so we're caught up to May where i have to begin ranting about really obnoxious neighbors and my crappy HOA. I finally got an opportunity to do something nice by getting a new deck and fence and oh yes and attractive shade arbor mind you. but apparently there is an immodicum of mediocrity that must be maintained in my complex where corrugated metal is considered more attractive than a solid cedar shade arbor with three levels. cna't go around making everyone else's house look like crap...noooooo. for some reason certain individuals think HOA is a place for power, uhm yeah whatever there's no way in hell people are gonna allow you to remove their existing hideous shade thingysbut by all means let's prevent something pretty. I did get my deck and fence though which is something as they stake ownership of it but never maintain them as they're supposed to . the only thing they seem capable of doing is writing snotty letters and having more meetings than necessary because oh we can't communicate via the internet...noooooo. got to have everyone in person, but don't let them know what's going on beforehand...surprise them. sooo stupid. i was interested but frankly i can't work within their meeting filled schedules so i'm no longer caring anymore. they've shunned me and my good taste and now they can just rot.

after that though, or rather during this whole deck mess, i got to go to the virgin islands thanks to a friend of his patootiness. Unfortunately, stress doesn't help me and i got sick right before, during the trip and still even nowi'm trying to get over this ick. we had fu, but i think i need to practice relaxing. i'm not used to it. i thrive on stress and routine and ritual...any deviation from that tends to throw me.

actually this is last christmas (yes, I realize it's almost April, but really we all like bite sized chunks of information don't we?) Below are the result of our first trip to a local ceramic studio where you basically paint pottery, they glaze it and you pick it up and show everyone how creative you are :)

i think it's adorable to see cute men paint pottery. and the fact that this marks our first Christmas makes these really special. We actually ended up going back and making more ornaments that commemorated other events like our Vegas trip and the Sandcastle contest. We're going back this year  for a few days and bringing the puppies...I can't wait. I'll try to get pics of the other ornaments up here soon. the girls also got hand painted bones with their names on them. 

 Ah yes, George Bush came to town...this is out of order actually I think it was before the election even. The Bush family came to visit College Station. They were well received. The lady sitting next to Scott was apparently going to be neighbors with the Bush's once they moved back to Texas.

 New Year's a James and Beth Creel's house. James makes realllllly good Long Island Iced Teas...like better than anyones....

Valentine's Day - :)

My sweetie knows how to do Valentine's Day. Messina Hof Mystery Dinner...Not sure what's going on with my hair, but after 5 glasses of wine, I don't think I cared. All of these pics are taken with my iphone as i always forget my camera. I will remember for the sandcastle contest though.

Latest Obsession: Cupcakes.

We're planning a dinner theater event of our own in May and for some reason, I've decided I can bake and am determined to make kickass cupcakes for dessert. So lately I'm doing trial runs. No one seems to mind as I try to give most of them away so i don't end up consuming them.

 Let's see...I'm slowing down a bit in the freelancing which could be the economy but really I don't mind as I'm really wanting to learn new things and that can't happen if I'm always doing the same old thing and putting every waking moment into other people's projects. I'll miss the income, but maybe I can get a better income at some point by being more marketable. The exercising thing is still on my mind. While the bootcamp thing didn't turn out to be the best solution for me it gave me some ideas on how to keep moving. The eating thing is a little better as I'm trying to watch the portions more. But really I dont want to get obsessed over this but more mindful of it.

1. started bootcamp last week...and while i'm in pain, I always feel awesome after class so it's sorta ok and hopefully the pain will go away at some point. I'd like to keep it up if possible but not pushing myself just yet and taking it slowly...and that's apparently how i run too...(damn little old laadies passing my slow ass up) someday, lady, someday....

2. managed to get a large format graphicy campaing up at work: see below:

and see more:

so that was pretty cool. stuff tends to feel like it goes at a turtles pace it seems so it's always a fun thing to actually check it off the ol list there

3. oh Valentine's day with cuteboy was awesome. Scott earned major brownie points (at some point i may actually have to make him brownies ) but My awesome valentine took me to Messina Hof winery for a mystery dinner theater (which has sparked another event to come) and brunch the next day at Christofers and then went shopping with me (!) so yes a lovely weekend with awesome company... i heart you sweetie. you make every day awesome! 

