Night out with Ryan

Ry came home earlier this week and we have had so much fun while he was home. Since it was a lazy Saturday and tomorrow he would have to fly out Ry decided that we should go out and have a beer. So with the weather not the greatest we went down the road for dinner to BW3's.

Ahh the brotherly love shown above.



Ryan & Laura



Ry

It was alot of fun and nice to have Ry home. Its been a while since he has been here and we realized this past week that we really do miss him. Most of all his laugh. He leaves tomorrow for Dallas, Texas where he will have to work anywhere from 5 weeks to 2 months! Maybe the work will end early and he will get to come back home to MI. This next time he comes home hopefully it wont snow!!

When will they learn to drive???

So this morning Ryan and I were being lazy and all of a sudden we here this huge bang and a crack as if a tree fell. I yell to Ry if it was him, NO he yelled back. I look around to see what one of the animals could have gotten into and everything was in place. I walked back into the living room and something caught my eye. Cars going off the road in our front yard!! I run to the window and see some poor soul walking down the road holding a tire! Right across the street was some lady running around talking on her cell, and about 3 houses down a car in the front yard of my neighbors. I run outside to see what was going on...still in my pj's, robe, snow boots, and Pat's garage jacket. Let's just say I looked like an old Russian lady running around. I go out to the front yard and yell to the people across the street if everyone was ok. I heard them yell yes and then heard them start complaining about the ditch along side of the pavement. I then thought alright everyone's ok, I'll just go inside where its warm and grab my binoculars and watch from the living room :)

Above is a pic of the poor fireman that had to stand in our driveway and direct traffic. A couple of times he had to run up the driveway away from cars spinning out trying to avoid the accident. It was pretty humorous.


The firetruck came to rescue the lady on her cell phone



Of course Emma & Turbo were stuck to the window the whole time on patrol!

Right there, there she is! The one on her cell in the fancy snow boots. It was all her fault!

The poor soul struck by the other lady.

And I thought I was going to have a relaxing weekend! I had to spend a good 2 hours watching this mess!

I am Addicted to Vinyl Wall Art

So I have found another weakness! Vinyl Wall Art!!! The first step of getting over an addiction is admitting that you have a problem, so I am admitting that I have a problem! I love this stuff!

The picture above is the newest addition to the Clouse House. They are retro dandelions. I decided to add a little color to our white and brown kitchen :)


Here is a full view of them.



The one that started them all. I found this on ebay and was able to customize it with the year we were married.

I love this one. Its fun to listen to friends when they come over and use the bathroom for the first time. You hear a chuckle and you know they just saw the lid

Here is my next wall art I am waiting to arrive above is a close up of the definition I bought, below is an example of what it will look like. I cant wait to put it up in the laundry room.

I also ordered the wall art below. Im going to put it above Luicelle & BB's cage and connect the "wire" to the bottom corners of 2 pictures we have hanging on the wall their cage is up against.

As soon as I get the new additions I will post the finished product up on our wall!

Valentine's Day

It's Valentine's Day today! I surprised Pat with a heart shaped box filled with Reese's mini's and a card you would have thought they designed just for us. We went to our favorite Coney Island Restaurant for breakfast and then headed home to relax for the rest of the day.

Last week we both went to the dentist and I ended up getting a bad infection in my gums and traveled up to my sinus cavity. So this Valentine's day hasn't been the best for feeling good. So not feeling very good I decided to go lay down and Pat left to go run some errands. Little did I know that he had an appt with a florist he is friends with and he was meeting with her to design a special Valentine's Day Bouquet for me.


Isn't it pretty :) He also gave me a box of homemade chocolates.

Heat Wave

On Sunday Pat and I decided to go to Sonic. Yes, Michigan has a Sonic! It's about 30min away and it was such a beautiful day out we decided to take the back roads and enjoy the sun. Of course we had the cherry limeade. YUM!!!!


After leaving Sonic we decided to stop by Lowes to pick up a few things. The weather outside felt like the beginning of Spring. We got the itch and had to buy some seeds. So far this is what we have. We are going to have 2 veggie gardens and then we have 2 flower gardens. I can't wait to grow my giant pumpkin!



Since it was still warm out when Pat and I got home we decided to bbq. The smell of the charcoal reminded us of the summer nights. It was such a nice change. Dinner was wonderful and I can't wait till Spring!!!!!

Beware of Dog

Poor Emma!

Everytime Emma is outside and she hears someone in the garage this is what she does. When we took this picture she was crying to come out of the back and join us while we bbq'd dinner in the front.

