Tacoyaki Back in New Mexico

After waiting an extra week to get our greyhound, we finally got to meet our girl!  It made for a happy Valentine’s day, as well as a tiring afternoon perfect for a nap.  Born March 12, 2006, Sassy is a mellow ex-racer than seems to have fit wonderfully into our family.  Now a happy foursome, we’ve already had a pleasant evening walk, and Atticus is able to exert some energy in ways other than chewing the carpet

There will definitely be many more pictures, but here are a couple cute ones to get you started:

Sassafras has great personality and really looks to be smiling when she’s happy.

Being a racing dog she is just now learning about toys, but her hyper romps with her new flamingo show that she’s just fine being a regular, spoiled house dog.

After an exciting afternoon and a delicious Chicago-style pizza dinner, the fam had a nice nap before our walk.

Now it’s bedtime and let’s hope everyone sleeps through the night!

http://gallery.me.com/heatherarmes#100093

Just wanted to share these cute pictures that were taken around 1988-89 with our Aunt Susie.  She was the most amazing aunt and someone that will be missed no matter how many years go by.

Thanks for spoiling us rotten and loving us as we will always love you.

Well, I guess starting a new job put a damper on my blogging.  But hey, I actually like my job, so that’s something new.

Working for 3.5 weeks and learning loads and loads of new stuff made it seem a lot longer, but it’s all very interesting and now I’ve had almost two weeks off for the holidays.  Before that, Dylan and I had my brother here to help us with The Cous.  A number of bite wounds later, I’m sure Michael was ready to go home, but we appreciated his help and had fun while he was here.  Earlier in the month we went down to Old Town with Jenny to see all the Christmas decorations.  It was darn cold, but the free apple cider and biscochitos hit the spot.

Just after a couple weeks at work, I was invited to a cookie baking party at a coworker’s house.  SO many cookies!  I’m glad Michael was here to eat some.  The following weekend, Jenny, Caesar, Dylan and I went to a Christmas party at an old family friend’s house.  Hadn’t seen them in over eight years, so it was fun to catch up a bit.  It’s cool the people that stick around through the years. 

The day before we headed up to Farmington, Dylan and I went to see Avatar 3D.  Totally worth it!  I’d see it again anytime!  Our planned departure the following morning was a little delayed.  Having Atticus is like having a kid, with all the stuff we have to take everywhere.  We made it in time for lunch, though, and Cous was very well-behaved.  Even when Jenny and Caesar arrived with their dog, things were enjoyable rather than hectic like we had planned.  Slugg and Atticus got on swimmingly, so we already have a play-date set up for this evening.  Ah, cousins!

Christmas!!  Always my favorite day of the year and having the whole family together was pretty great.  Also, putting hats on pets is hilarious, especially since they like it so much…

And then some decorations:

Sisters and their pups.

Christmas dinner!

Adventures in the snow!  Cous liked eating it while he walked, but he always tried keeping at least one foot off the ground when he was standing.

Aww, so cute!

I’m a big fan of holly during the Christmas season, so I was quite taken with the red berry trees at the park near my parents’ house.  Not holly, but very pretty when covered in snow.

As per usual, large quantities of delicious food was consumed, but we still made it to the gym (pretty) regularly.  No worries though, because now my New Year’s resolution to run more has turned into training for a half marathon.  Uh yep, going to attempt this http://www.stillwatermarathon.com/ with my good pal, Melvina.  She’s already done it, plus another race, so I have to get on it.  Five months is pretty good to get ready, at least.  I was also planning on cutting out most sugar, but the 10 pounds of cookies and fudge my mom sent home with us is telling me otherwise.  Maybe after it’s all gone…?

Speaking of New Years, we had a delicious dinner and a fun night together for Michael’s 30th b-day.  Only three of us made it to midnight and how could we not?  Did you see that moon?  It was pretty spectacular!

Kind of sad having the holiday week end, but at least I’m not dreading work on Monday morning.  To all my friends and family all over the country and the world, Happy New Year!  I’m feeling optimistic about this one, and as long as everyone else feels the same, things should be swell, even enjoyable.

If not, bring it on, 2010! 

