Friday fives....

Five random questions because it's Friday and I like randomness.

1.If you could be on a show(talk show, game show...) which one would you pick?
Hmmm.... I don't really watch tv. Cash Cab would be cool though. I love trying to answer the questions and I've been correct a lot!

2. What was your first job?
I helped out a sports photographer a couple times. I had to get up REALLY early but it was fun.

3. What's one of your guilty pleasures?
I LOVE to buy books. I can't help it. I enjoy smelling them and looking at them on my shelf. I have so many I need to read, but I do get through them eventually. I really should start going to the library more.

4. Would you ever vacation alone?
Probably not. Ryan and I like to do everything together. We love our "adventures". Or I would love to travel with a girlfriend. That would be fun too.

5. Democrat, Republican, or Independent..or maybe even Green Party (whatever that is)?
I'm something in the middle. Both sides have things I don't agree with.


Play along at:


Happy Friday! I'm SO ready for the weekend. Thankfully, this week has flown by. :)

Metromint water review!

Last weekend when Ryan and I were driving around and having fun together, we stopped by the grocery store to grab a drink.
QFC had Metromint water on sale for $1.00 so I decided to try it.
I picked the Chocolatemint Water because I love chocolate (of course) and was very pleasantly surprised.

This stuff is very good. There are no artificial flavors, sweeteners and no calories.

At first sip it didn't have a lot of flavor, but the after taste really brought out the chocolatemintyness (new word). Also, the stuff smells amazing. It's almost like York Peppermint Patty flavored water with nothing bad in it. I'm in love. It has no weird tastes, just very pure mint and chocolate.


Anyways, I went to QFC nearer to my house to get some more. They didn't have the Chocolatemint so I picked up a Lemonmint and plain Peppermint. The Peppermint was also very good and I have yet to try the Lemonmint but I'm sure I'll like it.

This stuff is a great, refreshing and guilt free treat. :)

More info and to order online: Metromint.com
Other flavors: Spearmint, Cherrymint and Orangemint


P.S. I'm craving a peppermint patty now.

An update and messing around with the 35mm...

Just a quick update on the garage.
Ryan set up the in-floor heating tubing last Thursday because they were scheduled to pour the slab last Friday.
The pour went great. They did part of the driveway and the whole inside of the shop.
Framing started on Sunday and they've been working on it for the last few days.
Getting closer!

Also, I got my 35mm f/1.8 in the mail today so the last 5 photos are from my first time using it this afternoon. Just playing, nothing special. :)

In-floor heating

Garage slab

Driveway

Ryan working on the front wall of the garage.

Random :)

This is a good indicator of how things are right now around the Smith household.

My handsome husband working hard... :)

Top 2 Tuesday: Favorite scents & Tuesday Tag-Along

The topic this week is:

Top 2 Favorite perfumes/colognes/scents

1. Hanae Mori
Love love love this perfume. I've been using it forever. I don't know anyone else who uses it which is kinda cool. It has a spicy vanilla scent. Yum.

2. Escada Sunset Heat (Or any Escada for that matter).
They come out with a new one every year. They're all similar and great but with different hints of fragrance. This one has a very pineapple smell to it. I love it. Tropical and fun.

Play along at The Undomestic Momma.

Play along at Twee Poppets.

Torkie's first time playing ball

Torkie hasn't shown a lot interest in toys so we were a little disappointed and figured ball throwing was out of the question.
We were SO excited when we discovered yesterday that Torkie is interested in playing with balls.
He loves it and is so cute when he gets really into it.
Here are some photos of our ball session tonight. I'm loving my new lens too. :)

My ball!

Throw it again!

You're not gonna take it are you?

Just try to get it!

Weeeeeeee! I got it!!!

Playing with my new(to me) lens...

So... funny story.... On Tuesday I posted two things I wanted to buy. Neither of which I was planning to get any time soon.

Well..... I popped on Craigslist on Wednesday for fun and typed in "Nikon". I found the lens I was drooling over.... for SUPER cheap. Like, ridiculously cheap.
So on Wednesday after work Ryan and I met up with the seller out in Seattle to check it out. The lens was in immaculate condition so I purchased it. It's an older model and that seller had bought used 6 years ago, but I don't mind. It's a great lens so I am super excited.
I played around with it a bit and now I'll share some photos... because that's what I do. :)

5 Question Friday and My first blog award... :)

1. What were your school colors?
Blue and White.... booooring....

2. What's the best compliment you ever received?
Hmmm... My husband like to tell me I'm the coolest chick he's ever met. That makes me pretty happy.

