Because You Can Never Have Too Much Beer

On Friday, Aaron and I decided to have a night in.  So, logically, we brewed another batch of beer!  This time, he chose an American Wheat.  He also talked to his friend about how to add some fruit to it to make a Raspberry Wheat!  It should be delicious... darn beer for taking so long to ferment.  I am too impatient.

Although the pictures don't really show it, I participated in this one!  My participation was limited (clearly I am hard at work in that picture), but I did drink beer and help Aaron keep time and take temperatures of things.  It was all very scientific and I felt like I was back in lab in school... except that this was fun!

Our wheat beer is happily bubbling away next to the non-bubbling (but apparently still good... something about the gunk around the top of the bucket - there's a technical term for it, but it's really just gunk) Brown Ale in the guest bath.  Don't come visit us in the next month... you will not be allowed to bathe.

Aaron accidentally burned the malt to the bottom of the pot... so 3 days later, he was still scrubbing that pot (It's clean now... no worries).

Much like me, the puppies did a lot of watching Aaron work.  Gus slept behind the table because he is not enthused with the 100 degree heat and even less enthused by his not being allowed to participate in any and every activity.  Lucy just watched too because she always has to know what's going on with everyone everywhere... even though most of the time it scares her.  Silly puppies.

So beer and puppies and Friday nights in with my husband... the beginnings of a great weekend!

The Long Awaited Beer Brewing Begins at Last

Aaron asked me a year or so ago to give him motivation to lose his college weight.  Knowing that he had been eyeing a beer-brewing kit, I asked him for a goal weight and then told him he wasn't allowed to brew beer until he weighed less than that.  I'm not sure if he expected me to come up with such a torturous motivation, but he's been plugging away at it for the past year.  Holidays and wedding festivities did not help, but he did a great job at staying motivated.

Then we received a beer brewing kit for our wedding... Being the mean person that I am, I stored it in the garage, right in front of where he parks his Jeep.  Talk about motivation...

Well, on Tuesday, he sent along this beauty along with the caption "Hello beer brewing!"

So on Monday night (a whole 6 days later... it killed him to wait that long) we began brewing beer!  Since Jeff was in town and had helped brew beer with a friend before, he helped Aaron out.  I mostly supervised and took pictures and made sure that Gus didn't get in the way (he just wanted to be in on the fun!).  And then did dishes... cause I'm nice like that and Aaron was too distracted with his new bubbling bucket of not-yet-beer.

And so, our guest bathtub is now home to a 5 gallon bucket of Brown Ale called "Caribou Slobber" according to Northern Brewer's kit.  Not sure who named that one...

Aaron is already counting down the days until he can move on to the next steps.  He's planning on having a tasting party for Lucy's birthday (since she will have no idea it's her birthday and will therefore be unconcerned that it is being used as a day to drink beer).  I will make her a doggie cookie cake and she will be happy... Aaron will drink his first homemade beer and be happier.

When Friends Come to Town

Except for our recent furry addition, last week was not very eventful.  Aaron worked second shift, so there was quite a bit of lounging around and letting the new furball get acquainted with his big sister (or older sister, I should say, since she is done growing and he is far from it).  Then I'd make dinner Aaron when he was on "lunch" and go to bed shortly after.  I think that I have previously mentioned our lack of weekday excitement...

However, this weekend, we more than made up for it!

It all began Friday night/Saturday morning... when I didn't let our house-guest into our house.  Jeff came to visit for the weekend because he had to be in Kingman for work the next week.  We offered up our guest room, he accepted and let us know he would be in late.  I thought that would not be a problem.  I set an alarm and was all ready to get up at 2am and let him in.  2am came and went... guess who was still sleeping.  Guess who was outside ringing the doorbell and calling me?  Whoops.  Luckily, Aaron got home about 20-30 minutes later, woke Jeff up from his current position in his car in the driveway, and both of them woke me up.  I apologized a lot.

Then the fun began...

Sam came over to join in the 3am scotch and bourbon session on the back porch while we caught up and let the puppies relieve themselves.  There was an ultimate plan to go to bed and hike the next morning.  And then there was more talking, more bourbon, and a sunrise.  When friends come in, there is no time for sleeping!  There is only time for Denny's at 5:30 (where you meet some odd people - like a girl in a onesie with jorts overtop... cause that's normal Kingman Denny's fashion?).  We ate a ridiculous amount of food and laughed a lot.  Then 6am rolled around and apparently, at Denny's, that means you can serve beer!

