side yard.

2 previous owners ago, our house was occupied by a little old lady

and her little old dog. this little old lady loved nothing more than her little dog

and her gardens, so much so that she was part of the Edina garden club. 

i'm sure that all of her landscaping was beautiful while she was keeping

up with everything, but over the years and through different owners the yard started

to become over-grown. this is where we come in. we've been doing so much

to the inside of our house and just this spring/summer have started

moving our projects to the outdoors leading me to the point of this post.

our side yard.

as you can see from the photo below, it's been very neglected and has become 

a total eyesore. 

front view

happy girl!

progress! not much, but some. we had to clear out all of the weeds
before we could really start scaping our land. it took forever, but was totally worth it.

beautiful hydrangea! we're planning on getting 2, maybe 3 more, but
these beauts will do for now.

we've cleaned everything out and planted a few other things, but that
will be a different post. we've got some major plans for our yard: lilacs, veggie garden (which
we did last year, just didn't have time this spring), lilacs, deck, fire pit, lilacs, outdoor kitchen,
did i say lilacs? so yes, big plans. big, big plans.

can't wait!

Cleanse.

so i have heard a lot of conflicting information from friends:

"cleanses are pointless", "cleanses totally work", "just eat clean"

and i get it. for some people, it's easier to just eat clean and they're able

to loose weight, keep it off, and look amazing.

me: that's not the case.

i have no willpower. in fact, if i go out to eat and really want a salad, but there's

cheeseburgers on the menu, i'll start to get anxious about what to order and typically

get the burger. i cave. big time. 

sometimes it's to suppress my ridiculous anxiety, sometimes it's cause i just want an effin burger.

either way i need a change and i needed it to be semi-drastic. 

soooo... meet my new best friend!

that's right. Trader Joe's Hemp Protein Powder. i make a shake for breakfast, have 

a salad for lunch, and then make another shake for dinner. my shakes have typically

consisted of fruit and a spoonful of greek yogurt with some water to thin it out and ya know what? 

they're seriously not bad. they look like diarrhea and make me shit twigs and hippies,

but they taste like your everyday fruit smoothie.

we'll see how this works! i'm going to try it for a month and reevaluate at the end.

also! you should watch "fat, sick, and nearly dead". i know that i've seen commercials that you can

watch it for free on oxygen or something like that- do it! 

we've got a juicer and i just need to get my rear in gear and get stocked up on veggies.

i've got to go finish my shake (well... not a shake. Kevan ate all of the fruit and i almost 

freaked, but i mixed water, ice, lemon, and my powder in my mixer. it's surprisingly not bad

and i think it's going to become my every morning drank). 

what a weekend.

oh my word, what a weekend.

the scanlan clan headed up north to spend a long weekend

on the lake celebrating our queen matriarch's 80th birthday.

there was swimming in the frigid lake, building people in the sand, campfires,

songs, riddles, karaoke, scanlan olympics, broken ankles and toes, boat rides, and 

oh so much more. to live this weekend over and over would be a dream :)

now, a photo dump:

without them, there would be no us.

this little bea is the first of the fourth.

emily, mary, and con.

boo boo in the sand.

patrick creating life.

watching old home movies.

the originals. 

last night campfire. yes. i was roasting 8 mallows.

drive home.

Family.

"So, you have two cousins. I have 27 first cousins. Just 27 first cousins alone! And my whole family is big and loud. And everybody is in each other's lives and business. All the time! Like, you never just have a minute alone, just to think, 'Cause we're always together, just eating, eating, eating!"

~Toula 

My Big Fat Greek Wedding (not to be confused with my big fat gypsy wedding) was on TV

this morning and when this part came on and Toula tells this to Ian, i couldn't help laughing.

it was like i was looking at Kevan and i. he has a close immediate family and an extended family

that i've never met. and then there's me. 13 cousins on my dads side, 21 on my moms. and this weekend,

we'll be up north with my mom's family- laughing, gasping, joking, drinking, singing (lots of singing)- and 

it's all just such a foreign thing for him.

granted, we've been together 4 years and this is by far not his first ride at the scanlan rodeo, but

sometimes i just wonder what's going through his head. everyone in my family is so...

passionate. we talk big, sing big, love big. not saying that it's not the most wonderful experience

in the world to be with them and everyone should be totally jealous that they're not in our family

(cause you should be), but it can be slightly overwhelming. even for an insider. 

i know that he really truly loves my whole family and he would tell me if it was too much for him

and i guess what the real point of this post is... is that i am just so lucky.

so lucky to have a man in my life that can be so patient with me and my craziness and
everything i put him through and always puts me and my family first.

 my big, loud, irish family.