3. Do you buy cheap or expensive toilet paper?
We get nice toilet paper. It's super soft.

4. Have you ever had a surprise party thrown for you? Or have you had one for someone else?

I had a surprise birthday dinner thrown for me this year with a whole bunch of my girl friends. It was amazing.

5. What is one material possession that you "can't live without"?
Oh man, this is going to sound so stupid. I have a couple VERY special stuffed animals and I would be devastated if anything happened to them.

Play along at Five Crooked Halos.

I also got my first award from a fellow blogger. :)

1. Thank and link back to the person who gave you the award.
Thank you Megan! I love your blog too!


2. Share 7 things about yourself.
1. My husband is my best friend and my favorite person.
2. I LOVE animals, especially elephants and humming birds.
3. I love motorsports. Cars, trucks, atvs, motorcycles, off roading...
4. At our wedding, the song we played during the recessional made both of us laugh so hard because it was SO early 90's style and a bit cheesy. All For Love- Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart and Sting. Lol.
5. I was a total punk rocker/skateboarder chick in high school.
6. I love the smell of a new book a lot.
7. When I get my hair done/colored I get sneeze attacks which sometimes turn into allergies. Something about the hair being pulled sets it off. It's really weird.


3. Pass the award along to 9 fellow bloggers that inspire you.
1. Amber @ A Day In the Life Of Amber. I've been reading it since she started, it's great fun.
2. Kelsey @ This Is The Story Of A Girl. She's a good friend and is just getting started on her blog.
3. Tara @ That's Why Her Hair Is So Big. She cracks me up.
4. Stacy @ Stacy Says. She also cracks me up and always has something interesting to share.
5. Kim @ Ooh! Piece of Candy! Great blog and the name makes me giggle every time I see it.
6. Cheap Wife. She always has something interesting to say and she lives near me!
7. Distributary. I love reading her blog, just because!
8. Ree @ The Pioneer Woman. She is amazing. I love her recipes and photo tips.
9. Marianne @ Lucy's Human. I love reading her dog stories.

4. Let them know about the award.

Happy Friday everyone! I think Ryan is dragging me camping/off-roading tonight... First time with Torkie, it should be interesting...

There's an ocean in the sky.

This was the view from our neighborhood last night around 8:30.
Ryan and I were just hanging out and I was playing with a new lens. He started freaking out and saying "come here!".
Well, luckily I had my camera on me.
I've NEVER seen anything quite like it. At one point we could see 7 waves total.
We drove to a different part of our neighborhood to get a better view. The clouds started to change quickly though.
I'm so glad I witnessed something like this and have pictures to prove I actually saw it!

And just for fun... Play along at That 22 yr Old Housewife.

Update on our garage project!

Ryan got on my case last night about not posting any updates on our garage project.
I've been avoiding posting anything about it because there were SO many photos to go through and to put in order.
But I gave in and finally got an update together.

This is around June 2nd. After clearing out the dirt and hillside behind our house, Ryan and his dad built the form for the back retaining wall.

Another view of the concrete form.

The morning of June 3rd all ready for concrete.

The pump truck arrived and got all set up.

Concrete truck arrived shortly after.

The form all filled up. After it hardened, all the boards were pulled off.

My sweet husband had the awesome idea of writing in the concrete. This will actually be visible in the shop. I love him and his cute ideas. :)

The posts getting ready for beams to go up. Around June 6th.

The beams getting cut to the correct size.

The trusses arrived.

Lifting the trusses onto the beams.

This was the interesting part. We had a shed which was right in the middle of the future garage. Instead of tearing it down, Ryan decided to pay the truss delivery guy to pick it up and lift it OVER our house and to the other side. It was pretty sketchy.

It would have been a disaster if it had fallen.

Just about into place in our back/side yard.

Ryan and his dad getting the trusses set up.

Ryan working with the excavator to get rid of the large pile of dirt. I was so glad to see that pile gone.

I missed a couple steps and photos. The roof went on shortly after the trusses were put up. They tore most of the existing driveway out. Ryan and his dad cleared some more area and built another concrete form (upper right corner of above photo) and poured that along with the walkway to the front door on July 15th.

This is where we are at currently. I took this photo and the ones below last night. The wood panels have all been pulled off the new retaining wall to the right.

View from the street above.

The retaining wall and another parking spot.

Action shot of Ryan grading the gravel.

Our exciting concrete wall. :)

View from "inside" the garage.

Our new walkway.

And finally, Ryan being silly and riding our in-floor heating tubing that came yesterday.

We still have a long way to go, but it's getting closer to being done. I can't wait. :)

Play along at Take It From Me.