Bare Bottoms

My latest EBay purchase

So I added a little humor to the bathroom today. When you lift up the seat this is what you will see :)

Good Bye BMW

It was a balmy negative 4 degree's when Pat decided to arrange the pick up of the infamous BMW. The BMW originally belonged to Ryan, it was his pride and joy in the short lived 3 or 4 months that it ran. He did everything he could to keep it alive but spending more time in the shop then on the road he decided to cut his losses and sell it to us. Thank you Ryan. We had a lawn ornament for a few months then we moved it to the extra garage where it was able to keep the local field mice warm during the winter months. After much nagging and sensible reasoning from me...Pat put the BMW up for sale. How on earth would Pat with his busy schedule be able to find the time to rebuild this car? Why waste time, sell, sell, sell!!! Well Sell it was, Pat found a willing buyer that was young and full of energy. He could put the time and love into this car. Exactly what we all needed.


Ryan of course is in Texas during the sell :)



As soon as Pat got home from work he started working on a trail to the extra garage out back. Let me remind you that we have had a ton of snow this winter and the trail was about 1 1/2 ft deep. Good job Pat!

The engine and all the lovely parts that go along with the BMW

So long, farewell, untell we meet again...hopefully we dont meet again. This car has been a fork in all of our sides. Good luck to the new owner! I would like to add that I give the new owner alot of credit! He has a goal with this car, after talking to him we learned that he wants to turn it into an electric car. He promises to keep us updated and send us pictures of his progress.

Who would have thought that this BMW that sat for years will someday benefit our environment!

Wellness Exam

So going through my email about a month ago I came across an email that was sent to me to sign up for a "wellness program" sponsored by the UofM. I quickly deleted it because it was taking up space in my email box. Then a couple days later I hear my co-worker Tristen say $100 for a wellness exam, I'm signing up, did you? What! Where? When? came out of my mouth. That group email I deleted without reading was worth $100!! I quickly went through my trash and found the email. She was right! $100 for filling out an online form and 30 minutes of my time!

Today was my day! I signed up for the exam. All I needed to do was tell them how inactive I was, all the things I don't do like workout, eat right, and pay attention to my food intake on an online questionnaire. Then I had to go get measured, my weight taken (yikes!), blood pressure monitored and a cholestoral test.

It was the easiest $100 I have ever made. Here I thought I would get lectured about how unhealthy I was but in the end I turned out to be pretty average!! I was also told my job was obviously not stressfull because my blood pressure came in at 102/79!

So I would like to take a moment and thank the University of Michigan for giving me $100 and telling me I am an average 30 year old female.

I checked out the small print and they forgot to add that you could only sign up once! I am free everyday this week, next week, and the week after. Im sure in the end after its all said and done I could show up enough times to pay my mortgage :)

Eastern Market

I went to the Eastern Market down in Detroit for the first time yesterday. I can't believe I've never gone before. Of course I had to pick one of the coldest days of the year to go but it was worth it. Since it's winter time they have all the vendors in 1 shed. I found some great deals. I bought some homemade Amish cinnamon rolls & zucchini bread. A dozen brown eggs from cage free, local farm fed hens. I bought some clementines that are the size of oranges, and spinach for the birds. To my surprise they had alot to choose from during the winter.

Once I unloaded my goodies into my car I sat in the heat for a few minutes then headed over to the Hirt Co. It's this old building that is 3 floors with so many different goodies. I bought some fresh bread, cheese, tea & some Hog Wash. The hog wash I bought just because I thought it might come in handy and I got to try it out this morning when I woke up with a bloody nose. The stuff worked! Took the blood right out of the fabric!! This is stuff is awesome!! You have to check it out. Here is a website for it:
http://www.sallyeander.com/products/soaps/hogwash-soap/hogwash-soap/

After I was done shopping I went across the street to the Russell Street Deli. It was packed! I can't even imagine what its like during the summer. I ordered 2 Corn Beef all the Way and headed home. Oh yeah, I got stopped by a lady asking for money so I gave her $2 and told her to go get something warm to eat and I wasn't talking about liquor! I usually don't give people money like that but it was freezing and she was working the crowd so hard I had to give her credit.

I felt really good about my trip to the Eastern Market because I was purchasing local items from vendors here in Michigan. Anything to help out the businesses in the area get through these rough times in the economy. I enjoyed my trip so much that when I got home Pat started to get excited to go next time with me. Well we are going back next Saturday! We are going to meet a friend for breakfast and go walk around for an hour or so. I'll have to take my camera this time so you can see what it's like.
For now here is the website:
http://www.easternmarket.org/