Even though Dad had to work and they couldn’t come down here, and Dylan and Jenny had to work so we couldn’t go up there, we had a very fun and yummy Thanksgiving.  Jenny and Caesar invited us to their house, and we ordered one of those pre-made turkey dinners from the grocery store.  Dylan, Harri and I did the same thing last year for Christmas, and we’re starting to wonder why we would ever do anything else.  It’s very well priced, a lot less work, and it’s now 2-0 in the delicious category.  It came with an 11lb fully-cooked turkey, plenty of mashed potatoes, cornbread stuffing, gravy and rolls for four people and at least another meal of leftovers.  Mighty fine deal!  Of course it didn’t come with everything we want on a Thanksgiving dinner plate, so Jenny and I made everything else.  She was in charge of the green bean casserole and sweet potatoes, and I made the pumpkin pie and my first ever batch of cranberry sauce.

We made it to their house close to 4, after loading up everything for Atticus.  It seriously felt like traveling with a kid: crate, potty box, toys, and food to keep him happy.  At least he’s quickly getting better on his leash!  Caesar had already put the turkey in the oven to heat and we started warming up everything else after Jenny got home.  Finally at about 5:30 it was time to eat!

Our gorgeous bird, ready to be devoured!

Dylan about to carve said bird.

Thumbs up for turkey dinners!

The Cous behaving while we were busy in the kitchen.

My lovely and crowded plate!

All gone!  Only one plate for me, but it was a big one.

Still room for pie!!

The Delicious Aftermath-

Hooray for family and prefab food and ragtag cooking skills   And hooray for Atticus finally meeting a dog, his cousin Slugg.  They were mostly good together, just a little aggressive, but Atticus needs to be put in his place a bit.  Hopefully things go ok next month with the cats and old cousin Frankie…

I was told by a friend to enjoy a delicious birthday dinner with amazing dessert, so here it is .

We waited a couple days to celebrate, but it was well worth it.  Last night Dylan and I pulled ourselves away from Atticus and met Karie and Vince downtown for happy hour at Sushi Hana.  From 430 t0 830 all sushi and beer is 50% off!  We started with an Asahi (I love Japanese beer and it had been too long since my last), and Karie and I took care of ordering the food.  We ordered rolls with names like Volcano and Red Dragon, and of course we had to get a green chile roll!  Karie and Vince treated us to some sake and soon colorful platters of rice and fish were coming our way.  I loved everything, especially the scallops hidden in the spicy sauce of the Volcano roll.

Some very delicious yellowtail!

We finished everything and then the head chef/owner, learning that it was my birthday, brought us a plate of complimentary matcha mochi ice cream!  We enjoyed telling our friends about the wonders of mochi and I couldn’t help thinking about my absolute favorite, ichigo daifuku.  I miss it so much!  Seriously ABQ, open a ramen shop and make me some daifuku!

We obviously thought it was tasty.  Don’t worry, I ate the cherry, too.

Happy and a little buzzed, the four of us had a great evening!

Thanks Karie and Vince!!

I’ve never known much about rugby, just that the players don’t wear padding and they serious rough each other up.  Being that my new brother-in-law is an avid player, I’m interested in learning more, especially after the game we all watched yesterday.  My parents came to town and we all went to cheer Caesar and the ABQ Brujos on against their archrivals, the ABQ Aardvarks.

It was pretty exciting, although I had no idea what was going on during the game.  Looked mighty vicious, so that helped keep the attention.  A few players got injured enough to leave the game, like the guy that dislocated his bicep or something, looked painful.  Then there were other players that kept on going, even with cotton stuck up their bleeding noses.  What I got from this first live rugby game I’ve watched, besides how cool and violent the sport seems to be, is that a goal is worth 5 points, a conversion is 2 points, people get stomped on when they’re on the ground, and there’s an awful lot of uniform grabbing and groping, haha.  Unfortunately our team lost right at the end, but I’m looking forward to seeing more games and learning more…

…Like what’s with the scrum?

The guys on the right are about to do a lift to try and intercept a kick.

The Brujos.

Caesar’s bright red shoes.  Good for picking him out during all the smashing and tackling.

Last year I had to rant a bit about Halloween and the way it’s been wussified through the years.  Apparently though, it seems to depend on the year, probably the day it falls on, and the people you have around to celebrate with.  This year was low-key, we stayed in like last year, but this time we had a puppy to look after.  I was also able to carve a pumpkin for the first time in over five years, I roasted some seeds, and Jenny and I made a Halloween cookie house.  My sister is way into Halloween, so it was nice having her around to buy pumpkins with and to appreciate the excitement Halloween always stirs up with us Jost kids.

