Having a tea on this chilly day.

Having a tea on this chilly day. I think this is my first caffeine in over a month. I miss the ritual and warmth, though, and I'm slow to start today - so tea it is!

This is a coconut black tea with foamy milk. Yum.

We're having a little haboob today.

We're having a little haboob today. It's so dusty you can't even see the mountains. I'll take it over a tornado any day, though.

One thing New Mexico has is wind. 💨🍃

The beginning of befriending a murder of crows.

The beginning of befriending a murder of crows. Shaun's dreams are coming true!

Pardon the dirty window. All of the animals love to watch the birds from it.

It's been a long time since I posted plant pics...

It's been a long time since I posted plant pics - mostly because I wasn't here. But here's a cactus bloom and another with little peppers. I love them so much!

I'm tryna go to bed and this cat is so cute on me.

I'm tryna go to bed and this cat is so cute on me. I need help. 😂😍😻

My favorite thing Shaun has said today:

My favorite thing Shaun has said today:

"Don't peck the house, dude. Don't peck the house!"

😂😂😂

We feed so many birds and today we had a woodpecker visit. It was so pretty! But he started pecking the house and Shaun had a li'l panic. It was pretty cute. 😂

We're going to have to see if we can figure out a way to feed him, too! ❤️

She's the worst cat, but damn, she's cute. 😂

She's the worst cat, but damn, she's cute. 😂

Good morning from here! It's cold, but beautiful!

Good morning from here! It's cold, but beautiful!

If you zoom in you'll see a bunch of hot air balloons below the sun. I'll never tire of this. ❤️

I've had some stuff on my mind for a few days...

I've had some stuff on my mind for a few days and now I'm off until Monday, so here I am to share my thoughts.  It's been a minute.  This is nothing important, so feel free to keep scrolling if you're (rightfully) not interested in the boring details of my life.  😆

I've been at home for almost 3 full weeks now.  I just finished working week #2 from home.  I feel like I am settling in more and more, and things are pretty great.  Somehow, working from home is even better than I expected.  I don't know if it's due to not having a commute, or not having the stress of other people around me, or not having the discomfort of clothes that don't feel comfortable, or if it's that I'm in my safe / happy space, but I feel like I have so much more time and energy than I used to.

After living with Kelsey for all of those months in Cinci and eating the healthier food that she cooked, I told Shaun that I'd planned to change things up and make food at home more often once I got back.  For those of you who don't know - I have never been much of a cook.  Me and Shadow (pre-Shaun and Kira) ate sandwiches and frozen foods and pizza and fast food and kits from Wal-Mart like the Homestyle Bakes and pre-made packages that you dump in the slow cooker.  I always tried to make it healthy, like with the steam-in-bag veggies and whatnot, but honestly there was almost never a time I had actual ingredients in my house to mix up a type of food.

After me and Shaun met, we went out to eat more and when we did eat at home together he was the one who made the food.  He's good at it, too.  His seasoning instinct is on point.  But he mostly made carb-heavy foods like pizza or macaroni and cheese or baked potatoes.  Combine that with depression and then the stress of college and it's no wonder I gained some unnecessary weight.  But this post is not about that.  It's about self-care.

Since living with Kelsey, though, I learned that maybe I don't hate making food; maybe I just don't like fucking around with dead animal corpses.  I've never been much of a meat-eater anyway and a lot of people are shocked to learn (given my history in animal rehab and rescue) that I'm not vegan or vegetarian. I still can't claim to be either of those things, but I have discovered that I don't dislike cooking and baking as long as it doesn't involve dead bodies.  Go figure.

So in the past few weeks I've made rice and beans and lentils.  I baked some broccoli and it turned out pretty good.  I've baked several loaves of pumpkin bread from a vegan recipe and it's always gone by the next day.  I tried some unflavored tofu baked in the oven and that was actually pretty good.  Next time I will season it like Kelsey does.  Last night I made corn bread to go with canned soup for dinner and while it was different than what I'm used to, it was good.  I'll definitely be doing that again.  I know these things are not impressive by any stretch, but for me they signal a new chapter and growth.

I guess my point is that I have both the time AND energy to take a little bit better care of myself at the moment and I'm doing it.  I'm not making 100% healthy choices.  Just today I've eaten some Sea Salt and Caramel Dark Chocolates.  But overall I've felt better since I've been home, and Shaun and I have agreed to try to keep going out to eat to the weekends and special occasions.  Also, kind of sadly, I have been off tea since I got back. I do love the teas I have, but I just haven't been feeling it.  Water and Lactaid milk only, for the most part.  No caffeine or anything.  I didn't mean to do that; it just kind of happened.  🤷

Anyway, since I've been spending more time in the kitchen I felt a big need to organize.  I now have containers of flour and brown sugar and rice, etc.  That's crazy.  But I think it's helped me feel more connected and "here."

Speaking of organizing (I know, this is ridiculously long already, but I have more)... I've decided to move my nail polish downstairs.  I have 8 helmers being delivered from Ikea tomorrow.  I'm pretty excited about that.  It'll be a nice way to store my polishes properly (in a dark drawer so they don't fade), so I'm pumped about that.  I spend most of my time downstairs with the animals so it just doesn't make sense to have my hobby put away somewhere that is effort to get to.

Other than that, I've finally got the mental space and energy to think about starting back on my two long-term projects:  my nail polish database and my website.  Those two things were put on pause in August of last year.  I don't know how / when those are going to fit into my life yet, but as I fall into a comfortable routine here I know that the opportunity will present itself.  I'm excited to pick back up on those things and I feel more like myself than I have in a long time at just the thought of it.

So... that is pretty much all I have to talk about at the moment.  Basically a big, long ramble, but I feel better now that it's out.  😁😁

I hope you all are doing well!  If you feel like telling me what's going on in your life, I'm happy to listen!  ❤️

Look at this handsome guy.

Look at this handsome guy. He went and picked up the groceries with Shaun this morning. It was cold, so he wore his sweater.

On our way to get burritos for lunch...

On our way to get burritos for lunch...

What da dog doin'?

We sure love blankets around here.

We sure love blankets around here. We're all snuggled in this evening. 😊

I can't feel my legs

I can't feel my legs, but it's ok. I've missed my boys. ❤️