Once we had eaten our fill (and then some... somebody needs to teach Denny's that they would save money by offering smaller portions... nobody could finish their breakfast!), we headed back to our house.  There was talk of napping... but then Aaron mentioned Power Hour.  So we swung by Sam's house to re-claim our crap beer, headed back to our house, and commenced the 1-shot of beer per minute drinking pace.  After that, things got a little fuzzy... mostly just chatting, eating pizza, and walking down to see if friends were home (Sorry Todd and Charity).  Around 3pm, there was a definite need for some napping.

Prior to departing for his nap, Sam had challenged Aaron to stay awake until 10pm... which would mean that Aaron would be awake since 8am the day before... 38 hours.  Sam is a smart guy, but he clearly has not learned that when beer and Aaron hang out, there is a lot of testosterone that would gladly accept the challenge and the $10 that accompanied a victory.  So while Sam went home to nap, Jeff crashed in our guest room, I slept on the couch, and Aaron and Liz (who arrived during the napping to drop off Ranger so we could dog-sit while she was away) drank more beer.

Once the napping (or lack there of) was over, there was another mention of a Power Hour... because one wasn't enough and Aaron needed to kill another 2 hours before he could sleep.  So we did another one... and promptly put Aaron to bed at 9:57pm.  Sam admitted to being impressed and gave Aaron his victory money anyway.

Then we started a campfire, made s'mores and steaks (Jeff and Sam were hungry again... boys...), and talked until 4am.

At 6:30am, the puppies were ready to wake up for the day as they had gone to bed with Aaron at 10pm.  It was a McDonald's breakfast to type of morning...

We napped Sunday too, while Sam and Jeff went hiking, and then we headed down to Wickenburg to meet my Uncle Bob and Aunt Karen for dinner.  We went to a good Mexican restaurant and hung out with them.  It was nice to relax with family.  I miss that.  Then we headed back, Jeff swung by after camping and World Cup watching to grab his stuff... and we were asleep by 10:15.

It was a long weekend of very little sleep... but it was tons of fun!

Gus Gus!

It all worked out swell and yesterday, Gus became an official Ballew family member!  He is adorable and fuzzy and Lucy is just all-to thrilled to have a brother.

So far, it's going decently.  Lucy wants to play continuously (because every other dog she's interacted with has been older and can keep up), but Gus seems to enjoy the 10 minute play spurts followed by 5 minutes of plopping on the ground for recovery.  He's also still trying to learn his environment, so her constant bids for his attention are not always welcome.  We are working on teaching her to calm down... and to not bark at him when he doesn't want to play.

He seems pretty well behaved and he is essentially house-broken already, which is fantastic!  He did well in the crate yesterday and last night too.

He's super cute and we are glad that it worked out!  Enjoy copious pictures... I am an obsessive mother....

Fingers Crossed!

Stay tuned... But there may be another little fuzzy four-legged friend joining the Ballew clan tomorrow!!!!!  Hopefully it all works out!

Sunshine and Sangria

After camping last weekend, we came home to a beautiful Sunday afternoon!  It was sunny and warm and perfect for lazy days outside.  Luckily, we had some Sangria ingredients, so we put some together, invited some friends over, and spent the day lounging around outside.  And getting sunburned, but it was worth it...

These two are my favorite... Happy Summer!

The Great Outdoors

So I'm a little late on recapping this camping trip, but better late than never, right?

Last weekend was the company picnic.  It was hot and the park that the team picked had little to no shade.  Good choice when the picnic occurs in the middle of June in Arizona.  There is probably a picture of Aaron and I in the work files, so maybe I'll go back and insert some here.  But overall, it was pretty uneventful.  Aaron organized the horseshoe tournament and helped hand out raffle prizes while I organized the relay races and helped check people in.  Turns out, we are quite the little helpers when nobody else is stepping up to help out.

Then the picnic ended and the real fun began!  We drove home, packed up Lucy, and headed out to Wild Cow Springs in the Hualapai Mountains.  This was going to be Lucy's first adventure with camping and I was slightly anxious.  Luckily, if she freaked out, we were close enough to home to pack up and head home.

We got there around 3:30-4 and set up camp.  There was a group of people who had 4-wheeled to the site next to us for the day and they commented on how quickly our tent went up.  Skillz...We have them.  Once everything was set up, we put on some quiet tunes and hung out.  It was too early for a fire (we would have run out of wood) and it was a little too hot still.  So we laid out Lucy's blanket and talked for a few hours while we snacked on the cheese ball and chips and salsa that we had brought (that turned out to be unnecessary because we ended up too full to enjoy s'mores later... we still ate them though).

