Week End

Last weekend I was very happy to have my husband for the whole two days! We watched the Olympics, Kyle finished building the shelving unit for the kitchen, we went out for my late birthday dinner, and other boring things like getting groceries.

via, and team Finland, Opening Ceremonies

Kyle building on Saturday. He designed and built this thing with my input of what would be useful for me working in the kitchen. We mainly needed more storage space for stuff, especially after the wedding as gifts and new toys took over our kitchen table, and what he made is absolutely perfect! I helped very little. 

Huxley, destroyer of blinds, keeping an eye on us outside

The finished product! I love it! 

Of course the cats claimed it as theirs immediately. 

Starting to organize. I'll probably post later on the final organized product. 

Belated Birthday Dinner at the Dead Fish Grill on Belton Lake! We'd never been there before, and it was a cool and busy place. My frozen margarita was my favorite thing I consumed; Kyle really enjoyed his meal (steak. potatoes. veggies) and mine (shrimp and spinach enchiladas) was OK but lacking in flavor. I imagine their food is mostly really good, I think I just picked the wrong thing on the menu. I'd definitely like to go back and sit on the back porch overlooking the lake!

quesadilla appetizer 

Don't forget to enter my Olympics giveaway! Open until Friday! I'm enjoying hearing what your favorite events are! :)

-Mrs. M

Lately

photos from the last two weeks or so.

new toy, banana bread, textbook

tree grew into the fence, huxley, stray cat

first cheesecake! one of my favorite cat shots, chipotle

birthday batman viewing (loved it), card, darwin and school things, kitty prints

Joe (Kyle brought this home for me haha), D, H, spaghetti squash

 Summer Swap package, baby bird wasn't taught to fly away it seems, Hux, bracelets 

working on kitchen shelving unit, feeding the locals, cold treats for Olympic opening ceremonies viewing

Don't forget to enter the Olympics giveaway! Have a good weekend.

-Mrs. M

A Giveaway! {Closed}

Congrats, Rachel! You won! Email me your address! 

sarah.f.mcpherson@gmail.com 

Thanks for participating, everyone! :)

I don't know about you, but I love the Olympics! I'm not a big watcher of sports year round, but the Olympics draw me in and make me a fan of just about everything (so glad golf didn't make the cut, though). I love the history of the games- going back to ancient Greece, and how the Olympics bring the world together (however temporary it may be). I remember being a big fan of "the Thorpedo" back in Sydney 2000; the 2004 Athens games inspired me to write my college application essay about the Olympics, and the final hockey match in Vancouver 2010 (USA vs Canada) was simply stunning. I will probably tear up at the opening ceremonies tonight, no lie.

all photos via

I wanted to do my first ever giveaway this summer; I thought first of doing one for my birthday, but the Olympics is way more fun and a better theme to create a specific giveaway around. If you're an Olympics fan, or even not, I hope you like what I've got for you! Here's what you could win: (one winner gets all)

 (plus a t-shirt not pictured!)

1. London coin purse- to represent the host country.

2. $10 Subway gift card- to eat like a champ, like Michael Phelps or Apolo Anton Ohno in those commercials.  

3. USA 1984 mug

4. 60 Straws in the Olympic ring colors.

5. Gold and Silver nail polish.

6. Candle- representing the Olympic flame (you don't have to keep yours burning, though)

7. T-Shirt size M (on its way to me so it is not pictured above).

To Enter:

Required:
Follow From the Desk via GFC and leave a comment sharing what your favorite Olympic event is (winter or summer)!

Extra Entries (leave a comment for each):
Tweet about the giveaway (include your twitter handle in your comment and tag me @mrssmcp)

Blog about the giveaway (include link in your comment)

Winner will be randomly chosen on Friday August 3rd via Random.org. Entries must be in by midnight August 3rd, CST.  

Good luck and thank you for participating!
Enjoy the games!

-Mrs. M

All I Can Come up with Today

-Mrs. M

Turning Twenty Four

My birthday was pretty low key. We went to IHOP for breakfast as we both got up really early. Then we came home and tried to figure out more about the situation with the dogs next door. There are 2 pups (less than a year old) that live next door; they were puppies right around when we moved in. They always bark and run to us when we take out the garbage, and they enjoy watching the cats when they're out back. They are friendly, obviously starved for attention and not trained. The last I saw of anyone being at the house was Thursday evening, and I hadn't seen the dogs food/water bowls filled, or a car at the house all weekend. The dogs got out a couple times and Kyle and I brought them back to their yard. Sunday morning I went to the door and knocked to no response, and noticed pamphlets and a door hanger still there that we got at our house a few days ago; clearly nobody had been there, and nobody was looking after the dogs. So I cried and was furious, and we gave them water. Later I went to the store and got them food and fed them and filled up their water again. I decided to Monday morning call the animal shelter (closed on Sunday) or police, but this morning there is no sign of the pups next door, and no sign of anyone at the house. The gates are closed, so I'm not sure what is going on, but did someone really come get them in the middle of the night? I hope they are somewhere being taken care of, though. :/ If they return I will proceed to look into their care. 

 as little pups months ago

Aside from that, Kyle and I went to see The Dark Knight Rises, which I enjoyed very much. We got to the mall shortly after 10, and apparently things don't open until 11 or 12, so we walked around, said hi to the security guard, noted the lady mall walking, and eventually got into the movie. Afterwards we went to get Kyle a new phone! He hasn't updated for five years (little flip phone), and was pretty resistant (scared) of getting a new one, but the long and boring gate guard shifts finally convinced him otherwise. Kyle fell asleep shortly after getting home and went to bed around 5, so I hung out with the cats for the evening and didn't really sleep. 

a couple gifts from husband. random picture of my feet and movie ticket!

one of the better meals I've had at IHOP

this exists. so that is awesome. 

made for much smaller people

empty mall. pet supplies

I asked Kyle to show me where all the crazy rules were in the Bible (via Kindle). behind the counter at Verizon

sleepy boys

Thank you for the birthday wishes!

-Mrs. M