We had one little trick or treater this year, which was fine, because I like Reese’s cups.  I was mostly just pleased with my cat-o-lantern that let off some of the only light in our quiet courtyard.  Very Halloweeny!  We also FINALLY got to watch the horror movie Trick or Treat that was supposed to come out over two years ago.  It was fun, and creepy and had a great Halloween feel.  I’ll definitely add it to the yearly tradition movie list.

Hopefully next year I’ll be able to dress up, and Atticus will be in costume, too!

Spooky!

My table decor.

Dylan and I finally got our puppy!  After over three years without a pet, of wishing for one but not even being able to have one, we finally brought our little guy home.  It was almost five months in the making, and after his litter was born September 1st, we grew increasingly more excited with every email and picture update.  I felt like the day would never come soon enough, but then by chance, we got our pup a few weeks earlier than we had anticipated.  Now it’s been a little over a week (sometimes feels longer, haha) and he’s made himself at home with us.  We sure love him and can tell his loves us, too, even when he chomps down on our hands.  Yes, he’s a handful of puppy madness, but he is super cute!  Just another month and we can take him outside, start socializing him with other dogs, and then at the beginning of the year, puppy classes!

Here’s our little whippet, Atticus!  He’s already catching on to things like potty training and he has quite the personality.

A lot of my pictures are of him sleeping.  He just doesn’t understand the need to sit still when having his picture taken.  He sure likes sleeping!

Sometimes he gets tired of all the picture taking.

Don’t let those little teeth trick you…he has quite the bite and doesn’t like letting go.

And sometimes we just want to do this, haha, but that’s only when his alter ego, Sprinkles: The Hellhound, comes out to play.  But don’t worry, Dylan wasn’t really yelling, just making faces.

Most of the time, though, he’s our little buddy and personal space-heater.

We love him, and can’t wait to train him and make him the best whippet in town!

Lots more pictures here: http://gallery.me.com/heatherarmes/100061

That’s my little sister I’m talking about.  She went and got married last Friday the 23rd!  My first time at a courthouse wedding and it was really nice.  The judge seemed genuinely interested in the union, and a bunch of us got to go and we had all the time we needed to take pictures.

I didn’t quite cry, but I was close and I was really happy for Jenny and Caesar!

Here’s everyone that attended.

The bride and groom with Grandpa.

And their new rings!

Later in the early evening, we all gathered at El Pinto for the reception.  More people came, margaritas were served, and the cake was delicious!

Aww, so cute!  Give me the big piece!!!

Towards the end of the night, hahaha!

Congratulations guys and good luck!

The rest of the pictures: http://gallery.me.com/heatherarmes/100069

This last week we had Bryan visiting us from Oklahoma.  Being the avid photographer that he his (http://bryancook.smugmug.com/) he had us out roaming the lands for good photos ops.  I did my part to capture the beautiful sights, and we all did our part of eating TONS of New Mexican food.  By the end my stomach wasn’t very happy with me, but I’d say we have Bryan 85% convinced that he needs to move out here just to have green chile readily available.  Plus I want him to bring TJ!

So I have a number of pictures to share, but I’m going to use my MobileMe again.  Here’s a few of my favorites, though:

View of the moon from Sandia Peak.

Old Town.  I got to show Bryan my two favorite stores: The Christmas Store and The Candy Lady!

Out at the Petroglyph National Monument.

Petroglyph Volcano Monument.  It was my first time out there, so I was quite impressed.  We stayed until sunset and got some pretty cool shots.  We saw a snake (it was right in the middle of the trail and Dylan pointed it out pretty much as I was walking over it…I jumped/flew forward a few feet) and Dylan and I saw a TARANTULA!!  We had just debated on whether or not they lived in NM because I’d never seen one, so I guess I had it coming.  It too was walking along the trail as we passed by.  My response was to scream some obscenities and launch ahead as quickly as possible.  Dylan crouched down for some pictures, but I couldn’t stand by as my cold sweats and flight response were too strong.  Still kind of cool, though…kind of.

Here’s the rest: http://gallery.me.com/heatherarmes#100052

I certainly <3 the desert.  It’s really nice being back with a new sense of appreciation.