4. other random things...got my mom's old fridge which is huge...and makes me look like i have no food. but it's still better than the old one and beats me having to buy a new one..which i'd still kinda like to do but meh not really needing it.

5.freelance work is still kinda busy but my personal interest is waning just a bit...*sigh* always happens when i have to pay taxes on it as i work really hard and it sucks to have to give so much of it away. always makes me want to just quit doing it.

6. girls are doing great. they cuddle with his cuteness every chance they get.

ok so maybe this entry wasn't soooo lame after all...

cuteboy questioned me once on why i cleaned so much...(bear in mind this is a guy asking the question... where things only get cleaned every few months or so) I don't think I do..once a week simply to keep it all from crawling up the stairs and strangling me in my sleep seems like a small price to pay. and really clutter doesn't bother me...it's the kitchen and bath areas that will annoy me after awhile. Although it did get me to thinking about why this is such a girl thing, really especially yesterday when the topic of cuteboy possibly going to austin on a more permanent basis (reminder: not in great mood and tends to overthink and obsess...this is why i have schnauzers). to me it's about feeling in control of something. if you control how your surroundings look and you feel like the queen of your domain so to speak it's easier to handle the other thiings that are outside of one's control...such as people moving, clients who don't communicate, and dogs who feel intitled to pee at 5 am. So really it's a perpetual illusion that i have my shit together and impervious to the outside elements that can potentially harm me....my bat cave if you will. i think guys have a similar need too but they do just the opposite they devolve into cavemen...who happen to play WoW. (with love!)

so i guess it's all about insecurity. and embracing change, but i'm better about change if i can plan obsessively for it in my own quiet way. like a security blanket

I think cuteboy and me will be taking the girls to the weiner fest at the park this weekend...gives them a boost of self esteem being the tallest dogs there :) Behold. Gratuitous dog pics taken by Jeremy while they stayed with him while I was at the State Fair last weekend. They so don't look like they missed me...

In other news, I got glasses. After almost nearly failing the DMV drivers test to renew my license. Thought it was time to visit the eye doc. I'm not blind, but man can I see clearer. 

Anyhoo, after visitng a few other caches and the Russell Stover Factory we came home and had a relaxing evening after picking up the girls from a co-workers home. Mia has been acting weird since i brought her home...I think she was a bit nervous that I would give her away again. poor baby. Cuteboy in his never ending total awesomeness helped me around the house without provocation....mmmmcute men doing housework...oooo baby. I lurve you, babe!

 People we went to Vegas with...Phil, Christen, Rebecca & Alex

Fuzzy picture of everyone on our way to "O"

Cuteboy and me in the Paris Hotel Shops (my camera hates me btw...so adds 15 pounds...)

 The coolest thing happened on the way home though as we waited in the airport in vegas to go home, we played slots and lo and behold on borrowed 10.00 from cuteboy i won about 350. vegas redeemed itself to me and i used the money to take cuteboy to Christopher's ...the poshest restaurant in town here...twas worth it too..sooooo good. but before christopher's yummy goddness, I came home sick, and even better my parents had taken over my house in refuge from Hurricane Ike eating the roof off of their house. I intended to use the rest of my vacation for catching up on freelance and being kind of stifled in my house with 4 dogs and 3 people it really was the only thing i could do to keep myself from going crazy. Luckily cuteboy rescued me a few times so i didn't hurt anyone and i got lots of work done at least.. My parents are now staying at a hotel near their house so they can watch over the repairs. 

oh yes the cow....about a week ago a cow made it's way across the fence from the pasture that is across my townhome..(that's very common in texas) aand decided to go for a walk in my complex....

