Our Roots

You may have seen my post on Instagram about this.  The other day, Mr. UpCyclist left this catalog photo for me and a note.  The catalog is Patagonia's newest catalog, by the way.  They graciously employed me all through grad school.  I love that company.

The note read, "This picture reminds me of you when we met.  Toyota pickup, bed for sleeping in the back, gear all neatly organized, enjoying nature and life.  We have come a long way, changed, but that spirit lives on!

I may live in one of the most populated parts of the US, have a "real" job, and my sweet Toyota truck was traded in years ago, but man, do I love my roots - our roots.  I love messy hair, adventure, living on wheels, all things outdoors, and having a mate that appreciates the spirit of those things, too.

Happy Monday, friends -

xo,
Jen

Congrats, Mr. UpCyclist

Our handsome fellow, Mr. UpCyclist, just finished his first year of graduate school.  Only two more years and we'll get to call him Dr. UpCyclist.

We are so proud of you, love.

Yay!

xoxo,

Jen, Lil O, and Jedi

PS - If you haven't played with Recite - the image generator I used in the above graphic - check them out here.

PSS - I read that funny quote above on Pick Your Plum.  You know how they make me laugh, right?

Cake. Yes, This is a Cake.

Can you spot the birthday cake above?

I know, hard isn't it.  Here, I'll give you a hint.  It is under that chicken.

Well, faux chicken.  That is Mr. UpCyclist's birthday cake!  Yes, that bucket of KFC is a cake.  And no, I'm not kidding.  My mother-in-law (MIL) is a professional cake decorator.  She made the cake for Mr. U's birthday this past weekend. Mr. U loves Kentucky Fried Chicken, but rarely eats it.  For his birthday this year, we celebrated with real KFC and a KFC cake.  Isn't it the best?  Isn't my MIL soooooo talented?

My MIL made the faux chicken legs, wings, and breasts by coating fondant (I think she said) with crushed up corn flakes.  The cole slaw she made by hand-cutting strips of fondant that she had dyed in "cole slaw" colors and added a gel/glaze to them to look like cole slaw dressing.  And those fries?  She airbrushed each one of them with special edible, airbrush "stuff" to give them that two-tone appearance.

Here's what the inside of the bucket looks like - the cake!

And boy was it delicious!

Happy Birthday to Mr. UpCyclist and huge thank you to my MIL for making such an incredible cake.

Love them both,

Jen

You Would Think I'd Remember

On second thought, I think I better title for this blog post would be, "You would think WE'D remember."

Every year, in early January, my sister emails (or calls) me to wish me and Mr. UpCyclist a happy anniversary.  I am always so grateful she emails or calls because, per usual, I have totally forgotten it is our anniversary.

As soon as I find out, I rush to email, text or call Mr. UpCyclist - who has also forgotten our anniversary - as I try to beat him to pretend-remember.

Are we pathetic or what?

So....Happy Anniversary to us!  The couple who cannot seem to remember their own anniversary and you can imagine this year how shocked we were to find out it is our 10th one.

Oh, my,

Jen

PS - Mr. U brought home the lovely flowers pictured above and a tasty strawberry with green tea icing cake from Whole Foods that evening.  He acted like he'd been planning that all week long.  Ha!

PSS - One day I'll share with you our wedding story - picture Grand Teton National Park, a blue bird day, two strangers we didn't know, one random dog, and the coolest judge in Wyoming.

What You May Not Know About Mr. UpCyclist

Mr. UpCyclist loading the mountain bikes for our adventure.

You probably already know Mr. UpCyclist is an avid cyclist (hence, the capital "C" in his blog name). What you may not know if you don't know Mr. U in person is he is one amazing man.  I mean, a-ma-zing.  I totally lucked out when he came into my life.  He is patient, intelligent, creative, sporty, and like me, he is an ambivert.

Mr. U is also one incredible dad - loving and available.  He is such a good mentor -  mentoring Lil O and Cousin A on our recent mountain bike expedition.

Mr. U has a heart of gold.  He is prepared for anything and everything.  Case in point:  Lil O was using a death-grip on her handlebars riding the downhills.  She had not one, but three blisters on her thumbs.  Crazy kid.  Mr. U had the first aid kit ready.

See the back pack he wears while riding?  It is filled with all sorts of goodies for everyone including Jedi.  By the way, you won't catch me wearing a backpack while mountain biking.  I'm lucky enough to transport myself much less all that extra weight. 

If you don't know Mr. UpCyclist in person, trust me, when I say he is one of the kindest souls in the world.  He is also is one rad cyclist.

Totally in love with him.

Jen

PS - All photos processed with the A Beautiful Mess App (featured on Tech Tuesday this week)!

PSS - Not to be obnoxious, but did you notice the team jerseys?  Aren't they fun?  We have the BEST sponsors.  Just sayin....

Now, that's a welcome home

After traveling for a week, I returned home to these two at the airport.  Lil O was at school.

Gosh, I adore Mr. UpCyclist and Pup Jedi.

After the greeting Jedi gave me - running up to me, making dog-talking sounds, licking me, doing his best play-bow and wanting to stand on his legs and be eye-to-eye, several strangers in the airport commented, "Your dog sure loves you."

The feeling is mutual and even though, Mr. UpCyclist's welcome-back-greeting was more civilized, we are elated to be in the same state.  Make that the same continent.  Did I mention Mr. UpCyclist was in Finland last week and me in California?  Big thank you to my sweet sister, BIL and cousins for loving on Lil O while her parents jet-setted away.

Now, the four of us are back together.  Cuddles abound!

And apparently, we've become that family.  You know, the family who takes their dog everywhere.

Proud and loved,

Jen

PS - I'm curious.  Where is the strangest place you've taken your pet?  I might need some new ideas.

Present for Mr. UpCyclist (or Jedi)?

Mr. UpCyclist has a birthday coming up.  Do you think he might like this Sphero as a present?  It isn't a bike, but really, how many bicycles can one human have?

Plus, if he doesn't like it, I think Jedi would :)  And PS - You only need to watch the first minute of the video above to get an idea of what playful Sphero does.

Jen