Once the sun started to set, we started the fire.  We had forgotten to bring a lighter, so we were at a bit of a loss on how to start said fire; but then Aaron remembered his Bear Grylls knife (cause who doesn't have a survival knife when the most outdoorsy you get is camping 20 feet from your car?)  The knife has a flint on it.  We decided that Aaron could try to light the fire with it and if he wasn't successful, we would go ask the odd people camping near us to lend us something.  So Aaron took Lucy for a walk around the campground looking for kindling, while I collected kindling from the campsite.  There were plenty of pine cones and pine needles and the firewood we'd brought had plenty of loose bark on it.  The stage was set for an epic "manly moment" for Aaron.  He was pumped.

After a while of trying, I suggested we rearrange the kindling and logs so that his sparks had more of a bed to catch.  He had been getting kindling to burn, but none of it was enough to start the fire.  A couple minutes later and we had a roaring fire!  Apparently we had put too much kindling in, so once it caught fire, it REALLY caught fire!  We sat in awe at our "survival" ways for awhile, thanked Bear Grylls for saving us from having to interact with the (we think) bird-watchers camped near us... and then started on baked potatoes!  We'd wrapped potatoes in foil back at home.  Some olive oil, butter, salt, and pepper were in there as well.  It was perfect.  We just tossed them onto the grate and let them cook for an hour or so.  You could hear the butter sizzling... and it sounded so delicious.  Then came the hot dogs.  We had skewers to roast them with, but it seemed like a lot of work to hold them, so Aaron devised a system for getting them perfectly cooked.  It was awesome because the fire was really hot and our skewers are not long enough.

We ate dinner (it was all delicious!) and then settled in for some brews and good conversation.  We had brought a variety of beer for Aaron, really just a smorgasbord of IPAs and ales that were left in the fridge.  He had Dogfish Head's Namaste, Session's Black Lager, Lagunitas IPA, and choked down the Third Shift amber lager - not his favorite of the bunch.  A friend had left us with some NewCastle Cabbie, which Aaron was also not a fan of, so I drank that as well as some of Black Bridge's Windmill Porter (of course we had a growler - why wouldn't you bring a growler camping).  Both were delicious, but I think the Porter was clutch as a fire-side drink.  We eventually ate s'mores... some regular, some made with Girahdelli's Blueberry Almond dark chocolate (so so so good).  Both of us were pretty full from the potatoes and the cheese ball and the beers, but s'mores are a must when camping!  So we forced them down and followed them with some more beers.  Too much food and some beer... the perfect combination for a good sleep.  Then we were ready for bed.  We got Lucy into her bed (she was a little weary of the tent) and settled in for the night.  About an hour later, I had to answer nature's call - too much porter, apparently - and had to Spiderman crawl over my husband to get out of the tent.  He didn't wake up.  I am awesome.  Lucy stared at me the whole time like I was crazy... she knows me well.  Once out of the tent, I turned around to do my business and Aaron let out a low snore.  I seriously thought that I was about to be attacked by a mountain lion.  It was awful and I was terrified to pee after that.

The next morning (I did, in fact, get back to sleep after my terrifying night-time ordeal), Aaron made egg-in-the-nests while I took down camp.  And had a beer.  Camping calls for morning beers!  We had some of the Porter left and we also had some instant Caramel Latte coffee packets.  I drank my coffee and then decided to re-use the cup.  Turns out, Porter with some remnants of coffee was delicious!  We plan on telling Tim (B3 owner) the next time we see him.

I got the tent down and back into the tent bag all by myself.  I was so proud.  Aaron's breakfast was delicious and we hung out to watch the fire burn itself out before taking off.  Lucy had some breakfast too, although I doubt it was as delicious... sorry pup.  Once the fire was burned down, we finished packing up and headed out.  Lucy had gotten motion sickness on the way into the campground because of all of  the rocks.  So I walked her to the entrance while Aaron drove the Jeep down. The Jeep handled the rocks like a champ, so Aaron took this "rugged" picture after we got into the campground.

Once at the entrance, we gathered Lucy into the car and headed home!  It was a fabulous trip and a great way to relax and spend some time together.  It will definitely be happening again this summer...

