hooray for icicle lights!

our new abode all lit up and ready for christmas.

 

i've always loved icicle lights, but after a few bum strands years ago, ting has always refused to hang them. more about that here. instead, we hung simple white and then multi-colored string lights last year, seen here. 

but! much to my excitement, when we got ready to hang our lights this past weekend, ting realized the nails on our new home were on the backside and totally set-up for ICICLES! yeeeeeessssss! 

i was so excited because in my opinion our new home is ideal for icicles. 

luckily we still had a few strands in the old christmas lights tub and got right to hanging. 

and when ting couldn't get to the top of our super pitched roof, the genius fetched our fireplace poker and used that to hook the strands up on the nails. whatever works, i guess. 

 and then it all came to a screeching halt when about 3/4 of the way through hanging we ran out of icicles. off to the store i went only to find out that these icicles had been discontinued. not a big deal right? wrong. these are GE's "random sparklers" so half the house would be sparkling and the other static - yeah, not. happening. luckily i searched the web and was able to find something that would work. kinda. 

my holidays are starting off even brighter this year.

my view.

with the fire poker "hook" tool.

aaaannndd... that's where things stopped for a while. 

UA vs. ASU football game.

there are obvious perks to being a UA graduate and having in-laws in tucson. 

family visits double as nostalgic trips down memory lane. campus. university blvd. the mall. beyond bread. 

this year's massive rivalry football game ASU vs UA was in tucson the night after thanksgiving, 

so we got decked out in red and watched the game at the beloved frog & firkin on university blvd. 

the outcome wasn't great for the cats, but oh well. 

we got to talk smack to ASU nerds while eating frog's green skins, fries & deep dish pizza  

washed down by cheap drinks in plastic cups. 

ahhh... college life. 

danny sported his first-edition AZ Boyz Homecoming t-shirt, compliments of Quinnster. 

and i even painted my nails to be a part of the citywide "red out" 

... next time, cats. 

right now :: the ting's top 10 artists.

some are old and some are new. here's what the bocktings are currently rocking out to. in no particular order:

Portugal. The Man

Currently probably the #1 band in Danny's world right now. Great American rock band from Portland, OR.

The Lumineers

Folk music for the soul - especially great this time of year - brought to you from Denver, Colorado.

    

Of Monsters And Men

 

The Head and The Heart

debut album by this indie folk band from seattle, washington.

garth brooks 

ever since matt's sing-a-long rendition of "the river" at his & jenny's wedding, i was reminded of how much i do love some classic country. plus, my country kick has taken me back to some of my best memories with tone. cruising around in the white beast pick-up truck and singing country at the top of our lungs. 

really, garth is the epitome of a singer songwriter. and for a lyrics girl, i love nothing more than a song with a deep meaning. we shall be free? thunder rolls? the dance? what's not to love. don't lie - you know every word, too. 



St. Lucia



St. Lucia EP by St. Lucia

Tanlines

Another one of Ting's top plays on Spotify. They're an electronic indie rock band from Brooklyn, NY.

Tanlines "Brothers" by tanlines    

The Helio Sequence 

a lovely alternative rock group from beaverton, colorado.

The Helio Sequence - Lately by eskimo.boy

Fleetwood Mac

an oldie, but such a goodie. this is one of the ultimate driving go-to's for me. love it.
classics:: rhiannon / everywhere / say you love me / second had news

Mumford & Sons
i just can't get enough. they're the band i play the loudest in my car. i love to sing along. this song gets into my core: "ghosts that we knew" download & listen to it all the way through - loudly.

the first annual gobble wobble.

danny, tricia & i did our first annual day-after-thanksgiving gobble wobble, an 8-mile hike through Tucson's Sabino Canyon. look at that picture - it was an absolutely gorgeous day in the canyon. beyond the scenery, it was so great to spend three uninterrupted hours together chatting about life, love and family. it's a tradition i hope we keep.

