Harry Potter Day

Today, Boyfriend suggested I pick a movie for us to watch. I chose...

A HARRY POTTER MARATHON!

See you in 15-20 hours!

:o)

10 Years

FRIDAY! SUNSHINES! DARK CLOUDS!

Dark Clouds:

• I worked today and we were SUPER busy (which is kind of a sunshine...!).
• I ate really bad for lunch: grilled ham and cheese and french fries. But it was so delicious.
• I haven't been drinking enough water at all.
• Yesterday was all dirty and windy, but here's hoping this weekend is better!
• Shadow had two ticks on him :o( GROSS.
• We need to spray for bugs; they are infesting our house!

Sunshines:

• We were busy at work so today FLEW by!
• I'm enjoying some time with Boyfriend and Thomas before going to dinner with my familia :o)
• Next month, I celebrate 10 years of writing for the Las Cruces Sun-News. Here's my column about it! KACHOW
• Tomorrow, Boyfriend and I are having a date night: Wing Stop and going to see the Five Year Engagement. There haven't been many movies I've wanted to see lately, so I'm super excited to see a good movie that looks hilarious!
• I had my first great watermelon of the season... I LOVE watermelon! Yay!
• It's FRIDAY! YAY!

Happy Friday!

What to do...

I got an incredibly sweet bonus today at work and I'm torn...

Should I buy something beautiful like:


via

or...

Should I put the money in my savings?


















Savings. :o(

Monthly Sisterhood Meeting

Tonight, my three girlfriends and I are going to meet up for our monthly dinner. We are all crazy busy (Adriana is a mama, Val is going to school/working, Kaitlyn is getting ready to graduate and move far far away, and I'm working full time), but every month we make time to meet up and catch each other up on our crazy lives. We're going to St. Claire, a local winery, and I'm excited to indulge in some white wine or some sparkling wine in the middle of the week.

Gotta love girl time! I look forward to it so much. We have all known each other so long and have so much history that each dinner is always such a blast and such a great time. I'm so lucky to have girlfriends like these that are always there for me!

Great Weekend

I came home this weekend to some beautiful tulips that Boyfriend picked out for me. They are the perfect way to remind me everyday that SPRING has sprung and the nice weather is here to say. I LOVE summer in New Mexico; I've always been more heat tolerant than cold tolerant (probably because I have awful circulation so I'm always, always cold!) and there honestly is nothing better than a nice, slightly cool summer evening.

We spent this weekend running errands and getting ready for the Rashad-Jones fight on Saturday night, which we watched at home with some Peter Piper Pizza, some Coronas and Dos Equis, and some good friends in the form of Thomas, Asher, Jeff and his friend K.

Sunday was easy too; we spent the day with our families and running a few more errands. I got a bonus at work (HOORAY!) which is going straight to a plane ticket for our trip to VEGAS. I'm so excited! We go in May over the weekend since we're crazy busy at work, but I think it will be super fun.

Is it May yet? :o)

New York = Muppet

via

While we were re-watching Flavor of Love, I couldn't help but shake the feeling that New York was so familiar to me... someone I had known when I was younger. Then it hit me: a muppet. So Boyfriend googled it for me and we found out that a lot of people felt the same way. THEY ARE THE SAME CREATURE!

Sunshines and Dark Clouds

*Blogger was being STUPID yesterday so my scheduled post (this one) didn't actually post. So here it is.

Dark Clouds:

• I've had allergies due to all the wind. BLAH!
• Boyfriend had to go in early all week so I didn't get to see him before work. :o(
• My hair is all split-endy. Yuck.
• Tomorrow, we're helping Boyfriend's uncle out with a car wash at the Autozone on Picacho (if you're from Las Cruces, join us!) to help a family friend who got jumped by some thugs and has medical bills up the wazoo. The guy is the nicest person ever and I'm so happy he's okay, but just the helicopter ride cost him $26,000... and without any medical insurance, he's in a tough situation. Come help us out!

SUNSHINES:

• I'm off today! Woo!
• We're going to eat Mexican today and I'm SO excited for my red enchiladas with an egg over medium. YUM.
• We moved the basketball goal over to our house (my parents' gave us theirs!) and the boys LOVE it. They went out and played all week, even when it was too dark to see.
• We're watching the Jones-Evans fight tomorrow and I'm excited!
• We're also getting Peter Piper Pizza for the fight and I'm actually more excited about the pizza than the fight... lol :o)
• I made some truly bomb fettucini with scallops and shrimp this week. Delicious!
• I'm up to my ears in library books and I've never been happier. Free books (on loan)? Awesome.
• Boyfriend's mom brought us back some cannoli from Little Italy and we're having a hard time not licking the box. SO good.