Cuteboy and the girls are best buds and I think it's totally awesome he's a dog person....makes me love him even more. Anyhoo, he convinced me that the dog park was not full of ravenous pitbulls looking for my schnauzers to snack on. Really, this is a deep concern for me, my puppies don't know evil meaness and i'm quite protective of them. We started out by keeping the girls on their leashes and giving the park a "sniff over" mainly for me to make sure no dogs came to see the buffet so to speak. We had a couple of dogs escort us around and eventually we let the girls off the leash. Maisy immediately became miss socialite and promptly made the rounds introducing herslef to everyone and every dog. Mia, who had never been to one of these places (maisy went all the time in san diego) stayed mostly wedged between cuteboy and me for protection and ventured out every now and then to find maisy. Twas a good time had by all and best of all made me not fear the dog park. 

We went agian the next morning to an empty park but came with an assortment of balls to play with. Maisy and mia got to run their butts off. The picture above is what happens when maisy decides that she needs to cool off..NOW. and this dog doesn't really like water. so baths were had after this lovely trip. I do enjoy spending time with them and cuteboy...

i am sooooo looking forward to my trip to vegas with cuteboy (oh did mention i'm going to vegas with cuteboy?) I like trying new things with him....he doesn't make me feel all self concious when i look stupid.  I'm definitely liking the whole not looking back idea....(yes i returned to my original subject, shut up) but cuteboy is definitely a positive factor in why I've been able to keep going forward. It's amazing how people can affect you positiely or negatively by how they treat you. huge difference. I think that's why I just don't want to deal with those people anymore. they still make everything about them. and i'm supposed to do all the work. meh, not really missing them anyway...even if I never get the real truth, which i doubt either of these people are capable of telling it fully. I should just realize that everyone has an agenda good or bad. i like where i am at the moment. i really have no desire to return there. even if it means seeing my name in the credits...i can make my own credits thank you very much. i do think revamping this blog and my portfolio would be an awesome idea as this blog in the past has served a purpose of me venting about some really awful people who did nothing, yet claim to miss me, uhm not really buying that, and ew for the whole mentality of name dropping. although i suspect that some of the connection etween certain people deals with the similarity of actions in the past and wanting to be forgiven or not looked down upon for them. eh. i can only control me, and i just don't get it really. *sigh* moving forward :)

Lewis Black and Fogo de Chao. a good combination. Never been to Fogo de Chao, the name actually frightened me at first. Those who know me know that I am a food fraidy cat, but ohhhhhhhh I was so pleseantly surprised. This place rocks and then to top it off we went to see Lewis Black....I have to say cuteboy is just too awesome himself the sweetie. It's very cute to see the way he enjoys making plans and planning out things for us to do. I have to say I love it in that he knows just enough new stuff to put in where i don't feel overwhelmed. I personally think he may be a closet travel agent but he's so good at so many other things too. Just another talent I guess. He's embarkingon the latest trip and it will be a totaly fun trip if everyone comes together for it. I'll refrain from saying more as I don't want to jinx it.

On the whole, I've had to literally stop myself to remember how I'm totally feeling at leasst once a day. I'm happy. that's right, you heard me, I'm happy. Even the little things that i still kinda bitch about really don't bug as much as they normally would have. I guess I've been afraid to admit it though out of fear of once again jinxing what i have. me superstitious? and why is my handle artjynx? coincidence? hrmmm. 

cuteboy showed me some of the pictures from his parents online album....yes i gushed at the little boy pics. It made me a little sad though in that my parents don't do that. or maybe they did a long time ago, but that one fateful car accident certainly did a doozy on my family and my future that's for sure. Accident, never a total recovery, divorce, watching my mom date, watching her remarry, dealing with a step parent....these may be normal things for kids now, but I kinda feel sorry for them. it sucks.  I want what cuteboy had. people you know you can depend on, who love being with each other even if it's a mundane thing they're doing. that's awesome...I want to be boring with you sweetie..:) It may make me a little sad, but i'm so glad he's sharing it with me. I'm a little reluctant to share my stuff though it's just too sad and no one likes sad. It's a part of who I am though and I need to get it to a place where i can just say "yeah there it is...it sucked, but everything is so much better now". so thank you, cuteboy...i<3 You!