents hosted a paella party. His mom, Mary always makes enough food to feed an army, and she decided to use our extra large paella pan for the occasion. The pan was a wedding gift from David's Aunt Judy, and we love it... only thing is, its so big we haven't been able to cook with it on our stove or our grill because it doesn't fit. So the pan has been hanging proudly in our kitchen waiting to be used. Luckily Mary didn't have that problem, and she christened it for us with the most delicious Paella. It was one of the best Paellas I've ever had. What a way to celebrate her son's birthday! Delicious! And so beautiful too!

The birthday boy Cecil (right) enjoying the party with friend Jake

Leavenworth, WA

David and I wanted to get out of town for the long Memorial Day Weekend, so we decided to both pick a place and debate who chose the better place to go. I chose Tahoe, with my second option being Leavenworth, WA (it's a Bavarian town 2 hours east of Seattle we'd seen it in an in-flight magazine on our way to Seattle once, and we'd both always wanted to go there.) Anyway, David chose Leavenworth- and we ended up not even having to debate because it was my second choice.

It was a wonderful little get away. The 7.5 hour drive was simply beautiful, and our hotel (The Enzian) was very nice and super comfy, plus we had an amazing view. We went on a wine tasting, read, slept, went swimming and hot tubbing and took a very nice long hike into the most beautiful mountains. It was lovely. I highly recommend it. The part I found the nicest was that it was a great place for families, (and there were lots of them) but there were so many things for couples to do (without the bother of other people's kids) as well. Apparently they have a magnificent Christmas tree light ceremony that David and I are hoping to get back for and of course their Oktoberfest is like none other- except in Bavaria itself of course. Anyway, it was a wonderful way to spend the long weekend.