The Beginning of my Millions

I've never been a huge gambler.  It seems like too much of a risk to take with my hard-earned money (or at least slightly-more-effort-than-I-would-like-earned money).  But last night, in an attempts to not be an anti-social introvert any longer, I joined Aaron, Sam, and Matt in Laughlin for some roulette and free beverages!  Now, in Vegas, the free beverages are sparse when you are only gambling $5.  For some reason, you are low on the priority list when you aren't willing to risk it all on one hand.  Whatever.  In Laughlin, free drinks are frequently occurring, even when you are just watching your husband play!  It was fabulous.  White Russians before I'd even bet a dollar (and then quite frequently thereafter, even though you were only required to play $4)!

Originally, there was this couple at the table that was all over the place.  Matt was less than amused and he made it known after they'd left.  Sam and Aaron played around them and tolerated their sporadic and sloppy playing.  I hung out and waited for them to run out of money and leave.  Once they'd left, I began my quest to make my millions...

See the stacks?!  I started with one... and there's more to the left.

I bet my $20.  Then I lost my $20.  Playing the inside numbers is way more exciting, but can be far less profitable if you happen to only have $20 and nothing hits.  So Aaron, being the kind husband that he is, donated $20 to the cause and let me keep playing.  He had been pretty much breaking even all night and, at that point, he was up a little bit.  So I bet again... and he did as well.  And then we just couldn't lose!  1, 11, 21, 31, and 25 (Shady!).  Sam is a LeSean McCoy fan, so 25 was a must every hand.  When you have 4 people all betting on the same number and it hits, it is so much fun!  Money was won by all... except Matt.  Between Aaron and I, we bet $100 and we walked out of the Pioneer with $300!  Sam walked away form the table with $3... and then blew it on a slot machine (who even knows how those things work?  What am I cheering for?!).

It was a super fun time!  The guys kept giving me a hard time for never joining them before, but it has just never appealed to me to join 8 guys in their drunken quest to go win money (because their previous Laughlin trips have all been planned once they are already quite a few drinks in and they suddenly find that one of their other friends is still sober and capable of driving).  I liked the small group and I liked that we got the table to ourselves!  Matt, Sam, and Aaron all knew the dealers and pit bosses and cocktail lady.... so it was a fun atmosphere with lots of free White Russians and a hot table that gave me many a pink chip!

They definitely convinced me to go back (not all of the time... but $300!!!)...

Musings and Current Events

So it appears that nothing really happens in the Ballew household during the week.  We are a boring folk.  We go to work, walk Lucy, take naps (well, some of us do... some of the other Ballew residents refuse to nap and it's weird), and make meals.  The end.  That's all we do.  So, as you can see, there is not much to write about here.

However, this week has been a little different... we have had quite the exciting week.  We got an elliptical and inquired about new jobs back  in Virginia!  The elliptical came from Paul's family.  Apparently they no longer use it for anything other than child entertainment and hanging things from the handles (which is completely understandable with 5 kids, especially since I remember playing with my parents' elliptical as well...) and we were in need of something that allowed me to eat Thin Mints, not leave Lucy locked in her crate all day, and still get exercise!  They offered it to us for a good price that allowed us to cancel our gym memberships and make it worth it in less than a year!  Aaron tested it out last night.  I have no documented evidence, but the fact that Lucy now recognizes Dubstep music (albeit the fuzzy/distorted kind that you hear through walls when your husband "tests out" the elliptical's speakers) is testament to his exercise.  I tried it out tonight and added some weight lifting as suggested by Eddie's exercise plan (that I have completed a total of... 2 times in 6 months... don't judge). Turns out, the thing is hard! I made it 10 minutes and then quit. You can judge now.

As for the jobs, Aaron is talking to the RFID guru, Harry, about some sort of RFID Project Manager role that is open on their Organizational Chart, but not on the open positions listing.  I recently applied for a Quality Engineering role at corporate.  I'm excited about it and I hope it works out.  Our only fear is that they will not move forward with either of us because of the other.  I'm not sure if they have some master plan for the Ballwes; but if so, this may not work out.  To be determined... But the response emails sounded promising!

Other than that, I have nothing to report.  We are planning a camping trip this weekend after the company picnic (which will be super fun, as always... work people in a non-shaded park during a Kingman, AZ summer).  I am excited to hike and camp and sit by a fire and cook hot dogs and s'mores!  Hopefully Lucy enjoys it as well.  I'm sure there will be pictures from that event!

And just because this post is boring, here are some pictures of the little pup!

Until then...

