the long morrow

It was him not fighting for me. I gave him the ultimatum and he let me walk away. I didn't want a life separate from him, and that's all he could give me. It's like he is driving a car and I just want to be in the passenger seat. He's locked the door and I have to hold onto the bumper. I am not even asking him to open the door for me, just leave it unlocked and say come in, but he didn't do that. So I am hanging on to the bumper and life goes on and the car goes on, and I get really badly bruised and I'm hitting potholes. And it hurts. It really hurts. So yesterday I had to let go of the bumper. Because it hurts too much.

lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer.

then he did get it together, he became that guy and he gets to be that guy with her. and i am in exactly the same place that i was in before. no it's not so bad, i'm lucky, i know, i just, i feel like, i'm never gonna have it. the whole package, you know. that person, that couple life, i swear i hate admitting it because i fancy myself wonder woman but i really want it. the whole package.

some freakin' changes.

we're undergoing some changes her at what was once hello kelly. i've decided to ditch that name and go for something different. hence the leftover kelly. a play on the name of one of my favorite bands as well as a look into my philosophy on blogging. i'm sharing pieces of what i am, what my life has become. i've gotten rid of what's unneeded and these are the leftovers.

what have i been up to since january?

new tat.

new countertop.

black keys concert.

maddie got fixed.

Gina's 21st.

spending more and more time with our new bffs (including melt).

a new addition

okay, i suck at blogging, we get it.

i haven't blogged for over a month. i've been very busy and sick and gross. my bad.

but anyway! i'd like to introduce the newest member of our family!!

her name is maddie! she was born on september 19 and we got her the sunday before thanksgiving. we drove two hours toward cleveland to pick her up. we love runts and she was the runt of her litter. the breeder said she hadn't shown her the other times that people had come to look, but she thought maybe she should show her this time. i think it was fate. we sat down on the floor to play with the pups and maddie kept running to me and jumping at our faces and wouldn't leave us alone! 

she's quite a little pistol. she yaps at us constantly, voicing her opinion on everything. she and mollie play so cute! my mom's oldest dog, maggie, loves her. maggie plays with maddie even more than she did with mollie and her sister, lacy. lacy does not like maddie at all. she's warmed up to her, though. she fits in with us so well, i'm so thankful to have her and mollie in our lives. we couldn't ask for two better pups. 

adventures in homeownership >kitchen!

BEFORE

AFTER

We also replaced a lot of light fixtures, so here are the ones in the kitchen! the previous ones were horrible!!

tasty tuesday

as the holidays approach, that means i'll be planning dinners and snacks for before those dinners. last year at christmas and for every gathering we have, i generally have chips, buffalo chicken dip and shrimp cocktail. so for this week's tasty tuesday, i'll share my BCD recipe!

Buffalo Chicken Dip


10 oz. can tyson chicken
3 8oz packs of cream cheese
1 cup franks red hot


tear the chicken cubes apart. then i just dump everything in a huge mixing bowl and mush it all together with my hands. that's honestly the best way to do it. you can add more red hot according to taste. heat up in the microwave as needed!

simple, huh? i serve mine with crackers and nachos!

adventures in homeownership > family room before and after!

BEFORE

AFTER

let's see. we didn't really do too much to this room. we took down those hideous drapes and put up nice curtains. we didn't put in new carpet or lights, and we didn't paint. so i guess this room wasn't very fun!

as for life, i worked so much last week! but it's really paying off. i had an accounting test and a macro quiz today and tomorrow i have a psych exam! sheesh. 

our housewarming party wasn't really a hit. only NINE people came. wowza. but then on thursday, craig, steve, gina, and chelsea came over for some drinks, beavis and butthead and the league. the boys left and joe went to bed, but us girls stayed up and pretty much just gossiped like schoolgirls. it was nice, though. it's nice to find genuine people that you can really be friends with.

i've also decided that in regards to my christmas animal charity fundraiser, i'm going to put it on hold until february and make it valentine's-themed. i came up with the idea too late and haven't had much time to plan and make things for my etsy shop. i feel guilty, though!

speaking of animals, joe and i have decided to get our new puppy sooner rather than later. i found like, four ads in the cleveland plain dealer offering schnauzer puppies for sale; so stay tuned!

till death thursday ; our fall decor!

well we just put away our halloween stuff (which i'm totally sad over). however, here's a look at the rest of our fall decor! it's not ALL of it, that would require so many pictures.  these are my favorites!

(ew! this is so dusty! i didn't even know. thanks, flash.)

thankfully, we are lucky enough to [mostly] agree on decorations and have the same vision for what we want our home to look like. a lot of couples just have the female decorating everything. i don't think that's right at all. it's like the line in Juno "she gave you one room in the whole house to put your stuff? she's got ya on a long leash there, mark!" (or something like that). it's your home. together. let him pick out a freakin' panel of curtains!

fall inspirations

we have a vast amount of woods behind our house. so yesterday while i waited for joe to get home, i explored a bit with my camera!

this is actually yesterday morning. we had crazy fog until like, 11 am!

super pretty, right? i'm so lucky to live here!

today i had a macro test. i got 105.5 on the first one, without even studying. i figured the second one would be similar to the first. but, TOTALLY BOGUS study guide, and super lame problems = i left a few things blank and sucked at life on the rest. but even if i get a 50% on this bad boy, i'll still have a B in the class. Even if i get NONE right (which i know i got a few), if i do well on the final, i'll still get a B as my final grade. bazinga.

as for the remainder of the day, i work tonight. until then, i will be working on something really awesome that i've been planning for a while. it involves december/christmas, animals and blogs! watch out!

tasty tuesday ; samhain feast! (with photos!)

happy belated halloween! moving has been so crazy! i tried to make sure i had scheduled posts up for the week of our moving but that totally didn't happen. my bad.

but anyway! last night i made a traditional celtic samhain meal so i thought i'd share it with you for this week's tasty tuesday.

Limerick Ham


3-5 pound ham
apple cider to cover the ham
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp mustard
20 whole cloves

in a pot, cover the ham with cider, bring to a boil then lower the heat. keep the liquid barely simmering 20 minutes for every pound. remove from heat and allow to stand in liquid for 30 minutes. then remove it from the cider and skin it. stud with whole cloves. mix the sugar and mustard and rub well into the surface of the ham. bake in a pre-heated oven for 10 minutes for every pound at 400*


Irish Holiday Potatoes


12 medium potatoes, peeled, cooked and mashed
2 eggs, well beaten
8 oz cream cheese
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter
pepper
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup sliced green onions

mix potatoes with remaining ingredients. do not whip. place in greased 9in round casserole dish and bake for 45 minutes.*

*i assume it's supposed to be preheated to 350* for the potatoes? i just skipped baking them in the oven so i don't know.