We are cleaning out old clothes that don't fit anymore. It's an exciting experience. (Andrew would kill me if he knew I posted this)

Backyard Shenanigans

Backyard Shenanigans, a set on Flickr.

Some days, you just have to take half a mental health day. I shot out of work a couple of hours early, came home and stalked the dogs around the backyard... they were crazy adorable as always. I also caught a small murder aloft as the sun was setting.

We had a GREAT weekend with Sue, Will and Amanda in town! Sadly I worked a lot, but thankfully still got to see everybody. Friday night we went to a new restaurant at Gateway Mall, after attempting two restaurants beforehand that had outrageous waits. But, we were lured in by the posted menu and free dessert/appetizer card (really, it was their initiative that inspired us, I think--while we were standing outside reading the menu, their host came out and handed us the free app/dessert card and invited us in, WHAT SERVICE), and all ended quite well I should say. The food was pretty dang delicious, and we got to sit and talk for a good long while.

Saturday I worked, Andrew got breakfast with the fam, and by the time I got home I ended up going to bed early. Sunday was linner up in Layton with the Cooks and Arndts, with some great food, lots of catching up, and a vintage dress fashion show (one cannot simply lay a 50's dress in front of me and expect that I am not going to put it on, I don't care how embarrassing it could be). Monday featured a breakfast before Amanda, Sue, and Will took off home, and then I went in to work (eek).

Oh, also, Andrew installed deadbolts! Which I already posted a picture of. Neither the front nor back door of our apartment had deadbolts, just door knob locks, and Andrew secured our home by installing them himself. Now we're not going to get robbed! Yaaay! (or at least it will be much harder to rob us, for various reasons).

Andrew has just finished making an incredible dinner, so this ends here... I'm just going to admit, we may or may not be watching WWE Raw right now. I am... fascinated, like watching a train slowly crash.

Andrew being manly and saving our household by installing dead bolts!

How does one go through two full weekend days and wind up feeling like basically nothing got accomplished? It snowed all weekend, and I stayed inside basically the entire time. Obviously there is some link between accomplishment and self-discipline...hhhhmmmmm...

I will experiencing forced accomplishment tomorrow morning, when I unbury my car from about 2' of snow! So that's something!

The past few weeks have flown by, but it's difficult to pinpoint what has made them go so fast. Andrew has started classes and work is starting to pick up. We had some absurd frozen rain on Thursday that turned all smooth, cool surfaces into ice skating ponds. My car had an absurd layer of ice across it (I think I posted a picture of that), and trying to get around the Aviary was like walking around on ice barefoot even though I had work boots with amazing traction on. Much slipping and sliding was had. Then this morning I woke up and found our house swaddled in a thick layer of fog. WHAT IS THIS? WHERE ARE WE LIVING?!

I decided to walk to work this morning. Something about the fog, and the quiet that it created, seemed very inviting. I am about a seven minute drive or 15 minute walk from work, and those eight extra minutes seem like an eternity sometimes, thus a car is taken! It was entirely worth walking, though. I'm going to try to make it a more regular thing, but this morning was special. It was very, very still. I couldn't hear cars driving by before they were 50 feet away. I walked past Liberty Park Lake, which was mainly frozen over and through the fog found a spot where the water was unfrozen and it was a mallard duck heyday.

It made me think, though--when we talk about weather, it is seen as the most inane of small talk. As I was walking I found myself small talking with myself. What strange weather. Warmer than it's been all week. Better than the terrible inversions we've been having. But recently I have been reading more environmental education literature to beef up my resources, and I can't help but think that there is something to weather small talk. Something about connecting with a single, guaranteed experience between people. Something about connecting to our surrounding landscapes and finding an unavoidable (if sometimes irritating) connection. I haven't quite worked it all out just yet, but it's developing slowly.

Andrew and I have been doing keto since the end of November. Just after Thanksgiving Andrew started, and I quickly followed. We have eaten a LOT of steaks, heavy whipping cream, eggs, sausages, cauliflower, cheese, raspberries, 80% dark chocolate, almonds, and coke zero. I am incredibly proud of us during this whole process, however. Neither Andrew or I has 'cheated' (eaten any sugar, flour, rice, or 'carb'y foods) this entire time. Holidays were especially challenging, surrounded by our favorite candies and cookies and homemade cooking, but we're nearly to February and are still going strong. Tonight we had low carb chicken curry (made with heavy whipping cream and riced cauliflower, among other ingredients that actually make a meal curry), and it was incredible. We're feeling a bit extravagant, so I'm going to eat some more parrano cheese and Andrew is cooking bacon.

BUT the point of that is that I am down 10 lbs, and Andrew is down about 35 lbs. I think it's made a big difference for us, and we're feeling pretty awesome. I look forward to the next couple of months.

Ducks on a steaming pond.

I decided to walk to school this morning, in an incredible fog.

1/8th inch glaze of ice over my entire car this past Thursday!

We've been busy!

We have a small apartment, and finding a place for a table to eat at has been difficult. Thankfully Andrew is brilliant! Now we have a place to eat that doesn't involve sitting on the couch!