Summer Days

June officially began yesterday.  Aaron and I celebrated by going to play golf!  I shot an 87 on 9 holes... Clearly I am the next Tiger Woods (minus the sex scandal, but hopefully with the billions of dollars).  Aaron gave me a goal of shooting a 55 by the end of the summer.  He is planning on buying a new set of irons with our June bonuses and in order to make them worth the money (because of course he needs the spiffy new ones that are $900 - on sale), he plans on playing rather frequently and has asked that I join him.  So, he is apparently going to coach me to greatness... and did I mention the billions of dollars?  We are starting with the driving range this Friday.  Because apparently I do not have fantastic golf-club-swinging form (something about locking knees and a foot/toe issue and twisting and such... it was all very technical and vague and over my head - obviously).

Also, we took care of Lucy.  Aaron introduced her to the pool, which was NOT her favorite activity.  She sat quietly in it for .5 seconds before sprinting back to the comfort of the futon... and therefore, soaking the entire things beyond usability for the next hour.  I don't think she's going to be much of a water dog.  Next, we clipped her nails.  Let me tell you, if you ever need to wrangle a wild animal, do not call me.  For some reason (we think because it had been awhile?), she was adamant that this task be made as complicated as possible.  She would not sit still for anything - even Pupperoni.  Hence, I ended up laying on her and constricting her other 3 limbs and head, while Aaron restrained the one paw that he was working on.  Luckily, he is rather speedy and her torture was swiftly completed.  Then we took her for a walk... which she also is not a huge fan of (we got the tolerant dog, can you tell?  But she's my favorite!).  She doesn't mind the walking part.  It's mostly just the getting-into-the-harness-and-leaving-the-house part.  We capped off her night of horror by giving her a bath.  Needless to say, she slept like a rock and I had to wake her up to feed her this morning before work.  But she's clean and exercised and groomed!

It was a very relaxed day and I enjoyed spending some quality time with Aaron.  We tend to have a lot of people over for cook-outs and such and it was nice to just hang out.  Especially after the events of the Beer Fest that made the entire rest of  the weekend rather vague.  We also planned a camping trip for this weekend (Lucy's first overnight outdoor excursion - wish us luck)!

Now if only Game of Thrones would cooperate and stop killing off people I like - and if they won't do that, they at least need to tone it down so I don't have to close my eyes.  I'm a wimp.

Attempts at fitness and excessive calories

Yesterday was meant to be a very productive day. We had planned on hiking, attending the Kingman Beer Festival, and then finishing the night with a going-away party for a friend and co-worker...

Instead, I woke up far too early for a Saturday (thanks to a puppy who likes to stick to weekday schedules and doesn't understand sleeping in on the weekends). I cleaned the house, did some laundry, made cupcakes, and got ready for the day.  Aaron woke up later (he'd been in Laughlin with the guys until late) and we made a delicious breakfast re-creation of the Lox and Bagel Bennie from Wild Eggs in Louisville.  Even without hollandaise sauce, I really liked it! Aaron... Not so much.

After cleaning up from breakfast, we decided to go hiking. By then it was 95° outside (we are not the best planners). We thought nothing of it. Aaron texted Sam and Matt and we headed out around 12:15... Around the prime of the afternoon sun. Had the trail been shaded, we probably would have been fine; but, we had decided to hike Fort Beale trail, which has no shade whatsoever. Lucy trotted along beside me for probably a mile before we stopped for water. She and Zoey (Sam was puppy-sitting for Randy and Lauren) were dying. We continued on our way for about a quarter mile before Lucy just say down in the middle of the trail. She'd had enough... So we headed back.  Instead of hiking and trying to get fit, we went to Sonic for slushies!  FYI - never order a large... it could sugar-up andentire small country.

After her traumatizing morning, Lucy took a nap while we went to the Beer Fest! 15 chances to go taste brews from a bunch of local breweries. Awesome! Tasted some great new ones and samples some old favorite (aka. Wicked Poison). There was a really refreshing Watermelon Wheat beer from Pints Brewery in Laughlin and a good Cherry Vanilla Porter from Historic Brewing Company in Flagstaff.  Sam came with us, we met up with Joey and his wife, Carla, and Liz met us there as our DD. Carla had about 5 samples and gave us the rest of her tickets... Needless to say, we had plenty of tasty brews!

Liz drove us home (and Sam came over with Zoey) and Patty and Boots came over for Patty's party! Aaron grilled and everybody enjoyed cupcakes and s'mores. Brendan, Megan, Ian, and Andrea came over a little later. About then, I was about done with the day (with a little help from the copious beers) so I went to bed. Everybody else hung out and then took off too.

All-in-all, it was a successful day!  Good beers with good friends... a good last day of May!