Our Fish Babies' New Crib

Long story, but the gist of it is:  We were given a free 55-gallon fish tank by a neighbor.  We went the the pet store to get a few things we were going to need in order to set it up and upgrade from our 10-gallon tank.

After adding up the dollar amounts of all the things we were going to need to get the bigger tank started (a hood, a stand, a bigger filter, etc.), we realized this was going to be a pretty expensive "free" fish tank.  As we discussed what we were going to do, we noticed a 55-gallon tank on the clearance shelf.

It had almost all that stuff included in the box; and it was for considerably less money than buying it all a la carte.  We made the decision to purchase the new clearance tank; Dave can sell or give away the "free" one.

This is the new tank with the gravel in it.  The colorful side is the "island" for Dave's Mt.-Wanna-Hock-A-Loogie (with reference to Disney/Pixar's "Finding Nemo")

We picked rocks that Tamara would have picked had she been with us at the pet store:  the rainbow-colored ones.  :o)

Side note, some of the packaging for the filter formed a heart after it fell when Dave took the filter out of the box.  Awwww, how cute!  lol

Here's our newest, biggest landscaping piece.  It is a bubbler.  The bubbles start at the bottom in the middle and go up the back of the piece and out the top.  Pretty cool stuff!!!  It's much, much cooler in person.  I will try to add a video at the end of this post.  Or, you just really need to come visit to see for yourself!  ;o)

Here's the tank, complete with the Mount-Wanna-Hock-A-Loogie volcano on the left.  lol

So, our 8 little platys had TONS of room of room in this 55-gallon tank, so we got them some tank-mates.  :o)  We got some cory catfish, neon tetras, and a couple more that Dave and I can't remember what they're called (but I do remember they're a cousin of the platy).

We have 16 fish babies at the moment!  It's a fun tank to watch!  It's even more fun because Dave does most of the upkeep.  I just get to watch and take an occasional turn feeding them.  Too bad that's not what having real babies is going to be like!  ;o)

P.S.  The little tank decoration to the left of the volcano is Dave's submarine that just HAD to be a part of the tank.  :o)

June 5th

Can you believe Dave and I have been married for 2 years now?!  Crazy!!!

Our big celebration will be in October when we treat ourselves to a few days in Orlando, FL.  :o)

We did celebrate a little bit, however, on our anniversary.  It was a Tuesday, so on the way home from work I made Dave reminisce about our wedding day with me.  It was fun :o)

We used a gift card I'd received for my birthday and enjoyed a nice dinner at Olive Garden.  Then we went across the street to Target and "exchanged" anniversary cards with each other.  (The night before, Dave told me, "I feel like a crappy husband."  I asked him why and he said he'd been looking for the perfect card and hadn't been able to find one yet.  I told him not to worry because I had looked as well and was going to just make him one.  I told him we should just go to the store together and find each other one just right then and there.  :o)  He liked that idea, so that's just what we did!

We each found an anniversary card we would give to the other and instead of buying them, we showed them to each other and used the money saved on anniversary cards to buy Father's Day cards for our dads.  :o)  It was a fun, unique thing to do this year.

We did exchange gifts ($20 limit this year).  I had seen an idea on a blog that I loved, but tweaked slightly.  (http://jaimaschutt.blogspot.com/2011/11/diy-anniversary-gift.html; see also http://mysocalledgreenlife.com/2011/09/happy-10th-anniversary-and-map-craft.html.)  I used a heart scrapbook paper as border, a heart theme similar to the one at our wedding.  I also used the blue and yellow colors that were featured at our wedding.  :o)

a close-up

another blurry close-up (i need a new camera!)

I did:  Our First Date, Our First Kiss, Our First "Dave & Darah Day", Dave's Proposal, Our Marriage, Our Wedding Night, Our Honeymoon, and Our First Home.  I used the satellite view on GoogleMaps instead of the traditional map view.

I love it!  Dave said he likes it, too :o)

Dave gave me Volkswagen bug charm lol  Isn't it cute??  He said it's my reward for putting up with him and all his crazy VW bugs for over 2 years.  :o)

Anyway, it was a much-needed relaxing evening that night.  Happy Anniversary to us!

I'm so grateful to be married to David Andrew Wheeler!!!  He is my best friend and makes me laugh every day.  I can tell he cares about me a lot and I hope he can tell I love him just as much.  :o)  We have been through a lot these past 2 years, but are much stronger and love each other so much more!  I am excited for the eternity we have left together!

Pinata Cookies

A good friend from work showed me some cookies she found on Pinterest.  They are called Pinata Cookies and were being featured as fun Cinco de Mayo celebration cookies.  (Recipe can be found at www.sheknows.com/food-and.../cinco-de-mayo-pinata-cookies.)  Since my friend knows Tamara and also knows she is on a Spanish-speaking mission, we decided it would be fun to make these for her.  We weren't able to get together til a few weeks after Cinco de Mayo, but figured they'd still be a fun treat anyway.  :o)

I decided to do a trial run a few days before my friend and I were planning to make them.  I didn't have the recipe right with me, so I ad libbed and made a few things up as I went (including many mistakes), but they turned out.  Decent.  I guess...

I over-crowded the pan...  Oops!

Some have holes to make room for mini M&Ms.

finished product

So, I don't have a donkey cookie cutter, which would make it more pinata-y, but I figured the circle would be easiest.

The process was long.  Only getting 2 good pinata cookies out of the hours I spent was frustrating...  But, I learned a few things to hopefully help my friend and I make them.

After making them a second time, I have decided I am finished making pinata cookies for like ever.  I hate making them!  I may be willing to try using a method other than the way the blog calls for, but it's just really not worth it to me.  It's a super fun idea, though!  I hope Tamara enjoyed them!  :o)

Here are pictures from the 2nd go-around.

at least we got 6 cookies this time  lol

There's more than 1 way...

...to eat nachos.

This was are dinner a few Sundays ago.  Can you guess who's plate is who's?  ;o)