I just realized most of my sunshines are about food. Can you tell I'm hungry? Lol!

Spring!

Spring has sprung!



We've always had these big bushes outside of our house, but I never knew they were rose bushes because I always knew regular rose bushes. But everytime I come home and see these little roses, I get SO happy.

I love spring!

Born to Be...

Today, I had a long talk with Boyfriend about the future.

No, not our future.

Well, kind of. BUT not in that scary "we have to talk" kind of way.

Really, more about his future, which of course, directly affects mine. Boyfriend is at a crossroads in his life. He has the option (soon) to potentially move up at his job into a better union position, get his certification in a couple computer networking things, or continue on with engineering electronics. Regardless, he will be able to stay at his job and move up, but the paths are SO different and might take us far, far away from Las Cruces.

I love my job for the experience I'm getting, the people I work with, and the skills I'm learning, but I'm not passionate about technical writing. It's hard to be passionate about such technical content (although the people who designed and built this stuff are, of course, very passionate about it). So I've always known that when Boyfriend's job takes him away (whether it's in a year, two years, or four years), I'll be going with him. I've been lucky in that I've known what I want to do my whole life, which of course is to write, which is something I can do anywhere. When I was nine years old, I wrote a story for class and I vividly remember my teacher laughing and reading my story aloud to the class. Then she said, "I just love your writing."

My writing. It was like a light bulb went off in my head. Sometimes, I think, when you love something, you don't even consider doing it for a living because you automatically put it into a "hobby" category. As in, even if I became an accountant or a teacher, I would always write in my spare time because I'm a writer, that's what I love to do. But at some point, I realized that I love writing articles and columns about as much as I love writing my fiction and, even better, I could get a degree to put into pracice IMMEDIATELY.

So journalism it was and after four years, I graduated and headed out into the real world and was lucky enough to get my column with ths Sun-News. Most people don't know right away, but I don't think that's worse or better than knowing. It's just different. For example, even though Boyfriend is stressed about his next step, I secretly think it's kind of exciting having different paths in front of you like that.

Then again, I'm not the one trying to figure out my future. Boyfriend is a very serious person... and by that, I mean he takes his responsibilities very seriously. It drives him crazy that I pay for us most of the time (he works part time and pays for a lot of his own stuff and is going to school. I work full time). So when I buy groceries, even though it's stuff for me, I know he wishes he could help more with the bills. So in this future decision, I know he's thinking about what would best support our future family as well as what would make him happy.

That's something I do love about him, though. I constantly tell him, "We're fine, love, look, we have money in the bank, we're fine!" and I truly mean it. I'm happy to help us out now because someday, I know he'll take care of our family. So though I wish he would relax about it, I love that he is such a proud provider in a time when a lot of guys aren't.

I'm actually kind of excited to see what he chooses. Whatever it is, as long as it makes him happy, I know he'll be great at it!

Lounge Weekend

After I was so EXHAUSTED last week, Boyfriend and I made plans to have a lounge weekend in which we don't get out of our sweats and just lay around watching movies all day and eating little picnics on our bed. I looked forward to it all week long and I have to say, it's as wonderful as it sounds.

One of our picnics: fresh strawberries, SmartPop popcorn, and big seeded grapes (Boyfriend prefers them)

Most of our time is spent in our clean-sheeted bed, cuddled up with our freshly brushed dog, enjoying our blackout curtains, watching Disney movies and drinking Diet Coke. I'm incredibly happy about my choices this weekend.

Here is Shadow watching Lady and the Tramp with us :o)

Tonight, Boyfriend and I are going to be making scallops. I'm very excited because I LOVE SCALLOPS! I think we'll try out this recipe:

1. Wrap a piece of bacon around each scallop; secure with toothpick.
2. Arrange the wrapped scallops on a baking sheet.
3. Broil 5 inches from heat for 3 minutes per side, or until bacon is crisp.
4. In small skillet, melt butter; add garlic and saute 1 minute,.
5. Add broth and bring to a boil.
6. Cook 2 minutes.
7. Place scallops in large bowl; pour broth over, Gently toss to coat.

Wish us luck!

Column

ALSO my column came out today! Check it out here: KACHOW

Happy Friday!

Sunshines and Dark Clouds

Not much to say because it was a slow week. BUT it's a Friday tradition, so here we go!

Dark Clouds:

• I've been so tired and I can't shake it!
• I have had little to no cooking energy. Normally I love finding new recipes and new ingredients to use, but I've been sticking to my staples: frozen salmon, grilled sandwiches, and Morning Star Chik'n patties.
• After days and days of pretty weather, the infamous spring winds have returned to us. GO AWAY!
• I need to vacuum. We have SO MUCH dog hair everywhere. I could collect it all and have enough hair to make a Pomeranian if I want. Which I don't.
• I also need to mop. We sweep often, but it's hard to mop with the puppies running all over.