off into the canyon we go.

saguaros everywhere

it's not nice to point, mr. cactus.

danny the desert kid. him & tricia are full of desert knowledge. animals. plants. all the 411.

 we made it to the top! 

proof i made it - had to touch the palo verde plant at the top.

arizona's version of fall colors in the desert canyon.

do you see the brother & sister ants marching along? 

very extreme signage.

me and the thousands of cacti.

totally strange and awesome - we saw a deer and her baby crossing the trail!

i was on a quest for the biggest saguaro i could find... this one is pretty good.

desert beauty.

the self-pay was full when we pulled up. so after our hike, we searched for someone to give our $5 parking fee to. we ended up in the visitor's center and they were so grateful and surprised that we went out of our way to pay post hike, they gave us a parking pass for a future trip! it pays to be honest.

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and to all you phi's out there - how random is this? during our hike, the three of us were trying to get a photo together for danny's Instagram (@dancendan), but it was not working so i finally asked a woman who was approaching if she'd mind taking our photo. as she got closer and i wasn't being blinded by the sun, we did a "teri?" "cindy?" -- it was cindy nock and her adorable little family walking through the canyon. she happily took our picture. (cindy and i were in the same sorority at the University of Arizona). super small world. 

eatin' turkey in tucson.

we spent this thanksgiving holiday doing exactly what you should be doing... eating, lounging and chilling out with family. we spent lots of time with miss makaela (danny was on baby duty) and lots of time yelling at the dogs to stop begging and bickering -- yup, pretty typical family stuff.

makaela could not be any sweeter. do i dare say she's a perfect baby -- eh, toddler? not sure when that's official (she's 20 months). her most favorite word is "side" which means let's go outside. we hear "side? side? side?" over and over. the little girl loves the fresh air, but you really can't blame her when it's an 80-degree thanksgiving. we were happy to oblige.

she absolutely loves "dog dog" and put all kinds of necklaces on hunter, told him to "shhhh" when he was crying and yelled "no" when he'd bark. the sweetest was her consoling him when he was whining under the table begging for scraps. she's such a joy to be around for everyone. here's a look at our turkey day.

vick-dogg and me whipping up some stuffing. slippers and all.

hunter and danny watching henry totally spaz out like a psycho. "um, what's this guy's problem?" - hunter

tricia and her little one sporting a necklace from great meme.

brotherly, sisterly love. 

yup... there's hunter. right under your feet and lookin' up for some scraps.

grandma peggy & her b-joe. two peas in a pod. 

little miss with her great meme.

boy oh boy was danny proud of his ham. he pulled it out thinking the rest of us were ready. we still had a few things to cook. he'd already sliced and arranged his ham on a non-oven safe platter. i really thought there may have been tears when we told him he couldn't throw his masterpiece platter in the oven to warm. we made it work so the man didn't serve cold ham. crisis adverted. phew.

me, makaela and her "oooce" aka juice. 

the aforementioned ham platter masterpiece (before the meltdown).

not surprising, the placecard was a baby favorite to play with.

marybeth monitoring the carve. 

who needs ham when you've got this little one?

can i offer you a GIANT glass of riesling? 

the feast goers. marybeth & paul joined this year, which was a super fun addition. and marybeth brought cream cheese pumpkin loaf. so. damn. good. i had to fight to actually take some leftovers.

my other hot date.

danny and his ladies... minus one (the photographer). 

high-five for a successful thanksgiving! 

hunter always manages to get a seat at the table. holy spoiled. 

me & the dogg.

....and, that's a wrap. this is how we all felt at the end of the night.  

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the every-other-holiday family schedule is tough, but such is life with family in separate states. 

but luckily danny and i have amazing families and in-laws, which makes it much easier. 

this year, my parents spent thanksgiving at their home in oregon for the first time and hosted for 19 people! 

the menu was insane... a literal feast followed by a full dessert spread and friendly competition over mexican train.