Is it a phobia?

     Today, I went to the grocery store for the first time in over 3 weeks. One might even say a month.  (Yes, I realize that this is not okay and probably puts me on some list for being a bad wife.)  I'm honestly not sure what to blame it on.  
     My Mom?   Whom also hates going to the grocery store and must have instilled this same hatred in me over the years.  (She will probably kill me for saying that.)  Let's be honest, I can't blame my Mom even if I want.  
     What about the crowds and inconvenience?  I seriously dislike having to weave the cart around the aisles, other shoppers, and small children.  Also, it doesn't help that I usually am lugging the groceries into the apartment and need to use the restroom at the same time.  Too much information, huh?  Sorry. :-/  
     This month I could definitely blame it on the fact that we have decided to eat "healthier" and to try to buy more organic products.  Both of these things are unfamiliar to me.  What is eating healthy?  Usually that means bland and boring.  Yuck!  I love mashed potatoes, fried chicken, chocolate, cookies, pies, macaroni and cheese, pasta of any kind....well you get the point.  And organic just confuses me.  The dirty dozen and clean fifteen - wait but last year tomatoes were on the "buy organic" list?  See what I mean, just confusing and overwhelming.  So, the remedy for that was to shop at Central Market.  It was a great experience, felt a little out of place, but got most of the shopping done.  Most. This means if I shop there, I have to go to two stores.  Ugh, the agony.  
     Maybe it is really the fact that even though there is food, albeit healthy, organic, or crappy, in the house, I don't exactly know what to do with it?  I mean I can make dinner and it tastes decent and maybe pretty good, if I'm lucky.  But, I'm only half-heartedly interested in cooking.  There are days that I'm really excited about learning about what goes with what, and how many portions of this you need to have a day.  Then there are days when all I think is blah, blah, blah - where is the take-out menu?  
    I feel really bad for Nate, so I guess that is what will be the fire that makes me boil.  Or that one day when I have children, I really don't want to be a mom that can't cook.  Anyway, maybe I will grow out of this dislike, or phobia?  


(Did I mention I wrote this to put off going to the second grocery store to finish my shopping?) 

Boom! Pop! Crackle! Pow! Whistle! Wow.

After much debate, Nate and I decided to make the trek to Lake Norfork in Arkansas with our new puppy, Bella, and Yuki, the chihuahua, and all of our stuff. (Nate and I tend to over pack.  Yup - he does it too!!! Sure does make me feel better that I'm not the only one.)  So, we packed all of our belongings and dogs in the truck and headed out Friday afternoon for the 7 hour drive to Jonesboro.  Yuki always rides in her crate, but we let Bella roam around.  (There is a bit of jealousy from Yuki. Imagine that!) We made it around 1:00am, went to sleep and woke up early to get new tires on the truck.  After dropping Yuki off with Grandpa Gary and Christina, we headed to the lake for a couple of fun days of boat rides, tubing and skiing.  Bella enjoyed playing with the family (and napping in her food/water bowls, so precious).  

We had a great time visiting with the family and enjoying the water!  Unfortunately, our fun ended with lots of mosquito bites for me and an ear infection for Nate.  :(  We were so exhausted from the drive and fun that we went to bed at 8:30!! (Yes, 8:30. It was still daylight out.)  I should report that Nate is feeling much better, thank goodness! 


A big thank you to Rilla and Bill and Gary and Christina for the wonderful southern hospitality and love! We wish we could spend more weekends with you guys.  Much love from us! 

Enjoying the water! 

Bahahaha got him! 

Hi from the tube! (Nate)

Bill getting ready to take off!

Enjoying watermelon! 

Bella staying cool in her water bowl...

Bella napping! 

Casey rockin' the wake!

Happy Independence Day!

Bella joins the family!

Today, I drove to Ardmore, OK to meet Kendal, the owner of Grein Goldens in Shawnee, OK, to pick up our new Golden Retriever puppy, Bella.  She was born on May 15 and is 6 weeks 4 days old.  Thank goodness Mica went with me to help bring her home.  Bella was part of a very large litter (11 to be exact) and had a bit of separation anxiety.  Her day was a pretty busy and probably a bit traumatic.  It looked a little like this:

1:00pm - Bella meets her new human Mommy and gets in the car for a 2.5 hour drive

4:00pm - Bella, Mica and I make a trip to PetSmart for new crate, toys, food, etc. Bella got a ride in the cart.
5:00pm - Bella meets Tyla, a large lab mix at Mica's house.  Tyla was excited, Bella just wanted to eat.

6:30pm - Bella finally makes it to her new home where she meets her new human Daddy, sister Yuki, and a friend, Laura. 

Whew! What a first day.  Little does she know that in just a couple of days we will be taking a very long road trip!

What's in a name?

Well, after being coaxed into starting a blog - here we are. Apparently, every newlywed couple should have one! (I suppose I agree. I mean, who doesn't like to "stalk" their friends to see what is going on in their life?) Nate and I agreed to begin the blog about a week ago. Yup, it has taken a week to figure out a name. (Actually, really just Sunday night.) Anyway, we wanted a creative name that sounded cute/cool/funny/crafty/insert word here because we thought we would be stuck with it. We are both pretty competitive. Who wants to be out "named" by their friends? NOT US. For days we tried to come up with something original, but that related to us as a couple. I even enlisted the help of several girlfriends and a husband. Sad? Not yet. Then, Robyn advised us that we could change the blog name anytime. Whew! Why didn't someone tell me this in the beginning? I mean, this has been a stressful event for us (well, maybe just me, my husband is pretty laid back). So, we decided on Spencer Spiel! It has alliteration, is cute, and defines what the blog is about. Yay!! The sad part you are asking? We have to give credit to Mica for the name, we didn't come up with it. Oh well, what's in a name anyway?