SUNSHINES:

• The puppies have been so sweet lately, like, particularly cuddly. It's so nice :o)
• I've really enjoyed working out lately.
• It's FRIDAY! Always a sunshine!
• My family is trying to set up a weekend to go to Scottsdale to see a baseball game. My mom invited her brothers and their families and I SO HOPE they can come! We always used to have a family reunion on that side of the family and once my grandpa died, it fell apart. I definitely miss them.
• We have a beautiful rose bush out in the front of our house and it is blooming so happily. It makes me smile every time I come home.
• I'm really utilizing the library, which feels like FREE BOOKS to me. Wonderful!
• Boyfriend and I are making scallops this weekend... I hope they turn out good!

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Sleepy Week

I've been having a really rough week. I'm getting the same amount of sleep as I normally do (about seven hours a night), but I've been EXHAUSTED. I have no idea why I've been so tired! I'm eating well, I work out, but I can barely keep my eyes open at any point in the day.

It's 5:15. I just got home from work. I'm exhausted. This is normally the start of my energetic time: I've worked all day, but now I get hours just to do nothing! That always energizes me. Not today. I'm too tired.

Maybe I'm not eating enough protein? Maybe I need more vitamin B in my life. But I need to figure it out fast because I'm soooo sleeeeeepy.

Blah. Any advice, other than just getting more sleep?

Happy Easter

Whatever religion you are, I hope you have an incredible Easter! Today, Boyfriend and I will be splitting time with our families and enjoying:

• Ham
• Green beans
• Seven layer taco dip (made by yours truly!)
• Salad
• and strawberries with shortcake.

HAPPY EASTER!

SUNSHINES

It's FRIDAY and I've been off all day, so today I'm happy to only have sunshines and NO dark clouds! Get me some!

SUNSHINES:

• It's Good Friday!
• I was off of work today, so I've had a wonderful day.
• I slept until 11. That's right, 11 in the morning. It was incredible.
• I did some video zumba and had so much fun doing it.
• INSTAGRAM (follow me @jennacande) finally came to Android phones! YAY!

Look at my little Remix! So cute!

•  I had some truly great Greek food for lunch and some truly delicious Mexican food at Nopalitos for dinner. I'll never get sick of red enchiladas with an egg.
• Boyfriend is taking me to see Titanic this weekend. I hope he's ready for three hours of Leonardo Dicaprio in one of the most epic love stories ever.
• My grandparents and my sister are coming into town this weekend for Easter! I'm so excited to see them!
• Boyfriend and I have been playing tennis and we are getting pretty good at it! Yay!
• I had to get a new common access card at work (which is usually a PAIN in the butt) but it went very smoothly. So happy to get that out of the way!
• I get to relax and watch Mean Girls until Boyfriend gets home. Great Friday night!

HAPPY FRIDAY!

 

Pedicure

There's nothing like a nice jacuzzi foot bath, followed by cuticle work, followed by a hot mint towel wrap, followed by a salt scrub, followed by lavender moisturizing, followed by pretty, pretty purple nailpolish.

I love pedicures, especially with my mom :o)



*follow me on Instagram: jennacande :o)

Reading

As I'm sure you've guessed by now, I'm a voracious reader. I LOVE reading. I think of books like mini movies but longer and more portable. They are incredible forms of entertainment and there's nothing better than finding an author that sucks you in and makes you feel something. As a writer myself, I can honestly say that my greatest hope for my writing is that someday, I can elicit the emotion that I feel when I read, say, Emily Giffin, Suzanne Collins, JK Rowling, or John Green.

Boyfriend's aunt, who is a big reader like I am but even more so and ALSO is a literature instructor at a community college, lent me the first book in the Game of Thrones series. I'm really excited to read it, but I can't seem to make myself pick it up. I don't know why, but I'm just so in the mood to read Something Borrowed again or another Elin Hilderbrand book.

*Side note: Elin Hilderbrand writes chick lit about the beach and women relationships, yada yada. I know a lot of people in the academia and writing world are quick to dismiss this genre, but Elin got her degree from the IOWA WRITING WORKSHOP, one of the most famous MFA programs for writers. Which means that she can absolutely write award-quality works like Joyce Carol Oates, but uses that technique in chick lit. Not all writers in the genre are floofy. (Side side note: I realize the irony in using a fake word like 'floofy' when trying to defend chick lit authors).

I've also been interested in several authors like Pete Dexter, Lauren Oliver, and Ally Condie, but my local library has them all rented out. I signed up to get them when they get returned but now I'm just waiting for them to be returned so I can devour them.

Sigh. I wish books were cheaper so I could buy all of the books I'm interested in!